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I have vivid memories of my mom spending entire afternoons bottling the fresh peaches, apricots, cherries, grapes, & tomatoes from our yard. as a young child i didn't understand the attraction of slaving over a hot stove on a sweltering summer day, but i always enjoyed the results. and now that i'm a mom, with a garden and beautiful fruit trees of my own, i realize how much love went into each and every one of those jars. so last year i started learning the age old art of preserving, and i must say there's nothing more satisfying than the familiar "pop" of a freshly sealed jar.
this week was harvest time for our apricot tree. a late snow (mid june!!) killed off most of the blossoms on our neighborhood trees, but luckily our little fighter was able to make it through with some beautiful fruit. a few days ago the littles and i filled our buckets to the brim, and with the help of nana we whipped up a couple batches of fresh apricot jam. (we particularly liked the pineapple-apricot recipe from the kraft website)
cupcake wrappers or fabric swatches make lovely quick & easy toppers, but the artist in me needed custom labels. so while i set to work on a design, the littles sat down with a bowl of jam and ritz crackers (a favorite treat at our home for sure). while packaging up our goods in preparation to share with loved ones, my 3 & 5 year old daughters took it upon themselves to help with the "dress ups", and surprised me with foam stickers adorning a few of the bottles. such an adorable touch that i never would have thought of, and a fun way to involved the kids in another step of the process. hopefully as adults, when they hear that familiar "pop", they'll be inundated with childhood memories of beautiful summer days spent in the garden (& in the craft room!) with their mother.
to spread the love even further, included below is a free download for the labels we used in our project. enjoy!
lastly, in the interest of full disclosure, i must admit the entire bottling process wasn't all rainbows and unicorns perfect... in a whirlwind of scorching hot pans etc, i ended up melting the side of my precious vitamix!! eep. i won't be forgetting that experience soon enough.


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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- On a day when he tied legendary coach Bob Scott's record for career coaching wins at Johns Hopkins, head coach Dave Pietramala acknowledged in the post-game press conference after Sunday's 14-8 Blue Jay victory against Virginia in the first round of the NCAA tournament that the start of the game wasn't surprising. A two-goal spurt by the Cavaliers to open the game – a surge that saw the Cavaliers fire off shot after shot against the Blue Jays – was followed by a Pietramala-called timeout.
When asked what he said in the timeout, he responded with a simple response: "Relax."
It was less than a minute later when senior Brandon Benn intercepted a Matt Barrett outlet pass at midfield and fired one home from 35 yards. After the hot start by the Cavaliers, it was just what the Blue Jays needed, and they capitalized on the deep breath they were able to take after Benn's goal – and proceeded to score seven more before Virginia would score again.
By then, Hopkins had scored on half of the 16 shots it had fired on Barrett, including three by Benn and two by junior Wells Stanwick, to open an 8-2 lead midway through the second quarter.
For all the talk about the quick-strike Virginia offense, it was Hopkins that scored in bunches to craft what eventually became a 9-5 halftime lead.
The early two-goal deficit was a distant memory after Benn's goal was followed by a nice finish inside by Ryan Brown, a nifty finish by senior Kevin Interlicchio and the first of Stanwick's career-high-tying five goals before the end of the first quarter.
The 4-2 Blue Jay lead swelled to 8-2 in less than seven minutes of the second quarter. Two more strikes by Benn, the second career goal by senior Jack Reilly and another by Stanwick accounted for the final four goals in the 8-0 run, which gave Johns Hopkins the stunning six-goal lead.
Virginia, a team known for making runs of its own, had the six-goal lead trimmed to four in a span of seven seconds as a Ryan Tucker laser at the 6:59 mark of the second quarter was followed by a Joe Lisicky goal off the ensuing faceoff to make it 8-4.
A Connor Reed goal off an ally dodge was matched by a Pat Harbeson strike in the final 4:28 of the first half to account for the 9-5 Blue Jay lead at the half.
As they did in the first half, the Cavaliers came out firing in the third quarter and it was 9:31 into the period when what was once a six-goal lead was down to one. An Owen Van Arsdale goal from the wing less than five minutes into the half was followed by Zed Williams and Tyler German tallies midway though the period to make it a 9-8 game with more than 20 minutes remaining in the game.
The next goal, either a Virginia tally to knot the game or a Blue Jay strike to stem the tide, would be crucial. As it turned out, the more than 2,000 fans in attendance didn't have to wait long, just 11 seconds, to see who would get that crucial goal.
Senior Rob Guida scooped up the ground ball off the faceoff following German's goal and sprinted into the offensive end, where he found Stanwick all alone 12 yards out to Barrett's right. Stanwick didn't hesitate when he took Guida's feed and blew one home. The most important goal of the game belonged to Johns Hopkins.
Stanwick's goal ignited what eventually became a 5-0 game-ending run for Johns Hopkins. Benn completed his four-goal day when he got just enough separation in the high slot and polished off a long possession at the 10:52 mark. When Holden Cattoni ripped a shot past Barrett from the wing at the 7:05 mark, the Cavaliers were down 12-8 and were forced to chase. Stanwick made them pay – twice – down the stretch with his fourth and fifth goals to seal Hopkins' largest margin of victory at Virginia since 1984 (16-9).
Stanwick matched his career-high and the Johns Hopkins record for most goals in a first round game with his five, while he, Benn and Brown – Johns Hopkins' starting attack – combined for 10 goals and one assist. Conversely, the Blue Jay defense held Virginia's starting attack unit to three goals and three assists and its first midfield to just one goal on 18 shots. Half of the six points accumulated by UVA's starting attack came before the game was five minutes old.
The Johns Hopkins defense was paced by Schneider's 12 saves, five of which came in the first quarter and four in the fourth. He backboned a unit that held the Cavaliers scoreless for more than 18 minutes at one point in the first half and more than 20 minutes to close the game.
Helping the Blue Jays go on those extended runs was senior Drew Kennedy, who went 14-of-26 on faceoffs and grabbed 10 ground balls for Johns Hopkins.
Cockerton (2g, 1a) and Van Arsdale (1g, 2a) were the only multi-point producers for Virginia, which got 10 saves from Barrett and a 12-for-25 effort on faceoffs from Mick Parks.
The win was the 158th for Pietramala as the head coach at Johns Hopkins. That matches Scott's record, which was accumulated from 1955-74 and had stood unchallenged for 40 years.
Johns Hopkins will take on defending national champion Duke in the quarterfinals next Sunday at Delaware. The Blue Devils topped Air Force 20-9 this afternoon.

subset: commoncrawl


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Upton regrouping after rough year
Published 12:00 am Saturday, March 1, 2014
KISSIMMEE, Fla. — B.J. Upton was suffering through the most dreadful season of his career and little brother Justin was in the same Atlanta clubhouse, a perfect shoulder to lean on as he navigated through the unfathomable time.
But he didn't seek comfort from him.
In fact, he didn't reach out to anyone for help.
"It was difficult, but I'm kind of a loner," Upton told The Associated Press, his gaze fixed skyward as he sat in the dugout on a recent dreary day in spring camp. "I handle things my own way. That's just kind of the way it is."
Justin is three years B.J.'s junior, shorter and stockier, but in his face and the timbre of his voice, the resemblance is unmistakable.
The younger Upton shook his head when asked if it surprised him that B.J. didn't ask for his support when he dealt with hitting just .184 and being benched in his first year with the Braves. The season-long slump came after he signed a five-year, $75.25 million contract.
"Nobody's going to help you fix yourself," Justin said. "People take that a little too far, I think. Until something clicks with you in your mind things won't go the right direction. You have to fix yourself before anyone else can."
OK, but surely B.J. talked to his parents, with whom he's very close, about his problems.
Not his mother and not even his father, Manny "Bossman" Upton, his namesake and the reason the man born Melvin Emanuel is known as "Bossman Junior" or simply B.J.
"What could anyone really say to me? None of them had gone through what I had gone through last year," he said. "Nobody could relate, so I dealt with it on my own."
So he'd trudge home following each bad game and try to sort through things solo.
"I'd go home and regroup and come back the next day to work and try to fix it," he said. "It just never panned out."
The center fielder's distaste at confiding in anyone about just how much his struggles bothered him didn't stop scores of people from offering unsolicited advice. It seemed there was someone at every turn with a proposed solution to his woes.
"And that's the problem," he said, "everybody wants to throw in their two cents all the time and you start trying to listen to everybody and before you know it you've got 100 people in your head. And you're trying to play with him telling you something and him telling you something, and you just kind of take it with you to the field."
The 29-year-old, who was the second overall pick in the 2002 draft by Tampa Bay and made his major league debut at just 19, doesn't fault those who reached out to him. But, he believes at almost 30, he should be able to handle things alone.
"They want to help, but I just think sometimes you can get too much information and that's kind of what happened," he said. "It just kind of snowballed. I started off struggling, kind of hit the panic button and it never stopped."
His contract was the biggest ever given to a free agent by the Braves, a fact that Upton said led to a "bad situation." He was so busy striving to live up to the expectations put on him by such a huge deal that he let it affect his play.
But lofty expectations aren't anything new for Upton, who was touted as a five-tool, game-changing player when he was drafted out of high school. He became a key starter for Tampa Bay, hitting seven home runs in the postseason when the Rays reached the World Series in 2008, becoming the first player in franchise history to hit for the cycle a year later and stealing more than 40 bases in three consecutive seasons.
Despite those accomplishments he remained a prime target for criticism in part because he was never exactly what he was predicted to be as a teenager.
He narrows his perpetually sleepy eyes and something (anger? annoyance?) briefly flashes across his face at the mention of "five-tool player." It's evident he's grown weary of shouldering outside expectations of what he should or shouldn't be.
"All of that. I'm over all that," he said after a deep breath. "I'm just like, 'Leave me alone and let me play. Just let me play the game. Stop putting a number or tag on something of what people expect. Just leave me alone and let me play. I'll be fine.'"
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez is someone who is perfectly comfortable with not putting too much pressure on Upton. So what would he consider a successful season for Upton after his disastrous debut with the Braves?
"Just a good, solid year," Gonzalez said. "Something that he would have on the back of his baseball card, something that he's done prior to last year. Those numbers are pretty good."
Indeed they are. In eight seasons with the Rays, he hit a combined .255 with a .336 on-base percentage, and piled up 232 stolen bases with 118 homers.
When Upton discusses 2013, he does it with a dismissive tone, certain it was simply an aberration — his rock bottom he's sure to rise from this season.
"Last year was done a long time ago," he said. "I'm just not really worried about anything. I don't know if that's a bad thing. I'm just like: 'Whatever.'"
And for him a long time ago wasn't during some quiet reflection this offseason. No. He let the negativity of last year go as the Braves took the field for the NL division series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"When I started sitting the bench in the playoffs — I went from starting to a defensive replacement," he said.
It was then he made a vow to himself.
"This won't happen again," he told the only person he relies on for guidance. "I know it won't happen again."


