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What had more than 33,000 visitors, over 600 exhibitors, and exciting demonstrations of CYBRA's newest products? The National Retail Federation Big Show last week in New York City.
Hundreds of attendees got a firsthand look at CYBRA's RFID hardware and software. It was a great way to introduce our RFID Solutions for the retail supply chain.
The highlight was the live demo of our EdgeMagic RFID platform software, including our newly designed Real Time Inventory Status dashboard. The dashboard gives you a real time finger on the pulse of your inventory status, with powerful drill down capabilities.
EdgeMagic RFID Solutions We Can Deploy For You
Attendees discussed their RFID needs with CYBRA representatives.
Some of the applications needs included:
Click button above to download the brochure we handed out at the show.
Click button above to contact our sales team, and schedule a live demo.
Here are the hardware products that were on display.
Alien RFID Readers
Featuring a new fifth-generation, self-optimizing reader architecture that intelligently adapts and configures based on its environment. Perfect for retail environments.
Jamison RFID Mod 3 Portals
Jamison's RFID Industrial Portals™ Division produces a huge variety of rugged, easy to deploy RFID portals, housing structures, and mounting components.
CYBRA EdgeBox
Designed especially for stores, this no maintenance device eliminates having to install or maintain any software on your servers or store PC.
Impinj xArray
Designed especially for stores, this no maintenance device eliminates having to install or maintain any software on your servers or store PC.
Intel IOT Platform Solution
Enables highest degree of inventory accuracy to support omni-channel solutions in retail.
CYBRA Hawk
The CYBRA-Hawk Loss Prevention Portal is the only antenna designed specifically for stores, in an easy to install, easy on the eyes enclosure.
CYBRA Cage
Audit every inbound carton and outbound order automatically. In real time. The CYBRA RFID Cage can keep up with the fastest material handling equipment.
CYBRA Lock & EnCode
RFID Seals including a tamper evident, single use RFID seal for securing plastic distribution totes and high value items, and tamper evident SmartSeals designed for applications that require enhanced security.
Thinking of implementing RFID technology into your business? Contact our sales team at firstname.lastname@example.com to receive more information on EdgeMagic RFID Platform Software or any of our RFID hardware or tags.


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"we're SHOCK! check us out and if u like us be a fan! rock with us! \m/ "
"heey! we're SHOCK! check us out and if u like us be a fan! cuz theres no rock like SHOCK! ROCK! ;) "
PureVolume Page
Genre: Pop/Rock/Metal
I'm typing as I'm listening. It immediately reminds me of the Used and From First to Last (when Sonny Moore was the lead singer). Oh! We got a little screamo in here! I'm getting some dark vibes here. Not necessarily a bad thing. I'm on the second song on their page right now, called "I wanna." The lyrics definitely make me think there's not much older than me. I think at this point, they have a lot of room for improvement. They only have three tracks on there (the fourth one is just a live version) but it's all in all average. Like I said, there's room for improvement. They're not the best at their instruments, and the singing can use a bit of work as well, but they're not bad.
I don't think I'll become a fan. There's a lot better out there. I may become a fan in the future, but not right now.

subset: commoncrawl


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RE Room for Debate: Is Anti-Zionism Anti-Semitism?
Dear Editor,
Kudos to Omar Zahzah for having the wisdom, the courage, and the patience to participate in the NYTimes Room for Debate "Is Anti-Zionism Anti-Semitism?." His hyperlink to Adalah points out "50 laws that discriminate against Palestinian citizens of Israel and render them second-class citizens."
Kudos too to all the many various Jewish individuals and groups who have the wisdom, courage and patience to argue with and about Israel. Seems to me the Zionist quest to bully, oppress, and displace those who understand and object to Israel's institutionalized bigotry and injustice is now up against a modern world with modern communication. One can easily search out or simply stumble across highly pertinent facts and heart wrenching stories and statistics- and enlightening artwork. The BDS boycott movement is not the only campaign seeking to create a greater global awareness of the Israel-Palestine conflict and the very real plight of the Palestinians.
Holy Land Principles , a corporate code of conduct for American companies doing business in Palestine-Israel was launched only a few years ago. "The Holy Land Principles seek to ensure that American companies practice fair employment in Palestine-Israel or Israel-Palestine." According a recent article regarding General Electric being asked to sign the Holy Land Principles: "The Principles do not take any position on solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian issue. The Principles do not try to tell the Palestinians or the Israelis what to do. The Holy Land Principles only call for fair employment by American companies in Palestine-Israel." http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ge-given-second-chance-on-holy-land-principles-300240062.html?tc=portal_CAP
So on one hand we have a BDS movement on college campuses getting attention by demanding boycott, and on the other hand we have a corporate code of conduct quite reasonably asking American businesses already doing business in Israel/Palestine to respect American ideals.
Anne Selden Annab
Palestinian artist Ahmed Yaseen paints depictions of the Palestinian narrative on a cactus [Photo by Abdul Qusiney]
Israeli forces raid al-Quds University and destroy university equipment http://bit.ly/203v13M
11 Gibran quotes including: "It is when U give of yourself that U truly give." http://buff.ly/1YbNQ3b
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics: Israeli killed 181 Palestinians during 2015 http://english.wafa.ps/page.aspx?id=Xu246Ba34361138559aXu246B …
I have 38 new followers from France, Germany, and more last week. See http://tweepsmap.com/!daoudkuttab
Qamar, aka 'The Golden Foot,' set the beat for the first day of filming for the
Foundation documentary!
Filming has begun in Balata camp,
#Nablus for the @realmadrid
Foundation's documentary on its #SocialSportsSchools!
Dear International Community, we warned you 4 years ago that
#Gaza would become
an unlivable place. Please read this http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gaza-water-shortage-841243299 …
Impassioned piece by @VictoriaBrittain about the
experience http://www.iol.co.za/the-star/sixty-years-of-shame-2004712 …
RT #Jordan #NationalChampionship
Moms are key to a better future for families around the world! Join Moms +SocialGood on 5/5. http://bit.ly/MomsSocialGood
#GlobalMoms #jnj
60+ million ppl have had to flee their homes - the majority women & children. https://impossiblechoices.org
Video: Israel demolishes every home in West Bank Bedouin village http://bit.ly/20141BY
Ahead of
Day, @UNESCO
has posted highlights from design
contest http://on.unesco.org/25FKZ8p


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That's right, kids. Shimbi has learned to ski. In fact, she actually enjoys it. It's like, totally, almost as good as referring to oneself in the third person. WHO KNEW?!
And... I'll be breaking my neck in Colorado this February. If you don't hear from me after Feb 9... send flowers to my family, ok?


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About this event
This year`s TEDxReghin revolves around ideas meant to bring about change in our town. The organizing team made its best in order to present in front of the audience an array of strong personalities from different areas i.e. banking, sports or lobbying. As such, our guests are Stanislav Georgiev and Andrei Rosu - two marathonists working in the stressful entanglement of multinational banking who found an outlet in sports while making performance too, Florin Somodi, a Reghin-born lobby-ist with exceptional organizational skills, Milian Theodor, the driving force behind www.xprojects.ro and the co-ordinator of the national team of robotics, a man whose passion resonates deeply with our local traditions as far as ship and aircraft modeling is concerned and, last but not least, Mihai Corui, a delicate mind in a sports-performer body, whose poetical finesse counterbalances his overwhelming stature.
All this pannel of different characters and personal experiences is thought to act in synch in order to deliver the unique message that allows for a change within each and every one in the audience.
Theme: An idea to change Reghin...
Preview the Speakers:
Venue and Details:
Business Cafe
September 23rd, 2012
Event Type (what is this?)TED2012 Standard Event
This event is invite-only.
Organizer: Sorin Suciu
Tel.: 0747-076.338


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|dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip
dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip entered the top 40 with huge critical acclaim, whilst still shunning any of the major label overtures that continued to follow and instead releasing on the independent Sunday Best Recordings (Bestival organiser). With a sound that has never attempted to 'fit in,' dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip continue to receive a huge amount of radio play and attention. With their latest album, again reaching the top 40 album charts, Repent Replenish Repeat, the duo continue to create their own unique blend of hip-hop and electronic beats with a mixture of spoken, sung and rapped lyrics. As a socially and politically aware team, dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip create music that echo the brilliance of Gil Scott-Heron's writing. Uncut magazine called their latest album 'powerful as it is invigorating,' and their live shows are just as stunning. Don't miss it!
Winter Garden, Wed 30th Apr, 19:00 to 23:00.
Tickets £12 in advance, £14 on the door, available online, by calling 01323 412000, or in person from the Eastbourne Theatres Box Office.


