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EVELYN, La.
THE crew of workers fought off the blistering Louisiana sun, jerking their wrenches to tighten the fat hoses that would connect their cement trucks to the Chesapeake Energy drill rig — one of the last two rigs the company is still using to drill for natural gas here in the Haynesville Shale.
At its peak, Chesapeake ran 38 rigs in the region. All told, it has sunk more than 1,200 wells into the Haynesville, a gas-rich vein of dense rock that straddles Louisiana and Texas. Fed by a gold-rush mentality and easy money from Wall Street, Chesapeake and its competitors have done the same in other shale fields from Oklahoma to Pennsylvania.
For most of the country, the result has been cheaper energy. The nation is awash in so much natural gas that electric utilities, which burn the fuel in many generating plants, have curbed rate increases and switched more capacity to gas from coal, a dirtier fossil fuel.
Companies and municipalities are deploying thousands of new gas-powered trucks and buses, curbing noxious diesel fumes and reducing the nation's reliance on imported oil.
And companies like fertilizer and chemical makers, which use gas as a raw material, are suddenly finding that the United States is an attractive place to put new factories, compared with, say, Asia, where gas is four times the price. Dow Chemical, which uses natural gas as a material for producing plastics, has assembled a list of 91 new manufacturing projects, representing $70 billion in potential investment and up to three million jobs, that various companies have proposed or begun because of cheap gas.
"The country has stumbled into a windfall on the backs of these entrepreneurs," said Edward Hirs, a finance professor at the University of Houston who contributed to a report that estimated that the nation's economy benefited by more than $100 billion last year alone from the lower gas prices.
But while the gas rush has benefited most Americans, it's been a money loser so far for many of the gas exploration companies and their tens of thousands of investors.
The drillers punched so many holes and extracted so much gas through hydraulic fracturing that they have driven the price of natural gas to near-record lows. And because of the intricate financial deals and leasing arrangements that many of them struck during the boom, they were unable to pull their foot off the accelerator fast enough to avoid a crash in the price of natural gas, which is down more than 60 percent since the summer of 2008.
Although the bankers made a lot of money from the deal making and a handful of energy companies made fortunes by exiting at the market's peak, most of the industry has been bloodied — forced to sell assets, take huge write-offs and shift as many drill rigs as possible from gas exploration to oil, whose price has held up much better.
Rex W. Tillerson, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, which spent $41 billion to buy XTO Energy, a giant natural gas company, in 2010, when gas prices were almost double what they are today, minced no words about the industry's plight during an appearance in New York this summer.
"We are all losing our shirts today," Mr. Tillerson said. "We're making no money. It's all in the red."
Like the recent credit bubble, the boom and bust in gas were driven in large part by tens of billions of dollars in creative financing engineered by investment banks like Goldman Sachs, Barclays and Jefferies & Company.
After the financial crisis, the natural gas rush was one of the few major profit centers for Wall Street deal makers, who found willing takers among energy companies and foreign financial investors.
Big companies like Chesapeake and lesser-known outfits like Quicksilver Resources and Exco Resources were able to supercharge their growth with the global financing, transforming the face of energy in this country. In all, the top 50 oil and gas companies raised and spent an annual average of $126 billion over the last six years on drilling, land acquisition and other capital costs within the United States, double their capital spending as of 2005, according to an analysis by Ernst & Young.
Now the gas companies are committed to spending far more to produce gas than they can earn selling it. Their stock prices and debt ratings have been hammered.
"We just killed more meat than we could drag back to the cave and eat," said Maynard Holt, co-president of Tudor Pickering Holt & Company, a Houston investment bank that has handled dozens of shale deals in the last four years. "Now we have a problem."
A Master Salesman
Aubrey K. McClendon, chief executive of Chesapeake Energy, had a secret, and he was anxious to share it.
He called Ralph Eads III, a fraternity buddy from Duke who had become his go-to banker. Mr. McClendon explained that he had quietly acquired leases on hundreds of thousands of acres somewhere in the southern United States — he would not say exactly where — that could become one of the world's biggest natural gas fields.
But to develop the wells, he needed billions of dollars.
"I can get the assets," Mr. McClendon told Mr. Eads, a vice chairman of Jefferies, according to three people who participated in that call, nearly five years ago. "You have to get the money."
Get it he did. Mr. Eads, a pitch artist who projects the unrestrained enthusiasm of a college football coach, traveled the world, ultimately raising an extraordinary $28 billion for Mr. McClendon's "secret" venture in the Haynesville Shale, as well as other Chesapeake drilling projects.
Other bankers working in the glass office towers of downtown Houston were equally busy. While the skyscrapers are home to global giants like Chevron and lesser-known companies like Plains Exploration and Production, they also house storefronts for Wall Street deal makers who play a vital, though less visible, role in the nation's surging energy production.
Mr. Eads, 53, a Texas native, is a prince of this world. His financial innovations helped feed the gas drilling boom, and he has participated in $159 billion worth of oil and gas deals since 2007.
A Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity brother of Mr. McClendon, he headed to Wall Street directly after Duke. He first earned a national profile in 2001, while working for the El Paso Corporation, a natural gas pipeline operator. Regulators accused El Paso of creating an artificial gas shortage in California in the previous year, contributing to a power crisis in the state. Although El Paso eventually settled the complaints for $1.7 billion, Mr. Eads said El Paso was guilty of nothing more than coming up with creative financial transactions.
"I wake up every day thinking about how to finance big things," he said.
His tall, lanky frame and bellowing voice make him hard to miss, even in a large crowd. And his deal radar is never off, as he works the room at dinner parties and charity events.
That is how he met Jim Flores, the chief executive of Plains Exploration, who eventually invited him on a duck hunt.
After Mr. McClendon's urgent request for money, Mr. Eads put in a call to Mr. Flores to see if he might be willing to finance part of Chesapeake's Haynesville project.
"Aubrey and I have calculated it, and it might be the largest gas field in the world," Mr. Eads said he told Mr. Flores, noting early results from a single well that showed unprecedented gas flows.
The type of deal he pitched, nicknamed "cash and carry," was certainly aggressive and innovative. Plains would pay Chesapeake $1.7 billion to gain ownership of about one-third of the drilling rights that Chesapeake had leased in the Haynesville. Plains would also commit to paying out another $1.7 billion to cover half of Chesapeake's drilling costs, in return for part of the future profits.
"It's going to be a great investment," Mr. Flores said on the day the deal was announced in July 2008.
But the deal, like others later struck by Chesapeake, benefited Mr. Eads and Mr. McClendon and their companies far more than the people writing the big checks.
Chesapeake spent an average of $7,100 an acre on the drilling sites it had leased in the Haynesville. Plains paid Chesapeake the equivalent of $30,000 an acre.
Jefferies and the other firms involved in arranging the deal made an estimated $23 million on this transaction.
Much of the money that Mr. Eads raised for American gas drillers came from overseas oil and gas companies, like Total of France and Cnooc, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation. He told them the American shale revolution was an opportunity they simply could not afford to pass by.
"This is like owning the Empire State Building," Mr. Eads said, recalling one of his favorite lines. "It's not going to be repeated. You miss the boat, you miss the boat."
In China, he was in awe at just how much money was available to invest. One senior executive at a major Chinese oil company that Mr. Eads declined to identify, citing the confidential nature of the negotiations, explained that the country wanted to move as much as $750 billion from United States Treasury bonds into the North American energy business.
Mr. Eads was only happy to oblige, helping to secure $3.4 billion from the Chinese for Chesapeake through two deals.
Not everyone believed the story line of endless profits and opportunity. Mr. Eads said one oil company executive whom he would not identify had rejected his pitch, complaining, "The reason for the glut is you guys." The executive said he expected natural gas prices to plummet.
Natural Gas Roller-Coaster
9 Photos
View Slide Show ›
In private, Mr. Eads acknowledged that his pitches involved a bit of bluster.
"Typically, we represent sellers, so I want to persuade buyers that gas prices are going to be as high as possible," Mr. Eads said. "The buyers are big boys — they are giant companies with thousands of gas economists who know way more than I know. Caveat emptor."
Investment banking revenue at Jefferies reached $1.1 billion in 2011, a record for the firm, up from $750 million in 2007. Energy deals were cited among the biggest drivers of that surge, which came despite major problems at the firm because of its exposure to European sovereign debt.
Mr. Eads would not say how much he had been compensated for this bonanza. But Dealogic, a firm that tracks Wall Street transactions, estimated that Jefferies collected at least $124 million in fees from Chesapeake since 2007, a large share of its overall revenue on oil and gas deals, which ranged between $390 million and $700 million during the same period, according to two different industry estimates.
Even before the recent round of deals, Mr. Eads was a wealthy man. He lives in a sprawling, 11,000-square-foot lakefront mansion in Houston and has a wine cellar with 6,500 bottles. In 2010, he bought an $8.2 million home in the exclusive West End of Aspen, Colo., whose other homeowners have included Jack Nicholson and Mariah Carey.
Mr. Eads's success has produced no shortage of jealousy in Houston.
"A lot of people don't like him because he got ahead of everyone else," said Chip Johnson, chief executive of Carrizo Oil and Gas, who made two big deals in which Mr. Eads was involved. "He got the reputation for overselling, but I have a hard time believing you can fool the big companies."
"Without him," Mr. Johnson added, "the country would not have had the huge gas supply as quickly as we did."
Others have been more critical.
"He is like the bartender serving drinks for people who can't handle it," said Fadel Gheit, a managing director at Oppenheimer & Company, about Mr. Eads. "And the whole gas industry has gotten a rude awakening, a hangover, with gas prices plummeting. The investment bankers were happy to help with a smile and get their cut."
A Train Without Brakes
"Quit drilling," T. Boone Pickens, the Texas oilman, barked to his fellow board members at Exco Resources, a small, independent drilling company based in Dallas that, like Chesapeake, had made a big bet in the Haynesville. "Shut her down."
Mr. Pickens, 84, made billions of dollars as a hedge fund manager and wildcatter drilling for oil and gas. He borrowed heavily to build up the oil and gas reserves of Mesa Inc. in the late 1980s before losing the company during its financial difficulties a decade later, when drooping gas prices hurt its ability to repay debts and pay dividends. He wanted Exco to avoid a similar fate.
There was only one problem: under the contracts that Exco signed, it couldn't stop drilling.
The company followed Chesapeake's lead and struck its own $1.3 billion cash-and-carry deal with the BG Group, a British gas company. BG paid Exco $655 million in cash upfront and agreed to foot 75 percent of the bill for future drilling in the Haynesville in return for a share in future profits on the gas produced.
When the arrangement was made, it seemed like a winner all around. Exco had more than 53,000 acres of leases in the Haynesville, but like Chesapeake, it lacked the money it needed to drill on all the land. BG's financing helped Exco to increase the number of rigs it had working in the Haynesville to 22 from four.
Nevertheless, the agreement, negotiated by Goldman Sachs, came with some important strings attached: Exco had to keep all 22 rigs drilling for gas, even as the price was dropping. BG wanted to reach certain targets for drilling wells and producing gas in the United States, and it was intent on sticking with the plan, even if its partner now insisted that it made no economic sense.
"They are great partners, but they have their pedal down around the world, and we are part of that," Douglas H. Miller, Exco's chief executive, explained to Wall Street analysts last year.
Mr. Pickens was furious. "We are stupid to drill these wells," he said in a recent interview.
But Exco was not alone. Many of its fellow gas companies — including Chesapeake and Petrohawk — had little choice through last year but to keep drilling, no matter how low the price fell or how big a glut was forming.
It wasn't just the cash-and-carry deals that were forcing them to drill.
The land that the natural gas companies had leased, in most cases, came with "use it or lose it" clauses that required them to start drilling within three years and begin paying royalties to the landowners or lose the leases.
Exco, Chesapeake and others initially boasted about how many acres they had managed to lock up. But after paying bonuses of up to $20,000 an acre to the landowners, the companies could not afford to lose the leases, even if the low price of natural gas meant that drilling more wells was a losing proposition.
The industry was also driven to keep drilling because of the perverse way that Wall Street values oil and gas companies. Analysts rate drillers on their so-called proven reserves, an estimate of how much oil and gas they have in the ground. Simply by drilling a single well, they could then count as part of their reserves nearby future well sites. In this case, higher reserves generally led to a higher stock price, even though some of the companies were losing money each quarter and piling up billions of dollars in debt.
Just as in the earlier real estate bubble, the main players publicly predicted success even as, privately, their doubts were growing, court documents show.
Mr. McClendon suggested in August 2008 to Wall Street analysts that he had fundamentally transformed the once-risky, century-old oil and gas business into something with the reliability of an assembly line.
"We consider ourselves to be in the gas manufacturing business, and that requires four inputs in our opinion — those inputs are land, people, science and, of course, capital," Mr. McClendon told the analysts. "We think that's pretty impressive and hope you do as well."
But soon after, he told some Chesapeake employees that the company might have made some big mistakes. "What was a fair price 90 days ago for a lease is now overpriced by a factor of at least 2x given the dramatic worsening of the natural gas and financial markets," Mr. McClendon wrote in an October 2008 e-mail that has since become public in a lawsuit against Chesapeake.
And as with so many other shale gas players, Chesapeake struck so many complicated financial deals that it couldn't stop ramping up the gas factory.
"At least half and probably two-thirds or three-quarters of our gas drilling is what I would call involuntary," Mr. McClendon acknowledged at one point.
For him, the drilling binge had some significant financial consequences. During the good times, Chesapeake paid him handsomely in cash and perks. He achieved a net worth of over $1 billion, and he made it to the Forbes list of the 400 wealthiest Americans. He bought homes in Bermuda, Colorado and Hawaii, as well as a stake in the Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team.
An unusual company program also allowed Mr. McClendon to buy a small personal stake in Chesapeake's wells. That is expected to reap more than $400 million for him over the 15- to 20-year life of the wells, although it has strained his personal finances for now. An investigation by Reuters detailed how Mr. McClendon had borrowed heavily from Chesapeake business partners to help finance his share of the wells' costs. That and other issues drew the scrutiny of the Securities and Exchange Commission, shook investor confidence in him and prompted a shake-up of Chesapeake's board that included the removal of Mr. McClendon as chairman.
(Mr. McClendon refused requests to be interviewed for this article, and he did not respond to a list of questions.)
Mr. Eads appears to have fared better. He had seen the coming crash, and, as any master salesman would, found a way to play both sides. He continued to persuade new investors of the great potential in shale while telling his longtime clients to cash out.
"It is a great time to sell," Mr. Eads recalled telling Terry Pegula, the founder of East Resources, who had built up his own operation in the Marcellus region of Pennsylvania from one well to 75 over the course of one year. "With all these new plays popping up, I had a real concern gas prices would weaken."
Mr. Eads then helped arrange what will go down as one of the great early paydays of the shale revolution: the 2010 sale of East Resources, which Mr. Pegula had started with $7,500 borrowed from family and friends, to Royal Dutch Shell for $4.7 billion.
There were a handful of other such profit takers, including the Houston businessman Floyd Wilson, who created a company in 2003 called Petrohawk Energy with the intention from the start of selling it. Petrohawk drilled its first Haynesville well in 2008. Last year, it sold itself to an Australian energy conglomerate, BHP Billiton, in a $15 billion deal that brought Mr. Wilson and other executives a payout worth at least $304 million.
But for many gas drillers, there has been only pain.
Exco, whose production of natural gas was still rising in the Haynesville as of early this year, saw its credit rating downgraded in May. It reported a loss of nearly $780 million for the first half of the year, before write-offs and other adjustments, even after it reduced its work force and rig count. BG, its joint venture partner, reported in July that it was taking a $1.3 billion write-down on its shale gas investments in the United States, including the Haynesville deal with Exco.
Plains Exploration, which celebrated its first deal with Chesapeake back in 2008, reported a loss for the first quarter this year, but has since shifted heavily away from gas to oil production and is making money again. Warm weather last winter exacerbated the glut to historic levels, reducing prices even further, since so little gas was needed to heat homes in many parts of the nation.
Chesapeake's stock price sank this year after it was revealed that Mr. McClendon had taken a personal stake in Chesapeake wells and then used those investments as collateral for up to $1.1 billion in loans used mostly to pay for his share of the cost of drilling those wells. The company is trying to raise $14 billion this year by shedding assets, a goal it has almost reached with huge recent sales of West Texas oil and gas fields and pipelines to Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron.
To help the company through this difficult patch, Mr. McClendon turned to his old friend, Mr. Eads. Jefferies & Company, joined by Goldman Sachs, offered Chesapeake an emergency $4 billion unsecured bridge loan, at 8.5 percent interest, to give the company a lifeline until it could sell enough assets to keep afloat. (The company says it intends to pay back the entire loan this year from recent sales.)
In hindsight, it should have been clear to everyone that a bust was likely to occur, with so many new wells being drilled and so much money financing them.
But everyone was too busy working out new deals to pay much heed.
The bust has certainly hit the Haynesville hard. Some local landowners, having spent their initial lease bonuses, are now deeply in debt. Local restaurants and other businesses are suffering steep losses now that so many drillers have left town.
"At this point we're struggling," said Shelby Spurlock, co-owner of Cafe 171 in the town of Mansfield. The restaurant is decorated with wall collages of drill worker uniforms from companies that are leaving the area. Once open from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. and employing four servers, the restaurant has cut its hours and is down to two servers. "Our very existence is in danger," she sighed.
Mr. Eads, ever the deal maker, is unfazed. He tells anyone who will listen that the price of natural gas will eventually recover. He is making money, meanwhile, helping struggling companies and opportunistic investors strike deals at the new, lower prices.
"These shale assets are forever," he said. "They are going to produce for a hundred years."


