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Community Activists Network
ICOCO's 'At Ease With Each Other' conference on community cohesion which took place Monday 23rd April in central London was, I believe, a step forward on the road to plain speaking and at looking at all sides of the race and immigration debate.
The events keynote speech was given by the Secretary of State For Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles, which was in some ways a damp squib with not much content relying mainly on sound bites. At one point he told the audience it was "all faiths and no faiths that needed to contribute to society" but gave no insights on how this should happen other than for us all to attend street parties for the Queens Jubilee, clearly by supporting the Royal Family we will keep Britain great and unite our nation.
From this the conference took a different turn as the speakers talked about issues that took the delegates out of their comfort zone. We heard that the Coalition wants to see Scouts and Guilds develop in none traditional Scouting areas ( this meant areas with large ethnic minority communities) and by doing so we would be automatically placing 400 'leaders' in these communities.
David Goodhart Director of the think tank DEMOS really added to the discomfort factor of the day by telling the audience he believed that Government had done nothing to help people integrate but had instead put large numbers of uneducated immigrants into already struggling, deprived mill towns creating social issues that mere education would never alone be able to solve.
The groans and tuts of discomfiture could be heard, and felt, from the 100 plus attendees as the comments either went against the grain of usual thinking or that an honest opinion was being heard outside of the realms of political correctness.
What was interesting was that even though the speakers had raised points that the mainly liberal minded audience had not expected there were hardly any challenges from the floor during question time. Why was this? Simple, we expect a conference on community cohesion to provide a safe platform that all involved can expect to hear comforting like minded views that allow people to feel happy about being part of the solution whilst confirming their political correctness. The points raised by the floor at past conferences would mainly have told ministers that they weren't adding enough money to the millions already ploughed into race issues and short term integration projects. This time no one bothered, perhaps there was a feeling of it being pointless to ask.
What did we learn? That immigration is an area of discussion that everyone is too scared to really address to any depth for fear of being called racist. It's clear that people are no longer sure when common sense and plain speaking becomes racism so best say nothing. From my observations it was clear that the race debates now need to happen in an honest and open manner as the race and cohesion agenda has been left with no direction from Ministers within the Coalition. Is life in a Northern town happy or a perfect storm waiting to happen? Has the past Labour Government left behind a legacy of silence that drove underground logical debate for fear of the politically correct brigade labeling them? Have far too many decisions been made from Whitehall, leaving people to suffer on all sides as a result of their blinkered naivety? Eric Pickles certainly hid behind the old retoric of I'm not racist because I have a black friend, and in a world of no certainty and uncertainty of what is the correct thing to say all reminded quiet.
I praise ICOCO for starting this debate but the conference hall was not the safe place to have the discussions that needed to follow and that was clear from a lack of challenges to speakers. So what next? Lets have the debates in smaller groups where people can feel safe to ask what is next and how can we put this important agenda back on the table. Lets get MPs engaged in those conversations so they become aware of the issues, fears and concerns and how they can get all members of the community to vote, but not by being divisive and using race as a tool to win elections and divide the nation even more. Something we are starting to see as an election strategy.
It's in all our interests to be 'At Ease With Each Other' and as with any negative feelings and doubts we have with people in life, you need to clear the air to become friends. Only then can we all celebrate the things we all have in common rather than blaming everyone else for the uncomfortable things we don't like and are too scared to say.
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Glad others have commented because, after reading Maxine's account, I found myself wondering who the other speakers were, who was in the audience, and – at the risk of exposing myself as the class dunce- what the problem was. I was left unclear as to whether people were saying there isn't a problem with community cohesion except problems created by politicians playing the race card, or there IS a problem but it isn't addressed because they think the problem is immigration and they don't want to be the first to say it or they don't want to say it at all in case they're labelled racist?
Anyway, Amanda's response suggests they were worrying about the wrong thing anyway. I can't help wondering if people sometimes overthink things, and possibly try to intellectualise things that are quite simple, to disguise the fact they haven't got a clue.
This story featured on the BBC website earlier this week.
It was only one of several stories on the subject of London councils trying to transport their unwanted social tenants out of their boroughs up to the Midlands. I can tell you that, were this neighbouring Sandwell where I live, people would be irate if they thought Brummies were being shipped in across the border; giving precious social housing to Londoners would probably bring down the Labour council who have ruled Sandwell since forever! Sudden, large influxes of outsiders definitely affects "community cohesion" (whatever that is), but this is not necessarily to do with the race, colour or religion of the incomers; it is their lack of local connection. Mix that with shortages of decent quality housing and high unemployment, and you obviously have the makings of social unrest, with the wrong people being blamed. I thought the Tory party ate Local for breakfast, lunch and kitchen supper, so should understand the importance of local connection, and the risk of planting bunches of outsiders in the middle of settled communities. Well, of course politicians know and understand what makes for community unrest, and make it their business to cause as much of it as possible. Anyway, who cares about community cohesion as defined by governments and academics who don't live in the real world anyway – 'the percentage of people who doff their caps and wave cheerily at their neighbours is up'– yippy doo.
A past event sprang to mind – around '96, Birmingham city council and 'partners' tried to re-create the race equality council which had collapsed due to 'political' reasons in '91/'92. It was a big event held on a Saturday in Handsworth (naturally). The usual suspects were there: the 5 Big Boys who were always called to the table first plus the obligatory Black 'community leaders'. We were split off into 3 groups and instructed to consider the possible structure of the new REC: four mini-RECs, hub + spokes, central committee + locally controlled branches … the discussion had just started to warm up when someone declared "I don't care what the thing looks like as long as it has Kashmiri Muslims on it", upon which another person said "I agree, as long as Sikhs are on the committee", followed by "Of course the Hindus must be on the council", and so it went on, and on.. 'Life of Brian', anyone? So, I was wondering if it was possible the wrong people were at the icoco conference, or not enough of the right sort – the ones who aren't afraid to call a spade a spade, in other words, rather than intellectuals and people who 'do' community cohesion or whatever for a living.
Amanda chose to move to a northern town for reasons she has given. No disrespect to Amanda, but she had the freedom to choose. A National Trust spokesperson was on the radio this morning, saying how marvellous it is that families are joining the NT, but they're joining because they're concerned about sustainable housing issues [can just picture the breakfast table conversation..]. Have you ever noticed how you don't see black people traipsing (sorry, rambling) across the British countryside, waving NT membership cards? Why do you think that is? It's because they don't feel welcome in the countryside. This is strange when you consider that most migrants from South Asia and the Caribbean came from rural areas and had farming backgrounds, so would have felt more at home in the countryside than the cities. However, they settled in the larger towns and cities at the invitation of the British Government who needed the country to be rebuilt. Now suddenly, they're an immigration problem.
Actually, I think icoco delegates need to scratch below the surface a bit, and look at the cultural practices of some of the communities that are illegal (female genital mutilation, 'honour killing') – prosecute those who practise or promote those things. The European Union works on the principle of harmonisation upwards, and that's how it should be within this country. If BME communities do things in ways that are different but do no harm, what's the problem? Apart from FGM and honour killings, I can't think of anything else black communities do that white communities don't, and therefore it is cultural practices that are the problem, not immigration. How hard is that, and why is it difficult to say?
Not sure whether I've overthought or underthought the 'issue'; I've edited and re-edited, taking into account other people's comments, but now I'm just going to post this - what the heck! Have a nice day :-)
the swearing was excellent - we need to swear more
And just realised that Pickles claimed to have a friend. Pickles?
I've beem struggling to understand exactly what the issue was, and have been penning a comment; however, in the meantime, I came across this which I thought I'd post as it's quite pithy. http://jezebel.com/5905291/a-complete-guide-to-hipster-racism
In the meantime, I'll continue digesting, cogitating and generally trying to understand why I don't understand what people's problem is. I should warn you, the linked article does contain one or two swear words - altho if you're shocked by them, you probably should get out more - and rest assured, no 'n' word.
and talking of Brave New worlds - I'd recommend a NatCAN get-together in the fresh air on June 23rd and 24th, at the free festival for African music in Sefton Park, Liverpool
Incredibly, all sections of Liverpool's communities seem to co-exist very nicely there (and they're not middle-class - blimey :) )
I agree that we need an open debate, and it won't be possible for it to happen in a bull-ring conference situation. It does need small encounters (see the recent Bradford documentaries). It needs facilitation by people from all sections of the communities, or we fall into an Us and Them scenario. David Goodhart has been promoting National Identity since 2004, when his pamphlet "Too Diverse?" created a hoo-hah (and brought great attention to Mr G.) "Progressives, especially in England, have an anachronistic hostility to national feeling. It is no longer about militarist jingoism, it is the last vehicle for meaningful collectivism."
As Paul Gilroy said so many years ago, "There ain't no Black in the Union Jack". So how meaningful can collectivism be when it excludes people under the label of "immigrant"? When white British people emigrated it was as colonial dominators of the countries. That history makes it very hard to swallow 'progressive nationalism" as a concept in the UK – bloody hypocrisy, given how we have suppressed other nation's 'meaningful collectivism'.
Goodhart was very clear in the past about the impact of immigration in poorer areas of the country: "If the government wants to win political legitimacy for even moderate levels of immigration it must do more to ensure that it benefits poorer citizens too. That means being much more sceptical about low-skill migration and doing much more to get existing citizens into unfilled vacancies." So there is an economic basis for white non-working-class backlash against new arrivals, as many of us have encountered. But that is not caused by immigrants; it is caused by the withdrawal of Capitalists from investing in our communities (so much for patriotism in that strata). We need to stand together against fascists who seek to exploit that situation and the low level of understanding about the roots of decline. Racist jokes seem to have become sanitised again. Along with sexist crap and homophobic crap. It isn't being PC to resist that; it's being brave enough to stand up to bullies and bigots.
I don't know if any form of cohesion is possible within any communities who are now facing hopeless economic futures; it's going to be a dog-eat-dog environment unless people with the desire to connect can prevail over people who want to grab what they can and growl at perceived competitors. No wonder it feels unsafe to open a debate.
I agree Maxine. The debate on equalities has been equated almost exclusively with race. The fact of the matter is that every person has many identities: gender, sexual orientation, social class, geographical belonging, faith, culture, race, age, disability, health, family background, job, football team - all of those things and more form a person's identity. The position taken by the self-appointed experts has been that anyone who challenges their position is a racist, a Little-Englander, a bigot and so on.
The reality of life in a Northern town is not understood by people who look through the lens of their own belief system at the situation. Having lived in Oldham until just over a year ago, I can say that the tension is palpable between communities. The statutory and voluntary sectors are often not helpful - for example, a refusal to mention Christmas in a winter newsletter to avoid offence to minorities and other faiths, without troubling to enquire of the minority communities and other faiths what their point of view might be... The result is a resentment of those communities from the indigenous community for a perceived bias against their cultural and religious traditions, when in fact it is nothing to do with minority communities and other faiths.
I will probably be told off for generalising here, but the earnest, liberal, right-on (and usually middle class) white people who take this position are at best unhelpful, and at worst are contributing to racial and cultural tension. And as a member of the white working class I believe that there is prejudice underlying the position of the people who are the guardians of multi-culturalism. That prejudice will be vehemently denied - but I would point out that actions speak louder than words, and if a reasonable person would be justified in identifying bias and discrimination then it is safe to say it is an institutionalised bias - call people chavs, sneer at their lives and views and accuse them of being racist and you can absolve yourself of blame can't you?
I like living in a diverse and vibrant community where people get along as neighbours, friends and colleagues without their entire relationships being forced through the filter of racial identity alone. Oldham has not had that - it is why I moved. If you want to see the failure of a system try living in a Northern mill town and trying to avoid being spat at and sworn at for having friends of a different race or faith by the white community and being spat at and sworn at for being in the wrong area by members of the Asian community.


