text: Location: HAMPTON VA US 23631 Description: The NEST Site Program Manager is responsible for the programmatic, financial and customer relationship success of the NEST Program at Ames In this role, the PM will lead the NEST/Ames team and successfully execute the program. The PM will be responsible for the execution of the concept of operations; establishing and building strong customer and industry relationships, leading the collaboration necessary across teams, broader Leidos organizations and subcontractors to ensure program success. • Managing program risks and opportunities program milestones achieved through adherence to program master plans and schedules. • Developing/executing corrective action plans to mitigate internal or customer identified issues. • Delivering effective control systems and reporting for accurately processing change and controlling in-scope performance of program functional task elements such as operations, Dev Ops, engineering, test, procurement, quality control, logistics, safety, security, and administrative functions. • Working closely with and building relationships with the NASA Center customer community. • Building strong morale within the Leidos Team (including all teammates) • Meeting financial goals supporting the program's Annual Operating Plan (AOP) • Participating in developing of future strategies for out - year NASA Acquisitions. • Driving on-contract growth goals as established by the Space and Range and Mission Support Business Areas • Experience with the program management of a large Enterprise IT Service Delivery program • Proven experience and interaction with senior level customers (SES and above) • ITIL Certification • Ability to obtain a secret security clearance • Extensive knowledge of NASA Communities (Operations / Acquisition / Development) including Centers and Labs • Demonstrated experience establishing teaming relationships/partnerships and oversight of subcontractors • Demonstrated experience managing mid to large programs (greater than $100M). • Prior proposal/acquisition experience for mid to large programs (greater than $100M) and understanding of the NASA procurement process. • Experience with Program Integrated Master Plan and Integrated Master Schedule (IMP/IMS) • Understanding of Risk and Opportunity management processes • Understanding of all program financial and business processes and metrics • Demonstrated experience in strategic planning • Demonstrated success building relationships with customers and teammates • Demonstrated experience in Team building • Experience executing development programs in an agile environment • Developing Estimates to Complete/Estimates at Completion (ETC/EAC) • Briefing external and internal senior leadership teams on program performance (Monthly Reviews) Desirable Knowledge, Skills or Experience: • PMP Certification LeadGen LeadGenPM Qualifications: EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE: Typically requires a BA/BS or equivalent experience and 8+ years of prior relevant experience or Masters with 6+ years of prior relevant experience. Generally has 4+ years of experience supervising or leading teams or projects. Leidos Overview: Leidos is a global science and technology solutions leader working to solve the world's toughest challenges in the defense, intelligence, homeland security, civil, and health markets. The company's 33,000 employees support vital missions for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Leidos reported pro forma annual revenues of approximately $10 billion for the fiscal year ended January 1, 2016 after giving effect to the recently completed combination of Leidos with Lockheed Martin's Information Systems & Global Solutions business (IS&GS). For more information, visit www.Leidos.com. The company's diverse employees support vital missions for government and commercial customers. Qualified women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and protected veterans are encouraged to apply. Leidos will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment in accordance with relevant Laws. Leidos is an Equal Opportunity Employer. JBLEIDOS Langley Center Ops Manager ICJBMeta


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Tue, 25 November 2008
Coach Mark Richt talks about the rivalry game against Georgia Tech. Also hosts Radi Nabulsi, Anthony Dasher and Steve Patterson from UGASports.com talk about the game this weekend, basketball and what the Bulldogs are looking forward to in the bowl season.
Direct download: DD_112508.MP3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 8:40pm CDT

subset: commoncrawl


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This curated list is a round-up on what days to mark off on your calendar for foreign policy-related events in August.
Most events below require RSVPs or tickets and unless otherwise noted, the events are in the evening. If you have a suggestion for future events, please email Eve Ahearn, associate director of communications, at email@example.com.
August 7: "Kenya Investment Forum," Foreign Affairs at the Council on Foreign Relations. YPFP members receive 50% off the $295 price.
This all day forum with Foreign Affairs at the Council on Foreign Relations will feature talks by Kenyan and U.S. business leaders as well as Kenyan politicians and academic experts on topics ranging from "Agribusiness & Devolution" to "Kenya's Brand & Tourism Potential."
August 13: "NYC: Silenced, A Social Cinema Screening," New America Foundation. Free.
The new documentary Silenced follows around three national security whistleblowers in an investigation of what drove each of them to tell the truth despite the consequences and a discussion of the implications of these prosecutions for the First Amendment. Following the film there will be a discussion between two of the documentary's subjects, Thomas Drake and Jesselyn Radack and the director James Spione.
August 14: "YPFP's Monthly Happy Hour," Young Professionals in Foreign Policy, hosted at Ladurée Soho
Join YPFP for our monthly happy hour to meet fellow members and volunteer staff, have interesting conversations, and enjoy the summer.
August 15: "The 2014 Summer Soirée," United Nations Association of New York, hosted at The Hudson Terrace. Free. RSVP required.
UNA-NY will host their 2014 Summer Soirée at the Hudson Terrace. United Nations Association works to raise awareness of the UN and its goals.
August 20: "Discussion: Plastic China," Asia Society. Free. RSVP required.
As a part of the film series, "Waking the Green Tiger: Documentaries from the Front Lines of China's Environmental Crisis," director Wang Jiuliang will discuss his upcoming film Plastic China. Plastic China describes the human and environmental costs of imported plastic waste in China.
August 21: "Farming Cuba: Urban Agriculture from the Ground Up," 92nd Street Y. Tickets are $21.
Cuban citizens started growing produce wherever they could – on balconies, rooftops and vacant lots – in response to demand. From the actions of individuals, Cuba has emerged as the world leader in urban farming. Carey Close, Assistant Professor in Architecture and Landscape Architecture at UMass Amherst will discuss the environmental and political factors shaping urban farming in Cuba.
August 22: "Korea and Security in Northeast Asia: Perspectives from the National Assembly," The Korea Society. Members, $10. Non-Members, $20.
This morning talk by Korean National Assembly's Chairman of the National Defense Committee, Hwang Jin Ha, will focus on the Republic of Korea's relations with China and Japan and the nation's overall foreign affairs perspective.
August 26: "Coming to the Table: Immigrant Women and Food," The New School. Free. RSVP required.
This event will feature a panel discussion of chefs, cookbook authors and journalists and a tasting of food from Haiti, Bangladesh, Jordan and other countries.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not reflect the views of their employer or Young Professionals in Foreign Policy.


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Maltese Blue – 2016
£695.00 Unframed•Sold Out
Robert Oxley
- Boxed Canvas
- Image Size: 36in x 36in
- Edition size 150
Limited Edition
A signed, limited edition boxed canvas by popular abstract wildlife artist Robert Oxley.
"My work is all about giving myself over to the moment – I don't have a firm idea of how a piece will look in my head before painting."
One year on from his debut limited edition collection, Robert Oxley has proved to be one of our most popular artists this year. His vivid depictions of animals combine realism and abstraction, resulting in truly eye-catching works.
Other work by this artist
£795.00 •Low Availability
Limited Edition
£695.00 •Sold Out
Limited Edition
£725.00 •Available
Limited Edition
Maltese Blue
£695.00 •Sold Out
Limited Edition


