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Richard Spencer
In Aleppo a few months ago, we asked the driver ferrying me and a couple of other journo types around what the city was like before the war. "Well," he said, "I lived here, as I had a job here, but I'm not actually from here. I'm from the countryside, so the locals used to call me and the people where I lived X." X was an Arabic word none of the foreigners recognised, but its meaning was pretty clear. When someone finally checked, its closest English version was something like "blockhead", but as someone who grew up in Somerset I had already substituted my own version – bumpkin, or bog-dweller, or (showing my age) wurzel.
He wasn't a rebel, but he was friends with some of them from his home town, which was how we came to hire him. Now I'm not the first person to point out that there is a rural-urban divide in the Syrian civil war, but it's worth a reminder. When rebels moved in and took half of Aleppo in July, they took the poorer, lower-middle and working-class districts, those where jobseekers like our driver lived. The more sophisticated northern parts remain in regime hands to this day. There is the same divide in Damascus, where most of the city itself is in regime hands while the outer suburbs and country areas are controlled by rebels. Both in Aleppo itself and across the country the rebels are more likely to come from the provinces, villages and small and medium size towns, than the sophisticated metropolises, and some rebel leaders are openly contemptuous – perhaps in revenge for never forgotten "blockhead" taunts from the past – of the city slickers who failed to join the uprising in outrage at the Assad regime's brutal response to protests.
This rather simple fact is being forgotten as the West tries to address the crisis, and particularly when people talk about Syria "before" and "after" the war. Throughout the conflict, I've read journalists and experts write about the Syria of "before" as a "secular" state, where people weren't particularly religious, where women wandered the streets at night alone, and hipsters drank in western bars and nightclubs. All sects and ethnicities mixed happily. There's a kernel of truth there but it's misleading, and it's aggravated by the fact that the worst offenders, whether pro- or anti-regime, or somewhere in the middle, are often those foreigners who know the country best: after all, they lived and worked, studied Arabic and socialised, largely in smart areas of Aleppo and Damascus where those statements are more likely to be true. Even The Economist, which in the current edition has an excellent and gloomy overview of the mess Syria is in, falls into this trap, talking nostalgically of the time Muslims and Christians lived side by side in peace as church bells and muezzins filled the air over Damascus's Old City. Few of the original protesters were very devout, it says.
What this neglects is that a large part of Syria – largely the parts that have driven the revolution – were not so visible to the outsider. From my experience (even much earlier in the war) of provincial towns and villages, they were often divided by faith, with "shia villages" separate from "Sunni" and "Christian" ones. That doesn't mean they didn't get on, but everyone knew who was who. Likewise, in these places, you certainly don't see young women "hanging out". A general form of segregation is observed in Sunni areas – male journalists put up in local houses kept well apart from the women – and young men pray diligently and regularly. Moreover, while few talked openly about the sectarian divide before the revolution, that may have been because it was so important, not because it was unimportant. Nearly half a century of Baath party had totally inverted the historic sectarian order, in which Alawites (the sect of the Assads) were at the bottom of the pile, with the sect's leaders now occupying the key positions of state, and controlling much of its wealth. The effects of the Alawites' change of fortune were felt particularly in places like Homs and Hama, where poor Alawites were given land and encouraged to move, setting up the horrible sectarian clashes that have emerged in these areas.
Moreover, the regime, while claiming to be "secular", played a strange game of footsie with radical Islamists, not only allowing al-Qaeda to operate from and through the country in its highly sectarian attacks in neighbouring Iraq, but also allowing and encouraging some Islamist groups that it thought could be a counterweight to its great historical enemy, the Muslim Brotherhood. Of course, that bizarre hypocrisy has now turned round to bite. Jabhat al-Nusra's core is Syrian men who fought with al-Qaeda in Iraq. Among the revolution's most powerful leaders on the ground, Abdulqader Saleh al-Hajji, known as "Hajji Marea", head of the most powerful Brigade in Aleppo, the Tawhid, and vice-head of the revolutionary command council, was before the war a missionary for Dawa, a state-backed Sunni evangelical group, and travelled widely, including to Islamist-full Dagestan. ("Tawhid" itself, which means Unity, in a religious context refers to the "Oneness" of God and, in politics, to the importance of an Islamist, not secular state – division of religion and state clearly being an offence to Oneness.)
There is no doubt that the jihadists of Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham are sponsored by salafis in the Gulf and full of foreign fighters, and it serves both pro- and anti-regime forces well to emphasise this, the former to cast the revolution in the most hideous light it can, the latter to say that the revolution's Islamism is imported from Saudi Arabia and other fundamentalist places. It's also true to say, with the latter, that the "Islamism" is growing, and to a considerable extent because of the West's failure to back the rebels with weapons and other military support. But in fact the demand for a more religious society is indigenous to large parts of Syria, as it is to Egypt and other Middle Eastern states that have been in the grip of "secular" (actually, just hypocritical) dictatorships. For provincial types, "secular" has come to mean flashy, worldly, corrupt and finally brutal, and for them Sharia means a more honest and decent society, as much as anything else. This is not a good thing – I wouldn't want to be an ambitious young woman growing up in Syria today, or one of the many perfectly decent, god-fearing middle-aged Muslim men I know who like a quiet tipple of Scotch before bedtime – but they will be victims of the dictators' dishonesty and refusal to reform as much as of Saudi fundamentalists.
This does not of course help the outside world, whether the "West" or Russia or Iran or the UN, decide what it wants to do about the mess. The White House is said to be reconsidering its opposition to arming the "good rebels", though what that means when Hajji Marea, officially a "good" rebel, is in open alliance with the "bad" Jabhat al-Nusra, is hard to say. But it is worth recalling once again that both Washington and Moscow might never have faced this dilemma were it not for years of support for horrible regimes that it mistakenly thought were at least non-sectarian and secular.


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It was quite excting when I saw that Alisa from blog "Finding" was going to start a Mug Swap. Now I had seen many of these happening in blog-land, but usually overseas, and to participate in those usually meant hefty postage fees to get your mug/package there! Great, one for us bloggers here in good ol' New Zealand! so yes I signed up right away.
The next week I got to know who was going to receive my Mugswap, and it was Heather from blog : "This Mum Rocks".
I rocked on over to Heathers blog and had a read... she sounded like a real cool chick. From Canada, married to a Kiwi guy, Mummy, Blogger, and right into Op-shopping. I also saw she liked orange (like my good pal Tracy).
So Kendyl and I set out putting together a package. You know we searched and searched for a really "COOL" orange mug.... but all the ones we found were pretty "blah". I was going to get a really cool travel mug and fill it with bits and pieces, but again all the ones I found were pretty "blah". I looked online even, but the cool ones were going to take a while to get to me... and I wanted it pretty much NOW.
So after about the 4th attempt at looking for an orange mug my 4yr old was nigh on melt down...and she said to me... "can we just get a purple one?? I hate orange mugs!" Great idea! We found one that we both agreed on, and this set the "colour theme" for our package.

subset: commoncrawl


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One of the problems with the Christian Gospel is that it must somehow reconcile the idea of a loving heavenly Father with the idea that unbelievers go to hell, even though they're supposedly God's children and a truly loving father would not send his kids to eternal torment. Without a Hell to be saved from, however, we really don't need a Savior, and thus the whole gospel story falls apart.
Writing for the "Answers in a Nutshell" section of the Tektonics Apogetics Ministries web site, James Patrick Holding tackles this issue in the "Nutshell" commentary on Atonement. It's a good example of the kind of backwards thinking Christians use to try and rationalize away the inconsistencies in their story, so I thought I'd give it a quick look.
First of all, let me clarify what I mean by "backwards thinking" and how it compares to "forward thinking." In forward thinking, you look at something and say, "If this is true, then what real-world consequences should happen as a result?" You start with a cause, and then work your way forward to the effect that should result. But what if the results you find don't match the results you expect? You can do one of two things: you can change what you think the cause is, and do the forward-thinking bit again, or you can start with the observed result and work backwards and say, "What would it take to make my preferred cause produce the observed effect?"
Backwards thinking, in other words, is simply rationalization. Things didn't turn out the way they should have if what you say is true, so you try and retrofit some new idea on top of your original theory in order to make your original claim produce the right results. This is similar to the way scientists modify their theories when they find new data, except that it omits the part where you discard the parts of your theory that didn't work out. In backwards thinking, you never admit that any of your original dogmas were wrong, you just retrofit some additional, new idea intended to account for the inconsistencies.
Now then, on to the Atonement:
How did Jesus dying on the cross save us from our sins? And why did he have to die for our sins at all? Here's a simple way of explaining it:
- All sin is an offense against God.
- All offenses require payment of a price.
- Jesus paid that price.
A deeper understanding will require more explanation. The people who lived in the time of the Bible valued honor, which means, they valued how others looked at them. Today most people in the world still value honor more than anything else, though people in Western societies are an exception.
Because God makes the rules, and is the most honorable being in existence, when we break His rules, we insult His honor. We say in essence, "You are not deserving to make rules. I do not pay any attention to you." When we sin we disregard God's authority and say He has and deserves no honor. Since this is untrue, a punishment is required, and the matching punishment is shame, the opposite of honor. And thus we cannot stand in His presence. (See more on this in entry on Hell.)
When Jesus was crucified, he underwent the most shameful treatment a person could have had in that time and place. But because he was deity, his own honor value was as high as God's. And so he paid the only price that would satisfy an "honor insult" to the God who was of greatest honor — giving up his own greatest honor for our sake, and being "shamed" in our place.
Notice first of all that Holding is bolting on an entirely extra-biblical framework for interpreting the Bible. There's nothing in the Bible about "honor" being more important to God than the eternal salvation of His own children, nor does the Bible say anything about sin being an insult to God's "honor." According to the Bible, the rules say that the payment for sin is death, not shame. (And, incidentally, the Bible says that at the Final Judgment, God will condemn those who have already died and who, technically, have paid for their own sins, since they've died. But God, the Loving Father, condemns them anyway!)
Notice too that, as Holding himself points out, it is people who value honor. This is because "honor" (or "respect" or "status") has a lot to do with how much power one has in society. It's a direct result of the fact that we are not immortal and omnipotent, and therefore our safety and well-being depends on maintaining a good relationship with our peers. Whoever harms our honor (or social status) causes us actual harm.
Now, if God truly were an immortal, omniscient, and omnipotent being, His status would be unassailable and invulnerable. It would not be possible for us to diminish His status as Lord God Almighty by any effort of our own, sinful or not. In fact, if He would only show up in the real world, we would not even be able to be a bad influence on others, at least as far as God's honor were concerned.
More than this, Holding's explanation is backwards thinking. He's got a premise ("God is a loving Father") and an inconsistent consequence ("God sends most of His children into eternal suffering") and so he's trying to retrofit some kind of honor system in order to reconcile the alleged cause with the inconsistent effect. If we use forward thinking, it's easy to see that the consequences ought to be different.
For example, suppose God were all-knowing, all-loving, and all-powerful, and that He also placed a high value on His own honor. Since everything is easy for God, it would be easy for Him to offer us choices between multiple good alternatives, allowing us to develop our free will without ever impugning His honor. Or He could behave like any responsible parent, and intervene whenever He sees us about to do something that will ultimately cause us (eternal) harm, and thus prevent the insult to His honor from happening in the first place. What would happen (if God were loving and omniscient) is quite different from what supposedly does happen.
Of course, that's assuming that we even could insult God's honor, which as I alluded to before manifests an insultingly low opinion of the unassailable glory of God's invincible dignity and power. Yes, we as humans can insult and vilify that which is more noble than ourselves, but to assert that mere human insults have the power to stain God's robes and darken His glory–that is not just nonsense, but blasphemy. When you complain about a real God (like Alethea!), it does not diminish the God, it merely exposes you as a whiner. The loss of honor is yours, not God's.
Grieving disciples found the idea of "atonement" an appealing balm for the loss they felt when Jesus died, and so they made it the central idea of Christianity. But it's all backwards thinking, and leads to a fragmented story whose inconsistencies and contradictions tell us quite plainly that this is not the truth.


