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Sources from inside the City are letting it be known that many bankers are very angry with the editor of Money Laundering Bulletin for his reporting of the recent case of Shah -v- HSBC. Not because it was inaccurate, but because it was altogether too truthful.
A close informant recently described to me how the reporting of the case in the prestigious and informed Journal, 'Money Laundering Bulletin', had heaped huge embarrassment on HSBC, when the actions of their Compliance Department with responsibility for preventing and forestalling money laundering, came to be minutely dissected in forensic detail by barristers acting for the claimant in the case.
The responsible officer concerned was subjected to a lengthy and searching period of cross examination, and it would not be unreasonable to say that his answers betrayed the fact that the practices and procedures applied to the systems and controls apparently in force at the time in the bank, were found to be lacking a certain degree of regulatory rigour.
The case was reported regularly by the Journal, in significant detail and much of the important questioning was reported verbatim.
Well, apparently this totally responsible attitude towards the reporting of a most important case has caused not a little disquiet among city practitioners who appear to think that to report a case in this way is not playing the game. Apparently they don't like the fact that HSBC's dirty washing was hung out for all to see, and presumably learn from!
This is so typical of the banking sector - they don't want their failures to be broadcast to the market place, presumably because it might give potential clients the right impression, that the institution concerned hasn't covered itself in glory in complying with its legal responsibilities.
However, the institutions have their own way of trying to deflect the attention from their own inadequacies. They fight back by marginalising those who have offended by snubbing them, or bringing pressure on others who might be in a position to influence the offender's conduct.
I once received a letter from some pompous City figure who resented an editorial I had written in an academic journal. He complained that my observations about endemic city fraud could only bring the city into disrepute, and demanded that I bring his letter to the attention of the financial backers of the Journal. He did so in the mistaken belief that his views would cause them to pressure me to tone down my observations in future. He was badly mistaken. I published his letter in the Journal, and invited him to write an article refuting the piece I had written, and promising to publish it as his right of reply. I never heard from him again.
But it doesn't stop the City from whining when they think they can influence outcomes they don't like.
Bob Diamond is quoted in today's Daily Telegraph saying:
"The way this situation was handled seems to us completely unwarranted. Unnecessary damage was placed on Barclays' reputation just at a time when the focus should be rebuilding confidence and accelerating growth, not undermining it."
Diamond was moaning about the reports which appeared in the press about Barclays' aggressive tax avoidance structuring back in February of this year.
Barclays Bank had been ordered by the Treasury to pay half-a-billion pounds in tax which it had tried to avoid. Barclays was accused by HM Revenue and Customs of designing and using two schemes that were intended to avoid substantial amounts of tax.The government had taken the unusual step of introducing retrospective legislation to end such "aggressive tax avoidance" by financial institutions. The government had closed the schemes to retrieve £500m of lost tax and safeguard payments of billions of more tax in the future.
Barclays claimed that it had been surprised by HMRC's reaction to the two schemes, which it believed to be in line with those used by other banks. It was highly embarrassing for Barclays, because Britain's big banks have all signed a code committing them not to engage in tax avoidance.
This latest outburst by Diamond is merely par for the course when the big banks find themselves facing embarrassing situations.
If the financial institutions want to protect themselves from justified criticism by professional journals, then they can do so easily. Just obey the rules and regulations and make the money available to ensure that their staff can provide the necessary degree of compliance.
Trying to shoot the messenger just because they don't like the message, is the sign of a real loser!


