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Orange + blue ensemble
Added Apr 23, 2011
by olystyrene
Sydney, Australia
Oh Burdastyle, how I have missed you! Many months after the start of the new year, I've decided to start showing you some love again. So here's a little something I've been working on…
This ensemble consists of:
- 40's style drape skirt
- 50's shortie jacket
- 40's turban and muff handbag (crocheted)
I guess I'll start with the skirt…. No pattern was used here, but I wanted to create a skirt that encompassed both 40's and 50's sensibilities. I constructed a basic skirt block and went from there – double back darts, front drape and pockets, wide waistband and front pockets. All very straightforward, to be honest. I fiddled a little when it came to shaping the skirt (it tends to take on a slight A-line shape when the drape was included), tapering it to get a straight down sort of shape. The fabric was something I picked up in an op shop. I noticed AFTER I'd cut the pieces, that there were a few holes in it too. I ended up darning these with a similarly coloured thread (which made me feel like a happy grandma). I got a chance to use my new twin needle to do the hem as well, which was an excellent choice, for the very stretchiness of the fabric.
The jacket was made using a 1950's pattern – quite straightforward too. In the past, I've made other 50's jackets which had weird, complicated, roundabout ways of configuring the collar, but this one was just so "no nonsense", I really enjoyed it! The back of the collar and the back hem both come to a point, which is just a tad delightful. I used the twin needle again here to finish the tops of the sleeve cuffs, to much delight. And, of course, as is my usual choice, there are 3 contrasting vintage fabric buttons at the front – orange to match the skirt!
The turban and muff bag were the natural accessories to match the skirt and jacket, I think. Again, found the beautiful lustrous orangey yarn in a second hand shop. It's so gorgeous, with a golden sheen to its mandarin base colour; I just fell in love wit it right away! And it's also really soft and not at all scratchy! The turban was something I've made many times before, classic in shape and fit. The muff bag, however, sorta kinda almost nearly killed me!!! I was using a vintage pattern, which I found difficult to follow. After (literally) hours of trial and error, undoings and redoings, I finally figured it out; and was extremely pleased with the result! It has a main pocket, which is attached to the section where the hands slide into, as well as an additional pocket on the back, which closes with a zipper. The entire thing was lined and made with painstaking patience and precision. So I'm a little bit proud of this one :) The nice big chunky crocheted bow was my special touch…
All in all, this is was an involving project but I'm just so pleased with the colour combinations and details of all the pieces. It also fits so nicely with the current season here in Sydney (autumn) :)
Material Notes
second hand cotton drill, second hand synthetic stretch fabric, vintage yarn, vintage buttons, zipper
22 Comments Sign in to add a post
May 27, 2011, 07.29 AMby lagrandaja
I adore this colour set! Perfect.
1 Reply
Jun 7, 2011, 04.26 AMby olystyrene
Thanks! I believe a person can't really say they're living if they're not embracing colour :)
May 9, 2011, 03.41 AMby elenay
Your ensemble is lovely and so well done and your description is so well written.
1 Reply
May 9, 2011, 11.06 AMby olystyrene
thank you! it's worth making the effort when you know that the audience is actually going to understand the labour of love that IS every sewing project. such a nice community of crafty empathisers!
May 8, 2011, 09.55 AMby frankiesoup
Just perfect!
1 Reply
thank you!!
May 7, 2011, 10.00 PMby cantare
That jacket is just wonderful, I love it! Vintage is such a pleasure sometimes.
1 Reply
aaah isn't it just?! i'd say my original "interest" has gone way past obsession!!
May 7, 2011, 04.52 PMby Olivia Anne
looks great and I don't even like these colours! But you definitely made it work!
1 Reply
thank you very much! it's funny, sometimes a block colour on its own is just not quite right.. but combined with the right colour pair and certain shapes, the best of both colours can really be brought out.. it's so much fun to experiment!
May 7, 2011, 04.41 AMby rshelly13
Yeah,I also love the colors. I may try and make a similar jacket with the angled point in the back. It is a great little detail.
1 Reply
May 9, 2011, 11.02 AMby olystyrene
there's something special about the points! i guess they create interesting lines. i love diagonals in clothing!!
May 6, 2011, 04.53 PMby infinite-plus-one
we've missed you too (: love the new outfit!
1 Reply
May 9, 2011, 11.02 AMby olystyrene
aaaw thank you! :)
May 6, 2011, 04.45 PMby juebejue
this is gorgeous!!! i really love it. i never looked into the 40s era, but now i shall.
btw, did anyone ever tell you that from some angle, you look a little like peggy from madmen? :) i would love to see you in a 50/60 dress! :)
1 Reply
May 9, 2011, 11.01 AMby olystyrene
hahaha! no, nobody has ever told me that before! :) i've got an idea for a tasty pencil dress in the works…
as to the 40's era, it has to be my very very favourite era for fashion. i can't enough – so much inspiration for projects! highly recommended!
Apr 26, 2011, 03.03 PMby integerclub
This is fantasschmick, Oly! I love the orangey shades here…you gonna start making more of the skirts for Sunny's shop?
4 Replies
May 3, 2011, 06.32 AMby olystyrene
Hey Moyceling, yeh, eventually there will be clothing there. At the moment I've got some crocheted stuff tho that's movin' out in the next week or so… When u sending in your sweet goods?
May 6, 2011, 11.50 AMby integerclub
I sent it off to Em about 10 days ago, so it should be reaching her anytime now!
May 6, 2011, 04.29 PMby integerclub
Also, front page again, congrats, woot!
May 9, 2011, 10.53 AMby olystyrene
Yay! Can't wait to see your goods in person :) And thanks, I didn't even realise I was on the front page! Yayayay!
Apr 26, 2011, 01.28 PMby baka-pepica
Really gerat colors and combinations
1 Reply
May 3, 2011, 06.29 AMby olystyrene
Thank you veeeeery much!
Apr 26, 2011, 07.58 AMby nessys
Once again Honey – you are working that blue and orange combo – those colours look fab together.
Superb job – what more can I say? You never cease to impress. The scavenging and rummaging around opt shops, the wonderful sewing & crocheting skills – even drafting your own skirt pattern. You are incredible. I adore that skirt! I love, love, love it! Your styling and pics always are perfection.
I note you are about to start some 50's blouses – I too am about to start one too! I would love to see your pattern & would love to compare notes…..! xxxxxx
1 Reply
May 3, 2011, 06.29 AMby olystyrene
Aah Nessy, thank you thank you thank you! I am entirely obsessed with the blue and orange thing…
I would LOVE to compare notes! The burdastyle meet-up would be perfect.. though you are in Perth! :( You must send me your pictures!!
Apr 26, 2011, 07.47 AMby in-stockholm
Beautiful ensemble!
1 Reply
May 3, 2011, 06.27 AMby olystyrene
Thank you, that's much appreciated!
Apr 25, 2011, 04.35 PMby aluckmann
We've missed you too! Glad you are back with some fabulous projects. I adore the color combination that you chose. Amazing job drafting the skirt – I want one :)
1 Reply
May 3, 2011, 06.27 AMby olystyrene
Aaw thank you, sweet ladeh!
Apr 25, 2011, 07.29 AMby charlotteauzou
Both colors are amazing !
1 Reply
Apr 25, 2011, 09.25 AMby olystyrene
Aren't they an awesome combination?!
Apr 24, 2011, 09.12 AMby pampula
what a great outfit, I love how all the pieces look beautiful together! and the colours are delicious, mm.. :)
1 Reply
Apr 24, 2011, 11.51 AMby olystyrene
thank you so much! they make me think of food also! oranges, mangoes, apricots!
Apr 24, 2011, 05.18 AMby gillthecat
such a fandabby outfit, in super zingy colours lve it all and how swell you look, i have just listed the perfect thing for you a 50s sewing machine,, !! bravo
1 Reply
Apr 24, 2011, 11.51 AMby olystyrene
thank you! aah how i'd love a sewing machine from that era.. although it would never fit on my ridiculously cluttered sewing table! hehehe..
Apr 23, 2011, 04.23 PMby domestic-divaonline
You've captured the era perfectly. Love the color combination.
1 Reply
Apr 24, 2011, 11.50 AMby olystyrene
Thank you, much appreciated :)
Apr 23, 2011, 04.14 PMby tassadit
Gorgeous ensemble and pictures!
1 Reply
Thank you very much :)
Apr 23, 2011, 02.41 PMby Ricardo Abreu
Nice transition from 40's to 50's
1 Reply
Thaaaank you!
Apr 23, 2011, 11.52 AMby Liora Litman-Cohen
very stylish and unique.interesting yet sexy.great!!!
1 Reply
Thank you for your comment, Liora!
Apr 23, 2011, 08.27 AMby loyl8
love it and the colors!!!! fantastic!
1 Reply
Thankn you! :)
Apr 23, 2011, 07.43 AMby Debby H
Beauthiful ensemble and love the colour combination.
2 Replies
Apr 23, 2011, 07.44 AMby olystyrene
Thank you!!
Apr 23, 2011, 07.44 AMby olystyrene
Thank you!!
Add to Favorites 40 people added it


