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This year, Kent Couch is going to be flying with Captain Fareed Lafta of Iraq! They lifted off on July 14th in Bend Oregon. But that isn't all! The two have another balloon flight scheduled for the fall of 2012. And this next flight isn't going to be in Bend, not Oregon, not even the USA. They'll be launching from Fareed's home country of Iraq! [read more]
You will be able to see Kent Couch on MSNBC talking about his upcoming trip where he plans to set a new world record for his flight scheduled for March 2012. The show will air on Sunday, December 18th, 2011 at 8PM EST.
Volunteer balloons team starts at 5:00am
John was inspired by Kent's 2008 flight to Cambridge, Idaho and knew right then... "I have to do this!" Fast forward to October 10th, 2009 and John does exactly that. With Kent Couch and a group of close friends, John flies over the Salton Sea and lands safely just East of the Chocolate Mountains in Southern California. See for yourself in John's flight video...
"I'm not stopping till I get out of state," Kent said as he prepared for launch on Saturday, July 5th, 2008. Kent met his goal at 4:12pm, when he landed safely in Cambridge, Idaho, and was soon met by the friendly townspeople, his ground crew, and the media. Couch covered about 235 miles a little over nine hours. Kent had a great time and made no of giving up his passion for cluster ballooning.
With the help of SPOT (Satellite Personal Tracker) and Google Maps, we will be broadcasting Kent's position. So if you're local, come on down to the Stop & Go in Bend, OR. If you aren't able to see Kent in person, watch the live launch and track his flight online.
Kent and Susan Couch traveled to New York City on May 30th to be interviewed for the second time by Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America. Kent shared the excitement of recovering his lost cluster balloon chair and electronic equipment. Most notably, clips from the much anticipated in-flight footage were shown. Kent discussed his plans for his next cluster balloon flight, scheduled for July 5th, 2008. Susan said, "You can't let a good man stay down."
This morning, Kent announced on a Portland radio station that "Mission Control" a.k.a Susan Couch (Kent's lovely wife) has provided flight approval for Kent's next cluster balloon flight. He is currently scheduled to fly again on Saturday, July 5th, 2008. Kent is anxious to test some new ideas and techniques he believes will take him farther than he has ever been before. Stay tuned for the latest information on the upcoming cluster balloon flight.
After almost a year, Kent Couch's cluster balloon chair and electronic equipment were discovered in Eastern Oregon, just outside of Baker City. A ranching couple stumbled upon the chair while checking their property's fence line. Kent traveled to Baker City to recover the cluster balloon chair and present the $500 reward. The chair and equipment are in excellent condition and the in-flight footage is currently being recovered. Read more about the amazing discovery.
Kent Couch appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno to gab about his recent cluster balloon flight. Kent wasn't shy, sharing some of the most intimate details of his journey. The highlight of the show was when Jay experienced cluster ballooning in a tethered custom cluster balloon outside his studio. Jay looked a little leery as he left the ground to hoots and cheers from the crowd below. After all, cluster ballooning isn't for the faint of heart.
Kent Couch fulfilled his childhood dream of flying by cluster balloon Saturday, July 7, 2007. For Kent, the intrigue of flying by balloons never faded with adulthood. While watching a show on the Discovery Channel years ago about Larry Walter's lawn chair helium balloon ride, Kent became moved. Armed with his insatiable curiosity, Kent Couch began preparing to fly by cluster balloon. Read more about how Kent planned his flight.
July 6th 2008 - MSNBC - Lawn chair balloonist achieves his dream
Oregon gas station owner makes safe landing in Idaho with 150 balloons.
July 6th 2008 - ABC News - Ore. Man Completes Flight of Fancy - in Lawn Chair
Oregon man gets carried away - in lawn chair tied to helium balloons - and lands in Idaho.
iReport - Kent Couch - Lawnchair Balloon Flight - Bend, Oregon
Video of Kent taking off in his cluster balloon lawnchair.
KTVZ, Bend - Third-time charm: Bend's lawn-chair balloonist lands in Idaho
Bend gas station owner Kent Couch has realized his dream of flying a lawn chair rigged with more than 150 giant helium-filled party balloons across the Oregon High Desert to Idaho.
Wednesday morning, July 11th, 2007 Kent appeared on Good Morning America with Diane Sawyer. Kent mentioned that everyone at ABC treated him and his family very nicely.
MSNBC - Vehicular Peculiarity: Man floats 193 miles using chair, balloons
An Oregon man takes flight in a lawn chair attached to 105 huge balloons. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
KATU, Portland - Oregon man takes lawn chair up to 13,000 feet
Couch, 47, is the latest American to emulate Larry Walters - who in 1982 rose three miles above Los Angeles in a lawn chair lifted by balloons.
FOXNews.com - Helium Balloons Carry Man in Lawn Chair 193 Miles
Last weekend, Kent Couch settled down in his lawn chair with some snacks — and a parachute. Attached to his lawn chair were 105 large helium balloons.
cbs13.com - Bender's Ender: Man Flies 193 Miles In Lawn Chair
Nearly nine hours later, the 47-year-old gas station owner came back to earth in a farmer's field near Union, short of Idaho but about 193 miles from home.
KTVZ, Bend - Bend lawn-chair balloonist soars high on 2nd flight
In preparing for his second long-distance lawn-chair balloon flight, Bend gas station owner Kent Couch said he didn't even bother to put a seat belt on the contraption this time, "because I didn't think I'd need one."
AP nation news - StatesmanJournal.com
Attached to the lawn chair were 105 balloons of various colors, each 4 feet around. Bundled together, the balloons rise three stories high.
The Bulletin | Bend / Central Oregon News - Floating at 11,000 feet
Kent Couch, of Bend, sailed with his cluster balloons on the way to Idaho early Saturday morning. He was climbing at roughly 800 feet per minute...
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Kent Couch
Kent Couch is a 47-year-old gas station attendant who in July of 2007 flew 193 miles in a lawnchair powered by 105 large helium balloons.
KPRC, Houston - Couch Takes Lawn Chair For Flight
Gas Station Owner Takes 2nd Flight In Helium Balloon-Powered Chair. "It was beautiful -- beautiful," he told KTVZ-TV.
KOMO TV, Seattle - Oregon man takes lawn chair up to 13,000 feet
Couch, 47, is the latest American to emulate Larry Walters - who in 1982 rose three miles above Los Angeles in a lawn chair lifted by balloons.


