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Wyoming Entrepreneurs Cash In On the Growing Beard Business
Facial hair is more than a fashion trend. Here in the Cowboy State, the beard fad is booming and the folks at 307 Beards have turned men's grooming into a growing business.
The idea started when Allen Maltbie had difficulty finding products for his beard. In his words, "my beard looked really bad". After searching for balms and conditioners, he noticed that most of the products on the market were either ineffective or too expensive.
Allen's frustration came to a head one day while vacationing in Jackson. After purchasing an expensive product that "smelled like fruit loops", he decided to make his own. He liked it so much that he shared his product with a few friends.
Encouraged by his wife Leah, Maltbie decided to turn his hobby into a business. Amazingly, his first batch sold out in three days. Eventually, his hobby lead to the launch of 307 Beards in June of 2015.
The Riverton based company now produces several varieties of balms and oils available online and in several retail outlets across the state. They've partnered with local groups including the Bearded Sinners Beard Club of Wyoming to promote local charity events.
Recently, they began work on a line of custom balms and oils that will allow consumers and retailers to create their own unique mixes and fragrances.
Want to learn more about Wyoming's fastest growing beard business? Check out the 307 Beards Facebook page or visit their website.


text:
Solid Ink Printer Supplies
Looking for something you don't see here? Contact us at email@example.com and we'll source it and send you a quote!
Simple instalment plans available instantly at checkout
Use your existing debit or credit card
No long forms, instant approval online
Pay fortnightly, enjoy your purchase straight away!
All your need is:
1) An Australian Visa or Mastercard debit/credit card; 2) To be over 18 years of age; 3) To live in Australia
To see Afterpay's complete terms, visit https://www.afterpay.com.au/terms
© 2019 Afterpay

subset: commoncrawl


text:
SysInfoTools Email Tools Combo Pack v1.0 by SysInfoTools
SysInfoTools Email Combo pack is ideal offer for an individual who engages e-mail system often and getting important information in e-mails system. Buy our Email Combo pack at attractive prices, reduce costs and grab quality software's. Be quick! Offer valid for limited period. Client satisfaction is undoubtedly our achievement. PST Split from SysInfoTools is definitely an advance, lightweight effective utility to separate large PST file into small PST files. By using this utility PST file associated with a size could be split up into quantity of small PST files this can help in improving in the performance of MS Outlook. PST Split from SysInfoTools is safe and sound utility it doesn't overwrite anything into original PST File while Splitting PST. PST Split is really a non-destructive application that includes high-finish checking techniques to separate PST file. PST Compress from SysInfoTools is really a full featured compression utility that permit customers to compact Outlook PST files easily within couple of clicks. SysInfoTools supplies a simple interface with this software to ensure that a newcomer user can run it without needing any technical understanding. PST Upgrade and downgrade from SysInfoTools is really a effective PST conversion tool to upgrade or degrade MS Outlook PST files. Using SysInfoTools PST Upgrade and Downgrade a person can convert ANSI PST files to Unicode PST and Unicode PST files to ANSI PST files. MS Outlook Password Recovery from SysInfoTools rebounds all passwords of e-mails account produced in MS outlook. It support ANSI and Unicode PST files.Type: Shareware
Price: USD $119.00
Tags: Pst, Pst Password Recovery, email response software, Free Email Tool, mail solution, Email Tools, email and tools, Email Management Tool, passwords recovery, email application
Software Info
Add Your Review
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Add logos or custom texts on your digital photos or pictures. You can change the watermark appearance (text, font, transparency, color


text:
APC and CSU reach Tentative Agreement on Three-Year ContractHighlights Include General Salary Increases, Signing Bonus, and Parking Rates Freeze
The Academic Professionals of California (APC) representing Unit 4 members has reached a Tentative Agreement with the California State University (CSU). The Tentative Agreement (TA) calls for the following General Salary Increases (GSI):
- 3.11% for the year 2017-2018 retroactive to July 1, 2017
- 3.00% on July 1, 2018 for the fiscal year 2018 - 2019
- 3.00% on July 1, 2019 for the fiscal year 2019 - 2020.
The Tentative Agreement also includes:
- A one-time lump sum bonus of $650 for each Unit 4 employee in pay status upon ratification of the agreement by both parties
- No increase in Parking Fees for Unit 4 members over the next three years
- An increase in the weekly Non-Industrial Disability Insurance (NDI) benefit from $125 to $250 for all Unit 4 employees
APC´s concession: Unit 4 employees hired after July 1, 2018 would only be eligible for retiree benefits after ten (10) years of service.
The CSU initially proposed and ultimately withdrew proposals which would have negatively impacted the Unit 4 contract in several key areas such as In-Range Progression (IRP) requests, Grievance Processing, Family Medical Leave, Funeral Leave, and substantial Parking Fee increases for each year of the agreement.
The next step is for APC members to vote on this proposed agreement. You must be a Union Member in order to vote. It is anticipated ballots will be mailed to APC members´ last known address by the end of November. Please take a moment and make sure APC has your correct address on file. Details of the Tentative Agreement will be included with your ballot and will be available on the APC website, apc1002.org, and the APC Labor Relations website, lrc.apc1002.net. If you are not an APC member, it is not too late to sign up in order to vote on this Tentative Agreement. If your application is received by the APC Statewide Office by December 1, 2017, you will be mailed a ballot.
For an application, contact your campus steward, the APC Statewide Office or download at:http://apc1002.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/APC-Application-2016.pdf
In union,
APC Bargaining Team


text:
In Illinois, the weather is unpredictable. We can have spring weather one day and blizzard conditions the next. Surprisingly enough, we haven't had a lot of snow yet this year. There was one day when snow covered the ground and that's when Logan and Adam took their Shredz outside for play. They had fun playing with the snowboarders and trick sets, although the whole experience would have been elevated if there had been more snow.
The action figures and sets are geared towards outside play in the snow, but Logan and Adam have also played with them indoors. Rather than filling the bottom of the Shredz Track Maker with snow, they filled it with rocks and had the snowboarders battle it out on the kitchen floor.
Two people will each win a Shredz set that includes two Shredz figures, a Track Maker, and a Jump.
*This is a Rafflecopter giveaway open to residents of the USA.*
This post contains embedded videos. I received products for review. The opinions within this post are of my own and I was not influenced in any way. Please do your own research before purchasing products or using services. Your opinions and results may differ.
a Rafflecopter giveaway


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Elegant Kings: Not So Elegant After All?
I normally do not recommend anyone buying Artifacts such as Watches and Jewelry online since they might appear
one way in the picture, however, the product sent to you will turn out to be nothing close to the one seen on the website. That
withstanding, Elegant Kings of Norway (which is a fairly new company) has distinguished themselves as one
of the very few that offers quality products at the cost of nothing (Minus Shipping) which is something you don't see every
day especially from companies that sell products like Chains and Watches. However, with all that praise they get from me,
there is something quite important you need to know about Elegant Kings Shipping before making a purchase with them.
But we will discuss more of that in the review of Elegant Kings.
Name: Elegant Kings of Norway
Website: elegantkings.com
Affiliate Signup: Elegant Kings
Products: Watches Chains and Bracelets
Quality: 4.0 out of 5.0
Shipping & Payment: 3.9 out of 5.0
Price: $0.00
My Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0
Elegant Kings Quality: Not your Everyday Rolex or Michael Kor but can still Put up a Fight!!
The watches and bracelets sold at Elegant Kings is in my opinion great quality for products which are given for free. It's also
true that they don't come close to famous trademarks like Gucci or Rolex however, the idea behind their brand is to give
people the opportunity to look their best without having to pay a huge sum to appear or feel that way. A good example of
this can be seen with myself & that's because when I got my Hotz watch from Elegant Kings, I was praised by my peers for
procuring such a fancy Timepiece (Little did they know I got it for basically nothing) Moreover, the reason why all their
products are free is due to a simple marketing strategy called "Word of Mouth".
You See, Elegant Kings Of Norway firmly believe that Word of Mouth is a strong marketing technique and, by having
thousands of satisfied customers who share their online store with friends, family, and colleagues, it grows their customer
base, which in turn generates sales of their products. So instead of investing several thousand in marketing like Facebook
ads or google ads, they choose to invest in YOU the CUSTOMER.
However, with all their noble deeds of giving stuff for free, there is something to be said about the Shipping at Elegant
Kings which will be covered in the Shipping and Payment phase of my review. But before that, Click Here to find out more
about Elegant Kings
Elegant Kings Shipping & Payment: All it Takes is a little Patience
If you noticed at the beginning of my Review, I was dropping hints on the fact that there's something Noteworthy of
Elegant Kings Shipping. But before we get to the Needy Greedy, let it be known that the reason why Elegant Kings gets a
3.9 rating from ME, for their Shipping and Payment, is because they offer "Worldwide Shipping" which is a Factor I Firmly
view as a Plus in my books. But the Sad part is you must wait 30 Days for your order to arrive (for Regular Shipping)
meaning if you don't have patience, then you won't consider that as an option. In addition, the standard shipping price is
$14.95 while faster shipping is $17.95 meaning you have to pay $3 extra dollars to get your order fast.
How Fast?
I don't know since I paid for regular shipping but if your Daring, you could give it a shot to see how much difference it will
make and if it's worth the three dollars you or anyone else is spending. Also, another great thing to know is the fact that they
have a "30-day money back Guarantee policy" just in case for some reason, you're not satisfied with the product
you got.
But that's not the best part about Elegant Kings because their Affiliate Program is something that can earn you some quick
cash if you leverage it properly. However, before we dwell more on that aspect, Click Here to check out Elegant Kings
Website for more information about Shipping and Payments.
Elegant Kings Affiliate Program: Clout is the Key to Success
I'm happy to say that Elegant Kings of Norway offers an amazing affiliate Program for everyone and anyone interested in
making money whether you're a Novice or an Expert at affiliate marketing.
So How Does It Work?
To begin making money as an affiliate of Elegant Kings, you will be required to submit your First and Last Names followed
by a preferred password and finally your PayPal email address.
When it comes Commission, you receive Twenty Percent for every sale made with your Affiliate link. Meaning if someone
gets the Shipping for $14:95, they receive a $2:99 Commission and if they get the $17:95 shipping, they will
receive a $3:59 commission which is paid into your PayPal account 2-5 days after a sale has been made. That is why
Clout is a key factor that can bring much success to anyone that joins their affiliate program. And that's because the more
friends, and colleagues you show, the more money you can possibly make. For example, if you shared your affiliate link
with 20 people (who paid for the $14:95 shipping) you could make $60 easy. Moreover, if you're an experienced Affiliate
marketer (Like myself: p) and promote your affiliate link on Pinterest, Facebook, LinkedIn etc. and get 100 people to buy
a product from Elegant kings, you could make $299 with very little effort.
But don't take my word for it, to learn and understand more about Elegant Kings Affiliate Program Click Here.
My Final Thoughts
Just to be Clear, Elegant Kings does not stand a chance against brands like Gucci or Michael Kor in terms of quality but
wearing one can make you feel like an Elite and that's because you get to wear a bracelet or a watch that looks amazing and
was gotten for free (minus Shipping). The only negative thing is having to wait thirty days for your order to arrive (if you get
regular Shipping). Also, their Affiliate program is one of the best I've seen and it's because little information is required
to become an affiliate coupled with the fact that they give 20% commission for every sale made. In the end, it might not be
an Elite Artifact but they get my Elite Approval for other good reasons it brings to the plate.
Well, that's my Review. Let me know what you think in the comments! Would you or anyone you know be willing to give
Elegant Kings a shot or you're very fancy and can only adorn yourself with Exotic brands like Gucci. Also, if you found this
review helpful, don't be shy to share it with your friends and loved ones
Thanks So much for stopping by and Reading. Till next time


