text:
Marc Caputo
Marc Caputo: Bill Nelson for governor could endanger Charlie Crist, U.S. Senate seat and Democrats
On exclusive Star Island at a Clinton Global Initiative fundraiser two weeks ago, big-time Democratic donor Neal Roth couldn't believe he was hearing it.
"It looks like Bill Nelson's looking hard at running," a booster of the Democratic senator said of his interest in campaigning for governor, Roth recalls.
Roth's first reaction: "Why do we keep shooting ourselves in the foot?"
"Charlie Crist can't beat Bill in a primary," the insider, whose name Roth won't give up, replied.
Roth: "You're missing the point. We can't afford a Democratic primary where we come out broke and broken. If Bill wanted to run for governor, he should have done it before Charlie filed."
There's a reason for the shock.
After months of ebbing and flowing, the story of Nelson running in 2014 seemed settled in October. Nelson had all but said he wouldn't do it — and potentially endanger the very Senate seat he won last year.
Now the story of his candidacy has again resurfaced amid new undertones of intrigue, envy, ambition and miscalculation that could even embarrass even the White House.
It also damages Nelson's brand as a plain-spoken pol. There's a reason The Tampa Bay Times dubbed him this week's "loser of the week" in Florida politics.
At the Florida Democrats' state convention Oct. 26, Nelson repeatedly tried to cast doubt on rumors he would run for governor against incumbent Rick Scott.
"I have no plans to run for governor. And I have no intention of running for governor," Nelson said, almost exasperated as he noting he had to "repeat myself" for months.
Asked if the former Republican-turned-independent-turned Democrat, Crist, was a good member of his new party, Nelson said "yes." He said "whoever the Democratic nominee is" will beat Scott and get his backing.
What if Crist falters by next spring, would Nelson reconsider?
"If I say anything, you guys are going to run with it," Nelson said. "And I'm not going to let you run with it."
Six days later, Nov. 1, Crist filed his paperwork, having met with Nelson beforehand (Nelson also met with Democratic candidate and former state Sen. Nan Rich, too).
But just before and after Crist filed, one longtime Nelson advisor quietly started calling donors. Some say they were told Nelson would run only if Crist falters. A smaller number of Democrats believe Nelson wants to run regardless.
Crist is off to a good start, raising an eye-popping $872,000 in 13 days, not counting a Saturday Biltmore Hotel fundraiser that could have pulled in as much as $500,000 more. And a survey last week by a Republican-leaning firm found Crist leading Scott by 10 percentage points.
In the end, all this might remain just a story, a mess of miscommunication that has led to speculation about the role of Nelson's inner-circle and even his wife.
The consensus still is that Nelson is highly unlikely to run.
But the effects of the story are already freezing some Democratic donors who are waiting for Nelson before giving to Crist.
Also, the talk shows there are unmistakable doubts at the highest levels of the Democratic Party about Crist's viability– a sign some Democrats are scared of Republicans despite all the talk of a strong party turnout machine.
Nelson's defenders say he's not trying to hurt Crist, but he's ready to be more of an "insurance policy" if Crist tanks. But the insurance policy also runs the risk of undermining the insured; Nelson's interest could therefore become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
If Nelson does get in:
• Nelson, a three-time statewide winner, becomes a little more-favored than Crist to beat Scott, according to lawmakers, pollsters and consultants of both parties. However, the last major poll by Quinnipiac University in June, showed each could beat Scott by exactly 10 points, and that Crist and Nelson had similar favorable ratings.
• In Scott, Nelson faces a candidate like no other, a $100 million attack juggernaut. Though unpopular, Scott has a far tougher team than anything faced by Nelson, who had relatively easy-meat opponents he bested in Democratic wave years. Though Crist's flip-floppery is an inviting target for Scott, so is Nelson's record as a career Washington politician who has voted to raise taxes and back Obamacare.
• Barack Obama has egg on his face. The president used Crist (and vice versa now) in his campaign and tapped him to speak at the national party convention. Top Florida Obama hands work for Crist, who officially became a Democrat at a White House Christmas reception.
• A safe Democratic U.S. Senate seat — worth untold millions in D.C. — is put at risk. If Nelson becomes governor, he appoints his successor. Expect the GOP-led Florida Legislature to consider changing that — especially because some Nelson donors want him to appoint his protégé: Weston Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic National Committee's chairwoman, reviled by many Republicans.
• The Florida Democratic Party takes a step back. Lacking a bench, it had one clearly recognizable statewide figure — Nelson — until Crist joined its ranks. Now Nelson could undercut the politician who essentially increased the party's number of high-profile Florida Democrats by 100 percent.
There are scores of scenarios and conspiracy theories.
And the risks right now seem to outweigh the benefits for Democrats. Why go through the trouble?
Nelson, 71, had wanted to be governor for a long time. And perhaps he's tired of being a member of a do-little Congress.
Crist put the best face on it all, saying he seeks Nelson's counsel, respects him and speculates that, if the senator does have concerns "maybe he's just really worried about me. And that's pretty nice."
A major Democratic donor, Stephen Bittel, said Nelson is simply worried about the state and wants to make sure Crist can win (which incidentally contradicts Nelson's public statements that Crist or Rich will win).
"There's no secret sauce here," Bittel said. "There's no mystery."
Bittel said he likes Crist, but loves Nelson more.
But as a Republican governor, Crist did more for Democrats than the last Democrat to hold the post: Lawton Chiles (who incidentally beat Nelson in the 1990 Democratic primary), legislators from both parties said.
Bittel recently spoke with Nelson. He wouldn't disclose the nature of the conversation, but said Nelson's "seriously considering it."
But the man making the bulk of calls on Nelson's behalf, longtime advisor and staff chief Pete Mitchell, said that isn't true.
"I don't think he's seriously considering it [running] at the moment," Mitchell said.
At the moment?
"Bill's position has not changed," Mitchell said.
Mitchell acknowledged there was discussion about a Nelson candidacy at last month's Democratic conference (when Nelson was downplaying it).
What was clearly on display at the conference: Crist's star power.
Crist was mobbed. Nelson wasn't.
Nelson was no longer the only big blue dog in the room; the happy-as-a-Labrador Crist was soaking up the affection and attention.
If Nelson didn't feel envy, it's possible that some members in his orbit — we don't know who — felt a pang of it. Indeed, after the conference, the Nelson calls appeared to uptick, but Mitchell says that isn't true and that he was returning calls rather than initiating them.
"Somebody is trying to assign an extraordinary feature to phone calls and it's an exaggeration," Mitchell said, noting he talks all the time to movers and shakers about Nelson.
The Crist critics in Nelson's orbit, after exhausting the Florida press, leaked the most-recent news about the senator last week to MSNBC, which prominently featured the speculation of former U.S. Rep. Jim Davis, thumped by Crist in the 2006 race for governor.
Aside from Davis, some Democrats connected to Nelson say his wife, Grace, didn't appear to be a Crist fan as he reveled in the attention at the state conference.
"That's crazy," Mitchell said by way of rebuttal.
Another major Democratic donor John Morgan, an Orlando trial lawyer who employs Crist and frequently chats with Nelson, also found all the talk too tough to believe.
Morgan in the spring tried to persuade Nelson to run and the senator wouldn't. So Morgan said he felt Crist had the green light to run.
And, he said, don't expect a Nelson bid, in part because the senator's cosmopolitan wife prefers life in cosmopolitan Washington to wooded Tallahassee.
"If she had to live in Tallahassee, she would be like Zsa Zsa Gábor in Green Acres," Morgan joked, referencing the popular 1960's TV show of a glamorous woman stuck in a podunk town. "The real question is: Who's the talking pig?"
If only we knew ...


