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The class so far was one of the best. I really enjoyed it and it was good to learn something for a change. And what did i learn. I learnt that we have lot more to memorize and learn than what we went through. Perhaps while making all those financial decisions we will have to turn to this subject most of all. I also discovered that there are some people who are really good at calculations and can think clearly. For those who donot have clarity and need to think how to methodically solve the problem need to go through this subject once again. (me included).
So tell me your experience about this whole class. Be frank.


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10 Questions about Hamburger Mary's with owner Gary Motes
1. Tell us about Hamburger Mary's.
Hamburger Mary's was originally an open air bar and grill, founded in 1972 in San Francisco. In those days there was a lot of discrimination against gays and lesbians. Hamburger Mary's welcomed them, figuring money is money, business is business. A lot of people in the gay and lesbian community know that if there's a Hamburger Mary's in their city then it's a place they can feel comfortable at without worrying about being mistreated. There are 12 in America now. We're number 12 and there's a 13th opening by the middle of next year.
The Hamburger Mary's in Jacksonville is owned by me, my brother Larry and my sister Debbie, along with her husband, Randy. We opened on May 1, 2012.
2. What's the overall concept of Hamburger Mary's?
The overall concept is to come in to unite cities. It normally takes about a year but in Jacksonville it's been immediate. Our audience is about 50/50 straight vs gay and lesbian. It's an opportunity for families to come in, have a great meal, and see a really fun show. Our show is always family oriented. We have lots of families who come in with everyone from kids through grandparents. There's no cursing or anything risqué. We do a late show at 11:30 pm on Friday and Saturday. We warn people that these will be more adult oriented, but if there are any children in attendance we tone it right down and make it PG.
3. When did the drag revue become a part of the restaurant?
I'm not sure exactly when it started, it just became an opportunity for the straight community to have a chance to see a revue without having to go to a bar or club - places most families can't go to.
4. What exactly is a drag revue?
A drag revue is a show with female impersonators. We go one step further here in Jacksonville and add a production as the first number. It's a rehearsed production with a drag queen and two of our professional male dancers. This week they're doing Wicked. The week before they did Man Eater. They've also done Hairspray. After the opening production there are 6 performers who come on and do their normal routine which is basically female impersonation.
…are the shows appropriate for families?
Yes, they're family friendly. And we get a lot of families attending. Our 11:30 pm shows on Friday and Saturday can be a little more daring, but only if there are no children in the audience. If there's even one child attending then we're PG. And we're serious about this. We bring people from all over the world to perform here and they all sign agreements beforehand that they will not use profanity or engage in inappropriate behavior during the family events. It's a code we strictly enforce. If anyone violates the code they will not be invited back to Hamburger Mary's again. So, it's serious.
5. How long are the shows?
Our shows are Friday and Saturday night at 8 pm, 9:30 pm and 11:30 pm. We also have a Sunday brunch show at 12:30 pm and an evening show at 8:30 pm. The shows are generally about an hour long although our 9:30 pm shows can sometimes run up to 90 minutes.
6. Is there a charge for the shows?
No, not at all. It's dinner entertainment. We don't even insist that people have dinner to watch the show but most people do.
7. Do you need a reservation?
We can seat 196 at tables and 22 at the bar. Reservations are highly recommended during the show times because they're very popular and we've had to turn people away, which we hate to do. I try to keep a few open tables for people who show up without reservations, but even those are limited, so calling ahead is best.
8. Are the impersonation routines scripted or are they improvisational?
We have about 7 different scripted routines that we rotate. The performers come in and rehearse about 6 hours a week for the Friday, Saturday and Sunday shows.
9. Are the shows something that people return to over and over or are they something that you see once and that's it?
People come back all the time. We're always mixing up the productions and adding new things. We have 6 performers per night. 3 are our Mary's Girls who are with us for the long term. The other 3 are constantly changing and bringing in new material, so there's always something new.
One of our favorite customers is a 70 year old lady who comes almost every Sunday night. Another woman approached me before we'd even opened and said she wanted to reserve a booth for every week. I was skeptical at first, but sure enough, every Friday and Saturday night we have a booth for that customer and her guests.
10. Can you tell us more about the mix of your audience? Are there more women then men?
It's a mix. At the door the women are usually all excited and pumped up. The men, especially if it's their first time here, are not sure what they're getting into and some of them probably wish they were anywhere else. By the end of the night when people see that it's just a really fun show then even the men are all enthusiastic.
11. Are the routines the same across all the Hamburger Mary's?
No, they're different. Because it was a hit with the straight community from the very start in Jacksonville we wanted to offer them something a little different. For a lot of people in Jacksonville the only drag show they've seen is at some of the local clubs and bars and those can get a little trashy. We immediately wanted to invest more money in the shows to improve the production quality. What people are saying across the country is that Hamburger Mary's in Jacksonville is putting the show back into drag.
12. Why was the reception so positive from the very start in Jacksonville?
I think Jacksonville was already right on the edge of diversification anyway and they were just looking for a reason to accept everybody. Two weeks ago I had an 8 year old girl who demanded that her birthday party be here at Hamburger Mary's so that she could watch what she called "the princesses" up on stage.
I know that people were ready for us because we've had this strong, positive reception and we've done virtually no advertising. It's all word of mouth recommendations, or people reading an article about the show and wanting to check it out for themselves. We've even surprised ourselves with the reception. At this point we'll probably be double the attendance from what we expected for the first year.
13. Can you tell us about your food?
Our specialty is our half pound burger, which we charbroil from fresh, never frozen patties. We have really good combinations, like our Buffy, the Burger Slayer. It's marinated for 24 hours in spices and then has a red wine reduction over it, along with garlic aioli and Swiss cheese. For the really hungry we have a Proud Mary, which is a one pound burger. If you finish a Proud Mary and your sides, we'll give you a free deep fried Twinkie dessert or a free shot, and you get to join our Proud Mary Club!
14. Who runs the kitchen?
We have an amazing lady that everyone calls Zee. She has about 35 years of experience in restaurant management. She was our first hire before we even got started. She's a certified chef who owned a few catering businesses before working for us.
15. What can you recommend for someone eating at Hamburger Mary's for the first time?
I'd start with our Mac and Cheese fritters. They're the greatest! We make them in-house and put them on our appetizer menu. We make two big batches of mac and cheese and put them in the freezer overnight. In the morning we scoop it out with an ice cream scoop, bread it lightly, and cook it.
16. What would you recommend to someone who wants to try something a little different?
Our chicken tenders are excellent. We cut them up in-house, marinate them in buttermilk overnight, then batter and cook them. Our chipotle chicken wrap is also really good.
17. What's the most popular item?
The burger, without a doubt.
18. What's your favorite item?
My favorite is the Mary Burger with spicy mustard, lettuce and tomato.
19. Where do you like to eat when you're not eating at Hamburger Mary's?
I shouldn't say, but I really like Kickbacks.
20. What attracted you to Jacksonville?
My brother, sister and I are all from Jacksonville originally. This is home.
21. What drew you to your location on Beach Blvd?
The minimum size for a Hamburger Mary's is 3,000 square feet to accommodate the dining area and the stage. It was hard to find a location in Jacksonville for something that size. We also knew that a lot of the gay and lesbian clubs in the Riverside area were too focused on inward fighting and we didn't want to be distracted by that atmosphere. We support the gay and lesbian community and diversification within Jacksonville but we want to bring a new perspective that is free of the usual politics.
The owner of our current location was very supportive - he loved our whole idea from the start. He thought our concept was something that Jacksonville needed and that we'd help to bring a new vibrancy to the neighborhood. It's no surprise that the St. Nicholas area has not been growing for a long time. We now bring 6,000 or so people into the neighborhood every week. We're starting to see new businesses move here just in the time since we've been open.
22. Did you have any licensing or regulatory issues with the City?
No, none at all. The City wanted to work with us. They were encouraging us to set up downtown, but there was just no property that could work for us.
23. What attracted you to Hamburger Mary's?
Well, I had semi-retired about two years ago and was working part time. A friend took me to Hamburger Mary's in Tampa and I was in love right away. I told my brother that he had to go see it. He was working in Tampa so he went to it and thought "wow!". We then talked my sister into seeing a show and she was hooked. It took us about a year to put the business together but we knew we wanted it from the start.
24. Have you ever owned a restaurant before?
I've worked in the restaurant industry for 38 years, mostly here in Jacksonville. I owned a restaurant in downtown Jacksonville in 1999 for a little while too. My family has also been very involved with Jacksonville for decades so this is a city we know well.
25. What have been some of the biggest surprises running Hamburger Mary's?
One of the odd things, to me, is that the straight community has been so accepting of us but some people in the gay and lesbian community have been less enthusiastic with our presence. That's surprising because one of our motivations has been to create a diverse environment in Jacksonville where people from the gay and lesbian community can come and have fun while being accepted for who they are while feeling comfortable about it. We love straight people but in some ways there's more on offer for gays and lesbians and so it's a bit surprising when some people from that community aren't excited about our success.
…why is that?
I think that some people in the gay and lesbian community in Jacksonville have been brought up thinking that to be comfortable you need to go somewhere that's just gay - whether that's a gay bar or a gay club or anywhere that caters just to gay people. There are places that benefit from having that sort of segregation, and we can be threatening to that idea. We're about diversification and bringing straight and non-straight people together. We aren't about creating a place that's just for gays and lesbians. When you come to Hamburger Mary's you can be gay and still be comfortable sitting next to a family or a straight couple. And vice versa.
26. What have been some of the challenges running Hamburger Mary's?
Probably the same challenges as a lot of small businesses have. We've all worked for big companies but this is the first time we've had to balance the books. We're financing the business out of our own pockets. It's always surprising just how expensive it is to run a business. And that's both a big challenge and a big responsibility. We have up to 45 employees we're responsible for and if we mess it up we put 45 people out of work. It's scary sometimes, but we're having fun. It's like we're running Walt Disney.
27. What's next for you?
We want to stabilize this location and then we'd like to open another Hamburger Mary's in Savannah.
…why Savannah?
I worked in Savannah for a year and there's only one place for the gay community to go. We want to go there to offer some diversification.
28. Will you look to expand after that?
Our goal is two Hamburger Mary's and one Martini Mary's. The franchise agreement only allows for one Hamburger Mary's per city because it's a destination more than a location. But we can open a Martini Mary's in Jacksonville. We'd really like to have a location in the Riverside area.
29. What's a Martini Mary's?
They don't do a full kitchen but instead focus on appetizers, liquor, beer, martinis, and dancing.
30. Anything else you'd like to add?
Just that we're a small business run by me, my brother, and my sister. We want to have a place where people can come and have a good time. We put a lot into the restaurant and we do it for the fun it brings to people. From the servers getting on the walls and dancing to the YMCA, to the variety of performers we bring - it's all about fun and we want people to come and have a good time. It's an hour show but when you walk out of here your whole attitude will be changed.

