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Incentives and Tax Credits
There are a variety of incentives available to Oregon homeowners that install solar. Government incentives are typically, though not always, provided as tax credits. State and local incentives are more likely to be cash rebates paid upon construction of the project or over time. In addition to direct incentives, there are other, indirect benefits, such as property tax exemptions and net-metering.
Incentives and tax credits are always subject to change. A good, central resource for up-to-date incentive information is the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE).
Note: The following information on incentives and tax credits is not tax advice. You should consult with a tax professional to understand how tax credits may effect you.
Federal Tax Credit
The federal government offers a tax credit for 30 percent of the cost to install your system, with no cap. To claim the credit, fill out Residential Energy Credit Form 5695 when you complete your Federal income tax return. There is no other application material, though you should keep documentation of your project's cost and proof of payment for your records.
Tax credits, unlike tax deductions, reduce your tax liability directly: dollar for dollar. Provided you have sufficient tax liability to claim the credit, a $1,000 tax credit will be worth a full $1,000 to you in reduced taxes. If you typically pay your taxes through employer withholding throughout the year, a tax credit will likely result in a refund. If you normally owe taxes at the end of the year, the tax credit will directly reduce how much you would otherwise pay.
If you have insufficient tax liability to claim your entire tax credit in one year, you may carry forward any remaining credit. More details about carry forward can be found on the Form 5695. Note that the Residential Energy Tax Credit is not a refundable tax credit.
State Tax Credits
Oregon Department of Energy offers a Residential Energy Tax Credit of $2.10 per watt of solar electric modules installed, up to $6,000 (and you claim a maximum of $1,500 per year). For solar water heating systems, they provide $0.15/kWh of estimated annual energy savings, up to $1,500.
As with the federal tax credit, if you have insufficient tax liability to claim your tax credit in any given year, you may carry forward the remaining credit, though there are limits on how long you have to use the carry forward. More details at oregon.gov/energy.
Energy Trust of Oregon Incentives
Energy Trust offers cash rebates to customers of Portland General Electric and Pacific Power who install solar electric systems. To qualify for incentives, the systems must be installed by a contractor who is part of Energy Trust's Trade Ally Network. Their solar electric incentives are subject to change based on demand, so check their website for the most up-to-date information. Energy Trust will match customers with contractors through their solar proposal request service. They also offer a solar calculator that shows how their incentive works with the state and federal tax credit to bring down the cost of a solar electric installation.
Feed-in Tariff Pilot
In 2009, the Oregon legislature passed a law establishing a new solar incentive option in Oregon (feed-in tariff). Oregon customers of Portland General Electric, Pacific Power and Idaho Power can apply to be part of the program as capacity is available. Customers who opt to use this incentive are not eligible for Energy Trust incentives or a state tax credit, though they can still claim the federal tax credit.
A feed-in tariff is an incentive program in which the electric utility pays the owner of a solar electric system a fixed premium rate for every renewable kilowatt-hour generated over a period of time. Those payments allow the owner to recoup their investment over time. This model has been used successfully in Germany.
For more information, visit the utility's websites:


