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Louis Vuitton Leads Luxury Brands In Fashion 2.0
On Wednesday, October 6, the 156-year-old Parisian fashion brand, Louis Vuitton, will expand, even deeper, into the world of fashion 2.0 with their latest digital marketing activities. Louis Vuitton will run its third live fashion show on Facebook in the last year. The 7:30am ET show will feature the Spring/Summer 2011 Collection of designer Marc Jacobs. It is scheduled to run for 10 to 15 minutes and will also be accessible on the Marc Jacobs iPhone and iPad apps. The video presentation and additional footage will be available on Facebook a few hours later.
During the last 16 months, Louis Vuitton has attracted 1.3 million Facebook LIKES and 145,000 Twitter followers (US and Paris). Those audiences, along with 26,400 Foursquare followers, will be leveraged to spread the word about the Facebook fashion show.
The Art of Travel by Louis Vuitton, your official destination for everything Louis Vuitton, is the theme for an ongoing Facebook campaign used to promote the webcast. After visitors sign up to be on the guest list for the live fashion show webcast, they will unlock the Louis Vuitton 360° Fashion Badge. The badge will also appear on their Facebook profile. Video footage will be uploaded to the Louis Vuitton YouTube channel, which has more than 679,000 views.
Currently the Louis Vuitton website features Bono and Ali Hewson, founders of Edun – a for-profit fashion company. They take website visitors on a Journey To the Heart of Africa. The interactive, international e-commerce site describes the mission of Edun – to raise awareness of the possibilities in Africa and encourage the fashion community to do business there. To further celebrate the creative potential of Africa, Louis Vuitton is hosting a temporary exhibition from October 5-17, 2010 in Paris.
Annie Leibovitz photographed Bono and Ali for the Louis Vuitton ad – Every Journey Began In Africa.
The Louis Vuitton website stands out from competitors, gains attention and attracts traffic to the website. It converts visitors into customers and transforms their past and present successes into dynamic, inviting forces of attraction. The Louis Vuitton website differentiates itself from competitive luxury brands with engaging, interactive campaigns – The Art of Travel and Journey To the Heart of Africa.
Visualize the Louis Vuitton website as a presentation of fashion with a heart. It is an awesome integrated marketing effort where e-commerce, fashion and Louis Vuitton core values merge.
Louis Vuitton marketing efforts take fashion 2.0 to the next level.
October 4, 2010 | Categories: Fashion & Social Media Marketing, Fashion On The Web, Fashion Trends, Social Media Marketing | Tags: Ali Hewson, Bono, digital marketing, e-commerce, Edun, Fashion, Fashion 2.0, Fashion on the Internet, Louis Vuitton, luxury brands | 5 Comments
Fashion 2.0 Stylists
The fashion media landscape is buzzing about The Rachel Zoe Project and über celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe. What's a girl to do if she is not a celeb and wants her own, personal stylist?
Well there's an app for that! Earlier this year in their March issue, Vogue launched Vogue Stylist, an iPhone app to assist users in styling their wardrobes by uploading pictures of items they already own and allowing the app to mix and match those pieces with timely monthly picks from the Vogue staff along with products from Vogue's advertisers. Content is updated monthly and synchronizes as issues release on newsstands.
Here's a video that shows how the Vogue Stylist works on your iPhone.
Vogue Stylist users can shop any of the looks straight from their phones or locate the closest store that sells the items, as well as share favorite styles via Facebook. In addition they can unlock exclusive content from the current issue by taking an iPhone picture of select ads which will result in special event invitations, product sampling offers, shopping discounts and exclusive videos.
Not only is this an awesome app for consumers, but it also adds value for advertisers and extends their reach. According to Vogue VP and Publisher Susan Plagemann, "This new app is a perfect example of how Vogue provides advertisers the opportunity to maximize their connection to our reader with an interesting and organic approach. It gives users a personalized interactive experience that allows them to apply Vogue's point of view on the trends to their wardrobes on a daily basis."
CLICK HERE to learn how to get the Vogue Stylist app for your iPhone.
Another fashion/tech fusion is Harper's Bazaar Personal Stylists, an online personal style resource. At the website you can shop Harper's Bazaar stylists' favorite finds, access special offers and giveaways, download exclusive shopping maps and book private New York City shopping trips. All are customized based on your individual needs, taste and budget. In addition, they include insider experiences, offers and gifts.
CLICK HERE to check out Harper's Bazaar Personal Stylists
Fashionistas … you will be on top of the latest fashion trends and know exactly where to buy them with these awesome, interactive fashion tools. In the words of Coco Chanel, "A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous." These amazing innovations will help you to get there.
August 14, 2010 | Categories: Fashion & Social Media Marketing, Fashion On The Web, Fashion Trends, Social Media Marketing | Tags: digital marketing, ecommerce, Fashion, Fashion 2.0, fashion e-commerce, fashion marketing online, Fashion on the Internet, fashion on the web, fashion stylist, Harper's Bazaar, Harper's Bazaar Personal Stylists, Integrated marketing, internet marketing, iPhone, iPhone app, online fashion, online fashion marketing, Vogue, Vogue Stylist | 2 Comments
Fashion 2.0 Thought Leaders – Fashion's Collective
This week 4Fashionistas recognizes Fashion's Collective as our next social fashion thought leader and its founder/strategist – Elizabeth Schofield as well as digital strategists Tamar Shamir Koifman and Agata Seidel. Fashion's Collective is a resource in digital and social media marketing for fashion and luxury brands.
One of my favorite places online for fashion 2.0 vision is Fashion's Collective. Visiting the website is like taking a tour of a museum where knowledgeable curators guide you through the collection of brand profiles and fashion 2.0-related articles. Everywhere visitors to the site can easily navigate the various sections and also share their findings with friends on Twitter and Facebook.
I especially enjoyed the Fashion's Collective, three-part series (The Facebook Dilemma) about Facebook marketing for luxury brands. Part I discusses whether to use Facebook or not because the audience interacting with a luxury brand does not always align with the brand's target demographic. Part II is about being strategic in finding your brand voice, how should the brand interact and determining what is the actual audience the luxury brand reaches on Facebook. Part III, the last in the series, takes luxury brands into thinking long-term and to always have an exit plan. In addition, Part III in the series encourages luxury brands to decide if they have the resources in personnel and budget to maintain a social media campaign on Facebook.
The Facebook Dilemma series provides an astute analysis of how luxury brands can strategically approach Facebook and decide if it is a good fit for them. What I particularly like about Fashion's Collective is that the marketing insights are also transferable to other industries and disciplines giving social media marketing a try.
Check out the Fashion's Collective website and CLICK HERE.
August 11, 2010 | Categories: Fashion & Social Media Marketing, Fashion On The Web, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Marketing Thought Leaders In Fashion Industry | Tags: digital marketing, Facebook, Fashion 2.0, Fashion 2.0 thought leaders, fashion marketing online, Fashion on the Internet, Fashion thought leaders, Fashion's Collective, internet marketing, luxury brands, marketing insights, social fashion, social media marketing in fashion, social media marketing in fashion industry, thought leaders, Twitter | 3 Comments
Talbots Makeover – You've Come A Long Way Baby!
Talbots is not you're grandmother's store any more. This savvy retailer is boldly moving their 63 year-old company ahead on the fashion 2.0 landscape with an updated, e-commerce website, engaging Facebook page and Twitter account. In addition, Talbots Inc. is now a favorite on Wall Street, thanks to cost cuts and a complex financial arrangement for unloading its enormous debt.
The Company
"The Talbots, Inc. is a multichannel retailer of women's apparel, shoes and accessories known for modern classic style. Its signature Talbots brand serves a broad diversity of women within the fast-growing 35+ population through an extensive range of styles and sizes. It operates seamlessly across three sales channels – stores, catalog and Internet."
The Brand
"Talbots is a leading specialty retailer and direct marketer of women's classic clothing, shoes and accessories. Established in 1947, the company is known for legacy items like the perfect blazer, trustworthy trench, versatile white shirt, ballet flats and pearls, as well as its fine workmanship, gracious service and welcoming red doors. With a nod to tradition infused with modern flair, Talbots offers an array of timeless wardrobe options to flatter women of all shapes and sizes. The Company currently operates stores in 580 locations in 46 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. Its online shopping site is located at www.talbots.com."
To solidify its comeback and boost sales, Talbots must complete a merchandise and image makeover that targets younger customers. Rejuvenating a brand that many women think of as perfect for their grandmothers is complicated. Talbots must make its clothes more youthful without alienating its core customers during the transition as well as persuade a new segment of women in their 30s and 40s to consider shopping there.
Trudy Sullivan, Talbots chief executive, is attempting to refocus on women 35 and older. She joined the company Fall 2007 and has introduced some younger items, including slim jackets and feminine dresses. With Sullivan's help, Talbots is aiming to make their fashions more hip with looks that include a sequin-trimmed sweater and leopard-print-lined black booties. So far, they have had some hits and some misses. For example, last spring, "ethnic" prints in bright colors including orange and lime green did not work for them. But this fall, a "pant fit initiative" gives customers a $5 gift card for trying on a pair from the new pants styles. The retailer sold 590,000 pairs in nine weeks. In addition, First Lady Michelle Obama has been spotted numerous times in Talbots clothing.
Judging by the comments to a WSJ article this year in April about the Talbots image makeover, some of the core customers are not happy with the changes. Fortunately there were also those that embraced the change, "Classic can mean timeless, not just dowdy and that, I think, is what Talbots is trying to do." It's a catch-22 situation. "Talbots not only needs to get its core customer spending more, it also needs to get a new customer," said Roxanne Meyer, executive director of specialty retail at UBS Investment Research. Only time will tell.
Another effort to refresh their image is making Linda Evangelista the new face of Talbots. The 44-year-old supermodel and mother was photographed by top photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott for a glossy advertising campaign which will be launched in September. According to Talbots chief marketing officer, Lori Wagner, "She possesses this timeless yet spontaneous glamour that's irresistible in our minds."
It is obvious that social media is an important tactic in Talbots marketing strategy to reposition the brand. There are 4 key steps to success in social media marketing: LISTEN, SEGMENT & TARGET, INTERACT and NOTIFY & SCORE that Talbot incorporated on the way to re-branding. The following are examples of how they did it:
Talbot listened and aimed to attract younger customers. According to Kate Goodman, director of e-commerce at Talbots, "Customers are encouraged to share their insights, advice, wisdom, and humor. This platform ("Pearls of Wisdom") allows our customers to speak freely to us about who they are and what Talbots means to them … This allows us to create a broader, more relevant community by encouraging customers to share emotional experiences — within Talbots.com instead of some third-party site."
Talbots refocused on women 35 and older, persuading a new segment of women in their 30's and 40's to consider shopping there and making their clothes more youthful without alienating their core customers during the transition.
The Talbot website has an engaging, interactive section, "Pearls of Wisdom," that is powered by the Bazaarvoice social commerce platform. According to the company, "Pearls of Wisdom: Your Voice" provides Talbots customers with a place to share their stories, opinions, and style. They are encouraged to address topics close to their hearts, including summer reading lists, embarrassing moments with moms and their absolute worst Valentine's Day gifts. Topics are promoted by email and Facebook. Top stories and writers are highlighted on Talbots Facebook fan page.
On the Talbots Facebook page, there is also an interactive Look Book, link to an article in WWD about Talbots, exclusive offers for fans and a link to find a store near you.
The "pant fit initiative" gives customers a $5 gift card for trying on a pair from the new pants styles. The retailer sold 590,000 pairs in nine weeks. Promoting "Pearl of Wisdom" topics by email, tweets promote what is going on at Talbots and an opportunity to sign-up for email notification about special offers are other ways that Talbots is using social media marketing.
Talbots was known as the label for suburban moms. Now, with the repositioning, "Talbots blends equal parts tradition and imagination to surprise and delight with timeless apparel and innovative experiences that women crave." I love the new look and their fashion 2.0 achievements. Creating "Pearls of Wisdom" and promoting it through email and on Facebook is definitely an innovative tactic.
However, Talbots still has work to do. For example, why not include the Facebook and Twitter icons on the website as well as add a YouTube channel featuring runway videos? These minor adjustments will expand their reach even further among younger women and ultimately take Talbots to the next level of fashion and retail success.
August 6, 2010 | Categories: Fashion & Social Media Marketing, Fashion On The Web, Social Media Marketing | Tags: digital marketing, e-commerce, Fashion 2.0, fashion e-commerce, fashion marketing online, Fashion on the Internet, fashion on the web, internet marketing, online fashion, online fashion marketing, social fashion, Social Media Marketing, social media marketing in fashion, social media marketing in fashion industry, women's fashions | 1 Comment
Fashion 2.0 Thought Leaders: Macala Wright Lee
This is the first in a series of posts about social media marketing thought leaders in fashion. Throughout this series, I will feature an outstanding individual in the fashion industry that stands out in the social media landscape.
Macala Wright Lee is the CEO of FashionablyMarketing.Me a digital marketing and merchandising firm that specializes in fashion, luxury and beauty brands in Southern California. You can follower her on Twitter at @FashMarketing.
What makes Macala our first Social Fashion Thought Leader is that she really knows how to use the tools of the trade. She includes photographs from real-world fashion, social media sites to better define the five ways social media changed fashion in 2009.
About six months ago Macala Wright Lee's "5 Ways Social Media Changed Fashion In 2009," appeared in Mashable – the top source for news in social and digital media, technology and web culture.
5 Ways Social Media Changed Fashion in 2009
1. Getting Cozy in Communities
2. Creating Niche Communities
3. Embracing Mobile Apps
4. The Rise of Style Bloggers
5. The Impact of User-Generated Content
CLICK HERE to read the entire article
July 7, 2010 | Categories: Fashion On The Web, Social Media Marketing Thought Leaders In Fashion Industry | Tags: digital marketing, Fashion, Fashion 2.0, Fashion 2.0 thought leaders, fashion brands, merchandising, Social Media Marketing, social media marketing in fashion industry, thought leaders | 8 Comments