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The U.S. Department of Defense has been hit with a $4.9 billion lawsuit over a recently disclosed data breach involving TRICARE, a healthcare system for active and retired military personnel and their families.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington D.C. this week by four people whose data was allegedly compromised, seeks $1000 in damages for each of the 4.9 million individuals affected by the breach.
The suit charges TRICARE, the Department and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta with failing to adequately protect private data and of "intentional, willful and reckless disregard" for patient privacy rights.
TRICARE did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
In the complaint, the four plaintiffs faulted TRICARE for failing to properly encrypt the private data in its possession and for taking too long to notify victims of the breach.
The four plaintiffs are Virginia Gaffney, a Hampton, Va.-based individual who described herself in court papers as the spouse of a decorated war veteran; her two children; and Adrienne Taylor, a Glendale, Az. Based Air Force veteran.
TRICARE in September disclosed that sensitive data including Social Security Numbers, names, addresses, phone numbers and personal health data belonging to about 4.9 million active and retired U.S. military personnel may have been compromised after unencrypted backup tapes containing the data went missing.
The information on the tapes was from an electronic healthcare application used to capture patient data. The backup tapes were stolen from the car of an employee at Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), a TRICARE contractor. The breach affects all those who received care at the military's San Antonio area military treatment facilities between 1992 and Sept. 7. 2011.
Lawsuits such as this one have become increasingly common in the immediate aftermath of a major data breach.
Earlier this month, for instance, Stanford Hospital and Clinics was hit with a $20 million proposed class action lawsuit for a data breach involving a third-party contractor. And major breaches such as the ones at Heartland Payment Systems, TJX and Hannaford Bros. have all prompted their share of consumer lawsuits charging the companies with negligence, breach of contract and other charges.
In many cases, courts however have tended to dismiss lawsuits in data breach cases. Several courts have held that consumers cannot claim compensatory or punitive damages in data breach cases unless they can demonstrate that they have suffered actual monetary damage as the result of a breach.
The notion that someone might become the victim of ID theft in future because of a data breach cannot be used as a basis for claims, courts have held.
One exception was in the Heartland case, where the company agreed to pay $4 million to settle claims stemming from several class-action lawsuits.
Jaikumar Vijayan covers data security and privacy issues, financial services security and e-voting for Computerworld. Follow Jaikumar on Twitter at @jaivijayan or subscribe to Jaikumar's RSS feed . His e-mail address is firstname.lastname@example.com.


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02 Milky Way
The Milky Way is seen from Cades Cove in the Smokies.
21 Fall Sunset
The last light of the day paints over fall colored Smoky Mountains
Clingmans Dome Sunset
12 Little Church in The Cove
Historic church in Cades Cove as seen from Rich Mountain Road.
11 Fall In The Smokies
Fall colors along the banks of the Middle Prong of the Little River
26 Fall Kayak Trip
Taken from a kayak on Fort Patrick Henry Lake.
36 Fall Reflections
A Great Blue Heron fishes on the shore of Fort Patrick Henry Lake in the fall.
12 Rolling Fall Color
Fall color clothes the rolling hills off the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina
06 Crabtree Falls, NC
Beautiful waterfalls a short hike off the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina.
Crab Tree Falls
Fall Colors
Linnville Falls, NC
32 Linville River, NC
The Linville River meanders through Fall trees on the way to Linville Falls.
44 - Wilderness Road Blockhouse
8 Place 43 - Crow Creek Mine


text: General information on Norway SOS Children's Villages has been present in Scandinavia since the early 1960s. In June 1964, the "Komiteen for norske venner av SOS-barnebyer" (Committee of Norwegian Friends of the SOS Children's Villages) was founded to support the worldwide activities of SOS Children's Villages. At first individual family houses were built in different SOS Children's Villages across the globe, but as the organisation grew, SOS Children's Villages Norway was able to finance a complete SOS Children's Village in Rajshahi, Bangladesh in 1979 with Norweigian funds. In 1983 the Norwegian Association was renamed the "Stiftelsen SOS-barnebyer Norge". Since 2008, the association has been working in Bergen with children and families in need of support. Some facts about Norway SOS Children's Village Bergen - photo: SOS Archives Norway is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula. The country borders Sweden in the east, Finland and Russia in the north-east, with the rest of Norway bordered by the sea in the west and in the south. Norway's capital city is Oslo with about 1.4 million people. Bergen, where the SOS Children's Village is located, is the second largest city. Norway has a population of about 4.7 million. There is a Sami minority of about 60,000. In 2011, about 17 per cent of the population had an immigrant background. These minorities include people of European origin as well as people from Canada, the USA, Australia and New Zealand. The official language is Norwegian, with the Sami minority using their native language. The country has many natural resources and is one of the world's largest petroleum and gas exporters. These exports provide an important source of income. An egalitarian society with a high standard of living Norway has one of the best living standards in the world, with one of the highest GDP per capita rates. Norway ranks extremely high on the United Nations Development Index. There is a high life expectancy rate, and a low infant mortality rate. Norway's unemployment rate is very low at 3.6 per cent (2010 est.). Around 2.9 per cent of the active population works in agriculture, 21 per cent in industry and 76 per cent in the service sector. Norway is an egalitarian society: income differences are small and good quality health care and education is available to all. The city of Oslo holds an annual Freedom Forum which is an important meeting point for the discussion of human rights. Although the overall poverty rate is low, and the state invests heavily in social welfare, the level of poverty among the immigrant population, especially Pakistani, Turkish or Asian immigrants, is surprisingly high. Situation of the children in Norway There are 1.1 million children under the age of 18 in Norway. Children, and their rights, play a central role in Norwegian culture. The Ombudsman for Children exists to protect these rights. Norwegian children have to go to school for ten years, but most attend longer. SOS Children's Village Bergen - photo: SOS Archives Most children live with their birth parents, but the number who live with only one of their parents is increasing. Although the model of the family is changing in Norway, the effects on children's lives are limited by the extensive provisions of the welfare state. In spite of the generally favourable conditions, according to national statistics, around 34,000 children were receiving assistance or were under protection from the state in 2008. It is estimated that around five to ten per cent of children experience some form of physical or sexual abuse. About five per cent report that they have been bullied in school. Nearly 100,000 children are exposed to repetitive domestic violence. SOS Children's Villages in Norway In addition to supporting children and their families abroad, the Norwegian Association had wanted to set up an SOS Children's Village since the early 1970s. In 2004 the board of directors gave the go-ahead for the first SOS Children's Village in Bergen on the Western coast. The project was thoroughly prepared and the first Norwegian SOS Children's Village was opened in Bergen in 2008. Website of SOS Children's Villages Norway (available in Norwegian)


