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Severely wounded and still recovering, former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords begged lawmakers at an emotional hearing Wednesday to act quickly to curb firearms because �Americans are counting on you.� Not everyone agreed, underscoring the national political divide over gun control.
Giffords� 80-word plea was the day�s most riveting moment, delivered in a hushed voice two years after the Arizona Democrat suffered head wounds in a Tucson shooting spree that killed six people � and two months after 20 first-graders and six women were slain by a gunman who invaded Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. She retired from Congress last year.
But at the same session, a top official of the National Rifle Association rejected Democratic proposals to ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines and said requiring background checks for all gun purchases would be ineffective because the Obama administration isn�t doing enough to enforce the law as it is.
Even if stronger background checks did identify a criminal, �as long as you let him go, you�re not keeping him from getting a gun and you�re not preventing him from getting to the next crime scene,� said Wayne LaPierre, the NRA�s executive vice president. He said poor enforcement is �a national disgrace.�
Giffords, in her brief appearance, focused on the carnage from armed assailants.
�Too many children are dying,� she said at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. �Too many children. We must do something. It will be hard, but the time is now.�
Guiding her in and remaining to testify was Mark Kelly, the retired astronaut who is Giffords� husband. The couple, who both owns guns, have formed a political action committee called Americans for Responsible Solutions that backs lawmakers who support gun restrictions.
�We�re simply two reasonable Americans who realize we have a problem with gun violence and we need Congress to act,� Kelly said.
Wednesday�s session played out in a hearing room packed to capacity. While both sides appealed to their followers beforehand to arrive early and fill the room, most in the public audience of around 150 appeared to be gun-control sympathizers, including relatives of the shootings at Virginia Tech.
�There should be gun control,� said Neeta Datt of Burtonsville, Md., who with Christa Burton of Silver Spring, Md., was first on line for public seats. Both are members of Organizing for Action, the Obama political organization that is now pushing his legislative agenda.
The hearing kicked off a year in which President Barack Obama and members of Congress are promising to make gun restrictions a top priority. Obama has already proposed requiring background checks for all gun sales and reviving both an assault weapons ban and a 10-round limit on the size of ammunition magazines, and several Democrats have introduced bills addressing those and other limitations.
After the hearing, Giffords met privately with Obama at the White House.
At the Capitol, senators� remarks during the hearing illustrated the gulf between the two parties on this issue.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, joined others in lauding Giffords but expressed little interest in curbing firearms.
�Unfortunately in Washington, emotion I think often leads to bad policies,� said Cruz, a freshman elected with strong tea party backing.
Republicans blamed the nation�s gun troubles on a list of maladies including a lack of civility, violent video games and insufficient attention to people with mental problems. Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the panel, said that while he welcomed the renewed focus on guns, �The deaths in Newtown should not be used to put forward any gun control proposal that�s been floating around for years.�
Democrats countered that a need to improve gun restrictions was obvious. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York said omitting gun limits from the debate �is like not including cigarettes when discussing lung cancer.�
Republicans and the NRA are not the only hurdles that Democrats face in trying to push gun legislation through Congress this year. It is also unclear what several Democratic senators facing re-election in GOP-leaning states in 2014 will do, including Sens. Max Baucus of Montana, Mark Begich of Alaska and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the committee�s chairman, said he hoped his panel would write gun control legislation next month, though he did not specify what it might contain. In his opening remarks, he voiced support for requiring broader background checks that would help keep criminals and the mentally ill from obtaining firearms, and he has also introduced legislation that would make it a federal crime for someone to purchase a gun for a person who would not be legally allowed to have one.
Reflecting the emotion that the gun issue taps into nationwide, Wednesday�s three-and-a-half-hour hearing featured numerous clashes between senators and some of the witnesses who testified.
�You are a large man,� Gayle Trotter, a senior fellow with the conservative Independent Women�s Forum, told Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., as he questioned her about gun curbs he favors. �You are not a young mother who has a young child� she might have to defend, she said.
At other points, Democrats on the panel contested LaPierre�s argument that criminals would simply ignore expanded requirements for background checks. Such checks are currently required for gun purchases from licensed dealers, but not some firearms bought at gun shows or online.
�That�s the point. The criminals will not go to purchase the guns because there�ll be a background check. It will stop them from original purchase. You missed that point completely. It is basic,� said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois.
Under questioning from Leahy, LaPierre said that in a reversal his organization no longer supports universal background checks for gun purchasers as it did years ago.
�Back in �99 you said, �No loopholes, nowhere,� � said Leahy, referring to testimony delivered more than a decade ago. �Now you do not support background checks for all.�


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Jennifer L. Alfieri, who earned her bachelor's degree in marketing at St. Bonaventure University, is a new associate attorney with Costello, Cooney & Fearon PLLC of Syracuse, one of the oldest and most respected law firms in Central New York.
Alfieri graduated from Syracuse University College of Law, where she was a member of the Syracuse Law Review and editor-in-chief of The Labor Lawyer. In addition, she attended the University of Miami School of Law where she received a master of laws degree in estate planning. She was previously an associate at Scolaro, Shulman, Cohen, Fetter & Burstein PC. Her practice focuses on trust and estate administration and estate planning.
Amber Kerling received an honors degree, majoring in Philosophy, from St. Bonaventure University in 2004. She received her J.D. from the University of Buffalo School of Law in 2008 where she was active in community based initiatives, including the Buffalo Public Interest Law program, the Prison Task Force, and the Domestic Violence Task Force.
Amber is a native of the Southern Tier and returned to the area in 2008 with the intent of serving her community through public interest work. She currently appears Of Counsel to Lori Rieman, Cattaraugus County District Attorney, in ten local town and village courts. This requires the prosecution of misdemeanor criminal charges from filing through the appellate process, and the preliminary handling of felonies arising in those courts.
Family is a very important aspect of her life; she is married with two small children and looks forward to having the time to again become involved within the community.
Brendan Little received his B.A. from St. Bonaventure University, cum laude, in 2004 and his J.D. from Ohio Northern University's College of Law, with distinction, in 2007. He is admitted to practice in both the State of New York and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Formerly associated with Paul William Beltz, P.C., Brendan joined Lippes Matthias Wexler Friedman, LLP in February 2009. His practice focuses primarily on commercial litigation matters. Currently Brendan handles a broad range of litigation including contractual disputes, shareholder derivative actions, RICO defense, real property litigation and the prosecution and defense of personal injury claims, which require motion practice, alternative dispute resolution and artibration.
Ryan Shannon, '08, (B.A., political science) graduated from the University of Richmond School of Law in May 2011. He was a member of the senior staff of the University of Richmond Law Review and a teaching assistant for Professors Marla Decker and Stephen Mc Cullough. He was enrolled in the clinical placement program, working with Genworth Financial on matters dealing with insurance law.
In May 2010, Ryan received the New York State Bar Association's President's Pro Bono Service Award. This award is presented annually to one law student from the state of New York who does the most to promote equal access to justice in the community. Ryan received the award based on his participation in the Law Students in Action Project, his successful representation of clients in front of the Unemployment Insurance Benefits Appeals Board and his research that is now being used by legal aide organizations throughout New York State in connection with the use of identification in applications for public benefits and for prisoners who are attempting to re-enter society.
According to Ryan, "Bonaventure was a great help preparing me for law school. The professors make a great effort to get to know each individual student and care about each one. You don't see that at other schools. In addition, the ability to analyze legal concepts and think critically was greatly bolstered through classes I took in the pre-law program. In particular, Constitutional Law and Mock Trial put me a step ahead of other law students when it came to being familiar with legal concepts and how to present a case. Bonaventure was the right choice to prepare me for what one needs to deal with when out in the professional world."
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One of my favorite Designer Paper stacks is still available on the LAST CHANCE LIST
PETAL GARDEN is a fabulous way to make your Designer Paper work for you.
Check out this card inspired by Melissa Davies
Today is also our oldest grandsons 16th birthday.HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYLER!!!
This is Tyler's card and gifts. I love to coordinate, but this one actually happened by accidental.
The card was created a while back and used as a COME STAMP WITH ME TUESDAY class card, but since Tyler's favorite beverage is Dr Pepper I thought it would be perfect for him too.
Then when I was looking up ideas for something clever I came up with this idea.
AND...we always give the grand kids the dollar amount of how old they are, and since Tyler also loves Pizza - I thought this was so appropriate for him. (We are talking teen boy here now!!)
When our children have a birthday we invite the couple or family over for a dinner of their choice, but for the grand kids we let them choose the restaurant of their choice and they get a night with Gramma and Grampa. This year (again) Tyler chose On The Border Restaurant. He is our Mexican food loving kid!!
Life is just going so fast when you watch this next generation grow up.
Today is the last day to use the Hostess Code for May 2018
I would love to have you shop with me.
Here is the list to my quick links to contact me or shop with me
Shop Stampin' Up! Christi's Store
Like my Facebook Page
Follow me on Pinterest
Join Paper Pumpkin with me
Shop the Clearance Rack - Save up to 60%
Christi Waite, Christi's Creative Crew
Thanks so very much for letting me be your Stampin' Up! Demonstrator
Have an amazing day!
ChristiPin It Now!