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Food & Drink
With the start of December, comes the start of the festive season. We hit up the talented bar and kitchen team from our in-house restaurant and bar, Suesey Street, for some of their best food and drink recipes to enjoy during the colder weather.
Office & Workplace
As a woman in the workplace, having to choose between warmth and fashionable workwear is often a tricky one when it comes to the colder weather. You might have to go from a warm home to an overheated commute carriage, then to the cold city streets, all before you even arrive at the office.
We asked some of our Glandore Members for some of their go-to tips on what to wear to work in the winter.
Glandore Members
We are delighted to see the announcement from newest Glandore Belfast Members Moo.la, who is setting up a technology centre in Belfast creating 42 new jobs. According to Invest Northern Ireland, Co-founder of Moo.la, Gemma Godfrey has said "This is a huge opportunity in a yet uncrowded market, and we hope to help as many people as we can. Northern Ireland offers us a highly educated and committed workforce".
We are delighted to be hosting Entrepreneurs Anonymous' (EntAnon) November event at Glandore Dublin. This event is for anyone who has a lot to juggle but not enough time in the day. Speakers include Pamela Newenham, Irish Times business journalist and co-founder of GirlCrew, and Larry Maguire from the Smart Runner, a dedicated marathon runner with over 80 marathons and ultras under his belt.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Yeovil Youth Theatre (YYT) membership runs from January to January but we welcome new members at anytime of the year. In order to become a member you will need to forward a completed Membership Form, along with a signed copy of the YYT Code of Conduct and a NON-REFUNDABLE £25 membership fee, which includes a YYT T-Shirt, to the address at the bottom of this page. As a member you will then be eligible to take part in our events and to audition for any of our projects or productions throughout the year.
As an inclusive company, anyone aged 13-18 can join the YYT membership. We draw our membership from a wide geographical area and, as a youth company, our membership is continually evolving and new members are always welcome.
All projects and productions are notified to the membership as soon as information becomes available. Our main production takes place in November each year, with other smaller projects and workshops running across the year as opportunities arise. We also arrange fund raising events for the company and take part in charity events.
All projects and productions carry an additional fee appropriate to the scale of the project or production, for example: to take part in a full scale musical production at the Octagon Theatre it would cost a show fee of up to £50 (this covers the full rehearsal period - usually 3 rehearsals a week over 6 months and show in the theatre); to take part in a 4 hour workshop with a professional currently performing in the West End, it might cost a one off fee of £30; or to rehearse for a charity event there might be no extra fee.
We rehearse at The GateWay, Yeovil Community Church..
The forms below will open in a New Window.Complete our Yeovil Youth Theatre Membership Form 2019
If you would like to join us then please send your completed Membership Form, Code of Conduct Form and membership fee to The Membership Secretary at:
36, Westfield Crescent, Yeovil, Somerset, BA21 3DF.
Please make cheques payable to Yeovil Youth Theatre
Once we receive your completed forms and fee we will add you to our membership list and keep you up to date on all future events, projects, productions and workshops. Once our new website is fully functional, you will also receive your unique log in details to the members' section of our website.
For any further information please email us using the link at the top of this page.