text:
Clay Deposits Don't Prove Existence of Ancient Martian Lakes
HiRISE image of branching features in the floor of Antoniadi Crater thought to contain clay material. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)
In the hunt for evidence of a warmer, wetter past on Mars, clay deposits have been viewed as good indications that stable liquid water existed on its surface for some time — perhaps even long enough to allow life to develop. But new research conducted here on Earth shows that some clays don't necessarily need lakes of liquid water to form. Instead they can be the result of volcanic activity, which is not nearly so hospitable to life.
A research team led by Alain Meunier of the Université de Poitiers in France studied lavas containing iron and magnesium — similar to ancient clays identified on the surface of Mars — in the French Polynesian atoll of Moruroa. The team's findings show that the same types of clay outcrops can be caused by the solidifying of water-rich magma in a volcanic environment, and don't require Earthlike aquatic conditions at all.
The results also correlate to the deuterium-to-hydrogen (D/H) ratio within clays found in Martian meteorites.
Read: Life from Mars Could Have Polluted Earth
"To crystallize, clays need water but not necessarily liquid water," said Alain Meunier to the Agençe France-Presse (AFP). "Consequently, they cannot be used to prove that the planet was habitable or not during its early history."
Additionally, the clay deposits found on Mars can be several hundred meters thick, which seems to be more indicative of upwelling magma than interactions with water.
"[This] new hypothesis proposes that the minerals instead formed during brief periods of magmatic degassing, diminishing the prospects for signs of life in these settings," wrote Brian Hynek from the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado, in response to the paper by Meunier et al. which was published in the September 9 edition of the journal Nature Geoscience.
This does not necessarily mean that all Martian clays weren't formed in the presence of water, however. Gale Crater — where NASA's Curiosity rover is now exploring — could very well have been the site of a Martian lake, billions of years in the past. Clays found there could have been created by water.
Read: Take a Trip to Explore Gale Crater
According to Bethany Ehlmann of the California Institute of Technology, co-author of the study, "there are particular characteristics of texture" to clays formed under different conditions, and "Gale is a different flavor of Mars."
Perhaps Curiosity will yet discover if Gale's original flavor was more cool and wet than hot and spicy.
Read more on New Scientist and Cosmos Magazine.
Inset image: Moruroa Atoll (NASA)
clays, Curiosity, Gale crater, life, Mars, Meunier, MSL, planet, Solar System, water
13 Responses
Where does all the magmatic precipitation come from? Surely it assumes most of the water is was / still is underground. Where's the evidence for this?
Analysis of Martian meteorites, for one: http://www.universetoday.com/95938/mars-has-watery-insides-just-like-earth/
..and long were those meteorites in space? That is'nt evidence of underground water on Mars. Just 50 and 300 ppm (parts per million) is similar to the amount of water within 'dry' sand. Supposition methinks.
MEthinks you need to forward your findings to the teams at the Université de Poitiers and the Carnegie Institute… don't waste your time with them in the comments section of a space news blog!
I could be particularly vicious on this but I won't. Different question. Why does the published article amazingly appear now? I thought Curiosity's mission was to find evidence of this? All this story looks like is preemption, hoping to gain kudos before discovery!!
Please tell me, without the niggle, where there is the REAL evidence of the connection between 'magmatic precipitation' in this paper with a Martian mantle that is assumed full of water? You are just assuming that the clay pans were formed via flows between the core and mantle! This paper never exactly says this! (lcrowell below says this!)
At the risk of troll feeding, I'm not assuming anything, other than what the lead author of the paper explicitly stated. Namely, that clay deposits alone can't be used to prove the presence of liquid water during the Noachian period. As seen in samples from the atoll (which today happens to be surrounded by ocean) iron-rich clays can be formed by magmatic outgassing. Again, Gale could be a different story, and in fact we hope it is.
As they say, at the risk of troll feeding:
– The subsurface ice is predicted out of observing water and its effects on Mars, from the same initial mantle content as Earth had to today's water vapor and polar ice caps.
The disappearance of so much early water that seems to have been present is partly predicted by subsurface ice. The crustal conditions are suitable for it, Phoenix found subsurface ice, and vast areas where a northern ocean is predicted to have been present shows the subsurface hydrogen signature expected of buried ice.
The question among Mars scientists is now not if there is subsurface ice (not ascertained but the preliminary consensus). But if it is all frozen or if there is a habitable water table beneath several hundred meters of ice.
– As noted, the observed initial mantle water content of Mars is that of Earth and Moon. The problem with water on terrestrials is not to predict vast amounts of water but their relative dryness. Large classes of asteroids have much more water, ~ 10 %, vs the terrestrial content of ~ 0.05 %.
The absence of water problem may have gone away with updated models for protoplanetary disks, predicting that all Sun's terrestrials should have the observed same water content. It seems rather generic as well:
"If it proves consistent, then we may have reconciled planet formation theory with the water-poor Earth: Regions of low turbulence in the protoplanetary disk allow formation of water-poor terrestrial planets."
This is heartening, because the rather finetuned water content of habitability as we know it, having oceans but also land, may now have a satisfactorily answer. It may be common enough.
– Curiosity's mission is not to find evidence for liquid water, the MERs established that. Its mission is to find evidence for or against the missing third piece of the energy sources (Sun) – liquid water – organics puzzle of martian habitability: organics.
Having placed a few claims out of field, maybe it behooves you to study up on Curiosity instead of feeling the need to be "vicious". We are all students here, questions are good, but critical speculation isn't all that informative when we know so little about specifics and so much about generics.
we know ice fell to the surface and some is still there locked and frozen.
we know it bubbled with lava and mud for some time and slowly froze and contracted.
that's about it.
the story that stares you in the face on Mars is that nothing much happened on this iceball after it crystallized. the looming question: where's the hotsprings?
None of this is proven… BTW.
Uhmmm… Isn't a French Polynesian atoll an "Earthlike aquatic condition"?
There is enough sedimentary geology and geo-chemistry to indicate the presence of water in the past. Of course finding signal from noise can be hard, such as finding clay formed by water as distinguished from those formed by lava and magma. We have only orbital reconnaissance and ground observations at a few pinpoint locations. It is hard getting a comprehensive picture of things. Geologists are still working on that with Earth.
Mars is starting to look more and more like a hybrid planet? That is to say, it may be half inner rocky planet and half cometary body? Water ices just below the surface? Meteoric or asteroid chain impacts melting large swaths of ice, thus causing intermittent local or global flooding? THEN the volcano pops off… and there's more of the same? Sedimentation deposition studies will inform?
Alternate ways of (some) clays formation are good to know, but there are sufficient tests for models of early free water despite this in the form of fluid channels and coast lines correlated with subsurface ice remains. Only in combination with hypotheses of snowmelt from Mars' chaotic orbit would this predict most features, except the arguable evidence for an early northern ocean.
On the contrary, the likelihood of early habitability could rise if we knew that volcanism was a recurring feature. It drives production of organics.
And geothermal driven hydrothermal vents have been predicted to be important both for organics and as providing a local redox energy source. This would most likely demand an ocean environment, but it is likely better to have evidence for vents and possible local water pools than evidence for oceans without vent formation.


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|Failed to create package
|26th Feb, 2013 17:16
Ranking: 0
Posts: 6
User Since: 26th Feb, 2013
System Score: N/A
Location: DE
I'm very new to CSI and we have Trouble with the Signing certificate. We have installed a MS PKI signed certificate to the WSUS Server. CSI is showing Connection and certificate ok, I can even push out the signing certificate to Clients, but as soon as I'm trying to create a package I'm getting this error:
Failed to create package: : -2147352567 , In 'Publisher.invoke'
Code: -2146233079
Failed to sign package; error was: 2148081670
--> System.InvalidOperationException: Failed to sign package; error was: 2148081670
at Microsoft.UpdateServices.Internal.BaseApi.Publishe
at Microsoft.UpdateServices.Internal.BaseApi.Publishe
at Microsoft.UpdateServices.Internal.BaseApi.Publishe
at plugin.DotNetWrapper<Microsoft::UpdateServices:
I already double checked, that we have 2048bit key. We're running CSI 18.104.22.168 right now and the newest WSUS Version.
Any help would be really appreciated.
Kind Regards,
|This user no longer exists
|RE: Failed to create package
|4th Mar, 2013 06:31
|Hi Andreas,
Such problem may be caused by multiple factors in multiple different scenarios. The error code you've encountered is rather standard and so more information on your case needs to be requested. Could we kindly ask you to redirect this same inquiry to firstname.lastname@example.com?
A solution specialist will be assigned to your case in a timely manner, as It will be much easier for both sides to communicate and solve this problem fast. We are looking forward towards receiving your email. Thank you in advance.
Kind regards,
/Rosen Danailov
|RE: Failed to create package
|4th Mar, 2013 09:33
|Score: 0
Posts: 6
User Since: 26th Feb 2013
System Score: N/A
Location: DE
thanks for the answer but I figured it out on my own in the meantime. If somebody else wants to use his own CA certificate, ist needed to Import the certificate without private key through the wizard and afterwards Import the .pfx with private Key to the WSUS Folder in the certificates store on the WSUS Server.
After this procedure it was working for me. The only open issue we have, that never the less we're using a certificate signed by our own Domain CA we still need to deploy the certificate to the Clients for installing updates. We wanted to avoid that by using own CA. Is there a reason for this? Thanks
Kind Regards,
|This user no longer exists
|RE: Failed to create package
|5th Mar, 2013 09:10
|Hi Andreas,
We are happy to know that your console is up and running again.
Thank you for posting details about the approach you took to resolve the certificate problem.
We marked your last comment as solution for this problem and other common related certificate issues which result in the error you pointed in your first comment.
Kind regards,
/Rosen Danailov


text:
We treat an application to remove a small bar liquor licence to another location as if it's an application for a new small bar liquor licence.
You can't lodge an application to remove your small bar liquor licence until you consult your local community.
This means that either before or within 2 working days of lodging your application you must:
There are also some circumstances when you must complete a FM2010 Category B Community Impact Statement (CIS) (PDF, 272KB) before you apply to remove a small bar liquor licence.
It costs $350 to remove a small bar liquor licence.
About 12 to 16 weeks.
Once you lodge a complete application, we'll post it to our online noticeboard for 30 days to give the public a chance to comment.
When the 30-day public submission period is over, you can expect us to determine your application within 8-12 weeks.
However, there will be delays if you fail to respond to our requests for information.
You can lodge your application without giving us the above documentation, but your proposal won't progress to a decision without it.
You can't remove authorisations along with a small bar liquor licence. You must make a new application for each liquor licence authorisation to apply to your new licensed premises.
Extended trading authorisation application form (PDF, 1MB).
Apply to remove your small bar liquor licence (PDF, 220KB).
Manage your licence
Cancel your licence


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JACKSON, Miss. – At least four tornadoes were part of the storm system that raked northern and central Mississippi on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, injuring at least seven people, the National Weather Service said.
The biggest of the four storms was a twister that traveled 16 miles through several counties east of Jackson. With a half-mile-wide damage path, it was rated EF-3 on the Fujita scale, with peak winds estimated at 140 mph, the weather service said. That storm blew down trees as well as three electrical transmission towers.
Another tornado in Mississippi that injured three people was rated an EF-2, running seven miles with a quarter-mile-wide debris path before lifting off, the weather service said. It had top estimated winds of 125 mph.
The tornadoes accompanied a line of severe storms that swept across the Southeast overnight Wednesday and early Thursday, downing power lines and trees and damaging homes around the region.
In Mississippi, a woman was trapped temporarily in her bed when a tree came crashing through her roof. Rescuers had to cut the tree to get her out, said Scott County Emergency Management Director Alvin Seaney.
In Sharkey County, Miss., Coleman Jenkins, 20, spent Thursday morning looking for his mother's telephone and car keys around her destroyed mobile home. He said his mother broke her back and wrist and had cuts on her face, but she's expected to survive. Jenkins wasn't home at the time, but he said his two sisters, ages 5 and 10, managed to make it out of the trailer without serious injuries.
"Everything's gone," Jenkins said. "I've never seen anything like it."
Sharkey County Emergency Management Director James Ross said a total of eight mobile homes in the county were destroyed or heavily damaged. He said officials are trying to help those families find a place to stay.
At one point Wednesday night, Entergy Mississippi reported more than 11,000 customers without power. Late Thursday, more than 4,000 Entergy customers remained without power, almost all in Greenville.
Nearly 900 customers lost electricity in Arkansas, where some buildings were damaged but no injuries were reported. Storms also raked western Tennessee, toppling trees in a mobile home park north of Memphis and forcing some residents out of their homes.
In Louisiana, authorities reported trees down in at least two parishes and one home with a damaged roof when part of the front swept through that state.
Radar weather maps overnight showed a huge, arcing front that swept across Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and parts of states such as Louisiana and Alabama on its march eastward on a jagged slant.
___ Associated Press writers Jeff Amy and Holbrook Mohr contributed to this report.