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Returning to the Dark Knight: Frank Miller Interview – Part 2
Throughout the eighties and nineties, Frank Miller was one of comics most outspoken political voices. In a number of articles and speeches, he has addressed the role of artist in relation to the publisher, coming out consistently on the side of creator empowerment. In the eighties he positioned himself in the front lines of the fight for Creator's Rights and in the nineties led by example by devoting himself to creator-owned projects.
As he enters the next decade of his career with The Dark Knight Strikes Back, Miller throws an interesting curve into his record. In the following interview, Charles Brownstein quizzes Miller about the implications of this high profile return to work-made-for-hire and examines his perspective on the art and commerce of comics as we enter the 21st century.
CHARLES BROWNSTEIN: What are the political and creative implications of returning to Dark Knight, in the sense that this marks a departure from your rhetoric of the early nineties?
FRANK MILLER: It is a departure in that I have said repeatedly that the most important thing an artist can do in comics is to create new things and to go in new directions. That's exactly what I've been doing for the last ten years. This is a departure from that. I'm gonna take a year of my life and reexamine the old stuff and try to bring some of its luster back. If it's a contradiction, I'm contradictory. That's what I wanna do with this year. After that I've got something entirely different planned.
"I'm gonna take a year of my life and reexamine the old stuff and try to bring some of its luster back. If it's a contradiction, I'm contradictory. That's what I wanna do with this year."
– Frank Miller
CB: What message are you sending to a young cartoonist by going back to playing with DC's toys when you can do whatever project you want?
FM: I think that seven volumes of Sin City and 300 and all the other things that I've done are evidence enough of where my career's going. It should be long enough now that nobody would think that I need to do this. It's one year out of my career. I can't direct that career thinking to guide other people. I do what I want to do. I'm not changing course and going from being a modern singer to an Elvis impersonator. This is more like trying to be Elvis Costello doing "Almost Blue." He was putting as much love into those old country tunes as possible. After that, he went on to do what he was gonna do.
In this case, the fact is, the story I want to tell involves characters that I don't own. I come in with my eyes open about that fact. There'll be some new characters I'm throwing into this, and you won't hear any bitter interviews about how I don't own them. Work-made-for-hire is just an option that artists have. I wouldn't make a steady diet of it, but it'll be a bunch of fun this time.
CB: What then does this say about where Creator's Rights are right now? What does it mean when you say that work-for-hire is just another option among options?
FM: It's like saying there's a menu out there. One can create and own, which is by far my preference most of the time. I guess I've stopped being a rebel in the sense that I know the rules of the game. I created Sin City. I own it. I did not create Batman. If I want to make a Batman comic book, I'm taking a very different role than I have been lately.
We've gotta be honest here. If you draw Spider-Man, you're coming in with a lot of stuff that they're handing you. You're playing with their franchise and of course they own it. There's no reason to squabble about that. They just have to pay more for it, that's all.
Everything's changed. It's amazing that people still even use the term Creator's Rights as frequently as they do because, in a fundamental sense, that battle was won a long time ago. Enough publishers conceded the key issues – and enough new ones came along ready to admit that an author is an author – that whining now about those rights isn't just bad form, it's utterly irrelevant.
"It's amazing that people still even use the term Creator's Rights as frequently as they do because, in a fundamental sense, that battle was won a long time ago."
– Frank Miller
CB: Now that the battles of the eighties and nineties are over, what are the battles facing comics in the first decade of their new century?
FM: Survival, of course. And, as always, censorship, that's a never-ending battle. Ever since Thomas Jefferson wrote the First Amendment it's been under siege and that won't stop.
The more we produce comics that new people want to read, the more we'll have firefights with the cultural watchdogs. These are fights worth having and could, I believe, benefit us as the word spreads far and wide that we aren't just kiddie fare – and that we aren't just a sorry cousin of the electronic media. "Movies on paper," all that crap – it's not true of the artform and it isn't true of the best of what comics can do. A censorship battle or three and who knows? – we might just emerge recognized as a small, dynamic, outlaw field producing works that Hollywood would never have the guts to attempt.
But first we've got to recognize within our own field what is fresh and new. Sometimes I wish that San Diego and SPX could swap sizes, or at least that the SPX crowd could have a stronger presence at that convention. I don't suggest that the SPX crowd is necessarily saving the industry. I don't believe that all of them are very good, but there are some very bright spots among them. There isn't yet a discernable movement there, but there is fresh blood and new ideas.
I guess what I see lacking in that is, for lack of a better term, the boot camp. Honing the skills that in the old days we did have to learn. Every revolution has its price and the price of the Creator's Rights revolution has been that people never learned to work in a rhythm. I'm not saying the rhythm of a monthly comic, I just mean to work in a rhythm so that the comic book exists in time – is a narrative, not a set piece – and is not just a precious little pearl. There are matters of discipline and craft that have been sliding out of comics steadily. I don't know how people who come into some one-shots and a bunch of trading cards and then produce very little for the rest of their careers get by. There's a certain process that we went through in my early days at Marvel that made me able to understand what a comic book was and how to produce one, not like lightning, but in a timely fashion. That is how I believe comic books have to be produced. I believe the narrative is more important than any other aspect of comics. You move through a comic; you don't linger that much. I think comics should be produced in the same manner. It's not a horse race, but there has to be continuity – panel-to-panel continuity, I mean. A comic book has to live and breathe, like any narrative. To do so, it needs to be produced with a certain dispatch, or it withers on the vine.
I'm slower than some, faster than most, but I keep going. Issuing one pearl every ten years doesn't cut it.
CB: What are some basic matters of discipline that a young artist should be aware of if he's serious about going the distance as a cartoonist?
FM: It varies from person to person. The most important one, especially when you're developing your method – your own way of working, which varies wildly from artist to artist – is not mixing your stages of work. I break it down into many, many stages. I do roughs on vellum with a laundry marker, and I do a lot of them, sometimes five or ten for each page. I do them quickly so I can get the shapes and the composition down. Then I can move it around however I want, because I trace it off onto a pencil drawing. A lot of people try to start at one corner and then halfway through a page that they really killed themselves on they realize that there's something wrong with it. Then they have to start the whole arduous process again. That's a loser's game. It drains your energy.
A lot of it is just simple work habits. Focus! Avoid distractions. Far too many comic book people have televisions in their studios, which is madness. I suggest an early schedule, but that varies from person to person. Kirby worked nights, so I can't argue with that. Mainly, make sure when you're working that you're working. A lot of people think that they're working when they're doing other things. They're talking on the phone, they're working on their Hollywood deal, they have TV in their peripheral vision, and while they're doing all that, they don't realize how few hours they actually spend working.
CB: We seem to be in the middle of a trend wherein key artists of your generation are returning to earlier themes or making breakthroughs on paths they embarked on when they were starting out. Part of this trend can be seen in the completion of work like From Hell, another part can be seen in the appearance of Reinventing Comics, The Dark Knight Strikes Back, and to a certain extent, ABC. What does this trend mean for comics right now?
FM: What we're seeing is a generation coming into its full power. That's what I like about what's happening now. As a culture we're obsessed with people in their twenties in every way: from appearance to talent and everything else in between. Traditionally and I think historically the group of us who are now in our early forties are at exactly the age where artists usually take off. Everything pulls together and you actually move forward with it. I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of it. I haven't reached a plateau or anything, but I'm at a very dynamic place where twenty-some years of experience are paying off in making me more decisive. It's making me more willing to play with all the various devices in comic books. I'm discovering new things like crazy and faster than ever. It's like moving into warp speed. That's probably what makes it fun to go back to superheroes; it gives me a chance to apply what I've learned and see how it works out.
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The Tradition vs. Statistics War is Coming to Education
October 31, 2012 Leave a comment
The most interesting non-hurricane story of the week has been the pushback by certain members of the political media establishment against Nate Silver's election predictions. As Ezra Klein points out, at the heart of it is the conflict between traditional modes of analysis and statistical analysis. The traditional "come up with a theory and write about it" model of election prediction cannot coexist with one that strictly relies on statistical models. Only one method can be the best.
A similar conflict will eventually rock education. At the moment there is a large coalition that opposes relying on formal assessment data to evaluate student achievement. A lot of of the opposition stems from legitimate concerns with standardized tests, but within it you can sense the dedication to traditional methods of student evaluation. Many steadfastly believe that a teacher's evaluation of a student (e.g. tests, homework, class participation, personal conversations, etc.) is the best measure of student achievement. They will not accept new people coming along and saying that state-mandated formal assessments are a better way.
The big battle has yet to take place because the statistics side still doesn't have its act together. However, at some point people will create growth and value-added measures that are significant improvements. With many of the reasonable fears allayed, those who cling to traditional measures will be isolated in their opposition to statistical models. And then, as with political journalism, there will be a fight over who knows best.


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The slippery time has started. The road crews were out sanding before the school buses had to get out on Friday. Drive safe. Tis the season.
Hope you will all have a very Happy Thanksgiving. We all have so much to be thankful for. Thanksgiving is a time to remember some of your favorite times. Dad set up a tent near Fox Lair one year. There was no snow but very chilly. Keitan was just old enough for his small game license and killed a squirrel. He dressed it out and it was cooked. then he tanned the hide. Roy Millington had taught him out to tan. After the meal Keitan, Derek and Keisha went across the road and play tag among the pines. Oh, so many years ago. Lloyd Burch and Willie Ordway stopped by to chat. Nicole Kenyon came with her grandpa Leon Galusha. Fred Allen and two of his New Jersey friends were there. Alonzo and Fabiann there also to enjoy the family gathering. Mom always loved getting family together. It sure was cold sleeping on the camp floor.
Pansy Allen has moved to the Adirondack Tri-County Nursing home after making her home for many years at the Adirondack Manor in Queensbury. She will be now closer to family and friends. So many at Tri-County that she knows.
Sue Rawson has been a patient at Glens Falls Hospital for several days.
Alonzo Conlon and sons, Aaron and Ian spent the weekend with Grandma Jerstie. They enjoyed exploring the woods.
Fred and Ruth Allen from New Jersey enjoyed a week at their River House on the Hudson at the Glen.
The Sodom Community Church had their yearly Thanksgiving feast on Sunday after the morning worship.
The Thanksgiving Community Service will be held Wed. evening at 7pm at the Sodom Community Church. The new minister of the Johnsburg Methodist Church is to be the speaker.
The Schaefer Hunting party enjoyed many weekends hunting in their yearly spot off the Edwards Hill Rd. Some feel they can't travel the woods but enjoyed being at camp and talking about yesteryears. On way home Arnie Wyse and son, Micky stop to visit Earl Allen. Earl moved the hunting party in for years. They keep their wagon at Earl's.
Sorry to hear about the death of Francis Cyr Frisbie and Aussie Washburn.
Happy Birthday to: Ronda Dunkley, Lee Allen, Tanner Stone, Ariel Smith, Victoria Bradway, Joyce Virgil, Lorna Outten, Tammy Farrell, Joan Hitchcock, Chrissy Morehouse Keller


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Red cabbage - sliced
2 large onions - sliced
2 large Bramley cooking apples - peeled and sliced
knob of butter
100ml Red Wine Vinegar
300ml hot water
tsp sugar
salt and pepper
Put all the ingredients into the slow cooker give them a stir and cook for about 3 hrs on fast or 6 hours on low.
- The quantities and times given are a guide line only.
- Add 1 tsp of mixed spice and 1 tsp of cinnamon for a "mulled" flavour.
- The addition of a few raisins adds a new texture and flavour
- Substitute 100mls of Mulled Apple juice for 100mls of hot water
- Use up stuff you have in that you think will marry into the flavours already there
- Eating apples ( preferably tart) or pears can be substituted for the Bramleys
1st of December tomorrow and with only 10 makes left it looks like I will pull off my 50 makes for Christmas.
What are your Christmas dinner must haves? and can you make any in advance?


