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It took one woman decades to make peace with the taunt that defined her. Then she heard it come out of her own daughter's mouth.
"Ok," I said to my daughter as she bent over her afternoon bowl of Cinnamon Life. "What's going on with you and J.?" J. is the ringleader of a group of third-graders at her camp—a position Lucy herself occupied the previous summer. Now she's the one on the outs, and every day at snack time, she tells me all about it, while I offer up the unhelpful advice I've been doling out all summer long. Find other girls to sit with. Ignore them. Be yourself. Be patient. It does get better.
"She's bossy," Lucy complained.
"Mmm-hmm," I said as I returned the milk to the refrigerator, thinking that my daughter can be a little on the bossy side herself.
"She's turning everyone against me," Lucy muttered, a tear rolling down her cheek. "She's mean, she's bad at math, she's terrible at kickball. And...she's fat."
"Excuse me," I said, struggling for calm, knowing I was nowhere in calm's ZIP code. "What did you just say?"
From the way her eyes widened, I knew that she knew she'd done what her sister, four-year-old Phoebe, called a Big Bad. "She is fat," Lucy mumbled into her bowl.
"We are going upstairs," I said, my voice cold, my throat tight. "We are going to discuss this." And up we went, my blithe, honey-blonde daughter, leggy as a colt in cotton shorts and a gray T-shirt with Snoopy on the front, and her size-16-on-a-good-day mom.
I'd spent the nine years since her birth getting ready for this day, the day we'd have to have the conversation about this dreaded, stinging word. I had a well-honed, consoling speech at the ready. I knew exactly what to say to the girl on the receiving end of the taunts and the teasing, but in all of my imaginings, it never once occurred to me that my daughter would be the one who used the F word. Fat.
I am six years old, in first grade, and my father is hoisting—that's really the only word for it—me up into the backseat of the family's Chevy Suburban. "She's solid. She weighs 65 pounds," he's telling a friend. I have no idea why he brings it up, what it means, if 65 is a little or a lot. It is a number, two digits, out of context. It means nothing. My father's arms around me, the bristle of his beard against my cheek, the smell of his soap, the starch of his shirt—that means everything.
I am eight years old, sturdy bare legs dangling at the end of the padded plastic examination table while my pediatrician, a woman with short, dark hair, a soothing voice, and disconcertingly cool hands, tells my mom to stop packing me two sandwiches for lunch. "One should be fine," she says. And my mother, overweight herself, nods and says nothing. I know—and probably my mom does, too—that one would not be fine. The hunger pangs would start around 10 a.m., and by lunchtime I'd be bolting my sandwich, gobbling the cut-up carrots my mother dutifully packs and eyeing Roseanne Webster's Hostess cupcake, offering to trade my apple for someone's squished half peanut butter sandwich. Hungry, always hungry.
I am ten, watching my sister poke at her peas and nibble a forkful of meatloaf before pushing her plate away. "I'm all done." It's like watching a magic trick, and I don't get it. How do people do that, I wonder, cleaning my plate, wheedling for seconds, accepting, instead, a bowl of the dietetic Jell-O the well-meaning pediatrician had prescribed, a red goop that tastes like chemicals and shame. How can anyone say no to food? I'm beginning to recognize that there are people born with an "off" switch, people to whom food, even the most delicious, is simply fuel.
Then there are people like me, who eat every bite and still want more, who sneak into the kitchen when the house is dark for slices of white bread slathered with margarine, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. I have no off switch. Happy, sad, lonely, content—the one constant in my life is hunger. I will never be able to take food or leave it; instead, I'll take it, and then take more.
I'm 15, five-foot-six, 145 pounds, most of it breasts and muscle thanks to three-hour varsity crew-team workouts every day after school. My parents, in the process of separating, have shipped me off on a teen tour to Israel. The group is filled with a full complement of mean girls from my own high school and from a neighboring town, a wealthy Jewish suburb where Fiorucci jeans and Benetton tops are the order of the day, neither of which my parents would have bought me even if they had fit. There are five girls named Jennifer making their way across the Promised Land with my group that summer. "Oh, not the fat Jennifer," I hear one of my tour mates saying matter-of-factly to another as we hang out by our kibbutz swimming pool, holding his hands out a good foot away from his hips to indicate my girth, "the other one." So that is me: not the Jennifer who loves to read, or who listens to the Smiths and is the most sought-after babysitter in town. Not the Jennifer on the honor roll, the one who can swim a mile without stopping: the fat one.
I am incandescent with shame, knowing that fat is, by far, the worst thing you can be. Fat is lazy, fat is gross, fat is sloppy...and, worst of all, fat is forever. Michelle has a full-on Frida Kahlo moustache. Kim has terrible skin. But Michelle could wax and Kim could go on Accutane; I am going to be fat—and, hence, undesirable, unlovable, a walking joke—for the rest of my life.
I walk back to the dorm, eyes brimming with unshed tears, swearing that I'll stop eating bread, sweets, desserts, anything, to lose 10, no, 20, no, 25 pounds before school starts again. I'll wake up every morning and run five miles. I'll find a pair of Fiorucci jeans and an Esprit sweater-vest, and the mean girls like Michelle and Kim who hadn't invited me to their bat mitzvahs even though we'd been going to Hebrew school together twice a week for five years would be forced to acknowledge, due to the boys' appreciative glances, that I was one of them.
My resolve lasts until dinner that night: discs of fresh-baked pita, still warm from the oven; bowls of hummus topped with a slick of olive oil; chicken schnitzel, pounded thin and deep-fried. I gain 20 more pounds before I finish high school as one of four graduation speakers: the fat one.
Then I'm 18, sitting in the dining hall across from the crew coach. It's winter break, and everyone else has gone home except the rowers stuck here doing two-a-days, working out in the tanks that smell of chlorine and ancient sweat every morning, lifting and running every afternoon. I'd been a good rower in high school, good enough for Princeton to recruit me, but now I've gained the freshman 15, plus the 15 pounds one of my many bulimic classmates should have gained but didn't. (In the innocent days of 1987, I thought it was perfectly normal for brilliant girls with perfect SAT scores to have blue fingertips and a fine coat of downy blonde fur.) "If you want to stay on the team," the coach tells me gently, "you're going to have to lose a lot of weight."
I bow my head in wordless—and now familiar—devastation. No matter that I am strong or that I work hard. I have no off switch. I am bigger than the other girls, and that is what matters; that is all that matters. The coach relegates me to the worst boat and never makes eye contact with me again. The next year, I quit the team and join the school newspaper. I find my place, my calling. On the page, at least back in the glorious pre-Internet era, you're nothing but words and a byline. On the page, nobody can tell that you're fat.
I am 33, and after two days of unmedicated labor followed by an emergency C-section, the doctor places my newborn daughter in my arms. I am shaking with exhaustion, weepy with hormones. My midsection feels like it's been ripped open and scooped out, stitched together with burlap thread and knitting needles. I tuck the tiny bundle against my chest, unwrapping the blanket with trembling hands to sniff the intoxicating scent behind her ears, curled like the buds of flowers, and brush my lips against her cheek. First, I make the traditional new-mother inventory: ten perfect fingers, ten toes like pearls. Then I make a less-typical assessment, examining the shape of her body, the width of her baby hips, the creases of her adorably pudgy thighs. At eight pounds, 11 ounces, almost two weeks overdue, she's one of the biggest babies in the nursery. As I look at her roommates, some plump and adorable as the infants in diaper ads, others scrawny and jaundiced, I'm far too embarrassed to ask my doctor the only thing I want to know: Will she be normal, or will she be like me?
Now, at 42, I've made as much peace as a plus-size woman can make with her body. I might be big, but I'm plenty strong. I've run 5Ks and 10Ks, completed hundred-mile bike rides and triathlons. In my career, my weight has never held me back. I've worked for national newspapers, written best-selling novels, had a book turned into a movie, cowritten a TV show that made it on the air. I have a job I love, two smart, funny daughters, a rich, full life with wonderful friends, and a man who loves me...but I know that, when the world sees me, they don't see any of this. They see fat.
My daughter sat on her bed, and I sat beside her. "How would you feel if someone made fun of you for something that wasn't your fault?" I began.
"She could stop eating so much," Lucy mumbled, unwittingly mouthing the it's-just-that-simple advice a thousand doctors and well-meaning friends and relatives and weight-loss profiteers have given overweight women for years.
"It's not always that easy," I said. "Everyone's different in terms of how they treat food. You know how Phoebe is with ice cream? How sometimes she'll gobble it right up, and sometimes she'll let it sit there and melt?" Lucy managed a quavery smile, then looked at me, blue eyes wide, waiting for me to go on.
I opened my mouth, then closed it. How do I walk the line between the cold truth and helpful fiction, between way the world is and the way I wish it was? Should I tell her that, in insulting a woman's weight, she's joined the long, proud tradition of critics who go after any woman with whom they disagree by starting with "you're ugly" and ending with "no man would want you and there must be something wrong with any man who does"? Do I tell her I didn't cry when Gawker posted my picture and someone commented underneath it, "I'm sorry, but aren't chick-lit authors supposed to be pretty"?
Does she need to know, now, that life isn't fair, or can she have a few more years of thinking that it might be that way? I feel her eyes on me, waiting for an answer I don't have. Words are my tools. Stories are my job. It's possible she'll remember what I say forever, and I have no idea what to say.
So I tell her the only thing I can come up with that is unequivocally true. I say to my daughter, "I love you, and there is nothing you could ever do to make me not love you. But I'm disappointed in you right now. There are plenty of reasons for not liking someone. What she looks like isn't one of them."
Lucy nods solemnly, tears on her cheeks, the look of the Big Bad still on her face. "I won't say that again," she tells me, her voice shaky, and I pull her close, pressing my nose against the part in her hair, inhaling the scent that is hers alone.
We're both quiet, and I don't know if I said the right thing; I may never know. So as we sit there together, shoulder to shoulder, thigh to thigh, I pray for her to be smart. I pray for her to be strong. I pray for her to find friends, work she loves, a partner who adores her, and for the world not to beat out of her the things that make her who she is, for her life to be easy, and for her to have the strength to handle it when it's not. And still, always, I pray that she will never struggle as I've struggled, that weight will never be her cross to bear. She may not be able to use the word in our home, but I can use it in my head. I pray that she will never get fat.


