text:
- Research article
- Open Access
Spiral cleavage and early embryology of a loxosomatid entoproct and the usefulness of spiralian apical cross patterns for phylogenetic inferences
- Julia Merkel1,
- Tim Wollesen2,
- Bernhard Lieb1 and
- Andreas Wanninger2Email author
© Merkel et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2012
Received: 20 October 2011
Accepted: 29 March 2012
Published: 29 March 2012
Among the four major bilaterian clades, Deuterostomia, Acoelomorpha, Ecdysozoa, and Lophotrochozoa, the latter shows an astonishing diversity of bodyplans. While the largest lophotrochozoan assemblage, the Spiralia, which at least comprises Annelida, Mollusca, Entoprocta, Platyhelminthes, and Nemertea, show a spiral cleavage pattern, Ectoprocta, Brachiopoda and Phoronida (the Lophophorata) cleave radially. Despite a vast amount of recent molecular phylogenetic analyses, the interrelationships of lophotrochozoan phyla remain largely unresolved. Thereby, Entoprocta play a key role, because they have frequently been assigned to the Ectoprocta, despite their differently cleaving embryos. However, developmental data on entoprocts employing modern methods are virtually non-existent and the data available rely exclusively on sketch drawings, thus calling for thorough re-investigation.
By applying fluorescence staining in combination with confocal microscopy and 3D-imaging techniques, we analyzed early embryonic development of a basal loxosomatid entoproct. We found that cleavage is asynchronous, equal, and spiral. An apical rosette, typical for most spiralian embryos, is formed. We also identified two cross-like cellular arrangements that bear similarities to both, a "molluscan-like" as well as an "annelid-like" cross, respectively.
A broad comparison of cleavage types and apical cross patterns across Lophotrochozoa shows high plasticity of these character sets and we therefore argue that these developmental traits should be treated and interpreted carefully when used for phylogenetic inferences.
- Lophotrochozoa
- Embryology
- Development
- Ontogeny
- Evolution
- Phylogeny
- Spiral cleavage
- Molluscan cross
- Annelid cross
Currently, bilaterian animals are subdivided into four major groups: the supposedly basal Acoelomorpha, the Ecdysozoa (combining all molting animals such as arthropods and nematodes), the Lophotrochozoa with a trochophore-like ciliated larva (e.g., Annelida, Entoprocta, Mollusca, Platyhelminthes), and Deuterostomia (including chordates, hemichordates and echinoderms) [1–4]. Despite ongoing efforts, the interrelationships of the phyla that nest within the Lophotrochozoa remain unresolved [5, 6]. Entoprocta is a phylum that has been proposed to belong to a clade of spirally cleaving animals, the so-called Spiralia, which together with its suggested sister group, the Lophophorata (Ectoprocta, Brachiopoda, and Phoronida), forms the Lophotrochozoa [1]. Typically, entoprocts are microscopic, mostly marine, sessile metazoan animals. Its approximately 150 hitherto described species are divided into four subgroups, the solitary (and supposedly basal) Loxosomatidae and the colonial Barentsiidae, Pedicellinidae, and Loxocalypodidae [7]. Their adult gross morphology is characterized by a ciliated tentacle crown, which surrounds both the mouth and the anus. The calyx houses the reproductive organs, mostly one pair of protonephridia, and the cerebral ganglion. Entoprocts reproduce asexually by budding, as well as sexually, whereby two major larval types can be recognized, namely the creeping, supposedly basal, lecithotrophic and the more common swimming, planktotrophic larval type [8]. Metamorphosis is very complex and often involves settlement and adhesion with the frontal body region to the substrate as well as rotation of the gut [9].
Morphological and molecular analyses have proposed several phylogenetic hypotheses concerning entoproct interphyletic relationships. Traditionally, Entoprocta and Ectoprocta have been comprised to form the monophyletic Bryozoa (Bryozoa-concept), based on a metamorphosing larval stage with a completely retracted and cavity-enclosed prototroch as well as additional common features during metamorphosis [8, 9]. This hypothesis has been revived by a recent molecular study [10], although subsequent analyses of partly the same authors are far less clear [11]. The cryptic Cycliophora, one of the most recently erected phyla [12], have also argued to be associated with Entoprocta and Ectoprocta, notably as a monophyletic assemblage termed "Polyzoa" [13, 14], while other authors suggest a sister group relationship of Cycliophora and Entoprocta alone [15, 16]. On the contrary, the recently proposed Tetraneuralia-concept has strengthened the so-called Lacunifera- or Sinusoida- hypothesis, suggesting a monophyletic assemblage of Entoprocta and Mollusca based on numerous larval and adult autapomorphies [4, 17–19]. Resembling a mosaic of larval and adult molluscan characters, the entoproct creeping-type larva shares a number of morphological traits with the polyplacophoran trochophore, including a highly complex apical organ with eight centrally located flask-shaped and several peripheral cells, as well as a typical molluscan-like tetraneurous condition of longitudinal nerve cords [4, 19–21]. Additional shared characters are, among a total set of nine, the distinct creeping foot, a large pedal gland, frontal cirri, and a ventrally intercrossing dorsoventral musculature [4, 19, 20]. Despite the spiral cleavage pattern, which has traditionally been used to unite polyclad flatworms, nemerteans, annelids, and molluscs as "Spiralia" [22], other developmental characters, such as the cellular arrangement into an "apical cross pattern" during early embryogenesis, have been used to infer protostome interrelationships. For a long time, only two cross patterns had been clearly defined, namely the molluscan and the annelid cross, respectively. Since a seemingly "molluscan-type" cross pattern had also been reported for sipunculans, a close relationship to molluscs was suggested [23]. Recently, additional cross patterns, such as a nemertean cross, have been described [24]. For entoprocts, a spiral cleavage pattern has been mentioned in the literature and is often referred to in textbooks, but its documentation is restricted to only a few sketch drawings [25–27]. Apical cross patterns, which would be expected for a spirally cleaving taxon, have not been reported by these studies.
In order to fill the significant gaps in knowledge concerning entoproct early embryology, we herein describe the development of a representative of the supposedly basal entoproct genus Loxosomella by applying immunochemistry and confocal microscopy. Using our detailed description of the early cleavage pattern, we also clarify whether or not a distinct "cross pattern" is present in this species. These data are discussed with those available for other lophotrochozoans in order to assess their suitability for phylogenetic inferences.
Animals and fixation
Populations of an undescribed, brooding loxosomatid entoproct belonging to the genus Loxosomella (Claus Nielsen, pers. comm.) were collected in July 2007 from tubes of the maldanid polychaete, Axiothella rubrocincta, which inhabits the intertidal mud flats of False Bay, San Juan Island, USA. Up to 20 embryos of all developmental stages can be found in one mother individual. From approximately 100 mother animals, we analyzed four individuals each for the 1-, 2-, 4- to 5-, and 8-cell stages, seven embryos that had between eight and 16 cells, and one 21-cell embryo. Approximately 50 embryos were found at the apical rosette stage and three gastrulae were investigated. Numerous swimming-type larvae - obviously shortly before release - were retrieved, indicating the healthy condition of the adults and their developmental stages. The results obtained were highly consistent among the individuals of each developmental stage. Accordingly, the spiral-type cleavage pattern was found in all embryos investigated, although the shape (spherical versus more oval) varied between individuals.
In order to remove the embryos from the mother animal, the tentacle crown was cut open using insect needles. Prior to fixation, adult individuals carrying embryos were relaxed in 7% MgCl2 and removed from the polychaete tubes. Fixation was carried out using a solution of 4% paraformaldehyde (PFA) in 0.1 M phosphate buffered saline (PBS) for 1 h at room temperature. After fixation, the specimens were washed in 0.1 M PBS (3 × 15 min) and stored in 0.1 M PBS containing 0.1% NaN3 at 4°C.
A reference specimen, determined by Dr. Claus Nielsen (Copenhagen) is deposited at The Natural History Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen (registration tag ZMUC-ENT-27). In addition, the COI gene of our study specimen was partially sequenced and the 710 bp sequence deposited in GenBank (acc. # JQ614997).
Immunocytochemistry, data generation, and analysis
After fixation and storage, the embryos were permeabilized in 0.1 M PBS with 0.1% Triton X-100 (PBT) for 1 h. F-actin was labeled using a 1:20 dilution of Alexa Fluor 488 phalloidin (Invitrogen, Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR, USA) in PBT. For nucleic acid staining, 10% DAPI (Invitrogen, Taastrup, Denmark) was added and the samples were incubated for 20-24 h at room temperature. Then, the embryos were washed in 0.1 M PBS (3 × 15 min) and mounted in Fluoromount G (Southern Biotech, Birmingham, AL, USA) on glass slides. 5 μl of DAPI (Invitrogen) was added to the embedding medium in order to enhance the signal strength of the nucleic acid staining. The samples were examined using a Leica DM RXE 6 TL fluorescence microscope equipped with a TCS SP2 AOBS laserscanning device (Leica Microsystems, Wetzlar, Germany). The optical sections had a Z-step size of 0.45-0.55 μm. Resulting stacks were merged into projection images with greater focal depth. 3D reconstructions were generated from the confocal datasets using the image processing software Imaris 5.7.2 (Bitplane AG, Zürich, Switzerland).
General aspects of entoproct reproduction
Cleavage and gastrulation in Loxosomellasp
Most spiralian lophotrochozoans are characterized by a spiral cleavage pattern, which is mainly defined by (1) the "spiral" arrangement of subsequent embryonic cells (= blastomeres), whereby cells of an upper tier of an embryo come to lie over the cleavage furrow of the lower tier; and (2) formation of a so-called "mesentoblast", which later gives rise to the endomesoderm from the 4 d-cell [7, 29]. Despite these overall similarities between spirally cleaving species, the cleavage program is subject to great variability [30], e.g. concerning the size of cells (equal or unequal), regularity (synchronous or asynchronous), direction of cleavage (clockwise vs. counter-clockwise), morphological arrangement of apical cross patterns, or cell fates. In the following, we summarize the various spiralian cleavage phenotypes and discuss them in an evolutionary context in the light of the data presented herein for the entoproct Loxosomella sp.
Cleavage in molluscs
