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...including making a Cheeto look like Jesus on a cross:
This, of course, comes on the heels of a previously reported Jesus-praying Cheeto :
Oddly enough, they both call their cheetos "cheesus." I see lawsuits in both of their futures.
Even more impressive than God's ability to make Cheetos that look somewhat, kind-of-but-not-really like Jesus, is God's power to turn these Cheetos into national news stories.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
God Can Do Anything...
...including making a Cheeto look like Jesus on a cross:
Posted by Dan S at 7/30/2008 1 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
I'm between family reunions this week, so postings will be light. I did manage to get out a short, throwaway column for Smile Politely though: Fryers, Broilers, and Roasters, which touches on the country, chickens, and family reunions.
Posted by Dan S at 7/29/2008 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: Smile Politely
Thursday, July 24, 2008
I'm a Citizen!
Good news for my status as super-patriot. I barely passed the US citizenship test (85% correct), available here.
I had to guess which amendments to the Constitution did not address or guarantee voting rights. I guessed the 24th, but it was actually the 7th (curse that right to a fair trial for not being about voting rights!)
Also, I didn't know which INS form was used for naturalization (a trick question, in my opinion, since no true American really needs to know anything about naturalization).
Finally, I mistook the quiz as being about actual practice, rather than theory, and said that it is the president who declares war. After all, Congress has not declared war since WWII, and we've been in dozens of military escapades during that time. I guess civics demands that we continue to believe it is Congress' responsibility.
A test about US government practice would be quite different from one about theory. However, it would probably not be appropriate for schoolchildren or immigrants.
Posted by Dan S at 7/24/2008 10 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
The Sniping Continues
I've been cranky lately, hence, the preponderance of politics and cheap shots in my recent posts. The trend continues in my Smile Politely column this week: A Touch of Crazy, where I make snide remarks about Michael Gerson, Cal Thomas, and the News Gazette Commentary page.
Maybe I'm just gearing up for my upcoming family reunions...
Posted by Dan S at 7/22/2008 29 comments Links to this post
Labels: Smile Politely
Monday, July 21, 2008
This Will Be Hard to Spin
From Der Spiegel:
"Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki supports US presidential candidate Barack Obama's plan to withdraw US troops from Iraq within 16 months. When asked in an interview with SPIEGEL when he thinks US troops should leave Iraq, Maliki responded "as soon as possible, as far as we are concerned." He then continued: "US presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes."
Given the rhetoric we've heard about Obama, does this make Maliki an appeaser?
Posted by Dan S at 7/21/2008 2 comments Links to this post
Friday, July 18, 2008
Al Gore Rocks
"We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that's got to change."
"There are times in the history of our nation when our very way of life depends upon dispelling illusions and awakening to the challenge of a present danger. In such moments, we are called upon to move quickly and boldly to shake off complacency, throw aside old habits and rise, clear-eyed and alert, to the necessity of big changes. Those who, for whatever reason, refuse to do their part must either be persuaded to join the effort or asked to step aside. This is such a moment. "
"Today I challenge our nation to commit to producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years. This goal is achievable, affordable and transformative. It represents a challenge to all Americans – in every walk of life: to our political leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, engineers, and to every citizen."
"For decades, Al Gore has challenged the skeptics in Washington on climate change and awakened the conscience of a nation to the urgency of this threat. I strongly agree with Vice President Gore that we cannot drill our way to energy independence, but must fast-track investments in renewable sources of energy like solar power, wind power and advanced biofuels, and those are the investments I will make as President. It's a strategy that will create millions of new jobs that pay well and cannot be outsourced, and one that will leave our children a world that is cleaner and safer."
Posted by Dan S at 7/18/2008 19 comments Links to this post
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Names, Names, Names
Thanks to The Urban Mennonite, I've been wasting time all day playing with The Name Voyager. It turns out that Dan (or Daniel, my proper name) is more popular than ever, at number 5 in 2007!
It's funny how competition kicks in like this, especially considering that I claim to value uniqueness.
But I'm not alone in my desire for uniqueness (heh). The graph results tell the story: There were twice as many babies named Dan in the 1980s as now, and yet Dan was number 7 then, and is number 5 now. This is because so many people are picking less common names for babies. It takes fewer people of the same name to be ranked high. (In case you are curious, Emily and Jacob were the number one names in 2007.)
I wondered how our family names rank in 2007, so I looked them up:
Chloe: Ranked 16, but not used much until the 1990s. She was born in 1994, so she had a fashionably unique name for awhile, but then everyone copied.
Jasmine: Ranked 32, but "Jasmin" is separate, and clocks in at 203. Again, not used until the late 80s and then took off in the 1990s. See Aladdin (1992).
Anthony: Like Dan, Anthony has been popular since the time of Pharaohs (or lions' dens), and is currently number 7 (sorry buddy, maybe next year).
Jill: Sadly, Jill is not listed in 2007, which means she didn't make the top 1000. Her name peaked in the 1960s (when she was born) at 61. Her buddy Jack has made a comeback though, and it currently number 38, only slightly lower than his johnnie-come-lately fashion mate, Jackson.
OK, I'm done wasting time. Time to go transport the bodies associated with these names to their various afternoon lessons and appointments.
Posted by Dan S at 7/16/2008 0 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Married People Rock
My Smile Politely column for this week is now available: Married People Rock, where I make fun of being married.
After yesterday's New Yorker cover, I'm feeling a bit nervous about doing satire. But, as my brother mentioned, it does fullfill a lifelong dream (well, months-long, anyway) of including The Flight of the Conchords into a column.
Posted by Dan S at 7/15/2008 3 comments Links to this post
Labels: Smile Politely
Monday, July 14, 2008
The New Yorker Cover
The liberal blogosphere exploded today over the new cover of The New Yorker. The cover was intended to be a satire of all the outrageous things that kooks believe about Barack Obama - that he is a flag burning Muslim mole and his wife is some sort of militant black nationalist:
However, without any context, it does more to reinforce this kind of misinformation than challenge it. Americans, satire, and political campaigns mix about as well as oil, water and rocks, so I don't think many people are going to be laughing about this. The irony is that there is a 16 page article on Obama in this issue that is said to be largely positive. And yet I would guess the average person seeing this on a news stand will think that the New Yorker believes Obama is going to institute Sharia law once elected president. Such is the power of images over words. Sigh
As a side note, how dumb do you have to be to believe Obama will institute Sharia law as president? It first requires enough racism and prejudice to believe that a black person is unable to attend a public grade school in Indonesia for a year (that had Muslims in attendence) without being forever brainwashed into a radical sect of Islam. Then it requires a lack of even rudimentary knowledge of how our government works and what the constitution is and the powers that a president has. Finally, it requires you to believe that the American people would just stand idly by and let something like that happen.
Yes, I know, these are probably the same people who fervently hope for the return of a Christian theocracy. In fact, that's probably why they take these ridiculous smears so seriously. They might be hoping something like this happens, except in favor of their own version of religion.
Posted by Dan S at 7/14/2008 14 comments Links to this post
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Pictures at a Revolution
I just finished Mark Harris' "Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood." It's a solid read about the 5 movies that were nominated for the 1968 Best Picture Academy Award. It covers the transition from the production code era, where words and scenes and ideas were simply not allowed to be filmed, to the ratings system we have today, where anything goes, but with a label warning people about content. It was also the time period where bloated, road-show musicals gave way to movies that reflected contemporary social conditions.
In the last few weeks, I've watched (for the first time) In the Heat of the Night and Bonnie and Clyde, and also saw The Graduate for I think the 3rd time. I had seen Guess Who's Coming to Dinner in the late 80's, and after reading the book, skipped Dr. Dolittle, which was included only because of bloc-voting from the studio.
The Graduate was better than I remembered it, but I have to admit that I was unable to recreate in my loft (where I usually watch movies) the social, political and cultural context of 1967 that would have enabled me to truly appreciate why these movies are so good. I understand why Sidney Poiter slapping a white guy was so cathartic in 1967, but I just kept thinking that In the Heat of the Night looked a lot like a TV show from the 70s. Bonnie and Clyde may have been the first counter-cultural cool bad guy movie, but its spawn mastered the genre a lot better.
That's the thing about new, groundbreaking films, books, music, art, ideas. They are usually not nearly as good technically as the best of what comes after them. It's their originality that makes them important, and as they are copied, they will seem less original to later generations, when they become clichés. I can watch them, noting the scenes that are groundbreaking, and appreciate them intellectually, but it isn't the same as living through it.
Posted by Dan S at 7/10/2008 5 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
The Washington Street Parade
Posted by Dan S at 7/08/2008 3 comments Links to this post
Labels: Smile Politely
Friday, July 04, 2008
The Dance of Matt
Nothing says freedom like doing a silly dance with people in every corner of the earth, plus a demilitarized zone:
Thanks to my old colleague Ian Olsen at SourceGear for forwarding this to me. The guy in the pictures is Matt Harding, who apparently travels a lot.
Posted by Dan S at 7/04/2008 7 comments Links to this post
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
The Plastic Bag Problem
If you've been forgetting to feel guilty lately about using plastic bags, here's a website that will help get you back on track:
There are a lot of words in the article, but it all boils down to this:
Posted by Dan S at 7/02/2008 3 comments Links to this post
Drug Legalization
My weekly Smile Politely column is up: Some Thoughts on Drugs and Social Policy. It contains tepid approval of drug legalization as a way to reduce violence in the world.
Posted by Dan S at 7/02/2008 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: Smile Politely
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Tuesday at the Pool
I took the kids to Shalom pool today in Champaign. It was a lot like caddie day.
It alternated between this:
and this:
Nonetheless, it was Tuesday afternoon and I was at the pool. You know the old saying: A day at the pool with thousands of people thrashing around and evacuating every so often because kids keep pooping in it is better than a day at work.
I think it should be amended: A day where you have the opportunity to go to the pool with thousands of people thrashing around and evacuating every so often because kids keep pooping in it is better than a day where you are required to go to work.
All in all, I think the idea of going to the pool is better than actually going to the pool. I would have preferred to write silly blog entries.
Posted by Dan S at 7/01/2008 3 comments Links to this post