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Juanes, Santana, Caetano Veloso Added To XIII Latin GRAMMY Lineup
GRAMMY and 17-time Latin GRAMMY winner (and current nominee) Juanes and 10-time GRAMMY and three-time Latin GRAMMY winner Santana will perform together for the first time, while current nominees Caetano Veloso (2012 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year) and Arturo Sandoval will join forces for a special performance on the XIII Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards. Also performing on The Biggest Night in Latin Music are current nominees Pablo Alborán and Sensato featuring Sak Noel and Pitbull, as well as El Bebeto, America Sierra, and LMFAO's Sky Blu.
Confirmed to present awards are current nominees Pepe Aguilar, Chino y Nacho, ChocQuibTown, Deborah de Corral, Antonio Orozco, Milly Quezada, Reik, Ana Tijoux, Tommy Torres, and Ana Victoria, as well as nine-time GRAMMY winner Natalie Cole, GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY winner Nelly Furtado, and actors Sebastian Rulli and Gabriel Soto.
The Latin music industry's premier event is set for Nov. 15 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and will air live on the Univision Network from 8–11 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. Central).
Three-time GRAMMY and two-time Latin GRAMMY winner Sandoval has four nominations: Album Of The Year and Best Latin Jazz Album for Dear Diz (Everyday I Think Of You), Best Tango Album for Tango Como Yo Te Siento, and Producer Of The Year.
Two-time GRAMMY and eight-time Latin GRAMMY winner Veloso is nominated for three awards: Album Of The Year, Best MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira) Album, and Best Long Form Music Video for Especial Ivete, Gil E Caetano.
Alborán has a nod for Best Contemporary Pop Vocal Album for En Acústico.
Sensato, Sak Noel and Pitbull are all up for Best Urban Song for "Crazy People."
Previously announced performers include current nominees David Bisbal, Sergio Dalma, Lila Downs (with Totó La Momposina and Celso Piña), Shaila Dúrcal (along with Mariachi Divas De Cindy Shea), Pedro Fernández, Kany García, Juan Luis Guerra, Jesse & Joy, Juanes, Juan Magán, Victor Manuelle, Gerardo Ortiz, Pitbull, Prince Royce, Alejandro Sanz, Michel Teló, and 3Ball MTY, as well as 2012 Latin Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Daniela Romo and Joan Sebastian. Previously announced presenters are actors Ninel Conde, Ana Brenda Contreras, Marcelo Córdoba, Galilea Montijo, Gabriel Soto, Mark Tacher, and Zuria Vega. Actors Cristián De La Fuente and Lucero once again will co-host the Latin music industry's premier event.
The XIII Latin GRAMMY Awards will be supported on radio via Univision Radio (the official Spanish-language radio network of the Latin GRAMMY Awards), and highlighted on the Internet at www.latingrammy.com and www.univisionlatingrammy.com, including video interviews and photos, an extensive archive of past shows, a live blog, and dedicated forums for fans to share their excitement leading up to the live broadcast. For the first time ever, fans can connect to the UVideos companion app, accessing extra content, polls and more on their mobile device. Additionally, the telecast will be distributed internationally to more than 100 countries.
For the second year in a row, LatinGRAMMY.com will feature Latin GRAMMYs en Vivo, which will offer live coverage of the XIII Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards and interviews from various locations including the green carpet arrivals, the Pre-Telecast Ceremony, backstage, and the media center, beginning at 1 p.m. PT. The Pre-Telecast Ceremony will stream live online at www.latingrammy.com beginning at 1:30 p.m. PT.
Preceding the Awards telecast, Univision will present exclusive "Noche De Estrellas" ("Night Of Stars") coverage of the celebrity arrivals direct from the Latin GRAMMY Awards green carpet starting at 7 p.m. ET/PT (6 p.m. Central). Hosted by Univision Network personalities Giselle Blondet ("Nuestra Belleza Latina") and Montijo ("Hoy"), "Noche De Estrellas" will feature live interviews and commentary on the stars and their fashions, and will provide viewers an intimate and up-close look at Latin music's most glamorous gala event. And for the first time, there will be a live performance on the green carpet with current Latin GRAMMY nominee Fonseca.
For breaking news and exclusive content, visit The Latin Recording Academy's social networks on Twitter and Facebook.

subset: commoncrawl


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October 27, 2013
Tours and Gallery Talks
Garden Tour
Daily through December 31, 2014
11:30 am, 12:30 pm, 2:30 pm, 3:30 pm
Getty Center
The gardens of the Getty are the focus of this 45-minute tour. Meet the docent outside at the bench under the sycamore trees near the front entrance to the Museum.
Spotlight of the Week
Daily through October 27, 2013
12 pm, 1 pm, 2 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Center
Can love last forever? Debate this timeless question while examining Soldani-Benzi's bronze sculpture
Venus and Adonis
. Join the docent at the Information Desk for a 15-minute talk about this work of art.
Collection Highlights Tour
Sundays through October 31, 2013
11 am, 1:30 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Center
This one-hour tour provides an overview of major works from the Museum's collection. Meet the docent at the Information Desk.
Architecture Tour
Daily through December 31, 2014
10:15 am, 11 am, 1 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm, 4 pm
Museum Entrance Hall, Getty Center
Discover more about Richard Meier's architecture and the design of the Getty Center site in this 45-minute tour. Meet the docent outside at the bench under the sycamore trees near the front entrance to the Museum.
Focus Tour: Fit for a King
Daily through November 3, 2013
12:30 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Center
Explore the Getty's collection of 17th- and 18th-century art in this one-hour tour of French decorative arts, paintings, and sculpture made during the reigns of kings Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI. Meet the docent at the Information Desk.
The Life of Art: Context, Collecting, and Display
Daily through December 31, 2017
South Pavilion, Plaza Level, Getty Center
From the time an object is made until the day it enters a museum's collection, it may be displayed, used, and perceived in different ways.
The Life of Art
takes selected objects from the Getty Museum's galleries and encourages visitors to sit down and spend time with them, offering the opportunity to examine them closely to understand how they were made and functioned, why they were collected, and how they have been displayed. Through careful looking, what may be learned about the maker and previous owners of a French gilt-bronze wall light, for example, or the transformation in England of a Chinese porcelain bowl? Close engagement reveals the full lives of these works and why they continue to be collected and cherished today.
Learn more about this exhibition
Canterbury and St. Albans: Treasures from Church and Cloister
Daily through February 2, 2014
Exhibitions Pavilion, Getty Center
This exhibition brings together masterpieces of medieval English art: panels of stained glass from Canterbury Cathedral and pages from the St. Albans Psalter, a splendidly illuminated book of psalms. Uniting monumental glass painting with the art of book illumination, this presentation reveals how specific texts, prayers, and environments shaped the medieval viewer's understanding of these pictures during the era of artistic renewal following the Norman Conquest of England.
Learn more about this exhibition
Werner Herzog:
Hearsay of the Soul
Daily through January 19, 2014
North Pavilion, Plaza Level, Getty Center
A new acquisition by the Getty Museum's Department of Photographs,
Hearsay of the Soul
(2012) is a five-channel video installation by celebrated German filmmaker Werner Herzog. It combines the early-seventeenth-century landscape etchings of Dutch artist Hercules Segers with recent scores and a performance by Dutch cellist and composer Ernst Reijseger, resulting in a richly layered work that is at once intimate and epic.
Learn more about this exhibition
Abelardo Morell: The Universe Next Door
Daily through January 5, 2014
West Pavilion, Lower Level, Getty Center
Over the past twentyfive years, Abelardo Morell (American, born Cuba, 1948) has become internationally renowned for photographs that push the boundaries of the medium while exploring visual surprise and wonder. From intimate domestic scenes taken with a child's view to images in which an entire room is a camera obscura, Morell has approached picture making with remarkable creativity and wit. Showing a range of individual works and series—many never displayed before—this exhibition demonstrates how Morell has mined photographic history for inspiration. The exhibition was organized by the Art Institute of Chicago in association with the J. Paul Getty Museum and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.
Learn more about this exhibition
At the Window: The Photographer's View
Daily through January 5, 2014
West Pavilion, Lower Level, Getty Center
One of the first camera subjects, the window is literally and figuratively linked to the photographic process itself. This exhibition, drawn primarily from the Getty Museum's collection (including several new acquisitions funded by the Getty Museum's Photographs Council), looks at the ways photographers have explored their medium by turning to the window as a framing device or conceptual tool. It spans the history of photography, from some of the earliest images by William Henry Fox Talbot, Julia Margaret Cameron, and Eugène Atget to contemporary works by artists such as Robert Adams, Uta Barth, Gregory Crewdson, Sabine Hornig, and Yuki Onodera.
Learn more about this exhibition
In Focus: Architecture
Daily through March 2, 2014
West Pavilion, Lower Level, Getty Center
From its inception, photography has functioned as a significant tool in the documentation and perception of architecture. The camera made it possible to record the built environment with accuracy and in greater detail, allowing photographers to represent the existence of a building from construction to demise. Drawn from the J. Paul Getty Museum's collection, this exhibition surveys the history of architectural photography through images of sacred and secular structures, picturesque environments, abstracted spaces, and conceptual forms.
Learn more about this exhibition
Miracles and Martyrs: Saints in the Middle Ages
Daily through March 2, 2014
North Pavilion, Plaza Level, Getty Center
Throughout the Middle Ages, Christians were fascinated by stories about saints, who led extraordinary lives full of mystical events and miraculous occurrences. Saints were depicted in manuscripts experiencing revelatory visions and performing wondrous feats such as healing the sick or raising the dead. Even when their tormentors were performing exceptionally brutal acts—shooting them repeatedly with arrows, for example, or violently beheading them—martyr saints were pictured remaining steadfast in their faith. This exhibition, drawn from the Getty Museum's permanent collection, presents manuscripts that allowed medieval viewers to witness these dramatic narratives and venerate the saints as models of piety.
Learn more about this exhibition