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TALLAHASSEE -- A man convicted of murdering an Ohio mother and her two daughters after their Disney World vacation 22 years ago is scheduled to be executed Nov. 15 after Gov. Rick Scott signed his death warrant Monday.
Oba Chandler, who turns 65 on Tuesday, was convicted of murdering Joan Rogers, 36, and her daughters, Christe, 14, and Michelle, 17. He stripped them from the waist down, bound them with duct tape and yellow rope and tied concrete blocks to ropes around their necks before throwing them overboard into Tampa Bay, according to authorities. But the bodies, despite being weighted, floated to the surface.
Prosecutors weren't certain whether Rogers and her daughters were alive or dead when they were thrown into the bay. The cause of death was either strangulation from the ropes or drowning, authorities said.
Rogers, who had gone with her children to Tampa en route back to Willshire, Ohio, after visiting Disney World, had stopped and asked Chandler for directions to her Tampa motel on June 1, 1989. She and her daughters disappeared that night. The motel manager contacted police after maids noticed no one had been in the room for a week. Authorities then found Rogers' car abandoned beside a boat ramp on a causeway that connects Tampa and Pinellas County.
Inside they found a brochure on which Chandler wrote directions to the motel. For three years the killings were a mystery until investigators posted Chandler's handwriting in hopes someone would recognize it. One of Chandler's neighbors did and called authorities.
Chandler was convicted of the killings in 1994. At trial, prosecutors used details of an unrelated rape for which he was never tried. A woman testified Chandler took her by boat to see the sunset out on the bay and raped her and she believed the reason she wasn't killed was because a friend was waiting for her at the dock. Based on the similarities of the cases, prosecutors hypothesized that Rogers and her daughters were lured onto the boat with the promise of seeing the sunset and were then sexually assaulted before being murdered.
Chandler's lawyer, Baya Harrison, said his client has told him to avoid frivolous appeals to keep him alive.
"He is not putting a lot of pressure on me to go running around at the end to find some magic way out," Harrison said. "He is not going to make a scene. He's not going to bemoan the legal system. What he has told me is this: if there is some legal way that I can find to try to prevent him from being executed, he would like me to do what I reasonably can."
Chandler hasn't admitted he committed the murders, but is simply tired of life on death row, Harrison said.
"This is an old man, a tired man, a broken man," Harrison said. "I'm afraid that there's simply not many issues left. I've got a couple of cards I can play, but I'm going to get my pleadings filed as soon as I can so we don't have this last-minute running around like chickens with our heads cut off because that's absolutely miserable for everybody."
Seven months ago, Chandler was offered to be interviewed for potential clemency -- a standard procedure in death cases -- and he declined, Harrison said.
"He didn't do it in an arrogant or obnoxious or angry way at all," Harrison said. ""He knew he was not a serious candidate for clemency and he didn't want to take up their time. He didn't want to go through the exercise himself."
Chandler, who is being held at Union Correctional Institution in Union County, also had a previous felony conviction for armed robbery.
The death warrant, under which Chandler is to receive a lethal injection, is the second signed by Scott since he took office in January. Last month Manuel Valle received a lethal injection for fatally shooting Coral Gables police officer Louis Pena in 1978. Valle's execution was the first in Florida using a newly revised mix of lethal drugs.
Associated Press writer Gary Fineout contributed to this report.

subset: commoncrawl


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The dogs and cats residing at the Humane Society of Polk County would express their appreciation if they could at the prospects of heading to a much-improved home very soon.
WINTER HAVEN | It's hard to show your best side, especially to potential family, when you live in cramped quarters.
So the dogs and cats residing at the Humane Society of Polk County would express their appreciation, if they could, at the prospects of heading to a much-improved home soon.
The Humane Society recently purchased an 11,000-square-foot facility on Dundee Road, which will more than quadruple its current size, allowing the group to take in more animals and increase services.
"We'll be able to house more animals, and hopefully we'll be able to do some fundraising here instead of renting out places to do our big events," said Lisa Baker, the executive director of the Humane Society of Polk County.
"And we'll be able to do dog training inside rather than out in the elements. It's going to be such a huge blessing. We're very excited."
The 4.7-acre property at 3195 Dundee Road, just a short drive from the current facility, is almost the same size as another property the Humane Society purchased on County Road 544, but it already has a building on site, which will save the society thousands of dollars.
In addition, its location on the heavily traveled Dundee Road improves visibility for the public.
"The property on (CR) 544 was such a big leap. Now people will be able to see the building, to see the layout, to see the location," said Suzie Moraco, president of the Humane Society's board of directors. "I think it's going to get people excited."
The Humane Society has been looking for a new home since the hurricanes in 2004 destroyed its old facility. When the economy went south, it became difficult to raise money to build on the property on CR 544.
So when Baker saw the warehouse on Dundee Road for sale, she was ecstatic.
"It was just a miracle that this warehouse outlet became available for sale for us," she said.
The Humane Society is Polk County's only no-kill animal shelter. Unlike the county shelter or the SPCA, it doesn't euthanize animals to make space, Baker said.
"When we take an animal in, we make a commitment to that animal to not put it to sleep and to get it a home," she said.
Because of this policy, space at the Humane Society is at a premium, making the new location even more important.
In the current location, the society usually has about 25 cats and 25 dogs in residence at any time. More space will increase the number of animals it can accept.
"It allows us to expand the services but do them in a different way," Moraco said. "It will make the animals happier, and it will make them more adoptable."
It's unclear when renovations to the warehouse will begin, but Baker and Moraco are excited to plan the design of their new "state-of-the-art facility," Moraco said.
They will be able to show donors exactly where the dogs and cats will be held and how much room they'll have, Moraco said.
And with the new location only about a quarter-mile from Veterinary Healthcare Associates, a general veterinary and emergency facility, Baker expects their relationship with the animal health center to grow, further improving the Humane Society's health services.