text:
Achim Steiner
Achim Steiner is under-secretary general of the United Nations and executive director of the UN environment programme (UNEP)
Clean energy has spread to every corner of the globe, with more than 100,000 megawatts of capacity installed last year
Achim Steiner: Earth's fate is inextricably linked to 52 nations facing the threat of rising sea levels – don't let them drown
Achim Steiner sees much progress, but Davos is but one moment on the long road to change
Investors must reallocate capital to low-carbon assets if there's any chance of transitioning to a low carbon economy. The opposite is happening
Technology and Innovation Saving the world's forests: a technology revolution to curb illegal logging
On the world's first International Day of Forests, it emerges that remote sensing technology could soon put the fight against illegal logging into the hands of the people
David King and Achim Steiner debate whether international climate treaties have become redundant
Achim Steiner: Research says millions are displaced annually as a result of climate disasters. We must take the precautionary approach
Achim Steiner: As the UN climate summit in Copenhagen approaches, we must remember that 50% of climate change is caused by gases and pollutants other than CO2
Achim Steiner: The city has been criticised for its levels of air pollution ahead of the Olympics, but on the whole it has embraced green targets
Achim Steiner, Ahmed Djoghlaf and Sigmar Gabriel: The world is addressing climate change; we must become equally committed to reversing the rate of biodiversity loss
It's not just the planet and vulnerable communities that will benefit from bold decisions in Bali. Jobs will be created all over the world. By Achim Steiner


text:
CARTA: Unique Features of Human Skin – Michael Sawka: Human Skin: Sweating, Thermoregulation, and Water Balance
Date: 12/14/2015; 20 minutes
This talk by Michael Sawka of Georgia Tech examines the role of skin in human thermoregulation as a potentially important evolutionary factor for modern man. Two strong selective factors for survival in early hominins were the ability to forage during peak daily heat when their predators were not a threat, and the capability for persistence hunting (track and pursue prey to cause hyperthermia-induced exhaustion of prey).
related programs


text:
Trade-in your old mobile. Save on your new one.
Your cash gets paid directly into your bank account once your trade-in is completed.
Super Retina in two sizes — including the largest display ever on an iPhone. Even faster Face ID. The smartest, most powerful chip in a smartphone. And a breakthrough dual‑camera system. iPhone XS is
everything you love about iPhone. Taken to the extreme.
iPhone XS Max
6.5" display1
iPhone XS
5.8" display1
iPhone XS Max
6.5" display1
iPhone XS
5.8" display1
iPhone XS Max
iPhone 8 Plus
iPhone XS
iPhone 8 Plus
Smart HDR. New secondary frames, a faster sensor and the powerful A12 Bionic chip bring more highlight and shadow detail to your photos.
Larger and deeper pixels. A new sensor creates better image fidelity, greater colour accuracy, and reduced noise in low-light shots.
Enhanced bokeh effect. Portrait mode photos look even more professional thanks to a sophisticated background blur.
All-new Depth Control. Now you can adjust the depth of field in portraits after you shoot.
5 Seconds of Summer Want You Back music video is available on iTunes.
By becoming a Three customer, you get access to the exclusive Wuntu app that unlocks rewards and offers just to say thanks. You'll be able to enjoy perks from your favourite places like Costa and Domino's, as well as entertainment offers from the likes of Cineworld.
Use your favourite apps without using up your data, thanks to Go Binge. You get unlimited streaming on 12GB and up Advanced plans for apps like Snapchat, Netflix, Apple Music, Deezer and TV Player. You don't need to activate Go Binge - so long as you have some data left you can start using qualifying apps without actually using any data.
Use your minutes, texts and data when you're on holiday in one of the qualifying 71 countries. Whether you're sending emails from the beach in Spain, or updating your Facebook status in the USA, you can carry on using your mobile like you're at home.
With access to WiFi on the London Underground, you can continue using your phone on the commute, checking Facebook and replying to emails, rather than getting cut off as soon as head down the escalators.
These charges are applicable only when you exceed what is included in your tariff.
|Calls to UK Mobiles p/m
|Calls to Landlines p/m (numbers starting with 01, 02 or 03 excluding Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of man)
|Calls to Jersey, Guernsey & Isle of man p/m
|Bundles from £2.50
|Text Messages p/msg
|MMS Messages p/msg
|Calls to Voicemail p/m
|0800 and 0808 Calls p/m
|Customer Service Calls p/m
|0500 Number Calls p/m
|084, 087, 09 and 118 Access Charge p/m
|070 non-mobile Maximum Charge p/m
|£1.22 per call plus 85.5p per minute
|Calls to certain MVNO's p/m
Calls to service numbers (starting 084, 087, 09 and 118) aren't included in your plan allowance. There will be two charges on your bill, made up of an Access Charge that's charged by the network as pence per minute, and a Service Charge that's charged by the organisation you called. You will be charged the Access Charge for a minimum of 1 minute and then per second for the rest of the call.Roaming Charges
Additional charges will apply to calls made while roaming outside of the EU/EAA.
All pay monthly offers subject to security and credit check. Charges will apply for paper billing. Charges may also apply for non-Direct Debit payment. Promo codes cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.
RPI Price Increase - Your monthly price plan charge will increase every year in May by the rate of most recently published RPI. Other prices, such as call charges and roaming costs, may also go up during your plan. Three monthly price includes £5 discount for paying by direct debit.
Roaming - Three Advanced customers can use their allowance in 49 EU destinations, as well as 22 extra countries including the USA, Australia, New Zealand and more. A Fair Usage Policy for data abroad applies. If your domestic data allowance is greater than 19GB, you will be subject to a fair usage policy of 19GB whilst you are roaming in the network's Europe Zone: this means you can use a maximum of 19GB from your data allowance while roaming.
Data Speeds - Advertised 4G speeds are available in selected areas. Exact speed depends on location and number of users. Check coverage using the link in the shopping basket before buying.
Allowances - Use your allowance to call/text UK mobiles and landlines starting 01, 02 and 03 when in the UK or EU/EEA; to call/text EU/EEA mobiles & landlines when roaming in EU/EEA (outside UK); Jersey, Guernsey & Isle of Man treated as EU/EEA. Out of allowance calls to these numbers cost 55p/min. Data allowance can be used in UK & EU/EEA. Data fair use policy may apply in EU/EEA. Deposit needed for roaming in limited circumstances. Calls to 084, 087, 09 & 118 numbers are not included; you'll be charged an Access Charge of 55p/min plus the applicable service charge. If you call a 070 you'll be charged up to 75p/min. Personal use only.
Cashback - Unless otherwise stated, cashback incentives are provided by ourselves and not the Network provider or third-party. Full details are in our T&Cs.
Products - All products bought on our website are provided by ourselves, not the network, and are subject to our full T&Cs.
Tethering - There is a tethering allowance cap of 30GB on Three Advanced plans.
I love the service, very easy to use and to understand. Everything came on the predicted time they gave me and the service is overal very good, would definitely recommend.
The phone is unreal. Really fast, battery life is fantastic, super sleek and has some fantastic features. I love the Face ID.
I would 100% buy from you again!!!!
Just love how quick the phone is and how reliable it is, feel like I'm using it s lot but I just love it so much!!
I love my phone. I have used an iPad for some time so transition to iPhone quite easy.
Like the size. Camera really excellent. Found the no home button a bit strange to start with but have adapted very quickly.
Still learning so sure I will like it even more in a few weeks.
I bought this iPhone for my son and he loves it. He's off to university in September this year and it will be his best buddy I'm sure!
Really good
Easy to use
Love it, very sleek feel and looks stylish too, very fast and the battery goes for ages, camera is so clear and perfect lighting options, colours beautiful too, the serive was also very good as was sent within days, fab phone, highly recommend!! :)
Everything is very good. I know and use this brand of phones for many years. Thank you.
Easy to use and very quick - all I need