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What Can the Schools Do in the Recognition and Treatment of Incipient Mental Disorders and Criminal Tendencies During School Age?
Department of Public Welfare, 1926 - Child study - 12 pages
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abilities acquire habits adequate intelligence adjusted ADLER average C. H. JENKINS character training CIPIENT MENTAL DISORDERS COGNITION AND TREATMENT crepancies CRIMINAL TENDENCIES degree delinquency DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC desire for recognition determine developed difficulties Director Printed discrepancies DISORDERS AND CRIMINAL Educational enable environment evaluating exceptional child experience extend fact factors fair expression ficient habit training High School hortation Illinois imparting of knowledge importance individual inherent capacity inhibition innate capacity instance INSTITUTE FOR JUVENILE intelligence tests JUVENILE RESEARCH HERMAN larger group LaSalle LEN SMALL GOVERNOR low grade majority of children NITION parents particular child perhaps the best perseverance personality physical defects placed in school possible pre-school Printed by authority psychiatric social worker psychiatrist Public opinion PUBLIC WELFARE RECOG rela sampling SCHOOL AGE self-control SMALL GOVERNOR social side stand high standard success sufficient intelligence superior taste telligence TENDENCIES DURING SCHOOL tion type of problem variation varies weak

subset: commoncrawl


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Tuesday, July 27, 2010
I apologize for feeding the blog so much this morning. Recovering from the flu bug that was generously shared while we were together last week (thankfully it is about a 24 hour bug), has given time to just sit and start on the photo scanning again. I ran across this photo of handsome Steve and one of our many cute kittens. This does show a little more of the "guys" bedroom.
3 comments:
- Judy said...
Cats were NEVER allowed in the house! But how cute.
- July 27, 2010 at 12:50 PM
- Steve Blood said...
I believe that I was temporarily terminal and got away with murder. Notice the radio in bed with me. I listened to all of the latest on KOMA in Oklahoma at night to get all of the lateste rock and roll. It was on the bed so that I could listen without having to deal with comments from others.
- July 27, 2010 at 1:28 PM
- Ann said...
The bed looks really small in this photo. When Steve and I would stand on opposite sides of the bed and shoot spit wads at each other, the bed seemed like a great safety barrier. Maybe the rubber bands we were using weren't very strong, or maybe our aim was off just a little, but I suspect someone with an accurate shot would be able to do some real damage. We often had a few red welts, but they didn't really matter - the laughing time was "awesome".
- July 29, 2010 at 2:14 PM


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The man who became popular for no apparent reason whatsoever; wants public schools to teach the bible as fact.
Views: 420
Oh…I've heard of this before… what's this called again? Oh yeah - Dominionism!
The quality of public discussion in America is poor because the line between entertainment and authentic discussion has blurred. Actors have opinions worth hearing?
Fact is people respond to this kind of thing. In politics people don't vote for issues, don't vote for their own interests or own ideas, they vote for persons, well not even persons, images - a nice coiffure trumps a good brain - and identify with them. That is human.
Who says it and how it is said is so much more important than what is being said. What is being done even less.
@ Jason, speaking of Dominionism, have you checked out the latest POI podcast?
"The man who became popular for no apparent reason whatsoever"
Perhaps Chuck Norris has a direct lineage with Jesus Christ!?
Chuck WHO? he can't even act this one!
OK, have a bible curriculum. I think it needs to touch on every religion and all ways of thinking. This will help the children who are being brainwashed from a very small age and know nothing else. Religion in school wouldn't be a bad idea as long as they touched base on all outlooks. I cant believe anyone would think its ok to just force their religion to be taught and not see a problem with it.


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Baseball Commit: Adam Robinson
Baseball Commit: Adam Robinson
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Adam is a very gritty player with great speed and some pop in his bat […] He is a very competitive athlete and we are excited to have him join our family and compete with us.
That's Michigan coach Rich Maloney informing us of a new baseball recruit, Adam Robinson; let the never ending comparisons to David Eckstein begin. GRRIIIITTT.
Jokes aside, Robinson, a left fielder and leadoff hitter for Glenbrook North in
GlenNorthbrook, IL is a very solid pick up for the Wolverines. He's entering his 3rd year on the varsity team on a very good program in the state of Illinois. Last season, his team made it all the way to the 4A Regional Championship.
As far as the scouts are concerned, Prep Baseball Report does it best in Illinois, listing him first in their 2010 top prospects from the state:
A top-level athlete, Robinson is clearly one of the quickest prospects in the Class of 2010. Physically strong and compact, Robinson ran an event-best 6.76 60 and a 4.32 home-to-first time from the right side. At the plate, Robinson has gap-to-gap power, extremely quick hands and a compact swing. His athleticism translates well in the outfield as well, as he moves fluidly and takes excellent routs to the baseball.
Adam has approximately 40 steals in two seasons, which translates to about 1 per game. That's more impressive than it sounds. That speed and athleticism have him as a two sport athlete as he also is the starting running back for the football team, pictured below.
Robinson also has a solid summer league pedigree. This last summer was spent with Top Tier's 17 and under squad that won the CABA World Series. Their coach on the team and program:
"We've had 25 kids get drafted over the past six years, and we pride ourselves on giving kids an opportunity to play at the next level," said Top Tier 17-U American coach Todd Fine. "But from a team standpoint, the CABA World Series title was the biggest win in the history of the program."
That sounds promising. As far as early playing time, I don't think Robinson makes the starting lineup too quickly. We'll first have to see how much longer Ryan LaMarre is still on campus before we can start projecting the outfield two years down the road.
This makes 5 in the recruiting class already for Coach Maloney. I reviewed the other four early signings previously. The class has two outfielders, so I doubt we see too many more. By the time we get the full list of enrollees, I imagine we'll see a couple more pitchers and another corner infielder.


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I was ordained to the priesthood on Memorial Day weekend, but I did not begin my first assignment as a priest until nearly a month later. I arrived at my first assignment full of excitement and energy. My pastor handed me the keys to the parish and then began his month-long vacation. I remember praying before I went to sleep that night, hoping that the "emergency line," a special extension set up to get in touch with a priest after office hours, would not ring.
Around two o'clock in the morning the phone rang, and I answered it. As I answered the phone, I remember simultaneously praying and hoping that the phone call was not about a sick child. Once again, though, God did not answer my prayer. The call was about a one-year-old girl who was dying of cancer. She was not expected to make it through the night.
I quickly dressed and drove to the hospital. The whole time, I kept trying to figure out what I was going to say. I do not remember much of what happened that night except that I know that I did not do much of the talking.
With an amazing faith, the young girl's parents told me of their loving daughter and of the pain they were feeling, and then they told me something that has always stuck with me. They said that if they had to do it all over again, with all the pain and heartache, that they would because they loved their daughter that much. Jenna made it through the night, her little body fighting off the staph infection.
Getting to know little Jenna over the next few months was a great blessing. One of my favorite memories of being is a priest is the opportunity I had to celebrate Mass with Jenna and her family in their home at the suggestion of my pastor.
And then another strong memory: I can still vividly recall sitting in the back of the church praying before the all-school Mass that I was about to celebrate when Jenna's father walked in and told me that Jenna had passed away. I prayed with him for a few moments and then began Mass. I was so broken up that, when I could not remember my homily, I simply asked the children to join me in praying a "Hail Mary" for Jenna.
A few years later, I found myself in the back of the parish church as the 6 p.m. Youth Mass was about to come to an end. I had not been the celebrant that evening, but I wanted to greet the people as they left the church.
As I walked into the church, I caught sight of Ann. Ann was a parishioner whom I had wanted to introduce myself to for some time. I knew her husband Ken pretty well from working with him, as he was a core member for our youth ministry program.
Ann and Ken had three children, and that evening Ann was standing in the back of the church trying to keep their youngest quiet. For some reason, though, I chickened out that night and never introduced myself to her.
The next day, I received a call because Ann had been diagnosed that morning with terminal cancer and had been told that she only had three months at most to live. I traveled down to the hospital and spent the rest of day with Ken and Ann.
Over the next three months, I spent a lot of time with Ann as she prepared to move onto the next life. I can remember one time when she and I were talking and she told me that she used to hate her husband Ken because when he got into the car he could listen to any radio station that he wanted to but when she got into the car she had to listen to Barney the Dinosaur and the Wiggles.
She went on to tell me how, now, she realized how silly she had been and that she would do almost anything to be in her car driving her children around listening to those children's songs over and over again.
One day, as if she were reading my mind, she told me that even though the cancer was painful she would not shorten her time through suicide because now, in a special way, she saw time as a treasure and intended to enjoy every moment she could with her husband, children and the rest of her family.
A few years later, my own grandmother began to suffer more and more from dementia and Alzheimer's. It was very painful to watch this once-independent woman suffer the way she did.
During this time my mother did her best to take care of her and my mother would ask me from time to time to come over and stay with my grandmother for an hour so that she could get out of the house. There was a large part of me that did not want to go because seeing my grandmother reminded me of my fears — of being helpless, of not being in control, of being pitied, etc. — and there were times that I almost told my mother "no."
In the end, I did spend a lot of time with my grandmother, and there are some moments from these visits that I treasure most. For example, I can remember one time we were sitting in the living room watching television when she turned to me and asked me where my children were.
This surprised me greatly because she knew that I was a priest and that I did not have children. I spent 10 minutes trying to convince her of that fact. In the end I just gave in and told my grandmother that my supposed children were at home with my supposed wife. This calmed her down for about 10 minutes.
Then she turned to me a second time and asked me where my children were. Not wishing to argue with her, I told her that they were at home with my wife. She then shot me a look of disappointment and proceeded to inform me that priests should not have children. I could not help but laugh — I could not win for losing.
I chose these three stories from my life to illustrate to you that, for me, being pro-life has had nothing to do with philosophical arguments of when life begins, but rather my being pro-life has had everything to do with overcoming fear.
I can imagine no greater pain in life than to lose a child. This knowledge of the pain comes from having lost my older sister when she was four and I was two and from listening to my mother pour out her heart to me in later years.
Jenna's parents, though, were willing to bravely face this pain because of the love they had for their daughter. In our world today, many men and women are choosing to have an abortion because they are afraid of how a child would "mess up" their lives, especially if this child has a developmental disorder or fatal disease. Jenna's parents' brave declaration that they would be willing to do it all over again teaches us that human life is worth all the troubles it may bring because a human life is priceless.
I know that Jenna's smiles and hand-holding made me — and others — love her instantly. We never saw the illness, but rather the precious gift that she was. We just had to overcome our fears to be able to get to know her.
Watching Ann suffer was not a pleasant experience, but learning from her how to be grateful for small things helped me have courage to walk with her and, later, with my grandmother as they neared death. Doing so, though, meant that I really had to face my own fears and not only the fear of death. Death, in some sense, did not scare me. What scares me is the fear of losing control and being so vulnerable. It takes courage to see that God can still use you in your terminal illness.
Ann courageously taught me so much, and she continued to love her family with every ounce of strength she had until it was her time to go. She bravely held nothing back from her family.
Finally, when I hear people say "quality of life" in regards to euthanasia, I cannot help but think of that person as being cowardly. It is easy to blame the person with dementia for the way that we are feeling, and it is much harder to look inside and see the fear of death, of not being in control, and of being vulnerable.
A priest who had battled cancer for most of his life once described illness/sickness as returning to our greatest but simplest dignity. My grandmother could not do much for herself, but she still taught me a lot and brought great joy to my heart when I bravely overcame my fears and allowed myself to spend time with her.
These experiences and others have allowed me to come to the conclusion that the greatest enemy in the pro-life movement is fear. Perhaps this is why Gabriel, when informing Mary of God's plan for her to have a child out wedlock, began with "Do not be afraid." May we all have the courage to face our fears when it comes to life issues, and may we help those in crisis pregnancies, difficult pregnancies, and other situations where life is threatened to no longer be afraid.
FATHER PASTORIUS is pastor of Epiphany of Our Lord Parish, St. Louis, Mo.
Copyright © 1996-2018 Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.