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Economic History of the Hutterian Brethren
Although material is abundant, a comprehensive study of this topic had never been made by the 1950s; but it would be of value to consult those studies which are named at the end of this article.
The details of the economic activities of the Hutterian Brethren changed greatly according to the degree of freedom experienced, but the underlying principles and general patterns were fairly uniformly held ever since the beginnings under Jakob Hutter in 1533. The climax of Hutterite life and their most complete carrying out of their communal principles fall in the "Good" and "Golden" periods, 1554-1592, mainly during the reign of the more lenient emperor Maximilian II (1564-1576, see Hapsburg). We are fortunate to possess a fairly graphic picture of the communal life at that time, called Beschreibung der Gemein Wohlstand (Wolkan, 331-338; Zieglschmid, 430-440), inserted into their Chronicle at the year 1569. Here the details of their social organization are described. We learn how a Christian community of goods was observed, how obedience and honor were given to the authorities of the world, how missions were established (Aussendung), also how Diener des Wortes and Diener der Notdurft were properly elected, etc. In short, the chronicler assures us, "We supported ourselves with all manner of occupations" (man nähret sich mit allerlei Handwerlk), and in addition served also the manorial lords in many ways. No member of the community was allowed to be idle. "It was like a big clockwork where one wheel drives the other, promotes, helps, and makes the whole clock function." Still more graphic is another simile offered by the Chronicles: such a Bruderhof is somewhat like a big beehive where all the busy bees work together to a common end, the one doing this and the other that, not for their own needs but for the good of all. This simile very characteristically hints at the essentially anti-individualistic attitude of the brotherhood. It was understood by all that hard physical labor for the common good (production) was expected of all, while at the same time consumption was restricted according to the principle of frugality as was befitting for a life of discipline and Christian obedience. Large-scale production and restrained consumption necessarily led to economic success or wealth of some sort, which almost inescapably led to jealousy and slander on the part of the surrounding population (see Christoph Andreas Fischer). The repute of the wealth of the Brethren (in their best time they numbered about 15,000 baptized members) spread as far as to the Emperor's court in Vienna; everyone knew or claimed to know that they bury "great treasures" to hide them from the authorities. Most likely that was true to a certain extent, but should be understood as an act of prudence (in absence of a banking system) in anticipation of times of hardship and persecution. During the period of the Turkish Wars (1605-1606) and again during the early years of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1622) almost all their savings were confiscated by the government. Yet one generation later Grimmelshausen reports again of their considerable wealth in equipment, livestock, and all the rest in their new Bruderhofs in Slovakia. (Zieglschmid concluded that this was in Mannheim rather than in Slovakia.) We know from Max Weber's sociological analysis that this situation is typical of all "ascetic Protestantism" or "inner-worldly asceticism," such as can also be observed in Puritanism or later Pietism. Grimmelshausen reports that he saw the craftsmen-brethren at work in their shops "as if they had hired themselves out for pay." Since no one could go about without contributing his share to the common weal, doing it with greatest conscience and discipline, the net result was a rational establishment of great efficiency, something otherwise completely unknown in Europe in the 16th and early 17th centuries, where the factory system had not yet been established. It might be helpful to stress here that there was absolutely no motivation for such organization from the profit angle, since the basic economic philosophy of the Brethren was that of stewardship of all earthly possessions (Correll, Chapter 2), requiring a dedicated care for and optimal organization of all work along certain previously laid out rational plans. In this regard Hutterite communism is truly unique in the entire history of Christian sectarianism.
As to the social status of the Hutterian Brethren one cannot call them either peasants or craftsmen, and it would be misleading to derive their basic Christian convictions from their social background. Theirs was neither a peasant's Christianity nor a craftsman's Christianity (see Dedic, Peachy, also Friedmann, Mennonite Quarterly Review 1946, 153 f.). Anyone who joined the brotherhood had to learn a craft or had to accept his particular assignment, often very different from his former background. That belongs to the pattern of "ascetic Protestantism" with its prevailing rational order and subsequent tendency toward saving (asketischer Sparzwang). All money earned was considered as part of the working capital (Betriebskapital), and not as wealth, and its management was entrusted to the bishop (Vorsteher), to the manager (Diener der Notdurft), and sometimes to the buyers (Einkäufer). In many regards the entire economic organization and pattern was not unlike that of the medieval monastery, with the one difference that for the Hutterites married life was not only favored but almost required.
The education of the growing generation of the Bruderhof tended to make these young people fit into this accepted pattern: industriousness, care, uttermost honesty, frugality, solidity of work, and reliability were the main virtues stressed in their economic pursuits, likewise selflessness and concern wherever required. Luxury was out of the question, it was simply not valued, hence no longer desired. All crafts were strictly regulated, and these regulations, not unlike medieval guild-regulations, were ever and again read before the assembled groups (see Folk Arts, also Gemeindeordnungen).
The economic activities of the Brethren may best be divided into two distinct areas: (1) those within the Bruderhofs, including such activities as the pottery kilns and the bathhouses, and (2) those performed outside, on the estates of manorial lords or even in some cities (where occasionally Brethren-surgeons were found to be active).
(1) On the Bruderhof we may again distinguish between the farm activities proper, the care for food, shelter, and clothing (in this regard the Hutterites of today continue these practices as of old: see Bertha Clark's study), and the different crafts which brought in some needed cash for farm enlargement and the paying of taxes. As far as the farms were concerned, we meet here again the rationality of a large-scale enterprise. Nothing was wasted; everything was carefully used. For instance, hides came from the slaughterhouse to the tannery, and from there to the harness makers, cobblers, pouch makers, etc. Wool was sent to the women who spun it and then sent it on to the weavers or cloth makers and thence to the tailors. Since cooking was done for the entire Bruderhof (150 to 200 adults plus all the children) utmost economy was possible and practiced. Diener der Notdurft, without ever having learned modern techniques of shop organization, soon developed an admirable tradition of efficiency, on the farm level supported also by the Weinzierl, the foreman or work clerk who supervised all agricultural labor.
As to the crafts, it is truly amazing how these Brethren developed skills otherwise nearly unknown in these early centuries of modern times. Besides, their pottery ware (now called Habaner faiences: see Ceramics) reveals a taste for the shapely and aesthetically appealing which made them stand out in this craft and true competitors of the Italian (later also Dutch) fayence or majolica ware. In the main this particular craft was developed primarily for cash sale and not so much for Bruderhof needs. The research of F. Hruby shows how much the nobles appreciated these products. Another cash product of high quality was the knives and cutlery wares of finest steel, again somewhat unique in the 16th century. Both crafts continued to be practiced among the Habaner (apostate descendants of the Hutterites) in Slovakia until after World War I, although among the Brethren in Transylvania, Russia, and later America this skill died out completely. Hruby tells of additional skills of the Hutterites otherwise little practiced in their days: thus we hear of an artistic clock sold for 170 talers to an Austrian archduke, and another one sold to Cardinal Dietrichstein. Famous were also the Hutterite carriages, which were much in demand among the Moravian nobility. Likewise much appreciated were their new-fashioned iron bedframes. In short, the nobles knew only too well why it was advantageous to protect these industrious Brethren and why they ignored as far as possible the repeated persecution orders from the Viennese government or from the counter-reformatory clergy.
A unique activity of the brethren was also their bathhouses and their barber-surgeons and physicians (see Sommer and Friedmann). They worked for a high standard of hygiene and health among the Brethren, and likewise attracted many lords and their families from the surrounding areas. Christoph Andreas Fischer was most enraged about this fact. "Every Saturday their bathhouses are filled with Christians [Catholics]," he writes, "and not only the ordinary man but also the lords run to them if they need any drug, as if the Anabaptists were the only ones who understand this art." All these facts explain why the Brethren thrived even after 1592 (the end of the "Golden Age" period) when the Counter Reformation set in with full force and wars raged over the country (Turk invasion).
(2) Not less important were the economic activities of the Hutterites outside their Bruderhofs. There were two motives for it: the Brethren needed additional cash (all earnings of individual workers were pooled in a common purse), and even more the Brethren needed the favor of their noble manorial lords, whom they were willing to serve in many capacities, thus demonstrating their indispensability. This latter point was one of the strongest arguments for toleration in Moravia. Manifold were the services of the "hired-out" brethren: they were managers of the farms (Meier), vineyards (Winzer), wineries (Kellner), mills (Müller), sawmills, etc. There was hardly any noble estate in Southern Moravia and adjacent Slovakia which did not have one or several brethren in its service. Due to their excellent preparation and moral qualities, these men quickly gained the utmost confidence of the lords and the respect of those who worked under them. This is incidentally also true after 1622, the fateful year of "complete" expulsion from Moravia. There was practically no one who could take their place, and in spite of increasingly sharp mandates we find Brethren working on manorial estates in Moravia as late as 1630, and occasionally even 1640.
Not less significant was the service of the Brethren in the field of surgery and medical care; time and again we hear of Brethren doctors employed by the one or other lord (Cardinal Dietrichstein, the head of the Counter Reformation in Moravia, always called a Hutterite for such service), or in some resort places such as the mineral springs of Trenchin in Slovakia. We do not know exactly the inside story of these services to the "world" and their economic implications, but the motives of service and gaining favorable public opinion seem to have prevailed also in this field.
Very interesting are Hruby's studies concerning the financial situation of the Brethren, their cash reserves, and the way they were taxed and finally deprived of all their savings (capital). Around 1570 (Golden Age) the Brethren had to pay a 2 per cent tax of all house-assessed valuation for the needs of Moravia (about 10 guilders or florins per house). Besides this they also had to pay a poll tax (Kopfsteuer) and a tax on home-brewed beer. The house tax steadily increased; in 1600 it was already 100 fl. per house and in 1608-1610 even as high as 160 fl. The government was always in need of money for military purposes; since the Brethren refused to pay war taxes, the amounts were simply requisitioned in the form of cattle, horses, or casks of wine. (Wolkan, Geschicht-Buch, 309 [to 1579] and 428 [to 1589.]) In 1602-1605, during the Turkish invasion which did also so much harm to the Bruderhofs, the need of the Hapsburgs for more money grew immensely. In 1602 the government requisitioned 7,000 guilders, and in 1604 the emperor asked for a "loan" of 20,000 guilders, which, however, was never attained. The request for money became more and more urgent as the great catastrophe of the Thirty Years' War approached. Cardinal Dietrichstein and imperial messengers exerted unbelievable pressure upon the Brethren to extort all the money possible. In 1621, finally, the authorities prevailed upon the Vorsteher Rudolf Hirzel to divulge the hiding place of their money. A total of 30,000 fl. thus fell into the hands of the Cardinal and Emperor Ferdinand II (Hruby, 91; Geschicht-Buch, ed. Wolkan, 576-88, ed. Zieglschmid, 766-80). The story of this confiscation is one of the most exciting in the long history of the Brethren. The Chronicle admits, however, that there was still some money left (which Hirzel did not know), buried somewhere in the fields. Hruby estimates that prior to 1619 the Brethren might have possessed around 60,000 fl., but he calculates that this sum was by no means exorbitant as it represents the working capital of a community of about 15,000 Brethren, or about 5 fl. per member. Eventually, in 1622, the Brethren had to leave Moravia altogether, leaving behind practically everything, 24 Bruderhofs with their entire inventory of grain, wine, 200 head of cattle, 150 horses, 655 pigs and hogs, all furniture and kitchen utensils, woolen material, linen, tools, and all shop equipment. Ignoring the value of the houses, gardens, fields, and meadows, the Brethren estimated the value thus lost at at least 364,000 talers (Geschicht-Buch, ed. Wolkan, 570-71).
In spite of this very tangible loss and the ever-increasing fury of war (with plundering, etc.), the Brethren were able to start to rebuild their communal life in nearby Slovakia, where about one generation later Grimmelshausen found them prosperous again and well organized (under the last great Vorsteher Ehrenpreis). The 18th century, then, saw a decline of both the religious and the communal life of the Brethren and the enforced conversion of most Brethren to Catholicism (see Habaner). (The total decline of the Habaner came after World War I in the new state of Czechoslovakia.)
In Transylvania the Bruderhofs were never as flourishing as those in the Moravian and Slovakian area. Then, around 1760, came the great exodus from the Hapsburg empire into Walachia and Russia, and now the Brethren became exclusively farmers. Although they were still sober and industrious, their previous well-being was gone, and thus also their remarkable skills and crafts.
In 1874-1878 the Brethren settled in the United States, partly with money borrowed from the Rappites (New Harmony people). Miss Clark, who reported on the Hutterite colonies in 1924, gives a description as if visiting 16th century Bruderhofs in Moravia. The only difference is that now the Diener der Notdurft or Haushalter is called "boss." He handles all money, he has the keys to all storage rooms, and he organizes the work plan of the entire community. Under him we find the foremen of the farm, mill, carpentry, forge, bootery, etc. Money is only used in contacts with the "world." Needless to say that since there is no private possession, nothing can be bequeathed to one's children (save, perhaps, some handwritten old books). All savings are used to buy more land or machinery. Every Bruderhof is supposed to be self-supporting, although loans are known between the colonies. Crafts are no longer practiced except for the immediate needs of the colony. Today the Brethren accept farm machinery and thus their economy has become fairly thrifty again. Idleness is practically unknown, but so is also haste and rush. To avoid monotony, all work rotates among the Brethren within a certain time. In spite of their peaceful attitude it yet happens now and then that neighboring groups oppose their extension and their land buying (Saskatchewan); the old suspicion and jealousies, which prevailed so long in Moravia, have not yet completely died out.
See Bruderhof, Community of Goods, Diener der Notdurft
Clark, Bertha W. "The Hutterian Communities." Journal of Political Economy (1924).
Correll, Ernst. Das Schweizerische Täufer-Mennonitentum. Tübingen, 1924.
Dedic, Paul. "Social Background of the Austrian Anabaptists." Mennonite Quarterly Review 13 (1939): 5-20.
Friedmann, Robert. "Hutterite Physicians and Barber-Surgeons." Mennonite Quarterly Review 27 (1953): 129-236.
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. II, 105 ff.
Hruby, F. Die Wiedertäufer in Mähren. Leipzig, 1935. The most important source for Hutterite economic history.
The Hutterites and Saskatchewan, a study of inter-group relations. Regina, 1953.
Loserth, Johann. "Der Communismus der mährischen Wiedertäufer im 16. and 17. Jahrhundert: Beiträge zu ihrer Lehre, Geschichte and Verfassung." Archiv für österreichische Geschichte 81, 1 (1895).
Müller, Lydia. Der Kommunismus der Mährischen Wiedertäufer. Leipzig, 1928.
Peachey, Paul. "Social Background . . . of the Swiss Anabaptists." Mennonite Quarterly Review 18 (1945): 102-127.
Sommer, J. L. "Hutterite Medicine and Physicians." Mennonite Quarterly Review 27 (1953): 111-127.
Weber, Max. Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism. (German 1905, English 1930)
Wolkan, Rudolf. Geschicht-Buch der Hutterischen Brüder. Macleod, AB, and Vienna, 1923.
Zieglschmid, A. J. F. Die älteste Chronik der Hutterischen Brüder: Ein Sprachdenkmal aus frühneuhochdeutscher Zeit. Ithaca: Cayuga Press, 1943.
|Robert Friedmann
|Date Published
Cite This Article
MLA style
Friedmann, Robert. "Economic History of the Hutterian Brethren." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Web. 24 Apr 2019. http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Economic_History_of_the_Hutterian_Brethren&oldid=118936.
APA style
Friedmann, Robert. (1956). Economic History of the Hutterian Brethren. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 24 April 2019, from http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Economic_History_of_the_Hutterian_Brethren&oldid=118936.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, pp. 143-145. All rights reserved.
©1996-2019 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.

subset: commoncrawl


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(AP) -- The NBA has received an official offer from 24 Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov and billionaire Ron Burkle to buy the Sacramento Kings and keep the team from moving to Seattle.
NBA spokesman Tim Frank confirmed the league received the bid Friday.
Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson had announced the Mastrov-Burkle bid during his State of the City address Thursday night. Johnson tweeted Friday: "The proposal is IN!! A proud day for Sacramento!!"
[RELATED: Mayor Kevin Johnson announces bid to keep Kings in Sacramento]
Mastrov is hoping to become the majority owner of the team. Burkle will lead the effort to build a new downtown arena that he hopes will lure back a WNBA franchise.
A Seattle group has a signed agreement to buy the Kings from the Maloof family. The NBA Board of Governors is expected to vote by mid-April on the bid.
If the league blocks the Seattle deal, the Maloofs would still have to agree to sell the team to any prospective buyers.