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We serve the areas of Scranton, Dunmore, Clarks Summit, as well as the rest of Lackawanna County.
The Moran Pain Clinic:
Pain Relief When you Need it the Most
Are you unable to live the life you want because of day to day pain? The Moran Pain Clinic can help. Serving the locals of Lackawanna County, the Moran Pain Clinic is Northeastern Pennsylvania's one-stop solution for pain management.
Lead by Dr. Kurt Moran, the facility prides itself on three key qualities: respect, honesty, and integrity. Every diagnosis is personalized to every patient. Our exceptional staff will work with you to figure out exactly why you are experiencing pain, and provide you with the best treatment options available.
Pain Management
There are many forms of pain — from arthritis, anemia, lupus, liver dysfunction; we help treat it all. We believe that all forms of pain, both acute and chronic, involve treating the physical and psychological. Such treatment can involve medication, physical therapy, counseling, family support, and various forms of injections depending on the disease process.
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The Moran Pain Clinic specializes in helping our clients not only manage their pain, but aiding them in any legal situations regarding their pain. Injured on the job? Can't get workers' compensation? Dr. Kurt Moran has helped countless patients prove to courts that they still need ongoing treatment and compensation. He is here to help you too. Dr. Moran will not only educate you and your family on your medical condition, but provide prime treatment programs, prognosis, and legal compliances, including appearing in court on your behalf when necessary.

subset: commoncrawl


text: Travel to Buffalo and see what's in store for this city that is making huge strides towards establishing itself in the travel scene. With a great culinary scene and an understated history and architecture vibe throughout the city you are going to want to make sure that you see this great travel destination. Angie DiFrancesco takes us through her hometown and leads us through the beauty that is Buffalo NY.


