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|By Anders Wallgren
Article Rating:
|June 14, 2017 02:29 PM EDT
The full post can be found on the Electric Cloud blog.
This is a guest blog post by Gary Gruver, one of Electric Cloud's strategic advisors. Gary is the Co-Author of Leading the Transformation, A Practical Approach to Large-Scale Agile Development, and Starting and Scaling DevOps in the Enterprise.
This is the second free chapter from my recent book "Starting and Scaling DevOps in the Enterprise". You can read the first chapter here. You can also download your free copy of the complete book, here.
The book provides a concise framework for analyzing your delivery processes and optimizing them by implementing DevOps practices that will have the greatest immediate impact on the productivity of your organization. It covers both the engineering, architectural and leadership practices that are critical to achieving DevOps success. I hope this will be a helpful resource for you on your DevOps path!
Chapter 2: The Basic Deployment Pipeline
The Deployment Pipeline (DP) in a large organization can be a complex system to understand and improve. Therefore, it makes sense to start with a very basic view of the DP, to break the problem down into its simplest construct and then show how it scales and becomes more complex when you use it across big, complex organizations. Te most basic construct of the DP is the flow of a business idea to development by one developer through a test environment into production. This defines how value flows through software/IT organizations, which is the first step to understanding bottlenecks and waste in the system. Some people might be tempted to start the DP at the developer, but I tend to take it back to the flow from the business idea because we should not overlook the amount of requirements inventory and inefficiencies that waterfall planning and the annual budgeting process drive into most organizations.
The first step in the pipeline is communicating the business idea to the developer so they can create the new feature. Then, once the new feature is ready, the developer will need to test it to ensure that it is working as expected, that the new code has not broken any existing functionality, and that it has not introduced any security holes or impacted performance. This requires an environment that is representative of production. The code then needs to be deployed into the test environment and tested. Once the testing ensures the new code is working as expected and has not broken any other existing functionality, it can be deployed into production, tested, and released. The final step is monitoring the application in production to ensure it is working as expected. In this chapter, we will review each step in this process, highlighting the inefficiencies that frequently occur. Then, in Chapter 3, we will review the DevOps practices that were developed to help address those inefficiencies.
For the full chapter, visit the original post on the Electric Cloud blog.
In the coming weeks, I will be sharing additional chapters from the book.
Can't wait? you can download your free copy now.
- Bimodal IT and Agile Adoption | @DevOpsSummit #DevOps #DigitalTransformation
- DevOps and Bimodal IT | @DevOpsSummit #DevOps #DigitalTransformation
- Your DevOps Flavor | @DevOpsSummit #DevOps #ITIL #Microservices
- Agile, DevOps and CD | @DevOpsSummit #DevOps #ContinuousDelivery
- DevOps Talent and Challenges | @DevOpsSummit #DevOps #Microservices
- CD Automation | @DevOpsSummit #Agile #DevOps #ContinuousDelivery
- Anders Wallgren Talks IoT | @ThingsExpo #BigData #IoT #M2M #Wearables
- CD Automation | @DevOpsSummit #DevOps #IoT #ContinuousDelivery
- ITIL vs. DevOps | @DevOpsSummit #DevOps #ITIL #FedRAMP #Microsevices
- Weekly Top 10: Mapping the DevOps Journey | @DevOpsSummit @ElectricCloud #DevOps


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|Photo: sportchalk.com
SPAIN The world's number 2 in tennis, champion of Opens all over the place and a very nice chap by all accounts, Rafa Nadal, has been chosen by Spain's Olympic Committee, unanimously and without need of a vote, to carry his nation's flag during the opening ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics next July 17. The committee also gave formal approval of the Spanish Olympic Team, a total of 284 sports men (169) and women (115). A delighted Rafa, who was chosen among several athletes, said that "it is a great honour to carry my country's flag" and that it is likely to be one of the most "emotional days of my life". Well he would, wouldn't he?

subset: commoncrawl


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Dr. Baburam Bhattarai born 18 June 1954 was the 35th Prime Minister of Nepal from August 2011 to March 2013. Founder chairman of Naya Shakti. As a way out of the political deadlock since the dissolution of the first Nepalese Constituent Assembly in May 2012, he was then replaced by Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi to head an interim government that should hold elections by 21 June 2013. He was a senior Standing Committee Member and vice chairperson of Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) until his resignation from his post and all responsibilities from the party on 26 September 2015. He is now Coordinator of Naya Shakti a newly founded Party.
His former party started People's War in Nepal (as self-proclaimed by Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)) in 1996 that had huge impact for the change of the political system in Nepal. The decade-long civil war which claimed life of more than 17,000 Nepalese had a major role in transformation of Nepal from a monarchy into a republic. He was elected to the Constituent Assembly from Gorkha in 2008 and became Finance Minister in the cabinet formed after the election.


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Troubleshooting a Rule
If you are having an issue with your rules, you should enable CloudWatch Logs. By analyzing your logs, you can determine whether the issue is authorization or whether, for example, a WHERE clause condition did not match. For more information about using Amazon CloudWatch Logs, see Setting Up CloudWatchLogs.


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This is the 1/32 Scale Vought F4U-1A Corsair Plastic Model Kit from Tamiya. Suitable for Ages 14 & Older.
Catalog Location: Plastic Models - Plastic Model Airplanes - 1/30-1/39 Scale
Vought F4U-1A Corsair -- Plastic Model Airplane Kit -- 1/32 Scale -- #60325
In Stock
|Your Price:
|Retail $213.00:
|32% Off
|Rewards Points:
(7)Read All Write
|Product Number:
Product Description
Product Features
- Highly detailed plastic pieces molded in grey and clear.
- Clear engine cowling parts included.
- Choose whether to assemble the model with its distinctive inverte gull wings extended or folded away.
- Flaps and elevators can also be depicted in open or closed positions.
- Starboard wing spoiler recreated.
- 2 types of tail landing gear wheel to enable depiction of elongate strut.
- Comes with parts depicting drop tank and 500lb bomb.
- 2 figures depict pilot in seated or standing position.
- Complex Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine.
- Removable 2-piece engine cowl allows the engine to be viewed.
- Recreate U.S. Navy or Marine Corps unit aircraft.
- Full color, 12 page reference manual included.
- Waterslide decals.
- Illustrated instructions.
Product Specifications
- Scale: 1/32
- Fuselage: 12.51" (318mm)
- Wingspan: 15.35" (390mm)
Product Markings
- One decal sheets with markings for 3 versions
- 1) US Marine Corps VMF-111, Gilbert Island, 1944
- 2) US Navy VF-17 Squadron Leader, Ondonga Airfield, New Georgia Island, Solomon Islands, November 15, 1943
- 3)_US Marine Corps VMF-214, Vella Lavella Island, December 1943
What's Included
One plastic model
Requirements & Suggestions
- Assembly
- Hobby knife (rmx886909)
- Cement for plastics (tes3512)
- Sprue cutters (hcahcar0630)
- Paint (USAAF Olive Drab, US Navy Navy Blue, Bare-Metal Silver, US Navy Intermediate Blue, US Navy Insignia White, Black, Blue, Red, Gunmetal, Chrome Silver, Semi-Gloss Black, Clear Blue, Clear Green, Clear Orange, Clear Red, Titanium Silver, Flat Black, Flat White, Flat Yellow, Flat Green, Flat Red, Flat Brown, Flat Flesh, Flat Aluminum, Sky Grey, Yellow, Red Brown, Field Gray, Light Gray)
Suggested Supplies view all
Product Rankings
#54 in Home > Plastic Models > Plastic Model Airplanes > 1/30-1/39 Scale
#460 in Home > Plastic Models > Plastic Model Airplanes
#3008 in Home > Plastic Models
#460 in Home > Plastic Models > Plastic Model Airplanes
#3008 in Home > Plastic Models
Most Helpful Reviews - View All - Write a Review
best corsair kit on the market
By jeby64 November 27, 2017
these are pricey but if you want to pretty much guarantee a fantastic looking kit, you might as well cough it up. i used aftermarket decals because the tamiya ones can be a bit too thick for my liking. this is a short review because there really isnt anything bad to be said about it. took a ton of time, but it was a flawless assembly.
Was this review helpful to you? 2 of 2 people liked this
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Due to small parts that could cause a choking hazard please kee away from children 3 years of age and younger.
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Blog Archives
Fishermen's Mission Gives Hardship Payments To Ardglass Fishermen
THERE were literally tears of joy at Ardglass harbour on Friday. The hard-pressed fishermen who have hardly made a shilling since last October queued up at the Fishermen's Mission building on the harbour to receive emergency hand-outs after it came to the Mission's attention that fishermen and their families were…Read more →
Grant Aid Provides Life-Saving Equipment For Northern Irish Fishermen
A series of events during August and September will provide safety training to our local County Down fishermen as well as a free Personal Flotation Device (PFD) or lifejacket to help improve safety at sea. The joint initiative by National Charity, the Fishermen's Mission, Seafish, DARD (Department for Agriculture and…Read more →
Fishermen's Mission Welcomes Progressive Support
THE Fishermen's Mission which covers the three fishing ports of Kilkeel, Ardglass and Portavogie has received a £1,000 Community Award from the Progressive Building Society, the largest locally-owned mortgage lender in Northern Ireland. Delighted with the award, Mission Area Officer Maurice Lake said: "These very welcome funds will go towards…Read more →


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"Users of cellphones and other wireless devices who are nearing their monthly limit for voice, text or data services will receive alerts when they are in danger of being charged extra, under an agreement reached by carriers and the Federal Communications Commission."This blew my mind: a simple, common-sense solution to a somewhat pervasive problem: unexpected and exorbitant cellphone charges. Wow: A governmental regulation that costs corporations very little while at the same time offering some basic protections to the average consumer.
Just how reasonable is this? Consider the fact that, while the Obama Administration was in favor of it, so was the largest trade group of wireless carriers, whose president, Steve Largent, is a former NFL player (back when the Seahawks were an NFL team) and Republican congressman, who is about as true-believing a right-winger as there is! If THESE two groups can agree on something, then. . . . Well, actually, then there must be something wrong with the rule. Let's see. . . .
Ah, here we go: Now, if people go over their allotted minutes, their phones will send massive electric shocks into their groinal areas. OK. I feel much better now.