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Nestle Cranberry Raisinets Debut
Nestle USA, Glendale, Calif., rolls out Nestle Cranberry Raisinets, chocolate covered cranberries that are a delicious addition to the venerable, 80-year-old Raisinets line of chocolate-covered whole dried fruit.
Tangy, whole, dried cranberries covered with smooth Nestle milk chocolate, Cranberry Raisinets are a convenient and portable snack that offers the benefits of the bright red superfruit. Cranberries, a popular superfruits, combine exceptional nutrient richness with the power of antioxidants -- flavanoids and vitamin C -- shown to help the body fight free radicals.
The cranberries in Cranberry Raisinets are sourced exclusively from the U.S. through Ocean Spray. In addition to the benefits of natural fruit antioxidants, they have 30 percent less fat than the leading chocolate brands and provide a half serving of fruit in every quarter cup.
The 5.50-oz. resealable stand-up bag is suitable for sharing while watching movies at home or mixing with hot popcorn for that classic sweet and salty taste. They're also available in 100-calorie packs, perfect for on-the-go snacking or kids' lunch bags.
Suggested retail price is $3.29 for 5.5-oz. size and 89 cents for a single-serve 100-calorie pack.


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Types of Energy
There are two types of energy:
Kinetic Energy is energy in motion. Moving water and wind are examples of kinetic energy. Electricity is kinetic energy because, even though you can't see it happen, electricity involves electrons moving in a conductor.
Potential Energy is stored (or latent). Energy can be stored in many ways. A gallon of gasoline or a barrel of oil contains stored energy that can be released when we burn it. A lake in the mountains contains "stored" energy because, if it were released, it would do a lot of "work" on objects caught in its path. When we talk about oil, coal, wood, or gas, we are talking about "stored" energy.
Energy can be changed from one type to another. An example is a car being driven up a hill, during which time it is demonstrating kinetic energy or energy in motion. When it sits on the top of the hill it has potential, or stored energy. If it is then allowed to roll back down the hill the potential energy changes again into kinetic energy. A law of physics says that energy can be neither created nor destroyed, but it can change back and forth between forms.
Mechanical Energy is the energy of motion that does the work, like the wind turning a windmill.
Heat Energy is caused by the motion of matter. As the particles of matter absorb energy from their surroundings, a thermometer will measure the energy taken in as a rise in temperature. You warm as your body and clothing absorb heat energy given off by burning wood in your fireplace.
Chemical Energy is the chemical
Electrical Energy is when motion, light or heat
Gravitational Energy is the energy an object has due to a change in its position. Water in a lake behind a dam has potential energy because it is higher than the stream on the other side of the dam. When gravity pushes the water through the gates at the bottom of the dam, energy is released. Once the water gets down the hill, it has lost much of its gravitational energy.
Copyright © 2009 Apogee | Acknowledgements
Kids Korner is made possible by the creative, talented and dedicated team consisting of the following:
Valerie Williams
Valerie Williams, Apogee's Art Director and Lead Artist is the creator and artistic talent behind Kids Korner. In the late 90s, after producing hundreds of illustrations and animations for Apogee online courses and Internet content over the years, it occurred to Valerie that these expensive art elements could be re-purposed for communicating complicated energy concepts to children. Encouraged by the enthusiastic reaction she received from our utility customers, Valerie undertook the design and began the curriculum development of what has become one of the most elaborate and comprehensive energy education sites around. As the site shows, her artistic flair brings technical topics to life, and her proficiency in Photoshop, Quark, In-Design, Illustrator, Flash and Dreamweaver enable her to create impressive designs in both electronic and print formats.
Margaret M. Aderholdt, a middle school teacher at Wellborn Elementary in Anniston, Alabama, leads Apogee's teacher advisory group. In this capacity, she is the spokesperson for the group, providing input to the curriculum developed for Kids Korner and kid-testing any support materials designed for use with the site prior to them going into production and distributed to customers or schools. With more than 16 years teaching experience, Margaret has been awarded numerous grants and honors for herself and the various schools at which she has instructed. Most recently, she was named the 2004 Teacher of the Year for her outstanding work increasing her student's test scores, expanding their involvement in academic pursuits, and her tireless efforts to stimulate and challenge her students to higher achievement. Margaret spends her summers attending professional development conferences, workshops, and classes to stay abreast of the latest research in science education. Margaret earned her B.A. in Business Administration at Transylvania University and holds a masters degree in International Commerce from the University of Kentucky. After raising two college age daughters, Margaret returned to the classroom herself to earn a masters degree in Elementary Education.
Michael Overstreet is Apogee's Kids Korner Product Manager and the mastermind of the site's programming and navigational design. In his role as product manager, Michael assists utilities with the implementation of their customized Kids Korner application. In addition, he leads Apogee's field testing of all Kids Korner website activities and supplemental material, conducting classroom trials in local schools.
Susan Gilbert brings to Kids Korner and its growing number of support materials her education and experience as an instructional designer and her enthusiasm for energy education. As president and co-founder of Apogee, Susan is the primary architect behind Apogee's online energy courses and web content divisions, effectively translating her nearly 25 years of energy efficiency and training experience into highly interactive, online training courseware and Web site tools. Drawing upon her masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction, Susan directs the instructional design process for all Apogee eLearning initiatives, including her personal favorite, Kids Korner.
Dick Niess is Kids Korner's technical reviewer responsible for assuring accuracy and clarity of the concepts covered on the site. A distinguished Tau Beta Pi graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, Mr. Niess earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering. Mr. Niess is a Fellow of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), is immediate past Chairman of the Applied Heat Pump and Heat Recovery Technical Committee, and serves on the Geothermal Energy Utilization and Centrifugal Machines Technical Committees. He is a repeat contributor to the ASHRAE Systems Handbook, and has authored numerous technical publications for the energy industry.


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After all these years, you'd think the fitness industry would have evolved beyond attempting to talk a potential member into submission as part of some archaic sales ritual dating back to when dinosaurs ruled the world. Pressure sales should be as extinct as the pterodactyl.
As an industry, we haven't grown past sales techniques that are more than 40 years old. The sad part of this is that the consumer has evolved. Real adults with real money don't want to make a buying decision for a $700 membership 20 minutes after meeting a 22-year-old sales rep.
Clubs that put a heavy emphasis on first-visit closings artificially limit the monthly fee they can charge. The consumer looks at the price, the pressure exerted to close right away, and then evaluates the risk. The higher the pressure, the higher the risk, the lower the price. This is why clubs that base their sales system on a first-visit closing seldom get a monthly price greater than $34. This seems to be the maximum risk factor a potential member will accept if forced to sign during the first visit.
To evolve, we need to grasp basic sales psychology. Buying decisions are based on how the individual processes information - how the person learns.
Consumers make decisions based on one of three learning or decision-making styles:
1) One third of people make their decisions on what they hear (auditory learners).
2) One third make their decisions on what they read or see (visual learners).
3) One third base their decisions on how they feel after experiencing something (doers).
We make the fatal mistake of assuming all potential buyers are auditory learners, and we sell all memberships in the same fashion - by talking the person into submission. "If we only find the right words, we can sell them anything" is the endless speech by sales managers everywhere. This philosophy effectively eliminates two thirds of all your potential members.
To maximize sales, we must learn to address all three learning styles by offering a broader sales system based on this statistic: 70 percent of potential members need two or more visits to fitness club before they will commit to a memberships at a price above the $34 mark.
To reach all prospects, clubs must: - Offer some type of trial membership for the doers who learn by experience. And one visit is not enough. These people will not buy until it feels right, which may take several visits or a few weeks.
- Send the consumer home with something more than a cheap, three-fold brochure with pictures of the club. One third of prospects will make their decisions at home, with their feet up, reading something. Therefore, consider a starter kit (see sidebar, Building a Starter Kit) for all potential members; the kit might have 50 or 60 pages of information in it about working out, the club, schedules, etc.
- Offer positive first-visit incentives. The consumer we want is too bright for first-visit pressure closing or fake discounts. If a potential member decides to join during the first visit, give him added value in the form of something such as a combination of gym bag, T-shirt and water bottle. Remember, it's not about the money. It's about feeling good about buying. First-visit, pressure closings don't make you feel good as a buyer leading to large first payment defaults.
A prospect shouldn't walk out of your club with only a price sheet or cheap brochure. The more sophisticated buyer wants something to take home and evaluate before committing a year of his life and a lot of money to a club he has just encountered for the first time. He needs a starter kit, a simple yet impressive way to answer all of his questions.
A starter kit is a powerful tool since no other club usually will give away something this elaborate. Think of it this way: A club can typically spend $3,000 to $4,000 a month prospecting for clients whom it hopes to get through the door. Doesn't it make sense to spend another $2 on a person who actually comes in the club if it would improve the closing rate?
Here's how to build a starter kit: - Use a half-inch binder (available from any office supplier or discount warehouse for about $1.65 each).
- The first item in the kit should be a letter from the owner or manager emphasizing the club's position statement and how the club differs from its competition. The letter should also mention that you offer a trial membership, allowing consumers to try before they buy.
- The next section should list all of the club's services, including the prices and contact person.
- The next section should be something motivational, telling members how they can get the most out of their first 30 days in the club. We forget that the consumer is buying a solution for a specific problem, not fitness.
- Be sure to include at least five full-page testimonials from current members.
- Include a section with all the basics: schedules, hours of operation and other must-know information.
- There should be one section answering common member questions. Members hate to look stupid, so let them know how they can get a locker, how they find a trainer, what is acceptable dress in your club, and other things that could embarrass them if done wrong.