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Few Details in Canadian Government Throne Speech on Justice Initiatives
The Speech from the Throne outlined the recently re-elected Conservative government's legislative agenda for the 40th Parliament.
As expected, the speech concentrated almost exclusively on the current worldwide economic crisis. Details of what the government plans to do about the slowdown will be unveiled next week by the Finance Minister.
Not that the government is relegating justice issues to the back burner.
The speech did mention justice initiatives, including added penalties for offences related to youth crime, organized crime and gun violence. It also alluded to cracking down on gun smuggling and gun crime.
Few details were made available.
Labels: government of Canada


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To Enrich Your Child's Life. Simple child-rearing tips come in handy whether you're just casting for new and exciting directions in child care or you're plain stumped. Here, in this blog, you'll find tonnes of them for children of all ages toddlers, pre-schoolers, school kids, pre-teens, teenagers, and even young adults. If you apply at least a handful of the hundred ideas I have here for you, I'll pat myself on the back. Of course, you could do that too by letting me know how it's going.
Tuesday, January 12
Learn Songs
1 comment:
- Karen17 November, 2010
My daughter loves music, sing a few lyrics of nursery Rhymes, and dance to the tunes. Listening to music has helped to improve her speech, gets to learn new words and at the same time able to pronounce clearer. From what I understand, music stimulate the kids brain, increases their memory and their conceptual ability.ReplyDelete
If any of this rings a bell, even a distant one,please do let me know all about it.I would love to hear from you. Thanks!!!


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Weight loss can be a challenge for many people and they are not helped by the fact that they often do the wrong things in an attempt to drop the pounds. In large part this is because they are given bad advice by the weight loss industry. Everybody is selling the latest weight loss miracle product and leading people down blind alleys in an attempt to make a quick buck. Exercise is one of the areas in which people frequently follow bad advice. Resistance training is essential to weight loss, it is very difficult to lose weight without adding muscle.
the diet solution program review, diet programs that work, medical weight loss,
Muscle burns fat, most weight loss experts will tell you that at some point in time. Strictly speaking muscle doesn't burn fat it burns sugar just like everything else in the body. However the more muscle you have the more calories you will burn. Your body will convert the foods you eat into sugars which are what power everything in the body, this includes your muscles. Any of those sugars that aren't required by your body will be stored as fat for future usage. The body does this so that it has an emergency reserve of fuel in the event that you stop eating.
Most of us eat more food than we actually need for normal functioning which is why most of us are fat. There are two ways that we can prevent that extra food from being stored as fat. One is to do lots of cardio in order to use those extra calories up, the other is to add more muscle so that our body burns more calories. The advantage of adding muscle is that it will use up those calories twenty four hours a day, where as cardio will only burn calories while you are exercising. This is why people say that weight training will increase your metabolism.
Adding muscle does not require you to become huge or some muscle bound freak. In fact you can add a lot of muscle without actually bulking up. It is also not necessary to buy a home gym or health club membership, one of the most effective ways to add muscle is with body weight exercises. Push-ups, pull-ups and similar type exercises can form the core of a very effective fitness program. One thing to remember is that muscle weighs more than fat for the same volume, therefore you may lose fat but your weight may not go down. Use the fit of your clothes as a guide to your progress rather than the number on the scale.
Losing weight does not have to as complicated as a lot of people often make it. Exercise and proper diet are the keys to effective weight loss. Just remember that proper exercise means resistance training, it is the fastest way to lose weight.


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Cooperative Farming: Frameworks for Farming Together
"It's clear that we face common challenges. It's also clear that by working together, we get more than just a solution to a problem: we get solidarity."
The Greenhorns presents Cooperative Farming, an in-depth resource for forming collaborative businesses. Compiled from 42 interviews with farmers and professionals, this is a how-to handbook on structuring and operating a group venture.


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Description: This abstract still features a simple background with several red and white hearts on the bottom and a large red heart in the middle. Subtle grungy texture is spread around the background adding a soft calming feeling. In the center of the larger heart are the words "Communion do this in remembrance" in a unique font. This is a great background to help set a calm mood for any setting and is a great background for your communion service during Valentines day or while celebrating the theme of love! The Valentine's Hearts Communion Still Background is part of the Valentine's Hearts Collection.
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May 2010
We are all children in some sense. I wish we are more of a child than an adult. You know, a child smiles 400 times a day, adolescent smiles 17 times and an adult does not smile at all. There will be very less conflicts in the world if people in the world can only smile more.
We have been discussing the problem of violence and conflicts in the world since morning. What is the solution? Where are we heading to? We grew up with the ideology of Mahatma Gandhi. We used to attach pride in being non-violent. Unfortunately, today, the pride is associated with aggression and violence. Someone who is aggressive and loses temper easily is considered heroic in schools and colleges. We need to make the shift from attaching pride to violence to attaching pride to non-violence. We need to give our children a world vision of violence free and stress free society.
I am sure we can achieve this by five things in our hand:
1.First thing is music and dance.
2.Second is - sports. With the advent of computer and video games, children don't go out and play as they used to do before. They lock themselves up with the video games, most of which are violent. We need to give an orientation to function more in sports.
3.Third is travel. We conduct programs in India, America, sometimes in Europe, Poland, Germany, also here in black forest, where we bring children from all countries together for a week. Many times, they speak their own language, but just being with each other creates such a bonding between them that the barriers melt down and they feel at home.
We should help them travel around and communicate with people of other cultures and religions.
We need to give children multi-cultural and multi-religious education. I feel all the children should know a little bit about all the knowledge in the world – Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Catholicism, Shaoism, Shintoism. A little bit understanding of all the major religions and cultures of the world help them grow up with a broad mindset. Even if a small part in the world is left with people thinking that only they are right, the world will not be a safe place to live. The sense of belongingness, that we belong to one global family in spite of different colors, language and food habits, has to be developed in children and youths.
4.Fourth thing is involving kids in some service projects. There is such an opening that happens in youths when they are associated with some service project.
5.Then is Yoga and meditation. I have made yoga so secular that people from any religious background have no objection in doing it. It is just some breathing techniques and some postures, not attached to any belief system.
Our breath is linked to our emotions. For every emotion, there is a particular rhythm in the breath. So, when you cannot directly harness your emotions, with the help of breath you can do that. If you are in theater, you would know that a director asks you to breathe faster when you have to show anger. If you have to show a serene scene, director would tell you to breathe softer and slower. If we understand the rhythm of our breath, we are able to have a say over our mind, we can win over any negative emotions like anger, jealousy, greed, and we are able to smile more from our heart. I think we need to bring the child like beauty and innocence, that God gifted every human being, back into our lives.
Now, I want to narrate an incident. Two years ago, we had a group of 200 youths from Arab countries that came to Bangalore. At the same time, we had about 35 youths from Israel also. When youth from Arab came to know that there were youth from Israel also, they turned to be so violent, wild and angry that they were ready to pack their luggage and leave. But it took us less than couple of hours to sit and talk with them, during which they learn some breathing exercises, meditation and a little bit of yoga, and they become such good friends at the end of the third day. At the end of the week, the two groups had tears in their eyes while departing from each other. Their experiences are worth listening.
"That which you cannot express is Love.
That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty.
That which you cannot avoid is the Truth."
That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty.
That which you cannot avoid is the Truth."
~ Sri Sri Ravishankar
© The Art of Living Foundation


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Authors Working Together
"Skywalker's total lack of ability to become a skilled outdoorsman is more than offset by his ability and mastery of story telling. He spins a yarn that leaves us in awe."Dennis "K1" Blanchard
The above quote is on Bill "Skywalker" Walker's book web site. It is just one indication of what we authors need to do for each other. Authors need to help their readers find other authors. Think about it, books are a commodity, something that is in essence, consumed. When a reader finishes one book, they hunger for another and often that "other" book is something in the same genre. For some time now I have been making the point that we authors are not competing with each other, we're a team providing a product.
I met Bill, or "Skywalker" a number of years ago at a Appalachian Trail Club of Florida meeting. He is an impressive sight, all seven feet of "him." He is the most unlikely long distance hiker I think I have ever encountered. His other love is writing, he has generated some interesting stuff, check out his web site at http://skywalker-pct.com/
This evening I was at a local writers club, the Authors Connection in Sarasota, Florida. I was part of a tag-team presentation with another local author, Ron Klein. Ron is also an inventor and competitive bicyclist. We lectured on the methods to follow to get a print or ebook version of a book to the market. Ron covered the print side of things and I covered the ebook. I also added some information about marketing a book, regardless of the media.
Ron did a fantastic job and I think he opened many eyes to just how easy it is today to bring your creation to a readers eyes. Hopefully I held up my end of the bargain. The bigger message here is that we authors need to work together to educate other authors about writing, publishing and marketing. With the big publishing houses reducing staff, cutting budgets and resisting taken on new names the Indie writer has to rely on other authors to find their way through publishing minefield. It felt really good to contribute tonight.
If you're an author, wanna-be author, or just find writing interesting, leave a comment, we'd love to hear your take on writing and publishing today. With an anemic economy and limited reader monies we need all the help we can get.
Dennis "K1" Blanchard
Author of: THREE HUNDRED ZEROES: Lessons of the Heart on the Appalachian Trail
July 13, 2011 08:34
Dennis, I enjoyed your talk at the club meeting. Check out http://www.willfulwomen.info when u get a chance. Randy KE4ONV
July 13, 2011 23:54
Thanks for the comment Randy. If you think you'd like to write some pieces for the blog, just let me know. Anything that you think other authors should know, that perhaps they don't would be useful. What works for you, what doesn't, that sort of thing. I can post it for you, or, if you're familiar with WordPress, I can give you access to do it yourself.


