text:
|Reviews for Ventures and Investments
| rockspapersnscissors chapter 19 . 4/5/2014
I love the variety in your stories, but this wasn't my favorite one! :(
I don't think you cleared up the relations between the two effectively enough, and you gave Justin no aspirations, I think the photography bid was a good idea, but maybe I'm too idealistic for thinking that
Anyway, overall I'd give it a 8/10 Good plot, but confusing flashbacks, my biggest problem was with Justin's character, but that was just my preference! :)
Good Job!
| Guest chapter 16 . 3/28/2014
| hooked-on-you chapter 15 . 3/28/2014
omg. this is insane. and intense.
and i fucking love it.
| wonderland212 chapter 19 . 3/27/2014
I really enjoyed this story , it was very well written. When it comes to flashbacks, I find that a lot of writers don't know how to keep them as interesting as the present plot line and usually they end up seeming like a road block, but your flashbacks definitely helped progress the story in an interesting way. You took concepts that could've seemed contrived (love-hate, unrequited love) and made it original and intriguing.
If I had one qualm, I kind of would've liked to see how Justin, who's confidence was in ruins even managed to get to a place where he could truly accept Tony (emotionally) or even a bit more closure about how the two could move forward together after all that Tony has done. I only say Tony since Justin has not only apologized for his wrong doings, but he's kind of been paying for them throughout the whole story whereas Tony never really apologizes, and even at the beginning of this chapter, he still doesn't quite grasp how he literally kicked Justin while he was at his lowest, over and over again- with hardly no shame or consequence. At least when Justin betrayed Tony, it was obvious that it backfired on him in sooo many ways.
How can someone like Justin even truly trust Tony after everything. For instance, Tony always wanted Justin to pursue his dreams but how could Justin even believe him when he encourages him to go for his dreams or tells him that he's worthy when he's dedicated so much time into showing him just how useless he is? Maybe if we'd gotten just a tad bit more insight into how Justin began to rebuild his confidence, it'd seem a bit more realistic that the two could actually be healthy & happy together, b/c we'd see that Justin no longer needed anyone to validate his self-worth, Ultimately, it kind of just seems like Tony got his revenge( 10x over), and came out victorious all around, whereas Justin still has a troubling inferiority complex, and still never reached ( or it wasn't really hinted that he was even going to reach) the type of success that I'd imagine everyone was rooting for him to have.
Anyways, that's just my take on it...but overall I thought this was a very interesting story. Thank you for posting it. :)
| wingless chapter 19 . 2/8/2014
I just finished reading the whole story :) It's 03:45 and I've been up at six am the past few weeks; it was just so engaging, I'm not even tired, though just last night i fell asleep on the couch at like eight pm. I can't express how much I loved this story, my mind is completely blown!
At first I thought that Justin was the "bad" one, with how he took out his fears and frustrations on Tony... But what you wrote about Tony on his 21:st birthday was chilling; typical 'nice guy' behaviour - feeling like the person you like OWE YOU something because you're being nice to them. It felt pretty disturbing to see how Tony just expected Justin to be his and to want to sleep with him, and I really loved Justin's thoughts about that.
After reading about that, and the creepy therapy sessions, I began to wish for Justin to get away. They were so hot together, but it all felt so wrong. I also started thinking about how unhealthy a behaviour it was to keep coming back to a guy who continuously viciously shut him down, Tony really scared the crap out of me after a while, lol.
I kept wondering what would've happened if Justin had had a support system around him; friends or family that had his back and genuinely loved him. I got so invested in the story, damn you :p
The ending was so twisted, but I feel like it was really right for the story.
| Guest chapter 19 . 2/1/2014
It ended?!
| bobbobin chapter 19 . 1/18/2014
It's over. :(
It was a really great read. And I'm looking forward to the next chapter of Leviathan!
| runaway sheet chapter 18 . 1/15/2014
I'm so glad this is complete. Justin and Tony finally make it to the end :) and I mean it in the most positive way, m'dear. Congratulations - you finished this beast of a story! 3
| Guest chapter 19 . 1/15/2014
(I accidentally hit the 'post review' button before i was finished)
Like i was saying, i wish the ending wasn't so rushed. I feel like everything was mushed together in one chapter because you just wanted to end it. I hope in the future there is a oneshot to get a better look into Tony and Justin in their new relationship.
Other than that, i have nothing to complain about. This story was flawless.
| Guest chapter 19 . 1/15/2014
This was probably my favorite story on fictionpress. Usually ill grow bored of a story or skim past all the dragged on details, but i can truly say i did not skim one word of this.
But i feel like the end was far too rushed. I mean i loved it, and im happy Tony and Justin are together (immensely happy because god knows they both deserve it)
| cheesekun chapter 19 . 1/13/2014
The ending was perfect! I love that Justin came to realise Tony belonged to him too :) Please please release a smashword copy (so we can have a keep-forever version)! You should definitely get this work published (it's amazing and so well written). Thanks for sharing :D
| Kat chapter 19 . 1/13/2014
what an awesome chapter! I love this story-I can't believe it's over! Thanks for writing it. I'd love a permanent copy-will you be putting it up on smashwords some time so people can buy it in pdf? I liked that Justin got his confidence back in the end as well as Tony :)
| jossie chapter 19 . 1/12/2014
I just loved this ending, especially the line... Why should anyone else have Tony? After all the shit Justin went through to get to this point. After everything. Justin BELONGED to Tony! Fantastic, sums up the whole story to me. Please Please make this available to buy as an E-Book. LOVED IT
| marginal-utility chapter 19 . 1/12/2014
I shall miss these guys :') Had a great time reading this story.
| chocolander chapter 19 . 1/10/2014
woo hoot! finally! I'm so glad that Justin and Tony are finally together for real without Tony's behind-the-scenes manipulation. It would have ended on a sour note for me if you hadn't made Justin wise up to Tony's manipulations, but I'm very happy that you didn't do that; Justin is given the option of real choice by Tony and he is all the more happier for it. I really like how you fleshed out both characters' emotional growth; Tony learns to be less controlling and Justin learns to be less self-pitying and less easily manipulated by Justin etc. Here's a huge virtual chocolate cookie from me for completing this amazing fic over 4 years! :) I look forward to reading more of your talented writing skills! ;)


text:
Big tires and even bigger wheels
by Byron on Jul. 31, 2007 at 5:42 PM
One of the most liberating things about Bettie is the big tires; Big Apples from Schwalbe to be exact. They're like that cruiser bike you had as a kid, where you just roll over everything: through a field, over a curb, on gravel, potholes ……» Read More »

subset: commoncrawl


text:
These are Swiss watches with some serious attitude. Straight out of Geneva, TechnoMarine's timepieces are embellished with sporty rubber and colorful gel straps (plus classic stainless bracelets), then punctuated with unexpected flourishes like diamond bezels and artwork-emblazoned faces. Using funkier finishes, brighter colors, and edgier materials than you'd typically find in watches of this quality, TechnoMarine's adventurous designs are a perfect blend of luxury and fun. You'll gaze at your wrist candy so much that you may never be late for anything again.
Timepieces for any hour
Function meets style in these instantly adored presents
Covetable timepieces worth snapping up
Precision Swiss timepieces with colorful accents that will get you noticed.


text:
Twelve years was long enough for Potter County's Precinct 4 justice of the peace to be without an courtroom.
So, county commissioners have done something about it by approving a $150 expenditure to outfit the old Court Master's Courtroom for use by the current justice of the peace, Thomas Jones.
Jones had been operating out of an office on the fifth floor of the old courthouse. It was a situation that pre-dated Jones' election to the office by several years.
County maintenance officials expect to have the project done by July 11.
It truly is about time.
Jones recently approached commissioners about the lack of a courtroom earlier this month. To be fair, he chose a poor time to bring the matter up, during the time commissioners were considering a $7.7 million certificate of obligation proposal. The matter of Jones' courtroom - or lack thereof - wasn't on the commissioners' agenda.
Still, he raised a good point, which was: Doesn't the Precinct 4 justice of the peace deserve an adequate place to do his court business?
Commissioners agreed this week, voting to approve the renovation.
With that, Judge Jones will get a courtroom and those who appear before him will be served better.
Amarillo Globe-News © 2016. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Service | Privacy Policy / About Our Ads


text:
15 Things You Never Knew About Kyle Larson, The 21-Year-Old Who's About To Take Over NASCAR
Getty ImagesKyle Larson is not your typical NASCAR driver.
He is Japanese-American, does victory burnouts without a steering wheel, and has been compared to some of the best drivers in the sport.
This past weekend in Fontana, Larson opened a lot of eyes with his first Nationwide Series victory and a strong finish in the Sprint Cup race.
He is NASCAR's next big superstar and may be the driver that can bring non-racing fans to the sport.
Comments on this post are now closed.


text:
Kadar In the News
It's Time for March Madness!!
Here's a different kind of bracket that can put a smile on your face without opening your mouth! Enter the 2016 Kadar Orthodontics Bracket Challenge and you could win BIG!!
The rules are simple ... you must be a Kadar Orthodontics patient (or family member) to play and win. One entry per person. Only one grand prize winner. To register, click on the basketball above, submit your bracket prediction by noon on March 17th and then monitor your results throuhgout the tournament.
Prizes include gift cards to Dick's Sporting Goods, Fit Bit Activity Tracker and a Dave & Busters Party Package for 10! Get a perfect bracket to win FREE ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT valued at up to $5,000.
To submit your bracket, CLICK HERE.