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30 in 30: Luongo among questions facing Canucksby Mike Battaglino
There was one question that lingered over the Vancouver Canucks since the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs: What are they going to do with Roberto Luongo?
Turns out, it was answered in a way no one -- especially Luongo -- expected.
The 34-year-old is the Canucks' No. 1 goalie again after the team traded Cory Schneider to the New Jersey Devils at the 2013 NHL Draft.
That resolution brings a new question, one of six the Canucks face heading into the 2013-14 season:
1. How does Roberto Luongo feel about all this? -- The poker-playing goalie never could have expected the hand he's been dealt. He's kept his cards close to the vest since, going without public comment.
Luongo hired new agents in July, an interesting move when you consider he has nine years remaining on his contract. It raised speculation that perhaps he wanted someone to negotiate a way out of Vancouver for him. His high-priced condo reportedly remains on the market.
But if Luongo's Twitter account, @Strombone1, is an indicator, he might be warming to his situation. In a message to his expected backup, he wrote, "Hey Eddie Lack, I'm warning you now! Don't get any ideas this upcoming season!!! Got it???"
The plight -- demoted behind Schneider two playoffs ago, on the trade market since, unable to be dealt because of his contract, given back his starting job -- compelled owner Francesco Aquilini, general manager Mike Gillis and new coach John Tortorella to each visit Luongo in Florida.
"I have talked to Roberto after the deal was made. I think I needed to," Tortorella said. "And I hope what will help him is that you have new guys coming in as far as a coaching staff, and how they feel."
2. Can John Tortorella get along with the media? -- Imagine if the Canucks' new coach, famously adversarial with reporters, had to answer questions about his goalies every single day. With that off the docket, Tortorella can try to make good on his vow to be more approachable and forthcoming under what's sure to be perpetual scrutiny.
"It's a huge part of my job here, I know that," Tortorella said during his first round with the local press. "… I have certainly made my own bed in the situations I've put myself and other people in. And I'm going to cultivate a relationship here with the media.
"I think that's a huge part of any job in the National Hockey League, but coming to a market, Vancouver, province of B.C., basically, that's who you're serving; I want this to work. … I do come with some baggage with that, I readily admit that and I am not going to hide from that. I made some mistakes along the way, but I am compelled to make this work and cultivate that type of relationship, where we're working together."
3. Can Tortorella adjust to the demands of the Western Conference? -- Other than two seasons as an assistant with the Phoenix Coyotes, the 55-year-old's entire NHL coaching career has been spent in the Eastern Conference, where travel isn't nearly the burden it will be now.
Moving to the realigned Pacific Division, the Canucks will travel 48,510 miles this season, according to OnTheForecheck.com. By comparison, Tortorella's former team, the New York Rangers, will log 29,839 miles.
"That's something that really concerns me, because I don't have enough knowledge of what goes on with our travel, as far as how it takes a toll on the athletes," Tortorella said. "I believe this team here … it's some of the worst travel you can possibly have in the League as far as coming out of here, where in the East, you're on the bus."
The Canucks, five-time Northwest Division champions, also are now among a much tougher group. Teams in their new division combined for 16 playoff berths in those five seasons; the other teams from their old division had two.
4. Can Canucks players adjust to the demands of Tortorella? -- Forward Dale Weise played under Tortorella for 10 games as a rookie with the Rangers in 2010-11. Here's what Weise told the Vancouver Province before the coach was hired:
"I think you can kind of look around and see that his style is kind of fading out of coaching," Weise said, via Sportsnet. "There's a way to be hard on guys and to push guys. But I think nowadays you've got to be a little more of a communicator. You can't just put guys in the dirt and expect guys to get out of there themselves."
Forward Ryan Kesler was a member of the 2010 U.S. Olympic team when Tortorella was an assistant and has a different view.
"He likes compete, he likes work ethic, doesn't like mistakes," Kesler said. "He's going to play the guys that are going, and he's going to keep everybody accountable, and that's what I like."
Tortorella has vowed to ask more of Canucks players and has made sure to specifically mention the team's biggest stars, Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin.
"You can be fiery and have an in-your-face type of attitude, which is totally fine if it makes sense," Henrik said. "You can't just come in and scream and yell at guys if they don't believe it makes sense. I never had him before, but I don't see a problem with him doing that."
5. How many shots will the Sedin twins block? -- One of the things Tortorella will ask the Sedins to do is block shots. Last season Henrik blocked nine, while Daniel blocked seven.
"I'll tell you right now, they're going to kill penalties, and if they're going to kill penalties they're going to block shots," Tortorella said. "Do I expect to turn them into an ex-player of mine, a Ryan Callahan (66 blocked shots last season)? Absolutely not. But if you're going to play proper defense, that has to be part of the equation."
As a team, the Canucks blocked 566 shots, ranking them 27th in the NHL; the Rangers were sixth with 773 blocks.
"I think shot blocking is part of playing good defense," Tortorella said. "I think it's part of play to get the puck back. So it's not just the Sedins. … I think a team takes on a whole mindset of being a harder team to play against, a team that'll play along the boards, a team that'll give themselves up to get the puck back, defend the proper way. It does, it permeates through your team.
"So that is going to be asked, of not just the Sedins, but everybody, because I think that's the proper way to play the game when you don't have the puck."
A 41-goal scorer in 2010-11, the Canucks certainly need Kesler, who had four goals last season, to rediscover that touch; since 2006-07, Alexandre Burrows (35 in 2009-10), Mikael Samuelsson (30 in 2009-10) and Daniel Sedin (three times) are the only Vancouver players to score 30 goals in a season.
"[Tortorella is] going to expect more from everybody, and we're going to need more," Kesler told the Vancouver Province. "The way things ended last year, I don't think anybody looks at themselves as a top dog anymore. We've got to find our way and battle every night."
Kesler, who missed the opening five games of 2011-12 after offseason hip surgery, said he is healthy.
"Right now I'm enjoying life," Kesler told the newspaper. "It's great. I can focus on training and not having to deal with being injured and doing rehab and everything that goes along with it."For all 30 in 30 stories go to NHL.com/30in30stories and for the full 30 in 30 schedule visit NHL.com/30in30.


