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Box Office Watch: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Continues Success on International Front
Aug 31, 2009
HBP Film
For those keeping track at home, we have a quick update today regarding box office success for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. While faring well here in the US, the sixth installment in the Harry Potter series continues to have very impressive box office sum totals due to international showings. ScreenDaily reports:
"Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince became the third
biggest film in the series worldwide after adding $7.7m from 5,000
screens in 61 markets through Warner Bros Pictures International (WBPI)
for $610.5m overseas and $904.9m globally. Greece was the final territory to receive the sixth episode in the
family franchise and delivered an excellent $1.9m from 135 screens that
was a clear number one and scored the biggest launch of the year.
Latest figures put Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince
on $80.8m in the UK, $79.4m in Japan, $60.9m in Germany, $51.6m in
France, $31.7m in Australia, $27m in Italy, $24.1m in China, $21.4m in
Mexico, $19.6m in Spain, $18.6m in Brazil, and $18.4m in Russia."
You can also see slightly different numbers here (international here) from Box Office Mojo.


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Sicilian-born in 1660, Alessandro Scarlatti was trained in Rome. He married in 1678 and later that year was appointed Maestro di Cappella of San Giacomo degli Incurabili. His first large-scale oratorio-operatic works were performed there the following year when he was only 19. His patrons from the outset were of the highest rank, among them the exiled Queen Christina of Sweden who made him her Maestro di Cappella, Cardinal Pamphili, and the musically indefatigable Cardinal Ottoboni and, in Florence, Prince Ferdinando de Medici.
In 1684 at the age of 24 Scarlatti moved to Naples, where he was appointed Maestro di Cappella at the vice-regal court of Naples, at the same time as his brother Francesco was made First Violinist. It was alleged that they owed their appointments to the intrigues of one of their sisters with two court officials, who were dismissed.
For the next two decades over half the new operas given at Naples were by Scarlatti, producing over 40 works, which were first performed at the Viceregal Palazzo Reale and then at the public theatre of S. Bartolomeo, where Scarlatti was employed as the director along with nine singers, five instrumentalists and a copyist. In contrast to contemporary five-act Venetian operas, which continued to rely upon mythological characters and stage machinery, Scarlatti's shorter three-act 'Drammi per Musica' centered on the characterization of kings and confidants, lovers and servants. Il Pirro e Demetrio (1694) and La caduta de' Decemviri (1697) were particularly successful.
From 1695 his operas and 'musical dramas' incorporated three-movement sinfonias which soon became standard for all Italian operas. Indeed, the Italian opera overture, or sinfonia, contained most of the elements of the pre-classical and classical symphonies, and the symphony (or sinfonia), designed for concert performance, may be traced back to the Italian opera overture (or sinfonia) of Alessandro Scarlatti. It was in these overtures and last operas that he also began experimenting with orchestral (instrumental) color in the modern sense.
While resident in Naples Scarlatti occasionally returned to Rome to supervise carnival performances of new operas, contributions to pasticci and cantatas at the Palazzo Doria Pamphili and the Villa Medicea (at nearby Pratolino), as well as oratorios at Ss. Crocifisso, the Palazzo Apostolico and the Collegio Clementino. Astonishingly, he also produced at least ten serenatas, nine oratorios and sixty-five cantatas for Naples.
By 1700 the War of the Spanish Succession was beginning to undermine the privileged status of the Neapolitan nobility, rendering Scarlatti's position insecure. In 1702 he left with his family for Florence, where he hoped to find employment for himself and his son Domenico with Prince Ferdinando de' Medici. When these hopes failed, he moved back to Rome at the end of 1703, seeking a quieter life, as assistant Maestro di Cappella at S Maria Maggiore (the public theaters had been closed by papal decree since 1700, so operas were performed only occasionally and in private). In this capacity he was required to compose motets and Masses in both strict (Papal) and concertato styles, according to the occasion. To augment his income he renewed his connections with the cardinals and formed new ones with Marquis Ruspoli, concentrating now on oratorios, celebratory serenatas and cantatas.
In 1706 he was elected, along with Pasquini and Corelli, to the Accademia dell'Arcadia, where he must have met Handel in 1707. From 1702 until 1708 he sent Prince Ferdinando de' Medici quantities of oratorios and church music and four operas which the prince had performed at Siena, Livorno and Florence. Scarlatti also composed and directed two five-act tragedies for the 1707 Venetian Carnival. Upon his return to Rome he was made Maestro di Cappella at S. Maria Maggiore, but the salary was so meager that he was ultimately forced to return to his posts in Naples in 1709.
During the next decade he produced 11 operas employing greater instrumental resources, of which Il Tigrane (1715) was his Neapolitan masterpiece. His 'commedia in musica', Il trionfo dell'onore (1718), was also very successful.
He maintained his connections in Rome, returning there in 1718 to oversee his opera Telemaco at the Teatro Capranica, in 1719 Marco Attilio Regolo, and finally in 1721 for La Griselda (his last opera). He produced a lavish Messa di S Cecilia for soloists, chorus and strings, performed there in October 1720.
Meanwhile Scarlatti ventured into orchestral writing, expanding the Sinfonia concept with his twelve Sinfonie di concerto grosso.
The "Six Concertos in seven parts for two Violins and Violoncello Obligate with two Violins more a Tenor and Thorough Bass, Compos'd by Sigr Alexander Scarlatti", as they were first called, were published in London under the above title by Benjamin Cooke in 1740. Of these six Concerti, numbers 1, 2, 4, and 5 were composed so that they could also be performed as string quartets. Scarlatti called them specifically Sonate a quattro, and as such they represent some of the earliest forms of chamber music in this genre.
The fact that these Six Concertos were published some fifteen years after the composer's death was quite unusual for that time; it may be suggested that Benjamin Cooke was "cashing in" on the popularity of the Scarlatti name. Thomas Roseingrave had published in London the first edition of Alessandro's son Domenico's Essercizzi per gravicembalo a couple of years before, and Domenico's work was also being popularized in London by Thomas Kelway and Thomas Arne. That Domenico's popularity continued is witnessed by the publication in 1743 by Charles Avison of his twelve Concerto Grosso arrangements of Domenico's harpsichord sonatas.
Alessandro's last years were spent in Naples, teaching (Hasse was his pupil from 1722), composing cantatas (which ultimately numbered over 600, mostly for soprano and continuo), a Serenata and a set of Sonatas for Flute and Strings, probably composed for Quantz, who visited him in late 1724 or early 1725. Quantz describes the visit thus:
"I heard Scarlatti play on the harpsichord, which he knew how to play in a learned style although he did not possess as much finesse as his son. After this he accompanied me in a solo. I had the good fortune to win his favor, in fact so much so that he composed a few flute solos for me."
This comment would almost prove to be an epitaph, for Alessandro Scarlatti died on October 24, 1725.