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Make fun of old horror movies all you want, but if you saw one as a child, it stuck with you didn't it? There is a lot of emotional power in those images — just as there is in a well-written pop song. Combine the two and you really get something special. Nothing demonstrates that better than the music of Doleful Lions. I've been fascinated by the group for years. The title track to The Rats are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here! is a perennial secret weapon in my Halloween playlists.
Doleful Lions frontman Jonathan Scott lives in Plano, Ill., about 50 miles west of Chicago. The band started in Chicago in the mid-'90s and relocated to Chapel Hill, N.C. for several years. It includes Jonathan on guitar and vocals and his brother Robert on bass. The brothers will give their first Doleful Lions show in two years on April 22 at the Abbey in Chicago. They just completed a new album, Let's Break Bobby Beausoleil Out of Prison, which should be released soon — hopefully by summer. They are working on yet another album for the Jesus Warhol label and have numerous albums available on Parasol Records.
I spent several hours over the last couple of weeks visiting with Jonathan about his music, his influences and his outlook on life.
"We are all zombies waiting to have an apocalypse," said Jonathan, when asked about the significance of B horror references in his songs. Jonathan believes Americans are being distracted by trivialities from a creeping fascism — much like the future described in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World — and disaster is bound to be the result.
"I feel like everything is a horror show. I think that B-Movie horror is a good barometer for what is going on in the world. I think we are pretty much all programmed and I think that eventually that programming will destroy everyone. I mean people are actually entertained by Dancing With The Stars, which to me is a sign of being a zombie. Most people could care less about the government taking away your rights. They have a big screen TV so who cares? It is totally Brave New World.
"It's by design. They want us to be all preoccupied with our jobs and our rent and paying for food they know that if we are worrying about that we won't question them taking our freedoms. People's lives are hard, 'cause that is what they want, so we don't question anything. We watch Dancing with the Stars when we get off work cause we can't be bothered with what is really going on."
His lyrics are a way of expressing his horror at the world's problems and dealing with his struggle with bipolar disorder. They also spring from a heartfelt love of old cinema and science fiction — and growing up with access to a damn good video store.
Musical Beginnings
MusicMissionary: "Would you mind telling me how you got into music?"
Jonathan Scott: "When I was 4 is when it started. My parents had an old Realistic stereo they never used and they had a few records and I discovered it and learned how to work it and started listening. I remember they had Abbey Road, Beatles 65, Beatles VI, some Barbra Streisand record and Creedence, but once I discovered the stereo I stopped going outside to play. At that time we were living in Memphis and Elvis was huge so I went to K-Mart and bought Elvis 45s and The Eagles, John Travolta, Shaun Cassidy – you know, the popular stuff in the mid-'70s."
MM: "Osmonds…"
JS: "I didn't have any Osmonds, but when I was in kindergarten Kiss was huge and I heard Kiss Alive II and the music scared me and Gene Simmons scared me, but I really loved it."
MM: "I actually had a Donnie & Marie album. Don't tell anyone."
JS: "Oh, that's okay, I don't think you should have to be responsible for any record you owned until maybe when you reach high school. I had a lot of pretty lame shit, I had the John Travolta record and really loved it. This song called 'Easy Evil' – I loved that song. I read a few years ago that Jim Gordon played drums on that song."
MM: "Only Travolta song I remember is 'Gonna Let Her In.'"
JS: "Yeah, that was the big song from the record but I liked the B-Side. That was the A side. I don't know I was 4. I thought it was good haha."
Hardcore Punk
MM: "So what about playing music. When did that start?"
JS: "I got into hardcore when I was in high school and really wanted to play in a band 'cause my friends had started playing music. I didn't play an instrument, but I could sing okay, so my first year of junior college at College Of DuPage I put an ad up looking for a band that plays in the style of Husker Du/Bad Religion or the Descendents and this guy Jason called me and we eventually started a band. We were really bad."
MM: "What year would that have been, about?"
JS: "This was in 1990. There were a bunch of bands in suburban Chicago doing similar stuff and we eventually got in contact with a lot of people in bands."
MM: "Did y'all make songs or do covers?"
JS: "We did all originals but we did do a Mudhoney song and a Minor Threat song. It was fun though."
Cinco de Gatos
MM: "So anyway… You left off doing hardcore and singing but not playing. When did you start doing that? You play guitar, right? Anything else?"
JS: "Yeah well, when that first band broke up, I moved to Chicago and my roommate [Dan Panic] played drums for Screeching Weasel and Jason – the guy that was in my first band — lived like a block away, so we decided to start playing, even though I had only been playing guitar for like a month. We were called Cinco de Gatos and I had to learn to play pretty fast, but we spent most of that summer rehearsing and played our first show in January of 1995. At the time, we had this dude named Ryan who had played drums in this band called Gauge playing second guitar. We did our first show and we were so bad Ryan and Dan quit that night."
MM: "You say you moved to Chicago. Where were you before that with your first band?"
JS: "In the suburbs. We were based in the Downers Grove area."
JS: "There was a suburban hardcore scene out there. Tony Victory lived down the street in Downers and had shows at his house all the time and now he is Victory Records haha."
MM: "What kind of music were you guys making?"
JS: "It was really influenced by Fugazi and the stuff on Dischord Records. Also the bands on Lookout and stuff like Jawbreaker. There were a lot of bands like that at the time."
From post-hardcore to indie pop
MM: "When did you start to develop your current sound? I'm hearing Beatles, Beach Boys, some shoegaze maybe… Very different from the kind of music you're describing."
JS: "Well, at the time when I was playing in Cinco I was getting into stuff like Big Star, Teenage Fanclub, obviously the Beatles, the Byrds and then the UK stuff like My Bloody Valentine, Ride. I was way into Elvis Costello too, but by the end of that band I had completely lost interest in playing post-hardcore or emo or whatever you want to call it and I wanted to play stuff like what I was listening to. Plus Bee Thousand by Guided By Voices came out in '94 and I got that and I said 'Screw this band I am in.' So I bought a 4-Track in 1995 and wrote a bunch of pop songs."
MM: "Normal pop songs? As in, not about Satan or werewolves or sci fi?"
JS: "Oh no, these songs were love songs. You know, guitar pop stuff, and with Casio keyboards — real twee stuff. I played it for Jason in Cinco de Gatos and he hated it. So I knew I was onto something.
"I have to tell you this story: When my first album Motel Swim came out, DL's played Chicago. I was living in Chapel Hill at this time, and I played the album for my childhood friend Kevin Smith. Kevin had come up with me and been into hardcore and stuff, and I played him Motel Swim and he said 'Dude this is the most uncool record I have ever heard.' I felt like I had accomplished something 'cause that is what I was going for. Haha."
MM: "So, what was it about pop songs and being uncool that was cool to you?"
JS: "Well, I had been playing in punk rock bands or hardcore, emo whatever you want to call it. Power pop is uncool at least in my circles and I really wanted Doleful Lions to be completely different from the Chicago emo shit that was going on at the time. I felt no connection to that stuff at all."
MM: "What was it about emo that you hated? Too whiny?"
JS: "No, I just didn't really feel an emotional connection to it — which is weird considering it is called emo — it always seemed contrived to me. I didn't feel that music at all, but I felt stuff like Beach Boys and Flamin' Groovies. I mean I remember where I was the first time I heard 'Shake Some Action' but I can't say the same about the first time I heard Fugazi."
Horror Movies
MM: "The main thing that has fascinated me about your stuff has been the pairing of lush pop and B horror imagery. Can you explain why you like that combination and why you like B horror movies?"
JS: "I grew up loving B movies so much. My brother and I used to watch all that stuff all the time. There is a song on the new album called 'Julie's Video' which is kinda a tribute to this video store my brother and I used to go to, it is what I know so I figured I would write about stuff I know, which is Lucio Fulci movies."
MM: "Why B horror and not 'art' horror?"
JS: "Because I relate to stuff like Gates Of Hell and Dawn of The Dead more than some art house movie. I think it is probably because I am a suburban kid who had access to a really good video store."
MM: "It seems like you have a thing about zigging when others are zagging if you know what i mean. Finding uncool things and making them cool…"
JS: "Yes, there is a song on the Rats Are Coming The Werewolves Are Here called 'The Contrarian,' which is about myself haha."
MM: "The B horror movie thing is a perfect example."
JS: "Yeah, taking horrible movies and putting them in a literary context… I mean The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here! is a horrible movie! Almost unwatchable. But Andy Milligan's movies are charming and I would much rather watch that than Inception or something."
MM: "How did you get into that stuff and what made you want to make songs about it?"
JS: "Well, I have been into horror movies since I was a kid and never really grew out of it, and bands like the Misfits and the Cramps have done that sort of thing before, but not really a guitar pop band at least not at that time really."
MM: "That's what I found so striking about your music. Pretty sounding music, but the titles and lyrics are like Night of the Living Dead. I love juxtapositions like that."
JS: "Yeah, I do too. The new record is even more pronounced with that type of thing. The lyrics on the new record are pretty hateful and violent."
Let's Break Bobby Beausoleil Out Of Prison
The forthcoming Doleful Lions album has a rather controversial title, though not everyone will get the reference. (I had to look him up myself.) Indie musicians have a hard enough time getting attention that a bit of controversy probably won't hurt, and it might help.
Beausoleil is doing hard time for the 1969 murder of music teacher and associate Gary Hinman. Beausoleil said he was trying to collect money from Hinman, who was said to owe money to Charles Manson (yes, THAT Charles Manson) for selling a bad batch of mescaline that had in turn been sold to some rather pissed off bikers.
Beausoleil was also a musician and aspiring actor who appeared in some B horror movies and wrote the soundtrack for a movie called Lucifer Rising that he would've starred in if he hadn't gone to prison. Beausoleil wasn't involved in the Manson Family's "Helter Skelter" murders, but his affiliation with the Family has most likely kept him from getting paroled.
Jonathan doesn't condone what Beausoleil did and thinks he deserves to pay for his crime. But he also thinks it unfair that the man's cultural contributions are forgotten and that he seems to be paying for murders he didn't commit.
"I think Bobby Beausoleil should pay for his crime, which was murder, but he should not be lumped in with the Manson family 'cause he was never a part of it. Vincent Bugliosi said that Bobby was a part of the Manson family but he wasn't. He is what I would consider a genius musician and he deserves a fair parole hearing."
The album title has already garnered a bit of attention.
"Actually I got a message from Bobby Beausoleil the other day about the record from his wife," Jonathan said. "She was really appreciative. I wanted to let her know we are not planning on breaking him out of prison. We just wanted to acknowledge the musical influence he has had on us. And she told him about it. I guess he got a kick out of it."
Let's Break Bobby Beausoleil is going to be a very dark album, as you might gather from the video of the title track, which contains scenes from the Kenneth Anger film, Lucifer Rising.
MM: "Tell me about your new album. You said it's very dark."
JS: "Yeah it is. I kinda gave up on everything last year. My girlfriend who I lived with I caught cheating on me. She was having an affair and I basically stopped caring about stuff. So the album is really dark and hateful."
The song "Funeral Skies For Burst Patriot" is a good example of that darkness. Jonathan explained that the lyrics are about a fictitious assassination of right wing pundit Glen Beck. It is also inspired by Peter Gabriel's "A Family Snapshot," a song that tells a story from an assassin's viewpoint.
"Like I said this is a pretty dark record," he said. "I actually was a little hesitant to put the song on the album after the AZ congresswoman got shot."
It's a beautiful song, despite the subject matter:
Mental health issues
Jonathan said he has bipolar disorder. He describes himself as "crazy," but he is functioning — earning money, paying the rent, making music. He isn't taking medication right now and says smoking weed "does the trick" without the side effects prescribed drugs gave him.
MM: "Maybe the album [Let's Break Bobby Beausoleil Out of Prison] is a kind of exorcism."
JS: "Well I am bipolar and it is a lot about me not dealing with being bipolar. I stopped taking my medicine last year. I got tired of being so asleep so with this record this is me totally nuts."
MM: "Do you want me to edit that part?"
JS: "No, I want people to know how I am. Don't edit it at all."
MM: "OK. Totally your call. I know some people are private about that."
JS: "I am not. I want people to know I am bipolar and I am doing okay."
Jonathan has uploaded numerous Doleful Lions videos on YouTube. You should also check out the Doleful Lions' Facebook and MySpace pages. And you'll want to hear the Doleful Lions back catalog. Jonathan will start releasing those albums soon on Bandcamp. Check the Doleful Lions Facebook page for updates.
UPDATE: The deal with Parasol is off. The new album will come out in digital format on the Jesus Warhol label and Jonathan is shopping the album around to other labels for a CD release. Find out more about the planned release and the blowup that nixed the Parasol deal.


