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There's something wonderful about autumn, the crispness in the air, the brilliant colours on the trees, and for me, the vibrant colours at the local vegetable market. Switching to the comfort foods of roasted veggies, soups, stews and chilis has a wonderful warming effect. Here's what inspired me at the market this week…
I'm a fan of squash in all shapes and sizes. Butternut is excellent mashed with butter or cubed, roasted and tossed in a salad. Spaghetti squash is versatile as well. I often use it in place of pasta smothered in a hearty tomato meat sauce with added broccoli florettes and shredded zucchini, which is a great way to sneak in additional vegetables without the family being any the wiser.
If you're like me you spent most of your life thinking a pumpkin was something you carved and then tossed when Halloween was over. In the past few years, however, I have discovered the joy of eating pumpkin so carving it up to leave on the doorsteps seems such a waste. Baking is a no brainer, from muffins to loaves to pie, but I've also found it's a wonderful addition to soup. It acts as a thickener, giving it a heartier feel without having to add cream or flour. And because it's pureed, it's also a "hidden" vegetable you can sneak past the veggie-phobes. I've added it to stews and chilis as well and its mild flavour just blends right in.
Kale. Aaaaah, kale. One of the longest growing greens because it's so impervious to the cooling weather, kale is delicious in the fall, even when the tender stalks suitable for salad have given way to crunchier leaves. Steamed, stir fried or, you guessed it, added to soup, chilis or stew, autumn kale loses it's tougher texture without losing all the vitamin goodness it offers.
I love experimenting with food and this is my next adventure, raw fermented sauerkraut made with savoy cabbage. I might even try kimchi, too. Cabbage is highly underrated as a vegetable. Did you know it has scads of Vitamin C?! It's also high in fibre which seems surprising when you compare it to bran–they have nothing like the same texture. (Ok, it has WAY less fibre than bran, but still.) Prettier than it's more commonly known cousin, the cannonball cabbage, savoy cabbage has a mild, earthy flavour. Steam it up it with some butter or sauté lightly in a stir fry and feel the goodness warming you from the inside. Oh yeah.
Be sure to check out your own local market for all of the autumn harvest comfort foods available and don't be afraid to try something you've never tried before. You might just discover as I did with pumpkin, it's delicious as well as attractive.


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Agricultural and Food Scientist
What is this job like?
What is this job like? Back to Top How can farms use less labor? Control pests and weeds? Conserve soil and water? Do all of the above, yet still grow more food? Agricultural and food scientists look for the answers to these kinds of questions. They solve problems in agriculture and food production. Agricultural and food scientists study farm crops and animals. They use the principles of biology, chemistry, and other sciences. They find new ways of making crops into food. Many work in research and development. They may work for businesses, individuals, or the government.
Food scientists and technologists work in the food processing industry. Some work in universities and some work in government. They try to create food products that are healthful, safe, tasty, and easy to use. They find better ways to preserve, process, package, store, and deliver foods. Some food scientists discover new foods. Others analyze foods to see how much fat, sugar, or protein is in them. Others search for better food additives.
Plant scientists study plants. They can specialize in agronomy, which is a branch of science that deals with the production of field crops. Some work in plant breeding. Others work in entomology (the study of insects). Agronomists and crop scientists help farmers grow more food for more people while preserving our natural resources. They look for ways to improve the nutrition in foods. They also work on making better seeds and ways to remove pests.
Soil scientists study what is in soils. They study how soils help plants grow. They see how things like fertilizer can improve soils. Many soil scientists conduct soil surveys. They classify and map soils. Some provide information and advice to farmers. They help farmers make the best use of their land.
Animal scientists work to develop better ways of making meat, poultry, eggs, and milk. Some animal scientists inspect and grade food products. Animal scientists also work as extension agents or consultants. They advise farmers and ranchers on how to best raise the most livestock.
Some agricultural scientists work regular hours in offices. Some work in labs. Food scientists may work in test kitchens. Animal scientists may spend part of their time outdoors. Soil and crop scientists also spend time outdoors. They might do work at farms or agricultural research stations. Entomologists work in laboratories. They also may spend time studying bugs outdoors.
How do you get ready?
A bachelor's degree in agricultural science is all that is needed for some jobs, but a master's or doctoral degree is required to do basic research. A Ph.D. in agricultural science is needed for college teaching.
All States have a land-grant college that offers agricultural science degrees. Many other colleges and universities also offer agricultural science degrees or some agricultural science courses.
Students who want to work as animal scientists might study animal breeding, reproductive physiology, nutrition and meats, and muscle biology in college.
Students preparing for food-scientist careers should take college courses in food chemistry, food analysis, and food microbiology. Studying food engineering and food processing operations is also useful.
Those studying to be crop or soil scientists might take courses in plant pathology, soil chemistry, and entomology. Plant physiology and biochemistry, among others, are also of value.
Most agricultural and food scientists also need a basic understanding of business. Being able to use basic statistical techniques is also a plus. More employers want to hire workers with good computer skills.

subset: commoncrawl


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Great way to help you raise money
A mishloach manot fundraiser is a great way to help you raise money, and utilizing HappyPurim.com's proven system, it can be fun too!
The mitzvah of giving mishloach manot, or Purim baskets (also called shalach manot or shlach monos), dates to the story of Purim.The Book of Esther (9:22) instructs us in the "sending of portions of food to one another" on Purim. Many Jewish organizations have turned this practice into a wonderful fundraiser, where they charge a small fee per recipient to send mishloach manot to their members.
Using HappyPurim.com, members pay their organization to collectively deliver shalach manos on their behalf to other members. The synagogue or school charges a fee, typically $3-$6 per recipient selected by each member. Only one basket of food is sent to every member who was selected, along with a list of the names of the people sending to that person. In other words, if 10 people decide to send to you, you will receive one basket, along with a list of the 10 names.
These profitable fundraisers also provide a service for your members. By distributing mishloach manot on behalf of your members, you'll be helping them out—doing something for them that they may not have time to do on their own and, often, at a more affordable cost than what they could put together on their own.
Purim projects are also great community-builders A great way to promote interaction between your members, and make new members feel welcome. HappyPurim.com can help make this happen.