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Managing Director,
Equity Research Management
Global Investment Research Division, New York
Global Investment Research Division, New York
I attended a five-year program at St. John's University where I obtained a BS/MS in Accounting. Upon graduation I joined a public accounting firm to work in their financial services assurance division. I later joined their consulting group.
I didn't go through the usual interview process. I was servicing Goldman Sachs as a client and then was hired after working on a project for nine months. The decision to join was an easy one; I knew early on that the firm would be the perfect fit for me.
The three most important things I remember from my early days are:
The caliber of the people I interacted with across the division, their willingness to share information and provide guidance.
The mentoring relationships that I developed early on and that are still in place.
The intensity of the people who work here, specifically their desire to deliver the highest quality product and service to our clients.
My ability to work with people and manage relationships is my biggest asset. In my role, I'm responsible for the management and development of junior talent. This requires me to connect with managers across the division and adjust for varying styles. Working with different personalities and appropriately managing difficult interactions is where I'm able to add the most value.
I believe the next year holds new challenges for our industry as we continue to work in a demanding economic environment. However, Goldman Sachs has a history of being able to respond quickly and intelligently to changing markets and client demands; I believe Global Investment Research has done the same. I look forward to the opportunity to expand my current role and gain greater exposure to new areas of the business that will challenge me and help me grow my skills.
I have a few mentors that have played a critical role in my professional development—people from different areas of the business and different points in their career. They have served as my board of directors, providing perspective and career advice along the way. Mentors have also helped facilitate new opportunities that have allowed me to prove myself and widen my network.
I am also a mentor. I think it's important to provide the same opportunities for others to have as much access as possible to information and guidance.
I belong to the Black and Hispanic Network as well as the Women's Network. Both provide fantastic platforms that offer guidance on career management, greater insight into the firm and exposure to senior leadership.
For example, the Women's Network in Global Investment Research hosts an annual conference which often touches on ways to think about career progression. Specifically, they've hosted sessions on the importance of networking and developing a personal board of directors, which I believe was impactful to many of the attendees. In addition the network has offered additional information about on the promotion process at all levels, which is an issue on the minds of many of my colleagues.
Working at Goldman Sachs affords me the opportunity to participate in supporting causes I believe in. One area of interest for me is the importance of education and the role it plays in the economic growth and development of young women. Through a colleague here, I've joined the Board of Trustees for a University whose demographic is mostly minority women. The experience has been both rewarding and challenging. I've been able to leverage my business acumen and management skills gained at Goldman Sachs to provide support in the strategic planning for the University's future. The end goal is to have a long term impact on graduates and help them secure opportunities that are accessible with solid education.
Also, I participate in CTW every year. It's one of the most rewarding parts of working at Goldman Sachs. The appreciation of the organizations and the support we're able to provide makes the time spent away from the office worthwhile. It's also a great opportunity to meet new people and network with other divisions.

