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South Africa Garden Route
Day 1: (Wednesday) Cape Town Via Route 62 To Oudtshoorn
You will be collected from your hotel at 07:30 for the drive to Stellenbosch for further passengers. You then continue via the town of Montagu on the scenic "Route 62" through the Little Karoo. Enjoy a stop in Barrydale for refreshments (not included) before continuing to Oudtshoorn, the Ostrich Capital of the World. Arrive at a fully operational Ostrich Ranch, where you are taken on a guided tour, which includes an opportunity to ride an ostrich! These flightless birds are rapid runners and can reach speeds of approximately 65 km/hr (40 mph). Continue of the your hotel for overnight.
- Includes: Dinner
- Accommodation: Queens Hotel or similar
Day 2: (Thursday) Oudtshoorn To Knysna/Plettenberg Bay
Enjoy a morning tour of the Cango Caves, one of the world's great natural wonders, where limestone formations have been sculptured by nature through the ages. Your journey continues via the spectacular Outeniqua Pass to the town of George and on to Knysna, a picturesque town known as the Jewel of the Garden Route that lies on the banks of a shimmering lagoon. Knysna is synonymous with fine indigenous timbers; famed for the craftsmanship of its furniture and timber products. Proceed to your hotel with the rest of the day at for independent activities, to discover the town's many art galleries, craft shops and coffee bars. Dinner is included at the Lodge.
- Includes: Breakfast, Dinner
- Accommodation: Knynsa Hollow Hotel or similar
Day 3: (Friday) Garden Route – Knysna
This morning enjoy a cruise on the vast Knysna Lagoon, then visit the Featherbed Nature Reserve, where you get an amazing view of the imposing sandstone 'Heads' which guard the sea entrance to Knysna's huge tidal lagoon, and the forests, marshes and pristine beaches surrounding it. After lunch spend the rest of the day at leisure, enjoying this lovely and special town. Return to Knysna where the remainder of the day is spent at leisure, for shopping, taking in the beautiful scenery or just relaxing in one's room.
- Includes: Breakfast, Lunch
- Accommodation: Knynsa Hollow Hotel or similar
Day 04: Saturday) Knysna/plettenberg Bay Via The Tsitsikamma Forest To Port Elizabeth
After breakfast and check-out formalities, journey along the final area of the Garden Route to the beautiful Tsitsikamma National Park. Enjoy a walk along the suspension bridge across the Storms River mouth gorge, which offers visitors incredible views and photo opportunities. The tour terminates in Port Elizabeth at approximately 14h30 with drop-off at the airport or your Port Elizabeth based hotel.
- Includes: Breakfast
|GARDEN ROUTE – CAPE to PORT ELIZABETH – 4 days
|LAND ONLY in Canadian Dollars
|per person sharing
|single supplement
- Accommodation as stated or similar,
- Breakfast on all days, Dinner on days 1, 2 & 3,
- Transportation in luxury air-conditioned vehicle,
- Services of a professional English speaking Tourist Guide,
- Entrance fees and excursions where applicable
- Porterage.
- All airfares and airport taxes,
- All meals not specified,
- All excursions and entrances other than those stated,
- Items of a personal nature such as, beverages, laundry, etc
- Tips and gratutites
Please note: Prices and dates are subject to change at any time. Please call (647) 231-0067 or email us (firstname.lastname@example.com) for current pricing.


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Expansion Draft List: Columbus Crew
- Posted by Drew Epperley
- On November 13, 2009
- 12 Comments
- 2009 Expansion Draft
Moving forward once again in our expansion draft coverage. Today we take a look at the Supporter's Shield winning Columbus Crew. More than likely we will see a player picked from this bunch, anytime you go through the regular season and are as good as the Crew were this year you will most certainly see a player picked off in an expansion draft. New teams want players from successful teams.
Now some of this could change with some possible retirements of veteran players but even so those players will probably still be protected no matter what.
No doubt this is one of the tougher clubs to figure out with all the good talent on the roster.
|Guillermo Barros Schelotto
|Kevin Burns
|Eric Brunner
|Cory Elenio
|Brian Carroll
|Jason Garey
|Emmanuel Ekpo
|Eddie Gaven
|Frankie Hejduk
|Alex Grendi
|William Hesmer
|Andy Gruenebaum
|Steven Lenhart
|Andy Iro
|Chad Marshall
|Adam Moffat
|Danny O'Rourke
|Alejandro Moreno
|Gino Padula
|Stanley Nyazamba
|Robbie Rogers
|Duncan Oughton
|Emilio Renteria
|Jed Zayner
Do you protect the aging Hejduk? If so do you not protect the younger and upcoming Zayner? What about Moreno? For me I put Moreno under the unprotected list in place of Lenhart. Some reason I found Lenhart as a guy that could be picked by Philly and Moreno to be a guy with a high contract that Philly would not take.
Another guy I wonder about is Andy Iro who I still think has potential to be real special in this league. Do you leave him unprotected as well?
I may go back on this club before the draft because of all the ifs here. You really could make your case for a few guys on the unprotected list.
See anyone I was completely off on here? Let's hear it.

subset: commoncrawl


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Story of the day
Greek Yogurt With Honey And Pistachios
By FDL
ShareFacebook Twitter AddThis
Looking for a easy and refreshing dessert for summer? All you need for this Greek recipe ready in 5 minutes is pistachios, honey and Greek yogurt
- Pistachios 300 g
- Honey 250 ml
- Greek yogurt 1 l
Info box
- Preparation time
- Recipe category Dessert
- Recipe yield 4
- Recipe cuisine Greek
Mix the pistachios with the honey.
Put the yogurt onto dishes and spoon over the pistachio and honey mixture.
Looking for more honey tips? Read our articles


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Offering a world of benefits, roof windows are an excellent way to transform your home using natural light. Changing dark and unused rooms into light, open spaces full of potential, roof windows are the first step needed to unlock the opportunities your home offers.
When it comes to roof windows, you must get the flashing right. Flashings are essential items that cannot be missed and are used to form a watertight protective seal around your windows. This seal protects your windows from the outdoor weather, making sure it's safe and secure even during the harshest storms.
Without properly fitted flashings, your roof window can suffer from water leakage. Often hidden within the roof cavity, water leakage is hard to spot until it's too late, causing expensive damages.
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Our range of slate flashings are:
- High quality. At LB supplies, we only supply best high-quality products from experienced and leading brands that you can trust.
- Cost effective. Forming the correct protection around your window will protect you from expensive damage and repairs, saving you money in the long-term.
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- Suited to your home. With some specialised slate flashings to match your roofing material, you not only get the proper fit for your window but it will also match with the look and style of your home.
At LB Supplies, we only supply the best high-quality products from experienced and leading brands that you can trust, including Velux, Liteleader, Dakea and Aurora. Secure, dependable and reliable, we've got the perfect slate flashings for your roof windows.


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Advertisements on Yahoo search will start being surfaced by Microsoft's adCenter platform starting Monday, the companies said today, marking the final major stage in transitioning Yahoo to the Bing platform.
Microsoft and Yahoo have been coaching U.S. and Canadian search advertisers on the switch, which involves advertisers moving their operations from Yahoo's outgoing Search Marketing platform to Microsoft's adCenter. As more and more ads are surfaced on Yahoo via advertisers' adCenter accounts, advertisers should notice fewer and fewer ad-clicks via their Yahoo accounts, the companies said.
The transition is expected to last from Monday until the end of October. The transition team said advertisers should make sure they've opened adCenter accounts to replace their Yahoo Search Marketing accounts no later than Oct. 25.
Beta testing for the ad-serving transition began in July, during which 7 to 10 percent of ads on Yahoo were surfaced via the Bing platform, a Yahoo spokesperson said.
The Microsoft Bing algorithms started powering Yahoo organic search results in the U.S. and Canada on Aug. 18, the spokesperson said, and the transition reportedly was complete on Aug. 24.
For more on the specifics of the Microsoft and Yahoo's revenue-sharing search deal, check out my post from July 2009. Full seattlepi.com coverage of the alliance is here.


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Edwina Thorn, Journals Executive, Policy Press
As the volume of scholarly publications proliferates, you may well wonder whether the research you have worked so hard to publish is actually reaching readers and making a difference. You may also find that you are increasingly expected to demonstrate the impact of your work in grant applications or performance reviews.
At Policy Press we want to help and have partnered with Kudos to help you maximise and measure the impact of your research. This blog post is intended to provide quick and practical tips on how to use this service.
What is Kudos?
Kudos is intuitive and free to use for authors. It saves time by allowing authors to manage the promotion of all their publications across different forms of social media and email, and by providing a range of article level metrics (including altmetrics, citations, and downloads) – all in a single place.
When you create an account at https://www.growkudos.com/ you can start 'claiming' your research publications so that they appear in your author dashboard (If you have an ORCID ID you can save time by importing your publication list).
Kudos has three main functions: Explain, Share and Measure.
Kudos allows authors to add brief, plain language notes explaining what their article is about and why it's important. You can find a guide to writing a really good plain language summary on the Kudos blog: Explain your work – the Kudos way. There is also space for author perspectives and links to other resources, such as presentations, videos, interviews, news coverage, figures, data-sets or related publications.
At Policy Press we are now collecting plain language summaries at article submission stage, so if you complete this field when you originally submit the article, the 'What's it about?' box will already be filled in for you.
With the help of the Kudos widget this information is not only available on the Kudos platform, but can be incorporated into other websites, including publisher platforms or institutional research repositories. For Policy Press journals we've added the Kudos widget to Ingenta, so that readers can access the plain language summaries and impact statements added via Kudos directly from the article abstract page.
Authors can share the information and resources they have added to their publications easily via social media and email directly from the Kudos platform. Kudos creates trackable links, so that the effects of this sharing activity are measured and displayed in the Author Dashboard. This way authors always know how effective the time they have spent sharing their research has been.
Kudos makes it easy for authors to measure the impact of their work by providing article level metrics in the Author Dashboard. At a single glance, authors can see:
- -How often their articles have been downloaded,
- -How often they have been cited (in publications indexed in Web of Science),
- -Their Altmetric scores (see What are Altmetrics? for further information),
- -How often they have been viewed and shared on Kudos,
- -How often people have clicked through to the original articles from Kudos.
NB – The above is an anonymised example of a Kudos author dashboard. Full text downloads are only available for articles where the publisher partners with Kudos. Full text download data are available on Kudos for all Policy Press journals.
Does Kudos work?
The Altmetrics Research Team at the Centre for HEalthy and Sustainable CitieS (CHESS), Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore analysed data from the first two years of Kudos usage. They found that use of the Kudos toolkit by researchers led to 23% higher downloads of full text articles from the publishers' sites.
Time-saving tips:
- Use your ORCID ID to import your publications list – there's no need to search for each publication separately, and Kudos will automatically update your publications list every week.
- Add a plain language summary when you submit a journal article via Editorial Manager. It'll be automatically transmitted to Kudos on acceptance.
- Authorise Kudos to connect to your social media accounts, so you can share your research on social media directly from your Kudos profile. Kudos uses trackable links, so that you can measure the impact of your activities.
So why not try it out on one of your Policy Press publications? Watch this recording of our recent webinar or contact email@example.com for further information.


