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Housing Market Showing Signs of Progress
According to a recent Reuters article, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BG56P20091218 housing prices in the United States experienced a rise during the third quarter. Given the state of the economy and the housing market over the past couple of years, this is certainly good news, as it ends the two-year downward trend the market had been experiencing over the past two years.
According to an independent study that was conducted by IHS Global Insight, the housing market is now slightly undervalued. In fact, the survey found that prices had increased by 0.2 percent when compared to the second quarter. In California, the quarterly rise was even greater at 2.1%. A separate survey conducted by the Federal Housing Finance Agency reported similar results, stating that housing prices rose by 0.9% for the year-over-year July through September period. This growth represents the first increase posted since the second quarter of 2007, which is when the housing market began its downward spiral.
These recent surveys show hope that the most recent recession, which is considered to be the worst recession the country has experienced in over 70 years, is finally beginning to stabilize. After all, the collapse of the housing market was the primary trigger of the recession. Thanks to the low mortgage rates, low housing prices and government tax credits for homebuyers, however, the market has slowly but surely started to enjoy an upward trend in terms of home sales.
According to the IHS Global Insight survey, which took a closer look at 330 metropolitan areas, determined that, while prices fell in 161 markets, they actually rose in 169. Furthermore, for the first time since the survey started to be conducted in 2005, no metropolitan areas were considered...


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Information For:
What kind of student are you?
First-Time Freshman
Never attended college before? This is where you start. You've got this!
HS Dual Credit Students
Want to earn college credit while you're still in high school? We've got you covered.
Returning Students
You look familiar! We look forward to welcoming you back.
Transfer Students
You've taken classes at other colleges before, but they weren't the right fit. Don't worry, you'll fit in great here!
Visiting Students
So you go to another college, no big deal! You can earn college credit at Jefferson even if you're enrolled at another school.
We salute you for your service! Jefferson is excited to help our service men, women and veterans reach their goals.
Adult Learners
Whether you've been out of high school for four years or 40, we can help you build a better future.
Students with GEDs
Do you have a GED? You'll fit right in at Jefferson. Here's how to continue your education by joining our family.
Online/Distance Learners
We know you're busy, and we have you covered. Online programs let you take classes anytime, anywhere.
International Students
We are proud to serve several international students each year. Welcome!

subset: commoncrawl


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"The best gifts are the ones you didn't even know you needed."
"Everyone in the wedding party gets laid. It's tradition."
Roger "Beck" Beckworth grew up with a strict, homophobic father who was always changing the rules just to keep Beck on his toes, but now he's made a well-ordered, predictable life for himself that he's perfectly happy with.
When he finds himself waiting to take his place as a groomsman at a friend's wedding, the last thing he expects is that the final attendant, the one who's running late—a sure sign that the two of them will be like oil and water—will turn out to be the first man he ever loved.
"Surprises are some of my favorite things."
Liam Hart lives on his boat, free to go wherever the wind blows him. He's almost allergic to the idea of being tied down to any one place… or any one person. That had been different, once, but loving Roger Beckworth was half a lifetime ago, and the pain of losing him taught Liam a valuable lesson about the risk of trying to hold onto something after its time has passed.
Finding him again might just teach Liam something else altogether, though.
"You have to believe. Love will never let you down."
When fate brings them together again, their differences seem destined to pull them apart… unless Beck can finally learn to let go, and Liam figures out that love really is worth holding onto, no matter what the cost.


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TMAD is excited to share that skoah www.skoah.com is set to open its 3rd Seattle location on Broadway in The Joule in north Capital Hill. There were rumors of a party. Stay tuned!
...and here comes #3
TMAD is super excited to let you all in on the news that skoah www.skoah.com will open their second location in the Seattle area at 415 Pike in downtown Seattle (next to Washington Federal Bank...and around the corner from Julep Nail Parlor www.julep.com ...a Hutchison & Maul designed space). skoah Bellevue (Hutchison & Maul) has been open for over two months treating many a glowing East-side faces. skoah Broadway (North Capital Hill) is about to open their doors too.
The Pike store is a little jewel box sure to catch your attention when you walk by. Though small compared to Cap Hill (6 treatment rooms!), skoah Pike has two treatment rooms but will still showcase skoah's entire product line. Check 'em out!
Psycho Geographic
I learned a new phrase today but instantly it resonated as if I've known its meaning my whole life. While scouting new locations for a retail client, the property manager used the term "psycho-graphic" to explain invisible boundaries between market areas created by the relationship between psychology and geography. My bet is this resonates with all who call themselves Seattleites. Think about it. How many times have you heard "off the hill", "over the cut", and "down from the plateau"? Chris Scott (Owner, www.skoah.com ) picked up on this immediately remarking how "shire-like" Seattle is. We call them neighborhoods but shire picks up on a bit of that healthy brand attitude each hood has. Chris and I have talked about how wacky this is at times, but also how clear. Someone needs to write a paper.
September 2017


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11 comments
nice choices!:)ReplyDelete
I am long overdue a cull! I love your makeup bag xReplyDelete
Great post! Love your keychain! So cute!ReplyDelete
Sita & Radha
I love that makeup bag, so glittery! Gorgeous items inside as well :)ReplyDelete
Sophierosehearts x
Keep meaning to try out First Kiss blush, looks lovelyReplyDelete
I love the printed kabuki brush <3ReplyDelete
Love the makeup bag..It's so fancy..haha..I lugg around similar products but I've only just decided to try a face refresher and got Mac's Fix + I hope it works :-/ xxReplyDelete
Yewizzy @ She Loves The Finer Things
I always tend to have way too many lip products in my travel make up bag also haha! I like to have a nice variety to pick from sometimes. The body shop born lippy lipbalm is one of my favourite lipbalms and i always have that with me~ My fave is the strawberry one :) I don't bring many brushes when i am out because i don't want them to be damaged (Since it is pretty easy to catch the hairs on the zips) but i do bring a small retractable one that i got from Body shop. Thanks for sharing ^^ It was interesting to read~ xxxReplyDelete
I loved this post hun, the bag is lovely (including the charm ;) ) and I do the same with lip products, when I went on holiday I think I took two weeks supply of lip products even though I didn't use them all haha. The Mac highlighter looks really nice :)ReplyDelete
Im the same I always carry around way to many lip products but they really do make the most difference I find :) Love the kabuki brush as well xoReplyDelete
The travel toothbrush and toothpaste is so cute and handy!ReplyDelete
Beth @ Beth-Bradley.blogspot.co.uk
Thank you for your comment, I read each and every one!
However if you need a more direct answer or have a question, do feel free to contact me via Twitter @TheSundayGirlUK or drop me an email at thesundaygirlblog(at)yahoo.co.uk
Thank you!


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Since I gave my ROTM prize last December earlier than usual, all entries beyond December 17 will qualify for January's ROTM prize. 😉
For this month, winner gets an amazing exclusive Tony Moly beauty loot. Yay!
Please be guided with the instructions below:
- The reader of the month (ROTM) qualification will start on the first day of every month until the last day of the month.
- You can comment on my previous month's posts and still qualify for the current ROTM contest.
- The ROTM must be following my Twitter account @couchwasabi (Who doesn't have Twitter, anyway?)
- The ROTM will be picked and announced via a blog entry in the following month (may be posted anytime during the first week of the month). So make sure to check my blog for the announcement.
- The chosen ROTM may also be contacted through his/her email address.
- If the prize hasn't been claimed within 5 days, another commenter will be chosen.
- All bloggers are welcome to join. If you are not a blogger but would still like to comment on my posts, you're still a qualified candidate.
- Shipping is FREE for Philippine residents. Yay!
Thank you for joining!
xx, Couchwasabi
Let me know what you think through the comment box below. Follow me on Twitter for more day to day updates.


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IKEA's smart lighting now officially supports HomeKit and Alexa….
IKEA's smart lighting now officially supports HomeKit and Alexa….
IKEA leading the way to secure IoT? according to Mikko Hypponen (F-Secure) !!! Wow….if you don't believe it listen to what he says at about 17min in!
Good work by the dedicated team lead by Björn Block!
IKEA Trådfri smart bulbs to support Alexa, Google and Apple HomeKit this summer….read CNET article here and here at New York Times
Björn Block talks "smart homes" at IKEA in this really good podcast! Well done Björn! More is coming!!!!
IKEA Trådfri: Internet of Things done right Link to Review home-assistant.io
Ikea is getting into home automation with a new smart hub. Read TheVerge article about it here…


