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"I can talk about trees all day long," he said, grinning.
Passmore began his $107,869-a-year job on May 15. He will coordinate all city departments dealing with trees and tree management, and he will oversee the city's Urban Forest Management Master Plan program, which involves trees located in parks, public rights-of-way and on private properties.
Trees have been Passmore's passion since his Boy Scout days. And trees were his first paying job at age 16 when he taught nature and forestry merit badges lessons at a Scouts camp, he said.
"I've always felt pretty connected to nature — perhaps in part because of my Native American heritage," he said.
He studied natural resources and forestry at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and has worked professionally with trees for 20 years: as a researcher for the U.S. Forest Service in the Sierra National Forest in California and in Starkville, Miss.; as the city urban forester in Dallas; and the urban forester for Austin, Texas, where he managed the city's 300,000 trees.
"Trees are the most visible part of the landscape. That's the part of the landscape that has the most impact on how people interact with nature," he said.
Among his responsibilities, Passmore, who was selected over eight other candidates, will act as a liaison between the city and the community.
The city has had communication gaffes that have outraged residents, most notoriously in 2009 when the California Avenue business district's trees were cut down with little public notification. The forester position is necessary to manage communications and proper maintenance and care of the trees, Public Works officials stated in the city's 2013 annual operating budget.
Passmore said he is a strong believer in community involvement and keeping people in the loop. He's also big on public education. In Austin and Dallas he created neighborhood-based programs that included an urban-forest stewardship program and basic biology and tree-care classes.
"He is the reason we planted 115 trees in our park," Austin resident Emily Wilson said by phone on Wednesday. "It's Austin's loss and y'all's gain. He was our best friend."
In Texas, where summers are very hot, having a tree to sit under means the difference between being outside or not, she said. In 2011, Austin had two months of temperatures exceeding 100 degrees.
"We estimate we lost 10 percent of our trees," she said.
As in Palo Alto, many of Austin's 1950s-era trees are reaching the end of their lives. When residents in the Brentwood neighborhood decided to adopt their local park, the Friends of Brentwood Park approached Austin parks officials with the idea of planting more trees. But they were stonewalled, Wilson said.
Department managers wouldn't pay for water, and they wouldn't approve the project unless the residents could prove they had a plan to maintain the trees on their own for two years.
"It looked like we would never do it," she said.
But then someone suggested the group contact Walter Passmore.
"Walter said, 'Yes — absolutely. This is what we do,'" Wilson said.
Passmore worked on the project from beginning to end. The group continued to contact him whenever they had forestry issues, she added.
"He's knowledgeable. He's hard working. He loves trees, and he likes to do projects," she said.
Passmore said he wants to improve notification when trees must be removed in Palo Alto, and he values additional public involvement in crafting the city's urban-forest plan, he said.
"We need a vision for the future. The urban forest is owned by the people of Palo Alto, so we want as many people as possible to be involved in the process," he said.
Passmore also wants to create a citizen-forester program modeled after the UC Cooperative Extension master-gardener program. And he wants to work with the schools to create internships for students.
On this point, he became elated.
"We have huge potential with the student population. The sky's the limit on what we can get from young, excited students that want to make the world a better place," he said.
Passmore said he also sees great new partnerships with Canopy, the Palo Alto tree-education and urban-forest development nonprofit organization.
"We're working with them to bring an open-source tree map to Palo Alto," he said, where residents can input their own data about their property trees. "It has a huge potential to get people connected at the level they want to be involved, and it allows us as a city to get ... a better picture of what the city's whole urban forest looks like," he said.
Looking around Mitchell Park with its broad expanses of lawn and evenly spaced groupings of trees, Passmore considered ways to balance the growing needs of people with enhancing the habitat of trees and creatures.
"The future is not so much about trees as it is about urban-ecosystem management," he said.
That includes water use and conservation, the role of trees and plants in climate management, shade production, habitat enhancement for urban wildlife and the addition of complementary understory plants to make trees healthier.
Sometimes, trees in Palo Alto's aging forest will have to be removed — a sensitive topic. Passmore said he will work on ways to replace the old, dying forest with new trees in a timely way so the lush canopy will remain.
Besides trees, there are always the human considerations in Passmore's urban-forest design.
"The fun part about urban forestry is how to connect people with nature," he said.
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News & Events
For the Media
Clarkson University McNair Program Awarded $1.1 Million by U.S. Department of Education
The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Clarkson University a Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement grant for the fifth time. The award will total $1.1 million over five years.
The goal of the McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program is to increase the attainment of Ph.D. degrees by underrepresented student groups in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Ronald E. McNair was among the Challenger Space Shuttle's seven-member crew, who met with tragedy and death in 1986. As a tribute to his lifelong achievements, Congress and the McNair family formed the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program to assist young people in not only following McNair's path, but in taking the initiative to create their own path.
Since its inception, Clarkson's' McNair program has provided intensive research experience and graduate school preparation to 240 students. The prestige of being a Clarkson McNair scholar has been shared by only 24 students each year. Under the new grant, 30 students will be served annually.
Clarkson's McNair program has a 98 percent graduation rate; 40 percent have obtained or are in the process of obtaining a master's degree, 20 percent have obtained or are in the process of obtaining a Ph.D; and 6 percent have obtained or are in the process of obtaining a professional degree.
"A tribute to the Clarkson McNair program's success is its strong collaboration with Clarkson faculty, who take the time to mentor McNair scholars through an intensive 10 week summer research project," said Marjorie Warden, Clarkson Project Director of Community of Underrepresented Professional Opportunities. "Guidance is provided through the research process with added opportunities for conference presentations, networking and publishing possibilities."
To supplement the summer research component, the McNair program provides regular workshops on research ethics, the graduate school application process, graduate school funding sources and preparation for the Graduate Record of Exams (GRE) among other related topics.
Along with workshops, seminars are provided to students, featuring Clarkson McNair Alumni presenters who have completed or are in the process of completing their PhD. These speakers provide students with knowledge and guidance on the path to a Ph.D.
The McNair program is coordinated by Warden; Assistant Director Courtney Green; and Program Coordinator Deborah Sutliff.
Clarkson University launches leaders into the global economy. One in five alumni already leads as a CEO, VP or equivalent senior executive of a company. Located just outside the Adirondack Park in Potsdam, N.Y., Clarkson is a nationally recognized research university for undergraduates with select graduate programs in signature areas of academic excellence directed toward the world's pressing issues. Through 50 rigorous programs of study in engineering, business, arts, sciences and health sciences, the entire learning-living community spans boundaries across disciplines, nations and cultures to build powers of observation, challenge the status quo, and connect discovery and engineering innovation with enterprise.
Photo caption: The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Clarkson University a Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement grant for the fifth time. The award will total $1.1 million over five years. Above, McNair Scholar Shauni Trombly, a senior psychology major from West Chazy, N.Y., presents her research at a recent symposium.
[A photograph for media use is available at http://www.clarkson.edu/news/photos/strombly.jpg .]

