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High-class escorts required
Today, 50 men will vie to be chaperons at the Rose of Tralee. John Meagher discovers what it's like to be a Man in Black, squiring beautiful women around town
On the face of it, being an escort at the Rose of Tralee would be a great lark. You get to have an all-expenses-paid holiday in one of Ireland's most beautiful counties. There are five days of constant partying. People will be buying you drinks all the time. And if that wasn't enough, you get to chaperon a highly attractive young woman who loves children and animals and will probably be able to tap-dance, while playing the harp at the same time.
Plus, if you have a particularly puerile sense of humour, you can regale friends with tales of your time as a 'high-class escort' for years to come.
The reality is rather different. Being an escort at Ireland's most famous festival is not to be taken lightly.
You are expected to cater for the Rose's every whim, to extricate her from uncomfortable situations, to make sure she is on time for everything on each of the days on a very busy schedule. There's a certain etiquette to learn, right down to how to act around the Rose's boyfriend (if she has one) and the correct way to dance with her.
Oh, and you're not encouraged to drink excessively, and romantic advances towards the Rose are severly frowned upon.
In short, it sounds as if the ideal escort would be a former school prefect who is just about to enter studies for the priesthood.
Colm Croffy begs to differ. An escort in 1998 and 1999, he is the man charged with selecting the young gentlemen to wear the tuxedos at the festival, which takes place during the third weekend in August this year.
"It can be the weekend of their lives," he enthuses. "Yes, there's a lot of responsibility, but there's great fun to be had and people can form lifelong friendships at it. It's mad. There's nothing else quite like it.
"Much of the smooth running of the festival is down to the escorts, who work really hard for the five days. It's not uncommon for an escort to receive a call from his Rose in the early hours of the morning looking for him to go out and get her fast food."
Much effort goes into finding suitable males to give up a week in August. Up to 3,000 companies received letters urging them to put forward a suitable candidate.
This year Croffy got 370 applications for 28 positions. Candidates have to be between 20 and 30 -"to reflect the ages of the Roses" - and single.
The application form generally weeds out those unsuited to the job. The organisers do careful background checks. "We don't want headlines concerning such or such an escort," Croffy says. Anxious not to discriminate on any grounds except age, Croffy suggests that gay men would be welcome to apply. "I'm sure gay men have applied in the past, considering the law of averages," he says.
About 50 men have been chosen from the applicants, and will be interviewed at the Gresham Hotel in Dublin today. After the interviews, which are expected to last all day, Croffy hopes to have the line-up for this year's Rose.
There are certain things the judges look for, including a high standard of grooming (beards and long hair seem to be frowned on) and a pleasant disposition.
Each man selected will have to arrange sponsorship, normally from the firm he works for - the Rose of Tralee festival can't afford to absorb the escorts' costs.
"We get all types of guys applying. And they're from everywhere. People have this idea that it's just GAA types from rural Ireland, but we get plenty of Dubliners too. And people from Australia and New Zealand," says Croffy.
Past Rose of Tralee escorts include former Dublin Lord Mayor Royston Brady and comedian Alan Shortt.
Colm Croffy says one of the primary appeals of being an escort is the chance to meet beautiful, usually single (not a requirement under the rules) women. "Of course there's a chance that the two of them are going to hit it off together, but most people do it because of the craic to be had."
Croffy, 34, from Ballinasloe, Co Galway, says selecting the escorts is the easy bit. Much harder is pairing up the escort and Rose. "It's not pulled out of a hat. We spend a lot of time trying to work out who will be most compatible. After all, the two people are going to be spending a lot of time together."
He says his two years as an escort were hugely enjoyable. "I suppose I did it because I knew I'd never get a chance to be a Rose," he deadpans. "I'm still in contact with people I met that year." Ask him if romance blossomed for him and all you'll get is a chuckle.
But romance has blossomed in the past, and there's been at least one marriage of a former Rose and her man in black.
Is there a lot of romance between Roses and escorts? "Well, the schedule is so hectic that there isn't really time for anything to happen," he laughs. "And anyway, everybody gets so tired . . . "
The festival has always had its critics, but the level of dissatisfaction seems to be at an all-time high. Some believe that the contest is an over-the-top tourist trap, an outdated beauty pageant with undertones of de Valera's 'comely maidens' image that is demeaning to women and should be discontinued pronto.
The appointment of a new host, rising broadcasting star Ryan Tubridy, hasn't stemmed the criticisms - or the smart comments. Last year bookie Paddy Power upset seasoned Rose fans by taking bets that the winning Rose would be a transsexual, or that a Rose would come on stage with her dress tucked into her knickers.
Partly to bring the festival into the 21st century, the organisers decided to make more of the escorts, and since 2000 they have held open searches. Previously, one became an escort through recommendation and word of mouth.
"There's certainly a lot of interest out there among guys," Croffy says. "People are always saying that the event isn't popular, but we're still getting lots of applications, and it's one of the highest-rated TV shows of the year."
There's also an Escort of the Year competition, voted for by the Roses themselves, with the winner bagging a holiday and designer suit.
Unfortunately for the escorts, they don't get to hear the words "the pale moon was rising" warbled in their honour.


text:
Merry Christmas! And Happy Hanukkah!
It's Christmas time and author Christopher Nuttall is giving away the first book from two of his mil-SF series: The Empire's Corps and Ark Royal.
They are free from December 24th through 26th. Details at his blog here.
And if you haven't gotten my book yet: the Kindle edition of One Thousand Years (the first of my series) will be discounted to 99 cents through January 1st.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Disruptive technology has created rampant competition in the hotel industry with the likes of Airbnb. Online review sites also require constant attention to detail when it comes to maintaining a high-level of service and a prestigious product.
In an industry known for higher than average attrition, CQ Hotels needed a solution that would engage their team, foster team alignment across the entire organization, and a measure to improve effectives with VIP customers.
As with many fast-paced operations, CQ Hotels found that teams were being pulled in multiple directions and not maintaining focus on strategic priorities. This problem was systemic, in order to support the high-quality brand image, the team felt obligated to manage "distractions."
CQ Hotels tried to manage this with a series of meetings and a combination of excel sheets. It wasn't very effective. This is why they decided to bring in the RESULTS.com management dashboard.
The CQ Hotels team went through a change revolution. Working with RESULTS.com, what was previously managed in a series of disparate systems was migrated onto a single dashboard. This process involved two key steps: 1). Identifying and prioritizing company strategic priorities through the RESULTS 1-Page Strategic Plan, and 2). Assigning Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to teams and individual team members.
Both management and individual team members now have complete transparency into what other people are working on, helping to improve the effectiveness of job completion; keeping people focused on their assigned tasks, and removing duplication of efforts. Meetings have been reduced and distilled to what's most important. People are no longer working in silos, rather they are sharing updates and communicating with each other in the company-wide social news feed.
Since implementing RESULTS.com, CQ Hotels has achieved remarkable results, including: a boost in team confidence and engagement; a market share increase of 10%; and overall occupancy increase just shy of 5%.
About CQ Hotels
CQ Hotels is the home away from home for business travellers and holidaymakers. CQ Hotels differentiates itself from the competition on many levels by maintaining guests with a personalized experience, convenient location(s), and high-quality accommodations.


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JERUSALEM (Aug. 26)
The Israel Parliament today passed in the final reading the oil bill submitted by the Government. The vote was 54 to 13 with two abstainees. The Communists and Mapam deputies voted against the bill.
Pinchas Lavon, Minister without portfolio, told the Parliament that the Israel Government will extend equal opportunities to all prospectors "whether Jews, non-Jews, Israelis, or outsiders" in the prospecting of oil in Israel. The Government will now start the drafting of regulations regarding oil prospecting. It is expected that the regulations will be ready within three months, after which actual drilling will be started.
(The rapid development of a new, potentially oil-rich area of the Middle East was predicted today by the Jewish Agency in New York as a result of the U.S. Government's stipulated guaranty of American investments in Israel and Israel's petroleum legislation, offering attractive terms to foreign investors. "These measures, by the two Governments, will hasten the search for oil in the Negev," the economic department of the Jewish Agency stated.)


text: On Jul 10, Dan Hollis wrote:> What motherboards are capable of properly supporting ECC and Linux? Any?all DEC Alpha/AXP systems support (only) ECC memory (and they run fine with Linux!)Harald--All SCSI disks will from now on ___ _____be required to send an email notice 0--,| /OOOOOOO\24 hours prior to complete hardware failure! <_/ / /OOOOOOOOOOO\ \ \/OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO\ \ OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO|//Harald Koenig, \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/Inst.f.Theoret.Astrophysik // / \\ \email@example.com ^^^^^ ^^^^^