subset: commoncrawl


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Autumn is slowly creeping into the atmosphere with its dropping temperatures and beautifully changing leaves, and Overlook has brand new paperbacks to enjoy while you're wrapped up in a sweater enjoying a mug of hot cocoa. From crime thrillers and totalitarian art to celebrity stories and a history of magic, this list will surely provide something for every book lover.
To help get you started we're even giving some books away. Subscribe to the Winged Elephant before 9a.m. (EST) Friday morning and you might be the lucky reader who receives three paperbacks from the list below. To subscribe, enter your email address in the form on the right side of this page, or click here to get the latest news from Overlook delivered straight to your inbox. We'll contact a winner at the end of the week to select three books of their choice. Good luck and happy reading!
Dave Zeltserman
On Sale: 8/28/2012
In A Killer's Essence, already optioned for the movies, Zeltserman's unique talent ("deserves comparison with the best of James Ellroy" —Publisher's Weekly) is back with full, sinister effect. Stan Green is a jaded New York City cop assigned to the most shocking homicide of his career—and he finds only one witness, a neurologically damaged recluse subject to demonic hallucinations. Then the murderer strikes again. Stan's best hope is a man who claims to be surrounded by ghoulish apparitions. And there's just a chance this witness isn't insane, but instead terrifyingly perceptive…
Dave Zeltserman's grisly crime novel is backgrounded by the 2004 ALCS playoffs, when the Red Sox triumphed over the Yankees. A knuckle-whitening, surprising, and compelling trip into Stan's obsession with a brutal case, this serial-killer mystery is Zeltserman's darkest, most gripping work yet.
"A doozy of a doom-laded crime story." —The Washington Post
Cole Stryker
On Sale: 8/28/2012
Epic Win for Anonymous is the first book to tell the story of the genesis of the rogue protest groups—including Anonymous, LulzSec, and AntiSec—currently changing our world. Longtime Web culture critic Cole Stryker traces their growing importance to mainstream news, community activism, and new creative media. Starting with the "anti-Facebook," the web community at 4chan.org, the book follows the evolution of Internet culture from humorous memes to political game-changers. Whether chronicling how Sarah Palin's personal email account was hacked or dissecting the threat of cyber-bullying, Stryker's engrossing and approachable book proves the transformative cultural impact of the Internet and the communities it sustains.
"This sharp guide avoids the fear, condescension, and hand-waving that dominate mainstream coverage of Internet culture…satisfying and thoroughly researched." —Nick Douglas, author of Twitter Wit and editor at Slacktory
Igor Golomstock
On Sale: 9/25/2012
Totalitarian Art achieves nothing less than a thorough and serious comparative study of the official art of Stalin's Russia, Hitler's Germany, Mussolini's Italy, and Mao's China.
In the Soviet Union, and later is Maoist China, theories of mass artistic appeal were used to promote the Revolution both at home and abroad. In Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy they asserted the putative grandeur of the epoch. All too often, art that served the Revolution become "total realism," and always it became a slave to the state and the cult of personality, and ultimately one more weapon in the arsenal of oppression. Igor Golomstock gives a detailed appraisal of the forms that define totalitarian art and illustrates his text with more than two hundred examples of its paintings, posters, sculpture, and architecture, and includes a powerful comparative visual essay which demonstrates the eerie similarity of the official art of these very different regimes.
"Golomstock convincingly demonstrates how the overlapping aesthetic values of these superficially disparate regimes underlined how much they had in common…Fascinating." —Wall Street Journal
Sam Christer
On Sale: 9/25/2012
This thriller is "one of those very rare books that is capable of both thrilling and chilling the reader" (James Becker, author of The Moses Stone). Eight days before the summer solstice, a man is butchered in a blood-freezing sacrifice on the ancient site of Stonehenge before a congregation of worshippers. Within hours, one of the world's foremost treasure hunters has shot himself in his country mansion. Teaming up with an ambitious young policewoman, his estranged son soon exposes a secret society—an ancient legion devoted to Stonehenge. With a ruthless new leader, the cult is now performing ritual sacrifices in a terrifying bid to unlock the secret of the stones.
Packed with codes, symbology, relentless suspense, and fascinating detail about one of the world's most mysterious places, The Stonehenge Legacy is a breakthrough novel of addictive and eerie suspense.
"Intriguing…integrates secret diaries, codes, hooded monks, and historical detail." —Publishers Weekly
Elizabeth Abbott
On Sale: 9/25/2012
She has been known as the "kept woman," the "fancy woman," and the "other woman." She exists as both a fictional character and a flesh-and-blood human being. But what do Madame de Pompadour, Jane Eyre, and Camilla Parker-Bowles have in common? Why do women become mistresses, and is a mistress merely a wife-in-waiting, or is she the very definition of the emancipated, independent female?
In Mistresses, Elizabeth Abbott intelligently examines the motives and morals of some of the most infamous and fascinating women in history and literature. Drawing intimate portraits of those who have—whether by chance, coercion, or choice—assumed this complex role, from Chinese concubines and European royal mistresses to mobster molls and trophy girlfriends. Mistresses offers a rich blend of history, personal biography, and cultural insight.
"Has the irresistible appeal of celebrity gossip…Full of fascinating details and illuminating insights." —Kirkus Reviews
Stephen Fry
On Sale: 9/25/2012
Stephen Fry, star of Wilde and host of QI, is firmly established as a celebrated cultural figure. But when he arrived at Cambridge he was a convicted thief, an addict, and a failed suicide, convinced that he would be expelled. Instead, university life offered him love and the chance to entertain. He befriended bright young things like Hugh Laurie, now the star of House, and Emma Thompson. This is the hilarious and utterly compelling story of how the Stephen the world knows (or thinks it knows) took his first steps in the worlds of theater, radio, television, and film. Tales of scandal and champagne jostle with insights into hard-earned stardom. The Fry Chronicles is not afraid to confront the chasm that separates public image from private feeling, and it is marvelously rich in trademark wit and verbal brilliance.
"Funny, poignant…His prose feels like an ideal form of conversation." —The Washington Post
John Avlon
On Sale: 9/25/2012
America's story has always been best told in newspapers. From the local and mundane—crime blotters, crop prices, and Sunday sermons—to the Federalist Papers and Watergate, the press has played an outsized role in our nation's culture and history. Now in its fifth hardcover printing, Deadline Artists celebrates the relevance of the newspaper column through the simple power of excellent writing. It is an inspiration for a new generation of writers—whether their medium is print or digital—looking to learn from the best of their predecessors.
Contributors include: Jimmy Breslin, Ernie Pyle, Dorothy Thompson, Thomas L. Friedman, David Brooks, Ernest Hemingway, Will Rogers, Langston Hughes, Woody Guthrie, Ambrose Bierce, Mark Twain, H.L. Mencken, Art Buchwald, William F. Buckley, Dave Barry, Anna Quindlen, George Will, and Pete Hamill.
"As far as this essential anthology goes, it's so well done, there's nothing left to say." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Olga Slavnikova
On Sale: 9/25/2012
In the year 2017 in Russia—exactly 100 years after the revolution—poets and writers are obsolete, class distinctions are stingingly clear, and mischievous spirits intervene in the lives of humans from their home high in the mythical Riphean Mountains. Professor Anfilogov, a wealthy and emotionless man, sets out on an expedition to unearth priceless rubies that no one else has been able to locate. His expedition reveals ugly truths about man's disregard for nature and the disasters created by insatiable greed.
Olga Slavnikova stuns with this witty, engaging, and remarkable tale of love, obsession, murder, and the lengths people will go to get what they want. Her biting prose is brought to life vividly and faithfully by acclaimed translator Marian Schwartz. With 2017, Slavnikova takes up the mantle of Russia's unrivaled literary heritage.
"An unsettling but satisfying experience." —The New York Journal of Books
Carrie Hagen
On Sale: 10/30/12
In 1874, a little boy named Charley Ross was snatched from his family's front yard in Philadelphia. A ransom note arrived three days later, demanding $20,000 for Charley's return. The city was about to host the United States Centennial celebration, and the mass panic surrounding the Charley Ross case plunged the nation into hysteria.
The desperate search led the police to inspect every building in Philadelphia, set up saloon surveillance in New York's notorious slums, and begin a national manhunt. With white-knuckle suspense and historical detail, Hagen vividly captures the dark side of an earlier America. Her brilliant portrayal of its criminals, detectives, politicians, spiritualists, and ordinary families will stay with the reader long after the final page.
"Relentlessly suspenseful…This is an elegantly told, superbly accomplished history of good and bad intentions gone awry." —Philadelphia Inquirer
Charles McCarry
On Sale: 9/25/2012
Since his reemergence with the publication of The Old Boys, Charles McCarry has been heralded as one of the few espionage writers whose books break out of the genre to shine as brilliant novels. The Secret Lovers is a McCarry tale at its finest—an exploration of the spying game, but also a riveting psychological portrait of a man ensnared by his own profession.
A courier delivers a dissident Russian manuscript to Paul Christopher early one morning in West Berlin; minutes later, the courier is dead. Meanwhile in Rome, Christopher's wife takes a lover to stir her husband out of his stoicism. These two seemingly discrete events set in motion a spiral of Cold War intrigue, both personal and political, that leads Christopher from Europe to the Congo. In this relentlessly suspenseful novel, McCarry, who "surpasses Len Deighton and John le Carré" (Washington Post), builds his multilayered story to a outstandingly satisfying end.
"The sheer ambition of McCarry's spy novels catapults him into the company of John le Carré, Eric Ambler, Graham Greene, and Alan Furst, but his stylish voice and historic scope make him unique." —Los Angles Times
Ludmila Ulitskaya
On Sale: 10/30/2012
Daniel Stein, Interpreter is seen by many as the great Russian novel of our time. Winner of the Russian National Literary Prize and the Simone de Beauvoir Prize, and nominated for the Russian Booker Novel of the Decade, Ludmila Ulitskaya has earned accolades internationally for this groundbreaking work.
This innovative novel tells the story of Daniel Stein, a Polish Jew who narrowly survives the Holocaust by working for the Gestapo as an interpreter. After the war, he converts to Catholicism, becomes a priest, and finally emigrates to Israel. Despite this seemingly far-fetched progression, the life of Daniel Stein is not an invention—he is based on a real person, Oswald Rufeisen, a Carmelite priest.
Daniel Stein, Interpreter ranges from before World War II to modern times, and from the shtetl to Israel to America. It portrays a life full of amazing contradictions and undaunted faith.
"Rarely does a novel appear that is as commanding and brilliant as Daniel Stein, Interpreter." —The Chronicle Herald
Rudolf Kippenhahn
On Sale: 10/30/2012
The achievements of cryptography, the art of writing and deciphering coded messages, have become a part of everyday life, especially in our age of electronic banking and the Internet. In Code Breaking, Rudolf Kippenhahn offers readers both an exciting chronicle of cryptography and a lively exploration of the cryptographer's craft. Rich with vivid anecdotes from a history of coding and decoding and featuring three new chapters, this revised and expanded edition makes the often abstruse art of deciphering coded messages accessible to the general reader and reveals the relevance of codes to our everyday high-tech society. A stylishly written, meticulously researched adventure, Code Breaking explores the ways in which communication can be obscured and, like magic, made clear again.
"A breezy survey of codes, ranging from the betrayal of Mary, Queen of Scots…to the nature of credit card security." —The New York Times
Philip Carr-Gomm and Richard Heygate
On Sale: 9/25/2012
Have you ever wanted to know more about alchemy, mix up a herbal remedy, dowse for water, perform a spell, or find out more about "second sight"? Did the Harry Potter books ignite your curiosity about wizardry? Through experiments to try and places to visit, as well as a historical exploration of magic and interviews with leading magicians, The Book of English Magic will introduce you to the extraordinary world that lies beneath the surface.
Magic runs through the veins of English history, part of daily life from the earliest Arthurian legends to Aleister Crowley to the novels of Tolkien and Philip Pullman, and from the Druids to Freemasonry and beyond. Richly illustrated and deeply knowledgeable, this book is an invaluable source for anyone curious about magic and wizardry, or for sophisticated practitioners wanting to learn more.
"An accessible and immensely readable book…A fascinating insight into a hidden world." —Booksquawk
Pamela Stephenson
On Sale: 10/30/2012
A favorite of American audiences, Billy Connolly, who now lives in Los Angeles, is the outrageous comedian whose unsurpassed comedic talent has won him countless fans. Billy, the revelatory, poignant, and wildly entertaining biography is written by the woman who knows him best—his wife.
With insight and objectivity, Pamela Stephenson, a clinical psychologist, takes us through the heartbreaking and hilarious life of a comic legend and what made him the man he is today. The descriptions of Scottish life evoke the poignancy of the Ireland in Angela's Ashes as she tells of the troubled, abused, and desperately poor child in the docklands of Glasgow who grew up to shock and awe audiences around the world with his notoriously bawdy humor and a remarkable range of performances as a brilliant comic, a serious actor who played opposite Dame Judi Dench in Mrs. Brown, and the star of the U.S. television show Head of Class.
"A triumph of the will, an Angela's Ashes with punch lines." —Publishers Weekly
Susan Hill
On Sale: 10/30/2012
Susan Hill—the Man Booker Prize nominee whose ghost story The Woman in Black is now a major film starring Daniel Radcliffe—has written her most captivating work in The Betrayal of Trust. The English town of Lafferton is ravaged by flash floods. A shallow grave is exposed; the remains of missing teenager Harriet Lowther have been uncovered. Harriet was the daughter of a prominent local businessman, and her death twenty years before had led to her mother's suicide.
Cold cases are always tough, and in this mystery in the enduringly popular series, Chief Superintendent Simon Serrailler must confront his most grisly, dangerous, and complex case yet. Susan Hill's understanding of the human heart, her brilliance when evoking characters, and her tremendous powers of storytelling come into full force in The Betrayal of Trust.
"Beautifully written…Hill is giving us a timeless panorama of life and death in an English town, one in which a murder investigation is only one drama among many." —Patrick Anderson, The Washington Post


