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The Nadis and Planetary Healing
The Nadis
The human energy system is composed of five groups of organs that function synergistically and the communities of energy bodies in the higher and lower mind. The five groups are the chakras, aura, nadis, minor energy centres in the hands and feet and the kandas. The energy system, as a structural and functional unit, can be seen as a power plant and grid of substations and power lines that transmute the consciousness of the Self (Atman) into unqualified energy (prana), unqualified energy from one frequency into another, and unqualified energy into subtle matter. (Sherwood, 2005) The nadis also filter energy from the planets that orbit our solar system into the human energy system.
The word Nadis comes from the root nad in Sanskrit means hollow stalk. The nadis are channels which carry energy through a subtle energy system. They are inter-dimensional vessels which carry energy from one subtle body to another. Through the chakras, the nadis of one subtle body are connected to the nadis of the neighbouring one. The nadis extend from the bottom of the feet to the top of the head and it is through them that Prana, the breath of life flows. An ancient text tells us they are identical to the nervous system, one text applies that seventy two thousand nadis originate twelve digits above the anus just below the navel in an egg-shaped organ called the Kanda.' The Kandas are hubs from which the major nadis emerge, the other kanda is located about two inches forward from the back of the heart chakra. The kandas facilitate the transmission and transmutation of prana throughout the human energy system. There are 72 important nadis and among the 72, ten are of particular concern, the most vital are the sushumna, ida and pingala. The other nadis are Gandhari, Hastajihva, Kuhu, Saraswati, Pusha, Sankhini, Payasvini, Varuni, Alambusha, Vishvodhara, and Yasasvin. The other nadis have their origin in the Kanda and are placed on either sides of the Sushumna, Ida and Pingala. They proceed to different parts of the body to perform special functions.
The yogic concept of Nadis as a system of energy channels is similar to the Chinese system of Meridians which is the basis of Chinese medicine. In Yogic system, the sushumna runs through the centre of the spine, beginning at the coccyx and ending at the crown of the head, this corresponds with the Governing Vessel and the Conceptual Vessel in Chinese medicine. Sushumna is the path of Kundalini (the coiled serpent energy located at the base of the spine) which is considered the most powerful source of energy found in a human being.
Ancient yogic texts advise that the ida and pingala together with the sushumna are the ruling nadis and begin at either side of the first chakra. The ida is channelled via the left nostril while the pingala through the right. The nadis two main functions is the ability to absorb Prana directly from the air on inhalation and their ability to throw off toxins on exhalation. The second function is activating the serpent energy called Kundalini. Kundalini is a Sanskrit word which means ring or coil; it is symbolized by a sleeping serpent which faces downward at the base of the sushumna.
In ancient Yogic tradition, we are told that through discipline and exercise a student activated the Kundalini first by having it rise through the sushumna until it reaches the crown chakra. When this is accomplished and Kundalini is fully awakened, the ida and pingala merge with the sushumna forming one channel through which this vital force can travel through the nadir and the student then achieves enlightenment.
Planetary Influences in health and healing
The planets hold the key to body, mind and spiritual health. The human energy system and the nadis that surround them will grow to a program encased into the DNA/RNA at birth and from planetary influence. Planetary flow and transits will always govern the genetic shape of the energy system that in turn affects life events, sickness, and ageing. Hippocrates the Greek physician, who is considered the father of medicine in the west, highlighted the importance of astrology when he said "he who does not understand astrology is not a doctor but a fool." Ancient planetary knowledge has been accepted and used for thousands of years to allow us to develop an understanding of interaction between our planet environment, and our body system. The understanding of how magnetic pulsation affected our energy systems was also regarded by ancient races like the Aztecs, Druids, Mayans and Romans.
There are many planets in the universe that constitute to the energy grid of karma that the earth has to bear. Some of the original planets don't exist anymore and are only in planetary folklore. The origin of mankind is classed into categories and types. At birth the body and mind chosen through the cental core of DNA will match a particular constitution, and then karma is superimposed over the layers.
Magnetic rays coming from the planets that support our solar system are varied in colour and filtered textured dots of photons that pass through our nadis and birth sign. At birth we inherit one fifth of this energy grid from our solar systems and others. At birth a snapshot of the constellations the solar system is encoded into our energy field and earth bodies which guide our lives. Spiritual astronomers acknowledge that the solar system is akin to our natural habitat, without the planetary movement of Mars, Venus and the other planets that we are on a convex energy grid with, we would possibility no exist anymore. As the gravitational pull upon earth allows other archetypal planetary energy to enter into time zone and intermingle with our behavioural force fields, which result in physical reality that is present.
The planetary body that we inherit from birth constitutes one third to one fifth of major illness. The body type that one is born with gives you shape, colour, sound and vibrational energy. The body type corresponds to constitutional types in Homeopathy and Chinese medicine and also every other classical system like Ayurveda. Planetary transits can bring many disturbances of the mind and emotions cause primarily from the body type interpretation of these planetary movements. Living in the Sun Sign that you are born with is important as you are within your original colour structure and sound, it brings happiness and peace to you and the tools to progress in your life journey. Thisconcept correlates the homoeopathy and five element theory where the aim is to try and take a client to their original constitution. Being in the original constitution will mean that it is no longer necessary to compensate with other body types not corresponding your original sound.
Nadis are part of our subtle energy system. They look like tiny spinning Catherine wheels of light and form a network of energy that relates to the cellular memory. They are part of the auric membrane of the body and permeate the first 5 layers.
Nadis cover the surface of the body and extend out about 12 cm from the face and 6cm from the rest of the body. They are distributed in the pattern formed by the shape of the constellations in out astrology chart at birth. The pattern of the constellations when we are born are mirrored in our nadis pattern, for example if we are Taurus, our nadis form a pattern of a bulls head. This is why Astrology has a major impact on our personality, health and direction of our lives. It is through our Nadis that we communicate with Spirit. On the nadir are little Catherine wheels which open in a controlled way to allow in as much spiritual energy as we can handle, and distribute it throughout our body. It is through these wheels that planetary energy filters through into our energy system that shapes our lives whether it be, our health or life events. If the nadis are blocked we lose spiritual communication.
The nadis on our feet help direct us on our path through life. They connect us to our personal ley lines which have been laid down to access the experiences we have planned. And the people that we need to meet in this incarnation.
When we participate in spiritual healing, we activate the healing through the nadis on our hands, for energy healing such as Reiki, it is our nadis that is directing the energy through. In Kinesiology we aim to balance the way energy flows in our human energy system. It is important to have some understanding of planetary energy and to learn to compensate for the imbalance of these powerful flows. If our planetary flow is in accordance with the light and in balance with our system, a healing will be more effective and go according to plan. Utilizing this energy can make the difference between a balance holding or dissolving the next day.
Nadis and Shell Essences
In energetic healing it is believe that disease starts as disturbances I the invisible subtleenergy bodies that surround and permeate the physical body. It travels via the etheric body into the nadis system and spreads disease throughout the human energy system and then into the electrons of the cellular memory to destroy the imprint of health.
Shell essences work to eradicate the stored memory of disease in the nadis as they sweep through the energy field balancing and clearing tired and worn out cellular memory cells. Anomalies from planetary distortions and life events are locked into cells, it will store as hurt data in the nadis. Nadis can also be damaged by chemical toxicity, drugs and alcohol. The shell essences will help dissolve these anomalies stored in the nadis.
The physical body is often the last to be effected by imbalance. Within the framework of its nadis, there is a slow moving momentum that finally reaches crescendo and crashes into the human aura.
When an emotional content to our pain arises, we seek instant comfort not knowing that this pain distorting our awareness may have come from long held ancestral patterns of belief. The layers of the human consciousness consists subtle light bodies, the nadis and meridians complete communication between these layers. Disease, fear, karma is caught up in the magnetic flow of the planets, and cross from one layer to another to cause imbalance in the energy system. Shell essences permeate this grid of karma by pulsing energy through the nadis and each layer to dissolve the imbalance.
The method of planetary healing using shell essences explore how the nadis (energy wheels) open to the magnetic push and pull of the planets. It is using the light healing system of the shell essences to fix stray planetary energy and balance how much energy is filtered through the nadis, which in turn implode on our energy bodies' daily, causing illness. Shell essences are suited to this type of healing because its energy will filter to the nadis quickly and balance the distortions. In healing and balancing the nadis, it allows the opening to spiritual energy and connects us to our personal destiny.
The ancient planetary energies have archetype patterns that allow consciousness to come into our bodies and minds in a particular sharp, i.e. the constitutional type. The shapes allow certain planets to expand or contract energy flow into our thinking or body movement's every day. Hence certain constitutions have different mental and physical characteristics. The planets correspond to different coloured energies that intercept our energy system and help us re-align to our own spiritual needs. The planets send us healing energy information and our astrology signs or numerology signs can either block or allow healing depending on what we are dealing with. Most of the information is recorded in the solar plexus, where our Sun Sign communicates with the Higher self to regulate spiritual information to decide if learning our lessons or if they are counterproductive.
Our planetary body is composed of DNA, genetically multiplied through time, plus a grid of karma on how and when we life events will happen. This is how astrologers can predict when you meet the love of your life or major events. This grid of karma comes from the time we are born, from our stellar pattern. This pattern is composed of all the planets positions at birth that implode on our stellar spine. Our stellar spine is connected to our higher mind. This is organised by a series of switches (electrons and motor neurons) combined with nadis and hold points to the universal flow. A stellar star pattern contains our own personal letter to the universe. Throughout life we organise our thought forms to contain only the moment of our family tree and friends so that we produce the life meant for us. Gravitational pull of the planets impact on the DNA and combined with
Light allow the distance of the nadis to grow apart and alter shape to suit the requirement of the life purpose chosen. Body type is the way the planets configure mind shape structure and body function. Platitudes or beliefs and strict upbringing can modify this. Anyone who randomly chooses a life statement for another can cause potential damage if that person has a body type or mind set that cannot accept the philosophy. Hence it is important for clients to choose their own goals and positive beliefs in a Kinesiology balance. Opposing planetary energies within a partnership can cause problems to the nadis and can cause the weaker partner to take on the body type of the other. They may cause the surrogating partner to,lose their purpose in life.
Your sound is composed of the aura and light body. It is a unique combination of Lift sounds that form a sonar beam that vibrates to the pitch of familiar pattern (DNA) that is coded. Being outside your own sound can be cause by surrogation, drugs, depression, illness, emotional turmoil and behavioural conditioning. When healing is done outside a person's sound it is ineffective and dissipates quickly. Being outside your sound can also be cause by unnecessary birth inductions. As this will cause one to be born with the wrong time of birth with the wrong body type and sun sign to support life and purpose.
Our human body is attached to light beams that include special knowledge of where we are needed to help others and live in a content existence. To bring about time and distance to each incarnation, we set up a ley line grid of power that we draw upon to teach us our lessons and unfold our karma. Energetic and magnetic interaction will bring through Karmic issues from past lives. Sometimes we can choose to live in the same areas and have experiences to teach us what life before was about.
In spirit our duplicate energy body that tells us which way to go to follow our Sun sign. This connects to the ancestral knowledge to judge, guide and manage our life.
There are enormous ley line grids in this age, as most souls incarnating at this time are spiritual managers of other's affairs in past lives in which we live parallel. It is important to regulate our order of grids daily by reducing our sound when we sleep. This is done by adjusting our frequency to the family that we live with and this keeps our sound safe and our psychic bridge connected to the consciousness of life. A statement of "we draw upon the almighty healers from time daily to energize our Sound to bring peace and perfection around." This will help realign our sound with the ley lines.
Nodes are points formed by the angle between the Sun and the Moon. In vedic astrology the North node is Rahu, and the South node is Ketu. In ancient mythology the north node is the dragon's head and the south node is the dragon's tail. These two nodes are of special concern as they have different pathways to the Higher consciousness. The nodes connect to karmic points along the brow chakra and in the "I AM" of your personal logos. It represents the relationship between the ego and mankind i.e. the karma accumulated. The south node represents the past and the karmic that you have come to untangle. The North node related to the environment and your future destiny.
The Essences for Planetary Healing
Lettered Cone and Strom Canarium are essences that will bring you back into your sun sign. It is important to be centred in your own sun because this planetary imprint present in birth contains all the necessary tools to create and deal with life's lessons and destiny. People are forced out of the fixed Sun Sign during the day by the ideals of others. The essences of Lettered cone, Strom Canarium provide instant support to turn the nadis to health and back into the usual colour of the Sun Sign.
The essences Lettered Cone, Yellow Sand Snail and Strom Canarium will bring you back into your own sound.
Egg Cowrie is an essence that works on Karmic astrology by removing the negative energy grids of Pluto and Mars and therefore changing the nodal position of birth. It allows for the ridged programming of our planetary body to relax and flow to a new way of being.
Hosey, L, Parker, N, 2002, Planetary Body Type Healing Kinesiology Workshop, Shell Essences, Sydney
Hosey, L, Parker, N, 2006, Distance Learning Workbook, Shell Essences, Sydney
Hosey, L, Parker, N, 2003, The Little Book of Shell Essence Solutions, Shell Essences, Sydney
Sherwood, K, 2002, Chakra Therapy for Personal Growth and Healing, Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul.
Sherwood, K, 2002, Chakra Healing and Karmic Awareness, Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul.
Johari, H, 2000, Chakras Energy Centers of Transformation, Destiny Books, Rochester
Judith, A, 2008, Wheels of Life, Llewellyn Publications, Woodbury


