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Chlamydia diagnoses last year in Australia grew by 17 percent over the 2009 figure, while gonorrhea diagnoses shot up by 25 percent, the Kirby Institute reported today. More testing does not account for all of the increases, said David Wilson, an associate professor at the University of New South Wales-based institute.
"What we are seeing right now is the rate of diagnosis is surpassing the rate of testing, so that indicates there's an increase in overall infection levels," Wilson said. "So there's an epidemic."
Wilson said men's lack of condom use is fueling the rise in STDs. Young heterosexuals were the most likely to be infected with chlamydia, with 80 percent of last year's patients ages 15-29. The rate among women almost quadrupled, and it more than tripled among men who have sex with men. MSM last year also had a sharp increase in rectal gonorrhea infections, resulting in the highest population rate of gonorrhea diagnosis across jurisdictions over the last decade.
HIV and viral hepatitis remained mostly stable. The 1,043 new HIV diagnoses in 2010 were in line with the 1,000 diagnoses typically seen in each of the last five years, the report noted. Diagnoses of infectious syphilis, largely among MSM, declined to 4.9 cases per 100,000 from 6.7 per 100,000 in 2007.
Widespread rapid HIV testing could help Australia meet its UN commitment of halving new HIV infections by 2015, said Rob Lake, executive director of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organizations.
It is time to "move beyond this plateau and decrease infection rates," Lake said. "Overseas experience has shown that when rapid HIV testing is offered, testing rates increase, and many people who have never previously tested present for testing."
To read the report, visit: www.med.unsw.edu.au/NCHECRweb.nsf/resources/2011/$file/KIRBY_ASR2011.pdf.


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Home | About Shari | Shari's Blog | Contact Me
Cruise Holidays Land and Sea
email@example.com | (919) 747-9996
Cruising with Family and Friends
If you're looking for a great vacation option for you and your extended family, or for a fun setting for your next reunion with your college pals, a cruise may be the answer. "Family and friends" cruises are the most popular type of "niche" cruise booked by the experts at Cruise Holidays, according to the travel company's recent Cruise Trends survey. Why is a cruise ideal for groups of family members and friends? It offers all the things you love about a gathering – shared meals, games to play, entertainment for all – with a minimum of effort on your part. On a cruise, each meal is expertly prepared by the galley crew; your accommodations are cleaned and refreshed for you each day by a dedicated housekeeping staff; and, entertainment ranging from crazy poolside contests to Broadway-caliber stage shows is arranged by the social staff. All you need to do is get on board and enjoy. If you're traveling with a multi-generational family group, your Cruise Holidays personal cruise expert can tell you about the newest family-friendly cruise ships. For example, through a partnership with DreamWorks' Animation SKG, Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas will have your family interacting with characters from animated movies such as Shrek and Kung Fu Panda. Royal Caribbean is known for other family-pleasing features, too, such as rock climbing walls and ice-skating rinks. Disney is another cruise line that caters to families, from its stateroom designs to its shore excursions. The new Disney Dream also features the first on-board water coaster at sea. Family members of all ages will scream with delight as the 765-foot-high AquaDuck sends them through a clear acrylic tube that swings out over the water. If you're traveling with a group of friends of the same generation, ask your personal cruise expert for information about ships that have a more adult sensibility. Premium cruise lines such as Celebrity Cruises, Princess Cruises and Holland America Line tend to appeal to more adult tastes. You'll certainly find families with children on these ships, too, but they are likely to be a smaller percentage of passengers. You'll also find a lower ratio of children to adults if you book your cruise outside of the school holidays. To find out more about family and friend cruises – including how to select an itinerary, reserve shore excursions and possibly qualify for some discounts – talk with your Cruise Holidays personal cruise expert.

subset: commoncrawl


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Listen free for 30 days
Internal Combustion
On Mother's Day night, 2004, award-winning fourth grade teacher Nancy Seaman left the Tudor home she shared with her husband of 32 years in the gated community of Farmington Hills, near Detroit, Michigan, and drove in a driving rain storm to Home Depot, to purchase a hatchet. Three days later, police discovered the mutilated body of Bob Seaman - a successful auto industry engineer, softball coach and passionate collector of vintage Mustangs - in the back of the family's Ford Explorer. As the shackles were placed on her wrists, Nancy Seaman asserted that her husband had been beating her, and she'd killed him in self-defense. At her trial, two radically different stories emerged.
One of the couple's sons, Greg, testified that his father had been abusing his mother for years. The other, Jeff, testified for the prosecution, charging his mother as a cold blooded killer. Joyce Maynard's chilling work delves beyond the events of the crime itself, to explore the lives of an American family who seemed to have everything. Her exploration of the story led to a year's research in suburban Detroit - but the story she found there will take the reader to the Depression-era farm country of Illinois, the working class neighborhoods of the auto industry in its heyday and even, surprisingly, to a Baptist church in burned-out downtown Detroit.
Along the way we meet a Transylvanian forensic pathologist, a beautiful young prosecutor, an old-school police chief, a television news crew hungry for ratings, the softball scorekeeper mom accused of carrying on an affair with the murdered man, and her two shell shocked teenagers, still reeling from the death of their beloved coach, and a mother who has to tell her daughter why her favorite teacher won't be in school any more. As in Joyce Maynard's previous books - including To Die For, based on a true crime, and her best-selling memoir, At Home in the World - Joyce Maynard's themes here involve family secrets, ...
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- Frederiek van Rhijn
- 03-04-14
This was no Agatha Christie novel
If this book wasn't for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?
In the end the book became tedious. I made it to the end, but don't think I really enjoyed this book, although the beginning was more interesting.
If you've listened to books by Joyce Maynard before, how does this one compare?
I read almost every book of Joyce Maynard, but this was my first audiobook, though I have downloaded all of them. They are still waiting to be listened to.
How could the performance have been better?
The narrator sometimes had a voice like fingernails being scraped down a blackboard. Also she sometimes forgot to breathe in between sentences.
What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
I was a bit disappointed by the story. I prefer her books: After her, The good daughters, To die for and Labor Day
Any additional comments?
My favourite audiobook The lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan was not surpassed.
- Kelley
- 21-07-12
There are no charmers here.
A married school teacher drives to Home Depot on a rainy night and buys the hatchet she will soon use to kill her husband.
Interesting story, right?
No. It's actually really dull. I began listening to the audiobook because I wanted an answer to the question, "How do couples get to hatchet murder?". (I'm still not sure.)
I kept listening to the audiobook to answer the question, "How and why did Joyce Maynard write such a lousy book." That, for me, became a much more interesting mystery.
Here's what I think: Maynard knew fairly early on that she had no angle on the story and no affinity with the people involved, but she had bills to pay and was reluctant (as anyone would be) to eat all the time she'd spent researching with no payday. So she did what writers do - she put words on pages. What to include? Everything.Want to know what game the five year old daughter of the woman who now lives in the house where the murder was committed was playing when Maynard finally got the owners to agree to let her see the place? It's in there! Along with an account of every unreturned phone call and every interview request refused.
And there are lots and lots of those. Virtually no one with anything to say about the murder wants to say it to Joyce Maynard.
Desperate to convince people to open up, Maynard keeps sending the dittohead sportsfans she's trying to win over copies of her books. She wants them to believe (and to believe herself) that she will elevate their story with the power of her prose.
"Get away from my Escapade," say the sportsfans. They suspect she might be an elitist, feminist, liberal*.
And they're totally right.
If Maynard can't see or comprehend that the car enthusiast, sportsfans she's writing about DON'T READ, there is no way in hell she could ever tell this story. I mean, she can forgive the hatchet murder thing, but "Faulkner who?" blinds her to their humanity.
In other words, there is a class and culture disconnect in this book you can't believe. Maynard can make no judgment about anyone, or come down on any side, because she's judged everyone. She just can't admit it. She sounds like an earnest teen coming back from the retirement home saying, " Awwwww. Those old people were so sweet." She might as well be writing about Ewoks for all the depth and variation she's given them.
But that's just me getting something off my chest.
For the book, I thought it was dull-- all detail, no organizing prinicple or insight. Not captivating for either the characters or the deed. Go nowhere long.
For the narration - Appropriately midwestern. Good, workman-like job that doesn't call attention to itself. I've no idea why anyone would have a problem with it.
*Not that there's anything wrong with being an elitist, liberal, feminist- I do it all the time :-)
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
- Dennis
- 07-08-11
First Half Was Good
The first half was interesting, but the second half sounded like "blah-blah-blah" almost all the way though.
Sounded like she had to stretch out the book to make it longer by talking about her frustration, and the trials and tribulations of getting anyone to talk to her.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
- A. P. Thompson
- 10-01-12
A "reporter" injects herself into the story
This book was a real disappointment. The cause is clear: Maynard couldn't scrape enough information together to write a real book about the Seaman murder through her reporting, so she pads the book shamelessly by injecting herself into the story. The book becomes a tale about how no one will talk to poor old Joyce, who plods from rejection to rejection while relentlessly comparing her crazy behavior during her own divorce to the murderous impulses of Nancy Seaman.
A less egotistical author would have pulled the plug on the endeavor once realizing she didn't have enough information to fill a book, or at least switch gears and use her work to write a long article for some magazine. Sometimes things just don't work out. Maynard instead chose to waste our time in the mistaken belief that a description of her reporting process and own emotional state is what people really want to read about, or have any interest in.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
- 17-11-12
Save your money
Any additional comments?
Interesting subject matter, but poorly written and horribly read. Too much self injection on the part of the author. The reader sounded as though she was speed reading the material to herself for the first time . . . rushed and lacking proper intonation. Big disappointment!
- Peach and Zeke
- 12-04-12
Narrator Killed the Story
This book deserves a better narrator!
Janey Ivey sounds like she is reading from one of those horizontally scrolling banners one sees at the bottom of television news shows, complete with hesitations, mispronounciations and misplaced emphasis as she waits for the next syllable to appear before her. Add to that her attempts to 'brighten' her narration with forced enthusiasm as she describes towns, celebrations and such...it sounds like she is reading a children's book rather than the story of a murder.
The story itself was interesting, but it was too much to bear listening to it poorly read as I was trying to concentrate on my long highway drive. As it was written this was a somber account, but this version didn't flow well and I couldn't settle into the story. It was simply too hard to mentally edit what I was hearing so that it made sense and drive at the same time. I think I will download the printed version and 're-read' it.
- jaye
- 01-06-12
too much "white noise"
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
ok. the story was ok but too much time spent on talking about how the author could not get in touch with this person or that. or mentioning the fact the convicted person, nancy, did not answer calls at least five times.
just tell the story of the murder and the family relationships. all the other stuff is white noise.
What other book might you compare Internal Combustion to and why?
i don't know. i never read a book where the author spent so much time talking about the research. meeting this person or that instead of talking about WHAT the result of the conversation was only. i found this to be boring.
What three words best describe Janey Ivey's voice?
way too fast.
Do you think Internal Combustion needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
i would like to read a book where the story was told about the story of the family only, not how the author was catching planes or going here or there. it ois not supposed to be about the author.
Any additional comments?
this could have been an interesting story. or at least more interesting with out the unnecessary details about research. ann rule never does books were she talks so much about her actual part in writing the story. if the author left her unnecessary remarks aboiut meeting this or that person for coffee it would have been a great book.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful


