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Blogger, Typepad, and MT Import
We're enabling two experimental importers today. This is to help out the tons of people who have been writing in saying they want to import their content from the systems they were using before WordPress.com, and especially for the brave few who were copying their posts by hand, one by one. (I wish I had that sort of patience!)
First we've enabled an importer for Blogger, which is pretty much as simple as we could possibly make it. You simply input your Blogger username and password and it goes and grabs all of your posts and your blogger comments, and brings them into WordPress.com. End of story.
Next up we've activated the importer that works with the type of files exported by Typepad and Movable Type. (They export the same files.) This is a little bit more complicated, what you'll need to do is export from their respective interfaces and it'll give you a nice text file. Our importer will let you upload that file, and then we'll take it from there, importing posts, trackbacks, and comments, and even allowing you to map authors from your old blog onto authors from your new one.
As I said earlier, this is still a bit of an experiment. If either of the new importers doesn't work the way you expect it, let us know in the forums or by using the feedback link in your admin.
Enjoy. 🙂
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mój blog
Feb 7th at 6:26 pm
Fajne … tylko że …
braukje mi funkcji importu z innej instalacji WordPress.
Bardzo by się przydała bo mam trochę wpisów na swoim blogu, a ręcznie mi się chce tego wszystkiego przepisywać.
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Aftershock summary : On Monday the 13th of June, Christchurch has been struck by two aftershocks. The first measured 5.5, which luckily allowed people to evacuate the red zone and many other locations before the magnitude 6 aftershock struck, minutes ago at a depth of 9km. Six people were taken to Christchurch Hospital with moderate injuries. Take also a look at our overview video as well as some selected videos. Click here to watch them in our Quake-TV.org channel (temporary out of service - we are working on a solution)
UPDATE 16/06 09:45 UTC : Christchurch Cathedral
It looks like the Christchurch Cathedral and the 1905 Catholic cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament will be demolished. For the catholic cathedral, arches supporting its surviving copper-clad dome were undermined in the June 13 tremors, the building's management board said. The dome was one of a pair that crowned the renaissance-style building before the other collapsed in the February disaster.
The Cathedral's Rose Window fell following two strong aftershocks that rocked the city on Monday June 13th. Over recent years the window has come to personify the Cathedral's life and presence in the city. Sadly, its image is all that now remains. The stained glass panels and ornate surrounding stonework, lie shattered and broken at the foot of the steel bracing, placed in hope, to be its saviour. The west wall, where the window looked strongly out into Cathedral Square is itself almost gone. Only 25% remains. We do know that the 5.5 and 6.0 earthquakes have further seriously damaged the building. An Update on the extent of that damage will be posted when it comes to hand.
Earthquake-Report.com remark : It should be noted that churches are often made of masonry and are irregular structures which have major damage in many earthquakes. Similar damage occurred in the Newcastle 1989 earthquake in Australia, as well as in many other earthquakes in the CATDAT database.
GNS Science seismologists have reclassified the 2.20pm LT aftershock as magnitude 6.338 with a depth of 6.1km, just 0.005 of a magnitude smaller than the February 22 earthquake which had a magnitude of 6.34 with a depth of 5.9km.
The earlier shake on Monday at 1.00pm LT was upgraded from 5.5 to 5.646 in magnitude and was 9.2km in depth.
The events concerning the 1 man killed in the earthquake will be investigated as there is some degree of doubt as to the connection between the death and the earthquake.
UPDATE 15/06 04:32 UTC : Services details have been provided by Stuff, NZ media.
Power: The number of houses remaining without power outside the central business district has dropped to 1500.
Water: Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said water had been restored to 85 per cent of the city, but pressure levels varied. Water head problems are all over the place.
Wastewater: It will be around 36 hours before engineers can fully assess the city's sewage system. The main trunk sewer on Woodham Rd had been damaged, with the road above the sewer starting to collapse. While some sewage is reaching the council's pump stations, residents should use chemical toilets or portaloos.
Waste collection: Collections are still going ahead as normal.
Roads: Sixteen roads are closed. The list is available on the Council website www.ccc.govt.nz. Rockfalls have been cleared from Evans Pass Road.
Schools: Many schools are re-opening today - the full list can be found at www.minedu.govt.nz/EQNZ.
Welfare centres: Cowles Stadium would operate as an information centre only this afternoon and will close permanently at 4pm today.
UPDATE 06:41 UTC : One man was killed and around 45 people sustained minor injuries according to the most recent casualty reports. The elderly man died when he was knocked off his feet by the force of the earthquake, and struck his head on the floor at an elderly home. It was a miracle that more people were not injured or killed from these two earthquakes. Thousands of homes remain without power and unfortunately, cold temperatures are making matters worse, with 2 or 3 people admitted to hospital as a result of hypothermia.
However, the economic situation can be described as dire. The Kiwi dollar and money market interest rates are both down. The chaos of rockslides, dust, traffic jams and collapsed buildings returned to Christchurch, with at least 50 buildings destroyed or severely damaged, and much liquefaction damaging cars and roads, as well as affecting eastern suburbs schools. The Christchurch cathedral lost more masonry, meaning that it will need to be pulled down if it is to be reconstructed. Dozens of people were also affected by rockslides.
UPDATE 18:55 UTC : There is no water east of Ferrymead bridge and repairs are expected to take several days, the council says.
UPDATE 10:11 UTC : intensity MMI numbers as felt in the greater Christchurch area (thanks to Geonet) :
First aftershock :
Out of the 1152 people for the first M5.5 one - 1 MM8, 28 MM7, 183 MM6.
Second heavier aftershock
Out of the 2266 people who responded to the Christchurch earthquake
MM8 Heavily damaging 1 Richmond [1]
MM7 Damaging 28 Bromley [1], Burwood [2], Casebrook [2], Christchurch [6], Dallington [1], Ilam [1], Kaiapoi [2], Kainga [2], Linwood [1], Marshland [1], North New Brighton [1], Opawa [1], Parklands [1], Rangiora [1], Redwood [1], Riccarton [1], Strowan [1], Upper Riccarton [1], Woolston [1]
MM6 Slightly damaging 183 Addington [3], Avondale [1], Avonhead [1], Avonside [4], Beckenham [2], Belfast [6], Bexley [1], ishopdale [4], Bromley [6], Bryndwr [3], Burnside [3], Burwood [3], Cashmere [2], Christchurch [18], Dallington [1], Diamond Harbour [2], Edgeware [2], Fendalton [1], Ferrymead [1], Governors Bay [1], Halswell [4], Harewood [3], Heathcote Valley [1], Hillsborough [2], Hoon Hay [2], Hornby [2], Huntsbury [1], Ilam [3], Kaiapoi [11], Kainga [1], Kaipoi [1], Linwood [4], Lyttelton [1], Mairehau [3], Merivale [2], Middleton [2], Mount Pleasant [2], New Brighton [2], North New Brighton [4], Northwood [1], Ohoka [1], Ohoka [1], Opawa [2], Ouruhia [1], Papanui [2], Parklands [3], Pegasus [1], Prebbleton [1], Rangiora [3], Redcliffs [1], Redwood [2], Riccarton [4], Richmond [2], Saint Albans [11], Saint Martins [2], Sefton [1], Shirley [2], Sockburn [1], Somerfield [1], South New Brighton [1], Spreydon [3], Strowan [2],Sumner [1], Sydenham [3], Taitapu [2], Templeton [1], The Pines Beach [1], Upper Riccarton [2], Wainoni [1], Waltham [1], Woolston [5], Yaldhurst [1]
Level Number Localities
MM8 Heavily damaging 18 Aranui [1], Hoon Hay [1], Linwood [1], Lyttelton [1], Merivale [2], New Brighton [1], North New Brighton [1], Parklands [1], Richmond [1], Saint Albans [3], Spreydon [1], Taitapu [1], Wainoni [2], Woolston [1]
MM7 Damaging 58 Addington [1], Aranui [1], Avondale [1], Barrys Bay [1], Bexley [1], Bromley [2], Bryndwr [1], Casebrook [1], Cashmere [2], Christchurch [9], Dallington [2], Harewood [1], Heathcote Valley [3], Hornby [2], Kaiapoi [1], Linwood [3], Lyttelton [1], Merivale [3], Middleton [1], Mount Pleasant [1], Opawa [1], Papanui [1], Parklands [1], Redcliffs [1], Riccarton [2], Saint Albans [3], Shirley [3], Somerfield [1], Southshore [1], Spreydon [1], Strowan [1], Taylors Mistake [1], Upper Riccarton [1], Woolston [2]
MM6 Slightly damaging 149 Addington [3], Akaroa [1], Aranui [1], Ashburton [2], Avonhead [3], Beckenham [2], Belfast [2], Bishopdale [2], Bromley [1], Broomfield [1], Bryndwr [2], Burnside [2], Burwood [3], Cashmere [1], Christchurch [16], Cracroft [2], Dunedin [1], Fendalton [1], Fernside [1], Geraldine [2], Halswell [5], Harewood [2], Hawarden [1], Hillmorton [3], Hillsborough [1], Hoon Hay [5], Hornby [5], Huntsbury [1], Kaiapoi [5], Lincoln [2], Linwood [2], Little River [1], Mairehau [2], Merivale [2], Motukarara [1], New Brighton [1], North New Brighton [1], Northwood [2], Oaklands [1], Ohoka [1], Oxford [1], Papanui [4], Parklands [1], Pegasus [1], Port Levy [2], Prebbleton [1], Rangiora [3], Redwood [6], Riccarton [4], Robinsons Bay [1], Saint Albans [6], Saint Martins [4], Sefton [1], Sockburn [3], Somerfield [2], South New Brighton [1], Strowan [1], Sydenham [2], Templeton [3], Tuahiwi [1], Upper Riccarton [2], West Melton [1], Westmorland [1], Woodend [1], Woolston [3]
UPDATE 09:05 UTC : All phone networks were experiencing congestion. Authorities have asked to avoid calling and to only use Text messages (taking less bandwidth)
UPDATE 08:13 UTC : Power was cut to 54,000 customers. More than 45,000 homes were heading into the night without power. Power to 9000 homes has been restored now (Riccarton, Ilam and Fendalton).
UPDATE 08:08 UTC : Christchurch's historic Godley House has suffered serious damage in today's 6.0 earthquake. Christchurch City Council last month confirmed the 130-year-old building would be demolished but had date had not yet been set for it to be pulled down. The Banks Peninsula building is owned by the council.
UPDATE 07:48 UTC : We have released an overview video of this aftershock in our Quake-TC.org channel
More masonry has fallen from the Christchurch Catheral in the afternoon's second much larger quake, sending up large clouds of dust. Social media is also reporting major damage for the 2nd quake in many parts including fallen masonry, additional cracking and additional damage. There are also reports that another building in Lichfield Street has fallen down (has since been reclassified to major damage).
Line company Orion said power was out to approximately 54,000 customers across Christchurch following the 6.0 magnitude quake. About 10000 homes in the eastern suburbs and additional homes in other locations have occurred. Todays quakes have grounded all flights to and from Christchurch Airport.
The Art centre has also lost it's historic clock from the tower.
UPDATE 1 - 13/06 - On Monday the 13th of June, Christchurch has been struck by two aftershocks. The first measured 5.5, which luckily allowed people to evacuate the red zone and many other locations before the magnitude 6 aftershock struck, minutes ago at a depth of 9km. Six people were taken to Christchurch Hospital with moderate injuries due to falling building material after the 1pm earthquake. In the second quake (with higher magnitude), no injuries were recorded, however more damage occurred.
Two men who had been salvaging windows from the St Johns Church in the central city have received cuts and bruises and were taken to hospital. The front of the church on the corner of Hereford and Madras Streets collapsed. Some roads and bridges were closed due to further damage or liquefaction.
St John Ambulance said several ambulances were operating in the city and some were on stand by.
A policeman said a building on the corner of Stanmore and Worcester streets had collapsed, however has not been classified as an entire building collapse. Emergency services also rescued two people from St John's Church in central Christchurch.
Most important Earthquake Data from the M 6.0 aftershock:
Magnitude : Mw 6.0
UTC Time : Monday, June 13, 2011 at 02:20:50 UTC
Local time at epicenter : Monday, June 13, 2011 at 02:20:50 PM at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) : 9 km
Geo-location(s) :
13 km (8 miles) NNE of Christchurch, New Zealand
Links to important maps
USGS Did You Feel It Map
Google satellite map of the epicenter and the earthquake area (green arrow) (GeoNet location)
3-dimensional view of the earthquake area (USGS epicenter location)
USGS historic earthquakes map
USGS Seismic hazard map
USGS Impact on Population map
USGS Shaking map
LIVE SEISMOGRAM (nearest Seismograph station)
GDACS GREEN earthquake report
An aftershock measuring M5.5, was measured near Christchurch yesterday evening, but we have had to wait tilnow to report that it has been classified as CATDAT ORANGE. This has been the 6th largest aftershock since the February earthquake.
MMI of 7 (damaging) has been reported in 3 areas, with unconfirmed reports of further damage to existing damaged buildings. An MMI of 6 was also reported in many localities (83 reports from NZ Geonet), corresponding to slightly damaging. It was felt across the South Island.
Fay Burson, who is the manager of bottle store Henry's in Rolleston, said she probably lost more stock during today's shake than in February's magnitude-6.3. "It was a very severe initial jolt". Read the stuff report here.
The economic loss of this quake will be impossible to calculate but will be over $100,000 USD.
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : M5.5 and M6 (Geonet)
UTC Time : June 13 2011 at 1:00am and 2:20am
Local time at epicenter : Mon, Jun 13 2011 1:00 pm and 2:20pm
Depth (Hypocenter) : 11km and 9km
Geo-location(s) : 10km E of Christchurch, 10km SE of Christchurch
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : M5.5 (Geonet)
UTC Time : June 5 2011 at 21:09
Local time at epicenter : Monday, June 6 2011 at 9:09 am
Depth (Hypocenter) : 15km (43.61°S, 172.41°E)
Geo-location(s) : 20km SW of Christchurch
Links to important maps
Google satellite map of the area showing the kind of terrain the earthquake took place
QuakeSOS+ and QuakeSOS free are iPhone applications developed by Armand Vervaeck, the founder of Earthquake Report. The Application simplifies immediate group communication to friends and family members (with your exact GPS location) and is feeding the users with Earthquake Report news.
The 0.99 US$ QuakeSOS+ version will support the activities of SOS Earthquakes.
Earthquake-Report.com headlines on twitter
@OnlyQuakeNews : Get all the headlines of our earthquake-report.com articles + regular updates on ongoing events
@QuakeSOS : earthquake-report.com news + automatic earthquake notifications of USGS earthquakes of M 4.0 or higher with emphasis to earthquakes in the America's and the Pacific Ocean sphere (4 and up) and a lot of the rest of the world (5 and up). This account was created for our QuakeSOS and QuakeSOS+ iPhone applications
@ShakingEarth : earthquake-report.com news + automatic earthquake notifications of EMSC earthquakes of M 4.0 or higher with emphasis to earthquakes in European and Asian / Middle East sphere (4 and up) and a lot of the rest of the world (5 and up). This account was originally created to stimulate our Facebook account
@QuakeMaps : earthquake-report.com news with mapping notifications of ALL earthquakes M 3.0 and higher from all over the world via EMSC and USGS. This account was created for our http://www.quake-maps.com website
I did feel it – Ik heb het gevoeld – Το έκανα αισθάνεται – Yo lo siento – 我的确感到了 – 私はそれを感じていました- Ich habe es gefühlt – Bunu hissediyorum yaptı – لم أشعر أنه

