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By Steve Bohnel
Spring Training is just around the corner,with the Phillies' pitchers and catchers already reporting.
One of the biggest problems for Philadelphia last season, however, was probably their offense. Finishing in the bottom half of the Major Leagues in batting average (21st at .248), runs (26th at 610), and on-base percentage (24th at .306). The Phillies have some work to do once April rolls around.
The player with the most to prove might be veteran shortstop Jimmy Rollins,who is in the last year of his contract with a vesting option for 2015 given he meets a 434 plate appearance minimum. He is owed $11 million in 2014, but he only batted .252 last season with 6 HR and 39 RBIs. Rollins,who used to be the catalyst for this team a couple years back, constantly found himself shifted around the lineup due to his lack of production and Ben Revere settling into the lead-off role.
Then again, the person probably facing the most pressure is first baseman Ryan Howard. Last year he batted .266 with 11 HR and 43 RBIs. in 80 games. His season ended after suffering a knee injury that required surgery in early July, but given his $25 million salary, he needs to bounce back.
On the flipside, Ben Revere looks to be promising. He played in limited games last year due to a broken foot, but his final stats included a .305 batting average. While he lacks power, his speed is deadly if he gets on base. He swiped 22 bags in 88 games last year.
Chase Utley is nearing the end of the road, but he hopefully has a little left in the tank. His work ethic speaks for itself. He views baseball as serious business.
Carlos Ruiz is getting $8.5 million in 2014. His final stats in 2013 included a .268 average in 92 games, but he was out for the first 25 games due to a suspension for violating the MLB drug policy.
The outfield is the biggest question mark. Cody Asche looks promising if he stays at third base and Domonic Brown did show flashes of greatness, especially in that stretch from May-June where he smacked 18. But is Marlon Byrd worth the $8 million per year signing? The jury is still out. John Mayberry Jr. hit .227 but did show some pop with 11 HRs.
So what are the Phillies looking at in 2014? Disappointing performances like the past two seasons? Or will the team return to their prime that was seen in 2007-2011? Only time will tell.


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I'm pretty high on our more than stellar ride last night. A plan was made to go adventure riding, and with no less than a few hitches and brain-crashings, we succeeded in our daredevil mission.
|Sh*T load of Webs...
I cannot disclose the location of our pursuits, but I can say that we did, in fact, ride our loyal steeds somewhere in the vicinity of 16 miles on rogue, virgin-to-bikes soil. A loop of mass proportions somewhat equal to nothing I can think of, aside from that time the neighbor kids stole a golf cart and parked it on the railroad tracks...just to see what might happen. For them it was a year in jail, for us a glorious circumnavigation of dirt.
|The Posse
Nine hardcore fellas prepared for the unknown as I lead us of into the darkness on what was described as a potential bushwhacking nightmare. Fortunately, the bushwhacking was at a minimum, but the web-whacking was at an all time high. There had to have been a minimum of *1,345 spiderwebs - that were quickly relocated from there home spanning the trail, directly to my face (and sometimes everyone else' face).
|BillyVanilly vs. Earth
There were *112 logs to bunny-hop, vines to elude and fallen trees to duck under. There was deep sand and deep breathing. There were many a wreck, mostly by Beej, but at least two near death experiences when Maxithad decided to give road head to the nearby railroad tracks and/or when I went OTB and was impaled to the groin with my handlebar.
The sweet taste of success, followed by the 'I wonder how my flesh might fair to whatever plant matter we lathered-up with during those epic bushwhacking segments', was bittersweet as we lay flat backed, on the driveway post ride, swilling beer and telling tales of this new gem of a trail system we had just discovered.
There will be many a night rides at this new, rogue loop. There is much work to be done to make it a little bit more user friendly, but for last night; it was a helluva grand adventure. A nice change-up of sorts from the pristine groomers that litter the metro area, to which I am not taking for granted.
Thanks to the great crew of patient dirt loving maniacs that showed face to brawl the unknown. It sure seems like we are on a winning streak of sorts. May it never die.

subset: commoncrawl


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A recent trip to the "La Ville-Lumière" opened my eyes to a few cultural differences that exist between London and Paris. Nothing huge, just little variances I noticed which caught my ever keen attention.
Quite a few elements, unsurprisingly, revolve around Paris' excellent Metro system.
London typically offers an average singer-guitarist, occasionally someone more talented and entertaining, but nearly always an individual. Paris swings full spectrum and it isn't uncommon to have large classical bands or even a string quartet performing for your loose change.
Metro tickets are deceptively small, I guess the French used to be much more environmentally aware than Londoners were. Then London got Oyster, which takes the notion of reusable tickets to another level.
The smaller Metro ticket, about one third of the size
Station Signage
Whereas London feels that consistency is best in the station signage, Paris offers a bit more character and individuality to the station name and decoration. From the upper-class and elegant Louvre Rivoli, to the beautiful mosaic style of Chemin Vert and of course the more traditional Varenne.
Paris seems to have realised that strangers don't actually want to sit next to each other, to the point in London where I've seen people avoid an empty seat just because there is someone in the adjacent seat!
LED maps (similar to the Barcelona Metro) offer location at a glance. I have my suspicions, however, that London could be holding back on this concept for, ahem, budgetary reasons.
Particularly helpful for tourists
Door Signage
London sticks to silhouette line art for this, whereas Paris, even with the bizarre introduction of a rabbit character, gets the message across in a much more light-hearted graphic representation.
Spikes automatically emerge as the doors close?
Paris has had a bicycle hire scheme, or "Vélib", since 2007 and from what I observed it is still running well, though you wonder how much Barclay's corporate colour scheme had to do with them winning the London advertising bid, especially when you compare it to the Parisian equivalent that seemingly blends into the street.
A bit cheeky, but I also love how the French are, almost painfully, obvious in their directions and signage for both large landmarks, and exit routes, clearly overstating on both fronts.
Sorry, where is Notre Dame again?
Overall, and all tongue-in-cheek comments aside, I completely recommend Paris as a city. Beautiful architecture and museums, fantastic scenery and incredible food – there's very little not to like!


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Wednesday, February 08, 2012
February 9th, 2012 Forecast
Lows by morning will be in the upper 20's to around 30 in the immediate city/suburbs, with mid 20's in the Lehigh Valley. Temperatures tomorrow will bounce into the mid and upper 40's through the region, with today's coatings of snow melting away pretty quickly under a mostly sunny sky. Warmest temperatures will be south and east of town.
We are keeping our eyes on a developing coastal storm that's projected to form off of the Carolinas on Saturday. Computer guidance is suggesting the storm does not impact us directly but some energy in association with the developing low may trigger snow showers through the region on Saturday in tandem with a frontal boundary pushing through early in the day Saturday. This front will send temperatures down for Saturday night, with teens in the burbs, and result in a chilled Sunday where we struggle to reach the freezing mark in the city. This cold shot is fleeting, however, and temperatures begin to moderate as soon as Monday.
Posted by Tom at 2/08/2012 03:24:00 PM
Labels: daily forecast


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1. Offer letter masih dalam limbo. I dont know where exactly they throw my offer letter. Kepada mereka memang lah surat tu just another document, but for me it is a damn important one. I've been waiting about 3 months or so, dragging from February to March. Geram ok. Hopefully the long awaited letter will reach my desk before 5 today.
And knowing I have to wait. AGAIN. And keep on waiting may be until tomorrow, seriously buat aku bungkam sepanjang hari.
2. Missed the beautiful super moon, since I was super tired the whole week last week. Sometimes when I feel extra fatigue I cant sleep well. Minggu lepas cuma tidur about 4 hours per day, by friday I penat tidak bermaya.
3. I dont know what they put in the sandwich or kebab. But it is damn good, just too much onion. But it's ok, I can eat onion. Ahh.. addicted. Hidup biar sedap.
4. This week is a pay week. Woot!
5. Bought 3 comics last week. Impromptu. 2 collections/scrap books of Baby Blues, my most favourite comic strip. Mula baca Baby Blues masa zaman uni, but since I moved back to KK, sudah tidak baca yang printed version. Sekadar baca online, which tidak feeling macam baca yang dalam surat khabar.
I love the MacPhersons. Rasanya this is closest parenthood experience I can feel (for now?). Since I doubt if I can be a parent myself. By looking how tired and super busy Wanda is, I am happy where I am now.
Another one is an Introduction X Men, pop up version. My niece was so excited to see and play with the book, but I didnt allow her to touch it, I flipped it for her (kedekut kan?). I guess, I was as excited as she was.
My favourite of course Scott Summers, walaupun hero X Men ialah Encik Logan, akan tetapi dia pendek (ceh tak adilnya judgement aku). Pendek pendek Encik Logan pun lebih kuat dari Scott Summers. Tadi ada peeping Marvel website, macam ada beberapa wayang komik akan menerjah pawagam pada musim panas akan datang.
So I spent my weekend with comics, selain dari buat house keeping vaccuming, cleaning, laundry etc etc etc.
Wonder, what kind of comic character I want to be? When Heroes the TV series was the pisang goreng panas- first season (ini berlaku around my graduation, I had submitted my final year project, tu yang terlebih masa melayan Heroes), watak paling aku suka ialah the one yang boleh melihat masa depan and translate the vision in form of paint, If I am not mistaken the character's name was Issac, he was a painter cum narcotic user, lives in NY.
The irony part, I didnt really fond his ability to see future, but his ability to paint, with eyes close or err.. entah? tapi ada putih2. My brother said, one needs not to be a Hero or Mutant or X Man to paint. All you need is real talent.
p/s: I am having Bad Feeling!. Shooo bad feeling shooo..


