text:
Kevin Quigley over at FEARnet has posted a review of my new mini-collection of short stories, Weak and Wounded, which very well may be the best review my work has ever received.
Here is a little bit of the review:
Weak and Wounded plunges us into small worlds, in which people live desperate lives and struggle with impossible decisions. Loss permeates every page: these people survive the deaths of parents, children, spouses, and siblings, only to find that survival might be a fate worse than death. But the power in these pages comes not from what our protagonists suffer, but how they suffer it. How they continue to go on…. By tying these stories together by theme, feel, and intent, Freeman has created a work of collected fiction that stands as one piece. Each story beats with its own punctured heart, but taken as a whole, Weak and Wounded is even better than the sum of its broken and damaged parts.
If a reader ever asks you what I write about, you might want to point him or her toward the full FEARnet review.
The signed Limited Edition of Weak and Wounded sold out in one week after it was announced, but there will be affordable trade paperback and eBook editions next year.


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On Air Now
Capital Breakfast with Roman Kemp 6am - 10am
20 December 2011, 14:03
The 'She Makes Me Wanna' star posts picture on Twitter of his new locks while band holiday in Caribbean.
JLS star Aston Merrygold has unveiled a potential new dreadlock hair style.
The singer took to the band's official Twitter page to post a picture of himself in a Jamaican hat and wig.
"Yup I have dreds now haa!! Axx," he tweeted.
The 'Do You Feel What I Feel' band are currently in the Caribbean enjoying a pre-Christmas break together whilst celebrating band mate JB's 25th birthday.
The boys have been tweeting messages from the Island of Antigua for the past few days discussing their vacation exploits.
JLS release their new single 'Do You Feel What I Feel' on the 1st Janurary 2012 and are set to head out on a UK arena tour in support of their third studio album 'Jukebox'.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Lovely 3 Bed home in Ann Arbor, USA
Home is 2200 sf 1960's colonial style, 4 upstairs br, 2 1/2 bath, living room, dining room, sun room, family room, comfortably furnished. Ann Arbor is small midwestern city, the home of the Univ. of Michigan with a wide array of sports (American football, soccer, etc.), musical and cultural events. There are a number of fine restaurants. Shopping is convenient. Detroit is within an hour and Chicago about 4 hours. Public golf courses and walking trails are easily available. A river runs through the town with canoeing. September weather is usually warm and pleasant.
We also are offering HE22467,in the Florida Keys and HE22610, an apartment in Buenos Aires for non simultaneous exchanges.
Type of swap
- Home Exchange
Conditions of exchange
- Non smokers only
- Washer / Drier
- Garage / Parking
- Car exchange offered
- Garden
- Use of computer
- Internet / WiFi
- Golfing
- Tennis
- Walking
- Car recommended
- Good public transport
- Local restaurants
- Shopping facilities
Nearest city: Detroit
Property type: House
Location type: City
Ann Arbor (HE22310)
Michigan, USA
- 3 bed (sleeps 5) 2.5 bath
Preferred destinations
- Open to offers
Dates available
Swap duration: 2 - 3 weeks
Meet the member
Membership expiry date: 04 Dec 2018


text:
Total length of specimen: 2.7 m (9 ft)
Weight: 200 kg (440 lb)
Sex: female
Missing parts: long feeding tentacles and maroon-colored skin. They were lost when the squid washed ashore.
Estimated length with feeding tentacles: 9 m (30 ft)
Head: houses a complex brain.
Eyes: largest in the animal kingdom. They can grow to 25 cm (10 in.) in diameter--about the size of a volleyball.
Fins: relatively small in this species. They help balance and maneuver the huge animal as it swims.
Mantle: the main body. This muscular sac contains most of the organ systems.
Arms (8): studded with two rows of suckers.
Feeding tentacles (2): missing in this specimen.
Funnel: a multipurpose tube used in breathing, jetting, squirting ink, laying eggs, and expelling waste.
Ocean Planet Exhibition Floorplan
Smithsonian Giant Squid Overview Page
gene carl feldman / firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Is A Masters Degree In Healthcare Administration Right For You?
This article is intended to clear up any misunderstandings or sticking points about careers in healthcare administration. In general, these careers require training and or experience in both health care and management. A masters degree in healthcare administration is considered the standard credential, however, in some cases, a bachelor's degree is sufficient preparation for entry-level positions. Although healthcare administration positions are 'executive level' jobs, they often require long hours that may include being 'on call' for emergency situations.
About Healthcare Administration Work
The role of healthcare administrators is to supervise the delivery of healthcare. This includes planning, directing and coordinating the care. Healthcare administrators are sometimes referred to as healthcare executives or medical and health services managers. Within these groups you will find both specialists and generalists. Specialists have a specific area of specialty, that is, they are in charge of a specific department, service, or area of practice. Generalists are those healthcare administrators that manage an entire system or facility.
Because of the general restructuring of healthcare, many changes are taking place within the system. This includes an increased focus on preventive care and a need to improve both the quality of care provided as well as the efficiency with which it is provided. Those needs have resulted in a greater demand for healthcare administrators.
Smaller organizations may be led by a single health care administrator that handles the details of daily operations. This could include a health care administrator at an out-patient clinic or a nursing home administrator. These individuals deal with budgets, the delivery of patient care, managing personnel and more. In large healthcare organizations there will likely be assistant administrators that perform similar duties and that aid the head administrator(s).
Clinical managers have specific responsibilities that are related to a specific clinical area. Therefore, these individuals must have specialized training or experience that enables them to efficiently establish and implement policies and procedures for their departments, evaluate staff and the quality of work provided, develop budgets and reports, and develop and maintain working relationships with other managers.
Another area of work in the healthcare administration field is that of health information managers. All healthcare organizations must maintain electronic patient records and these records must be kept secure. Health information managers are responsible for overseeing this. To do so they must stay current with any laws or regulations pertaining to healthcare records and be knowledgeable about computer and software technology that can be used to keep databases current, accurate and complete, as well as secure.
Small groups of physicians that work together often employ an administrator to overseer billing and collection matters, personnel issues, budgeting, planning, patient flow, and equipment outlays. Larger practices may have a chief administrator as well as one or more assistant administrators to ensure that the day-to-day practice operates smoothly and efficiently. If assistant administrators are employed, each will likely be responsible for a specific area of focus.
Similar functions are required of medical and health services managers in managed care settings. The difference is that these individuals must deal with more employees and may have to manage more preventive care and community outreach work.
As mentioned earlier, healthcare administrators may be required to work long hours. Many healthcare managers have very comfortable and private offices, but others must share spaces with their peers or other staff of the organization. Administrators may also be 'on call' around the clock, and therefore, they may have to work at odd hours.
Master of Health Administration Courses, Licensure & More
It is essential that healthcare administrators are familiar with management principles and practices; therefore, every quality online master in healthcare administration program will address that. Although a degree in a particular field and work experience may suffice for someone that wants to become head of a clinical department, a masters degree in healthcare administration will probably be required for advancements.
Nursing care facility administrators, and in some states, administrators in assisted-living facilities, must at minimum, have a bachelor's degree and they must pass a licensing examination. In addition, the individuals must complete a state-approved training program and pursue continuing education.
One of the certifications health information managers often earn is that of a Registered Health Information Administrator. This certification is provided through the American Health Information Management Association. Most healthcare administrators advance their careers by moving into more responsible positions and as they move up their pay increases. In many cases this may involve moving to a larger facility.
About The Author:
Abbey Cunningham enjoys writing about different issues related to healthcare. According to her, health administrators have wonderful careers. In fact, Cunningham says the online masters of health administration courses are presented in a way that is flexible and progressive, which makes the program stress-free.


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|Related articles
|ultra fast but too complex interpreter. firstname.lastname@example.com (1993-03-17)
|ultra fast but too complex ... summary firstname.lastname@example.com (1993-03-22)
|Re: ultra fast but too complex ... summary email@example.com (1993-03-23)
|firstname.lastname@example.com (Fergus James HENDERSON)
|Computer Science, University of Melbourne, Australia
|93-03-060 93-03-080
|Tue, 23 Mar 1993 13:26:36 GMT
email@example.com (Frans van Hoesel) writes:
>My conclusions:
>gnu-cc is faster for both the all approaches (it has global registers, and
>values-as-labels), but the features needed from gnu-c are *NOT* ansi.
>Well, how cares you could say, almost any machine has gnu-c... forget
>about ansi. I won't! I need optimizing compilers, and vectorrizing
>compilers to handle the primitive functions that will handle my vector
>data (those functions would be highly optimized) threading is only really
>fast in non-standard environments. I like the concept very much, but it
>will not work in ansi.
I happen to be writing an interpreter at the moment. For simplicity we
decided to use a stack-based bytecode, at least for the first
implementation. However that still leaves a lot of implementation
choices, eg. ie. do you use a switch statement, or do you use gcc's
labels-as-values extension, or alterately do you make each the code to
interpret each instruction a separate function, etc.
What we have done is to use a little bit of C macro-hackery to enable us
to easily code up all of these implementation strategies and select
between them by means of conditional compilation. This means that we can
actually run performance comparisons between the different versions,
instead of just guessing at the beginning of the project which method to
use, and being forced into a major rewrite if we decide to use a different
So what I would suggest to you is *don't* decide which method you will
use, until *after* you have implemented several different methods and
compared the performance of each method. (You could even have the Makefile
for your interpreter automatically generate several different versions,
test their efficiency, and then automatically install the fastest one. :-)
A description of the C macro-hackery follows; skip it if you're not
Basically it works like this: all the code to interpret each
opcode is defined in a file 'opcodes.def' like this:
/* the code to interpret POP goes here */
/* the code to interpret PUSH goes here */
By #including this file with different definitions for the OPCODE macro,
you can generate interpreters using a variety of different implementation
strategies. For example,
interpret(...some parameters...)
... declarations for your interpreter's registers ...
#ifdef __GNUC__
/* Use Gnu C's "labels-as-values" extension */
/* We use a 'paste' macro (which can be defined using ANSI C's ## operator)
to generate labels INTERPRET_PUSH, INTERPRET_POP, etc. */
static void *interpret_op[] = {
#define OPCODE(opcode,code) &&paste(INTERPRET_,opcode),
#include "opcodes.def"
#undef OPCODE
... initialize the registers ...
#ifdef __GNUC__
/* Use Gnu C's "labels-as-values" extension */
goto *interpret_op[*reg_ip++];
#define OPCODE(opcode,code) \
paste(INTERPRET_,opcode): \
{ code } \
goto *interpret_op[*reg_ip++];
#include "opcodes.def"
#undef OPCODE
#else /* __GNUC__ */
/* We can't use any gcc extensions.
Use a big switch statement instead. */
switch (*reg_ip++)
/* We use opcodes.def to build the different cases
for the switch statement */
#define OPCODE(opcode,operand_type,code) \
case opcode: \
{ code } \
#include "opcodes.def"
#undef OPCODE
#endif /* __GNUC__ */
Fergus Henderson firstname.lastname@example.com
Return to the
comp.compilers page.
Search the comp.compilers archives again.


