text:
His lips are moving...you know what's happening.
We're here to nominate a President, and I've got one in mind. (Mitt Romney?)
I want to nominate a man whose own life has known its fair share of adversity and uncertainty. (Mitt Romney? Surely not a man that went to the best schools in Hawaii, Occidental, and Harvard...on someone ELSE'S dime?) A man who ran for President to change the course of an already weak economy and then just six weeks before the election, saw it suffer the biggest collapse since the Great Depression. (McCain?) A man who stopped the slide into depression and put us on the long road to recovery, knowing all the while that no matter how many jobs were created and saved, there were still millions more waiting, trying to feed their children and keep their hopes alive. (Bush!)
I want to nominate a man cool on the outside but burning for America on the inside. (FONZIE!) A man who believes we can build a new American Dream economy driven by innovation and creativity, education and cooperation. (And where is all that coming from since we haven't seen it from the current office holder.) A man who had the good sense to marry Michelle Obama. (And now I know he's joking.)
I want Barack Obama to be the next President of the United States and I proudly nominate him as the standard bearer of the Democratic Party.
In Tampa, we heard a lot of talk about how the President and the Democrats don't believe in free enterprise and individual initiative, how we want everyone to be dependent on the government, how bad we are for the economy.
The Republican narrative is that all of us who amount to anything are completely self-made. One of our greatest Democratic Chairmen, Bob Strauss, used to say that every politician wants you to believe he was born in a log cabin he built himself, but it ain't so.
We Democrats think the country works better with a strong middle class, real opportunities for poor people to work their way into it and a relentless focus on the future, with business and government working together to promote growth and broadly shared prosperity. We think "we're all in this together" is a better philosophy than "you're on your own." (And tell me, is it EASIER or HARDER to take advantage of an opportunity or start a business today?)
Who's right? Well since 1961, the Republicans have held the White House 28 years, the Democrats 24. In those 52 years, our economy produced 66 million private sector jobs. What's the jobs score? Republicans 24 million, Democrats 42 million! (And who held the Congress under those Presidents?)
It turns out that advancing equal opportunity and economic empowerment is both morally right and good economics, because discrimination, poverty and ignorance restrict growth, while investments in education, infrastructure and scientific and technological research increase it, creating more good jobs and new wealth for all of us. (Fine. Do THAT instead of wasting money on Solyndra and other cronies.)
Though I often disagree with Republicans, I never learned to hate them the way the far right that now controls their party seems to hate President Obama and the Democrats. (Or like your fellow Democrats seems to hate ANYONE with conservative ideas.) After all, President Eisenhower sent federal troops to my home state to integrate Little Rock Central High and built the interstate highway system. And as governor, I worked with President Reagan on welfare reform and with President George H.W. Bush on national education goals. I am grateful to President George W. Bush for PEPFAR, which is saving the lives of millions of people in poor countries and to both Presidents Bush for the work we've done together after the South Asia tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and the Haitian earthquake.
Through my foundation, in America and around the world, I work with Democrats, Republicans and Independents who are focused on solving problems and seizing opportunities, not fighting each other. (GREAT JOB...patting yourself on the back.)
When times are tough, constant conflict may be good politics but in the real world, cooperation works better. After all, nobody's right all the time, and a broken clock is right twice a day. All of us are destined to live our lives between those two extremes. Unfortunately, the faction that now dominates the Republican Party doesn't see it that way. They think government is the enemy, and compromise is weakness. (Compromise? Tell that to Pelosi/Reid and President "I Won.")
One of the main reasons America should re-elect President Obama is that he is still committed to cooperation. (We always knew that Clinton lies.) He appointed Republican Secretaries of Defense, the Army and Transportation. He appointed a Vice President who ran against him in 2008, and trusted him to oversee the successful end of the war in Iraq and the implementation of the recovery act. (Biden was picked BECAUSE he wouldn't overshadow Obama. And WHO ended the war in Iraq? REALLY?) And Joe Biden did a great job with both. He appointed Cabinet members who supported Hillary in the primaries. Heck, he even appointed Hillary! (That's how deals are made. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer...and make them dependent on you.) I'm so proud of her (for staying far, far away...hey, look at that Fluke girl! She's just my type.) and grateful to our entire national security team for all they've done to make us safer and stronger and to build a world with more partners and fewer enemies. (Tell THEM that. I see the same ones.) I'm also grateful to the young men and women who serve our country in the military and to Michelle Obama and Jill Biden for supporting military families when their loved ones are overseas and for helping our veterans, when they come home bearing the wounds of war, or needing help with education, housing, and jobs.
President Obama's record on national security is a tribute to his strength, and judgment, and to his preference for inclusion and partnership over partisanship. (Yep, we even attacked Libya for no good reason at all....)
He also tried to work with Congressional Republicans on Health Care, debt reduction, and jobs (BULL CRAP!), but that didn't work out so well ("Do it MY way" never works out well as compromise.). Probably because, as the Senate Republican leader, in a remarkable moment of candor, said two years before the election, their number one priority was not to put America back to work, but to put President Obama out of work. (Putting Obama out of work will put America back to work.)
Senator, I hate to break it to you, but we're going to keep President Obama on the job!
In Tampa, the Republican argument against the President's re-election was pretty simple: we left him a total mess, he hasn't cleaned it up fast enough, so fire him and put us back in. (Yep. That whole mess...that he's worsened.)
In order to look like an acceptable alternative to President Obama, they couldn't say much about the ideas they have offered over the last two years. (He watched a different show than I did.) You see they want to go back to the same old policies that got us into trouble in the first place: to cut taxes for high income Americans even more than President Bush did; to get rid of those pesky financial regulations (Dude! Like YOU did? TWO WORDS - GLASS STEAGALL) designed to prevent another crash and prohibit future bailouts; to increase defense spending two trillion dollars more than the Pentagon has requested without saying what they'll spend the money on (Funny, THIS administration won't say what ANY of the money is to be spent on...no budget.); to make enormous cuts in the rest of the budget, especially programs that help the middle class and poor kids. As another President once said – there they go again. (Save the CHILLUN! Drink!)
I like the argument for President Obama's re-election a lot better. He inherited a deeply damaged economy, put a floor under the crash (Dug that up, and sold it to China), began the long hard road to recovery (and failed miserably at it), and laid the foundation for a modern, more well-balanced economy that will produce millions of good new jobs, vibrant new businesses, and lots of new wealth for the innovators. (You've been hitting that weed again, haven't you? What is a "modern, more well-balanced economy" mean in YOUR definition? One that has brown outs, and we freeze in the dark because of high energy prices? Oh, is Solyndra one of those businesses, or Fiskar, or GM?)
Are we where we want to be? No. Is the President satisfied? No. Are we better off than we were when he took office, with an economy in free fall, losing 750,000 jobs a month. The answer is YES. (No.)
I understand the challenge we face. I know many Americans are still angry and frustrated with the economy. Though employment is growing (LIE), banks are beginning to lend and even housing prices are picking up a bit (LIE. Not in my city. Our values are STILL dropping.), too many people don't feel it. (Um...that's the DEFINITION of Fail.)
I experienced the same thing in 1994 and early 1995. Our policies were working and the economy was growing but most people didn't feel it yet. By 1996, the economy was roaring, halfway through the longest peacetime expansion in American history. (So...that's TWO years. AND you had the new dot.com bubble. And you had a GOP Congress. What has OBAMA done? You are here to talk about HIM, right?)
President Obama started with a much weaker economy than I did. No President – not me or any of my predecessors could have repaired all the damage in just four years. But conditions are improving and if you'll renew the President's contract you will feel it. (So, how about HALF? One third? Any? No?)
I believe that with all my heart. (You also believed that it depended upon the definition of "is.")
President Obama's approach embodies the values, the ideas, and the direction America must take to build a 21st century version of the American Dream in a nation of shared opportunities, shared prosperity and shared responsibilities. (Shared opportunities? How does THAT work? Shared prosperity? So, its ok if the rich prosper? Shared responsibilities? Who decides those responsibilities? No thanks. I'll stick to the original ideas of the Founding.)
So back to the story. In 2010, as the President's recovery program kicked in, the job losses stopped and things began to turn around. (Lie. Job losses are STILL growing. 11% REAL unemployment. Besides, Obama said that the "recovery started in the summer of 2009.)
The Recovery Act saved and created millions of jobs and cut taxes for 95% of the American people. In the last 29 months the economy has produced about 4.5 million private sector jobs. (WRONG. See "lying with statistics." Using the original work force population, counting all job creation and losses, we're still a negative 300K.) But last year, the Republicans blocked the President's jobs plan (WHICH WAS NEVER ACTUALLY WRITTEN DOWN...or was it the other one which the Democrat Senate tabled....they're all so confusing since we never see them.)costing the economy more than a million new jobs. So here's another jobs score: President Obama plus 4.5 million, Congressional Republicans zero.
Over that same period, more than more than 500,000 manufacturing jobs (Overseas) have been created under President Obama – the first time manufacturing jobs have increased since the 1990s.(BLS states that we are STILL contracting in manufacturing.)
The auto industry restructuring worked. It saved more than a million jobs, not just at GM, Chrysler and their dealerships, but in auto parts manufacturing all over the country. That's why even auto-makers that weren't part of the deal supported it. They needed to save the suppliers too. Like I said, we're all in this together. (And they would have kept them. Just not under the Gov't Motors logo. And we're still owed 25 billion dollars which won't get repaid since GM is hemorrhaging money still!)
Now there are 250,000 more people working in the auto industry than the day the companies were restructured. (OF COURSE THERE ARE. GM is OWNED by the unions.) Governor Romney opposed the plan to save GM and Chrysler. So here's another jobs score: Obama two hundred and fifty thousand, Romney, zero.
The agreement the administration made with management, labor and environmental groups to double car mileage over the next few years is another good deal: it will cut your gas bill in half, make us more energy independent, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and add another 500,000 good jobs. (Its impossible. Mandated safety gear makes cars heavier. Mandated fuel additives kill increased mileage and increase pollution. Electric cars are a joke, made in China. Smaller cars will get you killed. Centralized decision making is idiotic. CAFE rules are straight out of the Soviet playbook.)
President Obama's "all of the above" energy plan is helping too – the boom in oil and gas production combined (DESPITE Obama's restriction on gov't owned land, EPA interference, etc.) with greater energy efficiency has driven oil imports to a near 20 year low and natural gas production to an all time high. (The RECESSION did that. Gas is abundant because of fracking..which the EPA wants to kill.) Renewable energy production has also doubled. (Yep and it still is less than 1%...and that's intermittent.)
We do need more new jobs, lots of them, but there are already more than three million jobs open and unfilled in America today, mostly because the applicants don't have the required skills.(Bull crap. We have 23 MILLION unemployed. We have unfilled jobs because no one wants to hire because of upcoming regulations and taxes.) We have to prepare more Americans for the new jobs that are being created in a world fueled by new technology. That's why investments in our people are more important than ever. The President has supported community colleges and employers in working together to train people for open jobs in their communities. And, after a decade in which exploding college costs have increased the drop-out rate so much that we've fallen to 16th in the world in the percentage of our young adults with college degrees, his student loan reform lowers the cost of federal student loans and even more important, gives students the right to repay the loans as a fixed percentage of their incomes for up to 20 years. That means no one will have to drop-out of college for fear they can't repay their debt, and no one will have to turn down a job, as a teacher, a police officer or a small town doctor because it doesn't pay enough to make the debt payments. This will change the future for young Americans.(Google "higher Education bubble" and subsidizing college costs raises prices.)
I know we're better off because President Obama made these decisions. (HAHAHAHAHA!)
That brings me to health care.
The Republicans call it Obamacare and say it's a government takeover of health care that they'll repeal. Are they right? Let's look at what's happened so far. Individuals and businesses have secured more than a billion dollars in refunds from their insurance premiums because the new law requires 80% to 85% of your premiums to be spent on health care, not profits or promotion. Other insurance companies have lowered their rates to meet the requirement. (And others have completely dropped their coverage or raised rates. More have raised rates.) More than 3 million young people between 19 and 25 are insured for the first time because their parents can now carry them on family policies. Millions of seniors are receiving preventive care including breast cancer screenings and tests for heart problems. Soon the insurance companies, not the government, will have millions of new customers many of them middle class people with pre-existing conditions. (And those companies will drop coverage or go broke. Why buy if you can wait until you're sick?) And for the last two years, health care spending has grown under 4%, for the first time in 50 years.
So are we all better off because President Obama fought for it and passed it? You bet we are.
There were two other attacks on the President in Tampa that deserve an answer. Both Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan attacked the President for allegedly robbing Medicare of 716 billion dollars. Here's what really happened. There were no cuts to benefits. None. What the President did was save money by cutting unwarranted subsidies to providers and insurance companies that weren't making people any healthier. He used the saving to close the donut hole in the Medicare drug program, and to add eight years to the life of the Medicare Trust Fund. It's now solvent until 2024. So President Obama and the Democrats didn't weaken Medicare, they strengthened it. (Math is hard. He took money from Medicare and gave it to ObamaCare, as per the CBO. He counted the money twice. And when doctors and hospitals stop taking medicare because of the reduced payments,...yeah..that's a reduction in benefits.)
When Congressman Ryan looked into the TV camera and attacked President Obama's "biggest coldest power play" in raiding Medicare, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. You see, that 716 billion dollars is exactly the same amount of Medicare savings Congressman Ryan had in his own budget. (You're running on old news...that's the OLD plan.)
At least on this one, Governor Romney's been consistent. He wants to repeal the savings and give the money back to the insurance companies, re-open the donut hole and force seniors to pay more for drugs, and reduce the life of the Medicare Trust Fund by eight years. (Ryan's plan save Medicare for much longer.) So now if he's elected and does what he promised Medicare will go broke by 2016. If that happens, you won't have to wait until their voucher program to begins in 2023 to see the end Medicare as we know it.
But it gets worse. They also want to block grant Medicaid and cut it by a third over the coming decade. Of course, that will hurt poor kids, but that's not all. Almost two-thirds of Medicaid is spent on nursing home care for seniors and on people with disabilities, including kids from middle class families, with special needs like, Downs syndrome or Autism. I don't know how those families are going to deal with it. We can't let it happen. (Oh bullshit! More of "The GOP is coming for your kids and old people crap!)
Now let's look at the Republican charge that President Obama wants to weaken the work requirements in the welfare reform bill I signed that moved millions of people from welfare to work.
Here's what happened. When some Republican governors asked to try new ways to put people on welfare back to work, the Obama Administration said they would only do it if they had a credible plan to increase employment by 20%. You hear that? More work. So the claim that President Obama weakened welfare reform's work requirement is just not true. But they keep running ads on it. As their campaign pollster said "we're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers." Now that is true. I couldn't have said it better myself – I just hope you remember that every time you see the ad. (So watching TV at home is now "work" because you're "looking" for a job. Especially since those "fact checkers" support Democrats.)
Let's talk about the debt. We have to deal with it or it will deal with us. President Obama has offered a plan with 4 trillion dollars in debt reduction over a decade, with two and a half dollars of spending reductions for every one dollar of revenue increases, and tight controls on future spending. It's the kind of balanced approach proposed by the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles commission. (Which he rejected. There is no plan. Where is it? Is it another vapor-ware plan like his "jobs" plans? Where are these cuts? Name ONE.)
I think the President's plan is better than the Romney plan, because the Romney plan fails the first test of fiscal responsibility: The numbers don't add up.
It's supposed to be a debt reduction plan but it begins with five trillion dollars in tax cuts over a ten-year period. That makes the debt hole bigger before they even start to dig out. They say they'll make it up by eliminating loopholes in the tax code. When you ask "which loopholes and how much?," they say "See me after the election on that." (Unlike the CBO projections on Obama that show 1.2 trillion dollar deficits EVERY YEAR, basically forever.)
People ask me all the time how we delivered four surplus budgets (Republican Congress and an opportunistic streak that made you accept things that made you look good, along with the peace dividend). What new ideas did we bring? I always give a one-word answer: arithmetic. If they stay with a 5 trillion dollar tax cut in a debt reduction plan – the – arithmetic tells us that one of three things will happen: 1) they'll have to eliminate so many deductions like the ones for home mortgages and charitable giving that middle class families will see their tax bill go up two thousand dollars year while people making over 3 million dollars a year get will still get a 250,000 dollar tax cut; or 2) they'll have to cut so much spending that they'll obliterate the budget for our national parks, for ensuring clean air, clean water, safe food, safe air travel; or they'll cut way back on Pell Grants, college loans, early childhood education and other programs that help middle class families and poor children, not to mention cutting investments in roads, bridges, science, technology and medical research; or 3) they'll do what they've been doing for thirty plus years now – cut taxes more than they cut spending, explode the debt, and weaken the economy. (So, what is OBAMA going to cut? Remember that 4 trillion that he's supposed to cut? Yeah... that 4 trillion. What's he going to do? How is HE going to cut without pain or raising taxes tremendously?) Remember, Republican economic policies quadrupled the debt before I took office and doubled it after I left. We simply can't afford to double-down on trickle-down. (Nice backslapping there. Oh, did you forget Newt Gingrinch DRAGGING YOU KICKING AND SCREAMING to that budget?)
President Obama's plan cuts the debt, honors our values, and brightens the future for our children, our families and our nation. (Cuts the debt HOW? Where's his plan? We actually have one.....you don't. Just more platitudes.)
My fellow Americans, you have to decide what kind of country you want to live in (One without President "Empty Chair"). If you want a you're on your own, winner take all society you should support the Republican ticket. If you want a country of shared opportunities and shared responsibilities – a "we're all in it together" society, you should vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden. If you want every American to vote and you think its wrong to change voting procedures just to reduce (vote fraud) the turnout of younger, poorer, minority and disabled voters, you should support Barack Obama. If you think the President was right to open the doors of American opportunity to young (ILLEGAL, funny how he forgot that word. And how his executive order allows them to take work from poor people already here, legally.) immigrants brought here as children who want to go to college or serve in the military, you should vote for Barack Obama. If you want a future of shared prosperity, where the middle class is growing and poverty is declining, where the American Dream is alive and well, and where the United States remains the leading force for peace and prosperity in a highly competitive world, you should vote for Barack Obama. (as Mayor of Chicago.)
I love our country – and I know we're coming back. For more than 200 years, through every crisis, we've always come out stronger than we went in. And we will again as long as we do it together. We champion the cause for which our founders pledged their lives, their fortunes, their sacred honor – to form a more perfect union.
If that's what you believe, if that's what you want, we have to re-elect President Barack Obama.(Why? HE doesn't believe that?)
God Bless You – God Bless America.(God? But you Democrats don't want him around! I'm calling the ACLU!)
So basically, Bill, ...I can call you Bill, right?.... you're saying, "Who are you going to believe? Me or your lying eyes?"
Labels: Bill Clinton, Democratic Convention, Democratic lies


