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Seven Chapters from a Sad Sack Loser's Life - Chapter Two
Carl Halling
WRITER (51-100 posts)
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Greater London Urban Area, England
Subject: Seven Chapters from a Sad Sack Loser's Life - Chapter Two
Sat Apr 06, 2013 5:17 pm
Soon after returning from Spain in the summer of 1972, David Cristiansen was launched by his dad on what could be called an intensive programme of self-improvement.
Through home study and with the help of local private tutors, he set about making up for the fact that he'd left formal education at 16 with only two General Certificate of Education passes to his name, where a respectable amount would be no less than five.
He took Karate classes in Hammersmith, and among his fellow students were hard-looking young men - some of them flaunting classic '70s feather cuts - who may have been led to the dojo by the prevailing fashion for all things Eastern, such as the films of Bruce Lee, and the
Kung Fu
television series.
And while he enjoyed them for a time, in fact, far more than the swimming classes he attended weekly in Walton on Thames close by to his own little suburban village of West Molesey, they were destined to be short-lived.
This possibly due in part to his growing fascination with an androgynous way of life inspired by Glam Rock, which was yet quiescent in late 1972. While Classic Rock was still foremost in his affections if the earliest long players of his nascent record collection were anything to go by.
And he was successfully initiated into the basics of the Rock guitar solo by a shy and sweet-natured man of about 45 by the name of Gerry Firth, who gave lessons from a tiny little abode in an alley on the edge of Walton. For it was there that he lived in apparent content with his wife and infant daughter.
While his profound love for the rebel music of Rock and Roll was wholly belied by an appearance which was almost militantly square in David's eyes. For he wore his salt and pepper hair in a severe short back and sides style, which he supplemented with shirt and tie and sleeveless sweater, and possibly also, baggy grey flannel trousers or something equally sobersided.
Was to some degree a typical early seventies dad in other words; that is, on the surface of things, for the truth was infinitely different.
And on one memorable occasion, David tried to persuade him of the superior merit of Classical music on the basis that it's "well-played", which Gerry countered with:
"Well, isn't Rock Music well played?"
David was baffled by his argument, despite his own preference for Rock. And another thing that bewildered him about Gerry Firth was his admiration for Marc Bolan of seminal Glam Rock band T. Rex. For Glam was yet to make any kind of impression on David, who still favoured the hirsute macho men of the Heavy Rock movement.
"Don't you find him effeminate?" David once asked him of Bolan, obviously expecting Gerry to express due consternation at the thought of Bolan's startling choirboy looks, while continuing to appreciate his music. But Gerry trumped him with an answer that may have caused his adolescent jaw to drop:
"Not as excitingly so as Mike Jagger," he said, smiling all the while.
"Mick Jagger," said David, correcting the older man as if in a trance.
"Mick Jagger," Gerry conceded, doubtless without meaningful change of expression, having struck quite a blow on behalf of the old guard in the generation wars that were still being fought back then. And in terms of Bolan's music, there are many today who'd insist he was right in doing so, as it went on to achieve the classic status it continues to enjoy in the 2010s; although the man himself would sadly die aged just 29 in 1977 without realising the full extent of his legend.
And by the time T. Rex had released hit single
The Groover
in the June of the following year, sometime scoffer David Cristiansen was no longer resistant to the Bolanic charm, had succumbed, in fact, to the entire Glam Rock genre he'd helped to engender. More of which later.
Late in the summer, David signed up for five years service with the Thames Division of the Royal Naval Reserve based on HMS Ministry on the Embankment near Temple station. And not long afterwards, it became clear to him that he was attracting some attention by virtue of his budding pretty boy looks. But far from being offended by this development, he found it strangely flattering, as if a seed of vanity had been implanted within a boy who'd spent the last few years as a swaggering lout.
To a degree then, it was a case of an ugly duckling suddenly finding themselves to be a swan, and enjoying the resultant notoriety, such as that latterly conferred on the young Spaniard of the Bar Castilla.
Not that he'd ever been ugly, in fact, several of his mothers female friends had already commented on his looks; but he'd never seen himself as any kind of adonis with his twitching head, greasy lank hair, bony round shoulders and splayfooted walk.
Having said that, though, he had nurtured a sentimental streak throughout his teens that placed him somewhat at odds with his peers.
It also made him susceptible to such potent tearjerkers as Rodgers and Hammerstein's
South Pacific
, whose movie version, which he saw at the flicks with his mother at about 15 years old, had a life-changing effect on him.
And the same applies to John Schlesinger's stunning screen adaptation of Thomas Hardy's
Far from the Madding Crowd,
which may have initiated a lifelong love affair on his part with hopeless love and high romantic tragedy.
Yet, the softening process that took place in the closing months of 1972 was unprecedented in its sheer intensity, and can be at least partly attributed to the spirit of the times. For popular culture was changing, and hirsute Rock and Roll stars in scruffy denim flares were no longer the last word in cool. While the cinema was producing a new breed of film idol who was a far cry from the he-man of old.
It received a further boost when, towards the new year, he saw former Bubblegum band the Sweet on an afternoon Pop programme called
Lift Off With Ayesha
The Sweet had once incarnated all he opposed in terms of commercial chart Pop, yet, watching them prance around in high heels and make up, pouting and preening like a quartet of hysterical transvestites, he underwent what was little short of an epiphany.
Then, several months later, veteran hopeful Rock star David Bowie appeared on the chat show Russell Harty Plus with his eyebrows shaved and a glittering chandelier earring dangling from his left ear, and so David's devotion to Glam became total.
Even David's mother was charmed by Bowie, when, towards the end of the interview, after Harty had made a joke about his dainty strap-on platform shoes, he referred to the chat show host as "silly", before flashing an impossibly innocent smile:
"Aww, he's sweet," said the former Miss Ann Watt; and she was also enchanted by the wit of Elton John when he appeared on Harty's show a short while later. But when she caught sight of the cover of the first New York Dolls album, which David had latterly ordered by post through his usual outlet, she told him that apart from the hardest hard core pornography, she couldn't imagine anything quite so repulsive to the eye, or something to that effect.
Yet, Bowie's sphinx-like charisma was so potent that even some of the most unreconstructed of macho men were drawn, irresistibly, to his art, which combined the most seductive melodies with complex, deeply literate lyrics.
For the cult of androgyny was a powerful force in Britain in 1973, having been earlier incubated by both Mod and Hippie culture, and musical acts as diverse as the Stones, the Kinks, Alice Cooper, the Stooges and T. Rex.
Furthermore, it was reinforced in the cinema by several movies featuring angelically beautiful men.
And yet, you still put yourself in danger if you chose to parade around like a Glam Rock star in the mean streets of London or any other major British city in the early 1970s; and therefore few did.
But David fantasised about fame and adulation as never before throughout the Glam era, and he built an image based on his idol Bowie, spiking his hair like him, and even peroxiding it at some point.
And there will surely be those students of human psychology who will wonder precisely what effect the gender revolution exerted on young men such as David who came to manhood at a time some of the foremost male heroes of the culture resembled beautiful women.
And they did so of course in direct defiance of strict Biblical commands concerning sexual appearance.
Yet David had initially resisted the seductions of Glam, until its leading exquisites came to represent something quite deliciously taboo to him. And he sought to emulate them, resenting his adolescent stubble, which he smothered with concealer along with unsightly acne spots, and which he would soon enhance with subtle application of rouge.
And quite understandably perhaps, he didn't entirely fit in in his blue collar surroundings, unlike his brother who wasted little time in becoming part of a local youth scene centred mainly around football, traditional sport of the British working classes.
As to David, he came into his own in La Ribera, and it was towards the end of the summer of '73 that he finally started being noticed in a big way by the local youth, most of whom were from either Murcia or Madrid. He'd croon for crowds of La Riberan boys and girls, who'd make requests for their favourites along the lines of:
"Oye, David, canta la de Gilbert O'Sulliban!"
"Conoces Cat Estebens?"
"Canta como Sinatra!"
An ever-evolving group forged an incredible closeness that summer that lasted for a full four years, and oh what magical summers they were for both Dany and David. They'd never forget them, nor be able to fully recapture the purity of the joy they knew in the still so innocent Spain of the final years of the Franco administration.
Even later in '73, the minesweeper HMS Thamesis set out for Bordeaux in Gironde in the south west of France. It was David's first voyage as an Ordinary Deckhand with the RNR, and he was just seventeen years old.
He struck up a friendship with the most unlikely pair of bosom buddies he ever came across in the RNR or anywhere else.
One half was Mickey, aged about 23, and rumoured to be a permanent yearlong resident of HMS Thamesis. The other was just as much of a lad as Mick even though he boasted the patrician manner of a City of London stockbroker or merchant banker.
Mick took David under his wing with a certain intimidating affection:
"We'll make a ruffy tuffy sailor of you yet," he once promised him, even though both men knew he'd never be anything other than the most useless mariner in the civilised world. And there was one occasion when, during some kind of conference being held below deck, he was asked by an officer what he thought of minesweeping, and he replied:
"It's a gas!"
On another, after the ship had been prepared for a major manoeuvre, such as a jackstay transfer, and every hand was in their respective allotted position, he was found wandering about on deck in a daze, and when asked what he thought he was doing, casually told them:
"Just taking a stroll..."
And it was incidents like these that made him the object of much good-humoured banter onboard the Thamesis, where he served as a kind of latter-day Billy Budd. Although without a tithe of the young foretopman's seamanship.
Its crew spent its final night in a club in the southern port of Portsmouth, though it might just as easily have been Plymouth.
The main event was a hyperactive drag artiste who tried desperately to keep them entertained with cabaret style numbers sung in a high woman's voice, and bawdy jokes told in a deep manly baritone, but he was way out of his depth and the Thamesis salts subjected him to a savage barrage of heckling for his pains.
