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Ryan Seacrest, Luke Bryan, Backstreet Boys, Darius Rucker, Paula Abdul, Enrique Iglesias, Matthew Morrison and Austin Mahone among those to appear on two-hour broadcast
TUCSON, Ariz., Aug. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Muscular Dystrophy Association has announced a star-studded celebrity lineup that will appear on its 48th annual telethon this Labor Day weekend, Sunday, Sept. 1, 9/8c, on ABC television stations across the country.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130813/DC63041LOGO)
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120424/DC93207LOGO)
Called the MDA Show of Strength, the telethon will feature: Ryan Seacrest, Backstreet Boys, country stars Luke Bryan, Darius Rucker and Lee Ann Womack, "Glee" star Matthew Morrison, Enrique Iglesias, Paula Abdul, teenage pop sensation Austin Mahone, hip-hop dance crew Jabbawockeez, "American Idol" runner-up Jessica Sanchez, Kenny Loggins with the Blue Sky Riders, American blues rock band Vintage Trouble, and "The Voice" contestant Chris Mann.
Additional presenters for the 2013 show include: ABC's Dr. Richard Besser, "Dancing with the Stars" contestant and "Brady Bunch" mom Florence Henderson, Emmy award-winning journalist Jann Carl, Olympic gold medal gymnasts Nadia Comaneci and Bart Conner, and No Doubt drummer Adrian Young and his son, Mason Young.
This year's lineup will deliver one-of-a-kind show performances as they join celebrity presenters to engage viewers with powerful "stories of strength" and moving calls-to-action to help families affected by muscle diseases.
"The MDA telethon is an American tradition, powered by celebrities, national sponsors and, most of all, generous individuals who watch and donate," said MDA President and CEO Steven M. Derks. "This year, we'll tell a powerful story of the progress we're making and breaking developments under way in the fight against muscle disease. We want to share our vision of hope that new lifesaving treatments are on the horizon as told through the eyes of courageous people fighting various neuromuscular diseases."
"On behalf of the tens of thousands of families we serve, MDA is remarkably hopeful and enormously grateful to all our supporters who make this progress possible. We think this year's show will be our best ever, truly a moving and entertaining two-hour experience."
R.A. (RAC) Clark, longtime executive producer of the Academy of Country Music Awards, will return this year as MDA telethon executive producer. The week before the broadcast, MDA is planning kickoff parties in communities in every state in the nation to rally interest and engage new supporters. A public service campaign is being launched this week to promote the show.
While the telethon has consistently enjoyed robust support from some of the biggest celebrities in show business, MDA says the real stars on the broadcast are the individuals and families served by MDA, including six families who will tell their stories of survival and hope during the 2013 broadcast.
The complete list of profiles includes:
- Cooper Somers, a vivacious Houston toddler battling spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) who tragically lost his dad in a car accident in the past year;
- Reagan Imhoff, a lovable and driven 8-year-old from suburban Milwaukee, also diagnosed as having SMA with big dreams of becoming a professional dancer;
- 11-year-old identical twins Nolan and Jack Willis from Fayetteville, N.Y., who have Duchenne muscular dystrophy and are taking part in a promising clinical trial;
- India Peters, 21, an adventurous young lady from Oxon Hill, M.D., learning to transition into adulthood while dealing with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD);
- Juan Morales, 28, from Pembroke Pines, Fla., who is fighting SMA and has a master's degree in psychology from Florida International University; and
- Ben Thomas, 32, from St. George, Utah, who is battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) with help from his loving wife, Jena, and 3-year-old daughter, Emmerson.
MDA.org and Social Media
MDA supporters are encouraged to visit mda.org/muscle to enhance their telethon viewing experience. New this year, site visitors can vote for their favorite MDA Telethon Memorable Moments featuring classic footage that includes the legendary Jerry Lewis, who generously hosted the MDA event for decades. Visitors also can check out and share exclusive behind-the-scenes footage from the telethon with celebrities and MDA families, view and submit a photo to a special Instagram gallery of "Make a Muscle" photos from around the world, and sign on to be a "Muscle Maker" for $19 a month. MDA social channels include Facebook at facebook.com/MDANational, Twitter at twitter.com/MDAnews, Google+ at mda.org/plus, Instagram at instagram/mda_usa and Pinterest at pinterest/mdanational.
MDA Telethon
The MDA telethon is one of America's longest-standing and beloved fundraising and entertainment events. For 48 years, funds raised by MDA telethons also have contributed to the organization's worldwide research program. Today, through current clinical trials, there is growing excitement that new lifesaving treatments and discoveries are on the horizon for many of the disorders MDA is dedicated to defeating, including Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
MDA's first Labor Day weekend telethon was broadcast in 1966 on a single New York station and has become the most successful fundraising event in the history of television. The show, with Jerry Lewis as its iconic host through 2010, and with help from a legion of top celebrities and entertainers, has raised millions each year to provide life-enhancing support and services for the families MDA serves.
In addition to funds contributed by the public, substantial support also comes from MDA's family of national partners, whose work throughout the year on behalf of MDA will be recognized on the telethon. Among the partners: International Association of Fire Fighters, CITGO Petroleum Corp., The Safeway Foundation, Lowe's, Harley-Davidson, Jiffy Lube, National Association of Letter Carriers, 7-Eleven, Dr Pepper Snapple Group/7UP, Acosta Sales & Marketing and Burger King.
About MDA
The Muscular Dystrophy Association is the world's leading nonprofit health agency dedicated to finding treatments and cures for muscular dystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neuromuscular diseases. It does so by funding worldwide research; by providing comprehensive health care services and support to MDA families nationwide; and by rallying communities to fight back through advocacy, fundraising and local engagement. Visit mda.org and follow us at facebook.com/MDAnational and @MDAnews.
SOURCE Muscular Dystrophy Association


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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced the full Senate will not plan to return to the Capitol before May 4 — a delay from a planned return next Monday.
McConnell said the decision to change the schedule was made "following the advice of health experts" and in consultation with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
McConnell, R-Ky., stressed that Congress continues to work remotely to respond to the economic impact of the coronavirus.
"As Senators continue working together from our home states, we must stay totally focused on fighting this pandemic and strengthening our nation. The coronavirus does not take days off and the United States Senate must not either, wherever we are," McConnell said in a written statement on Tuesday.
The move follows a similar announcement a day earlier from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., informing members the House would not return until May 4.
Both leaders indicated that if Congress needed to act quickly on something, members would be given at least 24 hours' notice.
McConnell and the White House are pressing Democrats to agree to add another $250 billion to a program Congress recently created to help struggling small businesses, and are warning the program could run out of money this week. Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi want to add to that another $250 billion for hospitals and state and local governments, and to increase food assistance aid.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin urged Democrats at a White House briefing Monday to agree to approve the small business money this week and put off the debate about other programs until later. So negotiations appear to be stalled for now. He said about $220 billion of the $350 billion already approved for small-business grants had been used up — and that the Treasury needed to get more funding from Congress to address growing demand for relief.
"We think there is a likelihood we will need more money," Mnuchin said.
Also Tuesday, the Architect of the Capitol released a statement making face coverings mandatory for those still working in the main Capitol and surrounding office buildings.
"During this pandemic, we will continue doing our utmost to protect the health and lives of our employees by following the guidance of the CDC and [the Office of the Attending Physician], which is evolving as they learn more about the virus and the disease it causes," it announced, adding that masks were needed "while on campus, and in public spaces, as an enhancement to social distancing and personal hygiene practices."
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