text:
We love when this happens. Two former Eurovision representative came together to release a new song for the pleasure of all of us. Severina (Croatia, 2006) and Jala Brat (Bosnia & Herzegovina, 2016) just presented Tutorial. Are you ready for it?
She represented Croatia in 2006 with the song Moja štikla, but she hasn't lost her love for Eurovision. Severina has released her new track called Tutorial, which is in fact a collaboration with Bosnia & Herzegovina's 2016 representative, Jala Brat, who wrote and composed the newest hit.
Check out the official video of Tutorial:
You don't remember Severina? Here is what she looked like 12 years ago when she performed on the Eurovision stage in Athens.
And here's Jala Brat, who represented Bosnia & Herzegovina at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, Sweden.


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by Caitlin Shannon, Student Life & Arts Editor
Last Sunday, the Drew University Orchestra had the unique opportunity of learning from professional musicians. Drew Orchestra Day gave Drewids the chance to take masterclasses with musicians from the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Jonathan Spitz, principal cellist of the NJSO, came in to work with the string section, and Andrew Lamy, second clarinet and E flat clarinetist, worked with the wind section. Drew musicians were joined by community members and local high school musicians for a day full of music.
The day started with a coffee hour that allowed everyone to get know each other while getting energized for the day ahead. After introductions, winds and strings split up to their respective masterclasses. Each masterclass worked on parts of Bizet's L'Arelesienne Suite focusing specifically on the important elements of orchestral playing.
"Orchestra day emphasized the art of listening while you speak. In a group such as an orchestra, each person, or instrumentalist, must listen to one another before, during and after they speak (verbally and musically)," said Stephanie DeFronzo ('20), sharing what she learned during the masterclass.
Especially for those students who had never been to a masterclass before it was a unique opportunity to work and learn closely with professional musicians. "I have never been to a masterclass before and I found it incredibly helpful. It taught me how to effectively play so that my own instrument blends into the cohesive sound of the orchestra," said Makayla Pardo ('20), commenting on her experience. Masterclasses are a special experience that allow musicians to learn specific skills that often are not addressed during normal orchestra rehearsal. In addition, it allows student musicians to learn closely from professionals that would otherwise be difficult to have access to. "My favorite part was the personal attention our section received from a professional clarinetist," said Katie Revelas ('20), one of the clarinetists in Drew's Orchestra.
After the masterclasses the group came together for a lunch at Commons. Lunch and the walk back from the Commons gave students a chance to interact more personally with the musicians. Once lunch was over the winds and strings came back together as a full orchestra to put into practice the skills that they had learned that morning. "The ensemble rehearsal allowed the group to put this thought into action, creating harmonies that rang throughout the Concert Hall," said DeFronzo ('20) about the wide range of skills that were developed throughout the day. Pardo also shared what she learned from the day, saying, "Beautiful music cannot be created unless each player internalizes the essence of the ensemble."