subset: commoncrawl


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Oh, man. With all due respect to Crash, Reese Witherspoon and, um, Three 6 Mafia — Brokeback Mountain, Felicity Huffman and Dolly Parton were robbed. Oh, Oscar, I wish I knew how to quit you.
Also overlooked — by critics and the Academy alike — was Memoirs of a Geisha. While visually stunning in its cinematic narrative, Geisha may have made the critics happier if the screenplay had been bookended by (warning: spoilers — you may highlight the following white text if you've already seen the movie) scenes of New York City as the novel had been. I believe this would have made the story more cohesive and satisfying — especially to those who hadn't read the book. But heck, what do I know.
The movie may not have inspired critics, but it did inspire Geisha fashion, renewed popularity of the Maiko Barbie Doll, and — from Fresh, makers of my new favorite scent — the "Memoirs of a Geisha" beauty collection.
Posted March 6, 2006 by Mariva in arts, beauty, books, fashion, gifts, movies, music


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Y not?
Bottle house, Ryolite, Nevada
Ryolite, Nevada
White pelicans, Salton Sea
Train depot, Ryolite, Nevada
Boundary Peak, Nevada
Shoe Tree, Mojave Desert
Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia var. jaegeriana), Cima Dome, Mojave Desert
Roadside art, Mojave Desert
Mojave yucca (Yucca schidigera), near Mitchells Caverns, Mojave Desert
Indian Paintbrush, Mojave National Preserve, near Hole in the Wall
Mid Hills, Mojave National Preserve


