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Top 8 Family Activities That Make Christmas Special
If you're like me, you may be starting out with a new family of your own. You have cherished Christmas traditions that you wish to pass on to your children, but you're also interested in creating new traditions. Or maybe, like me, you live in a warmer climate, and it's hard to get that "holiday" feeling when the temps are constantly in the 70s and 80s. I have decided that I'm not going to sit around waiting for that holiday feeling I used to get when I lived in snow country, but that I would discover new holiday customs for my growing family.
An Ornament for Each Child – A specially chosen ornament for each child every Christmas to put on the tree may not be significant when they're babies and toddlers. When they're able to choose the ornament themselves, and then hang it on that 8 ft. tree come December 1st, it will become something each child will eagerly look forward to. Unwrapping each ornament and seeing the growing collection of keepsakes can trigger special memories of each Christmas spent long after they've forgotten the present they got last year. When they're older, they can keep the ornaments in their own homes, perhaps leaving several special ones to spruce up the parent's tree.
Go Ice Skating – (and drink hot chocolate at the rink side) There's nothing quite like gliding on smooth ice in an outdoor skating rink or if you've got a natural pond that's frozen over, good for you! I have to settle with a man-made one but I'll take it. You can't ice skate all year. And lacing up those first pair of ice skates for your little ones can be the start of a long-standing holiday tradition. Don't forget to have some warm beverage like hot chocolate, or hot apple cider to help with that little nip in the air, even if the nip is manufactured by ice machines.
Watch the Nutcracker – It's kind of a rite of passage for many little ones to be taken to their first stage show. It makes it even more significant to watch this classic and perennial favorite that usually only appears during the month of December. Other ideas would be watching plays or musicals put on by your local Children's theaters. We're taking our 2 year old to A Christmas Carol put on by the Children's Theater group this Friday. Make sure to check the recommended age, and gauge your child's own tastes before taking them to a particular show. I was pleasantly surprised to see that A Christmas Carol was recommended for all ages.
Make Christmas Arts & Crafts – I'm planning to make paper snowflakes with my daughter when she's older. I've found simple directions online and (I hope) that she'll enjoy all the paper paraphernalia and eventual snowflakes that will come out of them. It's bonding time well-spent in my opinion. (I must confess, I am pretty excited and will probably try it this year, though my 2 year old will not be able to participate in cutting). For the little ones. you can stick to non-scissors activity like making pipe cleaner candy canes or glittery pinecones which you can then have them hang around the house for decoration, or to trim the tree.
Bake Christmas Cookies – (or make other confections). I don't bake much except for around the holidays. This year, I've bought my sugar cookie mix, got my cookie sheet and special Christmas cookie cutters shaped like a Christmas tree and snowman, plus colorful sprinkles. Yes, even a two-year old will enjoy making the cookies with you, especially the tasting part :). You can guide their little wrist with the cutting, and have them help with the decorations. Having them wait in anticipation for the completion of their handiwork makes this even more fun.
Watch Christmas Parades – How often do you get to see Santa and his reindeer, elves, and other festive fixtures in holiday parades? Bundle up the kids and watch their eyes light up! Be sure to see the BIG parade on Christmas morning!
Go on a Christmas Light Tour – Every city has them, pockets of neighborhoods where every house in the cul-de-sac, street, etc. has a tradition of putting up Christmas decor on steroids, attracting passers-by on foot or car to admire the handiwork. Last year, my toddler was too little to really care, but we're going again this year because, personally, I really, really enjoyed it.
Listen to Christmas Carolers (or sing yourselves!) – Waiting for Christmas carolers to stumble on your doorstep is probably futile. Most Christmas carols are organized events. Check with your church, your local schools if they have any caroling planned. They will usually tell you the neighborhood at which they'll sing, and what dates and times so you can be around to watch and revel in the holiday songs.
And of course, there is always the lovely unveiling of Santa and his elves, as well as Christmas movies, Christmas feasts, and whatever else your family loves doing come holiday season. I hope the suggestions above are helpful, and I hope that your family enjoys them!
There are many ways to make each holiday season special. We'd love to hear about your family's special holiday traditions.
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Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Make a Wish Card with Hair Clip
Every day I enjoy looking at the birds that come to our bird feeders - it makes working at the kitchen sink much more pleasurable! Our visitors are mainly sparrows, starlings, chaffinches, coal tits and pigeons. But occasionally little blue tits decide to dine in our garden and I love to see the flash of their beautiful colours as they fly in to feed. So on my card I wanted to use the colours of the blue tits, the greenery in the garden and the grey from the background of the napkin. Because of the softness of the feathers I included some soft felt.
Stamps (Hero Arts) - Leafy Vines & It's Your Day
Dawn and Arlene from The Die Cut Divas kindly invited me to do a tutorial over at the The Die Cut Divas blog and as the May Challenge is Anything But a Card I made a fabric brooch. You can find the tutorial here showing how to make a fabric flower brooch. I used the same method to make the flower on my card.
This time the flower is a hair clip - it's fun putting a little extra surprise on cards.
I'm also submitting this card into the current Hero Arts challenge.
Yesterday I was teaching a class and one of the ladies who was at it showed us a beautiful scarf that she had knit. I had never seen anything like it, it looked like ripples of ribbon so of course when the class was finished I had to pay a visit to our local wool shop.
It turns out that the ribbon yarn (Woolcrraft Desire) has little holes all along the upper edge and each hole is knit into. So I picked up some to knit a scarf for my sister. I did a little bit of knitting this morning and my goodness the scarf really flies up with only five stitches all in knit stitch. I'll definitely have to go shopping again for some more patterns in this ribbon yarn!
10 comments:
- MichelleZ said...
Fabulous! The felt is a brilliant addition!
- May 29, 2013 at 9:17 PM
- Anita Rex said...
So cute Heather! I love that scarf! So neat! Never saw a scarf or ribbon like that! Do you think one scarf takes more than 1 roll?
- May 29, 2013 at 10:04 PM
- Heather Maria said...
Thanks Michelle and Anita:) Anita it only takes one roll to knit the scarf - I've sent you a link on FB.
- May 29, 2013 at 11:05 PM
- Maureen Morton said...
Your talents never cease, Heather! Love this card with the bright colors and that the flower is a hair clip! My oh, my! And this scarf is going to be stunning. Love to see your posts.
- May 30, 2013 at 12:01 AM
- Trinh said...
Beautiful hair clip! Love how you incorporated it into your card. And that scarf is fabulous! Such cool ribbon.
- May 30, 2013 at 12:40 AM
- Barb said...
Love your gorgeous take on the trigger, Heather - that felt flower is fabulous! And what a neat looking scarf - love the pretty fabric!
- May 30, 2013 at 12:43 AM
- Lin said...
What a fun post today, Heather! Your take on the Trigger is so cute, and I loved seeing the scarf, too! I made ruffle scarves for Christmas, but they used a kind of fishnet yarn that you knit along one side. This looks like fun - what will they think of next?
- May 30, 2013 at 1:39 AM
- Dawn Turley said...
gorgeous Heather. We were so happy to have you join us at Die Cut Divas and your tutorial was awesome. Thank you so much.
- May 30, 2013 at 8:57 AM
- Carol McCready said...
What a great take on the
Tuesday Trigger.
- May 30, 2013 at 2:02 PM
- Linda W. (ScrappinBari) said...
Just love how you stamped the leafy vines, Heather - so beautiful embossed in silver! What a fun hair clip too! So glad your class went well and how wonderful to find that ribbon yarn. Looks like a gorgeous scarf - Gillian will love it!!
- May 31, 2013 at 2:04 AM

subset: commoncrawl


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We'll get to the food bit of this blog post post in a minute, but can we just stop to talk about how awesome the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is please?
130 years old this month, the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is free entry and has a great big statue of Lucifer who greets you as you enter – I'm not sure if it's a nod to Birmingham's rich history of non-conformists and free thinkers, but I like to think so. 'Built by the people of Birmingham for the people of Birmingham' its been a place I've been going to since I was a child, and even helped me win an argument about Star Wars with my school art teacher.
Baroque and Birmingham People exhibitions
So despite being a semi-regular guest, when an invite landed in my inbox to be shown around some of the recently opened exhibitions, along with afternoon tea, I jumped at the chance. I've already been to the Edwardian Tearooms since they had their major facelift, for bacon sandwiches and horror films (as you do), so a Saturday morning of culture and cake sounded pretty good to me.
We were first shown around the new 17th century Baroque exhibition, showcasing some of Birmingham Museums Trust's highlights and rarely seen pieces. They'd sort of split the display into Italian and Spanish, and northern European pieces. Despite watching a lot of historical dramas recently, I'm not nearly as up on my history as I'd like, but the backdrop of religious and social change in the era was reflected well in the collection – plus there were some pretty fun hands-on pieces to bring the exhibition to life.
The second collection we saw was the Birmingham People exhibition, which I adored – social history was kind of a favourite of mine at school and this array of 20th and 21st century art had a real people focus. There was everything from video footage of people walking down the Pallasades ramp and photographs at the market, to paintings of the Birmingham Superprix motor race and sculpture. It was a lovely celebration of Birmingham and next time a national journalist complains about the city, I say we lock them in there for 24 hours.
Afternoon Tea
So anyway, after walking around several exhibitions and getting a bit lost (which is customary when visiting BMAG), we sat down to afternoon tea. I've been a big fan of the refurb of the Edwardian Tearooms; it sort of somehow manages to be a fresh modern take on a classic tea room – and the circular green seating in the middle of the room just calls out to be included in a spy drama. I love a good coffee shop, but the lack of tea rooms in the city centre sort of disappoints me – more places for tea and cake please, Birmingham city centre.
First out came a tray of sandwiches, with plenty of different fillings. I think it's pretty hard to get excited over afternoon tea sandwiches generally but these were perfectly pleasant, and the variety of fillings meant there was something to suit everyone – they'd even managed to do a vegan version for one of the girls.
The scones were up next and these were great – I'm pretty sure I had two and managed to take one home too. I'm amazed at the number of places who seem not to be able to do scones well; so crumbly they disintegrate or so dense they're like bricks. These had just the right density and are enough to lure me back in for a cream tea very soon. The Edwardian Tearooms afternoon tea is pretty traditional, so the final round of cakes were mini-sponges. Personally I'd have like to have seen something a little different, as I think four varieties of sponge cake is a little dense after sandwiches and scones.
So in summary, the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is great, and the Edwardian Tearooms are definitely worth a visit, whilst you're there. BMAG has a new exhibition, Enchanted Dreams, the first exhibition ever dedicated exhibition of the works of pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Robert Hughes, which is drawing together artworks from public and private collections and sounds like it'll be worth the small admission charge.
Disclosure: I was invited down to a blogger event at BMAG and given complimentary afternoon tea. I've been plenty of times before and paid for my own cake. Go check out the green spy seats too.