For example, if you charge $5 per name, and 10 people send to each of your members, you'll gross $50 per basket. If you have 400 members, and each member receives from 10 people at $5 per name, that would mean a total of $20,000 raised, less our nominal fee and the cost of baskets, if they are not donated to you!
Contact us to see a demo of our Mishloach Manot fundraising program. Please call 201-477-8746 or email support @ happypurim.com to learn more about running a Purim Basket fundraiser for your Jewish organization.
We look forward to serving you.
© 2018 HappyPurim LLC All Rights Reserved


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HO HO HO! It's DAY FIVE of Santa Jilly's 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways and today is the perfect giveaway as we head into a new year … I mean, you know what they say right?! New Year, New You?! Well, how about we expand on that and go with: New Year, New You, New WARDROBE?!?!
Are you just as eager to find out what today's prize is as I am to TELL YOU what it is?!?! If that's the case, then let's cut to the chase and get right to it … shall we??
On the fifth day of Christmas Santa Jilly and her elves are gifting to youuuuu … a $500 SHOPPING SPREE to Aritzia for FIVE WINNERS courtesy of Aritzia!!!
How AMAZING is that?! You guys, Aritzia has always been one of my favourite places to shop, especially when I lived in Vancouver! I love their clothing as I can always find something that is not only timeless but also trendy, classy and downright CUTE!!! The best part about this giveaway is the fact that 5 of you lovely people will get a $500 gift card EACH!! How's that for an early Christmas treat?!
A Mini Wardrobe Overhaul courtesy of Aritzia!
This incredible prize includes a $500 shopping spree at Aritzia for 5 lucky winners!
Total Approximate Giveaway Value: $2500 CAD
- See the Rafflecopter box below? I know it isn't the prettiest thing in the world but it is the way we keep our giveaways legal.
- First, log in using either your e-mail address or with your Facebook Account. Make sure that both are active as this is our only way of contacting you to let you know if you've won!
- After you have logged into Rafflecopter you will find today's giveaway. Below the photo of what we are giving away, you will find prompts on how to enter (example: "Visit and Like Brand on Twitter")
- Click on the prompt and once you click the entry requirement your entry will be logged.
- All of our giveaways run for the duration of the 12 Days and winners will be announced on December 17th in this post within the Rafflecopter box below.
- Each giveaway will be considered its own separate giveaway, so make sure you enter and follow all official giveaway guidelines for each one during Jilly's 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways.
- All winners will be contacted via e-mail
- All official giveaway rules can be found here.
Questions? Confused? For a complete list of 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway FAQ's, click here!
a Rafflecopter giveawayAre you loving this year's 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways JUST as much as I am?! Let me know what you think of everything so far in the comments section below! Don't forget, you have until Sunday, December 16th at 11:59 PM PST to get all of your entries in for ALL 12 Days (enter here!) so make sure to get those in before the cutoff. We will be announcing ALL of the winners on Monday, December 17th!
I'll see YOU back here tomorrow as I'll be sharing the amazing details of DAY SIX with you!
Santa Jilly
Thank you Aritzia for sponsoring this post. All comments and opinions are my own.


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G1 Coated Tom Batter
Evans™ G1™ series features a single ply of 10mil film blending a bright tone, sustain and sensitivity. The head sets the standard for an open and expressive sound. Tuned low, it produces a cavernous rumble that emphasizes the natural sound of the shell. The coated version delivers additional warmth, focus, and depth.


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Back by popular demand we're again sharing a story from someone involved in FreeBSD with our Faces of FreeBSD series. It may be a story from someone who's received funding from us to work on development projects, run conferences, travel to conferences, or advocate for FreeBSD. Or, it may be from someone who gives back to FreeBSD financially or in another way. But, it is always from someone who is making a positive difference in the FreeBSD world.
Here's a chance to get to know your fellow FreeBSD enthusiast. Sit back and enjoy the first 2015 Faces of FreeBSD story.
Allan's Story
My name is Allan Jude. I am 31 years old, from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and have been a professional FreeBSD sysadmin for 13 years. My day job is running a medium sized video streaming company that I founded with one of my professors after College. This allows me to use FreeBSD (over 100 servers spread across the globe at 38 different sites in 11 countries) and ZFS (over 1000 TB worth of storage) every day, which makes it easy to find ways to contribute back to those projects.
In my theoretical free time, I enjoy reading action/thrillers novels like Tom Clancy, Larry Bond, and Mark Russinovich, baking, and skiing.
How did you learn about FreeBSD and/or when were you first exposed to it?
When I first got on the Internet at home in 1998, one of the first things I really got into was IRC (Internet Relay Chat). After doing that for a while, I got curious about how the server side of it worked, so I downloaded the server software. Being a Windows user at the time, I was confused by the lack of a .exe file in the archive I had downloaded. After some asking around, I was told I would need a "shell account" to be able to run this software, because it was for "UNIX", not Windows.
I proceeded to search around and find a Canadian shell provider. Once I got my account, I successfully logged into a FreeBSD machine for the first time. I had a lot to learn, but there were resources and manual pages. Over the next few years I gained more and more understanding about how TCP/IP, IRC, and FreeBSD worked. It was around this time that the shell provider I was using went out of business. I decided I could do better, and in 2002 bought my first server and installed FreeBSD 4.5 on it. That was the beginning of my career as a professional FreeBSD sysadmin.
What is your involvement in FreeBSD?
For years I was just a quiet user of FreeBSD. In 2004, some of my college courses covered FreeBSD and NetBSD, so I learned a bit more about them. Later, in 2008, I returned to the college and taught those same courses, most revolving around networking and system administration.
Then everything changed. I attended my first conference, BSDCan 2012. Being at an event like that, surrounded by like minded people, having endless discussions you just could not have anywhere else, was the most exhilarating thing I had ever done. Getting to share some of my stories, and hear those of the other attendees was very rewarding. I left the conference very excited to get more involved in the Project, and with definite plans to return the next year, and maybe even give a talk. By the end of the trip home, I had decided that I would submit a talk for next year, then quickly changed my mind. Why wait for next year, so I submitted my proposal to EuroBSDCon 2012 in Warsaw, Poland. The talk was accepted, and I made my first international trip. Since then, I have attended every conference I could manage to get to.