text:
Hadassah University Medical center is a tertiary care referral hospital, a world class medical institution with a global reputation for excellence and outstanding medical care. Today, Hadassa includes two university hospitals which provide all medical and surgical sub-specialties: Hadassah Ein-Kerem and Hadassah Mount Scopus. The two hospitals holds together 1000 beds, 120 outpatient clinics, more than 70 departments and specialized units, 31 operating theatres, 9 specialized ICUs, and 5 schools for medical education and clinical training operated in collaboration with the Hebrew University.
Hadassha conduct in its research units and interdisciplinary research centers more than half of the hospital research carried out in the country. Hadassah has established Centers of Excellence where brain trust of scientists and clinicians are working in cooperation to integrate clinical care with the latest scientific findings.
Hadassah welcomes international patients from all across the globe for a wide range of treatments, from physical check ups and second opinions to complex surgeries and cutting edge therapies.
Read more ...
The Joint Commission International (JCI) was established in 1997 as a division of the Joint Commission Resources, Inc. (JCR), a private, non-profit affiliate of the Joint Commission. JCI main focus, as stated in its mission, is to extend the Joint Commission's mission into the world. In order to accomplish this, JCI assist international health care organizations, public health agencies, health ministries and others in the process of improving their quality and safety of patient care. JCI worldwide operation covers more than 80 countries. International hospitals seek accreditation to demonstrate quality, and JCI accreditation is considered a seal of approval by medical travelers from the U.S.
In 2007, JCI was accredited by the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua). ISQA is a non-profit, independent organization, that accredits accrediting bodies, with members in more than 70 countries. With the approval of ISQua, we can be assured that the standards, training and processes used by JCI to survey the performance of health care organizations, meet the highest international benchmarks for accreditation entities.
In fact, the world's first World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre, dedicated exclusively to patient safety solutions, is a joint partnership between the WHO, The Joint Commission, and JCI.
In 1999, JCI accredited the first hospital outside the US, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, a private, non-profit, non-governmental facility in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Since then, more than 300 public and private health care organizations have been accredited by JCI.
Writing and editing in World Top MD is a collaborative effort. All hospitals and physicians are invited to participate and write on their organization and/or themselves (see Terms & Conditions for participating).
In order to participate in the creation of World Top MD, please note that you need to register first (due to excessive registration spam, registration is by invitation - email us for a free account). Also, please be kind to fellow contributors and try to keep an objective view.
Feel free to browse and contribute. Before starting, we suggest you to read the help content: How to create a new hospital page?, How to create a new physician page?. Also, if you are not familiar with wiki editing, you can view the general help pages.
Use the example articles (example hospital & example physician) to learn how to easily write an article in any of the categories.
Please share your suggestions, comments, or ideas in the discussion pages or contact us directly at firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
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No two investors are alike. That's why we offer many account options that let you decide how you work with us. From hands-on accounts that put you in control, to choices with built-in guidance, the decision is yours.
Which approach is right for you? Explore the account options below.
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Edward Jones is a dually registered broker-dealer and investment adviser. Edward Jones Advisory Solutions® is an asset allocation program that provides investment advisory services. Depending on a client's minimum investment, a client can select Fund Models, which invest in affiliated mutual funds (if available), unaffiliated mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), or UMA Models, which also include separately managed allocations (SMAs). Please review the applicable Edward Jones Advisory Solutions Brochure for more information.
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text:
I was asked to evaluate the following:
where C is the circle
Well I figure that is the function is analytical then according to Cauchy's intergral theorem:
This is somewhat complicated since it's difficult to separate the function into the real and imaginary part to take their derivatives. I pluged it into the calculator and it seems like it's not analytical. So, I went about trying to do it.
then it becomes:
And using by parts:
since r=2, and we have:
Now pluging in the limits and 0 we have:
How can this be? It shouldn't be 0 since it's not analytical. What am I missing here?


text:
Planning a trip to San Antonio is one of the best things to do. This article is about things to do in San Antonio TX. San Antonio is one of the seventh largest city in the United States and third …Read More »
Home / Tag Archives: san antonio botanical garden


text:
Monty Python stars are in a legal battle at the High Court in a dispute over the hit musical Spamalot.
Three of the six Pythons – Eric Idle and Michael Palin, both 69, and Terry Jones, 70 – are due to give evidence in a five-day legal action brought by Mark Forstater, producer of the classic film Monty Python And The Holy Grail.
Mr Forstater is seeking the right to royalties from stage musical Spamalot, a spin-off from the Grail film, expected to run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.
A judge at London's High Court was told that, "for financial purposes", Mr Forstater should be treated as "the seventh Python".
Mr Forstater is suing Idle, Palin and Jones, who was born in Colwyn Bay, and the two other surviving Pythons, John Cleese and Terry Gilliam, who are abroad and not expected to give evidence. The sixth member of the team, Graham Chapman, died in 1989.
Spamalot, created by Eric Idle, is described on posters as being "lovingly ripped off" from the Holy Grail, which was made in 1975.
Tom Weisselberg, appearing for Mr Forstater, described the musical in court as "a huge international commercial success", including in the West End and on Broadway.
It generated a very significant amount of spin-off merchandising income.
But the Pythons were "unjustifiably attempting to secure more money from Spamalot at the expense of Mr Forstater and his company".
Mr Weisselberg told Mr Justice Norris: "Regrettably, the parties have not been able to resolve the dispute.
"Mr Forstater is in difficult financial circumstances and has been forced to bring these proceedings."
The film producer was made bankrupt in June. Last month, the bankruptcy was annulled and he is now involved in an independent voluntary arrangement (IVA) to deal with his debts.
Mr Weisselberg told the court: ``The outrage expressed by a number of Pythons in their witness statements as to the suggestion that Mr Forstater was to be treated as the seventh Python is, with respect to them, misguided.''
He added: "There is no suggestion that Mr Forstater would be writing jokes, but what was being agreed was that Mr Forstater would share equally with them in the profit in the work they were together putting in to create the film."
More to follow.


text:
Great David... Thank you very much... I have already created an example based on owl-s examples, and it works perfectly. And actually I have created the subclassof Profile, Process... I am seeing right now my service as actually an instance of process.owl ontology, and as you said, I will take a look in sameIndividualAs. It is very clear right now... And about the discovery process, I probably need to read more papers, so I will take a look into pub-archive.html, because I understood something but right now I think that some "pieces in my puzzle" is missing. Thank you very much, Daniela -----Message d'origine----- De : David Martin [mailto:firstname.lastname@example.com] Envoyé : mercredi 24 novembre 2004 09:12 À : email@example.com Cc : firstname.lastname@example.com Objet : Re: Relation between OWL and OWL-S Getting back to Daniela's original quesions, there are some straightfoward answers - Daniela CLARO wrote: > Hi all, > I would like to know what is actually the relation between OWL-S and OWL? OWL-S is an ontology represented in (the language) OWL. This ontology contains a bunch of class and property definitions. A description of a particular service in OWL-S is (by and large) a set of instances of the OWL-S classes and properties. > How do I represent this relation in OWL-S? You don't have to do anything. The relation between OWL and OWL-S is already captured in the OWL-S declarations (in Service.owl, Process.owl, Profile.owl, and the other ontology files). It's captured by all the declarations that say, for example, that "AtomicProcess is an OWL class', "hasInput is an OWL property", and so forth. > I will be more clear...for example, suppose that I have a service > called AirplaneCompany that searches for a ticket beased on some input > parameters and it belongs to a service composition called Travel. > > - How can I do automatic discovery in this case? I won't try to answer that here, but there are some papers here: http://www.daml.org/services/owl-s/pub-archive.html and elsewhere that talk about discovery. In general, discovery and matchmaking can take advantage of description-logic techniques like subsumption, but also in general we've found that *pure* subsumption doesn't do well enough; various modifications and extensions to it may be needed. > I've read that the > automatic discovery in OWL-S is based on its input and outputs > parameters, so we can make a distinction between the services. > > But actually, how can I say that my AirplaneCompany service is a class > in OWL model? Well, an OWL-S "service" is something that accomplishes a specific request, like "ReserveTicket", so AirplaneCompany is more likely to be a name for a collection of services rather than a service. So I will answer using the name ReserveTicket. Actually an ReserveTicket service would be an *instance* of the Service class (which is defined in Service.owl). Where Can I put this relation in OWL-S? You simply make an OWL declaration that says "ReserveTicket is an instance of owl-s:Service". In other declarations you will also declare something like "ReserveTicketProfile is an instance of "owl-s-profile:Profile" and "ReserveTicketProcess is an instance of "owl-s-process:Process". You can see examples of this here: http://www.daml.org/services/owl-s/1.1/examples.html And also, where can I say > that AirplaneCompany is the same service that AircraftCompany, as we > do in OWL using equivalenceClass like: > > <owl:Class rdf:ID="Aircraft"> > <owl:equivalentClass rdf:resource="urn:eg#AirPlane"/> > > These relations exist? Or in OWL-S we can not say that? Yes, you can say things like that, but since an OWL-S service is an *instance*, you would use the OWL property sameIndividualAs, rather than equivalentClass. Regards, DavidReceived on Wednesday, 24 November 2004 08:32:17 UTC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.1 : Tuesday, 6 January 2015 20:54:14 UTC


text:
Catskurukuru - FREE
by corocorocat, Version: 2.0 , 93 KB Official Site
Package name: com.corocorocat.kurukuru , Last Update: 2012-10-31 14:30:09
32 ratings (3.969 average)
5,000-10,000 downloads
What's new in this version (2.0):
#2.0 funtion move mail send --> menu button
#1.9 Add menu of mail send.
#1.8 Add menu of Index list.
#1.7 Add menu of double tap.
#1.6.1 Add menu. Update check.
#1.0.7 Setting Start Image
The photograph of 1000 cats or more can be inspected. The image advances when yen is drawn clockwise on the screen, and it returns counterclockwise.
Last comments from Android Market
KateMac (*)
Force close. Incredible. Uninstalled.


