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Here we are: it's time to give you a heads up on tips and tricks to alter a garment. Listed below, I've found a couple of links wich I found really useful, so I decided to share them with you. Because there are so many, these links will be posted over a post or two, so make sure you check again on wednesday.
First of all - and I just hàd to show you guys - I've found thé invention of the year: How to make your very own biais-tape in a jiffy. I've tried it myself already and just absolutely adore it! How I ever managed those tapes before is a mistery. This is soooooo easy! Be sure to check out this lady's blog.
Men like to sew to. Peter Lapin prooves this with his blog. His tutorial on how to attach a hook-and-eye to your shorts/pants is just pure gold! I haven't tried it yet, though, but I have a short planned on my sewing-to-do-list, so I'll definatly put it to good use.
For those who are into vintage-patterns and who like to actually sew those patterns, I've got a tip on how to choose the right size. The way they graded patterns back then and nowadays is totally different, but this little post shows you what you have to do to get a good head start. So, if you own a vintage 1950's or earlier or a retro 1960's or later pattern, try it out.
Those invisible zippers, don't you just hate sewing them in your dress or skirt? I know I don't like it. Not because the zippers aren't good or something like that, but they're just so darn hard to sew correctly! Now, I came across this little tutorial to make a lapped zipper. Seems much easier than the invisible zipper and I think I'll give it a shot. Just so I don't have to sew-in that irritatable invisible zipper. Hop on over to the tutorial and be enlightend!
|Vintage Patterns
|Lapped zipper
Even though this is the end of this post, I still have the following to share with you in the next post: tulip sleeves, drafting a pattern from a t-shirt, ... Come back on wednesday and these little mysteries will be revieled!


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Arizona Bicycle & Bike Accident Personal Injury Help
Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a tragedy to become more aware of how to conduct our lives in a safer manner. Cyclists are extremely vulnerable to being struck by a car, so please be careful.
We are Flagstaff personal injury lawyers who are also avid mountain bikers. Unfortunately, there are many injuries that can occur while riding bicycles. In many instances, the cyclist is not seen by the automobile driver for many reasons. Because our cyclists our vulnerable to automobile drivers, bicycle collisions can cause terrible physical damage and injuries. Our firm has extensive experience handling bicycle accidents that result from the negligence of others, including cyclists struck by car and truck drivers who fail to see the rider and bike riders struck by cars failing to yield the right of way.
Why Hire Gonzales & Poirier for My Personal Injury Case?
The Law Office of Gonzales & Poirier has handled many accidents and injuries to pedestrians and cyclists caused by negligent drivers. We want to take some time to reiterate bicycle and pedestrian safety, especially in Flagstaff, which presents unique safety issues. Since our firm has avid bikers we know the risks and rewards of biking. Although drivers have a duty to cyclists and pedestrians, cyclists and pedestrians need to insure their own safety. You may be right, but you could be dead right when it comes to a pedestrian/cyclist car accident.
In fact, I was almost hit last Friday on south San Francisco by an RV which turned in front of me without using a blinker or signal. To use this as an example, I noticed the RV slowing down, I stopped for a second to look at the RV's taillights, I did not see a signal or brake lights. I just did not feel the RV driver was acting right and indeed I was right. The RV's right hand turn lights were not working and the RV turned right. If I did not slow down I know I would have probably been severely injured by the RV who did not signal and did not check his mirrors.
Bike Riding Safety Advice
The biggest safety tip I can give is this: be aware of your surroundings and ride like you are invisible. General tips to be safe as a cyclist:
- If at all possible, avoid busy streets and take the road less traveled.
- Light up your bike! Use a headlight and taillight, not because it's the law after dark, but because it genuinely helps motorists to see you from a distance. Flashing (strobe-like) lights work the best for helping drivers determine the distance of the light source.
- Signal when you decide to make a turn on city streets. After all, it's the law under A.R.S § 28-756 it is the law.
- Avoid fidgeting with MP3 players and mobile phones when riding. A distracted cyclist is a more vulnerable one.
Visit www.bicyclesafe.com for more tips on avoiding collisions and bicycle riding safety. The City of Flagstaff lists these general tips on biking safety, which can be found on their website and reiterates the general tips above – that bikers be predictable, courteous, and alert.
The Law Office of Gonzales and Poirier wants drivers, pedestrians, and cyclist alike to be safe. We want everyone to make it home and hope that Flagstaff can cut down the reported 70-plus bike versus car accidents that take place each year. If you have been involved in an accident and have questions or concerns about your rights, please contact the Law Office of Gonzales and Poirier at (855) 774-5400 today!

subset: commoncrawl


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Custom Designs by Mark Alexander
Part of your Timeless Interiors, Interior design experience may very well include inspired, custom designed furniture pieces tailored specifically to your home. With a manufacturing background, designer Mark Alexander can sketch just about anything you could imagine.
Browse the images below for just a few examples of Marks truly original designs.
Custom designed full bed inspired by the architectural features of this grand French/Georgian style home. Taking the circular shape and carving details from the exterior of the upstairs windows Mark had designed a unique bed that will fit right at home within the Master Suite.


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Friday, 02 January 2015 06:41 PM
The investigation of a Cleveland police officer's deadly shooting of a 12-year-old boy carrying a pellet gun is being handed over to a county sheriff's office in an attempt to make sure it's evenhanded, the city's mayor said.
The move, announced Friday, comes amid recent outside criticism of Cleveland police officers' use of force in recent years.
The Cuyahoga County's sheriff's office will take over for the city and continue the probe into the Nov. 22 Cleveland playground shooting of Tamir Rice, who was carrying an airsoft gun that shoots nonlethal plastic pellets when a rookie officer fired on him.
"This decision to turn the investigation over was made to ensure that transparency and an extra layer of separation and impartiality were established," Mayor Frank Jackson said in a statement. "I believe that the best way to ensure accountability in a use of force investigation is to have it completed by an outside agency."
Surveillance video released by police shows Tamir being shot less than two seconds after the officer's patrol car stopped near him. Officer Timothy Loehmann told Tamir to put his hands up, but the boy didn't, according to police.
The black youth's death at the hands of a white officer raised questions about how police treat blacks and has spurred protests.
Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association President Jeff Follmer recently said officers had no way of knowing Tamir was carrying an airsoft gun that only looked like a real firearm.
Since the shooting, Cleveland police investigators have been collecting evidence and conducting interviews. Cuyahoga County prosecutor Timothy McGinty's office eventually will present the case to a grand jury for possible criminal charges.
Tamir's family has sued the city in federal court over the shooting, saying Loehmann and his partner acted recklessly when they confronted him.
Cleveland police have come under outside scrutiny within the last few months over other cases.
The U.S. Department of Justice in December released findings from a nearly two-year investigation of the police department. The review, which did not include Tamir's shooting, concluded that officers use excessive and unnecessary force far too often.
City officials have been ordered to work with community leaders, the Department of Justice and others to create a police reform plan that a judge will approve and an independent monitor will oversee.
© Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Willis Collaborative is a progressive marketing and communications consultancy for progressive marketers. We develop novel cross-channel strategies, create distinct narratives, and produce brilliant and inventive creative. We bring exceptional insight into the modern marketing and communications landscape and a deep understanding of our craft and combine it with your unmatched knowledge of your business to create the most compelling and relevant work possible, and have it seen and heard everywhere that matters.
Willis Collaborative was founded by Will Willis, a 18-year PR and marketing veteran, as an answer to the diminishing value and deteriorating client service of big agencies. The name says it all: Collaborative. It refers both to our preferred way of working with clients, and to the various specialists we apply to particular aspects of the work. We're equally at home leading marketing communications efforts from strategy through execution, or serving as a vital piece of your marketing communications puzzle, working hand-in-hand with you and your other vendors on projects and events. We're not an agency. We're a trusted partner. We care every bit as much about you and your company's success as you do, and we hope you'll give us the opportunity to prove that to you.
List your company among the leaders of the industry, promote your competencies, showcase your work & join an exclusive global marketing and creative industry network.Submit Your Company


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As the two most frequented rooms in your home, you want your bathroom and kitchen spaces to look beautiful for guest and family members alike. Because those who are just visiting for a short while are most likely to view your kitchen space, you may have already begun to update it this season. With the holidays just around the corner, however, you may want to consider updating your bathroom spaces as well— especially if you're hosting the next family gathering! However, remodeling your bathroom — let alone your kitchen space—can be an expensive endeavor.
Luckily, many bathrooms can be given a refreshed look just by replacing your old bathroom vanities with new ones! Although you could invest in a new vanity for your Canton, Ohio or Akron, Ohio home's bathroom space from your local Big Box store, consider paying a visit to Windy Hill Hardwoods instead. At this Canal Fulton, Ohio cabinet store, you can browse through a great selection of quality vanities for your bathroom and more. In fact, Windy Hill Hardwoods even offers new bathroom flooring and new granite countertops for you to choose from for your Wadsworth, Ohio property alongside their selection of vanities. With such a large selection, finding the flooring or countertop that compliments the wood vanity you've chosen for your home is made easy.