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Coastal Ham Radio Club has added a page for upcoming events. If you wish to publicise an event such as a swap meet, radio course, contest, guest speaker etc. please email us with details at: Coastal Ham Radio and we will inserted it on our upcoming events page.
Once we approve your listing we will add it to our page.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Alchemist Collection is a collaborative effort from Derbyshire based lighting designer, Gwyn Carless and Lancashire based specialist lighting supplier, The Light Yard. With each Alchemist Collection light fitting you are purchasing hand crafted pieces that are exclusive in design.
The use of top quality hand cut glass together with the handcrafting manufacturing process makes each light totally unique. The collection offers an innovative range of pendants, wall lights, table and floor lamps in a variety of designs and colours.


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Opposing sides square off in a Norwegian court:
The 17-year-old Russian citizen charged with Saturday night's bomb scare in Oslo has been remanded for two weeks.The Norwegian Police Security Service (Politiets sikkerhetstjeneste, PST) want the teenager to be charged with terror offences, which carry a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.Defence counsel maintains that the incident in the Grønland district of Oslo was no more than a prank.
Per Jacob Nergaard, assistant general secretary with NGO Norwegian People's Aid, who has previously worked in bomb disposal, told Aftenposten that the attempt by the teenager was "amateur".
"The attempt by the 17-year-old was amateur, but in a small room with many people it could be serious. Nevertheless, the question is whether he would have been able to detonate it, and even if he had, the result would have primarily been heat and pressure," said Nergaard.
As is typical of teenage pranks, the explosive device had "nails taped to the outside":
Meanwhile, broadcaster NRK has reported that the suspect has expressed support for terror group Islamic State (Isis) on social media by liking a photo of one of the organisation's most infamous figures, Mohammed Emwazi, also known as "Jihadi John" due to the British accent with which the executioner speaks in videos released by the group.
Yep, just a bit of attention seeking fun.