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Ok, the price is great but seems like there's a lot of things to work around instead of work with. I will probably get CSB, I like the tone better anyways. From everything I read it is solid. Almost let a good deal get in the way of a good choice. Thanks againLcas,
A rather quick and dirty example, I'm afraid. (Links at the bottom of this post.) Various instruments and combinations of instruments through the Seventh Heaven Amsterdam Hall; dry-wet balance more or less 50/50. A very simple set-up in which any decent reverb will do about just as well (or just as bad, depending on your point of view). If it were for real though, I would use different tools (and add a delay as well) and also spend quite a bit more time on this, but I just can't stand another minute today with these sounds, and besides, a more elaborate excercise wouldn't be much help to you anyway since you don't have the tools to recreate it.
In order of appearance: (1) First Horn (2) Second Horn (3) Euphonium and Cimbasso, joined halfway through by two Trombones (4) Two trumpets (5) The two Horns again, but this time staccato & marcato.
The crackling noise you hear at 0'29", during the second horn's appearance, that is something in the samples. You can hear more of that in this example.
(JBuhler would probably advice us to use another horn in this instance. The thing is, I can provide so much examples from all across the library, that he will eventually be forced to advice us to use a different library altogether.)
By the way, JBuhler: try an interval of a major 7th starting from the either E3 or F3. And what do you have to say about this fine legato specimen? That's also Trumpet 2.
Anyway. Lcas, here's the wet version. And for comparison: the dry version.


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Jason and Derek met at a flag football game years ago. They started their relationship by slagging each other off. Derek and Jason have dreamed of starting a family for a while, so they put it out into the universe, and then Jason's sister-in-law offered to be the womb to their children. Now Jason and Derek have two twin baby boys, Camden and Colton.
To achieve the same holiday spirit they get in December and January, they want to move to Breckenridge, CO. They love the way this location looks and feels in the winter time, especially around the holidays. Jason and Derek also want a home with a more rustic look.
Wish Lists
They both want a room for guests that's close to downtown Breckenridge.
Jason's List: Jason prefers log cabins. He also wants a fireplace and a mantle.
Derek's List: He wants a modern home with a large dining room.
They have a $700,000 budget.
House #1, $679,000
This log cabin style home has a pretty wood exterior. It's 20 minutes from the main street, and about 1900 sq ft. It has three bedrooms and three bathrooms. Despite the log cabin exterior, the interior is very modern. It has hardwood flooring and a kitchenette. It's missing a fireplace, but it has a wonderful fire pit on the outside.
The home also comes with a hot tub and deck outside. It has an additional 1/2 acre of land. The home also comes furnished.
House #2, $659,000
This a condo with two bedrooms, 1200 sq ft, and it is close to downtown (five minutes away). It has a ski closet along with a huge fireplace and mantle. The home is very modern looking, but a bit small. It also has carpet, which neither men want. It is also designed to have the rooms more separate. So Jason and Derek can have private time away from the children when they get older.
The master bathroom is small and comes with unattractive tiles.
House #3, $669.000
This custom loft has four bedrooms, 2700 sq ft, and three bedrooms. It's a bit far from downtown, but very rustic. The entire exterior and interior are heavily decorated with wood fixtures. It has a wood burning stove, high ceilings, and newer appliances.
The place also has beautiful views of nature, and additional space that could be like a guest quarters for relatives.
Decision Time: House #1 seemed to be the best fit for them, if it was a bit closer to town. Jason seemed to hate that House #2 was so modern. However, it had their fireplace and was the closest to town. House #3 was a little too rustic and far from town.
Jason and Derek pick…House #2
They ended up buying it for $635,000 instead of the $659,000 asking price. They also plan to add some rustic touches to make it work better for both of them.