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Chargers Defeat Eagles 55-32 to Win Inaugural Stephen Willey Tournament
CRAFTSBURY–With the sun shinning outside a packed Craftsbury Academy gymnasium, the Chargers took home the inaugural Stephen Willey Memorial Tournament Championship with a 55-32 win over Mid-Vermont Christian School.The event honors the late Stephen Willey, a former Craftsbury player who passed away in 2010, and according to the Academy's athletic director Joe Houston, the event could not have gone any better."I think this has been exactly what we were hoping it was going to be," said Houston, "We had some great basketball, and all the teams that were here seemed to have had a really great time."One of the things that Stephen was all about was competing and playing the game hard, regardless of the score, and I think all of the teams showed that."Said Craftsbury coach Terry Kelleher, "It is great to be able to honor Stephen's memory (by) playing basketball. I thought the people from Craftsbury did a wonderful job getting this place ready, it was a total team effort, and it was just an enjoyable weekend and it was great to end it with the trophy."As for the game itself, it would be a battle in the early going for the home team, as the Chargers were behind the eight ball in the first quarter thanks to the Eagles' big man Eli Seale.Andrew Marckres opened the scoring as he hit for two, but that is where the train stopped for the boys in white.From then on, Seale took over and went on a personal six point run to put Mid-Vermont up 6-2.Craftsbury's biggest problem in the quarter was themselves. They were called for traveling on several occasions, limiting their ability to get much rhythm in the quarter. And it was not just your typical traveling calls, they got whistled on the court, in the air, while lying down; you name the position or location, and they got called for it. They might as well have been playing with suitcases in their hands it was so frequent.But MVC also was on the end of several calls as well, but they (read Seale) seemed to be able to shrug it off and move on.Anthony Putvain had a chance to make it 6-4, but couldn't convert his free throws.He would not miss many more.Austin Sayers wrapped up the quarter with buzzer beating fade-away and it was 8-2 after one.In the second Putvain got hot. He opened the quarter by hitting the up and under, then hit a jumper to cut the deficit to two.Seale continued his strong play, scoring off of a steal to put the lead at four.Freshman Kyle Adams then hit a long jumper, followed it up with a three, and the Academy was up by one.Putvain came through again, nailing a Sportscenter Top Ten move as he wiggled, twisted, and some how made the scoop shot to put the lead at three.Said the senior guard, "Well, my teammates were driving and they (Mid-Vermont) were leaving my wide open, and you can't help it when you hit a couple of shots." Sayers slowed down the Chargers for a moment, dropping in his second bucket of the game, but Adams went right back to work with his second three of the quarter.With the score knotted at sixteen thanks to baskets from Sayer and Seale, it looked like the teams would head into the break all tied up, however a foul at the buzzer gave Mid-Vermont three free ones from the line.They made two of three and took the two point lead into the half.In the third Craftsbury threw down the gauntlet, and the Eagles responded by soaring directly into the sun, seemingly blinded by the ray of light that was the Chargers in the second half. Assist man extrordinare Alex Vetere kicked off the quarter with a nice dish to Marckres who laid it in with little trouble. Putvain hit for three, and then went 2/2 from the line as the signs that Craftsbury was not going lose this game became apparent."We looked at our shot chart at half time and most of their shots were in the paint so we knew we had to go to a zone," said coach Kelleher.The move definitely paid off, and the Chargers closed out the frame outscoring the Eagles 12-6 to take a 25-24 lead into the final eight minutes of play.The home town boys rained twenty more points down on Mid-Vermont in the fourth, paced by Putvain's eight and Marckres' six, and it was all over but the celebration."The emotions right now are unbelievable," said Putvain after the game, "Before the game we were all jumping up and down, ready to go. Throughout the game and after the game adrenaline just took over for most of our players."Putvain led all scorers with twenty-two points, and he was followed by Adams with eleven and Marckres with ten.The Eagles had only two players score in the entire game, Seale with twenty and Sayer contributing twelve.The boys will get back to action tomorrow when they host Canaan as part of the girls/boys double header starting at 5:00 when the Lady Chargers take to the hardwood.


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I'm wondering if you're observing the same thing I am. Public discourse is continuing to deteriorate. Negativity, insults and anger are becoming more and more prevalent.
It's understandable, I think, because in general, people are angry and scared.
Angry because things aren't going their way. Angry because things are changing. Angry because things that don't matter to them matter a LOT to other people, and it doesn't make sense to them. And, scared because if the other people "get their way", there will be change from "the way things were".
Others are angry because they're on "the other side". They're the ones who've been oppressed and marginalized. Attitudes are shifting, acceptance is starting to come, but it's not coming fast enough because things that matter to them don't matter to a lot of other people, and it doesn't make sense to them. Scared because if the movement starts to fizzle, things will potentially go back to "the way things were".
Fear and anger are also combined with a societal trend towards individualism. Everyone has rights as an individual. While this is true, I think many of us have forgotten our responsibilities to ourselves and society.
We need each other in order to survive and thrive. Out of a population of 7 billion, the number of people who could survive on their own with no help from any other human is incredibly low. Do you run a business? You need customers. Do you eat? You need a farmer.
While we are interdependent, we are not well interconnected. We organize ourselves into communities based on religion, race, orientation, socio-economic status and more. In general, our communities don't mix, and as a result, our ability to understand each other is limited.
Don't understand the "black lives matter" movement? It's probably because you're not black, don't have black friends, don't live in areas where many black people live, and don't experience policing the way black people do.
Are you having trouble understanding why indigenous activists would prefer we not refer to Cleveland's baseball team by their name or show their logo in the media? I'll take a guess then that you're not indigenous, don't have any friends who are, and don't experience discrimination and negative cultural stereotypes the way indigenous people do.
Perhaps you're annoyed at our government. Fair enough. Most people are. The Liberal party happens to be in power in Ontario and Canada. You can disagree with their policies and approach, but insulting Liberal leaders and those who voted Liberal simply polarizes the discussion rather than leading to a productive solution. Building a society where we all work together means learning how to listen, empathize, and if we choose to disagree, to disagree with understanding.
If we collectively all want to live in peace and harmony, we need to become more integrated into each other's communities. This is not an easy task. It can be uncomfortable. That discomfort gives us an excuse to avoid taking the steps needed to foster better understanding between people.
We have a right to be angry and scared, but we also have a responsibility to ourselves and to our children and to all those we are interdependent with to make this world a better place. Mutual respect, understanding and compassion are required to move our society forward. Improving our society means improving our discourse with each other.
It starts with me, and it starts with you.


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Maker's Mark 46, 47% abv(94 Proof), $35/bottle
Maker's Mark 46 is the first true (read: not limited edition) product line of bourbon that Maker's Mark has produced in over 50 years. Talk about pressure! With a "finishing" process to the tried and true, but somewhat flat, Maker's Mark original, Kevin Smith (Master Distiller) and Bill Samuels Jr. (CEO) have delivered with a pretty impressive bourbon whiskey. Maker's 46 opens up far bigger and fuller than its little brother with intense vanilla, caramel, maple syrup, toast, cinnamon, and baked apple. It's really a masterclass of Bourbon noses with sweetness and high notes of spice. The first sip assures with that smooth, sweet "front of the mouth" flavor of caramel and vanilla that are so familiar with the original Maker's Mark. "46" takes that a couple notches further with heaps of maple syrup and honey. The major difference between these two family members is almost immediately felt down the top center of your tongue. Intense cinnamon bite akin to fireball candy or big red chewing gum emerges. There's a hint of wood tannin and bitter grip that asserts itself as the spirit runs it's way to the back of your throat. In this moment, this bourbon is telling you, "See – I'm very different!". The finish is long and lingering with cinnamon burn and toasted oak. Maker's Mark 46 is an outstanding pour that is a recommended "buy" for any bourbon or whiskey lover.
Sour Mash Manifesto Rating: 8.9 (Superb/Outstanding)
***Note: The only thing keeping this bourbon from scoring well into the 9's is that slightly intense wood tannin that shows late, growing in intensity as you sip. I'd recommend taking your time with this one, thus lessening that impact. I think over time Maker's Mark will get this fine tuned and I can't wait to see where it goes. And it's also possible this bottle I purchased was just a little more tannic than others.***