text:
Forget your Gerard Butler musical nonsense and your slightly dodgy Dario Argento slasher from the late 80's, (no, not TERROR AT THE OPERA, which I adore....the other one, with that fucker from WARLOCK), this top notch little production from the studio that dripped blood, is a feast for the eyes, the ears and, well, maybe not the brain, but who gives a shit..its Hammer.
That means gloriously over the top music, performances that scream brilliance and set design that never betrays the tiny budgets these horror classics were made on. It look sumptuous, as do the vast majority of Hammer's output, and its filmed in seriously glorious Technicolour. This one may be considered a lesser entry in the Hammer canon, not least of all because its sadly bereft of Cushing and /or Lee, but alongside Cheney's take on the classic character, this is perhaps the best of the batch. There are busty babes, lavish period atmosphere and a creepy-as-hell 'Phantom', so bin your girlfriends sappy lovey-dovey musical, and take a trip to Technicolour town with one of Hammer's timeless cinematic endeavours...and fuck Gerard Butler.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Wowow Snap Warp Urban
- approx. 4 – 6 days
Currently > 5 piece(s) in stock at the supplier
If ordered immediately.
Information subject to change.
If ordered immediately.
Information subject to change.
General information
|Product type
|Bike light accessories
|Item number
|Colour group
Yellow is the colour evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M (long and medium wavelength) cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S (short-wavelength) cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–580 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green. Yellow's traditional RYB complementary colour is purple, violet, or indigo, while its colorimetrically defined complementary colour in both RGB and CMYK colour spaces is blue.
This product may only be returned unopened.
Please use our simplified returns and warranty process to return a product or register a warranty case. Returns and warranty
Please use our simplified warranty process to view the warranty period as well as any warranty extensions you may have purchased. This will ensure that your return or warranty case is processed quickly and effectively.
If ordered immediately. Information subject to change.
Have you tested this product? Share your opinion with the digitec community.Rate product
You're not connected to the Internet. Please check that your connection is enabled to keep browsing the site.