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Aunt Ria was SO sweet to wear her princess crown and jump in that castle with her nieces! They loved playing ring-around-the-rosie with their "RIA!"
She FINALLY got a real birthday cake with lots of family and friends around to sing to her as she blew out her candles!
Daddy was such a good sport and even wore a tiara for a moment- anything for his little princesses!

subset: commoncrawl


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[ Ed. note – The US has been more interested in overthrowing the Assad government than in fighting the savage degenerates who kidnapped these women and turned their lives into hell–that's something I hope people will keep in mind while watching the video above as well as while reading the article below.
And not only has the US been disingenuous in its supposed fight against ISIS, but US weapons and munitions, along with whole fleets of Toyota vehicles, have somehow mysteriously ended up in ISIS hands. Yet for some equally mysterious reason, ISIS militants don't seem to be able to get their hands on Russian weapons–or at least I've yet to hear of it. At any rate, below are two articles from Sputnik, the first published today, while the second appeared back in February. One thing we can be thankful for is that Mosul is now liberated. ]
Daesh Wives Reveal Details of Their Lives
Wives of Daesh terrorists agreed to take part in a video interview conducted by Iraqi law-enforcement services. Sputnik received the exclusive footage from the Iraqi federal police.
The video depicts three women responding to police questions after their evacuation from Mosul.
The first woman said that she was forced to marry a terrorist by her uncle, who is also a member of Daesh. In this way, he hoped to get a promotion within the group, but later was killed. The woman now has a one-year-old child; the fate of her husband remains unknown.
Replying to the police's questions, the woman said that she could not escape from her husband, because he kept her captive in the cellar for more than a year. After he found out that she tried to contact her relatives who serve in the army, he threatened to kill her.
When the second woman was asked if she was married to a Daesh militant, she only nodded affirmatively. Later she said that her husband was killed. The father of the woman was also a Daesh member, he was also killed a couple of days ago.
The third woman was holding a small child on her hands during the interview. Her husband was killed during an airstrike.
Commenting on the women's statements, the head of the Iraqi federal police Shakir Jaudat told Sputnik that "women who agreed to answer questions in front of the camera are innocent. If they were involved in committing crimes, they would refuse to do so."
According to Jaudat, the women's testimony will be used for further investigations.
Daesh terrorists are notorious for their atrocities against civilians and, especially, their cruel treatment of women. Women are often used by Daesh militants as slaves and sometimes serve as snipers or work in financial departments within the terrorist group.
Torturing Their Own: Daesh Now Raping Sunni Women Too
Daesh fighters are detaining, ill-treating, torturing, and forcibly marrying Sunni Arab women and girls in areas under their control in Iraq – the first cases identified of such practices being inflicted against Sunni Arab women.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) researchers interviewed a number of women who fled the Daesh-controlled town of Hawija, to the northern city of Kirkuk. While HRW and the United Nations have previously documented extensive sexual abuses carried out by Daesh against Yazidi women, including the execution of 250 girls who refused to be sex slaves, this is the first time such abuses have been detected among the Sunni community.
One woman described being forced to marry her cousin, who then raped her; another had her home destroyed by militants after her husband deserted Daesh, and likewise forced to marry a fighter.
In April 2016, Daesh captured a large group of women who were attempting to escape Hawija and held them for months in an abandoned house, where they were raped in front of their children on a daily basis.
A woman, Aisha, recounted how her family was caught by Daesh trying to flee. They shot her son, and beat the female members of the group with rifle butts. The women were then lashed 65 times each, with more lashes added if they winced at the punishment. They were held for a fortnight, and only released after paying US$2,000.
Experts from four international organizations working with survivors of sexual assault in Iraq told HRW it is difficult to assess the prevalence of Daesh' gender-based violence against women who have fled territory under their control. They said victims and their families remain silent to avoid stigmatization and harm to their reputations.
The women interviewed are all patients at the Kirkuk Center, where a staff of 12 provides psychological and behavioral counseling to women and children. The site has almost fallen victim to bombing attacks by the US and its allies on more than one occasion.


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we drove out to my parents place this morning. the light made the greens of may sing with bright fresh notes. walking through the fields. sun weaving between the branches and the young leaves. breeze moving the grass in whispers. i found myself sitting in the grass and just breathing. i didn't want to leave. simply trees and grass as far as i could see, and it was like i'd never seen it before. and yet this is what shaped me. it's as much a part of me as the blood and bone and tissue that makes me. this view from my bedroom window that i saw every day as a child. i left this view to explore and create and travel and learn. but it stays always behind my eyes, always ready for me to return to it.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Posted by chasing lightning bugs at 10:46 PM
Labels: childhood, childhood home., country, farm house, fields, grass, pastoral, trees
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Welcome to My Site
If this is your first visit, welcome! This site is devoted to my life experiences as a Filipino-American who immigrated from the Philippines to the United States in 1960. I came to the US as a graduate student when I was 26 years old. I am now in my early-80's and thanks God for his blessings, I have four successful and professional children and six grandchildren here in the US. My wife and I had been enjoying the snow bird lifestyle between US and Philippines after my retirement from USFDA in 2002. Please do not forget to read the latest national and International News in this site . I have also posted some of my favorite Filipino and American dishes and recipes in this site. Some of the photos and videos in this site, I do not own. However, I have no intention on infringing on your copyrights. Cheers!
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Fruits and Vegetables in Season in California
I was shopping the other day at our Farmers Market and also at Sprouts Store specializing on fresh produce ( fruits and vegetables) grown locally. There must be at least 100 items you can purchase, but the products that are in season can be yours at bargain prices. I observed that prices here in Sprouts is oftentimes cheaper than in the local Farmer's market except in one or two products.
As most of you probably know California grows about 80% of all fruits and vegetables in the U.S.,so California seasons are, in some ways, the national seasons. Several products are imported from Mexico, Chile, Australia and other countries( bananas, mangoes, papayas etc...)
The following is list of fruits and vegetables arrange alphabetically for your reference and information. The one mark with asterisk are now in season here in Northern California. The list has about 145 items and more than half are in season right now. The list do not include the numerous varieties available for several fruits (apples, oranges, persimmons, grapes etc..) listed here.
Apples, late summer through fall (cold storage until spring)*
Apricots, late spring through early summer
Artichokes, spring and again early fall*
Arugula, available year-round but best in spring and fall*
Asparagus, spring
Avocados, classically summer, but now harvested year-round*
Basil, summer
Beets, year-round*
Belgian Endive, available year-round but best in fall and winter*
Black berrries, summer
Blueberries, summer
Boysenberries, early summer
Broccoli, year-round but best in fall and winter*
Broccoli raab, fall through spring*
Brussels sprouts, late fall and winter*
Cabbage, best in late fall and winter but available year-round*
Cantaloupes, late summer
Cardoons, winter and early spring
Carrots, year-round*
Cauliflower, best in fall and winter but available year-round*
Celeriac/celery root, fall and winter*
Celery, best in fall and winter but available year-round*
Chard, summer and fall*
Cherries, late spring and summer
Chickpeas (a.k.a. garbanzo beans), fresh in summer (dried year-round)*
Chicories, fall and winter*
Chiles, summer
Clementines, winter*
Collard greens, year-round*
Corn, summer
Cucumbers, summer
Edamame, fall*
Eggplant, summer and early fall*
Escarole, fall and winter*
Fava beans, spring
Fennel, fall through spring
Fiddleheads, spring
Figs, summer and fall*
Garlic, summer and fall (stored year-round)*
Gooseberries, summer
Garlic scapes/green garlic, spring
Grapefruit, winter and spring
Grapes, late summer and early fall*
Green almonds, spring
Green beans, summer and early fall*
Green onions, spring through fall*
Horseradish, fall and winter*
Huckleberries, late summer and early fall*
Jerusalem artichokes/sunchokes, fall and winter*
Kale, best in fall and winter*
Kiwis, winter and into spring
Kohlrabi, late fall through spring
Kumquats, late winter and spring
Leeks, fall through spring
Lemongrass, summer and fall*
Lemons, winter and spring
Lettuce, available year-round nationally but best in spring
Limes, late summer and fall*
Mandarins, winter*
Mangos, summer
Marionberries, summer
Melons, summer and early fall*
Mint, year-round*
Morels, spring
Mushrooms (cultivated), year-round*
Mushrooms (wild), spring through fall*
Nectarines, summer
Nettles, spring
New Potatoes, spring
Okra, late summer and early fall*
Onions, spring through fall (stored in winter)*
Oranges (Navel), winter and spring
Oranges (Valencia), spring and summer
Oregano, year-round*
Parsley, year-round*
Parsnips, fall through spring
Peaches, summer
Pears, fall*
Pea greens, spring
Peas and pea pods, spring and early summer
Peppers (sweet), summer and early fall*
Persimmons, fall and early winter*
Plums & pluots, summer
Pomegranates, fall*
Pommelos, winter
Potatoes, late summer through fall but available from storage year-round*
Pumpkins, fall*
Quinces, fall*
Radicchio, late summer through early spring
Radishes, spring through fall*
Radishes (daikon, watermelon, other large varieties), fall and winter*
Rapini, fall through spring
Raspberries, summer
Rhubarb, spring and early summer
Rosemary, year-round*
Rutabagas, fall and winter*
Sage, year-round
Salsify, fall and winter*
Scallions, spring through fall
Shallots, summer and fall (from storage through winter)
Shelling beans, summer and early fall*
Snap peas/snow peas/pea pods, spring
Sorrel, year-round*
Spinach, year-round*
Spring Onions, spring
Squash (summer), summer
Squash (winter), fall and winter*
Stinging Nettles, spring
Strawberries, spring and summer
Sunchokes/Jerusalem artichokes, fall and winter*
Sweet Onions, spring and summer
Sweet potatoes, fall and winter*
Tangerines, winter*
Thyme, year-round*
Tomatillos, late summer
Tomatoes, summer
Turnips, fall through spring
Watercress, year-round*
Watermelons, summer
Winter Squash, fall and winter*
Zucchini, summer
Zucchini Blossoms, summer
The five products that I like that is not in this list are taro roots, baby bok choy(chinese cabbage), bananas, papayas and Jicama (Mexican turnips or singkamas in Tagalog).
Reference: http://localfoods.about.com/od/searchbyregion/a/CAFruitsVeggies.htm
Posted by David B Katague at 8:58 AM
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|Gush Etzion Junction this morning: scene of the stabbing [Image Source]
Around 8 this morning, a Border Police officer manning a surveillance position right next to a security checkpoint in Tapuah Junction noticed a hooded Arab man approaching and, for reasons understandably never articulated, became suspicious. He called to the pedestrian to halt and was ignored. In other places, where other rules prevail, those circumstances might be the prelude to a shoot-first-ask-questions-later encounter. As so often happens in this country, it went differently and the young Arab is alive to tell his admirers about it... some day. In accordance with protocol, the security officer radioed to the checkpoint commander for instructions, presumably using not too many words. The commander and another soldier came running immediately. Their report is that the young Arab kept on coming, and stopped only when they cocked their guns. He resisted a pat-down and was subdued with moderate force. He also resisted their efforts to get to know him better, even after a knife was found in his clothing. He had no ID with him, which in these parts has consequences. He is now with the Shin Bet - alive, and likely to see at least his approaching 19th birthday. It's questionable whether that is a courtesy he intended to reciprocate to the disciplined young service-men and -woman who stand at the checkpoints.
In the past hour (mid-morning, Monday), there's word of a second knifing attempt with more serious immediate consequences. An Arab terrorist, evidently a young female, walked up to Gush Etzion Junction south of Jerusalem and tried to stab an Israeli civilian. She was shot in the attempt, and INN says she is in critical condition. Yedioth Aharonoth reports the terrorist was female and according to the ambulance people at Magen David Adom (MDA) there is another lightly wounded person at the scene. The scene of the terror attack is close to the one where a young mother, Dalia Lemkus, was murdered by an Arab terrorist three weeks ago.


