text:
My second-grade teacher never liked me much, and one assignment I turned in annoyed her so extravagantly that the red pencil with which she scrawled "See me!" broke through the lined paper. Our class had been asked to write about a recent field trip, and, as was so often the case in those days, I had noticed the wrong things:
Well, we went to Boston, Massachusetts through the town of Warrenville, Connecticut on Route 44A. It was very pretty and there was a church that reminded me of pictures of Russia from our book that is published by Time-Life. We arrived in Boston at 9:17. At 11 we went on a big tour of Boston on Gray Line 43, made by the Superior Bus Company like School Bus Six, which goes down Hunting Lodge Road where Maria lives and then on to Separatist Road and then to South Eagleville before it comes to our school. We saw lots of good things like the Boston Massacre site. The tour ended at 1:05. Before I knew it we were going home. We went through Warrenville again but it was too dark to see much. A few days later it was Easter. We got a cuckoo clock.
It is an unconventional but hardly unobservant report. In truth, I didn't care one bit about Boston on that spring day in 1963. Instead, I wanted to learn about Warrenville, a village a few miles northeast of the town of Mansfield, Connecticut, where we were then living. I had memorized the map of Mansfield, and knew all the school-bus routes by heart—a litany I would sing out to anybody I could corner. But Warrenville was in the town of Ashford, for which I had no guide, and I remember the blissful sense of resolution I felt when I certified that Route 44A crossed Route 89 in the town center, for I had long hypothesized that they might meet there. Of such joys and pains was my childhood composed.
I received a grade of "Unsatisfactory" in Social Development from the Mansfield Public Schools that year. I did not work to the best of my ability, did not show neatness and care in assignments, did not coöperate with the group, and did not exercise self-control. About the only positive assessment was that I worked well independently. Of course: then as now, it was all that I could do.
In the years since the phrase became a cliché, I have received any number of compliments for my supposed ability to "think outside the box." Actually, it has been a struggle for me to perceive just what these "boxes" were—why they were there, why other people regarded them as important, where their borderlines might be, how to live safely within and without them. My efforts have been only partly successful: after fifty-two years, I am left with the melancholy sensation that my life has been spent in a perpetual state of parallel play, alongside, but distinctly apart from, the rest of humanity.
From early childhood, my memory was so acute and my wit so bleak that I was described as a genius—by my parents, by our neighbors, and even, on occasion, by the same teachers who gave me failing marks. I wrapped myself in this mantle, of course, as a poetic justification for behavior that might otherwise have been judged unhinged, and I did my best to believe in it. But the explanation made no sense. A genius at what? Were other "geniuses" so oblivious that they couldn't easily tell right from left and idly wet their pants into adolescence? What accounted for my rages and frustrations, for the imperious contempt I showed to people who were in a position to do me harm? Although I delighted in younger children, whom I could instruct and gently dominate, and I was thrilled when I ran across an adult willing to discuss my pet subjects, I could establish no connection with most of my classmates. My pervasive childhood memory is an excruciating awareness of my own strangeness.
Despite their roseate talk, my parents and my school put a good deal of effort into finding out precisely what was wrong with me. It was obvious that I was not "normal," especially by the straitened standards of the early nineteen-sixties. I have sometimes wondered whether the I.Q. scores with which I was credited were nudged upward by my father, who was both a professional educator with a keen interest in gifted children and the person who administered my most triumphant examinations. Whatever the case, while my younger brother and sister soared through school, academically and socially, I was consistently at or near the bottom of the class, and decidedly out of control—half asleep or aggressively assertive—much of the time.
And so, between the ages of seven and fifteen, I was given glucose-tolerance tests, anti-seizure medications, electroencephalograms, and an occasional Mogadon to shut me down at night. I suffered through a summer of Bible camp; exercise regimens were begun and abandoned; and the school even brought in a psychiatrist to grill me once a week. Somehow, every June, I was promoted to the next grade, having accomplished little to deserve it. Meanwhile, the more kindly homeroom teachers, knowing that I would be tormented on the playground, permitted me to spend recess periods indoors, where I memorized vast portions of the 1961 edition of the World Book Encyclopedia.
A brown carton in my basement contains most of the surviving documents of my childhood, and they present a pretty fair portrait of my pre-teen obsessions. There are meandering and implausible stories, none with happy endings; intricately detailed street maps of makebelieve cities on which I worked silently for hours; and countless crayon drawings of grinning girls with shoulder-length hair and U-shaped smiles, their stick figures fleshed out only by exaggerated biceps. Other children collected coins or baseball cards; I tore obituaries of Sophie Tucker and David O. Selznick from the Hartford Courant and pasted them sloppily into a scrapbook.
In my darker moods, I think that the rest of my life can be encapsulated in a single sentence: I grew up and grew into other preoccupations, some of which have served me well. I became a music critic and culture writer, first for the SoHo News, and then for the Times, Newsday, and the Washington Post. In the middle of all this, I became enamored of the American author Dawn Powell, whose life and works I absorbed in much the same manner I had the World Book, and I spent five years editing her novels, short stories, plays, diaries, and letters and writing her first biography. I look back on these projects with a certain mystified satisfaction; I'm glad they were done, but it is as though they had been accomplished by somebody else, for the particular furies and fevers that impelled them have long since evaporated.
In the fall of 2000, in the course of what had become a protracted effort to identify—and, if possible, alleviate—my lifelong unease, I was told that I had Asperger's syndrome. I had never heard of the condition, which had been recognized by the American Psychiatric Association only six years earlier. Nevertheless, the diagnosis was one of those rare clinical confirmations which are met mostly with relief. Here, finally, was an objective explanation for some of my strengths and weaknesses, the simultaneous capacity for unbroken work and all-encompassing recall, linked inextricably to a driven, uncomfortable personality. And I learned that there were others like me—people who yearned for steady routines, repeated patterns, and a few cherished subjects, the driftwood that keeps us afloat.
The syndrome was identified, in 1944, by Hans Asperger, a Viennese pediatrician, who wrote, "For success in science or art, a dash of autism is essential." Yet Oliver Sacks makes a clear distinction between full-fledged autism and Asperger's syndrome. In The New Yorker some years ago, Sacks wrote that "people with Asperger's syndrome can tell us of their experiences, their inner feelings and states, whereas those with classical autism cannot. With classical autism there is no 'window,' and we can only infer. With Asperger's syndrome there is self-consciousness and at least some power to introspect and report."
In his 1998 book "Asperger's Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Professionals," Tony Attwood observed, "The person with Asperger's syndrome has no distinguishing physical features but is primarily viewed by other people as different because of their unusual quality of social behavior and conversation skills. For example, a woman with Asperger's Syndrome described how as a child she saw people moving into the house up the street, ran up to one of the new kids and, instead of the conventional greeting and request of 'Hi, you want to play?,' proclaimed, 'Nine times nine is equal to 81.' "
David Mamet, in his recent book "Bambi vs. Godzilla," discerned redeeming qualities in the condition. Considering filmmakers past and present, he stated that "it is not impossible that Asperger's syndrome helped make the movies. The symptoms of this developmental disorder include early precocity, a great ability to maintain masses of information, a lack of ability to mix with groups in age-appropriate ways, ignorance of or indifference to social norms, high intelligence, and difficulty with transitions, married to a preternatural ability to concentrate on the minutia of the task at hand."
The Asperger's spectrum ranges from people barely more abstracted than a stereotypical "absent-minded professor" to the full-blown, albeit highly functioning, autistic. Symptoms of Asperger's have been attributed ex post facto to successful figures, but these are the fortunate ones—persons able to invent outlets for their ever-welling monomanias. Many are not so lucky, and some end up institutionalized or homeless. (In the late nineteen-seventies, I saw a ragged, haunted man who spent urgent hours dodging the New York transit police to trace the dates and lineage of the Hapsburg nobility on the walls of subway stations.) For some—record collectors with every catalogue number at hand, theatre buffs with first-night casts memorized, children who draw precise architectural blueprints of nineteenth-century silk mills—a cluster of facts can be both luminous and lyric, something around which to construct a life.
We are informally referred to as "Aspies," and if we are not very, very good at something we tend to do it very poorly. Little in life comes naturally—except for our random, inexplicable, and often uncontrollable gifts—and, even more than most children, we assemble our personalities unevenly, piece by piece, almost robotically, from models we admire. (I remember the deliberate decision to appropriate one teacher's mischievous grin and darting eyes, which I found so charming that I thought they might work for me, too.)
So preoccupied are we with our inner imperatives that the outer world may overwhelm and confuse. What anguished pity I used to feel for piñatas at birthday parties, those papier-mâché donkeys with their amiable smiles about to be shattered by little brutes with bats. On at least one occasion, I begged for a stay of execution and eventually had to be taken home, weeping, convinced that I had just witnessed the braining of a new and sympathetic acquaintance.
Caring for inanimate objects came easily. Learning to make genuine connections with people—much as I desperately wanted them—was a bewildering process. I felt like an alien, always about to be exposed. Or, to adapt another hoary but useful analogy, not only did I not see the forest for the trees; I was so intensely distracted that I missed the trees for the species of lichen on their bark.
My first and most powerful obsession was music—the same records played again and again while I watched them spin, astonished at their evocation of aural worlds that I not only instinctively understood even as a toddler but in which I actually felt comfortable. I was both terrified of and tantalized by death (which was absolutely real to me from earliest childhood), and by the way recordings restored Enrico Caruso and Nellie Melba to life for a few minutes, ghostly visitors who had returned to sing for me at 78 r.p.m., through a hiss of shellac and antiquity.
When I was ten, I became fascinated by silent films, the visual complement to my old records. I spent hours at the library of the University of Connecticut, a few minutes' walk from home, researching the lives of actors and actresses on microfilm, and recall the genuine sense of mourning that came over me when I saw Barbara La Marr's sad, youthful face on an obituary page from 1926. Not surprisingly, "Sunset Boulevard" was my favorite "talkie" (I actually called them that—in 1965!), and I'd regularly set the alarm and wake in the middle of the night to watch Chester Conklin or Louise Dresser take on minor roles in some B movie that the Worcester, Massachusetts, UHF station put on when nobody else was watching.