text:
Skip to comments.Could Particle Spooky Action Define The Nature Of Gravity?
Posted on 12/05/2013 5:24:00 PM PST by BenLurkin
Sonner then set about to create quarks to see if he could watch what happens when two are entangled with each other. Using an electric field, he was able to catch pairs of particles coming out of a vacuum environment with a few transient particles in it.
- Once he caught the particles, he mapped them in terms of space-time (four-dimensional space). Note: gravity is believed to be the fifth dimension because it can bend space-time [5th Dimension?], as you can see in these images of galaxies below.
- Sonner then tried to figure out what would happen in the fifth dimension when quarks were entangled in the fourth dimension, using a string theory concept called holographic duality. While a hologram is a two-dimensional object, it contains all the information necessary to represent a three-dimensional view. Essentially, holographic duality is a way to derive a more complex dimension from the next lowest dimension, MIT stated.
And it was under holographic duality that Sonner found a wormhole would be created. The implication is that gravity itself may come out of entanglement of these particles, and that the bending we see in the universe would also be due to the entanglement.
(Excerpt) Read more at universetoday.com ...
Kind of amazing how little we know about gravity while being intimately familiar with it.
Stealin' that!
Something tells me that when the physicists figure it out — a whole new universe of possibilities will open up for mankind.
Yeah I think grabbity is a key.
For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.
I can wire a three-way switch. That's about my limit.
It's at times like this that I really miss not having Richard Feynman around to explain it to the rest of us.
I miss his clarity also.
Last night I read an interview of Feynman in the book "Superstrings - A theory of everything" by P. C. W. Davies. In regard to his view on strings being a potential theory of everything, he said "I think all this superstring stuff is crazy and is in the wrong direction. I don't like that [superstring advocates] are not calculating anything....I don't like that for anything that disagrees with an experiment [they perform], they cook up an explanation - a fix-up to say 'Well, it still might be true.' "
Feynman explained complex topics in a decipherable manner, he was blunt with the truth as he saw it, and he was not the least bit reluctant to say he didn't know the answer to a physics problem.
If any of you like Feynman (and I know a lot of Freepers do), I recommend, for fun not physics, the book "Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman."
The same goes for consciousness.
"Kind of amazing how little we know about gravity while being intimately familiar with it."
"The same goes for consciousness"
Don't forget women.....
I've heard some women say they don't understand women either.
Gravity's so darn depressing.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.


text:
We almost did not eat here. We walked by it to see what else was in the area. After all, it was very close to the Louisville Slugger Museum, so we thought it was probably overpriced and not very good. After walking several blocks, we returned and took our chances. It was a very good decision.
We were there on a Saturday during lunch (they are only open from 11 to 3 on Saturdays). It was busy, but not overly crowded. They had fresh salads and pizza available by the slice. As there were several of us, we decided to order a whole pie.
It was delicious! The fold-able large slices were perfectly cooked. The sauce was very tasty. I don't know if they use their marinara sauce on it or not, but I just found out on their website that they sell their marinara sauce by the jar. I will have to get some whenever I get the chance to go back.
As this is the fourth pizzeria review post that I have done, I have noticed that there seems to be a commonality between all the places that I really like (other than the pizza), an Italian man wearing an apron behind the counter at least on one of my visits. Hmm…


text:
Bipartisan self-destruction
Published 5:18 pm, Monday, October 14, 2013
The Republican Party is paying a steep price for the House Republicans' decision to follow Sen. Ted Cruz's self-destructive crusade to partially shut down the government in a reckless gambit to defund Obamacare.
In an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll completed Oct. 9, 70 percent of respondents disapproved of congressional Republicans, while President Obama's rating blipped up a couple of points.
Fortunately for the GOP, the bad news for congressional Republicans led some D.C. Democrats to overplay their hand by allowing the partial shutdown to appear more painful than it need be.
Message received: If the government cannot work for Democratic leaders, it need not work for citizens and taxpayers.
As Obama was holding press events to announce his refusal to negotiate with Republicans, the Department of Defense halted death benefits to the families of troops killed in combat. A Pentagon official blamed "a loosely worded law" for the move, but if it was loosely worded, the administration could have chosen to make the payments.
Instead, the Fisher House Foundation charity volunteered to front death benefits until the shutdown ends. "After losing a loved one in service to our nation, these families should not have to endure more pain as the result of political squabbling," said foundation Chairman Ken Fisher.
Democrats warned how the partial shutdown would halt important cancer research that could save children's lives. House Republicans proposed a bill to continue National Institutes for Health funding. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he wouldn't support the bill. CNN reporter Dana Bash asked Reid, "Given what you've said, will you at least pass that? And if not, aren't you playing the same political games that Republicans are?"
When Reid balked, Bash asked, "But if you can help one child who has cancer, why wouldn't you do it?"
Reid responded, "Why would we want to do that? I have 1,100 people at Nellis Air Force base that are sitting home. They have a few problems of their own." Nasty.
Last weekend, as the drop-dead deadline to raise the debt ceiling loomed, Reid pooh-poohed a bipartisan compromise measure pushed by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. But then the Democrats' war on taxpayers presented a signal moment. The government had placed barriers around the World War II Memorial on the National Mall. Enraged veterans and Tea Party protesters tore down the barriers.
There's no public interest in closing off the monument. Indeed, it took manpower and money to erect the barriers. So there's no real saving. There's just a cheap headline.
Now the story has boomeranged on Democrats. The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll also found that 51 percent of Americans think Obama "is putting his own political agenda ahead of what's good for the country." And that poll was taken before last weekend's protests and other similar stories played out.
As I write this, Reid says that he is "optimistic" that a deal can be reached. Why would the sage of Searchlight, Nev., want to do that? Maybe, now, it's in his interest.
Debra J. Saunders is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Twitter: @DebraJSaunders


text:
Donald (Don) K. Tisdale, Sr.
Donald (Don) K. Tisdale, Sr., served as the Forsyth County District Attorney from 1974–1986, where he helped to establish North Carolina's Victim Assistance Network. In the last 20 years in private practice, Don has developed an outstanding reputation as a top criminal defense attorney. He has extensive trial experience in both state and federal courts and has been involved in numerous capital murder trials as a prosecutor and defense attorney.
Don received his Juris Doctorate from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1968 and his Bachelor of Arts degree in Latin and History from Wake Forest College in 1965. He was admitted to practice law in North Carolina in 1968 and has been certified to practice in the U.S. District Court, Middle, Eastern, and Western Districts of North Carolina; the U.S. Court of Appeals; and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Don currently serves as an adjunct professor for the Wake Forest University School of Law Clinic Program. He is a member of the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, the North Carolina Bar Association, the North Carolina State Bar, the Forsyth County Bar Association, and the Forsyth County Criminal Defense Trial Lawyers Association.
Don practices state and federal criminal law and also handles major traffic offenses.
Attention Lawyers - sign up here to join the directory.


text: /***************************************************/ /*! \class TcpClient \brief STK TCP socket client class. This class provides a uniform cross-platform TCP socket client interface. Methods are provided for reading or writing data buffers to/from connections. TCP sockets are reliable and connection-oriented. A TCP socket client must be connected to a TCP server before data can be sent or received. Data delivery is guaranteed in order, without loss, error, or duplication. That said, TCP transmissions tend to be slower than those using the UDP protocol and data sent with multiple \e write() calls can be arbitrarily combined by the underlying system. The user is responsible for checking the values returned by the read/write methods. Values less than or equal to zero indicate a closed or lost connection or the occurence of an error. by Perry R. Cook and Gary P. Scavone, 1995 - 2005. */ /***************************************************/ #ifndef STK_TCPCLIENT_H #define STK_TCPCLIENT_H #include "Socket.h" 00031 class TcpClient : public Socket { public: //! Default class constructor creates a socket client connection to the specified host and port. /*! An StkError will be thrown if a socket error occurs during instantiation. */ TcpClient( int port, std::string hostname = "localhost" ); //! The class destructor closes the socket instance, breaking any existing connections. ~TcpClient(); //! Connect the socket client to the specified host and port and returns the resulting socket descriptor. /*! If the socket client is already connected, that connection is terminated and a new connection is attempted. An StkError will be thrown if a socket error occurs. */ int connect( int port, std::string hostname = "localhost" ); //! Write a buffer over the socket connection. Returns the number of bytes written or -1 if an error occurs. int writeBuffer(const void *buffer, long bufferSize, int flags = 0); //! Read a buffer from the socket connection, up to length \e bufferSize. Returns the number of bytes read or -1 if an error occurs. int readBuffer(void *buffer, long bufferSize, int flags = 0); protected: }; #endif // defined(STK_TCPCLIENT_H)


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Sustainably Bright: 10 LED Task Lamps Under $100
With the push for more efficient and eye-pleasing lighting, it's increasingly easier to find task lights utilizing bright and cool-to-the-touch LEDs. The challenge we discovered is finding lamp models that don't look like they were made from spare parts from Robot Johnny Five, yet fall within the limits of a reasonable budget.
With a seemingly endless selection of bargain bin LED task lights offered at big box stores and via online retailers, alongside a selection of high profile and beautiful high-end designer models from the likes of Herman Miller, Steelcase, and Pablo, strangely the moderate price range isn't as well represented as you'd think.
So we went searching online for LED-equipped task lights with the goal of finding an array of glowing design with the price dimmed down to under $100, all the while avoiding bargain bin specials. Here are ten, listed from lowest to highest price:
1. Design Classics Lighting LED Task Lamp - $39.95
2. Sylvania 72228 Monavi LED Task Lamp - $39.99
3. Target Threshold LED Desk Lamp - $59.99
4. IKEA TISDAG LED work lamp - $69.99
5. Mighty Bright LUX Dome Chartreuse LED Desk Lamp - $79.99
6. Foldi LED Lamp - $62.06
7. Fatboy Edison the Petit - $79.15
8. Crate and Barrel Sterling Desk Lamp - $99.95
9. Satechi Smart LED Desk Lamp - $99.99
10. LumiSource Capello LED Table Lamp - $99.99
(Images: as linked above)


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This is a really great story featuring five fabulous freebies this weekend. What you'll find when clicking that link:
- 10 free song downloads from Amazon
- Free pizza rolls from Pizza Hut, wings at Checkers, sundaes at Ben & Jerry's or blizzards at Dairy Queen.
- Free after-rebate deals from Ace Hardware, including upholstery cleaner, adhesive caulk and a hand saw.(Previous video on OTE: we learn how to sealcoat a driveway from Garry Robinson, owner of Robinson's Ave Hardware in Guilderland.)
- Free Caribou Coffee.
- Other freebies like samples of Degree Men Absolute Protection, hand sanitizer Or how about free foaming hand sanitizer from Bath & Body Works and magazine subscriptions.