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1.1 What, if any, are the legal requirements of an arbitration agreement under the laws of your jurisdiction?
Article 11 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On international commercial arbitration" (hereinafter – IAC Act), dated 09.07.1999, determines that an arbitration agreement is an agreement between the parties to submit all or separate disputes, which have occurred or may arise out of the legal relations, binding upon the parties, for settlement by the international arbitration court. The arbitration agreement may be entered into in the form of an arbitration clause (separate provision of the contract) or in the form of a separate contract.
The arbitration agreement shall be in writing. An agreement is in writing if it is contained in a document signed by the parties or in an exchange of letters, telex, telegrams or other means of telecommunication which provide a record of the agreement, or in an exchange of statements of claim and defence in which the existence of an agreement is alleged by one party and not denied by another. The reference in a contract to a document containing an arbitration clause constitutes an arbitration agreement provided that the contract is in writing and the reference is such as to make that clause part of the contract.
1.2 What other elements ought to be incorporated in an arbitration agreement?
Relying on the definition mentioned above, Belarusian legislation requires that an arbitration agreement shall directly determine the choice of arbitration as a means of dispute settlement for the settlement of present or future disputes, as well as the scope of disputes referred to arbitration.
It is preferable for the parties to determine in an arbitration agreement the kind of arbitration (institutional or ad hoc), the competent arbitration institution or applicable arbitration rules. In case these matters are not included, an arbitration agreement can be declared invalid or unenforceable.
An arbitration agreement might include additional conditions like the place and language of the arbitral proceeding, the number of arbitrators, the means by which they are elected (appointment), the agreed procedural rules of arbitral proceedings, etc.
1.3 What has been the approach of the national courts to the enforcement of arbitration agreements?
According to the provisions of the Civil Procedural Code of the Republic of Belarus (hereinafter – CPC), the court of general jurisdiction shall refuse receipt of the claim or terminate the proceedings if it finds that parties have concluded an arbitration agreement.
Under article 151 of the Economic Procedural Code of the Republic of Belarus (hereinafter – EPC), an economic court starts the commencement of proceedings independently of the existence of an arbitration agreement, but leaves the statement of claim without consideration if the respondent files a motion to refer the dispute to arbitration. The respondent must submit this no later than its first statement on the merits.
According to legislation and court practice, the court shall refuse to apply the legal consequences of an arbitration agreement in the following cases:
- the form of an arbitration agreement does not correspond to the requirement of the legislation;
- an arbitration agreement does not determine the kind of arbitration, particular arbitration institute or arbitration rules;
- an arbitration agreement is void, inoperative, incapable of being performed; and
- the subject matter of the dispute is not arbitrable under Belarusian legislation.


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Just a quick post to let you all know that we will be closed starting today, Friday March 4th until Monday March 7th. BIG weekend, big enough that I need all of today just to prepare for it, lol! Our eldest Daughter Samantha is getting married tomorrow, March 5th, and hubby is taking me to the theatre on Sunday March 6th because thats my Birthday!!! See.....BIG weekend, lol!! Now I'm gonna brag on my hubby a little; guess what he bought me for my Birthday? Come on, Guess!! the theatre tickets? Well, yes......but the REAL present was......are ya ready for it? A NEW CAR!! How awesome is that? Three years ago he bought me the house for my Birthday, this year he bought me a car for my Birthday.....I think that makes my husband the very definition of "A KEEPER", lol! The car is gorgeous, too......a Dodge Avenger in crystal pearl red. Heres a picture from the Dodge website, this is exactly what mine looks like:
Friday, March 4, 2011
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Merry Christmas,
Jen and I have been busy with Christmas, the move, and just living our new lifestyle to keep things updated. I wanted to give an update on Mary's health for everyone still tuned in on this blog.
Mary has started walking, she has been walking now for about 2 months, and is learning how to run now. She likes to play chasing games, and just loves to jump and play on everyone. Except Daisy.. she's too grumpy for that. We had a wonderful holiday, thank you to Grammie, Grandpa, and Bampa and Eva (my grandparents) for your gifts. They have really helped this year.
Mary has also started saying the following words;
Yo/Hi/Bye/Mom/Dad/Bro/Uh ohh, and a few others. She has really started to take off with her vocabulary, and movements. We are so very proud of her.
Update for Christopher;
He has almost gotten straight A's and B's but has some trouble with science. He is working very hard in school and it shows. He celebrated his Christmas with a lot of skateboard equipment, and warm clothes. He has been doing so good. We're extremely proud of his progress.
Enjoy the pictures, and I hope everyone has a happy and safe new year. Enjoy!
~ The Deome's


text: Reality-Show Exec Charged With Kidnapping Contestants say he wouldn't let them leave Pauper to Princess set By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff Posted Apr 15, 2008 3:30 PM CDT 0 comments Comments Reality-Show Exec Charged With Kidnapping Police: Reality Show Director Arrested:Police arrested a man who allegedly held young women against their will in a house to shoot a reality show called "Pauper to Princess." (weshtv) Pauper to Princess to queer (in the strange way):My friends Erika and Jessica almost went on that show! (spiderbrother23) 1 of 2 (Newser) – The director of a reality TV pilot has been arrested on kidnapping charges after allegedly trying to stop contestants from leaving the house where it was being filmed, ABC News reports. Four women fled the Pauper to Princess house and told neighbors to call the police. The women say they were held against their will and haven't been paid for the five weeks already spent filming. The show—not picked up by any network— purported to transform young women from modest backgrounds. Police say they aren't sure what prompted the women to flee the house. "A couple of them told us they were in danger," a police officer said. "No physical violence had taken place, according to them. What spooked them, I don't know." View 3 images


text:
AROUND 600 temporary jobs are to be created in sales of merchandise at the Commonwealth Games.
People are wanted to work at stalls across all the sporting venues and a host of pop-up units throughout Glasgow during the Games this summer.
Venue Retail 2014 Limited (VRL) is the company overseeing all aspects of the merchandising, from running shops, online sales and granting sub-licenses to other retailers.
The majority of the jobs will run over the 11 days of competition starting on July 23, but around 120 jobs will begin before the Games to prepare stalls and stock a city centre "megastore".
Venue Retail are looking for shop workers, supervisors and managers to work in 40 venues during the Games. The recently launched Team Scotland kit will be sold in the temporary shops and stalls along with Team England and Team Wales clothing and a range of items from the 17 sports that make up the Games.
The majority of the management team at VRL ran the merchandise programme at London 2012, overseeing hundreds of stalls in the Olympic Park and a main store in Hyde Park.
Human resources manager Nicola Porter- Smith said: "This is an outstanding opportunity to work on the retailing of the official Games merchandise and to play a key part in what will be the UK's largest sporting event this year.
"We are looking for energetic and enthusiastic staff, and the work experience alone will be invaluable in particular to anyone looking for their first job."
Applications have opened at portal.venueretail.co.uk/apply .


