text: Biafra@50:Reps throw out South East Commission bill The House of Representative was, Thursday, thrown into a rowdy session after members, particularly those outside the South-East region, disagreed on a bill seeking to establish the South-East Development Commission over its timing, leading to it being stepped down. The lawmakers who disagreed argued that much consultations were not carried out before the bill was presented to the house. The development which angered the South-East lawmakers saw them immediately voicing their displeasure over the development. The South-East Development Commission if established would be charged with the responsibility, among other things, to receive and manage fund from allocation of the Federation Account for the development, reconstruction, and rehabilitation of roads, houses and other infrastructure, as well as tackle the menace of poverty, ecological problems and any other related environmental or developmental challenges in the South-East states and for other related matters (HB 915). While leading the debate on the bill, Honourable Chukwuka Onyema said the commission is one of unity and inclusiveness, and has the potential to douse all tension and agitations in the South-East region. However, when the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara put the question, the nay sayers got the majority and it was stepped down Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)Like this:Like Loading... Related posts: Saraki backs women, says Gender Equality Bill will be presented again APC Now House Of Reps Majority APC's Magnus Abe wins Rivers South East Senatorial election "Nnamdi Kanu" customized coke surfaces in the South East Photo:PDP South South Zonal Congress 2017-06-02 The Light News Share ! tweet


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The content could be from any topic. It would be plagiarism free and you will get 100% original content.
I am a fluent English speaker and Writer. I have expertise in online marketing and blog writing for over a year now. If your content requirements are related to articles, you are in for a treat. For more diverse packages, kindly revert to my gig.

subset: commoncrawl


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Less than one percent of Nike's endorsed athletes have received a signature shoe. Of that select group of athletes to receive a signature shoe, Paul Rodriguez is the first skater to join the ranks of the elite few who can claim a run of 10 Nike shoes. This summer, both Kevin Durant and Paul Rodriguez join those rarified ranks. While Durant recently celebrated in truly triumphant fashion (claiming his first title while wearing the KD10), Rodriguez has quietly maintained a dominant position as one of the world's most accomplished skateboarders.
Designed to be both sophisticated and high performing, the Nike SB Paul Rodriguez Ten has a refined upper that allows for easy wear on and off board — perfect for Rodriguez's lifestyle.
Here, Rodriguez shares some of the achievements, lessons and memories that have highlighted his time as a Nike athlete thus far. (Coincidentally, there are 10.)
He'll never forget his first release party
"I don't know if I was even old enough to get into the venue. It was just such a great experience."
Travel has shaped some of his best Nike moments
"The Pan-American tour we do in South America — through Peru, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Rio, Argentina — is so much fun. The whole squad, everybody does demos. The crowds are humongous – full arenas are packed, screaming your name. It's an adrenalin rush."
Meeting fellow Nike signature athletes always feels surreal
"Nike was doing a big demo in China at the Festival of Sport. The skateboarders and basketball players were in the same green room between demos. I was playing video games with Kyrie Irving. I was so star struck, like, 'I'm really hanging out with these guys right now? This is crazy!'"
Some colorways are so good they can't be skated
"The original J Rods, which was my first shoe collab with Jordan Brand. I had the Jumpman on the tongue and the elephant print. Those I just save."
Winning isn't everything, but it's still sweet
"Any time I have been fortunate enough to win a Street League, it was a huge moment. Those things are really hard to come by. In skateboarding, sometimes you know, it's like taboo – you're not supposed to, like, try to win. It's not cool. But man, I'm in a lineup with some of the best skateboarders. When you get a win, you have to savor it. I'm just thankful I've been able to do it a few times so that I can validate to myself it wasn't an accident."
A lot can be learned from Nike, Inc. Chairman and CEO Mark Parker
"He's the CEO of one of the biggest corporations in the world. Watching how he carries himself and conducts himself with the rest of the company, he's just so humble and down to earth. I would imagine it might be hard to stay that way. It seems like a teamwork type of thing to me. And I feel in business that's important, especially when you're creating a brand. "
Being a veteran is something he relishes
"Now I'm the veteran and I'm seeing people come in — for instance, the generation of Luan Oliveira, Shane O'Neill and Ishod Wair and other guys — I watched them come in from the same position I was in, as the new kid who people are talking about. Nike brings them into the fold, and now I'm watching them. Now they're full-blown superstars."
He's sure of his place in the sneaker design process
"You can't rush into it and expect magic to happen immediately. It's a creative process, and there are some errors and sometimes the stars align. I know that I'm not a talented shoe designer. I just like to be there to make sure it functions and can skate well."
There's something subtly special about his latest signature shoe
"It's just a classic, good skate shoe. It's not trying too hard. It's not careless either."
Being linked with the likes of LeBron, Kobe and KD as members of an elite 10-signature club is an incredible feeling
"They're all right man; they're chill. But really, it's insane to hear that list. Being in the 10 club with these guys, I don't know what to make of it yet. I don't know what to make of the whole situation; I'm just grateful, thankful. So KD and I are basically going at the same time? That's rad. It doesn't feel real. It's just skateboarding. It's my passion. It's the thing I love the most, but then you think of the other people on that list and they're super humans."
The Nike SB Paul Rodriguez Ten is available July 1 on nike.com and at select retailers in the following colorways: White/Pure Platinum, Black/White and Dark Team Red/Black Sail.
In addition, Nike SB created the Nike SB Paul Rodriguez Ten "Special Edition" to highlight hallmark design elements from Rodriguez's past pro models. The Special Edition is limited to 10 pairs in each of two colorways, Velvet Brown and Redwood.


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EASY TWEET: .@RedskinsCR and @Macys partner to keep children warm during the winter season with Share the Warmth Coat Giveaway on 10/24
LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. – The Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation and Macy's are teaming up to donate 300 winter coats and hats to local underserved youth at the 9th annual Share the Warmth Coat Giveaway at Macy's Dulles Town Center on Tuesday, Oct. 24 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Current Redskins players will help* *children select a coat and enjoy a celebration filled with music and a craft station.
Children from the following elementary schools will be in attendance:
- Capitol Heights Elementary School (PGCPS)
- Glenridge Elementary School (PGCPS)
- Leckie Education Campus (DCPS)
- Thomson Elementary School (DCPS)
- Guilford Elementary School (LCPS)
- Crestwood Elementary School (FCPS)
- Saratoga Elementary School (FCPS)
"As the seasons change, it's extremely important that children have the proper clothing to stay warm," said Lauren Frederick Anania, Macy's Director of Cause Marketing. "This annual initiative aligns closely with Macy's brand values and we are excited to partner with the Redskins Charitable Foundation in order to continue providing warmth to children in need."
Share the Warmth is one of several initiatives within the Redskins Charitable Foundation's "Season of Sharing" campaign that assists children and families during the holidays.
Any questions regarding the "Season of Sharing" campaign or the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation should be directed to Tish Carmona of Redskins Public Relations at 703-726-7077 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Located in a highly sought after river road location is this spacious upper ground floor studio apartment. The property is just a few moments walk from the River Thames and Surbiton town centre and mainline station. Comprising of a bright and spacious studio room with a bay window, modern fitted kitchen and bathroom. The property benefits from ample storage and off street parking. In our opinion this property would be an ideal first time buy or investment property. The property is share of freehold and has low maintenance charges.
Floor plan is not available for this property.
EPC is not available for this property.
Privacy Policy | Humphrey & Brand © 2017 All rights reserved.