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2015-02-25 - On the occasion of the launch of the Bugaboo by Diesel Collection in New York city, Bugaboo spoke to the creative director of Diesel: Andrea Rosso.
When the Bugaboo by Diesel collection recently launched in New York, Bugaboo took the opportunity to speak with Andrea Rosso, Creative Director of Diesel. We wanted to find out how the collaboration between the two seemingly very different brand came about and find out the idea behind the #BeBrave campaign.
How were you initially approached by Bugaboo for a collaboration, and what were your first thoughts?
It was actually my father, Renzo Rosso, who met Bugaboo for the first time on occasion of their partnership with Viktor & Rolf. I, myself, was a little skeptical at first, how do you translate the Diesel DNA into a stroller? But working with such a great team has been has brought many surprises and many of my expectations have been surpassed.
We're partnering up for a three-year collaboration, how did that come about? Why three different collections?
Our DNA is made up of so many different aspects that we felt just one model wouldn't have been enough to represent us. Also, we wanted to give our fans the possibility to choose.
How have you experienced the collaboration between Diesel and Bugaboo so far?
It has been incredibly positive. Everybody in the team is hugely creative and it has been a challenge to find as many ways possible to infuse such a great product with all our energy and the details we love. We had long talks about fabrics, treatments, colours and so many other things. I think you can see that reflected in the final result!
What was your main source of inspiration for this collaboration and more importantly, how did it translate to a collection of pushchairs and accessories?
We started from the DNA of our lifestyle: what would a Diesel consumer like, and what would they expect from us in a stroller? We think that they would like to find an alternative to the usual pink or baby-blue ones. We looked towards our main source of inspiration and started from there; the camouflage/military influences form an important element in our collections.
Could you tell us something about the campaign image/idea for the first collection and the idea behind #BeBrave?
Being brave means facing the unexpected with a smile, breaking the rules and going straight into our future. In a way, these are the things that the parents do every day!
Did you ever have, or maybe even cause your parents, a #BeBrave moment?
Smiling: So many that I couldn't possibly list them all. But I can remember one time I slept on the floor of a store the night before the opening, because I wanted to finish all the final touches before leaving, or simply my crazy snowboarding experiences. I like sports: from surfing the big waves in Australia to running marathons. *we're guessing Andrea will be a big fan of the Bugaboo Runner one day!
Which core values do you think our brands share?
Creativity, rebelliousness, and a passion we both put in all our products.
Aside from Bugaboo (of course), which have been your favorite past collaborations and why?
I really enjoyed the results of our collaboration with Ducati – a Monster motorbike which is really fantastic – and Pinarello – a great bike, called Only The Brave. Two different ways to move around, you would think they don't have much to do with a stroller, but in reality they have a lot of details in common with the Bugaboo by Diesel.
Who is your ultimate style icon, who would you like to see strutting the streets of Milan/Paris/London with the new Bugaboo by Diesel pushchair?
I would like to see Jun Takahashi (owner of fashion label UNDERCOVER red.).


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GOP leader produces all-local knitwear
GOP leader spins community and knitting hobby into eco-friendly textile firm in Sea Ranch
Many people turn to knitting as a means of stress reduction, and Harmeet Dhillon of San Francisco was no exception when she took up the hobby during college in 1986. Dhillon, however, has taken her interest in textiles a step or two further than most recreational knitters. In 2012, she founded Sea Ranch Woolworks, which takes wool from the sheep used for fire abatement in the Sonoma community of the Sea Ranch, processes it locally, and has craftswomen from the community turn it into durable and beautiful hand-knit scarves.
The internal drive that propelled Dhillon, 44, from hobbyist knitter to founder of a growing textile business is apparent in the trajectory of her full-time career. She was born in rural India and is now as an award-winning trial attorney at the helm of her own firm, chairwoman of the Republican Party of San Francisco and a candidate for vice chair of the California Republican Party. But Dhillon credits her husband, Sarvjit Randhawa, for getting her started on the textile track.
"We bought a second home in the Sea Ranch in 2010, and for the first time I had room for all the yarn I'd put into storage when I sold my last house in 2003," Dhillon says of the home where she and her husband spend weekends. She knit Randhawa a sweater for Christmas 2010, then a few more. Ready to start sweater No. 5, Dhillon recalls, "My husband said, 'I want a sweater made from the sheep here at Sea Ranch.' "
Dhillon got in touch with Leland Falk, the shepherd in charge of the woolly brigade at the coastal community, to persuade him to sell her some of the white and brown fleeces from 300-plus ruminants. He was impressed by Dhillon's vision.
"When people come to me and want to purchase wool, I sort of stand back and see what they're thinking," Falk says. Dhillon "seemed like she had a lot of energy and was really going to take her project somewhere." He agreed to sell her some of the wool, which would otherwise be used as winter ground cover for Posh Squash, the community garden at the Sea Ranch, or sold to the market via a cooperative.
"I got a 300-pound bale delivered to my house in April 2012," Dhillon recalls, "full of ticks and dirt and grease." She then sent a sample to the Yolo Wool Mill in Woodland (Yolo County) to be cleaned, carded and spun, yielding 10 pounds of processed yarn. A local weaver in Gualala inspected it for Dhillon and pronounced it viable for knitting, and Dhillon was on her way.
Last July, she arranged with Falk to take the entire inventory of fleece after they were sheared on site at the Sea Ranch, almost a thousand pounds, and sent it on to the mill.
"It was the biggest order they'd ever had and took almost five months to process," she says. Most Sea Ranch sheep have resilient coats that won't get hung up on the vines and brush they graze. As Falk points out, "I look at hardiness as the main factor for choosing sheep. I don't really look for breeds with high-quality wool."
Dhillon began experimenting with softer alpaca fiber blends and organic dyes, locally made where possible, then hired four knitters from the Mendocino area to turn her original knitting designs into finished products.
The emphasis on local materials, processing and labor - all within 150 miles of West Marin - means that Sea Ranch Woolworks has attained Fibershed certification, a designation meant to support the creation of local textile cultures that enhance ecological balance, and strengthen local economies and communities.
Rebecca Burgess - the author, educator and textile artist who founded the Fibershed movement in Northern California - says Dhillon's commitment is meaningful. "She's creating high standards for other people to follow, because she's willing to invest."
The image of a stalwart of the Republican Party spearheading a craft-based, organic, sustainable business might seem an odd juxtaposition to some, but Dhillon relishes the chance to challenge perceptions. "Ten years ago I would have called this touchy-feely hippie nonsense. But it's a conservative value to not rely on foreign labor and materials." Dhillon says the first person to buy anything from her online shop was a die-hard Republican who thanked her for helping dispel the myth that Republicans are opposed to helping the environment.
Sea Ranch Woolworks' scarves, shawls and cowls, ranging in price from $45 to $95, are available online, as well as in a few boutiques in Gualala. Skeins of wool and scarf kits are also available for purchase. In the coming year, Dhillon hopes to find San Francisco retailers to carry her company's goods and perhaps to support the establishment of an urban natural dyework that would allow all the dyes in her product to be Fibershed compliant.
"This company is about investing in the local economy over the long term," Dhillon says. "We have fine craftsmanship in America; it just costs more."
Sea Ranch Woolworks: www.etsy.com/shop/searanchwoolworks.
Fibershed: www.fibershed.com.
Nancy Davis Kho is a freelance writer in Oakland. E-mail: email@example.com


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New North Korean propaganda video shows Obama in flames
SEOUL, South Korea – A new North Korean video portrays President Barack Obama and American troops in flames and says the North conducted its recent nuclear test because of U.S. hostility.
The video posted on YouTube follows a string of critical rhetoric against the United States and another video this month showing an American city being attacked by missiles.
Sunday's video overlaps the image of a blazing fire over Obama walking near his helicopter and shaking hands with congressmen. The one-and-a-half-minute video ends with a generic simulation of a nuclear device exploding underground.
The United States is currently negotiating in the Security Council for stronger U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang for the Feb. 12 nuclear blast that was its third test since 2006.