"I despise the Beatles and their ilk," this remarkably Blimpish young man proclaimed in a school paper shortly after the first Ed Sullivan show, when other boys my age were growing their hair long and learning to play the guitar. My favorite pop musician then was the Scottish comedian Harry Lauder, a star in vaudeville and music halls at the beginning of the last century, who told obscure jokes in brogue and sang through exaggerated hiccups in a state of pretend intoxication. The depth of my admiration for Lauder now baffles me as much as the steady diet of horehound drops I adopted as snack food, or my insistence, much of one autumn, that I wear a rabbit's foot in each buttonhole of my shirt, which I kept tightly fastened up to the neck. But nobody could have persuaded me to abandon these quirks, and any attempt to do so would have been taken as a physical threat and reduced me to hysteria.
A friend published a sweet autobiography entitled "Thank You, Everyone," in which she expressed gratitude to everybody who had influenced her, ranging from Woody Allen to my sister Betsy. If I were to create a similar book, I would call it "Sorry, Everyone," and apologize for my youthful cluelessness: To the girl in seventh grade with the protruding jawbone (it never occurred to me that she would not share my enthusiasm for her unusually simian features). To the boy who came over to my house in the middle of my Caruso phase and endured a precious weekend afternoon comparing recordings of "Celeste Aida." To the perplexed young women from early adolescence who might have become lovers had I understood that their sudden friendship and proximity had any sort of physical impetus. Instead, I chattered on about this and that, rarely making eye contact, and soon they vanished, in search of more game and grounded potential partners. Sorry, everyone. I didn't understand.
It was hard for me to be touched. I froze when I was hugged by anybody who was not a relative, and I made love like the Tin Man until I was well into adulthood. Like many children before and since, I recoiled when fundamental facts about the reproduction of the species were explained to me (there was, typically for the time and the place, no suggestion that new pleasures might be involved, and the physical act, examined through an anxious, pre-sexual eye, sounded bizarre). Shortly after this enlightenment, my parents threw a party, attended by their closest friends. I watched their athletic, fortyish bodies, properly clothed, in mortified amazement, and then took a recount of their children. Oh, my God, I thought. They did that three times!
Anything related to the human body seemed to me bad news. In the fourth grade, when my affliction was most intense, I would be herded out to play kickball during our physical-education classes. Teams were chosen, and I was embedded among the strongest kids, to provide some chance of even battle. In memory, it is forever bases loaded with two outs when my turn at the plate comes, and I am as well suited as a giraffe to meet the big red ball that rolls toward me with frightening speed.
Still, for a moment the same people who generally disdained or bullied me became my friends, cheering me on to hitherto unsuspected athletic glory: "You can do it, Tim!" If I could make the ball lose its gravity, as my best pal, Annie, did so effortlessly with those balletic whomps from her long legs, I might redeem myself. Our gym teacher, Miss B.—scowling, beefy, and, after four decades, the only person in the world I just might swerve to hit on a deserted road—had no such illusions and waited for the inevitable, with her festering contempt and ready whistle. Grinning stupidly, shirttail out and flapping, underwear pulled halfway up my back, I would lope toward the ball, which would eventually collide with my ankle or heel and then bounce off into the woods or into the waiting arms of the catcher. My chance was up, and I was a freak once more.
"So?" I wanted to scream. "There are things that I know; things that I can do. Can you name the duet from La Bohème that Antonio Scotti and Geraldine Farrar recorded in Camden, New Jersey, on October 6, 1909? What was the New York address of D. W. Griffith's first studio? How many books by David Graham Phillips have you read? Who was Adelaide Crapsey? I learned to play the entire Chopin Prelude in E Minor in a single night!" And then tears, of course, and the taunts redoubled.
The class work, hardly less humiliating, was at least more private. If I wasn't deeply interested in a subject, I couldn't concentrate on it at all—those dreadful algebra classes, those Bunsen burners, the mystifying and now deservedly extinct slide rule! Late in each semester, when it became obvious to me that I had no idea what I was supposed to have learned, I'd attend some makeup classes and try desperately to pay attention. As the teacher rattled on, I would grind my teeth, twirl the tops of my socks around my index finger—once I poked myself repeatedly through my pocket with a pin—anything to keep my mind engaged. But it was impossible: a leaf would fall outside the open window, or I'd notice the pattern of the veins on a girl's hand, or a shout from the playground would trigger a set of irresistible associations that carried me back to another day.
And then the dream was ruptured by the sound of a bell; the class was irrevocably over, and I knew no more about quadratic equations or beryllium than I did an hour before. Failure was now assured, and the countdown began to the Dies Irae, when my report card would land me in trouble again, for my father was incredulous that a boy who blithely recited the names and dates of the United States' Presidents and their wives couldn't manage to pass elementary math and science. I grew enormously fond of my father in later life, but he terrified me then. He lived until 2005, long enough to recognize, through my diagnosis, some of the problems that had vexed him throughout his own career and, better yet, to know and delight in my three children, to whom he showed a serene gentleness.
My grades, always disastrous, only worsened as I grew older and more was expected of me. Nevertheless, by the age of twelve I was able to storm through idiosyncratic renditions of most of the easier Chopin pieces and of the simpler passages in his larger works. That was also the year that I finished my first novel—fifty pages of it, filled with a narrative invention that I've never been able to recapture. The manuscript was lost long ago, but I do recall that I killed off my central character, a cat, by having him eat "badly prepared fish." I am still in possession of a school report on "Making a Living in the Amazon," which we had been required to work on for a week. My contribution read, in its entirety, "In the dense, rainy, rain forest, it is hard to make a living. One way is fishing in the river that is from a mile wide to a 100 miles wide. Brazil nut collecting is another way. You can gather manioc. You are very limited as to what to do for a living in the Amazon rain forest."
By way of comparison, here is the beginning of a twenty-five-hundred-word story that I wrote the same month, typing it on my father's gray oversized IBM electric in a single evening: >
Nobody knew why the rain had not stopped. The weather report had said four in ten for light showers in the early morning. But here it was: 5 o'clock. And it was pouring. There was nothing to stop Lady Lieg from leaving the library. She had all the equipment, a fold-up umbrella, galoshes, etcetera and so on. But there was this book on Alla Nazimova that just begged to be taken. How could she resist it?
How indeed? In no way am I making a case that I possessed any innate talent for fiction (although it took a certain prescience to hypothesize a biography of Nazimova some thirty years before Gavin Lambert's volume was published). But, amid the usual obfuscating data, there are flashes of verisimilitude and understanding, all of which was new to me. By then, I had discovered Maugham, and Hemingway, and Camus, and had begun to trace in literature some emotional pathways that would fulfill me infinitely more than the road map of a Connecticut town.
Oddly, the book that helped pull me into the human race was Emily Post's "Etiquette," which I had picked up in a moment of early-teen hippie scorn, fully intending to mock what I was sure would be an "uncool" justification of bourgeois rules and regulations. Instead, the book offered clearly stated reasons for courtesy, gentility, and scrupulousness—reasons that I could respect, understand, and implement. It suggested ways to inaugurate conversations without launching into a lecture, reminded me of the importance of listening as well as speaking, and convinced me that manners, properly understood, existed to make other people feel comfortable, rather than (as I had suspected) to demonstrate the practitioner's social superiority. I revelled in Post's guidance and absorbed her lessons. And, typically, I took them too far: even today, I would never dream of addressing a teen-age busboy in a small-town diner as anything other than "sir."
I found Emily Post among my mother's paperbacks, but most of the books I read came from the UConn library, where I was always made to feel at home, even in high rabbit's-foot regalia. Every room held treasures, but my favorite spot was the listening station at the Music Library, where, one blessed afternoon, I put on some bulbous headphones that made me look like Mickey Mouse and heard the prelude to "Das Rheingold" for the first time.
The word that year was "psychedelic," and I had no idea what it meant, although I had gleaned that "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," Peter Max posters, certain novels by Hermann Hesse, and the whole city of San Francisco were awash in this new and magical quality. And then Wagner's depiction of the River Rhine started to play and a flowering drone filled my head; time was suspended, and I was transformed.
Much has been made of Wagner's harmonic restlessness—of the way that a work such as "Tristan und Isolde" led inexorably to the so-called "atonality" of Arnold Schoenberg and his myriad disciples. But what astonished me in "Das Rheingold," although I couldn't have stated it then, was the opposite quality: the opera's unprecedented harmonic stasis, the manner in which it explored the churning inner life of sustained chords, from the three amazing minutes of E-Flat Major that set the score in motion through the affirmation of the Gods, Valhalla, and the eternal D-Flat Major at the end.
This was music that one could dwell in, a sort of sonic weather. I loved its resistance to change, its protracted unfolding, its mantric sense of perpetual return. A large part of my career has been devoted to writing about music, and I date my first more or less mature criticism to the world première of another composition that shared some of these same qualities, Steve Reich's "Music For 18 Musicians," which I heard in New York, at the Town Hall, in April of 1976.
I arrived back at my Third Avenue walkup, knowing that I'd never fall asleep, with an urgent need to react to the work. What I had heard struck me as so beautiful and unusual, so distinctly of its time but in such radical opposition to most "new music" of the seventies, that I wrote through the night, attempting to summarize my impressions. Five years later, I published a study of what by then had come to be known as minimalism, and it incorporated some of what I wrote that night: >
Minerva-like, the music springs to life fully formed—from dead silence to fever pitch. . . . Imagine concentrating on a challenging modern painting that becomes just a little different every time you shift your attention from one detail to another. Or trying to impose a frame on a running river—making it a finite, enclosed work of art yet leaving its kinetic quality unsullied, leaving it flowing freely on all sides. It has been done. Steve Reich has framed the river.
