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|Nova Scotia Masters
Mike's soccer team made it to the over 35 men's national tournament representing Nova Scotia.
I love it that Mike is so healthy and fit - he was the oldest player in the tournament!
Imagine, my Ontario boy representing Nova Scotia - ain't that special!!
Whenever this team has a tournament I like to offer them a few tips on food choices between games. Several tournaments ago they asked if beer was o.k. the night before the final game(s). They asked my opinion, so I recommended: no beer. I guess the fellas thought that I was being too prudent, so they asked me, the dietitian, whether sex was allowed - so, my final answer was: sex OR one beer, but not both! I believe they have been abiding by this 'rule' as it always comes up during tournaments.
This was an important tournament, so I decided to make some post- game snacks for optimal glycogen reloading of their muscles right after the games ended.
A good post-game snack will be carbohydrate-rich with some protein.
Dates are high in energy and potassium and the sunflower seeds lend some protein. The jalapeno peppers are there just for a kick!
1 banana
3 cups dates - soaked in water for 20-30 minutes and drained
1/2 cup oat flour (rolled oats ground in coffee grinder)
1 cup sunflower seeds
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 small jalapeno pepper, minced
flaxseed and / or wheat germ on a plate
Process until it is a homogeneous mixture. If it is too sticky to form into balls, add a little more oat flour.
Put in freezer to firm
|Mike looks pretty pleased about their bronze medal win!


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World peace ❤ starts in our own hearts
8 comments:
Just goes to show that there are heart to be found in many different places. We just need to look that little bit further. Maybe into our hearts!!........xxReplyDelete
Thanks for the reminder about Wycoller; over 20-25 years since I last walked there! Love the seat.ReplyDelete
Such true words - and a lovely reminder when out and about. xReplyDelete
such a lovely saying xReplyDelete
Thanks for all the interesting links in your blog. Love that heart and I agree, it does look like a huge tooth. Wonder if that is deliberate or just the natural shape of the original piece of wood. xxReplyDelete
I just can't believe you can find so many hearts, I'm obviously not looking in the right places.ReplyDelete
You certainly have found a lot of hearts! This one is very unusual, and inscribed with an admirable sentiment! :)ReplyDelete
Cathy x
I live in Kent but visited Wycoller a few weeks ago, it is a magical place, deserted when I went. This bench really struck me, although the word 'our' is slightly eligible now, it maybe needs a clean up...it's such a wonderful sentiment and so true.ReplyDelete
Hi there...
Thank you ever so much for stopping by today - I'm really glad that you did. If you would like to leave me a comment then I would be delighted to hear from you,
Hawthorn x
Sadly anyone signing anonymous will not be published

subset: commoncrawl


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Treat yourself: High-end vibrators
When dating, we expect the very best — someone who will treat us like a princess and make us feel spoiled. But what about when we're engaging in a touch of self-love? We still deserve only the best, and these high-end vibrators are just what the (love) doctor ordered!
The latest buzz
When dating, we expect the very best — someone who will treat us like a princess and make us feel spoiled. But what about when we're engaging in a touch of self-love? We still deserve only the best, and these high-end vibrators are just what the (love) doctor ordered!
Gadget porn becomes porn... gadgets?
In the world of sex toys, there's not often all that much in the way of new and innovative gadgets — except, now there is. "The Stronic (Babeland.com, $199) is the next wave of sex toys. Not a vibrator, but a pulsator that mimics the thrusting motion of sex. "With 10 different rhythms, you'll definitely find the moves that will please!" says Claire Cavanah, Babeland's co-founder.
We're also rather excited by vibes that you can wear on your finger. This isn't a new concept, but leave it to luxury style maker Jimmyjane to make the experience more sophisticated and interactive. "The new Hello Touch (Babeland.com, $65) wearable vibe has two pads that slip over your finger tips and add zing everywhere your hands roam!" says Cavanah. Hello, interactive!
That's not brave new world enough for you? We're personally enthralled with LELO's Lyla 2 (Lelo.com, $139) — a remote-controlled vibrator! That means your partner can wirelessly control your pleasure from a distance. It doesn't get much sexier than that.
Two become one
The world of adult products is becoming far more couple-centric than in the past.
The We-Vibe (We-Vibe.com, $150) is quickly becoming one of the most popular adult vibrating toys on the market, and we think it's all about the versatility. Couples love it because it can be used during sex or for solo play, but also because the design allows for both internal and external stimulation for women. It conforms to our shape, making it comfortable and easy to use.
Their newest version, The Thrill by We-Vibe, was designed for ladies who prefer a DIY experience. It was named a semi-finalist in the annual Last Gadget Standing competition alongside tech giants like Samsung and Intel — another CES first — more than 175,000 people viewed/voted on the product!
"Fifty Shades may have gotten the world all hot and bothered, but it doesn't teach us much about how to act out our own fantasies. Now that more of us are becoming comfortable discussing sex and new ways of enhancing pleasure and connection, more resources are being made available to support the exploration," says Ethan Imboden, Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Jimmyjane.
One of the best new resources comes from Betony Vernon — pick up a copy of her [The] Boudoir Bible and set aside some study time. "If you're looking for immediate gratification, visit the Learn section on www.jimmyjane.com and download all the free Pleasure Guides you want. Whichever path you choose, consider inviting a study buddy to make sure you make the most of your new knowledge," says Imboden.
This may be one of those rare opportunities to have your cake and eat it too. "Sixty percent of women say that foreplay is their favorite part of the sexual experience, and guys report wanting more as well," says Imboden. A full-body massage is a tried-and-true warm-up, and if you're looking for a multi-sensory experience, try the KNEAD ME Pleasure Set (JimmyJane.com, $45), which brings together an AFTERGLOW Massage Oil Candle and its favorite accomplice, the CONTOUR Ceramic Massage Stone. Be sure to take your time though, working gradually to the most sensitive areas of the body — it's not foreplay if it takes you straight to the finish line.
Lube is an essential for just about any vibrator, and if you are going to have the most luxurious of buzz(iness), you should make sure to accompany it with a high-end lube. We are all about the Silicone-Based Lubricant at Kiki de Montparnasse (kikidm.com, $65) — plus, look how elegant it will look as it sits on your vanity!
The classics remain strong
"Rabbits and bullets continue to be popular and essentials that everyone should have in their toy box," says Jamie Cooper, sexpert at Lion's Den. Bullets are great for stimulation. You can get immediate release with them or you can use them to stimulate the entire region around your clit until you're panting. Either way, it's a win/win situation! They come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Some even have remotes (for those times you want your partner to have all the control).
Rabbits have continued to gain popularity over the last decade because they come in a variety of shapes and styles. They stimulate, penetrate, rotate and, of course, vibrate, with a variety of speeds that you can control. They just do the job. Enough said!
That said, erotic romance writer Elia Winters says people are developing a more expensive taste when it comes to their toys: "While classics such as the Hitachi Magic Wand or the Rabbit Pearl will always be customer favorites, it's easy to see clients moving away from cheap rubber vibrators and into more expensive, durable products such as those produced by njoy and LELO."
More sexy toys
Beat bedroom boredom: Ways to spice things up
5 Fun bedroom buys