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Partner Performance - Measuring Program Effectiveness
Posted: 8/17/2012 by Norma Watenpaugh
We often focus on how to measure the performance of individual partners, but it is equally important to understand how your partner community is performing. Insight into what drives performance across your community informs you on how to better manage your partner program to enable more success.
There are a number of ways to look at program metrics:
Business Impact - How is your partner program contributing to the success of your company? This is more than tallying up the revenue numbers. Business impact relates back to your strategic goals and how the partner community contributes to those goals. If you are seeking to grow the business in new geographies or new vertical industries, then how are you enabling partners to be successful in those markets? And are your efforts successful? Can you measure that success in new account wins in those markets? Gains in market share?
Other strategic goals may be to accelerate new technology adoption. To accomplish this you need to measure the uptake of these new technologies by your partners. How many have been trained or certified on these new products and services? What is the rate of revenue growth in these product areas?
Lifecycle Metrics - Partners engage with vendors in phases from entry and on-boarding into your program through stages of enablement to driving revenue. Understanding and measuring this journey enables you to help partners travel this path more quickly and effectively. If you can identify the impediments or bottlenecks in your program that prevent partners from reaching revenue production as quickly as they might, you can work to remove them and accelerate the time to revenue production.
Program Elements - Your program typically has many elements such as business planning, technology training, certification, support, lead distribution, communications, etc. Can you measure how effective these elements are functioning so that you can improve them? And the partner experience in working with them?
Campaigns and Initiatives - As you launch new marketing campaigns, you should also be measuring their impact. These metrics tend to be things like number of partners participating, cost per leads, numbers of qualified leads, ultimately to revenue generated.
Portfolio or Community - These are broader metrics that measure the overall coverage and health of your partner community. Coverage refers to the numbers of partners you may have in particular geographies or specialized in certain technologies. This helps you plan recruitment to ensure you have enough partners to cover your markets as well as to help manage over coverage.
You may also seek to measure partner loyalty to your brand. How happy are they working with you? How likely are they to continue or take their business to competitors? What are the drivers of partner loyalty in your program?
Oh yes - Financials. Financial metrics, particularly revenue, are lagging indicators. They measure the performance outcome of the entire program. But without the other program metrics, you do not have the tools and insights to proactively manage revenue production.
Measure what matters. We have covered a lot of various program metrics in this blog. It is important to focus on measuring what truly matters. You don't want to find yourself in a situation where your time is spent managing metrics instead of optimizing the ability of your program to achieve your objectives.
Responses to Partner Performance - Measuring Program Effectiveness
Gianluca Marcellino
Thanks Norma, this is important advice that can help organizations transition from ad-hoc management of alliances one by one to conscious management of a portfolio. This means managing deeper, one-of-a-kind relations such as alliances with systematic portfolio approaches similar to those that are more common in channel management.Some of your comments suggest that this is addressing mostly upstream vendors managing downstream, go-to-market alliances. What of this do you see applicable to downstream operators such as systems integrators, resellers and distributors managing upstream alliances with suppliers of solution components?


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I was feeling pretty blah earlier this week, thinking about tonight, tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday and all the liturgies that I have to do and the work the choir had to do, and especially about how little sleep I'm going to get on Saturday night! and so I was just sort of wishing that it would just hurry up and be Easter afternoon already!
But during Mass tonight (which was absolutely beautiful, btw, more on that later...) I almost began to cry several times, realizing that this will be my last Holy Week at St. P, and wondering where I will be next year. I honestly have NO idea. It's pretty scary.
I am pretty sure, that never again will I experience another church, where the congregation heartily sings the Latin chants of the Mass, where they sing six verses in latin of the Pange Lingua, where a parish of 500 families can produce a choir that can pull off Durufle's 6-part Ubi Caritas!
I am so blessed. I can't even begin to describe it. But, I will admit, it took work. I had four Holy Week's here before I've felt this way; weeks of anxiety and not-singing-anything-terribly-impressive lol.
Here's the lineup:
Holy Thursday:
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
Gloria VIII
Psalm: Our Blessing Cup (a contemporary SSA arrangement)
Gospel Accl: Respond & Acclaim
Washing of Feet: (I wish we had more appropriate music to sing that reflected the proper texts for this time, but unfortunately everything that is in the hymnal of a "servant" character is either extremely trite, or else theologically questionably appropriate.)
Ah,Holy Jesus
Glory Be to Jesus
Offertory: Ubi Caritas (Durufle! woot woot! and they rocked!)
Ordinary: The usual
Hoc Corpus
O Domine (Palestrina)
Humbly We Adore (Adoro Te)
Sing My Tongue (6 verses, Latin)
Good Friday
Psalm: Respond & Acclaim
Veneration of the Cross:
Psalm 51- Miserere (4-part chanted setting by some 20th century Italian, can't remember whom, alternating with chant)
Were You There (if needed)
Offertory (or whatever it's called): What Wondrous Love
Pater, Si Non
Sing My Tongue (Picardy)
Easter Vigil:
7 Psalms (mix of R & A and CTK Psalms)
Gloria: chant
Psalm/Alleluia: R & A
Litany of the Saints (Becker, with REAL Saint names.)
Vidi Aquam
Offertory: At the Lamb's High Feast
Pascha Nostrum
Worthy is the Lamb (Fishel)
Alleluia, Sing to Jesus (Hyfrydol)
I Know that My Redeemer Lives (Duke Street)
"Joy is the mantle that clothes a life of sacrifice and self-giving."
-Mother Theresa
My thoughts on liturgy, music and the Church!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
1 comment:
Hi, Kevin Galbraith directed me to your blog. I can tell you that my friend, the music director at St. Phil in Battle Creek, feels much the same. She has been hiring me in for Advent & Lent for the last few years to support her bass section. She could probably do without me now, as she's finally built up the choir to a decent size. I recognize a lot of the pieces you've listed. The one I'm excited about singing this year is Billings' "Easter Anthem". Happy Easter!
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My throat always feels as though there is something stuck in it,I become hoarse,cough in sleep,choke on food.
A: first of all, quit smoking. Its tough but it can be done. I did it, so can you. And for godsakes, go see the doctor like now already the only way to find out what''s going on with you is to do tests on you, i''d say neck x-ray (including lateral neck x-ray) we cannot say that it''s cancer or anything else unless tests are done. if doctors are not willing to do tests on you, seek second opinion. a good doctor will always listen to your symptoms and know what tests are needed to find out what you have. if they just guess and tell you you''re ok, that''s not good. You should see a doctor. Sounds like you have asthma plus acid reflux disease. Acid reflux is aggravated by smoking and damage the lining of your throat and esophagus. Acid reflux can also cause asthma by backing up in your throat...
I''m Really Tired, But Can''t sleep...ever. What''s A Girl To Do?
A: G''day Suprimo, Thank you for your question. If it''s a consistent thing, I''d see your doctor. It might be a sleep disorder. Here are some other suggestions including taking a bath and having a massage. This is some sleep music to hopefully put you in the mood. Regards...
Do I have anything to worry about if I have anxiety disorder?
A: Hi, If your EKG was normal, you must not worry. The symptoms could be of Anxiety that you are constantly sufferingfrom. Your constant worrying is aggravating the symptoms. Please keep yourself away from stress, take a goodnutritious diet, adequate rest and good sleep at night. Please try relaxation techniques and meditation. Thesechanges in lifestyle will help you a lot. If you are still worried about having a heart attack, please consulta cardiologist and go for a complete examination to know the status of your cardiac function. Hope this helpsyou. Take care and regards!...
I think I have social anxiety disorder. I don''t have medical insurance or moneyto seek professional help
A: Hi,It is commendable that you have realized this and that you want to do something about it. I recommend that youtalk to your family and close friends and see if it helps. Try to engage in activities that interest you andbring out the best in you. Also, it would help to see a psychologist or behavioural counsellor about this.Your symptoms are just manifestation of a personality type and you can get over them. The best option is infact counselling. Try to eat well and sleep well - it would help to read a book, listen to music before yousleep. Regards....
My son is 27. He has had high blood pressure for 13 months. Started w/oincident. Has chest pain (not heart related)Cannot go back to work because ofBlood Pressure. Has tried all types of medicine. Has severe sleep Apnea, sleepswith acpap on. Has had all
A: Hello genny, I would suggest you to follow up with a neurologist and conduct a sleep study done to diagnoseany sleep disorders and take the help of respironics. I would also suggest you to follow up with a dieticianand a physical trainer for proper diet chart and a physical exercise schedule to achieve a BMI of 25. With amix of medications and dietary control with physical exercise he will cut down on his lipid profile indicatorsand blood pressure. Take care!...
hello I took a zyprex last night at bedtime a low dose to help me sleep - 2.5mgI also exercised for the first time in 6months - today my legs feel like jello- could it be the combo of the zyprex and exercise _ I also take conazapam 3.5mgdaily for panic
A: Hi Alice! What you probably mean is that you took Zyprexa. This mixed with clonazepam can cause a decrease in bloodpressure. If you take this combination then if you exercise, you should drink plenty of water and fluids likejuices etc to keep hydrated. This may be the reason that your legs feel like jelly. The effect has beenintensified because of unaccustomed exercise. I suggest you take plenty of fluids. Watch out for a day atnormal activity level. In all probability the weakness will settle down. If it does not, then consult yourdoctor immediately.Consult your specialist and adjust the dose of your drugs if you feel the need to take an additional drug tomake you sleep. Do not take any medication on your own once you are on drugs like clonazepam. Also do...
Do I have Seasonal Affective Disorder?
A: Hi. Though it is possible for you to have seasonal affective disorder, there could be a few other causes toyour symptoms as well. It would be best at this stage to get evaluated by a psychiatrist or a clinicalpsychologist so that appropriate treatment if required can be initiated accordingly. Take care....
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - I currently take 300mg Venlafaxine and 1OO MG amisulpride for OCD.?
A: Other atypical antipsychotics include aripiprazole, clozapine, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone, sertindole and zotepine. Sorry you really should talk to your specialist for advice as they are the experts. http://www.drugs.com/condition/paranoid-disorder.html - click on the drug name for more details....
Any tips on dealing with SADD? Days are so short now I feel I need to sleep 10+hrs/day?
A: Light therapy helps. Make sure you are in a well lit room. I''ve got it too. I''m from Chicago and winter here sucks. Hopefully, I won''t have to deal with SADD for the rest of my life. In two more years I am moving to Las Cruces, New Mexico. Best weather on earth. 335 days of sunshine per year and the "cold" months of December and January average 60 degrees. Good luck! Your problem has to do with, diet, lifestyle, etc. In addition to changing the mentioned things, you can also use supplements (fish oil, etc) for releif. I''ve also heard about SADD lamps which emulate natural sunlight (if you live in a place that does not get enogh sun). The following websites might also help you. Good luck! http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/feelings/sad.html...
Could anxiety disorder and panic attacks give me a rash and break outs on my body?
A: Of course, when you are undergoing a profound amount of stress, your immune system fails to maintain its regular rate of vigilance in regards to regulating your blood sugar, hormones, sex drive, and resistance to sickness. Rashes, headaches, exaustion, trouble sleeping, paranoia, mood swings and lack of appetite are common. I suggest you smoke a joint and think about the good things in life..also, get alot of exercise yes This is just the skin Problems it can cause. ? Burning skin sensations, skin sensitivity Numbness Numbness tingling, numbness and tingling Skin problems, infections, rashes http://www.anxietycentre.com/anxiety-symptoms.shtml Stress definitely causes skin problems. So yes, possibly! Go see a doctor asap. As per the reasearch done by many people...