Most molluscs, except for yolk-rich "higher" gastropods and cephalopods, show a more or less "typical" spiral cleavage pattern [31–36]. Cleavage may be equal or unequal. Some species, such as the gastropod Ilyanassa obsoleta and the scaphopod Antalis entalis (formerly Dentalium dentale), form polar lobes which fuse with the D-quadrant of the early embryo [29, 33, 37]. Although the formation of the first micromere quartet typically appears in a clockwise direction in most taxa, including the supposedly basal solenogaster Epimenia babai [35], the polyplacophoran Stenoplax heathiana (formerly Ischnochiton heathiana; [32]), the scaphopod Antalis entalis [33], as well as the gastropods Limax [31], Crepidula [28, 38], Patella [39], and Ilyanassa [40], a counter-clockwise formation is sometimes found, e.g., in the bivalve Dreissena polymorpha [41] or in gastropods with sinistrally coiled shells such as Planorbis trivolvis [42], Physa heterostropha [43], or Lymnaea stagnalis [44]. Accordingly, it appears that in shell-bearing gastropods, the chirality of cleavage is strictly correlated with the direction of shell coiling [43–45]. In contrast to the sinistrally coiled gastropod species mentioned above, fourth cleavage takes place in a counter-clockwise direction [28, 29, 31, 32, 35, 39].
Cleavage in annelids (including sipunculans)
Embryos of the polychaete Nereis [46], the echiuran Urechis caupo [55], the sipunculan Phascolosoma [56, 57], the oligochaete Bdellodrilus philadelphicus [58], and the leech Theromyzon tessulatum [59] display a holoblastic, spiral cleavage pattern. Cleavage may be equal or unequal. Polar lobe formation is mainly found in polychaetes (e.g. Hydroides hexagonus) [60]. The condition of the typical spiralian eight cell stage with small micromeres and large macromeres and a clockwise formation of the first micromere quartet [30] appear to have been modified in various taxa. In the sipunculans Themiste pyroides and Phascolosoma agassizii, the micromere 1 d is larger than the blastomeres of the A, B, and C quadrant, and the macromere 1D is the largest of all cells [57]. First quartet micromeres are budded off in a clockwise direction [57, 61]. In the leech Theromyzon tessulatum and the oligochaete Tubifex rivulorum, the micromeres of the first quartet are exceptionally small. While the micromeres 1a, c, d are formed in a clockwise direction, 1b is budded off counter- clockwise [59]. For polychaetes, a counter-clockwise formation of first quartet micromeres has so far only been reported for the serpulid Hydroides elegans [62]. First quartet micromeres of the echiurid Urechis caupo are formed in a clockwise direction [55].
The annelid cross is a seemingly common character of echiurans, clitellates, and polychaetes [63, 64], whereby the peripheral rosette cells 1q112 constitute its founding cells [28, 46]. However, if 64-cell stages are compared, a typical "annelid cross" is only present in a few taxa such as the echiuran Urechis caupo [55] (Figure 4G), the polychaetes Polygordius sp. [65], Amphitrite ornata [66], and Nereis sp. [46] (Figure 4I), as well as the leech Theromyzon tessulatum [67]. Annelid cross cells of Urechis caupo and Nereis sp. are much larger than the apical rosette cells. In both, the more peripherally located cells 1q1122 are slightly larger than their centrally located sister cells 1q1121 (Figure 4G, I). Embryos of T. tessulatum show a very indistinct cross pattern. Together with other small micromeres, the annelid cross cells are embedded in the furrows of the comparatively huge macromeres (Figure 494 in [67]). Compared to Nereis sp. (Figure 4I), the division of peripheral rosette cells in Chaetopterus pergamentaceus is oblique and results in an indistinct cross pattern [66].
The first description of a cross stage in sipunculans was performed on Phascolosoma vulgare (= Golfingia vulgaris; [56, 61]; Figure 4H herein), which is still cited as proof for a molluscan-type cross pattern in a sipunculan [23, 68], and thus as an indication for a mollusc-sipunculan sister relationship. However, a number of independent developmental and molecular studies strongly argue in favour of a monophyletic annelid-sipunculan assemblage [10, 11, 69–75]. Although never explicitly stated for sipunculans, the arrangement of the peripheral rosette cells closely resembles the arrangement of an early stage annelid cross, whereby the sipunculan peripheral rosette cells are considerably larger than their molluscan counterparts (Figure 4). However, convincing recent data on the early embryology of sipunculans are lacking, and thus prevent a final statement as to whether or not an annelid or molluscan cross-like pattern is part of the sipunculan groundplan.
Cleavage in other lophotrochozoans
Nemertean cleavage is holoblastic, equal, and spiral [24, 76, 77]. First quartet micromeres of Cerebratulus lacteus [78] and Carinoma tremaphoros [24] are larger than the macromeres. A so-called "nemertean cross" is found in Carinoma tremaphoros ([24]; Figure 4E herein) and Emplectonema gracile [24]. It is formed by accelerated cell divisions of the apical rosette, which so far has only been reported from nemertean species. Nemertean peripheral rosette cells are relatively large compared to the small apical rosette cells (Figure 4E). Polyclad platyhelminths such as Maritigrella crozieri and Hoploplana inquilina show a quartet, equal and spiral cleavage pattern [54, 79]. In both species, fourth quartet micromeres are very large compared to the relatively small macromeres [54]. Morphologically, the apical and peripheral rosette cells of the 32- to 64-cell stage of the polyclad flatworm Maritigrella crozieri could be interpreted as both, a molluscan and an annelid cross pattern, respectively [54]. Although the progenitor cells of the apical and peripheral rosettes have not yet divided at this stage, blastomeres of the 32-cell stage ("third quartet"-stage) of H. inquilina form an apical cross-like pattern (see [79, 80]). In Maritigrella crozieri, peripheral rosette cells are slightly elongated and more than twice as large as the apical rosette cells (Figure 4F).
Developmentally, ectoprocts, phoronids, and brachiopods are unique within the lophotrochozoans because they exhibit a radial cleavage pattern [81–84]. A spiral-type cleavage pattern has been proposed for the phoronid Phoronopsis viridis [85] and the brachiopod Terebratulina septentrionalis [86] by some classical studies, although these data are highly questioned by recent investigations and may be artifactual due to compression of the embryos [81, 85].
Cleavage in entoprocts
The Loxosomella species investigated herein cleaves holoblastic, asynchronous, equal, and spiral, whereby all cells are of approximately the same size until third cleavage. Indicated by the degree of shifting of the micromere cells relative to the macromere cells, the first micromere quartet is formed in a clockwise direction (Figure 2G-L). Accordingly, comparative morphology of the cleavage stages investigated herein clearly shows that our study species exhibits typical spiral cleavage. Following the rule of alternation, in Loxosomella, the second quartet micromeres (blue cells, Figure 2N, O) rotate in a counter-clockwise direction until they occupy the furrows between the macromeres (red cells, Figure 2N, O). As a consequence, cells of the first micromere quartet are turned back over the centre of each macromere (cf. [28]). Division of the first micromere quartet results in the 1q1- and 1q2-quartets (purple cells, Figure 2N, O). The light blue and green colored cells are probably derivatives of the first micromere cells 1q1, while the yellow cell is likely to be a derivative of the 1q11 cell (Figure 2N, O). Morphologically, the apical cross pattern in the 43-cell stage of Loxosomella sp. exhibits two cross-like patterns, which show similarities to both a "molluscan" and an "annelid cross", respectively (see also [87]), thus supporting closer affinity of Entoprocta with these spiralian taxa than with Ectoprocta. Observations on the colonial entoproct Pedicellina echinata (= Pedicellina cernua) report both, a slightly unequal [25] and an equal cleavage pattern [26]. Sketch drawings of the first cleavage stages of Loxosoma leptoclini were interpreted as showing equally-sized blastomeres [26]. However, since we were not able to trace cell genealogy in our study species, a concluding statement concerning homology between these "entoproct crosses" and the annelid and/or molluscan crosses cannot be given at present. A comparison of the various spiralian-type cleavage patterns, however, does demonstrate the morphological plasticity of the "cross-type" cellular arrangement in the various spiralian representatives, and thus shows that phylogenetic conclusions based on these embryonic morphotypes alone should be treated with utmost care.
Although it has repeatedly been proposed that the "molluscan cross" constitutes a pattern that is only found in molluscs and closely related sister groups [23, 88], similar cross patterns are also present in other spiralian animals including annelids, nemerteans, and flatworms [24, 87, 89] (cf. Figure 4). The arrangement of the annelid and nemertean cross cells resembles a generation of cells which usually appears during the 7th cleavage cycle, while molluscan cross cells are formed during the 6th division. Since the annelid and nemertean cross is formed earlier in development, the formation of both cross patterns is distinct to these phyla and is not found in 64-cell stages of molluscan embryos. Accordingly, due to their variation even between closely related species, a typical "molluscan" or "annelid" cross pattern cannot reliably be proposed at present, thus rendering these cleavage morphologies phylogenetically uninformative. However, we suggest that an embryonic stage with a cross-like pattern was present in the last common ancestor of Spiralia. The cleavage pattern of the entoproct Loxosomella sp. investigated herein shows typical spiralian features, such as the spiral arrangement of blastomeres around the animal-vegetal axis of the embryo and the presence of a cross-like pattern, thus indeed rendering entoprocts "true" spiralians.
The currently widely held view that the radially cleaving Ectoprocta is not the sister group of Entoprocta is well supported by our data and strongly suggests the inclusion of Entoprocta within Spiralia. This is also in agreement with the Tetraneuralia-hypothesis, which suggests a Mollusca-Entoprocta clade [4] and argues against the so-called Polyzoa-concept (Ectoprocta + Entoprocta + Cycliophora; see [14]). The latter scenario would either imply independent evolution of spiral cleavage in Entoprocta and the remaining Spiralia or secondary loss of spiral cleavage in Ectoprocta (data on cleavage in Cycliophora are still lacking). On a deeper evolutionary scale, the classical subdivision of Lophotrochozoa into Spiralia and Lophophorata suggests either a spiral or a radial cleavage pattern for the last common lophotrochozoan ancestor. The duet-spiral-type of cleavage in the supposedly basal bilaterians, the acoels, may favour a scenario where a modification of this cleavage pattern might have resulted in the quartet-spiral cleavage pattern of the ur-lophotrochozoan, with a secondary modification in the lophophorates. At present, such evolutionary deductions remain speculative, however, due to the lack of a reliable phylogeny for internal lophotrochozoan relationships and the unresolved question concerning the last common lophotrochozoan and bilaterian ancestor.
We are indebted to the Friday Harbor Laboratories for their hospitality during the stay of TW while collecting Loxosomella. JM is grateful to Lisbeth Haukrogh and Henrike Semmler (both Copenhagen) for help with immunocytochemistry, confocal microscopy, and the Imaris software. This work was supported by a grant of the German Science Foundation to BL (Li998/9-1), the Feldbausch Stiftung (University of Mainz), and the Inneruniversitäre Forschungsförderung (University of Mainz), both to BL.
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This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