text:
Val Fish does it again and wins our February competition which had the theme of The Contract. Val is a regular entrant to our Txtlit competitions and says how thrilled she is to have won for the second time in a just few months. Val confesses that on the first of each month she's logging in, eager to find out what the latest theme is. She relishes the challenge of coming up with a different or unusual angle, something to make her story stand out and uses a spidergram to generate ideas, something she tells us she learnt whilst working as a primary school teaching assistant. This is Val's third win in total and she has also been a runner-up on several occasions. Clearly Val has a knack for flash fiction and realises that you've got to be in it to win it.
With the theme of "The Contract" for our February competition we received quite a few entries that centred around making a contract with the Devil and the selling of souls. The concept of a contract killing, not surprisingly, also featured a number of times. Val Fish's entry was awarded the win because it describes a contract within a contract and still manages to tell a story. We know the theme is The Contract so we're thrown straight in with the words "pen poised", as clearly someone is about to sign. But they haven't signed yet and we quickly learn that something is holding them back. We loved the use of the adverb "barked" to describe how our protagonist's prospective husband tries to hurry her into signing, and this is the final straw. Not only will this contract not be signed, which turns out to be a prenuptial agreement, but the contract to which it pertains, the wedding is also abandoned.
Other shortlisted entries:
Ed couldn't sue the optician who said he didn't need glasses. Apparently the contract he signed absolved him of all liability. It was in the small print.
By Paul Gledhill
Yes it was a shock, her face sweaty. I'd had enough, she would sign on the dotted line. It was to be a clean bedroom twice a month or no pocket money!
Awaiting author's details
And someone had some fun with this entry...
A tangential Pythagoras sined the contract, before passing it to his wife and mistress to cosine it. He couldn't be too careful when in a love triangle.
By Christopher Melhuish


text:
Empty Cross Ministries
It's been a while since we have posted anything here, on the blog.
We are in the process of restructering how we conduct the ministry. In the mean time, we would like for you to continue with reading your Bible on a daily basis and combine the reading with some prayer time. Don't know what to pray for? Start with the model prayer that Jesus gave us, commonly known as "The Our Father" or "The Lords Prayer". Pray for your family, pray for your finances, pray for your nation and those in elected offices. Pray for those who are ill, pray for those who are facing surgeries, pray for those recovering from an illness or surgery. Pray for your marriage. Jesus even commanded us to pray for our enemies. So, as hard as that it is, pray for your enemies too. We read in I Thess 5:17 that we are to pray continually.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 King James Version (KJV)
So my challenge to you is to pray without ceasing!
Keep checking back on the blog, we will It posting much more, very shortly!