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Just some pics and video of training on Monday. It was fun, as usual.
Mickle's Lucius (APBT) is starting to play the game. YAY!
Cash, Malinois puppy
Spicy, Mickle's Alapaha puppy
And a link to the YouTube video of Buddy, Teeny, and Blue. Teeny is doing awesome. I love my angry little princess
Here is where I just posted pics of Teeny's dad from Monday viewtopic.php?f=8&t=27185


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Wrestling Dropped From Olympics
The International Olympic Committee has dropped wrestling from the 2020 Summer Games, a surprising decision that has bewildered athletes and fans of the longtime Olympic sport.
The IOC said Tuesday that its executive board recommended excluding wrestling from its list of core sports. Wrestling still has a chance to return to the Games in 2020 via a complicated process: The IOC later this year will choose one of eight shortlisted sports—wrestling, baseball/softball, climbing, karate, roller sports, squash, wakeboarding and a Chinese martial art called wushu—to add to the 2020 program.
The move to drop wrestling, which has been in every modern Olympics since the inaugural 1896 Athens Games except 1900, reflects the IOC's attempts to innovate to lure younger fans. In recent years the Olympics had added emerging sports such as beach volleyball and BMX cycling.
Olympic wrestling has been threatened for the past decade. In 2002, the IOC commissioned a review of Olympic sports that said wrestling had a "lack of global popularity" as well as "relatively low broadcast and press coverage." The problem stemmed from the public's confusion between wrestling's two disciplines: Greco-Roman, which forbids holds below the waist, and freestyle, which allows them. The report recommended dropping one of the disciplines from the 2008 Beijing Games, which didn't happen.
The Tuesday announcement that the IOC was dropping wrestling entirely stunned Rulon Gardner, the American who pulled off a famous Olympic upset at the 2000 Sydney Games, when he beat Russian legend Aleksandr Karelin to win Greco-Roman gold.
"I heard rumors that they might drop one style of wrestling, but we had no idea they'd say, 'Here's the death penalty,'" Gardner said. He said he didn't understand the economics of the decision. "What does it cost them, a few extra dollars for people in the Olympic Village?" he said, referring to the athletes' dormitories.
In London last summer, 29 countries won medals in men's and women's wrestling. The sport also produced one of the most enduring images of the Olympics, when American gold medalist Jordan Burroughs and Iranian silver medalist Sadegh Goudarzi embraced each other on the podium.
Christophe Dubi, director of sport for the IOC, said the vote was part of a process that began in 2001 after Dr. Jacques Rogge took over as president of the organization and said he wanted to limit the size, cost and complexity of the Games. The IOC then decided it would limit the Games to 28 sports, and roughly 10,500 athletes and about 300 events.
To keep the Olympics fresh, however, the IOC decided it would have 25 core sports and three spots for new or revived competitions. In 2009, golf and rugby were approved for the 2016 and 2020. For the final slot, the IOC decided that one of its 26 existing sports would have to compete against the new applicant sports.
"The idea overall is to renew the program and to keep it relevant and appealing to new audiences," said Mark Adams, chief spokesman for the IOC.
Dubi said the task now for wrestling is to figure out how to improve its presentation so that it can feel fresh. "Wrestling has to look at everything they do and say, 'That's how we will change,'" said Dubi, who had to call FILA, the international wrestling federation, with the unwelcome news of the vote Tuesday afternoon.
Dubi cited changes that archery and fencing have made to make their competitions more appealing and viable in the modern Olympics. Archery changed its scoring so competitions often come down to a final arrow. Fencing now stages matches under a spotlight. Modern pentathlon has compressed its competition to a single day.
"They have to roll up the sleeves and figure out how they can improve," Dubi said. "They have to say how they make it exciting."
Now it is up to wrestling's international federation to persuade the IOC to add the sport to the 2020 Summer Games instead of the other seven sports. The IOC plans to hear presentations about the eight sports in May and to make a decision at a September meeting.
U.S.A. Wrestling executive director Rich Bender called himself "surprised and disappointed" in a statement, adding:
"Wrestling is one of the sports of the original Greek Olympic Games and in the first modern Olympic Games. It is one of the most diverse sports in the world, with nearly 200 nations from all continents participating in wrestling."
U.S. Olympic committee chief executive Scott Blackmun added: "We knew that today would be a tough day for American athletes competing in whatever sport was identified by the IOC Executive Board. Given the history and tradition of wrestling, and its popularity and universality, we were surprised when the decision was announced. It is important to remember that today's action is a recommendation, and we hope that there will be a meaningful opportunity to discuss the important role that wrestling plays in the sports landscape both in the United States and around the world."
The news did not sit well in other countries partial to wrestling, either.
"I am very angry about this news," Russian Wrestling Federation president Mikhail Mamiashvili said in an interview with a Russian sports agency posted on the federation's website on Tuesday.
Mamiashvili said he had implored FILA to "take the necessary steps" to remove the issue from discussion. He also struck out at FILA president Raphael Martinetti, saying questions must be raised about his competence at an upcoming FILA meeting in Thailand. "He is required to keep abreast of such matters. It's entirely within his remit," Mamiashvili said.
(FILA representatives did not return requests for comment. The organization issued a statement calling its executives "greatly astonished" by the IOC's move. The organization will meet this month in Thailand to discuss how to address the issue with the IOC executive board.)
In another interview posted on the federation's website, Buvaisar Saitiev, a three-time Russian gold medal winner, said it would be a shame if the Olympics excluded wrestling. Saitiev said he could understand if officials wanted to change rules, reduce the number of wrestling medals awarded or even pare the number of weight classes, but he said expelling the sport altogether is "completely wrong."
Saitiev also noted that wrestling is a particular strong suit for Russia at the Olympics. "In this regard, the Olympic prospects for wrestling will largely depend on how effectively Russia gets across its position," he said.
—Paul Sonne and Rachel Bachman contributed to this article.
Write to Stu Woo at email@example.com, Matthew Futterman at firstname.lastname@example.com and Sara Germano at firstname.lastname@example.com
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Last May, the San Antonio Spurs delivered a message that resonated throughout the offseason in Portland: A talented starting five can take you only so far in the NBA playoffs.
So as the final six games stand between the Blazers and the 2015 playoffs, should Rip City feel any better about this year's team?
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In CSP 100 participants are encouraged to learn and apply meta-cognitive principles to the planning of their own academic, professional, and personal goals. Participants in the seminar work to enhance their academic success by embarking on a thorough examination of how they are currently approaching their learning. They then set goals for adjusting and improving their current skills to help them become better learners in this context.
Topics participants in this seminar explore have included but are not limited to the following:


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Real Salt Lake also Announces Waiving of MF Alex Nimo
SANDY, Utah (Wednesday, November 24, 2010) – While today belonged to 2011 MLS expansion franchises Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps, Real Salt Lake stole some headlines of its own with an active day that was headlined by a trade with Portland that brought M/F Arturo Alvarez to the Wasatch Front in exchange for the higher of Real Salt Lake second round selections in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft. In addition, RSL saw a pair of players – FW Robbie Findley and DF David Horst – selected by the Timbers in the 2010 MLS Expansion Draft, which took place earlier today via conference call, and announced the waiving of MF Alex Nimo.
"We are excited to add a dynamic, attacking, left-footed player who can play either in midfield or up top for us. We wanted to add another player who can beat opponents off the dribble and create their own chances, and we believe we have acquired him in Arturo Alvarez," said Real Salt Lake V.P. of Soccer Operations and General Manager Garth Lagerwey. "It is always painful to lose good, young players in whom we, as a staff, have invested tremendous time and energy in, and David and Robbie both fit that bill. However, we can only lose in expansion and we can only protect 11 players, so we wish both of them the best in the future."
Just hours after Portland plucked Alvarez from the San Jose Earthquakes with its 10th and final pick of the MLS Expansion Draft (click here for the full results of today's draft), Real Salt Lake engineered a trade for the 25-year-old left-sided attacker. In return, Portland receives the second round selection (22nd overall) in January's upcoming SuperDraft that RSL acquired from Chivas USA in May 2008 in the deal that sent DF Carey Talley to the Southern California side.
An eight-year MLS veteran, Alvarez has started 101 of his 166 League appearances since his debut season for San Jose back in 2003, registering 24 goals and 18 assists on behalf of the Earthquakes (2003-04, 2008-10) and FC Dallas (2005-2008). Alvarez has also notched an assist across five MLS Cup Playoff contests (one start), including three substitute appearances totaling 69 minutes during San Jose's run to the Eastern Conference Championship earlier this month.
After representing the United States at various youth levels, the Houston native made the jump to El Salvador's national team at the senior level in 2009 under current Chicago Fire head coach Carlos de los Cabos. Alvarez collected five caps for "la Selecta" during CONCACAF's final round of qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in 2009, including a starting role in El Salvador's 1-2 defeat to the United States in the first-ever qualifier to take place at his new home of Rio Tinto Stadium on Sept. 5, 2009.
Findley was one of the bigger surprises of the 20 players selected in today's draft, the move coming just days after RSL had announced the striker's intentions to test the waters of the overseas market. The 25-year-old Phoenix native leaves Real Salt Lake as the club's career leader in goals (29) and game-winning goals (9), while also placing in the top five on the squad's all-time charts with 157 shots (2nd); 69 shots on goal (2nd), 13 assists (3rd); five game-winning assists (T-2nd); 96 games played (4th); four multi-goal games (2nd); and 85 fouls suffered (5th). Findley is the first and only player in Real Salt Lake history to record a hat trick in MLS play, the striker accomplishing the feat on April 2, 2009, when he bagged all three goals in a 3-1 defeat of the Columbus Crew in Sandy.
Findley also departs as RSL's all-time leading playoff scorer, having tallied four goals and adding a pair of assists while playing in all nine of the Utah side's postseason contests since 2008. The Oregon State product played three-and-a-half seasons for Real Salt Lake, which acquired the then-rookie striker alongside MF Nathan Sturgis in a trade with the LA Galaxy for MF Chris Klein midway through the 2007 campaign.
Horst joins Portland after three seasons with the Claret-and-Cobalt, this after RSL nabbed the towering center back with the 14th overall selection (first round) in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft. After making only three appearances with RSL's first team in League play across his first two seasons from 2008-09, Horst gained valuable experience this past season while on loan to the USSF D-2 Pro League's Puerto Rico Islanders, scoring once and notching two assists in 29 appearances en route to helping the Islanders claim the second division's championship in October. Horst also played a valuable role for Puerto Rico during CONCACAF Champions League play, scoring twice while appearing in all eight contests for the Islanders in the regional club championship. Horst played a huge factor for the squad that defeated the LA Galaxy in the Preliminary Round and posted a 2-2-2 record in Group D play during in the Group Stage.
Nimo was also a member of Real Salt Lake's 2008 MLS SuperDraft class, the Utah side picking the then-teenager with the 17th overall pick in the second round. Nimo failed to make any appearances for RSL during his rookie season before being sent to the Portland Timbers on season-long loans in both 2009 and 2010, where he amassed 45 appearances for his hometown side.
www.RealSaltLake.com / www.RioTintoStadium.com / www.RSLtotheCore.com / www.ESPN700Sports.com


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JOKER.COM Latest News
.EU domains and Brexit - what you need to know29.08.2018
.EU domains can only be registered by persons from EU countries (and a few exceptions). With the Brexit, UK registrants will no longer be part of the EU, EURid - the registry responsible for .EU domains - is in discussion with the European Commission to find a solution or clarify details such as whether it makes a difference if registrants come from Northern Ireland, Gibraltar or another UK country. Furthermore, it remains to be clarified whether there will be a transitional period until January 2021 or whether the changes will apply directly from March 30th, 2019.
EURid is committed to share further details as soon as they become available, please regularly visit this dedicated webpage for updates.
All of .europe, for a tiny price30.08.2018
Register today one, two or even more .eu domains at Joker.com for the legendary price of 3.33€ per year, per domain and for up to three years.
Domain renewals starting from 4th year: 7.68 € per year (incl. 19% German VAT).
Promo prices only valid from September 1st 2018 until November 30th 2018. Net prices: 2.80 € in the first 3 years, 6.45 € afterwards.
.GLOBAL flash sale29.08.2018
From September 1st until November 30th, you can order .GLOBAL domains for a discounted price. During the first 7 days (September 1st - September 7th) 1st year registrations are down to USD 8.21 instead of USD 102.34. After that, the price will be USD 15.35 until October 31st.
*shown prices include 19% German VAT, your final price may be different.
News Archive
New domain .LLC available07.06.2018
Starting from July 23rd, the new domain .LLC will be available on Joker.com. A limited liability company (LLC) is the United States of America-specific form of a private limited company, .LLC therefore is perfect for limited liability companies.
The Landrush Phase for .LLC starts on July 9th, 16:00 UTC and ends on July 20th, 16:00 UTC, General Availability starts on July 23rd, 16:00 UTC.
The price for .LLC domains will be higher before the offical start on July 23rd, the possibility to get your preferred name is of course higher the earlier you claim it.
New Data Escrow Service for Joker.com18.06.2018
As you may know, Joker.com and all ICANN-accredited registrars are required to deposit the domain data they manage in a secure environment on an escrow basis.
This ensures that domain data remains accessible even in the event of serious problems with a registrar.
For a few days now, in addition to the previous standard escrow provider "Iron Mountain" (U.S.A.), German DENIC eG has been equipped with an ICANN license as a second provider.
We are pleased to announce that since June 13th 2018 Joker.com has entrusted DENIC eG with the escrow management of our domain data.
This also simplifies compliance with the GDPR in that there is no additional transfer of domain data outside the EU. DENIC Escrow Services operates in full compliance with the GDPR and is ISO 27001 certified.
Many domains discounted for up to 10 years!12.06.2018
The Radix domains .fun, .online, .pw, .site, .space, .store, .tech and .website are currently radically reduced. Register your desired domain directly for 10 years at an unbeatable price.
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About GDPR11.06.2018
General Information about GDPR
On May 25th 2018 the new general data protection regulation (GDPR) entered into force. In order to comply with this, there are also some changes around domains.
Two major changes are: Joker.com does no longer publicly display personal data by default, and Joker.com does only request the necessary minimum data for a domain registrations.
Control and transparency
The GDPR ensures that you - our customer - have better control over the use of your personal data and, above all, ensures that you are better informed about what your data is used for and to which third parties it may be disclosed.
Processing of your data
According to the GDPR, we do only collect and process the personal data necessary for the fulfilment of the contract for technically requirements.
However, as a registrar and data processor of the registries and ICANN, we are not completely free in our decisions, since as registrar we are dependent on both the requirements of ICANN and the respective registries.
Nevertheless, in the interests of data reduction, both the collection and transfer of data have been significantly restricted.
Publication and forwarding of your data
Reduced Whois data
Joker.com does no longer publicly disclose personal data via the whois of both the website and port 43. The output has been reduced to a few fields, which will only contain the country of the registrant in addition to the specification of a possible "organisation". Instead of email addresses, anonymous form links are displayed with which the respective contacts can be addressed.
Prosecutors and other authorities will continue to receive information after individual review of their requests.
Whois Privacy Services
The Joker.com offer for privacy services remains unchanged. Those still preserve the registrant's personal data to be transferred to registries.
Reduced data transmission
Non GDPR-compliant "thick" registries receive reduced contact data or placeholders (handles).
Opt-in for registrants
Customers or registrants can optionally and explicitly specify that certain contacts are still to be published in full.
Harmonisation pending
As of 25.5., a "temporary specification" from ICANN is in place, binding for all gTLD registries and registrars. Joker.com does fully comply to this, which basically consists of the above mentioned changes.
The "temporary specification" which is now in place also defines how transfers have to be handled:
- no "form of authorization" (FOA) is needed any more (the losing registrar may send one, but a non-answer has to be regarded as acknowledge)
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Revised Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy
In the course of the implementation of the GDPR, some changes to both Joker.com's General Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy are required. Most significant change is, that the data privacy policy now explicitly is also part of these T&C.
The new T&C have become valid from May 25th 2018.
You can find the new versions under the "Terms & Conditions" on Joker.com.
IIS downtime/re-launch (.se, .nu)07.06.2018
IIS (Internet Foundation in Sweden) will introduce a new registry system. During this transition, no registration services for .SE or .NU domains (new registrations, transfers, renewals) can be performed. The downtime will take place from June 8th 15:00 UTC (3pm) until June 11th 7:00 UTC.
New Domain .ICU starts May 29th28.05.2018
The new TLD .ICU is available on Joker starting from May 29th.
.ICU (I See You) is short, easy to remember and universal. You can register your .ICU domain for a special introductory price during the first month (May 29th - June 30th).
.APP now ready for preregistration17.04.2018
Google's Domain .APP will soon be available for everyone. Before the general availability phase starts (May 1st) you will have the opportunity to preregister your .app domains with Joker.com.
Why .APP?
Apps make the mobile world go 'round, and now they have their own more secure home on the web: the .app domain, the most relevant TLD for mobile apps. You can use your .app name to showcase a unique and trustworthy destination, as a relevant download link, for deep linking, or for sharing screenshots, release notes, and reviews. Get your .app domain now to start sharing your app with the world.
How Can I Preregister My .APP Domain?
Just log into your Joker.com account and visit our sunrise page. The preregistration is divided into different phases with decreasing prices until the domain will be available for everyone on May 8th.
Day 1 (May 1st): USD 11000*)
Day 2: USD 2800*)
Day 3: USD 1100*)
Day 4: USD 600*)
Day 5-7: USD 140*)
The more sought after you expect a domain name to be, the earlier you should try to register it, of course. Starting from May 8th, the price for registrations of .app domains will be USD 22.80*) for one year.