subset: commoncrawl


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Axford hosts exclusive chat with Brewers fans
By / MLB.com
John Axford: Let's kick start this chat!
Axford: I need a break from wrapping Christmas presents, my lower back is killing me!
pfelon: What was your most memorable game moment from this past season?
Axford: I would have to say Trevor Hoffman's 600th save. The day was great, the game was great and I got to pitch in the game. Seeing how 18 years of hard work for him pays off is great. It was a special moment for everyone.
gocrew13: What are your thoughts on Doug going out and bringing in 2 top pitchers in Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum?
Axford: I think it is fantastic. Doug and Gord wanted to go out and find two pitchers and they went out and found two great pitchers. I look forward to going out and pitching on the back end of their games.
hclark: What kind of expectations do you have going into this season with the recent additions of Greinke and Marcum?
Axford: Team wise, the expect ions are always high heading into Spring Training. With our recent additions, those expectations just got higher. I really believe that we can win the NL Central and make some noise in the postseason. Personally, I just hope to build off my rookie year last year and keep getting better.
tom_m: What things did you learn from watching Trevor?
Axford: I learned everything about being a closer. I couldn't ask for a better teacher, watching someone who closed for 18 years. I literally learned everything from him.
Wetz24: What kind of music do you listen before games? And what are you thinking as you go to the mound to pitch?
Axford: Sometimes I will listen to whatever is playing in the clubhouse, but if I have my iPod with me, I listen to hard rock or heavy metal, anything that picks me up.
Axford: As far as my thoughts, it is generally pretty blank when running to the mound. When I get to the mound, my main focus is getting three outs and throwing strikes.
lvbrewers: Do you ever get tired of talking about your mustache?
Axford: Not really at all, I can't be upset about it! I get asked mustache questions all the time! My wife says I love the mustache questions.
ahardybrew: What prompted you to do the Rollie Fingers type mustache?
Axford: See another one!
rfactor35: John, you've been very accessible via the social networking sites (which is very cool), and I'm sure the response at this point has all been incredibly positive. Are you going to keep it up once the season starts?
Axford: Yes. I will be keeping up with the Facebook and Twitter. I will definitely be keeping up with the fans throughout the season and dropping some random knowledge from John Axford. It is easy to do from my cell phone and I enjoy interacting with everyone.
stpaulus: John, what do you do to get ready in the offseason around this time?
Axford: I'm just doing my daily routine of working out and within the next couple of weeks I will start with my throwing routine to get ready for Spring Training. I pretty much took all of October off and once November hit, I started doing cardio workouts four days a week and now they are up to 5-6 days a week. The hours I am putting in are getting longer, especially when I start throwing soon.
ahardybrew: What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Axford: When I was growing up, we would always have a "snack evening" with my family and just hang out all night. When we all went to college, it became even more special with getting see my three sisters again. We always used to listen to the Alabama Christmas album! Now that I am married, my wife and I share Christmas Eve together and have a quiet night before all of our families get together for some fun on Christmas Day!
middlenam: Have you had a chance to talk with the new pitching coach and if so, do both of you have any initial ideas to become even better?
Axford: Yes, I have talked to Rick, but it was kind of a "get to know you" conversation to make sure the communication lines were open, which was nice. All the teaching will come during Spring Training.
coghlanjr: Where do you live in the offseason and have you been back to Milwaukee since the season ended?
Axford: I live in Southern Ontario in the offseason. It's great to be in Canada. I haven't been back to Milwaukee this offseason, but I will be back for Brewers On Deck on January 30! Looking forward to seeing everyone there!
BrewersAAForever: Hi John, I love the mustache. Is there any way you can get the rest of the pen to follow suit?
Axford: Some guys talked about it last year, but I think everyone will stick to their own things.
buckylucky: As a native of Canada, do you get involved with supporting other Wisconsin sports at all? As you know, most of us are pretty avid Packer and Badger fans in addition to Brewer fans.
Axford: Brewers fans are great and I can see how that carries over to the Packers and Badgers. I used to follow the Maple Leafs and the NHL when I was younger, but I have kind of fallen off that a bit. I do like to follow my alma mater, Notre Dame!
gocrew13: Who are your best friends on the team?
Axford: Obviously, I love all of my teammates, but the bullpen has a special bond because of our jobs and how we watch games. We have a good group in the bullpen!
ahardybrew: What advice would you give to a highschool students for improving his command?
Axford: Continue to work hard, work on your balance and stay focused. As a pitcher, focus is one of the most important things you have to work with.
Bucks4ever: What style of mustache do you think you will go with on opening day?
Axford: Probably going with the same style I had at the end of 2010. The "Classic English."
Axford: Thanks for the chat! I have to jet because my new Nikes came and I have to try them out around the house.
Axford: Don't forget to find me on Twitter (@JohnAxford59) and at facebook.com/johnaxford
Axford: Enjoy the Holiday's everyone and I'm looking forward to a great 2011! Go Brewers!
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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The "Thugjitsu Master" meets "El Cucuy."
UFC officials today announced that longtime veteran Yves Edwards (41-17-1 MMA, 9-5 UFC) will face "The Ultimate Fighter 13" winner Tony Ferguson (12-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) in a lightweight contest at The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale.
Featuring a headliner between "TUF 14" coaches Michael Bisping and Jason "Mayhem" Miller, The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale takes place Dec. 3 at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.
The evening's main card airs on Spike TV. Edwards vs. Ferguson will most likely reside on the televised portion of the event, but an official announcement regarding the bout's position has yet to be made.
The more-experienced Edwards boasts a 4-1 mark in his past five outings. The 14-year veteran fought most recently in an impressive second-round TKO win over Rafaello Oliveira at this month's UFC on Versus 6 event. The aggressive performance helped erase the sting of a brutal knockout loss to Sam Stout at this past June's UFC 131 event.
The loss to Stout is the one blemish Edwards has suffered in his past five outings, and his wins include octagon victories over Oliveira, Cody McKenzie and John Gunderson, as well as a Bellator 24 victory over Luis Palomino.
Meanwhile, Ferguson carries an official five-fight win streak into the matchup. "El Cucuy" won "The Ultimate Fighter 12" as a welterweight, scoring a first-round knockout of fellow finalist Ramsey Nijem. Ferguson then promptly dropped down to 155 pounds, where he scored a TKO win over Aaron Riley after a jaw injury forced the veteran quit on the stool at the end of the opening round.
All five of Ferguson's victories on his current win streak have come by way of knockout or TKO.
For more on The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.
(Pictured: Yves Edwards)


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What shape support do your plants need? Our Three-Panel Trellis can be set up as a triangular tower, a flat backdrop, or a zig-zag for stability, or use it to round a corner to maximize space in your raised bed. Sturdy powder-coated steel panels with generous grid openings offer great support for tomatoes, beans, peas, and other kinds of vegetables. Folds flat for storage. Each panel is 58" H overall, including legs.
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I would like to buy it again
By First Time Garden
from Fountain Valley CA
Comments about : Three Panel Trellis:
It is nice, it fixed perfectly along to fence.
Bottom Line Yes, I would recommend this to a friend
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I bought the three panel trellis.
By Shirl
from Basking Ridge, New Jersey
I bought the three panel trellis for my snow peas. I was so pleased with it I bought another for next year. It was just the right height and I was able to pick the peas easily as the openings were just the right size to reach through to the other side. I don't have a lot of room but because of this trellis I had a very large harvest in a small area. I would recommend this to everyone.
Three Panel Trellis
By Buzzy
from Rosanky ,Texas
It is perfect to put behind a big garden pot and have morning glories and other vines to spread out on it..
Perfect trellis for peas
By sam
from Nashville
This is a perfect trellis to use for peas. I love the red color and it folds up easily for storage.
Training Hops
By GardenChives
from Arvada, CO
I have hops growing next to my grapevines. I bought this trellis to encourage the hops to grow AWAY from the grapes. Seems to be working, although I have to stay on top of it! It makes the entry to the garden a lot nicer, too.
Does The Job!
By hearty
from macedon, ny
Purchased this trellis to support vines of baby pumpkins. So far, so good.
(1 of 1 customers found this review helpful)
By Granna
from NM
Bought 2 sets--first for a climbing rose that i wanted to train, and the second to protect a new Heirloom climber from our Labrador "puppy"--she already had destroyed a new fruit tree my hubby had planted-somehow she managed to eat the trunk in half! Anyway, the trellis is sturdy, and functionally--as the rose grows, we can "open" up the trellis to provide a back support against the wall--but until then, it is an enclosed triangle. Will be ordering more to protect some young fruit trees from our gardening "helper"!
(2 of 2 customers found this review helpful)
Nice product
By gardener
from Detroit, MI
Easy to set up and use. Looks good in the garden. Pole beans took to it immediately! Well made.
Very sturdy
By Container gardener
from Sacramento California
Heavy gauged and great for trellising a heavy squash plant
Versatile trellis
By seashore gardener
from Sagamore Beach, MA
Great trellis that, due to it's folding design, can be used in a variety of ways. I first bought a set of 2 (total of 6 panels) for cucumbers. They worked great and I bought another set of 2 for my peas. Worked great and this year, I decide to expand both areas so I bought 2 more sets. Obviously, I like the product and find they work very well. An interesting piece though is each time I ordered them, they were slightly different from the previous order. The first two sets interlock with each other; this year's version does not. The bottom is slightly different between the orders as well, but none of the differences effect functionality. They are a great product and if my gardening needs expand again, I will be sure to buy more. Although I've used the original set for at least 4 years, they are showing NO sign of wear - they look as good as when they first came out of the box. Highly recommend for any trellising need.
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text: Any one know where i can find Fed's match record by year? All i could find was for the entire career. I am mostly interested on his best years, I am doing a project on him, and this information would be nice. Im pretty sure one the years he lost 3 or so matches?


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On his Twitter:
" sportsguy33
Signs you might be a dick, Vol. 138: you ask your Twitter followers whether you should stay with your NBA team or sign elsewhere. "
As much as I appreciate Bosh, I completely agree with the Sports Guy on this.
On his Twitter:
" sportsguy33
Signs you might be a dick, Vol. 138: you ask your Twitter followers whether you should stay with your NBA team or sign elsewhere. "
As much as I appreciate Bosh, I completely agree with the Sports Guy on this.
Yeah , and Bosh is worse than an attention grabbing whore, going twice to Play Off games in LA;
I had a nice laugh at that one, he's a few weeks behind though.
And as for "asking your Twitter followers whether you should stay with your NBA team or sign elsewhere", it's called a RHETORICAL QUESTION. It does not denote a serious inquiry. Contrary to popular belief, Chris Bosh is not actually taking a poll to determine where he should play next year... geez.
This whole situation is very disturbing to me. I could write a novel on how wrong everyone is about Chris Bosh.
Sorry, I'm in a bad mood. I'll stop now.
Last edited by jrdyck; Tue Jun 8th, 2010 at 03:29 PM.
It was about Amar'e, who tweeted the following:
"I think about Free Agency Everyday. Should I Stay in Phoenix or should I leave? This the question of the Summer. What do you guys think?"
See, Raptors fans aren't the only ones annoyed at his behaviour of late. If he keeps this up, he'll leave a more sour taste than T-Mac.
I nominate Bill Simmons to be the next GM of the Huskies.
Yeah, this was about Amare, not Bosh. Bill Simmons tweeted Bosh and told him to go to Houston. Would be a bit hypocritical for him to call Bosh a dick for asking if he should leave, and then telling him to do so
"Dude, you are a tool for asking if you should stay or go. But since you asked, I think you should go to..."
Even if Simmons was referring directly to Amar'e Stoudemire - which I guess he probably was - we all know it also fits Bosh like a glove ... which Simmons would very likely have known (I'd be surprised if he hadn't seen that Bosh also tweeted that exact thing not long ago - he seems a bit more 'Raptor-aware' than a lot of American sports writers, that I've seen ... and he's always on top of the 'social-media' stuff of today) ... and Bosh would DEFinitely recognize his own self in there - I mean, how could he not? ... and that's good enough for me.
^-- small people have to settle for small victories in life..
Ah, so the point is he also doesn't care if you think he is a dick or not..otherwise he wouldn't do what he is doing. It is quite possible he even enjoys the whining, sniveling, and hurt feelings.
In any case, money and your career is more valuable than feelings....as a wise man (rapper) once said, "F*ck you, pay me."
Well, not sure who's whining and sniveling ... 'cause I for one, just thought the tweet was foolish and maybe a bit disrespectful in its way, but ... that's me.
And don't know about the rapper - I'll take your word for it - but that line, for me, is right out of Goodfellas. And if that really was his attitude, it'd be less than clever and I'd be less than impressed.
Yeah that line "F*ck you, pay me" is right out of Goodfellas...rappers love to emulate anything from a ganster movie.
I had no idea that was about Amare, but what he tweeted was in essence exactly the same as what Bosh did, so I think the Simmons' reaction should still apply to CB.
It would be hypocritical of him for it not to....
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Steve Jobs Apologizes For MobileMe's Rocky Start in an Internal Memo
Do You Use MobileMe?
Not everyone in tech can admit they made a mistake, but here we go: MobileMe, that other Apple product released recently, has been pretty plagued since it launched. Reports of crashing computers, lost email, and the service being constantly down have perturbed even the most loyal Macheads.
Steve Jobs has stepped up to the plate to acknowledge all this static, saying that MobileMe was "not up to Apple's standards," that it was perhaps launched too early, and that they should have released one feature at a time, rather than all at once.
As a MobileMe user, I was grandfathered in by .Mac, and aside from being a little frustrated with the transition, I love my 20GB of iDisk space, unbeatable web albums, and syncing across all devices — for me, it's back up to "Apple's standards," if you will.
In the meantime, tell me: How many of you use MobileMe?