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Rated: MA
Running Time: 153 mins
Director: Neils Arden Oplev
Cast: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Peter Haber
Release Date: 26th March 2010
I'm sure by now you have all heard of the hugely popular crime novel, "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo". Spending weeks at the top of many best-seller lists, it's the first book in the late Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy, published posthumously after his sudden death.
In Swedish, the title of the book literally translates to "Men Who Hate Women", which I almost think would have been a better name for the film.
Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) is in a bit of trouble, accused of libel against an industrialist, which could see him go to jail. So when a wealthy member of the powerful Vanger family calls him to help solve a cold case, he jumps at the chance to escape the media spotlight. The case revolves around Henrik Vanger's niece, who went missing some forty years ago. Henrik believes foul play was involved, and since his family were the only people on their island at the time, he suspects one of them could be the murderer.
Mikael starts investigating the case himself, but soon realises he is being tracked when he receives a mysterious email containing some clues. That email came from computer hacker, researcher, and "girl with the dragon tattoo" Lisabeth Sanders (Noomi Rapace), who agrees to help Mikael solve the case.
Lisabeth has her own problems to escape; her sleazy probation officer (Peter Andersson) has control of her money, and will only give her some when she gives him "some"… if you know what I mean. And forcibly, I might add.
Together Lisabeth and Mikael set about uncovering the mystery behind Harriet's disappearance, which turns out to be much more sinister than they could have imagined.
The theme of "men who hate women" runs throughout, with sexual violence against women, and graphic revenge on those men. (The scene where Lisabeth gets back at her guardian is tough to watch)
"The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" is a mix of genres – a gory murder mystery with a slick European thriller vibe. It's such old school crime caper fun; I almost thought Colonel Mustard was going to appear in the ballroom with some candlesticks.
The standout in the film is Noomi Rapace. She adds heart and multiple layers to what could have been a comic book caricature. Her Lisabeth is rough, smart, sexy and kick ass tough. She's an interesting heroine, with her tattoos, piercings and gothic look – a sort of new 'Nikita'.
Now I haven't read the book, so I can't comment on how well it has been translated to the screen, and I would be very interested to hear what fans of the novel think of the movie. I was able to follow the plot easily, and it certainly didn't feel like anything was missing. In fact at 2 hours and 34 minutes, it probably could have been tightened up a little bit!
The entire film is in Swedish with English subtitles, but don't let that put you off seeing it, because the subtitles don't detract from the story in any way.Apparently there is an American version in the works, and I'm sure Hollywood will dumb it down and screw it up. So go and see this version while you can; it's fun, tense and haunting.
3 ½ out of 5
Reviewed by Alicia Malone
For a complete guide to what's worth watching at the cinema, tune into Movie Juice this Saturday night on Movie Extra.
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June Print Buyer Pulse Index: Six Month Outlook Tumbles
Thursday, June 20, 2002
Press release from the issuing companyJune 20, 2002 - WhatTheyThink.com and CAP Ventures have released the monthly Print Buyer Pulse Index. The data is compiled each month from print buyers throughout the United States. The goal of the index is to provide real-time analysis of print demand directly from the end user. In June, just 31.8% of print customers expect their print spending to increase over the next 6 months, down sharply from 45.3% in May. In fact, the June was the first time since December 2001 that a lower percentage of print customers expect print spending to increase in the next six months. 13.6% of print customers in June expect print spending to decline over the next 6 months compared with only 7.4% that had this sentiment last month. In June, print customers' outlook for their print spending over the next 6 months is to increase a modest 1.1% compared with the last 6 months. This level of increase is down sharply from the robust 4.9% 6-month projected increase in May. The March, April and May outlooks were very positive. The outlook in June for the upcoming 6 months is the lowest since back in January. The significant drop in print customers' 6-month outlook is a cause for caution. However, this drop may be a one-month aberration, summer time pessimism or just a natural dip in what has otherwise been a steady increase in market sentiment. Premium Access members at WhatTheyThink.com can view charts, graphs, demographics and complete comparisons with previous months. The complete results also include May actual spending and projected spending for June. The data can be accessed at www.whattheythink.com
Industry News
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Thank you for attending the 2014 Annual Roadworks Steamroller Printing Festival!
The San Francisco Center for the Book's annual Roadworks Steamroller Printing Festival is a day-long public printmaking and book arts showcase presented amid a selection of arts and crafts vendors, free letterpress, bookbinding and other demonstrations and plenty of fun. Using a 1924 seven-ton construction steamroller and an unlikely letterpress bed - the surface of Rhode Island Street itself - a team of 6 featured artists and printers create large-scale prints from three-foot-square hand-carved "Battleship linoleum" blocks. Now in its 11th year, Roadworks has become a popular tradition in the Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, drawing printmaking and book art enthusiasts from far and wide, as well as families with kids of all ages.
Click here to watch a Roadworks Steamroller Printing Festival video put together by Gawker Media's popular design and technology blog, Gizmodo.
"Like" the Roadworks Steamroller Printing Festival Facebook page to see photos from this year's event and to be among the first to find out news and information about the 2015 Festival.
Thank you to our sponsors, Arch Art & Drafting Supply, Blick Art Materials, Speedball Art Products and Whole Foods Market Potrero Hill for making the 2014 Roadworks Steamroller Printing Festival possible.
If you are interested in becoming a sponsor of the 2015 Roadworks Steamroller Printing Festival, contact us at email@example.com and be sure to put "2015 Roadworks - Sponsor" in the subject line of the email.
Limited Edition Steamroller Prints
appointment or to purchase favorites today.
2014 Featured Artists
LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL! We are pleased to announce the list of the 2014 Roadworks Steamroller Printing Festival featured artists. The featured artists are ::
:: MAURO FFORTISSIMO :: classical pianist and the creator of the Sunset Piano, calligrapher of player piano scrolls unrolled into banners, he melds music with the visual arts.
:: GRENDL LOFKVIST :: letterpress printer at San Francisco Center for the Book and San Francisco City College, blackletter calligrapher mentored by Ward Dunham, and offset printer at Inkworks, Berkeley, bastion of social activism.
:: RIK OLSON :: has carved his way through all eleven Roadworks, following the adventures of his grandfather's steamroller as it rumbles over a bridge of books through time, space, inferno and paradise.
:: ERIC REWITZER :: printmaker of 3 Fish Studios, brings to a smashing conclusion his triptych wherein San Francsico meets Godzilla, King Gidorrah, and who-knows-who this year?
:: LUZ MARINA RUIZ :: her early fascination with California landscape and light has evolved over the years to create a synthesis of nature, light and basic organic forms: the essence of life.
:: RICHARD WAGENER :: artists of the amazing California in Relief and The Sierra Nevada Suite published by the Book Club of California, will render his vision of the Panama Pacific Exposition, which enchanted the world at San Francisco in 1915.
Glimpses of Past Roadworks
2013 Roadworks Steamroller Prints
Contact us if you are interested in purchasing a print from the 2013 Roadworks event. All procees from the sale of these prints benefit the San Francisco Center for the Book and help to support our programs.
History of the Event
In 2004, the idea of a Steamroller Printing Festival was first presented to the San Francisco Center for the Book by co-founder Mary Austin, who had heard of a similar event in New England. Board Member Nancy Coopersmith enthusiastically took on researching and developing the project for SFCB, and on Saturday, October 30, 2004, Roadworks was born. Over 500 people attended the inaugural event, held in the middle of Carolina Street between 15th and 16th Streets. The Center devoted four tables to printing "side shows," including SFCB's home team of Austin and Burch as the Original Printed Ladies of San Francisco, handing out typographic tattoos and the occasional kiss. Each steamroller print pulled off the street was accompanied by musical fanfare by the (clothed and costumed) Burning Band from Burning Man.
The idea behind the festival was to bring the community closer to the printing process by allowing all ages to witness, enjoy and participate in the power of printing on a grand scale. Despite the wind tunnel effect on Carolina Street that threatened to make each print take flight, the event stuck. Past board member Thacher Hurd even said it was the best day of his life!
Each artist printed three copies of their print: one for their sponsor, one for the auction later that same night, and one to keep. Some of the work from the first year created lasting impressions: Mike Bartalos's 29 Degrees North, designed as a book in three panels, later became SFCB's first Imprint Edition
artist book.
The second year, the event was moved to September with its more predictable weather and the printer pool grew to fifteen artists. Katherine Case, the Center's Studio Manager, was featured in Bill Russell's illustrated column in the San Francisco Chronicle. Roadworks 2005 featured a blind embossed "print" as well as the first multi-color print.
By 2007, Roadworks moved closer to home on De Haro Street. For the San Francisco Center for the Book's tenth anniversary in 2007, artists were asked to incorporate the number ten into their imagery. Midway through the event, disaster hit when the key to the steamroller broke off in the ignition. Until a new steamroller was brought in a few hours later, necessity was indeed the mother of invention with a (much lighter weight) Prius substituting for the steamroller, and the printing process, augmented by hand-burnishers using metal spoons borrowed from Sally's Restaurant at nearby 300 De Haro Street. Several weeks later, at the fundraising auction and gala dinner, Rik Olson's steamroller print raised over $2000!
In 2009, Roadworks whittled down the roster of participating artists and moved to pleasant and nearly windless Rhode Island Street – where the San Francisco Center for the Book is now located (as of 2013) – there the event really took wings, attracting over 5,000 attendees.a
Roadworks has a way of cementing friendships and forging new acquaintances. In addition to artists involved, more than sixty book arts vendors have plied their wares to thousands of attendees. Although other communities host steamroller printing events, the San Francisco Center for the Book is the only organization that pulls off making gallery-quality steamroller prints. This is due to the superb artists who participate coupled with the expertise of the SFCB Staff. Master printmaker Brad Robinson and longtime SFCB board member J. Curtiss Taylor have both hit the streets with us every year, along with fifty print production volunteers (divided into clean-hands and inky-hands). A special thanks goes to Cindy Shamban of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency for awarding our permit and re-routing the MUNI buses for us every year.
To date, over sixty different images have been printed by steamrollers in the Potrero Hill streets surrounding San Francisco Center for the Book. Press on!