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The Moondogs (Gerry McCandless - guitar/vocals, Jackie Hamilton - bass/vocals, Austin Barrett - drums) were a late 70's/early 80's Irish band who originally signed to Good Vibrations Records, home of retro-fitted pop songs played with punk bottle. They once narrowed down their influences to the Ramones, the Beatles and the Bay City Rollers, which encapsulates their sound rather nicely.
The Moondogs (great history here) had their own TV show, Moondog Matinee. The short-lived show, sort of a cross between the Monkees and Friday Night Videos, can now be sampled thanks to YouTube hero Gregorypop23. As with their fellow Undertone-wanna be's, Protex, there has never been a collection of these singles exists now (or ever has), though the band reformed in the early aughts and recorded some fine new material.
"She's 19" and "Ya Don't Do Ya", from their debut single of 1979 are punk-pop-glam concoctions of a high order.
Let us know what you think of the Moondogs (and these awe-inspiring videos!) in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the 'She's 19' 7" link).
Updated: Link Fixed!
Support the band
Reekus Records

subset: commoncrawl


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...Hi again... another card using one of the new releases... and he is just adorable isn't he? His name is Toby and he was designed by Daniel Torrente... and I just love all the designs that Daniel does... Anyways... Toby is here today looking rather dapper in pink!
I computer generated the sentiment... well, real men do wear pink don't they! So, Toby was coloured with different shades of pink ProMarkers... and then I distressed the edges using pink and overstamped using the same colour with one of my favourite stamps ever... the Abstract Foliage, designed by Jo Capper-Sandon.
I made a little piece of fancy cardstock, using Distress Inks, the Abstract Foliage and then Daisy, Daisy stamped in black to make the design pop. I added a piece of border punched cardstock and then edged the main card with the same stamp again. The stamps I used on this card are:
Toby 6126
Abstract Foliage 3031
Daisy, Daisy 3002
Thanks for looking!! TTFN
Hels x
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Toby Is In The Pink...
Posted by Hels Sheridan at 3:00 AM
Labels: Cards, Hels Sheridan
5 comments:
- Barb Cady said...
Love this one hels, isn't he handsome! Dressed well for the sunshine! x
- April 9, 2011 at 4:58 AM
- Gez said...
Fabulous card Hels. Just love Toby's shoes..I want a pair ;) Love the black it makes for a very striking card. Great!
- April 9, 2011 at 4:59 AM
- Carol Q said...
rofl. brilliant Hels.
- April 9, 2011 at 12:59 PM
- thekathrynwheel said...
Ha ha ha! How fab! And how funny :-)
- April 10, 2011 at 4:51 AM
Ohhh love him in his pink suit :-) Beautiful card!
- April 10, 2011 at 4:54 AM
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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Buzz Bits
An evening taste of the daily buz...
Steady as she goes... - MV News - 4:09 PM
Target (TGT) said its Dec comps are trending in-line with its current +4-5% guidance.
Up, up and away - MV News - 3:58 PM
Boeing (BA) raised its quarterly dividend by 20% to $0.30 from $0.25, payable March 3 to shareholders of record Feb 10.
Protein Pudding - Kevin Depew - 3:47 PM
- Yet again, more net new buy signals than sell signals under the hood. The NYSE Bullish Percent has increased in value in each of the past 10 sessions.
- The Dow Transports ETF (IYT) will break a double bottom with a move to 73, if/when.
- Winner of the "Worst Brand Extension of 2005 award? The Harley-Davidson cake-decorating kit.
- Gold, silver, natural gas and crude tend to get all the accolades, but today was a good day for commodities virtually across the board. Soybeans were higher, cocoa recently saw a point and figure breakout worth noting, orange juice closed near the high, cattle was up, wheat, corn and cotton were higher as well.
- Also, note that today the CRB Index (CR/Y) moved through the trendline I showed last Friday.
- Today's Unsolved Mystery: How the Harley-Davidson cake-decorating kit beat out Sylvester Stallone Protein Pudding to win the "Worst Brand Extension of 2005 Award." There are a lot of things I would never, ever put in my mouth; a comb, all insects, money, but right up there at the top of the list is Sly Stallone Protein Pudding.
Of Mice and Men - Todd Harrison - 3:32 PM
The Minx slinks towards the close with Hoofy winning by a nose. While the story of the session has been the downside reversal in the metals, the equity mix has been a lesson in patience. There are some standout sectors (energy anyone?) but, for the most part, we're in wait and watch mode.
While Elmer will take center stage tomorrow, my sense is that psychology will remain top duck in the metric pecking order. Whereas I had a (perceived) edge in fading the top of the recent range (1270), I unwound the meat of my bets towards the end of last week. Call me Todd-lot, call me a premature evacuator, call me too short for this much weight--just please don't call me undisciplined.
I wish I had something meatier for ye faithful but I'm not seeing it yet. As such, I'll continue to scan my eight screens until something jumps out and gets noticed. And I'll also be keeping an eye on the all-star guitar auction, which is $36,100 bid by newcomer "Indxarb".
Fare ye well into the bell.
position in metal equities
Interesting SP Quarterly Analog - Jason Roney - 2:15 PM
The SP500 currently has an outside quarter and looks likely to record a higher close (i.e. high above Q3 high and low below Q3 low with a close above the Q3 close).
Looking back 50 years, there were just 11 prior quarters with the same pattern. Each time, the SP500 closed higher the next quarter. The max high, low, and close for the next quarter is listed below.
See the table here.
And related to expiry (previously noted having a positive bias to the week):
This Friday is triple witching expiration. Of the four triple witch months (March, June, Sep, and Dec), December has the highest probability of opening higher on expiry Friday. Since the inception of futures in 1982, the SP opened higher on December expiry 83% of the time by an average +.15%.
The Consumer Is in Great Shape Financially-I hear that alot... - Bennet Sedacca - 1:47 PM
Well let me give you a news flash. Would you believe that household's Free Liquidity (non-equity assets less liabilities) was minus 3.1597 trillion dollars? The calculation is simple. Non-equity liquid assets include: checking accounts, CD's, currency, money market funds, savings accounts, corporate and foreign bonds, municipal bonds, U.S. Government securities, mortgages and Open Market Paper. That free liquidity added up to $8.239 trillion.
The liability side of the ledger equaled $11.399 trillion dollars. Hence, the deficit stated above. If you are a believer, as I am, that it takes liquidity to make a market run, it is easy to see that in 1974 and 1982 (two major bottoms in the stock market) that the net Free Liquidity was 65% of the value of the entire Wilshire 5000 Equity Index. Today, that level stands at roughly minus 25% of the index. This once again does away with the theory of all the liquidity around to run prices higher. They can always run the stops at 1270 and get a few percent out of it, but until the deficit becomes true liquidity, it seems hard to imagine a new secular bull market is at hand. The information herein was courtesy of my good friends at Ned Davis Research and the chart is available upon request.