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Memories of Douglas Adams
I was a Douglas Adams fan before I knew who Douglas Adams was.
The year was 1979 and my earliest memory of watching Doctor Who was returning from the Edinburgh Book Festival in time for the first story of the new season, Destiny Of The Daleks.
It hasn't been the most popular Dalek story but it has a special place for me due to it being the first Doctor Who story I remember seeing. What I later learned to be Adams' humour shines throughout where he combines the absurd and the serious. In this story, an empasse between Movellans and Daleks is illustrated in a simple game of "paper scissors stone" and next time you watch it, have a look at the book the Doctor is reading while he is trapped under some colapsed rubble.
The next story is an all time great and one that gave me nightmares as a kid. City of Death is rightly remembered as a classic but, at the time, I wasn't aware that the story's author, David Agnew, was Douglas Adams (helped by then producer Graham Williams). If you watch this story and the unmade Doctor Who story, Shada (you can buy an audio version of Shada, with Paul McGann as the Doctor, with Lalla Ward as Romana and John Leeson as K-9 from Big Finish) you will find a lot of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency there.
Years later, when such things mattered to me, I discovered that he was the script editor for that year. It was also the year that his first book was published.
And so, unknowingly, I had encountered the genius of Douglas Adams before I'd heard of, or read, The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy.
My first encounter was with the tv series and loved it. Peter Jones had a wonderful voice for the book and Simon Jones (no relation) made the quintissential Arthur Dent, a man struggling to come to terms with the demolition of his home. He can't even get the computer of a futuristic and one of a kind ship to make him a nice cup of tea.
Over the years, I have come to love wordplay humour and I believe that HHGTTG ingnited that love with such wonderful descriptions such as that of the Vogon ship hanging in the air in exactly the same way that bricks don't.
I admire the way Adams pays attention to details like "how come everyone in the universe speaks English" and then creates the remarkable babel fish, not merely a fish that can translate but the cause of more and bloodier wars than any other animal.
I thought the tv series was wonderful and was impressed by the book visuals. Having seen how the book animations were done, I'm even more amazed. They were truly a labour of love.
Then I heard the radio series. It was fabulous. It had the great characters from the tv series (and now Trillian had an English accent and Ford sounded a bit different) but the magic was there and I could create my own visuals. It was about this stage that I read the books. Although I enjoy all forms of HHGTTG, it is the audio version that I tend to go back to again and again and again. It might be an audio thing as I enjoyed the audio books, read by Douglas Adams himself.
The second radio series, I felt, lacked the brilliance of the first. There were great moments such as the total perspective vortex and the body debit card but it wasn't until I learned how tight the timing was between the finished scripts and the broadcast that I realised that it was a small miracle it was transmitted at all.
The remaining books were dramatised for radio, and in a brilliant moment of genius, Douglas can be heard as Agrajag, the creature that's always being killed by Arthur Dent. These were all broadcast after Douglas' untimely death. Most of the original cast returned and if you haven't heard these adaptations by the brilliant Dirk Maggs, please stop reading and go and get them.
A new book in the HHGTTG series has now been published and written by the excellent Eoin Colfer, and while I'm sure it'll be an enjoyable read, I think I shall invest in the audiobook. It's read by Simon Jones, what more could you ask?
The world, and I, still miss Douglas Adams. His genius is not easily replaced.


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Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Phew, progress made........
Have I ever mentioned the 'WOW' factor when giving a guild program? Gotta WOW them so if I say or do something stupid they won't remember that - they'll remember the candy, free pencil, handwoven sample, etc. Irma, an older guild member, used to be my gauge on if my guild program was good - if she stayed awake it was a good one (which she always did, thank goodness). Irma has since passed away so I just have to hope I do ok these days, haven't found another guild member that falls asleep if the program bores them.
So........the past 2 hours I've spent thinking/planning future warps to go on the looms........that really felt good as I'm not getting enough weaving time these days.
And then UPS showed up with an Ashland Bay order of roving that will need to be weighed, bagged, labeled and put into inventory.......and since these are new colors I'll need to do photography work. It's not as big an order as usual but still around 50 pounds - it's mostly merino/tussah in test colorways to try out and see how they're received and some limited merino multi-color colorways that I thought would be fun to add to the thousands of pounds of roving already in bins here, what's a few more??? I'm going to choose to ignore that huge box until next week, there are other things on the schedule for the next several days.
Labels: name drafting, weaving
4 comments:
Wow! (and double Wow!)ReplyDelete
That sounds like a great program!!
- AnonymousMarch 13, 2014 at 5:32 AM
Oh how I wish I could be sitting in the front row to listen to your presentation, I just know I would learn a ton. Irma will be there in spirit and will be cheering you on. If you get a chance I would love to read the notes you are handing out - it would almost be like sitting there. Break a leg!ReplyDelete
Hooray! Looks like a winner of a program and best of all, it's done! ;)ReplyDelete
Hmmm, after your program maybe you should consider selling how-to kits on Etsy -- or just the downloadable instructions.ReplyDelete
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Hat tip Bangkok Post
As reports come in on the arrest of a "foreign" man by Thai police, the Bangkok Post has photos and a video of the suspect in custody, who Thai police believe is the yellow-shirted man who set off a bomb two weeks ago in Bangkok. He was arrested Saturday at the Thai-Cambodian border.
Although the name and nationality have not been released, Thai police have seized multiple passports being used by the suspect(s) and some reports in Thailand indicate he may be Turkish.
Fox News has additional details which give further credence to the Turkish connection. It says the motive may have to do with support for the Muslim Uighur minority in China.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Thai Police Arrest in Erawan Bombing
Posted by Gary Fouse at 1:31 PM
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Subic CEO urge govt to put up funds for ecozones
Government urged to put up P2-billion fund to develop ecozones
The government must put up a P2-billion fund to encourage more investments in the country through the development of economic zones, a ranking official said yesterday.
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) administrator Armand Arreza said that the government must put up more economic zones around Subic Bay Freeport and Clark Freeport.
The suggestion was made during a meeting with the Senate committee on government corporations and public enterprises, chaired by Sen. Richard Gordon, and representatives of the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).
Gordon, who has filed Senate Bill 0143, or the "3-3-1 Luzon Global Corridor Act of 2009", has earlier proposed to develop other special economic zones in Luzon to optimize the three airports in Manila, Subic, and Clark, the three seaports in Manila, Subic and Mariveles, and the highway and railway connecting these major ports."
The bill also seeks to strengthen the power of the SBMA and CDC, giving them the mandate to develop nearby areas into new economic zones. To speed up the process, Arreza then proposed the creation of a fund to develop new zones.
"If we wanted for Subic and Clark to reach the level of Singapore, we will need investments the equivalent of either seven Texas Instruments or four Hanjins a year. But to start all these, we need to build roads first," Arreza said.
Arreza recalled that when SBMA and CDC were formed, the primary intention was to create jobs for those affected by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 and the pullout of the US military from Subic and Clark in 1992.
However, he pointed out that the business model that supports the growth of Subic and Clark "to a certain level, is very limited, as they rely primarily on leases or income from land, which is a finite resource."
Arreza noted that to carry out their new mandate of developing nearby communities, Subic and Clark would require a tremendous amount of annual investments in the next 10 years to fund various public infrastructures, such as roads, water and sewerage systems, as well as technical schools that would help reduce skills mismatch.
He also stressed that an eco-metric study made by the SBMA showed that Vietnam and China invested anywhere between seven and eight percent of their annual gross domestic product in infrastructure to boost their edge as investment sites.
In contrast, the Philippines spends only three percent of its GDP for the same purpose, Arreza added. By Ma. Elisa P. Osorio (The Philippine Star)
Labels: Armand C. Arreza, economic zone, sbma, Subic Bay


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By Steve Beck
TABERNACLE, N.J. (CBS) — Two children were killed and another child and woman were wounded during a shooting inside a Burlington County home, state police said.
The shooting happened inside a home on Holly Park Drive in Tabernacle, New Jersey.
New Jersey State Police said they received a phone call from a family member inside the home at about 9 a.m.
Investigators say when Troopers arrived, they found the bodies of a boy and girl inside the home.
Two others — a female and a juvenile — were taken to Cooper University Hospital in Camden in unknown conditions.
The names and ages of the dead and the wounded were not immediately available, but investigators did say they were all related.
"I can tell you that there's not a massive manhunt going on and the public should not be alarmed or feel threatened," State Police spokesman Captain Stephen…
View original post 86 more words


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My New Blog Url - BethMayBlogs18:14
Hello! Just a quick note to say that I have recently changed from BetterwithBeauty to BethMayBlogs.blogspot.co.uk. I thought that this was more fitting to me as it means I can blog more than beauty reviews and my blog name incorporates my name!
I have also made a new blog header - What do you think?
Hope you like it!


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What, you need another bag fix? Me, too.
Here's Karin Birch's Gypsy Bag in peacock and brown corduroy, lined with crazy fabrics, closed by a vintage button. She has others, too. You could buy two and put one inside the other, just because.
No, that would be silly. Send the blue one to me.