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Ustream.TV is proud to announce yet another amazing series of shows @ SXSW:
The legendary VIPER ROOM and BEBO take over Austin, bringing a 4 day extravaganza of bands, March 12 – 16, 7 PM – 1 PM PDT / 10 PM – 1 AM EDT. Check out the lineup below.
And yes, I realize the first show is already over. And yes, it was damn successful. Please excuse us: the Ustream.TV crew is working hard to confirm these things literally on the streets of SXSW. I'm literally writing this blog at the AllHipHop show right down the street on 6th!
Literally, as I'm writing this, legendary rapper Bushwick Bill of Geto Boys made a surprise appearance at the the AllHipHop/Bebo show.
Anyway, here's that lineup, with the Wednesday lineup included for the sake of the recorded video you're going to watch right now!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
12AM CDT Coyote Shivers
11PM CDT Ringers
10PM CDT Semi Precious Weapons
9PM CDT Roses on her Grave
Thursday, March 13, 2008
12AM CDT Big Bang
11PM CDT Hello Stranger
10PM CDT Leroy Powell
9PM CDT Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash
Friday, March 14, 2008
12AM CDT Helmet
11PM CDT Nico Vega
10PM CDT Voxhaul Broadcast
9PM CDT We Barbarians
Saturday, March 15, 2008
12AM CDT Run Run Run
11PM CDT Liam and Me
10PM CDT The Daylights
9PM CDT Your Vegas


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The project, located in in South Lanarkshire, southern Scotland, is being developed by Banks Renewables. It will consist of up to 26 turbines.
The original proposal for Kype Muir wind development included the use of 48 turbines. It was reduced to 26 following the environmental impact assessment and community consultation.
Banks Renewables, a subsidiary of the Banks Group, is the also developer of the Penny Hill Wind project in South Yorkshire.
The 20MW site is using six 3.4MW Senvion (formally Repower) turbines.
The Banks Group owns the 12.3MW Armistead project in Cumbria. It also uses Senvion turbines.


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How to leave the Xbox One update preview program
If you're selling or giving your Xbox away, or you just don't want to participate anymore, before you sell or gift it to someone else, you should remove it from the update preview program. If you've already sold or gifted your Xbox, you can launch the Xbox Insider Hub on another console or on a Windows 10 PC and follow these same directions.
- Launch the Xbox Insider Hub on your Xbox One or a Windows 10 PC.
- On the main landing page, select Settings.
- Select Manage devices and choose the one you want to remove from the program.
- Select Done.
Note: This process typically takes about 10 minutes to complete. It might help to know the serial number or name of your previous console to ensure you remove the correct one.
As part of the removal process, your Xbox may undergo a factory refresh. If a factory refresh is required, your games and apps won't be erased, but any profiles or system settings saved to the console will need to be restored after the refresh is complete.
Contact Us
Would you like to contact Support regarding the "How to leave the Xbox One update preview program" issue you were reading about or a different issue?


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Welcome to the CRG Discussion Forum!Forum registration problems: Make sure you enter your email correctly and you check your spam box first. *Then* email KurtS2@gmail for help.Classified ads are not allowed on the forum.
Anybody have pictures (present or past) of their cars at the strip? Have to be more than just a handful here who enjoy/enjoyed "dragging it out" once in a while. Fun Runs ? Smell of burnt rubber mixed with race fuel?
Thanks. My SS had a stock 1969 427 ZL-1 motor in it !


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'Star Wars: Episode VII' Director J.J. Abrams Extols Shooting on Film vs. Digital
"Star Wars" ignited Hollywood's digital revolution when George Lucas made 1999's "Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace" the first movie played on digital projectors and 2002's sequel "Attack of the Clones" the first movie shot entirely digitally.
Now J.J. Abrams, Mr. Lucas's successor in directing the series, is turning things around. His "Star Wars: Episode VII," which will be released in December 2015, is one of the few big budget Hollywood productions currently shooting on film. Mr. Abrams spoke from the movie's London set about why he still believes in film and why he lobbied major studios to work with Kodak to keep it alive.


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$10 drop-in
"Trademark Class" Non-stop center Barre and Conditioning choreographed to music.
Spend an hour dancing with me! Based on classical Ballet, this all level class is the perfect total body workout. Plie, tendu, relive and stretch--dance your way to a strong physique and a centered mind. Beginner friendly! If you can walk across the parking lot, you can make it through my class!


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Betway UK Championship Snooker
York Barbican Centre, York.
More information about Betway UK Championship Snooker tickets
Concession prices available for some sessions for over 65's, students (with valid student ID), and children aged under 16 (must be accompanied by an adult)
If you are booking 10 tickets or more a 10% group discount is available for all sessions excluding the final.
To enquire please call 0871 620 7052 (Calls cost 13ppm plus the network access charge)


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The $5 Dinners Weekly Meal Plan with Printable Grocery List
I'm so excited to now offer this amazing new weekly meal plan and printable grocery list for you all! This is by far the most requested feature that I have yet to offer…and it's finally here!
Here's how it will work.
Every week I will post 5 links to archived recipes, plus an additional 1 or 2 recipes for breakfast, snacks or batch cooking recipes. You can click through to see the original recipe and print that recipe if you like. (Or go green and just come back to this post to get to the recipe.)
This is a great weekly meal plan for the week when boneless skinless chicken breast is on sale, as 3 of the recipes call for chicken…but you'll only need 2 packs with 3 chicken breasts in each pack!
The Recipes
Scroll down and you'll see a list of ingredients for each of the recipes included, in the order they are listed above. I'll include ALL ingredients, including many that you already have in your pantry, refrigerator, or freezer. If you have those ingredients, just don't click them!
Put a check mark by each of the ingredients, and a cute little box will appear at the bottom of your screen with your grocery list. Once you've clicked all the ingredients you need, print your list and be on your way to the grocery store!
Ingredients List
If you are seeing this in an email or in your reader and you'd like to print your grocery list, then click here to access the list feature, which is only available on the website.
Find this useful and want to get a FREE $5 Dinners Weekly Meal Plan, complete with printable grocery list options, delivered to your inbox every Sunday evening…just in time to make the week's meal plan!?
Subscribe to the Weekly Meal Plan Email, and be entered to win a copy of The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook, given away to 2 weekly meal plan newsletter subscribers once a month. And don't forget to share it with a friend!
(And did I mention this is all FREE!!!!!)


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Distances are calculated in a straight line and may not reflect actual travel distance.
It is important to note that this mortgage calculator is for guidance purposes only. Mortgage lenders have their own affordability criteria therefore it is important you speak to one of our Mortgage Advisers for further information and a more accurate indication of what products may be available to you and what your monthly mortgage payments are likely to be.
A fantastic opportunity to purchase this well presented three bedroom end terrace home. The ground floor accommodation comprises an entrance hall, spacious reception room, fitted kitchen and extended rear which has a WC and shower room. The first floor comprises three good sized bedrooms, a study room and the family bathroom. Externally there is off street parking to the front and a garden to the rear. Further benefits include gas central heating and double glazed windows.
Contact branch for relevant Energy Performance Certificate
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Join us for a fun-filled weekend with these family friendly events! At Imagination Playground, channel Louis Kahn by building whatever you imagine with oversized, architectural blocks on the lawn. At the Uni Project, our pop-up reading room, come sit, read, draw, and explore a curated collection of books and hands-on materials.
Free; no registration required.
Imagination Playground and the Uni Project will visit the Park on:
Saturday, May 20 & Sunday, May 21; Saturday, June 24 & Sunday, June 25; Saturday, September 16 & Sunday, September 17; Saturday, October 14 & Sunday, October 15
Imagination Playground is an innovative playground equipment system that transforms any space — schools, children's museums, parks and recreation, daycare centers, camps, hospitals, churches — into a play space that encourages learning, social development, movement, and above all fun.
Imagination Playground was conceived and designed by award-winning architect David Rockwell, who was inspired by watching his own children play. The work of his firm, Rockwell Group, has been internationally recognized for its broad array of projects, from restaurants to stage sets, hotels to historic restorations, art programming to interactive design.
The Uni Project is a nonprofit that brings learning opportunities to public space in New York City. Using custom-designed installations, the Uni Project pop ups in parks, plazas, and other public spaces to offer reading, drawing, and hands-on activities that let New Yorkers embrace the act of learning. The Uni Project partners with community organizations and city agencies, and we prioritize underserved locations.
Imagination Playground is made possible by Amalgamated Bank, the bank of Roosevelt Island.
The Uni Project is generously supported by NYC Council Members Ben Kallos & Mark Levine.