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"Chamakay" – Blood Orange
September 24, 2013
Ok, I know this is old news to you devourers of media, but this song just keeps getting better – the video too – so I felt it deserved to be posted to le blog, for posterity.
Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974)
July 26, 2013
Last weekend I went to the MFA with a couple of friends to view Jacques Rivette's film Celine and Julie Go Boating (Celine and Julie). It's a whimsical French comedy set in the 70s with a runtime of 193 minutes. I supposed the "whimsical French comedy" tag doesn't typically set the stage for a three-hour movie, but this really was a three-hour whimsical French comedy.
The movie opens like this: Julie is sitting on a park bench contemplating a spell in a large red magic book. Suddenly, she sees a woman run past in a whirlwind. Said second woman is Celine. She is adorned in colorful, long scarves (and a giant carpetbag full of, presumably, more scarves) one of which she unknowingly drops, along with a pair of sunglasses. A playful chase through the streets of Paris ensues as Julie takes it upon herself to return the belongings to their owner. Celine soon becomes aware of her assailant and begins to deliberately jettison more items from her giant bag in a breadcrumb-trail fashion. Celine impishly shirks all of Julie's efforts to return the loot. I won't reveal the outcome of this charade, but it ends with a pan down a gritty Parisian street, just as the sky is turning golden. A motorcyclist bisects the frame as we watch Julie traverse the crosswalk in the distance. This wonderful shot of the city took me back to the first time I walked down Union Street in Gowanus last summer.
There are lots of other images from Celine and Julie that keep resurfacing days later, though unlike this shot of the street, others are pseudo-Lynchian or just feel familiar in that surrealist kind of way. Though upon viewing the film, it didn't feel overtly surreal or dreamy. The strange imagery created more of a quirky tone than anything eerie.
The plot was a bit diluted, but still palpable and enjoyable. Basically, Celine and Julie become friends/confidants. They stumble upon this mansion whose inhabitants are arrested in time, reliving the same day, which is assumed to be from a few decades earlier, over and over – word for word, scene for scene. Celine and Julie can enter this recurring day in two ways; they can either physically visit the house or they can flashback to their earlier visit by eating a piece of candy acquired at the house. When we flashback with them, we see fragments of unsettling interactions with the five inhabitants: a widower, his young daughter, two jealous women, and the nurse whom Celine and Julie become when they physically enter the house. Everyone in the house is suffering from some kind of sickness (grief, medical illness, jealousy, boredom). Their mysterious interactions come together more and more for us with each revisit by Celine and Julie. Then present-day Celine and Julie (and we) realize the young girl has been murdered by one of the two women, of course in the name of love for the father, and Celine and Julie must solve the crime. Now, I'm a big fan of the unassuming detective** – think Philip Marlowe in The Long Goodbye or Veronica Mars – however, Celine and Julie surpass unassuming to conspicuously unsuitable.
In an effort to change the course of events, Celine and Julie enter the house together and cease being passive observers. They are no longer the dutiful nurse, complicit (via their passivity) to the sequence of events that end in murder. The house becomes the backdrop to a meta-stage comedy. Celine and Julie take turns looking for clues, all the while missing the nurse's cues and lines, which by this iteration are completely trite. The story is theirs for the taking. The life of the young girl is in the hands of the least-likely, most flippant protagonists.
I can see the girls come to life. Celine creates a diversion while Julie grabs the screenplay right from Jacques Rivette's hands. The girls take off running down the street in their platform shoes, carelessly leaving a trail of pages for Rivette to chase down.
[** Detectives get to rely on their instincts and intuition (which they are generally right about) in such a great way, and they are seekers of truth and justice!! And when the detective is unassuming, it just reinforces my suspicion that I could be a damn good detective!]
Photo cred: 1 – http://pequenoscinerastas.wordpress.com/2010/11/13/jacques-rivette-va-en-bote-por-el-surrealismo/ ; 2 – http://www.mask9.com/node/109291 ; 3 – http://throwherinthewater.tumblr.com/ ; 4 – http://drytoasts.com/2011/01/
Magnolia Electric Co. – "Hold on Magnolia"
March 18, 2013
R.I.P. Jason Molina.
With a Side of Carrot Soup
May 11, 2012
I've gotten pretty comfortable improvising meals. Subsequently most of my cooking is done sans a recipe. Also, these days most of my internet browsing is done in a pretty cursory manner, so I don't usually have a bunch of recipes lined up dying to be made. However, I wanted to share a few recipes that I've tried over the last few months and really enjoyed.
Both meals I'm going to share included a carrot soup. This is not as redundant as you might think. The soups were vastly different. See below a list of the only things said soups had in common:
- Contained s&p, onions, evoo and H2O
- Made by me
- Eaten by me
Soup A, served with a vegan butternut squash and almond gratin, was a puréed soup. It was a Bittman recipe, and despite only having two major ingredients (carrots and cumin) and two steps (roasting and puréeing), Soup A had great depth. I think this speaks volumes about a) roasting and b) cumin. Roasting is so easy, and it brings out the best flavors in vegetables, especially roots and tubers. Also, I'm a big cumin fan. It can overwhelm a dish if not used right, but the temptation to overuse cumin is forgivable given how good it is. This recipe was particularly "minimal" and — I'll avoid using the word "balanced" lest I come off sounding like my goal in life is to be "centered"** — even."
Anyway, I go to Bittman for recipes because he knows how to maximize and match the flavors of the few ingredients he chooses, and his recipes aren't fussy. [End of solicitation.]
The gratin was absolutely delicious. I made a few changes, all of which I fully endorse. I doubled the paprika, ground mustard seed and turmeric. This is a pretty standard thing for me to do. I intermingled slices of onion (raw) with the slices of boiled squash pre-smothering-with-sauce. And I used more almond meal to top the gratin off. [Note: You might think that the gratin is not an appropriate dish for spring or summer, but it's not heavy because it's vegan, and the spices don't play into the squash's role as an autumn-y vegetable — think all spice, cloves, nutmeg.]
Soup B was a light, lively Spring soup. The turmeric made the broth a little bit buttery and golden. The hot soup was poured over raw baby spinach. As the spinach wilted I added chopped dill and juice from a large lemon wedge. Be generous with the dill.
Soup B was served with pasta topped with homemade vegetable marinara and seitan sausages. To make the sausages you form dough from vital wheat gluten. If you've made seitan before, you know the dough doesn't require kneading. Then you split the dough into four equal parts, stretch each one out over a square of aluminum foil and twist it up like a Tootsie Roll. Finally you plop the rolls into a hot steamer, and 40 minutes later they're done.
[**because that would be disingenuous]
"The South"
May 9, 2012
I've always lived in the South. Ok, that's a lie. I lived in Denver for the first few years of my life, but I have no memory of this. I'm a Texan. Many, denizens and outsiders alike, wouldn't classify Texas as part of "the South," and reasons for this include things like zealous Texas Pride and a pedantic Old South exclusion rationale. Texas is no doubt culturally, historically, geographically and demographically distinct from most other states — I love the breakfast tacos — but, so that today's blog post is not completely fragmented, please suspend your geographical allegiances (and general disbelief), and accept that Texas is a part of the South. Also, I won a World Geography award in high school, so I'm really an authority on all things geographical. Going forward, I encourage you to remember this.
A couple of weeks ago I cooked up a (Old South-style) Southern feast for some friends of cornbread, fried okra, Annie's mac&cheese, collard greens and roasted sweet potatoes. This little gem, which I've made a few times, was the best part of the meal. Sadly, I didn't get a picture of it. I substituted blackberries for the raspberries called for in the recipe and served it alongside homemade orange whipped cream and fresh blackberries.
As of my post-college life, I've quite liked living in Texas. I know this has a lot to do with the people who have come into my life post-college and the memories I've made over the last few years, but maturity also has something to do with my recent appreciation of my home state. There are still other places I'd like to live, but I'm no longer constantly wishing I was anywhere but here.
People are always "dissing" Texas and Houston, my hometown, and I know I should be used to people spouting out all sorts of egregious crap by now, but I can't hold my tongue: y'all are wrong. (Here's to me alienating 50% of my readers.)
Now I am going to attempt to convince you of how just how wrong you are with a series of photos.
Below is a picture I took with my phone on a recent trip to Texas' sub-culturally rich state capital, Austin. It reminds me of one of the greatest TV shows ever made. It is filmed and set in Texas. I'm referring to Friday Night Lights, people. If you've never watched this show, do society a favor and go watch all five edifying and entertaining seasons instantly on Netflix. [Note: The weird blurriness on the right side of the picture is the result of, I'm pretty sure, dropping my phone in the sink. We're talking permanent water damage to the phone.]
I took this picture on my lunch break. Location: Cullen Sculpture Garden in Houston's Museum District. Sculpture: "The Crab" by Alexander Calder
Here's a view from inside the Texas Asia Society Center designed by Yoshio Taniguchi. This just opened in a neighborhood in Houston's Museum District. Taniguchi is the architect who renovated the MOMA. Noteworthy features of this building include a neat geothermal heating and cooling system, and interior and exterior walls made of limestone rock that dates back to the Jurassic geological period!
Also, I doubt a talent like country music darling, Jessica Lea Mayfield, would come all the way from Ohio to play in a city that has nothing to offer. This picture is from her current solo tour at a show at McGonigel's Mucky Duck, a pub in Houston. She was great.
These next few just keep with the Southern theme and apart from that are totally random:
From Texas,
DIY – Done!
March 15, 2012
About 8 months ago I bought these hairpin legs with the ambition of making myself a coffee table. The idea originated from a DIY project on a blog I follow, For Me, For You. Though I lacked the appropriate workspace and most of the hardware to accomplish this project, I picked it back up about a month ago with the encouragement of a few friends. Here's the finished product in all of its mid-Century modern glory. To the disappointment of my wild dog, the table is doing a nice job of anchoring the rug down.
I used a solid pine panel for the table top, and Minwax conditioner, English Chestnut Minwax stain and a Minwax low-gloss polyurethane finish.
DIY discoveries: a (really, two) short over-turned stool(s) work almost as well as sawhorses to support table tops during the sanding, conditioning, staining, polyurethaning and drying processes.
Overcoming August Angst
September 2, 2011
I haven't posted in like, a month. I'm so ashamed.
Since the beginning of August I've:
- Acquired a new roommate (2 counting her cat)
- Transported a brand new IKEA chest, jettisoned to the curbside a block away from my home, into my home
- Hosted an impromptu New Wave dance party fueled by pancakes
- Celebrated the birth of my dog
- Joined a philosophy reading group; started a fiction reading group (however, I've only read the first 16 pages of said work of fiction)
- Started* 6 books
- Realized that in order for me to be satisfied with life I have to be doing something difficult
- Decided to take a trip to New England for Thanksgiving (YES!)
And now here we are in September, and I feel like I haven't accomplished enough. I suffer from the pervasive problem of lacking adequate time in a day. I also frequently lack energy, likely because of the way I feel about how I spend 8 hours of my day, 5 days a week. The heat may also be contributing to my listlessness. Triple digits? For real?
However, the following things help get me through the week:
Here are a few more links you might find interesting or enjoyable or inspiring**:
- Mark Mahaney (photographer)
- Fun jams
- Sad jams
- Solemn jams
- St. Vincent's latest media release — Come on. It's got Pitchfork cred. Although, so did her last album, which I didn't much care for. But seriously, I genuinely like this, and it's been awhile since I've felt this way about St. V.
- Movie rec = Mumblecore + Mystery
- Dining & Wine's way of gearing up for Memorial Day
- The best antique store in all of Texas
*note: started, not finished, but September is a new month!
** or any combination of these 3 describers. I can't tell you how many combinations there are without making one of those statistical lists. I certainly can't tell you how many permutations there are without making one. If it weren't so late, I would try. Goodnight!!
Fun with my New Phone App: Snapshots of My Lovely Weekend
August 10, 2011
So on the recommendation of one of my friends, I downloaded this picture app, Vignette. Here are some pictures I took this weekend while using said app.
So this week for work I went to Galveston, TX. Is it strange to say I don't think I'd mind living there for a couple of years? It's so close to Houston. Everything is ugly in a charming way. I like all of the big, old houses–even the ones garishly colored–and I think I could get used to the seagulls. It's one of those places I like visiting because I likely will never see anyone I meet there again, since I so seldom visit, and it's a town of transient tourists. I like feeling like I'm anonymous on this tiny strange island.
It's Shakespeare in the Park season at Miller Outdoor Theatre! This production of Othello was a pretty cool thing to come across on an evening walk with Willa. Too bad she was under-exercised and acting up, or I would have stayed past the first 20 minutes.
My dog poses for me in the most peculiar ways–unassuming and innocent one moment; dignified and alert another. And she does this almost entirely on her own. Seriously. There's very little prompting and encouraging involved.
So it was my birthday this past weekend and some of my super lovely friends surprised me with some really great literature (and the cutest card). I'm so stoked. I've just started My Antonia after finishing another Larry McMurtry novel (not pictured), Horseman, Pass By.
Also, as a gift my friend Eric painted me a picture of my most prized possession (not the rug). He said it was a "collaborative effort," since the painting was based off of a picture I had taken of the Monster a month or so back. You may recognize the image from a certain previous post involving pictures taken from the aerial perspective. Anyway, I adore this. Thanks, buddy.
Note: Speaking of "collaborative effort," Eric brought to my attention that Mike Mills and Miranda July are married. Pretty rad. Beginners, Mike Mill's latest film, is beautiful. It's different from your typical indie romance in that both main characters in the film are troubled and sad (and not just because they haven't found 'the right one'), but they find solace and a piece of happiness in one another. Both are loners, usually leaving people and pushing people away, but they establish a kind of trust that comes only after one realizes the other can truly empathize with him or her. And they fall deeply in love. I'm a sucker for this kind of thing. Also, the whole thing with the gay dad coming out of the closet in his late 70s is really touching and well done. Not to mention it's visually beautiful.
Listen to Sharon Van Etten
August 3, 2011
So, something I've yet to reveal to you, the reader, about myself is this: I've got a penchant for melancholy songs. SVE is satisfying in this way. She also happens to be a fantastic writer of said melancholy songs. I would say one of the best of our time! Like if Jesus had been less into proselytism and more into music, he would have listened to SVE. Yes, I realize that the event of Christ actually listening to SVE is incongruous with both reason and the principles of one of the physical sciences (although I'm not sure which one), but I'm trying to convey a point here. SVE is wonderful.
Other notable features: cool visible tattoos, understated style of dress, vocal vibrato that will make you melt, general feminine coolness you don't see in many female artists today
More love,
Note: I'm not sure if I can define "feminine coolness." I think this is a term I picked up back in the day of following Garance Dore, although I would guess our conceptions of 'feminine' and 'cool' are vastly different. Because this term is so recondite, you'll just have to keep track of all of the instances of 'cool' and 'feminine' on this blog and weave them into some kind of comprehensive SVE-worthy tapestry. A little exercise in inductive reasoning!…I think.


