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It may have been four years since Season Five of "Family Ties" was released on DVD, but Paramount has finally issued the Sixth Season comprising the show's 1987-1988 run. To recap, "Family Ties" was a videotaped sitcom that began in 1982, taking place in Columbus, Ohio, dealing with Steven (Michael Gross) and Elyse (Meredith Baxter, when she was still Baxter-Birney) Keaton, a "hippie" couple who met and married in the 1960s and are now adjusting to life in the 1980s with four children: Alex (Michael J. Fox), Mallory (Justine Bateman), Jennifer (Tina Yothers) and the youngest addition Andy (Brian Bonsall), born during the show's 1984-85 season. Alex quickly became the starring character, with humor coming from his having opposing political and social views than those of his parents. While Steven and Elyse have outgrown their hippie pasts they are still all for the whole peace and freedom ideals, while Alex is conservative, with money and wealth the main thing on his mind as he looks up to then-President Ronald Reagan and even holds Richard Nixon (who was still alive then) in high regard. Alex is in his senior year of college this season, and begins a relationship with Lauren (Courteney Cox), a psychology student he meets in this season's first episode when volunteering for a study at his school. Mallory isn't very smart, with her being the butt of many jokes. By this season she's started attending Grant College, which is where the town's not-so-bright high school graduates end up, and has an artist boyfriend named Nick (played by Scott Valentine) who is even more of a dimwit. Jennifer is more in the middle, smarter than Mallory but seeing Alex as mostly full of himself. Andy starts kindergarten in this season and in many episodes Alex is seen grooming him to be a smaller version of himself, educating him on matters of money and the Republican party. (Andy's growth was a bit sped-up in this show, as he spent the 1985-86 season as an infant and suddenly became a pre-schooler able to walk and talk at the start of the 1986-87 season.)
"Family Ties" was only a minor show ratings-wise in its first two seasons, but exploded in 1984 when it had the good fortune of airing right after "The Cosby Show" which was an instant hit for NBC and became one of the biggest shows of the decade, making NBC's entire Thursday night lineup an institution for many years. This was when I first began watching "Family Ties", although I had stopped watching it by its final 1988-89 season. In 1987, it was displaced by "Cosby Show" spinoff "A Different World" and moved to Sundays for the rest of its run. While I don't remember watching it as religiously by then most of the episodes here were familiar to me.
What always made "Family Ties" stand out to me from other sitcoms of its era (there were many others I watched back then) was that it often had some very surreal situations while keeping everything else grounded in reality. Many of the ones in this season center around young Andy being influenced by his brother Alex, such as being read a finance textbook for a "bedtime story" (with Mallory later reading him something "more normal," a Bloomingdale's catalog), and an "I Love Republicans" Pop-Up book with a cutout Ronald and Nancy Reagan in front of the White House. Andy and Alex also have a routine going (though only shown in one episode) where they watch "Wall Street Week" together while eating popcorn, with Andy wearing a baseball cap with a dollar sign on it. In an episode where Alex meets Lauren's ex-boyfriend, as they discuss their professional accomplishments they suddenly both pull out their resumes from under their shirts. Later, Alex is in the kitchen talking to his parents, saying he's made a partial list of his "good points" and unrolls the list until it runs the length of the counter. These all work because everything is done with a straight face, all matter-of-factly (even though the audience is heard laughing at it). The best such moment in this season however is when the family is unable to find a decent Christmas tree and instead settles for a cactus with ornaments on it- again, it's completely ridiculous but everyone keeps a straight face.
Among the notable episodes in this season, one is the hour-long season premiere, "Last of the Red Hot Psychologists," where Alex first meets girlfriend Lauren as she examines him as part of a study on overachievers. Later in "Invasion of the Psychologist Snatcher," Lauren's ex-boyfriend drops by for a visit and while Alex is initially jealous he ends up practically falling in love with him himself after learning of his financial successes. The series takes a dramatic turn without losing its humor in "The Way We Were," when Elyse's aunt makes an unexpected visit and it turns out she has Alzheimer's. "Miracle in Columbus" is a memorable Christmas episode where Alex winds up working as a mall Santa Claus and is touched by a girl's wish for her traveling father to be home for the holidays. "Spring Reminds Me" reunites Mallory with the mother of a friend who had committed suicide- again touching on a serious subject without getting overly preachy and still getting a few laughs in. Two two-parters are included in this season- "Father Time", where Steven's recently-divorced brother comes to visit with his kids including a deeply-resentful daughter, and "Read it and Weep" which focuses on Jennifer taking a stand against the book "Huckleberry Finn" being banned from her school (the banning of classic books was a hot topic when it aired.)
Not every episode is a winner however- most glaring is an hour-long "clip show" (made up primarily of flashbacks to previous episodes) centered around Lauren interviewing the Keatons for one of her psychology projects. "Mister Sister" has Nick taking a job as a janitor at Mallory's sorority house, with him trying to become an actual sorority sister complete with gender confusion. In "The Play's the Thing", Steven puts on a production of a play titled "A Draft Card for the Burning" dramatizing the time he met his wife, with Elyse playing herself but someone else playing Steven which makes the real Steven jealous. I remember watching this one as it first aired reminding myself why I was no longer watching the show regularly- it just falls flat.
Watching all of these episodes in a short amount of time, I noticed a few loose ends and abandoned concepts, something which has also annoyed me when watching other TV shows on disc. In "The Blues, Brother" we find out that Alex has a show on his college's radio station (in the episode he convinces a long-retired blues musician to put on another show) but the station doesn't come up in any further episodes, nor does Alex again show that apparently he's a big fan of blues music. In "A Sign of the Times," Andy befriends a deaf student in his kindergarten class, in fact he refers to him as his "best friend," but we never see him in the show after that. I suppose the writers assumed we'd forget about things like this when we only saw the show one time per week.
Notable appearances from other actors in this season include Campbell Scott as Lauren's ex-boyfriend who visits in one episode, Robert Klein as an old high school friend of Elyse who may still be in love with her, and Dan Hedaya as Nick's estranged dad. Two episodes also include a very young Joseph Gordon-Levitt as one of Andy's kindergarten classmates. Bunny Summers, whom you may remember from Re-Animator's opening scene, also appears in one episode as a buyer of one of Nick's mass-produced art pieces.
Oddly, there are two older episodes included- "Anniversary Waltz", dated 1983, and "Return of the Native" dated 1985 (which is another clip show on top of that!) The included episode listings give these shows' air dates as during the sixth season, so they may have aired as network repeats then but they throw off the continuity when watched in order (Andy has not even been conceived yet in one episode, and he is an infant in another after we've just seen him walking and talking in the previous episode.)
While I didn't notice any obvious edits or music changes within any episodes, there is a note on the back cover stating: "Some episodes may be edited from their original network versions. Music has been changed for this home entertainment version." It may just be standard practice for Paramount to include this note nowadays, but it's worth pointing out for the obsessive folks whatever the case. The only alteration that did stand out was the replacement of the closing "Paramount Television" logo at the end with a newer "CBS Television Distribution" tag, with music noticeably louder than the rest of the show.
Paramount has done a great job with the presentation here. "Family Ties" was shot on video in the pre-HD era, and looks as good on DVD as it did when it originally aired. I've been dismayed at how other TV show DVDs were overcompressed, resulting in digital compression artifacts, but I saw none of that on this set! Even the lettering during the opening credits is free of the "mosquito" effect that has plagued many other TV show releases I've watched recently. Of course this isn't going to look perfect compared to newer HD material- there's the obvious lower resolution along with some dot crawl, but that was just a fact of life with standard-def video.
Audio is in Dolby Digital 2-channel stereo. Starting in 1985, almost all of NBC's shows were produced in stereo and I was lucky enough to be equipped to hear it from the start although I remember not many shows used stereo to its full advantage. I do remember being quite excited watching "Family Ties'" 1985 premiere and hearing the opening theme "Without Us" re-recorded in true stereo, with Johnny Mathis' vocals in the left channel and Deniece Williams' in the right. That continued through the rest of the series' run, although strangely the amount of separation varied per episode as it does on the episodes here. As for the rest of the show, most of the audio is kept in the center as I remembered it the first time around (although I didn't have a Pro-Logic setup back then). On my current sound system, the laughter and applause from the studio audience has decent separation although not quite enough to really stand out, and in the scenes set in the shopping mall in the "Miracle in Columbus" episode, there is some separation in the ambient background sound effects.
While Paramount has usually used TV-decoded closed-captions on its TV show releases (which are becoming increasingly more difficult to access on current equipment), here they have been dropped in favor of player-generated subtitles in "SDH" style, where music and sound effects are described the same way as in standard closed-captions.
No extras are included on this release. The four discs (with Paramount's usual plain grey labeling) are packaged in a clear single-sized keepcase, with episodes listed on the reverse side of the cover sheet, with synopses and original air dates.
Watching this season of "Family Ties" for the first time since its initial broadcast, I found it still held up very well and provided plenty of 80s nostalgia. I have to give Paramount props once again for delivering this with great picture and sound quality as well. (I'm sure I don't need to remind anybody that while these episodes can currently be viewed on Netflix, they are delivered at a more choppy frame rate. As of this writing, I've never seen any internet streaming service deliver video-based material at the proper 30-frames-per-second rate.)
Jesse Skeen is a life-long obsessive media collector (with an unhealthy preoccupation with obsolete and failed formats) and former theater film projectionist. He enjoys watching movies and strives for presenting them perfectly, but lacks the talent to make his own.


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SAN FRANCISCO — Like Hunter Pence and Tim Lincecum before him, Javier Lopez is staying at AT&T Park.
The 36-year-old left-hander was the only one of the club's marquee free agents to opt for free agency and drew interest from the likes of the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals, but on Thursday, Lopez and the Giants agreed to terms on a three-year, $13 million deal. The new contract is pending a physical, which will likely be taken next week.
Acquired at the deadline in 2010, Lopez has a 2.26 ERA in four seasons with the Giants and has steadily been one of the best left-handed specialists in baseball. Lopez made 69 appearances in 2013 and had a 1.83 ERA, the lowest full-season mark of his career. In 236 appearances for the Giants, he has given up just two home runs.
"He's so reliable," Bochy said in September. "What I love about him is he's so well prepared and so professional about how he goes about his business."
The Giants have now spent $161 million on Pence, Lincecum, Lopez and Tim Lincecum, and they intend on signing one more starter while pursuing additional options in left field.