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Still Life
Wes Clark's beautiful but sneaky bio ad.
"Story" was produced for Clark for President by Joe Slade White and Co. Inc. To watch the ad on the Clark campaign Web site, click here and choose your preferred format and download speed. For a transcript of the ad, click
From: William Saletan
To: Jacob Weisberg
How do I love this ad? Let me count the ways.
I love it because it's a story. It doesn't simply characterize the candidate or organize his merits in the form of an argument. It starts with something immediately compelling—the Vietnam battle for which Clark won his Silver Star—and proceeds through the arc of his career. Clark doesn't appear in civilian dress until more than halfway through. It's the story of a soldier, not a politician.
The ad doesn't rush the viewer. It doesn't try to cram a maximum of words and images into 30 seconds, as many ads do. It relies on still black-and-white photographs, giving you eight seconds to absorb the first scene—an unheard-of commitment in television time—and three to five seconds to absorb each of the rest. I like the attitude this commercial reflects: If you can't do the job right in 30 seconds, take 60.
Some campaigns think they have to use motion and color just because television permits it. But what if motion and color are part of the blur you're trying to cut through? Sometimes the best way to catch people's ears is to whisper. And sometimes the best way to catch their eyes is to show them something still, simple, and powerful, a reprieve from the chaos of the medium.
The narration matches the ad's spirit. "Wes Clark's life is simply an American story," says the narrator as you follow the story, forgetting momentarily that it's a political ad. "His actions speak more eloquently than words," says the narrator as you absorb the pictures and barely notice the words. "A quiet, real American courage," says the narrator as the scene quietly shifts from one reality after another. Only one word emerges on screen to summarize the pictures: "responsibility." The word stays there for four seconds, white on black, unencumbered by imagery, and no words follow to wash it out. The point isn't to stuff your head full of words. The point is to leave your head alone so this one word sticks.
The risk most people associate with electing a general to the presidency is authoritarianism. The ad does a nice job of dissolving that concern, too. As the narrator says, "Now, when we need a leader," the screen shows Clark smiling with his hand on the shoulder of a soldier, looking more collegial than bossy. Later, as the narrator says Clark "liberated a people," the screen shows Clark swept up in a joyous crowd of what appear to be Kosovar Albanians. He isn't standing before them or above them. He's one of them. As the setting shifts from battlefields to classrooms and town halls, the pictures continue to show the friendly general on a level with, or even slightly below, those whom he seeks to lead. The message is: Real leadership doesn't need trappings.
From: Jacob Weisberg
To: William Saletan
Keep your shirt on! I'll admit this is an effective bio spot. That orchestral music playing under the voice-over made my spine tingle. Stories of military heroism are always stirring, even if Clark milks his pretty shamelessly here:
The first bullet shattered his hand ... (strings) ... the second and third hit his shoulder and leg (snare drums). As he hit the jungle floor, he rallied the troops and directed the firefight ... (helicopter over string crescendo).
This feels like the opening sequence of Platoon. In their respective presidential campaigns, Bob Kerrey and John McCain at least feigned a bit of reluctance about touting the intimate details of their Vietnam heroics. This Clark guy doesn't hold back! The message here is pretty blunt: Vote for me, I'm a war hero.
But what really bothers me about this ad is the conflict it points to in Clark's views about military intervention. The argument of this spot is that Clark can get us out of the mess in Iraq because he fixed Kosovo. "In the Balkans," the narrator says, "... [Clark] led a multinational force that stopped a campaign of terror, liberated a people, and brought peace without the loss of a single American soldier" (flash to black-and-white still photo of Clark being embraced by liberated Kosovars). Clark does deserve immense credit for what he accomplished in the Balkans, working through NATO. As Fred Kaplan reminds us, Clark's drive to stop the genocide in Kosovo in 1999 pitted him against Secretary of Defense William Cohen and most of the U.S. military brass. That was a brave stance, and it has been vindicated by subsequent developments.
It leaves, however, a big question about Clark's principles when it comes to humanitarian military intervention. Why did his determination to fight on humanitarian grounds in Kosovo not extend to Iraq? In the scale of his despotism, Saddam Hussein was Stalin to Milosevic's Mussolini. Saddam's efforts at ethnic cleansing and repression were bigger and more vicious than anything Milosevic was capable of. Clark objects to the way Bush went about making war on Iraq, and so do I. But everything Clark says now is calculated to leave the impression, true or not, that he wouldn't have used the military to end the humanitarian and human rights catastrophe in Iraq.
What distinguishes these two instances of humanitarian intervention isn't principle, but politics. Kosovo was Clark's war. Iraq is Bush's. The general's self-serving use of one war to flay his enemy for the other is hardly shocking. Yet I resent this ad for trying to wash the contradiction away with swelling violins.


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This past Monday I awoke to some incredibly upsetting news. My good friend, Nanette had just completed a procedure to biopsy a lump in her breast. Immediately I had a lump in my throat. My eyes stung. I was shocked. Unbelieving actually. How this happens to the one person I know in Austin who epitomizes best for me, what it means to live in Austin I have no idea.
Living in Austin, Texas means many things. Nanette and others over the past ten years have reached out to me in friendship. It's the main reason Austin is the amazing place it is. The people. They're gregarious, friendly, caring, courteous, generous, intelligent, respectful and loving. They're my neighbors, coworkers, friends, shop keepers, grocery store clerks. They're people just like me who searched for Austin exhaustively until we found our home.
So naturally when one of the best examples of a human being I have the honor to know posts on her blog about how she's going to kick cancer in the ass, all I can do is stare in awe. If it'd been me diagnosed with a life-threatening disease, there'd be all kinds of denial, anger and depression (most likely). Then after I'd taken a figurative psychic dump, MAYBE I could begin to function normally.
I was at Galaxy Cafe on Tuesday for a Co-working Jelly. I'd just arrived and Nanette came in at the same time. It was a relief to see her as she always appears, in a hip-chic outfit (That day it was a dress). She was so poised and relaxed on the exterior. I knew inside her mind was churning. There were a thousand questions to answer. How long will this treatment phase last? How were her children? Was everyone being nice because she told them she'd gotten ill? What were the test results going to reveal?
In the end, Nanette decided she couldn't sit at home and WAIT passively. That's just not her style. For example, her friends in Austin encouraged her to use social media to boost her real estate business. In a short time she's demonstrated publicly via SM why she's been successful in the industry thus far. Her blog is one I read regularly. The posts are often insightful, pointing out beautiful elements of Austin or life I may have missed.
Nanette is a long-time volunteer at SxSW, organizes the music for the Austin Marathon and generally makes herself of service to the local music community. Her business name, Rocknrealty describes Nan to a T.
There's no way Nanette's going to let something like this slow her down. If you read her post, you know the attitude she's taken towards the challenge presented is one to admire. It is graceful as well. In today's world, we could all use more grace.
I ask of you, reader, only one thing. That when you have a quiet minute during this long holiday weekend, that you think of my friend, Nanette and others battling cancer. Say a prayer for her. She deserves our love and support.
UPDATE: Nanette is having surgery this week. For some reason, she was on my mind more than usual last week while I was wrapping up a business trip in Las Vegas. I believe it was because she was dealing with this new reality as she has from the start, with her characteristic grace and wit.
I'll be praying for the best possible outcome as I have since learning of Nan's diagnosis. Join me friends. Namaste.


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"But speaking the truth in love [in all things—both our speech and our lives expressing His truth], let us grow up in all things into Him [following His example] who is the Head—Christ."
Ephesians 4:15 (AMP)
Speaking the truth to someone about something is not easy at times. However when one speaks the truth there are benefits to be had. One, you engage that part of you that wants to do the right thing. Two, you are more likely to not hold on to resentments because you have confronted the issues or concerns even though you may have felt uncomfortable. Three, it's a built in spiritual principle that leads and satisfies our longing to be more Christ like in our nature or closer to Him.
All that said, it's important that one have the right motivation and attitude when speaking the truth. Let me add here that speaking the truth may or may not coincide with your personal truth.
Ephesians 4:15 reminds us to speak the truth in love. That love is the agape kind of love not the kind of love that pushes a self interested or dysfunctional agenda. In the epistle to the Ephesians the writer is warning them about the kind of truth telling some do who are not Christians. There is of course a big difference.
I invite you to speak the truth with agape love. Let that truth spoken with love release you from the bondage of self, resentment, fear, discouragement and negativity
Blessings and Peace,
Barbara J Couch, MDiv.