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Hi everyone. I used to be on mugglenet all the time about four years ago, when I was fourteen, and all my fics are from then. On a whim I decided to drop by for nostalgia's sake, so... hello. :)
I'm now in my first year of an English major in university, and I credit my love of editing to this site, so really I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who contributed to that.
Love and happiness to the HP fandom.


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Bryce is a fantastic actress. I just finished watching The Village, and her performance was so effective. In addition, Bryce is an absolutely adorable woman, and her features are fitting for Victoria.
I implore you to give her a fair chance before passing any premature judgment, because that's not exactly respectful of what we have been given, as opposed to what your own preference is. Kristen said that working with Bryce was a great experience, so I am willing to wait until we see some promotional photographs/footage.


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The selections were highlighted by the selection of Nozomi Matsuoka as the GAC's Freshman of the Year and Olga Leyshyna as the league's Newcomer of the Year. Matsuoka is joined by last year's GAC Player of the Year Bohdana Sardak on the all-GAC First Team while Leyshyna is joined by Tammy Bell on the second team.
Matsuoka has posted a 12-5 record at the No. 1 singles position, going 18-7 overall and earning a No. 6 regional ranking. The freshman from Saitama, Japan also plays on the Central Region's third-ranked doubles unit along with Bell, and the duo has combined to go 18-6 overall, 14-4 in the No. 1 doubles spot, and a perfect 6-0 mark in league play.
Sardak followed a banner sophomore campaign with a 15-6 mark, posting a 11-5 record at the No. 2 singles spot for Arkansas Tech. The junior has a 2-1 mark against regionally-ranked opposition, and plays on the region's No. 3 ranked doubles team with Leyshyna, as the duo has combined to go 21-5, 16-2 at the No. 2 doubles spot, and a perfect 6-0 mark in league play.
Leyshyna earns her second team nod after going 19-5 overall, and 13-2 at the No. 3 singles position. In addition to her perfec t 6-0 doubles mark with Sardak in league play, Leyshyna is also the lone Golden Suns player to go undefeated in singles competition, racking up a 6-0 record in GAC matches.
As a true freshman, Bell has been an impressive addition to the Golden Suns' lineup. She has gone 14-6 in singles play, with a 10-4 mark at the No. 4 singles position. She has teamed with Matsuoka to comprise the region's fourth-ranked doubles unit, going 18-6 in doubles matches with a perfect 6-0 mark in league matches.


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Today, Omega Advisors' Leon Cooperman has reported a 3.56 percent reduction to his stake in KKR Financial Corp. (KFN), according to GuruFocus Real Time Picks.
Over the years, Cooperman has fortified his position with increases up until the second quarter of 2012, when the stock's market value was well on its way to its 52-week high. In 2012, the stock generously returned 23.29 percent. Cooperman, who had been adding to his stock continuously, reduced for the first time last September shedding 1.3 million shares, and again in the third quarter shedding about 221,000 shares.
With a market cap of $1.94 billion, KKR Financial is a specialty finance company that seeks to leverage the proprietary resources of its manager, KKR Financial Advisors. The company's majority-owned subsidiaries finance and invest in financial assets, including below-investment-grade corporate debt, equity securities and private equity, according to its website.
With an annual revenue growth of 50.79, KKR is ranked 4 in Financial Strength on GuruFocus, as well as 6 in Profitability and Growth.
Up 0.83 percent, the stock is trading at $10.97.
Currently, Cooperman owns about 13.4 million shares of KKR. Since the third quarter of 2012, KKR has moved down from its 11th top holding rank on Cooperman's portfolio, after reducing his stake more than once.
American International Group Inc. (NYSE:AIG), SLM Corp. (NASDAQ:SLM) and Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE:S) remain some of his top holdings. The financial sector represents 27.5 percent of his 77-stock portfolio.
View the rest of Omega Advisors' portfolio updates here. Also view the funds' top holdings, undervalued stocks, top growth companies and high yield stocks.
Hurry and Get the GuruFocus 15% Off Premium Membership Deal!
Premium Membership is needed for full access to GuruFocus Real Time Picks. GuruFocus' long list of Premium Membership perks provides many opportunities to follow your favorite Gurus and stocks more closely. If you are not a Premium Member yet, we invite you to take advantage of our limited-time offer of 15% off our normal Premium Membership rate. Click on GuruFocus Member Discount now!
Today, Omega Advisors' Leon Cooperman has reported a 3.56 percent reduction to his stake in KKR Financial Corp. (KFN), according to GuruFocus Real Time Picks.


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'Farmer' Ad Gives Ram Trucks Big Boost, Study Says
Chrysler's "Farmer" ad that ran during Super Bowl XLVII drove many people to seek more information about the company's Ram brand trucks immediately after the long spot aired. Apparently they were moved at least a in part by the proud, heartland feel of the commercial, which was set to the rousing address, "So God Made a Farmer," by the late radio personality Paul Harvey.
The Ram brand saw a 55% jump in search activity following the ad's appearance, according to car-shopping site Autotrader.com.
"That's a big number," said John Kovac, vice president of consumer marketing for AutoTrader. "This ad is a natural continuation of Chrysler's 'Imported from Detroit' and 'Halftime in America' Super Bowl ads of the last two years. But what they were trying to do this time is resonate specifically with truck buyers," he said.
Of course the ad isn't really pitching to farmers. "They are a good market, but Ram needs to sell a lot more trucks [than farmers alone could buy], Kovac said.
For more, go to Driver's Seat.


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Whoops. Some of us who write reviews and articles here at MyMac like to think we've got this whole Mac computer, iPad, iPhone, iStuff
About Rich Lefko
Rich Lefko has been a Mac enthusiast for many years and is always seeking out the most innovative applications, Apps, gadgets and hardware to tell us about. He uses his Mac expertise for video editing, record-keeping, business needs and in the management of a weather website (RichLefko.com) his true passion in life. A native New Yorker, Rich lives in New Hampshire with his exceptionally beautiful wife and three perfect sons. Rich joined MyMac.com as a writer after winning a contest he heard on the podcast. As a result, Rich no longer enters contests. Rich accepts email at firstname.lastname@example.com.
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text: Hello, all! In a common fit of madness, I suddenly decided to give this whole caption contest thing a whirl. Our caption contests have kind of lost steam over the past year or so, and I'm hoping we can pick things back up. Contest #83 jumped ahead and did a random episode, but I'm going to go back to the order the previous contests followed. The last episode was "Singularity," so we'll be starting with "Vanishing Point." So, let's get started! Settle down, Captain! I know you're antsy, but since everyone's had to wait so long between contests, I think it's only fair that they all win, don't you? Alright, then. Let's give them some new images to caption! Have fun!


text:
Read the full story here Web Link posted Friday, December 14, 2012, 4:40 PM
Town Square
Three killed in crash on Interstate 280
Original post made on Dec 14, 2012
Read the full story here Web Link posted Friday, December 14, 2012, 4:40 PM
Comments (10)
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Dec 14, 2012 at 5:36 pm
Any name, age, or city of residence on the arrested driver?
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Dec 14, 2012 at 6:39 pm
Exactly how did this happen? Was the driver of the VW drunk, texting, asleep at the wheel, or what?
Why was the Lexus, a supposedly reliable car, pulled over on the shoulder?
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Dec 14, 2012 at 7:03 pm
The Mercury-News says the VW driver was arrested for excessive speed leading to fatalities.
a resident of Green Acres
on Dec 15, 2012 at 5:39 am
According to the Chronicle, the driver of the VW was 82
a resident of Menlo Park
on Dec 15, 2012 at 7:40 am
Lexus said to have flat tire. Was in center divide awaiting help. Safer to get to breakdown lane on right when possible..
a resident of Palo Verde
on Dec 15, 2012 at 9:09 am
I am very sorry about the loss of life in this crash.
But, on a different note, Palo Alto traffic was terrible last night. It took me 45 minutes to get from south Palo Alto to Stanford. Middlefield, Alma, El Camino, were nightmares and I believe 101 was just as bad. The radio traffic person was basically telling their listeners to stop for dinner and try later anywhere around Palo Alto.
This is what happens with traffic calming measures. Palo Alto can't cope with extra traffic. If the local traffic report tells all motorists to stay away from Palo Alto then we must be a joke to them.
a resident of East Palo Alto
on Dec 15, 2012 at 11:53 am
Another horrific caused by a law-breaking senior citizen. I'm glad that he got busted for it. Now, time fora crackdown on ALL speeders on 280.
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Dec 15, 2012 at 3:29 pm
A good point my husband brought up: if your car breaks down in traffic, pull over to the far right and get out of your car. Put the hood up and the flashers on.
Apparently, other drivers run into disabled cars parked on the side of the road rather frequently, so the most important of these is GET OUT OF YOUR CAR, especially if it is dark!
a resident of Midtown
on Dec 16, 2012 at 9:55 am
@Needless Loss - Getting out of your car is probably a good thing if you're on the shoulder on the right so long as you move as far right as you can. If you're stopped at the left, close to the median, I think it may be better to actually sit on the median behind the car or even in the car. I'm not sure what the right action is in this case.
a resident of Barron Park School
on Jun 5, 2017 at 4:43 am
Due to repeated violations of our Terms of Use, comments from this poster are automatically removed. Why?
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text: I saw the middle brother Marko play and he's awful. Seems he's best suited to carrying his brother's bags as opposed to playing tennis. Not sure he's got any talent for the game. Has anybody seen the youngest brother? How is his future in the sport? He said he wanted to be better than his oldest brother Novak but no sign of anything developing.:-?