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Technical Problem With This Chapter?
Author: batsnumbereleven
Story: Choices and Consequences
Part: 1: Home Sweet Home?
Rating: Teens
Setting: Pre-HBP
Status: WIP
Reviews: 8
Words: 3,292
Updated: May 4, 2005, 8:08am
1: Home Sweet Home?
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all associated characters are owned by J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc., Warner Brothers, and others.
Author's Note: Many thanks to Jner for her work in beta-ing this for me. Any mistakes remaining are mine alone, though.
Harry strode out of the station and into the sunshine, dragging his trunk with one hand and carrying Hedwig's cage in the other. For the first time in a very long time he felt as though he could cope. He recalled the strange conversation he'd had with Luna Lovegood the previous day. Even though he would have avoided the strange Ravenclaw given the opportunity, talking to her about Sirius's death, and the odd feeling of hope she'd left him with, had eased the weight on his mind a little.
The support that Mad-eye Moody, Mr Weasley, Tonks, Remus Lupin and Hermione had shown him at the station when he was faced with the Dursleys, with the prospect of yet another summer of drudgery and ill treatment ahead of him, had also helped. It had given him a glimpse of potential freedoms he might be able to realise over the holidays, and reminded him that his friends were going to stick by him.
For once he knew that, if the Dursleys continued their obvious mistreatment of him, they would find themselves facing the repercussions, something that his Aunt and Uncle had never had to face before with regard to Harry.
It reminded him a bit of his first summer back at Privet Drive after a year away at Hogwarts. Back then, his relatives had been a little timid around him in fear of having him use his magic on them, until of course the strange house elf, Dobby, had created a situation where the Dursleys found out that he wasn't actually permitted to do anything to them.
'Yes, freedom,' Harry thought as he walked along the street outside the station, smiling to himself.
Freedom of sorts, anyway.
He didn't have to put up with the constant verbal abuse from his relatives for once, and perhaps - just perhaps - he might actually be allowed to know a little bit about what was going on.
Harry stopped at the Dursleys' car. He was somewhat surprised to notice that Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and his cousin Dudley were almost right behind him, looking out of breath as they had attempted to match Harry's purposeful stride from the Kings Cross concourse to the row of cars parked beyond the taxi rank. Uncle Vernon nearly stumbled over Harry's trunk as he laid it down next to the parking meter, and cursed under his breath as he looked at the time remaining on the meter and the money he had wasted.
"I hope you don't think that those freaks at the station are going to be anywhere near our house this summer, boy?" Uncle Vernon started with a snarl. "I don't take kindly to being threatened about what goes on in my own house."
Harry considered his words carefully, knowing that help was just around the corner if he needed it, but not wanting to antagonise his uncle unnecessarily.
"Then you had better make sure that you're nice to me, hadn't you, Uncle Vernon? " Harry replied in an insincerely sweet tone, "Otherwise I'm sure they'll be over as quick as a flash."
Harry purposely left out any mention of him personally carrying tales about any mistreatment. He had no intention of calling for help unless it was absolutely necessary. However, the oblique reminder of the supernatural abilities that his friends had was intended to make Uncle Vernon think twice before doing something really obnoxious. Something like replacing the bars on Harry's bedroom window, and basically keeping him a prisoner all summer.
He'd experienced that after the situation with Dobby and didn't particularly fancy a repeat performance, even if he was likely to be rescued in short order when Remus and the others failed to hear from him. He didn't particularly want to be on his relatives' bad sides any more than they wanted him in the house, and he knew there was a fine line between vague threats that might prevent Uncle Vernon from being nasty and something bigger that might provoke him and send him over the edge.
"It's quite simple, Uncle Vernon," Harry continued. "You don't have to like me. All I'm asking is that you treat me reasonably well and, largely, stay out of my way, and I'll do my best to stay out of yours. You already know that I'm not supposed to do magic out of school, so I'm not going to threaten you or anything, I just want to be treated with a little bit of respect instead of like dirt."
Uncle Vernon started nervously at the mention of the word 'magic', but recovered sufficient poise to bluster back at Harry. "Well make sure you do, boy."
That seemed to be enough for Uncle Vernon, who unlocked the car and opened the boot for Harry to put his trunk in. Harry opened Hedwig's cage and stroked her. "Go on, Hedwig, you'd best fly from here," he said, releasing the snowy owl and placing the empty cage in the boot.
Uncle Vernon's face started to turn purple, and it looked like he was about to start another outburst, probably about 'dratted owls in the house', Harry thought, so he decided to head off that argument before it even began.
"You don't really want an owl screeching around in the boot of the car when you're trying to drive, do you Uncle Vernon?" he asked rhetorically. "Surely you'll find it less distracting without Hedwig in the car."
Uncle Vernon huffed a little, but seemed to accept Harry's logic and motioned for him to hurry up stowing his belongings and get into the car. "Make sure the dratted bird stays away from us too, you understand boy?" Uncle Vernon added, ensuring he got the last word in as he squeezed himself into the driver's seat and slammed the door.
As they pulled away and headed out of central London towards the Surrey suburbs, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia made small talk in response to the news that came on the radio for the most part, while Dudley sat in silence, as far away from Harry on the back seat as he possibly could.
Meanwhile, Harry turned his thoughts to the recent past and the near future.
Sirius was dead.
There was nothing Harry could do about that now. Despite the support he'd received from his friends, Harry still felt responsible for his death in part, knowing that if he hadn't fallen for Voldemort's trick to get him to the Department of Mysteries, there was a fair chance that Sirius would still be alive.
The melancholy memory dragged Harry out of his good mood, and into a more sombre train of thought. Had there been anything he could have done to stop Sirius getting killed? Sure, if he had ignored the visions that Voldemort had planted in his mind, and not acted on his "hero complex" to dash off to the Ministry of Magic to try and rescue Sirius, then perhaps things would have been different. He really should have listened to Hermione when she tried to tell him that it could have been a trap.
That was one letter that he knew he would have to write pretty soon. He needed to apologise to Hermione for not trusting her judgement. Although his friends hadn't pressed him into talking about the events at the Department of Mysteries, perhaps out of respect for his despair over Sirius, Hermione obviously had every right to invoke the "told you so" lecture once she was sure he was in a fit state to listen to it. Harry chuckled to himself at the thought of Hermione missing out on such a great opportunity. Yes, he definitely owed Hermione an apology and he hoped that she, and the other four who'd gone to the Ministry with him, would forgive him for putting their lives in danger.
How could he have known that the visions he had suffered weren't real, Harry thought to himself. There wasn't anyone at Hogwarts that he could have turned to – Dumbledore had spent the whole year avoiding Harry, but even if Harry had been inclined to try and contact him about the visions he would have been out of luck. Dumbledore had already been driven from the castle by the Ministry's interference by that time. He had tried to warn Professor Snape, but had been met with Snape's usual snide put-downs, rather than any indication that help would be forthcoming.
When he had tried to get into the Hospital Wing to speak to Professor McGonagall, he had found that she had been admitted to St. Mungo's for treatment, following the unprovoked attacks by Ministry personnel the night of Harry's Astronomy practical exam, when she'd tried to stop them disposing of Hagrid. Even had he felt like confiding in any of the other teachers at Hogwarts, he wasn't sure that he could trust them to act to help – he could remember his first year when he had tried to warn Professor McGonagall that the safeguards surrounding the Philosopher's Stone had been compromised and she had totally ignored the warning.
Remembering Snape's total disinterest in helping save Sirius led Harry to another thought: Occlumency. The lessons with Professor Snape that had been supposed to teach him to keep Voldemort out of his mind had been a complete farce. As usual with Snape's lessons, there had been no preparation for the tasks he was expected to engage in, and no explanation of how he should react to defend himself. All Snape had told Harry was to 'clear your mind', hardly an easy feat given Harry's emotional trauma at the time.
And if it wasn't enough that he had to have his name dragged through the mud, suffer a full trial by the Wizengamot, be accused of lies, be forced to use a bloodquill by that hag, Umbridge, and witness in first person an attack on his best friend's dad, he'd had to experience Hogwarts' foremost Death Eater invading his mind under the guise of 'lessons' to protect him.
Harry hated Snape. He was never going to forgive him for putting him through that, for using him as a tool to continue his enmity with Harry's long-dead father, even as he was supposed to be teaching Harry skills to protect himself. Much like his Potions lessons for the past five years, Harry had found that Snape's hatred for James Potter seemed to have extended itself to Harry as a means of personal satisfaction or retribution for the humiliations he had suffered at James's hands some twenty years earlier.
Anger coursed through Harry's veins at these thoughts and he struggled to control himself. 'That's what I've been doing all year', he thought with a sudden burst of clarity, 'struggling to control myself. Well, maybe it's time for that to change. Maybe regaining some control is the first step here.'
This revelation was a little startling to Harry. Although he'd spent a large portion of the previous year being unable to control his emotions, he'd actually had a fair amount of practice at it in the past – both in dealing with the Dursleys and during his Potions lessons with Snape. He wondered why, in the last twelve months, he'd seemingly lost the capacity to ignore slights and insults he'd found himself getting used to and letting them slide over him on a seemingly perpetual basis.
No doubt the horrific effects of being utilised in the ceremony that enabled Voldemort's re-birth, and the stresses and strains of the Tri-wizard Tournament had taken their toll on him. Having to return to the Dursleys and their distinctive lack of care for him hadn't helped either. He'd had little opportunity to process the events of that psychologically disturbing occasion before being thrust back away from the wizarding world with nobody to help him make sense of it. The isolation had forced him to internalise his trauma, with no outlet for the anguish he'd suffered.
At least this year Harry had the prospect of some contact with the wizarding world, rather than being prevented from communicating anything of substance to his friends or being able to discuss his soul-rending experience as had been the case the previous summer. Harry made a mental promise to himself that he would not return to the selfish, moody and emotionally disturbed state that he had been in for the past twelve months.
A little calmer now, Harry's thoughts turned to other weighty matters that had been thrust upon him over the past few days. The prophecy – did it mean what he thought it meant? How far were these things set in stone? Harry concluded that, even knowing the prophecy and hearing Professor Dumbledore's explanation of how he'd interpreted it, he actually had a lot more questions than solutions, and there was really only one person he knew that was likely to be able to answer them.
That was going to mean rebuilding some bridges that he thought might currently be burning and trying to get Dumbledore to share information, which in the past he had been rather reluctant to do; but also, even if the prophecy didn't mean that Harry was destined to face Voldemort, and that only one would survive, the fact that Voldemort himself seemed to believe that Harry had to be killed at all costs meant that Harry had to be prepared.
The street was quiet on this sunny Sunday evening as Uncle Vernon pulled up outside Number 4 Privet Drive and Harry reached this conclusion. Uncle Vernon wasted no time in leaping out of the driver's seat and heading into the house, a feat of athleticism Harry was sure his oversized frame hadn't attempted in decades, leaving his wife and son to their own devices as he distanced himself from his 'freak nephew' as quickly as possible.
Aunt Petunia turned to Harry. "I hope you don't think those people at the station are just going to turn up at my house?" she noted. "I'm not having you tattling to them about how we treat you here, it's none of their business. I know that Vernon feels threatened by them and I don't want him doing something strange, like that night when we ended up in that hut, in the sea in the middle of nowhere. You'd better behave yourself and not upset him with your nonsense."
Harry knew that he shouldn't provoke Uncle Vernon, but the problem was of his Uncle's own making. The main reason that Uncle Vernon wasn't capable of understanding 'magic' people was because of his bigoted attitude to anyone that was different to him or acted differently to how he thought they should act. However, Harry was prepared to cut his relatives a little slack for the time being, though, since this was probably as pleasant as they had ever been to him. He didn't really want to involve the Order in dealing with the Dursleys if it could be avoided, even if it meant that he got to see his friends more often.
"I'll do my best not to provide Uncle Vernon with an excuse to do anything he'll regret," Harry assured his Aunt, careful to avoid any specific promises about his personal conduct, "but you really will have to treat me better than you have done in the past."
Aunt Petunia looked particularly affronted at this, and Dudley elected to depart whilst the going was still good, although his attempts to slip away unnoticed forced Harry to stifle a chuckle. 'Dudley' and 'stealthy' were two words that just didn't go together.
"Don't you forget we've taken you in when we had no compulsion to do so, fed and clothed you," Aunt Petunia began, clearly winding herself up to deliver something of a monologue.
Harry thought this was a bit rich. He would freely admit that the Dursleys had taken him in after his parents' deaths, but since Harry had been doing many of the chores around the house since around the age of six, had been clothed in Dudley's cast offs, and given the most meagre portions to survive on, he didn't think that Aunt Petunia's argument held an awful lot of weight.
"Yes, Aunt Petunia, I'm fully aware that you have sheltered and clothed me for nearly sixteen years. Why, you even gave up your smallest cupboard for me to have as my bedroom for almost eleven of those years – how thoughtful of you!
Aunt Petunia looked askance at Harry's unusual display of sarcasm, but he didn't let her interrupt. If he had, he was sure she'd only have started another rant about 'how ungrateful' he was.
"I'm not asking for any special treatment whilst I'm here," he continued. "I'm sure that I can cook my own food, and I'll stay well out of Uncle Vernon's way-"
"And Dudley's, too," Aunt Petunia cut in.
"Fine. And Dudley's too," Harry agreed. "I might occasionally need to use the phone, and to invite a friend or two into the house, but I'll be sure to keep them well out of your way."
Aunt Petunia looked aghast at the thought of those 'freaks' being invited into her home, but as long as Harry didn't bring their attention to his 'unnaturalness', he thought she would probably be happy to ignore him. She had successfully managed to ignore all but the most basic of his needs for sixteen years, so he thought that she would at least be able to treat him well enough that he didn't need to call upon anyone from the Order. A month or so over the holidays shouldn't prove much of a challenge, and then maybe he'd be allowed to go to The Burrow.
He hoped that Uncle Vernon would feel the same way. His temper was much worse than Aunt Petunia's, and he seemed to explode at the merest mention of Harry's talents or friends. He could only imagine Aunt Petunia's expression if Mad-eye Moody turned up on the doorstep with his leathery face, flashing blue eye and part-missing nose in response to one of Uncle Vernon's outbursts. He wasn't sure how closely he was being watched by the Order.
"Good," Aunt Petunia said, interrupting Harry's reflections and apparently deciding that the subject was closed. She opened the door to get out of the car, but then paused a moment to add one final comment. "Oh, and you'll need to keep that owl of yours quiet as well. It's yet another thing that we barely put up with."
Harry nodded and got out of the car as well. He collected his trunk and Hedwig's cage from the boot and made his way up to the bedroom that had been his for the past five years, with plans to get some letters written and, hopefully, some questions answered.
He sat down at his desk, and started writing – it was time to try and change his life, and he had to start with the man considered to be the most powerful wizard in the world, Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore seemed to know more or less everything that was going on, and Harry thought that, besides owing Dumbledore a rather large apology as well, he might at least try and find some way of making life a little less traumatic.
Hedwig flew in through the open window unnoticed as Harry wrote. She took one look at the letter he was concentrating on so deeply, and settled down for a nap, knowing that she had another journey ahead of her.
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BFFs Boho Chic
BFFs Boho Chic Game: These two princesses are BFFs and are addicted to a boho chic style, which they have seen in magazines. Help them to feel fashion too. Choose among all the trendy clothes the best combination to Rapunzel and her BFF Ariel. Dress up both of them in this makeover game for girls. Much fun! Enjoy game. Use the mouse to play this game.


