text:
A recent article in the KansasReporter.org speculates that Kansas is fighting an uphill battle with Washington to become site for Boeing's airborne tanker construction program.
Boeing is considering whether to close its Wichita plant and move the tanker completion program planned for Wichita to the Puget Sound area.
The reason for that Kansas' concern? Washington is more business-friendly than Kansas.
Washington business-friendly? Yes, the article cites Washington's lower taxes and higher ranking in a nationwide study of states' taxation policy.
But isn't it a well-established mantra uttered by the business lobby that Washington is uncompetitive because of burdensome taxes? Yes, but the non-profit, non-partisan Tax Foundation doesn't necessarily agree.
It ranked Washington 11th in business-friendly tax policies in 2011. Kansas ranked 35th overall based on a combination of the states' corporate taxes and individual income taxes, property taxes, unemployment taxes and sales taxes.
States that often emerge as competitors to Washington for the site of new Boeing plants somewhat surprisingly are rated worse than the Evergreen State for business-friendly tax policies.
South Carolina, where Boeing has built its first assembly line outside the Puget Sound area for its new 787 Dreamliner, was ranked 24th. North Carolina, which also fought for a new Boeing plant, was 41st. Texas, where Boeing has a big overhaul and modification operation in San Antonio, was 13th. Alabama, where Airbus had pledged to build its airborne tanker if the Air Force awarded it the contract, was ranked 28th.
Of course, there are other factors involved in location decisions including the oft-discussed question of union labor.
But Wichita Boeing workers are union members and some government leaders there fear that the Sunflower State won't win when pitted against business-friendly Washington.


text:
My GORGEOUS bride is now fast asleep.
I grabbed a few images on my Instax Mini today.
Nothing will ever be more beautiful to me than this.
yahooo!!!! so so sosososososososo happy for you guys 😀 Hope the wedding and the *ahem* 'after party' went well!!!
BAD A buddy. Love you.
yes. so happy for you, dude.
Congrats man. So awesome.
you two are beautiful and I feel so blessed to have witnessed your love! Now go be married and have fun doing what married people do! Get off your computer! 😉 xoxo!!
Welcome to manhood. Still bummed my wedding invite never arrived. Guess I'll have to just keep your toaster. I'll be thinking about you today at Coachella. 🙂
Hey Nick
Congrats! Wish we could have been there!
Let me just encourage you in one very important thing, okay maybe two.
1) Love Jesus everyday, then you will know how to love your wife the way He does
2) Don't be too busy this first year! Let this first year of your marriage really become the foundation of all of your future years.
Congrats man!!!
Instawesome!!!!! Your wife is hot!!! I guess you're not too bad either 🙂 Have a little too much fun on the honeymoon!!!
Awesome, dude. Awesome. And the biggest congrats ever! (Sorry for the late comment! Woops.)
"Nothing will ever be more beautiful to me than this."
I thought the same thing until I had kids 🙂
I LOVE that you shot the instax while Katie was coming down the aisle. Bravo. Good seein ya last night.
I absolutely love this.
Btw, Your guys' work is engaging. utterly engaging.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Prior to his centenarian's confession to James Estrin of the New York Times that our conclusions in this investigation have proved correct in almost every particular, John Morris worked feverishly to cover his tracks in his role as chief promulgator of the Capa D-Day myth. This ill-conceived effort took the form of a series of madcap variations on his original fable of the famous emulsion melt that purportedly ruined Capa's D-Day negatives.
Those variants do not in any way make Capa, LIFE magazine, or its London darkroom staff look better. They have as their sole raison d'être the exculpation of Morris as the originator of that improbable account. Specifically, they seek to buttress Morris's persistent claims that (a) he received from Capa four rolls of 35mm Kodak Super-XX that, for some reason, held only 11 images after processing in LIFE's London lab, (b) teenage "darkroom lad" Denis Banks — who surely knew what unexposed film looked like when developed — told him that excessive heat in a drying cabinet had destroyed the rest, and (c) neither of the two expert darkroom techs on hand — lab chief H. C. "Braddy" Bradshaw and his predecessor in that role, Hans Wild, both of whom also knew what unexposed film looked like when developed — contradicted Banks, for reasons unexplained. As a result of which Morris in all innocence believed that nonsense and spread it far and wide for 70 years.
Herewith an annotated summary of what Morris calls his "new theory," in all its byzantine complexity:
• Not long ago Morris stated, "I now regret that I had forgotten and therefore did not make it clear long ago that there had been another June 7 delivery to the London office, containing the pre-invasion Chase films by Scherman (used in LIFE June 19) and Capa's [pre-invasion] Chase films." (Morris, "The A. D. Coleman Attack," January 5, 2015.)
Perhaps I'm not alone in finding it unlikely that the same man who, in 1998, claimed that "I can remember every turn [of the route between LIFE's office and the pickup location for the messenger service] five decades later," and who is presently working on a much expanded 600-page illustrated version of his 1998 memoir, somehow allowed these vital details of that previously unmentioned "advance packet" to slip his mind for 70 years. He makes no attempt to reconcile this newly recovered memory with his countless previous assertions that as of 6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 7 he'd heard nothing from Capa and "the darkroom staff — all five of them — had been standing by idly since Tuesday morning." (Morris, Get the Picture, p. 6.)
• That "new theory" also contradicts this variant, from Marie Brenner's profile of Morris in the June 2014 issue of Vanity Fair:
"All that night [the night of June 6-7], I did not sleep, waiting for Capa and his film. … Around nine P.M. a small package was finally delivered; it contained the four rolls of 35-mm. film and six rolls of 120 film that Capa had shot in England, on the Channel crossing, and at Omaha [sic]." (Emphasis added.)
Not to mention Mark Edward Harris's interview with Morris in Black & White magazine (October 2014):
"The new theory is that there was never anything on those three rolls — that Capa had those four rolls with him and there was such intense action that when he jumped on the LST to go back to England, he just bundled the four rolls together and, to play safe when he got to Portsmouth [sic], sent me the four as well as the medium-format film he had shot with his Rollei of the troops going over and of the wounded on the way home." (Emphasis added.)
• This supposed shipment preceding Capa's Omaha Beach films requires Morris to posit that while the vast Allied convoy of 5000 ships made its way from England to the coast of Normandy under blackout conditions and in full radio silence, Capa — from aboard the U.S.S. Samuel Chase, a Coast Guard ship — "somehow managed to get his pictures of life on the U.S.S. Samuel Chase over to [his LIFE colleague David] Scherman." (Morris, "The A. D. Coleman Attack," January 5, 2015.)
Scherman crossed the Channel elsewhere in the flotilla, aboard the much smaller LST 317. Logistically impossible, this supposed transfer also makes no sense, as both men at that moment headed toward the battlefield, each putting himself and his own films at risk. Morris offers no motive whatsoever for this transfer, and no evidence — no testimony from Scherman, for example — supports this claim.
• Implicitly, Morris adds to this the claim that while aboard LST 317, somewhere between the evening of June 5 and the evening of June 6, Scherman then somehow managed to ship Capa's pre-invasion films and his own pre-invasion coverage to Morris at LIFE's London office, where Morris had them processed and edited them. Miraculously, Scherman achieved this under blackout conditions and radio silence, without ever leaving that landing craft. (According to Capa biographer Richard Whelan, Morris even had his edited selection of these images approved by the censors on June 6. Despite his own claim, cited above, that Capa's earlier shipment arrived on June 7, Morris also insists that Whelan "got it right.")
Again, no evidence supports this. Indeed, it contradicts all of Morris's previous accounts, according to which, on the night of June 7, "Around nine, a panting messenger arrived with Capa's little package: four rolls of 35-millimeter film plus half a dozen rolls of 120 film (2-1/4 by 2-1/4 inches) that he had taken in England and on the Channel crossing." (Morris, Get the Picture, 1998, p. 6.)
• Morris now acknowledges that Capa quite possibly remained on Omaha Beach for less than 30 minutes. It's a good thing that Capa left so quickly, Morris now says; "If Capa had stayed on he would likely have come back a corpse." In point of fact, Capa landed at a spot where the lightness of enemy fire resulted in comparatively few casualties, enabling a major breakthrough that Capa's hasty departure precluded him from covering.
It is of course true that any photographer in any combat situation is at risk to some extent, and knows it. Though presumably Morris would consider it advisable for every photographer to leave any battlefield at the earliest possible opportunity, rather than follow the action, for some reason he does not express the same concern for LIFE's other D-Day photographers (Scherman, Frank Schershel, Bob Landry, Ralph Morse, and George Rodger), never prioritizing their physical safety over the fulfillment of their assignments. Perhaps Landry was correct in his belief that Morris favored the freelancer Capa over the LIFE staffers, as Morris has suggested.
LIFE did not allot to Capa one of the two precious front-row seats it wangled from SHAEF for him merely to make ten exposures and turn around. They assigned him — like Landry and Rodger — to accompany and stay with the troops as they moved inland. Landry and Rodger fulfilled their assignments; Capa did not.
At the end of the D-Day chapter of his memoir, Capa writes,
In the morning we docked at Weymouth. … I learned that the only other war correspondent photographer assigned to the "Omaha" beach [sic] had returned two hours earlier and had never left his boat, never touched the beach. He was now on his way back to London with his terrific scoop.
And John Morris, in the D-Day chapter of his own memoir, writes,
Late on Tuesday night Bert Brandt of Acme Newspictures, having scarcely gotten his feet wet, returned to London with a first picture!, but not a terribly exciting one, of a momentarily unopposed landing on the French coast, shot from the bow of his landing craft.
Neither one of them acknowledges that Capa stayed not much longer and got little closer to the action.
• Morris also now acknowledges that Capa probably made only the handful of exposures for which we have (or had) tangible evidence. He now claims that, returning to England on the evening of June 6, safe again aboard the Chase, while packaging his skimpy Omaha Beach take (one-third of one roll of 35mm Super-XX) and the images he made after leaving the beach for delivery to Morris in London, "in the confusion of battle Capa simply got his rolls of 35 mixed up, but knew that he had shot at least those 11 frames. To insure that he had the right roll he bundled all four rolls of 35 into the one packet he gave to Dave Scherman at Weymouth for shipment to London." (Morris, "The A. D. Coleman Attack," January 5, 2015.)
No evidence supports this, which Morris proposes despite the fact that, as every working photographer will confirm, unexposed rolls of 35mm film look noticeably different to the naked eye that do exposed rolls, making it easy to tell them apart. (In the latter, the 4-inch strip of leader has been entirely rewound into the canister. See Figs. 1-3 above.)
• Thus Morris asks us to believe that when this newly recollected second shipment of film from Capa arrived in London at 9 p.m., the darkroom staff processed those three rolls of unexposed 35mm film along with the roll that held the lone ten exposures from Easy Red. Hence it was those four rolls of 35mm film that Morris inspected when "darkroom lad" Denis Banks supposedly raced in to tell him that he had "ruined" these rolls of Capa's films by placing them in a film-drying cabinet and closing its doors, standard practice in darkrooms worldwide.
• For 70 years Morris consistently described what he saw on those four rolls as "pea soup," "gray soup," "gray mud," and such. Yet he now acknowledges that he never actually saw any melted emulsion. Moreover, after processing, unexposed film does not look opaque or murky, as those descriptors denote; it becomes transparent. With all its silver particles stripped away by the fixing solution, its emulsion appears clear, as shown in the picture at right. Morris's "new theory" that Capa sent him rolls of unexposed film therefore flatly contradicts his dozens of previous descriptions of Capa's supposedly "ruined" negatives. He makes no effort to explain this.
• Morris insists that, with two experienced adult darkroom techs present that night, Bradshaw and Wild, the processing of Capa's vital films got handed over to a teenage lab rat whom they allowed to work unsupervised.
• Both of those adult techs certainly knew on sight the differences between film damaged by excessive heat, overexposed film, and underexposed or unexposed film. Yet, by Morris's account, he never asked either of these two experienced professionals to explain what had happened, simply taking Banks at his word. Upon which neither Bradshaw nor Wild corrected Banks's hysterical assumption that he'd destroyed unique and priceless historic images obtained at the risk of a great photographer's life.
Instead, for reasons unexplained, and with no conceivable motive for so doing, Bradshaw and Wild allowed Banks and Morris to believe that this guilt-ridden adolescent had botched the job — and that Morris, by dint of the fact that it happened on his watch, was responsible for this loss. Which story the credulous Morris went on to tell the world for the next seven decades.
• All of those supposedly present to witness and participate in this catastrophe were alive and well when Capa first put his own stamp of approval on it by making it public in his 1947 memoir Slightly Out of Focus. This cast of characters included Bradshaw; Wild, a London-based German emigré who set up and managed that darkroom before becoming a LIFE contract photographer; 15-year-old Denis Banks, the "darkroom lad" eventually named and blamed for this disaster; three other unnamed draft-exempt members of LIFE's Dean St. darkroom crew; and 18-year-old "tea boy" Larry Burrows. Most lived for many years thereafter. Yet not one of them ever went on record to corroborate or amplify this narrative, despite the fact that, as Morris has amply demonstrated (and as his devotee Marie Brenner has noted), you can dine out on that story for a lifetime.
Moreover, no one constructs a film-drying cabinet intended for use in a professional context in such a way that a moment's inadvertence or distraction in a high-pressure situation can create havoc. And no photographer who ever visited the LIFE darkroom in London during those years has ever corroborated Morris's assertion that they normally kept the doors of their film-drying cabinet open, an unlikely procedure that any working photographer would have noticed.
Mackerel by Moonlight
If your mind has boggled after all those convolutions, join the club. Hold this "new theory" up to the light, in its separate parts or in aggregate. Turn it whatever way you want so as to illuminate its facets. It makes no sense whatsoever. Chunks of it contradict and invalidate each other, while also impeaching substantial portions of the practiced narrative that Morris has peddled all these years, effectively hoisting him on his own petard. As John Randolph once said (on a very different subject), "[It] stinks and shines like rotten mackerel by moonlight."
Applying the principle of Occam's razor — that the simplest explanation is likely the right one — takes us to the most logical conclusion: That Morris's original version of that D-Day story was accurate regarding the number of shipments received from Capa, the timing of that one shipment's arrival, and even the approximate number of rolls of film it included, because Morris had no need to falsify any of that. The only red herring came in the form of that claim of melting emulsion — the smokescreen necessary to disguise his friend Capa's failure of nerve and his meager take from Omaha Beach, while also sparing LIFE the loss of face involved in its star not coming through when the chips were down.
So, without losing even a bit of the truth or scanting any of the facts, we can simply discard Morris's "new theory" in its entirety. It serves no useful purpose, and can take its rightful place in the dustbin of photo history.
(For an index of links to all posts in this series, click here.)
This post supported by a donation from photographer Fabricio Santos.
Special offer: If you want me to either continue pursuing a particular subject or give you a break and (for one post) write on a topic — my choice — other than the current main story, make a donation of $50 via the PayPal widget below, indicating your preference in a note accompanying your donation. I'll credit you as that new post's sponsor, and link to a website of your choosing. Include a note with your snail-mail address (or email it to me separately) for a free signed copy of my 1995 book Critical Focus!
Donate now and I'll include a copy of The Silent Strength of Liu Xia, the catalog of the 2012-13 touring exhibition of photos by the dissident Chinese photographer, artist, and poet, currently in her sixth year of extralegal house arrest in Beijing. The only publication of her photographic work, it includes all 26 images in the exhibition, plus another 14 from the same series, along with essays by Guy Sorman, Andrew Nathan, and Cui Weiping, professor at the Beijing Film Academy.