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If "simplicity" is the new mantra then Honda was way ahead of its time.
August 1, 2012
Making simple cool, circa 1980
New York Times marketing columnist, Stuart Elliot recently wrote an article heralding "simplicity" as the new, new thing in Adland and popular culture in general. He cited numerous examples of modern marketers capitalizing on a trend to "get back to the basics" and to provide consumers with "simple solutions." Somewhat wearily, trend spotter Marian Salzman added, "We envy the time we had just three TV channels to choose from."
Reading this article I could not help but think of my father's agency, Rubin Postaer & Associates and their decades-long, mostly marvelous campaign for Honda: "We make it Simple." Later (and fittingly) RPA simplified the tagline to "Simplify." And while the brand is not overtly using the copy now it informs everything they do. Sort of like "dependability" permeates Maytag.
Somewhat snarkily, I tweeted that Honda was touting simple before simple was trendy, linking Elliot's story. Within minutes Stuart replied to my Tweet, claiming he'd written about the heritage of simplicity mentioning Honda but it had been edited for space. I responded (more sheepishly now) that I'd merely been looking after my father's legacy and thanked him for the prompt reply. Author's note: My father's legacy does not need me watching it. But I had to tweet something.
A couple things:
First: How cool is it that I can comment on a piece in the New York Times and within seconds receive a reply from its author? I love that about our new world, which is contrary to Salzman's blather about envying old timey media. Back then you wrote a "letter to the editor" and were most likely ignored. If you got in the paper it was after the fact, when people likely didn't care about the story anymore, let alone remember it.
Second: Although Honda rightly deserves providence over "Simplicity" in terms of modern advertising campaigns, I'm pretty certain the world has always come across as scary and complicated and that getting back to the basics provided relief. Just ask the Amish.
"Wish Pa would get a Honda."
3 Responses to "If "simplicity" is the new mantra then Honda was way ahead of its time."
August 2, 2012 at 2:34 am
[…] Gods of Advertising /* […]
December 13, 2012 at 8:48 pm
And, unbelievably, Honda hired a CMO from Chrysler- and he put the account in review.
After 26 years of great ads and lots of customers- some idiot thinks that a successful brand isn't integrally connected with its agency.
It is very cool that Stuart Elliot is that connected to his readers- it's why the NYT is one of the class acts when it comes to newspapers in a wasteland of failure.


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Happy Birthday Al!
Here are his Top 4 films, listed in chronological order by year of release.
The Godfather Part 2 (1974)
Francis Ford Coppola directed this American crime film. It was, of course, the sequel to the 1972 Godfather film that Coppola also directed. Pacino starred as the head of the Corleone crime family, Michael Corleone. Also starring in this film were Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, and Talia Shire, among many others. Pacino was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for this film but lost to Art Carney for his role in Harry and Tonto.
Heat (1996)
Michael Mann directed this American crime film that was based on a 1989 TV-movie called L.A. Takedown. Pacino stars as Lt. Vincent Hanna. Other actors in this film included Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore, Ashley Judd, Wed Studi, Ted Levine, Natalie Portman, Hank Azaria, Henry Rollins, Tone Loc and Jeremy Piven.
Donnie Brasco (1997)
This biopic of an undercover FBI agent was directed by Mike Newell. Pacino stars as Lefty Ruggiero alongside Johnny Depp (who played the title role) and Michael Madsen.
Any Given Sunday (1999)
This sports drama was directed by Oliver Stone. Pacino plays Tony D'Amato, the head coach of the fictional football team that the film is about. It also starred Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quiad, James Woods, Jamie Foxx, LL Cool J, Aaron Eckhart, and Matthew Modine.


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I was alerted today by this tweet by Alex Curtis about American University's Center for Social Media's video release Remix Culture: Fair Use is Your Friend. Sure enough, I got home and found this press release in my email.
The newest video is s a collaborative project of the Center for Social Media—a center of American University's School of Communication—and the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property—a program of American University's Washington College of Law—along with Stanford Law School's Fair Use Project and Google provided funds to Tony Falzone's Fair Use Project at Stanford Law School for its creation. It is designed not only to promote the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use, but also to the video identifies six kinds of unlicensed uses of copyrighted material that may be considered fair, under certain limitations. They are:
- Commenting or critiquing of copyrighted material
- Use for illustration or example
- Incidental or accidental capture of copyrighted material
- Memorializing or rescuing of an experience or event
- Use to launch a discussion
- Recombining to make a new work, such as a mashup or a remix, whose elements depend on relationships between existing works
I think it is important to point out that the Code of Best Practices is one of a collection of codes that outlines best practices NOT just for librarians, or media educators, but for ANY educator who is using media or encouraging students to be media / content creators. Boing Boing's Cory Doctorow just blogged about it yesterday. (While you are at it, check out this Boing Boing Post as well) You can view the video on the Center for Social Media Channel on Blip TV, YouTube and variety of other sites.
The purpose of fair use is to protect a users ability to create and to prevent private censorship. Don't give up that right...Watch the video, and talk to your students about what fair means in a remix society. Take them through the reasoning process, and pass the word!
I will be part of a preconference session at NECC with Renee Hobbs, Mike RobbGrieco, and Joyce Valenza we'd love you to join our conversation.


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Loewe has extended its Xelos family of televisions with the addition of a Xelos A 42 a 42in Plasma television.
Packed with goodies such as Lowe's DigitalPlus platform and high resolution HD plasma technology the new television becomes the largest model in the range. The model also includes Diagonal Contour Control and Luminance Transition Improvement to optimise the picture quality and according to Lowe to deliver sharp, flicker-free screen images.
The Xelos A 42 is 'HD ready' and can display high definition pictures, whilst the HDMI provides high definition playback quality of digital picture and sound signals.
Loewe's Xelos A 42 plasma joins the Xelos SL 37 HD/DR+, Xelos SL 32 HD/DR+, Xelos A 26, Xelos A 22 and Xelos SL20 LCDs in a product line that offers the perfect solution and screen size for any requirement.
The unit will cost £3,499.


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Two bodies, a man and a woman, were found in different parts of the Humber River within 24 hours of one another.
Toronto police extracted the body of an unidentified woman from the Humber River on Saturday morning after it was spotted by a passerby.
The body was spotted near the Toronto Yacht Club on Friday afternoon. Police say because the river was frozen, they body was not able to be extracted until the following day.
Later on Saturday afternoon, a passerby spotted what appeared to be a second person floating in a creek in Wincott Park at Dixon Rd. and Wincott Dr. The creek is connected to Humber River.
Toronto Fire were called to extract the body of an unidentified man from the water and pronounced him deceased at the scene.
"The two cases are being treated as separate cases and are being investigated by two separate units," said Const. Allyson Douglas-Cook, of Toronto Police.
Douglas-Cook added that the incidents happened in two separate divisions but that the units would "compare notes," so to speak.
For now there are no obvious signs of trauma and the postmortem investigations will be conducted on Sunday, said Douglas-Cook.
The circumstances surrounding their deaths are currently unknown. Police continue to investigate.