text:
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September 2023
Find more Take the Funny and Run
Some readers love mysteries that deliver blood, guts, and darkness. Others prefer entertaining puzzles with a dash of humor. And then there are those books that make us laugh without intending to, through self-serious dialogue, plot twists that hardly curve, and set pieces that enter into the realm of cliché. Let's face it, no matter how much we love crime fiction, it may be the most spoofable genre there is. Even the best authors employ so many familiar character types, plot devices, and stock situations that spoofing it is pretty much mandatory.
But spoofing is harder than it looks. There are a lot of alleged mystery spoofs whose perpetrators slay us with boredom, not laughter. Let's ignore them and look instead at those that succeed on the page and on the screen.
The Big Over Easy. By Jasper Fforde. 2005. Penguin, paper, $15 (9780143037231).
In Fforde's wickedly funny take on the police procedural, Detective Jack Spratt and his partner, Mary Mary, are trying to figure out who murdered prominent local citizen Humpty Dumpty. Like his mind-bendingly entertaining Thursday Next novels (beginning with The Eyre Affair, 2002), Fforde's Nursery Crime books take popular literature—in this case children's nursery stories—and look at them from weird new angles. Lots of fun wordplay and nudge-nudge, wink-wink silliness.
The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse. By Robert Rankin. 2003. Gollancz, paper, $12.95 (9780575085435).
If Fforde is one of our most ffamous comic novelists, Rankin deserves to be equally well known—his Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse is a masterpiece of weirdness. A serial killer hunts the streets of Toy City. Jack, a boy newly arrived in town, teams up with Eddie Bear, the former sidekick to the disappeared private eye Bill Winkie, to catch the killer before he wipes out Toy City's citizenry. Rankin's writing style is difficult to describe, but call it deliberately offbeat, aggressively self-referential, and wildly hysterical, and you're close.
The Shroud of the Thwacker. By Chris Elliott. 2005. Miramax, paper, $13.95 (9781401360115).
Elliott, the offbeat character actor who first made a name for himself on Late Night with David Letterman, penned this very funny spoof of historical thrillers. It's 1882, and New York City police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt is hunting a twisted serial killer known as Jack the Jolly Thwacker. Elliott himself soon joins the chase, thanks to a time machine (of course), and the book bounces around between the historical search for the Thwacker and Elliott's contemporary efforts to prove, once and for all, the identity of the mysterious killer.
Trent's Last Case. By E. C. Bently. 1913. o.p.
This is an early—and some say the very first—spoof of the whodunit genre. Philip Trent, a sort of Holmes wannabe, uses his brilliant powers of deduction to unmask a killer, only to have the actual killer patiently explain how he screwed up. It's a genteel spoof, tame by comparison to today's more brutal spoofings, but still entertaining and a must-read for fans of spoofs, given its historical significance.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother. 1975.
Directed by and starring Gene Wilder, this film tells the story of Sigerson Holmes, Sherlock's younger brother, who takes over one of Sherlock's cases and winds up facing off against the villainous Professor Moriarty. Like Murder by Death, below, it's an affectionate spoof of a much-loved icon.
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. 1997.
Mike Myers' three Austin Powers movies (Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, 1997; Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, 1999; Austin Powers in Goldmember, 2002) are broad, often crude comedies that take the most spoofable elements of the pre–Daniel Craig James Bond movies—enormous sets, larger-than-life villains, wisecracking dialogue—and push them to hilarious extremes. Myers plays multiple roles, including Powers, a 1960s spy transported to the modern day and then back in time again, and his nemesis, Dr. Evil.
High Anxiety. 1977.
Mel Brooks offers a dead-on spoof of Alfred Hitchcock's films, especially Vertigo. Silly, sure, and played for yuks, but all of Brooks' best films are. It's not quite as funny as Blazing Saddles or Young Frankenstein—but so much better than Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. 1988.
Keenan Ivory Wayans spoofs pretty much every blaxploitation movie ever made. Wayans stars as idealistic hero Jack Spade, navigating his way through the criminal underworld to find out who murdered his brother, Junebug, who allegedly died of an OG ("overgold"—too many gold chains). John Vernon—who else would you get?—plays the villain, Mr. Big, and Isaac Hayes and Jim Brown make appearances too. This film bears repeated viewings and gets funnier every time you watch it.
Johnny English. 2003.
Rowan Atkinson stars as Mr. English, a suavely inept British secret agent who faces off against John Malkovich's Pascal Sauvage, who's planning to steal control of England by forcing the queen to abdicate. Written by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, the authors of a handful of Bond movies (including the latest, Skyfall), the movie is a surprisingly faithful—if decidedly goofy—re-creation of the Bond movies. There's a sequel, Johnny English Reborn (2011), but since we're talking about good spoofs, we probably shouldn't have mentioned it.
Murder by Death. 1976.
Playwright Neil Simon's take on the traditional Agatha Christie–style whodunit features characters based on popular detectives such as Poirot, Marple, Chan, and Spade. (Cleverly, the producers cast Peter Falk, TV's Columbo, as Sam Diamond, the Spade simulacrum.) The movie's big question isn't who the killer is but whether anybody was actually killed. Not a laff riot like High Anxiety—more of a gentle comedy that tweaks familiar characters.
The Naked Gun. 1988.
If you watched television mysteries in the 1970s, you probably saw these words at the end of some of the shows: "A Quinn Martin Production." Martin was the prolific producer responsible for The Fugitive, The Streets of San Francisco, Cannon, Barnaby Jones, and others. The Naked Gun (1988) and its two sequels (The Smell of Fear, 1991; The Final Insult, 1994) are spoofs of the Quinn Martin–style cop shows, featuring Leslie Nielsen as Frank Drebin, a guy who somehow manages to catch the bad guy despite being a hopeless incompetent. The humor isn't exactly subtle—lots of physical shtick and jokey dialogue—but if you don't laugh at these movies, check your pulse.
Get Smart. 1965–70.
Get Smart ran for five seasons (1965–70) on two networks (first NBC, then CBS), and if you haven't heard of it, we're not sure why you're reading this. It's a classic—no, it's the classic—spy spoof, starring the hilarious Don Adams as Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, and Barbara Feldon as his partner, the beautiful Agent 99. Created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, two of television's funniest people, it took popular spy series like the Bond films and TV's The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and gave them a good, hard twist, wringing out every comic possibility. Adams is brilliant as the clumsy but clever Smart, and even though its last episode aired more than four decades ago, the show feels just as fresh today as it did at the time.
Police Squad! 1982.
The Naked Gun movies were based on the limited-run, six-episode series Police Squad!, which ran on ABC in 1982. Produced by the guys who gave us Airplane!, the series introduced Nielsen's Drebin character, and each half-hour episode packed in so many jokes—verbal, visual, even musical—that they were funnier than a lot of full-length movies. If you've never seen the show, go rent the DVD, for crying out loud.
Sledge Hammer! 1986–88.
Also an ABC series, this ran for two seasons. David Rasche starred as Inspector Sledge Hammer, and any resemblance to Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry Callahan was entirely deliberate. Think of it as the funny, goofy, occasionally stupid side of the hit series Hunter (also inspired by Dirty Harry), and you have a pretty good idea of what to expect.
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text:
DUBAI, U.A.E., Nov. 21, 2008 – Stefan Edberg will meet Jim Courier in Saturday's final of the Emirates NBD The Legends "Rock" Dubai Championships after both players emerged from round-robin play with undefeated records. Edberg defeated former doubles partner and Swedish Davis Cup teammate Anders Jarryd 7-5, 7-5 Friday to reach the final, while Courier advanced courtesy of a walk-over victory when Sergi Bruguera was unable to play their round-robin match due to a knee injury. The Emirates NBD The Legends "Rock" Dubai is the eighth and final event on the 2008 Outback Champions Series, the global tennis circuit for champion tennis players age 30 and over.
The final will mark the first meeting between Edberg and Courier since they last competed on the ATP tour in the semifinals of Scottsdale, Ariz., in 1995. During their ATP careers, Courier and Edberg had a spirited rivalry with Courier winning six of their 10 meetings, including the finals of the 1992 and 1993 Australian Opens and in the final of the 1989 Swiss Indoors in Basel for his first ATP singles title. Edberg played near flawless tennis in defeating Courier 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 in the final of the 1991 U.S. Open. Saturday's winner will earn a first-prize paycheck of $54,000.
"This is the first time I've played Stefan on the Outback Champion Series and I can't wait to be back out there trying to hit passing shots by him," said Courier of playing Edberg in the final. "He's one of the last pure serve and volleyers and we've played in quite a few finals including my first in Basel and in three Grand Slam finals. He's one of the game's great champions and it will be a privilege to be back out there with him."
Both Courier and Edberg have combined to win 10 major singles titles (two Wimbledon, U.S. and Australian Opens for Edberg; two French and Australian Opens for Courier) and have ranked No. 1 in the world for a combined 130 weeks (72 weeks for Edberg; 58 weeks for Courier.) Both Courier and Edberg are also two of only 15 men in the history of tennis to play in all four major singles finals in a career. (Edberg also lost the 1989 French Open final while Courier lost the 1993 Wimbledon final (after defeating Edberg in the semifinals) and the 1991 U.S. Open final (losing to Edberg).
Against Jarryd, the 42-year-old Edberg struggled with his serve-and-volley game – sometimes abandoning it – as Jarryd was able to break his serve three times in the match. Jarryd broke Edberg in the seventh game of the first set to lead 4-3, but was unable to consolidate the break by losing his serve the very next game. Edberg was able to break Jarryd at 6-5 to close out the first set. In the second set, Jarryd fought off a 0-40 deficit on his serve in the second game to hold for 1-1. The two exchanged two breaks over the next four games – Jarryd not able to consolidate his break on both occasions – before Edberg closed out the match in the 12th game of the second set by breaking Jarryd for a fifth and final time.
"Anders and I played so many times, we know each other's games so well," said Edberg. "He made me work very hard today. He returns so well. I had to stay back more than I normally do. This was a great match to play going into the final – where you have to fight and work hard the whole way."
Said Jarryd, "I had so much fun out there, everything worked for me. It's been so long since we played. I thought for a while there maybe I could do it. I was up a break twice in the second set, but Stefan is a champion and I take my hat off to him."
The Edberg-Courier final Saturday will be played following the third-place match between Jarryd and Paul Haarhuis.
The Outback Champions Series features eight events on its 2008 schedule with each event featuring a round-robin match format. The winner of each division meets in the title match while second place finishers in each division play in the third-place match. Each event features $150,000 in prize money with an undefeated winner taking home $54,000 as well as Champions Series ranking points that will determine the year-end Stanford Champions Rankings No. 1. Beginning in 2008, the year-end champion will receive a $100,000 bonus courtesy of Stanford Financial Group, the official rankings sponsor of the Outback Champions Series.
The 2008 Outback Champions Series kicked off March 12-16 in Naples, Fla., at The Oliver Group Champions Cup where Todd Martin defeated John McEnroe in the final. Courier won the second event of the season at The Residences at The Ritz Carlton Grand Cayman Legends Championships April 16-20, defeating Wayne Ferreira in the final, while McEnroe won his first career Outback Champions Series event in Boston April 30- May 4, defeating Aaron Krickstein in the final. Pat Cash won his first Outback Champions Series title in Newport, R.I., in August, defeating Courier in the final, while Courier won his second and third titles of the season in September in Charlotte and in October in Dallas, defeating Martin and Thomas Enqvist in the final, respectively. In November, McEnroe won his second title of the 2008 season in Surprise, Ariz., defeating Martin in the final.
Founded in 2005, the Outback Champions Series features some of the biggest names in tennis over the last 25 years, including Pete Sampras, McEnroe, Courier and many others. To be eligible to compete on the Outback Champions Series, players must have reached at least a major singles final, been ranked in the top five in the world or played singles on a championship Davis Cup team. Each event also has the right to choose a "wild card" entrant. More information on the Outback Champions Series can be obtained by visiting www.ChampionsSeriesTennis.com.
InsideOut Sports & Entertainment is a New York City-based independent producer of proprietary events and promotions founded in 2004 by former world No. 1 and Hall of Fame tennis player Jim Courier and former SFX and Clear Channel executive Jon Venison. In 2005, InsideOut launched its signature property, the Outback Champions Series, a collection of tennis events featuring the greatest names in tennis over the age of 30. In addition, InsideOut produces many other successful events including one-night "Legendary Night" exhibitions as well as charity events and tennis fantasy camps, including the annual Ultimate Fantasy Camp. For more information, please log on to www.InsideOutSE.com or www.ChampionsSeriesTennis.com
Results From Wednesday, November 19
Anders Jarryd, Sweden, def. Wayne Ferreira, South Africa, 1-6, 6-1, 11-9 (Champions Tie-Breaker)
Paul Haarhuis, Netherlands, def. Sergi Bruguera, Spain, 7-5, 6-4
Results From Thursday, November 20
Stefan Edberg, Sweden, def. Wayne Ferreira, South Africa, 6-3, 6-2
Jim Courier, United States, def. Paul Haarhuis, Netherlands, 7-6 (7), 6-4
Results From Friday, November 21
Stefan Edberg, Sweden, def. Anders Jarryd, Sweden, 7-5, 7-5
Jim Courier, United States, def Sergi Bruguera, Spain, (walk-over, knee injury)
Starting at 3 pm
Anders Jarryd, Sweden, vs. Paul Haarhuis, Netherlands – Third-place match
Followed by
Stefan Edberg, Sweden, vs. Jim Courier, United States – Championship match
Group A
Stefan Edberg 2-0
Anders Jarryd 1-1
Wayne Ferreira 0-2
Group B
Jim Courier 2-0
Paul Haarhuis 1-1
Sergi Bruguera 0-2
Edberg and Courier To Renew Rivalry In Dubai Final
DUBAI, U.A.E., Nov. 21, 2008 – Stefan Edberg will meet Jim Courier in Saturday's final of the Emirates NBD The Legends "Rock" Dubai Championships after both players emerged from round-robin play with undefeated records. Edberg defeated former doubles partner and Swedish Davis Cup teammate Anders Jarryd 7-5, 7-5 Friday to reach the final, while Courier advanced courtesy of a walk-over victory when Sergi Bruguera was unable to play their round-robin match due to a knee injury. The Emirates NBD The Legends "Rock" Dubai is the eighth and final event on the 2008 Outback Champions Series, the global tennis circuit for champion tennis players age 30 and over.


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Last month, this blog brought you news of the Home Office's disgraceful decision to delay the publication of the National Identity Service Independent Assurance Panel's report into ID cards. The report, which concluded, the ID card system had been compromised by poor design and management, was submitted to the Home Office in December 2009, modified on 4 January this year and then published online in January.
Unwilling to accept this unneccessary delay in releasing the report to the general public, BBW submitted a freedom of information request to the Home Office.
The query, submitted by former BBW Director Alex Deane, was simple: "I wish to know why, when the report is dated "December 2009", it was not released until 4 January 2011".
The response, however, was laughable:
"The ISAP annual reports have always dealt with calendar years and generally take two or three months to compile and be reviewed, and consequently have been published in the spring following the year to which they refer.
"In the case of the 2009 annual report, authorship of the report had transferred internally, and this, combined with other organisational changes which were happening at the time, made the report slightly delayed. By the time the report was nearing completion, other work assumed a higher priority."
For those unable to translate Home Office-speak, their response appears to indicate that they basically had other things to do and didn't consider it important enough to release to the general public in a timely manner. How reassuring...
ID cards ceased to be valid in the United Kingdom at 00:00 on 22nd January.