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Bad Brains - Spirit Electricity - 10" inch vinyl record
click image to enlarge
Code: SST228-10M
Price: $12.00
Artist: Bad Brains
Label: SST Records
Quantity in Cart: None
- Return to Heaven
- Let Me Help
- Day Tripper/ Shes a Rainbow
- Banned in DC
- Attitude
- Youth are Getting Restless
- Drums - Earl
- Throat - H.R.
- Guitar - Dr. Know
- Bass - Darryl
- Recorded Live in Providence, Rhode Island and Los Angeles, CA.
- Mixed by E and Richard Ford at For The Record Studios except #3 mixed by Phil Burnette at El Dorado Studios, Mastered by John Golden at K-Disc.


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Rick Harrison, the 47-year-old co-owner of Las Vegas' Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, celebrated his third marriage over the weekend to Deanna Burditt, 37, who has also been married twice before.
According to Radar Online, more than 100 people attended the nuptials, which took place at the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Niguel, Calif.
"I'm living the dream," told People of his February 2012 engagement.
"I didn't really ask her, I told her 'Girl, I'm marrying you,' and then I gave her the ring," he said of his Valentine's Day proposal.
TMZ has photos of several other History Channel stars -- Big Hoss, Danny Koker and Chumlee -- who were on hand to celebrate his big day.
Koker, of the network's "Counting Cars," is an ordained minister who officiated the ceremony.
Rock band Steel Panther performed music at the reception.


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Credits: 3
Fall 2018: Th, 4:00-6:50, Kroon G01
Understanding the tools used in financial analysis is an important component of successful forestland investment and forest management decision-making. Moreover, as new ecosystem services markets develop, these skills become even more critical in determining those management strategies that are both ecologically sound and financially viable. This course provides students with a basic suite of financial tools used in the acquisition and management of forestland/timber as well as in the management of ecosystem services. It includes an overview of traditional financial analysis metrics used in land acquisition, timber management, and risk management. It also applies these metrics in ecosystem services markets, allowing students to assess the financial impacts of various management choices. Concepts are reinforced through spreadsheet-based exercises and case studies.Prerequisites for F&ES 680:
F&ES 680 is a prerequisite for:
F&ES 953: Business and the Environment Consulting Clinic


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For the better part of two decades, Mac users have believed themselves largely immune to the trojans, worms, and malware that plague the Windows world. However, Macs have never been fundamentally more secure than any other computer, and now the community's collective complacency may finally be put to the test.
Computer security firm Dr. Web reports that a recent variant on the Flashback malware has successfully exploited a previously unpatched Java vulnerability to infect as many as 600,000 Mac computers around the world. Although other security firms aren't publishing estimates of infection rates, companies like Sophos, Intego, and F-Secure back up the alarm cry: the Flashback variant is real, and in some cases it can install itself without any user intervention when a user visits a specially crafted Web page. It's the sort of doomsday scenario Mac users have never really seen before: malware that can infect a Mac just by loading a Web page.
However, it's not (currently) the end of the world. Not all Macs are vulnerable, a patch is available, and there are simple things users can do to protect themselves and determine if they're already infected. But if you're a Mac user, the current Flashback scare merits a few minutes of your attention, at the very least.
Am I Infected?
Users of Intel-based Macs are potentially vulnerable to the Flashback malware. The malware is sophisticated, however, so determining whether a Mac is infected is a tad complicated.
First, launch the Terminal application (in /Applications/Utilities, or just do a Spotlight search for "Terminal" and launch it from there). You'll see a window with a Unix command line prompt. (It's OK, it won't bite.) Copy and paste the following command at the prompt, then press Return.
defaults read /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info LSEnvironment
If you see a two-line response and the second line is "The domain/default pair of (/Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info, LSEnvironment) does not exist," then copy and paste the following command at the prompt and press Return:
defaults read ~/.MacOSX/environment DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES
Again, you want to see a two-line response. If the second line ends with "does not exist," your Mac is not infected. Type "exit" at the prompt and quit the Terminal application.
If you see responses from either of these commands that indicate data was found, your Mac may be infected, and you'll want to take steps to remove malware from your system. For the technically proficient (it involves more Terminal commands), F-Secure has posted a set of manual removal instructions. Less technically-inclined may wish to download a free removal tool from Sophos or ClamXav or get someone else to perform the removal. Some of the steps below on how to protect your Mac may also help.
How does this version of Flashback work?
Flashback isn't new: it's a whole family of malware variants that first appeared back in September 2011. However, the initial versions of the malware appeared as bogus Adobe Flash Player installers. When users loaded a Web page bearing the malware, they'd see something that looked like a Flash error. Clicking it would bring up a prompt to install something that looked like Adobe Flash. (That's how they name "FlashBack" got attached.) Infection depended on tricking people into downloading, accepting an self-signed certificate purporting to be from Apple, and installing the malware. Trojans that rely on social engineering aren't anywhere near as common on the Mac as on Windows, but FlashBack wasn't exactly new under the sun. Unfortunately, Flashback was Mac-savvy: once installed, early versions tried to kill off Apple's barebones XProtect anti-malware protection system present in Snow Leopard and Lion.
Then, around late February of this year, FlashBack shifted to a new trick, leveraging two vulnerabilities in Java to attempt to install itself without any user intervention at all. Although the threat no longer poses as Adobe Flash, the malware under the hood appears to be the same — and that's why it's kept the FlashBack name. The malware installation will prompt for an administrator password, but it doesn't actually need administrator authorization to infect a Mac — the malware uses a two-pronged approach. The one with the admin password is a bit cleaner; the one without is brute force.
Once on a user's Mac, if a user gives their admin password, the software checks to see if particular apps (like Apple's XCode development environment and common antivirus and security tools) are installed; if so, it deletes itself, presumably to avoid detection. Otherwise, the infection connects out to command-and-control servers to download the malware payload: this is the actual FlashBack engine, and the malware operators can change or update it at any time. Current versions of the malware seem focused on collecting passwords for services like Google, PayPal, and banking sites, presumably to get credentials that can be used by cybercriminals to take over email and online accounts or drain bank accounts.
If a user does not give their administrator password, the infection loader tries to insert itself into essentially any app a user might run (with exceptions for Microsoft Word, Office 2008/2011, and Skype, which are apparently incompatible). Once the infection is installed and a user runs an app, it will attempt to connect to the command-and-control servers and download the payload. This infection method is effective, but very crude and likely not compatible with all apps: users might easily notice that some programs start crashing or behaving unpredictably.
Didn't Apple ditch Java?
Apple shipped Java for Intel-based Macs as part of Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger), 10.5 (Leopard), and 10.6 (Snow Leopard); however, Apple deprecated Java as of Mac OS X 10.6.3, and stopped including Java at all with Mac OS 10.7 (Lion). Lion users will only have Java if they upgraded from a previous system to Mac OS X 10.7, or if they explicitly downloaded and installed Java themselves. If Lion users try to run a Java app, Mac OS X will ask if users want to download and install Java from Apple.
Apple's Java situation is a little peculiar. Apple originally wanted Mac OS X to be a top-tier Java development and runtime platform. The company intrepidly developed its own Java runtime for Mac OS X and had it certified by Sun, Java's creator. But that pattern meant Apple's Java always lagged substantially behind official Java releases, and that lag increased substantially when Oracle acquired Sun in 2009. A year later, Apple basically said it wasn't going to keep updating Java, and removed it from Mac OS X's default installation. This put Java into limbo on the Mac.
Oracle patched the key Java vulnerability exploited by Flashback on February 14. Apple, on the other hand, only released an updated version of Java with that patch (and eleven other Java security fixes) on April 3 — a lag of six weeks.
The vulnerability isn't Mac-exclusive: the same Java hole can be used to attack Linux and Windows systems. Mozilla Firefox took the unusual step of blocking older versions of Java in Windows versions of its Web browser to protect users.
So how can I protect my Mac?
Here are the simplest ways to protect your Mac from the current Flashback malware threat:
- If you have Java, update it
Apple has released an updated version of Java that patches the vulnerability exploited by Flashback. If you're running Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or 10.7 (Lion) and you have Java installed, the update should appear automatically when you run Software Update (Apple menu > Software Update), or you can get it yourself from Apple's support downloads site (for Snow Leopard or Lion)
If you have an Intel-based Mac and you're running Mac OX 10.5 or earlier, you can see if you have Java installed using the Terminal. Launch Terminal (in /Applications/Utilities/) and paste in the following command:
java -version
If you see the message "No Java runtime support, requesting install," you do not have Java installed. If you see a version number less than 1.6.0_31 (and you will, if you have any Java at all), your system is potentially vulnerable. Apple won't be releasing a patched version of Java for Mac OS X 10.5 or earlier. Use the other steps below to protect yourself.
- Disable Java in Web browsers
- Java never really took off as a mainstream platform for Web content, so most users don't need to enable Java in their Web browsers. Disabling Java will block Flashback's "drive-by" attack, and is the most effective way for earlier users of Mac OS X to protect themselves.
- Safari—Go to Preferences > Security, and uncheck "Enable Java." (While you're in there, go to Preferences > General and make sure "Open 'Safe' files after downloading" is unchecked.)
- Firefox—Choose Tools > Add-ons, select the Plug-ins Tab, and click the "Disable" button next to Java Plug-in.
- Chrome — Type
chrome://pluginsin Chrome's address bar. A list of available plug-ins will appear. Find Java and click the "Disable" link beneath it.
This doesn't remove Java from your system, it just prevents Web browsers from launching or running Java apps. That's enough to protect you from the drive-by nature of the Flashback attack. You'll still be able to run desktop applications that require Java — a common example is things like Citrix's GoToMeeting — but you may find you need to selectively re-enable Java in a browser to log in to services or download updates. In that case, you can selectively re-enable Java to get an app running, then disable it again when you're done.
- Consider antivirus software
- If you're in a situation where you can't update Java or can't disable a vulnerable version of Java, you should consider antivirus software to protect your Mac. ClamXav makes a free antivirus package for Mac users; similarly, Sophos has a Mac antivirus package free for non-commercial use. Commercial antivirus packages are also available for Mac OS X from the likes of Intego and Symantec; F-Secure also has a beta Mac OS X security product.
Does your Mac need antivirus software?
The days of the Mac's immunity from malware appear to be at an end: last year saw the MacDefender scare (and Apple's brief tit-for-tat battle with its perpetrators), and now there's a genuine drive-by infection threat to the Mac — even though it doesn't rely on technology exclusive to Mac OS X. Although the malware situation on Mac OS X is still several orders of magnitude less severe that that for Windows, the writing is on the wall: as the Mac platform gains adherents, it's going to start attracting sophisticated malware authors.
What about GateKeeper, the new protection technology that's due to arrive with Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion? Mac user shouldn't rely on GateKeeper to protect them: the technology will enable users to decide they only want to run applications that come from Apple and/or the Mac App store, and developers who have identified themselves to Apple, or (like now) run any application from any source. GateKeeper will not protect Mac users from vulnerabilities in applications or system components — which means a problem with a Web browser plug-in or a low-level component like Java is out of GateKeeper's purview — and Mountain Lion users would be just as vulnerable to something like Flashback's drive-by attack as anyone else.
For the time being, it's probably too early to recommend all Mac OS X users install and run antivirus software: the best case for running AV software on a Mac is still to clean Windows-based viruses and malware out of files and documents Mac users might be passing along to hapless Windows users. But the day may come — soon — when the Mac malware universe warrants widespread use of high-quality antivirus software.
Lead image on Mac screen via Sebastian Kaulitzki/Shutterstock
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Cowboys owner and General Manager Jerry Jones is liking what he's seeing from Dez Bryant so far this offseason.
When asked if Bryant has done everything he needs to do to earn a new contract with the Cowboys, Jones didn't want to commit. But he did say Bryant is in better shape than he's ever been before.
"Well, I don't want to get into off the field, at all," Jones said, via the Dallas Morning News. "But Dez, from the standpoint of his direct team activities, his preparation, his conditioning, he's in better shape than he's been. He needed to be in better shape as compared to the last several years. He certainly advanced from the standpoint of his route running, his awareness. All of that is a good thing. He needs to continue to work on his conditioning, so all of that is very good. But I'm not at liberty or wouldn't talk about anything off the field."
Specifically regarding Bryant's contract, Jones said, "I don't know that we have any issues relative to timing there, at all, with any of our contracts."
Bryant is a bargain for the Cowboys this year, with a 2014 salary of $1.78 million. He's scheduled to become a free agent next year. Getting into the best shape of his career now is a good way to ensure that he'll get big money in 2015.


