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Can you believe it? It's time to announce yet another winner of a free Friendly Planet tour! This one has to be one of my favorites: our Win Exotic Malaysia & Thailand Sweepstakes will award one lucky traveler a free trip for two on our Exotic Borneo & Bangkok tour.
Our winner will get to explore the fascinating culture, natural beauty, and unique history of these Southeast Asian destinations. Whether it's walking the streets of Bangkok in Thailand, a bustling metropolis with to-die-for cuisine, or exploring Borneo in Malaysia, where a mosaic of indigenous tribes, intriguing history, ancient rainforests, and diverse wildlife await — trust me, this winner is lucky indeed.
Are you ready to find out who this winner is? Here it comes! The winner of our Exotic Malaysia & Thailand Sweepstakes is …
Sara Morgan from Oregon — Congratulations!
We called Sara to let her know about her prize, and she was so sweet. She loves traveling to explore different cultures and experience new things, but doesn't get the opportunity to do so often. She's never been to Asia, and works with some Asian species of bears in her role at a zoo, so she's looking forward to getting to see them in person! She'll be taking her husband on her exciting adventure to Southeast Asia!
Congratulations again, Sara. I know you're just going to love your vacation.
Thanks to everyone who entered our sweepstakes. Although you couldn't all win, we have some great news for you about our super Cyber Monday sale, which will make it possible for you to save BIG on every Friendly Planet tour, so stay tuned. More details coming soon.


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texastorm needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 75 designs submitted by 15 freelance designers.
A new arcade website http://www.ozuto.com needs a cool logo. The site although working is not finished so the colors for this logo are anything you wish. The only real requirement at this point is that it is fun without being extremely cartoon like and both O's are capitalized (if your design rocks feel free to break the rules)
The games the arcade will be gearing for are those aimed at teens and not elementary schoolers. So the design should be appealing to teenagers.
I would like this to include the dot com in a much smaller font. I want the emphasis on the word OzutO
Tag Line.
Your Place for Games. (If you have a better one use it instead)
- Both O's in Ozuto capitalized.
- Not to cartoon like.
- Logo must stand alone and I need to see it on both dark and light backgrounds.
- I prefer ,ai vector, but if you have something to offer in .psd feel free. I will need the layered original files.
Nothing geared towards a grade school audience.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.

subset: commoncrawl


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Saturday offers an opportunity to take a few hours and attend two worthwhile events � honoring the American flag and emergency responders.
Saturday offers an opportunity to take a few hours and attend two worthwhile events � honoring the American flag and emergency responders.
Flag Day is Friday and New Bern Elks Lodge 764 celebrates on Saturday with its annual ceremony at the Union Point Park Gazebo.
It is from 10:45 a.m. to noon, with the Marine Corps Band from Cherry Point air station, New Bern Young Marines and New Bern High Naval JROTC Color Guard.
The featured speaker is retired Marine Gen. Tom Braaten. For information, call John Serumgard at 633-2119.
The first-ever Emergency Responder Appreciation Day is Saturday at the Craven County Fairgrounds on U.S. 70 East. It is sponsored by E&J Automotive, Lights and Sirens East and the Craven County Jaycees.
Admission is $2, with children age 10 and under free.
Organizers have invited local fire, police and rescue units from New Bern and surrounding counties. Along with viewing the emergency equipment and talking with the responders, visitors can see fire department extrications and K-9 demonstrations.
There will also be pony rides by Walk This Way Stables, helicopter rides and a 50/50 raffle. Vendors will be on hand with a variety of products, ranging from jewelry, books and crafts to big truck equipment.
Call 670-1602 for information.
Here is a sampling of some of the week�s best opportunities:
�Groundbreaking Reads,� the Adult Summer Reading Program at the New Bern-Craven County Public Library, begins Monday at 9 a.m. Register at the information desk and receive a free book bag. There are weekly drawings for T-shirts, mugs and meal certificates from Zaxby�s of New Bern.
�Lunch �n Learn� returns Thursday with �The Village.� Local writer Flora Ann Scearce is featured.
The book will be available for sale and autographing beginning at noon in the Hayden H. Jones Auditorium.
Saturday Afternoon at the Movies returns this week with the screening of �Mrs. Miniver,� a groundbreaking film starring Greer Garson and Walter Pigeon. The 2:15 p.m. showing is free. Popcorn and lemonade will be served.
Tryon Palace continues its free movie series on Tuesday with �Fried Green Tomatoes.� This film will be shown at 7 p.m. in the Way Station Auditorium on the corner of George and Pollock streets. Admission is free.
In the movie, Evelyn Couch is having trouble in her marriage and no one seems to take her seriously. While in a nursing home visiting relatives, she meets Ninny Threadgoode, an outgoing old woman, who tells her the story of Idgie Threadgoode, a young woman in 1920s Alabama. Through Idgie�s inspiring life, Evelyn learns to be more assertive and builds a lasting friendship of her own with Ninny.
Seating for this film begins at 6:30 p.m. and is first-come, first-served. Admission is free and donations are welcome. Refreshments will be available for sale prior to the film�s start.
The film is being held as part of Tryon Palace�s 2013 annual theme of �Fresh from the Past: Food and Culture in Eastern North Carolina.� In addition to this film series, programming includes cooking demonstrations, tastings, dinners, lectures, art exhibits and more.
Call 635-3900. On the web: tryonpalace.org
The Craven County Genealogical Society presents Craven Community College Librarian Mark King on Tuesday for a talk about �Archiving Your Heirloom Articles.�
The program is at 7 p.m. at the New Bern LDS Church at 1207 Forest Drive, which is off Trent Road. The monthly meetings are free to the public.
King graduated from Wayne State University in Detroit with his master�s degree in Library Science and Information Studies with a certificate in Archival Management. He will talk about how to take care of important family papers.
For more information, contact society president Carolyn Dougherty Smith at email@example.com or call 444-5420.
New Bern Pirate Adventures at the New Bern Grand Marina are Saturday and again July 19, Aug. 6, Sept. 7 and Oct. 12-13.
Join the crew of the �Renegade� for an hour and a half with a pirate crew. Reservations are required.
Admission is $25 for adults, $20 for children and $15 for children under age 2.
Call Scenic River Tours at 504-2628.
Colorfest 2013 is Saturday at Kafer Park on George Street. Admission is free from noon to 6 p.m.
Children ages 6 to 15 will take part in painting a mural on one of New Bern�s historical buildings. The mural will be painted on an outdoor wall that measures about 50-feet-by-20-feet.
The images will be divided to different images for all to paint. The mural will be already sketched out to its entirety, and the teens will be painting within their squares, within the guidelines on each panel. The mural will be landmarks, places and history related to the city of New Bern.
Also, along with the project, there will be face painting, food, music and a few games to go along with the festivities.
It is organized by Art by Benetez and New Bern Parks & Recreation. Call 639-2902.
Tryon Palace hosts Encore Film Presentations: �A Living History: The Churches of New Bern� on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Way Station auditorium at the corner of George and Pollock streets.
It is an encore presentation of Tony D. Bryant�s short film, a free event presented by a partnership of The Family History Society of Eastern North Carolina, The Preservation Legal Action Trust and Resourceful Communities and Tryon Palace.
Admission is free. Call 349-0405.
Cedar Grove Cemetery Tours continue each Saturday at 4 p.m. at the historic cemetery on George Street in New Bern.
Tours are sponsored by the Craven Earl of Questers. Tickets may be purchased in advance at the New Bern Historical Society or at the tour site on Queen Street. The cost is $10, with all proceeds going to preservation work at the cemetery.
Currently, the Earl of Craven Questers are partnering with the city of New Bern on two major projects � landscaping of the Confederate Memorial and repair of the main entry arch to the cemetery.
Established in 1799, the cemetery contains more than 1,000 marked graves. Some of those buried there fought in the American Revolution, and the cemetery abounds in grave sites of Confederate soldiers. Others buried at Cedar Grove were artists, educators and politicians who played key roles in the early North Carolina history.
A Horticultural Workshop Program is Saturday, sponsored Craven County Cooperative Extension and facilitated by Craven County Extension Master Gardener volunteers.
It is from 10 a.m. to noon at the AgriculturalBuildingand DemonstrationGardensat 300 Industrial Drive, which is off the Clarks exit on U.S. 70 West.
The program is �Summer Shrub Pruning,� with demonstration garden perennials available for a donation.
The presenter is Jennifer Knight, Master Gardener volunteer and owner of Knightscapes Enterprises.
Call 633-1477.
New Bern photographer Curtis Blake has an exhibit at Bear Towne Java Coffee House & Caf� on Middle Street.
The exhibit will have several unique aerial photographs showing a different perspective of historic New Bern. The exhibit is scheduled to be on display for a month.
Charlie Hall can be reached at 252-635-5667 or firstname.lastname@example.com