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BRUSSELS (REUTERS) - A World Health Organisation-led scheme to supply Covid-19 drugs to poor countries is betting on experimental monoclonal antibody treatments and steroids but shunning Gilead's remdesivir therapy, an internal document shows.
The Oct 30 WHO draft document seen by Reuters says priorities are to secure monoclonal antibodies in a tight market and to boost distribution of cheap steroid dexamethasone, of which it has already booked nearly three million courses of treatment for poorer countries.
Monoclonal antibodies are manufactured copies of antibodies created by the body to fight an infection, and drug makers, including Roche and Novartis, confirmed initial contact with the WHO scheme.
The paper, which for the first time outlines how the scheme would spend donors' money, does not cite remdesivir among priority drugs - a significant omission as the antiviral is the only other medication alongside dexamethasone approved across the world for treating Covid-19.
Gilead Science said the WHO scheme had not funded its Covid-19 trials and had never approached the firm for the possible inclusion of remdesivir in its portfolio.
The drug-supply scheme is one of the four pillars of the so-called ACT Accelerator, a WHO-led project which also seeks to secure Covid-19 vaccines, diagnostics and protective gear for poorer countries by raising more than US$38 billion (S$51 billion) by the beginning of 2022.
"Immediate priorities for the (therapeutics) pillar are intensifying efforts on monoclonal antibodies while scaling up dexamethasone use," says the document, which is subject to change but due for publication as soon as Friday .
The scheme, co-led by the Wellcome Trust, a charity, and Unitaid, a health partnership hosted by the WHO, urgently needs US$6.1 billion, US$750 million of which by February, out of a total ask of US$7.2 billion.
More than half the cash would be used to procure and distribute monoclonal antibodies, the document shows, calling these therapeutics "game-changing" but in short supply.
No monoclonal antibody has, so far, been approved against Covid-19, but the WHO scheme has already invested in research and secured production capacity at a Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies plant in Denmark.
Fujifilm didn't immediately comment.
The scheme wants US$320 million to make antibodies in that facility, the document says, estimating that would be enough to secure four million antibody courses, at about US$80 per course.
A spokesman for Unitaid confirmed that it wanted to raise and invest US$320 million in securing monoclonal antibodies but said commercial deals were confidential.
Another US$110 million would be used for regulatory approval and other market preparation procedures for monoclonal antibodies in poorer countries, the document shows, while US$220 million would fund clinical trials.
'Affordable price'
Among companies developing experimental monoclonal antibodies against Covid-19 are US firms Eli Lilly and Regeneron. US President Donald Trump got their antibodies in October after testing Covid-19 positive.
Eli Lilly has already agreed to produce antibodies at the Fujifilm plant from April and make them available at "an affordable price" to poorer countries, a company spokesman said.
A US government-run trial of Lilly's drug was paused in mid-October over safety concerns, but other trials continue and the US administration last week sealed a US$375-million supply deal.
It is unclear how and whether the WHO scheme will raise the money needed for the antibody project.
Roche, which has partnered with Regeneron to make up to two million doses of the so-called REGN-COV2 antibody annually by 2021, has had "preliminary discussions" with the ACT Accelerator over an access plan.
"These discussions were in the context of development and production," a Roche spokesman said in an e-mail.
"It is too early to speculate on future decisions, but we will continue working with them and other groups regarding REGN-COV2."
Novartis, which expects results soon from a trial of its arthritis treatment canakinumab against Covid-19, said on Thursday it received a request several days ago from the WHO scheme seeking information about medicines to tackle the coronavirus. Novartis also makes dexamethasone.
Despite being short of funds, the WHO drugs-supply scheme aims to distribute hundreds of millions of courses of Covid-19 drugs to poorer countries by 2022.
Apart from monoclonal antibodies and dexamethasone, it is also eyeing other experimental drugs, including new antivirals and repurposed drugs.
The scheme would spend another US$100 million to seal deals with unspecified drug makers from mid-2021, the document says, and next year plans to invest another US$4.4 billion on drugs that succeed in clinical trials.
The Unitaid spokesman said dexamethasone and its alternative, hydrocortisone, were the most promising among repurposed drugs.
Unitaid confirmed the scheme had not procured or funded remdesivir, which was initially trialled against Ebola. It did not comment on why remdesivir did not appear among priority treatments in the document.
Remdesivir has been authorised in multiple countries to treat Covid-19. However, preliminary findings of a WHO-sponsored trial concluded the antiviral had little or no benefit, contradicting previous positive trials.
Governments however continue to buy it, with Germany this week announcing a 150,000-plus dose purchase.


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Welcome to the Career & Technical Education
Virtual Career Fair
Below you will find links to various career resources. After exploring the listed resources, click on the links to the career clusters or similar resources on the navigation bar. Each Career & Technical Education grouping has several resources available to you. There will be websites, brochures, videos, and other resources for you to view. You will also see which schools these programs are available.
Thank you,
WS/FCS Career Development Coordinators


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There were proposed and final regulations issued for Form 5472 on June 6th, 2014. The long arm of the United States Government is not only reaching out to U.S. corporations doing business in other countries, it is also expecting compliance by foreign corporations that do business in the U.S or have a stake in US Corporations.
Form 5472 is an information return used by a 25% foreign-owned U.S. corporation or a foreign corporation engaged in a U.S. trade or business to provide information when reportable transactions occur during the tax year of a reporting corporation with a foreign or domestic related party under sections 6038A and 6038C.
What Is a Reporting Corporation? A reporting corporation is either: Read More


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Do you know what I've just realized? I've been running a proofreading blog for six years and I've never done a basic "What is proofreading?" blog post!
Whoops! I assumed that everyone landing on my blog would already know what is involved in proofreading, so I wouldn't need to go into it, but when I look at some of the frequently asked questions I receive, it's obvious I haven't been answering those questions on my blog.
So now I'm going right back to basics by taking an in-depth look at what proofreading is, who it's a good fit for, and how you can become a proofreader.
If you've just hit on the idea of becoming a freelance proofreader, but you're not really sure what it involves, keep reading!
What is proofreading and what kind of errors do proofreaders look for?
Proofreading is the last step in the editorial process. It comes after the document has already been through the developmental and copyediting stages. A proofreader's eyes will be the final set of eyes to check the document before it is printed or published online.
A proofreader is responsible for double-checking documents for errors and typos, including:
- Typos
- Double words ("the the," "and and," etc.)
- Grammar
- Punctuation
- Spelling
- Formatting issues
- Ensure document adheres to chosen style guide
Traditionally, proofreading would have been done when the book had been formatted and laid out, so proofreaders needed to focus on issues like awkward page and word breaks and inconsistencies in the layout.
The proofreader would compare the printed version of the manuscript (proofs) against the edited copy to ensure that no errors were introduced by the formatting process. That will still be the case if you work with publishing houses. Although the comparison may be done electronically now, rather than on printed proofs.
Nowadays, many proofreaders work with bloggers or directly with self-publishing authors, so the work is often carried out in Microsoft Word or Google Docs before the formatting stage.
The use of proofreading marks is becoming less common, but they're still interesting to know about.
Why is proofreading important?
Proofreading ensures that your readers can immerse themselves in your content rather than get distracted by errors. If a document is full of typos or grammatical errors, the reader will be yanked right out of the story. They will be trying to understand what the writer meant rather than enjoying what they read or learning from it.
Proofreaders also protect a writer's or business's reputation. We stop them from making embarrassing or costly mistakes.
In the online era, it's even more important to make sure as few errors slip through the cracks as possible as if they don't, the writer can get torn apart on social media. Internet trolls take no prisoners!
What's the difference between editing and proofreading?
A lot of people get mixed up between proofreading and copyediting or assume that they're the same thing.
They are similar, but there are some key differences.
Both copyeditors and proofreaders check for errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation; however, copyeditors make changes at a sentence or word level. They suggest alternative words or rewrite sentences. A proofreader doesn't rewrite.
It's important to identify the correct level of editing required. Otherwise, you may end up copyediting at a proofreading rate.
I covered the differences between proofreading and copyediting in detail in this post.
Who hires proofreaders? Are proofreaders in demand?
A lot of people wonder if proofreaders are in demand. The answer to that is YES!
The great thing about being a proofreader is that there are many markets where you can find work. None of these markets are oversaturated with quality proofreaders.
Here are some of the proofreading clients you can work with:
- Self-publishing authors
- Publishing houses
- Bloggers
- College or graduate students
- Newspapers
- Anyone with a résumé/LinkedIn profile
- Web content creators
- Marketing managers
- Graphic designers
- Script writers
- Transcriptionists
- Business owners/entrepreneurs
- Podcasters
- Court reporters
With so many different potential clients available, it can be difficult to narrow down your marketing message. Choosing a proofreading niche is a great way to tailor your marketing to a select group of people so they can find you more easily.
When choosing a niche, consider what your interests and experience are like.
Do you have a science degree? Maybe you could proofread academic papers in this area.
Have a hobby? Mention it on your website, so people who have written content about that topic are aware of your interest in the area.
Interested in the legal system? You could specialize in proofreading court transcripts. This is an even more specialized niche, and it's one of my favorites because it has greater scope for you to get repeat clients.
You can learn about the difference between general proofreading and transcript proofreading here.
Picking a niche allows you to position yourself as an expert, and you can build a reputation as an excellent proofreader for this particular topic.
What kind of documents need to be proofread?
Every single person or business that creates content needs a proofreader. As a result, the list of documents a proofreader could work on is almost endless.
Here are just some of the documents you could be hired to proofread:
- Books
- Blogs
- Essays/papers/theses
- White papers
- Résumés/LinkedIn profiles
- Newspaper articles
- Marketing copy
- Scripts
- General transcripts
- Legal transcripts
- Emails
- Letters
- Contracts
- Press releases
- Product descriptions
Haven't proofreaders been replaced by apps like Word's Spell Check and Grammarly now?
Nope! Proofreading tools like Grammarly or Word's Spell Check can be a useful final check to make sure there are no remaining errors, but they shouldn't be relied on as the only means of proofreading a document.
Tools like these often can't pick up on context, so they may highlight things that are not errors. They may also be programmed to highlight errors that are really just myths or rules that have since changed.
As a result, the human mind is still better when it comes to proofreading!
What skills does a proofreader need?
Proofreaders need to have an above-average understanding of grammar, spelling, and punctuation rules. You can hone your grammar skills, but it's better if you have a natural ability in this area and a tendency to spot errors.
You also need to have an eagle eye for detail. A person who skims while they read or who doesn't care about the nitty-gritty will probably not be a good fit for proofreading.
If you routinely spot errors when reading books, blog posts, ads, billboards, menus, or just about any copy, there's a good chance proofreading would be a good fit for you!
You must also possess soft skills like communication, time management, and the ability to meet deadlines. These are transferable skills that many people will have likely picked up in their previous work experience.
What qualifications do you need to be a proofreader?
You don't require a degree to become a proofreader. All you need is an eagle eye for detail and strong knowledge of grammar, spelling, and punctuation rules.
Occasionally, if you want to proofread academic papers, you may be required to have a qualification in that area, but in general, you do not need a degree.
If you don't have a degree or any proofreading experience, you can still get proofreading jobs from individuals like self-publishing authors or bloggers. In my experience — and the experience of many of my students — these kinds of clients are not concerned whether you have a degree or tons of experience.
That's not to say you don't need any proofreading training!
Even if you were top of your high school English class, chances are you will have forgotten a lot of the rules over the years. And you may never have been trained to follow a certain style guide so that you apply the rules consistently.
There's still a lot to learn when it comes to working as a professional proofreader, but luckily it can be learned for much, much less than the cost of a degree.
Not only will proofreading training give you the confidence to do your job well but it will also ensure that you can compete with other proofreaders out there who have completed training.
How to become a proofreader
Now that you know what proofreading is, what it involves, and what skills you need, you may be wondering how to become a proofreader.
It all boils down to a few steps:
Hone your proofreading skills
If you want to become a successful proofreader, you must hone your editorial skills.
Proofreaders must have an eye for detail, above-average knowledge of grammar rules, and a willingness to research what they don't know.
Even if you have a strong natural grammar ability, you still need to make sure that your knowledge of the rules is up to date as language changes over time. Continuous professional development is essential.
Taking a course is a great way to update your knowledge. My Proofread Anywhere courses not only test your grammar skills but they also teach you how to create a successful proofreading business.
I highly recommend taking a proofreading course before looking for clients, especially if you have no experience. My Transcript Proofreading course includes over 3,000 pages of practice transcripts, and my General Proofreading course includes 40 practice essays. That's like having 40 practice clients before you even start!
Use your resources
Wondering what tools you need to become a proofreader?
The answer is very few. It really doesn't cost much to start a proofreading business.
All you need is a laptop, a reliable internet connection, and a few grammar books or style guides.
To me, this is the most important part; you must use your resources if you want to be an excellent proofreader.
Style guides are manuals that provide guidelines for the grammar, punctuation, and formatting rules of various documents. Excellent proofreaders take the time to become very familiar with these guides.
Which style guides you will use depends on your niche and the types of documents you work with. The most used style guides are:
- The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS)
- The Associated Press Stylebook (AP)
- The MLA Style Manual
- Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA style)
My General Proofreading course is based on the Chicago Manual of Style guidelines.
Following a style manual will ensure that the document is consistent throughout, which will make it easier to read.
One of the best ways to get more familiar with grammar is to read grammar books. (They're fun, I swear!)
Everyone makes mistakes — even proofreaders. Shocking, I know! Proofreaders are held to such a high standard, but sometimes we make mistakes. What can I say — this proofreader is still human!
But those mistakes get fewer and fewer the more we learn, so to get over your fear of making mistakes, get as much proofreading practice as you can.
Do online quizzes and look up any of the questions you get wrong.
Practice makes progress, y'all!
The more you practice proofreading, the more the errors will start to jump out at you. Many proofreaders comment on the fact that they now struggle to read for pleasure because they're always subconsciously looking for errors.
That's one tiny drawback, but the benefits of proofreading professionally more than make up for it like doing work you enjoy, the ability to make money from home, and the satisfaction of being your own boss.
Our Take
I hope I've answered any questions you had about what proofreading is and how you can become a proofreader. If you have any other questions, please leave a comment below!
Your Turn
Ready to jump into being a freelance proofreader now that your questions have been answered? Check out our free proofreading course to learn how you can get started.