text:
My Life is Choked with Comics #17 - The Horrorist/
"I'll tell you the ultimate secret of magic. Any cunt could do it."
So said John Constantine to Alan Moore on one particular occasion. Sure, Constantine was (and remains) a fictional character, and Moore was (and, desire of attribution aside, remains) his mortal co-creator, but, you know, Glycon the snake puppet wasn't a real god either, and Moore's worship continues unabated. I suppose when all ideas are real, to some extent, it takes only a cloud of smoke duly puffed across the porch of corporeality for the idea of a working-class magician to personally impart his authentic proletarian message.
But I'm here to go on about stories, imaginary things all - and don't sweat it DC, we didn't need to be told as much in every edition anyway. My favorite John Constantine story -- of the less than one quarter I've read, mind you -- is currently collected in the trade paperback pictured above, the latecoming second volume of the (presumably) complete Hellblazer works of Jamie Delano, the title's first writer. The latecoming third volume, Hellblazer: The Fear Machine, is due next month.
Yeah, Hellblazer Annual #1, from 1989; tops in my book. Really fine Bryan Talbot art (ha, I just repeated myself), and actually rather bold in structure. The 'main' story is divided into two parts, the first set in 1982, and the second many hundreds of years prior (with a coda set again in '82, I suppose not long enough to get its own official part).
The two segments are really only connected by theme, with the '80s stuff seeing Constantine, fresh out of a mental hospital, wandering around London at the start of the Falklands War while pondering the nature of magic, which is a bit like his old puck rock career, all of it standing for his now-cooling idealism in the face of a demonic world. He then shacks up with a possibly-imaginary woman who tells him of the stealthy magics squirreled away in the architecture and heart of the city, wriggling "a silver snake of thin resolve" into him - my hallucinatory girlfriends have similar phallic properties, so you can tell why this tale's my favorite.
Part two follows the adventures of John's ancestor Kon-sten-tyn, an amusing mix of (not already unrelated) aspects of St. Constantine of Cornwall, St. Gildas' loathed trickster monarch Constantine of Dumnonia and the folkloric Constantine III of Arthurian succession. He's a rotten old bastard who keeps the head of Merlin around to recite epic poems about him, but he's devoted to keeping certain Old Ways alive. It's a great opportunity for Delano to riff on the Christian incursion into the magical basis of so much folklore, with his acrid hero gradually setting aside the bloody ways of epic heroism in favor of beautiful stealth, becoming like the enemy to subvert its foundation.
The origin of the rogue! No wonder our Constantine rises in the morning, at the end of that second part, ready to slink behind the popular culture and shout at the back of its head, his art and his magic one and the same. Same as a comic book, slightly obscured behind Hawk & Dove on the racks but shouting out against its none-to-veiled foes, a diabolical signature within the church of continuity, a fancy-pants sigil for which a title might need be devised.
All Hellblazer writers leave their mark on John Constantine, that mage and rake, that "insouciant, somewhat amoral occult dabbler and 'psychic detective' with a British working-class background," in Delano's own words; as Tom Spurgeon once remarked to founding series editor Karen Berger, the character is a bit like Dr. Who in that some of his appeal comes from watching him 'played' by different writers. But he also remains the same - Delano's take on the character certainly drew from Moore's (from his famed tenure on The Saga of the Swamp Thing), just as his caption-heavy writing style challenged the verbosity of the Magus at his purplest:
"Synapses flash and pop, like flashbulb supernovae as the particular passion of my being is caught up in a sub-atomic slam-dance."
"Consciousness is snatched by electron rip-tides and thinly spread through infinite spatial black, leaving thoughts -- rare sleeping islands -- separated by oceanic eternities."
"I'm stretched, elastic life wound in a double helix round the universal pole --"
"-- a string of neurons in the cosmic brain --"
"-- resonant, my being tuned to everything."
"Now, contraction catapults my soul into a new, triumphant birth. Rhapsodic, bathed in perfect grace, I sail for eons --"
"-- blessed in beatific tranquility, alive in a universe of glory --"
"-- at play with angels above the fierce and holy sun."
"But, transient as elemental thought, my voyage lasts but brief mellennia."
"Sweeping on a high, wide spiral turn, my ship of rapture founders, grounded on mortality's reef."
"Particles reassemble and memories coalesce around my swelling sense of self."
"I must start the long return to dull corporeality and reclaim my body's tawdry clay."
Those are the captions from a single two-page image in issue #7, documenting a man's trip through exotic Cyberspace, circa 1988; I left out the dialogue, but there's some of that too.
Moore would later claim that it seemed the tone of a lot of comics that drew from his influence was built from a bad mood he happened to be in at the time, but I think a more immediate effect was a replication of his 'novelistic' on-page writing, attempting to drag comics closer to 'real' books by dumping a lot more words into them. Moore, of course, would also display a grasp of structure so as to augment his vocabulary, something many later writers, the Delano of Hellblazer included, did not exhibit.
Yet, Delano's performance did have a defining pinch, and it wasn't just prickly thickets of words that did it - his work on the series married a distinctly angry blend of socio-political satire with a sometimes uneasy juggle of fantastic, even superheroic elements. There wasn't any Vertigo back then to systemically insulate the Suggested for Mature Readers contingent from the rest of the bunch, after all - when Delano had the young Constantine belt out a punk rock number in the aforementioned Annual, there was a reference to Superman contained therein, and it's impossible for the reader to forget that John isn't necessarily shouting in metaphor. Superman is real to John Constantine, and he's done absolutely fucking nothing to accomplish lasting change in Constantine's environment.
That perhaps made it all more effectively bitter -- and it rather matched the tenor of various actual DC superhero projects of the day, Alan Moore's bad mood and all -- but it also assured that Delano would be working loud, with typical adventure comic elements sometimes clanking around as the series found its footing. Early on, Constantine was more of a debonair globetrotter, jetting away to Africa and the US in his good blue suit to barge into decadent casinos, strike up an uneasy alliance with a near-supervillian in the heart of his lair and face off with a monster threat on a skyscraper rooftop. He was an antihero from the start, but he wore some cool fucking sunglasses while doing it - at least until Delano knocked them off, to force him to see the implications of his deeds.
The 'commentary' aspect was present from the start, and often shrill - issue #3 had establishing scenes in Hell (just like a Jack T. Chick comic), where demons are seen to behave like (gah!) yuppies and thrill over Tory election victories. Even as a few issues passed, and Delano began to hammer out a firmer vision of the character -- more haunted, more rumpled, more street-level, iller-fated and ruinous yet charismatic at heart -- his yen for booming consideration of local and global problems remained, sometimes to the exclusion of the comic's main character.
Issue #5 is maybe the first example of Constantine fading into the background, while Delano details world horror unfolding. The mischief of (awk!) televangelist magic causes a small, patriotic American town's departed sons -- they mostly died in Vietnam, but it's still the sort of place where old ladies are ready with a slap and lines like "Shut your lying face, traitor slut!" -- to return again, except they also take many horrid wartime acts home with them, believing the conflict to yet continue. So, good citizens are held at gunpoint, a kind woman is raped and an air strike is 'called in' via a helpful gasoline tanker exploding in everyone's face, save for John Constantine's, as he is too busy standing agog, ready to vow that he has learned something important from the whole awful experience, just like Buster Brown at the end of every Sunday.
It would be a motif of Delano's run: wicked magic as a manifestation of some world ill, and John Constantine as a sort of well-read everyman, ready and capable of affecting real change, but sometimes forced to merely treat the symptoms, or left to bear witness to the horror. And if any cunt can do magic, as one practitioner said to the other, then any dumb fuck can educate his or herself about the state of the world, right?
Hence, finally, the story in the title of the post, which is also collected in the book pictures way up top.
The Horrorist was a two-issue, Prestige Format miniseries released in the last month of 1995 and the first month of 1996. It came well after the end of Delano's proper run on the title (issue #40, 1991), and even his one-off return (issue #84, 1994), although Delano would still have more to do - his future-set Hellblazer Special: Bad Blood miniseries hit in 2000, and he's got an original graphic novel, Hellblazer: Pandemonium (with art by Jock), in the pipeline for later this year. The Horrorist didn't even bear the Hellblazer title. Hell, it was released under some 'creator participation' deal with Delano & artist David Lloyd retaining the copyright and DC keeping the trademarks.
Regardless, it is a culmination. It is, to my mind, as of right now, the ultimate Jamie Delano Hellblazer comic, the very conclusion of those themes and motifs delineated above. It has the best, most awful John Constantine, and the loudest, most screaming terror over the state of the world. Is it blunt? Over the top? Yes. But it goes so far, in so short a space, it leaves reality itself frayed to a disturbing degree, and thereby accomplishes something Delano's Hellblazer, as much affection as I have for it, never quite did - it's actually kinda scary. Or at least disquieting, on a base, primal level.
The tale begins with a strange woman appearing in a snow-covered park in Illinois. She sits impassively as children romp and play, their football in one panel covered with marks resembling the continents of the globe, in case you couldn't already guess in which direction the commentary was headed. The young Americans throw the world around with gross abandon, while a happy local fellow tries to strike up a conversation with the eerie woman. But she only stares at the kids' rough play, grasping her head as two of them make a dive straight into a famous banned-in-the-US commercial, Lloyd rendering the carnage as leaping Mattotti plumes of flame. The happy fellow then flashes back to 'Nam and sputters:
"Not now... not in the U.S.A."
The uncanny woman assures him that he's now fully incorrect:
"It happens everywhere."
Hey, I doubt John Constantine's punk anthems were terribly subtle either.
Speaking of which, the scene then shifts to Our Man, drinking and observing a pool game between local roughs. He orders a gin and tonic.
"Thass a queer's drink, innit?" queries a local man.
"Twenty-five quid if you suck my dick," replies Constantine.
"I'll do it for fifteen," declares a beautiful woman who appears out of nowhere.
It's the start of a great romance, one to make Kazuo Koike proud, although Constantine insists that he's ice cold, a characteristic Delano then proves by having a man's throat cut open and blood spilling in John Constantine's drink and he just doesn't care, he and the woman leaving bloody footprints (of apathy!) in the snow as they leave. Then the woman sets John up for some sexy whipping, but even her worst cannot flay Constantine's leathery skin of uncaring, hard-living isolation.
"Harder, you pathetic stiletto bitch! I still can't fuckin' feel it!"
The woman then weeps and begs Constantine to stay with her, to which he calls her bloody stupid and storms off into the cold. Ah, but fate has tricks in store for our chilly John Constantine! He has a vision of the spooky woman from the top of the story, at which point a trash can bomb explodes nearby (but a taste of what the rest of world feels so often, John Constantine!!), and he realizes that there's something out there that can make him feel. A quick trip to a photographer confirms the story of an African child adopted and brought to the US, her image stripped of context and used to sell shit, her gaze haunting - and Constantine is off once more to the US.
As you may have picked up by now, a lot of this work is about the US. It was the same for some of Delano's run on the proper Hellblazer book - I'm sure everyone knew where most of the audience was situated, and thus where a good portion of the critique ought to go. And some of The Horrorist is no more carefully-put than that that Vietnam story I mentioned above (again: "Shut your lying face, traitor slut!"), with several boorish American mega-fatties meeting with an awful fate. But there's an odd dichotomy at work in Delano's presentation: the Americans we see are often silly and ignorant when faced with the strange woman, but rather sympathetic when meeting with John Constantine, as if Delano is chiding himself, in-story, for his own narrative cruelties.
Thus, as the strange woman meets up with a grinning truck driver, well, we're told (via caption) that he doesn't give a shit about politics and pays no attention to the rest of the world! Soon he's staring at boxcars full of grasping hands as a train passes by. He insists to the women that they must be "deportees, or death-row cons. Murders, rapists, gangbangers... terrorists." But then he telephones his wife and finds out that his own children were just taken away for reeducation! Then his truck crashes and he dies. Wait, we don't find that out until the next issue.
In contrast, as Constantine confronts the former adoptive family of the curious woman, he acts with general callousness at their expected tale of death and woe, leaving without offering any comfort, then finding the happy fellow from the start of the book setting himself on fire as the first issue ends. John appreciates the woman's sense of irony, at least.
Now, I know what you're saying (because I installed microphones in your home): 'Jog, this comic gives me the impression of Jamie Delano impressing my head with a hammer, like what happened off-panel at the end of The Crow, only allegorically this time.' I would agree; that's a fair estimate. However: it is comprehensively impressive -- and very beautifully drawn, mind you -- damned intent on stretching Delano's concept of magic-as-global-awareness as far as it can possibly go, so far as to wind up in a funny, terrible place, the logical finale of Delano's Hellblazer.
Much of the first half of issue #2 is spent on the woman wreaking havoc on hapless Americans - as you can tell by now, her uncanny power is to bring atrocious problems often pegged as exclusive to 'less developed' nations into the US. Literally. As in, the happy local guy from the beginning didn't just see kids get blown up by landmines so as to goad him to suicide, they actually did get blown up, which means that those landmines 'always' existed in the park - the story is quite clear on this point. It follows that the grinning truck driver actually did see real boxcars full of people get carted around, and his kids did get sent to... a reeducation camp?
Being an admirer of the Austrian School of Comics Criticism, I shall dub this phenomenon 'fiat magic.' As in, the effect of the odd woman's 'spells' institutes wholesale shifts in the recent history of her immediate region so as to create the desired result. For example, a nervous driver nearly runs the woman over. He informs her that he has children waiting at home (uh oh!). Sure enough, he arrives back at the house to his beloved daughter and stocky son (who is grinning and watching violent American televised entertainment), only to discover that all their food is gone! And they've always been poor and are suddenly starving! Desperate, the man drags his beloved daughter into the car and pimps her right out to a nearby live sex show, which apparently has always existed to keep women in literal sex slavery.
You see? Fiat magic.
And Delano pushes it so hard -- and Lloyd's dreamlike images flow so steadily over the stones of realism -- that it does affect me, in tearing at history and situation like it's nothing. Like the simplest incantation can not only affect your perception of reality, but erase anything you'd previously thought and substitute a whole new history for you to have lived, always a worse one. Damn better than devil conservatives fucking around in Hell. It's more like Delano's first-ever Constantine story, the blue suit sunglasses skyscraper one, which saw its monster threat as a living manifestation of third world hunger set loose on New York - but John is worse off here, with a more experienced writer playing him.
Eventually, as it had to happen, Constantine and the woman meet up. Their conversation is charged with some self-reference, Constantine mocking the very premise of the book he's in:
"I know what you are... you're a bleedin' horrorist -- a redistributor of suffering, perpetrating revolutionary outrage in the cozy heartlands of oppression and complacency!"
But he admits there's worse things she could be:
"You could be a cold, dead-veined, old hell-junkie like me -- a burned-out, tourist voyeur..."
"Yeah... make a good epitaph, wouldn't it? 'John Constantine. He came, he saw... he took some fuckin' pictures.'"
It's a revealing thing to say, for a character made to witness many allegories of strife and suffering; done mocking the premise of his current book, could he be expressing doubt over the impact of his earlier affairs? Wasted and spent from his adventures, his writer long-gone - this is why The Horrorist seems consummate to me. It's both an expansion and a reflection of what Delano has done before, a long look taken at finished work with some time taken away from the stuff.
Anyway, the story climaxes with John Constantine and the woman ripping off their skin to have dripping muscle sex (this was in the Keanu Reeves movie, right?), at which point both envision brutal acts done, great trials suffered, the whole of world suffering crashing down upon them - quintessential Hellblazer. Then John wakes up. It seems he has fucked the woman to death, and she seems at peace (hmm, rather men's adventure there, like at the start!). Outside the world is burning from fallen shells - it's probably just the block, but I like to imagine the whole of the United States of America has totally collapsed. To hell with Superman continuity! Everyone is sad and dying, but Constantine is happy and smoking, his sexual experience having relit his passion for change, just as his dalliance with the imaginary woman did in the Annual #1. Always a rake.
"Goddamnit, it's true... I care about these fuckin' imbeciles again. I even care about myself."
This line is delivered with gleaming blue eyes as a bent-over person cradles his/her face in burning agony in the background - it's tempting to say that all of this horror came down on stupid, shitty, fat Americans (boooooo) as a means of doing nothing more than reawakening the kindly heart of salt-of-the-earth working-class soul of liberal humanism corporate-owned property John Constantine, a goal greater than anything else, but... the comic kind of admits that fault in its po-faced finale, John Constantine dancing around the ruins of a town/nation. I mean, when the book runs off of suffering, you've gotta fess up to the fuel you're using, you know?
And then, while John bends over to help a large person look for their lost child, we see the strange woman has gotten up and left, her blood stains formed into the very subtle shape of all the continents of the world! Her bloody footprints trail out of the final panel, across the inside-back cover, and right out of the comic - into your world, reader! Unless you bought the trade version I mentioned above, which omits all of that stuff!
No matter. We need to be told this no more than we need to know that Superman comics are imaginary. We're not John Constantine - we don't need to sing about him flying around.
But we can perform his magic. Like he told Alan Moore. Like he told us when Jamie Delano played him.
No fiat magic either. Soft as it could be, we've had a gold standard set.


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- Six of us got milkshakes on the brain and 40 minutes, 3 modes of public transportation, and 1 missed bus later, we found these and all was right with the world
- Canal tour through Copenhagen
- For my Cold War spies class, we took a field study this past Wednesday to Stevns Klint, a Cold War bunker about an hour and a half south of Copenhagen. Here's the view from one of the bunker doors, complete with my professor looking pensively at the ocean
- Some of the missiles housed at the Cold War bunker, which is now a museum
- Our LLC event this week? Slacklining! I was about 80% sure I would end up breaking one or more bones but I successfully completed the activity with all body parts intact!


