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ufjason wrote:So strange, went to finally checkout some hoth echo bases and noticed all of the SW sets that qualify for the 30% off have dropped down to retail price. Hoth is 89.99, ywing is 49.99, genosian cannon is 19.99 and the battle pack is 12.99. Even better deal now!
JamesBenjamin wrote:I decided to just get the y-wing, but found another way around the in-store markup: do a "pick up in store" when you buy. No shipping, so long as they have it in stock. I ordered this morning and will be picking up this afternoon.
Good call on the planet sets, I may have to try that.
bacon1986 wrote:Went to TRU yesterday and got an even better deal than I thought I would. The coupon for 30% off those select items worked, and they adjusted the prices in the store to be the same as their website, AND it was buy 2 get 3rd free at least on the Y-Wing and the Planets series 1. So, I was able to get the three Series 1 planets and the Y-Wing for $48.97! I don't know if this was a glitch at my store, or if it is chain wide, but I thought I'd share.
naugem wrote:Went yesterday to a store and they told me they could either price match the website or apply the coupon, but not both, so I left, put the order in the website to pick up in store, and went there today to get the Y-Wing and 2 battlepacks.
onions wrote:pic of the receipt or i call shenanigans.
Gooker1 wrote:That's a sick deal. I wonder if it just pops up once they start ringing it through the register.
bacon1986 wrote:Gooker1 wrote:That's a sick deal. I wonder if it just pops up once they start ringing it through the register.
Yea it did. I also noticed it on one of the Price Scanners in the store when I checked the price of the Y-Wing.
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Here are how the three main Japanese carriers fared during the month of September:
NTT DOCOMO lost 66,800 subscribers, au/KDDI gained 232,700 and SoftBank 270,700.
DOCOMO loses market share again, SoftBank is the top carrier in terms of subscribers gain for 21 months in a row1 and au/KDDI continues the nice streak started a year ago, fending off SoftBank's attempt to becoming #2.
Let's stress the fact that DOCOMO is still by far and large the biggest carrier in the country: it has 22 million more subscribers than its closest competitor.
Right after the release of those numbers last week, dozens of articles—often parroting each other—went on about how the iPhone was a failure at DOCOMO. I refrained from writing immediately, waiting for the noise to dwindle down. Because it's more complicated than that.
What's in a full month
First and foremost, the numbers do cover the entire month of September. You know, a full month, like 30 days. The iPhone 5s/5c were released on September 20. Like a third of that full month.
To make it clear: the iPhone launch cannot be entirely responsible for the fate of any Japanese carrier this September .
This is barely the fault of analysts getting too excited, as DOCOMO itself has blamed limited iPhone stocks for the drop in its subscriber base.
A simple look at the numbers tells you that this is not the case. DOCOMO had 27.5% share of iPhone 5s market in its first week of sales—the last week of the month that we're interested in. au/KDDI had 30%2.
So, with similar sales share, au/KDDI won more than 200k customers thanks to the iPhone launch and DOCOMO lost more than 50k because of the same exact launch? And stocks would have been much more limited on DOCOMO than its competitors?
Let's be serious.
In a nutshell, why the subscriber loss? The iPhone 5 and DOCOMO itself .
The iPhone 5
If you look at the sales numbers for the launch week-end and the week immediately following it, it's not difficult to witness that one of the factors in the iPhone domination is the very strong sale of the previous model, the iPhone 5.
This isn't new and has been clear at every iPhone launch: there's always a massive uplift by the sale of the previous iPhone model in Japan .
au/KDDI and SoftBank are heavily discounting the iPhone 5, making it basically "free". It was not only expected by customers, but also advertised before the release of the new model. This is a weapon that DOCOMO doesn't have: no discounted iPhone 5, no fall-back stock and offers.
DOCOMO lost more than 130,000 customers who used the mobile number portability scheme3, which tends to support that they got lured by very attractive offers for that smartphone4
This is why I had suggested that DOCOMO could have been better at marketing the 5c pushing it more heavily than its counterparts. Truth to be told, it could have meant a cutthroat price war—the three operators react to each other's pricing like symphonies—that would have not created any real winners in the end (beside the customer), though I'm not certain that SoftBank or au/KDDI would have wanted a situation where there was basically no differentiation between the 5 and the 5c.
The other important factor, an unknown one, is the terms signed with Apple. There might be some limitations in the freedom the carriers can have, restricting the ability to actually even think about a full-blown price war.
DOCOMO's other problem
It remains that reading the loss of subscribers only with the iPhone in mind is both biased and naive. I've said it repeatedly, here and elsewhere, one cannot read what the iPhone will do to DOCOMO at this stage. You have frontloaded sales for early adopters, likely to already have switched to au/KDDI and especially SoftBank in the past years and just trading their phone (with contract). You have price-sensitive customers appealed by the heavily previous model that DOCOMO doesn't carry. You have limited stock for everyone on the flagship models.
DOCOMO's problems have started way before this. The carrier somewhat suffers from an image problem and from a complex price structure problem. iPhone or no iPhone, it has repeatedly shown an inability to counter the two challengers, and this for more than 5 years now5.
If you look at the market share of the the carrier in 2006 and compared it with the graphic at the top of this post, you'll immediately understand:
The loss of subscribers during the month of September has been heavy. Almost a record, yes. But, again, let's not pretend this is new, the carrier has had a bad year, losing customers in four of the last twelve months.
It's DOCOMO's strategy that it is at fault here. While it keeps innovating in infrastructure technologies, it still behaves like it were in a world where it's the market-definer, the untouchable leader that sets the standards for the others6. It's a mindset conundrum.
Accepting the iPhone on its network was the first step7 and early signs in October show that DOCOMO is faring very good, taking the top spots in mobile phone sales in Japan with the 5s, confirming what I thought: the iPhone was needed.
It's the first time we have a standardized device on all three carriers in Japan. SoftBank and au/KDDI cannot differentiate between "we have it and you don't" anymore. The iPhone 5c will take off8 in a second cycle of—more conservative—customers. The 5s is a flagship phone that flies off the shelves.
If DOCOMO ends up not making any in-roads with a device that is so adored in Japan, it will have only itself to blame.
41 months out of 43! ↩
The 5c breakdown was similar—while only counting for a fifth of the sales. ↩
the customer gets to keep its number, carriers often offer special deals for those ↩
The differential, or about 65,000, are new customers. It's impossible to know how many of those got on-board for the iPhone 5s/c, the full month of October will show us a better overall picture of the dynamic between the three carriers ↩
and contrary to some reports, DOCOMO has seen a worse loss of subscribers: in December 2006 ↩
the "benevolent dictator" theory, that brought such innovation as NFC or mobile internet earlier in Japan than anywhere else ↩
though I'm sure it also got a better deal by signing now that Apple needs growth rather than 5 years ago. ↩
I don't read too much in the recent reports of supply chain production cuts by Apple ↩


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SPRINGFIELD — For months, many of Illinois' human-services organizations and vendors have seen improvements in their state payments.
They could thank the cyclical nature of tax collections for the improvement.
But the cycle is beginning to shift in the other direction.
The backlog of bills waiting to be paid in the comptroller's office has grown by $3 billion since the spring, when the state was flush with tax revenue.
"As the numbers grow, so too do payment delays to vendors throughout the state," said Brad Hahn, spokesman for Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka.
It is a situation that Topinka's office has been predicting for months, even as it was making a strong dent in the bill backlog last spring.
"The state's bill backlog fluctuates throughout the year, with numbers dropping in high-revenue months and rising in leaner seasons," Hahn said.
"Typically, the backlog drops in the spring and summer months as residents and businesses make their income tax payments, and then numbers grow in the fall and winter."
'Treading water'
At the start of April, the bill backlog in Topinka's office stood at $8.5 billion. That number included bills on hand and the office's best estimate of bills held in state agencies.
In early April, Hahn said, vendors were waiting at least four months for payments from the state, although some bills took longer than that to be paid.
A strong tax season this year allowed the office to "aggressively pay down bills" in April and May. By the end of May, the backlog was down to $5.8 billion and vendors were waiting a minimum of two months to be paid, half what they were waiting at the start of April.
That was, however, the high-water mark in the state's efforts to pay bills on time. By the end of June, also the end of the state's fiscal year, the backlog was sitting at $6.1 billion.
By Oct. 1, the backlog was up to $7.5 billion, including bills that hadn't been turned in for payment. And as of late last week, the total was at $8.8 billion.
Hahn said the office believes the total will hit $9 billion by the end of December, exactly where Topinka predicted it would be last summer. It is the second year the backlog will sit at $9 billion at the end of the calendar year.
"Although revenues have been up, we're still in about the same place as far as bill backlog," Hahn said. "Essentially the state is treading water."
No sales tax bump
Things aren't likely to turn around in the near future. Even though the holiday shopping season is about to go into high gear, history shows that it does not provide a spike in state tax revenue.
"The sales tax is not bumped as much as people might think," said Jim Muschinske, revenue manager for the Legislature's Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. "There is a little bit of a bump, but you have to remember, the holiday shopping season probably is a lot more spread out now than maybe it was 15 or 20 years ago.
"I don't think you get that big rush like you did before."
COGFA has revised its revenue estimates for this budget year and now believes the state will collect $369 million more than originally anticipated. House Speaker Michael Madigan, among others, believes any unanticipated revenue like that should be applied to old bills, rather than increased state spending.
"Every bit helps. Certainly for the vendors that are waiting, that can make a difference," Hahn said. "But relative to the overall backlog, it is a drop in the bucket."