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Come Back, Zooey Deschanel, We Don't Really Hate You
In the past we have called satchel of fairy dust Zooey Deschanel a living dog sweater, Bambi's rabbit friend, and hipster labradoodle with bangs, that doesn't mean we hate her. No, Zooey, we want you to come back and read Gawker.
In their new cover story, Zooey told Allure, ""I can't go on Gawker. I actually think the writing is really funny, but there is a chance that somebody is undercutting me." Aw, Zooey, don't do us like that. Those names aren't insults they're just whimsical descriptions.
I'm not going to launch a full on "In Defense of Zooey Deschanel," because like abortion, Cadbury Creme Eggs, and veganism, the sides of the Zooey debate are fiercely divided and horribly intractable. She is the most love it or hate it proposition in modern culture. Personally, I get why she is annoying to some people, but I find her to be kind of charming. I also enjoy her show New Girl and find it to be funny, different, and rather entertaining. I still like Raising Hope better, but that is some seriously tough competition.
I'm not going to tell you to like her or list all her good qualities. I'm not going to tell you to hate her and give a litany of reasons why. No, I'm just going to say that maybe we should be a little nicer to Zooey so that she can come here on this webpage and enjoy some celebrity gossip, strange internet culture exposes, and news funnies. Maybe if she could, you'd like her a bit more. Maybe all the detractors can say, "She is not my cup of tea, I am moving on." Maybe you can direct all your hatred to something that really deserves it like the continued wars in the Middle East, hate crimes, and that bitch Rene Zellweger.
Can we agree on that? Because we really want you to come back to the five and dime, Zooey D, Zooey D.
[Image via Getty]


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Mike Bidlo (American, b. 1953)
Not Manzoni (Impronte pollice destro, 1960) (14/60), 2015
Offset Lithograph
20 x 14 in
Signed and numbered "14/60" by the artist. Mike Bidlo (American, b.1953) Not Manzoni (Impronte pollice destro, 1960) 2015 Offset lithograph Edition of 60 Signed, dated and numbered in pencil Sheet: 20 x 14 inches (50.8 x 35.5 cm) Offset lithograph printed in black, a fine, fresh impression of the only state, the full sheet, printed on 300gsm cream white smooth Fabriano Artistico paper, with margins, hand-singed, dated and numbered in pencil by the artist, executed in an edition of 60 examples (there are also 5 numbered Artist Proofs, 5 numbered World House Editions Proofs [WHE] and 1 BAT proof) printed by Anna-Marie Settine at the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, New York, published by World House Editions, Middlebury, Connecticut, in fine condition, unframed. In the present work, Mike Bidlo has looked to the Italian conceptual artist Piero Manzoni (1933-1963) and his 1962 print portfolio, 8 Tavole di accertamento (8 Tables of assessment), as a source of inspiration. Bidlo has taken the concept of appropriation and has added a twist, for what clearly appears to be Manzoni's right thumbprint, is in actuality Mike Bidlo's own thumbprint. As opposed to Bidlo appropriating Manzoni's thumbprint, Bidlo has appropriated Manzoni's concept (and format), thus begging the question: Is the observer simply viewing the work, taking for granted it is Manzoni's thumbprint appropriated by Bidlo, or is the viewer actually looking at it? For Manzoni, the fingerprint was the most minimal physical trace of the artist imaginable – one that symbolized the unmistakable identity of the individual and the artist. Mike Bidlo has borrowed Manzoni's concept of raising his fingerprint image to the level of art through the printing process but by utilizing his own fingerprint in the same format, Bidlo has wryly made it his own artistic postulation. Exhibited: Minneapolis, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Recent Acquisitions: Works on Paper, 15 September 2016 - 16 April 2017. Literature: Erdos, Elleree. "Imitation Games: Mike Bidlo and Piero Manzoni", article in Art in Print magazine, Volume 5, Number 4, November - December 2015, p.27, illustrated (another example).


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Military investigators say a sticky piston in the fuel control mechanism of a Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 was likely the root cause of a spectacular crash of the jet during rehearsal for an airshow in Lethbridge, Alberta, in July of 2010. The pilot, Capt. Brian Bews, ejected from the aircraft less than 300 feet above the ground and suffered three compressed vertebrae, but has since gone back to work. The crash was caught from multiple angles by video and still photographers. Bews was practicing the high alpha maneuver in which the aircraft flies at its lowest possible forward speed using a combination of engine power and an extreme angle of attack. To resume normal flight, the pilot applies full power and afterburner to climb out and that's when things went wrong.
"The engine malfunction was likely the result of a stuck ratio boost piston in the right engine main fuel control that prevented the engine from advancing above flight idle when maximum afterburner was selected," says the RCAF report. "The large thrust imbalance between the left and the right engines caused the aircraft to depart controlled flight and the aircraft was unrecoverable within the altitude available." There was a brisk wind blowing and it pushed Bews away from the exploding wreckage but his leg tangled in the shroud lines and he wasn't able to release the canopy when he landed. He was dragged a few hundred yards before members of the Canadian Army Skyhawks parachute team chased after him in a vehicle and were able to collapse the chute and give him first aid. The RCAF says it's improving airshow training and modifying the engine controls to prevent a recurrence of the malfunction.


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A 46-year-old South Carolina man died in police custody last Tuesday after being arrested for selling cocaine. Rodney Andrew Haymon of Westminster becomes the 26th person to die in US domestic drug law enforcement operations so far this year.
Officers on the scene carried out CPR, and an ambulance was called to the scene. Haymon was transported to a local hospital where he died, just under two hours from the time of his arrest.
An autopsy last Wednesday revealed no physical injuries that would have caused his death. The coroner found that he had two fractured ribs, but said they were consistent with CPR efforts, which include sharply compressing the chest.
The coroner said he had heard rumors Haymon had been Tasered or otherwise injured, but there was no evidence of that. He said that he is awaiting toxicology reports to see whether Haymon ingested something that could have caused his death.
Haymon's family said he had no history of seizures.


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We tried to think of all the questions that you may have. If you can't find your answer, please email us at email@example.com.
There are many varieties of the cannabis plant. Both hemp and marijuana are of the species Cannabis Sativa. Hemp has much lower concentrations of THC (the psychoactive substance in marijuana) and higher concentrations of CBD while marijuana has far more THC and far less CBD. By law, hemp plants may contain no more than 0.3% of THC. For comparison, marijuana plants typically contain 5%-25% THC.
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Thorsten Kiecker worked for Hahn-Film before he joined Mosaik magazine from 1993 to 1995. In cooperation with Lona Rietschel he further developed the magazine's main characters, 'Die Abrafaxe'. With Andreas Pasda and Hubertus Rufledt he also made some albums with the characters, including the projects 'Hollywood Pursuit', 'Die Kleinen Detective', 'Mach's noch einmal, Robin!' and 'Congo'.
Ria Chroniques de la Lumière
In 2000, he left the team and commenced working on his personal projects, such as his multimedia fantasy series 'Ria - The Lightclan Chronicles'. A series of comic books written by Fred and Mary Pullin and drawn by Kiecker has been published by the French publishing house Paquet under the title 'Ria Chroniques de la Lumière' since 2011. Kiecker has worked as as an art director and character design supervisor in the animation industry, and as consultant in the game industry through his company Stenarts.


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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — It only took six days — and a return to the Superdome — for Drew Brees and the Saints to shake off their worst performance this season and look like legitimate contenders again.
Brees passed for 313 yards and four touchdowns and New Orleans beat Carolina 31-13 on Sunday night to regain sole possession of first place in the NFC South and snap the Panthers' winning streak at eight games.
"Love this offense. Love what Sean Payton's put together," Brees said. "I love the group of guys that I get a chance to play with."
The Panthers' defense had not allowed more than two touchdowns in a game this season until the Saints scored three in the second quarter alone, when Brees completed 14 of 16 passes for 159 yards.
The Saints also became the only team this season to score more than 24 points against Carolina, which entered the game No. 1 in scoring defense, allowing 13.1 points per game.
Brees' first two scoring strikes went to Marques Colston, who made nine catches for 125 yards. Jimmy Graham added two TD catches, his second making it 31-6 in the fourth quarter.
"We just had great balance and a lot of guys made plays," Brees said. "Marques came up with some huge catches, as did Jimmy. The line did a great job. We mixed and matched the personnel groups and what we were doing and defense did a great job of getting us the ball and giving us opportunities."
New Orleans sacked Cam Newton five times and did not allow a touchdown until 5:15 remained. Junior Galette had three of New Orleans sacks and Cameron Jordan two.
Last Monday night, New Orleans went to Seattle looking to lead the race for the top playoff seeding in the NFC, only to fall 34-7, a result that also dropped the Saints into a tie with Carolina atop the division.
But the Saints looked sharp in their return home, where they are 7-0, and became the first team not to lose a turnover to the Panthers all season. Brees looked more like his usual self, completing 30 of 42 passes en route to becoming only the fifth QB in NFL history to eclipse 50,000 career yards passing.
"We knew the challenge, especially on a short week playing against a great divisional opponent in the Carolina Panthers," Brees said. "They had won eight in a row, so they were rolling.
"But we wanted to kind of hit our stride and get our swagger back and no better way than to come in the dome and do that. All three phases played exceptionally well tonight. We got a great team win."
New Orleans now owns a one-game lead over the Panthers with three games to go, but also must travel to Carolina two weeks.
Newton was 22 of 34 passing for 160 yards, while DeAngelo Williams, returning from a quad contusion that sidelined him last week, rushed 13 times for 52 yards as the Panthers struggled to move the ball on most of their drives after the first quarter, when Graham Gano hit two field goals. Gano had a third chance from 49 yards in the third quarter, but kicked it wide right.
Colston nearly had a third TD, but it was overturned on review and the Panthers mounted a goal-line stand to force a short field goal that made it 24-6 in the third quarter. The Panthers, however, were unable to build an momentum from that sequence.
New Orleans started slow and trailed 6-0, but seemed ignited by Darren Sproles' 38-yard run late in the first quarter. That set up Colston's first score on a 6-yard catch early in the second quarter.
On their next possession, the Saints drove 86 yards in 11 plays, capped by Colston's second TD on a 15-yard pass.
"You've just got to see him throughout the week," Colston said about Brees. "The man works like I've never seen. He deserves every bit of success that he gets."
New Orleans got the ball again on its own 24 with 2:01 left in the half, and Brees immediately found Lance Moore for 21 yards, Colston for 19 yards and Sproles for 20, setting up Graham's 5-yard TD catch.
The Panthers had the ball for 11:30 of the first quarter, showing an early ability to move the ball in the face of an energized and loud Superdome crowd, but only got two field goals out of it after New Orleans came up with clutch third-down stops, including one on third and goal from the 6.


