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LEXINGTON, Va. – The Washington and Lee Department of Athletics held its annual athletics award ceremony at Lee Chapel on Tuesday evening, honoring student-athletes and administrators who have made the 2012-13 school year as successful as any in recent memory.
Headlining the awardees were seniors Luke Heinsohn (Charlottesville, Va. / Covenant) and Lauren Schultz (Hopkinton, Mass. / Hopkinton), who were selected as the "Pres" Brown Outstanding Senior Female and Male Athletes of the Year as voted on by members of the department.
Schultz also received the William D. McHenry Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, while senior Wayde Marsh (Milford, Del. / Salesianum School) was the male recipient of the award. First-years Andrew Franz (Charlotte, N.C. / Ravenscroft) and Emma Swabb (Erie, Pa. / McDowell) were named the Outstanding First-Year Male and Female Athlete Award recipients, and senior Ashley Barnes (Annapolis, Md. / St. Mary's) was presented with the Wink Glasgow Spirit & Sportsmanship Award.
Other awards that were presented on Tuesday included the J.L. Lefty Newell Award for the top student manager/worker and the R.E. Chub Yeakel Award, which is given to a member of the University community who has made outstanding contributions to the Department of Athletics. Senior Mohamad Amine received the Lefty Newell Award, while Jeff Hanna, the University's Executive Director of Communications and Public Affairs received the Chub Yeakel Award. Junior Iva Weidenkeller was presented with the Dick Miller Physical Education Scholarship.
A four-year letterwinner for both the cross country and track & field teams, Schultz was a two-year captain for both sports. In cross country, she was a four-time First Team All-ODAC honoree, was the ODAC Rookie of the Year in 2009 and was named the ODAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in each of her final two seasons. A three-time First Team All-Region honoree, she finished in the Top 7 of the ODAC Championship meet all four years, helping the Generals to a pair of ODAC titles and finishing as the individual runner-up in 2011. As a senior, she finished ninth at the regional meet, and she was a two-time NCAA Championship qualifier. On the track, she earned All-ODAC honors 12 times, including garnering first team laurels four times. Additionally, she was named the ODAC Outdoor Track & Field Rookie of the Year in 2010, the 2013 ODAC Indoor Track & Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and she was tabbed the ODAC Outdoor Co-Athlete of the Year this spring. A four-time ODAC individual champion, she is also part of the school-record holding indoor 4x800 meter relay team (10:20.12). A member of Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa, she will graduate with a degree in geology, and she will attend graduate school at Stanford on a full academic scholarship.
Heinsohn was a four-year letterwinner for the football and lacrosse teams, serving as a team captain for the football team during his senior season. On the gridiron, he played in 39 career games as a running back and placekicker, totaling a school-record 3,517 yards and a school-record 48 touchdowns. His 344 career points are also best in school history, while his 188 points during the 2012 season were the most by any college football player at any level. A three-time All-ODAC honoree, he is a two-time first team selection and was named the 2012 ODAC Offensive Player of the Year. He also earned the Virginia Sports Information Director's Player of the Year Award, received the Willie Lanier Award as the top small college player in the state, and was a finalist for the Gagliardi Award, which honors the top player in Division III. A two-time all-region pick, he also garnered Fourth Team All-America honors from D3Football.com this fall when he helped guide the Generals to their second ODAC title of his career by rushing for 192 yards and four touchdowns, and kicking the game-winning field goal in a 45-42 four overtime win over Hampden-Sydney in the ODAC Championship game. In lacrosse, he played in 59 career games, totaling 57 points on 27 goals and 35 assists. A Third Team All-ODAC honoree as a junior, he scored the game-winning goals in a double-overtime win over top-ranked Salisbury and in an overtime win over Lynchburg in the ODAC Tournament Semifinals this season when he helped lead the Generals to their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2009.
Marsh garnered the McHenry Scholar-Athlete Award following a fruitful career as a member of the swimming and track & field teams. He earned a combined seven letters, four of which were with the swimming team and he served as a team captain for his senior campaign. In the pool, he earned All-Bluegrass Mountain Conference honors as a sophomore and senior, and he was a four-time All-America honoree. Marsh received Honorable Mention All-America honors with the 200 and 400 medley relay teams as a junior and as a senior. He is also a four-time member of the Scholar All-America swimming team. Marsh holds the school record in the 100 backstroke with a time of 50.63, and he is also a member of the record-setting 200 (1:31.82) and 400 (3:24.20) medley relay teams. In track & field, he earned Second Team All-ODAC honors this spring when he finished second in the 800 meters at the ODAC Track & Field Championships. Additionally, he was also part of the winning 4x400 meter relay team at the Commonwealth Duals in 2012. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and serves as the president of Omicron Delta Kappa and Phi Eta Sigma. Marsh will receive degrees in politics and religion, and he will attend Duke Divinity School as a recipient of the Duke Endowment Scholarship.
Franz was named the outstanding first-year male athlete after lettering with the basketball team this winter. He played in 25 games as a small forward, starting 14 contests and finishing second on the team in scoring with 295 total points. His 11.8 points per game tied for the team lead and was the highest scoring average of any rookie player in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Franz also averaged 4.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game, while shooting 46.6 percent from the floor and 38.5 percent from beyond the three-point arc. In conference contests, he averaged 13.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, scoring a season-high 27 points in a win over Emory & Henry. Following the season, he was named the ODAC and Virginia Sports Information Directors College Division Rookie of the Year.
Swabb garnered the outstanding first-year female athlete award after lettering for the swimming team, helping lead the Generals to the ODAC Championship this winter. She was named First Team All-ODAC and received ODAC Rookie of the Year honors after winning two individual events and competing on two winning relay teams at the ODAC Championship meet. She set school records in winning the 200 (2:09.93) and 400 (4:40.25) individual medley events, and she helped the 200 freestyle relay team set a school, ODAC and championship meet record with a time of 1:37.15. The first-year also helped the 400 medley relay team to the conference title, and finished second in the 200 breast stroke.
Barnes was selected for the Wink Glasgow Award after earning four letters with the lacrosse team and three more in field hockey. As a midfielder in field hockey, she played in 49 career games and totaled nine points on four goals and one assist. She is also a three-year member of the National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-Academic team. As an attacker on the lacrosse team, she played in 55 career games and totaled 28 points on 22 goals and six assists. She also tallied 70 draw controls, 19 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers. Barnes helped lead the Generals to four ODAC titles and four trips to the NCAA Division III Tournament, earning Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Association Academic Honor Roll honors as a junior.
Amine was voted the Lefty Newell Award winner after four years as a work study student assistant with the men's lacrosse team, while Hanna received the Chub Yeakel Award for his role in supporting athletics and the sports information office both in his role as communications director and as a game day assistant at various athletic events. Weidenkeller received a scholarship for having completed the University's physical education requirements as a model student.
Numerous additional team awards were given out during the course of the evening. For a complete listing of the Washington and Lee major department and team awards, simply download it here. You can also view and download the event program and insert. Watch the Year in Review Video from the Awards Ceremony by clicking on the screen below.