text:
BREAKING: Bilderberg 2017 Meeting Location and Date Confirmed
In this video, Luke Rudkowski of WeAreChange covers the breaking news of the Bilderberg Group's location and date of this year's secretive meeting. We go over correlation of Trump's impeachment with the location of this year's meeting in D.C, the lies in the official bilderberg group press release, its contradictions, and its history. Support our trip to Bilderberg to shed light on the real power structure in this world by donating on http://wearechange.org/donate
The Financial Armageddon Economic Collapse Blog tracks trends and forecasts , futurists , visionaries , free investigative journalists , researchers , Whistelblowers , truthers and many more
Posted by Bob Chapman
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Reading Specialist K-12, Art Teacher K-12, Artist in Residence- Summer Program, Art Director- Summer Camp, Child Care- Director, Head Preschool Teacher.
Creativity in all areas! I have always made my own teaching tools... I have always been on a riduclously tight budget in all my experiences. I am glad to pass them on!
Graduated with honors BFA studio art, Graduate scholarship MS Reading Education.
MS Reading, Reading Specialist Certification K-12, BFA Fine Arts, cum laude Art Certification K-12.
Willing to custom create lessons for you! "Like" my facebook page to find out about great resources, freebies, and special offers. http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Teacher-Book-Club-Lets-read-books-for-your-classroom/280056858675367
PreK, Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, Higher Education, Adult Education, Homeschool
English Language Arts, Reading, Spelling, Vocabulary, Specialty, Social Studies - History, Arts & Music, Art History, Visual Arts, Art, Religion, Critical Thinking, For All Subject Areas, Literature, Study Skills, Problem Solving, Writing, Child Care, Reading Strategies, Holidays/Seasonal, Poetry, Halloween, Spring, Summer


text:
The offense struggled with consistency last season, putting up just 319.4 total yards per game, thanks in large part to inconsistency under center. That problem may rear its ugly head again in 2009, with the graduation of veteran Chris Crane and the early departure of sophomore Dominique Davis, who left school in the spring. Redshirt freshman Justin Tuggle (6-3, 208) will get the nod early on and only time will tell if he can be the type of leader Spaziani needs him to be. Spaziani will certainly need to be patient with Tuggle. "We have a young man that has never taken a snap in a game, really has never been coached, he was on the scout team last year." The other options under center come from a group including converted fullback Codi Boek and true freshman David Shinskie. The good news on this side of the football is the return of tailback Montel Harris, who set a school freshman record with 900 yards rushing last season. Harris will be joined in the backfield by fellow sophomore Josh Haden. Senior Rich Gunnell is the most experienced receiver on the roster after hauling in 49 balls last year, for 551 yards and four TDs. The team does return four starters along the offensive line and that will be a huge plus for whoever is under center. The offensive line is anchored by All-ACC Second-Teamer Anthony Castonzo (6-7, 287-pound junior) and senior center Matt Tennant (6-4, 294), who has started 28 consecutive games at the position.
DEFENSE: The BC defense was one of the nation's finest units in 2008, ranking fifth nationally in total defense (268.1 yards per game), while allowing just 18.4 ppg overall. With seven starters penciled in to return this spring, this squad was once again supposed to shine. The team did have to replace top-10 selection B.J. Raji, as well as fellow downlineman Ron Brace, but at least All-American and ACC Defensive Player of the Year Mark Herzlich was coming back. Of course by now, we all know that isn't going to happen, as Herzlich was diagnosed with cancer and is out indefinitely. There will be no way to compensate for the loss of Herzlich completely, but there is still talent on this side of the football and those players will need to step up and lead on the field. The likely candidates include veteran defensive ends Alex Albright (6-5, 245), who missed most of last year due to injury, and senior Jim Ramella (6-4, 245), who posted 35 tackles and four sacks in 2008. Despite the losses on both sides of the football and the team's inability to win the ACC crown the last two years, Ramella remains confident in what this team can achieve in 2009. "We expect to win the ACC. Anything less is a disappointment in our eyes. We're not sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves (that we lost the last two championship games). It is going to be a challenge but it is something we can achieve. We definitely have the ability and we hope to get over the hump this year." Senior LB Mike McLaughlin (89 tackles, four sacks in 2008) will highlight the play in the middle of the defense, although an Achilles' injury currently has him sidelined. Still, McLaughlin is on pace to return before the season begins and his healthy return to the field is a necessity. The secondary returns a great deal of talent in the form of cornerbacks DeLeon Gause and Roderick Rollins and safeties Wes Davis and Marcellus Bowman. Throw sophomore cover corner Donnie Fletcher (36 tackles, three INTs as a freshman) and safety Marcellus Bowman into the mix and the secondary may be one of the ACC's best this season. SPECIAL TEAMS: As far as the kicking game is concerned, the Eagles return both placekicker Steve Aponavicius (5-10 senior) and punter Ryan Quigley (6-3, sophomore). Aponavicius was a bit inconsistent last year, hitting just 14- of-21 field goals, with a long of just 36 yards. Quigley averaged just over 39 yards per punt as a true freshman in 2008.
OUTLOOK: While the BC offense was rather bland at times last year, the team did lead the ACC in non-offensive touchdowns with eight. Getting help in the scoring column by the defense and special teams will be a huge plus for the Eagles this season, at least until the offense finds its identity. The team opens with two favorable home matchups against Northeastern and Kent State and that could set the tone early on. Still, a road trip to Death Valley to take on Clemson is how Boston College will open ACC play on September 19th, before returning home for tough bouts with Wake Forest and Florida State. The Eagles will close out a grueling four-game stretch at Virginia Tech and could very well be in a conference hole that the team won't be able to dig itself out of. The second half of the season is a little more manageable, with road trips to Notre Dame, Virginia and Maryland and home games against Central Michigan and North Carolina to end the 2009 campaign. A .500 record is certainly attainable and another postseason bid is a possibility. However, the Eagles would have to play inspired ball all season long to find themselves in the ACC Title Game again. "BC is a great place", said Spaziani. "The longer I stayed there the more I realized that is where I wanted to finish my career. I worked all those years with Tom (O'Brien) and I never thought he'd leave, but he did. I applied for the job then because I wanted to stay and then this situation arose. This time it worked out. It's a great honor because it is such a great place." The team has all the confidence in the world in the new man at the helm and Spaziani is clearly not in it for the short term, rather relishing in the idea of keeping Boston College among the ACC elite both now and in the future.
Link (here)