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Views: 40
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Have a great Sunday,


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We, at Out of Central Asia Now, have been bringing you opinions from writers from throughout the world. All of the stories were used by us to show we Must End These Wars Now. Today, we bring you from CNN, the following story in full. It is time for our White Ribbons with black letters to be worn on our clothes to show that we want the war(s) over NOW. Read on please.
Withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan By Amitai Etzioni, Special to CNN October 12, 2010 10:11 a.m. EDT
Editor's note: Amitai Etzioni is a sociologist and professor of international relations at George Washington University and the author of several books, including "Security First" and "New Common Ground." He was a senior adviser to the Carter administration and has taught at Columbia and Harvard universities and the University of California, Berkeley.
(CNN) — Before I explain why I believe the time has come to start a stop-the-war movement, I should say that I am not one of those intellectuals who has never worried about the fate of their loved ones or gotten his own boots dirty.
My son completed a five-year stint in the U.S. 1st Armored Division. As an Israeli commando, I saw a lot of fighting during Israel's war for independence. My unit started fighting with 1,100 members; when the fighting stopped, 700 were dead and buried or wounded. And we killed all too many on the other side.
I abhor war and believe we should fight only when there is a clear and present danger, when all other means for resolving a conflict have been truly exhausted and to protect the innocent. Those are the three criteria of a just war. The war in Afghanistan used to meet these criteria. It no longer does.
We invaded Afghanistan to stop it from serving as a base for terrorists of the kind who attacked us on 9/11. This goal has been accomplished.
Fewer than 100 members of al Qaeda are in Afghanistan. There are many more in Yemen and Somalia, which we are not planning to invade.
Video: Karzai: Relations with Obama good
Video: Karzai: Osama bin Laden not here
Video: Failed rescue attempt probe The Taliban has no designs on us, beyond making us leave. After that, the people of Afghanistan can duke it out over which kind of regime they want. If the majority of the Afghan people don't want the Taliban to rule, they should fight for their rights, as they have shown they can when they defeated the Taliban in 2002 with limited help from us.
Some claim that we must keep fighting to secure human rights, especially women's rights, and a democratic regime in Afghanistan. However, nothing indicates that we can accomplish in this godforsaken 12th-century country what we did in Germany and Japan after World War II.
The metrics that the U.S. Army keeps inventing to show progress are pitiful. Having committed 100,000 troops and a similar number of "private" contractors against rag-tag, poorly equipped, illiterate locals, we captured a few scores of square miles, opened a few markets and a local government or two. But large and growing areas of Afghanistan are under Taliban control. We should neither die nor kill for an illusion.
Sometimes, a minor news item highlights a much greater issue.
A recent report from an embedded reporter for GlobalPost shows a 19-year-old American soldier getting shot in the head — his helmet saved him from death — as his unit traveled through Kunar Province in late August. They were surveying polling sites for the upcoming elections. Also, a homemade bomb, called an IED, damaged and set afire the lead vehicle of this small convoy and severely wounded its driver.
It seemed absurd to risk lives of Americans, our allies or Afghans to support faux elections.
In many parts of the country, ballot stations could not be opened. In others, massive fraud took place. Adding insult to injury, we congratulated the Afghan government on holding "successful" elections. That way, we did not have to admit to the world and each other that whatever the Karzai government is — one of the most corrupt governments in the world, a foundation of a new narcostate — democracy it ain't, by a long shot.
How much our entanglement in Afghanistan is turning into a sad farce became all too clear when President Obama flew to Kabul to tell Karzai that he ought to stop corruption.
When, in response, Karzai started negotiating a peace deal with the Taliban, the White House rolled out the red carpet for Karzai and announced that from now on, the U.S. will focus on low-level corruption. Moreover, it turns out that major sources of corruption are our corporations and the CIA.
It's time to bring our troops home.
To encourage our president and Congress to withdraw the troops, let's fasten to our lapels white ribbons (for peace) with black letters (mourning those who died) that read "Bring them home." The time has come to organize teach-ins and antiwar groups. Instead of another march on Washington, let there be rallies across America. Bring the troops home.
The opinions in this commentary are solely those of Amitai Etzioni.


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I've mentioned this before, but I am a firm believer that every one you meet is placed in your life at that point for a very specific reason. We may never know what that reason is, but even those chance encounters… a small conversation with someone while waiting in line at the grocery store, a chat with a mom at a local park, your labor and delivery nurse in the hospital… each of those people had a purpose for being placed in your life.
In November of 1999, my husband and I met two couples who ended up impacting our lives forever. We were on our honeymoon cruise, evening two. When we went into the dining room to sit down, we were led to a table with four other couples. Who knows why we all hit it off so well, but we did and for the most part ended up spending a great deal of time together on the rest of our vacation. Lots of great memories were made, some "could be used as blackmail" videos were taken, photographs were shared, and strong friendships were formed. We have managed to stay in touch with two of those couples over the years… Stacy, Bryon, Jan and Rob.
Over the past 9 1/2 years, we have gone on several other vacations together. Vegas, The Outer Banks of North Carolina, Arizona, Ohio and Kansas City. Four years ago this week, we were all sipping margaritas on the topless deck of a cruise ship, headed to Cabo San Lucas. (And no, we weren't topless… just a little hint… people rarely use the topless deck, so if you are looking for a quiet and sunny place to hang out, head upstairs).
Things have changed a lot for us over the years. Children have been had, major geographical moves have been made, jobs have changed, family members have been lost, marriages have had their ups and downs, kids have been injured, tears have been shed and happiness has reigned. One thing that I do know is that when I think about who some of the dearest people are in our lives, these two couples top the list.
So, to the Rethakes and Taylors, who we are so grateful to have met those many years ago, know that we love you and appreciate your friendship a great deal. We will always have so many memories together… "Alcatraz", "Cherries Jubilee!!", "Surprise Me", "The Cotton Eyed Joe", "We're going on a pub crawl…", "Sting", "Pedro the Dog", "M&M Poker", "Phase 10", "Vladamir", "Go Mustard!"… and so much more. I personally can't wait until we can all "Meet in the Nook" again!
As a little tribute to our past cruise vacations, I made a very simple version of Baked Alaska from a newspaper insert called Relish Magazine. Baked Alaska was a popular final day at sea dessert on the cruise ship, always followed by the crew of mostly non-Americans singing The National Anthem. I always found that a bit funny! I hope you enjoy it.
Baked Alaska (from Relish Magazine)
1 pint vanilla ice cream (I actually used Edy's Slow Churned Strawberry Cheesecake)
½ cup sugar
2 egg whites
2 tablespoons water
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions 1. Cut pound cake lengthwise to make 1⁄2-inch thick slices. Cut 8 circles from slices using a 3-inch round cookie cutter. Place a scoop of ice cream on 4 rounds. Top each scoop of ice cream with the remaining rounds of cake. Press down lightly and, using a knife, smooth away any ice cream that has pressed out the sides. Place on a baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Freeze at least 15 minutes.
2. Fill a large saucepan with 1-inch of water. Bring to a simmer. In a double boiler or a metal bowl that will fit over the saucepan, place sugar, egg whites, water and cream of tartar. Set bowl over simmering water and beat with a handheld mixer at low speed, 3 to 5 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer registers 140F.
3. Increase speed to high and continue beating 3 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and beat until cool, about 4 minutes. When peaks form, beat in vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 15 minutes.
4. When ready to assemble, preheat the boiler. Remove cakes from freezer, and quickly spread with meringue, swirling to make peaks. Place cakes under broiler, as close to the flame as possible, to brown the meringue tips, about 1 minute. Serve immediately. Serves 4.


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The Pregnant Pause/
It's been un longtemps and a day since I've posted, which means lots to catch up on even if you're one of my kindly regular readers -- let alone a newbie gamely bouncing on the blogwagon thanks to my recent Saveur Best Cocktail Blog nom (#believethatscalledahumblebrag #hinewbies).
Everything you need to know about my truancy, as well as my all-telling *general*outlook*on*life*, you can glean from the following statement: I feel acutely guilty that, thanks to uterus-subletting fetus, I'm not inclined to drink for you guys as much as I once did. Isn't it awful how I'm letting y'all down, spending my current pregnancy largely away from alcohol? Without a coupe in her claw, who is this Blogtender personbot?
Talking like a normal now... I'm totes pregs! A girl is due in August. I drink a lot of nonalcoholic beer these days (it takes the edge off, it really does). I also allow myself one sip per cocktail ordered by the PhoBlograpHusband whenever we're out, and when out at restaurants with ace bartenders, I ask them to mix me up a mocktail of my own.
At MEDIAnoche in St. Louis (my old stomping ground, was there in February), one bartender complied with a lemon juice-ginger syrup concoction that was damn fine and delightful. I found myself relishing its memory (and replicating it in pic below) as if it were a real, actual drink. I hadn't caught every move he'd made in its construction; was it really just lemon juice and ginger syrup? I might have tasted fizz. At least mocktails are still getting my mixology mojo going, right? At least I still have that?
FYI, I have no plans to turn this blog dry for the next few months. My one-sip rule stands for the full-hooch tipples I'll continue to roll out here. Is that controversial? If so, let some modern-day Carry Nation twist up her bloomers, cause a stink online, and pave the way for my appearance on Anderson touting my hedonistic child-ruining. Cocktail-book deal to follow, natch.
Having said that, today's cmocktail is, in fact, without alcohol. I started with that lemon-ginger base and wanted to see what I could work up from there. Turns out it was the sprightly kick of fresh ginger that felt like fizz, so no soda needed, but the recipe I drafted this weekend did include grapefruit soda and a quick hit of Liber & Co. Spiced Tonic Syrup, which I was kindly sent as a review sample several weeks back and do recommend as a quirky, comfortably priced change of pace from bitters. (Think Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel-Aged Bitters, with a more concentrated flavor and a quinine-y finish, bought at a half-off sale.)
Impregnate the Pregnant Pause with light or dark rum or tequila, or gin, or even bourbon. I think this recipe's got legs, versatility-wise, and damn if it's not refreshing as all get-out. Maybe not as refreshing as the half-gallon of mint chip I downed last week, but that's just the expectation talking.
The Pregnant Pause
1 1/2 ounces freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 ounce ginger-infused simple syrup
1/4 teaspoon Liber & Co. Spiced Tonic Syrup
Grapefruit soda, to fill
Cucumber wheel and rosemary sprig, to garnish
1 1/2 ounces booze of choice, to taste (optional)
Combine juice, syrups and liquor, if including, in ice-filled cocktail shaker and shake vigorously. Strain into a Pilsner glass over ice. Top with grapefruit soda. Garnish with cucumber and rosemary.
Tasting Notes
My grapefruit soda came from SodaStream. It's one of the little flavor-adding packets you get when you buy the start-up kit. FWIW, I only used half the packet and the soda turns out just as flavorful and (I'm assuming) not as sweet.
As I suggested above, swap in Fee Brothers Barrel Aged Whiskey Bitters for the tonic syrup, or even Angostura. You basically just want a couple dashes (maybe 2 or 3 to taste) of something that plays against the other flavors.