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SAN FRANCISCO — Daniel Ha has a fascination with Batman, so much so that a conference room at his company, Disqus, is decorated to honor the superhero character.
It's Batman's tireless pursuit of justice that enraptures Ha. Since he was old enough to type on a keyboard, the 28-year-old entrepreneur has been on a crusade to help build online communities where freedom of expression is primary and everyone is invited to chime in.
It's that mission that led Ha in 2007 to create Disqus, software that today allows more than 160 million people to comment on blogs, online forums and news websites.
Scroll to the bottom of many major media sites — including the Bay Area News Group — and the comment section found there is powered by Disqus.
Today, more than 3 million online communities — everything from CNN to offbeat sites dedicated to obscure movies — use Disqus, a free platform, to offer readers a place to converse.
Disqus has 75 employees and offices in San Francisco and New York. The private company has raised about $20 million from investors.
This newspaper sat down with Ha to talk about Disqus at the company's headquarters in the South of Market neighborhood. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q Have there been any websites that wanted to use Disqus but gave you some concern or apprehension because of some extreme ideology they promote or some violent messaging on the site?
A We were trying to figure out our point of view on this for a long time and we didn't know if we should have one. When we started Disqus we saw it as an enabler of online communities and we didn't want to insert ourselves into the messaging or to editorialize.
Where we've landed is, the ideology and the opinions of those communities, we don't want any sort of editorial control over that. We want to say that Disqus is a network of all the different voices and all the different communities that exist online, but we don't want to shape that in any way. But if it falls into camps that are illegal, that's where we'll suspend accounts.
Q Disqus exists to give people a way to express themselves. Many countries' political regimes would not support that. So in countries, for instance, that censor Facebook, do you see Disqus making inroads as a way to encourage free speech there?
A We haven't had a great international strategy from the get-go, but we have had a lot of natural, organic pickup from users and what that means is Disqus has been internationalized by the people who use the product and people who are advocating for it outside the U.S. And we're getting smarter by watching other companies like Twitter and Facebook, the large companies where this is at the forefront of their advocacy efforts.
Q What do you think of the microblogging site Reddit? Is there anything that you'd adopt from that platform or anything they do that you'd never do?
A I love Reddit. Disqus was heavily inspired by discussion forums and online communities, one of which was Reddit in the early days. And the early Disqus team, we were very heavy Reddit users. It's a product less driven by its features but was picked up by its users and shaped and built into what it is today.
The lesson we take from that is online communities are very, very driven by personalities and it's either the community leader — so in the case of Disqus the publishers of the website — or by the people, the audience. Disqus had introduced a new dynamic, a layer between the publishers setting the tone and the readers setting the tone. And for Disqus we want to make sure the comments are owned by the user. It gives them an investment in what they're saying, it gives them a reason to come back and say more things.
Q You have said before you don't need to trade in your identity for the ability to speak up. Why is it this anonymity so important to you?
A It goes back to the original days of online communities when people came together on the Internet to debate things, share ideas or form groups to start a project without knowing each other in real life. They didn't grow up together, they weren't classmates, they weren't co-workers. This alleviated a lot of the social pressures.
I know this because I started getting into online communities when I was 9 or 10 years old and that allowed me to connect in online forms with people in their 20s and 30s, and we could work on these technical product groups doing programming projects without them knowing I was 10 years old. And that was an important dynamic because you don't want to be discredited because of how old you are or whether you're male or female.
Q The lack of anonymity is so ubiquitous these days. Do you see online forums like Disqus as the last frontier of anonymity?
A It's really not anonymity that people want. It's really the ability to adopt pseudonyms and have handles online and expressing yourself as you'd like. It's not like putting a paper bag over your head or your Guy Fawkes mask on, it's being able to wear a different outfit in different situations. You might wear a suit to a meeting and jeans and a T-shirt to a hip hop concert. It's hard to express yourself when you're carrying around the baggage of everything your name represents, whether it's professionally or personally, with your family. It simply isn't a debate about hiding yourself but being able to freely express yourself.
Contact Heather Somerville at 510-208-6413. Follow her at Twitter.com/heathersomervil.
Title: CEO, Disqus
Age: 28
City: San Francisco
Hometown: Milpitas
Education: University of California at Davis. Studied computer science for two years before dropping out.
5 things about Daniel ha
1. Built a music streaming website before Spotify and Rdio were around.
2. His co-founder of Disqus, Jason Yan, has been one of his closest friends since the seventh grade.
3. He's a movie buff and his go-to source for movie reviews is slashfilm.com (which also uses Disqus).
4. The superhero he looks up to most is Batman, but if he could have any superpowers, he'd want Superman's.
5. Created the early version of Disqus from Cambridge, Mass., after the idea was accepted into a Boston-based startup incubator.