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The NEW CBD Revolution Part 1
It seems everyday a new product comes out with CBD as a main ingredient. Why is CBD suddenly becoming the new "It" health product of 2018? Let's review what CBD is, where it comes from and why all the fuss now?
CBD is a Cannabinoid found in the Cannabis flower. When consumed, it mimics the body's naturally produced endocannabinoids, which are responsible for maintaining the body's health and homeostasis. They're over 60 cannabinoids found in Cannabis and they can be classified into two categories: psychoactive and non-psychoactive.
The most common psychoactive cannabinoids are THC, THCV and CBN. These are known to give you that "high" feeling. The most common non-psychoactive cannabinoids are CBD, CBG,CBL and CBC. CBD is by far the most abundant cannabiniod constituting about 40% of cannabis resin. So what does this mean to you, the consumer?
Let's take one of our products, Fast Action Gel from Escape Artists. It allows micro dosing of gel right on the tongue. So each of the three products, Fun, Relaxation and Relief all contain 100mg of cannabinoids. The difference is the ratio of THC:CBD and the strain used. So FUN, as it's name implies, is best suited for fun activities such as hiking, biking, skiing etc. It's 100% Sativa distillate so it's uplifting, energetic, focused etc. It contains no CBD so therefore wouldn't help alleviate pain or inflammation. Now Relaxation is 50mg THC and 50mg CBD, a 1:1 ratio. It's formulated for relaxation and a mild high. The Indica gives you the relaxation and the CBD provides pain and inflammation relief. This would be excellent for bedtime. Although Relief has a similar ration of 1:1 THC to CBD, it's formulated with different extracts to improve circulation and reduce stress. It also uses the Indica flower for a more sedated high.
Next time we'll discuss what the FDA did recently that put CBD in the national spotlight. Until then, feel free to stop in and discuss with one of our educated Budtenders which CBD products would be right for you! Remember, every Sunday, all locations, 20% off select CBD products.


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What is this furry and abundant being called?!
Currently Somerset, United Kingdom
I bought this unnamed shrub/flower/herb (???) thinking it was sage as it was tiny at the time and had the same whitey furry-ish leaves like sage (although there was no scent which should have had me realsiing I was being conned!). As it was growing rapidly in every pot I tried I planted it out this year and wow, it has gone MAD to a patch of about three foot square. My neighbour who cuts my grass said 'oh look, rabbit's ears' as the leaves are long and soft (and that is what he knew it as when he was a child). The plant is now also flowering! What is this delicious and surprising visitor to my garden and will it ever stop spreading!? THANK YOU
On plant Surprise me!
- 14 Jun, 2009
Looks like one of the Stachys lanata varieties - not sure which, too tired to get my books out to give you the full name!
14 Jun, 2009
i do believe it is Stachys Bizantina, taller than lanata but just as pretty..
14 Jun, 2009
Looks like its a Stachys something then...will investigate this variety...sorry to sound dozy, is it a variety or a species or a genus? With plants what do you say? Thanks for the input to Stevebuk and Bamboo
14 Jun, 2009
It is Stachys' byzantina', known here as Lambs Tongue or bunnies ears...I used to have it, but it became too big and straggly, so i took it out.....the foliage is nice but i dont care for the flowers......
14 Jun, 2009
Species refers to the stachys bit, and variety refers to the next bit of the name, as in "lanata" or 'byzantina'
15 Jun, 2009
sorry bamboo but Stachys is the genus and then the lanata bit is the species name.
the genus name has a capital letter and the species part a lower case letter. but that is only if we are being pedantic. :o)
15 Jun, 2009
Thanks for all your imput. Stachys seems to be a very abundant and enthusiastic sort anyway! Havent had any bees/butterflies sampling its wares yet so wondering if it should be allowed to get any bigger... THANKS TO YOU ALL
18 Jun, 2009
Previous question
« have lots of potted plants on patio but was told they were better raised to aid drainage...


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Ankara, (Pakistan Point News - 16th july, 2016) : Democracy won over the martial law in Turkey. Last night a military coup tried to win over the democracy. The rebellious soldiers attacked the president palace by throwing two bombs killing 5 people on the spot. But the counter coup began when the appeal of president encouraged many people from various cities to come out of their houses to protest against the military coup, fights took place on roads, people laid down infront of the tanks .
Consequently the the coup failed because of the outrageous demonstrations. the people supported democracy over martial law.13 soldiers were arrested for entering in the president house illegally. according to the interior ministry, 29 colonels and 5 generals were dismissed immediately.754 rebels have been arrested in Ankara, said the Turkey ministry of justice. 16 soldiers died while conducting a military coup against the elected government, said the police chief.
moreover, the chief of the army staff Hulusi Akar was captured by the insurgent army who has recovered today during an operation conducted by the police. general umeet o nidar has been appointed as the acting chief of the army staff. Police,Republican army and public collectively foiled the conspiracy. there is no power stronger than the wish and demands of the Turkish people, president said. 60 people died during the coup activity.


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"When Harry Met Sally" is one of my favorite romantic comedies. Growing up it used to be my go to New Year's Eve movie, go to break up movie, and "you don't need an excuse to watch this, just watch it" movie.
However, after watching it for the one thousandth time last night I realized just how much Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal led me astray. You see, I've grown up thinking "if he rejects you there is still a chance he really secretly loves you so don't give up hope." And hope is dangerous.
Yeah, sure, having hope is also beautiful and other crap like that, but when you place hope in a man who says he is not interested in anything but friendship with you – shit gets a bit more complicated. I realize I have myself to blame but if we're pointing fingers then Hollywood should get some too.
I'm not good at accepting the whole "rejection is what it is" idea. I'm better at fantasizing that rejection is just some sick and twisted foreplay. So after being rejected I store it in my "there's still hope" file – because one rejection isn't enough. However five rejections from one person, that's a solid sign to move on.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
I have hope. I have hope that I'm an exception to every guy's rule. Hope that his rejection is really just him being afraid of being committed to me. I mean, after all that's what Hollywood has told me happens with men. You get into a relationship, it ends, the guy realizes he screwed up, you get back together.
That's how love works, right?
It's not. Relationships end, you move on, you learn more about yourself, find someone new and start the process all over again until you find that one person who is the reason you had hope in the beginning.
Hope is good and bad. Without hope we wouldn't want to continue dating after out 10th awful first date in a row. With hope we continue and go on date number 11. But this hope we have for the relationships that fail needs to end. It's about knowing things will get better – having hope to push yourself to move on from this person.
Yeah, things were great with this SO. But it ended for a reason. So have hope in yourself that you'll pick yourself back up and try it again. Don't have hope that the other person will realize their big mistake. Chances are it wasn't a mistake. And you know that. In your gut you know that things needed to end. But you turned your fear of getting back out there into hope of someone coming back.
Do you see how sad that is?
Rather than hoping you'll find someone who is a better fit for you, you're hoping someone you loved will magically change their mind – even if it would be painful for both of you to be together again.
We need to stop this bad hope and focus more on positive hope. Let's start having hope that the 11th first date will be better instead of hoping they change their mind.


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One boomer's take on Death and Other Funny Stuff
We are so high on life and living an active life here at BoomerCafé, we are not too introspective about death. But Hawthorne, New Jersey writer and editor Alan Paul has found a way to deal with what's coming, in this look at "Death and Other Funny Stuff."
One of the heroes of my youth, after the athletes Jim Brown and Bob Hayes, was the comedian Woody Allen.
Woody couldn't carry a football worth a damn, and I'm pretty sure he would finish near the bottom in the 100-yard dash event at the Stand-Up Comedians' Olympics. But boy, Woody could make me laugh. Now understand that I'm talking about the Woody of "Take the Money and Run," "Bananas," and "Sleeper," not necessarily the Woody of "Annie Hall," "Manhattan," and "Zelig." Though I liked many of his later films, they always seemed to be less about his brilliant, off-beat, zany comedic genius and more about his brilliant, off-beat, zany neuroses.
Woody: "I am not afraid of death. I just don't want to be there when it happens."
Among Woody Allen's many psychological issues, which were graphically portrayed in his films over the years, was his apparent preoccupation with — and fear of — death. I've never been particularly frightened by the thought of my own death (though I am terrified by the thought of the deaths of people whom I love), but I do think about it occasionally, and when I think about it, it is not really in a morose or morbid way. Instead, I simply wonder, sometimes at length and in great detail, just what this thing called death might be. My inquisitive, scientific, logical side says that death is what death is: the absence of life. But then there is my long-lapsed-Catholic side, which necessarily sees it another way.
Woody: "Death is one of the few things that can be done as easily lying down."
What happens when we die? I wish I knew, as I'm sure everyone else riding this big blue marble-of-a-planet wishes too. Religion can give us the confidence to imagine a dignified, comfortable, beatific, and fulfilling life-after-death. While I am not intimately familiar with the beliefs of every religion, I think that most of them, outside of Judaism and perhaps a few others, point to an afterlife as the ultimate reward for a life properly lived, according to each particular faith's specific operating system. If, to use an example too often in the news, you are a devout male Muslim who believes in the infallibility of the Qur'an, and your death comes via martyrdom for your religious convictions, your ultimate heavenly reward will be 72 virgins.
Woody: "I don't want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve immortality through not dying."
Death isn't funny, especially when it hits close to home. I get that. But the thing is, I've always figured that if you could learn to laugh at anything, that person, place, or thing you were laughing at couldn't possibly frighten you ever again. They say laughter is the best medicine, and the longer I live, the more firmly am I convinced of the irrefutable truth of that statement. And if, during the process of learning how to laugh at our fears, we can also manage to laugh at ourselves from time to time, the healing that laughter brings will be much more complete.
I guess Woody Allen taught me that.
The post One boomer's take on Death and Other Funny Stuff appeared first on BoomerCafe.


