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Over the last year I have spoken to 42 different women on the Learning Curve Podcast. From all walks of life across the Middle East. Each time they have shared their entrepreneurial story, their challenges, their successes, how they organize their day, how they see social media, where they seem themselves on their own learning curve and so much more. It's been an amazing journey and I feel privileged that these ladies have opened up to me so that more women out their can take their own entrepreneurial journey. Their stories were all so different, so varied, so personal too yet there was a common pattern and this I feel came down to these 5 common traits.
1. Happiness
From my prospective - all my guests found a way to be happy. They were passionate about what they did, constantly rebuilding their vision and adding more layers to their business. This constant cultivation of their passion meant their negative thoughts were probably there but they kept them at bay because they really loved what they did. Through my interviews I could see a constant positive mindset, a can-do attitude and taking responsibilities for their own lives and happiness.
The Middle East has in the news this year been a wave of disruption, discontent and deterioration with very little to see if it is going to be better. But I believe happiness starts with one person first and then it radiates. All these women, given the unhappiness that exists around us, continue to thrive and grow even in the face of adversity. Jody Ballard recently told me that 'Women set the mood in the house… ', well if these women on the learning curve podcast are anything to go by then these women are setting the mood for the future and that is let's find our passion, be happy and take action.
2. Get Out of your Comfort Zone
3. Ask For Help
All my guests have sought help. They all recognized that in order to be successful at what they do, they can't do it alone and they have asked for help. Plus the fact we don't all have the skills needed to make something amazing happen. Synergy is another great word I like to use and I have been able to make that happen when I have connected people I think would be a great fit for one another on a number of occasions. Asking for help will help you climb your learning curve one step at a step.
Don' Listen to the Naysayers
This brings me back to my guests. All of them at some point heard the negative comments but they have refused to listen. Refusing to let 'you can't' be the heartbeat of their project. Their own self-determination which which was packed with motivation, good defiance and a 'can do' attitude pulled them through. We all create our own businesses to make money but sometimes passion does out ride money. I know we can always make money but we can't always just create passion about a product or service that has to be grown with the right amount of love and care.
Failure is just a dip on the learning curve. All curves have an upswing. Where are you on your Learning Curve?
I wish all the podcast's listeners and readers a Happy & Prosperous 2016.


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subset: commoncrawl


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|Ole Miss
|6′ 3″
|40 time:
Donte Moncrief went to Ole Miss as a highly recruited four-star wide receiver from tiny Raleigh, Mississippi and has done nothing but meet, if not surpass, all the high expectations. In fact, you could very easily make the case that through two and a half seasons Moncrief is the best receiver in program history (sorry Mike Wallace). Considering how erratic the QB play has been during Moncrief's tenure, 130 career receptions for nearly 2,000 yards and 18 TDs is quite a feat. Will he be the first receiver taken next May? It's too early to tell, and we don't even know if Moncrief will be in the 2014 NFL Draft as he's only a junior. Whether he enters 'The League' this year or next, he's going to be a good one.
- Fantastic combination of size, speed and athleticism.
- Has played at an elite level going against top SEC competition, despite usually being surrounded by less talent than opposing teams.
- Excellent frame for the position at 6-foot-3, 230-pounds. Big and strong.
- Very durable. Hasn't missed a game yet in two-plus seasons.
- Gets good separation off the line of scrimmage. Very physical with corners trying to jam him.
- Smooth route runner with good burst out of breaks.
- Good leaping ability. High-points the ball and uses frame well to box out defenders.
- Good body control. Dances a tight-rope along the sideline. Excellent on-field awareness.
- Shows good concentration when ball is in the air. Tracks the ball very well.
- Makes the catch in traffic and isn't afraid to go across the middle. Doesn't have alligator arms.
- Overall seems to be a good kid. Doesn't get into trouble and is very well liked amongst teammates, coaches and the community. A favorite of the student section.
- Is fast, but isn't a true burner. Might have difficulty taking the top off a defense at the next level.
- Doesn't always stretch the field vertically.
- Not an elite blocker yet. The skills to be a top-notch blocker at wide receiver are there though.
- Needs to use hands better and more consistently.
- Despite strong statistics, has disappeared at times with lackluster QB play.
- Sometimes struggles breaking free of double-coverage.
2013 Season Outlook
Moncrief entered the season with huge expectations and has played very well through little more than half a season (41 receptions for 647 yards and five TDs). He's really started to come on strong with the emergence of other receiving options like Laquon Treadwell and Ja-Mes Logan taking away constant double-teams. All-SEC accolades should be in store for Moncrief after the season. Improved play from QB Bo Wallace has also helped.
In terms of pro outlook, I absolutely love Moncrief. He's big, strong, fast and physical, and has played very well against some of the best defenses in the country, all while constantly facing double-coverage and dealing with inconsistent quarterbacks. He's not elite at any one thing; he's not the biggest, strongest, fastest nor has the best hands, but he's very good at everything. There's not a tremendous amount of holes in his game, simply put.
The bottom line is he's got the skill set to play outside receiver at a very high level in the NFL, and that's a hard thing to come by. He might not be the first receiver selected in the 2014 NFL Draft, as Sammy Watkins (Clemson), Marqise Lee (USC) and Mike Evans (Texas A&M) are also very highly viewed amongst personnel men, but I think Moncrief could be the best of the bunch long-term.
Draft Projection: Late 1st round.
Film Watched: Arkansas (2011, 2012, 2013), LSU (2012, 2013), Auburn (2013), Alabama (2012, 2013), Texas (2012), Mississippi State (2012).


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Maternity is such a unique experience. For a brief period of time, you share that special bond with your little one before they arrive. After that, time is an absolute blur!! Taking the time to look at photographs of your pregnancy will really bring you back; all of the feelings, emotions and excitement. If you have any doubts about a maternity session, I promise you won't regret it!
-RC Zajac Photography


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Latest News
Army releases name of soldier killed in wreck with stolen vehicle
The Army has released the name of the Fort Benning soldier who died Thursday from injuries sustained in a three-vehicle accident on Victory Drive.
Sgt. Joanna Joy Ringer, 21, was killed when the car she was driving was struck by a pickup truck reported stolen earlier in Columbus.
Ringer, a native of Loris, S.C., was assigned to the CONUS Replacement Center at Fort Benning where she worked in the personnel department.
The CRC is a unit of the 199th Infantry Regiment.
Ringer had been at Fort Benning since October 2005. She enlisted in the Army in June 2004.
Columbus police arrested the 17-year-old driver of the stolen pickup truck that ran into Ringer's vehicle.
Stayce Devon Walker of 1430 24th St., Columbus, is charged with homicide by vehicle, theft by receiving a stolen vehicle, selling cocaine, fleeing and attempting to elude police, two counts of reckless driving, two counts of having no state license, obstruction of justice, leaving the scene of an accident and crossing the center line.
He was scheduled to appear in Muscogee County Recorder's Court at 9 a.m.


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Sunday, 13 October 2019
Hyde Park, London
This spectacular half marathon travels through some of London's Royal parks, including Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, and past famous sites like Buckingham Palace and the Royal Albert Hall.
Sign up and help us raise vital funds to help beat heartbreak forever.
Sign up today using the code ROYAL50 and save 50% on your registration fee.
Sunday, 13 October 2019
Hyde Park, London
Places for the 2019 Royal Parks Half Marathon are now open! To register for a charity place you will need to pay a £30 entry fee and pledge to raise a minimum of £350 excluding Gift Aid.
You can also support our team on the day by volunteering to cheer our runners on. If you would like to help out on race day, please get in touch with us and we'll send you more information.
Join our team and as well as the chance to help power life saving research, you'll benefit from:
If you already have a place and have paid your entry fee through the event organisers you can join our heart runners' team as an Own Place runner. There's no minimum fundraising target, just raise as much as you can.
Want to get started with your fundraising? Set up your online fundraising page now.
By signing up as an Own Place runner you must have already received your place and paid your entry fee directly to the event organiser.
Our events cannot happen without the help of our fantastic volunteers. If you would like to help out on race day, please get in touch with us and we'll send you more information.
Find out more about running for the BHF by getting in touch Monday - Friday 09:00 - 17:00:
Tel: 0300 222 5719
Email: [email protected]
Please note: This event is organised by Limelight Sports.
Your fundraising powers our lifesaving research. Sign up for the Royal Parks Half Marathon and help us continue making research discoveries to keep more hearts beating and blood flowing.
When you sign up, you'll receive a welcome letter that has everything you need to know about fundraising, including lots of fun ideas and helpful tips. We recommend you break your target into manageable chunks and create a plan to help you reach your goals.
Our experienced team are also full of inspirational ideas to boost your fundraising.
It's the easiest way to get sponsored. Let everyone know why you're taking part and update your page with photos and videos. Share your page on Facebook, Twitter and by email so your family and friends can sponsor you.
SET UP your fundraising page
Please note: This event is organised by Limelight Sports.


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Money is the biggest barrier to college success. We help students overcome that challenge.
We keep students on track by minimizing financial complexity and risk.
Personal, actionable guidance helps students through financial tasks and decisions over two critical years.Learn More
We develop solutions that are created with, and validated by our students.Learn More
We work with high schools and community organizations to prepare their students for higher education.Learn More
Be a part of the solution by making a donation, referring a partner, or becoming a corporate contributor.Join the Solution


text: We interview Randi Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media and author of Dot Complicated, which is now a multimedia platform spanning a radio show, a website, a children's book, an animated series, and more. Randi shares how she embraced her three-dimensionality and decided to take a portfolio approach to her career, as well as her advice for young artists (hint: it has to do with coding). Plus: why "well-lopsided" is better than "well-balanced," why you should own the casino rather than just play in one, and why singing is really good for you-even if you can't carry a tune.