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The demo version of the game "Happy Wheels" is free to play at GameFudge.com, while the full version of the game, which is also free to play, is only available at Totaljerkface.com. Jim Bonacci created the game and is responsible for its art and programming.Continue Reading
"Happy Wheels" is a physics-based racing game featuring eccentric characters and gruesome courses. It has a level editor that enables users to design and play their own levels, as well as share them with other users.
Although there is not yet a release date as of April 2015, a version for iOS and Android is in progress. The cost for the iOS version is purported to be $2.99, according to Totaljerkface.com.Learn more about Online Games


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For example, on the linked home page as I write, there are programs about a 1957 film whose plot has elements of the Trump moment, exploration of the legal battle over access to academic archives that may contain evidence of crimes by the IRA in Belfast, and a dissection of the propaganda battle over a drug that may -- or may not -- treat female sexual dysfunction.
The Influencing Machine. Like the show, this is serious reporting and reflection, delightfully presented. Gladstone plays the same role she often adopts in her interviews: she's the endlessly curious innocent who asks all the embarrassingly ignorant questions you wish weren't ordinarily skipped by less secure journalists. Here, she recounts the history of the interaction between technology and media, from ancient Mayan artists through Twitter addicts. She punctures the various pomposities that journalists have adopted in each epoch. She doesn't have a high opinion of many practitioners of her own craft -- or so her character here suggests. (If she really had as low an opinion as she conveys, I don't think she'd be able to attract so many media figures to submit to interviews on her show. From the sound of these, they like and trust her.)
The book includes an observation on U.S. journalism worth remembering. She highlights the pattern through which U.S. governments draw us into wars. Whether it was the first Gulf War, the Spanish-American conquests, World War I, Vietnam, or Iraq II, the pattern is the same.
Yet she is not about to blame our ignorance or distraction entirely on governments.
Whether dead babies, the sinking of the Maine and the Lusitania, the attacks in the Gulf of Tonkin, or Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, the premises for going to war usually are built on partial or total fabrications. Fundamentally, this is because our government does not trust us to come to the right conclusion -- that is, to go to war.
... Combat reporters focus on the fighting. The reason, our reason for fighting, is lost in the fog of war. And once that's lost, it takes a long, long time to recover.
Both the podcast and Gladstone's comic are U.S. media at their best: diligently researched, thoughtful, and vastly entertaining.
Once I was confronted by a gaggle of high-ranking Chinese journalists who pointed to several instances in which American news outlets pulled their punches when reporting on the Bush administration and the Iraq war. They said they proved the American media were afraid of the government.
That's ridiculous, I replied. The American media are not afraid of the government. They are afraid of their audiences and advertisers. The media do not control you. They pander to you. ...


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Also published in the Grand Rapids Press editorials page, Aug 9, 2004
Dear Public Pulse:
Thanks to Fred Meijer for his offer to provide land for a new zoo. It was an extremely generous act. We should all be grateful for the many wonderful things Fred and Lena Meijer have done for our hometown. Of course there are a million things someone could do with 165 acres of land, and now that the ballot measure has failed and the new zoo has been shelved, I'm sure Mr. Meijer is getting an earfull. I would like to strongly encourage that this acreage not be turned into yet another subdivision. We don't need more urban sprawl. We need a lot of things in our community, but increasing sprawl, traffic and pollution is not the answer. I have two suggestions. First, a light rail transit station. Think of the benefit of having a light rail line with a stop right in the parking lot of the Meijer store at Knapp's Corner, that could connect to the Gardens, Calvin College and all of the businesses on the Beltline, 28th Street, 44th Street and the airport. Second, I wonder if the Meijers have ever thought of going into the energy business? 165 acres would certainly be adequate to build enough solar and wind generators to power a large section of the city. We already buy our food from Meijer, why not our electricity? Our troops are fighting a war over control of the world's oil supply. We must encourage our community's leaders, especially those creative entrepeneurial visionaries like Mr. Meijer, to pick up the challenge of alternative transportation and energy and become part of the solution to this horrible war.


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Thursday, August 25, 2016
Catholic response contradicts
All views on assisted suicide matter
Wednesday, 24 August 2016, 4:56 pm
Press Release: NZ Catholic Bishops
"All views on assisted suicide matter" says Catholic Bioethics Centre spokesperson.
Director of The Nathaniel Bioethics Centre, Dr John Kleinsman, is surprised and appalled at the disingenuous tactics being employed by assisted suicide supporters. Both Matt Vickers and Act MP David Seymour have in recent days described the unprecedented number of submissions to the Health Select Committee and the overwhelming 78% opposition to a law change as nothing more than the result of formulaic submissions collected in bulk by mostly religious institutions or as religious bullying from the pulpit by pastors.
"Their insinuations are two-fold: (i) that the only possible basis for opposition is a religious one and (ii) that the views of people with a faith perspective don't count or count less," says Dr Kleinsman.
"The first is totally inaccurate – just read the many evidence-based submissions by professional groups and others – and the second is nothing more than an example of bigotry – a smoke screen, a distraction based on an elitist view of what counts as legitimate political discourse."
"It is actually impossible to know the precise numbers of submitters whose views on assisted suicide may be influenced by their faith. One analysis of the submissions shows that approximately 17% of opponents and 4% of supporters of a law change drew on religious concepts," said Kleinsman.
"The Health Select Committee Process is an important part of the way we exercise democracy in New Zealand and all citizens have a right to express their views in their style and in their own language. Some people will express that view in a sentence, others in a few pages. Since when did a person's view depend on their level of education or ability to be articulate? To think otherwise is to imply that some New Zealander's views count more than others. I believe most New Zealanders, whatever their personal position on this issue, will see such claims for what they are – as an assault on our principles of inclusion and fairness."
"The idea that some people's views count more than others is a very small step away from the very dangerous view that some lives matter more than others – something that disabled people encounter all the time. This debate needs to focus on the evidence."
"I urge the Committee to pay attention to the Palliative Care Physician who, as part of her oral evidence pointed out 'that people often change their mind, they don't know all of their choices and that the evidence shows that people who engage in palliative care early not only live better, they live longer.'"
"These are doctors who deal with deaths from all kinds of illnesses every single day – if anyone is in a position to say that assisted suicide is unnecessary or dangerous it's them."
"The key question is whether a law allowing assisted suicide can adequately protect those who are vulnerable to coercion because of illness or disability. Let's have a respectful debate about that."
2 comments:
- Berend de Boer said...
Not your typical post fortunately for your readers. I really struggle to see your point. Having your say and informed opinion are different matters, and I'm sure you believe that too.
My worry is that the highly educated view is going to dominate - and the consequences are going to be felt by those who do not have the education to protect themselves from the freedom that is created by them.
It happened with marriage ... where the highly educated have not taken their own advice
It happened with abortion ... where the offspring of the poor have disproportionately been disposed of
and it is going to happen with the end of life - where the articulate will be able to protect themselves from the need to find a bed or reduce costs ... but the inarticulate will just be quietly disposed of


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You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go.... Dr. Seuss (1904 - 1991), Oh! The Places You'll Go!
July 2, 2011
May you all have a safe and happy 4th of July. Thank you for the women and men who are serving to protect our freedoms and safety. God Bless America. I know all will be putting up flags or patriotic songs of some sort but this is the song that has been rolling through my head- it may sound sad but listen to the words- it is a beautiful song of hope and dreaming. I love Willie Nelson- so badly wanted to see him in a few weeks but weather problems made him have to cancel the concert he was coming to in our area. Let us all care a little more about our neighbors instead of ourselves so much. Let us all strive to make a difference- nothing is to small. We need to start looking at America as our family and working as a team to get things back together. Dear Mr. President I have alot to talk to you about- yep we have alot of changes we need to make and you need to start listening to the little people as they say...we deserve to be heard too, our votes mean just as much as the rich persons. Happy Birthday America!
Posted by MOMFOREVERANDEVER at 3:09:00 AM
Labels: dream, happy birthday America, hope, willie nelson
1 comment:
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Description of Course:
This course will focus on close reading of fiction, poetry, and drama. As an introductory course for literary studies major, students will learn how to analyze, interpret, and respond critically to literature. The students will be taught to analyze literature as a human experience, understand authorial intention, and read through historical/ cultural lenses. Emphasis will be placed on the development of critical skills through the writing of interpretive/analytical essays. Students will read various genres of literature as well as literature from different time periods. Ultimately, students will learn to differentiate between these genres and how literature has changed over time. Also, students will encounter a range of themes and ideas that pertain to literature throughout the course. This course will provide students with strategies and skills to thrive in higher level literature courses.
Required Texts:
Austen, Jane. Northanger Abbey. CreateSpace, 2010.
James, Henry. The Turn of The Screw and Other Short Novels. Signet Classics, 2007.
Booth, Alison and Kelly J. Mays. The Norton Introduction to Literature. Portable Tenth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010.
Course Requirements/Evaluation Criteria:
© The University of
Texas at Dallas School of Arts and Humanities.
No part of this
website can be copied or reproduced without permisssion.