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Fall Fly Fishing Special
The Fall Trout Special is a 3/4 day Wade Trip during the best time to catch Trout in the Smoky Mountains. The Smokies have year around trout fishing, however we have two peak seasons of the year, early Summer and Fall!
We put you on the water during the best time to be out in the Fall! We start at 9:00am and fish til 3:00pm
No previous fly fishing experience necessary!
We supply a patient, professional fly fishing guide, all the gear you need including, waders, wading boots, fly rods, fly reels, leaders, flies, and tippet. We also bring a nice stream-side lunch consisting of deli sandwiches, chips, and drinks. We offer Catch and Release, and Catch and Keep Trout fishing trips. Our guides bring along cameras to get pictures of you with your catch!
Fall Trout Special
Trip Details;
Our Fall Trout Special is a 6 hour Wade Trip fly fishing for Trout! We supply all the gear you need, plus lunch, drinks, and an adrenaline filled day! All you need is a fishing license and to dress for the weather.
Children are welcome on all of our trips, and we do have waders and gear to fit them!
One angler $190.00
Two or more anglers $112.50 per person
For reservations call (828)488-7665 or book your trip online from our website


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About BriAnne Wills
BriAnne is a Brooklyn-based fashion photographer who moved to New York in September 2014 with her husband and two rescue cats.
About Girls and Their Cats
GATC is a photo series created by BriAnne as a way to showcase cat-owning women in a positive light. She's photographed over 290 women so far.