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Share the post "The Android Holo Colors Generator: Best Tool To Create UI Drawables"
The title says it all. Sure, not every one of us is good with Photoshop. Even I am limited to its basics. Most of the time I look for free PNG images of user interface controls or other images that I can use for my apps.
The Android Holo Colors Generator allows developers to easily create Android components such as EditText or Spinner with your own preferred colors for your Android app. It will generate all necessary nine patch assets plus associated XML drawables and styles which you can copy straight into your project.
It's that easy!
Simply select which widget you want to get resources for and it will create the images and XML files and package them in a ZIP file.
Visit the site through this link http://android-holo-colors.com.
If you are using IntelliJ or Android Studio for your Android development, this comes as a plugin so you can easily integrate and use it from within the IDE.


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Would you believe we've racked up 12 of these things? In a row? Among other things, this week Sasha, Ryan and I talk about Django Unchained, the bloodiest Christmas movie you're likely to see and we go over the controversy currently bubbling up around Zero Dark Thirty. By my watch, this one clocks in around 71 minutes. Check it out here or as always you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. If you're like me and don't use iTunes, you can use this RSS link to subscribe on whatever service you use.
Filed under: Podcasts


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"You will pay for the pain you put us through. The abuse and suffering we endured…"
Starscream woke with a start, having had yet another nightmare about that dreadful night when the mighty Megatron gave up his long desire to rule, and the night that he was brutally raped by Shockwave's dreadful children. The Seeker forced himself out of his berth, groaning at how stiff his joints felt, the age of the metal that made up his ancient body slowly catching up with him, it wasn't the pain in his body that got to him the most however, it was the scars in his mind and last night wasn't even the worst of the nightmares that had plagued him for so long. He thanked Primus that in the four million years after the war his nocturnal terrors have greatly reduced in intensity, he only had them every few cycles and now they rarely even woke him in the middle of the night so much as made him suffer until it was actually time for him to wake, although he was grateful for the sleep he often wondered what was worse, being woken by the nightmares or having to suffer through them.
The former Decepticon went through his usual morning routine; washed, refueled, anything to get his processor off of the previous night's terrible dream. He checked his mental calendar to see what today's boring agenda would be. Apparently today was the day he saw his new physician; since the last one had had neither experience nor knowledge of Seeker anatomy so he looked around and found one that had plenty of experience. He didn't know the name of his new medic, in his current mental state he was somewhat reluctant to go and meet with this new medic at all, but he'd have to sooner or later. He needed to see a physician often because of what the Predacons did to him, it permanently caused his interface array to static and spark occasionally, he'd also suffered some damage to his wings, but they had been able to fix that, but not his more serious injuries the problem was the more serious injuries he'd sustained required particular knowledge of the seeker body type; all of which caused him great stress, discomfort, and, worst of all, excruciating pain.
Once Starscream was done getting ready, he walked out of his house and transformed, getting to the clinic within no time; he was grateful it was right there in Vos. He transformed and walked in, signing in and sitting in the waiting room. He didn't notice the medic as he came out to check the list for the next patient and said, in a rather shocked voice, "Starscream?"
The Seeker looked up to see none other than Knock Out, ex-Decepticon medic, and ex comrade to the ex-SIC. Starscream stood up and stepped over to him. "Knock Out… It's been a long time…" He said, his voice somehow different to Knockout. It lacked that ego that Knockout was so used to hearing in it.
Knock Out nodded, a friendly smirk spread across his face, though he noticed how the Seeker didn't walk with the same confidence anymore. "Indeed it has Starscream, please, come this way." He motioned to a door and held it open for the Seeker. "So what has you coming to my quaint little clinic?"
Starscream sighed as he sat down on the med berth in the middle of the small office room. "It's a long story I'd rather not relive, so I'll give you the technicalities. My interface array is… damaged. My previous physicians have told me it is not fixable though. I need to see a physician every so often because it causes me great suffering in my life."
Knock Out didn't know how to take this information, it was shocking and slightly unsettling. "Starscream, if I'm going to treat you I need to know what happened." He said somewhat hesitantly.
Starscream was silent a moment before he sighed, looking away from the red medic. "I was raped by Predaking and his disciples. Four million years ago. That is what happened. Now, are you going to start your examination or not?" He snapped the last part, laying on his back.
Knock Out's optics widened at the information, but he shrugged off his surprise, putting on a professional air. "Okay. Let me have a look."
Starscream was hesitant, though he didn't know why. The medic had already seen his interfacing equipment before, both in professional situations and otherwise. The Seeker took a deep breath before spreading his legs wide and opening his panel with a click, and some effort.
Knock Out choked. This was the worst he'd ever seen the Seeker's panel, even after Starscream had had a rough fragging with the ex-warlord Megatron. Wires were ripped and exposed, sparking every once and a while. Knock Out wouldn't be surprised if there were dysfunctional sensory nodes inside his valve. The Seeker's anterior node wasn't there, looking as though it had been ripped off of the Seeker brutally.
"Well get on with it!" Starscream spat. He wanted to get this done and over with.
Knock Out cleared his vocals, and looked over at Starscream. "I'm just going to take a look around to see what I'm dealing with. If you feel any pain, just let me know" Knock Out waited for Starscream to nod his permission before placing a gentle, practiced servo over some exposed wires. The seeker hissed in pain, and Knock Out backed off from those wires. The medic continued with inspecting the outer folds of Starscream's valve. He hummed in approval when he didn't get any reaction. He looked back up at the Seeker. "Now, I'm going to take a look inside. Again, let me know if you feel any pain." With an expert servo, Knock Out took two digits and placed them tenderly over the first nodes. The medic jumped when the touch received him a blood-curdling scream. Knock Out quickly removed his digits, shushing the Seeker.
Starscream glared at him, tears flowing down his faceplates. "DON'T DO THAT!" He slid his panel shut and closed his legs. It hurt so badly. The Seeker offlined his optics, trying to ignore the searing hot pain inside him.
Knock Out looked at him with apologetic optics. "I'm sorry Starscream. I didn't know how badly you were damaged." He looked away, not able to look at the Seeker.
Starscream onlined his optics, looking up at the cherry-red medic. It was nice to see a familiar face after so long. A friendly face. While they had their differences, Knock Out had been the only one to ever let the Seeker rant and actually helped him feel better. He was an amazing physician, maybe he could make him feel better again? "F-Fix me, Knock Out… Please…"
Knock Out looked up at him again, promise in his optics and determination on his faceplates. The Seeker had been Knock Out's only ally, perhaps even friend, after Breakdown was offlined. Starscream had even promised him a place as his Second-In-Command when he plotted to overthrow Megatron. The red medic nodded, no hint of his usual ego or sass. "I will. I promise, Starscream."


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Bachelor of Computer Science
Honours Computer Science — Co–operative Program
Nipun Goel works as the BI Architect at RE/MAX INTEGRA.
Nipun graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Computer Science Co-op degree in April 2013. Before working as a BI Architect, he worked as:
Nipun is also the Co-Founder and President of GoEliteDesign, a Graphic and Web Designing / Developing company.
His experience of programming includes Python, PHP, Java, C, C++, Objective-C, and more.
During his spare time, he enjoys spending time with friends & family, watching Television, and working on development of small but helpful utility applications.
University of Waterloo
Bachelor of Computer Science
Honours Computer Science — Co–operative Program
Bramalea Secondary School
President of Computer Club, elected by fellow members
Head Prefect, elected by fellow members