subset: commoncrawl


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Panoramas by Vil Muhametshin
Chill-out at the Goija tea-room
Inner garden at the Goija tea-room
Art Nouveau festival at the Alberta street in Riga
It's called "Day of the Alberta street" - when all the street returns to the beginning of the 20th century. You will meet people dressed in...
Art Nouveau staircase at the Alberta street in Riga
The Natural History Museum of Latvia
View over Riga from the Latvian Academy of Sciences
Watch-tower at the Karosta Prison in Liepaja, Latvia
The Naval Port prison or guardhouse. The building was erected about 1900 and until 1997 it has served as a place where military persons served...
Guard-room reconstruction at the Karosta Prison, Liepaja
Museum room at the Karosta Prison, Liepaja
Interrogation room at the Karosta Prison, Liepaja
Medical room at the Karosta Prison, Liepaja
One-man cell at the Karosta Prison, Liepaja
Here you have a chance to spend the night in a prison which is considered to be even more impressive than the Alcatraz in the USA, to sleep on a...
Karosta park, Liepaja
The convention house of navy officers, Liepaja
Officer's palace was built in 1907 for entertainment of the fleet elite – nobility and royal aristocracy. During Latvia independence between the...
Main hall of the convention house of navy officers, Liepaja
Nothern pier, Liepaja, Latvia
Northern pier was built in 1901 to protect the territory of the port from storms and sand drifts. To make it resistant to the impact force of...
Blessed solitude...
...at the end of the Nothern pier in Liepaja
Dusk over the coast of Baltic Sea, Latvia
These piles are told to be remains of the quayside built by escaping German army at the end of the World War II.