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My 'Letter of Love' to a Meth Addict
The love and support my family has received over the last few days is truly amazing. Thanks to everyone who has moved our family to the top of their prayer lists.
I know my mom and dad are extremely grateful. It's still very early in the healing process, but my mom said yesterday: "Just knowing so many people care is helping mend my broken heart."
She also said: "This was the first morning in a week where I didn't wake up and immediately think about John killing himself, overdosing or getting arrested."
My mom admitted those thoughts returned before she finished her first cup of coffee, but she said, "it wasn't the first thing I thought about when I opened my eyes."
It's going to be a process – that's one thing we've already realized. My sister wrote a heart-felt blog post, comparing it to a marathon – instead of a sprint. She's right.
I wanted to share a couple other realizations that we've had since Mother's Day:
There's a Traffic Jam on this Wicked, Twisted Road
We've realized that we are not the only family living this nightmare. It's comforting to know we are not alone, but also very tragic.
I had countless number of people share stories of siblings, parents and friends who've battled addiction. I even had a friend share her personal story about beating meth through treatment. She wrote:
"Amazing to think that I was putting 'Drano' in my veins… It was my choice to live… I quit after 1 1/2 yrs of abuse… Today I am challenged, but strong."
I try to focus on the happy stories like that, BUT I know it's not always a "butterfly-and-rainbows" ending. I appreciate the heartbreaking stories as well. They keep me diligent in prayer and make me honor the bottom-line consequences that I laid out for John.
I should probably address that right now…because of my ultimatum, I will no longer refer to John as "my brother." I explained this in the letter I read to him on Mother's Day:
If you choose to refuse our offer of treatment today, you will not be able to use the title "brother" when telling people about me and the relationship we used to have. AND I promise not to call you "brother" when I tell the story about a remarkable man who chose his addiction over his family.
If you can say "no" – 15, 16, 17 times today – you have NO idea what it means to be a brother (or a son, or a husband, or an uncle or a friend for that matter.)
I read these words as tears streamed down my face. When he "respectively" declined, I couldn't help but sob.
My other consequences for John:
– No more contact ("I will delete your number from cell phone today");
– "You will not be my son's Godfather any longer."
– – –
Dirty Laundry & No Regrets
Another thing I've already realized, there are some people that question our actions and motives as a family.
One friend said, "I just don't want you to have any regrets if something bad happens."
My earnest response: "The only thing I'll regret is if I coddle him, enable him to live this destructive lifestyle, and THEN. HE. DIES."

subset: commoncrawl


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Custom Design Watercolor Floral Art Print - Custom Quote Design
Custom Design Printable Art with your own text! Pick ANY Printable art design, Printable quotes, Bible Scripture art print, or nursery art from the coloring page or Printable Art collection and replace it with your own text or favorite quote! Perfect idea for gifts and wall art decor for your home or office~
The number of words limited is 10 max ($15) and there is no customization of the artwork included. If you need an art print longer than 10 words, or if you like to change the artwork, please contact me with the details of your request first to receive a quote. After receiving a quote you may be sent a link here to make a payment for your order, depending on the scope of the customization work and the length of your quote. Please select the package at check out based on the quote you have been given, there are three packages available (A, B, and C).
At check out please provide all the information with your order, your email address and the design you wish to customize, most importantly, the exact text to be included in the design. Please make sure all text is spelled correctly (case sensitive please) as the way you like it displayed.
The default specifications of a digital art print is as following -
Format: JPG & PDF
Size: 8"x 10" / 300 DPI
If you like the art print to be different in size, format, orientation from the pre-made design, please include your preference with the order as well. You will receive one digital file per order, unless otherwise noted.
There is ONE complimentary revision included with this purchase. Please make sure you include all your requests and the correction information with your order at check out. Additional revision is $15 each.
The digital files will be sent to you by email within 24 hours after your payment is processed and cleared. On weekend, please allow 48 hours lead time.
For terms of use, please visit our Store Policies before placing an order. Thank you.


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With many vet bills totaling thousands of dollars, purchasing insurance for your favorite feline or pooch often makes sense, especially since policies are available for less than $10 a month. Did you know, however, that your pet might not be covered while you travel? This is especially true if you travel internationally, but could also be the case if you're traveling in your home country, depending on your policy. If you wan to protect your pet while traveling, here's how to purchase the best insurance plan:
Step One: Check your current policy.
If you currently have insurance for your pet, check your policy to see what, if anything, it covers during travel. Like insurance for the two-legged members of your family, some policies do provide some coverage while traveling, while others don't cover you at all. Until you know what's included in your current plan, though, you can't purchase the best additional plan.
Step Two: Determine how much you can spend with your deductible.
Like human plans, you'll have to pay a deductible for your pet's care before the policy kicks in. A higher deductible means that you'll pay a lower amount upfront, but make sure you can afford it should something happen or your pet could be refused care or you could find yourself having to pay the entire amount instead of just your deductible.
Step Three: Check out what else is covered.
Along with health insurance, your pet travel insurance could cover other things, such as the cost of your pet's flight should your vacation get canceled, costs associated with your pet running away or otherwise getting lost while on vacation, and more. Basically, anything that can be covered in a human's insurance policy could also be covered in a pet insurance policy. Remember, the more "extras" you add, the more expensive your policy will be – but peace of mind may be worth the cost.
Traveling with your pet can be fun, but make sure that your entire family is covered by a great travel insurance policy. That way, all members of your family will have a great time, no matter what happens while you're on vacation.
Allison works with TravelInsurance.org, where you can go to learn more about when and how to purchase travel insurance.


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|Project by Muzhik
|posted 09-10-2015 10:13 AM
|1338 views
|3 times favorited
|4 comments
As I near my own military retirement, I have several friends who are at the same point in their careers. Many are asking me to do their shadow boxes for them. I built this one for an Air Force Russian linguist friend who retired this summer.
It is built of genuine mahogany and curly maple. The inlays are curly maple or bloodwood. The bottom right corner is a map of the Russian mainland. That one was by far the most challenging. The top left is a Su-27 FLANKER. Bottom left is the new (-ish) Air Force insignia, and the top right is Master Sergeant (MSgt) rank insignia. This one was done through carving out the dark part and filling in the voids with epoxy that was colored with walnut sawdust. The lines aren't perfect and crisp, but I'm happy with how it came out.
The flag for this one is NOT the member's retirement flag. Instead, he wanted his father's burial flag placed inside. Sadly, he lost his father at a young age, long before he joined the Air Force. I'm sure dad would be proud of his son's stellar career!
I'm currently working on two shadow boxes that I'm pretty excited to do. One will be in the shape of the Air Force insignia (some examples of this concept posted here by others before). The other will be based on the Army's 82nd Airborne Division insignia. They are for a couple (also friends) who are both retiring soon. There's a chance his may be presented at the White House! I'm working some copper and brass into those two. I'll be sure to post them when they're done.
Here's my rough sketchup drawing of the plan:
4 comments so far
#1 posted 09-10-2015 05:05 PM
Very nice looking. Did you use glass or plexi?
#2 posted 09-10-2015 08:41 PM
I prefer not to use plexi. Consequently, I also prefer not to ship :)
#3 posted 02-24-2016 02:23 PM
You build beautiful shadowboxes. I am getting ready to build my first shadowbox for my commander's retirement and I was hoping you could answer a few questions about your process, or point me to a good reference. My biggest question has to do with incorporating the glass. I can see from your pictures that it looks like you construct the box and face frame separately and then glue them together. Do you finish both the box and the frame before this (except for the edges to be glued together)? Do you ever have any problems with glue squeeze out getting on the glass? Is there a good way to prevent this (I am assuming just use very little glue, just wondering if you had any tips as it related to shadowbox construction)? Thanks for posting all these beautiful projects, they are great inspiration!
-- Justin, California
#4 posted 05-11-2016 11:21 AM
Jaydee829, I apologize for my extremely delayed response!
I route a rabbet in the backside of the face frame before I glue it to the box case (and square up the corners with a chisel). I then either make a few small blocks to overhang the glass and screw them to the backside of the face frame or simply use turn buttons to hold the glass in.
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There's a booking at the Velvet Pony for one of the best singers in Brevoy. Her name is Anastasia Ilota. Also booked for that night is the Sapphire Imp acting troupe. There's a bit of a kerfuffle. Svetlana is mortified. Mariah gets lippy. The people are worried how this will make Kamedon look outside the kingdom. The kingdom's rep is on the line. Ildred can not bring himself…to give a crap. We bring in the manager of the Velvet Pony, Joser Rutledge. He says it was it's the fault of an employee at the Velvet Pony. Ildred still does not care.
We make the plan to build an arena or theater and decide to invite them both to the inaugural celebration. We talk to the manager of the Sapphire Imp. His name is "Peg" Stromfield. He has a peg leg. He wears a hat with a feather in it and a fluffy shirt. Eluiseid introduces us to him and aplogizes on behalf of the Velvet Pony for their carelessness. The Sapphire Imp will be compensated for their time regardless of them performing or not. He tells him we're planning on building a performance venue and that we're going to throw a party on Founding Day, next month. The Sapphire Imp is going to perform in the Town Hall free for the people, since they've been paid already. Ildred makes it a point to stop by the Town Hall during this week.
We bring Anastasia Ilota in to talk to her. "The Velvet Pony is your venue." "We will be opening a larger stage." She accepts. She tells us that word of this venue (Velvet Pony) is spreading. In some places the profession (prostitution) is not publicly looked upon very well. This venue has become a prestigious place for the arts and bring families as well as making mainstream the needs of people is fantastic.
Kingdom Building Phase
Svetlana calls a Stormlord meeting, all to be in attendance. She would like to offer the slate she's come up with for noble titles:
Hanvaki house
Garess house
House of Mercy and Rosa
The Houtens
Sandalmare (the Old Beldame)
Stu the Grey
The Houtens, from Taldor. Old Man Houten's ancestors were in this land way back in the day to try and tame it. All but Belladonna and Galadrianna are confirmed. Svetlana writes up letters of invitation.
Day before the festival, Belladonna and Eluiseid meet. They come to terms concerning her joining his diplomatic corps.
Day of the festival. The opening of the amphitheater. People do shows, the crowds love it. The evening comes, torches and lanterns lit, then they dim. Light in the middle of the stage, Anastasia is standing there amidst colors, lights, and music. Then the Sapphire Imp troupe starts to perform to Anastasia's music. They announce that they'll be touring together as one act. After the performance Jhod comes up to Ildred. One of his people performed a ceremony earlier this evening. Khamontep and Belladonna got married.
Another Kingdom Phase