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90 mins - 14.99 EUR
Have you ever wondered how much work goes into making a successful trample movie? Well a lot more than you might imagine and this movie will give you a unique insight into all the behind the scenes action. You will get to see the arrival of our models and hear all the natural chit chat that goes on, before shooting begins. Contracts have to be signed, storylines have to be discussed and our camera women needs to discuss the technical issues for filming.
The planned movie is going to be shot outside so we see the models, Carlo (Cucciolo) and the photographers collect their props and leave together in a couple of cars. For once what we see and hear is perfectly natural as this is all in fact real and not a story.
On arrival at the location the planning must begin as our staff instructs the models exactly what we wants them to do as the photographer works out how she is going to film it. A lot more planning goes into being beaten up by a bunch of sexy women than you might think!
Unfortunately after getting some of the movie filmed it starts to rain which causes big delays. This puts big pressure on everybody as this kind of thing can cause the time to spiral out of control .The crew wait patiently for the rain to stop.
Eventually after discussion it is decided that the best thing to do is to finish the movie back at the studio, so everybody heads back. The atmosphere has changed a little, it's frustrating all round but this kind of thing cannot be avoided. Back at the studio, Carlo discusses the changes to the storyline to make allowances for the sudden change and arrangements basically start again. The girls need to prepare themselves, they need to look their best possible for when filming begins again. It seems some of them like being filmed naturally and wave to the camera!
Technical issues are discussed as the models actually offer their own ideas to possible action in the production. Amandine and Fanny are quite experienced now and know exactly what kind of things Carlo will expect.
Sometimes the action doesn't go quite to plan though and we have to make a cut, however the girls can find their mistakes quite funny at times! Our photographer often contributes and instructs the girls where they are going wrong. Carlo has already briefed her the kind of action she should be capturing and the style in which to film it.
After a couple of cigarette and refreshment breaks, approximately 1 hour of usable tape has eventually been filmed and the shoot is over. We see the girls, a little tired now enjoying a cigarette and a chat as they get changed and leave. It's been a long, hard day but everything worked out well in the end.
And how did the movie turn out? Well here we get to see it after it has been edited down and put together.
Fanny, Amandine and Aurelia are relaxing in the country. Suddenly there is a lot of noise, it is their neighbour Cucciolo trying to get his car going.
Aurelia complains and tells him to keep the noise down but he just tells her go get lost and is very rude.
Now he decides to listen to some music and of course very loudly. This time Fanny comes to complain and again this countryman is very rude, just continuing to listen to his music. Fanny returns and tells the girls the situation. Right that is it, this guy will have to learn some manners and the hard way!
All 3 girls return and push this rude fellow to the ground, Fanny taking great pleasure in his head to the floor under her foot! Still this man doesn't submit to the girls and even starts throwing their towel around. That is the final straw, his last chance to apologize had been wasted now is the time to cause some pain!
Incredible head standing follows causing screams much louder than any car engine or stereo!! Those heels are wicked and they do some devilish work on his ribs too as the girls all contribute to his gradual destruction. Extreme action as the girls pound their weight into his ribs before also stepping onto his face at the same time! Amandine loves standing there, will she ever get off?
The massacre continues as Cucciolo ends up with heels on his nipples, cheeks and mouth! The girls take turns to dance on his chest and take great pleasure as he grovels at their feet. Exciting indeed!
The girls then decide it would be nice to finish him off back at their flat so take him back and push him to the floor. Amazingly all 3 at once climb on to him as 6 heavy heels penetrate his flesh. Even more amazing action follows as 2 girls at once, in heels then stand on his head!!!! Together with some more facestanding in shoes this movie is turning into one long highlight film!
Head crushing is always more exciting to watch when the heels penetrate the cheeks. No problem for our models to please you then as Amandine takes great pleasure in putting holes in his face. Fanny is equally evil as poor Cucciolo also ends up getting kicked and having his fingers crushed at the same time!
Acrobatic trampling and scratching now as Cucciolo supports the weight of Amandine in his mouth! Look at the state of his body, it looks like he's been attacked by a wild animal!
Barefoot action next as we see all 3 crush his chest at the same time and then all 3 crush his face and throat at the same time! These girls will do anything, it's hard to believe how evil they are to perform stunts this dangerous in their briefing! Triple head crushing just adds to this incredible sequence, with of course some classic facestanding.
d footworship now as Cucciolo has to lick the feet that destroy him!
Incredible double weight facestanding and kicking to finish him off. Cucciolo has taken another premier league beating by beautiful women and lived to tell the tale!
If you would like trample movies to be a part of your everyday life and not just a fantasy then this will be a real treat. For the first time you will meet the actual models as they really are and Carlo (aka Cucciolo) and feel a part of the REAL, not always so glamorous world of trample. Then to compliment it we then give you the chance to escape back into fantasy as we deliver another classic hard trample movie for your pleasure. Now that's got to be a good combination!


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Results 1 to 1 of 1
- Join Date
- Sep 2011
- Posts
- 5,182
I would love to promote football: Shah Rukh KhanFollow us on Social Media
Follow @iamdesirulez
Tweet #iamdesirulez
At an event yesterday the actor let it slip that his dreams of promoting football are still very much alive, even though the Dempo deal is off
There have been several reports about Shah Rukh Khan's plans to invest in the country's most successful football club, Dempo Sports Club. Despite the club's claims and several unofficial announcements, the deal never really materialised, with the club being "forced to look at other 'star' options", say reports.
But SRK, whose love for football has been stoked by his son Aryan's passion for the game, is still keen to engage with it.
TOI has learnt that Shah Rukh Khan is interested in getting a football league started, aimed at encouraging young players of the game. And if what he said at a press meet yesterday is anything to go by, he nurtures dreams of promoting the game in the way he has been doing cricket.
At the event, SRK said that during his recent trip to Dubai, he visited several indoor football venues and thought it would be great to get something like that started in India as well. "I will take the initiative..." he said, "We are the only nation of such a size without a good football team. I would love to do it (promote), in whatever capacity possible."
According to a source close to the actor, he intends to start brainstorming with his team soon. "Aryan is passionate about football, and is a huge fan of Manchester United. In fact, on December 31, 2012, SRK played football on the beach with his son and his friends all night. And it is only natural for him to do his bit as a father and a sports enthusiast," added the source.
However, when we got in touch with members of his team that looks into his sports investments, they said they had no knowledge about his football plans yet. And so the guessing game continues...


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Nearly three weeks after a Lawrence man was killed in a hit-and-run accident, a police investigation is continuing and there has been no arrest.
A day after 60-year-old Thomas Crum of Lawrence was killed in a two-vehicle accident, Lawrence police said they had a suspect identified. That identification was possible because of vehicle parts that were found at the scene with identification numbers on them.
Once police are through with their investigation it will be forwarded to the Douglas County District Attorney's office for review.
"The bulk of the report is completed, but we still have a couple of supplements to finish," police spokesman Sgt. Paul Fellers said.
Crum was killed early May 4 on Sixth Street east of Kasold Drive.
Copyright 2018 The Lawrence Journal-World. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. We strive to uphold our values for every story published.


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Not an open, or shut, case
Published 12:00 am, Monday, January 10, 2011
Gov. Andrew Cuomo campaigned on the importance of openness and transparency. But the first meetings of the two panels he created last week -- one dealing with finding Medicaid savings and the other to cut down on costs forced on local governments -- were closed to members only on Friday. And members weren't announced until after the meetings. Some members were surprised to learn they had become members.
Cuomo named the chairmen of the panels without explanation as to why. For instance, Cuomo named co-chairmen of the Medicaid panel: Dennis Rivera, a leader of the huge hospital union, SEIU, and Michael Dowling, president of North Shore LIJ Health system, suggesting a balance between labor and management representatives.
The issue of openness was discussed during the Medicaid panel's private, telephonic meeting, said Lara Kassel, coordinator of Medicaid Matters, the only consumer representative on the panel. Josh Vlasto said the sessions are not subject to the Open Meetings Law but that the meetings will be open from time to time.
"We have been told that the process is intended to be as open as possible to the whole public," said Kassel. "It would be extraordinarily difficult to engage in that process if it's a closed-door process."
Robert Freeman, director of the Committee on Open Government, agreed that the bodies created by executive order that do not produce binding recommendations may be free of the rules of open meetings, although that does not mean the groups cannot choose to let the public hear their proceedings. He said most groups don't take the opportunity to be open when they don't have to be.
Cuomo's commitment to openness went just so far with the Medicaid panel. In announcing its members in a news release Friday the governor's office didn't clearly state the special interests represented. For instance, Jeffrey Sachs, a consultant to numerous hospitals and health care institutions, was identified only as co-chair of the JFK Jr. Institute for Work Education at City University of New York.
You can't judge the governor's commitment to openness one week on the job, said Blair Horner, legislative director of the New York Public Interest Research Group. But he said it doesn't makes sense that the busy people named to the task force think they are simply offering advice. "The reason these people are on the panel is because they believe they will shape the governor's policies, and yet the meetings are closed under the view they won't have the authority to impact the governor's decision," he said.
The newly appointed and first-ever state Medicaid director, Jason Helgerson, who is being paid $156,000 a year, will serve as the team's executive director and the state budget director -- Cuomo has not named one --- will serve as a nonvoting member. Just three in-person meetings of the panel are planned before recommendations are due March 1 on how to pare a $50 billion public health insurance program.
Senate Dems seek pros
The Senate Democratic conference is interviewing for top aides, including chief counsel. Don't be surprised to see a return of Sylvia B. Hamer, the former Spitzer administration deputy who left the Second Floor for a post at the New York City OTB Corp. She may become chief of staff. Paul Rivera, a spokesman, said interviews are ongoing.
Reach James Odato at 454-5083 or email@example.com


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Creating (and editing) a feature request from here: http://drupal.org/node/1472634#comment-6198780
I've been wishing for an API that gets much closer to a real Hypermedia API. To this end, I think a significant step forward for RestWS would be to make considered use of hypermedia controls within a standard hypermedia format, like Collection+JSON.
Hypermedia controls would indicate to the client what transitions are available and what protocol semantics are supported.
Doing this allows you to change all manner of characteristics of the API without breaking client code, so long as clients actually are using the API correctly (looking at rel and not making assumptions about semantics and URL structure).
I'm not sure how this would be done... I think it would mean abstracting from entity metadata rather than simply pushing it forward. Entity metadata could be used to discover possible transitions from any given representation. The presence of RDF mappings on an entity could help with this.


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Toshiba brings versatile color with amazing speeds and an extremely small footprint with the new 407cs Series! Specifically designed with high-volume, high-speed printing in mind while also being amongst the most affordable of Toshiba's lineup, this machine will do everything you need it to do, and more!
e-Studio 407cs Series
Local Ownership
HiSpeed is not a branch office at the end of a corporate food chain. Local decision making and local advocacy for our clients are just a few of the advantages of working with a company whose ownership is local. HiSpeed is the only Alaskan owned, full service, manufacturer certified copier dealership on the Kenai Peninsula today.
Local Service
It is common practice in the document imaging business to provide only first line support in the outlying markets. Anything more technical than simple break fix requires a technician to be brought in from a larger market, usually Anchorage. HiSpeed trains its technicians in both xerographic (copier & printers) and connectivity (computers, servers, networks) technology. What this means to our clients is less down time, quicker responses, and less hassle for end users.
HiSpeed is more than a copier company. In the constantly evolving business technology field companies need a resource that can make all the different pieces of technology work together effectively. The network must be able to exchange information consistently, efficiently and most importantly accurately. Our service department works directly with manufacturer's technical staff to provide certified service and repair.