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Today's video is a quick look (under 5 minutes) on the web's most recognizable error - the 404 page. In a few minutes, Renny Gleeson talks about how web designers can take a "oops, you fell through the cracks" moment, and how companies can use those moments to build a different kind of relationship with the people who see them. Some fun examples, too!
(This has gotten me thinking about how libraries can do that better:
find the places people get stuck and say stuff that's more useful than
"Hey, that book's not found." What does it get you thinking about?)


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Memory error Reseat the memory. See BIOS and POST card. 1 Beep - Refresh Failure Reseat/replace memory, troubleshoot motherboard. 2 Beeps - Parity Error Reseat/replace memory, troubleshoot motherboard. 3 Beeps - Memory Error (first 64KB) Reseat/replace Then the computer continues to boot. If the test identifies a hardware problem, the BIOS will display an error message on the monitor. Source
Its a distress signal from the computer in a morse code like pattern. If that doesn't work, replace the battery. You need to buy another board. 4-2-2 First check the keyboard for problems. Cards are available for either bus and typically contain one or two digital readouts that present the codes, as well as LEDs for monitoring the power supply. http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/38515/beep-codes
Video (EGA) Display Circuitry. 3 Long Beeps Keyboard or Keyboard card error. 1 Beep, Blank or Incorrect Display Video Display Circuitry. You'll want to check this out if you support many different PC types, including legacy equipment. Continuous Beep No Power, Loose Card, or Short.
Reseat RAM chips or replace RAM chips as possible solution 1-1-1-3 Verify Real Mode. 1-1-2-1 Get CPU Type. 1-1-2-3 Initialize system hardware. 1-1-3-1 Initialize chipset registers with initial POST values. 1-1-3-2 Country: United States Select a location Americas Europe, Middle East, Africa Asia Pacific and Oceania Select a language Confirm Back Z7_M0I02JG0KOT530A6KJKFRQ0816 hp-detect-load-my-device-portlet Actions ${title} Loading... Gateway 2000 - F1 Hewlett Packard - F1 Back to Support Doc's [ Home ] [ About Us ] [ Contact Us ] [ Services ] [ Support Intel Beep Codes Award Software cannot supply upgrades for a BIOS that has been subsequently modified by hardware vendors." To make matters worse, Award BIOS merged with Phoenix Technologies in 1998.
Dell beep codes Beep Code Description 1 beep BIOS ROM corruption or failure 2 beeps Memory (RAM) not detected 3 beeps Motherboard failure 4 beeps Memory (RAM) failure 5 beeps CMOS Gigabyte Beep Codes Oturum aç İstatistikler 96.046 görüntüleme 41 Bu videoyu beğendiniz mi? If all of the above steps have been tried and the beeping sound still exists, refer to beep code table specific to the motherboard of the computer, or Contact HP (in Its no good.
Windows). Beep Codes List Re-enable the speaker in the BIOS setup program. Follow that diagnosis above. PCMagLogo.2016 Reviews Reviews Android Apps Cameras Cars Desktops Drones Gaming Headphones Health & Fitness iPad Apps iPhone Apps Keyboards Laptops Mice Monitors Phones Printers Projectors Routers Scanners Security Software Smart Home
You can obtain more information on POST diagnostic cards from manufacturers such as Xetal Systems Inc., makers of POSTmortem; Microsystems Development Technologies Inc.'s Post Code Master, or by running a Web If it doesn't help, reseat the chip that controls the keyboard, if it isn't soldered in. Asus Beep Codes This is a 1-3-3 combo and each set of beeps is separated by a brief pause. Hp Bios Beep Codes POST Beeping Error General Codes Bad Motherboard - 1 long and 1 short beep Disk drive related problem / Video card problem - 1 short beep then nothing happens Bad video
At the conclusion of a successful POST, the computer should beep once or twice. http://contactmailsupport.com/beep-codes/bios-error-beep-codes-ami.php All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher. //Most Popular Articles 7 Things Not to Buy Before Black Friday Hands On With Snapchat Spectacles 9 Shows to Watch Listen to this sequence of sounds, count them, and reboot and count again if you have to. 1-1-3 Your computer can't read the configuration info stored in the CMOS. Four series of beeps indicate a fatal error; that is, a problem exists which prevents the computer from starting. Beep Codes Dell
Z7_3054ICK0KGTE30AQO5O3KA30H5 hp-country-locator-portlet Actions ${title} Loading... Jeremy Blum 192.870 görüntüleme 10:01 Daha fazla öneri yükleniyor... The pattern of beeps whether its the number of beeps or the length of those beeps will give you an indication of the actual problem. have a peek here Try yanking out the cards one by one to isolate the culprit.
Reinsert the memory into the socket to see if a connection was the problem; otherwise replace the module. Msi Beep Codes Phoenix BIOS Beep Codes These audio codes are a little more detailed then the AMI codes. Try removing one bank of memory modules at a time. (Some systems can require a memory module in Bank 0.) Try using memory modules from the same manufacturer with the same
Once a pattern is determined, use the following beep code table to identify which component might be causing the problem: note: Not all beep codes are shown. eSupport.com is the OFFICIAL AUTHORIZED BIOS upgrade and support center for Award BIOS and AMI BIOS (American Megatrends Inc.). Low 1-1-2 Your motherboard is having problems Low 1-1-3 This is an Extended CMOS RAM problem, check your motherboard battery, and motherboard. Computer Beep Codes Pdf Take advantage of their free tools to examine your BIOS and learn more.
Complementary Content Best bet is to install another video card. 9 Short Beeps Your BIOS is bad. You'll need to consult your manual to see which bank is first. Check This Out Check to see if your current graphics card or computer is under warranty.
Logic board problem. All rights reserved. Memory error Reseat the memory. Yükleniyor... Çalışıyor...
BIOS beep codesAward BIOSAward BIOSs only have one beep code: One long beep, followed by two short beeps, indicates that the BIOS is unable to initialize the video screen.Compaq BIOSStandard beep Ask the community! Award BIOS Post Codes Unfortunately there are many versions of the Award BIOS, and they are supported not by one company, but by the motherboard maker. Try removing one bank of memory modules at a time. (Some systems can require a memory module in Bank 0.) Try using memory modules from the same manufacturer with the same
Z7_M0I02JG0KONJ30ACBBF8MM1084 hp-hero-support-search Actions ${title} Loading... The pattern repeats until the computer is powered off. No action needed.
© Copyright 2017 contactmailsupport.com. All rights reserved.


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Internet site For Travel Agency
Several travel agencies require that their agents hold a liberal arts or organization degree from a four-year college or university. Pero ala din akong pinirmahang contract.. so nag stop ako ng apply ko sa knila naiwan ang passport ko.. nagkatrabaho kasi ako dito kaya ndi na din ako umalis..following 1 year bumalik ako sa agency sabi ko tuloy ko na apply ko.. so nagstay ako sa agency nila.. totally free accommodation naman daw at pagkain.
Some affiliate companies you could try are , , and There are heaps to choose from, as long as you decide on at least one affiliate from a company that every single offers airfares, accommodation, travel insurance coverage, automobile hire, cruises (), and tours/activities, you could have very a nice travel site and nonetheless make nearly as much money as a liceenced travel agent would now a days.
Due to the Society's on-going educational programs, complete agent management sources and stringent Code of Ethics, ASTA travel agents are identified as devoted, difficult-operating specialists who offer superior service to their customers.
Hi. maam/ sir ask ko lang po kung ano po pa ang proper point na gagawin ko..kasi po pumunta po ako ng Qatar final March 29 2015, and i work there SA loob po ng bahay..nagkasakit po ako kaya umuwi ako ng pinas May 29, 2015 po..Yung method po nyan is by way of agency…Ngayon po gusto po ako ulit kunin ng employer ko with the method of direct hired..yung mga papers ko po ba na method dati is valid pa po?or maguumpisa po ulit ako sa simula.
From iconic, in-demand music and film festivals right right here in the United States to colorful cultural celebrations about the world, there are a lot of moving components to such events that travel agents and their consumers require to be conscious of. Here's an in-depth guide.