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For the Fortis Elements Base Layer Bottoms see product code 19324.


text: Are you a Supreme Fuzzler? If so, show off your love for everyone's favorite Walrus. This is our largest patch by far measuring in at 4 inches wide and 4.5 inches tall. It is great for wearing as a shoulder patch or as a centerpiece to your gear. Also, the Eyes glow in the freaking dark! These patches are high quality Velcro backed patches with an embroidered logo. These patches are based on the original art by Clownie Nerf and made by Velocity Blasters exclusively for FoamBlast and Walcom receives a percentage of every sale, so almost every penny is going back into the community. They have hook sided Velcro on the back to attach to your tac gear. Sold individually, will be restocked as quickly as possible.


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I'll admit, I'm one of those that scans the suggested cooking instructions then proceeds to cook how I think it should be done.
Why use a timer when you can just touch, taste, and smell to see if onions are softened, garlic is fragrant, chicken is cooked, dinner is done?
The humble popcorn has kicked me off my cloud.
Sometimes, you should just read the package.
In an attempt to ban microwave popcorn from my house I tried several batches of homemade microwave popcorn. Where you put the kernels in a brown paper lunch bag, shake it up with a tsp of oil and pop it in the microwave for a minute and a half. Alton Brown does it.
I tried. Many times. The first bowl was such a novelty that I didn't care that only 1/2 the bag popped. The second time, when the kernels burned it was a bit of a damper. Miraculously a bag of potato chips appeared with the comment "I had my doubts about the popcorn thing". Then the experimenting began. Try it with oil, without oil, with the oil really coating each kernel. With salt. Without. For a minute. a minute and a half. Two. One fold on the lunch bag. Parchment bags instead.
Finally about 2 scoops of kernels away from the end…
I read the back:
I tried it.
It worked.
Every single kernel popped. And every single kernel was nice and fluffy with a crispy popped middle. Delicious. and it took, oh. a minute or two.


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White Flag Projects is pleased to present Mockup, a one-person exhibition by Daniel Lefcourt. Mockup is a storage room, a stage set, a mausoleum, a trade show, a diagram, a game board, a studio, a retail store, a pictograph, a classroom, a museum display, an architectural model, and a sign-maker's workshop. Like composite wood—the material from which the artworks are made—each object is at once real and solid, and simultaneously a mere semblance or substitute.
Daniel Lefcourt's recent one-person exhibitions have been held with Taxter & Spengemann, New York; Sutton Lane, London; Luis Campaña Galerie, Berlin; and Mitterand & Sanz, Zurich.
e-flux » Announcements
// From our friends at E-Flux


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Google will hold its second major software developer conference May 28 and 29, delivering a host of new technology, services and advice for developers around the Google platform.
Among the new technology expected to be delivered at the event in San Francisco, known as Google I/O, will be a new version of the GWT (Google Web Toolkit), sources said. Google is expected to announce the availability of GWT 1.5 in some capacity.
The Google Web Toolkit makes it easier for Java developers to write high-performance Asynchronous JavaScript and AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) applications in Java.
Further reading
Although he did not address the issue of a GWT 1.5 announcement, Bruce Johnson, a Google software engineer and tech lead for GWT, said one of the biggest areas where Google has made a lot of progress recently is that "we can fully support the Java 5 system" with support for generics and annotations.
Another area of major progress is in performance. "With [GWT] 1.5, we've added a whole new set of compiler optimizations," Johnson said. He added that "performance matters so much. With GWT, you can take a nice Java code base and compile it into JavaScript that runs faster than code you can write by hand."
He said fighting these browser quirks is not a good use of people's time, "so we realized a tool needed to be invented. GWT takes the focus of using existing tools."
In the future, areas of focus for GWT include delivering better tools for the platform, Johnson said. GWT currently supports all the major Java IDE (integrated development environments), but one area of focus might be to deliver a plug-in for Eclipse to make it even easier to use the open-source IDE with GWT. Google also plans to continue to drive performance with compiler optimizations and other things, Johnson said.
Adoption of GWT has been good, Johnson said. "We gauge it by the quality of the apps" being built with GWT, although the technology has had millions of downloads, he said.
Lombardi Software is one GWT user that has built some compelling technology with the Google tool. Lombardi provides BPM (business process management) technology and services to help customers with their process improvement initiatives. Lombardi products are built on open standards and provide ongoing prioritization, planning, visibility and control of business processes, said Wayne Snell, senior director of marketing at the company.
Snell said Lombardi is using GWT because "it offers the best platform for our engineers to quickly develop and easily maintain a true enterprise-class Web 2.0 application using standard Java tooling and skills."
About two years ago, Lombardi decided to create a new product for the BPM market that combined easy-to-use process modeling and wiki-like collaboration for business users to document processes, Lombardi said. The current market was full of traditional client-server offerings that required the user to install the software locally and set up central servers if they wanted to collaborate with other users.
"So, we designed the world's first enterprise-class Web 2.0 process modeling tool-Lombardi Blueprint," Snell said. "We needed the user's experience to be fast, highly interactive and easy enough to use by any business user."
He said Lombardi looked at four or five different toolkits and even prototyped the mapping and diagramming views in Adobe Flash and the Dojo Toolkit before settling on GWT.
He said Lombardi developers gain four main benefits from using GWT: support for tooling, hosted mode debugging, cross-compilation and the ability to use existing skills in Java.
"We can use the excellent modern tools and IDEs available for Java to write code for GWT," Snell said. "Refactoring operations that would be very difficult to perform directly in JavaScript can be done easily when using GWT because the source code is Java. The tool chain for Java development is fantastic and lots of these tools can be applied to developing code for GWT. In the end, allowing our Java developers to use their tools of choice speeds development compared to alternatives."


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Is backpacking Gluten Free hard?
It's a common question I always get, is backpacking on a Gluten Free diet hard?
Well, do you want the easier answer or the explained answer?
To be honest, no, it's not hard. Backpacking gluten free is not hard at all. Yea sure at times it can be frustrating, just like any diet even if you are at home or abroad. What I find common though, is that most people get freaked out by not being able to find gluten free food when they travel.
Which is just a mind set thing where they believe they will starve to death because there is nothing for them to eat. And it hurts for me to see people like that, because it stops them from going and doing something truly amazing like travelling.
However, all that is far from the truth. There is always something gluten free within walking distance (unless you are in the dessert) to eat. Don't be mistaken, you can find gluten friendly food everywhere you need to go, take my word for it. I have been to every continent (except Antarctica) and never gone hungry without being able to find something gluten free.
So, if you are like me, a Coeliac or even if you just prefer to be on the gluten free diet for health reasons, which I highly suggest to everyone! Never rule out travelling!!
All you need to do is use your common sense and go for food that you know is gluten free. Like most meats, all fruits and vegetables, rice, corn based crackers or GF bread. In a lot of English speaking countries you will find marked gluten free products in the supermarkets.
Sure it might be tougher in undeveloped countries, but you can't rule them out either. They always have rice dishes, vegetables, meat and fruit, nuts and seeds you can eat. And on the upside they are all healthy foods you are putting in your body.
If you are really struggling for meal ideas, check out these easy Gluten Free Backpacking Meals you can try out if you get stuck for suggestions.
So to conclude, the answer to your main question is, no. Backpacking gluten free is not hard, even in the slightest. If you know what you can and can't eat then you know what is safe and what is not. Just do what you normally do and stick to the foods you know you can eat
Then, when you get more comfortable in a foreign country, you can start asking what ingredients are in the food/meals. One common question I always ask is, "does this have flour/wheat in it?" and generally you will find the answer.
So take it from me, backpacking gluten free is not hard. Never rule out travelling just because you are on a special diet. Sure take it as a challenge at the start, but very quickly you will learn and not even have to think about where your next meal is coming from or what it will be. Once you start you will probably find you love travelling Gluten Free, with all the new meal ideas and new foods you can try. Just have fun with it!