text:
Water monitoring comes ashore
ALEX PAJUNAS — The Daily Astorian
Beachgoers wade or float back and forth across Ecola Creek in Cannon Beach. This year 11 Clatsop and Tillamook County beaches are being monitored for enterococcus, bacteria present in animal and human waste. More photos on the Web at www.dailyastorian.com
ALEX PAJUNAS — The Daily Astorian
Bathing seagulls freshen up near the beach in the waters of Ecola Creek Wednesday. Mark See, the Cannon Beach public works director, says DNA tests by the city indicate gulls are the main polluters of streams running over the beach.
Summer means it's time to begin tracking beaches for contamination
By NANCY MCCARTHY
The Daily Astorian
CANNON BEACH - Two health advisories issued for beaches in or near Cannon Beach this summer signal that the beach-monitoring season is under way.
This year, 25 of the state's 94 beaches are being monitored weekly, every two weeks or monthly for enterococcus, bacteria that is present in animal and human waste. It also indicates the presence of other bacteria.
Bacteria can enter the ocean, creeks, rivers and outflows from a variety of sources, including stormwater runoff, animal and seabird waste, failing septic systems, spills from sewage treatment plants or discharges from boats.
Of the 25 beaches slated for routine monitoring, 11 are in Clatsop and Tillamook counties.
While most of the beaches usually don't show high enough counts of bacteria to rate an advisory, the Ecola Court outflow pipe in midtown Cannon Beach garnered 12 advisories after 26 tests last year.
This year, so far, the percentage of good tests over bad is better: It failed only once - during April - in nine tests.
"Over the past few months, we've seen water quality at Ecola Court outfall improve," said Charlie Plybon, Oregon Field Manager for Surfrider Foundation. The foundation monitors water quality on beaches and has been critical of Cannon Beach's efforts to address the outfall area. Recently, however, the city and the foundation began working together to develop solutions.
But, Plybon added, "The area is still of concern until we can demonstrate this 'improved' water quality over time, and beachgoers are safe from advisories." Advisories are issued when more than 158 organisms of bacteria per 100 milliliters of water are found in the samples. The bacteria can cause gastroenteritis, skin rashes, upper respiratory infections and other illnesses.
State health officials warn people to avoid wading in creeks that have advisories and to stay clear of water runoff flowing into the ocean.
On April 5, the monitor for the state's testing system found 579 organisms at the outfall site. Two subsequent tests - on April 19 and May 3 - indicated the presence of organisms was significantly reduced, and state officials lifted the advisory.
The Hug Point advisory, issued June 29, was the first in nearly three years, when an advisory was posted for the south end of the cove on July 30, 2007. The advisory was lifted a week later.
Tolovana State Park hadn't been tested since Oct. 29, 2007, and at that time no organisms were detected. This year, however, an advisory was issued June 2 and lifted on June 9. A subsequent test on June 14 could not detect bacteria.
"Tolovana Park has been a relatively clean area over the years and it fell off the radar of the state's monitoring program for this reason," Plybon said.
The state took a sample from the area following a request from Surfrider, he said.
"In all honesty, that doesn't really tell us much other than we need to test more," Plybon added.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency has required 35 coastal and Great Lakes states and territories to monitor beaches since 2000. But because the $230,000 EPA grant isn't enough to cover all of Oregon's 94 recreational beaches, monitoring is done on the top 25 that have a high use, a history of pollution or are near potential pollution sources, said Jennifer Ketterman, Oregon beach program coordinator.
The state has learned that each beach has its own character and personality, Ketterman said. "What we find on the South Coast is different than what we find on the North Coast," she said.
Where the monitor collects the water sample depends on the size of the beach and whether one particular area has a history of a high bacteria count, Ketterman said. The Ecola Court outfall, for instance, has a history of higher-than-normal bacteria counts, so samples are taken at the pipe as water flows out and in the stream as it empties into the ocean. Monitors are particularly concerned about pipes that flow on the beach "because people are getting more water contact," she said.
Although the state receives funds to test the water, it doesn't have the money to investigate the source of bacteria when the tests fail.
"There are a variety of sources near the shore or inland," Ketterman said. "They could come from animals, seabirds, diapers, agricultural products, sewage treatment plants, septic tanks, boat disposals. It's a pretty complex process."
The problem is even more complex, she added, because the presence of bacteria can fluctuate wildly. "You can collect data one minute and it will be different the next minute," Ketterman said. That has been a frustration experienced by Mark See, Cannon Beach public works director. Because it takes time to get a test result the city isn't notified until the next day that a problem exists, he said. "We're getting a warning today about the tests yesterday.... We need real-time testing for a real-time warning." Cannon Beach is tested every Monday during the summer. If the test fails, more samples are taken on Wednesday and confirmed on Thursday. The public is notified on Friday.
"There's a real flaw in the testing program," See said.
Eventually, he said, "real-time" testing will be available so city officials and the public will know instantly that bacterium is in the water.
Recent DNA tests performed by the city indicate gulls are the main polluters to the streams on the beach, See said. He intends to send samples to an Oregon State University lab to confirm the source whenever Cannon Beach tests high. This will rule out other sources, such as a misconnected sewer line or illegal dumping.
See also hopes that, eventually, the city and Surfrider can take over testing Cannon Beach's water from the state so money will be freed up to test other coastal sites.
"My vision is that we want the Department of Human Services to do lots of testing for everyone if we agree to do our own testing," See said. The city's testing would be checked against Surfrider's tests for accuracy.
But, while the city can continue to monitor the water and take steps to remedy some pollution source, the public needs to get involved, too, See said.
The city's public works committee is drafting educational pamphlets, which will be distributed to local hotels and businesses. The pamphlets will discuss why water is tested, the risks of contacting untreated water and other facts involving water tests.
"When you do a lot of test sites in one place like Cannon Beach and one pops up bad and an advisory is issued, it sounds like there's an advisory for all of Cannon Beach," See said. "It affects business. The chamber of commerce has gotten involved, so we have a balance of all concerned parties."
The public works committee may also ask the City Council to prohibit people from feeding birds and other wild animals. The animals become used to the feeding and stay close to public areas, See said. Instead, they should be discouraged from roosting on roofs.
"You always see gulls on the roof tops and parking lots of the Surfsand, the Wayfarer and the American Legion building," he said. When they leave their waste on the roofs or asphalt and a summer rain occurs, "there's just enough rain to put a slurry of seagull poop into the drainage system."
Those buildings are also close to the stream that runs from the Ecola Court outfall, across the beach and to the ocean.
Other solutions may be found as well. Roof drains may be disconnected from the city's drainage system and put into "drainage swales" where the water is filtered through natural vegetation before being directed into the city's drainage pipes, See said. But drainage swales take up space, which is scarce in developed areas near the beach.
But See will experiment with another "pre-treatment" method when the restrooms on Second and Spruce streets are reconstructed later this year. He plans to build a "rain garden" that, much like the drainage swale, will act to filter out pollution from the building's roof before it goes into the city's system.
Although the contamination can be reduced, it will never be eliminated, See said.
"The truth is, there's fresh water everywhere. And there's still some chance that bacteria will get into that fresh water."
The Rise Above Plastics Blog Has Moved
6 years ago


text:
we attended a 1920's themed mystery dinner party over the weekend.
i loved the movie "Clue" growing up, between my sister and I, we could probably recite the entire thing. this kind of reminded me of it, the party was lots of fun and proved once again that i am not good at solving murder mysteries.
lizka fake permed my hairs, so i just had to share these
(stolen from jeannine)
and this one stolen from robert
and this one stolen from jess.
sorry if you already seen 'em on f*book.
i know, i need to bring my own camera.


text: It's incredible, after 25 years of marriage, how much a man and wife know each other. My greatest strength, I feel, is that I'm a really good listener. "You never listen," my wife says. Nobody knows Kenna better than I do. I understand everything about her. "You don't know me at all," she says. "And you know less every year." Very independent I see myself as being remarkably self-sufficient. I am completely at peace. But she somehow feels I need constant attention. I asked one day if I was high maintenance. "What's the level above high?" she said. I don't ask for much. "You're asking for things constantly, Jeff." I say it's all about her. She says no, it's all about me. I say getting along with me is a breeze. Yes, she says, a very strong breeze. Like a tornado. I make it a point never to whine. "That's all you do is whine," she says. I'm not like most men. She says I'm exactly like most men. I do everything she tells me to do, no questions asked. "If that were only true," she says. I see myself as spontaneous, always living on the edge. She says I'm completely predictable. I inhabit the universe. She says I live in my own little world. What I'm really good at is nurturing. She says I don't even know the meaning of the word. Good at finding things When something's missing, I look for a long time before I finally give up. She says I don't look anywhere at all. I say my possessions are well-organized. She says we're drowning in paper. Aren't men something else? She says, yes, they are. I say I have phenomenal hearing. She says I'm deaf. Sometimes she gets mad at me for no reason. "Oh yes, there's a reason," she says. And eventually I find out what it is. I like to think when we have problems, we work them out. She says we just sweep them under the rug. I'm glad I have a job to go to every day. So is she. Life around me, I maintain, is electric. She pretty much agrees. She says that when I'm around, she can never relax. I say that if not for her, I'd have absolutely nothing. Well, at least we agree on that. Jeff Bahr is the American News Dakota Living editor. His e-mail address is firstname.lastname@example.com. His phone numbers are (605) 622-2320 and 1-800-925-4100, ext. 320.