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In the Blog
I'm a feminist NFL fan, and I'm conflicted about it.
Okay, I understand why I'm an American football fan. I started watching hockey with my dad when I was 13, and soon branched into watching almost every sport I could find on TV. (Yeah, I watch curling.) American football (different from the international term "football," which some of us know as "soccer") is exciting, strategic, and often just a big, dramatic circus to watch. It's my favourite way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
But football is also a really, REALLY violent sport, more violent than a lot of other sports. The basic concept of the sport, for those who don't know, is that two teams line up along the width of a 100-yard field, with one team (offense) throwing and running the ball, trying to go forward toward the end zone to score points, and the other team (defense) trying to prevent them from getting there. If the offensive team doesn't advance far enough after a few tries (downs), the teams switch and the other team tries to go the other way.
There are lots of rules about what you can and can't do to try to stop the other team from getting past you, but some of the most common tactics are blocking (throwing your weight against someone to keep them from pushing past) and tackling (grabbing someone and bringing them down to the ground, sometimes landing on top of them). Players are understandably heavily padded with protective equipment. Concussions are common. Often, the bigger the hit, the louder the cheers.
It's not actually the violence in the game that disturbs me about my fanship of the National Football League (NFL), although I should probably think about it more often than I do. What's really been getting me lately is the culture of violence, racism and misogyny that's spilling out of the game and into the personal lives of a number of NFL players - and the way these cases are treated by the league, the media and the fans of the game.
A couple of years ago, star New York Giants Plaxico Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg with a concealed handgun in a night club. He was suspended from the team but an arbiter ruled he could keep his $1 million signing bonus. (He also ended up serving just shy of two years in prison - but that $1 million was safe.) He's now playing for the New York Jets.
Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick is pretty infamous, even outside of sports circles, for being convicted of dog fighting charges in 2007. He served under a year in prison and was suspended from the Falcons. He re-joined the NFL as a member of the Philadephia Eagles in 2009, and won the teammate-voted Ed Block Award for Courage that year (gag me!).
The media and many of the fans raked Vick over the coals for the cruelty of his dog-fighting activities, and he didn't play football for three years. But when Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was twice charged with sexual assault (he was never convicted), Roethlisberger was suspended for six games, then only had to sit out four. Okay, he wasn't convicted, but his celebrity and status as a star quarterback certainly played a part in his second accuser's decision not to pursue the charges.
Finally, Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow was featured in an ad for "Focus on the Family" during the 2010 SuperBowl - before he was even playing in NFL - in which his mother recounts his "miracle" birth. He's gone on to write a book in which his anti-choice values figure heavily. Blogger Sophia at Abortion Gang came up with the now-viral #10forTebow campaign, in which fans donate $10 to a pro-choice charity every time Tebow scores a touchdown. (He scored three in yesterday's playoff win against the Steelers. Canadians for Choice got $30 from me.) Who is Tebow to tell women what to do with their bodies?
These are just some of the high-profile examples of violent or misogynistic behaviour from very prominent members of the NFL. There are countless instances of weapons-related and domestic violence-related charges being brought against NFL players on a regular basis. As I mentioned above, I believe race plays a factor in the way these players are treated by the media, fans and the league. Does it come as a surprise that Burress and Vick, the players who served jail time, are black, while Roethlisberger, the player whose accuser chose not to pursue charges, is white? Racism also plays out in observable ways in the playing culture of NFL football: it's also worth noting that there were only six black starting quarterbacks in the 2011 season, of 32 teams. At the college level, 65% of quarterbacks are black. The message to black football players is clear: you're not good enough to be the team leader at the highest level.
All this to say nothing particularly conclusive. I enjoy watching the sport, but I can't help but believe there is a connection between the violence and racism institutionalized in the league, and the violence and racism brought against both the players and the people surrounding them in their personal lives.
I'm not sure if there's any way to reconcile this as a feminist football fan. I doubt it. I'm sure I'm not alone in this - what are your thoughts?


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Actress Amy Adams was left red-faced during an on-set encounter with her "Man Of Steel" co-star Henry Cavill after her young daughter accidentally touched Superman's crotch.
The British hunk portrays the comic book superhero in the new Zack Snyder film and tried to befriend little Aviana after learning the 3-year-old had a crush on him, but neither he nor Adams expected her to be quite so forward during the meeting.
Cavill tells OK! magazine, "She was always quite shy when I tried to talk to her. She then took the opportunity to actually look at my outfit, and she wanted to touch it. So she reached out, and she just happened to be at (crotch) height, and she suddenly put her hand out. … Amy said, 'No, you can't do that!'"


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Emma Kat Richardson's blog
Not so happy Anne-versary
19, May, 1536. A day that will live in infammy, as evidenced by its continued recognition 476 years following those monumental events. A queen of England was executed on this day - an unprecedented blow struck in the face (or neck, rather) of women seeking and holding power, in an era less than reconciled to this very notion.
Chris Brown is our Henry VIII
The Julia Roberts Movie that Predicted Elizabeth Warren
Several days ago, in the middle of the night, I sat up suddenly in the bed; the kind of brilliant "ah-ha!" moment that causes hip sprains in the elderly and scrambled terror-fleeing in the cat. However, before providing too many self-congratulations on the realization that had just come together, I reached for my Blackberry to hop on the 'net and double check my movie-to-real life math. Lo and behold, late night logic prevailed.
Kurt Cobain Murder Theories: Smells Like Teen Bullshit
Courtney Love did not kill Kurt Cobain. Let's put this idiotic, juvenile, and completely imbecilic idea to bed right now. Or better yet, let's take it out back and send a bullet ricocheting through its skull, since this is clearly the outcome conspiracy theorists of the most unpolished degree want so badly to be true. But that's the funny thing about truth: one generally needs little things like solid facts – not disgusting, barely contained misogyny – to back up any claim therein.
The Craft: Junior Feminism That Casts an Empowering Spell
Once during seventh grade, three girlfriends arrived for a sleepover at my house, where the better part of the evening was spent not giving each other garish makeovers, but instead trying to convince my overprotective, God-fearing mother to let us rent a copy of The Craft. A real stickler for the 1x1 inch wisdom of parental advisories, my mother was weary of the film's R rating – this could very well have been a story whose plot revolved around Caligula-like decadence for the pre-teen set.
Am-Anne-Da: Foxy Knoxy, Anne Boleyn, and the Enduring Scarlet A
On October 3rd, Amanda Knox walked out of court a free woman, her whole life finally returned and laid bare at her feet. As her verdict was pronounced and the swarm of cameras shifted their lenses center stage, she wilted into a mess of tears upon learning of her acquittal. This after what many deemed a courageous defense, delivered in near-perfect Italian.
Of Cabinets and Kings
ust the other day, I quipped on Twitter that Thomases Cromwell, Wolsey, and More comprised the 'Tommy Trio of Terror' on The Tudors. Alliteration is always an enjoyable pasttime to pursue, but so is parallel seeking amongst art imitating life.
Best infomercials of the decade: a blog post for the insomniac-ridden and the severely stoned.
I'm never one to be outdone. In-done, perhaps, but that usually depends on how many drinks I've had. Anywho, since every media outlet on the planet - and a couple on Uranus - have compiled a "best of" list of some sort, I decided it was time to quit shoving the following into the faces of several unwitting, pity-worthy souls, and string together a Best Of list of my own. Here, I present to you this day, the very best short-infomercials of the decade.
Of Burdens and Burquas
Just prior to clocking out, today at my day job (which, ironically, is working the night shift), I called a meeting with my boss and shift supervisor. The issue? Not replacement coffee filters for the break room, or how to coordinate garments of wretched hideousness for the upcoming Ugly Sweater Holiday party. No, this meeting's premise revolved around one very unusual subject: Arab-American men. Or, more succinctly, Arab-American male customers, and their utter lack of decent regard for the female employees who are attempting to assist them.
But first, if you please, some background. Like a lot of my fellow artisans/poor white trash 20-somethings, I work a day job to support my ridiculous habit of dreaming about one day achieving Margaret Atwood-like ascendency (even Nora Roberts-like ascendency would probably do). Unlike a lot of my fellow homies from the Negative Bank Balance Allegiance, I have a day job that I enjoy, am positively challenged by, and make a healthy living wage at, with a company that not only respects and values its employees, but downright pampers them, truth be told. Having roots in a turbulent, capitalistically damaged suburban background, with a long-nurtured viewpoint on office employment as the epitome of misery incarnate, I sometimes have to stop, blink stupidly a few times, and wonder which karmic deity I must have finger-fucked subconsciously to turn up in such a fortunate position.
The Daily Woe
About a week ago, I watched in equal parts abject horror and morbid curiousity as the integrity of The Daily Show was called into question by the folks over at Jezebel. In case you've had your head shoved up a Tampax box for the past few days, the story - though relying on the ever-questionable tactics of interviews with anonymous sources and former employees - basically alleges that Comedy Central's ratings powerhouse, though a supposed bastian of progressivism and liberal ideology, is in fact guilty of the same institutionalized sexism it claims to abhor.
The Daily Show is many things: progressive darling, alleged news source for America's youth, righteous media critique. And it's also a boys' club where women's contributions are often ignored and dismissed.
The opening really says it all, but I would encourage you to keep reading. What's presented here by Irin is pretty damning.
Site Development by Brainwrap Web Design.