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월드산업정보센터는 귀사의 경쟁력을 높여드리기 위해 트렌드와 시장을 예측하여
입증된 시장조사 보고서를 많은 분들께 공유하고자 합니다.
Medical Robotics Market : Global Demand, Growth Analysis & Opportunity Outlook 2023
- 시장조사보고서
Medical robots allows surgeons to carry out operations in more precise and less invasive way, medical robots increases accuracy of the operation along with wide range of advantages such as decreases risk of infection, decreases post-operative pain and reduces risk of patients life. Along with improved patient care, another aim of making medical robotics mainstream is to cut down on medical costs along with improved diagnostic abilities. The world is currently facing the shortage medical facilities; robots such as Aethon TUG can complete the work of three full-time employees this can save the man power for other activities. Adoption of medical robotics in healthcare industry is considered as a wise step to overcome the global shortage of medical facilities. Medical robots are mainly used because of their ability to perform repetitive tasks at high speeds, reliably and without fatigue.The robotic method poses great benefits, not only in terms of performance, but also in terms of cost-effectiveness, ease of use and other such factors.
The global nuclear medicine equipment market was valued at $2,012 million in 2015, and is estimated to reach $2,647 million by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 3.9% during the forecast period. Nuclear medicine utilizes radionuclides, which are unstable atoms that emit radiation spontaneously, to examine and treat diseases such as, cancer, cardiovascular, and others.
Radionuclides are cleaned and compounded like other drugs to form radiopharmaceuticals. Nuclear medicine imaging offers information at the molecular and cellular level in the body with the help of uptake of radiotracers by the tissues.
Nuclear medicine equipment are used to diagnose and treat various diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, neurological diseases, and for drug development. These equipment are used to examine/study different processes including metabolism, tissue blood flow, expression of cell receptors in normal and abnormal cells, neurotransmitter activity, homing, cell trafficking, and apoptosis. Equipment used for anatomic imaging are single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET), enhance the accuracy of nuclear medicine imaging. These devices when combined with computed tomography (CT) (PET/CT and SPECT/CT devices) deliver better results in areas such as unidentifiable structural alteration.
- 시장조사 보고서
Radiology Information System Market Overview
Global Radiology Information System Market was valued at $603 million in 2015, and is expected to reach $941 million by 2022, supported by a CAGR of 5.9% during the forecast period. A radiology information system (RIS) is majorly used to organize and manage the workflow of the radiology department.
Factors such as enhancement of healthcare IT services, technological advancements, and surging prevalence of chronic diseases drive the market of radiology information system. In addition, increase in adoption of healthcare IT services in emerging economies are expected to create new opportunities for the key players during the analysis period. However, shortage of experienced IT professionals in healthcare and interoperability issues are the major barriers that restrain the market growth.
- 시장조사 보고서
Global Medical Videoscope Market was valued at $17,927 million in 2015, and is expected to reach $27,202 million by 2022, supported by a CAGR of 5.9% during the forecast period 2016 - 2022. A medical videoscope is an illuminated, optical instrument used to screen and execute diagnostic interventions inside hollow cavities and visceral organs of the body, such as the brain, esophagus, lungs, abdomen, gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and others. Medical conditions such as abdominal pain, ulcers, digestive tract bleeding, abnormal growth in the colon, and other abdominal & gastrointestinal diseases can be diagnosed through endoscopy. The demand for medical videoscopes has increased significantly owing to the increasing preference for minimally invasive surgeries. Moreover, not only being minimal invasive, endoscopic procedures are cost-effective compared to other open surgeries, especially in terms of pre- and post-operational costs and length of stay at hospitals and clinics.
귀중한 시장조사보고서는 월드산업정보센터 홈페이지에서 각 산업분야에 걸쳐 더 많고 다양한 자료를 확인하실 수 있습니다.
시장조사 보고서 샘플 역시 별도로 요청하시면 보내드리고 있사오니
언제든지 월드산업정보센터를 찾아주시면 앞날을 내다보는 놀라운 데이터로 보답하겠습니다.


text: So I made a compilation and posted it on Youtube. Had so much fun, I might be doing more, depending. The only problem is I'm not quite sure what board to put it on to show it off. Advertisements seems likely, but wanted clarification before I stuck it on the wrong board.


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Boracay planning!
Good friends are getting married in Boracay December of 2016 and a bunch of us will be heading there from both coasts of the US. I use my blog as a notebook to keep track of the stuff I've learned while I'm looking for a good fare. This is what I've learned so far. Please email me or leave a comment if you have anything to add or have any questions. I'll keep adding and revising stuff as I find it. (updated 29 Sept 2016)
- Here's the Wikipedia entry for Boracay for openers. Wikitravel guide is here.
- Looking at their airport situation, there are two: KLO airport (90 minutes by car from Boracay ferries, several international flight options) and MPH (right next to the ferry, but only has flights to Manila and Cebu).
- Several of my frequent flier friends who've done this say that unless you want to spend some time sightseeing in Manila, arriving to KLO from another country is the way to go.
- Here are all the direct flights into KLO (keep in mind not all of these are year-round or 7 days a week)
Direct flights into KLO (updated Sep 2016)
- All that said, my first thought is to try to fly into one of these places and spend some time there before heading over to KLO. Singapore, Hong Kong, and Seoul all sound great for a layover.
- ... OR to go to Manila with Nico (a good friend who's originally from there) beforehand and just
partyeat for a while before heading over.
- (FYI - Jin Air is a new low-cost carrier owned by Korean Air. They have Boeing 737s in an all-economy configuration)
General TipsA couple of tips before you click Buy:
- Google Flights is a speedy, well-designed place to search for and buy flights. (There's a great tutorial for it over here). Kayak has a larger selection of flights in its database so, especially for less-common Asian carriers, always double-check Kayak.
- Make sure you look at the flight number (or the plane type) and use SeatGuru before you buy. A bit of poking around and you can sometimes find a good seat in Economy (like #2 in the pic below) that's a bit less painful than the others. Also note the seat pitch -- if you feel cramped in United's 32" seats, are you going to survive a long flight in 28" seats? If you click on the flight detail in Google flights, it does a good job flagging flights with good or bad legroom.
|Look at all that legroom
- Make sure you look at the layover times! Having an 8 hour layover in the middle of the night at the airport is not fun. For example, here are two identically-priced itineraries for NYC-KLO, but the second one will have you sleeping overnight in the Manila airport.
- If you read through the Wikitravel article, you'll see that even after your 28+ hours of air travel, you've still got customs, a 2 hour car ride, a ferry ride, and tricycle taxi ride to your hotel. I'm thinking I might want to break that up a bit... Maybe spend a day or two in Seoul or Hong Kong before continuing on.
- Philippine Airlines has "direct" service to Manila from JFK and Toronto, both flights have a stopover in Vancouver en route.
- Right now most flights from North America to KLO are pricing out around $1100 in economy, $4500 in Business Class, and "Ain't Nobody Gonna pay that" in First ($10,000+) on most of the airlines.
Best Bets Flying on Points
- Sadly Philippine Airlines isn't part of any of the big alliances, so using points with them isn't possible
- My first instinct is to fly via Seoul. There are usually quite a few seats available on Asiana (United/Aeroplan/Star Alliance) and Korean Airlines (Delta/SkyTeam) even up until the last minute. A Saver award seat on Asiana or Korean in Economy is 35,000 each way. For flying "fancy" to Seoul, I'm going to transfer Chase points to Korean Air – their First Class is priced the same as the other carriers' Business Class. (Our trip report here).
UPDATE: we've booked our tickets and, indeed, we're coming back from Boracay on Korean Airlines via Seoul. We transferred Chase points (important note on that here) to Korean Airlines and are doing the upper deck on their 747-8 on the long leg to JFK.
- From Seoul to KLO there's three flights a day (AirAsia, Philippine Air, Jin Air) on most days of the week. It's a 4.5 hour flight and both flights have seats smashed together even closer than the worst US carriers so it might be worth springing for Business Class on Philippine Airlines (AirAsia is 100% Economy). Though if you look at the seat map, you might be good if you can snag 42A or 42K in Philippine Air Economy, though. These flights are running $400-$500 in Economy and $900 in Business.
- The glamour route of course would be Singapore Suites class to Singapore and connect to KLO there. A Saver reward in Suites is 110,00 miles each way, per person - if you can find an available seat. Some tips about booking this reward are here. The flight from Singapore to KLO is 3 hours 45 minutes and isn't daily, so plan accordingly. At least one of the legs will likely be TigerAir, which has no Business Class.
- And if you're flying Singapore Suites-level of baller, you might as well get helicopter service to your resort from Manila... it's only US$2000 :P
- For OneWorld/Avios/American Airlines, I'd do Cathay Pacific JFK or SFO to Hong Kong. It's another high-glamour choice that's a bit more attainable than Singapore Suites. If you have American/British Airways points it's 35,000 points each way for Economy, 70,000 for Premium Economy, and 105,000 for Business. (More points are required when flying from Boston...) My trip report from that plane is here.
- If you geek out on planes, you could try to route yourself there on a double-decker A380 or a new 787. The flight detail in Kayak and Google flights shows the plane type. Asiana, Korean, Singapore, and several others operate A380s. A list of 787 routes is here.
Other Options
- Ultimately, for the flight to the Philippines we chose to fly through Taipei, mostly because we want to fly on the Eva Air Hello Kitty plane. Its only North American destination is currently Houston 3x a week, but when I saw Saver Business Class seats we jumped on them even though it's a more convoluted routing. Eva Airlines is part of Star Alliance and is priced similarly (35k/80k each way).
I finally found the direct Taipei – Kalibo flights: China Airlines, flight 707, Monday and Thursdays only, 7am. Philippine Airlines flight 893, Wednesdays and Saturdays, departing 9:40am.
- Kuala Lumpur has no direct flights to the USA, so I'd probably not take that route. It's just under 4 hours on AirAsia's extra-cramped Economy from KUL to KLO.
- Beijing/Shanghai I would only do if I were stopping off there for a few days to actually see China just because I've never been there and I'd feel lame being so close and not stopping over. Boston has direct service to Shanghai and Beijing on Hainan: $1200 r/t in Economy, $3500 in Business. They have a new Boeing 787 on that route with lie-flat seats. They aren't part of an alliance so no points here. For the life of me I can't get AirAsiaZest to display the direct flights from China to KLO, so maybe it's a unicorn. I guess just keep an eye on this one...