subset: commoncrawl


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Are we alone in the universe? It comes down to whether intelligence is a probable outcome of natural selection, or an improbable fluke. By definition, probable events occur frequently, improbable events occur rarely—or once. Our evolutionary history shows that many key adaptations—not just intelligence, but complex animals, complex cells, photosynthesis, and life itself—were unique, one-off events, and therefore highly improbable. Our evolution may have been like winning the lottery…only far less likely.
The universe is astonishingly vast. The Milky Way has more than 100 billion stars, and there are over a trillion galaxies in the visible universe, the tiny fraction of the universe we can see. Even if habitable worlds are rare, their sheer number—there are as many planets as stars, maybe more—suggests lots of life is out there. So where is everyone? This is the Fermi paradox. The universe is large, and old, with time and room for intelligence to evolve, but there's no evidence of it.
Could intelligence simply be unlikely to evolve? Unfortunately, we can't study extraterrestrial life to answer this question. But we can study some 4.5 billion years of Earth's history, looking at where evolution repeats itself, or doesn't.
Evolution sometimes repeats, with different species independently converging on similar outcomes. If evolution frequently repeats itself, then our evolution might be probable, even inevitable.
And striking examples of convergent evolution do exist. Australia's extinct, marsupial thylacine had a kangaroo-like pouch but otherwise looked like a wolf, despite evolving from a different mammal lineage. There are also marsupial moles, marsupial anteaters, and marsupial flying squirrels. Remarkably, Australia's entire evolutionary history, with mammals diversifying after the dinosaur extinction, parallels other continents.
Other striking cases of convergence include dolphins and extinct ichthyosaurs, which evolved similar shapes to glide through the water, and birds, bats, and pterosaurs, which convergently evolved flight.
We also see convergence in individual organs. Eyes evolved not just in vertebrates, but in arthropods, octopi, worms, and jellyfish. Vertebrates, arthropods, octopi, and worms independently invented jaws. Legs evolved convergently in the arthropods, octopi, and four kinds of fish (tetrapods, frogfish, skates, mudskippers).
Here's the catch. All this convergence happened within one lineage, the Eumetazoa. Eumetazoans are complex animals with symmetry, mouths, guts, muscles, a nervous system. Different eumetazoans evolved similar solutions to similar problems, but the complex body plan that made it all possible is unique. Complex animals evolved once in life's history, suggesting they're improbable.
Surprisingly, many critical events in our evolutionary history are unique and, probably, improbable. One is the bony skeleton of vertebrates, which let large animals move onto land. The complex, eukaryotic cells that all animals and plants are built from, containing nuclei and mitochondria, evolved only once. Sex evolved just once. Photosynthesis, which increased the energy available to life and produced oxygen, is a one-off. For that matter, so is human-level intelligence. There are marsupial wolves and moles, but no marsupial humans.
There are places where evolution repeats, and places where it doesn't. If we only look for convergence, it creates confirmation bias. Convergence seems to be the rule, and our evolution looks probable. But when you look for non-convergence, it's everywhere, and critically, complex adaptations seem to be the least repeatable, and therefore improbable.
What's more, these events depended on one another. Humans couldn't evolve until fish evolved bones that let them crawl onto land. Bones couldn't evolve until complex animals appeared. Complex animals needed complex cells, and complex cells needed oxygen, made by photosynthesis. None of this happens without the evolution of life, a singular event among singular events. All organisms come from a single ancestor; as far as we can tell, life only happened once.
Curiously, all this takes a surprisingly long time. Photosynthesis evolved 1.5 billion years after the Earth's formation, complex cells after 2.7 billion years, complex animals after 4 billion years, and human intelligence 4.5 billion years after the Earth formed. That these innovations are so useful but took so long to evolve implies that they're exceedingly improbable.
An Unlikely Series of Events
These one-off innovations, critical flukes, may create a chain of evolutionary bottlenecks or filters. If so, our evolution wasn't like winning the lottery. It was like winning the lottery again, and again, and again. On other worlds, these critical adaptations might have evolved too late for intelligence to emerge before their suns went nova, or not at all.
Imagine that intelligence depends on a chain of seven unlikely innovations—the origin of life, photosynthesis, complex cells, sex, complex animals, skeletons, and intelligence itself—each with a 10 percent chance of evolving. The odds of evolving intelligence become one in 10 million.
But complex adaptations might be even less likely. Photosynthesis required a series of adaptations in proteins, pigments, and membranes. Eumetazoan animals required multiple anatomical innovations (nerves, muscles, mouths, and so on). So maybe each of these seven key innovations evolve just 1 percent of the time. If so, intelligence will evolve on just 1 in 100 trillion habitable worlds. If habitable worlds are rare, then we might be the only intelligent life in the galaxy, or even the visible universe.
And yet, we're here. That must count for something, right? If evolution gets lucky one in 100 trillion times, what are the odds we happen to be on a planet where it happened? Actually, the odds of being on that improbable world are 100 percent, because we couldn't have this conversation on a world where photosynthesis, complex cells, or animals didn't evolve. That's the anthropic principle: Earth's history must have allowed intelligent life to evolve, or we wouldn't be here to ponder it.
Intelligence seems to depend on a chain of improbable events. But given the vast number of planets, then like an infinite number of monkeys pounding on an infinite number of typewriters to write Hamlet, it's bound to evolve somewhere. The improbable result was us.
This article was originally published October 18, 2019 on The Conversation and is republished under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.


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A Brand New Clean & Wholesome Christian Romance from @StephanyTullis #ASMSG #BookBoost #RPBP12/14/2017
Brand New Clean & Wholesome Christian Literature!
Missing Home
(A Chandler County Novel)
A Story of Love, Trust & Honor, Book 2
Available December 14, 2017
Literature & Fiction - Religious & Inspirational Fiction - Inspirational
Contemporary Fiction – Religious – Christian – Clean Romance
Diamond TK Publishing
A 21st century battle between good and evil.
Fire and brimstone, it is when an unknown epidemic threatens Chandlerville, Kentucky and its citizens. Despite his divinity training, newly appointed Chandler County pastor, Dr. Jared Johnson never intended to pastor a church despite his divinity training —not when his specialty is psychological profiling. Fate seems to have some other thoughts about the matter.
When Dr. Jared Johnson's research project collapses, so does he. He tosses the funding rejection letter in his office wastebasket and his plans to marry the love of his life out the window.
The last thing he wants to do is return to his home town, Chandlerville, Kentucky. An unexpected call from his grandmother, a lifelong resident of the small town, convinces him that all things indeed happen for a reason and perhaps this is the right time to reestablish his roots and start anew.
When he arrives--single, with no intent to marry, he's shocked to learn that the town has unanimously approved his pastoral appointment to the newly refurbished 100-year-old Baptist church. Despite his divinity training, Jared never intended to pastor a church—not when his specialty is psychological profiling.
As fate would have it, the evil spirits that begin to permeate the town and its good-hearted citizens shortly after his arrival challenge his technical skills, experience and community relationships. To complicate matters, a local angel finds herself in the eye of the storm causing Jared to re-evaluate his past and question his future.
Missing Home, A Chandler County Novel
Chapter One
What the hell was I thinking? Everything I wanted and much more than I expected or deserved. How did I walk away--no run away is more like it. She was the best thing that ever happened to me. Have I lost it or what? Jared continued mumbling to himself fighting the images of Marissa Leonard's mocha colored, flavor enhanced, plump, kissable lips. Marissa was Dr. Jared J. Johnson's fiancée or, so he assumed. He hadn't spoken with her in a week, ignored her calls, responding to them with his pre-programmed, Busy right now. Will call you back.
For the first time in his life, Jared questioned his decision-making abilities. He was smart, educated and had thought he had a good head on his shoulders. But his recent decision to walk out on the woman of his dreams made him re-assess the wisdom of his ways. As his 'Great Uncle Chuck' used to say, 'for an educated man, you can do some stupid things'. Jared was very close to agreeing with his long-gone uncle.
Normally a man who thought in great depth before he made any decision regardless of how small, Jared cancelled his wedding like it was an appointment with his barber. He texted Mari, his almost betrothed, supposed everlasting love, 'Can't talk now, need to reschedule dinner, will be in touch soon. Soon had yet to arrive.
Since he was driving, he made a mental note to check his cell to confirm the date and time of the text; his official melt down. He wondered if he had 'flipped' out…he only remembered episodic flashbacks. His psychology training allowed for the possibility of PSTD—post traumatic stress disorder but he had never served in the military so while he hadn't fully dismissed that PSTD could be a possibility--it certainly wasn't driven by military service.
He distinctly remembered his excitement when Sydney, his executive assistant, tapped on the glass window to his office door with a grin as wide as a circus clown waving a certified letter, mouthing 'Yes' and doing her happy dance. He beckoned her to come in, excited himself that the continuation award letter had finally arrived. It was late but that was nothing unusual with the Feds. They were always late with the grant award announcements.
The smile dropped, his heart skipped several beats as he read and re-read the life changing termination letter from the Department of Health and Human Services. From his perspective, there was nothing further to think about. His stellar career was finished. Dunzo. He packed up his laptop, grabbed his jacket from the back of his desk chair and tossed the letter to Sydney without a word. After slamming the door, he re-opened it not surprised at all to find a startled Sidney jump back to avoid a broken nose.
"Sorry, Syd. I'll give you a call. I've got to go now. Got something to do." He mumbled and exited quicker than he had re-entered.
A confused Sidney reopened the door that had just been slammed in her face, and yelled to her boss' back.
"Hey Jay, is everything alright?"
Without looking back, he yelled, "No."
As the elevator doors opened, he added. "By the way, tell your sister I'll be in touch."
Professional planner by training and nature, he violated project planning rule number one. He acted without a plan when he swung by his apartment, changed into his jeans and threw a few things into his duffel bag. He locked up his condo, remotely set his alarm from the car and pulled out of one of his two assigned parking spaces. Jared drove aimlessly for days.
Now as neared his hometown, Chandlerville, Kentucky, he wondered how he would explain his early arrival. He and Mari had confirmed with his grandmother via a three way call no more than two weeks ago that they would visit her and spend some time with her before returning to finish up his Atlanta-based CDC project. Jared knew his grandmother wanted him to move back home. They'd made no promises, but he and Mari had discussed the pros and cons of relocating to a small town.
He had mixed feelings about it because he'd spent all his adult life in big cities and wasn't sure he could re-adapt to small town living. Mari was born and raised in a small town, too but in upstate New York. Except for a few cousins, she had no close family in the North and rarely visited. She and a friend from her college days remained in contact--not regularly but enough to meet up and see a show in the City every two or three years.
So, the North and snow were out of the question. They had also agreed that Hot-lanta was not their preferred choice for raising a family. After talking it through and thinking about how close Chandlerville was to Nashville, one of their favorite places to visit, and to Louisville, home of the Kentucky Derby, they had tentatively decided they might give Chandlerville further thought.
Grams would be happy but shocked to see him so close to the wedding and without Mari. There was no way to explain away her absence and his unexpected presence especially since Gram had planned to attend the wedding in a few weeks. She'd been excited and hoped to get some sightseeing in while she was in the big A-T-L. She'd only been there once and wanted to go to one of those fancy 'upscale' restaurants as she said, the new Civil Rights museum and she was hoping 'her nephew or his new wife' could find someone to take her to a Hawks game.
Jay and Mari had laughed at his grandmother's sarcasm and promised her they would see what they could do. Without telling her, they had already purchased the Hawks and Museum tickets and made reservations for dinner at one of Atlanta's renown restaurants.
He slowed as he turned off the highway feeling like a kid who had not only crashed the family car, but left it alongside the road and stolen someone's vehicle to make it home. Unlike the kid, however, he was less worried at this point, about the situation than the fact that he had to look his grandmother in the eyes and explain what would appear from her perspective to be the unexplainable. Eyes that despite her age, were more than just lucid. They were bright and would widen when she saw her 'boy' as she called him. The crinkles around her soft brown eyes would fill with warm welcoming tears of joy like they did each time she saw him. Nothing would be different except her disappointment when she looked around for an absent Marissa and listened to his sob story of betrayal.
The trucks and steep winding roads on I-65 challenged the best of drivers and Jay breathed a sigh of relief--thankful to exit from the highway and onto the bypass. Jay murmured, "I made it Grams."
If nothing else, as had been true all his life, his grandma, Ms. Isabel Johnson knew the way. And she might have some answers for him. The unexpected revelation, warming sunlight and rolling green hills made for a brighter day. With a chest expanding breath, he rolled back the deep burgundy convertible top on his black metallic Mercedes and made a U turn. "Chandlerville, for better or worse, I'm back. Gotta make a stop by Cassies'. Gram would never forgive me if I didn't bring her a pecan pie."
In my world, there is no life without writing, traveling, family, music and my love of politics. My loves and interests are central to my writing. With this backdrop, regardless of the date or time of your visit, you will find family.
My world (my back-story) is guided by my faith and the inspiration I receive from God. Without exaggeration, family and relationships are the core of every book I write.
I love to travel and like me, my characters are always off and running and in so doing require me to research (and often visit) so many fascinating places.
I also love music—all kinds and I'm never surprised by what track finds its way to my personal playlists and a character's ring tone, door chime, or car radio station.
People frown sometimes and don't understand my love of politics, but I have a political administration background and thrived on and in my past government career. For me, it's the people, the process and what democracy offers. As with life, my fictional towns and cities include mayors, governors, school board members, etc.
If you haven't guessed, I love my world that allows me to not only live the life I love but to also share it with others.
Website ǁ Twitter ǁ Facebook ǁ Pinterest ǁ Amazon Author Page ǁ Book Bub ǁ Readers Group
AuthorSitting in a chair, at a desk with headphones on, typing away...That's where you'll find Sybil Shae most days. She loses track of time and reality as she dives into her romance world, becoming one with her characters and growing with them as they appear through words on the tablet screen in concert with the imagery of a fool's paradise we all visit in our dreams. Archives
January 2018