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Stop by and visit us today at Kruse Ford, your local Ford Lincoln and pre-owned car dealership in Marshall, MN. We proudly serve Marshall, Worthington, Montevideo, and surrounding areas. Here at Kruse Motors, we carry new Ford, Lincoln and a variety of pre-owned cars,
Used Cars in Marshall, MN
At Kruse Ford Lincoln we give you easy access to the most up-to-date internet car buying tools: you can quickly view our new specials, used car specials, used vehicle inventory, research or compare your new vehicle, request a test drive, apply for financing, schedule your next service appointment, or even get door to door directions.Learn More
Wonderful and personable staff! Definitely the best car purchase for us. Highly recommend! We drove 2 hours to get to Marshall and it was so worth it.
Angie Van D. - Kruse Motors Customer
The service was great, they made it super easy to buy a car, love my new car!!
Danni L. - Kruse Motors Customer
Exceptional service! They pick up and drop off my car each time I get my oil changed, vacuum it out and give me a coupon for my next visit. Very happy with Kruse!
Sarah M. - Kruse Motors Customer
Just got our car/suv! They were wonderful to work with. We couldn't be happier!
Brittany H. - Kruse Motors Customer
Monday: 8am-7pm
Tuesday: 8am-7pm
Wednesday: 8am-7pm
Thursday: 8am-7pm
Friday: 8am-6pm
Saturday: 8am-4pm
Sunday: Closed


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And boy was our selfie game strong.
|The sibs
One of the week's highlights was the presence of Copper, the pup my littlest brother and his wife got in early 2016.
Copper is Roo's older half brother.
Do you see the resemblance?
The two pups hadn't met before this weekend, so it was a ball to watch them meet. I was in dog heaven.
|With Roo
|With Copper
Copper is happy-go-lucky. His tail is always wagging, and every creature is a new friend. Roo, on the other hand, is a bit more cautious. She has to carefully assess a situation before engaging it fully.
|Roo (on the left) assessing
|Assessment phase #2 (getting more comfortable)
It didn't take Roo too long to determine that Copper was a worthy friend, and the two spent the weekend engaged in puppy play. They romped; they frolicked; and they raced around the house. Copper showed Roo how to stand on her hind legs and walk all over the kitchen sniffing for morsels of leftover turkey (have you ever seen a dog walk on his hind legs without extra support? It's remarkable! Turkey inspires truly amazing things, I suppose), and together, their begging techniques were almost irresistible.
Oh my oh my: a world with dogs is a beautiful world, and a Thanksgiving with pups is the best kind of Thanksgiving.
I hope you had a celebratory and restful Thanksgiving, my friends.
Hopeful, light-filled Monday!
Cheering for you,
© by scj


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The number of abortions has risen in the past decade by almost eight per cent, figures show. Metro talks to both sides of the abortion debate about the underlying reasons behind the rise – and a young woman who decided to terminate her unborn baby.
When it comes to the issue of abortion, those in the pro-life and pro-choice camps agree on several points.
Both agree that education is vital if the number of abortions is to be cut. Both agree that the number of abortions in recent years cannot simply be attributed to changes in women's lifestyles. And both agree that too many are taking place.
'We'd like to see a significant reduction in the number of abortions,' said Dr Paula Franklin, medical director at abortion provider Marie Stopes International.
'We'd also like there to be a significant reduction in the number of repeat abortions. It's particularly disappointing to see that such a large number of women are finding that they are having more than one.
'Although I would be delighted to see the number of abortions decline, I think it's important that, if women find themselves in this unfortunate position, that they still have access to safe abortion.'
Figures published by the Department of Health on Tuesday showed there were more than 189,000 abortions in England and Wales last year, a slight increase on the total from the two previous years. However, it marked a 7.7 per cent increase on the number of abortions in 2001, while 36 per cent of women who had an abortion last year had one or more previous abortions, up from 34 per cent in 2010 and 31 per cent in 2001.
'That concerns us because it means more and more women are having abortions, going away and having another one,' said Mark Bhagwandin, spokesman for anti-abortion charity Life. 'It is seen increasingly as a quick fix. We are not helping them by giving them more abortions. Those women need professional support so they can avoid those situations in which they would have gotten pregnant.
'These figures will continue to increase. I think it's precisely because abortion is so easy to access. If you want an abortion you can have one. We're failing those women if we continue to steamroll them into abortion clinics.
'What we are asking is that more women are given access to support in terms of independent counselling if they are getting into unplanned pregnancies over and over again and are seeking abortions, rather than simply being placed on the abortion conveyor belt.'
He said unplanned pregnancies could be prevented by educating young people about the benefits of long-lasting relationships and abstaining from early sexual activity.
Dr Franklin believes sex education in schools helped reduce the number of abortions among teenagers last year but she fears a lack of funding could halt that progress. She said the public and media perception of women having multiple abortions was sometimes different from the reality.
'It's very distressing. I think it's incredibly sad people find themselves having to have more than one abortion. There's a caricature of these being carefree women who have no emotions around abortion and think of it as an easy solution – that is absolutely not the case.
'The circumstances of women often who find themselves having repeat abortions, they are often the most vulnerable women in the most difficult circumstances. We do see girls that are involved in prostitution, in violent relationships, women who are being coerced.
'Every woman who comes for an abortion should be treated with care and respect and support and being given the options available within the law, whether she's had two, three, four or none.'
Dr Franklin believes women should be made more aware of contraception. 'Women need to choose a contraception that fits into their lives, not just fits into their biology,' she said, adding the right contraceptive for a woman when she was 19 may not necessarily be the right one when she is 29, 39 or 49.
She said pro-life campaigners regularly picketed their clinics. 'We understand they have a right to their opinions and their beliefs. My concern is that women also have a right to make their own decisions and to make those decisions free from coercion and undue influence.'
Writer and broadcaster Nichi Hodgson, 28, had an abortion when she was 22, after six weeks of pregnancy. She had a medical abortion – or abortion pill – at a Marie Stopes International Clinic.
She told Metro: 'I had just graduated from university. I was in a long-term relationship with a committed, loving, amazing partner. Eventually, we hoped to get married and have children. And then, randomly, I found myself pregnant. I decided to have the termination.
'I remember getting a taxi to the clinic from the train station and I had to get the words out of where I was going and I couldn't say it because I felt really ashamed.
'It's not left me with any lingering sense of regret. I completely stand by it and I would do it again as well.
'There has been a sense of sadness every so often, mainly because I split up with my partner. But I don't think about my unborn child and grieve for it.
'Neither of us was financially independent. We just felt like it would be completely unfair to the child to bring it into that situation where we couldn't create a life for a child that we'd want to, a life that the child would deserve.'


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JeanMarie Guenot is a successful business executive who has been working in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry for more than 20 years. Throughout her career, she has interacted with both private, and public pharmaceutical companies. She has also worked for business development, venture capital, and commercial development companies. Dr. Guenot is renowned for building an ophthalmic start-up known as SKS Ocular. The start-up focused on developing ocular drug delivery solutions. It also focused on ocular inflammation, macular degeneration, and glaucoma therapeutics. Her experience in creating and managing companies was the contributing factor to SKS Ocular's success.
Shanghai-based Hoffmann-La Roche appointed Jeanmarie Guenot as the business advisor for one year. She began her professional career as a venture capital investments manager for Atlas Venture. JeanMarie Guenot also served on the company's board of directors at the same time. Her scientific career commenced after she was employed as the principal scientist for Hoffmann-La-Roche's R&D.
As a physical and medicinal chemistry graduate, she focused on several semi-empirical and quantum mechanical methods. Jeanmarie applied these methods in drug design, NMR refinement, and protein structure prediction. Before working for the company, she has served as PDL BioPharma's VP of Corporate & Business Development. She also facilitated alliance management, mergers, and acquisitions for R&D, which is a subsidiary of PDL BioPharma. One of her notable career achievements is when she advocated for the commercialization and development of Idec-PDL50:50. The drug was developed for autoimmune diseases and Phase 2 cancer. This work earned her an Innovative Bio-Partnering Award from the BioBusiness Network.
In 2006, the Licensing Executives Society awarded her a Deal of Distinction for her pharmaceutical innovations. Consequently, in 2008, she successfully acquired the product rights of her innovation known as PDL-Biogen. The product rights stated that she developed the drug in partnership with an ophthalmology company known as Ophthotech.
Executive Committee Roles
PDL appointed her as a member of its Portfolio Management Committee and Executive Team. Her roles involved providing strategic planning insights on the commercialization of Biogen Idec-PDL. She served in PDL's Portfolio Management Committee because of her expertise on ophthalmic, cardiovascular, and autoimmune diseases.


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Submitted by seoranjeet2012 • January 15, 2014 www.f37.in
The temple was constructed in the year 1998 by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, so that people could worship Radha Parthasarathi that is Lord Krishna and Radharani. Located in the East of Kailash, the temple is filled with devotees every time from all around India and even outside India. From the moment you make an entry in the temple you can hear chants of "Hare Krishna, Hare Rama" recited by the priests as well the disciples of Lord Krishna.
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These are a couple of our referral pics that we got June 1, 2009. Jacee at four years old. Charis at 3 months old. Then, Zemenesh and Tackelech. What treasures.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
The Faces We First Saw A Year Ago
Posted by Hollands at 7:10 PM 4 comments
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OK, I think the British Standard "Commercial" box is 16 by 10 inches, not 17 by 10. (I think the British National Standard hives use 14 by 12 inch frames.) And 56 liters seems to be a typo. I'm not sure how the volume of a single BS commercial hive compares to the volume in single deep, double deep, or deep and a medium hives.The colonies were all in hives consisting of a single "commercial" brood chamber (11 frames each 43.8 x 25.4 cm, vol. 56.4 l), wooden bottom board with mesh floor, inner cover, and telescopic outer cover.
All that aside, how does volume of the hive affect the efficacy of vaporized oxalic acid? A lot of folks overwinter with a double deep hive. How many overwinter with a single deep hive? Will you need to double the amount of oxalic acid used if you use a double deep hive, instead of a single, in order to get the same concentration of oxalic in the air in the hive?
And what condition were the boxes is? Were they brand new boxes? Were they beat up old boxes with holes in them (often holes drilled by beekeepers)? I've heard you are supposed to try to seal all hive entrances with tape. How much does it affect efficacy if your boxes have plenty of "ventilation"?
Disclaimer - I've never used oxalic acid in any form in my hives. (I have used formic acid MAQS before.) I run my hives as Langstroth single deeps with an excluder for honey production. I place 2 or 3 shallow honey supers under the brood box for overwintering. "Usually" my bees will fill the deep with honey or syrup for overwintering, and the shallow supers are used more for clustering space and dead air space. The majority of my boxes were previously owned, and range in condition from good boxes to pretty rough. Most have holes.
I don't monitor for varroa. I currently use a rotation of one single strip of Apivar, Apistan, and MAQS in the spring and fall. Last year's winter losses were about 5% but over the past few years, winter losses are often about 20%. (Last winter was mild - or maybe I am becoming a better beekeeper.) Before I started treating for mites around 2010, losses were normally 40%-70% every winter.
I don't currently use oxalic acid, but have considered adding it to the rotation of mite treatments I use.