text:
Our Head of Marketplace & Talent, Patrick Hurley, is very excited that The Work, winner of the Audience Award at Doc/Fest 2017, is releasing in UK cinemas via Dogwoof with the US release to follow via The Orchard.
Every couple of years a documentary comes along so potent and powerful that it elicits a full-body physical experience. When I first watched The Work, initially I was frozen, unable to move while the end-credits rolled, arrested by the gravity of what I'd just witnessed. As the film sunk in, I stood up and (despite being alone in a hotel room) gave a private standing ovation to the screen before basically bouncing off the walls, completely buzzed. Documentary nirvana.
"This is it!", I said aloud to nobody, "This is just the best!" As is the case with many truly great documentaries, this film is born out of an immense amount of trust and intimacy between the filmmakers and their subjects. And time. Lots of time. Just capturing that kind of material is rare in and of itself. The incredible footage in The Work also happens to be masterfully assembled, producing a cinematic experience that words struggle to convey.
(L-R: Eon McCleary, Jairus McCleary and Miles McCleary accept the Doc Audience Award supported by Curzon Home Cinema for The Work at Sheffield Doc/Fest)
I found it deeply affirming, and by no means surprising, that The Work took the Audience Award at Doc/Fest in June. It was a joy to witness documentary lovers commune for its UK Premiere and collectively celebrate its achievement. A friend of mine summed up her reaction to the film in a brief email shortly after seeing it: "Subject: The work! / Body: Like a religious experience!"
We are fortunate to live in a time when documentaries like The Work can connect with audiences on big screens. Dogwoof releases The Work in the UK and Ireland this week. If you're able to make it to The Ritzy in Brixton on 7 September 2017, Director Jairus McLeary will present the film followed by a Q&A including special guests. From Friday it'll play in London, Brighton, Manchester and Dublin and is subsequently coming to cinemas in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Newcastle and more towns listed here. Across the pond The Work opens in New York on October 20 and Los Angeles on October 27, with a national rollout to follow via The Orchard / First Look Media.
And if the Doc/Fest endorsement ain't enough, one audience member at a preview screening in London on Monday night said "Best film I've seen since The Matrix".
Click here to view the trailer.
Click here to watch the post screening Q&A from Sheffield Doc/Fest 2017.
Doc/Comment is a new home for thoughts, interviews, things we love and want to share with our community.