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The Drowsy Chaperone
March 01, 2009
Sunday at 07:00 pm
The Drowsy Chaperone won the most 2006 Tony Awards of any musical on Broadway and the New York Drama Critic's Circle and Drama desk Awards for Best Musical.
"The Drowsy Chaperone" is currently still appearing on Broadway and is the show that boldly addresses a great unspoken desire in all of our hearts – to be entertained.
It all begins when a die-hard musical-theater fan plays his favorite cast album on his turntable. The musical literally bursts to life in his living room telling the rambunctious tale of a brazen Broadway starlet trying to find and keep her true love. It is a tale filled with mobsters, movie moguls and monkeys as well as Latin lotharios, love songs, lavish dance numbers and, of course, the comedy staple, the classic spit-take. Everything you could want in a musical comedy is in this show.
If you've ever sat in a still, dark theater and thought, "Dear Lord in Heaven, please let it be good," then don't worry, you've come to the right place. Enjoy!
Download a study guide for The Drowsy Chaperone.
Sponsored in part by Southern Ohio Medical Center


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The point system for serious infringements will basically work in the same way as the systems for traffic offences familiar to motorists in most Member States. The number of points to be attributed for specific infringements will be fixed in detailed rules. Every time a serious infringement is committed, the appropriate number of points will be attributed to the offender in the national registry of fishery offences of the flag Member State. Infringements committed in other Member States will be communicated to the flag Member State.
Any vessel which accumulates more than a certain number of points in a three-year period will have its fishing licence suspended for at least two months. For repeat offences the penalty increases to suspensions of four, eight and twelve months respectively. If, after the end of the fourth suspension period, the offender again incurs the necessary number of points, the fishing licence will be withdrawn for good. However, if the offender does not commit any serious infringements within three years of the previous such infringement, all points on the fishing license will be deleted and he will start again with a clean slate. Points stay with the vessel and are therefore transferred to the new owner if the vessel is sold on.
Detailed rules for the point system will be drawn up at EU level in close cooperation with Member States. The relevant article of the new Control Regulation will only enter into force six months after the adoption of these detailed rules. Member States will also be required to establish a similar point system for masters of fishing vessels.
The point system does not introduce new sanctions and does not interfere with the discretionary power of the national judge to qualify the gravity of the illegal behaviour at stake, as it is only after the judge has established that a given activity should be qualified as a serious infringement that he then proceeds with the corresponding allocation of points.


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The commands specified in the answers to this question and this documentation have been applied to install NCDU on Scientific using EPEL without success.
According to this documentation it should be possible to install ncdu using EPEL.
setup EPEL repo
$ sudo wget http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/6/x86_64/epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm
$ sudo rpm -ivh epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm
warning: epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm: Header V3 RSA/SHA256 Signature, key ID 060
8b895: NOKEY
Preparing... ########################################### [100%]
package epel-release-6-8.noarch is already installed
install ncdu
$ sudo yum install ncdu -y
Loaded plugins: security
Error: Cannot retrieve repository metadata (repomd.xml) for repository: epel. Please verify its path and try again
Question: How to install NCDU on Scientific from EPEL?


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An a-board is a low-cost way to market unique offers and promotional price cuts for your services or products. Whether you're an independent bistro, a small Do It Yourself company or a memento company, investing in a high quality a-board will help you market yourself to the outdoors world. This article takes an appearance some of the vital perks of screen boards and how they can help you to optimize your sales in the increasingly competitive business world. You can obtain more info. with reference to pavement sign budget in the following outdoor pavement signs.
An A Frame assists business market their brand names to more individuals in their area. It is an extremely cost-efficient, pliable solution to marketing unique offers and price cuts that could otherwise be neglected by individuals who walk past your local business every day.
From high streets and neighborhood venues to railway station entrances and bustling regular markets, purchasing an a board indicator is a vital means improve your brand name exposure in the outside world. By targeting a big audience with a double-sided Silver A board, you draw in more customers and enhance your sales. Inexpensive A boards are also very versatile; they can be placed near the entrance of your business properties to assist you expose your products and services to people walking by.
Another crucial advantage of using an A Frame is that it is simple to transport to various areas and can be folded away rapidly and without trouble. This is valuable if you are trying to target customers at different times of the day. You can market your items and services in brand-new environments on different times and days of the week to target as numerous consumers as possible, which will assist you improve your recurring sales.
Possibly you are a micro business concealed away in a quiet corner or you simply have not found much success in other ad methods. Whatever your reasons, now is the time to consider purchasing a-boards for sale to let everybody understand about your brand and exactly what you need to offer them. Compared with promoting yourself with radio or online ads, which can be very expensive, an a board sign can make simply as much of an effect on improving your brand name exposure in your neighborhood area.
There is a little more data with regards to a-boards on this site a1 pavement signs.
Improve the visual appearance of your store front by using an elegant, distinctive a-board that shows your brand and exactly what you can offer that is much better than your competitors. Many of today's a-boards are manufactured with high quality coated steel or aluminium, which protects them from the aspects outdoors. They are light sufficient to transport easily but heavy adequate to endure high winds, makings them optimal for companies found in high up, exposed locations or on the coastline.
Customers who would otherwise have actually walked previous your local business may all of a sudden take an interest in your product and services when they spot something on your a-board indication. By advertising special offers with easy, huge texts, you can make even more sales by targeting people who need something rapidly and conveniently.
There's a lot more information regarding pavement sign inexpensive in this article outdoor pavement signs.
The focus of your a-board display, for that reason, is to 'attract' individuals and make residual sales on your special offers. After the initial expense of purchasing an a-board, you can rapidly make a return on your investment by optimizing your residual sales. Although the amount of additional sales you make will rely on how you get your message throughout to your audience and where you place your sign board.