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I am just doing a quick post today because my tummy and I are not getting along - 'nuf said!
I wanted to say my hubby has true love for me. He knows that when I'm having tummy issues, often times Ginger Ale will help soothe it. So when he took my two beauties to the neighbors for a sleepover, in the pouring down rain, he drove out of the subdivision and to the gas station and purchased...you guessed it, a ginger ale for me.
Funny thing, I had been thinking "I wish I had asked him to get me one while he was out. " So when he came back and produced the precious green bottle, he got the biggest kiss and I told him I really loved him a lot. Then I had to run. Back to the bathroom. But I was smiling, because I know my man loves me.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
True Love
Posted by Marietta Taylor at 10:44 PM
3 comments:
- Pamela (MrsJoeB) said...
My man is like that. We are blessed! I hope you are feeling better friend!
In His Graces~Pamela
- Monday, July 07, 2008
- Luann` said...
May God bless you richly today! Father, I lift my sweet friend to you and ask that you provide healing in her tummy. Thank you for her wonderful husband who knows her needs before she even asks. Thank you for giving him the wisdom to care deeply for his bride.
Be her portion today and give her peaceful rest, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Love you sweetie, Luann
- Monday, July 07, 2008
- tiggerdaisy said...
True love indeed! My husband and I have the same type of relationship! I thank God everyday for that blessing!
Prayers and Blessings! I hope you are feeling MUCH BETTER today!
- Tuesday, July 08, 2008
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//little ethan at 5 months
Happy Monday!
OMY!! he is absolutely adorable. & that shirt is so cool.
what a handsome baby boy!!!!
what a little cutie!!!
What a cutie! Your blog is beautiful by the way :)
Such a handsome one you've got there!
What a Stud :] He's growing up so fast!
What a beautiful baby!
Happy five!
Ciao Bella
Creative Carmelina
he is so beautiful! gosh they grow so fast!


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I'm going to concentrate on sound issues here, because it is a problem I have come across a number of times, and removing sound drivers is relatively safe. If you happen to lose any work by removing sound drivers, I take no responsibility for that, nor can I see any reason why it might happen. Make sure that your computer is connected to the internet throughout this procedure.
We'll go through the process first, and then I'll explain why drivers might fail.
1. First of all, we have to open the management console by clicking the "Computer" button from our Start menu with the right mouse/trackpad button and selecting "Manage" from the menu that appears.
2. When the management console appears, we want to select "Device Manager" from the pane on the left. In the central pane, you will see the hardware that Windows recognises in your PC. Your sound controller will be under "Sound, video and game controllers".
3. Click on your sound controller with the right mouse/trackpad button. From the menu which appears, select "Properties".
4. Along the top of the properties window, you will see tabs. Select the one which says "Driver" and then press the button which says "Uninstall".
5. You will receive a warning that you are about to remove the device from your system. In this case, we also want to remove the driver software. In some cases, just removing the device and restarting the computer will work but, in this case, we're going to remove the driver software as well.
6. When you click the OK button, the process of removing the driver will start. Windows will then ask if you want to restart the computer. When restarted, Windows will search for device drivers for your sound controller. The process may take a long time.
7. Windows is likely to have installed a standard driver for your sound controller at this point. You have sound, but the driver may not be making full use of your sound controller's capabilities. So how do we get the latest driver for our sound controller? Well, the easiest way is probably by using Driver Booster (available free from http://www.iobit.com/driver-booster.php). If we start this program, it will check that all the drivers on our system are up to date, so it will potentially improve much more than our sound performance.
When you select "Update All", the program will download updated drivers from the internet, create a restore point and install the drivers. All of this might take some time. If you are happy with the way your computer is performing, you may say this is an unnecessary waste of time. If, however, you want to get the most from your hardware, having the latest drivers installed is highly recommended.
Why is all of this necessary?
I may need to get technical here. Most PCs, and the hardware in them, ship with vendor-specific device drivers. These drivers will be updated as long as the manufacturer can make a business case for the updates. In short, you're covered until the manufacturer wants to sell new hardware.
Now, a number of vendors will ship hardware which is based on roughly the same internal components, and the manufacturer of those components will provide reference drivers for those components. Those reference drivers are usually updated for longer than vendor-specific drivers. Windows, with vendor-specific drivers installed, will only look for updates to the vendor-specific drivers.
Why do drivers need to be updated? Well, to be honest, problems may be found with older versions of these drivers, or manufacturers may find new ways of getting more performance from their hardware. Sometimes, the problems only become apparent when updates to Windows replace system files which are being used by device drivers. The upshot is that keeping device drivers up to date may improve the performance and stability of Windows.


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I'm not much of a reviewer, I prefer experiential writing to reviewing. So rather than try writing a proper review, I'm going to do a mini review of every DS game I own. I don't like issuing scores, so I shall just order them building up to my favourite. (more…)
Archive for the 'DS' Category
My DS Collection – Mini Reviewed
Posted in DS, Gaming, tagged 42 All-Time Classics, Animal Crossing Wild World, Bomberman, Dr Kawashima's Brain Training, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, Mario Kart DS, Pokemon Diamond, reviews, Sonic Rush, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, The Legend of Zelda - Phantom Hourglass, Trauma Center: Under the Knife on 18th May 2009| 4 Comments »
100 Classic Book Collection Demo Impressions
Posted in DS, Gaming, tagged 100 Classic Book Collection, books, demo, DS, Gaming, literature, reading, wii on 20th March 2009| Leave a Comment »
I wasn't planning on doing another demo overview so soon, but at least it's for a different platform.
Two things make this a good idea for me:
One, I would love to have what is basically a portable book which can hold various things I might want to read. Palm and Pocket PCs have been around for several years, but they don't have many uses, and are not designed for long term viewing. Another option is the Sony Reader. I saw one of these in Waterstones and was very unimpressed. It apparently uses no power when it's just holding a static image, and whilst this is very impressive, it results in noticeably slow transitions. Add to that it just didn't feel right, I know nothing would measure up to an actual book but it felt quite user-unfriendly and at ~£215 it's very expensive. This idea is also attached to my wish for a full featured PMP (Portable Media Player), a single device that has multiple uses.
Two, creating new uses for a gaming device. PC gamers have had this for years, in fact if you add up the time I spend on forums and blogging it would equal my time spent gaming. Web browsers are an idea, but I've never found anything that can match up to a PC browser. Plus gaming machines are usually either on a TV screen, okay for a bit of viewing but not for spending a long time surfing, or a portable device, where the resolution is too low. Following on from my previous point it would make sense to use a portable gaming device as a viewer, picture, video, book or otherwise.
Despite that rather positive outlook I went into this trial with negative feelings. Could a DS really work as a book?
For those who don't know, the Wii provides downloadable demos for the DS, it basically becomes a wireless access point. I really like the fact that the Wii can provide demos, I have gotten a lot of enjoyment out of the various ones on offer, and new ones are added every so often.
When the demo first started it asked me which orientation I wanted to use. This was great, I'm left-handed and it could have been a quite uncomfortable experience. Plenty of DS games have done this, but some developers still forget so it was a nice surprise to see the option. Before starting the actual book I decide to take a peek at the other options that are available. First are the font settings, there is a choice between two font sizes, Small and Large (more on that later) and you can show or hide the remaining pages in the book. I'm not quite sure why you'd want to do this. Next are the button settings, there are several choices on offer but I don't see the benefit, if it were set for right-handed then the arrows would be used, whereas I had the option of changing the action buttons. There are only two functions you can set, next page and previous, you can change these around but I don't see why you would want to. You can also assign the L and R buttons to do this job. Lastly was the option to change the orientation, nice and easy if you're sharing the DS with someone.
The only book on offer in the demo is Romeo and Juliet, although it is the complete text. In the full version there is a scrolling menu of books.
Now for the actual book. Before you start reading you are taken to a menu with a picture of the cover on one side, you are given the options to read 'About the Book' and 'About the Author', I though this was a nice touch. When you read for the first time, it runs through a tutorial (skippable) which covers the basics of navigating through the book.
You can either slide the stylus from one direction to the other, or simply tap the edges (as well as the buttons I mentioned earlier). The book goes through a nice page turning animation, it's nice and quick so it won't disrupt your reading. Touching the top will bring up the menu and touching the bottom will put up a scrollbar, which you can use to quickly move through the book. This is also where bookmarks show up.
This is one of the best features, it's slightly awkward in that you have to go to the menu to place them, it would have been nice to be able to press a button or insert them from the scrollbar menu. You can set three bookmarks at any place in the book, once placed you simply tap the bottom of the screen, then tap which bookmark you would like to go to. They appear on the left or right hand side, depending on which direction they are from your current position. This would be a great system for either people sharing, or if you are in school or on a course. It would be great for bookmarking quotes.
Now for the actual font, I actually found it a bit difficult to read, the letters were slightly blurred around the edges. This could just be my eyes, but it would have been nice to be able to change the font so that it would suit individuals better. Also, even though I had it on Small, I still thought the lettering was too big, it only fitted a few sentences on both screens. I know the DS has a low resolution but I would have thought it could go a little smaller. (Might even lose the blurring.)
The full list of books:
Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
Mansfield Park – Jane Austen
Emma – Jane Austen
Persuasion – Jane Austen
Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
Shirley – Charlotte Bronte
Villette – Charlotte Bronte
The Professor – Charlotte Bronte
Dombey and Son – Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
Martin Chuzzlewit – Charles Dickens
Ivanhoe – Sir Walter Scott
Rob Roy – Sir Walter Scott
Waverley – Sir Walter Scott
Othello – William Shakespeare
Hamlet – William Shakespeare
The Tempest – William Shakespeare
Merchant of Venice – William Shakespeare
What Katy Did – Susan Coolidge
What Katy Did At School – Susan Coolidge
Adventures of Tom Sawyer – Mark Twain
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson
Kidnapped – Robert Louis Stevenson
The Black Arrow – Robert Louis Stevenson
The Call of the Wild – Jack London
White Fang – Jack London
The Water Babies – Charles Kingsley
Westward Ho! – Charles Kingsley
Lord Jim – Joseph Conrad
Moby Dick – Herman Melville
Nicholas Nickleby – Charles Dickens
Last of the Mohicans – James Fenimore Cooper
Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
Under the Greenwood Tree – Thomas Hardy
Tess of the d'Ubervilles – Thomas Hardy
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Romeo and Juliet – William Shakespeare
Taming of the Shrew – William Shakespeare
Macbeth – William Shakespeare
Winter's Tale – William Shakespeare
Much Ado About Nothing – William Shakespeare
Henry V – William Shakespeare
Little Women – Louisa May Alcott
Lorna Doone – R D Blackmore
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – Anne Bronte
Agnes Grey – Anne Bronte
Sons And Lovers – D.H. Lawrence
Uncle Tom's Cabin – Harriet Beecher Stowe
King Solomon's Mines – Rider Haggard
Tales Of Mystery And Imagination – Edgar Allen Poe
Adam Bede – George Eliot
Mill on the Floss – George Eliot
Silas Marner – George Eliot
Middlemarch – George Eliot
The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde
Importance of Being Earnest – Oscar Wilde
The Woman in White – William 'Wilkie' Collins
The Moonstone – William 'Wilkie' Collins
Robinson Crusoe – Daniel Defoe
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Arthur Conan Doyle
The Casebook Of Sherlock Holmes – Arthur Conan Doyle
Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
The Old Curiosity Shop – Charles Dickens
Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
Bleak House – Charles Dickens
Hard Times – Charles Dickens
Barnaby Rudge – Charles Dickens
David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
The Pickwick Papers – Charles Dickens
The Turn Of The Screw – Henry James
The Aspern Papers – Henry James
Cranford – Elizabeth Gaskell
Titus Andronicus – William Shakespeare
The Merry Wives of Windsor – William Shakespeare
Midsummer Nights Dream – William Shakespeare
Anthony and Cleopatra – William Shakespeare
All's Well That Ends Well – William Shakespeare
Comedy of Errors – William Shakespeare
Richard III – William Shakespeare
Gulliver's Travels – Jonathan Swift
Vanity Fair – William Thackery
Barchester Towers – Anthony Trollop
Black Beauty – Anna Sewell
Pilgrim's Progress – John Bunyan
The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
Little Lord Fauntleroy – Frances Hodgson Burnett
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Caroll
Through The Looking Glass – Lewis Caroll
Loves Labours Lost – William Shakespeare
Timon of Athens – William Shakespeare
King Lear – William Shakespeare
Julius Caesar – William Shakespeare
As You Like It – William Shakespeare
Twelfth Night – William Shakespeare
Overall I think this is a good idea that has lots of future potential. I could see this working well for comic books as well as literature. The DS screen or the developers decisions (probably both) sadly makes the font too large, reading a couple of sentences at a time would really take the enjoyment out of it for me. The selection of books is very good, I personally wouldn't enjoy reading many of these, but I don't disagree with the selection since they are clearly 'Classic' books. I hope they release more versions with different selections (Sci-Fi please :mrgreen:). If you wish to read a number of these books then I could easily see you enjoying this, but we don't yet have a replacement for real books.
Pictures taken from Amazon UK.