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Veteran news anchor and Greatest Generation chronicler Brokaw (The Time of Our Lives, 2011, etc.) turns inward to report on his battle with cancer.
It began with a constantly aching back—nothing out of the ordinary for a hard-riding septuagenarian who "attributed it to long plane rides and an active lifestyle." Not only that, writes the author in this wryly good-natured memoir, but he also had a kind of baseless confidence that, even entering his mid-70s, he was untouchable, full of "the false sense of assurance of someone who'd had a long, uninterrupted run of personal and professional good fortune." All that comes crashing down early on in his book, when his doctor reads aloud a column of numbers, remarks on a spike in the protein cells, and then calmly announces that he has a malignancy—and worse, multiple myeloma, which can be treated but, so far, not cured. Given a prognosis of five or more years before the Grim Reaper comes knocking, Brokaw looks back on a long career in the news, with a name-dropped cast of characters, a surprising number of whom suffered or have suffered from terrible illness. In that light, the author does not incline to self-pity, taking instead an almost scholarly interest in his disease and approvingly quoting his friend and contemporary Jim Harrison, who remarks, "As I aged, I expected to think about death far more than I do." Death is a reality here, to be sure, and Brokaw is fascinated by all its trappings, writing of MRIs and blood tests and insufferable doctors ("The Sloan specialist in charge of structural issues was a forty-three-year-old with a big résumé, a brusque style, and apparently not much interest in face-to-face consultation") and all the rest.
Brokaw's account lacks the depth and fire of Christopher Hitchens' Mortality (2013), but it belongs on the same shelf as a wise and oddly comforting look at the toughest news of all.


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A routine House Judiciary Committee report backing the Defense of Marriage Act helped sway Congress in its favor 17 years ago. But on Wednesday, that same report drew gasps when Justice Elena Kagan read key excerpts.
"Congress decided to 'reflect and honor a collective moral judgment' and to express 'moral disapproval of homosexuality,' " Kagan said, provoking an audible reaction from the audience.
It was a dramatic moment in the closely watched deliberations over a key section of the Defense of Marriage Act, which bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex unions. But it was also a moment that underscored how drastically the tenor of the debate over gay marriage and homosexuality has changed since then, not only in public opinion but in official circles in Washington.
Congress overwhelmingly supported the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, even though same-sex marriage was not yet legal anywhere in the United States. As recently as the 2000s, it was viewed as politically safer for most candidates to oppose same-sex marriage than to support it.
The picture today is notably different.
Last year, President Obama became the first sitting president to endorse same-sex marriage, a decision that did not thwart his re-election. After consistently losing at the ballot box, gay-marriage advocates logged their first referendum victories in November when voters supported it in Maine, Maryland and Washington. More recently, a cascade of elected officials have announced their support for same-sex unions, including some senators from conservative states such as North Carolina and Missouri.
When DOMA was under consideration, Congress asked the Justice Department three times if it was constitutional, Paul Clement, the lawyer arguing in favor of the law, told the justices Wednesday. All three times, the answer Congress received was yes.
But now, Obama's Justice Department has deemed DOMA unconstitutional and has taken the unusual step of declining to defend it in court. And one of the chief critics of the law to emerge recently is Bill Clinton, the very president who signed it into law.
Not surprisingly, the shift has moved in tandem with public opinion.
A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll found that support for legal gay marriage has hit an all-time high at 58 percent, up 21 points over the last decade alone.
The reason behind that shift came up during Wednesday's hearing. Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. suggested that it was at least partly the result of a long-term lobbying campaign by proponents.
"As far as I can tell, political figures are falling over themselves to endorse your side of the case," he said to Roberta Kaplan, the lawyer arguing against DOMA.
Kaplan countered that gays historically have not had much political power. And she argued that the change "comes from a moral understanding today that gay people are no different, and that gay married couples' relationships are not significantly different from the relationships of straight married people."
As the case has moved through the courts, gay-rights activists have repeatedly invoked the 1996 House judiciary report to show that "the reason it was passed was to discriminate against gays and lesbians," said Brian Moulton, legal director for the Human Rights Campaign, a gay-advocacy group.
In response to Kagan, Clement allowed that "a couple of legislators may have had an improper motive."
He said there were other reasons, including "democratic self-governance," that were also cited and that should justify upholding the law.
Roberts appeared skeptical that prejudice played a major role. "That was the view of the 84 senators who voted in favor of it and the president who signed it?" he asked Solicitor General Anthony Verrilli. "They were motivated by animus?"
No, Verrilli replied. "But whatever the explanation, whether it's animus, whether it's that more subtle, more unthinking … kind of discrimination, (DOMA) is discrimination," he said.
On the Road Review: Auto News and Comments
Are we done here? Nope. Cranky Congress still has work to do
Chris Christie pulls out of running for Trump's chief of staff
Chaney rejoins Scott Simons Architects; Wilschutz named an associate
Wisconsin's Scott Walker signs sweeping lame-duck bills, weakening incoming governor