text:
It's said that Denver is now the capital of American fly fishing. Helping to prove it, two of us over-seas members of the venerable and premier London Flyfishers' Club, are hosting the first formal Flyfishers' Club dinner ever held on this side of the Atlantic. This historic event is taking place this week at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver.
G.William Fowler of Odessa, Texas, and I are in charge. My lawyer friend Bill Fowler has written a definitive account of this gentleman's social club in London and himself frequents the club's rooms in Brook Street. Some will recall that I once wrote and produced at the Library a play imagining a furious debate between the two most famous members of the club, Frederick M. Halford who gave us the dry fly as we know it and G.E.M. Skues. He shook the trout fishing world by introducing the wet fly and nymph to the hallowed chalk streams south of London in the 1890s.
Continuing the club's tradition at such formal dinners (this one afar from London at the splendid Brown Palace) Boulder's Anders Halverson, amid some little ceremony, will address the company. Halverson is today's most provocative and fascinating writer on trout and their geographies. His book, "An Entirely Synthetic Fish: How Rainbow Trout Beguiled America and Overran the World" changes minds everywhere it is read and predicts deep change in managing and angling for trout. It is as critical an issue as the virulent Halford/Skues stand-off at the club in London over a century ago. Harry Briscoe, President of "Hexagraph Fly Rods" of Houston, will respond to Halverson's remarks.
Both Queen Elizabeth and the Prince of Wales, the club's patron, have sent us their warm greetings.
Fowler has said that there is nothing quite as satisfying as researching the great Halford in the elegant club rooms in Brook Street, in the finest of all fly fishing libraries, surrounded with artifacts of four centuries of angling. As for me, you can imagine the pleasure of sitting at dinner "over there" and looking up to see my own books on the shelves of that library.
Next morning some of the diners will be going out after Front Range trout, helping to prove that Denver is indeed the exact center of American fly fishing, whether with Halford's high floating dry flies or Skues' deep-sunk nymphs-- still a matter of controversy even in Colorado. And all of it redounding to The Flyfishers' Club of London and its contribution to American fly fishing.

subset: commoncrawl


text: I am thinking of using ISPconfig on a DNS master server and then pure bind slaves. Everything looks like it should work well however I need to give clients access to their domain records...this is kinda possible but I need to restrict it to adding/editing records only not adding new zones or editing TTLs etc. Also can the client logins be moved to a different port than the "admin" account login, so that admin access can be limited via firewall? Is this possible with the current version of ISPconfig3?


text:
Silentnight Gemini Pocket 1200 Divan Bed
Ref. #2025
FREE Delivery on all Silentnight beds. You'll receive a call within a couple of days of placing your Silentnight order to book a delivery date, which will typically take 2-3 weeks.
Disposal Service » Free Disposal offer must be added to basket


text:
JCPenney closing at Latham Circle Mall
JCPenney, one of the first stores to open at Latham Corners Shopping Center in 1957, will permanently close its doors early next year.
The store weathered the conversion to Latham Circle Mall, the mall's slow decline and, this summer, the demolition of surrounding stores. It was to have been one of the anchors of the planned new Shoppes at Latham Circle, along with Lowe's and Regal Cinema.
But the movie theater's run faded to black, and now JCPenney will be gone, too.
"The JCPenney location at Latham Circle Mall will close on or about January 4, 2014," corporate spokesman Joey Thomas said Tuesday in response to an emailed inquiry. "We continually evaluate our store portfolio to determine whether there's a need to close or relocate underperforming locations. Reviews such as these are essential in meeting our long-term goals for future company growth. While it's never an easy decision to close a store, especially due to the impact on our valued associates and customers, we feel this is a necessary business decision."
He declined to discuss the store's struggles as the mall closed and businesses were sought for the new plaza.
"As most retailers, we perform an annual review of individual stores and close a handful of locations each year," he said.
More Information
Mark Hebert, vice president of Grossman Development Group, which owns the property, could not be reached for comment.
Joseph LaCivita, Colonie's director of planning and economic development, said the developer is working to attract major retailers to the site. Dick's Sporting Goods has filed paperwork with the town for a building permit, he said, and discussions are under way to try to lure a movie theater or entertainment venue.
"I don't think they'd ever spend that much money to demolish the building to have it go defunct," LaCivita said. "They have been talking with people. Although it's a blow to the development, I don't think it will make this thing stop."
Thomas said the employees who do not remain with JCPenney will receive separation benefits. He expects nearly 80 percent of the 50 Latham workers to be given jobs at other stores.
The mall began as an outdoor plaza before being converted to an indoor mall in 1971.
Shoppers at the store on Tuesday said they were disappointed but not surprised to hear that the store would close.
"It's sad that they are closing," said Darlene Killeen of Troy. "It's convenient."
Laura Mattiske of Latham said she, too, liked having the store nearby.
"I live in this area, so I really hate to see anybody go out of business," she said. "It's nice to be able to go here instead of all the way out to Crossgates."
Leah Glover of Troy hadn't heard the news.
"You're breaking my heart," she said in the store's parking lot. "I hate going to the mall. This is a non-mall location. I can go and not stress myself out."
Mary Ellen Adams of Brunswick said she will have to travel to the Clifton Park store. Having to shop in either Colonie or Clifton Park means fighting Northway traffic she could avoid at Latham Circle.
"It just leaves a really big gap," she said. "I was hopeful this meant they'd redo this and expand this a little."
firstname.lastname@example.com • 518-454-5092 • @timobrientu