text: This Maroon and Grey card has been mailed, so I can post it to my main blog now. I created the tassel using the ribbon fraying technique. I saved the interior of the Silver Satin Ribbon to create the cord part of the tassel which connects it to the hat. The sentiments came from the Celebrate Today and the Guy Greetings sets, and I used the retiring Washi Label Punch to hold the money, but the new Classic Label Punch will work beautifully when it arrives with the new catalog.


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Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Image
Don't mess with this supermodel sisterhood!
When it comes to the world of runways, fashion shows and modeling, things can get a little competitive. After all, there's only so many looks for so many gorgeous faces.
But when it comes to Gigi Hadid and her younger sister Bella Hadid, these two have each other's back no matter what comes their way.
In a new video for British Vogue, Yolanda Hadid's oldest daughter is asked to be placed in several scenarios where the publication asks: What would Gigi do? Her responses may just make you love her even more.
"What would you do if someone was being mean to Bella?" the magazine asked the 20-year-old.
"It's like the end of your life pretty much," Gigi replied in a not serious, but kind of serious tone. "Backstage at a show in Paris, for some reason they let photographers take pictures while girls were changing, which just pisses me off. My sister's changing next to me and I was like, 'If you don't put that camera away and stop shooting my sister, I'm going to come over there, I'm going to take that camera, and throw it on the floor.'"


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If anyone else is thinking about getting a SmartieParts board I'd do it now. It looks like he's received another 200 boards, but they usually sell out pretty quickly.
Edit: Just to keep this on topic. If you set a channel to get it's value from it's self and set it's switch to on you get a sort of position memory, so you can replace the value of that channel with whatever and the channel will remember the value.
I'm going to make a short YouTube vid showing this on Wednesday. I use it to remember my throttle position, so I can get the plane flying level, store the throttle position, then after I've landed I can check the value and use it as the middle value in my throttle curve.