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The series of 14 trading cards features male and female UMaine student-athletes who play Division I sports at the state's flagship university. Members of the Bangor and UMaine police departments will distribute the cards at community events, including university athletic games at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor and on campus.
Youngsters can collect five cards and bring them to one of the two police departments for a free Kids 'n' Kops T-shirt and two tickets to a UMaine basketball game.
The goal, say the organizers, is to foster positive interactions between police officers and youths, and reinforce important messages about health and well-being.
"We are pleased to be part of a program that promotes an active lifestyle for the youngsters in our community by using student-athletes as an example of hard work and healthy choices," says Bangor Police Chief Mark Hathaway in the release. "We appreciate our partnership with UMaine and thank the UMaine student-athletes for their participation."
"We want to be proactive in promoting quality goals for healthy living to young people, many of whom we hope will be future UMaine Black Bears," said UMaine Police Chief Roland LaCroix in the release. "It's important that youths know that police officers can be helpful resources and UMaine student-athletes are role models they can look up to."
From 1986 to 1988, a similar program called Kids & Kops, spearheaded by then-UMaine men's basketball coach and UMaine alumnus Skip Chappelle, featured UMaine and other area law enforcement officials distributing trading cards as part of an anti-drug campaign. Those trading cards also featured UMaine student-athletes, several of whom went on to professional sports careers.
"We believe in the long-term value of a program that brings together the youth of our community and the police," said Chappelle, in the release, who is helping coordinate this campaign with another UMaine alumnus — Irv Marsters, owner of Bangor Letter Shop. "This program also communicates the messages of health and well-being through sports."
Maine Savings Federal Credit Union is a corporate sponsor of this year's Kids 'n' Kops campaign.


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Welcome to my Blog!
January 8, 2018
Happy New Year! As the New Year begins, inventory remains low - very low! The total homes for sale in Santa Clara County is 366 and 179 in San Mateo County. There will be more inventory in the Spring so no one should give up. The housing market is fluid - always changing. Right now, there are a couple outstanding influences that should not be overlooked:
- TAXES - The combination of capital gains and state taxes carve a significant dent in the proceeds and many Seniors feel 'trapped' by the huge gains and consequential loss to their net worth. They are concerned about their offspring being able to afford to live as they did so they stay in the home as long as they can.
- PROPERTY TAXES - In 2017, only 11 counties in California signed up for Proposition 90 whereby an individual could transfer their current taxes as long as their purchase was equal to or less than the sale price of the home they sold. This limitation could be hindering the livelihood and happiness of Seniors who want to relocate near family members. The California Association of Realtors has proposed an adjustment to this Proposition whic would allow a transference of tax equal to the sale price of their home anywhere in the state with a reassessment applied only to the portion that exceeds their sale amount, which is then added to their taxes. (eg. Home sale price in Santa Clara $1250000 with current taxes at $5000. Home purchase price in Sonoma County $1600000. Taxes are $5000 plus the assessed value for $350000 in Sonoma county. The resulting taxes are significantly less than the $18,000 on a full assessment of the purchase in Sonoma County. This is now a 'proposal by the C.A.R.' as a measure to ease the tax burden to Seniors, allow them more optins and ease the housing crisis hopefully.
- LIMITED OPTIONS IN REPLACEMENT PROPERTIES - "Where do I go?" The housing shortage extends beyond California. I am hearing of multiple offers from colleagues in other parts of the Country. Overbids in Wisconsin? Multiple offers in Ohio? I heard of this in an elevator in Chicago at the NAR Conference. The Broker shook his head, "Can you believe they paid $25,000 over the list price!". I just shook my head, "Amaaazing!".
November 28, 2017
As my year as President comes to an end, I have time to reflect on some of the wonderful experiences of representing the membership of Silicon Valley Association of Realtors (SILVAR). I have had the honor of travelling to Sacramento, Washington, D.C. and the C.A.R. meetings to represent our group and the interests of homeowners in the Silicon Valley area. If there is one 'most impressive' take-away, it is the strength of the Realtor lobby and the integrity of its purpose. The structure, organization and intellect of the supporting group is amazing. Our briefing paperwork, the structured agenda and the attention from Congress in both Capitols is overwhelming. I am so proud to be affiliated with this group of people. And the Realtors and Brokers are all volunteers. Thank you to all who supported me and allowed me this great honor.
November 14, 2017
The following is a message from our President, Mike Hulme. Upon learning the devastating impact of the wildfires in Northern California, Alain Pinel Realtors extended a challenge to our agents throughout the company that they would match the first $50,000 donated to the fund! See below the stunning results of the campaign.
Dear Colleagues,
The last several weeks have proved a tremendous challenge for our friends and neighbors in Napa, Sonoma, and elsewhere in California as fires ravaged homes and communities. We've been saddened by the tragic loss of life and now face the hard realities of rebuilding our neighborhoods and putting the lives of thousands of Californians back together.
Despite the devastation, however, I am hopeful. I'm hopeful because in the worst of times I've seen the spirit of selflessness and support from strangers, friends, neighbors, and the agents of Alain Pinel Realtors. In particular, I have been awed by your advocacy and generosity through The North Bay Fire Relief Fund we created – and elsewhere – to help others and to restore our communities.
Due to your compassion, hard work, and selflessness, this APR fundraiser met our donation goals. In less than two weeks, you raised $53,490. And all of us at APR are thrilled to meet our company pledge to match dollar-for-dollar the first $50,000 you raised. In a few days, we will present a check for $103,490 to the Redwood Credit Union Community Fund to help victims of the fires.
Although there's a long road ahead for all affected by this tragedy, the support from you, the dedicated agents responsible for APR's successes, will make a huge difference helping our neighbors rebuild. I want to thank you all for your dedication to our community and for answering the call to help our neighbors in the North Bay. I could not be more proud of the APR family.
Michael Hulme
Alain Pinel Realtors®
October 2, 2017
Tax reform proposal will shrink middle class and hurt homeownership
An outline for comprehensive tax reform released by a group of legislators and administration leaders known as the "Big Six," if enacted, could lead to a tax on homeownership for millions of Americans, according to the National Association of Realtors. The plan is opposed by the national Realtor group, the California Association of Realtors, and real estate industry.
The proposed plan doubles the standard deduction and eliminates all personal deductions except the mortgage interest deduction and the deduction for charitable contributions. The plan eliminates the deduction for state and local taxes.
NAR estimates this one-two punch will deliver a crippling blow to middle class homeowners by removing economic incentives for homeownership and raising taxes by an average of $851. By doubling the standard deduction, the mortgage interest deduction would only be available to the top 5 percent of taxpayers.
"This proposal recommends a backdoor elimination of the mortgage interest deduction for all but the top 5 percent who would still itemize their deductions. When combined with the elimination of the state and local tax deduction, these efforts represent a tax increase on millions of middle-class homeowners," said Bill Brown, president of the national Realtor group.
In California, the tax plan would eliminate the incentive for people to buy homes, shrink the middle class, and raise taxes on hundreds of thousands of homeowners. According to the state Realtor association, the average California homebuyer could end up paying $3,000 more a year in taxes under today's proposal.
"Homeownership has and continues to be the best way for families to grow wealth and increase the middle class. Congress should look at ways to incentivize and increase homeownership rates, not increase taxes on families wanting to buy a home," said Geoff McIntosh, president of the state Realtor group.
Denise Welsh, president of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors, also registered Realtor concerns on what the tax plan would do for homeownership. "The plan would nullify the incentive to purchase a home, bring down home values across the country, and hurt the American dream of homeownership."
Welsh noted numerous studies have shown the value Americans place in homeownership and its tangible social benefits. "Owning a home has had long-standing government support in this country," said Welsh. "Historically, lawmakers have understood the value of homeownership in fostering communities, creating social stability, and building wealth over the long term."
Homeownership helps lower community crime rates and provides more neighborhood stability. Homeowners' involvement in community quality-of-life issues helps prevent crime, improve childhood education and support neighborhood upkeep.
"For more than 100 years, Realtors have helped people become homeowners," said Welsh. "Families need a place to call home, and the pride and community engagement that comes with homeownership continues to stand the test of time. Purchasing a home is an investment in the community. People have greater stake in what happens in their local area when they own rather than rent. Families and neighborhoods build lifelong bonds that create strong foundations for future generations."
September25, 2017
This is an interesting article about the strategy for listing your home and obtaining the highest price. Every homeowner wants to make sure they maximize their financial reward when selling their home. But how do you guarantee that you receive maximum value for your house? Here are two keys to ensure that you get the highest price possible.
July 16, 2017
One of the biggest challenges we used to face was working with the appraisers - ensuring they understood the value of the home we were selling and the unique amenities that supported the purchase price. All of that changed in 2010 with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. With the passage of that Act, the Appraisal Management Companies (AMC) were formed to ensure there was no 'undue influence' by Realtors or lenders in the appraisal process. So, the common procedure by most lenders is to employ this third party, the AMC, to hire an appraiser for evaluation for the loan. Initially, an agent didn't know who would end up appraising the property or whether they had any knowledge of that local market. An appraiser from santa Barbara wouldd be called to value something in Burlingame! C.A.R. fought to have legislation passed that would require some local experience and proximity guidelines. It helped but now we face a different challenge - the "Cost per Sq. Ft. vs. Quality per Sq. Ft.".
In the past 7 years, many of the distressed properties and older homes that have traded hands in the Santa Clara County have been remodeled either by homeowners or contractors who have made a business of 'flipping homes'. Some of the properties currently on the market are virtually 'new' by the standards of professional workmanship and amenities required in today's tech-driven world. In the older, established neighborhoods, these are compared to some of the shoddy remodels and expansions that include non-permitted electrical, decaying plumbing and tasteless interior designs. A web-based evaluation (such as Zillow, Redfin) will misrepresent the true value of a home with calculations based on statistics and data. Homes are still bought primarily on emotion and with subjective criteria unique to that individual buyer.
Recently, someone said to me, "Realtors hate Zillow because it' going to take away your job"! I responded, "Actually, companies like Zillow make my job more important!". Why? Because when the appraiser shows up to view the home, I have a list of notes on all the homes that have sold recently in that area with notations on the home, the condition and the 'obscure'!!
Have a great day!
July 21. 2017
News in and around Los Altos:
The city-wide pavement improvement projects are about to begin so i have attached the schedule posted by the city