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La Gelatiera
Time Out says
Despite the Italian name, this small homespun outfit is simply dolce rather than Dolce & Gabbana. There's a plot-to-tub ethos in the sourcing (organic milk, chocolate beans from the Ecuador National Plantation, enthusiastic use of Slow Food members' ingredients) and a bohemian vibe to the decor, but slow and dopey service had us wishing for a dash of corporate slickness. Portions were unreasonably skimpy too, yet we couldn't fault the ice-cream.
Quirky combinations are a mainstay, and flavours – including basil and chilli, and honey with rosemary and orange zest – were expertly balanced. Dark chocolate sorbet was also superb. We like the look of bakes such as white chocolate and peanut butter roll, and vow to return for cups of hot chocolate: there's a choice including Ecuadorian 70%, Venezuelan 58% and Ivory Coast white chocolate. If service were improved, La Gelatiera might even become a regular haunt.
27 New Row
|Tube: Leicester Square or Covent Garden tube or Charing Cross tube/rail
|Do you own this business?
Users say (34)
Average User Rating
4.6 / 5
Rating Breakdown
- 5 star:25
- 4 star:4
- 3 star:3
- 2 star:0
- 1 star:1
There are a lot of independent ice cream stores who claim to be the best or have the most interesting flavours. La Gelateria, tucked away in the depths of Covent Garden actually practises what it preaches. Not forgetting the classic flavours, La Gelateria specialises in interesting combinations like Basil and Chilli and Honey with rosemary and orange zest. The staff are full of recommendations and willing to give out testers making the whole experience very fun. Why not pop in for a late night snack post theatre or a stomach liner pre Mr Foggs!
I am Italian and here in London is not easy to find a good ice cream. I have tried La Gelatiera and this is the most gorgeous amazing ice cream you can get in London. This is a real artisan gelato made with real quality products and the taste is amazing. This is really the best gelato you can get! I really recommend those who would liked to taste what is a real ice cream to go to this fantastic ice cream place in Covent Garden @LaGelatiera
Went there the other day - I have to say it was really nice. Would definitely go again!
Just right!
If you believe ice-cream to be an exclusively summer treat, you're missing out! This December, London's hands-down best ice-cream parlour (and this is written by a true gelato aficionado) offers a bunch of unique festive flavours, including gingerbread, spicy pumpkin pie and black garlic toffee. But if you prefer your cold treats more, well, vanilla, La Gelatiera can still impress you with their rich, smooth and creamy year-round classics. All-natural, organic and low-fat, they're almost a guilt-free pleasure without compromising the taste. For something warmer and more sinful, try the extra-thick hot chocolate, served in delightfully quaint tea cups, or one of the home-baked cakes and cookies (not quite as impressive as the gelato, but close enough.) What's more, the staff is almost as sweet as the goodies they sell, and the reasonable prices won't leave a bad taste in your mouth.
It's hard for me to decide between Gelupo and La Gelatiera. La Gelatiera's Basil with chili blew my mind!!! I also had rhubarb crumble and honey, rosemary and orange zenst which were amazing as well. My cone broke at a certain point and I was about to cry like a baby. The girl at the counter was also very nice and let me try different flavours. I like the fact that even if it's a small shop they managed to fit in it chairs and tables. Sitting there on a quiet Tuesday evening was lovely. The only drawback is that maybe the flavours a little bit too sweet and I wouldn't go for the other sweets (they didn't look very good). A part from that The Gelatiera is a gem with flavours that you can find nowhere else!
Seriously, best ice cream I've ever tasted. Smooth, creamy, full of flavor and not too sweet. A bit hidden but worth the detour. Hazelnut and pistachio are highly recommended as well as the chocolate sorbet. Great discovery!
This is a big highlight of Covent Garden. This small and trendy little gelato cafe that popped up on New Row just off St Martin's lane sure does tick all the trendy boxes. Small inside and outside seating, quirky design and chalk board menus. You can really feel the personal touch of the owners. All the frozen goodness looked very tempting with very unusual flavours. Try the Basil Chili and Chocolate Chili. Wow!!!!! It's worth mentioning that they also have hot chocolate, that comes in three ranges - dark 75% cocoa, milk 58% cocoa and white. They came in lovely tea cup, and it's definitely one of the best hot chocolate I've tasted. Opens pretty late for a Gelato place. Do not miss it for a bit of a treat!
Im a hot chocolate addict!! just passed the gelateria in covent garden... they have the best I have had so far!!! 70% chocolate and its just delicious, the best drink to get this christmassy feeling... . Occasionally I treat myself with an ice cream, they do mouth watering natural artesian gelato, the best for me in London!! Also the staff is awesome!! very friendly, nice, and so knowledgeable about all ingrediens of their gelato flavours!!! awesome, they deserve the FIVE stars!!!
Same as previously but I forgot to rate! I have worked a couple of months a La Gelatiera as well as in a couple of other gelaterias in London and I can confirm that this is by far the closest to an all natural artisan gelateria you will get in London. What makes them unique as opposed to what someone stated below is actually the creaminess and smoothness of their ice cream. This is due to the fact that they use the best organic milk in the country and they make their base themselves. The only gelateria I know who is doing it except maybe Gelupo. Also w/o revealing any secrets, they don't use sugar grains in their gelato and sorbets so I am not sure what this reviewer below is confused with. Maybe with some nice real caramel bits in their wonderful salty caramel gelato... If you don;t believe the buzz just ask them to visit their kitchen but believe me these guys are fab!
La Gelatiera is definitely deserves a 5 star rating for its icecream itself (although I do hope the shop could has more sitting space). I am a super icecream fan and I am very picky. Yes I mean serious Italian natural artisian type of Gelato, rather than those too creamy and sweet American ones. I love the inventiveness of flavour brought by La Gelatiera, everytime I went in there were surprises. My favourite so far are rose water (although hasnt seen it for quite a while), salty caramel, sweet potato (again hasnt seen it for sometime), balsamic vinegar and black sesame. Sorbets are nice too with chunky bits of fresh fruits. Def go if in Covent Garden area.
Brilliant ice cream let down by rude and unskilled staff. Coffee was lousy. Get your ice cream and leave asap. The hostile service spoiled the whole experience.
I tasted only 2 flavors, among a disappointing offer of a dozen that day. The pistacchio was pleasantly strong, with a nice salty taste. The amaretto was more ordinary, too sweet and not strong enough to my taste (although much better than a "basic" ice cream), of course. The staff was kind enough to offer me to sample 2 flavours, which was very helpful. The most disappointing part of the experience was the shop itself, which wasn't very clean (sticky tables, stains on the floor). Also, the wooden spoon I was given absorbed very quickly the ice cream, therefore it cracked very early in my mouth and gave a strange flavour to the ice cream. For 3.50GBP for 2 scoops in a cup, I had expected a better experience.
Sorry, I've only been to two places for ice cream in london, and 'Scoop' wins hands down. While the is inventiveness of flavour combos is commendable, if you're looking for silky smooth gelato this is not the place to go. Between the four of us we tried 12 flavours and the standout ones were the chocolate sorbet, salted caramel and their orange, cinnamon and wheat flavour. Would definitely return simply to try more flavours, but the icecream was gritty (I could pick out the sugar granules) and for £5 for three small scoops, they could have been a bit more generous!
Why only three stars from Time Out? This is easily the best ice cream I've had in London! And the staff were lovely and let us sample a few flavours before choosing, which was a great idea.
I could not agree more with the review from EW below. Surprisingly it is a total miss for TimeOut here. If Gelupo gets a 5*, La Gelatiera today definitly deserves the same rating. For my own taste this is even better than Gelupo - the textures have a density that I like -- soft but stiff, without any chewy or stickiness to it. Love their unique unusual flavours too. And where in London can you see the Maestro in action and actually get him to give you some tips :)
Coffee 5/5 Location 5/5 Staff 5/5 Ice N/A not more to say
Time out has been way too harsh here with 3 stars. I would say this place is as good as Gelupo. The flavours are adventurous and really lovely (never too sweet which is a problem with a lot of the gelato in London) and the texture and creaminess of the gelato here really sets this place apart from its competitors. I just had a scoop of the Orange, Honey and Rosemary this afternoon and was in my little corner of heaven.
Very delicious, fun & very friendly. Will definitely go out of my way to taste again.
Best seasonal ingredients and great slow food ethics makes this place unique in London. Was well worth the visit form Japan :) They also have good coffee.
The pistachio ice-cream I had was absolutely stunning, really delicious strong, natural flavour. Best I've ever tried! Loved the extra dark chocolate sorbet too...Deserves a five stars rating!
Bog standard gelati, Chin Chin in Camden and Gelupo in Soho destroy this place
:)) as previous - but think I forgot to rate :))
Wonderful, the real taste of the freshest pistacchio and mango. Also I love the freshly made grandma's cakes served on those extra cute vintage china plates with a scoop of my favourite stracciatella! Brings up so many lovely memories...
Definitely the best of the recent crop of ice-cream shops that have sprouted up around london. Favourite flavours: pistacchio, ricotta with candied orange and the wicked chilli chocolate. Great affogato, too. WARNING: seriously addictive!!!
Love the gelato, love the staff. Have been there twice and am totally addicted to the deliciously unusual flavours (meaning the sweet potato one)...
The sea salted caramel is to die for - yum! For that alone it gets a five star rating!
Lovely shop and people. Ice-cream tastes delicious, although some flavours are sometimes too hard. I definitely go for the soft ice-cream and classic flavours like chocolate and cream. But try the black sesame, it's great!
I tried some marron glacé ice cream - heavenly, sweet and with gorgeous sticky pieces of chestnut - and also some of the home made amaretti biscuits. I hid the biscuits away, and treated myself a bite at a time. Lovely place, very nice people!
Snap up exclusive discounts in London
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text:
It is looking increasingly likely that the new iPhone, expected to launch later this year, will drop the old 30-pin Apple dock connector and adopt a smaller 19-pin socket.
The MobileFun site shows leaked line drawings of the iPhone 5 casing, which it says are confirmed as accurate. At the bottom of the phone is a noticeably smaller dock-connecting port. Although unconfirmed, it's not a huge leap to assume this is a microUSB-sized connector.
TechCrunch reports that although the smaller port looks rather like the MacBook Thunderbolt port, its own sources claim that it's not the same.
Since 2011, European Commission policy requires all mobile phones sold in Europe to use a Micro USB charging connector. Apple's solution at the time was to issue an iPhone Micro USB adaptor.
So it makes perfect sense to actually build the widely used port into the next generation of iPhone – but will the king of the proprietary approach really "go standard"?.
It's both a good and bad change depending on your situation. Micro USB is now widely used, so charging cables and kits are almost universally swappable between devices. It's also smaller, meaning the phone itself can save a few millimetres or use the space for something else.
The downside would be for any peripherals that are made exclusively for the iPhone and, by default, the iPad and most iPods, which also use Apple's proprietary 30-pin port. If you own any of these and upgrade your phone, it's not yet clear whether a simple adaptor could be fashioned to make it work again.
Changing standards will also cause confusion among manufacturers of any dockable accessories, though in the future it could mean that new speaker docks, hi-fis and so on could feasibly dock to any Micro USB gadget, such as Android phones too, with remote control compatibility as well as audio-visual transfer functions.
It won't be the first time Apple has introduced a change that makes some accessories incompatible. Although they use the same style of 30-pin connector, iPods dating back a few years do not have a digital audio output via this port, and therefore they don't work with all 'iPod-friendly' hi-fis and speaker docks.
Will Apple go for a smaller proprietary socket or microUSB? Current-design microUSB ports use just five pins while the new iPhone one has nineteen. We know what our bet would be. Have your say in the comments.
Read more on the iPhone 5.
Via MobileFun and TechCrunch