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Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category
A critique of Marx's labor theory of value
The strongest moral and practical critique of laissez faire economics I ever found was Marx's labor theory of value in "Das Kapital". In essence; the employer exploits by taking the difference between the value of the goods produced and the salary paid to the laborer; "surplus value". Implicit is that labor is the foundation of wealth.
In 22 years of self employed computer consulting I've entered hundreds of factories and offices. Typically I've found engineers, biologists, chemists, accountants, builders or mechanics who had started a business some years prior; things had gone well, they found they needed assistance and hired employees.
Marx commonly talked of factory production; one example I know well: aluminum tubes are trucked in, unloaded, measured, marked and machined; the tube is heat treated, holes are drilled, parts welded on; much of this done by hired labor.
The owner/manager trains and assists his employees in all this on the shop floor, and then works on the engineering designs for the projects, arranges for the purchase and delivery of raw tubes into the factory, seeks new buyers for completed tubes, designs new applications for the tubes, manages the plant itself, and arranges for the delivery and installation of the finished product.
I'm friends with some of the employees and the manager. In my understanding of the situation the manager is creating an environment where the relatively less skilled laborer is able to be productive and achieve a decent standard of living. I see mutual benefit, not exploitation. The general principle holds over all business and employment on all scales I've ever seen. Marx was critiquing the use of capital in larger systems, but if you are the first employee of Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard or HP's 10,000'th I see no difference. In even the most abstract situation the capitalist is acting as manager, assuming risk and responsibility.
Also worth noting is that what was high science in the 1820's and then fine engineering in the 1880's that allowed for any of this to happen, as it depends on large amounts of cheap aluminum. What led to all this inventiveness ?
If labor makes wealth how to explain the poverty of populous 19 th and 20 th century India and China ? More to the point: how to explain their rise to wealth after they embrace freer markets ? Consider the recent collapse of the command economy of the USSR. Note England's empire disintegrating in our lifetime.
Any one of Europe's major nations had the energy/capacity/wealth to rule the world these last 500 years; now, together, they are close to being politically irrelevant and face monetary collapse from overtaxing, overspending and over borrowing to fund entitlement programs, much as we've done here.
To play with Marx; surplus value seems the wage paid to the business owner by labor for the provision of a job. More; markets arrange for people like the manager to compete against other motivated & skilled people to supply us what we wish. Employees benefit with jobs and goods. Efficiency is high as no formal management of the larger economy is needed as with theUSSR.
To further spin Marx around; by letting these rare skilled people get bigger houses and faster cars than they need, you motivate them to work like dogs, to compete for the privilege of making us what we want.
What percentage of the population are they? How many people do you know who can run a business well ? Create one from scratch ? Invent a new product and bring it to market ?
All the millionaires I know worked 60 hour weeks for 20+ years bringing us things we bought freely in our own best interest. I've seen them and helped them make schools, robots, houses, pharmaceuticals, boats; I've seen them bring electricity to people's homes. They are all better organized and harder working than I am or than most people I know. It seems to me their wealth was created legitimately and they are entitled to it.
The West, for 500 years, increasingly got out of the way of these productive people. In theUSwe celebrated them. The problems we see now I suspect are the result of 100 years of increasing interference with them; I see them burdened by incredible amounts of regulation, paper work and high taxes. When dealing with this crap they can hardly produce or hire more.
As I see it labor does not create wealth in a technical society; it is science, engineering and the management of labor to meet market demands (your demands) that creates conditions where labor has any value at all. After 20 years of practice I'm a decent programmer and systems engineer; worth some money in the right place; out of this place these skills are of no more value than my chess game, and no one ever paid me for that.
This idea of Marx's is at the current historical root, I suspect, of why some in this society believe private wealth to be morally illegitimate. It's nonsense.
Equally nonsensical and destructive is the idea of management as villain; to the extent unions interfere with management decisions they destroy their own livelihoods.
I'm a libertarian, and to my old socialist acquaintances: still a hippie; that word meant to me freedom and individualism; on a societal level this translates to less government, not more regulation and bureaucracy. I want my freedom and know to have it I must grant it to my fellows; I have to assume them to be as competent and decent a person and citizen as I want them to assume I am. I see, from the inside, businesses behaving honorably – in part from inevitable self interest. For every example of malfeasance you can site to justify control there are 10,000 happening every moment in this economy to justify trust and freedom. Most of the problems I see cited here, environmental or corporate, can be solved with a free press and tort and other law on the books hundreds of years.
You worked well and hard today; what's my cut ? What do you owe me ? What claim do I have to anything of yours ? Not what might you give me freely if you thought I needed your help, but what right, what moral claim do I have to literally walk in and take what I say I need ? Most of you would say "none"; I agree. Are you owed medical care ? Clothing ? Shelter? Education ? Pizza ? Owed, by who ? Where does the wealth come from ? From who is it taken and with what justification ? You are turning a government created to protect individual rights, that supported a culture that created unparalleled wealth of benefit to all here, into an expropriator of private property; what do you expect of the productive in such a society ? If Marx is wrong, and 150 years of social experimentation now says he is, is not socialism theft ? How hard would you work for a thief ? What are the moral and practical effects of basing a society on such a foundation ?
Is there any doubt in anyone's mind the average Chinese is better fed, clothed and housed, has access to far better medical care, today, in freer markets and with private property rights, than under Mao's communism ? This is staring us all in the face; no history here, it's current events; how do you explain it?
Not the answer of course but one advantage the Chinese have; they lack 30 to 40 % of the population opposed to large efficient businesses creating goods and jobs, a group we have here. Perhaps the last communists alive are some old apparatchiks on pension inSevastopol and many westerners who have never lived under it; I've seen it and it's effects and I ask of you; when you critique western systems and economies; compare the real to the real and the ideal to the ideal.
You bemoan the weakening of the US middle class; what do you think created it but a 19th century economic model with 20th Century technology, not government creating temp non primary producer "jobs" by taking money from the few who create, and who have the wit to reinvest productively and wisely. Steve Jobs died worth billions; he lived in a rather common house; his money was invested, and as he was not a fool was it not more productive in his hands than confiscated and redistributed ? If the rich are those who have the wits and capacity to create then are they not exactly the people who we should wish to have controlling the investment of wealth ? Never mind that it's theirs…
The greatest good for the greatest number is achieved by a free market. (and If government has no place in the bedroom why should it between consenting adults in economics ? ) Look at a picture of NYC in the 1880's or a movie from anywhere in the US in the `1920's or '40's ; large buildings in huge cities, sophisticated transportation and communication, a complex economy in the background, more people living materially better than anywhere else in the world, and almost, by today's standards, no government. Police to prevent coercion and courts to adjudicate contractual issues is generally enough(ah, the start of a long discussion) ; if you don't need more of it why have it ? Government always creates inefficiencies in any market it enters; can we afford them ? What is the real unemployment rate now; 14% ? 18% ? I read of studies finding $1 trillion + lost productivity from federal regulations, and I see my neighbors losing their homes….
Government also uses it's supposed concern for our safety as an excuse for further limiting our freedom of action. Government by it's nature prefers control and it's own growth to a citizen's freedom and success.
Expansions and contractions are part of any free economy; this recent housing collapse was made the worse for the large number of people in homes they couldn't afford and shouldn't have been in, but were, courtesy of govt interference in markets; start by looking at the Community Reinvestment Act; in many ways banks here have been victims.
I've been present at communist riots in Syntagma Square and know a fair number of Greeks; the country has a strong Party history, and thus many who believe they are entitled to – everything. Not just Greece is facing collapse but also Spain, Portugal, Italy; all these governments bought votes with lies, with theft from the productive and borrowed money they cant pay back. For years we have heard of the success of European socialism; it is failing now and you can chart it's collapse in the value of European sovereign debt and the transitions of it's governments. Most news outlets hide the reality with the word "austerity" ; quite a euphemism; it simply means you're getting less of what you didn't pay for.
Obama didn't create this recession, but years of his ideology did, he's a fitting heir to it, and his policy and speeches reinforce it. JFK CUT taxes … and to quote him: "In short, it is a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high today and tax revenues are too low and the soundest way to raise the revenues in the long run is to cut the rates now." It works, it's obvious; it tells you it's generally understood govt is ruinous. Obama is too committed a socialist to use the idea or perhaps even understand it; any hot dog vendor in NY has a better sense of productive economics and would be a better steward of this economy. (And that means than any Libertarian or Republican presidential candidate would be better too)
All of the things you wanted were available on the free market, at affordable prices ( because that is how a market must work; in the poorest countries in the world I saw affordable private schools and was able to buy good health care at rates locals could too); good quality maintained through competition; until the state with taxed dollars drove out competitors. Happy with public schools and their cost ? You can still find private pizza; at a wide variety of quality and price; but you have a *right* to free pizza ! Imagine free govt pizza; how many other vendors would be left ? What quality ? What would the real cost per slice be after taxing to pay for it, regulating, bureaucrats managing ? You are about to do this with health care. What kind of quality care can one expect now in the public health care system ofGreece? Such things are a function of wealth, of general societal wealth.
Wall Street is perhaps the last remnant of the Empire State, once one of the most productive places in the world; socialized govt helped drive out manufacturing, transportation, trade, private education (have you seen Buffalo recently, or Newburgh ? I've read tax rates in NY for factory overtime in the 70's were almost 50%; NY is still one of the most overtaxed places in the world; "Between 1998 and 2008, a net total of more than 1.7 million New Yorkers chose to relocate … More income has left New York than any other state in the nation — $71.7 billion from 1993 to 2008. For every dollar that migrated intoNew Yorkfrom other states during that period, $1.71 left — the highest of any state." And this is after decades of flight. ) ; as in London the stock market remained as a marker of more productive days; information management jobs are harder to kill: "344,700 workers in the finance industry collect more than half of all the wages paid in Manhattan"; and thus pay lots of taxes; this industry may be the last thing holding up the city as we've known it. Of course this is why rational politicians are backing away from the "Occupy Wall Street" crowd. Wouldn't it be nice if the "Occupy" folks tried to help the morale of the district ? Good to see signs like: "Go Team ! Make More Money !" and "Be alert to wide yield spreads !" or "Beware of Greeks selling bonds(because they will pay only half back, at best)" ? In looking at the protesters I wonder what percent have taken a class on economics, or opened a book on the subject. There will be world scale stock markets in 10 years and 100; would be nice to still have one in NY. In the States for that matter.
To my socialist acquaintances: have you ever tried to create a business ? To do something economically productive ? Have you entered this economy, played with it and learned it or are you attacking free markets merely from theory ?
The left's warning of "corporate fascism" deserves a book in reply, suffice it to say that fascism is a function of an enlarged state and distorted culture, not businesses trying to sell soda or cars. 17 percent of the USeconomy is in health care, and much of it is about to be absorbed by the State. This is a form of madness; what tremendous percentage of modern medicine and pharmacology was created here by this system ? it's foundation is about to be shaken. Simultaneously we are about to be coerced into buying health care; forced. No free choice. Does the precedent bother you ? What if I don't want it ? If I'd rather take my chances ? The State knows better for me ? What if the next young Wozniak and Jobs want to use their money to try to build a computer system ? There are surely times I worry that the same psychology that led 20th century Europeans into stateism is at work in the American left. TheUS was an experiment in limited govt and personal freedom; it's still rather unique in this, as you can tell if you visitEurope,Asia,Africa, South America.
England fell for certain starting with Atlee, and Europe is a relative shadow of what it's been for hundreds of years because they embraced socialism, an ideology that rewards the unproductive for not producing, and penalizes the productive for working well, a ideology of mediocrity that disparages individual creation; and all creation, artistic, political, scientific and economic is an individual's act. Some cultures and societies support it better than others; ours did.
If Microsoft were run by people trying to ruin it
If Microsoft were run by people secretly trying to ruin it these last 10 years, how would they have behaved?
Imagine they're in the pay of Apple, but they cant just outright kill the firm; what to do?
Abandon the most popular (and productive) programming language in the world, VB6, for a frustrating monstrosity, VB.NET, and tell the world its object oriented progress; after all OO is the fad of the moment. Ignore tens of thousands of users signing petitions pleading with you not to do it. When its clear years later VB.NET is a failure don't bother to re-support VB6.
Ship a bloated, slow, buggy, operating system with a bit of flash; pretend you're trying to compete with the Macintosh GUI. When it fails release it again with a new name. No one can work productively with them; users look to Apple and Linux; you're succeeding.
Take the most well known office software in the world and rip out its menus, replacing them with cartoons. Don't give users a choice to turn on the menus they know by heart. Produce a "help" system for your software that reads like white papers, never answering functional needs. Leave that up to forums and 3rd party help sites.
Build a phone OS that's buggy and needs to be rebooted constantly. After you've lost too much market share to compete, waste money by doing it again.
Instead of making your core products better, waste more money and prestige by competing in markets you can't succeed in. Put out a music player to compete with Apple's. Put out a web oriented animation system to compete with Flash. Put out a web design tool to compete with Dreamweaver. Of course they all fail; good job.
Manufacture all software to appear to work, so that casual users and investment analysts think you've turned the corner, but make sure that deeper flaws stop professionals from being able to work with the products. Never responsibly admit to these flaws (which would document the problems and help users) ; the general public and your defenders will think you're worried over liability. Users will waste days trying to get apps to work. Eventually no professional will touch your new products.
Ruin the productivity of the sole remaining desktop database, Access, with pointless changes to an efficient design / menu system in place for years; pretend you're trying to appeal to a wider audience. Buy out its only competitor and then cease supporting it.
Pretend you're competing on the web. Ship the most mediocre browsers you can. Make your web portal look like a cheap Sunday ad circular. With great fanfare and expense launch a search engine, but make sure at first it has very limited page returns.
Offer a free trial of your flagship database server to encourage market share, but keep the install bugs that have been known of for two and a half years; this will discourage the majority of potential adopters. Don't even draw attention to the solution; this will create days of lost time as people hunt around Google for the answer. Keep the install time at half a day.(don't tell your users MYSQL downloads and installs in 20 minutes) Make the ODBC connectivity process a frustrating PITA. Don't tell anyone it's easier to connect Access to a MYSQL backend than to SQL Server. Design the backup and recover processes to be overly complex to the point of dysfunctional.
Hope most users never hear of or see the engineering beauty and efficiency of Ubuntu LINUX
Buy last years hot VoIP firm at many times its market value.
For 10 years I shook my head, trying to understand; stupidity? Incompetence? Hubris? Incredible management failure protected by the Windows income stream ? A complete lack of concern for user productivity ? All of them together?
I then came onto Windows 7 (Version 6.1.7600; how odd) explorer and I wanted to move up one directory; of course the interface had been altered so the functions were all hidden and the brand recognition elements that had been there for years and that other firms die for were missing; it was typically frustrating but I hunted around for it. Like the gas cap release lever on a foreign car, it was there somewhere. Somewhere. No, it wasn't.
This astonishing absence led me, eventually, to this realization; MS is not being run by fools; it's being run by people who are trying, and succeeding, at something.
Am I kidding ? Have I read too much Jonathan Swift ? Remember Occam's Razor; let yourself take the idea seriously for a moment and think about it…really, what else could explain it all?
Hello world!
Welcome to WordPress.com. After you read this, you should delete and write your own post, with a new title above. Or hit Add New on the left (of the admin dashboard) to start a fresh post.
Here are some suggestions for your first post.
- You can find new ideas for what to blog about by reading the Daily Post.
- Add PressThis to your browser. It creates a new blog post for you about any interesting page you read on the web.
- Make some changes to this page, and then hit preview on the right. You can alway preview any post or edit you before you share it to the world.