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how can trade associations adapt to our digital age?
I'm interested in how our digital age can inform how trade associations work, how they influence and draw people to them.
We work to deliver the aims and objectives of our association clients through collaborating with their members, freeing and supporting them to have the impact they want on their industry.
Taking responsibility for everything that goes into making the association a valued organisation to its members, our daily activities range from managing the movement of committees, social media presence, directing accounts, developing training schemes and event organisations.
We solve human resources and employment law problems for businesses and organisations.
We help our clients to engage those they wish to positively influence as communication evolves.


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why is it so loose on you
I am very small and members don't always send in stuff that is exactly my size :( Can't help it… it's hard to find stuff in my size…
well i just love that outfit must get my girl one but much tighter
I would tickle torture your bare feet for hours before you got relief. Then, I would start all over again and tickle even more!!!
You look terrific in that!


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- About Us
- Connect
- What We Do
- Children/Youth Ministries
- Calendar
- Sermons
Opportunities for Church Youth
There are a number of scholarships available to St. Paul members, some given on an ad-hoc basis given when funding is available and some given on an annual basis. The ones given on an annual basis are:
William E. Nunn Memorial Scholarship
This scholarship is funded by the Nunn family and administered by St. Paul. The amount of the scholarship is $500 and applicants must be a graduating high school senior, a member of Saint Paul United Methodist Church with a minimum grade point average of 2.5. Applications are taken in the spring and the recipients are named in the summer.
Saint Paul Scholarship
This scholarship is funded by St. Paul members who donate to the church's scholarship fund. The amount of the scholarship is variable depending on the amount donated by members. The application criteria are the same as the Nunn Scholarship and competitors for this scholarship are taken from the pool of applicants for the Nunn Scholarship. The recipient is named during the summer.
Other Scholarships available to St. Paul members:
1. Baltimore-Washington Conference Scholarship
2. The Willing Workers of Oxon Hill, Inc. Scholarships
* Charles E. Stephens Memorial Scholarship
* Jacob B. Terrell, Jr. Memorial Community Scholarship


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HardRadio HardBoardThe Heavy Metal Supersite
quote:Originally posted by Wyvern:
'Sex And Outrage' - Motorhead
'Sex And Death' - Motorhead
'Knocking At Your Back Door' - Deep Purple
'Steelvagina' - Impaled Nazarene
'Love Bites'- Judas Priest
'Mechanix' - Megadeth
'Blow My Fuse' - Kix
'Orgie Romaine' - Blaspheme
'Muscle Of Love' - Alice Cooper
quote:Originally posted by Jim McCormick:
"Muscle of Love," Alice Cooper's ode to teenage masturbation, "Lock the bathroom door, I just can't get caught in here." LOL!!! [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [/QB]


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ESTHER Justice is a definition of a woman with many hats. A fashion designer, interior decorator, she also has passion for gospel music. The member of evergreen evangel voices of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission, who goes by the stage name Xstar Justice, has just dropped her debut single No Be Me Na God and a video to follow up.
Since dropping the single the Abia State born singer has been a different person because she no longer walks the street of Lagos unnoticed as the audio and video which was produced and shot by frontline gospel act and producer, Akin Alabi has been making waves on major radio and TV stations across the country.
Revealing the message behind her lyrics Xstar said, "No matter the level you think you've attained in the society, it's God who have blessed you with talent and given you the opportunity to be seen or heard. And that same God can do it for someone else but He chose you".
She added, "There are things that have happened to me which I could never have handled if not for God in my life. Growing up wasn't easy. But today I have a company of my own. I'm an employer of labour. My life is indeed a testimony. I am dedicating No be Me Na God to everyman who is going through one situation or the other. Just hang onto God he will see you through. And to those who have made it in one way or the other, I want to remind them that No be you na God.
Xstar is currently working on her album which she hopes will drop before June.
The CEO of Dee Xtraz international, she was born into the family of Late Mr. & Mrs. Justice Ukpabi both from Ikwuano-Oboro Local Govt area of Abia State. She had her primary school in Kaduna from where she proceeded to Lagos for her secondary education and further went on to acquire a diploma in desktop publishing.


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In rulesets, this tag can be used to specify which rulesets can be migrated to this ruleset. The launcher will provide the option to upgrade any campaign using the specified ruleset to this ruleset.
In module definition files, this tag can be used to specify which modules to override with the data from this module.
'Fantasy Grounds' is a trademark of SmiteWorks Ltd. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
© 2004-2010 SmiteWorks Ltd. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.Privacy policy


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Fabuleash Bling - Dog Leash & Collar Black
Sorry, this item is out of stock
Formal Black
Dress up your favorite furry dog companion for those occasions that call for more than just an ordinary leash and collar.
The Formal Black dog leash is 48 inches long.
The Dog Collar - Overall length is 13 inches, the very first hole is 9" from the buckle and the last hole is 11" from the buckle. There are five holes total, half inch apart. Available in three formal colors.


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I am working on building a brand presence for these, one big and the others small ... I say put it out there and let it have a life of its own. It should belong to the fans, not to you. My favorite recent quote: "don't let your facebook become a promotional wastebasket."
If you are so inclined, click over and "like" one of our pages:
Coco Plum Inn Bed & Breakfast
The Sanctuary Brookfield Bar and Grill
Bourbon on 2nd
You are invited to ... follow - connect - link - add
Blogger - Tumblr - Facebook - Twitter - Pinterest - Linkedin - Google + - YouTube - Instagram
Contact me by email to talk about Websites, Social Media, Public Relations
Contact me by email to talk about Websites, Social Media, Public Relations
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Slick little media slick
PR coup: great coverage for the rollout of our iPad app ... inspired a handout as sales tool for trade show.
Posted by Unknown at 1:56 PM 0 comments
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Retirement Income Toolkit Maximize your retirement savings Plan for the retirement you've always dreamed of with the help of the Retirement Income Toolkit. These tools will help you "soar with confidence" into your golden years. Have a Question? We are here to help. There are some pretty amazing things that happen around the time of [...]
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Here's an interesting problem: Using the AppleScript method to launch a new command in a Terminal window fails if Terminal is "busy"; more precisely, it will open a new window but fail to run the command. For example, try copy+pasting this line in:
osascript -e 'tell application "Terminal" to do script "foo"'; osascript -e 'tell application "Terminal" to do script "bar"'; osascript -e 'tell application "Terminal" to do script "baz"';
When I run this (I'm on Snow Leopard), I get three windows: In the first, the command
foo is run, as expected; but in the other two, I just get an empty prompt. And I get empty prompts in all three windows if I've just pasted the command in; apparently Terminal is still busy processing the "paste" operation.
Now, AppleScript might not be the best way of doing this, but I really want to write a script that launches a bunch of Terminal windows, in order, and runs a command in each. Maybe the best way to do that is with a bash script. As long as I can create an alias to it, I'm happy. So how to do this?