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The six-film Sword of Vengeance series comes to a close with White Heaven in
Hell, an adequate finisher to the celebrated samurai bloodbath based on a popular comic
with over a hundred installments. The basic setup of the series is maintained, if not enlarged
in this last chapter. Shogunate
executioner Ogami Itto still battles the treacherous agents of the Yagyu clan that
unjustly deposed him, murdered his wife and forced him to go out on the road with his tiny tot
As in the six earlier episodes, the show is a relentlessly gory cavalcade of ambushes
and over-the-top sword battles. Our fierce hero with the guttural voice dispatches opponents
by the dozen, frequently splitting them in two and opening up exaggerated fountains of gushing
crimson. The bloodletting of Kill Bill Vol. 1 is nothing compared to the outrageousness
of these Sword of Vengeance slice 'n dice epics.
The title White Heaven in Hell reflects this episode's largely snowbound setting, which
creates some interesting situations while putting a crimp on Ogami Itto's signature cut-ups.
The novelty of seeing ski-mounted samurai in massed attack and Ogami's baby cart transformed into
a toboggan isn't particularly rewarding, and it looks as though the difficulties of shooting in
snowscapes forced the battle scenes to be simplified. Once a patch of snow has been stepped in,
there's no opportunity for a take two, and the consistently dazzling fight choreography of some of
the earlier films here gives way to less distinctive set-pieces. The blank white snow doesn't lend
itself to either combat (ever try to do anything graceful in snowshoes?) or interesting compositions.
Director Yoshiyuki Kuroda's more generic style lacks the impact of the initial episodes of
Kenji Misumi, or the perverse beauty of Buichi Saito's episode IV, Lone Wolf and Cub in Peril.
Besides the intense concentration on the slicing of human bodies, the first installments made
better use of the baby Daigoro. Part of the giddy weirdness was to see a tot scarcely big enough
to stand on his own taking part in the formalized carnage and
Spaghetti western set-piece showdowns. The scarce sex in the films often relied on intimate moments
of Daigoro doing things like playing with a nipple in huge closeup, not exactly MPAA material.
White Heaven in Hell has its moments of aesthetic harmony but comes across as a weaker
effort that signalled it was time to bring the series to a close. There were brief supernatural
elements before, but this episode devotes a lot of screen time to a complicated cult of undead
warriors living as forest spirits. Like one of the better Japanese ghost stories,
their magic is conveyed through effective double exposures and simple physical tricks. In twos and
threes, they start burrowing and then simply slip underground to apparently swim
through the earth like ghostly snakes. But they are no more formidable than Ogami's usual
adversaries, and tumble like tenpins before his sword or the machine-gun in his baby cart. Fans
will be disappointed if they expect a showdown to top previous showdowns.
Similarly, Junko Hitomi's elaborate knife-juggling gimmick is easily defeated by Ogami Itto, and
Hyouei's rape of his sister to produce a future Yagyu warrior doesn't add up to much beyond providing
some commercial nudity. In White Heaven in Hell, the anarchic Sword of Vengeance
series finally became tame.
AnimEigo's DVD of White Heaven in Hell looks beautiful; with the other five episodes
it represents the first satisfactory home video presentation of this fascinatingly violent series.
The picture is sharp and clean and the eclectic music track (sometimes affecting the funky feel
of a blaxploitation thriller) is bright and clear.
AnimEigo's loving attention to Japanese movies is evident in the details of the presentation. The
carefully worded English subtitles are sometimes augmented with helpful definitions of obscure
shogunate terms. A lengthy text extra addresses the intricacies of Japanese translation, including
humorous explanations of Japanese modes of address and how they're typically used in the movies.
In addition to the gory samurai thrills, we get a deeper understanding of a different culture's pop
On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor,
Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell rates:
Movie: Good
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: program notes
Packaging: Keep case
Reviewed: September 4, 2004
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Tat'yana (ID: 17244)
Date of birth:December 31, 1964
Height:5' 8" (175 cm)
Weight:145 lb (66 kg)
Hair color:blonde
Eyes color:aqua
Marital status:widow
Education:Higher education
English language:Using dictionary
Others foreign languages:No
Seeks partner:54 - 60 years old
Total photos:10
Bikini photos:0
Hobbies and interests:
I enjoy many things but mostly I try to spend as much time with my daughters as I can. I enjoy traveling, sports, theaters, cinemas, I enjoy learning new things in this life. I like reading though I sometimes don't have enough time for this. I like BBQ parties and being near the water.
About me:
I can say that I am very active woman, who used to rely on herself always. I try to give my children everything I can. But at the same time I forget about my private life. I am interesting, attractive and loving woman I have so much to give. I dream about having good family full of love, respect and happiness.
Looking For Men Type:
I am looking for a man at the age of 35-60 not less than 178 cm. I want him to be intelligent, balanced, kind, healthy, family oriented, generous. I want him to love children and has that feeling that he should be responsible for his family not to leave it alone. I want to give him all my love and care wait the same from him.
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DBA: Syedyshev group services LLP. All rights reserved.
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Can you guess the hidden phrase? Link letters into words to reveal parts of the phrase. Solve different categories such as Movie Titles, Popular Musicians, World Cities, Animals and many more!
More than 1000 phrases to solve!
Explore 16 unique categories
Two different play modes!
Intuitive and easy to use interface
No time-limit pressure


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Schleswig-Holstein's State Parliament
Schleswig-Holstein's State Parliament
Since 1950, Schleswig-Holstein's state parliament has met right on the Kieler Förde inlet, in an attractive building that was built in 1888 as the German Imperial Naval Academy. This historic complex in Germany's northernmost state is still called the "Landeshaus" (state house) and features an assembly hall facing the water. The glass extension was completed in March 2003. Its architecture underlines the public nature of the building and the associated transparency of parliamentary work.
The state constitution states that: "Elected by the voting-age population, the State Parliament is the highest body for the formation of the people's political will". Accordingly, the words spoken here are extremely important, and must be heard clearly no matter what. Since August 2013, digital TG 1000 wireless systems from beyerdynamic have been used in all the relevant rooms in Schleswig-Holstein's parliamentary building to meet these demanding electroacoustic requirements and ensure perfect speech transmission. DEKOM AG, a Hamburg-based company with ample experience in media technology, installed a total of 28 transmission systems, with 20 handheld transmitters and 8 beltpack transmitters.
"Previously, wireless microphone systems from different manufacturers were used in the rooms. They worked in the frequency range between 798 and 862 MHz, meaning that starting up LTE systems put them at great risk", says Dieter Kohlhaase, a systems consultant at DEKOM AG. "The future-proof nature of solutions from beyerdynamic – also taking the possible effects of the second digital dividend into account – was an important factor in our decision."
The newly installed wireless systems are completely compatible with one another, and the central frequency management allows convenient monitoring and operation of the 28 transmission systems used throughout the building. Encryption can also be used to prevent the systems from being bugged – a feature that, for obvious reasons, is particularly important in this specific location.
One of the advantages of the digital TG 1000 systems is the option of integrating a media control system as necessary. The type of transmitter (the handheld or beltpack version) and the microphone heads installed on the handheld transmitter are automatically detected – a media control system programmed for this purpose can activate a suitable preset for level and sound correction in the subsequent DSPs as soon as a transmitter is switched on.
In Kiel, the TG 1000 system from beyerdynamic, the audio specialists from Heilbronn, Germany, particularly impressed users with its high frequency range that covers 319 MHz of the UHF spectrum. Measurements show that, in theory, up to 123 transmission channels could be used at once without intermodulation on the TG 1000 system in the Landeshaus. A total of 147 transmission channels are available, but they can't always be used because of DVB-T broadcasts. The Federal Network Agency in Bremen recently approved 40 frequencies for the Landeshaus on which the 28 newly installed transmission systems can be operated without interference.
Twelve transmission systems, including ten handheld transmitters and two beltpack transmitters, are intended for the assembly hall; other TG 1000 systems will be used in the conference hall, the Schleswig-Holstein hall, the visitor area and the outdoor facilities, as well as in mobile applications. After an expert selection process, TG V56w electret condenser capsules with cardioid characteristics were chosen for the handheld transmitters.
In practice, the transmitters feature easy operation that doesn't overwhelm end users with a complex configuration process. Both handheld and beltpack transmitters can easily handle the typical levels in the Landeshaus. The wireless TG 1000's sophisticated gain ranging technology makes faders on the transmitters obsolete –
there is no chance of incorrect operation negatively affecting the sound.
DEKOM systems consultant Dieter Kohlhaase says: "The TG 1000 systems ensure reliable audio transmission and excellent sound quality in Schleswig-Holstein's parliament. The digital wireless solutions from beyerdynamic are the perfect choice for the special requirements in the Landeshaus Kiel."
Further information about TG 1000 at www.beyerdynamic.com/tg1000