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Esther and the Giants
"Shall we be going fishing today?" Esther stood in the doorway, peering into the dim, crowded cabin, where three of her four brothers and both her sisters were crammed uncomfortably into the single room. Her mother looked up from the far corner by the wood stove where she was cooking something for lunch, probably old dry rabbit for the hundredth time this month. "It's possible. Did you find any berries?" "Too late in the year," Esther shook her head, then gave an exclamation and hurried to the corner of the cabin. "Bonnie, don't eat that!" Her baby sister gurgled happily and drooled out whatever it was she'd been chewing on. Her mother sighed. "I suppose we shall have to get some fish then, there's nothing else for dinner. We'll tell your father when he gets back." So, that evening, they heaved the old canoe her father had made by hand into the water and pushed off. The eldest sister had been left in charge, since Esther was coming with her parents. The morning had been sunny, but now a heavy, clinging fog was drifting down upon them. Esther's hair draped her head in damp tendrils and her sodden clothes dragged on her body. Her breath made puffs of vapour ahead of her and her parents became nothing more than shapes in the dimness. They had been fishing for some time without success when her father said, shivering, "This is useless and it must be getting late. Let's head back." They turned the canoe and set out, but after they had been paddling a ways, her father stopped and looked around in confusion. "I can't tell exactly where we're going in this fog, but this is certainly the wrong way. Perhaps we should wait till it burns off." Her father's voice sounded unusually helpless. Esther pulled up her paddle and hugged herself for warmth. There was no sound save for that of the water lapping against the sides of the boat. Suddenly a new sound cut the stillness, a great churning and splashing that made their boat rock wildly. Then, ahead, a great shape loomed out of the fog. It appeared to be another canoe, but a canoe of such monumental size that it was dizzying. The things that stood atop it however, were larger still. Esther felt like screaming but she was too awed to make a sound. The shape came closer, towering above them. At last it resolved itself into what was definitely a canoe, and on it the tallest, most unbelievable man she had ever seen. He had long black hair and darkly tanned skin. He was dressed entirely in a suit of a dark leather like material, save for his thick black cape. He was larger than the trees in the forest around them, ridiculously, incredibly huge. And there were two others in the boat with him, equally gigantic. They looked much the same too, except one had brown hair, and their noses were different shapes. Even faced with this overawing spectacle, she did not really start panicking until one of them looked at her. "Hey," it said, sounding mildly surprised. "Will you look at that? Little People." "We're not little, you're big," she protested, annoyed. Then her heart skipped a beat realizing that she had just contradicted someone who it was probably best not to offend. "Um, but I'm sure we look small to you," she added hastily. "And we'll leave right away if we're bothering you." "Yes certainly," her father put in, shaking himself out of his astounded reverie at last. "Well no need for that," said another. "I haven't seen anyone big or small for quite some time except my brothers, and they can't cook anything." "And your feet smell," retorted the brown haired one." "Now now," said the one who had first spoken, and who seemed to be the smallest. "No need to fight again." He turned to Esther and her parents. "Why not come visit us for a bit. We'd love to have the company." "Yes, and besides, I want cheese fondue for dinner tomorrow," the second added "Screw your fondue!" screamed the brown haired one. "There there, let's all get along peaceably," said the first one soothingly. "So will you come?" It struck Esther's father that it might be a bad idea to disagree with people this size, so he nodded. All the giants smiled delightedly, and turning their canoe they set off, the smaller one calling back for them to follow. Faintly, for the canoe was far ahead of them, they could hear the second muttering "Well they seem friendly enough, and cornflakes are my favourite food you can't deny it." "We'll see about that!" "Now really is this away to handle your problems? Have some dignity."
Sometime later, cold and clammy with the fog, they arrived at a small island in the middle of the river. It was mostly taken up by a massive cabin, with a little forested yard, from the point of view of the giants, left over. "Here we are!" said the first giant, jumping to shore and causing a tidal wave that sank Esther's boat and sent her family plunging into the chilly water. "Oh, sorry," he said ruefully, lifting them out. "I keep forgetting how careful you have to be around little people. "Step carefully you two," he called to the others, who nodded and climbed to the bank with surprising speed and silence. Esther and her parents crouched dripping in the giant's massive palm. Gazing down at the tops of the trees an unbelievable distance below them and feeling the swaying of the hand with each step the giant took; she began to feel sick and dizzy. She retreated from the edge to the middle of the palm and shut her eyes. At last they were there. In fact it had not taken long at all what with the massive strides their…. friends? Captors?..... Could take. The one holding them now lowered them carefully to the ground. "Here we are," he said. "It's time to meet Kothos." "Who's he?" quavered Esther. The giant's manner of saying the name had been rather ominous. "Our eldest brother. He is very powerful. He will tell us if you may stay here." "And he likes fried beef for dinner," put in the first one. "Fried beef, "scoffed the second, "is a ridiculous meal. It knows even less than you do, and it has no manners." The third shrugged apologetically at Esther and her family. "They fight like this all day and there's nothing I can do to stop them. But they're really quite harmless and kind. And more intelligent than they act," he added rather mysteriously. "Well come on." He pushed open the towering door and stepped inside. It looked like any well furnished comfortable cabin, save for the fact that everything was the size of a building in itself. There were bows and arrows, snowshoes, fishing tackle and things of that kind hanging on pegs on the walls. They did not look like the synthetic ones you found in stores. You could tell these were real, wood and hide, put together by hand. The only thing that did not seem to fit the room was the clusters of strange, shimmering, brightly colored objects hanging from the ceiling. They were all shapes and sizes and hung by glittering, pale cords that were visible one minute, vanished the next, which seemed sometimes like a thread at others like the finest chain. If you looked closer you could see that many of the shapes were entirely impossible, like something in a book of optical illusions. But they were there. They made Esther feel weak and dizzy if she gazed at them for long, so she turned quickly away. She saw that the giants had come in after them. The first called out, "Kothos, we have visitors!" There was a pause then a door in the back of the cabin opened and through it stepped the tallest man she had ever seen. He was too tall to take in all at once, a giant even among giants. His face had the look of great age. His grey eyes were bright and alive, yet endlessly quiet and deep. When he spoke his voice was neither loud nor quiet, but the perfect volume for being heard. It was deep and strong and clear and it seemed as if you could hear the animals running and the trees growing and the rivers flowing and all the life of the great forest in his words. His presence made you feel calm and yet wild, proud and great and at the same time humble and overawed. "Who are they?" he asked, settling his great mass into a vast oaken chair. "Small people who look like sausages," said the second cheerfully. "Two shrimpy parents and their ugly daughter," grouched the third. "They live in the woods. They were out fishing and I invited them to stay," explained the first. The giant called Kothos turned his deep eyes on them and studied them for a while. Esther had a funny feeling that he could see anything about them that he wished. At last he said, "They seem like good people. They may stay here as long as they like." "I am very grateful," her father managed to speak up, "And I will gladly accept your hospitality." "Very good," said the first giant happily. "Then you must know our names. I am Moth, the hungry one is Oll and the grouchy one is Bata."
That evening the giants served a massive meal of fish, rabbit and fried potatoes from their garden. The humans only needed the smallest scraps of what the giants ate. The food was delicious and filling, they were soon utterly stuffed. When they could not possibly have forced down one bite more the giants invited them out onto pleasant porch the size of a barn with a good view of the garden and the surrounding lands. Esther sighed contentedly as she looked out across the rolling red and green forests. "They are lovely are they not," agreed Kothos, "And they have always and always will be our home." "Who are you and how is it we have never seen giants before?" inquired Esther. "We don't like to be seen in general, but you seem to be good people. I must warn you though to be careful… for we have an enemy." Esther started. "An enemy? You?" He smiled. "You are thinking that no man could be big or powerful enough to challenge us. It is not only humans who can be enemies. The thing that we are always watching for is called Maonto. He is a great winged beast. But I am not so worried that he would bother you. He would most likely not notice you at all, for he consumes magic and that is why he would consume us." "So you have magic?" Esther's father asked. Kothos nodded gravely. "We are wizards, all four of us." "I have always wished I was a wizard" her father said wistfully. Kothos looked at him. "It is not a power many can be granted," he said. "I know this," answered her father. "And I know that I am not worthy, but still I wish, in a hopeless sort of way." He laughed. "People seem to make a habit of doing that." "Well wishing is the beginning. Then you must begin to do something about it. That is how dreams come true," said Kothos softly. Esther and her parents sat and thought about that for a while. The sun was setting brilliantly behind the hills, like jets of multicoloured flame, when Moth said, "Well it is time we were all sleeping. Come, I will show your rooms." Esther's room was a wonderful one up in the attic, with a slanted log roof that smelled sweetly of wood, a small neat cot, a beautifully embroidered rug on the floor and her own bathroom nearby. The rug was so lovely and so intricately designed that she spent nearly half an hour looking at it before lying down to sleep. She revelled for a while in having a room all to herself, in the quiet and privacy of it; before her busy day got the better of her and she fell deeply asleep.
In the morning she woke up when the first light was streaming honey coloured through the window at the foot of the bed. A cheering twitter of just awakened bird song filled the trees. She yawned, stretched herself as far as she could then slid comfortably out of bed and wriggled into her clothes. Downstairs Oll was frying bacon and stirring a pot of oatmeal. Bata was sitting at the table, looking sulky. "Good morning, Esther," Oll said cheerfully. "The food will be done any minute." "Better never," snarled Bata. "Fudge! You'd starve to death if it weren't for me," said Oll, injured. "No I'd just chew your boots!" Batas cried, with wild and meaningless sarcasm. "The wittier they get the less sense they make," Moth observed from his seat at the table. "Well it's done," Oll slammed the pot and a plateful of bacon onto the table. "And if no one else is hungry at least I am." "I'm hungry," said Esther eagerly. "Us too," said Esther's mother, who, with her father, was coming downstairs at that moment. "I never said I wasn't hungry!" Batas roared. "If you neglect to feed me I'll tear apart this cabin!" The breakfast was quite as delicious as dinner the night before, and for dessert there were delectable rhubarb tarts. "I shall get fat soon if I keep on eating so much," said Esther's father happily. He leaned back and patted his distended stomach contentedly. At that moment, Kothos came downstairs. 'Forgive me for being late to breakfast," he said kindly. "I have been looking over the spells that we use to track Maonto. He is not far, and his wrath towards us has been still greater since we slew his brother." "His brother was delicious fried," Oll said sentimentally. "He was the ugliest meat I've ever seen," complained Batas. "We didn't eat him," protested Moth. He hesitated. "Did you?" Oll looked at the ground and shuffled. "Honestly, you would try anything," Moth reprimanded. "You don't even know where he'd been!" "In any case," Kothos continued as if he had not been interrupted, "He ought to be here in four days." He looked at Esther and her parents. "There is much preparation to make before then. Will you help us? If you do not wish to I will understand, and if you like I can return you to your home where you will be safe from Maonto." Esther shook her head fiercely at that, but said nothing; the question had been addressed mainly to the grown ups. Her father had a determined look on his face. "I will stay and help," he said to Esther's relief. "It would be fair payment for your generous hospitality." Kothos nodded, it was hard to tell but she thought he seemed pleased with her father's answer. "Very well," he said. "And will you help?" he asked Esther and her mother. They both nodded eagerly. So they got to work. Esther's mother gathered firewood, nuts and berries from the forest, vegetables from the garden lest it be a while before they could venture out again. Her father mended any crack or weakness in the houses structure and nailed sheets of iron over every inch of it. "Maonto fears iron and is repelled by it," Kothos explained. "So covered, our house at least should be safe." "Not just the house," her father said. "With your leave I shall build a shelter of iron over the garden as well." Kothos gave his permission and her father quickly had the garden encased in a shining shed. The giants were busy too, pouring over books and maps and trudging far and wide to cast protective spells over the area. As for Esther, she rather wished she could be more helpful, her biggest job was keeping things tidy while everyone else was busy. She did help her mother a little with her gathering, and she spent several hours fetching and carrying tools for her father. The days were over all too quickly, and Batas reported on the morning of the fifth day that Maonto was approaching fast and directly. "He is ripping through many of our spells," he informed them, "They are doing little more than slowing him and increasing his anger. He will be here in a few minutes." "Well we knew all along that the spells could not be permanent. We must defeat Maonto once and for all." He turned to Esther and her family. "Get inside and stay there. You have been of great help to us, but this battle must be fought by us alone, Maonto's strength is beyond you." He glanced at her father. "But do not forget what we have spoken of, if it should be necessary." Her father nodded, and led them to Esther's bedroom, where the window would give them a view of the battle. They all waited, with baited breath, for it to begin. Her fist sight of Maonto was a great, dark shape on the horizon. She thought for a while that it was approaching very slowly, but then she saw her mistake. It was much farther away than she had supposed, but more unbelievably massive than anything she could have imagined. The very greatness and darkness of him, and strange air he seemed to carry with him made her feel limp and tremble-stomached. But that was nothing to how she felt when he grew close enough to be clearly seen. His body was like that of a vulture, great, black and shining as the surface of a swamp by moonlight. The great knobby legs, the color of dead worms, ended in massive splayed toes tapering to talons of obsidian sharp enough to rip through a man with the slightest touch. His neck, naked except for a few tufts of his metallic feathers, supported a head that was by far the worst part of him. It was not the beaked head of a bird but rather that of a man, or enough like that of a man to be utterly horrible in its likeness to a beast. It was a dreadful, purplish, contorted face filled with mindless cruelty and brutish rage. It was framed by a mat of stringy black hair and out of it glinted tiny malignant black eyes and a row of yellowish, lethal fangs. Maonto had arrived. The giants were ready. The fight must now begin. Maonto threw back his head and roared, a sickening gargling sound. Then he charged, his fangs reaching for Bata's throat. Bata flung up his arm in a commanding gesture, there was an ear popping bang and a flash that imprinted itself on Esther's eyes for several minutes afterwards, and Maonto was flung back as if he had struck a wall of rubber. He staggered briefly. Taking the opportunity, Oll lunged forwards and made to embed a long hunting knife that blazed with magic deep into Maonto's side, but the beast threw him back with a blow of one foot. Kothos had hastily softened the air about his brother; otherwise he would have been severely injured in the landing. As it was, he got slowly to his feet, panting and slightly winded. Kothos seemed to be focusing hard, suddenly the ground rumbled and a mass of chains erupted from it like fast growing roots, slinging themselves about Maonto's body. The monster gave a low, haunting snarl and the chains withered, then turned to four flaming snakes that made a dart one at each of the giants. Kothos dispelled his into nothingness with a wave of his hand, Batas, dodged hastily; receiving a burn across the back, then with a brief effort turned his into a worm, which he stamped on. Moth made his shrink and all the flame go out of it till there was nothing but an ordinary snake slithering hastily away. Oll fell into the river in surprise at his snakes attack, swamping it and quenching it thoroughly. The four giants turned to face the snarling beast, breathing heavily. Maonto lowered his head. The air around him began to grow dark, to shiver like the air above a flame. "Watch out!" cried Kothos. A deep penetrating, fatiguing heat began to fill the air, pushing you down, draining your strength. The giants grew pale, their shoulders drooping. Maonto began to make a strange, dry clacking and to move forwards slowly. The giants seemed paralyzed as if by a great weight dragging on them, holding them in place. Still Maonto clacked, a greedy, hollow sound that sent shivers through Esther's stomach. Suddenly Esther's father leapt to his feet, whirled and rushed upstairs. "Oh where is he going at a time like this?" Esther hissed through her clenched teeth. She could feel her clamped hands sweating. Maonto's head began to sway slowly, hypnotically, from side to side his eyes glittering in triumph and still moving steadily forward. The even side to side movement made her feel sick and dizzy, as you might feel after working too hard on a very humid day. A strange, helpless hopelessness filled her. It was too late. It was over. Maonto had won. Her head drooped, she felt as the giants must, beside her she could see her mother too was hanging her head, her eyes vague and sleepy. Suddenly there was a crash and the door of the cabin flew open. There stood her father, holding some long, glittering object. "Wake up, Kothos!" he shouted. "The battle is not yet over! Awake!" The giant shuddered, then seemed to shake himself, Moth, Oll and Batas too seemed again to come alive. "Right you are," cried Kothos, "We still have our plan! Throw it here!" At that moment Maonto turned to face her father. He had been raising his hand to throw the object, but suddenly he hesitated. She could all but feel Maonto focusing all his strength on her father. "Oh resist him, resist him," she cried in a shrill whisper, tears stinging her eyes at how small her father looked in comparison with that beast. Her father was breathing hard and sweating, his eyes half closed and his face contorted with effort. His hand, still poised above his head for throwing, was shaking as if he were lifting a massive weight. Gradually, slowly, as if the air itself were pushing against him, he lifted his head. "No… Maonto…" he pushed the words out through his laborious breathing. "I… Will not drop it… No." Suddenly his voice became steady and he straightened up and threw, threw the thing arching through the air and Kothos caught it, his face filled with warm approbation and joy. "Well done." He said. Just "Well done," but somehow those words were all that was needed to be said. Then he turned to Maonto. He held up the object, which Esther now saw was similar to those on the ceiling, but much bigger, a queer, twisting object that passed through, across and around itself in never ending motion. Maonto cringed at the sight of it. He seemed to be wavering between two decisions. Suddenly he turned and fled, spreading his great wings and leaping into the air. "After him, after him!" cried Moth. "Don't let him escape!" A great, glistening net appeared in the air before Maonto, dragging him to the ground. He clawed wildly, head thrashing, screaming with a sound of pure and horrible rage. Hastily, Bata sprang foreword. "Throw it to me!" The object flew through the air and he caught it, bringing it down in one swift movement onto Maonto's head. The beast screamed again, a sound of hate, despair and malice and flung out a wing, knocking Bata back heavily to the ground before there was a chance to cushion his fall. But even as he committed this, his last act, he shivered, cracked, then burst into a rain of fine grey ash which a sudden gust of wind blew quickly away. The remaining giants leaned back, breathing heavily with relief. Esther herself slumped against the wall, eyes closed, feeling almost as tired as if she had been an actual member of the battle herself. She was almost too relieved to think straight, but poor, poor Bata! There was little hope of his being alive. Even now Moth was bending over, examining him. "Yes he's dead all right," he said, straightening up. Esther was amazed at how unconcerned he seemed. "Well, Bata, are you coming in to lunch or not?" Moth added, turning towards the house. "How can I? I'm dead you idiot," said Bata, glaring at him. "Oh, right." Moth bent down and touched his brother's forehead briefly. "Now come on, the battle has made me as hungry as Oll."
Batas got up, muttering to himself. "Just said it right out loud and he forgets! Bah!"
The lunch they ate must have made a world record. They laid out every bite of food they had saved in case of siege, cooked in every manner imaginable. They were all there, every one of them, even her father, looking very tired but otherwise none the worse for wear. When they had finished the meal, and were lying back patting their stuffed bellies, Kothos addressed him. "I congratulate you on your brave resistance. It is not many that can stand up to Maonto. Even we were nearly taken under his power." Her father lowered his eyes with a mixture of thanks and modesty. "Was that what you meant when you said not to forget what you had spoken of?" Esther asked. "Was your plan to have him bring that object?" Kothos nodded. "It is crafted of pure iron, iron better than any human hands can make that has been freed of the smallest blemish. And coated in raw white magic, the exact reverse of Maonto's. There is no way he could survive a blow from such a weapon. Before the battle we spoke with your father and agreed that if all seemed hopeless he would bring us this. It was a desperate venture. For not many a human could touch a thing of raw magic without dying at once. Only a true wizard may lift such a thing." Her father stared at him, dumbstruck. "You- you mean…" Kothos smiled. "Yes. You have wished and you have done something about it. You agreed to that plan, though we told you only that it might result in your death. In your brave completion of your task you thoroughly proved your worth." He rose to his feet. "It is time now for you to return home, but before long I will send for you, and you will become a wizard as are we. For though you have the power to touch and use magic, you must still be granted the ability." Her father sat for a moment with his mouth open, too awestruck and filled with gratitude to speak. At last he managed to stammer out, "I am so grateful- I don't know what to say. I will gladly accept your gift, only there is one thing I must ask." "What is it?" said Kothos. "I would not have to leave my family would I? For they need me." Kothos nodded approval of the question. "You may live where ever you like, with whoever you like. There are few restrictions to becoming a wizard and those are usually self imposed." "Then beyond doubt, if you truly know I am worthy, I will become a wizard whenever you choose to give me that gift." "Watch for a white hawk and a dolphin in the river. They will tell you it is time to return to us." Kothos raised his hands. "Now I bid you farewell, my friends, and I thank you for your help and your companionship." "Thank you. Thank you for everything. I shall miss you very much," said Esther. "We will never forget your hospitality," her mother added. "Farewell," called the giants, "Farewell!" Then, suddenly a soft, white mist seemed to sweep across the room, drawing it away from them, or rather them from it, obscuring the room and the giants completely. Esther felt as if she were floating, floating in a strange soft sea of white. Gradually, the mist dispersed and they were standing on their own riverbank with their canoe nearby. The eldest sister who had been left in charge was running downhill towards them. "Mother, Father, Esther! Where have you been?"
Four years had passed since the defeat of Maonto. Four years since their father had been promised magic. It seemed to Esther, now seventeen years old, that Moth, Oll and Batas might have been only a dream if it were not for the fact that her father and mother too remembered them. She went into town for high school and began saving for college. She got to know people outside of her family for the first time, and began to feel quite content with life as it was. The old days in the cabin in the forest; fishing, canoeing, stargazing, began to feel silly and far away. She had driven into town and was hanging out at the mall with a bunch of friends when her cell phone shrilled abruptly. "Just a sec," she told her friend Sandra, pulling the phone out of her pocket and flipping it open by her ear. Her father's voice came through, eager and urgent. "Esther, come home quickly. It's happened." She blinked, startled. "What's happened?" "The sign has come. Hurry." Before she could stop him, he hung up. Sighing, she put the phone away. "I got to go. Sorry to cut our trip short, my dad wants me back." "Oh come on," Sandra pleaded. "Now?" "Yeah. I'll see you guys tomorrow though." "Okay, see you then," they said, waving her off as she climbed into the battered old pick-up truck her dad had got her cheap. As she jerked and lurched along the road homewards she wondered what on earth it could have been that her dad was talking about. Suddenly, like a faraway dream, she heard Kothos' voice in her memory. "Watch for a white hawk and dolphins in the river. They will tell you it is time to return to us." Her hands tightened on the steering wheel as she turned onto the long gravel driveway that led to their cabin. Could it really be…? She swung to the ground, slamming the door with the final thump a car door always makes upon returning. Her mother hurried towards her. "Come to the river quickly." She followed her, scrambling and stumbling in her haste, down the bank to the water's edge. Her father was standing there, when he saw her approaching he pointed solemnly. Esther looked, there, swimming up and down and cavorting in the waves, was a dolphin, solid and shiny-wet, with water droplets flying from its shimmering fins. Perched on a branch above it, cozily ruffling its pure white feathers, was a graceful hawk. There was no doubt about the reality of either of them, nor that they certainly did not belong here. Esther let out her breath in a strange slow sigh. She felt almost afraid. "So they have come after all," she murmured. Her father's eyes were bright with excitement. "Quickly, let's get the canoe." Silently, they launched the aged boat and climbed in. Esther's heart was beating fast. Was it true? Could it really have happened? Would there really be three giants at the cabin… waiting? The oars swished softly in the current riffled water. In they dipped and out, in and out, sending up small drops of water that sprinkled lightly against Esther's face. The dolphin turned from its playful circles and swam on before them, guiding. The hawk softly spread its wings and soared overhead. Was it true? Could it really have happened? The seconds ticked past like hours, flowing backward with the river through time. Time lost itself in the stillness. It was as if she were again thirteen, drifting in the fog, and any minute that strange great shape would come, looming, looming. Abruptly, the boat touched a stretch of damp, sandy shore. "We're here!" Her father moored the boat. He seemed suddenly calm and methodical, as if there were nothing at all to hurry for. Esther bit her lip, breathed deeply, tried to push back the rising impatience and conflict. At last it was done, she and her mother climbed out after him. They made their way steadily up the steep bank. Suddenly Esther hesitated. There… At the top… A shape… She peered into the mist, trying to make it out. Suddenly she broke into a run, hard and desperate. Could it be true? She pushed forward, her breath tearing at her throat, her feet slipping on the wet grass. Near the top now, almost there… "Welcome, Esther." Stumbling to a stop she looked up, up past the unbelievable height of the giant and saw a face she knew. "Kothos." Her mind was spinning, she wasn't sure whether she felt relieved or shocked or overjoyed. It was true! Her mind sang, It was really true!
Inside the cabin, they sat in a circle around the familiar old table. The cabin, Esther thought, looking around, was unchanged. The same equipment, the same wooden furniture, the same queer objects hanging from the ceiling. The giants looked much the same too. "So you came. Welcome back," said Kothos. "It is wonderful to see you again," said Moth. "I'll get some dinner," Oll hurried into the kitchen and returned carefully holding a human size tray between his thumb and forefinger. The food was as good as ever. When they had finished her father said, "I am afraid I cannot stay long this time. I trust all is well with you and there has been no further trouble with Maonto's kind." Kothos nodded, "All is well for now. But fighting Maonto's kind is our duty. That is a wizard's task. We drive out evil like Maonto was, and we protect what is good. That is the gift of magic. When you have become a magic user, you will be able to tell, without doubt, what is wholly and hopelessly evil, and sense any speck of good in any being. You will also become more aware of your surroundings, of every sight and sound and smell. It is a wonderful task, but a difficult one. And the hardest part is not really the fighting; it is knowing when not to fight." He got to his feet. "Are you ready?" Her father nodded, and rose also. "This will take some little time. Feel free to go where you will. We are going up to my work room." Kothos, her father, and the other giants moved upstairs and closed the door behind them. Esther and her mother sat looking at one another across the table. Esther was having trouble adjusting her brain to the fact that they were back with the giants, that it was really real. She could see her mother was worried about father. She reached out and took her hand. "It'll be okay. I trust them. They are worthy of it." Mother nodded. "I know, I know. But after he becomes a wizard what then? Will everything be different?" Esther could not answer that. She did not know. The seconds ticked past slowly. The cabin was utterly silent; there was not even a twitter of birdsong in the misty evening outside. They strained their ears for a sound from the room where her father and the giants had gone, but there was nothing. It must have been hours they sat there. Once Oll came down and brought them a cup of tea. "I am sorry to keep you waiting so long," he said. "But there is much to be arranged." Her mother nodded tensely. "That's quite all right." Oll returned upstairs and their vigil continued. Neither of them could bring themselves to do anything but listen and wait. At last, Esther fell asleep, and dreamed a white hawk came swooping down out of the sky and carried her on its back over rolling fields all aflame, and she knew she was searching, searching desperately for something, but she could not fathom what. She jerked awake to find her mother shaking her shoulder, and looking around saw a large group of people coming downstairs. It took her a moment to straighten things out, then she realized it was the giants and her father among them. She jumped to her feet. "Dad! Did it all go well!? Are… Are you a wizard now?" Her father smiled. He looked tired, but the same as ever. "Yes Esther, I am." "You don't look any different." "Well what do you expect," her father laughed. "Should my hair begin spelling out the words wizard perhaps? The giants have invited us to stay for dinner, and judging by the time and how dark it is outside we shall have to stay the night as well." 'Good," said Esther. She looked forward to the chance of again sleeping in that bedroom of years ago and seeing how it looked now. But the bed turned out to be too small for her now, so she slept in a sleeping bag on the floor. It did not take her long to nod off; there was peacefulness about this place. She slept far more soundly then she had for a long time. In the morning she was awoken gently by the same soft twitter of birdsong that brought memories of the last visit strongly to her mind. She leaned on the windowsill and breathed deeply of the morning air. It was real. She had slept and woken up and it was no dream, it was truly real! The knowledge filled her with joy. She dressed and hurried downstairs. Oll had steak and fried potatoes waiting for them, the best she had ever tasted. When they had finished, her father stood. "I am more grateful than words can tell, and I wish we could stay longer, but our family is waiting at home. I shall come visit soon if I may." "You are always welcome," replied Kothos. "And we are ready to help you with your wizards duties if you so need while you are still learning." Her father nodded. Esther wondered if they were going to be magicked away again, but the giants walked with them down to the shore where their canoe was beached. As they were climbing in, saying their last thank you and farewells, Kothos suddenly spoke to Esther. "Esther. Your father's task is to be a wizard, but there is a task you could have if you choose." Esther was almost too surprised to answer for a moment. At last she managed to say, "Me? What is it?" "The task of finding work for your father to do. Finding people who need him. Finding people who also are worthy of being wizards. Your father has a life and people who need him at home. You as yet, are free. But if you chose that task it would be a life, your job and living. And there are not many you could tell what this job is. It would mean giving up much of the life you have chosen back at the city, and many friendships besides. Could you do that? Would you choose this job?" Esther hesitated. "I- I don't know. I'd have to think. May I have some time to consider?" "You may have as much time as you desire," replied Kothos. "Take this." He placed something in her hand, looking down she saw it was a small, ivory dove. "Tell this dove your decision, when you have made it. Then hold it out the window, and it will become a real dove, and fly to tell us what it is." Esther nodded, and closed her fist around the small sculpture. It felt strangely warm and living within her palm, not cool as one might expect. Then her father pushed off, and the waving forms of the giants slid away from them and quickly vanished in the morning mists.
Esther leaned on her windowsill and gazed out across the forest, thinking of Kothos's words to her. A task to assist her father! She had hoped for that, hadn't she? But she had a real life now, her thoughts protested, and real friends. She couldn't just give them up. But are they worth having? Something tickled the corner of her mind. She felt like slapping it. Of course they're worth having! If they're worth having, really true friends, the thing tickled again, then you could tell them couldn't you? Well yes but… but what? Was she going to have what she wanted, or what she really wanted? She opened her hand, looked down and the little white dove, glittering and lifelike in her palm, its small folded wings just waiting to be spread. She smiled. She knew what her answer would be.
The end