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News and notes from around the world of sports video gaming:
• Madden's play-in round of voting lasts until next Wednesday. Right now, last year's finalist Michael Vick is losing to teammate LeSean McCoy; two guys (Brandon Lloyd, Brandon Marshall) who won't be on their teams when the game releases next year, look to advance, and Las Vegas has Victor Cruz (?!) as the fourth favorite to win it all. Rob Gronkowski, a 13-2 shot, made that video above. Bonus points for the Zubaz, but I think he goes out early once the anti-Patriot hate machine fires up. I think Calvin Johnson is a great value at 18/1. Go put some money down on him and you can get paid like Megatron, too.
• UFC Undisputed 3's "Fight of the Night" DLC extension is available now. Get fighters Joe Lauzon, Rory MacDonald,. Sam Stout, Charles Oliveira and Anthony Johnson. The cost is $5/400 Microsoft Points.
• Robert Griffin III will have 90-plus speed and throw power, and Andrew Luck should be rated about an 87 overall when Madden NFL 13 hits, according to "ratings czar" Donny Moore. [via Pasta Padre]
• I don't know how these guys make these videos, I can't even get 2K's replay cam to work right. But Shady00018 at Operation Sports put out this superb in-game recreation of this Kobe Bryant "Failure" video.


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Udo Dirkscheider's band U.D.O. recently released a brand new studio album "Mission X" which, as the name says, is their tenth studio album to date. Last summer he also did a kind of re -union tour with his old bandmates Accept and together they did a series of succesfull gigs along with headlining huge festivals like Wacken, Swedenrock, Gods Of Metal and Tuska. While Udo is waiting a new U.D.O. tour to start in January he's working on several other projects like the one he already did with Russian pop band Factor 2 and now another one with Finnish monster band Lordi. I met Udo when he flew to Finland in early November to do vocals for the Lordi album and we talked about all these things. At the end of our discussion the main monster Lordi himself showed up and we talked some more about their collaboration as well as some other interesting topics …
Interview and pictures by Marko Syrjälä
You just recently released you tenth U.D.O album called "Mission X"..
UDO: Yes. Mission number ten
How this new album has been doing so far?
UDO: I only know what record label had told me but I've heard that it's doing very well and we have received very good response and reviews I'm really happy with the result because we did recording very quickly this time but the reason for that was Accept tour "laughs"!
If I'm right this album was recorded already sometime in early spring?
UDO: Yes.
Do you thing that this album received some extra publicity because of Accept tour?
UDO: I don't know? I don't think that this album is selling more because of what I did with Accept. When we put out the single "24/7" of this album in Germany in the beginning of June, it went straight away in the single chart in the Germany. It was the first time ever I've been on single charts in Germany with any band so it was obvious that that something better was going on. At that time Accept was just starting the summer festival tour and for me of course it was good that we did all those festivals with Accept because then I could promote the upcoming U.D.O album. Actually that was one of the reasons why I did the Accept tour "laughs"
Right, I remember when Accept was in Helsinki last summer and you did interviews only about new U.D.O album, right?
UDO: That's true "laughs"
Former U.D.O lead guitar player Matthias Dieth is also doing some guitars on this new album. How did you managed to get him to participate on this album?
UDO: Yeah. He's still a good friend of us but he's now a lawyer in Germany in music business, but he's not in a music business like we are. He's having a short hair, he look's completely different what he did in the past and he's completely out of music business but sometimes he visits on our place because he's still very interested how the things are going. On one evening, when we were recording our new album and just re-doing solo for Way Of Life", he came down to the studio and after a couple of beers he said "Would you let me play some guitar and try to do that solo?" and we said "Okay. If you like it can we put it on the album?" and that's how it went "laughs". You know, I'm still in contact with all these old of U.D.O members like Thomas Smuszynski and Stefan Scharfmann. We all are still in contact and there no bad feelings between us.
How about song writing for U.D.O? On these days it is basically just you and Stefan who do all everything?
UDO: Yeah that's definitely true on the last album but on "Thunderball" and "Holy" –albums the whole band was much more involved. We had to start writing directly after the "Thunderball" tour in December and because of all Accept stuff this new album had to be finished in the end of last March. So when I said to the guys "C'mon and come up with some new songs?" but they were like "okay".. So on this time almost everything is written by Stefan and I because the others didn't had too much useful material finished at that time.There is one song which is written by Igor, anyway we told the guys that you have to wrote new songs all over the year not only on some certain period when we have to do an album. So everything it's up to the guys. They should come up with some more songs next time?
How do you share writing between you and Stefan, I mean who writes the lyrics and so on?
UDO: The most of the lyrics are from ideas what I have. I have the basic idea and then we finish it together with Stefan.It usually goes like that.
Tell us something about "Mission X" lyrics?
UDO: Well let's say that "Cry Soldier Cry" is definitely an antiwar song and the rest is in a way some more rock 'n roll stuff. "24/7" is like telling people that there are only 24 hours and seven days in a week to work our duty which is "Mission Number X" which is our ambition of our music. "Mad for Crazy" and "Shellshock Fever" are basically telling people about how crazy we are when we still are doing music like this. There are some songs which go against TV, what's shown on the TV already in the afternoon in primetime but I think that for me 70% percent of this album is more lyrics about our music. What we are doing, what is our lifestyle you know? The song "Way of Life" is a perfect example about our life and our style of living.
"Way of Life" was originally recorded for "No Limits" album and I was going to ask why to re-record that song now?
UDO: We always think that we weren't too happy about the production of the original version on "No Limits". In a way it's a kind of bonus song on this record and we wanted to do it sound more straight ahead and rock 'n roll than the original version was. I think that song is now coming out much better than it did on "No Limits" because I think that the original version is too overproduced.
Well … in my opinion the whole "No Limits" album is a way too overproduced?
UDO: You are absolutely right. Unfortunately I found that out a couple of years later after that album was released "laughs" There are some really good songs on that album but production is too soft and clean.
So do you think that "Way Of Life" will be a part of your next tour set list?
UDO: Definitely "laughs"
Well I have ask about this. You have used words "Killing Machine" in almost every U.D.O album. What do you actually mean with "Killing Machine"?
UDO: "Killing machine", right. It depends in a way how you use it? Sometimes when we say "We are Killing Machines" that means no bad things for you but it means that we are kind of killing machines with our music and stuff like that. It certainly doesn't mean anything like "War, we are killing everything", because are totally against killing and tell people not to do that "laughs". What is interesting is that in the old days, not so old (Accept) days "laughs", but in the beginning of U.D.O we always had the music first and then later we came up with the lyrics and the melodies. Since "Thunderball" album we started with lyrics and melodies and then we put music on and we found out, after all these years, that it's much easier when you have the lyrics first and you know what you are talking about and when you have the melodies already it's easier to find out the right atmosphere on it. That's why "Mission X" was like, I don't know for sure but it was like very, very easy to write. We thought, "Here we go, we don't have too much time and we have to do everything very quickly" but I think also in the end that I was thinking also Accept and that's why we had to do this album for under such a pressure. You know, without too much thinking and just do it. I think it was a good way to do that album.
It was like the same way you used to work with Accept in the old days?
UDO: Yeah. Really just do it and don't think too much. I think it's a good way to do a record.
You have "Mission Tour Poll" running on your homepage (
www.udo-online.de) where people can go and vote songs for the new tour. Tell us some more about that?
UDO: Well the idea of that poll is that after releasing 10 U.D.O albums, we now have something like 150 U.D.O songs to choose from. People are always asking us to play this song and that song so we decided to make a voting and people can now vote their favorites and songs they want to hear. It's also interesting for us to see which songs are most popular and there are some true surprises in my opinion. "They Want War" is clearly the most popular song on the poll and when I saw that I was like "okay …?" "laughs" ..
Also "Go Back to Hell" is doing quite well?
UDO: Yes it does and we will definitely play "Go Back to Hell" and "They Want War" on next tour. We will do songs from "Faceless World" also. "Heart of Cold" for sure and then maybe "Trip to Nowhere". It will be very interesting set list this time.
How about doing something from "Mean Machine" album?
UDO: From "Mean Machine" album … maybe we are doing something, I don't know for sure? At the moment we are planning to do something new on the next tour. We might to do a part which will be acoustic but it's still on the planning stage. We would like do a part which is just acoustic guitars and me singing on stage doing three or four songs like that way. Different arrangements for guitars and stuff like that. Maybe we do that or then we don't? So there are a lot of things we are planning for the next tour.
You have a new drummer Francesco Jovino on your band now?
UDO: True.
What happened to Lorenzo Milani who was his predecessor and played something like five years with U.D.O?
UDO: Well this is very, very bad story and let put it this way. Last year before we did the last part of the U.D.O tour in Scandinavia, it was in July I think?, Lorenzo's sister died and she was just 30 years old and she had three little kids and the we said "Ok Lorenzo. Maybe we cancel some festivals and you can have some time to deal with this thing?" but he said "No I don't wanna do this for you. I want to do these festivals and get through of thinking my sister all the time" and so on … Well then we did the festivals and then we had a little break, like a month, before we started the Scandinavian tour. Then it was two weeks, little bit more than two weeks, before the tour he was phoning up and he said that he has sold everything and he is out of business and he didn't wanted to be our drummer anymore. I said "Hey come on!" and asked the reasons and everything. I asked him "Please can we just do this Scandinavian tour before you quit? It's almost impossible to find a new drummer for the tour in that situation?", but he said "No, I don't wanna do this anymore", end of story. Then Igor, our guitar player, came to me and said he knows a guy in Italy who had done some things together in the studio with him in the past and then Francesco came in and saved our tour. What can I say? We were so lucky to find this guy. I think he fits perfectly in this band because he's more into heavy metal than Lorenzo ever was.
Live in Giants Of Rock, FINLAND in 1994
Speaking of former U.D.O drummers we also have Stefan Schwarfmann who played in U.D.O before Lorenzo.
UDO: Yeah.
He said on some interviews that you are not using "real drums" on U.D.O albums but you are using Stefan Kauffman's programmed drums. How much there is true on that statement?
UDO: Ha ha ha… Let's say it this way. I think he said it a little bit wrong. He knew that he was not the most timing drummer in the studio. What he was doing in a studio he always had a problems with this especially when Stefan Kauffmann was the producer. He was playing the drums but into the computer and Stefan Kauffman he was setting the whole drums together. Stefan kind of fixed his drums all the time and Stefan Schwarfmann was never too happy about that. But I think that at that time … I don't want to talk bad things about him, but at that time he has some personal problems back then. When we recently did together the Accept stuff he was talking about those old things all the time and I said "Stefan, come on" "laughs" ….
I heard he plays with Uli Jon Roth at the moment?
UDO: Yeah and I think he's also doing Victory now? I think he did a very good job with Accept and I mean if we have any problems with our new drummer he is definitely one of the guys I would take back in to U.D.O. He's clean now with everything and he's in a great shape. He had a very bad times but I don't wanna talk about too personal things and it's a past and I don't wanna look back "laughs"
Tell us something about your next project after "Mission X" tour. I heard it's going to be something like U.D.O goes classical??
UDO: Yeah that's true. You have already heard about that "laughs". I just had a meeting about that with our record company and when everything is set up for the upcoming tour we will continue talking more about that project. But before that we have to set up Mission X –tour and we are also planning a new U.D.O DVD.
Is that DVD going to be a complete live DVD this time?
UDO: It's going to be definitely live because that's what people keep on asking all the time from us. The next project, after the tour and DVD, will be a classic album but not a way like Metallica did some years ago. They just played their songs with the orchestra to make it sound bigger but the way we want to do it is something different. We want to change whole arrangements you know? At the moment we don't know which songs we are going to do but let's say it like this. The orchestra will be the most important thing and we will just…
Backing up the orchestra?
UDO: Right, so we want to be just backing band for the orchestra. This is the whole idea at the moment but it will be very interesting because I know that Ronnie James Dio will be a part of it and then I have already talked to some other guys who will be involved.
Is this project going to be something like what DORO did last year with her "Classic Diamonds" album?
UDO: In a way, yes.
Because you did some vocals for her album is it possible that she will be appearing on your album then?