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Black Sesame Seeds Can Be So Much More Than A Decoration
Asian and Middle Eastern cuisines have incorporated sesame seeds into both savory and sweet preparations for centuries. Yet for many Americans, sesame seeds seem to have little more use than as something to be sprinkled atop a roll or a loaf of bread.
When I was a kid, I harbored a secret love of them. I picked them off my hamburger buns, one by one, enjoying the satisfying little pop of each kernel as I bit into it. When we visited our favorite local bakery, everyone else oohed and aahed over the gooey cinnamon sticks and the jelly-filled tarts. Me? I coveted the sesame sticks, a short braid of sweetened dough drenched in icing and studded with a generous sprinkling of the seeds. I assumed I was strange since nobody else took notice of these unassuming flavor boosters.
Aside from that early introduction via the sesame sticks, finding things in the U.S. that showcased the sweet, subtly nutty flavors of sesame were few and far between. Now, American chefs are tapping into this underappreciated flavor, sometimes borrowing from other cultures and finding delicious ways to bring them to the American table.
Even better, I'm seeing dishes made with the exotic-looking black sesame seeds, which I never experienced growing up. I first started noticing these beautiful, dark jewels a few years ago when they began joining their pale brothers on rolls at fancy restaurants. Then, slowly, they were introduced in sauces and as a crust for tuna. Finally, the big one: a payload of sesame flavor served in a cup of black sesame gelato at a local gelateria. It's a flavor that's fairly common to Japanese palates, but I was thrilled to see it jump the culture barrier.
About The Author
Rina Rapuano is a freelance food writer and restaurant reviewer based in Washington, D.C. She writes regularly for The Food Network's CityEats site and Capitol File magazine, and has written extensively for The Washington Post's food section and Washingtonian magazine. When she's not dragging her husband and two kids to area restaurants, she's usually in the kitchen cooking, baking or sneaking a cookie. Find Rapuano on Twitter at @rinarap.
Noah Dan, founder and CEO of Pitango Gelato in Washington, D.C., grew up in Israel and says that sesame is much more prevalent in the Middle East and Far East than it is here.
"It's much more a staple of the diet than it is around here," Dan says. "But when it's used in sweets, it's a great flavor."
Dan says the flavors depend on many things, including whether you go with white or black (or yellow or red) sesame, whether you toast it, and the quality of the supplier. For home cooks, they can often be found at Asian and Middle Eastern markets and in the bulk spices section of some specialty stores, if not the regular supermarket.
Like many people, Dan says that black sesame has a slightly nuttier flavor than its white counterpart.
"People from countries that are used to sesame feel like they're coming home," he says when asked how customers have responded to the flavor. "Everybody likes it, but some people have a real craving."
Taste, texture and tradition aren't the only reasons to incorporate sesame seeds into your diet. The seeds "are an excellent source of many essential minerals, as well as a very good source of vitamin B1 (thiamin) and dietary fiber," registered dietician Michele Turcotte writes in a LiveStrong.com article. In addition, she says they are rich in essential trace minerals copper and zinc, as well as calcium — especially the unhulled seeds. She also contends that they contain two cholesterol-lowering substances.
Whatever the reason, black sesame deserves attention. It's been waiting patiently in the American wings for decades.
Black Sesame-Pear Tea Cake
As you may have guessed from the photo, kids of a certain age will likely turn their noses up at this moist, nutty cake — especially if you're kind enough to warn them that it's not chocolate. But if you do get them to try it, they might even admit that they like it. This recipe is adapted from one that ran in Bon Appetit magazine in March 2012.
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup almond flour or almond meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup black sesame seeds
1 1/3 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 (medium) firm but ripe Bosc pear, peeled, cored, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan. Whisk 1 1/2 cups flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and 2 tablespoons sesame seeds in a medium bowl.
Grind remaining 1/2 cup sesame seeds in spice mill or food processor about 2 minutes to form a thick paste, about 2 minutes.
Using an electric mixer, beat 1/2 cup butter and 1 1/3 cups sugar in a large bowl until well combined, 2 to 3 minutes. Add sesame paste and beat, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, until blended, 1 to 2 minutes. Add egg and egg yolk. Beat until paler and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
On low speed, beat in flour mixture in three additions, alternating with buttermilk in two additions, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Toss pear with remaining 2 tablespoons of flour in a small bowl; fold into batter.
Spoon batter into prepared pan; smooth top. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.
Bake until a tester comes out clean when inserted into center, about 1 hour 40 minutes, although start testing at about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack.
Black Sesame Soba Noodles With Crispy Kale
With all the sweet sesame recipes out there, I wanted to try a savory recipe that showcased the seed. I adapted this noodle dish from one posted by Leek Soup blogger Dina Avila, who adapted it from Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson (Ten Speed Press, 2011). Avila says she added the crispy kale element and successfully substituted Marsala with a pinch of sugar for mirin. I used toasted sesame oil and regular rice vinegar since that's what I had on hand.
Makes 6 to 8 servings
1 teaspoon sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon white sesame seeds
1/2 cup black sesame seeds
1 tablespoon plus 1 pinch natural cane sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons shoyu (Japanese soy sauce, found at specialty stores or Asian markets)
1 1/2 teaspoons mirin
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons brown rice vinegar
1/8 teaspoon chili powder
Large pinch red pepper flakes
Sea salt
12 ounces soba noodles
1 leek, thinly sliced
1 bunch kale, dried thoroughly, torn into bite-sized pieces, thick stems removed
Sesame oil
Sea salt
Toast the sunflower seeds and sesame seeds over medium heat in a dry pan, stirring frequently until fragrant, or about 5 minutes. Pour toasted seeds into a food processor and pulse until gritty and sand-like. Add the sugar, shoyu, mirin, sesame oil, brown rice vinegar, chili powder and red pepper flakes. Pulse until blended.
Scoop into a bowl or jar and set aside.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add soba noodles. Cook according to package directions.
Drain, reserving about 1/3 cup of the noodle water and rinse the noodles under cool water.
Add all but about 1 tablespoon of the sesame paste to the hot noodle water. Put noodles and about half of the sliced leeks in a large bowl and toss with the sesame-paste water mixture. If the paste seems clumpy, add a bit more water until it loosens into a sauce.
Serve hot with a dollop of sesame paste and a sprinkle of sliced leeks and crispy kale.
For the kale, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss very dry kale with about a tablespoon of sesame oil and a few pinches of sea salt. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes until kale is crisp and its edges are just beginning to char.
Black Sesame Ice Cream With Profiteroles And Yuzu-Ginger Curd
Desperate for a photo of something other than a blackish mass, I was glad to have found this beautiful and delicious recipe on a blog called Savory Sweet Living. I adapted it from blogger Margaret Chen, who cobbled it together from an ice cream recipe by Diana Kuan (from The Chinese Takeout Cookbook, Ballantine Books, 2012) and a lemon curd recipe by pastry chef and author Nick Malgieri. Yuzu is a Japanese citrus, but even Whole Foods had never heard of it. Try Amazon if you don't have an Asian market nearby, or use fresh lime or orange juice, or a combination of both. I halved the profiteroles recipe, knowing I should never eat nearly 20 ice cream sandwiches. The ice cream should be started a day ahead.
Makes 1 quart
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup black sesame seeds
Combine 1 cup of the heavy cream, sugar and salt in a medium pot over medium-low heat. Stir until the sugar is fully dissolved. Pour the mixture into a bowl. Stir in the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream, milk and vanilla extract. Cover and chill for a least 3 hours or overnight.
When the mixture has chilled, grind the sesame seeds in a clean spice grinder. Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker, slowly pour in the ground black sesame seeds, and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer the ice cream to a freezer-safe container, and freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Makes about 8
1/2 cup water
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine the water, butter, sugar and salt in a medium pot and bring it to a full rolling boil, stirring occasionally. After the boil, take the pot off the heat and add all the flour, stirring until smooth. Put the pan back on low to medium heat and cook, stirring constantly until the dough dries, and pull to the side of the pot. Remove from heat and let cool.
Put the dough into a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed, adding 1 egg at a time until the egg is completely absorbed before adding another egg.
Once the eggs are completely mixed in, place the dough into a piping bag and pipe 1 1/2-inch rounds onto a cookie tray lined with a silicone baking mat. Bake 15 to 20 minutes until slightly golden brown. Cool and set aside.
Yuzu-Ginger Curd
Makes about 1/4 cup
1/4 cup yuzu juice
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
Combine the yuzu juice, sugar and butter in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Add a quarter of the boiling liquid to the egg yolks while whisking to temper the yolks. Return the remaining liquid to a boil over low heat. Whisk the egg mixture into the pan, and whisk until it thickens. Add the grated ginger. Continue to whisk; do not allow the curd to boil or it will scramble.
Transfer the yuzu curd into a clean bowl, pressing plastic wrap against the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill and set aside.
To assemble, cut the profiterole in half, sandwich it with a scoop of the black sesame ice cream, then put some yuzu curd on the plate.