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Create stunning WordPress galleries with Flow Gallery
Showcase your photography/audio/video work with 'Flow Gallery'; the ultimate professionally developed WordPress plugin based HTML5 Multimedia Gallery.
Choose from column or row layouts and present your best work in style with this epic gallery plugin. Flow Gallery supports YouTube, Vimeo and DailyMotion as well as any stock footage and other self-hosted video/audio making it perfect for almost every occasion.
What are you waiting for – take a look for yourself!
Select how to display your multimedia with support for multiple albums, deep linking, filtering and sorting. Your best work has never looked better.
Stunning CSS3 animations make transitions mesmerising to watch and creates that 'sticky' experience for your users.
Award Winning Material Design!
2015 Envato Winner: Material Design on CodeCanyon
Material Design is an interactive design language developed by Google, and Flow Gallery was voted best Material Design item on CodeCanyon, Envato Market in 2015. It is designed with best practice coding techniques to provide the most modern design available in market today.
Of course Flow Gallery gives you more pixels per square inch meaning it is ready for your Retina Ready devices, featuring a thoroughly Responsive design which is optimised for touchscreen devices.
It displays beautifully across all types of devices, mobile/cell phones, Tablets and all desktop browsers while providing the unique feel of a native app.
You can pass an mp4 file for video, and mp3 file for audio, or pass all the necessary formats for the widest possible support of native HTML5 playback. Flow Gallery plays audio/video using HTML5 in supported browsers and Flash in older browsers.
Still not convinced? Explore the Demos Now!
Whatever you choose to do Flow Gallery will work in both modern and old browsers (with suitable fallbacks where necessary).
Don't have a website built on WordPress? Experienced enough to manually install the gallery on your site? Good news then! We have also developed a robust jQuery Plugin with all of the same amazing features which you can tweak to your heart's content. Flow Gallery as a jQuery plugin is available separately here.
Feature List:
- Display photography, audio and video including self hosted multimedia.
- Choose columns or rows to display your work
- Plays audio and video natively in modern HTML5 browsers and switches over to Flash/Silverlight for older browsers.
- Can embed Youtube, Vimeo and Dailymotion videos.
- Supports multiple gallery albums or sets.
- Items can be shown as cards or as tiles. Also albums can be shown with stacked effect or as tiles.
- Items can have titles and/or descriptions with various options of showing them based on item display style.
- There are numerous options of animating item/album entrances, titles, descriptions and the lightbox.
- Filter items by file type or custom categories.
- Sort items by title, type or custom sort parameters, both numeric and alphabetic and in either ascending or descending order.
- Show/hide the various menu bar components, fix the menu bar on page scroll, or even hide it completely.
- True HTML5 Fullscreen option in supported browsers.
- Deep-linking feature which provides links to individual items, with album support, allowing you to bookmark/share them.
- Load items in chunks which can either be loaded manually or automatically as the page is scrolled.
- Allow sharing of items to popular social media sites from within the gallery.
- Display your photos' EXIF data as item descriptions.
- Enable caching of data to have faster loading. Useful for Youtube/Vimeo/Dailymotion, folder scanning, EXIF extraction.
- The gallery items can also act as links to external pages.
Don't forget we have the same beautiful Flow Gallery available as a jQuery plugin!
Special Notes
- Autoplay option will not work in mobile devices. This is disabled by device manufactures.
- Player volume setting will not show up or work in Android devices. You have to control the volume through the device's own volume buttons.
- Also some of the modern HTML5 features such as Fullscreen will only work in modern browsers.
- The plugin uses Youtube API v3 for which an API key needs to be obtained from Youtube
- The gallery script has been tested and is fully compatible with jQuery 1.9+. and also jquery 2.0+.
- If you have any query regarding any feature of the gallery before purchasing then please post your query in the comments section and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
Installation Documentation
This item is a WordPress plugin so a basic knowledge of WordPress is required in order to install it successfully.
Flow Gallery comes complete with detailed walk through and installation documentation.
We manage support Mon – Fri through the Comments section on each item page.
Support means:
- Availability of the author to answer questions.
- Answering technical questions about item's features.
- Assistance with reported bugs and issues.
- Help with included 3rd party assets.
Version 2.1.3 (15 January 2022)
• Fixed an issue with showing thumbnail images from Vimeo API in the gallery settings page in WP Admin
Version 2.1.2 (20 February 2021)
• Security fix to prevent someone from maliciously creating random files in the server
Version 2.1.1 (2 February 2021)
• Fixed an issue with parsing the response from the Vimeo API
Version 2.1 (7 November, 2016)
• Fixed a bug in showing links over items. • Fixed an issue with album sorting in admin area. • Allowed the embedding of the gallery shortcode inside widgets.
Version 2.0.1 (24 May 2016)
• Fixed a video size issue in Chrome.
Version 2.0.0 (12 February, 2016)
• Provided the ability to specify custom labels for the various components in the gallery menu bar. • Added the option to specify the maximum video width inside the lightbox. • Added the option to hide the names of categories in the Filter menu for which there are no galley items present. • Thumbnails in the gallery are now provided with alt tags containing the item titles. • Fixed an issue with the playing of audio and videos in mobile devices. • Fixed an issue with the sorting of albums in the gallery admin area.
Version 1.2.2 (13 January, 2016)
• Fixed a problem with deep linking of items and social media sharing when the shuffle option was enabled.
Version 1.2.1 (5 January, 2016)
• Fixed a typo that was causing issues.
Version 1.2 (30 December, 2015)
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The 6 Best Brad Pitt Movies, And The 4 Worst
Brad Pitt is Hollywood royalty, with a career spanning 30 plus years and a remarkable number of box office smash hits. Though he's never won an Academy Award (really), he has put on some powerhouse performance in movies like Fight Club, Se7en, 12 Monkeys, and Ocean's Eleven. He's also put out a fair amount of duds, a few of which are really quite bad.
We put together a handy-dandy list of some of his best performances and movies as well as a few of his worst. As with anyone with a CV as long as Brad Pitt's, some major performances just missed the cut, like Inglourious Basterds, 12 Years A Slave, The Big Short, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button and the movie that launched his career, Thelma & Louise. Brad Pitt's had quite an amazing career, to say the least, let's take a look.
The Best Brad Pitt Movies
Fight Club (1999)
Fight Club was not a huge hit when it was released, but it's become a classic. It's often called a cult classic, but it's far too popular for that these days. Based on the book by Chuck Palahniuk and directed by the great David Fincher, Fight Club features Brad Pitt as The Narrator's alter-ego, a man called Tyler Durden, who encourages The Narrator (Edward Norton) to start an underground fight club. Brad Pitt's performance is pitch perfect as a jumpy, angry figment of The Narrator's imagination.
12 Monkeys (1995)
12 Monkeys, directed by Terry Gilliam has everything people have come to expect from a Gilliam film. It's visually amazing and disturbing, filled with crazy characters and a twisting plot that leaves viewers questioning humanity. Brad Pitt plays an eccentric patient in a bizarre insane asylum opposite Bruce Willis. It was the first time Pitt the heartthrob was recognized for his acting chops. The first time he proved he was more than just a pretty face, really.
Se7en (1995)
Brad Pitt's first collaboration with director David Fincher (they've worked together three times now) is scary, twisted, and disturbing yet incredible, especially the first time you see it, before figuring out the twist at the end. Pitt's performance as a young detective working with his partner, played by the amazing Morgan Freeman, is fantastic as the two work to solve the case of a terrifying serial killer who recreates the seven deadly sins with his victims.
Moneyball (2011)
Unlike some of the other movies on this list, Moneyball is a more straightforward film with a more straightforward performance from Brad Pitt. Based on the book by Michael Lewis about the radical new way of doing business in baseball by Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane (Pitt), the movie is a bit of revelation. Though the book was a fascinating look into modern baseball, few thought it could translate to the big screen, but director Bennett Miller and writers Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin made it work brilliantly, with huge help from an Oscar-nominated performance by Brad Pitt.
Ocean's Eleven (2001)
There are few movies that are as much fun as Ocean's Eleven. A remake of the legendary Rat Pack classic from the '60s that was famous for its cast and their shenanigans in Las Vegas while they were filming, the updated Ocean's Eleven features a similar all-star cast, including Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon, and Julia Roberts. It also has a similar loose vibe where all the cast members look like that are genuinely having a great time making the movie. It's the kind of flick you can turn on at any time and at any moment in the movie and watch until the end. As for Brad Pitt, he sure was hungry when he made this one.
Snatch (2000)
Brad Pitt's performance as a sketchy Irish gypsy underground boxer in Guy Richie's Snatch is the highlight of a very entertaining movie. His stylized accent is almost completely unintelligible, yet absolutely charming and funny. When viewers do catch a word or a line here and there, they are hilarious. It's a completely different role than a lot of his parts and it's truly one of his best. Snatch is easy to compare to Ocean's Eleven, as it's a heist movie with a heavyweight cast, including Benicio Del Toro, Jason Statham, Dennis Farina, and Vinnie Jones, but it's also totally different as it's a movie that only Guy Richie could have made.
The Worst Brad Pitt Movies
Cool World (1992)
Cool World is a disaster of a movie from 1992, it was early in Brad Pitt's career and frankly, he may feel lucky that it didn't completely derail said career. Directed and drawn by legendary animator Ralph Bakshhi (Felix The Cat), Cool World is a mess in every way. Pitt plays a hardboiled live-action detective in an animated world in a sort of Who Framed Roger Rabbit for adults – or at least that was the goal. It's 4% rating on Rotten Tomatoes pretty much says it all. It's not even fun in a campy way.
By The Sea (2015)
By The Sea, directed by Brad Pitt's then-wife Angelia Jolie, feels more like an excuse for the couple to hang out in the Mediterranean (it was filmed during their honeymoon in Malta) than anything else. Frankly, it's a boring movie with a tired plot about love and betrayal in the South of France. It's not worth exploring the plot more than that, because it's exactly what you expect. It was a total bomb at the box office too. What else is there to say?
Johnny Suede (1991)
Johnny Suede is an impressively bad movie that star Brad Pitt and his hair. His hair, like Rami Malik's teeth in Bohemian Rhapsody, is the real star of the performance here. Everything else about the movie is completely forgettable. He was cast in this right after filming Thelma & Louise, but before it was released, so he was still an unknown actor at the time, and thankfully for his career, this movie is completely overshadowed by his breakout performance in Thelma & Louise. Again, with different timing, his career might have been quite different.
Seven Years In Tibet (1997)
Seven Years In Tibet is a movie that SHOULD be good but… just... isn't. Brad Pitt's performance is uneven, with him taking on a pretty poor Austrian accent. Let's just say it wasn't his finest performance. Pitt plays famous mountaineer Heinrich Harrer in a story based on his real life as a POW during World War Two that escaped British capture and hid out in Tibet for rest of the war. Seven Years In Tibet really should be a great movie! It's sad that it isn't. It also suspiciously leaves out a crucial aspect of Harrer's life - he reportedly was possibly a Nazi.
With more than 75 acting credits over the years, Brad Pitt has had remarkably great track record, both as an actor and the in the movies he picks. There really are quite few duds on his resume and the future also looks great with the much-anticipated Once Upon A Time In Hollywood set for release this summer.
What do you think is Pitt's best role? What about his worst? There are plenty to choose from, so we'd love to hear more.
Your Daily Blend of Entertainment News
Hugh Scott doesn't believe aliens are hidden at Area 51 or that Elvis is alive, but he does believe birds are real and Meghan Markle isn't treated fairly by the tabloids. He's been writing about music, movies, and celebrities for most of his adult life after realizing stocking shelves in a paper warehouse in college wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
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By Mike Reyes
By Riley Utley
By Nick Venable
By Ryan LaBee