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Starting from Dubrovnik and ending in Athens, this 11 day tour visits Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia and Serbia.
Welcome to Dubrovnik, upon your arrival, you will be welcomed and transferred to your hotel.
At 13:00, head out on a guided walk along the city walls, enjoying views of the Adriatic Sea. You'll also visit Big Onofrio's Fountain, built by the European architect Onofrio della Cava in the 15th century to supply water to the city, the 13th century Franciscan monastery and the Sponza and Rector's Palaces. At the end of your journey, perhaps you'd prefer to simply unwind on a beach.
After breakfast, we will drive along the Adriatic coast line towards to Split. In the afternoon we will have walking tour of the city visiting, Diocletian Palace, a Roman imperial palace and UNESCO World Heritage site. We will walk the southern part of palace, the Bronze Gates, through the Vestibul of the Emperor's Palace, The Mausoleum, St. Dujam's Cathedral, Cathedral Treasury, Temple of Jupiter, St. Martin's Church (Golden Gate) and conclude the tour at the fruit square and visit the Venetian castle, Milesi Palace and the Monument of Marko Marulic.
Today depart for Sarajevo via Mostar, a town situated in a beautiful valley in the high mountains of Herzegovina. The city was the most heavily bombed settlement in Bosnia during the war, but it has since been rebuilt and now features on UNESCO's World Heritage list. On the way, we visit the famous Stari Most Bridge, built by the Ottomans in 156. It was the great architect Mimar Hajrudin who succeeded with the impossible mission to cross the Neretva River with a single span stone bridge. Afterwards, we drive to Sarajevo, which is Bosnia and Herzegovina's small but vibrant capital. Twenty years after the end of a devastating war, Sarajevo is slowly asserting itself as one of Europe's most beautiful and interesting cities. The city mixes east and west dotted with minarets, mosques, bazaars and the aroma of coffee. In the evening, perhaps enjoy a simple but delicious meal in Bascarsija, Sarajevo's old bazaar and you must try the local specialty of 'bosanski cevapi' (grilled minced meat mixed with mild spices).
This morning, after breakfast, we depart for Serbia's capital, Belgrade, which is famous for its grand Orthodox churches and museums. In the evening, head down to Skadarska Street in the bohemian quarter of Skadarlija to sample some authentic local food and enjoy the lively atmosphere, in a place where Orthodox churches vie for space next to fashionable nightclubs.
Today, we will visit the city's wide boulevards and squares, and the historic and green heart of Kalemegdan Park. The park is home to Kelmegdan Fortress, which has overlooked the Danube River here for centuries.
Early departure from Belgrade towards to capital of Macedonia, Skopje. In the afternoon we head to the gorgeous Matka Canyon and Lake area. You can visit the several churches and monasteries in the area, explore caves or take an optional boat trip before returning back to Skopje.
The afternoon will be for gentle walking tour of the center, visit Kale Fortress, the Church of the Holy Savior with its iconostas, one of the finest samples of traditional walnut woodcarving, Old Bazaar and Stone Bridge.
This morning, we drive to Ohrid, this UNESCO world heritage site is known as the 'Macedonian Jerusalem' due to its large number of churches. Nestled on the shores of a large lake which is renowned for the clarity of its water. Discover highlights of Ohrid, The church of St. Sofia (11th century), the most eminent mediaeval monument in Macedonia with magnificent Byzantine fresco paintings and St. Clement Church with its icon of Annunciation.
Today we set off towards Thessaloniki, famous for its UNESCO listed Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments and the foreshore lined with cafes, cocktail lounges, bars and restaurants.
This morning we drive to Delphi where we will explore the incredible site and museum of Delphi. The sanctuary of Delphi, where the oracle of Apollo spoke, was the religious centre of the ancient Greek world. We then continue to Athens.
After breakfast, our tour concludes with a transfer to Athens airport.


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Over time, we have received requests for exceptions to our default space policies. If you want to turn on one of these exceptional policies (listed below), please contact Sococo Support. Provide a list of space names in your Organization requiring exceptional policies and someone on our Support Team will set them for you:
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text: I have a passive Geddy Lee Jazz that just makes a little too much hum with the solo'ed bridge pickup. I know that this noise is inherent in the design of single coil pickups. Just checking to see if anybody has made a great noise-free recording using just the bridge pickup, and if so, how? I love that sound, especially with some distortion to cut through. I was thinking in investing in a SD bassline Classic Stack pu, but would rather save the money. Glenn


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Book Title: The Attachment Parenting Book : A Commonsense Guide to Understanding and Nurturing Your Child
Author: William Sears
Format: Paperback | 192 pages
Publication Date: 07 Aug 2001
Attachment parenting is a highly intuitive, high-touch style of parenting that encourages a strong early attachment, and advocates consistent parental responsiveness to babies' dependency needs. Rather than give parents a strict set of rules about when to breastfeed or when to respond to a cry, The Sears' approach encourages parents to learn and work with their baby's particular cues. Their book focuses on the benefits of attachment parenting for both parent and child, and explains how attachment parenting improves development, makes discipline easier, and even promotes independence. There is further information on attachment parenting for working parents and on weaning your child from attachment parenting, as well as scientific research that explains why attachment parenting works.