text:
My husband has been complaining since we bought a new couch how he hates using the coffee table because it's not the right height to put up his feet while watching TV. Boo hoo, right? Well, because I'm such a wonderful wife, I thought I'd help him out by providing him with an ottoman.
NEW AND IMPROVED sturdy ottoman legs that cost nothing but some leftover 2x6's and some brown paint:
Old wimpy and expensive ottoman legs that caused much stress (husband may have yelled at the kids every time they walked by the thing because he was afraid it would collapse, and it may have)
I looked up tutorials and found a style I liked, but her tutorial was ridiculous. It had one drawing of how to attach the 2x4's and ended with her saying she took it to an upholstery shop. So it was only slightly more DIY than going to the furniture store. So I'm here to give you an actual tutorial. Lucky you and nice me.
Step 1. Decide your dimensions. I decided on 24x60" but you could make it whatever size you want. I'm starting to wonder if I should have made 3 individual 18" squares, but for now, this is what we have.
Step 2. Go to your favorite home improvement store with your supply list. I chose Home Depot. For blogging purposes, we'll assume your dimensions are 24" by 48" for your ottoman.
Home Depot List:
2 - 2x6, cut to 48" long
3 - 2x6, cut to 21" long (4 if your ottoman is longer)
1/2 plywood or MDF, cut to 24x48"
4 bun feet or legs
2 dozen 2.5" wood screws
1 dozen 1.5" wood screws
4 dowel screws (the feet will likely have screws in them, but you'll want wood screw edges on both sides, so just get something in a similar width and a little longer than what comes in it)
3/8" staples for your staple gun that you either own or borrowed or plan to purchase.
Pick up enough length of 2x6's or 2x8's that will work for your dimensions and have them cut to length, the shorter edge dimensions should be cut 3" shorter than the finished edge because, as you may notice, 2x4's are actually 1.5x3.5's and you'll need to take the width off of each end so you end up with the right finished dimensions. You'll notice I used 2x4's. I would suggest, that unless you want a rather short ottoman, you will want to use at least a 2x6 so you can purchase substantial enough legs to hold the weight of it. I had to special order mine and I'm still not very happy with them, so I plan to redo the footing somehow, some day.
Get MDF or plywood in at least 1/2" thickness or as I did, some pressed wood particle board which was the cheapest for my 5' long project. Home Depot sells 2'x4' in both MDF and plywood and if your finished dimensions fit within them, I suggest using that.
Make sure you have plenty of wood screws.
Step 3. Go to your favorite fabric store with your dimensions and supply list. I chose JoAnn with a 50% off coupon for the foam, batting and thread. I got my fabric at a discount warehouse that had a better selection.
Fabric Store:
4" foam (comes 24" wide and cut to length) - 48" long
Low loft batting for a queen size bed or equivilent
1.5 yards fabric, more if there is a grain or needs to match print
Upholstery thread
- if tufting -
Button thread
When you're shopping for foam, go to a store that will cut it for you with an electric knife, unless you have an electric knife. I had to re-cut some of mine since they cut it a couple inches longer than I wanted, so I used a cheap serrated knife which worked OK, but not as smooth as I'd have liked.
Step 4. Build it. It may be helpful to have a partner working with you. I did not have such a luxury at the time.
Here's a rough sketch of how to put the frame together. You will use the longer screws to do this and if you use 2x6's, use 3 screws where I have drawn 2. The shorter lengths go inside the ends of the longer.
You will need to pre-drill the holes before you screw the boards together so the wood doesn't split. There is such a thing as wood screws that have a drilling bit on the tip of them. Those might work and would be easier, but I didn't want to buy extra screws, so I pre-drilled the screw holes.
Measure for the center support to make sure it's evenly spaced or centered.
Because mine was so long, I needed 2 center supports.
For bun feet, which was my first try (before my husband thought the ottoman was too short, so I bought legs online for $11 each plus shipping which proved to be way too wimpy for such a heavy piece of furniture) use a drill bit slightly smaller than the dowel screw size, and flag the drill bit so the depth will match the length of the screw. If you're confused as to what dowel screws are, they look the same on both sides. You use pliers to screw it into the foot and then use your hand to twist it into the frame.
Pre-drill the placement for the dowel screw where the foot will go at each corner.
Make sure it will fit, but don't install it yet.
Attach the top board by pre-drilling holes along the top (approx. every 8-10") and use the shorter screws to attach it. Make sure you don't hit the screws already in place at the corners.
Using some 3M spray glue, spray the foam and the board and attach the foam in place. (I don't have a picture of this step, but it's pretty self explanatory. Just glue the foam in place so it doesn't move when you're upholstering it.
It is at this point that you will want to decide if you are tufting it with buttons or leaving it without. If you decide to add buttons, you need to mark on the foam where you want your buttons. You will need an extra long drill bit and drill all the way through the foam and the plywood/mdf board. If you drill only through the board, be prepared to be frustrated while fishing your needle through the foam looking for the hole in the board. I didn't drill through the foam and it took me forever to find the hole with my needle when sending it back down through the top foam layer. Use at least a 5/16th drill bit.
Cover with 3 layers of the batting, cutting the excess at the corners and stapling in place along the sides and bottom edge.
Leave out until the next day so your baby can use it as a jungle gym (this is a very important step). Replace any stapled edges of batting he/she may have pulled out
Cut your fabric to size. I used a drywall square because it was easier to get the right angles consistent, but you can use a quilter's square too. For the top piece, you'll want to use the finished measurements of your wood frame with the foam and add 1" for seam allowances and adding length to the bottom for stapling. So, if you're frame is 48L x 24W x 10.5H, you will cut the following fabric pieces:
1 - 25x49" (top)
2 - 49x14" (long side edge)
2 - 25x14" (short side edge)
To sew the fabric, using 1/2" seam allowance, with right sides together, pin one long side edge to the long side of the top and sew together, leaving 1/2" on each end. Repeat using the short side edge and the short side of the top.
Sew up the side edges, right sides together, along the end of each so that it resembles a bag when done. At this point, you may opt to add a seam along where the foam ends, or not. It's easier to not, obviously, but if you do, make sure you measure carefully and make it straight (I didn't do this for the bedroom bench I made, but did for the ottoman). Now, turn it over and squeeze it on over your frame. It'll take some tugging and pulling.
Pull it tightly and staple in place along the bottom edge. This is fairly easy if you remember to pull it evenly and make sure you give it a tug before stapling in place. The corners are the toughest, but not rocket science. You need to cut a hole in the fabric where the leg will screw in, so try to make that part a single layer of fabric and then just pull the rest into place so that it looks nice from the sides. I cut around the hole altogether on the ottoman pictured below.
Screw the finished or painted bun feet into the frame holes. They are fairly self-leveling. However, here is where I will show you the new installation of the super improved sturdy legs. I cut a couple of premium 2x6" boards on a slight diagonal so they had a little shape to them. They were still squared on one side so I could just snug them up to the inside of the ottoman framework. I suppose you could just use a 2x4, but I wanted them to look a little more interesting than just a plain rectangle. I painted them a dark brown and added a satin laquer to them, pre-drilled 3 holes, added wood glue, and then attached one to each corner of the underside of the ottoman framework with long 3" wood screws.
For tufting the buttons, you'll need your covered buttons. It is my strong suggestion that if you're wanting to used upholstery covered buttons that match your fabric, have an upholstery shop cover them. You will drive yourself mad trying to do it yourself with cover buttons from the fabric store. They'll likely cost you around $0.30-$0.50 each. You'll need another 2 holed button for the bottom and an extra long needle.
Thread 4 strands of button thread into needle and double (8 strands total). Press the needle through the drilled hole starting from the bottom.
Add your button and press needle back through the fabric and hole.
On the bottom, put one half of the thread through one hole of the holding button and half through the other hole. Pull and tie off (several knots). If you have thread wax, use it on your thread as it helps to keep the knot from untying.
And there you have it. DIY Ottoman. (pictured here with wimpy legs)
and a bench I built for our bedroom. This one i used a 2x6 frame.