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Kid Ink - My Own Lane
West Coast rapper Kid Ink has pushed for global success from the early beginnings of his career. Having released his second studio album, "My Own Lane," on January 3rd - the 27 year-old is "not your average rapper, and has no intentions of letting the barriers and constrictions of genres and the music industry slot him in to any tab of music conformity" (as mentioned by Hypetrak). For those of you who haven't had a chance to give him a listen yet, take the time to check out some of his recent project's stand out tracks, including Hello World, Money and the Power, Show Me, and Main Chick, on iTunes. Enjoy one of our favorites in the rap game at the moment.


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Words cannot express my appreciation for the beautiful painting job performed by all of the employees of Muller Painting. Our home is truly gorgeous, both inside and outside.
Throughout the construction of this, my own "dream home", I have had the pleasure of doing business with you. All of you have been totally accommodating and pleasant, doing little "extra' things, and even offering assistance in other aspects of the construction which were certainly helpful. Besides the routine painting of exterior, walls and baseboard stains were matched perfectly. You exhibited great patience, putting up with my perfectionist attitude and our procrastinations and changes of mind. With all of the home's intricacies and special touches which required special attention in regard to painting and staining, I honestly don't think that other less-reputable companies could have satisfied me.
The things that impress customers are craftsmanship, attitude, cooperation, assistance, and adaptation to change, honesty, and courtesy. All of these traits can be summarized as PRIDE. And I truly feel that the Muller's, along with their dedicated employees, personify this pride.
Finally, of all of the sub-contractors that I worked with on my home, and I had damn-good subcontractors, I feel that Muller Painting takes first place. Thanks again for being a part of my dream and for making things so beautiful.
To Whom It May Concern:
Our church, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church - Paradis, was built in 1914. Its simple construction is cypress with a bell tower rising to about 25 feet. It had not been repainted in at least twenty years and was badly in need of sanding and painting. In addition, pieces ofthe siding were missing and there had been some water/termite damage. None of these challenges deterred Muller Painting, LLC of Kenner, LA, from bidding on the job. The bid was reasonable for the extensive work that needed to be done. The additional challenges which arose during the job did not faze the professionals at Muller Painting. They scheduled the work quickly. The job included power washing the church, sanding up to the peaks, caulking when the water and dust started coming through to the inside of the church, repairing missing siding and termite damage, and finally painting the church and the Parish Hall. Where it was dull,
pealing, mildewed, and dirty before, our church now gleams with a new repairs and paint job.
Muller Painting did more than we expected when painting St. Andrew's Episcopal - Paradis. They worked diligently whenever the weather permitted, arriving early and working conscientiously throughout the day. AND they completed the painting in a timely fashion. They did not abandon the job when difficulties arose. They were always courteous and were wonderful to work with.
Our congregation is delighted with the results of the work of Muller Painting, L.L.C. of Kenner, LA, and would recommend their company for any type of painting that needs to be done on any type of structure. If they bid it, they will do it. If they do it, I know that the customers will be more than satisfied. The congregation of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church - Paradis, LA, thanks the Muller brothers and their crew for an excellent job. You have given our church a new lease on life.
Muller Painting, LLC
2641 Marietta Avenue
Kenner, LAÂ 70062
504-915-5125 | 504-382-7750 | 504-466-1144 Fax


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The White Clay Creek has been on my list of eastern Pennsylvania waters to fish for almost a year. Specifically, the Middle Branch White Clay Creek held my attention, as it was one of the first streams in the state to receive the Keystone Select trout stocking designation. When I'd read about this, I was excited to go there and never made it. Finally this past Saturday I decided that rain or shine, I was going to fish the Middle Branch White Clay. On Friday night I did some brief Internet research on the water and it was a bit confusing at first. There are actually three branches of the White Clay Creek, the East, Middle, and West Branches, and they all eventually merge into the Main Stem as the creek flows into the state of Delaware. The Keystone Select portion of the White Clay lies within the Catch & Release Artificial Lures Only section, which starts at the Good Hope Road Bridge and meanders one and a half miles southeast to the confluence with the main stem.
I decided to fish the White Clay on Sunday morning and got on the road to Chester County around 9:00am. When I arrived at the Good Hope Road Bridge, I saw two vehicles parked before the bridge and just off the road. Later I'd come to find that there is actually a good sized parking lot on the other side of the bridge up the road a bit that is much easier to access and a less muddy place to park. I'd read online that the Keystone Select water had been stocked within the first couple of weeks of March. I figured these hatchery fish were probably still going to be chasing bright flies. I tied up a 9'-6X leader on my Winston and used 6X fluorocarbon tippet to my first fly. I'm hesitant to go with 6X in these Keystone Select waters because in the event you do hook up with a bruiser, 6X may not get the job done. But I erred on catching more fish and used a #14 Flashback Rubber Legged Pheasant Tail Nymph for my top fly and a #18 Psycho Prince Nymph for my bottom fly.
When I got to the water, I was surprised by how clear it was, and by the number of rocks in the stream. The White Clay is a classic freestone stream but on Sunday morning looked spring like. In the first 25 yards of water I didn't see any fish. I looked downstream and saw three fishermen stacked on top of each other casting into a deep pool. I figured they were sight fishing to some trout. I walked down to some shallower riffle water that led into the deep pool and I was able to hook up with my first Middle Branch White Clay Creek trout, a small brown trout.
As I moved downstream and got beyond the pool with all of the guys, the stream flowed into some beautiful and complex runs and deeper pools. As I walked around the bend, I came upon a pool that I could see at least a half-dozen trout sitting in. I worked my line and indicator through this pool until I found the right lane. And then wham, I hooked up with several fish in this holding pool. It was good fun; a couple of these fish are shown in the video above. While I was releasing my third fish, an older fellow and his son stopped to look at the fish and chat. He explained that downstream 100 yards, he and his son had found an amazing trout hole that held a very large rainbow trout. Rather than rush down there, I was took my time nymphing the next 100 yards of stream. I did see a couple of very nice rainbow trout holding in a couple of the riffles.
When I got down to the hole the folks had talked to me about, sure enough, I could see a bunch of trout sitting in the slack water, and there was one trophy rainbow cruising about. I worked this hole until around lunchtime and was able to hook-up and land quite a few fish. At one point I did hook up with the trophy rainbow. I fought him for 3 minutes on my 6X tippet, but it was simply no match for the headshaking power of that rainbow trout. After another fisherman moved in above me, I decided I keep walking downstream. The next bridge the crosses the Catch & Release water is the London Tract Road Bridge. This is about the halfway point on the special regulations water. I walked down to the bridge and I didn't see many fish on my walk. Just after the bridge however, there are several large pools, riffles, and runs that hold quote a few fish. In one of these riffles I hooked an additional three rainbow trout. I ended up walking all the way to the low-head dam warning signs. Just above the dam is a deep hole with large logs crisscrossing the bottom. When I got there, three guys were fishing intently. I walked up to get a closer look and I could see that there were large trout hiding down under the logs. I fished this lower section until the mid-afternoon and then walked back up to the London Tract Road Bridge. When I arrived back up there, a game warden was standing on the bridge with binoculars checking licenses. I chatted with him briefly.
Just below the bridge there is a large flat pool of water. There were two younger guys fly fishing and one of them explained to me that the trout in the hole were rising to dry flies and that they'd caught a couple on an Elk Hair Caddis pattern. As they moved on to their next spot, I looked at what dry flies I'd brought and there weren't many. I only had a very small number of dry flies with me and none of them were caddis patterns, only large mayfly imitations.
I decided to give it a shot anyways and was able to hook and land two beautiful fish, both brown trout, on a CDC March Brown dry fly. By late afternoon, the temperature had really dropped and my truck was the only truck parked up on the road. After missing a couple of early season risers on the dry, I was content with catching two and decided to call it a day. I enjoyed fishing the White Clay Creek and I'd like to get back there after the next stocking.