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WASHINGTON - The Bush administration called it "transformational diplomacy," an initiative that sent U.S. diplomats into war zones and other trouble spots to promote democracy and U.S. interests. But this week's attacks on U.S. missions across the Muslim world and the killing of the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans in Libya highlight the deadly risks and high costs involved.
The effort, which has expanded under the Obama administration, has raised the personnel and financial burdens that the State Department and the Pentagon bear in protecting the more than 400 U.S. diplomatic facilities across the globe, from embassies to tiny facilities called American Presence Posts.
U.S. intelligence agencies also are under greater pressure to detect possible threats against American diplomatic facilities.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Friday that President Barack Obama has ordered a review of all security arrangements at U.S. embassies and other diplomatic missions worldwide.
There were no specific intelligence warnings of this week's violence, according to a U.S. intelligence official, who requested anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak about intelligence matters. U.S. facilities, however, were advised to be extra vigilant because Tuesday was the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.
The U.S. intelligence community also sent a cable to the U.S. Embassy in Cairo alerting it to growing attention that was being paid on the Internet to a 14-minute video clip denigrating the Prophet Muhammad, the U.S. intelligence official said. The video on Tuesday ignited protests in Egypt and Yemen that by Friday expanded to two dozen countries.
The decision to put U.S. diplomatic representatives in war zones and other areas where they wouldn't previously have been sent has been especially hard on the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security.
"The scope and the scale of our responsibilities and authorities have grown immensely in response to emerging threats and security incidents," Assistant Secretary of State Eric Boswell, who oversees the bureau, told a Senate committee on June 29, 2011. "The department now operates diplomatic missions in places where in the past we likely would have closed the post and evacuated all personnel."
Although its budget has risen from $300 million to around $2 billion since two 1998 al-Qaida bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa, the bureau is continuing to grapple with manpower shortages, funding constraints and other problems.
The personnel shortfall has forced the bureau to become increasingly reliant on private security contractors, who now comprise 90 percent of its workforce. They include some of the Libyan guards who were deployed outside the U.S. consulate in Benghazi when gunmen attacked on Tuesday, killing Ambassador Christopher Stevens and foreign service officer Sean Smith. Two other Americans, former Navy SEALs Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, were shot dead at a consular annex.
The details of the assault remain sketchy. But it appeared that Stevens had only one State Department security officer with him at the time of the attack. A pro-U.S. local militia, the 17th of February Brigade, helped drive off the assailants, U.S. officials said.
U.S. Marines, who traditionally have provided internal security at U.S. missions, are deployed at 152 embassies. But they aren't stationed at most smaller facilities, as was the case in Benghazi, although Libya has been gripped by rising violence by militias and Islamic extremist groups that refused to disarm after last year's ouster of the late dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
The United States has become more dependent on local security forces in many areas. These personnel sometimes refuse to use force - or are ordered not to - against fellow countrymen. And it can be hard to stop determined protesters from scaling embassy walls, as occurred in Egypt and Yemen.
Security can easily change with a country's politics.
In Egypt, some of the protections given to the U.S. Embassy during the tumultuous 2011 revolution that ousted U.S.-backed President Hosni Mubarak were loosened after the June election of Mohammad Morsi. A leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi has cooled ties with the United States in an apparent reflection of anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli sentiments that Mubarak stifled with force.
Some Egyptian army checkpoints on approaches to the U.S. Embassy, which sits just blocks from the revolution's heart of Tahrir Square, were removed after Morsi assumed power. All of them appeared to have been pulled on Tuesday night, when protesters scaled the wall and placed a ladder against a flagpole, ripped down the American flag and replaced it with an Islamic banner.
Local guards also seemed to have disappeared, according to several officials inside the building.
It was only after what was reportedly a brusque telephone call from Obama that Morsi on Thursday began publicly and repeatedly condemning the violence in what seemed to be an attempt to make up for his hours of silence. By nightfall, thousands of police were posted around the U.S. compound.
Embassies must conform to special design standards that emphasize fortress-like architecture and iron gates over aesthetics. And in countries like Afghanistan, Yemen and Pakistan, they bristle with blast barriers, razor wire-topped fences, sand-bagged machine-gun posts, and metal detectors that stoke anti-U.S. indignation.
While improving security for American diplomats and other staff, such precautions make it harder for diplomats to travel and meet the people with whom they are supposed to interact.
"There is an inherent conflict between assuring real security, particularly in war zones, and the ability of diplomats and civilians to do their jobs effectively," Susan Johnson, the president of the American Foreign Service Association, told the June 2011 Senate committee hearing. "To find the right balance between the two imperatives is difficult."
(Nancy A. Youssef in Cairo and special correspondents Adam Baron in Sanaa, Yemen, and Alan Boswell in Nairobi, Kenya, contributed.)


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Rancho Palos Verdes, California (CNN) -- Google Glass, the wearable technology from the search giant, is gaining a ton of buzz.
But Apple CEO Tim Cook is not a huge fan of its potential.
"I think from a mainstream point of view, this is difficult, " Cook said, referring to whether a lot of people will want to pay $1,500 to buy the product.
Lawmakers take aim at Apple CEO on taxes
Don't bring Google Glass to Vegas
Going gaga for Google Glass
In recent weeks, Google Glass, a piece of computing hardware wrapped around the face, has been distributed to its first group of beta testers in the real world.
Cook noted that he needs glasses to see and questioned whether people would want wearable technology on their faces.
"I don't know a lot of people that wear them (glasses) that don't have to," he said.
Cook was speaking at the "All Things D" technology conference Tuesday evening. The annual event draws hundreds of technology executives from around the world.
Questioned by moderators Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg, who manage the technology blog by the same name, Cook seemed to hint that Apple may someday enter the "wearables" market, but declined to be specific.
Speculation has been rampant in recent months that Apple might unveil an iWatch.
"I think there are lots of things to solve in this space. It's an area that's ripe for exploration, " he said.
Cook was also questioned about whether Apple is losing its "cool factor," with competitors such as Samsung and HTC getting good reviews for their new phones armed with cutting edge features and larger screens.
"Is Apple in trouble? Absolutely not," he said, citing statistics that customers use their Apple products more than the company's competitors.
For instance, he said, 59% of smartphone web traffic comes from IOS, the operating system that powers the iPhone.
Even so, Android phones are now significantly outselling iPhones worldwide.
"Winning has never been about making the most," he said. "Our north star is always on making the best products. So we always come back to that."
Source: CNN


text:
Ken I got your book @B&N,
it's really the language of intervals and the listening to the sound thing.
it's quite remarkable. congratulations.
really, it's cool.
OK for it. very nice and very important indeed.Then not only does this 225:128 b7 sound different, it also resolves to a +5. A bluesy 7:4 b7 on the other hand is more resolved than a b6. So those two notes can be completely backwards
a bVII from the V is really not the same sound as a bVII from the +IV and neither is from the III.
when you mean the maths back it up,
it's just a ratio calculus then ? from the 5 the connection is a minor third interval, maj third from the +4, tritone from the III,
I guess if we do the ratio calculus, the minor third from the 5 may equal the minor seventh up / whole step down from the I ?
that's very interesting to be able to back it up with the physics.Then it even gets tricker because a 225:128 and a 7:4 are almost the same as far as intonation. So I can't play one without the possibly of the other being perceived instead. I have to connect differently, maybe even create a CT on +IV at first. After I learn to connect to it though, I can then get rid of the CT by not allowing the ear to build a Tonic there.
if we connect melodically we can sound different ratios (different/distant sounds/color, even more than we think that's what you meant with bigger ratios ?) while we play with the same ET12 notes ? (thats very important indeed). We can play blue notes/dark/conflicting intervals or very bright/floating/distant/agreeing intervals (which sounds more like contemporary music) depending on the intervals (/ certain tendencies) we played before ?
if we connect chordally voicing is super important in order to "select"/"counterbalance" the correct ratio/location we'd like for a note to sound at the moment,
so voicing chords is about combining low/high vs simple/complex open/close tendencies to build more or less obvious/agreement ? (very important also).
thank you Ken.


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#1 Hollow point bullets that don't explode in targets, get recalled03-17-2009, 12:57 PM
Hollow point bullets that don't explode in targets, get recalled
Steel Hawk Inc. is offering a full refund to customers who bought the non-flesh-shredding bullets.
I laughed out loud at 1:24. :D"If you bound the arms and legs of gold-medal swimmer Michael Phelps, weighed him down with chains, threw him in a pool and he sank, you wouldn't call it a 'failure of swimming'. So, when markets have been weighted down by inept and excessive regulation, why call this a 'failure of capitalism'?"
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Jan 09, 2013 2:41 PM GMT
AP via CBS NewsThe Washington National Cathedral, where the nation gathers to mourn tragedies and celebrate new presidents, will soon begin performing same-sex marriages.
Cathedral officials tell The Associated Press the church will be among the first Episcopal congregations to implement a new rite of marriage for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender members. The church will announce its new policy Wednesday.
As the nation's most prominent church, the decision carries huge symbolism. The 106-year-old cathedral has long been a spiritual center for the nation, hosting presidential inaugural services and funerals for Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford. It draws hundreds of thousands of visitors.
In light of the legality of same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia and now Maryland, the Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, decided in December to allow an expansion of the Christian marriage sacrament. The diocese covers the district and four counties in Maryland. The change is allowed under a "local option" granted by the church's General Convention, church leaders said. Each priest in the diocese can then decide whether to perform same-sex unions.


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- 1½ packets Hob Nob biscuits, crushed
- 100g (4oz) melted butter
- 250g (9oz) caster sugar
- 800g (1lb 12oz) cream cheese
- pinch of salt
- 2tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- For the topping
- 450ml (15fl oz) soured cream
- 25g (1oz) caster sugar
- 2tsp pure vanilla extract
- some fresh blueberries, to serve
- You will need
- 23cm (9in) springform cake tin
Preheat the oven to 180 C, 160 C fan, 350 F, gas 4. Cross over two long strips of lightly oiled foil in the tin to remove the cheesecake.
Start this delicious cheesecake recipe by mixing together the Hob Nobs, butter and 50g (2oz) of the sugar. Line the bottom and sides of the cake tin with this mixture, pushing it into the corners, but not thickly (make a mitten out of clingfilm so the crumbs stick to the tin, not to your hands). Store it in the fridge while you make the filling.
Whip the cream cheese with an electric mixer. When soft and fluffy, add the remaining sugar and whisk again. Add salt and vanilla and beat once more. Slowly add the eggs one at a time. Pour this mixture into the lined cake tin and place on a baking sheet.
Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes until the cheesecake is set but still has a slight wobble. Allow to sit at room temperature (the risen cheesecake will sink a little during this time) while you make the topping.
Whisk together the soured cream, sugar and vanilla and pour over the cheesecake. Return to the oven for a further 10 minutes. Put it in the fridge as soon as it's cool enough. Gently heat the blueberries in a little water until they're glossy and serve with the cheesecake as a compote.


