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Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Madonna's private concert
Guess who saw Madonna in a private concert at the Olympia hall last night?! Not me... But a few selected guests and some lucky listeners to the French radio station NRJ, who won some of the few seats available! I spoke to her agent and he said she might show up at the PDP picnic (I just posted some additional info in the forum BTW), but would not be able to stay too long (she has a concert in London soon, you know...). I asked him to make sure she'd bring a bottle of wine and some sausage. ;-)
171 comments:
Madonna? I am from her home state, but wouldn't travel to see her though!ReplyDelete
Wouldn't that be cool if she actually showed up at the PDP picnic though!! Hope you all had an absolutely lovely time!!ReplyDelete
Hey Christie GF! I wouldn't bother either. I read today that it's a shame she feels that being 50 means she finds it most appropriate to show that she can still appear in scantily-clad clothes and is still able to do a hip-thrust. It's all a bit...smutty, to my mind. A bit desperate. Not for cash, clearly, but for attention, adoration. I'm sure others would argue that thousands of fans can't be wrong.ReplyDelete
Would certainly be noteworthy if she showed up to the picnic though! Don't forget to take lots of photos will you; i can't wait to see. I'm hoping the weather will be good for you all! Good shot, Eric
Merci Lynn. I'm pretty sure there will be a lot of pics taken ;)ReplyDelete
Madonna? I remember when we were all wondering if she or Cindy Lauper would be still be famous 10 years down the road. Everybody had their money on Cindy Lauper, then, and as it turns out ...ReplyDelete
It's a tough business, so in a way, I'm kind of glad that she's still successful at it. Not that I'm a big fan or anything but don't you just hate it when a band is successful for a summer or even a few years, and then they fall off the face of the earth? Or .. you see them doing infomercials? uhhh... Now that's sad.
LOOOL Eric!ReplyDelete
I'm not fan but it's probably a real show, something to see.
So you roamed around the Olympia with the aim to see her?!
I like this kind of picture, you often take people in picture but we rarely see their face. A real mystery...
I'm really looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow.
Bonne nuit!
I think the link to the Dailyphotoblog forum doesn't work anymore... :SReplyDelete
Have a great time at the picnic, guys! Yes, I know it's OUR party, but I think I'll still cry - only because I want to, though. ;)ReplyDelete
TF: "Don't you just hate it when a band is successful for a summer or even a few years, and then they fall off the face of the earth? Or...you see them doing infomercials?"ReplyDelete
One of the saddest examples of this has to be 'Air Supply', who've become TV spokesmen for a set of "golden oldies" re-releases. They were a pathetic already, but participating in a tacky advertorial hasn't helped.
.........anyway.......so THAT's why you missed Kylie last night, Eric. You went for raunch rather than prettiness. AND Kylie spoke in French...sigh...I'm not sure you made the right choice there......... LOL.ReplyDelete
Christie and Lynn, I agree with you both! I guess I admire her ability to morph into something new every year or so, but the "Look at me now!" bit gets old. I do love her new accent though. ;) Eric, I hope you have a lovely picnic, and your superstar guest makes an appearance! It looks like perfect weather!ReplyDelete
You show 'em, Eric! Make that Material Girl materialize at the picnic! They will doubt you no more!ReplyDelete
Madonna at the Olympia?? Well, good for her!! I still like her..but she is no Piaf!! Do you think she'll sing "Borderline"??? LOL!!!ReplyDelete
If Madonna is a no show at the picnic she will truly be missing out!ReplyDelete
All of you on Holiday in Paris for the PDP picnic, you should Cherish the event, get Into the Groove, and thank your Lucky Star. If you must Express Yourself and Vogue down by the Seine, I hope you Live to Tell! And Eric, I'm Crazy for You! Have a wonderful picnic!ReplyDelete
I'm sure I'll get lots of boos for that, but Papa Don't Preach, I couldn't help myself.
Katie: On the contrary, I think you should Take a Bow for your efforts, rather than perform some Act of Contrition! Or is that, in being a Bad Girl, you are afraid to unleash The Beast Within? Here, on the other side of the world, I'm Going Bananas at the thought of what I'll be missing out on tonight - which is only Human Nature, really. But I don't want to be a Cry Baby about it, as I know that it Ain't No Big Deal: I'll be joining Everybody in a year or two for some Seine-side Hanky Panky of my own! And, yes, I Deserve It - I Know It!ReplyDelete
Thanks Lucio! And now I have to try to decipher your message; I'm sure there are some gems once I start digging.ReplyDelete
Maybe after the picnic tomorrow someone will sing that old Kingston Trio classic: The Seine, the Seine, when will I again, meet you there, greet you there by the moonlit banks of the Seine.
Who needs Madonna when you have Eric?ReplyDelete
I hope you all have the most wonderful time!
What a funny post Eric! But frankly, I'm kinda hoping she shows up. It would be great for her publicity I think being seen at a PDP "Event". All the other stars will be there, so why not her?!ReplyDelete
Have fun over there in SF too! We especially want photos of Tomate in her red suit and Buzzgirl in her honey jar.
Do you think the big M will come, now that there's a video on Youtube showing the paparazzi how to find her?ReplyDelete
I think I answered my own question. She'll come.
I agree;who needs Madonna when we have PDP and Eric.ReplyDelete
I am still laughing about the little directions video on you tube - and the music. It's like an old silent movie. LOL :D
I am working tonight, so I can't even follow you online at the picnic,it's terrible.
Have a nice time ALL of you :)
- AnonymousMay 7, 2008 at 8:08:00 AM GMT+2
Have a wonderful time at the picnic! I hope you have enough food to accommodate the big M and the paparazzi :-)ReplyDelete
Katie - you're great !ReplyDelete
I love the way you answered your own question, Petrea!ReplyDelete
I'm wondering how much Madonna's autograph is worth, and if she ever gives them out.
- AnonymousMay 7, 2008 at 10:19:00 AM GMT+2
Est-ce que c'est un poisson d'avril? Nous sommes au mois de mai pourtant... ;)ReplyDelete
Marie, thanks for helping me find the link to Eric's video "How to get to the picnic location".ReplyDelete
Eric, I really enjoyed that video. You are so cool to do that.(Is that Xmas music in the background?). No one has an excuse now of not being able to find the location -- clever.
I'm working tonight too but hope to get the deadline out of the way then it's just slower working from home so i'll be around! Be sure, someone, to get online to let us know how it went! Eric we all wait with bated breath for your photo tonight, for sure! You are under pressure - oh dear, laying down by the Seine - watch out for that spikey grass, i do believe there are rumours of water and having to remove wet clothes. Ouch!ReplyDelete
Thanks Eric for the link to the Olympia. I would love to see Marc Lavoine the next time he plays there. (I know Guille what you are thinking -- square.)ReplyDelete
Katie and Lucio, Wow FANCY comment -- I don't know ANY Madonna songs. I listen to French music. My favorite female vocalists are: Zazie, France Gall, Emilie Simon, Celine Dion, Axelle Red, to name a few.
I like Celine Dion too Lois, i love to sing myself, so i sing along! Also Elsa... her 'middle period' i call it. Not so keen on the latest one or the early ones.ReplyDelete
Speaking of Sur le Seine and Marc Lavoine I think this is a masterpiece of CD design.ReplyDelete
I use to design album covers for rock groups. I worked out of NYC. I was commissioned by record companies. I did not like it though. The life on the road is lonely. The up side, I did have a lot of artistic freedom. And I was paid a lot of money.
Yes, I'm going to the Paris picnic next year. I'm taking this year off as I've been to Paris 6 times in the last two years. I don't want to over do it. Yeah! Right??!
bisou bisou
to make everyone jealous:ReplyDelete
I m sitting in a French cafe (outside of course), enjoying the glorious weather in Paris!
Don't worry, if Madonna drops by I will tell her you guys said "hello"
Oh Rose, I can out do you today.ReplyDelete
I just came back from my 1 1/2 hour lunch with some close colleagues, after sitting outside in the sunshine at a brasserie très typique and enjoyed a great bouteille de cote de provence rosé wine. Ahhhh...who said enjoying life was hard work?
Rose and Michael: I envy both of you - even more so since the two of you will be at the picnic as well! I hope everyone has a good time, but I'm sure you will! And in SF as well!ReplyDelete
I think Petrea made the comment of the day: "Who needs Madonna when you have Eric?". Very true, hehe!
And Michael made me laugh about his comment on Tomate and Buzzgirl ("We especially want photos of Tomate in her red suit and Buzzgirl in her honey jar.")! You are a very entertaining lot here. ;)
Rose, did you just text me?ReplyDelete
Just bought the "table cloth" (OK 25 meters of white paper!), cheese, bread (Poilâne), ice tea, apple pie, saucisson (in case Madonna forgets...), etc.
Lois: The making of cover art sounds intruiging! Makes me wonder just how much you've done over the years; it certainly seems to be a great deal (yes, I'm a little envious here. :))?ReplyDelete
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LOL Eric!ReplyDelete
Oh I'm so happy for you guys, all getting prepared to meet and bring nice things to the picnic.
Rose I'm so excited for you, you're in Paris!!!! Hope you had no trouble finding the right train station.
And Michael, what a great lunch you had. It all sounds so perfect!
I hope you all have the best time at the picnic today. I can see the weather is great in Paris today!!!
Eric, a white paper table cloth? Aren't you afraid it will blow away?ReplyDelete
Alexandra, I started young -- that is why it seems like I have done a lot. I had my first interview and painting demonstration when I was 16. It was on "Good Morning America" -- (which I thought was square). How's the job search going. I had to put mine on hold. I am getting too light headed, and am in the party mode.
The forum is hilarious!ReplyDelete
Michael, careful with the caipirinha... or you might be the one needing the gilets de sauvetage!!!!
OH MY will you let us know who the surprise guests are and what is the surprise for the first 50 people who show up???? (50? this is not a picnic anymore, it's a banquet!)
- AnonymousMay 7, 2008 at 3:42:00 PM GMT+2
The weather is really wonderful. Eric, the Sun heard you ;)!! I am very happy to see you tonight and meet some of the greatest PDP stars! I won't forget food (salty cakes), something to drink and fresh strawberries. See U later!!!!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMay 7, 2008 at 4:16:00 PM GMT+2
Okay, it is a VERY small world.ReplyDelete
I was in my French class this morning (ahem ... in Paris) and we were practicing the futur proche (I am going to xxx .. je vais xxx). I said "I am going to attend a picnic tonight on the banks of the Seine."
My teacher said "Moi aussi. Do you think it's the same picnic?" (except she spoke all in French).
Of course, it turned out that it is. After all, it's the ONLY picnic in Paris tonight, right?
We had to explain to the class, so, Eric, don't be surprised if a small group of students who have never seen your site till today, show up too.
Seriously, this is a highlight of my month in Paris. I've been checking out PDP for almost all of the three years + it's been posting, and love both the photots and the commentary.
The heck with Madonna, I'm only interested in meeting all youse guys!!