text:
Related Posts
Share This
We Are FM: Dance
At the beginning of this year Dutch band We Are FM released their first album Season One under a Creative Commons licence (BY-NC-SA), and Dance is a standout track from it we heard on UK Podcast Rathole Radio. Most of the album's tracks are available from Jamendo for free, or all of them from Bandcamp on a Name Your Price basis. The album is excellent, so head over to the links below to check it out for yourselves.
Oh, and we're declaring an amnesty from our Kill Your FM policy, we have nothing against this band 🙂
We Are FM Links
Main Site | Facebook | Twitter | Jamendo | Bandcamp


text:
I am getting married June 18th 2012 and I need some good tips from former brides who got married at Dreams Cancun. I would like to know if the photographer was good. We chose the Ultimate Dreams Package, however, we still feel like we need extras. Can you give us any tips? How was the hair dresser? Is the reception on the beach worth it? Let me know.
June 2012 Wedding: DREAMS CANCUN...Need some advice
Posted 04 December 2011 - 04:20 PM
Posted 13 December 2011 - 03:27 PM
Hello Dreams Cancun is one of the best locations for wedding they have very secluded area called HIMITSU beach , you will feel like in alittle island there. Are you having gazebo ro beach ceremony? , I think the gazebo give you like a very private ceremony the Ultimate Package cover 20 people and their pictures are "average"but you may ask Claudia for a vendor fee or may be swap some services and bring your own phtographer with you!!! Juan Navarro is expert and know that location perfectly he is doing alot of new artistic pics!! you can find his website BDW , please feel free to let me know if you may have specific questions I will be happy to assist you m you are 6 months away!
Posted 23 January 2012 - 03:28 PM
If photography is important to you, you should pick a photog that really speaks to you, that can capture your style and the feel of your wedding. If the service included in your package is not what you want, there are many talented photographers in this region to choose from to make your special day memorable. I've shot a few weddings at the Dreams. Check out
Happy Planning!
Posted 26 January 2012 - 10:05 AM
Congratulations on your wedding!!!! I just got married at the Dreams Cancun 3 weeks ago and it was amazing. I didnt use teh photographer that they offered. I used Sasha Gluck. He does wicked work. My older sister got married last yr at the Dreams Riviera Maya and used him, so when we decided to get married in mexico, it was a no brainer. We actually considered flying him to NY when we thought we were having a city wedding. He is amazing. I was so glad that we didnt use the photographer that came with the dreams package because as luck would have it i got a stress eye infection 2 days befoer the wedding. It was gross, it looked like pink eye but there was puss coming out 2 DAYS BEFORE MY WEDDING. I was devasted. I was ok because sasha assured me that he could remove the pink out of my eyes with his program, which the photogrpaher at the resort could not do. (we used that part of the package for our rehershal dinner) Sasha is a vendor on here and is worth every penny. We also did a trash the dress. You can message me for some pictures if you want.
On another note, Sandy the planner that posted a response for you was actually my wedding planner and was a GOD SENT. it is always stressful to have a resort wedding bc the planners are super busy and seem to NEVER respond to your endless email questions. Sandy was so propfesional and promtp, eased all my fears, got things that i wanted that the resort offered but for a fraction of the price. There are actual pictures of her and I dancing on my wedding day. She was not just my planner but ultimatly became my friend. Planning is is stressful and can make any women nuts, but she often skyped with me, sent me options of things she "just thought i would like" and was able to recreate any picture that I sent her. I sent her a cake from the knot that they were able to re create dead on! If you have any question about her as well please feel freee to message me.!!!! Happy Planning.... but would be even happier with sandy
good luck
Posted 11 February 2012 - 09:41 AM
Hello! it I may be so bold to suggest our photo and video services :-) you can check out our web site. Best Regards! www.saraniweddings.com
Posted 11 February 2012 - 10:22 AM
Hello, it's great you know how important the photography is at your wedding. After all is said and done, the ONLY lasting memory you will have will be the photos and videos. If you still have not found a good photographer, please visit our site at saranbiweddings.com We will be happy to assist you!
0 user(s) are reading this topic
0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users


text:
About 11 million children and young adults attend summer camp each year. While there are many advantages to spending time at summer camp, there is, as always, the possibility of injury. In order to have the safest and most rewarding experience, it is important to choose the right camp for your child and to take a few suggested precautions.
Click here for a printable list of the questions.
Click here for a printable packing list.
When packing for camp, remember to include the following safety-related items:
Summer Safety


text:
In our last article, we discussed the benefits of translating health care materials into Spanish, and looked at some of the steps involved in the process. Once the decision has been made to translate the materials, the next step is to find a qualified translator. Here, we offer you a guide to recruiting qualified medical translators and to ensuring that the finished product is useable and fit for purpose.
Recruiting a qualified medical translator
Recruiting a qualified medical translator entails much more than finding someone who is bilingual. Although this is one of the necessary qualifications, a translator employed to translate health care materials must also possess considerable expertise and experience in the subject matter to be able to understand the source text.
A key decision is whether to employ a freelance medical translator or a translation agency. Although freelancers can be seen as a less expensive option, translation agencies offer a more comprehensive service, providing a whole team that will see a translation project through from start to finish. A project manager heads a team of translators and proofreaders, meaning that you save valuable time, which in effect saves you money.
Negotiating terms
After finding a qualified medical translator, terms need to be negotiated in regards to fees, completion dates and payment terms.
Spanish translators can charge in different ways, generally per word or per page. However, if the project is for a specific format, such as a pamphlet created in InDesign, translators may also quote a DTP fee. Where specialized knowledge and experienced is called for, higher costs should be expected.
Negotiations should be clear from the outset and should include that the translator will commit to staying with the project until completion. This should include proofreading and final revisions.
A further advantage of using a translation agency is that they usually offer discounts for large projects or for nonprofit organizations.
Development Phase
Throughout the development stage of a health care translation, close contact should be maintained between all parties, so that the translator can ask for clarification when needed. If the translation is a long-term project, possible reviews and updates should be specified in the quote.
The revision stage can either be carried out by the translation agency, which will use other qualified medical translators within its team to review the document, or it can be carried out by the client. However, if you were to undertake the review process yourself, it is paramount that the reviewer is a Spanish native speaker and ideally has extensive experience in both translation and the medical topic in hand. Grammatical construction and usage, spelling and use of expressions should all be taken in consideration.
Final proofreading
If the translator or translation agency is not in charge of the Desktop Publishing task, the translator should be available to do a final proofreading of the text once it has been integrated into its final design format.
Although producing and translating health care materials into Spanish can be an investment in terms of both time and money, it is becoming an essential process in a country like the US which has a large Hispanic population. The benefits of the investment far outweigh the risks to patient health and the careers of health care providers.


text:
How To Find Affordable Spanish Learning Software That Is Fun And Easy... (And Get A Half Price Promotion To Boot!)
Hey, I'm Nathan from Tulsa. Personally, I've bought quite a few Spanish learning software products to help me learn Spanish. And if you're reading this, then perhaps you're looking for the language learning product that is right for you. There's a whole lot of language learning products out there, and, as you can imagine, they come in quite a range of prices and levels of quality. Back when I bought all of those software packages, I was working and making good money, so the cost didn't matter that much. But these days, times are different and people need to watch their money more closely. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't want to have to go through several Spanish learning software packages just to find out which ones are the best, which ones are effective, and which ones will give you the most value for your money.
You probably also won't be surprised to find out that a large portion of the products I bought weren't of very high quality. The truly effective products are definitely the minority. So the question is, "How do you know before you buy, which product will be worth your while?" Some people use the price of the product as an indicator regarding quality. They think that if it doesn't cost much, then it's probably of inferior quality. If it costs a lot, then it's probably excellent quality. As it turns out, price really isn't a good indicator of the quality of the product.
Personally, I bought a bunch of the cheapie products. The really expensive products were appealing, but I didn't want to drop $300+ on a product like that. In my opinion, it's much better to find something that is moderately priced that is of exceptional quality. Those products are out there, and they can be found if you're willing to do a little bit of research before you buy. In any case, I'm hoping that by sharing my experiences with you, I can help you find the best value in Spanish learning software for you.
My First Step: I Bought A Whole Slew Of Spanish learning software Products Of Questionable Quality.
My Second And Final Step: I Found Something A Whole Lot Better Than The Rest!
Spanish Learning Software: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly
Like I mentioned previously, I've bought several Spanish learning software packages, so I'm familiar with what is available. But if you're not interested in buying a bunch of these products in order to do your own comparison, and you're a bit wary about trusting product reviews online, I understand. Many times I prefer to just cut to the chase and get on with getting the good stuff right now.Before we get to the good stuff right away, give me just a minute to explain to you the basic categories of what is out there for you in terms of Spanish learning software.
The first category of products that I want to tell you about are the ones that I call the "cheapie" products. They are easily found in your local department stores, warehouse stores, and online. Many times products are produced by "fly by night" companies that you've never heard of, but there are a couple that have brand names that you will recognize. Like I said, I've got many of the "cheapie" products, and while they may look like a quality product from the outside of the package, many times they just don't live up to the hype after you get them installed on your computer and actually try to use them. I have one Spanish learning software product that I installed on my PC, and I could not understand what they were saying at all. It was absurd. It may seem obvious, but I have to say it anyway, the cheapie products are not worth your while and it's best you not waste your money on them.
The second category of Spanish learning software that I'd like to tell you about are those that are of apparent high quality. These are the products that I call the expensive products. Unlike the cheapie products, when you buy one of the expensive products, you are usually going to get something decent. These products are also usually of a brand name that you've probably heard of before. You know, like Pimsleur, Rosetta Stone, etc. The drawback of these products is the sky high price. Now, I understand that compared to the cost of a private tutor that they seem be somewhat appealing, but realistically, how many of us have an extra 300+ bucks to spend on Spanish learning software? I don't know about you, but I don't. And my guess is that most of you are in the same boat with me.
The Problem: Finding A Quality Product That Is Affordable
After using all of the various products that I had purchased, I realized that the cheapie products were not going to be very effective. Naturally, I eyed the more expensive products with envy. I would have loved to have one or all of them, but I didn't want to spend such large amounts of money to get them. They are just too expensive.
I really wanted to find something. Realizing that I wanted something that was better than the cheapie department store Spanish learning software, I realized that I was just going to have to strike a happy medium somehow. Perhaps I could find something that was better quality than the cheapie products but didn't cost quite as much as the expensive products. I had to find something.
As you can imagine, this search began to get pretty discouraging. When you're looking through the Spanish learning software products available out there, the cheapie products are easy to find. They are everywhere. And it was pretty depressing to find the so called Spanish learning software reviews online. You've seen those pages that I'm talking about? It's where they do a Spanish learning software comparison of a whole slew of different products. You can click on the link next to each product to go buy whichever one you think is best. The thing is, you can see that the page is set up to where the site designer will get a commission on the sale regardless of which one you pick! Well, personally I don't care for that very much, because it tells me that the person who designed that site really doesn't care if I get what's best for me. They just care that I pick any one of the products on their page so they can make some money. So my search continued...
Then I Finally Found Something Good! (It's A Little Known Secret)At this point in my search, I was so taken with the idea that quality was tied to price that I was sure that I wouldn't be able to find a decent quality product at a price I could afford. This perspective was stuck so firmly in my head that even if I had some good quality Spanish learning software staring me right in the face, I would have been doubtful. In my defense, a certain amount of skepticism is a good thing, but in my case, it almost caused me to miss a really great find.
I would have never imagined that I could have found something as good or even better than those expensive Spanish grammar software products like Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone for a reasonable price. Well, believe it or not there actually is a product like that available. Now I know that sounds pretty unbelievable, so let me explain.
I found Rocket Spanish Premium. In my opinion it is as good or even better than those expensive products like Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone. Rocket Spanish Premium is produced by a company called Rocket Languages and they make language products for numerous languages: French, German, Russian, you name it. Okay, now get this: the reason they can offer a product that surpasses the quality of those expensive courses is because they offer the entire package in a digital / downloadable format. Now don't get me wrong here: Rocket Spanish Premium is not in any way inferior to the expensive products just because it's all downloadable. As a matter of fact: you can purchase Rocket Spanish Premium as an actual physical product delivered to your house, but it will cost nearly as much as those expensive products when purchased as a physical product.
Let me tell you what made this deal even better. When I looked into Rocket Spanish Premium, I just so happened that, at the time, they had a half off promotion going on their downloadable product. Yeah, that's right, 50% off the regular price!
Rocket Spanish Premium is not just a bunch of audio files that you listen to in your car or while running. It's also not a boring Spanish grammar program that makes you do monotonous grammar exercises in some kind of workbook. Instead, Rocket Spanish Premium is a Spanish language course that is PC based, interactive, multimedia rich, and is comprehensive enough to meet the needs of both beginning and advanced students. But that's not all. The way that the material is presented makes it fun and interesting, which is worth a whole lot right there..
After seeing all that Rocket Spanish Premium had to offer, and being able to get it at half price, purchasing it was the obvious thing to do. I was totally convinced that it was exactly what I was looking for, and I was right. There are so many benefits that Rocket Spanish Premium offers above and beyond those expensive programs that it is difficult for me to share all of them with you here, but I'll try.
Rocket Spanish Is Excellent Spanish Learning Software!
Spanish Premium comes
with some very well designed computer based games that
help you reinforce what you've learned. They've got Mega Vocab, Mega Audio, and Mega Verb. Mega Vocab helps you
increase your Spanish vocabulary by showing you pictures out of its
database of over 1000 everyday items. Then you have a choice of words
to match the item and you get points for selecting the correct word.
Mega Audio
helps you with ear training so you can understand the spoken Spanish of
native speakers, and Mega
Verb approaches the complex area of verb
conjugation in a logical way that makes learning easier.
Spanish Premium will
provide you with access to a learning
community in the form of an online forum that will keep you interested
and provide help to you through any rough patches you may encounter in
learning process.
|Rocket Spanish Premium comes with a full money back guarantee. If it doesn't work for you, or for some reason you decide you don't like it, you can get a complete refund, no questions asked. I don't know about you, but I can't stand dealing with a company that doesn't stand behind what their product. Fortunately, the makers of Rocket Spanish Premium are not like that. They tell you exactly what you can expect from their program, and they deliver on their promises.
Rocket Spanish Premium simply leaves other software courses behindt. And there are more benefits of Rocket Spanish, but the Rocket Languages website explains them much better than I can. If you're looking for a program that will make it easy to learn Spanish at home in a shorter period of time, then I recommend you take a look at the Rocket Spanish website.
And right now, they are offering the full course at half price. I'm not sure how long this discounted price will be available, so take advantage of it while you can.
Click Here To Check Out Rocket Spanish Premium (It's a very colorful website!)