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We slept in a little bit this morning and then headed out to Epcot. One of our missions was to find Dad a Coca-Cola hat and thankfully there was a cool one at Club Cool (sponsored by Coke). We tasted several kinds of Coke products from around the world. I particularly liked a Fanta drink from Mexico that we don't have here. It was a pink fruity drink that tasted pretty good.
After that, we decided to use some more snack credits for some ice cream and then headed on to Figment's Journey Into The Imagination ride. We then headed over to World Showcase and they had alot of their booths up for the Food and Wine Festival. It wasn't supposed to start until the next day but I took advantage of it by trying some sushi from Japan and a cheese plate from Ireland. Yum! We stopped into the Kringla Bakery in Norway and got some schoolbread and lefse (sp?). The schoolbread was to die for. It is a custard filled bread loaf with coconut on top. The lefse was really good too. It's basically a potato bread tortilla that is rolled up with cinnamon, sugar and butter.
Dinner was at Le Cellier. After reading about how awesome this restaurant is and how hard it is to get reservations, I expected a lot from this place. It was just okay. I will go into more detail in my dining report. Anyhow, Emerson got to meet Brother Bear (Hayden was asleep) outside of the restaurant and he was thrilled. He lit up whenever a character would be nearby. It was so cute!


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Gov. Rick Scott on Friday requested a meeting with federal officials about the Affordable Care Act and other health-care issues — including pressing for approval of the state's effort to enroll almost all Medicaid beneficiaries in managed-care plans.
Scott sent a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that said we "share the same goals when it comes to lowering the costs of health care and addressing the need for better access to quality health care." But while seeking a meeting, Scott also expressed doubts about whether a key part of the Affordable Care Act would meet those goals.
The governor also tied in the state's controversial Medicaid managed-care proposals, which lawmakers approved in 2011 but have yet to receive approval from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, an agency under Sebelius.
"Statewide Medicaid managed care is one way we can act immediately to encourage more competition in health care which would drive down costs and increase outcomes and services," he wrote.
Scott sent the letter just days after saying he was willing to negotiate with the federal government about the Affordable Care Act, the health overhaul that President Obama and congressional Democrats passed in 2010. Scott's willingness to negotiate drew headlines, as he had long been an outspoken critic of the federal law dubbed "Obamacare."
The letter also came a day after incoming Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, and incoming House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, confirmed that the state will not meet a deadline for telling federal officials whether it will operate a health-insurance exchange. The deadline was originally scheduled for Friday, though Sebelius late Thursday extended it to Dec. 14.
Such exchanges, which will begin operating in 2014, are a critical part of the Affordable Care Act because they will serve as online marketplaces for consumers to shop for health insurance. If states don't establish exchanges, the federal government will do it for them.
Scott's letter indicated skepticism that an exchange would meet the goals of lowering health costs and improving health-care access and said Florida needs more information from the federal government.
"Under the current regulatory requirements and the information we have been provided, however, Florida does not have evidence that a PPACA (another acronym for the federal law) exchange can accomplish these goals," wrote the Republican governor, who made his fortune in the hospital industry.
But the letter signaled that Scott also wants to discuss other, seemingly unrelated health issues with Sebelius. That includes the Medicaid managed-care proposals, which Florida submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in August 2011.
The proposals have long been controversial, but it is unclear why federal officials have not made a decision about whether to approve or reject them. Republican backers say moving more Medicaid beneficiaries into managed-care plans would help control costs and coordinate care; opponents argue the move could lead to HMOs squeezing the care provided to low-income people.
Phil Williams, an assistant deputy secretary at the state Agency for Health Care Administration, said during a meeting this week that discussions have been continuing with federal officials about the managed-care proposals. He said he expects the discussions to continue and possibly accelerate.
–Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida


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WASHINGTON — People who've started applying for health insurance but aren't able to finish before the March 31 enrollment deadline will get extra time, the Obama administration announced Tuesday.
The White House is scrambling to meet a goal of 6 million signed up through new online markets that offer subsidized private health insurance to people without access to coverage on the job. The HealthCare.gov website got more that 1 million visitors Monday, and the administration also wants to prevent a repeat of website problems that soured consumers last fall.
Officials said the grace period will be available to people on the honor system, meaning applicants will have to attest that special circumstances or complex cases prevented them from finishing by March 31.
It's unclear how long the extension will last. Some have urged the administration to allow until April 15, the tax filing deadline. People who are due refunds may be willing to put some of that money toward health care premiums.
The latest tweak to the health care rollout is certain to infuriate Republican critics of President Barack Obama's signature law. It follows delays of the law's requirements that medium-sized to large employers provide coverage or face fines. The GOP is making repeal of the health care law its rallying cry in the fall congressional elections.
The White House had signaled last week that a grace period of some sort was in the works. Spokesman Jay Carney said Friday that people in line by the deadline would be able to complete their applications. Administration officials argue that's not extending the deadline. They compare it to the Election Day practice of allowing people to vote if they are in line when the polls close.
The decision to grant extra time was first reported late Tuesday by The Washington Post.
The administration's decision affects the 36 states where the federal government is taking the lead on sign-ups. The 14 states running their own websites are likely to follow, since some had been pressing for an extension on account of their own technical problems.
Brian Haile, senior vice president for health policy at the Jackson Hewitt tax preparation firm, welcomed the move.
"The disbursement of tax refunds appears to be making a substantial difference in the willingness and ability of uninsured Americans to sign up for … coverage," Haile said.
Jackson Hewitt projects the administration can meet the goal of 6 million only if it allows people to keep signing up through April 15.
Enrollment has already crossed the 5 million mark.
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I'm happy to report that I finished the custom (king size!) quilt last Saturday-a full 3 days ahead of schedule! You can read more about the project here, if you'd like. I think it turned out pretty well!
Doing the math, piecing and cutting: 14 hours 45 minutes
Piecing the back: 1 hour
Basting: 2 hours
Quilting: 8 hours 20 minutes
Making binding and attaching it by machine: 1 hour 35 minutes
Hand stitching the binding to the back: 6 hours
Labeling: 20 minutes
For a total of 34 hours!!!
edited to add: It has been brought to my attention that my math was wrong...and I originally forgot to list the two hours for basting. The correct totals are shown above. It adds up to only 34 hours! Not 42 hours. (good grief! apparently all that power quilting has fried my brain!)
The biggest surprise to me was the quilting time. I never-in my wildest dreams- thought I would quilt a king size quilt on my home sewing machine IN ONE DAY! I paid for it physically, though. I was hurting for the next few days. I'm sure you can imagine! (Because I know someone will ask....I quilted it on my JUKI, and no, I don't use a frame.) After a few bobbins-when I was quite comfortable with the quilting pattern-I was able to quilt quite FAST. This pattern seems to turn out better at a faster speed than at a slower speed anyway. Bonus! Also, I may have been a LITTLE determined to get it done. :) Another thing I did to save time was to keep an eye on my bobbin. I switched them out at the ends of the rows before they ran out completely. I didn't have as many knots to bury and that all helps in the end.
This is my largest quilt finish to date. It measures a whopping 100" x 110". I'm so, so happy it's done! It will be a fun one to deliver!
Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thanks for joining me for finish it up Friday!