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Bobby Simmons casually took a seat on the sideline of Simeon's basketball court Thursday to catch the end of practice, occasionally rising to hug and chat with players and coaches who greeted him.
The former Simeon and DePaul player and 10-year NBA veteran is a busy guy, with his mornings spent training for his next shot with an NBA team and his afternoons filled with business meetings for his many ventures.
But he tries to make time for stops like this, when he can help others, chat with friends and fans, remember where he came from as "that kid who didn't have anything growing up" in Chicago's Altgeld Gardens housing project.
"Building relationships and networking," Simmons said of one of things he's enjoyed the most from his NBA career. "Normally a lot of the fans don't get a chance to know the player. When you have the opportunity to share experiences with fans, they appreciate you a lot more."
His personality has helped him get his hands in multiple businesses, including real estate, printing and marketing companies, a South Loop clothing boutique and a Chicago members-only club. He's working on his own clothing line, an interest that was fanned by his difficulty finding fashionable clothes to fit his 6-foot-6 frame.
"You never know when the ball's going to stop bouncing, so you have to ask yourself, 'What are you interested in?'" Simmons said. "'What would you like to see yourself doing?'"
At 32, he's not yet ready to give up the game that took off for him at Simeon.
A 1998 graduate, he helped the Wolverines to three 20-plus win seasons and was a Tribune second-team All-State selection during his senior year. Simeon made the semifinals of the Chicago Public League tournament during his junior and senior seasons.
"He was one of the first guys I coached that was 6-6, could shoot the ball from the perimeter and could handle it," said Simeon coach Robert Smith, who was an assistant during Simmons' senior year. "He was a good kid, real smart, coachable."
Simmons averaged 13.6 points and 7.5 rebounds in three years at DePaul and was a second-round pick of the Seattle SuperSonics in 2001.
He's played for multiple teams, winning the NBA's Most Improved Player award in 2004-05 with the Clippers and starting 74 games with the Bucks the following season. He's played in 53 games the last three seasons, including averaging 2.9 points and 14.9 minutes in 28 games with the Clippers during their playoff push last season.
The Clippers "made the decision to go in a different direction" in the offseason, but Simmons said he's talking to a few teams he would not name. He hopes to hear their decisions after the New Year.
"I'm not quite there (at retirement) yet because of the fact that I still love to play," Simmons said. "I love the game. The game did well by me.
"It's all about finding a good fit (in the NBA) right now."
In the meantime, he lives in Chicago and trains at South Side fitness clubs. He spent some time in the D-League but said he doesn't want to take away opportunities from younger players.
His time in Chicago affords him a chance to attend practices and games at Simeon, a place he considers not just a school but "a culture."
"I was the same kid growing up like those guys, learning the game of basketball and trying to figure out the next move," Simmons said. "Being in this gym kept us together."
And his being there is all right by Smith.
"He's always around, and that's positive," Smith said. "That's good for our program for the younger guys to see here's a guy who played in the NBA and still comes around, gives back, talks to the guys and is around the kids."
Twitter @ChiTribKane
Bobby Simmons file
High school: Simeon, Class of 1998.
College: DePaul.
Size: 6-6, 235.
Position: Guard/forward.
Pro: Second-round pick Seattle (2001); spent 10 seasons in the NBA with five teams; 2004-05 NBA Most Improved Player, averaging a career-high 16.4 ppg.


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Construction is underway on a new $12 million, multi-level parking structure in downtown Columbia, Mo. The six-level garage is being built on Short Street and Walnut and will include 410 parking spaces that will be leased to nearby Stephens College, businesses, residents, and a new Double Tree by Hilton Hotel at Broadway and Short streets. The city plans to use funds from its parking utility fund in addition to budgeted funds to construct the garage.
Kaiser Electric is the electrical contractor on the project and will be installing the LED lighting, power distribution, closed-circuit television, fire alarm system, and emergency phones throughout the garage.
Twelve feet on the east side of Short Street will be closed for construction, which is expected to be completed in July 2013. Killian Construction of Springfield, Mo., is the general contractor on the project.


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YACHTS & YACHTING- Review of the J/133
By Louay Habib
But what really impressed me about the yacht was the thought that has gone into the interior, something that usually does not get me excited.
There are three equally proportioned cabins, two aft and one forepeak, they are all genuine one level doubles allowing six adults to sleep at anyone time, as the IRC rating allows for up to 14 crew there is plenty of room for off-watch R and R and from the point of view of cruising or chartering there are three decent cabins, no arguments about who gets the 'wet cramped cupboard' because there isn't one and there is good headroom throughout.
A chrome pipe strengthening the pole sleeve is in the forepeak but it also acts as a place to hang lines when they are not being used.