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Claudette Covey | February 26, 2013 11:45 PM ET
Xavier Mufraggi, CEO for North America, Club Med
Club Med's resurgence continues, with the company reporting a 7.3 percent net gain in fiscal 2012, its best net result in North America since the 1990s. Part of that resurgence can be attributed to the success of the renovated Club Med Sandpiper in Port St. Lucie, Fla., and the company's efforts to shape its product offering to the upscale family market. We sat down with Xavier Mufraggi, Club Med's CEO for North America, to talk about the company's expansion plans, what's offered at its resorts and its agent-friendly policies, including actions to put an end to rebating commissions.
What are Club Med's expansion plans in North America? With the success of Sandpiper we're looking to open new resorts in the U.S. and Canada. Instead of fighting with everybody else in the same destinations we believe that the all-inclusive, family-oriented business model can work in the U.S. and Canada. We want to expand first to ski destinations. Of our 80 resorts around the world we have 22 that are ski resorts. We've been approached by 40 ski destinations in the U.S. and Canada. We are now screening them down to four different locations, Canada, and three in the U.S, in Utah, Colorado and California. We've also signed a letter of intent in Canada for a partnership agreement to jointly operate a Club Med located at Le Massif de Charlevoix, close to Quebec City, in Petite-Rivière-Saint-François, which would be Club Med's first property in the country. Although we're working on different agreements, the Canada one is clearly more advanced than the others. It'sa great destination for ski but it's also a year-round destination.[AD_SWAP300X250A]
Are you looking at any warm-weather destinations in the U.S.? Although we're focusing on ski destinations, we're also looking for other opportunities -- destinations like Florida, California and even Texas. The key for us is how we're able to sustain a business all year long and not only for four months or six months of the year. We're also looking at destinations that have great access for international guests, which is something very important to us because we really have clients from all over the world. Our global presence is a key asset.
Club Med reported a 7.3 percent net gain in fiscal 2012. What do you attribute the healthy numbers to? Even though we've been in a recession we've seen very good development in terms of market share from developed countries like Europe and the U.S. International markets like Asia and Brazil also really helped with our growth. Our change of strategy, moving upscale, and all the investments we made over the last five years, were also key elements in our 2012 success. In North America, specifically, that net result was our best year the 1990s. Seventy percent of our clientele are now really affluent families. This is structurally the big change. The other change is the success of our property in the Sandpiper in Florida. We are the only all-inclusive product in the U.S. and we had a major investment of $28 million to renovate the property. It's played an in important role in our turnaround.
Club Med has cracked down on the rebating of commissions. How is the travel agency community reacting to that move? Actually, we should have cracked down on rebating a long time before. We were talking to our most important travel agents, the ones who've managed to turn themselves into vacation planners, and we kept hearing more complaints from them. They were saying, "We do so much for our clients and you accept rebating." By stopping rebating we are making sure that they're not losing clients to people who get the bookings through rebating commissions.
What's your view of the home-based travel agent market? The home-based travel agent channel is really the fastest growing channel for us. We're working on better awareness of Club Med with these travel agents. We've been in partnership with many host agencies like Nexion and Avoya, which are very important for us. They are growing their business with us and more and more they see the big bookings from the affluent family market. We wanted to make sure we're working with the right home-based agents, the ones who are vacation planners.
More Club Med
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#51 Dining Chair | Skovby Furniture
The Skovby #51 dining chair has a unique flex function that ensures maximum back support in varying seating positions. Featuring a distinctive timber back, the design of the Skovby #51 dining chair is crisp and angular with a modern look.
Solid timber frame: Oak lacquered, natural oiled, white oiled or soaped. Beech lacquered or soaped. Cherry lacquered. Black Wenge lacquered. Walnut lacquered.
Upholstery: Available in more than 60 fabrics and leathers.
Dimensions: W 49 cm x H 90 cm x D 47 cm
Brand: Skovby
Country of origin: Denmark
Price: From $777


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Just because a man's name is on a child's birth certificate doesn't mean parental rights have automatically been bestowed on him.
Cowell says he'll wed, but be a hands-off dad to his baby
Simon Cowell is going to be a dad. But the man behind "The X Factor" entertainment competition series has let it be known that he won't be stepping into paternity status whole hog.
'Baby Veronica's' dad says, 'We will see you again'
The issue of fathers' rights is an important one, but one that doesn't get as much attention as it should. Florida law doesn't have a history of presuming the best intentions from fathers. As a result, the law tends to be stacked against a well-meaning dad. Standing up for a father's rights can take some doing, but is possible with the support of an experienced attorney.


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By Jaycox-Jaworski Funeral Home - Crematory | Posted in: Jaycox-Jaworski Funeral Home & Crematory
Joyce E. Peebly, age 68, of Dravosburg, died February 11, 2019, at home. Born January 24, 1951, in Pittsburgh, she was the daughter of the late William and Thelma (Markland) Peebly.
Joyce worked at Community Life of McKeesport, where she took great pride in providing care for those in need with over 16 years of service. She was a member of the former St. Pius V Church. She enjoyed the Home Shopping Network, QVC, gardening, reading and family trips to the beach. Joyce's greatest joy was spending time with her family. She is survived by her siblings, Janice (Russ) Frum of Colorado, Jay (Nancy) Peebly of McKeesport, Joan (Henry) Kowalski of McKeesport, Patty Carey of Virginia and Mark Peebly of McKeesport; nieces and nephews, Jason (Vicki) Peebly, Teddy Olinsky, Chip Olinsky, Tabitha Meekins, Adam (Krislyn) Barden, Seth (Beth) Kowalski, Amy (Michael) Cortes, Brandon (Amber) Peebly, Andrew Barden, Austin Barden, Jenna Peebly, Rachel Bales and Jacob Peebly; also many great nieces and nephews. Family and friends will be received at Jaycox-Jaworski Funeral Home & Crematory on Friday, February, 15, 2019, from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. A blessing service will be held on Saturday, at 10 a.m., in the funeral home chapel. Inurnment will be in McKeesport & Versailles Cemetery at a later date. Condolences and memories may be shared at www.jaycox-jaworskifh.com
Originally published February 13, 2019.
Other deaths:
"Gary Edwin Blake" || "Betty Jean "B J" Budd…"


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at The Stage Door
New comedians have been invited to apply to take part in the competition which will feature heats across the country throughout February, March and April 2019. The final will be held on Sunday 12th May at Blackpool Winter Gardens as part of Manford's Comedy festival. Jason Manford will be the host for the evening and will be joined by some esteemed judges to help choose the best act along with an audience vote. The winner will receive a £1000 prize, progression spots with Manford's comedy clubs, presented with an award trophy and will also be invited to appear as a guest on Jason Manford's Absolute Radio show. The runner up will receive a prize of £250 and the chance to progress with Manford's comedy clubs.
Jason Manford said "One of the best things about having a chain of comedy clubs is that I get to see the names of all the new exciting acts coming through the ranks. This competition will enable us to give these new acts a bigger leg up, and I'll get to see them all perform on the night"
vTicket 2015 ©2015 Wilson Digital Media Ltd t/a Online Ticketing Telephone: 0845-680-0195


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The Hakko HK-40L Linear air pump represents a top of the line Linear Air Compressor with 3 year warranty.
The Hakko Air Pump 40 will deliver a maximum of 70 Liters Per Minute. Only 40 watts used!!
Suitable for koi ponds up to 4,000 gallons.
This is a cast iron body style. It is a small unit with surprisingly high output. Ideal for water depths between 2 feet to 10 feet deep. Shut off depth is 14 feet deep. The Hakko air pumps are built to last with a very durable body and mechanics meaning years and years of everlasting quality airflow.
Very low noise 32/38 dB at 1 meter, low power consumption, Silent operation, Completely oil free, Overload protection with Auto off/on switch for overheat situations. Low power consumption. UL and CE listed for outdoor use.
110 Volt is standard. 220 volt is by special order.
The outlet fitting is approx 5/8" O.D. 6 foot power cord supplied.
No oil needed for lubrication making the Hakko easy to maintain.
The graph below shows water depth in feet.
Looking for the Hakko 40LP? We have it! it has the same quality innards as the Hakko 40L! While a tiny bit louder than the original, with the plastic casing you don't have to worry about rust and the price point helps the pocket book... View the Hakko 40LP here!


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var a= [];
for(var i = 0; i < 9; i++) {
a.push(function() {console.log(i);});
a[0](); //9
var a= [];
var make_func = function(i) {return function() {console.log(i)}}
for(var i = 0; i < 9; i++) {
a[0](); //0
var a= [];
for(let i = 0; i < 9; i++) {
a.push(function() {console.log(i);});
a[0](); //0
var a = [];
var b = {x : 999};
var make_fuc = function (i) { return function () {console.log(i.x);}}
var i = 0;
for(i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
b.x = i
int sum = 0;
list.forEach(x -> sum += x.size());
int[] sum = new int[1];
list.forEach(x -> sum[0] += x.size());
java 8 in action
Restrictions on local variables
You may be asking yourself why local variables have these restrictions. First, there's a key difference in how instance and local variables are implemented behind the scenes. Instance variables are stored on the heap, whereas local variables live on the stack. If a lambda could access the local variable directly and the lambda were used in a thread, then the thread using the lambda could try to access the variable after the thread that allocated the variable had deallocated it. Hence, Java implements access to a free local variable as access to a copy of it rather than access to the original variable. This makes no difference if the local variable is assigned to only once—hence the restriction. Second, this restriction also discourages typical imperative programming patterns (which, as we explain in later chapters, prevent easy parallelization) that mutate an outer variable.
You may have heard of the term closure and may be wondering whether lambdas meet the definition of a closure (not to be confused with the Clojure programming language). To put it scientifically, a closure is an instance of a function that can reference nonlocal variables of that function with no restrictions. For example, a closure could be passed as argument to another function. It could also access and modify variables defined outside its scope. Now Java 8 lambdas and anonymous classes do something similar to closures: they can be passed as argument to methods and can access variables outside their scope. But they have a restriction: they can't modify the content of local variables of a method in which the lambda is defined. Those variables have to be implicitly final. It helps to think that lambdas close over values rather than variables. As explained previously, this restriction exists because local variables live on the stack and are implicitly confined to the thread they're in. Allowing capture of mutable local variables opens new thread-unsafe possibilities, which are undesirable (instance variables are fine because they live on the heap, which is shared across threads).