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Roombots - robots transform into furniture (w/video)
EPFL scientists from the Biorobotics Laboratory (BIOROB) have developed small robotic modules that can change their shape to create reconfigurable furniture.
May 21st, 2014Read more
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EPFL scientists from the Biorobotics Laboratory (BIOROB) have developed small robotic modules that can change their shape to create reconfigurable furniture.
May 21st, 2014Read more
A recent study into the biomechanics of the necks of ants - a common insect that can amazingly lift objects many times heavier than its own body - might unlock one of nature?s little mysteries and, quite possibly, open the door to advancements in robotic engineering.
May 20th, 2014Read more
By designing assembly-line machines so they can perform on command - not unlike robots that can follow verbal instructions - factories can meet the rapidly changing needs of consumers and industrial customers, while developing high-quality products at lower costs.
May 20th, 2014Read more
For most paraplegic patients, being able to walk again remains a dream. The HAL robot suit can help them regain a certain degree of mobility and activity.
May 19th, 2014Read more
Researchers have discovered how octopuses avoid getting tangled up in themselves. The scientists hope their findings will lead to new classes of robots and control systems.
May 19th, 2014Read more
Constructions that use not only digital but also analog compact and imprecise circuits are more suitable for building artificial nervous systems, rather than arrangements with only digital or precise but power-demanding analog electronic circuits.
May 16th, 2014Read more
To date, each robot constructed needs to be programmed, or go through its own learning process from scratch. New robots are like newborn babies who need the humans creating them to teach them everything, or learn gradually themselves. However, this could all change. Thanks to ROBOEARTH, robots will soon be able to share knowledge with their peers almost instantly instead of 'living' in a bubble.
May 13th, 2014Read more
Many of us probably picture robots as roughly human-shaped or perhaps as little more than mobile computers. But one EU-funded project is taking inspiration from the smart, efficient strategies of plants in order to develop a new generation of robots and ICT technologies, such as sensing or distributed adaptive intelligence.
May 13th, 2014Read more
DARPA launched the Revolutionizing Prosthetics program with a radical goal: gain U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for an advanced electromechanical prosthetic upper limb with near-natural control that enhances independence and improves quality of life for amputees. Today, less than eight years after the effort was launched, that dream is a reality; the FDA approved the DEKA Arm System.
May 13th, 2014Read more
Robot developed by EPFL researchers is capable of reacting on the spot and grasping objects with complex shapes and trajectories in less than five-hundredths of a second.
May 12th, 2014Read more
Simulated ski run challenges mechanical engineering students to produce a wide array of robots.
May 12th, 2014Read more
Researchers launch multi-year project to develop robots that can make moral decisions.
May 9th, 2014Read more
To date, no robotics scientist has been able to create ultra-flexible tactile skin. Either the sensor has been too big or the electronics not sufficiently flexible. Now, however, researchers believe they have found a way of incorporating electronics and sensors on bendable silicon-based surfaces that will be 50 micrometers thick.
May 6th, 2014Read more
The fund will invest in promising auto tech and local services companies in collaboration with HERE, a Nokia company, to grow the ecosystem around HERE's mapping and location products and services.
May 6th, 2014Read more
Scientists are working with a team of autism experts and robotics designers at the company Robokind to create Robots4Autism. This program uses an artificially intelligent robot with a full range of facial expressions to interact with children who have ASD.
May 2nd, 2014Read more
Set to be launched on May 6th on the edX platform, the new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) of the Technische Universität München (TUM) will teach participants how to navigate these convenient aircraft. The 8-week 'Autonomous Navigation for Flying Robots' course consists of weekly presentations of learning videos, while participants themselves can complete interactive practice exercises with a quadrotor.
May 2nd, 2014Read more


text: So at work I make little chocolate cakes in ramekins,Im having difficulties getting my egg whites to the perfect soft peak. Basically you take the chocolate mixture and then fold it into the soft peak egg whites and then bake them....my cake arent rising at all......so heres the situation and whats bringing me here...i made angel food cake and i brought egg whites up to 110 degrees while whipping them to a stiff peak,folded the flour and sugar into them,baked them and what do you know.....they rise!! keep in mind,while whipping the whites for the angel food cake,im doing it by hand and the chocolate cake im doing at work with a stand mixture and whipping the whites without heat......whats going here?hopefully someone is following what i just explained