text:
Except for the mother of Jesus, few women are more honored in the Bible than Mary Magdalene. Yet she could well be the patron of the slandered, since there has been a persistent legend in the Church that she is the unnamed sinful woman who anointed the feet of Jesus in Luke 7:36-50.
Most Scripture scholars today point out that there is no scriptural basis for confusing the two women. Mary Magdalene, that is, "of Magdala," was the one from whom Christ cast out "seven demons" (Luke 8:2)—an indication, at the worst, of extreme demonic possession or, possibly, severe illness.
Father Wilfrid J. Harrington, O.P., writing in the New Catholic Commentary, says that "seven demons" "does not mean that Mary had lived an immoral life—a conclusion reached only by means of a mistaken identification with the anonymous woman of Luke 7:36." Father Edward Mally, S.J., writing in the Jerome Biblical Commentary, agrees that she "is not…the same as the sinner of Luke 7:37, despite the later Western romantic tradition about her."
Mary Magdalene was one of the many "who were assisting them [Jesus and the Twelve] out of their means." She was one of those who stood by the cross of Jesus with his mother. And, of all the "official" witnesses that might have been chosen for the first awareness of the Resurrection, she was the one to whom that privilege was given. She is known as the "Apostle to the Apostles."
Today's Gospel (John 20:1–2, 11–18) shows Mary at first not recognizing the risen Jesus in the garden, then knowing him as he spoke her name. Her great love bursts forth, echoing the First Reading, "I took hold of him and would not let him go" (Song 3:4b). Jesus says, "Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father" (John 20:17a). The meaning probably is that there is an entirely new relationship now—a much deeper one, resting in faith rather than the former relationship that was possible because of his visible body. Saint John may also be stressing the fact that Jesus' exaltation at the right hand of the Father is the completion of the Resurrection.


text:
- This event has passed.
Baby Time
October 11, 2018 @ 5:00 am - 5:30 am
|Recurring Event (See all)
An event every week that begins at 5:00 am on Thursday, repeating until November 29, 2018
Baby Time is a fun time for babies from birth to 18 months and their parents or caregivers. Each gathering consists of rhymes, songs, and a few simple books. Baby Time introduces babies to literacy and encourages talking and positive interactions between the baby and the adult.


text:
Bravetta Hassell
A new study out of Finland suggests kids who have a dog or cat in the home tend to be healthier, developing fewer respiratory infections in their first year of life.Until now, exposure to dogs and cats -- especially their dander -- has been associated with lower allergy and asthma rates among pet owners, but the recent report opens up something new altogether. It correlates the keeping of a dog or cat with a lowered chance of developing infection. Scientists think the dirt and debris these pets track indoors might be what's behind this new finding. The child's immune system would be strengthened, "or maybe it's something about the animals themselves," study research Dr. Eija Bergroth told MSNBC. Dr. Scott Cyrus, chief of staff at Hillcrest Hospital South, said the pets are likely bringing in from the outdoors some bacteria children don't normally encounter. He references a part of the study in which those participants whose pets did not go outside didn't have as great an immunity. Some researchers caution that other factors may play a role in the study's participants' heightened immunity to respiratory infection. Also, the study looked exclusively at children in rural and suburban areas -- children in urban areas living with pets may have a different experience. The study followed 397 children from pregnancy through their first year of life and found that those living with dogs developed 31 percent fewer respiratory tract symptoms or infections, 44 percent fewer ear infections and received 29 percent fewer antibiotic prescriptions. While having a cat around had similar benefits, the extent was not as great as it was for dogs. Michael R. Gomez, chairman of the pediatrics department at the OU School of Community Medicine-Tulsa, thinks the puzzling caveat might have all to do with cats being less sociable than dogs. In all, the study lends some credibility to the assertion that children are healthier and have fewer allergies when living with pets. "It's the same process that one would go through when you have a known allergy," Gomez said. "If you have a grass allergy for instance, an allergist would slowly expose you to small, tolerable doses of grass pollen to the point that your immune system gets used to it." While a very young child isn't typically on the floor with his dog, he does become desensitized to the pet dander largely through his time with parents who are exposed to the pet. "Over time, (the children) start to interact with the pet and then they start to sleep with the pet and then the pet starts to lick their face, so over time they're exposed to those danders and they kind of develop a natural defense," Gomez said. Research is always requiring some fine tuning and the recent findings aren't absolute, said Gomez, reminding people to stay abreast with the latest health news. But experts don't want parents to go rush out and buy a pet to cure all their children's health woes. "I'm not sure we can truly extrapolate that this is going to fit the United States' make-up but in true form, it is something to look at," Cyrus said. The study's Bergroth and local physicians Gomez and Cyrus hope people come away with the understanding that parents needn't be afraid of introducing a dog or cat into their home. Talk with the doctor about your pet allergies and those you may have passed down to your kids. But don't be afraid. As Gomez sees it, of greater importance is keeping your young one physically safe around pets. "We spend a lot more of our anticipatory guidance counseling focused on safety in the sense that we want to avoid ... injury to the face or hands," said Gomez, adding he also counsels parents on the importance of keeping children away from cat litter boxes that harbor harmful bacteria. Bravetta Hassell 918-581-8316 firstname.lastname@example.com (c)2012 Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) Visit Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) at www.tulsaworld.com


text:
A pre-emptive advisory that CBS sent to Grammy attendees last week threatened to spoil the show's grand tradition of questionable taste.
"Thong type costumes are problematic. Please avoid exposing bare fleshy under curves of the buttocks ..." the network advised, according to deadline.com.
At first unfurling of the carpet, it looked as if CBS' prophylactic memo had sunk in like lead — the color of unimpeachable dresses worn by Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill, Carly Rae Jepsen and Miranda Lambert.
Then a rebellious streak set in.
Rocking the tux
The men shattered the glass ceiling of style with fresh twists on the tuxedo.
-- Classic meets...


text:
3D Format Wars-Will COLLADA be the next 'STEP' for the DCC industry?
As the 3D wars heat up, many folks see COLLADA's .dae format as a front runner for Digital Content Creation (DCC). In the Engineering CAD field the STandard for the Exchange of Product model data (STEP) has been declared as a clear winner by some. This article is an attempt to start a conversation on whether or not the COLLADA format is the next 'STEP' for the DCC industry.