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"Nothing worth having is captured and mastered overnight. It takes time and energy. You need to develop the dogged determination and the endurance to go the distance and become a winner. The drive to persist and persevere is fueled by the initial vision…" – Dr. Woody Johnson
You need to know when the trend is your friend and when it's not; when you'll do what others are doing and when you'll not do what they're doing. According to Joe Ross, the key is to know when to follow the crowd and when to go against it. The crowd is usually right, until a turning point occurs. When virtually everyone has taken the position that the market is headed in a particular direction, there are few traders left to push the trend further. At that point, a countertrend initiates and moves the market in the opposite direction. The challenge is predicting when that turning point will occur, anticipating it, and developing a trading plan to capitalize on it. Now, this all sounds easy in theory, but in practice, it is difficult to implement a trading strategy to capitalize on this cycle. How can you predict the turning point? Some say it is almost impossible. All you can do is develop a sound method that works most of the time, but also admit that it may [sometimes, but not always] fail.
Below is the summary of some of my trading activities this week.
Primary Trend: Bullish
The bearish correction that happened from May 2 – 5, 2011, was followed by a bullish continuation from May 6 – 10; and yet another bearish correction has been in place since May 11. This condition made me got stopped out with some profit.
Order: Sell
Entry date: May 3, 2011
Entry price: 1.0913
Stop loss: 1.1113
Trailing stop: 1.0705
Take profit: 1.0317
Exit date: May 6, 2011
Exit price: 1.0705
Status: Closed
Profit/loss: 208 pips
Primary trend: Bullish
Instead of bearish corrections followed by bullish continuations, this pair has been in a clear equilibrium zone since May 5, 2011. But there's a greater probability that the uptrend would soon continue, and when it does, it'll be nice to find a good way of going long.
Order: Sell
Entry date: April 27, 2011
Entry price: 0.8063
Stop loss: 0.8263
Trailing stop: 0.7925
Take profit: 0.7466
Exit date: May 6, 2011
Exit price: 0.7925
Status: Closed
Profit/loss: 138 pips
Primary trend: Bullish
The strong bearish reversal that started on May 5, 2011, is still in place. If this situation continues for more days, perhaps several, it'll make the longer-term bullish bias invalid. I still have an open position in this market.
Order: Sell
Entry date: May 5, 2011
Entry price: 1.4204
Stop loss: 1.4404
Trailing stop: 1.3908
Take profit: 1.3617
Exit date: N/A
Exit price: N/A
Status: Open
Profit/loss: 488 pips
Primary trend: Bearish
The Euro is getting weaker – having lost some of its recent gains against other currencies. While this is something that seems to have come just recently, the Euro has been getting weaker and weaker against the AUD since March 17, 2011. When the Euro was strong, it was hopeless against the Aussie, then how much more when it's now weak? I expect this bearish trend to continue, and therefore my position is still open – until my target is probably hit.
Order: Sell
Entry date: May 5, 2011
Entry price: 1.3795
Stop loss: 1.3995
Trailing stop: 1.3511
Take profit: 1.3202
Exit date: N/A
Exit price: N/A
Status: Open
Profit/loss: 430 pips
Primary trend: Bullish
This cross is one of the fastest moving instruments in the currency markets. The correction that took place last week hit my target, plus the correction is still valid. The price is now quoted below the SMA 20. The ADX 20 level is, however, below 30 (showing a decrease in the market volatility). The -DI has crossed the +DI to the upside. If the present domination by the bears hold out long enough, the primary trend may eventually turn bearish.
Order: Sell
Entry date: May 5, 2011
Entry price: 1.8687
Stop loss: 1.8887
Trailing stop: 1.8687
Take profit: 1.8109
Exit date: May 6, 2011
Exit price: 1.8109
Status: Closed
Profit/loss: 578 pips
Primary trend: Bullish
Interestingly, the price movement on this market is quite similar to that of the AUDUSD, especially on the daily charts. I was stopped out by a bullish continuation (while holding a short position). I'm now trying to look for another entry level, preferably in the direction of the trend.
Order: Sell
Entry date: April 21, 2011
Entry price: 88.47
Stop loss: 90.47
Trailing stop: 86.12
Take profit: 82.49
Exit date: May 6, 2011
Exit price: 86.12
Status: Closed
Profit/loss: 235 pips
Conclusion:: The markets are currently in a critical phase: it's becoming difficult to see clear directions. Only time would tell whether the ongoing corrections would lead to resumption of the trend or sustained reversals on the market.
I end this article with another quote from Dr. Johnson:
"Greatness lies in the understanding that it is not focusing on the win, but mastering the fundamentals and consistent implementation that leads to the win. Greatness is in your grasp — you can program yourself for success with the right combination that unlocks the power of intention. Success is where opportunity meets preparation."
Your questions and opinions are highly welcome.
Thank you.
With best regards,
Azeez Mustapha
Forex Signals Strategist, Funds Manager &Coach
Senior Analyst
FX Instructor, LLC
Email: email@example.com
Are you facing any challenges in trading? You might want to explore the secrets of markets wizards and duplicate their success. Get the secrets from my past articles at:
Get my Forex trading signals at: http://www.fxinstructor.com/en/analytics/ituglobal
And my past articles are also available at: www.ituglobalforex.blogspot.com
Yahoo! Messenger ID: saazalmu
NB: There is risk of loss in trading, but it is possible to be a successful trader.


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The Coburn Gallery has announced the awards for the 2014 Time Will Tell National Juried Exhibition. This exhibition, which was created as a show of artistic wisdom and experience featuring artists ages 50 years and older, includes 36 artworks from 30 local, regional and national artists.
The jurors for the exhibition were Al Aitken and Rebecca Kaler and they were responsible for selecting the artworks and the awards for the exhibition.
The Best of Show award was split between Judi Krew's mixed media sculpture titled "The Wonder Bread Wedding Gown, 2nd Marriage" and Martha Lois' ceramic sculpture titled "Habitat Loss," each receiving a $250 award.
Krew, from Canton, Ohio, has been a working artist for 32 years, exhibiting paintings and drawings in juried shows across the United States and earning many awards. Solo and invitational shows have been held from California to New York. She has been a high school art teacher in the Bay Village Schools, and a museum education instructor at the CMA. She has worked in visual merchandising, commercial interior design and as a visiting artist, and has coordinated special events décor for many gala fundraisers benefiting non-profit organizations. In addition to art, she is an active member of the local Canton community, supporting many organizations with donations of artwork, volunteering to design and lead projects, and participating in events that benefit children.
Lois, from Cleveland, Ohio, grew up making art, loving especially pencil, crayon, water color, ink and collage before gravitating to using ceramics by age 15. While continuing to create art works in a variety of media, she earned her MFA in Ceramics in 1994 at KSU under the late Kirk Mangus. She has made many private ceramic commissions, and in 2012, a public commission for painting for the Year of the Dragon, which organized by the Superior/StClair Development Corporation. She has exhibited her ceramics in many area galleries and art festivals, including Coburn Goes Small exhibit, Abstract Art exhibit at Valley Arts Center, Crafts Regional at John A. Logan College Museum, the 3rd Annual May Show at Lakeland Juried Art Exhibition, Bay Arts Annual Juried Show in Sullivan Gallery, Mansfield Art Center, The Exhibit Gallery, Sylvia Ulman's American Craft Gallery, Alan Gallery, Pentagon Gallery, Omni Gallery, FAVA Fine Arts & Crafts Show, Clifton Arts & Musicfest, and Winterfair at Willoughby Fine Arts Gallery, among others.
Lois has taught ceramics at a number of community art center and colleges, including the Beck Center, Cuyahoga Community College – Metro, Lakeland Community College and continues to teach in the creative art media at Case Western Reserve University. She was art coordinator for the Free Clinic Community Art Center, and has been a gallery manager for the Library Gallery at Florida Keys Community College in Key West and for Visual Harmony Gallery at the Beck Center for the Arts.
The following artists received $100 honorable mention awards: Clare Murray Adams, for the sculpture titled "Condensed Version"; Colleen Pendry for her mixed media artwork titled "Fragility II"; and Vincent Leandro for his photography titled "Deserted."
Leandro, from Talent, Oregon, left his career as a computer programmer/analyst at age 48, and was reborn as an artist. Graduating at the age of 54, he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Southern Oregon University in 2004, with an emphasis in sculpture and printmaking. He has expanded his artistic expression to include photography, and has exhibited in numerous regional and national juried exhibitions.
Originally from Northern Virginia, Pendry has been a resident of the Shenandoah Valley since 1986. In 2012, she received an M.F.A. in Painting from James Madison University. While attending JMU, Pendry earned two study abroad awards from James Madison University to continue her exploration with art in El Salvador. In 2009, she graduated from Mary Baldwin University with a Bachelors of Art with a Distinction in Painting. During her time at Mary Baldwin, she received the Ulysses Desportes Award for Outstanding Achievement in Studio Art and Top Honors in Visual Arts/Media, Capstone Festival. She also was awarded the distinguished Graduate Fellowship Award from the Virginia Museum in Fine Art. Along with her numerous awards, Pendry's artwork is included in collections at Mary Baldwin College and Blue Ridge Community College. Currently, she is an adjunct professor of studio art and art history at Blue Ridge Community College where she teaches drawing, 3D design and art history and appreciation.
Adams, from Southington, Ohio, is a retired professor of art and former chair of the Visual Art Department at Malone University in Canton. She received a BFA from Kent State University and an MFA from Vermont College. Over the past 30 years her artwork has been exhibited regionally and nationally in fiber and mixed media exhibits, where she has often taken home honors or awards. During the past several years, she has been fortunate to have had six one-person exhibits in Ohio, Indiana, New York, South Carolina, Michigan and California, with a new solo exhibit scheduled for October 2014 at FAVA in Oberlin, Ohio.
The Coburn Gallery is open Monday-Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday 10 a.m. to noon, and noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday/Sunday. The Time Will Tell Exhibition closes on Friday, June 22. For more about the Time Will Tell Exhibition at Coburn Gallery, visit www.ashland.edu/coburngallery or find us on FaceBook.- See more at: http://news.ashland.edu/article/ashland-university-coburn-gallery-announces-exhibition-awards#sthash.NNm0aFLv.dpuf


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Anna university
Computer Networks 2012 Important Questions
Computer Networks 2012 Important Questions
Subject Code : EC2352
Subject Name : Computer Networks
Unit 1
1.Describe briefly the various layers and functions of OSI model.
2.Explain how guided media differ from unguided media. Briefly explain any three methods used for data transmission using guided media and two methods used for data transmission using unguided media.
3.Explain the diiferent types of packed switching techniques with suitable networks.
4.Discuss in detail about dail up modems and cable TV used for data transfer.
Unit II
1.Discuss in detail about the architecture and layers of ATM.
2. Explain in detail about the frame format and control field of HDLC.
3.Discuss in detail about standard Ethernet and fast Ethernet.
4. Write briefly about blue tooth technology.
Unit III
1.Explain in detail about IPv4,IPv6 with suitable examples, and compare both.
2.Explain in detail about ICMP protocol in detail.
3.Briefly explain about unicast,multicast routing protocols.
4.Describe the circuit switched networks , data gram networks and cable networks.
5.Explain in detail about the TCP/IP protocol suite.
Unit IV
1.State the characterisitics and uses of User Datagram Protocol. Describe the fields of the U Datagram format.
2.Discuss the congustion control mechancism with neat diagram.
3.Explain in detail about three way hand shake in TCP.
4.Draw the structure of TCP segment. Explain the features of TCP.
Unit V
1.Discuss in detail about symmetric key and public key algorithms.
2.Describe in detail about HTTP and FTP with neat diagram.
3.Explain in detail about SMTP protocol and discuss how it is used in E mail applications.
4.Write in detail about Digital signature.