(aka Barbscoot - I can't figure out how to post on a French computer)
Madonna @ Olympia? Saw Bob Dylan and the Moody Blues there back in the day -- both better, IMHP.ReplyDelete
Great picture, Eric.
Hope all of you who are so lucky to be in Paris have a wonderful time at the picnic. Enjoy the vin and pain Poilane and saucisses, with or without Madonna!
Looking forward to the pix.
- AnonymousMay 7, 2008 at 5:43:00 PM GMT+2
Barb: great story. I hope you encouraged everyone to attend.ReplyDelete
If M shows up I wonder if Michael will push her into the Seine?
Yes, a great story! I DO hope they all show up.ReplyDelete
Cali, who is "M"?
Wow this is so exciting! Rose i'm delighted at the thought of you sitting outside at the cafe. How fantastic to be in Paree! Pleeeeease take your laptop if you can and let us know what is happening tonight, now and then?ReplyDelete
Michael you devil you always make me so jealous! Glad you're having a great time. So you've started on the wine already huh. He he!
Eric you sound well prepared. It will be great fun! So glad it's sunny.
- AnonymousMay 7, 2008 at 6:04:00 PM GMT+2
The big M, or Madge as she's known.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMay 7, 2008 at 6:13:00 PM GMT+2
Mon cher Eric,ReplyDelete
You know that I would love to meet up with you again. The last time was so Erotica. You know What It Feels Like For A Girl, so you have always been there as my Ray of Light.
That last night we had together in Paris we were so Into the Groove and I'll Remember that special Secret we had that ended in a Fever which kept getting Deeper and Deeper.
One day, I know, you'll come and Rescue Me so that we can Keep It Together. We'll be so in Vogue when we make Hanky Panky and I won't have to Justify My Love.
So during your picnic tonight on La Isla Bonita, I 'll be thinking of you and all of the PDP fans...sort of Like a Prayer.
Remember, never forget that I Cherish you and always want you to Express Yourself. And please, please, please, never forget me. I would hate for us to ever be so far apart that you find yourself asking, "Who's That Girl"?
I will always be your True Blue girl, no more Like A Virgin (remember that Holiday when we went right past the Borderline?!) and you'll always be my Lucky Star, forever and ever.
Ohhhhh....THAT "M"!ReplyDelete
Of course I'll push her in the river (unless she needs a very expensive back-up singer!)
I once new a manager in NYC. He was relatively new in the biz. He only had a few bands. He told me that he was looking for talent. We were walking down the rue. There was a poster of Madonna on a wall (with a gazillion other posters). She was new to the biz too and playing small dance clubs. I said to him, "Why not manager her?" He said, "no, no, no, I have met her; she is too dirty -- filthy." I said, she doesn't look dirty. He said, WELL, SHE IS. I didn't say another word.ReplyDelete
So Cali, he most certainly would agree on throwing Madonna into the Seine (but from the sound of it, I don't think he would touch her).
- AnonymousMay 7, 2008 at 6:20:00 PM GMT+2
Just be sure to photograph it. You'll be able to live off the proceeds.ReplyDelete
Not even with a 10 foot pole Lois? ;) Wish I was in NoCal to meet up with y'all.
If I were Madonna I don't think I'd come to the picnic; everyone's dissing her!ReplyDelete
Still, I can feel the excitement building here and I'm not Madonna and I want to be there! Have fun, everyone!
No, no, no....ReplyDelete
PDP Confession #238....I actually LIKE Madonna. I know some of you won't be surprised, but she has reinvented herself so many times and been successful at it, I can only admire that.
I would never actually push her in the Seine (especially if I could be an over-paid back-up singer), but even if not.
There, I said it...I Like Madonna.
(now, what DID I do with that bustier I was going to wear to the picnic...?)
Michael, you're great. "I love Confession #238" -- I'm going to use that one.ReplyDelete
I don't think you would look good in a bustier. Your chest is too hairy. ;-) Another great joke. Wow, two in one comment.
Michael, you're great. "I love Confession #238" -- I'm going to use that one.ReplyDelete
I don't think you would look good in a bustier. Your chest is too hairy. ;-) Another great joke. Wow, two in one comment.
Confession#238?-that's hysterical but I know what you mean to reveal your truth among friends, especially here!ReplyDelete
These comments are the funniest most entertaining lighthearted "posts" (within a post)-I am addicted to this comment page as much as I am addicted to PDP!
I'm sorry my last comment posted twice. My laptop froze, etc.ReplyDelete
It's almost 7 pm in Paris. I guess everyone will be heading over to the picnic -- party time.
he he at the M post, very well done whoever did it - Hi Michael ;) lol!ReplyDelete
I agree with the re-invention thing, yes it's to be applauded. Just a bit of a shame that most of the re-inventions lately involve her dancing in her knickers. We just don't want to see! Knickers are for UNDERNEATH your dress! So are bras. Ok some of you might want to... I don't! Yes i'd push her in the Seine. Actually no, i'm very non-violent but in my head would be, as a smiled and talked to her politely..."Push! Push! PUSH!" ;)
Lynn, you don't walk around and dance in your knickers? I'm surprised -- with three sons, I think NOT.ReplyDelete
..."Push! Push! PUSH!" ;) GOOD ONE. I'm non-violent too. Say, where is your cat these days?
(peeks over shoulder)..sshhh... Leopard's not around at the moment. All windows open to let lovely sun and air in, though they are set on auto-lock and i have the remote in my hand just in case.ReplyDelete
I have been known to dance around the kitchen oh yes that happens quite a lot. Yep as you say, when alone, mainly. We shall say no more. LOL.
Bet they're having a great time, don't you? I'm still working. Grr.
Hey Lynn, Nice new pic.ReplyDelete
Fabulous new pic Lynn!!!ReplyDelete
Thanks Mon'. Thought i'd have a change in honour of the picnic. I think you and i will make it next year!ReplyDelete
Great photo Lynn. You are so cute! It's windy here in SF -- a little chilly. We are getting ready for our picnic.ReplyDelete
Nobody told me about the San Fran picnic! That's okay. I'm stuck on the other side of the bay anyway.
I just called Eric and got to speak with lots of the regulars. Everyone in Paris is having such a wonderful time and I am so happy for them! Eric promised lots of photos tonight.
SUZY SUZY SUZY! Where've you been? Good to see you here.ReplyDelete
It's cold in LA, too. Rainy. (That's good.)
Like the picnic pic, Lynn. I'm working, too. Well, obviously not at the moment. Sigh.
PETREA! I was in New York City with friends and I've been distracted with my other obsessions since getting back. I've peeked in a few times though!ReplyDelete
Thanks Petrea and Lois! Hope you have a great picnic too.ReplyDelete
I just spoke to them!!!!! Woo hoo!!! Very kind of Rose; she rang me. I spoke to them all quickly and they're having a great time. I'll let you into a secret: they are.... REAL !! Oh yes, they have voices and everything! lol.
Apparently there are 'thousands' of bottles of wine, says Guille, and everyone is getting to know each other in person. I spoke to Michael, Rose, Guille, Phx, And, oh girls? I spoke to ERIC !!! Yes indeed. Very sexy voice i thought. he he. Well i have to be just a tiny bit naughty huh? Ohhhhh that was so exciting. Rest assured everyone, i can report they are having a great time. Can't wait to hear more and to see the pics!!! Next year is a definite for me.
I'm just back from the Ferry Building in SF where I picked up a regular baguette, 2 sourdough baguettes, a sour batard, and 4 kinds of amazing CA cheese. Plus I have strawberries and cherries from the farmers' market yesterday. I'm sure everyone is laughing and having a wonderful time at this very moment on the banks of the Seine. But we'll have fun at our little party tonight too!ReplyDelete
Oh, and Lynn I agree with the others that you're new photo is awesome!
The wind has died down here in SF -that means I can put the cushions on the lounge chairs without them blowing away - it's a bit chilly in the shade. But if you are in the sun, it's nice. Rain would have been horrible for our picnic. It's good that it is raining in LA -- I heard that they said you were headed for a draught.ReplyDelete
Suzy, I didn't know you lived in the Bay Area. Our picnic starts around 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm ish. It will end when we get tired I guess. Please let me know if you can make it and I will send you an email with my address and other particulars.
thanks Katie! Have a really great time at your picnic. That food sounds superb. You know how to do picnics Katie!ReplyDelete
Katie, I'm not getting the Irish Soda Bread -- I think we have plenty of bread now;-)ReplyDelete
I love shopping at the Ferry Building. They have such cool things. Oh, Sur La Table, what a great store. I'm going to dash out in a few minutes and pick up some odds and ends for the picnic.
Oh well about the soda bread Lois. I think we'll have plenty to eat! Lynn I learned how to do picnics by spending so much time in France! I have a big map of Paris up in my cubicle at work and I'm staring at the spot where I know everyone is right now, and trying not to be too jealous. Can't wait to see photos, movies, etc!ReplyDelete
Lynn, after that comment about dancing in the kitchen, I should think you'd be the last one to complain about Madonna in her knickers...ReplyDelete
he he but i didn't say anything, Petrea! Well, not really... lol! No, i just dance in my kitchen. That's all, that's it. Stand back everyone...nothing to see here. LOL.ReplyDelete
I just came home from work. I have been thinking about you folks at the picnic all night. I really envy you. I SOOOOO wanted to be there too.....ReplyDelete
Lynn you spoke to them all. WOW you're lucky.
Love your new picture.
When and where can we see pictures and videos from the picnic ????
Thanks lois simon! However, I really am stuck on the other side of the Bay (Pleasanton), and tonight I'll be stuck in San Jose. It sounds like it's going to be a wonderful picnic though!ReplyDelete
I'm having my own PDP picnic here at my desk. I bought some bread and cheese and a little pot with Lily of the Valley for atmosphere. All I have left to do is plug in my Christmas light-covered Eiffel Tower.
Oooh, I'd love to have one covered with Christmas lights. Mine's a little brass thing. I still love it, though.ReplyDelete
We'll have the so-Cal PDP picnic sometime. Maybe if/when Katie comes to town. (Or when any/all of you come to town!)
Thanks Bettina. I guess if we're lucky we might see something tonight, i hope so! Depends what time they roll home i suppose!ReplyDelete
Suzy that idea is great, i wish i'd thought of it. I have at least had a baguette, some cheese and salad! Oh and a little chocolate. Blush. We're halfway there, Suzy!
I've just realised - i haven't got one! I don't think i have a single eiffel tower anymore! I've lost them over the years in house moves. Ohhhh :(ReplyDelete
LYNN! WHAAAAAT? NO EIFFEL TOWERS? OMG.ReplyDelete
But now that I think of it, that makes sense because I'm pretty sure I have ALL of the Eiffel Towers. You'd have to watch your footing in my house for fear of being impaled if you fell.
The one with the lights is about 90 cm tall. I literally wrapped a light string around it last Christmas and never removed it.