Mini-Minyan Mailbag - John Succo - 1:43 PM
Do you have any current stats on the Implied Volatility in Gold and Silver? The ACTUAL volatility of these two metals has increased tremendously from the summer months.
In my opinion, there is a larger story to this move in Gold/Silver. Could it be a referendum on the appointment of Mr. Bernanke? But that doesn't make sense since the buying is coming from Tokyo. Or is it that real interest rates are too close to zero (Even negative now with a little inflation taking place in various metrics) in Japan (They import all their oil) and various Japanese investors have had enough and are turning in the Yen for metals?
Minyan Mark
I trade options more so on the stocks of gold and other commodities than the commodities themselves. Those have all risen as you would expect. We had been buying very cheap options there and have sold many out. We are not short volatility at these levels.
Gold and commodity prices are the elephant in the room. They speak of central bank policy of printing and debasing currency as a solution to world over-capacity and extremely high debt levels.
Investors can ignore what the price of gold is telling them at their
Position in gold
Flashback! - Bill Meehan - 1:28 PM
This day in market history...
Closing levels 4 years ago found:
Naz: 2011.38
Crude: 18.38
Gold: 273.70
This day in Minyanville history...
In '02, Toddo tended to the Animal Farm that was the city of critters as year-end approached.
In other news...
In 1899, George Grant patented the golf tee. I need to live somewhere that I can play golf in December.
How long has this been going on? (How Long?) - Kevin Depew - 11:03 AM
Actually, it's been going on for quite awhile there, Ace, but all your friends with their fancy persuasions can't admit that it's part of the scene. I'm talking about the iShares Japan Index Fund (EWJ), naturally.
A Minyan, whom I have conveniently nicknamed "Ace" in order to work into this Buzz the song that has been stuck in my head all morning, asked me if this is a blow-off spike in the EWJ. It's a move higher, that's for sure, but not exactly a spike. A point and figure chart shows the EWJ last gave a sell signal in May 2004 (and even then held the bullish trendline). Meanwhile, a price count based on the December 2004 breakout yields an objective of 14.25. Not great risk/reward for new positions here, but still room to go on the upside. The first sell signal from current levels, basis the .125x3 chart, is below 12.
Seein' Stars - David Miller - 10:44 AM
Celgene's (CEGE) Revlimid is the only star at this year's American Society of Hemotology (ASH) meeting. While it might see some bump today, most of the buy side already knew this data was coming.
Hard to tell what will pique Wall Street's interest on this one, though, given a couple of people told me there were over 100 abstracts on Revlimid or Thalidomide at this meeting (we don't cover them, so I'll take their word for it).
Genzyme's (GENZ) Campath is mentioned much more often this year than last, even though the drug was first approved in 2001. Genzyme acquired the drug when it acquired ILEX Oncology about a year ago.
State of the Markets Weekly Review - Phil Erlanger - 9:49 AM
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 100 and the NASDAQ 100 indices pulled back this week. This is the first down week for the NASDAQ 100 in six weeks. The daily Squeezeometer signal for the NASDAQ 100 Index moved from buy to cash/speculative sell as of December 6. The S&P 100 Index remains in cash/speculative sell as of December 2.
Our 14-day choppiness index for the NASDAQ 100 Index moved from 45 to 65 last week. This index ranges from 0 to 100, and the lower it goes the more a trend is evolving. The S&P 100 choppiness index moved from 43 to 61. Currently, the NASDAQ 100 and the S&P 100 Index are consolidating recent gains. The NASDAQ 100 Index and S&P 100 remain above their respective weekly DMA channels.
Say what? - Kevin Depew - 8:46 AM
A look at commentary, opinion and analysis from around the world:
The Financial Times today looks at Japan's battle over tighter money. Worrisome: if Japan's debt of Y538,000bn ($4,500 billion U.S.) were stacked up in 10,000 yen bills, the pile would be 1,400 times higher than Mt Fuji.
AOL co-founder Steve Case, after playing a key role in bringing AOL and Time Warner together six years ago,in Sunday's Washington Post says now "it's time to take it apart." While noteworthy for its timing, Carl Icahn has been saying basically the same thing, the article basically says "blah, blah, unlock shareholder value, blah, blah, worst merger in history, blah, blah, Google, blah, blah social networking."
Chinese police shot and killed as many as 20 local villagers who were protesting government land seizures in Dongzhou last week. At least 42 residents are still missing. The Wall Street Journal editorial team notes that "political instability is Beijing's worst nightmare."
- 1
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Yesterday, late afternoon, in flat white light, I took a stroll down to Pier 6, five minutes from home, on the other side of the moaning and humming BQE. Shorthand for the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, about eight lanes of serious if submerged (it's in a trench at this point) traffic.
I intended to be out for fifteen minutes, but was still wandering, an hour later, on one of the most lovely of my spring walks through this city. The air was chilly, but every serviceberry tree was in bloom, near the water. Perhaps thirty-five of them. I should count. They are Amelanchier species - small trees and shrubs native to the Northeast, and producers of delicious red and purple fruit in June (their pie recipe will be in my book!).
I think this will be a bumper year for the serviceberries. And I will be 8,000 miles away. Somebody, eat them for me!
I feel privileged to have seen, in person, over the last few years, the transformation of the barren, concrete docklands along the water here in Brooklyn, into one of the best parks I know. I distinctly remember standing on the Brooklyn Bridge, looking down at the wharfs, and thinking, what a waste.
Brooklyn Bridge Park is right beside the East River, and New York Harbor. Hard to beat Lady Liberty, the orange ferries, cormorants sunning their wings, and the looming presence downtown Manhattan right across the water. The park is visionary, and is a big and wonderful Up Yours to the highwayed legacy Robert Moses, the man who cut New Yorkers off from the water.
Yesterday I found something new. I never think I will, but every year I notice a new botanical thing. This time it was sassafras flowers, which I have either never seen, or never registered. I knew they had to be sassafras because I remembered how many of the trees are planted here, at Pier 1, from leafy summers and falls, past. Their powdered leaves are used as thickener in gumbo, or any stew (their roots, famously, made sarsparilla). The viscous effect of the leaves does not appeal to me much, but they are beautiful to look at.
That's them - the chartreuse flowers. The white behind - serviceberries.
And it's easy to note how this native spring is so much more muted than the imported one, on the street (that's the second half my walk, post coming later): Daffodils and tulips and magnolias have been shouting, and this woodland creeps in, behind them.