text:
Today's guest post comes from my friend, "A". I don't know what to say to you about her other than she has a gift with words. She also has pretty hair and a novel that deserves to be published. "A" continues to walk beside me on this writing journey, holding my words in gentle hands, and offering herself and her talent as a mirror so I see myself more clearly. She joins us with her thoughts on facing the journey when the path takes a turn for the worst, and we're forced to deal with challenges we never expected. Her words are raw and honest, as she grapples with the pain of broken dreams.
"Hopeless Sinner"
Sometimes you're hit with something so hard you collapse under the enormous weight of it. You don't give it up to God or let mercy flow over your shattered heart. You don't feel the rising or look to heaven for answers or know there is a brighter tomorrow. Sometimes shit hits the fan and the decay and ugliness goes spraying across the room and lands in so many corners you just can't clean it up. And in that dark stench you crumble into a pile and rock back and forth. You shush yourself like a child. Like you can mother yourself into calm, and manage through the night, and tell yourself that God is here even in this hour.
When you are in dark places, you tend to do dark things. Like spew obscenities with wild abandon and shake violently and wish people dead. You don't think of how you come across or how you look or how your words roll off your vicious snake tongue. You just try to crawl out of bed and get your children dressed. You stuff food in your mouth and try so very hard to swallow. You ask God to just give you this one pass, for being so hateful and vengeful and full of rage.
Just a few days to let the ugly out.
Last weekend, I went to a writer's retreat. Before the sky fell in. Before the blackness came. Back when life was full of promise and hope and sparkling things. Back when I wore my wedding band and knew how to laugh. Then, before the dividing line, I was surrounded by richness and warmth, music and words. And I was bold. So very bold.
I walked up to Ashley Cleveland, who came all the way from Nashville and fresh off a new album. Her husband was there too, recouping from a tour with Kenny Chesney, enjoying the sound of his wife's gritty and passionate voice.
I asked them if I could sing one simple song. To hear their Grammy-award winning sounds behind me. It was a song that held great meaning to me, sung by Eva Cassidy when I was struggling through another dark time with cancer. Eva died from melanoma, which was then raging and pulsing through my own veins, and I used to play that song over and over and over. I let it wash over me like a sweet salve and said to myself that I would live. That I would survive. That I'd ride that train to salvation.
I asked if they'd play with me on this one song, and they agreed. So there in a big empty room, with a friend recording and me staring at the skylights, I sang. It wasn't perfect. There are moments I wish I could change. But while I was singing, I was filled with the thought that God isn't sitting around waiting for me. The train is moving and we have to jump on, not knowing where the journey will lead or how it will get us there. We just have to jump. I sang and sang and sang. And when it was done I went back to my room and sobbed tears of great joy.
Just days later, I've faced the biggest trial of my life. Bigger than cancer and bigger than me. I wanted to rip my own heart from my chest so I could no longer feel the pain. I played this song. Over and over again, just like I did with Eva. But this time it was my own flawed voice, earnest and honest and thankful.
So forever thankful.
I know that in this dark deep place, full of decay and rot and all that stench, God is right here. He was there then, and he is here now, and he will be there when I uncurl myself and start to pick up the rotten pieces, slowly and methodically, and despite every morsel my strength will grow.
I don't need no baggage. I'm climbing on board.
For all 31 days posts click here.