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Tropical storms Irene and Lee have left its victims tired and frustrated more than a month after the back-to-back disasters swamped homes, washed away roads and upended lives.
Hopes and promises of many for fast bailouts from government and insurance companies are dashed. The critical force of volunteers is dwindling as the storms fade from memory. New problems arise and the looming onset of winter brings new threats to recovery.
Some survivors have spent a month sleeping on friends' couches, some in cars. Places like Schoharie are still little more than blocks of gutted shells of stores, bars and homes.
The disaster is far from over.
FEMA so far has approved $76 million for statewide relief for damages estimated at more than $1 billion. Although typical homeowners insurance doesn't cover flood damage, residents are being told they still must get a time-consuming "declination" of coverage before FEMA can provide a final grant, according to the Professional Insurance Agents of New York State.
Many, even the few with flood insurance, say they still are awaiting insurance company checks delayed in part by the volume of claims and that has, in turn, delayed Federal Emergency Management Agency funds.
"This is almost worse," said Heather Vilegi, co-owner of Middleburgh Hardware in Schoharie County. Like most, she is indebted to scores of neighbors and volunteers who came from afar to help in the recovery effort.
"Now everyone is tired and cranky and finding there isn't much government help," Vilegi said. "Flood insurance is taking a long time."
When checks do arrive, they average $5,000; the maximum is $30,200 for total loss of a house. That's far less than many expected after a string of press conferences by state and federal officials promising that insurance and government aid would cover most of the $1 billion in damage caused in New York.
Even comparatively wealthy Windham, a Catskill ski resort and the weekend home of many New York City residents, still had 5-foot high piles of soggy dry wall, hardwood planks and debris along a 90-foot stretch of curb last week. Reconstruction continued at some businesses six weeks after they were shut down. Thirty garbage bags lined the curb within sight of the Batavia Kill, still churning reddish brown from the Catskills' clay.
"Nobody thought we would re-open," said Nick Malegiannakis, 65, owner of Michael's Diner in Windham, where he still waives the lunch tab for some young recovery workers. The Greek immigrant left Queens after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks for the serenity of his hunting lodge in Windham. He lost a month of business and $67,000 in food, with more losses at home.
"The scary thing now is, will people come back?" he said. He said few rental properties for the ski season were open by mid-October, when a normal season would have 80 percent set to go by now.
"Right now, it's a ghost town," said Sharon Okonski, 54, the owner of Urban Country goods and gifts.
In Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School District, the tropical storms plowed a foot of muck through buildings, deposited three feet of river bottom mud and gravel on the soccer and baseball fields, and forced school officials into the business of redirecting the new course of the Batavia Kill that carried a bus five miles after it surged over its banks. School opened two weeks late. The library and seven classrooms remain closed.
"We're in chapter one still," said Superintendent John Wiktorko.
The district is asking its taxpayers, many still trying to fix their own houses, to support borrowing of up to $4 million to cover the lag between contractors' bills due and the 83 percent federal reimbursement.
"No one could have planned for the river doing what it did," Wiktorko said. "We persevere here on the mountaintop, but this shouldn't fall on the local taxpayers."
Other school districts and municipalities in the Adirondacks, Catskills, Southern Tier and Hudson Valley hit hardest by the storms face bills that could also force borrowing, even as reserves were already drawn down to make up for a cut in state aid. A new statewide 2 percent cap on the growth in local property taxes will make recovery difficult without borrowing.
More than a half-dozen school districts that opened late will also likely seek waivers to the 180-day school year.
In places like Greene County's mountain pass town of Prattsville, property taxes aren't so much the concern as the property itself.
"This is far from over," said Karl Gonalez, 32, at his father's home in Ashland where a heavily used bridge to Prattsville was just getting its replacement frame. "Budgets are going to be out of whack, and in this economy?"
Here, power lines still hang close to Main Street from snapped poles. Houses crushed by the tide that roared down the street stand at wild angles. Two muddy American flags were nailed to little more than frames. Gutted homes stretch for two blocks.
"Town meetings are getting a little scary," said Michelle Petricini, 34, outside Beth's Café where she works. The sessions can be heated these days, with slow insurance payments that delay FEMA checks frustrating residents.
"Everybody is still in shock mode," said Beth Ballard, 55, who just re-opened her café a week ago after working 5 a.m. to midnight days since the flood renovating while frying up free meals for neighbors.
A spray-painted message on a home twisted off its foundation in Prattsville captures the sentiment of many: "FEMA: Thanks for Nuttin'."
"Sure, that happens," said FEMA spokesman Nate Custer. "People are discouraged. They are sometimes in a state of shock. It's a huge setback for a lot of them and when they have a little bit of delay, it just exacerbates those feelings."
"It's a slow process and it has a lot of red tape," said Dan Corbin of the insurance agents association.
FEMA offers ways for victims to question and prod action through toll-free numbers and its website as well as counseling and ways to get free legal advice. The state Department of Financial Services is pressuring insurance companies.
The emergency agency approved $76 million for homeowners, renters, businesses and municipalities for Irene and more than $41 million for Lee. The state provided $3.7 million more so far to 252 farms, but the Cuomo administration says recovery is mostly a responsibility of private insurance and the federal government. FEMA and the federal Small Business Administration are offering loans.
Beth Ballard's daughter, 26-year-old Alanna, is still waiting for a FEMA trailer. Twenty-five of the two-bedroom temporary units arrived a week ago, but hadn't yet been assigned.
"I expected to be further along," she said, living with two of her children at a friend's while another child stays with the child's father. "Everything is so wet and it won't dry ... it's going to be a really long time."
In Windham, as saws buzzed to get business open for last weekend's Autumn Affair, the biggest festival of the year for merchants, a jack o' lantern sat outside Zegra's Pizzeria.
Its message in thick black marker: "Keep smiling."


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Write some software -- 3
Presupuesto $30-250 CAD
I need you to develop some software for me. I would like this software to be developed using [url removed, login to view] description will be discussed within chat room
project is due in 2 hour
**lower bid will be in priority.**


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Mark Stickley
Very interesting article! I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who are talented and lucky enough to do both the design work and the markup, but there are also plenty who do one or the other. How would you suggest the coder approaches an unreceptive designer or a designer whose knowledge of css is limited about this, and vice versa? I imagine it would be more difficult if the design and coding were being done by two separate companies.


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Hello friends and neighbors. It is good to see you here.
Hello friends and neighbors. It is good to see you here.
Salvation Army Major Joe Mure called this week to introduce me to Dave Jordan, one of the bell ringers that he has hired for the season. I drove over to K-Mart at the end of Piney Green Road a little before 3 p.m. when Jordan�s five and a half hour shift ended. The young man of 87 years was cheerfully ringing the bell and speaking to the steady stream of shoppers as they passed. I offered to bring him my little fold-up stool that I keep in the back of the car but he said no, he was doing fine. A few minutes later, his relief ringer arrived so we stepped back so that I could talk with him.
Jordan said that he had gone to the Employment Security Commission looking for a job to subsidize his income because he thinks that people ought to work; it is the key to a long and healthy life.
�It is a good idea to keep working,� he said. �So many have stopped working and spend their short life watching TV. I work and have lots of interests, that�s what works for me.�
Jordan is a chemist with a PhD in chemistry from Temple University. He also holds a master�s in chemistry from Emory University and attended Vanderbilt University and NC State University for his undergraduate work when he was in the Army. He retired from Rohm Hass in Philadelphia and also worked for Poly Sciences near Philadelphia and Thompson Reuters developing and selling products. He developed several products and services such as roof coatings and paper coatings over his 50-years career.
�I like messing around with things in the lab,� Jordan said. �The jobs were all fun; I enjoyed all of it.�
Jordan had worked at whatever job he could find including working as an assistant district manager for a newspaper and for the census.
There are no jobs here for chemists, he said, so he decided to try the Salvation Army bell ringing job. It was his first time to work with the Salvation Army.
�They are a great group,� he said. �I would like to come back and volunteer when I get a job.�
Jordan came to Onslow County when his daughter, Elizabeth Clawson, became sick with cancer. She died about five years ago and he stayed to help his son-in-law with the children. His grandchildren are now attending college at Appalachian State University.
Jordan was born in Tuscaloosa, AL to Arthur D. and Mabel Jordan. He has one sister Lillian. Long lives are genetic for Jordan�s family. His father died at 82 when he fell out of a tree. His mother died at 78.
Jordan began coming to the area with his wife of 51-years to vacation at Emerald Isle. His wife died 10 years ago but he still wears his wedding band.
If you see Jordan ringing the bell in front of K-Mart, stop and say hello. He is a very interesting man and inspiring man. Speak to all the bell ringers. You never know who God has placed behind that bell.
I rang the bell on Monday in front of the U.S. 17 Wal-Mart with The Daily News. The weather was glorious and I so enjoyed standing there in the sun greeting the shoppers. Once they got out of their cars, the shoppers were very courteous but it was life in the fast lane in that parking lot. You could get run down trying to find a parking place. Very entertaining to watch.
I saw a woman with a newborn strapped to her chest that looked as if she had chemotherapy. I prayed for her that God would remove her fears and give her the peace that surpasses understanding. I also prayed that he would heal her and give her a long life to watch her child grow up.
Another young man was beaming because he had gotten a new wedding band. He works on engines and had lost his titanium band last week. Of course it was partially his wife�s fault because she had not had his band resized. He was wearing his new properly sized band and showed it off, seemingly glad to have it.
�Congratulations,� I said. �I hope it lasts a lifetime.�
�My lifetime or hers?� he asked.
�Yours,� I said but amended it to, �Yours and hers.�
Peace on Earth
When I attended the show at the Alabama Theater last week at Myrtle Beach, I listened as the Alabama singers sang, �Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me. Let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be. With God as our father, brothers all are we. Let me walk with my brother in perfect harmony.� I thought about how different things would be if there really was peace on earth as in the words of the song written by Sy and Jill Jackson Miller.
There would be no wars so military families would not be separated and ripped apart during this holy season. Skyping and emailing would not have to suffice for a real family Christmas. If there was really peace, veterans would not return home with broken bodies and broken spirits. They are blessed to return home. So many don�t. Parents, spouses and children would not be mourning a loved one lost in war.
If there was peace, we would stop killing each other in the home, in the streets, and in our schools. Crime would cease to exist and the jails could close. Families would not be torn apart by divorce and domestic violence. The Women�s Center shelter could close.
If there was peace, we would love each other and care for each other so there would be no need for homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and animal shelters. The population in senior care centers would dwindle.
So, �let peace begin with me, let this be the moment now. With every step I take, let this be my solemn vow to live each moment and love each moment in peace eternally. Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.�
My wish for you is peace. Have a Merry Christmas. Remember Jesus is the gift. Thank you for coming.


