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"Behold Your Little Ones"
A bishop told me about extending a call to a woman in his ward. Together they read from the Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi, chapter 17.
They read how the Savior invited the Nephites to bring their children to him, how Jesus prayed for the children and blessed them, and how angels appeared and ministered to them within the fire that encircled them. Those familiar words are powerful, poetic verses.
Then, interestingly, the bishop said, "Sister Breinholt, the Savior cannot personally be in our ward every Sunday. But through inspiration from our Heavenly Father, we are calling you to do for some children of our ward what the Savior would do for them if he were here. We are calling you to serve as a Primary teacher!"
When I heard that extraordinary experience, I wanted to study those verses again to understand better what the Savior did with the Nephite children and what he would do for our children if he were here. The Savior's example and the bishop's admonition apply to all of us—whether we love and serve children in our families, as neighbors or friends, or at church. Children belong to all of us.
With that in mind, let us examine together some verses in the seventeenth chapter of 3 Nephi [3 Ne. 17]. Let us discover together the pattern the Savior gave us.
His invitation in verse 11 [3 Ne. 17:11] was neither casual nor inconsequential. "He commanded that their little children should be brought." (Emphasis added.) And notice what verse 11 doesn't say. It doesn't say never mind the little ones because they aren't accountable yet. It doesn't say the children were to be taken elsewhere so they wouldn't disrupt the proceedings. And it doesn't imply that the children won't understand. But it does teach that children need to learn the significant things of the kingdom.
God's children share with all of us the divine right to spiritual enlightenment.
"So they brought their little children and set them down upon the ground round about him, and Jesus stood in the midst." (3 Ne. 17:12.) Do any of us ever consider serving children to be beneath us? Clearly the Savior felt that the Nephite children were worthy not only to be in his presence, but they were also worthy of his time and his attention. The children needed him, and he stood right in their midst.
Verse 12 also indicates that Jesus waited "till they had all been brought to him." He wasn't looking for a representative sample, and he wasn't content with just some of the children. He wanted them all to be there, and he ministered to them all.
Then Jesus prayed unto the Father so powerfully that "no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things." (3 Ne. 17:17.) And the children were there! They heard that prayer; they saw that event, and they were affected by it. Children can understand and should witness marvelous events—events like priesthood blessings, special ward and family fasts, the testimonies and prayers of their parents and leaders, and gospel discussions with people they love.
"He took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them." (3 Ne. 17:21.) Jesus was ministering to a group of about 2,500 men, women, and children. Consider how much time it must have taken for him to bless and pray over each child, "one by one." He must have held many of them in his arms or on his lap. And he wept because he was overcome with joy.
"He spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones." (3 Ne. 17:23.) Jesus specifically directed the attention of the multitude to the children. To me, the word behold is significant. It implies more than just "look and see." When the Lord instructed the Nephites to behold their little ones, I believe he told them to give attention to their children, to contemplate them, to look beyond the present and see their eternal possibilities.
"And as they looked to behold … they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them." (3 Ne. 17:24.)
I can't help but wonder what would have happened if the multitude had just looked and not beheld with spiritual eyes. Would they have seen the angels descend? Could they have watched their children encircled about with fire? Would they have been able to observe as the angels ministered to their children? It's significant to me that later the Savior gave the most sacred teachings only to the children, then loosed their tongues so they could teach the multitude. (See 3 Ne. 26:14.)
Is it any wonder that following the Savior's visit to the Nephites, they lived in peace and righteousness for two hundred years? Because of miraculous instructions, blessings, and attention they and their children received, righteousness was perpetuated by their children's children for many generations.
Let us not underestimate the capacity and potential power of today's children to perpetuate righteousness. No group of people in the Church is as receptive to the truth, both in efficiency of learning and with the greatest degree of retention. No group is as vulnerable to erroneous teaching, and no group suffers more from neglect or abuse. Children cannot provide for themselves. We, the adults of the world, must open the way for them. Our little children worldwide deserve to be "remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way." (Moro. 6:4.)
Jesus gave us a clear pattern to follow in fulfilling our responsibility to nurture and teach children. Our challenges differ from those of the Nephites because we live in a different time. But the Savior's way is timeless. In his church, there can be no other way. As he demonstrated, our physical presence and attention is vital to the children in our families, church, and communities. We can know their needs and minister to them when we spend time with them. We can behold our children in their eternal perspective and see that they all know of the Savior and learn the significant truths of his gospel. We can help them witness marvelous spiritual events. They can hear our earnest prayers in their behalf. We are their ministering angels on earth if we follow the Lord's example.
One busy Sunday with the meetinghouse hallway crowded with people, a bishop noticed a little boy sitting on the floor crying. Disregarding his busy schedule, the bishop immediately focused his attention on the weeping child. He sat right down on the floor and held the little boy close until the crying subsided and the boy was able to explain what was wrong. Then, comforted, the child went off down the hall holding the hand of his earthly ministering angel.
I sense that the Savior would have done that too.
A young Latter-day Saint mother from Alaska, living in Russia temporarily, visited the home of a member family with two small sons. She learned that the children read and love the scriptures and hunger to know more. Then she attended the small branch and found that because the Church is so new there, they had no experience in teaching the children at church on Sunday.
She said, "Knowing what the children were missing, I had an overwhelming feeling that I should help." And she added, "I felt I would be held accountable if I did not." So she did. Not long after, she was called as the district Primary president to become an earthly ministering angel to these children.
A friend of mine received an invitation to the temple wedding of a young man she had taught in Primary. When she responded to the invitation, she asked, "David, you moved away, and I haven't seen you for years. Why did you think of me?"
"Sister McMullin," he said, "you taught us about being clean and worthy to receive the priesthood. You taught us about scrubbing our hands and wearing clean clothes when we would pass the sacrament. You taught us about being clean inside too. When I was faced with temptations and decisions in my dating years, your voice would come into my mind: 'A deacon is clean inside and out.' I am worthy to go to the temple because of you. That's why I want you to come with us."
A sister missionary in New Guinea with her husband wrote us of teaching little children the gospel under a tree at a large coconut plantation. After the lessons, the children line up for drinks of scarce and precious, cool water from a plastic jug which these earthly ministering angels fill and freeze before they come.
I sense that the Savior would approve of that too.
Each of us, whatever our circumstances, can help a child in a particular, important way that no one else can. We can give them life-giving water, food, love, comfort, and more importantly we can offer the "living water" of the gospel. (See John 4:10–14.)
As we minister to children with the same devotion and commitment demonstrated by the Savior, we bless them with love, security, faith, testimony, and the courage to resist evil. These are preventive measures that will help stem the raging tide of today's epidemic immorality. The gospel can, and must, become a way of life for them today. Imagine what tomorrow's Church could be like if we fulfill the needs of our children today. Imagine what it will be like if we don't.
Sisters, by ministering to children we too can help the gospel live for many generations, for in our hands are our most valuable and our most vulnerable resource—our children. Of this I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.


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BERLIN- After five tension-filled games in five days, the Berlin Little League 9-10 All-Stars finally ran out of gas and fell to Conococheague, 13-3, in the state championship game at Cambridge on Monday.
Berlin's 9-10 All-Stars won the District 8 championship last week to advance to the state tournament for the first time in several years. For five days starting last Thursday, the Berlin Little Leaguers embarked on a wild five-game journey that left them on the doorstep of a state title, but the tank was nearly empty at that point.
Despite a valiant effort, the never-say-die Berlin team fell behind Conococheague early, thanks to a plethora of defensive lapses, and never really got back in the game. Berlin fell behind 8-0 after just two innings but kept battling and answered with three runs of their own in the third to keep the game close, albeit briefly. Conococheague held on the rest of the way and took the state championship, 13-3.
The loss did little to tarnish what was an amazing run for the Berlin team, which captured its first District 8 title in several years last week just to reach the state tournament. Berlin cruised through the District 8 playoffs relatively unscathed, sweeping five games, including four shutouts, to take the title.
In the state tournament, however, the teams got a little tougher and the pressure got a little tighter as each day and each game came up on the schedule. Berlin dropped its first game in the state tournament last Thursday to Arbutus, 3-1, in what turned out to be the lowest scoring game of the weekend.
Berlin rebounded from that early loss and won the next three in a row to reach the state championship. On Friday, Berlin beat D.C. Capital City, 12-8, in a high scoring game. Chris Poole picked up the win and helped himself at the plate, collecting two doubles.
Back in action on Saturday, Berlin topped Frederick American, 12-7, to improve to 2-1 in the tournament, setting up a semifinal game with North Calvert. Justin Meekins got the win in the Frederick American game and contributed to the offense with two hits. Jacob Hickman also collected two hits in the Frederick American game, which saw its share of drama and lead changes.
Berlin played its heart out and left everything on the field in the semifinal against North Calvert on Sunday, which might have left them a little tired and a little overwhelmed going into the championship game on Monday. The North Calvert game went nine innings with Berlin coming back over and over again after falling behind early. A regulation 9-10 Little League game is just six innings, and the two teams played another half of a game before Berlin settled the issue and advanced to the title game.
Berlin trailed 5-1 early and came back to pull even at 5-5. North Calvert scored three more runs to go back ahead, 8-5, and it appeared the magical run by Berlin was coming to an end, but the local team kept battling and eventually won the game, 9-8, in nine innings.
The disheartening loss did little to put a damper on what was a memorable post-season for the Berlin 9-10 team. They will hoist a District 8 banner at their home complex in the near future and despite a loss in the state title game will have a lifetime of memories and wealth of experience to show for their mid-summer run through the playoffs.