text:
Lancôme Foundation Brush No.2
Product informationThis easy-to-clean, synthetic bristled brush is our perfect partner to liquid foundation. The tapered edge blends liquid makeup for a natural, even look. Use the softer, graduated tip for more even, controlled blending.
How to use: Apply a small amount of liquid foundation onto the back of your hand. Using the flat side of the brush, apply to areas that need coverage, beginning in the area between the nose and cheek. Turn the brush over and, without adding any additional product, finish blending with downward strokes. Repeat the process on the rest of the face.
A synthetic bristled brush for liquid foundation.
- Brand
- Make-up Brush Type
- Foundation
- Size
- No.2
Click & collect
- Click & collect from John Lewis and Waitrose shops tomorrow from 2pm
- £2.00
- Collect + from a local shop from Wednesday, postcode exclusions apply
- £3.50
UK delivery
- Standard delivery within 5 working days
- £3.50
- Named or Saturday UK delivery
- £6.95
- Named day UK delivery pre-10.30am
- £9.95
International delivery not available
We want you to be happy with your purchase. If you're not, depending on the type of product, you can make free returns in the UK via John Lewis shops, Royal Mail, Collect+, or MyHermes. If you need to arrange collection of large or heavy items, call us on 03456 049 049. For international returns queries, call us on +44 1698 545 454. Find out more about returns.
You'll find returns information on your delivery note. Unless faulty, we'd like you to make your return within 90 days of purchase. Exceptions apply to certain products - find out more about our refund policy.
Q & As
UK delivery£3.50
Standard delivery within 5 working days
Click & collect£2.00
Click & collect from John Lewis and Waitrose shops tomorrow from 2pm
Collect+ from a local shop from Wednesday


text:
I had Windows 7 32 bit on my existing system, but I am planning to install Ubuntu alongside it. So, I just decided to do a fresh installation of both the operating systems.
When I insert the Windows 7 DVD, I can create 3 partitions at maximum, with one being the one where Windows 7 will be installed.
I just wanted to know – do I need to keep some un-partitioned space for Ubuntu to install?
By "unpartitioned space" I mean the space left after creating 3 partitions for Windows 7. I have a 500 GB HDD, so the three partitions I would be creating are 120 GB, 120 GB and 120 GB. The rest is shown as some logical drive, is that unpartitioned space?
Can I install Ubuntu over there? I am pretty sure the space shown as logical won't be available as drives when I log into Windows 7.
Is that space lost or can I use that to install ubuntu?


text:
Ok, I have gotten rid of some errors that I previously had on my site due to my theme. However, now I just have one small problem... on my homepage in the sidebar it says "error: list of pages" right above where it has the posts listed. I am not sure how to get rid of this.
thanks in advance


text:
ODT Online
ODT /directory
A rescue helicopter was this morning attempting to reach a
tramper who became lost and disoriented in poor weather in
Marlborough yesterday afternoon.
The tramper was located after 8pm last night but bad weather
prevented a helicopter from reaching them last night.
About 4.40pm yesterday an unregistered personal locator
beacon was activated in the Mt Richmond Forest Park area, the
Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter said.
The helicopter then used its onboard beacon tracker to narrow
down the location of the beacon to somewhere near the summit
of Mt Rintoul, but bad weather prevented the helicopter from
getting close.
A police land search and rescue ground team was dropped into
the area and found the tramper.
They camped on the mountain overnight and the rescue
helicopter had attempted to reach them again this morning.
Poor weather had so far prevented it from getting close but
further attempts would be made during the day.
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.
Login or Register
to add your business to the ODT/directory. Quick link to
Submit your news & photos - Login or
Opinion? Have your say - Login or Register
Submit your
event or notice
Add a photo
Bookmark ODT
Make ODT my
Otago Daily Times print and digital edition, The
Star - Dunedin, The News - Central Otago, The
Ensign - Gore, Southland Express -
Invercargill, Southern Rural Life - Otago and
Southland, The Courier - Timaru, Courier Country - Canterbury and
West Coast, Queenstown Times - Queenstown, Mountain Scene -
Queenstown, The Oamaru Mail - Oamaru, The
Greymouth Star - Greymouth, Hokitika Guardian - Hokitika,
West Coast Messenger - West Coast, The Ashburton Courier -
Ashburton, The News - North Canterbury, Extra! schools
publication, Property
Times South Canterbury


text:
No matter how hard you've tried, thinking it looked easy and that you could do it or would be good at it, it's turned out to not be your "cup of tea" (so to speak). In fact, you are down right terrible at it. Maybe it's an activity, hobby, chore, or even behavior or habit that society stereotypically says a man or woman should/shouldn't be good at due to their gender.
Or maybe it's a habit that you've developed over time, maybe due to age or whatever, that you wish you could change/fix, because it frustrates the heck out of you yet you don't know what you can do to correct it.
Like with me at remembering names. I have a terrible time remembering names. And I'm talking about people I interact with, such as family members and/or co-workers, on a daily/weekly basis. I suffer from "brain farts" where I all of a sudden can't remember that person's name. And it's embarrassing and frustrating.
Or maybe it's something you can't do anything about, but it still frustrates you like being the hyper active person that I am. And even though my body, due to age is slowing (breaking) down, my mind isn't. I have a hard time staying on task because I have a zillion other things going on inside my mind. I'll therefore, in an attempt to get the task done quickly as possible, take shortcuts, or as I call it "improvise". Which causes my wife and kids to shake their collective heads and stand next to the phone in case 911 needs to be called.
My wife always says .... "Watch your Dad kids and learn. Learn what the wrong way is, and how not to do something."
So I am teaching my kids something. :


text:
Posts Tagged 'avengers assemble'
SDCC2014: Marvel Animation Presents! Talks Fall Premieres and New DTV
Jeph Loeb, head of Marvel Television, introduced Cort Lane (VP), Stephen Wacker (VP – animation), and Eric Radomski (SVP) to talk about what's coming up for Marvel Animation. The upcoming third season of Ultimate Spider-Man, which is titled Web Warriors will be about Spider-Man chasing the Green Goblin throughout other realities and meeting various version of […]
Marvel's Avengers Assemble Trailer
Thanos makes an appearance in this trailer for "Marvel's Avengers Assemble" which will debut on Disney XD on May 25, 2014…


text:
A subspecialty certification by the Board of Internal Medicine. Practitioners focus on diseases of the lungs and airways. Pulmonologists diagnose and treat pneumonia, cancer, asthma, occupational diseases, sleep disorders, emphysema, and other complex disorders of the lungs. They evaluate lung function, examine the bronchial airways, and prescribe and monitor mechanical ventilation. Many pulmonary disease experts are also experts in critical care.View More
1-4 of 4
114 Monument Pl Ste B
Vicksburg, MS 39180
463 Ashley Ridge Blvd Ste 100
Shreveport, LA 71106
3330 Masonic Dr FL 2
Alexandria, LA 71301
7829 Youree Dr
Shreveport, LA 71105


text:
Hey everyone,
So I just created a new website with a free WordPress theme. My site is Hardgainer Workout Routine.
If you visit the website, you will notice that the images on certain posts overlap the one below it.
My question is simply that: how can I adjust those posts so that there is no overlap? It seems as though the excerpts align with how much text is displayed, not how long the image is. If I enter enough text so that it lines up with the bottom of the image, and then I cut off the excerpt with the "More" tag with editing the post, the image will be properly displayed with no overlap.
I am wondering if there is a way to modify (the CSS perhaps?) so that the excerpts adjust to the length of the picture, and there is no overlap.
And yes, I tried moving the "More" tag below the image. It still cuts it off!
On that same note, is there a way to have the picture automatically adjust to a certain size for the post preview, and then adjust to the original size after the visitor clicks "Read more?"
I really do appreciate any help in this matter! Thank you in advance.