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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
|Pressure effects on Friedel-Crafts alkylation reactions in supercritical difluoromethane.
|Abbott, AP
Corr, S
Durling, NE
Hope, EG
|First Published:
|CHEMPHYSCHEM, 2005, 6 (3), pp. 466-472
|Dielectrometry is used as a novel technique for following the rate of a Friedel-Crafts alkylation reaction in supercritical (sc) difluoromethane. Although the process was not optimized, good product yields were obtained and reaction rates were found to be larger than in CO2 at comparable conditions. The reaction order is determined using the initial rate method and the reaction is shown to be first-order with respect to both anisole and t-butyl chloride. The reaction rate constant is unaffected by pressures above 120 bar but close to the critical pressure the value decreases with increasing pressure. It is also shown that the product distribution for the alkylation of anisole shows significant pressure dependence with substitution at the ortho-position being favored at lower pressures, which is ascribed to hydrogen bonding. This pressure dependency is not observed in sc CO2 or using toluene as a substrate, which supports the idea that hydrogen bonding may be important in the reaction mechanism. The effect of the different reagents and temperature on the rate of the alkylation reaction was also determined.
|DOI Link:
|Journal Article
|Appears in Collections:
|Published Articles, Dept. of Chemistry
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Items in LRA are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.


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I heard the moving truck stop while I was in my dads green Lamborghini. I entered my new house. I was fixing my game console so I could play Mortal Kombat on my PS3. I found a crack in front of me, but I ignored it. After playing awhile, I stopped and grabbed my tools and flashlight and went in the crack because I was bored.
I found a scorpion on the ground. I put on my gloves and touched it. He turned half human and half scorpion. He told me that Raiden the god of lightning turned him into a scorpion. He showed me his secret lair, and his pet was a big 5 foot high scorpion. He showed me his other costumes. Also scorpion put me on a bed and gave me powers like him. We went hunting in the city.
I met other people like Lu Kang, Smoke, Reptile, Borraca, Jax and my favorite, Kratos. I said to myself, "This place is awesome!" There were slaves, gods, monsters, and demons everywhere. We went to this place where lightning was everywhere. We went in a portal where it takes us to Raidens place. We found a whole bunch of lightning animals on the floor. Scorpion said, "Crush them or else they shock you."
I used my scorpion power and then we heard laughter.
A voice said, "You will never defeat me!" We saw Kung Lao and he said, "Son why are you doing this?"
We battled and won. Scorpion let me keep his powers. When I came back to my room I saw scorpion stuff everywhere. I said to myself. "What a day!"
By JN


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Massad Ayoob – Road Rage Avoidance
Just a friendly reminder: It's a busy time of year. Most folks are in a hurry, driving all over God's green earth to fulfill last minute requirements. Stress is high, roads are packed and people get pissed off.
You suddenly find yourself in a road rage indecent. Do you have a set of techniques and procedures for handling people that aren't in control of their anger?
If not you might think about getting some training in that area. The link above is a good start to get the ball rolling in your mind. If you know someone who's been trained in executive protection and evasive driving you might go to them for scholarship. They may have some ideas how to implement good techniques for handling "ragers".
Ego: There's more than a few deadly road encounters that could have been avoided had folks checked their ego. The guy in the graphic above is a perfect example. The natural male response to his question is: "I'm not a chicken-$#!+, I'll show you!" It goes full-retard from there. No male is immune, the one's that aren't subject to the monkey dance are that way by conscious decision. Checking the ego is not easy to do, but you and I hold the keys to the outcome of bad situations. There are very few victims in life, and many participants.
One can have all the gun skills and "bad-assery" training in the world, but if they don't check their ego when they're up against idiot drivers . . . "$#!+ can get real".
There's more than a few idiots "out there" driving around. They get brave and reckless behind a wheel. Stay safe, avoid them if you can, handle them intelligently if you can't.
Have a safe Holiday Season.


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Last year, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) developed a new model for inspecting and regulating NHS acute hospitals. They commissioned a team from Manchester Business School and The King's Fund to evaluate the new and evolving approach as they rolled it out. The team published its report in July 2014, and they talk about it here.
- Read the blog post: How do Care Quality Commission hospital inspections measure up?
- Read the report: Evaluating our hospital inspection model


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Last year, hip-hop company Boy Blue Entertainment presented the searing triptych Blak Whyte Gray [1] in London and Edinburgh, a performance that brought the conceptual clout of contemporary fare to the raw rigours of street dance. Now the company – lead by choreographer Kenrick 'H2O' Sandy and composer Michael 'Mikey J' Asante – are back at the Barbican for A Night With Boy Blue, an evening that not only demonstrates afresh the stellar talents of the professional crew but also showcases the phenomenal potential of its students.
The scale of this achievement is massive, both logistically (the show features 129 dancers, aged 8 and upwards) and artistically. There's no school-show mediocrity here: these young performers serve hip hop's foundational styles – popping, locking and breaking – with the precision and musicality of a corps de ballet. With the standard so high, it's a delight to see the occasional performer with that ineffable extra quality of stage presence and skill, a complete embodiment of and immersion in the dance that goes far beyond the footlights.
Despite that, it's a wonderfully egalitarian affair, a testament both to teaching and the power of collective movement. In the student and professional pieces, there are brief solos but never any stagey showboating. Asante's electronic compositions are energetic and absorbing, while his remixes and arrangements tactfully remove Missy Elliott's bawdier lyrics about depilation. He and Sandy make a charismatic pair of comperes, even presiding over a burst of incredible freestyling to the Birds of a Feather theme tune.