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Party Ideas
04 Feb 2012
Broke-Ass Super Bowl Party Ideas
It's that time of year again. Super Bowl time, that is. And you know what that means – it's party time. I mean, I don't even like football (well, not the American version at least) but hey, when in America – do as the Americans do. Place your bets, watch


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It might sound like a strange question but just bear with me. Let's just say I have a girlfriend but we don't exactly do much together on a sexual level. We get along great, but we just don't connect when it comes to sex. My question is is it cheating when it's with a cam girl?
I might be a little biased here but forgive me because I don't think it is. I mean I am certainly not going to be doing anything with her for real, at worst how is it any different from watching a porno movie? She would still totally kill me if she ever found out what I was doing so maybe we'd better keep this My Free Cams porn just between us. We can use it when the moment calls for us to and we can also get what we need without needing to beg for it!


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Successfully Onboarding Salespeople: How NOT to Lose Your Best New Salespeople
You need to onboard correctly to save time and the energy you used in hiring your new salespeople in the first place. Poorly planned and executed onboarding is the #1 mistake companies make after hiring a strong salesperson or sales manager!
Onboarding is more than providing new hires with their HR paperwork and computer login. Onboarding is a process that continues through the first six months to a year. The infographic below depicts the best practices to onboard new sales staff.
For more detail, get a copy of our free Guide for Successfully Onboarding Salespeople.


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Are parents to blame for students' math anxiety? After all, parents are the first teacher and primary role model for their children. It's actually been shown that parents play an unintentional role in the development of math anxiety. When math-anxious parents help with students' math homework, their children's math-learning processes decline and their levels of math anxiety increase. Parent may inadvertently transfer their negative conception of math to their children. Parents can also elevate their children's math anxiety through the use of certain parental behaviors, such as putting pressure on their children's academic performance. A recent study found that when the levels of mothers' math anxiety are high, their children show less intrinsic motivation, poor arithmetic skills, and higher levels of implicitly measured math anxiety.
But it's not really fair to blame all this on parents. Math anxiety is influenced by more than just environmental factors. We also need to look at cognitive factors. Studies have found a negative correlation between math anxiety and achievement, see examples here, here, and here. However, math anxiety may be both the cause and the result of low achievement. It's a vicious cycle, once students have math anxiety, they avoid mathematical tasks, which only leads to gaps in their learning and students falling behind. When students struggle with math, they become more anxious.
So how can you help students with math anxiety, especially if they have math-anxious parents?
Tip #2 Give students access to resources that act like a personal tutor.
(To see Tip #1, check out this previous blog post)
Build up students' confidence by giving them positive math support, exactly when they need it. Hiring a personal tutor may be out of the realm of possibilities for many families, but thanks to technology, students can get the support they need in a more cost-effective way. As educators, we can provide digital resources that act like a personal tutor, which can be just as effective.
Even the best students can suffer from math anxiety. How can you help?
MathXL for School: Digital homework assignments that provide automatic feedback, like the embedded MathXL for School assignments in enVision A|G|A and enVision Integrated, can build a student's confidence while they effectively master the content. These assignments include personalized learning aids act as a 24-7, always available tutor. High school students can choose from several learning aids to find the support that helps them most, including:
- Help Me Solve This walks students through how to solve a problem while providing feedback at every step of the problem.
- View an Example lets students view a similar worked-out solution with different numbers.
Virtual Nerd: These tutorial videos, which are aligned to every lesson in the enVision A|G|A and enVision Integrated programs, fend off student frustration when they need a math refresher. The instructional videos are clear, with accompanying demonstrations and step-by-step solutions. With hundreds of videos to choose from, students can easily find a video to suit the need at hand. The free Virtual Nerd app is available (App Store| Google Play) for students to download on their mobile devices for on-the-go access to the tutorials.
If you want to see how these two resources are intertwined in a full core curriculum, like enVision A|G|A or enVision Integrated, click here and select "Try a free demo today".
So go ahead and have your students try the free Virtual Nerd app. In fact, parents may appreciate having a willing tutor at their fingertips, too.
Even the best students can suffer from math anxiety. How can you help?
About the Author:
Molly Spalding is a former math teacher who now works on creating and marketing Pearson high school math programs. She is passionate about education and helping students see the beauty in mathematics. She holds a Bachelors of Science in Industrial Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University and a Masters of Science in Secondary Mathematics Education from Northwestern University.