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The August before I turned ten, Ugo ran away and did not come back. He warned me of this leavetaking by disguising it as a simple and temporary relocation.
We were sitting on a bench outside of an ice cream parlor when he told me. "Abelie, honeysuckle" he said. "I have to tell you something. I'm moving. To California. Next week. But only for a little while."
I knew then that he didn't plan on returning. He only spoke in such short, dire sentences, dusted off the affectionate "honeysuckle" when he was delivering bad news: "Honeysuckle, please. Listen. We cannot go to the zoo today." "Honeysuckle, darling. I think it's about time I told you. There is no Santa Claus." "Abelie, honeysuckle. I have to talk to you. Lupo was sick. While you were visiting Nonno and Nonna, we drove him away. To a farm. He will be happy there." "There is no more baby sister. In Mama's belly. I'm sorry, honeysuckle. I know you wanted her."
I dropped my hands into my lap. Sweet strawberry ice cream ran down the side of the cone and dr ipped through my fingers, oozing between my thighs. "Next week?" I repeated. "But my birthday's in a month," I said, as if he did not know.
"I'm sorry, honeysuckle."
"So you're not moving," I said skeptically, "so much as...going on a little trip."
Ugo looked uneasy. "Um. Yes. Right. A trip. I'll be back before you know it."
"Mmhm," I said with a note of finality. "Okay, Ugo."
"Now, who is Ugo? Just because I'm going to California doesn't mean I'm no longer your Papi." I wasn't so sure. Suddenly, my stomach hurt. I dropped my ice cream and it formed a wet, fragrant heap in the grass. I started to cry.
That spring, my mother had calmly and quietly asked Ugo for a divorce. That summer, he'd moved out of the house he'd shared with my mother and me and took a stuffy one-bedroom apartment with dirty wall-to-wall carpeting where I spent Wednesday nights and alternating weekends. In the apartment, Ugo and I said little to each other. This was not to say there was not an intimate bond between us: instead of words, we used music to fill the apartment. Ugo had an old Victrola player and The Beatles's White Album in very good shape. We used to sit at the garage-sale dining table with the fake wood grain and the fat, milky-white water stains with our hands folded and our eyes down, listening to the record wind and whir. We let the sounds of the songs fill up the rooms, slide through the slats in the venetian blinds, soak up the sunlight that seemed perverse and mocking in such a desperate place.
Once, memorably, Ugo danced to "Back In The USSR." He kicked his long, thin legs in the air like a marionette controlled by a shaky-handed alcoholic, jumping wildly, landing perilously. When he danced, he was serious. He kept his arms rigid, fisted, at his sides. His eyes and mouth were unsmiling.
"This is how I used to see my Papi dance," Ugo said. I nodded. I looked away.
Another time, "Rocky Raccoon" came on and Ugo held my hands and picked me just up off the floor, placing my feet on top of his. He took wide steps and waltzed me around the room and I laughed until he suddenly stopped. I was too big to play like that, he said harshly, with a kind of impatient anger in his voice, as if the dance had been my idea. The last of my laughter echoed through the empty house. Ugo stepped away from me and beheld me. There were several feet between us. Our stance was two lovers fighting. He retreated from the room into the kitchen, and I heard the crisp crack of a bottle opening, the tumble of liquor into the bottom of a glass. I turned to the mirror on the mantel and listened to the song play out in a shimmering shower of ragtime piano. I looked into my own eyes with dread, wondering how I had ended up his daughter. Wondering how our family had become so fragmented. Knowing that I was perhaps the only one Ugo had left in the world. Knowing that maybe I was doomed.
For I was young, but still I understood that I was more similar, on a fundamental, almost existential plane, to silent and stoic Ugo than I was to virtually anyone else in my life. That mirror told the truth: when I looked at me, I saw him. We had the same long limbs and high cheekbones, same eyes and fine hair, so black it was almost blue. But beyond this superficial similarity, when I turned away from the mirror I could see the deepening darkness inside of him; the sadness, the departure, the withdrawal. I wanted to point to the darkness, to look at it, to say, Yes. To say, I see. I recognize. I own.
He drove me home to my mother's house the next day. As he idled in the driveway, I could see my mother waiting for me on the porch. I could see her short blonde hair, in the bob style she'd had since I could remember; the bright pink collar of her linen shirt. She saw me see her and smiled more brightly. I could almost hear the silver bracelets she wore jingle as they fell down her arm when she waved. I unbuckled my seatbelt and put my hand on the door handle. As if reflexively, Ugo locked the doors with a decisive click.
"It's not three-thirty yet," he said. "Your mother wanted you back at three thirty."
I looked dubiously at the flat black numbers on the dashboard. "It's three twenty-eight," I said. "A little more time," said Ugo. "A little more time. Please."
That night, my mother played the Indigo Girls as she cooked us grilled eggplant and tomatoes.
"Your favorite food," she said, "to welcome you home." Every time I returned from Ugo's house, my mother insisted on making grilled eggplant: I ate the dish at least twice a week. It was hardly "my favorite;" I was ten years old, and no ten-year-old I know loves grilled eggplant. I resented my mother for doing this, for making things up about me that she imagined were true. Still, I loved the colors of the vegetables she grew in our garden, the scent and sound of garlic and oil sizzling in a pan, the sound of her little voice underneath the crashing cacophony of the Indigo Girl's "Fugitive." "Now it's coming to you, the lessons I've learned won't do you any good: you've got to get burned" she sang. I stood at the sink next to her and washed the soft tomatoes for her to peel.
During dinner, she told me about the weekend she'd had without me––the vintage picnic blanket she picked up at a garage sale, the movie she'd seen with her girlfriends as I swirled the tough strips of eggplant through the watery sauce.
"What did you and your father get up to?" she asked, restraint and caution balanced but poorly masked in her voice. I didn't say anything. "Now, Abelie! she exclaimed sharply. "So secretive!" My eyes immediately filled with tears, whether from the acidity of her tone or the exhaustion that typically followed my weekends with my father I don't recall. At ten, I was desperate for my mother's approval and hated it when she criticized me––especially when she was right. I was so taciturn when the subject of her ex-husband was brought up because I was afraid of how I felt about him and me, and afraid for him! She thought I was protecting him from her contempt. She didn't know how much I wanted to be her child! To have her energy, her distinct femininity, her vegetable garden, her collection of vintage linens. How much I wanted not to be irreversibly Ugo's child: odd, dark, foreign, afraid. When I returned to my mother's home at the end of my weekends at Ugo's, it felt like I was arriving at a place, to a person, that would never end, never abandon; while when in Ugo's apartment, I was weirdly and prematurely aware that this, us, would not last. That it would all be over startlingly soon. That I was haunting my father in the last weeks before he ran away for good; to observe him in the hole he'd dug for himself and to figure out how to avoid falling into a similar one myself.
For Ugo was not an ungenerous man. When he left me, he left me with me almost all I have: my name, my feeling of always apart, the way I look, think, speak, act, feel. When he left me, he left behind his dusty, lonely apartment, his records, his player, his empty bottles. When he left me, he told me he'd return for Christmas, but we both knew that he would never come back to that apartment where I learned how to love men and music in the way that each demands to be loved; where I began to unwrap Ugo song by song, line by line.
As much as I knew how his final departure from me would break my heart, I knew that he was broken worse, that Ugo was something less than fully a man and losing more and more of himself every day, losing to loss itself, this not-wholeness, this vacancy, this wanting. By the time he ran away, I was the only thing he had left. I knew that as much as I dreaded those nights and weekends in the musty, dusky, lonely apartment, he lived almost solely for them. Unlike all the others he'd disappeared from, I was his daughter and so I had to love him, to share with him, to commune. I was the only one left, and as much as I knew that all I had was his, I knew that in a different way, all that Ugo had––his unbearably empty home, his old record player, his aging body, the White Album, me, all of those things that he left behind in Ohio when he ran away forever––I had given him, too.
The White Album is the common name of The Beatles's formally self-titled ninth studio album, released in November, 1968. The album's lyrics are largely satirical, alluding not only to the turbulent, uneven political climate of the late 1960s but to the tension that was by that time starting to build within the band less than six months before their breakup. Perhaps in order to subvert this tension, the band and their producers conceived The White Album as a radical departure from the band's previous releases: the album's cover is artless, just a vacant white square with the band's name embossed left of center while previous albums, most notably Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, had whimsical, colorful cover art, and the genres explored in the album include British blues, transcendentalist folk, and ska. Thus, The White Album is wildly idiosyncratic, and it received distinctly mixed reviews from critics upon release, though it is now considered one of the best and most influential albums of all time and has sold more copies than any other Beatles album. The twenty-first century music journalism publication Pitchfork says that the White Album is "sprawling, overflowing with ideas and excess...not only a monument to unbridled creativity but a rock archetype."
It took Ugo nearly a month to get to California as he slowly made his way through the Midwest, stopping in nowhere towns for days-long binges, passing drunken nights in sodium-light drive-in motels or in the back of the car that carried him away. When he reached the coast, he was taken in by his well-married sister, my aunt, in Santa Cruz. In those years, my aunt was still sending my mother letters with hundred-dollar bills stuffed into the bottom of the envelope and news of Ugo's rapid unravelling between apologies for how he'd left us. When she got these letters, my mother would fold them, unread, into an old moth-eaten tablecloth which she'd shove into the back of a closet for me to pillage and pour over late at night, when she was at work. He never stayed in one place for long, my aunt said. He always went back to her.
In California, Ugo's spiral shortened as he finally succumbed to the the prying, needling fingers of disease, of alcoholism and unchecked anhedonia that had been reaching out to him for years. He slipped off of his medication, picked at his skin until it bled, spoke to the voices he and no one else could hear, believed things that shouldn't be believed. The walrus was Paul. For awhile, I heard from Ugo infrequently. He sent me birthday cards, intermittently, throughout the year, always on days that were not my birthday. On the cheap-paper envelopes he surely stole from some copy shop or postal station, heavy fingerprints showed near the creases, and the seals smelt sour. I would open the letters slowly, running my fingers slowly over the weak strip of adhesive, where he'd sealed the letter closed with his drunken spit. Inside the cards, always pastel-colored, hideously cheesy pieces of little-girl dreamworld nostalgia, in his hasty, spindly script, moving in and out of coherence, he'd frequently change tense, person, even language: Abelie, Honeysuckle. I'm working for a vet. If I saved enough money, I'm going to move in down the street from Venice Beach and out of Auntie Agata's house, with her six big dogs, woof woof woof woof woof woof, floppy ears, comi i cani della strada, and her husband Drake who looks like a dog. Mi manchi. Ti amo. Mi dispiace.
When I went to college, I hung a photo of Ugo on the cinderblock wall of my dorm room. This was the only photo, of family or otherwise, I hung when I was decorating. In the picture, Ugo sits on the gray concrete bird-shit-stained steps of the fountain outside of the Plaza Hotel in New York City. He wears round, gold-framed glasses and a short-sleeved button-down shirt in a rather dubious plaid pattern that incorporates a few too many shades of pink. He is smiling, and his teeth are square and very white. He is so young it breaks my heart.
On the back of the picture, I wrote my favorite line from "Fugitive:"
"I said, remember this as how it should be."
Early that semester, I left a party with Peter, who lived upstairs. We walked through the campus in the rain as it slowly waned to nothing. When we came to the bookstore, its lights off and doors shuttered, so late at night, we sat down on its stoop, which was the same gray as the fountain in front of the Plaza in the picture. We talked for hours, and it was revealed that we had almost everything in common: we both went to Catholic schools, loved James Joyce, smoked American Spirits in spite of ourselves, had no siblings and nurses for mothers. He asked me what I wanted to do.
I didn't answer for a while. "Music journalism," I finally said. Peter laughed. "What?" I asked. "Nothing. Just––you want to be a music journalist. I want to be a musician."
"My father is a musician," I said, and though this was hardly true, it was one of my favorite ways of endlessly exoticizing Ugo, remembering him as he should be, not as he is. A larger part of me than I cared to acknowledge still childishly wished that if I believe it, it must be true. Truth be told, I'd had no clue what he did or where he did it since the not-birthday cards stopped when I moved to college.
Peter smiled easily. "What does he play?" Records, I thought. "Guitar," I said. Again, the smile. "I play guitar."
Of course you do, I thought. Of course.
"Where do you want to go?" he asked, shortly thereafter.
"Home," I said. "We can go home."
He laughed. "Okay," he said. We stood up from the stoop and began walking toward our dorm. "I meant, though, where do you want to go, when this is all done, and we're out of here?"
"I'm not sure," I said. This was true. "London, maybe."
"London," he said. "A good place for a music journalist, probably. So is California. That's where I want to go. Maybe you'll come with me?"
I smiled. "No," I said simply, and I took his hand as we moved over slick, rain-battered streets toward our new home.
When we reached Peter's room, I sat on his bed and looked around at his bare walls as he began
to roll a joint. He had hung no photos of his father. He had hung no photos at all. The room quickly filled up with the smell of marijuana which lingered thickly in the humidity of the after-rain in the late summer and after he'd taken a hit he passed the joint to me, turning away to put a record on the tabletop player that sat on the edge of his bare desk. He slid a record out of a sleek square envelope, set it on the turnable, lifted the arm, and dropped the needle onto the disk. I closed my eyes and let the taste of the smoke in the haze rest gently on my tongue, waiting to hear the opening chords of the record, so familiar.
It was The Beatles. The White Album. "Dear Prudence." Peter noted my instant recognition. "I always play past 'Back In The USSR,'" he said. "It's nothing but a stupid novelty song." I made a small noise that barely acknowledged the depth of my disagreement.
"Airplane noises," he said.
When he kissed me, that night, he kissed me slowly, heavily, in the smoke-choked room; his hand wet and warm on the top of my thigh. Slowly, each song melted into the next in the way of a truly timeless album until we could hear nothing but the soft, respiratory sounds of the record's empty, endless, pointless loops.
"Julia" is the final song of the White Album's A side and the last one to be written for the album.
It's widely considered one of John Lennon's best and most haunting compositions. The lyrics are tangled and dense, recalling lines from Kahlil Gibran and Alice in Wonderland, but the song's most significant inspiration is the eponymous Julia, Lennon's mother. Julia was an evasive woman, absent for much of her son's childhood, who encouraged him in his love of music: Lennon's half-sister recalled fondly mother and son "jiving" around the living room to Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" on Lennon's infrequent visits. The song was written after Julia was killed in a car accident involving a drunk-driving off-duty policeman. It is said that the night she died, Lennon had a dream that he and his mother were standing on a beach, holding hands; this sweet dream inspires much of the song's oceanic imagery. Of her death, Lennon said only that he'd lost her twice: once, when she left him, as a child, and again when she died. For this reason, Pitchfork calls "Julia" "a piece of "painful autobiography." "Julia" was recorded at Trident Studios in London on October 13, 1968, exactly twenty-eight years to the day before I was born.
It happened a week after my twenty-first birthday. It happened in his sleep. He had lost his housing and was again sleeping in the bed she kept warm for him in my now-divorced Auntie Agata's house. It was one of her then-seven dogs that found Ugo, still and breathless, early the next morning. When Agata woke up at sunrise to walk the dogs along the pier, she found the dog curled up beside him in his deathbed. She called me moments later. On the east coast, it was still early morning, still dark, when my eyes snapped open at the ringing of the phone. Somehow I knew.
"Auntie Agata," I said when I picked up. " Cosa sta succedendo." It had been almost a decade since I'd spoken Italian, and I'd barely been fluent before then, but still, the words rolled off my tongue automatically that night, in the middle of the night.
I listened to her short-winded weeping, clutching a sheet around my bare body. I felt Peter start to stir beside me, and by the time I got my Auntie off the phone he was fully awake, his eyes wide and very white in the moonlit room as he gazed at me with a concern that I knew wasn't inauthentic. I settled back in next to him, so close that our stomachs touched and our eyes were inches apart and we breathed together, like a machine: I breathed out, he breathed in.
"What happened," Peter said.
"My father died," I said. "In his sleep."
"My God," he said.
"I know," I said.
After that, we were silent for a little. On the road behind the house, I heard a car pass. "Can you do something for me?" I asked.
"Anything," he said.
Peter told me he loved me a month after we met. We were perilously high and lying on our backs on a blanket on the lawn outside our buildings, our legs and fingers and breathing tangled together. "I think it's easy to feel like that when you've smoked this much marijuana in such a short amount of time," I said, squinting.
"I'm serious," Peter said indignantly. "I love you. I'm in love with you."
I could only laugh. He sat up and pulled me with him. I looked into his bulbous pupils. "Stop laughing! Abelie, I'm serious. I know that I both love and am in love with you because I have never met anyone who's so much like me before."
I stopped laughing, suddenly acrimonious. "Do you think that's what love is?" I demanded. "Being the same? Having a few things in common? Liking the same authors, the same music?"
"Yes," he said. "Isn't it? Isn't that what love is?"
"No," I said. "Love is showing up. Being there." My anger was wasting my good high.
"Okay," Peter said seriously. "If that's what you think love is. Then that is what I will do. Be. For you. I'm not lying to you, Abelie."
I laid back on the blanket. "Okay," I said. "Okay." He laid back beside me. We did not touch, we did not speak, for awhile. Slowly, my anger at what I perceived as Peter's alarming misunderstanding of the meaning of love waned and was replaced by an encroaching apprehension. When I looked over at him, he was looking at me. All at once, I was terrified.
After a year or so I figured that I did love him back, though not nearly with the force or urgency with which he loved me: Peter always seemed like he was ready to get married. He wanted to move into an off-campus apartment with me for the first semester of our junior year and go abroad together in the following semester. I was able to circumvent both plans: I insisted that we get separate apartments and convinced him to stay at school and finish taking his music classes while I took my semester in London. This was how it worked: he was eager and I was trepidacious, though what I asked for, he always gave me. The night Ugo died, after I asked him to leave, he stayed away for a week while I sat silently in my pristine loneliness in a meditative state. Then, I called him and asked if he would drive me to the airport.
"When we met, you told me you wanted to someday go to California," I said. "Yes."
"And I told you I wouldn't go with you."
"Yes," he said again, wearily, as if it made him sad to remember.
"What I wanted to tell you was that I would never go to California because California is the place where people ran when they ran away from me, and I knew too many runaways to ever want to become one myself. But today, I need to go to California. For the last time. And I need to go alone. And I need you to take me."
"Okay," he said. Within fifteen minutes, his car was idling outside my apartment, and he was carrying my single suitcase out the front door.
On the ride to the airport, I told Peter that we couldn't be together anymore. I studied his face for traces of reaction but detected none. I was predictable to him. He had seen this coming.
"It's not your fault," I said.
"Sure," he said, and repositioned his hands on the wheel.
"Listen. It's not," I said. "But it's not my fault either."
"Tell me how that works, then, if it's no one's fault."
"Well." I said, and then I was quiet for a while. I had said these words to myself so many times that when they came out they came out sounding stale. "It works like this: since I lost my father the first time I've had to stop thinking in terms of what is forgivable and what is not. At the end of most days, I am not certain that anything my father did was truly unforgivable, and even if he did, I'm not sure it matters. After all, the word that's supposed to precede love is unconditional, right?"
Peter glanced away from the road, raising his eyebrows at me. "Maybe," he said. I knew he didn't understand, and perhaps had never understood.
"The only thing I'm certain that he is gone, and that he can't come back. I've been practicing being a girl without a father since I was ten. And now I am one. But I don't think all that practice will make it any easier. Because I still wonder, who is a girl without a father? Who is afraid that one day the love may stop, may cease to flow both ways, or even flow at all? Who knows that nothing lasts but hopes that nothing ends?"
"What are you saying to me?" he asked.
"Me," I say. "I am saying that this girl is me. I decided to think of it less like when he died my father no longer loved me, but that he still loved me, urgently, and no longer knew how to tell me just how much."
"Abelie," he said, as if my name were a sentence. We drove the rest of the way in silence. When we reached the airport, even inside the car, we could hear the vacuum-like sounds of planes taking off, as in the beginning of "Back in the USSR." Peter slowed the car and waited for me to get out.
I unbuckled my seatbelt and turned to him so that he could not avoid looking at me any longer.
"Listen," I said. "In a way, I feel like you and me grew up together. I love you very much. Very, very much. More than I have ever really been able to say. You are unquestionably my best friend."
"Okay," he said, and he sounded unconvinced. This was fine. I did not need to convince him.
"But sometimes. No matter how much you love someone. Even if you love someone unconditionally. It just doesn't work out. It just doesn't. For no real reason. And it's sad. But it is. Just so. Remember freshman year, on the lawn? When we talked about what love is. As it turns out, Peter. Love isn't having so much in common with someone, but maybe it isn't showing up for them, either"
He turned away and looked out the window to the vast sky, which was streaked with the exhaust trails of departed planes and the color of carsickness. "Then what is, it, then?"
"I don't know," I said. I placed one hand on the door handle. I leaned forward so that my mouth was just shavings of a second away from his cheek, but I didn't kiss him. I just let him hear my breathing, and then I got out of the car. I retrieved my suitcase from the trunk. I walked towards the airport and the automatic doors parted to greet me. I didn't look back.
On the plane, I opened the book into which I'd tucked the picture of Ugo from my wall. For the longest time, I ignored the smears of shit on the fountain and the clash of the various pinks in Ugo's shirt. I looked only at his eyes. After all that time it still alarmed me when I looked into them that his eyes were my eyes. Now I know what it's like, I thought, to leave someone whom you love, who is desperately in love with you. And for no reason at all. I turned the picture over and read the words I'd written:
"I said, remember this as how it should be."
"I'm harboring a fugitive, a defector of a kind, and she lives in my soul, drinks of my wine, and I'd give my last breath to keep us alive. Are they coming for us, with cameras or guns? We don't know which but we gotta run. And you say, this is not what I bargained for.
So hide yourself for me, all for me.
We swore to ourselves we'd go to the end of the world, but I got caught up in whirl and the twirl of it all. A day in the sun, dancing alone, baby, I'm so sorry. Now it's coming to you, the lessons I've learned won't do you any good: you've got to get burned. The curse and the blessing they're one and the same, baby, it's all such a treacherous gain.
Hide yourself from me. I said, hide yourself from me, all for me.
I stood without clothes, danced in the sand. I was aching with freedom and kissing the damned. I said, remember this as how it should be.
Baby, I said, it's all in our hands got to learn to respect what we don't understand. We are fortunate ones, fortunate ones, I swear.
So hide yourself for me. I will hide myself for you, all for you.
I stood without clothes, danced in the sand. I was aching with freedom, kissing the damned. I said, remember this as how it should be."
Charlotte Freccia is a second-year student of English, Creative Writing, and Women's and Gender Studies at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, where she also enjoys an associateship with the Kenyon Review. She is a winner of the Philip Wolcott Timberlake Award and has recently published poetry in Zaum Magazine and creative nonfiction in Newfound. Her short story "Baby Teeth" was published by POTLUCK in June 2016.