subset: commoncrawl


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Minnesota Health Officials: 27 Flu Deaths This Season
ST. PAUL (AP) - Minnesota health officials have confirmed 23 more flu-related deaths, raising the season total to 27.
Health Commissioner Edward Ehlinger told reporters Thursday the state is in the midst of its most severe flu outbreak in several years, and it's putting stress on the health care system.
More than 1,100 people have been hospitalized with flu symptoms across Minnesota this season. Several hospitals have restricted visitors in an attempt to protect patients and staff. Most of the deaths and hospitalizations have been people over 65.
Ehlinger says it's not too late to get a flu shot, but the sooner people who need them get them the better.
He also says that people who are sick with flu symptoms can help blunt the outbreak by staying home from work or school.
(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved)


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Gaillardia Mesa red growing herbaceous of the genus Gaillardia also known as Blanket flower grandiflora, Gaillardia Mesa red perennial evergreen or deciduous, used as attract pollinators ornamental ground cover drought tolerant plant, can grow in temperate, subtropics or mediterranean climate and growing in hardiness zone 4+ as annual and 9-11 as perennial.
Leaves color green in lanceolate shape.
Gaillardia Mesa red
Flower color red, the inner (stamen) darker red yellow in the middle.
Gaillardia Mesa red for sale – Seeds or Plants to Buy
Products from Amazon.com
- Price: .99Was: .99
How to grow Mesa red growing and care:
Well-drained soil
What is the best way to start growing?
Plant / Seed / Vegetative Reproduction
Is it necessary to graft or use vegetative reproduction?
Difficulties or problems when growing:
Planting season:
Spring, summer, autumn (in warm climates)
Pests and diseases:
Powdery mildew, slugs
Pruning season:
All year
How to prune:
Dead leaves and Deadhead
Size of the plant:
30-50 cm, 12-20 inches
Growth speed in optimal condition:
Fast growing / Medium growing
Water requirement:
Average amount of water
Light conditions in optimal condition for growing:
Full Sun
Is it possible to grow indoor as houseplant?
Growing is also possible in a planter /flowerpot / containers:
Blooming information
Bloom season:
All the year
General information about the flower
Red flowers, the inner (stamen) darker red yellow in the middle
Scientific name:
Gaillardia grandiflora


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|Written by
|Norman Smith
|Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
"Oh Babe What Would You Say" was written by Norman Smith, a musician and producer who worked frequently with the Beatles and Pink Floyd. He had originally written "Oh Babe What Would You Say" for another artist but was persuaded to release the demo for which he had provided the vocals, and the song, released under his stage name Hurricane Smith, was a #3 hit on the pop charts. It has also been recorded by Liza Minnelli.
"Oh Babe What Would You Say" was performed by Thog on two occasions, first with Julie Andrews on The Julie Andrews Hour, and again as a duet with Kaye Ballard on episode 123 of The Muppet Show.


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Dir: Joshua Michael Stern. US. 2012. 122mins
Apple founder Steve Jobs (1955-2011), already the subject of a huge bestselling biography, now gets his screen testimonial. Other heroes would envy such adulation. jOBS the movie is more worship than auteurship and while it won't bring Apple's sagging stock price back up, director Joshua Michael Stern (Neverwas, Swing Vote) can rely on an instant consumer base for his longwinded contribution to the Steve Jobs mythology. If a fraction of that iPhone-owning public sees the film, box office will be colossal.
Bio-pics always tailor memories. Yet the welcome surprise here is Kutcher, as the barefoot rebel who brought the spirit of psychedelia to technology.
In the US any US distributor will hope that a feature about him isn't seen as a two hour infomercial. Outside North American, jOBS will test whether Mac loyalty can trump a European and Asian aversion to earnest American bio-pics.
The script by Matt Whitely, a marketing executive employed by producer Mark Hulme, follows Steve Jobs through life-defining encounters with barefoot college LSD trips and Apple boardrooms of stiff suited execs. The scenario draws in part on interviews with many Jobs acquaintances, but not on Walter Isaacson's best selling Jobs biography, a competing work of admiration.
On the road to Apple (in a garage) and during the brand's ascent, the precociously brilliant Jobs (Ashton Kutcher) insults disbelievers, fires loyal staff and heaps outright abuse in all directions. Once the firm is formed, office politics are merciless - executives (including Jobs) are lured in and tossed out in corporate purges. Matthew Modine is effectively bland as the Pepsico marketing "whiz," recruited by Jobs, who almost takes Apple down.
Stern mixes in plenty of Jobs's ugliness and pettiness, but the film anoints him as a prophet with an urgent vision. Mistreatment of others is tolerated as necessary collateral damage on a visionary's way to a greater good.
We watch Jobs resurrect his mission from a near-fatal failure when a corporate Apple unravels, ending as Jobs regains control in his late thirties and points the firm toward a bigger better Apple. The youth who once rejected the baby whom he fathered even becomes an improbable family man. The canonisation avoids being a martyrology by ending long before Jobs's death in 2011.
In the photo-shopping of the Jobs character, crucial details are lost – his adoption and the psychological scars left from being given away by his birth parents; the striking aesthetic refinement of recent Apple products, beginning with the iPod; a grim losing battle with cancer, which humanised an arrogant enfant terrible.
Bio-pics always tailor memories. Yet the welcome surprise here is Kutcher, as the barefoot rebel who brought the spirit of psychedelia to technology. Kutcher overplays Jobs's signature bouncy walk as a leitmotif, but his bullying and his flares of temper and mercurial insight are surprisingly credible. Josh Gad as Steve Wozniak - or Woz - Jobs's nerdy tech-wizard collaborator, has a shy warm wit and a touching softness, which explains why the cut-throat Jobs was the one who led the company.
The landscape that Jobs helped define is mostly generic here. Stern filmed in the San Fernando Valley near Los Angeles for Silicon Valley south of San Francisco. In a nod to historical exactitude, scenes of early computer creation were shot - in a glow of wonder, Bethlehem-style - in the same garage at Jobs's parents' home in Mountain View where that work was done.
Apple raised the bar on the design of consumer products by US corporations – Jobs and his chief designer claim as much in a scene in the film. Yet characters, rather than places or beautiful objects are this film's priority. jOBS tends toward the commercially conventional in its visual rendering of a motivational success story, with all the high production values of advertising. You can watch this drama on an iPhone without sacrificing much. Apple's commercials have more visual invention - and brevity.
Production companies: Five Star Feature Films, IF Entertainment, Venture Forth, Silver Reel Productions
International sales: Inferno International, www.inferno-entertainment.com
US Distributor: Open Roads
Producer: Mark Hulme
Executive Producers: Florian Dargel, John Harrison, Ronald Bulard, Jacob Pechenik, Gerd Schepers, Brad Reves, Marcos Rodriguez, David Traub
Coproducer: Gil Cates, Jr.
Screenplay: Matt Whiteley
Coproducer: Gil Cates, Jr.
Cinematography: Russell Carpenter
Editor: Robert Komatsu
Music: John Debney
Website: http://thejobsmovie.com
Main cast: Ashton Kutcher, Dermot Mulroney, Josh Gad, Lukas Haas, J. K. Simmons, Matthew Modine, James Woods


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OTTAWA, Ontario — Sidney Crosby will captain the Canadian hockey team at the Olympics.
After the Pittsburgh Penguins star scored the gold-medal-winning overtime goal against the United States in Vancouver four years ago, he's the natural choice in Sochi. Along with leading the NHL in scoring, the 26-year-old center is the face of the league and hockey in Canada.
The Chicago Blackhawks' Jonathan Toews and the Nashville Predators' Shea Weber will be alternate captains, Hockey Canada announced Sunday.
"Sidney, Jonathan and Shea have been leaders on the international stage in the past, as well as with their NHL teams," coach Mike Babcock said in a statement. "These three players will be at the forefront of our efforts in Sochi, but we are confident we have 25 players on our roster that will lead in their own way and allow our team to be successful."
Crosby was made the youngest captain in NHL history when he got the "C" for the Penguins 6½ years ago. In 2009, he raised the Stanley Cup as captain.
At the 2010 Olympics, Crosby was an alternate along with Chris Pronger and Jarome Iginla. Veteran defenseman Scott Niedermayer captained that team and said before his Hockey Hall of Fame induction in November that he had no doubt Crosby was ready to assume the role.