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There was a brief moment when Bill Hanney, owner of North Shore Music Theatre, wasn't sure if his dream of producing Disney's "The Little Mermaid" would come to pass. And it all came down to the costumes.
If you know anything about Disney-produced movies or musicals, you know they are all about dreams coming true. However, there was a brief moment last year when Bill Hanney, the owner of the North Shore Music Theatre, wasn't sure if his dream of producing Disney's "The Little Mermaid" would ever come to pass.
And it all came down to the costumes — or rather, the lack thereof.
With the exception of playing on Broadway, "The Little Mermaid" has only been produced and performed for a handful of regional theaters. That said, Hanney figured he would just rent the costumes for this underworld sea adventure from one of those theater companies. But it didn't work out.
"I chose this title this time last year and I knew these were not just regular costumes," said Hanney. After having trouble locating somewhere to rent them from, "I thought, I'm not going to be able to do this show without costumes. These are very specific costumes. I came very close to cancelling the show and picking another title."
Now enter Maine State Music Theatre.
Hanney saw a production of "Mary Poppins" there last year and met some of the creative team. He got in touch with them to see if they could help.
Amy Mussman said it all started last December when she received an email from NSMT asking if the Maine State Music Theatre, where Mussman works as the costume rental manager, had a "Little Mermaid" package they could rent or build for this upcoming show.
"I thought this is awesome," Mussman said. "We've been wanting to do this for several years."
But since MSMT didn't have a package in place, they built the costumes audiences will see from scratch.
She said she, along with her theater's rental coordinator Travis Grant, have been the two full-time people working on this project. They also hired 14 part-time employees to help stitch all of the costumes. In all there are about 250 pieces that will be used in this show, which has been entertaining audiences since the Academy Award-winning film was first released in 1989.
Mussman said costume designer Kurt Alger was hired to design the costumes. Hanney said he sent his sketches back and forth to the creative team at NSMT for their thoughts.
"They had in their head what they wanted it to look like," Mussman said, referring to the costumes which arrived at NSMT last week.
While audiences might not consciously think about the costumes the characters are wearing, Mussman said they "definitely help with the story telling. Take 'Le Mis.' It is set in the 1830s, 1840s. People who know history love theater. They would be distracted if the costumes [didn't represent that time period]."
"When you go to your local community theater, you know they have a smaller budget and audiences put that in their mind when thinking about what kind of production it will be," she said. But when you go to a professional theater, such as NSMT, she said audiences are expecting more.
She also said they won't be disappointed.
"I've spent some time researching fish and they all kind of look the same," she said. "So we said, 'Let's stretch the imagination.' I hope audiences say that the costumes are fun and inventive. The sea life makes it so fun. We've been working with fun fabrics and bright colored fabrics."
So NSMT will debut these costumes, and then MSMT owns them and gets to rent them out again. It was a big project for both theaters: Mussman said it was one of the biggest jobs they've worked on, and Hanney said it is the biggest rental package ever for NSMT.
Both said it was worth it. How often do you get to design costumes for crabs, fish and sea witches — not to mention mermaids?
If you go ...
Tickets for the Disney's "The Little Mermaid" are priced from $50-$75. Performances are July 8-20, Tuesday to Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., matinees Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Added performances are July 24 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., July 26 at 2 p.m. and July 27 at 2 p.m. Kids 18 and under save 50 percent on Family Fridays — July 11 and 18 at 8 p.m.
For tickets and information call 978-232-7200, visit nsmt.org, or visit the box office in person at 62 Dunham Road, Beverly.


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Lidge Stays
Today's Lineup
Werth, rf; Utley, 2b; Rollins, ss; Howard, 1b; Burrell, lf; Feliz, 3b; Victorino, cf; Ruiz, c; Kendrick, p.
For a while last night, it looked as if we would squeeze a one-run win on only four hits. Then the bullpen's bottom fell out, a real rarity this season.
"It's going to happen. When you play 162 games, you can't expect everyone to be perfect. I think our bullpen has been outstanding. They are one of the reasons we are where we are."
The loss dropped the Phillies record in which they are leading after seven innings to 33-3. The blown save for Tom Gordon was his first since late last August.
Lidge Stays a Phillie
A potential free agent at the end of the season, Brad Lidge won't be heading that direction after signing a contract this morning. Details will be on this site.
Ruben Amaro Jr. and Lidge's agent, Rex Geary, have been discussing a new contract and those talks heated up this week.
Protocol calls for a physical examination before the Brad could sign on the dotted line. Once that was out of the way, the time of the announcement was something that was worked out by Amaro Jr. and Bonnie Clark, the VP, Communications, and her staff.
A media alert was sent out Saturday informing the media of a player announcement at 11 o'clock this morning.
The announcement took place, as usual, in the Media Room on the clubhouse level at Citizens Bank Park. Lidge's baseball idol is Hall of Famer reliever Goose Gossage. The two met outside the Media Room after the press conference. Gossage is here today for Auto Trader.com.
All-Star Time
We'll know this afternoon who and how many Phillies will make the National League All-Star team and if a Phillies player is among the 2008 Monster All-Star Final Vote that will take place on mlb.com today through Thursday. The announcements will be on TBS TV starting at 2.
Chase Utley has been leading all players in voting and he will be the starting second baseman for the NL for the third straight season. That's a given.
The only Phillie with a longer consecutive starting streak as an All-Star is Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt, six years, 1979-84.
Other Phillies second basemen who have been All-Star starters include Mariano Duncan (1994), Manny Trillo (1982) and Granny Hamner (1954).


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At the onset of the War of Independence, the Israeli Navy consisted of five large ships that could be considered in the category of "warships." An American Annapolis graduate, Paul Shulman, was commander of the navy. Among the 65 to 95 crew members of each of the warships, about three dozen were Machalniks, most from the U.S. and Canada.
Three of the five warships had been built in the US and Canada for service in World War II, than retired at the end of the war. Those three and one other were purchased for use as Aliyah Bet ships. While bringing surviving holocaust Jewish refugees from Europe to Palestine, they were intercepted by the British and impounded.
At the beginning of the War of Independence, those four ships were at anchor, rusting away along the water breaker inside the harbor area of the port of Haifa – and were known as part of the "Shadow Fleet."
In addition to the warships, there were about two dozen small harbor craft known as the Small Fleet Crafts and a seagoing tugboat.
The four original Israeli Navy warships were:
The four ships were refurbished by a newly- formed Israeli Naval ship repair facility with the assistance of the Kirshtein\Greenspan and Ogen private shipbuilding and repair companies in the Haifa Bay area. These four ships were joined in October 1948 by Noga/ K-26, the former Yucatan, originally US Navy PC.1265.
The five warships were manned by former merchant seamen, some of the Aliyah Bet ships crew members, Israelis who had served in the Royal Navy during World War II and Machal volunteers from all over the world. The total personnel of the Israeli Navy at the onset of the War of Independence was approximately 2,000 men and women. This number included the crews of the warships, the harbor craft, headquarters and hospitals. Most of the Machalniks were World War II veterans with various service experiences and qualifications. The newly refurbished and crewed warships served on coastal patrol duties in the Mediterranean and engaged in naval combat with the Egyptian warships and bombardment of enemy coastal installations in and around the Gaza area, all the way to Port Said in Egypt.
Many of the crew, especially the young Israelis, were trained on the job by members of the crew who had prior military and maritime experience or professional qualifications.
The Israeli Navy looked to the Machal volunteers for maritime experience and the ability to serve in responsible positions as deck officers, skippers, radar and radio operators, communications supervisors, gunnery officers, bosons, engineers, electricians and engine maintainers. Basically, everyone had to adapt to new or unfamiliar equipment and operating requirements in the five ships.
Although English was spoken by many of the crews, the official language was Hebrew and some Machalniks had problems learning it. Machal women only served on shore assignments as nurses in the Bat-Galim Base Hospital and in administrative positions in various bases and the headquarters in Stella-Maris on the Carmel in Haifa.
In addition to Paul Shulman, a number of Machalniks served as ships officers, as well as group leaders on shore installations and ships repairs facilities. The Israeli War of Independence was not one continual battle, neither on land nor sea. It was fought with sometime-long intervals of cease-fire. During the cease-fire periods, the five warships were routinely on patrol duty, safeguarding the Israeli shoreline and ranging as far as the islands of Cyprus and Crete, the Syrian border and Turkey to north and northwest, and to Ashkelon, Gaza, and the Egyptian port of Port Said to the south.
There were always several ships out on patrol duty on rotational basis, while some of the ships were on standby in or around the port of Haifa or Tel Aviv. The remainder would be in port for refueling, emergency repairs, provisioning and R&R for the ships' crews.
On Aug. 24, 1948, Haganah/ K-20 and Wedgwood/ K-18 seized the Argiro, which had on board 8,000 Rifles and 10 million rounds of ammunition. These arms and ammunition were quickly delivered to the Israeli Armed Forces. This encounter was known as the Pirate's Booty Operation. The Argiro had been sailing under the Italian Flag with an Italian crew. The war materiel was originally bought from Czechoslovakia by representatives of Arab countries who were buying arms from all over Europe. The cargo had previously been aboard another Italian ship, Lino, which was sunk in the port of Barrie Italy by Israeli Mossad operatives several months earlier. The cargo aboard the Lino had been well-packed and preserved. It was recovered and loaded onto the Argiro, which was then directed to Egypt. Two Mossad operatives boarded the vessel in a severe storm at sea near Crete, convinced the Italian crew that they had no chance to get to their designated port and arranged for the two Israeli Navy warships to board and confiscate the cargo and sink the Argiro.
On October 19, 1948 the Haganah/ K-20, Wedgwood/ K-18, Maoz /K-24 and Noga/ K-26 engaged an Egyptian corvette and three Egyptian spitfires. They downed one of the spitfires and damaged the corvette, which escaped back to its base at Port Said. On October 22, 1948, the same four warships encountered the Egyptian Navy flagship King Farouq. The King Farouq was sunk and an Egyptian minesweeper was damaged.
In this battle in the Ashkelon-Gaza coastal area, Israelis successfully deployed an underwater demolition commando unit and high speed torpedo boats.
Also in October fighting, all four warships participated in the bombardment of Egyptian shore installations in the Ashkelon area, and prevented the Egyptian Navy from evacuating its retreating Armies.
By the end of the war, the Machalniks from the US and Canada had provided a critical core for the fledgling Israeli Navy, and some of them became training personnel after the war for the navy that was growing in fighting ships and personnel.
David Hanovice served in the Israeli Navy during the War of Independence. He was chief engineer aboard the Noga/K-26, and also participated in the delivery of the M.V. Yucatan from New Orleans to Haifa in 1948. A veteran of the U.S. Army in World War II, he remained in Haifa until 1954 to train Israeli Navy engine crews.