subset: commoncrawl


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Google wouldn't be Google if they didn't launch the Nexus One without building up hype for the handset. One of the ways the Mountain View, CA-based search giant did that was to coin a new term to describe their Nexus One – "superphone." Seeing as how the new Android phone packs the most advanced smartphone features available today, the new Android 2.1 OS, and a handful of innovative software and hardware technologies, Google saw fit to call the Nexus One a "superphone." Not a smartphone, mind you, this superphone is supposed to showcase the possibilities when you put Google and HTC together in the same room. And, to show you just how good this superphone really is, we've got pics and video of our Nexus One unboxing and hands-on review for you to drool over.
The Nexus One boasts everything you could ask for in a smartpho… excuse us, superphone. It's packed with a 1Ghz Snapdragon processor that can easily handle Android app you throw at it, and even multiple apps at the same time. The 3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen is an OLED display, which gets rid of the battery-killing LCD backlight while increasing contrast and color saturation – it makes blacks truly black and colors as vivid as possible. The Android 2.1 OS sports a host of new features, including the ability to enter text using your voice. The same server-based voice recognition technology that made voice commands possible on the Motorola Droid's Android 2.0 OS has been adapted to provide voice recognition for any text field within Android. The Nexus One lets you send text messages, emails, and the like using nothing more than your voice.
As a superphone, the Nexus One also packs all the latest sensors and hardware you could ask for. There's a GPS receiver that works in conjunction with a digital compass to show you where you are and where you're headed. The proximity and light sensors work together to save battery life – the proximity sensor turns off the display when your Nexus One is pressed up to your face during a phone call, while the light sensor detects ambient light levels and adjusts display brightness accordingly. Of course, WiFi is included to supplement the 3G data connection that's intended for use on T-Mobile's 3G network. The microSD card slot allows for memory expansion up to 32GB. And, the Nexus One features active noise suppresion technology. It uses two separate microphones to isolate your voice and filter out background noise.
That's just a taste of what the Nexus One offers. If you're interested, you can pick up a Nexus One today (it will ship today) from Google for $529.00 unlocked and contract-free. Or, if you're more about saving money and signing up for a 2-year contract, you can get your Nexus One with T-Mobile service for $179.00. You can only buy the Nexus One with the T-Mobile Even More individual 500 plan, so if you want to use your existing T-Mo plan or you have an AT&T SIM card, you'll need to buy the unlocked version.


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Flower Power Sugar Gift Box
Our Flower Powder Sugar Set is a beautiful assortment of hand-crafted sugars with natural ingredients like lavender buds, rose petals, and hibiscus. Each sugar has a unique floral smell with a complimenting floral and sweet taste. Gift Box Includes: Hibiscus Sugar - 3.2 oz, Lavender Lemon Sugar - 3.5 oz, Rose Sugar - 3.1 oz, Florida Sunshine Sugar - 2.5 oz. (gift box color may vary)
Our Flower Powder Sugar Set is a beautiful assortment of hand-crafted sugars with natural ingredients like lavender buds, rose petals, and hibiscus. Each sugar has a unique floral smell with a complimenting floral and sweet taste. Gift Box Includes: Hibiscus Sugar - 3.2 oz, Lavender Lemon Sugar - 3.5 oz, Rose Sugar - 3.1 oz, Florida Sunshine Sugar - 2.5 oz. (gift box color may vary)
Spice Fun Fact: Aleppo peppers are named after the north Syrian city of Aleppo positioned along the Silk Road (a city which is famous for its chiles and love of eating).
Relax by the fire with a warm cup of our sophisticated Fireside Spice and Spiced Ruby Cider teas – the perfect cozy atmosphere for chilly days and nights.
The Mulling Mix Spice you know and love in a convenient 3-serving pouch! Classic blend for mulling cider (1 qt) or red wine (1 bottle). Recipe included on back of pouch for easy reference.
Add confetti cake sweetness with this savory sugar. Try on fresh fruit or yogurt at breakfast, as a cookie or dessert topper, or to rim your cocktail glass.
This unique blend of zesty lemon and aromatic lavender is a perfect swap for powdered sugar. Versatile as an ingredient or a finishing touch, use this natural, low-calorie sweetener in everything from lemonade to icing and from breakfast to baked goods.
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Rich cocoa and roasted chicory root lend this luxurious blend an uncanny, coffee-like character and an ultra-smooth foundation for balancing a dream team of medicinal mushrooms and adaptogenic botanicals.
Don't wait until summer to savor the bright flavor of sweet, ripe peaches – escape this winter with a familiar favorite! Back by popular demand, this mellow and gently sweet blend of organic black tea, marigold and safflower is kissed with juicy peach for a touch of fresh fruit flavor. While delicious hot, this tea really shines over ice – or as a great base for a cocktail, boba tea, or smoothie. Unapologetically refreshing, this tea is sure to take you to some place tropical.
This sampler provides the ultimate tea trio to support wellness from the inside out! Contents include: Chillax Chaga Chai Herbal Tea – 1 oz, Mocha Mushroom Herbal Tea – 1 oz, Ginger Turmeric Herbal Tea – 1 oz.
The ultimate combination of earth & water. This hand-harvested sea salt is fused with umami-rich porcini mushrooms, resulting in an artisanal finishing salt full of savory aroma and crunchy texture. Known as the most noble of all mushrooms, the porcini is revered for its complex, concentrated flavor. Sure to add depth to anything and everything, including meats, potatoes, vegetables, pastas, risottos, creamy sauces, soups – and may even become your new favorite popcorn topping.
Get ready to press the reset button! This Tea Cleanse contains 4 unique blends of organic teas, herbs, spices and botanicals carefully selected to help promote total body health from the inside out. Each delicious blend is specially formulated for a specific time of day to give you what you what you need when you need it. Enjoy all week long to support overall wellness and a healthy, balanced lifestyle.* All you need is hot water, your favorite mug and a high-five - for investing in YOU! Includes: 4 wellness-inspired teas (28 total tea sachets) and informational insert.
The perfect gift for any foodie! Experience three of our gourmet smoked salts, perfect for seasoning, grilling, finishing, or slow-roasting. Includes: 3.6 oz Alderwood Smoked Sea Salt, 2.2 oz Applewood Smoked Sea Salt, 2.3 oz Hickory Smoked Sea Salt
A refreshing treat after a long day! Cool mint and rich chocolate blend to create a sweet candy-flavored beverage, perfect for chocolate lovers.
Quick entertaining! This baked pizza dip is easy and oh-so-cheesy - guests will be begging for more! Enjoy rich cheeses matched with italian seasonings in a dish that resembles deconstructed pizza.
Complete seasoning kit and recipe card!
This versatile dip will have fans raving; especially with its "Signature" flavor! Serve with vegetables, crackers, or even as a topping for baked potatoes. It's the perfect game-changer and oh-so-easy recipe for any party occasion!
Exploding with decadent, whimsical flavors of rainbow confetti cake, this smooth white tea makes every day feel like a celebration.


text: MIAMI-DADE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS CONTINUES TRANSFORMATION WITH DISTRICT-WIDE ADOPTION OF DIGITAL RESOURCES AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Christina Scripps, Discovery firstname.lastname@example.com – Educators to Receive Extensive Professional Development Through New Digital Leader Network – MIAMI (December 11, 2013) – Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS), the fourth largest school system in the nation, has announced that it has taken another step in its digital transformation by ensuring all of its students have access to tools that will prepare them to succeed in the 21st century. Through an expanded partnership with Discovery Education, high-quality digital resources will now be provided in all classrooms throughout the district. To maximize the benefits of these resources, educators will receive customized professional development through the newly-created MDCPS Digital Leader Network, part of extensive infrastructure built to help facilitate the district's transition to a digital learning environment. MDCPS is currently involved in an ongoing, coordinated effort to transform teaching and learning in the district by providing dynamic and interactive learning opportunities to all students. As part of its continued digital conversion, the district has now expanded its partnership with Discovery Education, the country's leading provider of K-12 digital content, to provide all of its 348 schools with Discovery Education Streaming Plus, a collection of rich multimedia assets aligned to state academic and testing standards, as well as Discovery Education Science, a multimedia curriculum supplement for elementary and middle school science education. In addition, district educators will be provided extensive professional development preparing them for life inside a digital classroom. The winner of the 2012 Eli Broad Prize for Urban Education, MDCPS previously piloted these resources in a number of its Title I schools, which resulted in strong student engagement and dynamic learning experiences. Due in part to this success, the district was encouraged to expand its use of Discovery Education's digital services to all classrooms across the district. This partnership is part of the district's $63 million plan to give all of its students access to digital resources. For a successful implementation, Alberto Carvalho, MDCPS Superintendent and 2013 Florida Superintendent of the Year, placed priority on extensive professional development and quality digital content before investing in costly devices. "While many school districts across the country are leaping headfirst into the digital age by quickly purchasing expensive digital devices, MDCPS is executing a focused and thoughtful transformation plan that includes high-quality content, robust professional development and a strong infrastructure," Carvalho said. "In order to fully unlock these tools' potential, it's critical to implement these elements for success in transforming teaching and learning." Through the newly created MDCPS Digital Leader Network, educators across the district will be provided with comprehensive and transformative professional development sessions. An improvement model for professional learning that puts teachers at the forefront of the superintendent's vision for a district-wide digital transformation, the Digital Leader Network will invest in building educators' capacity, skills and impact in the classroom. The educators chosen to participate in the Digital Leader Network will receive collective, concerted and sustained professional learning to build their professional capital, including experimentation with various instructional strategies and tools, as well as day-long professional development events over a period of three years. Digital Leaders will also be empowered to share best practices in instructional innovation with their colleagues. "Discovery Education shares MDCPS' vision for how the combination of digital content and professional development can transform teaching and learning," said Coni Rechner, senior vice president, Discovery Education. "We look forward to continuing to support Superintendent Carvalho and his entire team as they continue their incredible work in Miami." For more information about the MDCPS digital conversion initiative, visit https://www.discoveryeducation.com//administrators/success-stories/miami-dade-county-public-schools-florida.cfm. For more information on Discovery Education Streaming Plus and other Discovery Education services and initiatives, visit www.discoveryeducation.com. About Miami-Dade County Public Schools Miami-Dade County Public Schools, America's fourth-largest school system with a diverse enrollment of 350,000 students from over 100 countries, offers innovative educational programs at its 435 schools, including elementary, middle, senior high schools and alternative, specialized and vocational centers. Students and their families have an active voice in choosing learning opportunities that foster academic excellence, school-to-career pathways and real-world learning. About Discovery Education Discovery Education is the global leader in standards-based digital content for K-12, transforming teaching and learning with award-winning digital textbooks, multimedia content that supports the implementation of Common Core, professional development, assessment tools, and the largest professional learning community of its kind. Available in over half of all U.S. schools, community colleges and in 50 countries around the world, Discovery Education partners with districts, states and like-minded organizations to captivate students, empower teachers, and transform classrooms with customized solutions that accelerate academic achievement. Discovery Education is powered by Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), the number one nonfiction media company in the world. Explore the future of education at www.discoveryeducation.com. # # #