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After one day of using the backpack support, my son has already noticed a difference. They did a test with his friend's backpack that had the same books in it. They all said Jake's felt much lighter.
(PRWEB) August 22, 2013
While brand name backpack are promoting their latest designs to kids this fall, parents are probably more concerned about the weight they are carrying. Chiro.org recommends the backpacks not weigh more than 15 percent of the child's body weight, in order to reduce the risk of potential muscle injury. Core Products International also offers a Backpack Lumbar Support which helps prevent backpack strain and injury by transferring weight to the hips.
According to a report on ABCActionnews.com, chiropractors and doctors have been seeing children come in to their offices suffering from back pain. While most backpacks come with two shoulder straps, not every child wears them as they are designed. Even the recent remake of "21 Jump Street" movie references how wearing the bag on one shoulder only is the "cool" way to carry it.
What can concerned parents do to help alleviate some of the potential strain on their child's frame?
Robin Kirchner wrote in her customer review about the Backpack Lumbar Support product: "After one day of using the backpack support, my son has already noticed a difference. They did a test with his friend's backpack that had the same books in it. They all said Jake's felt much lighter."
The Backpack Lumbar Support is a universal lumbar support that uses a quick adjust slide to attach to virtually any backpack. Young students can still use their favorite cartoon character backpacks; teens can use their favorite pack with all the pockets for their newest gadgets. This support easily transfers from one backpack to another, making it an economical investment in any student's future.
Additional steps parents can take include finding bags with wider shoulder strap support, as well as an additional waist belt that further stabilizes the weight the child is carrying. The heaviest items in the bag should always go in the center, utilizing all of the compartments so that total weight is as evenly distributed as possible.
Together with these best practices, the Core Products Backpack Lumbar Support may help alleviate some of the strain heavy school bags can place on a child's shoulders.
About Core Products International
Founded in 1988, with the vision of making people's lives more comfortable, Core Products International is an American innovator, manufacturer and distributor of professional quality health care products. Core markets and sells its products within the USA and internationally mainly to the professional health care markets. Core manufactures and assembles its products in Osceola and Chetek Wisconsin and is proud to employ American workers. Core's product line includes orthopedic pillows, orthopedic supports and braces, hot and cold therapy products, electric and therapeutic massage products, and electrotherapy devices. For more information, please visit http://www.coreproducts.com/.


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In response to Michael McSorley (Voice, Nov. 26): The relocation of Lincoln Way West, the two roundabouts and the entrance to the South Bend Regional Airport were designed to handle both the current traffic and that projected for years into the future. The current and projected traffic includes both semi-trucks and emergency vehicles. The project was designed by registered professional engineers, was examined and approved by the pre-eminent roundabout designer in the world and was accepted by the St. Joseph County engineer, the South Bend city engineer and me, the airport director, all registered professional civil engineers. As to safety, the roundabouts offer only eight points of potential conflict. Old-fashioned intersections offer 32! Safer? Absolutely. Do drivers afford semis more room in an old-fashioned intersection? They had better! There is no reason for drivers not to do the same in a roundabout. Continuously moving traffic, no gas-wasting stops, no electricity for signals is necessary and being on the cutting edge of urban traffic management instead of lagging behind, as Hoosiers are wont to do, are all good deals for everyone. And all this paid for by users of the airport, not the property taxpayers of St. Joseph County. As usual, a simple phone call to (574) 233-2185, ext. 224, could have provided these answers without yet another negative letter regarding our community.
John C. SchalliolExecutive DirectorSt. Joseph County Airport Authority


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France coach Laurent Blanc declared at his Tuesday news conference that he plans to field two different sides for this week¹s friendly matches against USA (Friday) and Belgium (Tuesday). "It will be a young team against USA and a stronger one against Belgium," he said.
The squad is missing some injured players -- among them, Samir Nasr, Yohan Cabaye and Florent Malouda -- and Blanc is likely to hand debuts to three players for Friday's match, each of whom could earn a place in France's squad for Euro 2012. Here is a rundown of those who have the most to gain from this week¹s match:
There is no obvious third-choice center back behind Mexes and Rami: Mamadou Sakho (four appearances) and Younes Kaboul (five appearances) have both stepped in but this is an opportunity for Koscielny to stake his claim. At Arsenal, he has dislodged new signing Per Mertesacker to become Thomas Vermaelen's partner. Coach Arsene Wenger believes the Vermaelen-Koscielny partnership is as strong as any in the Premier League, (which makes you wonder why he signed Mertesacker).
And yet Koscielny still divides opinion among Arsenal fans, depending on if they prefer to focus on his brilliant display against Lionel Messi in last season's Champions league win over Barcelona, or his error that led to Wojciech Szczesny dropping the ball to concede the winner in Arsenal's Carling Cup final defeat to Birmingham City. "My game is based on that reading the game, being a step ahead, and I like to bring the ball out of defense and use it well," he told Canal Plus last season. Koscielny turned down an offer to represent Euro 2012 hosts Poland last season, as he qualifies through his paternal grandfather. He could yet make it there as a Frenchman.
When Evra was not included for these matches, it was reported that he had been given compassionate leave following the death of his brother a few weeks ago. But Evra's status in the squad, following his role as captain during the 2010 World Cup fiasco, when the squad threatened to go on strike, is still uncertain. Blanc has to decide if the negatives from his presence as a reserve defender -- the stigma of 2010, how he copes with the demotion -- outweigh the positives, which are that he has been United's most consistent defender over the last four years.
There are also other options behind Abidal as well, among them Clichy, who told
France proved against Bosnia-Herzegovina that there is a problem at center forward if Karim Benzema is not available. Loic Remy played there then and he missed two chances through the middle. Though Remy has been a rare bright spot in Marseille's dismal season, Blanc prefers him wide-right in the front three (with Franck Ribery on the left). With Kevin Gameiro secure in his status as an impact sub, there is room for one more striker, given that Guillaume Hoarau, out of favor at Paris Saint-Germain, has dropped out of contention.
Giroud is more versatile than Hoarau: just as good in the air, but a better finisher. It could be between Gomis and Giroud for that final strikers' spot in the squad, and if Giroud can continue his decent form this week, he could gain the edge (though Djibril Cisse is a compelling outsider for the position).
Blanc still has decisions to make all over the pitch, and because of his careful public statements, it's always hard to know what the coach is thinking. Marvin Martin also has the opportunity to step up in place of Nasri, which could spell bad news for Blanc's former star man at Bordeaux, Yoann Gourcuff. One thing is for sure: nothing is ever set in stone with Blanc, and he is not afraid to shake up the hierarchy. With that in mind, the France team that faces USA on Friday may be young, but it will also be extra-motivated.