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|Area Home Supply Charts
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*A place that may resemble a city or town but lacks its own government. Areas are generally recognizable by local community but the boundaries have no legal status. (See Wikipedia: Census Designated Place or "CDP")


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More photos below. . .
More Marta? Here and here and here.
More wordless cute? Here and here.
Poor Marta Beast, just trying to cool off in peace! ;)ReplyDelete
Must have had dirty feet.ReplyDelete
Has Marta grown or is it that she is fluffier since her bath? She looks bigger than Daisy (who looks a little worried in the third photo) . A certain (adorable)beagle is conspicuously absent from the photo series...I'm surprised he'd miss this little party!ReplyDelete
Not sure I'd want to drink that water after dirty girl Marta Beast was in it!ReplyDelete
The Beast is back!!! (She is my favorite Farmgirl resident, so glad to see some pics.)ReplyDelete
Sometimes a girl just needs to cool off her paws after being on them all day. Guard dog work isn't easy, you know!!
(Love those doggies!)
Aaaww... Marta is looking fluffy again! -Marci @ Stone Cottage AdventuresReplyDelete
These dogs are wonderful! Love them!ReplyDelete
What a wonderful place. As I like to live there, along with all those animals.
I do not spend one single day without seeing this site.
congratulations. and continue with your very beautiful work with these wonderful animals.
Anabela Branco
December 2015 update: Hi! For some reason I can't figure out, Blogger hasn't been letting me leave comments on my own blog (!) for the last several months, so I've been unable to respond to your comments and questions. My apologies for any inconvenience! You're always welcome to email me: farmgirlfare AT gmail DOT com.
Hi! Thanks for visiting Farmgirl Fare and taking the time to write. While I'm not always able to reply to every comment, I receive and enjoy reading them all.
Your feedback is greatly appreciated, and I especially love hearing about your experiences with my recipes. Comments on older posts are always welcome!
Please note that I moderate comments, so if I'm away from the computer it may be a while before yours appears.
I try my best to answer all questions, though sometimes it takes me a few days. And sometimes, I'm sorry to say, they fall through the cracks, and for that I sincerely apologize.
I look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy your e-visits to our farm!


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I've been working in educational technology for the last 14 years: first at OMSI, then at Portland State, and most recently at rSmart, focused on Sakai open source collaboration and learning technologies. As of February 2013, I have joined former data-journalist Marshall Kirkpatrick's startup, Little Bird, here in Portland, Oregon, as Doorman: leading marketing, sales, and support.
I'm profoundly excited by Little Bird. While it may seem like a dramatic departure from my edtech work, at its heart, Little Bird is ultimately a powerful tool for learning, bringing you directly to the leading people and most worthy content in any topic. Little Bird can help anyone do with purpose what I have done haphhazardly and organically: building my own understanding and relationships by connecting to people that matter, first online, but then also, almost always, offline as well. Needless to say, I wouldn't be joining Little Bird if I hadn't first learned from, and then met and developed a relationship with Marshall on Twitter. Now with Little Bird, we are working to enable everyone to learn and build relationships that can change their work and lives.
Little Bird's team is an awsome collection of wildly unique individuals, who nevertheless share inspiring intelligence and worthy values. I'm honored to be able to work alongside Marshall, his Little Bird co-founders Mikalina Kirkpatrick and Tyler Gillies, and our growing team of folks including Danish Aziz, Peat Bakke, Devin Gaffney, and Brennan Novak. As much as I have learned from and loved working with folks around the world in the Sakai community and at rSmart, it's a like opening a present every day to spend time face-to-face with Little Bird's team of smart, thoughtful people, deeply embedded in Portland's welcoming, innovative tech and creative communities.
My connection to edtech remains: for as long as it makes sense (or until my term ends, which ever comes first), I still serve on the board of directors for the Apereo Foundation—the new organization formed in late 2012 by joining Sakai and Jasig. Maybe the new experience and viewpoints I gain from Little Bird can add some valuable perspective to Apereo. At the very least, I know I'll be looking at education, and the technologies we hope to make serve it, with a new, avianette lens.
Looking back, I'd like to give my deepest thanks to the people that made my journey with Sakai and rSmart possible: first and foremost, Chris Coppola, who helped me start that journey and lead me forward with his thinking, drive, and values. Wende Garrison and Trish Harris, who put a lot of very smart wind and perspective in my sails and sailed along with me. Kim Thanos, who continues to advise and inspire me in so many wise ways large and small. The whole rSmart team, but most especially Brooke Biltimier, Brenda Chapman, Tom Chapman, Duffy Gillman, Paul Hauser, Orla Mester, Erik Mertz, and Lance Speelmon, who always seemed like close collaborators even though we were so often working at a distance. In the worldwide Sakai community there are too many to name who have been my brothers and sisters in the campaign to make education better: but I thank you all and hope to continue to serve you at Apereo and beyond.


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A 3-year-old Australian boy was lucky to escape uninjured after a collection of eggs he found in his yard hatched into a slithering tangle of deadly snakes.
Reptile specialist Trish Prendergast said Friday that young wildlife enthusiast Kyle Cummings could have been killed if he had handled the eastern brown snakes -- the world's most venomous species on land after Australia's inland taipan.
Kyle found a clutch of nine eggs a few weeks ago in the grass on his family's 3-acre property on the outskirts of the city of Townsville in Queensland state, Prendergast said. He had no idea what kind of eggs they were.
He put the eggs into a plastic takeout food container and stashed them in his bedroom closet, where his mother, Donna Sim, found them Monday. Seven had hatched, but the snakes remained trapped under the container's lid. The remaining two eggs were probably infertile and were rotten, Prendergast said.
"I was pretty shocked, particularly because I don't like snakes," Sim told the Townsville Bulletin newspaper.
Prendergast, who is the Townsville-based reptile coordinator of the volunteer group North Queensland Wildlife Care, was handed the container on Tuesday and released the snakes into the wild that night.
She was relieved that no one had handled the snakes.
"Their fangs are only a few millimeters long at that age, so they probably couldn't break the skin, but they're just as venomous as full-grown snakes," Prendergast said.
"If venom had got on Kyle's skin where there was a cut of if he put it in his mouth, it could have been fatal," she added.
Eastern brown snakes -- which can grow to more than 6 1/2 feet long -- usually stay with their eggs but sometimes leave for short periods to feed.
"He's very lucky he didn't encounter the mother while he was taking her eggs. That also could have been fatal," Prendergast said.
The snakes were 5 to 6 inches long and had probably hatched around five days before they were released, she said, adding that they were thirsty but otherwise healthy.
Australia averages around three fatal snake bites a year, and eastern browns are responsible for the majority of them.
Sim did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Friday.