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Past milestones led to a booming arts scene today
Broom Street Theater begins its long and prolific run as an avant-garde theater.
City breaks ground on the Madison Civic Center, anchored by the Capitol Theater which is reborn as the Oscar Mayer Theater and Isthmus Playhouse.
American Players Theatre chooses the Lockman Farm near Spring Green as its home. APT's first production, William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," is staged in 1980. Five works of Shakespeare are performed the following year.


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Wednesday, June 30, 2010
2010 Hugo nominee, novelette: "It Takes Two" by Nicola Griffith (Eclipse Three)
Monday, June 28, 2010
1982 Saturn - E.T.
E.T. is probably the most terrifying horror film ever made. The first time I saw it, I had to be carried from the theatre, screaming from fright. I may also have peed myself. Of course, I was barely three years old, but I still worried that to watch the entire film might be to stumble down the path to a sort of Lovecraftian madness.
Surprisingly, it turns out that this Steven Spielberg film is fairly sweet and not actually that scary. In a coming-of-age tale for the Reagan era, three siblings dealing with their parents' divorce find an abandoned alien. The middle child, Eliot, forms an empathic bond with this "E.T.," who quickly learns some English, shows off various psychic powers by making bicycles fly, and plays dress up. Eventually, the government butts in and messes everything up (things actually do get a little scary at that point). From a speculative fiction standpoint…well, we never learn much about E.T.'s species (their DNA has six base pairs! They like mushrooms!), but that's not really what the film is about.
Spielberg's visual style is very evident; he does a great job of evoking both quotidian suburban America and a real sense of wonder. The E.T. puppet is pretty fantastic, though the movie has been remastered with a digital alien in parts, and the original is hard to come by (they also replaced guns with walkie talkies for some reason; I guess because people like me found the film so terrifying). Six-year-old Drew Barrymore gives the performance of her career, despite being drunk and stoned through the whole production. Having said all this…I think Saturn made a huge mistake with this award. Two other films that came out in 1982 are obviously superior science fiction classics….
I've seen critics complain that Spielberg is a "manipulative" filmmaker, but I'm pretty sure that a filmmaker's job is to evoke emotions. I think they're just mad that a commercial director made them cry. Then again, speaking of "commercial" the use of Reese's Pieces is the pinnacle of early product placement.
Grade: B+
Friday, June 25, 2010
2010 Hugo nominee, novel: PALIMPSEST by Catherynne M. Valente (Bantam Spectra)
After the first couple of pages of Palimpsest, I said to myself "I think Ms Valente must be a poet writing a novel." Flip back to the "about the author" and there it says that she has published five books of poetry.* Lots of writers do both, but I've always felt like there are poets who write novels, and novelists who write poetry. Based on something a lit professor once said to me, I've always thought of William Faulkner as a "[failed] poet who wrote [really good] novels." Anyway, the attention to the flow and musicality of the prose that you get here is a clear sign that Valente is the former.
Valente follows four different characters in four cities. Sei rides the trains around and through Kyoto; the beekeeper November returns to San Francisco; Oleg is a locksmith in New York haunted by the ghost of his sister Lyudmilla; Ludovico is a bookbinder in Rome. Each has a sexual encounter that transports them to the dreamlike city of Palmimpsest. They then find part of the city tattooed on their bodies and learn that they can return to the city with further sexual experiences. The city itself is so addictive that the characters go out of their way to return.
As you can almost guess from the characters' occupations, the novel is rife with symbolism. I think it's ultimately a book about relationships, and the longing and loss that attend them. We also see sex/love (Valente does a great job showing how muddled those two things can be in relation to each other) as an addiction itself. There are several evocative passages, especially the alternating scenes set in Palimpsest itself, though I can't say that I ever grew too close to any of the characters. I don't know if this was because I simply don't have an affinity for the lost dreamers that Valente focuses on here, or if the lush, poetic prose created a barrier between me and the characters. I did feel at times that I was too occupied by the words themselves to care about what they described.
There's certainly nothing wrong with a poet writing a novel. And I could certainly see this being many people's favorite Hugo nominee. Personally, while I found the prose very enjoyable from page to page and greatly appreciated the larger tapestry, I missed the plot and character hooks that propel a great novel forward. I enjoyed the journey more than the destination.
Grade: B
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
2010 Hugo nominee, Dramatic Pres. Short: Doctor Who: "The Next Doctor" Written by Russell T Davies; Directed by Andy Goddard (BBC Wales)
I'm a rather late convert to the Doctor Who revival, and the franchise in general, but I have been voraciously devouring new and classic episodes for the past year or so. After four seasons of Hugo-dominating, high quality television, the new series took a year to say goodbye to star David Tennant with a series of five holiday specials – two years of Christmas specials, an Easter special, a New Year's Special, and….um…Guy Fawkes Day? Three of them were eligible for this round of Hugos, and, despite being fairly poorly received by a lot of fans, all three received nominations.
There are two big things going on in this special. First, it's a very steampunk story that has the Doctor fighting Cybermen in Victorian London at Christmas. We get giant robots with gears, powered by Dickensian child labor! At the same time, we have an odd twist on the old "mulit-doctor story." If you're not all that familiar with the show, the Doctor has been played by eleven different actors (and that's just canon!). Since he is a time traveler, it's not too hard to do a story where he hangs out with different versions of himself. This has happened three different times on the show proper (but not for twenty-five years), and some more in telethon specials and in audio plays. In this special, we're teased with the twist that Tennant's Doctor is meeting a future version of himself played by David Morissey. It doesn't quite work out that way, but it's a fun idea.
So, steampunk, multiple doctors, bigger budget special – it all sounds good. Why the disappointment? I actually don't have a great answer for this one, other than, it's just not as crisp and exciting as the best Doctor Who always is. There are a couple of chase scenes, a big setpiece with the aforementioned giant robot, and lots of scenes of Morissey and Tennant chatting, but there's not much going on underneath. Writer Russell T. Davies tries to do something with the villain being a woman of ill-repute, motivated by oppressive Victorian society…but there's not much depth to that either. And, it's a bit twee at times – instead of the Doctor's usual TARDIS, a time travelling police box, the Victorian Doctor has the Tethered Aerial Release Developed In Style, a hot air balloon TARDIS. It's not horrible, but it's not up to the high standards of the show at its best, and it's not Hugo-worthy either.
Grade: B-
Monday, June 21, 2010
1982 Nebula - NO ENEMY BUT TIME by Michael Bishop
I'm starting to notice some patterns in the non-Hugo winning Nebula novels. 1) They tend to have oddball plots, 2) They usually have distinct (eccentric?) authorial voices and/or utilize writing gimmicks, and 3) They don't seem to age very well. No Enemy But Time fits this description perfectly. It may have looked daring and provocative to the Writers Association at the time, but now, to me, it looks like a trainwreck.
We'll start with point three: The main character is a sarcastic, angry, stereotype-bustin' black man – which would be fine, if it didn't feel so distinctly like Bishop had already cast Richard Pryor in the film version. In other words, it's a slightly modified '80s stereotype rather than a real path-breaking portrayal. Also, Clan of the Cave Bear became a smash hit in the early '80s, and now we get a few faddish sf books with prehistoric settings.
Point number two? Well, there's non-linear storytelling, which makes sense in a time travel book I guess, but this is no Slaughterhouse-five. The main character, Joshua Kampa, has "spirit visions" that allow him to travel through time. This will eventually enable him to visit early hominids in Africa, but it also allows him to revisit his life…which is full of picaresque details including a mute Spanish prostitute and the sort of adoption story that Orly Taitz fantasizes about in her most demented dreams. The writing style as a whole is full of awkward references. Again, it's as if Bishop is trying to do his version of a Richard Pryor character, but all of his slang comes from watching too many World War II movies. We get choice metaphor-mixing sentences like "a randy young male might well find a nubile femme fetale among the unattached ingénues of the other band." On one page the main character ponders if H. habilis females are "love slaves of an estrous cycle" and gives us a description of chimpanzee females who "flaunt such gaudy carnal corsages." I wouldn't call this prose unimaginative or boring. But, I wouldn't call it pleasant either.
Oddball plot? Check and double check. Joshua travels back to the Pleistocene (a million or so years ago, and falls in love with a Homo habilis he calls Helen. Yeah, one of these:
Okay, that's a little weird. However, we are told though that Helen is an evolutionary step forward. So, I imagined her more like this:
Yep, it's still weird. And, while this book has some interesting things to say about race, in the end, it's a novel about a black man who has sex with something that looks like an ape. I found this somewhat disturbing on several levels.
And, the plot only gets weirder as the story goes on. You know you're in trouble when the author admits to using a ridiculously improbably dues ex machina in the text (Bishop tries to play this off as postmodernism . . . but I don't think he succeeds).
I'm okay with weird, and maybe even a little disturbing, but there just wasn't much here to grab my attention. Add in a dated, over-written prose style, and I found reading this a fairly miserable experience.
Also, it's odd that Bishop gets so many simple facts wrong. At one point, he challenges Richard Leakey on the size of a gorilla's manhood (which, in itself, gives you a pretty good sense of the novel's tone). It's pretty clear that Leakey was right about this easily observable fact. It's a dumb thing for Bishop to get wrong and an even dumber thing to bring up, but it nicely illustrates Bishop's misguided, self-congratulatory, and pointless irreverence.
This is The Wanderer bad. It might even be as bad as the novel whose name shall not be spoken.
Grade: D-
Friday, June 18, 2010
2010 Hugo nominee, Dramatic Pres., Long Form: Up Screenplay and Directed by Bob Peterson & Pete Docter (Disney/Pixar)
I'm not ashamed to admit that this film made me cry. Twice. There's a reveal in the last act that I saw coming from a million miles away, and it still made me tear up. There's no question in my mind that this is the best of the five nominated films. But, is it the best sf film of the lot? I can't quite decide whether that's a different question or not.