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Singapore Economy
Tianjin reforms open more doors for S'pore firms: Khaw
Ten projects signed at 7th S'pore-Tianjin Economic and Trade Council meeting
Source: Business Times / Singapore
REFORMS in Tianjin, and the city's integration into the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei economy, will bring new opportunities for Singapore companies.
Said Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan at the seventh Singapore-Tianjin Economic and Trade Council (STETC) meeting held yesterday: "Tianjin's shift towards a market-driven economy and the integration of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei are new developments that will create many opportunities for our companies. The council will help Singapore companies understand these developments, and also facilitate more collaboration."
The Chinese government is working on a development plan to integrate Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei to improve their combined economic competitiveness in an environmentally-sustainable manner.
This will include the shift of industries and people from Beijing to Tianjin and Hebei, which results in a need to further develop inter-city transportation networks, the training of workers to meet new industrial demands and the expansion of services such as healthcare and education.
-By Andrea Soh
Tianjin reforms 'will create opportunities for Singapore firms'
Source: Straits Times / Money
SINGAPORE'S strong business ties with Tianjin - mainland China's fourth most populous city - are set to get a boost from market reforms there, officials said.
The Singapore-Tianjin Economic and Trade Council (STETC) officials met yesterday in Tianjin, 120km south-east of Beijing.
They oversaw 10 agreements for projects across environmental, education, health care and logistics services sectors.
Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan, STETC's Singapore co-chairman, said: "Tianjin's shift towards a market-driven economy and the integration of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei are new developments that will create many opportunities for our companies."
The integration move would "improve the region's overall competitiveness in a green and sustainable way", he added.
Industries and people are also set to move from Beijing to Tianjin and Hebei, which means inter-city transport networks need to be developed while workers have to be trained.
Supporting services such as health care, education and environmental services will also be expanded - with Singapore firms already contributing in these areas.
Market reforms include liberalising sectors, which Tianjin has already done for some services, to encourage more foreign investors.
The education sector is one example. At the meeting, Singapore preschool firm Ednovation signed an agreement to set up kindergartens at Yanlord's developments, part of its Tianjin expansion plan.
Mr Khaw added: "Our companies told me that they are also interested in the reform of Tianjin state-owned enterprises. They hope to collaborate in both shareholding and management reform."
Singapore companies can also expect more government processes to improve, which will facilitate trade growth. For instance, Tianjin has already removed a minimal start-up capital requirement, and improved company registration processes and import or export clearance processes for packaging materials, since March.
Singapore-Tianjin trade reached US$847 million (S$1 billion) while Singapore companies invested US$360 million in Tianjin in the first quarter this year.
Noting that the likes of CapitaLand, Hyflux and Keppel have been in Tianjin for years, Mr Khaw said Singapore companies "continue to contribute and complement" the city's development.
-By Rachael Boon
Singapore companies expand presence in Tianjin
Eight new collaborations inked on Wednesday between Singapore and Tianjin companies.
Source: Channel News Asia / Business
TIANJIN: Singapore and Tianjin companies signed eight agreements for collaboration at the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City (SSTEC) on Wednesday (July 30), further strengthening the Republic's position to support and leverage on Tianjin's rapid economic growth.
The deals – part of the 10 signed on Wednesday at the Singapore-Tianjin Economic and Trade Council (STETC) meeting – include one by Keppel Offshore and Marine to set up a design and service outsourcing centre in SSTEC, where music company Ocean Butterflies has also agreed to set up its regional headquarters.
These upcoming projects will follow the Chinese government's ongoing efforts to shift Tianjin towards a market-driven economy while integrating the city with Beijing and Hebei province nearby to create a regional economic hub.
Singapore companies should tap the opportunities provided by these developments, said Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan as he closed the STETC meeting.
"We can expect demand for better logistics support to facilitate transportation of goods, and expansion of railways and highways... Workers will have to be trained to meet new industrial demands for higher skills," he said. "Above all, the emphasis on environment and green growth will mean more urban solutions to be implemented. These are traditional areas of strengths which Singapore companies can contribute to."
Singapore has been growing its ties with Tianjin, with bilateral trade expanding by 34 per cent to US$2.9 billion (S$3.6 billion) in 2013 while Singapore's cumulative investments into the city reached US$6.6 billion as of March this year, data by International Enterprise (IE) Singapore shows.
A key pillar to that partnership is the Eco-City project, which is developed by a Singapore-Chinese joint venture. The project has already crossed several important milestones since its inception in 2008, and the Eco-City is on track to meet targets such as provision of 100 per cent potable water from taps for both residential and commercial uses, Mr Khaw said on Wednesday.
To date, the Eco-City has attracted about 30 Singapore companies, IE Singapore told TODAY, adding to a growing Singapore business community across Tianjin that also includes companies such as CapitaLand, Hyflux, Tiong Seng and Yanlord.
Singapore Real Estate
CapitaMalls Asia to launch pilot e-com site
Source: Business Times / Singapore
CAPITAMALLS Asia (CMA) will be introducing an online platform to complement physical shopping space.
But unlike e-commerce sites which deliver products to consumers, CMA is eyeing Tesco's model of a "click and collect" system where customers order online and pick up their goods at the store.
The online site will be a platform for JAvenue, a new retail zone in JCube mall in Jurong. The section will have a "street shopping" ambience, targeting the youth.
The website, termed as a "searchable mall", is a pilot test that starts off as a product listing platform for tenants in JAvenue. Tenants can showcase products and list information about them.
The site will be launched in mid-September, the same time the retail space in JCube will be open to shoppers. It will start selling products by year-end. But in order to drive traffic to malls, consumers will collect online purchases from stores.
-By Sheena Tan
CapitaLand optimistic about long-term potential of Chongqing property market
China's property market may be cooling, but Singapore real estate giant CapitaLand remains confident about its biggest investment in the country, which is in the southwestern city of Chongqing.
Source: Channel News Asia / Singapore
CHONGQING: Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean on Wednesday (July 30) led a Singapore delegation on a visit to the future Raffles City Chongqing work site. He is in Chongqing on the third day of an official trip to China.
The US$3.4 billion (S$4.3 billion) future Raffles City Chongqing is designed by Moshe Safdie, the world-renowned architect behind the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.
Apart from a mall, offices and residences, it will also be a transport hub, with a ferry terminal, cruise centre, metro and bus stations when completed in 2018.
Chongqing is one of China's mega-cities, and an industrial and commercial base with a population of 31 million.
CapitaLand China CEO Jason Leow said he believes in the long-term potential of the Chongqing property market. "Chongqing is now putting a lot of infrastructure in place, whether it's the new airport, new ports, new bridges, you're seeing a lot of construction activities everywher. With the 'go west' policy by the Chinese government, we expect a lot of economic activities to drive Chongqing," he said.
Also with Mr Teo is Social and Family Development Minister Chan Chun Sing. The delegation also visited the Chongqing Planning Exhibition Gallery and the Liangjiang New Area to learn more about the city's urban and infrastructural development.
- CNA/xk
BCA gives S$8.3m for energy research
Source: Business Times / Singapore
THE Building and Construction Authority (BCA) has granted S$8.3 million to researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University and Ngee Ann Polytechnic to develop energy-efficient technologies.
The grant is part of a scheme launched in September last year, in which BCA was allocated S$15 million under the Energy Innovation Research Programme to support the development of energy-efficient and cost-effective technologies for buildings in the tropics.
One of the grant recipients, Dr Lee Poh Seng from NUS, will be developing a system to integrate a novel oblique fin technology into a small capacity air-conditioning system.
This can enhance air side heat transfer and raise energy efficiency of the air conditioning system by as much as 40 per cent, he said.
-By Andrea Soh
S$8.3m in grants awarded to improve building energy efficiency
The scheme, first introduced in September last year, aims to support the development of energy efficient and cost-effective technologies and solutions for buildings in the tropics.
Source: Channel News Asia / Singapore
SINGAPORE: In a bid to improve building energy efficiency, researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Ngee Ann Polytechnic were awarded S$8.3 million in grants by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA).
Under the Building Energy Efficiency Grant Call, the public and private sectors were encouraged to collaborate and develop innovative technologies and solutions in the areas of Air-Conditioning and Mechanical Ventilation (ACMV), and Building Management and Information Systems (BMIS) for building retrofits in the tropics that can be adopted in five years' time, BCA said in a press release issued on Wednesday (July 30).
The scheme, first introduced in September last year, aims to support the development of energy efficient and cost-effective technologies and solutions for buildings in the tropics.
While ACMV systems take up 40 to 60 per cent of energy used in a typical air-conditioned building, there is a need for technology that can effectively remove water from the air by using less energy that will greatly improve the efficiency of the air-conditioning system, BCA said.
It also noted the need to develop cost-effective solutions so building owners and developers will adopt the new technologies.
Meanwhile, a grant recipient from NUS, Dr Lee Poh Seng, will be collaborating with Daikin Air-Conditioning and four other SMEs to develop a new air-conditioning system that integrates a "novel oblique fin technology into a small capacity air-conditioning system, which can significantly enhance the air side-heat transfer".
The new research project will raise "energy efficiency of the air conditioning system potentially by as much as 30 to 40 per cent", said Dr Lee.
"More efficient buildings mean better use of resources," said Dr John Keung, CEO of BCA. "Low Energy High-rise Buildings in the Tropics" will be possible in Singapore if researchers are provided with the "right support and environment", he added.
Industrial land being released by JTC won't affect us: Aims AMP
Source: Business Times / Companies
THE large supply of industrial land and space that JTC Corporation is in the midst of releasing to boost supply and ease rents won't affect real estate investment trusts such as Aims AMP Capital Industrial Reit.
This is because there is still a role for the private players, Koh Wee Lih, CEO of Aims AMP Capital Industrial Reit Management, told BT yesterday.
He pointed out that JTC has recently been experimenting with new innovative next-generation factories, adding that the statutory board "is not trying to come back to consolidate the whole industry scene again, but to push through a few projects to see if it works".
"If it does, JTC hopes that the private sector can take over. JTC does not want to be the only landlord in town," Mr Koh said.
-By Lee Meixian
Real Estate Companies' Brief
OUE Commercial Reit's Q2 DPU beats forecast
Source: Business Times / Companies
POSITIVE rental reversions boosted OUE Commercial Trust's distribution per unit (DPU) to 1.43 Singapore cents for its second quarter ended June 30 - 5.1 per cent above its forecast.
This brings its first distribution, for the period starting from Jan 27 when it listed, to 2.43 Singapore cents - to be paid out on Sept 2.
Net property income also rose 4.6 per cent above forecast to S$14.3 million, helped by lower property expenses on lower utilities and maintenance costs incurred.
Gross revenue was a slight 0.3 per cent below forecast, however, at S$18.7 million.
-By Lee Meixian
OUE Commercial Reit's Q2 DPU higher than forecast
Source: Straits Times / Money
OUE Commercial Reit posted stronger results than predicted for the second quarter, after accounting for lower expenses and finance costs.
The trust posted a distribution per unit (DPU) of 1.43 cents for the three months to June 30, 5.1 per cent higher than its forecast of 1.36 cents for the quarter.
This brings its DPU for the financial period from Jan 27, when it listed on the Singapore Exchange, to June 30 up to 2.43 cents - 4.7 per cent higher than predicted, said OUE Commercial Reit Management yesterday. This will be paid to unit holders on Sept 2.
Based on the unit closing price of 80 cents on June 30, its DPU for the second quarter works out to an annualised distribution yield of 7.2 per cent.
OUE Commercial Reit holds the OUE Bayfront office tower in Collyer Quay and Lippo Plaza in central Shanghai in its portfolio.
Income available for distribution for the quarter was $12.5 million, 5.5 per cent more than its forecast.
Net property income was also 4.6 per cent higher at $14.3 million while gross revenue fell short of expectations by 0.3 per cent at $18.7 million.
"Rental reversions at both properties were positive, with OUE Bayfront and Lippo Plaza achieving renewed rentals that were respectively 6.1 per cent and 4.3 per cent high than preceding rents," said Ms Tan Shu Lin, chief executive of the manager.
Occupancy at OUE Bayfront was full for the second quarter, "comparing favourably" to the occupancy rate of 95.8 per cent in the core Central Business District which includes Marina Bay and Raffles Place.
However, some leases were not renewed at Lippo Plaza, which sent occupancy down to 92.9 per cent, from 95.9 per cent in the preceding quarter.
Overall occupancy for the quarter ended Jun 30 was at 96.8 per cent.
Costs incurred from finance charges came in at $4.2 million, 5 per cent lower than expected as the trust drew a smaller loan than it had forecasted, the firm added.
Earnings per unit for the second quarter was 0.89 cents, while net asset value per unit as at June 30 was $1.06.
Its units closed half a cent up at 83 cents yesterday.
-By Cheryl Ong
Tuan Sing Q2 profit drops 24%, revenue down 31%
It is upbeat on achieving better FY14 operational performance
Source: Business Times / Companies
DRAGGED by slower recognition of residential sales, Tuan Sing Holdings posted a 24 per cent decline in net profit for the second quarter ended June 30 to S$11.6 million.
Revenue for the quarter dropped 31 per cent from a year before to S$81.6 million over the same period, given slower progressive recognition of sales at Seletar Park Residence and Sennett Residence and new bookings at Cluny Park Residence that was officially launched in March.
For the first half of this year, Tuan Sing's net profit slipped 8 per cent to S$19.3 million while revenue slumped 22 per cent to S$142.9 million, given weaker performance from its property and industrial services divisions.
Revenue from its property division in the first half fell 19 per cent year-on-year to S$74.2 million; slower residential sales offset a 61 per cent surge in revenue contribution from investment properties, specifically the rental income from Robinson Point, which was acquired in June last year.
-By Lynette Khoo
Tuan Sing reports 24% drop in Q2 net profits
Source: Straits Times / Money
A SLOWDOWN in the private housing market weighed down second-quarter earnings for property developer Tuan Sing, it reported yesterday.
Tuan Sing develops projects such as Sennett Residence in Potong Pasir and Cluny Park Residence in Bukit Timah.
It posted a 24-per-cent drop in net profit to $11.6 million while revenue for the three months to June 30 dropped 31 per cent to $81.6 million.
Tuan Sing said the decline in revenue was partly due to lower property sales but was cushioned by rental income from Robinson Point.
The group's earnings mainly came from progressive recognition of unit sales at Seletar Park Residence and Sennett Residence, as well as the initial recognition of new bookings at Cluny Park Residence.
Tuan Sing said these three private projects will account for most of its earnings this year and the next.
Property developers typically use the "progressive recognition" accounting method for domestic residential projects. This involves splitting up and recognising profits from a project over the period as construction progresses.
Net profit slid 8 per cent in the first half to $19.3 million and revenue fell 22 per cent to $142.9 million.
Earnings per share for the quarter stood at one cent, down from 1.3 cents the previous year. Net asset value per share rose from 63.9 cents as at Dec 31 last year to 65.1 cents as at June 30 this year.
The firm also said that it has bought a plot in China and is negotiating to buy the remaining 50-per-cent stake in hotel firm Grand Hotel Group, it said.
It already owns half of Grand Hotel Group, which owns two five-star hotels in Australia that are managed by Hyatt International.
These hotels are the Grand Hyatt Melbourne and Hyatt Regency Perth.
Tuan Sing also said yesterday that it is " not averse" to selling its stakes in printed circuit board maker Gul Technologies Singapore and in golf products retailer Pan-West "when opportunities arise".
It owns 43.3 per cent of GulTech and 49 per cent of Pan-West.
Tuan Sing shares closed flat at 41.5 cents yesterday.
-By Melissa Tan
Global Economy & Global Real Estate
Global Premium Hotels Q2 profit down 22.2%
Source: Business Times / Companies