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Summer cocktail party season is in full swing, so I'm stocking up on hostess gifts. I love to give local honey, but could use some suggestions on other great gift ideas. The only present I won't take is flowers– the hostess has to stop what she's doing to put them in water.Hostess Gifts, Love This
what's new
Matias ruffled broderie anglaise-trimmed cotton-poplin blouse
Charlotte leather ankle boots
Silvery Crepe printed dress
Collection gold, silver and diamond ring
Eyelet-embellished intarsia merino wool turtleneck sweater
Mid-heel suede knee-high boots
Beirut 18-karat rose gold diamond ring
Camilla one-shoulder textured-organic cotton maxi dress
medium Trunk shoulder bag
Cotton-blend poplin top
Wool sweater
Gold vermeil hoop earrings
view all
I love giving local too…recently a family in the Annapolis area started a salsa company. I have been giving a jar of salsa with a great big bag of good dipping chips. This has been a popular summer treat that has been the favorite of our hosts…fun and easy and it gets used! I just make them promise not to open it while we are there…it has to be used for a happy hour at a later date!
Amy Richardson July 17th, 2014 7:51 AM
What about a scented candle or a lovely bottle of chilled pink Champagne 😉
Vannessa Vinos July 17th, 2014 7:54 AM
I love giving (and receiving) a great jar of olive oil.
Kathy July 17th, 2014 8:07 AM
Local beer such as BeeHaven Brew is a good idea, too!
Lisa E. July 17th, 2014 8:57 AM
I like the honey idea. How about a potted basil, parsley or other herb plant? Or, a fresh, locally made jar of pesto. I also like the salsa/chip idea, and in the summer there are some great local vendors of fresh salsa. I love the idea of bringing a farm to table hostess gift.
April July 17th, 2014 9:33 AM
Have your local florist create a seasonal signature cocktail arrangement that you can phone in and easily pick up or have delivered ahead of time.
Keep it Chic and an espresso are my favorite morning rituals!
Deb M (aka the florist's wife)
Deb Matsumoti July 17th, 2014 9:38 AM
I keep an assortment of Alexa Pulitzer notepads in my gift drawer. Two or three of these whimsical designs wrapped in cello and a nice bow are unique and very tasteful as well as a different idea than the mainstay. This reminds me to restock !
Janna Kohl July 17th, 2014 9:43 AM
we love to give olive oil, candles, a special salt, things you wo t pick up for yourself but such a great to receive..
Hudson Grace SF July 17th, 2014 9:44 AM
I like giving a jar of some wonderful tapenade, wrapped in polka dot tissue paper with a colorful French sabre knife attached with a beautiful ribbon. 'Hope this helps!
Liz July 17th, 2014 9:56 AM
I must respectfully disagree on the cut flower hostess gift idea. When I bring them to someone's home, they come in a vase (that I am willing to part with.)
Receiving them is delightful because it enables me to think of the beauty of friendship and blossoms all at once.
Kathryn July 17th, 2014 10:52 AM
I really love giving a jar of Marblehead Salt. Not only is it entirely produced North of Boston, it tastes like the sea and has a fluffy texture that makes it beautiful to look at, entirely different than other salts. We're enjoying it now on fresh tomatoes and corn. It's ideal! btw – the company is a triple bottom line endeavor – 100% of profits go to charity. The website is www.marbleheadsalt.com. Enjoy!
Tracey Stockton July 17th, 2014 11:00 AM
There is nothing like the gift of flowers! Especially this time of year. Garden Roses, Lilies, Hydrangeas! I also cut them and put them into a florist jar. So when you arrive the host/hostess simply places them wherever they wish. Additionally, love the idea of local honey or jam such as Wild Blueberry or Apricot.
Caitlin July 17th, 2014 11:47 AM
I like to bring a homemade treat for the hosts morning after breakfast.
EB July 17th, 2014 1:35 PM
I love giving a miniature flower arrangement in a tiny container that one can place on her nightstand….
Cari July 17th, 2014 2:05 PM
I agree that flowers are a terrible hostess gift unless they are already in a vase! Anything that causes work when you walk in the door is not good! How about a picture frame with a photo of the hosts included if you have one. I love the Olivia Riegel embellished frames. I recently received a ratan tote stuffed with beach towels, sunscreen , bug spray. That was a great gift for my lake house.
Paula B July 17th, 2014 2:23 PM
Quality olive oil and a wonderful balsamic vinegar are always much appreciated. I like the salsa and chips idea as well. If I know it will be appreciated, I pot up a few herbs and tie a ribbon 'round it. Fresh local cheese with some tapenade and crackers in a basket is also good (for after the party!).
pinda July 17th, 2014 6:39 PM
My only guiding principle is consumables. Often depends on the person or occasion. If I have enough lead time, I love giving Merrimade (http://www.merrimade.com/) monogrammed guest towels, or thick paper napkins. Great all year.
Margo July 17th, 2014 6:59 PM
Monogrammed scarf on Etsy @ChicFanScarves! Beautiful and personal!
Sally July 17th, 2014 9:20 PM
We like to share our favorite spirits for the cocktail bar–Pierre Ferrand 1st Cru Ambre Cognac for first-rate sipping or a Sidecar; or a bottle of sparkling Belgian Ale–Brut des Flandres Deus, a real treat. Your friends will thank you!
Paula July 18th, 2014 1:12 AM
I like to give a basket with the recipe and ingredients for french toast or another fun breakfast. Something fun for the next morning.
Frederieke July 18th, 2014 1:40 AM
Thanks Margo for the Merrimade recommendation!
Paula B July 19th, 2014 7:56 AM
Coffee table books like assouline especially about where they live go nicely
Sheila July 20th, 2014 8:47 AM
Local honey is such a neat idea- I'll have to remember that.
I enjoy taking a breakfast item- typically a loaf of banana bread or the like. No one wants to have to get up the next morning and make breakfast after they've had a party! It's cute to wrap it up in a nice printed dish towel.
Emily July 21st, 2014 2:50 PM


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Hilltribes, Chiang Mai
When we visited Chiang Mai over the weekend, we saw a picture of the hill tribes while on the tuk tuk and out of curiosity, we decided to visit the following day. The cab driver who took us there couldn't speak much English except for the cursory hello and thank you- pretty much as good as my Thai. So we were left to wander on our own. I wasn't sure what to expect and tried not to be intrusive. To our pleasant surprise, a few of the villagers, welcomed us, invited us to sit down and to also take pictures if we liked. The villagers there comprised of different tribes and I wished I had a tour guide to tell the stories behind some of these pictures. That night, we returned to the city, had dinner and talked about what it would be like to lead a simpler life.
Posted by between 7 and 9 at 7:51 PM 5 comments:
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Whitman Assumes NCEES Presidency
A University of Wyoming College of Engineering and Applied Science professor is this year's National Council for Examiners of Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) president.
David Whitman, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, has also served as associate dean and professor in the department of chemical and petroleum engineering.
"NCEES will be busy with a number of issues, including additional education initiatives, computer-based testing and faculty licensure," says Whitman. "I'm confident that our committees and task forces will develop outstanding solutions to their specific charges."
Whitman has been a member of the Wyoming Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors since 2001. He has worked with the NCEES Fundamentals of Engineering exam since 1996, and co-wrote the paper "Using the Fundamentals of Engineering Examination to Assess Academic Programs." Whitman was also the 2006-08 NCEES Western Zone vice president.
A licensed professional engineer in Wyoming since 1981, Whitman holds a B.S. in electrical engineering and a Ph.D. degree in mineral engineering from UW.
Posted on Monday, September 21, 2009


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Getting into trouble at work. He knocked over his pod, took a lid off a box and pulled a basket off a shelf.
I can't believe it is the last day of March already! Since my last post a lot has been going on. I left off with Nicholas going to the allergy doctor. Well we were wrong about peaches and mangoes. We thought he was allergic to pitted fruits because he was getting a rash around his mouth whenever he ate them. He isn't allergic. I brought peaches, mangoes, prunes, and peas to be tested. He was fine with everything except peas! How weird is that? I asked if we should stay away from anything else and the doctor said beans and nuts since they are all legumes. He is already allergic to milk so he has a lot of soy products. I asked about that since soy comes from a bean. So he went a head and retested him for soy and peanuts. He was negative for both. Thank goodness. It would be really hard to avoid both milk and soy. He said that peaches and mangoes can cause a skin reaction similar to posion ivy. We are still avoiding them even if he isn't allergic.
Nicholas got his last Synagis shot ever this month. He won't need them next year.
He also had a double ear infection. He kept pulling his CI off so I emailed his audiologist so see if she had any suggestions. She said a lot of times kids will do that when they have ear infections. So I took him to the doctor and sure enough, double ear infection. That was on a Monday and he still had a low fever on Friday so I took him to the weekend clinic on Saturday. One ear was still infected so he was given a stronger antibiotic. He actually went back to the doctor today. He has been crabby and had a low fever again. I wanted to make sure his ears were ok. They are but he is cutting three molars right now. It is so hard to look in his mouth we couldn't tell.
Glad it isn't his ears. Nicholas lost his early interventionist this month. We also learned this week that he is losing his physical therapist. They have someone in mind as her replacement but he don't know anything yet. If that doesn't work out we will probably have to find a clinic. They both will really be missed.
Yesterday Nicholas was fitted for his arm brace. His occupational therapist wants him to wear it to keep his hand open. He keeps his left hand in a fist and it gets really tight. It is going to be a challenge to keep it on him. He slipped his hand out of it in just a few minutes. We are going to try it while he is sleeping.
Grandma and Grandpa came down from Chicago for spring break. It was a nice visit and we had perfect weather. It was in the 80's the whole week.
The March of Dimes called us last week to see if we would tell our story at Blue Cross Blue Shield. They were having the kick off for their company team and wanted a local family to share with them. It was an honor to be asked to do this. Nicholas was adorable and showed off his tricks. I could tell our story really touched some people. There were tears in the audience and one lady came up to talk to me and gave me a hug. It was a great experience. Don't forget to help us raise money for the March for Babies. You can click in the box on the top right of the page or use this link. www.marchforbabies.com/teamnicholas I will add pictures later and try to update more often!