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The Program for Professional Communications (PPC)
This Interdisciplinary Minor, the Program for Professional Communications (PPC), provides students with the opportunity to develop high-level skills in multimedia communications.
A range of relevant courses enables students to hone their skills in professional writing, using both traditional formats and new media platforms, and to prepare and deliver in-person and web-based presentations.
Students from any department seeking to burnish their professional writing and presentation skills for the twenty-first-century marketplace will find the Program for Professional Communications (PPC) minor an invaluable complement to their chosen major.
The 13-credit Program for Professional Communications (PPC) minor course sequence:
Writing Skills Core (4 credits):
- ENW 201: Advanced Expository Writing (4)
Professional Writing Elective (3 credits):
Choose one:
- ENW 300: Business Writing (3)
- ENW 304: Non-Profit Grant Writing I (3)
- ENW 3070: Health and Science Writing (3)
- ENW 333: Marketing and Public Relations Writing (3)
- ENW 335: Technical Writing (3)
Multimedia Communication Courses (6 credits):
- ENW 3100: Writing for New Media (3)
- ENW 3200: Professional Communications and Presentations Seminar (3)
For more information or to sign up for the Program for Professional Communications (PPC), please write email@example.com.


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Productivity Corner: Using Bentley WaterGEMS with GIS Data for Water Demand Allocation8 May, 2006 By: Andres Gutierrez
Automated techniques help you meet current demands and plan for the future.
The consumption of water is the driving force behind the hydraulic dynamics occurring in water distribution systems. When simulating these dynamics in your water distribution model, an accurate representation of system demands is as critical as a precise model of the physical components of the model.
To realize the full potential of the model as a master planning and decision support tool, you must accurately allocate demands while anticipating future demands. You must collect the necessary data and translate it to model loading data regularly to account for changes to the network conditions. Due to the difficulties associated with manually loading the model, you can use automated techniques developed to assist with this task.
Spatial allocation of demands is the most common approach to loading a water distribution model. The spatial analysis capabilities of GIS make these applications a logical tool for the automation of the demand allocation process.
WaterGEMS' LoadBuilder module -- available with stand-alone, MicroStation, AutoCAD, and ArcGIS platforms -- leverages the spatial analysis abilities of your GIS platform to distribute demands according to geocoded meter data, demand density information and coverage polygon intersections. LoadBuilder facilitates the tasks of demand allocation and projection. Every step of the loading process is enhanced from the initial gathering and analysis of data from disparate sources and formats to the employment of various allocation strategies.
The following are descriptions of the types of allocation strategies that you can apply using LoadBuilder.
Allocation uses the spatial analysis capabilities of GIS to assign geocoded (possessing coordinate data based on physical location, such as an x,y coordinate) customer meters to the nearest demand node or pipe. Assigning metered demands to nodes is a point-to-point demand allocation technique, meaning that known point demands (customer meters) are assigned to network demand points (demand nodes).
Assigning metered demands to pipes also is a point-to-point assignment technique, because you still must assign demands to node elements, but an additional step is involved. When using the nearest pipe meter assignment strategy, the demands at a meter are assigned to the nearest pipe. From the pipe, the demand then is distributed to the nodes at the ends of the pipe by using a distribution strategy. Meter assignment is the simplest technique in terms of required data because you don't need to apply service polygons (figure 1).
Figure 1. An example of meter assignment.
Meter assignment can prove less accurate than the more complex allocation strategies because the nearest node is determined by straight-line proximity between the demand node and the consumption meter. Piping routes are not considered, so the nearest demand isn't necessarily the location from which the meter actually receives its flow. In addition, you may not know the actual location of the service meter.
The geographic location of the meter in the GIS is not necessarily the point from which water is taken from the system, but it may be the centroid of the land parcel, the centroid of building footprint or a point along the frontage of the building. Ideally, you should place these meter points at the location of the tap, but you may only know the centroid of the building or land parcel for a customer account.
Billing Meter Aggregation
Billing meter aggregation is the technique of assigning all meters within a service polygon to a specified demand node. Service polygons define the service area for each of the demand nodes (figure 2).
Figure 2. Service polygons define the service area for each of the demand nodes.
Meter aggregation is a polygon-to-point allocation technique because the service areas are contained in a GIS polygon feature class, and the demand nodes are contained in a point feature class. The demands associated with the meters within each of the service area polygons is assigned to the respective demand node points.
Due to the need for service polygons, the initial setup for this approach is more involved than the meter assignment strategy -- the trade-off is greater control over the assignment of meters to demand nodes. Automated construction of the service polygons may not produce the desired results, so you may need to adjust the polygon boundaries manually, especially at the edges of the drawing.
This strategy involves distributing lump-sum area water-use data among a number of service polygons (service areas) and, by extension, their associated demand nodes. The lump-sum area is a polygon for which the total (lump-sum) water use of all of the service areas (and their demand nodes) within it is known (metered) but the distribution of the total water use among the individual nodes is not. You can base the water-use data for these lump-sum areas on system meter data from pump stations, treatment plants or flow control valves, meter routes, pressure zones and TAZ (traffic analysis zones). The lump-sum area for which a flow is known must be a GIS polygon. There is one flow rate per polygon, and you cannot overlap open space between the polygons.
The known flow within the lump-sum area generally is divided among the service polygons within the area using one of two techniques -- equal distribution or proportional distribution:
- The equal flow distribution option simply divides the known flow evenly between the demand nodes. The lump-sum area in this case is a polygon feature class that represents meter route areas. For each of these meter route polygons, the total flow is known. The total flow is then equally divided among the demand nodes within each of the meter route polygons.
- The proportional distribution option (by area or by population) divides the lump-sum flow among the service polygons based upon one of two attributes of the service polygons -- the area or the population. The greater the percentage of the lump-sum area or population that a service polygon contains, the greater the percentage of total flow assigned to that service polygon.
Each service polygon has an associated demand node, and the flow that is calculated for each service polygon is assigned to this demand node. For example, if a service polygon is 50% of the lump-sum polygon's area, then 50% of the flow associated with the lump-sum polygon will be assigned to the demand node associated with that service polygon. This strategy requires the definition of lump-sum area or population polygons in the GIS, service polygons in the model and their related demand nodes.
Sometimes you must use the flow distribution technique to assign unaccounted-for water to nodes and when any method that uses customer metering data as opposed to system metering data is implemented.
In figure 3, the total demand in meter route A may be 55 gpm (3.48 L/s) and the demand is 72 gpm (4.55 L/s) in meter route B. Because meter route A has 11 nodes, the demand at each node would be 5 gpm (0.32 L/s) if equal distribution is used, and the demand at each of meter route B's 8 nodes would be 9 gpm (0.57 L/s).
Figure 3. The meter route.
Point Demand Assignment
A point demand assignment technique is used to assign a demand directly to a demand node. This strategy primarily is a manual operation and is used to assign large (generally industrial or commercial) water users to the demand node that serves the consumer in question. This technique is unnecessary if all demands are accounted for using one of the other allocation strategies.
Estimation of Demands Using Land Use and Population Data
Automated techniques also can assist in the estimation of demands using land use and population density data. These techniques are similar to the flow distribution allocation methods, except that the type of base feature class that is used to intersect with the service feature class may contain information other than flow; for example, land use or population.
You can use this type of demand estimation in the projection of future demands; in this case, the demand allocation relies on a polygon feature class that contains data regarding expected future conditions. You can use various data types with this technique, including future land use, projected population or demand density (in polygon form) with the polygons based upon traffic analysis zones, census tracts, planning districts or other classifications. Note that you can use these data sources to assign current demands; the difference between the two being the data that is contained within the source. If the data relates to projected values, you can use it for demand projections.
Many of these data types do not include demand information, so further data conversion is required to translate the information contained in the future condition polygons into projected demand values. This conversion entails translating the data contained within your data source to flow, which you then can apply using LoadBuilder.
After an appropriate conversion method is in place, the service feature class containing the service areas and demand nodes is overlaid with the future condition polygon feature class. You can determine a projected demand for each of the service areas and assign the demand nodes associated with each service polygon. The conversion required will depend on the source data used. You may need to translate the data contained within the source -- such as population, land area, etc. -- to flow, which LoadBuilder can use to assign demands.
Depending on how the feature classes intersect, service areas may contain multiple demand types (land uses) that are added and applied to the demand node for that service polygon.