GLOBAL Premium Hotels Limited yesterday said that its net profit for the fiscal second quarter ended June 30, 2014 fell 22.2 per cent y-o-y to S$3.81 million.
Turnover slipped 5.6 per cent to S$14.52 million, due to a combination of factors including the closure of Fragrance Hotel - Elegance in the last quarter of last year due to cessation of tenancy agreement, lower revenue recognised from the other hotels, and lower contribution from Fragrance Hotel - Pearl due to temporary closure for asset enhancement works.
Global said that the decrease was partially offset with the maiden revenue contribution of half a million dollars from Parc Sovereign Hotel - Tyrwhitt, which commenced operations early last month.
The group's average occupancy rate decreased to 85.7 per cent from 93.1 per cent, and average revenue per available room slipped to S$92.80 from S$95.70 in the reporting quarter.
-By Carine Lee
Iskandar regulator plays down fears of property glut
IRDA says jobs to be created will ensure demand for thousands of homes
Source: Business Times / Property
ISKANDAR Regional Development Authority (IRDA), the statutory authority for regulating and driving the development of Iskandar Malaysia into an international metropolis, has played down fears of an impending property glut.
Jobs to be created over the next few years will ensure demand for thousands of homes, it maintains, but concedes that improved public transport, including the proposed rail link between Singapore and Johor Bahru, would be essential in advancing the economic zone.
"The MRT/BRT (bus rail transit) engineering link study has been tabled with the JMC which has until the end of 2014 to decide," said IRDA chief executive Ismail Ibrahim. JMC is the Joint Ministerial Committee established by Malaysia and Singapore.
In a recent interview, he stated that the link was targeted to be completed "by 2018 or latest by 2020".
-By Pauline Ng in Kuala Lumpur
Chinese investors on global real estate buying spree
H1 overseas property investments up 17%, 84% jump for homes
Source: Business Times / Property
[HONG KONG] China's institutional investment in property overseas rose 17 per cent in the first six months of this year, with residential investment surging 84 per cent, real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) said yesterday.
The gains come as Chinese investors pursue opportunities outside their home turf, where the outlook for the real estate sector is overshadowed by issues such as tight financing and high inventories which are weighing on prices.
London was the most popular destination for Chinese institutional investors, with a total of US$2.3 billion, as efforts by the city to draw Chinese capital into major infrastructure projects spilled into residential and commercial markets, JLL said.
San Francisco and Chicago followed with US$548 million and US$365 million, respectively.
-From Hong Kong, China
Not easy to follow HK, S'pore property moves
Other cities don't have same control over economies and residents' behaviour
Source: Business Times / Property
[HONG KONG] Take a look at the world's dizzying surges in the price of housing for 12 months at the end of June: London, up 20 per cent. Manhattan, 18 per cent. Sydney, 15.4 per cent.
Then there are Singapore and Hong Kong: down 3.7 per cent and 0.6 per cent.
Prompted by concerns over potential property bubbles and affordability for the middle class, the governments of the two Asian cities have been reining in home prices by imposing measures including mortgage caps, taxes on property flippers, and levies on foreign buyers as high as 15 per cent.
"Hong Kong has successfully cooled down the market in terms of transactions and turnover," said Raymond Yeung, senior economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group in Hong
Kong. "Singapore has been more effective."
-From Hong Kong, China
Q2 growth bounces back at a healthy 4%
Data augurs well for stronger growth in the next 6 months
Source: Business Times / Top Stories
[WASHINGTON] US economic growth accelerated more than expected in the second quarter and the decline in output in the prior period was less steep than previously reported, which could bolster views for a stronger performance in the last six months of the year.
Gross domestic product expanded at a 4 per cent annual rate as activity picked up broadly after shrinking at a revised 2.1 per cent pace in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said yesterday.
That pushed GDP above the economy's potential growth trend, which analysts put somewhere between a 2 per cent and 2.5 per cent pace.
The economy grew 0.9 per cent in the first half of this year and growth for 2014 as a whole could average above 2 per cent. The first quarter contraction, which was mostly weather-related, was the largest in five years.
-From Washington, US
Battle of the malls in Greater Kuala Lumpur
Retailers feel the heat with 12 new malls joining the fray later this year amid poorer consumer spending
Source: Business Times / Malaysia
COMPETITION among retailers in Malaysia's Greater Kuala Lumpur area is set to intensify this year when another 12 malls are completed, with the additional 3.6 million sq ft floor space coming amidst weaker consumer spending.
However, the proliferation of shopping malls is spreading to the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.
In the first three months, two shopping malls - one in the suburb of Subang, and the other in KL Sentral - were launched adding 0.9 million sq ft of retail space.
In the coming months, more are expected. This includes the 1.35 million sq ft IOI City Mall, about 10 minutes by car from the administrative centre of Putrajaya. The mall has signed on Parkson Corporation and Golden Screen Cinemas as anchor tenants.
-By Pauline Ng in Kuala Lumpur
Path to skirt US taxes widens with Reit spinoff blueprint
Latest IRS ruling opens door to firms that have property, like McDonald's
Source: Business Times / World
[NEW YORK] Getting a foreign address isn't the only way American companies are skirting corporate income taxes.
Even as President Barack Obama calls for rules to stop companies from ditching tax bills by reincorporating abroad, the byzantine US tax code is offering new techniques to escape the highest corporate rate in the developed world.
The shares of the biggest US phone companies, including AT&T and Verizon Communications, rose on Tuesday amid prospects the Internal Revenue Service will allow them to pursue another tactic: placing some operations in tax-advantaged vehicles known as real estate investment trusts, or Reits. Last week, shares of containerboard makers such as International Paper soared on speculation that they will use another tax-free structure known as a master limited partnership, or MLP.
Companies are finding all kinds of ways to escape America's 35 per cent corporate tax rate, from acquiring a mailbox in Ireland to using a 54-year-old tax break originally meant to allow middle-class people to invest in real estate.
-From New York, US
Million-dollar US home loans surging ahead
Banks dishing out mortgages of up to US$10m; first-timers don't have it so easy
Source: Business Times / Property
[WASHINGTON] Banks in the United States are handing out mortgages of as much as US$10 million to the wealthy in record numbers while first-time homebuyers struggle to get loans.
Erin Gorman, managing director at Bank of New York Mellon, said she's fielding more requests for home loans of at least US$2 million than ever before. She recently provided a mortgage of more than US$6 million for a client's purchase of a second property in Colorado.
"These high-net-worth borrowers do act differently than first-time buyers, who borrow because they have to," said Ms Gorman, who serves as the national mortgage sales director at Bank of New York Mellon's wealth management group based in Boston. "High-net-worth borrowers don't have to borrow. They choose to, so they're very strategic about what, why, and when they borrow."
Americans from San Francisco to Boston are taking out a record number of mortgages in excess of US$1 million while stiff lending standards crimp total loan volume. They are borrowing while mortgage rates are still low rather than liquidate their investments amid a stock market gain of 7 per cent this year.
-From Washington, US
Foreign buyers fuel concern in Miami luxury condo boom
Analysts cite investor glut, slowing sales, plans for thousands of new condo units
Source: Business Times / Property
[MIAMI] As construction cranes crowd the coastline and developers strive to lure wealthy international buyers with brand-name towers and lavish amenities, there are signs that Miami's latest condo boom has begun to slow and a possible oversupply could temper record prices.
Since mid-2011, some 175 towers with more than 27,000 units have been proposed in Miami, says real estate analyst Peter Zalewski of CondoVultures.
Florida led the nation for foreign buyers in the quarter ending in March, attracting 23 per cent of US$92.2 billion of nationwide sales, according to the National Association of Realtors.
In the face of economic uncertainty and potentially higher taxes in Europe, Asia and Latin America, wealthy individuals are drawn to Miami's year- round sunshine and prices that are still low when compared with other global capitals.
-From Miami, US
Zillow Topping Realogy Shows Web Surge for Housing Market
Source: Bloomberg / Personal Finance
Zillow Inc. (Z)'s purchase of Trulia Inc. makes the online company such a force in U.S. real estate that its market value now surpasses that of Realogy Corp., owner of renowned brokerage brands from Coldwell Banker to Century 21.
Zillow, the biggest U.S. real estate website, has seen its market value jump to about $5.83 billion from $4.99 billion on July 23, the day before Bloomberg News reported the deal talks with rival Trulia. Realogy, the largest residential brokerage operator, has a market value of about $5.47 billion, compared with $5.67 billion last week, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
The shift underscores the growing role of the Web in U.S. home sales as buyers start their hunt for homes and mortgages online and rely less on real estate agents, a migration that has taken longer than in industries such as music or travel. While Zillow is unlikely to compete directly with brokers, whose ad dollars are its top revenue source, buying Trulia (TRLA) gives it more command over marketing fees, sparking concerns among Realtors such as Stephen FitzMaurice that costs will rise.
"It will create a monster portal," said FitzMaurice, an agent with Premiere Property Group in Portland, Oregon, who joked the new company should be called "Zilla," in reference to Godzilla. "I don't want the marketing of my listings and my ability to sell them -- or not -- to be dominated by one company."
Zillow said this week it is acquiring San Francisco-based Trulia, the second-biggest real estate website, for about $3.5 billion in stock. Together the Zillow and Trulia networks had more than 68 million unique visitors in June, representing about 71 percent of all visitors to ComScore's real estate category, including desktop and mobile users.
Listings, Values
The companies help buyers and renters find information on homes, generating revenue by selling advertising and charging Realtors to place their listings prominently. Visitors to Zillow have forums for real estate advice and property-value estimates for homes that are on and off the market.
Zillow also features a mortgage marketplace that allows borrowers to anonymously shop for home loans, comparing live, customized rates from hundreds of lenders. Customers submit requests and receive quotes in seconds and can then contact the lender they like.
"Our mortgage marketplace monetizes well," Zillow Chief Executive Officer Spencer Rascoff said on a conference call after the Trulia deal was announced. "I do believe there are synergies to be had in the mortgages business between these two companies."
Not Crazy
The market's valuation of Zillow reflects its outlook for growth and the migration of searches online, said Steve Murray, president of Real Trends Inc. in Castle Rock, Colorado, which provides consulting for the real estate industry.
"If you only look at today, you might think this market valuation is crazy, but if you look at it three to four years down the road, it's not crazy at all," he said. "Consumers have already voted with their feet. They're looking online, that's where they go for housing. And it should not be a surprise that the advertising spending is following them."
Real estate agents and brokers spent 71 percent of their $11.9 billion advertising budgets last year on online media, the highest of any industry in the U.S., according to Borrell Associates, an advertising research firm in Williamsburg, Virginia. On average, industries spend about 30 percent of advertising budgets on the Web.
Rascoff said this week that real estate advertising on Zillow and Trulia accounts for less than 4 percent of the market. He has said that the company won't compete directly with brokers on buying and selling homes.
One Click
Pricing for advertising will be determined by the market and customers will go elsewhere if it is too high, Rascoff said.
"The audience is one click away -- they can go to any website at any time and budgets can follow audience," Rascoff said in a telephone interview. "Nobody forces agents to buy advertising with us. They choose to advertise if they make money when they spend money on Zillow."
Move Inc. (MOVE), the No. 3 U.S. property website and operator of the National Association of Realtors' Realtor.com, sees the merger as an opportunity to build its brand with consumers, CEO Steve Berkowitz said in an interview yesterday after the San Jose, California-based company reported a wider-than-estimated second-quarter loss. While Zillow and Trulia integrate their cultures, Realtor.com intends to focus on an "Accuracy Matters" message, he said.
"Realtors are your trusted adviser, we have a human being behind our brand, not a computer program," he said.
Crash Recovery
Real estate agents are still recovering from the housing crash that reduced both the number of deals and value of commissions as home prices fell. The typical Realtor is 56 years old and closed 12 deals last year, up from a low of seven deals in 2008 and 2009, according to a survey released in May by the National Association of Realtors.
U.S. residential investment grew at a 7.5 percent annualized rate in the second quarter, compared with 4 percent growth for U.S. Gross Domestic Product, the Commerce Department reported today. The growth in housing follows two quarters of negative contribution to GDP.
About 42 percent of homebuyers last year started the process by looking for properties online, up from 35 percent in 2011, according to a survey from the Realtors group.
Only one in 10 buyers found their real estate agent through a website. About 54 percent were referred to their agent by a friend, neighbor or relative, or used the person before, the survey showed.
Broker Relationships
The falling homeownership rate, the growth of Wall Street-backed landlords and the increase of houses sold at auctions are all nibbling away at the dominance of the real estate agent-buyer relationship, according to Rick Sharga, executive vice president at Auction.com LLC, the largest U.S. online real estate auction firm.
"I'd be shocked if we don't see the majority of sales transactions take place online," Sharga, whose company received a $50 million investment from Google Inc.'s venture-capital arm in March, said in a telephone interview from his office in Irvine, California. "That doesn't lead to the conclusion that the Realtor doesn't have a role. It's just different."
Agents still have a key role in the transaction that won't be diminished by the proposed merger, according to the National Association of Realtors, the industry trade group that dominates real estate listings and sales.
"In the Internet age, consumers are going to go online for real estate information, but they will continue to rely on local experts when they buy and sell property," the group said in an e-mailed statement this week.
Realogy Deal
Realogy (RLGY), based in Madison, New Jersey, has been able to use its scale to reach agreements with Zillow and Trulia to gain placement and pricing advantages on the search portals. The company is the largest residential brokerage operator in the U.S. through its NRT LLC unit.
"Our existing marketing agreements with Zillow and Trulia are important to us and they will continue with the combined entity," Mark Panus, a spokesman for Realogy, said in an e-mail. The company declined to comment further before it reports earnings next week.
Realogy shares have fallen 17 percent in the past 12 months, while Zillow has doubled. Zillow briefly passed it in market value in June before surging again in the past week.
Dave Liniger, chairman and co-founder of Re/Max Holdings Inc. (RMAX), said he wouldn't be surprised if Zillow and Trulia raise ad prices after a merger. Raising ad rates is different from muscling in on sales to consumers, he said.
"If they decide to be competitors, guess what?" said Liniger, whose Denver-based company went public last year. "Re/Max would take our 200,000 listings off their site."
Younger Shoppers
The migration away from the traditional real estate model will accelerate as younger, tech-oriented shoppers become homebuyers, increasingly reliant on the web for pricing information and services, according to Stefan Swanepoel, a consultant and author on real estate trends.
Zillow's advantage is using its big data capabilities to become indispensable to both buyers and sellers as "the strongest aggregator of real estate information ever created," Swanepoel said in a telephone interview.
"If these guys get to scale quickly, what you could see is Zillow-Trulia becoming the Google for online home search activity," Neil Doshi, senior analyst with CRT Capital in San Francisco, said in a phone interview. If the portals become a first stop for buyers and sellers, "Zillow-Trulia becomes powerful for agents. They know this is the one place they have to go to capture people in the market."
Property 'Gatekeepers'
Real estate agents will be increasingly marginalized as technology takes a greater hold, putting pressure on the value of their services, according to Richard Green, director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
"Real estate agents used to be gatekeepers of information, which is how they made money," Green said in a telephone interview. "I expected to see compensation compression earlier. What other business can you get the same compensation whether you're good or bad?"
The combined Zillow and Trulia will have enough weight to counterbalance the National Association of Realtors, said Paul Habibi, a lecturer at the Ziman Center for Real Estate at the University of California at Los Angeles.
"They're not the 800-pound gorilla in the room but they have the potential to be a 100-pound gorilla," Habibi said in a telephone interview. "They're a force to be reckoned with."
-By Prashant Gopal and John Gittelsohn