UDO: Well … "laughs" I don't want to tell too much about that project now "laughs". Let's say that only name I can say for sure now is Ronnie James Dio. We have already talked about that project but there will be more interesting names coming. Very interesting names I promise "laughs"
Well I remember that someone mentioned Wolf's name at some point??
UDO: Hmmm…Let's see…. "laughs"
How about the Accept tour? How it went overall in your opinion?
UDO: Accept, I mean this is a thing. I was on a ferry from Helsinki to Stockholm when I got a phone call saying "We heard that you are not doing anything with U.D.O on next year. Maybe there is a change to do some festivals with Accept?" I said "maybe?" I wasn't too happy about that idea in the first place and I didn't want them to believe that I was screaming to do that. So I had to talk with record company, I had to talk to the U.D.O and the guys in the band who were really nervous in the beginning because they think that I was going to leave U.D.O and stuff like that. I think that most important thing for us to do after successful "Thunderball –tour" was to record a new U.D.O album. So I talked to record company and the guys and said that we can use the whole Accept thing for promoting next U.D.O album. Personally it was difficult decision for me to do that whole Accept thing and reason I said yes for the whole thing was that I wanted to find out if there was anything left? But I think, for me, I can just say it by me not by Wolf or Peter, but for me I can say that there is nothing left. It was lot of fun and I think it was also fun for the people to see Accept again because we did very good shows. But there is no future and I'm not talking about personal level because now we are talking each other more than we did before
Did you have any discussions about possible new recordings with Accept while you were on tour?
UDO: No, no at all "laughs" Of course we had some drinks together and we were talking about the business and stuff but Wolf maybe find out, I think he find out that if I say we should do it again he would say yes but in the beginning he said "No, I don't wanna do it". But I think that after doing all these shows he was really thinking about doing something more with Accept. The thing is that if he really wanted do something like that, why he never came up during all the shows and say "Hey Udo, I got some new songs, do you wanna hear them?" or something like that. There was nothing. Music wise he was maybe thinking something and I was like, this is very hard to explain but I felt inside of me "Don't do it, don't do it!!). I think that this was a perfect way finish Accept.
Accept on stage 2005. The final chapter?
So you are saying that this was definitely the last time we saw Accept on stage?
UDO: Maybe not the last time because there might be a live DVD coming from that tour "laughs". It will include the whole reunion thing and stuff but then that's it!
Have you heard some of those statements what Wolf said about you during the tour?
UDO: I don't know. I think he did lot of very boring interviews about the things we just discussed. When I read them I was wondering what was coming up from his mind. I mean when he started doing interviews he said "I have no problem to do Accept but Udo doesn't want to do it. There will be no real re-union because of Udo". Still it wasn't too long time ago when he said "No, Accept I don't wanna do it because I hate that business. I don't wanna be in music business anymore".
And now he's even did show with Sebastian Bach and he has plans to tour in his own in next year?
UDO: Yeah I know about that. I think this is some kind fear of him you know? I mean he knew that I was working with U.D.O and we had a new album coming out and he know what I was thinking all the time. From my side there wasn't any re-union at any point and he knew that right from the beginning and now he's changing the story.
So he's the one who decided to chance his mind?
UDO: Exactly, he changed his mind. If he wants to he can still do Accept but with a different singer "laughs"
Accept's second "farewell tour" with Michael Cartellone on drums in Helsinki in 1996
Tell me something about the project you have with some Russian guys at the moment?
UDO: Yeah I did a song "Cry Soldier Cry" together with Russian pop duo called Factor 2. They are very popular in Russia at the moment but they are not just a pop duo because they also do some rock things. They also do some other stuff like rap stuff and so on and on. I was really surprised how popular they are. When they came over to Germany and I was bringing them to the train station there came some people and asked their autographs. I was like "what?" Later on I have learned that they are also very popular in Germany too because there are about six million Russians living in Germany. It was really interesting project to do because for the first time ever I did the whole song in Russian language which really wasn't easy thing to do. Also it was great to work together with people from completely different business but it's like somebody from the record company said, music has no borders.
Have you heard the finalized version of the track yet?
UDO: Of course I have.
How does it sound?
UDO: Very interesting… "laughs"
Does it sound more pop music or U.D.O?
UDO: Well I can not really say pop because it's like… They're coming out with some really nice harmonies which are not a kind of what I've used in U.D.O together with my voice. It's already interesting when you hear the whole song in Russian because there's completely different atmosphere on there. When you first sing a song in English and then you do the same song in Russian and you think what the lyrics are about and put the same feeling into that song in Russian and suddenly you are thinking that song in Russian. It was very strange and new experience for me.
When it's coming out by the way?
UDO: We start touring in Russia in the end of September in the beginning of October next year so that will come out some three or four months before that. We are also doing a video clip for that song in Russia so there are lot's of new things coming. So who knows, maybe I become a pop star? "laughs"
Right, the teenage idol "laughs"
UDO: You never know "laughs"
Well the main reason you are now in Finland is that you are doing some vocals for upcoming Lordi album. Tell us how this project started?
UDO: Well. I was just asked to do this "laughs"
Who originally contacted you in a first place?
UDO: They asked me.
When did you heard about Lordi first time?
UDO: The first time I heard about Lordi was last year. I remember that I saw their video from TV and I was thinking that this is the music and the look of the band that doesn't fit together but it was really interesting combination. Then they send me that song "They Only Come Out at the Night" which is a good song. Good rock and roll stuff where the both vocalists will do fit perfectly together "laughs". Tomorrow we will see how it's goes when we do vocals in the studio?
The song "They Only Come Out at the Night". Did you write this song especially for Udo?
LORDI: None of the songs were made any petucilar guest in mind. The songs were already written and selected way before we started asking them.
How would you describe that song is because I haven't heard it yet?
UDO: In a way it sounds like what U.D.O did on the eighties I think? Good rock 'n roll stuff for me. It's a straight forward rock song.
LORDI: And from my point of view it was like when it was time to choose a song for Udo it was like this is the song which sounds like Udo and the feeling of the song for me as a fan is like "Okay this could be a bonus song, this could have been on a "Animal House" or maybe even in a "Faceless World?" This is very simple song in way it does have very simple structure but I think that melodies and the harmonies are pretty much like what U.D.O did in the eighties and on the first three albums. We basicly are sharing the whole song, a line for Udo, the next line is me and so on. The title is something that our guitarist Amen came up with, of course, it is the title that KISS was about to use in the seventies but never did, so… That song came out really quick. We were sitting down with Amen, and we were actually doing some other songs, but twenty minutes later we had it already done. That sometimes happen, and it is really fun to work that way. If something good comes out, you´ll never know. It is a really simple straight-forward hard rock song. Fits Udo perfectly I think!
Do you agree with that Udo?
UDO: Yeah, in a way, yes. I have to see how it's coming out for me once I've finished my vocals first? But I think it will work out well "laughs"
Do you have any ideas who others will be questing on this album?
UDO: I heard that Bruce Kulick from KISS will be there and then are some others whose names I don't know at the moment?
LORDI: There will be some Twisted Sister guys also.
UDO: Okay. I haven't heard about that.
What do you think about Lordi's image overall?
UDO: In a way when you are in this business sometimes you gotta do something really different just to be different and I think it doesn't matter if you do look like these guys if there is nothing else. In a way you have to be unique you must have a special trademark which is very important and I think Lordi has a special trademark?
Well Lordi … When did you get an idea of getting guests like Udo, Bruce Kulick and others on your next record?
LORDI: Who would not like to have their own idols on their album? To be recognized and honoured by people you look up to, the people you grew up with, the people you wanted to be when you grow up, it feels a bit unreal! It all actually started last spring, when we were on our European tour. We had a day-off, and we went to see ESP in Copenhagen. I asked their tour manager Rikk that would he think that Bruce would like to do an guest appearance on our record. The next day I was a bit ashamed, becouse I was pretty drunk that night, hahaha!! But luckily, few days later we got mail that stated yes. And like with many things, the more you eat, the hungrier you get. So, when Rikk just flashed the possibility of asking also some other idols of ours, we were like, hell yeah! So, as Rikk works with TS, Sebastian Bach and so on and so on, we just kept asking for more, hahaha! We owe Rikk big time. The thing with Udo was a different story. Our A&R Janne Halmkrona said that we should try to have him also. So, we asked Udo, and Udo said ok. I´ve always been a huge fan of Udo, so we were really really happy to have him! It truly was a dream come true to share vocals with my idol!
Is there are possibility that there might be some more special guests coming for that record?
LORDI: We´re still waiting for… The thing is, that we are running against time at the moment, but there are few names still that wanted to participate when we asked them. But with people who are touring, making records and still being very active in the business, it is kinda hard to fit the scheduals. Now we are just keeping our fingers crossed that they´ll make it in time…!
Has anyone who you have asked refused to participate this project?
LORDI: Ummm… Well, technicly no.. But we actually never got to ask Alice Cooper himself, his management turned us down. But that´s ok. We already have more stars than we ever could have dreamed of having, hahaha!!!
When the new Lordi album will be released?
LORDI: It´s coming out on Feb 22nd in Finland, March 3rd in Germany.. That´s all I know.. Ask the label!
What are Lordi's plans for the upcoming year after album is out?
LORDI: Woah… probably doing some shows, hahaha! Hopefully!
Lordi on stage 2003
Well because Udo is sitting next to you I would like to ask some Accept/U.D.O related questions from you also. How does it feel to sit next to him right now?
LORDI: Scared. He´s the German Tank. He´s the man "laughs"
You never saw classic Accept playing live on the eighties but in 1988 you saw U.D.O playing in Kuusrock in Oulu,right?
LORDI:Yes, that's true.
Do you Udo remember anything on that gig?
UDO: Yes I do remember Oulu quite well.
That was the first tour for you without Accept, right?
UDO: That was the first U.D.O tour ever.
Animal House tour?
UDO: I remember there were a lot's of mosquitos in Oulu. But overall it was nice festival and I really remember that really well.
LORDI: Well that was my first festival ever. It was my first time being like alone in another city to see some big bands. I remember being in the front row when U.D.O was playing and ever since I have been in every U.D.O and Accept show in Finland.
How many times you have seen Udo on stage?
LORDI: Well I'm sure that you know better because you have seen the same shows as I but let me try… First time was during "Animal House" in Oulu, then it was "Mean Machine" tour in Ice Hall with Ozzy in 1988 and then there was the re –union tour with Accept, "Objection Overruled" in Tavastia, "Death Row" -tour ,"Predator" -tour, Accept farewell tour and last summers Accept tour and…
You forgot one gig: The "Timebomb" -tour in Giants Of Rock festival in Hämeenlinna in 1991?
LORDI: Yes that's true.
UDO: I remember "Timebomb" gig in Finland very well too. It was really hot day and our last tour before the first re –union with Accept.
LORDI: Unfortunately Udo never came to Finland on "Faceless World" tour because that's my all time favorite U.D.O album. If I remember right you said that you are going to quit after that tour because you had some health problems back then. I always remember the line that was broadcasted in the air where you said "Ok. Thank you for everything and thank you for all these years I'm done with music business now". Do you remember that?
UDO: Maybe I said I don't know "laughs"
LORDI: It was after the riding the middle of "Faceless World" tour or something and I was like heart broken "What a fuck??" "laughs"
UDO: Yeah I remember now. Maybe I said something like that because I had a real health problem then. I was really overworked at that time so then I went to the hospital and then I had to change many things in my life. You know, you can not be composer, producer, manager and taking care about everything all the time and my body kind of went broke because of all that. I had to think after "Faceless World" or actually we had to stop that tour in the middle because of my problems. I remember that before we were supposed to go to England I said "Okay that's it!" and then I had to think what I wanted to do in the future? I decided to put things down a little bit and do lesser things and take more care of myself.
LORDI: The funny thing is that "Faceless World" is still my favorite album and it's the only tour I never saw you play live. It was a tough time for a young fan.
Actually it's my favourite album of U.D.O also. Let's really hope that we hear some tracks from that album on the next U.D.O tour? Tour is going to start in January and you are also coming to Finland then?
UDO: For sure. There will several dates in Finland then.
That's great to hear. We'll see you there then and Lordi will probably how up also?
LORDI: There's no doubt about it !!
Thank you guys !