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Product 9/17
Color: ChocolateMaterial: LeatherBreezy, strappy, and understatedly sexy, the Lauri brings island-girl style to a gladiator silhouette. Stunning with a runway-ready, 4 3/4-inch platform wedge, details like jute-braids and plush Poron® footbeds nod to laid-back luxury and the unique feel of UGG®.Collection Details:* Upper:Luxurious leathers/suedes/denim jacquard textiles with some styles featuring jute braid details, criss cross, and ankle straps.* Insole:Leather wrapped over a plush Poron® footbed.* Midsole:An array of options from cork, and leather wrapped midsoles.* Outsole:Intricate details of jute braiding and outsoles are crepe or rubber.Style Details:Full suede upper. 100% jute wrapped midsole. 4 1/2"" heel gladiator wedge with 1 1/2"" platform.


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Matching chocolate lovers with the best chocolates and truffles makes for one truly delicious combination. We have perfected the craft of creating the best chocolate presents to deliver the most exquisite collection of dessert gifts to all of our chocolate loving customers.
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We wish you a Merry Christmas... And a Happy New Year!
When 2016 was almost over, there was a lot of uncertainty in our server. The community was getting smaller, and people was claiming for much needed changes and new things to do. Some we could almost say lost any hope...
But regardless, we faced the obstacles together. 2017 was a wonderful surprise: lots of newcomers and coming-back players, tons of new content and things to do. Even custom changes that we didn't know how the community will respond to, that ended up as a truly success.
This year has brought us more together than ever, as is safe to say we will be around for many more years. But this isn't the work of a single person: it's the result of the effort and struggle of everyone that has been and still is here. It's the combine strength of every player and staff member, and we couldn't thank you enough for everything you give.
Every time you help us test new things and join us in new adventures, every time you push us to be better, every time you share with us your laughs and even your complains, we learn and we cherish.
If there's a new resolution for next year, is that we continue growing and learning. So we couldn't end the year without giving all our gratitude to everyone that makes this possible: to everyone behind the curtains, and to every player that believe in us.
So, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Long life to akto, and for many more years of joy to find us together...


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Movember Beards!
THE TALK hosts and guest co-host Carnie Wilson get a little "hairy" while having fun discussing a woman participating in the last day of "Movember," Friday, November 30, 2012 on the CBS Television Network. "Movember" (the month formerly known as November) is when men grow their beards to raise awareness for prostate cancer. Sara Gilbert, from left, Sheryl Underwood, Carnie Wilson, Julie Chen and Aisha Tyler, shown. Photo: Sonja Flemming/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.


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Rebuilding from Ground Zero: An Empowering Guide to Building and Securing Wealth
Jil Pub, 2002 - Business & Economics - 226 pages
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44 pages matching decisions in this book
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Chapter One In The Beginning
Chapter Two The Science of Life
Chapter Three The Power Pyramid
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Rebuilding from Ground Zero: An Empowering Guide to Building and Securing Wealth
Seni Hazzan
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accomplish achieve action active thinking African American airline amazed America asked assets bank base salary blessed building and securing building wealth Chapter church created creative vision David Yonggi Cho decided decisions desire despite develop dollars dream edutainment ensure everything expect experience fact feel focus focused give goal Ground Zero Hazzan Holland Dutch ideas imagination immediately income integrity investment Jesse Livermore lives loan magnificent obsession manager Mary Kay Ash matter ment million mind Missionaries of Charity Morris Mother Teresa never opportunity organization Pennsylvania Casualty Company protection Ray Kroc realized received reward seed self-mastery sell seminar serve share Sioux Center situation someone Stevie Wonder story success things thought tion told truth understanding vocation WMCA women WWDJ


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Penguin Books, 1990 - Fiction - 391 pages
I Return To Delhi As I Return To My Mistress Bhagmati When I Have Had My Fill Of Whoring In Foreign Lands&
Thus Begins Khushwant Singh S Vast, Erotic, Irrelevant Magnum Opus On The City Of Delhi. The Principal Narrator Of The Saga, Which Extends Over Six Hundred Years, Is A Bawdy, Ageing Reprobate Who Loves Delhi As Much As He Does The Hijda Whore Bhagmati-Half Man, Half Woman With Sexual Inventiveness And Energy Of Both The Sexes. Travelling Through Time, Space And History To Discover His Beloved City, The Narrator Meets A Myriad Of People-Poets And Princes, Saints And Sultans, Temptresses And Traitors, Emperors And Eunuchs-Who Have Shaped And Endowed Delhi With Its Very Special Mystique& And As We Accompany The Narrator On His Epic Journey We Find The City Of Emperors Transformed And Immortalized In Our Minds For Ever.
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85 pages matching editions:ISBN0140126198 in this book
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LibraryThing ReviewUser Review - wandering_star - LibraryThing
I read this as a book in praise of mixing, muddling and hybridity, and against dogmatism. Fittingly, then, it was a very hard book to pin down. Every time I thought I had a handle on it, it would ... Read full review
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afternoon Agra Allah arms asked Aurangzeb badshah Bahadur Bakht Bakht Khan Bazaar beard began Begum Sahiba Bhagmati blood boys brother Budh Singh Chandni Chowk crowd Dara Shikoh dead Delhi dervish Dilli door Emperor eyes face father feet firangi fire followed Gandhi Gate gave Georgine Ghiaspur girl give goras gurdwara Guru hair hands head heard hijda Hindu Hindustan Hodson Sahib Hoity-Toity holy India Jamna Khan Khusrau Khwaja Sahib killed king knew Kotwal Lal Kuan live look Majesty mangoes Marathas Masjid Meer Mehrauli Mirza Abdullah Mirza Mughal morning mosque mother Mughal Muslims Mussalmans Nawab night Nizamuddin palace prayer Punjab Qutub Minar Rajab Ram Dulari replied road round rupees says sent shouting Siddi Siddi Maula Sikh sultan sword talk tell Tilpat told tomb took turned ulema voice wall wife woman women words yelling Zeenat Mahal


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We have a little girl that's almost 13 months old. She's found that when she touches a power cord or near an electrical outlet and we say "no" that it's a bit of a game. She gets a funny smirk on her face until we approach her, at which point she runs away with a smile on her face.
How do we teach her that it's dangerous and not a game? Or is this just part of being a 1 yr. old?


