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Young Guns Showcase Live Show With 'Rising Up' Video
Sometimes when you've got an energetic song, it's just good to show what you can do live! And that's exactly what Young Guns have done for the video for their new single "Rising Up."
In the clip, you get to see Young Guns performing the song in a variety of concert settings, but one thing is evident no matter the setting -- the band gets off on playing the song live. With heavier beats and more attitude shining through, the group's members often look like a series of flying limbs whenever performing the song.
"Rising Up" is featured on Young Guns' latest album, Ones and Zeroes. The band's third album was officially released last month, though the songs "I Want Out," "Speaking in Tongues" and "Daylight" have already enjoyed some play off the disc. If you're interested in picking up the album, it's currently available via Amazon and iTunes.
Speaking about the new album, frontman Gustav Wood recently told Full Metal Jackie, "For us this time, it was just about finding new ways to challenge ourselves and remain interested in writing rock music and on this record, we found that the way we wrote was quite different. We wrote a lot of the time around piano, or around synth and then it was about what can the guitars do that's really important but we're not just throwing in a thousand guitars for the sake of it. So funnily enough, I think it's probably our heaviest record, but it's also our leanest, and I think our best written record, our best written collection of songs that we've been able to put together so far."
At present, Young Guns are rocking stages in their native U.K. But beginning Aug. 14, they'll cross the pond to play shows stateside, kicking off with a show at Boston's House of Blues. After the August run, they'll return to the U.K. for another leg of shows. See all of their upcoming dates here.


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I had great adventures this year. And I had profound sadness.
In running I ran further and faster that I ever dreamed. I met so many great people running and expect I will see many of these friends in the upcoming year. I also learned I can dig deep and go moderately fast. My biggest running accomplishments in the past year in my opinion are:
Umstead 100 in 27 hours and 42 minutes-while I was running this race I thought I was on target for over 28 hours and even during the last lap my only goal was to be just about 28 hours. Clearly I was an over achiever! And I ended up with a 1 hour PR for a 100 miler.
JFK50 miler in 11 hours and 10 minutes-while I was running this race I thought I would just beat my previous time of 11 hours 40 minutes. It was only at mile 38 that I started realizing I was well ahead of my previous PR.
New River Trail in 6 hours and 6 minutes-while I was running this race I had no idea I was going to set a 1 hour PR. In fact my time at the halfway point while an improvement of my previous 50 km PR was only about 10 minutes faster. But during the second half I somehow started to pick up the pace.
Frederick Marathon in 4 hours 9 minutes-this race was one of the most miserable experiences of my life. And yet somehow I set a new PR. The course is quite hilly, the weather included several hours running in a torrential downpour and it was quite chilly. But somehow I PR'ed.
But my favorite memory and proudest moment was my 50 miler PR at Rocky Raccoon. This was the last time I saw and hung out with my mom. Sadly she passed away in May and I still am trying to get over this. I miss being able to call her when I want to just chat.
In addition to these numerous PRs, I also had so much fun this past year. I had wonderful pacers at Umstead 100: my sister and my husband who even paced me a lap together. This 3 hour 12 mile jog was so much fun. We chatted, laughed and had a great time.
Another favorite memory is at VT100 with my pacers Dan and Shane. Both Dan and Shane really are 100% responsible for my finish at VT100. I was pretty depressed during this race and at one point my heart really wasn't in it. But they kept up my spirits, gave me all sorts of positive encouragement and were truly GREAT friends and pacers. I was so lucky to have spent ~10 hours with Shane and ~5 hours with Dan sharing my VT100 mile experience.
Also at VT100 I was part of a running community with lots of friends I knew before: Emmy, Debbie, Caroline, Frank, Bob and of course my adopted running club, the Reston Runners: Mary, Anna, Dave, Jim A, Jim B, Bill, Tim, and Jim. And of course during the race I was supported by my friend Tony (fresh from his Badwater finish!) and Mark M.
Friends is a common theme in why running makes me so happy. I was so delighted at JJ100 when I spent many hours running with (and perhaps even pacing at the end:-) my friends Susan and Rob. They are such accomplished ultrarunners and so kind and encouraging. The miles just flew by with them.
This year had many trips for business and pleasure. During these trips I got to see friends and family. Some places I had never been to before (for example, Sedona, Arizona with my dad) while other places I had been to before.
Of course in real life I also was very busy. I traveled to many conferences and even co-organized a large statistical conference. I still am recovering from this...although immediately heading to the VT50 might not have been the best idea (although the pre-race dinner with Steve, Tony, EJ, Shane, Tristan and others was so much fun!)
The year ended with two bits of good news. Gilligan who was diagnosed with cancer in early June is now considered fully in remission since he has not had a recurrence and based on X-rays and scans his cancer had not spread. And the final bit of good news is that I was selected for a team leader position at the FDA. Hopefully I will be a fair, reasonable and well respected team leader.