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Browse the Spring 2014 interactive catalog, download as a PDF or request a physical copy. Order now at VictoryMerch.com.Continue Reading →


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On Thursday, September 12, the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation along with the State Government Leadership Foundation is hosting four state attorneys general—Scott Pruitt (Oklahoma), Derek Schmidt (Kansas), Luther Strange (Alabama), and Alan Wilson (South Carolina)—in the first of a seven-event Preserve the Constitution series.
The moderator will be Fred Barnes, executive editor of the Weekly Standard, who in a recent article profiled many of the principled state AGs who are fighting to reinvigorate the federalism that forms the basis of our constitutional republic and protects our liberty and freedom.
As Barnes outlined:
They're committed to limiting Washington to powers prescribed in the Constitution. They oppose overreaching by Congress, regulatory agencies, federal bureaucrats, and the executive branch…and are eager to rejuvenate the Tenth Amendment as a check on the scope of federal power.
The Framers of the Constitution designed a federal republic in which a central government with strictly limited powers was balanced by state governments with plenary powers. The past 100 years have seen an exponential growth in the size and power of the central government—often at the expense of state sovereignty. This growth has accelerated under the current Administration, imposing massive, uncompensated costs on states. Some question whether the national government can be brought back within constitutional bounds.
But these four state AGs, along with a number of others, are fighting back by vigorously contesting the national government's invasion of state sovereignty in legal fights involving energy, health care, the environment, voting and elections, religious liberty, labor relations, and financial transactions. As General Pruitt has said, when the federal government exceeds its authority, "who else but a state attorney general is in a position to respond?" That is one reason why General Schmidt joined with other AGs to support South Carolina's fight against the National Labor Relations Board over a new Boeing plant. According to General Wilson, "Being silent and doing nothing is never the right answer [since] what happens in one state can happen in another." And they are coordinating their activities: "We have a network and we're always on alert," says General Strange.
We expect a dynamic and robust discussion of the Constitution, federalism, the threats posed by the federal government to our liberty and economic well-being, and the efforts of state AGs to return us to a principled republic that protects freedom while giving every American the opportunity to succeed. The event will start at noon on September 12 and will be available for online viewing for those who cannot attend in person.


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AltRider Stainless Steel Crash Bars in Black for the Suzuki V-Strom DL 1000
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These premium crash bars drawn from 1 inch stainless steel tubing, protect your engine casing and plastics from the wrath of the pavement. The AltRider crash bars are designed for the impact load to be transferred to the frame, not the hardware (watch the video to see how this works). Unlike steel powder coated products, our black powder coated stainless steel crash bars won't ever rust, even after they're scratched. Installation is easy since the bars bolt on quickly using existing mounts. These crash bars match seamlessly with our aluminum skid plate for the ultimate protection combination.
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* 1 inch stainless steel construction
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* Weight: 10 lbs


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Over at Rachel's place, another commenter asked me if I'd ever considered giving space to someone who'd had a negative experience with WLS, as a counterpoint to Heidi's controversial guest post. It was a timely question, because I'd just read Mariellen/Vesta44's account of her failed Vertical Banded Gastroplasty (VBG) on her blog, Big Fat Delicious. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was at least getting a big, fat link over here — and it would be even better if Mariellen would give me permission to repost it here. Turns out she was kind enough to do that, so you'll find it below, as well as on her blog.
One thing Mariellen's story highlights is the lack of viable options for fat people who are in serious pain and having trouble functioning normally — something that can get lost in our discussions of whether we can ever, under any circumstances, get behind someone having WLS. In Mariellen's case, she has absolutely, 100%, ruled out ever having WLS again — yet she's suffering from many of the same problems as Heidi, and doctors continue to recommend WLS, even when she tells them she won't do it because she already did it, and the consequences were terrible.
When you're in pain and you cannot get a doctor to address anything other than your weight, what do you do? And what do we, as fat acceptance activists, do when some fat people, suffering and desperate for relief, are browbeaten into believing that nothing other than surgery can help them? What do we healthy fat people think we'd do, if we had to walk in their shoes?
Thanks very much, Mariellen, for sharing your story with us. It's a really important one. –Kate
I have read various things at various times on FA blogs where some think that anyone who has had/is having/is contemplating WLS does not belong in the FA movement. If that is so, then I don't belong here either. I say that because 10 years ago, I had a VBG, which I have said before, and posted in comments on other blogs. Yes, it failed, and yes, I'm still alive and still fat, and still healthy, just like I was before the surgery. Do I have complications from it? I don't know, mainly because I can't afford to see a doctor to have the problems I'm having diagnosed for causes.
Now, 10 years ago, I was in a totally different headspace than I am now. Back then, I didn't know that fat acceptance even existed, let alone what it could mean for a fat woman like me. I had minor mobility problems (yeah, they were minor compared to what I'm going through now). I couldn't walk for more than a couple of blocks without my back cramping up and causing pain. I was still able to sweep and mop floors without having to take a break halfway through, I could vacuum the whole living room without having to stop, and I could do a sink full of dishes without having to sit and take a break till my back quit hurting. I didn't have to use the motorized cart at Wal-Mart to do my shopping. I didn't have any problems getting in and out of the shower, or even being able to stand long enough to take a shower. All of those things are more difficult for me now, after the WLS failed and I gained an additional 40 lbs.
Why did my nurse practitioner recommend the WLS? Not because I was diabetic, or had high cholesterol, or high blood pressure. I didn't have any of those, and still don't. She recommended it because I have arthritis in my right knee, and it's getting worse all the time (degenerative joint disease, and it runs in our family). I did a lot of roller skating when I was a teen and young adult, and every time I fell, I landed on that knee. Did that start the arthritis early? Could be, since I was diagnosed with it at the age of 33 after a particularly nasty fall and had to have fluid drained off the knee. She said that there was no way an orthopedic surgeon would even think of replacing my knee at my then-weight of 350 lbs.
So I took her advice, since I couldn't take the phen-fen anymore (yeah, she had prescribed that too, and it worked, till it was taken off the market). I went through with the WLS, and I can say now, looking back, that it was the worst mistake I ever made. Yeah, I lost 70 lbs in the first few months, but when I followed the surgeon's recommendations to start adding regular food back to my diet and stop relying on the mashed/pureed food, it all went to hell. I couldn't keep anything down, no matter how well I chewed it or how small I cut it up. My stapling came undone, and I started gaining the weight back. But it didn't stop there, I not only gained back the 70 lbs I had lost, I gained an additional 40 lbs. I also gained a side effect that no one told me anything about, and it's one of the reasons I don't eat fast food very often anymore. Lovely side effect, it is. If I eat at McDonald's, or Hardee's, or Burger King (or anywhere even remotely like that), I had better be near a bathroom within an hour of eating, or I will need to take a shower and change clothes (I really don't want to get more graphic than that, it's totally embarrassing for me to say that much).
I didn't want to lose a lot of weight, all I wanted was to go from my then-weight of 350 down to 250, maybe 225. I would still have been fat, but fuck, at least maybe I wouldn't have had so much trouble walking and standing. Now, damn it all, I just wish I was back at that 350 lb mark. At least then I could do a hell of a lot more than I can now. Now, I'm lucky if I can walk half a block before I'm in severe pain. I have to sit down in the middle of vacuuming, sweeping, and doing the dishes. I have to use a motorized cart at Wal-Mart when I shop because there is no way I can walk all the way through the store without severe back pain. And I totally relate to Heidi when she says she can't even wipe her own ass and how that makes her feel (I'm not there yet, but if I gain any more weight, I could be). I can't sleep flat on my back in bed because my back cramps and it hurts to move. I can't keep my right leg straight in bed because then it doesn't want to bend without pain. I had these problems before the WLS, but they've gotten worse since. My nurse practitioner back then didn't want to see if anything else was causing the problems, she was just positive it was my weight, and I was fool enough to believe her. Yeah, when I lost the weight, before I gained it back, I felt better and could move more easily (after I healed), but that short period of time where I felt better and could do more was so not worth what I'm dealing with now.
When I applied for SSDI and had to go see their doctor, he said "Yeah, you're disabled all right. Have you ever thought about WLS?" Told him been there done that, no way is it happening again, it doesn't work, and I'm proof. He said I should try the RNY (a friend of mine in New York City had it done last year, he went from 325 to 265 and he's currently at 290). Yeah, right, I am so not going there. No more WLS for me. I have enough problems from the last one, why the hell would I want to give them another chance to fuck me up even more? But that is my personal decision, based on what has happened to me.
I am not going to pass judgment on people who are considering WLS/WLD because I haven't walked in their shoes. I don't know how bad their lives are, nor do I have any idea what they have to cope with. If I were to be asked if I thought it was a good idea, I would have to say no, just from my own experience. I know diets don't work in the long run, been there done that too many times. I know WLS didn't work for me, and it killed my best friend, so I don't have a lot of faith in it either. However, for some people, this may seem like their only chance to improve their life and they may be willing to deal with all the possible complications and the possibility that they may even die. If their lives are so bad that risking death via WLS seems like a viable option, who am I to tell them no?
Banning people from the FA movement because they are desperate for an improved life is not kind or compassionate. I can understand that it's hard to see how someone who is having WLS could say that they love their body when they are willing to mutilate it. But it's damned hard to love a body that doesn't let you move, that you can't take proper care of, and that causes you pain every hour of every day. Those people can bring a needed perspective to this movement, just by telling us what is happening with them and how they got to the point that WLS seemed to be their only option. Why wasn't something done earlier, before a person got to the point that WLS seemed to be the only way out? What illnesses/diseases weren't diagnosed because all a doctor saw was the fat and refused to look further? What can we do to stop this insanity and get people to realize that fat is not the enemy, it's the blindness and bigotry that says everyone must be thin to be worthwhile?
I know this is not going to be popular with some, but it's the way I feel. I'm working hard to love the body I have, but I can tell you, there are days when I go "Body, I don't like you much today, you hurt and I can't do what I want/need to do, and I'm so tired of this shit." I also have days that are pretty good and I like my body and what I can do, and I'm looking forward to more of them as I get in better shape. But it's not an easy road, and I've made a lot of wrong turns and detours on the way. I'll get there, eventually. But shutting me out, and people like me, because we've made those wrong turns, doesn't advance anything.