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And yes, it uses a quiz to recommend the perfect roast.
It's a question websites have been asking themselves since the dawn of the World Wide Web: How the hell are we actually going to make money? Branded products are always a popular answer, so it's amazing that over a decade after its founding, web giant BuzzFeed has only now followed the wordplay path of least resistance to the idea of selling its own buzz-inducing coffee.
In a partnership between BuzzFeed's food-focused Tasty and NBC's Today show, people interested in letting a BuzzFeed-style quiz guide them towards their perfect cup of joe can order semi-customized tins of coffee from the clumsily named Today Food Tasty. Heading to the online shop literally does present users with a quiz that seeks emoji-driven answers to questions like how much caffeine do you like, what's your preferred fruit, and, importantly, what's your favorite part of the Today show. From there, coffee buyers can enter their own cheeky name for their blend to create a custom label… something like, as the site suggests, Antonio's Eye Opener or, for the less inspired, something like Mike's Coffee.
Once you've jumped through all these hoops, you'll be presented your chosen beans (or grounds). For instance, I was given a single origin selection from the Ethiopia Nura Korate Coop – not a bad choice being that African coffees usually are my preference, so I'll give them some credit. It's almost enough to make me rethink the accuracy of every BuzzFeed quiz I have ever taken in the past.
Video: The Most Expensive Cup of Coffee in America
Though a website and a TV show are behind the brand, the coffee itself comes from the reputable, third-wave roaster Brooklyn Roasting Company, meaning the beans themselves might be better than you think. But letting BuzzFeed and the Today show choose your coffee for you isn't cheap: Each 12-ounce tin costs $19.99 plus $4.99 shipping and handling — a price that certainly isn't out of line with similar quality products, but is possibly a bit upmarket for the kind of people who think filling out an emoji-flaunting quiz is the most sensible way to buy coffee.
Still, assuming this goes well, I think the next BuzzFeed branded product seems pretty obvious: craft beer. Then after that, what else gets you buzzed? Maybe branded nitrous oxide? (For whipped cream use only obviously.)
[h/t Grub Street]


text: I'm not even going to pretend I play these kinds of games – and it's not because I've got the double X-chromosome dislike of football. It's because I can honestly thing of other things I'd rather be doing than watching the Muppet Babies version of pro football. But a lot of people (kids) are really into these games. And why not? It's Baby's First Madden, with a much simpler interface, seven on seven games, and a co-ed roster (unless you're in all-pro mode, in which case all you get are prepubescent pro football players to work with). The Wii version I got to take a look at during Atari's gamer's day was sufficiently cutesy and friendly-looking; and it handled pretty well too. There's quickplay mode, pickup game, tournaments, season mode, and all-pro mode. Season is what's going to sell to kids because you get to create your own coach spend several hours growing a team that'll get the high scores. Apparently you can then upload your coach and your team's stats to the game's website and see if your coach ranks in the Hall of Fame.I sat in for a quickplay game, where my roster was picked out for me. All the characters – including the cast of neighborhood kids – have stats that suit them to one position more so than another, but they've also go modes to factor in that might grant bonuses or bitch performance in certain areas. There's also a more subtle game mechanic to the neighborhood kids – for example, there's a brother and sister duo that don't play well together on the same team, but dominate when playing on opposing teams. After making sure each of my players was having an OK day at least, we got down to the game. First you pick a formation, which unlocks all relevant plays for that position. After selecting both, you go into realtime mode where you press A to hike the ball. You pick a receiver to throw the ball to by pressing their correlating direction on the D-pad and then flick the Wii mote to throw the bomb. Once the ball has been received by a player, you press the analog stick to run and dodge as needed. Really, it's a more complicated version of what Wii Sports would have done to football had Nintendo gone through with it. And the pro players – one from each NFL team – are only the icing on the cake since I'm not sure how many 9-year-olds are really up on who got traded where this summer. Backyard Football 09 is out October 21 for Wii, DS, PS2 and PC.


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Yesterday, I had the good fortune of hosting and moderating a webinar How IBM Drives ROI Through Employee Advocacy, featuring my long time IBM colleagues Colleen Burns and Amber Armstrong, who shared several case studies about how the global tech giant is successfully proving ROI through employee advocacy.
For those of you who've followed me on twitter @sfemerick or read my blog or book, The Most Powerful Brand on Earth, you know I believe the most successful brand advocates are those who gain visibility and trust by sharing their expertise, and the most successful brands are those who build systems around these experts to align and scale impact for the brand. IBM has done just that.
Kicking off our discussion by establishing a common understanding of how we define Employee Advocacy – meaning: brands empowering employees to support the goals of the brand, using content and employee-owned social — As explained in the book, this could also be extended to business partners or even customers.
But why should brands care?
Well, for starters Employee Advocacy is the fastest growing and most effective means of driving brand engagement and advocacy at scale. Secondly, customers trust your experts and regular employees more than anyone else in your company.
In fact, people trust regular employees as credible spokespeople more than official brand sources like the CEO, as shown by the 20 point gain since 2009, in Edleman's 2014 Trust Barometer study. In addition, the study reveals that employees rank highest overall 36%, as the most trusted influencer to communicate across 4 out of 5 topic categories including: Engagement, Integrity, Products & Services and Operations.
If you're contemplating an employee advocacy program, you'll need to consider how you're going to measure, demonstrate value and deliver results. If you miss this critical step, the likelihood of your program being short lived is pretty high because you won't be able to secure the resources or investment you'll need.
While ROI targets are typically financial, such as Increasing revenue or decreasing costs, they may also be non-financial such as increasing productivity, improving operational efficiency or reducing time to market which have financial implications. No matter which is right for your program, you need begin with establishing measurable ROI targets for the program up front. It's not enough to set targets, you also have to determine how you'll measure and report progress against them.
Another critical step is to consider what motivates stakeholders – depending which part of your company is sponsoring your program they will likely have different motivations and attainment measures, the details on addressing stakeholder motivations is explained in Chapter 7 of The Most Powerful Brand on Earth. We also dedicate a whole chapter to measurement, where you can find a roadmap of how build a measurement framework.
IBM's a leader in social business, committed to driving transformation, paving the way for open collaboration and employee engagement
Colleen Burns, Manager of IBM's Influencer Engagement Team, shared IBM's belief that employees are one of the greatest sources of influence. Not just in IBM products, but in the entirety of the company. IBMers (as employees call themselves), play a critical role helping to set the agenda, as well as build and cultivate relationships.
The IBM Redbooks Thought Leaders Social Media Residency is a great example. The program was designed to create a pipeline of thought leadership blogs and help motivate technical employees to establish their personal social eminence while sharing their technical knowledge and expertise while building engagement opportunities. Since it's inception in 2011, program participants have authored nearly 2,000 blogs across 11 business topics. In fact 800 posts published on IBM's Thoughts On Cloud blog have accrued 1.1 Million visits and counting!
IBM's Select program, designed to identify high-value experts to support social strategies aligned to go-to-market priorities, enabled SMEs to tag links and track inbound referrals from their personal blogs. This program has quantifiably outperformed traditional marketing and paid media tactics, proving digitally engaged experts could achieve a 33% conversion rate to a call to action.
IBM is also helping customers like Performance Bicycle achieve results by creating a community based learning center, which has become the Go-to destination for cycling enthusiasts. Moderated by employees that are cycling experts, they've achieved a 300% increase in traffic within first four months while proving a 20% higher conversion from the Learning Center compared to other referral sources.
IBM's work with Illy, an Italian coffee and accessories retailer, resulted in a 40% increase in traffic to the retailer's online shopping catalogue.
If you're striving to build a successful employee advocacy program and missed today's webinar, you can access the replay below, and can also follow and contribute to the dialogue on Twitter using the event's hashtag #AdvocateArmy