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Olympic Trials Q & A – Jeneva McCall
Event: Hammer throw
PR: 69.55m/228-2 (2011)
Current Residence: Carbondale, Ill.
College: Southern Illinois '12
Hometown and High School: Thornbridge (Dolton, Ill.) H.S.
Jeneva McCall - Q & A
Faced with the chance of making her first Olympic team, Jeneva McCall is on a mission. The next stop for the Dolton, Ill., native and recent graduate of Southern Illinois University is the Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field scheduled for June 21-July 1 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. There McCall, a member of Team USA for last summer's World Outdoor Championships in the hammer throw, will compete in three events – hammer throw, shot put and discus. Following her NCAA title in the hammer throw last weekend, USA Track & Field caught up with McCall in this Q & A.
Give us an update on how you're feeling and how your training is going into the Olympic Trials?
"My training is going great. We're just working out kinks that we saw competing at NCAA meet."
How did your performance at NCAA Championships help you in your road to the Trials?
"My performance helped me prepare for Trials by seeing what can go wrong under pressure. When you get into a meet such as the NCAA and you have to be at your best all the time, especially to come out with a win, you're exposed to what's working and what's not working. You have to be on point to be successful. Now that I'm not at NCAA we've come back and collect all the things that went wrong or could have done better, what I saw, what the coach saw, and we're working on that stuff to get better prepared for Olympic Trials."
This has been a big spring for you. You graduated from Southern Illinois, competed in your last NCAA Championships and now you're going to be competing in your first Olympic Trials. What has been the biggest thing that has kept you grounded and focused on what's ahead?
"I'm always up for a new challenge. It's one chapter ending and we're beginning another. I'm going into this world I've never experienced. I've never been to the Olympic Trials. I'm going to look at my lack of experience as a benefit for me when I go in and just try to do my all instead of becoming scared, afraid and nervous."
All season you've thrown shot, discus and hammer. Which event(s) are you going to focus on at Trials? What event are you most confident about and why?
"I'm doing all three. I'm confident in all three. If you aren't confident in any of them then what's the point in signing up and going to the Olympic Trials. It's such a big meet you have to be confident. At practice we're just taking one event at a time and that's what I'm going to do at the Trials. The schedule of the meet is set up perfect. I can do the hammer and disc, reenergize and come back for the shot. If I were to focus on one or two it's almost like I'm cheating myself."
How is your preparation different this season heading into the Trials?
"It's been different because we worked through conference, regionals and NCAAs and we're trying to peak out at the Olympic Trials. It's going to take a big peak in order for me to get on the team."
Is there anything specific in your training heading into the Trials that you're choosing to focus on?
"We did some things in different events. Mainly speed. We focused on going faster and moving the ball faster in the hammer and getting off the back faster in shot and disc. I'm powerful so if we can work the speed and blend the two good things will happen."
What type of a mark do you anticipate it taking to get to London?
"The Olympic 'A' standard. This year it's different. They aren't taking any 'B' (standards). Even if you come in third place it's still going to take A's to make the team. I have all B's so this meet is about getting the A."
How many different athletes do you see having a chance to making the team in the three events?
"That's an impossible question to answer because you never know what person is bringing to the competition. You can never underestimate or overestimate another athlete. What if the top thrower fouls out? What if they break they're hand? You never know. Something like that is going to come down to who wants it the most and who's willing to go after it."
What do you think is your biggest advantage over your competition at the Trials?
"Since I've been competing at a higher level every year, the fact that the pressure does not get to me or I don't see it as the biggest meet in the world. I just see it as another meet you get in your throw between the lines, don't hop out of the circle and everything is going to be fine. That's what's gotten me through USA (Championships), World (Championships), NCAA (Championships) and any other big meets."
What would a spot on Team USA for the Olympic Games mean for you?
"It means that my mission was complete. When I was younger I was in gymnastics and used to watch Dominique Dawes (three-time Olympic gymnast and part of the 1996 Olympic gold medal winning team) twirl and somersault across the mat and I wanted to be a gymnast. Obviously I got too big but I wanted to be there at the Olympic Games because even watching on the screen what these people are doing I felt the pride and the glory and all the other things associated with the Olympic Games. The fact that I get a chance to get where I wanted to when I was young means I completed my mission. Though I'm not going to stop. James Bond never stopped after his mission. It just means I reached another milestone, another mark, and it's just fulfilling a dream."


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April 14, 2011
SPRINGFIELD, MA- Sophomore Matt Connolly (Lynnfield, MA/Lynnfield HS) led the way for the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's men's golf team at the Western New England College Invitational Thursday.
Connolly shot a one over par 73 and was the medalist as the Corsairs shot a team score of 319 and finished fourth in a 12-team field at the par-72 Veterans Memorial Golf Course.
Connolly had two eagles on the front nine, one from 150 yards out with a seven iron, and the other from 25 feet out, using his putter from a spot just off the edge of the green.
Host WNEC won the tournament with a score of 307, Salem State was next at 308 and Nichols came in at 314.
For the Corsairs, freshman Brendan Kelleher (Hopedale, MA/Hopedale HS) came in at 80 and tied for 19th, freshman Billy Guilford (Halifax, MA/Silver Lake Regional HS) shot an 82 and finished 29th, junior George Gillmore (Cotuit, MA/Barnstable HS/Fairfield) shot an 84 and tied for 36th, and sophomore Kevin Rewinski (West Springfield, MA/West Springfield HS) came in at 90 and was 56th.
"I was very happy for Matt," said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Joel Baptista. "He has worked so hard on his game, and these are the fruits of his labor, We got a great round from Brendan Kelleher. There were a lot of quality teams in this tournament, and we were able to get some different people into the lineup to get them some experience, and they played well. It shows the depth we have on our team."
The Corsairs will return to action when they visit the Johnson & Wales Invitational this weekend.