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Wow Amsterdam
The unique Wow Amsterdam Hostel is situated in the center of Amsterdam close to The Stedelijk Museum, Nes and Red Light District. There is colorful decor throughout the property.
Old church, Anne Frank Haus and Noorderkerk are 30 minutes' walk away. Serving european and chinese meals, Koffiehuis van den Volksbond is about 5 minutes' walk away.
Rooms like 6-bed female Dorm, Single Room, 8-bed Dorm and 6-bed mixed Dorm are equipped with a minibar, heating and a dressing area as well as personal lockers and linens. Rooms are fitted with bunk beds. Some of the rooms provide own bathrooms with hairdryers, complimentary toiletries and towels.
The convenient location of Wow Amsterdam Hostel enables direct access to Amsterdam-Schiphol airport.
The facilities at Wow Amsterdam Hostel include an elevator, a luggage storage, a conference room, a safe deposit box and a business center.
A courtyard, a sundeck and a picnic area will make a stay in Amsterdam a very pleasant one.


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Now in Criterion Blu-ray
Part of the Shakespeare blogathon
Bigger than life
What to say about this film? I first saw it on a pirated VHS tape I'd rented in New York back in 1991 (the tape startled me; I had no idea pirated tapes still existed in the USA), and despite the video snow, unstable vertical, wretched sound (not that the actual soundtrack was a model of clarity), thought it the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. Haunted Theater 80 at St. Marks for the longest time, because I'd been told they screened it before and might again, but it never showed up. Finally had a chance in Detroit of all places, in an arthouse theater which served coffee and sandwiches while you watched. There were two screenings, and I went to both; had no reason to change my opinion.
Welles based his script on four plays: Henry IV Parts 1 and 2; Henry V, and The Merry Wives of Windsor. I'd seen a published screenplay with annotations noting which line was taken from which play--a patchwork of words from all four sources, mostly Henry IV parts 1 and 2, some early scenes from Henry V, and (far as I can tell) only a few lines from Merry Wives, all held together by excerpts from Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, narrated by Ralph Richardson. Scenes are not only shortened but moved earlier or later in the story, changing the flow of narrative; sometimes a line is used in an entirely new way, or unrelated passages from two, even three different plays are stitched together to create a new line of dialogue.
Many cite Welles' directing and performance in the film, but I can't recall anyone commending his writing. It's quite an achievement: sixteen hours of Shakespeare, boiled down to a hundred and nineteen apparently seamless minutes (took him long enough; arguably, he's been working on this since his overambitious theater project Five Kings in 1939), not just condensed but radically reinterpreted--Shakespeare as raw material to fashion an essentially new story.
The dramatic thrust of Shakespeare's Henry IV is the struggle between King Henry Bolingbroke (John Gielgud) and Sir John Falstaff (Welles) for the soul and affection of young Prince Hal (Keith Baxter); still there in Chimes but with judicious use of atmosphere acting imagery and Holinshed, Welles alters the landscape on which the conflict takes place and the significance of said conflict.
In the play, when Henry is informed that Edmund of Mortimer had been kidnapped and held hostage by the Welshman Glendower, Henry complains of the expense and of his delayed crusade into the Holy Lands. You think: Henry's irritation makes sense--why pay for someone who led a failed military campaign, messed up your timetable and in the king's words, is "foolish" and perhaps even "revolted" (with no doubt all the meanings the word evokes)?
When the film opens the narrator (Richardson) quotes from the Chronicles: that Henry is an usurper, having seized the throne from his predecessor Richard II; the action then continues with the play's first scene. The excerpt casts Henry's stubbornness in an entirely different light, the king's indignation acquiring an element of self-interest: Edmund being the rightful heir of Richard, Henry's not lifting a finger to help Edmund--partial basis for his differences with Mortimer's brother-in-law Henry Percy, or Hotspur (Norman Rodway)--sounds more like a stubborn man's refusal to undermine the legitimacy of his rule (Henry's guilt over Richard may also be prodding him into quarrel with the Percy family).
Mind you Shakespeare's play does mention all this (Richard's usurpation, Henry's true motive for abandoning Mortimer) but later, when Hotspur is being prodded by Worcester (hardly--as is pointed out by Henry--a disinterested observer). Shakespeare in effect presents Henry's official story, then complicates matters by introducing other points of view; Welles introduces doubt right off, and has us listen to Henry's words with a mistrustful ear.
Welles elaborates further with images. The opening credits show horsemen riding across bleak landscapes; a soldier walks past some scaffolding, a hard wind knocking his helmet off--prophetic, considering what follows. The sequence's final shot reveals the scaffolding's purpose: a line of soldiers in belligerent poses glare at the camera, swords swinging in slow motion while the corpses hanging behind twist in the wind.
I've always wondered about that slow motion--a way to stretch the footage, so we can read Welles' name better? A punctuation meant to cause the image (the swing of corpses rhyming with the swing of the soldier's blade) to linger in memory, the way it has lingered in mine? In this image Welles summarizes Henry's England--a totalitarian regime filled with unrest, barely held together by a policy of terrorism, summary executions, military campaigns in foreign lands.
A look at Henry's court is equally instructive--his castle has cathedral-high ceilings illuminated by shafts of light (you feel like kneeling upon entry). When people talk there's an echo (like a cavern or--better yet--a tomb), the vapor from their mouths suggesting a wintry chill (to match the owner's temperament?).
Henry is parodied at least three times--first by Hotspur, fuming over Henry's decision not to help Mortimer; second by Falstaff, playacting with Prince Hal; third by Hal himself, trading places with Falstaff. If imitation is the sincerest flattery Henry should be double flattered; none do him justice (Hal's impersonation comes closest I think, though Hotspur's is the most startling). Perhaps the most vivid impression one forms of the king is a sense of utter loneliness--Welles has Henry standing on a high stepped platform while his courtiers keep ten or so feet away. It's as if Henry feared assassination or--conversely--as if the courtiers feared Henry would have them killed, hence their speaking in low cautious tones (only Henry Percy, hot spur indeed, dares raise his voice in defiance).
As played by Gielgud, you can't ask for a more astringent villain--yes, villain. Shakespeare was too much an artist not to create rounded characters, but Welles chooses to underline certain aspects of Bolingbroke over others, to a more pointed effect. "My blood is too cold and temperate," Henry complains--this king speaks constantly of wars, of punishing enemies and putting down rebellions but does so in such a passionless manner you wonder why he even bothers; not for his wastrel son certainly (by way of contrast it's clear why Hotspur--whose martial spirit the king admires more than that of his own flesh and blood's--often talks of battle: the young firebrand relishes the prospect of unleashing his boundless energy). When not wearing his crown Henry sports a monkish skullcap (this monarch you imagine pores over passages from the Bible before bedtime); in war he dons gleaming black armor without helmet (apparently he refrains from actual fighting). Welles constructs a convincing portrait of near-absolute power, but if Henry derives any comfort or pleasure from that power, we don't see it.
Shakespeare darkened Falstaff's character considerably--the man is vying for the soul of the prince after all, and the prince must be seen to have made the right choice. Welles includes that dark side but with emphasis changed--the Gadshill robbery is treated as a romp, Falstaff's attack repulsed (by Prince Hal in disguise), the money returned (during the heist we hear the main theme plus another melody that will repeat later on). Falstaff's role in accepting bribes for draft exemptions is a far more serious issue but should be seen in the context of Shrewsbury, where Henry and Hotspur's quarrel come to a head, and where Welles stages the one battle sequence of his career--arguably the greatest ever filmed.
Half the struggle is in the preparation they say and it's no less true here: armored knights are lowered from tree branches onto horses; racked spears point directly at the screen, as if ready to fire at the audience. We have preparatory slapstick from Falstaff--the knight, clad in what looks like a potbelly stove with a supersized thundermug perched on his head is raised by a team of men; his gravitas too much they let slip and he crashes to the ground. The unmounted knight is forced to content himself with waving a sword in the direction of the enemy, urging the men forward.
The battle itself gives the impression of chaos, but chaos with an underlying progression--charges to the right and left by Henry and Hotspur's cavalry; when the soldiers finally clash the distinction between sides is quickly lost. Mounted armored men swing swords at fellow armored men; a knight with lance charges at a man with spear (when lance hits Welles cuts to a gorgeous long shot of spear spinning through the air). The action degenerates into slaughter--unarmored infantry pull knights off their horses and bludgeon them; soldiers with swords wander about, stabbing the wounded. The men tumble over each other into the mud, struggling in slow motion; at one point we see a pair of legs atop another sunk in mire, parodying the sex act. Throughout Falstaff runs ineffectually from one side of the screen to the other; if he shows any real allegiance it's to the surrounding shrubbery, which offer protection.
At a certain point we recognize the mournful voices: the music at the Gadshill robbery. It's as if Welles were inviting us to compare the activities of Henry and Falstaff--whose is more honorable? Whose result in more deaths? Up to this point we saw Falstaff's antics--his refusal to take part in the battle and his earlier impromptu catechism on 'honor'--as comic counterpoint to the violence. "What is that honour?" he asks. "a word. What is in that word honour? what is that honour? air. A trim reckoning!" Post-battle his cowardice comes to seem less like counterpoint and more like sane skepticism, a heroically distinct point of view.
Falstaff's taking credit for Hotspur's death from Prince Hal is crucial to the story--we need an ostensible reason for Hal to turn on his friend (though the prince has already been preparing us in a series of asides, telling us he's only pretending to cavort with Falstaff). A despicable thing to do, except that in Falstaff's eyes honor is important only for what it can give him--a promotion, perhaps--and not valuable enough to risk life and limb to acquire (as many of the dead in the battlefield behind him have done). Stealing credit is no big deal for Falstaff, no more so than robbing roadside travelers or taking bribes from draft dodgers--ordinary folk with no more stomach for violence than he has.
The earlier scene where Falstaff plays the prince and the prince his father seems to lie at heart of what Welles is saying (or rather, part of what he's saying--more later). At a certain point the play stops being play; Falstaff, accused of iniquities and threatened with banishment by a pretend king who one day will be crowned, suddenly finds himself begging for clemency: "banish not him thy Harry's company, banish not him thy Harry's company--" His final plea is haunting in its pathos (the way Welles tumbles the words out, repetitive throwaway lines that contain the very meat of the speech): "--banish plump Jack, and banish all the world." Falstaff is the world Welles seems to say, not just in size but in flaws heart appetite for life; that his equating himself with humanity does not seem altogether inappropriate is a measure of Shakespeare's and Welles' achievement.
Contrast this with the film's climax--Prince Hal's coronation as Henry V, with Falstaff presenting himself loudly and openly to the new king. In the earlier scene Welles' Falstaff makes an eloquent case for his nobility and against his banishment, to which Baxter's Prince Hal has a short but serious answer ("I do, I will."); this time Falstaff's plea is short and Hal--now King Henry--delivers the sermon ("know the grave doth gape for thee thrice wider than for other men").
If Welles has a rebuke to this scene and to Hal's eloquence, it's in the actors' faces. Baxter's Hal chides Falstaff in slow, measured words--much like the older Henry only this time Hal's not doing a parody. But Hal's voice trembles at certain points, his eyes wide and staring; he seems fully aware of the enormity of what he's doing.
Falstaff's response is even more poignant: silent on his knees, he looks up at what in effect is his son with undisguised undiluted pride.
Baxter in a recent interview describes the "tremendous bond and affection" between him and Welles; I think that bond, the severing of it in terms of story and real life (it was towards the end of the shoot), Welles' forgiveness and acceptance of the separation--all that shines through.
Perhaps not--Welles' final image is of Falstaff's enormous coffin being carted away, human carnality disposed of as inconvenient garbage. Exeunt Falstaff; enter police state, part two.
What more to say? Chimes for my money is Welles' finest film, is the finest film ever made from Shakespeare, is flaws and all the finest film ever made.