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Our show
Marching History
Symphonic Band
Jazz Bands
Wind Ensemble
in 2000-2001 year our 153 member band performed
"The battle at Sherwood forest"
Our show was comprised of the following songs:
-Celtic Fanfare
-Robin Hood
-Sherwood forest
-Everything I do (I do it for you)
Spectators are immediately taken away to the days of "olde" as the field is set with trees to create a forest scene, and the band emerges onto the field from behind them. The band members wear specific costumes resembling English knights, complete with coats of arms. The sideline players are outfitted as friars and the drum majors, Jason Allgair, Phylisha Currie and Nathan Harris sport English period costumes as well. The Auxiliary completes the medieval look with their timely outfits and colorful flags. A mock sword fight becomes an active part of the program featuring Katie Bechtold, Majorette Captain.
The Marching Band attended several competitions and exhibitions throughout the state. They were the Grand Champions at the Lely, High School Tournament of Bands in Naples, Florida. That competition qualified them for the Florida Marching Band Tournament in Orlando where they were judged as finalists. Straight superior ratings were awarded to the band at the Florida Bandmasters Association Celebration of Great Bands held at Traz Powell Stadium. Their superior performance provided them an invitation to return again this year to the 2000 King Orange Parade in Miami on December 31, 2000.
1st in class and Grand Champions at Lely Tournament of Bands in Naples, Florida
3rd in class and 6th overall at Hialeah Competition
Straight Superiors at FBA Marching Festival at Traz Powell Stadium.
6th out of 32 at Semifinals at FMBC in Orlando. 7th in Finals.
Performed on National TV at King Orange Bowl parade.