text: It began like any other spring day does; cool in the morning with birds chirping a serenade through your bedroom window. The kind of wakeup that makes you wish all mornings were exactly like this one. So, in a good mood right from the get-go I sat at the kitchen table with my first cup of black coffee and watched the sun rise. While sitting there I flipped through my cellphone to check the forecast for the day, and was surprised to see a high of 75 degress with no wind.


text:
There has been alot of views for my Project Flake lately and i thought it might be an idea to show the full process for this project, and it hasnt been a easy one. Its also nice to show alot of unseen work that took too long to do, this should also explain alot of the reasoning behind the decisions for this design. Thanks for everyone who've viewed it, it doesnt really matter if you liked it or not, its always nice to get a discussion going.
This was my final year project at Coventry uni for automotive design, it took the best part of 2 years to do this project, and its still not complete. I did have alot going at the time on including a job etc, so really actual working time was probably only about a year or so. Since its conception everyone was very skeptical about the idea, even my self to a point, thinking about it, it was a ridiculous task. Transformers movie had teams rigging up their models, my car has almost as many part and im doing it all by my self, and note this is only my 2nd proper animation.
The idea started around mid 2008, most would think inspiration came from the Transformers the movie, however it actually came from Pixar Cars. I loved the movement of the characters, and how they leaned into the corners and wanted to translate that into a realistic vehicle, and thought it was an appropriate direction for my FYP. I didnt want to go down the route of a soft skin, 1- BMW already done it, 2- it wasnt very creative using something thats been with us for centuries, 3- there was a lack of emotion. The BMW Gina is a good example, every part was movable, and yet it felt... dead, without all the muscle structures under the skin it will be very hard to emulate emotion. Emotion is very important part of design, because my project is dynamic, just a face is no longer enough, its body needs to present body language. I did think through all the directions of a literal living car with muscle etc, but didnt think that was very creative. The flakes eventually came from my bad habit of smoking. I love the forms created by ash, how it was so random and yet all fitted together, this made me imagined cracking skin and how that will look over the car.
The original concept was actually alot more complicated. I wanted a mass of flakes that when closed, formed a sleek and elegant shape, like its sleeping or something, but when it wakes up it doors will open up like jaws and eat you whole.
Thats the feeling i want the user to feel every time he/she steps into the car. The rest of the exterior is designed to provoke the same sort of feeling with alot of jagged edges and fractures across the body work this style was apparent all over the car even in the interior. the original seat designs were just as complex. Designed to dynamically follow your body, physically grabbing the torso and holding the driver in the seat.
All this detail became a problem as I was working on my modest home computer, which had no where near enough power to actually bring the car to life.
So i took a step back and i stripped the design to its basics, tried to figure out the essentials and designed the mk2. The mk2 got rid of all the flakes, and essentially is a practical/buildable version of flake. It retains most of the fundamental ideas behind the project coupled with a more refined form.
I did try to make a physical model (mostly carved out by hand), but I never had the chance to finish it. The mk2 was very cool looking, but i felt it has lost alot of the emotion that i was talking about at the beginning, also the usp of the mk1.
So here comes the mk3. The mk3 is a compromise between the 2 previous designs, and also intended to look more like a car when in the closed position. this is because i wanted something that the viewer can relate to instead of making it 100% scifi.
The car was always designed to be viewed in white how ever white is a very common colour within the degree show, so i opted for a bright orange, this also made it seem more like an animal.
Unlike the previous 2, the mk3 got new wheels. Wheels with legs isnt anything new, I think something similar has been in the book Snowcrash and a few anime shows i think. How ever I did make it "plausable". To be honest i never added it for the technology, the car just didnt sit right unless the bottom of the wheels were cut off, so i had to think of a good excuse to remove the bottom of my wheels. The D-wheels track ground surface and adjust accordingly, making the wheel apart of the suspension system. This also enabled it to expand into buggy wheels allowing it to go off road making this a true next generation all terrain vehicle.
The number of flakes have also been reduced from over 400 to exactly 250, making this slightly more manageable to rig and animate. This was all done in 3D studio max, and since this was only my 2nd animation, and no one could assist me in doing it properly, i had to animate this my own way/old fashioned way. some parts were even animated frame by frame, which was a real pain. the whole process for the mark 3 from design to completion was around 3-4month. I know the animation isnt perfect, my machine just wasnt up to it, just to let you know how much trouble this was to animate, some scenes it would take around 5 secs-5mins for each of my actions to take affect, that including changing my view, not to mention i was under a dead line and could not actually preview my animation before i rendered it, so really what you are seeing is the first draft.
The original design also had wheel covers for the complete sleek closed form, but since i wanted to show off the D-wheels, regrettably the covers had to go.
One of the biggest arguments against the car is aero, Ive actually had the pleasure of talking to an ex-Williams F1 aero man about this matter. His view is the concept is sound, how ever the execution needs tweeks, which is what i expected.
When travelling at speed, the car will contract to its closed position to help control airflow, and when under breaking or turning the flakes will spring open to dynamically adjust down force. the open flakes will also allow the car to lean into the corner for better handling, meanwhile the inner chassis is designed to be aerodynamic channelling the airflow around the car.
The flakes serves a couple of other purposes, dissipating heat from a liquid cooling system around the chassis, and also could automatically track the sun for energy. To move the flakes, there are hundreds of mini solenoids within the car which pull on carbon nano-tube wires, that is strung around the car forming a puppeteering system. The solenoids can also detect how much air pressure is applied on each flake, allowing the on board computer to dynamically adjust the flakes.
The car is powered by synthetic fuel, imagine if battery fluid can be replaced like fuel, in-turn recharging the batteries. Similar to producing electricity with coke, but specially designed and alot more potent.
Like i said at the beginning, the project is still unfinished, there were going to be alot more interior details, a refuelling rig with station, the physical model you saw earlier, alot of animation tweeks... etc Will I ever finish it properly? ill definitely come back to it in a few years time, when my hardware can do this smoothly.
So thats most of the story, atleast the interesting(ish) bits, I know this car is ridiculous, and i know it wont work, but it was never intended to be a practical solution rather an inspiration for others.
For more imgs pls go:
And if you havent seen the video already, its here:


text:
Sunday, January 2, 2011
The storm is over
A big beautiful snow storm hit us earlier this week. Three feet of heavy snow came cannon balling out of the sky squashing our peach trees and pulling down power lines all around us.
We have wood heat so we stayed toasty warm but after the third night of candlelight dinners I was missing electricity. Many hours were luxuriously spent reading in front of the wood stove. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch is a rip roaring fantasy novel that I am loving, loving, loving. It's kind of an Oceans Eleven caper set in a kind of Renaissance Venice but on a beautifully dangerous planet with a charming gang of bad boys. At this point in the story they are sooooooo deep in trouble and obviously doomed I can't believe they will survive - but they must, since there is a sequel already. And a movie. By Warner Brothers. Yes! If you like fantasy and don't mind some violence and occasional cussing I highly recommend it.
Happy New Year everyone. I hope you are wintering well. The kit I am working on now is tentatively called Faeries of Frost Forest. It is being heavily influenced by the weather in my back yard. Hugs, Lorie
17 comments:
Thanks for the book rec, just downloaded it to my Kindle. It looks like my kind of thing! (Also relieved you apparently don't mind occasional cussing as I just uploaded a page using your stuff that has a little rough language in the journaling!)
- January 2, 2011 at 6:19 PM
- Susie(Psychozoe), Zoe the cat, Chiquita and Petunia Lily the dogs said...
Hi Lorie, what a beautiful view! You totally look like you live near Sun Valley. My brother and his family used to live in Hailey, and he worked at Sun Valley as an electrician. I am an Idaho girl... even thought Arizona is my home. I was born in Poky and lived in IF mostly. Even though the snow is very beautiful, I sure don't miss it! Happy New Year
- January 2, 2011 at 6:26 PM
What a stunning photo. My kids don't believe that it is real. They have never seen snow. My 5 year thought it was the north pole.
- January 2, 2011 at 6:59 PM
- Karen Bowers said...
what a gorgeous photo and reality you live in. Love the teaser for the book, too.
i just downloaded this book just based on the reviews at amazon. sounds like it would be a good fit for your genre as well. i'm assuming you already know about miles vorkosigan, you do, don't you? if not, you must go quickly to your library to start reading.
- January 2, 2011 at 7:39 PM
- Lorie said...
North Pole!?!?!? Fiona that is hilarious. Thank your 5 year for me. I should put a little striped pole out in the field.
Christina if that's the lo I'm thinking of it was beautiful and the journaling was freakin inspirational.
Poky to Idaho Falls, well that's farther then I got going from Indian Valley to Fruitvale Susie.
No Karen I have never heard of Miles Vorkosigan but I just looked him up. Do you suggest I start with Shards of Honor?
- January 2, 2011 at 9:27 PM
- priss (Umeboshi) said...
wow this is sooo gorgeous! we live in sicily so it's not very likely to see snow (except on mount etna), this really makes me think of Dr Zivago and all the snow and frost covering everything, even if I understand that after 3 or 4 days without electricity it might loose some charme! thank you for sharing this little piece of your life with us.
- January 3, 2011 at 1:22 AM
the photo is fabulous it looks like a postcard!!
i wish you a happy new year, Health and Happiness for 2011 and made you many gorgeous kit :)
best regards zaza09
- January 3, 2011 at 2:53 AM
- caheli said...
beautiful photo!!! I had to show it to my coworkers down here in sunny CA. and now I'm ANXIOUSLY anticipating your new kit. I have purchased and enjoyed 99% of your kits! I would love a winter kit! My 4 yr old hasn't seen snow either but I need to take him! I love fantasy and also give a big recommendation for the Miles series (anything by Lois McMaster Bujold!) I just finished Cold Magic by Kate Elliot. Excellent.. probably along the lines of the book you're reading... it's kind of alternate history mish-mash with magic and a little of the victorian era. Kate Elliot is another favorite writer. Jaran is my favorite book of all time.
thanks so much Lorie for being such a beautiful artist and sharing your work with us!
- January 3, 2011 at 6:43 PM
- Lorie said...
Thank you Priss and Zaza. I think I might be putting some Dr.Zhivago style structures in the Frost Forest. Oh and thanks for the tip Caheli I will head to half.com and look for Jaran tonight.
- January 3, 2011 at 10:36 PM
- wendy said...
Oooh wowww How beautiful is this!!
and so many snow!!!
happy new year to you!!!
- January 4, 2011 at 2:06 AM
- Scrappin Gramma said...
WOW what a gorgeous pic...we had our share of snow last year so you can keep it and I will look at your photos LOL
can't wait for your new kit....
{twiddling fingers}
- January 5, 2011 at 5:21 AM
- dk10452 said...
That is the most beautiful picture I've ever seen. To think that I actually know the person that lives there is even more awesome. Dont care much about 3 story mansions on the beach, all I can think of is how much it cost to cool the dang thing. You brought ohhhs and awe's to everyone here in Mississippi. Thanks for shareing it with us. What a wonderful magical place, and I'm so glad you have someone to share it with.
- January 7, 2011 at 5:00 AM
Amazing photo and so glad that you've dug yourself out. And, look at you with a cherry on top and everything! How awesome and oh too sweet!
- January 10, 2011 at 11:43 PM
- Lorie said...
Thanks Lyn. I love that hat.
I'm still shoveling.
- January 11, 2011 at 12:28 AM
- heather said...
Living in a state of Australia thats in drought and over the 100 degrees everyday.. the snow looks so beautifully appealing.. im so glad youre all ok..
its a gorgeous photo capture..
- January 12, 2011 at 9:05 PM
- Lorie said...
There's another week of blizzards on the way starting tonight. I'm keeping the tub full of water, we just bought a bunch more candles, and the generator is fixed. I think I'm ready. This certainly means more powder at the local ski hill. :)
- January 12, 2011 at 10:13 PM
- Lyn said...
Hi Lorie,
Thanks so much for all your adorable kits. You are so talented and have such imagination. Love it.
Wish you and hubby well for 2011 and good luck with all the wonderful kits coming this year!
Hugs Lyn
- January 18, 2011 at 5:46 AM