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Biggest mistake that the Knicks made was trading Trevor Ariza. Who would have predicted that he would become this good of a player?
Humility is a virtue and pride is a vice.
completely missed the game it seems like the role players finally had a bad shooting night
The Knicks need to put this behind them and beat Dallas. It seems like the last time that they won a home game against Dallas was when Rolando Blackman played for the Mavericks.
Humility is a virtue and pride is a vice.
When you fall behind early, you have to gain ground with offense.
The Knicks couldn't bring it with offense tonight, because their roleplayers finally started missing some shots. Fields was dreadful in particular.
And you can't blame this one on STAT, he played well, especially on the boards. This one is on Turnovers (Lin) and the inability to hit a single shot from downtown...
guys calm down Ariza is a good defender with size and speed as a SG/SF. His man was walker who is streaky. As soon as he figured out walker was a no show he simply helped defend the entire night while the rest of his team played zone. This game was a perfect example of why the knicks wanted JR Smith since his ability to shoot would of been great alongside a player like Melo who can also create shots for himself. that would of opened up the lane for guys like Amare, Lin, Fields, and shump. It also would of game Chandler a 1 on 1 chance to get rebounds.
+ positives of the night
Amare was trying on defense guys and he was fighting for rebounds.
- Negative of the night
The knicks had to many turnovers
the knicks missed too many free throws
A lot of you might not talk about this here a lot but half the knicks offense is slashing in the paint trying to get the calls so they can shoot free throws..... its a smart counter measure for the streaky shooting the team has had all year. Today if the knicks mad those Free throw shots they would of won the game.
Its the damn Catch 22 the knicks have always had. They need the 3 to go down to open the lanes. Without an outside threat defenses can play zone which clogs up the the knicks slashing.
Lin's TO are to much and I felt the refs could of gave him a call when the Hornets we're abusing him trying to get turnovers. However like always Refs treat away teams like home teams when they play at MSG.....


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"The United States is like giant boiler. Once the fire is lighted under it, there is no limit to the power it can generate."


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Frequently Asked Questions About Celiac Disease 09/30/2015This Celiac.com FAQ on celiac disease will guide you to all of the basic information you will need to know about the disease, its diagnosis, testing methods, a gluten-free diet, etc. Subscribe to Celiac.com's FREE weekly eNewsletter What are the major symptoms of celiac disease? Celiac Disease Symptoms What testing is available for celiac disease? Celiac Disease Screening Interpretation of Celiac Disease Blood Test Results Can I be tested even though I am eating gluten free? How long must gluten be taken for the serological tests to be meaningful? The Gluten-Free Diet 101 - A Beginner's Guide to Going Gluten-Free Is celiac inherited? Should my children be tested? Ten Facts About Celiac Disease Genetic Testing Is there a link between celiac and other autoimmune diseases? Celiac Disease Research: Associated Diseases and Disorders Is there a list of gluten foods to avoid? Unsafe Gluten-Free Food List (Unsafe Ingredients) Is there a list of gluten free foods? Safe Gluten-Free Food List (Safe Ingredients) Gluten-Free Alcoholic Beverages Distilled Spirits (Grain Alcohols) and Vinegar: Are they Gluten-Free? Where does gluten hide? Additional Things to Beware of to Maintain a 100% Gluten-Free Diet What if my doctor won't listen to me? An Open Letter to Skeptical Health Care Practitioners Gluten-Free recipes: Gluten-Free Recipes
KjasAdvanced Members
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Australians And New Zealanders Hellooooooo :)
Kjas replied to Aussie Peg's topic in Gluten-Free International Room (Outside USA)I am a super senstive one, sadly. But the reaction I had to bobs red mill oats was ridiculous. I've had lesser reactions from using CC'ed toasters! I tested the freedom foods crunchola the other day, and I am happy to report no gluten reaction what so ever (I did have a small reaction to oats - I guess that means I'm an oat intolerant one, I'll test again to make sure). The raspberry flavour is really nice.
Australians And New Zealanders Hellooooooo :)
Kjas replied to Aussie Peg's topic in Gluten-Free International Room (Outside USA)Thanks for the heads up, I'll be sure to check it out! I'm planning to test oats again soon, last time bobs red mill ones didn't go down too well.
Cuba - Need Help
Kjas replied to x0xteenyx0x's topic in Gluten-Free TravelFirst of all, get yourself a restaurant information card in spanish that explains celiac, laminate it, and carry it everywhere with you, they can be found by googling. Give it to them anytime you go to eat food. Ironically, resorts may be more difficult than paladares (private restaurants). In resorts, they will often carry western style food for their guests (so I've heard). Apparently not all do this but it is common. Most private restaurants do cuban food sometimes mixed with international styles. This is a good thing as the large majority of cuban food tends to be naturally gluten free (if it looks gluten free, it usually is). Things like congri, ropa vieja, etc are all in this category and it is very extensive. Things like bread, pasta, pizza, flan, some empanadas (this just depends on the type so just ask, there are wheat, corn or yuca based types) etc, may or may not be agreeable with you. CC is only usually an issue if you have ordered something fried. Otherwise, it will be fine. Some places have friers that are gluten free (because they use corn flour or yuca flour), so you may have to get someone to ask if they use wheat flour products in their frier. If you choose to eat in peso restaurants, or street stalls you may have to be more careful. Often these are not held up to the same standards as in the western world although I have never had a problem. If they have to substitute something for you in a meal (as in only a part of a meal, not a whole meal) ask for plantains (chips or normal), yuca, malanga con mojo, polenta, or beans and rice (moros y cristianos). Whatever you do, make sure you get out of the resort to try food, as the paladares are often much better than the state run restaurants in terms of quality and taste.
Maybe I'm Just Making This All Up...
Kjas replied to hopeonthemove's topic in Celiac Disease - Coping WithThe others have all made great suggestions so far. I don't feel deprived on this diet, in fact I eat better than anyone I know health wise, with more variety and probably more enjoyment than most people have. And when I feel like pancakes, I make myself pancakes, just healthy ones that taste great (complete with raspberries and a little bit of dark chocolate) . It's actually been a blessing in a way, it was the kick in the butt that I needed to go back to eating the way I had been growing up. I think you have more issues here than just gluten, I think you need to address your food issues (psychological) in general. Take a look around this website, go through the archives, they might help you. In particular I think the following two might help, so read these two first and see if you have any lightbulb moments: Lesson One Lesson Two
Paleo/primal Dieters
Kjas replied to SGRhapsodos's topic in Celiac Disease - Coping WithI'm another one. I have a "break day" once every 3 months though. I don't eat starches for the most part either. If I'm running low on crabs for the day then I make fresh vegetable juice to up it, sometimes I eat a little bit of nuts afterwards to control my blood sugar. I didn't get it from a book or anything though, I came to this conclusion from my own experiments on myself over the years.
Do Celiacs Have To Avoid All Grains?
Kjas replied to quincy's topic in Celiac Disease - Coping WithThe others are right. I seem to be one of the few here who react to any kind of grain, but it's not the same thing as my reactions to gluten. I am definitely in the minority. I can handle a little bit of rice on the rare occasion, but to eat grains everyday, even if it was rice, would definitely have bad reactions for me. The likelihood of you being like me and needing to avoid all grains is very slim. If something makes you feel bad, then don't eat it, but don't just cut something out that you're not reacting with without a reason to.
I already know that. Many of us have IBS, gluten intolerance or others and gastro issues in general (probably about the 50% you stated).. We (ASD) are ten times more likely to have get celiac disease than the normal population. It is well recognised as a secondary link. The thing is that correlation does not equal cause. Just because they have a tenancy to gastro issues and autoimmune disease does not mean gluten causes it. Like I said, it might may it worse if it's already present. Truth is that nobody knows why or how the 2 are related yet. There are plenty of theories but nothing has been proven.
I replied by PM, check your inbox.
Prevalence and incidence rates are two different things. There are just to many factors at play right now to be saying we have any "answers". All we do know that there is a define genetic component. Most of the current data is skewed in some way. You have to take into account diagnosis methods (which differ worldwide), who is doing the diagnosis's (some countries limit to psychiatrists, others allow psychologists) , those who have been diagnosed later in life since the said definitions were not available then (likely most of the older generations in HFA range before 1980), things like urban vs. rural likelihood of DX, ditto that with terms of things like class, race, gender and socio economic position. You also have about 50% of the DX now being made that are in the HFA / Aspie /PDD-NOS category. In many ways autism is like celiac disease in the way that while we have some data, we certainly do not have all of it and the data we have is still skewed to some extent. I really do think it is too early to be drawing conclusions yet. Give it 20 years and at least then we will have more reliable data.
Not entirely because of celiac. I have celiac disease and some pretty nice complications, Aspergers Syndrome (ASD) and some weird genetic crap going on which the medical field can't even classify. I don't think it's fair to have children just because I have a selfish desire to have them, knowing what their lives would be like (at least in the industrial world) because of those 3 things put together. If it was only 1 of those things, or if I wasn't aware of those conditions, then it might be different. But I can't bring myself to do that to another human being intentionally and knowingly.
Two other things to consider: 1) Autism was not even included in the DMS until 1980 as a diagnosis itself. Before that it was classified as under childhood schizophrenia if it was diagnosed at all. 2) Aspergers Syndrome, Retts and PDD-NOS where not included in the DMS until 1994. Considering those 2 things alone, is it any wonder the diagnosis rate is on the rise?
Raven, Being diagnosed is not a bad thing, it's just like celiac, it depends on your attitude towards it. Some people will use it as a crutch, but those people are probably already using some other excuse as a crutch anyway. Quite frankly, it helped me stop feeling like a complete alien when I finally had a reason for the way I was since at least then I knew I wasn't crazy and it wasn't all in my head or that I wasn't trying hard enough (which I did plenty of). It helped me develop proper coping mechanisms rather than just trying to be normal until I overloaded which would always leave others confused since they didn't know why I was acting that way. I can't tell you the number of friendships I have lost over the years because they pushed me when I was already on overload and they pushed me to the point that I either had a meltdown or I shut down. At least now I know what I need to stay calm and focused and have options available to me when I feel like I'm going to start to overload. Sometimes the fact of just knowing you're not crazy or an alien is enough for some people. Just like celiac - at least you know what's making you sick. At least you find a way to cope with it - you take your lunch to work with you when you know you can't find something gluten-free. I have no doubt many of the great inventors and philosophers etc were in fact Aspies. But equally, I have no doubt that a diagnosis and coping mechanisms would have helped leaps and bounds when it came to their personal relationships. I would like to point out that it's probably more people with PDD-NOS or Aspies who are actually being diagnosed. As it is, both of those are under-diagnosed or misdiagnosed, particularly in women. Not all autism comes in the low to medium functioning range, which is a common misconception.
First of all, autism is a genetic condition, it is not caused by eating gluten. It is a neurological difference in the way one thinks and experiences the world. Gluten will make it worse if you already have a form of autism, but that's about it. (Just thought I should clear that up) I wouldn't have children. If I did (hypothetically speaking), I would keep them off gluten, soy, dairy, grains, legumes and off all processed food as long as they are at home. Basically they eat what I eat or they can go hungry. I would refuse to feed them crap, they can have a lifetime of eating crap after they leave the house if they want to. It also sets them up with good food habits, knowing how to grow their own food from the garden and good cooking skills for later in life. I want my kids to know where food comes from as well as how and why it's important to them and their health. Wheat was different 200 or 400 years ago. Much of it now has been genetically engineered to some extent or selectively bred to have certain qualities. The gluten content in a lot of modern day wheat is about 20% higher than it's original counterparts, that is just one example.
According To Recent Data, Gluten-Free Doesn't Seem To Be Enough
Kjas replied to Gfresh404's topic in Celiac Disease - Post Diagnosis, Recovery/Treatment(s)True but the people I am talking about, 9 of the group have been gluten-free for 8-15 years. The 3 are in the 4-8 years gluten-free category. About half of them are under 30. Even taking that into account, it stacks up in my personal experience. I am well aware of that slow decline, it becomes like a slippery slope. But at some point before the disease was triggered, most of them felt well at some point. It won't stop me from trying everything I can to get better, I know that none of them have researched anywhere near as obsessively I have or been trying the things I have nor did they work with a specialist after getting diagnosed.
According To Recent Data, Gluten-Free Doesn't Seem To Be Enough
Kjas replied to Gfresh404's topic in Celiac Disease - Post Diagnosis, Recovery/Treatment(s)I am not surprised by this at all. Of the 12 celiacs I have met, not one of them has healed to the point where they feel as healthy as they did before the celiac disease kicked in. I don't take multi vitamins but I make fresh vegetable juice with a little bit of fruit in it 3 times a day. I've tried not juicing or only doing one and I just don't get the nutrients I need from it and if I forget to juice after 3 days I feel completely flat and useless energy wise.