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Short fiction from old pulps, posted to Project Gutenberg today (4 June 2010)
Links on author, publisher, or year fetch more matching fiction.
- Arthur B Waltermire's "The Doors of Death"; download; Weird Tales, October 1936: "a banker whose only fear was that he might be buried alive, like his grandfather before him".
- Clark South's "The Time Mirror"; download; Amazing Stories, December 1942: "Here was a strange mirror indeed! It reflected an image all right, but not an image from the same era in history!"
- Clee Garson's "Direct Wire"; download; Amazing Stories, January 1943: "Mort and Mike got strange calls on this phone; they didn't come through Central!"
- Frank M Robinson's "The Worlds of Joe Shannon"; download; If, March 1954: "Strumming a harp while floating on a white cloud might be Paradise for some people, but it would bore others stiff. Given an unlimited chance to choose your ideal world, what would you specify--palaces or log cabins?"
- Edward W Ludwig's "The Holes and John Smith"; download; If, June 1954: "He was something out of a nightmare but his music was straight from heaven. He was a ragged little man out of a hole but he was money in the bank to Stanley's four-piece combo."
- Winston K Marks' "The Test Colony"; download; If, September 1954: "Benson did his best to keep his colony from going native, but what can you do when the Natives have a rare human intelligence and know all about the facts of life?"


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Thank you momma D for these fantastic pictures which really say it all.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Spring (Baby) Showers part I
So, I lost my job rather unexpectedly a few weeks ago and though I've had quite a bit of spare time on my hands I just did not feel like blogging. It took me a couple weeks just to get my knitting mojo back. I have been keeping busy: weeding, planting, pruning, building a new and improved raised bed for veggies, cleaning and organizing the house. I went foraging in the woods for mushrooms and native plants which was especially therapeutic.
My dogs, as you can imagine, are thrilled to have me home. Though the spring weather is hit and miss, they are getting much more regular exercise outside the yard and I am able to spend more time reinforcing good behaviors :).
Fortunately it is raining more than water this Spring. Two important baby showers imposed some much needed deadlines for my languishing knitting projects.
Two of my momma friends are due exactly two days apart, so we had a joint day of celebration and blessing for them. Luckily the weather cooperated and we were able to be outside for messy belly casting and henna decorating of their fecund forms. It was really a wonderful time. Both moms were grateful for the absence of humiliating and idiotic baby shower games and instead we shared good food, good company and the love and support of friends.
Suffice it to say when the husbands came by later they had some choice words to describe our festivities, 'hippy' being one of the least egregious. Some activities are just better off voluntarily gender segregated I guess. We had fun and that's what counts!
Here is one of the baby sweaters I made. It is a very simple cardigan pattern to which I added the skull and crossbones for some tough guy flair (it's a boy). If you are on Ravelry, you can check it out here.
And some very masculine camo baby socks. You may remember the adult version in this yarn. These baby sock blockers are just about the most painfully cute things ever. I keep knitting baby socks so I have an excuse to use them. I bought them at Twisted and they are fantastic!
Here is the second sweater (you can see one of the second pair of booties in the corner there, not sure if I ever got a picture of those together). It is the same cardigan but plain blue with turtle buttons. The buttons actually ended up spread out much more on the sweater but I think I failed to get a final photo of that too. These turtle buttons called to me and at the shower I discovered that turtles were very significant to the recipient and her husband and they share matching turtle tattoos with each others initials. How cute! What serendipity! (or dumb luck depending on your disposition).
On a completely unrelated note, I finished my Rogue Roses socks and took some crappy photos of them. They really are nice. I look forward to sporting them with a skirt in the evenings this summer.
So now I really need to get back to some flying sticks and yarn as I try to finish another sweater for a baby shower this upcoming weekend.
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The week of the rat continues, with a report in Aging Cell that addresses a critical question in dietary restriction studies.
It is known that calorie restriction (the reduction of food intake relative to an ad libitum diet) prolongs lifespan, preserves insulin responsiveness, and confers numerous other benefits in a wide range of animals. It is also known that restriction of methionine in an otherwise ad libitum diet has similar effects: animals live longer than methionine-unrestricted controls, and exhibit a serum hormone profile and visceral fat distribution similar to those of calorie-restricted animals.
Thus it seems that limitation of a single component of the diet confers most of the benefits of limiting the whole diet — or so it would seem, if not for the confounding observation that methionine-restricted animals spontaneously choose to eat less than methionine-unrestricted controls, raising the possibility that the effects of methionine restriction are secondary to overall calorie restriction.
In this clever study by Malloy et al., methionine-unrestricted rats were "pair-fed" the same level of food that methionine-restricted animals eat, and vice versa:
Accordingly, rats pair fed (pf) control diet (0.86% methinone, CF) to match the food intake of MR for 80 weeks exhibit insulin, glucose, and leptin levels similar to control-fed animals and comparable amounts of visceral fat. Conversely, MR rats show significantly reduced visceral fat compared to CF and PF with concomitant decreases in basal insulin, glucose, and leptin, and increased adiponectin and triiodothyronine. … Collectively, the results indicate that MR reduces visceral fat and preserves insulin activity in aging rats independent of energy restriction. (emphasis mine) (Link)
One ramification, if these observations prove to be sufficiently general (i.e., "true in primates and specifically H. sapiens), is that in parallel to the more mainstream push toward calorie restriction mimetics, we might also pursue the development of methionine-restriction mimetics. Perhaps there's even a straightforward way to deplete methionine from regular food, à la the routine pre-digestion of lactose in milk to prevent harm to malabsorbers. (I briefly entertained the idea of inducing methionine malabsorption, but was given pause by the potential side effects. Still, one wonders.)
In the meantime, eat your tofu.


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Welcome to JusTv!
Please check out my reviews for "The New Celebrity Apprentice", "The Flash", "Supergirl", "Legion", "DC's Legends of Tomorrow" and "Justice League Action". Over the summer, I'll post reviews for "American Ninja Warrior" and other full season reviews gearing up for the fall season. I also have special sections called Take the Plunge and Retro Rewind. Take the Plunge revolves around shows that I've binge-watched that are fairly new or are on a streaming network like Netflix or Hulu. I summarize the series up until the present and give my brief thoughts on it. Review Rewind, I hope, is fairly obvious. It deals with older shows no longer on the air and I discuss either a season or the whole run of the series.
I hope that you enjoy the reviews to come and feel free to comment..


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Have you ever noticed just how many negative posts there are on social media? People (myself 100% included) are so fast to jump on Facebook or Twitter to rant or complain about things. We take to these outlets to complain about crappy service at a restaurant or the fact that our kids kept us up all night (I'm completely owning that one right there), yet we are much less likely to share the good things happening with us.
For me, I'm guilty of complaining or whining about the hardships of everyday life, but I rarely post about the joys. I'll moan about the fact that my 4 month old woke up 4 times last night, but I won't share that he was in bed (his own bed) by 7:15pm and has been miraculously doing this all week long.
Why do I do this? Why does society as a whole seem to be guilty of this?
Personally, I know I always shy away from "tooting my own horn", if you will. I feel like sharing my joys and #MomWin's are akin to bragging, and I don't feel right about that. But I'm all too ready to whine when things aren't going right, because I want other people to tell me they understand, and I want to know I'm not in whatever the current crisis may be alone. The mom community is so great about supporting each other, so it's easy to reach out when I'm feeling like things aren't going my way.
However, I'm ready to change this focus on the negative, and put the focus on good. There is so much in my life that I am grateful for, and so much joy. I'm challenging myself to share more of the happiness and gratitude and less the grumbling and complaining.
Will you take this challenge, too? Let's #FocusOnTheGood


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As much as I'd like to be the perfect mum, I resolved quite quickly that there is no such thing as perfect, especially when you're trying to do the best that you can as a single parent. Doing the best that you can means choosing your battles and do what you need to do to get your tasks accomplished. This included what we ate.
I love to cook, especially for others, but it's not always possible when I'm also running the family business [all on my own]. So we resort to, you guessed, fast food and packaged foods. I've decided that this is the one thing that I need to do for both myself and my daughter – to make sure we both eat better. I've been collecting and reading lots of cookbooks about Slow Cooking, Vegetarian, Vegan, Raw and Juicing.
I think that change needs to be gradual to make it work. Here's my journey in finding new [old] dishes for us to like that is a healthier choice.
Today's dinner: Mac and Cheese with Cauliflower (hidden) courtesy of saltscapes.com
- 2 cups (500 mL) whole grain macaroni
- 1 head cauliflower, broken into florets
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) butter
- 4 tbsp (60 mL) flour
- 2 cups (500 mL) milk
- 2 cups (500 mL) grated cheddar cheese
- ½ cup (125 mL)
- whole wheat bread crumbs
- Cook macaroni according to package directions. Set aside.
- Steam cauliflower until soft, 15-20 minutes. Set aside.
- Melt butter in a sauté pan, then add flour, stirring to incorporate. Allow flour to cook until it just begins to bubble and release some butter back into the pan.
- Add milk and stir until thickened, about 3-4 minutes.
- Remove from heat; add cauliflower and purée using a blender or hand mixer.
- Return to heat and add cheddar cheese, stirring until melted.
- Add cooked and drained macaroni to sauce. Place in a 9×9-inch (23×23-cm) baking dish. Top with bread crumbs and bake at 350ºF (180ºC) for 30 minutes.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Note: I amended the recipe slightly by using Penne Rigate instead of Macaroni, Planko instead of Breadcrumbs and I added Fried Onions


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WHARTON, TEXAS — With Hurricane Ike gathering strength over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, authorities ordered mandatory or voluntary evacuations in four low-lying counties along the Texas coast as frail and elderly residents were bused to safety inland.
Ike barreled across the gulf past Cuba, strengthening into a Category 2 hurricane with maximum winds near 100 mph. Forecasters predicted the storm would become a Category 3 -- possibly a Category 4 -- before making landfall somewhere between Corpus Christi and Houston early Saturday.
A Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale packs sustained winds of at least 131 mph and storm surges 13 feet to 18 feet above normal.
The state's coastal areas are home to the nation's largest collection of refineries and chemical plants. Texas has a quarter of the nation's refining capacity, with most of the facilities located in the hurricane's potential path as outlined by forecasters.