text:
Season Seven Auditions Continue Wednesday, March 10, in Dallas
Auditions Also Set for Nashville, Chicago and Los Angeles
Television's hottest dance series, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, returns this summer for its seventh season with a two-hour season premiere Thursday, May 27 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.
Hosted by Cat Deeley, the hit dance competition series will inspire and amaze viewers as dancers skilled in styles ranging from hip-hop to ballroom compete to be named America's Favorite Dancer. Last season's winner, Russell Ferguson, danced off with a $250,000 cash prize, the title of America's Favorite Dancer and a cover feature in the March issue of Dance Spirit Magazine.
Auditions for Season Seven of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE are still under way. Hopefuls can strut their stuff in Dallas on Wednesday, March 10; in Nashville on Sunday, March 14; in Chicago on Thursday, March 18; and in Los Angeles on Friday, March 26. Audition information is as follows:
Cities Dates Venues*
Dallas, TX Wednesday, March 10 McFarlin Memorial Auditorium
6405 Boaz Lane
Dallas, TX 75205
Nashville, TN Sunday, March 14 Acuff Theatre
Chicago, IL Thursday, March 18 The Cadillac Palace Theatre
151 West Randolph Street
Chicago, IL 60601
Los Angeles, CA Friday, March 26 Orpheum Theatre
*Venue information may change. For the latest Season Seven audition information, auditioners should log on to fox.com/dance. Registration will begin at 8:00 AM at each venue. Auditioners traveling to cities for the open calls should make arrangements to stay for at least two days following their initial audition in the event of a callback.
Dancers must be either a U.S. citizen, legal permanent resident of the U.S., or possess a current legal Employment Authorization Card enabling him/her to seek employment freely in the U.S. (i.e., without restrictions as to employer) by the date specified in the eligibility rules. Dancers must be no younger than 18 or older than 30 years of age on the first day they register for auditions. Any dancer who is a minor in his/her state of residence must also have a parent or legal guardian sign all required documents. Dancers must provide legal, valid proof of age when they register for auditions. Check fox.com/dance for full eligibility rules.
Talented dancers who spark the judges' interest during auditions will be invited to callbacks, where they will work with top choreographers. During the callback week, the judges will choose the Top 20 dancers who will continue in the competition.
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE was created by Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe and comes from 19 Entertainment, Ltd. and Dick Clark Productions. It is executive-produced by Simon Fuller, Nigel Lythgoe and Barry Adelman.
About 19 Entertainment Ltd.
19 Entertainment Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of CKX, Inc. (NASDAQ: CKXE), is engaged in the ownership, development and commercial utilization of entertainment content. 19 Entertainment represents stars including David and Victoria Beckham, Carrie Underwood, Andy Murray, Daughtry, Annie Lennox, Will Young, Cathy Dennis, The Spice Girls and others. 19 Entertainment is the producer/co-producer of several internationally successful TV formats including AMERICAN IDOL, "Little Britain USA" and SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE. 19 Recordings is a major producer of music in North America with over 100 million units sold in the last 10 years by stars including Adam Lambert, Kelly Clarkson, David Cook, Jordin Sparks, Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, Kris Allen and others.
Since its inception in 1957, dick clark productions (dcp) has been a leading independent producer of television programming. dcp produces perennial hits such as "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest," "American Music Awards," "Golden Globe Awards" and "Academy of Country Music Awards." dcp also produces popular weekly television programming, including SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, and owns and maintains one of the world's most unique and extensive entertainment libraries, which includes more than 30 years of "American Bandstand" footage.


text:
Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
Embarrassed Allardyce blasts defending
Sam Allardyce fumed at his defence for putting on a "rubbish" and "comical" performance as West Ham crashed out of the Capital One Cup with a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Wigan.
The Hammers went in to the match having lost just one of their previous six games, but they were easily torn apart by Wigan in the third round clash at Upton Park.
"There were howling errors from our defenders in all four goals, it was comical," Allardyce said. "I never expected us to defend so poorly. It was really poor defending and all the good work we might have done with the ball meant nothing in the end because out of possession we were just rubbish."
The west London club took the lead through Modibo Maiga, but a series of calamitous errors allowed Roberto Martinez's team to progress.
Slack marking from Jordan Spence allowed Mauro Boselli to equalise and the Hammers defence backed off Ivan Ramis to allow the Spaniard to put the away side 2-1 ahead.
Yet more loose marking allowed Boselli to chip home a wonderful third and Stephen Henderson's foul on James McArthur in the dying minutes allowed Jordi Gomez to seal the rout to leave Allardyce red-faced with embarrassment at the final whistle
Martinez cut a much happier figure at the end of the game, with Boselli's performance the main source of joy for the Latics boss.
The Wigan boss said: "He looked strong, he looked very sharp with his build-up play and then that clinical finishing in front of goal.
"I was very, very pleased with his work. It is now a matter of allowing him to settle into the Barclays Premier League.
"He showed mental strength and how focused he is to be a success this season and to enjoy his football. If he is at his best he will be a real asset for us."


text:
PNC Names Demchak Chief Executive
In November, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. President William Demchak told investors his bank's chances to grow are "unlike anything we've ever seen before;" now he's in charge making that happen.
Late Thursday, PNC said he'd become Chief Executive in April, succeeding James Rohr, who decided to retire after 13 years at the top of the Pittsburgh lender.
Demchak, 50 years old, was part of a team of bankers who pioneered credit derivatives before he joined PNC in September 2002, a troubled time for the Pittsburgh bank that was already one of the nation's largest. PNC had run afoul of regulations, and Demchak joined from J.P. Morgan to help with the cleanup.
He helped steer PNC, the ninth-largest U.S. bank by assets, through the financial crisis ably, and PNC is considered a leader in customer services.
Demchak's ascent is a sign that the bank is holding steady in its strategy of expansion and independence. His challenge is to convince investors that the bank can improve profitability and benefit from its recent acquisition in the Southeast.


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For many women their hair is one of their most precious physical assets so keeping their tresses looking gorgeous is a top priority. However, sometimes this desire takes a toll on our time and prevents us from accomplishing all the things we want to accomplish in a certain time interval. While giving up on our hair styling routine is certainly not a good answer, learning to optimize our habits to be able to get the same results faster is a more desirable alternative. While every woman tends to have a custom ritual when it comes to hair styli... Read More


text: Blue are an English pop boy band consisting of four members: Lee Ryan, Duncan James, Antony Costa, and Simon Webbe. The band has had success runs with over 7 million records sold globally. The group originally formed in 2001 before parting ways in 2005. However, in April 2009, the group reunited and it was announced that the Best of Blue Tour will take place in December 2009.


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@1 File Store PRO v3.2
Member access + file archive system with multi-level
folders. Users are differently grouped. Different groups have
different access permission to different folders.
Available now !
Built on AJAX technology, now viewers may switch to another
month or view events without having to reload the whole
page. The calendar can be called via PHP INCLUDE.
No MySQL required.
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text:
Suunto Traverse –
Go Explore
When you go off the beaten path, it's not only about exploring the wilderness, but an inner journey to yourself. Let go of your hesitation, allow uncertainty change into confidence, doubt into the joy of succeeding. Out in nature, adventure turns into everlasting memories.
Suunto Traverse is your ideal companion on treks in the wild. Plan your route in Suunto Movescount with topographic maps and stay on course with the GPS navigation. The powerful battery of Suunto Traverse keeps you exploring hour after hour.


text:
Come along for your annual family photo with Santa at The Grounds!
This December, Santa will be calling The Grounds home again, with special visit in the evening's! He'll be busy working through the night, but will be inviting you into his home each evening from 4pm - 8pm, Thursday 18th - Friday 22th December for photos with the whole family (pets included!).
Pre-book your day and time of your choice.
You'll find Santa's home near The Pizza Silo in The Garden.
For Santa photos, please note:
Image is for reference only, and represents our 2016 photo installation. Santa's clever elves have been busy renovating and decorating the living room and are excited to show you their room reveal soon!
Bookings will close 24 hours prior to each day. All remaining places will be offered to guests on a walk-in basis on the day.
There's no maximum amount of people for a photo, however, we recommend no more than 6 at a time but it's completely up to you and we will accommodate as needed.
We love our 4 legged friends and so of course dogs are welcome to join, they are part of the family after all! (Pets are allowed within The Garden, The Potting Shed and in the terrace of The Café, with doggy parking outside The Cafe for those wanting to take a stroll and let their pooch rest near a water bowl).
Photo package available: $60 for 1 print (6x8 inches/15x20 cm) and a USB loaded with your pictures (HD) snapped during the entire session. Additional reprints will be available to be purchased on the day, for $5 each.
Early Bird tickets will be available until December 1st, please note that the price will increase after this date.
Please be ready for your allocated time slot for preference over walk-in guests.
Limited availability for walk-ins available on the day.
Santa is waiting for you! Ho Ho Ho!