At one point - perhaps in the hope of seeing a friendly face - he turned towards David, and excitedly trilled:
"Ooh...you look pretty, what's your name?"
"Skin!" the sailors bellowed back, as in "a nice bit of skin", which may have referred to David's cherubic appearance.
A little while later, the tar with the beard who'd been seated next to David all night asked him to hold the mike for him while he performed Rossini's
William Tell Overture
on his facial cheeks. And he ended up passing out on the table in front of him after having collapsed face down with an almighty CRASH! But he wasn't the only one to suffer such an undignified fate that bacchanalian night.
And speaking of bacchanals...as soon as he was back onshore, David resumed his growing passion for all that was louche, bizarre and decadent in music, art and culture.
However, increasingly from '74 onwards, he turned away from what he now saw as the old hat tackiness of Glam Rock, convinced that Modernist outrage had nowhere left to go. Instead, his devotion started to centre on the more refined corruption of the golden age of Modernism of ca. 1890-1930, and especially its leading cities, in terms of their being beacons of revolutionary art, and of luxury and dissolution. They included the London of the Yellow Decade, Belle Epoque Paris, Jazz Age New York, and most of all, Weimar Republic Berlin.
At some point in '74, he started using hair oil or brilliantine to slick his hair back in the style of F. Scott Fitzgerald, sometimes parting it in the centre just as his idol had done. And to build up a new retro-style wardrobe.
Within the next two years or so, this would go on to include such items as a Gatsby style tab collar, worn either with striped collegiate tie, or cravat or neck scarf, as well as a short-sleeved Fair Isle sweater...a Meakers navy blue, or striped boating, blazer...a belted fawn raincoat straight out of a forties film noir, and so on; and while he initially favoured grey flannel trousers from Simpsons of Piccadilly, in time he gravitated to white ones, worn with matching white, or two-tone correspondent style shoes, or something equally elegant along those lines.
There were those artists in the Rock and Roll vanguard around 1974-'75 who appeared to share his love affair with the languid Café and Cabaret culture of the continent's immediate past. Among these were established acts, such as David Bowie and Roxy Music, and newer ones such as Steve Harley of Cockney Rebel; and Ron and Russell Mael from L.A band Sparks. Some of Roxy's followers even went so far as to sport the kind of nostalgic apparel favoured by Ferry himself, but they were rare creatures indeed in mid-seventies London.
As for David, he wore his bizarre outdated costumes in arrogant defiance of the continuing ubiquity of shoulder-length hair and flared denim jeans. And in the summer of '75, he would even go so far as to attend a concert at West London's Queen's Park football stadium in striped boating blazer and white trousers like some refugee from a Cambridge punting party.
While all the while he was surrounded by hirsute Rock fiends, including his professorial friend Jim, who felt moved to enquire of him:
"You're just taking the mickey, aren't you..."
But he was deadly serious. And even though the headliners were his one-time favourites Yes, whose Relayer album he'd bought the previous year, his passion for Progressive Rock was a thing of the past.
And he'd moved on since '71, towards a far deeper love of darkness and loss of innocence.
But there was nothing even remotely dark about the time he fell in love with Dutch beauty Marianna, while sitting his Spanish "O" level in June 1974 in Gower Street, Central London. Although she didn't look Dutch; in fact, with her tanned complexion and long dark brown hair, she was Mediterranean in appearance.
It was probably she who approached David, because he'd have never made the first move, and in all the time he knew her, he didn't have the guts to tell her how he felt. So, once they'd completed their final paper, he allowed her to walk away from him forever with a casual "I might see you around," or some other cliche of that kind.
For about a week, he took the train into London and spent the days wandering around the city centre in the truly desperate hope of bumping into her. One time he could have sworn he saw her staring coolly back at him from an underground train, possibly at South Kensington or Notting Hill Gate, just as the doors were closing. But he was powerless to act, and simply stood there as the train drew away from the station.
In time, his infatuation faded, but certain songs - such as
Just Don't Want to Be Lonely
by The Main Ingredient, and
Natural High
by Bloodstone - would continue to recall for him those few weeks in the summer of '74 which he spent in hopeless pursuit of a woman of whom he knew quite literally nothing.
It wouldn't be long before he'd forsaken his twenties style image; nor started to wonder whether Marianna had been slightly repelled by the vast expanse of white forehead that had been revealed by his slicked back hair, slicked back with hair oil or brilliantine.
Once he stopped styling his hair like Valentino, his romantic appeal started to swell by degrees...but this didn't return Marianna to him. She was lost to him forever, and whether he ever fully recovered from her loss is open to debate. The chances are he never did.
In July, David's father decided that a week-long yachting course in the little village of Lymington on the south coast of England might help him develop some sorely needed moral fibre.
He was to reside for this period in a guest house owned by the gracious Mrs Edith Drummond-Smith, whom David came to see as belonging to a type of quintessentially English upper class widow native to the sailing-besotted villages and hamlets of England's south coast. To him, they were all charming if slightly aloof, immaculately spoken, kind, calm and considerate, and distinguished by the most beautiful manners imaginable; although for all David knew about them, Mrs Drummond-Smith may have been the only one to be so blessed.
For he knew little of the arcane secrets of heartland or rural England, his father and mother having originated from the commonwealth nations of Australia and Canada respectively, while his earliest months were spent in a tiny little Victorian cottage in London's Notting Hill. His veins could boast English, Scottish and Scots Irish, and possibly also Danish and Irish blood. Yet, he dressed as a perfect English gentleman, or rather how such an individual might have dressed several decades theretofore, which rendered him an unusual figure in a Britain still dominated by long hair and flared trousers.
Also resident with Mrs Drummond-Smith were Gilles, a Belgian boy of about twenty, and Mr Watts and his teenage son Dylan, and while all were on the same course as David, they had different sailing instructors.
For example, David had been allotted the course director, Captain Peter St Aubyn, which was propitious, as he was an alumnus of his own alma mater of Welbourne College, a private school of military stripe situated in the wealthy county of Berkshire near London.
All four became firm friends, David and Gilles becoming especially close. As to Dylan, he liked to listen to David's theories on music and fashion, and was fascinated by his use of brilliantine, even going so far as to dab some in his own hair on one occasion. He did so in the hope it would make him resemble the man who was for him, an icon of "smoothness", a synonym for cool in those days. This being singer-songwriter Bryan Ferry who was also a favourite of David's; in fact, David's twenties-inspired wardrobe was remarkably similar to Ferry's.
On the first day of the course, David discovered who would be sailing with him for the duration of the week; namely Corin, a cool, tall, dark young man of 28 with a full moustache; and typically sporting fashionably heavy spectacles; Tom, a sweetly genial man of about sixty or seventy; and Simon and Peg, a deeply pleasant young married couple. To say nothing of the skipper, a charismatic presence whose wryly solemn countenance concealed a warm heart and dry sense of humour.
That evening, David dined in what may have been the clubhouse of that bastion of Englishness and English privilege and English exclusivity, the Yacht Club...perhaps even the Royal Lymington Yacht Club itself.
He did so in the company of Corin, who informed him of his humble origins and the fact that through natural resourcefulness and sheer hard graft, he'd ascended to a managerial position within his chosen profession. They'd become good friends despite David's bizarre affectations, and Corin's suspicion thereof, but Corin couldn't help but warm to the kid despite himself.
But uncompromisingly masculine men such as Corin were always a little perturbed by David, as Hemingway had been of his friend and fellow writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, whom he met in Paris in 1925. And in the essay collection,
A Movable Feast
, he describes Fitz as having "a delicate long-lipped Irish mouth that, on a girl, would have been the mouth of a beauty."
David loved to play the clown for those who both liked and despaired of him; and among those possibly falling into this category were Corin...and Captain Peter St Aubyn, as he was to discover once they'd finally set sail.
"Take the helm, David, steer 350," he ordered, and David duly did as he was told, before settling himself comfortably at the helm as the yacht meandered peacefully through Hampshire waters under an English summer's sun.
"Mmm," he cooed, perhaps a little like the youthful Kenneth Williams, "this is nice..."
"Oooh, you thing," said the skipper, causing David to lash out with a sneaker-shod foot, much to the good captain's amusement.
And then there was the time Corin goaded him for having wrongly plotted a course, and he snapped like a petulant schoolboy.
"Oh shut up," he hissed, "let's see you do better!"
And once again, the skipper came up with his catchphrase, but with even more glee than the first time:
"Ooh, you thing!"
On the second or perhaps third evening of the course, there was a large informal get-together at the clubhouse which included David, Corin, Gilles, Dylan and four or five other yachtsmen, the course's acknowledged wunderkind Daryl among them.
"He comes alive in the evening, this boy," Corin told the assembled yachtsmen, clearly referring to David's propensity for getting tight each night, and the shenanigans that inevitably ensued.
"I'm not an alcoholic," said David.
"You drink three pints to my one," Corin countered, "so you've certainly got potential."
At this point, David decided for reasons best known to himself to have a dig at easy-going course whiz-kid Daryl:
"Daryl," he said, "how long have you had long hair?"
"What...long hair?" said Daryl, "what's that got to do with anything...is my hair long...I don't know anything about that."
"Do you realise that twenty years ago with your hair as it is, even though it's only a little below your ears, you would have been hounded, persecuted, beaten, for being a deviant, a freak, are you trying to ignore that?"
"And you would have been accepted?" said Daryl.
"Oh yes," David replied, looking over his attire, "knife edge pressed flannels, blue blazer, white V neck pullover, open neck shirt and cravat, a bit sporty, I suppose, but utterly acceptable."
"How safe!" scoffed Daryl.
"Safe?" said David incredulously, "that's something I never am, safe."
"Well, quite frankly, I think you look ridiculous!"
Following this last statement of Daryl's, David could no longer contain his hilarity, but his laughter was like no other his new friends had ever heard, nor would hear again. For it assaulted the soft-carpeted clubhouses quiet and respectable clientele as if it had proceeded from the depths of Hell themselves.