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Tools for extension
We accept Paypal for payment, Western Union and Bank transfer.
Customized order Information
We can customize any colors and lengths for you, the minimum quantity is 500 strands or 5 sets/color/length;If you want to make customized order, please contact us for more details;
Shipping Details
1:All the human hair from our websites will be sent by airmail free of charge to all the places throughout the world.
2:The buyers from following countries or regions:
Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines and Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Brunei, New Caledonia, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Switzerland, Portugal, Germany, Sweden, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Fiji, Vanuatu, United States, Canada.
if you can purchase 1000strands or more than 10 sets per time, we will deliver the goods to u by fast shipping EMS free of charge,taking 5-7 days to arrive at your place. for clients from other countries,if u also would like us to send ur goods by EMS or DHL or UPS, we will charge u with 50% discount from the shipping costs.
Return & Refund
Pls check the items after you get the parcel, if you are not satisfied with the items, pls don't use them and contact us for the returning, Notice: for the used or damaged items due to your reason, we won't accept the items returning;
Shipping charges are nonrefundable;
Contact Us
Our E-mail address: firstname.lastname@example.com
Tell us what you think about A Straight Plier and A Needle for Human Hair Extensions, share your opinion with other people. Please make sure that your review focus on A Straight Plier and A Needle for Human Hair Extensions. All the reviews are moderated and will be reviewed within two business days. Inappropriate reviews will not be posted.
Have any question or inquire for A Straight Plier and A Needle for Human Hair Extensions? Please contact Customer Service. (Our customer representative will get back shortly.)


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First CPU came as a big monster occupying the whole room, then it started shrinking. Then came iMac, Apple's Computer which had the CPU contained inside the monitor. And now what we have today is a CPU inside a keyboard. Exciting isn't it? Check out the pics after break
Wow! Awesome pics and hope it comes soon into the market.
Thanks for the Images, Fun And Fun Only