text:
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Autoload ActiveResource Accessors & Association Classes
As it turns out, this is easy to implement. ActiveRecord loads its database's schema on class definition using a SHOW FIELDS command. If you have control over the application ActiveResource is hitting, you can add a schema URL pretty effortlessly. Then, on the actual ActiveResource app, you just put an alias_method_chain on inherited in ActiveResource::Base. Add in an autoload method; have that method do the work of an attr_accessor, except don't actually use attr_accessor, because you need to put the attribute in the @attributes hash for it to be any use.
In some ways, this is like using an WSDL file, and it might give you the creepy-crawlies for that reason. In fact, however, it's a lot more elegant. It's dynamically generated, and its syntax is very clean, so you have none of the maintainence and coupling issues WSDL gives you.
It's also much more economical than attaching attr_accessors all over the place with class << self every time you need to use a form handler, and better from a performance standpoint than Rails' default behavior. If you're using ActiveResource stock, unmodified, out the box, you get a method_missing approach to @attributes which ActiveRecord abandoned a few versions ago in favor of more performant code-generation techniques, i.e., explicitly defining and attaching new methods, rather than passing all the work to method_missing. In a sense, method_missing is a lot like the iPhone when it was first released: amazingly cool, but way too expensive. (Fortunately, method_missing was never saddled with an AT&T service contract.)
If you've been following along, or attempting to actually code this from my description, you've probably noticed the big flaw: it doesn't account for association classes. That's pretty easy to fix. Use has_many (and its big family) in your ActiveResource models, and add the has_many family of class methods to ActiveResource::Base. The best way to implement it is to have it do exactly the same thing your autoload code already does in generating its accessor methods. Essentially, the only difference between has_many :widgets and attr_accessor :widgets should be that has_many also updates @attributes. The smart thing is to factor that out, so you can have both the autoloading code and the has_many family hit a class method with a name like add_attribute.
As you might guess, I have some code to show here, but I can't show it at the moment, partly due to corporate politics (LAME) and partly due to not having actually finished it yet. I literally just thought of the has_many part as I was writing this. We've got a lot of this working at my current project, however, and we should have it running in production very very soon.
3 comments:
What did you end up using as the schema format for this?ReplyDelete
While I like the elegance of all this, I'd be a bit concerned about having too much of a dependency on the server app for your client app to function properly. If you only need the server app to be up while Ares is GETting, POSTing, etc, then if something goes wrong in the communication you can always recover, save the resource locally and sync it up later. However if you communicate at class definition time and the server is down your client would either crash completely or be missing a bunch of methods that the views expect, which would not be recovered until the client is restarted.
Of course if you control both the server and the client, as it sounds like you do, then it probably isn't much of a problem. I think situations where the developer controls both server and client is probably the main target audience for Ares anyway.
That seems to be the case, about the target audience, although I don't know for sure. Realistically, as far as my project goes, we have the kind of dependency on the server one way or another - all this code really does for us is group it all in one place.ReplyDelete
In terms of the schema format, this was actually whisked off my to-do list by my manager, who's really a programmer. He literally stole it from me while I was sleeping. I've bitched him out about it in an e-mail, and I'll find out tonight whether that gets me in trouble - he's in Beijing, hence the sleep/wakefulness disparity.
Anyway, all that just serves as a caveat that I didn't design the schema format. Basically, the schema format is XML, like this:
"column" column.data "/column"
with angle brackets taken out, because Blogger eats them for breakfast. In other words it's just the same code you see in scaffolding, but used to do model reflection. I was pissed off about the pilfering, but I have to admit, his solution's pretty clean. If I was doing it - or if in another situation I do it again - I'll experiment with just using the code from rake db:schema:dump - I think it's an ARec object called SchemaDumper - so that you only have to make the call once. I hadn't imagined the has_many stuff, that was a workaround required by my manager's solution, and I can see both upsides and downsides to it. ideally the has_many and similar methods should be added dynamically based on the schema reflection; in practice, in this project, we'll probably have to add them by hand.
Hi Giles,ReplyDelete
I am thinking about implementing this, I really like the idea of building associations into ActiveResource, I have a well defined set of models which I would like to emulate with ARes as best as I can in a client.
Do you have any source code you can share about implementing has_many and maybe belongs to into AciveResource::Base?


text:
If there is one word that rattles young professors, it might be this one: tenure. To attain this status, which offers both job security and prestige, a faculty member must undergo a grueling review process of skills and scholarship. At Barnard, tenure-track instructors often endure an intensely challenging stretch, as they are expected to turn out research in the manner of faculty at a large university like Columbia while frequently carrying the heavy course load typical of professors at smaller colleges like Barnard.
Those are just two aspects of the job. "In addition to teaching and scholarship, faculty must also advise students, run labs, supervise student projects and complete their service commitments on various college committees," says Angela Haddad, who is associate provost at Barnard.
While many Barnard donors stress students' needs, two alumnae stand out for their focus on advancing the scholarship of Barnard's junior faculty: Janet Helman and Carole Rifkind, both graduates of the Class of '56. The alumnae, who know each other only slightly, are affiliated with two separate funds to support faculty research. Both have generously contributed to Barnard in a variety of roles in the past.
Enhancing the research opportunities of Barnard's faculty, of course, serves more than just the professional advancement of the recipients involved. It provides "resources and knowledge they can impart to our students," says Haddad. And, depending on the nature of the research involved, the results can—and do—impact communities around the world.
In the years since the founding of the Richard Rifkind and Carole Lewis Rifkind '56 Faculty Support Fund, Carole Rifkind has delighted in learning about young Barnard faculty members, who, with this support, pursue research on topics ranging from sex differentiation in the womb, to sixteenth- century Aztec ritual dance, to groundwater contamination in Bangladesh.
Both Rifkind, who has pursued various careers, and her husband, who is chair emeritus at the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in New York City, understand the importance of start-up money in research. She also says she enjoys the exposure to "the newest wave of academic research," and the benefit of "seeing what new scholars are pursuing in their evolving disciplines."
Rifkind credits Barnard for her personal confidence in the face of change. She's drawn upon this reservoir several times over the course of her life. An art history major, she switched from teacher to architecture writer after her children grew up. She is the author of several books, including A Field Guide to Contemporary American Architecture, and is active in numerous not-for-profit cultural organizations.
One day in this past decade, however, she announced to her husband, "I want to make a movie." "In short order," remembers Rifkind, her husband countered with, 'I'll make it with you.'" The couple, with no prior background in filmmaking, have since produced two documentaries: The Venetian Dilemma, in 2005, about the impact of increased tourism on the fabled city's cultural and civic life; and Naturally Obsessed: the Making of a Scientist, about the experience of doctoral candidates in a molecular biology lab at Columbia University Medical School. Both films aired on public television. "I identify with people pursuing ideas of great interest to them," says Rifkind. "The thrill of exploring a novel idea is something that both of us share."
More than a half-century after she first studied nineteenth- century literature with Barry Ulanov, Janet Helman can still reel off the titles from the extensive reading list that accompanied the course, and still grows awed as she recalls the English professor whom she eventually chose as an adviser. With special expertise in Renaissance and twentieth-century literature, Ulanov was the author or editor of more than 50 books on topics ranging from jazz to Christian humanism; "a true polymath," says Helman. Four years ago, she endowed the Professor Barry Ulanov Fund to honor her professor, and to provide resources for English department faculty.
Helman, who lives in Chicago, knows firsthand the central role that professors play at Barnard. To this day, she tackles new subject areas with a passion she credits in large part to Ulanov's influence. A volunteer researcher for the University of Chicago, she spends her time mapping out an archaeological site where shards of Iranian pottery have been discovered. Her interest in the region dates back at least 25 years. In 1984 she was asked to chair the volunteer program of museum docents affiliated with the University of Chicago's renowned Oriental Institute. She completed an eight-week course on the history of the Near East, but still felt she needed to know more. She agreed to take the job only if the Institute permitted her to take one course on the topic each quarter. "I really felt that when I started to work seriously at the Institute I would need to be more of scholar about this," affirms Helman.
As for the Ulanov fund, she says, "It's not a private endeavor. If anyone else wants to make a contribution, the fund could use more money." After all, as Helman points out, "Students come and go, but the faculty [stays]."
- Elisia Brown
Photographs by Dorothy Hong and Joe Wigdahl