text:
Real Housewife and Grade A Coconut Kelly Bensimon stopped by today's Good Morning America to discuss her new lifestyle book I Can Make You Hot ("Tappity tappity tappity. SCREECH." - the sound of you running out of the house and peeling out of the driveway to get to the bookstore ASAP.)
While there, Bensimon shared some of her always
inane nonsensical helpful insights. For example, did you know that "midwestern raw values" are all about encouraging people to "take care of themselves and to have self-respect"? (In the heartland this is "raw.") Or that it's crazy to cut out carbs from your diet, but totally reasonable to cut out all oil, salt, sugar, caffeine and alcohol?
Kiks also does a pretty good job of breaking down what's hot and what's not. Wanting to lose 10 pounds? NOT HOT. Wanting to lose 5? HOT. Waking up like a supermodel? I don't know what this even means, but I do know, thanks to Kelly, that it is NOT HOT. You want to wake up looking like a rock star — just ask these guys.
Kelly Killoren Bensimon's Supermodel Diet Revealed in New Book [GMA]


text:
krayzie Bone wrote:Who are the members of PWG Clique?
TigerDriver98 wrote:Looks like some bad news for tomorrow's show, Low-Ki just tweeted "Because of a family emergency , I will not be on PWG's May 27 event."
Really sucks about Shelley/Ki not happening, but thankfully with this talent lineup there are a ton of other interesting things they can do with Alex Shelley.
PWG always gets struck by bad luck. Almost every show. Tomorrow night was supposed to see Low Ki battle Alex Shelley but unfortunately, Ki needs to stay home to deal with a family emergency. I know the feeling all too well. Last month, I had to do the same. And it absolutely killed me to have to bail on PWG. But I swore I'd make it up to the fans and coincidentally, I think Low Ki's situation is going to help me achieve that.
Since Ki won't be able to face Shelley, the decision was made to have Alex Shelley wrestle Eddie Edwards in a unique battle that could only happen in a PWG ring. However, that leaves Tozawa without a match. This is where I come in. I'm well aware of the match I am booked in tomorrow night against Willie Mack. And I don't want that to change. On the contrary, I look forward to putting him in his place... and by that I mean back in the front row with the rest of the fans.
But I'm also well aware of the fact that there's a certain team out there that a lot of PWG fans hoped Tozawa and I would wrestle before our Japanese friend has to return home to the land of the rising sun (Wesley Snipes!) And to make up for missing the last show, I want to give PWG fans the opportunity to see that match.
So here it is...a challenge...
After I'm done with Willie Mack, Akira Tozwa and Kevin Steen vs Ricochet and El Generico.
Generico, don't be a fucking pussy. Let's do this!
See you tomorrow night.
PWG_Silverback wrote:Take these lemons back! We don't want your damn lemons!
ajday wrote:PWG_Silverback wrote:Take these lemons back! We don't want your damn lemons!
... Am I missing a reference?
El Asian wrote:well I actually kinda like the idea of Ki working 1 night as it has a special wrestler for both nights booked
also Willie Mack vs. Kevin Steen is still on for night 1 right?ajday wrote:PWG_Silverback wrote:Take these lemons back! We don't want your damn lemons!
... Am I missing a reference?
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Vintage fashion magazines, magazine advertising and editorials in fine condition. Available at ebay store devocanada. "devodotcom and femaleandfatal" hosted by Devorah Macdonald
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Posted by devodotcom-devocanada-femaleandfatal-vintimage at 10:05 PM
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Thursday, December 25, 2014
Posted by devodotcom-devocanada-femaleandfatal-vintimage at 11:59 AM
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Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Mesh Helmut by Emme
Latinas Platform Sandal
A net of chain strapped 'round the ankle
Pierre Cardin
Top - the breastplate ribbing of a little black dress.
Below - white patent sandal strapped above a silver heel.
Lacquer grape space-age cape reveals a matching cire swimsuit.
Arnold Scassi
Silk sari cloth of shining panels of ruby red with embroidery of golden threads.
Laquer red tri-corner fringed shawl over a sleeveless jumpsuit.
Black net skirt ribboned in satin, over straight black silk crepe pants. White organza top, embroidered with silver on the sleeves, buttoned to the collar with diamante.
Knife-pleated chiffon shadows the leg, a black silk crepe tunic wraps across one shoulder with the slim rounded elegance of a toga.
Light wool dinner dress spills straight from the shoulders in serpentine sea patterns of beige and white.
Samuel Winston
Crystal beads and silver stones flash on an open network of organza.
Oscar de la Renta
Oscar de la Renta
Mimi di N necklace
Geoffrey Beene
Fernando Sanchez for Revillon
Long hooded black fox cape fanned with black and white cock feathers.
White Stag
One-of-a-kind patchwork robe of gold and purple passementarie embroidered in lace and lame. Buttoned once at the neck, the robe flares open at the waist over a patchwork quilt wrap skirt ablaze in orange and red. By Three Worlds - to order at Fantasia. Tassled belt and tapestry saddle by Serai Imports.
Anne Klein
Mr. John Hat
Dominique Rompollo for Teal Traina
Yards of silk organza burnished with the colors of a desert sunset.
Emme Headpiece
Christmas: Let The Spirit Shine
Harper's Bazaar December 1969
Bill King
James Moore
Alberto Rizzo
Hiro Wakabayashi
|... eyes on the sixties at devodotcom
Posted by devodotcom-devocanada-femaleandfatal-vintimage at 9:15 PM
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Thursday, December 18, 2014
Breton cap of black lace and satin
Barbara Lewis - Hello Stranger
black satin and lace
A coif of black point d'esprit
Swirled cone of black satin
Christmas Confections
Photography: Lillian Bassman
White Stag
Ernst Engel
Continental Imports
Irving of Montreal plaid pants
Samuel Parnes Kilt
Pius Whieler Sweater
Homage to Dior
Christian Dior at home
Photography: Louise Dahl-Wolfe
Carmen Dell'Orefice Poolside in Toni Owen
Rose Marie Reid
Dress Necklines - Taking to the Water
Photography: Gleb Derujinsky
Herbert Sondheim
Photography: Francesco Scavullo
Jamison Classics
Ben Zuckerman
Photography: Richard Avedon
Eva Gabor
Maurice Chevalier
Encore Gigi
Photography: Cecil Beaton
Christmas Fashions -
In The Sun,
In The Snow
Harper's Bazaar December 1957
|... eyes on the fifties at devodotcom
Posted by devodotcom-devocanada-femaleandfatal-vintimage at 9:16 PM
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text: Find this wine Find this wine Siduri Pinot Noir 2011 '11 Willamette Valley Pin It Tweet 7 years ago by Greg H. More posts Siduri Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2005 staff meeting! special guest Medwyn. 6 years ago by Derekbrookmeyer Siduri Pinot Noir 2011 Had w steak sandwiches. Paired great with the blue cheese and peaches on the sandwich!! Would be a great stand alone!! 6 years ago by Mrlamb22 Siduri Pinot Noir 2011 liked this but liked the Syrah Christensen better. 6 years ago by Mlertpac Siduri Rosellas Vineyards 2008 2008 Siduri Rosella's Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir 6 years ago by @njwineandbeer Siduri Pinot Noir 2011 9 excellent 6 years ago by Christinekidder