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JUST YOUR TYPICAL TEN-PIECE 70's, 80's, ROCK, POP, COUNTRY, MOTOWN, DANCE, JAZZ, BLUES, DISCO, FUNK COVER BAND.
Central Texas' Premier Party Band!!!
For over 17 years, The Elephants have been entertaining crowds and filling dance floors at parties, wedding receptions, corporate events, celebrations, conventions and fundraisers all over Texas. This versatile and diverse band does it all--70's, 80's, rock, pop, country, jazz, Motown, blues, funk, soul and disco. We've rocked venues in the Austin, Dallas, Waco, Ft. Worth, and Houston Areas and have opened for national acts like Motown legends, The Temptations and jazz heavyweights, Spyro Gyra.
We play fun cover songs that people love to dance to and sing along with. The Elephants will turn your next event into a BIG PARTY--it's what we do. LET'S GET THE PARTY STARTED!!!!!
This is the kind of stuff we play:
Earth Wind & Fire
James Brown
Tower of Power
The Commodores
Kool & The Gang
Tina Turner
The Blues Brothers
Huey Lewis and The News
Chaka Khan
Stevie Wonder
The Commitments
Joe Cocker
KC and The Sunshine Band
Wild Cherry
James Taylor
Michael Buble
Etta James
Neil Diamond
Merle Haggard
The Four Tops
Elton John
Otis Day & the Knights
Eric Clapton
Steve Winwood
ZZ Top
Bob Segar
Georgia Satellites
Bruno Mars
Bonnie Raitt
Tim McGraw
The Eagles
Rascal Flatts
Toby Keith
Jimmy Buffett
Rod Stewart
Gloria Gaynor
Pat Benetar
Michelle Branch
Brad Paisley
Sister Sledge
Gretchen Wilson
LeAnn Rimes
Miranda Lambert
Luke Bryan
Kenny Chesney
Blake Shelton
Martina McBride
George Strait
The Dixie Chicks
Bruce Springsteen
The Village People
Simon & Garfunkel
Wilson Pickett
Morris Day and The Time
Average White Band
Ides of March
Big Bad Voodoo Daddies
Billy Preston
Al Jarreau
The Beatles
The Eurythmics
The Busboys
The B-52's
Van Morrison
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Loggins & Messina
Katrina & The Waves
Peter Gabriel
Bobby Darin
The Temptations
Robert Palmer
Aretha Franklin
Norah Jones
The Escape Club
The Black Crows
Chris Young
J Geils Band
The Supremes
Amii Stewart
Lionel Richie
Let's get the party started!!!
MEDIA: Music, Videos and Such
Voted "Best Wedding Band" by
Wacoan Magazine.
"The band was a pleasure to work with on Temptations Concert and we would love to work with you guys on future shows.....your show was a perfect fit."
Clint Hancock, Icon Entertainment Group
"It was such a magical evening for everyone.....Thanks again for making this conference so memorable and successful"
Charlotte Wiscarson, Convention Services Manager & Texas Travel Counselors Conference Coordinator
".....you guys have one of the best bands I've ever heard."
Dewayne Wells, Program Manager and Radio Personality - Oldies 95 FM
"Elephants, besides having the best name ever, a great vocalist, and a really cool drummer, is a band that totally rocks-and swings-and cooks. Pretty much any verb you can use to praise a band can be used to describe them."
U Magazine
The sights and sounds of Elephants makes you feel 20 years younger.....transports you back in time to concerts you attended as a youth.....Awesome!!!
Lisa Jaska - Publisher, Central Texas Wedding & Party Ideas
......plenty of live musical muscle to handle songs from the likes of Chicago, Earth, Wind & Fire, KC and the Sunshine Band, Stevie Wonder, Huey Lewis and the News, Tower of Power......
Carl Hoover
Entertainment Editor, Waco Tribune-Herald
The Elephants were the perfect band for our perfect wedding. Lots of fun and highly recommended! The entire band puts on a great show!!! Buddy and the rest of the band are extremely professional and they definitely added to the magic of the evening.
Brook & Patrick, Bride & Groom
Austin TX Wedding Reception
I can't tell you how much our family enjoyed your band's performance at our daughter's wedding reception. It was fantastic!
I can't even believe now that we considered using bands from Dallas and Austin before hiring you guys, as our wedding guests from Dallas were blown away by your band as well. Simply put, we could not have been more pleased. Thanks again for helping make our wedding reception the huge success that it was.
Wes Bailey, Father of the Bride
Waco TX
. . . thank you all again for the great entertainment at the wedding reception last weekend in Dallas!! Y'all are great! Everyone of all ages loved dancing to your music and listening to their favorite songs! What a fun celebration! Thank you all for sharing your talent and fun!
Randy & Phyllis Patterson - Parents of the Groom
Dallas Wedding Reception
The Elephants were everything that we dreamed of for our wedding party last night. Everyone raved and still are talking about how we had the best band ever for the wedding. The special song that you helped Bryan work up to sing to me brought tears to everyone's eyes. It was a special memory for all but especially us. From the moment we contacted you, everything was fantastic. I have worked with many bands for events and you are at the top of the list.
Thank you, we are your new #1 fans and you have our highest recommendation.
Kim and Bryan Klimt
The Reviews Are In!!!
The Elephants have played some of the coolest venues in Texas and Louisiana, including: Ft. Worth Convention Center, Venetian Room at The Fairmont in Dallas, Phoenix Ballroom, Roosevelt Ballroom, Glass Cactus in Dallas, University of Texas in Austin, Baylor McLane Stadium, Regency Ballroom at The Fairmont, Waco Convention Center, Carleen Bright Arboretum, Cameron Park Zoo, Ridgewood Country Club, The Paladium, Earle Harrison Historic Home, Waco Hilton and many more.
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text:
One of the girls frowned and lowered her arm. Lettie studied the cluster of tender fawn legs, nubile breasts. "Keep those lips wet, ladies."
Involuntarily, she licked her own upper lip, then rubbed it against the lower as if she were spreading color between them. The teenage gaggle hesitated, their arms around each other's waists and shoulders. She cupped her hands over her mouth to reach them. "You hear me?"
Slowly, with the sullen obedience of the young, her charges wet their lips, then re-struck their poses. Overhead, sea gulls wheeled and screamed. It was not February yet, and the wind along the beach was cold, stinging. Shivering in pastel bikinis, the girls had clearly forgotten the excitement of their first modeling assignment. Spasms traveled through the group like waves, and every few minutes, someone broke formation to massage her calf, unfreeze her smile.
Perspiring under a sweatshirt, a platter-shaped sunhat tied around her neck, Lettie was just getting started. "Don't forget, ladies, our name is going to be right there on the back of the Cara Mia catalog." She worked her way behind the photographer, then stood with a hand on one massive hip. "Models from the Sparks School, that's what it's going to say. Tuck in your tummy, Doreen."
She bore down on the girls until the offending pelvis was tilted, then cocked her head to one side like a slit-eyed sparrow. "The Sparks name means something, you know."
It meant something in Wynette, Tennessee. It meant glamour and opportunity in a muddy town with one stoplight and a five-and-dime that still sold hairnets. It meant enough to keep the hopefuls coming to Lettie's pink storefront between the bank and Sheer Style hair salon. It gave her some standing in the community, a modest income, and the perennial joy of supervising troupe after troupe of awkward adolescents, their long legs, their redoubtable, acned faces all turned toward her like sunflowers facing east.
"This catalog may not be Spiegel's," Lettie told them now, "but it's going to homes all across the country. Carrying the name, Ladies. The Sparks name."
The girls held their poses, but they managed to roll their eyes, to send faint, barely perceptible messages of forbearance to each other. They had heard this speech before.
"Don't forget my sister was Miss Tennessee." Lettie relaxed into the litany, taking her time. "There hasn't been another to match Adelle Sparks since, not in our state or any other." She drew the words out, stretching them like taffy. "Course it was more than looks with Adelle, you know. She had the knack, this way of moving and smiling that just kind of washed over you till you couldn't look at nothing else."
"Time to wrap." The photographer, a dark, wiry man, folded his tripod with a snap, leaving a star-shaped track in the sand. "I've got another shoot," he told Lettie with authority. "Besides," nodding toward the girls, "they're getting too antsy to stand still."
"We haven't done the sports outfits, Phil." Lettie's chin quivered; she fingered a strand of limp hair that had fallen from under the sun hat.
"We'll do them tomorrow," the photographer said, hoisting the strap of one of his equipment cases over his shoulder. He sounded annoyed, and Lettie wondered if she should have called him Mr. Lambert instead of Phil. "But we're doing the cover tomorrow." She sidled up to him, spoke confidentially. "We're only here for two days. I don't want these young ladies to miss any more school than they have to." She shook her head.
"Besides, we booked our trip home in advance." Even out of season, Fort Lauderdale seemed exotic and costly. Mentally, she toted up the rooms, the burgers, the video games, the movie they'd begged for last night.
"No problem." Lambert waved to the girls, then without looking at Lettie, turned and began making his way toward the palm-fringed parking lot and his Toyota. "We'll get it all tomorrow." He pivoted and walked backwards for a minute, staring hard at Lettie. "Just settle them down a bit, okay?" His footprints, she noticed with something like regret, got lighter and lighter as if he were losing substance with each step.
The girls were relieved. Struggling into coverups and sweatshirts, they were no longer mannequins. Laughing, yelling, they had already started to follow the photographer. "Just where do you think you're going?" Lettie stood behind them, arms folded under her breasts. Her voice was strong again, her eyes narrowing to toughness. "We haven't chosen a Sparkette for the cover yet."
The girls stopped. Doreen, with the protruding stomach, turned back toward Lettie. She was thin, with ginger-colored eyes and an indefinite, too-small mouth. "Are we going to do that now?" she asked. "Right here?"
"What we got to do?" A stolid, sallow-skinned girl turned, too, and pushed her way ahead of Doreen. Sharon Watson had a hopeless overbite, limpid, swimmy eyes. "Can I go first?"
Lettie waited until the other two had filed back, until the girls surrounded her with their bare legs, their damp towels. She felt their eagerness, smelled their hope. A jogger and a black dog loped toward them, the first movement on the beach all morning, but no one turned to look. They were all holding their breath, rigid with anticipation.
"You're my best," Lettie told them. There was a fierce, almost threatening edge to her pride. "No better in the whole state of Tennessee. That's why you're here, why your mommas and your daddies have gone and paid your bus fare clear to Florida." Her voice shook with conviction, her half closed eyes took on a messianic shine.
"When you win the Lettie Sparks School of Modeling runway competition, Tara MacNeil, you know you've got something special." Lettie nodded toward a redhead, shorter than the others, who kicked the sand and whinnied with pleasure. "And when you're voted Miss Photogenic Sparkette for 1990, Wanda May Peterson, you can be sure you're going places." Wanda May smiled broadly at the rest, a hard relentless shining.
"Just like my sister, ladies. Why, if Adelle had lived, nobody would've been surprised to see her land that Miss America title. She was a natural winner, just like you all. Wasn't anything she ever tried, she didn't get."
Baby prizes, majorette contests, tap titles Adelle sweeping past her mother and sister, eyes glazed with pride, taffeta skirts rustling against gym floors, crown after crown perched like a sparkling bird on her blond hair. One time their mother had taken Lettie's hand impulsively, as if they were grownup friends. "Look at our baby, will you?" she'd shrieked, frightening Lettie with her intensity, her sudden tears. "Look at our beautiful baby!"
Lettie studied the faces around her, saw the picture at the back of their eyes, the picture of a cover girl, spinning like a tuft of milkweed down the runway, trailing glory. "And you, Doreen, you won that trophy and sported that cute little outfit when you were Miss Zesty for Barkley's Barbecue Sauce." Doreen, lean and calculating, nodded, remembering.
"The point I'm trying to make here is that you're all winners." Lettie paused, let them hear the wind, feel it tug at them like yearning. "But there's winners and there's winners." Her voice turned stern, imperious.
"There can only be one Sparkette on the cover of this here catalog. It's time to see if you got the knack."
"What knack?" Now that the shoot was over, Sharon had somehow found gum. (Was it an old wad retrieved from the pocket of her terry jacket? Was she chewing furiously now on Bubble Yum and cotton strands?)
"The knack Adelle had, of course," Lettie said. "The Sparks spark."
"But exactly how you going to choose?" Doreen was a cheerleader at Warren T. Bosco High. Lettie had seen the way she studied the gold-framed photos on the walls at the modeling school, the way she pored over the shots of Adelle, like she was taking notes. "What we got to do to get picked?"
"Just got to have looks the camera likes," Lettie told her, smiling, keeping the secret to herself. "Just got to look the way Adelle did when that movie producer saw her. Day before the accident, he come up to her, told her she should get tested."
"We going to get tested, then?" Sharon stopped chewing, held Lettie for a second in the sway of her determination. "I'm going first." Sharon always went first.
Lettie shook her off like water. "Walked right up to Adelle in the street, this Hollywood bigwig." She stooped to fumble through the makeup case, took out a jar of Vaseline. "Said he wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't just right for one of his pictures." The flesh under her arms trembled as she rubbed the Vaseline on each girl's face in turn.
"Picture perfect," she said. "That's what he called her. And that's what she was."
The girls stood still again, letting Lettie smear their noses, lips, eyelids. "Now, ladies," she told them, "our cover girl is going to be wet all over, cause everyone looks better wet." She finished the last nose, then started on their forearms. "I want each and every one of you to dunk yourselves in that water there and show me what a good time you're having in your Cara Mia swim suit."
No one wanted to go in. They walked forward, slowly, mechanically toward the waves, but stopped about two feet short as if they'd hit an invisible barrier, some line of common sense they could not cross. Even Sharon hesitated, raking the wet sand with her toes, her greased arms wrapped around her torso. "It's colder than a witch's tit," she said softly.
"Don't want to hear no mouth, either, ladies." Lettie adjusted her hat, the brim of which has turned inside out and was threatening to lift off her head like an inverted umbrella in the wind. "Just got to get in up to your waists, anyway. I don't know what all the fuss is about."
"I'm drowning! I'm drowning!" Sharon had finally plunged ahead of the others. In the water up to her knees, she was not drowning at all. She was holding her nose and dancing, turning in manic circles, her terrier hair turned the color of caramel in the sun.
"Now, see there." Lettie closed the makeup case and sat down beside it in the sand. "Nothing to it. Right, Sharon?" Doreen and Tara waded in reluctantly, then began to squeal with self-conscious delight at their own agony.
"Ooooooh! I can't stand this." "Get me out of here!" "Turn on the hot water, will you?!" Laughing, Tara lifted her wax-coated arms and face to the sun, her russet hair ignited. Doreen scooped the water with her hands, then surrendered suddenly, sitting as if for tea in the middle of a wave. Now all three girls made a game of daring the water, ducking low, then bursting up again, baby Venuses, born over and over.
"Do I have to go in, Miss Sparks? I've got cramps." Wanda May had walked up behind Lettie, was whining in her ear. " 'Sides, I hate the water."
Lettie was annoyed. "Besides nothing. That's the whole story, isn't it?"
She had heard the confidence under Wanda May's whine, the assurance of a spoiled child.
"Pleassssssse." Wanda May pursed her lips, her eyes deep as sapphires.
"Don't make me."
"Make you?" Lettie looked away from the burning eyes, the eyes that always got what they wanted. "I'm not going to make you, child. You're going to make yourself if you want that cover."
She brushed sand from the valley of her lap and turned to watch the rest of her nymphets. They were sitting on each other's shoulders now, wobbling perilously, then collapsing with hysterical yelps back into the sea. "Don't they look great out there?" she asked no one in particular. "Don't they look just great?"
Before she turned back, Wanda May was gone. Her whole body rigid with resentment, Lettie's star pupil marched into the sea. Disdainfully, without stopping, she waded out to her waist, then beyond. "That's far enough!" Lettie called to her and Wanda May stopped. She turned, ducked her head under the water, and when she came up, her blond hair was dark, her skin glistening. She ducked again, reappeared again, this time smiling in triumph. She raised her hands above her head, opened her arms wide.
Wanda May was a magnet now. Lettie watched her and no one else. Even though she knew the girl could not be enjoying herself, could not have metamorphosed so quickly from the sullen, angry teen who one minute ago had stomped down the damp slope of beach, she watched. Wanda May was a water sprite, the sea's avatar. Her smile was liquid, flashing, her body a shining mystery, and her beauty a flag that unfurled and fluttered in the wind.
And then she vanished. It was as if she'd been pulled down by the ankles, sucked under the white-headed wave. Lettie heard her scream, a harsh barking sound, then she saw the others jumping in place, calling to the tiny figure that flapped its arms and whirled in a crazy diagonal toward the dark, toothsome jetty that split the beach and sea.
"Wanda May!" Lettie was on her feet, stumbling, yelling. "Wanda May!" It was too early for lifeguards. There was no one, the whole length of the beach. "Wanda May!"
The other girls were reaching their hands out, waving them like useless lilies toward Wanda May. Tugged and pulled and wrenched, Wanda May screamed and flailed, drawing closer all the time to the crusty logs, the finger of rocks pointing into the sea. Still the girls stood, waving in helpless pantomime.
But then Sharon Watson turned. She looked once at Lettie, her colorless eyes lit with sudden purpose. She waded out until she could no longer touch bottom, then swam with rapid strokes toward Wanda May. Lettie clutched her huge, lineless hands together, ran along the shore. "Ladies, not over your waist. Didn't I say not over your waist?"
The man swam with powerful, even strokes, the dog paddling like a comic sidekick behind him. Until they were all bobbing in the water near the jetty the man, the dog and the two floundering girls bound together like twins. "Didn't I tell you?" Lettie asked no one, tears blowing back against her face.
The man wrapped an arm around Wanda May's neck, forcing her chin up toward the bright sky. Then he swam on his back, dragging Wanda May with him toward shore. Sharon swam beside them, her hand lost in the dog's black fur, riding him like a dolphin. As the four of them dragged themselves out of the water, Lettie saw that the top of Wanda May's bathing suit had fallen off one breast and that her legs had been cut by the fierce edges of barnacles. Sharon could walk, but the man carried Wanda May like a rag doll, laid her down in the sand. He stood over her, water dripping off his big square face, his shoulders heaving. Lettie ran to them, put a towel around Sharon, then knelt beside Wanda May.
Fringed with long, sand-covered lashes, Wanda May's eyes were hollow with fear, her arms and legs streamed blood and her small white breast was a fact so sad and poignant, so perfect that it overwhelmed them all. Lettie reached down and pulled up the strap of her bathing suit and covered her with a second towel. The cuts were scratches, the man said, nothing serious, but when the towel touched them, Wanda May shuddered and pulled back. Like a rosebud in the wind, Lettie thought. Like Adelle's body under the blue sedan.
The Labrador shook himself, sending water and tiny sand rockets toward the girls. They laughed and petted him, talking nervously, watching Wanda May from a distance. The man who had rescued her smiled down at her upturned prettiness. "You gave us a scare there, young lady," he told her, hands on his hips. "Your throat might be sore for a few days from all that salt. But otherwise you should be just fine."
Wanda May pulled into her towel, blinked at him. For a few seconds, she seemed not to know where she was. Then she focused, blinked again, and an incredible, photogenic smile broadened across her face. It was the same smile she had worn in the waves before she fell. It was the same smile she wore in every photo in her portfolio. "I sure am glad you came along," she said.
"So am I." Lettie reached over, touched the man's arm with her hand. "I hate to think what might have happened if you hadn't been here." He stood now, and Lettie stood with him. "These young ladies and I are all by ourselves." Her voice sounded coquettish, tinny. "Why, I can't even do the dead man's float!" She giggled and looked at him, but he looked away, watching the girls and the dog. Then he whistled. "Come on, Archer," he called. "Come on, boy."
When they got back to the Cozee Motel, the sun was high overhead and the day was beginning to warm up. Instead of dancing agitatedly the way the palms at the beach had done, the trees here were rustling like straw, waving to each other without passion across the stucco courtyard. Two little boys by the half-filled pool, were playing with a salamander in a glass jar.
"When will you tell us?" On the ride back, Sharon had gloried in her part of the rescue. The girls were fussing over her, and Lettie saw how giddy she was, how swollen with accomplishment. "Who got the cover, Miss Sparks?"
Lettie was standing by room 108 with her key in her hand, watching the children with the salamander. They were squatting on their heels studying the little lizard's frantic attempts to scale the glass walls of the jar.
"Well," she said, "I guess now's as good a time as any to make the announcement."
Every year, they came to her on the sly. The mothers betting on their daughters. Doreen's mother made Lettie cakes, dark and damp inside their plastic wrap, filled with dried fruit and macadamia nuts; Sylvia MacNeil, a red-head like her daughter, sewed draperies for the school's front window; Flo Watson brought Lettie a diamond-shaped bottle of White Shoulders every Christmas; Cynthia Peterson sent her cards and candy. They wanted their girls to model in the school fashion show, to get their names in the Wynette Whisper. They wanted, finally, a ticket out.
"Get over here, you all," Sharon shrieked. "Miss Sparks has made up her mind!" There was an animal scurrying and shuffling, then they were all around Lettie, waiting. It was suddenly quiet, except for the laughter of the two small boys who had decided to set the salamander's bottle adrift in the pool.
"Now, this wasn't easy, mind you." Lettie looked from one to the other, let her earnestness travel around the ring of bright faces. "I told you before you're all winners and it's not easy to choose between winners." The four girls were tense, bent forward toward her from their waists. Sharon's eyes were closed and she was smiling, as if she were tasting something sweet.
Wanda May's face was set and stiff, empty of feeling. The little boys shrieked, but no one looked up. They focused on Lettie's perspiring, florid face.
"What I looked for today when you all were in the water," she told them, "what I looked for was the knack. And what I saw was that Wanda May here has it." There was a stunned time, the wake of surprise that follows decision. In the silence, the boys dropped the jar against the tile edge of the pool. "Wanda May!" Sharon's plain face turned fierce and wounded, touched on a scar. "But I'm the best swimmer here. I helped save Wanda May."
The rest of the girls were reconciled, congratulating Wanda May half-heartedly, anxious to get out of their wet clothes, thinking of lunch. But Sharon was a fury. Implacable. "Wanda May was the last one in. She can't even swim." Wanda May was already posing for the cover. Her smile, glistening and even, was focused on Lettie. "Thanks, Miss Sparks," she said. "I'll do my best. My very, very best."
"It's not fair!" Savage with the loss of a sure thing, Sharon closed in on Lettie. The others stood back from her now, keeping their distance, while she glared at Lettie, her eyes moist and ripe, spilling over at the edges. "I wanted it more than she did."
Lettie turned away to inspect her cover girl. "We'll keep you right in close to shore, Wanda May. And we'll turn you so those scratches on your arm don't show." Wanda May, remembering her injuries, looked down at her right arm; her lips parted, her mouth sucked into a delicate, indignant O. Just like Adelle, Lettie thought. And for one numb, unbalanced second, it was as if there had been no accident. As if Adelle had never darted, fragile and arrogant, into the path of that car.
"Wanda May doesn't even care!" Sharon was crying openly now, her whole face blotched with fervor, raw and runny like something torn from a shell. "She wins everything." Her voice was husky, outraged. "Oh, I know what you're going to say," she told Lettie and the girls. "You're all going to say, 'That's okay, Sharon, next time, Sharon.' Like you always do."
"And we'll need to wrap some kind of ribbon in your hair." Lettie was studying Wanda May, one chubby hand under her chin. "Turquoise maybe, to pick up that stripe in the swimsuit."
"Next time's no good!" Sharon was sobbing in between the words, choking on them. The others watched her stupefied, as if she were someone in a movie, someone they couldn't help. "I wanted to win," she barked, finding new force, yelling so Lettie had to hear. "I wanted it more than anything!"
Lettie turned to her slowly now, as if it hurt to take her eyes off Wanda May. She saw the new sunburn on Sharon's freckles. She saw a ragged tear track leading down to the girl's mouth, like a river on a map going back to the sea. "Wanting's not enough, Sharon," she said without anger or compassion. "Wanting's not the half."
Louise Hawes is the author of the 1999 novel for young adults Rosey In The Present Tense. Her short fiction has appeared in anthologies and journals in the U.S. and Canada. She lives in Pittsboro, North Carolina.
Copyright � The Southerner 1999-2000. ISSN: 1527-3075