In 2013, Kris Moore and I started a weekly video podcast, BSDNow.tv, where we discuss the latest news from the BSD family of operating systems and related projects, and interview developers and other community members. This has been one of the most rewarding things I have done, as we get many thank you letters from people all throughout the community, and get new people to join the community. It was a bit strange when suddenly everyone at the conferences knew who I was.
The next year, I started working on documentation for ZFS, and contributed that to the FreeBSD Handbook. This, and other work, resulted in me being granted a documentation "commit bit" at BSDCan 2014, making me officially a member of the Project. Not much more than a year later, my continued work on the installer, universal config files, and various other bits of the OS were rewarded with a src commit bit as well.
This spring, I also co-wrote "FreeBSD Mastery: ZFS" with Michael W. Lucas, who is well known for his line of high quality technical books. It is available in e-book and printed versions from ZFSBook.com. We are currently working on the follow-on: "FreeBSD Mastery: Advanced ZFS".
Why do you like FreeBSD?
There are a great many reasons, but the foremost is the community. There is no better group of people I could choose to spend my free time with. The other flagship part of the Project is the documentation. When I was getting started, being able to work through a section of the FreeBSD Handbook and end up with a working system that I actually understood was key. So it was important to me to make sure the handbook covered the newer parts of FreeBSD, like the ZFS file system and bhyve, the new hypervisor.
From a more practical standpoint, my initial usage of FreeBSD was because of its security and stability, which were what was needed most to run a shell provider. In recent years, my needs have changed, but FreeBSD has kept up. Containers (in the form of Jails) have been making my life easier for more than 8 years now. We deploy all of our applications in jails, which in additional to the obvious security benefits, makes it very easy to shuffle the applications between servers as needed. One of the other important things has been the ABI stability. We can run a version of FreeBSD, and know that for 5 years, things will not change out from under us.
My company makes use of a mix of FreeBSD releases, and the development branch. We would like to give a special thank you to the entire release engineering team for their work to get the releases out on time, and for the new release schedule that will get the new features into our hands faster.
Anything else you'd like to add about FreeBSD or the Foundation?
Supporting the Foundation is important, not just to keep the Project going, but to show the rest of the world that there is a thriving community behind the Project. This makes potential new users of FreeBSD, be they users or corporations, more assured of the longevity and diversity of the Project.


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Nobody writes the literature for a pride, it borns from the character, also it satisfies the needs
of nation...
Akhmet Baitursynuly
Pushkin Aleksandr
Aleksandr Pushkin, (born May 26 [June 6, New Style], 1799, Moscow, Russia—died January 29 [February 10], 1837, St. Petersburg), Russian poet, novelist, dramatist, and short-story writer; he has often been considered his country's greatest poet and the founder of modern Russian literature.
Pushkin's father came of an old boyar family; his mother was a granddaughter of Abram Hannibal, who, according to family tradition, was an Abyssinian princeling bought as a slave at Constantinople (Istanbul) and adopted by Peter the Great, whose comrade in arms he became. Pushkin immortalized him in an unfinished historical novel, Arap Petra Velikogo (1827; The Negro of Peter the Great). Like many aristocratic families in early 19th-century Russia, Pushkin's parents adopted French culture, and he and his brother and sister learned to talk and to read in French. They were left much to the care of their maternal grandmother, who told Aleksandr, especially, stories of his ancestors in Russian. From Arina Rodionovna Yakovleva, his old nurse, a freed serf (immortalized as Tatyana's nurse in Yevgeny Onegin), he heard Russian folktales. During summers at his grandmother's estate near Moscow he talked to the peasants and spent hours alone, living in the dream world of a precocious, imaginative child. He read widely in his father's library and gained stimulus from the literary guests who came to the house.
In 1811 Pushkin entered the newly founded Imperial Lyceum at Tsarskoye Selo (later renamed Pushkin) and while there began his literary career with the publication (1814, in Vestnik Evropy, "The Messenger of Europe") of his verse epistle "To My Friend, the Poet." In his early verse, he followed the style of his older contemporaries, the Romantic poets K.N. Batyushkov and V.A. Zhukovsky, and of the French 17th- and 18th-century poets, especially the Vicomte de Parny.
While at the Lyceum he also began his first completed major work, the romantic poem Ruslan i Lyudmila (1820; Ruslan and Ludmila), written in the style of the narrative poems of Ludovico Ariosto and Voltaire but with an old Russian setting and making use of Russian folklore. Ruslan, modeled on the traditional Russian epic hero, encounters various adventures before rescuing his bride, Ludmila, daughter of Vladimir, grand prince of Kiev, who, on her wedding night, has been kidnapped by the evil magician Chernomor. The poem flouted accepted rules and genres and was violently attacked by both of the established literary schools of the day, Classicism and Sentimentalism. It brought Pushkin fame, however, and Zhukovsky presented his portrait to the poet with the inscription "To the victorious pupil from the defeated master."
In 1817 Pushkin accepted a post in the foreign office at St. Petersburg, where he was elected to Arzamás, an exclusive literary circle founded by his uncle's friends. Pushkin also joined the Green Lamp association, which, though founded (in 1818) for discussion of literature and history, became a clandestine branch of a secret society, the Union of Welfare. In his political verses and epigrams, widely circulated in manuscript, he made himself the spokesman for the ideas and aspirations of those who were to take part in the Decembrist rising of 1825, the unsuccessful culmination of a Russian revolutionary movement in its earliest stage.
For these political poems, Pushkin was banished from St. Petersburg in May 1820 to a remote southern province. Sent first to Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine), he was there taken ill and, while convalescing, traveled in the northern Caucasus and later to Crimea with General Rayevski, a hero of 1812, and his family. The impressions he gained provided material for his "southern cycle" of romantic narrative poems: Kavkazsky plennik (1820–21; The Prisoner of the Caucasus), Bratya razboyniki (1821–22; The Robber Brothers), and Bakhchisaraysky fontan (1823; The Fountain of Bakhchisaray).