Today, I find myself wondering if I would have responded so profoundly to this starkly reiterative, rigidly patterned music had I not had Asperger's syndrome. This is not an aesthetic cop-out: I can make an intellectual case for minimalism, and I am hardly the only writer who has done so. But its initial appeal for me was purely visceral. As the Quakers might say, this music spoke to my condition. (I would later experience a similar, curiously mechanical limbic ecstasy upon a first encounter with "Last Year at Marienbad.")
It was never difficult for me to articulate my feelings about anything external. I've rarely run short of opinions, well founded or otherwise. But deeper emotions reduced me (and, to some extent, reduce me still) to aching silence, especially when I feared that I would be exposed, misunderstood, or ridiculed. I empathized with Rostand's Cyrano (a serious rival to Ferdinand the Bull in my private pantheon of literary heroes), who was too terrified to utter the crucial words to the woman he loved. I suffer little stage fright when it comes to public speaking or appearances on radio or television, but I continue to find unstructured participation in small social gatherings agonizing. It would be easier for me to improvise an epic poem at a sold-out Yankee Stadium than to approach an attractive stranger across the room and strike up a conversation.
Falling in love surprised me; I had never imagined sustained contentment, and certainly not in the company of another person. Yet here it was: even making the bed together in the morning, an act that had hitherto struck me as Sisyphean, took on meaning, as the prelude to another gloriously ordinary day, to be followed by tea, the newspapers, a couple hours of work, and then lunch in the neighborhood. While it lasted, everything was enhanced; I just wish this were the time and place to write that first happy ending.
The fact that my understanding of affection, comradeship, and human empathy has been hard-won rather than being wired in from the start does not make these feelings less genuine. I am still friends with most of the people I was friends with thirty years ago, and I worry about them daily (here I concur with Virgil Thomson, who once said that worry was one form of prayer that he found acceptable). My intimates, new and old, are permanent fixtures in my experience, and that some of them—too many—are no longer living has not diminished my devotion.
I've transcended Lauder and horehounds, and my passions range widely, if spottily, through any number of fields. Laughter, meditation, therapy, Valium, antidepressants, liberal helpings of wine and beer, loyal and patient friends, forgiving children, a congenial work situation that allows me to spend much of my time alone—all these have helped me to carry on. Overstimulation remains a positive horror, and I am most comfortable in dark or neutral clothing, under gray skies. I thrive on routines: I like to walk into the same restaurants, sit in the same seats, and order the same meals, and I took it personally when the PanAm Building started passing itself off as MetLife.
There is no cure for Asperger's syndrome, and there is even some question whether it should be considered an affliction or merely a "difference"—one of many human variants. The reporter Amy Harmon wrote in the Times that some autistics view themselves as part of "an ad hoc human rights movement," and view autism itself as "an integral part of their identities, much more like a skin than a shell, and not one they care to shed." A group called Aspies for Freedom runs a Web site that celebrates what it calls "neurodiversity," arguing that there are advantages as well as disadvantages in an autistic condition.
I apply Romain Rolland's practical credo—"pessimism of the intelligence; optimism of the will"—to my aspirations, but I cannot pretend that Asperger's has not made much of my existence miserable and isolated (how will I get to sleep tonight?). I hope that young Aspies, informed by recent literature on the subject, will find the world somewhat less challenging than I have.
By now, I am fairly used to myself, and my symptoms bloom publicly only on rare occasions. Waiting for the check after a Washington lunch in 2005, I realized that it was both the hundred and fortieth anniversary of Lincoln's assassination and exactly forty years since the murderers of the Clutter family ("In Cold Blood") were put to death in Kansas. I doubt that my companion was equally thrilled by this coincidence, especially when elaborated upon in such sudden, bursting detail in the middle of a lovely spring day, but at least I controlled the temptation to launch into a lengthy exculpation of Mrs. Surratt. I count that as progress. ♦


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The Da Zhen bus company, whose tour bus rolled off a Southern California freeway on Thursday, is on "Alert Status" with the federal government, the NBC4 Los Angeles I-Team found while reviewing the company's federal safety inspections.
Dozens Injured in Southern California Tour Bus Crash
"Alert Status" means the company has been flagged for its poor performance record and could be subject to more frequent surprise inspections, transportation experts tell the I-Team.
"It's a poor safety record," says Paul Hedlund, an engineer and lawyer who litigates transportation accidents. "It's not horrible, but it should be better."
The I-Team found that the Da Zhen bus company had three violations for "unsafe driving" during inspections this year, conducted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Two violations were for speeding, one was for following too close behind other cars.
"There's no excuse for a tour bus speeding like this," Hedlund said.
In the "Unsafe Driving" category, the feds gave Da Zhen a score of 56.3 percent, meaning that the company is worse than the majority of other tour bus operators. If a company scores over 50% in that category, the FMCSA puts them on "Alert Status."
In terms of the maintenance of its buses, the I-Team found that Da Zhen has had 28 inspections in the last two years, with 11 of those inspections resulting in 25 violations. In two cases in 2012, the company's buses were put out of service.
The company has passed all of its driver fitness inspections, including drug and alcohol tests. In one inspection in 2012, a driver was cited for "falsely reporting drivers record of duty status."
The I-Team found that before Thursday's crash, Da Zhen has had no history of crashes in the last two years.
The I-Team called Da Zhen for comment about it's safety record, but a woman named "Tiffany" who answered the phone said no one was around to speak.
More Southern California Stories:

subset: commoncrawl


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Minutes of the regular meeting of Tuesday, April 3, 2001 (As approved May 1, 2001).
The San Francisco Public Library Commission held its regular meeting on Tuesday, April 3, 2001 in the Koret Auditorium, Main Library.
The meeting was called to order at 4: 05PM by Vice President Steiman.
The following members were noted present: Vice President Steiman, and Commissioners Bautista, Chin, and Coulter.
The Secretary noted Commissioners Higueras, Streets, and Swig were excused attendance.
Vice President Steiman announced that Mayor Brown had accepted the Commission's nomination and appointed Susan Hildreth to be City Librarian.
Public comment on AGENDA ITEM #1 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF January 15, 2001 SPECIAL COMMISSION MEETING
An anonymous member of the public commented on a page 5 summary of the discussion of the City Librarian Search Committee Report concerning Mr. Hawkins comments on the importance of an open search process. The anonymous member of the public then discussed remarks attributed to President Higueras this person had transcribed from the recording of the meeting regarding the kind of search process used when Ms. Minudri was appointed City Librarian. The anonymous member of the public found these comments astounding given the evidence offered in a lawsuit concerning Ms. Minudri's hiring and suggested that these remarks should be included in the Minutes. Mr. Ed Regan reported that his comments had been generally reported accurately, but clarified that his page 4 mention of hiring graduates of City College to work in the Library specifically referred to graduates of its library technology program. Mr. Peter Warfield commented that page 3 remarks attributed to him should be clarified to note how and whether some of the proposed improvements were related to POE recommendations, and noted that he had asked that the projects be linked to specific funding sources. Mr. Warfield additionally suggested that on page 4 in remarks attributed to Mr. Hawkins that it be noted that he had said that public input would rather than could be included as part of the search process. Further, Mr. Warfield requested that remarks attributed to him on page 6 concerning the Branch Reorganization Plan be clarified to read that there was no library prepared justification for the increase in the number of staff to be supervised under the plan.
Commission comment on AGENDA ITEM #1 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF January 15, 2001 SPECIAL COMMISSION MEETING
Vice President Steiman pointed out that President Higueras' comments regarding the process involved in appointment of Ms. Minudri as City Librarian specifically referred to the fact that no search firm was used in that process. Commissioner Coulter observed that anonymous member of the public had spoken against using a search firm in conducting the City Librarian Search process this time.
MOTION: by Commissioner Chin, seconded by Commissioner Bautista for approval of the Minutes.
ACTION: AYE 4-0 (Bautista, Chin, Coulter, and Steiman)
Public comment on AGENDA ITEM #2 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 6, 2001 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING
An anonymous member of the public requested that in the report of the discussion of the Supplemental Appropriation that the issues involved in a request by Supervisor Yee for a City Attorney's Opinion concerning the proper use of Prop. E (Library Preservation Fund) be clarified. The anonymous member of the public further requested that remarks attributed to Ms. Hildreth during a New Business discussion concerning an annual report be included in the Minutes. This individual also observed that the point of this individual's discussion of government by aristocracy was that it was the same thing as government by the "good" as related to remarks attributed to Commissioner Coulter. Mr. Ed Regan suggested regarding the page 12 report on the Branch Library Bond program that a special committee of the Library Commission be created to determine exactly what is wanted in the physical aspects of the proposed new branch libraries such as total square footage and types of uses for various rooms.
Commission comment on AGENDA ITEM #2 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF February 6, 2001 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING
Vice President Steiman requested that the Secretary review the meeting tape concerning Mr. Regan's reported remarks.
MOTION: by Commissioner Bautista, seconded by Commissioner Chin for approval of the Minutes of February 6, 2001.
ACTION: AYE 4-0 (Bautista, Chin, Coulter, and Steiman)
Public comment on AGENDA ITEM #3 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 15, 2001 SPECIAL COMMISSION MEETING
An anonymous member of the public noted that this individual had not reviewed the Minutes, but again called the Commission's attention to the incompleteness of the audio tapes of the meetings. Mr. Ed Regan found that his comments were accurately reported in these Minutes.
MOTION: by Commissioner Chin, seconded by Commissioner Bautista for approval of the Minutes of February 6, 2001.
ACTION: AYE 4-0 (Bautista, Chin, Coulter, and Steiman)
Vice President Steiman called up Agenda item #8 New Business out of Order.
Commissioner Chin requested that the Commission receive a report on the Library's proposed Summer Reading Programs for children and youth as many traditional Summer Schools would not be operating this Summer. Commissioner Coulter requested an update on the status of the Library Commission Policy handbook. Commissioner Bautista noted the improved appearance of several branch libraries and requested an update on the work of the Library's anti-graffiti task force.
Public comment on AGENDA ITEM #8 NEW BUSINESS
None offered.