I'm on the edge of my office chair waiting for the PDP picnic pix!! Lynn - I love that you got to speak to everyone - how fun (and how very nice of Rose). If you e-mail me, I'll send you an Eiffel Tower postcard with Eric's PDP Zazzle stamps on it (I still owe you one after having won the Cheltenham GF :) )ReplyDelete
Whoever wrote the Madonna post is hilarious - was it you Katie??
Come on, where are those pix???
LOL Suzy! What fun. Yes i've only just realised it and i feel instantly bereft. I don't know what's possessed me to be void of any Tours. How bizarre. It just won't do.ReplyDelete
They're still partying aren't they? :)
Hi Pont Girl! Well the whole point of winnng Chelt GF was i sent one to you - but yes that would be FAB! he he i shall email. Guille sent me a gorgeous one of a cafe scene in Paree so i have that on my mantelpiece at least. A piece of Paree.ReplyDelete
I know i'm anxious to see them too. At least we're keeping the comments going so they'll have some bedtime reading, though it's bound to be hazy after all that wine! Can you imagine them right now, i bet they're still by the Seine. Probably eating bits of fruit for dessert, giggling madly, talking crazily fast and draining the bottles. Wonder if they've sung yet and all told each other they love each other yet? It's bound to happen.
"I'm on the edge of my office chair waiting for the PDP picnic pix!!" - I echo Pont GirlReplyDelete
Do you think they´re still partying??
Lynnn!!!! I´m so thrilled for you!!! So you spoke to them all!!! Yes Eric does have a charming voice doesn´t he?! I wish I had had time to called them too, that would be great to talk to them. I can imagine the joy you felt from speaking to them.
Now... where are the pictures??!!
Guys??? Are you still at the picnic??
Pont girl! I've been thinking of you! You must be working hard these days. I hope it's going well.ReplyDelete
I hope they're having a wonderful time. I know it's late in Cheltenham, Lynn, but this time we'll forgive Eric for posting very late, won't we? I want them to enjoy each other's real (as opposed to virtual) company. I hope it goes late into the night.
LOL Suzy, so you have all the Eiffel Towers miniatures!!ReplyDelete
Lynn, I´m definetely going to Paris too next year, but not sure if it will be in May. we have time to plan that.
Pont Girl: I did a comment early in this string using Madonna songs. Then "Madonna" commented MUCH later doing the same thing. Great minds think alike I guess!ReplyDelete
Suzy: you don't have ALL the Eiffel Towers, because I'm wearing Eiffel Tower earriings today! I actually made them from littl E.T. trinkets I bought at a little store near me.
If Eric goes home and goes to bed without posting at least ONE photo, I don't think I'll be able to handle it!!!
Hmmm... midnight in Paris if my math is right. I see Eric trespassing in a boat on the Seine, teetering on the edge of falling off with a bottle of wine in one hand (surely he made an exception and had a few drinks tonight?) and what's left of a baguette in the other hand that he is using as a faux microphone to serenade the women of PDP who are in various reclined positions staring up at him adoringly...ReplyDelete
That must be Michael at the other end of the boat Vogueing and striking various poses as Madonna stares up at him adoringly and says, "Why do I need Guy Ritchie" when I can have Michael of PDP??"
Eric serenading his lovelies! Michael vogueing! I love it!ReplyDelete
Hi Monica, Petrea & Katie!!! We are all waiting together, I see! It won't be long now... that is unless they are having too much fun and haven't left yet!ReplyDelete
Lynn, I think you should call Rose and check to make sure no one's fallen (or been pushed) into the Seine! ;)
Girls, have you realised that there were two surprise guests there??ReplyDelete
Lynn, do you know who they were?? I´m so curious.
This comment has been removed by the author.ReplyDelete
I´d call Michael right now if I was sure he was still in the picnic with the others. But he might be half asleep now so I won´t take the chance.ReplyDelete
Monica - quelle suspense!! What have you heard?? Definitely don't call Michael - because you know he snuck off with Madonna and headed over to the Paris B&B ;)ReplyDelete
Surprise guests in addition to Madonna? Tell!ReplyDelete
Katie, that's funny "I don't think I'll be able to handle it!!!" I think you just spoke for all of us.ReplyDelete
Pont Girl, where do you come up with this stuff. Is this a screen play yet? What's the next act?
I heard there was going to be some special surprises at the picnic Pont Girl. Oh and lots of gifts too!ReplyDelete
Rose, did you bring our brazilian flag??!!!
Phx did you play Bloggers Famous Quotes??ReplyDelete
Guille and Michael did you drink caipirinha?
Rose did you need the gilet de sauvatage?
Oh there´s so much I wanna know...!
Surprise guests? Tell us more, Monica. What do you know?ReplyDelete
LOL Pont Girl! Such a funny image.
Monica, Rose tried to call you too but you were not answering.
I tried to text Rose but there was no reply, i think the party was in full swing by then! I think by now Eric will surely be flat on the grass photographing everyone upside down, side to side, near, far, macro, i bet he has hundreds of shots! Maybe.. just maybe,,, he's fallen asleep afterwards and will wake tomorrow with a headache by the Seine, having to explain himself to a gendarme. Oh the mind boggles and my imagination fuelled....!
I spoke with Jeff when I called Eric - is he a surprise guest? I didn't see the RSVP list.ReplyDelete
Hee hee, Lois S., I must have been channelling the Duchess of Cheltenham...ReplyDelete
Monica - obviously you are in possession of some major scoop - now please be a proper reporter and tell all maintenant!!
Jeff? Jeff was there? Oh i didn't speak to him, he must arrived later or perhaps he was swimming in the Seine at the time.ReplyDelete
he he Pont Girl, Duchess of Cheltenham i LOVE it. I'm not smiling either.
Katie i can't wait either. I think the main photo will be a group thing. Or maybe Eric will tease us by first showing just a pic of the food and drink. Let's guess!
It had better not be a big toe!ReplyDelete
Yes, remember Jeff's countdown? He arrived in Paris yesterday or the day before. The picnic was on his agenda. I'm SOOOOO happy for him!ReplyDelete
It was very kind of Rose to phone me. She has a calm voice and her first line (she's always polite) was "Lynn. Can you talk?"ReplyDelete
Thinking it was MI5 i answered, "Y...es?" and madly wondering if i should have told her "the dog is behind the bush", she then said who it was and i was so delighted. Phx was having a good time and sounded very excited. Guille was lovely, very girly and fun. Michael was great and tricked me when i first got him. Eric was deep and definite-sounding. Oooh i can't wait!
Lynn, ROse must have got the wrong number. My phone did ring, but it was certainly not her. Oh too bad, that would have been so fun!!!!ReplyDelete
Jeff was not the surprise guest. I don´t know who they were. Maybe Eric´s and Michael´s sweethearts??!!
I have no idea. I´ll let the ones who got gifts tell it themselves.
Lynn I as SO excited that you talked to people already!! Can't wait for the full report. I know I'm going to get in big trouble here at work constantly refreshing the page to see the first photo. Eric better not pull a "toe" photo, or when he wakes up in the morning there will be 1,000 + comments from us giving him all kinds of grief. It's nearly 1:00 am there; doesn't Eric know he's driving us all stark raving MAAAAD!!ReplyDelete
Suzy oh there's a thought. I hope to God the embankment wasn't littered with doggy poos either.ReplyDelete
Eric's and Michael's sweethearts? Monica, are you trying to make me cry?ReplyDelete
Thanks for the delicious details, Duchess!ReplyDelete
LOL Suzy. My pleasure, Pont Girl. I'd been hoping to tell you the colour of E & M's underpants but forgot the word in French.ReplyDelete
Hey by the way i swear Michael has a frisson of a French accent, which i did not expect.ReplyDelete
Yes he does, Lynn! More than a frisson if you ask me. I thought Michael was an expat American? I was a bit surprised to hear an accent.ReplyDelete
I just got back from the picnic and had the most wonderful time. We missed those of you who were not able to make it. And yes, PHX-CDG gave us the quiz. I'm sure Eric will fill you all in, but for now I am headed to bed as it has been a very long day...ReplyDelete
Thanks Lynn, I'm sure they had little Eiffel Towers all over them (les sous-pantalons ;) just kidding - I don't know how to say it either...ReplyDelete
Perhaps Michael is a bit like Madonna after all, and has adopted a French accent after having lived in Paree all these years??? ;)
Suzy, I love those one liners -- they are really funny! It better not be a big toe...ReplyDelete
Are you trying to make me cry...
Yes, maybe he has! Little Eiffel Towers on them yes perhaps so. Perhaps the word is Le ... oh no i can't say that. I can't. ;)ReplyDelete
Justine so glad you had a good time! So the picnic is over. This can only mean one thing - Eric will soon appear!
The times I spoke with Michael he was like "Hola Monica" so I get accents from all over the place!ReplyDelete
Girls I think I know where the bunch is at this hour. If I´m not mistaken Jeff was going to host an after picnic party at his rented flat. So... the party might be just starting...
Justine!! Thanks for the info!!ReplyDelete
How fun you got to play the quizz. I helped Phx prepared it so somehow I was really present at the picnic!
I hope Jeff's flat has wifi and Eric brought a laptop. I want them to have fun, but I'm selfish for photos.ReplyDelete
REALLY??? an after-party party. Hmm. I hadn't thought of that. Intriguing... they could be gone some time. I'll give it another half hour then i'll ... i'll... i'll stay up a bit longer.ReplyDelete
Thanks, Justine for letting us know that at least one of you made it out alive ;)ReplyDelete
Monica, you know all the deep dish! Is the quiz going to be posted somewhere? I want to see!
LOL Pont Girl!! he he she did make it out alive. To the rest of the group - RUN, RUN, RUN whilst you still caaaaan!ReplyDelete
Thank you for checking in, Justine!ReplyDelete
I've had my fill of bread and Havarti for one day, so my pretend picnic is over. Thanks for sharing it with me, girls. I'm out of here in 20 minutes, so I may not get a taste of the real picnic until tomorrow. So sad.
I did hear that I was an answer on the quiz, so part of me was there!
Lois simon, hang around me long enough and you'll know why my friends call me "Shut Up Suzy." It's a commonly used phrase in my life. It's obligatory to roll your eyes when you say it. ;)
The word jealous springs to mind. Not about seeing Madonna, no, not a fan, but the picnic I would love to see in the flesh. Ah well, sure there will be lots of photos for us to enjoy. I hope a good time was had by all. You certainly have the right weather for it.ReplyDelete
Katie, those earings sound cute. I am wearing a French T-shirt, 2007 Alice & June concert tour in France. It lists all the cities and dates on my back.ReplyDelete
Pont girl, "made it out alive" love it.
Lynn, crazy funny as ever, "i'll ... i'll... i'll stay up a bit longer".
That was so sweet of Justine to give us a heads-up. Thank you, yes, get some sleep.
lol Suzy. I didn't even know there was a quiz. (thinks privately... i wonder if i was an answer too...?)ReplyDelete
I want to be an answer! I want to be an answer! I want...ReplyDelete
Maybe I'd rather be a question...
LOL SuzyReplyDelete
I know what the answer about you was.
Petrea, I even helped elaborate the answer about you.
Lynn, of course you were part of the quizz!!!