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I'm one of those people who always hated running. The mile we were forced to run in P.E. always seemed like torture to me. I couldn't understand why anyone would want to run.
I probably would have successfully avoided running for the rest of my life had I not decided to put a line item for "Run a 5k" on my 100 things for 2007.
In March of 2007, I came across the Cool Running Couch-To-5k Running Plan. That program changed my entire life. I went from a Green Girl who had never run more than a mile in her entire life to a girl who joined Team In Training and completed her very first marathon this past summer. I crossed the finish line in 07:31:03. Yes, I was terrified I was going to get scooped up by the truck.
I'm the girl who is always lagging behind "the group". I'm the one who is just starting out when others are already heading back to the starting line. I'm slow but I'm steady.
My goal is to one day be able to maintain a 10 minute mile. Here is my journey.


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Well, my big exciting post was on Friday, so nothing much to see here!
I have decided to make that outfit to wear the morning after the Regency 12th Night party...just a simple half-robe over a petticoat.
Yesterday I ripped the panels for the petticoat, and today I sewed the side seams. Hopefully next week I'll be able to post about a finished petticoat and a partially sewn half-robe, but with the holidays who knows how much time I'll have for sewing...
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Sewing: Regency undress
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Sydney cinemas raise 3D ticket price
While many Australian cinemas have been sitting on a top 2D price of A$19.50 for some time, two Sydney cinema complexes have bitten the bullet and gone for an A$20 (US$21.30) ticket price. The upscale suburban independent the Cremorne Orpheum and the Palace Norton Street Leichardt set the price rise at the start of April, with plenty of comment in the local press. With half-price Tuesdays, pensioner and student discounts plus various other special offers, Palace says the average ticket price is still only about $12.50. Australian ticket prices can range up to $26.50 for 3D films on large screens and $42.50 for Gold Class. (All prices are Australian $.)
Hoyts Cinemas is set to be floated on the Australian Stock Exchange later this year. The cinemas are currently owned by a private-equity firm. Hoyts has around 18% of the cinema market, while their wholly owned subsidiary Val Morgan Advertising controls about 95% of Australian cinema advertising. The float is expected to raise about $700 million.
Australian films have had their strongest first quarter for many years, with over $14 million at the box office by the end of March. The Railway Man has taken $7.2 million, Wolf Creek 2 has earned a very nice $4.7 million, while Tracks has disappointed at $2.2 million. Even more disappointing is I, Frankenstein with less than $500,000. Just opened is the made-in-Australia U.S. production The Lego Movie with a first week of $8.8 million, coming in ahead of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, also in its first week. Most analysts expect this to be one of the best years yet for Australian-made films. (All figures quoted above are in Australian dollars unless noted otherwise.)
Send your Australia/New Zealand news to David Pearce at email@example.com


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I have been trying to find a way to cross post between Twitter and Facebook. I want what I put on Twitter to also post on my Facebook timeline without me copying and pasting it there. IFTTT (if this then that) to the rescue...With IFTTT I can set up a "task" or rule to make that happen. IFTTT finds "channels" you use and lets them "talk".
What is really cool about IFTTT is that other people have already create "tasks" and I can apply them to my account with a click of a button. These are called "recipes" and are found under the "browse" link on their site. If you can't find an action ("task") already create then you can easily create your own "tasks" by setting the trigger and the following action and it's set to happen.
Check out this video and IFTTT to learn more.