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Thursday, July 30, 2009
God is Good!!
7 comments:
- Julie Ranae said...
Boy! I couldn't agree more with your title for this post...and looking at that little one is evidence enough!
Also wanted to mention I love your card for the challenge. I loved those colors too, once I got them together.
Hope you'll stop by The Open Window and follow along with us...lots of fun!
- July 30, 2009 at 11:57 PM
- Stamping at tiffanys said...
omg how sweet!! Mateo loves hats and glasses and anything that he can put on besides his undies and regular clothes!! haha!! why is that??
- July 31, 2009 at 12:14 AM
- Christina said...
Amen and AMEN!
- July 31, 2009 at 12:25 AM
- Karen said...
Yes, He is!
Yes, your's is!
And yes, mine are too!
Isn't life grande?! :>:> (and mighty cute too!)
- July 31, 2009 at 12:36 AM
- MBelles said...
Agreed! God is SO good!!! You have been blessed with an adorable son!
- July 31, 2009 at 9:45 AM
- Lynnette said...
AMEN! We serve one amazing God. I love the photos, so CUTE!
- July 31, 2009 at 10:25 AM
- Stephanie said...
what a doll!!
- July 31, 2009 at 12:28 PM
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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Well, the year is about over, and I'm waiting up to see the New Year in. Since I'm a wild, party person, I'm watching movies on Netflix.
Today, Tim and I finally made it to Wolf Lodge Bay to see the Bald Eagles that come by the hundreds to eat the dying salmon after they spawn. Wolf Lodge Bay is on Lake Coeur d'Alene in Idaho. I was even able to get a few pictures of the eagles. Unfortunately, I couldn't really get any of them as they were flying. We have 2-3 months yet to see them, so maybe I'll be able to get in flight pictures. I got a new camera and was having some trouble finding the eagles. I'd point the camera where they were, but I couldn't see them in the screen. New cameras mean more pictures to get more practice. I did manage to get some fairly decent photos of cooperative eagles just sitting in trees. Anyway, here are some of the pictures I took.
I was busy this month doing crafty things. Below is a picture of the rabbit I made for Michaela's 1st birthday.
These are the bears I made for Christmas for our 5 grandchildren. At one time, I had thought about making them and selling them, but they were more work than I want to do to make and sell. The bears come with different outfits, so the grand kids will let me know what their bears want to wear.
I think I will start a denim patchwork quilt next with the stack of old jeans I have collected. I have no idea what size I will make it. The thought even crossed my mind to make several that are child size and embroider things on the squares and give them to the grand kids. I thought about making a large quilt and still embroider things on it. I guess it all depends on how many squares I can get out of the jeans.
Not that I really make New Years resolutions, but if I was going to make some they would be the usual loose weight, exercise more and fold the towels when they come out of the dryer instead of just taking a towel out of the basket when I need one. Oh, and the really big resolution would be to cut waaay back on the sugar.
I hope everyone has a Happy New Year.


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Source: Flatland Australia
URL of the article: http://bmxflatlandaustralia.com/2014/09/whos-downunder-simon-obrien/
Words and intro by Locky Naef. If your thinking about getting into flatland, Simon O'Brien is defiantly a name to know and respect in Australian flatland and globally. He's got X-Games Gold, Circle of Balance invites, 2 solo DVDs and some impressive, original and stylish tricks. It would seem to watch a video of Simon […]
The post Who's Downunder: Simon O'Brien appeared first on BMX Flatland Australia.
More from the same site:


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Yesterday I have returned from a tree week holiday in Europe (Austria and Ukraine). Late spring was gorgeous and I had bouquets of lilacs and lilies of the valley standing in my room every day. I haven't smelled them for over 15 years so it was a very special experience. Plus it was nice to visit family again and visit some amazing places.
I resisted make-up and duty free shops but managed to pick up a whole range of Vichy skincare and couple of perfumes to remind me of my trip.
Unfortunately Vichy is not available in Australia but I got it overseas before and my skin seems to like it. I got Vichy Normaderm cleansing cream 6 months ago in US and it really helped to clear up my skin. Their range is designed for sensitive skin that is prone to breakouts so it seems to control my pimples without irritating my skin. Plus it paraben-free and is sold in pharmacies as specialized skincare.
1. Vichy Normaderm Daily Moisturiser (love pump bottle - extra hygienic)
It targets and reduces the appearance of six imperfections: blemishes,
pores, shine, oily skin, imperfection marks and irregular complexion,
while providing continuous hydration for 24 hours.
2. Vichy Normaderm 3-in-1 Cleanser, Scrub + Mask
3-in-1 action multi-tasking cleanser - perfectly suited to sensitive
and imperfection-prone skin. Can be used as a cleansing cream to
reduce the appearance of sebum and impurities, a scrub to reduce the
appearance of pores or a mask to help mattify the skin and clarify
your complexion.
3. Vichy Aqualia Thermal Moisturiser.
I've had this cream before and my skin liked it. It was light, absorbed well and had pleasant and light scent.
4. Vichy Normaderm Night Detox cream
Oily, blemish-prone skin suffers from an over-production of sebum
during the night. By morning, the skin can feel dirty and dull with
additional blemishes. New Normaderm Night helps to control the
production of sebum & purify the skin. Blemishes appear reduced,
pores look less visible, complexion looks radiant and skin feels clean
and purified.
5. Vichy Normaderm 3-in-1 Micellar Solution.
Another product that I used to have. It removes traces of make-up after cleansing well and leaves skin refreshed but not dry or irritated.
6. Anti Perspirant 7 day treatment cream
Long-lasting anti-perspiration efficacy.
The micro-refined anti-perspirant active ingredients
mean increased targeting of sweat pores for guaranteed protection for
up to 7 days.
Summer in Qld can get hot, very hot...so I might start using it few weeks before it gets hot and sweaty.
7. Vichy Normaderm Clensing Gel
Normaderm Cleansing Gel provides a deep purifying cleanse that is
perfect for clearing excess sebum and impurities without over-drying.
Enriched with Salicylic Acid, Totarol, Eperuline and Glycolic acid,
our soap-free formula is gentle enough to use daily and helps protect
against further imperfections.
8. Yves Rocher Raspberry
Tinted pink lip balm with tiny shimmer particles. I got it sealed and they didn't have a tester so I originally though it was clear...
9. Yves Rocher Cerisier en Fleurs EDT
Francis Kurkdjian really knows how to create a great scent (he is the nose behind Narciso Rodriguez for Her, Green Tea and Elie Saab perfume range). He captured the spirit of cherry blossom perfectly - sheer floral with gentle fruity notes. I got it as a memory of flowering cherry and apple trees that usually only flower for couple of weeks per year and I was lucky enough to see them.
10. L'Occitane Eau de Cedrat EDT
I instantly fell in love with this scent when I was in a beautiful city of Salzburg. Citrus fragrances can be tricky as they can come out too sharp or reminiscent of cleaning products. However Eau de Cedrat is well blended with woody base and spices so you get fresh yet smooth fragrance. It is marketed for males but in my opinion it is unisex.


text: This hostel is more like a hotel; amazing terrace on the roof and a good restaurant downstairs. The beds are really comfortable and are high so you can sit up even on the bottom bunk. I never once had to wait to use a shower or toilet. I lived all of these things. The drawback to having all of these... More


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Saint Arnold Janssen founded the Society of the Divine Word (Societas Verbi Divini or SVD) in Steyl, Holland, in 1875. Today there are over 6,000 Divine Word Missionaries working in more than 70 countries throughout the world. Divine Word priests and Brothers may teach school in a remote area of Papua New Guinea, bring the sacraments to residents of a small village in the mountains of Mexico, help communities in Ghana obtain fresh water or work with the elderly in a parish in the hills of West Virginia.
The Society of the Divine Word established Divine Word Seminary, a four-year liberal arts college in 1912 at Techny, Illinois.
During their final semester of undergraduate studies at Divine Word College, those young men who choose to continue their vocational journey with the SVD may apply for the Society's one-year novitiate program at the Chicago Province Headquarters in Techny, Illinois. Near the end of their novitiate experience, the men may apply to profess first vows as members of the Society.