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It was Mother's Day 2005. Chris and Renae Perry weren't celebrating at brunch with the family. They were at the hospital looking after their 5 year old son, Caleb. They weren't prepared to hear the diagnosis � Caleb had Type I Diabetes.
The symptoms were clear in hindsight, said Renae.
"The weekend before Mother's Day, we noticed Caleb was feeling bad, vomiting, going to the bathroom two or three times an hour," she recalled. "We thought he was dehydrated."
It was Chris that realized Caleb was slipping into unconsciousness. They rushed to the hospital, where the doctors immediately took Caleb back.
"They could smell the ketoacidosis," Renae said, referring to process in which high levels of acid build up in blood when the body doesn't have enough insulin.
Caleb had to stay in the Intensive Care Unit for three days.
"We were in absolute panic," Renae said. "How did we miss it? It was overwhelming to know that we had to give our 5 year old shots and that he'll have to continue that for the rest of his life."
The Perry family recently moved to Santa Rosa Beach, from Birmingham, as Chris has taken the role of senior pastor at Good News United Methodist Church.
Now 13 years old, Caleb takes his insulin shots and tracks his sugar intake, but doesn't let his diabetes control his life. He plays football, basketball, is a third-degree black belt in Taekwondo as well as practices samurai sword art.
"I can't change it," Caleb said of his diagnosis. "I try not to dwell on that. I regularly check my blood sugars. I decided I would not let diabetes stop me."
He decided to become a voice for individuals fighting the disease. Through the "Promise to Remember Me" campaign with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), Caleb met with state representatives and senators to advocate for proper funding to go toward research, treatments, prevention and ultimately a cure.
"Even though there currently isn't a cure, we can continue to find one," he said.
Earlier last month from July 8-10, Caleb took his advocacy to Washington where he was chosen from 1,500 applicants to represent the state of Alabama in the JDRF Children's Congress. Caleb met with several state senators and Vice President Joe Biden. He stood up and shared his personal account of diabetes with JDRF chief scientist, Richard Insel. It was intimidating to speak to the room of strangers, but an important thing to do, Caleb said.
"I knew if I didn't do it, I would be disappointing the kids in Alabama with diabetes," he said.
According to Diabetes.org, 25.8 million Americans including children have diabetes � that's 8.3 percent of the nation's population.
Now putting down roots in his new home, Caleb wants to continue his outreach and advocacy in his new community.
"I want to continue trying to convince senators and representatives from Florida to find a cure," he said. "Insulin is not a cure. Every three seconds around the globe, someone is diagnosed with diabetes."
Caleb would also like to create a benefit walk to raise awareness towards diabetes, something he noticed Walton County was lacking.
Inspired by his endocrinologist, Dr. Abdul-Latif at the Children's Hospital in Birmingham, Caleb hopes to be an endocrinologist one day.
"I hope that by the time I'm old enough there will be a cure for diabetes," he said.
Until then, he will continue his advocacy. He will always stand up against diabetes, he said.
"My voice counts," he said. "And that's cool."


text:
Sitting between the short loin and the rump steak is the sirloin, less tender than the NY Strip but still full-flavored. Always very popular for its delicious taste, it is fabulous grilled, broiled, or pan-seared in a skillet. Ten (10) 8 ounce steaks per box.
Flash frozen and shipped with 10 pounds of dry ice for safe delivery to your door; We guarantee it! Blackwing items ship separately from the rest of your order and cost $35 for expedited frozen handling. An incremental $10 will be added for each additional Blackwing item or collection you add to your cart after the first one.


text:
With all of the attention focused on Pope Benedict XVI's Mass, with its altar in deep center field at Nationals Park in Washington, it's likely that few worshippers took notice of the press box behind home plate.
If they had, they would have noticed a half-inch-thick pane of glass cracked in hundreds (if not thousands) of places, but still miraculously held together in one piece. It wasn't some decoration planned for the papal Mass, nor was it some smart-alecky window display by Urban Outfitters. "Stained glass," remarked one press-box wag after Mass was over.
It wasn't some foul ball hit by Ryan Zimmerman or Lastings Milledge that hit the glass just the wrong way. Rather, a reporter in the press box tried to slide the pane to have an unfettered view of the baseball action on the diamond. But the pane got off the track, and the stress of the motion resulted in the fractured glass.


text:
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Home > Auckland > 6 florists in "Orewa" > Fabulous Flowers > Products > Emerald Kiss
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out of 5
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*Fine Print: Every bouquet is hand made and delivered by the local florist. Pictures shown are recent examples of an actual arrangement that were designed by talented florists and later sent out to a customer just like you! Please note that each individual florist cannot guarantee what the flower varieties or colours will be, they do guarantee that your specific arrangement will be fresh, beautiful and that your recipient will love it!