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Dust storms are scary. One moment you're driving down the road and the next moment the road disappears and there's an 18-wheeler in your trunk. Here's some spectacular and unnerving video of the16-car-pileup outside of Phoenix yesterday.
High winds caused multiple accidents yesterday in Arizona, including the incident filmed in the video above, which claimed the life of a 70-year-old man and sent at least a dozen others to the hospital.
Meteorologists predict winds will once again whip up on Thursday, increasing the risk of a dangerous dust storm in southeast Arizona. Be careful.


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Over ons
World War II Heritage is a cross-border Interreg IV-A 2 seas project that aims to ensure the preservation and improve the accessibility of the material and immaterial heritage of the Second World War in the 2 Seas region. The project has ten partners from the Netherlands, Belgium, France and England. The Province of Zeeland is lead partner.
Historical content
The partners collected memories and personal accounts from interviews with eye-witnesses (oral history). Compilations of these interviews can be found on the website. Based on these personal stories the book Occupied Coast was written. Physical remains were inventoried. Sites and structures connected to WWII events across the partnership are mapped on the website www.worldwar2heritage.com.
The physical accessibility as well as the access to information and knowledge about several important sites and events representing WWII heritage is improved, including:
-Modernisation of museum presentations of the Atlantic Wall museum in Raversijde. The site Raversijde includes 60 bunkers and two kilometers of trenches.
-The creation of access paths to Fort des Dunes in Leffrinckoucke. In 1940 the Fort became the headquarters of the 12th motorized Infantry Division during Operation Dynamo (Dunkirk evacuation).
-Developing a memorial center in and around Oranjemolen, Vlissingen.
- Several information displays and billboards on sites around Essex en Suffolk
- Redesigning of Park Toorenvliedt in Middelburg as a memorial area. The park and bunkers are a place to learn about life during WWII. For children it is a place to play as well.
For children .and youngsters educational programs were developed: one for primary schools and one for secondary schools. The latter includes a webquest (an educative instrument based on the web). Both programs can be found on this website. The webquest can also be found on www.sporenww2.nl.
Interesting links
Haakenvisser (Fifi Visser Dutch interviews)


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Fisker took time to respond to the Fisker Karma fire we exclusively first reported this weekend. They agree with our analysis that the fire probably wasn't battery related.
Oh boy, aren't you happy! When your $100K luxury hybrid catches on fire that will surely warm your heart.
This weekend's fire took place in a Northern California grocery store parking lot as the vehicle's owner went in for some supplies. He came out to find a car that was starting to smoke. He called Fisker — for some reason — and they smartly advised him to call 911.
Here's what Fisker told us:
Evidence revealed thus far supports the fact that the ignition source was not the Lithium-ion battery pack, new technology components or unique exhaust routing.
The area of origin for the fire was determined to be outside the engine compartment. There was no damage to the passenger compartment and there were no injuries.
Continued investigative efforts will be primarily focused within the specific area of origin, located forward of the driver's side front tire.
What's more terrifying? Finding out the fire was caused by the car's unique exhaust setup (the exhausts are located next to the front wheel wells) or that Fisker doesn't know why roughly 1-in-500 cars bursts into flames for no reason while parked?