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Congratulations to my twin nieces who graduated high school Wednesday, June 19, 2013. It was a gorgeous non humid bright sunny day for the outside graduation ceremony. There were close to 1000 graduating. The class leaders announced each graduate's name as they received their diploma. Even with the speeches, the ceremony was not dull or drawn out. It was absolutely beautiful.
I have been a 2nd mom to my twin nieces, as we have always lived in the same household. Time has truly flown by. It does not seem that long ago that the were born 2 months premature. They are such a joy! God bless them both as they continue their academic career in meeting the challenges of college.


text: Namaste, >Let is not set aside mystics experience. They are >talking proof of highest knowledge. How are you so sure that they are talking highest knowledge ? On what basis ? >How can we ignore them and accept what scriptures say ? After all >scriptures should not contradict aparoksha jnana. Well, if you use scriptures to label a particular jnana as 'aparoksha' then yes scripture should not contradict it's own definition/identification of such jnana. Without considering scriptures, I am not sure how you are labeling mystic's knowledge as 'aproksha'. If one considers any mystic is telling highest truth, then we have to believe every Baba in every nook & corner of India ! Regards, Srinivas. This communication is intended solely for the use of the addressee and may contain information that is legally privileged, confidential or exempt from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, please note that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. Anyone who receives this message in error should notify the sender immediately and delete it from his or her computer.


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Agriculture is constantly changing. The tools of yesterday have evolved into the technology of today. The Purple Plow Challenge brand was created to encompass both the history and future of agriculture; the plow symbolizes the history of production agriculture, while purple represents the innovative and exciting ways that agriculture is working to solve challenges today.
The Maker Movement hinges on the concept that young people learn, and have fun learning, when they can solve a problem and share their solution with others. In Maker Education settings, the process of making and solving is just as important – if not more – than the end result. Maker Spaces and Maker Challenges get kids excited about solving problems, while applying knowledge gained. The Purple Plow Challenge was designed to support Maker Learning everywhere. Want to learn more about the Maker Movement? Check out The Maker Movement in K-‐12 Education: A Guide to Emerging Research by Ed Week.
Purple Plow is a special project brought to you by the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture (AFBFA). The resources are made possible through the generous support of the title sponsor, Dupont Pioneer. The information on this site and in these resources is presented solely for educational purposes. We believe that when teachers and students understand the science and technology involved in food and fiber production:
If you have questions about Purple Plow resources, AFBFA or Dupont Pioneer in general, please feel free to contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
For more information about AFBFA, go to www.agfoundation.org
For more information about Pioneer, go to www.pioneer.com
Build awareness, understanding and a positive public perception of agriculture through education


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Model: Shark 200S-60-10-V33-Wifi | Order No: 200S-60-10-V33-Wifi
The Shark 200 metering system is an ultra-compact power metering device providing industry leading revenue metering functionality combined with advanced data-logging, power quality, and WiFi communications
Electro Industries introduces a new standard in panel mounted power metering. The Shark 200s metering system is an ultra-compact power metering device, providing industry leading revenue metering functionality combined with advanced data-logging, communication and I/O traditionally found only in high performance and high cost systems. This product is designed to incorporate advanced features in a cost effective, small package for large scale, low cost deployment within an electrical distribution system.
Precision Measurement & Meter Certification Capability
Data Logging Capability
The Shark 200 meter offers the capability of having 2 megabytes of data logging to be used for historical trends, limit alarms. The unit has a real-time clock that allows for time stamping of all the data in the instrument when log events are created.
Historical Logs
System Events Log
Limit/Alarm Log
Power Quality Monitoring
The Shark 200s meter provides basic power quality. The unit will also provide above and below limits for voltage, frequency, imbalance and other parameters giving a depiction of the quality of the power system being measured.
Waveform Scope
The unit uniquely offers a waveform scope to view the real time waveform for voltage and current. Waveform scope allows the meter to be used as a basic oscilloscope throughout a power system.
Standard Communication
100BaseT Ethernet Option
The optional WiFi gives the unit 10/100BaseT Ethernet capability or 802.11b WiFi communication. The meter supports up to 12 simultaneous sockets of Modbus TCP.


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The sweet one in the middle asked Katie what her name was when we stopped to talk to them. As we were leaving she then proceeded to yell "Thank you Katie!" 😀 This resulted in a chorus of "Thank you Katie!"from around the room.
There really is no other way that I would rather spend my free time than this. I mean seriously, look at those sweet faces.
Looking forward to Friday when we get to hand out close to 600 books down at Weiser Park!


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"Greatest Treasure"
A 666 Park Avenue fan-fic/AU
A/N: Although circumstances may change as (or if) Season 1 goes forward, the performances of TOQ and VW are far more convincing to me than any others on the show. They come across as being a "together couple" through thick and thin, although not always motivated out of the goodness of their hearts. We'll see. I have slightly modified/re-ordered the chain of events as we saw them in the last few episodes.
Summary: For many different reasons, some spoken aloud and some not, Gavin Doran considers Olivia to be his greatest treasure. In the aftermath of the Drake's annual Halloween party, he has to decide how best to protect his wife from his enemies, and from himself.
Category: General/Romance
Rating: T
Olivia Doran stared pensively out across the nighttime skyline of New York, seeing all of the familiar tall skyscrapers but somehow not recognizing any of them. From the terrace of their Park Avenue penthouse apartment, the ground level and the people there going on with their lives, seem so far away. She sighed, mentally chiding herself, and feeling a bit confused: Dr. Todd had assured her that she merely had had too much to drink on an empty stomach, but a disturbing lunchtime encounter with this stranger, this creepy Victor Shaw, had led her to seek out a second opinion. Her almost forgotten mug of herbal tea is cooling rapidly in the night air. She took a sip, her actions automatic and savors the lightly sweet mixture of chamomile, ginger and honey. Her nutritionist always recommended this particular tea for its calming properties, but at the moment, peace and calm were eluding her completely.
It is well after 1:00 a.m. Behind her, Olivia heard her husband stepping out from their penthouse's open double-glazed doors, treading lightly in his custom-made Italian leather shoes, and he removed his jacket to cover her bare shoulders against the chill of the night. The initial blood test by Dr. Todd Scott had revealed a high BAC and also residual chloroform in her system. Olivia only learned about the "recreational" chloroform in the second CBC analysis, still wondering why neither man had let her in on that particular secret.
"Olivia? Are you alright my dear?" His deep voice is soft as his hands gently grasp her upper arms through the fabric of his suit coat. Gavin placed a kiss on the side of her forehead and she instinctively leans into him, a familiar and comforting gesture for both of them. Her body reacts before her brain does, seeking its own solace as she fits into his left side, her head automatically cradling just below his broad shoulder.
She sighed and shook her head slightly, cupping the ceramic mug in both of her hands to gather its dwindling warmth, two of her slender fingers resting in the white handle. "Nearly, I just can't seem to shake this headache." A pain had settled like a vise just above her eyes and at the back of her neck.
They had already had some discussion that afternoon about Gavin concealing things from her (regarding the events of the Halloween party and her brief kidnapping), but some things had gone unsaid and unresolved.
"Mm, I'm sorry to hear that," he murmurs, turning her slightly toward him so that he can look into her beautiful face. "Should I call Dr. Scott to come to see you again? Maybe he can give you something to help you relax tonight." Doran rubbed her arms, giving her elbow a squeeze to let her know that he is there for her. He had apologized earlier, assuring her that he would not keep that sort of information from her again.
Olivia managed a small smile, seeing the genuine concern in her husband's deep green eyes, and remembering that it was that look that had made her fall for him in the first place. The smell of his aftershave wafted up from the material of his jacket and she still found him completely intoxicating. The name of Drakkar Noir jumped into her mind as she felt her smile at last reaching her eyes. Her heart actually skipped a beat.
"No Gavin, thank you dear, don't trouble him this late. He's already done so much for us. I'll be fine." She pauses to take a sip of the herbal tea. "A massage and a good night's sleep will put me right as rain, I'm sure." In her head, she also said and a good stiff drink, but alcohol of any kind had no appeal for her then.
Gavin chuckled quietly and she could feel the rumble of it deep in his chest where her arm rested against him. "I can arrange that for you." His eyes are twinkling rather naughtily in the reflected moonlight, and one eyebrow rises in a question. "Shall I call Francesca or Lars this time?"
Despite her slightly worried frown, she gives him a soft laugh in reply. "Fran, please. I'm not up for Swedish massage tonight."
He immediately smiles down at her, enfolding one sturdy arm around her back and guiding her inside. She accepts a quick kiss on the lips and lets him take the empty mug from her hand, placing it on the glass end table nearby. "Why don't you go slip into something more comfortable for your favorite masseuse and I will coordinate for her to come up right now?"
Any protest she had was completely drowned out when he kissed her again. Olivia knew that Francesca lived on the third floor of the Drake and seemed to keep odd hours with her studies anyway.
"Thank you, Gavin," she said, caressing his cheek. "Thank you for looking out for me."
He returned the gentle caress, kissing her fingertips as he pulled his cell phone from his trousers pocket. "It's what a man does for the woman he loves."
Gavin stepped into the vaulted foyer just outside of their master bedroom suite, returning from his brief visit to the Department of Corrections establishment on the other side of the river. He brought a finger to his lips, asking Francesca with his glance to keep quiet. He slipped out of his shoes, leaving them carelessly on the floor by the antique hallway chair. His tie and jacket already hung from the mahogany coat rack nearby.
Francesca smiled back and nodded as she continued to massage his wife's naked back and shoulder blades, working the warmed oil into taut muscles. Gavin removed his vest and rolled up the sleeves of his gleaming white dress shirt as he padded silently over to the padded massage table; he showed the young masseuse a pair of folded bills that he placed by the white and ivory-themed floral arrangement as he passed it. A two thousand dollar house call was more than worth the loss of a few hours of sleep to the struggling college student.
The image of a predator stalking its prey by candlelight came unbidden to Francesca's mind as he approached but she shrugged it away in the warmth of his approving smile. Still mute, she let his broad hands take the place of hers, as Olivia lay prone on the elevated bench. Her hair was drawn up in a beige terry cloth wrap, and her nakedness was covered tastefully with a crisp linen sheet.
Thank you, Francesca, he mouthed without sound, nodding his head toward the door and her well-earned fee; he was polite in his dismissal. The girl winked and brought a finger to her own lips. She smiled once more as she tiptoed from the penthouse.
Gavin quietly drew a deep breath as he massaged Olivia's back, allowing his fingers to spread across her skin and he moved firmly up to her shoulders and down again. His gaze was touched with true appreciation as he compared the paleness of the top of his hand to the glistening café au lait-color beneath it. Olivia never had any tan lines, anywhere, and he knew this from prior thorough explorations.
"That's lovely, Francesca," came a muffled voice from the head of the massage table. Olivia's face rested in the padded opening, and Gavin grinned when he realized that she was relaxed but not asleep. "And you were right about the tea tree oil scent."
Gavin did not reply as his hands skimmed down her body and he securely grasped her sculptured calf muscles. As long as he had known her, he considered Olivia's legs one of her best features. He licked his lips in anticipation as he mentally counted the thousands of hours he'd spent caressing her bare legs.
The woman groaned a bit when he firmly pressed both thumbs along her instep; first one petite foot and then the other. He was careful not to tickle and he heard her sigh with contentment.
"Thank you for coming up at such an hour too, young lady," said Olivia, raising her head slightly to speak more clearly. In the poor lighting, she did not see her husband attending to her feet and lower legs. "Be sure to tell me if Gavin is not very generous with your tip tonight."
He chuckled softly as he moved back up to her shoulder, leaning down to nip and to taste her bare skin. She started slightly but smirked when she turned and finally saw him there. Gavin bent again to lick and kiss the nape of her neck, and he grunted in satisfaction to feel the gooseflesh rise under his tongue.
"I'm sure he'll be generous, my dear," he commented between kisses, coming in closer when she propped her cheek in one hand, drawing the sheet to not quite cover her breasts when she turned onto her side.
Olivia reached to cup the back of his head when he kissed her again, properly and deeply this time. "You are a sneaky devil, Mr. Doran," she accused with a teasing pout. He shrugged modestly at the compliment.
"Shall I call Francesca back?" she whispered, still teasing him.
Gavin growled, moving in to scoop up her legs, his left arm easily supporting her back. He quieted her with another kiss.
"Perhaps some other time, my dear," he replied in a gravelly voice. "I'm in no mood to share you with anyone right now."
And with that, he carried his wife to their bedroom, locking the door behind them.
Oneshot or TBC?
A/N: I sincerely thank you for reading this far. I'm not sure if the plot bunnies are willing to carry on with the Drake denizens, but we'll see.