The City Librarian informed the Commissioners that the Board of Supervisors had approved the Library's Fine and Fee Schedule except for the section creating a materials recovery program and the $10 fee that would have funded it. Ms. Hildreth also informed the Commissioners of Supervisor Yee's legislation authorizing a library fine amnesty period that was currently being considered by the Board of Supervisors. She noted that the Board of Supervisors could adopt this legislation by April 16th. Ms. Hildreth commented that if approved, the Library Commission would be asked to hold a hearing and authorize a fine amnesty period prior to July 1, 2001. The City Librarian next reported to the Commissioners concerning the "Check It Out" Campaign, a public relations effort to support libraries statewide, discussions of the recently released census data, updates on the availability of ebooks, the latest information on the Library of California, library staff recruitment information, an update on the state library bond program, and the new Libris library building design software program developed by the State Library presented at the annual Public Library Directors Forum held in Santa Barbara.
Ms. Hildreth then reported on the progress of the POE (Post Occupancy Evaluation) related supplemental appropriations request reporting that it had been approved by CIAC (Capital Improvements Advisory Committee) and that it had been introduced at the Board of Supervisors for discussion by the Board's Finance Committee before the end of April. The City Librarian informed the Commissioners concerning legislation in support of the ALA (American Library Association) lawsuit and a resolution limiting internet filtering of City owned computers introduced by Supervisor Mark Leno seeking to block enforcement of the recently enacted CIPA (Children's Internet Protection Act). Ms. Hildreth suggested that it was likely that the federal courts would place an injunction against enforcement of the law pending resolution of the many legal issues involved.
Ms. Hildreth next discussed the branch library site selection community meetings, calling attention to meetings for the Visitacion Valley Branch on March 19 and the Ingleside Branch on March 28. The City Librarian reminded the Commissioners that additional branch library site selection community meetings would be held for the Portola Branch on April 5 and for the Glen Park Branch on April 10, 2001. She noted that there had been excellent feedback from meeting participants and that many potentially good sites had been highlighted.
Noting that these issues had come to her attention after the meeting agenda was posted, Ms. Hildreth then brought the Commissioners up to date on the what the Library had been doing to persuade Muni to reconsider the elimination of a widely used #19 Polk Street Line bus stop near the Larkin Street entrance of the Main Library. Finally, the City Librarian informed the Commissioners concerning a serious book mutilation problem that had been occurring in the Main Library and at the Chinatown branch. Ms. Hildreth noted that the problem had been discussed at a March 30th General Staff Meeting to raise staff awareness and vigilance to bring the problem to an end. She noted that Library Security had involved the police department, that the damage was mainly targeted on gay and lesbian related materials, and was extensive. She discussed steps that staff were taking to catch the vandal and stop the problem.
Public comment on Agenda Item #43 CITY LIBRARIAN'S REPORT:
An anonymous member of the public complimented the City Librarian on her success with the Fine and Fee Schedule without the materials recovery program. The anonymous member of the public expressed disappointment that supporters of the library had contrary to Board of Supervisor's rules applauded those supporting the unsuccessful materials recovery portion of this proposal. This individual then commented on how support for or opposition to Library activities had been ascribed differently depending on who was doing them. Mr. Ed Regan called for the abolition of library fines. Mr. Regan suggested that the Library Security Department produce a report to the public on all materials lost through being overdue, because of theft, or those items that were weeded. Mr. Peter Warfield agreed with the previous speakers and observed that his reading of library literature convinced him that libraries with a no fines policy actually recovered more materials than libraries that charged fines. Mr. Warfield expressed happiness that the Supervisors had cut out the $10 fee and collection agency part of the Fine and Fee Schedule and that a fine amnesty was going forward. Mr. Warfield expressed the wish that the Commission had discussed the Fine and Fee matter more extensively and noted that he found the proposed use of the collection agency counter productive and harsh.
Commission comment on Agenda Item #4 CITY LIBRARIAN'S REPORT
Vice President Steiman requested that the Library keep detailed records of the rate of success of the new three overdue notices policy and assign clerical staff to make follow up phone calls to increase the recovery rate. She also was informed by the City Librarian in response to questions regarding students' use of ebooks that there would be a report to the Commission in the coming months on ebooks.
Roberto Esteves, Library Chief of Information and Resource Management gave the Commission a detailed overview of the extensive collection assessment program that the staff was undertaking. Mr. Esteves noted that the Library's collections were its 2nd most vital resource after the staff. He discussed in detail a proposed 10 year collection development plan which would be significantly based on a new look at the demographics of San Francisco Public library users. Mr. Esteves noted that this process would include an extensive examination of what was in the Library's collections and where the Library might want to go in the next few years. Mr. Esteves reported that this plan would replace the Library's 1994 Collection Development Plan, its first and only such effort.
Mr. Esteves described the ongoing first phase of this effort as a conspectus survey of the most of the Library's collections. This was described as a bibliographic survey by title, subject, and publication date. He pointed out that everything would be examined in the adult and children's collections, the reference/non-circulating collections, and in DRA Innovative Interface periodicals and books. Mr. Esteves noted that music books but not music scores would be surveyed and that AV materials would also not be covered in this initial phase review.
Mr. Esteves commented that the second phase of the collection assessment process would involve examining the collections from the patron's point of view. Mr. Esteves discussed how teams of three librarians would go to 32 specifically identified locations an examine what was actually on the shelves. He pointed out the materials in Brooks Hall would be included in this process. It was his expectation that this estimated six month long process would answer questions such as: how easy materials are to find; what materials are available on the shelves; and what is the age of the materials on a subject on the shelf.
The Chief of Information and Resource Management then outlined the third phase of the program as involving an in depth analysis of who library patrons were and what collections they were using. Mr. Esteves commented that questions such as: what items are on the shelf and what items are circulating, what materials patrons wanted and which they did not use; and what materials did patron want and could not find at their libraries. Mr. Esteves described the fourth phase of the process as a complete rewrite of the collection development plan. He proposed that this redrafting set plans for the next five years and that addressing weaknesses identified in the collection be a significant factor in Commission budget recommendations. The City Librarian noted that this was a very ambitious plan that was planned to be done with existing staffing. Mr. Esteves noted that other Bay Area libraries in the BALIS (Bay Area Library and Information System) would be conducting similar surveys that would facilitate both a better appreciation of the relative strengths and weaknesses of our collections, and also provide information on the strengths and weaknesses of neighboring libraries. He suggested that this information together with the development of the Golden Gateway Library network could facilitate a regional ability to focus development of collections among various kinds of libraries, maximizing the availability of materials, and allowing libraries to focus on delivering what patrons wanted.
Mr. Esteves then described aspects of the conspectus survey in detail and discussed the various ways that the data it gathered could be displayed for analysis, citing for example how materials in the collection related to the subject of Chemistry could be subdivided and analyzed by age in the collection and numbers of titles by subject by publication date. He explained further why music scores, uncatalogued materials, and AV materials would not be included in the first phase of the survey. He noted that the lack of the availability of the bibliographic analysis of the collection was a major deficiency of the 1994 Collection Development Plan.
Public comment on AGENDA ITEM #5 COLLECTION ASSESSMENT UPDATE
An anonymous member of the public observed that collection development was an area of extreme importance to the public, observed that to most members of the public the collection was of primary importance and the staff were there because of the collections, commented on the equal importance of items which circulate frequently and those which circulate less often. The anonymous member of the public noted that it was the library's role to preserve culture and that there were values more important than circulation. This individual suggested that decisions to cease buying some subjects would lobotomize the collection and that past collecting should be sustained by adding to current collections. Mr. Peter Warfield found this a worthy effort but expressed concern with use of demographic analysis to justify changing the library's collections. Mr. Warfield asked what was the ultimate objective or purpose behind such a change.
Commission comment on AGENDA ITEM #5 COLLECTION ASSESSMENT UPDATE
In response to questions by Commissioner Bautista, the City Librarian noted that this process was a good tool to evaluate what the library has in its collections, identifying what is being used, and could be of major help in creating a clear analytical evaluation and good statistics showing the strengths and weaknesses of the Library's collections. Ms. Hildreth noted that this was an appropriate time for the Library to review its collections and the data gathered from this review could then form a basis to guide policy decisions on what the Library collects. Mr. Esteves suggested that this could be a two year process. Ms. Hildreth commented that the project was funded within the existing budget, that the conspectus process was already paid for, and that doing such an analysis was a normal part of staff librarians regular responsibilities. Ms. Hildreth also pointed out that this information could identify who the Library is serving and what new materials are wanted. In response to Commission questions, Ms. Hildreth then discussed how this process would impact the smaller branch library collections, noting that as a matter of necessity branch librarians had to be much more aggressive in keeping their collections current because of there size. She noted that data would be available on the branch collections as part of the survey.
In response to questions by Commissioner Chin, Mr. Esteves explained how the survey used the existing Dewey numbering system to sort materials by subject and to then further categorize the materials by publication date. Mr. Esteves further explained how the Library proposed to respond to emerging subject areas, noting that it is an ongoing balancing effort to make sure that the collections meet the needs of patrons within the limits of the budget available. In answer to a question by Commissioner Coulter, Mr. Esteves described how the Library proposed to survey both its users and also non-users by use of an Internet survey. Responding to a query by Vice President Steiman, Mr. Esteves explained that there had been no collection development plan prior to the adoption of the 1994 plan. He also reported that that process, based in part on a review of demographic information, was a result of the need to update the Library's collections in anticipation of the opening of the new Main Library. There then followed a discussion of several possible changes that could result from the information gathered. Commission Chin emphasized that the Library pay careful attention to the newly identified demographic changes in order to better serve the public. Vice President Steiman commented on the importance of preserving the Library's historical collections. Commission Chin observed that building future collections was vitally important as well. Vice President Steiman observed that at least after this process the Library would have the facts on which to base its collection development decisions. The City Librarian pointed out that this was a very large effort that would be done entirely with existing staffing. In response to a question by Commissioner Bautista, Ms. Hildreth reported that virtually the entire staff would be involved in the team effort. Vice President Steiman urged that a particular effort be made to identify and fill in materials not currently in the Library's collections. Mr. Esteves noted that this approach would take a more global view when considering additions to the collections resulting from this review process.