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Archive for Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Ag Hall director: 2011 season 'hard to top'
November 22, 2011
The 2011 season may have ended at the National Agricultural Center and Hall of Fame, but there won't be any taking it easy for the center's executive director and board of governors when it comes to fundraising efforts.
If anything, Executive Director Cathi Hahner said, organizers over the winter break will work just as hard as they ever have to bring in much needed sponsorships, grants and donations.
"We always wish we had enough cash reserves that (we) could take it easy, but we don't, so we have to keep scrambling and working hard … That will be our goal over the next four months, is really focusing on fundraising efforts," Hahner said.
The Ag Hall closed for the season on Tuesday, Nov. 15. And while the center is "certainly not out of the woods yet" financially, as Hahner said, she would characterize the 2011 season as being a better and, in many ways, more exciting one than the season that preceded it.
The 2010 season was a rough one for the Ag Hall of Fame. That was the year, Hahner said, when a lot of catch up had to be done by organizers to try to rebound from the even more troubling 2009 season — the season when internal disagreements and a bleak financial situation almost caused the center's doors to close for good.
Now, however, things are on the upswing and the center is finally gaining back the national recognition Hahner said it deserves. One of the highest points of the year was the August induction of country music legend and Farm Aid founder Willie Nelson into the Ag Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony took place prior to the Farm Aid 2011 benefit concert staged Aug. 13 at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan.
Another high point of the season came through Carl DiCapo, noted Kansas City, Mo.,-based fundraiser, who became a member of the Ag Hall board of governors in 2010. He is also the national president of the center's board of trustees. Through DiCapo's efforts, the center this year was able to secure a $100,000 challenge grant. The donor of the grant, who wishes to remain anonymous, will match any donations the Ag Hall receives up to $100,000. Though no tangible donations have yet been received toward that grant, Hahner said the center had already received about $50,000-worth of pledges toward the grant.
An improvement in events has been seen this year, as well. Hahner said no money was lost an any events since the center had received enough sponsorships to cover all event expenses, including those for July's Tractor Daze and October's Trick or Treat on the Farm. Last year, the Ag Hall lost money on some of its events, including Santa's Express, which was canceled as a result.
Hahner said she didn't yet have an estimate on the total amount that was earned through event admissions. But she said the center received about $8,000 through being a beneficiary of the Village West Wine Fest, which took place in September at Schlitterbahn Kansas City Waterpark.
Much focus was placed on exhibits this season, Hahner said, with a goal of making them more interactive. She said the bee and corn exhibits, both located in the main gallery of the center's museum, had been updated — the bee exhibit now includes a hive that visitors can walk through, while the corn exhibit includes a new mural depicting all the different uses for corn.
The updates have "spurred some excitement of what we can do with still very minimal dollars to make agriculture more exciting and more kid-friendly," Hahner said.
Still, updated exhibits and a little more money in the bank don't amount to a walk in the park just yet, Hahner said. She said there was enough in cash reserves to last through the winter. But there is still the matter of settling the contract with former Ag Hall CEO Tim Daugherty, who was laid off at the end of the 2009 season, along with the center's entire staff, in a cost-saving measure.
Daugherty's $125,000 yearly contract included a $42,500 performance bonus, which Daugherty hadn't received by the time of his layoff. He was supposed to have received it in 2009, but given the center's financial circumstances, he had asked the governing board to hold off on paying him the total amount of the bonus. Under the agreement he made with the governing board, his bonus would, instead, accrue 5 percent interest per year until it was paid.
Hahner said during a 2010 interview with The Chieftain that, despite Daugherty's layoff, the center was still legally bound to settle the remainder of the unpaid contract, plus the bonus and 5 percent yearly interest. Daugherty's contract was paid off in 2010, but his performance bonus and the interest it has accrued has not yet been settled. Those funds will have to be found by July of 2012, Hahner said.
Also left unpaid is the money that was taken out of the Ag Hall's Etta Blanche Dahlgren scholarship account in September of 2009 to keep operations running. The amount taken out was a little more than $163,000, but the account is restricted, meaning those funds will have to be paid back eventually.
To settle the Ag Hall's debts, Hahner said another land sale down the line is an inevitability. For now, she said, the focus will be on securing donations or grants from supporters willing "to be invested in the future of the Agricultural Hall of Fame, as well," as she said.
"I mean, it's easier," Hahner said. "There's a lot of momentum going, but we're certainly not out of the woods yet."
Hahner said the 2011 season would be "hard to top," but there were already some exciting events in the works for 2012. One of those will include a new induction to the Ag Hall of Fame: Ray Kroc, who was largely responsible for the worldwide success of the McDonald's Corporation.
The Ag Hall will reopen for its 2012 season in mid-April.
David Streit 8 years, 10 months ago
What a scum-of-the-earth Daugherty is. Running a group like the Ag Hall into the ground and thinking he's entitled to his bonus? Legal contracts aside, there's a person sorely lacking in moral character. Not sure which family has more pride in their father. His or Bernie Madoff's.
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Raffle – Adoption Package
Lovable, stubborn boy who enjoys his walks.
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Your adoption money helps with the care of your alpaca, from food and field maintenance to vaccinations and anything else they may need.
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- Choice of adopted alpaca
- Adoption certificate with your own personalised message valid for 12 months and photo emailed to your chosen email address
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- Quarterly email updates and new photo emailed so you can keep in touch with your alpaca friend
- Adoption party 1 per year
- You will be invited on a few a few dates for an Alpaca Party
- This will include meeting your Alpaca and some sandwiches from the Chilli Bean Cafe
Walks Package
- Up to 6 walks per year with your adopted alpaca at anytime we are open.
- You will need to book these walks in advance which you can do by calling us and arranging your walk.
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To read moreAfter being slapped with a partial stop-work order about three weeks ago for causing a local street to sink, Extell's Lower East Side mega-development at 250 South Street appears to be back on track. A recent visit to the site shows that piles for the building are again being driven into the bedrock. However, it appears excavation will continue to be an arduous journey since most of the parcel sits on landfill and is only a few feet above street level.
Last edited by petermore; July 13th, 2015 at 09:29 AM.
Looks like a lot of water in the site.
wow, who knew there was that much in air rights available above pathmark. That's a colossal tower for that site, way out of proportion and wrong for the neighborhood (and I am very pro development)
Here is an update. Construction has reached the 7th floor.


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DEF LEPPARD Guitarist PHIL COLLEN On WHITNEY HOUSTON: 'She Was So Talented And Amazing'
DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen spoke to Ultimate Classic Rock about the recent death of pop superstar Whitney Houston.
"It's awful and it really hit me," Collen said. "I've known people and lost people who've been through the exact same thing. What really irritates me when someone special dies is the outpouring and everyone loves to show up for the funeral but they don't really want to help when the person needs it."
Collen added, "When Steve [Clark, DEF LEPPARD guitarist] died [in 1991 as the result of a lethal mix of prescription drugs and alcohol], that really pissed me off. There were people coming out of the woodwork and I was like, 'Whoa, where were you when he really needed you?' and in fact all they were doing at that time was actually encouraging him to be the way that he was that ended up killing him. So I have a very kind of weird attachment, even to Whitney, it's like, 'Wow, she came out of the same time as us.' It really sucks because she was so talented and amazing."
Collen also spoke about a few other music stars who've recently died under similar circumstances. "The Michael Jackson thing — it happens all the time," he said. "With Steve, it would be the same thing, in and out of rehab centers. Amy Winehouse, same deal. There's some people trying to help but I think there are a lot of enablers around there and they really need a lot of help. It's just tragic and what a great voice [Houston had], she was the blueprint of, certainly now, how people sing. You see 'The X Factor' and 'American Idol' and they're all doing Whitney Houston stuff because that's how you want to sound."