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Phone: +44 (0)1638 661434
Fax: +44 (0)1638 668107
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
The turf season is just around the corner ...
It's much milder today and it is getting lighter at both ends of the day. I could nearly see at 4.15 when I was in this morning and it certainly wasn't cold as I walked round the boxes. We have had a good morning cantering with a variety of canters used. We used the grass on New Ground, as well as Southfield Round and Hamilton Hill. All has ticked over nicely. A load of hay arrived just now which is getting unloaded as we speak and we have had a few applicants for various jobs, but, as yet, no new staff have been firmed up.
It was interesting to see the National's weight published and how this race is now becoming so much more out of most owners reach. Very similar to races on the flat, the big elite owners have a monopoly on the top horses and the old way where anybody had a chance of getting in and that magical dream coming true has disappeared. It is all to do with animal welfare they will tell you, but, if you have not got fortunes to spend, you have got very little hope of ever having a runner in the Grand National. I don't think the new evening affair rather than the lunch time format went down well either and a lot of the papers had gone to press before the weights could reach them. A bit of a silly idea once again.
Another silly idea is this city centre racing which reads like the Jockey Club are a key player in it. I hope the BHA knocks it straight on the head as this is one of the craziest ideas that have ever been bandied about. It is purely a way of certain individuals getting major sponsors to keep their company's afloat. It wouldn't work in any big city as the dangers and the health and safety would be far too much.
Our foster mother is getting on well. She arrived yesterday, mid-morning, and they have both bonded well together. It takes quite a bit of expertise to get this to happen, and we will be turning them out together tomorrow for the first time. These foster mothers are worth their weight in gold and I am told by the man who has these mares that there were two or three calls yesterday for other ones. It just goes to show what can happen with mares when they are foaling. It is always a miracle when everything turns out ok.
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5. Decide on a Theme
Lots of people like to have a theme for their scrapbook and here are some examples of themes that would work in your Disney Scrapbook.
As a general guide, a Scrapbook usually has 10 page protectors so you can fit in 20 sheets back to back, say you have 3 photos as an average per page that is 60 photos per scrapbook. You can buy extra sets of 10 page protectors for your scrapbook which will give you more room in your scrapbook and it is usually easier to do this before you start.
(The majority of Scrapbook papers are 12"x12" so if you are doing 8"x8" you will either need to cut the papers down or purchase some 8"x8" Disney Papers)
You will need to decide How / What you are going to do your Scrapbook, For Example:
1) In Date order, a Day by Day account of your trip starting with the Journey, so you may like to do a page per day, with the date on each layout and what you did each day. You could do a Main front page for the first page of your scrapbook and then you could do a double page layout ( Like a book open ) for each day, and then the last page could hold your tickets, park maps, perhaps photos of yourselves on the plane on the last day etc.
2) You may like to have 1 scrapbook per theme park if you have lots of photos, so 1 for Magic Kingdom, 1 for Epcot etc, or possibly 1 for Disney, 1 for Seaworld, 1 for Universal.
3) You may like to do a personalised scrapbook for each of your children / grandchildren so you can just include mainly the photos of them, with journalling of what you all did which can be a lovely reminder for them as they grow up
4) You could do a scrapbook including just your favourite rides /shows highlights of your trip
5) You could just make one including all of your photos of your Character meet and greets with their Autographs too!
6) If you have been to Disney at Christmas or Halloween or any other special occasion then you may want to theme your scrapbook around this too!
You will then need to decide which papers / embellishments you would like to use and possibly the colour scheme:
1) You may like to choose a wide variety of different themed papers for your scrapbook, the Sandylion or EK Success range is great for this, having a huge choice of papers and stickers for nearly every character, so you can use Peter Pan paper and stickers with your Peter Pan photos, Red and White Minnie Mouse dots paper with Minnie Mouse stickers for your Minnie photos and so forth. You will probably like to have a mixture of plain coloured cardstock to back your photos onto which looks lovely. You can really make your layouts as elaborate or as simple as you like and the more you get into it the more you will find your own style and what you like / what works for you. The same applies for Seaworld / Universal - there are lots of themed papers in my store.
2) You may like to keep everything co-ordinated in your scrapbook and there are some great collections by Creative Imaginations and Designs by Reminisce which are Disney Themed and would work really well. Both of these collections are themed around black, red, yellow and white - classic Disney colours and have glitter or foil accents. Both are really lovely! Lots of other embellishments and stickers to co-ordinate as well as other items that you can add yourself!
3) You may like to stick to plain coloured cardstock - perhaps just 1 "Disney" colour all the way through, for example red or black. The Bazzill cardstock is perfect for this and comes in a wide range of colours. You can then decorate the pages with embellishments, blossoms and more to create your layouts! Alternatively you could use a mix of plain coloured cardstock too!
Hope this helps!
Now onto the next section:> Disney Supplies
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Vegetable trays and cheese and crackers are common vegetarian staples on party tables, but meatless appetizers don't have to be so boring.
Vegetable trays and cheese and crackers are common vegetarian staples on party tables, but meatless appetizers don't have to be so boring.
Appetizers can be the perfect way to begin a meal, or they can be the perfect small meal. Little bites can stave off hunger, allowing you to linger longer, or they can provide a light meal when heavier foods aren't appetizing. Regardless of how you choose to enjoy appetizers, vegetarian options like our Spinach-and-Artichoke Dip shine.
This warm, creamy, cheesy dip is tasty and a snap to prepare. Assemble up to two days ahead, and bake just before serving.
For convenience, prepare the dip up to three days in advance and refrigerate in an airtight container. Serve with pita wedges and bell pepper strips.
Prepare this traditional Greek dip within an hour of serving time to prevent it from becoming watery. Greek yogurt is thicker and creamier than other yogurt, and we find it superior in this recipe. Serve with pita wedges.
The ritual of eating whole artichokes―tear off a leaf, eat the tender flesh, and repeat―is as much a part of the experience as the flavor. The creamy texture and sweet savoriness of roasted garlic in the dipping sauce serve to enhance everything to heavenly levels.
Bruschetta is simple to make. It starts with a baguette or narrow loaf that has been thinly sliced and toasted. To that crunchy bread base, add any toppings you wish—in this vegetarian recipe we add a spicy mushroom mixture.
The three-cheese filling is a nice complement for the spicy peppers. You can also use a milder chile, such as a cherry pepper. Shredded cheddar cheese can take the place of Parmesan, if you like.
Sturdy vegetables, such as potatoes, green tomato slices, onions, and zucchini, are good choices for battering and ovenfrying. Many oven-fried foods are coated in a liquid, such as an egg wash, and then coated in a mixture of crunchy coatings, such as breadcrumbs, flour, cornmeal, cracker meal, or panko. These coatings help create a crisp crust and also insulate the food to prevent it from overcooking.
A mandoline will help you create picture-perfect chips. Tip: Buy an extra potato to practice with beforehand.
Grape leaves are a part of Turkish, Greek, Arab, and Romanian cuisines and are often stuffed with a mixture of rice, vegetables, meat, and spices. They're served warm or cold as an appetizer or main dish with yogurt.
Tucked inside crisp, flaky phyllo dough pastry are tender potato chunks and a perfectly cooked egg.