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A half-scale remote-control airplane collided with a real aircraft over a Colorado airport last weekend. While there were no injuries, the incident exposed the growing tension between pilots and model aircraft enthusiasts and their ever-larger RC aircraft.
The collision between the real and $8,000, 46% giant-scale remote-control aircraft occurred on August 14th at a small airport in Brighton, Colo., outside Denver. As you can see in the video below, the RC plane is hovering above the runway ten to 30 feet from the ground in a vertical position, with spectators nearby. Suddenly, a single-engine biplane goes for a low pass over the runway and splits the RC craft in half. The full-scale aircraft suffered "significant" damage, but was able to land. You can see the original video, which has now been taken down from YouTube, here:
Here's how the owner of the RC plane describes it on the Flying Giants enthusiast forum:
Ok Slick bro's ya ready for this $hit. Bad news. The Slick is dead !! She was hit by a full size Pitts Special, Iv got pics & video I will be uploading real soon, Cory, and me went to do a demo for a childrens charity event at a real airport, and I was hovering on the deck and down comes a full size Pitts , dude and his wife were flying in it, and he procedes to do a high speed on the deck pass without clearing with the flight boss and wham !! He made an emergency landing, leadingedge of his bottom wing has a 1'X1' foot dent, and is not flyable. Dumbass could have killed himself and his wife pulling crap like that, No clearance with control whatso ever, and all I got was im sorry. Now im out $8000.00, but I got an apology which is worth nothing,
Blame for the incident hasn't been officially set, but there's an ongoing FAA investigation and an initial report about the collision with the plane, which was a two-passenger, single-engine Acroduster biplane according to the FAA.
"The event last Saturday took place at a private airfield. At a minimum they could have filed a NOTAM (Notice to Airman) alerting pilots of radio controlled operations at the airport during specific times, and if they were to allow those operations on or near the runway, the runway could have been closed," said FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer. "In all cases with regard to radio controlled aircraft interfacing with manned vehicles, the manned vehicle retains the right of way."
Even if the pilot of the RC aircraft was at fault, there's actually no law regarding the operation of remote-control aircraft near airports, or anywhere, despite the growing popularity of giant-scale aircraft as large as eight feet in size.
The Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) does have a "Safety Code" stipulating modelers shouldn't fly above 400 feet within 3 miles of an airport and to notify airports when they're in close proximity, but Kenitzer says "It should be noted that the code is suggestive and not binding by federal law."
The FAA also issued an advisory circular, but it was from 1981 and the hobby has evolved significantly in the last 29 years. The AMA, FAA, and other groups put together a list of suggestions (PDF) in 2009 for how to regulate these aircraft, but it has met with resistance from some hobbyists, and the report itself includes objections from the AMA.
In addition to the debate over the creation of statutes related to hobby aircraft, this event exposed friction between model aircraft pilots and full-scale pilots. The forum where the model pilot posted in included numerous criticisms of the full-scale pilot. And, conversely, there are critiques of the RC pilot at pilot forums like Jetcareers. Mostly, posters on both sides put the blame on the people who organized the event and let full-scale aircraft, RC aircraft, and spectators mingle in close proximity.
While many have taken a reasoned approach to discussing the incident, a member at the Flying Giants who goes by Craven posted a thread this video mocking the event.
Poster Salmon, who claims he's a former member of the U.S. Air Force, questions not only the appropriateness of this jest, but also if the FAA might put into law the regulations currently under discussion.
The FAA only needs one excuse to put a huge hammer on private flying of rc aircraft. Let's not fuel that fire. My suggestion is to remove this or put down in a humor thread someplace. I'm sure the proper investigations are taking place as we speak. We should all count our blessings for what we have and the fact no one was killed in that mishap.
Remote control airplanes are fascinating, but this incident highlights the lack of regulation and the conflict that arises from the mixing of full-scale and scale aircraft.
Photo Credit: Izzystewart


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VictoriousPursuits necesitaba un nuevo diseño de página web y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 47 diseños de 15 diseñadores freelance.
Talk of the Turtle: Jewelry of Our Ancestors
We are a great growing company who makes quality and affordable artisinal jewelry with a theme.
We will be very active in providing quick, consistent feedback on this project. We are new to 99 designs, intend to use the services often, so we take a long term approach.
We are looking for a simple e commerce site scaleable up to 200 products. Right now we have app 50 products.
About the product:
Our jewelry is handmade, artisanal, yet fairly mainstream. The jewelry comes in 6 styles or "motifs" of petroglyphs (magic man, magic woman, the warrior, wander lust, and magic child, & magic turtle). Each of the motifs comes in a few options for bracelets, earrings pendants, special editions etc.
Products that will be introduced at a later date will not necessarily be jewelry. In fact, we may introduce pre-teen and children's items, for the baby and mom, with the current motifs.
Attached are some relevant, short word documents that reveal the brand and the jewelery a bit more. In designing please see attached "websites to look at and why" also.
Please review the brief and the attachments thoroughly. Final submission must be layered PSD format
The site intends to draw in new customers, yet still retain past clientele by encouraging them to purchase more of the collection, becoming "collectors." The site should have all the usual back end functionality in the design, such as blog, newsletter, etc.
The "Magic Turtle" will be the icon of communication. The Magic turtle will function as a wise / silly animal that sends messages to customers.
The site intends to generate traffic through people who are interested in mythology and wisdom(s) of other cultures either through travel or study So it should appeal to a sophisticated person while still being playful.
1 Retail-resort / adventure – travel, desert/ ocean.
2 clean look. Natural colors are ok, with some zappy color
4 A down to earth, intelligent look
5 Mainstream but not like a department store
6 Collection based merchandising mentality
The project is for an entire website.
The Turtle logo itself needs some refinement. See attached files.
The home page and the product page are the crucial pages, which should easily generate the rest of the pages, when it is coded to ecommerce. These are all the pages that will be needed from 99 designs.
1 Home Page, should function a bit like a splash page
2 Product Page (which includes motif story information)
Home Page Appearance:
A visually clear, clean and inviting home page appearance is very important. It needs to have the look of a fluid, cohesive and artistic theme. Think original artistry, and design, VS. template, block based format. Please do not use out-of the box formats or looks. The site should look artisanal and designer, while still being easy to navigate quickly, and logically functional from the first visual scan of the home page, to reviewing each section, and onto placing an order.
The design should have balance and coordination thematically that carries down to the small details including font styles, sizes, button appearance, and locations.
The visual and content oriented emphasis should be on the story and thematic aspects of the collection, as each motif has a story. This will help with branding over the long term.
The "Talk of the turtle mockup site" attachment was a quick mockup from a friend. I like that it is clean. I like the ocean/ desert quality. The logo is simple. The information is clear as well. This could be an inspiration for a better site, that includes details above.
Final files must be layered PSD format. Please be aware that the "round format" of the images is not to be replicated.