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Seasons turn at Seasonal Cook
After 10 years selling upscale cooking accoutrements and offering weekly cooking classes, the owners of the Seasonal Cook in the Main Street Market have finally passed the baton, er, spatula.
"We decided it was time to sell," says Jean Knorr, who opened the popular kitchen store a decade ago with her husband and partner Roger Rust, "to explore the opportunities of retirement– leisure, travel and volunteerism."
Finding the right buyers for a business– particularly these days– might be a challenge, but Knorr and Rust didn't have too look far to find new owners Eleanor Porter, 29, and Doug Von Achen, 37. Porter has been a manager at the store for the last two years, and Von Achen, who recently popped the question to Porter, works as a cook at the South Street Brewery. The pair took over on May 15, and have kept the existing staff.
So any new plans for the kitchen shop?
Porter says they'll be expanding their cooking line, bringing in more wares made by local artisans, expanding their hours, and offering a lot more classes.
"We'll have 13 classes in June," says Porter, "and we'll try to do at least three classes a week."
Von Achen is a Charlottesville native who's been cooking in restaurants here for 23 years, including stints at the old Blue Ridge Brewery (now S¬ Tapas) and Moondance on the Downtown Mall (now Zocalo). Porter says he'll continue to work at South Street for another year.
Porter was born in New Orleans but moved to Charlottesville in her late teens to be near her sister, who was attending UVA. She later made the decision to move back to New Orleans to be closer to her Mom, but then Katrina hit.
"My Mom's house, the house where I grew up, was in Gentilly, one of the hardest hit areas," says Porter.
Indeed, the London Avenue Canal levees in Gentilly were breached in two places during the storm.
"Over nine feet of water engulfed the house," says Porter. " We were wiped out."
So it was back to Charlottesville, this time as a Katrina evacuee.
More than three years later, now engaged and the owner of a new business, Porter says she's thankful for all the support she's received.
"Charlottesville," she says, "has been very good to me."
–Story last updated Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 4:06pm


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The look at the centers for this year ends with…
David Steckel
Theme: "all the world's a stage"
Once upon a time, David Steckel was a first round draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings – selected 30th overall in 2001, ahead of fellow Kings' draft picks Mike Cammalleri (49th) and a young goalie from St. Martin d'Heres, France, named Cristobal Huet (214th). At the time, he was the 16th-rated North American prospect according to Central Scouting and was described by Kings general manager Dave Taylor as having "good size, excellent hockey sense, and a great work ethic…we view him as a power forward."
The path to "power forward" took a bit of a detour. After completing two more years at Ohio State, he turned pro and joined the Manchester Monarchs in the AHL, where he was 10-7-17 in 63 games. It was not, apparently, good enough to be re-signed by the Kings, and Steckel signed as a free agent with the Capitals in 2005. Playing mostly in Hershey in his first two years, Steckel posted good (95 points in 145 games) if not spectacular numbers for a two-time Calder Cup finalist team (winning the championship in 2006). This year, after re-signing with the Caps as a restricted free agent, he would stick with the parent club as a defensive specialist getting third and fourth line duty.
As one might expect from a player playing the role of third line defensive specialist, the ten-game splits for Steckel are rather unspectacular.
* seven games
But here, too, there is the effect of a new coach, one for whom Steckel played while in Hershey. Again, the change wasn't spectacular, but was noticeable, even though his time on ice remained at about 13-and-a-half minutes a game. For example, from barely shooting the puck in the first 20 games (ten shots total), he was getting more opportunities in the offensive end after the coaching change. His scoring reflected the increased attention – from 1-0-1 in his first 20 games to 4-7-11 in his last 47.
The odd thing about his scoring, though, was his performance against Tampa Bay. If he had results like 4-2-6, +4, in six games against the rest of the league…
Where Steckel shined was in the game's most fundamental task – faceoffs. He led all rookies (among those taking at least 500 draws) in faceoff winning percentage (56.3 percent). He was also trusted to perform the task. He was third among all rookies (again, those taking at least 500 draws) in percentage of team faceoffs taken (23.3 percent). He was 50 percent or better on draws in 46 of the 67 games in which he played.
Steckel played the role of a specialist. It is perhaps one far removed from that which might have been envisioned for him when he was drafted. But he played that role very well, and there is evidence in his minor league career that there is more of a scorer there than met the eye this year (he had 30 goals in 71 games at Hershey in 2006-2007). On a team that emphasized the attack after the coaching change, Steckel was a defense and penalty killing oriented player. He played those roles very well. For that, we'd give a grade of…


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LAKE FOREST, Ill., June 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Hospira, Inc. (NYSE: HSP), the world's leading provider of injectable drugs and infusion technologies, will host a conference call to discuss its second-quarter 2012 results on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012 at 8 a.m. Central time.
The company will release its second-quarter results earlier that morning, before the U.S. stock market open and the conference call.
A live webcast of the conference call and related material will be available on Hospira's website at www.hospirainvestor.com. Listeners should log on approximately 10 minutes in advance to ensure proper setup to receive the webcast. A replay will be available on the Hospira website for 30 days following the call.
About Hospira
Hospira, Inc. is the world's leading provider of injectable drugs and infusion technologies. Through its broad, integrated portfolio, Hospira is uniquely positioned to Advance Wellness™ by improving patient and caregiver safety while reducing healthcare costs. The company is headquartered in Lake Forest, Ill., and has approximately 15,000 employees. Learn more at www.hospira.com.
|SOURCE Hospira, Inc.
Copyright©2012 PR Newswire.
All rights reserved


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A collection of scholarly works about individual liberty and free markets. A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.
1557 - 1638
Historical Period:
The Early Modern Period
Johannes Althusius was a German political and legal philosopher whose ideal commonwealth was a harmonious ordering of natural associations, beginning with the family and moving up through local and regional associations. He is an early theorist of the idea of federalism.