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Blog Post 3: Gendered Consumers/Engendering Consumerism—Toy Shopping Field Work (Due by 11pm Friday, May 29th)
Maymester 2009
Blog Post (Writing Assignment) #3
Due: Friday, May 29, 2009 by 11pm
Gendered Consumers/Engendering Consumerism—Toy Shopping Field Work
Choose one approach from the following two approaches for this assignment:
1. Gendered Consumers
o Shop for a child of a particular age/gender (we can define the age/gender & come up with a 4-5 item wish list before doing the assignment) by going to a physical ("brick & mortar") toy store or by shopping online. Neither of the options would require you to actually buy anything, just conduct the assignment as if you were shopping for the child.
o Analyze the role that toys (and products marketed for children) play in the gendered socialization of children using the products marketed to them.
o Examples of analyses to pursue:
• Do the toys resemble (i.e. skin color, age, (dis)ability) the child you're shopping for? Do only a small fraction of toys resemble your fictitious child?
• How does socioeconomic class factor into the desired toys for a particular child; are these toys accessible to the child you're shopping for, or would price, location, and/or other issues prohibit access for this particular child?
• Examine issues of sexuality (ads using sexual objectification or toys promoting a heightened/sensationalized sexuality & heteronormativity are both considerations under this category of analysis)?
• What values do the toys you found promote? Are they gendered values? How do gendered values teach children about propriety and social norms based on association with a particular gender?
2. Engendering Consumerism
o Examine the confluence of corporations and public educational institutions that has exploded over the past several years, resulting from the "No Child Left Behind Act." The goal was to 'reap the benefits of capitalism' and the 'innovation' and competition leading to lower prices to 'better' schools in the US. However, the ideal capitalist outcomes are not always the result of privatization efforts, particularly as they've unfolded in US education. The piece you read by Henry Giroux highlights many of the examples of heightened corporate influence on education.
o For this option, you'll be looking at:
• How corporate influence has affected the curriculum, teaching methods, testing, data collection, sponsorship, and capital investment projects at a school of your choice.
• You may use your local public high school or elementary school as a case study (or return to your own if you can) to examine the influence of advertising and corporate involvement on US public education in a particular school.
• Look at the ways in which socioeconomic class, gendered norms, and issues of race factor into your examination of the privatization of education.
• For this option, you will also need to conduct a bit of cursory research on demographics of area of the school you're using. Try to find out what companies and their products are likely targeted at this location, and how the products that you find are part of the material construction of gender in childhood. In other words, you're looking at how economics and corporate involvement engenders both consumption and gender simultaneously (as opposed to a more discursive construct of gender socialization).
If you find that you're stuck, here are a few questions to consider:
• What messages are sent to children about "boys" and "girls" through their toys?
• How do toys facilitate the understanding of normative gender roles and stereotypes in childhood?
• If toys are cultural products that are considered benign and 'innocent' by virtue of their target demographic group, how do toys represent powerful methods of information dissemination (think of the arguments we read in the pieces by Lull, Johnson, and Hall)?
• Look at the age-ranges for the toys you've found, what messages are being sent? How can toys relate to an issue/value/aspect of adulthood? Try to find a gender-neutral toy that would appeal to the child you've been shopping for…how did it work out?
• How are children socialized into 21st century consumption (Lipsitz argued TV was the catalyst for the role of "consumer" as an ideal in US culture…how are children being "trained" as consumers)?
Don't try to answer all the questions above, or tackle all the categories for possible analysis. These are just ideas to get you started on the assignment. Your thesis will be quite specific in relation to the specific analysis you pursue, the specific child/school, all in relation to the option chosen for this assignment.
Your analysis will be approximately 8-12 paragraphs in length, supported by at least 2 different course readings, and the source(s) of your toys used for analysis. Photos from websites or pictures you've taken will be particularly beneficial (make sure you don't infringe on copyright laws, so cite where the pictures were taken from (if you didn't take them yourself). Please use MLA format for in text citations and for the list of references that needs to be included at the end of your blog post (i.e. "References" after the conclusion).
Although this assignment will be in the form of a blog post, my expectations are similar to any other writing assignment. Specifically, this assignment is an analytical writing assignment; while I'm not hunting for grammar issues, writing clearly, staying focused and citing precise quotes are key factors in a good analysis. My primary focus, when reading your piece to grade it, will be on the quality of your analysis. Use the rubric you received for the first blog post's grade as your guide for this post.


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Yesterday I attended one event on Oracle Middleware update. Out of the various product update, the below three products are fantastic,
1) Oracle Golden Gate, Oracle Data Integrator
2) Oracle Exalogic
3) Oracle WebCenter
I first worked on Oracle WebCenter more than 3 years ago, its earliest first official release - Oracle WebCenter 10.1.3.2. During that time my objective is to consolidate the following user-facing features into one streamlined highly interactive user empowered Web 2.0 application
1) Oracle Portal 10g
2) OCS 10g (Oracle Content Server) - For managing documents, scheduling, web conferencing etc.
3) Oracle Beehive
4) Better and easier integration J2EE based web application.
5) Open source products for managing wiki, blog, forum etc
After few months' try, I decided not to use Oracle WebCenter at that time as the product is not so mature esp. the portal features are not so advanced though other features are quite okay such as ADF skin for CSS 3.0 stylesheet integration, and WSRP (Web Service For Remote Portlet) which provides cleaner and tighter integration between the portal and J2EE web applications
After yesterday's event, the picture has completely changed. So my suggestion to any organization who is embarking on company intranet or internet solution to have more robust and customized workflow enabled document management, create stickiness with employees and external customers/vendors, do take a look and evaluate Oracle WebCenter.
For more detail, you can watch the Oracle WebCenter demo at youtube
Make Health Information Exchange work better from an engineering point of view - Use standards as means and enabler to create highway
Friday, November 25, 2011
2 comments:
- AnonymousNovember 26, 2011 at 6:34 AM
Thanks for the feedback, Victor!ReplyDelete
We treasure inputs from our audiences very much and totally see the alignment of your use-cases to our design objectives.
I look forward to more in-depth discussions on the Webcenter topic with you.
- AnonymousNovember 27, 2011 at 8:48 AM
Recently I also looked at Oracle WebCenter although I haven't worked on it similar to you in few year. Funny enough, I found not a lot has changed. Today, there are many other more light weight choices for building web 2.0 applications.ReplyDelete
I also used to be a Java buff and have poured in my blood, sweat and tears on Oracle ADF, JSF, etc.
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
This is a good question
I was thinking out loud with my wife one laze Sunday afternoon about if it would be better if I went to a tablet and forgo another computer. This is when my wife spoke these words:"Will it be enough?". What she was implying was two fold. The first implication was would the tablet I was considering be powerful enough to do what I would do on a machine and the other part was would I have to keep upgrading each and every time something else came onto the market.
Initial reaction to this statement
Quite honestly it was an angry response! I think I heard my Mistress cry in my ear and that hurt the feeling enough to allow anger to initially take over. However just as quick as the rage came, it left and I was back to rational thinking. Quick to think about what got me angry and about the statement in general, I replied:"Most likely it will never be enough for what I do.". Which is true unfortunately! I do things that require quite a bit of computer horsepower and I could get by on what is presented now however most likely I will not be able to keep going forcing me to either quit what I do or get something else.
Other parts of the equation
The other parts of the equation would be what programs have a good app equivalent that I can use to go straight to a tablet. As of this blog post, sadly the answer would have to be no. Tablet manufacturers as well as the folks who have apps (what some will call programs on a personal computer) have made quite a bunch of improvements to the functionality of these devices however to give up a computer at this time is not feasible. I would have to change too much in order to go that route.
Don't misunderstand me here
I think that tablets are great and I would love to own another one. However with the current financials, that is not a possibility at this time. Yes I can do quite a few things with said device and yes it would be helpful however common sense has to prevail here. Don't worry, the Mistress will punish me later for that comment. So it looks like for now I will need to start dropping the pennies in the ol' piggy bank for a new machine.
So let this be a lesson here
If someone questions your love for technology and someone rightfully (like in this case) questions it, don't get angry even though the feeling might be strong! Take a second to ignore the Mistress and come to rational thinking. Then tell the individual that asked the question why you feel the way you do or explain why something is needed. I will admit however the sultry allure of the Mistress' voice can drive a tech geek wild and intoxicate them to do some things they may later regret!


text:
I bought this Stampin Up "Tree Thoughts and Prayers" Decal a while back - Just had to get the living room painted first! I will be hanging family photos around the tree and up the stairwell!!
The paint color is Sherwin Williams "Restrained Gold"! I have a very cave like living room and when the lights are on it looks like many different shades of Gold! The greenish wall in the front is the same color, just in shadow. Not exactly what I wanted the paint to do, but the only way to fix all the shadow problem is to put in a couple of sky lights in the room. But then would we have too much light??