text:
A division of VacationsToGo.com
Amazon Cruise Specialists
G Adventures
If you seek an active and adventurous vacation far from the beaten path, turn to G Adventures. Founded in 1990, the company offers adventure tours on seven continents and is committed to low-impact travel and sustainable tourism in the far-flung destinations visited.
Among G Adventures' vast selection of itineraries are Nile and Amazon river cruises. On the Nile, you'll cruise on a felucca, a small, traditional wooden sailboat. While the vessel doesn't some of the amenities featured on larger Nile ships, it allows you to experience the river as some of the locals do. The company's Amazon boats are larger and carry more guests but deliver the same authentic experiences for which G Adventures is known. With G Adventures, you can cruise the lower Amazon in Brazil, where most Amazon cruises take place, and you can also explore the upper Amazon in Peru.
Most of G Adventures' Amazon and Nile cruises are combined with a land tour. One price covers your river cruise, hotel accommodations, all transportation and guided sightseeing.
Click any G Adventures river cruise below for the itinerary, dates and prices.
** The prices shown are U.S. dollars per person, based on double occupancy, and subject to availability. Prices quoted for land/cruise arrangements are subject to increase without notice. Once we have received your deposit, land/cruise prices are guaranteed. Air prices quoted via phone or email are subject to increase and are guaranteed only from the time that full payment is received. Also, air prices or air promotions mentioned on this site or on the phone do not include baggage fees imposed by airlines. Sorry, we are unable to offer air from countries other than the U.S. However, for those international customers who are able to arrange their own transportation to the trip origination city, we are able to offer the land/cruise portion of the package at the price quoted.
|More Trips to the Amazon Region
|Our Other Sites
|Site Info
Brazil Cruises
Peru Vacations
South America Cruises
South America Tours
River Cruises Worldwide
Ocean Cruises
Resorts & Hotels
Safaris in Africa
About Us
Contact Us
Cruise Line Testimonials
Customers Love Us
Privacy Policy
Terms and Conditions


text:
U.N., EU to apologize
to Islam for cartoons
Joint statement to condemn Danish paper,
renounce all forms of violence, says report
The United Nations and European Union have reached agreement to issue a joint statement condemning cartoon "insults to Islam" that were first published in a Danish newspaper and have been widely reprinted recently, resulting in a rash of violence throughout the Muslim world.
According to a report in WAM, the United Arab Emirates news agency, the agreement is the work of Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Conference.
The agreement, according to Ihsanoglu, will mean a formal rebuke by the U.N. and EU of the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten for publishing the offensive cartoons.
The statement, he added, stresses that divine religions and religious symbols must be respected, and that freedom of speech must not be taken so far as to desecrate religions.
"The statement also calls for renouncing all forms of violence," he said, according to WAM.
The controversy began just over a week ago, though the cartoons were first published by the Danish newspaper in September. More recently, other papers and news agencies picked up and published the cartoons, and the result has been unprecedented rioting throughout the Islamic world.
In Afghanistan, the death toll reached at least nine when four more demonstrators were killed in the southern city of Qalat. Army Gen. Abdul Razaq said four people were killed in the latest unrest.
In the Palestinian Authority, the international observer presence in the southern West Bank city of Hebron evacuated all its 71 staff members to Israel after hundreds of Palestinian youths attacked its offices, throwing stones, breaking windows and damaging cars.
Several youths managed to enter the headquarters, causing some damage. Palestinian security forces guarding the headquarters had to call in reinforcements before they were able to disperse the crowd.
In Iran, Muslim demonstrators gathered in front of the British embassy in downtown Tehran. Demonstrators hurled stones at the embassy building, but a large number of police and anti-riot forces appeared to have the situation under control.
Special offer:
Shock a Muslim – with the truth! 'The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)'
Previous stories:
'Muhammad cartoon' proved fake
Iranian fingerprints on cartoon-rage riots?
Muslims challenged to address all 'hate speech'
U.S. Supreme Court depicts Muhammad
Syria behind torching of Danish buildings?


text:
The 2015-2016 school year is the second year students in grades 3-8 and high school will take the PARCC assessments in English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics.
PARCC helps teachers and parents determine if younger students are acquiring skills and knowledge needed to advance to the next grade level, while older students can see if they are on track to graduate, ready for college and careers.
PARCC Resources for Maryland
- Flyers & Fact Sheets for Parents & Teachers
- Parent Guide to PARCC Score Report
- Sample PARCC Student Score Report: Grade 4 Math
- Sample PARCC Student Score Report: Grade 10 English Language Arts
- Sample PARCC Student Score Report: Grade 6 English Language Arts
- Sample PARCC Student Score Report: Algebra II
PARCC Resources for Teachers
- Webinar #1: Perspectives Assessments
(Oct. 1, 2015)
- Webinar #2: New Test, New Baseline
(Nov. 10, 2015)
- PARCC for Teachers: Webinar Series
Registration Information
- Partnership Resource Center
- New PARCC Released Items
Understanding the PARCC Score Report
Contact Information
Henry R. Johnson, Ed.D.
Interim Chief Academic Officer and
Assistant Superintendent
Division of Curriculum, Assessment, and Accountability
Phone: 410-767-3646
Email: email@example.com
Higher Ed Support
|The Association of Community College Trustees, the American Association of Community Colleges, and Higher Ed for Higher Standards share a commitment to the implementation of more challenging K-12 standards designed to prepare students for success in college and careers. Read more.
MD College & Career Ready Standards
Outside Resources
- Why Proficiency Matters
- Understandthescore.org
- Achieve Resources for Parents and Families on CCSS
- Be a Learning Hero
- Council of the Great City Schools: Parent Roadmaps to Common Core
Foundation for Excellence in Education
- Two-Page Parent Guides to Student Success (by Grade)
National PTA
- A Family Guide to Your State's New Annual Test
Webinars on Demand
- A Guided Tour Through the PARCC Test
- PARCC Webinars for Parents
- Howard County PARCC Webinar
Raising the Bar: Implications on Test Scores with Common Core


text:
Man Shot, Body Burned in Lincoln County – One Arrested, Second Suspect Sought
Police in Sioux City, Iowa have arrested one man and have identified another as a suspect in the shooting death of a man whose body was found Sunday morning near Canton, in Lincoln County.
Sioux City police say the shooting took place early Sunday (at 1420 West 15th) in that city, and the Lincoln County Sheriff's office reported the discovery of a body that was on fire in a ditch on a gravel road five miles east of Interstate 29 Exit 64.
Police say a man identified as an accomplice has told them the shooting took place in Sioux City and that the body was transported to where it was found.
Twenty-two-year-old Ricardo Jaime Vital of Sioux City is charged as an accessory to murder after the fact.
Still being sought in the case is the suspect, 20-year-old Martin Castellanos, who is described as a Hispanic male, five-feet-eight-inches tall and 180 pounds. Castellanos may have a light mustache and he may be driving a silver 2008 Audi A4 with Iowa plates 892 YSD.
Anyone with information is being asked to contact the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office in Canton at 605-764-5651 or Crimestoppers at 605-367-7007.
Dan Rahman contributed to this report.