Daryl struggled gamely to control his own mirth, possibly going a redder shade of tomato in the process, while Corin, quivering with glee, hid his face in an attitude of mock-mortification.
"I disown him," he gibbered, "he's insane, insane."
Gradually the hysteria subsided, and Corin decided it was time David had a taste of his own medicine.
"How do you get those bracelets on your wrist?" he queried, referring to the four or five bangles David liked to wear on one wrist in those days:
"Easily," David languorously replied, displaying his remarkably slender wrists, "I have very graceful wrists."
"Let me see," said Corin, almost in a whisper, and David duly handed him one of his bangles, before it was passed around the entire group, each member attempting, with considerable difficulty, to put it on his own wrist. Presently, it was back in David's possession, but rather than express his relief, he cried out in his distress, having discovered it had been cruelly mutilated by one or another member of his party.
"My bracelet," he hollered, "look what you've done to it...I entrusted it to you and you've gone and twisted and bent it."
The group stared as one at David, not knowing whether to look sincerely sorry for what they'd done, or merely laugh at his distress, and so settled for a nervous cross between the two. After several uncomfortable moments, Gilles broke the silence by requesting to see the injured bracelet.
"Let me see eet," he said, "I weel try to feex eet."
Everyone was hushed as the Belgian contemplated the bangle, touched it, turned it round and rattled it, and finally, with considerable calm, placed it on the floor. He scratched his head, as if trying to settle on a decision, and ended up extricating one of his shoes.
David looked a little concerned at this turn of events, but in a desperate attempt to preserve his cool, lit a cigarette, which promptly fell from his slim white hand when a terrible crack like a tree hit by a sudden flash of lightning echoed throughout the clubhouse.
Gilles was attempting to persuade the bracelet to revert to its original shape by raising his shoe, profuse with studs, before repeatedly bringing it down on the trinket with all the strength he could muster.
"Oh come on, it's not funny," David protested, reaching out to retrieve his precious bauble, which a grinning Gilles now held out for him, but which, far from being shattered beyond repair, was barely altered from its original slightly misshapen state.
"Ees all right, David," Gilles chuckled, "I was eeteen' zee floor wiz my shoe, not your brezlet."
David looked at Gilles, then he looked at the other lads, then his eyes began to sparkle, his throat to gurgle, before it all came out at once, that terrible infernal laugh:
"Hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi..."
"I'm not with him!" cried Corin
"We'll get thrown out!" said Daryl.
"He's insane...in-sane!"
"Come on, drink up, lads," David barked suddenly, having made a rapid recovery from his latest paroxysm, "let's go where the action is, let's go and find a party or something!"
"No, it's not worth it," said Daryl, "we're having a good time here. You're a real laugh, David, just so long as you don't go too far. We might as well stay."
"Not me," David announced, "I'm getting out of here. I need a change of atmosphere. Who's coming?"
"Yeah, might as well," Corin volunteered.
"Yah, me too," the boy from Belgium followed suit.
So, the trio left the clubhouse, and before long, they were heading along a main road, although to precisely where they hadn't the slightest notion. David performed his manic laugh to each passing car, sometimes even going so far as to stand in the road as he did so, before fleeing at the final second. After a time, though, he tired of this lethal activity and took to chatting to Gilles, with whom he felt such a strong rapport.
"That Belgian girl in your group is nice, isn't she?" he said.
"Oh yes," said Gilles, "eef only 'er farzer wuren't weez 'er all zee time."
After a time alone, they found themselves being trailed by two pretty teenage blondes; and perhaps urged by Corin or Gilles, David turned around to confront them with an unlit cigarette in his hand.
"Can I have a light, please?" he said, looking intently at one, then the other of the two young women, one of whom was slim and petite, the other, far taller, and yet with the same long blonde hair. After he'd succeeded in getting his cigarette lit, he made an effort at conversation.
"So, what shall I do, stay here with you, or go back to my friends?"
"Stay 'ere," one of the girls mumbled, almost inaudibly, in a strong London accent.
"Pardon?" said David, and both girls answered him by smiling, so David bid them goodbye, and the trio then continued on its way, with the two girls in hot pursuit.
"Why don't you turn around?" Corin suddenly said.
"Why?" said David.
"They like you," Corin announced.
"Course they do. If you can't see that, you're more short-sighted than I thought you were."
So David returned to his admirers.
"What are your names?" he asked them.
"My name's Julie," said the smaller of the two, "and this here's Sue...what's yours, baby?"
"Why do you call me baby?" asked David.
"Because you look like one," said Julie.
"I happen to be all of eighteen years old," said David, feigning indignation.
"We thought you was abaht twen'y," said Sue.
"Really? Well I'm eighteen and my name's David."
"Wha's your name?" said Julie, gesturing towards Gilles.
"My nem eez Gilles, he replied.
"Where are you from?" Sue asked David.
"London. Why?"
"You sahnd Ameri'an or somefing."
"Well, I am half-Canadian."
"Oh, that would explain it," Julie resolved.
"Why," David went on, "where do you girls come from?"
"We come from London an all," said Sue, "sarf London."
"What are you doing down here?"
"We're spendin' a few days on 'er dad's boat," Sue went on, pointing at Julie.
"Has your dad got a boat?" David asked, as if amazed these two cockney waifs should be associated with the super-posh world of yachting.
"A yacht!" cried Julie, "not just a boat. Don' come from any old family, I don'."
For reasons best known to themselves, the three young men set on their way once again, and once again, they were followed by the girls, who took to kicking a stray tin can around to make their point.
"I weesh Coreen were not 'ere," Gilles whispered into Shane's ear.
"Why?" said David.
"Eez prezence eez deesconcertin" zem."
As if to confirm what Gilles had just said, the girls suddenly turned a corner and left their half-hearted suitors to their own devices.
"See ya, then!" they cried.
"Bye, girls!" said David.
"Bye, David darlin'!"
And with that, they disappeared, doubtless feeling, quite reasonably, that they'd given David and Gilles every opportunity to demonstrate their romantic interest in them.
"I wonder where zey went?" Gilles wistfully enquired.
"I shouldn't worry about it," said David, "you've got your Belgian girl, haven't you?"
"'Ave I?" the forlorn Belgian replied.
Perhaps he couldn't understand why David had behaved in such a cavalier fashion towards two girls who'd clearly been besotted with him on sight. But then was he not a normal young man, devoid of the loser gene that causes those such as David to waste and squander every good gift that comes their way.
It's as if they don't have enough to fight against, or fight for perhaps, a little like WASP prince Hubbell Gardiner, as depicted to perfection by Robert Redford in the romantic movie masterpiece,
The Way We Were
. For at the beginning of the film, a short story of Gardiner's by the name of An American Smile is read out in class by his college professor, much to his evident discomfort...commencing as it does with the clearly self-descriptive lines: "In a way he was like the country he lived in. Everything came too easily to him, but at least he knew it."
The Isle of Wight is separated from the mainland by a strait of the English Channel known as the Solent, and on David's penultimate day, a trip to this island county lying to the south of Hampshire took place, and the entire course was involved.
Lunch was in a public house in the port of Yarmouth to the east of the island, where tall, slender English gentlemen of the old school, clad in double-breasted reefer jackets and flannels or white duck trousers, were apt to take a tincture or two between sails. Some sported bow ties, and others, magnificent handlebar moustaches which appeared to betoken a former membership of the Royal Air Force. Their wives favoured large navy-blue pullovers, silk scarves and slacks, although by nightfall they'd be in full evening dress.
Back in Lymington for tea, David happened to bump into Sally, a fresh-faced young sailing ace, possibly in her early 20s, who typically scorned the use of beautifying products, but for whom David had a soft spot nonetheless.
"Hello," he said, "where are you going?"
"Back to my room, " Sally replied.
"Oh", he went on, "hey, apparently there's a get-together of all the crews on the course tonight, you know, a few drinks, a bit of dancing, a lot of laughs, are you going?"
"I don't know, I..."
"Oh, go on, " he urged, "I'm going. "
"Well...okay," she said, "I suppose I'll go...uh...this is where I turn off."
"Oh. Well..."
"See you tonight then."
"Yes, bye...hey wait! Do you know my name?"
"Yes, of course I do, David, bye!"
"Bye, Sally!"
Back at the guest house, the clock struck five to find David dressed to the nines as was his wont, and taking tea with Mrs Drummond-Smith, who'd have been scandalised had anyone suggested he was anything other than a deeply likeable young man with a single, glaring fault: forgetfulness.
She had a duty to charge her guests for the packed lunch she made for each of them every day, even if they forgot to take it, but never did in David's case, despite the fact he was the only one of her guests to routinely leave his lunch behind.
She seemed to have something of a soft spot for him, for he may have reminded her of the bachelor dandies of her youth.
A little later, David, Corin and Gilles set out together for the dance, briefly stopping off at a pub for some much needed Dutch courage, although David's was the greatest need by a hectare or three.
"Half of bitter, please," Corin ordered.
"Half a shandy, pleez," came Gilles' modest request.
"Double scotch for me please," said David...and a mere ten minutes later, he was ordering a second one, while Corin wisely passed, and Gilles ordered his usual half of shandy. Some ten minutes after this, David started up on the pints.
"Come on, David," said an exasperated Corin, "let's go."
"We mus' go," Gilles agreed.
"Drink up!" Corin went on, "we don't want you in a disordered state before the dance, now, do we?"
David swallowed his pint and the three departed the pub. Shortly afterwards, they arrived at the site of the evening's festivities which was a large hall filled with tables and chairs with a space left for dancing. But David's first concern was locating Sally.
He saw her sitting next to a slim, smart, casually dressed young man with fashionable light blond collar length hair and a neatly trimmed beard, and approached the apparently happy couple, perhaps half-expecting she'd quit her date just to be with him.
"Hello, Sally," he said.
"Hello," she replied.
"Do you want a drink?" he asked.
"Er, no thanks," she said, "but I will have one later on."
"Okay then," he agreed, before making his way to the bar.
"Double scotch!" he ordered, and then some ten minutes later, he ordered a second one, soon after which, things went a bit hazy for him. However, one thing is certain, the evening ended with his jumping fully-clothed into the filthy waters of Lymington harbour.