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By Brittany Trapani: The morning started rather rough with not having any power or water. Some of the team members were unable to take showers, which started out the day in uncomfortable conditions. Perseverance was exemplified from our team members. We all piled into our van and drove toward Onesimus excited for day two. When we arrived, the kids embraced us with smiling faces and hugs. The kids played basketball for a while, which really demonstrated their toughness and enjoyment for the game. Some of the team members started showing off their skills by joining in the fun.
We had an amazing morning led by Howard, who told the story about Jesus walking on water. Howard really delivered a strong message with his passion for Christ and his energetic measures. Taye, an Onesimus staff member, translated the message with enthusiasm and compassion. After the lesson where all kids were engaged, Howard asked them if they wanted to accept Jesus as their savior. Many children jumped out of their seat and formed a circle. It was an amazing sight to observe these children who are surrounded by other conflicting religions accept Jesus so effortlessly.
After this wonderful event, the activity rotations (similar to yesterday) set in full motion. The kids participated excitedly in crafts, devotions, and worship music. After the morning, our team gathered together for lunch and Nega discussed the need for funding college for some of the kids' that have been through Onesimus' program. Kelly D. really displayed her passion for the kids by trying to figure out how easily we could contribute to this need. It is incredible to realize how inexpensive college is here (about $420 at the most for 3 years of college!) compared to the cost of college in the U.S.
After lunch, we headed to the soccer fields, where our all-star Candice led the boys in practice. A big rain storm came and we all huddled in a building until it passed. After the boys scrimmaged, the Onesimus team stepped onto the field to face their opponent. We all watched the game, and the boys played brilliantly together. The boys beat the team two goals to none; it was an awesome victory.
There are several on our team who have been sick today and fatigue is setting in so please pray for healing and renewed strength! We are looking forward to our day tomorrow with the kids!