text: Hi sexy! My name is Mike Jones and I'm glad to have you and those beautiful ears of yours hanging with me every day. Thanks for swinging by the page! I love baseball, WWE, video games and being a silly goose. Oh, and sometime when we can get together for a few beers: you and me, Rock n Roll Jeopardy throwdown! Let's do it!


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Roses: Heritage and Molineux
A few David-Austin roses we have in our garden have been happy with delightful blooms, thanks to the daily rains and the warm weather in recent weeks. Charmingly perfect form with superb perfume , it's easy to be captivated by the old-fashioned look of these beautiful roses.
Pale pink with strong, sweet scent – Heritage Rose from a two year old plant
Pale yellow with mild scent ~ Molineux Rose from a eight year old plant
Beautiful Butterflies ~ Monarchs in the Garden
As summer comes to an end, the Monarch butterflies migrate through Texas to Mexico following their age-old survival clock. This year, we had the pleasure and privilege of providing nourishment to Monarch butterflies in our garden while they took a brief break on their southward journey. We would see almost 20 to 25 butterflies in different colors and sizes, fluttering and feasting in our garden every day for the past two weeks. They seem to delight on passion flower, Tithonia (Mexican sunflower), milkweed and Rangoon creeper. Their favorite seems to be the plentiful zinnias in the backyard. The butterflies are so beautiful to look at as they pass through the garden. It's truly is a joy to watch them. Not only for us but also for our gentle cat, Kittaya, who sits behind the porch door and meows at the moving rainbow of monarchs.
Here are some Monarchs captured through our camera.
Home as a Hobby ~ Dinnerplate Dahlia
Dinnerplate Sized Dahlia ~ Dining Table Decoration
I remember the dahlias in India from my childhood days and their fantastic bloom power. So, here in my Houston home, I make sure I have at least two or three variety dahlia by summer season. I plant the dahlia tubers in Febraury and by May the buds begin to bloom. The variety photographed above is called dinnerplate dahlia. A single flower is almost 10-inches across, that bold, hence the name. In addition to yellow, I have one more dahlia in classy coral red color. They sure make my summer garden vibrant.
If you are new to dahlias, consider giving them a chance. They need basic attention. Like annuals, they bloom almost continually, at least until August in Houston weather. And like perennials, you can keep them alive to grow or replant for the next season. Plus, there are so many colors to choose from.
Rosa ~The Fairy
Rosa ~The Fairy
Rose, 'The Fairy' produces clusters of lovely pink flowers that are dainty and delicate looking. The plant is hardy and grows into a small bush. I bought mine as a bare root from a local nursery. It is now three years old and thriving beautifully. One of my favorite mini roses.
Summer Colors ~ Bougainvillea
Royal Purple Bougainvillea in a Pot ~ Coloring the Frontyard Garage Space
A brilliant performer, bougainvillea does well in hot Houston summer. Passionately colorful, passionately vibrant, passionately floriferous – they remind me of bright, eye-catching, gorgeously swirling Rajastani dresses of Bharath.
Garden Goddess ~ Radha Manoharam
Quisqualis indica – Radha Manoharam (Telugu), Madhumalti (Hindi), Rangoon Creeper
We had Radha Manoharam growing up in Nandyala and I wished one for my Houston home garden too. Luckily I found a small seedling this March at Fort Bend Master Gardeners' Sale. I planted it in the backyard, near the patio column, hoping it would cover the column and eventually make a nice arbor between the columns. It thrived in that spot and draped the entire column in just five months with vigorous growth. It started blooming in late August. Right now, the whole vine is adorned with hundreds of pretty flowers.
The flower buds open in the evening in pale white color. On the following day the bloom changes to pink and then gradually darkens to red and deep magenta by the third day. The clusters of blooms usually open few flowers at a time, so in blooming season multiple colors – white, pink and red are always visible on the plant making it visually very appealing. The flowers also seem to stay fresh at least for a week on the plant. I have noticed that during the day, pink and red flowers are visited by a wide range of visitors like bees and hummingbirds for the flower honey, and in the evenings freshly opened white blooms are visited by moths. The flowers have a pleasant fragrance that scents the air we breathe. So beautiful and divine, no wonder the plant is named in Telugu after the celestial romantic pair Radha and Krishna.
Another must have for fragrant flower lovers, heavenly Radha manoharam is my autumn garden goddess.
Radha Manoharam
Spring is in the Air
The birds are chirping, bees are buzzing and seeds are sprouting. Spring is in the air. What a joy to experience the seasons in the sun again! It feels good to be alive.
We had couple of day-long rain showers in February. Houston needed that soaking rain after last year's drought like conditions. Thanks to the rain and pleasant weather, my garden space is coming alive with plenty of new growth. Here are some garden goddesses that are in smiling bloom.
About to bloom ~ A Red Rose Bud
Pretty in Pink ~ An Azalea (Autumn Carnation)
Golden Beauty ~ The Chrysanthemum
Petal Perfection ~ The Red Camellia
A New Addition to The Garden ~ Tulip Magnolia (Jane)


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Search Recipes in Sara's Corner
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
7 dont's after a meal
Don't smoke -Experiment from experts proves that smoking a cigarette after meal is comparable to smoking 10 cigarettes(chances of cancer is higher).
Don't eat fruits immediately - Immediately eating fruits after meals will cause stomach to be bloated with air. Therefore take fruit 1-2 hr after meal or 1hr before meal.
Don't drink tea -Because tea leaves contain a high content of acid.This substance will cause the Protein content in the food we consume to be hardened thus difficult todigest.
Don't loosen your belt - Loosening the belt after a meal will easily cause the intestine to be twisted & blocked.