Wow really Monica? I hope it was good...:) You seem in the know. What else do you know? What other gems can you reveal?ReplyDelete
Petrea, how funny. You have a good point, maybe it's better to be a question.
Well. All this waiting. How are we spending the time? I've ironed some t shirts for my son, i've washed the kitchen floor. I've tidied my handbag. Don't make me clear out the under-stairs cupboard, Eric. I haven't been in there since 1973.ReplyDelete
Good for you, Lynn. I'm just answering email.ReplyDelete
Thrilled to have been an answer!ReplyDelete
besides that, don´t know much more Lynn. All I know is there were gifts, a quizz, booze, and probably some people being rescued from the Seine.ReplyDelete
I have to go know. Won´t be able to check in again in the next few hours. So I´ll be kept in suspense some more.
Just got back from the picnic...ReplyDelete
LOL Lynn! You are quite the trooper to still be awake - I'd definitely be snoring if I were in the UK. I am sitting at my desk at work reading an article about jury selection in death penalty cases.ReplyDelete
Monica, can you share some of the questions while we wait??
Stay tuned...ReplyDelete
LOL Lynn, you´re so funny.ReplyDelete
I´m still working, but have to wrap things up here. That´s why I´m leaving now.
Oh my I can´t leave now, Eric´s here!!!!!!!!!!!ReplyDelete
REFRESH REFRESH REFRESH!ReplyDelete
ERIC!! ERIC!!! ERIC!!!ReplyDelete
Ou sont les photos, monsieur????
Pont Girl I´d love to but it would take me a while to write it. You see, they were quite elaborate answers... !ReplyDelete
I´m sure Phx will let you know some of them when she tells us how it went.
Seriously Eric, you don't know what kind of agony you've been putting us through!! So glad you're home and are diligently working at posting something for us!! Refresh is right Petrea!!!ReplyDelete
Et encore Petrea:ReplyDelete
Ah, Ladies, now is the time to be patient. Eric will want to go through his photos and choose carefully. Once he's selected just the right photo, he might want to crop it or sharpen it, perhaps enhance the colors a little. If he weren't the type to take care, PDP wouldn't be the blog it is.ReplyDelete
So I shall bite off what remains of my nails, because the chocolate is gone. Vive la France!
Drumroll, please...ReplyDelete
Eric is here, Eric is here, how do I look? I don't think he realized what a harem he has.ReplyDelete
Petrea, "So I shall bite off what remains of my nails, because the chocolate is gone. Vive la France!" That's funny.
Lynn, you iron t-shirts??? I live and sleep in t-shirts -- however, I have never thought of ironing them.
Was that Eric? I thought i saw him breeze in here. I must have nodded off onto my keyboard. I woke up with the nipple in my mouth. It wasn't pretty.ReplyDelete
he he Lois yes i iron t shirts. Except those which my son runs in. I don't have a tumble dryer though, so they end up horribly creased. See what we've come down to, Eric? Talking laundry, and it's all your fault! Not really, Eric... I'll forgive you anything... well...nearly anything.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMay 8, 2008 at 1:57:00 AM GMT+2
Eric, do you ever sleep? ;)ReplyDelete
Poor Lynn, still awake, it´s so late there!ReplyDelete
Lois I don´t iron t-shirts either. Come to think of it, there´s lots of clothes I don´t iron.
I think this comment box might reach 200...
LOL Petrea. Vive la France indeeed but now I really must go. Well, I´ll check here later to see what delicious news Eric has to give us.
Tell him I was waiting here for hours and now leave him with a gros bisous.
I spirit, I really was at the picnic.
Monica you're staying? He'll come back soon i think. Unless he's just tricked us and is all tucked up in bed. Groan. Bed. Say it slowly. B-E-D. How inviting is that? mmmmm i'm tired.... I want to get star-shaped very soon now.ReplyDelete
Star shaped Lynn!! Oh only you come up with these hilarious stuff.ReplyDelete
My Gosh I have to leave. What´s with PDP???!!! It is SOO hard to say goodbye
Oh blast. It's 5:00 p.m. where I am and I have to go now to a political fundraiser which is not going to be even remotely as fun as this is... I guess I'll have to wait until I get home later tonight. Goodnight all PDP peops.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMay 8, 2008 at 2:04:00 AM GMT+2
My God, Eric. I've had relationships that didn't last this long.ReplyDelete
Petrea, my thought exactly. huh?ReplyDelete
he he Monica... i know. I keep saying to myself it's ridiculous i must go to bed. Luckily i'm not up until 8.30 tomorrow but still... I don't think we'll see Michael tonight. He gets up at an unGodly hour. Something like 5. I didn't know there WAS a 5 am before i knew him.ReplyDelete
LOL Anonyme! I like that.ReplyDelete
Girls you CRACK ME UP!!!ReplyDelete
We spoke about the thousands of comments which probably would appear during the night...we were right!!
Petrea, your REFRESH REFRESH REFRESH is so funny. Didn't I tell you Eric? ;)
I had such a great time there...Guys, you have to know that you're the best people in the world. And I'm sure that the people missing were as nice as the people I saw...
Phx, I've thousands of books to read now, I have to go. LOL. And thx for the quizz (and Monica too!).
Lynn, maybe Eric has a sexy voice, but you too! LOL
Rose you're not here, but good night in Paris.
he he Petrea. You know, the funny little nubbin thing on the keyboards of some laptops. Acts like a mouse, though i elect to use the proper mouse. Yes this is the antiquated borrowed one i'm using. It's so ancient.ReplyDelete
Of all times, I have to go out now. Will see the photo(s) when I get back. Good night, Lynn, good night Paris!ReplyDelete
Hi Guille! So glad you had a good time! Sounds such fun.ReplyDelete
I have a sexy voice too? Wow. No,,, you shouldn't, you're too kind....really? :) LOL
Night Petrea! We stood firm, didn't we, strong and proud, til the end... where IS ERic? I have to sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep soon. Il faut que j'y aille....ReplyDelete
Ok, cela suffit...a demain, cher Eric. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz bisous.........xxReplyDelete
I feel sorry for you Eric, to look for a picture on which we don't seem to be too drunk to be put online... ;)ReplyDelete
I have to sleep too. Good night!
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL. OK I've posted one, but there are many more to show you tomorrow.ReplyDelete
Thank you for your patience.
Oh my! So many comments, questions, speculations, and jokes here. I just don't think I can keep up with it all.ReplyDelete
Oh yes you can Michael. We want details! Food, who came first, who last, oh and the quiz. Was i an answer? Was Petrea? What were they. We want it all. ... Pretty Please.ReplyDelete
Oh so I finally got back here and there's so much to know... Guille will you post some photos on FB ??!!ReplyDelete


text:
Posted 11 years ago
(17 items)
late this past spring, at our fav mcm shop, i found my second most loved chair. the second i saw this was only bested by the moment i sat in it. yes, some per dog love on rt/front rocker, some cat tracks, for our home & lives it's part in parcel. and it did help the price. sold to us as danish, during the lemmon oil rub down i saw a small tag that changed the story! now, who has seen a tendo foot stool, i have a need!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The productive outside linebacker told reporters Tuesday that his camp has spoken with the team about a contract extension.
"Hopefully it works out," Sheard said, per the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram. "Love it here. (I) want to be here when (the) city erupts."
The 2011 second-round pick quietly has served as one of Cleveland's most consistent defenders, chalking up 21 sacks over 45 starts and showing well against the run. Playing under his third coordinator in as many seasons, Sheard's scheme versatility is unusual.
He thrived at defensive end in Dick Jauron's four-man front before producing as a 3-4 outside 'backer under Ray Horton last autumn.
Set to unleash Sheard from multiple positions on the field, coach Mike Pettine told The Plain Dealer that he has "big plans" for the 6-foot-2, 255-pound veteran.
In Nicholas Dawidoff's "Collision Low Crossers" -- chronicling the 2011 Jets -- Pettine is painted as a coach always on the hunt for "bitch-kitty pass rushers."
"By this he meant," per Dawidoff, "a defensive end or, in a 3-4 alignment, an outside linebacker who would smell a warm quarterback and become an insatiable, unblockable, pocket-infiltrating force of war-daddy bedlam."
With Sheard paired alongside Barkevious Mingo and Paul Kruger, Pettine has inherited a swarm of young defensive talent primed to make the Browns an interesting watch in 2014.


text:
"Between 2005 and 2009, the median net worth of Hispanic households dropped by 66 percent and that of black households fell by 53 percent, according to the report. In contrast, the median net worth of white households dropped by only 16 percent.
The median net worth of a white family now stands at 20 times that of a black family and 18 times that of a Hispanic family — roughly twice the gap that existed before the recession and the biggest gap since data began being collected in 1984."
In addition, during the recession, the wealth gap within these groups increased. Across all groups, during the recession, the wealthy became more wealthy: "Between 2005 and 2009, the share of wealth owned by the wealthiest 10 percent of all households rose to 56 percent from 49 percent."
Did the wealthy become more wealthy and the poor become more poor in Ward 6 during the recession? I'm working on getting an answer to this.


text:
Maryland's second-highest court upheld the constitutionality of Baltimore's gun offender registry, a signature effort to curb gun violence that a city judge had called into question two years ago.
The registry requires people convicted of gun crimes to provide addresses and other information to the city every six months for three years, and was modeled after a similar program in New York City.
Circuit Judge Alfred Nance ruled in 2011 that the city's law was "unconstitutionally vague and awfully broad," among other concerns. His decision, however, was not binding on other judges, and the city did not abandon the registry pending the appeal.
Sheryl Goldstein, a former city official who helped create the registry and now works with a national law enforcement think tank, said other jurisdictions, including Chicago, New Orleans and Prince George's County, now have similar registries, and that the challenge to Baltimore's was believed to be a first.
"This is the first constitutional challenge to one, and it was upheld," said Goldstein, director of program development at the Police Executive Research Forum. "So it is a constitutional law enforcement tool that can be used to help keep track of gun offenders and reduce gun crime — a win for the city and also a win for gun registries everywhere."
The case involved Adrian Phillips, who was convicted of armed robbery and handgun offenses in 2008, and was later charged with failing to register as a gun offender. His attorneys argued that the registration process could be used to quiz defendants about recent crimes or to demand cooperation in other investigations, and said the city hadn't filed proper regulations and forms setting out the scope of the registry.
In its opinion, the Court of Special Appeals said Nance's decision to dismiss the charges on the grounds that the law was unconstitutionally vague was "improper."
"Appellee simply failed to re-register, as required," Judge Kathryn Grill Graeff wrote in the opinion. "The commissioner's failure to file forms, if they constituted regulations, had no effect on appellee's duty to re-register, and it did not justify the court's dismissal of the charges against him."


text:
CHICAGO – When Tom Sermanni shook hands with Pia Sundhage after her last game as coach of the U.S. women's soccer team, he should have asked her for a few tips.