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This is the last article on the baptising of our children, and I thought it would be good to give the last word to someone who has been described as the greatest Biblical theologian England has ever seen – the 17th century preacher, John Owen.
We've seen over the last few articles that the Church in the NT baptised her children, and that this was a practise that continued in the years immediately following the Apostles. But we also noted that from quite early on this practise was contested. Remember Tertullian in the second century? Some 1400 years later we find the same discussion carrying on! After a dubious consensus in the Middle Ages, the Reformation re-opened this debate with a vengeance. The Church of England followed the 'magisterial' European Reformers (particularly Calvin in the 39 Articles) in her teaching on Baptism. But in the mid-1600's, the conversation polarised when an Anglican minister, John Tombes went into print arguing against the received doctrine of the Church of England that children should be baptised. He provoked a short article from the then Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, John Owen, who brilliantly summarises the arguments, and so a short journey through his essay might help crystallise the issues as we move on.
Owen begins by reminding us what the question is, and what it is not. It is not 'whether professing believers … not baptised in infancy ought to be baptised'. They should. Neither is it whether faith and repentance should precede baptism when administered to adults. It should. And it is not whether every child should be baptised. They should not. Owen clarifies the issue: 'the question is only concerning the children or infant seed of professing believers who are themselves baptised'. He acknowledges the practise has been abused over the years, but that does not mean there is no right, proper and biblically mandated use for it. In the light of such abuse we shouldn't abolish the practise, but reform it according to a more Biblical pattern, administered correctly and followed up with catechesis.
After some initially quite aggressive polemic, Owen moves onto more constructive ground, acknowledging that the debate is not about a few isolated proof texts, but is rather a discussion over how the Bible as a whole is structured. He maintains the continuity of the Abrahamic covenant from Old to New Testament, and rather playfully asks if God has made things worse for children since Christ's coming in the flesh, if they are indeed no longer incorporated into the sacramental life of the covenant? He contends that passages such as Is.44:3 do not suggest that God intends to ever go back on the inclusion of children within the covenant arrangement. This seems to be corroborated, argues Owen, by passages such as Eph.6:1-3 in which the Apostle clearly relates to children as included in the life of the covenant, and subject to its blessings (cf. Dt.21:18-21). He is optimistic about the possibility of young children having a vital faith in Christ (though it may not have the cognitive sophistication of an adult's faith); but is reluctant to argue from this
to the legitimacy of baptising children. He does argue that if some children are in fact saved at a young age, there should be no de facto reason for children to not be baptised. But he clearly prefers to look back to Reformers such as Luther or Calvin, and follows their insistence that baptism represents God's promise rather than the believer's faith. As such, children are as capable as anyone else of receiving the grace signified in baptism: 'They are certainly partakers of [that grace], namely such as die in infancy … therefore they may and ought to be baptised'. This is a powerful point to make, and it serves him well in his role as a pastor. In 1674, he wrote to close friends of his who had recently suffered the loss of a young daughter: 'Your dear infant is in the eternal enjoyment of the fruits of all our prayers; for the covenant of God is ordered in all things, and is sure. We shall go to her; she shall not return to us. Happy was she in this above us, that she had so speedy a [removal from] sin and misery, being born only to strengthen your faith and patience and to glorify God's grace in her eternal blessedness…'.
He then argues that children and their parents are by nature part of the same covenant, are dealt with by God on the same terms, and have the same rights to the signs to that covenant. This sets Owen up for the now familiar suggestion that Christ fulfils the covenant made with Abraham (Owen cites Rom.15:8 & Mal.3:1). He argues that if the offspring of believers are no longer to be included in the sacramental life of the covenant, then Christ has not confirmed the truth of God in His promise to Abraham. Owen raises the stakes by linking this issue with the integrity of God's character! If God is trustworthy, He must continue to relate to the offspring of believers in the terms of the covenant He made with Abraham (Gen.17:7; other examples include Josh.24:15). Christ has fulfilled the covenant with Abraham, the original promise of which included Abraham's children. If children are no longer to be so included in the same covenant as their parents, then Jesus has not done what He promised to do.
It might be worth reminding ourselves that a theologian like John Owen can vigorously argue his convictions about baptism to the point of entering into public controversy; yet was committed to pursuing Christian fellowship those with whom he disagreed. His respect and admiration for the Baptist pastor John Bunyan is well chronicled. This remarkable balance of engaging passionately with an issue on the one hand, whilst on the other not allowing it to become a cause for division, was part of the genius of John Owen, and is something I suggest we should strive to emulate in our deliberations.


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Praise for Schooled (Teachers College Press, 2015)
"A fascinating journey into the lives of nine American teachers – all different but tied together with a similar tone of dedication, passion and hope to change young people's lives. Anyone interested in the diverse world of education should read this book. Everyone who thinks that teaching is so easy that anyone can do it must read this book. As they say, teaching is not rocket science, it's more complicated than that." – Pasi Sahlberg, author of Finnish Lessons 2.0: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland
"In Schooled, high school teacher Anne Lutz Fernandez and sociocultural anthropologist Catherine Lutz introduce us to devoted teachers whose luminous commitment to the intellectual, social, political, and emotional development of children and youth, despite increasingly difficult work conditions, gives us reason for hope. By showing us that 'the ordinary work of teaching is extraordinary,' the authors reveal the disconnect between teachers' arduous, intellectual daily work and the cascade of recent educational reforms....Schooled pays tribute to passionate, informed educators, but directly challenges the reforms now being forced upon them. The book is an electrifying and inspiring must read for teachers and everyone concerned with the fate of our schools."-Lesley Bartlett, Associate Professor, Educational Policy Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison
"This book makes an important case for defying the standardization that passes for school reform, while we learn first hand what it means to teach today in a changing social, cultural and political environment." - Ann Lieberman, Senior Scholar, Stanford University
"This well-written book by Fernandez and Lutz fills an important gap in understanding teachers' work in a climate of test-based accountability. In integrating two strands of perspectives, namely, field-based practice and cultural anthropology, the authors illuminate the voices of nine teachers in navigating their 'extraordinary' practices in their own setting. This book will rapidly become a required reading not only among educators but also among education policy reformers. Clearly, lessons learned from these contextually-rich case studies will inform our current policy debate on charting the steps in supporting the teaching profession." - Kenneth K. Wong, Chair, Education Department; Director, Urban Education Policy Program; Walter and Leonore Annenberg Professor for Education Policy; and Professor of Political Science, Public Policy, and Urban Studies, Brown University
"Schooled is a wonderful, readable book to share with local critics of education and policy makers...or as a selection for a teachers' book club....Reading these case studies affirms that teachers are real people with a commitment to helping students but who come with their own personal challenges in addition to dealing with the current negative discourse about education and conflicting reform movements. For those still in the classroom, Schooled echoes many of their own views and situations. For those who have been out of the classroom for a long time or those who have never taught, the book affirms 'what it means to teach with passion and talent in a changing social, cultural and political environment.'" - Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin
"Faces of teachers and stories from their classrooms demonstrate that policies and pedagogic practices are not lived out in a vacuum but within the diversity that makes up our classrooms...Lutz Fernandez and Lutz offer considerations for reform movements, the notion of austerity, teacher workloads as well as a need and suggestions for teachers to become purposeful advocates for their students. In our era of standardized schooling, with little attention given to teacher and student experiences with prescribed policies and pedagogies, this work is a must read by those in the field, pre-service teachers, and those removed from the field that have an interest in education." - McGill Journal of Education
Praise for Catherine Lutz and Anne Lutz Fernandez's Carjacked (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010)
"In Carjacked, an anthropologist and writer delve into American car culture—the romance that longed ago turned into marriage—and offer a thorough, gimlet-eyed assessment." - Tom Vanderbilt, Author of Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do
"The authors capture the fantasy and reality of our love of cars. They hold up a mirror to we, 'the people,' to let us look at our individual and collective glamour and bloat. They ask, subtly and with a good amount of wit, if we know what we are doing to ourselves? You must read it to learn the answers, which might surprise you." - John Hofmeister, former president of Shell Oil and author of Why We Hate the Oil Companies
"Americans' infatuation with their cars is critiqued in this readable treatment. Replete with the ironic and irrational aspects of owning and driving cars, it partakes of car psychology to deliver its message about the statistical costs of four-wheeled freedom. Emphasizing the attachment of values such as personal independence to car ownership, not to mention self-image and status, Lutz and Fernandez cheerily saunter through automobile advertising and movies to show how mass media exploit people's desire to buy cars." -Booklist
"Strongly recommended for all willing to consider that we need to 'step away from the car.'" -Library Journal
"Sisters Lutz and Lutz Fernandez are an anthropology professor and an investment banker turned English teacher, respectively. Their book was prompted by the death of a relative, and presents both the sustained critique that such an affective genesis would suggest, and the rounded approach implied by the authors' backgrounds and expertise ….This is a timely, vigorous and painfully enjoyable critique of the automobile in a world of depleting resources and sharpened priorities." - Times Higher Education (UK)
"Looks at how car culture takes over our daily routines and how we might wrest back some of that control." –The Wall Street Journal
"Thought-provoking inquiry into the role of cars in our lives, most especially the suburban lifestyle that cars created. Their main conclusion is for Americans to examine how they use their cars as opposed to how they think they use them. In other words, to strip away the romantic fancies fed by memories, folklore and advertisers, and face the reality of the best way to get from A to B. Such a reality check up, they argue, could result in a more rational approach to driving with people using cars less and walking or bicycling or taking buses or trains more." -The Providence Journal
"Carjacked aims to answer certain questions that lie deep in our brains - the unnoticed, unremarked-upon equivalents of spare tires in trunks: Why do cars play such a central role in our lives? Are they really as essential as they seem? Is there a sager, saner way to live with the car and have the mobility we need?" - Connecticut Post
"This need for a more balanced transportation environment also underscores Catherine Lutz's and Anne Lutz Fernandez's powerful and sobering Carjacked, which examines the many unanticipated consequences of car culture. No mere anti-car manifesto, Carjacked is an anthropological study of what the authors refer to as the 'car system,' of which the automakers are merely one element...They have assembled a fascinating and disturbing portrait of something we accept as normal--indeed essential--but which has, in many ways, betrayed much of its original promise." - The Winnipeg Free Press
"Authors Catherine Lutz and Anne Lutz Fernandez effectively and accessibly lay out the social, financial, historical, and of course, environmental impact of America's love affair with the internal combustion engine." -PlanetGreen
"Anyone who thinks that the awesome power of the private automobile doesn't come with great responsibilities would do well to read through the relentless documentation of these costs that makes up the book Carjacked." -The Truth About Cars