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Picked up SilverStripe from the last few years and loving the poser and beauty of this. Our Happy Clients: https://clutch.co/profile/addweb-solution. Plan to contribute back to the community with the knowledge & experience we have gained.
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President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) on March 11. While the new law is best known for the provisions providing relief to individuals, there are also several tax breaks and financial benefits for businesses.
Here are some of the tax highlights of the ARPA.
The Employee Retention Credit (ERC). This valuable tax credit is extended from June 30 until December 31, 2021. The ARPA continues the ERC rate of credit at 70% for this extended period of time. It also continues to allow for up to $10,000 in qualified wages for any calendar quarter. Taking into account the Consolidated Appropriations Act extension and the ARPA extension, this means an employer can potentially have up to $40,000 in qualified wages per employee through 2021.
Employer-Provided Dependent Care Assistance. In general, an eligible employee's gross income doesn't include amounts paid or incurred by an employer for dependent care assistance provided to the employee under a qualified dependent care assistance program (DCAP).
Previously, the amount that could be excluded from an employee's gross income under a DCAP during a tax year wasn't more than $5,000 ($2,500 for married individuals filing separately), subject to certain limitations. However, any contribution made by an employer to a DCAP can't exceed the employee's earned income or, if married, the lesser of employee's or spouse's earned income.
Under the ARPA, for 2021 only, the exclusion for employer-provided dependent care assistance is increased from $5,000 to $10,500 (from $2,500 to $5,250 for married individuals filing separately).
This provision is effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2020.
Paid Sick and Family Leave Credits. Changes under the ARPA apply to amounts paid with respect to calendar quarters beginning after March 31, 2021. Among other changes, the law extends the paid sick time and paid family leave credits under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act from March 31, 2021, through September 30, 2021. It also provides that paid sick and paid family leave credits may each be increased by the employer's share of Social Security tax (6.2%) and employer's share of Medicare tax (1.45%) on qualified leave wages.
Grants to restaurants. Under the ARPA, eligible restaurants, food trucks, and similar businesses that provide food and drinks may receive restaurant revitalization grants from the Small Business Administration. For tax purposes, amounts received as restaurant revitalization grants aren't included in the gross income of the person who receives the money.
Much more
These are only some of the provisions in the ARPA. There are many others that may be beneficial to your business. Contact us for more information about your situation.
© 2021


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Similar to the printer fabric technique use by Debbie in making her bible quiet book, Helga printed pictures on to transfer paper, which she then transferred to the fabric. Doing so gave her book such a cool look! I love the different details in the book - the dresser, bed, wardrobe, oven - really everything in the whole house. And her granddaughters colored on transfer paper for the cover, which is just so cute. So, please enjoy Helga's quiet book!
What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence.
My name is Helga. I live in Switzerland; I am a nurse and I am 60 years old.
Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they?
I made one quiet book 30 years ago for my 3 daughters. Now they have grown up and have only one book to share for their future children. So I now made two others for my twins.
What's your level of sewing experience?
My level of sewing experience is basic. I never sew clothes.
How long did it take you?
The most time I spent on choosing illustrations, colors and some templates. It's hard to say how much time is was, but it is definitely time consuming.
Did you use any templates? Where can they be found?
I used the doll pattern of Sarah Jane. From my kid's, I changed their portrait photos into drawings to use their head with the paper doll body.
How did you bind your quiet book?
I sew the inside pages to the cover.
What material are the pages made out of?
I used cotton fabric.
What other materials did you use?
I used transfer paper to print patterns on fabric.
How much did all the supplies cost you?
About $50. The most expensive was the transfer paper and the colors of the printer.
What's your favorite page? Why?
The cover made from their drawing (transfer drawing on fabric). It's my favorite because they did it.
Thank you so much for sharing your lovely quiet book with us, Helga!
Have you made a quiet book that you'd like to share? Click here for instructions on how to submit your own quiet book!


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Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Explanation: What are those bright objects in the morning sky? Early morning dog walkers, among many others across our world's Northern Hemisphere, have likely noticed tremendously bright Venus hanging in the eastern sky just before sunrise. Looking a bit like an approaching airplane, Venus holds its place in the sky and never seems to land. Last week, impressive but less bright Jupiter appeared within a degree of the Venusian orb, creating a dazzling sky that you might appreciate a bit more than your dog. This night sky early show will change slightly over the next week, with the planets moving past each other, Mars moving into the picture, guest stars like Spica appearing to shift in the background, and even a crescent Moon stopping in for a cameo. Pictured above last week, Jupiter and Venus were photographed rising before the Sun over the city of Bursa, Turkey.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
Jerry Bonnell
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
& Michigan Tech. U.


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Legal and technology researchers estimate
that it would take about a month for Internet users to read the privacy
policies of all the Web sites they visit in a year. So in the interest
of time, here is the deal: You know that dream where you suddenly
realize you're stark naked? You're living it whenever you open your
There are no secrets online. That emotional e-mail you sent to your ex,
the illness you searched for in a fit of hypochondria, those hours spent
watching kitten videos (you can take that as a euphemism if the kitten
fits) — can all be gathered to create a defining profile of you.
Your information can then be stored, analyzed, indexed and sold as a
commodity to data brokers who in turn might sell it to advertisers,
employers, health insurers or credit rating agencies.
And while it's probably impossible to cloak your online activities
fully, you can take steps to do the technological equivalent of throwing
on a pair of boxers and a T-shirt. Some of these measures are quite
easy and many are free. Of course, the more effort and money you expend,
the more concealed you are. The trick is to find the right balance
between cost, convenience and privacy.
Before you can thwart the snoopers, you have to know who they are. There
are hackers hanging around Wi-Fi hot spots, to be sure. But security
experts and privacy advocates said more worrisome were Internet service
providers, search engine operators, e-mail suppliers and Web site
administrators — particularly if a single entity acts in more than one
capacity, like Google, Yahoo, Facebook and AOL. This means they can
easily collect and cross-reference your data, that is, match your
e-mails with your browsing history, as well as figure out your location
and identify all the devices you use to connect to the Internet.
"The worst part is they sell this extremely creepy intrusion as a great
boon to your life because they can tailor services to your needs," said Paul Ohm,
an associate professor at the University of Colorado Law School in
Boulder who specializes in information privacy and computer crime. "But
do most people want to give that much away? No."
He advised logging off sites like Google and Facebook as soon as
practicably possible and not using the same provider for multiple
functions if you can help it. "If you search on Google, maybe you don't
want to use Gmail for your e-mail," he said.
If you do not want the content of your e-mail messages examined or
analyzed at all, you may want to consider lesser-known free services
like HushMail, RiseUp and Zoho, which promote no-snooping policies. Or register your own domain with an associated e-mail address through services like Hover or BlueHost,
which cost $55 to $85 a year. You get not only the company's assurance
of privacy but also an address unlike anyone else's, like email@example.com.
Or you can forgo trusting others with your e-mail correspondence
altogether and set up your own mail server. It is an option that is not
just for the paranoid, according to Sam Harrelson,
a middle-school teacher and self-described technology aficionado in
Asheville, N.C., who switched to using his own mail server this year
using a $49.99 OS X Server and $30 SpamSieve software to eliminate junk mail.
"The topic of privacy policies and what lies ahead for our digital
footprints is especially fascinating and pertinent for me, since I work
with 13- and 14-year-olds who are just beginning to dabble with services
such as Gmail and all of Google's apps, as well as Facebook, Instagram,
social gaming," he said. "I have nothing to hide, but I'm uncomfortable
with what we give away."
But even with your own mail server, Google will still have the e-mails
you exchange with friends or colleagues with Gmail accounts, said Peter
Eckersley of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights advocacy group in San Francisco. "You're less exposed," he said. "But you can't totally escape."
Another shrouding tactic is to use the search engine DuckDuckGo,
which distinguishes itself with a "We do not track or bubble you!"
policy. Bubbling is the filtering of search results based on your search
history. (Bubbling also means you are less likely to see opposing
points of view or be exposed to something fresh and new.)
Regardless of which search engine you use, security experts recommend
that you turn on your browser's "private mode," usually found under
Preferences, Tools or Settings. When this mode is activated, tracking
cookies are deleted once you close your browser, which "essentially
wipes clean your history," said Jeremiah Grossman, chief technology
officer with WhiteHat Security, an online security consulting firm in Santa Clara, Calif.
He warned, however, that private mode does nothing to conceal your I.P.
address, a unique number that identifies your entry or access point to
the Internet. So Web sites may not know your browsing history, but they
will probably know who you are and where you are as well as when and how
long you viewed their pages.
Shielding your I.P. address is possible by connecting to what is called a
virtual private network, or V.P.N., such as those offered by WiTopia, PrivateVPN and StrongVPN.
These services, whose prices price from $40 to $90 a year, route your
data stream to what is called a proxy server, where it is stripped of
your I.P. address before it is sent on to its destination. This obscures
your identity not only from Web sites but also from your Internet
service provider.
Moreover, these services encrypt data traveling to and from their
servers so it looks like gibberish to anyone who might be monitoring
wireless networks in places like coffee shops, airports and hotels.
While V.P.N. providers generally have strict privacy policies, Moxie Marlinspike,
an independent security researcher and software developer in San
Francisco, said, "It's better to trust the design of the system rather
than an organization." In that case, there is Tor,
a free service with 36 million users that was originally developed to
conceal military communications. Tor encrypts your data stream and
bounces it through a series of proxy servers so no single entity knows
the source of the data or whence it came. The only drawback is that with
all that bouncing around, it is very S-L-O-W.
Free browser add-ons that increase privacy and yet will not interrupt your work flow include Ghostery and Do Not Track Plus,
which prevent Web sites from relaying information about you and your
visit to tracking companies. These add-ons also name the companies that
were blocked from receiving your data (one social network, five
advertising companies and six data brokers on a recent visit to CNN.com), which is instructive in itself.
"Companies like Google are creating these enormous databases using your
personal information," said Paul Hill, senior consultant with SystemExperts,
a network security company in Sudbury, Mass. "They may have the best of
intentions now, but who knows what they will look like 20 years from
now, and by then it will be too late to take it all back."
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Although attention commonly focuses on energy use on the farm, agriculture accounts for only one fifth of the energy used in the U.S. food system, The modern food system that evolved when oil was cheap will not survive as it is now structured.
By Lester Brown
from Grist, June 25, 2009
Today we are an oil-based civilization, one that is totally dependent on a resource whose production will soon be falling. Since 1981, the quantity of oil extracted has exceeded new discoveries by an ever-widening margin. In 2008, the world pumped 31 billion barrels of oil but discovered fewer than 9 billion barrels of new oil. World reserves of conventional oil are in a free fall, dropping every year.
As I note in my latest book Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, discoveries of conventional oil total roughly 2 trillion barrels, of which 1 trillion have been extracted so far, with another trillion barrels to go. By themselves, however, these numbers miss a central point. As security analyst Michael Klare notes, the first trillion barrels was easy oil, "oil that's found on shore or near to shore; oil close to the surface and concentrated in large reservoirs; oil produced in friendly, safe, and welcoming places." The other half, Klare notes, is tough oil, "oil that's buried far offshore or deep underground; oil scattered in small, hard-to-find reservoirs; oil that must be obtained from unfriendly, politically dangerous, or hazardous places."
This prospect of peaking oil production has direct consequences for world food security, as modern agriculture depends heavily on the use of fossil fuels. Most tractors use gasoline or diesel fuel. Irrigation pumps use diesel fuel, natural gas, or coal-fired electricity. Fertilizer production is also energy-intensive. Natural gas is used to synthesize the basic ammonia building block in nitrogen fertilizers. The mining, manufacture, and international transport of phosphates and potash all depend on oil.
Efficiency gains can help reduce agriculture's dependence on oil. In the United States, the combined direct use of gasoline and diesel fuel in farming fell from its historical high of 7.7 billion gallons (29.1 billion liters) in 1973 to 4.2 billion in 2005—a decline of 45 percent. Broadly calculated, the gallons of fuel used per ton of grain produced dropped from 33 in 1973 to 12 in 2005, an impressive decrease of 64 percent.
One reason for this achievement was a shift to minimum- and no-till cultural practices on roughly two fifths of U.S. cropland. But while U.S. agricultural fuel use has been declining, in many developing countries it is rising as the shift from draft animals to tractors continues. A generation ago, for example, cropland in China was tilled largely by draft animals. Today much of the plowing is done with tractors.
Fertilizer accounts for 20 percent of U.S. farm energy use. Worldwide, the figure may be slightly higher. As the world urbanizes, the demand for fertilizer climbs. As people migrate from rural areas to cities, it becomes more difficult to recycle the nutrients in human waste back into the soil, requiring the use of more fertilizer. Beyond this, the growing international food trade can separate producer and consumer by thousands of miles, further disrupting the nutrient cycle. The United States, for example, exports some 80 million tons of grain per year—grain that contains large quantities of basic plant nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. The ongoing export of these nutrients would slowly drain the inherent fertility from U.S. cropland if the nutrients were not replaced.
Irrigation, another major energy claimant, is requiring more energy worldwide as water tables fall. In the United States, close to 19 percent of farm energy use is for pumping water. And in some states in India where water tables are falling, over half of all electricity is used to pump water from wells. Some trends, such as the shift to no-tillage, are making agriculture less oil-intensive, but rising fertilizer use, the spread of farm mechanization, and falling water tables are having the opposite effect.
Although attention commonly focuses on energy use on the farm, agriculture accounts for only one fifth of the energy used in the U.S. food system. Transport, processing, packaging, marketing, and kitchen preparation of food are responsible for the rest. The U.S. food economy uses as much energy as the entire economy of the United Kingdom.
The 14 percent of energy used in the food system to move goods from farmer to consumer is equal to two thirds of the energy used to produce the food. And an estimated 16 percent of food system energy use is devoted to canning, freezing, and drying food—everything from frozen orange juice concentrate to canned peas.
Food staples such as wheat have traditionally moved over long distances by ship, traveling from the United States to Europe, for example. What is new is the shipment of fresh fruits and vegetables over vast distances by air. Few economic activities are more energy-intensive.
Food miles—the distance that food travels from producer to consumer—have risen with cheap oil. At my local supermarket in downtown Washington, D.C., the fresh grapes in winter typically come by plane from Chile, traveling almost 5,000 miles. One of the most routine long-distance movements of fresh produce is from California to the heavily populated U.S. East Coast. Most of this produce moves by refrigerated trucks. In assessing the future of long-distance produce transport, one writer observed that the days of the 3,000-mile Caesar salad may be numbered.
Packaging is also surprisingly energy-intensive, accounting for 7 percent of food system energy use. It is not uncommon for the energy invested in packaging to exceed that in the food it contains. Packaging and marketing also can account for much of the cost of processed foods. The U.S. farmer gets about 20 percent of the consumer food dollar, and for some products, the figure is much lower. As one analyst has observed, "An empty cereal box delivered to the grocery store would cost about the same as a full one."
The most energy-intensive segment of the food chain is the kitchen. Much more energy is used to refrigerate and prepare food in the home than is used to produce it in the first place. The big energy user in the food system is the kitchen refrigerator, not the farm tractor. While oil dominates the production end of the food system, electricity dominates the consumption end.
In short, with higher energy prices and a limited supply of fossil fuels, the modern food system that evolved when oil was cheap will not survive as it is now structured.