text:
WASHINGTON (AP) — An administration official says President Barack Obama will travel to Detroit Monday to push his proposal for raising tax rates on wealthier Americans.
The trip is part of Obama's effort to get public backing for his positions and use that support to pressure Republicans to reach a deal on the "fiscal cliff." The president says there can't be a deal until GOP lawmakers drop their opposition to increasing rates on the top 2 percent of income earners.
Obama launched his public appeal during a trip to Pennsylvania last week.
The official requested anonymity in order to discuss the trip before it is publicly announced.


text:
VATICAN CITY — Journalists have been involved in an underground battle ever since Pope Benedict XVI turned up for his Sept. 6, 2006, general audience in St. Peter's Square wearing for the first time in public a wide-brimmed red straw hat that had often been worn by Popes John XXIII and Paul VI.
I was covering the audience that day and can recall how many of us in the Vatican press hall started wondering aloud, "What is he wearing?!"
"It's a galero!" shouted one. Others parried back: "No, what are you saying? It's a saturno!" And on it went all afternoon. The press hall was squarely divided into two camps. I Googled feverishly to find what it had been called in the past and settled on "galero," as it looked more like this red-tassled cardinal hat than the "saturno," which is a round black clerical hat made out of felt or fur.
This year the tide had turned. The majority of the press corps was calling it a saturno, though we had been calling it a galero. When the pope showed up wearing it at a recent general audience this month, we were back to square one: What are we going to call it?
Intrepid CNS photographer Bob Roller decided to take the matter into his hands this week and just call it a red hat. It turns out he's right.
This morning I called the pontifical household about it and spoke with a pretty exasperated monsignor who exclaimed, "It's just a hat!"
The galero is no longer in use, he said, and the word "saturno" is not even a correct Italian term — it's Roman slang for a round-dome hat made of fur or felt. The pope's red straw hat is just a hat, he said. So, hats off to the Vatican hat expert for setting the record straight.
PHOTO: Pope Benedict XVI reaches out to a baby at the end of his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican June 18. (CNS/Reuters)


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Good to see Tony W. back.
His shot
of the Mustang at Zion inspired me to haul out this one I took a year later, June 1972, near Lake Tahoe. Those were the days when, if a car happened to zip by as you were taking a shot, the chances of it being a VW Beetle were whole orders of magnitude greater than today. It's one of the interesting time-capsule details you notice in films of that period that have a lot of location filming, like on the streets of San Francisco in Bullitt or Dirty Harry; the sheer quantity of those things. Ektachrome slide. UPDATE May 2016: I've finally found out where this is: the VW is on California State Highway 89 approaching the intersection of State Highway 88 in the Hope Valley area south of Lake Tahoe.
Click image for Comments.
Browse All Photos


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Five ways to spring's loose-fitting pants
Skinny and tailored is giving way to loose and loungey this spring.
They may have a rep for being difficult to wear, but slouchy, drapey pants are popping up in the spring collections of even mass-market (and mass-appeal) stores like Loft and Old Navy.
They're not quite harem pants – instead of a full, pleated cut and low crotch (for that much-hated 'diaper' effect), the latest crop of slouchy pants are flatter in front and slightly more tailored.
"I love this look!" proclaims stylist Talia Brown, calling it "fashion-forward and sleek."
Stylist Nadia Albano, however, adds that many women may have a love/hate relationship with the draped look.
"On one hand, they are super easy to wear; the loose fit and drawstring waist provides a very casual feel." On the other hand, she adds, they can look like you're walking around in pajamas if not handled correctly.
Personally, she says, "I love these and saw them everywhere in Italy and Paris this fall and winter."
Albano admits this style tends to be easier to pull off for petite women or those with narrower legs and hips. "They are often not as forgiving as the fabric is usually lightweight, such as a silk/polyester blend," she says.
There may be some trial and error involved to make sure the cut doesn't add bulk and the fabric will skim over – not highlight – spots you don't love. If drawstring's not your thing, look for trouser waistbands with a tab closure and minimal-to-no pleating in the front, which adds bulk.
Brown adds that if you really like the look, layering over your midsection is also an option.
Black will make this cut look a little less out-there, but a pattern can make for a fun statement piece.
It's all about balance with this look – tailored or boxy tops to balance the slouch of the pants. Heels – the more streamlined the better – will keep your look from getting bulky, but we're powerless before a good, tailored menswear-style flat. Ready to slip into this style? Try these outfit ideas.


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Despite being one of the most active on record, the 2012 hurricane season lacked power -- Superstorm Sandy notwithstanding -- making it a "highly unusual year", according to one storm forecaster.
The season officially ends Friday, and some forecasters suspect a post-season cyclone could be possible, though it would be unlikely to affect land. But assuming that doesn't happen, the 2012 season ranks third among the most active since record-keeping began in 1851 with 19 named storms.
While most pre- and even mid-season hurricane forecasts underestimated how far we would get on the storm names list, the number of major hurricanes meanwhile came nowhere near the guesses. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in August predicted five to eight Atlantic hurricanes, two to three of them "major", rated categories 3-5.
Only Hurricane Michael reached Category 3 strength, and for just six hours, peaking with 115 mph winds.
"It was a highly unusual year in that we had a lot of activity, but it tended to be weaker," said Philip Klotzbach, a forecaster with the Tropical Meteorology Project at Colorado State University. The project will release a critique of its own predictions on Thursday, finding it called for too few named storms but too many major hurricanes.
The 2012 season is tied with 2011 and 2010 as well as 1995 and 1887 for third-most tropical storms on record. There were more only in 2005, with 28, and 1933, with 21, according to the National Hurricane Center.
There was only a single major hurricane for the first time since 1997, according to the center's records.
NOAA meteorologists classified the season as above-average in a wrap-up posted Thursday, adding that it was proof that it doesn't take a major hurricane to devastate coastlines.
"This year proved that it's wrong to think that only major hurricanes can ruin lives and impact local economies," Laura Furgione, acting director of NOAA's National Weather Service, said in a statement. "We are hopeful that after the 2012 hurricane season, more families and businesses all along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts become more "weather ready" by understanding the risks associated with living near the coastline."
A persistent jet stream pattern helped keep storms away from the U.S. for the most part, according to NOAA scientists. Klotzbach attributed the unusual pattern of weak storms remaning out at sea to relatively dry, sinking air in the tropics. There was relatively more activity in the subtropics, particularly around the Azores, where Nadine circled for about a month.
The season continued an era of high activity for Atlantic hurricanes that began in 1995, withmore than 70 percent of seasons more active than normal, according to NOAA. In the past, such periods of high activity have lasted 25-40 years, with the last one from the mid-1930s until 1970, according to NOAA.
Superstorm Sandy is somewhat in a class by itself among 2012 storms, since it was no longer behaving as a tropical cyclone before it made landfall last month. Regardless, it stands out as the most destructive storm of the season by far.
Others to influence U.S. coastline included pre-season Tropical Storm Beryl in May, Tropical Storm Debby in June, and Hurricane Isaac in August. But remarkably, a dozen of the 19 never made landfall at all, only churning out in the Atlantic.
The National Weather Service's Baltimore/Washington forecast offices reviews Sandy's impacts in the region in a special new page on its website.
The storm brought Baltimore's fifth-highest day of rain on record, and the most for any October day on record, with 6.67 inches at BWI Marshall Airport, more than three times the precipitation recorded in New Jersey and New York. Rainfall reached at most 14 inches in parts of the Eastern Shore and Southern Maryland, the highest recorded in the storm over land.
Wind gusts topped 50 mph across much of central and southern Maryland, with 60 mph gusts in some pockets and 70 mph on the Chesapeake near Point Lookout in St. Mary's County.
Have a weather question? E-mail me at firstname.lastname@example.com or tweet to @MdWeather.