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Penelope Cruz
- Birthday
- 1974-04-28
- Nickname
- Pe Madonna of Madrid The Spanish Enchantres
- Birthname
- Penélope Cruz Sánchez
- Sign
- Taurus
- Hometown
- Madrid Spain
- Country
- Spain
- Ethnicity
- Other
- Height
- 5'6"
- Weight
- 105
- Job
- Actress Pitchwoman
- Hobbies
- Dancing Collecting Stray Cats
- Assets
- Great Rack Muse-worthy Beauty Adorable Spanish Accent Good Heart
- Vices
- Plastic Surgery Ballet Actors
In her Spanish movies, Penelope Cruz is known to be a great actress. In her American movies, she is merely a gorgeous dark-haired woman who smiles a lot. Hey, we'll take it. Voted #26 in the AskMen.com's Top 99 Women 2008 Edition.
Born in Madrid to a retailer and a hairdresser, Penelope studied classical ballet for 9 years at Spain's National Conservatory. During her time at school, she studied with Angela Garrido and Raul Caballero. She dropped out of school at the tender age of 15, and beat out 300 other girls at a fashion modeling agency audition. While she modeled part-time, Cruz began to study drama.
Cruz has said she decided to become an actress after watching Victoria Abril's performance in Pedro Almodovar's Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! She started getting television work at age 16, when she began presenting Kids' TV programmes on Tele 5 in Spain. Cruz then had to take a break from acting to recuperate after having studied and worked herself to the breaking point.
In 1992, 18-year-old Penelope made her film debut in Jamon, Jamon (Ham, Ham), in which she appeared nude and simulated some pretty erotic sex (welcome to show business). Javier Bardem played opposite the young Penelope Cruz in the movie and both actors were nominated for Goyas, Spain's national film awards. Jamon, Jamon took the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival and the acclaim helped to kick-start the young actress's career. She followed that with Abre Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes), and Almodovar's Todo Sobre Mi Madre (All About My Mother), which won an Oscar for best foreign film. In All About My Mother, Cruz plays a pregnant nun who runs a shelter.
She cracked into American movies with 2000's Woman on Top—a position we're totally cool with, by the way—and has since compiled a hit-and-miss Hollywood filmography, including All the Pretty Horses, Blow (Franka Potente, Jaime King), Vanilla Sky (a Cameron Crowe-directed remake of Abre Los Ojos, in which she plays the same character), Gothika (Halle Berry), Sahara, and Bandidas (Salma Hayek). In the process, Cruz has racked up relationships with actors Tom Cruise, Matthew McConaughey and Orlando Bloom. In 2006, she reunited with Almodovar in Volver, which earned her a Best Actress Oscar nomination (a first for a Spanish actress).
In Volver, the actress played a sensuous young mother who undertakes running a restaurant and is visited by the spirit of her dead mother. Almodovar's magical realism and the actress's talent created a film that was not only recognized at the Oscars, but also won a Goya and an award at Cannes.
2007 saw Cruz in The Good Night, an oddball comedy about a guy generally dissatisfied with his life, but who has wonderful dreams at night. In these dreams, he encounters that lovely Penelope Cruz and his experiences prompt him to learn more about lucid dreaming. Hilarity ensues when reality begins to impose itself on his dream-life.
She also appeared in Elegy, a drama based on the novel The Dying Animal by Philip Roth. Opposite Ben Kingsley, she played a college student seduced by her professor. As the professor begins to truly fall for his student, he drives her away in a fit of self-fulfilling prophesy.
Nebbish hilarity should ensued for Penelope Cruz fans in the Woody Allen project Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Scarlett Johansson), for which she won an Oscar. Coming up, she's signed on to star with Catherine Zeta-Jones in Nine, based on a script by Federico Fellini. Nine follows fellow Oscar winner, Daniel Day-Lewis, who plays a film director that enjoys extremely complex relationships with the women in his life. Penelope Cruz plays his mistress, alongside Marion Cotillard as his wife, Nicole Kidman as his muse, Judi Dench as his manager, and Kate Hudson as a journalist.
On the personal side, Penelope has recently said she doesn't think her life will be complete if she doesn't adopt…so get those papers in order.
Cruz is also known for her generosity and her humanitarian efforts. It was once rumored that she donated her paycheck from "The Hi-Lo Country" to Mother Teresa's children's sanctuary in Calcutta after she spent time there volunteering. Cruz denounced the rumor, but she did do the volunteer work and even founded a non-government organization called the Sabera Foundation. Cruz, Nacho Cano, and other Spanish entertainers set up a home, a clinic, and a school in Calcutta for people with tuberculosis and homeless girls. The project has since dissolved, but the actress continues to add humanitarian efforts to her biography with the World Food Programme.
Won Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her part in Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
In September 2010, Penelope's manager confirmed she is pregnant with Javier Bardem's child. Peneople's son Leo Encinas Bardem, was born at the Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles on January 22, 2011.
Penelope Cruz on the Web
Penelope Cruz: 'To Rome with Love' Premiere! | Alec Baldwin, Jesse ... ... with Love' Premiere! Penelope Cruz: 'To Rome with Love' Premiere! Penelope Cruz strikes a pose in Dolce&Gabbana at the To Rome with Love premiere on Friday (April 13) at Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, Italy.
Penelope Cruz To Rome With Love Premiere Pictures Penelope Cruz continued a busy day of press for To Rome With Love at the movie's Italian premiere last night. She began the morning at a photocall for the Woody Allen picture along with her costars Jesse Eisenberg, Alec ...