text:
We give our hats off to Venture Capital firms today with the quote from Robert Arnott! "In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable." – Robert Arnott
- 1.18 acres land deal in Carlsbad, CA with Ocean, Lagoon, and La Costa Resort golf course views for development ( www.TheMorrisTeam.com is the syndication contact ).
- Android gaming system company ( JD Morris is the syndication contact ).
- Music artist direct sales portal ( JD Morris is the syndication contact ).
- Bespoke Post, a subscription-based e-commerce startup, raised $850,000 in seed funding from Great Oaks VC, 500 Startups, Brad Harrison Ventures, 1-800 Flowers' investing arm, and several angels.
- Centzy, a search engine for local businesses, raised $1.6 million in seed funding from Cowboy Ventures, Founder Collective,Lightbank, ff Venture Capital, and strategic angels found on AngelList.
- Choose Energy, which allows consumers to compare electricity plans, raised a $4 million Series A fundraising round from KPCB and Stephens Capital Partners.
- Deliv, a same-day delivery service, closed a $1 million seed funding round. The funding came from General Catalyst, Redpoint Ventures, Trinity Ventures, Operators Fund, and PivotNorth.
- Fanzy, a marketing app company, raised $550,000 in seed funding from Kima Ventures, Paolo Rubatto's Start Capital, and OREFA.
- GreenLancer, a web-based solar energy engineering company, secured more than $275,000 in private funding from a syndicate of Michigan-based investors.
- Joyride, maker of voice-activated mobile apps, raised $1 million in seed funding from Freestyle Capital, Cowboy Venture Fund, and angel investor Seth Goldstein.
- Rev.com, a freelance marketplace, raised $4.5 million in Series A financing led by Globespan Capital, with participation from Craig Sherman and Austin Ligon.
- Pasteurization Technology Group (PTG), raised $5 million in funding from Canadian-based EIC Ventures, as well as Kennington.
- Playdek, a gaming publisher, raised $3.8 million in Series A funding led by Qualcomm Incorporated, with participation from IDG Ventures, ff Venture Capital, Deep Fork Capital, Greycroft Partners, Jarl Mohn and angel investors.
- Simpler, an employee onboarding company, raised $1.25 million from Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, Khosla Ventures, SV Angel, Data Collective, AngelPool, Kenny Van Zant, Alex Bard, Gary Benitt, Elad Gil, Sid Henderson and Formation8.
- Sherpa, a virtual personal assistant app for Android-powered mobile devices, raised a $1.6 million seed round. The money came from unnamed angel investors.
- Showpad, a service that turns tablets into sales and presentation tools, raised a $2 million Series A funding round from Hummingbird Ventures.
- SoSocio, an app that lets users turn their Facebook photos into books, raised $600,000 in second round funding from a European consortium of private investors led by VC Brooklyn Ventures from The Netherlands.
Information provide by Associated Press, CB Insight, Crunchbase, Forbes, Market Watch, Rueters, and other sources. Please check company website for best information.
Happy Investing & Networking,
Facebook URL: https://www.facebook.com/InvestorNetwork
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Key Words:
Bespoke Post, , Brad Harrison Ventures, Cowboy Ventures, Founder Collective,Lightbank, Choose Energy, KPCB, Stephens Capital Partners, Deliv, General Catalyst, Redpoint Ventures, Trinity Ventures, Operators Fund, PivotNorth, Fanzy, Kima Ventures, OREFA, GreenLancer, Joyride, Freestyle Capital, Cowboy Venture Fund, Seth Goldstein, Rev.com, Globespan Capital, Craig Sherman, Austin Ligon, Pasteurization Technology Group (PTG), EIC Ventures, Kennington, Playdek, IDG Ventures, ff Venture Capital, Deep Fork Capital, Greycroft Partners, Jarl Mohn, Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, Khosla Ventures, SV Angel, Data Collective, AngelPool, Kenny Van Zant, Alex Bard, Gary Benitt, Elad Gil, Sid Henderson, Formation8, Sherpa, Hummingbird Ventures, SoSocio, VC Brooklyn Ventures, Red Hok Capital, JD Morris, Land Deal, Angel Deal, Venture Capital Deal