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Greg Wise has a double bachelor's degree in communications and English from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. After earning his master's and doctoral degrees in speech communication from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Wise served on the faculty at Clemson University for four years before coming to Arizona State University's West campus in 1999.
Wise's research interests focus on popular culture, technology and culture, new media, globalization, and surveillance. His publications include "Cultural Globalization: A User's Guide," published by Blackwell; a book co-edited with Hille Koskela (University of Finland) on "New Visualities" published by Ashgate; a second edition of his co-authored (with Jennifer Daryl Slack) "Culture and Technology: A Primer" with Peter Lang in 2015; and a new book about representations of surveillance in popular films, "Surveillance and Film," in 2016 with Bloomsbury Academic.
"Culture and Technology: A Primer" won the book award in 2006 from the Critical and Cultural Studies Division of the National Communication Association."Surveillance and Film" won the book award in 2018 from the Surveillance Studies Network.
His extensive involvement with academic journals includes serving as executive editor of Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies from 2010 to 2012. Wise also is a member of the editorial boards of Communication Review and Communication Theory.
Wise is also author of "Exploring Technology and Social Space" (1997), co-author of "Culture and Technology: A Primer" (2005), and co-author of the second edition of "MediaMaking" (2005), as well as a number of journal articles and book chapters including Cultural Studies and Communication Technology in "The Handbook of New Media: Social Shaping and Consequences of ICTs;" Cultural Studies and Rem Koolhaas's Project on the City in "New Adventures in Cultural Studies;" and Attention and Assemblage in "Communication Matters: Materialist Approaches to Media, Networks, and Mobility."
cultural studies and technology, new media, globalization, and surveillance
Graduate Faculty in Communication research areas: cultural studies and technology, media studies, culture and globalization
Wise, J.M. (2016). Surveillance and Film. NY: Bloomsbury Academic.
Slack, J.D. & Wise, J.M. (2015) Culture and Technology: A Primer (2nd edition). NY: Peter Lang Publishers.
Wise, J.M. (2008). Cultural Globalization: A User's Guide. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers.
Slack, J.D. & Wise, J.M. (2005). Culture and Technology: A Primer. NY: Peter Lang Publishers. Fourth printing in 2008. Winner of the 2006 Outstanding Book Award, Critical and Cultural Studies Division of the National Communication Association.
Grossberg, L., Wartella, E., Whitney, D.C., & Wise, J.M. (2005). MediaMaking: Mass Media and Popular Culture. 2nd edition. Sage Publications. (2015) Translated into Chinese by Nanjing Publishing House.
Wise, J.M. (1997). Exploring technology and social space. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Book Chapters
Wise, J.M. (2017). Towards a Minor Assemblage: An Introduction to the Clickable World. In Amber Davisson and Aaron Hess (eds.) Digital Rhetoric (Routledge).
Wise, J.M. (2017) "Assemblage." In Jonathan Gray and Laurie Ouellette (eds) Keywords in Media Studies. NY: NYU Press.
Wise, J.M. (2015). "A Hole in the Hand: Assemblages of Attention and Mobile Screens." In Jan Hadlaw, Andrew Herman, and Thom Swiss (Eds.) Theories of the Mobile Internet: Materialities and Imaginaries. NY: Routledge.
Wise, J.M. (2013). "Stereo-Reality." In John Armitage (Ed.) The Virilio Dictionary. Edinburgh University Press.
Wise, J.M. (2013) "Introduction: Ecstatic Assemblages of Visuality." In J. Macgregor Wise and Hille Koskela (eds.) New Visualities, New Technologies: The New Ecstasy of Communication. Pp.1-5. Ashgate
Wise, J.M. (2012). "Attention and Assemblage in the Clickable World," in Jeremy Packer and Steve Wiley (ed) Communication Matters: Materialist Approaches to Media, Networks, and Mobility. Pp. 159-172. Routledge.
Wise, J.M. (2011). "Assemblage." In Charles J. Stivale (Ed.) Gilles Deleuze: Key Concepts (Second Edition). Pp. 91-102. Acumen.
Wise, J.M. (2009). "Globalization and Culture." In G. Honor Fagan & Ronaldo Munck (eds.) Globalisation and Security: An Encyclopaedia. Pp. 100-118 Praeger.
Wise, J.M .(2006). "Cultural Studies and Rem Koolhaas." In Clare Birchall & Gary Hall (eds.) New Adventures in Cultural Studies. Pp. 241-258. Edinburgh University Press.
Slack, J.D. & Wise, J.M. (2006) "Cultural Studies and Communication Technology" in Leah A. Lievrouw & Sonia M. Livingstone (Eds). The Handbook of New Media: Social Shaping and Consequences of ICTs (Updated Student Edition). Pp. 141-162. London: Sage. Translated as "Cultural Studies e tecnologie della comunicazione" in Leah A. Lievrouw & Sonia Livingstone (with Giovanni Boccia Artieri, Luciano Paccagnella, & Francesca Pasquali) (eds) Capire i New Media: Culture, Comunicazione, Innovazione Tecnologica e Istituzioni Sociali. Hoepli. 2007.
Wise, J.M. (2005) "Assemblage." In Charles J. Stivale (ed.) Gilles Deleuze: Key Concepts. Acumen.
Wise, J.M. (2005) "Technocultures: Introduction." In Ackbar Abbas and John Nguyet Erni (Eds) Internationalizing Cultural Studies: An Anthology. Blackwell Publishers.
Wise, J.M. (2003) "Community, Affect, and the Virtual: The Politics of Cyberspace" in Beth Kolko (Ed.) Virtual Publics: Policy and Community in an Electronic Age. New York: Columbia University Press. PP. 112-133.
Wise, J.M. (2003) "Home: Territory and Identity" in J.D. Slack (Ed.) Animations [of Deleuze and Guattari]. New York: Peter Lang.
Slack, J.D. & Wise, J.M. (2002) "Cultural Studies and Technology" in Leah A. Lievrouw & Sonia M. Livingstone (Eds). The Handbook of New Media: Social Shaping and Consequences of ICTs. London: Sage.
WU, Qing, CHEN, Hong-bing, and Wise, J.M. (2017, August). Control and Autonomy: Analysis on Ivan Illich's Critical Theory of Tools. Studies in Philosophy of Science and Technology, 34(4). [In Chinese]
WU, Qing; CHEN, Hong-bing; and Wise, J.M. (2017, March) The Types of Neo-Luddism's Anti-Technology. Studies in Dialectics of Nature, 33(4). [In Chinese]
Wise, J.M. (2011). "The Politics of Care: A Commentary on Kamphof." Foundations of Science. [Invited Commentary]
Wise, J.M. (2004). "'An Immense and Unexpected Field of Action': Webcams, Surveillance, and Everyday Life." Cultural Studies (Special Issue on Everyday Life, edited by Michael Gardiner and Gregory J. Seigworth), 18(2/3): 423-441. Reprinted in Zoya Kocur (Ed.) (2011). Global Visual Cultures: An Anthology. New York: Wiley.
Wise, J.M. (2003). "Reading Hall reading Marx." Cultural Studies, 17(2): 105-112.
Wise, J.M. (2002). "Mapping the culture of control: Seeing Through The Truman Show." Television and New Media, 3(1): 29-47.
Wise, J.M. (2000). "Home: Territory and Identity." Cultural Studies, 14 (2).295-310. Excerpt reprinted in Mark Taylor & Julieanna Preston (eds.) (2006). Intimus: Interior Design Theory Reader. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons. Excerpt Reprinted in Jen Gieseking, William Mangold, Cindi Katz, Setha Low, & Susan Saegert (eds.) (2014). The People, Place, and Space Reader. NY: Routledge.
Seigworth, G. & Wise, J.M. (2000). "Introduction: Deleuze and Guattari in Cultural Studies." Cultural Studies 14 (2). 139-146.
Wise, J.M. (1998). "Intelligent agency." Cultural Studies, 12 (3). 410-428. Reprinted in Leah A. Lievrouw and Sonia Livingstone (Eds). Sage Benchmarks in Communication: New Media. Sage Publications, 2009. Reprinted in Seth Giddings & Martin Lister (Eds). The New Media and Technocultures Reader. Routledge, 2011.
Wise, J.M. (1996). "Uusi, uljas verkkomaailma: Vapaudesta ja yhteisöllisyydestä Wired-Aikakauslehdessä [The Wired World: Communitarianism and Libertarianism in Wired magazine]," Trans. Esa Sirkkunen & Seija Ridell. Tiedotustutkimus, 4. Pp. 34-40. [A Finnish Journal of Mass Communication].
Works Edited
Wise, J.M. & Koskela, H. (Eds). (2013). New Visualities, New Technologies: The New Ecstasy of Communication. Ashgate.
Wise, J.M. (2005). "Techno-Cultures" Section Editor and Advisory Board Member. In Ackbar Abbas and John Nguyet Erni (Eds) Internationalizing Cultural Studies: An Anthology. Blackwell Publishers.
Seigworth, G. & Wise, J.M. (Guest Editors). (2000) Deleuze/Guattari in Cultural Studies. Cultural Studies (Special Issue) 14 (2).
|Spring 2019
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|Television Studies & Criticism
|Reading and Conference
|Reading and Conference
|Applied Project
|Fall 2018
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|Semiotics/Visual Communication
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|Theories of Social Technology
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|Spring 2018
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|Critical/Cultural Approaches
|Fall 2017
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|Theories of Social Technology
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|Spring 2017
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|Fall 2016
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|Theories of Social Technology
|Spring 2016
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|Fall 2014
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Biography : The seeds of Byzantium were sewn in 1970, with Jamie Rubenstein and Nico Ramsden (who wouldn't appear until the second album) as an acoustic duo. Some recording was done with the help of friend Robin Sylvester, but sales were at best disappointing. Soon they were joined by vocalist Beverly Baxter (who it seems, never actually followed them into the studio), and Robin Lamble on bass. After some success with live gigs, Steve Corduner (a former band mate of Nico and Robin) joined on drums. Now hey had a viable band assembled. However, Jamie had reservations about the whole thing, and left. Chaz Jankel came along to fill the void.
With this lineup, they were set for success. They scored a contract with A&M, and it seemed as if the rock and roll dreams were coming true. But, as in every good rock story, problems arose. Just as the debut album (on which Jamie does appear as a guest) was released, Nico left, citing "musical differences." During this time, Jamie had been playing with Mick Barakan (another friend from school). Back through the revolving door he went, with Mick in tow. This resulted in their second album, "Seasons Changing." This time the theme was group effort, as everyone contributed to writing. Chaz was not pleased with the new direction, and left the band (he would end up backing Ian Drury). A&M seemed to share Chaz's opinion, and dropped Byzantium from the label.
They toiled on their own for a while, even pressing another album, that was unfortunately never available for sale. They toured, and continued to draw crowds. In 1975 they played their last show where they started, at the Roundhouse. After that, it was time to call it quits. H.T. Riekels (progarchives.com)
01.What Is Happening? 5:20
02.I Am A Stranger To My Life 4:46
03.Come Fair One 5:53
04.Baby I Can Hear You Calling Me 5:18
05.Trade Wind 2:56
06.Into The Country 4:12
07.Lady Friend 4:37
08.Why Or Maybe It's Because 10:13
Chas Jankel - electric guitar, piano, organ, vocals
Nico Ramsden - electric guitar, slide guitar, piano, organ
Robin Lamble - bass, acoustic guitar, violin, vocals
Stephen Corduner - drums, percussion
Jamie Rubinstein - acoustic guitar
Alan Skidmore - tenor saxophone
Frank Riccotti - timpani


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For a while there, the world was shaken to the core about global warming, rising tides, and disappearing glaciers.
Gangotri will be gone! The holy Indian cows emit too much gas, eat them up!
The man who invented internet, and global warming, Al Gore got his revenge on the world that cheated him out of Presidency by scaring it into giving him a Nobel prize for manufacturing predictions of doomsday.
Now, of course, we know it to be otherwise.
The East Anglia email scandal, the data fudging business.
And now this: the idea of Himalayan glaciers melting away by 2035 was "speculation" not based on science, data or verified research.
The original news was not vetted, proven, peer-reviewed not subjected to test.
Times of London has all the details.
World misled over Himalayan glacier meltdown.
Brief excerpt:
A WARNING that climate change will melt most of the Himalayan glaciers by 2035 is likely to be retracted after a series of scientific blunders by the United Nations body that issued it. [snip]
It has also emerged that the New Scientist report was itself based on a short telephone interview with Syed Hasnain, a little-known Indian scientist then based at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.
Hasnain has since admitted that the claim was "speculation" and was not supported by any formal research.[snip]
Professor Murari Lal, who oversaw the chapter on glaciers in the IPCC report, said he would recommend that the claim about glaciers be dropped: [snip]
The revelation is the latest crack to appear in the scientific concensus over climate change. It follows the so-called climate-gate scandal, where British scientists apparently tried to prevent other researchers from accessing key date. Last week another row broke out when the Met Office criticised suggestions that sea levels were likely to rise 1.9m by 2100, suggesting much lower increases were likely.
While the blame game goes on, science being not exempt from it. And not a moment too soon we have a new word for a new scandal, thank you Walter Russel Meade, Glacier Gate
Pachauri, in the meantime, is "studying the new evidence"
Truth being, of course, there is real evidence that some Himalayan glaciers are actually getting larger!
Not a particularly new idea, but things do change in nature, back and forth .. it's not time for pralayam, yet …
The Resilient Earth has interesting photographs, and report by Vijay KumarRaina of Geological Survey of India.
IU is glad that Ganga will keep on flowing. Otherwise where else will the Indians put their pollution in?


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New stills and poster for Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut Don Jon
DON JON will be the first film directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and it's a movie I know a lot of people are very interested in seeing. The guy is incredibly talented and I can't wait to see how he does behind a camera. I'm guessing DON JON is going to feel a little like 50/50 (a good mix of humor and drama), although obviously cancer is a bit more serious of a topic than picking up girls at clubs and masturbation.
The Playlist has some new images from DON JON showing off JGL's Jersey lifestyle in the film (although it's less GTL and more VCD: vacuuming, cuddling, and Danza), as well as a slightly cheeky new poster. DON JON might not end up being a huge film, but I think it'll be a good first film for Joseph Gordon-Levitt and hopefully he'll direct more projects in the future.
Jon Martello is a modern day Don Juan who objectifies everything in his life, especially women. His friends call him Don Jon because of his ability to pull "10s" every weekend without fail. But his addiction to porn has made him dissatisfied with life and he sets out on a journey to find a more gratifying sex life. However, he ends up seeing the bigger picture and learning more about life and love through two different women.
Starring Tony Danza, Scarlett Johansson and Julianne Moore, DON JON is in theaters September 27th, 2013, and you can check out Chris Bumbray's review from Sundance here.
Unfortunately we had to take the images down, but Miss Johansson is very sorry for the inconvenience.
|Extra Tidbit:
|If you haven't already check out Joseph Gordon-Levitt in MYSTERIOUS SKIN.
|The Playlist