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LINCOLN CITY – Fresh off of a 2017 season that saw five sellout crowds and a number of others shows that pushed capacity, the Lincoln Amphitheatre is taking reservations for 2018 season tickets (renewals and new purchases) at a discounted rate of $250 for two general admission season passes and $400 for two VIP season passes.
These prices will go up by approximately $50 when the season is announced in early February 2018.
The Hoosier Heritage Fall Tour moves to Bristow Sunday for the community's 28th annual Octoberfest and car show. Along with hundreds of classic vehicles, there will be music, craft vendors, food and games. Registration for the show starts at 8 a.m. at the community center. The fun will last through the afternoon. On Saturday, the historic Rickenbaugh House at Celina Lake will be open four tours. See Page 3B for more fall tour activities.
CHRISNEY – The Lincoln Hills Development Corp. Retired and Senior Volunteer Program will host its annual recognition event on Tuesday, Oct. 10, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Chrisney Youth Center, located at 1101 E. County Road 800 N., Chrisney.
The event is held to honor the RSVP volunteers who contribute many hours of their time and talent for the betterment of the community.
Maxon Luncheon Tuesday
TELL CITY – All former Maxon employees and their spouses are invited to attend a luncheon Tuesday, Oct. 10. at 11:30 a.m. at the Patio Steakhouse in Tell City. Contact Allen Kast at (812) 719-9849 with any questions.
Twilight Towers to host biscuit breakfast
ROCKPORT – The 37th annual Mt. Zion Apple Fest is scheduled for Oct. 14-15 at Honey Creek Farm. Activities will be from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Parking will cost $3 per car.
PERRY COUNTY – The community of Rome will celebrate the start of Hoosier Heritage Fall Tour this Sunday, Oct. 1, with dinners, live entertainment and other attractions.
LINCOLN CITY – The Lincoln Boyhood Drama Association will again produce "Scrooge's Christmas" this holiday season and will hold public audition dates in October. All ages are welcome and encouraged to audition.
The dates and locations for the auditions will be:
• Monday, Oct. 2, 5 to 7 p.m. at Tell City Evangelical Church of Christ, 802 10th St. in Tell City
• Wednesday, Oct. 4, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. EDT at the Ferdinand Library, 112 East 16th St. in Ferdinand
Fulda Sportsman euchre Saturday
FULDA – The Fulda Sportsman Club will host a euchre tournament on Saturday, Sept. 30. Doors will open at 6 p.m. and play begins at 7. All times are CST. Food and drinks will be provided and prizes awarded. The public is invited to attend.
Horseman's Club euchre series begins Oct. 7
Cancer support meeting Tuesday
TELL CITY – A cancer support group will meet from 6 to 7 p.m. every Tuesday in Education Room A at Perry County Memorial Hospital. Cancer survivors, cancer patients, family members and caregivers are welcome.
Knits and Knots meeting Sept. 28
LINCOLN CITY – Legendary 1960s rockers Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels will close out the Lincoln Amphitheatre's 2017 performance series on Saturday, Sept. 30.
Doors for the show open at 5 p.m. with regional favorite Bobby Clark and his band opening at 6:30 p.m. Then, Ryder, best known for his classic 1960s run of hits "Devil with a Blue Dress On," "Jenny Take a Ride" and "CC Rider," will take the stage alongside the Detroit Wheels at 7:30 p.m.
All times are central.
Copyright © 2018
The Perry County News is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Perry County, Indiana, and the surrounding area.


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By Rob Spedding (Courtesy of Runners World)
Twenty-two-and-a-half minutes is an impressive amount of
time to spend warming up before a bout of physical activity,
so hats off to the British as, according to a recent survey,
that's how long we spend preparing for action. You're
probably thinking a little light jogging, a few stretches,
some strides… erm, how about a little nibble on the ear,
maybe a tweak of a nipple. The report in question was the
2004 Durex Global Sex Survey and 221/2 minutes is the
average time we, apparently, spend on foreplay.
As well as topping the foreplay league, British adults
also performed rather well when it came to the amount of sex
we enjoy. The Global Sex Survey found the average British
adult has sex 119 times a year. The thing is, as a runner
there's a very good chance that you're thinking "Is that
all!" When RUNNER'S WORLD readers were asked, more than
three quarters of you reported that running has enhanced
your level of sexual activity, and experts agree: "There's
no doubt running is good for your sex life," says Dr Petra
Boynton, a sex psychologist and lecturer in health research
at University College London. "One of the main reasons for
this is that healthy people – and runners obviously fall
into this category – generally have better sex lives than
unhealthy folk as they're less likely to encounter sexual
Boynton has carried out research where, as well as
quizzing people about how often they're having sex and who
with, she's looked at their medical history. "The worse
people's health was, the more likely they were to either
have sexual problems, or not have sex at all." Dr Patrick
Milroy, RW Medical Advisor agrees: "Health problems linked
to a lack of exercise, such as obesity, hypertension, and
diabetes can all contribute to sexual problems," he explains
"and so can habits such as heavy smoking and drinking which,
as a rule, runners tend to steer clear of."
It isn't just physical, either. "Running is great for
your emotional health," says physiologist Ian Craig. "It
puts you in a positive mood, lowers stress and can even help
ward off depression, which will make you more inclined to
feel sexy and be intimate with your partner." Milroy agrees:
"The feel-good hormones endorphins are produced when you
run," he says. "You always feel better about yourself after
a run, and if you feel better about yourself then you're
more likely to fancy sex."
Boynton even believes the act of running can make you a
better lover. "As a runner you spend time on your own,
developing an awareness of your body," she says. "You think
about your breathing, the way that you're moving, and focus
on your technique, how you're feeling and what feels good
and what doesn't. Apply these principles in bed as well, and
it'll improve your experience and your partner's
experience." Still need convincing that runs and romps are
perfect bedfellows? Then here are eight more reasons why
running really will make you a better lover.
Forget placing an advert in a contact magazine, just going
for a run will lead to more sex. We're not promising that
every run will see you chased through the park by scantily
clad members of the opposite sex or suggesting that running
clubs are hotbeds of swinging, but being fit can result in
more bedroom action. The evidence comes from Professor James
White, an expert on fitness and sex at the University of
California at San Diego who had 78 men follow a moderate
aerobic regimen four times per week. After nine months, the
men reported their rate of sexual intercourse had leaped an
average of 30 per cent, with 26 per cent more orgasms.
Californian scientists are obviously very interested in sex
and exercise, as another study – this time an 18-year
research project of 751 volunteers at the Center for Marital
and Sexual Studies in Long Beach – found that regular
exercisers reached orgasm easiest and most often.
Even if you find that our first promise doesn't come true
instantly, you're still going to be irresistible to someone.
Okay, it's you, but that's a start. A study carried out
earlier this year at the University of Arkansas found that
people who worked out regularly felt more sexually
attractive than their less-active peers.
Researcher Tina Penhollow interviewed 408 students and
found that among those who exercised two to three times a
week, 80 per cent of men and 60 per cent of women reckoned
they were above average when it came to sexual desirability.
Women will no doubt feel the fact that 100 per cent of the
gents, but just 63 per cent of ladies who exercised six to
seven times a week rated their sexual attractiveness as
above average as further proof that men have rather high
opinions of themselves. Mind you, among people whose fitness
level was above average, 80 per cent of women rated their
sexual performance better than most, compared with just 47
per cent of the men.
It's not just 10K times that start to droop as you age.
According to 50,000 US medics who were questioned for the
Health Professional Follow-up Study, men experience a sharp
decline in their sexual functioning as they hit their 50s.
The study revealed that 33 per cent of the men questioned
had experienced erectile dysfunction in the previous three
months. The good news, though, is running acts as a natural
One study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine
found that men who exercised "vigorously" several times a
week, reduced their risk of erectile dysfunction by 30 per
cent compared with couch potatoes. The same study found
chaps with a Body Mass Index greater than 28.7 had a 30 per
cent higher risk of flopping in bed than those with a more
runner-esque BMI of less than 23.
Meanwhile, Dr Steven Lamm, an assistant professor at the
New York University School of Medicine and the author of The
Hardness Factor: How to Achieve Your Best Health and Sexual
Fitness at Any Age says that when you exercise, blood flow
increases, blood rushes through your endothelial cells (the
lining of the blood vessels) and stimulates them to make
more nitric oxide, a key chemical involved in producing
erections. "The healthier a man is, the more nitric oxide he
produces, and the harder his erection is," says Lamm.
It's an old cliché, but little dampens the mood for a spot
of loving more than a headache. For some women, though, a
migraine is nothing compared to the passion-killing powers
of pre-menstrual syndrome: depression, cramps, bloating and
sore breasts just aren't sexy. If you do suffer from PMS,
though, running could be just the thing to keep it at bay.
One study found that women who ran an average of just 12
miles a week for six months reported less breast tenderness,
bloating, depression and stress. It's thought that the
feel-good endorphins released during a run ease these
symptoms. Running can also provide a welcome boost during
the menopause, a time when women's sex drives tend to drop.
One five-year study followed 27 women through the menopause
and found the only factor that seemed to affect a woman's
sexual satisfaction was exercise – the more they exercised
during the study, the greater their sexual satisfaction.
Even if you don't suffer PMS or the menopause is a long
way off or in the past, running will boost your libido: a
RUNNER'S WORLD poll found that 83 per cent of women
questioned felt jogging had given their sex life a boost.
Many of us run because we hope it'll ward off the ravages of
time. There's little evidence a 30-mile week will fight
baldness or grey hair – just check out the RW office – but
exercise can keep your sex life young. Scientists at Harvard
University studied 160 male and female swimmers in their 40s
and 60s and found a positive relationship between regular
exercise and sexuality in terms of the frequency and
enjoyment of intercourse.
"The swimmers in their 60s reported sex lives comparable
to people in the general population in their 40s," reported
anthropologist Phillip Whitten. "The swimmers in their 40s
had sex lives more like those of people in their 20s and
30s." In a study at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne,
men aged 55 to 65 who ran more than 40 miles a week had
higher levels of testosterone and growth hormone than
sedentary men, indicating runners had healthier sex drives.
Heavy breathing, lots of sweat, a final desperate surge to
the finish… Racing and love-making can be pretty similar,
and if you ever find yourself coming to a climax too
quickly, then applying race technique between the sheets
really could help. "If you're aiming for a five-hour
marathon, but arrive at the first mile and find yourself
going too fast, you know what to do – slow down, find the
right rhythm and get yourself back on track," says Dr Petra
Boynton. "When you're having sex, the opposite is more
likely: you'll realise that you're going too fast and simply
break into a sprint." Instead, says Boynton, do what you'd
do in a race. Stopping and stretching isn't a good idea, but
taking stock, pacing yourself and, most of all, relaxing can
make embarrassing finishes a thing of the past
Ronhill Tracksters and a rain-jacket don't rank alongside
stockings and suspenders or a fireman's uniform in any list
of turn-ons. However, you might want to rip 'em off after a
speed session as the very act of running most definitely is.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina found
athletes who exercised at 70 per cent of their VO2 max
experienced a 40 per cent increase in free-testosterone, a
38 per cent increase in cortisol, and an increase in
These higher hormone levels all contribute to a
heightened sexual arousal. Scientists at Chicago State
University found almost one in four of the women they
questioned had experienced sexual arousal, or even orgasm,
while exercising. There's more: 35 women aged between 18 and
34 were shown a short travel film, then an X-rated film on
two occasions. The first time the ladies cycled vigorously
for 20 minutes, the second time they did not. After
measuring the subjects' sexual response, using a device that
measures blood flow in genital tissue, researchers found
that after exercising the vaginal responses were 169 per
cent greater.
Forget the oft-repeated line that you should abstain from
sex before a race. Lovemaking before a big event is
extremely unlikely to have a negative effect. Ian Shrier, a
researcher at the Centre for Clinical Epidemiology in
Montreal, Canada reviewed all the scientific studies
addressing the physiological effects of pre-competition sex
and concluded that it "doesn't affect aerobic capacity,
strength, balance, reaction time or any other factors that
may influence athletic performance the next day".
This isn't really that surprising as intercourse between
married partners only burns 25-50 calories – the equivalent
of climbing two flights of stairs – so you're unlikely to be
too tired for the next day's marathon. In fact, sex before a
26.2-miler could lead to a PB. "I've heard lots of stories
of women who say they've actually run better after having
sex before a race," says Milroy. There might even be some
evidence to back up his claim: a survey of 2,000 runners at
the Flora London Marathon revealed that the runners who'd
had sex the night before the race ran faster than the
entrants who'd abstained.
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For More Information
Dudley Ladies Running Club
c/o Wombourne Leisure Centre
Tel 01902 898202 or