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Monday, July 30
Motucross: An obscure ritual in the Pontifical of 1596, associated with the dedication of a church in which the large X in the floor is drawn in the sand by two dirt-bike-riding prelates de fiocchetti. Medieval authors linked it back to a Carmelite ceremony associated with Elijah's fiery chariot.
Moturazzi: The sort of folks who hang out outside of Gamarelli's and surprise Cardinal Medina whenever he comes in and out in the hopes of getting photos of him buying a fiddleback.
Motucycle Gang: A roving band of hard-core, big-bearded Traditionalist Capuchins who burst into churches on their Harley Hogs and then forcibly push altars back up against the wall. They wear chains instead of cinctures and grey denim jackets with skulls embroidered on them and the inscription, "All praise be yours, my Lord, for Sister Death!" (Not to be confused with the Knights of Poverty, whose motto is, "We're going to voluntarily convert a rock star!")
Moturini: A small motucycle designed to fit into the storage space in the narthex of the miniscule FSSP church of San Gregorio dei Muratori in Rome. Comes with a crash helmet shaped like a saturno and a miniature frontal in liturgical colors for the handlebars.
Mr. Motu: Japanese restaurant in Soho, named after the lovable karate teacher-cum-rubricist who tries to teach Ralph Macchio how to do the Orate Fratres via the "Wax on, Wax Off" technique in The Karate Kid XI.
(Idea blatantly filched from a posting in the comments box of Fr. Z's blog, which I can't find now.)


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Cowboys' Potential Draft Pick: Datone Jones, DT/DE, UCLA
My latest scouting report is on the versatile Datone Jones of UCLA.
Jones is a hybrid defensive lineman capable of playing in either a 4-3 or 3-4 defense. In a 3-4, he'd be a slightly-undersized five-technique, whereas he could potentially play any position along the line in a 4-3. Some people seem unsure of whether or not Jones is big enough to hold up inside or quick enough to rush off the edge. I think the latter question is a real concern, but Jones has what it takes to play as a three-technique defensive tackle.
At 6'4'', 280 pounds, Jones is considered a "tweener" who doesn't necessarily have the build of a "prototypical" defensive end or defensive tackle, and naïve teams will hold that against him. The truth is that Jones is very strong—plenty strong enough to play in the interior—so his weight shouldn't be a major concern. Plus, he's relatively lean, easily capable of adding 10 pounds if needed.
See the entire report on Jones at NBC.


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I am blessed with 5 sisters and a brother. I asked each one if I could ask them the same five questions for a new feature called "Five on Friday". I thought by meeting them you might learn a little about who I am and where I came from.
This is my sister Amber.....she is as adorable as she looks and I wouldn't be where I am today without her, in so many ways! She is my youngest sister and when she was born it was like having my own real live baby doll. I spoiled her rotten. (She turned out fine anyway!) Here are her unedited responses to my 5 questions:
1) What do you do?
I was blessed to be a stay at home mom while raising my kids, and now I'm a stay at home wife (and I'm stealing that phrase from my sister, Jennifer)! I have a sweet and thoughtful husband who spoils me and calls me princess. ;) I look forward to every day that we spend together and with our kids. I'm proud of my sons and my daughter-in-law and love them more than I can express. They make me laugh and time spent with them is the time I treasure most.
2) Where have you been?
I love to travel and do it as often as I can. I also like to tag along with my husband on business trips and no matter where it is, I can always find something fun to do. We've been to Israel, Jordan, Canada, the Roatan, Honduras (a favorite!), Cayman Islands, Cancun, Puerta Vallarta & the Bahamas. I've never really counted all the states we've traveled to, but I've been to most of them. A few of my favorites are Siesta Key, Florida where we spend a week each year, the beautiful Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas, New York City, San Francisco and I'm very excited to be spending 2 weeks in Hawaii in a few weeks!
3) What is your passion?
My passion is God, my husband and my kids. After those, my passions include traveling, being on a beach with my husband, and reading. Other than news and sports, I don't really watch TV and I go to about two or three movies per year. I'd rather be reading! We also spend a lot of time playing games and cards with friends. We also enjoy motorcycle riding and you can find us on the bike just about every day when the weather is nice.
4) What is your favorite quote or saying?
"Get busy living, or get busy dying." -Andy Dufresne in "The Shawshank Redemption" (favorite movie)
"Kindness is a powerful thing." – Author Unknown
"Screw your courage to the sticking place." -Lady MacBeth
"Look at everything as though you are seeing it for the first or last time." –A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
5) What is your favorite book and why?
I spend a lot of time reading. I don't cook, clean or watch TV so that leaves a lot of time to read! I'm in a book club and in addition to reading the monthly selection, I read a few other books each month as well. A few favorites are: The Giver – for young readers but powerful. Cutting for Stone, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Same Kind of Different as Me, and The Widow of the South. I recently toured the house in Nashville where this story takes place which was really neat! I always have a never ending list of books "to read". Right now, I'm reading Holy Ghost Girl for book club.
That about sums me up! I'm blessed with 5 amazing sisters who I love! I am the youngest…also known as 'the baby'. I'm sure my sisters would agree that I've lived up to that name from time to time! I hope you enjoyed reading about all of us as we're all pretty unique in great ways!