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I'm a bit freaked out at the moment. I'm working half a day today (and you can see how well that's going with my typing here) and I have a ton of stuff to do this p.m., including packing. Why, you ask? (if I could hear you ask…wait, that's not a yawn, is it?)…
I'm jetting off to Phoenix tomorrow to attend a wedding this weekend!
J. and I decided to go out a few days before to visit with my college roommate and also J.'s friend — both who gave up four-seasons living for the year-round sun.
I've always liked the change of seasons, but seeing that the kids and I were freezing in our springy Easter gear I'm thinking it might be overrated. We'll see! It's the only thing that will get me through the torment and anxiety of deciding what to pack…and then the torment of lugging that freakin' bag, which inevitably I will stuff with unnecesary items "just in case," down to my car. Imagine what it's like when I have to pack for cold weather. Sheesh.
Y'all have a good rest of the week. Now, bring on the sun!


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Broken News!!! Broken News!!!! Lyriq Bent joined by Louis Gossett Jr., Cuba Gooding Jr., Aunjanue Ellis as stars in Clement Virgo's film adaptation of "The Book of Negroes"
Aunjanue Ellis, Louis Gossett Jr., Cuba Gooding Jr. Board 'The Book of Negroes' Adaptation
Clement Virgo + The Book of Negroes Movement on Canadian filmmaker Clement Virgo's much-anticipated film adaptation of author Lawrence Hill's award-winning bestseller, The Book of Negroes.
…link to the indiewire story right/HERE:http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/aunjanue-ellis-louis-gossett-jr-cuba-gooding-jr-board-the-book-of-negroes-adaptation
I've received word that Louis Gossett Jr., Cuba Gooding Jr., Aunjanue Ellis and Lyriq Bent have all been cast in the project from Conquering Lion Pictures, Out of Africa Entertainment and Entertainment One (eOne) Television.
Ben Chaplin, Allan Hawko and Jane Alexander round out the cast.
Boasting one of the strongest female characters in recent fiction, the novel's synopsis reads:
Abducted as an 11-year-old child from her village in West Africa and forced to walk for months to the sea in a coffle—a string of slaves— Aminata Diallo is sent to live as a slave in South Carolina. But years later, she forges her way to freedom, serving the British in the Revolutionary War and registering her name in the historic "Book of Negroes." This book, an actual document, provides a short but immensely revealing record of freed Loyalist slaves who requested permission to leave the US for resettlement in Nova Scotia, only to find that the haven they sought was steeped in an oppression all of its own. Aminata's eventual return to Sierra Leone—passing ships carrying thousands of slaves bound for America—is an engrossing account of an obscure but important chapter in history that saw 1,200 former slaves embark on a harrowing back-to-Africa odyssey.
No word on what roles each actor will play. Although I'd guess that Aunjanue Ellis will play the adult Aminata. Unless there's further key casting to be announced.
When we last checked in on director Virgo's progress, last spring, we learned that it actually will no longer be a feature-length film, but a TV mini-series, which, as I said at the time, was more suitable for the material. It's not a very long book at around 380 pages, paperback, but the material is weighty, and, I think would be better told in long-form, instead of cramming it all into 2 hours.
Secondly, we also learned that BET got involved in the project, teaming up with CBC in Canada, to bring the mini-series adaptation to the small screen. BET owns USA broadcast rights to the miniseries, so, obviously, it'll air on BET eventually. I anticipate it'll debut during the 2014/2015 TV season.
Principal photography begins this week in South Africa and continues in Nova Scotia this spring.
"The Book of Negroes is a deeply inspirational, triumphant story that needs to be told, and we are proud to be part of a project that has the ability and pedigree to attract a cast as exceptional as Lou, Cuba, Aunjanue, Lyriq, Ben, Allan and Jane," said Carrie Stein, the executive VP of global production at eOne Television.
Loretha Jones, the president of original programming at BET Networks, added, "We are thrilled to join forces with the CBC, eOne and the talented cast and creative team for this special project. Aminata and her journey symbolize the indomitable spirit of so many of our ancestors who not only survived the horrible institution of slavery, but also prevailed under trying circumstances. It is that legacy that we hope will continue to inspire our young people today."
Also, Virgo previously promised that he isn't at all interested in making "this-is-good-for-you cinema" as he put it (or castor oil films as Sergio calls them), nor is he interested in going after what could be "your typical Masterpiece Theatre wig-and-wardrobe orgy" in the hands of the wrong director, quoting him again.
Virgo, whose own previous films are partly remembered for their "high-octane" style, says he definitely understands the "energy" in the novel he is adapting, and knows what kind of adaptation it deserves, stating, "It's a very fast-paced, modern book… it's not stodgy at all. From a visual standpoint, I want to capture the rhythm of the book, keeping it moving forward… It's definitely not a Merchant-Ivory kind of movie."
If you'd like to pick up a copy of The Book Of Negroes to read, click HERE to purchase. I bought it last year, and will write up a book-to-screen review of it soon.
The Book of Negroes is an official Canada-South Africa co-production, executive produced by Damon D'Oliveira and Clement Virgo from Conquering Lion Pictures; Lance Samuels from Out of Africa Entertainment; Bill Niven of Idlewild Films; and eOne's Carrie Stein and Margaret O'Brien. Other executive producers include Daniel Iron and Michael Levine.
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We traveled to St. Barts for our Cameron Diaz-covered May issue (lucky us)—and we documented it every step of the way. Rina Stone, InStyle's creative director, Melissa Rubini, our style director (who created each and every one of Diaz's dreamy-chic looks), and Lisa Martin, our photo director, spent a few days on the tropical paradise island with Diaz—only stepping off to shoot on a 65-foot racing sailboat named The Lone Fox that set sail on the St. Jean Bay.
The cover-creating dream team documented their experience and shared their behind-the-scenes shots, which include a view from their temporary seaside office, the special drink they had to celebrate a job well done, and pictures from their flight to St. Barts—a flight Rina tells us was "practically a nose dive."
Click through the gallery to go behind-the-scenes at InStyle's May cover shoot with Cameron Diaz.
Plus, pick up the May issue of InStyle, available on newsstands and for digital download now.