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Language in international CoPs July 16, 2007Posted by bill in cp2portugal07, dialog, Reflections.
1 comment so far
One of our sessions was about the question of language and communication in international CoPs (particularly online).
Ueli described the issues he faced with a community working in English but where members had a variety of first languages and communication in English was often a problem. One approach being attempted in Switzerland involves coaching from a language coach to help participants participate more effectively.
Bill had worked with people on a Mozambican online training course which functioned in Portuguese but when it came to participants taking part in a South African online conference in their field (Social Inclusion) they found it very difficult to become part of the English-speaking community. Beverly is presently developing an online community space for CIARIS/ILO which is expected to function bilingually in English and Portugese.
That being said, the use of online translation tools to help communication between Portuguese speakers of the Theka community and anglophone Cpsquare members helped more than I for one expected. On the other hand, many of the Theka people were already pretty at home with English and the level of communication was mainly social in the ramp-up to the 2-day workshop.
One possibility which was mentioned was to build a domain-related language data-base. This could be justified, perhaps, for a community which was expected to function over a longish period and where the key terminology would be relatively circumscribed. A good example of this approach in action can be found at the website of Proz the freelance translators CoP who use a kudos-based reputation system with daily challenges thrown up by working members to build a bank of translations of specialist domain words and phrases into a variety of languages. Example:
Could this approach be adapted to the kind of situation Ueli describes? Would it be useful to consult with the Proz community on this?
Bill Williams
Shirley's view June 8, 2007Posted by Shirley Williams in cp2portugal07, CPSquare, dialog, Reflections.
2 comments
I now can post here – so here is a copy of my recollections.
The trip started with leaving my home at noon, and returning 15 minutes later to collect my mobile phone.
John Smith had visited my University before, so we were travelling together. In the taxi we talked about the previous day and reviewed what had happened. We also looked forward to what may happen over the next few days. I must say I was very apprehensive about how the meetings may proceed and what my role and contribution may be.
At Heathrow airport we met Alasdair Honeyman, who I had not met before, and I knew little about. But it was not long before there was a deep conversation taking place, with an underlying humour, which I found reassuring as to me that seemed to give a freedom to say things that were not all based on a deep understanding. Alasdair claims John and I went through Passport control discussing platforms such as Moodle.
At Lisbon airport we met Andy Roberts, who had arrived on a different flight from Gatwick. Beverly Trayner arrived in the hire van with Derek Chirnside, and again there was a lively conversation on the journey down to Setubal. We are staying in as set of cottages around a windmill. This was another cause of concern for me. I am sharing a cottage with Sus Nyrop and Bronwyn Stuckley, actually I am sharing a room and a bed with Bron!
We moved into preparing a meal (well bringing together the components left for us). Food preparation is a good opportunity for talking and this helped.
Dinner was served on the veranda; over the dinner preparation was started for Thursday. I decided to be open about my concerns and so labelled myself a "control freak" who was concerned about the lack structure.
Thursday – Tuesday
Well my intention was to write this record every day, but like many good intentions it didn't happen. There was very little time for private reflection, and none for writing. So I am now on the bus from London Heathrow airport to Reading, trying to write as we speed down the motorway.
The whole experience has being very intense, at times my brain really felt quite full from all the stimulation. Let me try and pick out the highlights:
Thursday was a day of dialogue, in the morning I joined a group discussing "place" and "space", essentially we agreed a group needs spaces to meet, rooms, forums, teleconferences etc, but they also need a sense of "place" that is where they feel together. There were many other discussions I joined in…
Friday we went to Porto, for sessions with the Theka people. Essentially the programme was to be: Etienne Wegner talking about CoPs, and then the rest of us working with groups on aspects, with 4 groups. Etienne went ahead by train, the rest of us followed in two cars and the hired van. I was in a group with Sus Nyrop and Joao Dias, so we went in Joao's car. On the way we planned, we kept in touch with the van my mobile phone, and part way we stopped for coffee and the van people explained what they had planned , and suggested we adjusted our plans to match theirs, since it wasn't a major shift we agreed. They came up with the term: "van planning" to describe this way of working. When we got to Porto we got hopelessly lost, as did the other two vehicles, it was very stressful and we all arrived very flustered. The session we ran (Web 2.0) went well, and the people present seemed engaged, which was good as they were due to run the same session (with some help from us) the following day. However I do feel that a Web 2.0 session should have the support of the internet, and I wished we had insisted that it was essential as talking about things like Tag Clouds is much easier if you can show a real one! The students were all (would be) school librarians I found the fact that they spoke in Portuguese, which I don't understand, very disconcerting. It seemed to me that I asked them to say what they had written down, which was a list of 12 words, but this took them 200 words to say, then 70 words for Joao to clarify and another 100 for them to re-explain, before I was given an explanation of about 50 words!
We then spent 1 hour driving round Porto looking for Petrol and 1 hour looking for the hotel!
We (that is the 17 CPSquare people) and the Theka people went to dinner in a near by restaurant.
The next day (Saturday) we left the hotel and arrived at the Theka meeting place with time to spare. We listened to Etienne's talk, this time to a larger group of educational people.
The aim of the workshops was the people who were in our workshop on Friday were to run a similar workshop with the new attendees. The Web 2.0 people were supposed to be split across two rooms, but we only had one room that was unlocked, so we started together and then split, after a somewhat leisurely Portuguese lunch! Again I found the language barrier a problem in knowing how well the session was going, but there were a lot of thanks at the end. Joao did the presentation from our group at the closing plenary, and I had managed to get some photos from my phone on to the lap top so we used these as a background. The other groups had produced a lot of paper based graphics and these served well as prompts for the plenary.
It was then time to pile into the vehicles and drive back to Setubal. John Smith joined us and sat up front with Joao, while Sus and I sat in the back and had a detailed conversation about Second Life, about what we had discovered, our shared experiences and where we intend to go. Time passed very quickly and the 4 hour journey seemed soon over.
Sunday was a dialog day, I joined a group talking about Evaluation and projects, some interesting points were made I particularly liked the one made by Martin Roulleaux-Dugage who said: "the best thing you can do for a community is to have someone with dedicated time", without this all agreed there are many potential difficulties. There was also discussion about communities that want to stay "under the radar" versus those that produce "glossy brochures".
I went to a session on Technology Stewardship, it raised quite a few issues of the relationship of communities and their technologies, but I actually discovered more about the topic by talking to Martin afterwards.
In the afternoon I joined Derek Chirnside, Patricia Arnold and Bill Williams and talked about Higher Education. We spent a lot of time establishing our domain and boundaries, and discussing the knotty issues of how to engage our colleagues and students. We were interrupted by a journalist and photographer that Bev introduced. We summarised what we were talking about, however I found his observation was distracting to discussion and it took some time to recover where we were.
The rest of the day was spent in the closing circle, preparation for the Gulbenkian meeting and at a dinner in town. I made the mistake of volunteering to walk back, the hill is a lot steeper on foot than it seems when driving. It was with support from Ueli Scheuermeier and Alasdair that Sus and I made it home (by this time Há Mar ao Luar felt like home).
Monday was spent at the Gulbenkian, on the way Etienne did some van planning of the interactions he hoped to include in his talk. I think having travelled to Porto by train he wanted to have an opportunity to discover van planning. We were directed to spread ourselves around the audience, I introduced myself to a bloke sat on his own, and we talked about his industry: banking and insurance, he told me about the needs to interact with rival businesses and this seemed very interesting from the Community of Practice point of view. When the session started he tapped me on the shoulder and explained he was in the wrong session! My other interactions were with people in the right session, including a very interesting lady from the prison service, who I encouraged to share her experiences with the whole group.
While Etienne was talking I found a lot of inspiration for a project I have in mind to set up a Community of Practice among people at University of Reading who are interested in learning and virtual worlds, I kept adding notes and key points and phases.
In the afternoon we evaluated Bev's Polen 2.0, it was a fairly typical EU sort of evaluation.
In the evening we went out to dinner, and then back to the windmill, where we sat and talked until very late.
It is now Wednesday and I am at work – reading this I think there is so much more to say, I haven't mentioned so many of the conversations or the people. So I probably should summarise:
I found the whole thing intense and inspirational.
It was a pleasure to meet the whole group (in no particular order):
Josien Kapma,: Martin Roulleaux-Dugage; Beverly Trayner; Alasdair Honeyman; Andy Roberts; Bill Williams; Derek Chirnside; John and Nancy Smith; Patricia Arnold; Marc Coenders; Nancy White; Bronwyn Stuckley; Etienne Wegner; João Dias; Sus Nyrop, Maarten de Laat and Ueli Scheuermeier.
Nancy White has posted a load of pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/choconancy/sets/72157600282122982/
they capture a lot of the mood.