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Stop one is the Georgia Aquarium. We've driven through Atlanta many, many times. I even chaperoned a field trip to the Coca-Cola Museum right across the plaza from it. I love zoos and aquariums, and this is supposed to be the best. But, the Monterey Aquarium had disappointed me, so I decided to see if Georgia would make it up. We got early bird tickets, so we were out in the wee hours of the morning to get to Atlanta by 11:00 a.m. from Ocala, Florida. Perfectly doable. The folks in Atlanta know a good thing, and they certainly aren't afraid to toot their own horn
Now, to see if they can back up those claims! Upon entry, it's well put together. A central area with each different area of emphasis in sections surrounding the central foyer. The central area was large and open with pathways to help direct traffic, but allowing plenty of room to meander. Several cafes on various sides where you could sit and rest with a refreshing beverage. Those weren't where I chose to sit and rest, though.
We (meaning I) decided to start with the top draw - The Ocean Voyager where the whale sharks and manta rays are. When you enter the section, there are a few spots to look into the huge tank before you reach the moving sidewalk and the tunnel. My first sight of the whale shark was when it swam over me.
Pretty awesome. You can step off the moving sidewalk if you would like to hang out and watch just in the tunnel. I stepped out for a little while because I could have sworn I saw a sawfish swim through, but I was looking elsewhere and only saw him out of the corner of my eye, so I just wasn't sure. He didn't come back, though, so we went on through the tunnel. While waiting for the touch tank, there was an announcement that the whale shark feeding was about to take place. I decided to bypass the touch tank. I've played with rays and guitar fish before, but I did want to watch the whale shark feeding.
Whale sharks are filter feeders, so they just filter the water around them through their mouths. The water passes through the filter pads and back out through the gills, and the food continues down through the digestive tract. In the aquarium, they target feed them. The workers float in small boats at the surface and target feed each shark from small color-coded buckets of krill. Each shark has its own bucket so the workers can track how much each has eaten. They are growing juveniles, after all! It was amazing to watch!
These guys and their buddies (many of whom are also pretty sizeable) have plenty of room to swim around and to grow. This tank alone holds 6.3 million gallons of water. The whale sharks, manta rays, guitar fish, groupers, and others seemed to have plenty of room to maneuver and swim about as they chose. When I needed to sit and take a break, I returned to this tank watching these gentle giants. I'm even more determined now to join them in their natural habitat around Baja California or somewhere else. There were a couple of times in Ecuador where one would beach. The towns people would try their best to push them back into the water, but they failed each time. I never saw one while swimming or snorkeling off the coast of Ecuador, but I hear there are scads of them in the Gulf of California, which some say is the best place to find them.
Just so you know, I would have been content if that had been the only tank in the aquarium, but it obviously wasn't. There were sea otters, river otters, California sea lions, dolphins, penguins, and all kinds of things. They did have one of the best tanks of garden eels I've seen, with schools of many different types of fish in the tank with them. Many aquariums tend to put the garden eels in a tank with maybe one type of fish (usually a wrasse) with them and with an appearance of a protective habitat, though most garden eels thrive in areas with moderate currents, more likely to bring food their way. I was also impressed with the leafy sea dragon tank. Much larger than what you usually see with lots of places for the little guys to hide if they want to instead of a small tank that gets covered periodically to relieve stress. And, the mandarine fish -- Usually, they're so busy darting around, I can't get a good shot. This was posed. He would move just a bit and then stop for the picture. When I started to leave, he turned to face me, as if he wasn't finished! Here are some shots.
The tanks were conducive to the animals' needs, yet easy for visitors to view without having to squeeze into small, tight spaces. Nobody stopped me when walking to exhibits to have me sample their wares and take a coupon for my next trip to the market, and the space was used for animal habitats, not stationary displays and televisions so you could see what was going on in the exhibit if you couldn't get to a viewing spot. The Georgia Aquarium puts the Monterey Aquarium to shame. It also skyrocketed to the top of my list of best aquariums, which was most recently headed by the Newport Aquarium in Newport, Kentucky, just outside Cincinnati, Ohio.
After leaving the aquarium, we headed to Alabama to spend some time with a dear friend. She took us to have some really good German food. Sorry. I couldn't wait. Sooooo good.
This was Bruce's favorite part!
While Bruce was hanging out in the hotel, Barb and I found a little park with a creek. Noticing no signs warning us to stay out, we decided to dip our toes in. It was an awesome feeling! The water was cool on that hot day. A couple of frogs weren't really impressed with us, though. Next time, I think I'll bring my water shoes, though. Those rocks were pretty sharp!
A lovely park with a refreshing creek with two crazy ladies wading in it! Life just doesn't get any better!
Meanwhile, in Tennessee -- Meet Pete! He's gonna be a daddy soon, and he perches on the racks of this truck or high in other trees so he can keep an eye out, making sure nothing messes with the mama of those little peababies.
The peahen (whose name just evades me) decided to lay her eggs in the bed of this pickup truck, which won't be moving anytime soon. I got the best shots I could, but the last thing I wanted was for her to feel threatened and have either her or Pete or both let me know just how unwelcome I was!
Since we were there, we had every intention of going to the Portland, Tennessee Strawberry Festival. It's held on a Saturday in May every year, and we just happened to be there for that Saturday. Remember at the top, I said the doctor said I didn't know how to walk? Well, I proved it that day. We got up and checked out of our hotel, deciding we'd spend a few hours at the Strawberry Festival, and maybe have some strawberry shortcake or strawberry pie for lunch before travelin' on down the road. No such luck! We got out of the car and started walking to Main Street, where it was shut down for the festival. We got on the sidewalk, and I swear Bruce pushed me! I'm not sure how he managed to do it since he was actually in front of me, but that's what had to happen because the next thing I know, I'm laying face down on the sidewalk!
You know that Facebook meme that's going around about knowing whether you're old based on the way people react when you fall? I'm old! I'm apparently older than old! One lady actually started digging through her handbag for ointments and bandaids! My new filtered water cup got scratched up in the fall. I got some scratches on my fingers. I got a bruise on the side of my leg just above my ankle. The biggest brunt was my knee. It doesn't look so bad, but it hurt like hell, and some of those spots were really deep! If I was younger, I probably would have been able to push through it. But, Bruce was having none of it. If I couldn't stand up and walk properly, apparently I didn't need to have any strawberry shortcake or strawberry pie! He marched my butt back to the car (meaning he almost literally carried me), and drove me to the nearest store where he could find a bandage big enough to cover it. Then, he stood in the parking lot while I stuck my leg out in the car and cleaned my knee, point triple antibiotic on it, and taped a large dressing on it. He finished it off by handing me a giant Reese's Cup. Doesn't make up for the strawberry shortcake I was looking forward to, though!
That put me back on my rear again for a period of time. But it didn't stop me from crashing Mother's Day with some friends and family in Tennessee before heading to Mississippi.
After a couple of days we were on our way again. Biloxi, Mississippi was the next destination. We got there a little early for checking into our rooms, so I sat down for a little while. Sixty cents later, and --
As you can see, I bet big! (snicker, snicker!) I actually spent most of my time there coaxing the birds up so I could try to take their pictures. This was the best I got. Holding the camera in one hand and a little bit of bread with the other. None of them would come in to take it. Surprisingly, they didn't even catch it when I threw it to them! The one in the back was looking at it, though.
Of course, we had to make a trip to Darwell's! No trip to the Biloxi area is complete without it! One of the most unique things about Biloxi is the tree carvings in the median down Beach Boulevard (Hwy 90). When Hurricane Katrina came through, there was a huge amount of damage, including all of the trees that used to line that median. Instead of cutting them all down, the city commissioned three chainsaw and wood artists to turn the dead trees into works of art. And, boy, did they ever! These are some really awesome sculptures, with quite a bit of detail. Some are small, but some are huge and multifaceted. Here are just a few of them.
This will be our last circle back to Florida for a while. It's getting entirely too hot here, so the next trip out will be another one-way journey! And hopefully, I'll have learned to walk by then!


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The first of the year brings many birthdays and birthday parties for us. Megan will officially become a teenager this year and is already planning her party. I wanted to experiment with some favor boxes and downloaded this template from Lauren Meader. I had such fun making this favor box and adding the stitching, brads and flowers - what a great design!
Papers - Cottage Wall DSP, old olive, whisper white, rich razzelberry card stock
Accessories - Flower folds Big Shot die, perfect polka dots embossing folder, 1" circle punch, old olive button, silver brads, whisper white organza ribbon, sewing machine


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General Structure
In general, the human brain can be divided in three large parts:
Figure 1: Divisions of the Brain
The Telencephalon
The telencephalon (also known as the cerebrum) is the largest part of our brain and controls voluntary movements and cognitive and emotional processes. It is divided in a left and right hemisphere, which are connected through a large bundle of nerve fibers called the corpus callosum.
It can be divided in:
The two halves of the brain are quite distinct in function:
The neocortex
The neocortex is characterized by two distinct furrows, the lateral and central furrow. This divides the neocortex in four lobes:
Figure 2: Brain Lobes
The basal ganglia
These form a kind of ring around the thalamus and control the position of the body and the sense of direction and distance. They can be divided in four parts:
The limbic system
This also forms a ring, but this time around the brainstem. The system controls emotion, memory and learning processes and is composed out of six parts:
The Diencephalon
This part of the brain is located in between the telencephalon and the mesencephalon and is composed out of:
Image Sources
Additional resources:
Nice presentation! Thought you may find this article interesting: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5847060/the_god_module.html?cat=58
An excellent presentation. It is well developed in a logical progression, so that is clear and understandable. Thank you for the share. Monica.


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"I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High." Psalm 9:1,2.
I would love to say that I wake up each morning ready to go, ready to praise, feeling great about my day and looking forward to what is has for me. I would like to say that, I cannot.
I would also like to admit that most Sunday mornings when the alarm goes off at 5 am, God and I are having a discussion about whether or not He really needs me on the Praise Team that morning. Yes, I said it; I don't walk around in a constant state of wonderment and holiness.
I choose to praise. I choose to worship. That's what makes my praise and worship so precious to God…because I don't have to, I choose to. The word "will" in the dictionary is defined as "determined," or "sure to." Plug this into the above scripture and you get, "I am determined to give thanks to you, Lord," and, "I am sure to be glad and rejoice in you." It's a choice.
So, on Sunday mornings when God and are have our discussion, (well, I whine, he listens,) it's not about if I feel like going to church, or feel like giving Him praise (hey, I just woke up, give me a second.) It's all about deciding that no matter what is going on around me, I will choose to be thankful, in whatever I can find to be thankful for. I choose to have hope, even when it looks hopeless. I choose to get up, get dressed, and get into praise.
PRAYER: God I don't know why you have so much patience with me but I am grateful that You do. Thank You for waiting for me to catch up, and teaching me to "get there" a little sooner each day. Amen
Additional Scriptures: Psalm 54:6; Jonah 2:9; Hebrews 13:15
Cheryl D. Wyatt