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Very nice home opportunity in excellent location off Highland Rd (last block of Menlo west between Seyburn and Boone) with terrific curb appeal and a really great floorplan! The living room features a side area for bookcases or extra sitting area, storage closet next to the foyer, modern french doors that open to a large fully fenced back yard, and separate entries to/from the foyer and kitchen. The kitchen features a separate exterior door to the back patio/yard, loads of counter space (ceramic tile) and cabinets, stainless steel sink, all electric appliances and full pass through snack bar to the dining room with built-in shelves bonus and another storage closet. This home also has beautiful wood floors throughout with ceramic tile in the kitchen and bathrooms only. PLUS recently updated bathrooms, modern interior wall colors, double pane windows with wood blinds, termite contract coverage, and all move-in ready!
MLS Data Courtesy of Gulf South Real Estate Information Network. Copyright 2016, New Orleans Metropolitan Association of REALTORS®, Inc. All rights reserved. Information deemed reliable, but not verified or guaranteed. Users are responsible for checking the accuracy, completeness, currency, and status of all information. Neither the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of REALTORS®, Inc. nor the Gulf South Real Estate Information Network, Inc. makes any representation, guarantees, or warranties as to the accuracy, completeness, currency, or suitability of the information provided. They specifically disclaim any and all liability for all claims or damages that may result from providing information to be used on the web site, or the information which it contains, including any web sites maintained by third parties, which may be linked to this web site. By using this site, you signify your agreement with and acceptance of these terms and conditions. If you do not accept this policy, you may not use this site in any way. Your continued use of this site, and/or its affiliate' sites, following the posting of changes to these terms will mean you accept those changes, regardless of whether you are provided with additional notice of such changes.
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Laser Foot Treatment
We can provide laser treatment for the following conditions:
Warts – The skin is so thick on the bottom of the feet that simple freezing of warts rarely works. Laser treatment minimizes bleeding and the need for sutures, thereby reducing post-op pain since sutures can be painful to walk on.
Foot burning, numbness, tingling – A relatively new technique using the laser that is not approved nor covered by insurance for treating these neuropathy symptoms is available at our office. These neuropathy laser treatments are paid for in advance at the day of the procedure by cash, check, or credit. Your office visit fee (prior to scheduling the neuropathy laser treatment) is submitted to insurance, and depending on your insurance policy, may be covered.) Depending on the degree of your neuropathy symptoms I will discuss usual treatments options, including capsaicin cream, Metanx, alpha lipoic acid, gabapentin, etc. in addition to the option of non-covered laser treatments for the neuropathy.
Fungal toenails – Many antifungal treatments are advertised. Are you frustrated from the lack of success with these treatments?
There are 4 actions you should have done to increase treatment success.
- Grind off all fungal nail matter.
- Heat the nail with a laser to 42 degrees C (performed with the Laser, $49 for one nail, $125 for 2-5 nails, $200 for 6-10 toenails. Cash, check, credit card. Not covered by insurance)
- Avoid shoe trauma to the nail.
- Treat with an effective topical antifungal oil for one year. (I provide Formula 3 which is an oil, not a polish. No waiting for it to dry. No build up on the nail surface. Absorbs well into the nail.)
Unsightly skin lesions on the feet and ankles – Treatment of skin lesions without the suspicion or risk of skin cancer or of repeated irritation and not causing pain are generally NOT covered by insurance. Treatment of such lesions usually is considered to be 'cosmetic' and not covered. After an initial office evaluation (which may be covered by insurance depending on your policy) these lesions can be destroyed using the laser method.


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61 BIRD WATCHER'S DIGEST • JULY/AUGUST ' 17 • birdwatchersdigest.com
touches on a meal. The walk is
just long enough that the meals
are eaten and the bags deposited in a proper waste receptacle
outside the bakery.
The ravens fly to that trashcontainer and use their big billsto pull the bags out. Nothingthey find appears capable ofspoiling their surprise. Theyshake, rip, tear, slice, dice, andmaybe even make julienne friesof the bags. They discovertasty morsels such as forgottenfries and broken buns. Juneauravens are chronic litterers, butI forgive them. Maybe some aretrying to quit littering, but I'venever heard a single raven say,"Nevermore." I'll keep listening.To the ravens, each bag of fastfood is a happy meal. Happyme. You see, I go to Juneau torevel with the ravens. a
Al Batt is a writer, speaker,
storyteller, and humorist. His
first book is a collection of his
stories, A Life Gone to the
Birds, published by BWD Press.
Looking for rare birds? Glimpse the Florida Scrub-Jay, Roseate Spoonbill, and other
species in the protected lands of Martin County. At Audubon of Martin County, you'll
find a nature center and a 5-acre urban forest. Be sure to schedule a ride to Bird
Island, a wildlife refuge revered as one of Florida's top nesting sites for Brown
Pelicans, Magnificent Frigatebirds, Wood Storks, Herons and Egrets, and many other
species. Visit Jonathan Dickinson State Park or the Hobe Sound Nature Center,
premier environments for bird watching. With several stops along the Great Florida
Birding Trail, who knows what other natural wonders you'll find along the way?
Plan your trip at DiscoverMartin.com
Naturally Quaint
Discover a Birder's Paradise.


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Well it's been yet another incredibly fast week here in the Philippines. It's just crazy how quickly time flies by when you're doing the Lord's work. Wow that will be really cool for Emma and Kolsen to get to be a part of the rededication of the Ogden temple. I bet it looks really cool. Well I miss soccer a lot so all you siblings of mine better enjoy it and pray that they like soccer where you get called to serve ;) It's funny that like almost all of the world plays soccer, especially in poorer countries, and then we have the Philippines: a bunch of short fast people that would be perfect for playing soccer and they all like basketball. But I'm learning to like basketball more I guess :) This is the first apartment I've had where we need to pump the water. It's one of like 2 that are like that. We might be getting it fixed sometime...That's awesome for Danny! He'll love the MTC and I'm sure he'll like being in Chicago too. He only gets 2 weeks in the MTC I think.
Well as for things here in Sta. Te; I think I'll start with the good news. For the first time in my mission we hit and the passed the standard for number of lessons this week!! WHOO! That's pretty exciting. 32 is our Mission standard (that's pretty high and it's like the highest in all the Philippines.) We got 33 this week. That's a record for me. So that was sweet. Next thing is we found a family. This is THE family! I've never felt so certain in my life that this family will be baptized. The feeling in their home is just different. It's nice. They were taught before and then the missionaries stopped going out there because tatay got moved from Gonzaga to Aparri. He's a security guard and he works one week then has a week off. He's got a motor and they can come to church, but we need to teach him when he's home and we need to find some solutions to the work problem and transportation. It takes us an hour to walk there because there isn't any tricey that will take you there unless you pay a ridiculous amount of money and then you have to walk out anyway because there's no one going back to the centro. That's two areas now where we walk an hour just to get there and then we teach! It's a lot of walking but it's so worth it.
As for the not so great news...No progressing investigators!!! That was somewhat discouraging. We worked so hard to get standard on lessons and none of our investigators with a baptismal date came to church. Bummer. You pause to think and say "what's wrong?" Well we're just going to keep working as hard and be exactly obedient to the mission rules so we can have the Spirit with us. I hope they feel and recognize it too and then choose to accept it. We'll do everything we can and then the Lord will bless the people here in His own time and way. Oh yeah, Denver has appendix and UTI sickness stuff so that's why he couldn't come to church. Next week he will though :) That's about all my fantastic family and friends.
I got those letters from the family reunion and they were awesome! Nice little bonus to my day. Maybe I'll tell you about that day. It was District meeting and I felt like I was starting to get a fever. Just that awful feeling. Well I had no desire to feel that way so I prayed that I would have the strength to keep going, took 2 advil, and that's the day we found that family that's going to be baptized. Miracles! I truly do count it as a miracle that I've never had a sickness where I've had to stay in and rest. Can't say the same for my other companions (except the Filipinos so far have been doing good). The Lord is really good to me. One thing about the letters though that kind of caught my attention is that grandpa said he wrote an email and I have not received an email from him ever. In fact I've only ever gotten one email from grandma Snow ever. I'm starting to think that they've been sending some and they're not getting to me. Maybe just double check that they have the right email and everything. Oh yes package!! Thanks mom you da bomb! Well we go out into those mountains to teach, just not very far up so I probably won't get to climb them. It was raining (halata (obviously)) so it was somewhat cool, but then it warmed up and got SUPER HUMID so it was still hot :)
That's all...for reals now. Love and miss you all. Mahal and Ingat!
-Elder Egan


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A few days ago. I'm looking for information on the Veggie Tales Lettuce Love One Another, so i have to tell.
Veggie Tales Lettuce Love One Another
Run Time 141 minutes. Read more
Compare stores: Here
It's essential to spend less in today's financial system. We should be cautious with funds, but we can easily easily nevertheless continue to keep store shopping. You can find solutions for much less when on the internet. Please keep reading to discover having the very best info on thrifty shopping on the internet.
Tags: Cameras Electronics & Phones>Home TV & Video>Movies TV Shows>Children and Family>DVDs - Children and Family


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1: What is better suited for wet and cold UK climate, cob or straw bale?
2: I know every situation varies, and it's impossible to give a cost, but I need some rough beacon, even if it is very rough. Imagining we will be doing cob, 2 bedroom single storey house, mainly using friends and volunteers, but obviously hiring some contractors for some work, especially plumbing etc. What price are we looking at
Jay C. White Cloud wrote:Hi Yuri,
Cost is not even possible to judge at this point.
Burra Maluca wrote:If you're building in the UK, the problem won't be the money to build, but the permission to build. I don't know the laws in Spain so can't comment on that.
So what you are saying is that cob infill timber frames are much easier to get planning permits for, than just a cob building?