What happened is that Corin and Gilles had spent some time wrestling with him, pretending they were about to throw him in, and then, as if exhausted by their efforts, they relented. At which point, to their amazement, David launched himself in by his own volition, before spending some time in his soaking wet clothes discussing music with a coterie of hippies encamped nearby listening to
The End
by the Doors.
The final day of the course was a melancholy one for David. For someone had told him it was possible to catch a deadly disease from swimming in the waters of Lymington harbour.
Around lunchtime, Dylan's father Mr Watts found him gazing into the very part of the harbour into which he'd elected to project himself the previous evening, and set about reassuring him that in all probability he'd escape from his injudicious dip unscathed.
Soon afterwards, David set off for the final time for Mrs Drummond-Smith's elegant domicile in order to pack in anticipation of his fathers arrival, expected later in the day. On the way there, he had a chance meeting with Captain Peter St Aubyn, who urged him to mend his ways in a spirit of paternal concern:
"David," he said, "stop the drinking and the chasing of the birds, it's a hard world out there."
While he was touched by the skipper's words, he might as well have told him to stop breathing. He was only 18 after all.
Soon after reaching the guest house that had been his home for the past fortnight, David discovered that his dad had already arrived. In fact, he was getting on famously with Mrs Drummond-Smith, with whom he was engaged in an animated discussion, whose central topic was: David himself.
"He is a little eccentric," he told her at one point, which caused the gracious lady to almost cry out in protest, as if it had been a mortal insult.
"Eccentric?" she exclaimed, "oh, anything but, but he does have one fault, I'm afraid to say, he is rather forgetful."
She then went on to tell David that Gilles had been looking for him earlier on in the day, and was sorry to have missed him. Of course, were this today, the two young men would have already exchanged e-mail addresses or cell phone numbers. But in those days, precious friendships and romances forged over extended periods of time were all too often discarded overnight to be lost forever. The reason being that the only way to stay in contact was via telephone or snail mail, which required a certain amount of dedication, and not everyone had the patience for it.
The words of singer-songwriter Carole King's
So Far Away
, from her classic
album from 1970, "So far away, doesn't anyone stay in one place anymore", could be said to be an apt description of social life in the mid 1970s for some people. You could say goodbye to a person you loved on any day of the week, in any month of any year, and never see them again as long as you lived.
Indeed, after the summer of '74, David never saw Gilles, or Corin, or Dylan, or Daryl, or Sally, or Captain St Aubyn, or Mrs Drummond-Smith, or the two blonde teenagers who'd tried so hard to elicit his romantic interest ever again. But he never forgot them, nor the events of that faraway summer of so long ago.
Seven Chapters from a Sad Sack Loser's Life - Chapter Two
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John Dark
John Dark b 1772 Padstow married in 1791 Magdalene Gard Between 1792 and 1811 they had 8 children. I am descended from a son John Dark b 1803 a Ships carpenter who married Jane Irvine Jennings b. 1807 Padstow. They had 2 children Jane Irvine Dark b. 1833 and John Dark b. 1837 who married Sarah Ann Andrew b. 1838 Kilkhampton Cornwall. I would be interested in information regarding Jane Dark I think she married and I think she died 1875.
William Sharsell Fray
William Sharsell Fray b 1751 Morwenstow married Frances Chichester b. 1749 Georgeham Rectory Shirwell Devon. They married by Special Licence in Hartland 1771 They had 8 children between 1772 and 1791 ALL born Morwenstow Cornwall.
DegnerFamily Braunschweig Germnay
Looking for information on Heindrich Christian Degner b. 1776 Braunschweig Germany His wife was Louisa Christina Behrens b. 1779 Braunschweig Germany. They were both Teachers. They had Eight children one of whom emigrated to Australia 1854 He was a Dr, became Charles Henry Degner and died in Sydney 1892 born 1819 Braunschweig.
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Several activities and sights in Galax have won awards in Blue Ridge Country's 2013 regional "Best of the Mountains" poll.
Readers chose the Blue Ridge Music Center as a gold winner for the best place to hear mountain music, the Galax Old Fiddlers' Convention for silver for best music festival, and New River Trail Cabins for gold for best cabin rentals.
Galax's historic downtown Rex Theatre won silver for best restored theater.
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Real hair and spray hair
John Travolta was at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association event yesterday with his hair all dark and thickly colour-sprayed to the point where it now looks almost Spock-ish. Juxtapose that with Bradley Cooper, the reigning underwhelming Sexiest Man Alive, whose hair is his best feature and...
Does John want to strangle him out of jealousy or f-ck him from desire?
It's hard to say.
John has a lot of people to thank right now for taking the heat off his masseur shenanigans: Tom Cruise, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Lochte, Gabrielle Douglas...
Relief is what that smile is about. Relief.
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English hotel replaces Bibles with "Fifty Shades of Grey"
And the women are reading them while the men who brought them there for the sole purpose of having sex with them are depressed that the book is getting the women hotter than the men are.
Views: 637
Let me be a succinct as possible:
Have you read Fifty Shades of Grey? I had a look at it a few weeks ago, and the writing is HORRIBLE. It is so bad that it is worth checking out.
Is it worse than the Song of Solomon? And while we're at it, what is Iron Age pornography doing in the bible, anyway???
The mention of Song of Solomon took me back 25 years. The pastor at our booble church did a series of sermons on SoS. But only couples could attend. Married couples.
So it's kinda like the Twilight books?
Oh, I agree 100%. I think this idea is great. Especially since the xtians have been talking about how "dangerous" FSoG is. They say it is getting women hooked on porn. And if women become as sexually liberated as men, it seems everyone on the planet will run around naked having orgies!
It sounds better than Gideon, excepting for the bondage and sadomasochism. Can't they select something with healthy sex that's neither derogatory nor violent? Riane Eisler in Sacred Pleasure says that the erotization of violence is a form of Dominator culture oppression of women. Nobody needs coercive control of a sex partner, we're capable of mutual respect.
The book was surely selected because it is a huge bestseller.
Well, having been in the scene for something over 10 years, I can say that the whole BDSM thing CAN be healthy. It has been sure as HELL healthy for me [hubba-hubba!] ... as well as those I've played with (and who have played with me!).
Still, it helps to start with two individuals who are themselves healthy to begin with
Good point, Loren.
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PASADENA, Texas - It is one of the most expensive repairs you'll make to your home, but Local 2 Investigates found a group posing as roofers, tricking Houston-area homeowners into paying them thousands of dollars for little to nothing.
"I felt like a total fool," 85-year-old Marley Heggen told consumer expert Amy Davis. Heggen is a widowed, retired school teacher who always considered herself pretty savy, until two men showed up at her door one day in January. They offered to clean out her gutters for $20 and then came back with bad news.
"'I'm so sorry,'" Heggen recalls one of the men telling her. "''Your roof ... there are holes in it. The squirrels have been chewing the vents. I almost fell in.'"
A worried Heggen agreed to pay them to make repairs. The men told her they'd use compound to fill the holes and charge her $20 a pound. A half hour later, they said the repairs were complete. Her total bill was $3,200.
"I said, 'I don't think this is right.' I said, 'How could you get 150 pounds up on the roof?' He said, 'Oh, we piped it in.'"
Heggen paid the men with a check. She suspected she'd been duped, but she was too embarrassed to tell anyone until about two weeks later. She filed a report with the Pasadena Police Department and called Ideal Roofing, the company who had replaced her roof 16 years ago.
"I've heard of compound for flooring, but what he used was caulking," explained Ideal Roofing's Jim Hardwick after inspecting Heggen's roof. "The total materials was about two cans of spray paint and about two tubes of caulking ... $20 plus tax is a stretch."
It turns out the check Heggen wrote was the only way to track the so-called roofers. They had asked Heggen to make it out to their secretary. When the woman showed up to Heggen's credit union to cash it, they got her thumb print, identification card and her picture on their security cameras.
KPRC Local 2 stopped by the address on the woman's driver's license and eventually caught up with her husband.
"She was just doing a favor for somebody," explained Mike Castillo. "And these people come out not doing the work."
Castillo claims his wife was no secretary. She agreed to help the men, acquaintances, by cashing the check because they had out-of-state driver's licenses. KPRC Local 2 agreed to keep her name out of the story if they put us in touch with the contractors and returned the money to Heggen.
Castillo stopped by Local 2 with the cash. Davis called the men, but they didn't return the calls.
"Are they hiding right now?" Davis asked Castillo. "Because it should be them returning this money?"
"Exactly," he replied. "You know, they're not here right now. They're in Chicago. What does that tell you?"
Davis delivered the cash to Heggen.
"I've got to give you a hug," Heggen told Davis. "It is so amazing, and I feel you've done the work."
KPRC Local 2 believes the guys who knocked on Heggen's door are travelers. They go from state to state hitting up homeowners, always moving before they're caught. It's why homeowners should never hire a roofer who knocks on a door unsolicited. If a homeowner does let someone go up on their roof, they should at least be outside while they're inspecting it to make sure they aren't damaging the roof.
If you think these two men knocked on your door in early January, Pasadena police would like to hear from you. Give them a call at 713-477-1221.
Texas lawmakers are considering a bill that would require roofers to be licensed by the state. It's an attempt to crack down on unscrupulous contractors.
If you have a news tip or question for KPRC Local 2 Investigates, drop them an e-mail or call their tipline at (713) 223-TIPS (8477). Copyright 2013 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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HARRISBURG (AP) - A Republican Party activist from central Pennsylvania who lost a state Senate race last year is House Speaker Sam Smith's pick to join the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
Smith announced Tuesday he had selected Dauphin County lawyer John McNally III to a two-year term on the seven-member board. The salary is $145,000 a year, and he can be reappointed twice.
McNally was defeated in the fall election by Democrat Rob Teplitz.
A married father of three, McNally attended Penn State and Dickinson School of Law.
He's taking the seat held most recently by Gary Sojka, a former Bucknell University president who finished three terms on the board.