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Monday, April 20, 2009
Slim Pickins
12 comments:
that yellow table is great! and your chair looks incredible!!ReplyDelete
the yellow table is a great find!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousApril 20, 2009 at 1:13 PM
Hi, I don't think I've commented before, but I enjoy looking at your site. Cuuutte chair! I have to know...where did you get that fabric?ReplyDelete
Beth reading44654 at yahoo dot com
Thanks--the fabric was from JoAnn's--the flat folds, leftover decorator fabric.ReplyDelete
I have to agree with you about Country Living doing more trash to treasure projects. I don't recall that they did many in the past.ReplyDelete
Love the prim yellow table!
I do love that prim table. Great finds for slim pickin's! ~MindyReplyDelete
Love that red stand, too!ReplyDelete
Now that is a great bunch of finds and totally worth the trip to the sales.ReplyDelete
Great chair project too.
I thought the same thing when I received my latest Country Living. Great finds!ReplyDelete
Cute...that table looks liek the antique one I got last summer...I just have a thangggg...for little tables and chairs. cherryReplyDelete
- AnonymousApril 21, 2009 at 5:49 PM
that chair turned out great. i've been wanting something like that. hope if i find one i can make it look that good.ReplyDelete
Oh that table is adorable! Are you going to leave it as is or will you do something else with it?ReplyDelete


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RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630 detailed [Video]
Sprint and Verizon may be keeping relatively quiet about the BlackBerry Tour 9630's functionality, but unsurprisingly RIM themselves are pretty keen to get the news out there about exactly what their new "world phone" can do. The smartphone is primarily intended to use CDMA EVDO Rev.A connectivity, but it also packs UMTS/HSPA 2100MHz support and quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE for use when abroad.
Elsewhere there's a 480 x 340 resolution display, 3.2-megapixel camera with autofocus and image stabilization, and 256MB of onboard storage with a microSD card to augment that. The Tour 9630 also has GPS with support for photo geotagging.
Video overview after the cut
BlackBerry Maps is pre-installed, and there's a mediaplayer with support for non-DRM iTunes synchronization. Bluetooth 2.0 including support for the A2DP stereo profile is there, plus a 3.5mm headphone socket, and there's obviously the full QWERTY keyboard and trackball. RIM rate the battery life as good for up to 5hrs talktime or 14 days standby.
No specific release dates for the smartphone, but Sprint have suggested it will come "later this summer" priced at $199.99.
Press Release:
RIM Introduces the BlackBerry Tour Smartphone
New 3G World Phone Keeps You Connected on High-Speed CDMA Networks in North America and UMTS/HSPA Networks Abroad
WATERLOO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – June 16, 2009) – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) today introduced the BlackBerry(R) Tour(TM) – a powerful new 3G BlackBerry(R) smartphone for CDMA customers in North America. The new BlackBerry Tour smartphone offers state-of-the-art communications and multimedia capabilities with outstanding mobile performance and consummate styling. It is a feature-packed and highly refined world phone that keeps you connected and lets you tour the world in style.
"BlackBerry continues to be the top selling smartphone brand in North America and we are proud to add this powerful new 3G world phone to our successful product portfolio," said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion. "With its striking design and exceptional performance, the new BlackBerry Tour will offer a compelling choice for the growing number of wireless customers looking to upgrade their existing cell phone to a smartphone."
The BlackBerry Tour smartphone allows customers to stay seamlessly connected – across town and around the world. It supports high-speed 3G EV-DO Rev. A networks in North America, as well as 3G UMTS/HSPA (2100Mhz) and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM networks abroad.
The BlackBerry Tour smartphone also provides the industry's leading mobile solution for email, messaging (IM, SMS, MMS) and social networking together with built-in GPS and advanced multimedia capabilities, enabling customers to make the most of both their personal and professional time.
The BlackBerry Tour features a chic black finish with chrome highlights surrounding its sleek design (112mm x 62mm x 14.2mm and 130g). It includes a large, highly tactile, full-QWERTY keyboard with chrome frets and finely sculpted keys for fast and precise typing. In addition, the large (2.44″), bright display (480 x 360 resolution at 245 ppi) delivers the highest resolution available on a BlackBerry smartphone, presenting pictures, web pages and videos with incredible clarity.
Other key features of the BlackBerry Tour smartphone include:
3.2 MP camera with flash, variable zoom, image stabilization, autofocus and video recording(i)
Full HTML web browser, including support for streaming audio and video (RTSP)
Advanced media player for videos, pictures and music, a 3.5 mm stereo headset jack and support for the Bluetooth(R) Stereo Audio Profile (A2DP/AVCRP)
256MB Flash memory
Expandable memory via hot swappable microSD/SDHC memory card slot, supporting cards of up to 16 GB today and expected to support next generation 32GB cards when available
Built-in GPS with support for geotagging, BlackBerry(R) Maps and other location based applications and services
BlackBerry(R) Media Sync allows customers to quickly and easily synch music from iTunes(R) and Windows Media Player with the smartphone(ii)
Premium phone features including voice activated dialing, enhanced background noise cancellation, a low-distortion speakerphone, and Bluetooth (2.0) support for hands-free use with headsets, car kits, stereo headsets and other Bluetooth peripherals
Preloaded DataViz(R) Documents to Go(R), allowing users to edit Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)(R) Word, Excel and PowerPoint files directly on the handset
Easy mobile access to Facebook(R), MySpace and Flickr(R), as well as popular instant messaging services including BlackBerry(R) Messenger, Yahoo!(R) IM, AIM(R), Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Talk and Windows Live Messenger(TM)
Support for BlackBerry App World(TM), featuring a broad and growing catalog of third-party mobile applications developed specifically for BlackBerry smartphones. Categories include travel, productivity, entertainment, games, social networking & sharing, news & weather, and more
BlackBerry(R) Internet Service allows access to up to 10 supported personal and corporate email accounts, including most popular ISP email accounts
BlackBerry(R) Enterprise Server provides advanced security and IT administration features within IBM(R) Lotus(R) Domino(R), Microsoft(R) Exchange and Novell(R) GroupWise(R) environments
Removable and rechargeable 1400 mAhr battery for 5 hours of talk time and 14 days of standby time
The BlackBerry Tour smartphone (model number: 9630) is expected to be available this summer from carriers in North America.
For more information visit www.blackberry.com/tour
[via CrackBerry]


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Friday, June 15, 2007
White Dinner party
Every year around mid June, a big open air white dinner party is organized somewhere in Paris. The funny part of it is that its location is kept secret until the very end. Participants are asked to go to a certain spot and wait. 15 minutes before the actual start they get an SMS or a phone call that tells them where to gather. As a sheer coincidence (ehem!), I happened to be passing by... This year it was around the Arc de Triumph on the place de l'Etoile - and it was quite impressive as you can see from these photos I took from the top of the Arch.
33 comments:
Hey, look at that! Everyone is wearing white! That is so refreshing, especially since everyone in Chicago is wearing black, even though it is 87 degress F today!!!!!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 15, 2007 at 1:54:00 AM GMT+2
Hello Eric from Sydney,Australia. My wife and myself are heading to Paris in September, and I have been scanning web sites for things to do and see whilst there. During my searches I came across your PDP site and have found your photo's and comments a real source of valuable info for our time there. I now have your PDP set as a favorite and can't wait to log in each morning to view the day's posting. Thanks.ReplyDelete
Very cool or should I say, very elegant!!! And they're all wearing white, too! So who are these lucky people being wined and dined by the Arc de Triomphe?ReplyDelete
how did these annual white dinner parties start? and why white? but this is so neat! :-DReplyDelete
I,too, have similar questions: who are the lucky participants, who organizes the party and determines the guest list, and what is the history behind it. I know I should have answered my phone!!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 15, 2007 at 4:57:00 AM GMT+2
Les "Dîners en Blanc" have been around for a while, I would say 15 years. Used to be much more of a adventure before SMS time, as it is crucial to spread the gathering point at the very last minute to avoid Parisian Police to prevent the event from taking place: gathering on public place is supposed to be forbidden in Paris.ReplyDelete
Used to be very posh. Eric, you tell us if it's still the case. Restricted to Happy Fews. Allfree event but on invitation only.
The concept was to bring along food for one + a chair (tables are provided). When everyone is ready, you sit down and then pass (not share, just give) the food you brought to your neigbour sit next to you.
It's very convivial. And good fun.
- AnonymousJune 15, 2007 at 6:54:00 AM GMT+2
Monsieur Eric, Extremely cool...as is your site, as are your photos. For any Francophile, this PDP is tres magnifique. (Sorry, I learned my French in Texas.) Merci and safe travels to the States. BTW ever come across any jazz clubs/events in Paris? Ahem. I do miss the city of lights. Ciao! (First time commenting)ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 15, 2007 at 9:36:00 AM GMT+2
Going back home last night at 00:15, I was so amazed to see this in l'Etoile !!!ReplyDelete
I'ts funny, I've immediately told my boyfriend ... "I don't have my camera, maybe it will on PDP tomorrow ?? Well I don't think so, it is really by chance that you can catch it !"
And that's what you did !! félicitations !
- AnonymousJune 15, 2007 at 10:18:00 AM GMT+2
What do they do with gate crashers???ReplyDelete
If you wore white would they know if you had been invited or not??? Not that I would even consider it.............!!
- AnonymousJune 15, 2007 at 11:21:00 AM GMT+2
what do you think about Sensation White Dance event? :D http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensation_%28event%29ReplyDelete
almost the same, no ? :D
En Australie, we have street parties, where the council gives permission for the street to be closed for the night.ReplyDelete
It's so nice to see the Fench adopting true Australian values !!!
Ehem Eric,are you sure you were coincidently? ;o) oh yes,I can understand as Arc de Triumph is one of the main tourist object in Paris ;o) like me always around place de l'Etoile in my 3 times visited :o)ReplyDelete
Please please guys (Eric & Beetle) "Arc de Triomphe" it's the only one in the whole world people know. As non french speaking, may I ask you to not turn it in English? If not, place de l'Etoile must turn in "Star's place" :-(ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 15, 2007 at 3:43:00 PM GMT+2
This is exactly why I wish I lived in Paris. This looks like a great gathering, on a beautiful day. Something about the French philosophy of life comes through too, I think. I like both the main image, with the white of the clouds echoing the white of the diners, and the visually rich image of bottles, the red in the food, and the white clothed diners in your other image.
Cheers, from Madison, Wisconsin
Oh I Have so many questions! If the location is secret til the end, is it like a secret society that takes part in these gatherings?ReplyDelete
Once they choose a place, they just show up there with tables and chairs and food and plates in the middle of the street? Is it allowed, I mean, can anyone do it in any public space in Paris?
Does each person bring their on food or what? Where does all the food come from so sudden?! This looks funny but quite intriguing... and I assume you belong to this group/secret society since it was no coincidence that you wee there too right!!!
Who do you have to be to get invited to these things?ReplyDelete
so chic, only in Paris I swear!ReplyDelete
so fun!ReplyDelete
if only someone would organise something like this in Singapore.
People do not wear white anymoreReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 15, 2007 at 11:51:00 PM GMT+2
looks fantstic- love the idea of this happening in my cityReplyDelete
I love this picture and I love the idea of this - sounds so fun! Eric, did you climb up all those stairs in l'Arc or did you take the elevator?? ;)ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 16, 2007 at 2:48:00 AM GMT+2
Fantastic! It looks like great fun. Who organizes the party?ReplyDelete
I'll answer your questions tomorrow, I just arrived in the States today and I'm kinda jet lagged to be honest...ReplyDelete
Oooh! How very interesting!:) I do wonder who gets invited to these dinners...hmmmm.ReplyDelete
BV thanks for that information.
What an interesting idea!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 16, 2007 at 5:52:00 PM GMT+2
How very lovely! 3 of my many favorite things...food, wine, and white...! :)ReplyDelete
I love it when you can take those photos that look like you are out in the countryside somewhere and then right there in the background is the flaming Arc de Triomphe, for crying out loud! Well spotted!ReplyDelete
Hey Eric, I happened to have passed by this scene the other day and I was wondering what it was all about. I actually thought it was a wedding or something. Wish I had run into you, peut-être une autre fois!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 17, 2007 at 3:18:00 PM GMT+2
HALO THIS IS Carré FROM HK:)ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJuly 2, 2007 at 11:09:00 PM GMT+2
Hi Eric,ReplyDelete
One day on our trip to Paris we went to see the Arc de Triumph and suddenly saw this interesting thing. There ware many people wearing white, from head to toe. It was amazing.
I have got same shots here: http://www.treklens.com/themes.php?thid=3013
- AnonymousJuly 6, 2007 at 9:09:00 PM GMT+2
Hello Eric et bonjour du Canada.ReplyDelete
My partner and I walked from the Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe on the 15th and watched the dinner from on top of the monument. How wonderful, in hindsight, to have seen an annual even. How lucky were we. We took some pictures too. It was amazing! I wish we had something like that in Vancouver...
Hi Eric...Nice pics of the white dinner party. I heard it was quite an event. A friendly parisian..I like that. Im planning to move to Paris soon but still feelin a little skeptical whether that is the right move. As a friendly parisian, whats your take on this?ReplyDelete
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.ReplyDelete