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I entirely agree with the Bishop of Swindon.Here is yet another example of the Church of England showing its utter inability to understand the pain and the longing of ordinary people in society.
The so called 'statement by the Church of England' does not speak for me!Posted by Jean Mayland (Revd) at Saturday, 31 January 2015 at 7:52pm GMT
Oh CofE, if you can't say something sensible (or compassionate!), can you PLEASE Just Say Nothing At All???Posted by JCF at Saturday, 31 January 2015 at 8:00pm GMT
I beg Brendan's pardon - I see that we know who the spokesperson is. But I think he and "the Church of England" are wrong and the bishop is right. This is a procedure with risks, certainly, but I think it is worth taking for the sake of those who have suffered so much with the impact of mitochondrial disease in their lives. It is not a cavalier move towards designer babies.Posted by Jeremy Pemberton at Saturday, 31 January 2015 at 8:06pm GMT
The Church of England continues to make itself a laughingstock.Posted by Jeremy at Sunday, 1 February 2015 at 12:26am GMT
The "Comment is Free" article seems to be an attempt by MPA to cover its back against accusations of obscurantism. The only problem is that once the first MPA announcement had been made, the cat was out of the media bag, and the "Comment is Free" article won't get much attention. Also the blog isn't the easiest piece of writing to understand, is it.
It seems almost inevitable that the legislation will go through. The perceived twisting and turning on the part of the C of E will continue to stoke the view that it is irrelevant at best (a position already held by 60% of the population according to Linda Woodhead's research) or that it is stuffy and out of touch.
How much better it would have been if MPA had taken the trouble to talk to Bishop Lee before it made its original statement. An advantage of establishment is that people like Bishop Lee get put on committees like HEFA. But if the Church doesn't make use of their expertise, what's the point?
Woodhead's research has also demonstrated that the church leadership is doubly out of touch with the general population and with Anglicans in particular, in that it is much more "conservative" on social and ethical issues, and much more "welfarist" on economics. It's fine to be out of touch if you are right, but ....
Finally, the term "three parent baby" is perhaps misleading. Given the ratio of mDNA to DNA, perhaps 2.00001 parent wouuld be more accurate, even if you take the reductionist view that DNA defines parenthood.
Posted by Turbulent priest at Sunday, 1 February 2015 at 2:49pm GMT
"Turbulent priest" suggests that the church leadership is "out of touch" because it disagrees with the rank and file. Utter nonsense - to disagree with people, even with a majority of people, does not mean you are out of touch with them.
The Church of England is (rightly) not a democracy and its leadership are (rightly) not elected in any conventional sense. They are not representative in the way that MPs are representative. They have no particular obligation to speak the opinions of those attending Church of England churches.Posted by Sam at Sunday, 1 February 2015 at 5:05pm GMT
I find it hard to believe that Dr McCarthy knows better than the Wellcome Trust and the HFEA on this.Posted by Flora Alexander at Sunday, 1 February 2015 at 5:57pm GMT
The term "three parents" is both irresponsible, unscientific and false.
Posted by Laurie at
Sunday, 1 February 2015 at 6:10pm GMT
I am presently in hospital being treated for an acute exacerbation of my idiopathic bronchiectasis; most of my fellow patients on this ward have bronchiectasis caused by the genetic disorder of cystic fibrosis.
Over the years there have been many, many attempts to assist my fellow patients by gene therapy research; the fact that they are not that much further forward seems to me to call for more research, not less.
My daughter, who is a doctor, tells me that she sees patients with mitochondrial diseases with equally, and sometimes much worse, symptoms for which there are no effective treatments.
It seems a pity that I can recognise from my hospital bed the urgent need for research to assist the alleviation of suffering of others when the Church really can't seem to grasp the basic principles of science, much less engage with compassion and empathy.
And, for the avoidance of all possible doubt, there is absolutely no possibility that the research could benefit me in any way; apart, that is, in recognising and affirming that no man is an island. John Donne put it much better...Posted by Stevie Gamble at Monday, 2 February 2015 at 2:19am GMT
It is difficult to see from the official CofE submission to the consultation on this issue, whether these are genuine ethical concerns on a scientific basis or rather an unscientific stance of some more conservative members of the Mission and Public Affairs Council seeking the impossible "proof of a negative"
"Question 9: Do you have comments on any other aspect of the draft regulations?
While supportive, in principle, of both MST and PNT, we believe that further research is necessary into the relationship between mtDNA and nDNA. Concerns have been raised, for example, with regard to potential mismatches between the mitochondrial and nuclear genome,with varying responses noted from scientists.Concern has also been voiced with regard to heteroplasmy arising from donor mtDNA and the difficulties associated with eradicating this possibility"
The really surprising thing is that anybody still thinks that human beings have only two parents.Posted by AndrewT at Monday, 2 February 2015 at 10:44am GMT
"Scientists have accused the church leaders of refusing to examine overwhelming evidence which shows that the creation of three parent babies is ethical and safe." There seems to be some on-going confusion over the distinction between science and ethics. We may heed the scientists advice about matters of safety but ethics is another matter altogether.
The point "But scientists have accused the church of ignoring reams of scientific evidence, and the outcome of a public consultation which showed widespread support for the new ground-breaking IVF treatment." seems to suggest that numbers somehow determine the ethicality of something. Wrong again.
The science can be exact, the support overwhelming but the ethics entirely wrong.Posted by Andrew F. Pierce at Monday, 2 February 2015 at 3:17pm GMT
Steve Gamble's comment here, is most telling.
He speaks for many patients.
How sad to see another 'own goal' against the Church of England, albeit one scored by a clergyman of the Church of Ireland! It gives the impression that none of us are able to think properly about the issues faced by people in our own society.Fortunately our politicians have been able to give a moral lead, when the Church cannot. Then we wonder why it is that fewer people want to attend church !Posted by The Revd Don Stevenson at Tuesday, 3 February 2015 at 11:41pm GMT
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Your financial support of the NAHU Education Foundation is greatly appreciated and will assist the foundation in continuing its educational messaging and activities to help the public and promote private sector insurance options. Everyone benefits when consumers are better informed and understand the importance of staying healthy. The NAHU Education Foundation is a 501(c)(3), and all donations are tax deductible. If you wish to make a donation or want more information, please contact Debra Cook at (202) 350-0069 or email@example.com.
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The NAHU Education Foundation helps consumers and communities access and afford high-quality healthcare through educational programs, targeted contributions and user friendly tools.
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In addition to our web-based tools and resources, the NAHU Education Foundation has a series of short videos designed to educate the American public about wellness, prevention and the cost of healthcare services. These materials are used in a variety of venues from employer settings to frequently accessed media and social networking outlets. This initiative is important in addressing the critical issues associated with health, wellness and the cost of healthcare.
In addition to videos, we have printed materials to help non-technology–savvy consumers, English learners and others understand the various aspects of health insurance.
Outreach to the American public is an important part of the NAHU Education Foundation mission. Recent campaigns have offered assistance to seniors who are newly eligible for Medicare and those who have lost health insurance coverage during the economic downturn. Our newest outreach project provides resources on healthy lifestyles and care packages to underprivileged families in communities all over the United States.
The National Association of Health Underwriters represents more than 100,000 licensed health insurance agents, brokers, general agents, consultants and benefit professionals through more than 200 chapters across America. NAHU members service the health insurance needs of large and small employers as well as people seeking individual health insurance coverage. Every day, NAHU members work to obtain insurance for clients who are struggling to balance their desire to purchase high-quality and comprehensive health coverage with the reality of rapidly escalating medical care costs. As such, one of NAHU's primary goals is to do everything we can to promote access to affordable health insurance coverage.
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what a coincidenceOf the top 15 states for divorce rates in 2005, all 15 voted for Bush in 2004. All fifteen.
Of the 12 lowest states for divorce rates, 10 voted for Kerry.
Massachusetts, where gay marriage is allowed (and where, according to Republicans, civilization would fall apart), has the lowest divorce rate in the country.