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If you have not yet seen Chroma, the MFA in Illustration Visual Thesis Show, run over to the Museum at FIT before July 5 for this feast for the eyes. Nine students each explored a body of work that ranges from books to creatures, to graphic novels to digital identity and website. It is just great, if I do say so myself, as a proud chair.
Now, others have taken notice:
Sam Kalda's Men with Cats is featured on a Design Week from the UK.
Jennifer Merz retells the tragic but important story of the Triangle Factory Fire in Sew Strong, and was featured on the Triangle Factory Fire Coalition's site, here.
More to come on all of the great things that have come about from this show!


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Browsing Environmental and Forest Sciences, School of by Author "Marx, Josh"
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Soils for Salmon - The Relationship Between Soil and Water Marx, Josh; Bary, Andy; Jackson, Sego; McDonald, David; Wescott, Holly (King County Department of Natural Resources, 1999-09-01)Soil degradation and water pollution are widely recognized as major environmental problems. Less widely recognized is that soil and water are interconnected. Soils for Salmon is a project promoting the conservation of ...


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Becoming one is quick and painless, unlike childbirth.
Amy Clark
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There must be something great about drying your clothing outside as it seems all of the laundry detergents aim to get that fresh smell in their detergents. I see promises of fragrances filled with the smell of mountain freshness and April showers. What is not to love about that? Did you know that it is possible to achieve that just by line drying your clothing outside? With a simple clothesline and some clothespins, you can save your family money and achieve the scent that every detergent company is trying to capture.
If you live in a subdivision, it is important to first check the guidelines of your homeowner's association to make sure that you are allowed to put up a clothesline or if you are even allowed to dry your items outside. Since many associations are strict and can mandate house colors, drapery, and whether your garage should be open or shut, a clothesline may also be on the list of big no-nos.
To begin line drying your clothing, you will need a good clothesline. The most important thing to make sure of is that the clothesline is pulled very taut so the clothing does not cause the line to sag when you hang the clothing. The only maintenance you will need to do after hanging your clothesline is to make sure that you wipe it down once a month with a damp rag, to make sure that the line remains clean and doesn't get your clean clothes dirty in the process. I wipe this down every time I use it, just as assurance to me that my clothes will not get dirty.
The second item you will need are clothespins. Clothespins come in several different varieties, but I prefer the plastic kind, as they are not hard on your clothing and come in bright colors, making them easier to find for unclipping. I buy my plastic clothespins at the dollar store, over in the laundry section. Whichever kind you choose, make sure that you keep them in a place where they will stay clean and dry. I have a small plastic tote with a handle that I use to store them in, which helps me keep them in good condition and helps me to find them when I need them.
There are many great benefits to utilizing a clothesline. One of the best benefits of line drying your clothes is that they will last much longer than they would if they were just thrown in the dryer. Did you ever think about how much lint is in your dryer when you are done drying it? That is actually all of the worn-away fabric, that would have remained on your garments if you had line dried them. Zippers cause snagging on clothing when tossed in the dryer, but when line dried your garments will remain intact.
The other added benefit is that you save yourself some dough in the process. Did you know that electric dryers are often among the top energy-uses in a home, followed by refrigerators, lighting and water heaters? Not only will you save on your electricity bill, but you can also save on laundry products. The sun is a natural whitener, so no need to buy any bleach. Static cling is created by clothing rubbing together, but if your clothing is hung out to dry it is not necessary to buy any dryer sheets.
The most important element of line drying is hanging them properly. Proper hanging will reduce the amount of ironing you need to do and will maintain the shape and colors of your fabrics. The basic rule of thumb is to hang the clothing upside down to help avoid stretching in the material where it might be noticeable. Another basic rule is to hang your colored clothing inside out to maintain the color of the clothing. With whites, you will love that bleaching effect of the sun, but you don't want this to occur with your colored items.
Before you hang your items be sure to first shake out the wrinkles in the fabric. I give each item a shake until I hear it snap. Once you hear snapping, you will see the wrinkles begin to loosen from the fabric. Pin the item up on the line and smooth it out with your hand. These small steps will save you a lot of ironing time and I will do anything I can to get out of doing that!
Shirts and socks can be hung upside down, to insure that you will not have noticeable clothespin marks. Jeans and towels should be folded in half over the line and then pinned once. Halfway through, you can flip these items and dry them on the other side.
There are items that can be a bit trickier to hang, but are easy once you know how. Sheets, for example, can be folded hem to hem. You will then fold three to four inches of one hem over the line and in at both ends. Pin the corners of the other hem a few inches inside the first two. The sheet should then open towards the wind so it will blow like a sail, assuring you of even drying.
I have never been brave enough to hang my unmentionables out on the line, but you would think that in this day and age, where girls allow their thongs to hang out and half nude models are used all of the time to promote clothing, that I would feel comfortable doing this. I figure that I am saving money by putting the items that take longer to dry on the line and the rest of these items can go in the dryer for a quick tumble. If you are braver than me, however, you can create a wall of clothing on each side and then place your undergarments in the center, making it difficult for the neighbors to see your items.
If you find the items to be stiff when dried on the line, you can throw them in the dryer for a quick tumble. I use the touch-up setting on our dryer to loosen any wrinkling and to make sure the clothes are still nice and soft.
I hope this article offers some helpful tips for saving your family money and enjoying the truly wonderful benefits of line drying your clothing!