Sermanni was hired Tuesday to replace Sundhage, who led the Americans to back-to-back Olympic gold medals and their first World Cup final in 12 years. Sermanni has spent the last eight years as Australia's coach, taking the Matildas to the quarterfinals of the last two Women's World Cups.
"He has the knowledge, experience and vision to take on the challenge of keeping our team at the top of the world," U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati said in a statement. "He has a tremendous passion for the game, knows the American players, understands our system and knows the process of preparing a team for a World Cup tournament."
Sermanni, a 58-year-old originally from Glasgow, Scotland, has spent much of the last 20 years in Australia, where he is credited with transforming the Matildas into one of the world's top programs. In addition to their quarterfinal appearances at the 2007 and 2011 World Cups, the young Australians won the 2010 Asian Women's Cup. Their runner-up finish at the same tournament in 2006 earned Sermanni Asian Football Confederation coach of the year honors.
The Australians are ninth in the world, matching their highest ranking.
Sermanni also coached Australia from 1994-97, leading the Matildas to their first appearance in a World Cup, the 1995 tournament in Sweden. He was among 10 candidates for FIFA's 2011 Women's Coach of the Year.
"Tom's legacy for Women's Football in Australia will be felt for many years to come as he has helped transform our women's national team to a very professional and competitive group of players," Ben Buckley, CEO of Football Federation Australia, said in a statement. "Tom will always be considered a close friend of Australian football no matter where he is in the world."
Sermanni was selected after a five-person search committee, which included Mia Hamm, considered more than 30 candidates. The current U.S. players said they didn't care whether the new coach was male or female, American or foreign-born, so long as the right coach was selected.
The coaches of both U.S. national teams are foreign-born, with German-born Jurgen Klinsmann, a longtime California resident, coaching the men.
"Someone who's good enough, that's all I care about," Abby Wambach said earlier this month. "Be the person who brings the World Cup back."
Sundhage was 91-6-10 in her five years with the Americans, including a 23-1-1 record this year, and the U.S. was ranked No. 1 in the world for most of her tenure. She resigned Sept. 1 to return to her native Sweden, where she is now the women's national team coach.
"We need a strong person to come in and add to the history that this team, specifically, has created in the last two years," Wambach said. "... This team is scary good, and we need to have someone who can put all the Xs and Os together."
After Sermanni's hiring was announced, Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and Wambach welcomed him via Twitter.
"really pumped about (at)TomSermanni being the new uswnt head coach!!! Welcome. (hashtag)movingforward," Wambach said.
Sermanni has experience coaching young players, which will be key as the U.S. begins integrating its next generation. Though veterans like Wambach, captain Christie Rampone and Shannon Boxx have all talked of playing through the 2015 World Cup in Canada, the next major tournament, there is plenty of depth and talent at the lower levels, too. The U-20 team just won the World Cup, and the U-23 team won both tournaments it played this year.
Sundhage had also begun changing the Americans' style of play. As the game evolves and improves around the world, relying on the advantages it has in size, speed and power is no longer enough for the U.S. Sundhage introduced a Barcelona-style attack that relied on creativity and ball possession, and Sermanni will have to decide whether to continue that or not.
"U.S. Soccer has always been at the forefront of supporting the women's game, and it's exciting to coach the team in this next chapter of its history," Sermanni said. "After coaching against many of these players for years, I am looking forward to working with an accomplished group of veterans while integrating the numerous talented young players who are itching for a chance to prove themselves.
"I'm honored to have this opportunity to work with tremendous players and in a program that has had such a tradition of success," he added.
Sermanni does not take over officially until Jan. 1, and will coach Australia in the East Asian Cup Qualification tournament from Nov. 20-24 in Shenzen, China. Interim coach Jill Ellis will lead the Americans in exhibitions against Ireland on Nov. 28 in Portland, Ore., and on Dec. 1 in Glendale, Ariz., as well as three games that have yet to be announced.
A midfielder, Sermanni played professionally from 1971-89 at clubs in Scotland, England, Australia and New Zealand, including Blackpool and Torquay, and scored more than 50 goals. He got into coaching soon after, and has had stints as both a men's and women's coach in Japan, the U.S. and Malaysia, in addition to Australia.


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"A Time For Choosing" Speech By 40th President of the United States of America Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 — June 5, 2004)
"Now let's set the record straight. There's no argument over the choice between peace and war, but there's only one guaranteed way you can have peace—and you can have it in the next second—surrender.
Admittedly, there's a risk in any course we follow other than this, but every lesson of history tells us that the greater risk lies in appeasement, and this is the specter our well-meaning liberal friends refuse to face—that their policy of accommodation is appeasement, and it gives no choice between peace and war, only between fight or surrender. If we continue to accommodate, continue to back and retreat, eventually we have to face the final demand—the ultimatum. And what then—when Nikita Khrushchev has told his people he knows what our answer will be? He has told them that we're retreating under the pressure of the Cold War, and someday when the time comes to deliver the final ultimatum, our surrender will be voluntary, because by that time we will have been weakened from within spiritually, morally, and economically. He believes this because from our side he's heard voices pleading for "peace at any price" or "better Red than dead," or as one commentator put it, he'd rather "live on his knees than die on his feet." And therein lies the road to war, because those voices don't speak for the rest of us.
You and I know and do not believe that life is so dear and peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery. If nothing in life is worth dying for, when did this begin—just in the face of this enemy? Or should Moses have told the children of Israel to live in slavery under the pharaohs? Should Christ have refused the cross? Should the patriots at Concord Bridge have thrown down their guns and refused to fire the shot heard 'round the world? The martyrs of history were not fools, and our honored dead who gave their lives to stop the advance of the Nazis didn't die in vain. Where, then, is the road to peace? Well it's a simple answer after all.
You and I have the courage to say to our enemies, "There is a price we will not pay." "There is a point beyond which they must not advance." Winston Churchill said, "The destiny of man is not measured by material computations. When great forces are on the move in the world, we learn we're spirits—not animals." And he said, "There's something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty."
You and I have a rendezvous with destiny.
We'll preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we'll sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness.


text:
A few months back, Lululemon Athletica's too-sheer yoga pants transformed some women's workouts into unintentional peep shows. This week a company co-founder spoke out about the fabric flap, calling it a "mistake" on Lululemon's part and also attributing some of the problems to certain women's body types.
"Frankly, some women's bodies just don't actually work" for the yoga pants, Chip Wilson said Tuesday in an interview on Bloomberg TV's "Street Smart" program.
"They don't work for some women's bodies," Wilson continued. "It's really about the rubbing through the thighs, how much pressure is there over a period of time and how they much they use it."
In March, Lululemon had to recall some of its popular black yoga pants for being too sheer. Although the materials used in the pants were the same, the coverage was not, "resulting in a level of sheerness in some of our women's black Luon bottoms that fall short of our very high standards," Lululemon said in a press release at the time.
The pants taken out of circulation made up about 17 percent of all women's bottoms sold by the chain, the company said.
Lululemon has been fielding complaints ever since, both about fabric that snags and pills easily and about customer service. The company shared a statement about those issues with NBCNews.com last Friday.
"Quality is of utmost importance to us and we want to offer our guests Luon product(s) that they love," the statement said. "If any guest is experiencing an issue with their product that they believe to be related to quality, we encourage them to visit their local store or call our Guest Education Center so we can make it right."
On Tuesday, Wilson described Lululemon as a technology company that specializes in "an actual physical product": women's clothing.
"There's one thousand things that could go wrong on a technical fabric, and when three of those things go wrong at any one time, something's going to happen," said Wilson, Lululemon's former chief executive officer. "It's almost impossible to build a quality-control case for each one of those combinations."
At one point, Bloomberg's Trish Regan stopped to ask Wilson: "Interesting, not every woman can wear a Lululemon yoga pant?"
"No, I think they can," Wilson answered. "I just think it's how you use it."


text:
You may have noticed lately that more residences and businesses are being equipped with photovoltaic solar roof panels. The reason is relatively simple: the cost to do so has dropped dramatically over the past five years.
The cost of installing photovoltaic solar arrays has dropped to $3 per watt of electricity they produce - about the same as coal-powered plants cost to build - creating a watershed moment in the development of clean energy, experts say.
The average price of a solar panel has declined by 60% since the beginning of 2011, according to GTM Research. And, according to CleanTechnica, a website dedicated to renewable energy news, the price of solar power has fallen rom $76.67 per watt in 1977 to 74 cents today.
This year, solar power was the second leading source of new electricity, according to CleanTechnica.
The amount of power produced by solar arrays in the U.S. is skyrocketing as installations soar. This year, it's expected that the amount of power solar arrays produce will be equal to that of 10 nuclear power plants or 10 gigawatts (a GW is equal to 1 billion watts), according to GTM.
As a whole, the U.S. installed 4.3GW of PV solar arrays this year, a 27% increase over 2012.
Average installed PV price per market segment from Q3 2011 through Q3 2013 (source: GTM Research).
Solar array installations reached 930 megawatts (million watts) in the third quarter of 2013, up 20% over the previous quarter; that represents the second-largest quarter for solar installations in U.S. history, according to GTM. This year, the U.S. is expected to surpass Germany in solar installations for the first time in more than 15 years.
One of the reasons for the huge drop in price has been a massive ramp up of PV manufacturing around the world over past five years,; that includes China, which has become the biggest supplier of PV modules.
Another reason for the drop in price and uptick in installations is that during the 2008-2009 recession PV purchases slowed, creating an overcapacity of PV modules. Solar cell manufacturers began selling off their inventory at reduced prices and profit margins, according to Tom Leyden, CEO of Solar Grid Storage in Princeton, N.J.
Solar Grid Storage develops battery storage systems for PV arrays that allows power to remain on at night or as a backup source should electrical outages occur. "It's a really exiting time in the industry. We're one to two years from a massive explosion in solar power," Leyden said.
Another reason for the surge in PV installations is better financing from banks that have come to realize the relatively low risk in funding solar power projects.
How low is the risk? Earlier this year, Warren Buffet's electric utility, MidAmerican Energy Holdings, acquired a 579-megawatt solar development project in Southern California for about $2 billion.
Other big corporate investors in solar include Intel, Google and Apple. High-tech companies are all making significant investments in renewable energy, not only for the green effect they will have, but the cost savings.
For example, just last month, Google announced the latest in a series of ongoing investments in solar power; the company will build six new solar plants to the tune of $80 million. To date, Google has committed more than $1 billion to wind and solar power plants that create clean energy and generate "attractive financial returns," the company stated in a recent blog post.
U.S. PV installation forecast from 2010 through 2016 (Source: GTM Research).
Businesses are just one segment of the solar power industry. Residential installations are also booming. GTM forecasts that by year's end, residential solar installations will have hit a 52% growth rate over last year.
"As we approach the end of 2013, it remains clear that this will be a banner year for solar in the United States," a joint report by GTM and the Solar Energy Industry Association stated. "By the end of the year, more than 400,000 individual solar projects will be operating across the country."