Although this cycle of poems confirmed the reputation of the author of Ruslan and Ludmila and Pushkin was hailed as the leading Russian poet of the day and as the leader of the romantic, liberty-loving generation of the 1820s, he himself was not satisfied with it. In May 1823 he started work on his central masterpiece, the novel in verse Yevgeny Onegin (1833), on which he continued to work intermittently until 1831. In it he returned to the idea of presenting a typical figure of his own age but in a wider setting and by means of new artistic methods and techniques.
Yevgeny Onegin unfolds a panoramic picture of Russian life. The characters it depicts and immortalizes—Onegin, the disenchanted skeptic; Lensky, the romantic, freedom-loving poet; and Tatyana, the heroine, a profoundly affectionate study of Russian womanhood: a "precious ideal," in the poet's own words—are typically Russian and are shown in relationship to the social and environmental forces by which they are molded. Although formally the work resembles Lord Byron's Don Juan, Pushkin rejects Byron's subjective, romanticized treatment in favour of objective description and shows his hero not in exotic surroundings but at the heart of a Russian way of life. Thus, the action begins at St. Petersburg, continues on a provincial estate, then switches to Moscow, and finally returns to St. Petersburg.
Pushkin had meanwhile been transferred first to Kishinyov (1820–23; now Chişinău, Moldova) and then to Odessa (1823–24). His bitterness at continued exile is expressed in letters to his friends—the first of a collection of correspondence that became an outstanding and enduring monument of Russian prose. At Kishinyov, a remote outpost in Moldavia, he devoted much time to writing, though he also plunged into the life of a society engaged in amorous intrigue, hard drinking, gaming, and violence. At Odessa he fell passionately in love with the wife of his superior, Count Vorontsov, governor-general of the province. He fought several duels, and eventually the count asked for his discharge. Pushkin, in a letter to a friend intercepted by the police, had stated that he was now taking "lessons in pure atheism." This finally led to his being again exiled to his mother's estate of Mikhaylovskoye, near Pskov, at the other end of Russia.
Although the two years at Mikhaylovskoye were unhappy for Pushkin, they were to prove one of his most productive periods. Alone and isolated, he embarked on a close study of Russian history; he came to know the peasants on the estate and interested himself in noting folktales and songs. During this period the specifically Russian features of his poetry became steadily more marked. His ballad "Zhenikh" (1825; "The Bridegroom"), for instance, is based on motifs from Russian folklore; and its simple, swift-moving style, quite different from the brilliant extravagance of Ruslan and Ludmila or the romantic, melodious music of the "southern" poems, emphasizes its stark tragedy.
In 1824 he published Tsygany (The Gypsies), begun earlier as part of the "southern cycle." At Mikhaylovskoye, too, he wrote the provincial chapters of Yevgeny Onegin; the poem Graf Nulin (1827; "Count Nulin"), based on the life of the rural gentry; and, finally, one of his major works, the historical tragedy Boris Godunov (1831).
The latter marks a break with the Neoclassicism of the French theatre and is constructed on the "folk-principles" of William Shakespeare's plays, especially the histories and tragedies, plays written "for the people" in the widest sense and thus universal in their appeal. Written just before the Decembrist rising, it treats the burning question of the relations between the ruling classes, headed by the tsar, and the masses; it is the moral and political significance of the latter, "the judgment of the people," that Pushkin emphasizes. Set in Russia in a period of political and social chaos on the brink of the 17th century, its theme is the tragic guilt and inexorable fate of a great hero—Boris Godunov, son-in-law of Malyuta Skuratov, a favourite of Ivan the Terrible, and here presented as the murderer of Ivan's little son, Dmitri.
The development of the action on two planes, one political and historical, the other psychological, is masterly and is set against a background of turbulent events and ruthless ambitions. The play owes much to Pushkin's reading of early Russian annals and chronicles, as well as to Shakespeare, who, as Pushkin said, was his master in bold, free treatment of character, simplicity, and truth to nature. Although lacking the heightened, poetic passion of Shakespeare's tragedies, Boris excels in the "convincingness of situation and naturalness of dialogue" at which Pushkin aimed, sometimes using conversational prose, sometimes a five-foot iambic line of great flexibility. The character of the pretender, the false Dmitri, is subtly and sympathetically drawn; and the power of the people, who eventually bring him to the throne, is so greatly emphasized that the play's publication was delayed by censorship. Pushkin's ability to create psychological and dramatic unity, despite the episodic construction, and to heighten the dramatic tension by economy of language, detail, and characterization make this outstanding play a revolutionary event in the history of Russian drama.
After the suppression of the Decembrist uprising of 1825, the new tsar Nicholas I, aware of Pushkin's immense popularity and knowing that he had taken no part in the Decembrist "conspiracy," allowed him to return to Moscow in the autumn of 1826. During a long conversation between them, the tsar met the poet's complaints about censorship with a promise that in the future he himself would be Pushkin's censor and told him of his plans to introduce several pressing reforms from above and, in particular, to prepare the way for liberation of the serfs. The collapse of the rising had been a grievous experience for Pushkin, whose heart was wholly with the "guilty" Decembrists, five of whom had been executed, while others were exiled to forced labour in Siberia.
Pushkin saw, however, that without the support of the people, the struggle against autocracy was doomed. He considered that the only possible way of achieving essential reforms was from above, "on the tsar's initiative," as he had written in "Derevnya." This is the reason for his persistent interest in the age of reforms at the beginning of the 18th century and in the figure of Peter the Great, the "tsar-educator," whose example he held up to the present tsar in the poem "Stansy" (1826; "Stanzas"), in The Negro of Peter the Great, in the historical poem Poltava (1829), and in the poem Medny vsadnik (1837; The Bronze Horseman).
In The Bronze Horseman, Pushkin poses the problem of the "little man" whose happiness is destroyed by the great leader in pursuit of ambition. He does this by telling a "story of St. Petersburg" set against the background of the flood of 1824, when the river took its revenge against Peter I's achievement in building the city. The poem describes how the "little hero," Yevgeny, driven mad by the drowning of his sweetheart, wanders through the streets. Seeing the bronze statue of Peter I seated on a rearing horse and realizing that the tsar, seen triumphing over the waves, is the cause of his grief, Yevgeny threatens him and, in a climax of growing horror, is pursued through the streets by the "Bronze Horseman." The poem's descriptive and emotional powers give it an unforgettable impact and make it one of the greatest in Russian literature.