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The battery is recharged using the crank-operated internal dynamo, or by using the included USB cable to draw power from a PC or USB AC power adapter (the same supplied with most cell phones). The built-in LED flashlight has a phosphorescent frame that glows softly, just enough to help find it in the dark.
The compact 5-1/4" x 2-3/8" x 2" radio has an LCD screen that shows the time and battery level, a 3.5mm earphone jack, a telescoping antenna and a nylon wrist lanyard.
* In Canada, the Meteorological Service of Canada provides weather bulletins on the Weatheradio network (www.ec.gc.ca/meteo-weather). In the U.S., weather information is broadcast by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (www.nws. noaa.gov/nwr). Check for availability of service in your area.


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The indicators reported on this website were developed by a number of sources. Below is a list of websites you can visit to find out more about the reporting agencies and the data that is publicly available. The links below will take you to their websites and let you see the background information on the organizations that report the data with the supporting research and detailed definitions of their indicators.
The Leapfrog Group – www.leapfroggroup.org
Hospital Compare - www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) - www.cms.hhs.gov
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) - www.ahrq.gov
The National Quality Forum (NQF) - www.qualityforum.org
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Healthcare Safety Network (CDC NHSN) - www.cdc.gov/nhsn/about.html


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Hotels.com has said it has significantly sped up its software development lifecycle by adopting Agile principles, reducing the lifecycle from 26 weeks to just a fortnight.
As a result, a new release of the hotel booking website now goes live every two weeks, and the company can better pinpoint the effects of new features on the website's performance.
"We only had one application releasing through a 12-week cycle, but, when a cycle was in flight, the business had to wait 26 weeks for the idea to go to production," said Stuart Silberg (pictured), VP of technology at Hotels.com.
Hotels.com first began to move to Agile in the summer of 2009, but at the time it was "really a fast waterfall", Silberg said. It "re-stamped" the Agile methodology a year later, he added.
The company instructed managed services provider DSP to create a UK-based Agile development team and help it re-architect the web application into logical parts so that upgrades could be made to each part independently, without needing to re-test the whole application.
Examples of apps that have been developed using the Agile principles include Hotels.com's mobile apps for iPhone, iPad and Android. Hotels.com shares partner Expedia's data centres, where it uses around 30 to 40 servers, which are based on a standard open source stack of Tomcat, Apache and Java, using a SQL database.
Adopting agile has enabled Hotels.com to improve efficiency by between 20 to 25 percent, and decreased the company's reliance on offshore software developers based in Eastern Europe, from 90 percent to 50 percent. Hotels.com has several hundred technologists working across development, quality assurance (QA) and operations.
"Distance and the whole lost-in-translation syndrome were at odds with the Agile model. Agile is hard, but Agile offshore is very difficult.
"We weren't achieving the kind of innovation that we could. There were also concerns about quality and predictability," said Silberg.
Moving properly to Agile was not without its challenges, however.
"The business had to stop asking for the world at once and plan out iterative features.
"They had to really focus on the 'what' and let technology focus on the 'how', to understand that there might be bumps in the road, and we may even be slower at first," said Silberg.
The business also had to learn to communicate with the technology team more frequently throughout the software development lifecycle.
This included providing "better requirements in the form of user stories, being present at sprint planning, mini UATs (user acceptance testing), and at reviews – as opposed to handing over requirements and waiting for a large UAT event at the end," Silberg said.
He added: "From a professional point of view, they had to trust we would deliver with quality."


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Obama to attend summit with American Indian tribes
Janice Rowe-Kurak, chairman of the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma, has come to Washington to meet with President Obama and other top administration officials in hopes of improving a troubled relationship between American Indians and the federal government.
She and leaders from the 564 federally recognized tribes will meet with Obama and numerous Cabinet secretaries at tomorrow's White House Tribal Nations Conference. They will discuss broken treaty obligations and tribal sovereignty, along with issues of economic development and natural resources, public safety, housing, education and health.
"I think it's significant," Rowe-Kurak said of the summit. "I'm impressed President Obama is reaching out. He made this commitment before he got elected. ... I'm hoping it's a new leaf."
But given the long history of abuse and mistrust, she has her doubts things will really change. She points to a meeting she and other tribal leaders had yesterday with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The Cabinet member gave them only 15 minutes and didn't hear from any tribal leaders, Rowe-Kurak said, even though they are heads of nations who are "supposed to be on the same level as Obama."
"I'm hoping it'll get a dialogue started," Rowe-Kurak said of the conference. "I'm still skeptical. ... I hope it's more than lip service."
Tomorrow's conference will be the first such meeting since President Clinton hosted one 15 years ago. Obama will deliver the opening and closing remarks and host one session, while six Cabinet secretaries and several other top administration officials also will participate.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar yesterday called the conference a step toward fulfilling Obama's promise to uphold a nation-to-nation relationship with the tribes and open a "new chapter of change."
"We won't be able to reach everybody on Thursday," Salazar said. "We won't be able to wave a magic wand and resolve all the issues, but it is a great foundation for all the work that lies ahead."
Salazar sidestepped a question about whether Obama may issue an executive order apologizing for mistreatment of American Indians by the government over the years. But he acknowledged that the tribes' story has been "swept under the rug in many different ways," and said the current administration plans to change that.
As for why the summit will take place at the Interior Department rather than the White House, Salazar said it was simply a matter of having enough space for all the participants.
Joseph Trujillo, lieutenant governor of the Pueblo Cochiti Tribe in New Mexico, will also be attending the conference and said it's important to the tribal leaders that Obama hear their issues, particularly on tribal sovereignty and treaty rights.
"They have a trust responsibility to Native Americans," he said. "I think we need to bring up that issue again to the president. ... I'm hopeful he might be the president to change things around for us."
But he added that it would be more effective for administration officials to visit the tribes and see their needs firsthand.
Praise for American Indian appointees
Bernadine Burnette, vice president of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation in Arizona, called the conference a "historic event" and welcomed Obama's involvement.
"We're hoping his ears will send back messages to all his Cabinet departments," she said. "It's unfortunate we have to keep pushing and opening those doors."
John Poupart, president of the American Indian Policy Center in St. Paul, Minn., expressed skepticism that the conference would help American Indians in urban settings who are struggling with poverty, crime, violence and other issues.
"I just don't think there's a whole lot of outcomes from these type of things," he said. "They're more ceremonial and trying to keep people mindful of the relationship between the U.S. government and Indian tribes."
But he and other tribal leaders said the Obama administration already has shored up communications with tribes compared with past administrations. They also praised prominent American Indian appointments, including Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk, White House Senior Policy Adviser for Native American Affairs Kim Teehee, White House Associate Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Jodi Gillette, and Indian Health Service Director Yvette Roubideaux.
"I think the appointments speak well for the policy issues, because many of these people come from the reservations themselves, and they have experienced life on the reservation, so they know firsthand what the issues are," Poupart said.
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One of three federal territories in Malaysia, Labuan is located 8 km off the Borneo coast in East Malaysia. Its name is derived from the Malay word "pelabuhan", which translates to "port".
Labuan is made up of the main Labuan Island and 6 smaller islands, forming a combined area of approximately 92 square kilometers. The population of Labuan is approximately 87,000 people (2010), of which 76% are Muslims, 12% Christians and 9% Buddhists. The main languages are Malay and English, and also certain indigenous dialects.
The islands experience a tropical climate and is mostly hot and humid, with temperatures ranging between 24°C to 34°C. The weather gets wet towards year-ends.
Labuan International Business and Financial Center (IBFC) was established in October 1990, making it Malaysia's only offshore financial center.
Best Time to visit Labuan
Any time is a good time to visit Labuan because there is no real monsoon season and it's free from hurricanes and typhoons. However, it is best to avoid the rainy season during year-ends. The island can also get quite busy during the local school holidays (see the list of Malaysia Public Holidays 2016.
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Collaborations that engage and inspire
When one envisions the creation of a great work of art, the artist is usually solitary. But when it comes to presenting art to audiences, nonprofit institutions often find that collaboration brings new strengths to each that they might not possess on their own.
The latest local example is the historic partnership between The Mint Museum and Opera Carolina, which have joined forces to bring Charlotte audiences unprecedented access to a single artist's work.
Jun Kaneko worked for decades as a sculptor and painter, but in recent years he has also become noted for designing opera sets and costumes. The Mint has mounted a boutique exhibition, "Jun Kaneko: In the Round," spotlighting a selection of Kaneko's ceramic dango sculptures and costume drawings for "Madama Butterfly." Opera Carolina's production of "Madama Butterfly" - featuring Kaneko's costume and set designs - opens Saturday.
In a lucky twist of fate, Jay Everette, Mint vice chair, and Gigi Dixon, Opera Carolina's chair, occupy nearby offices in Wells Fargo's Corporate Social Responsibility Group. They hatched the idea of this collaboration, for which both institutions quickly jumped on board.
Wells Fargo is the season underwriter for Opera Carolina's performances and has become the sponsor of the Mint's exhibition. Other community partners generously stepped in to offer two free performances to first-time operagoers: The Knight Foundation underwrote one, and the Arts & Science Council, Hearst Corp. and private donors sponsored the second.
This won't be the last time you hear about historic collaborations among Charlotte's cultural groups. As economic realities lead all of us to be better stewards of our limited resources, we'll continue to find innovative ways to maximize opportunities for Charlotte audiences. For the Mint's part, watch in March for a partnership with N.C. Dance Theatre, which is performing "Sleeping Beauty" while the Mint will showcase an exhibition titled "Fairytales, Fantasy, & Fear."
Opera Carolina is teaming with Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, NCDT and other partners to mount "Ulysses: Charlotte's New Spring Festival of the Arts," which this year will focus on the majesty of Russia and the music of Tchaikovsky.
Thanks to this deepening spirit of collaboration, there's never been a more exciting time to be a follower of the arts in Charlotte.