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Office 365 & Your Students
Last week I talked about using Office 365, which is a suite of web-based Microsoft products, including email, Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and SkyDrive's cloud based storage connected through your school email. The suite of products are also available to your students through their email accounts.
In our district, ALL students (K-12) have access now to their email accounts and the Microsoft Web applications hosted there. If you choose to use those services with primary students, it might be a good idea to share information with parents about it.
Encouraging your students to create documents and store them in the "Cloud" provides many benefits for students. Cloud based storage means no more broken or lost jump drives, no more searching through network folders and no more concern that students are saving to the "wrong" location and at risk of losing their work forever. Additionally, encouraging students to actually CREATE their documents through the web version of Word, PowerPoint and Excel, which can be found under the SkyDrive link, will mean that students only have to go to one location and it will auto save their work for them. In addition, they will be able to access and work on their documents from any device that has an Internet connection—including tablets.
To get your students started using Office 365 for creating documents, check out this one page student guide [here] or copy and this URL into your browser http://goo.gl/cEjZPU
As students begin using the different features of Office 365, it is extremely important that you discuss good Digital Citizenship with them, and explain that when they are on their student accounts and any features within Office 365, they should be acting in a "professional" capacity. It's a good idea to remind them to THINK: before the post or create—is it True, Helpful, Inspiring, Needed and Kind. If it's not, then they shouldn't post or create.
To help students working with Office 365 from a mobile device, like a tablet, you can find directions [here] or copy and this URL into your browser http://goo.gl/obwiUM.
Christmas Read Aloud with Pete the Cat
Who does Santa call when he's sick in bed and unable to deliver presents to all the boys and girls? Why, Pete the Cat of course!
In Eric Litwin and James Dean's Pete the Cat Saves Christmas, Pete is faced with the challenge of his life. And, although Pete is small, he knows that if he gives it his all, he can help Santa and save Christmas for all the children.
The book, with it's excellent Pete the Cat illustrations, is a fun way to talk about the ways that even the youngest people can lend a helping hand to those in need of a little help.
Check out the video recording of the song [here]
Genius Hour: Something to Dig Into Over Winter Break
Genius Hour is a movement in education that is based on the 20% release time construct that Google uses to help spark creativity in it's employees. Using release time, employees can engage in learning anything that interests them, provided that it could have an impact on the Google business later. Through this set up, Google employees have come up with many innovative concepts.
In Genius Hour in schools, students are given an hour of class time a week to pursue their own interests and passions, with the idea that allowing students to engage in their own interests will help to improve student productivity and intrinsic motivation. A good genius hour includes these things: a strong research question that requires real digging and work to understand, research and a project that is shared with the world. Projects could be short and confined to that 1 hour, or they could be long-term lasting over several weeks. You also may find it beneficial to ask students to relate their projects in some way to the content you're studying in class.
Check out this video [here], by Chris Kesler for a 3 minute introduction to the concept.
Follow Chris, on Twitter [here] @iamkesler. If you have some time, you also may want to take a look at Kesler's archived presentation of Genius Hour [here] for a lot more information on the subject. Kesler also gives some great advice for finding time to do Genius Hour—check that out [here.
For even more information about how to get started with it, try this Livebinder by Joy Kirr [here] (follow her on Twitter [here].
If all of this information is too overwhelming, I would suggest starting small, and participating in a #GeniusHour chat, which occurs the first Thursday of each month, or search the #20Time hashtag for more information on Twitter.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Tuesday Teacher Tips Office 365 & Your Students, Pete the Cat Saves Christmas & Intro to Genius Hour
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I hate the beginning of the year because the curriculum is so boring for me to teach. We go over globes and maps and talk about government all at lightning speed, hoping the kids will absorb something that can resemble a sufficient background for future content. After that we get to start the ancient civilizations, which is where I have all sorts of fun and exciting lessons. Just two more days and we'll be able to get into the good stuff!
I have managed to work in two really engaging lessons so far. The first of which involves a volcano. What kid doesn't love volcanoes? (I'll share the second lesson in another post.) During our exploration of the different types of maps, we discussed elevation maps, which are quite daunting. They require the kids to have enough brain power to look at a flat diagram with numbers and visualize a landscape. Ha! I find that difficult enough to do and my brain is fully developed (as far as I know).
I mean, just look at this thing. Stare at this for one minute and you'll either develop vertigo or be hypnotized.
So, to make this kind of map a little more exciting and understandable for the kids, I have them make 3D models of Mount St. Helens before and after its eruption in 1980 using elevation maps. I got this idea from one of my fellow teachers my first year of teaching and I've used it every year I've taught 6th grade. This activity takes about 45 minutes for students to complete and they really enjoy it. The only down side to it is that it wastes a lot of paper, so to cut down on that, I put kids in pairs and each pair made one replica together. Half my groups did a before version and the other half did an after version. Once they were made, we looked at both versions and talked about how elevation maps are used to show different altitudes.
This is how we did it:
- Supply groups with the same elevation map copied onto multiple colors of cardstock. The number of pages depends on how many "levels" the map has. Our before map had 14 and our after map had 10.
- Students cut out one level per page, making sure to cut around the elevation numbers, and put the pieces in order.
3. The students glue scrap pieces of cardboard onto the bottom of each piece (except the bottom) and attach to the previous level, creating a kind of 3D effect. The top pieces are smaller and more delicate so the kids have to really take their time at the end.
4. Voila! You have a 3D volcano made from an elevation map! :)
Neat, huh?


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There are many five card spreads. As we're looking at simple ones for now, this is the simplest. Five is a strong esoteric number that keeps us grounded in the material world. This particular spread represents you and your worldly goals. Start with a clear mind and shuffle the deck. Draw five cards and place them face down in front of you in a line. Turn over the leftmost card, this is Card 1. Then work your way along to card 5.
Card 1 represents you in your current state.
Card 5 represents your goal. This may be a job, a relationship.
Cards 2,3 and 4 represent the challenges that you're going to need to overcome to get to your goal. You may already be aware of these issues, or you may not. For example, say you have a crush on somebody, but your problems are the following; you can't talk to them because you're shy, you don't know them yet, and they aren't aware that you exist. These are your three main issues. Lets take another approach.
Say you're looking for a new job. Card 5 will give you an idea of the area of work you should look for. Card 1 will tell you about your current ability and state of mind. Cards 2,3 and 4 will tell you what you need to do to get to Card 5,
When the cards have been laid out, do not change them. Look up their meanings from either the major arcana, swords, cups, pentacles or wands.