text:
My new friend Isabel Wang tagged me with Jeff Pulver's latest blogosphere craze. I'm assuming that if I break the chain, I'll contract some hideous disease, so without further ado, here are some things you might not have known about me:
1) When I was growing up, I was labeled a disruptive influence. In comparison to my well-behaved, straight-As sister Caroline, I got mediocre grades and was always the one the teachers warned each other about.
2) I am a huge military history and hardware buff. Together with my old friend Alvin Fu, we must have watched every war movie that ever existed. I can still identify nearly every plane, ship, and vehicle in the US military, and in most cases, tell you the defense contractor(s) responsible and operational history.
3) I once took a baseball bat and went after a friend for damaging some books that I loaned him. My friend JP from Geometry class had borrowed some of my science fiction books (can't recall all of them now, but one of them was my Stainless Steel Rat omnibus edition), and returned them folded, spindled, and mutilated. Fortunately for JP, this happened while a bunch of friends were over, and they prevented me from doing any harm.
4) Continuing my history of violence, in the 7th grade, I made a bomb threat to my science teacher. She had developed quite a grudge against me for all the times I had embarassed her in class by correcting her errors, and when she finally had a chance to take revenge, she went for it. We were taking a test, and I zoomed through it even more quickly than usual. As part of her pettiness, my teacher didn't allow me to read or leave the room after finishing, so I had to twiddle my thumbs while I waited for my classmates to finish. When she finally called time, I was horrified to see that the test had two sides, and that I had only finished one. When I asked for 2 minutes to finish the other side, she gleefully refused. So naturally, I told her, "Watch out for car bombs."
Thank goodness this took place in 1987. Today, I'd probably be expelled. As it was, I had a stern lecture from the principal, and an offer of voluntary counseling, which naturally, I refused.
5) I am a fan of country western music. One of the presets on my car's radio is set to 95.3 KRTY. Alas, today's country is too poppy for my tastes. We need to bring back George Jones and Merle Haggard!
Thoughts on business, entrepreneurship, and life from a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and writer.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
3 comments:
- Gabe Rosen said...
Do you think Rev. Ted Haggard's fall from grace was really because he was tired of Merle being the most badass Haggard in America?
- Phil Crissman said...
The Stainless Steel Rat stories were among my favorite sf novels that I read in high school. That was quite awhile ago, now.
Great; now I'm going to have to find them and read them again....
- Chris said...
I think Merle decided he'd had enough, and brought Ted down.
Harry Harrison has cranked out a ton more Stainless Steel Rat books since you last read them...some are uneven, but even an uneven Stainless Steel Rat book is still rewarding. There's even "The Stainless Steel Rat Goes To Hell."
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Graphics and Sound:
Now I usually do this section later but since Steins;Gate 0 is a visual novel, the majority of this review is going to be focusing on the story so I'm saving that till last.
The first Steins;Gate was game that looked great and sounded great. The art was unique, the soundtrack varied and memorable, and the voice acting spot on. Steins;Gate 0 unsurprisingly continues this with some excellent art (albeit in a different style to that of the first game), an excellent soundtrack, and great voice acting.
Art-wise the actual art-style has seen a significant change with characters looking closer to how they looked in the anime than then first game. Old art does show up from time to time though, and it can get a bit daunting seeing it mixed in with the new art. It's not a huge issue, but it is awkward at times. (Editors note; Think back to the Morrigan sprite that Capcom kept re-using in all of the SNK vs Capcom games if you need a point of reference.)
The soundtrack contains a mix of happy go lucky tunes, more intense nerve racking tracks and some really beautiful tracks which usually accompany the more important moments in the game. My favorite track would probably have to be Hoshi No Kanaduru Uta. More specifically, the rendition of it which accompanies the end credits for one route. The vocals on that version really make it that bit better, especially since they were sung by the Voice-Actor for the character of Kagari. The soundtrack does a good job of both setting the tone of the scene and adding to the overall memorability of scenes. It does exactly what a good soundtrack in a visual novel should do, and it does it well.
For voice acting, the entire cast of the original Steins;Gate retain their original voice actors, and they all sound as good as ever. Line deliveries are enthusiastic and really do make the characters feel more alive. The new characters also sound good with some solid performances all around, my favorite being from Maho Hiyajo, whose VA perfectly reflects her character in her acting. Dr. Leskinen's voice actor is a bit goofy with his broken English thrown everywhere, but overall his performance is pretty darn good as well.
Being a visual novel, Steins;Gate 0 doesn't really try to sell itself on gameplay. Overall it's a pretty standard visual novel affair although it is less linear than the first game. All the visual novel basics are present along with the ability to both lock your save file to prevent yourself accidentally saving over it (a very welcome addition) and automatic quick saves which allow you to pick up at important events in the game if you aren't liking the results of your decision. It's a small but very welcome change and is something I wish more VNs had. Also present is the tips system which provides you with information on special objects, items etc that are mentioned in the game. A vast majority of these tips are quite useful and helped clear up some confusion I had surrounding some things but some are a bit on the silly side, so your mileage may vary. You're also able to advance text and menus using the Vita's touchscreen, although you can disable this if you'd prefer otherwise.
The only slightly irritating thing about the game is that the only way to access the dialog archive in case you miss something is to pause the game and select it. A vast majority of visual novels have a button that allows you to quickly access the archive without needing to pause the game so this comes off as a bit clunky. It doesn't help that the menus lag, and aside from the main menu, you aren't given any visual or audio feedback upon selecting an item, which can be awkward. I also found myself having to reboot my Vita on one occasion, because Livearea had slowed to a crawl after leaving the game open for so long. Again, your millage may vary.
With Steins;Gate 0 being a visual novel, the story is the most important aspect, and for the most part Steins;Gate 0 does a good job at crafting a solid plot with a believable set of characters. However it isn't perfect. I'll touch on why later on. For now though lets look at the characters.
The entire cast of the original Steins;Gate makes a return with the obvious exception of Kurisu who is well… dead. We also see a variety of newcomers in the form of Maho Hiyajo and Dr Leskinen from an American University that Kurisu used to attend. Fubuki, Yuki and Kadee, who are close friends of Maiyurii, and finally Armadeus, an AI who takes on the form of Kurisu for most of the game. Out of all these new characters, I'd have to say my personal favorite would have to be Maho, one of Kurisu's closest friends before she passed away. The story does a great job of portraying her as a likable well rounded character, and portrays her inner struggle and love hate relationship with Kurisu very well.
Story-wise, Steins;Gate 0 in and of itself takes place before the true ending of the original Steins;Gate, so if you have not played Steins;Gate, then play that before even thinking about touching Steins;Gate 0.
In essence, Steins;Gate's true ending involves our main character, Okabe receiving a video from himself twelve years in the future giving him the keys to discover the world line knows as steins gate, a world line where neither his childhood friend Maiyurii, or his lover Kurisu has to die. Now that's all fine and dandy, but how the heck did that video even get sent in the first place? This is the basic premise behind Steins;Gate 0. It works on filling in the gaps present in the true ending of Steins;Gate and bring a bit more closure to everything. On top of that. Steins;Gate 0 goes more into depth around the concepts of AI, time travel and time manipulation, and the consequences of such technologies, which is something I absolutely love. The portrayal of these topics is very well done, and most importantly, thought provoking. There's a lot more of them as well. While Steins;Gate 0 does have its fair share of slice of life bits, it is far darker in tone than the original Steins;Gate. This really works in its favor, with the story exploring more possibilities that really wouldn't have been possible in the original game. There's a constant feeling of danger as the group realizes the size of what they have gotten themselves into, and it makes for an incredibly gripping read. It isn't as dark as say, Zero Escape but it doesn't need to be. The story is also paced really well, which really helps a ton.
All this stands true for the vast majority of the game, and compared to the original the story had definitely improved on the problems the original had with pacing and tone. HOWEVER, Steins;Gate 0 isn't perfect. While the vast majority of the story is excellent the remaining minority kinda crashes and burns. Let me explain, but first here's your obligatory spoiler warning.
I'm going to be blunt, Steins;Gate 0's story feels a bit unfinished. I came away from the game feeling like I had missed something or that a chunk of the game was missing. Now I'm not talking about the obvious cliff hanger due to how Steins;Gate 0 carries directly into the true end of Steins;Gate. The problem is that the true ending to Steins;Gate 0 is so incredibly disconnected from the events of the other endings that it in fact drags the rest of the game down with it a bit. Up until then the other 5 endings had been pretty incredible and had dropped little mysteries and tid bits here and there that stuck with me and kept me hyped up for the true ending where I'd learn what was going on. Then I actually played the true ending. My hype turned to confusion which then turned to disbelief which then turned to disappointment.
The true ending, rather than serving as an epic conclusion to my twenty-hour journey, was more the closest thing the game could do to blowing its own foot off with a rocket launcher. It commits one of the cardinal sins of storytelling by NOT SOLVING ALL THE MYSTERIES IT SPENT TIME CREATING. Not only that but the extent that it does this to is enough to drag the rest of the game down with it. All those mysteries you had learned in the other endings? All that stuff that happened when Armadeus got deleted in Maho's ending? The mystery surrounding the song in Kagari's ending? Kagari's lost memories? I hope you weren't expecting answers to any of those mysteries because the game NEVER EXPLAINS THEM. Yes, those technically happened in separate world lines, so from a story perspective it at least has an explanation as to why it doesn't get explained. However that doesn't make it any less frustrating.
It ALSO doesn't excuse the true ending from not answering questions about mysteries and events that happened in its OWN DAMN WORLD LINE. Who was that guy who attacked Maho, Okabe and the Professor in the carpark? What was all that garbage text Armadeus Kurisu left to Maho as a message on @channel? Why was Yuki given plastic surgery and brain washed with Kagari's memories? Where even WAS Kagari in this world line? All these seemingly important events and mysteries that happen in the true ending's world line? NEVER. EXPLAINED. What the hell happened?!? Why put in mysteries to advance the plot and then never give the player closure on the damn things? It isn't like the player is left enough hints to figure it out themselves so they're just left scratching their head and wondering where the rest of the game went.
The true ending to Steins;Gate 0 is simply a train wreck. That isn't to say it isn't enjoyable, on the contrary, I still enjoyed reading through the true ending. However the unfinished feeling it leaves the player with upon finishing it along with how it unsuccessfully ties up a surprisingly large number of mysteries CAN and most likely WILL get on your nerves. It isn't enough to ruin the whole game and make me feel like I wasted my money but it is enough to weigh on my mind for a few days while the game is still fresh in my mind.
Steins;Gate 0 is an interesting one. If it weren't for all the loose plot threads and the train wreck of a final ending I'd have no trouble recommending it to anyone who had played the original Steins;Gate. However, it isn't perfect and the flaws that it does have are in areas which are very likely to effect your potential millage. If there was ever a game fitting of a Your Millage May Vary badge it's this one. The vast majority of the game is absolutely excellent, with a great story exploring the potential consequences of AI, time travel and a third world war coupled with excellent character development and great pacing but the overall penultimate ending to everything kinda causes the story to run itself smack into a solid steel wall because it wasn't looking where it was going.
Granted the fact that the true ending ended the way it did was due to Steins;Gate 0's placement on the overall timeline but I still feel that even taking that into account they could have done better than what we got. It isn't a deal breaker but it does mean the satisfaction you get from finishing the game is a bit dampened.
Despite the shoddy true ending, Steins;Gate 0 is still well worth playing if you are a die hard fan of the original Steins;Gate. I have no doubt in my mind that you'll love it if you loved the original. If you're on the fence about Steins;Gate 0, then you really need to consider one thing, "Do I really care that much if the game ends with mysteries left unsolved?". If the answer to that question is "No" then by all means go and play Steins;Gate 0, you'll be in for a treat. However if unsolved mysteries are more of a big deal to you then I'd probably either wait for a price drop or give it a miss. For the most part though the experience Steins;Gate 0 gives you is well worth the price of admission.
For Steins;Gate fans, Steins;Gate 0 gets a Highly Recommended.
For those on the fence about it Steins;Gate 0 gets a Recommended, but wait for a sale first.
For those of you who haven't played/seen Steins;Gate, Steins;Gate 0 gets a PLAY THE ORIGINAL FIRST YOU GOOF.
Seriously, if you haven't played the original Steins;Gate yet and are interested in Steins;Gate 0 then PLAY THE FIRST GAME OR WATCH THE ANIME ADAPTION FIRST. I can't force you, but you'll be doing yourself a disservice if you do otherwise.
Wow, the last review of 2016 from me (although by the time this goes up it will probably be 2017 already but I wrote this on December 31st so meh). At the time of writing I would have had my Vita for exactly one year now and what a year it has been. I can't wait to see what is in store for the Vita in 2017 but I'm hoping to potentially get a review of Danganronpa V3, Mary Skelter and a few other games on the cards if everything goes well. In the meantime I'll probably get to work on writing up a review for Danganronpa Another Episode Ultra Despair Girls since that's the only Danganronpa game I have yet to cover so far. Either way I hope you have a safe and wonderful New Year and happy holidays.
This is BDVR writer Nathan Green signing off
OFLC: M (Unrestricted)
If you want to support the site, check out our Patreon, or just check out our Amazon affiliate link.
Steins;Gate 0 was played and reviewed on PlayStation Vita (also on PlayStation 4) using a digital copy of the game purchased by the reviewer.
Steins;Gate 0 is developed by 5pb, and Nitroplus, and is published by PQube Games. All rights reserved to their respective owners.
This review is my own work. You are not allowed to duplicate, reproduce or republish on any other sites under any circumstances commercial or otherwise.


text:
It is heartbreaking to see the number of families impacted by the devastating effects of toxic mold. Here's the story of one family struggling in Berwyn, Illinois.
Mold Displaces Berwyn Mom, Children
BERWYN, Ill. (CBS) -- It can grow just about anywhere and make you cough, sneeze and wheeze.
Mold is so bad in one suburban home that inspectors forced the parents and seven siblings living there to leave.
You can see it taking over the walls and other surfaces. The family was getting federal help to rent the place, but because it's unsafe, the program canceled their lease.
What will the family do now? CBS 2's Pamela Jones reports.
Genevieve Wilson-James and her husband have seven kids. Five of them suffer from severe asthma, an illness they say was made worse by black clouds of mold darkening the walls of their home.
"We're coughing and can't breathe, and the children can't breathe constantly," Wilson-James said.
From the outside their Berwyn home looks normal, but the family says water floods the basement every time it rains.
The Section 8 program allowed the family to rent the home and sent an inspector to take a look July 8. That inspector found the conditions "life-threatening" and gave the landlord 24 hours to remove and replace all the damaged drywall, plus fix the foundation.
"There was mold, and they also noted that there was some water seepage in the basement foundation, so those were considered life-safety issues," Housing Authority for Cook County spokesperson Lorri Newson said.
A Berwyn inspector said he found the same thing. His report listed mold even growing on a mattress.
Section 8 policy required the family to leave the danger immediately because the problems weren't fixed. A charity found room for them at an area motel, but their time here runs out in a few days.
"The 22nd, we're on the street. No one's going to take me and my husband and seven children into their house," Wilson-James said.
The landlord said the home only flooded twice this year during torrential rains and he was unaware of the mold.
He says his crews have cleaned it up, and replaced the drywall as of Friday.
Meanwhile, Housing Authority for Cook County found another potential house for the family. Right now, there are some 11,000 families renting under Section 8 in Cook County. In 689 cases, families were told to leave homes deemed dangerous by inspectors.
To view the CBS news article and accompanying video, click here.