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Left to right:
Superfruit Smoothies from Boo smoothies, Port Hope, Ontario. This flavour is Mangosteen+Passionfruit. I'm saving this for when I need a boost.
Nut Bar in Pumpkin Pie from Edible Rebellion, Calgary, Alberta. This was so thick it took me awhile to eat, but so filling too! It had tonnes of nuts and dried fruit.
Delicious Kicks Salsa in Roasted Green Cilantro and Tomatillo from Las Salsas, Winnipeg, Manitoba. This looks like a must try on burgers and BBQ.
Zesty Lemon Honey from Heavenly Honey, Blackburn Hamlet, Ontario. This will be a nice citrus zing in the morning with toast.
Spring Marshmallow Bites from Kimberly's Kitchen, Telkwa, British Columbia. These are all gone. Haha. I did not even think to have flavoured marshmallows. I've only ever had those weird coloured ones from the grocery store. These little bites are something to admire. They were flavoured with cocoa, lemon, lavender and coconut and they were still marshmallows! I loved them for sure. And really sad they are gone :(
Please check out FoodiePages.ca. If you don't go for the Foodie Boxes, then please check out all the food makers. You might even find one in your neighbourhood! :)


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Sydney took the most amazing shots of my wedding day and I'm still receiving compliments on them! She put me at ease, and helped me enjoy the special day. I can't thank her enough for capturing all the little details and intimate/fun moments! I'd highly recommend her to anyone...you will not be disappointed!
Sydney did a fabulous job photographing our
wedding day. She provided us with so many
beautiful, unique and artistic photos that we will
cherish for forever! Thank you, Sydney
Emily + Rodney
Our wedding day was made perfect by Sydney. She somehow simultaneously remained tucked into the background while at the same time helping me navigate the entire day by letting me know what shots we should be shooting next. She was kind, funny, and overall felt like a friend I had invited to share the day with as opposed to just someone I had hired to take our photos. That was all before we had ever seen our photos; which moved my husband and me to tears. I had never seen wedding photos that so perfectly captured the genuine moments like hers had. They were more than photos, they were a time machine that took us right back to the best moments of that day. I can not recommend her enough, and would solely hire Sydney for any and all further photos I would have done/need. If you're contemplating booking her, do it now!
Absolutely amazing. Sydney is awesome. She did our wedding and I couldn't have asked for a better photographer. She captured every moment and flowed with our laid back wedding. I am so happy we found each other!!
Sydney is absolutely amazing. She puts her all into her work and it truly shows. I have gotten nothing but compliments on the images that I have shared. Wedding photography was a big deal to me because I wanted the day to last a lifetime. With Sydney's photos, I can really relive my best day ever by looking through my album. Her passion shows through her work. She was organized and her communication was prompt. She was so sweet and easygoing too..also very important to me as high stress situations sometimes get to me. She didn't overpose us and even rocked out to some 90s hip hop on the party bus with us! Woo woo :)
Katie Roberson
At first I was worried that it was going to be awkward...but she gave me great suggestions and didn't make it awkward at all. My pictures turned out way better than I could ever have imagined.
Sydney is one of the nicest people we have ever met! She let us just be "us"...Everything was natural and relaxed, which fit the theme of our wedding. Her responses were always in a timely manner, and we never had any concerns with our entire process...Meeting Sydney is like meeting someone you've felt you've known your entire life. She made the entire process simple. You never felt rushed, or forced into something you know won't look right.
Casey + Aaron
Sydney Marie was so incredible! I can't recommend her enough. She was so thoughtful, professional, and talented on the wedding day. She made everything go so smoothly and made for the perfect day. Her photos were everything we wanted and more, we can't thank her enough for everything she did!
Leah + Nolan
Sydney did such a fantastic job for our special day. Not only was she relaxed and professional, but she was accommodating as well. We had a tight budget and she made it work! My husband and I couldn't have been happier with the moments that were captured during our special night. I highly recommend this lady.
Ashley + Craig
The pictures came out wonderful and we could not be happier with the memories.


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The Intersection of Opportunity & Transformation
Quest West 2020 is Quest's plan to transform this historic community surrounding
Boone and Lowery Boulevards with its "Live-Work-Play-Serve" model.
Quest West 2020 is a $30 million investment in the historic Boone-Lowery intersection.
In a community where concerns about gentrification and displacement have taken center stage, Quest is committed to the creation of affordable housing, businesses, and services for the area's current residents. Quest West 2020—Quest Complexes I & II, Quest West Commons, and the Quest Nonprofit Center for Change—represents a combined $30 million investment in that vision.
About Quest Community Development Organization - Quest CDO
|Inspiring A Shared Vision
Quest CDO has brought significant transformation to Rock Street and to the lives of the 4,000 people it has served. The remarkable change Quest has generated down this lane is the same vision it intends to carry throughout the entire neighborhood.
Since 2001, Quest has assisted more than 4,000 individuals with supportive housing. Our core focuses are Affordable Development, Supportive Housing, Accredited Social Services, Property Management, and Financial Management Services.


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ANC sacrifices principle in Dalai Lama affair
The Refusal by the ANC government to grant the Dalai Lama a visa to attend the 2010 World Cup-organised peace conference planned for this Friday once again demonstrates how the ANC is willing to sacrifice principle to satisfy a party funder, the Chinese government.
This matter has nothing to do with, "what is in the best interest of the country" as indicated by Foreign Affairs department spokesperson, Ronnie Mamoepa, but the ANC cow-towing to a major funder that has poured extensive resources into its election campaign.
COPE condemns this partisan act by the ANC. It is further proof of the ANC's narrow, factional and opportunistic tendency. This failure by the ANC government to take advantage of a diplomatic opportunity to welcome a person of such stature to our shores and using this opportunity to contribute to the settlement of the Tibetan issue demonstrates that ANC foreign policy is for sale to the highest bidder. The ANC now routinely betrays its stated principles as an organisation. It has become an organisation for the rich, the resourced and the powerful. It cares nothing for suffering people, whether in Tibet or elsewhere. COPE supports the call for a just, lasting and peaceful settlement of the Tibetan issue. COPE supports all international and diplomatic initiatives to realise these goals.
Statement issued by Dr Mvume Dandala, Congress of the People presidential candidate, March 23 2009
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The International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI) decided in 2000 to create two prizes recognizing outstanding achievement in mathematics education research:
In order to reflect the ICMI principles to "development of mathematical education at all levels" and "to promote the reflection, collaboration, exchange and dissemination of ideas on the teaching and learning of mathematics, from primary to university level" the ICMI EC decided in 2013 to create a third ICMI award to recognize outstanding achievements in the practice of mathematics education.
These three awards pay tribute to outstanding scholarship in mathematics education. They serve not only to encourage the efforts of others, but also to contribute to the development of high standards for the field through the public recognition of exemplars. The awards consist of a medal and a certificate, accompanied by a citation. They have a character similar to that of a university honorary degree.
The Felix Klein Award and the Hans Freudenthal are given in each of the odd numbered year (since 2003). The Emma Castelnuovo Award is given at the year an ICME is held (since 2016).
At each International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME), the medals and certificates of the awards are presented at the Opening Ceremony. Furthermore, the awardees are invited to present special lectures (ICMI Award Lectures) at the Congress.
Two Awards Committees (AC) of each six persons select the awardees. The active members of the AC, except for its chair, are not made known. Only at the time when the terms of committee members expire are their names made public.
The Awards Committees is completely autonomous once appointed. Its work and records are kept internal and confidential, except for the obvious process of soliciting advice and information from the professional community, which is done by the committee chair. The AC has full authority in selecting the awardees. Its decision is final and is reported, in confidence, to the ICMI EC via the President of ICMI and then made public.


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Simple Recipes with Photos
Creative recipes that get ready with minimal fuss for most home cooks. Most recipes have tips that offer flexibility for adapting the recipe to your taste. All recipes have a photo based process that you just need to follow. Super simple recipes that will keep bringing you back for more. Do check out the under 15 minute recipes too.
Sprouts Salad – A Healthy Anytime MunchyNovember 16, 2017 | Sumit Malhotra
Sprouts Salad Recipe – A Healthy Anytime Munchy Salad with Bean Sprouts and Vegetables
Sprouts salad is a perfect dish to snack on at anytime of the day. It is delish, healthy and ready in no time (if you have … Read More
Chaach or Chaas – Your Instant Summertime CoolerMay 14, 2017 | Sumit Malhotra 2
Chaach or Chaas or Buttermilk – Simple Chaach Recipe for Your Instant Summertime Cooler
Chaach or chaas is traditionally a part of every traditional North Indian meal. It is a must have digestive after a spicy lunch. It … Read More
Salmon Cakes – Crispy & ScrumptiousMay 6, 2017 | Sumit Malhotra
Salmon Cakes Recipe – Crispy & Scrumptious & Delicious
One of my friends, Roma, got Norwegian Salmon as a gift. And that she gifted me for sheer lack of ideas or perhaps it was a lack of intention at … Read More
Cheese Oregano Omelette – For Scrumptious BreakfastApril 29, 2017 | Sumit Malhotra
Cheese Oregano Omelette – For Your Scrumptious Breakfast
Here is the simplest possible recipe for a Cheese Oregano omelette. It is no fuss, simple to make and awesome way to start your day. It uses goodness of dry … Read More
Garlic Masala Eggy Bread – Crispy With LifeApril 25, 2017 | Sumit Malhotra
Garlic Masala Eggy Bread; A Great Way to Start Your Day with this Breakfast Recipe
Garlic Masala Eggy Bread is an great way to get kids to enjoy eggs. Especially, if they don't like scrambled or fried eggs. And, you can add … Read More
Make Delicious Mumbai Vada Pav at HomeApril 20, 2017 | Sumit Malhotra
Vada Pav Recipe, Make Delicious Mumbai Vada Pav at Home
So, we all know that Vada Pav is absolutely delicious. Further, vada pav recipe is super simple to make. For the lack of it I crave for it in … Read More
Dry Garlic Chutney, Garlic Masala for Vada PavApril 16, 2017 | Sumit Malhotra
Dry Garlic Chutney Recipe – A Vada Pav Essential
As a matter of fact, dry garlic chutney is an essential condiment for making vada pav. So, you may have noticed it sprinkled liberally on the batata vada. That is, … Read More
Batata Vada – Super Snack & Key to a Great Vada PavApril 13, 2017 | Sumit Malhotra
Batata Vada Recipe – Batata Vada is the Key to a Great Vada Pav
So, a good Vada Pav is not possible with a good batata vada. And, my forever request to my friend Dipak whenever I visit Mumbai … Read More
Tomato Rice – With Goodness of TomatoesApril 11, 2017 | Sumit Malhotra
Tomato Rice Recipe; Make Tomato Rice with Fresh or Leftover rice & Tomato Juice
Tomato rice is a popular rice recipe from Southern part of India. And is usually made with leftover rice. Since, there is something always left overs from … Read More
Sauteed Mushrooms – A Simply Delicious DishApril 9, 2017 | Sumit Malhotra
Sauteed Mushrooms Recipe, Simple Recipe for Sauteed Mushrooms
Sauteed Mushrooms recipe is garlicky, buttery and really delicious mushroom preparation. You can have this as a snack or maybe as a side to the main course if you like. The … Read More