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The Secretary of the Senate conducts legislative business and oversees internal offices whose duties include legislative information, production and communications and administrative services.
The Secretary of the Senate is the chief operating officer of the Senate. The Secretary of the Senate functions under the jurisdiction of the Committee on Rules and Administration, acting as parliamentarian and administering the internal operations of the Senate.
Refer to the Key Resources section on this page where services are defined by each individual office.


text: > Not only CUDA and OpenCL, but also DirectX, DirectCompute, C++, and > Fortran. From a programmer's point of view, it could be a major > improvement, and the only thing which still kept people from using > GPUs to run their code. all of the above but C++ can be used on the current hardware. CUDA Fortran is already available in PGI 9.0-4 (public beta). > On a side note, it's funny to notice that this is probably the first > GPU in history to be introduced by its manufacturer as a > "supercomputer on a chip", rather than a graphics engine which will > allow gamers to play their favorite RPS at never-reached resolutions > and framerates. Reading some reviews, it seemed that the traditional > audience of such events (gamers) were quite disappointed by not really > seeing what the announcements could mean to them. > After all, HPC is still a niche compared to the worldwide video games > market, and it's impressive that NVIDIA decided to focus on this tiny > fraction of its prospective buyers, rather than go for the usual > my-vertex-pipeline-is-longer-than-yours. :) yes, indeed and such a strong skew towards HPC worries me. there is almost no word how gamers are going to benefit from Fermi apart from C++ support. in the mean time RV770 offers 2.7 TFlops SP and 1/4 of that in DP which positions it pretty close to Fermi in that respect. in RV770, quick integer operations are in 24-bit and i wonder if the same still holds true for Fermi.


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HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) Jerry Sandusky's wife says Pennsylvania's top prosecutor lacks the courage to admit the former Penn State assistant coach isn't guilty of the child molestation charges that sent him to prison.
Dottie Sandusky issued a statement Monday after Attorney General Kathleen Kane released a report into how the case was handled by police and prosecutors and why it took nearly three years to file charges.
Dottie Sandusky says the charges were delayed because there was no legitimate evidence against him.
The report questions why their home wasn't searched until 2011 even though authorities fielded a complaint against Sandusky in late 2008.
Dottie Sandusky says if they'd searched earlier they'd have found nothing. The report says the search produced victims' photos and a highlighted list of participants from his children's charity.


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Last Mission: Establishing The Rule of Law In Iraq
|Episode Description
|Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 - 5:00 AM
The last and possibly most important mission for the United States military before it departs Iraq is to establish stability and promote the rule of law. In The Last Mission: Establishing the Rule of Law in Iraq, West Virginia Public Broadcasting producer Chip Hitchcock follows a West Virginia Military Police battalion as it helps to transform the Iraqi police from a force that once served a brutal dictator into one that serves the people and the law. Will eight years of war, more than $700 billion, the sacrifice of thousands of lives and the work of more than a million Americans create a stable democracy in Iraq? Hitchcock (Bridgeport to Baghdad) investigates these questions in his latest documentary, taped while he was embedded with the West Virginia National Guard's 151st Military Police Battalion. D
Mountain Time
|More Last Mission: Establishing The Rule of Law In Iraq on IDAHO (MT)
Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 - 5:00 AM
Saturday, Sep 13, 2014 - 1:00 AM


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Of course, being a dad is totally different than being a mom, and I can't imagine how much harder it must be for women in academia who want to have children. My wife is also in an academic career. When Sidney was first born, she took 3 months off of work, but this was hard for both of us -- for her, because she never got a break from taking care of the baby during the day, and for me, since I wasn't doing a good job at balancing my job with being a new dad. Fortunately, Sidney was born about a week after I submitted my tenure case materials, so I could relax a little, but being a prof still involves a lot of day-to-day stress.
My biggest mistake was not taking teaching relief as soon as the baby was born. I was slated to teach one of our intro courses, which had around 80 students, so it would have been a real problem had the course not been covered that term. I figured since I had taught the class a couple of times before it would be easy -- I planned to lean heavily on the teaching assistants and mostly waltz in twice a week to give lectures I had already prepared. What I didn't account for is that with so many students there is always a fire to put out somewhere -- a student who needs special attention, allegations of cheating, TAs dropping the ball -- so you are still "on call" even if the lectures and assignments have been prepared well in advance. The biggest stressor was having to teach on days without having had any sleep the night before. In retrospect, trying to teach that term was a huge mistake, and I should have put my own sanity before the department teaching schedule.
Since then, things have improved greatly, and I am so happy and proud to be a dad. The thing that nobody tells you is that newborn babies aren't much fun. They can't yet smile, laugh, control their extremities, see more than 6 inches away, or do much of anything except eat, sleep, cry, and poop. Once they hit 10 or 12 weeks things really take a big turn, and now that Sidney is a year old he is a total hoot. He just started walking last week and it's the funniest thing in the world to watch.
The biggest change in my life is that I can no longer work in the evenings and on the weekends. When I'm home, I'm daddy, and finding time to sit down at the laptop to get anything done is pretty hard. After Sidney's 8pm bedtime I can get some things done, but by that time, my two priorities are having a nice cocktail and getting a good nights' sleep. (By the way, I am a big fan of the Ferber method for helping babies learn to sleep on their own. Greg Morrisett described the technique to me as "exponential backoff." We did this with Sidney when he was 4 months old and since then has consistently slept from 8pm - 6am almost every night. It works.)
On the flip side, when I'm in the office, I am very focused on getting work done, since I know I can't work as well in the evenings. So rather than put off things until after dinner, I try to knock them off during the day. As a result I'm a lot more productive and less scattered. I feel like a total slacker leaving the Google office at 5pm sharp every day, but I have to get home to meet the nanny. That's life. Now that Sidney is a little older we've been taking him out to restaurants and happy hour -- there's nothing like feeding the baby a bottle while nursing a nice cold beer of my own. So life is good. Professors can also be parents. I just can't wait to start teaching Sidney C++.


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NRS Marks 20 Years of Service to Patients
The National Rosacea Society (NRS) is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2012, and is pleased to report on the vast ongoing progress that has been made toward fulfilling its mission of improving the lives of people with rosacea through awareness, education and support of medical research.
"When the NRS was formed in 1992, rosacea was considered a rare disorder, and the first treatment for the disease had been approved as an orphan drug by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration because it thought rosacea affected fewer than 200,000 Americans," said Sam Huff, executive director of the NRS. "However, it soon became apparent that untold millions of people suffered from rosacea but didn't know they had a medical condition and that it could be treated."
Based on subsequent research, the NRS now estimates that more than 16 million Americans suffer from this often life-disruptive condition.
As it became evident that rosacea was both highly prevalent and widely misunderstood, the NRS embarked on a public awareness program that resulted in coverage by virtually all of the major media of the day and now reaches a total audience of more than 400 million annually. As a result, millions of rosacea sufferers began to seek medical help from dermatologists, who were increasingly able to diagnose and treat this chronic and often complex disorder.
Since the cause of rosacea is unknown and there is no cure, in 2000 the NRS established a grants program dedicated to encouraging and supporting medical research toward advances in its treatment, management and potential prevention or cure. Funded entirely by individual donations, the research grants program has provided over $1 million to fund 51 studies to date, resulting in substantial improvements in the understanding and potentially more effective treatment of the disorder.
To provide a foundation for meaningful scientific investigation, the NRS organized a consensus committee and review panel of 21 medical experts to establish a standard definition and classification system for rosacea, which was published in 2002.1 This was followed by a standard grading system, published in 2004, and standard management options, published in 2009.
Today the NRS provides educational services to more than 1 million rosacea patients each year, while the NRS Web site, rosacea.org, serves as the leading resource for information about rosacea on the Internet. Meanwhile, the NRS has continued its extensive public awareness program at no cost to the public, thanks to the generous support of an increasing number of companies committed to rosacea.
"Most importantly, through the commitment of rosacea sufferers, physicians, researchers and industry, an expanding array of therapies for the various signs and symptoms of rosacea is now available or on the way," Huff said. "We're extremely grateful to all of our members for their continued and vitally needed support."
- Wilkin J, Dahl M, Detmar M, Drake L, et al. Standard classification of rosacea: Report of the National Rosacea Society Expert Committee on the Classification and Staging of Rosacea. J Am Acad Dermatol 2002;46:584-587.
Contact Us
- Phone:
- Email:
- email@example.com
196 James St.
Barrington, IL 60010
Our Mission
The National Rosacea Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the lives of people with rosacea by raising awareness, providing public health information and supporting medical research on this widespread but little-known disorder. The information the Society provides should not be considered medical advice, nor is it intended to replace
consultation with a qualified physician. The Society does not evaluate, endorse or recommend any particular medications, products, equipment or treatments. Rosacea may vary substantially from one patient to another, and treatment must be tailored by a physician for each individual case. For more information, visit About Us.