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Thursday, February 20, 2014
New Quilt Project, Ragged Hearts
I changed over to feedburner today. If you have any problem with links or your reader, please let me know.
Linking to New Beginnings - February at California Dreamin'
11 comments:
I love hearts and these are really neat. This is going to be a lovely piece when you are done.ReplyDelete
Have fun ~ FlowerLadyReplies
I hope so. I also hope I actually finish this one. lolDelete
I twill be perfect for next year's Valentine's Day :)ReplyDelete
Very nice. Are you going to use the blocks for a wall hanging or quilt?ReplyDeleteReplies
I'm going to make a table runner I think. I'll piece a few blocks together and see how it looks.Delete
The hearts are great! What's your plan with them?ReplyDelete
love your stacked hearts~! i'm wondering how you will be finishing them up . . .ReplyDelete
it must be a nice reprieve to be able to stitch a bit between coats of drywall. sounds like things with the house are getting to the finishing stage. exciting~!
I'm going to try for a table runner. The house, oh boy. There are parts that are in the finishing stages, but other rooms where we just stopped working for awhile.Delete
Very pretty hearts. They remind me of Valentine's Day candies.ReplyDeleteReplies
You know, you're right. I was thinking they were too sweet and pink for my décor, and now I know why. But for Valentine's, I think they'll be fun.Delete
it is going to be wonderful in the end! :)ReplyDelete
Your comments make my day, and I look forward to visiting your blog too if I can find your blog on your profile. Posts with links will not be posted. No word verification here to make commenting easier.


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Fiji Time: 5:17 PM on Wednesday 21 February
/ Front page / News
Torika Tokalau
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
THE Pacific will now have enough qualified technical trainers and technicians to install, maintain and operate solar photovoltaic systems.
Yesterday, 14 participants from around the region began a three-week week Vocational Training and Education for Clean Energy (VOCTEC) program at USP.
"In the Pacific we have international donors that have installed the solar photovoltaic systems but it's not looked after well simply because there isn't enough trained people," USP's School of Engineering and Physics head Atul Raturi said.
"This all helps improve the sustainability of renewable energy investments and infrastructure by increasing the regional capacity of qualified technical trainers and technicians to install, operate, and troubleshoot off-grid solar photovoltaic systems."
The program which is funded by USAID is in partnership with USP and the Arizona State University.
The program was launched in July 2012 and will continue for five years.
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