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Friday, June 10, 2011
The Easy Bake Eternal Oven
Tom cooked us a delicious breakfast and drove me back to the Glouster library late in the morning. My footsteps took me out of town on Highway 78 and I soon learned that just because I had passed over the coal barge did not mean I was done with the world of coal mining.
Buchtel, which I visited in the late afternoon, was the location of the Millfield Mine #6 disaster of 1930. The shaft's collapse caused the death of 82 workers, the greatest tragedy in Ohio mining history.
Another town I just missed to the south, New Straitsville, has a more unusual tale. An impasse over wages between workers and the New Straitsville mining company led to a long strike. With ownership refusing to give into their demands, a minority of the strikers decided to throw the baby out with the bath water. Late one night they pushed burning coal cars down into the mine, causing a tremendously powerful fire that led to its permanent closure.
One hundred and twenty five years later that conflagration is still lit. A massive United States government attempt in 1939 organized by the Works Progress Administration was unable to contain the blaze (the smoky image above dates from 1961). The seam the angry workers had inflamed turned out to stretch for an incredible fourteen miles. Well water came out of the ground already boiling for many years later, a boon for lovers of Earl Grey in a hurry. In certain parts of Wayne National Forest smoke can be seen rising from the ground, evidence the "Devil's Oven," as a recent documentary named the blaze, still burns furiously underground.
My day was pretty routine up until the end. Fourteen miles from Glouster brought me to Nelsonville. In between I visited Murray City, where I met Michelle, who plied me with ice cream and watermelon, some road money, and a lot of motherly love. I promise to be safe Michelle!
A good day quickly unwound in Nelsonville. Google had placed my campsite of the night, Happy Hills, about a mile north of Highway 33 on 278. When nothing immediately materialized I asked someone about the place, only to discover it was two to three miles south on 278.
Once I got going in the right direction I called Happy Hills to let them know what happened. They assured me I would be there in five to ten minutes. Thirty minutes later I was not there and the sun was a bare sliver above the surrounding hills. No one answered my frantic calls to the campground.
Soon thereafter I ran into a man named Ralph who said I still had another six plus miles to go! The woman I had spoken to must not have understood that I did not have a car! There was no way I could make it. I convinced Ralph to drive me up there, which he kindly did. I have trusted Google Maps' location of things too many times - I can't afford to be burnt again by their eternal fire of errors.
16 miles/606 total miles
Posted by Alastair McCandless at 9:45 AM
Labels: Wounded Warrior Project
2 comments:
I watched an interesting documentary about the town of Centralia, Pa a few months ago. That town was all but abandoned because of an anthracite coal fire under the city in 1962. Below is the link. Its a good watch...
- June 10, 2011 at 3:30 PM
- Alastair McCandless said...
Ironically Mark, I learned about Centralia by reading "Walk in the Woods" to prepare for this journey.
- June 14, 2011 at 2:14 PM
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by Sandy
Being 61 years old now, I've been wanting to try both a vitamin A serum and a product with hyaluronic acid to see if either (or both) would help my skin look more evenly toned. A little more radiance would be an added bonus. My skin is combination skin but drier in the winter, which means that in the winter months my skin has dry patches that show up more when I apply foundation.
I was very pleased to be able to test and review the Mad Hippie Vitamin A Serum ($32.99). I incorporated the product into my nightly routine by first washing and drying my face and then applying the Mad Hippie Vitamin A Serum. After having it on for ten minutes, I then applied my moisturizer. For the first 10 seconds or so, the product feels a bit tacky. But the tacky feeling then disappears.
By the end of the first week, I began to notice that my foundation looked less like makeup sitting on my face. And with my makeup on, my skin does actually look a little more radiant than before I started using the product. I didn't notice much of a difference without my makeup on, but I definitely did with my makeup on. I'm fine with that, since if I'm going to make the effort to put makeup on to go somewhere, I want my skin to look better while still looking natural.
With the ingredients in the Mad Hippie Vitamin A Serum, particularly the retinyl retinoate and the sodium hyaluronic acid, I was expecting my few fine lines to become less apparent. I haven't really noticed that yet. But since there is still quite a bit of product left, I will continue using it to see if there is an improvement in the fine lines. If I see no further improvements, I will still be a user of Mad Hippie Vitamin A Serum because at least my skin does look better when I am wearing foundation.


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Kaley stands close to the girl who looks like sitting in the air while singing.
Kaley: Hey girl. Who are you? And why are you singing?
The girl pauses, looks down at Kaley.
Girl: It doesn't matter who I am. The question should be more like why I am here.
Kaley: Okay, why are you here?
Girl: To show you something. Something you might have never seen or even thought about before. But it is there. All the time we are surrounded by things that nobody pays attention on. We are all living in this bubble, this fairytale.
She comes down slowly, stands with her feet on the ground and moves towards Kaley, very slowly. She holds her arms into the air, almost like she is praising. The other guys move into the apartment and still look confused and are all out of words. Kaley goes a step back, saying to Johnny who was right next to her.
Kaley: She's a weirdo. I don't know who or what she is, but I guess she's is not supposed to be here. Call the security, or at least Bill. She totally scares me.
Johnny: Me too. Maybe she ran away from a mental institution or something like that. But how has she found a way into the studio? That's not possible.
Melissa: Oh hey Bill, over here. You have to come and see this magical girl. Oh I love to have such a great view. In my next life I wish to be a basketball player.
Melissa gushes about that, smiling. Bill is coming onto the stage.


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You can see the video for this story on the euronews website here
Mothers of prisoners were joined by thousands of protesters on Thursday, after a video emerged showing guards torturing and raping inmates at a prison. They called for the resignation of the Interior and Justice Ministers.
One mother said: "I can not bear this any more, I fainted three times yesterday. I didn't know that such things happened at the prison. At least I did not believe it."
In an effort to diffuse tensions President Mikhail Saakashvili has accepted the resignation of the minister in charge of penitentiaries, and completely reshuffled prison personnel.
Georgian prosecutors have arrested 12 prison officials and Saakashvili has vowed to punish those responsible.
The video comes at a sensitive moment for the president, who has led Georgia since 2004, just ahead of parliamentary elections on October 1.
The video showing guards torturing prisoners and raping them with truncheons and broom handles was broadcast by two opposition TV channels on Monday, leading the government to claim that it was staged for political reasons.