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Sales of previously owned U.S. homes unexpectedly rose in August to the highest level in more than six years as buyers rushed to lock in interest rates before they rise further.
Purchases climbed 1.7% to a 5.48 million annual rate, the highest since February 2007, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 79 economists in a Bloomberg survey called for a drop to 5.25 million. The median price jumped by the most since October 2005 reflecting tight inventory, the group said.
The data reflect some transactions begun a month or two earlier, when buyers were trying to get loans when mortgage rates were near record lows. Lawrence Yun, the group's chief economist, said the surge in August was probably the "last hurrah" for the next 12 to 18 months as the recent gains in borrowing costs and prices hurt affordability.
"Housing will continue to improve, though the remarkable pace of improvement we saw in recent months isn't going to persist," Tom Simons, an economist at Jefferies LLC in New York, said before the report. "The impact that higher mortgage rates are likely to have is like taking the foot off the accelerator."
Economists estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from 4.95 million to 5.41 million. The prior month's pace was unrevised from the 5.39 million previously reported.
The median price of an existing home increased 14.7% from a year ago to $212,100, today's report showed. That was the biggest gain since October 2005.
12-Month Gain
Compared with a year earlier, purchases increased 10.5% before adjusting for seasonal variations.
Activity at lockboxes, which hold the keys real-estate agents use to show houses to prospective buyers, showed "some significant change in direction" in recent weeks, indicating sales will probably slow in coming months, Yun said at a news conference today as the figures were released.
"Rising mortgage rates hurried some people into making the decision" to close on a deal, he said, which means demand will cool in coming months.
The number of previously owned homes on the market was 2.25 million at the end of August, the fewest for that month since 2002. At the current sales pace, it would take 4.9 months to sell those houses compared with 5 months at the end of the prior month.
Copyright 2014 Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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My Historical Romance books; Lord Rupert's Foolish Bride, Lizzie Tempest Ruins A Viscount, Lord Jasper's Angel, Perfect Obedience A Bride's Vow
Monday, May 23, 2011
dancing back to the Regency
Hero is now complaining I type too slowly. Don't ask. All my heroes complain about that. I think they have organized a union. Next, they will be picketing my desk. I hope they wear clothes, or I won't get anything done.
3 comments:
- Thelma Mariano said...
Such fun, when our characters tell us what they want (or don't). I like the idea of your hero picketing your desk. If he's too much of a distraction, you can always send him to my place...
Mine wants me to get done with the home renovations and get back to the page. After all, I can only get so creative with a paint brush!
- May 24, 2011 at 11:14 PM
- Maggie Jagger said...
If a hero shows up naked don't open the door (I told mine to put some clothes on) that one might just be a stray thought.
- May 25, 2011 at 4:25 PM
- Thelma Mariano said...
Funny, I never even pictured my hero naked! But if he arrived at my door in all his glory, I'd have to let him in. Neighbours here can be nosy and no one is likely to believe he's a figment of my imagination.
- May 26, 2011 at 9:21 AM


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Lucy Winkett ended thought for the day this past Tuesday with the challenge to 'give ourselves away'. Lucy is rector of St. James' Piccadilly. Had I the chance to be in London over Christmas I would make time to go there to see the art installation by Arabella Dorman. It includes a dingy which arrived on the island of Lesbos with 62 refugees on board. St. James' Piccadilly is no stranger to controversy. One of it's previous incumbents, whom I met in Bangor, was Donald Reeves, known for being a nuisance to the CofE. Together with his partner Peter Peltz they founded the peace charity Soul of Europe. Based on the words of Mandela: "You don't make peace by talking to your friends; you have to make peace with your enemies." They began bringing people together. So I find myself ill at ease as, unlike the thousands of refugees who will be on the road this December, I have no need to travel and I have a secure home. Today's Gospel reading tells of Mary journeying to visit Elizabeth, both of them pregnant. Mary makes a second journey with Joseph to Bethlehem. A third journey takes them away into Egypt as refugees fleeing from violence. The first journey was one made out of love, to see a relative. The second out of obligation to the state and the third made in desperation and fear. So little has changed. These journeys will all happen this Christmas. Returning to the words of Lucy Winkett: what does it mean to 'give ourselves away'? If I suggested to you that Advent was a time for emptying out in order to be ready for Christmas, what might your initial thoughts be? Emptying cluttered shelves and bookcases, in order to fill the house with this year's must-reads and best-buys? Maybe. Fasting or more probably dieting through advent in order to make room for twelve days feasting? Maybe not so much these days. Perhaps it could mean emptying ourselves of our own needs, wants, desires, pride and expectations in order to be filled with the love that comes from being truly open to receive the gift of God in Jesus? How often do we hear, it is in the giving that we receive? Do we really understand this concept? It is not the reciprocal voucher exchange that I and my cousin used to practice for a number of Christmases past! Giving of ourselves to such an extent that we give ourselves up, give ourselves away. Until we do that, there is little room for Jesus or anyone else to make much of an impression upon our hearts. A Christmas film might help us to unpack this idea a little. The Richard Curtis Christmas comedy Love Actually from 2003. The film begins and ends with a scene of travellers reunited with friends and families at an airport. The voice-over from Hugh Grant suggests, contrary to the popular opinion that we live in a world dominated by violence and hatred, Love actually is all around us. But it is not necessarily news worthy or dignified, but it is there. And so begins the tangled web of stories to make us laugh along the way and prove the point. In fact it appears that Love can be found in a myriad of unexpected, awkward, and you might well suggest if you have seen the film, inappropriate places. As the new prime minister meets his household staff. As someone is caught with his brother's wife. Being in love with the bride during a wedding, when you are not the groom. Being seven and in love with the most popular girl in school. Or in love with someone with whom you cannot communicate. Love in the darkest places, where a heart's desire is beyond grasp. But the film begins to turn to those true expressions of love that take an effort to cultivate. Where there is sacrifice, we see a giving away of self to the point where there is nothing left to give. The invitation is then open for love to enter in. Not because of inappropriate desires, but because of the selfless giving of one person to another. And so we see a sister devoted to her brother. The seven year old gives up everything to learn to play the drums for his girl. A writer and his housekeeper who cannot say anything meaningful to each other learn each other's language in the hope that one day there might be a chance for their unspoken affection. Moments of beauty in a silly Christmas film brings to birth the idea that in order to receive, first we must be prepared not just to give, but to give up our self. Mary gives up her body, her identity, her home and then her freedom. Mary gave herself away. We are asked for the same. Love is given a chance when we are transparent before the other. Love will find a way in, often through pain or suffering. First we must admit that we are broken. When the moment comes that we have nothing left to give; Christ can then enter in, the transformation can begin and we will truly have given ourselves away.
Woodfest again at St. Asaph, don't miss it! Or try to remember next year… There seem to be a number of different types of people exhibiting or competing. Most working in their field and making a living the way most of us do, wood things being a profitable sideline. There are the commercial firms whose machined products look out of place next to the hand crafted ones. There are also the minority of excellent craftsmen and women making their living solely from their craft, these are the ones one admires the most. Often the craft comes first, financial gain second. They do it for the love of the creating and the pleasure of the wood. I have to say that of all the very good and worthy people showing their skills there is none like the mushroom man, earning a living by turning wooden mushrooms out of Hazel. I imagine one day, he like others, was turning and demonstrating. Made a wooden mushroom and sold it there and then. Then he did another and chatted to those he was making them for as his chisles effortlessly cut away the wood. Where others put up safety screen and sat behind desks, he was stood up outside, nothing to stop the endless waves of wood chippings covering those watching. A few children at the front started to dance in the wood confetti tossing it over their heads in some mock wedding ritual, child meets wood, perhaps touching it for the first time in it's raw state, 'feel the wood' he says 'it's wet, isn't it?' the youngsters learn this is green wood, straight from the tree, the best for turning, soft and supple it bends to the will of the blade. As the mushroom is finished, complete with ring, furry bits and cone topping, the crowd shifts slightly, those going away clutching a newly carved work of love. For the love of it, and with good humour, is the better path. There are few who can tread the narrow road, but theirs is the path to be travelled!
a radical heart
Rumi said, in the midst of conflict:
"I go into the Muslim mosque, and the Jewish synagogue and the Christian church and I see one altar."
How open, or how big must one's heart be to allow such a thought? Can such a radical notion of generosity of heart ever take root today? Perhaps not until we give up utterly what it is that we desire most will we come closer to that which is for the most part lost to us and beyond our reach for there is too much in the way.
Such is the heart of St. Dwynwen who gave up everything for the sake of others love.