text:
Colorado State University (CSU) has revised its seasonal hurricane forecast, doubling the number of named storms and nearly doubling the number of major hurricanes they predict most years.
CSU's forecast for 2020 includes 24 named storms. That total includes 9 named storms that have already come and gone in the Atlantic so far this year (Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gonzalo, Hanna and Isaias).
Between 1981 and 2010, the average total of named storms was 12.1.
Their prediction of major hurricanes (category 3 and above) is 5.
Between 1981 and 2010, the average total of major hurricanes was 2.7.
Researchers cite warmer than normal sea surface temperatures across the tropical Atlantic and vertical wind shear that is well below average for the above-normal probability in predicted storms.
CSU anticipates that 2020 will have an additional 10 hurricanes, 15 named storms, and 5 major hurricanes.
Researchers say the probability of U.S. major hurricane landfall is estimated to be about 140% of the long-period full-season average.


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Hurricane Harvey put a literal damper on our travel plans for September. The Labor weekend bizcation to the Bay Area was cancelled as we couldn't get out even if we wanted to. Hobby airport was closed.
The flights were automatically refunded by Southwest and hotels were well within the cancellation window. The one item that left us about $500 out of pocket was for one family trip around San Francisco that Mrs C had booked with her debit card. Even though we had notified them of our situation they said they were non-refundable in any circumstance but they would talk to the manager. We did not get a return call after this and since we had other things to worry about, we kind of forgot about it. Probably if we had used the appropriate credit card, it could have invoked travel insurance.
The flood also totaled both of our cars. I had seen the streets outside our houses start to flood so I moved them to higher ground but 'higher' was only relatively higher. My insurance company Progressive, took at least two weeks to get back for me after I filed a claim. One friend who had USAA got his check in 3 days. While I appreciate Progressive were busy they could at least have sent a periodic email that I was in the queue and not forgotten. People in customer service could not give any insight into when the inspector would come. In the end, they didn't. I just had to submit photographic evidence with the Progressive App so not sure why they couldn't tell me that earlier.
Getting a car rental was interesting. When I first checked for any rental cars, there was none available in the area. I thought it strange that AVIS were not showing up and when I checked, it didn't show the local depot as being open on any day. I tried again a few days later and wow, not only was it open but it had a selection of cars. I went for simple regular car and put in a noon pick up time. When I got the store, it had lines going out the door. I was dismayed to find out that it was a 2 hour queue just to get the paperwork counter and then 1 hour wait to retrieve the car. Avis Preferred counted for nothing as they had manual sign in system. When I eventually get called the front, I hand over my licence and credit card and hear the rep saying my class of car is not available. Since I'd also heard them tell someone over the phone that they were all out of cars, I piped up with "Give me anything with four wheels" as I just needed transport. This flexibility and the fact that I had been friendly to them earlier during the sign off, got me a serious upgrade. "Would a RAM 1500 be ok?"
A pick up truck was the best thing they could have said since the area was still flooded ! Not only that but it was ready outside the office so I avoided another line. Moral of this is to be yourself (unless you are naturally a dick) and be flexible in situations like this. Having a hissy fit about a wait that is clearly beyond the control of the local staff or bitching about their particular car type that they normally get, was not helping people. I had the truck for a month and was pleased to find out I was only billed the rate of a cheaper model even after I had extended the time of return twice. I got it for about 1/3rd of the price of if I had explicitly booked that vehicle class.
One thing I didn't check was the CDW insurance. Amex covers it when I book with my card however, it excludes certain types of cars – full size SUVs, trucks and luxury cars. I wonder if it would have been covered since I did not request that type of car and AVIS gave me that truck. Anyhow, I was pleased to find out I never needed to find out that answer.
What else? The car buying experience but that is for a future post.
This summer ended up being as Caligula would put it, 'a complete horrible anus'. It stated going south in June when Mrs Caesar had jewelry and her laptop pilfered after Delta forced her to check it in her hand luggage at the gate at Milwaukee airport. Mrs C was travelling First Class with her dog (which she had paid quite a bit extra for) and had done the MKE to IAH route with the pampered pooch many times. This time however, the gate agent insisted that the dog in its carry bag counted as one piece of hand luggage and with her purse, she had used up her allowance. Even though the dog obviously wasn't going to go in the overhead, it still didn't matter. Her backpack needed to be checked in despite vigorous protestations about it containing valuables. "Don't worry. It will be safe" the agent said.
But it wasn't. The flight was a connecting flight and with weather delays, the luggage sat for a very long time in Atlanta. At the IAH carousel, it was obvious all her luggage including those checked, had be disturbed. While lost luggage clerk was somewhat sympathic with a now visibly upset Mrs Caesar, the later Delta customer service agents that she delta with were far from it. After many hours dealing with Delta's online reporting system which would go down mid-entry, the claim as I expected, was denied. "We do not cover jewelry or electronics" in checked luggage even if we forced you to check then in. But still Mrs C flies with them despite my advice to 'F'em: fly Southwest'. For this, I will give Delta a "Feed them to the Lions" classification due to their lack of concern about baggage theft in their operation in their main hub of Atlanta airport. They don't care. I very much doubt it was MKE or IAH end as there bags were mainly on the plane.
The other big event of the summer, impacted all of Southwest Texas : Hurricane Harvey. In late July we moved house. In late August, we were flooded with 18 inches of water and lost both cars. We are temporarily displaced and staying in Mrs Caesar's sister's villa. The Palace is being repaired but Roam lost our main computers which held my software, passwords and information. Our backup drive also got flooded.
Some things in life are bad, they can really make you sad. Other things just make you swear and curse. When you're chewing on life's gristle, don't grumble, give a whistle. And this'll help things turn out for the best…and..