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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance
Monday, April 20, 2009
Daybook...April 20, 2009
Late today...life is speeding up and I am not keeping up.
FOR TODAY ...April 20, 2009...
Outside my window...Bright, cook and windy. I can smell the recently mowed grass.
I am thinking...How nice a cup of tea would be.
I am thankful for...getting caught up on our school records. Only five more weeks left! We are taking a large break after that.
From the learning rooms...One is doing math, one is playing the piano.
From the kitchen...cookies done for Roo's class to take to the nursing home tonight. Cookies for Boo to share with his class. Last class of the school year at church.
I am wearing...baggy tan capris and a messy black t-shirt.
I am creating...continuing to practice knitting. Working on some new cards.
I am going...to be heading out soon. Ballet for Boo, costume fitting for Roo, PSR for both boys afterwards.
I am reading...Classical Music for Dummies. It is helping me keep up with the boys.
I am hoping...for a better night's sleep tonight.
I am hearing...Roo tell me me a story. He says his hands are tired and needs a piano break.
Around the house...Trying to declutter. Thought that might help before painting.
One of my favorite things...warmer days!!
A few plans for the rest of the week:Catching up with blogging. I've not been doing as well as I thought I would after my break.
Here is picture thought I am sharing...
Visit Peggy at the Simple Woman's Daybook to find more daybookers.
9 comments:
- Tracy said...
Very nice, I enjoyed your picture as well!
- April 20, 2009 at 3:13 PM
- lilly said...
A very pretty picture. And all I can say...you are one busy mom! Good for you!
- April 20, 2009 at 4:17 PM
- luvmy4sons said...
A busy blessed life you lead. Thanks for stopping by my place and leaving your kind comments. I look forward to warmer weather soon!
- April 20, 2009 at 4:25 PM
- I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...
I love warmer days too. We had 3 and now it's chilly and raining again. By Friday we should warm up again.
- April 20, 2009 at 4:29 PM
- Barbara H. said...
That book on classical music sounds about my speed. :-) I've been wanting to go over some favorite pieces with the boys but haven't know quite where to start besides with some favorites of my own, but I've forgotten a lot of what I knew about them.
- April 21, 2009 at 12:08 PM
- Buttercup said...
So nice to hear about your plans for the week and glad your plans include more blogging. I'm in a decluttering mode, too.
- April 21, 2009 at 10:05 PM
- It's Just Katie! said...
I enjoyed your reads. Take care and have fun!
- April 22, 2009 at 2:30 PM
- heidi @ ggip said...
I'm glad you posted. :)
This post makes me want a cup of tea too :)
- April 23, 2009 at 2:34 PM
- SQUELLY said...
I think I night make a cup of tea too! I love smell of freashly mowed grass! That picture is beautiful too!
- April 24, 2009 at 6:32 PM


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Law Minister recently moved in the Upper House of Parliament Bill to amend the Hindu Marriage Act. Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill 2010 in provision relating to divorce. Two major amendments are as follows:
- In Section 13B which provides for divorce by mutual consent in two consecutive motions, the requirement is that a couple, staying separately for at least one year, can file the first motion before District Judge and the second motion is 6 moths thereafter but before 18 months from the first motion. Since many a times one of the parties do not support the second motion, the remaining party has to then fight the battle through contested divorce than mutual. In the proposed amendment, the second motion has been done away with. Meaning thereby, divorce by mutual consent can be possible only by moving the first petition subject to the Judge finding everything OK.
- Second amendment is insertion of Section 13C incorporating irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a new ground for divorce. This clause is missing in the Act so far. The newly inserted provision though has a multi tier process for a District Judge to go through before declaring the wedding as broken down irretrievably.
Furthermore, the wife, in such a petition of the husband, can challenge it on the ground of financial hardship for herself, and of children if any. The District Judge has a discretion to dismiss the petition of the husband then or make sure that the husband makes arrangement for the wife, and children if any.
Logic of including such alimony apart, biggest worry I find in this newly inserted ground is that a couple need to have lived separately for at least three years before approaching the District Judge for a decree of divorce.
Imagine a situation where a guy is 27 years of age at the time of marriage. After 2 years, marriage seems to have broken down irretrievably.
Age is now 29.
Couple have to live separately for the next three years. At 32, he approaches the Court for a decree of divorce. Now if the wife wants to contest the matter, the Judge will take Her own time and allowing or rejecting husband's petition. Add couple of years. At 35 divorce is final, guy wanted the divorce at 29. At 35, his chances of settling down are poor. Same maths goes for the wife as well.
Lets see how the law finally turns out at the ground level. Times of India reports that the law is women friendly and wife shall get a share in the property of the husband. Such reporting, though which required a lot of research, itself is sufficient to make Govt realize that the law should be seen as non partisan. Already matrimonial laws are so skewed in favour of females that it is a constant risk of property and of personal liberty of the husband and his family who get dragged into uncalled for litigation and harassment more often than not.
Though my reading of the Bill does not concur with the Times headline. Anyway, I do read The Hindu since I was a kid. That said, the Bill talks about making financial arrangement for the wife and the kids, if there is any. The so called reference to share in husband's property is something I could not find and would request Times only to assist me.
Through this post, I'm not advising that couple should start getting divorces at the drop of a hat. But when two adults decide they cannot live with each other, why to present a situation before them which makes it worse than ever for them to seek a remedy?