text:
Montse held the door of the lift open for her daughter and put her hand in her coat pocket to make sure that she had her keys. She would walk Ana to her car, which was parked nearby, then, once Ana had driven away, continue on the short distance to the town center to get some groceries. It was easier like this, easier than having Ana say goodbye to her in the apartment, easier than hearing the lift door close, knowing that there was nothing except the night ahead, no other sound but the traffic outside and the birdsong, which would die out when darkness fell.
"Oh, I meant to say that the man—you know, the man from the electric company—" Ana looked at her as though the man were someone she should know. "The one I told you about—he knew I was your daughter and he's writing a book about the war in his spare time and he asked me where you lived."
"I don't know that man at all," Montse said as she closed the front door of the building. "I've never had anyone from FECSA in the apartment. He is mixing me up with someone else."
She liked to sound firm and in control. It saved her daughters from having to worry about her living on her own.
"Well, anyway, he said he knows you, and I gave him the address. So if he calls on you, that will be why."
"The war?"
"He's collecting information on the war."
"Does he think I was in the war?"
"I don't know what he's doing exactly. He's writing a book."
"Well, I am sure he can write it without my help."
"He's nice. I mean, if there's ever a problem with the electricity, he comes."
"Don't be giving my address out to people."
They had reached Ana's car. Montse saw that Ana was not even listening to her. Her youngest daughter, the one who lived closest by, took things lightly. She was, Montse thought, probably relieved that her weekly visit to her mother was over and she was on her way home.
Montse went out three times a day, even in winter. There was always something to buy, if only a loaf of bread or a newspaper. It meant that she took some exercise and saw people.
The week after Ana had mentioned the man from the electric company, Montse saw him waiting at the front door of her building when she came home with a bag of fruit. She did know him, she realized; he was someone she often saw on the street. She must have been aware, too, that he worked for FECSA, although she couldn't think how she knew this. She didn't think she knew his name or anything else about him.
Once he had introduced himself, she realized that he wanted to come up to the apartment with her. She was unsure about this. Since Paco died, she had become protective of her own space and she disliked surprises. She even asked her daughters to phone at appointed times. But there was something both eager and easygoing in this man's manner and she knew that it would sound rude if she asked him to say whatever he had to say in the hallway of the building. Also, she thought, if something ever went wrong with her electricity, it would be useful to know a man who could fix it.
"Ana may have told you what I am doing," he said, once he was sitting in the armchair opposite hers with a glass of water in his hand.
She nodded but said nothing.
"I am trying to chart every event of the war, just in this valley and the mountains," he said.
"I wasn't involved in the war," she replied. "My father wasn't even involved. And I had no brothers."
"Oh, no, it wasn't to ask you anything, but to say that a retired general in Madrid—actually, he's from Badajoz—who was here during the war is coming back to show me where the dugouts were and exactly where the guns were positioned. He hasn't been here since then."
"One of Franco's generals?"
"Yes, though he wasn't a general during the war. I found his name and address and wrote to him. I didn't expect a reply, but he is coming. I spoke to him on the phone and the only person he remembered here, besides the other soldiers, was you. He remembered your name and said that he would like to see you. I asked around, because I didn't recognize your maiden name. I asked around without telling anyone why."
"And what is his name?"
"Ramirez. Rudolfo Ramirez. He was high up in the Army when he retired. I didn't ask him how old he was, but he sounded in good shape. Still drives a car."
Montse nodded calmly and then looked toward the window, as though distracted by something.
"There were a few of them," she said. "I'm not sure I would remember him. We didn't have much to do with them, as you can imagine."
"Anyway, he's coming here on Saturday of next week. There will be no big fuss—I've assured him of that. I've told no one that he is coming, except you. He'll show me what he needs to show me and then I'll take him to Lleida to catch the train back to Madrid. But he said that he would come for lunch at Mirella's, and when I told him that you were still living here he asked if you might join us."
"I'm here all right," she said, "but I don't go out much."
"I understand. But no one will know who he is. I could collect you and drop you back if that would suit you."
"The war was a long time ago." She was going to say something else and then hesitated. "It was fifty years ago. More."
"I know. It was hard for all of you who lived through it. The more I find out about it, the clearer it is how much it divided people. I'm trying to get the facts right while there is still time. It's history now—at least, for the younger generation it is."
She smiled.
"Anyway, yours was the name he gave me, and he seemed delighted to hear that you were well."
"I'm not sure I would know him. In fact, I'm sure I wouldn't."
"Shall I drop by next week and see what you think?"
"If you want, but I don't go out much. I've never been to Mirella's."
"Well, it's Saturday week at two o'clock, and, as I said, it would be just the three of us and no one any the wiser. He won't be in uniform, or anything like that."
"I'm sure he hasn't been in uniform for a long time if he was one of Franco's generals," she said, and then instantly regretted having sounded so sure, so up to date, since she wished to give the impression that she was old and living in her own world.
"It is good of him to come," the man said. "I was surprised."
Montse looked back toward the window and did not reply. She hoped that it was clear to her visitor that he should go.
Rudolfo would be over eighty now, she calculated. But he would still have something of what he had then, even if it lurked beneath sagging flesh and stiff hesitant movements. She pictured an old man getting slowly out of an old-fashioned car, his hair white, his frame frail. Maybe he would still have something of the effortless charm that had come to him that summer as naturally as light did to the morning.
It was the summer of '38, when the prisoners had all been taken to Lleida or Tremp. Those who had avoided capture had fled to the mountains or crossed the border into France or fled south to Barcelona. The town was quiet for a week or more—no one was sure who would come back or what would happen. The dam was being protected by Franco's soldiers, that was all. Then more of his soldiers began to pile in, and they took over the town hall, and they put up tents on the grounds of the school. Orders were given that shops and bars were to resume their normal hours.
At first, she remembered, people were afraid and stayed indoors. There were rumors that they were all going to be taken away, every house cleared, even the houses that had nothing to do with the war. Under cover of darkness, some people made their way into the mountains or toward the border. Everyone was waiting for something to happen. But nothing happened except that ordinary life came back, or something like it. Once the shops had reopened and there was Mass again on Sundays, the talk was about the dam and how carefully it was being guarded, and about a clearing that the soldiers had made by the edge of the water and the makeshift bar they had built and the fire they lit every night to keep the mosquitoes away. The talk was of the supplies of food they had, and the guitar playing and singing and dancing.
She did not go there at first, but girls she knew did and even some of the older people who wanted to forget about the war.
Later, Rudolfo told her that he had seen her on the street, noticed her as she went shopping with her mother and her sisters, but she did not think that that was true. However, she was sure that she had noticed him the night she first went down to the makeshift bar. It was the way he seemed to be amused by things that drew her attention, the way he smiled. His hair was cut short; he was not as tall as some of the others. He was in uniform, his shirt unbuttoned. As he sat there watching, the soldiers began to play music you could dance to, slow songs. Some of them danced with girls from the town.
There was, she remembered, a swagger about the soldiers, which faded slowly as the night wore on, and there was something uneasy, too, which meant that when the music became sad they all seemed more comfortable, even the ones who were not dancing. When the soldiers were joined by others, who had just come off duty, there were sudden bursts of gaiety—shouting and clapping and drinking. Only Rudolfo sat quietly, observing the scene.
She realized that he had noticed her. Once, he nodded to her. It could have been a casual gesture, except that it was not. She knew that it was not.
After a while, when one of her friends left, she left, too. She did not go there the following night. The next time she went, he was there as before, apart from the others, watching, amused by it all. He did not stir, merely made it clear that he knew she was there; once again, he took no part in the dancing or the showing off around the fire.
He let her know by looking at her that he wanted her and that the rest—the drinking, the dancing, the boyish antics—did not interest him. He was shy, almost retiring, but seemed also entirely sure of himself. She didn't believe that anything would happen between them. She didn't think that he would move toward her or do anything to damage his self-contained observation of the scene around him.
Yet he kept his eye on her, and she returned his glances, careful that none of her friends were looking.
One night, there was a full moon and a clear sky. When the crowd moved to the edge of the water and let the fire die down, neither he nor she moved with them. When he spoke to her, she could not hear him, so he moved closer. She realized that no one had noticed that she had not joined the others by the water. Some of the soldiers there had stripped down and were swimming and splashing. Away from them, close to the dying embers, he touched the back of her hand and then turned it and traced his fingers on the palm.
There was an old ruined building nearby. They walked slowly toward it and when they leaned against the wall she was relieved that all he wanted to do was kiss her and smile at her in between the kisses. In all the years since, she had never forgotten the sweet smell of his breath, his eagerness and good humor.
The next night, he found them a place where they could lie together undisturbed, and that was what they did every night until September came.
Every day that summer she waited for the evening. Her friends knew that she was with Rudolfo, but most of the girls who went to the makeshift bar had found boyfriends among the soldiers. No one ever talked about it. When her mother asked her if she had been to the soldiers' parties, she shrugged and said that she had passed by once or twice, but had walked on with her friends. When her mother asked her a second time, a few nights later, she was careful to come home early for once, so that no one at home would have an idea what she was doing.
She wondered now if she remembered correctly that the weather had changed as soon as the bombardment of the villages on the other side of the river began. Perhaps the man from the electric company would know. The bombardment began, in any case, toward the end of summer. The sound came in the night but often in the day, too, the sound of heavy artillery from up the valley. The villages that had remained with the Loyalists were being attacked.
She remembered her father saying that the soldiers had spent the summer preparing for this assault, that they had been building dugouts and finding the best positions and carrying the heavy guns there. They had left nothing to chance, once they secured the dam. He added that there was no hospital on the other side and no medicine, and the soldiers were letting no one cross the footbridge at Llavorsí or the bridge in Sort. People were trapped, he said, and the injured were dying of their wounds.
It struck her that the parties by the water were where the troops who'd been working all day preparing the guns came to relax. But she did not feel guilty. Instead, she hoped that those who had noticed her presence at the soldiers' bonfires would have their own reasons to keep silent about it. In the years afterward, everyone—even those who had been there every night—pretended that none of it had happened.
It was the change in the weather that changed everything—she was almost sure of that. It was a gray day, with the mist that came over the valley in September, when she realized that she knew only Rudolfo's name and that he came from Badajoz. By that time he was gone, and it struck her that he would, in all likelihood, not be returning. The realization broke the spell that had been cast on her, by the war itself as much as by Rudolfo.
It was not until then that she began to worry that she was pregnant. It was not only that she had missed her period; something in her body had changed. She waited and hoped that she was wrong. She woke in terror some nights, but in the day she tried to behave normally. In the meantime, the war went on up the valley, and jeeps and trucks full of soldiers and supplies drove through the town, and the town was often desolate, the main square empty, even though the bars and most of the shops remained open.
When she was sure that she was pregnant she decided that she would marry Paco Vendrell. For years at the town festivals he had followed her around, offering to buy her drinks, asking her to dance and, when she refused, standing on his own and observing her with a single-mindedness that made her shiver. He was ten years her senior, but had seemed middle-aged even when he was younger. Since he had begun working in the control room of the dam, when he was fourteen or fifteen, he had spoken of little else: the levels of water in the two rivers, or in the lake itself, or the flow of water that could be expected soon, or the difference between this year and last year. Montse's father laughed at him, and for her mother and her sisters the idea that he had been pursuing her since she was sixteen or seventeen was a source of regular jokes. She did her best to avoid him, and if she could not avoid him then she openly rebuffed his efforts to speak to her.
Now she urgently wanted to meet him. For a few days, she watched to see if she could run into him on his way to work. Since she did not see him walking to the dam, she supposed that he was taken there by military jeep now, and brought home in the same way in the evening. No one, she knew, was allowed to approach the road that led to the control tower overlooking the dam. The only time she could be sure that she would encounter Paco, she thought, was at Sunday Mass. She would have to be brave and move fast and not worry about other people watching and commenting. The opportunity to meet him might not come every Sunday.
Fortunately, there was only one Mass on Sunday these days, and the church was more crowded than it had ever been, as the people of the town, even those who had no interest in religion, or who were known to have been with the Loyalists, set out to show the troops whose side they were on now. By the beginning of that winter, it had become clear to all of them who was going to win the war, and it was clear, too, that as soon as the war ended there would be many more accusations and arrests. She understood that there would be little pity for someone in her situation, no matter who the father of the child was.
That Sunday, she went to the church early, walking quietly and demurely in the street with a mantilla on her head and a prayer book in her hand. She was sure that Paco would go to Mass if he wasn't working; he was not the sort of man who stayed away. But she could not remember actually seeing him in the church and did not know if he stood at the back, as many of the men did, or if he walked right up and found a place close to the altar. She would need to find a good vantage point from which she could see everyone, but she could not, she thought, sit at the back of the church, as she had never done so before and might be spotted by neighbors or by her family, who would wonder what she was doing there.
She sat in one of the side pews and was early enough to witness the two priests arriving, the older one, whom she knew, and the younger one, whom she had never met. What she noticed, as they walked up the aisle to go to the vestry, was their bearing, how proud they seemed and severe. They could easily, she imagined, have approached the vestry from outside, but approaching it like this gave them more dignity and more importance.
Soon, they were followed by a group of soldiers in full uniform. For a second, she was startled by the idea that Rudolfo could be among them. She looked at them carefully, however, and did not see him. Even if he did appear, she thought, whatever had happened in the atmosphere between the summer and now would mean that he would not come near her or acknowledge her. She was sure that, even were she to approach him and try to talk, he would avoid her.
She shivered for a moment and then watched warily as the pews began to fill up with people who kept their eyes averted. She wondered when the war would be over and wondered also, as the panic that often came to her in the night returned, what would happen to her if she could not persuade Paco to marry her. It occurred to her that she would be sent away, that her father and mother would not be able to protect her, even if they wanted to.
But how would she marry Paco? How could it be done? She had been so rude to him in the past, so dismissive. How could she make it clear to him that she had changed her mind? What reason would she give? In this uncertain atmosphere, with the chance that many more people were going to be killed or locked up, no one was thinking of romance or marriage, least of all someone like Paco, who was cautious and whose daily work at the dam was likely more and more difficult. But there was no one else she could think of who might marry her.
In the reaches of the night, one other option had come to her, and it appeared to her again now. There was a secluded place above the river, about a kilometre up the valley, where the current was strong and the water deep. Over the years, two or three people had used this place to kill themselves and their bodies had not been found for days. She thought that maybe soon she should go and look at that spot, check if it was guarded by the troops. She closed her eyes at the thought of it and bowed her head.
When Communion was almost over, she saw Paco walking up the aisle. She knew then that he must have been standing at the back. She studied him carefully as he returned. His lips were moving in prayer; his hands were joined. He seemed even odder and more isolated than usual. She almost smiled at the courage, or the self-delusion, it must have taken for him to pursue her the way he had; she wondered what thoughts he must have had before going out on those evenings and how disappointed he must have been to go home alone, knowing that he had no chance with her. It struck her, too, that, since he worked at the dam with the soldiers, he would have known about the parties at the water's edge and might have heard that she was among the girls who had gone there. He might even have heard about her and Rudolfo. It occurred to her as she waited for Mass to end that he might want to have nothing to do with her now. And if he, who had been so enthusiastic, did not want her, then she was sure, absolutely sure, that no one else would want her, either.
She moved quickly as the ceremony came to an end. Paco was not the sort of man who stood at the church gates after Mass with a group of friends. In any case, no one would want to be seen standing around now. When she walked out of the church grounds she saw that he was already a block away. She followed him as quickly as she could, hoping that no one would see her. She had prepared what she would say to him. It was important to make it seem plausible, natural.
When he turned, he gave her a look that was anxious and withdrawn, and then almost hostile, as if to say that he had enough problems without her chasing him down to let him know yet again that she had no interest in him. He turned his back to her before she had a chance to smile. As he walked faster, she grew more determined. If he had wanted her before, she figured, he would still want her now. All she had to do was be careful and hide all signs of panic as she spoke to him.
Eventually, when he looked back again and saw her, he stopped.
"I have to go home to change my clothes," he said, "and then they'll collect me. They are very busy at the dam. Everything has to be noted and written down."
She smiled. "Well, I'll walk along with you so I won't delay you," she said. "We are all worried at home. You know, I have no brothers. And my father says that we cannot go out alone now, not even just to the shops. So I am locked in the house or that's what it seems like."
They continued walking. She feared that if she stopped talking for one second he would tell her something about the dam and everything she had already said would be forgotten.
"If you were free some time, it would be great if you could call at the house and maybe we could go for a walk, if only through the town and then home again. But maybe you are too busy."
"There's a new captain from Madrid and he's a stickler for notes, and they all watch me in case I decide to pull one of the levers when they are not looking. You know, I'm the only one who fully understands the switching system, though the new fellow from Madrid is beginning to get the hang of it."
She wondered whether, if she concentrated hard enough, she might get through to him. But she said nothing as they came to the town center and then it was too late.
"Anyway," he said, "I'd better get going. I can't use this suit in the control room. It's the only good suit I have."
When Paco called two days later, one of her sisters answered the door and did not disguise her amusement or keep her voice down. Montse found her coat and left with him. During the weeks that followed he called every few days. Her sisters and her mother made jokes about him, at first, then expressed puzzlement, and finally grew silent. Not one of them asked her what she was doing walking around the town with Paco Vendrell and having hot chocolate with him in one of the granjas.
He talked to her about the dam, explaining its strategic importance and how old some of the systems were, which meant that only someone experienced could deal with the levers, someone who knew that a few of them would not respond if pulled too fast, and also that if one of them was pulled halfway it would have the same effect as pulling it the whole way.
She already knew that he lived with his mother but found out now that his father had died when he was young. She discovered that he liked routines, liked going to work at the same time every day, and disliked the soldiers' efforts to vary his timetable. Within a week, she, too, was part of his routine. Chatting to her, he seemed comfortable. She realized that he would be content to meet this way for months, maybe even years. He was not someone who would make a quick decision or want a sudden change in his life. And, like everyone, he knew that things would be very different when the war was over. He had a way of addressing the matters that interested him slowly and deliberately. Her efforts to speed things up, to ask him, for example, if he was happy living with his mother, failed completely. He did not register anything that interfered with the current of his own conversation.
When Christmas came, there were more and more rumors. Whole families disappeared, and houses became vacant. Her father said that anyone who had the slightest reason to leave should go now. She continued seeing Paco, although he was more cautious as they walked around the town, hoping not to be noticed by the troops.
One evening as she stood up from the table she saw her mother's eyes resting on her belly. She waited until they were alone in the kitchen.
"How soon?" her mother asked.
"Five months, maybe a bit less."
"Is Paco the father?'
"Does he know?'
"Is that why you are seeing him—so that he will marry you?"
"Yes, but he's in no hurry."
"Was it one of the soldiers?"
"And he has disappeared?"
Her mother looked at her.
"Let me deal with Paco," she said.
For the next two weeks Paco did not come around. The weather grew cold and there was snow. Sometimes they could hear rifle fire in the distance, even during the day. Feigning sickness, Montse stayed in bed, joining the others only for meals. She waited for her mother to come into the bedroom and tell her that it could not be done, that Paco would not marry her. She imagined then how she would have to brave the cold and avoid the soldiers, find a quiet time and move as though invisible. She tried to imagine what it would be like to jump into a deep and fast-moving river, wondered how quickly she would sink, how long it would take her to drown. As she lay in bed, another scenario came to her: she would be sent to a convent or an orphanage somewhere and the baby would be taken from her as soon as it was born. She would not be allowed to come home. Maybe that would be preferable.
Eventually, when the house was silent one day, her mother came to tell her that the wedding was arranged. It would happen in a few days in a side chapel and Paco would take full responsibility for the child.
"His mother seemed surprised and almost proud," her mother said. "She thinks the baby is his. Paco said that he has always wanted to marry you, that you are the girl for him, so at least someone is happy. There is a small flat at the top of the building where his mother lives. He is moving furniture in there right now. It would be lovely, Montse, if we didn't have to see too much of him. He has a way of wearing me down with his talk."
When her mother had finished speaking, Montse turned away from her and did not move again until she was sure that her mother had left the room.
As soon as Rosa was born, Paco wanted to hold her. In the days that followed, Montse watched him to see if he was holding the baby merely for her sake. She saw no sign of that, however. When Paco came home from work he wanted to know what the baby had been doing. Even being told that she had been sleeping was enough for him.
As they walked through the town with the baby, Montse was aware that other men were laughing at Paco because of his devotion to the baby. She knew that her family laughed at him, too. But Paco remained impervious to the laughter. When he was at home, he tried to amuse the baby; he soothed her if she cried. And, once Rosa learned to walk, Paco loved taking her out, moving as slowly as she wanted and holding her hand with pride.
Being married to him was strange. He never once asked about the father of the child. He seemed grateful and content with everything. Montse was grateful to him in return, but that did not keep her from feeling relieved when he left for work each day or when he fell asleep beside her in the bed. She was careful to disguise this, though. And slowly, as they had two more daughters and moved to a bigger apartment, she found that being polite to him took on a force of its own. She tolerated him, and then grew fond of him. Slowly, too, as she realized that her parents and her sisters were still laughing at him, she saw less of them. She began to feel a loyalty toward Paco, a loyalty that lasted for all the years of their marriage.
Rosa did not look like Montse or Paco, or her two sisters. Nor, Montse thought, did she resemble Rudolfo. All she had of her natural father was her way of staying apart. She had little interest in the company of other girls and yet everyone liked her. Although Paco was proud of his two other daughters, it was always clear that he loved Rosa best.
While the others settled locally, Ana in Sort and Nuria in La Seu, Rosa went to Barcelona and studied medicine. She married a fellow-doctor and opened a private clinic with him, using money that his family had given them. When Paco was dying, when his heart was giving out, Rosa insisted on looking after him herself. She sat with him in a private room at the clinic day and night. When he opened his eyes, all he looked for was Rosa.
By that time Rosa had three sons of her own, and it was in the sons, especially the eldest, Montse noticed, that Rudolfo appeared again. It was in their eyes, their coloring, but also in the slow way they smiled, in their shyness. Each year, when Rosa and her family holidayed close to Santa Cristina, on the Costa Brava, Montse spent two weeks with them. Once the oldest boy could drive, he would come to collect her. That journey, alone in the car with him, gave her pleasure.
When the man from the electric company came by again, she told him that she did not want to have lunch with him and the general, and that he should not press her as she was not feeling well.
"He will be very disappointed," the man said.
"Yes, I'm sure," she replied, realizing that the edge of bitterness in her voice had given away more than she'd meant to.
"We are all old now," she added in a softer tone, "and we can only do what we can."
"If you change your mind, perhaps you will let me know," the man said. He left her a phone number.
As soon as he had gone she phoned the clinic and left an urgent message for Rosa.
"I wonder if you could come here on the Saturday of next week," she asked, when Rosa called her back. "And if you could come on your own. If you can, I promise I won't ask you for anything for a long time."
"Are you sick?"
"Is it something else?"
"Don't ask, Rosa. Just come that day. Come for lunch. You needn't stay the night or anything."
She held her breath now and waited.
"I've looked at my diary," Rosa said. "I have a dinner that night."
"Great. So if you leave my house at four or five you'll be there in plenty of time."
"Have you seen a doctor?"
"You're a doctor, Rosa. I'll be seeing you."
"I'll bring my stethoscope." Rosa laughed.
"Just bring yourself."
She came not only with a stethoscope but with a device for measuring blood pressure and a set of needles to take blood samples and a cooler to keep the samples cold until she got back to Barcelona. She made her mother remove her blouse so that she could listen to her heart and her lungs. She drew blood slowly without speaking.
"I'm old," Montse said. "There is no point in checking me."
"You didn't sound well on the phone."
"No one my age ever sounds well on the phone."
"Why did you want me to come today?"
"Because I thought if I gave you an exact day you might be more likely to come than if I said just come any day. I hardly ever see you."
"I wish my husband knew me as well as you do," Rosa said. She seemed to be in good humor.
The table in the dining alcove was already set. Now Montse put a tray of canelones into the oven and brought a bowl of salad and two plates to the table and some bread. She asked Rosa about her husband and her sons.
"They are all wonderful. The only worry we have is that Oriol failed chemistry and has to repeat it."
"Does he still have that nice girlfriend he had in the summer?"
"He does, which is why he failed chemistry."
When they had eaten, she brought Rosa her coffee at the table near the window.
"I found a box of photographs," she said. "Some of them were taken before the war. They must have come from the old house when my mother died. I found them a year ago but I put them away because they made me too sad."
She went into her bedroom, where she had the box waiting on the chair where she normally put her clothes for the next day.
"I wondered," she said when she came back, "if we could pick out the best photos, the clearest, and if one of your boys, when they have time, could make copies for you and your sisters."
She began to put bundles of photographs on the table.
"This was my grandmother," she said, holding one up. "She lived with us until there was a falling out of some sort and then she lived with my aunt. She came from Andorra and my father always thought she had money, but, of course, she had none."
"Who is the baby on her lap?'
"That's me. There was a man who would come once a year with a camera and a booth and people would queue up."
They began to flip through other photographs. Most of them were of Montse and her sisters, taken on summer outings.
"I have some here with no people in them—one of the river when it was flooded, which my father must have taken, and one of the dam being built. I can't remember what year that was."
Rosa moved these aside and began to examine another bundle of photographs of Montse and her sisters and their friends.
"Those were taken well before the war," Montse said. "After the war I don't think people took photographs as much."
Rosa was studying a large-format photograph of a group on an outing with mountains in the background.
"Where is my father in this? Why isn't he in any of the pictures?" she asked.
"Your father always took the photographs," Montse replied.
She reached for another bundle.
"He might be in one of these, but he was the only one who had a camera in the years before the war and he liked taking photographs."
She glanced at Rosa, who was nodding.
"Anyway, if you want to take the whole box and select the best ones—and if the boys had time they could make copies. It all must seem like ancient history to them, but maybe it will mean more when they have their own families."
"I'll be very careful with them," Rosa said, picking up a photograph of herself as a teen-age girl with Paco, smiling, beside her.
"I think I took that one," Montse said.
"I might get it blown up a bit bigger and frame it," Rosa said.
When it was time to go, Montse carried the box of photographs to the lift and Rosa carried the medical equipment. Montse insisted on going down with her to her car.
"If that's too heavy, just tell me," Rosa said.
The car was parked close by. They put the box and the equipment on the back seat, and then Rosa embraced her, before opening the door and getting into the driver's seat.
Montse waved as the car pulled away. She knew that she could easily be seen by anyone approaching. She looked up the street toward the town center to check if there was a car coming. The lunch would be over around now, she thought, and Rudolfo and the man from the electric company would pass by as they drove toward Lleida. She waited a few minutes, but when she saw no car she decided to go back inside and clear away the dishes. Later, she thought, she would walk to the town center and do a bit of shopping.
Soon, she knew, there would be an old man standing at the station in Lleida as the train to Madrid arrived. He would get on the train slowly and then walk along the aisle to find his seat. He would, she imagined, be polite to those around him as he settled in for the journey. Rosa would be on the motorway that led in the other direction, her driving steady and competent as it always was. Montse sighed with quiet satisfaction as she thought of the two of them, moving so easily away from each other; they would both be home before night fell. ♦