Agenda Item #6 FRIENDS AND FOUNDATION REPORT
Mr. Chuck Forester, Executive Director of the Friends and Foundation reported on the success of the Annual Library Laureates Dinner held on April 2, 2001. Mr. Forester expressed thanks and appreciation for the exemplary support which library staff gave in making the annual fundraising event such a big success. Mr. Forester next reported that the Friends and Foundation were making a commitment to contribute$300,000 this year in support of library programs. He also noted receipt of a $10,000 grant to support the work of the Hormel Center. Mr. Forester then discussed aspects of the planning for the Friends and Foundation Capital Campaign to be conducted in conjunction with the Prop. A Branch Library Construction and Improvement Bond (2000) program.
Public comment on comment on Agenda Item #6 FRIENDS AND FOUNDATION REPORT
An anonymous member of the public observed that the Library Laureates Dinner was a good event, but expressed the hope that no library staff had worked on the dinner while on Library time. The anonymous member of the public commented that at $300 per ticket this was an exclusive event and that it would be nice if the Library held an inclusive event as well. Mr. Chuck Forester noted that the majority of Friends and Foundation fundraising was grassroots based, pointing out the annual and very popular book sale.
Commission comment on Agenda Item #6 FRIENDS AND FOUNDATION REPORT
Commissioner Bautista noted the importance of having big-ticket events that support and honor local writers and poets and the importance of building and maintaining a consistent fundraising base.
Agenda Item #7 LIBRARY LABOR UNION REPORT
None offered
Agenda item #8 NEW BUSINESS
- taken earlier in the agenda
Agenda item #9 PUBLIC COMMENT
An anonymous member of the public commented that new Commissioners might question the confrontational nature of comment offered to the Commission. This anonymous member of the public suggested that it was the result of people operating behind barriers and that those barriers become self-fulfilling ways of retaining power. Mr. Ed Regan requested that the Library adopt public service hours from 6AM to Midnight seven days per week, 365 days per year.
Agenda Item #10 ADJOURNMENT
MOTION: by Commissioner Bautista, seconded by Commissioner Coulter that the meeting be adjourned.
ACTION: AYE 4-0 (Bautista, Chin, Coulter, and Steiman)
The meeting was adjourned at 5:40PM.
Michael Housh, Commission Secretary 5/4/01
The number of members of the public who spoke anonymously at this meeting 1.
Please note: Copies of Commission Minutes and handouts are available in the Office of the Commission Secretary, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102.


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Liberty News
Facility upgrades raise Club Sports program to elite status
|The Liberty Lacrosse Complex, with three fields and a fieldhouse, opened last spring on East Campus.
Campus facility upgrades have transformed Liberty University in dramatic ways over the past decade, and many ongoing projects continue to lay the foundation for the future growth and functionality of the world's largest Christian university.
Over the past five years, Liberty's Senior Director of Campus Recreation Kirk Handy, who also serves as the Flames' ACHA Division I men's hockey coach, has overseen a major overhaul of the school's Club Sports facilities, paralleling the modernization and expansion of its NCAA programs.
"It is exciting and we definitely are blessed," said Handy. "When I got into Club Sports in 2008, Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. wanted a big push on it. It's been really cool to see where it started in 2008 and where we've progressed to today."
Liberty's Club Sports program now features 31 teams, ranging from men's and women's hockey to gymnastics, crew, paintball, wrestling and more.
Winter sports have taken off since the opening of the LaHaye Ice Center in 2006 — home to the men's (Division I, II, and III) and women's (Division I and II) ice hockey teams and the women's figure skating and synchronized skating teams — and Liberty Mountain Snowflex Centre, which opened in the summer of 2009 and serves as the training base for the men's and women's ski and snowboarding teams.
Spring and summer sports have gotten a huge boost with the gift of Ivy Lake and construction of a boathouse for the men's and women's crew teams in 2009, the opening of the Liberty Lacrosse Complex in the fall of 2011, and the addition of four new beach volleyball courts beyond the new intramural fields at the base of Liberty Mountain, this winter.
Liberty men's lacrosse coach Kyle McQuillan remembers when he had to be creative in scheduling his team's practices and game locations before the complex was constructed.
"Field space was a high commodity from the very beginning," he said. "The first year we were a program, we kind of bounced around wherever we could get access. We played a couple games in the soccer stadium and practiced near Champion Circle for a while."
|Team rooms are available for the field hockey and men's and women's lacrosse programs in the new fieldhouse at the Liberty Lacrosse Complex on East Campus. The complex also features coaches offices and a concession area.
McQuillan compares the Lacrosse Complex setup favorably to many NCAA facilities and to many schools in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association, the conference in which the Flames compete.
"It's the top facility in the MCLA bar none," he said. "It's a tremendous blessing. It's been nice to have a place to call home, for sure."
The site features synthetic grass fields for the men's and women's lacrosse teams as well as a harder turf field for the women's field hockey team. A field house with team locker rooms, coaches offices, athletic training facilities, a game-day operation training room, and a concession area was completed last March.
The complex is a huge draw for generating recruiting interest for the club program.
"Our kids are blown away by it for recruiting possibilities," McQuillan said. "It shows how serious Liberty's taking lacrosse, being so young. It provides a foundation for us to build on."
He said the artificial surface is ideal in that it drains well and doesn't get muddy with rain and requires little maintenance. The field house gives the team a home base out of which to operate.
"It is a constant, reliable place to practice, and to house our gear and our guys," McQuillan said. "It's really immeasurable how much that improves our program and will continue to do for us in the growth of our program."
The complex has gradually become more fan-friendly, with plenty of room to grow.
"Initially, it started out with no seating and now we've got probably 1,500 seats (between the three fields)," McQuillan said. "Our hope is to maximize that and to overflow that. There is an ample amount of space to add seating."
|Four new beach volleyball courts are located beside The Patch, bringing the total number of courts to eight on East Campus.
Beach volleyball is one of the more popular recreational sports on Liberty's campus, rivaling indoor volleyball and basketball.
"It's next to impossible in the spring, summer, and fall to get on any volleyball courts on campus, there's so many students that use them," said Drew Sherwood, Flames men's and women's beach volleyball head coach. "It is the most popular recurring event from week to week."
With the beach volleyball club teams starting up this year, Sherwood needed a place for his players to practice and train. The four new lighted courts, located adjacent to four new flag football/ultimate frisbee turf fields and one grass softball field near Candlers Mountain Road, complement the four sand courts already in place next to the new Lacrosse Complex on East Campus.
Sherwood, who also oversees Snowflex, is impressed with the quality of both sets of courts.
"The school (including Lee Beaumont, vice president of Auxiliary Services, and Shane Pinder, head coach of the NCAA Division I women's volleyball team) did an above-and-beyond job building and designing those," he said. "They put together a phenomenal court system that we have and just carried that over for four more courts."
|Members of the first-year beach volleyball team go through a workout on The Patch, leaping over obstacles made of logs built into the sand.
An interesting new feature beside the new beach courts is The Patch, a sand-based agility course with logs set up as obstacles. It is already being put to good use by many of Liberty's NCAA programs, including football, in workouts directed by head strength and conditioning coordinator Bill Gillespie. Club Sports teams, including the men's and women's hockey, wrestling, and beach volleyball squads, also have held training sessions on The Patch.
"Sand is just a good stability workout, for strengthening, doing rehab on your joints and your knees," Sherwood said. "A lot of the hockey guys like to go over and play on it."
There is also a new indoor training facility open to all Club Sports athletes located in the former Liberty Christian Academy football fieldhouse, across from the lower parking lot at the LaHaye Ice Center. It was renovated over Christmas break and is awaiting the arrival of equipment before athletes can start using the training rooms.
Handy said the program has outgrown its training facility in the LaHaye Ice Center.
|The former LCA football fieldhouse was remodeled into a new training center specifically geared toward Club Sports athletes.
"We built it when we had 150 student athletes," he said. "Now with 500 student athletes, we've grown out of it, so we're getting this whole brand new building and we're going to move all the teams out there, except for hockey."
Currently, the wrestling team practices in the Wiseman Wrestling Room, located at the south end of Williams Stadium, and uses the new Schilling Center for its home matches, including this Saturday's Mid-Atlantic Conference tournament.
Plans are also being made to add an on-campus gymnastics arena in the new Schilling Center, scheduled to open in 2015, which would replace the current setup in The Plaza shopping center in midtown Lynchburg.
"It's part of this new plan we've got going for the LaHaye Student Union," Handy said. "Once we get that all wrapped up, that'll be another thing that is really going to catapult that team."
The facility will be designed to accommodate all of the equipment needed for practicing and hosting gymnastics competitions.
Handy said the men's volleyball team will also benefit from a planned expansion to the LaHaye Student Union.
Additional projects to enhance sports and recreation offerings for Liberty's student athletes are in the planning stages, particularly around the new Schilling Center and the LaHaye Student Union.


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Puerto Vallarta pairs the architecture of colonial Mexico with the flair of its modern, beach resort city persona. Located in the gorgeous Bay of Banderas, Puerto Vallarta is both a tropical and cultural epicenter. Luxury cruises make it a frequent stop along their vacation routes, for the sandy beaches seem quite endless. Art lovers will find a paradise in Puerto Vallarta as well, for the city holds its own with numerous neighborhoods and districts dedicated to creative expression.
Mexican peso (MXN) 1 = 100 Centavos
060 or 066
Vallarta Today
El Faro
La Jornada
Shops are generally open from 9am-5pm on weekdays and Saturdays. In tourist areas shops and larger malls usually stay open until 8pm. On Sundays shops are open at their own discretion. Banks are open from 9am-3/4pm. In the city some banks stay open a few hours on Saturdays as well.