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Davies, Robertson
Davies's three novel trilogies deal with life in fictional Ontario villages. The Salterton Trilogy— Tempest-Tost (1951), Leaven of Malice (1954), and A Mixture of Frailties (1958)—is a satiric romance that explores Canadian life and culture. The Deptford Trilogy— Fifth Business (1970), The Manticore (1972), and World of Wonders (1975)—is a richly plotted study of three individuals' journeys to self-discovery that mingles humor, mystery, magic, grotesqueries, and the Jungian theory of archetypes. Later novels include his third trilogy, the Cornish— The Rebel Angels (1981), Bred in the Bone (1985), and The Lyre of Orpheus (1989), as well as The Cunning Man (1995).
See For Your Eye Alone: Letters, 1976–1996 (2001), ed. by J. S. Grant biography by J. S. Grant (1978, 1994) studies by E. Buitenhuis (1972), P. A. Morley (1977), J. Mills (1984), S. Stone-Blackburn (1985), and M. Peterman (1986).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: English Canadian Literature: Biographies
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The timing could not have been better from a mental point of view; my sweet little Djuna had only just passed away and I was still very sad. From a financial point of view, however, it was not so good. It was another $300.00 added to my credit card bill after all. But, it was so nice to retreat from the world for a while and leave all my troubles at home.
Bryan drove me out to Wasilla Thursday night after work. I had packed everything up the day before so I was ready to go almost as soon as I got home from work. It was hard leaving my Thing, however – she is not taking Djuna's death very well at all. Bryan offered to stay at my house to keep her company while I was gone, so I felt better about that.
Once we got to the Pioneer Ridge Bed & Breakfast, Bryan helped me haul everything in and get set up in my room and at my table. He got the grand tour of the place since he'd never been there – and then headed on back home, leaving me to my crafting overdose.
There were only 5 people there that early, and thankfully my friend Tammy was one of those people. She and I sat across from each other so we could chat while doing our craft work; she does actual scrapbooking while I make my cards. Friday afternoon saw most everybody else arriving, bringing the total attendance up to around 12 people (give or take a few who came and went).
My typical day at a scrapbooking retreat is: I get up at 6 and make my first cup of tea and then sit down at my table and start crafting. Eventually everybody else wanders in and joins me, but since they typically don't go to bed until the wee hours of the morning, it's usually a bit later. Lunch is typically served around noon, which I eat at my table. We all continue to do our crafting while gossiping about whatever comes to mind and listing to music. Dinner is served around 6:00 or so, which I eat at my table while others actually gather at a communal dinner table away from their projects. Eventually, around 10:00, I head on back to my room to go to bed, only to repeat the process the next day. Once in a while somebody suggests a walk outside to stretch our legs, but for the most part I spend my time making cards. And I love it!
This time, my total card count came to 42. I came home with only 32 however, since I actually sold 10 of them there at the retreat.


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After eight years as president, Barack Obama gave an emotional farewell address to the nation in Chicago this week.
"So just as we as citizens must remain vigilant against external aggression, we must guard against a weakening of the values that make us who we are," he said.
"And that's why for the past eight years I've worked to put the fight against terrorism on a firmer legal footing. That's why we've ended torture, worked to close Gitmo, reformed our laws governing surveillance to protect privacy and civil liberties."
Obama ended the speech with a reference to his famous 2008 campaign slogan as he told the crowd: "Yes we can. Yes we did. Yes we can."
It was moving – but, obviously, like all victory and celebratory speeches, overlooked massive truths.
Obama worked to close Gitmo, but he wasn't able to close it.
He ended torture, but failed to hold accountable those who initiated and carried out the torture program.
A lot of attention is being paid to President-elect Donald Trump's diabolical immigration plans. However, little to no media coverage is being given to the fact that millions of immigrants were deported under Obama's watch.
Let's revisit the parts of Obama's troubled legacy that he is leaving behind for his successor, a dangerous demagogue, who could make it even worse.
A lot of people are dreading the kind of immigration policies Donald Trump is planning to bring to the White House.
The president-elect has, on multiple occasions, called for more stringent plans for immigration contrary to Obama's alleged soft policies.
But was the Obama administration really as lenient with immigrants as people believe?
Not really.
During his tenure Obama deported nearly 2.5 million immigrants, thanks to the deportation machine developed by the Bush and Obama administrations.
Of the many programs Obama used to deport people, the Guardian notes, "Secure Communities (now known as the Priority Enforcement Program) made local arrests the key entry point to a deportation pipeline that removed 2.5 million from the country."
Obama finally curbed the measures, but only after administering mass deportations.
NSA Surveillance:
Massive outrage sparked across the world in 2013 following the revelation of the "top secret" court orders by Verizon Wireless which confirmed all speculations regarding the Obama administration collecting phone records of U.S. citizens.
Later, after NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowden, released documents revealing more widespread spying programs,
The New York Times even published a scathing editorial following the scandal citing the Obama administration had lost all credibility.
Obama defended his government's actions by saying the measures had long been a part of America's counterterrorism efforts. However, the fact that Obama continued to use and expand those measures during his tenure raised questions on his credibility.
Also, these mass surveillance programs under a leader like Trump, who once invited foreign governments to hack a U.S. national, could spell (a national) disaster.
Guantanamo Bay Detention Centre:
Closing down the detention prison in Guantanamo Bay was one of Obama's early campaign promises. It was a significant and much-needed break with the George W. Bush-Dick Cheney era.
But despite Obama's promises to close down the facility, he failed to deliver.
Although hundreds of prisoners taken in the detention centre during the war on terror, many of them have been either been released or transferred to other countries. As of Jan. 5, 2017, only 55 prisoners remain with no signs of the centre being shut down.
And it's scary because the incoming president is someone who told the media that he would be "fine" with U.S. citizens accused of terrorism to be tried in Gitmo. He is also looking forward to restocking it.
In October, HBO host John Oliver made a poignant statement about Gitmo. If Obama can't close the prison, he should move it to the U.S. because, Oliver noted, "If we don't shut it down, future President Trump will throw whoever he wants in Guantanamo."
Sure, Obama had banned the CIA's controversial detention and torture techniques via executive order in 2009. However, a future president could easily overturn that, as California Democratic Dianne Feinstein noted in 2015.
(And here's a reminder, Obama is about to be succeeded by someone who wants to bring waterboarding back.)
The American military police personnel committed mass human rights violations against the detainees that included physical and sexual abuse, torture, rape and even murder during the war on terror in the name of counterterrorism.
The disturbing details of the torture program were revealed in 500-page summary of the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on the CIA's post-9/11 torture program.
Despite the report and tangible repercussions of the U.S. torture program (in the Middle East in the form of insurgency), Obama failed to hold accountable those who enforced it, including high-profile figures like former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
Granted, it was difficult to prosecute some of these people, but Obama failed to even condemn them.
Drone Strikes:
Obama may be a Nobel Peace Prize winner but his tenure is fraught with war with the highlight being his controversial drone program.
Human rights organizations have said that the United States carried out unlawful killings in countries like Pakistan and Yemen through drone attacks, some of which could even be equal to war crimes.
In July 2016, he claimed U.S. drones strikes killed up to 116 civilians between January 2009 and the end of 2015 in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya
But it was just "a fraction of the 380 to 801 civilian casualty range," recorded by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
Just in 2016, the U.S. dropped 26,171 bombs in seven majority-Muslim countries, namely Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan, according to an analysis by the Council of Foreign Relations.
That's equal to an average of 72 bombs every day or three an hour.
The U.S. dropped an average of 72 bombs every day — the equivalent of three an hour — in 2016 #OutOfSight #OutOfMind https://t.co/r68nFEiPWa— Ahmed Shihab-Eldin (@ASE) January 10, 2017
Imagine what Trump would do to this number.
Banner / Thumbnail Credit : Reuters


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October 5 / Spinnaker Bay
Relocating from Minnesota to the water-front community of Spinnaker Bay in Long Beach, buyers purchased a home built in the 1980's. Now, nearly 30 years later the house needed renovations.
The Design/Build Team of October 5, provided support with design, materials selection, and budgeting. Design/build was the ideal approach; it shortened construction time, provided a well-defined understanding of costs, and a single point of responsibility.
The project featured a redesigned kitchen and three bathrooms.
New dual-glazed windows, Italian plank-flooring, new doors, carpeting and paint completed the project.
Spinnaker Bay Residential Remodel Project Video
Stainless steel applicances compliment the contemporary look. Abalone glass tile was selected for the backsplash. It's cool blue-steel tone marries the marine environement with the interior palette. Cast glass knobs and drawer pulls, LED lights, and delicate crystal pendants illuminate this sophisticated remodel.
During construction the homeowners returned to their Minnesota Lake home to spend a relaxing summer with family.
October 5 Fine Home Builders are recognized as expert craftsmen. We accept and deliver nothing less than perfection. "They don't build houses or residences; they build family traditions," is how clients describe our approach.
Let us build your next tradition!