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Israel and Iran
Over the course of the last year one thing occurred frequently that surprised me. I met former Israelis who had left Israel for Canada and America. Every single one of them said they had left for two main reasons: the country is losing it's secular roots and they were all sick of the war against the Palestinians–some blamed recalcitrance on the Palestinians and others blamed Israel itself. I met at least a dozen such people on my trip. That may not seem like a lot, but think about it this way: what is the population of Israel? It isn't high. Still, it's not a scientific sample. And yet, I was struck by this comment in Roger Cohen's piece on Iran about what Israel's real red line is:
Israel, which sees an existential threat in a nuclear Iran, has made clear that its patience is limited. The Ross team does not think Israelis are bluffing. They believe Israel views Iran in life-and-death terms. Israeli officials have argued that they don't believe Iran would ever be crazy enough to nuke them but do believe the change in the balance of power with a nuclear or near-nuclear Iran could be so decisive that Jews would begin to leave Israel.
Cohen's line says a lot.
One of my biggest regrets over the course of the last year was not being able to return to Iran. I did try, but the being an American, one is required to have a Ministry approved tour-guide with you at all times. This was not prohibitively expensive when I traveled there in 2006 with my father. It's less costly to split the price for two than it is one. And so I was unable to return. My friends in Meshed and Tehran are fairly involved in the protests, or so at least they email me on a regular basis. I wish I were there to see it all first hand. I can only relate how serious about reform they were when I met them in 2006. I can only imagine it is more urgent now.
Another one of my regrets was missing Israel. I do have a standing invitation from friends in Tel Aviv and I hope to visit in October for my birthday. We shall see.