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When it comes to coffee, you either love it or hate it. But coffee-lovers around the world can remember in a flash where they've had their best cuppa. A quick survey question on the Globetrooper Facebook page and Twitter stream exploded into an international debate on where in the world our followers have tasted the best cup of coffee.
Funnily enough, the world's largest producer (and largest by a mile), Brasil, only got one mention. And the other top 5 producers (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam & Mexico) either got one mention or none at all!
The Coffee Champion turned out to be Italy, followed by Austria, Laos, Jamaica, India and Australia. I've pasted the discussion below. But do you agree with Italy having the BEST coffee? Let us know in the comments. Where in the world have you tasted the best coffee?
Linda Wainwright @madreislena: In the Canary Is we have coffees called barrquitos but this one I named super barraquito!
Amir Belkacemi @Amirfromdablock: #Algeria for sure
Mafalda Liborio: Portugal :o)
Deirdre Ganly: Dominican Republic…but coffee was from Jamaica
Rosie G. @FlavOfSingapore: Italy… and in my kitchen…:-)
Cam & Nicole @travelcanucks: Venice Italy. Love a good coffee
Brandon F. Sherman: Jamaica
Todd Sullivan: I like the traditional Peruvian coffee (the one with the cup of water and jug of thick coffee on the side). Montreal was pretty bad (but not as bad as the rest of canada), Sydney is okay, and Turkish is awesome.
aadhu ahid @aadhuu: Florence, Italy FTW
@goodlotz: "Fresh French pressed every morning!" (Guatemala)
Amar Hussain @GapYearEscape: I've only ever drank coffee once and hated it!
Tracy Gross: at a roadside stop in Vietnam- enroute from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi- followed the local trucker traffic
Kaushal Karkhanis: Salento, Colombia and Sao Paulo, Brasil. and of course, the local 'filter coffee' from Coorg and Kerala here in India is amazing!
Jools Stone @jools_octavius: Maybe try Vienna for best coffee? See this post for 30 reasons why via @Travelwriticus (Austria)
Chris Piel: Frankfurt Germany at a museum cafe.
Lauren McLeod: I'm not the biggest coffee fan… but I know where I've had the best hot chocolate? Ladurée in Harrods, London. Yummm
*valeria* @valefm: in SPAIN!!! delicious!
Paula Maiorano: Cafe Arabica in Srinagar. (India)
Clariz Mariano: Hotel Borubodur in Yogjakarta, Indonesia. I'm not a coffee fan either, but it was the best coffee for me. A great drink before you explore the Borubudur temple :D
Jennifer Lichty @jennasail: 1. Venice 2. Rome 3. Salzburg (Italy & Austria)
Nicole Saunders Diaz: kerala in india has awesome coffee!! The technique is amazing
Tracey Maree Carlton: grindz cafe tauranga new zealand,awesome consistent coffee !!!
Joshua Berman @tranquilotravel: in Laos: see this post
Texan Bar @Texanbar: Laos coffee is amazing
Laura Green: Melbourne at the new StrEAT cart!! Yum (Australia)
Mitchell Page: Not Istanbul, thats for sure. Turkish coffee is a bit harsh for my Australian palette.
Maya Northen @Chimeratravel: i had excellent coffee in costa rica! It is tough to say where is the best, but costa rica is great!
Katrina Zicchino: Has to be Kuranda, nth Queensland. (Australia)
Barbara Maddux @BarbaraMaddux: Best coffee ever – Cuba!
Debra Corbeil: Sudan and Bali. Two completely different coffees, but both amazing!
RJ Moore: Switzerland
Featured image by Selma90 from Flickr's Creative Commons


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Colma: The Musical (US - DVD R1)
Gabe wishes more people in his home town walked around singing aloud...
South of San Francisco sits Colma, a culturally stagnant town the youth pines to escape. Best friends Rodel, Billy, and Maribel have just exited High School, and find themselves apathetic in the face of the adult futures they were looking forward to their whole lives. All three friends struggle in life, love, and in the job force, brimming with so much angst they can't help but sing.
The problem with coming-of-age dramedy is that the sub-genre more or less began with Nicholas Ray's Rebel without a Cause and ended early with Mike Nicholes' The Graduate in 1967. Everything since has been scraping the same barrel for decades. I've more or less hated the genre ever since (yes, I'm the guy that didn't like Garden State), with a few exceptions like Terry Zwigoff's Ghost World and Wes Anderson's Rushmore popping up every once and a long while.
I'm also not too fond of musicals, though not on principle, mostly just because so many of them just annoy me these days (anything written by Trey Parker being a big exception). So now you know where I'm coming from with this review. Colma: The Musical is a mix of one genre I consider nearly dead and another I rarely find effective, and it appears to have been made on about three bucks—yet somehow I found it undeniably entertaining.
A lot of similar, independent, 'quirky' comedies that fancy themselves witty are usually exercises in self-love, and mostly only exorcise the personal demons of their young creators (I'm looking at you, Garden State, you over-loved rapscallion of mediocrity). Colma stinks of the poor me young filmmaker syndrome (PMYFS), but is genuinely witty in parts, rather than simply maudlin in wholes. Writer H.P Mendoza and director Richard Wong are pretty good about moving their meandering non-plot along, and they effectively whip out a musical number or good joke when things get too slushy. It's still overlong, and the second and third act conflicts come as no surprise, but it's appealing overall, and that's really all I could hope to expect.
Aesthetically Colma looks pretty 'independent', a little flat, and the occasional theatric use of camera doesn't impress (yes, fine, Garden State looked pretty good). There are some more than adequate set pieces during the musical numbers, most involving some undistinguished but effective choreography. Colma's more ambitious than most Kevin Smith movies, but the use of scope aspect ratio isn't going to trick anyone into thinking they're watching a studio production.
The music and lyrics are assembled well, but the production is disappointing, and (in my opinion) too dependent on flat synth sound. If the production had only put up the cash for a few extra musicians playing a few more real instruments it might've added some much needed gloss and production value. The whole soundtrack sounds more like a very respectable demo tape than film score (I guess Garden State wins this round too, *shakes fist*). The performers have been criticized in other reviews for their relatively inexperienced vocal stylings, but that's their charm—they sing well, but also like regular Colma residents. Or so I assume.
If the obviously autonomous nature of the film didn't grab you with the amateur cast and crew, this sadly produced, yet anamorphically enhanced transfer will make things a bit more obvious. Colours are often weak and muddy, everything is too dark, and definition is very soft. The transfer practically exacts the effect of a zoomed non-anamorphic transfer. Compression artefacts are noticeable throughout, as are interlacing effects. This is far from the worst transfer I've ever seen, but it also does little to sell the feature to a discerning audience as professional.
In the day and age of high definition and 7.1 channels of overwhelming audio fury the best this disc can come up with is a pithy stereo soundtrack? Come on, I know it's cheap and independent and all, but if we can remix Peter Jackson's original indie into a semi-respectable 5.1 channels we should be able to add a little flair to this brand new feature. It's a musical; the audio is really important! Anyway, the audio is respectable enough, especially considering the loooooo-fi nature of the score. The dialogue is a little flat, and sound effects have a twinge of echo.
Director Richard Wong and writer/composer/lead actor H.P. Mendoza supply an informative and relatively consistent commentary track, which really helped me fill in the blanks considering I knew absolutely nothing about the film or the original stage version before the disc appeared on my doorstep. The commentators are heartfelt about their work, and good about pointing out both their strengths and weaknesses. My favourite bit is at the very end when Mendoza points out that the fog was not added in post, to which Wong replies "Nothing was added in post".
The relatively bare little disc houses quite a few deleted minutes worth of deleted scenes, most of which fill out the characters, but would've diluted the narrative flow. There's one entirely deleted song, and two extended songs as well, but mostly it's character beat stuff. There are five scenes total, and every one is presented in finished anamorphic widescreen. Trailers for other Lionsgate releases complete the disc.
Colma: The Musical was much better than I was expecting, which catchy songs and surprisingly witty dialogue, but it overstays its welcome a bit and is in great need of a final polish. It most likely goes down like gangbusters on the small stage, but it doesn't quite work on the big screen (or in this case small screen). I recommend a check for the curious. I also recommend buying Cannibal: The Musical to everyone, that's probably the most effective independent musical comedy anyone can be expected to ever make. Also, I have no idea who those butts on the DVD's cover belong too.
Review by Gabriel Powers
Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian
Disc Details
Release Date: 20th November 2007
Discs: 1
Disc Type: Single side, single layer
RCE: No
Video: NTSC
Aspect: 2.35:1
Anamorphic: Yes
Colour: Yes
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo English
Subtitles: English
Extras: Director and Writer/Actor Commentary, Deleted Scenes, Trailers
Easter Egg: No
Feature Details
Director: Richard Wong
Cast: Jake Moreno, H.P. Mendoza, L.A. Renigen, Sigrid Sutter, Brian Raffi
Genre: Comedy, Drama and Musical
Length: 100 minutes
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text:
World Cup notes: Brazil players apologize to fans
Hosts Brazil lost 3-0 to the Netherlands in their final World Cup match on Saturday and their players apologized to fans after another hugely disappointing performance in the third-place match.
"I don't think we deserved for it to end like this," captain Thiago Silva said in a televised interview.
"We need to apologize to the fans, they booed us at the end, which is normal, they have feelings too. It's very tough."
Midfielder Oscar looked totally deflated after the defeat, which came just four days after Brazil were crushed 7-1 by Germany in the semi-finals.
"What can you say. We came here hoping to win third place but we didn't, it wasn't our day," Oscar said. "We lost, there's nothing to say.
"We lost a goal in two, three minutes and we were chasing the game.
"We are all very sad, the people are very sad, but we tried and we tried till the end."
Robin van Persie got the first Dutch goal from the penalty spot in the third minute, Daley Blind added a second just 13 minutes later and Georginio Wijnaldum rounded it off with a third in stoppage time.
Rio de Janeiro police said on Saturday they had detained 19 people with a history of committing vandalism during protests as Brazil tries to pre-empt any potential violent demonstrations during Sunday's World Cup final.
Protests across Brazil have petered out since the month-long soccer tournament started on June 12, but authorities are taking no chances now that online videos are encouraging violent fringe groups to return to the streets when Germany plays Argentina.
Human rights advocates have condemned the detention of protesters, including lawyers and professors, in Rio and Sao Paulo. Police have used stun grenades and rubber bullets against demonstrators in both cities during the tournament, a popular event but also widely criticized by many in Brazil because of the $11 billion it cost the country to host it.
"The only goal is to neutralize, suppress and intimidate those men and women who have made their presence on the street a form of expression in their fight for social justice," the Rio-based non-profit Justica Global group said in a statement on Saturday, adding more detentions were expected.
Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella said on Saturday talk of his stepping down after the World Cup final was "irrelevant" given the importance of the impending showdown with Germany.
Sabella's agent told Argentine radio on Friday that he was planning to leave the job regardless of Sunday's result.
But the 59-year-old, who took over in 2011 and has led Argentina to their first World Cup final in 24 years, dodged questions on the subject in a news conference at the Maracana.
"That's irrelevant now. The most important thing is the match tomorrow," Sabella said.
Despite his representative Eugenio Lopez's assertions that he will be leaving the job, the coach said he had not talked about the matter with his family.
"First of all, I have not discussed anything with my family as regards my future," he said.
Should Argentina have to search for a successor, Sabella could deliver no better parting gift than winning the World Cup on the soil of their fiercest rivals Brazil.
Former Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino and Atletico Madrid's Diego Simeone are being mentioned as possible candidates.
The political crisis in the Ukraine will have no impact on Russia's preparations for the 2018 World Cup finals according to Vitaly Mutko, Russia's sports minister who is also a member of FIFA's executive committee.
Mutko was speaking in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro on the day that Ukrainian war planes bombarded separatists along a broad front, inflicting huge losses according to official sources in the Ukraine capital Kiev.
In exchanges marking a sharp escalation in the three-month conflict, jets struck at the "epicentre" of the battle against rebels near the border with Russia, a military spokesman said.
Mutko, addressing journalists at the "Russia House" at Rio's Museum of Modern Art, said that while Russia faced challenges in getting ready for the 2018 finals over the next four years, the situation in Ukraine was not one of them.
"I can't see any major issues," he said.
"It's a different subject and one that will not interfere in the preparations for the World Cup at all."
He also said there was "absolutely no tension" between Russian president Vladimir Putin and soccer's world governing body FIFA about the 2018 finals.
Putin is due to arrive in Rio on Sunday where he will watch the World Cup final between Germany and Argentina and also have talks with Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff and FIFA president Sepp Blatter.