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The N-word again. Of course.
Six years after the NAACP staged its symbolic burial, that word has proven rumors of its demise greatly exaggerated.
In just the last few weeks we've had the following: Richie Incognito, a white player for the Miami Dolphins, tags a black teammate, Jonathan Martin, with that epithet and black players defend the white guy because he's an "honorary" brother; Matt Barnes of the Los Angeles Clippers tweets the word in criticizing his teammates and says people who have a problem with that should "get used to it"; Trent Williams, a black player for Washington's professional football team (speaking of racial slurs) is accused of using the word against Roy Ellison, a black referee, a charge Williams denies.
Then it gets worse. The mushrooming controversies prompt two African-American NBA analysts, Charles Barkley and Michael Wilbon, to defend their usage of the N-word. And it's not just the jockocracy, either. Last week in The New York Times, celebrated social critic Ta-Nehisi Coates, who is African-American, made the old "context" argument; i.e., it's OK if we say it, but it's not OK if you say it. In defending the N-word as an "in-word" Coates noted how some women will jokingly call other women by a misogynistic term or some gay people will laughingly use a homophobic slur in talking with or about one another.
Some of us would say that's not such a good look, either. Some of us think there is cause for dismay when women, gay people or any put-upon people adopt the terminology of their oppressors as self-definition.
But the larger point is this: so what? Like it or not, the N-word is not like the words used to denigrate women and gay people or, for that matter, Italian, Irish or Jewish people, simply because the experiences those peoples endured in this country do not compare with those of African-Americans.
The N-word is unique. It was present at the act of mass kidnap that created "black America," it drove the ship to get here, signed the contracts at flesh auctions on Southern ports as mother was torn from child, love from love and self from self. It had a front-row-center seat for the acts of blood, rape, castration, exclusion and psychological destruction by which the created people were kept down and in their place. The whole weight of our history dictates that word cannot be used except as an expression of contempt for African-Americans. The only difference when a Matt Barnes or Ta-Nehisi Coates uses it is that the contempt is black on black.
"Context?" That argument grows more threadbare every time it's made. It may also be growing less effective in cowing white people of good will. As reporter Richard Prince recently noted in his online "Journal-isms" column, a number of white journalists have refused to be silenced on this. That includes Mike Wise of the Washington Post, who wrote a brave piece confronting those who would deny him the right to be concerned because of his race.
"That doesn't work for me," he said. "I deserve a seat at this table. This is about the world my 3-year-old is going to live in." Indeed, it is about the world all our children will inherit. African-Americans are not walled off from that world, cannot commit this sin of self-denigration in our little corner of existence and command everyone else to ignore it or pretend it doesn't matter.
Our stubborn insistence otherwise speaks volumes. As does the fact that some so determinedly defend the indefensible. How can we require others to respect us when this word suggests we don't respect ourselves?
So burying the N-word, well-intentioned as it was, turns out to have been fruitless. Something in some of us seems to need this word. And to agree with it.
Let us find a way to bury that instead.
(Leonard Pitts is a columnist for The Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, Fla., 33132. Readers may contact him via email at firstname.lastname@example.com.)
Photo: LWY via Flickr


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Lehighton, PA Hard Alternative Rock Band ANOTHER DAY DAWNS has released the official music video for their newest single, "Forget Me Not." Directed by Cyrus Entezam, "Forget Me Not" features Josh Balz (Formerly of MOTIONLESS IN WHITE.)
"The song 'Forget Me Not' boils down to being in love with someone so much that you become crazy about it. You want to leave a memory or imprint in them so they don't forget you, stop loving you & all the things you did for them". – Dakota Sean
Click to Download / Stream 'Forget Me Not' Online
Formed in 2010 the Lehighton, PA based band Another Day Dawns continues to be the most talked about up and coming rock act in the Northeast to Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. Led by Lead Singer and front man Dakota Sean, Guitarist Tyler Ritter, and Drummer Nick McGeehan, the band released their EP A Different Life in February 2018 which landed them a charting spot on Billboard which solidified their foundation in the active rock market. In December 2019, early member Jerome Betz returned to filling out the rhythm section on bass.
Hitting the road with bands such as Hinder, Issues, Cold, and Buckcherry, the band has created an established following in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. Throughout the last two years the band has performed in multiple venues with 400-1200 capacity, filling hundreds of seats, and grossing over 13K in followers on their social media accounts.