text:
Timi Gustafson, R.D.
Helping people to live healthy and fulfilling lives.
Reintroducing Cooking in American Households an Unlikely Prospect, Study FindsMay 18th, 2013 at 7:53 am by timigustafson
Americans don't like to cook. They don't want to spend the time it takes for food shopping, food preparation and clean up, especially when it's so much easier to stop for a quick bite at a restaurant or drive-thru or bring home some take-out. Yet, experts are convinced that making home cooking fashionable again would be one of the most effective steps we could take to address the nation's obesity crisis.
The United States ranks at the bottom of industrialized countries not only in terms of time spent on meal preparation but also on consumption, according to surveys conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an international group that analyzes economic data worldwide. In other words, we not only don't cook, we also don't set much time aside to enjoy our food. Instead, more and more of us skip breakfast, work through lunch and sustain ourselves throughout the day by snacking.
The percentage of calories from snacks in the American diet has doubled since the 1970s, as more people have turned into all-day grazers while foregoing sitdown meals on most days, a study by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) found.
Over half of American adults say they have three or more snacks a day. Almost a third of children and adolescents eat chips, popcorn, pretzels and the likes on a daily basis. The amount of pizza eaten, both in restaurants and at home, has nearly tripled over the past thirty years. Meanwhile, the number of calories in pizzas has increased by 25 percent on average since the late 1970s. Over the same time period vegetable consumption has declined from 2.6 to just 1.9 servings per day – and that includes French fries.
The easiest way to turn these developments around would be to start preparing our meals from scratch again, says Mark Bittman, food writer and author of "Cooking Solves Everything: How Time in the Kitchen Can Save Your Health, Your Budget, and Even the Planet" (Kindle edition, 2011). Millions of Americans don't ever cook. The rest cooks on occasion, often just microwaving. Many don't bother with sitting down at the dinner table but rather eat in the car, at a counter, or in front of a screen. "And that's a shame, because cooking is a basic essential, worthwhile and even enjoyable task," he writes.
Bittman applauds others who are trying to get the message out about the many benefits of home cooking, like his fellow-book-author Michael Pollan who just published a new book on the same subject, titled, "Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation" (Penguin Press, 2013). In a review on the then upcoming publication he writes: "Cooking is probably the most important thing you can do to improve your diet."
The reasons are obvious. If you are in charge of the ingredients that go into your food, you already are going to eat better because you won't include extra fat, salt, sugar, preservatives, dyes and other additives. You also won't eat as many highly caloric items like French fries, which are cumbersome to make at home. The same goes for pizza (made from scratch, not the ones you just heat up).
One of the central problems with cooking is that we don't value it enough any more. We are used to having tasks like these done for us by outside service providers. But unlike getting your car or computer fixed by someone else, cooking is much more intimate. It connects us with our bodies, nature and loved ones.
Michael Pollan even thinks that the experience of cooking brings us closer to the most basic elements that surround us: fire, water, air and earth and also tightens our social and ecological relationships. All that has deeply transformational characteristics that can change us on multiple levels, but all for the better.
That is much to hope for – perhaps too much. Still, it is a fact that an increasing number of people are looking for ways to eat more healthily and also reduce stress on the environment, e.g. by cutting back on meat consumption and buying more produce from local farms. A rediscovery of home cooking would fit squarely within these trends. Whether it will be enough to transform or currently predominant way of life remains doubtful.
If you liked this article, you may also enjoy reading "Home Cooking for Healthy Eating" and "Tips for Leaner Cooking Techniques"
Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest
Timi Gustafson R.D. is a registered dietitian, newspaper columnist, blogger and author of the book "The Healthy Diner – How to Eat Right and Still Have Fun"®, which is available on her blog and at amazon.com. For more articles on nutrition, health and lifestyle, visit her blog, "Food and Health with Timi Gustafson R.D." (www.timigustafson.com).
Most Restaurant Food Has Too Many Calories, Studies FindMay 15th, 2013 at 1:59 pm by timigustafson
That too much fondness of fast food can cause weight problems is old news. But the idea that nearly all types of restaurants dish up meals that can expand your waistline has not been as widely discussed – until now.
Two separate studies, one from the University of Toronto, Canada, the other from Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, found that most restaurant food is not all that superior to hamburgers and fries when it comes to calorie and fat content.
The researchers who conducted the Toronto study discovered that the average meal in 19 different restaurant chains contained 1,128 calories, or about 56 percent of the recommended daily intake of 2,000 calories for adults. Some popular fast food items have considerably less than that. And excessive amounts of calories are not only found in dinner entrées but in lunch and breakfast servings as well.
Besides calories, the authors of the study report also expressed concern over high salt, fat and cholesterol content, sometimes exceeding between 60 and 150 percent of the recommended limits.
For the Tufts study, the researchers focused on calories in meals purchased at independent and small chain restaurants, which are exempt from having to post nutritional information on their menus, as it is required of larger chains. The results showed even higher counts than what their bigger competitors offered – a whopping 1,327 calories on average.
More than 90 percent of the small chain eateries included in the study served portion sizes that covered at least one third of a day's worth of calories. 10 percent went beyond that, and a few even exceeded the recommended calorie count of an entire day – on just one plate. (Perhaps Adam Richman of Man v. Food should pay them a visit.)
"Considering that more than half the restaurants in the U.S. are independent or small chain and won't be covered by labeling requirements in the future, this is something consumers need to pay attention to," said Dr. Lorien Urban, one of the researchers who was involved in the Tufts study.
But even calorie postings on menus and billboards where they are required by law have been proven to be unreliable in prior investigations by Tufts and others. In fact, fast food places with their largely automated apportioning methods can find it easier to determine accurate measurements than restaurants that rely on estimates by kitchen personnel. There is only so much accuracy you can expect when dishes are individually crafted by hand, said one executive of Olive Garden, a nationally operating restaurant chain.
Still, restaurant patrons don't have to feel completely helpless if they want to exercise some measure of control over their calorie intake. Dr. Lisa Young, professor for nutrition at New York University (NYU) and author of the blog "The Portion Teller", recommends following an easily applicable restaurant survival guide she has compiled for her readers.
Being aware that portion sizes in most restaurants have exponentially grown over the past few decades is an important start, she says. It may look like you're getting more value for your money, but the fact is that you will likely overindulge when you're faced with an overflowing plate. Instead, she advises to order only half portions whenever available, or just an appetizer. Or you can split one entrée with a dinner partner.
Choose a salad or soup if they offer healthier alternatives to, let's say, meat dishes. But be careful with dressings and creams – that's where extra, unnecessary calories come in.
Don't forget that your drinks have calories, too, sometimes lots of them. Sodas are notorious for high sugar content, and so are fruit juices and milk shakes. Alcoholic beverages count as well. The more you have of these, the more likely you'll lose your inhibitions and end up overeating, she warns.
Desserts, of course, are always hard to say 'no' to, but you are not without choices. A few pieces of fresh fruit can be refreshing and they come without much regret.
What matters most – especially if you eat out often – is to keep track of your consumption, just like you would on any weight management program, if necessary with the help of a food diary. With the necessary precautions, you should still be able to enjoy a nice meal that someone else prepared for you.
If you liked this article, you may also enjoy reading "Why You Need a Dining Out Strategy" and "A Restaurant Guide for Healthy Eating."
Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest
Timi Gustafson R.D. is a registered dietitian, newspaper columnist, blogger and author of the book "The Healthy Diner – How to Eat Right and Still Have Fun"®, which is available on her blog and at amazon.com. For more articles on nutrition, health and lifestyle, visit her blog, "Food and Health with Timi Gustafson R.D." (www.timigustafson.com).
Despite Health Concerns, Aging Baby Boomers Find It Hard to Make Lifestyle ChangesMay 11th, 2013 at 7:32 am by timigustafson
Baby Boomers – those born between 1946 through 1964 – will live longer than any other generation before them, but they will not necessarily be healthier. In fact, many are already burdened with more chronic illnesses such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes than their parents and grandparents were. Most of these health problems are lifestyle-related and could be prevented through changes in diet, exercise and weight management, but for some reason these messages seem hard to get across.
A recent study conducted by the West Virginia University School of Medicine found that despite of better education and greater awareness in health matters as well as advancements in medicine, baby boomers will likely face more sickness in their twilight years than generations before them.
The study found that the number of boomers who have high cholesterol has more than doubled compared to the previous generation. Nearly 40 percent are obese, an increase of over 10 percent in just 12 years. Less than half exercise regularly, and a rapidly growing number can't walk without using a cane or a walker. Boomers are also reported to suffer more from mental illness and alcohol and drug addiction than their parents did. In other words, baby boomers appear to be heading for retirement in worse shape than those born before World War II.
According to a report by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a private nonprofit research organization specializing in economic studies, some of the lifestyle choices of this generation are resulting in "hazardous trends" in terms of health and aging. Especially the drastic increase in weight problems and obesity over the last few decades raise serious concerns about the future health and physical functioning of aging baby boomers, the report concludes.
At the same time, a large percentage is woefully unprepared for retirement in terms of finances and coverage of their health care needs. Nearly 90 percent are not sure they will have enough money to live out their years in comfort and financial security. 44 percent have little or no faith that they can sustain themselves without outside help, and 25 percent don't think they will ever be able to retire, according to a survey by the Associated Press.
That is why health concerns are a priority for baby boomers not just per se but also for financial reasons. When Merrill Lynch, a wealth management company, asked in a recent survey thousands of Americans age 45 and older about their perspectives on retirement, the prospect of serious health problems topped the list of worries, followed by becoming a burden on loved ones and running out of money.
Health disruption is especially worrisome because it's unpredictable, can be very expensive and can force people to retire earlier than they had planned or were ready to because of disabilities, says Dr. Ken Dychtwald, a gerontologist and bestselling book author who took part in conducting the survey.
The good news is that baby boomer retirees have more and better tools at their disposal to improve their health and age better than any of their predecessors. The keyword is prevention. Just as important as putting money aside for a rainy day is to take care of one's health by eating right, exercising, staying within a healthy weight range and keeping the mind sharp. For this, it is never too soon or too late to start.
Undoubtedly, baby boomers are about to face many unprecedented challenges as they approach retirement in great numbers. But they are also well equipped to handle them with the same adventurous and pioneering spirit that got them through life so far.
Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest
Timi Gustafson R.D. is a registered dietitian, newspaper columnist, blogger and author of the book "The Healthy Diner – How to Eat Right and Still Have Fun"®, which is available on her blog and at amazon.com. For more articles on nutrition, health and lifestyle, visit her blog, "Food and Health with Timi Gustafson R.D." (www.timigustafson.com).
Most Americans Don't Exercise Enough – But Who Can Blame Them?May 8th, 2013 at 1:01 pm by timigustafson
Despite plenty of encouragement from the government and health experts to move more, Americans still find it hard to adopt a less sedentary lifestyle. Merely 20 percent are in compliance with the government's recommendations for physical activity, which advise getting at least two and a half hours per week of moderately intense aerobic exercise like brisk walking as well as some strength training such as lifting weights or doing pushups.
The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), call being physically active "one of the most important steps that Americans of all ages can take to improve their health."
The Physical Activity Guidelines are meant to complement the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, a joint effort of the HHS and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). They are directed towards policy makers and health care professionals as well as the public at large.
According to a recent survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and published in the May 2013 issue of the journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 52 percent of respondents to phone interviews reported meeting the recommended guidelines for aerobics, and 29 percent said they did with muscle-strength training.
The survey also came up with some other noticeable statistics. Less than a third of 18 to 24 year-olds met both aerobic and strength-training recommendations. Only 16 percent of over 65 year-olds came close. Hispanics did worse than other ethnicities. Education also seemed a contributing factor. Those with college degrees did on average better than those without. Normal-weight persons were more active than the overweight and obese. Americans living in the Northeast and the West outperformed Southerners. Colorado beat all other states. West Virginia and Tennessee came in last.
Similarly to the Dietary Guidelines, the Physical Activity Guidelines have been criticized as unrealistic and unattainable for many Americans, especially for low-income earners and those living in unwalkable and unsafe neighborhoods.
Multiple studies have shown that walkability in residential areas has a significant impact on people's health. One study found that residents of neighborhoods with sidewalks, bike paths and public parks had a much lower risk of becoming overweight or obese than those who lived in areas without such amenities.
But unfortunately, issues of walkability and bikeability are still not included in the planning processes of many cities around the country. Walk Score, a Seattle-based company that evaluates major cities and midsized towns in the U.S., releases annual rankings of the most, and least, walkable places and rates them on a scale from 0 (= "car-dependent") to 100 (= "walker's paradise"). While New York City and San Francisco routinely qualify as most pedestrian-friendly and are lauded for their extensive public transportation system, smaller towns, especially in rural areas, still make it hard to get around other than by driving your own vehicle.
Physical fitness – like weight control – is considered by many as a matter of personal choice and responsibility. And to a certain extent that is true. However, other factors such as income, residence, access to grocery outlets and opportunities to be physically active within reasonable distance have all been shown to be decisive. If too many of these elements are missing, no appeal to behavioral change will suffice.
Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest
Timi Gustafson R.D. is a registered dietitian, newspaper columnist, blogger and author of the book "The Healthy Diner – How to Eat Right and Still Have Fun"®, which is available on her blog and at amazon.com. For more articles on nutrition, health and lifestyle, visit her blog, "Food and Health with Timi Gustafson R.D." (www.timigustafson.com).
Even Health-Conscious Consumers Find It Hard to Maintain a Healthy DietMay 5th, 2013 at 1:47 pm by timigustafson
It's a proven fact that most people change their eating habits and lifestyle choices only after a serious health scare such as a heart attack or a diabetes diagnosis. Still, in many cases that may not be enough. Old habits tend to die hard, but often there are also not many alternatives to what they've been doing in terms of eating right and taking care of themselves.
A recent study found that most consumers after being confronted with a major health crisis were still influenced in their choices by factors other than what's good for their health. For example, people can find it difficult to change their long established eating habits, says Dr. Yu Ma, an economics professor at Alberta School of Business and author of the study. Another highly influential factor is price, he says. If they get a good deal on a particular item, they will go for it, and if it's too expensive, they will stay away, no matter how much they would benefit healthwise.
Another issue is what he calls the "health halo effect." Most people divide foods simply into two categories: healthy and unhealthy, he says. If something is considered healthful, e.g. a salad or a breakfast cereal, as opposed to a cheeseburger or a sugar-laden donut, people tend to overindulge in the "healthy" stuff without much further thought. We have seen that phenomenon when, for example, fat-free cookies came on the market and many believed they could consume those in almost unlimited quantities because of the absence of fat. Of course, eliminating the fat did not make those cookies less caloric, and the results became apparent soon thereafter.
Another study, this one on heart attack and stroke patients, showed that nearly 15 percent did not alter their eating and lifestyle habits after the incident, including poor diet choices, lack of exercise and smoking. Less than half of all participants in the study reported having made at least one change, and less than a third said they made several improvements. Only 4 percent claimed they did everything that was recommended to them to prevent further deterioration of their health.
Much of the unwillingness or inability to make healthier diet and lifestyle choices can be blamed on the widespread confusion among the public due to the ceaseless onslaught of sometimes contradictory messages in the media about health matters. In addition, many of the warnings issued by experts are hard to heed by consumers who are oftentimes ignorant, if not intentionally kept in the dark, about the nutritional quality of their food supply. For instance, recommendations to avoid high fat, salt and sugar content may be well-meaning, but they are by and large useless when ingredients lists are hard to decipher or when restaurants aren't required to follow any dietary guidelines or to post nutritional information on their menus.
"I think people are interested in making changes and they are heeding the warnings," said Dr. Sara Bleich, an associate professor of health policy at the John Hopkins School of Public Health to NBCNews. "But when it comes to food, it's much more complicated. Cereal, for example, has a tremendous amount of added sugar. And not everyone understands that breakfast foods like muffins and pastry, things that people don't consider to be a dessert or an indulgence, pack a lot of sugar." Similar concerns apply to salt in countless processed foods, many of which don't even taste salty, and certain types of fats, some of which are obscured by arbitrary serving descriptions on food labels.