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A new build of Fantasy Strike is available to our patrons on Patreon.
The biggest new thing is that Midori's dragon form now has correctly working animation. This was a very big task for us, see the notes below. Valerie also has new visual effects, the clock tower stage is even more polished, and there are lots of new sound effects in the game. We also polished the menus more, fixing several bugs and implementing new features such as dropdown menus for screen resolution, improved highlight states for tabbed menu headings, and adding the ABCS notation to the move list.
--Dragon form (super) is now has fully implemented animations for all moves.
--New transform animations (air and ground) for turning into dragon and for reverting to human.
--Fixed NUMEROUS animation bugs having to do with the dragon reacting to hits, throws, and supers.
Developer's note: Midori's dragon form was a major development effort. Even though it's just his super move, dragon form took longer to implement than TWO entire characters would. The dragon has the moveset of an entire character, but it was much more work than just that. The dragon uses a different type of skeleton than the other characters, and it was a major technical hurdle for us to be able to support this properly. The good news is two-fold: first we did it, and second, the same tech will make it easier to implement Argagarg later on.
Note that while the dragon's animations are now complete, he still only has placeholder visual effects and sound effects.
--Camera tweaked at the start of C throw to be smoother.
--New visual effects for lots of moves:
neutral A, back+A, forward+A, air A, air B, air C, and yomi counter.
--Ground super, new visual effects and animation changed to be shorter.
--On the character select screen, her brush has some new visual effects.
--New visual effects for B teleport kick.
--Lots more new sound effects.
--There is now a sound for attempting to do ground B or C when you don't have full gear meter.
--Time Stop super now has 4 vulnerable frames at the end, like it used to (was accidentally removed a few builds ago).
--Ghost can no longer hit victims who are ground/wall bouncing. This means after counterhit back+A or counterhit pilebunker, you can just do another pilebunker and be "playing correctly" rather than needing to do the combo: ghost -> air B -> A,A.
--Lots of new sound effects.
--Clock tower stage has more modeling and texture work on numerous background objects.
--Thumbnail image of clock tower stage updated to be more representative of what the stage now looks like.
--In video options, the settings for resolution and for graphics quality now use dropdown menus. This is helpful in that it lets you see all possible choices at once.
--Move list shows keyboard or gamepad buttons depending on which input device called it
--Move list now shows A B C S buttons in addition to which keyboard or controller button you actually push. This makes it easier to refer to moves regardless of what your personal button setup is (e.g. Valerie's rainbow stroke is her "C attack".)
--Button config: keyboard and gamepad input always tries to access their own column
--How to play shows keyboard or gamepad controls depending on which input device called it
--New background on character select screen
--Slightly adjusted character shadows on character select screen. This fixes black splotches on Jaina's headband and Rook's overly dark chest.
--The tabs at the top of the training mode pause screen have been updated. They now light up yellow if you move up to them, whereas before they gave no visual indication in this case. Also, in controller-mode of our UI, these tabs now show L1/R1 help text. (It's possible to change tabs with these triggers OR by moving up to the tab itself and going left/right on d-pad or keyboard.)
--The tabs at the top of the options screen (video / audio / debug) have been updated to match the same style as the training mode pause screen tabs. They too light up yellow when you move up to them, so that you can see the difference between a tab that's active and a tab heading that you've moved the selection cursor to.
--In mouse control mode, if you use the keyboard to arrive at a new screen, the mouse will no longer cause a mouseover state on whatever it happened to be resting on until you actually move the mouse.
--Fixed a bug that caused characters to clip through each other if they were close together while one was getting up from a throw.
--Fixed a bug introduced in last month's build where juggle combos involving projectiles would not deal damage from the projectile hits.
--AI characters now sometimes do button-hold moves. Grave can do his big fireball, Jaina can charge to level 2 and 3 with her arrows, and Setsuki can hold-B teleport throw.
--Fixed a bug that made shadows too prominent on characters any time the camera moved away from standard side view. This was especially apparent during Midori's throw, as we saw his shadows pop from one state to another as the camera moved at the end.
--Fixed a bug that prevented you from yomi countering if you were pressing trigger buttons (L and R) used in menus in cases where those buttons were NOT mapped to any gameplay action.
--Fixed a bug that caused the Ready button to not always appear on the arcade character select screen while in mouse-mode.
--When your lifebar is flashing from potential block damage, the timer until it reverts back to normal now pauses while you're in blockstun.


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How A Good MVP Can Validate Your Market
Before rolling up your sleeves on a new venture (be it a startup or an opportunity within an established organisation) the perils of blindly getting carried away with ones ambitions to plug the gaping hole of consumer needs sound all too familiar.
Getting your hands dirty with wireframes, development, fleshing out features that your end users won't be able to live without and designs that shall set you far apart from the competition, may sound productive, but ultimately undermines a key process.
One that will ensure your excitement is shared by your audience, one that will guarantee there is an audience there for you when you walk out on the red carpet, in fact, one that will help you and your team sleep a lot easier from then on.
Cue the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) designed to help you answer the question "Will anyone actually use this?" long before you have made any significant investments.
"Getting validation from your MVP helps you sleep better at night!"
Below are a three stellar examples of how a good MVP can validate your market and even help steer your product along the way.
1. Buffer
Buffer helps you manage multiple social media accounts at once. Quickly schedule content from anywhere on the web, collaborate with team members, and analyse rich statistics on how your posts perform. But before getting out the shovel and hard hats, Joel Gascoigne, Buffer's founder, asked the question "Will anyone actually use this?"
Rightly, he created an MVP, a static landing page outlining the benefits of using Buffer along with a link to Plans & Pricing.
Should his audience be engaged, they would follow the link to a page that said "Hello! You caught us before we're ready" leave your email address & we'll let you know when we are. Joel began tweeting out the page, attracting potential users leaving their email addresses.
Armed with this positive information Joel set out to now learn what people will pay for a service like this. So he updated his landing page to show 3 different pricing plans: Free, $5/mo, $20/mo.
He continued to attract eye balls to his page by pushing out links on his social media. Even more people came, and now some percentage of users began to click on various pricing plans! Genius.
Armed with yet more data, Joel could now comfortably make investments into the product, not the full feature product mind you, but a simplified version with the key features needed to make it function – getting it out in a week.
Shortly after, Buffer had 500 users of which some were paying, already generating revenue.
2. Dropbox
In his book The Lean Startup, Eric Reis talks about how Dropbox tackled the question of market viability by demonstrating their product in a video.
To answer the question "Will anyone actually use this?" Huston and his team had to get into the ideas truck and go for a ride (sorry). Instead of creating a functioning version of their file-sync solution and heating up servers, they came up with something a lot simpler – they made an explainer video and shared it amongst their networks.
The short video demonstrated the key features of Dropbox' intended functionality and increased signups from 5,000 to 75,000 people over night. The increased signups were justification that they were solving a legitimate problem for their users.
3. Groupon
Even one of the fastest companies of all time started by creating an MVP (and a cheap one at that). In an interview with Mixergy Andrew Mason, Founder and CEO of Groupon explains how they used something as simple as WordPress to get their business off the ground:
"All we did was we took a WordPress Blog and we skinned it to say Groupon and then every day we would do a new post with the offers embedded. It was totally ghetto… It was enough to prove the concept and show that it was something that people really liked."
Andrew created PDF's of the coupons using FileMaker, emailed them individually to the people who had shown an interest, validating the model and in turn growing their business.
Getting validation from your MVP does indeed help you sleep better at night. At least these founders knew that what they were building had an audience. Moreover in the process, they learned what marketing channels work and what wording resonates best with their audience.
Federico Selmi is a London based Product Management and Design Consultant specialising in early stage product management, customer validation and user centric design.