After returning from exile, Pushkin found himself in an awkward and invidious position. The tsar's censorship proved to be even more exacting than that of the official censors, and his personal freedom was curtailed. Not only was he put under secret observation by the police but he was openly supervised by its chief, Count Benckendorf. Moreover, his works of this period met with little comprehension from the critics, and even some of his friends accused him of apostasy, forcing him to justify his political position in the poem "Druzyam" (1828; "To My Friends"). The anguish of his spiritual isolation at this time is reflected in a cycle of poems about the poet and the mob (1827–30) and in the unfinished Yegipetskiye nochi (1835; Egyptian Nights).
Yet it was during this period that Pushkin's genius came to its fullest flowering. His art acquired new dimensions, and almost every one of the works written between 1829 and 1836 opened a new chapter in the history of Russian literature. He spent the autumn of 1830 at his family's Nizhny Novgorod estate, Boldino, and these months are the most remarkable in the whole of his artistic career. During them he wrote the four so-called "little tragedies"—Skupoy rytsar (1836; The Covetous Knight), Motsart i Salyeri (1831; Mozart and Salieri), Kamenny gost (1839; The Stone Guest), and Pir vo vremya chumy (1832; Feast in Time of the Plague)—the five short prose tales collected as Povesti pokoynogo Ivana Petrovicha Belkina (1831; Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin); the comic poem of everyday lower-class life Domik v Kolomne (1833; "A Small House in Kolomna"); and many lyrics in widely differing styles, as well as several critical and polemical articles, rough drafts, and sketches.
Among Pushkin's most characteristic features were his wide knowledge of world literature, as seen in his interest in such English writers as William Shakespeare, Lord Byron, Sir Walter Scott, and the Lake poets; his "universal sensibility"; and his ability to re-create the spirit of different races at different historical epochs without ever losing his own individuality. This is particularly marked in the "little tragedies," which are concerned with an analysis of the "evil passions" and, like the short story Pikovaya Dama (1834; The Queen of Spades), exerted a direct influence on the subject matter and techniques of the novels of Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
In 1831 Pushkin married Natalya Nikolayevna Goncharova and settled in St. Petersburg. Once more he took up government service and was commissioned to write a history of Peter the Great. Three years later he received the rank of Kammerjunker (gentleman of the emperor's bedchamber), partly because the tsar wished Natalya to have the entrée to court functions. The social life at court, which he was now obliged to lead and which his wife enjoyed, was ill-suited to creative work, but he stubbornly continued to write. Without abandoning poetry altogether, he turned increasingly to prose. Alongside the theme of Peter the Great, the motif of a popular peasant rising acquired growing importance in his work, as is shown by the unfinished satirical Istoriya sela Goryukhina (1837; The History of the Village of Goryukhino), the unfinished novel Dubrovsky (1841), Stseny iz rytsarskikh vremen (1837; Scenes from the Age of Chivalry), and finally, the most important of his prose works, the historical novel of the Pugachov Rebellion, Kapitanskaya dochka (1836; The Captain's Daughter), which had been preceded by a historical study of the rebellion, Istoriya Pugachova (1834; "A History of Pugachov").
Meanwhile, both in his domestic affairs and in his official duties, his life was becoming more intolerable. In court circles he was regarded with mounting suspicion and resentment, and his repeated petitions to be allowed to resign his post, retire to the country, and devote himself entirely to literature were all rejected. Finally, in 1837, Pushkin was mortally wounded defending his wife's honour in a duel forced on him by influential enemies.
Pushkin's use of the Russian language is astonishing in its simplicity and profundity and formed the basis of the style of novelists Ivan Turgenev, Ivan Goncharov, and Leo Tolstoy. His novel in verse, Yevgeny Onegin, was the first Russian work to take contemporary society as its subject and pointed the way to the Russian realistic novel of the mid-19th century. Even during his lifetime Pushkin's importance as a great national poet had been recognized by Nikolay Vasilyevich Gogol, his successor and pupil, and it was his younger contemporary, the great Russian critic Vissarion Grigoryevich Belinsky, who produced the fullest and deepest critical study of Pushkin's work, which still retains much of its relevance. To the later classical writers of the 19th century, Pushkin, the creator of the Russian literary language, stood as the cornerstone of Russian literature, in Maksim Gorky's words, "the beginning of beginnings." Pushkin has thus become an inseparable part of the literary world of the Russian people. He also exerted a profound influence on other aspects of Russian culture, most notably in opera.
Pushkin's work—with its nobility of conception and its emphasis on civic responsibility (shown in his command to the poet-prophet to "fire the hearts of men with his words"), its life-affirming vigour, and its confidence in the triumph of reason over prejudice, of human charity over slavery and oppression—has struck an echo all over the world. Translated into all the major languages, his works are regarded both as expressing most completely Russian national consciousness and as transcending national barriers.


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May 7, 2013, Boston, Oxford – In an effort to simplify the process of enhancing library collections with authoritative reference content from world-renowned publishers, Credo, the industry leader for information skills solutions – in partnership with YBP Library Services (YBP), the academic division of Baker & Taylor – has made its titles available for purchase through GOBI3, YBP's acquisition and collection management database. Libraries now have the ability to select Credo as their preferred vendor for reference material as part of their eApproval Plans.
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About YBP Library Services
YBP Library Services, a Baker & Taylor company, provides print and digital content, supporting collection management and technical services to academic, research and special libraries in the Americas, Asia, Middle East, Australia and the Pacific Rim. GOBI3, YBP's acquisition and collection development interface, provides access to more than 10 million titles. YBP is located in Contoocook, NH, USA. For more on the company, visit www.ybp.com.
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A 2013 SIIA CODiE Award winner, Credo believes that everyone deserves the ability to learn and the opportunity to succeed.
To help people achieve their academic, professional and personal goals, Credo partners with libraries, educators, publishers and technology providers to deliver solutions for developing information skills. Founded in 1999, Credo has offices in Boston and the UK. For additional information about Credo and its Literati solutions please visit http://corp.credoreference.com.


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Crash Into Me: Car Models with the Most Accidents
In 2016, there were nearly 18,000 automobile accidents each day in the United States, and that number continues to grow. Here are the car models that are most often involved.