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Nearly 8,000 Muslims prayed the namaaz-e-janaza for Yakub Memon today. With that ended the 20+ years of pursuit for justice.
Did those who had lost their families in the blast really found justice? Was Yakub among those who pursued justice? We will never know.
What we do know is Allah is Al Adl, the Most Just.
We only saw a man who plead innocence till his last night in this world.
We saw a man whose voice was lost in the rabble for retribution, whose claim of innocence pressed under unrelenting need for affirmation and to punish the guilty, whose last words were for the acceptance of this punishment on behalf of his brothers sin, but rejection of it due to the faith in his innocence.
Was he really innocent or was he punished for the stains on him that his brother's sins painted?
We will never know but Allah knows and Allah sees everything.
He sees the innocence of those who claimed it till their last breath and of those that never even got a chance to do so.
What we can only take from this end is that this is not the end.
This is not the place where justice prevails but on the Day of Judgement, everything will be crystal clear.
Who cast the first stone? Why is the justice in this country not just? Who decides the punishment?
What we can only hope and pray for is that if Yakub was guilty of even one atom's weight of wrong, then his death may not have been in vain.
We pray that we are able to account for our worst of sins in this world and not the next. That when we meet Allah, we meet Him in a state of fewer sins and with lots of repentance in our account.
That when we meet Allah, we would have turned to Him before returning to Him.
Yakub knew that he will die, many of us may not and repentance will then become a luxury.
Yakub may never have had a shot at justice, but he had a shot at forgiveness. And in the end, in the real end, that is what will make all the difference.
And Allah knows best.


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The Cup Runneth Over
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Final Project :) Male Teens in the Media
This project to say the least was definitely challenging. I underestimated how hard the project was going to be when I first heard about it. However, when I went to start the project I could not figure out iMovie to save my life. I texted the teachers and after still not being able to figure it I finally went to the Apple store. They helped me download software and I finally figured it out. I was originally going to do my project on rape victims, however when doing more research; I switched my topic over to teenage males in the media. I watched dozens of video clips before finally figuring out which clips I wanted to use.
The first thing I noticed when my project was done was that every clip showed some parts of S.C.W.A.A.M.P in it. I saw straightness in the sense that whenever a male was doing anything, his focus was always on a female. All these men were also abled bodied and American. Maleness was a given when I watch my final video. The simple fact being that I focused only on male teens. Finally, a lot of the males in my video had property ownership in some sort of way; whether it was shown through their house, clothes, cars or money. Another text I saw was Christensen's "Unpacking the Myths that Bind Us." Every stereotype I saw, I felt guilty because it's often what I think of when I think of black teen males. Even though I have black guy friends who don't act like these males, I still fall victim to these stereotypes. It's something that I grew up learning was the norm. For the future generations I think all we can do is teach them at a young age that these stereotypes are not only untrue but offensive. The final text I saw when doing this project was Raby's "A Tangle of Discourses." The first discourse I saw was the Storm. These young men were all in turbulent situations of some kind or another. Some of the men were also hormone driven. For example; when Will constantly hit on all the girls he saw. The next discourse was At Risk. The two boys who beat and killed the Asian man were definitely in trouble. They had the free will and chose to do something bad. You also saw sexual scenes and the use of drugs. Finally, I felt I really saw Pleasurable Consumption. With the clips from TV and music videos, the guys were all in nice clothes, had money and women hanging all over them. For any young male, this is a very impressionable view.
When this project first started I really felt like a digital immigrant. I could not figure out IMovie at all and felt really pathetic. I had to get help from not just the teachers, but also the Apple professionals. However, once I got over the initial hump of figuring out the software, the project flowed smoothly.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Enlightened Sexism talking points # 8 Connections Blog
In the article Enlightened Sexism by Susan J. Douglas she defines this as the perceived threat of a new gender regime. It insists that woman have made plenty of progress because of feminism, so now it's okay, even amusing to resurrect sexist stereotypes of girls and women (pg. 9). Douglas then goes onto to give different examples of enlightened sexism. She states that enlightened sexism is targeted to girls who have it all. Douglas also says that enlightened the media and that are producing all sexism they are calling the shots. Plus that it is "undoing feminism." Douglas then continues by saying that enlightened sexism ignores any girl who is not middle or upper class and makes girls and women compete for a male's attention. Finally, Douglas states that any person who is on television whether they are rich, good looking or spoiled, that we as viewers are better than them because we can judge them and we make better choices than they do.
Douglas then states that enlightened sexism pulls girls and women into opposite directions "between serious success and respect and wanting acceptance, approval and love and wanting power and dreading power." So girls now have to figure out whom they want to be and that if they choose to work and have success then we have to be able to deal with the consequences, because it was "our own choice."
I feel that with all the shows that Douglas mentions in the article, all the shows portray S.C.W.A.A.M.P. These shows portray straightness by showing relationships. They show whiteness because majority of leading cast members are all white. These people are all able bodies and American. Finally, you really see property owner for the reason being all the cast members have al these rich extravagant lives and don't see to have to worry about money problems.
Another previous reading I thought of when reading Douglas was Raby's Discourses. Girls today are the storm, at risk, becoming and pleasurable consumption. The storm because girls on TV are easily influenced by all the opportunities that are presented to them. They are at risk because they have complete access to sex and alcohol. Becoming because whenever a girl does a reality show, it is a huge milestone in the girls' life. They look back at that time and see how much they have grown and changed from that time. Finally, with girls now on TV it gives viewers an idea of what is "in" and "popular". It makes advertisement easier because they have now have models to base future products on.
talking points # 7 extended comments blog
For this blog I decided to the extended comment blog. I agree with Dean that in earlier years, that gays were always hidden or had some kind of major problem, whether it being a disease or coming to terms with having to come out.
Keshia mentions that a normal teenager "makes fun of teachers, dine and dash, explore sex and hang out, talk and get kissed." I think for some of that, it is true. Teens are constantly trying to find themselves through each other, sex and drugs. However, Glee's portrayal of a "normal" gay, I feel is not represented correctly when it comes to Santana. I agree with Glee that glee club is not considered "cool" and being a part of it makes you a loser. I do agree with Keshia when she mentions that gays are portrayed as being inferior in this episode. Whenever Kurt is talking about his gayness or anyone else says anything, then it is always in a negative way. I do think that Glee did a good job with not making Kurt out as a diseased gay.
Whenever we watch something for class, we always have to keep in mind who gets rewarded and who gets punished. In Glee Santana gets punished for having sexual thoughts. She is no longer to finish what she had started with the boy in the Science room. Kurt also gets punished in the end of Never Been Kissed because when the boys are all have to apologize they make Kurt actually sing everything in the front.
I think that Glee is trying to be this show that has come along way from every other show. However, I don't actually feel they do this. They still play into the stereotypes that kids are put into by the media and their peers.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
talking points # 6 'how being a good girl can be bad for girls' hyperlinks
When I read this article, I have to admit I just couldn't seem to grasp why any girl would put herself in a position to always be at a man's call whenever he needed her. Or why she isn't able to say 'No' and not feel so bad. So I started looking around and I sifted through different video's and I found this interesting video. It made the article a little more clearer for myself. Girls are taught at a very young age on how to dress, look and act around other's. They are expected to be everything and nothing all at the same time. This change though to teach girls that 'no is okay' is going to be a tough one. It's almost like all the adult women have to be reprogrammed on how to behave. I can say this though a good girl gone bad seems to be very appealing to men. However, I don't think the majority of men are ready for women to stand up for themselves. Because the second a woman does stand up for herself, then she is considered a bitch.
How is homosexuality presented in the film?
In the movie, a Brandon has been getting picked on for his sexual orientation. He then decides to enlist the help from Olive. However, Olive is not too happy about this and tells him to actually just hide his orientation until they graduate like every other gay does, however, he's not too fond of this idea. Homosexuality is also viewed through the religious group on campus. They seem to be very against the gays and even seem to try and 'save' them. However, by the end of the movie Brandon ends up running away because he still fears what people will think of his sexuality.
What would Tolman and Higgens say about this movies representation of sexuality?
I think that they would both say that Olive is being repressed. That if she was a boy, then she would not be getting hassled for anything she has done, but yet getting praised. It shows the gender roles we have for ourselves and other's. However, I feel that Tolman and Higgens would both be happy with the approach that Olive is taking (even though it is not traditional).
Why does media matter?
Media matters in this movie because that is a big way all the rumors are getting spread. However, Olive uses media to her advantage by making the video and telling her side of the story with no interruptions. So this movie shows how media can be used in a positive and negative way.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
'mastering your johnson' argument
This author Krassas argues that magazines in today's times have become very explicit. Krassas begins with saying how women are being portrayed in magazines. Those women are placed in a certain position because that is the role they are expected to take on. However, when a male is portrayed, then he is always a dominant creature helping the situation. Another problem Krassas seems to have is the articles in magazines. Magazines today are all about subliminal messages through their articles. They are all about how a women or male should look, act or feel.
What I gather was Krassas's main point was that magazines are just not what they used to be. All magazine's care about today is sex and everything related to it. I personally, love Cosmo Magazine, however, I do enjoy the one heart felt story. However, I feel that Krassas doesn't seem to understand the new generation of magazine readers. Today's readers, for the majority at least, do not care about issues in the world. What they care about is how to make them more valuable (as shallow as that may be.)
Sunday, June 5, 2011
'Digital Native, Digital Immigrant' Quotes Blog
In the article Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants author Marc Prensky discusses the education gap between what he calls the digital native generation to the digital immigration generation. For people who do not what this means it's simple. The digital natives are the kids who were born into the digital world. They know everything from computers and the Internet all the way to the latest gadgets. They know exactly what is going on in the world in an instant from Facebook to Twitter. However, the flip side of this generation is the digital immigrants generation. They are the people who grew up in a 'simpler' time. They read books, instead of finding the answer on the Internet; they take their time and enjoy doing things the 'long' or 'hard' way. These two very different groups coincide with each other and now more then ever are butting heads over the future.
The article begins with the education problem that is happening in the United States. Kids today are not learning at the level they should be and more and more kids are dropping out of school or just not attending. "This is not just a joke. It's very serious, because the single biggest problem facing education today is that our Digital Immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language (that of the pre-digital age), are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language." (Page 2, paragraph 3) With all the teachers stuck in their old ways, I think it causes these types of problems. Teachers need to accept the fact that times are changing, so are our kids and the access they have available to them.
However, "should the Digital Native students learn the old ways, or should their Digital Immigrant educators learn the new?" (Page 3, paragraph 5) I honestly think that because our students are the future of everything, it only makes sense for the Digital Immigrants to move forwards and learn these new teaching methods. "We need to invent Digital Native methodologies for all subjects, at all levels, using our students to guide us." (Page 6, paragraph 1) By teachers figuring out new ways to teach their students, it will open up everything. Students will be more likely to want to learn things, if it makes more sense to them.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Who are these teenagers? - Reflection
Everyone knows that the teenage years for a kid can be the most confusing time of his or her life, especially for girls. It's that awkward time in your life where you are trying to figure out who you are and where you want to fit in the world. It's making sure you're living up to high standards set for you be the people before, while still being 'perfect' enough for the boys to notice you. I remember being a teenager and stressing not so much about school, but about what my peers would think. Making sure that I had the trendiest clothes and still focus on my looks, but without being an airhead.
Even though a teenager is a relatively new concept, the problems have always been there. It's that time where puberty hits you and you don't really know what to do with yourself. Most adults pass your problems off as 'stupid problem'. However, the problems I had when I was a teenager were the worst things to ever happen to me. I didn't know about the world around me, nor did I care. My biggest problem was all the changes happening in such a short amount of time to the boy I had a crush on, nothing more. Once I got through them, I loved being a teenager. I was able to experiment with different clothes and meet new people. However, while being a teenager, you are still being judged. I remember being seventeen years old and wanting my nose pierced, but my parents told me no. They said that people were going to judge me unfairly. I finally told them that I didn't' care and once I turn eighteen years old; I'm going do this. They finally caved in and brought me to get it done.
I'm now twenty-one years old and I look back on my teenage years and I truly miss it. It seems like such a simpler time for me, even with the drama. With everything I've been through as well as everyone else, I think teenagers rely heavily on their friends. I couldn't imagine going through some of the things I went through without my friends.
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In the immortal words of Reverend Lovejoy, "short answer yes with an if, long answer no with a but…"
Recent political developments have attracted a great deal of discussion amongst my postgrad/teaching associate colleagues and myself. At the top of the list has been the proposed intervention of politicians into the funding for research projects.
We have been especially concerned about the statements made regarding 'ridiculous' projects that Liberal politicians have targeted for attack; projects that us humanities scholars actually feel are very important and worthwhile. It seems that the new government will take a deep interest in ensuring that research funding is not 'wasted'. Who determines what 'waste' means (politicians) is the key issue.
This led me to ponder the question as to whether in this funding environment it is worthwhile starting a doctoral project in the humanities. From one perspective, it could be suggested that this is a terrible time to begin a project, with the uncertainty of financial support making an already stressful project even worse.
But after thinking about it for a little while, I believe that now is the most important time to conduct the kind of research done by historians and other humanities scholars.
The kind of work done in the humanities leads us scholars to question, investigate and critically evaluate not only our specific topics but also the world around us. It seems that it is just this kind of approach that conservative elements in our society find most alarming. Academia is therefore a battleground upon which the 'culture wars' are going to be fought over the next few years.
As such, it is more important than ever that the work of historians and other humanities scholars be continued and strengthened by new research projects. Whether the work being done looks at gender roles in the Middle East, the work of German intellectuals from the 18th and 19th centuries or the influence of the United States on Australian politics in the 1950s and 60s, it must continue.
By rejecting the proposition that politicians can intervene in research funding (a concept I find absolutely offensive), new scholars can maintain a sense of independence in their work. In other words, now is the time to demonstrate that it is not only in science and medicine that 'valuable' research can be conducted. Now obviously the practicalities of this are not as simple as I've presented it, but a spirit of resistance needs to be harnessed in the current climate.
I've been surprised by my own reaction to the statements of the Coalition, as there is a part of me that is convinced of the importance of my work. To be confronted with the view that a large segment of society views the kind of work that I do as 'ridiculous' is deeply concerning.
It is mainly for this reason that I think now is the time for scholars in all areas of the humanities and social sciences to come together to show that what we do is just as important as what other academics do. With this in mind it is not only worthwhile for new students to commence a research degree in the history or some other area of the humanities, it is absolutely necessary.
A link on The Conversation also deals with issue in an excellent way.