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Polarcus Limited (OAX: PLCS) reports that Polarcus Samur Ltd, a member of the Polarcus Group, took delivery on March 2, 2011 of POLARCUS SAMUR, the fourth 3D seismic vessel to date to join the Polarcus fleet. The vessel was built at the Drydocks World - Dubai shipyard in the United Arab Emirates and is transiting directly to Namibia to commence a charter for HRT Participacoes em Petroleo S.A. and UNX Energy Corp.
POLARCUS SAMUR is an ultra-modern and Arctic-ready 8 streamer 3D seismic vessel of the ULSTEIN SX133 design capable of towing both conventional and wide tow spreads, including the company's First Pass(TM) 3D technique. The SX133 design has an overall length of 84.2 m and a beam of 17 m.
POLARCUS SAMUR has a maximum speed of 17 knots and is capable of deploying up to 8 streamers each of 6,000 m length, or 6 streamers each of 8,000 m length, with lateral streamer separations of between 25 and 200 meters.
March 3, 2011


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What to find out in this post
- 1 Brunei Facts
- 2 Brunei Visa
- 3 Currency in Brunei
- 4 How to get to Brunei Darussalam and where is Brunei located?
- 5 How much time to spend in Brunei
- 6 What to see in Brunei?
- 7 Sultan-Omar-Ali-Saiffuddin Mosque
- 8 Jame' 'Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque
- 9 Kampong Ayer – The Floating Village
- 10 Brunei Museum
- 11 Royal Regalia Building
- 12 The night market
- 13 Popular Posts
- 14 Let's travel!
Brunei Facts
- From the 16. – 19. century, Brunei Darussalam used to be the biggest Sultanate, including the whole north coast of Borneo
- Since 01.01.1984 independent from Malaysia and Great Britain
- Ruled by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah since 1984
- 90% of the population of Brunei is living the the Western part of the country, mostly in the capital Bandar Seri Begawan
- Citizens of Brunei don't have to pay taxes
- Schools (even abroad) and insurances are free of charge for the Brunei Citizens
- A liter of petrol cost around 0,35 Cent while we were inside of the country
- Revenue made through oil production accounts for around 60% of the GDP of Brunei
Brunei Visa
Currency in Brunei
How to get to Brunei Darussalam and where is Brunei located?
Brunei is located in the Northern part of Borneo Island in Southeast Asia. The Northern part of Borneo belongs to Malaysia (only exception: Brunei) and the Southern Part belongs to Indonesia.
Getting to Brunei by Airplane
Getting to Brunei by bus
From Kota Kinabalu
Price: 45 Brunei Dollar (ca. 28,30€/ ca. $33,30)
From Miri
Price: 18 Brunei Dollar or 45 Malaysian Ringgit (ca. 11,32 €/ ca. $13,31)
Getting to Brunei by boat
From Kota Kinabalu
Price: 56 Malaysian Ringgits (ca. 11.66€/ ca. $13,71)
How much time to spend in Brunei
What to see in Brunei?
Sultan-Omar-Ali-Saiffuddin Mosque
Jame' 'Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque
Kampong Ayer – The Floating Village
Brunei Museum
Opening Times: 09 am – 05 pm (Fridays: 09 am – 11.30 am & 02.30 pm – 5 pm)
Entrance fee: free of charge
Estimated Visiting Time: around 1 hour
In the Brunei Museum, you can learn more about the history of Brunei Darussalam.
There are two floors, with 3 exhibition halls. In the first exhibition, you will mostly find antique documents regarding the history of Brunei. Unfortunately, it was hard for us to understand the background of these documents and there was no English information given which could help us to understand the displayed documents.
In the second exhibition, it got much more interesting. There were texts in Malay and English explaining the history of Brunei. We could learn a lot of new things that we didn't know about this country, even though Spain actually took a big part in it.
Please note that you have to take your shoes off before entering the museum. You can walk around with slippers that are provided at the entrance.
Royal Regalia Building
The night market
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New Year's Eve is a holiday-themed romantic about a record company executive played by John Lithgow, totally absorbed with himself and so chiseling and greedy that he writes his secretary a check for her feeble holiday bonus right in front of her; so broken and devoid of empathy that he cannot comprehend why she would thereafter quit, and so narcissistic that he's incapable of believing that she actually did.
There's some movie around him; a whole lot of it, in fact, given that the character appears in one scene, is not as far I recall given a proper name, and Lithgow isn't credited for his cameo appearance. Despite this - no, actually, that's not true at all, because of this, Lithgow gives the film by far its best comic performance, and almost its only one of even the slightest accomplishment outside of Larry Miller's small role as a sarcastic tow truck drive with a distaste for profanity. Since New Year's Eve exists for almost no other reason than to show off its huge cast of famous people being funny and heartwarming, it can rightly be called a critical flaw that the only people in the whole movie worth a damn are not among the featured 19 stars, who can be quickly divided into the "over-qualified and trying too hard" camp, and the "flavorless, talentless, pretty people who don't need to do more than exist and do so" camp. Not, sadly, into the "basically worthwhile for what they have to do" camp, which is one of many reasons that New Year's Eve falls short of Valentine's Day, to which it is a pseudo-sequel, sharing director Garry Marshall, writer Katherine Fugate, its concept, and three lead actors playing different characters. Note that Valentine's Day already sucked, so the fact that New Year's Eve is a degraded copy should be the first clue of the depths to which the new film sinks; it proves, in its tiny way, that no matter how bad the modern romantic comedy has already become, there's still plenty of room for it to get worse.
The concept, then: a holiday in a major American city, in which a good number of plotlines play out, Altman-style, as a huge cluster of characters who are more or less interrelated bump against and past one another. Here's the first issue: Valentine's Day, being the designated holiday of superficial Hollywoodised romance, made sense for a romcom. Every single plot could be about people hooking up or sticking with them as they already have hooked up with, and it makes sense. Notwithstanding the tradition of midnight kisses, New Year's Eve is not a tradionally amorous event, and that sends Marshall and Fugate to stick a couple of nods here and there to the idea of "fresh beginnings", which means in practice that from time to time, insipid and bog-standard romantic comedy scenarios are interrupted by scenes of Robert De Niro dying of cancer. Fun!
The point being, New Year's Eve isn't as certain of what it's trying to be as Valentine's Day was, which means it can't even attain the same level of competent, mirthless mediocrity. There are other reasons; there are, in fact, almost nothing but reasons that New Year's Eve is neither competent nor mediocre, though it is unabashedly mirthless - the best and maybe the only good joke in the whole movie is an ad-lib by De Niro making fun of Cary Elwes in the fucking outtakes, and I hope it goes without saying that when the best part of a comedy is both unscripted and found outside of that comedy's diegesis, things have come to a pretty pass.
I am not going to dive into the convolutions of story that it takes to get the film to where it ends up, primarily because it would require blogging in three dimensions to accurately piece together the relationships and how they come together (which is, I might add, far less organically than in Valentine's Day - that film's sole point of inspiration, I think, was the relative elegance with which pieces slid into place - or in Love Actually, which is the proximate inspiration for both of Marshall's films, and which, if it were created according to his and Fugate's barbarically functional notions of storytelling, would have been titled The Week Before Christmas); let us allow merely that the situations are old chestnuts like "nervous couple have a quirky time delivering their baby", and "teenage girl on the cusp of sexuality dodges her neurotic, protective mother" and "career woman desperately runs around trying not to ruin the entire world's holiday celebrations", because it is obviously necessary for New Year's Eve to be a sexist movie, and in the weirdest turn of all, "Michelle Pfeiffer hires Zac Efron to help her complete her 364-day-old resolution list", in case you ever wanted to see what it looks like when a genuinely dazzling old-school romantic leading lady tries to play off a plasticky teen idol. Dispiriting, is what it turns out to look like, especially because Pfeiffer falls right into the nastiest crack of the whole movie acting wise: she's good enough that you can see her fighting the character without being able to redeem it, unlike De Niro, who simply doesn't give a damn and goes right ahead and is An Actor and breaks every scene he appears in, or Hilary Swank, who is just barely good enough to not call attention to how awful the writing is without sinking underneath it, or everybody else in the movie, who is not good at all.
Herein, lies a movie that thinks you can sell somebody as old as Jon Bon Jovi, who looks like Jon Bon Jovi, as the hottest star in America among all them kids who love the pop idols; that moreover, he and Katherine Heigl (16 years his junior) are perfectly natural to cast as romantic interests for one another, and right about now one starts to realise that the part was written for somebody other than Jon Bon Jovi altogether, but he is the best they could scrounge up. Herein, Ashton Kutcher can be saved from his designated role as the Grinch Who Stole New Year's by the power of love by Lea Michele, a dramatically bland non-presence who doesn't spark even a dollop of chemistry with Kutcher until the moment when it suddenly becomes necessary that we understand their bitter bickering to have actually been a sign of attraction even though it absolutely wasn't. Here, there are no minorities with plots of their very own, except for Halle Berry's crammed-in boyfriend in Iraq in the last 10 minutes; other than her and Ludacris as a kindly police officer who acts as Hilary Swank's Boy Friday, the only non-whites are a pair of Colorful Ethnics giving some texture to the Heigl plot, and the weird casting of Latino actor Hector Elizando as a Polish electrician who talks like a stand-up routine from 1955. There are no gay characters at all, except for maybe the one hospital attendant who has a swishy lisp. But it's okay, because pretty white heterosexuals stand in for all of God's children, as we all know. At any rate, Garry Marshall knows it, and has made a career of knowing it.
It's such a clusterfuck of uninteresting characters caught in uninteresting situations and doing things that aren't funny; even as a spot-the-celebrity game, it's not half as rewarding as Valentine's Day, which at least had genuine stars like Julia Roberts and Anne Hathaway and Shirley MacLaine. Christ, VD's Patrick Dempsey would count as a step up from most of these people. The good news, at least, is that Fugate and Marshall have already started devouring their own tails with this one, and will hopefully not have enough ideas to populate, I don't know, 4th of July, in which the director of Chicago's fireworks display has to cope with single fatherhood, or Halloween Night, in which the mayor of San Francisco doesn't like costume parties because she no longer believes in love. But if either of those movies end up getting made, you have my permission - nay, my encouragement - to hunt me down and kill me dead.
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The fall harvest begins. Less and less fruit, more greens and roots.
It is dry as a bone here, more late summer than fall. I have to water, still. Worth it for the blue skies, which are unmarred and utterly reliable. Worth it for the bare feet. I'll do almost anything for bare feet.