text:
|© 2005
Walker: Cards aren't overconfident10/03/2005 7:40 PM ET
Perspectives Archive:
Last year, coming into the playoffs, I was on such a high because the past nine years before that I'd been in Colorado where the playoffs were usually the last thing on our minds. We were usually double digits out of first place.Then, after the trade, all of a sudden my team was in first place by double digits. I felt like I was riding a wave the whole time. I'm generally a pretty even-keeled guy -- I don't get too far up or down. But I was really high right through the World Series with the Cardinals last year. This year I'm much calmer. I've been here the whole year and I've had a chance to experience everybody and everything. It's more of a fit for me this year than last year when I was thrown into the middle of a first-place club. As far as the Division Series goes, we can't be overconfident against the Padres. But that's not really too much of a concern on this team. We're a confident club and we've been that way all year, but we're also a team that has the ability to take it one game at a time. We don't get too far ahead of ourselves. Coming in overconfident would be an easy thing to do because our regular season record was so much better than the Padres', so I think as a team, we're wary of that. I know the media would have a field day if the team with the worst record in the playoffs beat the team with the best record. We know better than that. The Padres have a good ballclub, otherwise they wouldn't be getting ready for a playoff series with us. I haven't fared too well against Jake Peavy, who will likely be the starter in Game 1. He's the kind of guy who can rely on one pitch. He's got such great movement on his fastball, cutting it and sinking it, and he also has good command of the pitch. But we'll see how that goes. I'm told that he's also very tough mentally, so I don't think that his lack of playoff experience is going to affect him that much. Let's face it, he led the league in ERA two years ago and he led the league in strikeouts this year, so he's definitely got quite a bit of ability. But we've got a pretty good club ourselves again this year. There's something special about the Cardinals. I don't know if I can pinpoint it but they have a great tradition and history behind this organization. All you have to do is walk around the stadium and the clubhouse to get that feeling. I think they have like nine World Series banners. Plus, they have Hall of Famers and other great players walking around the clubhouse. When I first came here, that was part of the high for me --- guys like Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, Lou Brock and Red Schoendienst would come strolling through the clubhouse. You don't take those guys for granted. Those people are part of the foundation of this franchise. Then you have the fans -- Cardinals Nation. Wherever you go, even out of town, you see people wearing a red shirt with a bird on it. Five-time All-Star Larry Walker has won three batting titles and seven Gold Glove Awards over his 17 seasons in the Majors. In 1997, he became the first Canadian-born player to win an MVP Award.
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text:
Post: #1
Extreme Daddy Incest Story
Jerry Lamont sat in the rear of the darkened club and watched his daughter perform on stage. She was naked, sandwiched between a man and a woman. The man rubbed his cock on her rump as the woman sucked her breasts.
Jerry's prick stiffened as he watched his daughter. She was in her early twenties, quite pretty, with long wispy light brown hair and gray eyes. She was big-boned and full-bodied; not chubby, just firm with a full body. She had big tits and a big ass.
He stroked his crotch as he watched his daughter being licked. The woman, an attractive sandy blonde, now had her face buried between his daughter's thighs and was licking her pussy. The man had his dick at her mouth and she sucked avidly on it.
Jerry's cock was now stiff and throbbing and he openly rubbed it. Most of the other people sitting in the club did the same. The threesome on stage were putting on a hot show and all the spectators were affected by it; Jerry most of all.
It had been two years since he had seen his daughter. He had served a stretch in jail for certain "underworld" offenses. His daughter Donna had periodically written to him when he was in jail. In the last letter he had received from her, she had informed him of her move to Los Angeles, and the letter bore a return address that Jerry guessed was a film or media location.
Upon his release from jail, he headed for Los Angeles.
The address indeed turned out to be a film company's location: Firecum Productions, one of many XXX film production companies in the Los Angeles area. At Firecum Productions, Jerry learned that his daughter had recently appeared in a film, but that she was not under contract to the production company and her current address was unknown. But he also learned that she, like a number of other porn actresses, worked in certain clubs when she was between films. He obtained a list of the clubs.
He would go to each one till he found his daughter, but he first wanted to see the film in which she had appeared.
It was easy enough to see it. The film was playing in a number of X-rated movie houses...
Jerry sat in the movie theater and watched the film. It was hot and arousing. His daughter had a major role in the movie. He stroked his dick as he watched a man pump his prick from behind in Donna's cunt as she licked a woman's pussy.
I'm going to fuck you, Jerry silently said to his daughter on the screen. If it's the last thing I do, I'm going to fuck you. He rubbed his rock-hard cock. And that's not all I'm going to do. I'm going to ride you...You're going to carry me...You're going to work for me...You're going to make me money--a lot of money.
After watching the film, Jerry began his search in the clubs. It didn't take him long to strike pay dirt. The third club he entered featured his daughter...
After the show was over, he went backstage. He saw the attractive sandy blonde who had licked his daughter's cunt in the show, and told her he was looking for Donna. "Tell her that her daddy is here and wants to see her," he said. She smiled knowingly and cocked her hips. "Okay, daddy, I'll tell her." He watched her prance away to a door, open it and go in. She was dressed in a brief shift, and his mouth literally watered. She was one sexy fox, and his dick hardened even more. He hadn't had any pussy in two years, and his cock was hard as a rock; it throbbed and ached.
A moment later she opened the door and called to him. He went over and she motioned toward the inside, "Donna's in there." He entered the room.
His daughter was dressed in tight shorts and a halter. She smiled uncertainly at him and murmured "Daddy..."
"Hi, baby," he said and went to her and took her in his arms. He pressed his stiff throbbing prick between her legs.
"Oh, Daddy," she said softly. "I can't believe it. When...when did you get out?"
"A few days ago," he answered. He pressed his cock harder between her thighs and stroked her back. "I saw the show here."
She looked down and said, "You did?"
"Yeah. It was good. Real good."
She was clearly embarrassed. She hadn't seen her father in two years, and when she did see him, there she was--working in a live sex club. The last time he had seen her, she wasn't a "harlot"; now--she was a paid sex performer.
"I...I don't know what to say," she blushed and held her head down.
"No need to say anything. I saw the movie you were in too. It was really good." He nuzzled her cheek and neck, stroked her flanks and mashed his rigid dick upon her crotch.
She clearly felt his big hard throbbing prick grinding upon her; and then she knew the score; she understood the situation.
As they left the room, he brushed his hand over her big smooth rump; as they left the club, he ran his hand over it again. She drove to her place, and when she placed the key in the lock to open the door, he stroked her big soft butt.
"Would you like a drink?" she asked when they entered her place.
"Sure, baby," he replied.
He didn't waste any time. As she stood at the counter mixing drinks, he went up behind her, slipped his arms around her waist and pressed his crotch upon her rump. He mashed his stone-hard cock into her butt, grinding it on her big smooth ass. He slid his hands under her halter and cupped her breasts, palming and kneading the cantaloupe-sized tits.
"Ohh," she breathed out. "Oh Daddy."
He turned her around, raked her halter up and went down on her breasts, licking and sucking the big firm mounds.
"Umm, ahh," she cooed as he flicked her nipples with his tongue and sucked her titties with his lips. "God, you are turned on," she breathed huskily.
He unzipped his fly and pulled out his prick. It was thick, rigid and throbbing. Her eyes widened and she licked her lips. "My god, you're big." She grasped his dick and stroked it. "It's huge."
He clasped her shoulders and pushed down on her. "Go down, honey. Go down on it."
She went to her knees and he guided his prick to her face. "Suck it, baby. Suck it like you sucked that man's cock in the show."
She opened her lips and he slipped his dick in. He clutched her head and slid his prick into her warm wet silky mouth.
"Oh yes...ahh," he groaned at the sensation of her lips and tongue on his cock. He drove his dick on in, and then began sliding it back and forth. "Oh yeah, that's the way, baby," he huffed. "That's the way to suck it. Goddamn but you've got a wet hot mouth. Oh baby, suck my dick, suck every inch of it."
He hunched his crotch on her face, humping his prick down to her throat. "I'm fucking your mouth, baby," he panted, "I'm fucking your throat."
She sucked voraciously on his cock, using her palate, gums, tongue and lips.
He felt his balls swelling and the cum churning and swirling in his bag. He slid his dick out of her mouth and went down on his knees and pulled her down on her back. He unsnapped her shorts and slid them off, raised her legs and drew them back, and went down on her. He buried his face on her pussy, rubbing it up and down and around.
He clasped her hips and went to town on her cunt. He slid his tongue in and licked and sucked her clit, and then began jamming and flicking and jabbing his tongue in her pussy.
She clutched his head and lurched her cunt up, mashing and grinding it on his face. "Oh, ah, your tongue," she panted. "Oh, it's so long and thick--ahh--it feels like a cock."
He tongue-fucked his daughter, zipping his tongue up and down her pussy.
"Oh god, eat me, Daddy!" she gasped. "Eat my cunt. Fuck me with your tongue. Goddamn, it feels so fucking good!"
He ate her out for a good five minutes, and then he slid his tongue out and mounted her.
He dug his dick up her cunt, stuffing it in her in one continuous stroke.
"Oh god, oh Daddy!" she cried. "Oh, you're so big, so long and thick and hard!" She wrapped her arms and legs around him and lifted her pelvis up to give him full access to her cunt.
He pumped his meat in her, frigging her fast and hard, jabbing every inch of his prick in her pussy.
"Oh, ah, you've got the biggest cock," she gasped. "Oh, you're filling me up--ahh, you're fucking me to my core--oh god, no one's ever fucked me so deep, so good!"
He pounded his dick in her, ramming it to her very marrow.