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Friday, May 29, 2009
Why do Dogs Eat Grass?
I know Kelly is on a diet, but does she have to go grazing for greens in the backyard? In my house we're pushing the salads, so does Kelly think she has to eat one too?
The common thought is that dogs eat grass to settle their stomachs. According to Pet education.com, this isn't always true. Apparently, many dogs eat grass simply because they like the taste. Hmm, I thought dogs were carnivores. And, if they like the taste of grass, why do they often throw it up? I just had to clean up after Kelly, who came inside from her backyard "snack" and tossed it up on the living room rug. So I rushed her back outside where she, yup, started munching on grass again.
I'm not sure if Kelly enjoys the taste of grass, or if she eats it to settle her stomach. I tend to think both. I've noticed that she has two different ways of eating grass. Sometimes, she munches along like a contented cow. It seems like a pleasurable activity for her. Other times, she seems frantic, pulling up the grass and devouring madly. Maybe this is when she has a stomach ache. And when she tosses her cookies, this might also help get rid of whatever was bothering her tummy to begin with.
Pet education. com states, "In any case, grass eating is basically a normal behavior, and is not of concern unless your dog does it excessively."
What I Learned from My Dog: Salads are good!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Little Baby Ducks
Everything's cuter when it's a baby. Except maybe Benjamin Button (If you caught that movie you know what I mean.)
Spring is my favorite time of year because there are so many opportunities to witness little baby animals, this new life. One of my favorite things to do is to watch the ducklings at my in-law's camp up in the mountains, on a small lake. This Memorial day weekend I patiently waited on the camp porch, and was rewarded with a visit from Mama Mallard and her brood of 11 fuzzy babies. They swam by, all in a row. Whenever one of the ducklings went astray, Mama would make a squawk and that baby would skedaddle back into line.
Mama Mallard kept alert for Kelly, too. The camp is a short hike up a hill from the waterfront, but nonetheless Mama was aware that Kelly was out and about, and always seemed to have one eye and one..uh, ear (I'm trying to picture a duck ear here!) directed toward camp activities.
Kelly, for the most part, was oblivious to the ducks. They sometimes came to dine underneath the bird feeder, and when Kelly saw them there, close to the cabin, she'd watch for a while and then let out a "woof" that sent them scattering. The babies never wandered up close to the cabin, however. Mama kept them safely in the reeds along the edge of the waterfront.
What I Learned From My Dog: Well, I was mostly watching ducks here, not my dog. But Kelly was also watching ducks some of the time, so what I learned from watching my dog watching ducks: Sometimes others are going to come under your feeder, and you might not want them there. If they aren't hurting anything, you should try to be sociable and friendly. That's what you should do.
Dogs don't always do this.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Before and After
Some people asked for before and after pictures, side by side, so here you are! What do you think?!
What I Learned from My Dog: A good haircut can make you look younger!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Part Three--AFTER
Well, here she is, all trimmed and groomed!
The groomer from TransFURmations arrived in her mobile grooming van. She made friends with Kelly right away. Kelly loves her!
When I clipped on her leash, Kelly thought she was taking a walk, so she preferred the idea of strolling the neighborhood than getting into the big van. Next time I'll take her on a nice walk before the grooming session, that way she'll have the reward of a romp and she'll be tired out before the groom.
I sat on the floor of the van while Melissa worked. Kelly tried to get away repeatedly, but she wasn't overly stressed. In the past--at a different grooming place-- she'd been stressed to the point of bursting the blood vessels in her eyes, so this was a wonderful relief!
Melissa is efficient and extremely capable. I loved watching her work the clippers. She brushed and stripped the hair for nearly an hour, I think, while piles of soft tan hair fell to the floor. Although Kelly is mostly sable and brown on top, all the undercoat is tan. Then she worked on those Clydesdale legs, with some electric clippers. I love the way Kelly's legs looked when Melissa was done! After some snips here and there, clipping the toenails, shaping the long fur on the tail, etc. Kelly was transFURmed!
After a couple of previous bad experiences with other grooming places, this experience is a total joy! Grooming Kelly had always been a problem, and now Melissa is a happy solution.
She has given me faith that there are nice people out there, who care about the job they do, who do a good job at a fair price, who want to help dogs and their owners out of a pure true love for animals.
What I Learned From My Dog: We can tolerate uncomfortable situations. And sometimes, we even come out the better for it.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Part Two-The Bath
I recently wrote an article about tips for your dog to become a Canine Good Citizen. One of the requirements involves "welcoming being groomed"-- and, while the dog isn't tested on this specifically, that would probably include cooperating when bathing. Kelly still has some ways to go in this department.
The last time Kelly was groomed in TransFURmations mobile grooming, she struggled in the large, unfamiliar tub, trying to climb out repeatedly. Melissa, the groomer, gently coaxed Kelly along. She is gentle and calm with stressed dogs, which made me, and Kelly, feel a lot better. She ended up splashed and soaked but got the job done. Then, came the blow dryer. Kelly objected to the noise, nipped at the air coming out of the hose, and struggled the whole time. Again, Melissa was a calm, cool professional.
This time, I came up with an idea that I thought would help Kelly's stress level. We'd achieved relative level of comfort bathing her at home. If we filled up the tub first, while she was out of the room, the sound of the rushing water didn't frighten her. She'd improved greatly and tolerated the bath fairly well. I asked Melissa if she'd mind if we bathed Kelly ahead of time at home. She said sure. Again, her willingness to be adaptable to our needs made me feel like she was putting the dog's best interest above all else. I appreciated that!
So I filled up the tub with nice warm water, then my husband Mike led Kelly into the bathroom. She wasn't crazy about the idea, but didn't fight too much when he lifted her in. We used two cups to pour over her, and my husband took one side while I took the other. She tried to climb out numerous times, but otherwise cooperated.
After, we dried her with towels, combed her out, and let her air dry. This avoided the blow dryer issues too. She is so frisky and happy after her bath! She runs around the house and is so playful!
Tomorrow: Part Three, The Results!
What I Learned from My Dog: Sometimes we have to bear unpleasant procedures gracefully--or, as gracefully as we can. Also, cleansliness is not negotiable.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The Haircut--Before
In the past, we hadn't been successful in having Kelly groomed. She was anxious and frightened by the noises, and hated being left alone in the grooming shop.
Then, enter Melissa from TransFURmations. She not only transFURmed Kelly, but also transFURmed our grooming experience!
Melissa pulled into the driveway with her fully-loaded mobile grooming van. She made friends with Kelly, earned her trust and ours, and did a fantastic job.
But first-- the before pictures. Kelly has long, messy hair but we're blessed that it is soft and silky, and rarely gets matted. Still, she looks like a forest beast! And, in the summer, that fur coat gets uncomfortably hot. I try to keep up with it on my own as best I can, but it was time for a professional. An appointment was made. Melissa agreed to let us bathe Kelly at home, which helped alleviate the stress of the unfamiliar tub and the noise of the blow dryer.
Come back tomorrow for : The Bath
What I Learned from My Dog: Sometimes we're fearful of things that others seem to handle effortlessly. When I feel anxiety about some new thing, I try to find alternate ways to deal with the situation. Like Kelly, I can learn to tolerate unfamiliar and uncomfortable encounters, especially if others around me are understanding.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Top Dog--Charlie
Meet Charlie, best friend of Sarah, from Vermont!
Charlie is a would-be supermodel with his long, long legs. But really he's a 4 1/2 year old Rotweiller-mix.
As you can see, Charlie loves the Vermont outdoors. He loves to run, hike, and jump off of docks and swim.
His favorite toy is a blue rubber bone that smells like mint, and it is one of the few toys he cannot destroy. His goal in life is to eat everything and destroy everything possible!
Sarah says, "He pretty much never gets punished because he is so cute and is the most perfect boy ever!"
What I Learned From Sarah's Dog: Looking at Charlie, I'm reminded to get out and enjoy the great outdoors. Looks like Charlie does! I'm a native Vermonter myself, and love the beautiful Green Mountains. But even though I live in the city now, I can find nature's beauty in parks, on drives into the country, in window boxes, in cracks along the sidewalks, and even around the houses and buildings in my neighborhood. Thanks, Charlie!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Baby Falcons
The baby birds have hatched!
(Note: The above picture changes every time you open it. Keep checking back for more views of the falcons!)
Every year, rare Peregrine Falcons nest in a box under a busy highway bridge in my city. Ordinarily, I'd only be able to get a glimpse of these beautiful birds, recently making a comeback in the United States, swooping in and out of the nesting box. Luckily, the Department of Environmental Conservation set up a web cam, so we can all take a peek into the falcon's private lives as they prepare to welcome a new brood.
For weeks I watched as Mama Falcon perched in the nesting box. Once in a while she'd leave the nest, revealing four tiny speckled egg. Sometimes Papa Falcon appeared in the nest at her side. Then last week, tiny fuzzy cotton ball babies appeared! Although there were four eggs, it appears only two hatched. It's hard to tell, since they huddle so close together and are rarely left exposed. Mama Falcon covers them with her body most of the day. Today I happened to catch a glimpse of the babies at a rare moment when Mama had flown off for a bit. There I could clearly see the babies, and at least one tiny round little egg nestled up beside one of the fuzzy chicks. Mama had been sitting on it all this time. Maybe she was hoping that it would still some day hatch. I wanted to cry looking at that little unhatched egg.
I'm compelled to check in on these little guys on and off throughout the day, much like a proud grandma. The sad part is, I know that a time will come very soon when they'll grow up and fly away.
Last year I watched the Mama Falcon and her babies, and felt a strong connection as I prepared to watch my son graduate from high school and fly the nest, off to college. The babies had been stretching their wings and taking practice flights. They flew off on the day of my son's graduation. Here is a story I wrote about it, Message of the Falcon, published in Angels on Earth magazine.
Click here to watch the babies grow!
What I Learned From My Dog: Kelly has never been a mommy, but she has an innate understanding of nurturing, and is always gentle with puppies and other tiny critters. She's taught me that being a good mom often involves gentle patience.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Canine Supermodel
Today I needed to get some photographs of Kelly to accompany a story I'm writing on traveling with your pet. The photo was to include myself and the dog, which is always double trouble--how to get two favorable expressions at the same time. I don't consider myself the most naturally photographic person in the world. I"m always unhappy with an out of place wisp of hair, or the way my shirt poufs, or a dorky expression.
Kelly generally enjoys being a doggy model, but gets so hot and excited that she's panting heavily and her tongue hangs out in every picture.
Here was another problem. When I clipped on Kelly's leash, she figured we were going for a walk. I appeased her with a short spin around the block, but she wanted her customary 2-mile jaunt. Then, when we hopped in the car, she figured she was going for a ride. I didn't deceive her by turning the wheel and making engine noises. Brilliantly, she knew we were still parked in the driveway. Kelly became so excited at the prospect of either taking a walk or taking a ride, that she was far from cooperative for the photograph.
But in the end, we got the picture done, a few decent options. (Look for them on the Guideposts website, 5 Things About Pets!)
What I Learned From My Dog: Things aren't always what they seem. If we get put on a leash, and walk to the car, we're not necessarily going to get a ride. In life, we'd better be adaptable.
Monday, May 11, 2009
A Dirty Post
I'm a country girl, originally from Vermont. I love the country, but I want it my way--no flies or mosquitoes buzzing around my head. Farm animals, but no manure. And no weeds in the garden.
Although we live in the city, I consider our tiny patch of yard my little piece of the country. This weekend rain was predicted, but the weather held out long enough to get in some spring clean-up and gardening. A huge branch, about 10 foot long, had blown down from a tree and needed to be cut up and bundled into 4-foot sections before the city would haul it away. Luckily, my able-bodied son was home from college to help tackle the job.
Unfortunately our lumberjacking tool supply was limited, so Andy was offered some rusty garden snips more suitable for a rose bush, and a flimsy bow saw. In the end he resorted to making preliminary cuts and then stomping on the limbs and pulling with brute force. I think that was more fun for him anyway.
Kelly appreciated having us all outside together. She loves sniffing to see what lives under the garage (I'm afraid to find out!) and digging holes where she's not supposed to.
My husband Mike did the heavy work while I concentrated on planting geraniums in a pot and preparing flower beds along the side of the house. One problem we have with our city garden is the neighbor cats using our flower beds as litter boxes. It's always quite a disgusting project to clean that up every spring. Of course I wore my stylish purple garden gloves.
For the actual planting, I removed my gloves. I pushed my hands into the soil and felt the cool earth on my skin. That was it--the moment that always elevates gardening into a deeper experience for me. Me...kneeling on the ground...hands in the dirt...connected to the earth. It doesn't get any more basic. No, I don't like the mess. I'm grossed out by the fat worms that squirm past. My knees hurt. But for a moment, I'm a part of something bigger. Seeds, roots, sprouts, flowers. Miracles. And I don't want to take my hands out of the dirt.
What I Learned From My Dog: Go ahead, dig in the dirt. You might find a few bugs along the way. You might even get scolded for getting your paws messy. But, while you're doing it, there are few things more satisfying.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Puppies at 7 weeks
Puppy Update!
Remember the Dachshund-Pomeranian pups I showed you, born around Easter time? Well they're growing up! Nothing to say--the pictures speak for themselves!
Paws for Reflection: Playing with a puppy can burn a lot of calories, so why not adopt a pup today?
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Hey, Mom!
In my column this month I wrote about how owning a pet can be like being a mom. (I wrote it for Mother's Day, but here's to all the dads, too!) I've been thinking about how I am a "mom" to Kelly. For me, she filled a very obvious gap in my life as my kids grew up and started flying the nest. A cute little companion to feed, walk, play with and care for.
Along with the joys came the worries too. Like the time Kelly had a seizure. Most of us who've had pets have faced losing a pet, and fears of losing Kelly flashed through my mind as I held her quivering body. How would I get through the day without her? Who would weave between my feet as I walked, drop a soggy tennis ball in my lap, greet me at the door? Fortunately, everything turned out fine but the worry is always lurking there, somewhere.
There are difficult parts about being a dog mommy. The expense. The commitment. Kelly has developed separation anxiety. When I'm gone, even if someone else is home, she splays across the doorway and stares pitifully until I return. How can I ever go away on vacation? Luckily for her, the opportunity hasn't presented itself yet, but there are places I'd like to go that wouldn't be possible to bring along a dog. Even if I provided for the best care possible, would she pine away miserably without me? How could I ever let her know that I'd return?
Of course, most of the time being a dog mom is a pure joy. I feel her companionship as she lays by my feet when I'm working. There is nothing more relaxing than patting her soft, silky ears. Her silly antics tossing about a rope toy always make me laugh.
Most of all, it's about love.
Paws for Reflection: I'm giving Kelly an extra hug tonight! Thanks for being my "kid"!
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Ok, this incident between Tamron Hall and The Washington Examiner's Tim Carney has been tearing up the internet. Politico's Dylan Byers writes that Carney emailed Politico about what happened…
I've always enjoyed the feisty back-and-forths that MSNBC appearances provide me. I hope and expect to continue these.
The question for the Romney bullying segment was "does the story matter?" I took that to mean "does this incident tell us anything about Romney would be as President." I answered no. I maintained that position throughout the segment. Tamron thought I was ambushing her, apparently, and so she cut off my mic, I learned later.
It would be easy to take one side or the other in this spat as being right. But I'm not going to do that because it's not that cut and dried as there are several things at play here.
Most of the blame here lies with Carney. Whether or not he thought he was answering the question regarding the subject he thought he was going to be discussing takes a big back seat to the subject of how he decided to answer the question. He decided to make this confrontational. That's all on him. This wasn't like the time MSNBC booked a known bomb thrower and provocateur like John Ziegler on Contessa Brewer's hour. What ensued with Ziegler was easily predictable…what ensued with Carney was not.
But while I lay most of the blame for this with Carney, because it was his answer that started all this, it takes two to tango and Hall doesn't get off the hook entirely. While her response to Carney was nowhere near as outrageous or over the line as Thomas Roberts calling out an empty chair, Hall could have and should have handled this better.
I know, I know…Phil Griffin likes his POV even if it's supposed to be from his un-POV news anchors, but there are ways to react to Carney that are effective and ways to react to Carney that are not so effective. Thrusting yourself into the story is not one of the better ways to react to Carney. I don't care if you take personal offense to it or not, the moment you "go there" you've lost the interview and the segment is unrecoverable and ruined and the storyline is no longer about Carney's alleged attempt at misdirection but about your response to Carney. In other words a segment that wasn't about you just became about you. That's something one should try to avoid because it's a loser scenario. Just ask Contessa Brewer how the Ziegler segment worked out for her in the court of public opinion. It's scenes like this that are the reason why Cable News is the butt end of so many jokes.
Unless Hall herself did Carney's booking, I find it questionable that she knew the exact terms that were used to book Carney and the words chosen to express them. Hall said this to Carney on the air according to Mediaite's Tommy Christopher…
"You don't want me to go anything on you," Hall interjected. "You're actually irritating me right now. I'm going to be honest with you. Yes, you are. You knew the topics we were going to discuss. You knew them. You agreed."
But did Hall know exactly word for word how Carney was pitched? I'm going to give Carney some wiggle room here and suggest he release the emails of the pitch from MSNBC to prove the following assertion he made to Politico…
The question for the Romney bullying segment was "does the story matter?" I took that to mean "does this incident tell us anything about Romney would be as President." I answered no.
Proving that Carney was indeed pitched that way would at least let him off the hook in my eyes for his line of response but not for how he chose his words.
That's still all on him. Ultimately it's still mostly Carney's fault. Hall doesn't get all aggro if Carney doesn't throw the first punch. Yes, I wish she had not lost it like that and instead responded in a more restrained manner but she never would have responded at all if Carney hadn't lit a fire under her.