Undoubtedly, more and more people want to be better informed about nutritional health and be empowered to make the right choices. With growing consumer demand for further regulation and protection, that may be feasible over time. But for now, it's an ongoing uphill battle, and most of us have to fend for ourselves as well as we can.
Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest
Timi Gustafson R.D. is a registered dietitian, newspaper columnist, blogger and author of the book "The Healthy Diner – How to Eat Right and Still Have Fun"®, which is available on her blog and at amazon.com. For more articles on nutrition, health and lifestyle, visit her blog, "Food and Health with Timi Gustafson R.D." (www.timigustafson.com).
Investors Are Influencing How We Will Produce and Consume Food in the FutureMay 1st, 2013 at 1:54 pm by timigustafson
If you want to know how food will be manufactured, distributed and consumed tomorrow, just follow the money. Venture capital firms in Silicon Valley and elsewhere have begun shifting their almost exclusive focus on high-tech startups to more mundane enterprises such as food producers and food sellers. Is the food trade turning into the next gold rush? Maybe not right away. But there are developments on the horizon that will possibly change the food industry as we know it.
Last year, venture capitalists have reportedly poured over $350 million into startup companies that deal in one way or another with food. That's a seven-fold increase from 2008.
Khosla Ventures an investment group founded by Vinod Khosla, a former CEO of Sun Microsystems, for example, has spent seed money on half a dozen food-related startups, especially the kind that seek to improve manufacturing methods in terms of nutritional quality and environmental impact.
One of Khosla's beneficiaries is Hampton Creek Foods, a food technology company based in San Francisco that has developed a plant-based egg substitute. The idea is to give food manufacturers an alternative to using regular eggs in their products. "Beyond Eggs," as they call their invention, can not only help to cut costs because it's cheaper than eggs, it's also safer and does not involve cruelty to animals.
Laying hens in industrial egg farms are confined to small wire cages that afford each a space smaller than a sheet of letter-sized paper. That's not only hard on the hens but also increases the risk of disease outbreaks like Avian Flu and salmonella poisoning, says Josh Tetrick, the company's founder and CEO.
And in terms of costs, industrial egg production is not sustainable either, he says. The reason why egg prices keep rising is that laying hens require enormous quantities of feed to generate this many eggs. "It's an outdated and inefficient system that is a breeding ground for foodborne bacterial illnesses."
Like Tetrick, his financial backers see a future in food safety and sustainability issues. "Part of the reason you're seeing all these V.C.'s get interested in this is the food industry is not only massive, but like the energy industry, it is terribly broken in terms of its impact on the environment, health, animals," he says.
Small startups are in a better position to come up with alternative solutions. Big Food will have a much harder time in the area of innovation. "I wouldn't bet my money that Cargill or ConAgra are going to innovate here," said Samir Kaul, a partner at Khosla, to the New York Times.
Not all investors in food-related startups want to get involved with the manufacturing side of the business, which is considered complex and not as profitable. Many are more comfortable with service-oriented ideas like how to better connect fledgling enterprises with customers through new technologies. But the field is widening.
Of course, food companies have enjoyed backing from risk-taking venture capitalists in the past. Starbucks, P.F. Chang's and Jamba Juice, all dominating in their respective markets now, could not have gotten off the ground without help from their early investors. But what seems different with this latest trend is that it takes place in a climate of changing consumer behavior. More than ever, people want to know what goes into their food, whom they can trust, how their choices affect their personal wellbeing as well as the environment. They are also aware they are not alone with their concerns.
For instance, the online service meetup.com has a category called "Food Startups," which helps facilitate meetings between food lovers, entrepreneurs, investors, activists, food critics, journalists, bloggers and everyone else who is passionate about food and technology. If you don't feel represented by any of the existing meetup groups, you can also start your own. Who knows, perhaps you'll get a little backing for your ideas, too.
Enjoy and share on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest
Timi Gustafson R.D. is a registered dietitian, newspaper columnist, blogger and author of the book "The Healthy Diner – How to Eat Right and Still Have Fun"®, which is available on her blog and at amazon.com. For more articles on nutrition, health and lifestyle, visit her blog, "Food and Health with Timi Gustafson R.D." (www.timigustafson.com).
Use of Pesticides Continues to Make Some Foods Unsafe for ConsumptionApril 28th, 2013 at 4:58 pm by timigustafson
An apple a day used to keep the doctor away, at least according to folk wisdom. But not any more – unless it's organically grown. Apples top the list of foods contaminated with pesticides, says the Environmental Working Group (EWG), an environmental health research and advocacy organization, in its annual report called "The Dirty Dozen™."
The listing of foods that may have toxic levels of pesticides is part of the group's Shopper's Guide to Pesticide in Produce, which draws its data from tests conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Even after washing, more than two thirds of the tens of thousands of food samples tested by the agencies showed pesticide residues. The most contaminated fruits were apples, strawberries, grapes, peaches and imported nectarines. Among vegetables, the most contaminated were celery, spinach, sweet bell peppers, cucumbers, potatoes, cherry tomatoes and hot peppers.
The contamination levels varied significantly between different foods. Potatoes had a higher total weight of pesticides than any other food crop. A single grape tested for 15 different pesticides. So did sweet bell peppers.
Corn, which is widely used as an ingredient in processed foods, does not appear in the EWG's guide because as such it's no longer considered a fresh vegetable. Neither is soy. Still, concern over pesticide contamination should also include processed items.
In addition to its notorious "Dirty Dozen™" rating, the EWG also publishes a list of the least contaminated foods, called the "Clean Fifteen™." These show the lowest levels of pesticide residues and are generally safe for consumption. They include pineapple, papaya, mango, kiwi, cantaloupe, grapefruit, corn, onion, avocado, frozen sweet peas, cabbage, asparagus, eggplant, sweet potatoes and mushrooms.
Pesticides have long been linked to a number of health concerns, particularly to developmental problems in young children. Some pesticides have been found to be carcinogenic, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
There are currently about 350 different pesticides registered with the government and permitted for use on food crops. Among the most toxic ones are organophosphate, a potent neurotoxin that can adversely affect brain development in children, even at low doses; and organochlorine, a once widely used pesticide that is now officially banned but still persists in the environment and continues to pollute plant foods grown in contaminated soil.
Particularly disconcerting is that pesticides have been found in processed baby food. For example, green beans used for baby food tested positive for five pesticides, including organophosphate, and pears showed more than twice as many.
While there is only so much consumers can do to protect themselves and their loved ones against the exposure to pesticides and other toxins in their food supply, it is important to have the information available that allows for better-informed choices. Buying organically grown produce may be the best option, but it's not affordable for everyone. Mixing both organic and regular foods can be a workable compromise, thereby avoiding the worst offenders and limiting the damage to your budget with the rest.
In addition, you may also want to visit your local farmers market once in a while. Ask the farmers about their farming methods and whether they use pesticides. Some small farms may not be certified "organic" because of the costs involved but still adhere to eco-friendly procedures.
Share and enjoy on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest
Timi Gustafson R.D. is a registered dietitian, newspaper columnist, blogger and author of the book "The Healthy Diner – How to Eat Right and Still Have Fun"®, which is available on her blog and at amazon.com. For more articles on nutrition, health and lifestyle, visit her blog, "Food and Health with Timi Gustafson R.D." (www.timigustafson.com).
Lifestyle-Related Ills Tend to Multiply with Age, Study FindsApril 24th, 2013 at 7:13 am by timigustafson
Seniors who suffer from chronic health conditions like high blood pressure or heart disease often develop a host of other, seemingly unrelated health problems, including cognitive impairment like memory loss and dementia, according to a new study based on data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics.
For the study, the researchers analyzed the medical records of hundreds of thousands of seniors residing in assisted-living facilities and found that most had at least one chronic health condition. What was more alarming, however, was that many had overlapping ailments. While high blood pressure and heart disease were most common, nearly half of the assisted-living residents showed signs of dementia.
"These findings suggest a vulnerable population with a high burden of functional and cognitive impairment," the authors of the study report wrote.
Many studies have suggested a link between vascular disease and dementia, particularly Alzheimer's, said Dr. P. Murali Doraiswamy, a professor for psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University's Institute for Brain Sciences (DIBS). Therefore it may not be possible to treat dementia without treating vascular problems, he added.
But that may be easier said than done. "We don't universally do a great job of how we treat conditions that overlap, for example Alzheimer's and high blood pressure," said Dr. Cythia M. Boyd, an associate professor of geriatric medicine at the John Hopkins University Center on Aging and Health, to the New York Times. "Much of the way we practice medicine is looking at disease by disease. We aren't doing enough thinking about how to add them together and really integrate care."
What makes things more complicated is that most doctors are not sufficiently trained in preventing or reducing lifestyle-related illnesses – not in the general public and certainly not in older patients – other than through medicating. For instance, the importance of nutrition as a part of preventive care is rarely ever mentioned in medical schools. The approximate time devoted to nutrition science over the first two years of medical education is six hours, which is clearly inadequate, according to the National Academy of Sciences. The same goes for other health-promoting measures such as exercise, especially for the aging population.
Yet many studies have provided compelling evidence that diet and exercise play a significant role for physical and mental health at any time in life but increasingly so as we age.
For example, a more recent study from Britain concluded that the so-called "Western diet," which typically includes fried, sweet and processed foods, red meat, refined grains and high-fat dairy products, increases the risk of chronic diseases, which in turn can adversely affect both physical and mental health in later years. Eating a Western diet makes it less likely to have an ideal aging process, says Dr. Tasnime Akbaraly, a researcher at the University College of London and lead author of the study report. Conversely, making dietary improvements can yield multiple benefits in this regard.
There is also further evidence that exercise can give a boost to the aging brain. Scientists at the University of British Columbia found that older women who suffered from mild cognitive impairment could improve their memory through weight training and brisk walking.
The connections between physical and mental decline may not yet be completely understood, but it seems clear that chronic diseases play a major role in the process. While these are widespread, the encouraging news is that many, if not all, are preventable by healthier lifestyle choices.
Share and enjoy on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest
Timi Gustafson R.D. is a registered dietitian, newspaper columnist, blogger and author of the book "The Healthy Diner – How to Eat Right and Still Have Fun"®, which is available on her blog and at amazon.com. For more articles on nutrition, health and lifestyle, visit her blog, "Food and Health with Timi Gustafson R.D." (www.timigustafson.com).
Testosterone Treatment for Older Men Shows Only Limited Benefits, Study FindsApril 21st, 2013 at 12:27 pm by timigustafson
What is a guy to do when he starts feeling his age? What if he's less energetic, less playful, less romantically inclined than he used to be? Should he accept it all as an inevitable part of life or should he fight back?
If you watch television at all, you cannot miss the onslaught of ads directed at male baby boomers who wonder where all their mojo has gone. Could it be low testosterone, "low T," as the abbreviation goes? If so, the advertisers assert that hormone therapy, or more specifically testosterone replacement therapy, can do the trick.
Sales of prescription hormones have more than doubled since 2008, reaching $1.6 billion last year, not including supplements purchased over the counter, according to IMS Health, Inc., a company that analyzes healthcare-related data.
Men are bombarded by these advertising campaigns, urging them to ask their doctor about low testosterone, says Dr. Spyros Mezitis, an endocrinologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, in an interview on the subject with WebMD. So they come complaining about feeling fatigued, weak, depressed and without sex drive, which are all common symptoms of a drop in testosterone.
Testosterone levels can be determined by a simple blood test. A normal testosterone range is between 300 and 1,200 nanograms per deciliter (ng/dL) of blood. Less than 300 is considered low T.
In Dr. Mezitis' estimation, about a quarter to a third of the patients he tests have levels below normal. But in most cases, the symptoms have other causes. While lower levels are to be expected with aging, he says, lower than normal scores can have a number of different reasons, including diabetes, high blood pressure and coronary artery disease.
Testosterone is a hormone responsible for a man's libido, sperm production, and also for muscle and bone strength. A gradual decline in testosterone usually begins after the age of 30. Other health problems in addition to natural aging may accelerate the process.
Treatment for low T. comes in multiple forms, including injections, patches, pellets, tablets and gels.
Ideally, the goal would be to keep testosterone at levels consistent with those of a 25-year-old male. But hoping for that kind of rejuvenation may be a stretch.
A new study found that older men who used testosterone gels saw small improvements in their muscle-to-fat-ratio, but not too many noticeable benefits to their physical wellbeing in terms of energy, flexibility and endurance.
Based on these findings, it is not altogether clear what testosterone therapy can do in addition to physical exercise, said Dr. Kerry Hildreth of the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, the lead author of the study in an interview with Reuters. The therapy may be "widely used in people where it really may not be appropriate or may not provide the benefits that people think it's going to," she added.
There are also concerns over side effects. Skin irritations such as acne and rashes as well as premature balding and breast development have been reported in cases of prolonged use of testosterone boosters. There are also risks of liver damage.
Besides the physiological effects, there can be a psychological impact as well. Mood swings, irritability and aggressive behavior have been noticed.
To maintain physical vigor at an advanced age, regular exercise, especially strength and endurance training, may still be the best way to go. As the study mentioned above showed, testosterone therapy brought few if any advantages beyond what could be achieved by exercising alone. In addition, I would advocate a healthy diet and stress management, both issues that grow in importance with aging.
Share and enjoy on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest
Timi Gustafson R.D. is a registered dietitian, newspaper columnist, blogger and author of the book "The Healthy Diner – How to Eat Right and Still Have Fun"®, which is available on her blog and at amazon.com. For more articles on nutrition, health and lifestyle, visit her blog, "Food and Health with Timi Gustafson R.D." (www.timigustafson.com).
What Makes Us Stray from Eating Right?April 18th, 2013 at 11:15 am by timigustafson
Part of our ongoing struggle with weight problems is that most of us eat without thinking, according to Brian Wansink, professor for marketing at Cornell University and author of the landmark book, "Mindless Eating – Why We Eat More Than We Think" (Bantam Books, 2006). "Distractions of all kinds make us eat, forget how much we eat, and extend how long we eat – even when we are not hungry," he writes.
Although distractions are easy to come by in our busy lives, it doesn't mean that we keep munching all day long without noticing, although for some that may be the case. Mostly, however, we tend to fall into the mindless eating trap when we are relaxing, for example on a vacation, over a nice dinner out, or when we get a little tipsy. That's when our control mechanisms seem to break down the fastest.
"Vacations take us away from our regular routine," says Lori Rice, a nutritionist and health and travel writer. "This is beneficial to our mental wellness because we experience new scenery and can rejuvenate ourselves, but it also can take us away from our healthy habits."
Of course, you should allow for some splurges when you go on a holiday, but don't use it as an excuse for getting completely off track, only to be sorry later on for the damage you've done to yourself, she advises.
Especially on cruises, vacationers tend to throw all caution to the wind. When the food you've already paid for is laid out so seductively, it can take considerable willpower to resist temptations. Seeing your fellow-travelers indulging with abandoned pleasure doesn't help either.
But even the atmosphere in a simple eatery can lead to overeating. You don't even have to like the food all that much. A nice ambience with candlelight and soft music can have you dig in more than you should, says Wansink who has conducted numerous experiments on people's behavior in restaurants, from fast food joints to high-end establishments. We follow our expectations, he says. If we expect to have a good time, or it's a special occasion, we will make the most of it. And that often means too much of a good thing.
Another factor is alcohol. As a recent study found out, most people eat more unhealthy foods on days they drink. When participants in the research had two or three alcoholic drinks with their meals, they consumed on average 100 to 200 more calories from food (not the drinks) than when they had none. The types of food they chose also changed. Both male and female participants ate about nine percent more fat when they drank alcohol.
The best way to counteract these tendencies is obviously to increase awareness. But instead of becoming your own party-pooper every time you are ready to let loose a bit, it might be more helpful to set a few parameters upfront.
For example, if weight gain is a regular occurrence when you are away from home, you may want to choose a kind of travel that challenges you to be more physically active and less exposed to culinary pleasures.
If you have a lot of time to kill at airports and hotels, be sure you don't fall for convenience stands, vending machines and snack bars. Instead, bring some healthy snacks and lots of water, in case you need a quick energy boost or get dehydrated.
When it comes to alcohol consumption, you are the only one who can judge your responses. For some, there is a fine line between relaxing and becoming uninhibited or losing control. A lot of people also don't know or don't think about how many calories are in their drinks.
Perhaps a good way of keeping things together is to ask yourself: How do I want to feel when this is all over? Will it be an altogether great memory or will I have to deal with regrets and start over?
Share and enjoy on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest
Timi Gustafson R.D. is a registered dietitian, newspaper columnist, blogger and author of the book "The Healthy Diner – How to Eat Right and Still Have Fun"®, which is available on her blog and at amazon.com. For more articles on nutrition, health and lifestyle, visit her blog, "Food and Health with Timi Gustafson R.D." (www.timigustafson.com).