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July 8, 2011 New One Year Later
When I started this blog last year, the intent was to track a lifestyle change. A complete 360 turnaround, a new city, new home, new routine, new friends. New, everything.
Here we are.
We made it. And I cannot believe that in practically a blink of an eye, we are 12 months later.
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- Posted under This is me.
June 23, 2010 Project: Line Drying
The Weather here in Vancouver is finally getting dryer and warmer. One of the things I've been procrastinating on big time, is hanging a clothes line.
Last weekend I hung my clothes along the gutters. Sad, but true. I wanted to time it out – I couldn't remember how long it took for clothes to dry outside. I was amazed at how fast they dried and the smell was nostalgic. There's something about the smell of line dried clothing. My Mom used to line dry our clothes and they always stayed fresh for so long. There must be something in the air…
Why am I doing this all of a sudden?
Save Money
Save Energy
Lessen the need for Chemicals
Preserving the Quality of the Clothing
Using the natural Lightening capabilities of the Sun
The Meditation of Hanging them and Taking them off
Do you line dry or use the dryer? If you line dry, any tips?
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- Posted under How to make change
June 22, 2010 Nothing Specific, Just Another Day
It looks like its been about a week since I last wrote. At that time, it looks like I was in a bit of a tiff about something I completely forget now. Don't you love it how time heals all the small stuff?
We've just returned from a Family gathering in Seattle. My Brother Graduated with his Doctorate in Naturopathy from Bastyr. An accomplishment 8 years in the making.
Since embarking on this chapter of my life "Chapter Slow", I really have actually felt a shift in my sensory awareness. Today, as I left the Train as it docked at the Station, the smell of the Pulp Mill in the summer breeze with a slight hint of smoke-filled the air. It just really made me feel relaxed for some reason. So I just took deep breaths and took it all in. Something so everyday, turned extraordinary. So simple. But it calmed me down.
I`ve been tracking a bunch of new writers and really enjoying reading about other families living totally different lifestyles than I could ever imagine. I didn`t have any expectations for myself. I just decided one day that was it. And I threw in the towel and surrendered to needing stuff, money, business. But I am finding myself reading about other Moms who are Homeschooling, bookmarking the blogs with ideas of what to do at home (now that we have NO TV!) and taking stock of all the things that I WILL NOW HAVE TIME TO DO with my kid!
Week 1 of No TV Update:
We cut the cable a week ago. Its been AMAZING. Instead of the cluttered noise in the background, I write. We sit on the couch and connect, we talk! Yes, we have conversation! I know, its sad, you`d think this was normal, but it really is amazing when you start to talk and converse more and you realize how little you did.
No more breakfast with TV. The little one is slowly asking for less of her recorded programs. I can tell she does not miss it. We`ve done a lot more in the last week than we have in the last month without it and its awesome.
Random post today. Journal style.
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- Posted under slow family, This is me., Ups...and downs
June 14, 2010 Fantastic Family Blogs
On to something more positive now…ah. Got that out!
I've been stumbling across a crap load of fantastic blogs recently. Most of them geared towards Family Life, Ideas, Other Blogs that relate to this journey…
Since I can't figure out how to post them along the side I will post here for now.
Even if you aren't Homeschooling, there are some great ideas for things to do with your kids. Really neat ideas to spend slow time together!
Nature activities. Make your outdoor excursions fun again.
Absolutely, top of the list. Great author, great concept.
Simple ways to create, discover and play.
Just plain simple. Kids.
Simple. For Mom.
And we all know of Bernadette Noll.
More to come!
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- Posted under For Dads, For Moms, Ideas, mommy blog, parenting blog, slow family
June 14, 2010 A Word About Being Judged
So I'm not totally sure I know exactly how I am going to structure this post today. But I do want to say upfront, that I am writing emotionally tonight. My daughter just asked me "Do you have an owie" after seeing my blood-shot, cried out eyes watch her playing in the tub tonight.
I guess I've just had it with people's opinions about my life. What I'm doing. How I'm going to do it. Where I'm going to live. What am I going to do. Yes, me and my family are making changes. So?
Can't we all just be happy for one another and get out of our ego stricken states of mind? And another thing that's bothering me lately is this. The way we Judge one another. And especially how we Mother.
I really didn't want this to be a negative post. But I think some people just might relate, so I will just let loose.
Becoming a Mom, being a Mom. And I'm sure, becoming a Father and being a Father too…comes along with it a force for you to come to terms with your values, the cycles you've grown with and would like to change and what you really, really want out of life. At least for us, it has done this for us. Looking back to the day we brought our daughter home to today, we have done a complete transformation and the effects of this are only coming to life.
But why do you have to rain on my parade?
It has been an interesting couple of weeks. I gave notice at my "job". The next thing people ask "What are you going to do now? Do you have a job in the new city?" A few people can relate. And that has been surprising. That people do "get" the concept of living slowly and more frugally.
I do feel the emotions that result from Judgement. Why do I feel this? Is this me? Where does this come from? Why can't people just be happy and supportive. Understanding. Compassionate. Not jealous. Why do we spend time judging one another? I guess it feeds the Ego. I guess this is just the way it is.
I just want to be a Mother. And so I am able to do this. So what? Why do you lament?
We live in a community. Let's support one another in all our decisions.
This crazy world could end tomorrow. Life is here for all of us to live, the way we dream it. It's my hope that somehow, we can overcome whatever it is that is holding us back from living authentically, which means supporting each other in whatever it is that you want to do with your life. (well may be not people over at BP, but you catch my drift).
Don't Judge.
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- Posted under Uncategorized
June 10, 2010 Facebook Sabbatical
How many times did you check your Facebook today?
If you are the typical user, you've checked your Facebook 27 times this past hour.
Can you believe this?
Recently, after returning from a family trip to Las Vegas (Father in Law purchased for us for Christmas), I received an email from my Sister in Law titled "???". I opened the email to find her asking if I'd taken her off my "Friends" list and what was going on?
Is it really this bad? That if someone would like to take a sabbatical from Facebook (like, ah, me) in pursuit of their dream to be less cluttered and time drained on digital social networking sites, that this means you are not friends? I guess to be fair, one might wonder why one day you are friends and then the next you can't access their pages. I get it. But I guess so this is life now for us all. That we have become so accustomed to this social networking tool, that it has become a way of life, a way to think of one another. To relate.
I took about a 3 week hiatus from all things Facebook. I de-activated my account and didn't look back.
Recently things have slowed down (quitting my job was one BIG HUGE relief here) and I found myself last week perusing the wall again. But this time I found I was looking in with a fresher perspective. For some reason I was less interested and it seemed far less trivial to me. I'm not sure for how much longer I will stay "activated". I have learned that in fact, I don't really get much out of it anyway.
Will I stay or will I go? I think I will go soon enough.
Cable is off as of tomorrow. This will be another B-I-G Media change for our family. I know this will be a good thing. I can't wait.
Life is starting to feel much, much lighter these days 🙂
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- Posted under Uncategorized


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I live in a neat little neighborhood in St. Louis City. Known to me as the CWE, known to everyone else as the Central West End.
In the epi-center of this hip, quaint but eclectic little fun-hole in in my hood, (Ha. Oh that sounds just borderline inappropriate…) there's what we call Maryland Plaza. It's a couple blocks of shops and restaurants; I'm pretty much in love with this place.
But one thing that has always baffled me is how two coffee shops can exist literally across the street from each other and do so incredibly well. They both are busy all the time. For the longest time I was a huge Starbucks brat. I seriously would turn my nose up at anything other than a white chocolate mocha from February to September but then October through winter I switch it up between a white chocolate mocha/peppermint mocha/pumpkin spice latte. My baristas at the CWE Starbucks always have my name on my cup the second I walk through the door and have my days almost pegged down…giggle. I think that solidifies that I'm adult and have a legitimate addiction to frilly coffee drinks.
Starbucks is where I get the majority of my writing done. There's just something about the environment of that small little nook with lots of windows and not enough seating. I have to get there prior to 9 am on the weekends if I'm going to find a spot complete with two outlets for my phone and computer charger. Any later, outside I go. Which, when it was warmer, was not bad. Several passers-by, tourists visiting the World Chess Hall of Fame (I know, WTF?) and hung-over party animals stumbling in to try and wake up and start the day. Inspiring in a very simple and unique kind of way.
One night I was at my favorite little bar doing some research, aka downing a shot of patron and a tall blue moon and asking very personal and invasive questions to boys as they watch football. The things I do for my hobby and the things boys will tell you when they are in their environment and see a pretty girl with glasses and no filter. (Blog post to follow) Anyways, I left the bar and I really wanted a coffee. It was about 9:30 p.m. so I needed to go the decaffeinated route. I saw the awning to Coffee Cartel and I thought, "You know what, I'm gonna check this place out". So in I went. I ordered a Raspberry Truffle Mocha and a Chipotle Chicken Wrap because I was suddenly extremely hungry. The atmosphere was definitely a night and day difference to Starbucks. Hipster College kids cramming for tests, Hipster artists huddled around a table discussing who knows what and random personalities taking it all in on a Thursday night. Neato.
Ok. So Starbucks has plenty of hipsters and studying college kids but just follow me here. It's my nature to analyze and take stock of my surroundings so I was highly entertained and stimulated. I'm also a professional people watcher and I was in research mode so I was paying extra close attention. I grabbed my coffee and wrap and sat down. The wrap was incredible, the coffee was even better. I"m a sucker for raspberry anyways, I may have been biased, but it was the perfect night cap.
Coffee Cartel is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. UM….yeah. The nights I wake up at 3 am and can't sleep I can shuffle myself down here and write. Which I did a few nights ago. My roommates are out of town, I was feeling hella lonely and my mind was full of crap that I needed to get out. So at 2 am I threw on some sweats, didn't brush my teeth and trucked it on down.
Sorry Starbucks, you lose points there. Though I love your inviting, acoustic and low lit environment, I love the fact I can plug in at Coffee Cartel anytime I want. Which is precisely what I'm doing this very second.
It's a Tuesday and I got here at 5 am. I had a SHITTY day yesterday and needed to decompress. I tried to last night with a woodchuck and hand writing some interview questions but I was irritated and needed to sleep off the funk. When I opened my eyes this morning, there was only one thing I wanted to be immersed in. Well actually two. The other thing is 3.5 hours away…
Since that night, I've been switching on and off between Starbucks and Coffee Cartel because I love them both for what they have to offer. Here's the list:
Waiting in line: I LOVE waiting in line in Starbucks. The music, the conversations of people in front of and behind me, watching the neurosis come out in some people if they have to wait too long or if the Barista accidentally puts whipped cream on their coffee. Oh giggle.
The Coffee: Duh. I appreciate Starbucks in its original format. That means I take mine with whipped cream, whole milk and a smile.
The patrons: The people that come through Starbucks are definitely much better to conversate with than the overly stimulated college kids over at Coffee Cartel, plus the Baristas know me by name and coffee order and it just makes me feel super warm and fuzzy.
Coffee Cartel:
The Food: Yum. Enough Said.
Saturday afternoons: There is something about Saturday afternoons there. Book Clubs, young housewives sharing recipes and war stories, families catching up on the week. It's perfect madness.
Hours: Open 24/7.
Alcohol: Who can't appreciate a coffee shop that sells specialty coffee drinks with alcohol? Exactly.
Though I have a special place in my heart for both, I will remain Switzerland on who's coffee is better and will continue to enjoy the smile that each place brings to my face.
This Raspberry Truffle Mocha and being the only kid in Coffee Cartel at 5 a.m. is a pretty good start for a Tuesday.