For more information about Bentley WaterGEMS and the LoadBuilder module, please visit the company's Web site.
About the Author: Andres Gutierrez
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Just don't call him Mad Dog
Mad Dog Mattis. The Warrior Monk. Married to the Marine Corps.
It's all hype that embarrasses Gen. James Mattis, the chief of U.S. Central Command, who is preparing to retire this spring after one of the most productive four-decade sprints in uniform of his generation.
Marine 'Mad Dog' Mattis is chosen for Pentagon
To Marines, Mattis is Chaos, his call sign and nom de guerre. According to interviews with more than a half-dozen officers who know him well, Mattis is an iconoclast and innovator who strove to outmaneuver the enemy on the battlefield, paralysis in Washington and the "yes, sir!" culture of the military.
Others, particularly civilians, consider the former Camp Pendleton-based commander controversial or brutish, based on statements such as one Mattis made in San Diego in 2005 when he proclaimed he liked brawling and shooting some people — like the Taliban. "You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap around women for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway, so it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them," he said.
5 things to know about 'Mad Dog'
In person Mattis, 62, is unimposing. He is rather short and slight of build. He speaks with a lisp and rarely raises his voice. His blunt tough talk, however, and indisputable aggressiveness in combat endear him to many Marines, especially teenage infantrymen who volunteered during wartime to kill bad guys. Mattis has been rebuked and told to choose his words more carefully, but he never apologized or admitted any regrets — another mark in his favor among the rank and file.
His pugnacious soliloquies are said to be part of his brilliance as a communicator and, some add, a useful contrivance to rally the troops. Whether his audience is lance corporals heading into combat or sultans, kings and presidents who control the passage or resources needed for his mission, Mattis knows how to speak their language and enlist support.
Brig. Gen. Paul Kennedy served under Mattis in Iraq. Before the 2003 invasion, Mattis brought each battalion into the base auditorium to brief them on how he wanted every last Marine to fight. Over and over again, the same speech some 50 times. "Having a vision and beating that thing flat as a cat on a highway, I think that is genius. Nobody has the staying power to do that," Kennedy said.
Mattis, who led 1st Marine Division personnel into Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War as well as the 2003 invasion, is also respected as a warrior statesman, compassionate commander and skilled tactician who reshaped the way America goes to war during an era of protracted combat.
The general has inspired a stream of fan mail from fellow Marines, supplications from jailed young veterans, imprudent tattoos, passages in history books, satirical online spoofs, even a television character.
The legend is overwrought. Mattis is the first to say so. In a 2004 speech to midshipmen at the Naval Academy that laid out the principles that guided him through the inevitable moral crises of war, he said "I get a lot of credit these days for things I never did."
In recent years he has given few press interviews or quotable speeches. In his current job he must coax support from Middle Eastern allies who don't want to read about it in the newspaper. He is also a humble and private guy, some say.
Mattis spoke with U-T San Diego to dispel some myths. But he otherwise declined to comment for this article, saying he would prefer to highlight "the contributions of the Marines you know well in southern California, those who have conducted a significant amount of the fighting and done a lot of bleeding in this long war.
"Generals get an awful lot of attention and there's not too many generals on the casualty list. The lads deserve the attention," he added.
Winning warrior
Mattis has never owned a television. As a diligent scholar of his profession, he interviewed active and retired commanders who had grappled with similar missions. He studied everyone from the Spartans to the samurai and Comanche, drawing from his personal library that once included more than 7,000 volumes before he gave many to libraries and comrades. He is a lifelong bachelor with no children, but wouldn't move into a monastery unless it was stocked with "beer and ladies."
He was passionate about leading Marines in combat and devoted to winning at every assignment, but merely duty-bound to his succession of staff jobs. He persevered for one reason, according to Marine Lt. Gen. John Toolan: "He understands the threats. He understands history, and he knows we must stay vigilant."
Retired Marine Col. Clarke Lethin, of Fallbrook, served as his chief of staff when Mattis was commanding general of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. "My fear is they are going to give him another job instead of letting him retire. He deserves it. He has done more than enough for this country," Lethin said.
Semper Fidelis
Mattis grew up in southeastern Washington state. He was an acolyte in the Episcopal church who admired Native American Indian culture and liked to run The Oregon Trail. After college he was commissioned as a Marine in 1972.
As a major, Mattis drew a difficult assignment — recruiting duty in liberal Portland, Ore. Mattis quickly turned the station into a top performer by cultivating relationships and winning the loyalty and hard work of junior Marines.
Stories about Mattis' caring and deference to the lower ranks abound. As a one-star general he dressed for guard duty, sword and all, one Christmas at Quantico, Va., relieving a young lieutenant to spend the holiday with his family.
Brig. Gen. John Broadmeadow accompanied Mattis on a tour of remote checkpoints in northern Kuwait in the run-up to the Iraq invasion. Mattis wanted to sound out the Marines on duty, so he had Broadmeadow, then a lieutenant colonel, stand post for a half hour.
"He walked away from that talk with very junior Marines with some direct tasks to his regimental commanders," and the young Marines got a great story to tell about the general, Broadmeadow said.
Shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, Mattis asked Lethin, whom he first met on recruiting duty, to rejoin his staff and prepare for war. Lethin had intended to retire before the terrorist attacks. Mattis wanted to be sure Lethin's wife Wendy and their young boys were onboard.
Mattis had a private talk with her describing what was in store, before her husband knew where they were heading. "We are going to go to Afghanistan and we're going to kill those guys," he told her, according to Lethin. "This is going to be a long war and a lot of people are going to die. Are you ready?"
Need for Speed
Mattis and then-Lt. Gen. David Petraeus oversaw the genesis of the new Army and Marine Corps counterinsurgency manual published in 2006. Mattis espoused a muscular version of the doctrine in line with his philosophy of "no better friend, no worse enemy."
He also stresses the need to move light and fast in battle. In 2001, Mattis was put in command of a naval task force and had to figure out how to transport two Marine expeditionary units into landlocked southern Afghanistan.
The solution included pushing his helicopter pilots some 400 miles until their gas tanks almost ran dry, recalled Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, who served in Task Force 58 as a colonel. "What we were being asked to do in terms of the distances involved is something that had never been done in the Marine Corps," he said.
After securing Camp Rhino, Mattis was gunning to go after Osama bin Laden in Tora Bora. The Marines passed out cold weather gear but were called off when Mattis couldn't get permission to bring what he thought was enough troops.
They were stretched already after the amphibious raid into Kandahar, but initiative and tempo is the heart of Mattis' command philosophy. "He understands how that tears away the enemy's unit cohesion. That's part of the reason he's got to drive his own troops sometimes, to make them think above and beyond what they might think they are capable of," so they can overwhelm the enemy, Waldhauser said.
As the 1st Marine Division prepared to lead the invasion into Iraq in 2003, Mattis predicted that they would quickly outstrip their logistics support as they raced across the desert. He ordered his Marines to attach racks to their vehicles to hang extra food, water and fuel and pack gasoline test kits.
His need for speed was a factor in his decision to sack the only senior officer removed mid-battle during the invasion of Iraq, a colonel whose regiment stalled in the face of unexpected resistance outside Nasiriyah.
The next year in Al Anbar, Iraq, four contractors were murdered in Fallujah shortly after Mattis and his Marines moved into the area. Their charred bodies were hung from a bridge, prompting the military command to order an attack.
Mattis had planned for a more engaging approach than the soldiers they were replacing. He was forced to lead his Marines into Fallujah prematurely in his eyes, then to retreat because of political pressure.
"If it was a mistake to attack in the first place — and we believed it was — then it was an even greater mistake to order the attack stopped so close to victory, as a result of disinformation generated by insurgents inside the city and the Arab press," recalled retired Gen. James Conway, the former commandant who was Mattis' boss.
Months later when Mattis was gone and peace negotiations failed, the Marines fought a second battle for Fallujah. Insurgents and hard-core jihadists had flocked to the city and stockpiled weapons. Savage combat practically leveled the city.
"The element of surprise had been lost. The result was over 90 Marines, soldiers, and sailors giving their lives to the effort, and many more wounded," Conway said.
Retirement ?
The rumor around the Pentagon is Mattis may take over the NATO European command if the nomination of Marine Gen. John Allen, outgoing commander of international forces in Afghanistan, is scuttled. Allen is under investigation because of allegedly flirtatious on-the-job emails with a Tampa socialite who is not his wife. He has denied wrongdoing.
The gig would be Mattis' third as a four-star general, which is virtually unheard of. Mattis said he thinks the rumor is wrong. Mattis expects to relinquish his Central Command job in March and retire soon after from the military, when he is medically cleared. But Mattis has the confidence of some Democratic leaders, as well as Republicans, who may yet tap him amid the reshuffle of defense and intelligence posts.
When he does retire, Mattis plans to settle out West, where he appreciates the free thinking and open landscape. Doing what, he doesn't know yet. Mattis has some good war stories to share with friends, but no plans to write a book. The fine print may go with him to the grave.
firstname.lastname@example.com • (619) 293-1293 • Twitter @gckovach
Marine 'Mad Dog' Mattis is chosen for Pentagon
Secretary of Defense James Mattis? 5 things to know about 'Mad Dog'