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Ark Management Information Systems Framework
The purpose of this tender is to invite appropriate vendors to tender for the provision of a Management Information System (MIS) solution for Ark and potentially other Multi-Academy Trusts.
United Kingdom-London: Educational software package
Contract notice
Directive 2004/18/EC
Section I: Contracting authority
I.1)Name, addresses and contact point(s)
Ark Schools
65 Kingsway
For the attention of: Sunesh Patel, Joshua Perry
WC2B 6TD London
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Internet address(es):
General address of the contracting authority: http://www.arkonline.org
Further information can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)
Specifications and additional documents (including documents for competitive dialogue and a dynamic purchasing system) can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)
Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to: The above mentioned contact point(s)
I.2)Type of the contracting authority
I.3)Main activity
I.4)Contract award on behalf of other contracting authorities
Section II: Object of the contract
II.1.1)Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority:
II.1.2)Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance
Service category No 7: Computer and related services
NUTS code UK
II.1.3)Information about a public contract, a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system (DPS)
II.1.4)Information on framework agreement
maximum number of participants to the framework agreement envisaged: 4
Duration of the framework agreement
Duration in years: 4
II.1.5)Short description of the contract or purchase(s)
II.1.6)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)
48190000, 48612000, 48000000, 48810000
II.1.7)Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
II.1.9)Information about variants
II.2.2)Information about options
II.2.3)Information about renewals
II.3)Duration of the contract or time limit for completion
Section III: Legal, economic, financial and technical information
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1.1)Type of procedure
IV.2.1)Award criteria
IV.2.2)Information about electronic auction
IV.3.2)Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract
IV.3.4)Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
IV.3.6)Language(s) in which tenders or requests to participate may be drawn up
IV.3.7)Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.1)Information about recurrence
VI.3)Additional information
Potential customers within the Framework Agreement are detailed below:
Educational Establishments: Nursery School, Primary School, Middle or High School, Secondary School, Academy, Special School, Pupil Referral Unit (PRU), Further Education College, University.
Schools in England https://www.gov.uk/find-school-in-england
Scottish Schools Online http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scottishschoolsonline/
Schools in Wales http://hwb.wales.gov.uk/
Schools Database Northern Ireland http://apps.deni.gov.uk/appinstitutes/instmain.aspx
Academies — https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-academies-and-academy-projects-in-development
Universities and Colleges http://unistats.direct.gov.uk/institutions/
VI.5)Date of dispatch of this notice:


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How cute is my Daddy?
My wedding dress is all packed up, warm and safe, into this box. The skirt is getting smushed! It's crying, "let me out!" Soon, baby girl, soon. I'll see you next week.
So my amazing dress is now on it's way to me here in New York. Travel safely, darling!
In other magicalness, my wedding dress is in the newest issue of Martha Stewart Weddings! I squealed out loud when I saw this!


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= Nuna's Diary =
Page: 1-2
- Nuna
- Taemin
Genre: Family, Incest
Author's note: English is not my first language. Forgive me for grammatical errors and weird words.
= = =
I opened his room's door.
"taeminie~ I'm home~"
He was lying on his bed, seemed that he was sleeping. I came closer and enjoy his angel-like face. But I know there's something wrong. He might pretend to be sleeping. Just for joke, I close his nose so he couldn't breath for a while.
"hahahahaha~!!" I laughed loudly.
"you want to kill me!" said taemin while he put his butt on the top of the bed. I caught his pink lips with my own hand.
"you can't lie to me, kid.." I said easily while sitting beside him.
"hehe.." taemin just smiled, "how did you know that I didn't sleep, nuna ?" he asked.
"from my six senses.."
Taemin looked unsatisfied with my answer.
"nuna, I'm serious~" he seemed very cute when saying that.
"gwiyeowo~" i said while playing with his nose. Taemin smiled brightly, he is always happy if I do that. Just a moment later, he laughed.
"don't laugh! Have you done your homework?" I said suddenly. Taemin hugged his pillow tighter just then.
"eopseoyo" he shook his head and smiled again.
"don't ever lie to me~"
"aniyo~" he said, "I'm not lying, nuna. Jinjja"
A 'V' sign on his hand make me sure about it and again, taemin smiled.
"geurae~ I'm going to sleep, then" I said while standing.
Taemin pulled his blanket up to his chin. I put the blanket well until all over his body is covered. Taemin looked at me closely.
"have a nice dream" I said softly. Taemin smiled.
"ppoppo, nuna?" he asked.
"you're too childish!" I said brusquely, but just then kiss his cheek.
"nuna, you smell bad" he said suddenly. I hit him on the head slowly.
"aigo~" taemin close his eyes and touch the place where I just hit him.
"jal jayo~"
"ne, nuna. Johahae"
= = =


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"I found white elephant, flying pig and unicorn all at once." George Maltezos
It was a stone menagerie of Robber Barons. I saw their leader in a movie fly off from the Hudson pier like he was a wetware helicopter to points north and east and wealthy on the early edge of a Friday afternoon. A fleshy little porker with ear flaps. It was balmy in a golden light which only seemed the more appropriate. We still watch those movies... I mean, of the Great Depression with song and dance, a banjo and minstrel black face though it is now the blue man group.
In our personal theater the lights are shut off and in a display of the cult of candle we forget what we forgot. Smells of apple-cinnamon, bayberry or the artifice of paper lilacs.
Yet, we continue to dream the lotus blossom delivery dream but it is one locked into a closet in a railroad flat in an Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn. Aluminum sides the street walls, all sorts of faded pastel colors. Cookies and the super saturated sugar filler of cannolis, the smell of hot sausage juice and peppers and onions euthanize the street festival. Ferris wheel, the portable ferries a wheel of fortune to be a rotation of baby buns or skeleton cakes.
The old folks Grace and Doria on the floors below control the steam heat so hot that the Never windows in their aluminum frames not to close all winter the street grinds in our ears twenty-four hours. There are no bird noises. Barking unicorns inflate our sleep.
An uncloaked Gabriel in the desert, alone, naked in the sun on the orange and umber mesa he heard this urban... this urban scream, sirens, in search of silence it is not Odysseus strapped to his bully pulpit that yearns female forms or that gregarious earthworm sizzle on a Sunday morning but fire trucks, those highly expensive utilitarian well polished noisy blaring loud outlander outrageous and cared for trucks that pull us to come to the carnival. A very hard sadness in that when the firefighter at the medical center counter mentioned his herniated disc.
Such bad things as tornados, unseasonal and displaced on our terrain, it was as if a plug had been pulled in the Gulf and the oil slick screwed us with the weather all really really badly. Nobody to admit to nothing.
I walked the dog in the rain. A few days past, nights too. The nights were tricky sometimes. Then one morning when the room as still dark. Dark is anything but a white elephant that squeaks when squeezed.
When the rotating rapture hits I would rather be where there is beer and music. Give me oompah!
Dawn was still three minutes away; Rufus Sandbank, Mink Zero and the bearded GO were gathered around a small twin bed in a little amber colored guest room aboard the Ryugyong Express -- up the stairs and off to the side of things down a dusty narrow hallway. There was a sideboard and plain old china pitcher made in China filled with water made in the cycle of heaven to earth. GO held a cool damp gray-green recycled cotton facecloth lightly to Eti's furrowed brow. There was a window sill next to the small bed, pungent with black mold beneath the green-gray paint. The old wood frame window sash, the lower sash was open eleven and thirteen-sixteenths inches to let in any cool air that would do so. The three men heard a slight groan and what might have been a sigh as Eti's eye lids began to stir and then very slowly open...... "Whah? Where am I?" whispered Eti. She began to breathe a little more fully, to take the molecules of cool air into her lungs."Easy now Eti. Take your time. Everything's okay now." said GO; then to the other two, "Here she comes boys. She's back with us now," feeling a warm tingle in his gut.
Now there was a sepia glow about the room. If one were to put on their reading glasses and look closely then they would notice that the walls were of a roughly cut yellow-white brick and oddly resemble the interior of a masonry bake oven.
'Time seems to pass and nothing happens or seems to be happening. I'd see one helicopter here, another there, but nothing else, and always far from me.' Francisco Piedrahita
[There needs to be an organizational chart, a graphic narrative placed here at this location in the book in order to separate out in the imagination of the reader the puppet characters from the real characters and from those characters who are in name only and those who are in fact dancing cookies.]
A little tearful smile crept over Etidorpha's face as she peered up at the three men standing there. "Ah learned a little somethin' 'bout life after that screw up." She said in her closest approximation to "heartfelt". Yes, indeed. No lie. That there was somethin' else."
Eti began to look a little further round the room and got a little choked up with her furrowed brow as she remembered the bullfrog. She also remembered acres and acres of bean sprouts poking themselves up out of the night soil. Where was he, clean shaved Gabe with his spiffy dress shirt and red power-tie? Was he still back there?
"What is it, Eti? Is something wrong?" asked the bearded Gabe, all the while gently dusting the odd short chestnut brown hairs off from the Amish quilted coverlet.
He half expected Eti's next words to be, "You were there, and you and you. And maybe Mink would be thinking he'd a tin peter, or maybe one of straw so ginormous it required a bamboo scaffold..."
"Eti. Will you watch this -- I just nailed my thirty-second fly this morning. Come have some breakfast". Eti shook her little squirrel sized head. Now she knew. Squirrels dream just like people and dogs and white elephants. That might come in handy where they were headed. Who knew?
The train trucks of the car – the one that hailed this small room aloft into the milky melt of stars -- sounded a curragh like a wert unicorn unable to navigate to his navel, but as one moved forward along the yellow trails the steel to steel grind of bearings and shocks banged and popped the sound of white fireworks burst in the dark black night chitty chitty.
Her lips murmured as her mouth held in place a small pool of liquid adhesives. The breath hummed a breen crenelation of her rodented teeth. She shook her furry little head and suddenly there were streams of laser glitter light splayed across the ceilings and walls of the room.
It was fairly no linger what it may have been. Either it was June or November. With an ice age on the horizon little critters throughout the northern latitudes were frozen within a few hoots of morning with undigested buttermilk waffles and strawberries in their bellies. As things which stimulate and enflame the senses are not among the things that really are.
There lingered in balance on the cold air a scent of fresh cookie dough in the oven.
To be continued... everything gets baked out very neatly and made perfectly clear in the next installment.