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Characters part 9
Street Fighter IV Characters[edit]
|Character Select
|Ryu is unlocked by default.
Fighter Overview
Ryu's the same simple, basic character he's always been, But despite lacking some of the obvious benefits other shotos have, Ryu is arguably still the best Shotokan fighter in Street Fighter IV. Largely, it's because he can so easily combo into his ultra.
Maybe "easy" isn't the right word to describe his ultra combo setups, rather "plentiful" and "effective" are more accurate. Though Ryu's easiest ultra combo setup is actually pretty easy. Knock an opponent out of the air with a LP Shoryuken ( + LP ) and Ryu will land early, letting you launch a Metsu Hadoken ultra ( + PPP ) to catch the opponent as he/she falls. While that easy combo only works against an opponent that was already in the air, you can use Shoryuken's to pop up opponents from the ground and cancel with a Focus Attack Dash cancel. Since Ryu doesn't follow the opponent into the air with the full Shoryuken, you can ready an ultra combo to catch the body as it falls.
Ryu's even got a good super combo that can be used to juggle in the same way described for his ultra, by knocking the opponent out of the air with a Shoryuken. It's also easily canceled into off of a normal combo that ends with a fireball. But of course, winning with Ryu isn't just about relying on his ultra and super. His standard combos are simple and effective. Do a lot of low poking with c.MP and c.MK and cancel into a Hadoken ( + P ) for safe, damaging poking. When the opponent gets too comfortable blocking low, hit him/her with a Collarbone Breaker ( + MP ) for a quick overhead strike.
While Ryu's got a great fireball that's good in projectile shootouts, it's worth using Focus Attacks to absorb some incoming shots just so you can build up your ultra meter (Ryu's ultra is that good). Never forsake the LP Shoryuken. It's got almost unbeatable priority and is great for anti-air and as a wake-up attack. And as with the other shotos, Ryu's j.MK is his best cross-up attack.
|c.LK c.LP c.MK xx + P xx + P
|As this combo starts with a c.LK, it's quick and fairly easy to get started. The timing for the first three links isn't the easiest, though with practice you'll get it. Cancel the c.MK into a Hadoken ( + P ) and, if you've got the super meter, you can extend the combo by canceling into Ryu's super combo. It does great damage for very little risk, and can double as a poke string (minus the super) if it gets blocked.
|j.MK ( cross-up ) s.HP xx + HP xx FADC xx + PPP
|If you've got a full ultra meter and a half of a super meter, you can land this very effective combo. You need to cancel the Shoryuken ( + HP ) quickly to knock the opponent into the air without having Ryu leave the ground. If you're mid screen, dash forward and prep the ultra combo, but if you're in a corner you'll want to dash backward out of the FADC.
|( in corner ) c.MK xx + KK + PPP
|If you can pressure the opponent into a corner with a full ultra meter, he/she is likely worried about jumping at you, for fear of a Shoryuken anti-air leading to an ultra. But even on the ground, you've got this option. Land a c.MK and cancel into an EX Tatsumaki ( + KK ). The EX Tatsu will bounce the opponent around a bit before launching them airborne in the corner, at which point a simple Metsu Hadoken ( + PPP ) will juggle combo.
Moves List
|Collarbone Breaker
|A quick overhead strike that'll catch opponents hiding behind a low guard. Use it against turtling opponents, or even as a meaty attack if you don't expect the opponent to retaliate with something of a higher priority.
|Solar Plexus Strike
|This is a bit slow to come out, but it does more damage than a regular s.HP and, more importantly, has more range. You can't cancel the strike for a combo, but it will link with a Shoryuken.
|Ryu's fireball is a good one. Full-screen, variable speed, etc., etc. Ryu can fire 'em off just as fast as any other character not named Sagat. Use it to end your poke strings to make them safe on block, use it to combo. As with most characters, Ryu's EX fireball will eat up incoming projectiles and keep on truckin' so throw them out in fireball wars for a quick upper hand (or to punish someone trying to absorb everything with Focus Attacks).
|The Shoryuken, above all else, has outstanding priority. In fact, it basically beats any other attack head-to-head. An opponent tries to jump in on your with a j.HK? Shoryuken. Dhalsim trying to poke at you from afar with s.HP? Shoryuken. Shoryukens are slightly nerfed in Street Fighter IV (versus Street Fighter II) in that they no longer let you pass through projectiles, which is a bit of a bummer, but they're still excellent for anti-air and general wake-up tactics.
|Tatsumaki Senpu Kyaku
|Perhaps the best use of the Tatsumaki is projectile invasion. Used to be that Ryu's Tatsu would pass through fireballs but only at the beginning of the animation, but in Street Fighter IV it's the middle of the animation that'll skip through most projectiles. You can also use it to cover ground against runaway opponents.
|Shinku Hadoken
|Ryu's super is very comboable—you can cancel into it or juggle an opponent you knock out of the air with a Shoryuken—and it does solid damage. It's a great super to use if you get the chance, though his EX attacks (namely Hadoken and Tatsumaki Senpu Kyaku) will be challenging for some of that super meter.
|Metsu Hadoken
|Ryu's ultra is among the best in the game, mostly because it's just so comboable that it's highly usable and effective. The damage it does isn't particularly impressive, but it's just easy to get to that damage. Learn to take advantage of the ultra, and use Focus Attacks to absorb incoming attacks just to build up your ultra meter without actually taking damage.
|Give us feedback!
|Continue Characters...
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Sunday, October 4, 2009
from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Click Here to reserve your seat.
L'Auberge Hotel
1540 Camino Del Mar
Del Mar, CA
Cost: Free
Join us for a casual panel discussion with knowledgeable meat experts, local farmers and ranchers who will share their experiences with raising animals, opinions on sustainable eating and buying habits and answer questions. Panelists include Phil Noble of Sage Mountain Farms, Thomas Ryan from Chefs Warehouse and formerly Niman Ranch, plus other local ranchers.
Click Here to reserve your seat.