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New Rochelle, NY, November 1, 2011Clinicians often face the challenge of trying to make sense of conflicting reports from parents, teachers, and children about a child's behavioral problems. However, a better understanding of the source and nature of these disagreements may provide important information that could improve treatment and outcomes. A group of articles in the current issue of Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com), explores this challenging clinical dilemma. The articles are available online at www.liebertpub.com/cap
The special section, "Information Variance and Its Diagnostic Implications," includes an editorial and five articles that focus on either discordant information between parents and teachers or between parents and offspring and how clinicians should proceed in the face of these conflicting reports. Guest Editors Gabrielle Carlson, MD (Stony Brook University School of Medicine, NY), and Eric Youngstrom, PhD (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) note that "disagreement between informants was more the rule than the exception." They suggest that clinicians view this disagreement as "additional information" rather than a problem and use this information to help determine the credibility of each informant's report. "This has implications for treatment engagement, adherence, and ultimately outcomes," they conclude.
Two articles take a close look at the implications of disagreements between parents and teachers: David Rettew, MD (University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, and Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands) and colleagues' report, "When Parent and Teach Don't Agree: The Tracking Adolescents' Individual Lives (TRAILS) Study," looks at behaviors that occur at home only, at school only, or in both settings among a community-based sample; while the paper entitled "Diagnostic Implications of Informant Disagreement for Manic Symptoms," authored by Gabrielle Carlson, MD and Joseph Blader, PhD, draws on patients seen at an outpatient clinic for symptoms of mania observed either only by a parent or by both parent and teacher.
Conflicting reports by parents and offspring is the focus of three articles, and the samples derive from families seeking services from an outpatient mental health clinic. Eric Youngstrom, PhD, and colleagues consider the question of who has greater credibility, parent or child, in the article "Informants Are Not All Equal: Predictors and Correlates of Clinician Judgments About Caregiver and Youth Credibility." Whether discrepancies in reporting influence clinicians' ratings of parent and child credibility is evaluated in the report by Andres De Los Reyes, PhD (University of Maryland at College Park) and co-authors on "Informant Discrepancies in Clinical Reports of Youths and Interviewers' Impressions of the Reliability of Informants." The article by Andrew Freeman (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) and co-workers, "Is Caregiver-Adolescent Disagreement Due to Differences in Thresholds for Reporting Manic Symptoms?" assesses whether the severity of a manic disorder affects the differences in how caregivers and teens describe the symptoms.
"Clinicians have long known that parents and children have very different perceptions about how a child is behaving or what they are feeling. In this issue, guest-edited by Drs. Carlson and Youngstrom, we are presented with multiple studies that clarify this dilemma. These studies improve the diagnosis and advance our understanding and treatment of children with psychiatric disorders," says Harold S. Koplewicz, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, and President, Child Mind Institute, New York, NY.
|Contact: Vicki Cohn
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News


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Be prepared, this is an excellent send-up of One Direction's earworm pop-hit "What Makes You Beautiful", but that means you hear the chorus once and it'll be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.
It comes to you from The Warp Zone, who gave us the smash hit The Day Guitar Hero Died back in 2011. Get ready for some tender embracing of Chief at 2:24 by the guy with the Jordan Knight haircut. I'm told Microsoft has been accused of secretly funding this; a spokesman denied that to me earlier this morning. Really, I asked. They still think it's great.
So here is TJ (the lead singer), Michael, Brian, Ryan, Michael, Nak3d Eli, with special appearances by Master Chief cosplayer Conor Robinson and Halo professionals neighbour and Elamite, performing The Warp Zone's "I'm In Love with Halo". It's a long distance dedication to Cortana, Chief, and all the n00bs who ever got teabagged in Lockout.
I totally just typed that out and read it back in a Casey Kasem voice, by the way.


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Story highlights
- Paul Begala says Alaska boasts a pristine salmon fishing region
- He says Bristol Bay is threatened by proposal to build big mine for copper, gold
- Begala says EPA found it would threaten streams and wetlands
- He urges EPA to use its authority to block the plan for the mine
It's a thrill for me as a fisherman to see a wild Alaskan silver salmon jump out of the water with my fly in his mouth. And it's an even greater thrill for me as a father to see my eldest son guide his old man and his little brother into a honey hole full of salmon on a remote Alaskan river.
I experienced both of those thrills this summer, as you can see from the mile-wide grin on my face in this picture.
For three generations my family has come to Alaska to chase wild salmon. The Chinook, the Sockeye, the Coho, the Chum and the Humpback are graceful, powerful beauties with an unerring GPS for home. They're also tasty -- and among the healthiest sources of protein you can find. Wild salmon (the ultimate free-range meat) is high in healthful Omega 3 fatty acids, and has been found to prevent heart disease and diabetes in Native Alaskans -- even those who are obese. No wonder First Alaskans have been happily harvesting salmon for at least 40 centuries.
Of course, humans aren't the only species who know the joy of salmon. I have had the humble honor of sharing an Alaskan stream with a bevy of Brown Bears. Without my expensive waders or flyrod, lacking even polarized sunglasses, they out-fish me every time. I have seen eagles -- mammoth golden eagles and majestic bald eagles, dive-bomb rivers to pick off smaller salmon, and choruses of cacophonous sea gulls scavenge salmon carcasses on a riverbank. And I caught the biggest rainbow trout of my life in Alaska, where the species thrives on salmon eggs.
Salmon is the focal point of so much of the economy in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. Salmon contribute $1.5 billion annually and 14,000 jobs to the region's economy. For good reason, the Chinook Salmon is the state fish of Alaska.
And yet this magnificent, abundant, nutritious, valuable resource is threatened. A partnership between two companies -- London-based Anglo American, which has a spotty environmental record and Vancouver-based Northern Dynasty -- wants to build one of the world's largest mines to extract copper, gold and molybdenum at the headwaters of two of the most significant rivers in Bristol Bay.
Anglo American says it is committed to a goal of minimizing "any impact to the local environment by designing, operating and closing all of our operations in an environmentally responsible manner."
But the mammoth Pebble Mine would, according to an exhaustive review conducted by the EPA, destroy up to 90 miles of streams and as much as nearly 5,000 acres of wetlands right smack-dab in the middle of one of the largest, most productive and most valuable sockeye fisheries on earth.
The Wild Salmon Center and Trout Unlimited have looked at this proposal as well. The destruction they foresee is biblical: up to 10.8 billion tons of rock waste. If you were to load all that waste onto train cars, the train would stretch to the moon...five times.
The mine would require 9 miles of dams, some of them taller than the Washington Monument. God forbid one of them failed in earthquake-prone Alaska.
"The problem with Pebble is its size, type and location," said Tim Bristol of Trout Unlimited. Bristol notes that the mine would be far bigger than all the other mines in Alaska combined, digging down nearly a mile into the earth straddling the two major drainages of Bristol Bay, the Nushagak and Kvichak, two of the world's greatest producers of sockeye and Chinook salmon. The ore body itself contains a huge amount of acid-generating waste rock. "Imagine a lake of dilute sulfuric acid," he says, making my skin crawl. "A sulfuric lake that must be contained and monitored essentially forever. And this would be happening in one of the more seismically active places anywhere. It's the last place to mine not the first."
To be sure, there are other voices in the debate. The Washington Post editorial board, has hypothesized that the mining companies "can, for example, build extremely high and strong tailings dams, engineering the whole project beyond what standard industry practices would dictate." And the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the powerful lobby for big business, has mocked the EPA's dire warning, saying the agency has let its imagination run wild.
Still, a clear majority of Alaskans said they opposed Pebble Mine in a poll sponsored by the Bristol Bay Native Corporation, which represents more than 9,000 Eskimio, Aleut, and Athabascans with ancestral ties to Bristol Bay. Perhaps Alaskans see this as a situation in which a handful of business people with un-calloused hands and expensive suits get the gold mine, but Alaskans get the shaft. All so some corporate consortium can sell more copper and gold to the Chinese.
Fortunately, under the Clean Water Act, the EPA has the authority to stop the devastation before it's too late. All they have to do is use it.
Under the Clean Water Act, the EPA can block the mine if it would have an "unacceptable adverse impact" on (among other things) "fishery areas (including spawning and breeding areas), wildlife or recreational areas." EPA should use the power Congress gave it to protect Bristol Bay. The stakes are historic. Just as Teddy Roosevelt is remembered for saving Yellowstone, President Obama and his new EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy can go down in history as the visionary leaders who saved the salmon.
Even if you have never heard a fishing reel sing as line is stripped out by a wild salmon; even if you've never heard your child scream "Fish on!"; if you've never felt the pull of a fighting fish or even tasted succulent fresh Alaskan salmon, you have a stake in stopping Pebble Mine. An environmental stake, an economic stake, a moral stake.
Years ago my father shook his head and grinned as I stood in chest-deep water in 39-degree weather and caught my first Alaskan salmon on a fly in the driving rain. This summer it was my turn for my heart to swell with parental pride as my sons out-fished me in Alaska. So I feel a special obligation to ensure that magnificent habitat is around for their children and grandchildren and on and on for another 4,000 years.
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The unmarked white building on Candelaria holds one bed and two dressers but no personal belongings suggesting a home. It's eerily devoid of picture frames, stuffed animals and clothes. A cooler sits on the beige tile floor, and Patriot Pest Control's newest employee bounds into the room to check it out. Captain Dale, the bedbug-detection dog, has one thing on his mind.
After Albuquerque joined countless U.S. cities in the battle against bedbugs, exterminator David Erik Swanson searched for an extra edge in combatting the problem. He traveled to Southern Star Ranch, a K9 training center in Texas, to undergo a weeklong session attuning himself to Dale's cues. Back at his Albuquerque headquarters, he's acclimating the black Labrador retriever to his surroundings in preparation for inspections.
Once Dale gets settled into a routine, he'll be 99 percent effective, Swanson says. Dale's accuracy means the team can target infested areas rather than the whole room. Since bedbugs can live without food for six months, they hide in crevices, cracks and other hard-to-detect places before rising for meal of human blood.
Since bedbugs can live without food for six months, they hide in crevices, cracks and other hard-to-detect places before rising for meal of human blood.
"They can get in the walls and outlets," says Tobi Camilli, an inspector with Patriot. "We were at a job last week where we found them behind the headboard. For every one that you see, there could be 50 of them."
Swanson says bedbugs resurfaced in part due to the 1972 ban on DDT, a chemical perviously used in exterminations. Increased international travel also causes epidemics to spread quickly. Infestations hit high-rolling luxury suites with the same regularity as roadside motels.
"We're not going to be able to stop them from coming from one place to another," Swanson says. "It's the transient nature of our society. There's not really a way to completely get rid of bedbugs."
Albuquerque doesn't regulate methods of bedbug eradication, says Lori Stoller, the city's consumer health protection manager. But if a tenant feels the landlord has not taken all precautions, he or she can report the case to code enforcement. Deborah Nason, spokesperson for the Planning Department, says the only complaint that's been received so far was unfounded.
Bedbugs can live in any environment that's above freezing and below 110 degrees. Deana Frye, CEO of Real Pest Solutions, recommends a heightened awareness of anything that can come into contact with the bugs.
"When you travel, keep all your luggage in the bathroom, since bedbugs usually live in the bed or ceiling," she says. "Once you get home, put everything into the washer and dryer. Anything that you can't wash you should freeze."
Many pest control companies use chemicals to treat the problem, which Frye says harm the environment, children, adults and pets. She maintains that chemicals are also increasingly ineffective. Frye's methods include botanical sprays, steaming and freezing. "Some of the pesticides' active ingredients have been overused, so they develop an immunity to it," Frye says. "They won't ever become resistant to heat or cold."
"Last year I did one bedbug treatment per month. Now I do two to three a week."
Deana Frye, CEO of Real Pest Solutions
Albuquerque has not reached national top 10 lists for bedbug infestations, but both Swanson and Frye say they've seen an increase in cases. "Last year I did one bedbug treatment per month. Now I do two to three a week," Frye says.
The spike in business is what led Patriot Pest Control to add Captain Dale to its employee roster. Swanson says New York and New Jersey require a dog to sniff-check a room before it can be declared bedbug free. That's part of why he wanted to be the first bedbug dog handler in New Mexico.
Southern Star Ranch schools dogs in tracking narcotics, accelerants, termites, allergens and bedbugs. Trainers choose dogs that play fetch well and have high energy levels, Swanson says. Dogs that are primarily motivated by food instead of play have higher rates of faking a find to get a snack.
Two-year-old Captain Dale is mature enough to follow orders but also young enough to be taught. When he finds the bugs, he sits down and points at them with his nose. When Swanson says "show me again" and he stays put, they know they've found a load.
"It's kind of spiritual to work with a dog," Swanson says. "It's a very cool bonding experience, and it was pretty moving when it finally worked. I'm looking forward to that even more as we go forward. I know his nose. On a good day he'll pick up those bedbugs across the room."