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Monday, March 3, 2014
Exploring New Formats for Genealogy Instruction
1. I'm not alone. Others are tiring of the back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back lectures that make up a daily genealogy conference schedule. It's not a dislike of the lecture format, but more of a desire for variety of presentations. When you open a conference schedule and see 50 different lectures, it's kind of like 50 kinds of vanilla ice cream. I like vanilla ice cream, I just don't need 50 versions of it.
2. Commenters say they prefer--and often learn more from--interactions with others outside a conference's classroom hours than they do in the lecture sessions. This has been my experience as well. This is not a knock on speakers or the lecture format, rather a plug for the value of group learning.
3. There seems to be a measurable desire for other learning formats to be incorporated alongside lectures into conference programming. Of course, there will be those who don't like changes, but there is now a group just as vocal about exploring other options.
What kind of options are out there? I started looking at conferences for different types of things. Some ideas are already being incorporated in genealogy conferences, but could be tweaked for more success. Others are just new ways we can teach the old tricks and subjects we deem important.
Conference within a conference - It is exactly as it sounds: a smaller day-long event within a larger one, usually where the sessions are tied together by a specific theme. Here's an example I pulled from the cobwebs in my head:
BCG Camp (a hypothetical example of a conference within a genealogy conference)
The Board for Certification of GenealogistsⓇ holds a day-long mini-conference on one of the days of a national conference. The schedule could go like this:
8:30am-10:00am - Opening keynote of the larger conference. Usually these are huge draws so there's no need to take away from it. Start the camp later.
10:30am-11:30am - Lecture on a key principle like the Genealogical Proof Standard or something. Give attendees an in-depth look at a selected topic with an expert lecturer.
12:00pm-1:30pm - Ticketed BCG lunch with time to socialize and notable speaker.
2:00pm-3:00pm - Certification Q&A. Certified genealogists answer audience questions. The crowd is taking in information as they would in a lecture, but they're participating in the learning as well. Have the group watch the instructional BCG certification seminar video at home ahead of time so the basic questions are already answered and they bring a variety of new ones.
3:30pm-4:30pm - Problem solving exercise. Present a genealogical problem, divide the class into groups, and give them time to work out their approach to solving the issue. Then gather the class back together, share the groups' processes and reveal the speaker's solution if different.
Aftersession - Have a meetup or informal social event in the evening so prospective certification candidates meet one another and mingle with CGs.
See there? A whole day of learning and interaction with only one traditional lecture.
Conference within a conference isn't just for groups. Planners and speakers can also schedule these mini-camps around subjects of interest like military records, Irish genealogy research, etc.
Unconference sessions - Yes, we already have these in genealogy conferences, but they aren't being utilized properly. They're usually only publicized on an exhibit hall white board that folks may or may not see. Why not put unconference topics, times and places right in the conference program with all the other sessions? Planners could request unconferencing topics and facilitators just as they call for speakers. Pick the best ideas and put them in the master schedule.
Here are some ideas for possible FGS unconference topics: How we find speakers/subjects for our genealogy society, fundraising ideas, popular newsletter topics, creative membership drives, your favorite genealogy resources for researching in Texas/Scotland/whatever. Do you think people would attend these unconferences if they were in the program? I do. Put them in the conference program and ask attendees to bring their best ideas and questions. Designate a facilitator and let's create a list of ideas we can take home and share with others.
Interest groups - Wouldn't it be great to meet up with people researching French ancestry? Or RootsMagic users? Or whatever little genealogical niche you desire? I realize it is difficult to cull these ideas and get them into a program many months out but there has to be a way. There just has to be.
Blended learning - This is a trend in K-12 education right now, but there's no reason it can't be an option for genealogy conferences or single society meetings. Students do part of their learning at home (usually an online component), on their own schedule and at their own pace. Then the group comes together to apply what they've learned. It's backwards: lecture/lesson at home, homework/problem solving at school.
Thomas MacEntee envisioned a "flipped lecture" format in a comment on my last blog post. Randy Seaver also proposed an idea where genealogists independently watch video lessons taught by experienced researchers, then coming together in person to discuss the issue and/or apply it to real research situations.
The ideas are there. The interest is there. I think this is something the genealogy community should explore.
MOOCs - Massive Open Online Courses are all the rage right now in the online community. See Coursera for an idea of what's available out there. Discussion is also buzzing in the library community, so--if you read my last post--this should be a genealogy issue in about 5 years.
Why can't the genealogy community get on the MOOC train? Is doesn't have to be a "massive" effort. Maybe we can get FamilySearch on board. Maybe they're already exploring the option. It's jut something to think about.
So what do you think? Are your idea gears going? What would you like to see at genealogy conferences and society meetings?
Do you think the general genealogy public would like other format options alongside lectures? I don't know. Change is funny. And people are funny. I'm not an expert at judging ether one.
I wrote a blog post about how the all-lecture-all-the-time conference format was starting to wear on me. Others agreed across several social media platforms and more enthusiastically than I expected. There is a desire for other learning formats...not to replace the traditional lecture but to accompany it.
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Excellent ideas. With all the WWII research and writing I've done the last couple of years I have two of four lectures written already and more books in the works. My plan by this fall is to start booking seminar days - similar to what you proposed for a BCG day - spend a day navigating the WWII records and show what else is out there. Everyone thinks they can't research a soldier because "all the records burned." They can and I have done it. I also work on Women during WWII which a lot of people do not.ReplyDelete
Maybe I need to put in some call for papers again on the national level and see if anyone wants a newcomer to the national scene. We should be talking about WWII before all the veterans are gone.Replies
First: thanks for commenting. Second: you should definitely put in for some national conferences. You have a great knowledge set and it needs to be shared.
Hear, hear Amy. I wrote in a similar vein a few weeks ago after the recent genealogy cruiseReplyDelete
Agreed. We're definitely on the same wavelength here.Delete
FYI, BCG always has a full-day hands-on workshop the day before every NGS conference. This year's program -- sold out as always -- is on Putting Skills to Work.ReplyDeleteReplies
Thanks for the info, Judy. That sounds interesting. Glad to hear it's a sellout.Delete
You are on the right track here, Amy. Thank you! For presentations, I would just like to hear from people with recent research articles explain how they did that research, the problems they overcame, and what worked/didn't work. I don't think I'm ever going to get that, but another thought I have is that there is a lot of knowledge at those conferences, yet nothing is in place to help crowd-source solutions to research problems. What you are describing really helps with that issue.ReplyDelete
Ultimately I think it's very hard to overcome the speaker funding question and really change conferences ... it makes me nervous that the corporations where the genealogy money is have invented their own conference (Rootstech) with no real oversight by a board elected by the community (as would essentially be the case with the FGS and NGS conferences) and so our first real chance to change the dynamic has slipped out of our hands. I'm sure I''m saying too much, but the issues you are raising are really important, and change will come, eventually, no matter what. I just hope we have a voice in that change.
- Heather K.March 3, 2014 at 5:03 PM
What a wonderful topic Amy! To be honest, it would be hard for me to comment on a national gen conference as I have not been to one. I have been to some state gen conferences before but prefer webinar and online classroom environments using social media to network. This is mostly due to my schedule and pocketbook. What I can tell you is why I prefer library conferences too: variety and products. One of the BEST presentations I have attended at a conference was about evidenced based practice in education. Another one was about flipped classrooms. I also paid for a preconference workshop on professional writing. There is so much variety to choose from even with the lecture format. And there are different speakers every year. When I determine what presentations I would like to see I usually ask myself these questions: what is being done differently with good results? how could I use that in my own research/business models? what will I be able to produce from the program? what new information will I gain?ReplyDelete
Library conferences also use the time well for advocacy with a few flash mobs at the state capitols, committees for different interest groups, and yes, even the book cart drill teams (: They also use social media to support the lecture format with twitter hashtags, electronic flyers, downloads, conference app, etc. And of course, free wi-fi. There is just always something different to keep the interest going and people coming back.
After reading all about these new ideas, I've thought of another one. What about making our own sessions at conferences. The NGS conference app has the ability to see who else is attending the conference. If it could be changed to let us create sessions on some obscure topic such as a small town of interest or a famous ancestor, we could schedule it so others can sign up and then meet at the specified time. If it's set up in advance we would have time to get together the information we have on the topic to bring it to the session. Then all could discuss a topic they know something about and learn from each other.ReplyDelete
I have been to only one national conference (NGS at SLC) and one regional (SCGS Jamboree) and prefer to spend my $$ going to institutes where I can focus deeper on a subject. What I found at the conference I attended was after 4 or so lectures, your brain cannot take in any more. However, you paid the big $$ so you sit through lectures to get your money's worth. But if your brain if full and can't take in any more, you are really wasting money.ReplyDelete
I learn best by doing something with what I learn. If I don't do something pretty soon, I will lose that information. I would love to have more "workshops" even those I signed up for ahead of time and did pre-homework for it. I want more help learning sound methodologies to solve genealogical problems. I want to learn about using new record sets I've never used before. I like working problems with others. But from a scheduling viewpoint, I see why it's not done much.
Thanks for having this discussion!
My 2 cents worth of "blue sky" ideas:ReplyDelete
"Pro-gen model" for other topics than professional genealogy
- incorporates blended learning, interest groups, unconference (online via HOA or webinar hand-raising, or at in-person event)
- spread over several weeks, provides time to digest / practice individually, and network with fellow students virtually, even after class ends
Meetups advertised via bloggers, sign-up open to public who read postings
Physical local meetings
- go to evite site for free registration (like Sheri Fenley sets up for Sacramento event headcount)
- table topics & facilitators (like SCGS Jambofree), people move from table to table
- free room/tables/chairs: perhaps FHC, society, library, patio dining (eat & schmooze after)
Online meetings - maybe possible to mimic above?
- via HOA: join/drop "filmstrip", or post questions/comments (like DearMyrtle); recorded free
- via webinar hand-raising too limited? is there a multiple speaker format?
Topic-specific formats
"Explorinars" (like Thomas MacEntee)
- great for learning to use a new tool (eg Evernote, Dropbox)
- pace & step-by-step instructions allowed installing & setup during webinar!
- recorded, so could playback & pause, if desired
- perhaps a group followup session a couple of weeks later could help both answer questions after using, as well as share how others using?
"Stump the Panel" (like CGSL)
- an attendee asks a research question
- 3 panel members suggest ideas and/or conduct on-the-spot short online research
- then floor opened to all attendees to make further suggestions, or ask questions about suggestions (eg how might be used elsewhere, more details about a new-to-them resource)
- repeat steps above, for question from another attendee, round-robin
Amy, thank you this is an awesome set of suggestions. I posted recently about Roots Tech's many problems on my own blog and I see many great solutions here. Now that I think about it I did see and unconference white board somewhere in a hallway, I think. The problem was that I had no idea what it was until it was too late. The Salt Palace is huge and there were 13,000 people rushing around. If there had been an unconference sign up list online before the conference, followed by a special listing of those sessions in the app, on the website and on-site that would have given smaller interest groups a better opportunity to connect. I also loved the meet-up group idea. Jen Baldwin of NextGen had a small meet up of "young" genealogy enthusiasts like me but we only ended up with about 8 people. We had a wonderful time laughing and talking, but if we had had a better/ more official way to advertise the meet up, we could have gotten a significantly better turn out. I know there were way more than 8 people under 40 at that huge conference! I will be linking to this post on my blog www.theirchild.blogspot.comReplyDelete
One additional option: Virtual Conferences. I've either attended or worked at nearly all of the Family Tree University virtual conferences, and they're a great option. I wish more people were doing things like that, because the travel/expense is a huge barrier for many people. When you do travel to a regular conference, you feel pressure to get as much as you can out of it, which is part of what leads to the zombielike shuffle to sessions where you aren't really absorbing much anyway.ReplyDelete