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Staff, swimmers at Palo Alto pool credited with saving teen's life.
PALO ALTO, Calif. (KTVU) - Staff and swimmers at a Palo Alto country club are being credited with saving the life of a 17-year old boy. They say he nearly drowned, after blacking out at swim practice.
Austin Chase wasn't breathing when staff members pulled him out of the pool. And while they had never dealt with anything quite like this before, they had trained for it..read more


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Note: A portion of the trail between Troost and Woodland Avenues has been closed since 2012 due to the presence of a small sinkhole. Trail users should take 85th Street as a detour. Refer to the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority's official website for more information and future updates.
The Harry Wiggins Trolley Track Trail, named for the departed state senator who persistently sponsored tax legislation for the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA), is one of the most popular trails in Kansas City, Missouri. The trail runs on the former alignment of the city's last streetcar—known as the Country Club route (or Club Line)—which ceased service in 1957.
A restored streetcar station reminds trail users of the right-of-way's past at E. 54th Street and Brookside Boulevard. The trail is located in one of the highest density residential areas of Kansas City and is adjacent to neighborhood commercial and activity centers along its entire length. City parks along the way partially punctuate the urban environment, helping lend a sense of seclusion and offering a place to rest.
The trail has night lighting in limited areas. While most of the route is surfaced with crushed limestone, the section south of E. 85th Street and certain areas prone to flooding are paved. In the north, the trail connects directly to the Brush Creek Trail, which extends east and west along the waterway.
Small parking areas for the Harry Wiggins Trolley Track Trail are located at the southeastern trailhead at E. 85th Street and Prospect Avenue; at the southern end of Woodland Avenue; and at the intersection of Main Street and Pico Street.
Farther north, park at the KCATA Park & Ride lot at W. Gregory Boulevard and Brookside Road or at the lot at Wornall Road and W. 74th Terrace.
I bike the Trolley Track Trail to get from the Country Club Plaza to Waldo frequently. The trail surface is similar to most rail-trails, and it can get quite crowded with walkers and joggers on nice evenings. There are also numerous road crossings, so it's difficult to keep up a decent pace. If you're in a hurry you're better off riding adjacent Brookside Boulevard. Overall this is a decent trail for commuting and leisurely weekend rides, but too short, with too many road crossings to make it any sort of destination.
It's Labor Day, so I was expecting quite a bit of traffic. I parked on the Plaza and rode around the Brush Creek Trail a little bit. There's a lot of interesting shops and restaurants on the plaza, so it would be a great place to end a ride for some shopping or fine dining. Some people have issues with riding in the street (maybe if you have small children?) but for me by and large that's common to see on the plaza and throughout the length of the trail. I rode south to Brookside. Similarly, there's so much to do in Brookside too. Plenty of places to stop and rest or shop. There's more street riding through there, but mostly parking lots (ironically they say no bike riding, probably for liability reasons but that didn't sway me - go slow and keep your eyes open and head moving). I continued south to Waldo which is my personal favorite area this trail comes to. There's a good sized bus hub if you had to pack up and ride back to the plaza or if you decided to bus in and then ride it's good both ways. There's countless places to grab a drink, although bike parking isn't a huge emphasis in the area, maybe just chain up to a pole or something. A great place to spend an evening before riding back. There is even a little family bike shop near there if you ran into some kind of snag. I continued south, but there isn't too much beyond that. I went across 85th street and for some reason there are barriers and signs posted that state the trail is closed - again I wasn't going to ride nearly six miles to not complete the whole trail, so I went around like everyone else apparently. There was no obvious indicator as to why it was posted as closed (no massive craters, huge tree limbs, or total degradation of the trail), but it was definitely less maintained with plenty of over growth, but still doable on a bike, maybe if you were on a little street bike in the rain it would be difficult, but on a nice sunny day on my mountain bike it wasn't anything worth mentioning. Unfortunately, this trail only leads to 85th and Prospect which was basically a seemingly deserted industrial part of town (at least on the holiday). There's not much worth seeing outside of a train track and a sign the states the trail ends (but the mileage numbering starts from this point).
I have read numerous reviews on here from people saying it's a walking path not a bike path, but that's just not the case. There was a fair number of walkers, joggers, bikers, children, pets, and all other kinds. I got no resistance or glares or anything. There are parts where you can't really get going too fast because of multiple stops for traffic or the like, but by and large it was fine.
It's relatively flat. It's a good trail. It's not really a destination trail, there's not much to see at the end, but on the way back you get to stop in Waldo, Brookside, and the Plaza again!
I completed the 6.25 miles, there and back, plus some of the Brush Creek Trail in about three hours without much breaking, but it could easily be turned into a day trip if you plan to stop for the evening in Waldo or ride around town a little more than I did.
Yeah, the path isn't in perfect shape (especially where it is labeled as closed), but it's not in any way damaged or unpleasant. It varies from fine gravel, to side walk to paved, just depends on where you are. I don't know why this trail got such bad reviews from others, I enjoyed it just fine.
The only thing keeping it from a 5 star rating would be going around the barricades because the trail is closed? and a some what rather uneventful ending.
I cannot agree enough with previous comments on this trail's real beneficiaries: walkers not cyclists. The Brookside area is a mess, walkers are not courteous, and there are far too many crossings to get to a reasonable speed. The trail itself is in poor shape, especially after any precipitation, when ruts have hardened and made it a particularly unpleasant riding experience. I frequently use Brookside just next to it, but am accosted to "use the trail!" when I do. The worst part is that as long as planners think that it is a legitimate bike path they will see no need to makea real one in the Brookside/UMKC area, which is particularly unfortunate because the Trolley Track is a nice hill-minimized route, avoiding the constant and unnecessary ups and downs of every other N/S route there.
Always looking for a safe, bicycle-friendly place to ride together as a family, my wife, daughter and I found out about the Henry Wiggings trail from a friend, and we tried riding this trail from 75th street north to the UMKC campus area. As other reviewers have mentioned, the trail is likely wonderful for walkers, but it was very unpleasant as cyclists - several groups of people walking took up the entire breadth of the narrow trail, and it was uncomfortable how many of the walkers we passed (we were on bikes, after all) made it clear that they found bicycles on the trail annoying and a bother that they needed to move over to one side instead of walking down the middle or three or four abreast. The Brookside area was the most discouraging part; there was no clear, safe way for crossing through this area, especially Meyer and 63rd streets, and the need to stop for each cross street each block made this trail not nearly as relaxing or enjoyable as simply riding instead on residential streets for our return trip home. The trail is a beautiful concept; unfortunately, it simply doesn't work well for people riding a bike instead of walking.
Wife and I just completed walking the whole trail. We started at the south end. It's okay for walking, but would be difficult for riding~ there are lots of street intersections and stop lights to interrupt a smooth ride.
There's a large cave-in right next to the trail on the south end, which did not quite gobble it up, but came right to the edge. The city has blocked the trail off at that point, and it has remained unfixed for at least four years. The trail has pretty much been abandoned from about the Troost bridge to the south end.
On the plus side, the north end goes through picturesque Brookside and Waldo. Plenty to look at and enjoy. Perfect for a leisurely evening stroll.
This trail is popular for walking through the neighborhoods, but not the best for cyclists looking for a long ride. It is often crowded with families with children, strollers, and street intersections every block make it difficult to maintain a steady pace. But it remains a good trail for a leisurely walk or short bike ride.
"The trail has now been extended to 6.5 miles. It's very popular with bikers, joggers, lots of families, even some bike commuters."
This trail does not have any events yet.
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Weston Bluffs Trail 5K & 10K November 2, 2019 at 4pm 100% of the proceeds will benefit the Weston Masonic Lodge All participants will receive a race...
The Brush Creek Trail offers a serene and scenic walking and biking experience in southeast Kansas City. The concrete greenway occupies both the north...
The Riverfront Heritage Trail is located in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri. This downtown trail showcases the city's heritage, as well as its...
The Armourdale Levee Trail offers an unpaved route (hybrids or mountain bikes are recommended) of just over a mile through Kansas City, Kansas, along...
The Shawnee Mission Parkway Trail runs for 2 miles along the south side of the roadway. While not scenic, the paved route offers connections to...
Paralleling Turkey Creek from the Waterfall Park north of Kansas City for nearly four miles south to downtown Kansas City, the Turkey Creek Streamway...
The Blue River Parkway Trail winds along both banks of its namesake river on the southern outskirts of Kansas City. The paved route begins in Minor...
The Indian Creek Bike/Hike Trail links two states, four communities and a multitude of parks along Indian Creek. The trail provides numerous...
The Rock Creek Trail links Country Club Park and Rotary Park on the west side of Independence. It offers nice views of the tree-lined creek that it...
The Nall Avenue Path is a paved sidepath along Nall Avenue, its namesake. The path offers connections to the residents of the Kansas City suburb of...
The Tomahawk Creek Trail follows its namesake waterway through the Kansas City suburbs of Overland Park and Leawood. The trail provides access for the...
Note: The eastern third of the trail, from the access point at Horizons Parkway to the end of the trail, is currently closed (as of June 2016) due to...
The Line Creek Trail is about all you can ask for as a trail lover. This beautifully paved 8-mile trail winds serenely through Platte County and has a...
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Register to attend
Frequently asked questions
4. When is the deadline to register?
5. If I show up on the day of the event, will I be able to register on the spot?
6. Is there a registration fee?
7. When does If I Ruled T.O. start and end?
9. Can youth attend without a guardian?
10. I am an agency and would like to get involved. Who do I contact?
11. I would like to volunteer. Who do I contact?
1. Who organizes the event?
Toronto Community Housing, in collaboration with the City of Toronto and other community agencies, is organizing this event to inspire, empower and motivate youth living across Toronto to advocate for change on issues that are meaningful to them. We hope this event will create the momentum that empowers youth to have a voice and be part of the dynamic changes happening in the city.
2. Who can register?
This event is for Toronto Community Housing residents 14 to 29 years old. All youth who live in Toronto are welcome to register.
3. How do I register?
- Register online
- You can also send a completed registration form to email@example.com
- Call 416-981-6300 for help with registration.
Please note: registration forms will not be accepted via fax or mail this year.
4. When is the deadline to register?
Registration closes on Sunday, November 15, 2015 at midnight.
5. If I show up on the day of the event, will I be able to register on the spot?
No. You must register before attending this event.
6. Is there a registration fee?
7. When does If I Ruled T.O. start and end?
The event starts at 11 a.m. and ends at 5:30 p.m. If you are registered for a scheduled bus pick-up, your arrival time will be earlier in the morning so that you are signed-in by 11 a.m.
8. Will food be provided?
Food and refreshments will be provided throughout the day, including a continental style breakfast and bagged lunch. If you have dietary restrictions, please make sure you include them on the registration form.
9. Will transportation be provided?
A shuttle bus will be provided to take participants to and from the summit several pick-up locations in the west, central and east Toronto Community Housing neighbourhoods. Please make sure you choose this option on the registration form and bus schedule information will be shared with you closer to the event day.
The closest TTC stop is Exhibition Place. If you are commuting to the event via public transit TTC token reimbursement is available upon request.
10. Can youth attend without a guardian?
Yes, volunteers and staff from Toronto Community Housing and the City of Toronto will be on hand to assist youth throughout the day.
11. I am an agency and would like to get involved. Who do I contact?
Please call 416-981-6300 or send an to email email@example.com
12. I would like to volunteer. Who do I contact?
There are several volunteer opportunities please contact us at 416-981-6300 or firstname.lastname@example.com for more information.