When driving, it only takes a split second of inattention for an accident to occur. A glance at a new text message leads to a rear-end crash, or failing to look the right way before turning results in a sideswipe. Of course, not all of these collisions are fatal, but they are certainly dangerous. All in all, 36,750 people died as a result of automobile-related accidents in 2018—that's just over 100 people daily. To put it in perspective, car accidents accounted for over one percent of all deaths in the United States last year.
To dive further into car collisions in America, the data science team at Insurify decided to take a look at which car models are involved in the most accidents.
- National averages. In total, 13.64 percent of all models on the road have at least one prior accident. The average manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP) price of a car in June 2019 was $37,285. In 2017, the average miles per gallon of all cars and small trucks was 24.9 MPG.
- Foreign is king? When it comes to accidents, foreign cars certainly have the edge—in the wrong way. Nine of the 10 cars that suffer accidents at the highest rate come from foreign makers. Seven of those models are Japanese, while the other two hail from Korea.
- Variety of brand. No brand wants to be known for producing a variety of cars that are accident-prone, and luckily for car manufacturers everywhere, there was a large diversity of representation in the top 10. A total of eight different manufacturers saw a car make the list, and no maker was represented more than twice.
To determine which car models have the most prior accidents, data scientists from Insurify, a website for auto insurance quotes comparison, pulled information from their database of over 1.6 million car insurance quotes. To apply, drivers input personal and vehicle information, including the model of car they drive, and whether or not they have been in a prior accident.
For each model, the number of drivers with an at-fault accident from the past seven years was analyzed against the population of drivers owning that model as a whole. Analysts then selected the 10 models with the highest shares of drivers with an accident. Data on car MSRP and city/highway miles per gallon was taken from Autoblog and U.S. News.
10. Hyundai Santa Fe Sport
- Percentage of Santa Fe Sports with a prior accident: 23.92%
- MSRP (base model): $24,950
- Miles per gallon: 21 city / 27 highway
Kicking off the top 10 is the Hyundai Santa Fe Sport, one of two models from the Korean maker on the list. As an SUV, the Sport naturally doesn't have excellent fuel efficiency—its MPG is tied for the lowest of any model in the top 10. The Sport model of Hyundai's most popular SUV was also discontinued after 2017, though it was succeeded by the fourth generation of the normal Santa Fe.
9. Chevrolet Trax
- Percentage of Chevrolet Traxs with a prior accident: 23.98%
- MSRP (base model): $21,300
- Miles per gallon: 26 city / 31 highway
Chevrolet is perhaps best known for its highly successful line of trucks, headlined by the Silverado, but the American manufacturer also produces a multitude of SUVs, including the Trax. It's an affordable option—with an MSRP well below the national average—and has above average fuel efficiency. However, Trax drivers still suffer accidents at a rate nearly double the national average.
8. Lexus CT
- Percentage of Lexus CTs with a prior accident: 24.17%
- MSRP (base model): $31,250
- Miles per gallon: 43 city / 40 highway
Much like the Hyundai Santa Fe, the CT is no longer available in the United States, and was discontinued in 2017. An electric hybrid vehicle, the CT has spectacular fuel efficiency—its MPG is the highest of any car in the top 10. However, it will cost owners a pretty penny. Just one model on the list has a higher MSRP than the CT.
7. Acura ILX
- Percentage of Acura ILXs with a prior accident: 24.18%
- MSRP (base model): $25,900
- Miles per gallon: 24 city / 34 highway
The ILX was released in 2012, and is based on the ninth-generation Honda Civic, though it has received two design facelifts since the initial release. Because the ILX is made by Acura, a luxury brand, it runs on the expensive side, with an MSRP more expensive than six other vehicles on the top 10. It's not necessarily a bad investment though, with a slew of driver assistance features thanks to the AcuraWatch "infotainment" system, as well as an excellent highway MPG available to customers willing to open their wallets.
6. Mazda3
- Percentage of Mazda 3's with a prior accident: 24.65%
- MSRP (base model): $21,000
- Miles per gallon: 26 city / 35 highway
The Mazda3, Mazda's compact four-door sedan, became the Japanese manufacturer's fastest-selling model in January 2019 and has sold over six million units since its 2003 debut. As a sedan, the Mazda3 is certainly an affordable car—just two others on the top 10 have a cheaper base MSRP—and an efficient one, with city and highway MPG figures above the national average.
5. Subaru WRX
- Percentage of Subaru WRXs with a prior accident: 24.9%
- MSRP (base model): $27,195
- Miles per gallon: 21 city / 27 highway
The Subaru sedan also has the dubious honor of being the car with the highest proportion of models with a prior speeding offense. With a turbocharged engine, as well as what Subaru has dubbed "performance seats" and performance brakes, it's not hard to see why WRX drivers would be tempted to push the speed limit. However, fixing a WRX after a wreck is likely not going to be cheap. Its MSRP is more expensive than all but two other models in the top 10.
4. Infiniti Q50
- Percentage of Infiniti Q50s with a prior accident: 25.14%
- MSRP (base model): $35,650
- Miles per gallon: 23 city / 30 highway
The Q50 replaced Infiniti's G50 sedan in 2013, and sold over 180,000 units in the five years following that. It's certainly among the more pricey sedans out there—it's over $4,000 more expensive than any other car on the list, but certainly makes up for it with a variety of features like a turbocharged engine, and a forward emergency braking system designed, ironically, to limit accidents.
3. Hyundai Elantra GT
- Percentage of Hyundai Elantra GTs with a prior accident: 25.58%
- MSRP (base model): $20,450
- Miles per gallon: 25 city / 32 highway
The second of two Korean models in the top 10, the Elantra GT is a little less bulky than the Santa Fe Sport, which means that it has a better MPG on both city streets and the freeway. It's also over $4,000 cheaper than the Sport, carries a hatchback design instead of a traditional SUV build, and a wireless charging station for commuters who are reliant on GPS. Nevertheless, the Elantra is also one of the models that is caught speeding most often, with a rate of cars caught speeding nearly 48 percent higher than the national average.