subset: commoncrawl


text: Katy Perry Born Oct 25, 1984 in Santa Barbara, CA Age 34 Katie Perry is a singer and song writer who set the record for the most number one singles to come off of one album. SHARE THIS PAGE: Sign Up For Alerts: Never Miss a Story! SWEET! You're all signed up. 1465 images View All » 15 videos View All »


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Greer Stamp Club
Meeting Dates: 2nd Saturday of each month
Meeting Times: 9:00 am - 11:00 am
Meeting Location(s): Taylors Library - Burdette Branch, 316 W Main St., Taylors, SC 29687 (864) 268-5955
President/Facilitator: Susan Whitehead
Contact: Susan Whitehead, P.O. Box 8249, Greenville, SC, 29604
Home (864) 306-3242, Work (864) 232-5557
We are a small stamp club with general collecting interests both in both foreign and US stamps. Our meetings generally consist of a program, auctions, and trading. We have no dues and are open to anyone who collects or would like to collect stamps.
Meetings are normally the 2nd Saturday of the month - 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Meetings held from January - November. There are times that the library will not allow us to have a meeting due to library scheduled events so we have to reschedule another Saturday. We always recommend that the library be called in advance to see if a meeting is going to be held that 2nd Saturday.


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SWG Studio Interior
I created these photographs with Paul Doolan from Dots Per Inch (who found me through The Brownbill Effect Directory) and Santoso Budiman and Gregory Royce from SWG Studio who did the interior furnishings. It was so lovely working with such a fabulous team and such fantastic stylists with a great eye for colour and detail. (They even bought us a home made lunch to the set!). All in all it was a great day in the countryside and a beautiful location to be working in.
This shoot will be in my all time favourites for a long time to come.