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Chinese search giant Baidu on Thursday weighed in on a dispute with a local rival search engine over access to its websites, by stating it welcomed the competition, but opposed any acts that would infringe on its Internet services.
The statement on an official microblog is the company's first comment on a brewing controversy with Chinese Internet firm Qihoo 360, which launched its own search engine in the country to provide an alternative to Baidu.
Baidu has long held the top spot in China's search engine space, with a market share of around 80 percent, according to different research firms. But earlier this month, security vendor and Internet browser provider Qihoo 360 launched its own search engine that some experts believe could take sizeable market share away from Baidu, given Qihoo 360's already large user base in China.
In launching its new search engine, however, Qihoo 360 has violated Baidu's turf. The company's search indexes Baidu products, such as its question-and-answer sites, and encyclopedia pages. But Qihoo 360 did this, while ignoring Baidu's own robot exclusion protocol, which only allows certain competitors such as Google, MSN, and few others to access the sites.
On Tuesday night, Baidu responded by blocking off access to these products to Qihoo users. When users clicked a Baidu site in Qihoo 360's search, they were often redirected to Baidu's homepage.
To fight back, Qihoo 360 has replaced redirected links with cached page views of the Baidu sites. On Thursday, a Qihoo 360 post on its official microblog said it should also be allowed access to Baidu's sites, calling them an "Internet resource" akin to the content other Chinese firms are providing on the Web.
The company has also flatly denied it steals search results from rivals to power its own services, calling it a rumor. Qihoo 360 spent seven years to develop its own search engine, according to the company.
Qihoo 360 has previously been involved in heated disputes with Internet firms including Baidu, and social networking and games provider Tencent, with the companies accusing Qihoo 360 of unfair business practices. In those cases, Qihoo 360 had found security problems with Baidu and Tencent's software.
For Baidu, Qihoo 360's new search engine represents a direct threat to the company, because of its potential to take away traffic from Baidu's sites, said Mark Natkin, a managing director with Beijing-based Marbridge Consulting.
"There should never have been any question that Baidu wasn't going to take Qihoo 360's entry into the online search space lying down," he said.
Chinese IT legal expert Zhao Zhanling has also pointed to how Baidu could sue Qihoo 360 for copyright infringement and competing unfairly, because Qihoo 360 violated the company sites' robot exclusion protocol. Baidu has previously declined to comment on whether it will take legal action against Qihoo 360.