text: Superlift's Bulletproof KEVLAR reinforced braided stainless steel brake lines are constructed of a PTFE inner bladder surrounded by a KEVLAR reinforcing braid. They're covered with a rubber sheathing, stainless steel braid, and an outer plastic sheathing for unmatched strength and protection from foreign objects. They also feature a steel leader at the end to make sure the lines are routed away from any moving suspension components.


text:
Latest 6/42 lotto result July 5, 2018 (Updated at 9PM Thursday)
Previous 6/42 Lotto Draw Jackpot: __ Million Pesos (approx.)
Tonight's 6/42 Jackpot Prize: P10,034,668.00
This draw's jackpot winners: 0 Winner
Please see our 6/42 lotto result history for the preceding 30 draws.
PCSO 6/42 lotto result 7/5/2018 and Prizes:
|Numbers (in any order)
|6 nos. out of 6
|P6 Million
|5 nos. out of 6
|Max of 25,000.00 Peso
|4 nos. out of 6
|Max of 1,000.00 Pesos
|3 nos. out of 6
|Php 20.00
Note: Here are the latest 6/42 Jackpot and lotto results for July 5, 2018…
Important Notice: PCSO or its authorized lotto outlet might give you an amount different from the prizes enumerated above. Remember that PCSO uses a pari-mutuel payout system wherein prizes are shared equally among winners.
Once again, the latest 6/42 Lotto Result is as follows…
PCSO 6/42 lotto result 7/5/2018 (Thursday)
(Can come in any order)


text:
The following commentary covers Chapters 3 and 4.
and Abner: nature and its pretended rights
Alas! the history of this
period plunges us into the ways of man. It is no longer
merely David walking in the path of faith. It is Joab, a
clever, ambitious, bloody-minded, and heartless man. It
is Abner, a man morally superior to Joab, but who fights
on fleshly principles as a party man against the king
whom God has chosen. Abner is related to Ishbosheth as
Joab is to David. When his pride has been wounded, he
throws himself into David's interests, and Joab kills him
as much from jealousy as to avenge his brother's death.
And wherein is the prowess and valour of the chiefs of
Benjamin and Judah now manifested in this "field of
strong men"? In slaying each other. The Philistines
were forgotten. But the family of Saul were entirely in
the wrong. It was nature which, with its pretended rights,
would not submit to God and to His will.
As David now begins to do,
so will Christ, the King of Judah, bring all around into
subjection to Himself after He has taken the throne.
It is well however to
observe, that David does not appear in all this. Joab is
the actor; and it appears to me, from the details given,
that evil had already begun. I do not see that David had
sought counsel of Jehovah; and Joab had certainly not
done so, for he was nothing more than an ungodly man, who
understood that it was more prudent to honour God, and
not to depart too far from Him merely to gratify one's
passions; but this did not preserve him from being at
length ensnared in his own calculations. And, after all,
it is not the energy of Joab which puts the kingdom into
David's hands but the wounded pride of Abner, the chief
of Ishbosheth's party, who ends by reaping from men that
which he had sown. But all this is very sad.
David generally
typifies Christ: historically he exhibits the weakness of
By providential means God
accomplishes His purposes, and David is successful.
Generally also, in his combats at this period, and in his
exaltation, he typifies the Lord Jesus. And I doubt not
that the establishment of Christ's kingdom will be
accomplished in detail after His appearing; the
prophecies of Zechariah and Micah 5 prove this; but, as a
history, we are, as I have said, in the midst of men. In
the matter of Ishbosheth's death David maintains his
integrity; and with respect to Abner's assassination he
manifests the sentiments which become a man of God.
Nevertheless chapter 3: 39 exhibits the weakness of man
as the instrument of God's government. David appeals to
the God of judgment.
The election of one in
whom God's counsels are accomplished must necessarily
take place before his establishment in the place which
Jehovah had appointed. It is still more evident that this
election precedes the rest of the chosen one, and this is
true as to Christ Himself; only He came down into it in


text:
Nail art and polish blog - freehand nail art and swatches! Neglelak blog, frihånds neglekunst og neglelak swatches!
lørdag den 23. juni 2012
P2 HonoluluJuicer swatches with flowers
25 kommentarer:
I agree with you I'm not too crazy about the color ..the flowers cute as usualSvarSletSvar
I think it's a hate or love polish LOL - and thank you Polish AMOR :)Slet
I like the colours I think they look great together. Very cute as usual. Have a great weekend :)SvarSletSvar
Thank you so much - and I hope you have a great weekend too Beautyshades!Slet
Its an unsual colour, I wouldn't say I didn;t like it though... maybe just limit my use :) . The flowers are great! Its got a bit of a late 80's deco feel to it. I like how it pulled together!SvarSletSvar
It is very unusual, that's why I bought it, and it can be used for effects as well, but I doubt I'll wear it much. Thank you so much Karen!Slet
now seriously, can you do anything wrong ;-DSvarSletSvar
LOL, oh yes, believe me I can - but thank you for the faith in me nail crazy :)Slet
Not anywhere close to a "semi-fail" from what I see- it looks lovely! And I actually like the base colour.SvarSletSvar
LOL thank you The Lacquer Tracker - I guess that colors is either a hate or love one :)Slet
So beautiful, I love flowery manis! :)SvarSletSvar
Thank you so much Sandra!!Slet
honolulu juicer is my moms favorite shade :) i love the flowers <3 very pretty manicure Maria! :) Hugs*SvarSletSvar
Åh hvor var det sødt sagt Christina, tusind tak!!SvarSlet
Oh this is so cute! I don't think I'll ever get tired of your flowers :)SvarSletSvar
Thank you so much, what a sweet thing to say, drinkcitra!Slet
I'm not an orange lover but your flowers always get me smiling Maria x :-)SvarSletSvar
Aww, thank you CharlieDBeauty :)Slet
This is so pretty! I love that orange!SvarSletSvar
Thank you so much Fingers :)Slet
- Svar
Thank you so much Polish and Charms :)Slet
Thank you Jennius!SvarSlet
Please do NOT link spam! Comments with links will very likely be removed. If you want me to look at your blog, send me an email!