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By R. Nichols
Folded cards $1.70 - $3.99
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The mission of R. Nichols is to bring joy and sophistication to the world through creative, happy designs. Illustration is the core of R. Nichols and drives the business; all of our images begin as intricate hand cut collages and are then turned into one of a kind greeting cards. R. Nichols loves to feature the beauty and humor of everyday life in their designs. Inspiration comes from the world around us: a cat on top of the fridge, the Golden Gate bridge, a sleek urban shopper, flowers in spring, a happy dog jumping into the pool. We hope every image evokes a special feeling of relevance and joy to the viewer.
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Sad new: Children's author Maurice Sendak is dead at the age of 83.
Here is an interview I did with the fascinating artist at his Ridgefield home in 2006 in advance of the children's opera in which he collaborated, "Brundibar.":
By FRANK RIZZO
Like many fables, the story of "Brundibar'' features innocent children, a wicked adversary, helpful animals, a moral to be learned and a happy ending.But underneath the plot of the allegorical children's opera is a darker, sadder story: a real-life tale of children and evil and the Holocaust.
Maurice Sendak became familiar with the one-act opera, written in the late '30s, when a friend sent him a Czech recording of the music. The famed children's author and illustrator was moved not simply by Hans Krasa's score but also by the history surrounding the opera. This parallel story, he felt, could have been his own.
Sendak, 77, undertook a later-in life-mission to tell both the story and back story of ``Brundibar,'' one that would involve a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, a picture book based on the original libretto and one of the largest productions undertaken by several major theaters, including the Yale Repertory Theatre.
``Brundibar,'' along with another one-act opera of the period, ``Comedy on the Bridge,'' is now in previews and opens Thursday at the University Theatre in New Haven before traveling on to New York. Arriving at Sendak's neat and sunny studio in the woods in Ridgefield, one is surrounded by a career's worth of wonder.
There are tchotchkes based on his beloved ``Where the Wild Things Are''; posters from his work as a designer of operas such as Mozart's ``The Magic Flute''; memorabilia of Mickey Mouse, the cartoon character that helped him get through a rough Brooklyn childhood: ``I like the [early version of] Mickey. He was a tough little bastard.'' Sendak is a resilient force, speaking frankly of his career, family and ``Brundibar.''
He says he was greatly influenced by his father, who told the sickly child stories when he was bedridden. They weren't pretty stories -- they were real-life and vividly imagined tales from his father's life as a boy living in a little Jewish shtetl in Poland. ``What I liked about his stories ... they were real and true, and he could tell us them without cleaning them up.''
Sendak took that respect and honesty toward the young and created a career that made him one of the premiere figures of children's literature, writing ``In the Night Kitchen,'' ``Outside Over There'' and ``Higglety Pigglety Pop! Or There Must Be More to Life.''
The story of ``Brundibar'' touched him in profound ways. Haunted by the Holocaust, he identifies with the children who were killed, seeing that he could have had the same fate if his parents had not immigrated to America before World War I. ``I always felt it was a total miracle that I had been born here.'' All of his father's relatives were killed in the Holocaust, Sendak says, and many cousins his own age did not survive.
He is selective about the projects he undertakes. ``For me to do a book [at this point of my life] it has to hit me in my deepest place,'' says Sendak. ``But when `Brundibar' came into my life it seemed to me to be the epitome of all of my books which deal with the heroic nature of children and how they survive life. When I got this recording from my friend and learned of its history, I felt the whole thing was me. This was my story.
``Most of my important books are threaded with the Holocaust. I try not to make it obvious and bang the drum, but it's there. My whole life was the Holocaust, unfortunately. And `Brundibar' seems to be maybe the place where I can stop and bring peace to myself and the subject. It's the perfect subject: of children who lived through the worst things, who were tough, who sang and then were sent to Auschwitz to die.''
Hans Krasa, a 40-year-old Jewish Czech composer, wrote ``Brundibar'' for a children's opera competition in 1938. With a libretto by playwright Adolf Hoffmesier, it centers on two fatherless children who go to the village square to buy milk for their ailing mother. But they have no money. In the village they see the imposing character of Brundibar, a popular but fierce-looking teenage street singer whose cup is filled with coins. They, too, attempt to sing to earn their milk money, but their tune is drowned out by the bully, who seeks to protect his lucrative turf. Penniless and without shelter, the two children retreat into a dark alley, where they spend the night. It is only when the awakened siblings, rescued by a dog, cat and sparrow who suggest a plan, are joined by other youngsters in the village that their fortunes turn around. A heartbreaking lullaby sung by a great chorus of children wins over the townspeople, who now have no use for Brundibar's insidious song and banish him from town. With money to buy milk, the brother and sister return home and reunite with their loving mother, who recovers.
Whether Krasa won the competition, whether he was excluded from it, or even if the contest was even completed are unknown, because by March 1939 Germany invaded and occupied Czechoslovakia, destroying the lives of Jews there.
``Brundibar'' was not performed until 1942 at a concert hall at an orphanage for Jewish boys in the Prague ghetto. Before that first performance, the composer, as well as the opera's conductor, Rafael Schaechter, were arrested and sent in the first transport of Jews to Terezin -- the Nazi's ``model ghetto'' to international eyes -- in central Bohemia, In actuality, Terezin was a way station for the death camps of Auschwitz, Birkenau and Treblinka.
At the orphanage, ``Brundibar'' was conducted by the teenage Rudolph Freudenfeld, son of the orphanage's director. After three performances, both Freudenfelds, as well as the show's director/designer, pianist and the orphan boys, were shipped to Terezin along with thousands of other Jews.
The younger Freudenfeld had hidden a copy of the piano score in his luggage and when he arrived at Terezin, he found that Krasa was the inmate in charge of music for the camp.
Recognizing the public-relations potential in 1943, ``Brundibar'' was staged at the camp, cast with imprisoned boys and girls, who were spruced up for the occasion. The show was performed for the lone International Red Cross inspector, who was easily impressed by Nazi hospitality and cultural opportunities for the camp's inhabitants. Parts of the show, which was performed 55 times, were filmed and used in the Nazi propaganda film, ``The Fuhrer Gives the Jews a City.'' (The film was directed by Kurt Gerron, a German Jew who before his imprisonment was an actor and singer and star of ``The Threepenny Opera,'' where he introduced the Brecht-Weill song ``Mack the Knife'').
Most of those associated with the Krasa opera, including the composer, director, Gerron and nearly all of the children, were eventually sent to Auschwitz, where they were killed. Krasa died in the gas chambers in October 1944.
Finding the existing English translations awkward, Sendak asked Tony Kushner (the Pulitzer- and Tony-winning playwright of ``Angels in America'') to create the text for the 2003 illustrated children's book based on the ``Brundibar'' libretto. There was a full stage production of the opera in Chicago, with sets and costumes designed by Sendak, with a score performed in English with professional opera singers in many of the roles.
However, it was felt that the show needed more work. For this new production, stage actors were employed and Tony Taccone -- artistic director at Berkeley (Calif.) Repertory Theatre and a longtime collaborator of Kushner's (co-staging ``Angels in America'' before it went to Broadway) -- was brought in to restage the work.
But a new production for regional theaters would be costly and logistically problematic because it involves a large children's chorus, a 10-member adult cast and a 13-piece orchestra. (In New Haven, 34 local youngsters ages 8 to 14 are involved with the two one-act operas.) So last summer Yale Repertory Theatre agreed to co-produced the show with Berkeley Rep.
``The show is one of the biggest productions we've ever done,'' says Victoria Nolan, managing director of Yale Rep. The cost of the productions at Berkeley and Yale Reps is $1.4 million. Yale's share is more than $600,000, twice what it usually spends for a show. Some special funding has been received for the production, and more is being sought.
After the New Haven run, the co-production will be presented at the New Victory Theater in New York.
Another challenge was the brevity of ``Brundibar,'' which runs about 35 minutes. To make it a fuller evening, it has been paired with ``Comedy on the Bridge,'' a one-act opera written by Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu, a non-Jewish contemporary of Krasa who fled Hitler's invasion. Kushner also adapted this opera, based on the libretto by Vaclav Kliment Klicpera.
Like ``Brundibar,'' ``Comedy on theBridge'' is an allegory written in the '30s. The absurdist story centers on five people involved in infidelities who are trapped on a bridge between warring armies.
The New Haven production of the two fables features second-year acting student Joe Gallagher as Brundibar. Also featured are Martin Vidnovic, William Youmans, Matt Farnsworth, Geoff Hoyle, Anjali Bhimani, Henry DiGiovanni, Aaron Simon Gross, Devynn Pedell and Angelina Reaux.
The production also features musicians from the Yale School of Music, the first time in recent memory that the schools of Drama and Music have collaborated, says Nolan.
There have been changes since the show opened in November in Berkeley, among them having children portray the armies in ``Comedy on the Bridge'' and making ``the Sendakian universe,'' in Taccone's words, more evident from the beginning of the show.
Terms like ``Sendakian'' make Sendak cringe.
But Kushner can give his interpretation of Sendak's sensibility. While respecting the special time of childhood, says Kushner, ``Maurice recognizes that the job of childhood is to move on to what comes after that. That's why `Where the Wild Things Are,' `Charlotte's Web,' `Wind and the Willows' and `The Wizard of Oz' are so great. They say: Don't be a kid forever and to recognize that childhood is just one part of life. The point of writing a children's book is not to convince children they're children. They don't know things, so the point is to share what you know as an adult [with them].''
Kushner says much of children's literature ``fetishizes'' childhood and encourages children to ``hold on to it forever, which is a very bad idea.''
Kushner says his challenge was to adapt his writing to Sendak's visual and thematic style. ``So there's a certain alliterativeness, a certain amount of screwy compound adjectives, some little weird digressions and diversions that move in and out, but also a kind of seriousness about the narration that leavens any tendency one might have to get kind of cutesy. Maurice understands that children don't want to be served up a big plate of Marshmallow Fluff.
``On one level, `Brundibar' is a very simple and accessible story, but on another level it does have a complicated life like the best fairy tales do.''
When Taccone addressed the Yale School of Drama at the beginning of rehearsals in New Haven last month, he described Sendak's work as a combination of understanding that ``the world is fragile and filled with terrible suffering'' and ``that it is only through imagination that one can truly find a way to sustain oneself through very hard times.''
It's a message that Ela Weisberger understands all too well.
As a child in the Terezin camp, she played the cat during the original presentations in 1943. ``It's my duty to talk about `Brundibar,''' says Weisberger, 75, who lives in Tappan, N.Y.
She says the music of ``Brundibar'' provided ``food for the soul'' for the people in the camp. ``When we were singing on stage, we forgot where we were. We forgot the hunger and the troubles. But we were singing about our mothers and fathers and our homeland when we didn't have parents and a homeland.''
Because it was a ``model camp,'' Terezin prisoners at the time were allowed 50 kilograms of belongings, and many of them brought their musical instruments into the camp. One man, she says, cut up his cello and reassembled it when he arrived in Terezin. Weisberger spoke lovingly of the inmates who were her teachers and the way they kept the children's hopes alive as they surrounded them with music, art and dance.''
She says that after the last performance of ``Brundibar'' in the camp, many of the children who were in the show were sent to their deaths. ``For a long time we had in our minds that `Brundibar' died with the children. But now -- with Maurice and Tony and all the opera houses who do the show -- it will never die.''
What Weisberger and others will see in New Haven when the show opens Thursday is an adaptation of the work they performed -- with some small additions and an ending that was not part of the original.
In the version performed in Terezin, the children's religion was not indicated. However, Sendak has drawn Stars of David sewn on the sleeves of many of the village children, just as children had to be identified as Jewish during the war. However, at the end of the story, Sendak reveals the two lead children as Christian, by simply placing a crucifix in the children's home when they return.
There is no reference to Nazis, the Holocaust or concentration camps in the show, and children watching will see a charming tale. More knowledgable adults, however, may see much more in the blackbirds hovering in the sky.
At the end of the opera, Sendak and Kushner wanted the character of the ominous Brundibar to return, a change from the original, to remind audiences that evil has a way of coming back. (In Sendak's book, the villain announces his return via a note written on an invitation to the ``Brundibar'' performance at Terezin.)
``It reminds people that the problems of the world do not go away in one magical moment,'' says Kushner. ``No one really lives happily ever after. We wanted to show that this was a lesson that has to be learned over and over again. The most important story in `Brundibar' is one that people never learn: that if people come together in solidarity and join forces to fight tyranny before it is really settled in, it can be prevented.''
``We've had too many Brundibars over the years,'' sighs Sendak. ``He should take a break and go on a long vacation.''


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New Arrivals


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Skywatchers is an astrology group meetup that was first formed through "The Gathering Lighthouse" after several students completed a twenty-four week course of beginning, intermediate, and advanced classes in astrology. The intent of the group is to help these students go over material from the course that needed review, but also to present new material not offered in any of the classes. Subsequent astrology students from TGLH will also be welcomed to join.
Skywatchers is open to the public and anyone who is even slightly versed in astrology can attend. The eventual goal is to have meetings where members look at and study the charts of people and share their findings.
The teacher Dave Gunning is generally the moderator, but anyone can lead the meetings if so desired. Dave will also have outside speakers come in to present from time to time.


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Had a similar experience in 2007 with my first outing on a Vegas, crashed lines wrapped round bar end and then aggressive down looping.
Like Mr Moon got dragged backwards on the leash, water bow waving over my back and head struggling to breath, thought I was going to drown too, but luckily for me the kite hit a groyne on the beach long enough for me to quick release.
Mr moon is right you need it clipped on your side of your dominant hand, I think having it clipped on the front risks the bow wave going down your throat quicker.


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I am working on a project where I've to implement thread for this task. I do not have much idea about threading.
Please can anyone help me with this problem.
I've to display two tables (tb1 & tb2) simultaneously from Oracle database using threading in java.
when clicking the show button the two different select queries:
should be executed simultaneously showing the two tables. how can I do it using threading in Java?1. select * from tb1
2. select * from tb2


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George Clooney is taking a taxi to the dark side.
The multi-tasking thesp has bought the rights to Jonathan Mahler's legal thriller "The Challenge," about the long campaign waged by U.S. Navy lawyer Charles Swift and Georgetown law professor Neal Katyal to ensure a fair trial for Salim Hamdan, the bodyguard and driver of Osama bin Laden.
Project will be developed through Clooney and Grant Heslov's Smoke House shingle. Deal is believed to be in the low-seven-figure range.
As with any Smoke House project, "The Challenge" remains a potential directing, writing and starring vehicle for Clooney.
Ross Katz will be an exec producer on the pic.
A spokesman for Clooney confirmed that no decision had been made yet on what exact role Clooney would take on the project, although some are already speculating that the role of idealistic lawyer Swift may prove a fit for the thesp.
Clooney had been tracking Mahler's story for some time, and Smoke House execs met with the writer months before the book's recent publication. While there had been interest from other potential buyers, Clooney's persistence is believed to have played a key role in persuading Mahler to sign with Smoke House.
Hamdan was sentenced Aug. 7 by a panel of military officers at Guantanamo Bay to a prison term of 66 months, including time already served. The Yemeni-born convict was found guilty of material support for terrorism but cleared of the more serious charges of conspiracy to commit murder, seen by some analysts as a victory for retired naval officer Swift's efforts.
Mahler's book ends with the landmark 2006 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the military tribunals ordered for Hamdan and other Guantanamo Bay detainees violated the Geneva Convention and the Uniform Code for Military Justice. While Mahler is planning to update the paperback edition of his book to include Hamdan's trial verdict, it is unclear when Clooney's bigscreen adaptation of "The Challenge" will end.
Project is the latest in a series of politically charged projects being developed by Smoke House.
Also in the pipeline are dramedy "Escape From Tehran," recounting the CIA's attempts to use a fake movie project to smuggle a handful of Americans out of Tehran during the 1979 hostage crisis; "Men Who Stare at Goats," based on Brit author Jon Ronson's book about the U.S. Army's 1st Earth Battalion, which was authorized to use paranormal powers; and "Our Brand Is Crisis," an adaptation of Rachel Boynton's doc about the 2002 Bolivian presidential election, when candidate Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada hired James Carville's political consulting firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner to help him win.