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By Wendell Barnhouse | firstname.lastname@example.com
Big12Sports.com Correspondent
According to the idiom, home is where the heart is. In Big 12 Conference play, home is where you need to win if you're a team wanting to win the regular-season title. Winning home games and defending the home court are crucial and oft-repeated themes by coaches. Conversely, that makes winning league road games that much tougher and more valuable.
Kansas, seeking its ninth consecutive trophy, has one of college basketball's top home courts. Kansas State's Bramlage Coliseum (aka The Octagon Of Doom) is on the list of inhospitable arenas, especially when the Jayhawks visit for the Sunflower State Showdown. That's the case when Kansas visits Manhattan at 7 p.m. Tuesday night.
The Jayhawks, No. 2 in the coaches and No. 3 media polls, are 15-1 overall. The Wildcats are 15-2 and ranked No. 11 in the media and No. 13 in the coaches. Both teams are 4-0 in the Big 12 so the winner will be the sole resident of first place once the noise subsides.
"We tell the freshmen how crazy it's going to be and to not let the fans get to you," Kansas senior Travis Releford said. "It's going to be the next best environment to ours, so we're expecting all type of crazy chants, the crowd really getting into it."
The coaches have an interesting back story connection. Kansas State's Bruce Weber followed Bill Self at Illinois when Self left to take the KU job. Tired of answering questions about his popular predecessor, Weber once dressed all in black for a game and called it a mock funeral of the Self Era.
Now, Weber has replaced Frank Martin, who twice beat Kansas in his five seasons. The Wildcats are benefitting from the defensive and rebounding resolve instilled by Martin and are starting to thrive in Weber's motion offense. It's an offensive style that, when run properly, can leave a defense chasing and scrambling.
"Do they play with passion and reckless abandon and toughness and those sorts of things? Without any hesitation, they do," Self said. "That is a credit to the new staff. They have taken these kids and what they know and incorporated their system but kept the good, too. They should be commended on the job they have done."
The game also will match two players who are vying for post-season honors. Kansas State senior Rodney McGruder was named the Big 12 player of the week and Kansas freshman Ben McLemore was honored as the freshman of the week. McGruder won the award for the fourth time while McLemore has been the rookie of the week three times. Both lead their teams in scoring.
"I'm excited," McGruder said. "It should be a good matchup because I think we're two of the best guards in the Big 12, and we're the two best teams in the Big 12 right now.
"If you're a top 25 team you have got to have a swagger about yourself. I think we have a swagger about ourselves now. It feels great to be on an eight-game winning streak, but it doesn't stop here."
Turning The Page
A year ago, Keiton Page was in the midst of his senior season at Oklahoma State. He completed one of the most successful careers for a 5-foot-9 guard and was a fan favorite for his shooting range and endless effort.
This season, Page is a graduate assistant coach for his alma mater.
"I really thought about playing overseas early on in my senior year," Page told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. "But the more our season went on, the more I talked to coach (Travis) Ford about it. He extended an opportunity for me to stay. I talked to my family and I kind of just felt this is where I was at. I decided I'd rather start here with what I wanted to do with my career."
Page wants to become a college head coach. He has discovered how much work goes into being a coach and understands there will be a lot of hard work and long hours required to fulfill his goal.
"You just see so much more," he said. "As a player you think you spend a lot of time in the gym in practices, individual work and extra time working on your game. As a coach it's unbelievable how much time you spend up in the office watching film breaking everything down and seeing all the aspects of the game."
Kansas is 16-1 or better for the third time in the last four seasons and the fifth time in the 10-year Bill Self era. The Jayhawks are 4-0 in the Big 12 for the second straight season and the seventh time under Self.
The Big 12 has six teams ranked in the top 45 of the latest RPI, tied for the most of any conference, while the percentage of teams (60 percent) leads the country. Three Big 12 squads rank among the top 20 nationally for strength of schedule, with four listed in the top 33.
Oklahoma State has lost 21 of its last 22 road games in the Big 12. The Cowboys lost at Baylor, 64-54, Monday. Oklahoma State's three losses on the road have come against teams (Kansas State, Oklahoma and Baylor) with a combined 11-2 record in league play.
In the 21 games in Big 12 play so far this season, three have gone overtime, with 10 others decided by 11 points or less. This is the sixth consecutive season every team in the Big 12 entered conference play with a winning record.
Big 12 squads are 74-14 at home this year. Three teams boast unbeaten home records.
Four of Texas' five Big 12 defeats have been by a total of 22 points. The Longhorns lost their first two games in overtime (to Baylor and West Virginia). "I could say that we are five possessions from being 14-4," UT coach Rick Barnes said. "But we are who we are."
There's more bad news for Texas, which is 8-10 overall and 0-5 in the Big 12. In the Longhorns' 73-67 loss at Oklahoma Monday night, sophomore forward Jonathan Holmes broke a bone in his right hand. He could be out for three to six weeks. Holmes is averaging 8.1 points per game and is UT's leading rebounder with 7.4 per game.
Quote Sheet
Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford on freshman guard Marcus Smart:
"You don't see a lot of McDonald's All-Americans do a lot of things Marcus Smart does.He's old school to me. His strengths are not going out and scoring 30 points like most McDonald's All-Americans. His strengths are winning, playing hard, making other people around him better and bringing an incredible attitude."
Kansas point guard Naadir Tharpe on his 3-pointer that hung on the rim before falling through to pull the Jayhawks to within one point as they rallied to win at Texas:
"I think I was talking to the basketball at that point. I was looking up at it, like, 'Come on, you're not going to go in there for me?' The basketball gods definitely helped me with that one."
West Virginia coach Bob Huggins on his team's 8-9 start:
"I didn't see this coming. If you just look at us, you'd think we're pretty good. I mean, just look at us. We've got some big, strong guys. We've got some quickness on the perimeter. But I just don't know if we know how to play basketball.''