text:
From the late 1800s, we introduced the discipline of science to brewing, as part of our quest to make the best beer possible. Michael Ash; a mathematician turned brewer who joined Guinness in 1951, helped develop a fresh approach to our craft.
"I don't think anyone has called me a genius…an achiever is what I like"Michael Ash (1927 – 2016)
Throughout the 1950s, he became fascinated by the idea of serving Guinness in draught format and was convinced that adding nitrogen to the beer was not only the most effective way to do this, but also that it would transform the actual beer itself.
Ash's 'Easy Serve' system created the 'surge and settle' effect that draught Guinness is now famous for, and with it, the world's first nitro beer.
The world's first nitro beer
The world's first nitro beer
"Michael Ash was a great brewer with the mind of a true innovator."Mark Sandys, Global Head of Beer and Baileys
"Michael Ash was a great brewer with the mind of a true innovator. His vision to create a nitrogenated Guinness beer revolutionized how Guinness is enjoyed around the world today. His innovative spirit and legacy live on in every pint of Guinness." - Mark Sandys, Global Head of Beer and Baileys


text:
CAMBRIDGE — In his novel "The House of Seven Gables," Nathaniel Hawthorne made a daguerreotypist the embodiment of the modern age. It was a sensible choice for 1851. Daguerreotypes, the first type of photograph, had been invented a scant dozen years before. They were as modern as modern could be, right down to the shininess of the silver-plated copper on which the image was exposed. Knowledge of that up-to-the-minute past makes the way daguerreotypes now look — as antique as an antimacassar covering a corset draped across a spittoon — all the more affecting as an evocation of time's passage. Every photographic image is about the past. A daguerreotype doesn't just state that pastness. A daguerreotype proclaims it.
Daguerreotypes originated in France, named for their inventor, Louis Daguerre. Yet as "Daguerre's American Legacy: Photographic Portraits (1840-1900) From the Wm. B. Becker Collection" amply demonstrates, the United States very quickly made them its own. The show runs at the MIT Museum through Jan. 4.
The daguerreotype process was never patented. This insured that it soon spread to other countries. Then, as now, proprietary technology is its own speed bump. Two factors especially suited the daguerreotype to the United States (first introduced here in 1840). Where once portraits had been restricted to the rich and aristocratic, the daguerreotype made them available to anyone who could afford the relatively small expense. The daguerreotype represented a democratization of culture. What could be more American than that? Second, the greater degree of affluence in the United States meant that much of the population could pay for a sitting — or several. Within a decade, there were thousands of daguerreotypists in the United States. By 1853, they were taking 3 million daguerreotypes a year.
The prevalence of daguerreotypes in US households made them no less prized by owners. So many of the daguerreotypes in "Daguerre's American Legacy" are housed in handsome metal cases, with velvet-lined interiors, and elegantly curved mattes or borders. They're displayed like Victorian reliquaries, with every man a saint and and every family holy. Their small scale makes them seem all the more precious. Daguerreotypes, being irreproducible, can't be blown up in size as images produced by other photographic processes can. That scale also imparts a sense of intimacy that makes the images all the more affecting.
There are more than 250 items in the show. Besides daguerrotypes, there are tintypes (a close photographic cousin), ambrotypes, and albumen prints (both of them products of slightly later processes). The show includes related items: cameras, lenses, handbills, even a storage box. One gets a sense of cultural context, of how large early photography loomed in the lives of average Americans.
Average is an important word, as is anonymous. Don't expect to find presidents and senators and men of letters in "Daguerre's American Legacy." The vast preponderance of sitters are unknown — another aspect of democratization. Who was the Lincolnesque-looking individual identified as "Close-up of a Man With Piercing Eyes"? We don't know, other than that he certainly wasn't Lincoln. Nor does th is anonymity matter. With the help of Daguerre's process these sitters have done something that only the most famous have done, defeat time.
The photographers are mostly anonymous, too, though not always. There are examples in the show of work from Boston's Southworth & Hawes, perhaps the most artistically distinguished of pre-Civil War American photographers, and the studio of Mathew Brady. But otherwise what we see is the product of a visual climate, and all the more valuable for that fact. The formal limitations of the daguerrotype make the variety of content on display here all the more striking — and valuable. To call "Daguerre's American Legacy" a visual census would be far too sweeping, but not altogether inaccurate. The show gives a sense of just how large and how varied an increasingly large and varied country was becoming.
There are also moments when the images can seem nearly as modern now as they once did then. The subject of Geo. H. Dresser's albumen print "Native American With Blonde Baby" is just what it says it is. What the title doesn't express is how effortlessly the smile on the woman's face subverts any idea that America isn't or can't or shouldn't be multicultural. As for the tintype "Sit!" (the title being a canine-directed command), it suggests that William Wegman's great-grandfather knew how to operate a camera. Either that, or people who believe in reincarnation aren't barking up the wrong tree.
Mark Feeney can be reached at mfeeney


text:
A PathDoug Lawler
Printmaking on Paper New
Ready to frame
Signed on front
10" h x 8" w |0 lbs. 2 oz.
Told in 100 dry point etchings.
It's difficult to describe in words a story without words, but I'll try. This is a fable I wrote (drew) about a mythical island, a girl with magical powers, a dog who loses friends and a place with magic in the air. The story will be told mostly in soft sepia images. The etchings are in a limited edition of 75 numbered prints. This piece is on paper and will require a frame for display.
Doug Lawler
Oakland, California
Self-taught artist Doug Lawler has been creating since he was a child in Detroit, Michigan. His career as an artist has led him to some interesting places including Hawaii and eventually the Bay Area. "The allure of the 60s brought me to the San Francisco Bay Area," says Doug. It was at this time he founded a printmaking collective in Berkeley where he designed and printed social justice leaflets and posters. Doug's current body of work utilizes his printmaking background to present a whimsical and mysterious narrative. Ttitled "The Island of ZA: A Fable Without Words," the series tells the story of a mythical island in roughly 100 dry-point etchings. Doug's protagonists are a young girl and a dog who are on a journey steeped in magical encounters. Brimming with fantasy and delightful naivety, the artworks evoke childlike curiosity in viewers of all ages.
Here's more work from Doug you may enjoy
Hear what collectors say about Doug's work
Hi Doug - we received the 4 prints, thank you so much! we love them
Thank you I really enjoyed the workshop too. its acually fun to teach I learn a lot I have new work all the time on my website hope to see you soon Doug
Mike sorry for the delay in responding I was away I'm honored that you like my work. That particular piece was a fun one for me. it went thru alot of revisions until I got it right thanks again Doug
Thanks for your workshop at Petroglyphe Gallery. Loved working with you and looking forward to next one. Love my print of Dinnertime. Can't wait to see your next pieces.
Just received "Mass Surrender." What a great piece! Your style is unique and distinctive. Thanks for your art. I'll be back.
d Thiel thanks for your kind words. Every artist loves to hear words of encouragement I'll be posting some new things soon thanks again Doug
Hello! I have Dog at Sunset and Big Dog hanging at home but find I am sorry to have missed "Girl with dog"!! Love it!!!
Im glad you like my work! thank you for your kind words Hope to here from you again Doug
I love your work! When I am able, I definitely want to buy one of your pieces.
Come see some of my dry point etchings! Show runs the month of May (Opening reception Friday, May 2). City Art Gallery, 828 Valencia, San Francisco.
Hello Doug, I just purchased your fancy lady for my sister in law's 50th birthday, and wanted to have your description with it, when i went back to copy it, it is no longer available, could you possible email me with it at email@example.com i love your work!
People often ask me about how to display my Oil Pastels on Paper. I like using non-glare glass and a simple spacer to separate the artwork from the glass. Floating the piece in a simple frame allows the art to jump out at you!
Just received "Mass Surrender." What a great piece! Your style is unique and distinctive. Thanks for your art. I'll be back.- Mike T.


text:
We're guessing Harvard won't make a habit of honoring dropouts, but the school made an exception Thursday for Matt Damon.
The actor, who has somehow managed to do all right without ever graduating from the World's Greatest University — he attended from 1988-1992 — was presented with the 2013 Harvard Arts Medal during a ceremony at Sanders Theater.
The Cambridge-bred star of more than three dozen films, including "Good Will Hunting," the blockbuster "Bourne" franchise, and the forthcoming Liberace biopic "Behind the Candelabra," was described by Harvard president Drew Faust as "an everyman who is exceptional."
In accepting the award, Damon talked about the Boston Marathon bombings. Like everyone else, Damon said, he's "still in shock and wondering what it all means." He said he was stunned to learn that 19-year-old bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is a graduate of Cambridge Rindge & Latin, where Damon went to high school.
Damon quoted actor Mark Wahlberg, who had described the bomb blasts as "[expletive] disgusting." Said Damon: "That's a perfect description for what we all felt viscerally."
Thursday's event was the kickoff of Arts First, Harvard's annual festival showcasing students involved in the arts. Previous recipients of the Harvard Arts Medal include visual artist Catherine Lord, saxophonist Joshua Redman, composer John Adams, poets John Ashbery and Maxine Kumin, and Pete Seeger and Bonnie Raitt, both of whom attended Harvard, but like Damon did not graduate.
Earlier, Damon, looking well-scrubbed in a blue suit and white shirt, had an entertaining sitdown with fellow actor — and actual Harvard grad — John Lithgow. Damon was relaxed and without pretense as he talked about his enormous success — and occasional failure.
In the latter category, he placed "Promised Land," which he co-wrote with John Krasinski. Damon said he thinks it's a terrific film, an opinion not shared by many critics.
"It's like a gut punch when it doesn't connect with the audience," he said. "But life goes on. One of those [movies] doesn't mean the end of my career."
Aside from his parents, whom he said nurtured his desire — declared at the age of 13 — to be a professional actor, Damon said his success is thanks to the encouragement of his high school acting teacher Gerry Speca and celebrated Boston theater director David Wheeler.
Damon also talked about his work with Water.org, the nonprofit he cofounded to provide clean water in hundreds of communities in Africa, South Asia, and Central America.
Looking out at the college students filling Sanders Theatre, Damon made one request. "Please hold onto your humanity as you go out into the world."