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Best Buy Charges Woman $35 For Free Repairs
Did you know that if you request a repair under warranty for an appliance you bought at Best Buy, and the repair isn't made, then Best Buy will charge you a fee?
We guess this is a non-repair fee, which is an impressive new way to make money.
Last fall, I purchased a Hoover steam carpet cleaner for $170.71 from Best Buy in Fort Collins, CO. It worked properly the first time, but the second and third times failed to suction up water. When I took it back to Best Buy, they refused an exchange because more than 30 days had past. A steam cleaner is hardly like a TV or computer that is used every day. It would have been impossible to know within 30 days that the steam cleaner was not functioning properly. However, several levels of managers culminating in store manager Brandon Pagani refused to consider an exchange.
My only option, according to the Best Buy managers I spoke with, was to have Best Buy send the steam cleaner out for repair. Since the machine was still under warranty, the repair would be free and I have a slip from Best Buy showing an estimate of $0.00 for repair.
However, the repair people (I do not know if they were Best Buy or Hoover people) could not duplicate the problem I had experienced—twice—so they shipped the steam cleaner back to Best Buy unrepaired.
Best Buy informed me that I would have to pay an additional $34.95 to retrieve my steam cleaner since there was no repair. Best Buy's policy says it can resell the steam cleaner if I do not pay the retrieval fee within 30 days. I have lost $170.71, plus $34.95, for a steam cleaner that only worked once.
(Thanks to Cindy!)
(Photo: Getty)
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This is the first beta weekend for Cryptic's "Neverwinter", an action-oriented MMO set in one of the more famous of the Forgotten Realm's cities. We've seen Neverwinter brought to life before in "Neverwinter Nights" and its sequel, titles that kept their relevance by offering every player the chance and opportunity to create and run their own dungeons for themselves and their friends.
It's absolutely the reason that Cryptic chose Neverwinter as the base for their game, as players can create their own adventures through the "Foundry". Starship captains have been using the Foundry in Star Trek Online to make adventures for well over a year now, but that was just a tech test compared to the tools on offer in Neverwinter.
Foundry wasn't live, though, so I'll just focus on the gameplay.
Neverwinter is loosely based on the fourth edition rules for Dungeons & Dragons. You can choose your race from halfling, dwarf, human, elf, half-elf, drow and the demonic tiefling. The drow race was not available to choose during this beta. Character appearance was as good as I've seen anywhere else; you'll be able to make your character look exactly how you like. Stats were rolled in a simplified manner; there are maybe a half dozen potential rolls that focus on your class' prime statistic and the two secondary ones. It is not explained in the game how the secondary stats affect gameplay, so I felt it was just best to roll the highest possible number for the prime stat… which is how I play the real D&D, too, so there's that.
Importing your paper character probably won't be possible. Especially if it used any classes or races from beyond the Players Handbook (PHB) (and it's missing dragonborn and eladrin for PHB1 races, too).
In D&D4e, each class has a couple of preferred builds. Neverwinter makes the choice of build for you. For instance, the PHB suggests "Battle Cleric" and "Devoted Cleric" as preferred builds for the cleric. Neverwinter offers only "Devoted Cleric". Similarly, fighters are restricted to "Guardian Fighter" or "Great Weapon Fighter", wizards to "Control Wizard", rogues to "Trickster Rogue", and nothing is yet known about Ranger, though it looks from the character creation screen that that's next. No information about the Paladin or the Warlord.
The abilities have all the familiar names from D&D, with their own twists to fit them into an MMO environment. "At Will" powers are bound to the two mouse buttons and can be held down and spammed. "Encounter" powers are on cooldown timers. "Daily" powers work of "Action Points" that are gained in battle when using the other powers. When your character gains enough powers to not fit into the available slots, you can easily change them out in Neverwinter or at a campsite within a dungeon.
There are no mana bars, even for spellcasters. Your abilities are based on timers and action points and nothing more.
You won't adventure alone, in Neverwinter. There are queues for certain events (like the Orc Assault on Neverwinter) and dungeons (like the Cloak Tower) that automatically fill in a party and put you where you need to be.
But even when you're grinding out quests, you don't need to go it alone. At level 16, you gain the ability to hire "companions" to fill needs. You can choose from fighters, healers, rogues and wizards. I chose the wizard, because D&D clerics stand in the front lines (or would, if Neverwinter allowed them their scale and plate armor. Chain only, for Neverwinter clerics.) Though you can only have one active companion at a time, you can keep several "on deck".
My companion didn't come with the name "Magic Phr3d". I kinda imagined him as a teenage kid from the "real" world who woke up one day in the magical realm of Farune as a wizard, and is really excited about it. He was level 1 when I hired him, and every time he levels, he has to be sent off for training, which takes increasingly more time and takes increasingly more money. At level 8 (vs my character's level 20), he is fairly good at slowing monsters down so I have plenty of time to debuff them and wear them down before they get close enough to hurt.
Companions don't take up group slots — they are more like pets — so dungeons crawls in a full five person party can get pretty crowded.
The elephant in the room here is Turbine's Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO). Cryptic shoots across its bow by using the same font for Neverwinter as Turbine does for Lord of the Rings Online. But the games are very different.
DDO tries, as much as possible, to pretend you and your party are experiencing a game played in some other reality by people around a table. A DM sets the scene as you enter a dungeon; levels are slow and hard to come by. Daily powers can only be used a limited number of times between rests. Traps and puzzles are as integral to a dungeon crawl as monster fighting. Combat goes in rounds, and the actual dice rolls scroll by.
Neverwinter is a more standard MMO. Levels come quickly; my DM was shocked when he found he reached level 4 in the tutorial, where in our Adventure Company campaign, he'd regretted us getting to level 4 by the end of the six months we played. I easily got to level 20 after a few hours play, and the top level looks to be 60, a level impossible in actual D&D. Where solo play is discouraged (but not impossible) in DDO, solo play is easy in Neverwinter.
Granted, the only group instance I found so far was Cloak Tower, and the balance could shift toward more group play as the levels rise. But I doubt we'll see dungeons that take an entire play session to run, as we often did in DDO.
DDO is much better at presenting preferred builds, or allowing you to customize your class, or even multiclass. Neverwinter has the few preferred builds it offers, and never allows you to leave the reservation or multiclass (as far as I have seen).
Even with the compromises DDO had to make in order to turn a pen-and-paper game into an MMO (such as mana bars and wildly inflated health), it gives a better Dungeons & Dragons experience than Neverwinter.
As a MMO, Neverwinter is fairly standard. You get quests, you go out and kill things. You get frequent solo instances, but also a good mix of open-world adventuring where your character can help out (and be helped by) other characters with loot and experience for all. Because Cryptic limits the builds and classes available, classes remain fairly distinct and each has a role in a group, while having plenty of tools to make soloing a valid play choice.
What sets Neverwinter apart is its missions created with the Foundry. While not available to the beta testers this weekend, they have a wide variety of player-created missions available, and these are heavily leveraged by "job boards", but also bards and bartenders who will gladly offer up adventures that start nearby.
I played a couple of them, and the ones promoted by Cryptic were of fairly decent quality, with good writing and plot that tied in well with the lore of the game, though the actual adventures were of the standard smash-and-kill variety. I don't know if the Foundry supports roleplay missions. Won't know that until the Foundry opens up.
Cryptic's Neverwinter is a good-looking, polished game offering modern MMO conveniences mixed with a healthy serving of D&D. The pace is fast, the powers iconic, the loot abundant and the grouping easy. While it's not as faithful an implementation of D&D as Dungeons and Dragons Online supports, it is definitely D&D. The first implementation of the fourth edition rules I've seen so far.
If the adventure-crafting tools offered to the players are able to create the quality of adventures created by the Cryptic game designers, then Neverwinter could come out from under the content limitations which hamper other MMOs, especially at the end game and with group content.
If the player tools only really allow for "go here, kill that, grab this, return for reward", though, it may not be as much of an advantage as it seems. The high quality of the Foundry missions for Neverwinter's sister game, Star Trek Online, gives hope that we'll see some truly excellent content here as well.
Neverwinter will be free to download and free to play. Special mounts, armor and other stuff will be available from the cash shops, but (at least in beta) leveling did not feel constrained by my checkbook. There were no "lockboxes" to be seen — these are treasure chests that require real money to open and may contain something very nice but usually contain trash — but I expect they're on their way. Even a F2P game must make money, after all. As long as they don't broadcast to the world when someone opens one and gets something good, as they do in STO. That's really annoying.


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The breed is thought by some to have originated in Spain, but the first reliable records on Pointers are from 17th century Britain. The English Pointer is believed to have been established by crossing a number of different hounds and possibly a spaniel breed.
Living with a Pointer
A Pointer needs room to run and might not make an ideal apartment dog. The breed tends to be a bit reserved with strangers, but within the family is calm and adaptable. The Pointer is very active outdoors and hunting instincts develop very early, with some puppies showing pointing behavior as young as 6-7 weeks of age. The Pointer is usually good with other pets.
The short, smooth coat of the Pointer is groomed easily, but can still have skin problems. Start getting a pup used to being examined and groomed early on.
According to the AKC, the Pointer's "every movement shows him to be a wide-awake, hard-driving hunting dog possessing stamina, courage, and the desire to go. And in his expression are the loyalty and devotion of a true friend of man."