text:
The boy is seven years old. I remember wondering to myself what he was going to look like when he was "seven or eight" and here we are. These were the years I longed during surgery seasons. Every day Jack amazes me. He REALLY is becoming his own person and his talents and traits are shining through. Every birthday is a reminder of how lucky we are to have him. Every birthday is a milestone.
I finally decided to do a family party every other year- because Jack's birthday's so far have been pretty intense. It was really nice to tone it down a bit. So on Saturday we went to Fat Cat's and had pizza and bowling with some family. Jack was thrilled with his presents... particularly the light saber he has been begging us for for a month. Everyone had a good time.
Then we got home and he said "So for my REAL birthday on Monday I want to have a Star Wars Party!!"
So I managed to whip out a "Darth Vader Cake" at the last minute....


text:
a protection for your ipod headphone
One of the most aweful things in my life is that the headphone for my ipod always broke down within two months, then i have to change it with a new one which will cost me about $US50, that is a quite huge number of money for a college student to buy a headphone.
However, Manaen is Manaen, there's always some ideas coming up in his mind at a right time.
So do you know uterus in women's abdomen, and when a woman is pregant, a great and magic change will happen in the uterus, maybe in one month a amniotic cavity,which is a cavity protecting the infant from being impacted by something external, will be built in it. But how does it work? the work by God's hand is that the whole cavity which is insulated from outside filled with water in which the infant is living within about 40 months. That is such effective protective system which to a large extent give an infant a security guarantee.
just like the amniotic cavity, i used a sealable fresh-keeping bag to charge my ipod with its headphone, and the most important thing i want to point out is when you make this protective system, you should keep some air in the bag before sealing. that is just like the water, more precise that is amniotic fluid. they share the identical function.
发帖者 manaen 时间: 上午2:42
标签: strange idea
订阅: 博文 (Atom)


text:
Ike Turner: Immediately a lot of my followers will be turned off because of the movie "What's Love Got to do with it". OK, so before all of you gang up on me, I want you to realize that I do not approve of any spousal violence.
Ike has been gone for several years and, no matter what you think of his private life, I want you to consider only the Music part of it. Yes, I know this will be controversial but I am a big fan of his "Music", not him as a functioning part of society.
You can say what you want but Ike did record what is considered the "First" Rock and Roll Record in 1951. I do not agree with this selection, but a lot of people agree. That song has been credited to Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, but it really was Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm with Brenston being the sax player.
Ike had a horrible life during childhood. He was raped and treated terribly; I'm amazed he survived. He did claim to have 11 wives, of which I guess Anna Mae Bullock was the most famous; she was no Angel, but a great singer.
Look into Tina's Biography: Ike was really bad, but Tina was no angel either. I digress.
Ike was paid a total $20 for Rocket 88, the first Rock and Roll record. He was self taught; piano first then guitar. He was a tough Task Master. That's why the Kings of Rhythm were such a Tight Band.
All I ask is that you just look at the music; Ike Turner was definitely not "Father of the Year", but man he rocked R&B like nobody else.


text:
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
Stirling Creamery, with a Free Bonus Photo of the Outside of the Empire Cheese Co-op
Our expected last stop on our trip home from Ottawa was at the Stirling Creamery which is in, yes, Stirling, an attractive village a bit north of Belleville. Alas, thanks to my having attempted to set up a visit at the last moment, I was not really able to speak to anyone about the butter making process there. However, that's their offices in the photo above. It's just around the corner from their factory. You can go there to buy butter, which is what the Stirling Creamery makes. You may remember that their butters scored very well when we did our butter tasting last year.
The factory is a small and fairly utilitarian building, next to a fast moving small river. One assumes that the town started in this location as the water provided power for mills and manufacturing.
Looking up the river the other direction. We wandered up the street to check out the old stone building, which we assumed had been a mill. (It was, although it was also the town fire-hall for many years.) We ended up chatting with some folks who now had shops in the building, and who were out enjoying the lovely weather (it was lunch time.) One couple was from Montreal originally, and they remembered that Stirling butter had been available there... it does get around.
Another view of the creamery. In addition to the usual salted and unsalted butters sold by the pound or half pound, Stirling make goat butter - we bought half a pound to try - and whey butter, which as mentioned already was the best butter in our butter tasting last year. They also sell molded and formed butters to the hospitality industry, so if you find yourself served butter in the form of a golf ball (!?) , a rose, a maple leaf or a fleur de lis, chances are good it's Stirling butter.
We really didn't luck out. The creamery is set up so that you can see the butter being made through large windows on the street, but alas - no butter was being made when we were there. It was a bit surprising, nevertheless, to see how much their giant butter churns look like... giant butter churns. Whodathunk?
As we drove from Stirling to Campbellford, we passed the Empire Cheese & Butter Co-op. Alas, it was really not our day - I did not get permission to take any pictures inside, so I will only say that their cheese is excellent, and if you find yourself in the area you should definitely stop in and stock up. The outlet is on County Road 8, about halfway between Stirling and Campbellford.
Last year at this time I made Stir-Fried Fish with Snow Peas, Mushrooms & Garlic Scapes. Bit late for that already this year; the garlic scapes seem to be about done.
4 comments:
- Naomi said...
I live just outside of Stirling and visit the Stirling area often because a lot of my family lives there. The Empire Cheese factory has always been a HUGE highlight of living in the area. Not to mention the chocolate factory that is about 10 minutes away from there in Campbellford.
- 7 July 2010 at 12:16
- Ferdzy said...
There's all kinds of wonderful stuff out in eastern Ontario, especially the dairy products. I wish I could get out there much more often than I do.
- 7 July 2010 at 19:34
- Olga said...
I just stumbled apon your site while I was looking for sources of grass fed dairy near Ottawa. Do you know if the main producers of dairy in Ontario grocery stores are from grass fed animals? I don't care so much about organic, but I am intersted in finding grass fed. Thanks for this very informative site.
- 12 October 2011 at 20:03
- Ferdzy said...
Olga, my impression is that it has more to do with the season than whether the milk is organic or not. Just about every dairy farm will graze their cows if they can - it's the cheapest way to feed them.
Usually they get given a little grain when they are milked, to encourage them to co-operate with the process. In the winter, of course, they must eat hay. I don't know whether you would consider that grass fed or not.
To make a long story short, I don't think you will get 100% grass fed milk. But on the on the other hand, I'm pretty sure almost everybody does MOSTLY grass fed, with some supplements.
You can always ask the local dairies too what they know about it. Find a brand, look them up; there is usually an email address or phone number. Good luck!
- 12 October 2011 at 20:09


text:
Mo Cinneadh agus Mo Chairdean:
Ciamar a tha sibh?
A while back, I saw a couple of videos on the Internet about Scots-Irish heritage in America, which I copied and shared on my video channel.
The videos, "BORN FIGHTING: THE SCOTS-IRISH", were the intellectual property of Scottish Television, or STV.
As a result, I reckon I must be on their e-mail list, for they just sent me a survey to fill out.
After answering their survey questions ("No, I never watch STV"), I saw on their web site this really GREAT new resource for teaching yourself Scottish Gaelic!
I downloaded the free program to my hard drive and tried it out.
It works!
An amusing aspect is that the advertisement for this course calls it learning to speak "SCOTTISH"(?), which as any Scot knows, is a completely separate language from Gaelic.
Never the less, it IS indeed a course in speaking Scottish Gaelic, the language of the Highlands and Islands.
Not only that, the course is very simple and easy to work with, so I highly recommend it.
Also, when I downloaded this course, I unchecked the boxes to receive e-mails, because I don't want to be bothered with advertisements.
While this basic language course is free, they do have a more advanced course that they'll try to get you to pay money for.
As an additional resource, you might peruse the material posted at the "SIOL NAN GAIDHEAL" web site, where you'll learn the very recently revived ancient phrases advocating Scotland's independence.
Do you know how to say "CAT" in Gaelic?
You say "CAT", just like you do in English!
What about, "BANANA"?
A "banana" is the same, in both English and Gaelic!
Interesting, huh?
Tapadh leibh agus slainte mhath!
Is Mise Le Meas,
Offical Bard of Clan Henderson
Gulfport, Mississippi 39507
NOTE: "My unpopular and controversial personal opinions do not represent my Scottish clan."
Friday, June 10, 2011
Posted by John Robert Mallernee at 06:33
No comments:
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
"If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
Joshua 24:15
There is always someone or something that we will be serving. I found myself serving pride and ego once upon a time, until the Lord knocked that off my shoulder and humbled me, face down and surrendering to Him. I also served the past, looking at it way too much and allowing it to affect my present and future. God stepped in and knocked that off my shoulder too. He wants me to serve Him and Him alone and as long as I allowed other things to take up my time and focus, I could not live my life fully for Him.
Over my early years as a believer, I have at times served many things that took my focus off the Lord. About 10 years ago it was my ministry . . . which sounds kind of crazy but it's true. Putting my ministry ahead of my intimate walk with the Lord made me ineffective and tired.
Joshua kept the Lord in front, in first place; His faithfulness was shown in such a strong and dramatic way in this verse. If we were listening in, the tone might even be a bit sarcastic. After all God had done for the Israelites, it was a challenge of sorts: Serve the Lord or serve someone else, but, at least serve! I can hear him now, perhaps exasperated.
Joshua's leadership is to be admired, but, more than anything, it is his complete devotion to serving the Lord and no one, or, nothing else. This is a time I want to be a copy cat and mimic Joshua's utter devotion to God.
Who are you serving? Is it God? Are you putting anything except Him in the first place position in your life?
Take a deep breath and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you anything that is coming between you and God. Is it a spouse or family? Memories? Your job? Vacations? Shopping? Hobbies? Worries?
Serving God completely is an experience like none other. It is one of those "ah ha" moments, full of the brightest bliss and deepest contentment. Change your priorities for a life full of meaning and purpose: you can't go wrong when you serve the King.
Thank You, Lord, for allowing me to see Joshua's faithfulness to You. May I choose everyday to serve You and only You.
Trusting in Him,