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text: Walking away from an engagement session with two new friends is one of the best feelings. Emily + Dan are the perfect example of a couple who's absolutely in love, and trusts us completely. Before we all ended up sitting down together for the most amazing Thai food, we took them downtown, and explored an area that we've shot in many times, but looking for spots that we've never photographed before. We often have couples ask us for location suggestions, and our response is usually not what they were expecting. "Let's just meet somewhere and find what we find. It's not so much about WHERE we shoot, but WHO we're shooting. We'll make you look amazing anywhere we go." Case in point:


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Aging Gracefully: Reclaiming Your Testosterone
Countrymen, gents, boys. Our testosterone is in free fall. Testosterone in Western men has never been at a lower level. It's an unspoken epidemic. This ongoing evaporation of testosterone coincides with with a culture that devalues all things male.
One of the biggest lies perpetuated by the fitness and health industry is that testosterone decline in inevitable. They say it is a part of aging that you cannot control, so you might as well not even try. You should give up, eat whatever you want, and buy this testosterone cream. This could not be further from the truth.
Testosterone production is controlled by your lifestyle. It is possible to maintain optimal testosterone levels as you age.
If you are over the age of 35 and feel sluggish or pudgy you are suffering from decreasing testosterone. If you are under 35 and find yourself tired and disinterested in sex you are suffering as well.
Low testosterone levels can cause depression and obesity. It causes a man to be disinterested and lose all sense of competition. To be a happy, masculine man you need to optimize your testosterone levels as you age.
As a personal trainer I see it all the time. A man hits a certain age and he begins to feel tired. His testosterone has decreased. This constant tiredness leads him to not exercise. Instead of going to the gym he goes out and eat like shit, which causes him to gain fat. This extra fat causes his body to produce even less testosterone.
It's a cycle of failure. It is both caused by and accelerates declining testosterone levels.
The cycle can only be broken by the hammer of hard work and discipline. There is no need to resort to expensive creams or injections.
What is Testosterone?
Testosterone is a naturally occurring hormone. It is produced in our body by a complex process that involves our brains, pituitary glands and testicles. It made by converting cholesterol. A small percentage is produced by our adrenal glands. The majority is produced by our testicles.
Testosterone plays many roles in our body. They include regulating our sex drive, bone density and fat distribution. In my eyes the most important aspect is the regulation of muscle mass. A man with low T will have a hard time building and keeping any muscle mass at all.
There have been many lies about testosterone. It does not cause anger or anti-social behavior. It does not cause prostate cancer. I believe these myth's spread due to testosterone's association with anabolic steroids.
Testosterone declines as we age. Yet men across all age ranges have 20% less testosterone today than they did 20 years ago. Men's testosterone levels are lower than at any other point in history. This is because we eat a garbage diet, we don't exercise, we don't sleep well, and we're all stressed.
There is no easy trick or magic bullet to optimize your testosterone levels. There is no over the counter supplement you can take, or quick fix I can give you. The unsexy truth is that optimizing your t-level requires long term changes to your diet and lifestyle.
Diet plays a massive role in testosterone production. Our bodies need certain minerals to begin the testosterone production process. As mentioned earlier, the dietary precursor to testosterone is cholesterol. The best thing you can do to increase your t-levels is to eat more fat.
That's right, the old boogie man cholesterol. Recent studies have shown that men should not be as afraid of cholesterol as they are. Men on a low fat diet often exhibit lower t-levels than man who eat bacon and eggs for breakfast. Consider that your permission to eat bacon every day in moderation.
More healthy fats will result in a higher testosterone count. Foods like avocados, nuts, steak and eggs all contain the minerals needed to increase your production. They are also delicious and easy to make a staple of any diet. It is important to remember that fats contain 9 calories per gram, while carbohydrates only contain 4. To maintain a proper calorie count it may be necessary to lower carbohydrate intake as you increase fat.
Certain exercises actually cause the body to produce more testosterone. Exercising also increases muscle mass and reduces body fat. This creates the proper biological environment for optimal t-levels.
Exercise will also help manage stress. There is no better stress reliever, or mood elevator than a good workout. Well, maybe besides one thing...
If you are serious about optimizing your t-levels you must begin to lift weights. I don't mean doing circuits on the machines at the gym. You must learn to lift heavy, and you must learn the major compound lifts.
Lower body compound lifts (squatting and deadlifting) cause your body to produce testosterone. They increase blood flow to the area around your testes, and involve 40% of the muscles in your body. The more muscle fibers you stimulate the more testosterone you will produce. There's a joke in there somewhere.
Learn to master these exercises, but don't overdo it. Overtraining will tax your central nervous system and cause you to produce less testosterone. There is no need to go to failure every time you set foot in the gym, despite what you saw at the CrossFit games.
Perform 3-4 full body workouts each week. Each workout should be built around 1 or 2 compound lifts. For example you could squat and bench press on Monday and Friday. While you deadlift and overhead press on Wednesday. This schedule will provide adequate recovery and stimulation needed to increase muscle mass. If you don't know how to program a workout, have someone else do it for you.
You also need to rethink how you are doing cardio. You don't want to slog away for 10 miles a day on a treadmill. Studies have shown that HIIT training causes your body to produce testosterone. HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training.
HIIT calls for shorts bursts of intense effort followed by period of less intense effort. Basically it is a sprint/rest/repeat cardio protocol. My favorite way to incorporate HIIT is by jumping rope or using battle ropes. It can be done on any piece of cardio equipment in the gym.
Get Better Sleep
Most american men do not sleep enough. Studies show that less than 5 hours of sleep per night results in a 10-15% decrease in testosterone production. If you're not getting enough sleep you can't produce testosterone as efficiently or effectively.
Our bodies produce the majority of our testosterone while we sleep. This is why we wake up with erections in the morning. If you do not wake up with "morning wood" you are suffering from low testosterone.
The obvious step is to go to bed earlier. You can also decrease your caffeine intake in the afternoon. Another must is to limit your exposure to "blue light" from your phone or tablet. Taking a warm shower before bed will help relax you.
My favorite and the most enjoyable way to get better sleep is to "save" my carbs for night. Carbohydrate intake in the evening helps reset circadian rhythm. This allows you to fall asleep easier and sleep deeper. I do this by abstaining from serious carbohydrate intake until dinner.
I put this last because it is the least important. There are a host of "Natural Test Boosters" available at any health store- none of them work. Exercise, diet and sleep are the most important steps to optimizing your testosterone levels.
Vitamin D3 is deficient in most Americans. The largest reason is due to lack of sun. This deficiency is tied to a lower level of testosterone. Take 2,000-4,000 IUs every morning.
Fish Oil and Omega 3 have been shown to increase the hormone needed to trigger your testes production of testosterone.
If you are eating properly and exercising these are the only two supplements you might need to take. Anything else is a waste of money.
As with anything good in life, optimizing your t-levels is going to take work. The process that will resculpt your body will also restore your hormones. As you can see these are simply a series of healthy habits and lifestyle tweaks. Sure, you could get prescribed testosterone cream or injections. They will increase your t-count but they will not make you healthier, and you will be reliant upon them for the rest of your life.
Hard work in the gym and diligence in the kitchen will stop and reverse declining t-levels. Age related testosterone decline is not inevitable. If you are maintaining a healthy lifestyle you will maintain a healthy testosterone level.
Now go pump some iron and get some sleep.