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The most wonderful, challenging and worthwhile experience of my life began 18 years ago, becoming a wife, then 9 years ago as our family blossomed we began homeschooling...join me on the journey.
Isaiah 26:3 Lord, you will give perfect peace to Samantha who commits herself to be faithful to you. That's because she trusts in You.
that's hilarious!
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SPONSORED BY THE FILM/VIDEO DEPARTMENT OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE (Chicago, IL)
Friday - Sunday April 18-20 AND April 25-27, 1997
"African Visions III: Voices of the Screen Griots" celebrates the best
films about the multifaceted global experience of African and African
descended people through the eyes of the Screen Griots, our new cinematic
storytellers. Highlighted this year are the works of filmmakers of African
descent from Europe and Canada.
Screenings and panel discussions are free and open to the public, but
tickets are required to attend.
Theaters are located at 600 and 624 S. Michigan Ave., and 623 S. Wabash.
For more information, or a program schedule, call (312) 663-1600, x5170
or (312) 663-1124.
Kimberly Hale, Acquisitions Librarian/Coordinator of Collection Development
Columbia College Library
624 South Michigan Avenue Chicago, IL 60605
(312) 663-1600, x5355 (voice) (312) 663-1707 (fax)


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New York Mets -- Named Tom Spencer outfield-base-running coach and first-base coach. Reassigned Chuck Hiller to roving infield instructor in the minor-league system and Mike Cubbage to third-base coach. Announced that pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, assistant pitching coach/bullpen coach Greg Pavlick and dugout coach Doc Edwards will return for the 1991 season.
Sun City Rays (Senior Professional Baseball Association) -- Traded OF George Foster and P Dave Rajsich to the St. Petersburg Pelicans for 2B Lenny Randle, OF Ricky Peters and OF Joel Youngblood.


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NRO has an interesting piece this morning arguing that Granholm beat the unfortunately-named Posthumus in Michigan because she was willing and able to twist traditional gender politics. She "fought back like a man." She showed the voters that the necessary toughness to be a chief executive.
What's primarily interesting about this piece is that it never mentioned this pre-election article from the New Republic. It would be all well and good to do a post-election recap and say, yes, Jonathan Cohn's analysis was fully borne out in the closing weeks of the campaign and in the results. But as it is, with nary a nod to Cohn? Tacky, tacky. I expect better from the flying monkey crowd over at NRO.
Thursday, November 21, 2002
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Dr Jason Mika from Massey University's Te Au Rangahau (Māori Business and Leadership Centre) will co-colead the research.
Massey Business School researchers will study the financial capability of Māori enterprises, with the help of a $30,000 grant. The grant was awarded to the Westpac Massey Fin-Ed (Financial Education and Research) Centre by the SkyCity Auckland Community Trust.
Westpac Massey Fin-Ed Centre director Dr Pushpa Wood ONZM and Te Au Rangahau (Māori Business and Leadership Centre) co-director Dr Jason Paul Mika will lead the research.
"The research project will measure the financial capability of Māori entrepreneurs and their ability to start and run Māori enterprises," says Dr Mika. The researchers are hoping to talk to around 30 Māori entrepreneurs, including rangatahi (youth), pakeke (adults), kaumātua (elders) and whānau (families) in Auckland and Northland, using interviews and focus groups.
"We want to understand how culture, money and wealth play out in the lives and thinking of Māori entrepreneurs," Dr Wood says. "We want to speak to those new to business, and those who have been in business for some time so we can better understand how to strengthen the financial capability of Māori entrepreneurs."
Dr Pushpa Wood, director of the Westpac Massey Fin-Ed Centre.
The project's name 'Te manu ka rere' is taken from the oft-quoted Māori saying "Ma te huruhuru te manu ka rere", which means that, adorned with feathers, the bird is able to fly.
"We suspect that for some, financial capability – the ability to manage money and wealth – is not a problem, but for others it might be," Dr Mika says.
"Ultimately, we want whānau to develop their financial capability and entrepreneurial skills to be successful in business and contribute to the collective wellbeing of Māori and the wider community."
Fonteyn Moses-Te Kani, Westpac's head of Māori and iwi strategic relationships, says Westpac has a long history of working with Māori and iwi businesses and communities, and is keen to increase its presence in this growing market.
"We hope this research will show how Westpac and other financial institutions can best help our Māori and iwi customers achieve their business objectives."
SkyCity Auckland Community Trust chairman John Bongard says the trust is pleased to be contributing to the growth of financial capability and employment opportunities in Auckland and Northland.
"The trust is proud to be helping to support families to thrive and communities to prosper through grants like this for the Westpac Massey Fin-Ed Centre, he says.
"The research this funding is supporting will help identify actions to strengthen the financial capability and resilience of Māori entrepreneurs. This, in turn, will contribute to whānau, hapū, iwi and community economic prosperity and wealth, and the trust's grant is our way of supporting this vision and these communities."
Māori entrepreneurs interested in participating in the research should contact Dr Pushpa Wood at email@example.com or Dr Jason Mika at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Fin-Ed Centre director recognised by Indian community
Cultural response could improve Māori financial literacy
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Saturday, April 30, 2011
Thanks for Supporting this MK Blog - Click Away, Knitters
This blog puts the lie to that idea! I have made a lot of friends by "giving away" machine knitting video, lessons, patterns, ideas, and dubious advice, and I get a lot of appreciative emails. There are a few people who have learned to machine knit from me. I also have plenty of folks who support my blogger addiction by buying books and videos and clicking on my Adsense (Google) ads and my Amazon shopping box. Thank you.
Even my own son, who isn't interested in knitting (except to snag the occasional finished item), says this is a worthwhile project based on the feedback we get from readers. Of course, a finished project photo is the most awesome feedback of all!
I blog because I'm a compulsive write and I want to keep this remarkable craft alive, and you know, I'm having a good time with it. If you want to help me out (besides buying my books and videos), I don't have a "tip jar," but I do run a few ads and an Amazon search box. If you click on the ads, I get paid. (Try Knit Picks - they have great quality sock and lace yarns at good prices. Webs is another amazing site.) If you buy something at Amazon, I get a small commission. Did you know Amazon has yarn, Ultimate Sweater Machines and accessories?
I am not allowed to click on my own ads, of course, but every so often, when overwhelmed with curiosity, I put in their URLs without clicking here and am pleasantly surprised to find some cool, new-to-me knitting sites.
9 comments:
- AnonymousApril 30, 2011 at 7:45 AM
As a machine knitter who did learn how to MK from you, your videos and blog I will always come to your site to click on the links. I just purchased a bunch of sock yarn from Knit Picks. Again, you are correct their sock yarn is the best I found, knits great and wears VERY well.ReplyDelete
Knit Picks has amazing prices on their sock yarns as they are currently running a sale on the stroll sock yarn (75% wool/25% nylon); also, low shipping cost.
Thanks for letting me know, for sure will pay you back by cooming here to click on their links.
Las Vegas
- Peggy WhiteApril 30, 2011 at 10:35 AM
I have looked all around your blog page on my screen, and I don't see any links that I can click on - Adsense, Amazon - where are they? I love Knitpicks and Webs, and would use your blog page if I could figure out how!ReplyDelete
With appreciation for all you do,
Peggy in NC
- AnonymousApril 30, 2011 at 5:27 PM
So many thanks for the wonderful information you make available to us!ReplyDelete
I'm not sure how to contact you, so I'm mentioning here that I bought your excellent Garter Bar Course video set. However, I've found that the first disk stalls through the middle, even after cleaning. It hasn't been played before, and there seems to be something out of whack with just the first disk. I would be happy to send it back to you, in order to get a replacement, or whatever you wish. I am weavrmom at yahoo dot com. Thanks so much!
Beth, email me at diana_knits "at" sbcglobal "dot" net and send your snail address, plus remind me that you need the Garter Bar #1 DVD. I'll send you a new one. You can throw away the old one.ReplyDelete
Sorry - sometimes, not often, we get a bad disk!
There's a row of links called Ads by Google across the top, and then on the left-hand side and down a little are a few ads. The Amazon box is also halfway down on the left.ReplyDelete
No kidding, a sale on Stroll? I'll need to get over there. I had a number of questions today at seminar about my very nice sock yarn and I told them it was the 75% wool 25% nylon from Knit Picks. So soft. Washes great, too!ReplyDelete
Thanks Diana!ReplyDelete
I was using Google Chrome, and those links don't appear on the page with that browser. However, they do when I open the page with Explorer. Interesting! (But I love chrome, and hate Explorer - surely there must be a way for the links to be displayed on Chrome??)
That's interesting! I do almost all my blogging in Google Chrome, and I see the links. Hope all my knitting links are displaying okay.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMay 21, 2011 at 3:07 PM
My machines sat in their cases for 10 years because every time I got them out, I made a huge mess even following the manuals step-by-step. Your videos (and a tutorial I found else where on fixing sponge bars) have enabled me to actually make items with my machines instead of tangled, frustrating messes. Thank you so much!ReplyDelete