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Biz Markie
Goin' Off (Deluxe Edition)
Vinyl LP Record [3LP]
Product Details
- Nov 18, 2008
- Old School
- 829357751119
- 18.2 oz
- new (we only sell new items)
- Cold Chillin' Records
- Marley Marl
The Cold Chillin' class clown, Biz Markie debuted with "Goin' Off", one of the most unrelentingly amusing sets of productions and performances of anyone during Hip Hop's golden age. Markie was an oversized teenager with lyrical talents (if not finesse) far beyond his years, and material unlike every other rapper around, trading in nightclubs for the mall and striking a pose for picking your nose. Yes, the rhymes were often rudimentary or obvious (and many of the best were actually written by Big Daddy Kane), but his infectious optimism and winning flair (plus the masterful production of Marley Marl) carried Biz Markie far beyond the status of a novelty act. Cold Chillin' and Traffic Ent. Group proudly present Biz Markie's "Goin' Off", available for the first time as a triple LP set, including the original album, and a plethora of substantial bonus material, from artwork to audio. With all the songs being digitally re-mastered, this project has been thought out, done right and handled with care, and we hope you enjoy it.


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February 15, 2014 08:15 ET
CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - Feb. 15, 2014) - Despite personal and economic challenges, students can succeed in some schools, according to data from the Fraser Institute's annual school rankings.
The Report Card on Alberta's Elementary Schools 2014, released today, ranks 782 anglophone and francophone public, separate, private, and charter schools based on nine academic indicators from results of the annual Provincial Achievement Tests (PATs) administered by Alberta Education.
"Parents have a role to play in school improvement. If, when they review a school's Fraser Institute rankings and notice that either the rankings are consistently low or there's little or no improvement, parents can and should ask their principals what's being done to improve results in the classroom," said Peter Cowley, Fraser Institute director of school performance studies.
In addition to the nine academic indicators, the Report Card also includes information about the personal and family characteristics of each school's students. It shows how, despite perceived barriers to learning, some schools are able to ensure their students success.
For example, at Meyokumin, a public school in Edmonton, student test scores remain high despite English being the second language for 77 per cent of students, one of the highest ESL percentages of all 782 ranked schools. The school posted an overall rating of 9.2 this year (compared to the 6.0 all-schools average) and a five-year average rating of 8.1, placing Meyokumin in the top nine per cent of schools overall.
Down Highway 2, two Calgary public schools, Edgemont (44.1 per cent ESL, 8.9 overall rating, 8.6 five-year average) and Glamorgan (44.3 per cent ESL, 8.3 overall rating, 7.7 five-year average) also rank well above the all-schools average despite a high ESL percentage.
Other perceived barriers to learning include a low parental income or special needs.
Yet despite an average parental income of $28,700, the third lowest income of all 782 ranked schools, Raymond Elementary, a public school in Raymond, a small town south of Lethbridge, posted an overall rating of 7.6 and a five-year average rating of 7.1. Moreover, 20.6 per cent of Raymond students are special needs.
What makes Raymond Elementary so successful? Educators across Alberta should be eager to find out.
"This is why the Fraser Institute Report Card is the go-to source for measuring academic performance. Parents across Alberta should ask their principals why schools like Raymond do so well, and what can be learned to help other schools improve," Cowley said.
For the complete results on all ranked schools and to easily compare schools, visit www.compareschoolrankings.org. Peter Cowley will be in Calgary and available to media on Saturday, Feb. 15 and Sunday, Feb. 16.
Follow the Fraser Institute on Twitter | Like us on Facebook
The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of 86 think-tanks. Its mission is to measure, study, and communicate the impact of competitive markets and government intervention on the welfare of individuals. To protect the Institute's independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraserinstitute.org.
The Fraser InstitutePeter CowleyDirector of School Performance StudiesCell: (604) 789-0475, Office: (604) email@example.com Fraser InstituteMark HasiukMedia Relations Specialist(604) 688-0221 ext. email@example.com
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The Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage: We've Got this!
"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints acknowledges that following today's ruling by the Supreme Court, same-sex marriages are now legal in the United States. The Court's decision does not alter the Lord's doctrine that marriage is a union between a man and a woman ordained by God. While showing respect for those who think differently, the Church will continue to teach and promote marriage between a man and a woman as a central part of our doctrine and practice."
I firmly believe that the lie of same-sex marriage will be devastating to untold numbers of children whose inherent right to a mother and a father has now been stripped by the United States Supreme Court. Truly, this is one of the most violent acts of selfishness the world, thus far, has ever witnessed. Although my marriage is just fine and will be, any other assurances of how same sex marriage will affect untold generations are completely off the table.
"WE WARN that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.WE CALL UPON responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society."
"Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. (See 1 Kgs. 18:21.) President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life' (in Conference Report, Apr. 1941, p. 123). This is a hard doctrine, but it is a particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ! We are now entering a time of incredible ironies. Let us cite but one of these ironies which is yet in its subtle stages: We will see a maximum, if indirect, effort made to establish irreligion as the state religion. It is actually a new form of paganism which uses the carefully preserved and cultivated freedoms of western civilization to shrink freedom, even as it rejects the value essence of our rich Judeo-Christian heritage."
"Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. M. J. Sobran also said, 'A religious conviction is now a second-class conviction, expected to step deferentially to the back of the secular bus, and not to get uppity about it' (Human Life Review, Summer 1978, pp. 58–59). This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions. Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened."
"Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic ounsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh' (Matt. 24:32). Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat!"
This post is part of a blog hop with these fabulous bloggers! We're talking about our marriages, giving tips, and sharing what we've learned but most importantly defending traditional marriage between a man and a woman.


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📇 Card Index
An index file containing a list of information on small, printed cards. Commonly used for displaying contacts, and their contact details.
The Apple artwork for this emoji shows a contact card for John Appleseed, a name frequently used in Apple product icons, presentations and other demonstrations that require a name to be shown. His contact details are as follows.
John Appleseed
[email protected]
125 Main St.
City Name, CA, 95014
Work: (408) 123 4567
Home: (400) 765 4321
95014 is the postcode for Cupertino, where Apple Campus is located.
Card Index was approved as part of Unicode 6.0 in 2010 and added to Emoji 1.0 in 2015.
Also Known As
- 📇 Index Card
- 📇 Rolodex
- 📇 System Card
Apple Name
📇 Card Index
- :card_index:


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Arsenal Transfer News: Arsene Wenger Must Rethink Gunners' Transfer PolicyAugust 16, 2013
Has Arsene Wenger completely lost grip on reality?
Arsenal have done next to nothing in this transfer window, so Wenger has had quite a few questions to answer as to why he hasn't strengthened the club.
There's still time for the Gunners to make one or two big signings, but Wenger has already ruled out the kind of spending the club did in 2011, when it made multiple purchases right at the deadline (h/t the Daily Mail's Laurie Whitwell):
The situation is completely different because a couple of seasons ago we lost two or three players in one game and we had no other option than to buy.
Look, the transfer market is a worry nowadays and it has always been. With every transfer market I could write a book and a very interesting one.
It is a worry I don't deny that. It is maybe more different nowadays because there are more quality spenders on the market and especially France has come on the market as well and bought at a very high level. It's a lot more difficult.
What is perhaps even more worrisome for supporters is what Wenger had to say about what Tottenham Hotspur have done in the transfer window (h/t Whitwell):
They have bought players in areas that we do not need. For example in the creative front of midfield we have Wilshere, we have Chamberlain, we have Cazorla, we have Rosicky, so if some of these clubs bought a player in this area, when you have no need you don't buy.
We have many players who can do that.
It's not a question of spending the money it's about finding the right players. We are not scared to spend money but it must be the right players.
Etienne Capoue, Roberto Soldado and Paulinho would all arguably improve Arsenal and address some of the club's key issues, so that argument doesn't really hold water. Using their reported transfer fees via The Guardian, Capoue cost £9.4 million, Soldado was £26 million and Paulinho came in for £17 million.
The trio will have then cost around £52 million. That's £18 million less than what Ivan Gazidis intimated would be available to Wenger this summer and £12 million less than the Gunners bid for Luis Suarez.
The money is there, but for whatever reason, the club doesn't want to spend it. If Arsenal wanted any of those three players, it's likely they could have landed them.
Instead, Wenger is only left to hype up the club's current players. It's become a common refrain every summer.
As hardly any experienced players come into the club, Wenger wants to point out that X player is like a new signing because he is returning from injury, coming into his prime or finally adjusted to the Premier League.
On one hand, you have to agree with Wenger.
Arsenal are still a young squad, and their players will improve next season. As a manager, you don't want to buy senior players to play positions where you've already got somebody who's about to enter his prime.
Regarding the transfer market, it has gotten more difficult to find talented players for reasonable prices. Arsenal aren't able to exploit the same kind of market inefficiencies they were in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
However, the other top clubs have adapted. They've come to grips with the fact that if they want world-class players, they'll have to pay over the odds. The transfer market isn't a rational place. Players are worth whatever the market dictates.
It's unlikely that transfer fees are going to come down anytime soon. Arsenal have to understand this and be willing to spend the money it takes to improve the squad.
Perhaps it wouldn't be a problem if Wenger seemingly didn't contradict himself. He says it's not about "spending the money," but if money really wasn't an issue, would Luiz Gustavo be an Arsenal player right now?
Wolfburg completed the deal on Friday, signing the former Bayern player to a five-year contract (h/t BBC).
The Guardian's David Hytner reported that Arsenal refused to pay much more than the £14 million valuation they placed on Gustavo.
There's almost no way Arsenal should have lost out on the Brazilian midfielder if money wasn't the deciding factor. The Gunners could have offered regular first-team football on a Champions League club. Instead, Gustavo chose a club that finished 11th in the Bundesliga last season.
So by choosing not to pay that few million extra in terms of transfer fee and wages, Arsenal lost out on the kind of defensive midfielder they have been looking for for years.
But don't worry, money totally isn't going to stop Arsenal from signing the right players. It's just Wenger's ineptitude.