text:
Light Sour Cream
Produced by Daisy Brand
last checked Jan 14, 2014
"Daisy products are gluten-free."
ContactPhone: 1-877-292-9830
Hours: Monday - Friday, 8am - 5pm CT
Online: www.daisybrand.com/contact-us
Important: We try to provide the most up-to-date and accurate information available. However, please keep in mind that manufacturer policies and formulations can change at any time, and that some information listed on this site could be out-of-date or contain unintentional errors.
Remember to always read product labels and check with the manufacturer directly if you have any concerns.


text:
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- The 50-year run of America's "Amazing Spider-Man" comic-book series ended with the death of character Peter Parker at the hands of his nemesis Doctor Octopus.
Peter was a New York high-school student who became the crime-fighting superhero Spider-Man after he was bitten by a radioactive spider.
His adventures concluded in Wednesday's "Amazing Spider-Man" No. 700 when he lost a battle with Doctor Octopus, who switches brains with Peter then kills his former body with Peter's mind trapped inside.
The issue ends on a hopeful note, however, as Peter passes on his memories to Doc Ock, inspiring the villain to continue the webslinger's good work.
"This is Moriarty in the head of Sherlock. This is Prince John inside of Robin Hood. This is the greatest villain inside the body of the greatest hero and trying to do good," Marvel writer Dan Slott told USA Today. "This is a guy who was a couple steps way from a bucket list, and now he's got a whole new lease on life. That's really going to change him."
"The Amazing Spider-Man" will be followed by a new darker comic-book series called "Superior Spider-Man," The Hollywood Reporter said.
Andrew Garfield played the dual role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in "The Amazing Spider-Man" blockbuster movie this year.


text:
Every possible scenario to reduce traffic and parking issues during BBQ & Blues 2013 has been studied but there is simply no way to put on an event this size and not have some street closures.
"We have gone to great lengths to keep Main, Market and other downtown streets open for access to local businesses. We want festival visitors to shop in our business district," event chairman T.J. Imberger said.
BBQ & Blues traffic, parking plans outlined
No Trackbacks


text:
Nike Lunar 180 Trainer Sc Mens Style 630922
"If you were around in the '90s and were even mildly into sports then you know who Bo Jackson is. The two-sport legend debuted in the MLB and NFL for the Kansas City Royals and the L.A. Raiders and quickly became a household name for supreme athleticism. So thanks to Bo being an athletic freak of nature, you got the Nike Air Trainer SC series. His legendary Air Trainers made training shoes the second biggest market for Nike back in the early '90s and his ""Bo Knows"" campaign is one of Nike's most recognizable from that era of heavy athlete endorsements. This Nike Lunar 180 Trainer SC is the modern day version of the Air Trainer SC, complete with lightweight Hyperfuse upper, a cushy Lunar midsole, and a new age visible 180 Max Air unit under foot.
UPPER: Hyperfuse technology
MIDSOLE: Lunarlon with Max Air
OUTSOLE: Rubber


text:
Wheelchair access to the Dewey Graduate Library is from the first floor of Draper Hall (on the west side of the library). The main floor is accessible. The classroom and group study areas on the mezzanine level are also accessible, but library staff must be alerted to unlock the entrance door. Library staff are available to assist users with retrieving books and periodicals.
Photocopying and campus book delivery service is provided though UA Delivery Service. See https://library.albany.edu/ill. If further assistance is needed, please ask library staff or call (518) 442-3696.
The public access terminals at Dewey provide ZoomText software. This application consists of a screen magnifierand screen reader.
In addition, Dewey Library has a work station reserved for patrons with disabilities and scanning. It is available all hours the library is open. Patrons wishing to use this work station should ask at the Reference Desk for assistance. The workstation is set up with the following software and equipment:
Kurzweil 1000
Dragon Naturally Speaking 9.0
Scanner (Epson GT-2500)


text:
From the Other Side of the Fence
Fund: New Vantage Group
Posted by tszaky on 2007-08-07
NVG moved quickly and closed a major round of funding with us. Unlike other angel groups I've worked with they moved fast and didn't push hard on the terms we presented. They subsequently reinvested with the same ease and professionalism as in the previous round. Both John May and Sam Sezak have been available for advice and help, but not overly hands on. Something, which I'm sure any entrepreneur would appreciate.
John is also active on a number of other angel groups, including Investor Circle (which focuses primarily on green companies), and was very helpful in making introductions that resulted in further financing.
I have seen the group be very aggressive (maybe to an extreme) in reviewing investments and if you can pass through the gauntlet everything is as you would hope it would be.PRIVATE: Members Only (405 Characters)


text:
Gift Cards
sold out
Scouts Honor Paper Color TV Card
Our cards are flat and measure 4x6 inches – the most flexible format. Tuck them into envelopes for longer correspondence, mail them as postcards, or hang them in ready-made frames.
- 4x6 inches
- Flat card
- Back is blank with plenty of space for writing
- Paired with custom-made, light gray envelope
- Offset printed on thick, natural white paper
- Printed in USA
- Available as a single card or boxed set of 8


text:
Lumocolor AV Marker
by Staedtler
Quick drying permanent inks won't bead or smudge. Available in brilliant colors in fine and medium line widths. Writes on overhead transparency film or glossy surfaces such as photos, transparency sleeves, slide frames, cromalins, glass, acrylic, and vinyl.
Ask a question about Lumocolor AV Marker Ask a question about this product
Average User Rating: Based on (7 Reviews)
5 7
Rosiebelle from Los Alamos, New Mexico says:
I am probably not a "typical" customer for this product, but it truly satisfied a need I have that is very important to me. I am a wife, mother, and grandmother, and I haven't worked outside my home...[more]
Please wait...
You May Also Like...
How to get VIP Club Prices
Anyone can be a VIP Member with:
Only $25/year
Your email will not be shared. We will only use your email address to respond to your question. When asking your question, please be as descriptive as possible, it will allow us to give you the most accurate answer possible.
Please wait...
Please wait...


text:
Ayre Hotel Rosellón is a newly built hotel located in the heart of Eixample, and just one minute away from the Temple of the Sagrada Familia. Next to the hotel you can find excellent transport access available. It boasts 105 rooms, 4 of which are adapted for the disabled. Avant-garde and minimalist atmosphere. All rooms are equipped with water, free minibar, safe, wi-fi, television and hairdryer.The hotel has 5 meeting rooms with capacity from 10 to 150 people equipped with all necessary media for holding any meeting or event.
Its facilities have a warm, cozy restaurant and a coffee shop with chill out area, large terrace on the top floor overlooking the Sagrada Familia and ample parking for guests.