text:
Puerto Chico Hotel
No prices found through our partners. Please contact the business directly or check some of our recommended alternatives.
How has this hotel rated in the past?
- Free High-Speed Internet
- Continental Breakfast
- Business Services
- Free parking
Photos of Puerto Chico Hotel
TripAdvisor Reviews Puerto Chico Hotel Puerto Varas
Travel Blogs from Puerto Varas
The unplanned town
We arrived a Puerto Montt ready to catch the Navimag boat through the Fjords the next day only to discover the boat was delayed for four more days.... and so Puerto Varas which wasnt on our list suddenly became available.
German settlers have made it feel very..... German. German churchey type things, German buildings and you can even get …
Road trip Chile part 3: Entre Lagos-Puerto Varas
... a clear day - on some days you can just see one of the snow-capped summits above the clouds, so it appears to be floating. Reminds me of something out of a Hayao Miyazaki film but I can't remember exactly what). Similarly, it's also a destination for adventure tourists - rafting and kayaking trips are advertised at every street corner.
Our day in Puerto Varas is, as Lee puts it, a 'happy-sad'. He is due to fly up to Santiago the next day before starting his series of ...
Chile, Argentina & Uruguay: Losers go South
... taken over by the Spanish later that year. Portugal won it back the following year, and this poor town was basically bounced back and forth between Portugal and Spain until Uruguay eventually won its independence and a break from the Spain v Portugal tug of war.
The charming historic quarter, which takes all but one hour to stroll around has a number of cute cobblestone streets, cute enough for UNESCO to deem the town fit for World Heritage ...
Day Off in Puerto Varas
A day off today. No flights or tours. So a nice long lie and then a lazy day reading some of my Sunday Times Online and catching up with the blog. Have had some technical problems caused I say by poor wi-fi connections but in reality probably operator error but I think everything is now sorted out.
Went for a walk along the prom and then just had a wander in town. One minute it would be cloudy, windy and jacket on and the next sunny and quite warm ...
Puerto Varas and the Southern Lake District
... so (though he spent a big chunk of that in the middle working much further south in Patagonia). He knows this area really well, and also gives us some good advice for our travels south later in the week. He speaks English really well, and is clearly very passionate about what he does, the area, and the environment. (His mum is visiting from Santiago by the way, and she's something of a keen amateur horticulturalist so he's keen to show her the local flora!) As ...