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By browsing this site you accept cookies used to improve and personalise our services and marketing, and for social activity. Read our updated privacy policy for more about what we do with your data, as well as your rights and choices – including how to manage cookies.
Shop homeware and mobile phones online, and browse key pieces from our in-store F&F collection
Add a range of homeware items to your grocery shop*
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From cute kids' clothes to on-trend womenswear and menswear


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Jennifer Lopez Tangos With Jimmy Fallon After Jennifer Lawrence Dance Diss [VIDEO]by Michelle McGahan | PopCrush
Just a week after they shimmied together in the magic that was 'Tight Pants,' Jennifer Lopez is once again dancing with Jimmy Fallon — and let's face it: she kind of owed him after that whole dance diss debacle. (Well, she owed Jennifer Lawrence.)
As if we could forget, Jennifer Lawrence famously came on 'The Tonight Show' and revealed that she and Jimmy Fallon had choreographed a whole routine to get Jennifer Lopez to dance with them — but the 'Tonight Show' host backed out at the last second, leaving the 'Hunger Games' star to ask J. Lo to dance on her own … and the 'First Love' singer declined. Yikes! Of course, J. Lo cleared the whole thing up, telling Fallon that she actually thought that Lawrence wanted to go out on the dance floor while she just wanted to shake it where she was already.
But as Jimmy Fallon explained, he always "follows through," and asked Lopez to dance with him right then and there.
"Jennifer Lawrence!" Fallon yelled while looking into the camera, as he led J. Lo out onto the dance floor. "Hope you're watching!"
We hoped she was watching too, as the two tangoed together — J. Lo rocking a very Marilyn Monroe-esque dress, and Jimmy Fallon holding a rose between his teeth — until the dance became much more about Fallon, shimmying by himself in front of the camera as Lopez slowly backed away, pretending to be annoyed. LOL!
Check out their hilarious tango in the video above.
See Jennifer Lopez + More Pop Stars Without Makeup


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IF you liked the video be sure to leave a like and subscribe!
Welcome to a base raiding video! Going old and traditional with the thumbnail! Been upgrading PC quite a bit, as well as that I will be starting gymnasium after the summer. I've been quite active on DayZtv recently I find the site really fun and entertaining. That's just filled with DayZ an when I say "Just DayZ" I mean just DayZ. Nothing else. Now that summer is coming I will be recording constantly everyday and I am currently working on getting a twitch channel up that I will stream with at least once a week. It all depends how things go. Anyways MERCI BEACOUP for watching! Don't forget to subscribe and leave a like! Here is the music that was used in the video. These are beast man, check' em!
Check Out DayZTV: https://www.dayztv.com
Two Steps From Hell – Blackheart
Xilent – Free Me


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Video: SwimSmart IX—Be Alert and Ask for Help
Sometimes a race takes an unfortunate turn, or we just don't feel as good in the water as we'd hoped. In the video above, IRONMAN world champion Greg Welch discusses why being tuned into potential safety issues is so important, as well as the safety measures that are put in place at IRONMAN events.
Follow the links below for more resources on how to prepare for racing in the open water—useful reminders no matter what level a triathlete you are.
Stroke Mechanics for the Open Water
5 Things You're Doing Wrong in the Open Water
SwimSmart I: Prepare Early | SwimSmart II: Work Your Way Up | SwimSmart III: Be in the Know | SwimSmart IV: Safety First | SwimSmart V: Tried and True Gear | SwimSmart VI: Warm up Right | SwimSmart VII: Assess the Situation | SwimSmart VIII: Start Easy, Relax and Breathe | SwimSmart IX: Be Alert and Ask for Help


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Tag! You're it!
I've been tagged! Eileen Brown got me! …so I'm obliged to A) tell 5 things about myself that you probably don't know, and then B) tag 5 additional blogasphere friends. Okay.. here are 5 things that you may not know about me: I have 4 lovely children: Joe (15), Andy (14), Amy (12), and Laura… Read more


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Sunday, January 25, 2009
So, after trying several things like just changing the name, I finally created an entirely new post with a slightly different name, copying the content over into the html editor of Create Posts. And because I already had 3 comments on the post, I copied them onto the new "What Kind of Geologist? Revisited" post.
And then I deleted the original post because it was entirely messy having so many posts around with the same name (almost), one of which was showing a date of July something in Google Reader. Anyway - Remember not to use the Same Title!!
Will my FeedBurner now transfer to Google? Who knows?
6 comments:
- ReBecca Foster said...
I can see you in my google reader
- Sunday, January 25, 2009 at 4:47:00 PM PST
- PhizzleDizzle said...
it sounds like i caused you a lot of trouble!!! :(:( sorry :).
- Sunday, January 25, 2009 at 9:20:00 PM PST
- CJR said...
Glad you solved it... although I can still change the feed settings for the 'allgeo' feed if you like...
- Monday, January 26, 2009 at 3:03:00 AM PST
- Robert Huber said...
The blogger standard feed link at the bottom of your blog shows some strange numbers in its url:
this feed shows only 3 entries...
Strange: delete these numbers and it returns much more :
- Monday, January 26, 2009 at 4:31:00 AM PST
- Silver Fox said...
PD - really, no problem except that I didn't understand the blogger feed completely, so made a mistake.
ReBecca - I'm baaaacckk!
- Monday, January 26, 2009 at 8:24:00 AM PST
- Silver Fox said...
Robert, the three feeds you see include the two standard feeds associated with blogger, the rss feed and the atom feed. The one with all the numbers is the post comment feed for this post and only shows these particular comments. The other one you mentioned is the feed for all the comments made on all the posts.
CJR, thanks for checking in - I don't think anyone's settings need to be changed, I think I just need to not use the same post title again, even one from a previously deleted post! Don't know how other places handle deleted posts, like wordpress.
- Monday, January 26, 2009 at 8:43:00 AM PST


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presented with the support of the Toronto Arts Council
October 27. The date looms large on Toronto's collective calendar. The day we choose a new mayor. The cast that brought you this summer's Fringe smash hit: Toronto, I Love You - reunites to wrestle with our imminent moment of decision... through comedy. Borrowing from modern improv's Commedia Dell'Arte roots and applying them to a very contemporary civic dilemma, The Vote promises not to feature a Rob Ford impression.
Directed by Anand Rajaram. Starring: Craig Anderson, Jess Bryson, Kyle Dooley, Colin Munch, Paloma Nuñez, Hannah Spear, Sean Tabares & Anders Yates.
The Vote
7PM | October 20-24 | FREE
as a part of the Big City Improv Festival


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Vegan author Isa Chandra Moskowitz comes to Denver
As the husband of a woman, Annie, who describes herself as veganish, and as somebody who sometimes even uses the same term to describe himself (with a much, much heavier emphasis on "ish"; really, I like to eat vegan often, but it's not a way of life), my family is familiar with Isa Chandra Moskowitz, a vegan cookbook author.
Hers were some of the first vegan cookbooks we encountered a few years ago, and we thrilled to the stews and burgers, the tacos and sandwiches and pastas that often were texturally meaty, only minus the ground lamb shoulder.
She's got a new cookbook, called "Isa Does It," which Annie calls her best effort yet, largely because Moskowitz doesn't rely so much upon the faux cheeses which, let's just be frank, usually taste like floodwater (yes, we unfortunately are familiar).
Moskowitz comes to the Tattered Cover on Colfax Ave. on Oct. 28 at 7:30 for a book signing. I'm sure she'll sling some vegan tips, too.


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D-Wade plays chess, not checkers.
The much sought-after free agent, fresh off two meetings with the Bulls, says his decision on where to play is based on what's good for his long-term future.
"At the end of the day your decision goes on what's best for you and your family," Wade said outside Trump Tower Saturday morning. "I think that the organizations I've been brought in to meet with are all good organizations. And all can add something to my life, and not just basketball-wise. I understand that if myself and another guy and we have some good players around we'll be good. To me it's about what makes forty years of my life and not just about the next ten."
Asked whether Chicago had a better chance because he grew up here, Wade admitted the city had a certain resonance in his heart.
"I love Chicago ... this is the place where my vision of becoming an NBA player came true," Wade said. "I think a lot of people surprised of it because of certain comments and the way that things have been portrayed in the media," referring to comments he made in May questioning whether the Bulls were loyal to their former players.
"It was one of the first things addressed in the meeting," Wade said. "We've cleared it up, and they totally understand what I was saying. It's over."
Wade said he had a tough decision ahead of him.
"I can't say it's hard to be wanted," Wade said. "It's a good problem to have."
Meanwhile, in Cleveland, the Bulls met with LeBron James for almost three hours. Bulls management left without saying a word.