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AUGHHHH I'm so frustrated right now because I have so much homework to do, and my internet is being soooo slow! Lol it's so annoying!
Lately, my throat's been hurting very badly, but don't worry, I don't think it's swine flu! hahaha
Buuuut on a brighter note, my e.l.f. package is due to arrive on Wednesday! :D
So I will definitely be doing a haul video on that! Ahhhhh, I'm SO excited :D :D :D
Oh yeah, and I've decided that for haul videos, and videos that are not how-to videos, or makeup looks, I will use my Macbook's built-in iSight to film.
But for videos where I need to zoom and have good quality/lighting, then I will use my camera.
Because, there's really no need to waste my camera's memory on hauls.
Oh, and my mom was SUPPOSED to get me another memory card for my camera yesterday, and she didn't.
Then I asked her again today, and she didn't. Lol I hope she does tomorrow! hahah :)
So yeah, I posted a new video:
It's the first video of my "Quick Tips" videos. I think they'll be very helpful! :D
Till next time guys! :)
Monday, November 2, 2009
Posted by xGlowBabyGlow at 4:59 PM
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Just came back from Solomou Apartments.Anyone going there with olympic holidays be awere the appartments are very remote down a dirt track 1/3 mile from the Yannis hotel, there is a pool but very poor the appartment are basic,loads of space for cloth but no shelfs, no air conditioning plus the shower is very poor.
You can use all the facilitys at the Yannis hotel, but quite exensive,its a lot cheeper in town. There is banks to clown..So if you have walking difficulties it is not for you.
The staff are helpfull & friendly, the rep John is great any thing you need he will try his best to get or arrange it for you
we stayed at the solomou app' for one week in aug 06, we think the app' were really spacious and well equipped for the money you pay. The beds are abit crap and shower not to gr8 but other than that rooms are nice. the pool area is clean and nice to relax by ,as their is only 8 app' plenty of room and loungers. The only downfall is the walk into town as it gets very dark at nite and not many lights around,only takes bout 10mins but a torch is needed. KEZ,BEV AND LUCY.
have just come back from the solomou apartments and have to say was worried before we went that it would be a nightmate, however it was excellent. the aprtments are clean and well equipped. they are 2 star so you really do get more than you paid for.
hey yall by the way that is pure s**t the solomou apparments are clean and basic, fair enough the location isn't great but good for the older generation. lovely scenery. i was in greece for two weeks and stayed in the solomou apparments. it is class cause every1 is like 1 big family and u get on with every1 real well, cause there is only like 8 apparments. i am rippen every1 is saying it is s**t, the staff are real friendly and costas is lovely and real helpful. the maids clean everyday.bar sunday,for any1 2 complain abt that is just pure picky and disrespectful. i had a great time on hols and have booked to go bk nxt year on 17th july.
Thanks for your coments everyone. You assisted me in changing my booking to another resort and accommodation.
just got back from ipsos
we had a very good holiday apart from the last night when the apartment was ransacked.met some really nice people their. the owner of the hotel and apartments are very good and really friendly
solomou appartments was a very nice place and though the appartments were very basic they were liveable. i had a great time there n costous the owner was a great chap and very freindly. the pool was not the best in the world but it was nice to relax at as there were not many people there. wat people have said about solomou is bull s**t it is not as bad as people make out it is a lovely place and people need to stop being so picky. i am deffently going bac next year n hope 2 have just as good time as i did this year.
the reason we loved solomou so much was: 1) taking da p**s out of costa2) nice appatments & close to town & 3) the people there were all lovely!
I honestly have to say that solomou is pure brilliant, whatever anyone else says is not true!!! If you want alot of drama........seriously come here!! Then again keep everything valuble in the safety dposit in the hotel if you still want it!! Because Solomou is broken into on a regular basis. We are jus back from solomou on a 2 week hol and 3 out of 8 appartments were broken into!!! So seriously lock up well and tie ur doors, also good luck gettin sleep the beds are like concrete. so 10/10 if u want a bit of excitment on ur hol!!!!
All the horror stories about Solomou are true. We went there at the end of August for 1 week. There was no way we could stay the night there. Whole of the apartment was disgraceful. Making a complaint and moved to Yannis was the best thing we did. Julie, we were there same time as you, please email me, it will be good to hear from you.
I am going to Solomou Apartments on MOnday for 1 week, I pray they are not as bad as others have said and have improved otherwise myself and my boyfriend will be asking to move considering this has cost us �601 self-catering. Watch this space for when I return...................thats if I do not get eaten alive by cockroaches or worse! :-)
Just returned from 7th holiday in Corfu. Love Greece! Never expect too much from accomodation. Just as well! This time even expecting little we were hugely disappointed!
Transport from airport - fine until at Yannis Hotel! Then transported in dirtiest, rustiest vehicles we have ever seen! An absolute insult.
Pool - Broken steps, dangerous at least one child injured while we were there! Concrete surround dangerous, uncomfortable.
Apartment - Toilet did not work!!!! Kettle did not work. Cooker fused all electrics. Wardrobe doors fallen off. Plugs in bedrooms didn't work therefore no electric mosi repellent possible.
No-one on-site to help when required. Basically place totally under-invested and a complete dump. After 2 days of trying to grin and bear it had to bail out - senior rep had no argument and offered to move us straight away. Holiday improved from that point on.
Costas (owner) was helpful when there - but there was so much that was wrong it was an impossible task to put it right.
worst place ever and to make it worse the Olympic rep and the staff there were rude, unhelpful and useless.
The Solomou apartments are down a dirt track, 1/2 mile from the hotel and in really shabby condition, showers that don't work, exposed wiring, beds so old they make enough noise to wake you up when you turn over and that's just a start. One former 'inmate' had written inside one of the drawers 'just paid 80 Euros for an upgrade to the Hotel Jason - best money I ever spent as this is worst place in the world'.
That really says it all - if you want my advice DON'T GO THERE!
the apartments were basic, but in an exellent location ,scenic ,private and quiet they were well cleaned although the beds were very uncomfortable. Ihave recommended the apartments to friends and would definatly stay there again, as a family of four we would rate the solomou exellent
We have just returned form two weeks at the Solomou apartments, and we enjoyed it!! The apartments are basic but easy to keep clean, with tiled floors etc, mattresses were a bit uncomfortable but the benefit of these apartments are that they are in a quiet location away from all the noise, there is a very clean swimming pool which doesnt get overcrowded , and the partments are such that its easy to get to know everybody ...Costa's the owner is very helpful.
We plan to return, best holiday we had in ages!!!!!!
Staying in the Solomou and heard a few horror stories. Not looking forward to going. Is it really that bad?
Yeah very clean and Friendly etc. But nothing special really.
Toasties were good for Brunch! and they put the football on during the world cup! Pool was clean not very big but it was ok to cool down in!
Reception was very helpful because i am alergic to going out without doing my hair! Which was a bit of a pain! But they were really helpful...at all hours of the night!
The neighbours didn't complain about my meurrring noises either, so anyone who has a similar complaint will not feel unwelcome!
Initially put in the seperate single storey block which was totally unacceptable as damp & dirty - more like a toilet block!!
Moved to main appartments & these were great.
Pool excellent and very quiet location.


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Chilaquiles are traditionally a brunch dish made with last night's leftovers. We love them so much, we believe they're worth making from scratch and having for dinner! Once you give them a try, I think you'll agree.
The first thing you want to do is start cooking your seitan. Click here for full instructions and step-by-step photos on making seitan.
Next, put together a sort of "crema" that will go on top. It's vegan sour cream mixed with soy milk and lime juice.
Onions, garlic, jalapeños and cilantro get ground up in a blender.
Then tomatoes get blended in. Now that looks familiar, doesn't it? I may have just tricked you into making your own salsa.
When it's done cooking, the seitan is shredded into chunks.
Then it's time to start cooking the sauce in some olive oil. It needs to simmer vigorously until it thickens up a bit.
Once the sauce is thickened, the seitan is added and simmers for a minute.
Then it's time to add the chips. If you happen to have some leftover tortillas, you can use them too! Just make sure you fry them until they're crisp first.
You only want to cook the chips until they just start to soften. It's ok if they break up a little bit while you stir.
Finally, the chilaquiles are drizzled with some of that crema you made and sprinkled with cilantro.
Seitan Chilaquiles
Serves 4-6
Important: Be sure to give yourself enough time to cook the seitan. For a quicker recipe, you can use store bought seitan.
1 cup vital wheat gluten flour
1/4 cup chickpea flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable broth powder
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup vegan sour cream
3 tablespoons soy milk
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, quartered
2 jalapeños, chopped (see tip)
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro, plus more for sprinkling
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (28 oz) can whole peeled tomatoes with juice (fire roasted if available)
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups tortilla chips or 8 leftover corn tortillas, chopped and fried
- Prepare the seitan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly oil a lidded casserole dish with non-stick spray. Combine flours, nutritional yeast, spices and vegetable stock powder in a large bowl. Mix the water, lemon juice and soy sauce in a small bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until a dough forms. Adjust amount of water or gluten as needed (see tip). Knead the dough for 5 minutes, then form into a loaf. Place the seitan in the casserole dish and cover with 2 cups of vegetable broth. Cover and cook for 40 minutes. Flip the loaf, then cover and cook for another 40 minutes. Remove the seitan from the dish and allow it to rest until cool enough to handle.
- While the seitan is cooking, prepare the chilaquiles. Whisk together Tofutti sour cream, soy milk and lime juice in a small bowl until smooth. Set aside.
- Combine the onion, garlic, jalapeños, cilantro and salt in a blender, and blend until coarsely pureed. Add the tomatoes and blend once more until you have a slightly chunky sauce.
- Once the seitan is done cooking, stick a fork into the top of the loaf and hold it in place with one hand. Use a second fork to shred the loaf into small chunks and crumbles.
- Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the blended vegetables and bring to a vigorous simmer. Cook, stirring often, for 7-10 minutes or until the sauce thickens and begins to stick to the pan.
- Once the sauce is done, stir in the shredded seitan and cook 1 minute. Add the tortilla chips and cook another minute or until lightly softened.
- Divide chilaquiles on to plates. Drizzle with the Tofutti sour cream mixture and sprinkle with cilantro. Serve immediately.


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Silly Stories, Serious Fun
I am busy. Story of my life. Okay, no, not really. That's a really boring story! But being so busy with work, soooo much work, does make me want lighter fare. You ever feel that way? Like how you always want to read a thriller, or a teen novel (these days) or (I guess for some people) a romance while on summer vacation? I feel like when I am working hard at work I want to write light, and leave the heavy stuff for when I have spare energy.
A friend of mine recently said to me, "I love that you always take it deeper in your stories. That your stories have a life lesson." That was very sweet, and I think some of my more recent stories do, but it's also something of a burden to live up to. Sometimes I just want to have fun!
My next show is May 19th. Details here. As soon as we picked the theme, I got an idea for a very silly story. I finished it today, well, minus feedback I am sure I will get at rehearsal. It's good. I mean, it's funny. I mean, it feels good to be funny again. Just a silly piece about a silly night and there is nothing to teach or learn or get out of it other than, hopefully, a few good belly laughs.
Big sigh. I feel like I just ate a pint of Ben and Jerrys. Very satisfying!