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Friday, August 26, 2011
A Give-a-Way
I'm having a give a way, but it is not a book. It is for My Memories Suite Scrapbook software. It is a $40 value and a #1 rated scrapbook software.
You can make scrapbook layouts, photo books, cards, videos, calendars etc. with the 'digital scrapbooking software.' You can print out your project or share it digitally with family and friends. You can enhance your scrapbook with video, music, narration, and even the internet. Go here and it will tell you everything you can do with this great software.
Click here to go over and check out some of their pages and tell me which ones you like. I like the easy calendar on page 3 and the classic red gift tags on page 4.
I will randomly pick a winner from the comments. If you don't have a blog where I can get in touch with you, leave your email in your comment.
I have just starting playing around with the program and I am in the process of making pages to put in my family history book I am writing. Some of you crafty people (and not so crafty) could really go to town with this software! There are even instructional videos on You Tube. The possibilities are endless...Wedding Guest Books, family history pages, reunions, baby shower books, cookbooks, family calendars, etc.
Leave a comment and be in the running for this software. The winner will be given a code, they can go to the site and put in the code at the checkout and will not be charged for anything. Announce it on your blog and get two entries in the drawing.
If you don't win and would like to purchase it, go to their site and put in this code STMMMS23290
at the checkout and receive a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 cpn for the MyMemories.com store - $20 value. Anyone can use this code, just copy and paste the code at the checkout. Tell your friends if they are interested.
If you win, what would you like to use it for? I would love to hear your ideas.
I will announce the winner next week.
Good luck!
10 comments:
Would love to use this to 'catch up' on my scrapbooking!ReplyDelete
Thank you so much for visiting my blog and inviting me to enter your giveaway. I'd love to win this software!
Also, I'm going to try your blackberry cake recipe! It looks wonderful!
Thank you for visiting our blog, we would love to see your patio chairs! We really don't have time to do scrapbooking because we have so many other projects started and have yet to finish them. So many and so little time. We both are working so it doesn't leave us much time to play... but I would love it for someone that has the time to use that software to win, that is a wonderful giveaway!ReplyDelete
Yes I could really use it. Thanks for visiting my blog today..SusieReplyDelete
What a fun giveaway Janet! You can count me in! I really liked the gift tags you were talking about and the Halloween Card.ReplyDelete
Have a Great Weekend!
Looks like a great program! I'm glad to know (from your comment on my blog) that you aren't near the coast, Janet!ReplyDelete
I love the berry photo on your blog. I haven't been here in awhile.ReplyDelete
Still not up to par!
Hope all is well with you.
I don't scrapbook so guess I'm out of the running for software.
I love beautiful scrapbooks. I helped my daughter make one in honor of my granddaughter's graduation in May.
She loved it.
Take care of you Janet and thanks for always cheering me up.
Blessings, Barb
Please don't enter me in the contest because I don't scrapbook. But what a cool giveaway for those who do! My neighbor does them all by hand. She loves doing it and spends hours on them, like I do writing. She loves it and it shows.ReplyDelete
Janet, I don't scrapbook, but my oldest daughter does. She would probably love to have this. You might enjoy her blog, www.musingreader.blogspot.com, where she writes about books for young adults.ReplyDelete
After my Mama's passing I inherited all of her photo albums. I want to make one very nice scrapbook of all the photos so we will have a treasure to look at and pass on. This software would be the ticket!!!ReplyDelete
Thank you for stopping by. I love comments! Leave one and brighten my day. If you are signing as Anonymous, please sign your name, so I will know who you are.


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5 leaves: The highest rating that can be given. The novel was spectacular for reasons to be explained. A book I highly recommend and can see myself rereading sometime.
4 leaves: The novel was good. It was extremely well written, and the characters and world were impressive. This rating means that although the story wasn't perfect I will still look for more written by this author.
3 leaves: Liked the story for the most part, but it was nothing special. This rating is given to novels that could have added more in terms of characters, world building, or plot. The book is promising. More detail regarding rating will be given in review.
2 leaves: A rating given to novels that aren't that interesting or special. It probably isn't recommended unless you can find it somewhere for free.
1 leaf: The lowest rating that can be given. I didn't enjoy the book at all and wouldn't recommend it.


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Malik Deenar Islamic Academy is a renowned Islamic institution which steps up with a majestic mission of bringing up of a new generation of scholars, well equipped with modern tools of knowledge The institution, which came to existence in 2001 April 11 under the auspices of Malik Deenar Great Juma masjid committee, is affiliated to Darul Huda Islamic University, Malappuram, Kerala and follows its educational curriculum.
Friday, 14 June 2013
Darusslam Islamic Academy
Darusslam Islamic Academy''' ([[Arabic]]:'''مجمع دار السلام الاسلامي''' [[Malayalam]]:''' ദാറുസ്സലാം ദീനാർ ഇസ്ലാമിക്ക് അക്കാദമി''' ) is an Islamic educational institution. It was established in 2012 October 10, under the Darusslam Yatheem Khana committee is affiliated to [[Darul Huda Islamic University]],<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.darulhuda.com/ |title= Official Website of DHI University |accessdate= 2012-01-03}}</ref> Malappuram, Kerala and follows its educational curriculum. The academy which is housed in the same building of Darusslam Yatheem Khana aims to produce new hordes of scholars who are capable to carry on the propagation work in every corner of the world .The Academy concedes applicants younger than 12 and who have passed the public examination of fifth standard conducted by Samastha Kerala Islamic Educational Board for a 12-year course at the institution.
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Time Capsule 2003: Rock Is Hell
"Time Capsules" is our way of putting some of our favorite albums from particular years into a… little, um, time capsule so music fans can read our reviews of notable releases from various years. We were going to take the actual CD's and launch them into space in real time capsules, or bury them in the ground so future generations and/or aliens could be sure to find the best CD's preserved. But that seemed a bit pricey and foolish. Plus, aliens (and/or future generations) aren't likely to go digging thru the ground looking for stuff, they'll probably just poke around on the internet. Let's hope they find this site sooner than later. The following review was written in 2003:
For those of you just joining Ryan Adams' career, let me bring you up to speed. Hopefully the longtime faithful fans will forgive me while I try to quickly put him and his music into a neat little box.
Of course that will be difficult. As a young teenager in North Carolina, Adams traded in his skateboard for a guitar and started playing in punk bands. He would eventually migrate from his punk rock roots and form Whiskeytown, the critically acclaimed but commercially unsung band at the forefront of the alt-country movement of the mid-to-late 1990's.
His first solo release, 1999's Heartbreaker, was received as a stunning and influential debut. One critic called it "the greatest break-up album since Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks." Elton John called Heartbreaker the most inspiring record he'd heard in decades, and even went so far as dedicating his next album to Ryan Adams for "making me want to do better."
That led to a major label record deal with Universal's Lost Highway and a reputation as a talented and prolific young songwriter. (His live shows and New York City lifestyle also brought on being labeled as a self-indulgent brat who enjoyed the excesses of alcohol and drugs.)
With 2001's Gold, he had a minor hit with "New York, New York," along with a simple but eerie video shot less than a week before the September 11 attacks featuring Adams strumming and singing the tune with the towers still visible in the background.
He was writing and recording at a pace way ahead of the music industry standard of only releasing albums every couple of years. He allegedly recorded four albums' worth of material within a year after releasing Gold. Some of the songs were released in 2002 on Demolition, which was essentially an uneven sampling of some of his many demos. While Demolition has its flaws, it just underlined the fact that this guy's trash contained lots of treasure.
So Adams put together a new album he was proud of, Love Is Hell. Well, his label Lost Highway rejected it. They said it was too dark. With Adams' history for writing gut-wrenching tales of heartache, what did they expect? Were they hoping for bubble gum dance pop?
When this sort of thing happens, the label is almost always missing the boat. See (or hear) Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot or Aimee Man's Bachelor No. 2 for proof.
In a recent interview with the London Times, Adams called the tunes on Love Is Hell "death threats to myself." He went on to explain:
"It's a very damaged, very excessive record, the sound of someone in trouble and not dealing with it and going out of their head. Something like Neil Young's Tonight's The Night."
After the rejection, a frustrated Adams says, "I was so angry, I quit. I thought I'd reached the most honest I could be about my feelings on Love Is Hell. It was totally naked. And it was rejected. I put my guitars away and said to hell with it."
Well, Adams eventually got his guitars back out again. The result is Rock N Roll, the "official" new album. It's upbeat, guitar-driven material with a modern retro feel, if that's possible. The label is apparently happy, and, perhaps in a compromise with Adams, they're releasing Love Is Hell as two EP's. Part 1 was released simultaneously with Rock N Roll, with Part 2 following a month later. Of course, the label will put all its marketing and promotion behind Rock N Roll, while not even sending advance copies of Love Is Hell to the media.
What a shame. While it's too early to deem Love Is Hell a masterpiece, it is a finely-crafted and well-produced collection of songs; a deep and introspective journey. Sure, it's dark. This ain't a party record, that's for sure. But it offers a glimpse of the depth and quality that everyone suspected this singer-songwriter to be capable of.
Rock N Roll is the party record. It sounds like Adams approached this album with an attitude of, "You want some upbeat material to capitalize on the any-retro-guitar-band-as-savior-of-rock trend? Here you go…"
It's almost like he's showing off. Here's a guy who, with Love Is Hell, proves he can write gloomy alternative pop good enough to stand next to the likes of Radiohead or dare-I-say Coldplay. When the label rejects it, he turns around and gives them a trendy rock record full of more hooks than a bait shop. It seems the only thing he can't do is sound like Dr. Dre or look like Britney Spears.
If Love Is Hell is a beautifully sad painting, Rock N Roll is a cartoon. In other words, Rock N Roll is candy to Love Is Hell's filet mignon. They both taste good, but they're very different. One might break your heart while the other will rot your teeth.
The irony here is that, stripped down to the core, the songs on these records aren't that different. They sound drastically different, but the lyrics on Rock N Roll still have dark moments sprinkled amid the light-hearted tongue-in-cheek vibe. He just dressed them up like an 80's cover band being driven around by Morrissey with the Strokes Is This It CD on repeat. One thing both albums have in common is Adams' great voice. Sometimes he sounds as smooth and syrupy as a country crooner, and other times he's as raspy as an ashtray shared by Kurt Cobain and Paul Westerberg.
In the end, Love Is Hell is a truly great album and Rock N Roll really isn't. It's good, but I think time will be much kinder to Love Is Hell. (LIH is being re-issued on one disc. Too bad the label couldn't have just done that from the beginning and promoted it.)
Adams advises, "If you want to have fun, go buy Rock N Roll. If you want to hear something extreme that's coming from a really interesting place, and is all about suicide and ghosts and flirting with death, then go buy Love Is Hell."
As always (if possible), don't buy Love Is Hell or Rock N Roll at BestBuy, Target or on Amazon. Support your local independent record store (while it still exists) and buy from them.