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On a snowy Saturday in March 1971, my new wife and I flew to Miami so that I could interview with the American Bankers Life Assurance Company. I had just spent a year at a small insurance company in Harrisburg and its fortunes were going from bad to worse. American Bankers, on the other hand, was a successful company that used IBM's CFO policy administration system and other software with which I had experience. I had been recommended for the position of systems and programming manager by my former employer in Texas.
We landed in the sunshine at Miami International Airport. I had been told to look for a big guy wearing Bermuda shorts and a sport shirt. I spotted my soon-to-be boss and friend, Howard Arner, when we claimed our luggage. Howard took us to our accommodations at the Four Seasons hotel on Biscayne Bay and that evening we dined at a fancy restaurant with Howard, his wife, and a couple from American Banker's agency department. Howard and I met for breakfast the next morning and sealed the deal. Three weeks later, I was in Miami working for American Bankers.
I soon discovered that at Howard's instigation the company wanted to both enter premium transactions and provide their customer service representatives with policyholder information online. We started by establishing a project team and taking an inventory. Our IBM representative told us that American Bankers was already paying for four IBM 2260 CRTs and the DUCS (Display Unit Control System) third-party software. The team went searching for the CRTs. We quickly found three of the 2260 terminals. They were scattered on different floors and were supposed to be used as an alpha-lookup resource. We were told that the lookup results were often unreliable and that the system hadn't been used for months. The fourth terminal, however, was missing.
The project team voted to invite someone from the computer operations department to join us. We gave our new team member the job of following the four coaxial cables that led from the computer room to the CRTs. The next afternoon our new team member called us to an impromptu meeting in the break room on the seventh floor. There, under a tablecloth, was our missing terminal. It had become part of the coffee service. The team decided to relocate that 2260 from the seventh floor to the computer room so that it could be used for testing.
The remaining items on our inventory were the IBM 2311 disk drives. American Bankers used IBM's DOS operating system which resided on a disk pack labeled DOS01. Another 2311 typically had disk pack DATA01 mounted unless, of course, someone was testing something. Then disk pack TEST01 replaced DATA01.
The IBM 2311 disk drive resembled nothing so much as a top-loaded clothes washer with a see-through lid. The 2311 was loaded with an IBM 1316 disk pack which looked like six revolving pizza plates, stacked one on top of the other, with a rod inserted through the middle. The disk pack was enclosed by a clear plastic covering. When the disk pack was outside of the 2311 drive, it had a top that screwed into the center rod so that the pack could be carried without touching the recording surfaces. The operator opened the disk drive, inserted and locked the disk pack in place, unscrewed and removed the top of the disk pack, closed the top of the disk drive, and turned the 2311 on. With the 2311, the IBM 360 mainframe had 7.25 million bytes of random access memory.
We had located the hardware for our project. Now we needed software.
The DUCS terminal control program that American Bankers was leasing was an IBM type 3 offering. An IBM customer had written DUCS and IBM distributed it but did not maintain it. I spent a few weeks looking a the DUCS assembler listings to determine whether we wanted to use it for our project but, in the end, the fact that DUCS was unsupported led us to CICS (Customer Information Control System).
Although CICS was released as a corporate program product in 1969, American Bankers was still an early-adopter. The version that we used became known as macro-level CICS for the obvious reason that COBOL and assembler programs invoked CICS services by using macros. Command-level CICS was released later and supported both macro-level and command-level calls to the control program.
We also needed a random access file handler. At the time, CICS file control supported only BDAM and ISAM files and we chose ISAM. The project team decided to write COBOL programs to format the screens, validate the data, and prepare premium batches. The file handling programs would be written in assembler language. With our architecture in place, the project team began to prepare detail deign documents. And then we hit a snag.
While we were inventorying and architecting, Howard was dealing with IBM about the hardware that would be needed. American Bankers was using a 64K IBM 360 model 40 and all of the available literature assured us that our mainframe would be able to support DOS, CICS, file handlers, and application programs in the foreground while we continued to run batch jobs in the background. Perhaps not, our IBM SE advised. It was true that if we held to strict coding conventions for the application programs, kept our disk records small and unblocked, and installed but a few terminals, it might fit on our machine, but IBM was unsure that we could achieve response times below 10 seconds with such a configuration. Their advice was to upgrade the memory to 128K and to install 2314 disk drives. American Bankers was committed to the effort and ordered the equipment upgrades and the project continued.
We decided that we would start with a full complement of eight 2260 terminals attached to a single control unit. The company already had four terminals and a control unit so we ordered four additional CRTs and an upgrade to the controller. We called a meeting with the user department managers, one from premium accounting and one from customer service, to determine where each 2260 would go and when the managers wanted to begin testing.
"We can get the equipment delivered and ready to go in two weeks," I told them. "Have you decided who in your departments will use the new terminals?" I asked.
Awkward silence.
"Can premium accounting start first?" the customer service manager wanted to know. "Mr. Landon sure gets upset when we get customer complaints."
"Now wait a minute," the premium accounting manager said. "You won't have any customers if we don't get their premiums posted."
With this vote of confidence I interrupted them. "We can keep half of the new terminals in the computer room for awhile. How about you each just take two of them? We can train your staff here and then move the other terminals upstairs when you're ready," I compromised.
With reluctance, they agreed. I later found out that each of them went to their department's senior management in protest only to be sent away.
We decided to install the 2260s over a weekend so that we would cause as little commotion as possible. When one employee who had been selected to learn the new system arrived the following Monday, she found a new CRT on her desk. She turned around and went home. She came back to work only after being assured that she wouldn't be replaced by some mechanical know-it-all.
American Bankers did go online. Although we didn't achieve sub-second response times for another six months and a further system upgrade, the premium system was more accurate than before and it eliminated the need to keypunch thousands of premium transactions each month. Customer service improved. The only remaining disagreement between the managers of the user departments was over which one would get the next shipment of terminals.
- A Personal History of Systems and Computers: Part 1
- A Personal History of Systems and Computers: Part 2
- A Personal History of Systems and Computers: Part 3
- A Personal History of Systems and Computers: Part 4
- A Personal History of Systems and Computers: Part 5
- A Personal History of Systems and Computers: Part 6
- A Personal History of Systems and Computers: Part 7
- A Personal History of Systems and Computers: Part 8
- A Personal History of Systems and Computers: Part 9