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Digital Outlook 2014
Event Details
- Date
- December 10 2013 (8:30am – 1:30pm)
- Venue
- Stephen Riady Auditorium, Singapore, Singapore
- Duration
- About 5 hours
- Cost
- Free
Sorry, bookings for this event are now closed.
Over the next few months, we're gearing up for Econsultancy's inaugural *Digital Outlook 2014, having successfully run our annual State of Digital in Asia 2013 briefing earlier in July.
2013 marks the end of the digital beginning as companies reshape and retool to combine traditional (offline) and digital (online), acknowledging the fact that digital marketing does not exist in isolation but part of the bigger whole in modern marketing.
Here are 17 digital marketing and ecommerce trends for 2013 by Econsultancy CEO Ashley Friedlein.
Compared to last year, the proportion of client-side marketers saying their organisations will increase their digital budgets by more than 50% has tripled (from 4% in 2012 to 13% this year).
On average, Asian organisations spend 29% of their overall marketing budgets on digital (up from 26% in 2012). They are deriving, on average, just under a third (31%) of their revenues from their digital marketing spend.
So what's in store of 2014?
Taking place on 10 Dec 2013, this 1/2 day briefing session identifies which digital segments are looking to drive and multiply business revenue in 2014, the current disruptions in the evolution of marketing that put customers at the centre of the universe and brands in orbit around them, and a glimpse into the speakers' outlook, insights and predictions on Digital Marketing for 2014.
Heads up, eyes forward and get ready to find out what digital marketers should change today to plan for tomorrow and succeed later.
What's the outlook on Multi-Channel Marketing; Customer Experience & Journeys; Data; Roles, Skills & People; Predictive Marketing; Digital Technology for 2014? Hear it first from this lineup of speakers we've put together:
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Econsultancy's Digital Outlook 2014 Opening Address & Introduction
09.30 - 10.00
Opening Keynote: Outlook on Multi-Channel Marketing
Paula Harrison | Group CEO | Jericho Digital Communications
From State of Digital in Asia 2013 Research Report:
Email marketing (79%) has remained the most used digital channel among client-side respondents, followed by off-site social media (66%) and search engine optimization (61%). The most widely used channel, from the perspective of both in-house and agency respondents, is print media (newspapers and magazines), with 74% and 83% respectively mentioning this.
Since the very first days of CRM, marketers have sought the holy grail of one-to-one relationship marketing. Today's array of marketing channels and digital always-on technologies means one-to-one marketing is within reach of many digital marketers. But too many are delivering Jekyll and Hyde customer experiences across multiple channels – cannibalising one-to-one relationship efforts, confusing customers and sabotaging revenue growth. Paula will highlight what makes your brand the king of multi-channel efforts and how to banish Jekyll and Hyde characteristics from your marketing.
|10.00 - 10.30
Outlook on Customer Experience & Journeys
Eu Gene Ang | Lead Trainer & Consultant, Asia | Econsultancy
From State of Digital in Asia 2013 Research Report:
Just under three-quarters (73%) of marketers agree that "content marketing will become more important over the next year" as it sets to steal the spotlight in improving customer retention, and delivering outstanding delightful customer experiences and journeys, across all channels and touchpoints.
As consumers meet with endless no. of choices, we begin to crave less, but.. expect better, personalised and more relevant information and services.
|10.30 - 11.00
Outlook on Roles, Skills & People
Martin Ross | Trainer & Consultant, Asia | Econsultancy
From State of Digital in Asia 2013 Research Report:
On existing levels of industry skills and knowledge assessment, the proportion of client-side marketers describing the level of digital knowledge within their organisations as 'poor' or 'very poor' has declined in the last 12 months, from 29% in 2012 to 22% this year. Just under half (46%) of client-side respondents claim to have an 'excellent' or 'good' understanding of ROI from digital marketing, up by 9% compared to last year.
As companies expect big moves into digital for 2014, the war for digital talent continues. What should organisations look out for when it comes to developing their digital teams and capabilities? What attributes are most highly sought after in digital professionals? Why the next killer app is human and why improv skills may very well trump eye-catching resumes.
|11.00 - 11.30
Tea Break
|11.30 - 12.00
Outlook on Social & Content Marketing
Christel Quek | Former Regional Social Business Lead | Samsung Asia
From State of Digital in Asia 2013 Research Report:
Content Marketing are among the top three areas companies are planning to increase investment in, with 63% saying they plan to increase budgets for it. Additionally, just under three-quarters (73%) of clientside respondents said that content marketing will become "more important over the next year". 79% of the agencies and 66% clientside respondents have indicated that they are most likely to use off-site social media in their digital channels.
It's been the year of Social for a while now. Time for social to become an expectation, a requirement and no longer a choice? Content has been king for sometime now too, are it been played right to garner the love and loyalty from its people?
|12.00 - 12.30
Outlook on Predictive Marketing
Ohad Hecht | MD APAC Region | Emarsys
From State of Digital in Asia 2013 Research Report:
When it comes to understanding the success of marketing activities, increased sales has remained the most widely used benchmark (75%), followed by increased traffic to website, measured by around two-thirds (65%) of companies surveyed.
To move prospects along the purchasing funnel, marketing automation is an essential enabler, should a solid inbound marketing foundation be prioritised - so that there are enough leads entering the funnel to keep the automated machine running?
|12.30 - 13.00
Outlook on Digital Technology
Damien Cummings | Former Regional Marketing Director, Digital & Social | Samsung Asia
From State of Digital in Asia 2013 Research Report:
The three types of digital marketing technology most likely to be the focus of increased investment over the year ahead are social media technology (63%), business analytics and web analytics software (49%) and customer relationship management (46%).
Have brands started exploring interface challenges and embracing multiscreen lifestyles that customers are so used to these days?
|13.00 - 13.30
|Speakers' Panel & Closing Remarks
*This agenda is correct at the time of publication. Econsultancy reserves the right to change any aspect of the event
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Speakers' and panelists' profiles
Paula Harrison
Paula has been part of the evolving digital marketing discipline for much of her extensive 20-year career across three continents. From the early days of email marketing through online strategies, mobile marketing and social media, Paula has been at the forefront of each digital wave and intimately understands each channel and the power of integrated marketing.
Jumping at the chance to be part of the thriving Singapore digital scene, Paula moved to Singapore in 2012 to spearhead Jericho's activities in Asia. Working with clients like Far East Hospitality, Paula leads a team of local digital experts that create data-driven insights to help clients know, react, interact and service customers better – with stellar results.
Eu Gene Ang
Eu Gene Ang founded and managed a highly regarded regional digital agency based in Singapore which was a finalist in Marketing Magazine's Digital Agency of the Year 2011 award in Singapore. He provides digital marketing consulting and training to global clients like Siemens, Fujitsu, Estee Lauder, Sennheiser, Samsung, Bausch & Lomb, and regional firms like Digi, Marie France, Kurnia, Lunch Actually, OCBC, Singapore Polytechnic, Nanyang Technological University among others.
Prior to this, Eu Gene has spent 15 years in marketing and sales in top global firms like 3M, FedEx and DHL. Eu Gene is a Qualified Google AdWords individual and Certified in Advanced Search Engine Marketing and Top SEO Placement awarded by Search Engine Workshops. Eu Gene specializes in digital strategy, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Social Media Marketing (SMM) and analytics, and holds a Master In Business Administration (MBA), Marketing, from the Nanyang Technological University, and Bachelor in Business Administration (Marketing), BBA (1st Class Honours) from the National University of Singapore.
Christel Quek
Christel is a digital native who is passionate about digital momentum, social business and user experiences. Her adventures include leading social business regionally for Samsung Asia and contributing to Harvard Business Review and Huffington Post.
Previously, Christel worked on new business pitches, digital strategy, training, thought leadership and global marketing with Havas Media Group as their Global Social Manager. In that capacity, she's worked with brands such as DBS Bank, Intel, Toshiba, Globe Telecom, Hong Kong Tourism Board, Unilever, and KLM Airlines. As a result, she was highlighted by The Guardian UK in 2013 as One of the Top 10 Digital Strategists to Watch out for. In 2012, Christel was also nominated by the industry & the Interactive Advertising Bureau as one of the best young talent of the year. Her work has also been featured on Yahoo!, The Huffington Post, Festival of Media Asia, Warc, Microsoft, Campaign Asia-Pacific, and Marketer Pulse. Prior to her adventure with Havas. she was a Community Manager with Socialeyes Inc,a startup in Silicon Valley.
Martin Ross
Martin Ross has over 18 years of marketing and consulting experience in various industries including broadcasting, advertising, publishing, IT and management consulting. He has consulted with clients on a range of business, management and leadership needs across the APAC region and middle east.
Martin is currently the Director of Sales & Strategy at AdzCentral, a scientific media buying company. With growing interest in demand side platforms globally, Martin works with some of the biggest brands to use data to drive campaign performance. Prior to this, Martin held the role of Country Manager for the NY listed DG Mediamind.
Having worked closely with the world's leading media agencies, creative agencies and publishers, he has tremendous insight to the workings of the industry as well as the strategic thinking needed for digital marketing.
As a passionate advocate of digital marketing, Martin is also facilitating workshops for Econsultancy as well as the Marketing Institute of Singapore.
Ohad Hecht
Ohad has established and leads emarsys' APAC region with the regional office in Hong Kong and local offices in Beijing and Singapore.
Ohad is an international business leader with an outstanding track record of starting up, growing businesses and successfully managing operations. He has a cross-industry experience in various functions (Marketing, Sales, Operations, and Manufacturing) supported by a deep know-how of digital marketing and e-commerce.
He started his career at Superfund Asset Management as a Marketing Team Leader, where he helped to establish APAC operations that generated over $100M in revenues. He joined Dalumi, a diamond company in 2005, where he managed manufacturing operations and international sales and marketing offices thereby achieving annual growth rates of above 25%.
In 2010, he joined emarsys to successfully build up APAC operations from the ground up. Within less than 3 years he has established a thriving business with 3 offices, over 50 employees and revenues of more than $3 million.
Ohad, who was born and raised in Israel, hold a B.A in Management & Marketing from the Open University of Israel and an M.B.A from the University Of Northern Iowa.
Damien Cummings
Damien has 20 years' experience in the marketing industry, covering all aspects of digital marketing, e-commerce and social media.
Most recently Damien was the Regional Marketing Director, Digital & Social Media Samsung Asia. Prior to this he was the Online Director – Asia Pacific & Japan at Dell, managing over $1 billion in e-commerce revenue in Asia. At Dell he also had the dual role of Global Social Media Director, with a mandate to "operationalise" social media sales and marketing into Dell's top 10 countries internationally. Prior to working at Dell, Damien was at Ogilvy & Mather Singapore, as General Manager of Soho Square (Ogilvy's conflict agency); General Manager of Neo@Ogilvy (Ogilvy's digital media team) and Ogilvy's regional digital consulting lead. Damien has also worked at leading companies such as Citibank, Coca-Cola, NRMA and McKinsey & Company.
In November 2011, Damien received the Global Brand Leadership at the World Brand Congress 2011 event in India. He is currently a judge of the Marketing "Agency of the Year" Awards 2012 and has been a judge for the 2011 Digital Media Awards and the 2009 Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards. He's also a top ranked speaker on social media, digital marketing and e-commerce who has been chairman, keynote or guest speaker at: Social Media World Forum Asia, iStrategy Conference in Singapore & Australia, ad:tech Singapore and Sydney, Search Engine Strategies ("SES") Hong Kong, Brand Couture Singapore, Campaign Spotlight: Technology Singapore, HR Congress, Singapore, Digital Cream Singapore and the National Sales & Marketing Conference Singapore.
Damien's blog, Digital Future, is available at: http://damiencummings.blogspot.com; his Twitter profile is @damiencummings and he can be found on LinkedIn here: http://sg.linkedin.com/in/damiencummings
Stephen Riady Auditorium
Telephone: 6213 8811
Cost details
This briefing is free to attend.
Each registration request is subject to approval as we have limited seats - we will let you know in due course whether your place has been confirmed. A limited number of people from each company may attend and priority will be given to Enterprise subscribers of Econsultancy.
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Event Details
- Date
- December 10 2013 (8:30am – 1:30pm)
- Venue
- Stephen Riady Auditorium, Singapore, Singapore
- Duration
- About 5 hours
- Cost
- Free
Sorry, bookings for this event are now closed.
Related Reports
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As it turns out, strategic management, community associations such as the Chambers of Commerce and many other national and local organizations have been discussing this issue at various levels for many years. The current discussion centers around the concept of "self forming non-directed groups." There are various proposed explanations including Reed's Law which states:
[T]he utility of large networks, particularly social networks, can scale exponentially with the size of the network.Metcalf's law states that the value of a telecommunications network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users of the system (n2). These "Laws" set the upper limits for the number of groups that can be formed and their size in any defined pool of participants.
The reason for this is that the number of possible sub-groups of network participants is 2N − N − 1, where N is the number of participants. This grows much more rapidly than either
so that even if the utility of groups available to be joined is very small on a peer-group basis, eventually the network effect of potential group membership can dominate the overall economics of the system.
- the number of participants, N, or
- the number of possible pair connections, N(N − 1)/2 (which follows Metcalfe's law).
What all this boils down to is that groups of affinity interested individuals are forming and disintegrating all the time. Genealogy is mere one of the almost infinite number of affinity group possibilities. We all belong to a number of these self-forming groups all the time, whether we are aware of their existence or not. For example, the moment I decide to visit a Family History Center, I become a member of a huge group of people who have visited Family History Centers. We cannot identify all of them as "genealogists" as some of them may have merely come in from the cold or to use the restrooms, but they are automatically included in a sociologically defined group.
The Internet has created a virtual basis for the formation of groups. Understand that the formation of groups is a natural consequence of human nature. Remember the groups that formed spontaneously in classes at school or the social clubs that form in any group of people. This idea of affinity extends from a global to a very local level. Nations are built on the idea of a shared affinity. Genealogy is not immune from these fundamental sociological forces. The Internet has merely provided another avenue for the creation of groups.
Once individuals begin to identify themselves as members of a group, there is an immediate accommodation of organization. Eventually, if there is time, availability and interest, the group will codify and form an organization. People develop a concept of self worth dependent on their participation in groups and status within the group. Whether virtual or physical, this internal structure becomes stratified with the leader of the group, tribe, corporation, or whatever achieving status because of the position within the group. We see this happening throughout society and it is mirrored in the so-called genealogical community.
Virtual groups merely make it a whole lot easier to join and feel a part of a group. For example, all I have to do is click to "join" a group on Facebook or Google+. No commitment, not even any participation. So the bottom line is this; there are practical limits to the size of groups and sub-groups but the upper limit to the number of sub-groups that can be formed is only limited by absolute number of potential members.
So we have genealogists who do not consider themselves as members of any group. We have genealogists who consider themselves as members of a group. We have informal virtual groups of genealogists such as the genealogical bloggers. We have formal genealogical groups or societies and other organizations. Where is the community? If you define a "community" as a group of genealogists that interact in some way either virtually or physically, then there are as many communities as there are there are people who consider themselves part of a "group." Any one person can be a member of an unlimited number of other sociologically defined groups.
More later.