The computer animated film from Pixar (who won last year's Hugo in this category with Wall-E) tells the story of an elderly widower who refuses to move from his home to make way for a real estate development. Finally, he decides to go on a South American adventure that he's dreamed of for his entire life, and he decides to take his home with him (with the aid of a lot of helium). He takes flight and finds a strange world of amazing landscapes, giant birds, and crazed explorers with talking dogs. It's a fun romp that still manages to get some emotional resonance out of its themes of aging, loss, and adventure. It's a Pixar film; it's pretty much guaranteed to be great.
So, what's not "sf" about the film? It's a definition that sf-fans like to argue about, and I usually find these discussions pretty pointless. Everyone has their own arbitrary definition, and they really all come down to the Potter Stewart line ("I know it when I see it.") Up should qualify fairly easily: flying a house to South America with helium balloons is in the realm of pure fantasy, and voice boxes for dogs are pretty clearly in the realm of science fiction. If Raiders of the Lost Ark can win a Hugo, so can this. Still, next to films that use traditional science fiction conceits (aliens, clones, colonization of moons, Star Trek) to explore serious issues (race, imperialism, destiny, labor exploitation), Up does feel a little different. I highly recommend it, and enjoyed it more than any of these films, but I'm not sure it'll get my vote. It's certainly in the running though.
Grade: A
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
2010 Hugo nominee, novella: SHAMBLING TOWARDS HIROSHIMA by James Morrow (Tachyon)
This book is the perfect companion to Adam Roberts' Yellow Blue Tibia, reviewed here last week. That novel saw Soviet sf writers brought together in the wake of World War II to create a story that would pay off in the 1980s. This novel, also narrated from the perspective of the 1980s, is about the US government bringing together Hollywood horror legends in 1945 to create a monster movie that would frighten Japan into surrender. It's really a mirror-image of Roberts' book, and I'm trying to figure out why this idea of blending fiction and reality in the wake of World War II/Cold War is in the zeitgeist all of the sudden. Or is it just pure coincidence?
The narrator is a fictional (to my knowledge) Hollywood actor named Syms Thorley who has starred in a series of monster films in '40s Hollywood. He's tasked to play a fire-breathing lizard and wreck a scale-model of a Japanese city (the set-up to get to that point is pretty ridiculous, but believability is not Morrow's central objective here). Thorley is joined in this plot by a host of real Hollywood legends like director James Whale (Frankenstein) and early special effects wizard Willis O'Brien (King Kong). There are plenty of hints in the framing narration that this plot has something to do with the popularity of kaiju (giant monster) films like Godzilla in Japan.
The plot is fairly rudimentary – there are a few obstacles along the way, but Morrow's focus here is more on conveying the atmosphere of B-movies during Hollywood's golden age. Morrow does a great job of it, and the novella is worthwhile for the setting and prose alone. But, as the title hints, the novel is really about the atom bomb, and the way it haunts – or maybe how it should haunt – America as well as Japan. Just like Yellow Blue Tibia, Shambling point out that the horrors of the atomic age can be stranger and more terrible than anything the science fiction of the era produced.
This was a well-written and engaging book that was both funny and haunting. Very nice stuff, and I'm looking forward to more Morrow coming up when I get to the '90s.
Grade: A-
Monday, June 14, 2010
1982 Hugo for Dramatic Presentation, 1981 Saturn Fantasy - RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
Welcome to the age of Spielberg and Lucas. They made two very different but very successful science fiction movies in 1977 – Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. These two films basically catapulted science fiction into a dominant film genre for the '80s and beyond. Both of them continued to make sf films that racked up Hugos and Saturns and influenced most of the science fiction films that we see today. In 1981, they got together and made Raiders of the Lost Ark, an homage to the pulp adventure serials they grew up on.
I don't really know what to say about this film, except that it really is fantastic. I'm hard-pressed to come up with critiques. Um…the pacing isn't perfect in the second half…but it's still pretty solid. There are a lot of stereotypes deployed in the portrayal of non-Western peoples – the movie has its fair share of savage Indians and "worthy Orientals," but I'm inclined to give Lucas and Spielberg a pass because they're just replicating the imperialist tropes of adventure serials and the H. Rider Haggard-type novels from which they descended.
I guess I should summarize the plot. Indiana Jones is an adventure-loving, artifact smuggling archaeologist….oh, who am I kidding? Everyone knows the plot. If you somehow haven't seen this film, and you have any sense of adventure, drop what you're doing and go see it.
Grade: A
Friday, June 11, 2010
2010 Hugo nominee, novella: THE GOD ENGINES by John Scalzi (Subterranean)
John Scalzi is one of the hottest sf writers out there. His first novel was published in 2005, but he had already racked up three novel nominations by 2008. He's also the President-elect of the SFWA. As with most of the writers who hit in the 00s, I hadn't read any of his work until now.
We focus on one ship, the Righteous, and its captain Tephe. Tephe must navigate the tensions with the priestly class that shares power aboard ship, and he's in love with one of the Rooks (priestesses/harem girls) that "comfort" the ship's crew.
It's a fairly fantastic set-up, but, and maybe this is the result of its length, it's all set-up. The characters tend to speak in exposition, and spend all of their time telling explaining their world and roles to each other (though they should obviously already know these things). The characters fall a bit flat as well, and they tend to slot into generic roles (heroic officers, incompetent priests, hooker with a heart of gold). The ideas are great though, and I'd consider reading more novels set in this world (though the horror ending doesn't seem to leave a lot of room open for sequels).
Thursday, June 10, 2010
2010 Not-a-Hugo Nominee YELLOW BLUE TIBIA by Adam Roberts
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
2010 Hugo nominee, novelette: "Eros, Philia, Agape" by Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com 3/09)
Monday, June 7, 2010
1982 Hugo - DOWNBELOW STATION by C. J. Cherryh
I really wanted to like this novel. I've heard nothing but good things about C. J. Cherryh, and this was one of the novels I've been most looking forward to. Unfortunately, this novel felt a bit "by the numbers." The '80s are the peak of the space opera subgenre, and this may be the most traditional space opera I've ever read.
Downbelow Station portrays a pivotal event in the history of Cherryh's Alliance-Union universe. In that universe, the cultural differences between Earth (the Alliance) and its numerous interstellar colonies (the Union) have become so vast by the 24th century that a civil war has broken out. The planet of Pell, also known as Downbelow, and its orbiting space station have attempted to remain neutral, but as the war comes to its climax and refugees begin to pour in, neutrality becomes harder and harder to maintain.
Cherryh juggles a lot of plots and characters here very well. There's the war itself, and we learn about Signy Mallory, the female captain of the Alliance ship Norway. She's a stern disciplinarian, but also a pragmatist with a strong code of honor. On the station, there's a rivalry between the Konstantin family who have long run the station and the Lukas family, who have long assisted. There's a level of dislike and betrayal and as clear a division between good and evil between the two families as there was between the Atreides and Harkonnens in Dune. There are also a few Union spies working in the background. Finally, there's a sentient (though not especially intelligent) species from Pell called the Hisa. We get some hints of a fairly compelling culture for the Hisa, but they can also be a bit cutesy – they're small, furry, and like to say "I love you." Should we blame Cherryh for the Ewoks?
All of these plotlines run in parallel throughout the book and come together quite neatly at the climax. The plotting is fantastic. The characters are very clearly drawn, though maybe just a tad too clearly, as they tend towards cartoonishly good or evil (the one big exception is Mallory, but even she has a very clear and consistent moral stance – just one that can lead to some fairly awful things). That was my biggest problem with the novel – everything was a little too clean and clear. Even the prose, which is perfectly readable, came off as very dry to me. Maybe it's just that I've been reading so much Gene Wolfe lately. Claw of the Conciliator was nominated against Downbelow Station, and I have to say that it was the better novel (and I think this is the first time I've taken a Nebula winner over a Hugo winner). Either way, Downbelow Station is a well-executed novel that still left me cold. I'm still looking forward to Cyteen though.
By the way, C. J. Cherryh is really Carolyn Cherry. Like J. K. Rowling, she used her initials to disguise her gender, which further illustrates that the James Tiptree effect hasn't entirely left us. Unfortunately, I can see why a female writer of this sort of hard science fiction with military sf elements might not want to advertise that they were a woman.
Grade: B-
Friday, June 4, 2010
2010 Hugo nominee, graphic fiction: Fables Vol 12: The Dark Ages Written by Bill Willingham; Pencilled by Mark Buckingham (Vertigo)
Thursday, June 3, 2010
2010 Hugo nominee, short story: "The Bride of Frankenstein" by Mike Resnick (Asimov's 12/09)
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
2010 Hugo nominee, Dramatic Pres. Short: FlashForward:"No More Good Days" Written by Brannon Braga & David Goyer; based on the novel by Robert Sawyer
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
1981 Saturn - SUPERMAN II
Richard Donner's Superman managed to present some crazy silver age comic book material in a grounded context. Superman II does the same….except without the grounded context part. I mean, they try for grounded – Superman gets beat up at a truckstop! – but on rewatching the film, I don't think they pulled it off.
There are two major plotlines here: a group of Kryptonian prisoners are freed near Earth and try to conquer the planet with their Superman-like powers, and Superman tries to make a relationship with Lois work by revealing his identity to her and giving up his own powers. Any comic book fan will tell you that Superman vs. an equally matched opponent is the way to go with these films (it certainly makes more sense than reviving Lex Luthor's bizarre real estate plans, as Superman Returns did in 2005), and this film is a consensus favorite among the fans for this very reason. I've never understood why you would depower Superman in the same film that you have reasonably strong opponents for him (other than that it gives him an excuse to take his powers back and give up Lois), and the result is that we barely get the epic battle the film's premise suggests. And, of course, when we do get it, the effects aren't quite there yet (and there are ridiculous slapstick elements added…more on that in a second).
There are good ideas here, but the execution doesn't quite cut it, and the tone just feels wrong. Richard Donner began work on this film at the same time as the previous one, but left over creative differences before the film was finished. The film hangs together pretty well anyway, but I can't help but feel that it would have been a bit better with Donner's humanistic touch rather than replacement director Richard Lester's slapstick humor. The lengths to which the film goes to reestablish the status quo at the film's end rival the first film's in ridiculousness.
At least it's better than the next three Superman films.
Grade: B