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Hello and Welcome!
Come in, pull up a chair and make yourself comfy. Ready? OK.
So, some of you may remember that this blog used to be up over at Blogger. It never really got the full attention that I maybe should have given it. I only posted a few of my very early (it shows in the quality,) stories and I think one or two other nonsensical ramblings. It also looked quite amateurish and at the time, I didn't really have the skills or expertise to really make it look any better. It's still out there, somewhere in the ether if you really wanted to see it. However, I wouldn't waste my time if I was you. It really is quite poor.
Anyway, I decided to dust it off, give it a new coat of whatever the electronic version of paint is, and try again with a WordPress blog. Hopefully it will look more appealing and be a bit easier to read. I'm not going to post the old stories on what I like to call this version 2.0. They were really bad and those that wanted to read them probably already have.
This time around things shall be much different and hopefully much better. I'm planning to start with something pretty big and ambitious (Details of which will be further down) that will either be the best thing I've ever done or the most horrendous failure ever. Only time shall tell. In the meantime, indulge me in reintroducing myself and the site.
I've always loved Sci-Fi and Fantasy in all its many forms. Particularly in movies and comics. I have also always loved books and reading anything I can get my hands on; novels, magazines, instruction manuals, even crisp packets. You name it, I'll give it a go. I've also always loved writing my own stories and have always harboured an ambition to one day become a published author. As such I am hoping that this on-line space shall be my first step on the road to achieving that ambition. On here you shall find short stories I have written, book reviews of the stuff I love to read, possibly a few reviews of genre movies if I particularly feel the need to rant and rave about them, and also my thoughts on reflections on my own journey to being able to legitimately call myself and author.
As such, I think now is a good time to let you in on my rather ambitious intention to relaunch this blog. The first piece of fiction that I'm going to post is the first chapter in what shall hopefully become an on-line novel. The aim is to post this first chapter at the end of this week and then post another chapter every two weeks. If it seems that people are particularly enjoying the novel or finding it hard to read on-screen, I will be considering making the chapters downloadable, all for free! How nice is that, a whole book (eventually) for free?
I'll be posting more details about the novel – synopsis, influences, etc -either later today or tomorrow. In the meantime please let all your friends and family (and if you know them, my friends and family!) know and I look forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback on my work sometime in the near future-ish.
Till next time,
See Ya!


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I spent my Sunday cleaning and watching at two to four episodes of shows I've never really given a chance to before. Here's my initial, by no means my final, impressions:
- Project Runway – New season, new channel, same old show. For the longest time, I've not liked the pace of Runway but I just happened onto the first episode and was somehow immediately hooked. I don't know anyone's names yet but the guy who sent the model down the runway in a 100% sheer dress should be thanking the Heidi Klum gods that he wasn't "outed" for that. Wow. Some pretty dresses in the first two episodes but honestly, what pregnant woman would want to look like she has a big egg on her belly?
- Dollhouse – I'll save most of this for another post devoted to this Joss Whedon show. I got the first season on DVD (I love gift cards) and I've watched the first 4 episodes. I like it a lot more than I did last winter – though I only ever watched the first two when they aired – and am very excited to watch the rest of it. I already know some things I shouldn't but that has never bothered me much. Definitely looking forward to the new season.
- Mad Men – Okay. I have not seen much of any of the first two seasons of the show. I watched the first episode of Season 3 and found it incredibly boring. Why I even came back to it last night I don't know but I watched the second and third episodes back to back and very much enjoyed both of them. I'm not going to spoil it for those that didn't watch last night's episode. If I am going to watch Mad Men though, I must DVR it and watch it on Mondays. I was so wired after watching two hours of it last night that I didn't fall asleep until midnight and was up again at 4. Hard to do that on Sunday night.
And Laura, you are going to hate me for this but I think Jon Hamm looks a tiny bit like an older John Krasinski. That could be because I've been in Office land for the past couple weeks so maybe everyone looks like J Kras right now. 🙂 I am starting to dig Hamm's character a bit more though.