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Top 10 Most Pinned Educational Games
It's time for playtime to meet learning time! This roundup of Education.com's most pinnable DIY math and reading games is sure to delight any beginning learner.
Don't forget to follow us on Pinterest!Download All (9)
Download All is only available to Education.com Pro members. Learn More
Click on an activity in the set below to see more info.
Simplify It!: A Fraction Card GameView Full Activity
Simplify fractions with your child in this fast-paced math card game.
Place Value GameView Full Activity
Try this fun math card game and practice place value with your second grader! Decide which number is bigger in order to earn points!
Play the Bag Game: Learn Parts of SpeechView Full Activity
Parts of speech can be a difficult and dreary concept for many kids, but you can quickly turn that feeling around with this fun game.
Snag a Spoon! A Math GameView Full Activity
In this version of the classic card game, students will gain an understanding of equivalents and may not even realize it's a math review!
Ten-Twenty-ThirtyView Full Activity
Trying to find sums of groups of multiples is a great way to practice your addition. Be sure to double check your work. If you clear all of the cards, you win!
Play Subtraction 'War'View Full Activity
Play this "subtraction war" card game with your second grader and watch his math facts mastery leap forward!
The set is continued below.
Capture That FractionView Full Activity
Compare fractions in this two-player math game. The objective of the games is to work together to determine who has created the largest fraction.
Play Flip Over VowelsView Full Activity
Here's a fun activity to reinforce simple short and long vowel words for your first grader.
Play Hidden NumbersView Full Activity
Play this hidden number game with your preschooler that will give her a leg up in learning numbers.
Want to download this whole set as a single PDF?Download All (9)
Download All is only available to Education.com Pro members. Learn More


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Current Projects
COERLL's projects for 2014-2018 are divided into four categories. Select a category to learn more about our active projects.
Collaborative projects with National Resource Centers for the development and dissemination of OER designed to advance the instruction of less commonly taught languages using technology-enhanced settings such as video conferencing and mobile learning.
OER used in FL teacher training related to new instructional methods, language technology and current pedagogical research.
Research on OER and OEP in a broad range of K-12 and post-secondary institutions to determine educational needs, preferences, and barriers related to training and use of open methods, resources, and materials.
Platforms that facilitate language learning through open educational practices such as the remixing and repurposing of open content.


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Zia Records on Twitter
Shop >> Books >> Fiction (General)
Jean Zimmerman
The Orphanmaster
Jean Zimmerman
The Orphanmaster
A Novel of Early Manhattan
Release Date: 4/30/2013
A love story wrapped around a murder mystery, set in seventeenth-century Manhattan
In 1663 in the hardscrabble colony of New Amsterdam—today's lower Manhattan—orphan children are going missing and residents suspect a serial killer. The list of possible culprits is long and strange. Among those looking into the mystery are a shrewd young Dutch woman, Blandine van Couvering, and a dashing Englishman, Edward Drummond, whose newfound romance is threatened by horrible accusations.
In this spellbinding work of historical fiction, Jean Zimmerman relates the harsh realities of life in early Manhattan, re-creating the sights, smells, and textures of the rough settlement surrounded by wilderness and subject to political turmoil. Compulsively readable and filled with New York history, The Orphanmaster will delight fans of Caleb Carr, Hilary Mantel, and Geraldine Brooks.


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Meet the newest Street Sweeper - A7 Tornado
[swf file="http://www.youtube.com/v/VVUa1zeauo0" height="315" width="560" action="swftools_swf_display_direct"]
The new sweeper is designed with efficiency in mind and has options to make cleaning our roads a little easier for the crews that drive it. The sweeper comes equipped with two diesel engines, one to power the motor, and the other for the vacuum that sucks up debris and leaves, reducing the amount that enters our storm water systems and creeks, and improving water quality in Lake Oswego.
The sweeper can collect as much as 8.4 cubic yards of debris (equivalent to 1,700 gallons of ice cream) with each trip out! A few other features include:
- Remote cameras and GPS tracking
- Underneath cameras so the driver can see what is happening on the road
- Travels 6 mph when working and at normal speeds for travel
- American Made
- Abrasion Resistant Steel in Critical Wear Areas
- Steering wheel on each side allowing the driver to drive it like a normal truck on the roads or sit curb side when working
- A Whisper Wheelsm Fan System that is quieter and uses less fuel than other designs
Sweeps going in reverse
In 2012, the City Council prioritized a purchase of sweeper due to repair costs and lack of reliability in the current fleet. The new sweeper is an A7 Tornado and is the star of the Name the Street Sweeper Contest and the subject for the Coloring Contest caricature.
The recommended life span for a street sweeper is about 5 years. Our current sweepers, ages 12, 9, and 8 years, often spend 1 hour in the City repair shop for every 6 hours on the road or on average one day a week! The new street sweeper will allow the retirement of the sweeper in the poorest condition.
The City Council approved the purchase of a street sweeper and a vactor truck (which cleans catch basins) as part of this year's budget. The purchase was made with general fund dollars made available through property tax revenue. Street sweeping services are provided through the Surface Water Fund.
Name the Street Sweeper Contest
A7 Tornado, Schwarze Inc. Website
A7 Tornado Info Sheet


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LocationMacon GA
125 Peachtree Parkway
Byron, GA 31008
New 2018 Grand Design Imagine 3170BH
Don't wait 'til summer's over! Visit our August Adventure Blowout for huge deals while they last!
Integrity Pricing SM
All quotes for new RVs include:
- Freight
- Orientation
- Dealer Prep
- Detail
- Bunkhouse
- Dual Entry
- U-Shaped Dinette
- Removable Ottoman
- Walk-Through Bath
- Pet Dish
- LP Quick Connect
- Spray Port
- Outside Kitchen
You Save: $7,846
Sale Price: $35,595
Stock# 33054
Interior Color: Cappuccino
|0 ft
|Ext Width
|0 ft
|Ext Height
|11 ft 2 in
|Interior Color
|Hitch Weight
|794 lbs
|Gross Weight
|9495 lbs
|Dry Weight
|7947 lbs
|Fresh Water Capacity
|52 gals
|Grey Water Capacity
|78 gals
|Black Water Capacity
|39 gals
|Tire Size
|Furnace BTU
|35000 btu
|Number Of Bunks
|Available Beds
|Refrigerator Type
|Double Door
|Cooktop Burners
|Shower Size
|30" x 36" in
|Number of Awnings
|LP Tank Capacity
|20 lbs.
|Water Heater Capacity
|6 gal.
|15000 btu
|TV Info
|LR 32" LED on Swing Arm
|Awning Info
|21' Electric with LED Light
|Axle Count
|Number of LP Tanks
|Electrical Service
|30 amp
Scan this QR code with your smartphone to save this page and have mobile access to this unit's information.
Founded by close friends Don Clark and brothers Ron and Bill Fenech (each having over 25 years of experience in the RV industry). Although they have lead some of the most successful companies in the RV industry, and are proud of their accomplishments at Keystone RV, they recognized that it was becoming more difficult to stay in touch with the needs of customers, employees, and the products being built.
So, in 2011 they began pursuing their dream of reconnecting on a more personal level with customers and dealers. The result of that pursuit is Grand Design RV. A company designed to create recreational vehicles that provide more features, better designs and unparalleled customer support!
*All calculated monthly payments are an estimate for qualified buyers only and do not constitute a commitment that financing or a specific interest rate or term is available. Financing terms may not be available in all Campers Inn locations. Campers Inn RV Sales is not responsible for any misprints, typos, or errors found in our website pages. Any price listed excludes sales tax, registration tags, and delivery fees. Manufacturer pictures, specifications, and features may be used in place of actual inventory in stock on our lot. Please contact us for availability as our inventory changes rapidly.


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You're Not Rich, but Now You Can Fake It
How Starbucks coffee, BMW cars, and Godiva chocolates have become luxuries for the masses.
Everywhere you look, brands that once catered to the rich are now targeting the rest of us. Costco is the biggest retailer of Bordeaux wines. Wolfgang Puck has a restaurant at O'Hare Airport. Starbucks has outlets in Meijer, the Midwestern grocery chain.
The new book Trading Up: The New American Luxury,by Michael Silverstein of Boston Consulting Group and Neil Fiske, formerly of BCG and now chief executive officer of Bath & Body Works, explains how American companies have invented the oxymoronic business of mass elitism.
Old Luxury goods are high-margin, low-volume products priced so only the wealthiest can afford them. You can get rich selling Old Luxury. New Luxury goods, by contrast, are not quite cheap, high-volume goods aimed at the 47 million middle-market households that make more than $50,000—Williams-Sonoma dishes, Samuel Adams beer, Victoria's Secret lingerie, Bath & Body Works Sandlewood Rose Relaxing Body Wash. You can get really rich selling New Luxury.
The consultants have divined that everyone is willing to pay more for something.It could be bread, lipstick, wine, golf clubs, underwear, chocolate, dolls, or pet food, so long as it speaks to a longing in the soul. Silverstein and Fiske write that consumers are moving up to "a new level of goods and services that cost more than conventional products—sometimes a lot more—but seemed to deliver a lot more value, particularly emotional value, to them."
This is the Shopping of Meaning. "The American consumer is in a state of heightened emotionalism." After surveying 2,300 consumers, the authors concluded that "many Americans feel overworked, isolated, lonely, worried, and unhappy." But it turns out the cure is shopping for premium-priced products. Don't have time to walk your poodle? Prove you love him by buying expensive dog food. Feeling down? A 5-cent Hershey's Kiss may provide a jolt of sugar, but a $2 Godiva truffle will perk you up more.
Some of the arguments they put forth in support of a happy, shallow, harmless materialism are tendentious. "For its apostles—and there are many—a visit to the Cheesecake Factory is mostly about Connecting and Questing." (It's hard to see what Quest there is involved in eating at the Cheesecake Factory, except: Can I possibly finish the 6 pounds of Caesar salad they piled on my plate?) And, perhaps this is a result of spending too much time in New York, but it seems to Moneybox that the authors have a strange idea of what constitutes "luxury." Panera Bread? Kendall-Jackson wines? Carnival Cruises?
The book does not focus on how New Luxury products may, in fact, be dragging down their manufacturers. There's a fine line between "masstige" and cheapening your brand. Once you've bought a Polo shirt at Costco for $20, you might not pay $50 for the same shirt on Madison Avenue.
Part of the allure of luxury goods was that other people couldn't easily afford them. By contrast, New Luxury goods are supposed to be inclusive. "New Luxury goods also provide a way for consumers to align themselves with people whose values and interest they share—to join the club." But what club precisely are people who buy the new $27,800 BMW 3-Series joining? The club of people who can afford to pay $27,800 for a cheap BMW but can't afford a "real" one?
As much as customers may be trading up, the companies are trading down, because the demands of the market force them to. Virtually all the New Luxury titans are publicly held. And many went public in the 1990s. To meet investors' expectations, a company must show sustained growth, whether it's Tiffany or Wal-Mart. Of course, companies that sell premium-priced products tend to reach the limits of their natural markets more quickly than discounters do. And so New Luxury companies are likely to expand into areas where their natural customers are scarce, in order to get huge. Restoration Hardware tried and failed to do this. Callaway Golf lost tens of millions of dollars trying to sell fancy golf balls when the market for its high-end clubs softened. Cosi, the sandwich chain, has been a disaster since it went public. Indeed, the stock charts of many New Luxury purveyors don't look so hot.
Almost as an afterthought, the authors append a discourse about luxury in Western Civ., starting with the Greeks and touching briefly on all the biggies: Calvin, Marx—"It would be hard to make the case that Marx was an advocate of trading up or that New Luxury signals the end of capitalism"—Thorstein Veblen*, John Kenneth Galbraith, David Reisman. Amazingly, they left out Christopher Lasch. His devastating 1979 book, The Culture of Narcissism, looms over their entire project. The American narcissist, Lasch wrote, "does not accumulate goods and provisions against the future, in the manner of the acquisitive individualist of nineteenth-century political economy, but demands immediate gratification and lives in a state of restless, perpetually unsatisfied desire." The impulse driving the New Luxury isn't so new.
Correction, Sept. 1, 2004: The article originally misspelled Thorstein Veblen's first name as "Thorsten."