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We need your help!
Contribute monthly via Patreon (which includes perks), make a one-time donation through Paypal, or buy us a coffee. I'm posting reviews here of North Carolina ghost story books, and notes about my research all month long on Patreon.
My collected recaps and reviews of season one, which first appeared on Innsmouth Free Press, are now up (with a few extras) on Kindle. The Kindle version is available through Amazon and is on sale through this Friday. The print version is also up. If you buy the print version, you get a Kindle copy thrown in for free. I also get paid if you get it on Kindle Unlimited (for free), read the Kindle version, or lend it to a friend via the Kindle Owners Lending Library. Reviews also help with sales. Just FYI.
Recap of Lily Sunder's story, as well as one of Jack's predicament so far.
Cut to Now and a closeup of Dean looking devastated. He's in Jack's room with Sam and Castiel, who are looking after Jack. Jack says that maybe his early death was "meant to be" and Dean gets even more upset, going out into the hallway.
Even though Jack tells Sam to tell Dean "it's okay," Castiel goes after Dean and insists he come back in because Chuck forbid anybody take any emotional breaks or anything. I see Castiel's back to his usual "Berate Dean" form.
Dean does return, but even though it's only been a minute or so, Jack has died. Sam announces it and we get a closeup of Dean that looks … determined.
Cue title cards.
Outside, Castiel talks about "making arrangements" and Dean says that a wake and a "Hunter's bonfire." When Sam walks off, Castiel wants to go after him, but Dean tells Castiel to let Sam be.
Sam packs a bag and takes off, while Dean leaves a voicemail for Mary and Castiel moons about Jack's room. Castiel sees Sam leave, but, per Dean's instructions, doesn't stop him. Dean is upset, since he didn't mean to let Sam leave the Bunker. They follow Sam, who has left in the Impala, and find him sitting next to Baby.
Dean at first thinks Sam made a deal. In a flashback, Sam says he was trying to chop down trees to build a pyre. Sam admits that he feels utterly inadequate. Dean and Castiel reassure him that he's not. Castiel claims that Jack's death doesn't feel "natural." Oh, Castiel, honey, since when has anything about Jack been natural?
Sam asks what they should do. Dean suggests a wake (i.e., a heavy-duty drinking and reminiscing session montage about Jack set to The Allman Brothers Band's "Please Call Home"), so that's what they do.
Sam bows out first and then Castiel. As Castiel leaves, Dean asks, "We did all we could, right?" Castiel doesn't even pause, just walks out. Dean pours himself another drink, and toasts Jack (wondering where he is, because there was some debate due to his Naphil status), but looks thoughtful.
Cut to Jack by the Impala on a bright, sunny day, eating a burger. He's with the Brothers and Castiel, and Dean is outlining a hunt they're on (while he and Sam bicker). But in the middle of teaching Jack how to read a map, Dean starts to glitch and the sun appears to blink. Jack is in heaven, but something is seriously wrong.
Jack walks out into the boring white corridor that has become the Heaven set (I really miss the night road version of the Axis Mundi, just saying). Everything is flickering. And then he gets chased by a black goo monster. Remember the Leviathans or the Empty Entity? Like that.
Dean wakes to a terrible hangover (Ackles sure milks that stuff) and voices in the other room. Sam and Castiel are talking to a woman with a black eyepatch. An older woman. Remember Lily Sunder from season 12? Her. Only, played by a different actress because, as Dean crassly tells her, "You got old." As in, very quickly.
So, in other words, they recast her. I'm okay with this because I will take Veronica Cartwright (who played a witch-hater in both The Witches of Eastwick and late, lamented Eastwick the series) over Alicia Witt any day. Maybe Witt wasn't available. Or maybe they wanted to change up the character's look.
So, Sam got the idea sometime during the wake the night before to call Lily and see if she could help with deciphering Kevin Tran's notes from the Angel Tablet. The idea is that maybe they can find a way to bring Jack back (since he's half-angel).
The Angel Tablet, as we know, was broken along with Dean's human life at the end of season nine. Kevin had transcribed the entire thing but into incomprehensible scribbles that only a Prophet could understand. And (as Dean points into in an understandable rant about Lily not exactly being their friend due to having tried to murder Castiel during their previous encounter when she was seeking revenge for her daughter) Donatello is obviously not going to be any help in his current state.
Lily suggests that she could use her knowledge of angels to decipher the tablet, which is why Sam called her. Unfortunately, it turns out she can't.
"Well, thanks for stopping by," Dean snarks. Nope, Dean doesn't ever hold grudges forever, or anything.
Lily says she has a second plan. She can use her magic to resurrect Jack. Her magic draws on the human soul (and she only has a tiny sliver of hers left). If they can find a way to resurrect Jack, Jack can say a spell that will use a very small part of his soul to keep his body alive. Dean doesn't like it, but Sam is for it and Castiel says that if he can find Jack in Heaven, he can pull his soul back down long enough for Jack to revive and say the spell.
But Dean is suspicious of Lily and calls her out on her motives. She admits she has a price. After killing "a lot" of angels (funny, I only recall two), she's pretty certain she's bound for Hell. She wants to change her destination.
Dean wonders how they're going to make that happen. Summon Death? Billie's not liable to be too helpful. Castiel gives up a new piece of information on How Things Work in the SPNverse – Death and her Reapers don't decide who goes where. Since Chuck left, that job belongs to Anubis. As per Egyptian mythology, Anubis weighs a soul against a feather on his scales to decide where it goes after death.
Sam points out that in the mythology, Osiris was supposed to do that. Dean adds that they already met Osiris (and Sam put Osiris in a coma for the next few centuries) in "Defending Your Life" in season seven. Castiel handwaves this by saying that Heaven "passed over" Osiris as their new soul judge for some unknown reason in favor of his son Anubis. Though a pagan god, Anubis doesn't work for Heaven. He works with Heaven.
So, they decide to summon Anubis and force him to change Lily's fate. Lily is surprised at their sang-froid, but Dean says they've summoned gods before (and killed them).
Dean is not actually thrilled by this plan, having issues with the idea of Jack drawing on his own soul for power and also not finding Lily the least bit trustworthy. Sam says it's worth it if it saves life.
Okay, let's stop the presses for a sec, here. Everyone involved in this appears to be under the impression that Jack is in Heaven, even though they weren't sure before. If Jack were in the Empty, I could understand the desperate desire to bring him back, even if it's still an incredibly dangerous thing to do. But as far as they know at that moment in the episode, Jack is in Heaven and effectively enjoying Paradise. So, why are they dragging him back down to earth to have him live on his own vampirized soul again? I'm with Dean – that's a bit creepy.
Anyhoo, the plot is at that moment conveniently turning in favor of making this moral dilemma irrelevant because Jack has entered his mother's heaven (she starts off as a little girl playing ball with her dog). At first, Kelly is thrilled to see him, until he explains to her that she's in Heaven, which means that they're both dead.
Dean is drawing the trap when Lily hands Sam her angel grimoire ("the instruction manual"). On the pretense of getting some last-minute items, Sam leaves the room with an unspoken signal to Dean to go apologize to her. Dean sort of does this, but then takes the opportunity to call her out on her motives.
Dean astutely notes that she has intentionally stopped using her magic, is allowing herself to get old and die, even though she fears Hell. Lily admits that when she swore to kill Ishim, she was fine with using up her entire soul to do so. But as it turns out, she was left with a final "sliver … a whisper" of soul. She knows that her daughter May is in Heaven and desperately wants to be reunited with her if she has any soul of her own left.
In Heaven, Castiel is looking for Jack, and finds piles of goo and dead angels. Well, one dead angel, Azuriel. Duma wakes up and tells him they were attacked by the black goo, but she remembers nothing else. Castiel tells her he has to find Jack, but she's afraid to be left behind. They go to Jack's Heaven together, finding the scene Jack left when he exited his Heaven, sans characters.
Naomi shows up and identifies their enemy as the Empty Entity. It's the one that has flung open all of Heaven's doors (even the ones Metatron had closed) and left them vulnerable, able only to send out a distress signal on Angel Radio. It's seeking Jack, perhaps because Jack is half-angel. Naomi insists they have to give Jack to the EE (she also calls it The Shadow) to appease it, but as she does so (and Castiel says no), she is attacked from within by the EE and overtaken.
There's a wee retcon here. Naomi says that Heaven has "46,750,000,000" human souls, but in season five's "Dark Side of the Moon" (which Dabb co-wrote, so you'd think he'd remember), Ash claims there are about 100 billion. So, which is it, Show? That's a pretty large discrepancy.
Back on earth, Dean is lighting candles while Sam is saying a spell in Ancient Egyptian (sounds like, anyway) and Lily is cutting her hand to let blood drip inside the circle. Anubis appears suddenly, without fuss, inside the circle with a briefcase.
Anubis is … okay, I was disappointed by Osiris, who was a bit of a nutcase (apparently, Adam Glass didn't like writing him, so that would explain why that episode sucked). But I like Anubis. Sean Amsing balances him just right (which is appropriate, all things considered). He's impressed to meet the Winchesters, finally, saying he usually operates behind the scenes and allows Death and the Reapers to do all the face time, so he's never met the Brothers, even though he's weighed their souls many times. When Dean snarks at him, Anubis finds this charming ("just as advertised") rather than insulting.
He calmly asks why he's there and Lily steps forward. At first, Anubis hesitates, calling her request "unorthodox," but figures that since he's already there, he might as well grant it. He pulls out an abacus (amused at Sam's confusion) and takes her hand. The abacus has black and white beads that zip up and down. When they settle, there are a few white beads at the top, but most are black and at the bottom. Anubis sadly tells her he's sorry. She's going to Hell.
At first, the Brothers threaten to keep him in the circle (he can be imprisoned in a ring of palm oil) or even kill him if he doesn't change Lily's fate. Dean even notes that God could make an exception.
Anubis says that's not the way it works. Humans make their own fates depending on their own actions on earth, summed up at the moment of death. No one can change her fate save Lily herself and if the Brothers try to keep him there or even try to kill him, the only thing they'd accomplish is possibly changing their own fates (i.e., that their actions would be unheroic). Reluctantly, Sam gives in and lets Anubis leave.
In Heaven, Castiel and Duma are walking through Kelly's colorful garden. Castiel is sure Jack is there, in his mother's heaven.
Jack and Kelly are inside a house. Jack is peering out the front door, telling her that if an attack comes through it, he will distract whatever it is so she can run. Kelly just tells him she's not running.
Jack is surprised when he hears Castiel's voice and greets him warmly (but Castiel is an angel; why is Jack surprised that Castiel could find him in Heaven?). Castiel apologizes to Kelly, who tells him he has nothing to apologize for.
Castiel explains that he and the Brothers have found a way to bring Jack home, and the cost of the small piece of his soul. But Castiel also adds that the EE is looking for Jack in Heaven. If he leaves Heaven and goes back to earth, it will stop attacking Heaven. Castiel explains the EE is looking for Jack because he's half-angel.
Duma then shows up and it turns out (yeah, shock-twist, not so much) that she is still possessed by the EE and now the EE knows Castiel's plan. Oops.
In tears, Lily wants to bail, even though Sam begs her and says that Jack is their son. Dean is more cutting, using her previous confession against her, saying she must have so little soul left that she is not even human, because no one with a human soul who had gone through what she did with her daughter would do this to them.
Lily glares at Dean hard enough to peel paint off the Impala, but she comes back. They set things up with Jack's body and she starts chanting the spell.
Upstairs, EE/Duma kicks Castiel and Kelly around a bit, then starts to take Jack. EE is apparently upset, still, about being woken up and dearly wants to see Castiel "suffer." EE/Duma also sneers to Jack that the Empty is worse even than Hell because it's "nothing." Except that the EE was quite happy before it woke up, so how would it feel that way?
But EE/Duma savors the victory a wee bit too long, so that Castiel hears a prayer from Dean saying they are ready with Jack's body for the resurrection. So, Castiel gets up and makes a deal with EE/Duma. He says that he was the one who woke the EE up, and the EE might have to wait a long time to get him. But if it takes him in Jack's place, he will go "willingly" and "now." EE/Duma is okay with this, with one alteration – it will come and take him when it feels like it, when he's finally happy and he "feel[s] the sun on your face."
I guess the EE will be waiting a long time, then.
Castiel agrees to the deal and the EE releases Duma, blasting up into a ceiling vent. Duma wakes up, confused, and Jack is upset about Castiel's sacrifice. Castiel says that Sam and Dean are trying to bring him back right at that moment and that Castiel owed it to Kelly to save Jack. He also begs Jack not to tell them about the deal they made. Jack agrees, because secreth and lieth have always gone so well on this show.
Jack says goodbye to Kelly, who says she will be waiting for him. Castiel puts his hands on the side's of Jack's face, which glows, and the Jack wakes up on the table in the Bunker (as Lily stops chanting and starts in surprise), deathly pale and coughing, but breathing. Sam quickly hands him the spell to heal himself, which Jack does with much hacking and choking. His eyes glow briefly and he asks in wonder if that is his soul. Dean asks him how he feels and Jack realizes he's healed. Dean hugs him and Sam manfully squeezes his arm.
In the background, Lily has been clutching her chest and backing away from the table. She sits down offscreen in a chair. When Dean turns to her to thank her (Sam does, as well), she is lying dead in the chair. The spell took the last bit of life out of her.
Lily finds herself in Anubis' office, which is a 40s noir style set-up in a clock tower (pretty cool design). Confused, Lily asks what she's doing there. In response, he pulls out his abacus and takes her hand again. This time, most of the white beads end up at the top.
Anubis asks Lily if she realized "what the spell would cost you"? She doesn't answer (though her look says she did). The implication is that not only did she suspect it would cost her her life, but even the last sliver of her soul (since her spells were powered by her soul). By giving these up, she appears to have restored her soul and also won passage to Heaven because Anubis tells her, "Say hello to your daughter for me."
In Heaven, as Castiel is exiting Kelly's, he encounters Naomi. Naomi thanks him for saving the angels, even if he didn't make his sacrifice for them. As a "reward," she offers him what the angels know about alt-Michael's location.
Downstairs, Jack is enjoying a burger (no doubt made by Dean) with the Brothers and Castiel. Dean tells Jack that Castiel got intel on alt-Michael. Castiel says they still don't know where EVOL!Kaia is, or her Spork (though I'm guessing it's with her), but they're one step closer. Dean calls a clink of glasses over the prospect of taking down Michael once and for all.
Ratings went up a bit this week on this one, which is somewhat unusual for December (Christmas ratings for non-holiday shows tend to be dire). Perhaps fans wanted to know what happened to Jack. The show got a 0.5/2 and 1.53 million, which put it in second for the week on the network in both demo (tied with Arrow) and audience.
The promo for next week (which is the Christmas finale) is up. This will be the last episode until January 17. Since the show is only 20 episodes long this year and so far, they're going with the usual number and spacing, it appears that we will have some looooonnnnger than usual mini-hellati in spring. They're basically stretching 11 episodes out over 4 months. I'll be doing some catching up with older seasons during those lacunae.
So, the review. This episode obviously wasn't going to kill off Jack (though, for a bit, they teased that it might turn out the way things did for Bobby in season seven, which would have been awful), but in order for it to have the necessary emotional weight, someone recurring needed to get thrown under the bus.
Castiel's not going anywhere, either, but his deal will throw the usual spanner into the works when the time comes. And the time may come sooner than later (albeit I still think everyone else was distracted, with reason, by the horrific shiny of Jack's illness from the fact that Dean is definitely not okay – with potentially cosmic consequences). Depends on where they go with the Michael storyline, which they finally revived this week, and how fast. I can't decide if the EE will be the Big Bad for this season, with alt-Michael reluctantly recruited to fight it, or will be reserved for another season (yes, people, there will be another season – did you see those ratings?).
Since none of the regulars was going anywhere, the return of a guest star was required. Well, we technically got more than one, though Kelly didn't leave Heaven. And while Duma and Naomi's exits were teased, Heaven only lost one redshirt angel (sorry, Azuriel, or whatever your name was!).
So, hello again, Lily; goodbye, Lily. Initially, I was perfectly okay with this. I found Lily Sunder mighty unsympathetic in her first appearance. Not only was she up against Ian Tracey's Ishim (yes, I know Ishim was whackadoo and jealous of Dean's friendship with Castiel, but it was Ian Tracey. Sue me), but she was played by Alicia Witt. I've noted in the past that I'm not a huge fan of Witt. I fact, I just realized she's actually been irritating me since the 1980s, as she played my favorite character not very well in David Lynch's version of Dune. Yeah, she was a kid back then, so it wasn't her fault, but she isn't now.
But I liked Cartwright. She brought a twilight sadness and guilt to Lily Sunder that the character needed to hook us into her story arc. We still had the foundation of a frenemy we had met before as an enemy, whom the Brothers (well … Sam) called in desperation, but with more emotional pain and less angry snark.
Lily wasn't just a sacrificial character the show threw under the bus to give Jack's resurrection emotional weight. She was a character whose ending had been left undetermined in the previous episode. There was still a story to tell about/for her and the episode did a pretty decent job of doing so. Yeah, a lot was packed in, but Lily's journey was never ignored or given short shrift. Her decision was pivotal for the episode, but made perfect sense for her. Anubis was right – only Lily could change her own fate.
The thing was that Lily was a very selfish character in her first appearance. One understands the concept of revenge. The entire reason the Brothers are so powerful in the first place is because of their familial quest for revenge for their murdered family. We hear a lot of demons and monsters and angels and gods make snarky references to the Winchesters' violating the Natural Order, but the Natural Order destroyed their family, for generations, made them products of a eugenics program going back possibly billions of years, caused them untold misery. Why would they feel any loyalty to that? Excuse me, but the sheep get to fight back.
But the Brothers have always had the Family Business motto to project that mission outside themselves. It's always been about more than just their needs. Though John gradually lost his way, he also saved a lot of people. And though Sam could be a lot more selfish than Dean (and Dean could be downright violent, albeit otherwise the most altruistic Winchester), Sam has always perceived saving others as a way to redeem the darkness he feels inside him. And, of course, there's Mary, who could never quite stop hunting because there would always be innocents needing help.
Lily, on the other hand, didn't care if innocents got hurt on her mission. She had no empathy for the vessels the angels she killed inhabited. Just collateral damage, as far as she was concerned. She couldn't care less that Ishim was about to kill Dean. To her, that was just a convenient way to stall Ishim until she could get to him and kill him. She even got herself into her original predicament by summoning Ishim and messing with forces she didn't fully understand.
Yes, she loved her daughter, but she then used May (and May's death) as an excuse to become darker and darker over time. In Lily's case, her use of her soul to fuel her power was really a metaphor for her gradual loss of humanity over time.
And it made sense that Dean would be the one to call her out on it. Sam gets moral tunnel-vision and often is willing to work with some shady people, doing shady things, without looking hard enough into what's going on (this goes all the way back to, oh, "Faith"). I especially wasn't too thrilled by how Sam brushed off the realization that Jack was in Heaven and that they would be yanking him back down to earth if they resurrected him, having him power his body with his own soul just to survive.
Dean doesn't buy into that as much. Dean wants to know the hidden moral cost before he plays the game (and Dean was the one who questioned the soul battery idea for Jack). Sam had the idea of calling Lily but it was Dean who knew how to find her true motivation and bring it out.
So, Lily desperately needed redemption. The fact that there were any white beads in her favor the first time shows that she did manage to do some good, and that allowing herself to age and die was a promising start. But she needed something else, something where she set aside her selfishness for good and all. That involved sacrificing her life to save Jack.
By giving Lily a real story of her own, the episode made it possible for her sacrifice to anchor Jack's return. A life for a life, but in Lily's case, sacrificing herself is exactly what her story needed to end well.
I also liked Anubis. This felt like a do-over of the botched Osiris story in season seven and even of Kripke's original idea of gods as just human-eating monsters. Anubis was not a monster. Nor was he an angel. He was an actual pagan god but a benign one. Don't think we've ever had that before.
Yeah, it was sort of a retcon that basically ignored the Fates ("My Heart Will Go On") and previous pagan god lore, but I'm okay with that. I didn't like the Fates, anyway. Plus, the idea that all pagan gods were evil and dependent on the power of their worshipers (especially the whole "Hammer of the Gods" massacre) never sat well with me. And yes, I've read American Gods, and no, I didn't like it. I felt it was disrespectful toward pagan religious systems (aside from being overlong and hideously boring at times).
Anubis has a place in the SPNverse, a critical place. He has basically replaced Chuck as the person who decides where human souls go when they die. Except that he doesn't decide – the humans do. That was the twist. Anubis is just the psychopomp.
I also liked the way the actor played him. Anubis wasn't going to put up with any crap, but at the same time, he understood the emotional stakes (fitting for a god who weighs human souls against a feather) and was willing to cooperate as far as he could.
He wasn't mean. He wasn't cruel. He felt compassion for Lily, even though he hardly ever had interactions with humans. He didn't so much as balk at giving Lily a final accounting (after all, he did say that he normally only did it at a person's death) or congratulating her when it turned out well. If anything, Anubis is a much nicer and kinder god than Chuck. Go figure.
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Dream League Soccer 2018 is a full-fledged football simulator for Android devices. The user will have to form his own football team, develop its potential and lead to a series of victorious matches over experienced rivals. The path to the heights will be long and difficult because the game has several divisions, as well as the opportunity to play online against another player of the corresponding rank.
At the start of a career, a player receives a letter stating that he has become the owner of his own football team. After that, there is a selection of the team captain from a rather large list of existing players, as well as other team members. Next, the player enters the mode selection menu. In addition to single matches against the computer and other players, the game also has a "practice" mode in which you can pump over various parameters of your players.
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Here at Davis Acura, we are proud to offer a state-of-the-art service department in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, with high-end diagnostic tools. Part of the routine maintenance on your new Acura TLX is to replace and flush the fluids under-the-hood. From oil changes to coolant flushes to new wiper fluid, our professional auto mechanics are trained to maintain the fluid levels on your vehicle to the Acura standard of performance.
The next time you bring your new Acura crossover in for a quick oil change, ask our service department specialists if any other fluids need to be topped off or drained. We all know the importance of checking our car's antifreeze in the winter and performing regular oil changes on a prescribed schedule, but there are other essential fluids under the hood of your car as well.
By understanding the role each fluid plays in the operation of your vehicle, you can stay on top of your car's performance. The next time your vehicle is due for service, stop into our local service department near Newtown, Pennsylvania, to have our professional Acura mechanics check the fluids on your car.
We make it easy to schedule your auto repair online or by calling our service department. You're also welcome to book your repair in person if you'd like to drop by the next time you're in the area.
When you book your appointment, don't forget to to browse our discounts on auto parts and repair. Our goal is to help you maintain a low cost of auto maintenance for as long as you own our Acura. We regularly promote oil change coupons and discounts on timing belt replacements on our website. Check back regularly, so you never miss a money-saving opportunity.
Motor oil is essential when it comes to maintaining the correct level of lubrication between the moving metal parts of the engine in your new Acura RDX, so they function as efficiently as possible. Motor oil also keeps the engine in your vehicle running at the proper temperature while maintaining optimal performance and a smooth ride. As motor oil breaks down over time, it becomes less effective. This is why regular oil changes are necessary. While synthetic oil lasts longer than conventional motor oil, and you can go longer between oil changes, all motor oil breaks down over time. The majority of new Acura models on the roads of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, run on synthetic motor oil.
Your new Acura relies on hydraulic brakes to come to a stop. This means that there is a fluid that is pumped into the brake calipers to squeeze the rotors and slow/stop your car. Your Acura boasts a high-temperature brake fluid that delivers superior stopping power even if the brakes on your vehicle are hot. The specialists in our service department will bleed the brakes on your Acura to remove any air bubbles from the hydraulic system then top off the brake fluid reservoir with DOT 3 or DOT 4 brake fluid depending on your vehicle.
Coolant flows through the radiator and the engine in your new Acura to remove heat from under the hood and maintain an ideal running temperature. As the radiator fluid flows through the engine, it absorbs heat and needs to be cooled. The fluid then flows back into the radiator where it is cooled by the fan and outside air. The radiator fluid or coolant is continually pushed through this circuit via the water pump to maintain a consistent temperature. Many cars come equipped with a mixture of coolant and antifreeze to prevent the liquid from freezing when temperatures drop below freezing. If there isn't the correct mixture of antifreeze in your car's radiator, the engine block can freeze and crack, which would cause the oil to spill out and no longer function.
The transmission in your new Acura RDX also has a fluid that lubricates the moving metal parts and extends the life of your transmission. Changing the fluid in your used Acura sedan as needed will help extend the life of your car's transmission as well as maintain the ideal lubrication characteristics among the gears and facilitate smooth gear changes for a smooth, quiet ride along the streets of Newtown, Pennsylvania. Check your car's owner's manual for the suggested interval for when to change the automatic transmission fluid if your Acura has a non-sealed transmission.
If it's been a while since you've had a brake fluid inspection, transmission fluid service, or radiator coolant flush, stop by our auto repair center in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, for Acura fluid services.