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Jonathan Luna - a Maryland Prosecutor who was found deceased in Lancaster County in December 2003.
Rebecca Park - a 4th year medical student at PCOM and Second Lieutenant in the Army Reserves. She was found murdered in Fairmont Park, Philadelphia on June 17, 2003.
Tonya Gardner - of Reedsville, Pennsylvania. Tonya disappeared in 1996, and in April 2004 was identified as a Jane Doe found in Lisbon, Maryland.
Sarah Boehm - of Rochester, Pennsylvania. Sarah disappeared in 1994, and in June 2003 was identified as a Jane Doe found in Ohio the same year.
Leslie Rivera-Hager - of New Sewickley Township disappeared on September 19, 2003. She was found deceased on January 2, 2004 in a wooded area approximately 1000 feet from her home.
Melissa Snodgrass - of Pittsburgh disappeared on September 7, 2003 after walking to a local convenience store with her mother's dog. She was found deceased, the victim of homicide, in the basement of a house only blocks from her home. The remains of the dog were found with her.
Barbara Rowan - 14, of Bensalem, PA, left her apartment at approximately 3:00pm on August 3, 1984 in the vicinity of the 4000 block of Old Lincoln Hwy, in Trevose, PA. Her body was found, close to her residence, on August 16, 1984.
Latanya Reese - 15, vanished from her foster care home in Philadelphia, PA on March 3, 1996. Her body was located by employees on April 3, 1996 in a refrigerated orange juice boxcar in Manatee County, FL. She remained unidentified until 2001 and buried in a Pauper's grave until her body was exhumed and she was identified through dental records.
Michael Delano Conti - last contacted his family at his Allison Park, PA home on April 21, 2004. His remains were found on September 23, 2004 in a wooded area in Hampton Township.
Parker Kelley - a trucker who disappeared from Donegal on Memorial Day, May 31, 2004 following a minor accident with his truck. His remains were located on November 30, 2004 in a wooded area of Donegal not far from a restaurant where he had gone for food. There were no signs of foul play and investigators believe he may have become disoriented after the accident.
Natalia Adreevna Miller - was born on February 22, 1975 in Leningrad, Russia. Her brutally murdered body was found on December 10, 1993 in South Middleton Township. For eleven years she was only known as Jane Doe # 24-275. She was identified on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 2004. The man she married on June 4, 1993 was convicted for her murder. We will never forget this young girl from so far away who touched the hearts of so many.
Cortney Fry - 19, disappeared from Columbia on July 20, 2004, about 2 weeks after giving birth to her daughter. Her remains were found in Manor Twp on January 22, 2005. Her daughter's father was tried and convicted for this senseless murder.
Keith Derrico - from Hamilton Twp, NJ was last seen on December 29, 2002. His remains were found in Philadelphia on April 10, 2004. He had been beaten to death. He was identified through dental records in January 2005.
Jerrell Willis - on May 27, 1994 the nude, battered body of a little boy was found in a vacant lot near the Benjamin Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia. The child had died from severe blows to the head. His body bore evidence of previous severe abuse, including broken ribs. On March 10, 2005 he was identified as 4 year old Jerrell Willis of Camden, NJ. He had never been reported missing. His mother was arrested in connection with his murder.
Cynthia Louise Vanderbeek - of Hunter, NY disappeared in March 1995 while on a trip from Maine to Maryland with her husband. Through the efforts of a Doe Network member, Cynthia was positively identified in 2004 as a Jane Doe who had been found on the Tuscarora Mountain, west of Chambersburg, PA. Her husband was convicted for her murder.
Barbara Frye - was last seen leaving her home in Hatfield on May 29, 2003. Her skeletal remains were discovered on July 29, 2005 off the side of a CSX freight line in Hatfield.
Patricia McDonald - of Forward Twp, was last heard from by cell-phone, at around 2:30am on November 27, 2005. She was on her way home from her workplace. On December 26, 2005, her pick-up truck was discovered over an embankment along Route 51 in Jefferson Hills. Patricia was found deceased in the vehicle.
Wilma Robertson - was reported missing from her Philadelphia home on December 28, 2005. It was discovered that, while on a morning walk, she had collapsed on the street and taken to an area hospital, where she died.
Billy Borschell - disappeared from Juaniata Park, Philadelphia in mid-August, 2005. He was located deceased on September 12, 2005 but not identified until early December 2005.
Anthony Armand Jackson - of Homewood, Pittsburgh was last seen in East Liberty on June 21, 2004. His skeletal remains were found on January 12, 2005 in a wooded area of Homewood, about a mile from where he was last seen.
Myron Lewis Simon - of Plum Borough, a professor at the Boyce Campus of Allegheny County Community College, was last seen on December 2, 2003. On the 3rd Anniversary of his disappearance, his vehicle was found in the Allegheny River, near the Tarentum Bridge. Mr Simon's remains were inside the car. Foul play is not suspected in his death.
Charles Edwin Stiles, Jr - 53, of Townville, Crawford County was reported missing in June 2008. He was well known in the area as a proponent of drug rights with a persistent quest to have marijuana legalized in Pennsylvania, starting with Crawford County. His skeletal remains were found on November 28, 2011 on State Game Lands 69 in Troy Twp, not far from his home. Cause of death is unknown but there was no indication of foul play.
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6 Professions That Deserve Reality Shows
Reality TV has seemingly invaded all corners of our vocational universe, offering shows based on a slew of jobs from funeral home director to meter maid to car dealer and just about everything in between.
But there are still a wide variety of occupations missing.
Here are some professions that really should get the reality show treatment.
Food delivery man
Driving around in a broken-down jalopy on its last legs while taking home small tips, this guy – and it usually is a guy – gets little respect. But think of the stories he can tell: he gets attacked by dogs, hears couples arguing before he rings the bell and runs the risk of an obese man answering the door in nothing but his tightie whities. That's riveting TV, folks.
Career Counselor
If there ever was a show designed for the times we live in, this would be it. So many programs offer a glamorous job of some sort as the prize, but no show takes viewers inside the world of actually trying to get people paid work in their chosen field. It seems there's one job for very three people nowadays, so it might actually be compelling to see someone trying to nail down work in order to feed their family.
The nomad of the job world, the temp is usually a college kid looking to make some money before he lands a real job. One day, he's answering phones at an architecture firm, the next he's picking up lunch for a construction crew. One thing remains constant, though: everyone who works with him thinks this guy is an idiot. The expectations are so low that when he actually makes a copy, his co-workers act like he split the atom. The potential for humor is definitely there.
Supermarket manager
Given the plethora of cooking shows, it's somewhat surprising no one has created a series about life inside a supermarket. Customers are upset about the line at the deli, someone just dropped a jar of mayonnaise in aisle seven and the guy who's supposed to collect carts has been on a smoke break for the last two hours. The manager certainly has a lot to juggle, which could make for some pretty riveting TV.
Movie theater manager
The potential for chaos in a movie theater is similar to that of a supermarket. Think about all that can go wrong: there's a massive customer revolt because the Fandango kiosk is broken, someone just made off with the poster for the new Channing Tatum movie and all your employees just told you they want off this Christmas Day. How can a show like this not work?
Reality show production crew
There are so many reality shows documenting all walks of life, but what about the people who put them together? What's it like being a cameraman on 'Survivor'? Did an editor on 'The Real Housewives' have to miss his son's birthday because one of the "stars" had a temper tantrum? Could a makeup artist on 'The Bachelor' have fallen for a script supervisor? The stories that are going on behind the camera may actually be more interesting than some of the drivel in front of it.