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|"Please listen to me. We don't have to fight. You have the power to end it here and stop what you're doing."
|— Avatar Aang to Phoenix King Ozai.[1]
The battle at Wulong Forest was the final battle of the Hundred Year War, coinciding with the liberation of Ba Sing Se and the Comet-Enhanced Agni Kai. A Fire Nation airship armada, led by self-proclaimed Phoenix King Ozai, attempted to use the firebending-enhancing power of Sozin's Comet to destroy the Earth Kingdom, though their operation was opposed by select members of Team Avatar.[1]
To restore balance, Avatar Aang, having become a fully realized Avatar and regained his ability to enter the Avatar State, used energybending to strip Phoenix King Ozai of his firebending. The entire armada was destroyed, except for one airship commandeered by members of Team Avatar, though the areas surrounding the battle suffered significant damage.[2]
The Avatar's victory in this battle effectively decided the outcome of the Hundred Year War, with the defeat of the Fire Nation.[2]
The day before the eclipse, it was brought to Fire Lord Ozai's attention that the Fire Nation Armies were failing to secure total victory over the Earth Kingdom due to numerous rebellions across the continent. Several of these rebellions were resulting in the losses of secondary territories. Prince Zuko advised that it was unlikely that the rebellions would halt while the Earth Kingdom people had hope in defeating the Fire Nation. Princess Azula suggested that they burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground to destroy their hope. Ozai consented, devising a plan to use his newly commissioned fleet of airships to incinerate the Earth Kingdom in hopes of silencing his enemies once and for all.[3]
Before heading out to lead the airships to devastate Ba Sing Se, Ozai ordered Azula to stay behind and watch over the homeland, much to her dismay as she had suggested the idea and wanted to burn the Earth Kingdom with him. Ozai explained that he needed someone to watch over the Fire Nation in his absence, and that she would be his successor. He subsequently declared himself to be the Phoenix King and set out to prepare the airships for take off.[3]
Weeks later, when Zuko became aware of Aang's plan to face the Fire Lord after Sozin's Comet, he warned the Avatar of Ozai's intentions.[3] Two days before the Comet's arrival, Aang ended up on a mysterious island in the sea. This island, revealed to be a lion turtle, taught Aang energybending and moved him to the site where Ozai intended to begin his attack on the Earth Kingdom, the Wulong Forest. Meanwhile, without hardly any allies remaining, without the massive Earth Kingdom or Water Tribe armies to help them, the remaining members of Team Avatar met with the Order of the White Lotus, where it was decided that while Zuko and Katara went to the Fire Nation to defeat Azula and the Order of the White Lotus freed Ba Sing Se, Sokka, Toph, and Suki would intercept the airship fleet at their base at an island near the Earth Kingdom coast.[4]
Sokka, Toph, and Suki were able to board an airship, hijack the control room and disable the ship's entire crew. However, they were unable to catch up to the Fire Lord's flagship, which was further ahead, leaving the self-proclaimed Phoenix King Ozai unopposed when he began burning down the forest. Aang, however, was waiting for Ozai and proceeded to destroy Ozai's lead airship with earthbending and firebending, forcing Ozai to propel himself off the ship to challenge him. Ozai gleefully stated that while his father and grandfather failed to find him, the universe had delivered the Avatar to him as an "act of providence". Aang asked Ozai to halt his assault on the Earth Kingdom, but Ozai had no intentions of backing down and engaged the Avatar in battle.[1]
Watching the beginning of this duel, Sokka decided that the Fire Lord was for Aang to fight alone and suggested that they destroy the airship fleet as planned. Sokka maneuvered the hijacked airship around and crashed it into the other airships; however, they failed to damage all of them.[1] Sokka and Toph were separated from Suki as their ship began to break apart, and they were forced to continue their attempt to destroy the others without her.[2]
Meanwhile, Aang and Ozai seemed equally matched in skill. Although Aang had all four elements at his disposal, Ozai's comet-enhanced firebending forced Aang onto the defensive. Ozai eventually resorted to a powerful barrage of lightning generation. Aang evaded the deadly lightning, but he was forced to catch the last barrage, though he was able to redirect it. Ozai was horrified and believed that he would be struck and killed by his own attack. However, refusing to kill Ozai, Aang chose instead to redirect the lightning into the sky. Ozai took advantage of Aang's mercy and attacked, sending him falling into a shallow lake below. Aang saved himself from a fatal fall with waterbending, but he looked up to see Ozai flying down, eager to resume their battle. Overwhelmed and frightened, Aang encased himself in an earthen shield.[1] Ozai laughed and taunted him for his peaceful nature, proclaiming the Air Nomad unworthy to live in his world, before attacking.[2]
Sokka and Toph continued to destroy the airship fleet. Toph used metalbending to bend the rudder of the hijacked airship, causing the ship to crash into the remaining airships. Fire Nation soldiers noticed the pair and attacked them. Sokka grabbed Toph's hand and jumped off the side of the airship. He attempted to slow their fall by sticking his sword in the airship's side and was partially successful. The two fell onto one of the ship's ledges breaking Sokka's leg in the process. Although death seemed near for the two as soldiers prepared to fire at them, they were suddenly saved by falling onto another airship, operated by Suki, that crashed into the one they were on. It later became clear that this airship was the last operable one, the other fifteen having been disabled.[2]
Ozai slowly destroyed Aang's stone shield. Unable to withstand the increasing heat, the shield broke, and Aang desperately tried to deflect the fire with airbending, being driven backward. He was eventually thrust into a rock outcropping right in the lightning burn inflicted by Azula, which inadvertently caused his locked seventh chakra to open, activating the self-defensive power of the Avatar State. Ozai, unaware of what had happened, taunted and approached Aang to finish him. However, Aang's glowing hand reached out of the rubble and seized Ozai by the beard. Startled, Ozai attempted to attack, but his firebending was effortlessly deflected by Aang. Aang released a powerful gust of air at Ozai, sending him flying into a stone pillar.[2]
The Avatar State restored
Aang gathered the four elements around himself and attacked Ozai. By using firebending to propel himself at great speeds, Ozai attempted to escape as Aang pursued him. His numerous counterattacks were easily overwhelmed by the Avatar. While Ozai had to dodge the myriad stone pillars dotting Wulong Forest while fleeing, Aang simply plowed straight through them without any loss of speed. Eventually, Aang caught him with waterbending and shackled his limbs with earthbending. With the voices of all previous Avatars, Aang stated that the Fire Nation had devastated the balance of the world, and that Ozai must now pay the "ultimate price". A terrified Ozai watched helplessly as Aang aimed his attack, a combination of all four elements, at him, but before the blow struck, Aang regained control and voluntarily left the Avatar State, rendering his attack powerless.[2]
Aang released Ozai from his shackles. Ozai mocked Aang in response, telling him that despite being the most powerful being in the world, he was still too weak to kill. He attempted to strike while Aang's back was turned, but Aang sensed his movement through seismic sense and quickly disabled him with earthen shackles. Aang then proceeded to use energybending to remove Ozai's bending abilities. At first, Ozai's evil energy seemed to engulf Aang's pure energy, but when all seemed lost, Aang's energy completely engulfed Ozai's.[2]
Exhausted from the ordeal, Ozai attempted to attack, but he failed and questioned Aang as to what he did to him. Aang declared he took away Ozai's bending power, which meant he could no longer subjugate anyone to his will ever again. Demonstrating his newfound control over the Avatar State, Aang used waterbending to raise the level of the sea and extinguish the fire raging through Wulong Forest.
Sokka, Suki, and Toph met with Aang as Sozin's Comet departed. Congratulating him, they noticed Ozai collapsed on the ground and asked if he was dead, only to have Ozai reply that he was still alive. Aang explained his new ability, and as a result, Sokka, Suki, and Toph quickly took the opportunity to taunt Ozai; however, Suki's attempt was considered forgettable.[2]
Ozai was subsequently stripped of his title as Phoenix King and Fire Lord and was arrested and imprisoned for crimes against the world. The short-lived title of Phoenix King was quickly abolished, returning power to the leaders of the individual nations. After Ozai's removal from the throne, his son, Zuko, was subsequently crowned Fire Lord.
Upon ascending the throne, Fire Lord Zuko freed all of the troops imprisoned from the failed invasion of the Fire Nation and officially declared the Hundred Year War over. He announced his intention to maintain an alliance between himself and the Avatar and declared a new goal of setting the divided and scarred world back on the right path.[2]
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Book Three: Fire (火)
- The order in which Aang bent the four elements, air, fire, earth, water, into his floating orb is the Avatar Cycle in reverse: water, earth, fire, air.
- Ozai's initial display of power was nearly identical to Avatar Roku's depiction of the Fire Lord during the winter solstice, where the silhouetted Fire Lord Ozai released simultaneous streams of fire from his fists and mouth while roaring.[5]
- Several never-before-seen bending techniques were used by Aang in this battle, including remote waterbending, compressed rock bullets, long-range multiple fire whips, and strong winds capable of eroding a large rock pillar.[6]
- The name of this locale paid homage to Cowboy Bebop, one of Bryan Konietzko's favorite anime shows. Wulong is the name of the currency used in Cowboy Bebop.
- This battle was later referenced by Shiro Shinobi during an exciting pro-bending match via radio broadcast.[7]


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Ed Noeltner's Cinema Management Group (CMG) has licensed Canadian 3D animated adventure The Legend Of Sarila to Luxor for Russia, Telepool for Germany and 5 Star Pictures for Israel.
CMG has also closed deals with Front Row for the Middle East, Associated Euromedia for Turkey, Talent Epitome for China and Jonon Source for Mongolia.
Bayard Canada will publish a picture book and a novel for younger readers based on the Inuit quest story.
Nancy Florence Savard of 10th Ave Productions directs from a screenplay by Pierre Tremblay and Roger Harvey and the voice cast includes Christopher Plummer, Genevieve Bujold and singer Elisapie Isaac.
Savard produced with CarpeDiem's Marie-Claude Beauchamp, Paul Risacher and Normand Thauvette.
"We had a great experience working with the team at Luxor on our Khumba deal and they were thrilled with the amazing new 3D footage from The Legend Of Sarila," said Noeltner.
"When Luxor, Telepool and 5 Star Pictures heard our marketing campaign for 2013 and saw some of the publishing deals the people at Sarila have put together, they all told us they wanted to be involved with this wonderful family adventure."


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This Wednesday evening, once electoral politics have settled down, those who adore lovable kittehz on the Interwebz will finally have a Bravo-made reality TV show to watch. (OK, you can actually watch the pilot right now on Hulu.)
LOLwork documents the lives of Cheezburger, the Seattle geek team that capitalized on the LOLcats meme.
The pilot episode opens with a discussion of whether a cat that looks like it's dead can be used on the site—short answer: no. Cut to a morning meeting evaluating a few photos, and commentary from the site's users that there isn't enough variety among cat breeds on the site, including hairless cats.
That, in turn, prompted this from Will Sharick, a content manager at the site: "The less hair a cat has, the more likely you are to see its genitals." (That was the only line in the show that made me laugh, nay, guffaw!)
The conference (which lasts about a minute or two) yields a "surprise team-building" meeting with a video production competition for the site (perhaps contrived for the Bravo show). In a few short minutes through some tight editing and time-lapsed photography, the Cheezburger team, paired up with co-workers that seem to not actually like each other, is transformed into all kinds of human drama.
Ben Huh, the company's CEO and founder, comes across as smart, but semi-detached for the entire episode: there is more than one brief background shot of him working on his treadmill standing desk.
The New York Times summarized the show as having a "depressed, workaday vibe," but still declared it to be "superior" to Bravo's other tech-reality show: "Start-Ups: Silicon Valley." (That debuts Monday night.) GeekWire panned the premiere: "I just don't see LOLWork having the chops to translate into TV-speak for a bitchy Bravo audience."
How would I summarize the pilot of LOLWork? I'm not really a fan of reality TV to begin with, so I was skeptical to start. The first episode wasn't enough to really make me—even as someone who already has a passing familiarity with LOLspeak—want to keep watching.