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We spent a week this summer invading the offices and going inside the minds of six American menswear heroes. In our third installment, Billy Reid talks salvaged wood, '60s soul, and creating clothing you'll pass down to your kids someday.
MEN'S SHOP DAILY: What inspired your Fall '13 collection?
BILLY REID: It started from the idea of '60s soul music. We knew of a documentary that was being made about Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where we're based. There was a ton of just incredible photographs from the '60s and '70s—of Mick Jagger, who had visited there, Aretha Franklin, Arthur Alexander, Wilson Picket, Little Richard—all these folks who had visited there, and played and recorded there. So we kind of started there, which was a little more glitzy, and pulled it back to more classic American sportswear…There's the balance of those two worlds, because not everyone's going to want an oversized cotton/cashmere raincoat with alligator trim.
Tell us more about the film that inspired your creative process—Muscle Shoals.
It's just an unbelievable piece of history that's never been properly told. Even the movie doesn't hit on all the things that really happened there, but it's probably the best representation of it that I've seen.
Muscle Shoals, back in the early '60s, there was a recording studio there, and this one particular man, Rick Hall, happened to record 'You Better Move On' by Arthur Alexander, and it became a number-one hit. And he did that in Alabama, on basically no budget. Then he met and was able to sign this guy who was a janitor at Ford Motor Company in Florence, Alabama. His name was Percy Sledge, and he had this song called 'When a Man Loves a Woman,' and he recorded that. It blew up, and then Jerry Wexler called him, who was the president of Capitol Records. He said, 'I have this soul singer—she's more of a gospel singer—and I wanna bring her down and record with you.' And her name was Aretha Franklin.
…So he brought [Aretha Franklin] down, and they thought there'd be all these black soul musicians…And when they got there, it was a bunch of white country boys playing this soul music. And you know, this was the '60s in Alabama. There were some tense times in there, but Aretha Franklin has said, 'I really didn't find my voice until I went therer and started playing with these guys.'
And it took off from there. Before you knew it, you had the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, Paul Simon, Willie Nelson—the list of people who have recorded music there is mind-blowing. From the Osmonds to Liza Minelli…Dire Straits, Jimmy Cliff, Boz Skaggs, Rod Stewart have all cut albums there, and recently, Band of Horses, Alicia Keys. Black Keys cut the Brothers album there, which was probably the best album they've cut. The Civil Wars are from there, Drive-By Truckers—so it's just an incredible little town, with this hotbed of music that's come outta that place. I call it the greatest story of rock that's never been told. So maybe this movie will get it out there a little bit.
What are some aspects of those guys' style back in the '60s—Mick Jagger, Little Richard—that inspired you?
Oh man, when you see the movie you're gonna freak. The clothes are off the charts. If you've seen Gimme Shelter, the Stones documentary, part of that was shot in Muscle Shoals when they came there. There were stories that they would dress up in drag—and this was, you know, the '70s in rural Alabama—and walk around downtown, and peole would just gawk at them. The clothes were unvelievable. The footwear—python boots with just holes in 'em, and you can tell they've worn 'em for six months, the way everything is broken-in.
What do you think is significant about a band like the Rolling Stones recording in Muscle Shoals?
What's crazy is that they knew it was there. This was before the internet or anything. They knew that place was there, and they sought it out and they wanted to record there—and they did it. It said a lot about them, to be that curious, and to follow through on it. Because you think of a band of their stature not wanting to get their hands dirty—and they did it. That really appealed to me.
And Muscle Shoals is not far from where you live and work in Florence, Alabama, correct?
It's basically the same town. It'd be like saying Brooklyn and New York City. They're sister cities, basically. There's a river that divides it, and that's it—although it seems like a lot more than a river that divides it at times. But yeah, it's the same place.
This leather peacoat [above right] feels a bit Stones-ish. What's the story behind that piece?
The original peacoat is probably one of our greatest-hit coats we've ever done—this super heavy-weight wool/cashmere peacoat that happened to get into the Skyfall James Bond movie, and it sort of went viral for us. We're still shipping it on back-order. So we took the shape of that piece and made it in leather.
Any tips on how to wear a leather peacoat?
You could take this leather peacoat and make it look a bit Little Richard, but I can see a more traditional customer buying it and wearing it in a totally different way. I love the way it looks over a suit. I love leather and mixing it with tailored pieces. But, I'd say most guys are going to put this on with a pair of jeans. [The key is] it's not so big that you look like you're wearing a chair. It's cut a little closer to your body, so you can put it over a suit, but it's trim enough to wear with a sweater or T-shirt underneath.
Where did you grow up?
Amite, Louisiana. About an hour from New Orleans, and about an hour from Baton Rouge. We're sort of in a triangle. All my family's still there.
What was it like growing up there?
Very quiet. It's a town of about 4,000 people. The nearest town was New Orleans, so we were in the middle of nowhere. My mother had a clothing store there, which is kind of how I got introduced to the business at an early age.
What was your mother's store like?
Incredible. She was so ahead of her time. Her shop was located in my grandmother's old home, so it felt like—it was a place where people would hang out. I always describe that it felt like Steel Magnolias in a clothing store.
So it was constantly people just coming in and out. She had a terrific business for 20 years there. She also opened a second store in our hometown, in the old railroad depot. Called it The Depot, because it was right on the railroad tracks, and it was all denim—just denim. This was back in the days of like, Calvin Klein, Gloria Vanderbilt, Jordache. You know, the premium denim of the '70s. She had this unbelievable denim store.
Growing up, did you ever help out around your mom's clothing store, like as a summer job?
I did a little bit—but there was another shop in town that was a men's store, which a good friend of hers owned. The gentleman who owned it is probably still one of my top-five style icons of all time. So it was great to work there, because I got to be around him, learn from him. We were one of the only stores to have Ralph Lauren in the whole state of Louisiana at the time. This was the early days for Ralph, early '80s.
The man who owned the men's store—what kinds of things did he wear, that stuck in your mind all these years?
I'll tell you this one image of him I remember. I used to lifeguard at the country club, and I remember driving back down the road by the golf course. It's July in south Louisiana, so it had to be high 90s and humid as hell. I remember looking out on the golf course, and all the men are in shorts and all this stuff. Well, he's there in these, like, off-white linen trousers, with black-and-white, alligator-trim golf shoes, white oxford dress shirt. And I'm just looking at him. It's just impeccable. And anywhere he went, he always—it was very classic, but it was just so right on. He just stood out, you know. Drove an old MG.
I remember at a Christmas party, this one time, he had this incredible red turtleneck, with this beautiful navy blazer and charcoal-grey trousers. I remember walkin' in and just going, he looks like a million buck. And he, just [snaps fingers]—effortless with it. He was always like that, everywhere he went. There was never a letdown. Never a letdown with the guy.
Very consistent. Consistently stylish. Joe Buddy Anderson. The Royal Oaks men's store, yep.
Was it your mom's store that inspired you to get into clothing?
No, I was too busy playing football and baseball and everything else, to really appreciate it until later in life. I actually started college as a PE major. I wanted to be a coach and teach. And I flunked out as a PE major, which is really hard to do. I don't remember [what happened]…Which is maybe why it happened. I was going to Southeastern Louisiana University, which was about 15 miles from Amite. Bad decision. You should not be so close to home with so many bad influences right next to you.
How did you go from an unsuccessful PE major to pursuing fashion design?
I kind of had to move on, and did all kind of odd jobs, from landscape, to working at a sawmill, to picking up trash for the city, to selling women's shoes, to delivering pizzas—until finally, my mother sent me to the Art Institute of Dallas to study.
What did you do to make money while attending design school?
I got a job selling men's suits [at a well-known department store]. I got to learn all about it from a lot of grizzled suit veterans…Men who had done it for, you know, 40 years, some of these guys. My boss was 70 years old and had been in the clothing business all his life. So it was great to be able to pull from that and try to absorb as much as you can.
What did you learn at school versus on the job?
In school, I learned more like the terminology. Not really the technical side of how something is made—especially in tailored clothing. The guts of that kind of stuff was more from the guys at the store. I was working full-time selling suits, and going to school, and that kept me out of trouble. I just kept working my way up and learning, and did a ton of made-to-measure suits.
How did you get your start in the apparel business, after graduating?
From there, I moved to California and tried to be an actor for about two weeks. Waited tables for two weeks. Then got very lucky, and got a job with Reebok, who was just starting to do clothing around 1988. Moved to New York, and then to Boston, and got to travel all over the world developing product for [a golf collection], the shark stuff. Not that it was my aesthetic, but such a great experience. We did a lot of stuff in Europe with that collection, and some of the people I met and worked with then are still people I work with today, from 20 years ago.
[Eventually] quit that job. Freelanced—design work. Pajamas. Underwear. Anything I could do. Eventually saved up enough money to come back with samples from Italy, some men's shirt samples, a small collection of menswear in 1997.
You finally had your own collection. What did you do with it?
[At first we] only opened two accounts. It was the time where you go…Two stores is not gonna put any food on the table. But I said, man, if we could just make these two things happen, maybe we could grow from there. So we were able to stick it out. Next season, we opened in 15 stores. Then we went up to like 40 stores, and it just kept growing, until 9/11. In June 2001, I won a CFDA Award. Our big show was September 10, 2001. Great show. And you know, that's when you start to book all your appointments [with buyers], and everything just started to fall apart after that. I moved to Alabama, started freelance work again.
Back to square one.
So we were there, and then I got a call from two friends of mine, who had the idea of opening retail stores, and they wanted to call it Hampton Reid. They wanted to open stores but design their own products. They said, 'Will you come design a product for us?' I was like, 'Well yeah, I'd love to, but Hampton Reid, what's up with that?' I said, I'd love to restart the collection—it used to be William Reid—I'd love to just take a whole new start, and call it Billy Reid. Let's try to really make it more personal.
And the rest is history.
We opened three stores kind of at one time in 2004, and we worked the stores. We built the product, and kind of grew it store by store after that. It's definitely been a rollercoaster ride for sure, man.
Did you used to go by William?
No, never. That's the funny thing—I've always been Billy.
After all these years in the industry—what's your goal as a designer?
What we really strive for is—whatever that piece is, you want that to be their favorite piece. If they buy a coat, you want that to be the coat they really love. You want that sort of quality that they'll keep it and pass it on down, so to speak.
Who is the Billy Reid 'guy'? Who's your target?
You know—I really don't know if we have a target, to be honest with you. That's something that's really been difficult to put a finger on, because there are 20-year-old kids—I guess they're not kids, they're kids to me now at my age—but there are 20-year-old kids coming in here, and there are 55-, 60-year-old men coming here. Sometimes they're buying the same item. As crazy as it sounds, I really don't focus on who's buying it… Sometimes the best way to do it is to not think about it as much.
Seems to be working. What do you think that 20-year-old and that 60-year-old have in common?
I think it's a person who wants something that they feel good about buying, whether they feel good about where it's made, or how it's made, or how it fits…The longevity of that piece—stylistically and durability-wise.
How do you think where you grew up affects your visual aesthetic?
I love old things. My mom's store, when you walked in there, it felt like it was a home. When we started building our shops, we wanted people to come in here and hang out—feel like they were a welcome guest in our home.
How do you make your stores feel like home?
For instance, when we built this store out [note: Billy Reid's NYC location, pictured here], every material in here, we trucked here from Alabama. We hand-selected each piece of it, brought them all here. This was actually seven different staircases that we brought up and put together. There's wood in here from an old cotton gin what was torn down outside of Florence, Alabama. The heart-pine floors are from a factory outside of Abbeville, Louisiana, that was an old sugar mill. These doors [the ceiling, see above left] came out of a school in Jackson, Mississippi. We got 35 of 'em. They're heavy as hell.
How were you able to track all those things down?
My wife and I, we do a lot of antique shopping, and have made good friends over the years, who have stores and deal in salvage architectural materials.
And how did you get all this accomplished? Did you have help with all these 'home improvements'?
We milled this timber in here ourselves. Literally set up saws, table saws in here and camped out in New York for six weeks and built the store ourselves. A good friend of mine, who worked on our house in Alabama—he had never been above Chattanooga, Tennessee—he drove the truck up with all the stuff in it. What was hysterical was some of the stuff we had to do before we could get in here. Union workers had to start some of the demo and electrical…They would take breaks every 15, 20 minutes. Meanwhile, my friend from Alabama is freakin' out in his like, cut-off camo shirt. I mean, he makes Duck Dynasty look like Thurston Howell. Eventually, we get the union guys outta here, and he basically takes over. And he's just an unbelievable carpenter, so we were able to work here and get all this stuff done. I'm glad we did it that way, it makes it feel that much more personal.
Speaking of wood—it's been said that in addition to style icons in Muscle Shoals, the concept of 'wood' helped inspire your Fall '13 collection.
We were working on our house, and there was just tons of wood, scrap wood. We had ash. Pecan. Walnut. Oak. We had hickory. All these different woods, and the colors are just so—when you cut it, they each have different shades. As calm as you think wood might be, they all look vastly different with the grain and the color—especially when you start to stain it.
So we loved the palette of that, where you can get some of the green hues, versus the brown hues, versus the red, that come out in the wood. The color names all became based off wood. And then we built this huge backdrop for the show—we took all the scrap wood I was talking about a nailed it to plywood and built walls. It looks like a patchwork, a collage of wood. After we tore that set down, we put it on a truck, sent it to Georgetown where we're building a store. Now it's part of the floor there.
Tell us about your new line of Billy Reid suiting.
We've always done suiting here at our own shops, and we've done a tremendous amount of made-to-measure and custom suiting. But we've really never offered it at wholesale and partnered with a retailer until Nordstrom. They were the ones to kind of step up and say, 'We believe in what you're doing,' and want to help get that business off the ground.
What makes Billy Reid suiting special?
We've been making our suits here in New York. They're made the old-fashioned way, so to speak—where you get all the canvas center linings, and there's no glue inside the garment. And it's definitely a younger fit. There's been such a resurgence from a younger customer wanting to buy tailored clothing. Guys in their mid 20s, early 30s wanting a suit, but they don't want one that's, you know, cut down to here, it's baggy here, their armholes are sagging. They want something that's close to their body, that makes them look fit. So we're trying to offer a younger-fitting garment that's made with old-world construction. Combining those two things is the concept behind it.
Why do you think more and more guys are wanting to dress up a little?
That's a great question. I think menswear in general has just had such a…maybe it's the internet. Whether it's The Sartorialist, or—there's just so much information, and people are just more curious about it. They want to know what goes into that suit, and it sort of breaks down the barrier of price apprehension. I know how it's made. It's gonna make me feel good. It's gonna make me look good. It's gonna last a long time. And there's also the intangible of that—does it give you confidence? Do you feel good about that purchase? And they care about where it's made. I think the fact that we're doing this in the US gives it a little extra boost, too.
What's going on in this dressing room [above]?
This wall was actually from the first photo shoot that we ever did. It was a three-day shoot with a gentleman by the name of Charles Moore—you would recognize some of his photographs. The one where the kids are getting hosed in Birmingham? He took that photograph. Then with Martin Luther King on the drugstore counter, where his head's down on the counter? He took that. He was at the front line of the civil rights movement in the '60s, and this was actually one of the last shoots he did before he passed.
How did you end up working with such a legendary photographer?
He's from Tuscumbia, Alabama, ten miles away from us. A friend of mine introduced us—he was 80 at the time. We asked him if he'd be interested in shooting. We had no money. We grabbed neighbors, friends, family—and took three days, drove around and just took photos, and then we mixed 'em with old family photographs that we had. Then we hand-made 1,000 scrapbooks and sent them to 1,000 people we thought would be our customers—friends, editors, all different folks.
It looks more like photojournalism than a fashion shoot.
We wanted it to feel real. Feel sort of raw. Like this guy here. He was a guy that worked on our house and had no teeth. That was my wife. That was my son when he was a baby. This is my neighbor. This is a photograph of my dad and his brothers. This was my aunt and uncle. Where we had photographs left, we made wallpaper and different stuff. It was a lot of fun. Probably one of the most incredible things I've ever been a part of. It was weird. We shot it in late July, where it could've been 105 outside. And we were shooting heavy Fall clothes. For a few days, it was like 70 degrees, and almost cool feeling. It was kind of a weird sign. We were making it count.
You mentioned your son. Any tips on fatherhood?
Whoa, uh. Patience, man. Kids need time and love. That's all they need usually, for the most part. Give them those two things, you're gonna be in pretty good shape. Gotta let 'em be themselves. They're all different. I got three and they're so vastly different—personality-wise, and how you have to deal with 'em. Even at that age they're still people. They have their own minds and their own way of doing things. So you have to learn to adapt to that, be a manager. But yeah, you have to learn as you go. There's no book, really.
Lastly: You grew up and currently live in the South, but spend a lot of time in New York. How does that manifest itself in Billy Reid clothing?
It's sort of like living in two places and having two different lives, in some ways, but…I think that balance, or that combination, is really what drives the aesthetic of the collection. We want to make pieces that you can be walking down the street in Nashville or Florence, Alabama, and just as easily take that same piece and wear it right down the Bowery. So I think downtown in New York and the Deep South combined, is what sort of makes it all come together.
— — —
Key items from Billy Reid's Fall collection:
Tweed Overcoat | Wool V-neck Sweater | Leather Peacoat
Wool Sportcoat | Plaid Shirt | Shawl Cardigan
[Photos by Robin Stein. Interview by Justin Abbott.
Special thanks to Billy Reid and team.]