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I´m currently staying in Santiago, and loving it, but I need to get a bus from here to Buenos Aires in about a weeks time. I arrived by bus in Santiago from Lima (60 hours!!!!) and that was with Ormeño, but although the company itself were very good the bus was old and very uncomfortable.
Any recommendations would be appreciated.
Many Thanks
P.S Also if anybody is thinking about taking that trip around the same time, it would be great to have some company!


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Editor's note: As part of NFL's Greatest Quarterback, fans will decide the best QB in each team's history.
Terry Bradshaw: Bradshaw and Joe Montana are the only quarterbacks in NFL history with four Super Bowl rings. Bradshaw led his 1970s Steelers to Super Bowls IX, X, XIII and XIV, winning them all.
He was the No. 1 overall pick out of Louisiana Tech in 1970, and he shared the starting role in his first season with Terry Hanratty. Bradshaw was 107-51 in his 14-year career with Pittsburgh. In 19 career postseason games, Bradshaw had 3,833 yards, 30 touchdowns and 26 interceptions.
Neil O'Donnell: O'Donnell is the only Steelers quarterback not named Terry Bradshaw or Ben Roethlisberger to lead the Steelers to the Super Bowl. The Steelers lost to the Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX 27-17.
O'Donnell went 28-for-49 with 239 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions in that game. He signed with the Jets following the Super Bowl.
O'Donnell led the Steelers to the playoffs in all four seasons in which he was the primary starter. He was named to the Pro Bowl in 1992 when he completed 59.1 percent of his passes with 2,283 yards and 13 touchdowns in 12 games.
Kordell Stewart: The man they call "Slash" was drafted No. 60 overall in the 1995 draft. Stewart started his career mostly as a wide receiver, catching 41 passes for 658 yards and five touchdowns early in his career.
He's one of the best running quarterbacks in NFL history, gaining 2,874 yards and 38 touchdowns in his 11-year career. Stewart led the Steelers to the playoffs in 1997 and 2001, where he struggled, completing just 48.6 percent of his passes while throwing two touchdowns to eight interceptions. Stewart was replaced as Pittsburgh's starting quarterback by Tommy Maddox after struggling to start the 2002 season.
Ben Roethlisberger: Roethlisberger has been one of the toughest players in the NFL during his nine-year career. He has led his team to the playoffs in six of those seasons, winning Super Bowl XL and XLIII and losing Super Bowl XLV to the Packers.
"Big Ben" went 13-0 as a rookie in 2004, and has been one of the most consistent quarterbacks in the NFL during his career. The Steelers are 87-39 with Roethlisberger under center. Roethlisberger may not get the same honors as his peers like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers, but he's truly an "elite" quarterback due to his clutch play and impressive postseason resume.
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If you do not have an online store I can create a custom OOAK template to match your store. What is OOAK: it will not be redone for anyone else.
- One image for header is included
- One from itstock.com or one you already have
- Solid background
The cost is $ 95.00 and the turn around time is about 48-72 hours.
Here are a few add ons' you might want to think about adding on:
- Signature .....Add $10.00
- Signature with a Image .....Add $15.00


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TV Execs Express Frustration With Development Schedule, Dependence on Nielsen
Fox's Kevin Reilly called current TV development cycles "stupid, highly inefficient" at the HRTS annual Network Chiefs Newsmaker Luncheon.
Despite their renewed optimism about the state of the broadcast business, frustration percolated to the surface about the way TV shows are bought, developed, produced and promoted during the HRTS annual Network Chiefs Newsmaker Luncheon in Beverly Hills on Wednesday.
Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly said that having all the networks take pitches, make pilots, do schedules and launch shows on the same time cycle is "stupid, highly inefficient, wasteful and not good for anyone in this room."
Reilly called for new ways to look at the business where there isn't a bottleneck every year. "You look at the shows that have survived at the end of the season – created by the world's best? It's kind of embarrassing," added Reilly.
Q&A: Fox's Kevin Reilly on 'X Factor' Ratings, 'Terra Nova' and the Future of 'Glee'
Reilly, who has headed programming at Fox since 2007, was joined on the panel by ABC's Paul Lee, who is in his second year on the job; Nina Tassler, who has been doing her job at CBS since 2004; and two first chiefs only on the job since earlier this year, Jennifer Salke of NBC and Mark Pedowitz of The CW Network. Survivor host and executive producer Jeff Probst was the moderator.
There was also frustration expressed over ratings and the dependence on the Nielsen company to measure audiences. "No audience member should go uncounted," said Tassler.
Reilly said with the growth of new ways to measure viewership the time has come to find "more of our own sources of data."
PHOTOS: Hollywood Reporter's Philanthropy Issue: The Photographs
He said it was absurd some small markets still depend on a system where viewers fill in handwritten ratings diaries.
Salke said "there has to be a push back on the accuracy of that measurement." But she said when a show does get big numbers, she usually finds she agrees it is because it is a great show. "But I'm an optimist," added Salke. "I get made fun of for it all the time. But I believe great shows are great."
The good news was that the fear of competition from the digital and online world that gripped the networks only a few years ago has eased. "It all still starts on broadcast," said Tassler. "(Digital) is an added value."
PHOTOS: Emmys 2011: The Executive Arrivals
"Is this a time of optimism or of a threat?" asked Lee in response to a question by Probst. "I think it's a time of evolution. Your measurements for success have changed."
Lee said that in the past the networks only had one major source of revenue – from broadcast advertising. "Now we have dual revenue streams," he said., ticking off the growth in retransmission payments, international sales and most recently deals with Netflix, Amazon and others in the digital realm.
While content still starts with broadcast, Lee added that now digital can provide a platform to promote shows even before they go on the air, what he called "a viral storm."
He cited the new ABC show Suburgatory as an example of where promotions and early sampling helped build interest. "it can really create a buzz," said Lee.
VIDEOS: Emmy Roundtable: TV Executives
Tassler agreed that Netflix and other digital platforms are "a great option for us," but warned that the important thing was to make sure it did not cannibalized the existing businesses of domestic syndication and international sales.
Lee and other said there was also an influx of talent from the film business into TV as fewer movies are made, and this has added a new level of creativity. Salke noted it has also meant taking even more show pitches as they look for new product.
The HRTS luncheon was also the occasion for Lionsgate's Kevin Beggs to hand over the gavel to the groups new president Sean Perry of William Morris Endeavor. Beggs said that during his three years leading the group, membership had increased from about 600 to over 1,400 members, mostly in Los Angeles and New York.