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|You guys want to buy some jets?
|"How about this sporty little number?" The Eurofighter Typhoon.
Here are some highlights; first from Mr. Andrea Nappi, Head of Eurofighter Export:
The Eurofighter Typhoon has also been designed to be reliable and easy to maintain when operating from forward operating bases with limited facilities, and this gives extremely high levels of fleet availability and competitive life-cycle costs. You may not be surprised to hear, therefore, that we pay little attention to the fourth-generation versus fifth-generation debate that seems to have become fashionable. We prefer instead to focus on delivering a mix of capabilities that not only meets our customers' requirements but also optimizes their chances of surviving the battle. This mix includes, for example, our super-cruise capability, extreme agility, sustained supersonic and high-altitude operations, fighter performance with a full missile load, integrated sensor fusion, network-enabled operations, low observability, and an ability to change roles in flight.
Perhaps I could also point out that the Eurofighter Typhoon meets all three of the key capabilities highlighted by General Deschamps as essential for the next-generation fighter--interoperability, sensors and data fusion, and survivability.
In addition, all four Eurofighter partner companies have outstanding track records in meeting industrial participation and offset obligations around the globe. Between us we have the ability to offer Canadian industry an unprecedented and unique level of access to key fighter technologies covering manufacturing, maintenance, repair and overhaul, capability development, and systems integration.
Of course Canadian industry would be more than welcome to participate in two elements of the future Eurofighter Typhoon, should Canada enter the program. These would include participation in the manufacturing of components and the final assembly line, because with the size of fleet Canada would need, it would be economically convenient to have a final national assembly line.Mr. Christian Worning, Typhoon test pilot, had this to add:
The design goal for the Eurofighter was really air supremacy. For modern BVR combat, as we see with the air supremacy airplane of the United States, the F-22, it is about speed, altitude, and weapons load, but it is primarily about the air-to-air role.
In terms of air defence itself, I am absolutely convinced that the Eurofighter is the superior airplane, surpassed only by the F-22, which is unavailable to all of us.
A lot of effort has gone into reducing the frontal radar cross-section, also, of the Eurofighter. But I underline that it's only one of the attributes. There are other means of increasing survivability, such as missile warning systems, towed decoys, electronic warfare, and of course performance and agility, particularly in the supersonic region. They are all building-stones towards survivability.
I have done above Mach 1.6 for a total of 15 minutes with three tanks on, but that was with heavy manoeuvring in between. (Mach 1.6 is the F-35's top speed, without external stores. The fact that the Typhoon can match this speed with 3 heavy tanks and heavy maneuvering is astounding!)
|"Or how 'bout this hot little number?" The Saab Gripen F.
Saab is well established here in Canada. We have key technologies in service in the Canadian army, navy, coast guard, air force, and universities.
With regard to range and endurance, Gripen can fly farther and stay airborne longer than any of our competitors' aircraft. As an example, un-refueled, it has a range of 4,000 kilometres. That's from Goose Bay to Inuvik. On full alert, the aircraft can be airborne in less than 60 seconds. A turnaround in the field in air-to-air role will take just under ten minutes. And a hot-engine change in the field takes less than an hour.
Gripen is fully operational within NATO, and fully interoperable with our NATO allies. As to Arctic operations, the Swedish air force operates one of its three Gripen wings in a location farther north than Alaska, so we are well versed in extremes of temperature, because we have operational aircraft in service in all climatic zones worldwide.
We employ a balanced survivability concept with very low audio, visual, radar, and infrared signatures, plus an extensive suite of on-board integrated defensive aids. Gripen has for decades matured a highly sophisticated interflight data link that complements the wide-picture information incoming from Link 16.
With the current procurement schedule, Saab can confirm deliveries to Canada of the Gripen NG in 2016. In fact, we're ahead of our development program for the next-generation fighter. We can confirm that we will meet the in-service dates, as required by the Canadian air force, of 2016. We have no delays at the present. We foresee no delays in the program.
The in-service cost per flight hour for Gripen is between $4,000 and $4,500 in Canadian dollars. So for a full fleet of 65 Gripen NG, the cost per year would be between $44 million and $50 million Canadian for a full fleet of 65 aircraft. It does include spares, first- and second-line servicing, fuel, oil, and off-base servicing, all the maintenance you need. The only thing we don't include in that, as I say, is the labour costs. Labour costs vary so much around the world, sir, that we take out labour costs.
We also recognize that Canada is very closely involved as an export customer in the JSF program. Now, we obviously wish to enter a full and open competition to meet 100% of the requirement for the future Canadian air force, i.e., for all 65 aircraft. Should this prove too complex, we would offer for consideration a fighter fleet of JSF and Gripen, as an option. I can assure all those who balk at this proposal that Gripen has an extremely low support footprint, which would require minimal change to existing Hornet facilities. Further, the Gripen can integrate fully with the F-35. After all, that is what NATO has striven to achieve with its allies. (A mixed fleet of F-35s and Gripens? Why not?)
Saab will transfer all—and we mean all—technologies required by Canada, including all source, single first-line code data. This will enable full national and functional control to be exercised over every element of the aircraft's offensive and defensive systems now and in the future.
Mr. Patrick Palmer, Executive Vice-President, Head of Saab Technologies Canada, added:All we ask is for the chance to properly demonstrate our capability to Canada and the Canadian air force, through an open and competitive process.
We will commit to 100% IRB(Industrial Return Benefits). But more important than that is our technology transfer program--what we're willing and what we're able to do and what we need.
...we've had discussions with some industries in Quebec as well as in other regions of the country. At this time it's not right for me to mention the names of those industries. (Bombardier?)It must be noted that the timing of this testimony, December 7, 2010, was during a time that the F-35 was all but decided on already. Mr. Oglivy may have suspected this, resulting in his suggestion for a mixed F-35 and Gripen force.
Many questions are asked by opposition members regarding the fact that Saab and Eurofighter were not given a serious consideration over the F-35. But we all know that story.
[NOTE: I am trying to locate similar testimony regarding the F-35, Rafale, and Super Hornet. If anybody can find it, please let me know!]


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Only now does it occur to me... that Billy Wilder, in his 1978 film FEDORA, simultaneously peels back the veneer on the more ghoulish aspects Old Hollywood and sends a nostalgic love letter to the studio system. Suffice it to say, there's a lot going on in this film, but I'll make it quick.
In a story told largely in flashback, William Holden plays a washed-up, elderly Hollywood producer named "Detweiler" (which sounds a lot like "Wilder" in passing conversation)
who travels to Greece in hopes of turning up "Fedora" (Marthe Keller), a reclusive Garbo-esque screen icon who resides on an island villa, along with her sleazy plastic surgeon (José Ferrer), a macabre Polish Countess (Hildegard Knef), and her bizarre housekeeper (Frances Sternhagen). Fedora has been in a state of seclusion since a nervous breakdown on her last film shoot (after a short-lived love affair with Michael York––played with good humor by Michael York).
There is more to "Fedora" herself than meets the eye, and it soon becomes apparent that she is probably being held prisoner by this menagerie of knockoff CLUE characters.
Aha! It was... the Housekeeper in the Bedroom with the Hidden Wall of Michael York Photos!
Without revealing the main payoff (which comes about an hour earlier than it should), I'll say that FEDORA often feels like a watered-down, latter-day Hitchcock/early De Palma flick, and its primary motivation seems to be a postmodern critique of Hollywood through a postmodern distortion of Billy Wilder's own SUNSET BOULEVARD. All of this is relatively interesting.
I wouldn't call it a failure by any means, but I also wouldn't say that it's particularly enjoyable. Perhaps it's only overdue for a campier remake by John Waters.
With Kathleen Turner as the Countess?
Anyway, the entire basis of this post is a hilarious moment where William Holden's character is lamenting the end of the studio system, by (playfully?) attacking the rising generation of young American filmmakers, the so-called '70s "movie brats," as the reason why he can't make movies anymore. He says,
"It's a whole different business now––the kids with beards
have taken over! They don't need scripts! Just give 'em a handheld
camera with a zoom lens!"
By "the kids with beards," he is surely referring to Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, et al., and while it's not a particularly vicious critique, it's interesting to see a contemporary (and possibly facetious) reaction from Wilder to a Hollywood he barely recognizes.


text:
I liked today.
Today was good.
I wore a summery canvas shirt that I just love.
I ate lunch with a 3rd grade girl that I adore.
I went to the city pasture to relax and feel the wind in my hair.
Our meal at Awanas tonight was chicken nuggets,
mashed potatoes with white gravy, and green beans.
I'll take that any night!
I had the chance to hug kids and put smiles on their face.
I have plans to take a 4th grade girl out for ice cream
because she's been helping me clean up after Awanas.
I watched American Idol.
The hyacinth and daffodils are blooming!
I get to sleep in tomorrow.
I will be working from a cozy and quiet coffee shop tomorrow.
Life is full. And life is good.


text:
a few moments after i hang up the phone, i received an sms from N:
shampoo, comb, hair band, cap, facial cleanser, cream, lotion, tooth paste, tooth brush, lip balm, hand gloves, sweater, long johns, long pants, shorts, t-shirts, socks, shoes, slippers, lingerie, knee guard, head lamp, sleeping bag, plastic bag for dirty laundry, rain coat, elle blue bag pack, waist pouch, camera, mp3, charger, water bottle, power bar, isotonic drink, medicine, plaster, sweets to sooth your throat, leg warmers, umbrella, towel
then the night before my departure, N came over to drop these off:
winter coat, in a zip lock bag that allows us to let the air out so that it's really flat and won't take up so much luggage space (any specific name for such bags ar?)
N even went to her company's panel doctor to get me some medicine! medicine for diarrhoea, altitude sickness, fever, headache, dizziness and stomachache. also various sizes of plasters as well as a pack of strepsils! all these in another smaller zip lock bag.
am i one lucky gal or what?
read also:
1) mount kinabalu challenge: failed
2) updates and such...
3) mount kinabalu challenge
read also:
1) mount kinabalu challenge: failed
2) updates and such...
3) mount kinabalu challenge


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Converse Chuck Taylor All StarsReviewing: Converse All Stars | Rating:
Converse All-Stars are probably one of the best-known sneakers in the world. They are commonly associated with teenagers and a number of rock scenes. I have been wearing them for about two years, and I have become a fan.
Chuck Taylors are very simple shoes, made of heavy canvas with rubber soles. This simplicity makes them very comfortable to wear. However, this simplicity also makes the durability of these shoes somewhat lacking, and I find that they tend to start getting torn and ripped within just a few months.
The best feature of these sneakers is their unique style. They are instantly recognizable as Chuck Taylors, and they come in just about every color of the rainbow. However, they do carry certain "hipster" connotations, so I would only get they if you know they're what you want.