"Fuck!" he cried out. "Fuck, baby, fuck!"
"Oh Jesus, fuck!" she panted. "This is the best fucking I've ever had. Ahh--pump the meat to me, Daddy, fill me up with cock."
He jammed his entire prick up her cunt and let her have it. He pissed a stream of semen in her pussy. "Cuming in you," he gasped. "Hot cum deep in your cunt"
"Goddamn, Jesus fucking Christ, squirt it in me, Daddy! Squirt it deep!"
She panted and gasped and bucked and hunched as her father spurted gob after gob of semen in her....
Later that night, a young attractive woman entered the house. It was the sandy blonde who had been in the show with Jerry's daughter. Her name was Jeannie and she shared the house with Donna. She was a sexy piece, and Jerry began to formulate plans--monetary plans that would involve both his daughter and her.
The next morning, Jerry awoke with a half-stiff dick. He got up and walked to the kitchen and saw his daughter standing by the counter preparing coffee. All she had on was a short silk slip. His prick hardened as he looked at her. She was pretty, with wispy light brown hair, gray eyes, peachy complexion and flesh, firm and full-bodied, breasts the size and shape of cantaloupes, full creamy legs, and a big soft smooth rump. His cock reared up, rigid and throbbing.
He went up behind her and mashed his stiff aching dick on her ass, grinding it in her big soft butt. He ran his hands up to her breasts and rubbed and squeezed the big jugs. "My cock's as hard as a rock," he rasped, hunching it on her rump.
"Oh Daddy, umm, ohh," she murmured huskily.
He pulled her ass down and entered her pussy from behind. He groaned with lust as his hard throbbing prick plunged into her warm damp snug pussy. "Oh yeah, goddamn, sweet fucking cunt," he hissed as he jammed his dick up her pussy.
He screwed her fully and soundly, cramming his entire cock in her cunt, frigging her with long strong solid full strokes.
"Ohh, oh Daddy, ahh," she panted with passion and hunched back at him. "Oh, you've got the longest thickest prick. Ah, ride me, Daddy, ride me."
He squeezed her tits good and hard as he rapped his dick in her pussy.
"Jesus Christ, this is heaven!" she cried. "Oh Daddy, you can ride me. I'll carry you. Oh, you can stay here, Daddy, I'll carry you."
He rammed his big rigid cock in her, screwing her fast and hard.
☆☆☆☆☆ Meethi Gaand ☆☆☆☆☆ Maa ka Agyakari Beta ☆☆☆☆☆
Post: #2
RE: Extreme Daddy Incest Story
"Goddamn, sweet motherfucking prick fucking me!" she cried. "Ahh, I want it every day. Oh Daddy, fuck me every day--just like this."
"Oh yeah," he huffed, "gonna screw you every day, baby, gonna pump the meat to you every day."
He humped it in her, pounding his dick in her pussy. "Here it comes, baby," he grunted. "Here it comes in your cunt."
He jammed his cock to the hilt up her pussy and let her have it. He spewed a thick glob of semen in her core.
"Oh god, Jesus fucking Mary, yes!" she cried. "Cum in me, Daddy, give me all you've got, squirt cum in your daughter's cunt!"
He obliged her. He spurted a half-dozen gobs of semen in her marrow, filling her pussy up with thick creamy cum....
Jerry knew it was just a matter of time till he would fuck Jeannie. His daughter's housemate knew the score; she knew he was screwing his daughter; she'd even seen them fucking once. His prick jerked at the thought of that luscious sandy blonde. She had a heart-shaped face, shimmering hair falling in wispy waves past her shoulders, green eyes, creamy flesh, and a curvy voluptuous body. His dick shot up, stiff as a board, pulsating and aching at the thought of that delicious young pussy.
I'm gonna fuck you, he thought, stroking his cock. Gonna fuck you good.
The time came soon enough.
His daughter had gone out, leaving Jeannie and him in the house. All she had on was a short filmy robe. She mixed a drink and sprawled on the sofa. He knew the time had come. His prick was rock-hard and throbbing, and that luscious cunt was sprawled on the couch. Yes, now was the time.
He didn't say a word. He strode to her, grabbed her legs and drew them back and went down on his knees before her. Her pussy was wide-open to him. It was like a golden-red peach ripe to eat. He rubbed his whole face on it; then he snaked out his tongue. He slid and rubbed it on her clit, licking the nub with his tongue as he sucked it with his lips.
She lurched up, mashing and grinding her cunt on his face. She clasped his head and began gasping and panting.
He dug his tongue into her pussy, jabbing and flicking and twirling it.
"Ooh, ahh, umm, ahh," she crooned and rotated her butt. "Ah, what a tongue! God, it's as big as a cock--ahh, so long and thick. Oh, you're fucking me--you're fucking me with your tongue!"
He mashed and squeezed her big soft ass as he jammed his tongue in her cunt.
She reached down and clutched his crotch and rubbed his dick. He gasped with the sensation and pulled her down off the couch onto his lap. He hunched up and drove his hard prick into her pussy. He didn't hesitate; he plunged it up her cunt in one continuous stroke. Her pussy was hot, moist and snug. He crammed it good, rapping his dick hard and fast up her pussy.
"Oh god, what a cock!" she panted and hunched. "Ah, you're a giant! Ahh, I've never been fucked so good. Ooh, ahh, you've got the cock I've been looking for."
He went down on her titties, sucking the nubs and flicking the nipples with his tongue.
"Oh, ah, suck, bite my tits!" she gasped. "Bite me, fuck me, ram it in me good and hard. Rape me! Rape me hard!"
He frigged her fast and furiously, pounding his meat in her cunt.
"Jesus Christ, what I wouldn't give to be fucked like this every day!" she cried.
"Gonna give it to you every day, baby," he hissed. "Gonna give you the prick every day."
She climaxed twice before he shot his load in her. As he pumped cum in her pussy, she climaxed a third time. "Oh, ah, keep cuming!" she gasped. "Fill me up with fuck. Give me all your cum."
He poured it in her, pissing a stream of semen deep in her cunt.
They shared an after-fuck. She swirled her pussy on his dick, and he felt it growing stiff again.
He pulled it out of her cunt and guided it to her mouth. "Suck it," he said. He clutched the back of her head and pushed his cock against her lips.
"Oh yeah," he huffed at the sensation of his prick sliding between her lips and into her warm wet silky mouth. "Suck my dick, baby, suck it down to my balls."
He fucked the luscious sandy blonde's mouth, pumping his cock to the hilt, down to her throat. She sucked his prick avidly, bobbing her head, working her lips, tongue, palate all over it.
He gave a great cry of lust and heaved every inch of his dick in her mouth, down to her gullet, and let it go. He spurted a glob of sperm down her throat. She gulped and swallowed and sucked it down.
"Gonna feed you cum, baby," he panted. "Gonna squirt cum in your mouth and pussy every day."
He knew he had his daughter and Jeannie. He knew he could fuck them every day and night. But he wanted more--much more. He wanted to live off them; he wanted to make money from them--lots of money. And he knew how he could do it. He would whore them out. But he knew he would need some help. He would need to "numb" them down. He needed to obtain some numbing agents.
It didn't take him long to obtain what he needed. He was savvy; he knew where to go to get the agents.
He obtained quantities of stimulants and aphrodisiac agents, and began giving them to his daughter and Jeannie. At first he mixed them in drinks till the two women were stoned enough; then he had them to snort a powder form of the agents. The result was that his daughter and Jeannie stayed bombed--and horny....
Jerry watched as his first customer fucked Donna. The man pumped his prick in her pussy, frigging her good. She was glassy-eyed and wore a stoned smile as the man humped her cunt. Jerry also wore a smile. The man who was screwing his daughter had paid a goodly sum to him.
Donna had her arms and legs wrapped around the man and was hunching her pussy to meet his thrusts. Her head was thrown back and she was gasping and panting.
Jerry's cock grew stiff watching his daughter being frigged, watching the man's dick plunge in and out of her pussy. By the time the man shot his load in ( www.indiansexstories.biz ) her, Jerry's prick was rigid and throbbing.
The man rolled off Donna, and Jerry took over. He threw his daughter's legs over his shoulders, clutched her big soft ass and stuffed his rock-hard cock up her cunt.
"Fuck!" he hissed. "Fuck, daughter, fuck!"
"Oh yes! Oh Daddy, give it to me. Fuck me! Fuck me, Daddy, fuck me!"
He screwed his young pretty daughter fast and hard, pumping his meat in her, pounding his dick in her pussy. "Oh yeah, hot fucking cum in you, baby," he huffed. He grunted and growled as he emptied his balls in her, spewing a glob of semen in her cunt.
"Oh god, Jesus Christ--now!" she cried. "I'm cuming now! Cuming so fucking hot, so fucking good!"
Jerry slid his prick out. "She's hot as hell," he said to the man. "Fuck her again."
The man mounted Donna and frigged her again. She bucked and humped and gasped as he hunched his cock in her, screwing her with lusty jabs.
"Oh, ah, I can't get enough," she panted. "Can't get enough cock. Oh god, keep fucking me, don't ever stop--I want to fuck forever. I want a prick fucking me every day, every night, every minute. I want a cock stuffed in me all the time."
The man poured it in her, spurting cum up her cunt.
As soon as the man rolled off, Jerry grabbed his daughter, turned her over, pulled her up on her knees and pushed his dick between her rump-mounds. "Ah yes, up your ass, baby," he hissed. "Up your sweet-fucking ass."
He pushed and heaved his prick, digging it up his daughter's big soft butt. "Goddamn, you're tight as hell," he huffed. "You've got the tightest ass I've ever fucked."
"Ohh, oh god, oh Daddy," she gasped as he stuffed his big hard dick up her rump.
"Screwing your ass, baby," he grunted. "Oh yeah--screwing that sweet tight ass. Goddamn, I'm gonna have you fucked every day. Gonna have cocks fucking your cunt, your mouth, your ass, every day."
"Oh, ah, I want it, Daddy. Oh, Jesus Christ, I want cock! I want it every day."
"You're gonna get it, baby,' he said. "Every day--and every night." He gave a mighty heave and rammed every inch of his prick up his daughter's ass....
Jerry stroked his dick in satisfaction as he watched the three men fuck his daughter and Jeannie. The men had given him a nice sum, and he was pleased as punch. He knew he had a gold mine in his daughter and Jeannie, and he intended to mine them for all they were worth. They're going to make me rich, he thought. How lucky can you get. Two hot young pretty women who'll do anything I want.
He looked at the three men screwing Jeannie and his daughter. One man was pumping his prick in Jeannie's cunt as another slid his cock in her mouth. She had a glazed look in her eyes.
His daughter was on her hands and knees and a man was humping her from behind. She had a glassy-eyed stoned look.
He went to his daughter and guided his dick to her mouth. He pushed it forward and grunted with the sensation as it slid between her soft warm lips. He clutched her head and began fucking her mouth.
Ah, it doesn't get any better than this, he thought as he pumped his cock in his daughter's mouth. It sure as hell beats working for a living.