text:
September 2007 Journal of Geoscience EducationVolume 55, Number 4
A 24 x 24 mm close-up photograph of a thin section of chrysotile or from the Lowell Mine located in north-central Vermont taken in cross-polarized light. Photo by Mickey Gunter.
A Standards-based Curriculum for Clay Science
Audrey C. Rule, State University of New York at Oswego
Stephen Guggenheim, University of Illinois at Chicago
Full Text (Acrobat (PDF) 335kB Oct9 07)
A prekindergarten to 12th grade curriculum for clay science is presented based on the Benchmarks for science literacy and the National science education standards. These clay concepts support learning in chemistry, physical science, and Earth science and are divided into concepts and activities for early childhood, elementary, middle school, and high school students. Two studies addressing facets of the curriculum show the utility of the proposed clay concepts and suggested lessons. More work is needed to define specific ideas students may have about clay in the rock cycle, clay's role in everyday products, what clay scientists do, and to test the efficacy of the entire curriculum.
URL for this article: http://www.nagt.org/nagt/jge/abstracts/sep07.html#v55p257
Developing Preschoolers' Science Vocabulary Through Clay Explorations
Carolyn A. House, First Step Universal Preschool
Full Text (Acrobat (PDF) 303kB Oct9 07)
The purpose of this study was to determine the improvement in descriptive vocabulary of preschool children as a result of lessons that focused on the physical properties of clay. During a six-lesson art-science unit, four and five year old children used familiar artificial clay, unfamiliar modeling clay, mud, and natural potter's clay to experiment with different techniques and to make a pinch pot, which they subsequently glazed and had fired. Throughout the lessons, descriptive vocabulary was repeatedly modeled and reinforced. Two pretest-posttest instruments were administered. Students improved in demonstrating targeted vocabulary words (e.g. pinch, bend, coil, flat) with a mean of 50% of the students demonstrating each of the sixteen words correctly on the pretest compared to 81% on the posttest. Students were also assessed on vocabulary used as they verbally described wet and dry natural clay samples and unglazed and glazed ceramic pieces. Again, students showed a significant increase in speaking vocabulary. However, passive and observational tasks, requiring little or no use of language and vocabulary, revealed minimal acquisition of targeted vocabulary.
URL for this article: http://www.nagt.org/nagt/jge/abstracts/sep07.html#v55p267
Using Trade Books to Teach about Clay Minerals
Sharon Kane, State University of New York at Oswego
Full Text (Acrobat (PDF) 268kB Oct9 07)
Research shows that content area knowledge and attitudes toward academic subjects can be enhanced when teachers use trade books in their classrooms. This article reports on an analysis of children's books relating to the topic of clay minerals. Various genres, including biography, fiction, informational books, how-to books, and picture books, are represented. The literary works described represent a wide range in terms of text difficulty and sophistication of concepts, offering opportunities for differentiated instruction. Teachers can teach scientific concepts and facts related to clay through stories, whether fictional or biographical. They can use books providing directions for hands-on activities to involve students in curricular projects with the goal of increased academic achievement. The text, illustrations, and photographs in trade books can motivate students to learn about clay minerals and provide resources for continued investigation.
URL for this article: http://www.nagt.org/nagt/jge/abstracts/sep07.html#v55p274
Seventh Grade Students Learn about the Use of Clays in Everyday Products
Mark E. Dubey, Clary Middle School, Syracuse City Schools
Audrey C. Ruls, State University of New York at Oswego
Full Text (Acrobat (PDF) 554kB Oct9 07)
Clay minerals are widespread at the Earth's surface, compose a large percentage of sedimentary rocks, and are important components of many common products including brick and tile, tableware, sanitaryware, paper, paints, plastics, rubber, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. Knowledge of the role of clay industrial products supports attainment of science knowledge goals in middle school (Rule and Guggenheim, 2007). This simple pretest-intervention posttest study presents effective examples of clay science activities for middle school students that highlight the multiple uses of clay minerals in common products and support learning of other geoscience concepts such as crystal structure and resulting physical properties of materials. A class of twenty-one students at an urban middle school in central New York State participated in the study. Student scores on the pretest averaged 52% correct compared to 83% correct on the posttest taken seven weeks later, indicating the efficacy of the activities in teaching clay science concepts. A written survey three weeks after lessons had concluded showed students learned much about clay properties and clay use in everyday objects along with enjoying group work and the hands-on materials with clues.
URL for this article: http://www.nagt.org/nagt/jge/abstracts/sep07.html#v55p282
Project Based Learning Approach to Shale Diagenesis: A Better Avenue to the Big Picture
Iris M. Totten, Kansas State University
Matthew W. Totten, Sr., Kansas State University
Full Text (Acrobat (PDF) 1.3MB Oct10 07)
This article describes an experimental six-month study that was created to introduce first semester graduate students to geological research in fine-grained rocks. The study was conducted within a graduate-level Clastic Diagenesis course where students examined the mineralogical and chemical variability in shale samples that crop out in regions of different thermal maturity along the Ouachita Mountain Fold Belt. A project-based instructional (PBL) approach was used with a driving question of "what happens to shales during burial diagenesis?" This approach was intended to give students an opportunity early in their graduate studies to participate in authentic geologic research. Each sample was analyzed for the clay-mineralogy using XRD, whole-rock chemistry using XRF, mineralogy of heavy separates, character of the silt-sized quartz and feldspar, and grain size of the non-clay fraction. Qualitative data analyses from student interview transcriptions revealed that based on their experience with the Ouachita project students were able to approach their own thesis topics, regardless of the subject area with a more holistic and experienced scientific perspective. The depth and quality of the research questions they asked in their own subsequent research was influenced by their exposure to the clastic diagenesis problem-based project. Developing competency in the analyses techniques was not the goal of this project but rather developing an overarching understanding of the process used when studying the diagenesis of fine-grained rocks. Evidence that this was achieved is demonstrated in the student's final presentation of the Clastic Diagenesis project at a regional geologic meeting.
URL for this article: http://www.nagt.org/nagt/jge/abstracts/sep07.html#v55p289
Preservice Elementary Teachers' Ideas about Clays
Audrey C. Rule, State University of New York at Oswego
Full Text (Acrobat (PDF) 334kB Oct9 07)
Clays are important industrial materials used for many purposes because of their plasticity and other unique properties. Clay science concepts can be used to effectively support learning of foundational science principles in elementary grades. Because preparation to teach science affects the quality of a teacher's instruction, this study examined preservice elementary teachers' ideas about clays before and after lessons on clay science that incorporated instructional approaches supported by the literature. These teaching methods included viewing a slide show of clay mineral structures and scanning electron photographs of clay minerals, along with explanations of the origin of clay minerals and their properties; matching clay products to cards that described the properties of clays employed by the products; and playing a game in which participants identified clay products in different rooms of a house. Before instruction, most participants were familiar only with ceramics as clay products, with less than half aware that clays were naturally occurring materials. Pre-instructional concepts of the geologic origin of clay were similar for preservice teachers who "guessed" or "reasoned" answers compared to those who said they had learned the information previously. Participants exhibited significant gains in knowledge of clay properties for use in various products from pretest to posttest.
URL for this article: http://www.nagt.org/nagt/jge/abstracts/sep07.html#v55p310
Preservice Elementary Teachers' Images of Clay Scientists
Audrey C. Rule, State University of New York at Oswego
Berislava Cavanaugh, State University of New York at Oswego
Valerie Waloven, State University of New York at Oswego
Full Text (Acrobat (PDF) 223kB Oct9 07)
The Draw-A-Scientist test, a popular projective test in use for decades, reveals the drawer's attitudes toward science. This study examined and compared images of "scientists" and "clay scientists" drawn by 87 preservice elementary teachers before and after participating in instruction about the origin of clay minerals and their uses in everyday products. Images of "scientists" shifted from stereotyped white male chemists in lab coats to an increase in persons of color and females engaged in outdoor science. "Clay scientist" images shifted from white males working indoors or outdoors with clay or ceramics to include more females, more everyday clothing, and a broader range of clay products. The effective clay science instruction included pre-instructional assessment of student ideas, small group discussions, structuring of activities, hands-on concrete materials, visuals, and connections to real life.
URL for this article: http://www.nagt.org/nagt/jge/abstracts/sep07.html#v55p321
Engaging First Grade Students in a Geoscience Campus
Jennifer Saltzman, Stanford University
Adina Paytan, Stanford University
Full Text (Acrobat (PDF) 608kB Oct9 07)
We present a geology field trip for first grade students, which includes four hands-on, age-appropriate activities on rocks, minerals, soil and fossils. The content of this program called Geokids adheres to the California educational standards and fits the physical sciences unit on sand, silt and clay for first grade. Over 600 students from eleven schools participate yearly in Geokids which is taught by university graduate and undergraduate student volunteers. The feedback from both university instructors and first grade teachers has been very positive and we are in the process of expanding our audience to include schools in lower income areas.
URL for this article: http://www.nagt.org/nagt/jge/abstracts/sep07.html#v55p326
DepartmentsResearch in Science Education: The Expert-Novice Continuum
Heather L. Petcovic, Western Michigan University
Julie C. Libarkin, Michigan State University
URL for this article: http://www.nagt.org/nagt/jge/abstracts/sep07.html#v55p333