Lucas Mearian covers consumer data storage, consumerization of IT, mobile device management, renewable energy, telematics/car tech and entertainment tech for Computerworld. Follow Lucas on Twitter at @lucasmearian or subscribe to Lucas's RSS feed. His e-mail address is firstname.lastname@example.com.
See more by Lucas Mearian on Computerworld.com.
Read more about emerging technologies in Computerworld's Emerging Technologies Topic Center.


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There have been several suggestions made that the precipitating issue in the current conflict in the East was as a result of Joseph Kabila (K2)'s failure to pay his generals. This is a point raised over and over again by the M23 rebels. The truth is very different Indeed K2 stopped paying the generals because they were stealing all the money so Kabila started paying all the soldiers directly through their own bank accounts. Many generals in the DRC Army were living on embezzling soldiers' pay. They weren't happy at the diversion of the soldiers' pay directly to the soldiers and felt they should throw in their lot with the M23 and hope for better takings Kabila acted to fire Major General Gabriel Amisi Kumba (aka Tango Four) as Chief of Staff of the Forces Terrestres, the army of the DRC. It was common knowledge in Kinshasa that Amisi ran his own mining operation in North Kivu through Colonel Samy Matumo, the former commander of the 85th Brigade that occupied the Bisie mine for several years.The UN issued a report produced for them by group of independent experts, which proved that Gen. Amisi established and controlled a network providing arms and ammunition to criminal groups and rebels who roam the hills and forests of Congo's resource-rich but troubled east. According to the report by the so-called Group of Experts, ammunition is bought in neighboring Congo Brazzaville, before being smuggled through the Congolese capital Kinshasa to the east by a close network of Amisi's associates, including members of his family. On November 22 Kabila finally sacked Amisi. Amis was replaced by General Francois Olenga. Olenga, who is from the Kusu ethnic group of northern Maniema, emigrated to Europe when he was young, graduating from the University of Paris in 1972. He has been an important, if discrete player in Kinshasa since the days of Laurent Kabila. Leaving his home in Germany, where his family still lives (he speaks fluent German), he fought in the AFDL to topple Mobutu, taking advantage of his connections in eastern Europe to organize weapons shipments, which got him named as the head of logistics for the Congolese army in 1997. He kept up this role until recently, traveling often abroad to organize supplies for the Congolese army. In 2002, he was cited by a UN investigation for using money from the state MIBA diamond mining company to purchase weapons for the army. This is not the first time Olenga has been head of the land forces. When Laurent Kabila was assassinated in January 2001, Olenga replaced Joseph Kabila as the commander in this position for two years, overseeing some of the most important operations against the Rwandan army. In this sense, Kabila is falling back on a trusted commander with experience in similar offensives. In July 2005, Olenga was named as Inspector General of the army, a job he kept until last week. But this oversight body was never functional and Olenga kept a low profile. Olenga has close ties to NATO and the Europeans. They see him as a steady hand in the struggle against Rwanda and Uganda. As he is from Maniema, and close to where the battle is raging, he has a stake in stopping the M23 and rebuilding the Army as a national force, not a pirate band. Kabila has another difficult choices to make. For the last four years he has had to deal with an empowered Uganda and Rwanda which have become the darlings of the West as providing surrogate armies of AFRICOM in the putative hunt for Kony and the LRA. Kabila's hands were tied in how far he could resist negotiating with Museveni and Kagame as long as the US and the West were so strongly supporting them. He was always playing with a stacked deck. The DRC has always been focused on the struggle between Katanga and the rest of the Congo. The institutions of the state, both political and economic, were fixed on dealing with the relationship between Katanga and Kinshasa. In this crisis Katanga is a marginal concern. The role of the Banyamulenge Tutsis in seeking to take over the Kivus as an annex of Rwanda has been much more important. However the national army has declined into a number of rival private bands of profiteers. Olenga may be able to rebuild the army and focus its actions but only if it is clear that the West will not go on supporting Museveni and Kagame. If these two have no more money to spend the Congolese army might decide that loyalty to its oath of office might be relevant. If it comes to actually fighting a war against Rwanda and Uganda the DRC army is not capable of wining such a war on its own. Offers of support from Angola, Tanzania and Namibia have been forthcoming. Indeed, Angola has already started deploying men in Bukavu. If Angola becomes seriously involved it has one overwhelming advantage. It has a massive modern Air Force complete with Israeli drones. The Rwandans do not have an air force at all and the Ugandans only a miniscule one. If there were a serious confrontation in aid of the stated purpose of M23 taking over the DRC an Angolan air raid on Kigali and Entebbe would wipe off the military capabilities of both countries in an afternoon. It would be a blow from which neither would recover for many years. To make that choice Kabila would have to consider the effects on AFRICOM and the U.S.'s mercenary army. The U.S. is firmly behind Kagame and Museveni. Moreover the Uganda government has. since 2003, splashed an annual retainer of $300,000 on the Washington DC-based Whitaker Group, which is owned by the US former Assistant Trade Representative for Africa, Rosa Whitaker for lobbying in the US. Dr. Jendayi E. Frazer, former US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs (a successor to Susan Rice in that post) is now working as a lobbyist on behalf of the Ugandan government as part of the Whitaker Group (TWG) as a strategic advisor. The Washington D.C.-based firm has a long-standing relationship with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and is currently under a million dollar a year contract with the Ugandan government. Kabila must think hard and long before alienating this core US pressure nexus arrayed to support Museveni (and others supporting Kagame). The other aspect of the dilemma is that Angola has not been on very friendly terms recently with the DRC and many citizens have been expelled from each country.on the issue. Since 2007, the two countries have been embroiled in disputes over border demarcation, oil extraction and the expulsion of citizens. As WikiLeaks documents elucidated, the oil dispute is probably the most contentious. The offshore Block 15 is the crown jewel of Angola's oil production - the four wells operated by Exxon Mobil pump 30% of the country's entire production, and the field contains estimated reserves of 4 billion barrels. In July 2007, according to a Kinshasa embassy cable, a joint Angolan-Congolese commission agreed to "a 50/50 share of production and revenues from new oil wells developed in an offshore Zone of Common Interest extending from the 15 km coastal zone in a 10 km strip to the 375 km (200-mile) limit." This arrangement would not affect the current wells in the area, which include Block 15 and possibly Block 14, 0 and 1. The deal also suggested that the two countries would have joint ownership over a $2 billion highway linking Luanda and Cabinda across the Congo, as well as over gas and oil pipelines. Nonetheless, in a July 2009 Wikileaks cable, the US embassy wrote that "The prospect of the DRC becoming a major oil producer is the simplest explanation for the mounting tensions between DRC and Angola." They professed ignorance as to which maritime claim was more legitimate, but reported that Angola had gone so far as to make an offer of $600 million in arrears for the use Congolese maritime space. Thee issues have not yet been resolved and Kabila is considering the implications for the DRC oil industry if he accepts Angolan military assistance. So Kabila, like his father, is caught between two decisions; both of which have negative consequences for the DRC. The option of doing nothing is not there as the M23 rebellion continues. Choosing the least bad solution may solve some short-term problems but the time when the citizens of the DRC can rule their own country free from pillage, rape. murder and a hopeless future is still far off.
Source:Ocnus.net 2012
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Whether you're looking to bring flashy retro vibes into your space or want a new mini-fridge to complement your home decor, there is a retro mini-fridge out there for you. Several vintage-inspired designs offer a fun and fresh take on the mini-fridge.
When shopping for a stylish retro mini-fridge, you may be shopping for style first, function second. That said, any retro fridge worth buying can perform all the functions of a regular fridge, so long as items fit in the smaller size. Think about how you plan to use your fridge and what items you want to store inside. Considerations such as size, door storage, reversible door options and your individual taste help you choose the best vintage mini-fridge for your space.
This 3.2 cubic foot mini-fridge comes in glossy red or glossy black to add a sleek retro style to your space. It has plenty of storage room with three interior glass shelves, door storage for cans and larger items and a separate freezer door. At 3 feet tall, this retro mini-fridge is a statement piece.
Sold by Amazon
Magic Chef Retro 2-Door Mini-Fridge
This fridge is a solid appliance that adds a hefty dose of style with 3.2 cubic feet of storage space. Two shelves and a crisper drawer offer solid fridge space, along with can storage and more shelving in the door. The separate freezer offers a large frozen compartment with a door shelf. The fridge comes in crimson red, black, mint green and white.
Sold by Amazon
Galanz 3.1 Cubic Foot Retro Compact Mini-Fridge with Dual Doors
If you're looking for a bold mini-fridge with a rounded top, this retro fridge is a throwback. It has an adjustable thermostat, a crisper drawer, a fridge light and multiple door shelves. In addition, this retro mini-fridge comes in five different colors, including blue, green and red.
Sold by Amazon, Home Depot and Kohl's
Frigidaire Retro Bar Fridge with Side Bottle Opener
Elevate any small space with this fiery red retro mini-fridge. Store your drinks and enjoy them anytime with a built-in bottle opener. Sliding shelves make the interior customizable and two door shelves offer even more storage space. A small freezer compartment provides enough room to hold an ice cube tray.
Sold by Amazon
Koolatron Retro Countertop Mini-Fridge
If you love a blast from the past, you can dedicate a whole mini-fridge to a bygone era with this 2.2 cubic foot retro mini-fridge featuring a vintage Coca-Cola design. Two removable shelves and storage in the door can hold 18 12-ounce cans or various other snacks and goodies. Enjoy it indoors, outdoors or on the go with 12-volt DC and 110-volt AC power capabilities.
Sold by Wayfair
Marshall Fridges Retro Freestanding Mini-Fridge
This music-inspired mini-fridge mimics a Marshall amplifier with decorative knobs, buttons and inputs. A compressor-based cooling system, reversible door and mechanical temperature control offer customizability. Four shelves inside and three removable trays offer ample space. The unique design is great for any music lover or rehearsal space.
Galanz Retro Compact Refrigerator
For a low-energy option, this retro-inspired single-door mini-fridge offers style on a budget. Four movable interior shelves and three shelves on the door offer 2.5 cubic feet of storage. Manual temperature control lets you adjust the temperature as needed. It comes in four classic retro colors.
Sold by Amazon
Daewoo Retro Compact Refrigerator in Mint Green
The smooth, curved edges of this mint green mini-fridge give off chic mid-century kitchen vibes. Two shelves, a crisper drawer, four-door compartments and a freezer section offer 4.4 cubic feet of storage space. This compact retro fridge is Energy Star compliant with LED lighting and adjustable tempered glass shelves.
Sold by Amazon
Cooluli Coca-Cola Americana Retro Mini-Fridge
The vintage vibes are unmistakable from this glossy Americana mini-fridge with a throwback Coca-Cola design. Two removable shelves offer flexible storage space, holding up to 12 12-ounce cans or a mix of snacks. The semiconductor operation makes it quiet and energy-efficient. An AC/DC power cord lets you take this mini-fridge on the road.
Sold by Amazon and Home Depot
Frigidaire 12-can Retro Mini Portable Personal Fridge/Cooler
The window on the front of this retro mini-fridge lets you peek inside to check out what drinks are in stock. Behind the glossy colored finish, this portable mini-fridge can chill 12 cans or six bottles. When taking this vintage portable fridge on the road, you can plug it in with a DC power cord and secure the latch to keep the door shut.