text:
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KENNESAW, Ga. (Nov. 21, 2013) – The ETSU volleyball team begins defense of its Atlantic Sun Championship crown Friday night as Buccaneers open tournament play at 7:30 p.m. inside the KSU Convocation Center.
The Bucs, who secured the No. 2-seed after going 22-8, 16-2 in regular season play, await the winner of No. 3 Lipscomb/No. 6 Kennesaw State in Friday's second semifinal match. Lipscomb and Kennesaw State square off in the quarterfinals Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
The winner of Friday's semifinal match will play for the A-Sun Championship on Saturday at 3 p.m.
The Bucs had a pair of win streaks snapped last Saturday as Jacksonville swept the Blue and Gold (19-25, 17-25, 35-37) inside Brooks Gym. The setback ended ETSU's 15-match home win streak and nine-match overall win streak.
Megan Devine (Kingsport, Tenn.) collected her 12th straight double-double (21st of the season) after finishing with 15 kills and 10 digs, while passing Karen Freeburg (2001-04) for third all-time on the ETSU digs list with 1,459.
Junior Meredith Hardy (Kingsport, Tenn.) added eight kills and nine blocks, but it was Jacksonville's Sammie Strausbaugh and Taylor Nyquist that lifted Jacksonville to its seventh straight victory. Strausbaugh, the 2012 A-Sun Freshman of the Year, ended with 19 kills and 10 digs, while Nyquist added 13 kills and 15 digs.
The loss marked the Bucs' first home setback since dropping a four-set match to Lipscomb back on Oct. 6, 2012. In addition, it also marked the first time ETSU was swept at home since Belmont took three from the Blue and Gold on Nov. 12, 2011.
ETSU vs. TOURNAMENT FIELD
This season, ETSU went 8-2 against the tournament field, with the only two setbacks coming against Jacksonville.
In the eight wins, four were five-set victories, while three came via the sweep. As a team, the Bucs averaged 13.06 kills, 12.06 assists, 1.48 service aces, 13.21 digs, and 3.05 blocks per set in those victories, including a .246 (431-157-1116) attack percentage. Meanwhile, ETSU held the opposition to 11.03 kills, 10.79 assists, 1.03 service aces, 13.64 digs, 1.82 blocks per set, and hit .152 (364-196-1102).
Individually, Devine averaged 4.36 kills and 3.09 digs, while Hardy and Khadijah Wiley (Columbus, Ga.) combined to hit .352 (129-30-281) in those eight contests. Hardy posted a .348 clip (84-22-178) and averaged 1.64 blocks per set, while Wiley hit .359 (45-8-103). Junior setter Jamie Rutledge (Kingsport, Tenn.) accounted for 349 of ETSU's 398 assists and fellow junior Bethany Gesell (High Point, N.C.) tallied 15 of the Bucs' 49 service aces.
In the two losses (both versus Jacksonville), ETSU averaged 12.50 kills, 12.00 assists, 0.50 service aces, 11.75 digs and 3.12 blocks, including a .219 attack percentage (100-40-274). Meanwhile, the Dolphins posted 14.25 kills, 13.38 assists, 1.00 service aces, 14.38 digs, and 2.25 blocks per set, while also hitting .237 (114-48-278).
The Bucs are 44-32 all-time against the 2013 A-Sun Tournament field – 15-0 vs. Stetson, 11-4 vs. Kennesaw State, 8-11 vs. Lipscomb, 6-10 vs. Jacksonville and 4-7 vs. FGCU.
The Bucs are 4-2 all-time inside the KSU Convocation Center.
Since joining the A-Sun in 2006, ETSU is 7-5 all-time in tournament play.
The Bucs have reached the tournament six of the seven times and have reached the semifinals or finals in all six appearances.
Last year, ETSU won the 2012 A-Sun Championship and made its first trip to the NCAA Tournament. Megan Devine was named A-Sun Tournament MVP, while Meredith Hardy and Bethany Gesell were also named to the all-tournament team.
In last year's tournament, Devine averaged 3.67 kills (44 total) and 3.42 digs (41 total) in the three matches, while Hardy registered 3.25 kills (39 kills) and 1.58 blocks (19 total), along with hitting .342. Gesell averaged 3.08 kills (37 total).
In tournament play, ETSU is 3-4 against the 2013 field – 2-0 vs. Kennesaw State, 1-2 vs. Lipscomb, and 0-2 vs. Jacksonville.
Friday's match will be broadcast live on ESPN3, while live stats will be provided via Stat Broadcast.
Twitter updates can be accessed by following @ETSUAthletics and @ETSUVolleyball.
ETSU fans wanting to receive Buccaneer news, score updates, in-game promotions and much more sent to their mobile device can do so by signing up for "Buc Updates." Click here to sign up today!
For more information on Buccaneer volleyball, visit ETSUBucs.com.
The Bucs have recorded consecutive 20-plus win seasons and have accomplished the feat in three of the last four campaigns. Over the last four years, the Blue and Gold have totaled 86 victories, while ETSU's 16 conference wins this year mark a program record.
By claiming a share of the regular season title, the Bucs have won six regular season championships in program history – 2006 and 2013 (A-Sun), 1991, 1987-89 (SoCon).
ETSU placed three on the 2013 all-conference list as Megan Devine and Meredith Hardy were named First Team All-Atlantic Sun and Katie Muey landed second team honors. Devine, the 2012 Player of the Year, has received first team all-conference honors in each of the last three seasons, while Hardy has earned the honor in consecutive seasons. Muey's second team honor marked the first for the junior libero.
Meanwhile, Devine and Hardy landed all-academic accolades on Monday, while Hardy was also named co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Earlier this year, Devine and Hardy broke all-time A-Sun marks. Devine is the all-time conference leader in kills with 1,925, while Hardy is the all-time blocks leader with 468. Devine is also the all-time ETSU leader in kills, while ranking second among active NCAA Division I Players. Hardy also broke the ETSU all-time block assists mark and currently has 398 in 95 total matches played. The junior middle blocker has also recorded at least one block in 90 straight matches, while Devine has played in all but two of the possible 130 matches.
ETSU compiled a pair of nine-match win streaks during the year.
In the Bucs' 22 wins, ETSU is averaging 14.25 kills, 13.28 assists, 1.36 service aces, 14.48 digs, and 3.03 blocks per set, while holding the opposition to 11.29 kills, 10.88 assists, 1.09 service aces, 13.22 digs, and 1.85 blocks per set. Individually, Megan Devine is posting 4.71 kills and 3.48 digs per set in the wins, while Hardy is hitting .363 (238-63-482) and averaging 1.65 blocks in the victories. Katie Muey is also averaging 4.08 digs in those 22 matches.
On the flip side, the Bucs are averaging 11.97 kills, 11.39 assists, 1.06 service aces, 10.16 digs and 2.23 blocks per set in their eight losses, while the opposition is recording 12.58 kills, 11.68 assists, 1.48 service aces, 11.52 digs, and 2.37 blocks per set. Devine is averaging 4.11 kills and 2.25 digs, while Hardy is totaling 2.77 kills and 1.23 blocks per in the setbacks. Muey is averaging 3.03 digs per set.
This season, Devine recorded double-digit kills in all 29 matches and double-digit digs 21 times for the Blue and Gold. Hardy registered double-digit kills 17 times, hit over .500 seven times, and had two matches with 10-plus blocks. Muey totaled double-digit digs in 26 matches, and tied a career-high with 22 in the five-set win at Marshall. In addition, Muey also registered double-digit digs in 17 of the 18 conference matches.
For more information on Buccaneer volleyball, visit ETSUBucs.com.


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Fact Sheet
Fluconazole (Diflucan)
May 16, 2012
Antifungals fight infections caused by different kinds of fungus. Fluconazole fights opportunistic infections in people with HIV. Pfizer manufactures it. Baxter manufactures the generic version approved in 2000.
Antifungals fight infections caused by different kinds of fungus. Fluconazole fights opportunistic infections in people with HIV. Pfizer manufactures it. Baxter manufactures the generic version approved in 2000.
The yeast infection candidiasis, or thrush, is fairly common. It can be more serious in people with HIV. See Fact Sheet 501 for more information on thrush. Another opportunistic infection, cryptococcal meningitis, is discussed in Fact Sheet 503. Fluconazole has been approved to treat both of these infections.
However, a recent study found that people being treated for cryptococcal meningitis had a high risk of immune reconstitution disease (IRIS, see Fact Sheet 483) if they started anti-HIV therapy. The researchers suggest delaying HIV treatment until the meningitis infection is cleared.
Some doctors also use fluconazole to treat other opportunistic infections caused by fungus.
What About Drug Resistance?Whenever you take medication, be sure to take all of the prescribed doses. Many people stop if they feel better. This is not a good idea. If the drug doesn't kill all of the germs, they might change (mutate) so that they can survive even when you are taking medications. When this happens, the drug will stop working. This is called "developing resistance" to the drug.
For example, if you are taking fluconazole to fight thrush and you miss too many doses, the thrush in your body could develop resistance to fluconazole. Then you would have to take a different drug or combination of drugs to fight thrush.
Many doctors prefer to treat thrush with creams, or lozenges that dissolve in the mouth. Thrush is much less likely to develop resistance when the treatment is applied directly to the infection instead of through the whole body.
How Is It Taken?Fluconazole is available in several forms. It comes in tablets of 50, 100, 150, or 200 milligrams (mg). It is also available in granules to prepare a liquid form, and as a liquid for intravenous use. The dose and the length of time you will take it depend on the type of infection you have.
If you have had kidney problems, your doctor might need to reduce your dose of fluconazole.
You can take fluconazole with or without food.
What Are the Side Effects?The most common side effects of fluconazole are headache, nausea and pain in the abdomen. A few people get diarrhea. Most antiretroviral medications (ARVs) cause problems in the digestive system. Fluconazole could make those problems worse.
Fluconazole can be hard on the liver. Your doctor will probably watch your lab results carefully for any sign of liver damage. Let your doctor know if your urine gets dark or your bowel movements get light-colored.
Fluconazole can also cause kidney damage. Let your doctor know if you notice a rapid increase in your weight, or if any part of your body gets swollen.
In rare cases, fluconazole can cause a serious reaction (Stevens-Johnson syndrome) that shows up as a skin rash.
Pregnant women or women who are breastfeeding should not take fluconazole.
How Does It React With Other Drugs?
Fluconazole is processed mostly by the kidneys. It does not interact very much with drugs that use the liver, including most ARVs used to fight HIV. However, fluconazole interacts with indinavir (Crixivan), ritonavir (Norvir), and zidovudine (Retrovir, AZT). It also interacts with several other types of drugs. These include some blood thinners, seizure medications, water pills (diuretics), pills to lower blood sugar, and other antibiotics. Be sure your doctor knows about all the medications you are taking.
This article was provided by AIDS InfoNet. Visit AIDS InfoNet's website to find out more about their activities and publications.