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WASHED, dyed ORGANIC cotton percale
Everything about the ANTON collection is aimed at a good night's sleep.
It's a soft-to-the touch, crisp, classic percale weave, dyed in small batches and prewashed for an easy, sink-into-bed modern style. Medium weight, breathable, fresh and unstudied. A smooth, clean feel — designed with the subtlest rumple for great snoozing. Cool, soothing and relaxed to the touch.
ANTON is a non-fussy collection of natural, washed cotton for an easy, no-iron look. It's a great, all-season option.
KHAKI, MINERAL, STEEL & WHITE is organic cotton. PINK & IVORY will be when replenished in the fall.
Pillowcases are frenchback style with side-envelope closure, sold in pairs.
We make every effort to ship your order quickly as possible. Please allow 3-5 business days to process your order. We offer the following shipping options:
Contiguous United States
Non-Contiguous United States
United States Armed Forces
Non-Contiguous States, International Orders, and Expedited Shipping
The final shipping cost for orders shipping to non-contiguous states and internationally, and shipping expedited will depend on the weight of the items you purchase, destination, and the shipping method you select at checkout.
Furniture pieces are made to order so please allow 6-8 weeks. The final shipping cost will depend on the weight and dimensions of the items you purchase, destination, and the shipping method you select at checkout. Please contact us for shipping quotes on the large Furniture pieces (beds and Saw Horse Table) as our system is unable to generate such quotes due to the substantial dimensional weight. The other furniture pieces will require additional shipping charges due to the dimensional weight and/or package size based on UPS pricing. We will contact you after your order is placed. Please feel free to contact us for an estimate before purchasing.
We do our best to package furniture so that it arrives safely to you. On occasion, there may be packages that become damaged during shipping. We ask that all furniture pieces be inspected for damage at the time of delivery and any damage be reported at the time of receipt to the delivery person and Area. Furniture once assembled can not be returned.
If you are not satisfied with your merchandise, we will authorize returns within 14 days of receipt for an exchange or full refund minus original shipping costs, except on discounted, sale, or closeout items. Your return must be unused, unwashed, in original packaging and in original condition. Refunds will be made once we have received the merchandise being returned. Please click here to look up your order and apply for a Return Authorization.
All sales final on closeout items and items purchased at a discount.
Duvet CoversTwin 68 x 86"
Flat SheetsTwin 66 x 102"
Fitted Sheets
(w/ 14" pocket)
Cases & ShamsAccommodate following pillow sizes :
Learn more about Bag style vs French back cases
Blankets & Quilts
Twin 69 x 90"
Full/Queen 90 x 90"
King 108 x 90"
Throws 51 x 70"
XL Throws 70 x 90"
Thread Counts
Thread count (TC) refers to the number of threads per square inch. The type and size of thread are just as important as the count. At AREA we carefully consider how each sheet should not only look but also feel. Read more about thread count.


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Smart Response not bootingmothra Apr 10, 2012 1:20 PM
I have seen the other discussions on this, however my problem is a little different. I hope someone from Intel and/or the community here can help. Here is the history...
- New computer build: Windows 7 64, Asus P8z68, Intel i5-2500k, WD Black 1TB hdd, Intel 80g SSD
- Physically installed both drives, set SATA mode to RAID in BIOS (latest ver 3202), installed windows on hdd. No issues with install.
- Installed Smart Response drivers and Intel Rapid Storage (10.6). No issues with install.
- Accellerated hdd using 64g cache size, "extreme" option. No issues, everything working great.
- Continued installing other apps, etc... No issues what so ever.
One day the computer randomly powers down and attempts to reboot for no apparent reason, and is not able to reboot. I'm faced with the recovery screen with the option to repair windows or restart normally.
- Attempted repair, will not work. Error message indicates "Windows Repair Offline"
- Attempted to restart normally, endless loop of "loading windows..." then reset and repeat.
- Later I discover that neither of the drives can be seen, even from recovery console. I am able to get a command line and run diskpart however there are no drives, no volumes, nothing there other than my CD ROM.
At this point I attempt to switch the SATA mode from RAID to ACHI... which allows me to reboot the system, and everything seems fine again. Rapid Storage won't launch and I assume is now broke so I uninstall it.
From here I am stuck.
If I attempt to put my SATA mode back into RAID I cannot boot, can't see any drives, etc... just as before. Windows repair will not run (does not make a difference if I boot from windows CD or not). Switching bios back to ACHI mode will allow me to boot, as before.
If I attempt to install Smart Response again I cannot boot and cannot repair windows. Only by booting from the windows CD can I choose to Restore the system, effectively undo the Smart Response install, and I can boot again in ACHI mode.
I would have just re-installed Windows and crossed my fingers that it doesn't happen again... however in the 2 weeks that I was up and running I had installed quite a bit of software including Apache and some others that involve configuration, etc. Any suggestions, feedback, questions, are welcome... I really would like to take advantage of the Smart Response Technology, it was great while it was working.