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I spent this past weekend at SOBcon in Chicago. SOBcon stands for Successful and Outstanding Blog Conference and is an annual gathering of bloggers founded by Liz Strauss of successful-blog.com and Terry Starbucker of Ramblings of a Glass Half Full. I was lucky enough to be invited to represent Ashoka as one of the citizen sector organizations featured on the final morning of SOBcon, the "give back" session, coordinated by Geoff Livingston of Zoetica Media.
Conferences are more than just an exchange of information, they create temporary and in some cases permanent communities. The good ones convene a group of practitioners to share ideas and co-create the experience, bringing together expertise, passion and commitment in an inspiring mix. At the very best conferences a feeling of togetherness is created almost instantly, leading to a level of openness that is rare, where people care for and want to help each other, where no-one need be a stranger to another. SOBcon was this type of conference.
What was it about SOBcon that created this atmosphere, energy, connection?
Intimacy. SOBcon took place at a human scale, with only 150 attendees. The organizers could no-doubt sell several times more tickets than this, but they know that something would be lost in the process. They are not simply looking to run a profitable event, they want to host something meaningful. As a result real relationships are made, new partnerships forged. (The flip side of this intimacy is the cost of course, with the event costing almost $1,000 full price).
Interactivity. SOBcon had more than just the usual speakers and panels, it concluded each session with time for each table to brainstorm how the ideas presented relate to their organization, business or idea. This interactivity created a strong sense of creativity in the room, and a deeper connection between otherwise-random tablemates. The Give Back session harnessed this creative energy on behalf of the featured organizations.
Openness. Thanks to the above a sense of openness was created. People shared their struggles and successes, aspirations and accomplishments with the same open good humour. No-one seemed trying to impress anyone particularly and a genuine curiosity permeated most conversations. The speakers seemed to pick up on this vibe, mostly giving thoughtful and reflective speakers devoid of the rah rah you often get from the stage.
A commitment to something bigger than itself. The reason I was at SOBcon was for the session devoted to cause-based organization on Sunday morning. Along with Ashoka Vitamin Angels, InvisiblePeople and Anixter presented about their use of social media and what they are trying to achieve. The room then worked in groups for 45 minutes to generate suggestions and ideas for us based on the questions we each posed. The passion with which everyone focused on this task, the palpable desire to help and the insight of the suggestions was inspiring to behold.
Love. There really was a lot of love in the room at SOBcon. Love for our fellow participants. Love for social media and the medium of blogging, for what it had brought into so many lives and what it allows so many to achieve. And a love for those less fortunate, a desire to give back and contribute to creating a better future for all of us.
This love came through in the stewardship of Liz and Terry, in the passion of the participants, in the honesty of the presenters. And there were some fantastic presenters: Steve Farber reminded us that "oh shit!" moments are often the indicator that we're doing something significant, and not to be feared. Ted Murphy shared his journey with us, and what he overcame on the way (he also put up a $1000 Izea voucher for best idea for an online exchange platform, which my conference buddy Carol Roth and I won for an idea about intergenerational connections). Chris Brogan gave us some real talk about sustainability and becoming an overnight success after 11 years of hard work. Jay Jay French of Twisted Sister shared hilarious story after hilarious story.
A huge thank you to Liz and Terry for organizing such a great event and to Geoff for inviting me to present on behalf of Ashoka. It was a real honour and a pleasure.