Tourist Information Office
Independencia 123, Puerto Vallarta
Jalisco, México
+322 222 09 23
Puerto Vallarta was for a long time inhabited by indigenous groups until the Spaniards came in 1524. But what caused the city to really "boom" in 1964 was the movie "Night of the Iguana," starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Puerto Vallarta, being the setting for this film, consequently appealed to the rich and famous. Tourism started blossoming in the 1970's when the city put a lot of effort into tourist infrastructure. Ever since, the once quiet town only belonged to the past.
Having so much to offer, it is not strange that people flock to Puerto Vallarta. The charming city has something for everyone; lovers, friends, family, and backpackers. Here you can really enjoy yourself and relax in a hub of culture, food, beaches, and nature.
Puerto Vallarta is just as great for a relaxing holiday as an adventurous one. The Bay of Banderas has a 60 kilometer long coastline filled with secluded beaches, great for water sports, swimming with dolphins and lazy days on the beach. If you turn your head towards land you are facing the majestic Sierra Madre Mountains, a fantastic area for zip line tours and other daring sports. Wandering the cobbled streets of Puerto Vallarta you will be absorbed by art, food, drinks and friendly people. The diversity of things to do and see in Puerto Vallarta will keep you busy for a long, long time.
Puerto Vallarta Boardwalk - Malecon
Bay of Banderas
Aquaventuras Park
Zona Romantica (Old Town)
Las Caletas
Teatro Vallarta
Sailfish & Marlin International Tournament
Plaza Principal
Old Town Vallarta
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church
Sierra Madre Adventure
Las Marietas Islands
Outdoor Adventures
Los Muertos Pier
El Faro Lighthouse
Being known as a fine dining destination, Puerto Vallarta and its many restaurants will bring you a lot of tasty dishes to the table. Here you will find a great variety of food and prices vary just as much. Choose between the "catch of the day", genuine Mexican food or snacks from one of the many food stands on the streets. Small places, called fondas and cenadurías, serve great Mexican food. Whether you are looking for something small, a meal on the beach or a romantic dinner while overlooking the ocean, Puerto Vallarta has everything to satisfy your taste buds each day.
Archies Wok
Bravos Restaurant Bar
Layla´s Restaurant
Cafe Des Artistes
Pancho's Takos
La Palapa
Bistro Teresa
Barcelona Tapas Bar
Boccon di Vino
El Dorado
Café de Olla
Daiquiri Dicks
It is easy to find a good cup of coffee, like cappuccino, in Puerto Vallarta and the majority of cafés can be found in the Old Town. Mexico is known for producing high-quality coffee beans and the Mexicans themselves drink about half of it. When in Puerto Vallarta you should try a unique, popular type of coffee called "café de olla," sweetened coffee with cinnamon and cloves.
Dee's Coffee Company
A Page In The Sun
Coffee Cup-Marina
Restaurant River Café
Puerto Vallarta is a city that never sleeps. Here you will find low-key hangouts, ritzy clubs, and sports bars. The so-called restaurant-lounges are very popular here, combining dining and dancing. Mandala is the most famous restaurant-lounge and a real hot spot in Puerto Vallarta. Most of the dancing, drinking, and bustling club scene can be found downtown and along the Malecon. You will not be bored in Puerto Vallarta.
Murphy's Irish Pub
Bar Morelos
Bar La Playa
Twisted Palms Rooftop Lounge
La Palapa Bar
Shopping in Puerto Vallarta is fun. The city is mostly famous for its art and silver jeweler, a real joy for everyone interested in handicrafts. The area around Old Town Vallarta, downtown and the Malecon is where to do most of your shopping.
Paradise Plaza Shopping Center
Lucy's CuCu Cabaña
Peyote People
Mundo de Cristal
Olas Altas Farmers Market
El Gato Gordo
Plaza Caracol
Plaza Neptuno
Galerías Vallarta
Cassandra Shaw Jewelry
María de Guadalajara
Gallería Dante
Puerto Vallarta Airport
Puerto Vallarta is a very popular tourist destination and the busy airport handles numerous tourists and passengers every year. The airport is located approximately 13 kilometers from the city and offers restaurants, shops and other necessary facilities.
To get to Puerto Vallarta from the airport you can order a pre-arranged transfer, go in a taxi, bus or rent a car. Several car rental companies are available at the airport including Hertz and Avis. It is recommended to book a car in advance. Beware that traffic in the Mexican cities can be very hectic, but renting a car could be a good alternative for exploring the surrounding areas. At the airport there are shuttles and transfers to some of the other popular destinations like Cancún, Cabo San Lucas, and Playa del Carmen.
Address: Puerto Vallarta International Airport PVR
Website: puertovallartaairport.com
More Information:
Time Zone
Puerto Vallarta is located in the Central Time zone and all times are reflected in Central time.
More Information:
Public Transport
The easiest way to get around Puerto Vallarta is either to walk (short distances) or to catch the local bus or a minivan. Buses in Puerto Vallarta are cheap, easy to use and generally operate along the coastline. Look for the blue and white buses. Each bus fare is one-time use only and make sure you have the correct change ready for the driver. You will see where the bus is headed in the front window. If you are going back to your hotel, look for a bus with a list of hotels in the front window. If you are unsure where the bus is going, just ask the driver.
More Information:
The taxis in Puerto Vallarta are yellow and easy to use. You can either hail them just about anywhere or find them at one of the many taxi stands. Usually they don't have a lot of cash so you should have small coins as well.
More Information:
Mexico's postal service is called Correos de Mexico and the post office buildings are usually pink and white.
There are several mailboxes located throughout the city of Puerto Vallarta where you can mail your postcard.
Main Post Office is located:
Address: Colombia 1014, Puerto Vallarta
Website: www.gob.mx/correosdemexico
More Information:
There are numerous pharmacies around Puerto Vallarta. You can also find pharmacies in new supermarkets.
Farmacia Puerto Vallarta:
Address: Manuel M. Dieguez 159-A, Puerto Vallarta
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Phone: +52 322 223 9319
Website: www.farmaciapvr.com
More Information:
Country code: +52
Area code: 322
More Information:
110V, 60 Hz
More Information:


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Practical tips and help for leaders of Living the Good News at every age-level. Our popular booklets with information about faith development and age-level characteristics also include the latest research into multiple intelligences plus ideas for using the arts to bring deeper meaning to scripture exploration! Our interactive guide to the curriculum includes ready to use training materials, reproducible handouts, inspiration quotes, and much more.
Read More


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I posted this on my birth board, but things are often slow over there.
My DD (dear daughter) will be two next month. She currently weighs 29 lbs and is 33 inches tall. She wears a size 7 shoe and wears 18 months and some 24 months. 2T is still fairly large/long on her.
I ask this because she was born big and has always been in the 90th percentile for size for her age. Now it seems as though she is between 75-90% for weight and only like 50% for height.
I have seen numerous people on my birth board post saying their kids are anywhere from 36-40 inches tall already. I am honestly not saying anyone would make that up, I mean why would they? I just have a really hard time believing a child that young could already be that tall. I'm sure their are some instances of it, but it seems it's the majority now. I am average height (5'5 or 65 inches) so I'm not really short or anything and 36 inches comes up to the top of my hips. I just can't imagine a 2 year old being that tall in comparison. Everyone who meets my DD (dear daughter) thinks she is way past two because of her size and she is either the same size or bigger than all the other kids I know born in Sept 07. Is there just something in the water here and all the kids here are short and I'm crazy for thinking 36 inches plus is a little on the high end??


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Apple's market value hits $600bn
Technology giant Apple has surpassed $600bn (£379bn) in value for the first time, affirming its position as the world's most valuable firm.
Apple shares reached a high of $644 on Tuesday, having only just crossed the $500 threshold back in February.
Apple's stock is up almost 60% since the start of the year.
It is another milestone for the iPhone maker, whose shares were worth as little as $3.19 in 1997 when it faced the possibility of bankruptcy.
Rival Microsoft is worth $260bn and in 1999, at the peak of the dotcom boom, reached $619bn in market capitalisation.
There has been some talk that there is another tech boom - and potential bust - under way.
On Monday, Facebook said it will pay $1bn to buy Instagram, the popular photo-sharing smartphone app, which has only 13 employees and was launched in October 2010.
Apple's resurgence
Apple's revival under Steve Jobs, who died last year, came about first in computers and then the iPod music player, which was followed by the iPhone and iPad.
Jobs co-founded Apple in Silicon Valley in the 1970s, but was fired in 1985.
He was asked to rejoin in 1997 and changed the company's product lines, culminating in the success of the iPhone and its tablet spin-off, the iPad.
In January, Apple reported record-breaking net profits for the last three months of 2011. At the end of last year, it revealed it had $97.6bn in cash.
In March, the tech giant under current chief executive Tim Cook said it will use its cash to start paying a dividend to shareholders and to buy back some of its shares.
It expects to use $45bn over the next three years.


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September 29, 2013, Langley, BC – It was not the storybook ending Canada was hoping for as they fell 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-14) to the United States of America in the 2013 NORCECA final.
Canada came into the final with momentum and a monster crowd to back them up but it just wasn't enough. The USA took home the gold and booked their ticket to the FIVB Grand Champions Cup tournament in Japan.
The first set of the final was within Canada's grasp as they led 19-16 in the late stages but the USA closed the gap and were able to tie things up at 21-21. The two teams then traded points until the USA finished the opening set with a 25-23 comeback victory and they carried that momentum the rest of the way.
Canada struggled to get their offense going after the opening set loss as both Gord Perrin and Dallas Soonias were held to just 7 kills apiece. The game plan really changed for Canada when Captain Fred Winters went down with an ankle injury as he was unable to return. The injury to Winter's hurt Canada the most in the passing part of their game, as he had been one of their stronger passers throughout the tournament.
"We got outplayed completely by the USA," said Canadian coach Glenn Hoag. "We couldn't receive so we couldn't establish any offense and they played great block defense. We had a chance in the first set but we made too many unforced errors."