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Post: FT: 1 To 12/28 For 1 12/29
~ Nice girl, easy trade. Gave her a call and chatted a bit, knew she was cool and we just went ahead and mailed the tix. No worries. 12/18/12
Post: Phish Single Sunday Amherst 10/24 To Trade Or Cash For Saturday 10/23
~ Great site. Ended up getting exactly what I needed, just had to split my trade into two steps. So thanks to the site I got to help out two other good people and we all get to enjoy the shows. 9/29/10
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Six Nations
Edwards bounces back from Lions snub
ESPN Staff
January 28, 2013
Shaun Edwards is targeting another victorious Six Nations campaign for Wales © Getty Images
Shaun Edwards is adamant that the disappointment of missing out on a place in the British & Irish Lions backroom staff is behind him and he is focused on guiding Wales to potentially another Grand Slam.
Edwards was a shock omission from the Lions' coaching staff for the tour when their boss Warren Gatland unveiled his backroom staff. The pair have worked together with Wales and also with Wasps in the past, but Gatland opted for Andy Farrell instead of Edwards - a decision which the Kiwi described as "agonising" and "difficult".
While Gatland will be joined in Australia by Wales' Six Nations interim head coach Rob Howley, plus England assistants Farrell and Graham Rowntree, Edwards will be journeying to Japan with Wales. But in the meantime, he will be focused on ending Wales' run of seven straight losses and starting their Six Nations campaign on a winning note.
"Obviously, everyone wants to go on a Lions tour, as a player and as a coach," Edwards said. "But the decision has been made. 'Gats' has made his decision, and obviously I am abiding by it. I am not going to forget how much Warren Gatland has done for me over the last 10 years. Most of the things I have achieved in coaching have been through him and his help.
"He has been a great mentor for me, and hopefully he will continue to be that in the future. He has made a decision which went against me, but there is no way my loyalty will be questioned. I couldn't be more determined. I had a break over the Christmas period, I went on holiday, and I am very much focused on trying to defend our (Six Nations) championship."
Wales will launch their Six Nations title defence against Ireland in Cardiff on Saturday. Howley is due to name his starting line-up on Thursday, with Dan Biggar a firm favourite to replace injured fly-half Rhys Priestland, while fitness permitting, the second-row partnership is pointing towards Ospreys pair Ryan Jones and Ian Evans.
Jones is recovering from a dislocated thumb suffered a fortnight ago, while Evans has not played since the autumn because of knee trouble. Should either, or both, be ruled out of contention to face Ireland, then a selection door would probably open for uncapped locks like James King, Andrew Coombs and Harlequins' Olly Kohn.
Kohn only received the call up to Wales on Friday but he could make his debut come the weekend. "Olly plays for the team (Quins) who are number one seeds in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals, so he is obviously operating at quite a high level," Edwards said. "He is a very, very powerful scrummaging, genuine tighthead second-row, and there are not that many of them about nowadays. We felt we needed beefing up in that area. Hopefully, in the next few weeks, Olly will potentially get his chance.
"He brings a physical presence. His scrummaging power would be at the forefront of his game, but he has other parts, too. That was his first training session today, so clearly lineout calls are all new to him, but he plays for the number one-seeded team in the Heineken Cup and he's a pretty smart operator."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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text:
Bush helps Crew cut NLDS deficit to 2-1
Facing elimination, starter goes 5 1/3 solid frames vs. Phillies
By Adam McCalvy / MLB.com
"We're on the board, and that's what it's all about," said Brewers center fielder Mike Cameron, who reached safely four times and scored twice. "We put a little pressure on [the Phillies] for a change."In one sense, the Brewers are trying to buck history. Of the 18 NL teams that fell into an 0-2 Division Series hole, only four forced a Game 4 -- including the Brewers. Of the previous three teams, none got as far as a Game 5. But in another sense, the Brewers are bidding to repeat history. They lost the first two games of the best-of-five 1982 American League Championship Series to the Angels in Anaheim, then stormed back in Milwaukee to win three in a row and the pennant. The '08 Brewers would have to go back on the road to repeat the feat. If the Brewers can pull off a Game 4 win on Sunday behind Jeff Suppan, Game 5 would be played in Philadelphia on Tuesday. "We're back in the series," said Brewers infielder Craig Counsell, who was involved in a strange obstruction play in the ninth inning. "We have to win two now, instead of three."
|With their 4-1 win over the Phillies in Game 3 on Saturday night, the Brewers became just the fourth team to force a Game 4 after falling into an 0-2 NLDS hole.
|1995 -- Rockies vs. the Braves
|2004 -- Dodgers vs. the Cardinals
|2006 -- Padres vs. the Cardinals
|2008 -- Brewers vs. the Phillies
Bush (1-0) started and became the first Brewer to win a postseason game since Mike Caldwell took Game 5 of the 1982 World Series. The Brewers were uncharacteristically patient against Phillies starter Jamie Moyer (0-1) and handed the veteran left-hander the loss, and Brewers closer Salomon Torres benefited from that fluky play in the ninth during his first postseason save.Brewers shortstop J.J. Hardy led a balanced Brewers offense with three hits -- equaling the whole team's output in its Game 2 loss -- and was one of four players to drive in a run. Cameron and Bush both credited the raucous Milwaukee fans, who cheered wildly when Bush threw a first-pitch ball to Jimmy Rollins, then retired the side in order on nine more pitches in the top of the first inning. "That was thrilling," Bush said of the atmosphere under the done at Miller Park. "I know everybody here has waited a long, long time to be in that situation." Cameron helped keep the fans in the game in the bottom of the first, when he worked a leadoff walk against Moyer and Bill Hall followed with another. After Ryan Braun popped out, Prince Fielder put the Brewers on the board with a sacrifice fly and Hardy lined an RBI single to left field for a quick 2-0 lead. Braun hit another sacrifice fly in the fifth inning against reliever Clay Condrey, and Jason Kendall tacked on an RBI single in the seventh against Scott Eyre. "For whatever reason, in the biggest game of the year, the guys were under control," Brewers hitting coach Jim Skaalen said. "They looked very calm to me." The Brewers are not exactly known for a "calm" offense. They had six players finish the regular season with more than 100 strikeouts, and as a team they ranked ninth in the 16-team National League with 550 walks. But Cameron and Hall helped set a different tone on Saturday against Moyer, who couldn't get the extra inches off the outside corner he needed from plate umpire Brian Runge. For the first time in the series, the Brewers consistently took pitches. Counsell called them "disciplined."
|"We're on the board, and that's what it's all about. We put a little pressure on [the Phillies] for a change."
|-- Mike Cameron
"It's always the design, despite what it looks like sometimes," Skaalen said. "We try to control our approach and have a plan. We're a little sketchy with that sometimes."Bush and the Brewers' relief corps took it the rest of the way. Bush didn't allow a run until the sixth inning, when Jayson Werth's leadoff triple fell out of Corey Hart's glove after the Brewers' right fielder crashed into the wall and then hit the dirt. The ball trickled out of Hart's glove before he had an opportunity to show the umpire he had control. Bush retired Chase Utley on a popup before manager Dale Sveum went to lefty reliever Mitch Stetter to face Ryan Howard, who hit a run-scoring groundout. Sveum then turned to right-hander Carlos Villanueva, who retired Pat Burrell on an inning-ending groundout. Villanueva singled in the bottom of the sixth inning but was stranded at third, then pitched a scoreless seventh inning. Eric Gagne worked around Werth's two-out double in the eighth before Torres, who struggled down the stretch for Milwaukee, came out for the ninth. Torres surrendered singles to each of the first three hitters he faced, loading the bases. But the Brewers caught a break when Pedro Feliz hit a double-play grounder and the Phillies runner at first -- Shane Victorino -- was called for obstruction when he ran into Counsell. The run that initially scored on the play was called back, leaving the Phillies with runners at second and third and two outs. Torres fielded a comebacker from Carlos Ruiz and lobbed the ball to first base to end the game. "It's amazing how things work out," Torres said. Torres said his own confidence after escaping the inning without allowing a run was "through the roof." Cameron felt the same way, even though the team was facing yet another elimination game on Sunday. "[Sunday] is probably the biggest day of our season," Cameron said. Probably? "Most definitely," he said with a laugh. "We've had a lot of those already."
Adam McCalvy is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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What connects a football star with an irish comedian?
If you believe Jimmy Cricket's new song, a set of pearly whites!
The distinctive comedian was in the Hartshead Club in Liversedge to shoot the video for his brand new comedy song I've Been Bit By Luis Suarez.
The video follows the comic who, back from a holiday in Uruguay, regales Rob the landlord with a tale of how he got on the wrong-side of the hot-headed Barcelona star.
The comic said: "It is a tale of espionage in South America!
"I have a friend who runs Loom studios in Birstall – they were telling me they wanted me to do a comedy song.
"I had been watching the biting incident at the World Cup, so I decided to make one about that."
The song's chorus goes: "I was bit by Luis Suarez/And it wasn't just a peck/When I was bit by Luis Suarez/I got it in the neck."
The video features terrace-style chanting, and some pub regulars waving maracas. It was shot on Wednesday, and is currently being edited.
Jimmy, based in Rochdale, said: "I really enjoyed filming up here.
"The views from Hartshead are beautiful – the Spen Valley is such a picturesque place."
The veteran comedian still tours regularly, and said he has shows within the next week in Hunstanton and Skegness.
He added: "I might even get the crowd to join in with an acapela version of the song!"
For more information, visit www.jimmycricket.co.uk.