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School of Medicine Odessa
Gary Ventolini, MD
Regional Dean
More about Dr. Ventolini
Departmental Information for:
Welcome to the web site of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, School of Medicine, Permian Basin Campus. We are a vibrant and progressive community-based medical school with a mission to provide state-of-the-art patient care, excellence in education and significant medical research.
The Permian Basin regional campus, located in Odessa, has been established as a graduate medical education site and now is home to residencies in Internal Medicine, Family and Community Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology as well as clinical rotations and patient care in the departments of General Surgery, Psychiatry and Pediatrics. We provide medical education to third and fourth year medical students in all six core specialties including family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry and surgery. In addition, physician assistant students from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Midland are regularly assigned to our clinical services. While on campus, medical students and resident physicians receive a large amount of personal attention from our faculty in an intimate educational setting. We are proud of our achievements in medical education and proud of the achievements of our graduates.
The Texas Tech Physicians are the largest group practice in West Texas comprising over 500 physicians in all specialties, ranging from infants to geriatrics. Services in the Permian Basin are provided at two convenient locations at the Texas Tech Health Center at the main campus and the Texas Tech Physicians in Midland. Our physicians provide both family-centered health care and a broad range of specialty services. Furthermore, our large referral network allows patients easy access to service their medical needs. The Texas Tech Physicians of the Permian Basin admit patients to hospitals in both Odessa and Midland.
Our Family Practice Center provides primary medical care for individuals of all ages, including routine physicals, immunizations, well baby exams, health screenings, minor surgery, psychology and urgent care. The Internal Medicine Group, provides adult services in general and subspecialty internal medicine with services including, endocrinology, gastroenterology, nephrology and rheumatology. The Department of Pediatrics provides quality medical care for children. In addition to services such as well child exams, immunizations and treatment of childhood illnesses, our pediatricians also offer several specialty clinics designed to care for children with specific needs, such as obesity. The University Women's Health Center at Texas Tech offers a full range of services for women's health care in Midland and Odessa, including obstetrics, fetal stress testing, conception counseling, ultrasonography, osteoporosis screening and treatment and gynecology. The Department of General Surgery accepts physician referrals for all types of surgical needs and our surgeons take special interest in trauma prevention. The Department of Psychiatry treats sleep disorders, PTSD, addiction and depression.
Nationally recognized clinical scientists have been recruited to direct the Institute on our campus and to oversee other research development. It is our intent to continually create research programs that bridge medical school departments and the various schools of TTUHSC. Our research is directed toward answering questions that can be translated into practical applications in patient care. The presence of research on this campus also plays a major role in faculty development and provides an opportunity for faculty, residents and students to work in a scholarly environment.
Whether you are a patient, faculty member or medical student in search of residency,
I invite you to explore our web site and offerings. I feel confident that you can
find the information you're looking for. However, please do not hesitate to visit
our accommodating campus or contact me for assistance.


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Regarded as the pre-eminent British cox of his day, Nethercott steered both women's and men's boats at Oxford, including, in 2003, the epic "one-foot" men's Boat Race win, the shortest victory margin in the history of the event. In the 2005 race he coxed the heaviest crew ever to tip the scales at the weigh-in.
But it was the 2004 race that propelled him into the limelight, when the two eights clashed so furiously that the contact edged Oxford's bowman off his seat and left scrapes in Cambridge's paintwork. Forgetting he was wearing a BBC microphone, and in an attempt to galvanise his flagging crew, Nethercott repeatedly screamed: "Come on. They are all over the place. They've ------' gone" — leading to several complaints from viewers.
Oxford lost by six lengths in a time of 18 minutes 17 seconds. At the end of the race Nethercott, bent double on the Mortlake shoreline, let out a lengthy, blood-curdling scream. Some commentators blamed what they called Nethercott's "aggressive streak" for Oxford's defeat — but he was vindicated by being chosen as cox again the following year.
Dapper and donnish, Nethercott was a brilliant student, taking the best First in Physics and Philosophy of his year at Oxford and going on to complete a DPhil in the Philosophy of Language — "Linguistics," he explained, "the semantics of complex demonstratives."
Acer Gary Nethercott (his first name is Latin for "fierce, keen or eager") was born on November 28 1977 at Newmarket, and educated at Mark Hall Comprehensive and Broxbourne School in Hertfordshire. In 1996 he went up to University College, Oxford, and started rowing in his first term, soon switching to coxing when it became clear that his build was more suited to the cox's role.
In 2000, selected to cox the women's heavyweight blue boat, he steered them to their first victory against Cambridge in nine years. After graduating he spent a year teaching in America, then returned to Oxford in 2001 to study for his doctorate . He later worked for Boston Consulting Group.
His passion for rowing undiminished, he won the reserve men's Boat Race with Oxford. When he steered the Dark Blues to victory in the main event in 2005, Oxford posted the third-fastest winning time in history.
In the summer of 2005 he started coxing the international British men's eight, a role he filled for four years, winning bronze at the 2007 World Rowing Championships in Munich. A year later he won his silver medal at the Olympic Games in Beijing; following months of dieting, he managed to scoff a whole bag of jelly babies on the podium.
Nethercott then took a year off coxing, cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats and competing in Ironman Triathlons (long-distance triathlon races) for charity. He had planned to trial for the team again in 2010 when he was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer. He was a very private person, and when diagnosed, decided to tell very few people, instead setting out on his own to find the best treatment possible. "I don't want a fuss," he declared.
After surgery and chemotherapy had proved partly successful, Nethercott contended for a place in the 2012 British Olympic team, but impaired vision made it difficult for him to steer precisely enough for international racing.
When coxing for the national eight, Nethercott eschewed the pre-race Neanderthal grunting favoured by other countries and instead would quietly reprise a few technical points ahead of the starting buzzer.
He was unmarried.
Acer Nethercott, born November 28 1977, died January 26 2013