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|Autumn, the season for fattening, indeed!
This fellow is (obviously) a frequent visitor to our feeder, well prepared for the winter.
01 November 2012
Treasured Books, Vol. 1: An Almanac for Moderns
14 comments:
Dear Erika,ReplyDelete
Thank you for introducing me to Donald Culross Peattie. I enjoyed the excerpt that you chose, and that you were able to illustrate it with what surely must be the most obese squirrel on record! I look forward to knowing the other books on your list of favorites . . .Replies
Dear Mark,Delete
Thank your for your message-- I'm quite sure that you'd enjoy the "Almanac"-- it's wonderful to have it around and just read Peattie's entry for the day (for today: small migrating birds and their songs...). That squirrel is indeed spherical, one of many Fox Squirrels we have at our feeder. Amazingly, as fat as they get, by the spring they're back to their normal size. Its hugely entertaining to see them in all their chubby glory, though!
Warm regards,
Dear Erika,ReplyDelete
This sounds like an interesting book. I had not heard of Donald Peattie before but your excerpt give us a glimpse into his style which is somewhat poetic.
I like that. . .
. . . and just like Mark, I am looking forward to seeing what's on the list of your other favourite books!
Bye for now
Dear Kirk,Delete
Thank you for your kind words-- I am very pleased to have found an author whose work is new and interesting for you. For me, the cross between science and poetry is a fascinating one,and, sadly, very rare. Later, I'll introduce another author, a kindred spirit to Peattie that I think you'll enjoy.
Warm regards,
Hello Erika, Donald Peattie is indeed a charming and observant nature writer, and I will add this volume to my shopping list of books. He obviously had a wide-ranging mind and a gift for exposition.ReplyDelete
One small issue--he refers to crabapples' "instant" of perfection. I consider this favorite to possess a regular season, and might even rescue some of those haws.
It's interesting that he calls his book "for Moderns". I find his writing rather old-fashioned; it even calls to mind the pioneers that lived among nature and observed it up close. Perhaps his message is that people have gotten away from this. I am looking forward to reading this belletrist so that I can find out.
--Road to ParnassusReplies
Dear Jim,Delete
Thank you for your message-- I'm so glad that you enjoyed this taste of Peattie's writing. His style is, I agree, old-fashioned, but in the best possible way. I imagine him as a man of great depth, interested in beauty and the workings of the world around him--a great inspiration. He was a belletrist, absolutely, a lover of words and nature both.
Best regards,
Dear Erika - Donald Culross Peattie paints a canvas with his words, even from the short passage that you have quoted it is possible to conjure up the images he is portraying. However, it would be impossible to imagine such a chunky fat squirrel if you had not shown him to us. I seem to recall you saying that you get through a 100 pounds of nuts a month - this one appears to be over indulging!!!ReplyDeleteReplies
Dear Rosemary,Delete
I'm so pleased that you enjoyed this post and Peattie's writing: he is a great pleasure to read. I confess, when I was choosing an autumn passage, I couldn't resist including an image of one of our Fox Squirrels-- the perfect mascot for the season! Amazingly, this breed of squirrel will grow to these rotund proportions now, stay fatty fat fat throughout the winter, and be completely back to their svelte selves by the spring...incredible and hugely entertaining to watch.
Warm regards,
Hello Erika:ReplyDelete
What an absolute treat this post is for in it you have introduced us to a previously unknown writer and clearly one who, as a keen observer of nature, and a diarist too, deserves to be more widely read. The excerpt which you include here is a delight and if representative, which we are certain that it is, makes us hunger for more.Replies
Dear Jane and Lance,Delete
Thank you for your kind words-- I am so pleased to have found a writer who is new to you--what an honor to introduce him! Peattie's "Almanac" is full of sensitively but not sentimentally observed passages on everything from birds, to chitin to slime-molds... And, to his credit, all are fascinating and enjoyable! I do hope that you'll be able to find this book-- it really is wonderful to have a bit of science and poetry through the year...
Best regards,
I think apologies are in order to Mr. Fox Squirrel - sorryReplyDeleteReplies
Dear Rosemary,Delete
No apologies necessary: I think these creatures revel in their roundness, as do we!
Warm regards from cold Michigan,
Hello, Erika - Thank you for introducing us to Donald Culross Peattie. A poet and botanist....fascinating combination! He clearly has a flair for words as well as a scientific mind. I love what he said about growth and reproduction. So true, and yet, I've never thought much about it. And btw, I look a bit like your squirrel friend: stocking up for winter. Too much leftover candy from Halloween :)ReplyDelete
Dear Loi,Delete
Thank you for your kind message--(I hope Sandy wasn't too hard on you and your community!!!) I'm so glad you enjoyed meeting Mr. Peattie! I would think, that as you are such an accomplished and thoughtful gardener, you may enjoy having a copy of the "Almanac" at hand-great fun. I think, like you, that I've been over-indulging a bit: perhaps it's our residual "caveman brain" prompting us to crave roasts and sweets in preparation for the winter??? Yes, that sounds right--let's blame it on the caveman.
Cozy regards,


text:
INDIANAPOLIS, Feb. 7, 2018 – USA Gymnastics has established an Athlete Assistance Fund, in cooperation with the National Gymnastics Foundation, to provide the financial means and guidance for gymnasts that have suffered sexual abuse in the sport of gymnastics to obtain counseling services. The Athlete Assistance Fund is a designated fund of the National Gymnastics Foundation, which unanimously approved its creation. An independent third party will administer the process of applying for funding support, facilitate the provision of counseling services and provide confidentiality of applicants.
"The National Gymnastics Foundation is hopeful that the newly established Athlete Assistance Fund will provide much-needed support for our incredible athletes who have had these devastating experiences," said the NGF Board of Directors. "This will help them get through some of the most difficult days of their lives. Our athletes are some of the most impressive young people in all the world. We respect and admire them greatly. To the absolute best of our ability, the entire gymnastics community is there for them."
"While we can never fully understand how profoundly abusers impact the lives of their survivors, we want to provide financial support to make sure our gymnasts have access to the counseling and mental health services they need," said Kerry Perry, the new president and CEO of USA Gymnastics. "We appreciate the National Gymnastics Foundation working with us in this effort. The powerful voices of the young women who have shared their experiences with sexual abuse have left an indelible imprint on me and will impact my decisions as president and CEO every day."
A five-person Designated Fund Committee of the National Gymnastics Foundation will oversee the fund, which will be administered by the independent third-party administrator. The Designated Fund Committee will be comprised of a member of the National Gymnastics Foundation Board; a gymnastics athlete; and two independent individuals, one of whom is an expert on counseling services for abuse survivors, and an at-large member. The committee will be chaired by Tina Ferriola, a member of the Foundation Board of Directors, a former competitive gymnast, and CEO of NYC Elite Gymnastics. Other members will be named soon. The committee will identify the parameters of the fund and the third-party administrator will provide guidance on requirements and procedures for administering it.
"Our hearts go out to all of the survivors affected by sexual abuse within USA Gymnastics," said Ferriola, who will chair the Designated Fund Committee. "We hope this fund will provide guidance and financial assistance in securing the necessary counseling services in support of the healing process for survivors of sexual abuse, as well as a method for our community to show their support directly to the athletes that need our assistance."
More information about the Athlete Assistance Fund will be available in the coming days, including information on how athletes and families of athletes may contact the fund using a toll-free number.
Contributions designated to the USA Gymnastics Athletes Assistance Fund can be made to the National Gymnastics Foundation, c/o USA Gymnastics, 130 E. Washington Street, Suite 700, Indianapolis, IN 46204 or by visiting the USA Gymnastics website.
About the National Gymnastics Foundation
The mission of the National Gymnastics Foundation includes support of the charitable, educational, and outreach efforts of USA Gymnastics. The National Gymnastics Foundation was created from the energy and excitement generated by the gold medal Olympic efforts of the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Proceeds totaling $1.4 million from the 1984 Olympics were used to establish the Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.


text: Jack McLean has lost his father. His quest begins at the age of 14. In the mean time the city of Angels is in trouble as he struggles to save it. He undergoes a transformation from a simple Mexican citizen to a City of Angels warrior. He has his god friends to help him. And off course, his unholy and half holy friends. Maya, April, Max and John.


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There is also information on:
www.digitalbookindex.com -this site has books from various sources including sacred scripts and Cornell. Under both religion and witchcraft. Includes persecution, myths and fables, and other dated texts (some of which are actually n.d. or not dated) the oldest I've seen so far is
The Hieroglyphic Monad ["24 theorems intended to condense occult knowledge into a single symbol"]dated 1564 London. which was found at Nortonsimperim
Also if you look around www.scribd.com you can find herbal books, Lucid dreaming books, and tons more.
Thank you all for the links to other sources!!!!


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Daily Incidents for June 28, 2006/
Four Arrested for Schlitzin' in PublicWhile assigned to Operation "Safe Neighborhood" last evening at approximately 6:00pm, officers from District A1 observed four individuals at 1 Winthrop Square drinking from 12-ounce cans of Schlitz beer. The officers also noticed discarded empty cans strewn about the park. Brian Laskowski, 24, of Jamaica Plain, Michael Reinhalter, 25, of Dorchester, Kaethe Hostetter, 24, of Roxbury, and Jennifer Sicora, 23, of Somerville were all arrested for drinking in public. Dorchester Man Stabbed on Washington Street Last night at 10:10pm, officers responded to Boston Medical Center for a stabbing. The victim, a 25-year-old Dorchester man, stated he was walking on Washington Street toward Massachusetts Avenue when two unknown black males approached him and stabbed him in the stomach and upper back. The suspects stole the victim's gold chain before fleeing the scene. The victim was treated for non-life threatening injuries. Search Warrant Results in Drug Arrests While executing a Roxbury Court Search Warrant yesterday afternoon at 10 Folsom Street, officers made three on-sight arrests. While searching an apartment, officers seized multiple bags of crack cocaine. Sharod Hopkins, 33, was arrested for Trafficking Class B Drugs within 100 Feet of a Playground and Jonathan Jemmott, 25, was arrested for Possession of Class D. A third individual trying to gain access to the apartment during the search became disorderly with police. Ronald Hopkins, 34, of South Boston, was arrested for Assault and Battery on a Police Officer.