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Earthquakes: from Fukushima to Haiti, they leave behind nothing but death and devastation. A tool for predicting earthquakes could save lives, but infrastructure would still be at the mercy of plate tectonics. To make us even more helpless, the forces driving tectonic plates are enormous—it seems unlikely that prevention is ever going to be realistic. So we can't predict them, and we can't stop them. But what if we could hide from earthquakes?
On the face of it, the idea sounds ridiculous. The shaking of an earthquake is due to the propagation of pressure waves along the surface of the Earth. Surely, the only way to hide from an earthquake would be to leave the Earth, right? Not exactly. In optics, we know how to hide an object from light. These invisibility cloaks have been demonstrated, and they even sort of work. And a wave is a wave, so maybe, a group of researchers thought, this might be a fruitful approach for engineering.
Going meta
The key here is a concept called a metamaterial. To understand metamaterials, let's jump back into the world of optics. The way that light travels through a material is determined by nature—light may bend, slow down, or speed up as it enters different materials, depending on their properties. Materials do not have infinite variation, so it's not possible to use material properties to get light to flow around an object to make it disappear from view, for instance.
This is where metamaterials come in. Material properties are determined by the material's atoms and molecules. But the wavelength of light is much longer than a single atom or molecule, so if we structure a material on the scale of the wavelength, we can make light behave as if it were moving through an impossible material. Butterfly wings and beetle shells take advantage of this principle to produce iridescent colors.
To get an idea of how this works, imagine that we take two materials—say glass and air—and stack thousands of layers on top of each other. Then we attempt to shine light through the stack. At each interface, some light is reflected. But there are thousands of such interfaces, so all the light bounces back and forth between all these different interfaces—there are so many interfaces that it's highly unlikely that a single photon will make it through without being reflected.
We have light "trapped" inside the stack. All of the light waves mix together and interfere, and this interference produces a peculiar effect. Imagine that the glass layer and the air layers are exactly one-quarter of a light wavelength thick. In this case, the reflections in one direction (back out of the stack) add up in phase, and the light is all reflected—we have created the perfect mirror for just one wavelength. In contrast, if the layers are a half-wavelength in thickness, the reflections for light traveling through the stack add up in phase, giving us perfect transmission—again, for a single wavelength. This is the principle for anti-reflection coatings on camera lenses and glasses.
That's a one-dimensional example, but similar behavior can be obtained in two dimensions by drilling holes in a sheet of glass, and in three dimensions by stacking glass rods.
The simple case of creating perfect reflectors and perfect transmission was just the beginning of the story. To create an invisibility coat, the internal placement of the materials is designed such that all light that would enter the hidden area experiences destructive interference, while light that passes around the hidden area experiences constructive interference, meaning that all the light flows around the hidden area. The design of such structures was very difficult, but by borrowing tricks from general relativity, optics researchers can now work backward from a desired behavior to the required metamaterial properties.
Back to the shaking earth
The cool thing about physics is that ideas from one branch can be transferred to another with relative ease. Waves are waves, regardless of whether they are light waves in glass, electrons in a crystal, or pressure waves generated by an earthquake. That means that metamaterials should work for surface waves as well.
The researchers set out to test this theory. They drilled an array of 30 cm diameter holes into the ground to a depth of 5 m. On one side of this array, they placed a thumper operating at 50Hz—well, it was probably a little more sophisticated than a thumper, since they needed something that emits 50Hz waves as purely as possible. To detect the propagation and strength of the surface waves, an array of velocimeters was placed around the source. Because experimental physics is a bit noisy, the researchers examined the difference between the surface wave strength before and after the bore holes were drilled.
The results show that it worked reasonably well, with the bore holes attenuating the surface wave by a factor of five or so toward the end of the array. Correspondingly, the strength of the surface waves in the vicinity of the source increased by a factor of five.
On the one hand, it's unsurprising that this experiment worked—waves are waves, and the physics remains the same. But in practice, it's incredible that it worked. Unlike optical experiments where we have beautiful materials that have consistent properties, the ground is very messy. There are variations in density and material types. Inclusions of rocks in dirt, for example, mean that the surface wave is already traveling through a metamaterial—a random metamaterial, generated by the geology of the region. So taking some basic measurements, constructing a regular array of holes, and observing that it works was quite astounding.
Of course, this success is partially due to a good choice of location; making it work in areas where the structure of the ground is more variable will be much more difficult. Not only that, but as the authors point out, the vibrations were amplified in the vicinity of the source—actually using a cloak on a building could be highly detrimental to surrounding buildings. It's pretty clear that such an approach would require citywide (or even region-wide) planning, with a detailed picture of the ground's structure across the entire area.
Physical Review Letters, 2014, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.133901


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Author(s): Jon Meacham
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY"The New York Times Book Review - The Washington Post - Entertainment Weekly - The Seattle Times - St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Bloomberg Businessweek" In this magnificent biography, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "American Lion" and "Franklin and Winston" brings vividly to life an extraordinary man and his remarkable times. "Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power" gives us Jefferson the politician and president, a great and complex human being forever engaged in the wars of his era. Philosophers think; politicians maneuver. Jefferson's genius was that he was both and could do both, often simultaneously. Such is the art of power. Thomas Jefferson hated confrontation, and yet his understanding of power and of human nature enabled him to move men and to marshal ideas, to learn from his mistakes, and to prevail. Passionate about many things--women, his family, books, science, architecture, gardens, friends, Monticello, and Paris--Jefferson loved America most, and he strove over and over again, despite fierce opposition, to realize his vision: the creation, survival, and success of popular government in America. Jon Meacham lets us see Jefferson's world as Jefferson himself saw it, and to appreciate how Jefferson found the means to endure and win in the face of rife partisan division, economic uncertainty, and external threat. Drawing on archives in the United States, England, and France, as well as unpublished Jefferson presidential papers, Meacham presents Jefferson as the most successful political leader of the early republic, and perhaps in all of American history. The father of the ideal of individual liberty, of the Louisiana Purchase, of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and of the settling of the West, Jefferson recognized that the genius of humanity--and the genius of the new nation--lay in the possibility of progress, of discovering the undiscovered and seeking the unknown. From the writing of the Declaration of Independence to elegant dinners in Paris and in the President's House; from political maneuverings in the boardinghouses and legislative halls of Philadelphia and New York to the infant capital on the Potomac; from his complicated life at Monticello, his breathtaking house and plantation in Virginia, to the creation of the University of Virginia, Jefferson was central to the age. Here too is the personal Jefferson, a man of appetite, sensuality, and passion. The Jefferson story resonates today not least because he led his nation through ferocious partisanship and cultural warfare amid economic change and external threats, and also because he embodies an eternal drama, the struggle of the leadership of a nation to achieve greatness in a difficult and confounding world. Praise for "Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power" "This is probably the best single-volume biography of Jefferson ever written."--Gordon S. Wood" " "A big, grand, absorbing exploration of not just Jefferson and his role in history but also Jefferson the man, humanized as never before."--"Entertainment Weekly" "[Meacham] captures who Jefferson was, not just as a statesman but as a man. . . . By the end of the book . . . the reader is likely to feel as if he is losing a dear friend. . . . [An] absorbing tale.""--The Christian Science Monitor" "This terrific book allows us to see the political genius of Thomas Jefferson better than we have ever seen it before. In these endlessly fascinating pages, Jefferson emerges with such vitality that it seems as if he might still be alive today."--Doris Kearns Goodwin "From the Hardcover edition."
Praise for Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power "Fascinating and insightful ... Many books have been written about Jefferson's life, but few have created such a vivid portrait ... Meacham immerses the reader in that period of history to explain Jefferson's behavior during an era when the nation was as contradictory as he was ... extraordinary ... essential."--The Associated Press"[A]ccomplishes something more impressive than dissecting Jefferson's political skills by explaining his greatness, a different task from chronicling a life, though he does that too -- and handsomely. Even though I know quite a lot about Jefferson, I was repeatedly surprised by the fresh information Meacham brings to his work. Surely there is not a significant detail out there, in any pertinent archive, that he has missed."--Joyce Appleby, Washington Post"[Meacham] argues persuasively that for Jefferson the ideal of liberty was not incompatible with a strong federal government, and also that Jefferson's service in the Congress in 1776 left him thoroughly versed in the ways and means of politics ... Meacham wisely has chosen to look at Jefferson through a political lens, assessing how he balanced his ideals with pragmatism while also bending others to his will. And just as he scolded Jackson, another slaveholder and champion of individual liberty, for being a hypocrite, so Meacham gives a tough-minded account of Jefferson's slippery recalibrations on race ... Where other historians have found hypocrisy in Jefferson's use of executive power to complete the Louisiana Purchase, Meacham is nuanced and persuasive.."--Jill Abramson, The New York Times Book Review"[Meacham] does an excellent job getting inside Jefferson's head and his world ... Meacham presents Jefferson's life in a textured narrative that weaves together Jefferson's well-traveled career."--USA Today "A big, grand, absorbing exploration of not just Jefferson and his role in history but also Jefferson the man, humanized as never before. [Grade: ] A-."--Entertainment Weekly"Impeccably researched and footnoted ... a model of clarity and explanation."--Bloomberg "[Meacham] captures who Jefferson was, not just as a statesman but as a man ... By the end of the book, as the 83-year-old Founding Father struggles to survive until the Fourth of July, 1826, the 50th anniversary of his masterful Declaration, the reader is likely to feel as if he is losing a dear friend ... [an] absorbing tale."--Christian Science Monitor"Absorbing . . . Jefferson emerges in the book not merely as a lofty thinker but as the ultimate political operator, a master pragmatist who got things done in times nearly as fractious as our own."--Chicago Tribune
"[Jefferson's] life is a riveting story of our nation's founding--an improbable turn of events that seems only in retrospect inevitable. Few are better suited to the telling than Jon Meacham. . . . Captivating."--The Seattle Times
"[Meacham] brings to bear his focused and sensitive scholarship, rich prose style ... The Jefferson that emerges from these astute, dramatic pages is a figure worthy of continued study and appreciation ... [a] very impressive book."--Booklist (Starred Review)
"An outstanding biography that reveals an overlooked steeliness at Jefferson's core that accounts for so much of his political success."--Kirkus Reviews
"Jon Meacham understands Thomas Jefferson. With thorough and up-to-date research, elegant writing, deep insight, and an open mind, he brings Jefferson, the most talented politician of his generation--and one of the most talented in our nation's history--into full view. It is no small task to capture so capacious a life in one volume. Meacham has succeeded, giving us a rich presentation of our third president's life and times. This is an extraordinary work."--Annette Gordon-Reed, author of The Hemingses of Monticello "This terrific book allows us to see the political genius of Thomas Jefferson better than we have ever seen it before. In these endlessly fascinating pages, Jefferson emerges with such vitality that it seems as if he might still be alive today."--Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of Team of Rivals
"Jon Meacham resolves the bundle of contradictions that was Thomas Jefferson by probing his love of progress and thirst for power. Here was a man endlessly, artfully intent on making the world something it had not been before. A thrilling and affecting portrait of our first philosopher-politician."--Stacy Schiff, author of Cleopatra: A Life
"A true triumph. In addition to being a brilliant biography, this book is a guide to the use of power. Jon Meacham shows how Jefferson's deft ability to compromise and improvise made him a transformational leader. We think of Jefferson as the embodiment of noble ideals, as he was, but Meacham shows that he was a practical politician more than a moral theorist. The result is a fascinating look at how Jefferson wielded his driving desire for power and control."--Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs
"This is probably the best single-volume biography of Jefferson ever written; it is certainly the most readable."--Gordon Wood, author of The Radicalism of the American Revolution
"This is Jon Meacham's best book yet. Evocatively written and deeply researched, it sheds brilliant light on facets of Thomas Jefferson we haven't seen before, gives us original and unexpected new insights into his identity and character, and uses the irresistible story of this talented, manipulative, complicated man to bring us life lessons on universal subjects from family and friendship to politics and leadership. The Sage of Monticello made a considerable effort to turn his life into a mystery, but in a splendid match of biographer with subject, Meacham has cracked the Jefferson code."--Michael Beschloss
Jon Meacham is the author, most recently, of "Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, "a #1 "New York Times" bestseller that has been named one of the best books of the year by "The New York Times Book Review, ""The Washington Post, ""Entertainment Weekly, ""The Seattle Times, "and the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch." Meacham received the Pulitzer Prize for "American Lion, " his bestselling 2008 biography of Andrew Jackson. He is also the author of the "New York Times" bestsellers "Franklin and Winston" and "American Gospel." Executive editor and executive vice president of Random House, Meacham is a contributing editor to" Time" magazine, a former editor of "Newsweek, " and has written for "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post, " among other publications. He is a regular contributor on "Meet the Press, ""Morning Joe, " and "Charlie Rose." A Fellow of the Society of American Historians, Meacham serves on the boards of the New-York Historical Society, the Churchill Centre, and The McCallie School. He is a former trustee and regent of Sewanee: The University of the South, and has served on the vestries of St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue and Trinity Wall Street church in New York City. Born in Chattanooga in 1969, Meacham was educated at The McCallie School and at Sewanee: The University of the South, where he was salutatorian and Phi Beta Kappa. He began his career as a reporter at "The Chattanooga Times." He and his wife live with their three children in Nashville and in Sewanee.