text:
The story was dead. The story came alive.
After USC's final practice before flying to Ohio State on Thursday, Pete Carroll suddenly announced that his plane-catching players didn't have time to talk to the media.
I had come to talk to Stafon Johnson.
He jogged away quietly.
It was perfect.
For four years, attention has sought him, controversy has nagged him, bitterness has chased him.
He has jogged away quietly.
In the last two seasons here, among USC's running backs, he has been the most consistent, and consistently ignored.
Did you know that in games in which he has scored a touchdown, the Trojans are 12-0? Did you know that when he has carried the ball 10 or more times, the Trojans are 10-0?


text:
By JENNYLYNN BROWN
Staff Writer
BOONSBORO - The Little Engine That Could gained confidence and reached its destination with positive thoughts.
Ellen Savoy's transportation is different, but just like that engine - she thinks she can.
Today, Savoy starts a 400-mile bike trip from Grantsville, Md., to Ocean City, Md., for the OutSpokin' for Maryland's Kids Project.
As program coordinator for treatment foster care at San Mar Children's Home, Inc., Savoy, 45, interviews children, meets families and arranges pre-placement visits.


text:
With the Apple iPad 2 launch in the UK only a day away, the queue has already started at the Californian company's flagship store on Regent Street.
When Pocket-lint dropped by to scope out the iQueue at the Apple Store, three people were already in place.
Heading the queue is Jewles Lewis, who works in finance, and isn't a novice at this game. In fact, he was in fourth place when queuing for the original iPad launch last year, and yes, we spoke to him then as well.
Jewles secured his place at the head of the queue, arriving at 7:30am on Thursday and now faces a wait until 5pm on Friday before he gets his hands on his shiny new iPad.
To keep him company he has, you guessed it, the original iPad he bought last year. When asked what he was going to do with the old iPad, Jewles told Pocket-lint that he would "keep it for the family". We suspect many others will be doing the same come Friday evening.
"I haven't touched it yet, but I believe it is faster, quicker, thinner", Jewles offered-up as reasons for wanting Apple's "magical" tablet, before telling us he'd be getting exactly the same model as he has now: 32GB, Wi-Fi + 3G.
So there you have it: it seems that Apple fever is strong on the streets of London, again.
- Apple iPad 2: specs and details
Pocket-lint will be checking back at the iQueues all over London tomorrow, so be sure to check back then for some more fanboy action. We've a feeling that there will be more than three people in line then.


text:
Additional Information
- Reduce Median Nerve Compression - The Mouse Bean Hand Rest protects the delicate median nerve that runs through the carpal tunnel in the wrist. It does this by preventing the central part of the wrist from being pressed against a hard surface. The Mouse Bean Hand Rest supports the hand on the soft fleshy parts either side of the median nerve.
- Corrects Wrist Angle - The Mouse Bean Hand Rest elevates the forearm to maintain a straight wrist. This reduces stress on the tendons where they run through the carpal tunnel. Overuse of the hand and fingers when the wrist is bent can lead to tenosynovitis (inflammation of the covering of the tendons), a painful condition affecting the forearm. Resting the forearm on the desktop can become increasingly uncomfortable.
- Specially Contoured Body -The Mouse Bean Hand Rest allows the wrist to rotate into a comfortable position and can be used on either hand. The gently rounded base allows it to slide on and off the edge of a mouse mat without snagging.
- Stress Reduction - The Mouse Bean Hand Rest reduces tension and stress in the hand, arm, shoulder, neck and back. Because the heel of the hand is properly supported, the arm does not need to be elevated to move the mouse and this encourages upper arm mobility. Supporting the hand in this way also seems to reduce the need to grip the mouse too tightly. Constant tension in the forearm is a common cause of tenderness and burning sensations.
- Sliding Coupling Fingertip Control - The Mouse Bean Hand Rest has a sliding coupling bar that connects to a simple stick-on socket on the rear of the mouse. Although some users never seem to discover it, this sliding feature allows the mouse to be moved with the fingers for fine detail work in art and design packages. This dramatically helps to relax the muscles of the hand and forearm and further reduces stress in the upper arm.
- Tactile Stress Relief - Due mainly to its highly tactile surfaces, many of our customers just love to use the Mouse Bean Hand Rest as a stress reliever. This is an important aspect in the workplace since it encourages computer users to take short, regular breaks. This allows overused muscles a little time to relax and recover - further reducing tension and stress.
- Insulation and Protection - The Mouse Bean Hand Rest keeps the wrist away from cold surfaces as well as the sharp edges of desks and mouse pads. It also eliminates pressure from wrist watches and bracelets, a common cause of aggravation which most wrist pads simply make worse.
- Please note: You will need to glue the Mousebean to the mouse if you wish to connect it
- Please note: You will need to glue the Mousebean to the mouse if you wish to connect it
Warehouse stock
This is an item we keep stock in our warehouse.
Delivery time
If the item is currently in stock we will process your order in 24 hours. Please allow up to 3-4 working days for delivery, though times will often be faster than this.
30 day return
If you change your mind and your item is unused and in its original condition, we can give you a full refund when you return it within 30 days with your proof of purchase e.g. confirmation email or order number.
The goods must be returned during business hours, carriage paid, in perfect condition in their original packaging, with the Returns Note enclosed.
If you are returning an item because of an error on our part or because it is faulty/damaged, please contact us to advise when the item is packaged up and ready for collection.
If goods are returned due to a fault on the item, this will be tested and if faulty, a replacement will be issued. If no fault is found, the item will be returned back to you.
Please note that if you wish to exchange an item, you will need to return the original item for a full refund, then place a new order (which will include delivery costs again).
For more detailed information on our returns policy and any right you have to return goods under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, please visit our 'Returns and refunds' page, accessed from the footer.
of customers liked this product (13 Reviews)
|Customer Comment
|Posturite Comment
Required adhesive to attach to the mouse which was not supplied although this is stated on the product information it could be made more obvious, perhaps on the item description itself. Once attached the wrist pad attachment sometimes slip out but overall has the desried effect.
This wrist rest really does help. However, the rubber pads need replacing occasionally and Posturite don't help you with this. It seems that you have to buy the whole item again, which is unnecessarily expensive and wasteful.
There was no glue or tape attached to this product so that we could correctly fit it. It is still on the desktop waiting for someone to go out and get some glue. You really should include all items so that it can be used immediately.
Great Product helps with my Thumb and Wrist problems, makes life pain free and would recommend this product to anyone that suffers with arthritis is their hands
Recommended to me by an Occupational Therapist, reduces wrist stress a lot when using a mouse all day.
Fast delivery and very useful
Have had a mouse bean for years and find it invaluable. Tis was a replacement as pads had worn out.
Useless piece of equipment consigned to the bin.
Hi there,
Good quality


text:
nylon casing :Packing for cooked and boiled sausage.The casing keeps the walnut-like wrinkle smaller and more beautiful on the the surface
Type: mono-layer plastic casing made from polyamide
Application: for cooked and boiled sausages, substitute for ordinary nylon casings.
Characteristics: The casings keeps the walnutl on the surface of the product, resistant heat up to 95°C.
Advantage: a long shelf life, preventing from loss of water.Resolving the defects of the ordinary nylon casings, such as cracking, fracturing and bulging.Good clarify and brightness,suitable for automatic stuffers
Colours: transparent, red, white, yellow, purple, brown, black, etc., more than 100 kinds of colours.
Print: The casings can be printed in multicolour upon requests.
Flat width:30mm-240mm. Clipping upon requests.
Processing:Soak for 5 minutes in cold water (approx. 18-25°C) or be filled dry. Do not prestick. .


text:
The first time she saw him, she was doing her dishes. Washing up her plate and glass. Her knife, fork, and spoon. Washing away the evidence of a dinner for one.
It was love at first sight, though she could not tell you why. He was simply walking down the sidewalk, one hand in the pocket of his suspendered trousers, the other hand holding a book about four inches from his spectacled face. She was finishing up her silverware, and when she'd looked up for a few seconds to escape the steam from the sink of hot, soapy water, she noticed him out her window.
And here she is again. In her kitchen, preparing to wash her dishes. She is waiting, too. Waiting for a glimpse of a man with a book. A man she loves but has never met. Feeling as though one more evening of her life is slipping away. Tears slide down her cheeks, though they could just as well be beads of sweat from the steamy water that is slowly filling the sink. A squirt of liquid dish soap erupts into an explosion of suds. Sends a cloud of rainbow colored bubbles high into the air. She reaches for her dirty glass, plunges it into the waiting water, and starts to scrub it clean.
With a sudden surge of courage, she shakes the water from her hands, grabs the book she'd previously set out on her gray Formica counter, and sets in motion the plan she has been rehearsing for weeks. She is tired of waiting for her destiny to come to her. Today she is meeting it head on. Walking in his direction while pretending to be engrossed in her own novel-and bracing herself for the carefully orchestrated collision that will change the course of her life. Books will fly. Glasses will be knocked askew. And a heart will be won.
The last rainbow colored orb of soap breaks, and she wonders how long she has been staring at her motionless hands, still immersed in the soapy water, clutching the glass.
Tomorrow, she reassures herself. There will be more dirty dishes tomorrow.
This piece was inspired by the Write on Edge Prompt Collision.