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Soft pillows of loveliness resting on a bed of chocolate cookie. I finally have made this cookie...
It all began for me when I was asked, as a High School Sophomore, to babysit for the Pastor's family that lived across the street from our home. It seems that their usual babysitter had found a beau. I was the lucky person who had a chance to try out for and win this newly opened position ~ Caring for their two lovely children, Mathew ~3 yrs. and Sarah~1 1/2. This family quickly became my favorite babysitting job. It was also here that I was invited into their cookie jar, if I was desiring a treat. Mrs. H. had THE best cookies and I am not sure if this cookie jar only held this type of cookie but it was the only one I ever ate! My Mom taught us to have ONE cookie. Well! Let me tell you when it came to these cookies I would have THREE!!!! Boy did I feel guilty, but they were sooo good that I would eat three! As the years went on I gave my little charges over to my younger sister Jayne. She too LOVED these cookies and she too felt guilty for eating more than our usual one!
I have sent her a copy of this recipe in hopes that we can re~create this cookie layer of goodness. Oh! You see we both felt soo bad for eating more than one that we never asked for the recipe and years, and years later when my sister reconnected with Mrs. H. she no longer knew the recipe!!! OH MY!!!
Now LOOK!~
The complete deliciousness. They are topped with a homemade icing.
I must say that these cookies are truly decadent. I sent off a copy of the recipe to my Jayne. I am planning on making some changes.. after I consult with Jayne. I believe I have a better frosting that hardens nicely AND I may toy with the layering process. Well, I used to be an Excellent baker of cookies and pies... BEFORE I married. After marriage, my hubby wanted to eat them all up! I guess he did not have the one cookie or two if a special occasion rule! :)
SURPRISE COOKIES ala Martha Stewart~ Makes about 2 dozen
- * 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- * 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- * 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- * 1/2 teaspoon salt
- * 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- * 1 cup sugar
- * 1 large egg
- * 1/2 cup milk
- * 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- * 12 large marshmallows, cut in half horizontally
- * Chocolate Frosting for Surprise Cookies
- 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
- 2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg, milk, and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add reserved flour mixture; mix on low speed until combined.
- 3. Using a tablespoon or 1 3/4-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto ungreased baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies begin to spread and become firm, 10 to 12 minutes.
- 4. Remove baking sheets from oven, and place a marshmallow, cut-side down, in the center of each cookie, pressing down slightly. Return to oven, and continue baking until marshmallows begins to melt, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
- 5. Spread about 1 tablespoon of frosting over each marshmallow, starting in the center and continuing outward until marshmallow is covered.
- * 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- * 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- * 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- * 1/4 cup milk
- * 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Bon appetite! Hugs, Mary


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Welcome From Natalia Nad
Natalia's extensive training provides a unique ability to integrate a variety of treatments to suit the specific needs of each individual client.
"..each person is unique.. one approach cannot suit all ..at different stages of healing & progression clients' needs change.. but I am able to meet them all.." Natalia.
Natalia provides psychotherapy, analytic hypnotherapy, neuro-linguistic programming, energy & spiritual healing - Reiki, Theta Healing.
What my clients are saying...
".. May God bless you for your abilities and skills.. thank you doesn't express enough the appreciation I have for all your work and all it changed and transformed my life.."
".. Nothing prepares you for moments like this.. you have been a rock for me. I feel empowered, motivated, confident in creating life i want to have. I have no need to take any medications or self-harm. I have found new breath of life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.."
".. I was dead and now I am happy to be alive. I was overdosing and self-harming, my life had no purpose, meaning, was on heavy dose of antidepressants.. I do not need any medications to keep me going. I live again, I started to play my guitar, I want to do things for me, I want to make friendships and meet new people. My life has transformed and I am awake again. Its like I have returned to the state i only remember being in 45 years ago. Its never late to want to find happiness and be powerful.. I am grateful to Natalia for the rest of my life."


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Building Business Models
Application Required:
Apply Now
Applications may be submitted online at anytime. Sample Application
Application Required: Apply Now
Applications may be submitted online at anytime. Sample Application
An innovative product may be a feat of engineering, but that does not automatically turn it into a commercial success. What makes the difference between success in the lab and success in the marketplace is the business model. How will you create and deliver value for your customers? How will you extract some of that value for your organization? The business model encompasses your product or service, your customers, and the economic engine that will enable you to meet your profitability and growth objectives. Business model analysis is important for startups, new and established businesses which need to discover, defend or evolve their business models. This course introduces a structured way to think about, analyze, and develop a sound business model.
Learn How To
- Analyze the business models of competitors and incumbents
- Understand what a business is and how to structure it by examining the characteristics of common types of business models—how is value created, what is the profit model, and what is the logic of the business.
- Build and present a business model for your own innovation
- Prepare a business plan by following the approach taken by a young Silicon Valley startup.
- Understand the underlying economics as well as the "flywheel" that propels a business model to success.
- Learn about the concepts of network effects and sharing economy, which underlie the logic of many business models in the technology market.
Please Note: This course requires you to record a final presentation through voice, and/or video.
- Haim Mendelson Professor, Stanford University
Please contact us at 650.741.1630 or
Course Preview
Watch a brief overview of the Building Business Models course
- $995 per online course
- $75 one-time document fee
Certificates and Degrees
Applications may be submitted online at anytime. Sample Application


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Over the past few weeks there have been relatively few ads in the newspapers. Well this is what has been going on…
A couple of months ago all the media houses in Uganda got together and decided that agencies who book, sell, buy and plan media for the corporate machine owed them too much money and therefore they were going to stop running all adverts. They called a meeting to talk about this and they were right; agencies and clients together owed the media houses a whopping [Red Pepper style] UGX 5.9 Billion! They gave the agencies, who foolishly agreed, 90 days in which to address the delicate matter with their respective clients and get back to them.
90 days later.
A couple of weeks ago Robert "KaBush" (from hereon known as Bush), summoned the mother of all meetings, he and his Nation Media Group counterpart Dr. Githinji (did you know he was a gynecologist?) had amassed all their smaller and diverse media cronies and, seated at the head of the table, announced that all advertising was going to stop running. They had done what scholars and industry watchers had thought was unthinkable, let alone undoable. They had blacklisted all media agencies; a blanket ban.
The review meeting following this announcement showed that the agencies had managed to bring down their debt to about UGX 2.9 Billion claiming that some of their clients were adamant to pay or had stricter payment procedures and therefore had not been able to remit the balance in the 90 days pending. So all advertising was going off air.
He shouldn't have:
1. Been positioned as the leader of the fight against the corporate machine because that evening nearly all MDs, CEOs, and CFOs of the corporate machine met separately to discuss this new turn of events while simultaneously the agencies also met to digest this new twist to things.
2. Put a blanket ban on the all the agencies because not all agencies had failed to pay. Therefore the whole industry being victimized for one agency's lack of fiduciary wisdom was not perceived as just or bright.
3. Stood together with his competition to try and "Enforce" a measure that he felt was for the "greater good" because in the end he will still be standing alone to his shareholders to account for what's happening to their investment.
The results of the meetings.
The Bush meeting ended up with an alliance signed in blood committing all the media houses to a cooperation where if you owe any single media house money e.g. Observer, you will not get be able to run your advertisement in any other newspaper. Of course this would mean increased cooperation amongst the media houses but it also posed the precarious question of commitment and solidarity. In a time when the market is shrinking and print media budgets are quickly being replaced you don't want to be caught biting the advertisers' hand.
45 extra days were given and ZK Advertising, the second largest spender of advertising in East Africa since 2009 and Ignition advertising were blacklisted. All their advertising was blocked and no work would be coming through them from anyone. Instead, the media houses circumvented the agencies and went directly to the clients and got the adverts directly.
The MDs and CEO meeting resulted in reimbursement bills to their secretaries for coffees and networking time spent discussing "industry re-formation". They all however agreed that what Bush had done was undesirable and they would have to find a way of punishing the bad boy for his behaviour. "Let's pull all our advertising from him", someone whispered, but just like the whisper, he was asked to speak quietly because they all needed Bush.
The agency meeting yielded slightly more than the above because they ended up forming something called the Advertising Association of Uganda. (AAU?) Kind of funny considering how much weed and alcohol those guys consume no?) They, on the other hand decided to give a united position to the Media Owners' Association, which had triggered all of this. Some radicals said they should get together with their clients and force the media houses to apologize and come to more amenable terms of payment and relationships.
What does this mean for the future?
Bush and the Gynecologist are definitely not being loved in a lot of client circles and if you are keen there will noticeably be reduced invitations to them to attend corporate functions in the period ahead.
A certain guerilla caucus has come together to find all the ways in which the Vision conglomerate and the Nation behemoth are replaceable starting with the newspapers. Starting at the top, they are re-doing the research, figures, rationales, and psychographics to justify why all the FMCG companies and the corporatocracy should shift from mainstream media and now invest in more audience-driven forms of media. Perhaps new media even; blogs, Facebook, websites, Twitter, You Tube, mobile phone ads, etc. Its no secret that Fireworks has a team dedicated to online/new media; surveying, analyzing, studying, experimenting. Are they about to propose a radical shift to their clientele that will extend the advertising frontier, once again?
The smaller players in this convoluted power play have failed to get their erections up to speak up for their rights and so they are doing what they know to do best; going behind the big media boys and saying "Those guys are doing their own thing, you just give me my ads and I will run you." The disconnect this has created is not to be ignored. The agencies have not and will not. What they do next with this crack will probably shake the media industry like we have never seen. Perhaps a total advertising blacklist of New Vision, or the Nation Group?
The agencies have become galvanized under one umbrella body. Whether this is a good thing or not can only be seen with the passing of time. The Scangroup behemoth (East Africa's largest spender and biggest marketing services provider) is in search of a Ugandan Telco to bolster its ranks. They already have the East African Breweries and the regional Lafarge business to cater to. When I spoke with CEO to one of the agencies that handle one of the Telcos, she said, "What I think we should do is organize as the big agencies and squeeze these small motherfuckers out of business. Because if we dare try and stand against the media houses, they will go behind our backs and confuse our clients and next thing you know we will be royally shafted here. They can do it." What she meant was squeeze the agencies without big clients out of business by negotiating better commissions from the media houses through bulk buying. What this would do in essence would be to force the industry to re-align reporting, billing and fiscal control procedures. So, one uniform billing document recognizable across the industry, one process. A clear signal of progress in the industry but what does it truly mean for the clients? In a world of organized and unionized advertising, there are no surprises, no game-changers, and definitely no lowered costs. The client looking for clear, distinctive and outstanding advertising and market presence will have to literally go rogue, but which agency will, or can? The argument can be made that a lot of agencies will think out of the box and go rogue. That is until they become isolated by fellow agencies, over charged by the media houses and soon rejected by the corporate machine; killing creativity, and dulling the sharp, incisive edge that it takes to cut through today's' advertising clutter. What is dizzyingly clear though is that the industry will never be same after this.
Bush promised the powers that be a platform on which he would deliver the 2011 election. He gave them Bukedde TV, has opened a radio in every mainstream local dialect and is on a roll to revamp the local language papers. This happens amidst an environment where all media houses are trying to acquire more media houses. KFM, currently the most listened to station in inner and greater Kampala, is shopping for upcountry stations to bolster its arsenal of listenership and footprint, while Dembe FM recently acquired the rural based Rwenzori FM. So as the media landscape's tectonic plates continue to shift and change one thing is for sure; we are on the cusp of something that has happened in very few other countries: Uganda is preparing to leap frog – Again!