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Is Chicago's most beloved burger joint opening a second location in Woodfield Mall in northwest suburban Schaumburg?
That's what it seems like from a look at the mall directory, but the restaurant said it's not the case. RedEye staffer Jessica Galliart snapped a photo of "Kuma's Corner*" on the mall directory's restaurant list. The asterisk indicates "coming soon." The location noted on the map is an empty counter-service space near Ruby Tuesday and The Cheesecake Factory.


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CoBank Sharing Success Grant
One of the most unique programs Victory Electric participates in is the CoBank Sharing Success Grant Program. The annual Sharing Success grant opportunity, capped at $10,000, is made possible by Victory's governing board of trustees, in partnership with CoBank – a national nonprofit cooperative bank owned by the rural American cooperatives it services, including Victory.
This year, CoBank established a $3 million fund to match charitable contributions made by its cooperative members. The matching grant program is designed to celebrate the vital role that cooperatives play in individual communities across the country. CoBank states that partnering with their customers to support worthy causes they care about is a great way for them to make a positive difference and fulfill its mission of service to rural America.
"Thanks to our board of trustees and CoBank, the Sharing Success Grant enables Victory Electric to give back to the communities we serve," Laws said.
2017 was the sixth year Victory awarded "Sharing Success" grants to local non-profits. Applicants must be federally recognized as 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. The Bucklin Library received a $10,000 grant in 2012 to help fund the construction of their new library building. In 2013, the Mission of Mercy dental clinic in Dodge City was awarded $10,000. The project funded in 2014 was the Stauth Memorial Museum in Montezuma for their "Suits in Space" exhibit. In 2016, local shelter and food bank, the Manna House, was awarded the grant to repair and upgrade their facilities. Last year, the Depot Theater used the $10,000 to upgrade their theater sound system. And this year, the Ford County Historical Society received $10,000 to make repairs and restore Home of Stone - Mueller Schmidt House.
If your non-profit organization is interested in applying for the CoBank Sharing Success Grant, the application for the 2018 grant is available here.


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Hi there Picoscope team,
Great product you have, thanks for all the hard work.
This is just a feature suggestion (that hopefully wouldn't take too much time on your part). I often find myself switching between two boards I am working on and I seem to continuously have to change the setting on my scope (one board is I2C and the other RS232). It'd be great if there was the possibility of saving multiple 'start-up settings' and being able to load alternative ones when needed.


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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14544333597034850042018-03-05T23:22:16.278-08:00Erroll CollinsJames Davidhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454433359703485004.post-5810472195313442512009-04-07T11:41:00.000-07:002009-04-07T11:59:50.195-07:00Erroll Collins Mysterious Author of the SkyReturn to Gompa Tong

The Self-Plagiarism of Erroll Collins
by Jim Mackenzie

It all began with "The Black Dwarf of Mongolia", or so I used to think. I know better now.
I was watching "Indiana Jones and the Temple ofDoom" and it had reached that section where the hero was about to be thrown into a bottomless pit of fire. I was suddenly aware that I had seen it all before. No matter how grim the action became on screen, there was some memory inside my head of something that was far more terrible, a place of horror that I occasionally visited in one of my worst nightmares. Then, out of the blue, it came to me- "The Well of Fire" and the six-armed mechanical Buddha that had been programmed to cast its victims through a hideous mouth and down screaming into its depths. They were part of a tale that I had read in my childhood back in the 1950s – "The Black Dwarf of Mongolia" by Erroll Collins. Somewhere in the house I still had a copy.

Shame overcomes me when I report to you that I rooted it out and looked at the inscription on the inside front page. It belonged to J. Mackenzie but the next page revealed the owner's Christian name in full, John Mackenzie. It was my brother's book. I had somehow acquired one of the icons of our childhood. When we played at cowboys with my other brother, the three of us had ready-made identities – like Billy the Kid, Jesse James and Wyatt Earp. "The Black Dwarf of Mongolia" set us up with our names for the pirate air squadron that swooped over the bed clothes and round the back yard of our terraced house on Merseyside. Taking our turns at the different roles, we each played the part of the huge grizzly bear that was Zwort, the sly fox called Vornhorst and the enigmatic Scandinavian, Stockmar, the three flight-commanders of the Black Dwarf's' pirate squadron.

Of course, we were also Barry Franklyn, Jimmy Vickers and Tommo Thompson, the lads from the R.A.F. who both outfought and outthought these wicked devils and eventually brought them crashing to justice.

Twenty years later my son was initiated into the thrills of "The Black Dwarf" when I used to read it aloud to him at bedtime. It was definitely more popular than "Biggles". "Biggles" was okay but, by comparison, the villains had a pretty thin time of it. Zwort and Vornhorst have such a dramatic line in dialogue that part of the fun was cackling the lines at each other in the darkness after I had turned out the light.

All was well until at a jumble sale three years ago I stumbled onto a dirty brown book with the indistinct outline of a silver monoplane etched in the bottom right hand corner of the front boards. It was "The Hawk of Aurania" by Erroll Collins. Naturally, in spite of its dirt (and it is by far the drabbest looking book in my collection), I bought it and read it. Perhaps I could recapture the thrills of my childhood by a new Collins story. Foolish thought – this can rarely happen. Some of the ingredients were immediately familiar. It was a flying adventure with a dogged and resourceful British hero. There was a rebel squadron with black aeroplanes and distinctive markings and a suitably outrageous villain with a "Z" in his name. He was called Grotz and at one point he employed a henchman called Zwy. There was even a torture chamber scene with white hot branding irons available.

And now Larry noticed fantastic implements, sprouting from the heart of the embers. Pincers, callipers, branding-irons – all were there. Tongues of orange fire licked around them greedily, so that they glowed white-hot: molten pieces of metal, upon which the red sparks danced.

The story ended with a battle in the air between the "goodies" and the "baddies". It was a reasonable read but it didn't have the long-lasting effect of "The Black Dwarf". However, with the advent of the Internet, I was able to establish that there were quite a few more Erroll Collins adventures out there, all with enticing and mysterious sounding names. I began to collect them but it has been slow going. This is one author where I may never reach the end of the trail. I also tried to find out a little about the author but nobody anywhere seemed to have heard of him. It was a bit of a mystery. It lingered at the back of my mind, waiting for a few more clues to turn up.
Then, all of a sudden, things started to happen. The "Collecting Books and Magazines" discussion group had from time to time considered authors who wrote about flying. I was proud, for instance, to have established once and for all that Percy F. Westerman and John F.C. Westerman were father and son. By the way, some reference books out there still have them as brothers! Kim Miles, inAustralia, ventured the opinion that the writing of Erroll Collins was somewhat similar to that of George E. Rochester. This didn't sound at all likely to me until I thought about it for a while. There were certain similarities betweenRochester's "The Despot of the World" and "The Black Dwarf of Mongolia" but evil tyrants plotting from a far eastern base was probably quite commonplace. After all in "Biggles Hits the Trail" the most famous pilot of them all, had ventured to the Himalayas in search of the mountain of light and got caught up with the Chungs whose leader had pretty drastic plans for the West.

Nevertheless, in spite of my misgivings, I began to take a closer look at the work of the mysterious Erroll Collins. Simultaneously, the same team of enthusiasts who were classifying the storypapers and the annuals began to turn up stories by E.Collins and Erroll Collins in various publications of the 1940s and 1950s. I have in front of me, for example, the "Daily Mail Boys Annual" with a short story "Bandits and Bisnagas" by Erroll Collins between pages 23 and 29. In the same volume is "Dawn Patrol", an "Air Police" story from Captain W.E. Johns.
At this point Steve Holland intervened in our discussions and produced the remarkable conclusion of his investigations which he will tell you about himself.

Back to the novels themselves. As I slowly built my collection to the small number of volumes I have today I began to notice certain common features, strands that would reappear no matter which book I had in front of me. As I put them together I began to understand just why "The Black Dwarf of Mongolia" was such a special book in my childhood and why it is so satisfying to make the return to Gompa Tong that I mention in my title.