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For 365 days, Julie Powell cooked from Julia Child's seminal cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. As she cooked, she blogged about it on a Salon blog. People surfed to the site every day to read about her struggles with Julia Child's recipes and eventually about her drone-like job as a temp, her sometimes rocky marriage, and her sometimes maggot-infested kitchen.
Now, she has a book. Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen has been published and given a hell of a marketing push. I was surprised enough to see the large display of books at Barnes & Noble, but when I saw a half-page ad in the New Yorker for the book, I was floored.
Blogging has clearly been very good to Ms. Powell. She received a reported six-figure advance on the book and has a movie option as well. You'd think she'd be pretty up on the food blogging world, wouldn't you?
I'm a terrible blogger and a terrible citizen of the blogosphere. I'm going to get in a lot of trouble, but the truth is, I actually find most food blogs really boring. I try to look at other people's blogs and they have pretty pictures and they're so proud -- but really, I just don't care. I don't know anything about that person, and I don't know why it's important to them. Food in itself becomes just a mass of prejudices and snobbery and everyone looks like a prat when they write about food.
Source: Salon Premium interview link
And so a "star" forgets "the little people". Ms. Powell, maybe you're unable to appreciate the appeal of food blogs, but there seem to be plenty of people who disagree with you. (And what's up with the word "prat", anyway? You're from Long Island City, not London.)
I have to take a moment to take the Salon interviewer to task as well. The interviewer referred to the food blog community as "insular". I just don't buy that, but I can see why a fan of Ms. Powell's might. The food blog community is supportive. That's why we have group events like Is My Blog Burning? where anyone with or without a blog can participate. That's why we and others post Posts of the Week to help people discover other excellent food blogs. That's why Kip's foodblog and foodpornwatch exist - support and discovery of all the wonderful food blog resources out there. There are no membership cards needed or contracts to sign. Start to post about food and you're in the club.
Go back and read her blog. I followed her off and on. Some of Powell's posts are rather ordinary and some are wonderful. She can be very funny. This post on finding evidence of Julia Child's sex life in her recipes is a good example.
But I find in her Salon interview and her original blog a lack of something essential in her character. I've never felt this was a woman I wanted to spend time with. She's often petty and depressive and, increasingly near the end of the blog, quite self-indulgent and concerned primarily with the mercenary aspects of the project.
She's the kind of friend you might refer to as "bitter Julie" and sometimes just not have the time for. That might make for a good blog or Evelyn Waugh character, but I don't think I want to expose myself to a book length relationship with her.
Personally, I'll await the books from other bloggers who I both like and admire like the long-rumored one from Clotilde at Chocolate & Zucchini, or the electronic books from Tasting Menu. UPDATE: And of course David Lebovitz's Great Book of Chocolate.
Elsewhere on the net, Tigers & Strawberries took apart Julie Powell's New York Times op-ed piece "Don't Get Fresh With Me".
UPDATE: Dr. Biggles in comments reminds me of the excellent Digital Dish!
To order a copy to be shipped within the US for $19.95 plus $5 shipping and handling for 2-day shipping (sales tax added in CA) click here:To order a copy to be shipped outside the US for $19.95 plus $11 shipping and handling for airmail shipping click here:
Yeah, noticed the coverage. I stopped by her blog a few times, really kinda uninteresting.
Don't forget Digital Dish, hey. I wish Owen had a multi-million dollar cache to draw from for publicity. The book deserves so much more press, the hard work shows. Maybe it's time for me to start the layout for my Meathenge Coffee Table Meat Book of Yore.
Quite right! I've amended the post to include DD.
Ha, I would argue she hasn't forgotten the little people at all. "I'm going to get in a lot of trouble for this." Really? From whom? A community that has outgrown her? I enjoyed her blog quite a bit, but she clearly still considers herself the big luminary in the food blogging world, and I'm not sure how true that is anymore.
Of course, when she started, there weren't many food blogs (though nor was hers the first), so I imagine the current format (inspired more by Clotilde than her) just isn't her cup of tea.
Why is the woman so Angry?, Didn't she make great friends here?, found helping hands and sage advice?.
Looks like it was always about the book and never about the community.
When I first saw her blog, I thought "Great idea!" but the quality of her writing or maybe just her character didn't hold me to her. I think this interview is just part of the same instinct for good marketing - I'm sure she'll get a lot of press over her comments.
I also find the "insular" comment more than a little irritating. Yes, many of us read each others' blogs either to see what the others are doing or just out of genuine interest. But we are a culturally diverse group and for the most part very sophisticated. And frankly, if you want to see a real clique in operation, just check out the UK Observer: seems every month there is a promotion of a book by one of their columnists. No one calls them insular, mainly because they are paid to do what they do.
There is an interesting review of the book on the IHT site:
It's gratifying (if, like me, you are irritated with Julie) to note that he's pretty negative about the book...but all of his criticisms come down to the fact that it's "too much like a blog"!
Ah well, who needs them anyway?
Nes: I do think it was mostly about the book from very early on. I wouldn't say the woman had that many "friends" in the blogging community - who amongst us has seen her comment on a site or participate in any event?
Personally, I'm going to warn my family not to buy her book for me at Christmas as it's exactly the sort of thing they are likely to do. (Oh look, a book by a food blogger - I'll bet Meg will be interested!)
Hey Barrett, while you are at it, why don't you link the Julie/Julia book to Amazon with a sponsor. That way if anyone is foolish enough to buy it at least we'll get a take!
; )
Does this mean we're not going to see the "Rachel Ray/Barrett Project" anytime in the future?
The Rachael Ray/Barrett project may just be the only project she's NOT involved in at the moment.
Hmmmm... I suppose if it were a project in conjunction with the World Wrestling Federation...
That Rachel/Barrett book idea has a lot of potential, actually, because of the two wonderful contrasts that it offers:
1) The contrast of names. Both authors have alliterative first/last name pairs, with two syllables for the first and one for the last; as the intro to Gene and Gina's book makes clear, Two Manic Chefs by Rachel Ray and Barrett Buss would be an instant best-seller.
2) The contrast of content. There's an old adage in the business world about how no solution is perfect; your choices are always fast, cheap, or good, and you can only ever pick two. With "30-minute meals" and "$40 a day" in her oeuvre, Ray Ray has fast and cheap covered...
I just had a brief e-mail exchange with David "Wouldn't That Be Better With Chocolate On it?" Lebovitz above about the Rachel/Barrett project.
It could be a race. See if I could cook all her recipes before she comes out with YET ANOTHER BESTSELLING COOKBOOK filled with more recipes.
It would be a Sisyphian task, but I might be just the guy to try it!
When I first discovered Julie's blog a little over three years ago it was when I was first getting into blogging and blogging about food in particular. Her writing was good and at times funny and I eagerly followed along just like everyone else, but two things started to happen that made me grow bored with the blog and disenchanted with Julie. 1). I got tired of the NY bashing. As a native New Yorker I'm used to it but it can get very, very old, very fast. 2). Many, many more people began blogging about food who were just as good at writing and quite frankly more interesting. The writing on those blogs were much more about the celebration of food and the joy of cooking rather than how much more self indulgent and outrageous one can become to land a book deal. I'm sorry Julie feels that way about food bloggers. Many of her earliest supporters were food bloggers although she never acknowledged it except in passing and snidely at that. I won't be buying her book.
Did you know she started another blog recently?
Gak! Deb, I hadn't seen that! Here's the blog - http://juliepowell.blogspot.com/.
It seems to be a book tour blog.
See, the problem is that this boils down to two facts that have obscured everything else:
1. blogger
That's all the media really cares about, and it's all the blogging world cares about (indignant food bloogers notwithstanding).
By Christmas it will be "Julie WHO?"
Re the new blog. To quote The Gurgling Cod (http://thegurglingcod.typepad.com/thegurglingcod/)
For those of you scoring at home, this is a blog about promoting a book about writing a blog about cooking from a cookbook.
Barrett, once again you made me laugh with an apt and well-deserved critique. That's why THIS snobby prat keeps checking in with your "mass of prejudices!"
Thanks for remembering my commentary on Powell's critique of organic food consumers, Barrett.
I have to say that I am not surprised by her commentary. I seem to recall she made some statement in her organic food column that "She might get in trouble for this, but...." It seems to be a common refrain, and I would say that in truth, it is her prime motivation.
She wants to piss food bloggers off and start a controversy. Controversy equates with attention equates with publicity equates with money.
It is quite simple really. She is trying hard to be the "bad girl" of the culinary world. She wants to be the one who stands up and "tells it like it is."
Except, we already have Anthony Bourdain, so what do we need Powell for? He tells it like it is, and with so much more wit, intelligence and charisma that I see no reason to listen to someone whose sole culinary experience is cooking every recipe in a cookbook.
I'd rather listen to someone who actually -knows- what they are talking about, than someone who thinks she knows.
With that, I will also say that other food bloggers kvetching about her snide comments directed at us only makes us look jealous because she "made it" and we "didn't."
Except, I know I am not jealous of her. I am not doing this for the money. I do other writing for money.
I write about food because I love doing it and it makes me happy and it makes my readers happy.
Hey, if I get offered money to do it, fine.
But if not--eh--that is fine, too.
And I bet most food bloggers have a similar attitude to mine.
Hear, hear, Barbara - I completely agree with your every point and you put it much more eloquently than I could have done. Thanks!
Can I join your fan club? ;)
If I had one, you could join it, Meg. ;-)
But, i don't have one.
I second that Barbara. Reading your critique of her op-ed piece and your comments here I couldn't agree more.
I blog because I enjoy it and if it gets attention that's good, if it doesn't that's perfectly good too.
For someone who readily admits she doesn't really read food blogs, but has the chutzpah to insinuate that we're all snobs really does need to put a foot in her mouth (or maybe a rolling pin)...
Ms. Powell, next time, please do some research before blaring your opinions to the world.
Goodness me! I go reading BBQ cookbooks for a day, come back and this post explodes. Not only THAT !!! Deb shows up? YAY DEB !!! Knock down those cobwebs. Do you like goat?
That is what happens when you read, Dr. Biggles.
Shame on you for being literate. ;-)
I have always been around Biggles, I am everywhere...mwaahhaaa.
I guess this touched more of a nerve in me than I expected. Barbara said it best both in her response to Julie's op-ed piece and here in the comments.
Kate at the Accidental Hedonist has her take on the Salon interview and the insular controversey here
Everyone I know asks me, "Oh, are you going to buy that Julie/Juila book? She's a food blogger, and she got a book deal." And I have to patiently explain that I don't really like her writing, even though it's objectively good. I find her whiny and self-aggrandizing at the same time. Picking up the book only confirmed what I read in the blog: I just don't really really like this person. What I find I love about the food blog world is the opposite of what she writes. I love meeting the people behind the words, the feeling of how people write about food, the way we reveal ourselves constantly. yes, there are some food blogs that are simply photographs and a brief recipe, but those aren't the ones I read. Some of the best writing out there is in food blogs. Food generates stories.
She may have a six-figure deal, but I doubt she'll have a third book. (The second one was part of the book deal, I'm sure.) Not unless she suddenly gains some humility.
Every one of the people who left comments here are better writers than she is. And I promise you--this isn't sour grapes.
Truth is - she was new at the time. If any of you people were doing the same thing when she did and then were loaded with the publicity that Julie got, you would probably be writing some crappy, half rate book too, and thinking to yourself "Woo-hoo, I am getting paid for something that was just for fun". You would "forget the little people" too. The greed has just taken over her. I don't blame her for taking advantage of the situation.
I, too, got bored reading her blog, but when I recently started re-reading it, I still managed to laugh out loud at some of the things she had written. Again, I didn't get to the end, but I enjoyed a lot of it. Let her revel in her "success", because we know it won't last long. Why should she not get a book deal - none of us had our blogs then, so she is a maverick of sorts in terms of food blogging. It sounds like there are lots of bitter people here, all with the mind set "I could have done better. Where's my book deal?". I don't care if no-one reads my blog. I am doing it as a record of my cooking a particular style of food while living in a different culture. Get a life - it seems really petty at the moment!
I think Deb had a food blog back then. Mines is about 2.5 years old, mebe not.
I got a book deal and I didn't forget the little people. I come back every day to visit you, see? It's because I care.
Biggles (The Writer)
I am not bitter at all.
I just think that her opinions are ill-informed and not well-reasoned, and I see little that is appealing to her blogs or book.
If I was bitter, I would be making personal attacks along the lines of "She's ugly and her mamma dresses her funny." Well, okay, I would be more scathing, imaginative and relevant in my personal attacks, but the point is, I am not bitter.
I just am also not enthralled with her as a writer or media personality.
no no Hillbilly mispoke, book already been published.
Nothing in the works, at the moment.
Although a local food writer copied my BBQ crawl post I did earlier this year in this week's SF Weekly. My post totally kicked ass.
Like I said, we're supportive!
I hope you do get a solo book deal, Doc. I'd prefer you to the guy doing BBQU on PBS right now.
Yeah, Stephen Raichlen gives me the jeebies. Although, in his defense, at least he uses wood and/or charcoal. You need to look up Campfire Cafe.
Wow! I step away for a few moments and you all go nuts!
Barrett - thank you for the much needed plug. Just would like to point out that the food blogging community actually gets something from promoting/selling what I like to think of as 'our' book since there are 24 food bloggers in it. Unfortunately we don't have a six figure advance to make up by spending the same amount again on publicity. But do see November's Diablo Magazine when it comes out - it has a little tiny write up of Digital Dish.
I have stayed away from the Julie/Julia thing because it would smack of sour grapes were I to comment. I do remember at the time I heard of it thinking that if they had looked a little harder they would have found some better food blogs to pursue - I had Clotilde and Chocolate and Zucchini in mind I think. And that is despite the fact that I find Dr B more my cup of tea than either of them. But I tried very hard in putting Digital Dish together to avoid letting my own tastes and preferences overwhelm the range of content. I invited CLotilde to take part and she declined in one of th nicest and kindest refusals I ever encountered. Completely understandable and I truly hope she actually does get her book out.
But I agree with all the commenters - it is the semi-automatic inclination to be negative about almost anything that puts me off Julie and I too will not be wanting to read the book.
I finally got to watch some TV recently (we don't have TV at our house) and was appalled at the Food Network. With the possible exception of Alton Brown and repeats of the old Iron Chef it was total dross. Barrett - apart from the money aspect, run, run from the Rachel Ray project!
My comment was not about bitter grapes at all. Nor do I think anyone else's was either. I started my food blog around the same time Julie did and for me it is a labor of love. I am not a writer and don't begin to pretend to be one and I am certainly not envious of Julie's book deal. As a matter of fact when she got the deal I remember thinking good for her. What I do take issue with and was offended by was her op-ed piece in the NY Times and her comments about food bloggers in the Salon interview. Julie Powell did not invent the genre and has no right to discredit it just because she finds most food blogs not to her liking. There are more polished ways to say you dislike something.
Don't forget blogger Heidi of 101 Cookbooks fame, her book Cook 1.0 is terrific.
I don't think I have anything to add about Julie at this point that hasn't already been mentioned. I'll simply say that I agree with everyone that the food blogging community is supportive and wonderful. I personally often find the "why" of people's blogs to be a subject of great interest, even when they don't specifically come out and say "this is why I have a blog." It's a bit unkind to label a whole group as having no value when it is simply not to your taste.
Some of you seem to wonder how she remains seemingly bitter and disgruntled, even after finding big money success. After all she is no longer a temp, she can move to Manhattan and eat at all the places photographed and reviewed on the Amateur Gourmet. No longer a mere blogger, she's an author whose book is being compared to literary works such as Bridget Jones' Diary.
Give it time people. Tony Bourdain has softened since his memoir, put on a few pounds and settled into his "On the Road with Charles Kuralt" period. He'll by downright jolly by 2009.
What keeps Julie fueled with negativity? You would be too if you had her follow-up book project. It requires her to watch an episode of "Designing Women" each day for a year, print out scripts from fan web sites and develop her acting skills by reading along as the Delta Burke character.
Whoever Julie is ...what a"prat" she is.No surprise though.Success affects a few people that way. Good luck, god bless and good bye to her.
For me, food blogging and interacting with food bloggers had been a rediscovery of all the good and simple things of life.
Thank you for bringing this blog and book and "author" to my attention. I've made sure to start a conversation on my blog as well... Alicat shared your article with me and the more people that knew about it the better IMHO : )
I didn't read the blog, because I too was annoyed by her. Then I bought the book for research for work (I'm a book editor), and I LOVED it. She's clearly got some issues (who doesn't?), and I found myself bristling a little when she mentioned her "vintage suit" one time too many, but the girl can write. A six-figure advance would probably go to just about anyone's head, if you think about it. And maybe, just maybe, a few of you are a little . . . envious of her success? Perhaps if you focus a little more energy on your own success and less on Julie Powell's, you too will get a six-figure advance.
Sara, I was with you until you played the "envious" card. That is a cheap and intellectually dishonest argument pulled out whenever someone successful is criticized. Were we to accept it as a legitimate argument, any successful person would be completely insulated from criticism by any but the "elite". See our Rachel Ray Cheeseburger salad post for more examples of this worthless rhetorical gewgaw.
I'm glad you liked her book. I haven't read it and I won't. But I'm plenty successful doing what I do and have no wish or need to emulate Ms. Powell, particularly in the "bite the hand that fed you" department.
Barrett, you have taken the time to read the blog and have formed your own opinion. I respect that. Other posters of comments, however, have not read the blog, or the book, and some didn't even seem to have heard of Julie Powell until they read about her here, and yet they too have decided that she's evil and must be stopped! It's with that that i take issue. Julie Powell wrote a blog. Most of the people who read this (ostensibly) write blogs and they have made Powell the enemy because she doesn't read others' food blogs? I'm not saying everyone who writes a food blog seeks the same sort of success that Julie Powell has gotten, but I do think the ill will directed towards her is a little disproportionate. I don't believe successful people should be insulated from criticism--I just think that criticism should be based on one's own opinion, and not an opinion formed solely from reading other peoples' opinions. (And I think the Rachael Ray comparison is like apples and oranges: Rachael Ray did not start with a blog; she came from the restaurant kitchen. I don't love her food --and my God, is she PERKY!-- but she has made cooking less intimidating for people who used to only order takeout, and for that, I appreciate her.)