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Astros capitalize on review, eclipse '13 win total
BOSTON -- As the media filed into the cramped space that was manager Bo Porter's office for the Astros' four-day stay at Fenway Park, the muffled shouts of bench coach Dave Trembley could be heard on the other side of the door.
"What a ballgame! What a ballgame!"View Full Game Coverage
BOSTON -- As the media filed into the cramped space that was manager Bo Porter's office for the Astros' four-day stay at Fenway Park, the muffled shouts of bench coach Dave Trembley could be heard on the other side of the door.
"What a ballgame! What a ballgame!"View Full Game Coverage
What a ballgame, indeed.
Jose Altuve went 4-for-5 and cranked his first career grand slam home run to cap a six-run outburst in the second inning following a crucial replay overturn of an inning-ending double play, helping send the Astros to an 8-1 win over the Red Sox and a split of the series Sunday afternoon. With their 52nd victory, the Astros surpassed their win total from a season ago.
"Oh man, the big guy," Porter said of his 5-foot-6 All-Star second baseman. "He put a charge in that one. Every time we have situational hitting and we let them pick their situation, Altuve, as always, he goes: 'Bases loaded, bases loaded!' He got bases loaded today and put a really good swing on it."
Altuve, Dexter Fowler and Jon Singleton each homered for the Astros, who have 16 games of at least three home runs (14-2). Altuve became the first Astro to collect a grand slam and four hits in a game since Jeff Bagwell on April 9, 2004, at Milwaukee.
Altuve leads the Major Leagues in hits (173), batting average (.339) and multi-hit games (53).
"I feel really happy," he said, "we could take the lead early in the game and it's a big win for the Astros."
The grand slam never would have happened if Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts hadn't thrown a ball to first base before his foot touched second base when trying to turn a Marwin Gonzalez grounder into an inning-ending double play.
The Astros were leading, 2-0, and had runners at first and second with one out in the second when the play occurred. The replay showed Bogaerts released the ball too soon, meaning Marc Krauss should have been safe at second. Porter asked for a review, and the umpires checked with the replay center in New York before reviewing and subsequently overturning the call.
The overturned call put runners at second and third with two outs, and Robbie Grossman drew a walk to load the bases. Altuve followed by launching a grand slam over the Green Monster to break the game open and break the Red Sox's spirits.
"Pat Listach, our third-base coach, he did a great job," Porter said. "He turned around right away and was motioning to the bench, and I had already headed out there after that. Because it's the last out of the inning, you have to be on the field within 10 seconds, and our video team did a great job of getting the information down to the bench.
"Right away, by the time I got to the umpire, I knew that I wanted to challenge. Just wanted to make sure obviously that you're not challenging the neighborhood play, which is something that you can't challenge."
Astros starter Collin McHugh (6-9) won his second consecutive start by holding the Red Sox to one run and seven hits in six innings. He's allowed one run in each of his four August starts, going 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA.
"Results are great, but I think it's obviously still a work in progress," he said. "Every day you're coming to the park and trying to get a little bit better, so I think we did some good things today and we definitely have some things to work on leading up to the next start. Overall, we're happy to get the win. It's a great team win. The offense really bailed me out, so it was nice."
The Astros loaded the bases with no outs in the second against Joe Kelly (0-1 AL, 2-3 overall) for Krauss, who hit a fly ball to left field that Yoenis Cespedes misplayed into a run-scoring single. Matt Dominguez followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.
Kelly, who allowed seven runs, seven hits and walked six in four innings, said the overturned call in the second didn't negatively affect his psyche.
"You've got to find a way to lock back in," he said.
Brian McTaggart is a reporter for MLB.com and writes an MLBlog, Tag's Lines. Follow @brianmctaggart on Twitter.


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Communities across Southern Africa are looking to new ways of coping with the impacts of climate change, mainly the droughts and floods which are disrupting their farming cycles and undermining their livelihoods. They are learning how to sustainably manage the natural resources that are critical to sustain them in uncertain conditions.
At the same time, there is growing recognition that development assistance policies do not properly take into account the impacts of climate change and are therefore in danger of proving counterproductive. IUCN's Climate Change and Development project which is underway in Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia is working to address this. The project aims, in conjunction with its implementing partners, to ensure that climate change policies and activities incorporate the role of healthy ecosystems such as forests and watersheds in supporting agriculture and livelihoods, and increasing community resilience to climate stress in the long term.
Farmers who practice conventional agricultural methods on degraded soils and rely on costly fertilizers have become highly susceptible to climate change and have suffered frequent crop failure. By adopting conservation agriculture, which involves, for example, diversifying and rotating the range of crops they grow and learning new skills such as beekeeping, these farmers can increase their yields and regenerate their soils and their local environment. And, by becoming more self-sufficient, they can free themselves from government food aid.
In Zambia and Tanzania assessments have been carried out among farmers, beekeepers and fishermen on how to improve their physical and economic security. Ecosystem-based actions such as conservation agriculture, small-scale irrigation and rainwater harvesting offer significant potential as does the sustainable use of non-timber forest products such as indigenous fruits and vegetables.
Here, one farmer from the rural region of Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia describe how climate change is affecting them and how they are changing their practices to try to adapt.
"I am Peter Malata. The problems we used to have were due to late cultivation but now we are told to plant early and we have started to practice conservation farming. Burning charcoal has destroyed our local vegetation but we have now stopped this. We used to have a lot of trees in this area but people came from other places to cut them. We are thankful for the people who are teaching us about farming. If we follow their teachings we will reduce poverty in our villages.
The advantage of conservation farming is that the soil is maintained and helps to hold water. We keep the grass cover now so that in hot periods the soil is protected. Although I have a house in Lusaka, I came to live here. I want to encourage my friends who do not have homes in town to move to the villages and find a place where they can live and start farming because it is cheaper to grow your own food than to buy it."
For more information, please visit: https://www.iucn.org/knowledge/news/ focus/2009_eba/ground/?4151/Eye-witness- Zambia
For more information, please contact [email protected]


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From MeritBadgeDotOrg
(→Philmont Training Center: fix link)
(→Philmont Training Center: fix links)
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* [http://www.scouting.org/highadventure/philmont/ptc/ptccourses.aspx Online course catalog] - schedule and descriptions of weeklong summer conferences.
* [http://www.scouting.org/highadventure/philmont/ptc/ptccourses.aspx Online course catalog] - schedule and descriptions of weeklong summer conferences.
* [http://www.scouting.org/highadventure/philmont/ptc/attendingconferences.aspx Attending Conferences] - everything you'll need to know to attend a conference.
* [http://www.scouting.org/highadventure/philmont/ptc/attendingconferences.aspx Attending Conferences] - everything you'll need to know to attend a conference.
* [http://www.scouting.org/highadventure/philmont/ptc/
* [http://www.scouting.org/highadventure/philmont/ptc/.aspx Training Center Facilities] - accommodations, facilities, and policies.
* [http://www.scouting.org/highadventure/philmont/ptc/
* [http://www.scouting.org/highadventure/philmont/ptc/.aspx Family Programs] - programs for all members of the family.
* [http://www.scouting.org/highadventure/philmont/ptc/yourweek.aspx Typical Week's Schedule]
* [http://www.scouting.org/highadventure/philmont/ptc/yourweek.aspx Typical Week's Schedule]
* [http://www.scouting.org/highadventure/philmont/ptc/programs.aspx Family Programs]
* [http://www.scouting.org/highadventure/philmont/ptc/programs.aspx Family Programs]
Revision as of 03:57, March 4, 2009
Philmont Scout Ranch is the Boy Scouts of America's premier High Adventure™ base. Philmont challenges Scouts and Venturers with more than 200 square miles of rugged New Mexico wilderness. Backpacking treks, horseback cavalcades, and training and service programs offer young people many ways to experience this legendary country.
Philmont Scout Ranch covers 137,000 acres of rugged mountain wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo (Blood of Christ) range of the Rocky Mountains in northern New Mexico, near Cimmeron, NM. See Philmont Overview and FAQ for more.
Philmont Treks
Troops, Teams, Crews, and Council contingents plan expeditions for crews of seven to 12 members often years in advance. Philmont Treks provides an unforgettable adventure in sky-high backpacking country along hundreds of miles of rugged, rocky trails. Program features combine the best of the Old West - horseback riding, burro packing, gold panning, chuckwagon dinners, and interpretive history - with exciting challenges for today, such as rock climbing, burro racing, mountain biking, and .30-06 rifle shooting. It's an unbeatable recipe for fast-moving fun and the outdoors. See the Information for Hikers and the 2010 Philmont Registration Packet for more information.
Philmont Training Center
Founded in 1950, the Philmont Training Center (PTC) is the only national volunteer training center for the Boy Scouts of America. More than 6,000 Scouters and family members attend PTC each year. Each conference features the latest tools and techniques, audiovisuals, discussions, idea sharing, and activities led by a faculty of experienced Scouters. Invitation to these conferences is upon recommendation of the local council or a national committee.
Family Programs provide age-appropriate activities for every member of the family from infants to spouses.
- Cub Scout age boys and girls participate in nature hikes, picnics, pony rides, lawn games, songs and skits, day hikes, sports, museum tours, and handicrafts.
- Webelos age boys and girls add activities such as archery, pony rides, air rifle shooting. 10-year-olds can also take part in the parent-child overnighter.
- Boy Scout age boys and girls who qualify can add an overnight hike to their schedule.
- Silverados are spouses or other adults who are not attend a conference. Silverados can choose from museum visits, tours, nature walks, trips to nearby towns, COPE, fishing, and day-hiking.
What if you have a son or daughter who wants to hike at Philmont but cannot attend with a traditional Philmont Crew? The Mountain Trek option is for qualified young men and women who are 14 years old, but not yet 21. Mountain Trek crews take part in a week-long backpacking experience where they will cover 20 to 30 miles in the backcountry.
Here are some key Philmont Training Center links:
- Online course catalog - schedule and descriptions of weeklong summer conferences.
- Attending Conferences - everything you'll need to know to attend a conference.
- Training Center Facilities - accommodations, facilities, and policies.
- Family Programs - programs for all members of the family.
- Typical Week's Schedule
- Family Programs
- For more information
- Philmont History
Here is the link to traditional Philmont treks that typically last 10-12 days.