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Big thanks to Palousitics cub reporter Lauren:
The gazebo at Reaney Park. The American flag in the picture had been flown aboard an Army reconnaissance plane during an operation in Iraq last November.
Rally organizer Rebecca Schwartz. She deserves a tremendous amount of praise for putting this event together.
Pullman Mayor Glenn Johnson praised the Guard's service to Pullman and read the lyrics to the Johnny Cash song "Ragged Old Flag."
I related the valor of America's citizen-soldiers throughout our history and how we now have another "Greatest Generation" fighting the War on Terror.
Col. Doug Salmon, USAF (Ret.) spoke of the sacrifices troops make during a deployment and offered insights from his own military experience.
Keith Bloom's daughter Abagail read a poem she had written about how soldiers were her heroes.
Pullman City Councilman Keith Bloom told a great joke about Hillary Clinton and exhorted the crowd on how we could best support the troops, especially the family members left behind.
The cake, courtesy of Dissmores. Dissmores was gracious enough to provide all the refreshments.
Former Whitman County Commissioner Les Wigen (center) was part of the crowd of around 100 citizens (including Palousitics' own Russ and April Coggins and Michael Costello) and four National Guardsmen and their families in attendance at today's rally. There was also a substantial local media presence as well.
Congratulations to all who took part. It was a great event and I was deeply humbled to be part of it.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Photo Essay: We Support Our Troops Rally, June 14
Posted by Unknown at 5:01 PM
1 comment:
- Uncle Bubba said...
Attending this rally was a pleasure and I hope our troops know we really do support and appreciate their service.
All the speakers were really good [nice speech Tom].
Abagail Bloom's poem was touching .
Lauren your photo's are much superior to someone who's name I won't mention [Tom]
All in all a nice event.
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Start your day in a healthy way. Warm your body and your spirit with a nutritious breakfast. The main kitchen is open daily for breakfast from 7 until 9 a.m. Remember that students in all grades that qualify for reduced meal prices will receive breakfast at no charge. So, do your body and academic achievements some good-come eat breakfast.
Seniors please send pictures for the Senior Slideshow to Mrs. Graf at email@example.com.
Attention Seniors: Don't miss out. Go to Horizons website and cast your vote today for your Senior favorites.
Horizon High School has once again implemented an attendance policy for students, grades 9-12 to be able to attend prom. All Students wishing to attend prom are expected to maintain a minimum 95% attendance rate starting December 2, 2013 through April 11, 2014. We are only monitoring unexcused absences and unexcused partial absences.
Guten Tag! This spring Horizon High School will again be hosting exchange students from the Ruperti-Gymnasium in Muehldorf Germany. If you are interested in hosting one of the 26 super awesome exchange students, please see Mr. Herrman for more information.
Counseling News
Attention Students: If your family needs help paying for college -- and who doesn't? -- then be sure to bring your parents to upcoming presentations about "How to Apply for Financial Aid."
Financial Aid is for 2-year colleges, 4-year colleges, or vocational-technical schools AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GPA OR ACT SCORES -- it is strictly money because your family needs help! BUT YOU MUST APPLY FOR IT BY THE END OF FEBRUARY! The next presentation is on January 28 is for seniors only in Horizon's computer lab, where an expert will actually be at Horizon, helping families submit their applications online. Don't miss this great opportunities to learn how anyone can afford college!
ATTENTION JUNIORS AND SENIORS: Are you one of those students who think they may not be ready for college immediately after high school? Would you be up for a different type of rewarding experience that is a change of pace and something that looks great to put on a resume? Then a GAP YEAR might be just what you need! You are invited to Peak to Peak Charter School on January 21 to learn about a variety of GAP YEAR activities, from AmeriCorp to internships in New York City! See the Counseling Office Bulletin Board for more information!
Seniors - Do you know where you are going to college? When you have received your acceptance letter and make your final decision, come to the counseling office and let us know so that we can get your college choice along with your senior picture up on the college bulletin board in the lobby! Please report any and all scholarship offers to Ms. Jones in the Main Office.
Sports, Drama & Clubs
(Details on Athletic competitions are on our website at www.Horizon.adams12.org Go to calendar under school information)
Just a reminder for Community Service Club members going to the Food Bank of the Rockies on Saturday: we will meet at the flagpole to leave from HHS at 11:45 am and return to HHS at3:30 pm. See you then!


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Friday, February 29, 2008
Boy, did I NEED that phone!!!!
The girls were playing in the driveway eagerly anticipating Daddy's arrival (he had a date with Tally). Tissy was pushing a dolly stroller (in yard boots mind you) and Tally was riding her scooter behind her. Well, you can picture that the scooter goes faster than the 7 year old in rubber boots. Tissy fell and didn't break the fall with anything other than her face (her hands were busy taking care of that dolly stroller). I was working in the garden and heard the screaming and ran to find Tissy's face banged up and a mouth full of blood. She broke her front tooth off and cracked the other one. She passed out in my arms as I carried her to the house.
I wasn't able to get a hold of her dentist right away and being concerned about her head injury, thought we should check it out. We spent the next 5 hours in the ER making sure she didn't break her nose or get a concussion. Oh the ER waiting room. Frightening enough to scare small children (that is besides the point).
With the OK from the doctor (CT scan and multiple x-rays later) and after talking with the dentist (who is wonderful BTW), we got her cleaned up and a little pain killer and we were good to go. I hope she will sleep in this morning and quickly recover (prayers appreciated).
A quick shot of tucking her into bed after midnight. (Notice the invitation pillow under her head.)
Here she is showing her broken tooth and the bottom picture is how she looks this morning. Poor thing.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
About 5 minutes later in walks my knight in shining armor with my trusty cell phone. Oh sweet technology.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Little Entrepreneurs
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Harvesting my dirt
You can tell the pile on the left is not ready yet, but the bin on the right is ready to use. It didn't take that long to decompose. We have only lived in this house 4 months. I just started another bin on the far left with new dead leaves from a tree. Now when we add our kitchen scraps, they will all be dumped in the newest pile.
Friday, February 22, 2008
In the spirit of keeping it real
Thursday, February 21, 2008
It is good to idea for the girls to learn to care for an animal. I am always looking for the teachable moment. We have had fun with her this week.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Antique Time
The caught my eye. A tea set that I had as a child. I remember keeping it in the box and all. The one I owned had a few broken pieces, but this was in great condition. I wasn't willing to pay $45 for it though. The picture of it is enough to bring back the fond memories.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Quite a Story
Saturday, February 16, 2008
The Invitation Pillow
Tristen started putting out a special pillow for me and she calls it the invitation pillow. When she puts it out it means she wants me to stay an extra long time and give her lots of hugs and snuggles. How can I refuse? I often have laundry and dishes and chores that are calling my name. But...to stay and snuggle my little ones...is just precious. I love the name of the invitation pillow. Too cute. Too sweet. So tonight when I tuck them in and say our prayers I bet she will have out the invitation pillow.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
My Forever Valentine
(Who wouldn't fall in love with that big hair???)
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
It's finally coming together
Here we have some before and during pictures. This is what it looked like when we started. Pedestal sinks, cute but where do you store your things. No place for even a hair brush. I am a pretty basic gal, but I do like a little drawer for my beauty things. =)
We redid the tile, put in a vanity and after much waiting got a counter top. We have a friend who has helped with the plumbing and electric. Both our parents also helped on this big job. Only a few more things to do, but we can now use it to brush our teeth and get ready in the morning.
After months of getting ready out of cardboard boxes, this is such a blessing to me.
Ooo La La, a jetted tub is the best on some sore muscles after a hard day. I wanted to post these pictures to show the progress to our family that lives far away. It is finally coming together now.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Let it be known...
Let it be known... that this is who I am. Deeply devoted to my Maker. Grateful for a loving spouse. I am not willing to compromise in my parenting. Always desiring to do the right thing. Passionate about quality. High value in leadership.
I feel like I am taking a chance putting it all on the line. Not hiding behind the fear of offending someone.
It is a bit like that question, "What do you want people to remember you by?" I love to ponder things like this. To challenge myself to be more authentic. More Christ-like.
I am not sure I have the exact answer, but this is what my heart and mind are thinking about today.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Move over Bob the Builder
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Behind the scenes...the battle continues
The other day a wrote a long email with lots of truth from the book of Daniel (what I am studying in Precepts) to encourage him. I was listing all the things I have learned about God in this study. To name a few...
- God grants favor and compassion (1:9)
- God gives knowledge, intelligence, wisdom and understanding (1:17)
- God controls time (2:21)
- God knows the future (2:45)
- God is the reveal-er of mysteries (2:47)
Well...I sent him this great encouraging email and I never heard from him. Finally when he got home I asked if he got the email. He never got it. I couldn't even find it in my sent emails. It just disappeared. Now if you ask me, that is part of the spiritual battle. I am beginning to see how much goes on behind the scenes. It is a great reminder to cover everything in prayer.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
My Post on Compost
We started a compost pile on the edge of our garden. This fall I dumped in all the leaves I raked from a cherry tree. I didn't have much more to add than that, but it was a start. Then I started researching for what I needed for compost. Both green and brown. Leaves and grass clippings and scraps from my kitchen. Once I started *thinking green* it is pretty easy. Coffee grounds, egg shells, banana peels, strawberry tops, orange peels. apple cores, brown lettuce...the list goes on.
The key is to keep it wet and warm. I have a hose right next to it and I spray it every day or so. I also turn it with a pitch fork. It is amazing to see this stuff decompose. I hope to put it in our garden this year. I recently added ashes from the fire. (basically burned up wood). Ashes turn into the greatest soil.
I took these pictures several weeks ago and now all of this stuff has turned into dirt. Pretty cool...