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What's your favorite beer? Bud Light, Redds Apple Ale, Twisted Tea, or Corona? If it is, you probably won't be interested in anything I have to say.
Craft beer is defined as small, independent, and traditional. A brewery must produce no more than 6 million barrels of beer per year, must be owned by someone not in the alcoholic beverage industry, and must have the majority of its total beverage alcohol volume in beers whose flavor comes from traditional or innovative brewing ingredients and their fermentation. (Source)
Over the last ten years, craft beers, home brewers, and microbreweries have been on the rise. As of 2013, craft breweries make up an incredible 98% of all of America's breweries and New York ranks 6th in number of craft brewers. An increase of about two million barrels of craft beer being produced has occurred steadily for the last 6 years and it doesn't look to be slowing down anytime soon. (Source)
The craft beer industry has introduced us to such a vast variety of beers that even someone who claims to hate beer, can find a beer to love. Today there are of course your lagers, ales, stouts or porters, pilsners and your hefeweizens, but that is only the beginning. Without talking about flavored beer or seasonal brews, you have ryes, barley wine, pale ale, imperial, saison, kolsch, doppleback, IPA, sour, wheat, and more. With the brewing techniques we have today there are a huge amount of types of brews before you even get into flavors.
At just the beginning of 2015, brewers are looking at rare and creative recipes for the 3rd and 4th quarters of this year. Summer, Autumn, and Winter are prime seasons for craft beer with all the different fresh flavors available.
Working at an ale house triggered my interest in craft beer and as soon as I started learning about it, I never looked at a Blue Moon the same way again (not to say I don't enjoy a good Blue Moon still).
I'll be brewing my first home brew batch later this month and although I'm bracing myself for a not so perfect batch (it takes 3 or 4 times to figure it all out, so I'm told) I am more than excited to put myself in the growing category of home brewers.
After getting to about 20 craft breweries last year I'm hoping to hit another 20 or 30 this year and will be posting about it all (or most of it).


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In 2002, psychologist Daniel Kahneman won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. As Michael Lewis writes in his new book, The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds, this was unprecedented because "how on earth does a psychologist win a Nobel Prize in economics?" The answer is that Kahenman was a pioneer in the field now known as "behavioral economics." Specifically, his work focused on the psychology of judgment and decision-making.
Kahneman would surely have shared his Nobel with Amos Tversky, his lifelong collaborator, had Tversky not died of cancer in 1996. (The award is not given posthumously.) Kahneman and Tversky spent decades disproving the idea that humans are rational decision-makers. They initially identified three mental shortcuts, or "heuristics," people use in place of logic and reason. Many more have since been discovered.
In the field, I frequently witness how these heuristics distort DR decisions. In this post, I'll discuss something called the "availability heuristic," which Kahneman and Tversky studied in the early 1970s.
"We defined the availability heuristic as the process of judging frequency by 'the ease with which instances come to mind,'" Kahneman writes in his award-winning book Thinking, Fast and Slow. He uses several examples, including plane crashes and terrorist attacks. Because of the intense media coverage of such events, we think they are far more likely to occur than they actually are.
As an avid skydiver, I am quite familiar with this cognitive bias. Non-skydivers believe skydiving is incredibly risky because it's easy for them to recall a story about a skydiving fatality. Meanwhile, they have no idea how many safe skydives are performed each year and no sense of how that compares with other potentially fatal activities. As Kahneman would say: "The amount of concern is not adequately sensitive to the probability of harm. You are imagining the numerator ... and not thinking about the denominator." Or as any seasoned skydiver would say: "Be careful on your drive home as that will be the most dangerous part of your skydiving day."
So how does this apply to DR? Well, let's consider something I call the "Siren" effect. If a DR marketer has an unexpected hit in a category, that marketer and the rest of the industry will start to believe they have discovered a "hot" category and follow with a string of failures. The latest example is Telebrands' Star Shower. I've already noted at least five failed attempts to win big with the next holiday-lighting hit, and I expect many more to follow because Star Shower was such a big success. The bigger the hit, the louder the sound of the Siren's call – i.e. the greater the power of the availability heuristic.
The way to resist is to force your rational brain to answer Kahneman's denominator question. Every category, and the industry overall, has a roughly calculable 'hit rate.' For example, most top players I ask believe their overall odds of success on DRTV are one in 10. Yet when there's a new hit, they start to act as though that rate has magically changed, forgetting they are still much more likely to be the 9 of 10 than the one.
This bias is even clearer when it comes to specific categories. In the field recently, I was discussing a known 'bad category' with a group of DR practitioners. They had personally failed in this category at least 12 times over the last few years. Incredibly, the group wanted to try again. Before I asked why, I knew the answer: That particular company had experienced one big success in the category several years prior. In other words, the ease with which the group could recall one sweet success amid a larger number of harder-to-recall failures continues to guide their decision-making. As the leader of the group jokingly admits: "We're trying to give back all the money we made on that first success."
In future posts, I plan to write about other heuristics and cognitive biases as I observe them in the field. Can't wait to learn more? I highly recommend the two books cited in this post: The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis and Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.
Jordan Pine is a consultant specializing in short-form DRTV and the author of The SciMark Report (scimark.blogspot.com), a popular industry blog. His field reports are based on actual conversations with top executives from our industry, many of whom are his clients, partners or vendors.


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Modern + Minimal WordPress Themes
Welcome to PB! A boutique online store specialising in WordPress design + development. Whether you are a blogger, creative, or entrepreneur, I am here to help you improve your online presence + showcase your voice in the ever changing trends of the world wide web with my Minimal WordPress Themes.
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A light grey + minimal blog layout with a featured latest post + summary style articles. Rose pink adds a touch of #GirlBoss to this responsive + modern blog layout designed for WordPress bloggers of all genre's.
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While I'm not a fan of Halloween, I couldn't resist checking out the fun at Creative Crafts and Stickers Creepy Autumn Crop this weekend. I had a little trouble getting into anything there at first but finally managed to wrap my head around some things I could do for some of the challenges. In the end I completed 3 layouts and a mini album.
The first layout was inspired by Jess's Title Challenge. She listed some titles to inspire us. I tried some new techniques on this one. I used a stencil and acrylic paint to paint a border around the cardstock. I also did the title with stencils and paint.
This next layout was inspired by Ally's Sketch Challenge.
The last layout was inspired by Tara's photo challenge. One of the games at the crop was a photo treasure hunt run by Tara. She posted a list of things that we had to try to get pictures of. One of the things on the list was a horse in a field. DD loves horses and she was helping me with the treasure hunt and she took some beautiful pictures of a horse in town that she likes to visit once in a while. When Tara posted the challenge to use one or more of our treasure hunt pictures in a layout I knew right away which ones I wanted to use. The design of the layout is based on a Christy Mack sketch which was featured at the Sisterhood of Scrap blog.
I just remembered that I actually did two mini albums this weekend - one I just finished tonight and the other that still doesn't have photos or embellies yet. I'll post about them tomorrow if I get a chance.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
2 comments:
- Jean Marie said...
Beautiful photos of your two girls!
Clever idea with the stencil border and title!
Excellent take on Christy's Sketch!that horse is beautiful!!
Well done Jacqueline!
- October 24, 2007 at 10:37 AM
- Heidi said...
Looks like you've been busy!! Well, I am about to add to that. I've tagged you so please check out my blog!
- October 26, 2007 at 1:05 AM
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Italian pique' texture wool knit - dark navy
contents: wool
width: 64"
origin: Italy
This is a wonderful Italian lightweight wool knit with a pique' texture, drapey, semi-opaque and a versatile all season basic! The color is a dark navy (PANTONE 19-4025). With 50% widthwise stretch, 35% lengthwise, it's perfect for tees, tops, tunics, a light cardigan, etc. Treat as you would any fine sweater knit, or dry clean.
A sampling of possible coordinates