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We've been dabbling a lot in the mysterious world of quantum physics lately, so to get back down to Earth we thought we'd bring you reminder of good old classical physics.
The London Velodrome's track is designed for maximum speed using Newton's laws of motion.
Newton's first law: An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by an external and unbalanced force. An object in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by an external and unbalanced force.
This is also called the law of inertia and it doesn't need much explanation. No stationary object will start moving of its own accord without a force being applied. And the reason why in our everyday experience moving objects tend to slow down unless they are being powered by something is due to factors such as friction and air resistance.
Newton's second law: The acceleration a of a body is parallel and proportional to the net force F acting on it. The exact relationship is F=ma, where m is the body's mass.
In this equation both F and a are vectors with a direction and a magnitude.
Newton's third law: When two bodies exert a force on each other the forces are equal in magnitude, but opposite in direction. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Thus, if you kick a ball with your foot, then the ball exerts an equal and opposite force on your foot.
The three laws of motion were first published in 1687 in Newton's famous work Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica which translates as Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. Newton's law of universal gravitation and mathematical techniques we'd now call calculus were also published in Principia Mathematica and together with the laws of motion they gave the first comprehensive description of the physical processes we observe in everyday life. It later turned out that the laws don't hold when you look at the world at very small scales (that's where quantum mechanics reigns) or at objects that move at very high speed or when there are very strong gravitational fields. However, Newton's laws still give a very good approximation for the physics we observe in our normal lives.To read more about Newton's laws and its applications, from understanding the melting Arctic to building the Olympic Velodrome, have a look at our teacher package on classical mechanics.
Arabic: https://goo.gl/WBQL3B


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L.O.L. Surprise Party Invitations
L.O.L. Surprise Happy Birthday banner
L.O.L. surprise cupcake toppers here
Thank you so much, this has saved me so much time and stress. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!ReplyDelete
thank you for making these and posting. i cant believe they havent branded party stuff yet. so hard to find anything.ReplyDelete
Thanks for the help . It's so hard to get LOL theme decorationReplyDelete
Thank you so Much!! The blue thank you lol card is not working. It is showing up as invitation.ReplyDelete
Thanks for letting me know! I updated it so it links correctly now.Delete
You are the best! Thank you again for fixing the link!Delete
Hello I needed a V for the banner 3 are coming up as ST. Is there a update I missed, thanks in advance this saved me so much money and hassle ��������Delete
Sorry I'm terrible at keeping up with comments and emails. The link to UV works now.Delete
Thank you!!! Working on this theme for my 4yr old. You helped me out so much.ReplyDelete
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.ReplyDelete
Thank you so much for sharing this! I'm so excited to be using some of these for my daughter's birthday party! She's gonna freak out!ReplyDelete
Thank you!!! planning my granddaughter's bday party and this is so helpful! I'm not an expert but have a question. Did you print on paper or cardstock? Thinking of sending them to office depot to print. Thanks for your help!ReplyDelete
I used 67 lb cardstock I purchased from Staples it wasn't to thick that it couldn't go through my regular printer.Delete
This is awesome! Thanks for sharing with us. It's hard enough hunting for the dolls. These definitely saved a lot of hunting time for us busy moms. You are awesome!ReplyDelete
Many thanks for being kind enough to share this with all of us moms! My daughter is going to be a very happy little girl on her birthday thanks to you!ReplyDelete
You are all very welcome =) I'm glad you enjoy the printables, L.O.L.s are my daughter favourite and birthday parties can be so expensive.ReplyDelete
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I am having a problem downloading the party bag printables without your logo...when I click on download a Kelly Blue Book website pops up...HELP! Thank you in advance!ReplyDelete
You have to go to the post: http://www.musingsofanaveragemom.com/2018/01/lolgift-bag-lables.html then click on the blue text page one, page two, etc. it should bring you dropbox so you can download them and print them. Hope this helps.Delete
THANK YOU SO MUCH !!! SUPER HELPFUL !!!ReplyDelete
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Thank you so much!! This has been super helpful. Everything is adorable and is exactly what I was looking for! My daughter is going to love her party now!ReplyDelete
Wow thank you so much! It's so hard to find any LOL party supplies, you are really helping a mom trying to make a memorable birthday party on a budget. Thanks again <3ReplyDelete
Thank you so kuch for sharing your work..ive been looking for free printable LOL surprise designs foe my daughter.looking forward to your other artwork.God bless!ReplyDelete
You are amazing! I've found no one else willing to work so hard, and put so much time into something, then share for free. And you have like 30 other links with more themes! We less tech-savvy mothers/fathers thank you so much!ReplyDelete
I'm sooo glad everyone is enjoying the printables and using them. :) I love children's birthdays they are so much fun!Delete
Thanks for Sharing!!! I really appreciate when parents look out for eachother!! CheersReplyDelete
Thanks, this is really great blog!ReplyDelete
Its so amazing and helpfull for usReplyDelete
Oh my goodness, this was the easiest party ever for me thanks to these printables. You covered everything. Btw, after playing pin the bow, the girls all took their bows and taped them to their foreheads -made for super cute pics! Thanks so much for putting this out there.ReplyDelete
After years of throwing birthday parties for a loved one or significant other, the challenge of creating a unique, fun and memorable way to celebrate gets harder every year. Thanks for sharing such an innovative idea, I will definitely consider this.
Child Actor LA
This is what I've been looking for, thank you my granddaughter is so excited for her party, once again thank youReplyDelete
Thanks so much for posting this and all the hard work you put into these printable. I'm throwing my daughter a L.o.l party and it's so hard trying to find party supplies, do you have any suggestions and also do I just take screenshot of the printable then print them out using card stock???ReplyDelete
Click on the links it will take you to dropbox so they will be higher quality images and then yes I usually print them to cardstock as they hold up a lot better.Delete
As parents we want the very best for our children. And our children turning 1 years old is one of the most significant event in our little girl's life. We want them to cherish and treasure this event when they look back later in life.
Yee Kok Siong
YOU ARE A LIFESAVER...thank you for sharing my daughters 7th BDAY will be amazing because you shared! Thanks for doing thisReplyDelete
Thank you so much for sharing this to us. My daugther will happy, She really want a L.O.L theme for her birthday. Thank you =)ReplyDelete
My daughter's birthday isn't until next year but I'm planning already thank you so much for having so much great detail in each of the images that were madeReplyDelete
Thank you SOOOO much!!! These are great!ReplyDelete
You are an absolute life saver and I'm thankful that you offered these all for freeReplyDelete
OMG Thank you so very much!!! I have been looking for LOL stuff. You just made my life much easier! :)ReplyDelete
I cannot believe it... You are just awesome!
These ideas and free birthday cards are so cute !
Wow, you help me save so much of my precious time tonight! It is 1 am, and 10 minutes ago I was panicking cuz I realised I needed to do my daugther's invites like NOW for her to give tomorrow!!! You are just a life saver! ;)
Thank you sooo much!!! I really appreciate this! You are awesome for sharing!!!
hey, hello this is awsome what you did thanks but on the banner is there anyway we can ungroup them and spell everything out??ReplyDelete
now present in your cityReplyDelete
thank you for your generosity.how did you attach to paper cups. any pics please thsnksReplyDelete
Thank You sooooo much! You are a great person sharing all these for free.ReplyDelete
Thanks so incredibly much! You saved me so much time! And for free! :)ReplyDelete
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I really appreciate the downloadables. We don't have a ton of money and my daughter will love this for her birthday party. Thank you!ReplyDelete
I am unable to print the Bingo CardsReplyDelete


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Last year, Bloomsbury chose a white cover model for a YA novel about a black girl. They fixed it — but now they've done it again.
Outcry over the white-washing of Justine Larbalestier's Liar prompted Bloomsbury to issue a new cover featuring a black girl, and to apologize (kind of). But now Bloomsbury is publishing Jaclyn Dolamore's Magic Under Glass, a book about a "dark-skinned" girl from the "far East" — with the cover pictured above. As Book Smugglers points out, "the girl in the US covers is definitely white." Aja Romano of Bookshop speculates that while Larbalestier was able to get her cover changed, debut novelist Dolamore has less clout:
[I]t was a debut novel whose author didn't have a foothold in the publishing world that would allow her to protest, as Larbalestier did. Also, the reviewing blogosphere generally doesn't review books before they're published. So without the author to spearhead a call to action, there has been none over the whitewashing of Magic Under Glass, and Bloomsbury? Well, obviously, they weren't concerned.
Romano and others are calling for a boycott of Bloomsbury to punish them for their racist cover design practices. And indeed, the cover of Magic Under Glass looks like proof that the whitewashing of Liar wasn't a one-time mistake, but, as Larbalestier said at the time, evidence of a systemic problem: publishers and sales departments buying into the self-fulfilling prophecy that "black covers don't sell." But boycotting books hurts the writers as well as the publisher, and, as Reading In Color notes, Magic Under Glass's cover isn't Dolamore's fault. RIC continues:
I do not think a boycott of Magic Under Glass is the best way to go as the author has worked really hard on her book and she wrote about a person of color and we should be grateful for that especially since the book has gotten good reviews. In fact, I'll probably review it (so at least this issue promoted some good discussion and hopefully change as well as introducing me to a new book I may have otherwise missed). We should keep blogging, emailing, writing about this issue.
I agree that calling out Bloomsbury — and complaining to them directly — is a better response than punishing authors for their publishers' prejudices. If you'd like to do so, Bookshop provides contact info for Bloomsbury: tell them what you think.
New Year's Resolution #7: Stop Buying YA From Bloomsbury [Bookshop]
An Open Letter To Bloomsbury Kids USA. Other Publishing Houses Take Note [Reading In Color]
Celebrating MLK With A Protest [Black-Eyed Susan's Books & Other Passions]
Book Review: Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore [Book Smugglers]
Earlier: Are "Black Covers" Segregated In Bookstores?
"Whitewashed" Book Gets A New Cover