Let us take the heroes first. They are all English, of course.
In "The Hawk of Aurania" we have
the pleasant bronzed features of a lad in his late teens or early twenties…
and "The Black Dwarf of Mongolia" gives us
a typical young Englishman, tall and athletically built, his well-cut features burned to a deep tan beneath somewhat unruly fair hair. His keen, grey eyes had a hint of laughter in them, though they met his senior's scrutiny levelly enough

This is not surprising you may think. Indeed, both "Outlaw Squadron" and "The Secret of Rosmerstrand" contain heroes whose physical features are scarcely mentioned. Even the idea that these young pilots (they have always got to be pilots) are somewhat light-hearted or irreverent about their career in the R.A.F. or civil aviation is not uncommon in the flying stories of many authors. A part of the tone-setting is to have a section of the plot where they come up against something so dastardly that they are forced to become "deadly serious" for the first time. In Erroll Collins the requirements are very narrow: the hero must lose his best friend to an undeserved death (or supposed death) very early in the book. This then gives him a very personal motive for carrying on. Alongside a desire to save the world from a despot, a Ruritanian country from a tyrant orBritain from the Germans, there is nearly always the mission of revenge. Best of all is the moment when the hero gets a chance to settle his account with the villain by personal combat in the air. Thus Larry Maskell finally disposes of General Grotz over the aerodrome of the city ofVonda in Aurania.

Grotz, like a huge moth whose wings have been singed, dropped earthwards with the speed of a dart. His blazing parachute tore loose. A dreadful shriek of horror, which seemed to ring in Larry's ears, burst from the doomed man's throat. He saw the hard, level surface of the airport's tarmac surging up to meet him.

Yes, thus end all villains. At this point you might suspect that Erroll Collins had been allocated all the awkward but high-scoring letters in a game of Scrabble in order to construct the villains' names. Zwort, Vornhorst, Grotz, Zwy, Krog, Klosterberg, Wietzel (pronounced "weasel"), Tarak, Kraut, Zambro, Von Schornhorst, Grumm, all make deliciously sounding guttural noises when either rattled around the throat or spat out in anger. The "Black Dwarf" and "Black Sergius" hardly need any further build up to show they are not on the side of the righteous ones.

More surprising is to line up the names of the heroes. In "The Black Dwarf of Mongolia" it is Barry Franklyn; in "The Star of Korania" it is Barry Grant; in "The Hawk of Aurania" it is Larry Maskell and, I see from one of my intact dustwappers, the following sentence advertising "The Sea Falcon" : " Accused of espionage, BarryFalconer, the dare-devil air-ace escapes into the North Sea mists…..". I know now it will be the first thing I look for when I acquire my next Erroll Collins volume. In "Outlaw Squadron" the hero is calledDerry Baxter and in "The Secret of Rosmerstrand" his name is Jerry Karslake. A surprising number of "Jimmy's" figure amongst the best friends slaughtered (or maybe not !)
This playing with variants on the same "rr" consonants may strike you as bizarre but Erroll (notice the double rr) Collins is not unique amongst aeroplane authors in perpetrating this strange behaviour : John F.C. Westerman was fond of throwing in heroes who had the initials J.W. as a brief reminder of the three "John Wentley" stories will confirm. This is all harmless fun but it is a strange experience reading "The Secret of Rosmerstrand" which is all about war with the Germans and having to constantly remind yourself that "Jerry" is in fact the hero. But really the game is given away in this same book when I learned that the scientist employed in developing the weapons of destruction that will wipe outBritain was called Kramzin.
"Hang on," I thought, "I've seen this somewhere before."

Indeed I had, it was in "The Black Dwarf of Mongolia". Hurriedly I checked it out. No, he was called "Khamzin" and it was poison gas that he invented. Kramzin (notice the subtle difference) , the brilliant but deviant inventor in "The Secret of Rosmerstrand" had developed the aquatank. This was an enormous submarine or U-boat that had the additional capability of marching on land or over the sea-bed because it was also fitted with caterpillar tracks. The invasion plan was to creep across theNorth Sea and up the main rivers well intoBritain, launching a joint attack with thousands of parachutists after the R.A.F. had been wiped out. Don't worry it didn't succeed, for, thanks to the hero, the Royal Navy were warned.

For hours ships and planes cruised over the same spot, hurling depth charges and whistling torpedoes into the sea at such a rate that the water was churned and pitted into surging foam, while the thunderous roar of countless explosions rocked houses on the distant mainland and vibrated the windows of every parish.

In idle moments I sometimes wonder what the effect of a story like this would be in the middle of war-time. To a boy receiving "The Secret of Rosmerstrand" as a present, and my copy has the following inscription, "Wishing you a very Happy Xmas for 1942 – love Dad" written on the front paste-down, did it help for him to know that the Germans were so efficient that they could build super-submarines that could turn into tanks ? Did he worry that mad European scientists were developing gas bombs that could reduceLondon to craven surrender ? Yes, although Kramzin (or was it Khamzim ?) didn't invent the gas in "The Secret of Rosmerstrand, I find just such a gas bomb factory in "Outlaw Squadron", where the evil Krog, like the good Nazi that he is, tests out the effectiveness of the poison on an innocent swan.
Only a heap of feathers, scorched brown as if by fire or some powerful acid, remained to tell the fate of the victim.
By the time we get to "The Black Dwarf of Mongolia" the eponymous villain is conducting his test bombing on nearby Mongolian villages who all live in fear of the gas called "The Creeping Death".
You could see that it had begun to dawn on me that most of the ingredients that I remembered so well from "The Black Dwarf of Mongolia" had been tried out earlier in the war-time novels that had preceded it. Erroll Collins was recycling old plots, old characters and even old names. This was self-plagiarism on a large scale.
You are still not convinced, perhaps. Let's branch off into a different direction for a while. I haven't quite told you everything. You see, when listing the heroes in one of the earlier paragraphs I deliberately kept from you the fact that "The Star of Korania" is in fact a girl's book and that Barry Grant, although qualified by the nature of his name to be the leading character, is no more than a second or third fiddle to the characters who dominate the action of the book and these are the heroines – Jane, Pat and Zita. Aha ! You say "Zita" – a "z" in the name is a sure sign that she is one of the baddies. Not so. You see Zita is not her real name. Her real name isXenia and she is the princess of Korania and she is the rightful heir to the throne of this strange Balkan country. Admittedly "Xenia" is not quite the name you would choose in Erroll Collins country if you want to play the heroine – it still contains a letter from suspiciously near the end of the alphabet.
But by now you will have realised that with Erroll Collins that all is never as it seems. Even that list of villains – "Zwort, Vornhorst, Grotz, Zwy, Krog, Klosterberg, Wietzel (pronounced "weasel"), Tarak, Kraut, Zambro, Von Schornhorst, Grumm," I quoted to you earlier contains one that is working for the forces of good under a very necessary alias. Take your pick.

With Jane and Pat andXenia there is still plenty of pluck to be shown and this demonstrates that the girls are either true English or, if foreign, worthy of being monarch of a troubled state. There isn't quite as much pugnacity and I can't remember any villains whose faces are reduced to purple bruises or whose yellowed teeth are smashed down their throats but, make no mistake about it, these girls are pretty determined and can take care of themselves. Jane for instance, who has only just gained her 'A' licence, is able to hold her own in a dogfight.
Only Jane's skilful stunting preserved the girls from destruction. The loops, rolls, and zooms into which she flung the long-suffering machine afterwards made her shudder. Certainly, her tactics made accurate shooting very difficult for the enemy.
Naturally it must help to have the future Queen of Korania as one of your tail-gunners.

Earlier in the book, however, I came across a passage where Jane is perilously inside a basket attached to a rope leading to the top of a high crag where a mule is used as the power for a capstan that winds the human load to the inaccessible plateau. On the high plateau is the brigand's stronghold. Now this is exactly the same way that Jimmy Vickers gets up to the high plateau and approaches the odious monastery of Gompa Tong in "The Black Dwarf of Mongolia" even down to the oisers and the wickerwork of the basket. There's another good idea that the author decided to use more than once. Erroll Collins must have felt pretty safe – after all what boy would read "The Star of Korania" where on the first page there is an extensive description of young Jane with her "violet-coloured eyes" and "the black curls escaping from beneath her natty white cap" ?

But I doubt if the author ever bothered to worry about such details. Certainly there were no qualms about using the cowardly Italian pilot character more than once. In "The Hawk of Aurania" it is Salvini who attempts to down our hero, whilst in "The Black Dwarf of Mongolia" the braggart di Vulpi is despatched to no one's regret. It's a pity that Salvini forgot he was Italian and cried out "Caramba" in Spanish as his opponent's tactics began to tell on him in his final aerial duel. Still he got what he deserved for being foreign and for belonging to the black squadron instead of the blue. Khamzin's outcry against the British in "Black Dwarf" is phrased in almost identical words to Kramzin's in "The Secret of Rosmerstrand". Further examples multiply from the constant use of gipsy brigands, fog in theNorth Sea, underground rivers, parachute descents (There's one in every book I possess by Erroll Collins) to the details of actual words. When wounded in his cockpit or partly drugged by poison gas, the hero pilot (male or female) is sure to feel the wind in their faces "like a cold douche" to bring them round for one last despairing effort.

Most remarkably of all, even when Erroll Collins launches into science fiction with "Mariners of Space", the same features start occurring. I must admit that I started this book with some trepidation. After all I had some experience of perfectly respectable flying adventure authors who make fools of themselves when they attempt another genre. W.E. Johns' space series is not a patch on Biggles, Worrals or Gimlet. I prefer T.C. Bridges' characters deep in the Amazonian jungle rather than grappling with death stars. Initially I was lulled into a false sense of security – the hero of "Mariners of Space" answers to the name of Colin Devenish – not a double consonant in sight. On the other hand one of the Martian officers was called Xantra and this put me on my guard. Pretty soon the familiar pattern began to emerge.
 This time the hero belonged to the Space Rangers, wearing a silver comet on his lapel instead of the traditional wings. He too was surrounded by fellow officers (one of whom, inevitably, is called "Jimmy") by whom he was shown a tremendous amount of loyalty.