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As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you. – Isaiah 66:13
Unless you were born in a laboratory test tube, you have a biological mom. Your relationship with her may have been terrific, okay, so so, or non existent. Mother's Day may be wonderful for you or extremely painful. Some are blessed to be chosen children of adoptive moms and dads. Some of your moms may have already died and hopefully are in Heaven with Jesus. So this day mostly is a day to celebrate.
You may be a mom reading this, a mom to be, a new mom, a grandmother, or a lady who was unable to have children. You may be a man reading this, and as we know it does take a man for a lady to become a mom and we are grateful for fathers too. This is a day to celebrate what the woman who raised you did for you. We have all probably seen celebrities or sports figures on TV when the camera is put on them what comes out of their mouth? Hi Mom!
This is a day to be thankful for not only our moms but for life in general. If you have aborted a child in the past God can forgive you and their is help in the form of counseling to get you through this trauma. All children are special to God no matter how they got here. So whether you are a mom, a dad, a mom to be, a grand mom or great grand mom you are to be saluted. It does not take a village to raise a child but a dedicated and loving mom and dad willing to sacrifice for their new born. Happy Mother's Day to all moms out there. Enjoy the day.
PRAYER: I am thankful for my mom Lord. I know there are those who have a difficult time today because their mom is no longer on Earth or their mom may be incarcerated or maybe she did nothing for you at all. Help each of us today to not harbor any hatred on this special day and celebrate the gift of life and the Mother's who birth children. In Jesus' name. Amen.


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December in our Den
I lumbered into December heavily this year. A big, fat momma bear, burdened with the care and keeping of her cubs.
We moved slowly through the month, reveling in the light displays, the scents and sounds of the season. Talk of gifts and all the excitement kept the cubs rolling and wrestling with anticipation and each other.
Then, one day, I looked out to find our world wrapped in grey. The mountains had mysteriously disappeared along with my cheer. I tried and tried to keep the inversion at bay. This miserable lead stripe that colors our horizon and buries us in depressing fog. The pollutant threatened to squeeze its way into our home.
Discouragement is as thick and gunky as they come, though it has the peculiar ability to slide into small, unprotected spaces. I threw my hide to the doors, attempting to block it out. There is no room for you here, I explained. The desire to protect my young from the cold that has nothing to do with Utah winters was overwhelming. I do not expect them to see in me a perfect mother, but I do strive to instill opitimism whenever possible.
Just in time, a storm. Blessed snow that scrubbed and chased the inversion from our atmosphere. It left behind very little to show, our white Christmas would be patchy at best. But, the skies were a clear and crisp cerulean that carried on for miles. For me, some hope- in the way of stories, emails and encouraging talks- did the same thing. My air was clear and I could breath again.
Finally, the end was in sight. I hunted, I gathered, I cooked and wrapped. The cubs played and wished and ate and were tucked into their beds with visions of technological sugarplums dancing through their dreams.
Christmas arrived with a bounty. Who said this wouldn't be enough? Simple is king. There were smiles and squeals and happy cubs all around.
When the merriment abated, I made my way slowly to my den. Buried in soft warmth, with papa bear beside me, I slept. For hours and hours. Sweet, relaxed hibernation.
Now, we wait for spring.


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The taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought.
No one can possibly attend continuously to an object that does not change.
If we wish to keep [attention] on the same object, we must seek continually to find out something new about the latter.


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Toronto Teen Club Code & Coffee | Third Sunday of Each Month in 2017
Ladies Learning Code
Sunday, August 20, 2017 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM (EDT)
Hey you! Have you joined the Ladies Learning Code mailing list? If not, join here.
What is Teens Learning Code?
Teens Learning Code is for 13 to 17 year old highschool girls and is much more than learning how to code. It is also about learning problem solving skills, how to turn ideas into reality, exposure to what a future in technology could look like, networking and making friends! And sometimes this means visiting cool tech companies.
What is Code & Coffee?
Want to continue working on a project you built at a workshop? Have a project of your own you need some help and inspiration to complete?
Join us for Code and Coffee!
Code and Coffee is an informal meetup to get together and code in a fun, social and collaborative environment. If you love our workshops you'll enjoy connecting with others from the Teens Learning Code community of learners and mentors. Similarly to our workshops, we'll have some mentors available to help you with your projects but the real benefit of Code & Coffee is to connect with other learners and work through solving problems together!
There are no requirements to attend other than the willingness to collaborate and learn something new. Bring a project or we'll have some available that you can work on! All levels of expertise are welcome just RSVP and bring your laptop and powercord.
August Code and Coffee Theme
This month,in addition to working on our usual projects, we'll also be using Code and Coffee to chat about professional development. We'll talk about designing resumes and writing cover letters, approaching organizations for jobs, shadowing opportunities, and internships, and share networking tips. Bring any questions or job applications you might be working on to this session!
You can email Lorraine, our Teens Learning Code Program Coordinator, here!
This (free) event is made possible from our friends at Google - and individual donations. If you'd like to help programs like this for teenage girls possible, feel free to make a donation!
We're a Canada-wide community driven not-for-profit working to empower women and youth to feel comfortable learning beginner-friendly technical skills in a social and collaborative way.
In order to purchase these tickets in installments, you'll need an Eventbrite account. Log in or sign up for a free account to continue.


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Watercolour on paper (11" x 14")
This one was done from one of the many photographs I took on our way to Kerala. It was one tiring journey from Hyderabad to Munnar which consisted of everything from rail travel, air travel and of course the unforgettable road journey from Bangalore to Kerala. However, when we finally reached our destination we were glad that all the effort was nothing compared to the peace, beauty and a sense of being in heaven that awaited us.
I plan to paint many more paintings from these photos.
All comments and critiques are most welcome.


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The Lure of Neptune
German-Soviet Naval Collaboration and Ambitions, 1919–1941
Tobias R. Philbin III
Stalin and Hitler's grand plans for naval supremacy
Based largely on recently published Soviet documents and German archival sources, The Lure of Neptune illumines the collaborative yet competitive relationship that existed shared by the German and Russian navies between the First and Second World Wars. Tobias Philbin charts the uneven evolution of the symbiosis that developed as both Stallin and Hitler sought to build fleets that exceeded their grasps. Philbin contends that the course of Russo-German naval relations offers bot a window into the inter-war political climate of the two nations as well as a case study of how a hostile geopolitical environment can unite powers that embrace mutually hostile doctrines.
Philbin reveals the lessons both Germany and Russia learned from the First World War, the ways in which the war affected their respective pursuit of naval supremacy, and the influence their policies had on one another. Of particular interest, he exposes Stalin's ambitions for naval superiority, his willingness to exchange long-term security for short-term advances, and his opinion of Hitler's policies.
Analyzing Russo-German naval relations in detail, Philbin scrutinizes Russia's exchange of oil and raw materials for German naval technology, Germany's establishment of Basis Nord on the Russian coast, Russo-German cooperation in merchant raider exploits, and the day-to-day interactions of Russian and German naval leaders. Philbin's findings underscore the synergy between German and Soviet naval policy during the 1920s and 1930s, the relatively intimate relationship pursued by the countries following the Hitler/Stalin Pact, and the irreconcilable national objectives that ultimately thwarted their collaborative naval efforts.
Tobias R. Philbin III is a senior analyst with the Department of Defense and author of Admiral von Hipper: The Inconvenient Hero. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.
6 x 9
192 pages
cloth, $39.95s
Studies in Maritime History


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Ann Coulter lectures the world about life choices, while condemning some choices of strippers and lacrosse players.
Is it necessary to be lectured about choices in life by someone with the resume of Ann Coulter? She wrote:
"The liberal charge of "hypocrisy" has so permeated the public consciousness that no one is willing to condemn any behavior anymore, no matter how seedy."
This is the same Ann Coulter who votes illegally, ...allegedly.
According to The Brad Blog, Ann Coulter is a felonious voter.
Luckily for her she has an excuse:
"The Christian answer is: I can never pay this back, but luckily that Christ fellow has already paid my debt."
Isn't nice to be able to write a column condemning the personal behavior of other people, while at the same time her personal behavior is protected by a special...get out of jail free card, courtesy of Christ.
Talk about hypocrisy.


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Pure rustic Western charm with all the amenities awaits you at the Pony Express Motel in West Yellowstone, Montana. Our rooms and suites are designed with you in mind: clean, comfortable, and perfectly priced to thrill visitors hoping to thoroughly enjoy their stay at Yellowstone National Park.
Situated directly across the street from the west boundary of Yellowstone National Park, Pony Express Motel embodies the spirit of the West. The cozy rustic knotty pine décor along with a variety of affordable and comfortable bedding options means your choice of lodgings in West Yellowstone is simple and easy.
Pony Express Motel Room Features
There's nothing you won't love about the Pony Express Motel—from its close proximity to Yellowstone National Park and the shopping, dining, and entertainment in the charming town of West Yellowstone to the relaxing rooms and suites that will comfortably house your entire group.
Choose from Standard rooms with one queen bed, and Queen Suites with two or three bedrooms which have separate bedrooms. Our Double Queen Kitchen Suites are perfect for family or friend groups who want a place to prepare snacks or meals, while the Pony Express Suite sleeps up to eight guests and includes a living room, dining room, a full kitchen, and four separate bedrooms.
- Free Wi-Fi
- All non-smoking rooms
- Pets welcome (Fee applies)
- Near restaurants and shopping
- Close to Yellowstone's West Gate entrance
- Real knotty pine décor
- Attractive pricing
Our Pony Express Suite features the following:
- Four separate bedrooms (accommodating up to eight guests)
- Living room
- Dining room
- Full kitchen
- Knotty pine décor
- Views of Yellowstone National Park
- Free Wi-Fi
The Best Staff in the Business
We believe your West Yellowstone, MT, lodging experience should be positively unforgettable. Not only is our staff eager to help make your stay as wonderful as it can be, but we hire local staff members who have extensive knowledge about Yellowstone National Park tours, activities, and information. Please feel free to pick their brains for tips and advice as you plan your adventures.
Staff members will point out hiking and biking trails, good fishing spots, and car tours to see sights in the area.
Our staff can also help you arrange private, custom, and group tours.