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Howie Mandel Movies
WWW::Yahoo::Movies is a Perl extension to get Yahoo! Movies information. SYNOPSIS use WWW::Yahoo::Movies; my $movie = new WWW::Yahoo::Movies(); print "TITLE: ".$movie->title." - ".$movie->year."n"; WWW::Yahoo::Movies is Perl interface to the Yahoo! Movies (http://movies.yahoo.com/)....
Platforms: *nix
|License: Freeware
|Size: 13.31 KB
|Download (152): WWW::Yahoo::Movies Download
Movies by CraigWorks is a simple and handy tool that combines a movie collection organizer and a home theater PC software. Unlike most movie organizers, this application runs as web server and is accessed using a standard web browser like IE, Firefox and Chrome, so the interface is very familiar...
Platforms: Windows, Windows Vista, 7, 7x64
|License: Freeware
|Download (80): Movies by CraigWorks Download
The Extract Movies action, extracts videos from a list of files, folders or nested folders and passes them on to the next action. This action is ideal for automating your video workflow.
Currently the action supports the .mkv, .avi, .mov, .mp4, .wmv and .divx media container types.
Platforms: Mac
|License: Freeware
|Download (50): Extract Movies Action for Mac OS Download
Fantastic screensaver featuring all your favourite Disney movies. Not to be missed for true Disney fans. Full screen images including Bambi, Beauty and the Beast, Dumbo, Lion King, Pinocchio, Winnie The Pooh, Tarzan and more. A gorgeous collection of 17 quality images.
Platforms: Windows
|License: Freeware
|Size: 1.81 MB
|Download (29): Disney Movies Screensaver Download
Free Movies and entertainment software designed to bring the latest free movies and games to your toolbar. Enjoy a wide variety of downloadable games, movies and streaming music with one click. Access your favorite places of entertainment by using our free toolbar today.
Platforms: Windows
|License: Freeware
|Size: 1.52 MB
|Download (42): Free Movies Download
My Movies is the ultimate movie collection management and playback tool, that catalogs your collection of DVD, Blu-ray or HD DVD's automatically from provided data from My Movies own data service or manually by inputted data, and gives you access to your full movie collection from Windows Media...
Platforms: Windows
|License: Freeware
|Size: 74.92 MB
|Download (36): My Movies Download
The movies module allows any user on the system to manage a list of movies that they own or that they wish to own (wishlist). By visiting user/%uid/movies a user can handle their own movie listings, wishlist listings and handle any duplicates between the two lists. When they get a movie off of...
Platforms: PHP
|License: Freeware
|Size: 20.48 KB
|Download (24): Movies and Movie Wishlist Download
Howie is a artificial intelligence agent with a natural language interface. It is designed to be simple to install, configure and above all extend.
Platforms: *nix
|License: Freeware
|Size: 4.86 MB
|Download (18): Howie Download
Watch hundreds of HD movies for free!
Free Movies Box is an app that allows watching full-length, uncut Hollywood movies in HD quality. Free Movies Box concentrates on carefully chosen movies organized in peoples favorite genres - like action & adventure, animation, comedy, documentary, drama,...
Platforms: Windows, Windows 8, Windows 7
|License: Freeware
|Size: 5.7 MB
|Download (137): Free Movies Box Download
Video Solution is an extremely easy way to manage your movie collection. Included is the ability to print tape labels. The labels can display up to four titles for tapes that has multiple recordings on them. Also on the label is a location number which aids in finding your videos. You can...
Platforms: Windows
|License: Shareware
|Cost: $5.00 USD
|Size: 2.28 MB
|Download (157): Video Solution Download
Organize all your pictures, movies and web sites into any number of Albums. Add text messages and even music. Play any Album as your screensaver! Manage and play all your Albums in just one screensaver. Download any of our Albums for free or create your own Albums with your own pictures, movies,...
|License: Shareware
|Cost: $9.95 USD
|Size: 337 KB
|Download (160): InaMig Screensaver Studio Download
Xtreme Move Collection is a tool to help you organize your vast movie collection. It will catalog your DVD's, VHS Tapes, VCD's and Laser disks. Contains a powerful search engine to help you locate movies quickly and effortlessly. Several built in reports with the option to export your reports...
Platforms: Windows
|License: Shareware
|Cost: $16.00 USD
|Size: 13.05 MB
|Download (160): Xtreme Movies Download
Organize and track your movie collection.
As a serious movie collector, you might have hundreds of movies in your collection. As your collection grows, organizing your collection so that you always know whether you have a particular title gets more difficult.
There are products that promise to...
Platforms: Windows
|License: Shareware
|Cost: $39.95 USD
|Size: 12.67 MB
|Download (566): All My Movies Download
It allows saving web pages completely - including Flash, QuickTime movies, RealPlayer movies.
Internet Explorer does not save files of those types while saving a web page; that causes displaying empty rectangulars instead of the files' contents.
Providing a solution for such problem, this...
Platforms: Windows
|License: Shareware
|Cost: $19.95 USD
|Size: 422 KB
|Download (158): QuickSaver Download
Do you need more a more dynamic website? What about your own flash movies on your side? You don't need a complicated and expensive Macromedia Flash! With Flash Creator you can add texts and graphics and only set the starting state and the end state of the animation. You only set the color,...
Platforms: Windows
|License: Demo
|Cost: $39.00 USD
|Size: 795 KB
|Download (568): Flash-Creator Download
Create professional looking DVD. ViaDVD Movies and Photos Too is the product that brings it all together for you, now, immediately, on your PC, in your home or in your office, in a way you can exploit within minutes. Using ViaDVD you can capture the moment turning it into any type of DVD Video...
Platforms: Windows
|License: Shareware
|Cost: $99.00 USD
|Size: 16.08 MB
|Download (89): ViaDVD Movies and Photos Too Download
Capture Film form WebCam ,DV Camera ,TV Card Into Divx or Avi fileformat in fly.
Edit AVI or Divx or other format file with the frames control
Merge AVIs/Divx or divide AVIs/Divx into new file
Convert AVI To GIF or BMP or ,Convert BMP to AVI
Copy Any Part of the film and save it...
Platforms: Windows
|License: Shareware
|Cost: $39.90 USD
|Size: 4.39 MB
|Download (1767): Fancy Movies Editor (movie maker) Download
AnFX empowers both professionals and newbie web developers with a truly intuitive and efficient web authoring technology to create high impact menus, movies, presentations and export them as either Flash movies (.swf) or Java applets.It's so easy to use ... no coding or scripting...
Platforms: Windows
|License: Shareware
|Cost: $49.95 USD
|Size: 2.27 MB
|Download (105): AnFX Download
Flash Movie Extractor Scout allow you to view and save flash movies, flash videos and flash games extracted from Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Opera browsers. Can save and store favorite flash movies using "Favorites" feature. For people who enjoy watching and collecting of flash movies....
Platforms: Windows
|License: Shareware
|Cost: $19.00 USD
|Size: 1.24 MB
|Download (486): Flash Movie Extractor Scout Download
Free handy utility that allow you to view flash movies, flash videos and flash games extracted from Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Opera browsers. Can capture frames from movie to BMP images.
Platforms: Windows
|License: Freeware
|Size: 1006 KB
|Download (357): Flash Movie Extractor Scout LITE Download


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My Ghoul Friday
Check back often!
Recent Moans from the Minions...
Some of you may remember last year when I decided there needed to be a holiday weekend to mark the approach of Halloween. It is to Halloween what Thanksgiving is to Christmas.
It takes place the 7th Sunday before Halloween, which means this coming weekend is Misgivings Day Weekend!
How to celebrate? Well that's easy. Eat as much fall fare (like pumpkin ale, trick or treat candy which is now on sale at the stores, pies both savoury and sweet) as humanly possible. Work on Halloween props, decor and projects. Watch horror movies and break out Halloween cartoons.
I just went for styrofoam balls.
Get in, get supplies, get out. That was the plan when I headed to the local dollar store. Upon entry, I was hit with a siren song of orange and black.
I made two unscheduled purchases. The first were these Halloween themed bags. I'd forgotten to bring my own cloth bags with me (in Toronto, there's a 5 cent charge on plastic bags. It's a deterrent to encourage people to use less of them which I support and have a collection of reusable bags I normally keep in the trunk of my car but forgot that day). So of course, logically, it made sense for me to buy new bags, right?
Besides, these bad boys are huge. 20 inches tall, and slim. I don't have bags like these, never mind Halloween themed ones. Done.
I was able to get away for a seminar this year. A friend kept Yetch company while he manned the table and I went off with another friend to sit in on a talk by Mitchell Markowitz. You might know him better as Super Hippy or the mosquito on Hilarious House of Frightenstein.
Also on the panel was Victoria Price, daughter of Vincent Price.
It was a packed room of fans, all of us pleased to sit quietly and listen to anecdotes of the show and especially tales of Vincent Price.
The biggest blessing of being part of the convention is meeting people. Not only meeting them, but having the same people come back year after year to say hello and tell me they are excited to see what's new on my table.
It's so funny that people are shocked when I remember them, but the secret is I'm just as shocked they remember me and my work.
Here's a great example. I was sent this picture from a lovely young woman (who is probably lurking on the blog right now. I see you). It's a photo of my creations she's collected over the last three years: she started with a mini pumpkin the first year, graduated to an eyeball plant and pumpkinhead minion the second year, and this year I was thrilled she was the one who adopted Wilhelmina the Witch.
It gives me immense pleasure when I know my beloved monsters go to good homes.
It's not as catchy as the movie title, but that does sum up my last week.
I wasn't going to make a public announcement but since there's such a long list of people waiting for some sort of reply from me, I thought it made sense to make a quick post.
On the way home from the convention on Sunday, I was informed of a death in the family. Ever since, I've been out of town helping with paperwork and funeral plans, and dealing with my own grief.
I appreciate sympathies but please don't send them. At this point, positive thoughts and good vibes are much more appreciated than messages of condolences. I'm drained. A death can throw you a steep learning curve where you have to learn a lot of things really fast. You make decisions and do things you never thought you'd have to do.
This year was certainly the busiest one for me in terms of people: general chatting, introductions, requests for interviews and interesting propositions for future shows or projects (many of whom are waiting for some sort of email from me, and if they are reading this, I hope they'll remain patient. There was a family emergency and I'm out of town. I didn't even get a chance to unpack from the show. Poor Yetch is surrounded by the mess I left in my wake).
As a rule, it's these interactions I'm most excited about as my anticipation grows each August. Celebrities are fun to see, but it's all the different people I meet (fellow artists, horror folk and - dare I say it - actual fans of my work) who make the weekend so great. I also feel guilty leaving people to man my table for too long, so it's been 3 years since I've lined up for or attended anything at the convention.
Of course, every now and then, there's an exception.
Very quick post for those of you who wanted to see what the table display is like this year. I've popped a handful of quick pictures on the blog.
It's my last day of madness before the big show tomorrow. I'm covered in paint, a bit twitchy, and making last minute decisions about what pieces and plans are to be sacrificed to ensure others are achieved.
Had a little fun with some packaging for a set of zombie ornaments. The plan is to get some proper boxes, but I've recycled these display boxes for now, adding new backgrounds, ribbon and such.
I'm sorry to those of you who've left me comments on the blog recently to which I haven't replied. I've read them and appreciated the kindness, humour and encouragement contained in their sentiments. I honestly haven't had breaks more than 20 minutes long the past two weeks where I wasn't doing anything. If I'm watching a movie, I'm painting. If I'm having coffee on the porch, I'm also reviewing my to-do list. I even went to a friends cottage and - you guessed it - brought a box of items to work on (and I did work on them the entire time, taking a break now and then to sit on the deck among the trees).
Even now, I'm taking this break to blog because I'm waiting for 7 plants to dry so I can add the next layers of paint. They should almost be ready, which means I need to go.
Storms raged across Ontario yesterday afternoon. Yetch and I were running errands when "tornado activity" was being reported. I'd looked up at the heavy, purple-grey clouds as we were pulling into a parking lot and said "Those look ominous". Turned out I was right.
By the time we were ready to head back to the car, the rain was falling in sheets, slamming into the storefront.
Thunder boomed, sending vibrations through the car as we made our way home. The rain thinned, but you got a sense of how much rain was dropped on the city all at once. Every five minutes we were faced with flooded patches of road where the water tickled the door frame of the car. Branches littered the roads everywhere in our neighbourhood, and even a large tree had been toppled.
We arrived home safe and sound, the sky sunny and blue once more, with only the scattered debris on the roads as evidence of the sudden storm.
That and the fact the power was out across the east end of the city for more than 5 hours.
What does a ghoul on a deadline with a huge show on the horizon do in a blackout? She gathers more than 20 candles to light up her office like a shrine, and does paper mache.
Just me, the work, and my little monkey radio playing commercial-free jazz.
It was actually quite nice, and took some of the pressure off from my looming deadline.
Of course, if it happens again between now and Thursday, I may have a breakdown.
Here I am, rushing around, trying to get ready for next week's convention, and I realize I haven't introduced you to a couple of minions that will grace my table. I've taken a moment out of the madness to post one of them.
Neville loves the smell of burning jack o'lanterns, and the sound of rattling candy in pillowcases.
"Trick or Treat", he grunts as he walks along the sidewalk on Halloween night.
Passing children laugh and point to him, exclaiming "Look at HIS costume, Mommy!".
Neville smiles, careful not to show his teeth, and continues on with his pumpkin lantern lighting the way.
The best place to find current art and WIPs is Instagram
I'm also on Twitter but be prepared for political commentary
My self-published book is still available!
Craving more Halloween goodness?
Here are some sites to satisfy the hunger.
All content copyright © 2007-2017 GhoulFriday.com (unless otherwise noted). And remember, safety first! Please read and understand our full disclaimer.