Sold by Amazon and Home Depot
Koolatron Retro Portable Mini-Fridge
At just 10 inches tall, this vintage portable mini-fridge is still a showstopper with a small window and three different color options. It can hold six 12-ounce cans and has a removable shelf. An AC/DC power cord and lightweight design make it easy to take with you wherever you go. Choose between aqua blue, black or pink.
Sold by Amazon and Home Depot
This portable fridge has a carrying handle, car adapter and can hold up to six 12-ounce cans for a no-nonsense retro mini-fridge. The portable mini-fridge can also store hot items once the fridge is off. It comes in a variety of five colors.
Sold by Amazon
Uber Appliance 4 Litre Portable Mini-Fridge
As one of the smallest retro mini-fridges available, this portable mini-fridge is an excellent option for taking cold drinks on the road. It holds up to six canned beverages and has one interior shelf. AC and DC power cables let you plug in no matter where you are. It comes in six retro-inspired colors and finishes.
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Katy Palmer writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.


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Firefly Mission to Study Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes
High-energy bursts of gamma rays typically occur far out in space, perhaps near black holes or other high-energy cosmic phenomena. So imagine scientists' surprise in the mid-1990s when they found these powerful gamma ray flashes happening right here on Earth, in the skies overhead.
They're called Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes, or TGFs, and very little is known about them. They seem to have a connection with lightning, but TGFs themselves are something entirely different.
"In fact," says Doug Rowland of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, "before the 1990s nobody knew they even existed. And yet they're the most potent natural particle accelerators on Earth."
Individual particles in a TGF acquire a huge amount of energy, sometimes in excess of 20 mega-electron volts (MeV). In contrast, the colorful auroras that light up the skies at high latitudes are powered by particles with less than one thousandth as much energy.
At this stage, there are more questions about TGFs than answers. What causes these high-energy flashes? Do they help trigger lightning--or does lightning trigger them? Could they be responsible for some of the high-energy particles in the Van Allen radiation belts, which can damage satellites?
To investigate, Rowland and his colleagues at GSFC, Siena College, Universities Space Research Association, and the Hawk Institute for Space Sciences are planning to launch a tiny, football-sized satellite called Firefly in 2010 or 2011. Because of its small size, Firefly will cost less than $1 million — about 100 times cheaper than what satellite missions normally cost. Part of the cost savings comes from launching Firefly under the National Science Foundation's CubeSat program, which launches small satellites as "stowaways" aboard rockets carrying larger satellites into space, rather than requiring dedicated rocket launches.
If successful, Firefly will return the first simultaneous measurements of TGFs and lightning. Most of what's known about TGFs to date has been learned from missions meant to observe gamma rays coming from deep space, such as NASA's Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, which discovered TGFs in 1994. As it stared out into space, Compton caught fleeting glimpses of gamma rays out of the corner of its eye, so to speak. The powerful flashes were coming--surprise!--from Earth's atmosphere.
Subsequent data from Compton and other space telescopes have provided a tantalizingly incomplete picture of how TGFs occur:
In the skies above a thunderstorm, powerful electric fields generated by the storm stretch upward for many miles into the upper atmosphere. These electric fields accelerate free electrons, whisking them to speeds approaching the speed of light. When these ultra-high speed electrons collide with molecules in the air, the collisions release high-energy gamma rays as well as more electrons, setting up a cascade of collisions and perhaps more TGFs.
To the eye, a TGF probably wouldn't look like much. Unlike lightning, most of a TGF's energy is released as invisible gamma rays, not visible light. They don't produce colorful bursts of light like sprites and other lightning-related phenomena. Nevertheless, these unseen eruptions could help explain why brilliant lightning strikes occur.
A longstanding mystery about lightning is how a strike gets started. Scientists know that the turbulence inside a thundercloud separates electric charge, building up enormous voltages. But the voltage needed to ionize air and generate a spark is about 10 times greater than the voltage typically found inside storm clouds.
"We know how the clouds charge up," Rowland says, "we just don't know how they discharge. That is the mystery."
TGFs could provide that spark. By generating a quick burst of electron flow, TGFs might help lightning strikes get started, Rowland suggests. "Perhaps this phenomenon is why we have lightning," he says.
If so, there ought to be many more TGFs each day than currently known. Observations by Compton and other space telescopes indicate that there may be fewer than 100 TGFs worldwide each day. Lightning strikes millions of times per day worldwide. That's quite a gap.
Then again, Compton and other space telescopes before Firefly weren't actually looking for TGFs. So perhaps it's not surprising that they didn't find many. Firefly will specifically look for gamma ray flashes coming from the atmosphere, not space, conducting the first focused survey of TGF activity. Firefly's sensors will even be able to detect flashes that are mostly obscured by the intervening air, which is a strong absorber of gamma rays (a fact that protects people on the ground from the energy in these flashes). Firefly's survey will give scientists much better estimates of the number of TGFs worldwide and help determine if the link to lightning is real.
More information: firefly.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Source: Science@NASA, by Patrick Barry


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The most valuable and necessary networks of the next economy will be built around trust.
I just had lunch with my VC friend Ed Sim and I was boring him with my view of the future of advertising. The days of one-stop shopping for a mass of "consumers" will soon be over and advertisers will be faced with the opportunity and challenge of putting together smaller, more targeted, more efficient networks: the mass market replaced by the mass of niches. The opportunity is greater value. But the challenge is far greater effort and cost: It's not going to be easy to put together and manage these small and ad hoc networks.
So I have been arguing that a good way to do this — once the infrastructure is in place — is to rely on human networks of trust: The advertiser or its agency can't go and find and manage every damned little site (aka audience aggregator, aka community), so they choose a starting point: They trust me and my site (let's say it's a big-media site with a sales staff), and I trust you and your site (let's say you're a popular blogger), and we trust perhaps one more degree of separation out (let's say those are your friends who write about the same things in more specialized but related ways). But if your friend messes up and you don't fix it, then I don't trust you anymore and I'll find a new friend to trust — or else the advertiser won't trust me anymore.
This way, we get to scale while distributing the work and the benefit with the trust. So in the end, the advertisers benefit by putting together the best networks at the lowest cost and effort and risk. And the participants of the networks benefit by attaching themselves, like atoms to molecules, to the highest value buys. (Oh, how I wish this blog had a whiteboard.)
We need some such way to operate in the age when small is the new big.
Then Ed and I were talking about similar challenges for investors and entrepreneurs in the small-is-the-new-big age: Today, it's much, much easier to start a new company on far, far less capital than it used to be. But this also means that it's easier for someone else to start a competitor. So speed is more important than ever: You have to develop your business as quickly and nimbly as possible to build your product and then perfect it after it's out so you quickly establish your value. This means that the VCs need to be able to act just as nimbly to invest as quickly as possible. The good news is that the investments are smaller and the risk is thus less. But the bad news, of course, is that it costs more effort and attention to manage many more smaller investments and it's hard to act quickly at scale. Early bird, worm, and all that.
So I wonder whether a network of trust is a solution here, too: The VC with the money trusts you to bring in deals and you trust someone else to bring in more deals and whoever brings in the most value gains the most value and grows biggest fastest. The work, risk, and benefit are all distributed.
In a way, I wonder whether that's what VCs are doing by blogging: They're going open-source, sort of, to state their interests and bring in more of the right deals more efficiently. But it's still not efficient enough for a world of companies that need six figures instead of eight to succeed. And there needs to be a means to share benefit with the trust.
I think it can work in news, too: If I trust Sally's reports on my school board more than Joe, I'll send traffic her way and she'll make more money on advertising from the newspaper (see Pincus' world, below) and maybe she'll send traffic my way for my reports on the town council if she trusts mine, too.
Where else?
: All of this is my clumsy, imprecise, philosphy-not-math-major's re-expression of the discussion about Reed's Law vs. Metcalfe's Law vs. Oren's Doubts vs. Evslin's Postulate, none of which I understand above a kindergarten level. I was just trying to get my head around Reed's Law, which Evslin explained to me on a napkin, when suddenly he and Wilson and Oren are abandoning it. (Cue Tom Lehrer's New Math.)
I'll try to summarize this badly: Metcalfe's Law says the value of a network increases as more nodes are added to it (i.e., one fax machine is worthless, two fax machines are each work a lot more, a large network of fax machines is truly valuable). Reed says (I think) that if a network includes social sub-groups, it grows exponentially faster. All the wise gentlemen listed above are now debating whether the math works and I leave that to them.
But to me, the humanities guy with the damned liberal arts degree, it's obvious: A network built on trust is clearly more valuable than a network built on technology.
Repeat after me, after Butterfield, after Mayfield, after Soylent Green: Web 2.0 — It's made of people. It's not about controlling scarce assets in a post-scarcity world. It's about trust.
And it's hard to chart trust. It's hard to give it a metric. It's hard to give it a market value. But it's damned easy to lose.
: UPDATE: Here's what Ed took from lunch (besides the check…).
And here's Tim O'Reilly on both.


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St. Lucie CampgroundStuart 1 of 9
Park your RV, kick back, and watch as the boats cruise around. Don't forget to look for manatees, which occasionally swim by, as well. If you're ready to get active, take your relaxing afternoon to the trails and hike the scenic St. Lucie North Nature Trail. If bird watching is a top priority, visit the Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge, where you'll see a variety of local bird species.
Curry Hammock State ParkMarathon 2 of 9
This tropical RV park is part of the Middle Keys, with clear turquoise waters in every direction. Sun yourself on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, bike through the Overseas Heritage Trail, or take a 1.5-mile hike, winding through forests of hardwood hammock trees.
Marco Island KOANaples 3 of 9
In May 2012, Smithsonian Magazine had nothing but kind words for Naples Island: "World-class music, design to die for and palm trees: What's not to like?" So, drive over and see for yourself. The Marco Island KOA is just a few minutes from downtown Naples, providing ample opportunity to leave your RV at the campsite and explore on foot or bike.
Sunshine Key RV Resort and MarinaBig Pine Key 4 of 9
If you want to relax in the perfect ocean setting, this is the Florida Keys RV park for you. Wake up to wide expanses of sparkling ocean water, and go to bed with fiery sunsets overhead. The island life and tropical vibe will woo you into the ultimate state of contentment—so good you may never want to leave.
Bahia Honda State ParkBig Pine Key 5 of 9
As one of Florida's southernmost state parks, this tropical destination is one the most magical Florida Keys RV parks. White sand beaches, clear blue waters and breathtaking sunsets are the norm here, where you can enjoy snorkeling, picnics and sunshine. With a consistent sea breeze, the weather is ideal, even in the mid-afternoon sunshine.
Breezy Hill RV ResortPompano Beach 6 of 9
If you want to enjoy a relaxing weekend with friends, this is the place to go. The minimum age to camp here is is 21, so the atmosphere is leisurely and relaxing. Spend the afternoon playing shuffleboard and bocce ball, or get out of the campground for a stroll on nearby hiking trails.