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I love TV. I love it A LOT. I grew up watching TV all day, and all night. I watch even more today, thanks to the greatest invention ever – the DVR. I watch sitcoms, cartoons, reality shows, game shows, documentaries, sports, and most of all, dramas.
You wouldn't have expected that if you met me. I love making people laugh as much as possible. I joke all the time – especially when it's inappropriate to do so. When I'm at funerals, when giving serious advice to a friend, when I'm at AA meetings* – if I were in a TV show, and a joke would lighten the situation and provide awkward humor, I'll say it. I often joke that I wish my life was a sitcom … all the problems would be wrapped up in 22 minutes, occasionally a superstar celebrity would drop by when it seemed that no one cared about the happenings in my life, and even serious moments would be lightened with some humor or a funny facial expression breaking an imaginary 4th wall.
*I don't go to AA meetings. I don't have a drinking problem, and I'm not an alcoholic. However, if I did imbibe too much and felt the need to go to meetings, I would inevitably make jokes.
But ultimately, dramatic shows are the ones to which we all gravitate. They are the ones we talk about the next day at school, or at work, or in Facebook groups. Sure, we may rehash a joke or line from a comedy, but those tend to fall flat when said out of context, or if everyone already saw/heard it. But those dramas – oh man. We can talk about those for days. Character development is far more enhanced in dramas. Story arcs are played out over a longer period of time.* Most of all, however, we love dramas for the variety of emotions they are able to evoke from even the staunchest of individuals.
*This does happen in comedies as well. It's no more evident than in "How I Met Your Mother" which is in the 9th and final season dragging out a premise that could have been completed in a few seasons. I'm not complaining though, HIMYM is incredibly funny and has a lot of inside jokes that sometimes span several seasons, which can make the payoff that much greater.
I've made it known that I love lists. I love ranking everything because it gives me something to do. It gives me a sense of purpose, and is very often a point of conversation – and debate. It's very important to realize that every list I make is, for the most part, a subjective list. These are MY thoughts, reviews, opinions, and rankings. Yours may no doubt be different. What I hope to accomplish with this, however, is try to give some insight into WHY I chose to rank these shows the way I did. I thought about creating a scoring system – I really did think about how I would score things like character turnover, episode count, award count, season length, on-screen time for major characters, number of A-level storylines, guest stars, plot holes, and, if applicable, quality of series finale (particularly the final scene of a series, which often makes or breaks the entire finale – obviously, this WILL be discussed).
Ultimately, I decided against that and concluded that it would make the post too statistic driven for something so subjective and emotionally connected. I will discuss certain things as I see fit. These are my Top 12* dramatic series. But first, I feel I can extinguish some fires ahead of time by mentioning the shows that did NOT make the Top 12.
*I chose 12 because these are definitive for me. After these 12, my rankings tend to sway and alternate. It's also very tough to rate shows that are still on TV, because the rating can change based on new episodes.
Mad Men I am still watching this show (thank you, Netflix), and will be caught up by the time the 7th and final season begins airing this April. As it stands, it may crack the top 12.
The Wire I will catch the most shit for not having this show ranked higher, but like Mad Men, I haven't finished it. The writing is incredible, and it may also crack the top 12, but I find it difficult to watch. Not because of content, but because of opportunity. It aired on HBO, and past seasons are not available On Demand in their entirety. I have to watch them on HBO Go – which means on the iPad only. I just don't like watching TV on my iPad when I have a giant TV in front of me. I will get to them. Promise.
House of Cards Season 2 starts tomorrow, so it's way too new to be one of the greatest ever, even in my opinion, but if the first season is any indication, it will be amazing. Kevin Spacey is incredible and if you're into politics the way I am, or just like seeing how things really work in Washington, DC, then it's a must-watch.
Boardwalk Empire It's a great show. The characters are great; Steve Buscemi is phenomenal. But sometimes I tend to lose focus because some some plot lines are not as interesting. Great show, though, and definitely Top 25 of all time.
Law and Order: SVU Funny thing about this show: I did not start watching until last year. I began watching when I heard that the great Fred Norris of the Howard Stern Show was going to be on an episode. After that episode, they previewed the next one, which was guest starring Mike Tyson. So I watched that one, too. By that point, I was hooked. I've watched every episode since. At some point, I'll take in one of the all-day marathons on TNT and watch earlier episodes.
The Walking Dead The first two seasons – phenomenal. After that, it began adding characters that were throwaway, laughable, unlikable, or just plain boring. And there are stretches of pure boredom as well. But once it gets going, it is edge-of-your-seat tension. And there are few shows that could actually make you root for the death of a whiny little brat of a kid by the second season, and now make you glad he survived because he's turned into a bona fide badass. It's also brought attention to the coolness of the crossbow and kitana, thanks to Daryl and Michonne, respectively. My biggest gripe? Shooting moving targets in the head while having almost no serious firearm training is a LOT harder in real life than the show makes it seem.
Game of Thrones Another show that makes you root for the death of a kid, although King Joffrey is less a kid and more just that kid from your old elementary school that acted like a sniveling, prepubescent asshole because he knows that even though he is hated by everyone, they need to pretend to like him because he has the cool toys. Peter Dinklage is outstanding in every way and was well-deserving of his 2012 Best Actor Golden Globe win. It's created a myriad of "Winter is Coming" internet memes and countless other jokes and references. The imagery is amazing, the scenery is stunning, and there's lots of gratuitous nudity (although South Park was right about all the "floppy wieners"). And the opening sequence is so awesome, with the most kick-ass theme music, that Jayson Werth of the Washington Nationals has adopted it as his walk-up song for every at-bat, which makes him a whole lot cooler in my book (despite his lack of fantasy production which caused me to drop him from my team).
Playmakers This show lasted just one season, because the NFL threatened ESPN with a boycott if the show was not removed. It was as real as real can get, with storylines of drug use, infidelity, homosexuality, and the everyday battles of playing professional football. An extremely well done series … but unfortunately, for only one season.
Freaks and Geeks Another show that only lasted one season – NBC cared more about ratings than reviews. It was featured the early work of such stars as James Franco, Seth Rogen, Linda Cardellini, Jason Segal, Martin Starr, and Busy Phillips, and also starred the great Joe Flaherty. Great writing, realistic stories, and incredible acting. NBC flat out screwed up shutting this one down.
Homeland Amazing show – just hasn't been on long enough to warrant a higher placement. They just finished Season 3, and we'll see how they proceed after the ending of last season.
Others worthy of at least a mention:
Shameless William H. Macy and Emmy Rossum kill it in every episode, and a supporting cast of largely unknowns provide amazingly cringe-worthy and uncomfortable moments in the life of a struggling family in downtown Chicago.
The Newsroom Jeff Daniels is superb, and if you have any doubt about his acting abilities, watch an episode of this series immediately following a viewing of him as Harry Dunne in "Dumb and Dumber."
Desperate Housewives Shut up. I liked it. It was a silly comedy/drama, but I got hooked on it. We all love gossip, even if we don't admit it, and this show was chock-full. It was funny at times, sentimental at others. It showed how affairs hurt, lies are damaging, and family isn't always who shares the same bloodline. True friendships can withstand almost anything. The finale was exactly how I expected it to be … life goes on
True Blood I love vampires, but sometimes this series veers too far off course by adding too many different supernatural creatures. Although I will admit that the dry humor is great, and Deborah Ann Woll is excellent even if she says nothing.
Heroes They added too many characters as the series progressed, and everyone seemed to have superpowers, but the first season remains one of my favorites ever.
Nip/Tuck The opening scene of the pilot, where Dr. Christian Troy meets the model Kimber, who rejects his pick-up lines until she realizes he's a plastic surgeon, is still one of my most favorite scenes ever. The show was one of my guilty pleasures. It was over the top, outrageous, featured more plot twists and fantastical ideas than one could imagine, but it was really fun to watch. And the line, "Tell me what you don't like about yourself" is something we could say in the mirror every day.
Prison Break It should have been a mini-series instead a 4-season show. Great premise, excellent execution, and Robert Knepper was chilling, but it ran too long and was too convoluted as it went on for a spot in the upper echelon of TV.
Knight Rider, The A-Team I list these two together because they weren't very good who watching them now, as an adult, but boy were they entertaining. I dressed up as Mr. T for Halloween one year and met David Hasselhoff once.* I still look online for 1982 Firebirds to buy one day so I can build my own K.I.T.T. and just drive it to my dad's to show him.
*I wore a mask; I did not use black face. But I did wear a bunch of fake gold chains and carried a plastic Uzi. I have a picture. When I met Hasselhoff, he was at the RI Convention Center (or Civic Center, I forget) and he was there with the KITT car. He was a dick to me because I called him Michael Knight and not Mr. Hasselhoff. My dad responded, "He's 6, asshole."
Ok, on to the Top 12. I could easily write an entire post about each of these, but I'll try to be brief. Please keep in mind that I may divulge some endings/plot twists if the show is off the air. So beware …
12. Dexter (2006-2013) This ranking is more a casualty of other shows just being better, and the reason I dropped it lies mostly with the series finale, which made me feel mixed emotions. After the pilot, I thought it would be a dark, gritty, drama. But then I noticed the subtle humor that Dexter displayed. His tongue-in-cheek jokes made me smirk and chuckle despite the fact that he may have uttered them while dismembering a victim. As the series progressed, we were introduced to some characters that were despicable (Lila, in particular), lost some eye candy (the murder of Rita is still traumatic), gained some eye candy (despite her serial killer ways, Hannah was still gorgeous), saw some AMAZINGLY well acted villains (John Lithgow was simply chilling as The Trinity Killer), and met one of the most disturbingly inappropriate and hilarious side characters ever (Vince Masuka was probably one of the most realistic TV police employees ever – if you can't make untimely sex jokes at work to keep things light around death, you're probably a boring individual). All that being said, the finale was good, but not great. Dexter faking his death was a cop-out to me, but it was filled with emotion, as the goodbye to Deb was the most human Dexter had ever been. All in all, after 8 seasons and 96 episodes, it is worthy of a high placement.