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Autumn Half Term 2018
To see half term activities for February 2019, please
visit the dedicated webpage
Paint Your Park: Autumn Challenge
Join us and use Highfields Park as inspiration to create a piece of art. All entries will have their work displayed and the winning entry will receive two free tickets to a Lakeside show. Basic equipment supplied on the day.
The Art of Play
Join us at Lakeside to explore the happy theme of play. In this drawing workshop you will be invited to let loose, take risks with pencils and enjoy happy visual accidents. Remember, playful adults are just as welcome as children at this event!
Model a Mammoth
Create your own small model of a mammoth from the Ice Age. Take a look at the piece of mammoth tooth on display in our Museum and imagine meeting the entire animal. Learn all about this awesome extinct species and its natural habitat thousands of years ago.
Trick Or Treat Trail
Wind your way along the ferocious footpath, deep into the whispering woods… Do you dare to enter the witch's lair? Can you solve the mystery to win a treat? Don't be tricked! Only the brave need apply (the none-too-brave are welcome too).
Save The Planet
Using materials from the recycling bin, create art to spread the word about protecting our precious planet. The artist will encourage you to think about getting across an environmental message while having fun making extraordinary 3D sculptures.
Carve A Roman Figure
Learn to carve into bars of soap – so much easier than the stone the Romans would have used! You'll be taking ideas from the Roman carved figures found at Margidunum in nearby Bingham, on display in the Museum.
Theatre & Workshops
The Snow Queen
Kai and Gerda had been friends for as long as they could remember. Day followed day, always the same, until in a whirl of magic and deception, splinters of a magical broken mirror blow in the wind, freezing hearts and changing everything!
Snow Queen Sparkle Workshop
Make a Snow Queen inspired crown or wand and sparkle all the way home. Free to
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The Musicians of Bremen
This stunning, non-verbal, visual adventure uses puppetry, movement, trapeze, and live music to tell the traditional tale of four animals put to pasture: a donkey; a cat; a cockerel and a dog. Too old to be of any use to their masters, this tumbling, musical adventure explores these extraordinary friendships.
Adventure Story Making
Join Mark Curwood, a fantastic storyteller, who needs your help to unravel a remarkable adventure story. Free to
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Expertin für ganzheitliche Medizin
Dr. Nina Roy uses knowledge from conventional medicine, holistic integrative medicine, traditional Chinese medicine and natural medicine to prevent disease effectively and support the healing process in both acute and chronic problems.
Dr. Nina Roy is an expert on holistic integrative medicine. Her work combines elements of traditional medicine with Traditional Chinese Medicine, naturopathy and energy healing. With the aim of not only alleviating symptoms, but of identifying the causes of disease, and thus sustainably treating them, she works with their patients to create an individual therapy plan, employing, for example, acupuncture, cupping, nutritional counseling, herbal therapy, Aura- Soma, Reconnective Healing and meditation.
I want to help you
No matter the condition or illness, or whether it is physical, emotional or spiritual, it can be successfully treated with holistic, Traditional Chinese and natural medicine.


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Salt Lake City Private Dining
Located near downtown and the Salt Lake City International Airport, Fleming's is an outstanding choice for private dining and business events in the Salt Lake City area. Available for lunch and dinner, our versatile Private Dining Rooms are ideal for small intimate gatherings, business presentations and even large wedding receptions. For meetings, we provide a Cisco® conferencing system for video connection with all our other Fleming's locations and up to five satellite sites.
- 36 Guests Bordeaux Room
- 40 Guests Napa Room
- 80 Guests Bordeaux & Napa Rooms
Private Dining Director
Anna Pendleton Knott
Contact Us


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Bass Legend Takes a Late Lead
Just don't ask Ray Brown to play favourites
The Georgia Straight, June 21-28, 2001
Los Angeles-based Ray Brown is considered one of the best bassists in jazz history, but that doesn't mean he was expecting an invitation to the Vancouver International Jazz Festival. Although the 74-year-old is heading to Vancouver for a three-night stint at Rossini's, Monday to Wednesday (June 25 to 27), he assumed the shows would be no different from the ones he usually does at the Gastown eatery.
"They didn't say anything about the festival, they just said my regular visit up there," Brown says from an Emerald City tour stop. "Whenever I'm in Seattle, I just come up there the next week usually."
Name a jazz master, and chances are the bassist has played with him. But don't ask him to play favourites.
"I'm not going to touch that," he says. "You think I'm going to stand up here and say that Count Basie was better than Duke Ellington, or Duke Ellington was better than Art Tatum, or Art Tatum was better than Dizzy Gillespie, or Dizzy Gillespie was better than Charlie Parker, and so forth? And then Louis Armstrong and then Coleman Hawkins and then Lester Young? You want me to tell you one person? You're outta your fuckin' mind. You gotta be crazy! I mean, you don't ask anybody that's played with those many people who's the best. There's no such thing."
Okay, a bad call on my part, but in my defense, had he chosen one I would have had a scoop.
Brown, who was married to Ella Fitzgerald from 1948 until 1952, isn't one of those old-timers who thinks everything was better back in the day. His comments on the younger generation will shock those who think nothing good has been recorded since 1959.
"There's a whole bunch of good young musicians around now," he says, "and they're playing better at a younger age than we did when I was young."
He says the reason for that is simple: "There's more stuff available. Duke Ellington made maybe four records a year when I was a kid. Four 78s. That's, like, two minutes of music on each side, so that's 16 minutes. That ain't even a CD. And that's what we had to study from and practice with."
Brown started out on the piano but switched to the bass in high school. Why? "It looked easier. It only had one line to read instead of two." Was it easier? "Hell, no."
It's not common for bass players to be leaders, but after 50 years of being a sideman, Brown has had enough. Now it's his turn, although just because he's in charge doesn't mean he'll be taking endless solos all night.
"Solos are great, but I don't think you serve any purpose playing on every tune," he says. "I think you're better served playing one really good substantial solo. I play maybe 10, 12 minutes solo. And I think you impress people maybe a little better than just taking some choruses on every tune that goes by. After it's been exhausted by the saxophone player playing 40 choruses and the piano player playing 25 and the other horns, then they always turn it over to you last."


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Artist: Yowler
Title Of Album: The Offer
Year Of Release: 2015
Record Label: Double Double Whammy
Genre: Pop Punk, Indie, Folk
Quality: mp3
Total Length: 00:27:33
Bitrate: 320kbps
Total Size: ~ 74 Mb
"Yowler - The Offer (2015)"
Free 300 GB with Full DSL-Broadband Speed!
Artist: Yowler
Title Of Album: The Offer
Year Of Release: 2015
Record Label: Double Double Whammy
Genre: Pop Punk, Indie, Folk
Quality: mp3
Total Length: 00:27:33
Bitrate: 320kbps
Total Size: ~ 74 Mb
01 - Water
02 - Bedroom Wall
03 - Yowler
04 - Holidays
05 - 7 Towers
06 - Belle
07 - In The Bathroom
08 - The Offer
On her first record as Yowler, Maryn Jones stares down all the water she can find. It comes in the usual forms-oceans, river, rain-and the ones we don't consider as often, like tears and spit and nicks of blood. Jones, known for her work at the front of All Dogs and with Saintseneca, uses The Offer to hunt down form inside a looming infinity. She hungers for the human shapes that break up the drones of time, space, and sea.
Jones' dark guitar and gently creased voice form most of the album on their own, but her songs don't feel restricted to a single person. They spill out of themselves, flow into each other, and cohere into a whole, like circuits in a system. When synthesizers or drums or extra voices seep in, they show up as naturally as weather. Jones might be alone, but there are no seams between her and her atmosphere.
There is a song called "Yowler" on The Offer, a name that resists convention-you don't name your project after a song or vice versa unless you're trying to make a point. Here, it fits; on the chorus, Jones sings, "Your hands look just like mine." She's looking across at another human body, amazed at the mirror image she finds, disturbed by the strange kinship. Hands are dense, complex machines, and yet you can hold your own up to someone else's, and most of the time, they'll match. On Soundcloud, the track appears as "Yowler :: Yowler". The mirror is there before you hear the song.
Jones reveals a love of language just in the way she bends it. She chooses and pronounces her words carefully. She'll invert cliches: "You can lead me to the water but you cannot make me drink," she sings on "Yowler". A chorus of low voices swarms her, like a mob about to dunk her in the river, or a hand guiding her away from the bank. "You will not be avoided/ 'Cause your ghost is haunting me."
She sings about drowning on "Holidays", only she calls it gestating. She imagines her body floating beneath a sheet of ice, and she uses a word intended to describe new life. Is there hope in that image, in the idea that dissolving into death is its own kind of birth? "If I return my body to the running black dark... will it be me? Will I see me?" Jones wonders. Does the person break apart when the body does, or is there a different shape you can't see?
"I am nothing/ I am but a shape," Jones sings on "Water". Those two lines seem to contradict each other, and she spends The Offer negotiating the tension between them. The album is a deep, sad comfort, more complex than it first appears, like a pond frozen over and still writhing with life.
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Todd Cohen
RALEIGH, N.C. — The Special Victims Unit of the Wake County District Attorney's Office employs three assistant district attorneys who focus on sexual and physical abuse of children in a county with thousands of allegations of abuse every year.
Investigating those allegations, and providing services and treatment for abused children, involves multiple law-enforcement, health and social-services agencies and typically requires that children undergo multiple interviews, evaluations and medical examinations at different agencies at different times, a process that can force them to relive the trauma of the original abuse.
In 22 other counties or groups of counties in the state, child advocacy centers have been established to coordinate and help children and their families navigate that process, which aims to protect and treat abused children and prosecute their abusers.
Now, thanks to a collaborative planning process that WakeMed spearheaded, SAFEchild is set to open a child advocacy center for Wake County, which is the biggest county in the state without a child advocacy center.
Child abuse and the lack of coordination for handling allegations of abuse represent a "serious problem," says Melanie Shekita, an assistant district attorney who serves on a planning committee for the new center.
"We need a comprehensive center to help provide adequate resources for all children who have been sexually or physically abused," she says.
To be located in a former residence on Kidd Road near WakeMed that served as the initial home for SAFEchild, the new center will provide a child-friendly environment to better serve children by coordinating the response to allegations of abuse, says Marjorie Menestres, executive director of SAFEchild.
Shekita says the center will provide joint interviews of children by multiple agencies that will be handled by forensic social workers and will be admissible in court.
The center also will provide follow-up treatment for children and their families.
Menestres says the center "will help children not be retraumatized throughout the investigation and treatment of their abuse."
The center, set to open in July, expects in its first year to serve 325 children and their non-offending parents, a number that should grow by 50 children the second year, Menestres says.
With the annual budget for the center totaling $300,000, SAFEchild already has secured commitments for over $50,000 in unrestricted funding, plus a commitment from WakeMed of $40,000 in in-kind contributions, including a part-time medical director, a colposcope and camera used for child sexual-abuse exams, and anatomically-correct dolls.
And the N.C. Governor's Crime Commission will support the cost of the center's director and its family case manager, plus two computers, monitors and printers.
Despite the difficult economic times, the SAFEchild board voted unanimously to add the center to its programs, which already serve roughly 650 families and 5,000 children a year, because it was the right thing to do, Menestres says.
"We were established to fill a need," says Menestres, who has headed SAFEchild since it was formed in 1993 by the Junior League of Raleigh, "and we are living by our traditions."