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The AEC Lens
Sanjay Gangal
Sanjay Gangal is the President of IBSystems, the parent company of AECCafe.com, MCADCafe, EDACafe.Com, GISCafe.Com, and ShareCG.Com.
PLM for AEC: A Better Way to Manage Buildings
January 24th, 2012 by Sanjay Gangal
Author: Peter A. Bilello, President, CIMdata Inc.
The architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry, the designers and builders of the world's infrastructure, arguably stand to gain even more than other industries by implementing product lifecycle management (PLM) strategies. This is because AEC has only made modest progress in the management of the intellectual assets of projects at the enterprise level.
The AEC industry designs and constructs everything from houses of all sizes to small-town apartment complexes, schools, and office buildings to big-city skyscrapers, refineries, power plants, bridges, dams, and factories; in short: any and all structures. Some of their finest work is flat on the ground, so to speak, as airports, freeways, and mass-transit rail systems. Underground, AEC deals with subway systems, water mains, gas pipeline networks, electrical conduits and associated infrastructure, sewer lines, and storm-drainage tunnels and supporting facilities.
This is the realm of architects, civil engineers and structural engineers, and a host of skilled tradesmen. PLM strategies have many obvious benefits to building owners but implementation has lagged other industries. A big reason is that every AEC project has two complex hand-overs of information. The first is turning the architects' design into construction plans for the general contractor and subcontractors. The other hand-over is the completed building from the general contractor to the owner.
PLM began as extensions and toolkits to computer-aided design (CAD) systems and solid modelers to manage the initial explosion of engineering information in digital formats. The initial focus was the same as CAD and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), which was discrete mechanical products made with machine tools.
The aerospace and automotive industries led the way and the "lifecycle" focus soon followed, corralling all the information—the intellectual assets—of a product from concept to disposal. From that solid foundation, PLM steadily expanded into electronics; medical, surgical and pharmaceutical; food and beverage; consumer packaged goods. From that foundation, PLM is evolving into other process industries, where the production system often is the product.
The next logical extension of PLM is into AEC, where the project itself assumes the place of products and production processes. And because AEC projects are so fundamentally different from discrete-products manufacturing and the process industries, a PLM transformation is beginning.
In many ways, PLM for AEC had a coming-out party in November 2011 at Autodesk Inc.'s annual Autodesk University (AU) conference in Las Vegas. Specifically:
Autodesk, San Rafael, Calif., is the industry leader in most AEC software segments. The impact of the two AU announcements is building support for data management and PLM strategies across many segments of the AEC software industry. This is shown by releases from Bentley Systems, Hexagon's Intergraph, and Nemetschek AG's Graphisoft, ArchiCAD and Vectorworks units. Also moving toward AEC are the manufacturing-oriented PLM solution suppliers such as Dassault Systèmes (ENOVIA), Siemens PLM Software (Teamcenter), Aras., PTC (Windchill), and others.
Taken together, these steps mark the beginning of the evolution of BIM into "B"LM: managing information is morphing into managing the building lifecycle. BIM's 3D imaging offers huge potential benefits to building owners. Two examples:
PLM for AEC extends these benefits. The obvious question is why not sooner? The answer is that, compared to manufacturing and the process industries, AEC is much larger, much more complex, and more fragmented. This is why the professions and businesses that comprise AEC are taking a fresh approach to PLM.
Specifically, AEC leaders are blending traditional project-management information, a.k.a. BIM, with scheduling, simulation and analysis, and digital manufacturing. Benefits include better management of equipment and materials at the site, optimizing the pace of work, capturing best practices, maintaining document workflows, and pinpointing critical differences between the as-designed and the as-constructed.
Capturing best practices for reuse is a major PLM benefit to contractors as lessons learned. Capturing the as-designed and the as-constructed plus the as-maintained is equally vital for building owners. Unlike PLM in most other industries, PLM in AEC positively impacts the product's owners and managers for 30 or more years. This can be seen by looking at just three key PLM benefits:
Better coordination between architects and contractors, especially the small- and medium-sized. This is the "build" phase of the project, when tens of thousands of CAD files, paper drawings, and even some blueprints are brought together at the project site. This part of the lifecycle is design-centric and is usually labeled BIM. Focused on structural and civil engineering, BIM accounts for the structure itself and all its connections to utilities (water, sewer, electric, gas, and steam). BIM also accounts for ingress, egress, foot and vehicular traffic, zoning, building-code compliance, and security, among other things.
Design technology in BIM, even the newest and most disruptive, is easily handled with PLM strategies because most of the content is what information technology (IT) professionals call "structured"—CAD files and spreadsheets where information is explicit and easily found.
Ensuring that building owners and managements know in detail what constitutes the physical property. This combines the BIM as-designed with the as-constructed information that can be almost anywhere in a myriad of forms. Included is what has been done in maintenance; repairs to damage; and leaseholder build-outs plus renovations and modifications.
This as-constructed data is operations focused; knowing "when" and "by whom" is essential. Unfortunately, BIM systems managers struggle to keep these information models updated. Some as-constructed data and a lot of the as-modified information may be missing.
This information is what IT pros call "unstructured"—blueprints, photos, faxes, E-mails, documents from inspectors and regulators, claims settlements from insurers, and so on. What is important to a given owner may not be readily apparent; the information has to be dug out or inferred. PLM strategies handle implicit information well. Despite the technical challenges, as the as-constructed and as-maintained information is pulled together, BIM evolves into BLM for Building Lifecycle Management.
For building owners and managers, the questions to be answered by PLM are "What do I have?" and "What do I have to manage or change?" PLM offers strategies for dealing with the variety of complications that arise from a basic AEC reality: No two buildings are exactly alike. Size, materials, floor plans, site-specific modifications, utilities, and construction techniques vary widely. So do the needs and tastes of the building's tenants.
Making all the pieces fit together on the construction site is AEC's biggest challenge, as well as the greatest challenge to implementing PLM in AEC. This is where the differences between the as-designed and the as-constructed emerge. Part of the contractor-to-owner hand-over of a large structure is tracking every discrepancy in the design data and BIM information. These discrepancies are tracked with "punch lists."
Punch lists are informal but legally binding agreements between architect, contractor, and owner to correct anything the owner finds not "up to spec." Much of this entails workarounds and modifications made on-the-fly. Punch lists run to hundreds of pages and are not always well documented. They have always been a stumbling block to the building owners' needs for any comprehensive information approach.
A further complication for PLM implementations is that AEC relies heavily on skilled tradesmen and craftspeople. They are bound by union contracts and regulated by a plethora of building codes and regulations. Because neither accommodates technological change easily, much of their information that is important to building owners is in scanned paper documents, at best.
Regulations multiply in the public sector such as schools, hospitals, government buildings, and infrastructure. Regulations multiply yet again in oil and gas facilities, refineries, and nuclear power plants. Despite the complexity, PLM strategies for AEC can go a long way toward placing up-to-date information at the fingertips of everyone who needs it.
Until the advent of PLM, what has been missing in AEC is a broader and deeper level of collaboration between architects, engineers, and contractors on one hand and project owners on the other. As an example, collaboration on specs and capabilities is vital if electrical systems, heating, air-conditioning, elevators, and escalators are to be economically maintained over time.
PLM for AEC, a.k.a. BLM, brings this enormous mass of info together for the benefit of building owners and managers. Their concerns span the building's entire lifecycle; they start with the structure's design concepts, which may be developed by architects years before a general contractor is hired and put to work. This is why BLM requires the integration of discrete product information, such as HVAC product data, with the project information, that is, what was constructed.
The theory of BIM—centrally managing all of a building's intellectual property, i.e., all the information needed to design and maintain the building—is that every product or service has a lifecycle. This means PLM for AEC manages data objects about everything in a project's information workflow. This is how PLM ensures that all of a building's information is captured as it is created, transformed as required by successive owners, and delivered wherever needed no matter when.
Successfully integrating BIM and the myriad AEC applications into an all-encompassing PLM strategy pays off in many ways. Well-implemented PLM helps with everything from gaining project approvals, securing funding, tracking regulatory filings (and their convoluted workflows for signoffs), tracking design changes and their "downstream" impacts, and coordinating the work of hundreds of subcontractors that use dozens of different CAx systems.
To summarize, well-implemented PLM for AEC can help do all this, keeping owners abreast of every building change and all their technical and financial impacts over several decades. The deeper meaning of the Autodesk University of PLM and Cloud announcements is that power and adaptability of a PLM strategy is unquestioned.
Tags: CIMData
Category: PLM