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"To live with the Santa Ana, is to accept consciously or unconsciously, a deeply mechanistic view of human behavior," reflected Joan Didion in 1968. Quoting Raymond Chandler, she noted the environment's deterministic control over Californians. On nights when the Santa Ana gust through the homes of Angelenos, Chandler asserted, "every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen."1 Though the winds alone might have inspired unpredictable behavior in people, every year from October through January, the Santa Ana's love affair with fire existentially pokes Los Angeles like a carving knife to a husband's neck.
Residing in 1970s Malibu, Didion witnessed firsthand nature's towering presence in Los Angeles lives. Santa Ana winds and their attendant wildfires went beyond loss of property and life, they warped the psyche.2 Santa Ana fires, the California writer pointed out, blazed in 1961 (Bel Air), 1964 (Santa Barbara), and in 1966-67, a fire that spread into the San Gabriel mountains consuming eleven lives in the process. However, Malibu occupies a special place in California's flammable ecology. "Malibu … is the wildfire capital of North America and, possibly, the world," Mike Davis pointed out in 1999's "Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster." "Fire here has a relentless staccato rhythm, syncopated by landslides and floods."3
The 1956 Malibu fire consumed 26,000 acres, 100 homes, and one life. Two years later another blaze destroyed 74 homes, but spared lives. Unfortunately, twelve years later in 1970, another wildfire killed ten people and decimated over 400 homes. Moreover, one could easily go back decades earlier to the 1930 Decker Canyon inferno that, facilitated by a "fierce Santa Ana," engulfed 15,000 acres and, as Mike Davis notes, left firefighters facing a five mile wall of flame with little more to do than "save their own lives."4 More fires followed in 1935 (30,000 acres), 1938 (14,500 acres), and twice in 1943, in October and November (over 20,000 acres in total). This is to say nothing of smaller outbreaks like Topanga Canyon's 1961 wildfire (8,000 acres).
In 1978, just after Didion had sold her Malibu house but had yet to move out, a brush fire in the San Fernando Valley, spread by the Santa Ana, carried the fire over 25,000 acres and thirteen miles to the coast. Aided by 100 mile-per-hour winds, the wildfire jumped the Pacific Coast Highway. Temperatures reached 2500 degrees Fahrenheit. "Horses caught fire and were shot on the beach, birds exploded in the air," Didion recounted. "Houses did not explode but imploded as in a nuclear strike."5 In the end, the 1978 fire scorched 25,000 acres, destroyed 230 homes, and claimed two lives. This year marks the 35 years since of the Agoura-Malibu Firestorm of 1978, and twenty since the devastating 1993 Malibu conflagration. Moreover, in the wake of Arizona's recent wildfire tragedy in which 19 skilled wilderness firefighters lost their lives, Malibu's history, as noted by Davis, reminds us of the dangers not only for homeowners and residents, but for those battling the recurring flames.
Didion described the fires, earthquakes, and mudslides of Los Angeles as "the weather of catastrophe, of apocalypse," its violence and unpredictably wreaking havoc on the frayed nerves of Southern Californians.6 Still, for all her brilliance, Didion seemed to assign blame for Los Angeles' "weather of catastrophe," specifically the mercurial Santa Ana winds and their nefarious influence, to nature alone, a point Davis places under great scrutiny in "The Ecology of Fear" and that the recent Arizona fires also question. As of 2010, 98.5 million people resided in 43.7 million homes located in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), where houses "mix or border flammable vegetation." Malibu's wildfire history provides a useful point of reference for Western America's seasonal threat.
Just before the massive 1930 Decker Canyon fire, the legendary architect and landscape designer Fredrick Law Olmsted Jr. had suggested, in great part due to the area's tendency to burn, public ownership of 10,000 acres of many of the most attractive beaches and mountains that lay between Topanga and Point Dume. Olmsted's attempt amounted to what is known as "fire hazard zoning," which, at the risk of summarizing too simplistically, amounts to establishing greater distances between forests and subdivisions. Real estate forces proved too powerful however, as developers' formidable enthusiasm for expansion into Malibu's coastal areas overwhelmed Olmsted's vision. Despite three more fires in the 1930s, the city passed on an 1938 opportunity to buy 17,000 acres of land in return for waving $1.1 million in delinquent taxes from the bankrupt Rindge Estate, forcing the owner, "Queen of Malibu" May Rindge, to put it on the auction block where developers and others descended.7 With more development, fires threatened more property and more lives.
Of course, with California's population boom and suburban expansion, fires grew increasingly common. Throughout the 1980s, not counting national parks and military installations, the state endured 10,000 fires annually. With more and more suburban development occurring in firebelts, in designated areas known to be susceptible to periodic fires, costs have risen and homes have burned. Since the state began to document homes and residences consumed by wildfire in 1923, two thirds of all those destroyed did so in 1980 or after.8 Malibu kept up with this pace, witnessing blazes in 1982 (44,000 acres and 17 homes in Paradise Cove) and 1985 (over 11,000 acres), though the source of the latter, really a combination of two fires, was later proved to be arson. Of course, then came 1993.
"This is Hell dude … I'm expecting to see Satan come out at anytime now," one retreating resident told the Los Angeles Times, as one of Malibu's worst wildfires torched the ever vulnerable community. The exodus from Malibu provided a tragic and unusual scene as the odd movie star fled amid a sea of relatively common folk. Beginning on November 2, seven days of fire singed over 16,000 acres, left 769 homes in ash, and resulted in three deaths. Private property damages reached $208,000,000; public property a much smaller but still significant $10,800,000.
If Didion suggested Angelenos lay vulnerable to the psychosis of natural disaster, so too do their neighbors in Orange County. The aftermath of the 1993 fire demonstrated its ability to shape public perceptions regionally. In its carcinogenic wake, overzealous efforts to defend against similar disasters led to the demonization of environmental activists, immigrants, the homeless, and endangered species, whose federal habitat protection some observers equated with fire hazard.9 Some O.C. radio personalities spoke of the Sierra Club as "arson's fifth column." A reward for the Malibu arsonist, buoyed by private contributions, rose to $350,000.10
Everywhere SoCal residents saw potential arsonists, even among those dedicated to fighting arson. In May of 1994, two Los Angeles firefighters endured damaging and false accusations that they stood responsible for one of the two main fires that made up the conflagration. The father of one of the men called the investigation "Khafkaesque." Friends suggested that downed power lines had started everything, not the accused. Venice resident Robert Selman, who lived near the fire's flashpoint, concurred with the assessment. "The fire started right after the power went out, which is an amazing coincidence," he told the Los Angeles Times. "And a power wire right above where the fire started is still hanging there."
Three years later Selman appeared psychic, or at the very least extremely observant, when investigators linked faulty power line maintenance to Con Ed Southern California. Even worse, executives had withheld and ultimately destroyed evidence that connected Con Ed with not only the 1993 incident, but several others including an October 1996 Malibu fire.11
In the intervening period between the fire and the 1997 discovery, Malibu focused its ire on activists who wanted to increase public access to local beaches. Some more strident residents, Davis argues, demanded greater access restrictions to mountain roads in periods of fire danger and conflated open beaches with freedom for arsonists.
More critical outside observers argued that Malibu's development unfairly burdened taxpayers. After all, through the California Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan (California FAIR Plan), homeowners could obtain insurance in areas that, due to vulnerability to wildfire, could not be otherwise insured. Passed in 1968, the plan originally focused on providing insurance to redlined urban communities. Inner city homeowners and businesses unable to obtain insurance due to the combination of racially discriminatory federal policies and private industry practices would be able to do so. Later, legislators expanded the plan to include those living in "hard to insure fire risk areas." By November of 1993, California FAIR plan covered 26,000 homes in the Santa Monica and San Gabriel Mountains at an average of $718,000 per home, with an average annual premium of $715. A house on Melrose Avenue, near a fire station one writer noted, would require a $600 premium.
As a result, critics asserted homeowners in fire prone areas paid too little when compared to the risk. Moreover, with a movement afoot to compensate Malibu residents "beyond the limits of their individual policies," and in the wake of the 1992 riots, this kind of policy raised questions about equity. "If Malibu residents get higher payouts, what about the thousands of Los Angeles store owners who had only bare-bones Fair Plan coverage and received no upgrades for their policies after the 1992 riots?" asked the L.A. Times' Thomas S. Mulligan. Mike Davis wondered why wildfires in Malibu drew so much attention when those in poorer inner city Westlake, an area long subject to residential fires as result of lax regulation and irresponsible landlords, garnered so little. Eleven days after the 1993 wildfire, a downtown residential hotel went up in flames, killing three and critically burning 12 others. Unlike Malibu, the Mexican and Guatemalan workers living in the run down hotel failed to attract the gaze of local newscasters let alone FEMA.12
At the time, television coverage exacerbated tensions over such issues. "These are very expensive houses," noted one KCAL reporter. "And officials tell me each lot is worth several million dollars. So a lot out here is at stake." Howard Rosenberg acerbically asked, "[I]s there a correlation between tragedy and property values?" Undoubtedly, Malibu contained and continues to house its share of renters and average folk. Plenty of people, Robin Abcarian pointed out in a 1995 column, lived "cheek to jowl" in Malibu shanties "in exchange for the privilege of being able to gaze out the window at one of the most magnificent natural tranquilizers the world has to offer: the rolling, hypnotically beautiful Pacific Ocean." Even a recent New York Times article noted as much, but whatever one's economic and proprietary status, some critics saw flaws in protecting property against inevitable fires. Years later Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, among others, wondered aloud just why we insured such areas. "If these Malibu residences that are periodically destroyed were in a 20-year floodplain, they would never have been rebuilt or reinsured," he opined in 1999.
More than a few Malibu residents expressed dismay at what they perceived to be unfair local coverage. "They have forsaken our constitutional rights, and have shown a shocking insensitivity to [our] traumatic situation," argued one such resident.13 Even as subsequent natural disasters visited the community, Malibu natives like Summer Stevens defended their decision. "We endure fires, floods, slides and more. And yet we stay, each person for his or her own reason. And no one has the right to call that decision wrong." Alanna Niles, who along with her husband had lost their home in the 1993 fire, agreed. Even after 36 years their marriage and connection to the community happily persisted: "We still have a love affair with Malibu."
Predictably, other fires followed: the aforementioned 1996 fire in October and three more in 2007 (January, October, and November). As noted, the 1996 blaze could be laid at the feet of Con Ed, while the October 2007 fire resulted from the toppling of three utility poles under the purview of several businesses, including Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility, Sprint, Con Ed, and telecommunications company Next G Networks. Next G agreed to a $14.5 million settlement divided between an $8.5 million contribution to California's general fund and $6 million to inspect its connections to other poles in the region. In addition, Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint paid $4 million each for their own culpability.
Unfortunately, the November fire, argued aggrieved homeowners like Paul and Sara Grisanti, started as result of a handful of late night revelers whose carelessness led to the inferno that destroyed 50 homes and produced $100 million in property damage. Paul Grisanti, a real estate agent, blamed lax enforcement by the state Department of Parks and Recreation. "They've received numerous complaints from residents in the area about people partying up there and drinking … at night after the park is supposedly closed."
"It's hard for people who have not lived in Los Angeles to realize how radically the Santa Ana figures in the local imagination," asserted Joan Didion.14 Raymond Chandler believed the Santa Ana carried malevolence to the bedrooms of Southern California, and we know it brings fire to even the most decadent of homes. Though some might argue the winds ferry the highly flammable idiocy of drunken beachgoers, the dangerous militancy of radical environmentalists, or the dysfunction of the homeless to the homes and hills of places like Malibu, one might also argue that they simply breathe terrible life into the spark of conflict emitted when residential development rubs up against, and in this case also fuels, recurring events of nature. Much as it has for decades, the burning will continue, but so to will the recriminations.
1 Joan Didion, Slouching toward Bethlehem, (New York: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 1968) pg. 217-218.
2 Ibid, pg. 220.
3 Mike Davis, The Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster, New York: Vintage Books, 1999) pg. 97.
4 Mike Davis, The Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster, New York: Vintage Books, 1999) pg. 104.
5 Joan Didion, The White Album, (New York: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 1979) pgs. 222-223.
6 Joan Didion, Slouching Toward Bethlehem, pg. 220-221.
7 Davis, The Ecology of Fear, pg. 105.
8 Ibid, pg. 143.
9 Ibid, pg. 134.
10 Ibid, pg. 131.
11 Ibid, pg. 137.
12 Ibid, pg. 130.
13 Ibid, pg. 135.
14 Joan Didion, Slouching Toward Bethlehem, pg. 220.
This article was originally published on KCET Departures under the Intersections column in July 2013.