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Lady Gaga Goes Glam in Coffee Filter Dress, Talks Being a Fan on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' [VIDEOS]
Lady Gaga wore an ultra-glam white dress made of coffee filters, designed by Gareth Pugh, when appearing on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' before last night's (March 13) gig in Austin. She talked about being a fan and seeing music at SXSW, just like the rest of us.
"I really just wanted to be comfortable for the interview," she joked about her choice in clothes.
She wore a top hat and "hiking" platform sneakers, but was wheeled into the interview in a rickshaw. She also joked, "I am really fat right now because I ate barbecue all week," so she was hiding behind the puffy dress.
"I've been going out every single night, seeing as much music as I can, it's the thing I miss the most, seeing live music, going to bars and wondering around unnoticed," she said. "I don't remember a lot of what happens in the locations. I just know I was there and there was great music."
Her first concert was Jingle Ball in NYC and it was Goo Goo Dolls. They had faux snowflakes and it was the first time she experienced "production" on stage.
We like her dress and the idea of snowflakes as opposed to a vomit painter, who spewed on her during her SXSW performance. We get the rebellion of 'ARTPOP' and the notion of being a future thinker, but puke performance art? Eh, not so much...
Gaga revealed that she went to a death metal show and headbanged with stranger and loved it. She spoke about her monsters being the best fans but she was happy to just be a fan again. That's precisely what we LOVE about her!
Also, during the encore of puke projectile performance at Stubb's, Ma Monster did address the tragedy that befell the festival. The incident saw a car plow into 23 people and kill two during SXSW. Gaga's heartfelt speech is below (provided by DKC PR).
I really want to dedicate this song to the tragedy of last night, because we're all just wandering the Earth trying to find each other. We all just want to have a good time and suck every bit of love we can out of life, and it's so short sometimes and it's so unfair. And sometimes things happen, I know, it's like, we just go 'what's happening in the world, and why is it happening?' So I think we should take this one moment where we're having this good time and we just do that thing where we put our phones away and just look at each other right now in this moment. Because when you leave the Earth, nobody's gonna give a f--k what you tweeted. Nobody's gonna care what picture you posted. They're not gonna care about how famous I was. They're going to care about what you leave here on this Earth, your footprint. They're going to care about whose lives you saved, the people that you touched. They're gonna care about that one person you told that one little inspirational thing to, and they look back at you and knew they weren't alone. So be that for each other right now, and when you leave tonight, go home, grab your guitar, grab your piano, and grab your pen and paper, and don't give up. Don't let the machine and don't let technology take you into a place where you don't belong. Stay right here on the Earth, we need you. We need you to have crazy thoughts in your head. We need you to have f--ked up dreams. And we need you to fight for them every single day. Don't not do it because you don't think it'll ever happen. Don't think it can't happen because it can. I promise you. It's happening to me right now. So just wander the Earth and spread all the compassion and love you can with every song you write, every film you make, and every bit of art you leave. Just f--king do it and you'll be happy, I promise.
Watch Lady Gaga on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' Part 2
Watch Lady Gaga on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' Part 3


text:
Goldie Alexander.
Zeus Publications.2003. www.zeus-publications.com
"Unjust Desserts" is a crime story with a difference, set in the Australian town of Grevillia. Style and atmosphere are immediately and affectionately familiar to anyone who has ever lived in a small town. The characters are believable, from doughty heroine Olivia to sad Queenie and her repulsive husband Harry.
The storyline revolves around Olivia Beaumont's efforts to keep her café/deli, "Not Just Desserts", afloat. Even before one of her clients dies after eating one of Olivia's curries, there is trouble in the air. Harry Oldrich is determined to become Olivia's sleeping partner, and she's just as determined that he won't! A possible development has the townsfolk at loggerheads, and the arrival of an attractive young Australian Chinese teacher named Eddie Wong ruffles quite a few of the more hidebound feathers in the town. Add Detective Richard Brumby as the investigating officer, Olivia's dysfunctional family, a spot of middle aged sex and some cooking, and you have all the ingredients for a home grown puzzle to suit the most jaded palate.
Along the way, Goldie Alexander makes a few sly thrusts at attitudes and suppositions that are sure to have some readers nodding in rueful recognition of their own, or their neighbours', quirks.
The production values of this novel are excellent. The type is clear and easy to read, the editing and proofing well done, and the book is sturdy without any tendency to close while I was still reading!
Reviewed by Sally Odgers.


text:
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text: On Saturday 16 June 2012 09:10:26 Joe Landman wrote: > If we needed distributed carbon-bots for moderation, this is doable > (Chris might be able to comment on this). Quite doable, you can list a number of people as moderators (or admins) of Mailman lists. Admins can attend to moderation requests too (so don't have to be listed twice). -- Christopher Samuel - Senior Systems Administrator VLSCI - Victorian Life Sciences Computation Initiative Email: samuel at unimelb.edu.au Phone: +61 (0)3 903 55545 http://www.vlsci.unimelb.edu.au/


text:
The murder of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer is a further blow for progressive forces in Pakistan — not least because the late politician was an outspoken voice for women's rights.
Taseer's death is a major loss for his Pakistan People's Party, already struggling to maintain a grip on power. But Taseer — in many respects a philosophical heir to the assassinated Benazir Bhutto — was a particularly brave and vocal supporter of minorities and women. The New York Times called him "exceptional, even within the secular-minded Pakistan Peoples Party, for his vocal opposition to the religious parties and the extremism they spread." His murder at the hands of a bodyguard is believed to be a direct result of the governor's opposition to a blasphemy law that would punish insults to Islam with death, and specifically his recent defense of Aasia Bibi, the first woman to have been convicted under the law. His visit to Bibi in jail was greeted with protests; his opposition to the law was so controversial that many on the far right are hailing his killer as a martyr and a Facebook page dedicated to the bodyguard went up almost as soon as he'd been arrested.
Says Shehla Akram, president of Punjab's Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, "With Salman Taseer's death, a voice of reason and tolerance has been silenced forever....He was one of the most progressive leaders of Pakistan and one who was wholly committed to improving conditions for women in the country." She added that his death would set women's rights back. And presumably, may seal the fate of Bibi, given that he was her most powerful defender and loudest opposition to her execution. But as his colleague Sherry Rehman told the Times, "You can recoil in fear, or you can have a considered action and regroup sensibly at a time when it is approachable and applicable."
Murder In Islamabad: Pakistan's Deepening Religious Divide [Time]
Pakistani Governor Taseer Is Buried Amid Renewed Fear of Islamic Extremism [Bloomberg]
Killing Of Governor Deepens Crisis In Pakistan [NY Times]