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The Hate My Day Jobs New York, New York
THE HATE MY DAY JOBS are a three-piece rock band from NYC. They've been compared to a punch in the face, their live show to
a workout. They're loud, aggressive, desperate, and all energy.
Check out music videos on our youtube page, follow and friend us on twitter and facebook, or look at our pretty faces on flickr: ... more
Streaming and Download help


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You may know Tim from shows on Adult Swim like Tim & Eric Awesome Show: Great Job!" "On Cinema" and "Decker", seen his stand up or perform in bands such as Heidecker and Wood, Yellow River Boys, Tim Heidecker and His Ten Piece Band or heard his recent album "In Glendale".
Browse timheidecker.com to learn more. Find Office Hours streaming live exclusively through Facebook.


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Chicago Tacos: Pulled Pork Tacos at Brand BBQ Market
Reviews of tacos.
If there's one thing I've learned from writing this column, it's that restaurants need to respect the tortilla. Chicago may be blessed with a collection of some of the best tortilla factories anywhere, but if you use day-old versions, your tacos are going to suck. There's no way around it. Places that serves a steady stream of tacos usually have no problem on this front. Where this does become an issue is at restaurants that may have only one taco option on a very big menu.
Thing is, it doesn't matter if I'm at an Irish pub or a barbecue restaurant, if I see a taco on the menu I have to order it, which explained why I was at Brand BBQ Market in Logan Square with a plate of pulled pork tacos in front of me. As the name suggests, this is a barbecue joint. It's also one that happens to be famous for its unusual offerings; while I'd pass on ordering a slab of ribs, the excellent burnt ends mac n' cheese completely deserves its notoriety. I had hope.
My spirits were further raised when the tacos arrived and I could see some slight charring on the tortillas from being warmed up on the grill. (Note: this is a good trick that other joints should copy.) The tortillas were also soft and pliant, meaning I could actually go ahead and focus on the filling, which turned out to also be better than expected. Slightly smokey and tender without completely falling apart, the pulled pork was an excellent base. Some crunchy chopped onions added some much needed freshness, while some of the acidic barbecue sauce helped cut through the fat.
Not exactly a reinvention of the wheel, but definitely one of the better one-off taco experiences I've had in Chicago. Other places should take note.
Brand BBQ Market
2824 West Armitage Avenue, Chicago, IL 60647 (map)
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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Wednesday, September 18, 2013
The famous grocery store "Eliseevsky", opened a long time ago in 1901, is considered to be the first one in Moscow till now. Named in honour of its former owner and millionaire, Grigory Eliseev, the store became famous not only for its big variety of products, but for luxurious decoration of sales areas in Neo-Baroque taste. Huge crystal chandeliers, reminding of bunches of grapes, decorate high archs of the sales area. The house, situated in the historic center of Moscow in Tverskaya street, 14, has an interesting biography. At the end of 18 century Secretary of State of Ekaterina the Great invited the architector Matvey Kazakov to build a Palace for his beautiful wife, Kozitzkaya. After her death the Palace began to belong to the daughter- princess, A.G. Beloselskaya-Belozerskaya. In 1824 princess Zinaida Volkonskaya, the granddaughter of Kozitzkaya, opened a literary salon here, where the famous artists, poets and publisists liked to gather. A.S. Pushkin, E.A.Baratynsky, D.V. Venevitov, P.A. Byazensky, A. Mitzkevich recited their poetry many times. At the end of nineties of 19 century the house in Tverskaya street was bought by trader of St.Petersburg, the millionaire, Grigiry Eliseev, the tradesman of wine and colonial produce, the owner of the biggest grocery store in Nevsky avenue, in St.Petersburg in Russia. Here "the Eliseev Store and Russian, Foreign Wine Cellars" was opened. "Eliseevsky" was being opened solemnly with church service and priests who were invited specially for that ceremony. Counters in the store were full of different kinds of food. Eliseev who established friendly relations with european countries, sold various sorts of tea and coffee, different kinds of cereals, butter, cheese, sausages, rum, fruit, truffles and anchovies. After the revolution of seventeen the store continued to work not losing the popularity. The name " Gastronom №1" was not used, as the moscovites called it "Elissevsky". And the portrait of Grigory Eliseev, painted by the artist-amateur Alexandr Romanov, continued to decorate the wall of the main sales area in the grocery store till now. In 2004 there was a serious restoration of inside premises in the store. Politics of assortment, the industrial base changed, new corporative standards of serving were introduced. But "Eliseevsky" remaind a traditional, old store, the same it was earlier. The trading network "Alye Parusa" managed to combine the form of trade in counters with a modern supermarket harmoniously.
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- GP2 news
Abt joins Calado at Lotus GP
- Teams:
- Lotus GP
Daniel Abt has been announced as the new team-mate of James Calado at Lotus GP for the 2013 season.
With Esteban Gutierrez moving up to Formula One with Sauber next season, Abt graduates from the GP3 team to take his place. Abt was the GP3 vice-champion in 2012, losing out to Mitch Evans by two points, and he said that he hopes to continue the strong relationship he has built up with the team.
"I cannot tell you how happy I am to have the opportunity to race in GP2 with the best team I can imagine," Abt said. "Already in GP3 we had a really good relationship and worked together well. We finished second in the championship it felt like the right choice for me to go one step higher in my career. Of course it is always a big challenge for the drivers and the team but I am sure we have the perfect package to achieve great results. I want to thank Frederic Vasseur and all my partners for believing in me and offering me the opportunity to do the 2013 season in GP2 together with Lotus GP."
Team principal Frederic Vasseur said that in his opinion Abt had actually deserved to win the GP2 championship last season.
"Daniel is the GP3 driver who has improved the most over the course of the last season," Vasseur said. "He finished either first or second in the last seven races, showing he has what it takes to fight for the title until the final race and that he fully deserved to win. His mind, his raw talent and his ability to adapt and grow convinced Lotus GP to help him take the step up into the GP2 Series where he will have a professional environment that he already knows and which has the culture of winning."