text:
Are you Alice? - Alice the Gibberish! 2
Company: IM Label
Based on: Original
Released: 2009.05.20
Official Site: http://imlabel.jp/alice/
In Are you Alice a male Alice wanders into wonderland and is subsequently involved in 'the game to kill the white rabbit'. Alice his story is told in three drama CDs - Drink me, Check Mate, and Call me- but there are several expansions to the story. This is a collection of CMs with Alice and the Hatter talking complete nonsense in between.
This time the Mad Hatter opens the skits with incredible tension (and referencing Star Wars just like they did in the first Alice the Gibberish). Just like the first time, this is a collection of CMs, and Alice and the Hatter commenting on them in between.
A large part of the CMs are in the shape of the fictional radio show "Alice no Heya". Hearing all of them together is kind of fun, especially because they get more and more random each time.
This time the CMs go all the way up to the unbirthday scraps and character singles, they don't realy mention any of the content, but just to be on the safe side it might be better if you've listened to all of them before listening to this.
To be short, this is just more of the same, but that definitely isn't a bad thing here. Randomness and hilarity are guaranteed again so go and listen if you know the series.


text:
It's a beautiful day, I'm listening to Bob Dylan, I have a flapjack and a cup of tea, let us begin:
Melissa Sue Stanley
Melissa Sue Stanley is a Chicago based artist who I've internet-known for a long time now.
Sometimes you feel a sort of connection to other internet denizens and Melissa is one of those people to me. I hope I will know her for a long time. Her work never ceases to impress me because, as well as being a masterful watercolour/graphite artist, she is equally as capable in a completely different area: soft felt sculpture and the Japanese art of 'amigurumi' (knitting or crocheting small stuffed animals and anthropomorphic creatures).
Personally I think that Melissa has TRANSCENDED traditional amigurumi, creating perfect and unique creatures that are a far cry from the pages of knitted cupcakes and cutesy balls with eyes you get if you type 'amigurumi' into Google images...
Compare those with her sophisticated and intricately designed monsters which just ooze character and emotion (never thought I would ever write that about wool):
|Small beardy with world weary eyelids
|Alert cat cow
|Melancholy Monsters: Sad blue wiggly legs
|Melancholy Monsters: Sad blue-er wiggly legs
|This one is now mine!! I love him so, and he has a little birdy friend!
|Baba Yaga and the chicken shacks
|What is this beast? I have no idea!
"O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone
On the fore-finger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies
Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep..."
Melissa runs a successful Etsy shop for her creatures (this one seems to be having a slight hiatus) and art and you should follow her blog and flickr for regular posts filled with paintings and creatures in progress as well as her finished pieces. Also see her tumblr.
Here are some of her paintings and sketches:
She offers portrait commissions and it's not difficult to see why:


text:
5 Best Computer Hardware recommended for Video Editing in 2018
So you have created the most unique, stunning, and amazing video for the lifetime, but it can cause huge frustration …Read More
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Are you planning to attend a video editing institute in Delhi or Learning the act of video editing? There are …Read More
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FCP is an abbreviation for Final Cut Pro, it is nothing but a video editing technology that was initially developed …Read More
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Are you done with your 10+2 and bewildered about the right career path for you? Are you left in a …Read More
Taking a FCP Course
Starting a career in Video Editing and cinematography involves taking up a video editing course. Video Editing courses would provide …Read More
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Are you planning to attend a video editing institute in Delhi or Learning the act of video editing? There are …Read More
Exploring the World of Visual Effects
Visual effects (VFX) unite live action footage with special computer images to create a special environment. The main techniques are …Read More


text:
So the rumors that have been flying for the past few days are true. CBS Radio will be flipping the rock format of K-Rock (WXRK) in New York City to CHR and re-brand the radio station as 92.3 Now FM. The change will happen this coming Wednesday at 5pm. What's sort of unique about this flip is that nowadays, when formats flip, nobody really knows for sure until it actually happens. CBS is actually giving us a full two-days notice. I remember when I worked at CBS in Hartford, I didn't even know that one of our own stations flipped until the General Manager popped her head into my office and said, "Oh… by the way…"
In addition to being an over-the-air radio station, 92.3 Now FM will also be a "digital and mobile destination where audience members and fans alike can stay socially connected through a variety of applications, interactive features and networking opportunities." according to the official press release.
Core artists will include Kanye West, Beyoncé, Pink, Flo-Rida, Akon, Katy Perry and Justin Timberlake. The station will be programmed by CBS Radio's VP of Contemporary Hit Radio Programming, Dom Theodore. At least for now.
Opie & Anthony are already out as the station's morning show. No word yet on the rest of the airstaff.
The station's web site is http://www.923now.com.


text:
OJ Pleads Not Guilty
OJ was back in court yesterday, along with 2 co-defendants. Simpson is facing 12 charges stemming from the alleged armed robbery and attempted kidnapping of a sport memorabilia dealer at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino earlier this year. The judge ruled that OJ did not have to stay in town until the trial.
OJ's co-defendants, Charles Ehrlich and Clarence Stewart, also entered not guilty pleas. The trial is set for April 7 for all three of the accused.
About to be squeezed
OJ Update
OJ Claims he was getting back stolen goods
Juice is loose in Vegas


text:
A scandal occurred this spring when the British CEO of BP, British Petroleum, the British petrol giant which branded itself as green; Beyond Petroleum 'its a start', Lord Browne was outed for being gay, and supposedly lying about it in court.
The reality is that his resignation had less to do with covering up his homosexuality then covering for BP. Which had not gone Beyond Petroleum as a result of Lord Browne's corporate decisions but had become a Bad Player in the oil business.
British Petroleum used the cover of a post-Hurricane Katrina refinery bill in Congress for a sneak attack on legal protections against supertankers in Puget Sound. Reps. Jay Inslee and Dave Reichert thwarted it.
You will remember that BP had faced a number of oil field scandals prior to the outing of Lord Browne by his Canadian lover and rent boy; Jeff Chevalier.
A long list of misfortunes has battered this venerable company, including an explosion at its Texas City, Texas, refinery that killed 15 workers and injured scores more, and protracted outages at other refineries. There was also an Alaskan oil spill resulting from a corroded pipeline, along with 2005 hurricane damage to its big Gulf of Mexico Thunder Horse production platform, which delayed that facility's production start-up.
As if that weren't enough, the company's longtime CEO Lord John Brown stepped down abruptly this spring amid allegations about his private life. And more recently, BP was pressured by Russian authorities to sell much of its stake in a big natural gas field to state-run gas company OAO Gazprom.
Lord Browne the ultimate company man was still that despite his lovers outing of him. The reality was that his corporate maneuvering of BP in the oil business had been less an economic success than a failure in protecting the environment and workers.
As they say here is the rest of the story.
Blackmail, Sex & Corporate Secrets
While much has been written in Britain about the seedier side of the scandal, the critical role that BP and its executives played in it has been largely overlooked. Company officials, for instance, reportedly encouraged the C.E.O. to out himself on one of the BBC's most popular radio shows, a plan that fizzled when Browne lost his nerve in the studio. Before that, BP leaders were secretly enlisted to serve on the board of Chevalier's company, which was underwritten by Browne. And in the end, the disclosure of corporate secrets was as much a concern to Browne as the revelation of his homosexuality. The threat that internal BP matters might be leaked led Browne to lie in a court statement, which in turn led to his humiliating resignation and public shaming. Among the secrets Browne wanted to protect: He was considering relocating BP overseas—a potential economic disaster that would have been a huge blow to Britain's corporate psyche—and he placed a dollar value on the heads of his workers in the event that they were injured or killed in an accident. In one memo, company executives gamed out different disaster scenarios for BP, comparing them to the outcomes in The Three Little Pigs.
Now the company is trying to right itself under a new C.E.O., Tony Hayward, who has taken over amid a growing outcry over BP's shoddy environmental and safety record, which Browne managed to keep as secret as his private life.
Throughout the 1990s, he made a series of acquisitions that won him enormous praise in Britain and heralded the consolidation of the major oil companies. It seemed novel then that British Petroleum grew not by increasing its oil exploration and development but by taking over American oil companies such as Standard Oil of Ohio and Amoco. The BP-Amoco merger was the largest of its kind and launched the company into the big leagues overnight. When Exxon bought Mobil the next year, Browne quickly retaliated by purchasing Atlantic Richfield for $32 billion.
Browne was also, like any great C.E.O., a P.R. genius. In 1997, to the horror of many of his oil-industry peers, Browne admitted in a speech that he believed global warming was real. He then hired a San Francisco firm to rebrand British Petroleum and come up with a new corporate slogan. The old BP logo was replaced with a green-and-yellow sunburst, and ads suggested that BP now stood for . . . Beyond Petroleum. It was a masterstroke: BP had only $100 million invested in solar power at the time of the renaming, compared with at least $10 billion invested in conventional energy. But thanks to BP's green logo and green C.E.O., its reputation as a green company flourished.
Browne was not quite so popular in the U.S., where experience on the ground is more important than a taste for fine art. "They pounded their chests a lot, but they didn't know how to run refineries," a former Amoco employee says of the BP executives. Because refineries are among the most intricate and dangerous workplaces on the planet, the old-timers feared that the BP executives' ignorance would compromise safety, especially as BP cut jobs and budgets to reduce redundancy and raise profits for shareholders. (Similar allegations would later take center stage in the Texas refinery explosion lawsuits.) Other executives were skeptical of the hierarchical management structure at BP; they particularly complained about the handpicked "turtles" (named after the mutant ninja variety), who served as interns to Browne and were supposedly fast-tracked to replace other executives. There was also something known internally as the promise: a written business plan that could be used against employees who didn't meet their projected goals. "They would use it to cut your throat if you failed," a former engineer explains. Gradually, the company's culture became less about innovation than intimidation. Fearful of losing their jobs, few spoke up about deteriorating conditions at some of the refineries. Behind Browne's back, employees nicknamed him the "elf," an acronym for "evil little fucker."
Browne had his critics outside the oil industry too. The company was accused of committing human rights violations while building a pipeline in Colombia, and concerns were expressed about North Sea pollution. Greenpeace selected Browne for its Best Impression of an Environmentalist award. Matt Simmons, whose Houston-based Simmons & Co. is one of the largest investment-banking businesses serving the energy sector, was deeply skeptical of Browne's 1999 prediction that, because of a worldwide market glut, oil prices would never reach $40 a barrel. "There was a vision of unreality in John Browne's business plan," Simmons says. "That generally works until you slip up."
No one would dispute that Texas City, Texas, is a very long way from St. James's Square. It is a rough-and-tumble blue-collar town on the Gulf Coast, where people know all too well that refinery work is often life threatening but just as often the only work available. On March 23, 2005, something went very wrong at BP's Texas City refinery, the third largest in the U.S. An aging tank used to separate gas and fluid overflowed, filling the air with flammable vapor. A driver unwittingly left his truck running, igniting a fireball that by the end of the day had killed 15 people and injured more than 200. Not surprisingly, the blast led to the launch of hundreds of multimillion-dollar lawsuits and several investigations, including one by a commission that former secretary of state James Baker headed. A probe by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board specifically blamed BP's closed culture for the explosion. In 2006, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined the company $21.3 million, the largest penalty of its kind ever issued.
That wasn't all that would befall BP. The next several months brought a cascade of problems, almost all blamed on lax oversight and poor management. In March, 200,000 gallons of crude leaked out of a BP pipeline at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, forcing the company to partially shut down a major field. The pipe, it turned out, hadn't been cleaned in years. In April, the U.S. Department of Labor fined BP for unsafe operations in an Ohio refinery. Also during this time, the company was unable to capitalize on its Thunder Horse offshore oil platform—the world's largest—which was damaged during Hurricane Dennis in 2005. And in June, the government charged some of BP's traders in Houston with trying to manipulate the price of propane in the Midwest and Northeast.
All these incidents inevitably prompted this question: How could a company that was supposed to be a model of corporate citizenship have gone so wrong? The answer that emerged was simple, and the weakness of Browne's highly praised policy of acquiring big companies and instituting massive cost cuts was suddenly, fatally exposed. Instead of putting excess cash into maintenance and safety, the executives in London had ordered the company to "bank the savings." But as plaintiffs' attorneys have alleged, a rubber band can be stretched only so far before it breaks. BP led the industry in refinery deaths from 1995 to 2005. For 10 years, there was a fire a week at the Texas City plant, and many were afraid to work there, fearing that disaster was imminent. As an employee explained in a survey, "No one here in management cares. . . . We have been very lucky so far with this." At the same time, the arrogance of BP executives was easily recognizable. One memo, prepared for a meeting held before the Texas City explosion, insisted on cost cuts, a familiar refrain at the plant: "Which bit of 25 percent don't you understand??? We are going to be wasting our time on Monday unless you come prepared to commit to a 25 percent cut."
In the end, Browne lied less to save his image than to save the image of his company. It's notable, for instance, that there was no talk of resignation when word first emerged that the press had its hands on Chevalier's story. Only after Browne learned that the corporate secrets could leak did he finally decide to step down.
Browne's early departure will not prevent continued legal battles for BP, but it is perhaps as close to a sacrificial act of love as Browne is capable of, and it has allowed the company to start fresh. Though Browne also resigned from the board of Goldman Sachs, he still works for Apax Partners, a global private equity firm, and goes to his office when it suits him.
And as usual in the corporate world despite his fall from grace Lord Browne has landed on his feet.
FORMER BP boss Lord Browne has walked away with a pension worth just over £1million a year.The disgraced peer tops the list of 100 leading execs who look forward to pensions of £200,000 a year or more.
The former chief executive of BP PLC Lord Browne of Madingley has resigned as non-executive chairman of the advisory board of private equity firm Apax Partners to join energy and power private equity specialists Riverstone Holdings LLC.
His appointment at Riverstone Holdings, which specialises in the energy sector, comes almost four months after he quit oil giant BP when it emerged he lied to the High Court during a battle to block stories about his private life.
Lord Browne takes on the post of managing director and managing partner of Riverstone's European business and will be based in London, where the group is soon to open an office.
BP, Kyoto, environmentalism, homosexual, scandal, Lord Browne, John Browne,