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Adam Smith debunks that idea that when it comes to public debt "we owe it to ourselves" (1776)
Found in An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (Cannan ed.), vol. 2
In a discussion of funding a war by increasing public debt, Adam Smith (1723-1790) rejects the commonly held idea that heavy debt is not a problem for a society because "we owe it to ourselves", or as he put it, "it is the right hand which pays the left":
In the payment of the interest of the publick debt, it has been said, it is the right hand which pays the left. [52] The money does not go out of the country. It is only a part of the revenue of one set of the inhabitants which is transferred to another; and the nation is not a farthing the poorer. This apology is founded altogether in the sophistry of the mercantile system, and after the long examination which I have already bestowed upon that system, it may perhaps be unnecessary to say any thing further about it. It supposes, besides, that the whole publick debt is owing to the inhabitants of the country, which happens not to be true; the Dutch, as well as several other foreign nations, having a very considerable share in our publick funds. But though the whole debt were owing to the inhabitants of the country, it would not upon that account be less pernicious.
Adam Smith calls the Keynesian-like argument that a large public debt is not to be feared because "we owe it to ourselves" an example of "the sophistry of the mercantile system" which he had spent so much time debunking in the Wealth of the Nations (1776). He argues this is factually not true as debt may be held by foreign countries (in his case the Dutch) which means that there are international transfer payments to be made when the interest is paid. Even it were true, he believes that there are many problems which must be faced by a nation which goes into debt. He argues that it causes a "perversion" of the economy by diverting resources from peaceful and productive activities, that by moving the burden of payment into the future it deceives the people about the true cost of war and that wars therefore seem to be "cheaper" than they in fact are, that there is a crowding out effect since capital is diverted from private to public uses, and it results in increased taxation which reduces capital accumulation. But even if the public debt was entirely funded by domestic sources "we owe it to ourselves" is wrong in any case. Smith argues that within a society, public debt takes money from the "productive classes" and gives it to support "idle people who are employed in gathering it" and to the military who use it to fight, resulting in the destruction of life and property in the process. We have included the long footnote 52 where Smith makes these arguments more explicit.


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The year is now 2025 and on the newly colonized planet Esperanza our space devices have not just been approached by alien machines but attacked.
The player controls a squad of soldiers, light and heavy support combat vehicles, robots and air units located in a base on the planet Esperanza that had been colonized by the spaceship Magalhaes in the year 2023. This squad was brought together by the Esperanza government to face a threat that comes from deep space. In case the player succeeds in averting an alien impact on Esperanza, the story will continue on the planet Earth which has been subdued by alien forces.
The title combines global strategy with small, squad-based tactical combat against an alien invasion. To repel the alien invasion the player must take full advantage of the terrain and his surrounding environments.
Note: By contract, this product is only available from Matrix Games in North America.


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