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Now, whats stupid is the reasons people have for their choice in candidate, or even the political ideology they choose to identify with. I say its stupid, but hey, people wanna be a part of something, and that's why they identify themselves with certain voting blocks, or groups. Personal choice is one thing, but when you choose to identify with certain groups, and be influenced by them in your voting decision, I think you're foolish, and clearly unable to think for yourself.
Like evangelicals for example. These people are supposed to be the moral compass of our society because they have box seats in heaven. People like this always try and influence the ballot with their issues. In 2004, it was gay marriages, and from the looks of it, this year its gonna abortion. Well I don't know, but I don't think the reason gas was almost $5 per gallon was because of all the women who exercised their right by law to abort a pregnancy. With the appointment of three new Supreme Court justices by the next administration this is slowly becoming an issue for hard line social conservatives, and Evangelicals.
For many, this is why they find favor with the McCain-Palin GOP ticket. Not that its not an important issue for women to have the right to abort a pregnancy. But is this the sole issue that should serve as a deal breaker when casting your vote? Though an important issue for debate, I don't think it should even be in the top five of concerns, or issues facing the American public today. But don't tell that to evangelicals. To them its a very important issue as they for the most part advocate the right to life. But they're so stupid, that they're prepared to cast a vote for McCain because he's pro-life. Sure, give him your vote because he all about saving babies. Yup, the same guy who is all about going to war, or chasing Bin Laden to Hell as he put it. Lemme guess, innocent people don't get killed in war? Even more ignorant, is the fact that some people are pro-life and support the death penalty. If you're one of those people, and you feel up to it, please explain in your comments how you came to that decision. I guess that would explain all those hypocritical people who chose to bomb abortion clinics in protest back in the 90's.
Last week in a U.S. attack over in Afghanistan, they killed 90 people. Of whom, 60 of them were children. The U.S. Gov't refuses to acknowledge the death count, but the U.N. investigation sure has shed some light on it. Woo hoo for those pro-lifers who support McCain! But like I said, Evangelicals are stupid. You'd think that by believing in Jesus, and his ability to provide for them, that they wouldn't even care about what the gov't does. Or what other people do for that matter. But then again, its their job to gain as many souls as they can to have that big bash in heaven when its all said and done.
So they make gay marriages and abortion the real issue in America. Never-mind the economy, the mortgage crisis, unemployment, or that Maury Povich is still doing paternity shows. That shit isn't important; Jesus is the answer. Whats important is what women do with their bodies or their vagina. Well I got a message for you Evangelical, bible thumping, anti abortion women: Just because John McCain has added a vagina to his ticket, doesn't mean that he cares about yours. Personally, for the record, I think abortion is as much a personal choice, as a woman choosing breast implants, or breast reduction. In my opinion, I do not think that it should even be a legal issue.
Whats your take on the abortion issue?


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Heller Study Paints Grim Retirement Picture for Some
Only 4 percent of Latino seniors and 8 percent of African-American seniors have the resources to maintain economic security throughout their lives, compared to 25 percent of whites, according to a study released in September by the Heller School's Institute on Assets and Social Policy (IASP) and the national policy center Demos. The new research, compiled in a report called "The Crisis of Economic Insecurity for African-American and Latino Seniors," points to such practices as redlining (discrimination in financial services), segregation and workplace inequities to explain the dramatic disparity, showing how today's seniors of color have been prevented over their life spans from acquiring the assets needed to prepare for a secure retirement. In response to these findings, the report makes the following recommendations:
- Ensure the strength and adequacy of the Social Security program.
- Sustain funding for support services that help seniors meet basic needs.
- Foster sustainable homeownership among seniors by prohibiting predatory loans and financial products, particularly in low-income neighborhoods of color and among older households.
"It is unacceptable, in a country committed to equality of opportunity, to have nine in 10 Latino senior households and more than eight in 10 African-American senior households suffer from retirement insecurity," says Tatjana Meschede, research director at IASP and co-author of the IASP research director Tatjana Meschede report. "Our elected officials must summon the courage to acknowledge and combat the extreme racial inequities among American seniors."


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Today we hit Snowbird and although we didn't ski the Greatest Snow on Earth, the turns were really outstanding for Memorial Day weekend. Early in the morning we enjoyed some creamy skiing in Mineral Basin, with the snow nicely softened by the morning sun.
The cover is absolutely amazing. This is the year to ski lines like the pipeline that's for sure. I snapped the photo below on the Peruvian chair only because if you didn't look at the calendar, you'd swear it was early March instead of late May.
We've discussed the problems measuring snow on several occasions, most recently with regards to the Alta snowfall record. There's a nice article discussing these problems and recent efforts to address them in an article in the latest UCAR quarterly entitled How Deep the Snow? Enjoy!