text: 23 Jan 2015 09:00 Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has been named the Best Long Haul Airline for the fifth year running at the 2015 Irish Travel Industry Awards. The prestigious black-tie ceremony took place at the Mansion House in Dublin on Thursday (22 January) night with the event hosted by TV and radio personality, Miriam O'Callaghan. Beatrice Cosgrove, Etihad Airways' General Manager Ireland, said: "We are delighted to be crowned Best Long Haul Airline yet again at the Irish Travel Industry Awards. "The award recognises the world-class service and product Etihad Airways is proud to offer out of Dublin and onto more than 100 global destinations. Ms Cosgrove continued: "We thank Irish travel agents for their strong support and look forward to once again working closely with them throughout 2015. The trade play a key part in promoting and selling Etihad Airways in Ireland." Etihad Airways offers 9,000 seats per week on double daily flights between Dublin and Abu Dhabi, with onward connections to a range of destinations worldwide. These include cities in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, such as Bangkok, Beijing, Brisbane, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Melbourne, Perth, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo. During the past 12 months Etihad Airways has won a wealth of aviation industry awards in Ireland, these include: 2014 – Irish Travel Media Awards Best Long Haul Airline 2014 – 23rd Irish Travel Trade News Awards Best Long Haul Airline Best Business Class Airline 2014 – Irish Travel Industry Awards Best Long Haul Airline Get in touch with us. Contact us Let us know what you think Send feedback Join our community Etihad Facebook Watch our latest videos Etihad YouTube Follow us Etihad Airways


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It's that time of the garden year when bowls of cukes, zukes and tomatoes overtake the kitchen real estate. A really hot and dry July burned out my broccoli and greens, except for a hardy patch of escarole in some semi-shade, but our sun-loving vegetables are really enjoying this warm patch of weather.
I've been keeping up fairly well with the veggie bounty, making batches of pesto, zucchini bread and muffins, sauteed grated zucchini with basil and garlic, zucchini stewed with tomato and garlic, and other summer zuke standards in our repertoire, but then the other day I tried a few different spices with my zukes and husband Dan said that the recipe was a keeper. I tried it out again the next day and have to concur. Maybe you will too.
Curried Zucchini Coins
1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. mild curry powder
1/2 tsp. celery salt
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small onion, peeled, halved and cut into thin rings (we grew purple onions this year)
6-7 small zucchini (about 1.5 - 2 inch diameter) topped, tailed and cut into thin coins
Melt butter in large skillet. Add olive oil and let it bubble up. Add in curry powder, celery salt, onions and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes. Add in zucchini coins and cook over medium heat, stirring often, for 15 minutes, or until onions are soft and golden and the zucchini is floppy, but still has some bite. You don't want to overcook tender, young zucchini.
Please use small zucchini for this dish, as the bigger, older zucchini that one tends to overlook in the patch under the leaves will be too seedy and watery.
Makes 6-8 servings.
The curry, celery salt and sauteed onions lend such a nice earthy, mellow taste to this dish.
I am sending over a virtual plate of this delicious way to deal with zucchini abundance to Susan the Well-Seasoned Cook, who is hosting Weekend Herb Blogging this week. Weekend Herb Blogging is a long-standing weekly food blog event hosted by Haalo of Cook Almost Anything that celebrates edible plant ingredients.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Curried Zucchini Coins
5 comments:
- Debra Eliotseats said...
Mmmmm...sounds really tasty. This has me thinking about a curried zuchini noodle dish.
- Friday, 10 August, 2012
- Rachel said...
That's a brilliant idea, Eliot. Adding in some noodles will make this a one-dish meal.
- Friday, 10 August, 2012
- Simona said...
Last year, I added curry to sweet peppers and the result was fantastic. I hadn't thought about trying the same with zucchini, but now I know that it also works well with them. Nice!
- Tuesday, 14 August, 2012
- slywlf said...
Lovely! Very similar to my favorite summer disg - the primary difference being my use of both zucchini and yellow squash, and using cumin rather than curry. The aroma is so tantalizing even my zucchini-hating husband chowed down ;-)
- Tuesday, 14 August, 2012
- The Wheat-Free Mom said...
Must try. I have so many zuchs and need a good recipe like this. Thanks!
- Monday, 10 September, 2012
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The LaRue County High School Lady Hawks capped off the Florida Beach Bash at Fort Walton Beach April 8 with a 13-3 victory over Louisville Fairdale.
"Spring break in Florida was a great team building getaway for the softball program," said Lady Hawk Head Coach Aaron Howell. "I thought our team improved in all areas of the game, particularly pitching and defense. The three losses we had were a combined six runs – two of which we were winning going into the last inning. The competition we played in Florida will only help us during a season."
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the The LaRue County Herald News, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
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3rd October 2005, 10:19 PM
what on earth do i feed my pup when i get her home and when do they start onto solid food? . and is it better to feed a dry food diet or a meat one or both??????from a confused irish woman who has spent her whole life feeding cats , and is clueless about dogs :lol:


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Hillsboro High School forward Tena Loewen was named to the Wichita Eagle's All-State basketball third team. The all-state teams are not divided by classes. She was also a first team selection for the all-class 3A team.
Hillsboro's Addie Lackey was a second team selection. Danae Bina was an honorable mention. Shaq Thiessen and Brett Weinbrenner were both honorable mention selections for the all-class team.
Jessica Harvey and Davis Cook of Goessel were an honorable mention in 1A.
Marion High School starters Jordan Hett and Jacob Harper were honorable mention selections to the Eagle's 3A All-Class team.
Centre High School starters Shelby Makovec and Cacey Simons were honorable mention selections in class 1A.
Peabody-Burns' Rayna Barnes was named a Class 2A honorable mention.