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From today the Ulster Museum in Belfast is hosting a new Heritage Lottery Fund funded exhibition entitled The Corr Family: Witnessing History, which looks at the lives of five brothers and sisters from the city's Ormeau Road, as they separately experienced aspects of the First World War and the Easter Rising in 1916.
The Irish News has the story, along with a photo gallery, at http://www.irishnews.com/news/2016/07/27/news/different-roads-taken-by-family-during-1916-to-be-focus-of-new-ulster-museum-exhibition-624202/.
The Ulster Museum has a story on the exhibition also at http://nmni.com/um/What-s-on/Current-Exhibitions/The-Corr-Family--Witnessing-History.
The exhibition runs from Wednesday 27th July until Tuesday 23rd August 2016.
For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.
The GENES Blog (GEnealogy News and EventS): Top news stories and features concerning ancestral research in Scotland, Ireland, the rest of the UK, and their diasporas, from genealogist, author and tutor Chris Paton. Feel free to quote from this blog, but please credit The GENES Blog if you do. I'm on Twitter @genesblog - to contact me please email chrismpaton @ outlook.com.
Wednesday, 27 July 2016
New 1916 exhibition at the Ulster Museum
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Thursday, March 06, 2008
Melomane Gear Up For Tour
So Pierre and Daria leave Kenny and Quentin at home, but bring Eveline and Heather along to Germany and Switzerland, where they'll hook up with Privateman Frank to give Europe the yearly dose of Melomane it has come to depend on. There's a goodbye show for all us New Yorkers and if it's as funny as Eveline's invitation blurb, we should all go see them. Here's what Eveline writes:
"Honey, what's for dinner"...Smack your lips on some Texas-style BBQ brisket then shake your hips and shimmy your biscuit! Your swiss art director/trombone slinger Eveline Feldmann and the band Melomane (www.melomane.org) are popping up at Hill Country (30 W. 26th St./Broadway & 6th) on Thursday, March 6 from 9:30-Midnight. So bring your friends, appetite and dancing boots because pig and pop together never sounded better. Melomane plays cinematic, catchy and clever pop-rock. Sounds like Elvis Costello and Serge Gainsbourg collaborating on an album with Calexico.
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Vow of Asceticism (General)
You have sworn off your connection to material things in favor of an ascetic lifestyle. As you make sacrifices, you find power within yourself.
Benefit: You gain the ability to sacrifice wealth to enhance your own spirit and body. You must donate or sacrifice at least 85% of all wealth that you acquire (donated to a cause, burnt offerings, gifts to divine beings, or some other purpose).
In return, the value of all your sacrificed goods is tracked as ascetic points. You may spend these ascetic points to gain permanent bonuses similar to magic items. You may "purchase" the effects of magic items by spending ascetic points equal to the gold piece cost of a magic item. See this document for details.
Special: A monk may take Vow of Asceticism as one one of his monk bonus feats.


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The architecture blew me away. The impeccable style of the elegant buildings, the astonishing and perfect symmetries of Notre-Dame de Paris and Sainte Chapelle, as well as the general harmony of most of the city: in Paris it is hard to find buildings that clash one against the other. I loved the sloping roofs and the elegant railings in the buildings of central Paris, but also the stained windows of Gothic churches and the innovative architecture of some of the most famous museums, such as the Musée d'Orsay and the Louvre.
|The Louvre building seen from the Tuileries gardens
|Sainte Chapelle
I could gaze at shops forever. From boulangeries (bakeries) and patisseries (cake shops), to the carefully-designed shop windows in Galeries LaFayette, every shop in Paris seemed to have the perfect way to show their merchandise with grace and style. From buying a delicious butter croissant to browsing through second hand book shops in the Latin Quarter, Paris has something for everyone in terms of shopping. I'm hardly a shopping girl, but in Paris I couldn't stop admiring the taste of Parisian people in everything from clothes to furniture.
|Shopping in Paris
The history you breathe in every corner. In Paris I felt that the history was present in every corner. From discovering that the now modern Place de la Concorde with the giant wheel was the site where during the French Revolution every dissenter, including Marie Antoinette, was guillotined, to walking through the streets of Montmartre on the steps of Toulouse-Lautrec, I felt that every small corner of the city had a story behind it, and usually one that I had read about, seen in a movie and highly identified with.
|Place de la Concorde, where many people were guillotined during the French Revolution
|Notre Dame the Paris
The atmosphere. Is it those chairs lining the cobbled streets of Paris, serving endless steak frites and poulet roti? Is it the delicious smell of the many bakeries, the chit-chat of the impeccably-dressed Parisians, or the art nouveau style of the metro stations? Is it the perfect arrangement of boulevards and monuments, or the iconic silhouette of the Tour Eiffel? The fact is that Paris exudes a certain atmosphere that is hard to describe.
|Place des Vosges, one of the most atmospheric squares in Paris
If it wasn't clear, I really loved this European capital, and I can't believe I waited so long to visit. What are the reasons that made YOU fall in love with Paris?


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Contact Information
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the LTRC Football Chairperson, Steve Szymanski, at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Early Bird Registration is open for returning players from April 1, 2018 through April 15, 2018. There will be a $25 discount for returning players who register during the Early Bird Registration period. Open Registration will be open for ALL players on April 16, 2018 and will remain open until June 15, 2018. We have a credit card online payment option for your convenience. During the open registration period roster spots are filled on a first come first serve basis. Returning players are not guaranteed a roster spot if you fail to register on time.
Registration Cost
The registration fee is $250 for players that participate in age groups 6-U through 14-U. For families with multiple children in the program the second child is a $25 discount. The third child, etc is free.
League Placement
All age group placements: (6-U, 7-U, 8-U, 9-U, 10-U, 11-U, 12-U, 14-U) will be based on the child's age as of August 1, 2018. Your child will be placed in the youngest age division which their age will allow. If you would prefer your child play "up" an age division, you must contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com to discuss your reasoning. Not all requests to play "up" will be granted.
The Upper Chesapeake Youth Football League (UCYFL) is comprised of football programs located in Harford, Cecil and Baltimore Counties, in the state of Maryland. We have one team from Delaware.
High School students are not permitted to participate in the UCYFL.
There are no longer any weight restrictions for players in ANY of the age groups. Players are allowed toplay all positions without restrictions. There are no longer any pre-game or pre-season weigh ins.
Equipment Information
All equipment excluding cleats, a protective cup, and a practice jersey are provided by LTRC football. That includes game pants, game jerseys, practice pants, helmets, shoulder pads, pants pads and mouth pieces. This equipment is included in the price of registration. It is issued prior to the first practice and must be returned to the LTRC at the conclusion of the season.
Practice Information
Practice for LTRC youth football begins on or around August 1st. The teams practice up to 4 nights per week in the evenings during the month of August (Monday–Thursday). Once the season starts (around the last Saturday in August) teams will practice 2-3 nights per week. Games are on Friday nights or Saturdays (at varying times).


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Yorkshire Summer Cross is now over for another year – Boooo! But because I have been so slack with my blogging, Yorkshire Winter Cross has already started – Hurraaayyy!
Alas, my Summer Cross exploits this term have not been quite as fruitful as last, and I have suffered on many occasions! I thought rather than post another moaning whinge, I thought I would simply present a few sexy photos…
|Belgian Steve Cooper and Belgian me push for the line at Brighouse School
|Carving one of the descents at the first of the Kippax Rounds
|Hitting the sand pit at pace at the final warm Newsome School Round
Looking forward to the winter series, and hoping for more success.