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Welcome! Thanks so much for stopping by and agreeing to answer a few of my questions. Has someone been instrumental in inspiring you as a writer?
My Mother is the biggest instrument to me becoming a writer. I wrote a post on my blog once about this but I can give you cliff notes. When I was in 2nd grade a teacher told my mom I would never learn to read beyond a third grade level. I was devastated and when we got into the car I remember crying and asking my mom if I were stupid. She said to me, "Do you want to be?" and when I said, "No." She said, "Then you won't be." We had always read together, but she spent that summer reading with me intensely. By the time I returned to school the next year, I had surpassed a third grade reading level, and developed a love of books. She is the reason I wasn't shunted into remedial reading, and the reason I write today. Everything I am I owe to both of my parents and their guidance and love, but I am a writer because my Mom believed I could read.
What was the scariest moment of your life?
I nearly drown in a river. I went back to college as an adult and we had to take water samples for our science class. I was in hip waders that were too large for me. The instructor had just finished telling us how a man had drown in that spot a few weeks before because the current was so strong and not to go into the water until we were further up river. The ledge gave way under my feet. Luckily I fell backward, instead of into the water. I was able to grab onto some reeds. Unfortunately, I couldn't pull myself up because the oversized waders extended in the current and were pulling me into the water. All of the cowardly men in my class ran away, and two women in the 40's and 50's crawled to the edge and saved my life. The reeds were pulling out at the time that they grabbed my arms. I still thank God for those two women. My daughter wasn't even a year old at the time and I remember thinking, Please God let me see her grow up. I still get anxious when I'm near rushing water. Now, that's enough of the heavy questions let's talk about something fun!
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be Loretta Lynn. I remember seeing her briefly in Nashville, and then seeing her bus and I SOOOO wanted to grow up to be Loretta Lynne. She wore pretty dresses and had big hair. Sigh, turns out only she can be Loretta Lynne, and I look terrible in big hair, and long dresses make me look like someone cut me off at the knees. Now I'm happy to be me.
How do you describe your writing style?
Fun, fast-paced and funny, which seems incongruous for mysteries but it works for me. I am accidently funny in real life. That comes from telling the truth, and saying what's on my mind. I tend to see the world from a completely different angle than everyone else and it comes out as funny, so that's how I write.
Do you use a pen name? If so, how did you come up with it?
No this is my real name. When I got married I added the Case portion to Stacy Verdick. Everyone thinks that it's a cute little play on verdict but nope that's my name. I once had woman say to me, "Your name would be perfect for a mystery writer." That was just after my first book came out and I laughed and said, "You're not going to believe this but . . ." Then it was another 10 minutes before I convinced her that it was in fact my real name. Life's funny like that.
Do you hear from your readers? What kinds of questions do they ask?
Yes, and I love it! Please keep contacting me. That way I know I'm not writing in a vacuum. Most of the questions I get are about what's going to happen to the characters. Will Louise and Digs ever get together. What's going to happen with Catherine and Gavin. I feel bad because I'm a complete pantser so I have no idea what's going to happen until I write it.
Have you ever read or seen yourself as a character in a book or movie?
Every single one. LOL. I walk out of every single a**kicking movie cocky and ready to beat someone up I'm so into it. My husband knows when I'm reading a really juicy romance novel too, because I am that into the book! Stories are my escape and I allow myself to be drawn in as far as I can. I'm not happy when I don't connect to a story on that level. That's usually when I spend the movies pointing out plot devises that give away the ending of the story. It just ruins it for everyone. If I don't connect to a book I stop reading. There are too many good books out there to spend a lot of time trying to get into a book. I used to, but not anymore.
Have any of your characters been modeled after yourself?
My sister says Catherine is me. I guess that's true to a certain extent. I do dress her in things I like to wear and she has my coffee addiction, but the other characters are me too. I've peppered my personality and my likes and dislikes into each of the reoccurring characters I write. Louise's blue cheese addiction – GUILTY! Digs' gadget obsession . . . yep, got that too! They all have a little of my DNA sprinkled in them. I am their creator after all.
An Intimate Murder
by Stacy Verdick Case
A Catherine O'Brien Mystery.
When Jonathan and Susan Luther are murdered in their home, St. Paul homicide detective Catherine O'Brien and her partner Louise discover this isn't the first time the Luther family has been visited by tragedy. Is it a case of bad family luck or is there something more?
I locked eyes with her and wished, not for the first time in my life, that I had telekinetic abilities. If I had, I could mentally disembowel Jane Katts. That's probably why God never blessed me with that particular gift.
"Hello Detective." Jane Katts' tone was overly pleasant. She must have trumped me in some way and now she's was just waiting for me to concede the trick.
"Close the door behind you, O'Brien." The chief rocked back in his chair and smiled.
There was nothing in his smile except pleasantry, which made me more nervous than the one Jane Katts had given me. A broad smile was so alien on the Chief's face that I was certain that Jane Katts had managed to pull a switcheroo and replace the chief with a pod person of her own design; one who is not hard-edged and sand-papery as I have come to expect but instead soft, with as much grit as a nail file.
"I'm afraid there's not enough chairs so one of you will have to stand." The smiley version of our chief of police said.
I braced my feet a shoulder width apart and crossed my arms over my chest, I preferred to stand for whatever nasty surprise Jane Katts had in store for me.
Louise sat and introduced herself to Jane. They exchanged a handshake.
"Ms. Katts is the reporter who asked for the exclusive interview."
He glossed over the detail about her being the reporter who had engaged in a calculated smear campaign against the department.
"She would like to change the angle of her story to get more of an inside view." The chief's eyes cut to my face and I saw a hint of the real chief behind whatever hoodoo Jane Katts had performed on him.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Stacy Verdick Case was born in Willmar, Minnesota. After a brief stint as a military brat, where she lived in Fort Sill Oklahoma and Fort Campbell, Kentucky, her family moved back to Minnesota.
Stacy has written all her life earning a High School Writer Award and a Daphne Du Mauier Award for excellence in Mainstream Mystery/Suspense.
Stacy currently lives in a suburb of St. Paul with her husband of twenty-years, her five-year-old daughter, and their two cats.
An Intimate Murder is the third book in the Catherine O'Brien series.
Visit Stacy on the web: www.StacyVerdickCase.com
Twitter @SVerdickCase
Stacy will award a $50 Barnes and Noble GC to one winner, and a signed ARC of An Intimate Murder (US only) to two randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during this tour and her review tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway


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Promising Titles: Starfarer and Xenonauts
Today I'll be doing a double update on another two promising titles. Let's start with Starfarer. Starfarer is a space strategy game with RPG influences. Eventually the game will have an sandbox galaxy in which you can raise a fleet and go on mining operations, trade or fight your way to richdom and fame. The game's graphical style looks quite a lot like SPAZ (Space Pirates and Zombies) which was also a (somewhat) sandboxy space warfare title. While fun, SPAZ doesn't have the in depth fighting mechanics that Starfarer has. There is a alpha version available right now at a discounted price and you'll receive any updates for free. I would've liked the combat to be a bit slower, but that's mostly because I just prefer heavy shootouts with very bulky ships and loads of lasers. The game will have mod support for new weapons, ships and mission so we might even see slower and bulkier ships in the game that way. There is a video below which will explain and show you more.
The second title is Xenonauts which is basically an improved remake of the original X-Com. For any of you that don't know X-Com, it's one of the best turn based strategy games ever made. Xenonauts has been in development for some time now and it was one of the very few games to look forward to as X-Com fan. Especially since 2K announced the new X-Com game to be a FPS (bloody idiots). Only recently Firaxis decided to make a true new X-Com game. I'm not sure if this will hurt the sales of Xenonauts since they are now not the only X-Com game out there and the one made by Firaxis will have a much higher production value. So make sure not to ignore the great work done by the guys behind Xenonauts. Xenonauts also has a alpha version available at a lower price right now. There's also a video below showing you more about the game. Both videos are from TotalBiscuit which is quite possibly the best youtube channel for PC gamers.


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Energy rips through the dirt. Buildings collapse like a tired boxer in the eighth round. Trees are swept off their feet as if were nothing. At the Earth's center remains Kruxe, displacing the ground with sonic destruction. If you want to live come with us.
MP3 :: Kruxe - TRE/\/\ORS


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Matthew 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Luke 12:33 Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
Revelation 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
Praise God! I know just how quickly He meant now!
I sincerely forgive you sir and I do hope that you will find eternal life through Jesus Christ.
Romans 10:9,10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
You would'nt have to steal from others ever again...
Proverbs 8:21 That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.
Proverbs 10:22 The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.
John 14:2,3 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
I am so glad that we got our van back. I praise God for it's safe return!


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Here are my newest blog giveaway winners! Congrats everyone, please check your emails and reply soon!
Five Little Bunnies book giveaway: #19 Mindi!
NOVICA gift card giveaway: #104 royalegacy!
Snapily card giveaway: #3 Candace!
This was sooo hard to choose a winner, if I could, I'd give you all an XO Laptop! My XO Laptop giveaway is karenmed409 for giving back in many wonderful ways! Congrats!!