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Dave White Profile
Dave White
Your Movies.com Man at the Multiplex
Dave White's first movie review was of the animated feature Snoopy Come Home. He was seven years old...Read full profile
Your Movies.com Man at the Multiplex
Dave White's first movie review was of the animated feature Snoopy Come Home. He was seven years old...Read full profile
Nonstop demanding cuteness. Just give in. Read full review
Jen Yamato Profile
Jen Yamato
A movie fiend on a mission
Jen Yamato is a walking, popcorn-eating contradiction: she loves all kinds of cinema, from art films to schlocky B-movies...Read full profile
A movie fiend on a mission
Jen Yamato is a walking, popcorn-eating contradiction: she loves all kinds of cinema, from art films to schlocky B-movies...Read full profile
The infotainment terrorists have won. Read full review
Critics scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.
out of 100
Metascore®Mixed or average reviewsbased on a weighted average of allcritic review scores.
This production is a mess for many reasons, most of them having to do with its frantic efforts to be funny.
Read Full Review
This just in: Morning Glory can't decide whether to skewer the morning news or wallow in its pap.
It merely recycles 1987's "Broadcast News" with only a single reference to YouTube.
Where Broadcast News mourned the trivialization of the nightly news, Morning Glory asks you to learn to stop worrying and love the trivia.
See all Morning Glory reviews at Metacritic.com
OK for kids 14+
Workplace comedy is winning but predictable; OK for teens.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that this workplace comedy -- which co-stars Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, and Diane Keaton -- is formulaic, but it's also surprisingly earnest and full of heart. Though some of the characters are self-centered and surly, the movie ultimately has positive messages about the value of hard work and authenticity. Expect some making out and a few sexual innuendoes, a fair bit of swearing (including "f--k"), some drinking and cigar smoking, and disheartening bitterness from some of the more hardened characters.
Messages: Hard work and heart win over cynicism in this workplace comedy. The main character believes that you can succeed by applying yourself 100 percent to your job. Nevertheless, work is superseded by friendship, family, and love.
Role models: Becky is quite ambitious, but she's also unabashedly earnest and well-meaning, and her goals don't supersede her humanity.
Violence: Characters insult and yell at each other; one man does dangerous things (jumping out of planes).
Sex: A couple makes out. They're shown kissing and groping each other, with the woman stripped down to her underwear and blouse. Some sexual innuendo. One character mentions a sex website; he also has a foot fetish.
Language: Fairly frequent use of words like "s--t," "bastard," "bitch," "ass," "a--hole," "butt," "damn," "crap," "oh my God," "goddamn," and "hell." Also infrequent use of "f--k."
Consumerism: Products/brands mentioned/with logos shown include Sony, NBC, Apple, Barefoot Contessa, Trump, The Today Show, and more.
Drinking, drugs and smoking: One adult character smokes a cigar. He also gets drunk and has a reputation for getting drunk prior to performing tasks he dislikes.
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© Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.
Movies.com, the ultimate source for everything movies, is your destination for new movie trailers, reviews, photos, times, tickets + more! Stay in the know with the latest movie news and cast interviews at Movies.com.
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Like many of our leading financial service firms today, the club went bankrupt in 1940. Between 1943 and 1946 the O.S.S., the pre-cursor organization to the C.I.A., rented Congressional for $4,000 per month and turned the club into a training center. The club was returned to private members after the war.
The course is located in Bethesda, Maryland, about thirty minutes from the U.S. Capitol Building. I took the train from New York to play Congressional. Arriving in Washington, D.C. by train never loses its luster. Union Station is one of the most elegant train stations in the United States and a pleasure to travel through. I love walking out the front entrance and glimpsing the beauty of the perfectly proportioned Capitol building. I know it sounds sappy but it is always an uplifting sight. I often picture myself as Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
The distinctive tee markers at Congressional
The Golf Course
While the course is not exactly as hilly as Westchester Country Club or The Country Club at Brookline, the terrain and routing at Congressional reminded me of both these courses. The course has many irregular shaped fairways and doglegs, and greens that are very small. One of the keys to playing Congressional is to make sure that you approach the greens from the fairway. Attempting to hit and hold the green from any angle except the fairway is quite difficult here.
The fourth fairway at Congressional is typical of many on the course: narrow, with an irregular shape. This hole, like most at Congressional, plays from an elevated tee. On the front nine the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th and 9th all play from elevated tees.
4th fairway at Congressional
The fourth hole, the #1 handicap, is 427 yards long and doglegs to the right.
5th fairway at Congressional
The fifth hole was one of my favorites. Notice the nice rolling terrain, with the fairway following the contours of the land. This hole doglegs to the left and rewards the golfer who hits a tee shot far enough left to avoid the trap and opens up a better angle to the green.
Like almost all the greens at Congressional, the green on the fifth is small and well bunkered.
The sixth hole is a short par five at 488 yards that tempts the golfer to hit the green in two. The perils of being short are illustrated by the water hazard short of the green.
Par three 7th hole green at Congressional
The par three seventh hole plays 157 yards uphill, and the green, like many at Congressional, slopes front to back.
9th green at Congressional
The ninth, a 544 yard par five, is a very good hole with a big swale that you must carry to get from the fairway to the elevated green. The front of the green slopes back toward the fairway and repels balls down into the ravine. Club selection is made trickier here because from more than 130 yards out you are playing a blind shot, as the fairway rises gently from the middle of the hole toward the green.
The par three 10th green
The back nine begins with the 170 yard par three 10th, over water, to one of the largest greens on the course. You will notice the mechanical fan behind this green. Almost every green has them due to Congressional's hot and humid summers. Unfortunately, they do come into play if you miss the green, as I found out about on the first hole, and I didn't see any local rule allowing relief if you are behind one.
12th fairway at Congressional
It is difficult to tell how much of the course is the original Emmett design, but I could still see some features that reminded me of Emmett's masterpiece in Long Island, Garden City, such as the 12th hole, seen above. This type of slightly elevated rise from fairway to green is typical of Garden City. Many of the greens at Congressional are slightly elevated like this one with a narrow opening between the bunkers.
14th fairway looking backward
Another good example of the irregular shape of the fairways at Congressional, and a nice use of the hilly terrain, can be seen on the 408 yard fourteenth hole, above, looking back from the green.
You hit down into a landing area from an elevated tee and then the remainder of the hole rises to an elevated green.
The 17th green
The seventeenth is ranked as one of the top 500 holes in the world, and it is quite a tricky hole at 420 yards. The fairway drops down to another level about three-quarters of the way toward the green. The elevated green is small and well bunkered.
The 18th green
Both the 10th and 18th greens, modified by Rees Jones, seem a bit out of character with the rest of the course as their greens are surrounded by water and feels incongruent with the design.
I played Congressional on a brilliant but blustery day. As my readers know from my experience at Royal St. George's, a wind game is not the strongest part of my repertoire. I played Congressional in October of 2008, a month of bank runs and stock market crashes that I hoped I would never see in my lifetime. The Dow Jones average was as volatile as it has ever been. It had moves of more than 100 points on 20 of 23 days. Out of sympathy for the market I also had a move of more than 100 points for the day on my scorecard. My golf game experienced as much volatility as I can handle. I hope both the markets and my game calm themselves soon.


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Framework: RF005 – rf005_v05b
3 - Primary or Horizontal Divisions
2 - Secondary or Vertical Divisions
Part of series: RF005 Rectangular Flow 005 – Bidirectional
Series Keywords: two routes, two choices, comparison, bidirectional
These rectangular flows show a dual process originating from and terminating at common points. Use these frameworks to show alternative approaches, joint efforts, complementary processes, decision steps, etc. They are versatile in illustrating concepts. These rectangular flows are similar to the circular flows in series cf019, but they don't have as many segments and can, therefore, hold a lot more content.
This particular series is without wings. Series rf006 is identical to this series, but it has wings. Be sure to decide which look you prefer and use frameworks with wings or no wings throughout your presentations.
Refer to the tutorial for tips on how to format and use these frameworks. Also, download the animation example for ideas about how you might set the reveals.
Key search words: dual process, parallel process, tandem process, comparison, routes, comparison, choices, activity analysis.
Key search words: dual process, two routes, two choices, comparison, bidirectional


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Most mesh heads look very pretty. Most system heads look like a bag of smashed crabs.
Some (rare) mesh heads look amazing and unique. Some (rare) system heads look amazing and unique.
For now, I still prefer (and use) the system head. I like having the ability to fiddle about in photoshop and add 28293784 tattoo layers for subtle differences. Then again, it took me like a year to start using mesh hands and feet after they came out. Mebbe I'm just slow.


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Happy Labor Day
Like many Americans, I am enjoying the 3-day holiday weekend. I'm taking advantage of Labor Day promotional sales, watching college football games, and relaxing with family and good food on the BBQ.
On this Labor Day, jobs are critically important to government leaders at all levels:
- National government with President Obama's Jobs Council Listening and Action sessions in Portland and Dallas in advance speech coming later this week
- State goverment such as in California where the jobless rate is currently at 12%
- City and local governments, mayors unveil jobs plan
Reflecting on the history of Labor Day, I wonder what our working world will be like in the future compared to the past. LIFE has captured images "In Praise of American the Worker" that captures the spirit of hardwork.
As we transition our global economy, what will work be like in the future? Where will the jobs come from?
Seth Godin writes an interesting blog about the future of labor being about taking risk. Rather than physical labor, our economy is now driven by ideas and mental work. In the past, working hard meant "producing more" using our "bodies as a replacement for a machine".
Cisco IBSG thought leaders believe the future of work will be collaborative and flexible with workers contributing when they want, from virtually anywhere, with almost anyone. The prediction is increased innovation and as the nature of work shifts, "communities, organizations, and individuals become empowered, thereby generating a variety of economic, social, and environmental benefits."
This is a hopeful vision of the future and one that I share as well with the role of the network providing people access to the innovative tools and communications for workers everywhere.
What are you doing for Labor Day?
In an effort to keep conversations fresh, Cisco Blogs closes comments after 60 days. Please visit the Cisco Blogs hub page for the latest content.


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Tag Archives: richardson
Wildflower! Arts Music Festival May 17-19, 2013
I'm having now to come off my exciting win at the Wildflower! Arts And Music Festival's Performing Songwriter Competition! Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival is put on by the City of Richardson, TX (a suburb of Dallas) and is home to one of the most prestigious songwriting competitions in the USA! They've been operating the […]Continue reading


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History obscured by a cloud of dust
Marion County and Pilsen are home to a special piece of history, and we shouldn't hide that piece of history behind a cloud of dust. For drivers who know the Pilsen road like the back of their hands, the gravel surface ranges mostly from an annoyance to a nuisance, increasing driving times, requiring more car washes, and more windshield repairs. For visitors unfamiliar with the road and its curves, though, blinding dust clouds represent a very real danger, and those drivers become a danger to the regulars on the road.
Make no mistake, these visitors are already coming, and they will increase in numbers with Father Emil Kapaun's receipt of the Medal of Honor on Thursday and the continued investigation into his likely sainthood.
What is to be done about the road, then? Commissioner Dan Holub has nearly exhausted possible avenues for state help with the road — there isn't any money or much interest for such a project from the state. Holub said on Monday he has one remaining hope, Gov. Sam Brownback. Holub plans to invite Brownback to attend the annual pilgrimage to Pilsen on June 2, when the Medal of Honor will make its way to the church.
But if Brownback doesn't back the project, relaying asphalt over the nine miles from U.S. 56 to 290th Road is financially unfeasible. That leaves one clear choice: relaying asphalt between 290th and 275th roads. It is only 1½ miles, an enormous savings compared to doing the entire 9 miles. It probably could be built to a bit lighter tolerances than 330th Road between Tampa and K-15 was — tour buses and vans aren't as heavy as fully loaded semis and farm trucks.
Driving up to Lincolnville, taking 290th west and Remington south just about doubles the driving distance from Marion, but it's barely a blip for someone driving from Wichita or Kansas City. For local drivers, the county could do a double chip-seal from Pilsen to U.S. 56 — an option that would likely be less expensive than the 1.5 miles of asphalt south of 290th.
All of this probably has to wait until traffic has a chance to compact the road base, and that's OK. What wouldn't be OK would be needlessly dragging our feet on the issue.