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WordPress Terminology
Here's a beginning to what may turn into a few posts spelling out some WordPress terminology. As shared at the SJWP Meetup on June 5, 2017: WordPress Terminology: What's a permalink? and other burning questions. At the Base Level Database: this is where all your content lives, hidden in the dark recesses of a web server. Your database…Read More
Features of Our WordPress Hosting+Maintenance Service
As WordPress has become more and more popular (currently powering around 75 million websites), it has also become a high-profile target for hackers. As a WordPress-only hosting company WP Engine is very proactive and aggressive in response to new attacks. We've separated our WordPress hosting customers from non-WordPress sites, spreading traffic across multiple servers and increasing overall speed for…Read More
Protected: The Growing Beaver Builder Ecosystem
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.Read More
Gravity Forms Placeholder Text is Too Light
I feel your frustration. You're trying to streamline your forms a bit by using placeholder text inside the fields instead of having the labels hanging outside, taking up all kinds of space. But you just can't figure out how to override that light grey text that's all but impossible to read. With a small bit…Read More
Creating a semitransparent intro area above page body.
Last night in the Beaver Builders Slack channel (if you're into BB and Slack, go check it out, great place to hang around), @danfrybort asked me how I built the semitransparent intro area on this page, which is, by the way, a work in progress, so things may change after I publish this post. There are a few different…Read More
Beaver Builder and Simple Image Sizes don't like each other
I had a variety of custom image sizes that I defined by using the plugin Simple Image Sizes (which, by the way, is really easy to use and a time-saver if you don't want to muck with code). When I used Beaver Builder to rebuild the site I'm currently working on, I found that I could…Read More
Replace WordPress default favicon – and add a full package of icons for mobile and desktop
There's a really great favicon generator out there that will take your icon and turn it into every file size and type you need for a full range of icons for mobile devices, desktops, and even a Windows tile. Prepare your artwork at least 260px square (transparent PNGs work great), and head over to RealFaviconGenerator.net.…Read More
Blowing Smoke: Are HTML sites a better bet than WordPress?
It's kind of painful to look at that title. But today, a new client of ours forwarded a comment made by his current web developer: [your site is] manually coded using HTML, CSS, Javascript, and JQuery in order to provide the greatest possible visibility to search engines over time. This is because WordPress websites, with…Read More
Flip position of site title and description in Genesis
You wouldn't think this would be so hard to find, but it seems nobody has written how to put the site description above the site title in Genesis. Or my google-fu is exceptionally weak today. In any case, it's actually quite easy, and this is a whole lot safer than mucking about with CSS positioning: You're…Read More
Check for mobile and redirect
So today I needed to send users on mobile devices to an external URL. That's easy enough, but the client needed users headed to a different external URL if they were headed to one particular section of the site. In the code below, I use wp_is_mobile to test the browser; if true, then I check…Read More


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5.14.07: A bit of history
This is my first official blog post for FitPregnancy.com so I thought I'd talk a bit about history. Before the 1940's women traditionally delivered babies at home attended by a family physician, midwife or experienced "birther." Pain management ranged from a knife under the bed (to cut the pain) to a swig of whiskey and the occasional belt of morphine or laudanum. By the next decade, the pendulum swung hard and most births happened in hospitals. Your grandmothers tell tales about being alone, "knocked out, strapped down, and bossed around." This was not a great time in women's history for family centered birthing. Think Desi Arnaz in the waiting room; in full "Voodoo" face makeup while Lucy was off-screen having Lil Ricky. She didn''t even have Ethyl by her side.
By late 1960's, women (and men) were pretty pissed off about hospital treatment, so they invented the Lamaze movement. This backlash against oppression was a call for more control over what can only be considered the ultimate women's issue. Some women returned to home deliveries (though the numbers were incredibly low) but a bigger percentage started breathing, panting, relaxing, visualizing and training for birth with the focus of Olympic athletes. Couples incorporated childbirth classes into their last trimester, learning to surmount the mysteries of birth. They started making crazy demands like: Dad gets to be in the delivery room if he wants to. Mom gets to breastfeed. Babies get to stay with their mothers. Whoa! These wild birth-anarchists created a revolution in the birth industry.
Hello! Wake-up call. By the 80''s most hospitals realized that making birthing women happy was prudent business. They're likely to bring their families to the emergency room or visit pediatricians, dermatologists, and other physicians associated with the hospital where they delivered their baby if they had a positive experience. If they didn't like the delivery service —they'd take their business elsewhere.
This was a huge success, but women wanted more. Imagine! They wanted to deliver in comfortable, private, homelike rooms, with their own bathrooms, music and a bed for their partner. They wanted their family (yes, even their children) present, less medical intervention and to play a big part in decisions made about their labor and delivery. So, we invented the Family Maternity Center with labor/delivery/recovery/postpartum suites. We opened up visiting hours and policies to accommodate those unpredictable babies born during off-peak hours. But wait, there's more. If the panting and breathing weren''t cutting it, we wanted better pain management options than a bullet between our teeth or a total knock out. So, we got 24-hour anesthesia coverage in most maternity units to provide epidurals on demand. We wanted more breastfeeding support so we demanded lactation consultants.
That leads us to today. What do we want in the new millennium now that we've got beautifully appointed birthing suites, birthing balls, Jacuzzis, DVD players, stereos, open visiting policies and excellent anesthesia options?
The answer lies in the comments and concerns so many women express when they call me for advice. "The most important thing is that I don''t have a c-section."
"Really? That''s the MOST important thing?" I counter.
"Well, no, of course, the most important thing is a healthy baby."
Exactly. We're doing really well in the birth industry in turning out healthy babies. Neonatal mortality rates are low. Yet, women are legitimately unsatisfied with the state of the c-section. With the current c-section rate riding around 30%—that''s just too high for comfort, especially considering how hard it is these days to get a Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC). And yet, when the poop''s really hitting the fan, and you need to get that baby out quickly&mdash:the c-section is the best thing out there. There's undoubtedly lots ammunition in the anti-c-section camps that is entirely valid. But when a placenta is prematurely sheering off the uterine wall and the baby's heart rate is plummeting, a c-section will save that baby's life. When mom's been pushing for 4 hours and her baby's just plain stuck, she's almost always grateful the c-section is another option.
There's a lot of discussion about this subject and thank goodness for that. We've come a long way baby but still have a ways to go until we're providing the very best labor and delivery experience possible. Regardless of how long our species has been having babies, we still have lots of growing and learning ahead of us. Be assured though that we all have the same goals: The most important thing is a healthy delivery for mom, baby and family.
So I close this first blog with a question for you readers: What can we do for you? How can we make it better?
Got a question for Jeanne? E-mail it to firstname.lastname@example.com and it may be answered in a future blog post.
This Fit Pregnancy blog is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended to replace medical advice from your physician. Before initiating any exercise program, diet or treatment provided by Fit Pregnancy, you should seek medical advice from your primary caregiver.


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Because of its desert location, the best times to visit the park are in spring (late March through mid-May), and fall (mid-September through November).
Springtime in the desert is cause for a mad dash into fertility - desert plants, normally drab and reserved, blossom into a riot of colors. Starting late in March, and continuing through June, the desert bloom adds a new dimension to the normally austere desert color scheme; May seems to be the peak of most of the flower activity. Spring is sometimes cloudy, though not usually wet.
Summer is hot and sunny, punctuated by sudden, severe thunderstorms. This is also the most popular time of the year for tourist visits to the park. Avoid the crowd and the burning sun if you can - the park is much better viewed when you're not trying to stay cool. And avoid the trails during storms - you're prone to get struck by lightning standing on top of the fins, or washed out standing in the canyons.
Fall brings moderation of the temperatures, and also drier weather (okay, it's a desert - it's usually dry - but fall is more reliable for blue skies than any other season). Unfortunately, most of the plants are well and truly dried out by this time of the year, and the vegetation looks as bleak as it does through winter. Fall is very popular with the more local crowd.
Winters can get chilly in the desert, though afternoon temperatures are often reasonable. On a recent trip in February, the temperatures hovered in the 40s and 50s during the day, but the overnight temperature drop was significant, and early morning hikes were less than warm (I'll omit a description of standing out on the desert plain waiting for the sunrise with the morning winds blowing...). There is sure to be snow or ice in the more shaded areas of the park, though not much.
Something to consider when timing your trip: the Fiery Furnace area of the park (which requires a guide or a permit), is only manned from April through October. If you want to see this section of the park, Winter and the months surrounding it are not available to you.
Also to consider: Moab is home to several mountain biking and offroad festivals. Unless you like fighting overpopulation, try to avoid these very popular events. I have been caught in mountain biking events in mid-October (Canyonlands Fat Tire Festival) and in mid-May (Behind The Rocks Festival)


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July 3rd
Today was a kind-of unstructured camp day...we were supposed to have guests to swim today, but our whole schedule got thrown out of whack when Grumpy had to attend an unexpected event, so...we improvised!
We did some time painting (which KT will do at any time -- she's a budding artist!) I helped with some structure on this painting of a dinosaur, and she filled in the color!