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Get similar jobs by email Register →
Danish or Swedish Speaking Telesales Agents
|Recruiter Name
|Recruitment Direct
|Job Title
|Danish or Swedish Speaking Telesales Agents
|Job Type
|Permanent Contract, Full-Time Position
|21k per year + OTE 35k per year
|Dundalk, Ireland
|Date Posted
|almost 4 years ago
|Expiry Date
Job Description
Danish or Swedish Telesales Agents
Basic €21k – ote €35k per year + relocation assistance
Our client based in County Louth is currently recruiting for Danish or Swedish Telesales Agents.
The successful candidate will be responsible for selling the company products to existing customers through telephone calling.
- Phoning customers from existing customer database and generating sales
- Managing the relationship with existing customers by providing excellent customer service and maintaining the customer relationship
- Managing own sales activity
- Entering orders on-line
- Ensuring samples/brochures, etc are forwarded on a timely basis if required by customers
- Participation in product projects when required
- Responsible for ensuring the satisfaction of your assigned customers
- Primary contact for your assigned customers
- Ensure that customer issues are dealt with in an efficient manner, informing the customer of any new products
- Ideally minimum of 1 years telesales experience
- Skilled negotiator
- Have the ability to maintain professionalism under pressure
- An energetic, self-starter who excels in interpersonal skills, with a focus on listening and questioning skills
- Self-motivated and goal oriented
- Strong customer service and the desire to be successful exceed targets and integrate into a team-based organization
- Be a good team player
- Fluent in Danish or Swedish.
- Ability to speak & understand English.
Normal Hours of Work:
39.5 hrs per work – Monday to Friday role
There is no Weekend Shift.
€21,000 basic per annum plus sales commission of €100 - €500 per week (depending on targets reached) = €35,000 OTE uncapped commission depending on targets reached.
Additional benefits:
Paid Holidays
Relocation package = will reimburse travel costs outside Ireland of up to a maximum of €150 plus 4 nights' accommodation (2 nights if inside Ireland already)
Staff discount
Sports & Social Club
VHI (after 6 month)
Recruitment Direct is acting as a recruitment agency
Expired Job
Sorry, this job post it's no longer available
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Vines on a wood house? No. There are ways but I'm too lazy. Vine clinging to stucco/stone, below,
Use a woody (Why woody? No wire/trellis needed.) shrub as a 'vine' on your wood home.
Don't buy shrubs already espaliered, buy big shrubs and prune them into espalier. On camellia, and many others, this saves over $100+.
Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
Carolina jessamine was growing on my baywindow. Gone, too much work. Espaliered a huge oakleaf hydrangea, 2nd pic from bottom.


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Browsing by Author "Bai, Lynn"
Now showing items 1-3 of 3
Do Differences in Pleading Standards Cause Forum Shopping in Securities Class Actions?: Doctrinal and Empirical Analyses Thomas, Randall S., 1955-; Cox, James D., 1943-; Bai, Lynn (2009)
Lying and Getting Caught: An Empirical Study of the Effect of Securities Class Action Settlements on Targeted Firms Thomas, Randall S., 1955-; Bai, Lynn; Cox, James D., 1943- (2010)
There are Plaintiffs and . . . There are Plaintiffs: An Empirical Analysis of Securities Class Action Settlements Thomas, Randall S., 1955-; Cox, James D.; Bai, Lynn (2008)


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As far back as she can remember, Deana Luchs remembers the pain.
In elementary school her frequent stomach aches and muscle pain were dismissed as imaginary. "I was called a hypochondriac by the doctors and even by family members."
It wasn't until she was 33 that she got a diagnosis...
Read more
Chronic pain — commonly defined as pain persisting longer than six months — affects an estimated 70 million Americans and is a tragically overlooked public health problem.
The burden of chronic pain is greater than that of diabetes, heart disease and cancer combined.
A 1998 National Institutes of Health (NIH) report concluded that just the economic toll of chronic pain may be estimated at $100 billion a year in the United States. It has increased significantly since then.