text:
The William & Mary Style
This period ushered in a radical shift in furniture design and construction.
By Charles Bender
Pages: 46-49
From the April 2010 issue #182
Buy this issue now
If you ask most people what they know about period furniture, many will shrug and say something like, "Oh, you mean that Colonial-style furniture." Most woodworkers tend to gravitate to Queen Anne, Chippendale, Federal or Arts & Crafts pieces. Sure, those names represent different styles of furniture but, until you really begin to study them, you may not realize that the periods flow from one into another. As you study the different styles you begin to see how each period builds on the one before it. And as you move backward through the periods, studying the design and construction changes that took place, you'll eventually come to the one style that kicked off a furniture revolution: William & Mary.
Prior to the William & Mary period (in this country, at least) most furniture was boxy, massive and simply decorated. Chests were simply boxes that sat on the ground or were on stump legs that were an integral part of the construction of the box. Frame-and-panel construction was rampant in this early form of furniture. Decoration was in the form of applied bulbous half turnings or shallow relief carving. To top it all off, much of the furniture was made from that most plentiful of woods, oak.
Online Extras
* Read an article about secret drawers.
* Watch the free online video, Federal-style Cuffbanding.
* Discover period project plans in the book, "Building 18th-century American Furniture."
From the April 2010 issue #182
Buy this issue now


text:
|2009-04-01, 14:48
|Link #1
Join Date: Dec 2006
Princess Lover
Thread for Princess Lover
Seems no one wanted to create a thread for this eroge, so...
From the New Anime thread:
Spoiler for save room:
According to Moonphase, this is a 抜きゲー, so the actual anime will probably be completely different or something.
Haven't played it myself though... Mmm... Running out of 抜きゲーs, but just from looking, it doesn't really seem my tastes...
|2009-04-05, 21:55
|Link #4
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
I too would like to learn about the eroge's plot. Komori Kei's doujins are pretty nice, and so was his debut as an eroge artist. Sadly the character designer wasn't faithful enough in my view to the original designs, but it'll be fun watching Eruruu's and Klan Klein's voice actresses do their jobs in this new anime.
Can anyone who's played this game fill us in on the game's basic premise?
And is it just me, or has Megumi Toyoguchi's career gone downward since her role as Klan Klein in Macross Frontier? First Akikan, and now this?
|2009-04-05, 22:38
|Link #5
from head to heel
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Age: 36
Basic premise:
Main protagonist, Teppei is taken in by his grandfather after the unfortunate death of his parents. It turns out that Teppei's grandfather is a force in the economic, high society world of Japan, and without a successor his grandfather makes him the legitimate heir.
Thus Teppei is enrolled in such a prestigious school where students all belong to the highest castes of society. Charlotte and Sylvia are princesses of their respective nations, while Seika is a daughter and renowned model of the fashion world. Yuu is Teppei's maid who serves him and goes to school with him as part of the Arima household.
It will be interesting how Megumi Toyoguchi will handle the role of Sylvia. She's probably one of my favorites right there with Charlotte. Actually, I can't make up my mind between the two, but Sylvia is particularly charming alongside her sister and her father. Charlotte is your deredere "main girl" type, Sylvia the princess with martial sensibilities, Seika the tsundere snob and Yuu is the gentle, moe maid.
Last edited by kujoe; 2009-04-07 at 23:44.
|2009-04-07, 21:18
|Link #6
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Thank you for informing those of us who are Japanese-illiterate about the basic premise for the game. I wonder what the Type-Moon fans will think of Sylvia, who is quite obviously a "visual clone" of Saber from Fate/Stay Night, just as Haruka Suzimiya from KimiNozo is a "visual clone" of Sakura Kinomoto from Card Captor Sakura.
Have you played the original game? What did you think of it? Do you know who the original VAs for the game were?
|2009-04-07, 23:43
|Link #7
from head to heel
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Age: 36
Yes, I've played it.
I have no idea who the voice actresses are, as I'm pretty much a casual eroge player. I can count the number of ero games I've played with one hand (or should that be two now?)
I only know so very few eroge voice actresses, so I really can't help you with this one. I'm going to go on a hunch, that the voice actresses for the anime aren't the same ones who worked in the game.
I do however, recognize some of the male voice actors. Takehito Koyasu and Norio Wakamoto play Sylvia and Teppei's fathers respectively. Takehito Koyasu is one reason why Sylvia's route is kinda fun, and you can't deny the awesomeness that is Wakamoto. I hope they lend their voices to the anime version as well. It just wouldn't be right if they're not included.
Yes, Sylvia has been pretty much a compared to Saber quite a few times already. She's the type who has a sense of bushi (or in this case, knightly) upbringing, using formalities such as "-dono" to her peers.
As for the game itself, it's not going to get awards for best story ever, nor is it going to be something mentioned along the likes of Type-Moon's offerings. But it was simply well-made; the art is good, the story is ok and you can tell that there was some thought behind the voice acting.
Last edited by kujoe; 2009-04-07 at 23:55.
|2009-05-01, 02:54
|Link #8
Kani Fascination
Join Date: Dec 2005
Well, the game OP looks really good and the song is pretty catchy. So I am looking forward to watching the anime.
But renai adaptions usually suck so iam not expecting too much. Hopefully, the male lead isnt a lame ass like the usual.
Game OP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeLXK3zJCoc
|2009-05-04, 20:11
|Link #9
Know who you are
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Resides within the depths of Ned infested Glasgow
well all I can say about this is Princess Lover has a great CG set, apart from that I don't know a thing about this
well I'm hoping the lead ain't the usual riff raff that floats about, anyone got any thing on him?
so which one is the Saber look-a-like?
will be keeping a keen eye on this
|2009-05-05, 06:39
|Link #13
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Far, far, far away!
Age: 28
The show looks promising and is one of the few animes that I planing to watch in the summer.
|2009-05-07, 02:40
|Link #14
Kani Fascination
Join Date: Dec 2005
|2009-05-07, 10:44
|Link #15
Know who you are
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Resides within the depths of Ned infested Glasgow
so its Silvia, cool.
|2009-05-11, 22:15
|Link #17
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
I wanted to watch the promotional vid on the animate dot tv website, but for some reason windows media player can't make heads or tails of the file. Is there some player or codec I need so my computer can make sense of it, or was it removed from the website?
|comedy, ecchi, eroge, romance, seinen
|Thread Tools


text:
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Join Ellis Paul on a cruise to the Cayman Islands celebrate his 25th year on the road!
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You're Invited to Join Ellis Paul on an exciting and beautiful 5-Night Concert Cruise on Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's Brilliance of the Seas from February 20-25, 2017, to George Town, Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico.
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text:
Many of the comments seem to be about whether or not diplomacy makes a fun game. Some think it does, some think it doesn't. However, this suggestion can't focus on whether or not diplomacy itself is a good thing, since we aren't banning diplomacy in ALL games, even if this suggestion goes through.
The main pragmatic issue that the proponents of this suggestion must account for:
How can be assured that this game setting won't result in an increase of Secret Diplomacy and accusations?
Also, just to clarify, so I know what we are looking at... please post the types of game settings you see yourself using this option for.


text: Dr. King uses this sermon to discuss the causation of human fears while identifying four ways in which these shortcomings can be combated. He does not promote the eradication of all human fears, for some are essential to creation and innovation. However, Dr. King encourages the elimination of unfounded fears as a method to overcome adversities that are experienced in life.