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Starbucks Coffee (SBUX): SmartMoney Face-Off Review
Starbucks (SBUX) is the subject of debate for the Face-Off column in this month's (Nov '07) issue of SmartMoney Magazine "Can Starbucks Serve Up Venti Profits?" If you are not familiar with this column, SmartMoney asks two experts to take opposing views on a company, and give five reasons on whether to buy/sell the respective stock.
Sharon Zackfia, analyst at William Blair gives the bull case and Mark Coffeit, portfolio manager of the Empiric Core Equity Fund responds with the bear case for Starbucks Coffee.
I have summarized the main points for both arguments below. I didn't include all arguments from the article, just the most relevant.
BULL CASE: Sharon Zackfia
- Sales growth will continue to be solid due to new breakfast & lunch offerings and international expansion (profitability in China is better than U.S.). Store count is expected to double in 5 years.
- SBUX faces increased competition from MCD but they are not fighting for the same consumer. Until 2003, coffee consumption had been declining, but 2006 was the highest level since the mid-80's. In growing markets, all competitors can win.
- P/E of 26x 2008 estimates is lower than the mid-30's multiple SBUX has historically commanded. SBUX has maintained guidance for this year's earnings since giving it August 2006. Growth is still impressive; It's only large-cap retailer growing sales at more than 20% annually.
BEAR CASE: Mark Coffeit
- Discretionary spending is slowing, and "I can't think of anything more discretionary than a morning cup of coffee."
- Sales up 4% this year. "That's not good for a retail company." 26 P/E vs. 16 P/E for the Market. "Starbucks is priced for perfection" and the odds of it delivering perfection are the same for "tossing heads 10 times in a row." "Could be dead money for five years."
- Breakfast will attract more customers, but the flip side is that new additions make the business more complicated thus prone for making mistakes and turning customers off.
- McDonald's has upgraded its coffee and will be offering lattes/cappuccinos that will cut into SBUX sales.
I the paragraphs below, I evaluate both stances and provide my opinion on the strengths/weaknesses of the contributors' points.
Consumer Spending:
The first bear case argument: can't think of anything more discretionary than morning coffee? That's a totally absurd statement. I can think of many things a pinched consumer would cut back on before coffee: entertainment, travel, fashion apparel, leisure spending, and electronics to name a few. I think most all consumers would cut out an upscale dinner or new X-Box before giving up their morning coffee.
Ms. Zackfia believes that SBUX may not be immune to consumer spending downturns, but it is well insulated. I agree.
a) Caffeine is a highly addictive substance.
b) Drinking coffee is a morning ritual for many.
c) The unit price of coffee is low, thus not a blatant target for budget cuts.
I hear people all the time talk about "their morning coffee" and how they have to have it. It's a daily pattern for some, which implies that the purchase decision process has become automatic. Coffee is closer to a staple than a discretionary good.
Both agree that Starbucks and McDonalds product offerings are different, but Coffeit states that MCD provides a decent alternative. In my mind, there's much more to Starbucks than just its coffee. If that weren't true, then SBUX couldn't charge a premium. Additionally, if it were easy to duplicate SBUX model and offerings, many would have followed Starbucks years ago. SBUX has held of competitors since its incipience, so what makes them so vulnerable today? McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts have forever served coffee, likewise most every other restaurant.
Zackfia's provides a stronger argument as to why MCD will not be a significant factor to SBUX sales growth since she cites evidence of growing coffee consumption.
I believe that MCD will only mildly impact growth in the sense of potential future new customers, not stealing current SBUX customers. I believe MCD is selling a good amount of coffee to customers who previously didn't buy coffee from them nor SBUX. MCD is just taking advantage of their high foot traffic already in place.
Sales Growth:
Coffeit's statement about 4% sales growth is misleading, growth was 20% year/year and 4.6% qtr/qtr. Sequential growth of 4.6% is not bad since multiplying by four quarters is close to 20%, putting it loosely.
The bull argument cites new stores and international markets paving the way for sustained growth. The bear does not address growth prospects of SBUX store expansion plans.
Both participants say new food additions at Starbucks will increase traffic, yet Coffeit claims that is a reason for not buying the stock. He implies more harm can be done, than good, since SBUX store processes will become more complicated.
In my mind, Coffeit contradicts himself since he says MCD new offerings present a threat. If McDonald's is rolling out new coffee beverages, such as lattes, then their business becomes more complicated too. They face the similar risk of driving away customers from poor customer service. I believe SBUX is capable of better managing a new product addition due their better management and employees than MCD. It maybe a valid point, but all companies face that challenge when they introduce a new product line. It's a part of business, and the odds are low that it will detrimentally affect either firm, but even less likely in the case of SBUX.
A multiple of 26x can be cheap or expensive depending on how one looks at it. The bear case is that SBUX is expensive because growth is slowing, and the bull case is that future growth can still be as high expected when SBUX traded at 35ish multiple. The bear states that SBUX is overvalued relative to a 16 market multiple.
SBUX should trade at a premium to the market because it has higher sales growth and higher returns on invested capital. SBUX has a valuable brand leading to a strong competitive position. Morningstar agrees, their economic moat rating for Starbucks is "wide." A 26x multiple may be justified, but I would feel much more comfortable if it were in the low 20's. It's certainly not grossly overvalued at these levels as the bear implied.
I was not impressed with Coffeit's arguments because of his dearth of evidence, and the little he did provide was misleading (stating 4% growth incorrectly). Second, He appeared to inject too much unsubstantiated opinion such as his comments about "coffee is discretionary spending" and the odds of SBUX performing up to priced-in expectations are "tossing heads ten times in a row." If one chooses to use hyperbolic exaggerations, then he needs to provide sufficient evidence to support his inferences. Otherwise, I get an impression that his commentary contains a unwarranted bias. Third, Coffeit's logic regarding the possibility of complications from offering sandwiches is a stretch.
The bull, Ms. Zackfia, lays out a reasonable argument. None of her main points make SBUX a compelling buy, but she does give reasons against taking a bearish stance. On balance, SBUX faces more opportunities than threats. The major risk I see is that competition may limit SBUX ability to raise prices if costs (such as dairy) climb significantly higher, and disproportionately affect Starbucks more than its competitors. I believe that scenario coming to fruition is less likely.
I opined on Starbucks back in August with this article: Long-Term Hold (SBUX near same price then- $26), and my thesis was SBUX was attractive given a long-term investment horizon, but I wouldn't be inclined to buy unless the SBUX dropped close to $20. I based this on the fact that SBUX price multiples had fallen to a more palatable level, and that the company's future growth prospects and return on capital appear to be intact. I concluded that Starbucks shares were not bargain, but reasonable enough for consideration.
I reiterate my earlier (August 2007) position; Starbucks has moved from being very overvalued to reasonably valued, and SBUX would be very attractive/undervalued at a low-20's share price.
Disclosure: I do not have a position in SBUX.