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Small-Business Answer Book
This story appears in the November 2006 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »
Looking for investors? Wondering about the best benefits for your employees? Read on for answers to these and other crucial business questions.
Q: My company needs an influx of operating revenue. How do I find investors for my business?
A: Your first question should be, "How much do I need?" If we aren't talking millions of dollars, friends and family are some of the most dependable resources for any entrepreneur. If you've already tried that, you should consider other options, such as a small-business loan, an angel investor or venture capital.
Finding investors is really a matter of networking. Unless you get lucky, it's going to take some time. For starters, talk to your banker, who may want to offer you a loan, and may also know potentially interested investors. You should also talk to your chamber of commerce, as well as any business organizations you belong to.
Not surprisingly, the internet can help you find angel investors and VC groups fast. Check out the National Venture Capital Association's website. Under the "Resource Area" tab, you'll find numerous descriptions of, and contact information for, regional VC associations, such as the Atlanta Venture Forum and the Colorado Venture Capital Association. Angel investors aren't quite as organized, but there are organizations that match up angel investors and entrepreneurs. Active Capital is one national angel investor organization. Angel Capital Association (www.angelcapitalassociation.org) is another; it will lead you to approximately 200 regional sites across North America, including Alliance of Angels, which is based in Washington state and focused on high-tech operations.
You could spend all day on the web looking at the organizations available before you even decide who to contact. But be warned: Unless you have a business plan, you're not going to get far. Everybody--save maybe your Uncle Mel, who might not be as discriminating--will want to know what you intend to do with the money that you want invested in the company. They're going to want a solid five-year business plan that includes projections and details how your business makes money, who your customer base is and how you intend to market to them--almost no detail is too trivial. So before you search for investors, buy some software or a book that can help you write a plan, or go to an organization like SCORE or your local Small Business Development Center and ask for help with writing a business plan.
Q:I'm on a budget. Can I afford to do market research?
A: You can't afford not to. Whether you're starting a business or releasing a new product, you have to know if there's a need for your product or service. If you're running a business and plan on releasing a product or service that customers have clamored for, then obviously, you've done some market research. In the case that you already know there's a need for what your business is going to do, you might want to collect thoughts from your existing customers about how much they'd pay for your new product or service, and what they really want out of it.
If you are starting a business but aren't certain there's a need for what you're offering, try contacting people or companies you think may be potential customers. If you come across as earnest, competent and capable, most people are going to want to help you by spending a few minutes talking to you, and you may find that some of these people will, indeed, someday become clients. You should also consider talking to the people at the top of your industry, whether at the chamber of commerce or at industry associations. You could attend a trade show and just talk to anyone you can find about the need for a business like yours, provided you're sure you're not going to give away any of your own trade secrets.
Keep in mind that the chamber of commerce sometimes has its own market research it can share with you. For instance, if you plan on opening a restaurant and are considering renting or buying a property on a street corner, you may find that your chamber of commerce can tell you how much traffic goes by the property on a given day.
Hiring Employees and Business Insurance
Q: My business is growing rapidly, and it's more than I can handle by myself. What kind of employee should I hire?
A: The obvious answer is that you want to hire somebody who is competent, able to work for whatever you can pay and truly interested in helping you grow your company. But to find an employee who can help your business, the question you really need to ask is, "What type of boss do I need to be?"
That's because the best way to hire and keep an ideal employee is to be an ideal employer. If you can't offer a health plan, for instance, you should provide other perks, whether it's flextime or permission to bring a pet to the office. If you're the type of boss who people want to work for, and your company offers its staff opportunities that they feel they can't get somewhere else, good employees will gravitate toward you.
There are some important guidelines to consider when hiring your first employee. You need somebody who has skills or talents you don't have. Look at all your shortcomings, and if your prospective employee seems to have qualities you wish you did, that's somebody worth considering. Even a slightly different mind-set about the business world might prove helpful. Certainly, you need to be able to work together, but if you hire a clone of yourself, your business won't have the varied skills and opinions that a successful company needs to move forward.
Q:I know I need business insurance, but how do I know if I have the right policy?
A: Although some people may disagree with this statement, you can almost never be over-covered, especially in this day and age. Unfortunately, you'll never really know if you have the right business insurance until you retire or sell your company. By then, if you've gone through any crises and didn't lose money or much income because your insurance company was there for you, you'll know that you chose wisely.
Employee Benefits and Contracts
Q: What kinds of benefits should I offer my employees? My business is growing, but I'm not sure how much I can afford to offer them.
A: A lot of business experts and entrepreneurs ascribe to the idea that your employees should be who you look out for first, followed by your customers. It's not just Pollyanna-type thinking. If your employees are happy, they're going to look out for your customers. If they're not happy to work for you, then you're steering a ship with sailors who really couldn't care less if the business runs aground.
So the answer is: Offer as many benefits as you can without seriously hurting the health of your business.
The types of benefits you have to offer, according to the law, probably won't be a surprise, but nevertheless, here they are: You need to allow your employees time off to vote, serve on a jury and perform military service. You must comply with all workers' compensation requirements, withhold FICA taxes and pay your own portion of FICA taxes, giving employees retirement and disability benefits. You have to pay state and federal unemployment taxes so your unemployed workers can receive benefits. If your state requires it, you also have to contribute to state short-term disability programs, and if you have 50 or more employees, you must comply with the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
You don't have to offer a 401(k) plan or a life insurance plan. Unless you're in Hawaii, you don't have to offer a health plan, either. You don't even need to give employees paid vacation, holidays or sick leave. Most employers, however, provide (at minimum) paid holidays for New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. And if you don't offer some type of benefit to your employees, even you will have to wonder: Who will want to work for me, and do I really want that type of person working for me?
Q:I'm establishing a partnership of sorts with a vendor I've been working with. How do I write the contracts?
A: There are numerous books and software that can help you write a business contract, including Ultimate Book on Forming Corporations, LLCs, Sole Proprietorships and Partnerships by Michael Spadaccini and Business Contracts Kit for Dummies by Richard D. Harroch . A lawyer doesn't need to be brought in, but if what's at stake is complex and worth millions of dollars, then you'd be foolish not to have an attorney look over your contract.
In your contract, some items you should cover are the obligations that you and the other party are expected to fulfill. If something goes wrong on your end, you should limit your liabilities--and likewise, the other party will expect the same gesture in return. You should set a time frame under which the terms of the contract will be met, as well as how each party will pay or be paid. And you'll want to have some language that keeps your contract flexible. People are human--they finish projects a day or two late, or they pay a week or two later than they intended. That may be acceptable to you if the other party is in contact with you and you know what's going on. Contracts aren't designed to hurt anyone; they're designed to keep businesses from being hurt if another company isn't keeping up its end of the bargain.
Patents and Online Marketing
Q: I have an idea for a new product. Do I need a patent, and how do I get one?
A: Yes, you do need a patent if you want to protect yourself. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website is an extremely comprehensive site with forms, fee rates and instructions on how to apply for a patent online.
If it's just a basic filing fee to cover your idea, and you're considered a small business or you're an entrepreneur working alone, you'll pay $150; double that if you own a large company. But the deeper you delve, the more you might pay: You can pay patent search fees (if you're not sure if there's already an existing patent that covers your idea), patent maintenance fees (every several years, you'll need to renew it), and all sorts of obscure patent fees from design filing fees to patent application extension fees. Still, chances are you'll just pay $150 and only have to worry more about patents if your product turns out to be a success. In that case, you'll probably be hiring a patent attorney.
You may even have a business practice that could be covered by a patent, something in which you've invested time and money. For instance, Amazon.com's 1-Click system, which allows repeat customers to bypass address and credit card data forms, has been patented (although it's now being challenged in court). The benefits are immediately obvious: You can patent a business method for 20 years, keeping competitors from using it, or you can license it out.
Some books you'll probably want to check out include Patent It Yourself by David Pressman (Nolo, $49.99), and Patents, Copyrights & Trademarks for Dummies by Henri Charmasson (John Wiley & Sons, $21.99).
Q:I know it's important for me to market my business online. How do I get started?
A: Getting your website in front of customers is important for every business. One way to market yourself is to consider having a blog or even a podcast, which is basically a video or audio blog. You can set these up for free at websites like Blogspot.com and MSN Spaces (http://spaces.live.com). Many web-building sites will also help you set up your own blog.
If you're not the only one updating the blog--your employees may help, too--that will invariably make it more manageable and fun to read. If you can attract some diligent, devoted consumers who read it frequently, you will probably have those customers for life, but even people who read it just once will be able to get a sense of what your company is about. A blog also helps your venture feel like a live, vibrant place of business rather than a static, never-changing company, which sometimes can be the feel of a website.
And then, of course, there's pay-per-click advertising. The three leaders in this field are Google AdWords, Yahoo! Sponsored Search and MSN Keywords. Advertising on all three is a cost-effective way to drive shoppers to your website.
For more answers to your most pressing business questions, visit our Small-Business Answer Desk.
Geoff Williams is a writer in Loveland, Ohio.


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My salted wares
Rather successful bovine dry curing. Viande de Grisson, bresaola and saucisson sec. Randall-Lineback eye of round for the VdG was cured in 2 stages (half the salt cure for 3 days, the other half for 3 more days), wiped clean of the cure mix, rolled in herbs (thyme, rosemary, oregano, and marjoram) wrapped in cheesecloth and hung in a refrigerated room –no need to ferment the whole muscle, just to dry it. Very nice color, sweet taste, but I don't know how much the herbs contributed to the flavor. Kind of musty actually. It eventually developed a bloom after 3 weeks and when it had sufficiently dried to my liking, I pressed it (to achieve the traditional pressed shape) between wooden boards weighed down with cans of tomatoes, though any canned good with equal weight would have worked just as well I suppose. A friend of mine once pilfered in my pack a can or roasted red peppers from Buca di Beppo, whose "Pope Room" is the gold standard for Italian dining with your delinquent friends, and there is a crappy nudie bar next door (gnudi bar, by the way, would be a very good idea for a gnudi menu themed room). I was pleased as punch by the plucked can, though upon shaking it, it seemed like there was quite a bit of water in there. That sloshy sound was consistent with the contents –dihydrogen monoxide. What was most amazing, was that the cans were authentically labeled, painted on, nutritional info, imported, importer address, contents, ingredients… A very convincing 5lb can of roasted red peppers that would fit in on any Costco shelf. Who makes such a mock product? And what will become of the Pope busts that bless the Pope Room tables?
The bresaola was fabricated from an Angus eye of round, cured in the same manner as the VdG, put in a beef bung casing, brushed with vinegar and left to dry in the same refrigerated room. After a week, the bresaola began to develop a healthy white bloom and 3 weeks later was completely encased in the cherished bloom which other manufacturers artificially replicate with rice flour. Very nice color and sweet beefy flavor. Far better than the desiccated beef often passed off as the real McCoy.
Saucisson sec was more of a challenge. Lean Randall-Lineback eye-of-round was used in lieu of pork, primarily because of the abundance of the former, and pork back fat supplemented the fat. No starter culture. Standard procedure was applied and the pieces were incubated in a plastic tub for 72 hours. The refrigerator conditions were not ideal for the proper curing (too cold, not enough humidity) and the ph of the meat may not have been sufficient. While the flavor was enjoyable, particularly the lucknow fennel seed, the sausage itself was a bit softer than desired in the middle, though the face of the slice was encouraging –no air pockets or festering inside, but the fat distribution left much to be desired.
Randall-Lineback secca (the French variety of bresaola) was successful and absolutely delicious. Cured in the same manner as the Viande de Grisson and bresaola. Stuffed in a beef middle. Top notch bloom. I could have snow angels in that bloom if I was smaller.