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There aren't many authors who can make a largely female crowd gasp and swoon with every dulcet word, but Neil Gaiman is definitely one of them. Ostensibly at BEA to deliver an address on why storytelling is dangerous, Gaiman's Saturday morning talk was more about toeing the line and promoting the Gaiman brand. He tossed off e-cards into the crowd like a guitar god cheerfully throwing picks. And he did manage to win over a few skeptics (including this reporter).
"So this morning I got here and I signed 1000 books," said Gaiman at the start, which was followed by ribald applause. "Each of you gets two books." One of the books was Make Good Art, which will be published in December.
He was dressed all in black and settled into his chair with a confident and carefully rehearsed ease.
"There isn't really a Writing Author Lessons 101," said Gaiman. "But if there was, there would be a list of dos and don'ts. I know that in the don't column, 'Don't have a major novel for adults coming out in June followed by a book for kids in December' would be high on the list."
The YA book, which tells the tale of what happened to a father who leaves the house to get milk for the family cereal (among his adventures: being kidnapped by aliens who want to replace the Earth's mountains with throw cushions and turn Australia into a huge decorative plate), is Fortunately, the Milk, which is illustrated by Skottie Young. Gaiman revealed that the connection came through Twitter, when Young had expressed interest in working with him. "If you need a time-traveling stegosaurus in a hot air balloon," said Gaiman, "Skottie Young is your man."
The adult book is The Ocean at the End of the Lane, which was partially inspired by a friend down on his luck who stole Gaiman's famiily Mini, drove it down to the end of the lane, and committed suicide. It involves the Hempstocks, who have figured in Stardust and The Graveyard Book, but was a long time in coming.
"The problem with writing a story about the Hempstocks is that they lived at the end of my lane."
Ocean started off as a short story, which Gaiman wrote because he missed his wife, who was in Melbourne for four months recording an album. "I wanted to write a story that's not about my family," said Gaiman, "but that's very much about what it was to see the world through my eyes when I was seven."
"I've heard people point to writing and say that it can be like driving by night. Writing this for me was like driving by night with one headlight out in the thick fog. You can just see far enough ahead not to drive off the road."
Halfway through the appearance, Gaiman copped, "This has nothing to do with why fiction is dangerous." He carried on by describing how he got into trouble as a boy by reading books and learning from them. He learned how to dye his father's white shirts a deep purply red using a common beet root and got into trouble. He learned how to make toffee and became aware of its natural properties. "It will shatter like glass and completely cover the floor of the classroom."
After offering these biographical exemplars, Gaiman shifted to his views about fiction.
"Fiction is dangerous, of course, because it lets you into other people's heads. Fiction is dangerous because it gives you empathy. Fiction is dangerous because it shows you that the world doesn't have to be like the one you live in."
Gaiman described going to various companies (Google, where one of his sons works, Apple, and Microsoft) and asking the people who invented what they read as children. "They all said, we read science fiction. We read fantasy."
"Getting into other people's heads is dangerous," continued Gaiman, "incredibly dangerous."
At this point, the floor was open to questions and the talk about "dangerous fiction" was regrettably tabled. Gaiman was asked about the worst sentences he has ever written. He pointed to the story "Night of the Crabs." One of the offending sentences: "He wasn't going to leave Pat Benson alone that night, crabs or no crabs."
He harbored fantasies as a young writer that he would be rewarded for his stories by a limo showing up at his house. "People would get out of it and say this is yours. We love your stories so much."
As Gaiman described his early writing development, there was a curious pecuniary fixation. He had taped an inspirational Muddy Waters quote next to his typewriter: "Don't let your mouth write no checks that your tail can't cash." He talked of an early teacher who had offered him ten shillings to read the entirety of Gone with the Wind.
He said that he was proudest of his kids, which caused the crowd to loosen an "Ahhhhhh!" that could have found a home on an episode of Community. When one audience member's phone went off, followed by a cry of "Shit," Gaiman responded, "Isn't it embarrassing when that happens? If it's any consolation, it's usually up here."
In other words, Gaiman is well-practiced at working the room.
Gaiman mentioned that the Ameican Gods TV show is still in development at HBO. He has finished a script and he's waiting to hear back for notes. He compared the relationship to "a game of tennis," leading this reporter to wonder if there was a dependable racket that didn't involve thrones. Gaiman talked about introducing material that had never appeared in the book.
"The process has been more HBO going, 'Can you make it more like the book?'"
Gaiman said he still feels doubt. "I'm a weird mixture of appalling arrogance and absolute self-doubt and humility. Like a nightmarish layer cake."
He doesn't write for any specific age. "There's no such thing as a book just for kids. Because every book is going to have to be read aloud by someone your age." Every novel is different for Gaiman. After writing American Gods, Gaiman told Gene Wolfe that he had figured out how to write a novel. "He looked at me with infinite pity and said, 'Neil, you never learn how to write a novel. You just learn how to write the novel you're on.'"
He did talk about his affinity for Jack Benny's old radio program. "They get good around 1942," after Benny had gone through three sets of writers. He mentioned starting a story about Jack Benny, but, tellingly, he did not mention Fred Allen.
There wasn't much elaboration on Gaiman's "Make Good Art" speech. This was an appearance to please the crowds. But the very minute that his hour expired, he was led out the door by his handlers, walking with the pace of a rock star with a hectic schedule.