text:
Best Of :: Food & Drink
The Local Place is the more casual of the two South Bay restaurants associated with sweet bread makers King's Hawaiian. Located on Western Avenue in Torrance, near the 405, this restaurant has lengthy lines, but the service is quick. Breakfast is the best bargain, with Spam and egg musubi for $2.05 and breakfast sandwiches for $2.85. For lunch or dinner, the Porky Boy combo ($5.95) consists of a good-sized pork sandwich on a fresh, sweet roll with fries and a drink. Specials, which include the teriyaki bento box ($8.45) featuring beef, chicken and pork, change daily. In addition, the Local Place's bakery is filled with cakes, cookies and pies stuffed with macadamia nuts and coconut. The paradise cake, made with guavas, limes, passion fruits, strawberries and peaches, is a local favorite. Of course, you can also stock up on King's Hawaiian bread here. 18605 S. Western Ave., Torrance. (310) 523-3233.—Liz Ohanesian
Who says Italian food has to be expensive? Between the Mozza empire, the Drago empire, Il Moro and others, L.A. has an abundance of Italian dinner options to set you and your date back a hundred-plus bucks before you've even blinked. It's the wine, especially, that gets you. Yet while you could decide to go the fine dining route and skip the alcohol altogether, you'd also be missing out on an unequivocal truth of Italian culture: Booze goes with food. That's why the phrase "no corkage fee," when uttered in a public place, is guaranteed to prick up every ear within range. At Colori Kitchen, just a few blocks from Staples Center, you can nestle yourself into the spacious and oddly '90s-esque dining room, eat from a menu of basic Italian-American fare, and most importantly, drink freely from your own bottle (or bottles) of wine. Items like tricolore salad, spaghetti and meatballs and spinach ravioli are eaten freely and without judgment, and the cioppino, while one of the more expensive items on the menu, is also packed with enough seafood to make Poseidon weep. A slice of the ricotta cheesecake makes for a nice close to an utterly affordable evening.—Noah Galuten
If you're old enough to remember your parents taking you to a restaurant without consulting a Zagat for fear of choosing the "wrong" place, or not even thinking to ask who designed the interior, and you yearn for that kind of simplicity, Howard's is for you. If you were part of the more progressive, health-conscious generation born thereafter, and your mom never let your precious lips touch white bread, Howard's is for you. Now's your chance to experience this untouched-by-time diner, squat in the middle of an unattractive strip mall without a Starbucks (is that possible?) — where you can park right in front of the restaurant! — just like people did in the olden days. And for $5.35 you can get what the place is famous for: a gooey, drippy bacon and avocado burger tasting of the grill. It puts the Carl's Jr. version to shame. For $3.99 you'll get a classic BLT with four— count 'em—four slices of glistening bacon on toasted white bread. And trans fats be damned, here you can get the unadulterated full-fat version of French Fries ($2.10). In case you've got to know: Décor is by Howard. Go before it all becomes extinct. 11127 Venice Blvd., Ste. 7, Culver City. (310) 838-9111.—Heidi Dvorak
Making tortillas by hand may be a dying art in East L.A., but La Piñata Tortilleria stubbornly refuses to yield to the machine. They spend three mornings a week slapping oblong balls of maize flour on the counter and pounding out hundreds of tortillas a mano for their customers. Yes, La Piñata does offer mass-market tortillas as an option. At $1.89 for a package of 36, these tortillas de maquina offer significant savings, especially if you eat them often. But as far as taste goes, they're not in a league with the softer, thicker, más Mexicana tortillas a mano, made Friday through Sunday mornings. Arrive early, because that's when the food's freshest and sells out fast. Handmade tortillas are $3 for a package of 10 on the day they're made. They get knocked down to half price on Monday and Tuesday — if there are any left at all. La Piñata also makes excellent tamales, which come in pork, beef, cheese, chicken or sweet varieties for $16 per dozen. 607 W. Whittier Blvd., Montebello. (323) 726-0327.—Todd Krainin
Hawkins House of Burgers is most famous, perhaps, for its Hawkins Special, a truly absurd and behemoth creation consisting of three one-pound burger patties, cheese, bacon, chilies, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, fried eggs, pastrami, mustard, a butterflied hot dog, pickles and mayo. It weighs in at five pounds, costs sixteen bucks, and comes with fries and a soda. I'm not sure exactly how many people the monstrosity feeds, but let's hope it's more than one. Yet, while The Special is their claim to fame, it probably shouldn't be. Where else in Los Angeles can you pick up a delicious double cheese burger, an enormous pile of nicely prepared chili cheese fries and a tallboy of Olde English for around five bucks? Also, if you're really looking for a bargain, there's usually a guy on the patio outside selling bootleg DVDs for a dollar (not that we recommend that sort of behavior). And while you're there, take the opportunity to visit the Watts Towers just down the way. 11603 Slater St., Watts. (323) 563-1129.—Noah Galuten
Some people wear their hearts on their sleeves. In Peru they wear them on a stick — beef hearts that is. As its name suggests, El Pollo Inka is known mainly for its excellent chicken, which can be seen browning and sputtering on spinning racks in the giant brick oven at the front window. But we're here for that unique and essential Peruvian dish: anticuchos — beef hearts on a stick. Tender, succulent morsels on a skewer, lightly spiced and slightly charred, they taste mostly of beef with a hint of organ-meat crunchiness, and are served with a cob of corn, and a boiled, bland half potato (Peru is the epicenter of potato culture) that offsets the cup of scorching, take-no-prisoners salsa. This salsa starts off with the homey warmth of garlic and cleanness of cilantro, but the two types of chiles sneak up on you like a Portuguese man-of-war: burning, tears, cries for a lifeguard. Worth it for the salsa alone.—Jedd Birkner
In old-timey L.A. days, this area (Pico about two miles west of downtown) held an actual Greek residential enclave. Now the neighborhood is sub-Koreatown and primarily Latino, yet you can still find an incredibly ornate Greek Orthodox church and this quite useful and delicious grocery store/restaurant that is making Greek converts of the neighbors, whatever their background. Papa Cristos C & K Importing is one-third shelved groceries and service counter; one-third hot, prepared food counter; and one-third large, bright, sparsely casual dining room. Here the savory spiciness of Middle Eastern, the light, fresh healthfulness of Mediterranean, and the toothsome heartiness of Eastern European are all on display in Papa Cristos' spanakopita, dolmades, tyropitakia, tzatziki, souvlaki, moussaka and oktopodakia. Thursday nights feature a much raved-about "Big Fat Greek Dinner" special. Be fat and Greek; be very, very fat and Greek. 2771 W. Pico Blvd., L.A. (323) 737-2970.—Adam Gropman
If you're into high-falutin' dining for cheap-ass prices, live it up at the Nine Thirty restaurant, inside the W Hotel in Westwood, where, for $8, you can indulge in caramelized Brussels sprouts — offered as an appetizer — which more than suffices as a meal in itself. What makes them a gas is executive chef Monique King's spin, derived from her stint as a line cook at Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger's legendary, much-missed City restaurant. Her directions sound easy, except that you can't replicate the dish at home. "I start them raw, which keeps them from tasting cabbage-y," says King. "I sauté them in browned butter, then add toasted pecans, lemon juice, salt and pepper. After Brussels sprouts haters eat a couple bites, they remark, 'It's like candy,' " says King. It is. Keep costs minimal by avoiding the W's $15 valet fee, and park on the street. If you're Pasadena-close, you can enjoy the same dish sans pecans for $5 at King's own restaurant, Firefly Bistro, as prepared by her chef-husband, Paul Rosenbluh.—Heidi Dvorak
At some local meat markets (ahem, Bel-Air Prime, we're talking about you), a crisp $100 bill will afford you the grass-fed equivalent of a Tiffany silver key ring. Guess who's not coming to dinner? At Huntington Meats in the Los Angeles Farmers Market, the quality custom cuts and knowledgeable staff are as easy to swallow as the Harris Ranch prime-beef prices. You'll also find fowl of every size and feather, heritage Korobuta and more humble pork breeds, and two-dozen house-made sausages. The shop's butchers, Dan and Jim (they wisely keep their last names off the record due to the sharp knives involved) are refreshingly frank in telling you when a cut-to-order brisket rather than the pricier, prime rib roast is really what you want. In the process, you'll save several 10-spots. Maybe even enough for several pounds of raw pet food for Fifi, sterling-silver serving dish not included. 6333 W. 3rd St. at the Los Angeles Farmers Market. (323) 933-8577, huntingtonmeats.com.—Jenn Garbee
If Julia Child and John Muir were to meet for lunch, and Julia wanted good, simple, butter-confident food made from scratch, and John asked only that they eat outside, in the shade of a few sequoia with dirt beneath their feet and the company of birds, they would agree on Trails Café in Griffith Park. Set a few blocks north of Los Feliz Boulevard adjacent to the well-worn hiking paths and grassy picnic plots where readers settle down with their books, and lovers practice tangling their bodies on blankets in the sun, the walk-up café is a water mirage in the desert for hungry hikers. It is also a destination for those eager to sit down with a good book, a homemade sandwich and a cup of iced tea, as though they were breaking for lunch at a campsite in the country, where time slows, appetites peak, and the food tastes better because the elements have a tendency to intensify flavor. A quaint kitchen in a cabin at the base of the park, with recipes orchestrated by aptly named pastry chef Jenny Park, Trails serves coffee and homemade tomato goat cheese tarts, vegan mushroom cashew pie, avocado sandwiches on dark bread, and egg salad so perfect you might stop to wonder which came first, the park or Trails. You can't have a forest without forage, the gastronomer might argue. The naturalist would likely disagree. One thing's for sure: They both will concur that lavender belongs with sugar, butter, flour, and salt in Park's coveted lavender shortbread. It's natural selection. 2333 Fern Dell Drive, L.A. (323) 871-2102, thetrailslosfeliz.com.—Erica Zora Wrightson
The good news about a rather heated confrontation with your landlord is that it forces the obvious question: Why pay prime-beef rent prices for lower-quality choice cuts? It was one such escalating rent dilemma that forced Jennie Cook, formerly owner of the Culver City restaurant and catering company Cooks Double Dutch, to pack up her stainless pots and head east. The drop in rent for Cook's new Jennie Cooks Catering in Glassell Park is your pocketbook's gain. She's ditched the restaurant side of the biz for an all-catering outfit but does offer private dinners in the new space. Starting at $20 per person, Cook cooks (the singular version is her honest-to-gravy birth name) a sustainable dinner and sets the table, so all you have to do is bring the guests and the booze. For half the price, she'll deliver any of her "Ten for Ten" lunch menus replete with gooey white lasagna or smoky Hawaiian-style Kalua pork to your next meeting. She'll even hook you up with a vegan feast, if forgoing butter and cheese is your idea of a feast.—Jenn Garbee
This establishment's old, battered, peeling café sign is the first hint that Rive Gauche is ignoring every known food, décor and bar fad, to offer European-steeped, traditional meals and a Sunday champagne brunch — plus one of the warmest, friendliest neighborhood bars in Southern California. Sometimes it's just you and the bartender — and a bar-food plate of apple chunks, grapes, Brie, Roquefort and fresh, sliced baguette. The bar has comfy sofas and a romantic little fireplace but also enough room to hold a last-minute Friday-night bash with 10 or so friends. Ironwork tables are arranged outside for warm-weather dining in a sweet little vine-covered passageway, from which you cannot see or even imagine nearby Ventura Boulevard. Just across from this leafy passage is the European-style café that the owners are often pressured to "update" — we urge them not to — and which is described by one patron as "elegant farmhouse style." The café, said by some to serve the best French onion soup in town, is beloved for its coquille jacques, smoked-salmon benedict and even sweetbreads. Service is French, meaning slow and unapologetic. Prices are perhaps 20 percent below typical French fare on the Westside. Have brunch, then zip over to Bloomies just two minutes away. 14106 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. (818) 990-3573 or (818) 990-7331.—Jill Stewart