text:
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez returned to Venezuela on Monday after more than two months of treatment in Cuba following cancer surgery, his government said, triggering street celebrations by supporters who welcomed him home while he remained out of sight at Caracas' military hospital.
Chavez's return was announced in a series of three messages on his Twitter account, the first of them reading: "We've arrived once again in our Venezuelan homeland. Thank you, my God!! Thank you, beloved nation!! We will continue our treatment here."
They were the first messages to appear on Chavez's Twitter account since Nov. 1.
"I'm clinging to Christ and trusting in my doctors and nurses," another tweet on Chavez's account said. "Onward toward victory always!! We will live and we will triumph!!"
Vice President Nicolas Maduro said on television that Chavez arrived at 2:30 a.m. and was taken to the Dr. Carlos Arvelo Military Hospital in Caracas, where he will continue his treatment.
Chavez's announced return to Caracas came less than three days after the government released the first photos of the president in more than two months, showing him looking bloated and smiling alongside his daughters. The government didn't release any additional images of Chavez upon his arrival in Caracas, and unanswered questions remain about where he stands in a difficult and prolonged struggle with an undisclosed type of pelvic cancer.
Chavez was re-elected to a new six-year term in October, and his inauguration, originally scheduled for Jan. 10, was indefinitely postponed by lawmakers in a decision that the Supreme Court upheld despite complaints by the opposition. Some speculated that with Chavez back, he could finally be sworn in.
Government officials didn't address that possibility.
Information Minister Ernesto Villegas broke into song on television early Friday, exclaiming: "He's back, he's back!"
"Bravo," Villegas said, before state television employees joined him in the studio clapping and celebrating.
A giant inflated Chavez doll was placed beside a corner of the National Assembly building.
Villegas reiterated in an interview with Venezuelan broadcaster Union Radio that Chavez is going through a "difficult, hard and complex" recovery process, and that his return doesn't change the "difficult circumstances he has been in."
The vice president later presided over a televised Cabinet meeting at the presidential palace, though he didn't offer additional details about Chavez. "He will live and he will triumph," Maduro said at the end of the meeting, while on television an image of Chavez's face was superimposed on the oval-shaped table.
Hundreds of Chavez supporters celebrated his return in downtown Caracas, chanting his name and holding photos of the president in Bolivar Plaza.
Fireworks exploded in some parts of Caracas while the president's followers celebrated.
Dozens of supporters gathered outside the hospital, where a sign atop the building is adorned with a photo of Chavez. Wearing the red T-shirts of Chavez's socialist movement, they chanted: "He's back!" As cars passed, drivers honked in support.
"I want to see my president," said Alicia Morroy, a seamstress who stood outside the hospital on the verge of tears. "I've missed him a lot because Chavez is the spirit of the poor."
Six hospital employees who were asked about the president said they hadn't seen him. Yusmeli Teran, a waitress who serves food to patients, told The Associated Press that the area where Chavez was being treated on the 9th floor is a restricted area guarded by police and soldiers. "No one has seen him at all," she said.
Chavez's precise condition and the sort of cancer treatments he is undergoing remain a mystery, and speculation has grown recently that he may not be able to stay on as president.
Dr. Carlos Castro, scientific director of the Colombian League Against Cancer in Bogota, Colombia, said that given the government's accounts that Chavez is undergoing "complex" treatment, he thinks he likely will have to step down.
"Unfortunately, the cancer he has isn't going to go away, and he's returning to continue his battle. But I think he's conscious that he isn't going to win his fight against cancer, as much as he'd like to win it," Castro told the AP in a telephone interview.
Based on the government's accounts, doctors must have performed a tracheotomy on Chavez, cutting an opening in his windpipe to facilitate breathing, according to Dr. Jose Silva, a pulmonary specialist and president of the Venezuela Pulmonology Society. Silva said he thinks Chavez is breathing with the help of a ventilator through a tube attached to his windpipe.
Patients with breathing problems often require a tracheotomy to avoid damage to the vocal chords when a ventilator is used for an extended period.
The Venezuelan Constitution says that if a president dies or steps down, a new vote must be called and held within 30 days. Chavez raised that possibility before he left for Cuba in December by saying that if necessary, Maduro should run in a new vote to replace him.
Chavez's return could be used to give a boost to his would-be successor and gain time to "consolidate his alternative leader" ahead of a possible new presidential vote this year, said Luis Vicente Leon, a Venezuelan pollster and political analyst.
Maduro and other Cabinet ministers held hands and prayed in a televised gathering on Monday night where a priest and a minister offered words of thanks for Chavez's return.
In a letter to Chavez that was read on Cuban state TV and radio, retired leader Fidel Castro said he was pleased that Chavez was able to return home.
"You learned much about life, Hugo, during those difficult days of suffering and sacrifice," Castro wrote.
Venezuela's opposition, which has strongly criticized what it calls the undue influence of Cuba's leaders during Chavez's long absence, responded to the news saying that it's natural for the president to be back in his own country and that creating a "spectacle" with his return serves no useful purpose.
"The government should tell the truth and dedicate itself to working to confront Venezuelans' serious problems," the opposition coalition said in a statement. It cited problems such as violent crime, food shortages and soaring inflation.
The 58-year-old president hasn't spoken publicly since he left for Cuba on Dec. 10. He underwent his fourth cancer-related surgery on Dec. 11, and the government says that he is now breathing through a tracheal tube that makes talking difficult.
Associated Press journalists Anne-Marie Garcia and Andrea Rodriguez in Havana, Cesar Garcia in Bogota, Colombia, and Vicente Marquez in Caracas contributed to this report.
Fabiola Sanchez on Twitter: http://twitter.com/fisanchezn
Ian James on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ianjamesap


text:
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text: I took the PTO exam -- it was the epitome of the proverbial hoop that has to be jumped through. Most of the questions are poorly written and have little to do with practice. Indeed, when I took the Kayton course to prepare, Mr. Kayton said there was one exam where 28% of the questions were flawed in that there was either two correct answers, three correct answers or no correct answers. Well, in an open book exam with time constraints, its pretty disconcerning to try to pick the right answer when there is actually two or three right answers.


text:
Search Results: beef
Beef & Barley Stew
Beef & Barley Stew is perfect to make on a fhilly fall or winter weekend.
Baked Pasta
A healthier version of Sbarro's Baked Ziti.
Beef & Barley Soup
Beef & Barley Soup is a crowd-pleasing hearty, tasty soup for the coldest of winter nights.
Banana Coconut Cashew Protein Mousse
Super light and airy banana coconut protein mousse...incredibly satisfying and a delightful alternative to your usual post workout protein smoothie!
Banana Paleo Protein Recovery Pancakes
Light fluffy moist banana paleo protein infused pancakes with an extra hit of fibre...the perfect recovery breakfast!
Balsamic Onions
Sweet yet Tangy - great on burgers
Balsamic Beef Stew
A rich and wine-free beef stew for the coldest of winter nights.
Balsamic Blackberry Beef Brisket
Beef brisket cooked in the crock pot in a balsamic blackberry sauce.
Balsamic Flank Steak
This has actually a longer title: broiled flank steak over caramelized mushrooms and onions with a balsamic reduction glaze, served with asparagus.
Balsamic Glazed Meatballs
Simple yummy meatballs
Banzai Burgers
A fail-proof burger sure to please, topped with tropical pineapple and teriyaki


text:
"Cultivating Community" is a community-wide program designed to share information in the Fredericksburg region about farm-to-table and sustainable food communities. These web sites support those goals by exploring how you can assess the sustainability of your community and your home, finding locally grown foods or growing your own, cooking, and sustainable gardening.
Community Sustainability Assessment: gen.ecovillage.org/activities/csa/English
A comprehensive checklist that anyone can complete to get a basic idea of how sustainable their community is. While it requires good knowledge of the life-styles, practices and features of the community, it does not require research, calculation and detailed quantification. This assessment takes about three hours for an individual to complete, or a series of sessions if done as a group experience by community members.


text:
It's a tale as old as time: Hare races Tortoise, Hare underestimates Tortoise, Hare loses race. Life moves on.
Or does it? Comedy duo and Nerdist podcast guests Gabe Diani and Etta Devine crafted a delightfully silly audio sketch imagining the Hare having to live the rest of his life under the shame of losing a race to a tortoise. And now our pals Lauren Gregg and Carlos Ramos have animated the sketch, giving it a new spring in its step so we can share it with you.
Since it's hump day, we heartily recommend you kick back and let yourself have a good laugh with The Tortoise and the Hare!


text:
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A: Yes, we can help. Although distribution of our Purina Cat Chow products is national, not all stores carry all sizes and varieties. Contact our Customer Service department via our Contact Us page or call us at 1-888-228-2469.
A: We offer coupons in local papers, through direct mailing programs and via emails to registered members. We don't have a regular section on our website itself. We suggest you watch for sales or promotions at your local retailer.
A: We believe there's always more to learn and to share and that discovery should be fun. It's one more way we're helping you and your cat share a better life together. Visit Catipedia for articles and information and... a little bit of fun.
A: We strongly recommend talking to your veterinarian for immediate answers to urgent situations. While CatChow.com is an excellent resource of information provided by cat care experts, your veterinarian can provide the best care for your individual cat.


text: PCC offers the final addition to its Guardian Series 2 family - the 1-kg batch blender. Featuring cutting edge design and engineering, this all stainless steel blender features easy clean-out and material changes, high accuracy, and is available with up to four elements and up to 350 PPH. Process Control Corp., Doraville, GA 770-449-8810 www.process-control.comProcess Control Corp.