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Posted by Andrew Holzman | May 8, 2013
Hyde Park Bites – South Side Shrimp
By Richard Deulofeut
Restaurant-paparazzi and food bloggers are already responding to what
the Chicago Eater has called the "Hyde Park explosion." Connections to
Chicago dining institutions like Longman & Eagle and Matthias Merges'
Yusho are turning gourmand heads south, for once. I will admit that I
too have joined the overblown hype. The Promontory and Porkchop
already have me fan-girling, but can you blame me? Once the dust
settles around Hyde Parks food renaissance, what are the odds we will
have an oasis of gastronomic delights? High, or so I hope.
Then again, my positive attitude might be misplaced, if South Side
Shrimp can be considered a sign of what's to come in Hyde Park.
Settled into the renovated Del Prado Hotel on 53rd Street and South
Hyde Park, South Side Shrimp looks decent enough from the outside and,
I have to admit, has done remarkable work advertising itself to the
community. Anyone who lives within two square miles of this place has
probably seen one of their (confusing) menus. Actually entering the
restaurant, though, may prove to be the moment you realize you should
have ordered to go. The sterile décor doesn't do the place any favors.
Tacky decorations are mounted on crimson red walls, with the
occasional nautically themed item popping up from the corner. The
room's awkwardness begs the question– did they ever expect to see
customers walk through the door in the first place?
This is a fast food establishment, as the restaurant itself
acknowledges, so the décor is at least somewhat forgivable. But what
about the food? Well, again, this is fast food, and the main item on
the menu is fried shrimp– don't come expecting light, delicate
flavors. If anything, I'd be satisfied if the shrimp left me
consistently craving more; that's the whole charm of fried anything.
The problem is that the so-called culinary centerpiece of the
establishment leaves much to be desired.
A meal comes with a half-pound of "fresh" shrimp, a small order of
fries, coleslaw or macaroni, and a soda. While there is certainly
quantity, any quality that might have existed probably dissolved into
nothing with the over-fried batter. South Side's signature shrimp
suffers from an identity crisis – am I a breaded fast-food item or a
well-seasoned boiled shrimp? – and the results are a third combination
worth less than either of them. If it wasn't for the congealed
cocktail sauce on the side, I might have just left it how I found it.
Appearances are not always what they seem, and this proves true with
many of the dishes here. Take, for instance, the Shrimp and Corn
Chowder. It is obvious that the soup is homemade each day just by the
smells that radiate from it. Bur the aromas break down into a runny
soup with neither the heft nor the richness of chowder. Whenever corn
appeared in my spoon, which was far too uncommon, the sweet and thick
taste I had anticipated flickered but it was no more than a tease. As
for the shrimp, it added almost nothing, drowned in the liquid base.
Where did the smells of the New England coast go? All I could do was
wonder. There were other items worth at least mentioning. The fries
were deep-fried past the edges of the potato, an order of clam strips
displayed the typical chewiness one would expect from mass
manufactured seafood, and the hushpuppies were nothing but breading.
By now it should be obvious that South Side Shrimp is far from the
culinary gems expected to dazzle 53rd Street soon. It's worth
mentioning, though, that the staff are friendly and the
"neighborhood-hangout" vibe is intact. South Side Shrimp is
establishing itself as a local Hyde Park eatery, which makes it all
the more frustrating that the food is generally so lackluster.
Rating: 2/5
South Side Shrimp, 5319 S. Hyde Park Blvd. Monday-Sunday, 10am-10pm.
(773) 952-6162. southsideshrimp.com


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Stroke Association is a Company Limited by Guarantee, registered in England and Wales (No 61274). Registered office: Stroke Association House, 240 City Road, London EC1V 2PR.
Registered as a Charity in England and Wales (No 211015) and in Scotland (SC037789). Also registered in Northern Ireland (XT33805), Isle of Man (No 945) Jersey (NPO 369).


text:
Nanoparticles in Biology and Materials: Engineering the Interface through Synthesis
Published on
Monolayer-protected nanoparticles provide versatile tools for nanotechnology. In our research, we use these nanoparticles as building blocks for the creation of functional magnetic and electronic nanocomposite materials. Simultaneously, we are using these particles as scaffolds for biomolecular recognition. These materials exploit the size (similar to that of proteins) and surface tunability of nanoparticles for applications including biomacromolecule recognition and delivery.
Cite this work
Researchers should cite this work as follows:
WTHR 201, Purdue University


text:
When Booooooom! featured Bosque and it caught my eye and found a place in my heart. Much of their work is playful but with very simple philosophies. The Good Mood! is probably easily attainable if people believed in Fun For Ever.
One of the biggest pleasures for me is listening to music. My ipod has been on death's dock for a wee while now but I have a replacement and today when I walked to work and had a full journey of music, I realised how much I missed having this. I also realised that due to my short attention span the only time I truly listened was when I was walking.
So with music back in my life, I have been busy discovering the new and also the old.
Tonight, I will go to bed enveloped by the sweet sounds of Vera's Take Me To The Bridge. Tomorrow I will wake up to a buen dia, por su puesto.


text:
Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
Chelsea miss out on Guardiola signature
Bayern Munich have won the race to sign up Pep Guardiola in a move which raised fresh questions over who will manage Chelsea next season.
Guardiola will move to Germany in the summer and has signed a three-year contract, with Bayern's impressive appointment quashing the prospect of the former Barcelona boss moving to the Barclays Premier League in the near future.
Chelsea have been repeatedly linked with the man Blues owner Roman Abramovich is reputed to admire greatly. Reports have claimed he was offered a lucrative contract to take over when interim manager Rafael Benitez's stint finishes at the end of the season, and it has been confirmed that Guardiola turned down more money from elsewhere.
Chelsea have never confirmed their interest in the former Spain midfielder, but his record at Barcelona, where he won 14 trophies in four years, made Guardiola the most sought-after out-of-work coach in world football.
It emerged that Guardiola signed up for Bayern before Christmas. His agent Josep Maria Orobitg said: "I don't know exactly which day, around the 20th or the second half of December."
Speaking on EFE Radio, Orobitg added: "He chose Bayern because of all the teams from which he had offers it was the best. We were looking over the offers and this isn't the team which offered the most money. It was chosen for the organisation there, for the potential that he sees, and for their players."
That raised the possibility that a Premier League club had offered big money to Guardiola, although AC Milan and wealthy Paris St Germain had also been credited with interest in him. Orobitg added: "There have been things coming out from all sides that there had been offers, real meetings, false meetings, trips which didn't exist.
"From Christmas he had to choose his future. All this has been signed for some time. I didn't know that they were going to announce it this afternoon. In fact they informed me at 12 that it was coming out in a statement."
Former England midfielder Owen Hargreaves, who came through the Bayern ranks, believes moving to the Allianz Arena was an understandable step. "Obviously Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United are some of the biggest clubs in the world but Bayern Munich is easily among that top five," Hargreaves said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
The appointment of Guardiola came as a shock to former Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas. The Portuguese, now at Tottenham, told CNN World Sport: "I'm so surprised that I asked my media advisor from Tottenham if it was true. Obviously it's a big, big club, one of the biggest clubs in the world, in a league where we didn't maybe expect Guardiola to be in."


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WORCESTER'S MP today leads a passionate rallying call urging Scotland to reject independence - after being tasked with investigating the issue on behalf of parliament.
Your Worcester News can reveal how Robin Walker has played a central role in a key commons investigation around the issue.
Since May the city's MP has spent time examining the pros and cons of Scottish independence, including visits to Glasgow and Edinburgh, as well as lengthy evidence-taking sessions in London with an array of key players and economic experts.
His work, done alongside a panel of MPs sitting on the business, innovation and skills select committee, is being published today for the benefit of the Government and country as a whole.
Mr Walker says during the investigation he has become convinced both England and Scotland would suffer if they were apart - and that the impact will be felt even in areas like Worcester.
He has also accused some pro-independence campaigners of being "sinister" by trying to scaremonger.
His defence of the union is among the most passionate from parliamentarians since Mr Cameron said a 'yes' vote would "break" his heart.
Mr Walker said: "Let's be absolutely clear, there are real problems with the independence campaign.
"I do think there is something sinister about the amount of pressure being put on people, by those claiming staying part of the union would cost Scotland.
"When we took evidence we found so many claims about the economics of it just do not stack up.
"There would be a loss to businesses, to the university system, to pensions and that deeply worries me.
He also said companies "on both sides of the border" would suffer if the yes vote wins.
A squeeze on university funding would mean less places for students in Worcester looking to join an institution north of the border, while if city businesses ties loosen with Scottish firms, that could also affect their trade.
Mr Walker said: "It poses a risk to businesses on both sides of the border and to the universal postal service provided by the Royal Mail.
"During our visits to gather evidence I was deeply concerned by the fact that some of the businesses and groups who gave us evidence seemed to have been intimidated by the Scottish Government and were afraid of speaking out about their concerns on the risks of Independence.
"Despite this the evidence and the conclusions of the cross-party select committee are very clear."
The vote on Scottish independence is on Thursday, September 18.


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Saturday, July 4th 2009, 1:53pm
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Supreme Member
Thursday, July 9th 2009, 12:17pm