text:
As a feminist, I believe that women are as strong as men in terms of their personality, intelect, social responsibility, and role in the society. Although feminist portrays women as strong and tough and can get throught the standards of men, we should also see women for how vulnerable and sensual they can get. Vulnerability is not a weakness, it is one of the strongest characteristic a person can portray because it takes great courage to show your true unprotected and unsafe self to the public. Women can be tough but can also show their soft, emotional-sensual side that men usualy can't portray.
Photography, Hair & Styling by PJ ALMERA
Make Up by DONNA LUY
Model KATARINA RODRIGUEZ
Assisted by JORGE GARCIA
Shot at RED TALENTS STUDIO
- Friday, June 05, 2015
- 1 Comments


text:
Bake in a moderate oven for about fifteen minutes. Using a sharp pointed knife, loosen the sides of the brownies from pan, stand for ten minutes. Remove brownies gently from pan.
Monday, 30 July 2007
Walnut Brownie Bites
Bake in a moderate oven for about fifteen minutes. Using a sharp pointed knife, loosen the sides of the brownies from pan, stand for ten minutes. Remove brownies gently from pan.
Stuffed Chicken
First Daring Baker's Challenge – The Strawberry Mirror Cake
2 ½ tbsp unflavoured gelatine
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy, add cream of tartar and beat until whites begin to form peaks. Add the 2 tbsp sugar and beat until the whites hold stiff, glossy peaks (do not over beat).
Sift flour over the egg yolk mixture and fold in. Stir in one fourth of the whites. Then carefully fold in the remaining whites. Spread batter evenly in pan.
Sprinkle the gelatine over the strawberry puree in a small bowl and set aside until spongy.
While gelatine mixture is cooling, whip the whipping cream until it holds soft peaks. When the gelatine mixture resembles softly whipped cream, fold the whipped cream into the gelatine mixture.
This is where I think I messed up. I forgot about the cream. I was watching the gelatine mixture so carefully I forgot to whip the cream. Unfortunately in the time it took to whip the cream, I think the gelatine set too much, as the mixture was lumpy.
I had friends over for dinner so here is where the photos really slowed down. My confidence was low and I went on and made everything else for dinner (roast chicken with all the trimmings – ye, I don't know what I was thinking either).
Coarsely chop the strawberries and place in saucepan; crush to start juices flowing. Place over low heat; add sugar and water; simmer slowly 10 minutes. Pour juice and pulp through damp jelly bag or cheesecloth-lined colander and drain into a bowl for 15 minutes (Do not press down on fruit).
And finally for the mirror. This part went smoothly (and looked great on mine). I know a few others had difficulty, so I am sorry to say, but I am glad one part went smoothly for me. (Maybe it was the wine)?
Thursday, 26 July 2007
Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Another recipe taken from a fellow blog. I saw the name and I was sold. I decided to use large chunks of chocolate. You can buy Plastowie chocolate in a box that is already broken up. The pieces are quite large. The recipe I took this from appeared to use small chocolate chips but I thought, why not go the whole hog and make it really ooze and drip with chocolate... and my word they do!
Once again I am unable to say what they taste like due to this diet. Dang! But the boyf ate 4 in a row if thats anything to go by. Ive also sent a batch with him to his brother's house and I think I can safely assume the plate will come home licked clean...
I think these and a huge glass of cold milk would be slice of heaven...
1 cup butter, soft
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup (unsweetened) cocoa powder
2 cups dark or semisweet chocolate chunks
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla and mix until smooth.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Working with the mixer on a low speed, gradually incorporate flour mixture into butter mixture until well combined and no streaks of flour remain.
Stir in chocolate chunks. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough (approx 1″ balls) onto trays lined with baking paper. Bake for 11 minutes at 180C, until set and just firm at the edges. Cookies should still appear moist. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 4-5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Mrs Sigg's Snickerdoodles
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Preheat oven to 200 degrees C).
$250 Cookies
It's a long winded story, but it's a funny one, if it's true. Basically, a die-hard Nieman-Marcus store lover had these cookies in their café in Dallas. She was told the recipe was available to buy for 'two fifty –a great deal'. So this person bought it and turns out the recipe cost two-hundred and fifty dollars so they circulated the recipe as revenge.
Baking isn't really my forte, although I do enjoy it and always give it a go. Cookies, however, are different. They intimidate me. I honestly don't think I've made cookies since I was a teenager, so 10 years at least.
But this recipe convinced me for some reason, and oh my lordy, were they worth it! My nick-name at the office is now Ms Fields, I gave a box to some friends and they scoffed them all in about 15 minutes and Tony's workmates also raved that it's my best contribution so far.
So here you go. This is the recipe I was emailed, but I halved it and made 50 large-ish cookies. You could probably even halve it again, however, I got rid of 50, very, very easily!
1 cup butter
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (375F).
Blend the oatmeal in a blender to a fine powder.
Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla.
Add the flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and bicarb and mix thoroughly.
Add chocolate chips, grated chocolate (I used the blender to grate the chocolate) and nuts.
Roll into similar size balls, and place two inches apart on a baking tray.
Bake for 10 minutes and allow to cool on trays for a few minutes and serve.
Monday, 23 July 2007
Tomato and Basil Pasta
Its mouth-watering perfection to me, probably cos its a got a few fav ingredients and its so easy.
A lot of people have an issue with the fact that its wholemeal pasta. I promise you, its better than with normal pasta. Its been tried and tested many times over. I find cooking the wholemeal pasta for a few minutes more than the instructions advise works a treat.
500gram wholemeal spaghetti
5 tomatoes, diced
Juice of 1 lemon
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 to 2 large handfuls of basil leaves, chopped
3 or 4 big glugs of good quality extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 to 2 handfuls of parmesan, depending on what you like
Optional: diced bacon
Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook pasta.
Combine the diced tomatoes, garlic, lemon, basil, olive oil, and pepper in a bowl and put aside.
Drain the pasta when ready and transfer back into the pot. Pour the tomato mix back over the drained pasta and toss through. Add some salt, the parmesan cheese and a little more olive oil if necessary.
Serve with or without crispy bacon on top and enjoy.
Warning: this is addictive!
Saturday, 21 July 2007
Salmon & Chive Mini Quiche
2 tbs lemon juice
Mini Quiche Lorraine
So I sat and went through mum's cook book and found these little dynamites! Now, I'm currently on a diet where I can't eat carbs or sugar and it is quite hard to find a recipe that I can eat! But I can eat these by the bucket load! They are so yummy and a breeze to prepare!
4 eggs
1 cup cream
sea salt and cracked pepper
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
250g diced bacon
2 medium onions, chopped
sliced cherry tomatoes to decorate
Preheat oven to 180C.
Fry off the onion on a pan until cooked. Fry off bacon until cooked to your liking.
Place the eggs, cream, salt, pepper and parmesan in a bowl and whisk to combine. Stri through the bacon and onion. Pour the mixture into a mini muffin tray that has been well greased.
Bake for ten minutes or until puffed and golden. Makes 24. E.
Marika, who I work with, is often asked to please please please make these for fellow workers and their families! And so I am often blessed that I get to try one or two of them! I have always loved Matchsticks. Balfours have always done my favourite ones. So I decided to make these today. I made them at my parent's house and they were all too pleased to take them off my hands! Mum, who will always buy a Matchstick if she comes across one, said these are the best Matchsticks she has ever had!!! Very light and fluffy. Melt in your mouth!
2 sheets frozen puff pastry, slightly thawed
1 jar good quality strawberry jam
1 tub cream, whipped
2 tbsp icing sugar to add to whipped cream
1 tbsp icing sugar to decorate
Preheat the oven to 200C and line a few baking trays with baking paper.
Cut the puff pastry into small rectangles and place in the oven until puffy and golden.
Remove from the oven and cut in half horizontally.
Spoon strawberry jam onto the bottom of each pastry.
Whip the cream with the icing sugar and pipe a line down each pastry on top of the jam.
Replace the lids and dust with icing sugar.E.
Malteser Slice
225g Maltesers
225g Digestives, finely crushed
3 tablespoons Golden Syrup
100g butter
200g good quality cooking milk chocolate
Line the base of a tray and preheat the oven to 180C.
Melt the butter, golden syrup and chocolate together. (In the microwave will do, 3 minutes on medium, stirring every minute). Stir it together well and quickly add the maltesers and the biscuits. Place in fridge until set. Cut into squares.
Thursday, 19 July 2007
Persian Lamb
There seem to be a few staple recipes and that's about it.
Not enough of a challenge for me. I looked further than my usual online resources, in the bookshop, and was still disappointed. I wanted something exciting, different and challenging.
I didn't really get there, but this is what I created for friends on the weekend. It was very easy to prepare.
700g lamb shoulder, diced
1 tsp caster sugar
Add the stock, keeping in mind not to overfill the tagine.
Add the lamb, prunes, sugar, lime juice and saffron water, put the top on the tagine and place in preheated oven for 2 to 3 hours. (Or, if using a pot on the stove, bring up to a simmer, cover for 1 hour, stirring occasionally).
In the last hour, I added the pumpkin. I put the pumpkin in too early I think, it cooked down a little too much, so maybe half an hour would do.
Wednesday, 18 July 2007
Peanut Butter Slice
Beat the butter and sugar together until the mixture is pale in colour and light in texture.
Blue Vein Agnolotti
1 tbs olive oil
I'm placing this pasta on a fellow bloggers page, for THE PRESTO PASTA NIGHT ROUNDUPS.
Once Upon A Feast is one of my personal favourite blogs and she has wisely begun collating fabulous pasta dishes, and I believe this one is a great contendor!
You can see it all for yourself at http://www.onceuponafeast.blogspot.com/ and find many other delightful recipes! Pasta and otherwise...
Lychee Martini
This is nice and easy for a fancy drink at home so make an occasion special.
They are irresistibly yum so one is never enough!
Warning: can create an evening of havoc
30ml good quality vodka
30ml lychee liqueur
1 lychee
20ml of the juice from the tin of lychee's
Put ice in your serving glass to chill.
Shake or stir the vodka, lychee liqueur, lychee juice and a handful of ice together.
Empty ice from glass, put lychee fruit in the bottom of the glass and pour mixture over the fruit.
Note - this makes one martini glass.
Tuesday, 17 July 2007
French Onion Chops
According to my mum, this dish was huge in the 1960's....?
Cherry Chews
1/4 cup plain flour
1 cup icing sugar mixture
125g butter, melted
3/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cupdesiccated coconut
150g glace cherries, chopped
Indiah's Favourite
Whenever we were choosing where to go for dinner or what to cook Indiah would scream Spaghetti Bolognese!
It is her absolute favourite.
Now, the first time I had Indiah at my place I asked her what she wanted for dinner and she of course, answered Spaghetti Bolognese. Being brought up vegetarian I had never eaten Spaghetti Bolognese, let alone made it or even seen it made.
My old friend, Google, helped me out and I combined a few recipes and came up with this one.
Thankfully, my gorgeous little Indy loved my Spaghetti Bolognese and said it was one of the best ever, which was proved by her always asking me to make it.
I hope you enjoy it as much as Indiah and I.
2 onions, finely diced
500g mince
2 tins tomatoes
1 tsp honey
½ tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano
Salt & Pepper
Glass of red wine
Fry the onions till soft. Add the mince and brown well, making sure to stir well and breaking up any lumps.
Next, add the 2 tins of tomatoes, wine, honey, chilli (more if you like it hot), paprika, oregano, and a fair bit of salt and pepper.
Bring up to heat and allow to simmer, a high-ish simmer, for minimum 30 minutes, stirring regularly. You can do this for an hour or 2 if you have time, like on a lazy, cold, hungover Sunday afternoon.
Season to your taste.
If you have any fresh herbs like basil. rosemary or oregano, chop up a little and stir through. Its not necessary though.
Boil the pasta according to instructions and drain and stir through the sauce and serve with a little parmesan.
Please note I used fettuccine as I didn't have any spaghetti at hand, for all you traditionalists.
Monday, 16 July 2007
Blueberry & Raspberry Lime Drizzle Cake
Line the base and sides of a 20cm square cake tin with greaseproof paper and butter the paper. Set oven to 180C or 160C for a fan forced oven.
Friday, 13 July 2007
Lamb Shanks
2 carrots
2 sticks celery peeled
1 brown onion
2 tins chopped Italian tomatoes
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
3 sprigs rosemary
1 tablespoon dried chilli
1 tablespoon plain flour
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 cup white wine
2 tins chopped tomato
Olive oil
Mashed potato
Using pestle and mortar, bash up coriander seeds, dried chilli, a decent few pinches of salt and pepper. Add one-tablespoon plain flour and mix together well. Coat the lamb shanks in this mix.
Cover the bottom of a saucepan with oil and fry off the lamb shanks until they are golden. Set them aside.
Using the same oil that the shanks were cooked in, add the chopped onion and fry off for a few moments then add finely chopped carrot and celery. Then add a few decent pinches of salt and pepper. Add the whole sprigs of rosemary. Add four tablespoons of balsamic and cook it off until the liquid is quite reduced. Then add white wine and cook again until it reduces. Add the two tins of tomatoes and stir through.
Place the lamb shanks in the bottom of a baking dish and pour the sauce over the top. Cover and cook in oven at 180º for around 3 hours.
Serve on a bed of mashed potato.