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Arctic Express, based in Hilliard OH, filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code Oct 31, 2003, in federal court in Columbus OH.
Richard Durst, the firm's president, says the action was taken in response to a six-year legal dispute with the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. Debtor-in-possession financing has been arranged with Arctic's primary lender, Textron Financial, and Durst says the company will continue normal operation and full service to all customers during the proceeding. A plan will be filed quickly to provide for full payment of all legitimate claims, and the company has arranged for all employees and contractors to be paid in full and on time during the reorganization, Durst says.
The legal battle with OOIDA has cost the company almost $700,000 and drained resources that would otherwise be used to pay creditors, he says. Arctic wishes to pay operators fairly without the continuing burden of litigation costs, Durst says. D&A Associates, an equipment leasing company affiliated with Arctic, has also filed for Chapter 11 protection. Both companies are represented by Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP, a Missouri law firm.


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Thanks so so so much everyone for your kind words on my upcoming wedding, we are pretty much dying of excitement!!!!
I've just updated the shop with new stuff! Yay!
My friend Amanda sent me this amazing package with owl fabric, all I want to do is make owl things! I'm making an owl quilt from scraps starting this weekend!I'm going to cut out owls and then make big blocks from bits and pieces of stuff! Cute huh?
We are driving and spending the weekend with Mr. McPorkchops dad! Does anyone have any suggestions for quilt shops in or around Grass Valley/Nevada City? I'm dying to go there and see the Victorians Houses and Gold Rush stuff! I'm a history buff, did you know that? I accidently left my field guide to American Architecture at home in Eureka though :( Any places to visit would be neat :)
I'm off to finish a custom order and resew a lost order! Tomorrow is post office day so anything you buy today gets shipped tomorrow morning! And bobby pins will ship for free if you buy them along with something else :):)
Have a GREAT Tuesday!


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BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Assets in fixed-income exchange-traded funds rose by more than $3 billion, or 9% in January as financial advisers and investors looked for safe haven from the stock market's gyrations, ETF sponsor State Street Global Advisors reported Thursday. The Boston-based firm said assets in its SPDR Lehman International Treasury Bond ETF BWX, +0.52% jumped 35% last month as investors poured in over $100 million, seeking to profit from a weaker U.S. dollar and more attractive overseas yields.
Bond ETFs gain assets on stock volatility
Quote References
+0.15 +0.52%


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Coral Gables
He went to buy a new cell phone. What store clerk found on old phone landed him in jail.
He tried to get a new phone at a Coral Gables Metro PCS store.
Instead, he got busted for storing inappropriate images of children on his phone, police said in a Nov. 21 arrest warrant.
Orlando Chang, 55, was being held on a $77,000 bond Tuesday after being charged with 11 counts of possessing child pornography.
Police said Chang showed up at the Metro PCS store, 262 Miracle Mile, on June 8 and bought a new phone. He asked an employee to switch his data from his old phone, including pictures and contacts to his new phone.
According to the warrant, an employee "saw what appeared to be a pornographic images of an unknown young girl in sexual positions." The employee called police, the warrant said.
When officers arrived, the employee showed them the images in Chang's phone.
"The young female minor appeared to have been seven to nine years old depicted in sexual positions and engaged in sexual acts with unknown adults," the officer wrote.
Chang was arrested on a bench warrant for driving on a suspended license in 2007.
After being interviewed, Chang told police that "the images were sent to him by the child's mother," according to the warrant.
On July 10, police got a search warrant for Chang's phone and found "multiple images of child pornography on the phone," an officer wrote. Most were of children who appeared to be younger than 12.
Chang was arrested Monday.


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BASE has revealed three new safety trainer options for its range: Frisbee, Be-Shiny and Colosseum.
The trio join the existing Martin and Opera BASE trainer line-up and are similar in comfort and style and – according to BASE – are among the lightest safety trainers on the market.
Both Frisbee and Be-Shiny trainers are fitted with BASE SlimCap – a metal-free toe cap which is 35% lighter than standard steel toe caps, BASE said, and with a pre-shaped protective bend for additional protection. Frisee and Be-Shiny also have a tough and slip-resistant TPU-Skin, which makes the soles of the footwear ultra-flexible, to cushion the foot and bend as required. With its steel toe cap, the Colosseum trainer is flexible and comfortable thanks to its Airtech anti-fatigue sole.
Other tech packed into the Frisbee is BASE's Dry 'n' Air technology, an ergonomic footbed built for extreme comfort, plus air circulation to keep feet cool and fresh.
All three new trainers feature padded collars to maximise comfort and include all-important SmellStop technology, with a fabric lining that has a permanent anti-bacterial treatment to help prevent odours.
For more information on Base products contact Hyde on 0121 704 2324 or visit www.brianhyde.co.uk