11. Grey's Anatomy (2005-present) Yes, it can get very much like a soap opera with the romances between characters, and I understand that this being on the list makes people question my toughness. But there are many plot lines of many episodes devoted ENTIRELY to specific surgeries and procedures. I've often said that if I had to go back to medical school, I would choose neurosurgery or trauma as my specialty. The show has been on for 10 seasons and over 200 episodes, and since Ellen Pompeo and Patrick Dempsey just resigned for another 2 seasons, it will surpass 250 episodes before it's all said and done. That's very impressive in today's age of short attention spans and premature cancellations. That hospital has seen more tragedies and suspenseful moments (floods, power outages, mass casualties arriving, mass shootings in the hospital, etc.) than any hospital could in real life, but it's still gripping entertainment. And the death of George O'Malley is still one of the most gut-wrenching episodes the show has ever done.
10. Smallville (2001-2011) Yes, it took 10 seasons and 217 episodes before Clark Kent finally flew. Yes, the first two seasons were mostly of the "freak-of-the-week" variety. But this show so adeptly chronicled the growth of Clark Kent to Superman while learning his powers and being tested by Jor-El through trials of moral and ethical strength, that it warrants being my 10th favorite drama of all time. As the show continued, we began to see more of the DC characters (heroes and villains) we know and love from the comics: Lois Lane, The Flash, Martian Manhunter, Cyborg, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Brainiac, Slade Wilson, Doomsday, Metallo, Toy Man, Amanda Waller, Darkseid, General Zod, and of course, Lex Luthor. It paid homage to the original movies and TV shows with cameos from Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Dean Cain, Teri Hatcher, and even a spot from the original Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter. And one of the coolest cameos for me on a personal level was the reunion of the Dukes of Hazard, when Tom Wopat guest starred as a politician and old friend of Jonathan Kent, who was played by John Schneider. I loved the Dukes of Hazard as a kid, and the scene introducing Wopat of course had him speeding up in an old Charger. The scenes of Clark in the Fortress of Solitude with subtle tones of Superman's theme in the background still give me goosebumps.
9. House, M.D. (2004-2012) If we lived a better world, one without lawyers who would sue doctors for speaking the truth, I would have been exactly like Dr. Gregory House – snarky, smarmy, obnoxious, and hysterical. It was a show that, in the beginning, was primarily a "disease of the week" and followed a typical formula. But then the patient of the week became the B-plot and the main story became the character development of the drug-addicted House and his team and their relationships with each other. And the finale was as fitting as could be, with the title "Everybody Dies" (after the pilot was entitled "Everybody Lies") as House gave up his career and faked his death to spend time with his best (and only) friend, who had only months to live. The show also took several serious turns throughout its 8 season/176 episode run, dealing with topics like suicide (and the fact that sometimes, we NEVER know why a person does it – that was one of the most incredible episodes of any show, ever), genetic diseases that impact our own future, abuse, the morals of helping someone who doesn't deserve it, and even love and infidelity.
8. Sons of Anarchy (2008-present) The only show in my top 10 that is still on the air, SoA enters its 7th and final season in 2014. It follows the lives of a motorcycle club in California, and how the life impacts family and decisions. Part "Sopranos" and part "Hamlet," it is an incredibly well written show and it's a travesty that Katey Sagal has only been recognized for her outstanding work as the matriarch of the club once (2011 Golden Globe – Best Actress). I am intensely excited to see how the series wraps up, especially after how Season 6 ended on such a thrilling moment.
7. Rescue Me (2004-2011) Denis Leary hit a home run with his darkly comedic drama about the FDNY in the years following 9/11. Alcoholism was front and center, and constant heartache followed Leary's Tommy Gavin. His family and friends provided constant entertainment and often very touching moments, especially about death, which followed Tommy like a shadow. The supporting cast making up the rest of the fire department and the dysfunctional Gavin family made the show have a seamless transition from comedic scenes to those of pure sadness. The series finale was funny, heartwarming and almost perfect. It was a poetic remembrance of those lost who sacrificed themselves for others. It was the most fitting way to end one of my favorite shows, ever.
6. ER (1994-2009) Fifteen seasons. 331 episodes. And 28 different actors appeared in at least 100 episodes. Another 12 appeared in between 50-100 episodes. The strength of ER was the fact that there was so much turnover in the cast; it made it real. People change and move on. And in television, it allows for exceptional reunion shows (George Clooney's return was such a wonderful moment in the show's history). It also provides the audience with such emotional connection to characters that when they leave, we feel a genuine loss. The death of Dr. Mark Greene, played by Anthony Edwards, was one of the most emotional episodes I've ever seen. Granted, my heart strings were pulled that much harder by the playing of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," which always reminds me of my grandfather, but Greene and the cast of ER were the main proponents in my decision to become a doctor. So many moments are memorable, but two of them (in addition to Clooney's return and Greene's death) are scorched into my brain. The first was the brutal stabbings of Dr. John Carter (Noah Wylie) and Lucy Knight (Kellie Martin) by a schizophrenic patient. John walks into a room looking for Lucy on Valentine's Day in the hospital and sees a card. He opens it, sees blood on the floor, then is stabbed in the back by the patient. When he falls to the floor, he sees Lucy in a pool of blood on the other side of the bed. The other moment was actually the very next episode, which began with Dr. Kerry Weaver finding the two bodies, and the entire staff fighting to save their lives. I had goosebumps. I watched the show every week with my mom until I moved to college, and we talked about it every week after a new episode aired. There will always be a love for this show because of the connection I make with it. It only fell out of the Top 5 recently, and the only fault I could explain with any seriousness is that when you have 300+ episodes, there are bound to be several that fail to live up to the reputation that precedes them.
5. 24 (2001-2014) Jack Bauer is the single greatest TV action hero ever. There is absolutely no equal. The most original premise I've ever seen in TV history delivered. Every. Single. Time. I changed my cellphone ringtone to mimic that of the office phones at the Counter Terrorist Unit, and paid close attention to the handful of times the show used a silent countdown, which followed an important death to a major character. (It occurred 11 times in total over the 8 seasons and the movie "24: Redemption". Season 4 is the only season to never feature a silent clock.) To air a show in real time does force the viewer to see some downtime, and the creators (Robert Cochran and Joel Surnow) admit that, which is why when they bring the show back for a 9th season this May after a 4-year layoff, they are switching to a 12-hour format to cut out that slow stuff. But when the action was moving, it was at such a breakneck speed that you grabbed your seat and held on. Kiefer Sutherland brought the character to life – with heart and soul and tortuous behavior. He could get any terrorist to talk, and his interrogation tactics were as enhanced as they could get. He was an unstoppable force aided by an undying love for his country. As far as a supporting cast, there was no greater sidekick than Chloe O'Brien (played perfectly by Mary Lynn Rajskub). And Dennis Haysbert was brilliant as the greatest TV president ever, David Palmer. Add the stunningly beautiful Anne Wersching as Agent Renee Walker and the gorgeous Elisha Cuthbert as Jack's daughter Kim Bauer and you have a gold mine for success. But the best part of "24" was how frightfully real it COULD be. Thanks to the Patriot Act, we will never know how many potential terrorist attacks are thwarted every day. But there are disturbingly eerie similarities between President Charles Logan and the lies and deceit we've seen in D.C. over the past several years. And that makes us hope that there are agents like Jack as well.
4. The Sopranos (1999-2007) Without Tony Soprano, there would be no Walter White. Without Tony Soprano, there would be no Vic Mackey. He WAS the first great anti-hero; he was the bad guy we rooted FOR. When he would kill someone in cold blood? It's ok; it's Tony and that's what he does. When he would cheat on his wife with his girlfriend or cheat on his girlfriend with his other girlfriend? It's ok; it's Tony and that's what he does. We forgave his illicit behavior because he brought forth the fantasy of the mafia in all of us. He was the boss of the entire Soprano crime family, yet he had trouble controlling his kids. He possessed a quality that allowed us to relate to him. Most of us are not criminals; we have not killed people; we don't make our living on the wrong side of the law. Yet we could all relate to Tony on some level. Maybe it was the frustration he felt at "work." Maybe it was the strife he experienced with his aging mother, in whose eyes he could do nothing right. Maybe it was the excitement he felt taking his daughter to visit colleges or when he worked on his NCAA March Madness pool or when he'd feed the ducks in his pool. "The Sopranos" made us laugh with very dark humor; one of my favorite scenes in the entire 6 seasons was the fresh-off-the-boat enforcer from Italy, Furio Giunta, entering the Korean massage parlor to collect tribute from the owner and smashing his way in with a bat and then shooting the owner in the knee, all while Tony sat in his Suburban smoking a cigar and smiling as he hears the commotion. The series finale, particularly the final scene, brought forth scorn from TV viewers across the nation. Cutting to black during Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" created more controversy than any show in recent memory. Was Tony shot by the man in the Members Only jacket? If so, did he survive? Earlier in Season 6, he sat on a boat with his brother-in-law, Bobby Baccala, discussing what it might be like to get shot in the head. They surmised that "everything just goes black." Unfortunately, with the death of James Gandolfini, we will never get the true answer, as the potential for a movie ended.