text:
Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa has ended speculation over his future by signing a two-year contract extension with Montpellier.
The France international's previous contract was due to expire next summer and it was rumoured Italian giants AC Milan were set to make a move for the centre-back.
However, Yanga-Mbiwa will now stay in France after an official statement was released by the club confirming his new deal.
"Montpellier and the club's board are very pleased to announce the contract extension of captain Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa.
"His deal was due to expire in June 2013, but the France international has chosen to continue the adventure here for a further two seasons. He is now linked to MHSC until June 2015."
Last summer the Rossoneri made an offer of up to 6 million for the 23-year-old, with Paillade president Louis Nicollin responding with a famously comical retort.
"Kojak never called me," he toldCanal+ back in July.
"This makes me laugh. Those guys just got out of bed. They sold a guy for 45 million euros [Thiago Silva to Paris Saint-Germain] and they want to steal one of ours.
"If they offered 25m or 30m then fair enough, but from what I understood they merely come in with 5m or 6m. [Adriano Galliani should] go and watch movies and not hassle us."


text:
Home! Even my broom and dustpan look good to me. Orlando was great. But Florida is like another country to me. So flat! So perfect! So green and lush and palm treeish. Everything in the Disney area is manicured to within an inch of reality. Man it felt good to land in Newark! (Yes, I realize I am demented.) Even the oil tanks looked like home.
The trip was lots of fun. I'll have photos tomorrow. The kids had a ball. GrandE (my Mom) had fun and was a huge help. Mark slogged his way through the parks and wore his iPod at the pool to maintain his sense of peace.
I spent the week in "Cyborg mode." You know the 1950's robots that had the red eye that just went left to right to left to right? That was Kim. My kids are slippery. Mia escaped into the hotel one day one. 2000 rooms. Several wings. About a million acres. Six pools. One lost girl with autism. Guess who found her? My new hero: Carol Taylor of Liberty, Missouri. She spotted Mia in an elevator pressing the same button and repeating "7,7,7,7," and because Carol has a grandson with autism, she knew. She just knew. That was our excitement. The rest of the trip was really great (Except for a blip where Mia slipped into the crowd in Newark airport yesterday.) Minor heart attack on that one, but we survived.
Today we put away the summer clothes and get ready for the school week.
More tomorrow!


text:
This will serve as a development blog for my new 3D engine. The idea behind Concept (working title) is to create a generic, modular based game engine with ability to create new game types via "gamekits". Currently a RPG gamekit is developed along side and will serve as a test bed to test the limits of Concept. Feel free to follow the development here.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
New Sample Game
It has been awhile. I finally got some time to make a proper demo game with Concept engine. It is a relatively simple game, but it showcases some of the capability possible within Concept. Please let me know what you guys think.
AWSD - movement
Mouse - Object interactions
Head over the download section to test it out!
4 comments:
Hi, this is Kryzon from the Blitz3D forums, I think I used to talk to you over there.ReplyDelete
Great work man.
It plays a little slow in my Dell Vostro 1000.
Also, there are a few polishes needed for interacting with objects.
A suggestion: always show interactible objects, even when far away from them; you can make holding the mouse on an object forces the character to walk toward that object until reaching it close enough for interaction.
This is the way Diablo 1 does it - you might want to check that out!
The graphics are lovely, they really make you immerse in the game and care to find out more about what's happening.
Keep it up.
Thank you very much for trying. Thanks for the suggestion, I will keep that in mind. :)ReplyDelete
Once I get more time, hopefully I can polish it up a bit and post on the forum for more feedback.
Any chance you'll start posting demos of the engine itself to let us play with making games?ReplyDeleteReplies
Yes, I have plans to release the engine for testing soon. Just currently doing some clean up and drafting documentation. Should be complete end of this month or early next.Delete


text:
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
13 comments:
For real? I'm so curious as to how supposed individuals thought you were going to help them. I can't even imagine...
- May 5, 2010 at 1:15 PM
- Ask a Manager said...
Yes! And he put the name of his school -- Harvard -- in red (and also in the subject line). I think it was supposed to entice me.
- May 5, 2010 at 1:23 PM
- Sheila said...
Well, Harvard, doesn't that mean you have to drop everything to do what he wants? ;)
I used to work as a reference librarian at a university. Every semester there would be students in a panic because they had something due and items would be checked out or otherwise unavailable, etc, etc...
Then they'd be mad at me because it was obviously my fault I wouldn't help them.
One of my coworkers had a sign in her office (not visible from the reference desk because that might have upset some people): lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.
- May 5, 2010 at 1:48 PM
- Shoshie said...
Ugh, I'm a TA at a big university and I get stuff like this ALL THE TIME.
"OMG, my lab report is due tomorrow at 8:30 am, can you explain this fundamental concept to me?" Time stamped at 10:30 or later.
No. No, I can't. Well, I can, but not before your report is due.
I tell all my students that they can expect a response within 24 hours during the week, possibly longer on weekends. If you need a response NOW, well, you'll probably have to figure it out on your own. Some people find this incredibly unreasonable.
- May 5, 2010 at 3:19 PM
Hoo boy- does this person want to be known as someone who expects other people to do their work for them at the last minute?
And before they even join the work force?
Not a great first impression.
Lois Gory
- May 5, 2010 at 3:38 PM
So, no help on my presentation that's due in an hour then?
But I went to The University of Texas at Austin - very prestigious!
- May 5, 2010 at 4:35 PM
I'm on hold on a phone interview. Does this mean you won't help?
- May 5, 2010 at 8:31 PM
- Charles said...
Harvard, really? I see a future for this individual in government or a too-big-to-fail company where the rest of us are expected to pick up/clean up the mess when he screws up.
- May 6, 2010 at 1:07 AM
Lois, this person is in grad school, which means they could possibly have already been in the working world for a while. Which makes the whole idea even scarier.
- May 6, 2010 at 10:15 AM
I got an email from a M.Ed. student that wanted me to read a 14-page academic case study and then answer a bunch of questions. The email begged for help as "I haven't gotten responses." I politely wrote back that he probably wasn't getting an answer because he was asking busy professionals to take two hours out of their day . . . I didn't get a response.
- May 6, 2010 at 1:31 PM
Sounds like this person is just getting used to the practice of name-dropping their alma matter whenever they want something.
- May 6, 2010 at 6:13 PM
- Karl L Hughes said...
One of the worst things that my university does is let students send a mass email to everyone in the class via a simple link on each course's website.
About twice a week I get an email from another student that says something like: "I know you guys hate these emails, but can someone please send me the homework that was assigned this week?"
I understand the occasional need to skip class, but you should probably at least address a plea for help to someone you know personally, and not abuse the automatic email system.
- May 7, 2010 at 9:20 AM
HAHA! This made me laugh out loud. First because it is so true-at this point you're screwed. Secondly, I can't imagine still being *writing* your Master's Thesis 5 hours before it's due. I worked for months with my advisor and it was in completion status when I defended it (though of course I did re-write some sections). But the OP is WRITING it 5 hours before it's due? Wow. I guess I'm grateful I didn't go to Harvard if I'd have had classmates like this. This person sounds like they are used to using connections to help them get out of jams, sorry-life isn't always like that!
- May 9, 2010 at 6:34 PM