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Palaeobiology of Giant Flightless Birds
1st Edition
The fossil record of giant flightless birds extends back to the Late Cretaceous, more than 70 million years ago, but our understanding of these extinct birds is still incomplete. This is partly because the number of specimens available is sometimes limited, but also because widely different approaches have been used to study them, with sometimes contradictory results. This book summarizes the current knowledge of the paleobiology of seven groups of giant flightless birds: Dinornithiformes, Aepyornithiformes, Dromornithidae, Phorusrhacidae, Brontornithidae, Gastornithidae and Gargantuavis.
The first chapter presents the global diversity of these birds and reviews the tools and methods used to study their paleobiology. Chapters 2 to 8 are each dedicated to one of the seven groups of extinct birds. Finally, a conclusion offers a global synthesis of the information presented in the book in an attempt to define a common evolutionary model.
Key Features
- Focuses on the giant flightless birds that evolved independently in different parts of the world since the Cretaceous period
- Covers a number of different families with different evolutionary histories, providing a source of interesting comparisons
- Provides emphasis on the palaeobiology of these birds, including their evolution, adaptations, mode of life, ecology and extinction
Vertebrate Palaeontologists, ornithologists, evolutionary biologists, biogeographers, archaeologists. Although primarily aimed at specialists and graduate students, the book should also be of interest to members of the general public interested in avian palaeontology
Table of Contents
1. General Introduction
2. Dinornithiformes
3. Aepyornithiformes
4. Dromornithidae
5. Phorusrhacidae
6. Brontornithidae
7. Gastornithidae
8. Gargantuavis
- No. of pages:
- 296
- Language:
- English
- Copyright:
- © ISTE Press - Elsevier 2018
- Published:
- 16th November 2017
- Imprint:
- ISTE Press - Elsevier
- Hardcover ISBN:
- 9781785481369
- eBook ISBN:
- 9780081011430
About the Author
Delphine Angst
Delphine Angst is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. Her work currently focuses on the study of paleobiology and paleoecology of giant flightless birds through a multidisciplinary approach.
Affiliations and Expertise
University of Cape Town, South Africa
Eric Buffetaut
Eric Buffetaut is Director of Research Emeritus at the National Center of Scientific Research (Geology Department of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris). After working on crocodiles, dinosaurs and pterosaurs, he is now mainly interested in the paleobiology of extinct birds.
Affiliations and Expertise
National Center of Scientific Research, France
"This book is an important contribution to these wonderful questions and a must for anyone with a fascination for this anachronistic body plan." --Quarterly Review of Biology


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What is the Average Cost of a Walgreens Franchise? Average Walgreens Franchise Price
Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) is a chain of drugstores in the United States and operates more than 7,500 drugstores across the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and all 50 states. Through its retail drugstores, Walgreen provides health and wellness services and consumer goods in America. Walgreen was founded in 1901 and has expanded throughout the U.S. since then. Walgreen Health Initiative Inc. offers medical plans and health services to its customers. Walgreens is a chain of drugstores led by a board of directors. There are no franchises within the corporate set up of Walgreens.
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It doesn't have quite the drama and global appeal as his Whale Wars. But Sea Shepherd captain and Canadian Paul Watson reentered the emotional debate over Canada's annual seal hunt last month, with predictable results.
Fishermen on the Atlantic coast of Canada have complained for years that harp seals have been depleting stocks of cod, and that a global campaign to put Canada's sealers out of business – most based in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia – could also spell doom for its fishermen, who bring in about $30 million worth of Atlantic cod a year.
Some fishermen believe that the seals preferentially dine on the nutrient-rich livers and bellies of the cod, leaving the rest to go to waste and requiring more fish to be killed to make a meal. Mr. Watson says that's absurd, and has offered $50,000 to anyone who can provide video evidence of the practice. The move is designed to generate publicity and support for the campaign to end what he an many others consider a barbaric practice.
That claim echoes past claims about other other predators that were later proved to be false (ranchers and hunters have at various times claimed that wolves and coyotes were indiscriminate killers). But there does appear to be a grain of truth here. In a 2005 report, Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans found that seals are an important predator – even though cod are preyed upon at various stages in their life cycle by squid, minke whales, halibut, and other cod. While the seals mostly feed on smaller fish, the report found that "large cod probably have few natural predators, but seals can prey upon them by belly-feeding."
Still, the presence of large apex predators like seals are typically a sign of a healthy and productive ecosystem, and human fishing activity – whether it targets North Atlantic cod or bluefin tuna – is the reason for the collapse of fish stocks worldwide. And if seals were taken out of the picture, the population of squid – which eat juvenile cod and are in turn eaten by the seals – might well explode.
"There's not a single speck of evidence that the seals are the problem," says Sheryl Fink, a Canadian researcher for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). "Of course it's easier to blame a predator rather than blaming our own overfishing or mismanagement. Close fisheries? Politicians don't want to do that, so they leave fisheries open far too long. And then when they decline, they blame the seals."
Seal: It's what's for lunch
Nevertheless, Canada's Parliament, which has strongly supported the hunt, isn't taking any of this lying down. In fact, it's taking it to lunch. On Wednesday, the legislators' lunch is scheduled to revolve around "double smoked, bacon-wrapped seal loin," according to a menu released to the press, though a medley of organic Canadian vegetables is also on offer. The Parliament press office said it expects to serve one seal dish a week until the hunt ends in May.
"Next week, when my colleagues and I will eat seal meat in the parliamentary restaurant, we will not be doing this as a 'gimmick,' " Quebec Senator Celine Hervieux-Payette wrote on her website. Instead, the meal will be "a testament to the solidarity of parliamentarians who support Canadians who fully contribute to the prosperity and diversity of this country."
Sealing may be one of the few issues over which the generally popular Canadians get grief abroad. Last year, the European Union voted to ban seal imports from Canada and elsewhere, though that's being challenged on restraint of trade grounds by Inuit in Canada and Greenland.
But rather than back down and seek compromise, politicians there have taken a number of steps that -- whatever their real intentions -- seem designed to infuriate the world's seal-lovers.
Last year, Canadian Governor-General Michaëlle Jean helped gut a seal and ate some of its raw meat for the cameras at an Inuit festival in Nunavut. And last May, the Canadian Parliament voted unanimously to ask its Olympic team to wear either seal pelts or sealskin at the opening of the Vancouver Winter Olympics, though that plan was later dropped. The sealskin ploy was a direct response to the EU ban.
Thriving seals, struggling fishermen
Shannon Lewis, executive director of the North East Coast Sealers Cooperative in Fleur De Lys on Newfoundland, says harp seals are thriving in the North Atlantic. He says the current Canadian population is estimated at more than 6.8 million now, up from a nadir of 2 million in the 1980s, and disagrees with Ms. Fink about the seals' impact on the fishery.
"It's proven that there is a correlation between the amount of seals and the decline of the fish stocks," he says. "We've had fishermen on the Nova Scotia coast who had to refrain from fishing due to the nuisance of seals getting in their traps and nets."
He also insists that seal pups – which are generally clubbed to death and referred to in the business as "beaters" – are dispatched as quickly and humanely as possible. Campaigners like Fink, however, charge that the way the hunt is set up – the quota is filled by whoever can kill the seals the fastest – prompts a race that leads to sloppy kills and suffering.
While Mr. Lewis acknowledges that seal hunting is an important part of the economic mix for fishermen in rural Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, he claims that abandoning the seal hunt would be disastrous. "It's not a matter of market conditions as much as it's a matter of necessity to harvest them to create some sort of equilibrium between fish and seal stocks, or we're going to lose the fish," Lewis says. "The seal processors and the fishing industry are a significant part of the economy iin rural Newfoundland."
Fink at IFAW points out that the challenge by the Inuit doesn't make sense on its own, since the EU ban makes explicit exceptions for Inuit and other aboriginal hunting of the animals. She says that most Inuit seal hunting in Canada is sustainable and largely consists of killing adults for meat, something her group doesn't oppose.
The commercial hunt, which almost exclusively kills pups for the fur and pelt trade, is something else, she says.
Fink says her group obtained a government memo under Canada's freedom of information laws that suggests sealing advocates "should play the Nunavut Inuit card to get people to open up their markets so that the commercial sealers can follow."
Fink says "99 percent of the seal hunt isn't about meat. The seals they're killing are a month old – they don't have any meat on them." Canadian politicians and sealing advocates, by publicizing things like Parliament's menu, she says, are "deliberately trying to confuse the two."
"Yes, they are intelligent, interesting animals and they are cute," says Lewis. "But they are a manageable and renewable resource that can be harvested humanely. The sealing industry is a significant part of our economy, the seals a part of our ecosystem that has to be utilized."