text:
To the editor:
Santa greeted shoppers at a local grocery store with a tempting cookie jar of samples. With a nod and a wink he explained that Mrs. Claus has just baked them. Adult shoppers exchanged knowing smiles and enjoyed a sweet bite. That was smart merchandising without harm.
This story appears in the print edition of The Tribune. Subscribers can read the entire story online by signing in here or in our e-Edition by clicking here.
All content copyright ©2016 The Tribune, a publication of AIM Media Indiana unless otherwise noted.
All rights reserved. Click here to read our privacy policy.


text:
3. llpj041:07 AM GMT on December 24, 2013
|Thanks Gil & Sharon. At the base of this lighthouse is a historical marker that talks about the moran site. After Katrina they were able to recover some bone fragments from a cemetary that before was covered with a building foundation. So after Katrina removed the building .....lol.....they collected, studied what they found from the early 1700's french settlement that died out for lack of food & disease.
Action: Quote | Ignore User
Member Since: July 10, 2010 Comments: 25176


text:
I read parts of the deadly dull s-3 sec report.Did anyone spot the projected combined earnings pershare? Does anyone have any projection of after mergerearnings per share? With earnings we can project dividendand put a realistic value on this puppy.Andnow for something totally unrelated:I think aconservative believes in freedom. As a life long conservativeI feel freedom of choice is very important. That isto say anti-choicers are not conservatives. They arethe bane of the Republican party. I wish we couldgive them to the Democrats. Any ideas how we couldpull that off?One guy spoke of the millions ofunwanted babies not allowed to mature. As owners ofprisons we are being hurt by these abortions. After allfatherless and unwanted babies are those who eventually fillour prisons.Why don't anti-choicers adoptmore kids??
and by the way what choice does the baby have?Partially delivering a viable child, sticking an instrumentinto the back of its skill and sucking out its brainsis that your solution to unwanted children? How manyof these unwanted children have you adopted or evenprovided foster care for? I for one am Pro Life, aconservative, and a foster parent of a ten very old abusedchild that I am about to adopt. What have youcontributed to solving the immense problem of homes forchildren in need? I supose your solution is to put them ininstitutions and let the "village" raise them or possible youcould chose to..
I my anger with Bookman I failed to read my replyto him. I do know how to spell choose and 10 yearsold in not very old. Thought I had better acknowledgemy errors before one of the children on this boardaccuse me of being uneducated and not able to spell.
see post 174 for FFO/div estimates.Nowoff topic. (I really tried hard to stay out of this).Political beliefs, religious beliefs and morality are allrelative. Whether morality embraces any natural truths isunclear - it's been debated by a lot of wise people overthe last few thousand years. What is notrelative is life. Life is fascinating. Procreation isfascinating. Understanding the fringes of life is frustrating- where does it begin, where does it end. Answeringthe questions of life in absolutes is dangerous. Butwhen questions of life are answered in terms ofconvenience, social burdens, stereotypes and presumedinevitablility (predestination?), the result can only bedescribed as selfish, and puts us on a social scale withanimals. Then again, from a purely scientificstandpoint, there may be no difference between humans andanimals (or plants or minerals). We are, after all,composed of the same few elements. Maybe that is thedividing line in our fundamental beliefs - either humanspossess something unscientific or they don't.
Life expands until it sufficates itself. Germs ina petri dish will multiply and fill the dish untilall the food is consumed or their own waste productspoison them. Around 1900 the deer population in theKaibab forest of AZ exploded. They ate everything insight including the bark off the trees. Theirenvironment became so degraded the population collapsed notto recover for many years. It is believed there is adeer cycle of boom and bust population. Looking at thefilthy cloud over Phoenix that comes back within twodays after a rain one tends to think that people havereached a natural population limit. Only a little worseand deaths from poison air will slow growth. Theanti-choicers are fighting an uphill battle against the factsof nature. Either people voluntarily limit theirnumbers or nature will cruelly do it for us.Astudy of mice badly over crowded found an increase inviolent acts against each other, insane like behavior andhomosexuality. Could it be that our booming prison population isrelated to crowding? We are indeed in a growthbusiness.Still curious abount combined profit number?


text:
Breaking away from a business trip in Nashville, we had a day and a half to spend at Rock Haven. The owner is delightful and helpful. Clean (though small) accommodations and good food. Very friendly people. Really hard to leave this place.
- Also Known As:
- Rock Haven Hotel Murfreesboro


text:
Jeff Montgomery
- Position(s):
- Born:
- January 7, 1962
- Bats:
- Right
- Throws:
- Right
- Height:
- 5' 11"
- Weight:
- 170 lbs
- Major League Debut:
- 8-01-1987 with CIN
- Allstar Selections:
Jeffrey Thomas Montgomery (born January 7, 1962 in Wellston, Ohio) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. During a 13-year baseball career, he pitched from 1987–1999, pitching primarily for the Kansas City Royals. Montgomery is also the only relief ace pitcher in baseball history to have four types of baseball pitches.
Montgomery played collegiate baseball at Marshall University and was later drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 9th round of the 1983 Major League Baseball Draft. He made his debut with the Reds on August 1, 1987 at age 25. He pitched a total of 14 games, including one start. He was considered a marginal prospect, and the Reds traded Montgomery to the Royals on February 15, 1988 for Van Snider, an outfielder who would go on to only play 19 games in the majors.
On April 29, 1990, Montgomery struck out three batters on nine pitches in the eighth inning of a 5-2 win over the Texas Rangers. Montgomery became the ninth American League pitcher and the 23rd pitcher in major league history to accomplish the nine-strike/three-strikeout half-inning.
Kansas City installed Montgomery in the bullpen, and he appeared in 45 games, posting a record of 7-2 with a 3.45 earned run average. In 1989 he had a breakout season, winning 7 games and losing 3, saving 13, and posting a 1.37 ERA while acting primarily as a set-up man for Steve Farr. The following season, he became the Royals' closer, a role he held for most of his career.
In 1993, Montgomery saved 45 games, tying Dan Quisenberry for the Royals' team record and tying him for the league lead with Duane Ward of the Toronto Blue Jays. That year he won the American League Rolaids Relief Man Award. Montgomery was also an All-Star in 1992, 1993, and 1996.
Montgomery lost effectiveness during the 1999 season, which he finished with 12 saves and a 6.84 ERA. He retired following the season, and was inducted into the Royals' Hall of Fame in 2003, his first year of eligibility.
Following his career, Montgomery appeared in an instructional video titled The Fundamentals of Pitching with Jeff Montgomery.
Jeff is involved in many business interests, among them serving as a Vice-President of Union Broadcasting in Kansas City, Missouri. He often contributes his baseball analysis to Union Broadcasting's sports wing, 810 WHB. Jeff lives with his wife Tina and four kids. He has two daughters Ashleigh and Kathryn and two sons Connor and Spencer.
- Tagged:
- Jeff Montgomery