2. Honda HR-V
- Percentage of Honda HR-Vs with a prior accident: 25.7%
- MSRP (base model): $20,620
- Miles per gallon: 28 city / 34 highway
The Honda HR-V is one of the most affordable models on this list, with a base MSRP more expensive than just one other model in the top 10. Described by its manufacturer as "a subcompact sedan," the HRV is certainly fuel-efficient, with a city MPG of 28—better than all the cars on this list except for the hybrid Lexus CT.
1. Subaru Crosstrek
- Percentage of Subaru Crosstreks with a prior accident: 25.81%
- MSRP (base model): $21,895
- Miles per gallon: 27 city / 33 highway
No car model has a higher rate of accidents than the Subaru Crosstrek, which is both fuel-efficient and cheap. It has the third-best city MPG of the cars in the top 10, and an MSRP below the national average. The car is advertised as "built to last" on Subaru's website, though it seems that its durability is tested through accidents much more than the Japanese manufacturer would like. Interestingly, the 2019 edition of the Crosstrek also received the highest possible safety rating from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety.


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Full content:
* Super Conductive Rifle x 1
* Sub machine gun x 1
* Hidden handgun x 1
* Hair stick x 2
* Face option x 1
* Hair option x 1
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150mm tall, 19 points of articulation. 1st May release, 2,500 Yen (inclusive of tax).
For those who can't wait till May 1st, Kaiyodo has another option for you: a special advance sales version of this Revoltech Fraulein for Movie Version Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Face Chapter.
This advance sales version will come with Boota the mole pig. However, this will only be a mail-order only limited edition. Pre-order starts February 6th, and release date is early April (one month before the regular version). The price is 4,000 Yen (inclusive of tax).
Apart from having Boota, the list of equipment seem to be the same as the regular version.
So, Boota is 1,500 Yen... Wow... O_O
I think I'll wait. ^^;
Information and images from Animate Internet and Revoltech's official site.


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This is the first of three shows devoted to Alternative Press Expo 2007.
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 45:00 — 41.2MB)
INTERVIEW GUESTS: Carmen Ogden, Heather Morgan, Jess from CW, Sacha Arnold, Stephen Notley, Sarah Weinman, Jacquelyn Mentz, Tammy Stellanova and booth babe, Gabriel Martinez, Brian Andersen and Preston (cheerleader), Alex Cahill and Jad Ziade the laconic writer, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Tessa Brunton, Melina Mena, DJ Bryant, Travis Fox, two guys talking about waffles, Argel Brown and Michael Galande, Hope & Nicolette Davenport, Jeff Zugale, and Kristian Horn.
SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: The glut of autobiographical comics, Fat Camille, an unexpected skirmish between old media and new media, consulting cartoonists for tax advice, writing age-appropriate comics, handmade books, compartmentalized paneling, urban wildlife, the pigeon ecosystem, satanic raccoons, copraphilia, inverted superheroes, laconic comic book writers, whether or not robots are the savior of humanity, country bands and domain squatting, life's rich pageant, retail humiliation, ripping off George Harrison, efforts to exploit the comic book circus atmosphere, waffles and freedom fries, turning interviews into comics, how to get rid of excess self-published comics, and superhero political comics.
Correspondent: Whoa, whoa, WB and UPN have merged?
Jess: Yeah. About…
Correspondent: No one told me this!
Jess: I'm sorry. I mean, I'm hear to say. The last one to know. About nine months ago. But, um, it has shows like America's Top Model and Simpsons and South Park.
Correspondent: But if WB and UPN merged, shouldn't it be called WPN? Or UB?
Jess: Uh, that's —
Correspondent: I mean, how the hell did you get CW out of it?
Jess: That's a very valid…uh…what is this for?
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 45:00 — 41.2MB)


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text: The unending woes of Lee ScottThe king of retailers has lost ground to competitors since its current CEO took over. Wall Street is starting to lose patience, says Fortune's Jon Birger.(Fortune Magazine) -- The world's biggest retailer had a lousy 2006. There were personnel problems, like the resignation of Sam's Club marketing head Mark Goodman and the embarrassing ouster of Julie Roehm, the young advertising whiz Wal-Mart had hired away from DaimlerChrysler. There were legal troubles: In October a Philadelphia jury ordered Wal-Mart to pay $78 million to a class of 185,000 workers who claim they were denied breaks and forced to work off the clock. There were also business woes: The company took a $900 million charge after its forays into Germany and South Korea turned sour. Same-store sales growth turned negative in November before rebounding to 1.6 percent in December - ahead of analysts' predictions of 1 percent, but still skimpy. (Same-store sales at Costco (Charts) and Target (Charts) were up 9 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively.) And Wal-Mart's stock, currently about $47 a share, was flat in an otherwise strong year for stocks. Then there were the public relations fiascoes. Wal-Mart (Charts) had to sever its relationships with political consultant Terry Nelson and former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young. Nelson had a hand in the race-baiting "Harold, call me!" spot in the U.S. Senate race in Tennessee, and Young, while speaking on behalf of Wal-Mart, accused Jewish, Korean and Arab shopkeepers of selling spoiled food to inner-city blacks. Bad years do happen to good companies. But for Wal-Mart, 2006 was just another downer in a period of decline that's lasted seven years and overlaps the tenure of the company's current CEO, Lee Scott. Unhappy investors Wal-Mart's stock has fallen 22 percent since Scott took the reins from David Glass in January 2000 (the Standard & Poor's 500 index is down just 2 percent over the same period), wiping out $90 billion in market capitalization. Those are huge numbers, and at any other company there would be a groundswell of rage from investors - the kind that just cost Robert Nardelli the CEO job at Home Depot (Charts). (During Nardelli's six-year tenure, Home Depot's stock outperformed Wal-Mart's, 3 percent to minus 7 percent.) At Wal-Mart there has been no uprising apart from some speculation in the retail trade press last summer that Scott's job might be in jeopardy because he had taken May off. (Wal-Mart denied the reports.) Still, Wall Street seems to be losing patience. Among institutional investors unloading Wal-Mart shares last year were American Century, MFS, Marsico Capital and Chase Investment Counsel. Chase, an independent investment firm that operates the Chase Growth Fund, sold its entire four-million-share stake late last summer in favor of positions