text:
The Office of Nursing Research and Scholarship (ONRS), housed in the School of Nursing,
mentors student and faculty investigators, fosters interprofessional collaborations
and helps investigators meet regulatory compliance for engaging in research (human subjects training, HIPPA compliance, etc).
The School of Nursing is an integral part of a large internationally recognized
academic health center (AHC) that is a site for a funded Clinical Translational
Science Award (CTSA) (Institute
for Integration of Medicine and Health (IIMS). Interprofessional research
collaborations are strongly supported by the IIMS.
There are just over 100 AHCs nationwide that have enormous impact through integration
of research, education, and patient care that produces the knowledge and evidence
foundation for treating illness and improving health. The 2002 and 2003 Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report on Academic
Health Centers challenged AHCs to take the lead in:
The School of Nursing faculty is responding to the IOM challenges
through their programs of science that focuses on the scholarship of teaching, practice,
and discovery (research). They're bringing to life the
School of Nursing Mission which is, "we engage with our diverse students
and communities to produce the future nursing leaders of our expanding world who
will lead the transformation of nursing care to make lives better through
education, research, and practice."
Community-Based Health
Helpful Links
Star Model
STTI Delta Alpha Chp.


text:
U.S. Border Patrol agents nabbed 10 pounds of methamphetamine Thursday at the I-5 checkpoint south of San Clemente.
At 1:30 p.m., agents at the I-5 checkpoint stopped a 25-year-old male Mexican national driving a 2004 Ford Focus. When the agents brought out a drug dog to inspect the car, the animal signaled detection of hidden drugs, according to a release from the Border Patrol.
Five bundles found jammed behind the left and right rear quarter panels yielded 10.14 pounds, worth $202,800 on the street, the release said.
Agents turned the suspect and drugs over to the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Border Patrol Seized the vehicle.


text:
April D. Ryan discusses the challenges facing urban media, as well as health and wellness in the African American community.
She is a White House Correspondent with the American Urban Radio Networks.
For more information on April, please visit: http://aprildryan.com/
For more information on the American Urban Radio Networks, please visit: www.aurnol.com


text:
Renaming STDOUT?
[Via Microsoft WebBlogs]
Microsoft has made its living building software applications that are more self-documenting and otherwise easier to use than its competitors. Thus, I was unsurprised to learn that my feature team wants to gather customer ideas for alternatives to the "unix-y" stdout option.
Wait! That's you. Already have an opinion. Let it be known.
If you're one of the 99.99999% of human beings that don't know what stdout is, don't worry about it. I did not learn what erudite means until high school. Obtuse still trips me up. And orthogonal? Orthagonal must be the most abused English word at Microsoft after heuristic, which is a good description of this post, don't you think?
Have your eyes glazed over yet? When we read words (or quasi-words) like orthogonal and stdout out of context, our brains reel and our eyes glaze over. What the heck is stdout? Who cares!
For Team Foundation's source control command line, I think that stdout be replaced with either ">[format]" or "sendto:[format]".
The following examples display the contents of a source-controlled file in the default viewer for that type of file. Note that - and / are interchangeable command line option identifiers.
vstf View myfile.doc /sendto:viewer
vstf View foo.txt ->viewer
The following examples display the contents of the specified source-controlled files in the command console (a quick view):
vstf View header.h -sendto:console
vstf View foo.txt />console
What do you think? Should > replace stdout? What about sendto:? Record your comments here.
Otthon, a nagyanyád gardrob szekrényében nevezd át.


text:
Stories and deep dish comedy plus explosively bright music. Specifically…
The one and only Rebecca Corry is back from her once-in-a-lifetime Million Pibble March on Washington with tales to tell.
Erin Foley's podcast is called Sports Without Balls! I am not a fan of sports but I sure am a fan of Erin. (I am also a fan of our podcast which has episodes featuring Rebecca, The Sklar Brothers, Daniel Radcliffe, Lili Taylor, John Riggi, Ana Gasteyer, Tim Bagley, etc.)
If you have not yet seen Chris Woods do his wild thing with us you are missing something very special — a virtuoso violin player with a big heart and a huge sense of fun!
Emily Heller uses the Mr before her name and that is not the only wonderful thing about her. You may have seen her on Conan. She has been named a comic to watch by both Variety and Comedy Central and on top of that she has a series called the future. More here.
We are always happy to have an UnCab debut, and this week we welcome, from DC, Kyle Martin!
Plus it is Louis' birthday and so that means candles making things even brighter and cake!
Have a great week, see you on the sunniest Sunday of the year!
Get tickets here!


text:
Many belly rubs for you on this special day.
My name is Sammy and I'm an Australian Cattle Dog and Retriever mix (along with a few other things). My Mommy and Daddy adopted me in Feb. 2012 and I'm loving my wonderful new home! I have already learned some awesome new tricks! I have a toy box full of things I love to play with and I really like chasing the squirrels that live in my backyard, although Mom and Dad won't let me catch any of them. Most of all I like to take naps on my recliner chair and cuddle with Mom and Dad on the couch.Add to Favorites


text:
Thursday, January 31, 2013
A Huge Thank You To All That Participated in the BFRPG Appreciation Day, and a Question
I also want to thank the readers of this blog and all of the other blogs that were visited. I want to thank everyone that took the time to go to the Basic Fantasy RPG Site and gave it an honest look. I hope you found it to be rewarding.
So yes, a huge thanks to all!
Now the question:
Should we do this again next month?
If so, who / what do we "appreciate"?
This was certainly a huge success. Can we repeat it?
Give me your thoughts if you will...
15 comments:
What about DwD Studio's BareBonesFantasy?... or has that been done already?ReplyDeleteReplies
I think i'd want to stick to free games for now, although BBF is a damn good game.Delete
I think you should try again next month. Not sure what product to try though. Maybe LotFP? Or just go with OSRIC? Meant to get a blog post in about BFRPG, sorry man.ReplyDelete
What about Mazes & Minotaurs? They've got the original and revised rules and tons of free stuff (not as much as Basic Fantasy, but still a good amount. Never played the game but it seems very playable and lots of fun.ReplyDelete
This comment has been removed by the author.ReplyDelete
Great! M&M is fun and strange :)ReplyDelete
For free game there is the old old old Zozer game and its free games (Zenobia, Warlords of Alexander.... really great stuff)
here you go: http://zozer.weebly.com/free-rpgs.html
Stars Without Number. A simply great sci-fi/space-opera RPG, with very strong sandbox support, which a lot of people don't know too well. The core-book's PDF is free, the rest available commercially.ReplyDelete
I am up for it!ReplyDelete
I am quite fond of Spellcraft & Swordplay. There is a free version.
Microlite20 OSS? .ReplyDelete
Searchers of the Unknown? It has more forks than a linux distribution.
I'd vote for Microlite, as well.ReplyDelete
If you do an appreciation day for OSRIC, or LL, or S&W, I'll be happy to participate.ReplyDelete
... and hey, I see on the Feedjit thing that someone from Leonard, MO just visited the site. Leonard is, like, kind of in my back yard, relatively speaking. So dude, if you're reading this, drop in to the forum at http://basicfantasy.org/forums and make your presence known. There are so few old-school RPG fans around here... it'd be nice to meet another.Replies
... unless, in it's infinite stupidity, the Internet thinks I'm in Leonard. Which would suck, considering I'm not THAT close.Delete
Searchers of the Unknown!ReplyDelete
I'd be up for anything.ReplyDelete
My two cents: Some love for Talislanta (it's free now and whatnot)? ZeFRS?


text:
Your skill will accomplish
what the force of many cannot
Re: Retrieving Regex matched Group nameby Kenosis (Priest)
|on Feb 18, 2013 at 23:11 UTC ( #1019411=note: print w/replies, xml )
|Need Help??
If I'm understanding you correctly, it seems that you are attempting to use named capture groups and, if there's a match, retrieve the name of the matching group. If so, consider the following:
Group names and their associated values are contained in the hash %+. The above creates a hash of arrays (HoA) keyed on the (captured) values of %+, since two different keys may have identical values. The @{ $groupNames{$1} } notation uses the captured match as a key, and its associated value is the list of capture group names.
Hope this helps!
In Section Seekers of Perl Wisdom


text: Thank you to the co-creators of the modem, Usenet, Apache, link blogs, Noisebridge, and everyone else who came and spoke or helped move chairs or somehow magically set up sound and video just in tie. J.C, Miloh, Daravinne, everyone! It's just such an amazing experience to watch the co-founder of the Homebrew Computer Club help set up the stage for the next act, or have the guy who ran the first web media site under his desk giggling in the corner, and mixing with everyone starting such fantastic things RIGHT NOW, from free books to anarchafeminist hackers to bio-hacking to the open source pilgrim, to hackerspaces in a box, to opening up government data. We made about $170, which went into the magical Noisebridge fund box. Here are some tweets from the event: http://storify.com/dannyob/five-minutes-of-fame-2013-03-21 WAIT I GOT SOME ONION IN MY EYE d.


text:
Become a Member of East Tennessee's Official Photography Trade Organization
Are you considering joining East Tennessee's official professional photography trade association?
There are many benefits to membership – click here for a list of a few of them. All members must agree to and uphold PPETN's Code of Ethics that can be viewed here. And, you can view the types of memberships PPETN offers here.
Applying for PPETN membership requires a simple 2-step process:
- Complete the application below as a new member.
- Submit your dues payment on the subsequent page (PPETN dues are for 12 months of membership and renew automatically on your renewal date at the end of 12 months).
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask us here.
Required Information: There are three sections—Required Information for All Applicants, Required Information for Specific Applicants, and Optional Information for All Applicants. The second section describes which information is required to apply to each membership type (i.e. Business License info for Professional and Studio Photographers is required). If you mark "N/A" in a required field for your membership type, your application will not be complete.


text:
The Heroes of Three Kingdoms is a full 3D Action game based on Three Kingdoms. You choose from either of 3 characters available and you are set to act as a one man killing machine defeating scores of enemies and big bosses.
The game also has an RPG feel into it as your character is able to upgrade its skill level, experience and even use props to help you in battle.
The game did confuse me a bit considering that I had no idea how to get 3 stars for each stage. However, as I progressed and the levels seemed to get harder, there was a time that I cleared a stage with only a hairline left of my stamina.
Once I got a 3 stars for that, I tested my theory if indeed that could be a factor for getting 3 stars and I did. If you have 1 enemy remaining it can be good to let it slash you until your life gets drained then use the skill "steel body" for defense while you kill the remaining enemy.
Although this did not work in some stages so that still left me clueless how to get to accomplish them. However, this one tip should help you get 3 stars in some of them.
There are other mini games available too but these suck. However, the defense mode should give you a challenge. It is quite hard to clear it unless you can probably get all skills and cards. The scenario mode does feature repetitive missions where your goal is to defeat all enemies that come your way.
The graphics for this game is good! Playbean did an awesome job making this one. I could not figure out how to get that bean that will let you buy rare cards until I played a mini game where a tiger came out. Just keep playing it and pile up those beans ;).
The game play looks repetitive. Defeat grunts according to color strength (red, green, blue, maroon) and then the big boss. But hey! I am not complaining. I enjoyed playing this game!