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Dominican Advance
Dominican Advance provides opportunity for a brighter future to impoverished people in the Dominican Republic by educating children, empowering entrepreneurs, and equipping Christian leaders.
Nearly all of Dominican Advance's schools and programs successfully operate in areas where household incomes are little more than a dollar a day per person. Our work brings good news, hope, and a future to those trapped in a generational cycle of poverty and ignorance.
Our Mission
Educate Children
Dominican Advance's schools for quality Christian education are among the most highly regarded in the entire country. International TV & radio personalities, missionaries, educators and pastors have praised the program.
Empower Entrepreneurs
The Microbusiness Empowerment program provides deserving Dominican entrepreneurs with the merchandise, equipment, tools and training they need to start, run, and grow their own small business. The program has a 90% rate of success at the one year milestone of business operation.
Equip Christian Leaders
Dominican Advance works to equip and encourage pastors, schools teachers, and other Christian leaders through workshops, conferences, intensives, and one-on-one encounter sessions.
Become Part of the Team
Effectively Showing Compassion
Compassion sees need and reaches out to meet it. Unfortunately, without knowledge and wisdom, compassion produces frustration and limited results. Dominican Advance believes that after examining our programs you will find us worthy of your sponsorship, grant or gift dollars.
Engage Your Talents and Energy
Many people today are free to travel and want their lives to make a difference. Dominican Advance welcomes people who desire to volunteer to help build a brighter future for the Dominican people. For more information on how you can make a personal contribution, please email us at email@example.com


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Racial Harmony?
Didn't Barack promise way back in 2008 to be a uniter and to strive for racial harmony? Hope and change? As usual the msm only half reports the story, not naming the race of the attackers for fear of being labeled a racist.
Via CBS Cleveland authorities have made several arrests following the mob beating of a disabled Army veteran by a group of teenagers. Last Friday, the victim, Matthew Robinson, was surrounded by between six and eight teenagers while riding the RTA Healthline. Robinson told WOIO that he was attacked by the teens, then robbed of is possessions. During the attack, the teens made several derogatory remarks about Robinson. 'Knock that white boy out!' 'White boy.' 'Cracker,'" he was quoted as saying about the incident. "They were saying, 'Knock that white boy out.'" This week, three suspects –Kenneth Matthews, Ronald Reid Williams and an unnamed 16-year-old girl –were arrested by Cleveland and RTA police. The latter filmed the attack with her cell phone, and was said to still have the video at the time of her apprehension. Despite the arrests, concern remains as other attacks of a similar nature have happened in the area, most of which are said to have been perpetrated by other young culprits, according to WOIO. Added Robinson of the danger, "Your mother or sister could be on the bus, and the same could happen to them.
Right Wing Terrorism?
Documents from an Ohio National Guard (ONG) training drill conducted last January reveal the details of a mock disaster where Second Amendment supporters with "anti-government" opinions were portrayed as domestic terrorists.
http://mediatrackers.org/ohio/2014/02/10/ ohio-national-guard-training-envisions-right-wing-terrorism
So people who support our constitution are anti government?
From the 'oops' Files
Via Free Republic
Iraqi militants accidentally set off bomb, 21 dead
BAGHDAD (AP) —An instructor teaching his militant recruits how to make car bombs accidentally set off explosives in his demonstration Monday, killing 21 of them in a huge blast that alerted authorities to the existence of the rural training camp in an orchard north of Baghdad. Nearly two dozen people were arrested, including wounded insurgents trying to hobble away from the scene.
The North Star Polaris is getting brighter
I wonder if Barack will give an executive order on global warming over this.
Our Future Leaders
Via Info Wars
Media analyst Mark Dice has once again documented how many young Americans are completely disconnected from reality, capturing California college students signing a fake petition to imprison all legal gun owners in concentration camps and even to have them executed.
Obamas Half Brother
Malik Obama is Barack Obamas half brother, but he is close enough to the president to have been the best man at Barack and Michelle's wedding. He has also visited the White House, and is president of the Barack H. Obama Foundation. It's at the BHO Foundation website that Malik Obama has posted this curious photo.
The Barack H. Obama Foundation was fast-tracked to IRS tax-exempt status at the same time that the IRS was abusing numerous Tea Party and conservative groups. While those groups' tax-exempt applications were taking two years and mountains of paperwork and invasive queries about their memberships and activities, the Barack H. Obama Foundation won its status in just 30 days. That status was back-dated 38 months, which is against the law. The scarf is a Hamas scarf. Hamas is a designated terrorist group according to the US State Department. It has held that status since 1997. The text on the scarf that the president's brother is wearing in the 2010 photo reads, "'Jerusalem is ours –WE ARE COMING!'" It also includes a map of Palestine that reads "From the river to the sea!" See a close-up photo in the below link.
Pentagon: Capitulate To Sharia Law
Islamofascism: Caving to pressure from Muslim groups, the Pentagon has relaxed uniform rules to allow Islamic beards, turbans and hijabs. It's a major win for political correctness and a big loss for military unit cohesion.
Also, the sharia-compliant regulation threatens to expand the jihadi Fifth Column that counterintelligence already is dealing with in the wake of the Fort Hood massacre. The FBI is tracking more than 100 suspected jihadists within the military.


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I didn't get a ride in this weekend, but instead there were plenty of other things to do. Shana
had made our mammogram appointments for early in the day, so after the bribe of a "short stack" at Beverly's off I went to get my breasts squashed. She went on to work, followed by a short trip to Dallas with Aunt Rita.
There was a fiber event in Edmond, and I stopped by to check it out. It was geared to spinners, so I was able to resist all offerings. On the way home I stopped at TLC Greenhouses to indulge in my yearly flower purchase. As it happens I went not a moment too soon. Our winter was tough this year and I had lost more than half of my canas. Because I don't have my heart set on particular varieties I usually buy canas at the end of the planting season so I can get them on sale. They were nearly all gone by the time I bought mine this year. I got the new canas planted, refilled my patio pots, and planted up my little front yard bed. This year it's all red any yellow: geraniums, sun coleus, celosia and gobs of marigolds. I won't post pictures yet because the bed will look much better in a few weeks.
My (local) children took me out to dinner at the Olive Garden - showing up on time and with money! We had a really nice time even though there was a long wait for a table. There are lots of additional pictures of Vivian in my Flickr gallery, but none of Alex or Sam. have to sneak up on them to capture their images and they were hiding from me.


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Philippines: Evangelistic Camps
Cavite, Philippines (Map)
ACTION Philippines, in cooperation with partner churches, conducts camps for up to 80 street children and underprivileged youth per camp. Participating churches recruit the campers, provide camp staff, and follow-up their campers after the camp. The goal is to lead campers to a personal faith in Christ and then incorporate them back into their recruiting church. The evangelistic camps are frontline ministries regarding ACTION's efforts to Evangelize, Disciple, and Develop the street children of Manila transforming them into active and equipped members of local churches and productive members of society.
ACTION trains each church in camping and oversees each camp. We plan 6 camps annually and conduct them as funds are available.
Each camp costs US$3,125