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Pulling an Icarus
So what are your current Icarus options?
Your obvious options are paragliding or hang-gliding. A much cooler option is a jet-pack, but it can make you feel like James Bond only for about a minute before it runs out of fuel. You can also try a jet-wing like Yves Rossi did when he crossed the English Channel a few weeks ago, but only for about 10 minutes and it's a very noisy ride. If your goal is becoming a real bird-man the way Daedalus intended, there's only one way to go – wingsuits. If you think flying low on ice is crazy, try these loco mountain buzzers. And if you think these were dangerous, you should know that several dudes around the world are currently working on wingsuit landing.
* Image by Frank Frazetta.
p.s. If God had meant for us to fly, he would have given us better airline food.


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(3YO plus)
Winner $6,300 - 7 ran
1m 110y
Fast (Dirt)
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text: I'm familiar with Santa Clara and San Jose. None of the other ones you listed. Santa Clara is a fine school and San Jose is a nice city the 10th largest in America, which is very surprising, but true. You are only an hour away from San Francisco as well so if you wanted see the city it would be easy to do. Santa Clara has a pretty good reputation in the Bay Area, but the Bay Area is one of the most competitive places in America. Like Boston or New York. Santa Clara is probably the 4th / 5th most highly regarded school in the Bay Area and you will be competition with 9 law schools. Stanford, Berkeley, Hastings, USF, Santa Clara, Golden Gate and the CBA schools JFK, San Francisco, and then UC Davis and McGeorge are not far away. San Jose is a nice town though it is perfect weather almost year round and Santa Clara is nice I have nothing bad to say about it. It is a Jesuit school and that is kind of present there, but that might be a result of the few people I know there being Jesuit to begin with so they probably bring up more than the normal students there. Anyways, Santa Clara gets a thumbs up for me, but it is expensive and finding a job will be difficult, but it can be done.


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This story appears in the October 2012 issue of National Geographic magazine.
We have all held leaves, driven miles to see their fall colors, eaten them, raked them, sought their shade. Since they are everywhere, it's easy to take them for granted.
But even when we do, they continue in their one occupation: turning light into life. When rays of sunlight strike green leaves, wavelengths in the green spectrum bounce back toward our eyes. The rest—the reds, blues, indigos, and violets—are trapped. A leaf is filled with chambers illuminated by gathered light. In these glowing rooms photons bump around, and the leaf captures their energy, turning it into the sugar from which plants, animals, and civilizations are built.
Chloroplasts, fed by sun, water, carbon dioxide, and nutrients, do the leaf's work. They evolved about 1.6 billion years ago when one cell, incapable of using the sun's energy, engulfed another cell—a cyanobacterium—that could. That cyanobacterium became the ancestor of every living chloroplast. Without their chloroplasts plants would be left like the rest of us, to eat what they find. Instead they hold out their green palms and catch light. If there is magic in the world, surely this is it: the descendants of tiny creatures in leaves, capable of ingesting the sun.
If you gather a bouquet of leaves to consider their magic, it is hard to overlook their diversity and, if you are the curious sort, to wonder why there exists such a preponderance of forms. Some leaves don't seem to be leaves at all, having become flower petals, thorns, or the spines on a cactus. But even an ordinary oak leaf, dandelion leaf, and grass blade differ in size, thickness, shape, hue, texture, taste, and nearly every other feature.
Leaves are large, small, thick, thin, compound, simple, curved, or lobed. And these terms just begin to describe the differences botanists have tried to catalog in their rich poetry of obscure adjectives—pinnate, ciliate, barbellate, bearded, canescent, glabrous, glandular, viscid, scurfy, floccose, arachnoid, and my favorite, tomentose (covered with woolly hairs). But putting the variety of structures aside, most leaves do essentially the same thing: They exist in the main to hold chloroplasts aloft. How can so many different geometries all perfectly capture the sun?
The work of natural selection offers a key to the puzzle. Desert leaves tend to be small, thick-skinned, waxy, or spiny' just like leaves in salty regions or other harsh lands—clear examples of the relatively few ways evolution can deal with a lack of water. Rain forest plants often have narrow leaves, with long, thin "drip tips," to drain away excess water. In cold places one finds leaves with teeth—like birches and cherries—though why this particular pattern exists is the subject of debate.
Some of the most extreme examples of the way natural selection shapes leaves can be found at high elevations in the tropics, where nights are consistently cold and damp and the days hot and dry. Scramble high enough above the tree line in the mountains of Africa, Asia, Hawaii, and the Americas, and you will see thick towers of plants crowned by mops of living and dead leaves.
In a poetic moment botanists named these lovely circular leaf arrangements "giant rosettes." The thick living leaves of these rosettes shelter new buds. They're hairy too, which adds insulation. The dead leaves help the plants withstand freezing at night and, simultaneously, save the night's cold dew for the dry day. Remove those decaying leaves from rosettes at high elevations and the plants can freeze to death, naked without their dead-leaf fur.
In many environments natural selection tends to favor a limited number of similar forms again and again, given the genes it has to work with. Sometimes there really does seem to be just one or a few best ways to deal with a particular set of conditions. If rosettes are not convincing, consider the meat-eaters. In nutrient-poor bogs, plants have repeatedly turned to animals to supplement what the soil alone cannot provide. They have evolved rolled leaves, sticky hairs, mucous pools, or snap traps, all for capturing live prey. A bog is a terrifying place to be a fly.
But if climate and nutrient availability were the only explanations for leaf diversity, all of the leaves in a particular environment—a desert, a mountaintop, your backyard—would tend to be the same. Of course they are not. Many of the qualities of the leaves in your yard or salad are due to the limits of genes and time. Not all plants have the genetic variation it takes to become, under the natural selection imposed by desert conditions, a cactus. Conditions change. Species move. Every leaf is a work in progress. One suspects, for example, that leaves are evolving now to deal with the conditions in cities—pollution, drought, intense heat, and animal waste—but it may require more generations for natural selection to stumble, death by death, upon the more successful forms.
Other specific traits may have to do with the battles that have gone on among plants each day for more than 400 million years. Plants fight for nutrients and water in the soil, and they fight for sunlight in the canopy. Competition is why trees grow tall, stems become trunks, and forests grow dense. Trees have evolved in the struggle of plant against plant many times, in vastly different lineages. The highest leaves win, and so trees tend to evolve to be as tall as possible, given the limits of physics and precipitation. Without competition, every forest would be a thick film of green life.
The battles among plants have changed their stems and their veins. Leaves with more veins can carry more water to the chloroplasts, allowing the chloroplasts to make more sugar and the plants to grow faster. These species in turn can hold their leaves aloft to occupy more space in the sky and consume more sunlight before others get to it. Through time the plants that were able to produce more and more veins in their leaves won many battles and some wars.
Leaves with densely branched patterns of veins are also able to grow more quickly. The veins of a maple leaf, for instance, are like the roads of a city; they go everywhere and often intersect. They traffic in nutrients and water. The maple leaf can quickly get what it needs to continue to feed from the sun. Other leaves are not so lucky. Amid the seething competition for space in tropical forests, pity the single-veined leaf.
Plants have more to cope with than competition from other plants. The evidence of animals eating leaves is almost as ancient as the evidence for leaves themselves. In fossil dinosaur poop one finds evidence of ancient leaves. In fossil leaves one finds the holes made by ancient mouths. Nothing on life's menu is more popular. Moths, butterflies, beetles, fungi, monkeys, sloths, and great loping monsters like cows, bison, and giraffes eat the hard-earned greenery of plants, which, for all of their ingenuity, have never figured out how to run away.
So leaves resort to self-defense. Some plant leaves have become specialists in deadly tricks. Grass blades evolved the ability to accumulate the silica from the soil—becoming like tiny glass slivers, which ruin the teeth of browsers like cows one bite at a time. Other plants use chemicals to make themselves unpalatable or even poisonous. Sometimes the weapons are visible: latex oozing out of a vein or tingly hairs projecting from leaf blades. Other times they lurk unseen, waiting for the unsuspecting victim, be it the larva of a moth or an undiscriminating sheep.
Climate, competition, defense—these evolutionary saws and scissors can explain much of the diversity of leaves. Yet if you pick up two leaves in your backyard, most of what differs between them—the details naturalists have spent thousands of years naming—remains unaccounted for. Evolution can whittle similar forms again and again when confronted with similar circumstances. But through innovation and chance, evolution can also work in the abstract: Jackson Pollock dashing paint on the canvas of life. We should not expect to understand every tomentose blade or arachnoid lobe. Sometimes it is enough to step back and know a masterwork when we see one, whether it hangs in a museum or from its petiole on the branch of a park tree. Not that leaves care whether you notice; the blessing they convey comes each day with the rise of the edible sun.
Illustrations are from Impressions of Nature: A History of Nature Printing, by Roderick Cave.