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Earthquake!February 27, 2008
At 00:56 this morning the UK was struck by it's largest earthquake in nearly 25 years. Cool eh? I was still up and reading, and have to admit it scare me to death at the time, the shear fact i had no idea what was going on!
I live 100 miles from the epicentre which supposedly occurred just north of Market Rasen in Lincolnshire, but the noise and power was incredible. The quake measured 4.7 but has certainly been enough to awake the people in the UK that we are not immune to such phenomena.
If you felt the quake, wherever you may be, you can help out the British Geological Survey by compiling a quick survey to aid their research here.


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A few months ago, a reader wrote in asking for an assessment of Mitt Romney's energy policies, from an EarthTechling perspective. I thought it was too soon to go there. Why take the trouble of examining a guy who might lose the nomination to Herman Cain? Careful analysis, however, now reveals that Cain will not be nominee. Nor will Bachmann, Huntsman or Perry – or any of the dead men walking: Paul, Santorum or even Gingrich.
No, it's going to be Obama vs. Romney, and although the Occupy movement is right when it says sucking up to corporate interests is a bipartisan activity, on matters of clean energy, this matchup offers a clear choice: One guy will mostly do the right thing, the other guy will mostly do the wrong thing.
True, in an Obama second term we might still have to endure his frustrating unwillingness to warm our green hearts with some no-holds-barred ass-kicking on climate change. Even when this president arrives at the right place – as on the Keystone XL pipeline question – the journey is often less than completely satisfying.
"This announcement is not a judgment on the merits of the pipeline, but the arbitrary nature of a deadline that prevented the State Department from gathering the information necessary to approve the project and protect the American people," the president said in explaining his decision. That's hardly a galvanizing repudiation of a project that would aid and abet a tar sands extraction and refinement process that is, from a climate-change perspective, a giant step in the wrong direction.
Still, he did make the right call, and we cannot forget that this administration has directed more federal resources into clean energy than any president ever through a variety of means, and at no small political cost. And the administration – as Susan Kraemer recently pointed out on EarthTechling – has put the pedal to the metal in opening up public lands for resource development beyond oil and coal, embracing solar, wind and geothermal.
Romney's energy plan, meanwhile, could have been written by a fossil-fuel industries lobbyist. Did I say could have been? It was! A top Romney advisor is the former Missouri senator Jim Talent, whose lobbying shop has been taking in $125,000 a year from big coal. In Romney's policy opus, "Believe in America," Talent has a bylined piece in which he sings the praises of stuff that comes out of the ground (plus nuclear, which is endorsed without even a cursory nod toward the questions raised by the Fukishima disaster).
Most startling is the assertion from Team Mitt that Obama has ended energy production in the United States. Yes, ended it: "Stopping energy production in the United States has cost us millions of jobs in the energy industry alone – good, high paying jobs that Americans need. It has cost us hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue because energy companies pay royalties and fees when they lease land from the government to produce energy. It has allowed hostile foreign regimes and movements to hold us hostage or extract money from us that is then used against us. Worst of all, stopping energy production has hurt the economy, and that is bad for everyone."


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See through promogens.com page
Promogens.com is a malicious page. It has a blue screen and some fake error code to make users think it a BSOD information. You should not be fooled, this pop-up is telling lies about your computer security, the so-called errors do not exist in your computer. It is just an ad that are trying to mislead you. If you are scared to call the given number 18668080989, you will be charged to remove the non-exist problems. Which means that victims are cheated out of money.
The adware which supports the fake info is usually brought by malware installing. They will make modifications to your browsers settings and registry data, that's why the pop-up takes every chance to come. It is so stubborn that will keep coming to affect your browsing experience. Try to remove the adware permanently in right steps.
|Do Not Believe a Word on It
Tip: To know the exact security condition of your PC, you should use a reliable scanner instead of calling a dubious number.
How to remove 18668080989 Pop-up safely?
You can try to remove it manually by following the below removal instruction. To ensure the removal successful and complete, you can also rely on a removal tool to get rid of it conveniently.
Manual removal steps
Step 1. Reset your browsers' settings
For IE:
Open Internet Explorer, press Alt+X >> select Internet options >> General tab >> enter your preferred URL >> Apply
Continue to General tab >> Delete… >> Delete Browsing History
For Firefox:
Open Mozilla Firefox menu >> Options >> General tab >> Restore to Default >> OK
Open Mozilla Firefox menu >> History >> Clear Recent History… >> Clear Now
For Chrome:
Open Google Chrome menu >> Settings >> On startup option, click Set pages, delete the unwanted address >> OK
Continue to Appearance option >> Show Home button >> Change >> delete the unwanted address >> OK
Press Ctrl+H to History tab >> Clear browsing date… >>click clear browsing date to confirm
Step 2. Uninstall the related programs from your control panel.
Press Win+R buttons, input Control Panel in the box to run Control Panel, find the list of programs, remove the potential unwanted ones.
Step 3. Delete registry entries
Press Windows+R, input REGEDIT, press Enter to open Registry Editor. Delete all the malicious registries as shown.
A professional tool to kill all the threats : Use SpyHunterSpyHunter is a powerful anti-malware program that can help you get rid of suspicious and unwanted programs. fix annoying threats and bring safety back to your PC. The step of how to download and use SpyHunter are shown below.
Step 1. Download SpyHunter by clicking the button below.
Step 2. Install the program by double clicking SpyHunter-Installer.exe.
Step 3. Open SpyHunter after the installation and make the program scan your computer by clicking the button Scan Computer Now!.
Step 4. Click the button Fix Threats to clean up dangerous and unwanted programs after the scanning.
Extra step: Clean up the system trash with RegCure Pro
Step 1. Download RegCure Pro by Clicking the button.
Step 2. Install the program by clicking the button Yes.
Step 3. Run RegCure Pro after the installation and click the button Click to Start Scan to allow the program to scan your computer.
Step 4. Click the button Fix All to complete the scanning.


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|Myers (pictured) and Kemp make the Padres considerably better (UTSanDiego)
And yet, thanks to a sneaky-good pitching staff that ranked second in the National League (and fourth in baseball) with a 3.27 ERA, San Diego finished third in the NL West at 77-85, just four wins shy of a .500 season. With a few lineup upgrades to complement their talented rotation, the Padres would be legitimate postseason contenders in 2015.
Ladies and gentlemen, enter Matt Kemp and Wil Myers, two middle-of-the-order mashers who bring some much-needed thump to San Diego's anemic lineup. Better yet, both are under team control for the next five years. Kemp, dealt by the Dodgers last week, was the 2011 NL MVP runner-up to Ryan Braun, hit 25 home runs last year, and has put up a 140 OPS+ or higher in three of the past four seasons. He's making boatloads of money, but the Dodgers are covering enough so that he'll only cost San Diego around $15 million per year.
And then there's Myers, recently netted through a blockbuster 11 player, three team swap. A product of the Royals farm system, Myers has already been traded once before, going to the Rays (for James Shields and Wade Davis), with whom he earned 2013 AL Rookie of the Year honors despite playing just 88 games. He struggled mightily in his sophomore season, losing more than 200 points off his OPS has he battled injuries and a slow start. He's yet to play more than 90 games in a big league season and must prove he's capable of holding up over a full season, but there's no denying his superstar potential.
PetCo Park is notoriously tough on hitters, but both are coming from sever pitcher's parks in Tampa Bay and Los Angeles. Kemp's numbers should be expected to decline with age (he's already 30), but one would expect Myers to match or exceed his rookie production. Their monster power plays anywhere, so 81 games at PetCo shouldn't murder their numbers (though it definitely won't help). Between them they should be good for five or six additional wins next year, maybe more if Myers really takes off.
So where does that leave the Padres? With an abundance of outfielders (I hear the Red Sox have a similar problem) and a lineup still rife with question marks (do Jedd Gyorko and Will Venable bounce back? Can Carlos Quentin stay healthy? Will Seth Smith replicate his success). They'll score more runs with Kemp and Myers aboard, but perhaps not significantly more given Kemp's age and injury history and Myers's recent struggles.
Assuming the pitching holds steady, San Diego could easily improve to .500 next year, 85 wins if everything goes right. The Dodgers and Giants are still heavy favorites to take first and second place in the division, but both have gotten weaker this offseason and could be ore vulnerable next year. The Padres aren't quite ready to overtake them, but they're definitely going in the right direction. Another big bat or proven starter would go a long way, but they've already improved considerably and it's not even Christmas.
Then again, it's not like the Padres lineup could have gotten any worse.


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The screening and panel discussion of the film "Emptying the Skies" – which chronicles how European trappers slaughter millions of migratory songbirds every year for large sums on the black market – will be held 7-9:30 p.m. Feb. 19 at Idaho State University.
The free event will be held in the Pond Student Union Wood River Room.
Following the hour-long screening of "Emptying the Skies," the following panelists will discuss the challenges of environmental regulation in Europe and the United States:
• David Delehanty, professor of biology at ISU and curator of birds, Idaho Museum of Natural History;
• Steven Hall, lecturer in English at ISU;
• David Kampwerth, field supervisor of the Eastern Idaho Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and
• Chuck Trost, professor emeritus of biological sciences at ISU and founder of Portneuf Valley Audubon Society.
The discussion will be moderated by Curt Whitaker, associate professor of English at ISU and Portneuf Valley Audubon Society board member.
This event is co-sponsored by ISU's Department of English and Philosophy, the ISU English Graduate Student Association, and Portneuf Valley Audubon Society.