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MIDDLETOWN TWP., Pa. (WPVI) -- It was a chaotic scene at Penncrest High School in Middletown Township, Delaware County Friday night.
Crews were called to the high school at 134 Barren Road just after 10 p.m. to reports of people getting sick in the men's locker room.
Thirteen football players fell ill following their game against Radnor. Several were taken to the hospital.
A fire official tells Action News a ventilation system in the locker room malfunctioned.
"Upon arrival, crews discovered what we suspect to be an ozone machine in the men's locker room that was creating an irritant to a number of the football players," said Mark Kirchgasser.
Some of the players were taken to Riddle Memorial Hospital for treatment.
The rest were treated in the school's parking lot.
Their injuries were not considered to be serious.
"We're very pleased that all of our students are doing fine and are grateful to the many emergency responders who were on the scene so swiftly," Rose Tree Media School District Superintendent Jim Wigo said in a statement. "We felt very supported by our county service providers and are thankful that this situation was resolved so quickly. The safety of our students and staff is always our first priority."
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Several people sickened after hazmat situation at Penncrest High School
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St Paul's Church Centre, St Paul's Drive, Covingham. Swindon SN3 5BY.
£7.00 pay on the door.
DJ dance night hosted by John and Gail. Relaxed and informal setting, lots of great tunes and strolls. Tea, coffee and biscuits provided. All dance styles welcome.
Forthcoming Swindon Dances: 8th Sept, 13th Oct, 3rd Nov.


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2014 Nissan Titan S | Crew Cab, 5 1/2 Ft, 4WD, Bed Liner, LOW MILES!!- $23,995
Clean Title………..Clean Carfax…………..1 Owner Vehicle…………..Low Miles………….4WD…………V8…………..5 1/2 Ft Bed……………Custom Bumper……….Bed Liner…………Wide Tires……………
Price: $23,995
Year: 2014
Mileage: 14,500
Color: Gray
Drivetrain: 4WD
Engine: V8, 5.6 Liter
Doors: 4
Stock: 2438
Transmission: Auto, 5-Spd Overdrive
Kelly Blue Book Link: Click Here
By Appointment ONLY. Call or text 503-452-2323.
We know it is unpleasant to view a car outside in the fall and winter weather… Here at West Coast Auto Group we have an indoor showroom where we can bring the car inside, away from heavy rain, freezing snow, and strong wind! Set up an appointment today to view a car in a comfortable environment with our friendly and helpful staff!
All Trades Are Welcome! Let us know if we can assist you in your finance needs. Rates are as low as 2.99%% APR On Approved Credit. BAD CREDIT, NO CREDIT, BANKRUPTCY, SELF EMPLOYED, FIRST TIME BUYER????. NO PROBLEM!!!! WE CAN FINANCE ANYONE!!!!
- S Pickup 4D 5 1/2 ft
- V8, 5.6 Liter
- Auto, 5-Spd Overdrive
- Horsepower: 317 hp @ 5200 rpm
- Torque: 385 ft-lbs. @ 3400 rpm
- Traction Control
- Vehicle Dynamic Control
- ABS (4-Wheel)
- Power Door Locks
- 2 One-Touch Power Windows
- Power Rear Window
- Cruise Control
- Power Steering
- Tilt Wheel
- 40-20-40 Split Bench Front Seats
- Air Conditioning
- AM/FM Stereo
- CD/MP3 (Single Disc)
- Dual Air Bags
- Side Air Bags
- Head Curtain Air Bags
- Child Seat Anchors
- Custom Bumper
- Bed Liner
- Alloy Wheels
- Wide Tires
If you're shopping for a full-size pickup, chances are that you're looking for a vehicle capable of taking on serious towing and hauling jobs when the need arises. Yet, most buyers also expect to use their trucks for daily transportation, so the availability of comfort and convenience features in the cab is nearly as important. The 2014 Nissan Titan will probably meet all your basic requirements for a full-size pickup. A strong V8 engine has long been the mark of legitimacy in the full-size class, and the Titan has one in its standard 5.7-liter V8. Properly equipped, Nissan's truck can tow up to 9,500 pounds.
The 2014 Nissan Titan is a full-size pickup truck offered in just two cab styles: King Cab and Crew Cab. The King Cab is an extended-cab pickup with clamshell-style rear doors and a 6-foot-7-inch cargo bed. Crew Cabs have four conventional doors and offer a choice of a short 5-foot-7-inch or a long 7-foot-3-inch cargo bed. Both are available with either two- or four-wheel drive. Nissan also offers four trim levels — S, SV, SL and Pro-4X — though not all are available in both cab styles.
The entry-level S model comes standard with 18-inch steel wheels, air-conditioning, cloth upholstery, a 40/20/40-split front bench seat, a 60/40-split rear bench seat and a CD stereo with six speakers. Crew cabs also have power windows and locks, a power-down rear window and two extra speakers. Springing for the Popular Equipment option package adds alloy wheels, cruise control, rear privacy glass, a sliding rear window (King Cab only), keyless entry (Crew Cab only) and towing preparation. Standard safety features on the 2014 Nissan Titan include antilock disc brakes, stability control, traction control, front-seat side airbags and full-length side curtain airbags. Rear parking sensors and a rearview camera are available on all trims, except the base S.
the interior of the 2014 Nissan Titan is more functional than fancy. Gauges are large and easily readable and the controls are well placed and intuitive. Thoughtful details include well-designed storage bins, a 120-volt power outlet and an available front passenger seat that folds flat to make a handy work surface.
All Trades Are Welcome! Let us know if we can assist you in your finance needs. Rates are as low as 2.99%% APR On Approved Credit. BAD CREDIT, NO CREDIT, BANKRUPTCY, SELF EMPLOYED, FIRST TIME BUYER????. NO PROBLEM!!!! WE CAN FINANCE ANYONE!!!!
Disclaimer: All advertised prices exclude government fees and taxes, any finance charges, any dealer document preparation charge, and any emission testing charge. The price for listed vehicles as equipped does not include charges such as: License, Title, Registration Fees, State or Local Taxes, Dealer Prep, Smog Fees, Credit Investigation, Optional Credit Insurance, Physical Damage of Liability Insurance, or Delivery Fees. DEALER makes no representations, expressed or implied, to any actual or prospective purchaser or owner of this vehicle as to the existence, ownership, accuracy, description or condition of the listed vehicle's equipment, accessories, price, specials or any warranties. Any and all differences must be addressed prior to the sale of this vehicle. Your actual mileage will vary depending on how you drive and maintain your vehicle.