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WALTHAM, Mass. – Brandeis University senior catcher Kenny Destremps (Mashpee, Mass./Mashpee) drove the first pitch of an attempted intentional walk to deep left field to plate rookie 3B Rob Trenk (West Orange, N.J./West Orange) with the game-winning run today as the Judges defeated visiting UMass Dartmouth, 14-13 in 10 innings. The win snaps Brandeis's 16-game losing streak as the Judges move to 6-24, while the Corsairs fall to 11-11 on the season.
The 50th meeting between the two schools – Brandeis leads the all-time series, 30-20 – was a wild affair. The Judges scored runs in seven consecutive innings, helping to overcome UMD's two bat-around frames in the sixth and seventh.
Brandeis trailed, 13-11, headed into the bottom of the eighth inning, but scored single runs in the eighth, ninth and 10th with the benefit of just one hit in the three stanzas. Destremps hit his first sac fly of the game in the eighth, plating sophomore LF Brian Ing (Sandwich, Mass./Sandwich), who had reached on an error. In the ninth, the Judges manufactured a run as sophomore 1B Pat Seaward (York, Maine/York) walked to lead off the inning. Senior CF Zach Malis (Merrick, N.Y./Bellmore JFK) bunted Seaward to second. Junior pinch runner Mike Swerdloff (Scarsdale, N.Y./Ardsley) replaced Seaward and advanced to third on a groundout and scored the game-tying run on a wild pitch, the first offering from Corsair rookie Josh Rebello (Acushnet, Mass./New Bedford).
Meanwhile, Brandeis junior Dylan Britton (Poughquag, N.Y./Arlington) gave the Judges a chance to win in extra innings by retiring eight of the 10 batters he faced. Britton retired two batters in the eighth – though UMD scored a run on an error committed on his watch – then got the side in order in the ninth and worked around a two-out single in the 10th, setting up the walk-off heroics.
In Brandeis's half of the frame, Trenk led off with a five-pitch walk off of UMass Dartmouth junior John Quigg (Weymouth, Mass./Archbishop Williams). Rookie RF Zach Bardwell (North Andover, Mass./Central Catholic) followed by clubbing a double to left field. Bardwell's first collegiate extra-base hit, and the Judges' first of the game after 12 singles, put two runners in scoring position with Destremps coming to the plate. UMD pulled the infield in and their catcher held out his arm for the outside pitch and an intentional walk, but Quigg caught too much of the plate and Destremps punished him by sending the ball to deep left field, allowing Trenk to score well ahead of the throw.
Brandeis had led, 5-2, after five innings, but UMass Dartmouth sent 10 men to the plate in the top of the sixth to put together a six-spot and claim an 8-5 lead. The big blows in the frame were a three-run home run to left field by rookie 1B Alex Newton (Saco, Maine/Thornton Acad.) and a two-run triple by junior 3B Corey Allison (Taunton, Mass./Coyle-Cassidy).
The Judges responded with four unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth, with rookie 2B Tommy McCarthy (Yonkers, N.Y./Fieldston School) rapping a two-run single up the middle to put Brandeis back ahead, 9-8. The lead didn't last long as UMD batted around again, scoring four more runs, with Allison's sacrifice fly giving the visitors a 10-9 lead and back-to-back hits by rookie 2B Nate Farias (Fall River, Mass./Durfee) and senior SS John Granahan (Hanover, Mass./Hanover) pushing the lead to three runs. Brandeis grad student DH Pat Nicholson (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) hit a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh to get the Judges back to within one. The Corsairs' final unearned run came in the eighth before Britton's outstanding work and Destremps's heroics carried the day.
Destremps led all players with four RBI, tying a career-high, as he went 1-for-4 with a two-run single in the fourth inning in addition to his two sacrifice flies. McCarthy had career-highs with three hits in four at bats, three RBI and two runs scored, while Bardwell also had three hits. Eight of the Judges' nine starters crossed the plate as they matched a season-high in scoring, while their 13 hits tied for their second-best total of the season.
UMass Dartmouth rapped out 16 hits, with every starter hitting safely at least once. Allison and Newton each had three RBI for the visitors, while Granahan and Matt Worden each led the Corsairs with three hits.
Britton earned the win in relief, allowing just one hit and striking out one in 2.2 innings. He improves to 1-1 on the season. Quigg suffered the loss to fall to 2-1.
Brandeis is back in action tomorrow at Worcester State at 3:30 p.m.


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Melissa Walters
Class of 2004
Major/Minor: Drama, Humanities/English, Gender Studies
Melissa fulfilled her senior thesis obligation at WC by designing costumes for productions of I Hate Hamlet and Antony and Cleopatra. Her favorite WC productions include Angels in America (2002),Master Class, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (2004). Melissa has stayed close to WC, teaching Drama, English, and Journalism at Prince Theatre.
Thoughts on the WC Drama Experience: "The Drama program at WAC was quite intensive. My experience greatly prepared me for the real world; how to do every job imaginable, with no money."
Undergrad Highlights
- Majors: Drama, Humanities
- Minors: English, Gender Studies
- Secondary Certification: Drama and English


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Model #ACD-2214HP
|List Price:
|Our Price:
|$119.95 New
General Description
We're committed to exceeding your expectations:
- Found it for less? We'll match the price
- 25-Year or Limited Lifetime Warranty
Our customers come first — we guarantee it!
Combo desks give young students a personal space to work. These student chair desks are a great size for children in preschool through second grade.
Chair desk combination units save both space and money. This Poly Combo Laminate Chair Desk from Academia creates an attractive, practical free-standing unit to keep your students learning well and your classroom looking great.
These combo desks feature a spacious writing surface that lets students learn comfortably. Handy under-the-seat storage keeps textbooks and other items within easy reach. Heavy-gauge steel frames, underseat brackets and full-contact welds provide unbeatable support and durability. The hard plastic desktop is dent, scratch and stain-resistant, and is virtually impervious even to sharp objects like pens. Available in a wide array of bright shell and desktop colors, the Poly Combo Desk is an economical, compact and highly solid seating solution for today's classrooms.
- Manufacturer:
Academia Furniture manufactures school furniture products that are durable, attractive and affordable. Its classroom furniture includes the bright and colorful Educational Edge line, and the new and exciting Inspiration line. All of Academia Furniture's products are backed by Hertz's limited lifetime warranty.
- Width:
- 24 in.
- Depth:
- 30 in.
- Height:
- 27.75 in.
- Weight:
- 33 lbs.
- Back Leg Specs:
18-gauge Steel, 1.125"
Gauge is a measurement of steel thickness - the lower the gauge, the thicker the steel.
- Back Support:
- Steel Bars
- Desktop Edge Type:
- Rounded Edge
- Desktop Finish:
Hard Plastic
Made from resin and wood flour, molded at a very high temperature and pressure. Hard plastic is smooth, attractive and incredibly durable.
- Desktop Surface:
- 24"W X 18"D X .625" Thick
- Frame Finish:
Chrome is a lustrous, silver-like finish that is electroplated, applying a very thin layer of chrome to steel.
- Frame Specs:
16-gauge Steel, 1.125" Dia
Gauge is a measurement of steel thickness - the lower the gauge, the thicker the steel.
- Glides:
- Self Leveling Glides
- Green
- MAS Certified LEED
- Handing:
- Right and Left Handed
- Pen Groove:
- Yes
- Seat Height:
- 14"
- Seat Material:
Polypropylene is a sturdy, low-maintenance thermoplastic polymer resin that is somewhat flexible.
- Seat Size:
- Underseat
- Yes
- Underseat Support:
13-Gauge Underseat Brackets
Gauge is a measurement of steel thickness - the lower the gauge, the thicker the steel.
- Warranty:
- Limited Lifetime
- Waterfall-front Seat:
- Yes
- Weight Capacity:
300 Lbs.
Weight Capacity refers to the moving weight/force of a person as he/she sits down on a chair.
- Certified Green
- Super-Tough Desktop: Hard-plastic desktop surface is dent, scratch- and stain-resistant, even to sharp objects like pens.
- Supportive Seat: The polypropylene shell has a curved back and waterfall seat which help students maintain proper posture for lasting comfort.
- Ventilated Back: Attractive cut-out promotes healthy airflow throughout the day.
- Tough Reinforcement: Side-by-side tubular steel back supports, 14-gauge under-seat brackets, full-contact welds and an angled side brace bolster units.
- Wide Selection: Available in left and right configurations and a huge selection of chair colors with great hues for the work surface.
- Accessible Storage: A book basket under the seat gives students a convenient place to store books while a built-in pencil groove helps keep writing implements handy.
- Floor Protection: Standard with self-leveling nylon glides. Choose optional felt, rubber or steel glide inserts to get optimal protection for any kind of floor.
- Lifetime Coverage: Our Limited Lifetime Warranty guarantees many years of use and enjoyment.
Eligible for LEED Credits
MAS Certified Green (compliant with LEED for Schools)
Assembled in the USA with the highest standards of quality.
We're committed to exceeding your expectations:
- Found it for less? We'll match the price
- 15-Year or Limited Lifetime Warranty
Our customers come first — we guarantee it!
Shipping & Assembly
- Ships Via:
- Common Carrier
- Leaves Factory In:
- Approximately 3-4 weeks
- Assembly:
- Ships assembled
- Notes:
- Ships 2 per carton; prices are per item.
Poly Student Chair Desk - Hard Plastic Top
|List Price:
|Our Price:
Product Family
This product is a part of Poly Combo Chair Desk with Hard Plastic Desk
There are 4 products in the family