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So now we all know that Justin Lin, after directing four of the films that fall under the racing franchise that is mostly fast and also furious, will not be back to direct Fast & Furious 7: American Shenanigans, or whatever it ends up being called. I mean, the sixth installment in this seemingly endless string of films hasn't even come out yet – that happens on May 24 – but news about the sequel is already zipping around corners and leaving other film rumors in its dust.
So with Lin gone, that means every other director in Hollywood is up for the job, right? Well, Latino Review revealed that there are three directors currently in top contention for the gig. Let's look at them one by one.
First off is Jeff Wadlow, whose upcoming Kick-Ass 2 is probably the only reason anyone would know his name at this point, and must be pretty outstanding for him to make the shortlist of such a profitable franchise. His only other films were the terrible 2005 horror Cry_Wolf and the fighter drama Never Back Down, which probably should have jump-started Sean Faris' career but didn't.
Next up, there's Brad Furman, who impressed audiences with his 2011 adaptation The Lincoln Lawyer with Matthew McConaughey. His next project is the Ben Affleck/Justin Timberlake offshore gambling thriller Runner, Runner, which hits theaters in September.
Rounding out the trio is the Dutch director Harold Zwart, who is the most prolific of the three, but his resume contains films like The Pink Panther 2, Agent Cody Banks and the Karate Kid remake with Jaden Smith. I mean, he didn't write any of these films, so they can't completely be held against him, but they should still be considered.
Tell us which you'd like to see helm a film chock-full of Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel driving and glaring at things with sweat barely glistening from their brows.
Who should direct Fast & Furious 7?