in Kohl's and J.C. Penney. Asked what Wal-Mart could do to get back on track, Chase Growth manager David Scott (no relation to Lee) says, "I don't know. That's probably why I no longer own the stock." There are those on Wall Street (though none would speak for attribution) who think Scott himself is the problem. "It's like he's forgotten what the business model was all about - driving the top line by relentlessly lowering prices," says one Wall Street analyst. "But you look at their margins, they seem to be getting away from that." Indeed, Wal-Mart has been taking a bigger profit on each item sold. Wal-Mart's gross margins, according to Baseline, have increased to 25 percent this year from 22 percent in 1999, which appears at odds with the chain's historical commitment to "everyday low prices." Others are more charitable. "If anything, I think investors sympathize with [Scott] for being under the gun the way he is," says Margaret Gilliam, president of Gilliam & Co. and a veteran retail analyst, who was close to the late Sam Walton and remains in touch with the Walton family. Sam's heirs, along with other insiders, control 40 percent of the company's stock. "I know [Scott] has the support of the family," Gilliam says. She points out that Scott has been forced to spend a considerable amount of time fighting persistent (and unfair, in Gilliam's view) attacks by two union-funded anti-Wal-Mart groups - Wal-Mart Watch and Wake-Up Wal-Mart - who complain about employee pay and benefits (see "Attack of the Wal-Martyrs"). Those campaigns may have hurt. According to a 2004 McKinsey & Co. report, 2 percent to 8 percent of Wal-Mart customers surveyed have ceased shopping at the chain because of negative press. Getting back its mojo It's true that Scott faces huge challenges. With expected sales of $350 billion for the fiscal year ending this month, Wal-Mart is such a behemoth that increasing the top line by 10 percent means adding $35 billion in yearly sales. That's roughly equal to the combined revenues of Staples, Barnes & Noble, Starbucks and Nordstrom. And Wal-Mart under Scott has done some things right. Its green strategy - which includes everything from cutting back on packaging to selling more energy-saving light bulbs - has generated positive press, deservedly so (see "The Green Machine"). Scott himself has come out of the Bentonville bunker and made himself more accessible to the public - although he declined to be interviewed for this article. Scott also deserves credit for knowing when to cut his losses in South Korea and Germany. And unlike Home Depot's recently deposed Nardelli, Scott has neither a garish pay package nor a reputation for imperiousness. None of that, though, has budged the stock. How can Wal-Mart get its mojo back? Here are four ideas from Fortune interviews with analysts, investors and retail experts: Spin off Sam's Club. Sam's Club was designed to compete against warehouse clubs like Costco. Costco, though, has run circles around Sam's, and warehouse club pioneer Sol Price offered an explanation in a 2003 interview with Fortune: "The biggest thing with Sam's was that it didn't have a free hand to compete with Wal-Mart." Spinning off Sam's would be good for Wal-Mart shareholders. Not only do spinoffs typically outperform the S&P 500 - by as much as ten percentage points during their first two years - but the stock of the parent company fares better too. " Companies do much better when they're run on their own," says retail guru and Wal-Mart bull David Berman of hedge fund Durban Capital. "The same CEO is going to be hungrier and working harder." Stop trying to be a growth stock. Wal-Mart has lately looked for growth in upscale goods and expansion into Europe and Asia. The problem is, says UBS analyst Neil Currie, "when Wal-Mart travels outside the U.S., the scale advantage doesn't mean as much." And Wal-Mart is still trying to figure out how to compete with chains that offer better service on pricey items like flat-screen TVs. Bear Stearns analyst Christine Augustine, another Wal-Mart bull, says, "If they don't take any risk, they'll never move forward." But Staples founder Tom Stemberg thinks Wal-Mart should "quit trying to be a growth company, stop being distracted by [Europe and Asia], and focus on the U.S., Canada and Mexico," says Stemberg, now a partner with private-equity shop Highland Capital. That would free cash for stock buybacks and dividends. "Instead," Stemberg says, "they've decided they're going to defy the laws of gravity by expanding to half the world and trying to go upscale in fashion." Extend an olive branch to the haters. HSBC retail analyst Mark Husson's suggestion was the boldest we heard: Take a one-year "holiday" from earnings growth to increase pay and particularly benefits for employees. "I could write the press release now," says Husson, whose stock-picking prowess ranked among the top 5 percent of all analysts last year, according to StarMine. "'Having done the right thing by consumers for so many years, it's now time to do right by our employees. It will be good for America and good for our employee turnover as well.'" Husson says high turnover is hurting sales, especially of upscale items. A splashy act of goodwill, says Husson, should also make it easier for Wal-Mart to expand in blue states, where efforts to open new stores have met the most resistance. Kentucky has three times as many Wal-Mart supercenters (61) as California (21). On a per capita basis, Wal-Mart is four times more concentrated in red states than in blue, whereas Target's stores are evenly divided. Show some urgency. Perhaps what's most troubling about Wal-Mart is that neither Scott nor those around him seem to feel investors' pain. "Why would our CEO be on the 'hot seat' in a year where we've had record sales and earnings?" Wal-Mart spokeswoman Mona Williams asked Fortune in an e-mail. Williams blames the stock drop on Wal-Mart's 12-month trailing price/earnings ratio of 54 when Scott took over: "Was that a realistic number long-term?" (Wal-Mart's P/E is now about 17.) When Scott does acknowledge problems, his diagnoses seem off. In an October meeting with analysts, Scott blamed Wal-Mart's surprisingly weak same-store sales growth on high gas prices and on store remodelings. HSBC's Husson says, "They've done remodels before - they should know what the effect is." As for gas prices, Scott predicted sales would rebound when energy prices fell. Prices did fall, from $3 a gallon in August to $2.30 in late December, yet Wal-Mart's slide in same-store sales growth continued, from 2.7 percent and 1.8 percent in August and September to - 0.1 percent and 1.6 percent in November and December. While December's number was touted as a rebound, it was well below the 3.3 percent retail average for the month. Scott may yet turn things around, of course. Bets in China and India for instance, may start paying off. But Wall Street is not likely to put up with a 2007 from Wal-Mart that looks anything like the year that just ended. Research associate Joan L. Levinstein contributed to this article. ___________ |