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New Enthusiast
If you are new to the site, please take a moment and introduce yourself! This is a good section to break the ice and meet our very friendly community!
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New Enthusiast
Hey all, my name is Thom and I'm an aspiring photography currently enrolled in college. I currently shoot with 35mm, 4x5, and medium format film, and digital photography. I also got and 8mm film camera and projector, a Polaroid Landcamera model 95b, and a Kodak Dualflex medium format camera.
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Each charm is cast from a brass wax seal, which gives it an appealingly hand-hewn, plucked-from-a-magic-treasure-box appearance. —*JR*\\n\\nInitial charm necklace, $35 (sterling silver charm) and $80 (sterling silver chain), [Cambria Cove](http://www.cambriacove.com)\\n__For the bridesmaids__\\n\\nThe traditional pearl necklace gets an edgy makeover with this twisted gold-plated number, adorned with acrylic pearls and hand-set glass stones. —*Lauren Matthews*\\n\\nTwisted pearl necklace, $42.50, [J.Crew ](http://www.jcrew.com)\\n__For the bridesmaids__\\n\\nJust like you know your best friends' birthdays, celebrity crushes, and most embarrassing moments, you also probably know how they take their coffee (or tea or hot cocoa). This porcelain mug is personalized with your friend's name and drink order; plus, it's environmentally friendly and insulated so their beverage will stay warm all day long. —*Kim Forrest*\\n\\nTo Go mug, $22.50, [Jessica Rust Designs](http://www.rustdesigns.com)\\n__For the bridesmaids__\\n\\nTake advantage of the nifty holiday gift sets being pushed at the cosmetic counters—this lipgloss suite is particularly enticing. Each 'maid gets six different shades of shimmery, shiny gloss, all housed in a festive golden compact. *—LM*\\n\\nGloss to Go Set, $32.50, [Estée Lauder](http://www.esteelauder.com/)\\n__For the bridesmaids__\\n\\nThis beautiful accordion-fold calendar is a thoughtful way to help enliven a bridesmaid's work space. *—HL*\\n\\nAccordion calendar, $11, [Snow & Graham](http://www.snowandgraham.com)\\n__For the bridesmaids__\\n\\nAn iPod dock-and-speaker combination that looks like a candy-colored mug? Umm, yes! *—HL*\\n\\niPod Mug, $48, [See Jane Work](http://www.seejanework.com)\\n__For the bridesmaids__\\n\\nThe perfect pairing for your bookish friend: a keepsake mug and a beautiful, clothbound novel. *—AB*\\n\\nLibrary Books mug, $20, [Kate Spade for Lenox](http://www.katespade.com/); Classic hardcover books, $20 each, [Penguin](http://www.penguin.com)\\n__For the bridesmaids__\\n\\nI like to jot things down in notebooks and therefore go through them quickly, so I'm always on the lookout for stylish options. This handsome set includes 12, one for each month, which will make it easy for a creative bridesmaid to keep track of her ideas. *—JR*\\n\\nOne Year of White Pages, $40, [Canoe](http://www.canoeonline.net)\\n__For the groomsmen__\\n\\nThis 1,200-page, 8.8-pound encyclopedia devotes at least two pages to every single episode of the *Simpons'* 20 seasons and includes a complete \\"Itchy & Scratchy\\" filmography, a list of every \\"D'oh\\" or \\"Mmm...\\" Homer has ever uttered, and a guide to all of the celebrity guest stars. *—HL*\\n\\n*Simpsons* World, The Ultimate Episode Guide: Seasons 1-20, $90, [Amazon](http://www.amazon)\\n__For the groomsmen__\\n\\nIf your fiancé loves to grill with his buddies, gift his groomsmen with a branding iron, which comes with a full alphabet to create a variety of grill mark messages. *—Cari Wolfert*\\n\\n BBQ Branding Iron, $24, [Shock Boutique](http://www.shockboutique.com)\\n__For the groomsmen__\\n\\nOld-school, 100-proof hooch from Tennessee's first legal moonshine distillery, bottled in a mason jar for extra authenticity points. *—HL*\\n\\n Ole Smoky Tennessee Moonshine, $35, [Crown](http://www.crownwineandspirits.com)\\n__For the groomsmen__\\n\\nA leather-bound flask paired with a bottle of premium bourbon is a great option for any guy with a discerning whiskey palate (or one that could use some refining). *—Abigail Reid*\\n\\nSmall batch bourbon gift set, $30, [Knob Creek](http://www.knobcreek.com)\\n__For the groomsmen__\\n\\nThe classic Swiss Army knife is given an ecological update with handles constructed from handsome walnut wood sustainably grown in Switzerland. *—HL*\\n\\nEvoWood S557 Swiss army knife, $130, [Wenger NA](http://www.wengerna.com)\\n__For the groomsmen__\\n\\nModeled after a World War II sea mine, this brightly colored ceramic vessel keeps your sake hot or chilled. *—AB*\\n\\nThe Sake Bomb, $90, [Studio 7](http://studio7.com)\\n__For the groomsmen__\\n\\nFor the groomsman who is both stylish and handy, a handsome tool set is just the ticket: it includes a display-worthy LED flashlight, level, ruler and screwdriver, all fashioned from sleek beech wood. *—LM*\\n\\nJonas Damon's Wood Tool Set, $95, [Areaware](http://www.areaware.com)\\n__For the groomsmen__\\n\\nA witty idea, a clever presentation, plus a whiff of scientific gadgetry? Love—I'm ordering this for all the guys on my list. How it works: Tuck the mobile-phone-signal blocking hankie into your pocket (or lay it on the table to ensure your dinner guest is sufficiently appreciative of the courtesy). *—JR*\\n\\nPhonekerchief, $15, [Uncommon Goods](http://www.uncommongoods.com/)\\n__For the groomsmen__\\n\\nUpgrade your frat-bro groomsmen to a Velcro-free wallet. *—AB*\\n\\nJ Fold cut out wallet, $67, [Bloomingdale's](http://www.bloomingdales.com/)\\n__For the groomsmen__\\n\\nIf the groomsmen are likely to shut down a tie or a flask, they'll welcome this stroke of guy gift ingenuity: a pair of personalized board shorts. Upload any photo or design (or use a quirky print from their gallery) to create shorts customized to each guy's taste. *—JR*\\n\\nShortomatic Board Shorts, from $99, [Shortomatic](http://www.shortomatic.com)


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Office Conference Room Sign Up
Sign Up Procedure:
All available computer labs and conference rooms may be reserved through your Kenston Apps Google Calendars. Be sure to check on the availability of the location prior to making reservations.
Important Notice: Your username will be recorded when signing up for a location. Only Kenston Staff are permitted to reserve a location.


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Bright Tangerine ExoSkin Leather Armour Gloves
- Available in Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large and Extra, Extra Large
- Professional Leather Fitted Gloves
- Designed for Dexterity and Agility
- Secure Grip
- Touchscreen Compatible Finger Tips
ExoSkin Leather Armour Gloves
Professional leather fitted gloves designed for maximum dexterity, flexibility & durability. The ExoSkin leather armour gloves are available in a range of sizes from S to XXL.
Utilising a combination of high quality polyester fabric, synthetic rubber and double layered, puncture resistant leather, the ExoSkin is optimised for frequent use. The back portion of the thumb also features a terry cloth for wicking moisture and liquid.
The ExoSkin gloves are designed for maximum dexterity and agility, while still providing a secure grip. The finger tips are touch screen compatible, so you won't need to remove them in cold weather.
The ExoSkin is made to provide balance between ultimate comfort, functionality and protection. Specially designed contours and the adjustable velcro strap accommodates fast accessibility while always ensuring a snug fit.
Designed to withstand the rigours of abuse and the demands of various weather conditions, the ExoSkin protects your hands from bruising, blistering, scratching, and abrasions when on set or locations.
Don't see what you're looking for? If you can't find a product, give us a call.


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Hands Across America (1986)
Like "Live Aid," "Hands Across America" was a group effort to raise money to fight hunger and homelessness. The gimmick was that America would join hands from one coast to the other on May 25, 1986. A single and music video by the group "Voices of America" (EMI/America Records) promoted the event. Many celebrities had cameos in the video, lip-synching to the song. Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Kathleen Turner, Robin Williams, and C-3PO made appearances. Barbra lip-synched, looking gorgeous in a white turtleneck. The whole video was ... very 80's!
(FYI, in the video above, Streisand appears at -2:12.)
Use the jump menu below to view other Streisand music video pages:


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The Skills Funding Agency has set aside an extra £25 million for colleges and training organisations to provide apprenticeships for 16 to 18-year-olds.
The funding, announced last week, will mean more young people will be able to access high-quality vocational education after they turn 16.
It is the next step in the government's plans to create three million apprenticeship starts by 2020, and brings the total that ministers have committed to post-16 training to more than £100 million in the 2015-16 funding year.
In December, almost £68 million growth was awarded for apprenticeships for those aged 19 and over, as well as £11 million for other traineeships for over-19s.