text:
Colleges That Change Lives
When Colleges That Change Lives was first published in 1996, author and former New York Times education editor Loren Pope called Wooster "my original best-kept secret in higher education." Over the past 16 years, the book has become a trusted guide for students and families eager to look beyond the hype and hyperventilation of the annual college rankings. And the new edition, completely rewritten for 2013, says Wooster is "one of the country's finest educational establishments."
What parents say about Colleges That Change Lives:
"Reminded me that small liberal arts colleges are still…the best places for 18-year-olds to start finding their way in the world."
"CTCL's message is that the process is about 'fit' and finding the right school, not putting a square peg in a round hole."
"It gave me permission to let her focus on schools with fewer than 2,000 students that aren't necessarily the most well known."
"It was our Michelin guide for college trips."
What Colleges That Change Lives says about Wooster:
"A hotbed of creative and analytical thinking"
"The level of interaction between students and professors is sky high."
"The quintessential college campus, beautiful and evocative – and getting better every day"
"Professors infuse every course with the a set of skills students must master to be successful researchers: They learn to frame questions, identify reliable sources, analyze primary documents, practice methodologies, and write cogently – precisely the skills that are invaluable in the workplace and graduate school."
"Unlike many places, where opportunities to conduct original research are exclusive to the top performers, Wooster sets the standard high for everyone."
"The college is built on the idea that every student has untapped potential and that the college – by way of teaching and mentoring – helps identify that potential and draw it out to its fullest…Wooster has figured out how to foster students' ambition (and in some cases, to unearth it first) without generating an atmosphere of competition. One person's victory doesn't come at another's expense."
"Wooster is a forward-looking place, but the campus comes with a long list of quirky traditions…it's an all-for-one-and-one-for-all kind of place."
"All of these elements of the Wooster experience – dedicated faculty, an opportunity to conduct original research, a spirited culture, and administrators who prioritize student well-being – contribute to a happy student body."