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Milky Way from Ocean Path, Acadia National Park
June 18, 2015, 01:27 – 02:53 AM
Venkat Pakala and I shot this shortly before and during astronomical dawn from the cliffs of Ocean Path along the Park Loop Road in Acadia National Park, Maine. The outcrop into the ocean on the right is Thunder Hole in the foreground with Otter Cliff far off on the horizon directly below the galactic center of the Milky Way. On the left are the cliffs overlooking Sand Beach with Great Head on the horizon beyond, and dawn fast approaching. High tide was at 12:23 AM. A little bit of air glow is visible over the ocean's haze.
I shot two spheres of two different exposures and blended them in Photoshop, the shorter exposures of the sky first followed by the long exposures of the ground as it got brighter out. All of the photos were aligned in a single PTGui project since there was some discrepancy between the alignment of the two spheres, having shot them on a manual panning head without the accuracy of a robotic panning head or a click-stop rotator, and rushing to beat sunrise! I manually blended and masked all the individual photos and exposures in Photoshop. Each sphere consists of 2 rows of 6 photos, plus an extra shot of Venkat and I attempting to stand still!
Learn about this and more at our upcoming Night Sky Panoramas Workshop, May 5-8, 2016!
Camera settings: 14mm, f/2.8, ISO 5000, 20 seconds for the sky and 14mm, f/2.8, ISO 5000, 158 seconds for the ground.
Stitching data: 2 rows of 6 columns x 2 exposures + 1 shot of Venkat and I for a total of 25 photos. Finished panorama is 18310 x 9155 or ~167 megapixels.
Equipment used: Nikon D810, Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8, Promote Control, and Really Right Stuff TVC-34L tripod w/ leveling base & multi-row panning head. Long exposure noise reduction via Pixel Fixer, RAW conversion via Lightroom, aligned via PTGui Pro, and manually blended via masks in Photoshop. Planned with PhotoPills.
Above are 300° fisheye and little planet views, rendered with PTGui from the same spherical panorama.
Here are the separate ground and sky exposures before blending and masking in Photoshop.
Milky Way from Ocean Path
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Paving the way - what Turkish infrastructure spending means for transport & logistics
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Turkey and Eurasia
Paving the way - what Turkish infrastructure spending means for transport & logistics
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Turkey's geographic location already provides the nation with natural transport links. Massive investment in infrastructure, however, is turning Turkey into the region's premier logistics and trade hub.
Billions of dollars is being poured into updating roads, rail, sea and air links, falling under the umbrella of the Turkey 2023 initiative. The question is, which projects are most advantageous to international transport firms? What does this deluge of government spending mean for logistics in the region?
Istanbul New Airport sends air freight capacity sky high
Istanbul is already served by two major airports, with Istanbul Ataturk Airport located on the European side of the Bosphorus and Sabiha Gocken acting as its Asian counterpart, but a third major facility is being built.
This new airport will become one of the biggest in the world and is set to increase air freight volumes passing through Turkey considerably. For context, the volumes of international air cargo handled by Turkey's airports each year stands at around 1.9 million tonnes. It is predicted that the $11 billion Istanbul New Airport will have the capacity to accommodate 5.5 million tonnes of freight annually.
At present, Ataturk Airport processes 47% of Turkey's air cargo. Antalya Airport sees 29% of air freight pass through it with while another Istanbul airport, Sabina Gocken, handles 9%.
Turkey's new major airport will be operational by 2018. Once completed, it is expected that this will transform Turkey into a vital air freight stop. Cargo values are likely to soar beyond the present annual totals of around $24 billion. Air freight operators' attention will very much be focussed on the new airport's progression as it will cement Turkey's place as the region's leading air cargo hub.
Tunnelling towards a stronger logistics position
While the new airport at Istanbul will prove vital in dispersing international cargoes across Turkey and the surrounding region, the nearby road links are in need of an update. The Bosphorus, redolent with history and strategic significance, acts as a major natural barrier for land transport. Crossing the waterway has never been easy. Not only does the river measure 3.5 kilometres at its widest point, but the Bosphorus is one of the world's busiest shipping channels.
Advances in tunnelling equipment, however, is pointing towards the completion of one of Turkey's many megaprojects: creating a double-decker road tunnel beneath the Bosphorus sea channel. The tunnel forms part of a greater 14.6 kilometre highway along the Marmara coast, close to the main Ataturk airport. Once completed, operations are expected to begin in 2017, 120,000 vehicles will pass through the tunnel each day.
Creating strong road links between its largest airports and the rest of Turkey will have a positive effect for road transport in the country. Greater efficiency, reduced costs and faster delivery times are likely to be the results of the tunnel's construction.
The building of the new sub-Bosphorus route plays into a greater programme of road building underway by the Turkish government. By 2023, the nation hopes to increase the length of its highway network considerably.
Currently, Turkey's total road network stands at roughly 2,200 km. By 2023, it is hoped to measure 9,600 km. As road freight holds the majority modal share of 87%, all updates to Turkey's motorway network will drastically improve the efficiency, cost and trade per kilometre volumes for domestic and international trucking firms alike.
Turkish rail links to grow considerably by 2023
One critical area of infrastructure spending in Turkey is the updating and construction of new rail networks. By 2023, the network will total 26,000 kilometres and will form a crucial link between Western and Northern European markets to China and the Far East.
An estimated $17.65 billion has been pumped into Turkish railways since 2003. However, the network is currently un-optimised and inefficient. Less than 5% of all freight by volume travels by train. Through building new rail lines and opening up the network to private firms for the first time in history, Turkey's government hopes to bump rail freight's market share to 15% by 2023.
Building updated links is already underway. A new freight corridor linking Liyanungang in North-East China to Istanbul was put into operation in January 2016. Rail cargo levels have already seen an increase in rail cargo levels. Indeed, Chinese-Turkish cooperation is ensuring Turkey takes pride of place in China's new Silk Road project. For example, a $30 billion high speed network, linking the Turkish cities of Edirne and Kars, is being developed by the two countries.
While it isn't necessarily linked to infrastructure construction, it should be noted that Turkish State Railways (TCDD) is allowing private freight operators to Turkey's rail network for the first time. This privatisation initiative opens up vast opportunities for international freight operators – especially given the vast number of countries and markets accessible via Turkey.
Expect a surge in rail cargo volumes in the near future.
Bigger infrastructure spending means better trade opportunities in Turkey
If the levels of infrastructure investment remain high, until at least 2023, then it is likely transport and logistics opportunities will increase in Turkey. Freight volumes will increase as transport links ensure Turkey remains a vital international and regional logistics hub.
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Disclaimer: Bias will follow anything I write about Cursive. The Ugly Organ stubbornly protects the top spot on my "best of" list for the twenty-first century. I picked up the album a year or two after it came out. On a whim I mostly chalk up to the cool cover art, I popped in the disc.
Regardless, The Ugly Organ sunk its teeth into me the first time around. Deep. It ripped flesh out when those teeth pulled back — a good album makes you bleed a little bit and takes a little piece of you with it. To this day, when I listen to "Butcher the Song", more often than not, dread crawls up the back of my neck when I hear, "What a lovely day,' says the butcher as he raises his arm." And the strident organ fades out with the song.
Cursive has always been a heady band, with double entendre always around the corner, but above all, Cursive is earnest. Tim Kasher revels in painful honesty whether it be a dissolved marriage (Domestica), religion gone wrong (Happy Hollow), or in this case, existence itself on Mama, I'm Swollen, Cursive's latest and (nearly) greatest.
"From the Hips" deconstructs and laments the state of communication and knowledge itself. ("We're at our worst when it's from our lips"). Semantics and post-modernism have made conversation tiring and difficult for Tim Kasher. "I hate this damn enlightenment / We were better off as animals / We're at our best when it's from our hips" brings a new spin to the maxim "Make love not war." If words make war and our hips make love… A hopelessness pervades the tune. Is the best we can expect a roll in the hay, a chemical explosion in our brain that keeps us in a moment where we don't have to think anymore? The song strips away any semblance of pretense. It's hard to tell if Cursive is questioning post-modernity itself or simply lamenting that we ever became aware of such ways of thinking.
All this thinking and honesty can weigh a song down–but not "From the Hips". Watch Cursive rip apart the stage on Letterman. It's a song that feeds on a live audience. When Kasher first sings, "I want to scream it from the foaming mouth," he's not foaming or screaming. By the time he's made it through the chorus a couple of times, he sounds like he's exorcising demons: a conversation turns into a shouting match. When his voice starts to break, and he continues to push it to see how far it'll go, you can hear the agony. Cue the horns.
On The Ugly Organ, the strings made the difference. On Happy Hollow, it was horns. The tradition continues with horns on Mama. The ace in the hole for Cursive has always been there inventive instrumentation. Without diving into math rock, Cursive keeps a listener guessing. There are days when I wonder if Cursive sold their soul for a page out of the Brian Wilson playbook.
The album begins with a mantra. "Don't want to live in the now / Don't want to know what I know." It repeats and repeats on "In the Now". Cursive has never been a sunny band, but they are at their darkest – which should send off warning bells – to long-time followers. This isn't an album for suicides, Prozac patients, or hopeless nihilists. Hide the razor blades and lengths of rope. Call the group therapy hotline.
Where Happy Hollow suffered from a lack of subtlety, and The Ugly Organ fed off of it, Mama, I'm Swollen is somewhere between the two. Kasher is at his best lyrically when he turns the pen on himself. It's rarely pretentious or overly self-involved, and he has an eerie gift for taking the pulse of his listener simultaneously with his own. The first half of Mama, I'm Swollen is fairly straightforward, but it revels in painful honesty. The second half is more obtuse, but it recalls some of the better stories Kasher told on The Ugly Organ.
Mama, I'm Swollen is without a doubt Cursive's best since The Ugly Organ; however, Mama is not the monument that Organ is. A band will very rarely make more than one perfect record. The fact that Cursive has already made theirs is a strike against Mama in that regard. In other comparisons, Mama, I'm Swollen is in the top two or three albums (out of twenty-plus) I've heard since January. It's solid; the kind of album that really deserves to be picked up at your local indie record store (if you still have one) instead of downloaded from iTunes. Mama's the kind of album where you need to thumb through the cover art the first couple of times you listen to it; a CD that scratches quickly from being passed around between friends, and one of the few CDs that still deserves to be paid for in full.