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In his new book, Wild Ones: A Sometimes Dismaying, Weirdly Reassuring Story About Looking at People Looking at Animals in America, journalist Jon Mooallem uses the polar bear, the whooping crane, and a species of butterfly to tell the story of our tangled relationship with wild animals. Mooallem is a keen observer, and he's as fascinated by the dedicated, eccentric humans who fight to protect these animals as he is by the beasts themselves. The book is sad, hilarious, and impossible to put down.
Wired: What's your earliest memory of an interaction with an animal?
Jon Mooallem: Actually, my most vivid memory is of not interacting with animals. As a kid, I was fascinated by wildlife—I watched a lot of wildlife television shows on PBS—but I grew up in suburban New Jersey, with hardly any exposure to actual animals.
There was a brook behind my house, which sounds idyllic, but wasn't. It was a weedy mess. The banks were paved into concrete slopes. My mother wouldn't let me go down there because she worried about ticks and teenagers smoking cigarettes. But, most mornings, I'd stop on the overpass during my walk to school and look down into the water for a while, trying to spot fish or frogs. I don't remember ever seeing any fish or frogs—I'm not even sure it would have been possible from that height. But I do remember standing there, burning to see some fish or frogs.
That's the perspective I wrote Wild Ones from—a perspective I think a lot of urban and suburban people share. We seem subtly enthralled with these creatures we seldom see—invested in them, imaginatively, but not always sure what to do with that emotion. You can see it trickling out in strange ways: not just giving money to wildlife conservation groups, but wearing t-shirts with birds and narwhals silk-screened on them, or passing around Internet videos of black bears breaking into pickup trucks.
Wired: Did you have pets as a kid?
Mooallem: I had a newt named Andre the Giant. I also had a guinea pig named Sir Cavendish who we had to put down after a series of mysterious rectal tumors.
__Wired: __How did you decide to write this book?
__Mooallem: __In 2008, my wife and I had our first child, a daughter named Isla. Immediately, our house filled up with cutesy animal paraphernalia: sippy cups with polar bears on them, owl onesies, butterfly mobiles, rubber giraffe teethers.
At the time, I was starting to report on conservation for the New York Times Magazine. I was learning about this great storm of extinction we're living through, but also about the meticulous and sometimes preposterous-looking ways conservationists must now work to help species survive, like teaching condors not to perch on power lines, or employing a woman to sit deep inside a dam and stare through an underwater window, counting each endangered salmon that swims by.
This was all news to me. I realized that my ideas about wildlife really weren't so different, or better informed, than the cutesy animal kingdom my daughter was being introduced to. I got curious about how the stories we tell about animals—these romantic ideas of wildness and nature—stack up against the reality. I found that, in a world where so many species are dependent on our hard work and empathy for their survival, those stories actually shape the reality. Our imaginations are an ecological force.
__Wired: __Who are the most interesting human or animal characters you came across in your research?
__Mooallem: __It's hard to choose! For example, I met Dennis "The Bear Man" Compayre in Churchill Manitoba—an ecotourism hotspot in the sub-arctic that bills itself as the Polar Bear Capitol of the World. About ten years ago, Dennis launched a little ramshackle startup, live-streaming footage of wild polar bears from a moon-roverish buggy on monster truck tires that he drove around the tundra outside town. A bear he nicknamed Dancer would follow him like a loyal hound dog, sometimes dancing alongside the buggy on its hind legs while Dennis chucked it a sausage.
But as environmentalists and marketers turned the polar bear into an icon of climate change—a mascot to rally action—Dennis' access to the bears was essentially cut off; his webcam wasn't seen as the best, most productive use of the polar bear's image. An NGO took over, got some corporate funding, and turned the buggy into a mobile television studio for educational programs about climate change.
Dennis took this pretty hard. Surprisingly, most locals I met in Churchill don't even believe in climate change and resent how environmentalists have Disneyfied polar bears, rebranding their fearsome neighbors as delicate, helpless victims. "People come up here now with a lump in their throat because they think this bear is doomed," Dennis told me. "Not for the joy of being with a bear, and seeing a bear in the wild."
__Wired: __What is the most hilarious animal tale in the book?
__Mooallem: __There's a lot of history in the book—I wanted to track how America's feelings about animals have changed over time—and I got especially wrapped up in the hippie-fueled Save the Whales movement of the late 60s and early 70s. Within only a few years, whales went from being seen as big bags of oil to be harpooned and carved up, to blubbery deities whose amorous, pacifist lifestyle "could be an incredible teacher to us," as one activist put it.
And that led me to the story of the woman who lived with a dolphin.
There was a lab in St. Thomas dedicated to communicating with dolphins, which were presumed to be a higher intelligence. It was run by a former Navy neuroscientist; Carl Sagan liked to visit. In 1965, a woman named Margaret Howe decided that the best way to establish cross-species communication with a dolphin would be to move in with one—like a study-abroad immersion program. So she lived with a bottlenose named Peter for two and a half months in a specially built "flooded house." There was a kitchenette, an office with a chair and a desk, and a cot—all in twenty-two inches of water. She spent every day patiently trying to teach Peter to say her name or count to five, and wore bright red lipstick so that Peter could better track the movements of her mouth. They also watched television. "No matter how long it takes," Howe assured Lilly, "no matter how much work, this dolphin is going to learn to speak English."
It didn't go so well. Howe had imprisoned herself with a dolphin and was quickly crushed by loneliness and despair. (She also complained of chafing.) Peter was rambunctious and uncooperative, ramming her shins and prodding her with his constant erections. Howe wound up having to give the dolphin hand jobs, to calm him down.
__Wired: __Right, of course, who wouldn't?
__Mooallem: __I love this story because, like a lot of stories I tell in the book, there's a glaringly hilarious element to it, but the people involved were motivated by a certain earnestness, idealism, and determination that are incredibly admirable. I try to celebrate that. Howe wrote movingly about the whole ordeal after it was over, and even made recommendations about how to tweak the experiment to encourage better results next time. "We owe it to the dolphin and to our curiosity to try it," she said.
A similar example is the story of the Otter Free Zone—a failed, large-scale federal project in southern California to broker a peaceful co-existence between ticked off fishermen and endangered sea otters. Essentially, the government tried to tell the otters where they were, and weren't, allowed to swim. It would have solved everything, if the otters had listened.
__Wired: __Damn disobedient otters! But some of these stories aren't funny at all. Did reporting the book depress you?
__Mooallem:__When I started working on Wild Ones, I'd just become a father for the first time. I was thinking about the world, and its future, in a new way. And I was depressed. Clearly, there's a lot to get depressed about.
But I found the process of writing the book weirdly reassuring—just like I say in the title. I was spending time with people who felt the same worry that I did, but who'd picked some piece of our collective mess and were working their asses off to fix it—even though, in many cases, they also acknowledged that their work might not pay off. It was exhilarating just to be around these people, people living in such close proximity to big, mostly unanswerable questions about our species' place on earth. To be so persistent amid so much uncertainty requires an intense and peculiar heroism.
I'm not saying I wound up feeling tremendously optimistic about the future. But I definitely feel less worried now. The process of writing Wild Ones was a process of remembering how admirable humans can be—our dignity and not just our destructiveness. I realize that's tough to explain, or that it might come off as Pollyanna-ish. But I hope the book recreates that experience, taking readers through the same process so that they'll realize it's true.
__Wired: __Do you know about the push to bring back extinct animals, like the passenger pigeon?
__Mooallem: __Yes! I'm fascinated with this idea, and have so many questions. (Stewart Brand, call me!)
To me, de-extinction feels more like a conceptual art project than a genuine tool for conservation. Passenger pigeons, for example, once roosted in flocks of more than a hundred million birds. They were mistaken for tornadoes. Trees snapped under their weight. They left inches of dung on the ground, like a blizzard. There are stories of people on rooftops in Philadelphia knocking them out of the sky with brooms when they swarmed through the city.
__Wired: __That's quite an image.
__Mooallem: __Suppose we could recreate that. Do we want to? How many airliners will passenger pigeons take down when they're sucked into jet engines? What happens when a flock descends on your daughter's field hockey game? Farmers in the Midwest are already pretty agitated with the rebounding populations of sandhill cranes and pelicans that eat or trample their crops. There's hardly any of them, comparatively!
That said, I think it's great that this is being discussed. The field of conservation needs to have more ambitious conversations like this. We humans wield a lot of power on the planet. It's time we owned up to that, rather than only feeling guilty and ashamed by its consequences. I'd love to see more conservationists thinking creatively about what kind of world, and what kind of nature, we can create, rather than only struggling to keep the last threads of the world we inherited from fraying.
__Wired: __You often write about these animals in relation to your daughter, and you brought her along on some of your reporting trips for the book. What do you think parents can do to strengthen their kids' interest in the natural world?
__Mooallem: __I definitely don't think parents need to lug their toddlers to the subarctic to look at polar bears napping in the mud like I did. I wouldn't recommend it, in fact. The bottom line is, you won't care about biodiversity—in the global, abstract sense—if you're unaware of the biodiversity immediately around you. So I think the most important thing we can teach children is simply to notice things, even if it's only crows and raccoons and worms. It's a good excuse for us adults to notice those things, too. And I honestly feel that paying just the smallest amount of attention to those scraps of nature can enlarge your sense of the world.
Isla and I are big into butterflies now. We got a field guide and everything, and caught a Red Admiral the other day with our bare hands. She wanted to take it to a birthday party at one of those bouncy house places, to show off to her friends, but after "studying" it for a while, we released it on the back steps and wished it well.
WILD ONES book trailer from Jon Mooallem on Vimeo.
Video by Sachi Cunningham.


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Civil War Project: the Emancipation Proclamation
Happy Thanksgiving. As a holiday treat, here's a link to the Library's copy of the Leland-Boker Authorized Edition of the Emancipation Proclamation (1864), recently released as part of our US Civil War digitisation project. The signatures at the foot are in the hands of Abraham Lincoln, John Nicolay (Private Secretary to the President) and William Seward (Secretary of State).
There's more about the Proclamation on our Americas Collections Highlights pages, and it's available on Images Online. The Smithsonian also provides an introduction.


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I am 2 years old! My children tell me I act like a 2 years old as well. Those mean boys are constantly telling me to "Grow Up."
Well I think that I have done alot of growing in the last 2 years. I have a network of absolutely the grooviest people who encourage and support me in everything I do. I am speaking of course of the group of humans called the "Geneabloggers."
You people have given me the cajones (that's Spanish for courage y'all) to accomplish anything I set my mind to do.
So celebrate with me - take a few minutes and just do something silly. Like next time you are in the frozen food section of the grocery store, do a little dance. Or get out that lawn mower, put on your bathing suit and rock on. Whatever you do, I want to hear about it. "Get Out of Hell Free" cards will be sent upon request - no questions asked.
I am a genealogist, a historical researcher and I do spend alot of time being serious. But I always reward myself with moments like this:
The Genie is in the house!
(that just cost me 5 "Get Out of Hell Free" cards.)