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A true artist's work can not be duplicated. So thank you Brian for your contributions to the video game world. You've left your digital imprint, and though your time as a designer was way too short, your hard work will be seen and played for years to come.
On September 3rd, 2010, Brian Wood, lead designer in the Company of Heroes franchise, was killed in a car accident. Since today is the 2 year anniversary of the incident, I wanted to commemorate his passing by reminding all of us the contributions he made in the video game world. Though he contributed to games such as Kohan II and Axis & Allies, the Company of Heroes line of games were his most notable (and most recent) achievements. In fact, just before his death, the online version of CoH went into beta. A few months later, it was shut down, never to be seen again. The cause for the shutdown was likely due to the fact that Relic had lost Brian's creative direction and input, and were not able to duplicate his work. A true artist's work can not be duplicated. So thank you Brian for your contributions to the video game world. You've left your digital imprint, and though your time as a designer was way too short, your hard work will be seen and played for years to come. See the full bio and list of Brian's games here
With the amount of spam that we get in our inboxes nowadays, I sure miss anti-spam pioneers like Jim Nitchals (see bio and game history here: Jim Nitchals Bio). He went face to face with the most notorious spammers, and came out unscathed. June 5th, 1998 was the date of his passing. He contributed to the world in more ways than just programs on a computer. If you search his name, almost everyone had something nice to say about him. Sometimes we are known for who we truly are only after we pass. Would have been great to know you friend. Daydreaming is usually a solitary activity. But Adam Adamowicz turned his daydreams into fantasy worlds that ensnared millions of video game enthusiasts. Mr. Adamowicz, who died on Feb. 9 at 43, was a concept artist whose paintings of exotic landscapes, monsters and elaborately costumed heroes and villains formed the visual foundation for two of the most popular single-player role-playing video games of all time. In Fallout 3, he envisioned a post-apocalyptic Washington; in the other, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, he co-created the look of a vast fantasy world. Together the games have sold more than 15 million copies and earned more than $900 million since they were released, Fallout in autumn 2008 and Skyrim in autumn 2011. His death, at a hospital in Washington, of complications of lung cancer, was confirmed by Pete Hines, a vice president of Bethesda Softworks, the company that created both games. Whether sketching out a mutant-riddled, atomically ravaged downtown Washington or a sprawling continent populated by wizards and trolls, Mr. Adamowicz was, in a sense, the costume designer, prop master and set designer for highly cinematic games. Other team members would render Mr. Adamowicz's drawings on computers once the writers and art director approved them. "All of the designs evolve through contributions from the whole team," he wrote in an essay about conceptual design on the Fallout Web site. "I like to feel that it's my job to instigate the process with a cool drawing that inspires everyone else here into making something really cool." Mr. Adamowicz (pronounced a-DOM-oh-wits) conceptualized virtually everything in Fallout 3: locations like a crumbling Washington Monument and coin-operated personal bomb shelters; items like the Pip-Boy 3000 — an electronic wrist computer that serves as a player's conduit to menus, maps and other vital information — and the Fat Man, a weapon that launches miniature nuclear bombs; and monsters ranging from mutated naked mole rats to 30-foot-tall super mutant behemoths. "He was one of the first people on Fallout 3 and he drew every concept image we had," said Todd Howard, the game director for both Fallout 3 and Skyrim. "We're talking over a thousand images, for years." Mr. Adamowicz worked with a fellow concept artist, Ray Lederer, on Skyrim, but came up with the look and feel of the game's marquee monster, fearsome dragons that would intimidate Smaug, the venerable wyrm from "The Hobbit." Skyrim is the first of the Elder Scrolls series to let players battle them. Adam Carl Adamowicz was born on March 9, 1968, in Huntington, on Long Island. He received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 1990. He studied oil painting, figure drawing and palette mixing at the Boulder Academy of Fine Arts in 2002 and 2003. Mr. Adamowicz worked as a freelance illustrator for Dark Horse Comics and Malibu Graphics and held down odd jobs, like haunted house builder and erotic cake artisan, according to his blog, before landing his position at Bethesda in 2005. He is survived by his mother, Moira Adamowicz. Fallout 3 is suffused with humorous touches of nostalgia for the time before a nuclear war had ended the world as we know it. (For example, the Ink Spots' 1941 song "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire" plays on the radio as a player explores the radioactive rubble.) Mr. Adamowicz actually had the wholesomeness of "Leave It to Beaver" in mind when he imagined a post-apocalyptic world. The game really begins when the protagonist escapes from a technologically advanced 1950s-style society that has survived for hundreds of years in a huge subterranean bomb shelter. "I have an interest in all things '50s because I think there's a certain charisma with the music, with the automobiles, with the clothing style," Mr. Adamowicz said in an interview included as bonus content when Fallout 3 was released. "So designing any of these characters and then throwing them into the wasteland, the dark humor for me kicked in when I imagined Ward Cleaver being pushed out of his bunker and he's looking for fresh tobacco for his pipe and then here comes a raider over the top of the horizon." Source: Daniel E. Slotnik with www.nytimes.com PARK RIDGE, IL -- Steve Kordek, widely regarded as the man who transformed the pinball machine from a simple arcade game into a great American pastime, died on Feb. 19. He was 100. About 80 years ago, a young man who would become a coin-op legend wandered into a penny arcade machine company called Genco Manufacturing "just to get out of the rain," as he tells it. He stayed to revolutionize the pinball industry, and many of his designs, still used today, would elevate the game into a sophisticated entertainment form. In 1947, Kordek's Triple Action (Genco) was the first pinball machine to incorporate only two flippers at the bottom of the playfield. These more powerful flippers were facilitated by the addition of a DC power supply. Also invented by Kordek were the first drop targets, unveiled with Vagabond (Williams-1962), and multi-ball play, featured on Beat the Clock (Williams-1963). The player-controlled flippers at the bottom of the playfield, drop targets and multi-ball mode have been standard pinball game features ever since. These innovations were a few of many by Kordek. On Dec. 26, 2011, Steve Kordek turned 100 years old. Admirers of the pinball superstar celebrated his remarkable life at a party in Niles, IL, on Jan. 20. During his six decades in the coin machine industry, he designed more than 100 pinball games for Genco, Williams and Bally. David Silverman of the National Pinball Museum spoke to NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about Kordek's legacy. "Steve Kordek's big breakthrough was the design of a game with two flippers instead of a lot of flippers, and in the position they are in today," Silverman told NPR. In pinball circles, Kordek became a legend, and well into his nineties he would get mobbed at pinball events. "Every year he would go to Pinball Expo in Chicago, no matter what, and everybody would want to hear him talk and listen to his history -- because it was the history of pinball," Silverman said. Steve Kordek, along with such designers as Gottlieb's Wayne Neyens, were the men who made the pinball manufacturers of yesteryear great, Silverman told NPR, because they kept producing the games that the public continued to want to play. Source: Nick Montano with www.vendingtimes.com OK, so I exaggerate... but only a tiny bit. Dani Bunten Berry's first commercial title was a real-time stock simulation game called Wheeler Dealers in 1978. It was the first game to be sold in a box, and not a Ziploc bag. It came with a 4-player controller (that Dani built!) so that she could actualize her vision of bringing people together, using the computer as the vehicle to do it. Unfortunately, Wheeler Dealers was a bust. Though, it did prove that she could make, and get published, the kind of games she wanted (even though the technology hadn't caught up to her yet): Multiplayer. Dani was paving the road to multi-player gaming goodness in the late 70s. She realized early on that characters possessing human intelligence were much more challenging and enjoyable to play against (and with) than AI opponents. Her portfolio lists a slew of multi-player games, and only two single-player-only games. Ironically, one of those single-player games, Seven Cities of Gold, was the best seller of her career. I say it's ironic because, although it was her intent to create nothing but multiplayer games, it was a single-player game that achieved the most success. And here we are today,in the age ofMassively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games such as World of Warcraft. Sure, WoW may seem like a hover car compared to Dani's antique games, but you can't have a hover car before you invent the car. That's not to say 'If it wasn't for Dani, we wouldn't have WoW and other online games", but it does make you wonder how much her games influenced today's generation of computer programmers. By the time Dani stopped creating games in 1992, AOL was letting to let the world know there was this thing called the internet (snide comment intended). As the internet rose in popularity for $24.95 a month (I jest!), previous LAN-only games were starting to tunnel their way into the online realm. Dani was way ahead of the pack when it came to creating the "online" experience, her games inspired many game designers. The technologies her and her team created didn't even exist before they created them. In fact, it was rare to find gamers who could play her multiplayer games because so few of them even owned modems! Yet, she persisted in her original pursuit of bringing people together to enjoy games, regardless of existing technology. Dani Bunten may not have written the subroutines, or crafted the storylines, or rendered the 3D graphics of World of Warcraft, but she primed the pump for what would be the incredible success it is today. Would we have the WoW that we have today had it not been for her? Who knows! It's possible it would have been even more amazing had she been alive to help create it. Read Dani's bio and gameography here Image source: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/ He's the guy who gave Apple II owners a taste of arcade games with clones such as Bug Attack and Star Thief. He's also the guy who figured out how to reverse engineer the Sega Genesis when Electronic Arts wanted to make cartridges for the system (Steve Hayes was the other guy). Sega wouldn't budge on a more accommodating licensing deal, so Trip Hawkins of EA decided to have two of his top engineers take a "crack" at reverse engineering the system. Once the Genesis was figured out, EA took action and made a bunch of games. In fact, if it wasn't for Jim, EA may not have entered the cartridge market at all! Nintendo's licensing deals were extremely one-sided, and Sega wanted to follow suit by offering EA a highly unfavorable deal. It wasn't until the Consumer Electronics Show in 1990 that changed Sega's mind about allowing EA to create games for the system under a much more desirable agreement. Trip told Sega execs that EA had reverse engineered the Genesis, and were ready to come out with cartridges without Sega's blessing. After an all night meeting, Sega backed down on their original licensing demands and agreed to terms that would keep Sega in the loop of all new EA games for the Genesis. The deal allowed for EA to license as many games as they wanted for the system, yet still allow both companies to profit. What both companies didn't realize however is that EA really wasn't holding all the cards. It turned out that Sega still could have locked out unlicensed EA cartridges, due to an oversight during the reverse engineering phase. It's true that Jim and Steve figured out how to run games on the Genesis, but there were still security measures Sega put in place that weren't found at the time. EA figured this out late in the game, after their CES meeting with Sega. And by then, if Sega didn't agree, EA would have been back-pedaling to get out of the muck and empty promises they made. Fortunately, when Sega and EA came to an agreement, EA didn't have to worry about using a not-fully-reverse engineered system, and Sega provided them with all they needed to make games for their system. It worked out quite profitably for both companies in the end, but funny how what turned out to be a bluff by EA (in hindsight), helped both companies succeed. Jim played a pivotal role at EA, helping them gain ground in the cartridge market (something EA initially thought would be a step backwards in video gaming). This was just a small chapter in his life, but one that shifted an entire segment of the gaming public. After all, ever heard of the John Madden football series of video games? It all started as an EA cartridge on the Sega Genesis. See Jim Nitchal's bio and gameography here Brian and his wife, Erin Best known for his contributions in the Company of Heroes franchise, Brian R. Wood died on September 3rd, 2010 when a car hit him and his wife on Whidbey Island in Washington state. Relic and the gaming public lost a great designer that day. My heart goes out to his wife and child, who I'm sure are still working through the loss. His Bio and Gameography can be found here. Every time we read about the death of a game author, or someone else in the interactive entertainment industry, all of us are effected. Video games are part of our history and culture. Game designers have contributed to our personal histories as well. Almost everyone has picked up a controller at one point. And, even if they haven't, they've used a device that was likely inspired by an innovator in the video game industry . We've played their games, or at least, played a game that was influenced by one of their games. These designers created products that engaged our minds sometimes for days, weeks, months, and nowadays, years! They've truly impacted our lives, even if indirectly. Their contributions to video games form the very fabric in which today's game industry is woven. This site is dedicated to the men and women that gave us years of entertainment, happiness, and sometimes just some good old relief from stress. They are the sometimes forgotten folk heroes of the video game world. Each of them installed their essence into their games, and hence, the gaming universe as a whole. And we all get a little dose of their magic every time we pick up a controller or keyboard. A long time ago, a friend of mine told me that she would sometimes walk around the cemetery just speaking the names she read on tombstones. She felt that somehow, by doing that, it was a way of saying "You are remembered." Wow. Some of those gravestones were over a hundred years old. If it wasn't for someone here and now immortalizing them with only their words, they may have been forever lost in that stitch of time. There's just something about not being remembered that's disheartening. Maybe it's because we all want to mean something to someone else. I guess that's where the inspiration for this website comes from: Our friends, relatives, and others we don't know, can live on through our remembrance of their legacy. What they've left behind, we bring forward. "Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them" -George Eliot For those fallen game designers who have contributed to my life: You Are Remembered. And, Thank You for the choices you made in your life that brought fulfillment to mine. |
Rediscover the games you remember while honoring the game designers that created them. While we strive for accuracy, please let us know if you find any errors!
September 2012
Player 1Do you miss the times sitting in front of your 4-color CGA monitor, or your 8-bit Apple II or Atari ST computer? |