The USA was led by tournament MVP Matthew Anderson who had an impressive final game adding 14 kills and 3 service aces. The Canadian block that was so dominant during the tournament had no answer for Anderson and was almost non-existent, as the USA out blocked Canada 10-6. In the end it was the serve and pass game that proved to be the difference, as the USA served lights out and were constantly able to put pressure on the Canadian passers.
It's another learning experience for a young Canadian team that is on the rise after a solid summer of volleyball on the international stage. Canada's recent jump from 18th to 11th in the FIVB World Rankings has been well earned through their recent success and moving forward the future looks even brighter.
Other matches:
Cuba won the Bronze Medal at the Norceca Men's Contiental Championship in a five setter win against Puerto Rico (27-29, 25-27, 25-20, 27-25, 15-12). Ezequiel Cruz was the top scorer with 23 points for Puerto Rico, that had a 2-0 lead and also had a very solid production with Mannix Roman (17 points), Juan Vazquez (12) and captain Enrique Escalante (12).
However, Cuba distributed its attack and blocking game to come from behind in the third set. Rolando Cepeda topped 18 points, while David Fiel closed with 16. Abrahan Alfonso Gavilan scored 13, Yordan Bisset 12 and Jorber Quintana 10.
Mexico finished in fifth place of the Norceca Men's Continental Championship after a 3-0 win against Dominican Republic (25-23, 25-22, 26-24). Daniel Vargas was the top scorer for Mexico with 14 points while Edgar Herrera closed with 11. For Dominican Republic, Elvis Contreras closed with 10 points. Both teams surrendered 21 points by unforced errors, but Mexico topped in kill blocks with 12 against only five by the Dominican squad.


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Artist description:
Request by animefan89.Actual request is Miku only but I've wanted 2 do Rin in Miku outfit for a very long time already.So here ya go.If u r wondering who's d alcoholic white hair,is Yowane Haku.I did her a bit like Minami Chiaki.Finally my own style.
Java Draw Created Mar 01, 2009 470 x 338px Unless noted Copyright 2009 Shi-Coolmix.
We encourage you to submit a comment and let the artist know what you think of this drawing. Please log in or join to post a comment.
Post a comment
Lmao, I love how Rin is in Miku's outfit xD 5/5 and collection :D
aww! hakus drunk...even as a kid! miku's hair looks awesome
This is so awesome, You did a great job! 5H from me.
your drawings are always soooo clean and smooth going your amazing!!! would it be okay if i add you in friends list?? :) P.S. This drawing is in favs!! also 5 Hearties
AAAWWW its sooo cute! i love it 5h & faves
Shi ,this draw rocks x3!! i really love the hair style of miku, in the draw looks so modern! and her dress too!! lol Rin with Miku's suit :3! i never see Haku but is so kawaaiii!! *5555 hearts* again + favourtites
I love it do u draw pictures for people?? could U draw me one??
nice ^_^


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Orange You Glad? Card
Learn how to make this card using these free instructions. Homemade anniversary cards are the perfect way to show you care, and with these card-making steps, creating this design is easy.
SUPPLIES: Cardstock: (Orange Zest, New Leaf, white) Papertrey Ink Patterned paper: (Yippee From Hip Hip Hooray collection) Pebbles; (green polka dot from Amy Tangerine Sketchbook 6x6 pad) American Crafts; (orange polka dots from 2008 Bitty Dot Basics collection) Papertrey Ink Clear stamps: (dots from Polka Dot Basics set; face from Happy Haunting set; oranges from Fruitful set; happy, anniversary from Happy Day set) Papertrey Ink Dye ink: (True Black, Orange Zest, New Leaf, Summer Sunrise) Papertrey Ink Accent: (button) Bazzill Basics Paper Sticker: (pennant from Hopscotch collection) Fancy Pants Designs Fibers: (orange/white twine) Jillibean Soup Fonts: (Script MT Bold, Bookman Old Style) Microsoft Dies: (pop up from Movers & Shakers: Poppers set) Papertrey Ink Tool: (circle cutter) Creative Memories Finished size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"
1 Make card from cardstock. 2 Print "Orange" on cardstock rectangle. 3 Stamp dots on panel. 4 Adhere patterned paper rectangles to panel and adhere pennant sticker with foam tape. 5 Tie button and twine around panel and adhere to card. 6 Trim stem and leaf from cardstock and patterned paper. Adhere to card. Note: Adhere top piece with foam tape. 7 Cut circles from cardstock. Adhere together and trim. 8 Stamp face on circles and adhere to card with foam tape.
1 Print sentiment on cardstock. 2 Stamp oranges, dots, happy, and anniversary on panel. 3 Die-cut pop up element from printed cardstock; trim to fit inside card. 4 Adhere panel and patterned paper rectangle inside card. 5 Die-cut "Yes?" from patterned paper and adhere to pop up.
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Hello out there!
you're boring.
And, I finally saw what you wrote on Mindtrap's page! I AM NOT A CRAZY CAT LADY! I'm....a mentally challenged female who happens to love felines. Pfft.
Hey! Clean out your inbox once in a while, would ya?
Yeah, it's one of those things where you're automatically enrolled. Oh, and there's no cancellation. Sorry. Now, dance monkey, dance!
Yes, I have a husband...and I aggravate him to the point of no return and then I look to spread my talent. You're on the list. Your name came up...you get annoyed.
Bored bored bored bored bored bored bored. You really need to quit your job. It's inferring with you entertaining me.
Can I borrow one of your guitars? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmSV2...layer_embedded
Awwww. I'm jealous. I have a claw mark on my arm from trying to snuggle the stupid cat last night.
Awww! You need to get him his own pillow.
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Here's Ray Lewis's response to Solomon Wilcots's first post-game question after the Ravens beat the Broncos in double overtime. He's quoting Isaiah 54:17, which in the New King James Version reads:
No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their righteousness is from Me,"
Says the Lord.
Ray Lewis is certainly aware that he's associated with weaponry in the eyes of many a football fan, but these do not seem like the words of a man making a deliberate attempt to mess with those fans. Just a spot-on incidental attempt, from someone who no doubt has much use for the Bible verse that specifically addresses haters.
Those haters will kindly proceed to left, anyway: Lewis had game-high 17 tackles this afternoon in what was very nearly his final game.


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[X] Xray
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[R] Radar <3 JavaPortals for it
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[K] Forcefield
[N] Nuke
[C] Speedmine
Hack want added?
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Nether Ores to the Xray
By downloading or using this client you do NOT use other links to make you money or any other links that are not the original link. Please leave credit to the maker of the client in any videos that are made e.g Made by Hihihih565
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Difference between revisions of "Telephone Credit Cards (Pre-Paid)"
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[https://consumerwiki.dca.ca.gov/w/index.php/Small_Claims_Advisors_and_Court_Locations/Small_Claims_Court '''Small Claims Advisor and Court Locations''']
[https://consumerwiki.dca.ca.gov/w/index.php/Small_Claims_Advisors_and_Court_Locations/Small_Claims_Court '''Small Claims Advisor and Court Locations''']
Revision as of 20:24, 1 November 2019
If a phone card does not work and resolution can not be reached with the seller, a consumer may complain to the CPUC.
California Public Utilities Commission
Consumer Affairs Branch
505 Van Ness Ave
San Francisco, Ca. 94102
415-703-2782 – Headquarters
800.848.5580 (Toll Free)
The International Prepaid Communications Association operates a toll-free ombudsman hotline for people who have problems with or questions about prepaid phone cards.
International Prepaid Communications Association
Consumers purchase prepaid telephone cards for the convenience of making long distance calls (domestic and international) without using cash or telephone credit cards. Calls are made using the carrier's 800 number on the card and activating the Personal Identification Number (PIN) number. Cards are normally bought for specific dollar amounts, and minutes are automatically deducted from the total as calls are made based on the carrier's rates. Some cards are "rechargeable", i.e., consumers can add more minutes (not always at the same rate as the initial purchase). Cards can be bought at many different locations, including small markets, grocery stores, discount stores, and online. Most card sellers (except retailers) are subject to California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) jurisdiction. Prepaid card selling companies are required to maintain a 24-hour toll-free customer service number.
The CPUC Web site www.cpuc.ca.gov suggests some things you should know before buying a prepaid phone card:
- Confirm the rate. How much are you paying for a minute of conversation time? If the rates are not displayed, read the packaging or promotional displays for the actual rates. Look for domestic and international call rates. Don't be swayed by ads that say "50% cheaper". The question is: Cheaper than what?
- Read about all the charges. Before you purchase the card, read the fine print about all the charges. The charges often include activation fees, access fees, weekly or monthly service fees, and additional charges for calling from a pay phone. Avoid buying prepaid phone cards that do not make disclosures.
- Do the math. After you have read all the fine print, do the math to figure out what you will be charged. The costs may be significantly higher than the advertised rates.
- Is there a toll-free customer service number? Check the packaging of the card for a toll-free customer service number. If you experience a problem, the number displayed on the card should help. Try calling the number before you buy the card. A busy signal on the customer service line could be a tip off of problems to come.
- Find out if there's an expiration date on the card. Some firms issue cards without expiration dates, but many cards expire. Make sure the card you buy won't expire within the time you plan to use it.
- Make sure the card is in a sealed envelope or has a sticker covering the PIN. Anyone who copies the PIN can use the phone time you have paid for.
- Will the retailer make refunds? Ask if the retailer offers a refund if the telephone service is unsatisfactory.
Get referrals. If you have friends or relatives who have used the card ask them the following questions:
- Were they charged for a call when there was no answer or when the line was busy?
- Was there a minimum charge for each call? For example, were charges based on a minimum of three minutes even though the call lasted only seconds?
- Was the access number not available because of a constant busy signal?
- Buy a small amount of time. If the carrier is a company you've never heard of, or you don't know someone who can vouch for the card, buy a small amount of time first and see if you like the service.
Requirements for the advertising and sale of prepaid calling cards. Business and Professions Code Section 17538.9.