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|This page contains historic information. See here for the current OOI CI Integrated Observatory Network Architecture.
ORION CI Architecture (Dept.of Defense Architecture Framework, DoDAF, Products)
|The following documents were written on behalf of the CI committee in the spring of 2006 by John Graybeal, Alan Chave, Benoit Pirenne, Ingolf Krueger and Matthew Arrott. They identify the core objective, concepts and relationships comprising the digital component of Ocean Observatory. The documents are organized according to the DoD Architectural Framework specification, which is cataloged at the end of AV 1.
- Provides context for other documents
- Containing many key terms used in the other architecture documents.
- High-level overview of system, major components, and interactions
OV-2: Operational Node Connectivity
- Shows relationships between Operational components
OV-4: Organizational Node Connectivity
- Shows relationships between internal and external Organizations
- Describes the major interactions between system components
See also:


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Mansfield manager Steve Evans will check on Zander Diamond before finalising his plans for the visit of Luton.
Diamond suffered a knock in a practice match this week and will be assessed but the defender is expected to be available.
New striker Kane Hemmings will go straight into the Stags' squad following his arrival on loan from Oxford and winger Alex MacDonald will be in contention for the first time this season following a minor knee operation.
Alfie Potter is not fit yet but the midfielder is back in training and could feature against Lincoln in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday night.
Luton captain Scott Cuthbert will come back into contention for the trip to Field Mill.
The defender has missed the Hatters' last two games after limping off with a minor injury at Barnet a fortnight ago.
Manager Nathan Jones will, however, have to do without Lawson D'Ath after the midfielder suffered an ankle problem.
Striker Danny Hylton will be available to lead the line once again after showing no adverse effects following his comeback from a leg injury in last week's win over Colchester.
Source: PAR


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April 2008
Clayton Moore
mystery strumpet
Mind Games
You'll have to forgive me if I'm a bit punchy, hence the radio silence last month. A life-threatening medical crisis on the part of a loved one forced me to spend most of this bitter winter in hospitals and doctor's offices, not to mention spending the worst Valentine's Day ever in a surgical waiting room.
Taking care of someone who's not well turns out to be as hard on the brain as I imagine raising children to be, although I would never trade you for one of the little monsters. But the lack of sleep, stress, fatigue and borderline insanity have led to some strange reading habits. So here, I suppose, are the books that reflected my own madness during the horrible last few months.
Some time ago, I was asked for my two cents on Beautiful Children by Charles Bock, a mutant literary novel that might make for a great crime novel if only there were one well-meaning cop (or even a whole human being) in it. It hangs on the disappearance of twelve-year-old Newell Ewing and a lesser novelist would have focused more on the absence of the boy rather than his lingering presence in the world. As it is, Bock brings every shattered bulb, every dirty hotel room and every askew glance from a lost child in Las Vegas to bear in a story that is very nearly fetishist in its view of 21st-century America and its cheap thrills.
There are plenty of stories in it that are worth reading, not least the uncertain encounters between Newell, his closeted friend Kenny and a band of feral runaways with names like Lestat, or "Danger-prone Daphney," a pregnant urchin whose sole treasure is a milk carton with her face on it. "It was gonna be cool as fuck, 'cause I'd be giving my baby milk from the cartons with my own face. Get it? How cool is that? Cool as fuck, right?"
These intertwined stories of compulsion and abandonment will bottom out your soul and that's without even getting into the head-spinning, cyclical details that expose the tangential relationship between a predatory low-life named Ponyboy who tricks out his girl to make dirty movies and Newell's father Lincoln, addicted to the very movies that feed the burgeoning industry. Bock has already been celebrated and vilified by more insightful minds, but I suspect that if he can continue to tap into the bottomless grief that lies underneath places like Las Vegas, where even spectacle becomes mundane after a while, he might be onto something.
Our second mind-fuck of the month comes from the blithely unpredictable Charles Baxter, who takes one part Patricia Highsmith, one part Dostoevsky, and stirs in a retro sensibility to create a thought-provoking depiction of just how easy the world can slip away on you in The Soul Thief.
Admittedly, Baxter's protagonist Nathaniel Mason is no Dickie Greenleaf. A socially subterranean graduate student suffering the wilderness years of the 1970s in frigid Buffalo, Nathaniel finds himself the apex of an odd triangle of subversives who are more dynamic and with it than he could ever hope to be. There are his women, the beautiful but ultimately counterfeit Theresa who peppers her speech with French to demonstrate her political awareness and lesbian sculptress Jamie, who ridicules his passion and mocks love as a futile game.
These two temptresses pale in comparison to the enigmatic Jerome Coolberg, the campus wunderkind and rabble-rouser whom the fragile Nathanial seems to find more attractive than either of his bed mates. He narrates the details of their outlandish bond to his sister, mute for reasons no one but she understands. Coolberg, meanwhile, begins adopting an odd set of personal characteristics and actions that push Mason ever closer to the void, such as the moment Coolberg pushes him suddenly into the Niagara River. "Life is a series of anticlimaxes until the last one," Baxter writes, but it's Coolberg's intimidating mea culpa that resonates.
"I wasn't finished," Coolberg says. "You should let me finish. If you had disappeared, if you had died, we would have… we would have become you. We would have taken you on. We would have turned into you. You would have lived in us. When a person dies, the survivors take on the features of the deceased. The most eccentric traits are acquired first -- tics, stuttering, shakes of the head. That's how grieving works. The living reimagined themselves as the one who has gone missing. I would have taken you over. That's what we would have done. I guarantee it."
There's a trick ending that would have M. Night Shyamalan shaking his head but otherwise it's a devious bit of storytelling that deserves its place alongside the best of Highsmith's predatory novels.
A more obvious intersection between double crosses and doppelgangers emerges in Will Lavender's debut novel Obedience, which plays the absurdity of academia against a convoluted murder mystery. Set on the fictional college campus of Winchester University, the first day of Logic and Reasoning 204 presents its ambitious students with a quandary. All their Googling brings no hard information on their mysterious professor, Leonard Williams, not as much as a photograph. Not to mention the fact that his class surrounds a single assignment: solve the murder of a girl named Polly by the time the six-week term is over.
"There's been a murder," he says. "Not a real murder. No. This is a murder that may happen in the future. A… a hypothetical. A potential murder. Murder in the future tense. Because, you see, many things have to happen before this murder is to occur. Many things that you, if you are clever enough, can keep from happening."
With the clues doled out in intriguing dollops week by week, it's a very clever, absorbing setup that props up the book even when its Abercrombie-esque students flag in interest and William's multifarious scenario becomes so complex that the urge to follow along wanes after a while. But anyone who's suffered through lazy spring afternoons in a classroom and laments their bizarre professors will definitely find its notions familiar, no Cliffs Notes needed.
For our last entry in our delusional sweepstakes this month, you'll have to wait until June but it's well worth it. Getting a big push from those sages at Farrar, Straus and Giroux is Atmospheric Disturbances by an incredibly articulate debut novelist, Rivka Galchen, and it's one hell of an accomplishment. Within the novel's 250 pages, she manages to shake her science-minded protagonist to his core, concoct a secret agenda on the part of the Royal Academy of Meteorology, employ the unusual term simulacrum with abandon, and resurrect her dead father, no less.
Our fractured narrator is Dr. Leo Liebenstein, who's convinced that a most dire falsehood has been perpetrated upon him -- that his wife, Rema, has disappeared and been replaced with an impostress who looks, talks and acts almost like his wife. To unravel this conundrum, the good doctor enlists the help of a psychiatric patient named (and I laugh hysterically every time I type this) "Harvey," as well as a shadowy meteorologist named Dr. Tzvi Gal-Chen, who just happens to carry the exact name of the author's late father, who passed away suddenly over a decade ago.
With that tease firmly in place, I'll leave you to discover the pleasures of Atmospheric Disturbances for yourself, but leave with a few thoughts from the author, who was gracious enough to give me a few minutes of her time before things here went all to hell. With the caveat that she often considers herself to be an unreliable narrator (especially when she's talking to herself), she offered a few thoughts on the origins of her unusual book.
"For me, half the pleasure in any text is that dizzying sense of looking through, well, a glass darkly," Galchen said. "I think that at least one element of what I was playing with was something like this: there's this idea that character is something that gets revealed in extraordinary situations, and then there's this alternate idea that character is something revealed best in very ordinary, everyday -- even boring -- situations. And so I wanted Leo to be in a simultaneously extraordinary and ordinary situation -- the radically strange situation of having a wife (at least seemingly) replaced by a double, and the radically ordinary situation of being, well, in the day to day life of his marriage, his neighborhood, his habits. He's a very habit-y man. And so just to have those habits made strange, and feel portentous. All of which has to do with my 'favorite' aesthetic experience, the uncanny -- the sense of something seeming at once radically foreign and deeply familiar."
To put oneself in the mindset of a character suffering a potentially life-threatening break with reality seems like it would be a stretch, but for Galchen, who earned an M.D. from Mount Sinai and is well-schooled in the mechanics of mental health, it actually came down to a more common experience.
"Yes, well, I've been in love, which I think of as a kind of madness," she said. "Proust has this description of how he feels as a child when he turns on the magic lantern and the figures dance across the wall of what was previously his familiar room: 'I cannot express the discomfort I felt at this intrusion of mystery and beauty into a room which I had succeeded in filling with my own personality until I thought no more of it than of myself.' I think of love as a kind of intrusion like that, and in that way it has the 'otherness' of psychosis. (It always broke my heart to see psychotics in the ER who would cover their ears, as if that would mute the voices… that's something people often don't understand, that hallucinations don't feel like they're inside your head at all… they feel like an external assault.) There you are, trying to pour the milk for your cereal, or stand in line at the drugstore, and suddenly these tasks become very challenging because some image of another person keeps intruding into your mental space. So love -- love and also ridiculous anxieties, anxious repetitive thoughts -- those are the experiences I turned to in order to imagine what it might be like to be consumed by erroneous conviction."
With those sleep-interrupting thoughts firmly in place, I'll bid you farewell for the month. If in fact, you were ever there at all.
Clayton Moore can see you there in the shadows. He documents his evidence at claywriting.blogspot.com.