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In the last month, we've seen some major movement on Marvel's upcoming Thor movie. Major casting decisions were announced with Chris Hemsworth set to play Thor and Tom Hiddleston to play Loki, and we've heard director Kenneth Branagh talk about the cast and nailing down the shooting schedule.
With the big announcements made, we're starting to finally see some more general news on the movie including these two interviews that I'll discuss in this article.
CineFOOLS had the opportunity to speak with one of the writers of Thor movie, Ashley Miller (the other being Zack Stentz) and they had a lengthy interesting discussion about the film and their goals in writing it. Miller is a huge fan of the Thor comics (a big plus for the readers of the books) and he actually owns the complete Simonson run of the series among others. You'll see that those comics in particular are helping inspire aspects of the screenplay.
I've selected some of the more interesting and relevant questions and responses for you to see.
To start, CineFOOLS asked how the writers make a character based in another world not only realistic for the viewers, but fit with the other characters in Marvel Studios' other films.
"Thor's powers are godly, yes. And his zip code is a little different. But at the end of the day, he's a man. In the comics, Odin sends him to Earth because he's not perfect. He's brash, arrogant. Even over-confident. We all know that guy -- some of us have even been that guy. Stan Lee's genius was to give Thor-as-hero an emotional throughline we could all relate to, and knock him down a couple of pegs. So on that level, your question answers itself. The challenge is to dramatize that and make the audience see what the fans have known and believed about the character all along.
As for realism, I have to ask you back: what does that mean? If the standard is, does he throw his back out if he hurls the hammer a little too hard... probably not. He's a god. He's incredibly strong. He can fly. He tosses lightning bolts. There's nothing realistic about any of that. But he also bleeds. He struggles. Life kicks him where it hurts the most. Dramatically speaking, the powers and Asgard are gravy. The meat -- and what makes it a Marvel movie -- is the character."
Next, they asked if any particular storylines from the comics acted as an inspiration for the film and you can probably guess the answer:
"So many things. Certainly, Walt Simonson's take on the character greatly informs what we brought to the script although I wouldn't say we went to a specific story from his tenure on the book. We saw part of our job as taking all the many approaches to the character over the years (including the myths) and distilling them down into a form that worked for a two-hour movie. There's a tremendous amount of ground to cover, so inspiration has to come from everywhere."
The next part is exciting. CineFOOLS asked Ashley how he wants Thor should be portrayed what he'd like to bring to the character in his writing. His response:
"Grit. Not in the sense that you'd want to see a generic "dark" take on Thor, but in the sense that you want to feel Thor's rage when he rages. You want to see him fight like hell, and take as much he dishes out -- maybe more. You want to have a visceral reaction to the guy, and what happens to him. You don't want his adventures to be clean and antiseptic. You want to see the dirt, and grime and blood. You want to feel every bone crunching moment of every fight. And when he unleashes the storm, you want to feel like you're seeing the power of a GOD at work.
The best example I can give you is the end of Ultimates 2. When Thor shows up and kicks ass, he shows up and kicks ass. He isn't screwing around. There's a certain brutal, cock-eyed realism to Thor in that moment (and through that book in general) that I really resonate to and want to expand on."
And that's exactly how it should be done in my mind – Just thinking about this movie is getting me excited for it.
Continue to Page 2 for more from writer Ashley Miller and actor Tom Hiddleston...


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Steps on Finding Free Genealogy Information
Information is very important when researching for your genealogy. There are lots of resources wherein you can take all the benefits for free. But without any guidelines you cannot create a clear research path. There are four simple steps in finding genealogy information.
1.Collect useful information from recognized relatives. This is the basic rule for genealogy research. Keep a healthy skepticism when you are finding for records. There are instances that published records may achieve a legitimacy or unrealistic status. Never also assume that published information on the internet is correct. You need to verify it.
2.Communicate with someone who knows the history of your family through the internet. Genealogy research requires study and is time consuming. But you can utilize the power of the internet, besides it is fast and easy. You need to learn using emails, message boards, and email lists to open up communication with other researchers and relatives. Thus, significant online resources (census and statistics) are identified.
Remember that web pages are powerful because it has the ability to connect you to other web site links. Make sure that the websites have affiliate programs. These programs are paid so that they could link them to other useful sites. Typically, some websites are offering free access and free trial subscriptions.
Another website type that you can use is the one which provides family or surname search capability. This automatically generates links to other well known genealogy sites.
3.Do your research using free online databases. Genealogy website has two major types. First are internet websites which describe the methods of research as well as provide detailed sources on microfilms and papers. Second are internet websites which focus on searchable genealogy databases and online tools.
But problems may be encountered, small websites maybe not only your problem, but also major websites. Conflicts such as verifications of official records are not done. You may not be well acquainted of using the internet, and slow computer access can also be a problem. Just be patient.
4.Search for absurd records. You cannot trace your family history if the information you are getting is not clear. Start with record indexes. You need to study the descriptions listed on the records. The time and place of the census is very important.
If you are using the internet technology, you see the real images on the transcribed information. Oftentimes the images on the original record are manually transcribed by people. By reading the original document, once can transfer the information on the internet. Take for example the names of people. They are clearly written on the internet but also provide the original view of the document. In this way, you don't have any difficulty in understanding hand writings that sometimes are not easily readable.
You don't need to worry because the sources are made easy for you using even the latest technology. If you know what to do and how to do it, then your chances of a successful research is increased. One last reminder, never give up even if it gets difficult, what you have started can be just all wasted. But for sure, you don't want any regrets.


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