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Timelapse: Watch The Science Center's Explorerdome Deflate
ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI) – The Saint Louis Science Center`s Exploradome is being deflated and removed to make way for the Science Center`s largest exhibit expansion. The air-supported structure, opened in 1997 as a temporary facility for special exhibitions and events. In 2011, the Science Center opened Boeing Hall, a state-of-the-art special exhibition and event facility to replace the aging dome which lasted 16 years, twice as long as originally planned.
It had enough air to fill 21 hot air balloons, or nearly 145,000 bike tires. On Monday morning, all that air inside the St. Louis Science Center's Exploradome came rushing out, to the delight of more than a dozen children clutching their windmills. With its deflation, the Exploradome offered one last learning experience for Science Center summer campers, who now know a little bit more about air pressure.


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I have a proven track record in delivering sustainable business change programmes with over 20 years experience in large multinational organisations. Clients include both central and local government, large blue-chip organisations, IT, professional and financial services. I have extensive experience of working with executive level clients on developing business strategy and transformation programmes. I am an expert in organisational design and all aspects of business change, specialising in ...
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TestimonialsDr Joanna Berry
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|This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers or for which we receive a referral bonus. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. Referral, Affiliate, and Advertising Policy
The Chase Freedom Unlimited is sort of the baby of the Chase Ultimate Rewards Program. In this post, we'll give an overview of what this card offers, why it matters for travel hacking, family travel, and Disney travel, and our thoughts on whether it deserves a space in your wallet.
The Basics
The Chase Freedom Unlimited is a Visa card without an annual fee that earns points in the Chase Ultimate Rewards Program. You might see it occasionally advertised as or referenced as a "cash back card." The reason for this is that to use the Ultimate Rewards points for anything other than 1 cent per point cash back, you need to hold one of the following cards: Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, or Chase Ink Business Preferred. The real power of the Chase Ultimate Rewards cards is unlocked by using the right combination of them. We cover this in more detail in our guide to the Chase Ultimate Rewards Program.
Earning And Using Points With the Chase Freedom Unlimited
One last time—our guide to the Chase Ultimate Rewards program goes in depth about getting the maximum value of the points you earn with the Chase Freedom Unlimited. Here's the rundown on the card, though.
Chase Freedom Unlimited Signup Bonus
The currently publicly available signup bonus is $150 (or 15,000 Ultimate Rewards points) for spending $500 in three months. Here is our referral link to that bonus:
1.5X Chase Ultimate Rewards On All Purchases
When it comes to earning points, the Chase Freedom Unlimited is more straightforward than it's sibling the Chase Freedom and cousins the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve. The Chase Freedom has rotating categories that earn 5X points for one quarter a year and 1X points on all other purchases. The Sapphire cards earn bonus points in travel and dining (and 1X points on all other purchases). The Freedom Unlimited just earns 1.5X points on all purchases.
So, in January through March 2018, the Freedom (not Unlimited) earns 5X points at gas stations. As it always does, the Chase Sapphire Reserve earns 3X points at restaurants. So if you buy gas, you want to put it on your Freedom. If you visit McDonald's, put it on the Sapphire Reserve. And if you buy a snowboard from the local sporting goods store, put it on your Freedom Unlimited.
Getting 2.25 Cents Back With The Freedom Unlimited and Sapphire Reserve
We have a full post on how to get 2.25 cents back by stacking the Freedom Unlimited and Sapphire Reserve, but we'll provide a short version here. If you spend $1,000 on your Freedom Unlimited, you'll get 1,500 in Chase Ultimate Rewards points. If you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve, you can transfer the points to that card. When Sapphire Reserve cardholders use their points for travel, they get 1.5 cents per point. So the 1,500 points are worth $22.50, or 2.25% of the $1,000 you spent.
Is The Freedom Unlimited Better Than 2% Cash Back?
This is a complicated question. As we covered above, if you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve and travel enough to use your points on travel expenses, you'll get 2.25 cents back per dollar spent on the Chase Freedom Unlimited. The Chase Sapphire Preferred only gets 1.25 cents per point when booking toward travel, so if you have the Preferred and not the reserve, you'll only get 1.875 cents back per dollar spent on the Chase Freedom Unlimited.
But wait, there's more. The real value of Chase Ultimate Rewards points doesn't come from booking travel with them through the Chase portal, it comes from transferring them. With Chase's transfer partners, you can get 2 cents or more of value per point. We've gotten 7 cents per point on some international first class bookings. So, if you can use your points that way, then the Freedom Unlimited is better than a 2% cash back card.
Get This Card If...
We think the best way to get a Chase Freedom Unlimited is to "product change" from another Chase card a year after getting a signup bonus on the original card. The Freedom Unlimited is commonly offered to Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve cardholders who no longer want to pay an annual fee. That's how we got ours. Basically, if you or a partner already has one of the Sapphire cards, apply for another (and get the signup bonus) and either product change the one you have now into a Freedom Unlimited or wait a year and change the new one into a Freedom Unlimited.
It's important to remember though that you only get good value from your Freedom Unlimited by having a Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, or Chase Ink Business Preferred as well. Someone in your household needs one of these cards, or you need to be confident you can get one in the future before using your points.
Skip This Card If...
If you can find any better use of your Chase 5/24, do that. When all is said and done, 1.5X back on all purchases just isn't good enough to justify one of your 5/24.
Consider These Alternatives
The Starwood Preferred Guest card from American Express is a good card for everyday spending, and it earns great points. If you don't have the Chase Freedom, we'd definitely get that before the Chase Freedom Unlimited.