text:
Call (888) 651-9785
The water was very clear. The trip was a lot of fun and the time flew by. I felt very safe the entire time. The water was initially cold but once we got started, you quickly felt comfortable.
Excellent activity - well organised, lots of fun. Best underwater activity I have participated in. Would highly recommend it.
I loved it, very professional staff, after my boyfriend didn't want to go I went by my self and they didn't make me feel any uneasiness. The coral reef wasn't very pretty but they let you feed the fish and brought some wildlife to you to touch.
I took my Grandson on this excursion as he found it and thought it would be fun. It was and we got to see all sorts of sea life brought to us by the divers who accompanied us on our adventure.
This was classed a shore excursion and we were booked for a certain date, but our ship changed course, there were no real problems changing our booking.
Was a great experience. Took 13 year old twin grandsons. We all thought it was great
This tour was amazing!
The mini-sub adventure was a hoot! My boyfriend really wasn't excited about it, but after.... He tells everyone how cool it was! The divers who are there were great, friendly and knowledgable. We had a once in a life time experiance. Thanks!
Loved seeing all of the fish etc and holding some of them. Would do it again. All the people connected were great.
We had a great time. They were on time and very friendly . They gave us safety instructions . We got to feed the fish which was awesome . This is a must excursion before you leave Mexico .
The people helping were great, was a neet experience. Thanks
Everyone was GREAT. The price of the photos and the video taken underwater was very reasonable. I would Highly recommend this to everyone I see. One of the best excursions I have been on.
JennyC United States of ...
This is a 'not to be missed' excursion in Cozumel! The guides were AMAZING, ensuring I got to see everything possible under the water. They brought for me to see and hold: A puffer fish, a stingray, a tiny crab, a starfish, a spider crab and a miniature lobster.. Such a cool experience that still allows you to do a beach visit on your time ashore.
Mini-Subs gave us a new way to go under water. Staff was very friendly and helpful. Staff was able to show you a lot of fish attracted by the food they carried as well as a star fish and a porcupine puffer fish. Pretty neat overall.
My husband and a friend of ours took this excursion. There is room for just a few people at a time so has to be reserved and not thru the ship. They really enjoyed it and took their own photos of the experience with the Pro Cam
Would definitely recommend. We booked for 11:30 dont forget its Mexico time not ship time 1 hour difference
easy to get to, very friendly staff and easy to operate. A little pricy for the short time under water.
We were on a cruise and the location was very easy to find. Cab fare was about $8.00 each way from the cruise port to the hotel where were met up with Claudia. We had a very good experience and would definitely recommend to anyone with no diving experience. The guides went over all safety precautions prior to the dive. My wife did not do the dive, but had a nice waiting area near the shore.
It was great, easy to find from port, staff was friendly and not pushy about buying pictures afterwards. The scooter in the water was cool, fun to drive. It would of been nice if were where under longer but tanks are only for 40 mins. Staff put food in your hand to attract fish and bring other sea life to you...a great excursion.
The tour operators were excellent. Well organized, safety was key. Really alot of fun. Well worth it.
Wished it were a little longer - only about 20 minutes in the water. We stayed in one place for half of the time while the operators brought sea creatures to us. We would have enjoyed cruising around longer. Should be 45 min. to be perfect.
Misleading. They donotpickyou up at port. You must provide your own transportation. Actual touris only 30 minutes.
This excursion was cool but not as cool as I expected. The main reason for that was that it was super short. We only spent about 2-3 minutes actually driving the mini subs under water. The rest of the time they chain you to an underwater rope in about 10 feet of water and take pictures of you. They bring sea urchins and other creatures to put in your hands and take pictures. So more than driving a mini sub this excursion is an underwater photo shoot. There wasn't much to see there underwater, maybe that's why they do the photo shoot. The other drawback they don't advertise is that you don't go deep at all. You are hooked to a buoy so that the deepest you can go is 10 to 15 feet and they control your depth. The photos were an extra $30 to purchase. The entire experience lasted about 25 minutes. Way too short for the price paid in my opinion.
The mini sub itself is a good experience. But the services I received is lousy. First while you book an excursion, you are expected to be picked up at the dock. But not this one, they asked you to come to their place. 2nd the Taxi costed you 16.00 round trip and you need to flag down a taxi outside the terminal. 3rd our ship delayed and they expected you be at their place within an hour, that is very rush. 4th the guy met you is rude and rushed you. 5th they made you to pay extra 3.00 cash for a locker. 5th they do not except credit cards. So I ended up not able to pay for the nice photos they took. It is way below the standard of the tours you offered. YOU SHOULD NOT CARRY THIS TOUR, IF PICK UP AND LOCKER IS NOT INCLUDED AND YOU NEEDED TO WARN YOUR CUSTOMER THAT THEY DO NOT ACCEPT CREDIT CARD PAYMENT.
Page: 1
Some content licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
© 1997–Fri Feb 23 04:54:32 PST 2018 Viator, Inc. CUR015 - 330233 All rights reserved. Viator is a registered trademark of Viator, Inc.
is a Service Mark of Viator, Inc. Travel with an Insider is a Service Mark of Viator, Inc.
Use of this website constitutes acceptance of Viator's Terms & Conditions.
Viator uses cookies to improve your experience on our website. Learn more about how we use cookies and how to change your cookie settings | Close message


text:
J.C. Penney (JCP) reported second-quarter earnings last week, and they were just about as bad as could be. Comparable store sales fell 21.7%. Total sales fell 22.6%. Internet sales fell 32.6%. The company lost $147 million. Moody's downgraded the company.
It seems pretty clear that J.C. Penney's shoppers aren't reacting well to the bold, new strategy laid out by chief executive Ron Johnson, the former retail chief of Apple (AAPL). But is it time to buy, figuring the board will toss Apple Guy out in the coming months, and hire someone more in tune with the Penney shopper? Maybe not. The stock's PE ratio remains high, partly due to crummy earnings but also residual faith in Apple Guy. Wait for his fans to give up the ghost. Then take a look at this mess.
Johnson seems clueless and unable to appreciate the fact that driving away your core customer base is a dangerous move. In the earnings release, he said: "We have now completed the first six months of our transformation and while business continues to be softer than anticipated, we are confident the transformation of J.C. Penney is on track."
And he seems to think that people who don't currently shop at J.C. Penney are going to love his new vision, which he lovingly describes in the latest Businessweek. He discusses streets they will walk down (hand in hand?), past Martha Stewart cooking demonstrations and shops from Izod and Levi's, until they sit to chat at a faux-Parisian café. What he's forgetting: malls are dying. Young and hip customers don't want to hang out there. Anyway, Kohls (KSS) and Target (TGT) seem way ahead of him.
JCP Net Income TTM data by YCharts
Johnson may be getting an inkling that something's wrong, however. In Businessweek, he says he's trying to change the "interface" of retail. He says that next year, employees will use iPads at the checkout counter – and don't call them "cashiers," they'll be "specialists." Why not just call them geniuses? It sounds like he misses Apple.
From the editors of YCharts.YCharts Pro
Investor Service includes professional stock charts, stock


text:
First things first, I have some exciting news… My friend Kammie just released her first eCookbook this week! Healthy & Delicious: Single Serving Recipes is full of delectable treats that are small portions (who wants 11 cupcakes laying around the house? Certainly not I!), made using healthier ingredients and simple to make. I poured through my copy and I've bookmarked too many recipes to count. Lucky for me Lance claims he doesn't have a sweet tooth so I can make a few of these treats all for myself
I urge you to go check it and get yourself a copy! Kammie is offering all of my readers 25% off (through October) if you use the code BLOG25 at checkout – visit Sensual Appeal to get it.
Now about this simple syrup…
On Monday I posted my new favorite martini recipe – Spiced Pear Martini, but in order to make it you need this very special ingredient.
Simple syrup is just that – simple. It takes mere minutes to make and is something kind of magical (the unicorn and glitter kind of magical, obviously). It basically just pot of water and some sugar, it's stupidly easy – I promise.
In my opinion it's essential to making a deliciously crafted cocktail. Sure you can make do without, but it makes drinks so, so much better. I wouldn't dream of having people over for drinks if I didn't have some simple syrup in my fridge..or maybe that makes me a drink snob? Only a little though, right?
To build on the amazingness that is simple syrup, I added some of my favorite fall spices to give it some flavor and warmth. I used whole spices and steeped them in the simple syrup to add flavor but without the grittiness you can get with ground spices.
I kid you not, this stuff is like crack. You're going to want to sweeten everything with it. Everything. Cocktails, coffee, tea, oatmeal, yogurt, brushed onto cakes for flavor…the list goes on. It makes a little over a cup so store whatever you have left – it lasts about a month in the fridge.
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick (or 2 small sticks)
- 2-3 whole cloves
- 2 whole all spice berries
- 1 whole black peppercorn
- ½ vanilla bean, cut in half lengthwise
- ¼ tsp fresh grated nutmeg
- In a medium size saucepan combine sugar, water and spices. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and cover for 20-25 minutes to steep spices and cool.
- Remove large spices from saucepan and discard. Pour syrup mixture through a fine mesh strainer or a layer of cheesecloth to remove large spice particles. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1 month.