3. Breaking Bad (2008-2013) Here is where the ranking will cause the most debate. But if you think about it, in any list, when you get to the Top 3, there are bound to be debates and discussions because if you're talking subjectivity, it is all based on where you place more value. Breaking Bad ran for 5 seasons and 62 episodes. Every single episode was stellar. Every. Single. One. Surely that kind of percentage warrants a higher placement, no? Well, while I do think that a 100% EEP (Excellent Episode Percentage) is a feat that is almost impossible to match in a show that runs more than a season or two, it's not the only factor. Breaking Bad was an amazing idea of a show, written with genius, directed with brilliance, and acted with some of the greatest performances I've ever had the privilege of watching. The final 8 episodes were so impeccably made that people talked about them all week until the next one aired. Walter White (portrayed by multiple Emmy winner Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (multiple Emmy winner Aaron Paul) made us laugh, cry, cringe, and cheer on their journeys from high school chemistry teacher and former student to the largest meth dealers in the Southwest. The supporting cast was equally amazing. Anna Gunn and Dean Norris were riveting. The dynamic between Walter and his DEA agent brother-in-law Hank (Norris) began on one side of the coin and flipped 180 degrees as Hank saw the mild-mannered, geeky, meek man transform into one of the most dangerous men alive. His opinion changed from feeling sorry for Walt to anger and even fear. The music throughout the show was mixed beautifully, with lyrics matching emotions and mood of the scene. The colorful scenery and imagery added to the analysis and foreshadowing. The finale answered questions and provided closure for every character. The final scene and accompanying music is masterful. It can be argued that Breaking Bad was the greatest drama ever, and I wouldn't blame anyone for making that claim. But there were two shows that, for me, rank just a smidge higher.
2. The Shield (2002-2008) While this show is fiction, it was based on the LAPD Rampart Division's anti-gang unit. The opening theme music is an in-your-face mix of guitars that wakes you up and gets you ready to experience something special. Many of the minor story lines were based on real events. The police technical advisor* for the show once told creator Shawn Ryan that "every cop will love this show, even the higher ranks who will publicly say they don't." Vic Mackey and his Strike Team were bad news for anyone committing crime in the Farmington region of LA. He bended some rules, broke others, and simply ignored the ones he didn't like. But his was likable. He was funny, he was sincere, he loved his family and his children, two of which were diagnosed with autism.** This increased need for additional finances may have been what drove Mackey to make underhanded deals, or rob the Armenian Money Train, or have more back-alley relationships with those who should've been behind bars. Ultimately, Vic was about honesty and loyalty. The end of the pilot episode showed very clearly the extent to which he'd go to protect his team. The murder of Detective Crowley would be a lasting plot, culminating in one of the greatest scenes in TV history: Vic Mackey sitting down to confess his crimes in exchange for immunity, looks at the digital recorder and asks, "How much memory does that thing have?"
*The spell-check kept telling me that it should be "adviser" and not "advisor." They are both accepted spellings and there is no difference. But 'adviser' is listed as the primary spelling in most dictionaries because it is an older version. It's also 5x more common in current news publications. However, 'advisor' is commonly used as a job title and is only marginally more common in American and Canadian English than other varieties of English. I just wanted to clear that up for anyone that complains about my spelling.
**As someone who is becoming more involved in the autism community now, thanks to very dear friends with autistic children, the plot of Vic's son being diagnosed was my first "experience" with autism. Seeing him and his wife try to cope at a time when many doctors still didn't truly understand the diagnosis was real, sad and frightening. Here was this tough, strong cop who beat criminals with his fists, burned them on stoves, and threatened them with poisonous snakes, and he's crying behind closed doors because he feels helpless to care for his child.
My reasoning behind placing The Shield above Breaking Bad is largely based on the finale and the final outcome of the main character. **SPOILER ALERT AHEAD** Both Walter White and Vic Mackey were powerful men who were likable and had funny personality traits but were ultimately awful people. They both killed people, and ruined the lives of their friends and families. Both wanted to provide for their families, get away with their crimes, and be happy. By the end of BB, Walt died after being shot by a stray bullet (although he was going to be dead from his cancer anyway), but had set up a trust for his children and family with more money than they could ever spend. He murdered everyone who crossed him, allowed Jesse to go free and in the final scene, died in a meth lab so everyone would know him to be the kingpin of a drug empire. At the end of The Shield, Vic lost his family to witness protection, saw his longtime friend Shane kill himself and his family (after knowing that Shane killed their friend Lem), saw his other friend Ronnie arrested for all the crimes Vic committed after Vic betrayed him, and in the final scene, was shown stripped of all power and glory by being placed at a desk job typing reports instead of being on the streets fighting crime. It was the worst Hell he could envision; it was the perfect punishment. And THAT is the main reason that this show ranks just a hair above BB.
1. LOST (2004-2010) Here we are … Number 1. My favorite drama of all time. LOST was so much more to me than just a show about castaways on a mysterious island. It wasn't just a science fiction show. It was about relationships. It was about not knowing the lives of the people you meet every day. We are all connected and no meeting is by chance. We all have a destiny. The two major conflicts were science vs. faith. But it was more than that. LOST became a way of life for true fans across the world. Each season brought questions, and admittedly, they weren't all answered by the finale. But that's part of why it's so great. In life, we don't always get to learn the answers to every question. We are sometimes left wondering.
LOST introduced us to incredible characters. By the end of the show, every character had their back-story told in detail, and they all had redeeming qualities. The point was, everyone we meet is the way they are because of something that's happened to them. This was actually part of the homily I heard at mass last Sunday. We don't always know the stories of the people we meet daily, but everyone's actions have a reason behind them. That woman in the market who's throwing a fit because her coupon wasn't accepted? Maybe she just learned a friend was very sick. That young cashier at the coffee shop snapping at a customer? Perhaps she just received a letter telling her that she was rejected from her first choice of college. The guy swearing and yelling at a worker in a store? He just buried a family member. That boss who suddenly seems distant and despondent? He just found out he was lied to and cheated on by the love of his life and best friend.
The relationships between the characters on LOST were deep and complex. They all had inner demons that they needed to fight to gain truth and salvation. It's true for all of us. Sure, some of us hide it well, but we all have issues. LOST displayed that in the truest of forms. Jack Shephard – the orthopedic surgeon trying to live up to his alcoholic father's professional reputation, while battling his own self-doubt; Kate Austen – the fugitive being chased by federal agents for killing her abusive step-father after being turned in by her own mother; Charlie Pace – the downtrodden heroin-addicted former music star trying to find his place in life and love; James "Sawyer" Ford – a con man living with the guilt of killing an innocent man on his hunt for the man responsible for his parents' deaths; Sayid Jarrah – the former soldier in the Iraqi Republican Guard who misses the love of his life and lives with the memories of torture and war; Jin and Sun Kwon – a married couple from Korea trying to work through her lies and infidelity while he continues to love her unconditionally; Hugo Reyes – a millionaire who believes that his money has been the source of all the bad things that happen to him; Claire Littleton – the single, pregnant girl sent on the flight by a fortune teller who feared for the child; Boone and Shannon – a man who loves his step-sister and repeatedly saves her from self-destruction; Ben Linus – a mysterious man who lived on the island all his life, neglected by his father after his mother's death, and seeking acceptance from anyone; and John Locke – a paraplegic who miraculously can walk after the plane crash and knows that his destiny (and the Island) is something far greater than he ever imagined. Of course, there are many more characters throughout the 6 seasons, all of whom play an integral part in the story as it progressed.
LOST is my favorite drama of all time because of the emotions I feel every time I watch it. I try to introduce to it as many people as possible, especially if I think they need to re-evaluate their own relationships. If I can, I'll try to watch every episode with them. I've even watched on my own while they watch 4 hours away, because I know that once they start watching, they'll feel better, and making someone I care about feel a little better makes me happier. It sounds silly. It sounds stupid. But LOST has made my life better because I pay more attention to human emotion and behavior. Sure, I can still be a jerk sometimes myself, and I still make jokes if I see someone doing something dumb or making a fool of themselves. But I do that for reasons inside me – the need to make people laugh for acceptance, to make someone I love cheer up a little after a rough day at work or at home, or because I'm having such a bad day that I lash out. It happens. I now try to recognize why others might do it.
We were all meant to do something with our lives. We may never get the answer to what that is. Hopefully, some of us do. But I firmly believe that the people in our lives are there for a reason. It may be to teach us something, or for us to teach them something. And in the end, we are judged by who we are. LOST taught me that.


text:
When I can't sleep or I'm bored, I go to this site called stumbleupon that randomly goes through various websites. If you register, you can check various interests off and most sites will be related to those interests. I thought I'd share with you some of the favorite sites I've found through this process.
Circle the Cat – a silly game that can be quite difficult, but kind of addicting at the same time.
Mini-Putt – an online version of miniature golf
What Happened in My Birth Year – Some interesting facts about the year you were born with a hint of sarcasm.
Grid Game – I'm not sure how this one works, but it was rather fascinating to watch.
Deep Leap – a word game
NameCheck – Will check the available of a particular user name at a variety of sites.
New York City from Above – a bunch NYC photos from above – ever since I've visited New York, I enjoy photos of it.
100+ Google Tricks – Some interesting things you can do with Google searching.
Oh, the places you'll actually go – An interesting twist to Dr. Suess' classic story.
The Book Seer – Offers advice on books to read based on the last book you read.
Journalist Express – A great site that has multiple research portals.
There's a few others that I marked as favorites, but some were just for potential school lesson ideas. I've also found a few cartoons or pictures that I've saved as well.