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As I started writing this post and thinking about what I've been up to lately and why, I realized I had far too much to say to make this a single post (at least, if there was any chance of anyone making it through to the end). So I'm splitting it in two: part 1 (below) will contain some off-season advice for the other competitive athletes in the crowd, along with a general update about what's been up in my tri-life. Part 2 will follow later and be more specific about the activities I'm incorporating into off-season training and why, as well as provide some ideas for others.
good articles out there about this, so I won't be exhaustive here. In a nutshell, it is a mental and physical break from the training and racing demands of the rest of the year. What this means specifically for each athlete can vary widely, and should vary according to each athlete's personality, background, previous season, upcoming season, and life outside of the sport. For some triathletes, it may include a short (or not) period of no athletic activity; a period with no swimming, biking or running, but other sports; a period of unstructured swimming, biking, and running, with other activities mixed in; a combination of these; or something else entirely. LET YOURSELF GET A BIT OUT OF SPORT-SPECIFIC SHAPE (probably more like "less in shape") for a short time before beginning to lay the foundation for the next year. By the time next August rolls around, your body will thank you!
|kayaking is a lovely off-season activity!
Ten suggestions for a happy and healthy off-season:
1. Spend extra time with your friends and family. Make sure they know how important they are to you, and how much you appreciate their support (and patience!) throughout the year. Indulge in some of the social activities you might skip while in serious training mode. Let loose with an occasional late night with good company. Make an effort to meet new people, too.
2. Remind yourself why you love the sport. Ditch your power meter and heart rate monitor and take some time to just enjoy being outside, and being active! Grab a friend or two and ride to a coffee shop for treats. Volunteer at a race, without racing: it's so rewarding to share in the joys and accomplishments of others, whether they're out there to finish, to PR, or to win.
|the view from the other side of the results printer, at the Madison Marathon
4. Work on your core strength. One of the great things about core work (as opposed to lifting, for example) is that it is something that is safe to do every day, and you will improve by consistently spending time on it. Core strength affects power transfer in all 3 sports, and helps prevent injury by allowing the body to move efficiently and maintain good form under fatigue. It's definitely worth taking the time to develop!
|even more fun in a group!
6. Take care of any nagging problem areas in your body. Many of us end the season close to developing overuse injuries as the result of tight muscles and repeated stresses. This is a great time to let your body rest and heal itself, and for you to help it to move better. Depending on what specific issues you might have, it could be a good time for physical therapy, massage, active release, and other myofascial work. You can get a good start on injury prevention on your own with your favorite torture instrument: a foam roller, marathon stick, Trigger Point kit, tennis ball, etc. Ask a coach, PT, masseuse, or experienced athlete if you're not sure how to use these.
|tools of the trade
|Matt and Kim at Madison FreakFest
9. Identify your limiters and the steps you can take to improve them. This is the perfect time of year for a muscle balance assessment, one-on-one technique work with a knowledgeable coach, etc. It will be easiest to improve in the areas you are currently weakest, so the most "bang" for your time and effort is to specifically address those weaknesses. Pick a few things to focus on, and make a plan.
10. Plan your goals for the coming year. These may include race and training goals, but also general life goals. How do you want to be better in the next year? Who says resolutions have to wait until January? If you decide you'd like to improve yourself, what's the point in waiting? Get a head start now and start moving down that path!
|Picking your 2014 races? I have a suggestion! Share it with friends (or keep them all for yourself!)
In other news, I am happy to be returning to Team Rev3 next year. Since it is an Age Group (amateur) team, I have committed to racing at least most of the 2014 season as an age-grouper. When I last checked in on this blog, my training capabilities for the winter and my future past May were looking uncertain, and this is still the case, so I'm very comfortable with my decision to postpone upgrading to Elite for now. If I'm positively killing it late next year, I can always re-evaluate. Besides, one year has not been enough with this crew! My teammates continue to inspire me and make me laugh every day, and I'm looking forward to sticking around to meet the newbies. The 2014 team announcements are now being rolled out on the Team Rev3 Facebook page, so tune in there to follow along!
Team Rev3 has been participating in a Secret Santa exchange this year, and no surprise, my teammates are doing a lot of fun and creative things. The big reveal is on December 15- I can't wait- I'm super excited about the gift I bought! Whose name do I hold? Here's a hai-"klue":
A twelve-month past, now:
nerves, anticipation, then...
note from Momma Bear.
Follow the final days of the Secret Santa madness if you need a little bit of entertainment:
on Twitter: @SummersSanta @PamsSecretSanta @NotahoSanta @AnnesShhSanta @DixiesRev3SS
on Facebook: Rons Revthree SecretSanta Feed Speed ItsaVeryZody Secret Santa
|I feel like this sums up Team Rev3 Secret Santa pretty well.


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CasaOtomi Pillows for Fall
We absolutely adore these Otomi pillows from Etsy shop CasaOtomi! Located in Coyoacan, Mexico, Artist Sandra Renteria and Coffee Farmer Abel Chavez created the fair-trade line CasaOtomi. Sandra and Abel have 20 years of experience and say the close relationships they have built with the artisans have been instrumental in creating contemporary designs. Their dream is to one day have a real Casa Otomi Eco Farm which would be inspired by all of Mexico's talented artists. Meeexiiicooo looks forward to that day and will certainly be visiting!
Here are a few colors we thought would be nice accents for your home during the fall. Make sure to check out all the other amazing Mexican creations this shop has to offer. For direct links to the pillows see below:
'Like' Sandra and Abel on Facebook: CasaOtomi // 'Follow' Sandra and Abel on Twitter: @CasaOtomi // 'Follow' Sandra and Abel on Instagram: @CasaOtomi


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Home Buyers
The annual TOUR OF HOMES is Columbia's largest open house of new homes - See new homes for sale throughout the central Midlands in all areas, sizes and price ranges. The 2019 event was held in June. More TOUR OF HOMES information here.
There's nothing like a brand new home with new appliances, the features and colors you choose and all the room you could want. Let us help you find your next new home built by members of the Building Industry Association of Central SC (BIA), or find a member who can build your next home for you. Simply choose one of the options below:
Find a local Builder Member of the BIA of Central SC
Go Green! Visit our High Performance Building Council to learn about homes that are built to our CHiP Home Program in order to save energy and water, deliver better indoor air quality and many more green features.
Be Accessible! Learn about our Certified Universal Living program and how your next new home can be just right for people of all ages and abilities.
Use a professional to help find the perfect new home for you - Visit our Sales & Marketing Council page
Still weighing your options between a new and old home? See this website for reasons to go with a new home.
Search for New Homes through NewHomeSource
Home Owners
Owning a home requires some upkeep and, later down the road, some fresh paint, a new roof, new appliances or even some remodeling. Here are some resources to to help you keep your biggest investment in tip-top shape:
The annual Carolina Classic Home & Garden Show brings over 200 building industry professionals to the SC State Fairgrounds for one weekend. Come see us March 13-15, 2020!
BIA Remodelers Council - Members dedicated to making your home the best it can be.
Learn more about remodeling, hiring a remodeler, popular remodels and more...
Search our member database for a local business or professional to help with your need or project
If all else fails, use a professional to help sell your home and find the perfect new home for you - visit our Sales & Marketing Council page.


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Ellie's Premier Adventure
As part of Year 10 in my school we are required to do two weeks' worth of work experience in a field that we are interested in potentially going into as we need to start thinking about what we want to do in college/A levels. I chose to come to Premier Print & Promotions which is a promotional gifts and print company that supplies many different types of companies with their merchandise as I wanted to experience an office environment but also mainly to look into the graphic design side of the company.
On my first day I came in and met Charlotte, PA to the MD & HR, who was my supervisor for my time at Premier. Charlotte gave me a tour around, telling me where everything was and introduced me to everyone. Everyone was so welcoming!
We went through my timetable for the next 2 weeks which made me excited for what was to come. After that I had to watch some health and safety videos with multiple choice quizzes at the end about the situations and issues that could occur in an office workplace. I found this quite boring however I was at my own desk which made me feel part of the company already! However it is necessary part of working in an office environment.
In the afternoon of my first day I was with Kat, Head of New Business. Kat showed me LinkedIn and why they use it; which is to be able to contact different companies/people on a business level, as a company they use it to grow their business and find more prospects. I got the opportunity to go through and find everybody that we should be able to contact and sent requests to people that we couldn't.
Studio are responsible for creating visuals for customers that are interested in getting their products from us as well as artwork creations and design work for different products as well. They also are in charge of checking artwork proofs received from suppliers to make sure they match the original artwork that we sent out and also proofreading different print jobs such as brochures and leaflets.
Studio/Artwork is the main department I was interested in working with. I was with Robyn, Nick and Ellie where they taught me new key commands for the Adobe software that I can use to do things quicker which I can take back and use at school.
They taught me how to create and amend artwork as well as letting me do some of my own design cases independently. I also learned about brand guidelines and the difference between CMYK and pantone colours and why they are so important to get right. Vectorised images is another thing that I learnt about and that they are a lot better for creating graphics with.
I got to sit in a supplier meeting which was really interesting and gave me the opportunity to get involved with how the company gets to see new products that will be available for branding.
I got to start on a presentation that they would give to a future customer showing all of the products that Premier Print & Promotions could do for them (for example mugs, notebooks, sweet jars). I got given Premier's powerpoint template and started to cut out the images from their backgrounds on Adobe Illustrator and putting them all in their separate sections each on a different slide.
Marketing are responsible for all of Premiers social media posts and the maintenance of the website. They also are in charge of all of the promotional emails that are sent out to their databases which are called e-shots as well as the goodie packs that are sent out to all of the customers.
I got to be with Kirbs and Tom in marketing for a few days where I helped organise the store room and package their goodie bags that they send to customers. Premier Print & Promotions sends goodie bags to various customers to showcase the company which helps to interest more people in the sort of products that they do or to thank people for ordering with them/checking everything was okay with their items. I was also shown how to use Promo Office and started to follow up on the goodies that had been sent.
HR are responsible for being the first place a potential employee would contact and arrange all of their interviews and documentation. They also approve holiday requests, log sickness and deal with lots of official paperwork. They are the people you would go to if you had any problems.
On Wednesday I was with Charlotte where she let me plan Premiers' socials with their budget and ideas from the current years. I gave a few ideas for restaurants locally that everyone could go to for Christmas dinner as well as fun social ideas like the outdoor cinema, karaoke night and bowling. I worked these out around the budget and created a mind map with all of my ideas on that I gave to Charlotte for her to potentially use.
I shadowed Chloe, a Sales Administrator, where she taught me how to produce quotes and how to find products and suppliers for different customers. One of the customers wanted some halloween themed products so we searched the supplier's websites to find some different items such as logobugs and sweet tins that we then gathered prices for the quantity needed to then be able to produce a quote for them.
Production are responsible of the placing and checking of artwork, as well as being in charge of the delivery and dispatch details of all of the products being sent out. This then follows through to the customer and making sure that they have their approval and they receive everything that they ordered for.
Martin in production showed me an insight into what they do and taught me about delivery notes and dispatch details. For example you have to have all of the following documents in order to send a delivery note – Enquiry & Prices, Customer order/PO, SO PDF, Customer Approval, PO sent to the supplier, Supplier proof, Order confirmation and the delivery note confirmed.
Accounts are responsible for all of Premiers finance, this means that they are in charge of all of the company's invoices to and from suppliers and making sure that if Premier is missing money from certain customers that they chase it up. They also give out invoices to customers as well as being able to take payment from them over the phone or deal with it through online banking.
Lottie in accounts showed me how she creates invoices and taught me more about the financial side of the company. We went through Xero which is the software used for invoices and she helped me how to find the ones we have got on the system which we crossed of and then taught me that the ones missing would then be enquired about. We also logged on a spreadsheet all of the customers that have not paid yet and that we are awaiting for. Then we went onto Promo office where Lottie showed me how she would do the invoices and how she would put them into the system.
Overall, I have had an amazing two weeks at Premier Print & Promotions and would like to thank everyone for being so helpful and amazing. My favourite department to work in was studio as I am interested in a potential future career in graphic design. I really enjoyed learning so many new skills and just getting an insight into what they do on the daily. My favourite thing was designing my own business cards as I was able to input my own ideas and designs as well as having the opportunity to explore Adobe Illustrator on my own.
Everyone at Premier is so lovely and made me feel so welcome and I am sad that my work experience is coming to an end. I have learnt that teamwork is so important in an office environment/ a company like this. I have learnt so many new things such as what a vectorised image is and the difference between CMYK and Pantones.
Doing my work experience at Premier has been an incredible experience that I will never forget! It has definitely made me think that I do want to do a job with graphic design and has given me an insight into what that would be like.
Thank you again Premier for having me for a couple of weeks!
Ellie Rollinson, Year 10, Plume School