text:
Electrostatics determine vibrational frequency shifts in hydrogen bonded complexes
The shifts in the acetylenic C–H stretching vibration in the C–H⋯X hydrogen-bonded complexes correlate with the electrostatic component of the stabilization energy.
Machine learning prediction of interaction energies in rigid water clusters
A new machine learning based approach combining support vector regression (SVR) and many body expansion (MBE) that can predict the interaction energies of water clusters with high accuracy (for decamers: 2.78% of QM estimates).
The nature of selenium hydrogen bonding: gas phase spectroscopy and quantum chemistry calculations
Charge transfer interactions, along with electrostatic and polarization interactions, are important for the strength of hydrogen bonding when poorly electronegative atoms act as hydrogen bond acceptors.
Atomistic non-adiabatic dynamics of the LH2 complex with a GPU-accelerated ab initio exciton model
We present GPU-accelerated ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of nonadiabatic dynamics in the LH2 complex in full atomistic detail.
Quantum molecular motion in the mixed ion-radical complex, [(H2O)(H2S)]+
The cation dimer of water and hydrogen sulfide, [(H2O)(H2S)]+, serves as a fundamental model for the oxidation chemistry of H2S.
The effect of sequence on the ionization of guanine in DNA
Charge–dipole interactions are the crucial factors in the accurate estimation of ionization energy of guanine in DNA.
Singlet–triplet gaps in polyacenes: a delicate balance between dynamic and static correlations investigated by spin–flip methods
In this work, we use various spin–flip methods to benchmark the singlet triplet (ST) gaps of small polyacenes and show that the error in the ST gaps with respect to the experiment is small and does not increase appreciably with the system size.
Prediction of enhanced solvent-induced enantioselectivity for a ring opening with a bifurcating reaction path
A fully atomistic molecular dynamics simulation predicts enhance induction of enantiomeric excess in the products of a reaction with a bifurcating reaction coordinate, when run in a chiral solvent.
Spectroscopic and ab initio investigation of 2,6-difluorophenylacetylene–amine complexes: coexistence of C–H⋯N and lone-pair⋯π complexes and intermolecular coulombic decay
Hydrogen bond and lone-pair⋯π interactions can coexist.
Reaction dynamics of CN radicals with
tetrahydrofuran in liquid solutions
The dynamics of the reaction of CN radicals with tetrahydrofuran are explored in solution using ultrafast time-resolved infra-red absorption spectroscopy.
1,4-phenylenediisocyanide dimer: gas-phase properties and insights into organic self-assembled monolayers
Binding in the 1,4-phenylenediisocyanide dimer is significantly larger than in the benzene dimer and serves as a prototype for organic self-assembled monolayers.
About this collection
The PCCP Emerging Investigator Lectureship aims to recognize and support the significant contribution of early career researchers in physical chemistry, chemical physics and biophysical chemistry. The Lectureship is a platform for an early career physical chemist to showcase their research to the wider scientific community. This collection includes selected articles published by the PCCP Emerging Investigator Lectureship winners.
Showcasing the 2018 PCCP Emerging Investigator Lectureship winner : Professor Debashree Ghosh, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science.
Professor Ghosh develops and applies accurate quantum chemical methods to understand the interaction between light and coupled bio-chromophores. Electronic structure theory gives us unique tools to understand the energy states of the chromophores and their coupling to each other and therefore, gives us a glimpse into their photochemistry and photo-dynamics.
Previous Winners:
2017 winner - Professor Ryan P Steele, University of Utah
2016 winner – Dr David Glowacki, University of Bristol


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Professor Tantillo talked about how Fitzgerald & Turner drew the conclusions that cats on islands tend to prey more frequently on birds than do cats on continents (see page 166 of Dennis Turner's book, Domestic Cat: The Biology of it's Behavior). This example I'm about to discuss is in keeping with their conclusions, as it is about feral cats on very isolated islands, but I just wanted to share it because I think the flightlessness aspect adds a great facet to the feral cats vs. birds debate. (And it should also be taken into account because regardless of the extremely unusual qualities of this parrot, a bird is a bird is a bird.)
|Conservation officer Daryl Eason feeding a Kakapo.
In 1970 they were declared entirely extinct, but in 1974 two males were discovered in Fiordland. In the next four years, 16 more males were discovered, which still qualified the kakapo as extinct as there were no females. Finally, in 1977 around 200 birds were found on Stewart Island (a relatively uninhabited island in Southern NZ that was free of stoats but filled with cats), with the first females seen in nearly 100 years. Extensive research was performed in the next 4 years, where it was determined feral cats had become the main predatory threat. Admittedly, there are numerous variables/biases that come into play on this issue as discussed in class, since cats are certainly not the only factor affecting Kakapo population numbers. They have very low fertility and reproductive rates as they take 9-11 years to reach breeding age, and are also entirely herbivorous and will postpone breeding until good seed production years where they are certain to be able to raise chicks. There are also still pressures from other predators such as polynesian rats. However, when the Stewart Island population was fitted with radio-transmitters and monitored by researchers, it was found over 50% of the adults were killed within 12 months by feral cats, suggesting them as the primary threat.
Alarmed by the high death rates, in 1982 the NZ Wildlife Service was brought in to eradicate the feral cat population on Stewart Island. Initially it worked well, dropping predation rates from ~56% to nearly ~0%. This ultimately failed as cats quickly reoccupied the area and death rates went back up, so they finally relocated the remaining 61 Kakapo to three smaller cat-free islands. The NZ government stepped in and over the next few decades began implementing a Kakapo recovery program which has been fairly successful. The IUCN red list of threatened species's most current population size from 2009 states the total number of post-breeding season Kakapos left is 124, and of those, ~55 are mature adults.
So.. what do you think of this particular example of cats versus birds? Do you agree with the steps they took in re-establishing the Kakapo population? How sustainable is this path if the Kakapo still can't deal with predatory mammals? Is eradicating feral cats from the area justifiable to preserve this species of birds? Or are these birds just evolutionarily slow and haven't successfully adapted/deserve to go extinct?
Note - If you want more information, all my information was taken from sources that were hyperlinked to throughout this post, as well as you can take a look at this extensive list of kakapo related scientific publications.


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Sunday, February 06, 2011
Lovin' with Sentimental Sundays and DeeDee Digis!
8 Words of Love:
- Kimberly S said...
Very pretty Lisa! Love that clean look! :)
- February 6, 2011 at 1:02 PM
- Papertrails by a paper lover said...
Lisa your whole latte love is super cute! I love that you used two colors. It's clean and very chic! Cool how you used the image inside with sentiment! Have a great week! :-). Amy
- February 6, 2011 at 1:57 PM
- Christine aka blankiefinder said...
This is just adorable! What a great idea to put the sentiment on top of the image on the inside!
- February 6, 2011 at 2:32 PM
- Cheryl said...
oooh, this is so soft and pretty! Gorgeous card!
- February 7, 2011 at 3:14 PM
Gorgeous card Lisa, so simple yet stunning!!
- February 8, 2011 at 4:16 AM
- elsi67 said...
Lovely!! Thanks for playing with us at WOC ♥
- February 8, 2011 at 3:27 PM
- Tameko said...
Beautiful. Love the sparkle on top of your cup. And nice touch with the image on the inside panel.
- February 8, 2011 at 9:22 PM
- This N That said...
Ms. Lisa! You know I love your style! Thanks SO much for being our valentine at Card Makin Mamas!
- February 11, 2011 at 5:04 PM
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Office: 480-382-2629
Fax : 480-596-7981
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Address: 4821 N Scottsdale Suite 107
Courtesy of: Carlie Back, Keller Williams Realty Phoenix
Fantastic opportunity for home builder! This prime property is close to the new freeway and minutes to downtown, ASU, airport and west valley! Hike right into the South Mountain Park/Preserve from this property. Enjoy the quiet, serene desert setting with amazing views of the city lights, sunsets and sunrise and the mountain. Seller has begun the process to subdivide the property into 8-11 lots that are 10,000 square feet to 30,000 square feet! Seller has completed the Pre-App with the city of Phoenix. Lots are being sold as a package, will not be sold individually. Subject to approval from the city of Phoenix. Also listed as MLS #5794564


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Beat Spring Allergies by Getting Acupuncture Now/
Who doesn't love spring? The weather is warmer, the colors pop, birds are chirping and days are longer.
But with that, especially for allergy sufferers, comes an increase in pollen and other allergies causing sneezing, sniffling, itchy eyes, headaches, and an overall sense of feeling not-so-great. Right?
If you're tired of the same allergy-fighting routine and are looking for a more holistic approach, be sure to give acupuncture a try. As CNN reports, acupuncture treatment just might be an antidote for allergies.
The article cites a study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, where researchers examined 422 people who tested positive for pollen allergies and had allergic nasal symptoms such as a runny nose. They were then divided into three subgroups, one which received 12 acupuncture treatments and took antihistamines as needed, a second group which received 12 fake acupuncture treatments and took antihistamines as needed, while the third who only took antihistamines for symptoms.
After two months, patients were asked to report their symptoms as well as how much medication they used. The results? The participants who received the real acupuncture treatments with their antihistamines showed a greater improvement in their allergy symptoms and less use of antihistamines compared to the other groups.
It's long been known that acupuncture can help with pain and inflammation, which are two symptoms of allergies. The ancient procedure can also help repair the flow of qi throughout the body, along the meridian pathways. In session, be sure describe the symptoms to your practitioner so they can strategically place the acuneedles at targeted points.
If you find yourself suffering from seasonal allergy symptoms, come on in and give treatment a try. You have nothing to lose (except your stuffy nose, that is!)