text:
Jets Special: Post-Bye Flop
Coming off their most complete game of the season, the Jets will enjoy an extra week off before traveling to Buffalo to take on the Bills.
The question, of course, is whether the bye is coming at a bad time for the momentum-filled club.
"You kind of do [wish you could keep playing]. Once you get rolling, you kind of want to just keep it out there," said coach Rex Ryan, who opted to give the players six days off, two more days than the minimum that's required by the recent collective bargaining agreement.
"You feel like you've turned it around and you're back to playing the way you expect to play, and you want to be out there," he added.
The Jets rebounded from a recent three-game skid by beating Miami earlier in the month, and then looked dominant—at times—during a solid 27-21 victory over the previously 4-1 San Diego Chargers Sunday. The second consecutive win got the Jets back above .500 at 4-3. In the loss column, they trail the New England Patriots by two games and the Buffalo Bills by one in the AFC East.
But whatever progress the team was making now runs the risk of being stunted by the bye week and the extra time off.
And the Jets themselves know that regression has crept after bye weeks over the past two seasons. Under Ryan, they've gone 0-2 in games immediately following the week off. Both defeats came at home.
In 2009, they lost 24-22 to the Jacksonville Jaguars, and last year, they were shut out by the Green Bay Packers, 9-0, at home in an especially listless performance.
That game in particular raised eyebrows, as the Jets looked incredibly sloppy on offense following the bye week. Despite compiling nearly 400 yards and outgaining the Packers by nearly 130, the Jets still wound up getting shut out for the first time in four years. They had five drives of 40 yards or more in that game, but turned the ball over to Green Bay three times, two of which were Mark Sanchez interceptions.
Despite the recent history, Ryan defended the decision to give his club a longer-than-necessary break, saying it would be the only chance to allow his whole team to get healthy.
"The bye is not just for one game; it's for the rest of the season," he said, adding that coaches would take less time off during the break than players. "We'll handle it business-as-usual. The only difference is we're going to win coming out of the bye this year."
Players said focus would be critical when they return from their week off to prevent a repeat of last year's post-bye flop.
"We just have to be smart in that first practice back on Monday, or whenever it is, and not have the typical, 'Oh, you guys look like you took a week off' day," said right guard Brandon Moore. "We really have to zero in and get a lot out of that day, and gain a little bit of an advantage there after losing a little during the week off."
Unlike last year, though, when the Jets were 5-1 heading into the bye, they're in a more precarious position standings-wise, with less room for error.
And with games against the two teams they're trailing—Buffalo and New England—up next, losses would reverse the progress they've made in the past two weeks.
"These are must-win games," cornerback Darrelle Revis said bluntly. "If you can't get up for these games, after a bye or not, you're playing on the wrong team. We need these games."
Write to Chris Herring at firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Police step up patrols in city's crime hot-spots
Published: Sunday, October 7, 2007 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, October 7, 2007 at 12:13 a.m.
HOUMA -- For two weeks, more than a dozen extra Houma Police officers have hit the streets of the city nightly in an operation designed to stifle crime in neighborhood trouble spots, check up on local bars, enforce curfew and serve warrants.
Similar to the departments "Summer Heat" operation, "Operation Crack-down" involves a nightly series of patrols intended to prevent criminal activity with an overwhelming police presence.
The nightly "neighborhood saturations" and patrols have resulted in quieter streets as of late, said Lt. Duane Farmer, Friday nights shift commander.
"Nobodys been in the streets pretty much the whole week," Farmer said Friday, as he patrolled the traditionally crime and violence-plagued areas surrounding Morgan, Levron, Hobson and Naquin streets on the west side of the city, and East Street, Daniel Turner Court and nearby streets on the other side of town.
The operation also includes checking local bars for underage drinkers and sending undercover officers into stores to make sure clerks are checking for identification before selling tobacco and alcohol.
"We alter it as we go," Farmer said. "Just monitoring it, working the area."
The operation is less about collaring criminals -- the officers only made one arrest Friday night -- than about preventing crime with aggressive patrols, Farmer said.
Even in the so-called "hot spots," the darkened streets where groups of young men in front of dilapidated houses warily watch the marked squad cars pass, most of the residents welcome police, Farmer said.
"Most people that live here are just trying to live a normal life," Farmer said as he drove down Hobson Street. "I would imagine that most of them want us here. Except for the knuckleheads."
Turning on Morgan Street, Farmer stopped at an unremarkable single-story house at about 8:45 p.m., where a group of men who knew him by name sat outside drinking.
Sitting on the sidewalk, Philip Baker, 66, said he has lived on Morgan Street for about a year. Pouring a bottle of MD20/20 into a cup, Baker said the seven-day-a-week drug dealing on the block has him looking for a new house.
"Im trying to move now," he said. "Too much drugs, man."
Three blocks away, a group of teenagers were hanging out near the corner of Naquin and Hobson streets.
Wykeenya Moore, 16, standing outside her house with her young son, her 14-year-old brother and her 17-year-old sister-in-law, said she doesnt mind seeing the squad cars cruising past.
"Its been a lot of killing in this neighborhood," Moore said. "Too much violence."
Last month, three shootings on Morgan, Columbus and Canal streets and a brutal beating on Antoine Street put one man in a coma and two others in critical condition. City police have made arrests in all but one incident -- the Sept. 16 shooting of 26-year-old Alberto Perez as he sat in the back seat of a car. Perez was hospitalized in stable condition, but his assailant remains unidentified.
"Thats got me wanting to leave Houma," added Moores sister-in-law, 17-year-old Brittiany Lyons. "These days I dont think they even raise people right."
Still, not everyone is thrilled to see the extra police in their neighborhood.
After a cruise over to East Street, where Farmer chatted from his squad car with a group of girls walking through Daniel Turner Trailer Court, Officer Keith Besson called in to report bricks being thrown at his squad car. Enter the knuckleheads.
Near the corner of Hobson and Levron streets, several chunks of cinder block and concrete lobbed from behind houses, fences and hedges left gouges in Bessons squad car.
Officers on foot scoured the neighborhood, but the culprits eluded
At times, bullets fly through the air instead of pieces of brick. Sgt. Lee Lyons said gunshots are used to draw officers away from certain blocks and corners.
"[Theyre] shots fired to create a diversion," Lyons said, "so they can make a sale."
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.
Comments are currently unavailable on this article


text:
I am daily visitor of Stack Overflow and I wonder if it is okay if I add comments on old posts. Say approximately 1 year old post?. I am not sure about it.
Meta Stack Exchange is where users like you discuss bugs, features, and support issues that affect the software powering all 158 Stack Exchange communities.
What is meta?
What is meta?
Here's how it works:
- Any Stack Exchange user can ask a question
- The community provides support, votes on ideas, and reports bugs
- Your voice helps shape the way Stack Exchange operates
migrated from stackoverflow.com Dec 26 '11 at 3:11
This question came from our site for professional and enthusiast programmers.
What are you concerned about? What sort of comments do you have in mind?
The question's asker will get notified of the new comment, but they may no longer be active on the site and might not actually see your comment or respond to it. But even then, there's nothing really wrong with posting a comment in the first place.


text:
Is your resume in need of a little disruption?
Startups are all about
making things work better.
Our resume writing service is all about doing that for your CV.
StartUpHire is the place to find Engineering jobs in and near Foster City. Review the list below of Engineering Foster City jobs. These Engineering jobs represent some of the most rewarding careers available. You can refine your job search for Engineering jobs in Foster City by adding a job title, company name, or keyword to the search box above … or click the "Advanced Search" link for more options. Don't see the employment opportunity you're looking for? Check back soon for more Engineering jobs in Foster City, or sign up for an email alert (link in upper left) to receive periodic updates on new Engineering jobs in Foster City, CA.
Menlo Park, CA, US Worker Category :Full Time Job ClassProfessional SUMMARY: The Senior Mechanical Engineer will be responsible for developing, designing, prototyping and testing designs and supporting design transfer to manufacturing. The Mechanical Engineer will evaluate and4/28/2016 Menlo Park, CA Save This Job
Menlo Park, CA, US Worker Category :Full Time Job ClassProfessional SUMMARY: The Senior Software Engineer is responsible for overseeing internal and external software development activities at Earlens Corporation. The job also includes responsibility to ensure the design and4/28/2016 Menlo Park, CA Save This Job


text:
Mass Effect 3 Announcement Tonight – BioWare
Mass Effect 3 is getting an announcement tonight courtesy of BioWare, according to the developer on Twitter.
BioWare Community Coordinator Tully Ackland confirmed the announcement on Twitter:
"Good morning! #MassEffect fans should keep an eye out for news that'll come out later today :-)"
And then comically added:
"I realise my tweet is like an announcement of an announcement… How awful of me! #Notsorry"
A new Mass Effect 3 DLC announcement, or something to do with the games Wii U port? You decide.
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. For more information, go here.


text:
Improvement at Heart, Assessment Solutions in Mind
At eXplorance, we believe that improvement is at the heart of progress. That is why we developed Blue®, an all-in-one assessment system that puts 'being better' at the forefront. Blue comprehensively measures needs, expectations, knowledge, competencies, and skills and provides prescriptive analytics. Along with Bluepulse® and eXplorance professional services, we offer targeted and personalized assessment solutions. Working together, we can make continuous improvement a reality.
Blue applications
Using the Learning Experience Management (LEM) framework, we help organizations mine their data to build a culture of continuous improvement.
By gathering all stakeholder feedback, LEM enables organizations to benchmark, assess, analyze, take action, and monitor progress. The result is high sustainable stakeholder engagement and an increased return on expectations (ROE).


text:
- "We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages. We're English, and the English are best at everything." -Ralph, Lord of the Flies, Ch. 2
- "The world, that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away." -William Golding, Lord of the Flies, Ch. 5 (Everyone was getting out of control and not following directions)
- "Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!"-All of the Children, Lord of the Flies, Ch. 7- (The kids chanted this as they re-enacted the killing of the pig; their meat)
- "Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you? Close, close, close! I'm the reason why it's no go? Why things are what they are?"- 'The Lord of the Flies', (It is really just Simon thinking the pig head is alive, though it's not real he thinks it is as he lays on the cold ground.)