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State ParkKey Largo 7 of 9
Perfect for water lovers, this park has a variety of options for exploring the coral reef waters. Take a glass-bottom boat tour or put on snorkeling gear and see for yourself; and that's just the first day. Enjoy canoeing and kayaking through the waters, or stay close to shore for swimming and sunning. If you're waterlogged, walk to the park's upland areas where you can stroll through mangrove swamps and tropical hammock forests.
Oscar Scherer State ParkOsprey 8 of 9
This Florida RV park is home to a variety of rare and endangered plants and animals. It's the perfect spot for explorers: with 15 miles of trails and hiking and biking paths, you'll be busy from sunup to sundown. However, there are plenty of opportunities to spend time on the water. Rent kayaks, or bring a pole for shoreline fishing. No matter what you do, keep your eye out for the Florida scrub jay, a threatened species that can only be seen in this state.


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It's that time of year again.
James Street North in Hamilton, Ontario shuts down to car traffic and opens to throngs of pedestrians participating in SuperCrawl (Sept. 9-11, 2016) – a massive outdoor urban festival of high and low art, performance, music and fashion shows.
It's the most successful event to evolve out of a grassroots initiative called Art Crawl.
On the second Friday of every month, the same street becomes an evening of open retail shops, buskers and street vendors. Galleries open doors, local artisans claim tables at the Maker's Market and street artists prop up paintings along the sidewalk. There are few rules.
The idea behind Art Crawl was to bring more people to a struggling downtown in a somewhat struggling city. It was an amazing success. Now, the monthly Art Crawl and its big sister, the annual SuperCrawl, are major city attractions – without losing their grassroots charm.
SuperCrawl, run by a non-profit committee and its eighth season, attracts tens of thousands to the blocked off city streets. Every hotel is booked, five outdoor stages are set up and curbs are ready for food trucks.
You're mostly outside, day and evening, so dogs can come along. A few galleries don't mind if they sneak in. Restaurants are off limits of course, but most people eat outside anyway. My crazy black mix-mutt Victor attended last year (check out his adventures). This year he's full of sage advice:
Victor's seven considerations when taking your dog to SuperCrawl…
or any outdoor festival
Is your dog shy, timid or easily tired? Likely, not a good fit for festivals, though maybe a stroller – if your dog is small enough – might help. Crowds will make it challenging to maneuver, though. My dog is fearless to a fault and usually up for anything – except dogs that get in his face quickly.
If your dog does that, keep an eye on him. To us that seems friendly. But to dogs, straight in the face is assertive. Sniffing butts, however, is a good thing. No really. Don't discourage it – too many people do. Deal with the awkward moment, praise your pup, and move on.
Take a leash of course and in this case leave the extendable home. (Yes, I use one in open spaces). I love harnesses because there's no pulling on Victor's neck, which can cause health issues over time. My dog pulls, so a harness is needed. I love Kurgo's Go Tech Adventure (from Amazon) – primarily because it has a back handle … just in case.
Dog festivals like London's Pawlooza have dog water bowls all over the place, but most people festivals don't. There are no fountains at SuperCrawl, so you need either a portable bottle and dish combo or your own water bottle and a collapsible bowl like a styling one from Carolina Pet Company's Pendleton National Parks collection.
Poop Bags
Bring many poop bags for obvious reasons. (If you want to make a political statement check out these from MetroPet I found at SuperZoo). I know Victor: the more he walks, the more he poops.
Noise level
The bands are loud, even during the day and especially in front of the speakers. If it's too loud for you, it's way too loud for Fido's sensitive ears. Stand behind the crowd. You'll sacrifice your view but not your dog's ears.
Surprises under the table
What festival doesn't have vendors? SuperCrawl is a creative, so there are numerous arts and craft booths. Many times I've been distracted by bling and didn't notice Victor heading under a table. Sometimes it's to rest, but sometimes he's noise-to-noise with another dog, or someone's lunch. Either way, it's potentially not good.
Dog Love
Many people love dogs. You've taken your cute pooch out in public before, so you know you'll be greeted a lot. Give up trying to walk blocks without being stopped, spoken to, and your dog fussed over. At SuperCrawl, expect to meet all walks of life.
At a literary event once, a guy yelled at me from a table: "don't even think of walking by with that dog." He meant he wanted me to bring Victor over to him. Ok. I understand, Victor is irresistible. It's the cross we bare.
Get ready SuperCrawl, Super Pup is coming.
If you're anywhere near the Toronto/Niagara area, get to SuperCrawl, September 9 to 11, 2016. James Street North, Downtown Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Have more tips for making the most of outdoor festivals with your dog? Let us know in the comments below.


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|The Asylum
|I am now as old as dirt
|Dec 23 2019 10:54am
|Dang, I forgot to pop in yesterday, post a birthday post and then not pop in again til next year. :P
|General Discussion
|Returning to check out my old guide
|Jul 22 2019 7:59pm
|Long time no see, fam.
|Forum Posting
|Funny Warcraft Movie
|Sep 14th, 2007
|This is hilarious especially the ending. Although its a little too long. If you dont have 10 minutes to kill just watch the first couple of minutes and then wath from about 7:30 to the end. [link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkXPbEb4NyI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkXPbEb4NyI[/link]
|Forum Posting
|Feminism in Videogames
|Mar 8th, 2013
|I heard about her during the whole "Attacked by internet trolls when she dared to speak out for women in video games" thing. While I obviously don't condone people threatening and belittling her, I wasn't impressed with her whole schtick either. She seems to be casting an extremely wide net in her
|Forum Posting
|The Sentinelese: The most isolated people on earth
|Apr 20th, 2007
|I find this fascinating: [quote]The Andamans, the term probably taken from the Sanskrit word nagnamanaba, meaning 'naked man', form, along with the Nicobar Islands, part of an archipelago of 572 islands that lies 1,000km off India's east coast in the Bay of Bengal and stretches in a north-south a
|Forum Posting
|So here's where I am at right now...
|May 17th, 2007
|So, as a few of you know, I had a complaint filed against me for child abuse by my gf's ex. I "allegedly" smacked him on the back and left a bruise. He called the cops on me monday morning to file the complaint/press charges. Tuesday, an officer stopped by and more or less tried to get me to adm
|Forum Posting
|Epic Proportions.
|May 23rd, 2007
|In keeping with my OOT posting tradition of no gets, no ding threads, and no "de[b][i][/b][/i]su, n[b][i][/b][/i]o you" posts, I would like to submit for your approval this thread as my 5,555th post. Enjoy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The rain fell in sheets outside the window. T
|Forum Posting
|For the Environ!!!!
|Jul 19th, 2007
|I hate vigilante do-gooders like that. PETA militants are the worse.
|Forum Posting
|Help me find this..
|Jan 9th, 2008
|Several years back I was either linked or found this game. It was totally text and browser based. You chose what you did from womb until you died. It was always real fun to try to pick the right things to get laid by age 5. Anyways, I happened to think about it today and was going to link you guy
|Forum Posting
|Debate #1... GO!
|Oct 4th, 2012
|"Obama better hope a Kicked Ass is covered under Obamacare." --Dennis Miller via Twitter Lol. Totem
|Forum Posting
|Mage FAQ
|Aug 27th, 2006
|[red]About Mages [/red] [blue]Mages, what are they good for? [/blue] A Mage is a damage dealer and master of Crowd Control. Your main goal is to do as much damage as you can do with out pulling hate off the tank. You are also there for crowd control using spells such as polymorph and â€
|Forum Posting
|Paladin Gear. Crit vs +Heal vs. mp5
|Jun 1st, 2007
|A break down of Spell Crit vs. +Healing vs. mp5 for the Paladin class. This is the promised maths and breakdowns for Jord/Bodhi/SD. [b]The Basics[/b] - [sm]Note: I did a small bit of rounding and this is a fairly quick post, if I made any mistakes post them and I'll correct them as I can. [/sm]
|Forum Posting
|Warcraft type games.
|Jun 5th, 2007
|Check out [link=http://www.freefunfiles.com/software/videogames/rts/index.html]Freefunfiles[/link]. The link takes ya to the first page of RTS's. It'll kill weeks of worktime for ya. [:thumbsup:]
|Forum Posting
|This is where we make claims that we can't back up
|Jun 29th, 2007
|It all started 10 years ago. I was just minding my own damn business smoking blunts on the curb of Main Street. Which, by the way, was a favorite pastime. So anyway, I was sitting there smoking my blunt and this green light surrounded me. I looked up and Jesus Christ would you believe it?! It
|Forum Posting
|Favorite Warcraft Hero
|Jul 7th, 2007
|Chuckk Norriss Nuff said Edit: Try typing Chuckk Norriss Properly? wtf is that? [i][sm]Edited, Jul 7th 2007 5:20pm by SpiritDrinker[/sm][/i]
|Forum Posting
|Once more unto the breach
|Aug 7th, 2007
|[quote]Screw recruiting, run a co-op raid with another small guild. Everyone gets to stay in their guild, everyone raids, everyone gets loot. This means everyone is happy.[/quote] Great idea, as long as you want to ensure that your raids are chock-full of drama, want zero control over half (or mo
|Forum Posting
|Dating advice plzzzzz
|Sep 13th, 2007
|RJ: [img=18988]
|Forum Posting
|Sep 21st, 2007
|[quote=Paskil]That wasn't even bad at all. [:oyvey:] It must have been well under the char limit that Dana or Illia downed after those 10mb posts. Done purely because of Sora's thread and how as soon as he stated how much he hated Halo threads, ten people popped out of the woodwork and mimed him.
|Forum Posting
|Loot determined by my ability to wear leather?
|Feb 14th, 2009
|I'm enjoying seeing that everyone has different views on this situation. I think Rusttle said it best though, all casters have the same needs as other casters. In my case it was the Cincture of Polarity, one of the best cloth belts in game. I have that and won it over a few mages, a warlock, spriest
|Forum Posting
|Official SE Mi'qote Creation Video
|Jun 15th, 2010
|I'm with you on the defaults. Far as far as Illusions go; These games are all about illusions, so it's a bit hard to use that term derogatorily. At the end of the day, your barely going to notice if your character is 5'2" as opposed to 5'1", but people have taken well to the idea of that kind of
|Forum Posting
|Final Fantasy XV
|Oct 23rd, 2013
|/blist add
|Forum Posting
|Dark Souls 2
|Aug 1st, 2014
|A major portion of their damage, even their weapon damage, is Magic. High def is less important than magic defense. That said, if Onebro means what I think it means(someone who goes through at soul level one), then equip load and stats might make the tanking damage part of that strategy a bit more
|Forum Posting
|Cities XXL
|Mar 11th, 2015
|Ok, Cities Skylines is the game anyone who wanted a decent modern city sim needs to buy. Getting great reviews and, while I'm not the best judge of the modern scene (last one I seriously invested time in was SimCity 2000), I'm having a good deal of fun with this one. Plus, it's nicely priced -- ev