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What is ANNOYING me this week?
Websites that do not show the full range of products that you can buy from their real shops.
What is DELIGHTING me this week?
The idea of running an International Poetry Film Festival in Polesworth.
The Best of Radiohead.
As I said in my last blog, last week was a busy week. It started on Tuesday with THE FIZZ my bi-monthly poetry and spoken word event at Polesworth. The guest poet was the excellent Sarah James who read from her collection "Into the Yell" followed by an open mic, where a wide range of poets read a diverse collection of poems, diverse in subject matter and style. The Secret Writer has written a review on her blog of the event. The next Fizz is on 22nd March when the guests will be The Lichfield Poets – one for the diary.
The writers groups on Wednesday and Thursday offered their usual open constructive critiques which have become a necessity in the development of our writing craft. Both the Mad Hatters Writers and the Runaway Writers are well established groups with members who offer their thoughts and opinions with a trust and understanding that often sees great debates on the nuance of poem or the outcome of a short story. These are delivered with benefiting the writer and the writer's potential success in mind. We all do it for the benefit of each other.
The Mad Hatter Writers meet every other Wednesday at the Red Lion in Atherstone at 8:00pm the next meeting is on the 2nd Feb and the Runaway Writers meet every other Thursday at the Brewhouse in Burton-on-Trent at 7:00pm the next meeting is on the 3rd Feb. All writers over 16 are welcome to both.
Gary Carr's excellent monthly Spoken Worlds took place at Rangemore House, Burton on Friday 21st January. There were no guest poets this month, although previous months have seen Sarah James and Rachel Pantechnicon both of whom were excellent. The evening gave me a chance to wear my new "Sgt Pepper" jacket resulting in no end of comment, which were added too when I performed my silent piece "20 Seconds", a tribute to John Cage, there we murmurs that it was the best poem that I had ever written.
The evening saw an eclectic mix of pathos and humour. With subjects ranging from The loss of a fire-fighter, the loneliness of an unloved child who never-the-less still loved the world, to sea gulls who seem to have lost their way now live in Burton, to a game of Bridge and the tale of a goat who ate a ladies underwear, all life was there in the words of the poets who read and performed.
The event, which takes place in "three halves" saw local poets and writers such as the marvellous Margaret Torr, whose story of the goat and the knickers is not only funny but well written as a series of letters between the various parties who become entangled in this love story, Margaret's poem about the irritations of people who do not get on, delivered through the auspices of making tea was also a triumph.
The delightful Dea Costelloe wondered about seagulls that were so far from the sea and read her recently published article about learning shorthand and typing as a sixteen year old in Essex. Dea is not only able to craft together these studies of life and the world through her unique observation, she delivers them with a calming charm that has a hint of the mischievous.
Further performances came from the remarkable Rob Stevens (who runs the Word Wizard's Poetry Slam in Buxton) who entertained us with his poems and a song. Rob is regular performer as the Spoken Worlds and in the past has given us a wonderful poem on learning about contraception with a parsnip and a song about cyclists blocking the Peak District roads on Sunday afternoons.
The authentic Andy Biddulph who has a compelling ability to hold an audience with his poetic tales of a lonely childhood to being a cured diabetic, which were delivered with the gusto that has become Andy's trademark style of delivery of these well crafted verses.
The terrific Terri and Ray Jolland delivered some wonderful pieces about characters such as Tugg and his pal, Terri and Ray have become a wonderful double act as well as producing individual well written pieces, Ray delivered a humorous piece on playing Bridge. At a previous Spoken Worlds, Terri and Ray delivered a sketch about a couple of ner-do-wells who want to steal a park bench and end up in the middle of drugs bust, which was a brilliant piece of writing, made even funnier by their comic timing.
Topped off with pieces from our compere and organiser Gary Carr whose words always delight, intrigue and trip of his tongue with all the cleverness that one expects from such a great poet.
Spoken Worlds is a great evening as you never know what to expect, with the mix of poetry, stories, songs and sketches, where normally quiet unassuming writers step into their performance roles, that creates a range of emotional waves that leave you thinking, laughing and longing for more.
The Spoken Worlds is a monthly event held on the Third Friday at 7:30pm at Rangemore House, Rangemore Street, Burton-upon-Trent, where all are welcome. The next is on the 18th February.
Enough of the personal alliterative adjectives, I look forward to what this week holds, it will be less busy and maybe I can put sometime into developing my collection of poems, now that I have a new concept and theme on which to glue them together.
I have added another blog to my list of those to follow, that of O'Bheal in Cork, which has some great reviews of the last Cork-Coventry literature exchange which saw Paul Casey, Billy Ramsell, Joe Horgan and Sue Cosgrave read at Polesworth last November.
The FIZZ 10 – which will take place in September, will be the last numbered FIZZ and to mark this milestone I am planning to hold the first Polesworth International Poetry Film Festival. I already have five films lined up with a further two in production and I am actively seeking permission to use a film from Ireland and another from the USA. Added to two Anglo/American films that I already have permission to show this will give us the truly international feel to the event.
If there are poets out there who already have poetry films that they would like to show at this event then please contact me at firstname.lastname@example.com. Films should be no longer that five minutes and full permissions must be obtained from the poets and film makers. Email me if you think you have something suitable and we can discuss including it in the September Fizz.
The next FIZZ is number 7 when we will have the Lichfield Poets reading from their latest anthology Battle Lines – on Tuesday 22nd March at 7:30pm at Polesworth Abbey.


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Still Me
sold out
Still Me
Edition size: 45 signed limited editions
Medium: Giclée on Hahnemühle paper
Total Dimensions: 32.5" x 32.5" inches, framed in black to artist specifications
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Contemporary mixed-media artist
Edition size: 45 signed limited editions
Medium: Giclée on Hahnemühle paper
Total Dimensions: 32.5" x 32.5" inches, framed in black to artist specifications
After studying fine art and illustration at the prestigious academy of art Central St Martins, Dean started his career as a junior at a top London based agency producing visuals, storyboards and illustrations for a wide range of commercial clients. Eventually he began to work freelance exploring other avenues and took on a number of contracts, producing conceptual artwork for the gaming industry. Dean managed to keep at the forefront of his profession by making the transition from traditional mediums such as markers and inks and translated the draughtsman ship skills he nurtured over the years to digital packages. This enabled him to produce new looking high end artwork for clients that was exciting, innovative and highly sought after.
Dean paints on the computer in a traditional way replacing the brush with a digital pen and uses layers as an advantage to his process. Having endless colours and brushes at his fingertips enables Dean to spill his mind onto the page quickly and without fear.
Always staying true to his fine art background, Dean continues to produce art that reflects his traditional skill set. He embraces the technical challenges of anatomy and figurative art and combines this with the use of modern technology to entwine elements of realism with a twist of fantasy to produce unique pieces of art. Dean wants the viewer to read what they will into the imagery and create the beauty through subject matter, whether it is dark or light.
Dean Fox's work is a combination of old and new as a modern day man heavily inspired by the Pre Raphaelite era. Provoking emotion through art is the real magic and he's proud to be deemed by fans of his art as a 'digital wizard'.
"I am never completely happy with my work as I try to translate my mind's eye. To truthfully express my creativity I have to be able to lose myself and art for me becomes my meditation. I have to be able to accept failure and yet a joy is maintained that pushes through the barrier of success. The true art is to know what to reject in life, what to leave out and how to create as simply as possible, almost effortlessly. Beauty is only ever really achieved by removing not adding. This nature is entwined with discontentment which drives me in almost everything I do, pushes me to progress, breaking new boundaries and keeping me outside my comfort zone."
Dean is currently the most in-demand graphic illustrator in the UK, with the likes of Coca-Cola, BMW, the Football Association and Sky being clients of his to name but a few.


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Spread throughout Italy, Linguine are typical of Liguria
The name
Thin long pasta, shaped as narrow strips. The names comes from Italian word "lingua" – tongue. In the "Dizionario", published in 1863 by Pietro Fanfani, Linguine are referred to as "kind of pasta for soup, long and thin" also known as bavette or baverine. There are different sizes: small, medium and large. Depending on the size and region of use, linguine can have different names, such as bavette, fettuccelle, lingue di passero, pappardelle, trenette. In Sicily they are called lasagneddi.
Area of origin
Spread throughout Italy, Linguine are typical of Liguria: its regional cuisine counts numerous recipes with this format. In southern Italy the most popular is the large-broad version.
Mainly used dry, Linguine are usually combined with simple sauces, such as oil, butter, fish sauces, clams, pesto Genovese.
The format is ancient, documented in Provence in the thirteenth century. Originating in Liguria and Genoa, this pasta is characterized by flattened and biconvex section; this provide greater adhesion to the surface of pesto sauces, or even the simple seasoning with oil or melted butter and cheese. Even in your mouth, the broader the surface will enhance the taste and aroma of the paired sauce.
A recipe
Ingredients for 4 servings
- 3/4 lb Linguine
- 2 european lobsters, (600g/1)
- 5 oz whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Brandy
- 2 oz white onion
- 1 1/2 oz celery
- 1 lb canned tomatoes
- 3/4 oz chives
- salt to taste
- white pepper to taste
Cut in half the lobsters lengthwise.
Remove the meat from the tails and cut into chunks.
Detach the claws and, with the aid of a crushing nuts, retrieved the pulp inside (trying not to break them too much, so that you can use them as a garnish).
Hold the coral, if any.
Take a pan of about 20 cm in diameter and gently brown chopped onion and celery, with about half of extra virgin olive oil.
Add heads and shells and toast for a few moments. Pour the brandy, let it evaporate, add the tomato pulp, a ladle of water and let it boil at low flame for 10 minutes.
Add the cream, the coral if any, bring to a boil and season with salt and pepper.
Strain through a sieve and set aside.
Take a large frying pan; cook the pieces of lobster over high heat with a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the shellfish sauce.
Cook the linguine in plenty of lightly salted boiling water, drain al dente and add them to the sauce.
Mix well, Serve and serve, garnish the dishes with the claws and chopped chives.


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Having written the music and screenplay for this film, Paul McCartney also plays himself in the leading role. When the mastertape of McCartney's latest album is misplaced, he must discover its whereabouts in less than 24 hours or else risk losing his recording company to the lowlife Mr. Rath (John Bennett). McCartney performs three new songs, along with classic Beatles' tunes. Co-starring are former Beatles mate Ringo Starr as the drummer in Paul's band, Ringo's real-life wife Barbara Bach, McCartney's then wife Linda and Tracy Ullman.
Give My Regards to Broad Street
The Movie, The Musical, The McCartney Magic.