text:
I read an essay last week that was written in 2009. It's called Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule written by Paul Graham and it's my new battle cry. All creatives need to read this. All people who work with creatives need to read this. Everyone. Read this.
Basically, the author talks about the difference between Makers (creatives, but in his case he's talking about programmers ) and Bosses (or anyone who works in hourly increments) and focuses on how meetings cost creatives more because it's an interruption in their flow. I'd like to go further than just meetings–anything that is an outward demand for attention can cost a creative more when they are in the midst of their work…
"For someone on the maker's schedule, having a meeting is like throwing an exception. It doesn't merely cause you to switch from one task to another; it changes the mode in which you work."
I read it a few times, told my sister about it, then had Chad read it so that he could finally understand why when I'm deep in my work, a normal interruption like a scheduled meeting or a phone call can put me in a funk and ruin me. Even something as small as a text message buzzing through on vibrate (that's my fault because that means I accidentally have my phone close by and I don't have the discipline not to read it right then) but if it happens it messes with me because it stops the flow of creativity.
I took the week off last week, something I had to make happen especially after my book release at the end of April. Since I didn't have the money to go on a beach vacation, I allowed myself to do whatever I wanted for the entire week. I pictured myself at the movies every day, eating chocolate ice cream for every meal. That's not what I ended up wanting to do.
I didn't crack my email open for a full seven days. I think that's a record for me for at least SEVEN years. I had one urgent thing pop up and guess what, they found me anyway! I LOVED my staycation, I read parts of 8 or 10 different books, took 3 naps on three different days, listened to podcasts, took a ton of notes, went thrifting/antiquing three times, once alone, once with my mom and once with Chad.
I made dinner most nights because I wanted to–the other nights Chad cooked or we went out, only washed my hair once and even got up at 4:39 one morning.
I had the urge to work on blog stuff and future planning for Nesting Place and I let myself do that because this staycation was about only doing things that were life-giving to me. And this online space is life-giving in so many ways.
My biggest take away, was that I realized how much I LOVE my work. I worked here at Nesting Place for a few years without any income, and if it all stopped, I'd keep doing this (only I wouldn't be able to devote as much time because I'd be selling furniture or flowers or baking cookies on the side to help with our income).
I also realized how much I've allowed some parts of this online world to interrupt my days, boss me around, and steal my joy and creativity. Email is the biggest culprit but there are others–usually the other come about via email. I get a lot of email but it's still my problem to deal with and I'm the kind of person who hates having a list of things unchecked or something big looming in my inbox so in the past my default has been to check it many times a day so I can respond and get it off my list. BAD IDEA. I have to stop that.
My addiction to checking email has caused me to be less creative, I'm 100% sure of it.
Here's what Tim Ferris says about just checking your inbox real quick :
"I know from experience that any problem found in the inbox will linger on the brain for hours or days after you shut-down the computer, rendering "free time" useless with preoccupation. It's the worst of states, where you experience neither relaxation nor productivity. Be focused on work or focused on something else, never in-between."
I thought a lot about my work and my personality and here's what I considered, it's a truthful list of what is and isn't life-giving for me right now, it doesn't mean I'm only doing the good and not doing the bad, it's a tool to help me work smarter…
Parts of my work that are life-giving:
- creative planning (funnest thing ever!)
- writing posts when I feel I have something worth saying (I've learned not to hit publish unless it's worth someone spending their time to read, I really don't ever want to waste my time or yours)
- thinking about future gatherings here at the barn (ahhhh!! I cannot wait!)
- considering blog mentoring and what that means (this makes me nervous in a good way)
- instagram (my favorite social media!)
- making dinner (unless it's 4:30 and our fridge is empty)
- waking up at 4:40 and writing (yes I am an insane person)
- cleaning my house (on my own terms, again with the insanity)
- doing projects in our home (duh)
- learning more about business, blogging, mentoring, creativity, intentionality (I love reading books and blogs and learning from smart people, I consider it part of my job, to keep learning how to do this well)
Parts of my work that are dreaded, burdensome, and creativity killers:
- EMAIL (satan)
- facebook (spawn of satan)
- texting (I know, I'm a crazy person, I have no idea what is wrong with me)
- phone messages (I solved that long ago and keep my inbox full so that I don't have a bunch of to-dos in my messages any more, guess what, no one has died, people who know me and really need me, text me)
- scheduling phone & TV interviews for my book (or over the past 18 months just any assignment that would pop up that needed to be done, make a webpage, a video, write a bio, back cover, edit stuff, write the book :)–it's all great stuff and comes with the territory–which is great, I have a book! I just didn't realize what it would cost me as a creative. I don't mind the work itself it's the planning, anticipating and wrecking up of my day as a MAKER that cause these extra things to take over. My day is almost shot when I have to do this stuff and FINALLY I understand why after reading this article.
I'm not saying Makers should never take part in the things that are the creativity killers for them, that's impossible. We have to do them intentionally.
If my MAIN work is as a Maker — a content creator, a DIYer, a planner, creative, deep thinker, observer, learner, slow living wife, mom, sister, friend and creative home blogger I have no choice but to protect myself as much as possible from the creativity killers. Otherwise I'll do every interview, promptly answer all my emails every day forever, and never have another blog post or painted wall or fantastic idea again in my life. Is that what I want?
It's becoming clearer every day that the price I pay for trying to attend to even just all the good things is my joy and creativity. Everything cannot be done. Or addressed. Or even acknowledged. This is a new thing from me as a person. It's crept up slowly but now it slapped me in the face.
And more and more of us are feeling that way.
Just being a part of this wonderful online world can lead to lots of distraction.
And SO many good and wonderful things.
Too many for any one person.
We have to choose.
I've learned that I am the ONLY person who will protect my own creativity and livelihood. I am the only one who will protect this community at Nesting Place. I will fiercely watch over this place and I'm sure I'll do it all wrong sometime but this space is worth it. The very thing that makes me so good at my job is the very thing that makes me a weirdo in the real world. My apologies to all humans that have to deal with me for anything other than finding encouragement in your home, because that's my one sweet spot. I'm the worst at the rest of this stuff. I'm trying to learn balance and be true to myself and my giftings.
I'm learning what it means to be intentional with both my life-givers and creativity-killers. I don't have a lot of answers but I no longer see the personality and scheduling ability of a Maker as a weakness.
Here's to the saying of the NO from Makers everywhere in order to protect our art.
May you do so boldly.


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If I started over …
Joel Garfinkle's response to, "If I started over, knowing what I know today," took a surprising turn. He said, I would…
"Realize I can't do it alone."
I expected Joel to explain a group of personal advisers and mentors. After all, many of us act independently far too long.
Instead, Joel described an advisory group consisting of peers who gather to, "build community and share knowledge."
"I'd create or join an advisory group of thought leaders. As peers we would come together to:
- Share best practices.
- Help meet challenges.
- Be there for one another.
Joel went on to say that key success factors for members of his thought leader group include:
- Trust.
- Confidentiality.
- Generosity.
- Transparency.
Secondly, If I started over, knowing what I know today, I would …
"Leverage the raving advocates."
Joel Garfinkle
Raving advocates are people who have been most impacted by my work (clients, readers, seminar audiences and business leaders).
Joel continued, "I was slow to recognize their appreciation of my work. I would never ask them to share my work with others."
But now:
Today, I ask them to make connections to opportunities that I would never have been exposed to in the past. As advocates, they value and believe in what I do. By asking them to share my work with others, I'm making them feel valued and providing them with a greater opportunity to make a difference.
Joel on Leadership Freak:
May Boss is an Insecure Jerk – Do Over
How Leaders Shoot Themselves in the Foot
How to Brag without being a Braggart
Joel's book: Getting Ahead (Highly Recommended)
How might you ask people most impacted by your work to connect you with opportunity? (Colleagues, clients, vendors)
How would you invite a group of peer-advisors to begin gathering to build community and share knowledge?