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If you've ever wanted to lick icing off Thor's face, I've got great news for you. Williams-Sonoma, the company that brought you the $250 tea pot, the Darth Vader spatula and lemongrass-ginger dish soap, takes a culinary Journey into Mystery with the Marvel Kitchen Collection. The collection includes the cakelet pan, the heroes cookie cutters and the Spider-Man comic book cookie cutters, and they're all adorable and probably impossible to make.
Tragically, I don't bake. Or cook. Or boil water. I mainly use my oven as an extra linen closet. If I can't put it in a shaker with some ice and Triple Sec, I'm afraid it's beyond me. So, unless some fabulous baker boy makes these for me, I will have to content myself with drooling over the pictures. (I do the same with the Food Network and Martha Stewart Living.) Even if I did buy some pre-made cake batter and used my hair dryer to cook them, the real challenge would be decorating. I feel like only a professional food stylist could recreate these perfect little sugary pieces of art. Williams-Sonoma offers a decorating guide, but it's really more of a color guide, and doesn't begin to explain how you get the icing onto the cakes. Maybe that's where the Darth Vader spatula comes into play.
The cakelet pan is $36 and the cookie cutter sets are $19.99 each. I would buy them, but frankly, I'm running out of storage space in my oven. If you want to buy them, then submit photos of your creations, please do. I would totally support that. Especially if you give Thor a beard like Chris Hemsworth and maybe some pecs made out of Pop-Tarts. Just a suggestion.