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I may try something else in the future... just don't know what yet (Type 85? Kamut? Spelt? Add a little ground flax?). Norma... I think I'm catching whatever you've got .Barry
BarryYour pizzas are looking excellent!!!!! Now may I inject a thought? If you've read a lot of stuff from different people here, you will know that baking at high temps promotes better oven spring, while baking at cooler temps will give you a crisper, more tender crust. The reason I love the method you are trying, is that the reballing procedure takes care of the oven spring issue almost by itself, allowing one to bake a beautiful pizza in the home oven at normal temps. Would you mind trying an experiment for yourself.....just once, forget about baking your pizza as fast as you can, and let it bake until the bottom is golden brown....I would just love to know what you thinkJohn
All I'm saying is, the method takes care of the oven spring issue, now you get a bonus because you can bake the bottom to perfection also. So, it is possible for this pizza to have a crisp tender bottom with the cloud like qualities above that....your son might even like it!! If I were going to experiment in your oven, I'd start it all the way up.....without the boiler, just to see what happens......if it fails, it's still good eats!!!John
Now may I inject a thought? If you've read a lot of stuff from different people here, you will know that baking at high temps promotes better oven spring, while baking at cooler temps will give you a crisper, more tender crust.
What temperature would you suggest?Barry
John and Barry,I haven't posted here in quite a while, but John's recipe caused me to rethink mine. (Which got many good reviews from fam and friends in the past) I have 4 doughs in the fridge that have been there since Sunday PM. I will be making some pies on Wednesday and am anxious to see the results. I am not seeing much rise in fridge as I did with my recipe. Fridge temp is between 35-40 F. Do you guys see much with yours before you re-ball the dough?I will be sure to get some pics to show results - that is, if the results are positive. hahaPaul
Beautiful pie Barry!!!!!! Looks to me like the top and bottom were done at the same time...that's perfection in my book. Tell me about the flavor and texture....I can see it...but tell me!!John
Barry,As you may(or may not) know, I've been waiting(suggested)someone do a Fazzari dough on the BS so I am staying tuned here. Great first bake, thanks!
More to come for sure... probably tonight.