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Imperial Culture in Antipodean Cities, 1880-1939
Date published:March 2014
Drawing on a wealth of primary and secondary sources, this book explores how far imperial culture penetrated antipodean city institutions. It argues that far from imperial saturation, the city 'Down Under' was remarkably untouched by the Empire. Only at certain times, such as imperial crises, were citizens alerted to their place as imperial citizens, but in times of peace, operationalising a sense of this identity was far more difficult.


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0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
nice work getting the new 325 loaner. sweet.Just be careful you don't get addicted.
Quote from: "gragravar";p="49033"nice work getting the new 325 loaner. sweet.Just be careful you don't get addicted.I think I am. I really want a 330xi wagon...but that is seriously out of the budget for the next few years. I have always like BWM...used to own a 320is back in the 90's. I also want a 2002tii...those things are sweet!!!
and here I just want an M5, or the new M coupe based on the Z4. :roll: both are out of budget for a while.
I think they start at 11am and run to 3pm.
I jsut figured with the spoiler, tint and fogs it was time to trade in your "old" car.
wud up Al....how things been? How the parts holding up for you?


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100 ideas theme...
- Signage: "Cyclists allowed use of full lane". For examples around the United States see this page. I see these all over the place in San Francisco, and cyclists do indeed use the full lane in many locations. I believe these are much clearer than the ambiguous "Share The Road" signs. Motorists complain that when cyclists take the lane, the cyclist is not "sharing" the road.
- Effective bike education in schools. When the state of Colorado opened up "Safe Routes to Schools" funding for 2006, communities requested $6 million for infrastructure programs — things like bike paths and bike lanes — and half a million for non-infrastructure programs such as educational and promotional activities. My former hometown of Longmont, Colorado received one of non-infrastructure grants, and Bicycle Longmont, the city of Longmont, and the St. Vrain School district made very effective use of their small grant. The money paid for overtime for teachers to take bicycling education, for the two LCIs in Longmont to provide the instruction to the teachers and children, and for promotional material and prizes for elementary and middle school children to take part in the Safe Routes program. Of the five Longmont elementary schools that take part, three of them have the highest walk/bike rates in the United States. "Prior to Safe Routes to School, our parent survey showed that 189 students were getting driven to school each day, some from closer than a quarter-mile away," says Safe Routes coordinator Buzz Feldman of Columbine Elementary. "After the program began, the number of cars dropped to around 30 cars per day."
- Sharrows. Sharrows or "shared use arrows" are a symbol of a bike with two chevrons over it. These are painted on the streets to remind motorists and cyclists that bicyclists may position themselves anywhere in the lane for safety. These were pioneered in Denver, Colorado. In California, these are approved statewide for use on streets that have on-street parallel parking, and that are too narrow to accommodate
full bike lanes. The San Francisco Bike Program is to be thanked for over two years of studies and lobbying the state to adopt a sharrow standard.
What are some things you've seen in your community that improve conditions for cycling or encourage people to ride a bike?
4 Responses to "Ideas to promote cycling"
- 1 on Jul 20th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
* Public Service Announcements on TV (preferably by Mayor, Chief of Police) to let people know that bikes belong on the road and not on the sidewalk.
* Police need to start handing out tickets to people who ride bikes on the sidewalk.
- 2 on Jul 20th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
This summer, Columbus started providing bike corrals for parking at our series of downtown festivals.
This calls attention to the idea that bikes can be ridden downtown instead of driving cars. It also keeps the bikes out of the way of harm and/or theft, and also keeps them centrally located and not chained to everything in sight due to a dearth of bike racks.
- 3 on Jul 20th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
In some states it is not against the law to ride on the sidewalk, and due to the lack of information goven to motorists it is sometimes the only sane place to ride. Texas is one such state, and there are some roads in Collin county that, unfortunately, you would be insane to ride on without hopping on the sidewalk.
- 4 on Jul 20th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
Thanks for the plug, Fritz! Actually, I got it from http://100ideasok.blogspot.com/ where the state is soliciting idea to improve Oklahoma. There's a name for these idea-spawning exercises but it escapes me just now. Regardless, there are no bad ideas or stupid ideas when you're doing something like this, because even an idiotic one can provide the spark for someone's better idea. And if you've read CycleDog, you'll know that I'm hardly afraid of idiotic ideas!
I'd like to see employers entice their personnel to use bicycles for daily transportation by offering small cash incentives. If healthier employees make use of health insurance less frequently, companies save money, some of which should go back to those employees.
Some cities are looking at tax incentives for businesses that have a portion of their employees commute by bike.
Promote Route 66 as a cross-state cycling route, along with the old alignment of US40, the Joad Road as written about by Jim Foreman. The idea of using the old highways that often run parallel to modern interstates has some appeal since they're usually lightly traveled.
What about the Lincoln Highway - US30? Michael Wallis' new book may promote the Lincoln Highway just as he's promoted tourism along Route 66. And this holds a special interest for me since my old home town, Irwin, Pennsylvania, is along US30.
Labels: 100 ideas, bicycling + advocacy, Jim Foreman, Joad road, Lincoln Highway, Route 66, US30, US40


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Lace & Satin Sheath Dress
Added Aug 11, 2013
by slmnstyle
Portland, Oregon...
I made this lovely dress from New Look 6146 pattern, view B, for my anniversary dinner out with my sweet & wonderful husband. I made the main dress out of a lace material that had adhered to a backing material. I have never seen this type of fabric for apparel sewing as it is more like a home decor weight material. Who knows-maybe it is home dec fabric! Oh well, it was easy, but thick, to sew and I love the result. I made the midriff and spagetti straps out of polyester satin in black for contrast and to "break up" all that lace.
It was a very nice pattern to sew. I did a muslin first to check fit which was a good idea as I did make a few minor fitting adjustments. There are a couple of hand sewing parts for the midriff lining or if you were to do more couture sewing on this dress. I love the pattern and I will definitly use it again. I think the fit is good for me and there are many design options for which one could use this dress as a base pattern.
Material Notes
black lace over backing material
black polyester satin
Ambiance lining
- For
- Women
- Garment Type
- Dress
- Style
- Classic, Evening Wear, Romantic
- Material
- Blends, Lace/Sequins, Polyester
12 Comments Sign in to add a post
Aug 15, 2013, 11.22 AMby Oksana Starzhynska
Beautiful fitting, nice description, beautiful dress and you are a real star in it:-)
Aug 12, 2013, 08.15 AMby Dilyana Drumeva
You look stunning!
Aug 12, 2013, 03.13 AMby neveenkarnes
its beautiful… love the fabric too!!!!! well cone and have anniversary !!1
Aug 11, 2013, 11.19 PMby ctharp
Your dress is gorgeous! The fabric is really pretty…it does not look thick at all. Have fun on your anniversary!
Aug 11, 2013, 10.12 PMby barmaglot
Very interesting fabric! Doesn't look like furnishing fabric to me.. The dress is simply beautiful!
Aug 11, 2013, 05.55 PMby Ellen Hatteland
Romantic and fabulous dress! You look beautiful :) and congratulations!
Aug 11, 2013, 04.02 PMby smallone
wow how clever … no need to futz with lace overlay, who cares what the original intention was for that fabric makes a lovely lovely dress :)
Aug 11, 2013, 03.40 PMby SassyT
This is so pretty https://www.facebook.com/SassySewingBees
Aug 11, 2013, 09.46 AMby Mary Athey
gorgeous dress, gorgeous fabric and fabulous on you. i love this dress and you have shown it of to the maximum. classy x
Aug 11, 2013, 08.53 AMby liliv-1
Delicate, elegant and classy! Perfect on you!! Really couture look!
Aug 11, 2013, 08.15 AMby rita61
Nice dress ! Great fit. Congrats on your anniversary. I have similar material, and I will definately be putting in a contrast as you have, as I also though it was to much lace. I'll be cruizing through Oregon soon; do you have any great fabric/sewing places to suggest?
1 Reply
Aug 11, 2013, 04.27 PMby slmnstyle
Thanks Rita!
I bought this fabric at Mill End Store in Milwaukee, OR (a few miles south of Portland) and that is my favorite fabric store. Also, Fabric Depot in South East Portland is HUGE and has a very nice fabric selection as well. Downtown Portland has Josephine's Dry Goods which has really lovely fabrics, but is a bit pricey and has a smaller assortment to choose from, Bolt is also nice, but again small and carries mostly quilting type cottons. The Whole 9 Yards I hear is nice (have yet to go there), but I think carries mostly home decor fabrics. Button Emporiam is a wonderful little boutique shop downtown with beautiful buttons and trims.
Have fun in Portland and happy sewing!
Aug 11, 2013, 08.12 AMby camis
Beautiful dress and such good fit. Happy anniversary!.
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