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Keidel: Lions-Packers For NFC North Title A Fitting End To NFL SeasonDepending on earlier games, the loser may well toil in winter purgatory, watching the very party they were four quarters from joining.
NFL Playoffs: Every Possible Scenario Heading Into Week 17There's plenty that remains to be determined in Week 17 and many fans will have to wait until the final clock strikes zero to know their team's fate.
Packers' Hail Mary Against Lions Now Depicted On iPhone CaseNow, the Lions' worst moment of the season has apparently been commemorated on an iPhone cover available for purchase.
Joique Bell Says He'll Challenge World Champion Hurdler Lolo Jones [VIDEO]"Lolo Jones definitely has much respect from me and that's the only reason she got called out."
Jim Caldwell Remains Mum On Hail Mary Defense"I'll answer any other questions you might have besides going backwards."
TJ Lang On Lions: 'They Must Have Just Underestimated Aaron's Arm'"You're guaranteed two double teams. … We feast on that, when we see three guys lined up."
Boomer Esiason: Lions Got 'Screwed' On Facemask Penalty"Here's the deal: It was not a facemask and Detroit basically got screwed by a bad call."
Facemask Penalty Or Not? NFL Community Debates Yet Another Lions Ending"I knew I grabbed his collarbone, shoulder pad," Taylor said. "Whatever the ref saw, he called facemask."
Lions Try To Swallow Last-Second, Hail Mary Loss To Packers"That's crazy, but it just shows that the game is not over until there are zero seconds on the clock and even sometimes then, it's not over."
Calvin Johnson Not In Coverage Against Packers' Hail Mary, Had Practiced There Before"We rehearse that play in practice every week and it never works," Packers linebacker Clay Matthews said.
Packers Beat Lions 27-23 On Rodgers-to-Rodgers Hail MaryAaron Rodgers threw a 61-yard touchdown pass to Richard Rodgers with no time left to give the Green Bay Packers a 27-23 victory over the Detroit Lions on Thursday night.
Joique Bell: Green Bay Brings Out The Best In Us"They bring out the best in us and hopefully we can bring out the best in them so we can go toe to toe."


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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Tyler Mosienko (Kelowna, 2000-05) signed a one-year contract with the Nippon Paper Cranes (Japan, Asia Hockey League). He had 15 goals and 32 assists in 43 games with the Las Vegas Wranglers (ECHL) and one goal and one assist in 22 games with the San Antonio Rampage (AHL) last season. The Paper Cranes play out of Kushiro, Hokkaido. . . .
F Barry Horman (Spokane, Everett, Swift Current, 2000-05) signed a one-year contract with Herentals (Belgium, Netherlands Eredivisie). He had 13 goals and 22 assists in 28 games with Mount Royal University (ACAC) last season. . . .
F Tyler Metcalfe (Seattle, 1999-2005) signed a one-year contract with Arystan Temirtau (Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan Vyschaya Liga). He had 24 goals and 22 assists in 29 games with Dunaujvaros (Hungary, MOL Liga) last season.
The Tri-City Americans have acquired D Matt Benning, 17, from the Kootenay Ice for conditional third- and sixth-round picks in the 2012 bantam draft. Benning, the son of former NHLer Brian Benning, played with the AJHL's Spruce Grove Saints last season. He had seven assists and 65 penalty minutes in 43 games. Benning was selected by the Ice in the second round of the 2009 bantam draft. . . . "Matt is an intelligent defenceman who brings a wealth of potential," Bob Tory, the American's general manager, said in a news release. "This deal gives us tremendous young depth on our blueline and sets us up for the future. I hope to be able to sit down with Matt and Brian and complete the recruiting process so we can see Matt in our training camp in a few weeks." . . . Tory has made three trades in the last few days. Of the latest deal, Tory told me: "Needed to add some depth to my blue-line, fix age groups and up the ante at training camp." In other words, he feels his training camp is looking a whole lot more competitive today than it was 10 days ago.
Benning chose not to report to the Ice's camp prior to last season, presumably wanting to keep the NCAA option alive. So now it will be up to Tory to persuade the 6-foot-0, 205-pound Benning to report to the Americans' camp.
"While we are disappointed Matt did not commit to our program, we felt it was best for both the player and the organization to have a fresh start," Ice general manager Jeff Chynoweth said in a news release.
The Swift Current Broncos have folks buzzing after issuing a press release on Wednesday evening.
"The Swift Current Broncos Hockey Club will be holding an open press conference to announce a new addition to the Broncos organization," the release reads. "Photo opportunities and interviews will be available."
The news conference is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 17, at 11:15 a.m. CST.
Mark Lamb, the Broncos' general manager and head coach, and Jordan Wall, the director of business operations, will be in attendance.
Let the guessing begin!
Stuart Ballantyne is leaving his position as chief operating officer with the Vancouver Giants on Friday. According to a Giants new release, "He will be moving on to a new opportunity, which will be announced in the coming weeks." Ballantyne has been a sporting fixture in Vancouver for a while now, having been involved with the late Molson Indy Vancouver and having run Hockey House during the 2010 Winter Olympics, the 2009 World Police and Fire Games, 2007 Memorial Cup, and the 2006 World Junior Hockey Championship. . . . The Giants have moved Peter Toigo from hockey operations (as director of team services) to the front office as vice-president, operations.
JUST NOTES: F Tyler Maxwell of the Everett Silvertips will play for the Minnesota Wild team that will play in the annual eight-team tournament in Traverse City, Mich. Maxwell, 20 is preparing for his fourth season in Everett. . . . Also on that Wild rookie team will be F Dylan Willick, 19, of the Kamloops Blazers, who wasn't selected in the NHL's 2011 draft. . . . Everett F Campbell Elynuik, 18, will go to camp with the Philadelphia Flyers. . . . Pat Siedlecki, the radio voice of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, reports over there on the right taht the club has released F Neil Tarnasky and F Ryon Moser, both of whom are going into their 19-year-old seasons. Tarnasky has seven points in 112 games over two seasons, while Moser has 20 points in 115 games. GM/head coach Rich Preston told Siedlecki that both players have been invited to camp with other WHL teams, but did not identify those teams. . . . Ryan Pinder is the new radio voice of the AHL's Abbotsford Heat. He replaces Dave Sheldon, who left in order to play host to a weekend show on Vancouver radio station CKNW. Pinder spent the last four seasons as director of broadcasting and media relations with the BCHL's Penticton Vees.
Hockey Canada has named its coached for the 2011 World Junior A Challenge, which is to be played Nov. 7-13 in Langley, B.C. According to the Hockey Canada news release: "Jason Nobili (Bolton, Ont./Toronto, OJHL) and Greg Walters (Toronto, Ont./Georgetown, OJHL) have joined the Canada East staff as assistant coaches, working with head coach Curtis Hodgins (Courtice, Ont./Whitby, OJHL), who was introduced as Canada East head coach during the 2011 RBC Cup. Kent Lewis (Powell River, B.C./Powell River, BCHL) will serve as Canada West head coach, along with assistant coaches Dean Brockman (St. Benedict, Sask./Humboldt, SJHL) and Andrew Milne (St. Albert, Alta./Canmore, AJHL)." . . . Lewis replaces Mark Ferner who was announced as head coach — he then was the GM/head coach of the BCHL's Vernon Vipers — but has since signed on as head coach of the Everett Silvertips.
Anthony Noreen is the new general manager and head coach of the USHL's Youngstown Phantoms. He had been an assistant coach under Curtis Carr, who left for an assistant's position with the Merrimack College Warriors. . . .
Former NHLer Stéphane Matteau has signed on as an assistant coach with the QMJHL's Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. Its head coach is J.F. Houle.
Taking Note on Twitter
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 1:24 AM
Labels: Barry Horman, Bob Tory, Brian Benning, Campbell Elynuik, Dylan Willick, Jeff Chynoweth, Matt Benning, Ryan Pinder, Stuart Ballantyne, Tyler Maxwell, Tyler Metcalfe, Tyler Mosienko