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Integrating family planning into Ethiopian voluntary testing and counselling programmes
Intégration des services de planification familiale dans les programmes de conseil et de dépistage volontaire
Integración de la planificación familiar en los programas de asesoramiento y pruebas voluntarias del VIH de Etiopía
Duff GillespieI, *; Heather BradleyI; Metiku WoldegiorgisII; Aklilu KidanuIII; Sabrina KarklinsI
IThe Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe Street (W4509), Baltimore, MD, 21205, United States of America
IIPathfinder International, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
IIIMiz-Hasab Research Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
PROBLEM: Governments and donors encourage the integration of family planning into voluntary testing and counselling (VCT) services. We aimed to determine if clients of VCT services have a need for and will accept quality family planning services.
APPROACH: "Voluntary HIV counselling and testing integrated with contraceptive services" is a proof-of-concept study that interviewed 4019 VCT clients before the addition of family planning services and 4027 different clients after family planning services were introduced. Clients attended eight public VCT facilities in the Oromia region, Ethiopia. The intervention had four components: development of family planning counselling messages for VCT clients, VCT provider training, contraceptive supply provision and monitoring.
LOCAL SETTING: Ethiopia's population of 80 million is increasing rapidly at an annual rate of 2.5%. Contraceptive prevalence is only 15%. The estimated adult HIV prevalence rate is 2.1%, with more than 1.1 million people infected. The number of VCT facilities increased from 23 in 2001 to more than 1000 in 2007, and the number of HIV tests taken doubled from 1.7 million tests in 2007 to 3.5 million in 2008.
RELEVANT CHANGES: Clients interviewed after the introduction of family planning services received significantly more family planning counselling and accepted significantly more contraceptives than those clients served before the intervention. However, three-quarters of the clients were not sexually active. Of those clients who were sexually active, 70% were using contraceptives.
LESSONS LEARNED: The study demonstrated that family planning can be integrated into VCT clinics. However, policy-makers and programme managers should carefully consider the characteristics and reproductive health needs of target populations when making decisions about service integration.
PROBLÉMATIQUE: Les Etats et les donateurs encouragent l'intégration des services de planification familiale à ceux de conseil et de dépistage volontaire (CDV). Nous nous sommes efforcés de déterminer si les clients des services de CDV avaient besoin de services de planification familiale de qualité et s'ils les accepteraient.
DÉMARCHE: Le concept d'intégration des services de conseil et de dépistage volontaire et des services de contraception a été soumis à une étude de validité, dans le cadre de laquelle on a interrogé 4019 clients de services de CDV avant l'adjonction des services de planification familiale et 4027 autres clients après l'introduction de ces services. Les clients avaient consulté huit centres publics de CDV de la région d'Oromia, en Ethiopie. L'intervention comprenait quatre composantes : mise au point de messages apportant des conseils en matière de planification familiale aux clients des services de CDV, formation des prestateurs de services de CDV, fourniture de moyens contraceptifs et surveillance.
CONTEXTE LOCAL: La population éthiopienne de 80 millions d'habitants augmente rapidement, avec un taux de croissance annuel de 2,5 %. La prévalence de la contraception n'est que de 15 %. Le taux de prévalence du VIH chez les adultes est estimé à 2,1 %, avec plus de 1,1 million de personnes infectées. Le nombre d'unités délivrant des services de CDV est passé de 23 en 2001 à plus de 1000 en 2007 et le nombre de tests de dépistage du VIH effectués a doublé entre 2007 et 2008, passant de 1,7 millions à 3,5 millions.
MODIFICATIONS PERTINENTES: Les clients interrogés après l'introduction des services de planification familiale avaient reçu notablement plus de conseils de planification familiale et avaient accepté nettement plus de contraceptifs que ceux servis avant l'intervention. Cependant, les trois-quarts de ces clients n'étaient pas sexuellement actifs Parmi les clients sexuellement actifs, 70 % utilisaient des moyens contraceptifs.
ENSEIGNEMENTS: tirés Cette étude a démontré que les services de planification familiale pouvaient être intégrés dans les dispensaires proposant des services de CDV. Néanmoins, les décideurs politiques et les gestionnaires de programmes devraient étudier soigneusement les caractéristiques et les besoins en matière de santé génésique des populations visées lors de la prise de décisions concernant l'intégration de ces services.
PROBLEMA: Los gobiernos y los donantes promueven la integración de la planificación familiar en los servicios de asesoramiento y pruebas voluntarias (APV) del VIH. Decidimos determinar si los usuarios de los servicios de APV tienen necesidad de servicios de planificación familiar de calidad y si los aceptarían.
ENFOQUE: «Integración del asesoramiento y pruebas voluntarias de detección del VIH con los servicios de anticoncepción» es un estudio demostrativo preliminar en el que se entrevistó a 4019 usuarios de APV antes de la inclusión de los servicios de planificación familiar, y a 4027 usuarios diferentes después de introducir dichos servicios. Se trata de usuarios que acudieron a ocho servicios públicos de APV de la región de Oromia, Etiopía. La intervención comprendía cuatro componentes: elaboración de consejos de planificación familiar para los usuarios de APV, capacitación de los proveedores de APV, suministro de anticonceptivos y seguimiento.
CONTEXTO LOCAL: La población de Etiopía asciende a 80 millones de habitantes y está aumentando rápidamente a un ritmo anual del 2,5%. La prevalencia de uso de anticonceptivos es sólo del 15%. La prevalencia de la infección por VIH en adultos es del 2,1%, con más de 1,1 millones de personas infectadas. El número de servicios de APV aumentó de 23 en 2001 a más de 1000 en 2007, y el número de pruebas del VIH realizadas se duplicó, pasando de 1,7 millones en 2007 a 3,5 millones en 2008.
CAMBIOS DESTACABLES: Los usuarios entrevistados tras la introducción de los servicios de planificación familiar habían recibido significativamente más consejos de planificación familiar y aceptado significativamente más anticonceptivos que los atendidos antes de la intervención. Sin embargo, tres de cada cuatro usuarios no eran sexualmente activos. Entre los usuarios sexualmente activos, el 70% estaban utilizando anticonceptivos.
ENSEÑANZAS EXTRAÍDAS: El estudio demostró que es posible integrar la planificación familiar en los consultorios de APV. No obstante, los planificadores de políticas y los gestores de programas deberían analizar detenidamente las características y las necesidades de salud reproductiva de las poblaciones destinatarias en su toma de decisiones sobre la integración de los servicios.
Voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) is a core part of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programmes. Because both VCT and family planning programmes help clients avoid unwanted consequences of their sexual behaviour - HIV and unintended pregnancies - many policy-makers believe that integrating these two services will increase coverage and efficiency.
Ethiopia's population of 80 million is increasing rapidly at an annual rate of 2.5%, meaning it will double in 29 years.1 Contraceptive prevalence is only 15%.2 It is estimated that the adult HIV prevalence rate is 2.1%, with over 1.1 million people infected.3 Despite challenging circumstances, and with significant donor support, Ethiopia has dramatically increased its VCT coverage. The number of VCT facilities increased from just 23 in 2001 to more than 1000 in 2007, and the number of HIV tests taken doubled in just one year, from 1.7 million tests in 2007 to 3.5 million in 2008.4 With this significant increase in coverage, the large network of VCT clinics has the potential to greatly increase access to family planning information and services.
Ethiopian context
After attending a WHO-sponsored meeting on international best practices in Uganda, Ethiopian government officials and representatives developed a plan to introduce family planning into VCT programmes. They developed a steering committee, which was led by Pathfinder International, Ethiopia. This committee aimed to train public sector VCT counsellors in family planning provision and to initiate integrated services in 20% of service sites for VCT and prevention-of-mother-to-child transmission of HIV in four focus regions. These sites were chosen based on available human resources, interest in participating and proximity to Pathfinder's local implementing partners.
Despite this initiative to integrate HIV and family planning services, there was no empirical evidence that Ethiopian VCT clients had an unmet need for family planning or that service integration would improve access or quality of care for clients. Pathfinder, the Miz-Hasab Research Center, an Ethiopian research firm and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health joined forces to evaluate the integration programme in eight of Pathfinder's service sites. This research, the "Voluntary HIV Counselling and Testing Integrated with Contraceptive Services" Study, assessed the impact of adding quality family planning services into VCT facilities.
Between November 2006 and February 2008, Pathfinder introduced family planning services into semi-urban hospitals and health centres in Oromia region. First, administrative staff and health providers at all levels were sensitized about the importance of integrating family planning and HIV services, and then VCT service providers were trained in family planning. Pathfinder held five-day training courses on three separate occasions to account for frequent provider turnover. Training curriculum included basic information on the benefits of family planning, contraceptive options and side-effects.
Additionally, facilitators introduced counselling messages and protocols developed specifically for VCT clients, such as men, young people and HIV-positive individuals.
VCT counsellors were authorized to counsel clients on family planning and to offer condoms and contraceptive pills during VCT sessions. Nurse counsellors were also authorized to provide injectable contraceptives. Pathfinder provided a full-range of contraceptive supplies to both VCT and family planning units in all eight facilities. Monthly monitoring visits helped to ensure contraceptive availability within the facilities and resolve problems faced by the VCT counsellors. VCT providers' logbooks were modified to facilitate collection of information about family planning counselling and services, and these data were routinely assessed by Pathfinder, in addition to contraceptive stocks.
Before and after the family planning intervention was implemented, we conducted cross-sectional client interviews. In 2006, 4019 clients receiving standard-of-care VCT were interviewed about their contraceptive practices and needs. Approximately 18 months after introduction of family planning services, 4027 additional clients were interviewed using the same survey instrument.
Client characteristics
The VCT client profile had some unexpected characteristics. Table 1 outlines the characteristics of female clients who were interviewed at the second point in time, after family planning services were introduced. These VCT clients were young and well-educated. Their average age was 22 years, and more than 74% were younger than 25 years. Over 60% of women had a secondary or higher education and more than 40% were still in school. Most women were single with no children; 64% of them had never married and 71% had no children. This is also a very urban population, with 86% living in urban areas.
The clients in this sample are quite different from the general Ethiopian population, but the most surprising client characteristic was the low level of sexual activity. More than 40% of these women had never had sex, and an additional 32% had not had sex during the last month. HIV prevalence was nearly 8%, which is considerably higher than in the general Ethiopian population, as expected among clients seeking HIV tests.
Not only were many clients sexually inactive, many of the sexually active clients were already using contraception. Among married and other sexually active women, 70% were using contraceptives. Of women in current sexual unions, 17% had unmet contraceptive need, meaning they did not want to have children soon but were having unprotected sex. This is about half of the unmet need that exists in the general Ethiopian population (34%).2
Despite the relatively low need for family planning services among study clients, there was an impressive increase in the provision of family planning information in VCT. Fig. 1 shows some of the family planning and HIV topics discussed before and after family planning services were introduced. Four times as many women received information on their contraceptive options after the intervention and, importantly, this improvement in family planning counselling had no negative impact on HIV counselling. Indeed, significant improvements were also found in this area.
While overall contraceptive uptake was low, there were significant improvements in family planning distribution for women, as almost none of the VCT clients received contraceptive methods, including condoms, at baseline. The largely sexually inactive client population and the percentage of sexually active clients who were already using contraceptives are likely explanations for the low number of clients accepting contraceptive methods.
In-depth analysis was conducted to better understand the kinds of clients who received contraceptive counselling and methods, revealing that clients with higher risk for HIV and unintended pregnancy were much more likely to obtain family planning services. The benefits of integrating family planning and VCT services may thus be more pronounced among higher risk populations.
One of the most unexpected findings from this study was the low level of sexual activity among VCT clients. Based on our survey and in-depth interviews with clients, it seems many low-risk clients seek HIV tests because of their beliefs about modes of HIV transmission. Clients know HIV is transmitted by sexual activity, but they think that it is equally probable that HIV can be transmitted via other unlikely, or even impossible, means.
The major limitation of the study is that its principal data sources are two cross-sectional surveys. Because clients are not followed up, we can say nothing about attitudinal and behaviour changes over time. Additionally, the study's client population and service sites may not be representative of other parts of Ethiopia. While such representation is not necessary for a proof-of-concept study, it does mean that it is difficult to extrapolate from the surprising findings of high contraceptive use among the sexually active clients and the very high percentage of non-sexually active clients.
In conclusion, most of the surveyed clients were at relatively low risk for HIV and unintended pregnancy, either because they were not having sex or were already using contraceptives. Importantly, however, the quality of both HIV and family planning counselling improved dramatically, indicating, at the very least, that service integration is possible in the Ethiopian context. Because our facilities were not sampled using probability methods, they may have performed better or been different in terms of client catchment populations than other VCT facilities; therefore, one should exercise caution in generalizing the findings.
The incremental cost of integrating family planning is modest in the country's present funding environment. In 2008, Ethiopia received over US$ 630 million for combating HIV/AIDS. More than half of this amount was from the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which is the major source of funds for the country's VCT programme.5 The cost for family planning training was US$ 325 per trainee. The only major recurring cost was the regular monitoring visits by Pathfinder, which had an annual cost of US$ 1562 per facility. To have a comparable level of monitoring for all of the country's VCT facilities, the annual cost would be US$ 1.5-2.0 million.
The most salient finding from this study, however, is that policy-makers and programme managers should know and understand the target client population before deciding whether service integration is likely to be efficacious or cost-effective. The reproductive health needs of the target population should be the single most important factor underlying decisions to scale up integrated services. This study suggests that an integrated VCT programme targeting populations at risk for HIV or unintended pregnancy may be an effective programmatic option (Box 1).
We thank Chandrakant Ruparelia.
Funding: This study was funded by The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and The Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health. The funders had no role in the design or conduct of the study.
Competing interests: None declared.
1. 2008 world population data sheet. Washington, DC: Population Reference Bureau; 2008. Available from: http://www.prb.org/pdf08/08WPDS_Eng.pdf [accessed on 12 October 2009] .
2. Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey 2005. Addis Ababa/Calverton, MD: Central Statistical Authority Ethiopia / ORC Macro; 2006.
3. Epidemiological fact sheet on HIV and AIDS: core data on epidemiology and response - 2008 update (Ethiopia). Geneva: Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS/United Nations Children's Fund/World Health Organization; 2008. Available from: http://www.who.int/globalatlas/predefinedReports/EFS2008/full/EFS2008_ET.pdf [accessed on 12 October 2009] .
4. FY2008 country profile: Ethiopia. Washington, DC: The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR); 2008. Available from: http://www.pepfar.gov/documents/organization/116219.pdf [accessed on 12 October 2009] .
5. Poate D, Balogun P, Attawell K. UNAIDS: second independent evaluation 2002-2008. Country visit to Ethiopia: summary report. Geneva: Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS; 2008. Available from: http://data.unaids.org/pub/BaseDocument/2009/20090502_sie_countrysummaryreport_ethiopia_en.pdf [accessed on 12 October 2009] .
(Submitted: 13 March 2009 - Revised version received: 4 September 2009 - Accepted: 12 October 2009)
* Correspondence to Duff Gillespie (e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com).