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Light up your life with bright and soft light,which designed by hand blown glass.Like star shinging in the sky.Enjoy your nice night. 100% hand blown glass chandelier light,modern art decor murano glass pendant lamps.Home hotel decor glass lighting.Chihuly style glass chandelier.Visit Store >
US $522.62 - 583.34 / Piece
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Suggested Room Size: 10 ~ 15sq.m 15 ~ 20sq.m 20 ~ 25sq.m 30sq.m ~ Above 25 ~ 30sq.m 10sq.m ~ Under
Certification: CE UL
Width: 5 to 9 Inch 20 to 24 Inch 4 Inch & Under 15 to 19 Inch 25 Inch & Above 10 to 14 Inch
Bulbs Included: Yes
Material:murano glass. Color:Customized.Size:Customized.Style:Designed.Hardware:Included.Payment:Credit card,Bank transfer.Shipping cost:For free.
Each glass piece is 100% handmade,so the finished chandelier will be a little different from the picture.
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Size:W50cm*H60cm(W20"*H24"),Any size can be customized
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Each glass piece is 100% handmade with unique teardrop and twisted stems,each glass piece length is about 10"-20".
Hardare offered together with the glasses pieces.
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Pls don't worry ,we will pack them with carefully to make it safe.
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it you want to get your package earlier,you can send us message ,we will advise you another shippment method.
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We will meet your design since we have our own designer and factory,Just feel free to contact us if any special requirement .
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The luxurious pendant globe light are necessary items in those beautiful European style houses, the glittering crystals and shining lights of multi pendant lights can make your house look like in a fairytale. The brass pendant lighting provided in our shop are popular, because of the delicate design of home light fixtures and also the high quality. The weight and material of hanging ceiling lamp are strictly controlled so that they would never fall down easily. So just buy some unique pendant lighting and start to make your house a castle.
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14 Transactions, 100% Positive Feedback
New Arrival
US $78.39 / Piece
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US $78.39 / Piece


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Upcoming PR & Marketing Campaigns
We will be promoting the following stories over the coming months with media so make sure to add or update your inn's information on the Special Packages page on BedandBreakfast.com:
- Top winter destinations for B&B travel
- Holiday specials
Working on ideas for your own publicity? Here are some upcoming holidays that might make good news hooks and fun package themes:
November is:
- National Novel Writing Month
- National Sleep Comfort Month
- Veteran's Day (November 11)
- Sadie Hawkins Day (November 13)
- (U.S.) Thanksgiving (November 24)
December is:
- Bingo Month
- National Maple Syrup Day (December 17)
- Hanukkah (December 20 through December 28)
- Festivus (December 23)
- Christmas (December 25)
- Boxing Day (December 26)
- New Year's Eve (December 31)
To add specials: Click here to log in to your Home Base on BedandBreakfast.com, then click the Specials link to add your packages. Be sure to include all relevant information including rates, validity dates, whether children/pets are welcome, and the costs. (Silver-level members and above may post specials. Bronze member? Please click here to upgrade. Not yet a member? Join today!)
Notable News
BedandBreakfast.com has been receiving quite a bit of national news attention!
USA Today did a story with BedandBreakfast.com featuring "10 great places to sleep with a ghost" in its October 21 print issue and showcases a slideshow of the 10 haunted B&Bs on its website. The story was picked up by ABC News and other local television websites.
BedandBreakfast.com also worked with the New York Times on a story about five "B&Bs that Break the Dolls-and-Doilies Mold" in its October 15 issue. Two of the five Texas B&Bs are listed on BedandBreakfast.com: La Maison in Midtown Houston and Blair House Inn in Wimberley.
We worked with SmarterTravel.com to include several member B&Bs in its "10 Great Escapes for Fall." The Roaming Boomers also shared our leaf peeping news with its readers.
Did you see all the great national publicity for the B&B industry and BedandBreakfast.com during Wheel of Fortune's special "Bed & Breakfast Week" in October? PhillyBurbs.com and Boston B&B Examiner picked up our story about this special week and great prizes.
The Vancouver Sun included BedandBreakfast.com in its August 13 story about camping and B&B options in New York.
Finally, we recently saw About.com picked up our news about the "mini-moon" trend earlier this summer.
Stay tuned for more coverage about the B&B industry as we unveil our Best of the BedandBreakfast.com 2011-2012 Awards, new monthly awards, holiday specials and promotions, and the new website.
PR Tips
BedandBreakfast.com Blog: If you have any great high-quality photos, deals, or recipes to share, email them to Emily Gerson for consideration. You should also email her if you're interested in participating in an innkeeper Q&A feature on the blog.
Change photos often; add video too: We know we say it over and over, but we repeat our photo mantra each month because it is such an important part of promoting our members. Media are always on the lookout for timely photos. Photos from your listing pages are often linked to releases posted in the BedandBreakfast.com Press Room, also visited by media worldwide. Most importantly, timely photos on your BedandBreakfast.com page motivate consumers to book. Since autumn is just around the corner, replace your summer photos with shots of glorious fall foliage and outdoor activities that can be enjoyed at your inn.
Not sure how to post photos? Click here to log in to your Home Base on BedandBreakfast.com, click Photos from the Quick Links box on the left, thenfollowing the easy instructions on the screen to upload your pictures. Don't forget! If you have high-resolution photos or videos, please post them on BedandBreakfast.com. When the media wants high-res photos and videos, we look for them on BedandBreakfast.com, so be sure to post yours soon.
Check out www.nebraskabb.com


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A Place for Transvestite's and the Transgendered
Sophie's is based in Bath, Somerset, England. Its a place where either transvestites or transsexuals can relax in nice surroundings.
Try on some clothes from the vast wardrobe. Be taught deportment and learn about make up by an understanding female.
Have a makeover in the salon and then be photographed if you wish.
Watch television or a video in the lounge, the choice is yours but most important you can be who you want to be
for just a few hours or a few days. Our charges are very reasonable.
We have clients who have been visiting us regularly for over 10 years.
" Sophie's has given me many happy years"
I would feel honoured if you linked me to your web site.
Please e-mail Sophie's for details or to leave a message.
This page was last updated
13th June 2001
This is the amount of people who have visited my site since 4th August 1999. Thank you for your interest.
Sign Sophie's Guestbook View Sophie's Guestbook
Back to Sophie's main page.


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Pro-audio manufacturer Focusrite recently introduced the iTrack Solo, an aluminum two-channel interface designed for recording instruments and vocals on an iPad, at a coming-out party in Manhattan. Featuring a dual-input audio interface and Focusrite's low-distortion microphone preamp, the iTrack Solo is also compatible with both Mac and PC computers.
But the neatest thing about it is that it lets you record excellent-sounding audio to the iPad. Your mobile music studio just got not only smaller, but cooler.
During a demo of the product at the Gibson Guitar Showroom at the legendary recording studio The Hit Factory in New York City, Focusrite's Brandon Carroll explained two keys to iTrack Solo's success: 1) the device connects to the iPad through the 30-pin connector rather than the headphone jack, providing a higher quality audio signal; and 2) the device supports up to 24 bit /96 kHz audio resolution, whereas many other audio recording devices top out at 16-bit.
We have a test unit, and it works with your recording app of choice on iOS, Mac, or PC. One caveat we have is that, obviously, this thing is designed for recording one musician at a time (thus the name "Solo"), and it's designed for mono instruments and mics (you can record both at the same time). However, that should suit most home recorders/producers just fine.
The other caveat: The iTrack Solo needs to be plugged in to a wall outlet in order to work with the iPad, so it's only mobile to an extent. This is understandable, because the audio processing and lights need more juice than your iPad can provide.
Here's a full list of features from FocusRite:
- High-quality award-winning Focusrite microphone input. iTrack Solo draws on Focusrite's 25-year expertise in high-performance pro-audio.
- Made for iPad. Compatible with Mac OS X and Windows: Record with many apps including GarageBand – with up to 24-bit, 96kHz sampling.
- Direct connections for microphone and instrument: Plug electric, electroacoustic, or bass guitar and microphone into the front panel to record in pristine quality.
- Signal halos for level and clip indication: Two lights surround the input level knobs to ensure recording at the correct volume.
- Connect directly to a loudspeaker system: Rear panel phono connectors provide line level outputs to an audio system for playback.
- Aluminium unibody case Roadworthy protection for even the most adventurous musician.
We were impressed with how simple the iTrack Solo is to use. First, open up your favorite music making app, like GarageBand. Next, connect the device to your iPad using the enclosed device link cable and either to a power source using the enclosed USB cable and your iPad's USB plug adapter or to your computer. If you want to hook up your device to speakers for playback, simply use the two phono connectors on the back of the device, which lets you listen to previously-recorded tracks without latency from your recording app.
Once you have completed the setup, you're ready to plug in and play. Using the ports on the front of the device, connect your guitar, bass, or keyboard, and a microphone. The device's use of phantom power allows you to use top-quality condenser microphones. Hit your app's recording button, and begin playing.
As you play, "halos" surrounding the device's input knobs will let you know if you are recording at the correct level (green halo) or at too high of a level (red halo), which is a clever, intuitive way to depict how hot your signal is. After you have finished recording, you can mix the track and adjust volume levels on your iPad. (To see a full tutorial on how to use the iTrack Solo, check out the video below).
Not only were we impressed with how user-friendly the device was, we were also impressed with the sound quality. Bringing over twenty-five years of pro-audio experience to the creation of this product, Focusrite has definitely raised the bar for iPad audio recording.
The Focusrite iTrack Solo is available in stores now, and will set you back $160.


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Transportation Tokens
Car Wash
Fare Box issues for 2020
Download the Fare Box issues in Adobe PDF format. Choose a Fare Box issue below:
Note: ALL links above require a username/password. If you are an AVA member, email us for the password. At the request of the Executive Committee, issues are not available online until they are 3 months old.
Receiving the Fare Box is one of the benefits of joining the AVA. So, please do not post the password in any public forum, or give the password to any non-AVA member. Older Fare Box issues are available for free without the need for a password.


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Major Cheryl Sanders
Cheryl Sanders was promoted in February 2013 from Captain to Major, supervising the Field Operations East Bureau. Commissioned as a Road Trooper in 1983, Sanders first worked in Knox County where she was also assigned to the CID Division in undercover narcotics enforcement. In 2002, Sanders became the first female promoted to Lieutenant with the THP. In 2006, she became the first female promoted to Captain overseeing the Chattanooga district. In 2008, Sanders was reassigned as Captain over the Knoxville district. Sanders earned an Associate's degree in police science and criminal justice from Roane State Community College, and is a graduate of the Northwestern School of Police Staff and Command.