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With more than 330 stores across England and Wales, each selling around 25,000 products, there's no excuse to not be shopping at Wilko!
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With two days to go before the first debate, the national and statewide polling continues to show President Obama in a very strong position.
In the Electoral College, Real Clear Politics calculates that the President has expanded his lead to 265 votes to Mitt Romney's 191, an increase of 28 votes for the President over the last 2 weeks.
The NYT polling analyst, 538, also shows President Obama with an increased projected win in the electoral college
In Ohio, the Presidents polling average lead is now outside the margin of error at 5.6%.
This spate of positive polling in Ohio, has President Obama now projected to have a 86.1% chance of prevailing - a full 10% higher than last week
Of further concern to the Romney campaign will be that early voting in Ohio and elsewhere is either about to begin, or already underway. There are going to be fewer and fewer opportunities to change voters minds before their vote is locked in.
Talking Points Memo also notes that the weakening situation Mitt Romney is finding himself in, is having an effect down ticket too. Republicans were favored to take control of the Senate earlier in the year, that chance appears to be receding, as Democrats have now taken leads in a number of swing Senate races.


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Julie Byrne
Rooms With Walls and Windows
Orindal Records. Released January 21st.
In a year where quietly hushed, enchanting singer/songwriters have been quite previant, the bewitching Rooms with Walls and Windows by by Seattle-by-way-of-Chicago's Julie Byrne stands out due to ability to get under you skin and transports you to a magical world.
The record is sparse and wistful throughout, full of minimal songs with little more than Julie's earthy, raw tones and finger-picked acoustic guitar. For those who can invest within, it rewards fully. Take opening track "Wisdom Teeth Song" for example where a peacefully calm fingerpicked guitar rings around Julie's descriptive, poetic lyrics and sparkles with it's fragile, evocative craft. The slow drip of emotion continues with "Holiday" which starts as a perfect, a love story "we met on New Years Eve in New York City" but quickly turns in narrative to the resigned conclusion of "I do travel alone and yours is not a number I can call on the phone"..
Hushed, echoed beguiling track runs through but perhaps never finer than on "Prism Song", which weaves an organic tapestry of heart-felt storytelling with haunting vocals and evocative instrumentation - the dreamlike result makes you wish you were sitting around a warm fire allowing this to seep through body and soul. Absolutely beautiful is this.


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Enter the People's Ride to join Australian cycling legend Cadel Evans on a spectacular course, personally designed by the Tour de France champion on his favourite home roads.
Evans returns to the road for the unique opportunity to ride alongside those who have supported his illustrious journey.
Starting on Geelong's waterfront, the People's Ride will travel through some of the most beautiful and iconic areas of Victoria's Bellarine Peninsula and Surf Coast, following the route of the elite women and men races.
Achievable & fun


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Arriving in Japan in November, Marginal 4, Idol of Supernova from Idea Factory is a game about the highly popular (as in 68 million Google search results) Marginal 4 Idol group. The animated band created by Rejet, should help provide the Vita with a decent bump come the release of this game, but don't expect much in the way of dramatic gameplay.
Subtitled Announce trailer, from earlier in the year.
That doesn't give much away, so here's some of their music, which isn't as bad as you might fear. The characters have their own Twitter accounts with 15K+ followers each, and there's a lively tweetstream (from presumably Japanese girls) counting down to this release.


text: Here is another great article about Dreamwall. This one is from Karen Haller colour and Design Consultancy. Karen Haller is an internationally renowned business colour and branding expert, and has helped clients from across the globe transform the branding image of their business. She has worked with a number of prestigious brands, so it was big honour that Karen featured Dreamwall on her blog read the article HERE!


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The latest from the Civic Trust.
The Civic Trust and Stuart Alexander are pleased to advise that all insurance documentation for the Civic Trust Civic Society Insurance policy holders was posted 1st class on the 27th March 08. You will see on the cover letter that quotations provided are valid for 30 days and cover is 'held' from the 1st April 08. Please note that if your renewal date is different from this you will be contacted separately.
Should you wish to discuss the insurance offered or make any changes to the limits that the quotation is based on please contact Stuart Alexander, their contact details are contained on the Cover Summary document.
If your insurances are not currently arranged via the Civic Trust Insurance Scheme for Registered Civic Societies then once you have registered with the Civic Trust, please contact Stuart Alexander to discuss your insurance requirements. For more information on the programme and contact details please follow the following link: http://www.civictrust.org.uk/csocs/insurance.shtml
Community Spaces
The Civic Trust is part of a consortium leading the new �50m funding programme Community Spaces, managed by Groundwork UK and made possible by the Big Lottery Fund's �234m Changing Spaces initiative.
The lottery funding will allow groups to create or regenerate local spaces to improve the quality of life in their community so any friends group involved with their local parks and green spaces are eligible. Please spread the word around your friends groups and general volunteers and encourage them to apply.
As the Civic Trust Community Spaces Manager, Julie Bustos is available to help anyone interested in making the most of this great funding opportunity. Please contact her on: 0151 231 6916 or firstname.lastname@example.com
Licensing: a further enquiry
In a recent edition of Grass Roots Online, the Formby Civic Society (FCS) reported how its Local Licensing Authority (LLA) had incorrectly denied it interested party status and it asked other Civic Societies to report on how they had fared in their dealings with their LLAs; we would still like to learn more of your experiences, good and bad.
The FCS is also concerned about a recent decision of its LLA which granted opening hours for a business which are two hours later than those permitted by planning conditions; the proprietor is currently operating according to his licence conditions. There is anecdotal evidence that some LLAs are being much more liberal than the Local Planning Authority in setting closing times and in relation to other matters, and that the resource limitations of Planning Enforcement Units are sometimes allowing planning conditions to be infringed with impunity. So that we can obtain reliable evidence concerning the prevalence or otherwise of discrepancies between the two independent systems of control, please let us know what is happening in your area. Send your e-mails to firstname.lastname@example.com; we look forward to hearing from you.