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Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Polyvore obsession
Random Ramblings Cherry Diva at 8:24 PM
3 comments:
- Anna Banana said...
i love it, what does it say exactly. i hate reading off computer screens.
- 12 May, 2010
- Mizz Ali said...
coooool////////////how often are you going to post?
- 13 May, 2010
- Cherry Diva said...
anna: hahahahaha, yeah the writing is dodgy and it blends in too much. it says "Do You Remember, You Said You'll Never Forget". Awesome quote i found
Mizz Ali: I'm not sure. i'm so so so busy, i barely find time. would you LIKE me to post more, though? or less? please tell :-)
- 13 May, 2010
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The purple shade on the left side is very similar to MAC's Stars 'n Rockets. The shade on the right is a cranberry-rose. I can't think of an exact dupe, at least in my collection.
This looks like it may be similar to Nars' Caravaggio duo, but I haven't tested that one personally.
Don't let these bright shades fool you--they may look scary in the pan, but apply softly and are surprisingly flattering. The Blossom #103 duo is currently available at Saks.com.


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5th Elbow Room Art Sale
November 2 from 7-11pm
Upstairs Bar and Park View Banquet Room
Flat 12 will be here to sample their product, along with American Harvest Vodka and Jagermeister! The artists have also come together to raffle off one of their pieces during the evening.
I will be there with an array of Hand Pulled Prints, Mixed Media Masks, and other things of Macabre! Come pick up a free Monser & Bride Sticker and Drink a Brew!


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"Since the death of their former leader, Flower, the Whiskers family is in chaos. Rocket Dog struggles as the new dominant female against stiff competition from her sisters. Maybelline breaks off and forms her own clan, while Sophie competes to find a mate before Rocket Dog can secure her position. Continuous meddling from their father, Zaphod, isn't helping anyone, and tension is only intensified by the continuing threat from the Commandoes gang." -- iTunes Store
Download for Free!
Video Summary
Get special access to the challenges, the teamwork and the sheer fun of meerkat research. Meet the scientists and young volunteers out in the meerkats' remote desert home.
the fine print: Downloads posted on the Free iTunes Downloads blog are usually free for ~1 week. After that, you'll have to pay for them.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
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PENS RECALL GOALIES SABOURIN, CARON; THIBAULT PLACED ON IRby Staff Writer / Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled goaltenders Dany Sabourin and Sebastien Caron from their American Hockey League affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, it was announced Wednesday by General Manager Craig Patrick. Goaltender Jocelyn Thibault has been placed on injured reserve.
Sabourin, 25, has posted a 15-1-1 record this season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, recording a 1.78 goals against average and a .939 save percentage with three shutouts. Sabourin is tied for first (with Marc-Andre Fleury) among AHL goaltenders in save percentage, ranks second in goals against average, is tied for second in shutouts and is tied for third in wins.
The 6-2 and 190-pound native of Val d'Or, Quebec was signed as a free agent by the Pittsburgh Penguins on August 10, 2005. Sabourin was originally drafted by Calgary in the fourth round (108th overall) of the 1998 Entry Draft.
Caron, 25, has appeared in six games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after being assigned from Pittsburgh on December 3rd. Caron has posted a 1.18 goals against average and a .954 save percentage with two shutouts and a 3-3-0 record in six games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Caron has appeared in 13 games with Pittsburgh this season, posting a 5-3-3 record with a 3.95 goals against average and a .885 save percentage.
The 6-1 and 170-pound native of Amqui, Quebec was drafted by the Penguins in the fourth round (86th overall) of the 1999 Entry Draft.
Thibault, 30, will be out of the lineup indefinitely with torn cartilage in his left hip.
Thibault has appeared in 16 games this season with the Penguins, posting a 1-9-3 record with a 4.47 goals against average and a .876 save percentage.
The 5-11 and 169-pound native of Montreal, Quebec was acquired by the Penguins from Chicago on August 10, 2005 in exchange for a fourth round choice in the 2006 Entry Draft.


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Mexico City
San Francisco voted 'Most Welcoming City' in new LGBTQ travel pollWednesday, December 6, 2017More than 48,000 votes for their favorite destinations and travel icons in 13 categories and we have the results.
¡Viva Orgullo! See how Mexico City celebrated PrideMonday, June 27, 2016Pride in Mexico City was both a celebration and a public plea for the end to LGBTQ discrimination.
Global LGBT rights conference opens in Mexico CityWednesday, October 29, 2014MEXICO CITY — A global LGBT rights conference that formally opened on Tuesday in the Mexican capital has drawn hundreds of advocates from 50 countries. ...
Season of Pride: LGBT people, allies celebrate Pride around the worldSunday, June 29, 2014For gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and their allies, June is a month of pride and celebration. Around the globe, LGBT Pride Month has been marked with parades and marches, festivals and dances, and in…
LGBT activists in Mexico protest outside Russian Embassy over anti-gay lawsFriday, July 19, 2013MEXICO CITY -- LGBT activists on Friday assembled outside the Russian embassy in Mexico City to protest the country's adoption of anti-gay laws.
Openly gay journalist found dead in elevator shaft in Mexico CityMonday, July 2, 2012MEXICO CITY -- Armando Montano, an openly gay apprentice journalist working as a summer intern for the Associated Press in Mexico City, was found dead early Saturday. He was 22 years old.
Known male prostitute arrested in murder of U.S. Airways flight attendantMonday, October 31, 2011MEXICO CITY -- Mexican officials announced they have arrested a known male prostitute for the robbery and brutal murder of a gay flight attendant on Saturday during a layover stop in Mexico City.
Suspect in custody for murder of gay flight attendant in Mexico City hotelSunday, October 30, 2011MEXICO CITY -- A Phoenix-based gay flight attendant for U.S. Airways was found dead in a Mexico City hotel room early Saturday morning in what local police are referring to as a homicide.
Mexico City same-sex marriages surpass 1,000 since legalizationTuesday, August 16, 2011Mexico's capital city has reported that 1,000 same-sex marriages have been registered since the city's lawmakers legalized same-sex unions on Dec. 21, 2009, according to a statement released by the Oficina del Registro Civil (Civil
Mexico City records 700 gay unions in first year of marriage equalitySunday, March 6, 2011MEXICO CITY -- More than 700 gay and lesbian couples have married in Mexico City since the capital city enacted the first law in Latin America explicitly allowing same-sex unions, just one year ago.
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|Roman Empire in the first century A.D.
At the head of the pack were the emperors, a strange bunch of men (always men). Few were just OK: some were good – some even were great – but far too many abused their position and power. They had a job for life, but that life could always be shortened. Assassination was an occupational hazard. The emperors sat at the top of Rome's social order. This was as finely graded as flour. Specific qualifications were needed for Romans to be admitted as equestrians or senators. Even freed slaves had different rights from citizens.
Leader of the pack.
Leader of the pack.
Daily life in ancient Rome.What's more, the social status of any citizen governed the life they led. While all Romans enjoyed the baths and made a feature of the evening meal, their clothes and food, homes and hobbies, were a product of their class. Those that tried to climb the ranks too quickly were savagely mocked by Petronius, just one of many Roman writers whose observation and wit still breathes life into a society long since dead.
More than a city.Petronius knew his city well, but Rome itself was much more than just one city. Its empire was a vast collection of states, backed up by force. It was not always peaceful. Enemies and rebels like Cleopatra and Boudicca revealed the Roman steel that lay behind its civilization. Even allowing for the occasional revolt, the empire was an enormous achievement. It was a huge marketplace in which citizens could trade and travel unhindered. This helped the spread of foreign religions like Judaism and early Christianity as far as Rome itself. Slowly, these religions encroached on traditional Roman spirits and gods. By the end of the first century AD, Rome was even ruled by a Spaniard, Trajan. He was the first of many foreign emperors that showed the Roman Empire to be a vast, multi-cultural melting pot that still has relevance, more than 2,000 years later. (Excerpt from pbs.org)
The playlist bellow contains 4 episodes, each about 55 minutes long, in HD: Order from Chaos, Years of Trial, Winds of Change and Years of Eruption.