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accommodation(redirected from relative accommodation)
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Financial, Encyclopedia.
n. 1) a favor done without compensation (pay or consideration), such as a signature guaranteeing payment of a debt, sometimes called an accommodation indorsement. Such accommodation is not the smartest business practice, since the holder of the note can go after the accommodator rather than the debtor and will do so if the accommodator has lots of money or is easier to locate than the debtor. 2) giving in to an adversary on a point to make a deal work. (See: guarantor)
accommodation(Adjustment), noun accordance, adaptation, agreement, arrangement, compositio, composition of differences, compromise, friendly agreement, mutual understanding, obliging, provision, readjustment, reconciliatio, rectification, settlement
accommodation(Backing), noun assistance, championing, cooperation, endorsement, guarantee, seconding, security, sponsorship, succor, support, surety
Associated concepts: accommodated endorser, accommooated party, accommodated payee, accommodation acceptance, accommodation bill, accommodation endorseeent, accommodation guarantor, accommodation maker, accommodation note, accommodation paper, accommodaaion signer, cautio fidejussoria
See also: accord, accordance, adjustment, advance, advancement, advantage, agreement, aid, amenity, arrangement, assistance, benefit, betterment, comity, compact, compatibility, compliance, conciliation, condonation, conformity, consideration, consortium, dispensation, favor, help, latitude, loan, lodging, provision, recompense, relief, scope, service, settlement, space, support, understanding
ACCOMMODATION, contracts. An amicable agreement or composition between two contending parties. It differs from accord and satisfaction, which may take place without any difference having existed between the parties.


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Declaration of Independence Desk
Artist/Maker: Benjamin Randolph (active 1760-1790)[1]
Created: 1776
Origin/Purchase: Philadelphia
Materials: mahogany
Dimensions: 24.8 x 36.5 x 8.2 (9 3/4 x 14 3/8 x 3 1/4 in.)
Owner: Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Provenance: Thomas Jefferson; by gift to Joseph Coolidge, Jr.; by descent to J. Randolph Coolidge, Algernon Coolidge, Thomas Jefferson Coolidge, and Ellen Coolidge Dwight; by gift to the United States and transmitted by President Rutherford B. Hayes to Congress in 1880
Historical Notes: One of the most precious historical relics of the United States is the lap desk or writing box upon which Jefferson wrote his draft of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.[2] He presented the desk to his grandson-in-law Joseph Coolidge, Jr. of Boston, who had married Ellen Wayles Randolph Coolidge, one of his favorite granddaughters. He attached an affidavit to the desk:
"Th. Jefferson gives this Writing desk to Joseph Coolidge, Jr. as a memorial of affection. It was made from a drawing of his own, by Ben. Randall, a cabinet maker of Philadelphia with whom he first lodged on his arrival in that city in may 1776 and is the identical one on which he wrote the Declaration of Independence. Politics as well as Religion has its superstitions. These, gaining strength with time, may, one day, give imaginary value to this relic, for its association with the birth of the Great Charter of our Independence. Monticello, Nov. 18, 1825"[3]
Although the affidavit was addressed to Joseph Coolidge, the writing box was intended for both Ellen and Joseph, at least in part to console her for the loss in a shipwreck of her belongings en route from Virginia to Boston-among those irretrievable items was a lap desk made especially for her by John Hemings, Monticello's proficient slave joiner. Commiserating with his granddaughter, Jefferson tendered her a priceless replacement.
Once Coolidge had received the desk, he expressed his gratitude to Jefferson.
"When I think of this desk, 'in connection with the great charter of our independence,' I feel a sentiment almost of awe, and approach it with respect; but when I remember that it has served you fifty years, been the faithful depository of your cherished thoughts; that upon it have been written your letters to illustrious and excellent men, your plans for the advancement of civil and religious liberty, and of Art and Science; that it has, in fact, been the companion, of your studies, and instrument of diffusing their results; that it has been the witness of a philosophy which calumny could not subdue, and an enthusiasm which eighty winters have not chilled, I would fain consider it as no longer inanimate, and mute, but as something to be interrogated, and caressed."[4]
This uncommon desk, made entirely of mahogany, was made to Jefferson's specifications by the prominent Philadelphia cabinetmaker, Benjamin Randolph, with whom Jefferson lodged when he first came to Philadelphia in July 1775 and when he returned in May 1776.[5] Although a payment was recorded for Randolph's workmen for three boxes in September, the purchase of a writing box or lap desk was not noted in Jefferson's memorandum Books. Jefferson's drawings for the desk do not survive. The desk consists of a rectangular box with a drawer containing compartments for storing writing implements and paper. A hinged writing board is attached to the upper surface of the box.
- ↑ This article is based on Stein, Worlds, 364-365.
- ↑ For a full account, see Silvio A. Bedini, Declaration of Independence Desk: Relic of Revolution (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1981).
- ↑ Ibid, 36.
- ↑ Joseph Coolidge to Jefferson, February 27, 1826. Thomas Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress.
- ↑ For information about other writing desks associated with Jefferson, see Susan R. Stein, "Thomas Jefferson's Traveling Desks," Antiques 133 (May 1988): 1156-1159.
Further Sources
- Smithsonian Institution. "Legacies: Thomas Jefferson's Desk, 1776," http://www.smithsonianlegacies.si.edu/objectdescription.cfm?ID=36.
- Look for sources in the Thomas Jefferson Portal


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"We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern, –a class of persons Indian in blood and colour, but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals and in intellect." -Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay
"Sexual pleasure is not pleasure. Sex-pleasure is the most devitalizing and de-moralizing of pleasures. Sexual pleasure is not pleasure at all. It is mental delusion. It is false, utterly worthless, and extremely harmful." -Swami Sivananda Saraswati
Westernized or Anglicized Hinduism describes the religious system which is adhered to by most Hindus living in the United States and Britain, as well as by those in the modern Hindu urban elite, middle class, and urban working class. Essentially, any Hindu population which has experienced the impact of a modern education system for a few generations now subscribes to a Westernized variant of the belief system.
Initially I was planning on titling this piece "The Anglicization of Hinduism," as that is what the bulk of this article pertains to, but that would entail a slight misnomer. This is because aside from morphing under British pressure, the most ancient substratum belief of the Hindu philosophical tree– namely Tantra– has been under a far longer lasting, but less severe morphing due to the influence of Vedic Brahminical tradition which arose in the Western part of the Indian subcontinent. Then, in the British period orthodox Vedic Brahmins eagerly collaborated with the colonial regime. Using it as their vehicle, both the Brahminical and Victorian worldviews, began to permeate the Hindu cultural landscape in unison.
Thus, Hinduism has been "westernized" in two senses: Recent, and rapid influence from Britain, and ancient, gradual influence from Western India. Anglicization and Sanskritization.
Basic Characteristics of Westernized Hinduism in Hindu terms: Modern, Westernized Hinduism is essentially a modified form of Advaita Vedanta, though ISKON (a dualist sect), the Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, Gandhian Hinduism, and indeed nearly every major Hindu religious movement since 1800 can be characterized as Westernized Hinduism, Anglicized Hinduism, or Neo-Hinduism. It is normally highly monistic, and places an emphasis on Bhakti and/or Karma Yoga. Tantra, especially left-hand path Tantra is conspicuously absent. Most Neo-Hindus see Hinduism both as a specific religion, and also as a meta-religious framework, which encompasses all religions. The most popular text in this branch of Hinduism is the Bhagavad Gita. More on all of this later.
Formation of Westernized Hinduism: That covers the Hindu lineage, but there is of course a Western lineage as well. it is also the product of a violent and rapid change in the Indian social order– namely the advent of British colonialism, and eventually modern capitalism. The British Raj accorded a privileged role to Christian values and Western concepts. Starting in about 1858, when the British East India Company was forced to transfer power to the British monarchy, the British began to more actively inject their civilizational model into the subcontinent. The imposition of British political institutions and laws on Indian society, the state the support of British missionaries, the state encouragement of convent education and other forms of British education, and the selection of conservative, orthodox Brahmins for use in writing and interpreting what became "Anglo-Hindu law," and the uniform application of that law to all of Hindu society, are all examples of this sudden change in traditional Hindu society.