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|The Pumpkin Caramel Latte from Bath & Body Works smells amaze too!
Now that the weather is getting colder, I've also been more diligent with exfoliating my scaly bod, and Haus of Gloi Ghost Puffs Soft Bubbling Scrub has been my weapon of choice. It's supposed to smell of buttery popcorn and gooey marshmallows on a stick but to me it smells very realistically of one of my favorite Polish desserts called karpatka. It's a bit like two sheets of puff pastry with custard-like filling inbetween; I can really smell the sweet vanilla and butter in this one. Absolutely delicious!
|Here you can see the Definicils mascara and Revlon nail polish in action, as well as some seriously overdue bang trim.


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Last updated on 2023-01-18, by
MOTO XT875 Released: 4.5-inch Touch Screen with Dual-core Processor
As one of the dual-core smart phones released by Motorola, the delay release of MOTO Droid Bionic has received great concern. According to the official explanation of Motorola, the delay dues to some further improvements. Recently, with the re-exposure of this smart phone, the answer is settled down finally.
4.5-inch Touch Screen
Remarked as the smart phone releases at the same time with MOTO ATRIX 4G, the biggest advantage of MOTO Droid Bionic Inflatable Water Slide comparing to the previous version is that it is equipped with 4.3-inch qHD touch screen. Seen from the latest exposure information, it seems that Motorola wants to make a breakthrough on the screen size, that is to say, the mobile phone will be equipped with 4.5-inch touch screen so as to become the flagship product which has the biggest touch screen.
In addition, more new designs will be introduced to this phone, for example, the touch interface will be with blue semi-transparent notification bar and also with stunning animation effects.
Processor Replaced
Although it is equipped with the same Nvidia Tegra2 dual-core processor with MOTO ATRIX 4G in its first release, from the latest test data, it is quite possible for MOTO to employ 1GHz dual-core TI OMAP4430 processor.
The most remarkable feature of this processor lies in that GPU adopts the highest level SGX540 graphics processor which is four times as the current SGX 535 performance and bring with more powerful 3D and images processing ability.
8-million-pixel Camera
Compared with MOTO ATRIX 4G which is with 5-million-pixel camera, MOTO Droid Bionic not only employs two cameras, but also upgrades the main camera to 8 million pixels. Moreover, it is with LED supplementary light and supports 1080p video recording function.
Supports External Docking Station
MOTO Droid Bionic brings with powerful function configurations as well as enhances user experience. It is compatible with Laptop Dock and Desktop Dock docking station.
But it still remains unknown whether the fingerprint encryption function will be removed or not and whether the 512MB RAM will upgrade to 1GB.
Supports 4G Network
Motorola Droid Bionic also supports 4G network based on LTE technology. And also it is added with video call function. Compared to Motorola ATRIX 4G, it is weak in battery capacity, from 1930mAh to 1750 mAh.
It is reported that the formal model of MOTO Droid Bionic is XT875. It will make an official debut in the second quarter by Verizon Wireless. The specific sales price and release date have not been confirmed yet.
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