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Graham Coxon on Blur's future: 'There are no plans'
Guitarist says he's available for new projects
Britpop legends Blur formed in London in 1988, originally under the moniker of Seymour. The group are comprised of singer Damon Albarn, lead guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree.
Childhood friends Albarn and Coxon met James while studying at Goldsmiths University in London in 1988. Albarn, who was already a memebr of Circus along with Rowntree, asked Coxon and James to join and changed their name to Blur. They quickly gained attention from Food Records and signed a record deal in 1990.
Blur went on to become one of the key names in the Britpop movement of the 1990s and their rivalry with Oasis crossed over from the music press into the mainstream: a chart battle between the two bands in 1995, in which Blur's single 'Country House' went head-to-head with Oasis's 'Roll With It', garnered national news coverage and was dubbed 'The Battle Of Britpop'. Blur eventually came out on top although their subsequent album 'The Great Escape' had lower sales than Oasis's 'What's The Story (Morning Glory)?'.
The band's debut album, 'Lesiure' was released in 1991 and entered the UK Albums Chart at Number Seven, with Albarn's songwriting earning comparisons with The Kinks. Their follow-up 'Modern Life Is Rubbish', released the following year, was less commercially successful and led to the band briefly falling out of favour with the music press.
By 1994, however, their fortunes had been revived with the huge success of 'Parklife', due partly to the popularity of the title track and 'Girls And Boys'. Enjoying newfound fame due to their rivalry with Oasis, 1995's 'The Great Escape' became their second UK Number One Album and was described as "spectacularly accomplished" and "inspirational" by NME.
In the following years, reports of disagreements and tension between members of Blur began to grow – in particular, guitarist Graham Coxon was said to be increasingly disillusioned with his bandmates. 1997's 'Blur' saw them reject their Britpop influences for a more lo-fi, US rock-influenced sound, while 1999's '13' was produced by dance musician William Orbit and was widely considered to be their most experimental effort yet.
The band's last album, 'Think Tank', was released in 2003. Recording sessions were disrupted by arguments between Coxon and the rest of the band, and he left halfway through making the album. Upon release, 'Think Tank' was regarded as one of Blur's most interesting and challenging albums, influenced by electronica, jazz, dub, hip hop and African music, and also inspired lyrically by Albarn's opposition to the Iraq war. The LP became Blur's fifth consecutive UK Number One.
Although Blur have not released a studio album since 'Think Tank', Blur reformed for a reunion concert in 2009 at London's Hyde Park and headlined Glastonbury the same year. In July 2012, meanwhile, the band released two new singles, 'Under The Westway' and 'The Puritan', and also headlined a series of European gigs.
It was reported that Blur had begun work on a new studio album in 2012, but producer William Orbit subsequently revealed that Albarn had put an end to the recording sessions. Blur headlined the Olympic closing ceremony in Hyde Park in August 2012 and a live recording of the event, titled Parklive, was released the following week.


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The Full Story Behind Today's Police Standoff in Kennewick
When Jorge Garcia pointed a gun at the head of Chiloe Chevernell this morning she fled her Kennewick apartment in only her underwear. Garcia then took 24-year-old resident Gloria Calderon captive during a seven-hour standoff with the SWAT Team.
It is not clear how Garcia, 33, knew Chevernell or Calderon.
Police arrived at the apartment building near 1800 W. and 21st Avenue after 7 a.m. Friday morning. Garcia barricaded the doors and created a hostage situation with Calderon. He eventually allowed her to leave but would not come out himself.
The apartment complex residents were evacuated to Canyon View Elementary nearby.
Eventually gas was inserted through the windows but Garcia still refused to surrender.
Around 2:15 p.m. the SWAT Team entered the apartment and Garcia was taken into custody.
He was charged with two counts of Assault in the 1st Degree.


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Saturday, October 6, 2007
11 comments:
- S. B. said...
Way to go, Brenda. I'll look forward to your blogging.
Sara Bradley Mason
- October 6, 2007 at 3:47 PM
- Bonnie Woodall Carter said...
I love this,Brenda. I'll look forward to more.
Bonnie Woodall Carter
October 6, 2007 5:00PM
- October 6, 2007 at 5:09 PM
- Linda Lamb Monticelli said...
This is great, Brenda! Now I won't be so sad about not hearing from you in the WKJ. Blogging is also new to me, so we can just blog along together. :)
Linda Lamb Monticelli
- October 6, 2007 at 7:38 PM
- Frank Slaton said...
Glad to blog in on Charter Sat.
My areas of research are surnames ELDER, SIMPSON (Crittenden)and
HENRY, SLATON (Union);
hence my blog
- October 7, 2007 at 1:30 AM
- Fay Carol Crider said...
Brenda, I am glad to continue to hear from you and about your findings of history and genealogy of Western Kentucky! I, too, am new at this, so will be watching and 'piping in', as I have anything to say. Keep it up!
Fay Carol Crider
- October 8, 2007 at 9:18 AM
- dsulliii said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- October 8, 2007 at 2:06 PM
- David Sullivan said...
I WELCOME the opportunity to have a place that I can learn from you.
Although I've researched my family line somewhat, being in Colorado proves a great hindrance to discovery for me.
Thank you for being open to those of us who have benefited from your wonderful research.
- October 8, 2007 at 2:23 PM
- Brenda Joyce Jerome, CG said...
Thanks for the comments. They are greatly appreciated.
- October 8, 2007 at 4:12 PM
- Mary said...
Brenda, I found your blog while looking around on the GenWeb, and I think it's a great idea. You did some work for me a few years ago, and I'm so impressed with your skills. I look forward to reading your blog and learning from you.
- January 28, 2008 at 11:32 PM
- Brenda Joyce Jerome, CG said...
Aw, thank you! I appreciate your comments.
- January 29, 2008 at 8:19 AM
- Brenda Joyce Jerome, CG said...
Thank you for the correction.
- March 8, 2008 at 1:47 PM