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Boxer Orlando Cruz Comes Out: "I'm Gay" – SHOCKING BOXING NEWS
WBO #4 featherweight Orlando Cruz (18-2-1, 9 KOs), former Olympian has announced today that he "is a proud gay man." Cruz is the first openly gay man in boxing history. "I've been fighting for more than 24 years and as I continue my ascendant career, I want to be true to myself," said Cruz. "I want to try to be the best role model I can be for kids who might look into boxing as a sport and a professional career. I have and will always be a proud Puerto Rican. I have always been and always will be a proud gay man."
Cruz began boxing at the age of 7 and posted an amateur career record of 178-11. He won 7 Puerto Rico National Title's and spent 4 years on The Puerto Rican National Team. Cruz won 7 Gold Medals, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze in various international tournaments. His amateur career culminated as a representative of the 2000 Olympic Team in Sydney, Australia. 2000 Olympic teammates included former world champions Miguel Cotto and Ivan Calderon.
Cruz made his professional debut on December 15, 2000 and won his first world title on March 22, 2008 (vacant IBA Featherweight Title) and a regional title on October 14, 2011 (WBO Latino Featherweight title). His next fight is scheduled for October 19 at the Kissimmee Civic Center in Kissimmee, Florida in which he will defend his WBO NABO title against Jorge Pazos. A win against Pazos should position Cruz for a world title shot. Orlando Cruz is sitting down with Telemundo's Jessi Losada in an exclusive tell-all that will air next week.
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I hope you have a good weekend!
8. H&M Dress (Already worn here!)
I hope you have a good weekend!
Amazing pieces! The Topshop jumper is so cute!
🙂 x
Love the Zara shoes. Need.
Hey I love your shoes and the dress, I cant wait to see the next YouTube video.
I love everything! The photo's came out amazing, I definitely need to purchase a Canon 600D asap! I love the H&M dress and Zara shoes the most – too beauts!
Keep it up Shirley, huge inspo!
Great items!
I'm interior designer, photomodel, dancer, performer. Check out my new fashion blog http://letucc.blogspot.de/ Great and big things are coming!
That H&M dress looks stunning, so sophisticated! I have been loving white just lately too, it doesn't quite fit the recent weather though haha xx
Gorgeous pieces! Love the simplicity of that clutch, and the ZARA flats as well 🙂
xo, coco | MILLENNIELLE.COM
absolutely in love with the flats <3
Love the nude colours . And that white dress.
The H&M dress is gorgeous! Love all your new pieces 🙂
wow, h&m has really stepped their game up!
that dress is gorgeous!
great finds!
I like the joggers.
i love your style!its simple, neat, chic…<3
That white dress is stunning, can't wait to see you style it!
Your room is gorgeous Shirley! I love it! It´s so clean and sophisticated! Great photos!
I love that pink sweater!
Love! The dress is fabulous! I can't wait to see your haul.
Really love your style Shirley! That Topshop top is so pretty!! Love everything!
Great finds
Seriously how do you take such beautiful photos!? Besides that great haul. Classic and beautiful pieces. I can't wait to see how you style them. Your style is bomb-diggitty! lol 🙂
The shoes are just gorgeous! Definitely going to buy them 🙂
Great shoes!!
xx Elisa – My Fantabulous World
gorgeous stuff. love the white dress, the jumper and the Zara shoes. xx
I love all of these items!
Love the pictures. Great purchases <3
that sweaater…. those nude shoes….*drooling*
I love your hauls! Your photography is gorgeous, i'd love to see how your blogging tips! Also those shoes are to die for! chic as ever xx
I don't know where to start, these pieces are all gorgeous! Love the white clutch and dress and the zara heels are amazing!
amazing dress:)
So simple, elegant, feminine 🙂 Great 🙂
Wow LWD … Little White Dress … smh … its gorg
Such pretty items, I love the softness of these colours, they're delicate and feminine.
Elizabeth x | http://www.candyflosscurlscupcakesandcouture.com
My comments seem to get lost, let's try this again because that LWD Little White Dress … smh .. it's gorg! H&M? I think they put out special things for you, loool.
That white dress looks amazing 🙂
Pretty set up <3
I really admire the composition in your photos. So nice! Looking forward to the haul video!
Gahd. I want to illegally download all these items from your new in post <3333
Jen of Style & Daydreams. ♥
Such beautiful, soft items. And blooming lovely photography as always.
Please, please check out my latest video. I've recently started making Youtube videos and would love for you to have a peek. x
Beautiful pieces Shirley! Love your sunglasses and the Zara nudes are FAB! X
Love this so much had to show my friend this outfit she was in love too! love the pastel colours! really really nice! 🙂
Everything here is really gorgeous and I love the way you have photographed it. Those Zara shoes are definitely my favourite, I'm going to have to keep my eye open for those! xx
I love the H&M dress <3
The crop top and the white clutch are to die for !
Is this dress in current season….checked the website no sign of it!…
am in love with those zara shoes http://yvespink.blogspot.com
Love the H&M dress! 🙂
Loving that cropped sweater. Too bad when it gets warm in the South (US) even this is too hot, haha!
xo, Manda
Which camera do you use? You're pictures look perfect <3
Everything looks gorgeous, Shirley! x
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Spent 10 years de-mystifying the Independent Metal Industry.Get straight answers on any Earache-related topic without the bullshit.Guaranteed 100% rumour-free. All the news is on Insta & twitter now @earacherecords
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Earache Metalizer Spotify app- how did it come about?
From: Matt Cavendish
Answer: Thanks for the question Matt, the launch of our Earache Metalizer Spotify app was one of the reasons this blog lay kinda dormant for 6 months- it was mostly created in-house and took a ton of our staffers time and energy to build and launch this thing, so it's very reassuring that fans are enjoying it.
On its launch on 22 Jan 2013 it quickly became a Top 10 app on the platform, and something like 200,000 unique playlists were created serving up 10 Million tracks of metal in the first 2 weeks. However, the story of the apps concept and creation began a whole year beforehand in Jan 2012- see early sketch of design up top.
The app was borne out of our frustration at the early spate of 'fixed playlist by a trusted source' type of apps on the platform, and also my annoyance that Metal was under-represented in the early app listings. Our intention from the outset was build a type of "meta-curation" where the user is empowered enough to curate their own playlist(s) - using sliders like a mixing desk at a concert/ studio. Our intention was to help navigate fans through the maze of metal's most common sub-genres, many of which remain mysterious if not even somewhat ludicrous to the general 'Rock fan'.
To our surprise so many Metal bands have a Rapper or Dance artiste with the same name, which is annoying. Key to the app was weeding out such duplicates, as Spotify simply serves up the songs by the most popular candidates, regardless of what type of act you're actually searching for. Our own act Painkiller (a jazz-grind band) appears alongside the Psy-Trance act Painkiller on Spotify for instance, its confusing for the unwary. See pic.
If you crave more technical details here's Earache's Ashley Mortimer in-depth take on the process:
"Once we'd brainstormed the concept of a spotify app with "reactive" settings to generate on-the-fly playlists as opposed to the rather dull "curated" playlist apps we'd been examining, we had to crack the data problems of categorising all the metal music on Spotify and then generating playlists spiced up with elements of randomness to keep them fresh and fun. Since Spotify doesn't have accurate or API-accessible genre metadata we chose to build our own database and admin system to categorise Spotify's catalogue into the sub genres of metal and created intuitive systems to capture and express efficiently the Earache crew's extensive knowledge of metal bands. Each time the metalise button is pressed the app generates calls to these databases and runs scripts to select, collate and return a suggested playlist to Spotify which then makes further decisions about content availability and rights issues etc. The real challenge of the back-end part of the app was the ability to capture human knowledge interactively and utilise it creatively on a broader basis and then implement it by breaking out of Spotify's design environment (html5 only) to utilise interactive stuff like php, mysql, JSON etc. Actually one of the hardest parts was to introduce the randomness in such a way that it didn't look contrived, ultimately the longevity of the app rests on its ability to serve up unique playlists with genre choices that are plausible given a user's settings."
In September 2012 we hired website/app creators Retro-fuzz in Manchester who helped design and refine the look and feel before finally approaching Spotify with a working mock-up of the app. Retrofuzz also helpfully advised our UK label manager Dan Tobin on how to make the official pitch. By a remarkable co-incidence the graphic designer was Mark Lyons who had recorded 2 albums for Earache with his band Beecher. Small world. The first submission was not approved as Spotify wanted to see some changes to the functionality to improve the UX (User Experience) through the UI (User Interface).
We also took the opportunity to make some tweaks of our own to improve the app in the final months - Earache staffer Richard Vale undertook this task, and also spotted a potential bug which might have prevented sharing. During this period several more submissions were not approved, as the process of sharing user generated playlists - via twitter/Facebook etc - came under close scrutiny by Spotify and ourselves.
One of the last parts of the process - the actual Earache METALIZER logo - was created by Earache staffer Mark Leary (see pic.)
The app won approval status on January 11th 2013 so Spotify quickly set a release date for Tuesday 22 January 2013 because apparently some other metal oriented apps were due out on that date, and to maximise the impact intended them all released at once.
As it happened the Century Media and Metal Hammer apps were delayed a couple of weeks, leaving the Earache Metalizer as the sole release that date, we were the very first Metal app on Spotify.
Thanks to all the fans who tried it out, we love hearing your feedback. Rest assured the app is a work in progress- we're keeping it up to date adding new and exciting Metal bands -only good ones mind- the minute they hit the platform. We are also tweaking the playlist generator code to keep things fresh and interesting for regular users too.
Our aim is simple- to encourage fans to log onto Spotify, get the Earache METALIZER and play more metal!!
PS- The commenter below wonders about the economic aspect of the METALIZER app. Being free to use and Earache being known as a financially astute Indie label, whats the story, how can a free app which mostly plays other people's music make any money? Its a valid point.
The answer is that it was a leap of faith, and we treated it as a branding exercise to promote the Earache label name on Spotify. We kinda hoped it would also increase the playlisting and streaming of our own catalog... and luckily as the sales income came in for the first two months after the app launch- were had a pleasant surprise- our Spotify income went up an incredible 25%!! Result!!
We don't have access to other metal labels incomes but I fairly sure they will have seen increased income too.
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Eira was retrofitted with additional silencer to the exhaust line of one of its auxiliary engines last month. The aim of the retrofit was to [...]
Lintulahdenkuja 10
tel +358 9 5211
ESL Shipping is the leading shipping company transporting dry bulk cargo in the Baltic Sea. It secures raw material transportation for the industry and energy production around the year, even under difficult weather conditions. Its key customer segments include the steel, energy and mining industries.


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Developers of the VLC media player have released a new version that takes care of several bugs and adds other improvements.
The latest version is now 1.1.3, which repairs a memory corruption problem in the TagLib plug-in that is rated as "critical" and affected VLC versions 0.9.0 through 1.1.2.
The vulnerability could be exploited by an attacker to crash the application or execute arbitrary code by tricking a user into opening a malware-laden media file, according to an advisory from Vupen Security.
VideoLan, which is a group of developers who created VLC, characterized the latest release as minor. Other changes include updated translations for Dutch, Sinhala, Hebrew, Estonian and Spanish.
The VLC media player is part of the VideoLAN project, which was started as a student project at the French École Centrale Paris, and now developers from 20 countries contribute to it, according to its Web site.
The player is free, and it is released under the GNU General Public License. It can handle video files in MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, MP3, and OGG formats, among others, and play DVDs.
VLC can also be used as a streaming media server for a variety of platforms. VLC has been downloaded up to 176 million times, according to the project's Web site.


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Pokemon Let's Go Eevee! (Nintendo)
Pokémon is one of the world's most popular brands, which is one of the best signs that Pokemon Let's Go Eevee. is an exciting game.
Join Eevee on an adventure through the Kanto region and experience a whole new world. Not only can you expect hours upon hours of excitement from this game, but you can also become a top Pokémon Trainer if you work hard enough. The road isn't going to be easy as there will be other trainers looking to rain down on your thunder.
All the familiar Pokémon, as well as some new faces, await you on this exciting journey through Kanto. Besides the fun game mechanics, you can get in on the action as long as you're using a joy-con controller or a Pokeball Plus accessory.
This accessory won't only make your gaming that much better – it will be completely transformative. This Pokeball vibrates, lights up, and even makes sounds to immerse you in the game.
This is the fully reimagined Pokémon Yellow game so that you can bring a little piece of your childhood into your adulthood. The Switch has a fantastic selection of video games you can choose from, but none are quite like the classics.
All the game mechanics you've known and loved have been improved upon, and this is the first classic Pokémon game brought to you in Full HD for a home console – so make sure to get the gem of your childhood for your Nintendo Switch today.


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Stay Connected
Hand Made Guitars by Luthier Dan Koentopp
Posted on Wednesday, February 20th, 2019 at in Guitar Construction.
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© Copyright 2012 Dan Koentopp/Koentopp Guitars. All Rights Reserved.
Videos & Photos by Paul Hamilton and Caleb Vinson
Design by Monique Carbajal || Development by Alexander Nied


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"My Favorites" Plugin
Does this plugin exists somewhere? It would work like "site wide". someone "logged in" could mark a post of anything on the site (all blogs associated to the that WPMU site) as favorite. Them, in the profile page for that user, it would appear in a "My Favorites" section.
This would make people navigate more through out the whole website it self! People could them leave "comments" for each specific favorite for that person. Making it the site to be a true sitewide social network.
Sorry for my poor english!
- The topic '"My Favorites" Plugin' is closed to new replies.