text:
Welgum to my sketchbook.
New images are in the middle pages of the sketchbook. Just kidding, they're at the end.
Welgum to my sketchbook.
New images are in the middle pages of the sketchbook. Just kidding, they're at the end.
Last edited by Moai; April 3rd, 2013 at 01:44 PM. Reason: I gotta change the thread title, man!
All of these are at least several months old, with the exception of the spider-bunny.
An alien astronaut.
An alien being and a manticore.
A naked, bladed android man, and another manticore.
Some hastily colored alien primates.
A creature who started as a wolf man and ended up as a rat man. I used myself as a model, though I'm not nearly as muscular. Or hairy.
A made-up species of mammal-like reptile.
Some alien fauna.
Some more alien fauna.
My entry in the "cute bunny has eyes and mouthparts of a spider" sketch of the day.
The Land of Hu-Huffle is a strange little world I made up. It began with this whimsical, Seus-ish painting. It's my first acrylic painting ever, so I apologise for the quality.
The rhyme, which I improvised, goes like this:
In the land of Hu-Huffle
Where the Fluffles do shuffle
And their scuffles are muffled
In the land of Hu-Huffle
Here are some fluffles, the main species of Hu-Huffle. They grow on trees (the red antennae are their stems), and when they gain enough wisdom, they root themselves and grow into trees themselves, and thus begin the cycle anew. Their feet attach directly to their bodies; they have no legs. Hence the "shuffle". In this scene, the two fluffles are trying to catch a flying doigo in a net, but are only succeeding in catching each-other.
A drawing of a flying doigo. It has no wings, just four tiny little arms, so it relies on feathers that it finds to fly.
The sheep-like painterdoodle. It leaves a trail of brightly-colored paint wherever it goes. The expressions where a blast to draw.
Some Hu-Huffle flora and fauna. The legs, lower right, are the chief enemies of the legless fluffles. Luckily for the ungraceful fluffles, the predatory legs are the least intelligent lifeforms on Hu-Huffle.
I'm thinking of turning this all into a children's book one day. Maybe once I get a tablet I'll do it digitally. Of course, so as not to be just a cheap imitation of Dr. Seus, it won't be written in rhymes.
Here's CoW #53, the Nuclear Planet Devourer. I think, so far, it's gotten one single vote. But that's only expected when you're up against people like rawwad and JakkaS and the various other extremely talented CoWers.
And here's CoW #54, the Sand Hunter. I was too late to turn in the final, but I don't mind.
Brainstorms of a dune-rolling bug and a shark-like sand swimmer.
The final, drawn in a gel pen, then painted over with acrylic, all on regular sketchbook paper, which was exceedingly unwise. I had to erase the ripples in the paper after I scanned it.
Here's the basic idea behind it: The wheel bug's planet is in a period of development roughly equivalent to our Silurian. The oceans are teaming with life and diversity, but the land is still relatively barren, home to only a few species of advanced vascular plants. As far as animals were concerned, dry land was the exclusive domain of a hardy group of centipede-like arthropods. This two-foot long creature is an advanced descendant of those pioneering species. The wheel bug is one of the first entirely terrestrial animals, not relying on water even for reproduction. Its eight pairs of long legs enable it to move quite fast over its dry, sandy habitat in pursuit of its prey, but this mode of movement leads to rapid loss of precious moisture. Its preferred method of hunting is to perch itself atop a sand dune and ambush its prey, which often congregates to gather the dew that collects in the troughs between dunes. The wheel bug launches itself foreward and rolls down the hill, hoping to colide with and injure its prey with the rows of serrated spikes along its back. It aims specifically for animals that have recently shed their exoskeletons, making themselves much softer and more vulnerable. Though ingenious, the evolutionary trend of its prey to develop larger bodies and stronger hides will soon make this method of hunting quite impractical. The wheel bug, like all of nature's creatures, will either adapt or perish.
That's it for now. Work will be added regularly. Thanks for looking!
Edit: Semi-whiny-ish comments deleted.
Last edited by Moai; September 27th, 2006 at 06:21 PM.
I like the textures you have in your B&W studies....more variations of study subjects and then I'll comment and crit further...can't crit on anything that's fictional or of your own reality... :p
Thanks, Saikin! Yeah, more variations of study subjects is something I sorely need to force myself to do. I'll post some of my still lives from school a little later. I'm taking a life drawing class this fall, so I'll post those too.
Nice creature design. I like the feel and whimsy of it all.
...a perpetual plan for discovery days,where everyone can take part in "purposeless play".
My Sketch 'em up book!!
My Blog/portfolio site- purposelessplay.com/blog
Thanks, silvestri99! Creature design is my passion, but also my crutch, somewhat. Like Saikin said, I need to branch out further.
As promised, some still lives. Critique the hell out of them, if you would. Even from teachers, it seems like I get too many compliments and not enough criticism.
Skeleton in pencil, with emphasis on line weight.
Boots, hatched pencil.
Cow skull, charcoal.
Final drawing, heightened charcoal.
I'm level two!
Can someone explain to me how this level up system works?
Interesting range of works in here. I'll see what I can do to crit your still lives, but be forwarned that my opinions about learning how to draw may be unsuitable to you, or just plain misguided
Skeleton+boots+cow skull: I'm not a big fan of isolating a particular drawing technique to complete a drawing, as it brings a lot of attention away from what you're actually seeing and makes you spend too much time making the technique pretty. I'd rather see you apply line emphasis, hatch lines, smooth light/shadow, and everything else you know about light and drawing on EVERY drawing you do, where it is deemed appropriate to your taste. If your goal is to represent an object on a piece of paper as realistically as possible, you would do well to keep everything in your arsenal at the ready.
I know your teachers probably assigned you to do them that way but now that you have, put all of those techniques into action with your own drawings, and you will find that the less you pay attention to technique, the more naturally they seem to be absolutely necessary when you are having trouble drawing something. You'll just feel it.
The final drawing does a pretty good job with textures, but my main problem with it is an incoherent light source. Why only fill in the background just enough to show the beaker's spherical form? To help recreate the light source, you should have filled in all of that background. If you did that, you would find that almost everything looked like the same blue mid-tone color. The flower is not just "really light" and the suitcase "really dark," every single object has an overall value that will be brighter (relative to the objects around it) the closer and more directly facing it is to the light source. Also, how would you deal with all those value planes if you used black paper? Or white?
I hope that gave you something useful, I'm not too confident in how clear that all was
~ Stephen
Thanks, darkwolf. You're right, those drawings were assingments meant to isolate particular techniques. I completely agree with you about combining the different techniques to maximum affect. The thing is, once you practice something and internalize it, it will come out in your work whether you realize it or not. An analogy in my own life would be playing the guitar and hearing little bits and pieces of the music that I listen to coming out in what I play. I definitely agree with what you have to say.
As for the final drawing, the light source is probably incoherent because there were lights coming from all directions. It was a very large and complicated still life, and I only drew a small part. It was a high key drawing in the first place, and then spray fixing it toned down the white somewhat. I was more hesitant with contrast back then. The idea to do an outline of shading around everything was somewhat questionable as well, but I don't think I'd like it as much with the entire background filled in.
Thanks for the comments and crits, and yes, you were perfectly clear.
Here's my latest CoW, the pearl-finding monkey. My first foray into the digital realm, and I had a blast.
Hey look you got the tablet! Congratulations! I think you'll find it only gets more exciting from here. There are SO MANY ways to use it. I won't say it makes things "easier," but in a short time of using it regularly, and exlporing the software, you find yourself able to do things you might never have known how do to otherwise. One thing I've been doing lately is using the magnetic lasso tool to mark out a section of a painting and shifting the hues, saturations and lightness... both for coloring parts of a painting and defining the space a little, either to make it recede or to make it pop. Its a nice tool because you can make refinements in small but uniform increments, allowing you to tweak things quite precisely.
Congrats on your new investment. I'm looking forward to seeing how things develop!
current portfolio:
Thanks, Michael! That's done all with a mouse, actually. I don't have a tablet yet. Feel free to hop on to San Luis Obispo county Craig's list and buy my electric ukulele, though, so I can get the money. Or not. I have a job now, too, so it won't be long. See you in CoW.
Hey man thanks for your comment, i thought i might aswell drop by your sketchbook.
I really like your creatures, they are really far out and show that you have a good imagination. Your life-studies are very good aswell. You should try shading rougher so it pops out more.
Thanks for the compliment, Lazy! I love to hear things like that. And by shading rougher I assume you mean more contrast, which is something I worked on in my subsequent drawing class. I may post my work from that class as well, whenever I pull it out and take some pictures.
PS- I tried to visit your sketchbook and it took me to a page that apparently I'm not authorized to view.
Hey no problem, noticed now that my links were broken except page 3 in my sig.
So give it another shot if you would like too
Very nice work here. I especially liked the still lifes (and I'm afraid I have no critique of them). You have a very obvious talent.
I think I would like to see you try to do a landscape in pencil, I think that might challenge you and also make possibly the best thing on the page - so how about you try that?
If I had any critique it would be that your color work is not as impressive as your pencil work. My advice? Add more small precise details and "render" more.
Oh boy, an assignment! Sure, I'll do a landscape in pencil, void. That would definitely be a challenge. Any landscapes I've done I've enjoyed, but they've mostly been little doodles.
My colors aren't as impressive because I've only been doing them for about a year and a half, while I've been drawing since I was six. It's definitely something I need to work on, along with broadening my subject matter.
I assume with the precise details and rendering you were talking about my pearl monkey. I got scolded over in the CoW forums for how I did that piece. In my defence, it was my first complete digital piece ever, and I did it with a mouse. I also did it in a single afternoon. But, excuses excuses, I definitely need to be more careful and patient. Thank you very much for your compliments.
I just started my first project in 2D design today and I'll draw my first nude person tonight, so I'll have some more work to post soon.
Happy birthday, it's mine also!
Solid sketchbook.
Thanks, Dindon! Happy birthday to you, too! It shows just how big this site is that there's about 30-40 birthdays a day. Boy, two years from now I'll be able to have a beer on my birthday.
I'm glad you think my sketchbook is solid. I'm a little more harsh on myself. I know I'm a solid creature artist, but when it comes to landscapes, architecture, and technological things, I'm very intimidated.
I'm into my third week of life drawing. I've done about fifty in-class figure studies so far, most of them five minutes or less, and 10 quickie life sketches a day. It's funny, because I'm always one of the best artists in the classes I take, but here I'm just another face in the crowd.
I think I may have just found my first artistic employment. My friend and his dad are starting a clothing company, and they want me to design for them. I'm pretty excited about that!
More stuff coming soon, I promise.
Hey, peeps. I've been neglecting my sketchbook, so here's a bit of an update.
Bermuda Triangle CoW sketches. A final picture never came to pass.
A page of sketches for the Highly Explosive CoW, which I did manage to enter.
The sub-final and final versions. Look how spermy the sub final is!
And the non-genetically-engineered version of the above.
My cousin's birthday present. A somewhat androgynous faerie, drawn mostly without reference. It's a fearie, so gender and anatomy can be blurred, a bit.
Here are a few of my favorite things I've drawn in a while. They're creatures I saw in my kneaded eraser. It's always great fun to draw from the random forms of a kneaded eraser. When I was a child, I'd often draw things I saw in clouds or trees. It's just how my brain works.
The second guy is wearing some sort of hat, I think.
And the first assignment of my first official design job! It was a fairly strange assignment, actually. They wanted me to draw a tree shaped like a question mark, with an apple as the dot of the question mark, and the word "live" spelled out in the branches.
Samples of my life drawings will come soon, I promise!
Last edited by Moai; September 2nd, 2006 at 05:31 PM.
Here's the finalized logo.
Your weak point seems to be color. You might consider setting up some simple still-lives and doing quick paintings from them to catch your color usage up with your drawing level.
Bit of a Wayne Douglas Barlowe fan, are you?
I think you are awesome, and I wish you the best in your endeavors, but I am tired of repeating myself, I am very busy with my new baby, and I am no longer a regular participant here, so please do not contact me to ask for advice on your career or education. All of the advice that I have to offer can already be found in the following links. Thank you.
Perspective 101, Concept Art 101, Games Industry info,Oil Paint info, Acrylic Paint info, my sketchbook.
Did you read me say somewhere that I was a Wayne Barlowe fan, or is his influence that evident in my work? Either way, yes I am.
Anyway, painting some simple still lives is exactly what I'm planning to do when I get my tablet.
Thanks for stopping by, and double thanks for leaving a comment.
As I was looking through one of my sketchbooks for some CoW inspiration today, I realized, "Garsh! There's some decent sketchbook pages here that I haven't posted yet!" So, here they are.
An assassin and some dragons. The dragon in the box turned into an oil painting, which I won't show until it's finished...whenever that is.
A page of spur of the moment sketches inspired by looking through Dreckster's sketchbook (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=50275)
Some creatures.
Some ideas for the Scary but Harmless CoW and the original sketch for my Pearl Finder. For the Scary but Harmless, I imagined a huge but very gentle bear/dog and a creature that made you gasp, until you realized you were looking at a magnafied image of a very tiny creature.
A page of Bermuda Triangle CoW sketches.
A page of Creek Crawler sketches.
And here's four sample pages from my life drawing sketchbook. These are all one minute or less per drawing.
Hey Moai, cool stuff in your sb!! I wish I could draw creatures like you. I liked your life sketches in here. Keep postin more stuff!!
Thanks, gmags! Creature drawing has been my passion for the past...oh, thirteen years. Glad you liked my stuff, and more will definitely come soon!
PS- If you want to see some really good creature artists, browse through the Creature of the Week threads. It's my usual haunt, when I'm around here.
Last edited by Moai; September 3rd, 2006 at 11:50 PM.


text:
Kotzebue Sound2
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Uploaded on 9/3/2012 11:52:58 PM
Camera: Canon EOS 40D Digital SLR
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