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NTSB closes another WMATA safety recommendationWritten by Mischa Wanek-Libman, editor
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has closed another safety recommendation, which advised the transit agency to develop a program to periodically determine that the electronic components in Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's (WMATA) train control system are performing within design tolerances. NTSB has now closed 21 of its 29 recommendations for WMATA.
"We continue to make steady progress toward making the system safer for riders and employees," said WMATA General Manager Richard Sarles. "We remain committed closing the remaining eight recommendations as soon as possible, while continuing to foster a culture of safety, shared responsibility and vigilance."
In the more than four years since the Fort Totten incident, WMATA said it has improved safety through its massive rebuilding program focused on safety projects, implementation of a confidential close-call reporting system (a first among heavy rail systems), an industry first "loss of shunt" detection system, restructuring and expansion of the Safety Department with direct reporting lines to the general manager and improved independent oversight.
In November, NTSB closed seven additional recommendations:
- R-07-025 Ensure appropriate coordination between all departments responsible for maintenance and design to resolve issues before new equipment is purchased.
- R-07-026 Establish a single point of responsibility within [Car Maintenance] to quickly evaluate and incorporate actions identified through accident investigations or related research.
- R-07-027 Establish written procedure regarding rail lubrication for single-track operations over switch, turnouts.
- R-08-001 Review and update [operating rules] to provide for layers of protection for Roadway Worker – adding requirements for Briefings, Scope & Duties, acknowledgement from trains.
- R-09-010 To all Transit Properties – Review medical history and physical examination forms and modify them as necessary to elicit information regarding sleep apnea or other sleep disorders.
- R-09-11 To all Transit Properties – Establish a program to identify operators who are at high risk for obstructive sleep disorders and require that such operators by appropriately evaluated and treated.
- R-10-11 Completely remove unnecessary wayside maintenance communication system to eliminate potential for interference with Automatic Train Control system
WMATA says of the remaining eight recommendations, three have been submitted to NTSB for closure. The remaining five recommendations involve longer-duration projects, such as replacement of WMATA's entire 1000-series fleet with new 7000-series railcars. Metro began testing its first 7000-series trainset earlier this month.