Any advertisement about the price, rate, or unit value in connection with the sale of prepaid calling services must include a disclosure of any geographical limitations to the advertised price, rate, or unit value, as well as, a disclosure of any additional surcharges, call setup charges, or fees applicable to the advertised price, rate, or unit value. In the case of prepaid cards used at a payphone, the company may instead provide voice-prompted notification of any applicable payphone surcharges.
The following information must be legibly printed on the card:
- The name of the company.
- A toll-free customer service number.
- A toll-free network, access number, if required for service.
- The authorization code, if required to access service.
- The expiration date or policy, if applicable. Cards without a specific expiration date or policy printed on the card, and a balance of service remaining, are considered active for a minimum of one year from the date of purchase, or if recharged, from the date of the last recharge.
The following information must be printed on the card or packaging and available at the time of sale:
- Any surcharges or fees, including monthly fees, per-call access fees, or surcharges for the first minute of use that may be applicable to the use of the prepaid calling card or prepaid calling services within the United States. In the case of prepaid cards used at a pay phone, the company may instead provide voice-prompted notification of any applicable pay phone surcharges.
- Whether there are additional or different prices, rates, or unit values applicable to international usage of the prepaid calling card or prepaid calling services.
- The minimum charge per call, such as a three-minute minimum charge, if any.
- The charge for calls that do not connect, if any.
- The definition of the term "unit", if applicable.
- The billing information.
- The name of the company.
- The recharge policy, if any.
- The refund policy, if any.
- The expiration policy, if any.
- The 24-hour customer service toll-free telephone number.
Companies that issue prepaid calling cards must provide a refund to any purchaser of a prepaid calling card if the service fails to operate in a "commercially reasonable" manner. The refund must be for not less than the value remaining on the card or in the form of a replacement card, and provided within 60 days from the date of receipt of notification from the consumer that the card failed to operate in a "commercially reasonable" manner.
Other Referrals:
International Prepaid Communications Association
California Public Utilities Commission
Better Business Bureau
Small Claims Court
Small Claims Advisor and Court Locations
Directory of State Agencies Directory of Federal Agencies Return to DCA Home Page


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That looks like an all-female team that lasted till the HK leg in TARI. Hopes Michael leaves them alone. HOWEVER, if they indeed are a team on TAR US, then i think i'm going to totally root for them. They look like a Kami/Karli version but less clueless and can kick some asses! :sucks
Quote from: georgiapeach on November 15, 2008, 07:12:54 PM So TAR 14? In Phuket?? Oh happy days!! Good job puddin!! Oh someone would have found it eventually. Thanks to dhall's sighting this has to be us!!
So TAR 14? In Phuket?? Oh happy days!! Good job puddin!!
Why do all the people writing these blogs sound so mean LOL
It looks like next season the contestants on the Amazing Race will be going to Sydney.They were filming in the Sydney Hilton on George St., right down town setting up as I was leaving. There is a clue box in the lobby and and then a number board near the elevators (lifts) where the contestants need to grab a number as they caught the far elevator. The board only had 5 numbers on it, so by the time they get there there must be only 5 teams left.Yesterday there was a crew here that had shirts on about "climbing face first down the side of a building" not sure if they are related.Lots of staff in the lobby keeping eye on the clue box, flags, etc. and keeping the last elevator locked up for use by the show.
So I am not sure if any of you watch the amazing race in Israel..MOtsei shabbos we were walking around Sydney harbour, and we saw these people racing (looked like the tv show amazing race). My dh happened to hear them speaking in hebrew, so I said wow!! It's the Israeli version. So I tried to explain to him the show. Of course immediately he jumps to speak hebrew with them and gives a couple directions. LOL I can imagine the caption, "jewish man on street gives directions in sydney."So we kept on walking, and my cute husband decides he wants to be on tv again.. so we walk back in the general direction.. This time I grab him to stop him, cause u know enough is enough.. This time they approached my husband and started speaking to him in english. Of course my dh shows off his hebrew again..lol he's so cute
THE key obstacles to global format sales of US reality show The Amazing Race have been the sheer cost and logistics of sending a dozen couples to perform a series of strange tasks in 10 or more countries within a month and to film it.But the Seven Network is understood to be reconsidering an Australian version after local production company activeTV filmed three Asian-based series on much less than the multi-million-dollar budget needed for the US version.A Seven source said an Australian version was "on our development slate", but no deals were imminent, activeTV managing director Michael McKay said.The 12th season of the US series averaged 830,000 viewers this year.ActiveTV, which produces the Asian series through a Singapore joint venture with the US program's co-creator Bertram van Munster, is about to begin producing a new Israeli format, much of which will be filmed in Asia.The company, which employs 18 people in its Melbourne head office and about 12 in Asia, has morphed from a sports and entertainment company into a reality specialist after producing the Australian legs of the US Race in series two and four.The new version, to be filmed in Hebrew, will be the first non-English international series.It will be called Ha'Merotz La'Million (The Race to the Million), referring to the prize of a million shekels that will go to the last couple standing.McKay will say only that the series will launch "soon" with between 10 and 12 teams and an unnamed Israeli director."It's like the Greta Garbo of TV shows because so much of it is secret," McKay said."Even the crews don't know where they're going and they don't know where they're starting from."Producing a series of The Amazing Race sounds almost as nightmarish as competing in it.Potential locations are selected and scouted in about 40 days, and a string of local production teams are contracted to organise their legs of the race.Senior production staff test most challenges, but McKay draws the line at bungee jumping."In the Asian version when we had the contestants eating bugs, we tried them," he said."There were crickets, cockroaches, a scorpion or two and a water bug: they were a bit chewy. We want to make sure that it's safe."The most important element is selecting the teams, whoch are often couples but may be friends or family members.Contrary to perceptions that the show chooses teams whose relationships will implode spectacularly under race conditions in front of the cameras, McKay looked for diversity and depth."The main ingredient is good chemistry," he said."You want light and shade and sweetness. Teams spit the dummy and walk out, or you'll see teams that become remarkably close."I love it when that happens but there are times when that pressure cooker situation highlights the things that you're not that keen on in your partner. Those emotions are very real."Each team travels with a personal crew of two or three, charged with capturing such outbursts."We typically travel with a total crew of 100 as we move," McKay said."We pick up a lot of people on the ground. As the teams get eliminated, the crew becomes smaller." McKay said costs would be contained in the Israeli version by choosing "pre-existing" challenges, rather than building them.There will be a few other differences.Some countries, such as those that don't recognise Israeli passports, will be off-limits, and McKay is expecting cultural differences to play a big part."I'm expecting more open, honest, blunt and frank conversations between the teams," McKay said."I don't think they'll hold back in that respect."
I was in Macau last week, when I saw an Amazing RAce clue with dragonsneatly arranged at the Senado Square in Macau. Its Hebrew , andapparantly Amazing Race Israel. I waited to see the real racers to theextent of almost missing my flight, lol.The production team arrivedthere 2 hours before the first team arrived. They arrived by taxi,thecameraman and the one bringing the microphone (i dunno how you callhim)I reckon has a tough job running there and here, it wasintense.They dont allow taking pictures about the cameraman and thecontestant, but i have zoom lens, lol...The clue was in BRIGHT yellowand black, dang it was REAL,lol.
Thank you Anthony, you are a good person and you are always welcomed here
hellohello! im back from my trip! yipeee! &of all things, I FORGOT TO BRING MY SHADES! gahhh. ok &i reborn-ed my hair and i got bangs D: im so regretting! but its sure nicer than my previous fringe :Xguess what! i miss-ed cca during the holidays! how weird man! omgomg i am looking forward to tuesday! haha i think im crazy. &i gained 2kg D: Gosh im gonna exercise and go on a diet! oh i love japan :DDi wanna go back &disneysea rocks man! TOWER OF TERROR IS NICENCIE! mt fuji totally rock too oooooh &im gonna start on the holiday hwk soon[ihope] with my [3/4 done] sihan. and im gonna rewatch katekyo hitman reborn during this holiday. yep thats all.WARNING! YOU CAN STOP READING FROM HERE DAY1. flight to japan saw amazing race filming! woooots. DAY2.Tokyo shopping biggest daiso in tokyo shiok! DAY3. disneysea! rockcore! tower of terror and donald hairclip :DD DAY4. tokyo disneysea. not so fun. same games as hongkong. not really worth going [if planning to go both sea and land] and mickey was born on 18nov 1928 :O DAY5. mt fuji[hakone] fascinating scenery sulphur stinks :@ &FATAL! bahh. maple leaves = nicenice. GREEN-->ORANGE-->BROWN-->RED!amazing aye? Day6. shopping! walked supermuch!! ouch! went to super autobacs[sells only car accesories] i love that stich gearstick cover D: if vivian dint as daddy to get the pooh/mickey, he would have gotten it BLAME HER! DAY7. back to honkong coached to shenzhen. i wonder why there isnt a direct flight to shenzhen from tokyo :O boring! and the hotel sucks totally! DAY8 . shenzhen shopping. reborned bangs [regretting D:] tom and jerry window cover!!!![for cars] omgomg, thats so rare!! tote bag! woots not really a tote bag D: shopped for whole day! bodyless fish still breathing! eeeew :@ DAY9. zhuhai so boring on the coach. slept thruout shopped! and i learnt 6new magic tricks! call me a BEGINNER MAGICIAN! wooots, im gonna get more props soon [i hope] Day10. changed hotel super shiok! went to macau to check out the hyotels. used computer!!! muahaha, thats why some see me online heehee DAY11. macau. I LOVE MY HOTEL! super big grand highclass and nice! and i paid only 1/3 of the price! shiok sofa shiok bed and SHIOK TOILET! it rocks! but stayed only for 1night D: i cant believe i stayed in the hotel for the whole day! woah, watched some taiwan drama and NICKOLODEON! DAY12. hongkong. just miss the hotel the day before! DAY13. ocean park. funfun! i love the pandas and dolphins DAY14. today! return home
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