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From Thessaloniki international airport "MAKEDONIA" or Central Thessaloniki To Platamonas
- Durée: 95 Minutes (environ)
- Lieu: THESSALONIKI
- Code produit: TIA - Platamonas H/T
You will be picked up at the time and place you have booked or you will be met at Thessaloniki international airport "MAKEDONIA" by your driver, who will be waiting for you at ARRIVALS holding a sign with your name on it at the time you land - even if you are delayed! There will be NO extra charge. The driver will help with your luggage and will transfer you to Platamonas.
Our cars are well-maintained, clean, and have free Wi-Fi. Baby chairs, wheelchairs and most phone chargers are available on request, at no additional charge.
The duration of transfers are approximate 95 min. the exact duration will depend on the time of day and traffic conditions.
All prices are for pickup from any location in Central Thessaloniki (Hotel or address). If you wish to be picked up from Thessaloniki international airport "MAKEDONIA", which is 20 km more there will be an Extra cost, €25 for "Simple Sedan or Taxi", €35
for "E-Class Mercedes-Benz" or "MINIVAN up to 8" and €90 with "S-Class
Mercedes-Benz". You may buy it as an extra as you are Booking or pay the
driver directly.
All prices are for 1 ride and for 1 to 3 (4 on request) passengers with a TAXI, 1 to 3 passengers with LUXURY Sedan & up to 7 passengers (8 on request) with a MINIVAN.
Book your return transfer and get 10% discount on it.
• You can cancel free of charge until 24 hours before your transfer is due to start. No refunds are allowed after this time.
For any questions we will be more than happy to answer within 24 hours.


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Support and Contact
Any questions regarding Themes Box for Keynote installation?
You can always read the Help file. It really helps!
Help file can be viewed when the Themes Box for Keynote app is opened. Once downloaded, application is located in the Applications folder on your Mac. Open it from your Applications folder or through the Launchpad. Then, in the top menu select Help -> Application Help.
If the information in the Help file was not helpful enough we are ready to answer any of your questions. Please submit your question or comment using the contact form.


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If I ever were to get a tattoo, it would be paisley.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Illustration Friday - "Tattoo"
Posted by Terry Grant at 3:56 PM
10 comments:
You would look lovely in red paisley's!ReplyDelete
Very pretty; I like the contrasting colorsReplyDelete
That is beautiful! And thank you for the inspiration! I have very art deco-ish scroll work on my leg that is part of a tattoo. I'm starting a new art quilt tomorrow and I've been thinking about it all day. You've inspired me to incoporate something along that lines into it.ReplyDelete
The hand reminds me of the beautiful decorations painted onto the hands of Indian brides(from India), very intricate.ReplyDelete
That's beautiful.ReplyDelete
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In this tutorial, we'll learn how to take splattered paint Photoshop brushes and apply them to the contours of a model's face. This is a relatively simple technique, which yields excellent artistic results. Let's get to it!
Final Image Preview
Take a look at the image we'll be creating.
Video Tutorial
Our video editor Gavin Steele has created this video tutorial to compliment this text + image tutorial.
First thing you will need to do to create this effect is find some nice paint splatter/spray brushes. For this particular piece I used brushes from Brusheezy: 842-Splatter. You'll also need an image to apply this to. In this case, I shot this image myself.
Step 1
Copy the background and paste it onto a new layer. Rename the new layer Subject and turn the background layer to white.
Create a new layer labeled "Extra Skin." Then using the Clone Tool, Alt-click on other parts of the face that best match the color of skin you want to copy. I suggest using a soft brush to blur out the edges.
For this I usually just play around with the Cloning Tool until I get close to something that looks right. This may take some experimentation, as you have to pay close attention to the light source in the photograph. To see a more in-depth tutorial on the cloning tool you can visit this page on Psdtuts+.
Step 2
Once we have covered all the facial features, select the "Extra Skin" layer and the "Subject" layer, then press Command + Alt + E on to merge the layers into a new layer. Rename this layer "Faceless Subject."
Step 3
Now we can start building our paint splatter area. Create a new layer and call it "Paint map." Select the Brush Tool and start to paint out the area you want the paint splat to appear in. This is where your paint splatter/spray brushes will come in handy.
It doesn't matter what color you use; here I have chosen yellow (#ffc924). It also helps to lower the opacity of this layer so that you can better line up the splats over the subject's face.
Make sure that you only paint where you want the splatter to occur, you may have to paint/mask/erase a bunch to get a nice paint splatter. Take your time with this Step; it may be the most important one of the process.
Step 4
Once completed you will want to get rid of any layer masks by right-clicking on the "Paint map" layer and selecting Convert To Smart Object. After that, change the layer style of the "Paint Map" layer to Overlay. You should now have something that looks similar to the picture below; keep in mind that no two paint splatters will be exactly the same.
Step 5
Next create a new layer under the "Paint map" layer, and name this layer "Extra Skin 2." With this layer selected Command-click the "Paint map" layer to select the paint splat you have created. Next click on the Add Layer Mask button at the bottom of the layers palette.
Step 6
Turn the visibility of the "Paint map" layer off. With the "Extra Skin 2" layer selected, grab your Cloning Tool again and start copying portions of skin into the area that has no skin.
Again try to match the lighting of the photo; you are basically creating an extra skin layer that will become paint once colored. I find it helpful to turn off the Aligned option for the cloning tool in the top tool bar.
Step 7
Once you've created a nice splatter area made from skin, turn the visibility of your "Paint map" layer back on. You should have something that looks like the image below.
Step 8
Create a new layer above the "Extra Skin 2" layer and name it "shadow." While holding down the Alt key, click between the "Extra Skin 2" layer and "shadow" layer to clip it.
Step 9
Grab a big, soft brush and paint some black to amp up the shadows needed for the "Extra Skin" layer.
Step 10
Turn the opacity of the "shadow" layer down to around 75%.
Step 11
Create a new layer above the "Faceless Subject" layer and name it "Paint Background." With the foreground color set to black, start painting some paint splats with the splatter brushes.
Step 12
All we have to do now is add a little bit of shadow to create the illusion the paint is lifted off the face. First create a new layer and name it "Shadow 2," then Command-click on the "Paint Map" layer to select it. Making sure you are still on the "Shadow 2" layer, fill the selection with black.
Step 13
Making sure the selection is still active, click on the Create Layer Mask button on the the bottom of the layer's palette.
Step 14
Select the mask for the "Shadow 2" layer and invert it by pressing Command + I, or going to Image > Adjustments > Invert. This should invert the mask and hide the black area we just filled.
Step 15
Disable the link between the mask and the shadow paint by clicking on the chain between the layer icon and the mask, as shown.
Step 16
Make sure the paint portion of the "Shadow 2" layer is selected and go to Edit > Transform > Warp.
Slightly adjust the shadow so that it peeks out from behind the paint splat. Depending on how much you want the paint to appear lifted, you can adjust it a lot or a little. Once you have the shadow right where you want it, apply the change.
Step 17
You are bound to have some unwanted shadow from the "Shadow 2" layer; to clean it up, simply paint over what you don't want in the layer mask.
Step 18
Lower the opacity of the shadow to around 72% and you should be all set!
The final image is below. Enjoy applying these techniques in your own work! If you want to take a shortcut with applying special effects in Photoshop, check out the range of Photoshop add-ons available at Envato Market.