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About Me
Native Dane offering good translations from English to Danish. Experience in many areas from customer service to website development and project management in the Internet advertising industry. Good knowledge and usage of Computer Aided Translation (CAT) tools helps me to serve you better, and deliver a quality product in the shortest amount of time.
My Services
Translation from English to Danish in various domains from literary texts to certain technical areas as well as subtitles.
I translate different types of documents. Mostly in the advertising and literary domain, but also user guides or website interfaces.
Subtitling of movies, documentaries and tv series. I know the rules and restraints to subtitle layouts.
I offer services of proofreading the work of other translators.
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13 Feb 2020
Are Millenials easily lured into wasteful spending and shopping online?
As high street retail continues to deplete and more people shop online, increasing to 19% of all retail sales in December 2019*, a new report by retail marketing experts Gekko shows there's increasing consumer concern about the environmental and societal impact of this transition and a marked difference in attitude depending on age.
The younger generation may tout their eco credentials but they are more easily lured into wasteful spending and shopping online with over half (53%) of 18-24 and 46% of 25-34 year olds admitting to being tempted into buying things they don't need online, with just 19% of canny 55+ year olds saying the same.
More than five times as many 18-24 as 55+ year olds admitted to regularly buying goods online that they regret, so return them – 17% versus just 3%. And 45% of 18-24 and 42% of 25-34 year olds also admitted to being wasteful buying items they didn't want and failing to return them, compared to only 17% of older consumers.
Surprisingly and despite the high profile of Extinction Rebellion and Greta Thunberg, younger shoppers make less conscious choices than some may think about the environmental impact of online shopping versus older consumers. In general, 73% of consumers are concerned about excess packaging associated with online purchase and deliveries and 74% are worried about the amount of single use plastic in packaging.
However, just over a third (38%) of 18-24 and 33% of 24-35 year olds are unconcerned about the use of excessive packaging. This compares to 19% of over 55 year olds. And despite it being such a huge national issue and talking point over the last year, 34% of 18-24 year olds and 31% of 24-35 year olds aren't concerned about single use plastic, versus 19% of over 55 year olds.
Even the gig economy does not seem to be a problem for the generation arguably most likely to be more exploited by it, with 50% of 18 to 24 years olds unconcerned about online shopping increasing it versus 33% of 55+ year olds. And 44% of 18-24 year olds don't fret about the impact on the High Street and local economy of online shopping, versus 23% of 55+ year olds.
Daniel Todaro, MD of Gekko, says: "Younger generations spend more time online and are therefore less inclined to resist that impulse buy. They are far more likely to buy things they regret, order more than one size, items they never intend to keep and send the goods back, but this convenience has an environmental impact. The future of the High Street is a vital societal component and offers a more ethical approach to shopping. If you can try before you buy there are less transport, packaging and waste without the need to order multiple sizes or colours of the same item. The High Street sustains the heart of a community, no shops means no point heading to the High Street – there's only so much coffee a community can afford or want to drink."
To read the full article please visit IPM Bitesize.
The photo that accompanies this article is by La Miko from Pexels


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St John's Care Team
Helping-Hands are an intentional group of volunteers who offer support, in the form of meals, to members in times of crisis or need, actively sharing the love of Jesus.
Bible Detectives provides an opportunity for children in full time kindy to year 2 to learn more about Jesus. 36'ers is run concurrently with activities focused on the year 3 -year 6 age group. Held during the sermon each Sunday, children are encouraged to join in conversations and craft activities to develop their faith and understanding of the Bible. Themes for each term are based upon seasons and festivals of the church year. Opportunities to develop friendships with other children are also encouraged during combined activities with the 36'ers ministry. As part of Bible Detectives and 36'ers ministries, children also have the opportunity to participate in congregational activities such as the Christmas Eve service, creation of Christmas Nativity and Easter displays.
For more information, please contact Jayne Hartwig (BD) or Chris Cook (36'ers) via the church office
Bible Detectives provides an opportunity for children in full time kindy to year 2 to learn more about Jesus. 36'ers is run concurrently with activities focused on the year 3 -year 6 age group. Held during the sermon each Sunday, children are encouraged to join in conversations and craft activities to develop their faith and understanding of the Bible. Themes for each term are based upon seasons and festivals of the church year. Opportunities to develop friendships with other children are also encouraged during combined activities with the 36'ers ministry. As part of Bible Detectives and 36'ers ministries, children also have the opportunity to participate in congregational activities such as the Christmas Eve service, creation of Christmas Nativity and Easter displays.
For more information, please contact Jayne Hartwig (BD) or Chris Cook (36'ers) via the church office
Little Lambs' Music is a St John's preschool ministry. It takes place on a Monday morning from 10am until 11.30am in the St John's Ministry Centre during school terms. Come join us for a 45 minute session where we will sing, move, dance, play instruments, hear stories and rhymes. The session time ends with a fruit time for the children and a morning tea for parents. All preschool children/babies and their parents/caregivers are welcome.
Baptised young people from Year 8 onwards are invited to confirm the faith which God gave them in their baptism. This is done through a series of confirmation preparation sessions which are usually held on Sunday afternoons in the St John's Ministry Centre.
Through the Rite of Confirmation the confirmees publicly remember their baptism, express their faith and share their desire to follow Jesus as his disciples.
Many St John's members are involved in a wide range of rosters that serve our Church community each week. These rosters include:
- Ushering & Welcoming
- Bible Reading
- Holy Communion serving
- Music
- Sound Desk & Multimedia
- Offering recording
- Tea & Coffee serving
- Warden
- Flowers
- Maintenance - Cleaning & Gardening
Master Rosters are produced every 4 months, for both the 8.30am Church and 10.00am Chapel services. There is also a Church Maintenance roster, for Cleaning and Gardening at the Ministry Centre (Church). See the links for the current rosters.
To be involved, contact the Church Office
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. ~ Hebrews 6:10
Attention all primary school aged kids!
Join us for heaps of fun while being encouraged in your faith and making lots of friends at the same time!
Please see upcoming events for dates or contact the church office for any questions.
St John's has a vibrant young adult community, which gathers each week on Tuesday nights.
This is a place for young Christian adults to talk about life, faith in the context of a supportive community. Each week we gather for a variety of activities including meals, worship, study and service.
Each year in October we hold a weekend retreat for the young adult community. This is a wonderful opportunity to grow together and individually in faith, grow together as a community and build deeper relationships with one another.
St John's has many ongoing small groups of women across all ages and stages meeting in the evenings, either fortnightly or monthly, at participants homes or at the St John's Ministry Centre for a time of growing in faith together and building connections and friendships.
All small groups are always open and looking to welcome in anyone who would like to join.
St John's Men's Fellowship meet on the 4th Wednesday of the month, in the evening. We share a meal, conversation, and have a guest speaker. Men of all ages are welcome to come along, connect and get to know each other.
Contact the Church Office for upcoming dates.
This bible study group of women across ages and stages meets every Tuesday morning at the St John's Ministry Centre at 9:45 during school terms, they begin their time together with a morning tea followed by a bible study where they work through various books of the bible throughout the year.
Everyone is invited and welcome to join us to grow in faith, connection and friendship.
This is an active fellowship with a strong service focus, meeting for Devotion, Bible study with song and prayer as well as a blessing for the meal prepared by the month's hostesses. There are often Guest Speakers and a collection is taken for current LWA and LWSA/NT projects.
The Women's Fellowship meets on the 4th Wednesday of the month at 10:00am in the Church/Hall.
New members are always welcome.
As the Pastoral care team, we provide support to families and individuals as we develop a growing understanding of the needs and circumstances in our community. We further provide support to our congregation and community by praying, providing practical help to those who need support, hospital and home visits and pastoral care conversations.
Please let us know if we can support you in any way.
Through the meal of Holy Communion, we receive the gift of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus, given through bread and wine. In worship, baptised children of God are invited to regularly eat and drink at the Lord's Table to receive the assurance of sins forgiven and life with God forever. Before regularly receiving Holy Communion, we offer instruction about what Holy Communion means and how God wants to grow us in him. As 1 Corinthians 10:16 says: 'Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?'
To help prepare young children, St John's provides a short First Communion program over several Sundays each year. Parents and their children attend the program together before celebrating their First Communion milestone.
Children are generally in years 3-5 when preparing for First Communion, but this is negotiable. Older and younger children and adults are also welcome to participate in the First Communion program.
Passing on the Christian faith is supported with partnerships between individuals and families across the generations within our congregation.
God has blessed St John's with people across all generations. Each generation can learn, grow and be blessed as we interact together. Generations in Faith Together (affectionately called GIFT) is the name we give to intentional activities and events that bring the generations together to encourage all ages in their faith as they participate in a common activity.
No matter what age you are, you are invited to join in and celebrate life together!
'From generation to generation we will proclaim your praise'. (Psalm 79:13)
When Christian parents choose to have their children baptised, they agree to partner with the congregation to bring up their children to know Jesus as their Saviour and to grow their child's identity as a part of the body of Christ.
Our Faith Trail Ministry is our congregation's commitment to support and resource families as we "grow up to Christ" (Ephesians 14:15) together.
Parents are invited to attend mini workshop events so that they can be equipped to best support their child's faith formation according to the age of their child. Children and families are then blessed, gifted and prayed for in our Sunday worship.
See this week's TAKING FAITH HOME page - button on the left. GROWING FAITH AT HOME is a weekly lectionary-based resource to help your households live, share and celebrate faith together each and every week!
- Looking for a way to link Sunday worship with household faith formation Sunday to Sunday?
- Want to provide resources to help parents and grandparents pass on the Christian faith in their homes?
A resource that connects weekly congregational worship with the faith life of the home.
Where does GROWING FAITH AT HOME come from?
GROWING FAITH AT HOME is developed by the Lutheran Church of Australia department, Grow Ministries
Is GROWING FAITH AT HOME only for families with children or youth?
People of all ages can use the devotional resources (Bible readings, prayers, blessings) in their personal or couple 'quiet times'.
Small groups, ministry teams and committees can also benefit from using the Faith Talk questions for spiritual reflection and focus.
Using GROWING FAITH AT HOME to its full potential requires more than simply photocopying the resources and distributing them to select households. It has proven to be of most benefit when reinforced through Sunday worship, promoted to households on an ongoing basis and supplemented with practical teaching and training.
A Congregational users guide and Home user's guide have been developed to help you introduce the resource to your congregation and support its use over time.
If you would like to know more about mentoring, check out the Mentoring Equipping documents attached.