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Sirius, the dog star, swims up there in the late-summer sky, innocent and unconcerned—but brings the dog days, hot and still, all kinds of bad mischief right below boiling point—or lazy, washed out, finished with all temper and fervor. Or one more: Can you hear Nat "King" Cole cheerfully sprinting through those lazy hazy crazy days of summer ("those days of soda and pretzels and beer"), the brutal heat forgiven in happy cornball song? So, before autumn slips in to steal away August, it's doom or gloom or one last hurrah—and movies for each.
There's an old Ray Bradbury story—"Touched by Fire"—that offers a theory: at ninety-two degrees Fahrenheit, people become homicidal. Almost forty years later, Spike Lee watches that same mercury rise in Do the Right Thing (1990). Everything in the movie is hot, from the colors to the characters, all of them impossible to touch without getting burned.
In Danny Boyle's Sunshine (2007), the sun is dying—but he brings us close, and it pulses off the screen, too bright to look at, so big we can't see the curve of its rim. And the closer you get, the more beautiful and dangerous it becomes, a fatally ecstatic summer whose end no one wants to see.
Speaking of locales with an endless summer, the list of desert movies can stretch from The Female of the Species (1912; a "A Psychological Tragedy" set amid the "purple sage") and Erich von Stroheim's Greed (1925; its desert arriving in the finale, where the titular sin turns deadly in—where else?—Death Valley) to Sahara (1943), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and the bizarre The King Is Alive (2000), in which stranded bus passengers decide to pass what time they have left by staging King Lear; talk about your blasted heaths. But when I was nine years old, The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)—until it reached its feel-that-cool-breeze climax—knocked the breath out of me with its parched desperation, reducing life to some sand and wreckage, with a few sparks of hope not nearly as bright as the uncaring sun.
Despite the preceding, for most of us the phrase "dog days" is mainly about laying low, allowing August to blow its hot air while we half-slumber in the shade, too tired to do much, including complain. There is a kind of grandeur in laziness, as appreciated by "The Stranger" (Sam Elliott—and I'll never get tired of his voice) in The Big Lebowski (1998), who acknowledges that "The Dude," Jeffrey Lebowski (another perfectly sloppy Jeff Bridges performance), is not only a lazy man but "quite possibly the laziest in all of Los Angeles County, which would place him high in the runnin' for laziest worldwide." Caught in a hardboiled thriller, The Dude shuffles along in his quest to restore his rug—because, man, "it really tied the room together"—and to bowl his way into the semifinals. The Dude abides.
The Big Lebowski is set in the early '90s, and if that half-decade taught Americans anything, it was how to slack off. And at the movies, the owner's manual for slacking is, of course, Richard Linklater's Slacker (1991), which meanders from one twentysomething to another as they amble and talk, semi-work and almost-think, content to let Austin's heat beat down unnoticed, as they run into one another—although "run" is definitely too strong a term—and let everything slump to a halt. As one of them observes, "Who's ever written a great work about the immense effort required in order not to create?"
Before September changes everything, the dog days offer one more chance to live it up. In his original review of The Endless Summer (1966), Roger Ebert calls it "91 minutes of wish fulfillment." Filmmaker Bruce Brown and his two surfers (Mike Hynson and Robert August—I kid you not) decide one month is not enough, and bum around the world, looking for—and finding—the "perfect wave," all the while passing through sublime landscapes with a gee-whiz jokiness that manages to catch like a wave the laid-back heart of surfing.
Of course, one really shouts a last hurrah when it seems there's little time left. Last Holiday (2006; the 1950 Ealing Studios version with Alec Guinness is not available on DVD) offers the irresistible Queen Latifah setting off for the Grand Hotel Pupp near Prague to doll herself up, cook like a Food Network diva, and generally brighten everyone's day. She brings enough honesty to the role that you barely notice that the movie's a lightweight, and simply root for the Queen.
Well, I can't leave the dog days without mentioning an actual dog—and my favorite is My Dog Skip (2000), an earnest evocation of the Good Old Days whose plot contrivances and aw-shucks dialogue are redeemed by the performances—Diane Lane and Kevin Bacon as the parents, Frankie Muniz as the lonely boy saved by his dog (with Luke Wilson as the feet-of-clay hometown hero), and of course Skip himself (played by numerous dogs, among them Moose, who was also Eddie on the TV series Frasier), a Jack Russell to the bone, eternally aware and eager. The affection he gives and receives is as fitting an end to August as we could ask, finite but lasting, socked away for next summer.


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It's gut-wrenching to wake up in the morning and learn that another violent spree has occurred inside the land of the free and the home of the brave–especially when these attacks include children. Unfortunately, gun violence and violence in general are on their way to becoming the norm for American citizens. We are becoming numb to it, and that is the most tragic fact of all.
What's even harder to take in than someone's violent acts against undeserving people is watching the way the media reacts to these events (which ultimately influences people's reactions the way the culture responds). Within hours, pundits and the media take one of two sides: one side attacks the Second Amendment and thinks a world without guns is a world without violence; the other side attacks violent video games and movies and claim this is what makes people violent. Both are, of course, ignorant and misguided.
The Dirties was a 2013 Canadian film distributed by Phase 4 Films and The Kevin Smith Movie Club. It dealt with the school shooting phenomenon head on. It didn't do it in a typical Hollywood fashion where it preached to the audience or tried to present characters in a contrived way. The Dirties was the first movie to present a realistic look at what makes a young person violent and what makes our culture so distant and removed from the real issues.
Matt Johnson directed and starred in his own feature (he made it while he was in film school). He plays Matt and his best friend is Owen (Owen Williams). They are two high school outcasts that love movies and dream of the days when they can leave high school and really start their lives. The two are never brought across as saints or representations of larger points in any way (looking at you, Fruitvale Station). The two are just quirky guys that can't find their place in the world. They're funny, they're young and they're confused.
The rest of the high school is very much like any other high school in America (they shot in an actual school with real students). There are bullies, cliques, etc. Nothing is ever symbolic in The Dirties. What makes the scenes where Owen and Matt are bullied so powerful is the fact that they are recognizable to anyone that has ever stepped foot in a high school, especially a public high school.
Matt and Owen are trying to make a movie about two guys that decide to go after "the dirties" who are supposed to be gangsters and all around bad people. After showing the flick in their film class, Matt and Owen are bullied even more. Their creativity and differences are seen as weird and strange instead of unique or the product of talent. Owen moves on rather quickly, but Matt begins losing touch with reality as he recognizes his school "bullies" as the real "dirties."
Matt begins pitching Owen a new movie where "the dirties" are really the bullies of their school and they are two outcasts that kill them all in a strange violent fantasy. The problem is that the further Matt goes with his planning, the more we worry he may be planning more than a movie.
The Dirties presents two friends and one kid's inability to deal with the ostracization that often goes hand in hand with high school. The film never attacks bullies (the media needs to learn the old adage that two wrongs don't make a right), violent video games and movies (someone is not influenced by violent media unless they are already unstable) or guns (even director Johnson has said that the idea of taking people's "toys" away will make a difference is absurd). The movie's real point is to show someone's progression from innocent and funny kid to school shooter. It humanizes the school shooter without ever sympathizing or celebrating him, which is a difficult feat.
Beyond being the most important and smartest movie of 2013, The Dirties was a groundbreaking achievement on a film-making level as well. The film plays with the "found footage" theme and builds layer upon layer on the story with what seems like ease. We see the movie Owen and Matt are making for school, the movie Matt is supposedly planning on making and the actual relationship between the two friends all spliced together. We feel ourselves losing touch with reality as strongly as Matt is as the story progresses although we are never thrown into his perspective for the sake of exploitative art. We are detached and shown everything from a camera held by an unknown third party.
Watching The Dirties is an experience that will stick with you. It was the greatest film of 2013 because it broke new ground as both a film and as art in that it was an examination of a culture that breeds violent young people who aren't accepted or given enough room to blossom into their own unique persons.
Most conservatives can agree that the issue of school shootings and large scale violent acts is an issue that can't be solved with a law change or another restriction on citizens. The real issue is one the simple minded media will most likely never be able to accept: it's a cultural matter that can only change if we choose to change as a culture and as a people. The issue begins with the way our young people are taught in school and the way certain aspects of personality are ostracized, and it also touches on the way young people are taught to treat each other.
The Dirties was the first movie to show the issue for what it is. It's also one of the most gut-wrenching and powerful films I've ever seen because we know what the movie is really about even as we fall in love with two funny and young characters and get swept back up in the issues of youth.


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I'm trying so hard to make delicious low cal and low fat recipes that picker eaters will enjoy. This is a trick considering someone I know ONLY likes, no loves, no demands (in a nice way) wings, pizza, burgers, spaghetti, rice, potatoes, fries or mac 'n' cheese. I see that look on your face, you're saying "what no veggies?" unless it is corn or collard greens, no veggies. Oh and corn is a starch, not a vegetable.
Thankfully Potato May will eat almost anything. So I have to prepare myself salads on a regular basis and I do prepare other vegetables for us. I will also prepare something for myself when they are out and I KNOW they won't eat it. Like a nice piece of salmon and some citrus slaw for example.
Surprisingly they ate this, after scrapeing off the capers (because they are "green") LOL but the chicken and potatoes were deliciously packed with flavor.
Easy recipe:
roasting pan
cooking spray or a tsp of coconut oil to rub over the pan
4 legs
4 thighs
a small jar of capers, drained
a lemon, 2 slices, juice the halves
4-6 medium red potatoes cut into chunks
10 fresh cloves crushed garlic
2 TBSP rosemary
fresh cracked black pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Stir together the olive oil, lemon juice, capers, s slices of lemon, garlic, rosemary and pepper do this is a large bowl or gallon zip top bag, add in the chicken and mix well. Rub to coat.
Dump on the greased roasting pan, toss in the potatoes and bake for 45 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes and serve with fresh baked bread or rolls and a nice salad.


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