The villain in the flying stories had a pretty clear-cut job: he would either be helping Hitler take overEurope, be a petty tyrant wanting to throw out the rightful heir to some Ruritanian Balkan country or a madman bent on world domination like the Black Dwarf. The villain in "Mariners in Space" was plotting the subjugation of the universe to Martian rule. Of course a few Martians are decent chaps and throw in with the hero to help thwart the dastardly plot of their fellow planet-sharer.

"Mariners in Space" abounds with advanced technological gadgetry, yet, you will relieved to know, there is still a place for the good, old-fashioned parachute. Not so pleasant is the thought of visiting the officers' dining arrangements.
Space-Captain Jan Marthus of the Martian Space Fleet steered his friend into the restaurant.
"How about a steak ? he invited, as they approached the glass cabinet, where red meat cells, fed by a culture, multiplied before prospective diners' eyes.
In an underground cave system beneath the red soil of Mars, a group of people called the Taans keep the tradition of the "good" brigands alive and well.

Colin had heard of this mysterious Martian tribe. A race akin to the Aztecs of ancient Mexico, they dwelt in the Red Planet's deserts, guarding their rites and customs jealously.
Pretty soon the Taans lead them to another new yet somehow familiar sight,

The noise increased, but mingled with its thunder were the hiss and crackle of flames. A lurid, crimson glow wavered at the end of the tunnel. Then suddenly the passage widened out into an enormous cave.
The Earthmen recoiled from the branding heat, clapping their hands before their eyes. Out of a broad vent, set high up in the most distant face of the cave, poured a veritable river of flame. It swept in a crimson cascade over a series of ledges, to hurl itself with a sudden roar into a whirlpool of molten rock which eddied far below. Clearly this pool was the crater of some subterranean volcano. Spanning the fiery pit was a natural arch of rock.

We're back to the "Well of Fire" that began this article. Some things never change, especially the deference shown by other ranks to the officer class. In this sparkling technological world of the future where space-ships are as commonplace as aeroplanes, the mechanics still refer to their friends, whose lives they save, as "Mr. Colin" and "Mr. Jimmy". This continuity of class difference, implicit in the author's style of writing, is both alarming and reassuring. To be honest, however, I have to admit that I liked "Mariners of Space", though perhaps for the wrong reasons. Particularly rewarding to me was the way in which Erroll Collins tried to take conventional dialogue and give it a "futuristic" tang. In the "real" world of Korania,Aurania, Mongolia or Rosmerstrand, the rogues always contemptuously referred to the young British pilots as "cubs" and the heroes responded by using the expressions "scuts" or "swine". In Space it is different. Martian pride and superiority are now conveyed by epithets like "contemptible Earthling" or imprecations like "Go to Jupiter !" Most amusing of all, however, are the expressions used by Colin and Jimmy when angry with themselves or frustrated with each other.
"I could kick a comet !" says one.
"Don't be an asteroid !" replies the other.
Then there's Debra Marka.
Who ?
What ? Perhaps some gorgeous girl from Venus who gets their hearts in a twist ?
 No such luck. It's the name of the capital of Mars.

At the end of "Mariners of Space" there is, as usual, a glorious final bust-up between the forces of good and evil. This time space-ships, not aeroplanes, are the combatants but there is still room for clever manoeuvring and the rites of single combat. Action sequences like this are Erroll Collins' speciality. There is still a universe to be rebuilt at the end.
What of "The Black Dwarf of Mongolia" after all this cynical research into the author's other books ? It was time for a re-read and perhaps a re-assessment. Could it still survive my knowledge of all the bits and pieces from earlier works which had been thrown in and re-cooked ?

The answer is an unequivocal "Yes". If you have to read just one Erroll Collins book in your life-time, then this is the one. All the books have pace; all the books have "interesting" characters and enough twists and turns in the plot to keep you guessing as to what is about to come next. But I think that the "Black Dwarf" has several extra ingredients that set it apart from the rest of this writer's work. First and foremost amongst these is the surprising female component. Although Jane and Barry in "The Star of Korania" have the kind of joking relationship that is based on good companionship and mutual admiration, it is never allowed to turn into anything more substantial. We are always reminded that they are cousins. Surprisingly even Princess Xenia with her "glorious reddish-gold hair", and her "creamy-skinned oval face, strengthened by a determined chin, and striking, amber-coloured eyes" does not seem to destined to find a consort. In "The Black Dwarf of Mongolia" we have Marie who becomes a very important part of the story and an important clue to the psychology of several of the characters. She affects the hero, Barry Franklyn, to such an extent that he proves vulnerable to her charms and her strength of character. Where Biggles, for a while, has Marie Janis, "a vision of blonde loveliness", Barry becomes captivated by Marie Khamzim:
The girl was beautiful. Her waving, golden hair set off a charming, oval face, with a complexion of roses and cream. A face strengthened, however, by a firm, though smiling red mouth, and a dainty, but resolute chin.
How can such a splendid girl be the daughter of Khamzim, the scientist who has produced the poison gas that will surely wipe out the world upon the instructions of the malevolent dwarf ? The local natives, entranced by her appearance and her captivating manner, have declared that she is a special White Goddess, like the one in Tibetan legend. These mysteries bolster the usual story-line about outwitting a tyrant and his affection for the girl gives Barry another very personal motive for defeating his enemy. It also, as you might expect, makes him extra vulnerable when her life is danger. Another female character, Lalla, Marie's ancient Chinese nurse, provides yet another dimension to this story. She is torn by her allegiance to her master, Khamzim, and her devotion to young Marie. She is also the bearer of a great secret that is only revealed at the end.

Indeed some of the minor characters in this book are drawn very well indeed. The three flight-commanders of the Black Dwarf's pirate squadron are individualised in quite a surprising fashion. Zwort and Vornhorst are the usual "scum of the earth" but the Nordic-looking Stockmar is a puzzle. He has joined the pirate squadron for adventure and still entertains romantic chivalrous notions about a fair fight. So un black-and-white is his character that the reader becomes concerned about his fate as the book moves to its climax.
Lo Minh, the son of a local tribal leader, proves an interesting subsidiary hero who plays his full part in the overthrow of the sinister Gompa Tong regime. To him, indeed, falls the honour of the by-now "traditional" parachute descent. Blind faith in his friend Jimmy allows him to catapult himself bravely into space from the mountainside in order to rejoin his people and lead the attack on the gloomy monastery. Lalla's escape from the prison cell is done by a trick which I have never seen repeated anywhere in children's or adult fiction.

The malevolence of the central villain, the Black Dwarf, is created not just by his confrontation with the British heroes but by the way he deals with his own underlings. The scene where he promises a reward to a faithful native who helps him to hide the gold bullion treasure is a classic of horror.
"For your services tonight I must reward you. Kneel down on yonder ledge, and gaze into the water. There are other treasures in the Dragon Lake, and one of them is for you !"
Kasim obeys and the Dwarf stabs him in the back.
"I have kept my word, Kasim !" he whispered. "There are other treasures in the lake – and one of them is sleep. Sleep well."
In fact, when I look at the dialogue of the book more closely, I realise that I was wrong. It is not the duel of words between Zwort and Vornhorst that drips the most crisply from my lips but the Black Dwarf's cackling reflections as he gloats insanely over his malignant plans for success. How satisfying then what happens to him and Zwort in the end. But I must not anticipate your reading.
I shall go on collecting the work of Erroll Collins, even the short stories in annuals, but I suspect that as I do so, I already realise that none of them will ever recapture the magic I felt when I first read this tale and played those silly games with my brother, John Mackenzie, to whom I dedicate this short article.
Now I am off for a "cold douche" after all this remembered excitement.
James Davidhttp://email@example.com


text:
Put the potatoes in a small saucepan with enough cold water to cover and season with salt. Bring to a boil and then simmer, uncovered, until just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and put in a large bowl.
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and salt it generously. Fill a medium bowl with ice water and salt it as well. Add the corn, beans, and broccoli to the boiling water and cook until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Use a slotted spoon or strainer to scoop out the vegetables and plunge them immediately into the ice water. Drain the vegetables, pat them dry, and add to the bowl of potatoes along with the tomatoes and cucumber. Toss the salad with 1/2 cup of the dressing. Taste, and add more salt and pepper, if desired. (The salad may be prepared up to this point 2 hours ahead and refrigerated.)
When ready to serve, toss the salad with the greens and the sprouts, if desired, and with a bit more dressing if you like your salad on the well-dressed side. Pass the remaining dressing at the table.
Know-How: Immersing vegetables in boiling salted water and then plunging them into ice water is called blanching and refreshing. Having the water at a full rolling boil before adding the vegetables, as well as cooking uncovered, is the key to keeping green vegetables vibrant.
Smash the garlic clove, sprinkle with the salt, and, with the side of a large knife, mash and smear the mixture to a coarse paste. Scrape the paste into a small bowl, add the remaining ingredients, and whisk well to make a creamy dressing. Use immediately or refrigerate in a tightly sealed container for up to 3 days.
From Food Network Kitchens Cookbook, Meredith, 2003
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