text:
Wounded Wear Inc
Rating: 4.85 stars 26 26 reviews 2,131
1220 Executive Blvd Suite 109 Chesapeake VA 23320 USA
Filter Reviews by Role
Promote This Nonprofit
GreatNonprofits badges allow you to raise awareness of your favorite nonprofits on your own web sites!
Reviews for Wounded Wear Inc
I love this organization. They are doing great things
I love wounded wear / the combat wounded coalition
I am happy to support this organization. There's no better organization helping our wounded warriors with such transparency.
1 person found this review helpful
Can you imagine waking up missing limbs? I can't. In an instant your like forever changed. And what about the invisible scars of war? CWC home of Wounded Wear offers assistance to our combat wounded through clothing modifications and empowering events. If you get an opportunity to attend a CWC event; go. You will be inspired, uplifted, and leave with an overcome mindset. This organization is truly making a difference in the lives of our military, their families and families of the fallen.
A Proud Supporter
1 person found this review helpful
I volunteered with Wounded Wear and the Combat Wounded Coalition for several years now and enjoy the great environment and being able to see the actual impact donations are making in the lives of our combat wounded and Gold Star families. Not many organizations can show exactly what your donations go to like Wounded Wear does.
2 people found this review helpful
There are few opportunities in your life that leave you breathless. I say that because when you encounter a Wounded Warrior that has been touched once again in their life with the inner spirit that drives them to be great- it's breath taking to watch. That very thing happens to every Wounded Warrior that jumps out of a plane at event like Jumping for a Purpose; whether for the first time in their life or for the first time since they've experienced catastrophic wounds on the battle field- it's breath taking to watch. Or the moment you see a Wounded Warrior that has sustained injuries that make them look a little different from the rest of us stand up in a crowded room and recognize that it's okay, and they're okay and that they can be proud of how they look- it's breath taking to watch. Wounded Wear and the Combat Wounded Coalition are the very organization that are doing that for Wounded Warriors all over our country each and every day. They are powered by so many Moms and Dads, husbands and wives, gold star families and countless other volunteers that truly care. Just look at the posts either here or all over the internet from Wounded Warriors that praise what this organization has done for them. Listen to the stories that carry on to this day in places like Walter Reed National Naval Medical Center about the spirit of hope that once again is in reach because of the people at Wounded Wear that have devoted their lives empowering combat wounded service members. Having been on Active Duty my entire adult life I know how important this organization truly is. If you're looking for an organization to volunteer with- you've found it. If you're looking for a cause to support- this is it.
1 person found this review helpful
I've volunteered for this organization for several years now, and continue to be impressed by how hard the staff and other volunteers work to recognize and improve the lives of wounded warriors, people who have lost family members (gold stars), and now even those who are suffering with PTSD and TBI. I have personally seen the tax audit that verifies 83% of donations go back to mission, which is way more than other major organizations who serve the same target market.
Having volunteered here on a regular basis, I have also heard about those who have taken offense because the founder didn't cater to their every whim. I can understand the desire to want recognition, which they do work hard to provide for their donors (I've helped set that up, myself.) However, Wounded Wear and the Combat Wounded Coalition exists to help those who have served and lost significantly, whether it is a limb, a member of the family, or a sense of purpose and value. If you come in with a sense of entitlement and think that the staff and volunteers will put you above their mission, this organization may not be the right fit for you. And the nice thing is… That's okay! Find what works for you and put your heart into it. You'll never be satisfied, otherwise.
More Feedback
Would you volunteer for this group again?
For the time you spent, how much of an impact did you feel your work or activity had?
A lot
Did the organization use your time wisely?
Very Well
Would you recommend this group to a friend?
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
1 person found this review helpful
Wounded Wear is a great organization that is doing awesome things for our wounded warriors and gold star families! Jason Redman and his entire staff have the "whatever it takes" attitude. You wont find a CEO that is more selfless or more focused on the mission. If you are looking for a nonprofit organization to give your time or money to I highly recommend getting involved with Wounded Wear.
3 people found this review helpful
I am former staff to this organization and recently had to go on hiatus due to unexpected and severe health issues. The staff here are like family to me and have been exceptionally supportive during this time of struggle. I take personal offense at reading here that I am considered a "yes" man. Although I am in the background in a support position, I am a "Hell no, that's a stupid idea" man and have found the CEO and staff always give my input a full and fair review whether they concurred or not.
On a professional note, recent posts about this organization found here and on other social media sites are factually incorrect. Sometimes professional partnerships go sour and paths diverge. In an ideal world, these situations are handled with dignity, courtesy, and professionalism. In reality, emotions can take over logic resulting in behavior that disintegrates into sophomoric antics.
If you are unsure about this organization, don't decide until you have the facts. Do not let others tell you what to think. Call, write, make an appointment. Form your opinion from the truth.
More Feedback
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
not change a thing
3 people found this review helpful
After volunteering for over 3 years I feel it is time to write a review, I am confident when I say this is an amazing organization! Not only do I personally see all the good they do, I get to meet most of them :) I can't tell you how many Purple Heart Veterans I have seen be truly touch to receive a kit from wounded wear, they truly become part of a family that can understand, that doesn't judge and really means it when they say I am here for you. From giving them the opportunity to sky dive to be recognized at the annual toast to the Heros. Our Heros are not forgotten. With the new name change also brings expansion of the mission. We are growing and I am excited! Instead of using the reviews on here volunteer an hour or two if your time come see us and make your own review!! Sometimes the greatest help isn't financial but a few hours of your time:)


text:
Janelle Monae and Of Montreal at First Avenue, 9/23/10
September 23, 2010
First Avenue, Minneapolis
Much like Janelle Monae's performance earlier this year at the Varsity Theater, it took the funk-fusion diva a few songs to fully engage with the audience, but once she was halfway into her set she had the whole room on fire. And much like that fateful night at the Varsity, Prince showed up to watch her play, making it the third time this year that the Purple One has dropped into the First Avenue Mainroom to take in a show.
This time, instead of clearing out the entire balcony (like he did at the Varsity) or emptying First Ave's owner's box (like he did at the Current's 5th birthday party), Prince brought an entire posse and chilled in a crowd of people near the lighting board of the owner's box for the entirety of Monae's set, once again sending rumors throughout Twitter and chatter throughout the crowd.
But the real star was Monae, playing from an extended stage that brought her closer to the center of the room, who ran head-first through a high-concept performance that flooded the stage with backup dancers dressed in a nun's habit and a burqa one moment and stripped everything down to just her and her guitarist the next, as she paused to sing a breathtaking version of "Smile."
The energy came back up again for the more uptempo section of her set, including a duet with Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes on "Make the Bus" and a back-to-back performances of her radio hits "Cold War" and "Tightrope," which got the young audience screaming and bouncing up and down. Monae even performed her own encore of sorts, and it was clear from her lengthy hour-and-15-minute set and friendship with Barnes that the two bands were co-headlining the venue.
As a First Ave employee swept up the first round of confetti from the stage and the audience paused to catch its breath, there was a palpable excitement in the air over what might come next. Both acts are known for their phenomenal live shows, but nothing could have really prepared the crowd for the surprises Of Montreal would pull out during their performance.
The set started with a backing band of seven taking the stage dressed in all white suits and white facepaint, standing stoically behind their instruments as two giant fishhead monsters with gas masks lumbered around the stage with machine guns and shot at a pair young skeleton-head kids in footie pajamas.
Wait, what?
Exactly. The crux of Of Montreal's performance relies on these sweeping vignettes of performance art, acted out by a troupe of four dancers who must have been furiously changing costumes backstage the entire night. Soon lead singer Kevin Barnes burst through the fishheads and bounded to the center of the stage, dressed like an '80s bohemian woman who forgot to put on her pants and instead opted to wear a flimsy see-through apron over her flimsy see-through leggings.
Once Barnes was on stage, it was impossible to look away, and his energy never let up during their hour-and-a-half performance. Lanky and animated, Barnes bopped through opening song "Coquet Coquette" effortlessly, sending a vital energy through the whole room that would pulsate throughout the entire set.
Despite the flamboyant and sometimes jarring stage antics (a pair of quarreling pigs being taught how to get it on, a squad of ninjas diving into the crowd to surf, the skeleton-head children returning to watch TV), the focus somehow, magically, stayed trained on the music and Barnes, who held the audience rapt like the master of ceremonies at a fucked up Disneyland parade.
Barnes barely spoke between songs, only pausing once to introduce his "best friend" Janelle Monae back to the stage for another duet, but he didn't have to talk in order to engage the crowd. Of Montreal's music is a flurry of dizzying beats and basslines, and the musicians bandied elastically between slow R&B jams, breakneck dance music, and way-out-there psych-pop, keeping the ears just as stimulated as the eyes as they plowed from song to song.
By the finale, it was pure sensory overload as a pair of torpedo-head monsters shot feathers into the crowd and a giant lightblub-head dude got the crowd screaming for an encore. The band returned with all of Janelle Monae's crew, including her sound guy, on stage for a triple-whammy of Michael Jackson's "Thriller," "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," and "Pretty Young Thing" that left the entire room sweaty, smiling, and stunned.
Well played, Of Montreal. Well played.
Reporter's bias: Really, I don't think you could bring much bias to this show... unless you hate fun.
The crowd: Young and ready to party.
Overheard in the crowd: "I learned how to do this last night at Flaming Lips." --Strib music critic Chris Riemenschneider, as he eagerly picked up balloons off the floor and bopped them back into the crowd.
Random notebook dump: Something that really fascinated me was the androgynous nature of both Barnes and Monae, who do a remarkable job of eschewing typical rock gender stereotypes in favor of fearless, fully-realized self-expression.
For more photos: See our complete slideshow by Stacy Schwartz.
Of Montreal set list:
Get the Music Newsletter
Keep your thumb on the local music scene each week with music news, trends, artist interviews and concert listings. We'll also send you special ticket offers and music deals.
In Case You Missed It
Popular Stories
Sponsor Content