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|Over fifteen-hundred pages of military photos and information resources. Military Jeeps, HMMWVs, trucks, tanks, weapons and ammunition, rations, uniforms, web gear and field equipment, electronics, history, books & videos, and much more.
|Military Jeepers
|The Military Jeepers Jeep Club was established in December of 2007 and the membership consists of more than 5000 Jeep owners.
|Jeep City Military Vehicles
|Sherman Tank American Half Tracks x 2 GMC troop Lorries X 3 GMC Radio Truck x 1 Dodge Ambulance (Dirty Dozen) M43 Willys Jeeps x 2 Fox Tank Chieftan Tank Scammel Recovery truck Ferret German Half track Russian troop trucks.
|Willys Military Jeeps
|Our goal is to share information and help others with their WO military vehicles.
|Mission: To provide an international organization for military vehicle enthusiasts, historians, preservationists and collectors interested in the acquisition, restoration, preservation, safe operation and public education of historic military transport.


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This law requires ships to reduce their emissions while hoteling at berth by either plugging into the electrical grid (i.e. shore power, otherwise known as cold-ironing or AMP) or by using an alternative emission control device. The law sets compliance percentages that phase in over time. For more details, go to http://www.arb.ca.gov/ports/shorepower/shorepower.htm.
In general, all container, passenger, and refrigerated vessels must comply with the regulation. Some exemptions apply. Contact the California Air Resources Board (ARB) for more information at (916) 327-1512 or email@example.com.
No. The Port does not enforce this regulation. If you have questions about your specific situation, please contact ARB.
The Port's shore power systems comply with the international standard for high voltage shore connection systems. You can find more information here.
Contact the terminal operator. The terminal operator facilitates the commissioning process. The Port is not involved in ship commissioning.
No. The Port of Long Beach does not require a form or advance notification. All communication should be with the terminal operator.
Unlike some other California ports, the Port of Long Beach is not involved in electricity billing or shore power charges. Each terminal has its own account and rate structure with Southern California Edison, the local electricity provider. Please contact the terminal operator for details.
There are very few funding opportunities for shipside retrofits, and grant programs generally require shore power usage levels that exceed the regulatory requirements. When the Port becomes aware of funding opportunities, it makes every attempt to notify shipping lines. One potential funding source is the Carl Moyer Program, which is administered locally by the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Eligibility criteria and long-term shore power usage levels apply. Contact the SCAQMD for more details.
Yes. The Port provides free dockage for vessels that comply with the shore power regulation and the 40 nautical mile Vessel Speed Reduction Program. The "Dockage Reduction Incentive Program for Green Calls" is described in more detail under Tariff Item No. 264.
At this time, there is no approved alternative for shore power. The Advanced Maritime Emission Control System (AMECS), however, is currently being tested for use as an alternative to shore power. If this system receives state approval, possibly in the latter part of 2014, you can contact the company, Advanced Cleanup Technologies, Inc. (ACTI), to ask about service. More information about this technology can be found here.


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Immigration Overseas Pvt Ltd is the immigration law firm and it provides visa australia services to their clients. Immigration Overseas provides their services through online mode. The five star rating company, covered their network globally. They provide different services like: Permanent Visa, Business Visa, Student Visa, Tourist Visa etc. The team of Immigration Overseas consists of immigration experts, documentation experts and lawyers who are expertise in the field.
Australia is the country of achievers. People from across the globe migrate in this industry so that they can grow in all the directions. Today, everybody wants to make his life better in every way and the urge of living in the developed country makes the life of the thinker much better. If a dedicated person thinks innovatively about his life then, he is very near to his success. Australia is the only place in the whole world that gives the opportunity for professionals to grow in every field. Immigration Overseas tracked the latest news and updates for current job openings in Western Australia. According to the Government of Western Australia, there are numerous openings for managerial positions in manufacturing sector, Environmental and General Management Sector. Moreover, the professionals can diversify their areas of work in this well-established country. The list doesn't end here; there are many vacancies for entry level executives.
In addition to that, it is land for creative individuals as well. Individuals who have high interest in wildlife photography, Australia is the best place to learn. This is the only country where 378 mammal species, 828 bird species, 4000 fish species, 300 species of lizards, 140 snake species, two crocodile species and approximately, 50 types of marine mammals exists.
|Immigration in Australia
Australia is top most choice for the migrants who wish to migrate from their home country. If we talk about the country in detail then, it gives a complete exposure to an individual with respect to job, education and culture of the country. Moreover, Australia is the hub of various Corporate events. It is the only destination for food and wine industry. The growing population in Australia portrays in the growing GDP of the country. All in all, if anyone is looking for a job, starting up of a business, better quality of studies and a trip to enjoy then, Australia is the only destination for such people.
Now, the question arises that how one should go there. At the time when someone give a thought about it, there must be many questions that arise in your mind like: Which Country is best for professional career, to get good quality of studies and to explore? What is the condition of racism? Then, the immediate question that can come that in near future if I want my family to immigrate in the country then what will be the cost, the environment of the country and various facilities that are for the immigrants. Now, the next set of questions are that how to get the visa for australia? What should be the first step? How to do the documentation part? What are things that are needed for approval?
Immigration Overseas Pvt Ltd has all the answers of these questions and other questions that will be raised by you. They act as a mirror for you and help to gauge your area of interest. Accordingly, they take the proceedings further with respect to the documentation part, filling up the documents, verification documents etc. They are providing immigration in australia from last ten years. Being a global leader in the immigration industry, they provide visa australia services according to the need of their clients. The aim of customer satisfaction of this immigration law firm helps their clients in each and every way during and after the process of migration. The immigration consultant at Immigration Overseas communicates with you regularly to deliver high quality of service that satisfies your needs. Immigration Overseas is just a click away and provides all the information through online mode. Immigration Overseas will take you on the journey of your success.
Review by: 149057 clients


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Method Introduces Sheet-Free Dryer Sheets
In a perfect world we would all dry our clothes on laundry lines: Linens and blouses fluttering against a blue sky, softened by the breeze and sunlight, with a few bluebirds flitting about for good measure. But as it is, the majority of laundry doers are dependent on the convenience of the dryer, and the bevy of not-so-green products that accompany it.
Take dryer sheets, for example. Made of a non-woven fabric web of fine polyester fibers and impregnated with synthetic chemicals, they are neither good for the planet nor our health. Of the 41 dryer sheets listed in Environmental Working Group's Guide to Healthy Cleaning which scores products on health concerns, three products received a rating of C (moderate concern) while the rest received D and F ratings (high and highest concern).So hats off to Method and the launch of the first ever dryer-activated fabric spray designed to replace fabric softener and the dryer sheet, thus nixing fabric softener being rinsed into wastewater as well as eliminating mountains of dryer sheets from the landfill -- and doing so with healthier ingredients.
The spray is spritzed directly on to clothes in the dryer, and the heat during drying activates a hypoallergenic, plant-based liquid formula in a design that challenges the need for the traditional dryer sheet.
One bottle of the fabric softener spray will work for 100 medium-sized loads of laundry, and the fabric spray bottle is made from 100 percent PCR PET plastic and can be recycled.
"We've designed a breakthrough laundry product that makes the chore of doing laundry much easier, smarter and greener," says Josh Handy, vice president of Industrial Design at Method. "By delivering an innovative formula in a convenient spray, the level of softening and fragrance can now be customized and the pesky dryer sheet has been eliminated altogether."
The healthiest choice is to ditch the dryer altogether, but if you're going to tumble your clothes dry and require a softener, this may be the way to go.
Available for $7.49 at methodhome.com


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Content Support
WA-AIM Help Desk
1-800-569-2667 (option 2)
The Washington Access to Instruction & Measurement
(WA-AIM) is an alternate assessment based on alternate
achievement standards aligned to the Common Core State
Standards for students with significant cognitive
challenges. The WA-AIM is built off of Access Point
Frameworks that expand upon the mathematics and English
language arts Common Core State Standards and the Washington
State science standards to provide students with significant
cognitive challenges a continuum of access points to the
standards. The WA-AIM will measure student knowledge and
skills through the use of twice annual administered
performance tasks. The WA-AIM will be used for federal and
state accountability in grades 3-8 and 10 for ELA and Math
and can be used to meet a student's CIA requirements.
Science will continue to be administered in grade 11.
Guidelines & Supports
Guidelines & Supports are provided to assist in determining if this is the appropriate assessment for a child and how to administer the WA-AIM to a student using the Engrade online platform.
Data Collection Platform
eDirect and the Data Collection Platform are the systems used to record and submit student WA-AIM assessment data.
Access Points, Performance Tasks & Examples
Educators use the Access Point Frameworks and associated Performance Tasks to assess the knowledge and skills aligned to the Common Core State Standards and Washington Science EALRs under direction provided by the Educators' Guide for the WA-AIM.
Item/question examples for ELA, mathematics and science in each content area are available to support educators in planning and administering the WA-AIM. These resources will be continually enhanced throughout the year and updates will be announced via our WA-AIM Newsletter.
WA-AIM Trainings
There are multiple formats for educators to participate in WA-Access to Instruction and Measurement training. In person trainings, on-demand videos and informational web modules can be found on our WA-AIM Training page.
Scoring & Reporting
This section is where stakeholders will find information regarding score generation, achievement levels and descriptors as well as templates and resource documents.
1% Alternate Assessment Cap
Subscribe for WA-AIM Newsletters
WA-AIM Key Dates
WA-AIM Fall High School Retakes
September 10 - November 16
WA-AIM Spring Administration
October 15 - April 5
Student registration in WAMS opens: Mid-October (after district's first CEDARS submission)
eDirect opens for user assignment: November 19
eDirect opens for Test Session creation: January 2
Data Collection Platform opens: January 2
Updated 1/16/2019
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