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|Hemlock's Diary
|The ravings of Hong Kong's most obnoxious expat
9-15 January 2005
|Sun, 9 Jan
I count them 29, 30, 31... A total of 32 emails in the last 10 days asking if I know the whereabouts of Conrad, writer of The Gweilo Diaries. Im not surprised so many people miss the hilarious parody of American neo-conservative blogs, with its ranting about the satanic United Nations and barbarous Mohammedans, its glorification of George W Bush and praise of the contentment of post-Saddam Iraq all spiced up with imaginative, salacious tales of Wanchai at night and tasteful pictorial appreciations of the Asian female form. Being reluctant to divulge the distressing truth, I deny any knowledge of the matter. Nor do I mention these emails when I see Conrad this afternoon, outside a jewellers store in a back street in Causeway Bay. He is begging Formica, his 19-year-old, seven-months-pregnant Filipino fiancée, to accept a HK$350 gold-plate and zirconium wedding ring, arguing that her friends will never know the difference, and that they need the money for more important things. How will she take to life in that trailer park in Jonesboro? I ask him, as the sulking girl teeters back to the shop window on her platform shoes. Shes never been to Arkansas has she? He shrugs and mumbles about how they wont be staying with his sister Becky-Mae and her six kids for long just until they sort something out. I nod reassuringly. After an awkward silence, I glance at my watch and feign alarm at my lateness for an urgent appointment. We shake hands and agree to keep in touch. Everything will turn out fine, I tell him, as Formica stomps back up to us, hatred burning behind her tear-filled eyes.
Mon, 10 Jan
The mood on the Mid-Levels Escalator this chilly morning is tense. A new threat looms over Hong Kongs clean-living, hard-working, tax-paying, disenfranchised middle class a malign force seeping out of the dank, fetid tenements across the harbour, creeping stealthily towards us, to suck what remains of our blood and spirit. Already, we must support parasitic tycoons, whose cartels crush competition and demand extortionate prices for life-sustaining goods and services. The worlds most bloated, overpaid and arrogant civil service wields deviant laws and contracts and insists on its right to sinecures, allowances and pensions, whether the wealth to pay for them exists or not. Meanwhile, the dandruff- and acne-ravaged lower orders demand incessant subsidies, free lunches, cushions from reality and immunity from the laws of economics and probably, before long, eternal life.
With our visionary Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa giving his annual policy address on Wednesday, the word is that the Governments next big thing will be poverty. My fellow commuters nervously finger their wallets as they read of plans to appoint a high-level commission. An anxious-looking marketing executive wonders aloud how she can feed her own children if she has to support every wastrel from Sham Shui Po to Yuen Long. Hong Kong is an expensive place, she tells us. Why do these people come and live here if they cant afford it? Her comment prompts some sharp intakes of breath. This is the truth that must not be uttered. There is a clear correlation, going back years, between the rising number of unemployed and the number of unskilled immigrants arriving from the Mainland. But no-one must say so. It is sensitive.
Dont worry, the Government is over a barrel, I tell my companions as we glide down the hill. They dont dare plunder the middle class for more they cant risk us asking where all these extra unemployable people came from. So if Tung wants to alleviate poverty, the extra resources will have to come from the tycoons or the public sector. On the walkway over Queens Road we collapse in hysterics at the absurdity of that idea.
|Tue, 11 Jan
Walking west along Des Voeux Road, I wonder what its like to be one of those poor sufferers of morbid loneliness who must talk into or stare at a little box as they stroll the streets or ride the train. They deserve sympathy. I feel especially sorry for the ridiculous-looking ones who mutter into a little microphone dangling from a wire around the neck, or into empty space, their fascinating reflections on human existence being picked up by a plastic probe hooked onto their ear. What sort of agonies would these souls endure without their little electronic crutches? Would they have agoraphobic panic attacks, or tremble and sweat in torment at not being in touch or would they just start sucking their thumbs? As I approach Li Ka-shings Fortress electronics store, my mind turns to the great, long, red-legged scissor-man who dealt so effectively with children too ill-disciplined to wean themselves off a substitute teat.
Not without apprehension, I enter the store. I loathe gizmos, but I have determined that it would be useful to be able to email pictures. After reading reviews on the Internet, I have concluded that an Olympus model with the ludicrous name of mju 410 would fit the bill. The spotty young assistant behind the counter lets me examine the contraption. It comes with everything. Would I like the special limited-edition Sanrio model? He shows me a pink box with the portrait of the famous mouthless cat on it. He can see I am tempted at this unnecessary luxury, but I resist. No, Ill take the basic one, I declare, taking out my wallet and slapping my credit card down.
|The great tall tailor always comes
To little boys who suck their thumbs;
And ere they dream what he's about,
He takes his great sharp scissors out,
And cuts their thumbs clean offand then,
You know, they never grow again.
|Usually, vendors lure customers into making a purchase by offering extras before (obviously) the customer makes up his mind. But in the parallel universe of Hong Kongs cartelized retail sector, the bait comes after you pay. Free extra battery, the assistant says, putting a pricy Lithium-Ion power pack into the bag. And 128 Meg of free memory, he adds, slipping in a couple of chips. Oh, and free gift, he tells me, putting another box on the pile. An MP3 player. I hold my hands up to indicate total satisfaction, lest the fiend forces a mobile phone on me. A strange sales technique. They missed the chance to shift a premium, Hello Kitty camera there.
Wed, 12 Jan
Few customers at the IFC Mall branch of Pacific Coffee pay attention as wild American friend Odell climbs onto a table and shouts at the top of his voice. Resolutely unite to follow the glorious and correct guidance of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa! The creepy girl who reads the bible looks up disapprovingly, while the staff smile and get on with their work. Todays the big day, and high spirits are only to be expected. I sip my hot, brown, water-flavoured liquid as Odell sits down in his seat again and we discuss the main question where shall we watch the Chief Executives Policy Address? It has to be somewhere with a big screen and happy hour all afternoon. Odell suggests the Whiskey Priest in Lan Kwai Fong. Itll be too crowded, I tell him. Packed full of fat gwailos in rugby shirts all screaming their heads off. So what about the Dublin Jack, just off Lyndhurst Terrace? Certainly not, I retort. Theyre criminals lawless Fenians obstructing the sidewalk with barrels and showing disrespect to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. We leave and walk across the plaza next to Exchange Square, swapping ideas on how the crop-haired one will tackle the Big Lychees biggest challenges. Around the corner on the walkway, an unpleasant sight awaits us. Two paramedics are leaning over a beggar writhing in agony, dripping blood over his plastic bowl and coins scattered on the ground. A few yards away, a well-coiffed woman in a fur coat and long leather skirt holds her head high in defiance as a policeman handcuffs her. A passing young secretary explains how the mendicant pestered the lady once too often. She snapped, pulled a Gini coefficient from her bag and bludgeoned the poor wretch senseless with it. Odell winces. I look away and catch a line in the newspaper folded under the office workers arm. Maintaining social stability and harmony will be among Mr Tungs key messages.
THE FINAL line from paparagraph 26 of tofu-for-brains' address, if my sneak preview is to be believed... The ultimate aim of universal suffrage as set out in the Basic Law can be achieved at an early date. There's a hidden if there.
Thurs, 13 Jan
The Big Boss expresses pained disbelief in the morning meeting that Tung Chee-hwa implicitly admitted in his policy address that collusion between government and business takes place and that transfer of public wealth into corporate coffers is wrong. How could he say that? the dynamic Chairman splutters. He sounds like the anti-business politicians! Crazy! He thinks theyll like him if he talks the rubbish they want to hear. Members of S-Meg Holdings management team look round for someone who can offer soothing words, their eyes finally resting on the company gwailo.
I mention that Tung has promised to boost spending on pointless infrastructure projects to relieve unemployment. The current capital works programmes have created 45,000 jobs at an average of, say, 10,000 bucks a month, I remind everyone. But those projects cost the taxpayer over 50,000 dollars a month per job. Wheres the extra money going? The Big Boss takes a deep breath and nods. S-Megs lucrative little construction interests are safe. And hes still ruling out anti-trust legislation surely the ultimate act of collusion. The tycoon smiles slightly. Our niches in wholesale and distribution cartels will remain licences to print money. Even so, mutters the great man as we all leave the big conference room, Tungs an idiot.
|Back in my office, I am inspired by the crop-haired ones visionary decree that the Hong Kong economy will henceforth revolve around cultural and creative industries. Taking a photograph with my new Olympus is easy. Point and shoot. Apparently, the thing can make movies with sound. But thats for wimps who read instruction manuals. The tricky bit is beating the enormous, 5 zillion-megapixel photos into submission on a computer screen. Olympus provides a program called Camedia Master. Does it crop and re-size pictures? Who knows? Camedia Master is to software as a pile of dog excrement laced with strychnine and glass shards is to food. Meanwhile, in Bosnia, a modest genius called Irfan Skiljan has written a free program called irfanview, which works. I will write to Tung and advise him to give the brilliant Balkan a visa. My first work of photographic art a still life taken on a filing cabinet in the gwailos lair comes out rather well, I believe
|Still life of Long Hair model, pack of tissues and Maxims cake coupon.
Limited edition prints,
signed by the artist
US$10,000 (inc HK Sales Tax)
|Fri, 14 Jan
Am I alone in thinking that Tung Chee-hwa does a rather good mister clean, tofu-wouldnt-melt-in-my-mouth act? Probably. But who can help being impressed by his new-found abhorrence of the evil that is government-business collusion? Which doesnt happen, anyway. And if it does, he demands, legislators must get with the team and show him the proof. Fortunately for the stability and prosperity of the fragrant harbour, no-one in the Circus has the wit to furnish our Chief Executive with such evidence. It would be too much at this stage in his unique political career for the crop-haired one to reinvent himself as the gritty and determined defender of righteousness, taking a sword and chopping the corporate tentacles that penetrate every orifice of the body politic.
Detractors will attempt to take up Tungs challenge. They will point to the singular luck enjoyed by Li Ka-shing and his family. The land policies that let him corner the private residential and commercial property market. The lack of anti-trust laws that allow his companies to gouge the people every time they buy fuel, power, food and groceries. The way Cyberport fell into the hands of his son. The technicalities that allowed him all those waivers when he listed his visionary Tom.com during the tech-bubble. The almost tailor-made criteria for the fast-fading Cultureport project. But Superman is invincible. Bullets bounce off him, like a dull meat cleaver off the gristly bit of a Park N Shop steak.
I do have evidence. But I will keep it to myself. What purpose would it serve to lift a lump of concrete so everyone could see the murky achievements of Dr the Hon Raymond Ho JP scuttling out of the light? His almost-successful attempt to win billions of dollars for his friends in the construction industry through the building of a vast unnecessary prison. His push to force property owners to hire men in hard hats to inspect sewers for no good reason. His valiant efforts to ensure that our taxpayers hard-earned wealth is delivered lovingly to our noble engineering professionals via infrastructure projects that are wasteful or pointless less cost effective or low economic return, to use the technical jargon. And this is just one legislator representing corporate interests. The natural order is at stake. I know nothing.