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Mia Farrow's brother charged in Maryland with sexually abusing several children
Two victims say abuse spanned over 8 years
Mia Farrow's brother was arrested and charged in Maryland Wednesday with sexually abusing several children over a number of years.
Anne Arundel County police arrested John Charles Villers-Farrow, 66, and charged him with sex offense, perverted practice, child abuse, sex abuse of a minor and assault.
"It certainly takes a lot of courage for victims to come forward with this type of information and present it to law enforcement and our detectives, and investigators acted quickly and worked in conjunction with the State Attorney's Office to arrive at these charges," police spokesman Justin Mulcahy said.
According to court documents, the sexual abuse mostly happened at Villers-Farrow's Edgewater home in the 1400 block of Wakefield Road and lasted from 2000 until 2008.
Detectives said they were notified in August about the abuse of several children. As a result, two male victims, who are now adults, came forward to police and gave detailed accounts of the alleged abuse that happened during the early 2000's starting when they were 9 to 10 years old and lasted until their early teens.
The victims would spend time and sleep over at his house, with permission from their parents. It appeared, according to court documents, he was taking on some sort of custodian role.
Charging documents also reveal one of the victims told police the abuse had happened hundreds of times, so many in fact, he lost count.
Police forwarded the information to at the Anne Arundel County State's Attorney's Office, which decided to file the charges. Villers-Farrow turned himself into police Wednesday night.
On Thursday morning, WBAL-TV 11 News arrived at Villers-Farrow's home, where a woman quickly ran inside and told them to leave.
One neighbor, who did not want to be identified, said he was not surprised by the allegations.
Neighbors and several sources confirmed for 11 News that Villers-Farrow is the brother of Hollywood actress Mia Farrow. Her publicity people declined comment Thursday.
Villers-Farrow is being held at a detention center with bail set at $800,000.
Officials have not yet said if they've identified any other victims. Anyone with additional information or anyone who may have also been a victim is asked to contact Detective Josh Williams of the Child Abuse Unit at 410-222-3484.


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Yankees-Red Sox 2
The last time Boston was here in the Bronx one of the franchises many great baseball minds nodded gravely at my contention that the Yankees might not be that great a team, then could contain his disbelief no longer, smiled broadly at me, and asked, in the way only friends who consider each other slightly nuts can ask, Really?
The Baseball Prospectus folks (sorry, subscription required, these are not plugs, I just really find their work useful) analyzed the nine possible playoff teams four-man rotations based on Support Neutral Winning Percentage, which I think I understand but probably dont. The Cards lead at .575 with the Tigers second, the Red Sox third (.561) and the Yankees, dragged down by Joba Chamberlain, eighth at .520. Thus – natch – Jon Lester has sputtered through a long first three innngs capped by a second-deck home run by Alex Rodriguez, while Chamberlain is perfect through three, havng struck out three of the bottom four Boston hitters and popped up the fourth (Varitek) behind the plate.
1 Comment
Dick-K, Lester, Beckett. I don't know. My money is still on the Yanks. Oh dear, now Lester is hurt. We were really depending on him come October.
Steroids aside for a minute –
I have been telling my fellow Sox fans that it's going to be tough without the Ortiz/Manny combination in the playoffs. I have always thought that it was these two who won us our two championships, even though we did have a damn good starting rotation and bullpen both years. But Oritz/Manny combo always came through when they needed to. You could always count on one of them to get a big hit when needed. And an unsung hero was Kevin Millar. He kept the team loose, which is vital when the going gets tough.
A Yanks fan told me today that the Sox can go somewhere in the playoffs this year, without Ortiz/Manny. He said the opposition this year in the AL isn't that strong. He is as worried about his NYYs as we are about the Sox. He can't stand the thought of the NYY facing the Angels. I can't stand the thought of facing any of the teams. lol
"All I know is (as a Yankees Manager), I pass people on the street these days, and they don't know whether to say hello or to say good-bye." Billy Martin


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Special Spoons, Barrel-Aged Fish Sauce, and More of Minneapolis Chef Jamie Malone's Favorite Things
Minneapolis' Chef Jamie Malone is the second chef to share secrets in our Kitchen Close-Ups series. A native of the Twin Cities, Malone went to Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Minnesota, traveled solo after graduation to Asia to sample street food and market finds, then returned home, cooking at several local institutions before becoming a sous chef at Sea Change, where she then worked (and evidently talked) her way into the top seat. A 2013 Food and Wine Best New Chef (and the only woman that year), she's since been swarmed with offers for appearances and television spots, which she often turns down because she wants to be with her cooks in her kitchen. Here, she shares why it's so special.
Irreplaceable small tool or gadget
We have one tool that we all fight over all the time—our spoons. I know that's really common in a lot of kitchens, but we all seek out the spoons we consider the best for plating and everyone gets attached to their specific spoon. Sometimes you'll jump onto someone else's station to help them plate and bring your spoon and leave it in their bain [water bath], and then that cook will consider it theirs. So I finally decided to buy only spoons with flower patterns on them so that people won't be so inclined to steal them, and I'll always know they're mine. I have one company that I buy on Ebay that I love, Rogers Brothers.
I had one chef who would buy us all a spoon when we started, but they were super heavy—way heavier than I was used to—and I chipped my teeth on it, like, three times, going to taste things. So now I have three chips in my teeth all from the same spoon. I don't use that spoon anymore.
Item worth saving from a kitchen fire
We're really lucky to have a huge walk-in downstairs, so I use it to age stuff and little projects we're working on. We get persimmons* in every year and massage them, and then age them for a year, so I have two year's worth now. And we're always aging meats, and koji [mold] for miso. So I'd save all that stuff that I've been waiting to see come to fruition for years. Most things are replaceable, but not those.
*Chef's note: Aged persimmons kind of turn out like a fruit rollup. To age persimmons, hang them in sunlight, then you massage the pulp in them every three days or so, so that it almost sets. And then you can use them or Cryovac them so that the sugars keep breaking down, becoming more complex.
Family connection
I'm not a hugely sentimental person, but I have one thing: my dad passed away about ten years ago, and after the first article I ever had about myself was printed in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, I got a letter from one of his coworkers, a little card, that was really sweet. And that's the one sentimental thing I have that I'll always keep in whatever kitchen I'm cooking in.
Essential ingredients
Barrel-aged fish sauce. It's awesome. Fish sauce alone is awesome, but a couple of years ago I discovered Red Boat makes a barrel-aged fish sauce. If I'm cooking at home or something I'll make a fish sauce / chili / citrus stir fry, which is probably a little intense for a lot of people, but I really love fish sauce. Even using it in such a small quantity that you don't notice it does a lot. We add it to almost every vegetable puree—we have a cauliflower puree with sweetbreads, and there's a little in the cauliflower puree that you'd never know was there, but it gives it a little more umami. I don't know what they age it in—I would guess bourbon barrels but I'm not quite sure. It just kind of rounds things out and makes it softer, and a little more palatable for something that's meant to taste like fish sauce, like a stir-fry. In more delicate applications it provides just a slightly smokier flavor.
Ideal Kitchen Setup
My thing is, if it's out of sight, it's out of mind. So I try to keep everything really visually accessible. I use all the space I have, so if we're doing any project that's aging or requires maintenance over any period of time, I try to keep it in a place that's going to be seen a lot, so that we don't forget about it. And you can only have your menu so big, but we have so many ideas flowing through our brains, I often fear of losing those in our daily consciousness. So anything we're tinkering with is always really strong visually, to remind us of things. That's the ethos to set everything up—it should be inspiring to see all the time.
Secret Weapons
Koji is a mold that you inoculate rice or other grains with, which ferments and then becomes shio-koji, which is then used for sake and soy sauce and those kinds of things. But we make koji here, and if we're cooking duck or steak it gets used as a marinade. We also use it to flavor our burgers instead of salt. It's one of those things that you wouldn't really know was there, that again just adds that umami flavor. And it's pretty fun that our bread baker started using it in hamburger buns and then other things—it works well with yeast for leavening and adding a bit more flavor.
Quirky Practice
We have sea urchin on the raw bar here, so we have to have a minimum order but we don't always go through that much. So we started making a kind of bottarga [typically dried, salted, pressed roe] out of the urchin, and then we'll grate it on pasta any way you'd normally use bottarga, but it's got a floral, perfume-y sea urchin thing, too, and I think it's just kind of magical.
Technique We Should All Be Doing
Interval cooking meats. Let's say you're cooking a rib-eye. Instead of leaving it on the grill until it's whatever internal temperature you want and then letting it rest, you may instead cook it for two minutes and then let it rest for the equal amount of time, to create as much of an equilibrium as you can between the juices and the temperature, so kind of mimicking sous vide cooking, where you get a more even cooking throughout. You get a gorgeous, medium-rare pink all the way through, instead of those layers. And it keeps the juices in a more equilibrium too, so you don't lose that much moisture. It's one of those things, like, "Why didn't we all start doing this years ago? It's so simple." Just make sure it's equal—cooking and resting—back and forth.
Most Thankful For
My cooks inspire me a lot—they're awesome and they work so hard and they care so much, and know that I get a lot of the recognition that they all should be getting. And for sure there are days—not very often, it's very rare—but there are days I don't want to be here and then I come in and they're busting their ass and being awesome, and I'm so glad I'm here. We all work together, no matter what. There's no individual station. We're really fluid and agile, and the more agile and fluid we can be, the more we can adjust.
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