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I am going to be at Ponycon UK this weekend in Leicester hoping to sell a lot of the exclusives from Bronycon 2015. This years theme is space so I have quite a few original illustrations to sell on top of my regular work.
Ponycon is more of a collectors event for all the generations then a brony event but i hope to sell a lot of my old stock.
If anybody is going to be going to UK Ponycon feel free to come up and say hi.
I will be back next week with an update about my current art show that ends this week.but until next post Laters.


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Saturday, February 27, 2010
Sisterhood of the traveling dress
Reader Belinda sent in this picture of her gorgeous mom in a handmade floral dress (between two little ghosts from the Shining) in Vanuatu--near New Guinea. "She was and still is a very stylish lady and actually did do modelling in her younger days and make all of our clothes."
Meanwhile in over in the Ukraine, Oleksandra Korobova's mom donned pretty much the exact same dress.
"I found this shot in an old family album. It dates back to late 70's (1979, most likely) when my mom Olga Romanova (with her mom) was 17–18 years old and about to graduate from high school."
Please Fed-Ex the dress to Brooklyn next. I don't care what that no-good Alexis Bledel tells you, it's my turn.
Friday, February 26, 2010
You're so vain-glorious
It was a big news day for me. One of my celebrity mom style icons, Carly Simon, revealed who her song "You're So Vain" was probably, most likely, 95 percent sure, about: DAVID GEFFEN.
It was an even bigger day for Warren Beatty who the world will no longer picture when the song plays in the back of a taxi cab.
It's a little anti-climactic if you ask me. I was hoping for a Malcom McDowell or a even a James Taylor who Carly spent years with, and who I've also heard has a really big dong. Just P to the S to the F.Y.I.
God I love news.
My friend Pandora was recently awarded with this above title for good reason. She's a blogger-- her blog is Accessory Source. Oh and she's capital B Beautiful. But back to her blog -- it's amazing. She's a market editor and stylist by trade and her blog selects a wealth of vintage-inspired jewelry from her travails. The kind that are easier to find in mom's closet than in actual stores. Anyway she received the honor of the "beautiful blogger award" which asks bloggers to offer up 7 facts about themselves and then pass the honor onto another blogger. Look who caught the ball!
So whether you care or not, I'M A BEAUTIFUL BLOGGER WINNER, so you HAVE to listen to 7 facts about me.
1. I have a cat problem. A big one. I have two and I have to restrain myself from collecting more on a daily basis. I'm just taking it day to day. Like they say in 12 step, I can't say that I'll never adopt a cat again, I can only focus on NOT adopting a cat today.
2. I just learned how to spell accessory. Wait I forgot again.
3. I am writing a book based on this blog which will be published by Chronicle in 2011. Submit your mom and I'll put her in the book*
4. I live in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, next to a power plant. That is one reason why I glow. It's not that I'm pregnant, I don't think.
5. If I do get pregnant I'm hoping for a boy...cat. Come on people, we can clone sheep, surely humans birthing kitten litters isn't that far off.
6. I'm obsessed with Fleetwood Mac. There I said it. For the 500th time.
7. I wear really high-waisted jeans. Almost to a fault. Should I have a bout of camel-toe, I encourage you to tell me. It's like food in the teeth-- I'd rather know.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
New Olympic category: dress gymnastics
Oh wow you can skate really fast, or coast down a mountain on flat board. Big deal. Have you ever worn a pair of heels and a restrictive, figure-hugging, cocktail dress that limits your lung capacity and restrains your leg strides by 90 percent and then bent down to pet a dog--without falling on your face? Anne Marie Tripp's mom Janice has. And she did it with grace and poise all while balancing a pineapple 'do on her head. Give that lovely a lady one of your gajillion gold medals, Shaun White. She deserves it.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Original hipster #254
Eric Rodriguez's mom, circa 1978:
"This pic was taken around the 3rd year of my parents marriage, he used to take hundreds of pics of her, he actually liked to take photos of all of us now that i remember- he was kinda of a amateur photographer. They're divorced now but at that point in time, they lived in this small apartment in Staten Island with my older brother(who was 3 at the time) and my mum was 24."
Friday, February 19, 2010
Lets bring back: monkeys as pets
Alice Marshall's mom at 15 has her hands full. Alice writes: "She is holding her little sister and, inexplicably, a monkey. It was taken in around 1961 in Hastings in southern England. I love the hair, the bag, the fur style skirt but especially the fluffy wool jumper."
I love her "yeah, I'm holding a monkey, whats the big deal?" expression. My mom also had a pet monkey for a few months in the 60's but she got tired of it--turns out they're high maintenance-- and gave it to a local fraternity house. I'm sure they took excellent care of it.
In other pet news... I had a baby [kitten]. Okay it's adopted, but that doesn't make it any less mine. Pictures here!
TAXI! Take us to 1963 and step on it. We have a wedding to attend!
Today, as I was scrolling through google news I got a glimpse of what the future holds: weddings in Mac stores. Now, I belong to the church of Whatever Floats Your Boat--But the idea of two people proclaiming their love amidst flickering ipod screens and $199 sale signs makes me feel, well, like I want to hail a time machine taxi (see Dolorean above) and take it back to 1963.
That's the year Jenny Moss's Grace Kelly doppelganger mom wed her dad at a church in Wimbledon. Carol was a stunning Londoner who met her groom on the tennis court.
Drunken birthday girls, 2003 era Paris Hilton and sorority sisters: THAT is how you wear a tiara. Look at that dress. She doesn't even have a stitch of skin showing--boatneck collars are usually all risk, no reward-- and she's without a doubt the sexiest woman in the room.
Ah yes, the meet and greet. Here the gorgeous Carol, receives congratulations from the world's furriest aunt and does not scare. Look how said aunt(I'm just assuming) took off her own gloves for the handshake. Very classy. And that dapper Mad Men central casting dude in the left hand corner. No doubt he asked to "cut in" on a dance with the bride later that night. (sidebar: when I was a kid, I remember thinking "asking to cut in" was something adults did ALL the time)
Tiny goblets! Tiny freaking goblets. I'm gonna take a gander that they don't have those at the Mac store. Either Carol and her groom were relatives of Andre the Giant or they had the grace to drink liquers and hold fragile, preemie glasses without crushing them on their skull. (note: does anyone else have this problem and if so is there a good time we can all meet as a group in the basement of a church and talk about it?) Seriously, now that champagne toasts have been co-opted by reality shows--
the only wedding toast that says forever is one with aperitifs in baby goblets.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
MOMS IN LOVE: Valentine's Day Edition
Dana Dalrymple: "Here are my parents in 1964 soon after they were married. They were apparently successfully hunting jackrabbits, but in matching white jeans, white shoes, and plaid shirts. They're the most stylish hunters I think I've seen."
Reese Moore: "70's Camping Chic courtesy of Patsy's white Keds and thigh-baring white shorts and dad Terry's amazing green short shorts and sexy sock action. Further evidence that BOTH my parents are style icons."
Emily Yanez: "This is actually my Grandmother Marion Gilchrist standing with my Grandfather Grover Gilchrist not long after they started dating at the age of 15 or 16. I always felt like this was a secret glimpse into a part of my grandmother that I never knew. Sure, she smiled and was happy, but in this photo she looks confidant, but like she is in on a secret with my grandfather that no one else in the world knows. When I was a little girl I remember looking at this photo and thinking that this is what true love must look like...just really really happy and glamorous. It was something that I never saw from my own mother and father and something that I always aspired to have someday. I still have this photo up in my house today and after meeting my boyfriend, sometimes I see pictures of myself and catch that same look on my face just like my grandma has in this picture...a sign perhaps?"
Gene Day writes: "These are my grandparents Thomas Day and Laura Ponton at Milford Lodge, where they met in the late 1940's (after WWII)."
Tara von Andreae's parents: "Claire and Mike in the early 70's. They were actually on their way to a funeral but I guess newlyweds look happy all the time."
Jana Orsolic's parents on their wedding day in 1976, in Serbia: "Mom wearing Mirjana Maric (at that time big shot local designer) dress made of thin white leather. She used to say that it was so comfy and soft. Dark dark hair, lovely pale skin, dusty rosy roses, big pearly stud earrings. How I love these two."