text: This dizzyingly colourful yet undoubtedly photogenic private residence located in the hilly Bilkent district of Ankara has been developed by the Turkish architectural practice Yazgan Design Architecture Construction. The three-storey 1050-square-meters 'Orange House' has a steel structure, double-layered walls and manifold polychromatic light fixtures including rainbow backlit staircases and circular recessed floor lighting. (more…)


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2017 tokyo quilt festival: part four
ABOVE: Detail of quilt by Yoko Saito
PART FOUR: Yoko Saito Retrospective, Grand Prix Winners
By Patricia Belyea
TOKYO JP I have saved the best until the last! Let's start with the Yoko Saito Retrospective.
Known as the founder of Taupeism, Yoko Saito started her quilting journey emulating traditional American quilt designs. Ultimately she found her true quilting voice with softer, low-volume colors and meticulous details.
The exhibit opens with a country cabin surrounded by spring flowers—real blooming spring flowers that are fresh and fragrant! The show includes incredible quilts, bags, and a home display that demonstrate Yoko's high design sense and needlework skills.
Here is a photo of Yoko Saito today, busy signing books in her shop's booth on the other side of the Festival floor:
The most celebrated quilts at the Festival are the four Grand Prix Winners:
FRIENDSHIP AWARD / Treasure Box by Megumi Yokoyama
HAND MAKING AWARD: Quilt by Keiko Morihiro
JAPAN QUILT GRAND PRIX, SECOND PLACE / Welcome to Martha"s Garden by Masami Ishibashi
JAPAN QUILT GRAND PRIX FIRST PLACE / Quilt by Tokiko Yanazawa
It has been my good fortune to attend Tokyo Quilt Festival four times. Each time is different yet I continue to see a remarkable dedication to the quilting arts.
For some of you, this four-part blog series is your way to visit the Tokyo Quilt Festival and see a sampling of the show. For others, this series may be the catalyst to embolden you to venture to Tokyo in the third week of January and experience the Festival for yourself!
To see PART ONE: Traditional Category, Original Design Category, Wa Category +click here
To see PART TWO: Invitational Flower Story Exhibit, Bag Category, Partnership Quilts +click here
To see PART THREE: Special Exhibits, Historic Fabrics +click here
To see tips on traveling to Japan +click here
To see tips on getting around Tokyo +click here
leave a comment to Patricia Belyea
40 comments to "2017 tokyo quilt festival: part four"
Wow! Wow! Wow! Thanks for sharing some of the show with us.
Thank you so much for the wonderful sharing! I am sure it was difficult to decide what to post.
What a wonderful treat to see the quilt festival
Thank you for sharing. I'm even more determined to get to the event in 2018
Thank you for showing us a taste of that amazing show. Do you have photos of some of the other winners? My friend from Kuwait has her quilt (black and white portrait of her father) hanging in the winners section. Have not heard what she won though. Just being accepted into the show is a great honour, I know.
Were all of Part Four quilts hand-pieced? Amazing, if so. Just looking at Morihiro's quilt was exhausting thinking that she did all of that by hand. I've been quilting close to 10 years (with more than 500-700 quilts to my name), and to think I could have spent at least five of those years learning in Japan. 🙂 Ah, too soon old; too late smart.
Thank you much, PB, for sharing all these beauties.
P.S. I have a number of Yoko Saito's beautiful taupe and neutral fabrics to which I add a shock of a color to a few quilts. Her work is so outstanding and her fabric is just beautiful to look at and fondle. 🙂
How large (about) is the grand prize winner? It is spectacular. I made a miniature about 6″x6″ of a similar flower design. Not so spectacular. 🙁
Thank you so much for sharing Patricia! What amazing eye candy this is and the Grand Prix Camelia is stunning! Oh, how I wish I could see that one up close.
Candace, I didn't realize the Grand Prix was a Camelia. I have a Camelia bush in my yard, but the flowers don't look exactly as this one with so many petals. Nevertheless, I will try my hand at one of my beautiful photos.
Thank you for sharing the show with us simply amazing!
What awesome talent. Thank you for sharing these awesome quilts with us.
Breath taking – so much talent! Thank you for sharing it.
The Crocker museum in Sacramento is displaying Japanese ceramics. One of the pieces looked like the large flower in one of the quilts. Don't miss the exhibit.
Beautiful Quilts thank you for sharing
From California
Thank you so much for bringing the show to us!! Wish you could sneak me in your suitcase next time!
I was at the Tokyo International Quilt festival. The quilts are so amazing and I am quite impressed with the postage stamps quilt and yoyos.. The Japanese quilters pay so much attention to small details… Truly amazing.
I was at the Tokyo International Quilt festival on the first day. The quilts are so amazing and I am quite impressed with the postage stamps quilt and yoyos.. The Japanese quilters pay so much attention to small details… Truly amazing.
spectacular website. We get to learn so much by just checking in here. thank you
Thankyou so much Patricia for taking the time to share all of this with those of us that could not be there. (I know how long it takes to load all those photos!) My visit last year has left a lasting impression on me and my quilting journey forever and I also know that my photos from 2016 were the most popular in all my years of blogging – the Japanese quilters are truly masters of the quilting world and I would love to go every year! Thankyou, thankyou!
Thanks so much for sharing these wonderful images! Its truly inspiring for those of us who have been quilting for many years to stretch the wings of our imagination and skills to try something new. I love that quilting is as important in Japan as it is here for fiber artists. Thanks again.
Thank you for taking us along on your quilting journey, Patricia!
Thank you for the splendid photography and close-up shots. This event should be on every quilter's bucket list.
Thank you so much, Patricia. Your photos transported me right there to sit in awe of such amazing handiwork of so many talented ladies. Just beautiful.
I am so pleased that you presented this four part series. I'm a 73yr old quilter who had a major stroke about 9 yrs ago. I still quilt, one handed. and love The Quilt Show. I've been to Japan about a dozen, or so, yrs ago, but I've never been to the quilt festival, so I thank you, again.
The Japanese women & men have taken the quilt to a new & highest point.
I would love a pattern for The Peony quilt by Tokiko Yanazawa
Grand Prix Prize winner 2017
Thank you
I am blown away by the talent exhibited in the quilt photos you have posted. These ladies show such creative designs and exquisite workmanship. I appreciate your dedication in exposing us nontravelers to such delightful creations.
Hello from Australia…. I wonder if you could tell me if the quilt that won the hand making award (Keiko Morihiro) in January 2017 is a whole cloth quilt or in individual blocks. It is so beautiful….
Thank you…