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A lot is being made right now about the Yankees' bridge, or lack thereof, to Mariano Rivera.
I'm wondering, does anyone here remember how last year, for a while, that bridge was named Kyle Farnsworth?
Just sayin' is all.
The other thing that's caught my eye is people bringing up sticking Phil Hughes in the bullpen when Chien Ming Wang returns to the rotation.
I am, for the moment, against the idea for the following reasons:
1) Hughes is a 22 year old kid. Yes, still. He's the 20th youngest MLB player. He's still developing. If he was 27, 28, it'd be a different story, but he's not. He's still working all the kinks out after missing large time periods with injury. Baseball history is littered with starters that struggled early in their career and then turned into something incredible.
2) Hughes has a better chance of furthering his development if he goes down to AAA, where he can start every day, than if he has to remake his mentality. It's the old cross country racer-turned-sprinter argument. They're both pitching, but the types are so different they might as well be two different sports.
3) Joba worked as a short reliever because he could throw 100 mph heat without breaking a sweat. Phil's velocity is lower, and with his occasional control issues, it does not make a good mix for a set up man.
Now that Bruney's back, the Yankees have a little--not much--but a little more breathing room in the bullpen. If the starters can keep pitching into the seventh inning, then the rest of the bullpen should work itself out.
They're finicky things. Hell, the Mets have two closers this year and they still have bullpen issues. The Indians had the best bullpen in 2007 and have the worst in 2009 with largely the same staff. The Angels pen was shut-down-to-K-Rod in 08 and has pitched something awful in 2009.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
How Soon We Forget (and why Phil Hughes Does Not Belong in the Bullpen)
A lot is being made right now about the Yankees' bridge, or lack thereof, to Mariano Rivera.


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I know this the standard line these days, as getting the Amurkan people behind spending $87 billion to help those poor Ay-rabs out for humanitarian reasons is damn near impossible, but do people really believe it? I know the conservative Borg will keep spouting it, but can they honestly believe that we are now in Iraq to fight terrorists?Switch that wording around: "We are in Iraq now to fight terrorists", and you'll get the reasoning. Remember, the rationale doesn't have to be consistent (hence the switch from WMDs to humanitarianism) as long as it fits a plausible interpretation of the situation on the ground.
In other words, we're now enmeshed in full-bore mission creep. Yes, the Powell doctrine was specifically designed to prevent that. The Powell doctrine is dead.


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Dates and titles for the Postgraduate and Early Career Seminar have now been announced:
18 March Rebecca Conley (Manchester)
Modern England is Rapidly Blackpooling Itself: J.B. Priestley, Blackpool and Englishness
20 April David Turner (York)
Managing the 'Royal Road': The Development and Failings of the Managerial Structure on the London and South Western Railway 1836-1900
6 May Simon Lambe (St Mary's University College)
The Tudor Monarchy and the Somerset Gentry
20 May Caroline Watkinson (QMUL)
Exiled English Convents and the French Revolution
All seminars take place in the Low Countries Room, Institute of Historical Research, University of London, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU. Seminars start at 5.30pm, and there are drinks afterwards. All postgraduate and early career researchers welcome.


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Hello world!
Well I guess i should start at the beginning, as let's face it there is nowhere better to start. I've not blogged before, though I tweet a little bit (@fhkj). I'm a 43 year-old Londoner, married with two children (Rachel – wife, Meg and Tom – kids).
And I'm and enthusiast. A generalization I know, but an accurate one. In no particular order, my blog will talk about cars, bikes, watches, technology, media, photography, and probably some other stuff too. Oh, and I love sport of pretty much all shapes and forms, so that's sure to be mentioned.
I've no idea who, if anyone, will read this. But if you do find yourself here, feel free to comment/abuse/applaud in whatever measure you see fit.
This was typed on my new iPad, and the accompanying pic is my new Cannondale Supersix.
I'll update tomorrow with lots more thoughts on the world. Night night.


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We had a great first week!!! Here are a few reminders and updates:
- ALL books must be covered by Monday! (We have brand new math & English books that we want to take especially good care of.)
- Art Department volunteer informational meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 29 at 8:45-9:30. Meet in art room.
- Back to School Night for 6th grade is 9/6 at 6:30 p.m. Meet in your child's homeroom.
- Opening worship & BBQ is Sunday, 9/11 at 10:30. 6th grade class will be singing .


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My friend Miyoshi and I headed to Oak & Fort's new Edmonton location for their Grand Opening fête last Saturday. The air of the event was tasteful and refined but not stuffy in the least bit. We had a blast! We were able to peruse the clothing and jewelry, and munch on desserts and apps. The wine and music was splendid (great job Jesse). Best of all, I got to visit with some of my fellow bloggers (we don't get to catch up as much as I'd like!) The racks were lined with minimalist, light and airy clothing. Clean lines and top quality fabrics. The price point is on par with stores like Club Monaco; and very reasonable when you take into account the high quality.
|Jared, The Style Guy chats with Andrew of High Gloss White
|I bought this time piece!! Don't call me Flava Flav!
|The Marquis of Fashion, Jared the Style Guy and Janis of Dress Me Dearly...gros bisous!
|Me and Miyoshi, or as I like to call her...Mimi or Meemz!
|Mimi and I with Genette Salgado, gifted designer and manager at Oak & Fort. An absolute beauty!
If you haven't already done so, pop over to Oak & Fort today!
10416 82Ave, Edmonton AB


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Well, things have been going very well with Val and I, although we have yet to get to do a cross-country schooling because of the weather. Our dressage is finally clicking again, after it totally imploded over the winter, thanks to my "one response" riding that never changed no matter what Val needed... fortunately, that is on the road towards becoming better.
Now, we should have our first XC schooling of the year next Sunday, if the weather doesn't do anything stupid. That's going to be the huge deciding factor on the novice v. beginner novice question. We've been really stagnant this winter, and we definitely didn't hit our dressage and show jumping the way I thought we would. I really thought that by this time this year I'd be more than ready to go novice, but now I'm not so sure.
Could Val and I go Novice without huge mishaps and horrible accidents? Almost certainly. Would we be competitive at all? Would we have any shot at going to the AECs again? Would I be bored at beginner novice? It's those last three questions that are really holding me back. I'm an extremely competitive person, and that kind of pulls me two different ways- I want to push myself and do better (go novice) but I also want to place well and go to the AECs (stay beginner novice.) My desire to go to the AECs and NOT place last is incredibly strong!
Right now, I can tell you I'm really leaning towards staying BN for most of the season and maybe doing one novice towards the end of the year, but this XC schooling may change everything if things just go really, really well. We'll have to see.
This is probably a pretty boring update post, but I thought I'd let everyone know we're still alive and kickin'!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
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The First of Three
Raven Triptych
6x6, Oil
This is a small study for a triptych of ravens I plan to do in a larger format. I wanted to experiment a little with texture but I think 6x6 is too small of a playing field for what I was thinking. But I still like
this little series of paintings. I even have the frames already picked out and think they will make a nice
little grouping.
In the news, for me, is that I have been juried into a group of Minnesota and Wisconsin artists for the next 3 yr cycle of Project Art For Nature. This Saturday is our orientation and I'm looking forward to participating in this worthy project, as well as meeting and working with other artists. Along with the exhibitions of the project, I'm considering starting another blog that will chronicle my own art and observations in the field. I'll keep you posted!
I've also been asked to participate as an animator again in this year's MotionPoems. You may remember my little animated piece from last year. This years work will be in partnership with Scribner's Best American Poetry Anthology which is published each year. So that's pretty exciting that they are getting national attention.
©2011 Deb Kirkeeide. All rights reserved.


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From the NYTimes about American Pharaoh, by Joe Drape:
Usually I want tension, I want drama in a horse race, especially one as important as the Breeders' Cup Classic, which attracts the best horses from around the world and carries a hefty purse: $5 million, half of it to the winner.But as American Pharoah and his seven rivals edged into the starting gate Saturday, the mist settled in the dark skies at Keenelaand, and this historic racetrack in the heart of the Bluegrass State became deafeningly quiet. You could hear deep breaths. Nothing much was at stake — except the legacy of a horse and the definition of greatness."This was about American Pharoah," said the colt's emotional owner, Ahmed Zayat. "We wanted him to go out the right way."Sort of silly, right? [...] In a world filled with smartphones, brain-rattling N.F.L. hits and presidential debates as spectator sport, there is something soothing and old world about watching a horse rocket around an oval ahead of others just because he can.
But what does the horse think about it? How does the horse feel after a good run? Does a good run feel different if it's a winning run rather than a losing run? Yes, the jockey, the owners, and the fans feel it differently. But does the horse? How does the horse feel the jockey's reaction to the run?


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Programmer needed for long term employment paid weekly
Budget $30-100 USD
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plz check my profile in gaf apart from this profile i also provide u a list of my work .we have a team of 10 employees and we r specialised in asp and php
41 freelancers are bidding on average $82 for this job
Hello I am interested.. .let me know details, Thanks Cristian
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Usaly my horly rate is $5 per hours, so I can work with your projects ~20hours per week.


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Proof of Delivery (POD)
You can choose to have FedEx provide a delivery signature which will be sent to you.
- Proof of Delivery is entered for each package the day it is delivered.
- A good solution for sensitive shipments, such as pharmaceuticals or electronics.
Contact us for more details.


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|Minecraft is my new addiction
Minecraft's official release date was the 18th of November 2011 and I honestly thought this was the lamest looking game released in 2011. I kept hearing about all these YouTube commentators making videos about it and expressing their admiration for this game, but I never quite understood what all the hoopla was about. To me the graphics were horrifying by todays standards and I could never get past that initial hurdle.
|Your choices are limitless.
|Couldn't be more true
The graphics as I said are somewhat low end, but that allows the game to go so much further in detail and depth beyond my minuscule grasp at this present time. There is so much to learn, and so much you can do that it makes it as tho the choices are infinite and you can achieve anything. From building a simple mushroom farm with cows and sheep to keep you company. To building a castle you once saw during your visit to Europe. All I can say is don't knock it t'ill you try it.
Below is the video of my first time on an online server with some awesome friends.


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Riding In The Depths Of Winter
Riding amongst the sludge and chill wind, waves of breathlessness floats me up the road and goosebumps rise on my arms as I rip over hill tops. From the middle of the street I could feel the surge of grace as the chill wind blows and swoops me into town like a flock of birds finding formation, heartbeats loud again. I'm alive, heart racing, but inspired and well.