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ABOVE PHOTO: Roland Davis and Lena Henderson, both 85, kiss as they pose for a photo in West Seneca, N.Y., Tuesday, July 31, 2012. They got married while still in their teens, divorced 20 years later and are getting remarried on Saturday, August 4, after nearly a half-century apart.
(AP Photo/David Duprey)
By Carolyn Thompson
Associated Press
BUFFALO, N.Y. — They got hitched while still in their teens, divorced 20 years and four children later, and are getting remarried after nearly a half-century apart.
For Lena Henderson and Roland Davis, both 85 years old, the second time around is finally here. The couple plans to get married again on Saturday, with four generations on hand to see it happen.
"It's every child's dream, every child who has ever been in a family where divorce has occurred, that your parents would come back together," their youngest daughter, Renita Chadwick, said Tuesday as wedding preparations were in full swing.
"We are all so ridiculously excited. We're like little children again," said Chadwick, herself a grandmother.
Henderson and Davis met as teenagers in Chattanooga, Tenn., and were married by a justice of the peace. There was no reception or honeymoon.
"Oh no," Henderson recalled with a laugh. "He went to work and I went home." Davis was a hotel bellhop at the time, about to begin a career in the military.
This time around, a church wedding is planned, at Elim Christian Fellowship Church in Buffalo, followed by a reception at an Amherst restaurant.
Still no honeymoon trip, though.
"I'm just happy that we're here," said Davis, who recently moved to suburban Buffalo from Colorado, where he was living alone following the death of his second wife in January. Henderson also was widowed after re-marrying.
Davis proposed to Henderson over the phone around Easter and she accepted, even though they hadn't seen each other since a family funeral in 1996. Before that, the two hadn't been face-to-face since splitting up in 1964, though they had stayed in touch and kept up with each other's lives through the children.
Their oldest daughter, Johnnie Mae Funderbirk, had been urging her father to return to New York since his wife's death.
Davis was receptive, especially to the idea of reconnecting with Henderson.
"I had always kind of had that in mind, mostly because of the children," he said. "You never forget someone that you cared for at one time or another."
Henderson and Davis both said it was "nice" to see one another again, this time as an engaged couple.
The children are less reserved.
"I'm as excited as some 9-year-old whose parents are getting back together," Funderbirk said, "and I'm 65 years old."


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City Projects & Initiatives
Norman Forward
A citizen-initiated proposal to renovate, expand, construct and fund Quality of Life projects, such as multiple recreational facilities, libraries, parks, athletic venues, public art, trails, etc.
Norman Streets
Upcoming City of Norman Transportation Projects the will increase safety and efficiency for all modes of transportation.
Norman 2025 Plan
The Norman 2025 Land Use and Transportation Plan is the long-range plan for the future physical development of the city.


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The Liturgical Experts' Long Tassels
Aug 27, 2010
George Rutler
Under the avalanche of commentary on the new translation of the Ordinary Form of the Mass, just approved by the Vatican, I poke my head above the erudite criticisms, to speak as a man whose entire priesthood has been in parishes. I am not a liturgist and, from the parochial perspective of a pastor who has studied worship much less than he has done it, I risk the tendency of many like me who probably unfairly think that liturgists are the ecclesiastical equivalent of lepidopterists.
A pastor is too busy leading people in worship to attend workshops on how to lead people in worship, and his duties in the confessional prevent him from attending seminars on how to hear confessions. I do know that if I followed the guidelines of one liturgical commission, suggesting that I greet each penitent at the church doors with an open Gospel book and then lead a procession to a reconciliation room which looks more like an occasion of sin than a shrine for its absolution, the number of confessions in the middle of the metropolis where I serve would be severely reduced.
Publicly owned corporations are more accountable to their shareholders than tenured bureaucracies, which may explain why it took the Ford Motor Company only two years to cancel its Edsel, and not much longer for Coca Cola to restore its "classic" brand, while the Catholic Church has taken more than a generation of unstopped attrition to try to correct the mistakes of overheated liturgists. The dawning of the Age of Aquarius is now in its sunset repose and the bright young things who seem to be cropping up now all over the place with new information from Fortescue and Ratzinger, may either be the professional mourners for a lost civilization, or the sparks of a looming golden age.
One thing is certain to a pastor: the only parishioners fighting the old battles are old themselves, their felt banners frayed and their guitar strings broken, while a young battalion is rising, with no animus against the atrophied adolescence of their parents, and only eager to engage a real spiritual combat in a culture of death. They usually are ignorant, but bright, for ignorance is not stupidity.
They care little if the Liturgy is in Latin or English or Sanskrit, as long as they are told how to do it, for they were not told. Some critics of the new translations have warned that the changes are too radical, which is radioactively cynical from people who in the 1960's wantonly dismantled old verities overnight, in their suburbanized version of China's Cultural Revolution.
Our Lord warned enough about the experts of his day who loved long tassels, and who swore by the gold of the temple rather than the temple, to stay us from placing too much hope in ritual and texts to save lives. Neglect of the aesthetics of worship is not remedied by the worship of aesthetics. A pastor will sometimes observe an over-reaction to the corruption of the Liturgy, so that ritual becomes theatre and Andrei Rubleyev yields to Aubrey Beardsley. Any group or religious community that is too deliberate about external form sows in itself the seeds of decadence.
Liturgy should be chantable, reverent, and expressive of the highest culture we know, without self-consciousness. Ars est celare artem. In tandem with Ovid, for whom it is art to conceal art, Evelyn Waugh said that Anthony Eden was not a gentleman because he dressed too well. It is typical of some schismatic sects that the more they lapse into heresy, the more ritualistic they become. So one will see pictures of a woman claiming to be a bishop, vested like Pius X on his jubilee.
A genius of the Latin rite has been its virile precision, even bluntness. Contrast this with the unsettled grammar of "alternative opening prayers" in the original books from ICEL (the International Commission on English in the Liturgy), whose poesie sounds like Teilhard on steroids.
They were much wordier than the Latin collects or their English equivalents, and gave the impression of having been composed by fragile personalities who had not had a happy early home life. So too, the Prayers of the Faithful cloyingly pursued "themes" usually inspired by an undisciplined concern for air pollution and third world debt.
I think there should be few options in the Liturgy, and no attempt to be "creative," for that is God's particular talent. As Vatican II taught in Sacrosanctum Concilium, "[T]here must be no innovations unless the good of the Church genuinely and certainly requires them; and care must be taken that any new forms adopted should in some way grow organically from forms already existing."
Unfortunately, we have not yet resolved the problem of the simply bad Lectionary texts. While the Jerusalem Bible and Revised Standard Version are licit, only the Revised New American Bible is accessible for parish use. The Jerusalem Bible is a tool for study but was translated with a tin ear.
I grew up with the King James translation and thus am stunned when Job 38:17 ("Hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?") is given as "Have you met the janitors of Shadowland?" So Sheol becomes a theme park.
But none of this matches the torture of the trans-gendered RNAB which manages to neuter every creature except Satan who remains male. Our Lord sometimes sounds like the Prince of Wales: "What profit is there for one to gain the whole world …?" and other times like a bored anthropologist: "Two people went up to the temple to pray…." But then the inevitable pronouns kick in and we find out that even after the liturgical gelding, these were men.
The Liturgy by grace changes lives. Any pastor who is blessed with an abundance of priestly vocations in his parish knows that they come in spite of epicene worship, demotic liturgy committees, and flailing song leaders. They simply join the chorus of the Greeks: "Sir, we would see Jesus." I recall a prelate saying that even as a seminarian he hoped one day to be able to say Mass facing the people. It was a revealing statement, inasmuch as when he said Mass he seemed annoyed that the Lord was sometimes getting in the way.
While I am glad for the new and more accurate translation of the Mass, which is not perfection but closer to it than one deserves in an imperfect world, a far more important reform would be the return of the ad orientem position of the celebrant as normative. It is the antidote to the tendency of clerisy to impose itself on the people. When a celebrant at Mass stops and says, "This is not about me," you may be sure he thinks it may be about him. It would be harder for him to harbor that suspicion were he leading the people humbly to the east and the dawn of salvation.
John Henry Newman was the greatest master of English letters in his century of brilliant English, but he gave no countenance to his vernacular replacing the sacral tongue. That is another matter for another day. But he knew the meaning of cupio dissolvi, and he taught that without such self-abnegation the gift of personality reduces the Passion to pantomime. It was because his priestcraft was also soulcraft, that he solemnly invoked the Sacred Heart at the altar in order to speak "heart to heart" with the people in the street:
"Clad in his sacerdotal vestments, [the priest] sinks what is individual in himself altogether, and is but the representative of Him from whom he derives his commission. His words, his tones, his actions, his presence, lose their personality; one bishop, one priest, is like another; they all chant the same notes, and observe the same genuflections, as they give one peace and one blessing, as they offer one and the same sacrifice.
"The Mass must not be said without a Missal under the priest's eye; nor in any language but that in which it has come down to us from the early hierarchs of the Western Church. But, when it is over, and the celebrant has resigned the vestments proper to it, then he resumes himself, and comes to us in the gifts and associations which attach to his person.
"He knows his sheep, and they know him; and it is this direct bearing of the teacher on the taught, of his mind upon their minds, and the mutual sympathy which exists between them, which is his strength and influence when he addresses them. They hang upon his lips as they cannot hang upon the pages of his book."
Source: The Liturgical Experts' Long Tassels, First Things
Friday, August 27, 2010
Fr. George Rutler on the New Translation, on Liturgists and on Ad OrientemShawn Tribe
The following commentary appeared today in First Things written by Fr. George Rutler. I would in particular highlight his warning that, in seeking out solemn worship, one must also seek to avoid mere aestheticism. I would as well highlight his comment on the importance of ad orientem.
Posted Friday, August 27, 2010