text:
PORTLAND — The Maine Red Claws drafted "young and hungry" on Monday night, choosing eight rookies in the NBA Development League draft and nine total picks.
The team's top choice: 6-foot-11 center Magnum Rolle out of Louisiana Tech.
Rolle was picked No. 3 overall, and was followed by seven guards and a forward expected to battle it out at training camp, which opens Nov. 9.
Maine begins its second season Nov. 19 on the heels of a 27-23 campaign last year in which every game sold out at the Portland Expo.
"This year we really wanted to focus on youth and energy," said General Manager Jon Jennings. "We wanted quality people. We'll have a lot of rookies to fight it out at training camp. I feel very good about tonight."
Jennings made the selections via conference call along with Coach Austin Ainge, Boston Celtics President Danny Ainge, and team personnel at the Red Claws office on Congress Street.
The draft picks following Rolle were: Kenny Hayes, a 6-2 guard from Miami-Ohio; Champ Oguchi, a 6-6 guard from Illinois State; Lawrence Westbrook, a 6-foot guard from Minnesota; Tajuan Porter, a 5-6 guard from Oregon; James Lewis, a 6-4 guard from Fresno Pacific; JaJuan Smith, a 6-3 guard from Tennessee; Eugene Spates a 6-8 forward from Northeastern; and Armon Bassett, a 6-2 guard from Ohio University.
"We feel really good about our list," said Coach Austin Ainge. "In assembling the team we really went for young and hungry. We have some experienced guys. But a lot are rookies and young energy players."
Rolle, who was recently released by the Indiana Pacers, requested to come early to Portland this week according to Jennings.
"It seems like they're a good organization and do everything first class," said Rolle in a phone interview. "I've done some research and am looking forward to getting there."
Hayes said he looks forward to the competition at guard at training camp.
The team will need to be whittled down to 10 players from 15 by its opener Nov. 19.
"If you're an athlete you should want to compete," said Hayes. "I had this gut feeling I was going to be picked by Maine. I'm blessed to have this opportunity."
Jennings said they weren't sure if they would get their wish list, but Rolle, in particular, at No. 3 was a score: "Most teams considered Magnum Rolle to have the greatest upside of any player in the entire draft. We were really fortunate."
A year ago, Paul Harris, the former Syracuse guard, was the first player the Red Claws took in the draft.
He missed last season recovering from an injury.
On Monday he recalled a call from his cousin while he was shooting hoops that the Red Claws had drafted him.
"It brought my confidence back up," said Harris. "I thought I was going to get drafted (in the NBA) and I didn't. So when someone else really, really wanted me, it made me feel really good."
Harris said he was cleared to play on Sunday and cannot wait to get on the court again.
"That was the toughest year of my life. It made me appreciate the game of basketball," said Harris.
Joining the rookies at training camp will be former Red Claw Mario West, Harris, Stephane Lasme, a 6-8, 220 pound forward from Massachusetts; Keith "Tiny" Gallon, a 6-9, 239 pound forward from Oklahoma; Jamar Smith, a 6-3, 185 pound guard from Southern Indiana; and Lamonte Ulmer, a 6-6 forward from Rhode Island who earned a trip to training camp from a tryout at UMass-Boston in September.
Staff Writer Jenn Menendez can be contacted at 791-6426 or at:
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