Emma Johnson's parents on their honeymoon in Mexico in 1984: "This might be the worst picture I've ever seen of my usually very handsome father (the one time he experiments with his hair and he ends up with a mini-mullet?), but Mom looks breezy and beachy and very tanned."
MOM STILL IN LOVE BONUS PHOTO: Emma Johnson's parents 20 years later in Italy...
Friday, February 12, 2010
How to: wear a pantsuit
It's a not an easy thing to pull off. there will be unwanted commentary. "Wow! Is that all one piece?" or "Where the hell did you get that thing" or worse "I hope you don't have to go to the bathroom anytime soon."
These inane statements have lept me from wearing the kind of onesie I so desperately crave. But Katja Peglow's spectacular German mom has provided some hope and instruction by example.
1. Keep it loose. A too tight body suit can lead to cameltoe (er, mrs. posh beckham)
2. Stick with earth tones. They downplay the teenager of the future nature of the design. Anything that shines, is fluorescent or made from old swimsuits is to be set on fire --likely by accident-- at once. (er, David Lee Roth)
3. Don't apologize. Make direct eye contact at anyone, even a camera that appears to assume the question: "is that a pantsuit". It will cut them off at the pass
4. Be over the top. If you're going to do it, do it up. Don't just wear the pantsuit, wear tights, bucks, a belt, a turtleneck, hell gnaw on an apple while you're at it. Point is, own it. Mrs. Peglow: you are a superstar.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
A tribute to Alexander McQueen
(Photo by Dan Chung/ Courtesy of The Guardian)
Designer Alexander McQueen died today. The fashion innovator was no doubt inspired by his own mom, Joyce (pictured above), who passed away earlier this month.
She actually interviewed her son Alexander for an article published in The Guardian in 2004.
Here is an excerpt:
JM: What is your most terrifying fear?
AM: Dying before you.
JM: Thank you, son. What makes you proud?
AM: You.
Click here to read the entire interview. It's kind of amazing.
I spent some time scrolling through McQueen's body of work-- what struck me was how his looks simultaneously worked on two plains: the past and the future. In this Fall 2006 Paris runway look he manages to wrap up an entire era that's past and one that's still being imagined in his own mind.
(Photo by Eric Ryan/Getty Images)
It reminded me of a photo submitted to MMTSI by Melissa Smith Mallery
Her mom Linda Smith, in the early 80's, cast a preemptive nod to McQueen and his future impact on fashion.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Lets bring back the following...
1. Lady head scarves. If we were in the animal kingdom, the headscarf blowing in the wind would be a flag for other animals to know adventure awaits. Also it's a sign you just had your hair did
2. Men who wear fedoras like it's their job-- because they're fucking gondola drivers. Ashlee Simpson, Monsieur Buble, and The Jonas Three (what they'd be called if they were a band in the 50's) what's your excuse?
3. Our own vintage childhood clothing. Like Fire blogger Lisa Peet sent in this killer vacation pic with her mom, Rhoda (my future child's name) in Venice in 1966. She writes: "Don't I wish I had a stylin' red coat like that again." She's not alone. This weekend I went shopping at my parents' house and went back to Brooklyn with 2 vintage Ralph Lauren blouses from my prep school pre-teendom. They must have been huge on me then slash I'm an underdeveloped 31 year old, because after a little dry-cleaning they fit like new and they are way Sylvia Plath era stylish. I also snagged a bomber jacket from when I was 12 and obsessed with "Empire of the Sun" ("I can bring anyone back, anyone" is my "donna martin graduates"). It's brown leather and has faux patches that imply I flew planes in WWI. That got me thinking of an idea: SEND ME PICTURES OF CLOTHES YOU WORE AS A KID THAT YOU WISH YOU STILL FIT INTO. It's a little spin-off idea I'll call, I WAS A CHILD STYLE ICON
(Sigh) I wish it was summer
A few months back, when this blog was just a toddler and the weather was somewhat tolerable, a reader sent me this picture of her Grammy Eileen, circa 1966. I was holding on to it until I really needed it. On this arctic Monday in Brooklyn, I'm calling in for backup. Eileen: take me away to summerland.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Mom dot prom backslash dream date
My friend Doree Shafrir wrote the book on moms. Mom emails specifically. Her popular book Love Mom (with the brills Jessica Grose) and blog Postcards from Yo Momma is the seminal reference guide to emailing with mom. Here's how it's done.
-----Original Message-----
From: Doree
To: Mom
Subject: Re: important question
My friend Piper does a blog called My Mom the Style Icon. I submitted this photo of you and Nana. Was it for your senior prom? Junior prom? What's with the gloves? Was that expected (like did everyone wear them)? Did they come with the dress? Who did your hair? (Who did NANA'S crazy hair?)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: mom
Subject: Re: important question
To: doree
hey, women wore gloves! everyone did. i had several pairs of gloves, bought separately.don't you remember that philip roth novel? i had my hair done. maybe it was for my high school sorority dance......or prom since nana was in shorts. i remember that i got the dress that was long and had the dressmaker make it short. i LOVED that dress. i want to say filene's (upstairs). i was class treasurer. i went with jimmy schaye. martha starr fixed me up since he went to private school. his father owned a department store in boston. tres riche but i didn't go out with him before or after that.
Thanks Mrs. Shafrir! Not only am I a fan of the ballroom dancing gloves. I also love your 60's hair curl. I don't care what private school he went to, that Jimmy Shaye is one lucky guy.
Monday, February 1, 2010
MOMS IN LOVE, volume 43
Wendy Brandes writes: "My father took this picture of my mother, Barbara, while they were still dating in the mid '60s. I love the ruffles on the sleeves."
You know when all of a sudden, the most ordinary moment becomes blindingly beautiful and you need to rip your shirt open, or plunge into an ice cold pool, or take a picture at the exact right millisecond to show the world how warm it all feels, and amazingly you do? I see Wendy's dad shaking his head. He knows what I'm talking about.
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Last Wednesday, September 3rd, my husband and I welcomed our second child and first daughter into the world. She came about two weeks early, which I am very glad. I was so anxious to have her and meet her! :)
I went ahead and delivered via C-section, even though I preferred to have a VBAC. In the end, I went ahead with the C-section out of fear, and I was tired of the pain. I had been having painful contractions for about five days. On the fifth day they were getting closer together and hurting more, so I gave in and went to the hospital.
They checked to see how much I had dilated, and I had only dilated 3-4 cm. After days of contractions!!!! I had waited as long as I could before going to the hospital to increase my chances of having a VBAC, since my doctors really wanted me to have a C-section.
After being weary of the contractions and pain, and fear about things maybe going wrong if I continued to push for a VBAC, I went ahead with the C-section.
So far, praise God, my recovery has been a lot better with this baby than with my last. I am so thankful! My husband has been so helpful and has catered to my needs as I recover and rest. I can't pick up my son while I'm healing, but I manage to find ways to shower him with kisses and hugs and play with him as much as I can.
He hasn't shown any jealousy or anything. He loves to kiss on his baby sister and his face lights up when he sees her.
I feel so blessed right now. I have two beautiful, healthy children, and life just feels great. I thank God for his abundant blessings. He always knows what He's doing, and I have to remind myself sometimes that He knows what's best, and I have to trust in Him.


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Amtrak is offering a type of writers in residence program. Blogger Steve Harper Piziks took a closer look at the fine print in the application and had some interesting observations.
Here's the Link to the post on Steve Harper Piziks' blog. It's worth a look. CLICK HERE.
Thanks to Mary Mascari for pointing this out on FaceBook.
NOTE: By the way, for those who have followed this blog, you will note the paucity of posts over the past few months. I've been playing writer myself, working on my second novel. The rough draft is nearly done, so I hope to be posting a bit more frequently in the months ahead. Of course there is still much rewriting to be done. -- SMT
photo credit: Justin in SD via photopin cc


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The Dutch are well known for making new land in water
In Amsterdam they made IJBURG.
Two quilting friends of my are living there,
here are some pictures.
And I think there are more Quilters on IJburg?
and there are bridges and bikes
We had a lot of snow so here are the winter picture.