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My and my sister Alexis went to her friend Sophias house for a really nice Ethiopian christmas lunch (which ended up being around dinner time). She surved us tea, coffee from roasted coffee beans, and lots of good foods to eat with the traditional injera bread. The food was worth the wait! Sophia also showed us a dance which, when I tried, looked like a chicken flapping its wings.Read More
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Number 1: Coffee
I think it's because fall is getting closer and because my days are busier. Whenever I drink coffee I become so much more productive! Coffee isn't the problem however, it's the quantity. If I let myself I would drink two cups in the morning, two in the afternoon and depending on my work load more at night. That's n.o.t o.k.a.y I'm doing pretty good limiting myself to mornings but it's hard. Is it really that bad for you?!
How true is that? Which brings me to Number 2.
A Good Book
This isn't really a "guilty" pleasure just more of a current obsession. The book I'm currently on is The Daily Five. Unless you are in education you probably haven't heard of it. It's a professional book teaching you how to set up daily reading centers. I won't bore you with details but I plan on using the system in my classroom and am trying to soak up all the information I can. Does anyone else use this method? I would love suggestions! I'm worried about not having enough time (we're encouraged to have 90 minutes of guided reading groups) and also wondering do students have to hit every station every day or is only 4 okay?
Number 3: Peanut Butter!
What gives?! I don't get it.. I used to hate peanut butter! I was never a Pb&j girl growing up nor did I like peanut butter cookies, etc. All of a sudden I am wanting to eat it by the spoonful. How bad is this for me? I'm obsessed. Weird, I know.
Number 4: My Shows
Every season is different when it comes to the shows I am watching. Right now you can bet I am DVR'ing The Bachelor Pad, Pretty Little Liars, Suits and Political Animals. Political Animals is brand new and so so good!! I love it!
Number 5: Black Dresses
I have way too many solid black dresses. I'm not going to give you a number because it's kinda ridiculous. I bought a new one last weekend from Banana Republic outlet and my mom was quick to remind me I already have a billion similar ones. Why do I keep buying them?! Well, they are easy, can be paired with anything.. boots or sandals, scarves, necklaces, the list goes on and on. I can wear them anywhere, school, out, dinner, shopping. They look good. I just like them and they are ALL different. Believe it or not they are! My explanation is really to convince myself it's okay that I have them all but hopefully you agree.(:
That's it for today, anyone have the same guilty pleasures as me? Hopefully they aren't too bad!


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The PERFUME COMMERCIALS !!!
and I am so glad. They absolutely drive me nuts! Even a cowboy from Texas (I can say that because I live in Texas...) has to sound like he's French. Not Cajun French either (which I can say because I'm from Louisiana...), but French French. From Paris French.
So, because we must give the not-French commercials a decent goodbye, here are my picks for this year....
J'adore, Dior
Charlize Theron is decidedly beautiful,
but not French
#1 -- why would anyone name a fragrance after a coat?
#2 -- Um, do you get the idea that these two like, really like, one another?
Now for the guys....
Bleu de Chanel
"I'm not going to be the person I'm expected to be anymore"
What does this mean?
But I do think the guy might actually be French!!
and... drum roll please...
last but certainly not least.....
Can you guess?
Now this is a real man's fragrance...
don't you love it!
And on that note, I'll wish each of you a Happy and Prosperous New Year!
~ sharing on AlphabeThursday where we are studying the letter G


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You meet someone for the first time and perhaps they don't smile, or lean forward or make significant eye contact. Is it you? If you worry about your first impression, you may start to freak out. You don't have to. I am doing research on the brain and how people can make changes in their body language. Self Awareness, discovering what people might think about you is productive, but you don't need to go overboard.
Years ago my audiences joked that after my seminars they were so self aware, so conscious of all the cues in the perfect handshake, the most sincere smile and all the other body language they learned, they didn't know what to do first. Now and then we talked about how to implement personal behavioral changes into their lives. I was reading the book, "The Mind and The Brain." looking to see how one of the authors, Doctor Jeffery Schwartz, advised his OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) patients to make productive changes in their behavior. I was looking for a method to effectively calm any destructive or paralyzing self consciousness about your first impression. To paraphrase he instructed his patients to follow the Buddhist philosophy of wise attention (as supposed to unwise attention.) Schwartz advises his patients to "Revalue." See things for what they really are rather than as you may imagine them to be. I interpret this to mean. Instead of thinking, "Don't think of pink elephants." "Oh my God, there may be dangerous pink elephants." "Think instead of what is real and what isn't."Pink elephants don't exist." "The likelihood of a Pink Elephant coming into this room and stomping me is nil."
Apply this to situations when you are forming a first impression. Instead of meeting someone and thinking, "They didn't smile, they didn't lean forward." "They hate me!" "They are not making eye contact."Oh they must think I am the biggest dork." See those disturbing thoughts for what they are and as Schwartz says, for his OCD patients he says "Wise attention means quickly recognizing the disturbing thoughts as senseless, as false, as errant brain signals not even worth the gray matter they rode in on, let alone acting on it." In analyzing someone's behavior towards you in a first encounter instead assess it wisely. Think first the person then the topic or situation. Lastly think of yourself. Here is in more detail
First ask yourself, "What is going on with this person that may be motivating him to act this way?"
Then, what about this situation or what we are talking about may motivate him to act this way and finally, and with the least likelihood, what about I could make him act this way.
Very good advice I think.
Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at http://pattiwood.net/. Also check out the body language quiz on her YouTube Channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.


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Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly in "Back to the Future"
Labels: back to the future, entertainment, life, michael j. fox
In one Fringe episode that takes place in the alternate universe, Eric Stoltz is Marty McFly in "Back to the Future". This made me curious and I checked out Wikipedia: In our universe, they actually shot five weeks with him in that role before replacing him with Michael J. Fox. It feels like the right decision and I don't think it is Michael J Fox's acting, but rather his personality that make him such a great fit. Now you can actually see a little bit of footage [source: Gruber] from those first five weeks.


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I just finished slicing a beautiful new batch of my Blueberry Cream soap into nice, thick individual bars of soap...it has made the whole place smell soo delicious!
Just like it sounds, you will smell sweet/tart blueberries mingling with vanilla cream. And as you can see, light blue swirls with cream to create an attractive soap.
Men and women alike enjoy the scent of this soap. If you are looking for a fun Maine themed soap to send to friends, this is your soap.
As always, I made the soap with my own tried and true recipe of 100% vegetable oils. No chemicals, no animal ingredients, and nothing you can not pronounce. My soaps continue to be made in small batches, resulting in loving attention to each bar from start to finish and the unique quality of each soap.
(Shameless Plug) ~ To order my Blueberry Cream soap, click HERE


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Well, not pots are being made right now, but I hope to have a soda fire during the 4th of July. I will post some pics then. My wife made the best peanut butter pie and thought you would like to see it. It is much like a cheese cake but better! Hope to be moved in two weeks. Until then, keep it turning.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Summer Moving
Summer is here! Hot days are not made for moving... Lately I have been boxing up my house in North Carolina and getting ready to merge our two houses into one in Kentucky. My wife has a job offer in Vail, Colorado and we have been playing the pros and cons game. However, we have decided to move ahead and spend time with each other and develop our artistic careers in Paducah, Ky. To get ready for the move we had a garage sale, uploaded images to Craigslist, and advertised on Facebook. Craigslist got the best views and we sold several things before the garage sale. Yay!
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I shot the NRA's new National Defense Match last weekend at Camp Perry, Ohio, and the day was brutal. Perry has little or no shade and temperatures were in the 90s. The only saving grace was the occasional zephyr of wind. We were out in the sun from 9:00am to 5:00pm. I took 90 ounces of water and brought back 10.
How was the match? I'm still thinking about it. (In all honesty, I came in last in my classification. That has to color my opinion.) I expected the shooters to have "gun-show" grade rifles, you know, AR, Rugers, and AKs, maybe even the venerable M-1. With inexpensive optics, scopes and sights.
What I found were free-floating barrels, high-power scopes, bipods, custom grips, micro-dots on scopes and suppressors. (The shooters claim the suppressors give them longer barrels, higher velocities and tighter groups… I like the less noise factor.)
|Supergun - bipod, sandbag, free-floating barrel, high power scope, surppresser with thermal wrap (no heat shimmers!) and custom trigger
I expected a more tactical match emphasizing using cover, reloading behind cover and moving off-line before going prone. I didn't expect air-gunning.
The match's reality was gamesmanship to the max. It's hard for me to see shooting as a game with rule bending strategy. I stopped following football in mid 70s 'cause I got tired of the rule changes. Just let 'em play, I always said.
Clearly rules are needed. Shooting is a sport with boundaries and procedures. But if the goal is, as the match title indicates, to measure and improve the national readiness, should air-gunning be allowed? I know some shooters will push the limits and find that fun. I'm not one of them.
I don't know if I can totally accept a game which tolerates 2-minute discussions on how to legally sit in a chair, or what kneeing is. But I do understand it. Some shooters came to win prizes while some came to shoot and evaluate themselves.
I like improving my skill set and this was the first time I could shoot farther than 200 yards. I now realize my 4 MOA dot covers 12 inches at 300 feet, which eats out the center of the NRA D-1 target. Add my natural wobble and the center of the tan tombstone becomes invisible. That's something to think about if I want to hit things at 300 plus yards. There were also a lot of very good shooters who shot well and were worth watching.
So yeah, the match was a good experience for me and I recommend it to the club level shooter. Shoot it a few times at your club before coming to Perry and work the kinks out of your system. Learn how to gain max stability prone, kneeling, sitting and standing with or without support.
The CoF can be shortened to accommodate 100-yard ranges and scoring is simple. You either hit the target or miss. What could be easier? Well, there is a plot complication; the penalty for missed rounds is higher at long ranges than short ranges. For me, the distance shooting is a lot harder than 60 yards and in. I suspect the full course of fire is inspired by high power shooting.