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I've often heard random people mutter that every book seems to be a series these days. It's true that the hottest sellers do seem to birth sequel after sequel, especially in the young adult genre. Earlier today, I read a post on author Scott D. Southard's blog, titled "Writers, why does everything need to be a series?" Well I may not be a published author quite yet, but I'm going to raise you that question and give you an answer, not that you asked. But here you go.When I first got the idea for my book, let's tentatively call it "The First Dreamer," I had no desire to go beyond the one. This was in 2005 when I was finishing up grad school in Boston by interning for a small, nonprofit magazine.
In my small bedroom in a house shared with three other local students, I got an idea and I started to take notes. Given the fact that I just finished writing the first draft in February this year, it's been a long time coming. The journey has been fraught with self-doubt, inspiration and a cursor that can delete with a homicidal vengeance. Many ideas and concepts have changed from that first seed of a story.
Along the way, as characters took on life and the idea blossomed and grew, I realized there was just more to tell. The story could not be summed up in only 300 pages. Sure, I could make it one giant book as J.R.R. Tolkien apparently did, according to Southard, but that's daunting to today's typical reader. My characters just can't be confined to one book. They need two more. I may not have set out to write a trilogy, but I lost control awhile back. It's them. The characters.
There are many different styles of writing. Some authors make detailed outlines, and follow an organized, set way of writing. While others, like me, have only a dream of an idea that needs time and patience to become the full-blown story that it is today. In my case, it's through the writing process of time that saw my characters become who they are, and the storyline mature in the way it has.
Southard suggests that many authors today decide to write a series for the money. I'm just finding this out, but apparently, series writers were looked down upon at one point. But I can tell you, when I decided that this was going to be a trilogy, money was the farthest thought from my mind. I don't even know if I'll make a dime. It was merely that my characters dictated they would not be done in the breadth of one novel. Although I didn't know what would happen in the first book, their stories became clear to me as I wrote. So I have a pretty good idea how it will end. But you never know. Stories change.
I'm the type of person who would eat dinner with her nose in a book as a kid. Spending the entire day reading a page turner is a luxury I can't afford since I had a son, but I used to do it all the time. And I love authors who give me more (sorry if I sound like an AT&T commercial). Give me a trilogy, give me a series of 10. If I like the story, then I can't get enough of it — Babysitters Club, Vampire Diaries, Sookie Stackhouse, Harry Potter, Twilight, Sarah Douglas' Axis Trilogy, Tanya Huff's Wizard of the Grove, Louise Cooper's Time Master Trilogy. I read His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, which Southard says was a "philosophical mess," and which I can't remember, so it's possible he was right there. But overall, I haven't been disappointed; it's not like the movies where the second one is never as good as the first. In my experience, book sequels rock.
I'm not saying they should go on forever. Every story has an expiration date as does life. But if an author can give me a little more, a little longer of a world I cherish, then I'm perfectly content to read on. And I know there are a lot of readers out there who feel the same way. Otherwise, all the books in a series wouldn't be doing so well.
Refuting the greatness of the book series, Southard gives us an example of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, where in several paragraphs, the main character walks the reader through all the outcomes that happen after the book ends. While he seems to think this is just great, I say what's the fun in that? I want the book. I want to keep living those characters' lives. That's when you know you've found a great story teller, when you're sad the book has ended and you're clamoring to get the second one in the series, and then the third and so on.
Next time I write a book, I hope it's just one. Because it is probably much easier. The weight of the world continues to be on mine and my characters' shoulders, so tying up all loose ends in 300 pages would be superb. But that's just not the case with this first labor of creativity and love. So lookout, the Tresslan Chronicles of the First Dreamer will hopefully come to a book store, or Amazon, near you when my characters tell me they're done. And then you can expect two more.
Until then, keep reading my friends.
K.M. Randall writes fantasy and paranormal for both a general and young adult audience. Her debut novel, an epic fantasy called Fractured Dream, launched in June 2014, and her second book, The Reaper's Daughter, launched May 2015. Randall also published Fairytale Lost, a prequel to Fractured Dream, as an exclusive on Wattpad. She blogs about dreams, female heroines, and activism and its relevancy to the literary and fictional world. And when in the season, sometimes she just likes to talk about Halloween. She is currently hard at work on the second book in the Dreamer Saga series, Shattered World.
February 2022


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Defensive end Dion Jordan was the No. 3 player taken in a 2013 NFL Draft that felt noticeably lacking in star power. Jordan's draft slot was a product of a lack of standouts.
Jordan looked like a player who might take time to develop, and that's what happened during a disappointing rookie season. He struggled to stay on the field in part because of his strength, which could be an ongoing issue. The Miami Herald wrote Sunday that Jordan doesn't project as a 2014 starter.
"When we drafted Jordan, nobody expected Olivier Vernon to develop like he did," a Dolphins source told the newspaper. "My concern is (Jordan) will have struggles playing against bigger tackles. If you play him at linebacker, he has far more range and speed and explosiveness than (Koa) Misi. But Koa is more consistent and steady. Jordan gives you great flexibility because he can cover and rush the passer. This is a huge offseason for him."
The most discouraging part of Jordan's rookie season: He never earned more playing time. He was on the field for 35 snaps in the final two games combined, accounting for just 23 percent of the team's total defensive snaps. The Dolphins' coaching staff reportedly believes Jordan needs more "muscle mass" to get on the field more. Jordan is behind two talented players (Vernon and Cameron Wake), but teams find a way to get great players on the field.
The lack of development is partly on the Dolphins' staff. Jamie Collins, the New England Patriots' second-round draft pick, has a similar skill set to Jordan. The Patriots found a way to work Collins into the mix and play to his strengths late last season. The Dolphins didn't seem to know what to do with Jordan.
In the latest "Around The League Podcast," the guys ponder the future in both Seattle and Denver and break down the teams who intrigue them most this offseason.


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Kris Kross Death -- Chris Kelly 911 Call
Kris Kross Death 911 Call
TMZ has obtained the 911 call placed moments after Kris Kross rapper Chris Kelly's unresponsive body was found Wednesday at his Georgia home.
The caller appears to be Chris' mother, but it's not entirely clear.
During the 911 call, the caller tells the dispatcher that Chris is not breathing. The dispatcher then walks her through instructions on how to resuscitate him.
As we reported, police claim Kelly's mother told them her son had taken a combination of heroin and cocaine the day before he died and that he had an "extensive history of drug use."
Kelly was 34.