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Tun Mahathir : Samy Vellu has failed, a liability to BN
Responding to Tun Mahathir's comment, Samy Vellu describes Tun Mahathir's comments as akin to "telling a young wife that she is beautiful and an asset, but when she becomes old, she is branded a liability"
PUTRAJAYA, Sept 18 — MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu will become a liability to the Barisan Nasional (BN) in the next general election because his leadership has failed, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.
The former prime minister said he was worried that the people's support for the BN would erode and the coalition would be the victim because Samy Vellu was still leading the MIC.
Samy Vellu must step down as party president because he must take responsibility for the party's failure in the last general election and for his own loss, Dr Mahathir said in an interview with Bernama yesterday.
"If we look at other countries, whenever a leader fails, he resigns. In Japan he commits harakiri. We're not asking him (Samy Vellu) to commit harakiri.
"You (Samy Vellu) have failed to lead the MIC until you yourself lost," he said.
Citing the example of former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who resigned after his poor performance, Dr Mahathir said: "Samy Vellu performed worse than Pak Lah (Abdullah) but he did not want to relinquish the post.
"He should have resigned before things got to this stage."
He said he had a right to criticise anyone for the sake of the BN, adding: "I've criticised Pak Lah; who's Samy Vellu that I cannot criticise?"
Dr Mahathir's criticism of Samy Vellu before the MIC elections last week was seen as an attempt to interfere in MIC affairs and had raised the ire of a delegate who suggested that a garland of slippers be placed on his portrait.
Dr Mahathir said leaders must realise that the post they held was not for life.
"This is not directed at Samy Vellu alone because there are others who are like him," he added.
He said he had wanted to resign in 1998 but, because of the economy and the Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim issue, had to continue leading the nation until 2003.
"I resigned not when people criticised me. I resigned because I had stayed too long.
"Malaysian leaders still do not understand that when they fail they should resign of their own volition, no need for others to tell them. When you fail, your party fails. You are responsible," he said.
Asked what the BN could do in view of its principle of not interfering in the affairs of component parties, he said that when the matter became a problem for the BN, the coalition would become the victim if it did not intervene.
He said BN leaders must admonish Samy Vellu because as BN leaders they were responsible not only for the performance of their own parties but also that of the BN as a whole.
"If I know that a person will cause the BN to lose, that is already a BN problem, no longer an MIC problem. We cannot keep saying don't interfere. This is a BN affair. Because of him, the BN lost.
"Previously there was no Hindraf. Now there are scores (of pressure groups from the Indian community.) It's him that the people don't want but he still wants to be president," he added
He said leaders who resorted to money, pressure, abuse of power and threats could remain as party presidents but would not win elections.
On Samy Vellu's chosen leaders winning the party elections last week, Dr Mahathir said they could win party elections but would lose in general elections because the people would not support them.
He also criticised Samy Vellu for not playing a role to stop the building of temples without approval despite having promised to do so.
He said Samy Vellu became popular because he (Dr Mahathir) had helped him.
"He wanted to build a university, I persuaded the government to give a RM50 million allocation and I've helped in many more of his projects," he said.
Reflecting on his past duties as prime minister, Dr Mahathir said he had to persuade the Malays to allow the BN to place MIC candidates in Malay-majority areas because no constituency in the country had an Indian majority.
"Besides that, I also strove to get the MIC candidates supported by the Malays. Without support from Umno members and the other Malays, the MIC could not win. So that's my service to the MIC.
"But when the MIC does something that will cause it not to be supported by the Indians, Chinese and Malays, I have to criticise," he said.


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Rate adjustment will begin on Oct. 1.
VALPARAISO — Effective Oct. 1, Okaloosa Gas District will adjust rates to their customers in response to increasing operational expenses, for continued system improvements and to accommodate the large request for natural gas service by customers, the utility has announced.
With the consultation of an outside rates consultant, Gordon King, who will become the District's Chief Executive Officer beginning in October, recommended the need for the adjustment to the districts' board of directors at the July board meeting.
"As the District grows in both age and customers, our key focus has always been to make sure we maintain the integrity and safety of our pipelines," King said.
Okaloosa Gas operates with the oversight of the Florida Public Service Commission, which has jurisdiction for the safety of natural gas pipelines in the state. "Safety is a matter that Okaloosa Gas has never taken lightly and the adjustment in our rates is necessary for this to continue. As one of the largest natural gas utilities in Florida, Okaloosa Gas District will continue to expand its services to provide customers with a domestically produced and economical energy source," King explained.
A residential bill is broken into four components (not including city and state taxes): the monthly customer charge, cost-of-gas, compliance charge and distribution charge. The residential customer will see an increase in their customer charge from $12 per month to $13.00 per month. In addition, the distribution charge will increase from $.0.48163 per therm to $0.56055 per therm.
However, the compliance charge and the cost of gas charge will not change. The compliance charge is $0.1108 per therm and the cost of gas is $0.345 per therm.
"Okaloosa Gas management has been able to maintain the customer service charge part of the rate at $12 per month for the past six years and postponing some of these expenses as our local economy was recovering from a down turn. We are very sensitive of any rate adjustments and will always strive to minimize the impacts on our customers," King said.
The typical residential customer who uses 20 therms per month will see an increase on their bill of $2.46 per month.
A residential customer who would like to review exactly how the rate restructure affects their bill can log on to http://www.okaloosagas.com/about-us/rate-information/ and use the Okaloosa Gas Rate Calculator to see a comparison before and after the rate restructure.


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Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Scintillating Dog Videos
Just because I can, I made some videos of everyone's favorite chocolate lab at his preferred swimming spot. The first two are of Zeke trying to encourage me to WALK FASTER AND GET THERE ALREADY (PREFERABLY WITH A STICK OR TWO). The second two are, unfortunately, totally backlit, but you'll get the general idea of dog + sticks + water. Oh, and you'll get to hear me yammering at him (and breathing and grunting--sorry!), as I generally do. See if you can hear the cute wheezing noise Zeke makes while doing the doggie paddle.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Falling Slowly
It has begun, folks. The the slow fade, the turning inward. We've already had two light frosts. I'm relishing the smaller moments, a bee on the echinacea, a frog in the grass. Here's what it looks like around these parts right now.
On my fall garden to-do list:
* dig up the dahlias, let them dry out, then put the tubers in paper bags for winter storage
* mulch the beds (I'll admit, this is the one I'm least likely to get to)
* finally plant the Montauk Daisies I got weeks ago
* plant my new spring bulbs
* dig up and re-plant 2 lilacs that I accidentally planted in an ant-infested hell-patch
what's on your fall garden to-do list?
Friday, September 18, 2009
Breaking Through
Everyone's favorite chocolate lab, Zeke, had a little setback a few weeks ago—in the form of a huge, tennis-ball-sized abscess on his chin. Ewww. He had surgery and required plastic drains for a few days: even more Ewww! That meant steroids, antibiotics, and strict instructions not to go in any water. None. Zip. Zilch. Zeke rode it all out like a champ, but I knew he was yearning for a swim.
So yesterday, after we went to get his stitches out, we went down to Wilcox Hollow, a little flat-water oasis between two dams on the Deerfield River in Shelburne, Ma. Zeke was so happy. The sun was making its best attempt to break out, and the hazy cloud cover made for the coolest reflections in the water. All in all, a great little break for a person and a pup.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Well, they're not puppies, but they're still pretty cool.
I love a good, old barn, full of cobwebs, slanted rays of sun, and young, spindly-legged hens.
Monday, September 07, 2009
don't look now.
Seriously. Sit down first.
Then look.
Because, well........
They're five weeks old. There are 7 of them, all black labs bred by Laurie and Joe Frye in Goshen, MA.
I hope your Labor Day looks a lot like this—limbs akimbo, eyes half-closed.
Happy Labor Day :)
Then look.
Because, well........
They're five weeks old. There are 7 of them, all black labs bred by Laurie and Joe Frye in Goshen, MA.
I hope your Labor Day looks a lot like this—limbs akimbo, eyes half-closed.
Happy Labor Day :)
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Meet me at the midway
Join me at what might just be the nation's most adorable summertime ritual: the country fair. There are lots of fairs in Western Mass, including the Tri-County Fair in Greenfield, the 3-county Fair in Northampton (where do they come up with these names?) and the mother of them all, The Big E in Springfield. But my favorite is and always has been the little Cummington Fair. This year was the 141st Annual Cummington Fair. This fair has been happening every year since 1868—amazing, right? It's primarily a livestock and agricultural fair, with a midway thrown in for fun. So come, take a stroll, here's what we'll see:
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- Blogging LA: The quintessential metroblog. An example of a group blog that can capture the experience of living in a city on multiple levels.
- A Welsh View: Robert finds things on the web that no-one else could, and packages them perfectly!!
- Jimmy Meritt: Stand-up comedy, the next generation. Read the blog, feel the funny.
- PostSecret: Blogtech enables public art & public confessions. A great & distinctive application for the medium.
- Samuel Pepys: Again, an innovative application for a new technology, reprinting Pepys one day at a time. 1 January 1660 was published on 1 January 2003.
- WalkLA: Lisa Salem is checking out her city on foot, meeting folks & experiencing things at ground level. Again, innovative use of new tech.
- BoingBoing: No explanation necessary.
- Inhabitat: Sustainable architecture and all-round cool design. I'll be needing a hut, & someplace cool to keep my coconuts...
- FlickrZen: What does the rest of the world look like? The best of Flickr
- 10X10: Is it a blog? Who knows or cares!! It brings the news in a graphic, artistic & interactive form, and generates a new slide every hour.
Take the tag, [10blogs], and write your 10. I'll be interested to read them...
Update: If you're here from Full of Crap, it's good to see you!! Feel the info-tainment!!
Filed in: 10blogs, blogging, blogtech