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Even though the internet has provided us with a zillion ways to promote and market our businesses and attract new customers and clients, email still remains strong as the de facto standard of both professional and personal communication.
In fact, email is one of the paramount ways that has proven to be both reliable and failsafe when it comes to business communication. Got a problem with your web hosting company? Open a ticket, and the reply comes in your inbox! Got an announcement to make about your business? Shoot an email to your newsletter subscribers and customers! Got a discount promotion going on? How about using email for sending out discount links and promo codes?
As can be seen, email is a very effective medium of promotion and communication. Whilst it has been marred and defamed a lot due to evil spammers, it still is very handy and helpful, if used properly and with responsibility.
Quite obviously, designing an email layout too has its own pitfalls and requirements involved. In this article, I will be discussing considerations, tips and tricks that you should bear in mind when designing emails.
Email Design Tips You Should Bear in Mind
Design Considerations
First up, there are certain design considerations that you need to bear in mind. Let us discuss what these are and how to tackle them.
1. Minimalism
Get that straight: nobody has time to sit back, relax and read through one email after another. This is especially true if the email in question is a newsletter campaign.
Problem is, you cannot clutter your email design, because it will only dilute the user's attention and before you know it, the email will end up being deleted. As such, minimalism emerges as your best friend. In fact, minimalism in email design is no longer a luxury, but a necessity altogether. Make sure the email templates you design follow minimalism to the core, so that the focus of the user's attention is on the actual content of the email and not the design itself.
2. Call to Action Buttons
Most of the time, in email marketing, the call to action button plays the most important part. Got an important announcement to make or a survey to conduct? The best way to engage your users is to make them click on that fancy Call to Action button of your email.
And how does one do that? By following one neat tip: repeat that Call to Action button in the email, twice. Once, it should come at its normal position, somewhere in the middle of the email. Second, it should also appear right at the bottom, so that whoever has finished reading the email, is spared the agony of scrolling up to find the Call to Action button.
3. White Space
As already stated, minimalism should form the backbone of your email design. And minimalism is best implemented when you make smart and judicious use of white space. Use white space to break chunks of text that are too large to otherwise draw the user's attention. Plus, you can also employ white space to lend an aesthetic look to your email, thereby encouraging users to read through it and possibly get involved in its content.
Do Not Experiment
There are certain areas where you can experiment and innovate, but email design is not amongst them.
Quite frankly, when it comes to email, being predictable and conventional is a very smart strategy. When people open emails, they are not looking to be surprised, so you shouldn't try to surprise them either.
For example, use big Call to Action, that are predictable and stand apart. Why? Because just in case your users are on a mobile device, they might use either thumb to click on the said button, so it is safer to have a wider button. Similarly, colors for links in the email should be such that they are easily recognizable even on the smallest of screens.
Plus, use text in a smart manner. For example, a Call to Action button that reads "Click Here" is probably way worse than one which reads "Click Here to Grab Your Free Copy!", simply because the latter talks in a better tone and reminds the user of their benefit.
Also, it is a good idea to come to the point right at the start of your email. State briefly what the said email is about, and then hop on to details later on in the mail. As such, if your design uses a separate text styling for the opening text so that it stands out and grabs the user's attention straight away, you will be awarded bonus points for that!
Believe in Simplicity
Do not provide too many choices to your users. In terms of design, use a simple layout and color scheme, and implement it in a uniform manner. If you are making your important links bold, make sure you do it all throughout the mail.
Similarly, keep one constant color for your Call to Action buttons. One uniform typography scheme — no fancy vanity, please!
By offering a simple design layout, you are making your emails easier to scan at a go, and that is a big advantage, especially because most users tend to scan through emails quickly before deciding whether or not this interests them.
While this might not purely be a design consideration, try to be very transparent in your emailing skills. Make sure you have the headers, subjects and everything else in order. Scan for typos and grammatical errors, and so on. Furthermore, make sure you reveal your brand's identity straightaway, lest you wish to scream "SPAM!".
Responsive Design
While responsive design has become a hot trend in terms of web design, when it comes to email design, you need to proceed with caution.
It does not mean that responsive design in email is of less value. As a matter of fact, nearly half of total emails are nowadays read via mobile devices.
Problem is, the @media query that is used to implement responsiveness in design (it is a set of CSS styles that consist of dynamic rules and conditional statements to help you identify the screen size and act accordingly) is not yet fully supported by all the mobile email clients. So unless your users are using a mobile web browser to check their mails (trust me, most of them are not), you will have a hard time getting your responsive emails to look good across devices.
To make your life easier, the Android OEM Mail app, the iOS Mail app, the BlackBerry OS7 and Z10 apps, etc. are all supportive of responsive email design. However, the majority of mobile apps: including the Yahoo! mail app (Android as well as iOS), and the iOS GMail app, along with certain versions of the Windows Mobile native mail app do not support responsive emails.
Therefore, your best bet is to either be sure of the email clients that your users are on, or stay away from outright responsive and strike a compromise by designing universal email layouts and then testing them across multiple devices.
Email is one of the biggest tools of promotion and marketing. While services such as MailChimp and Aweber come with ready-made templates, anyone who is serious about their email campaigns should consider investing in a custom-designed email layout.
Have you designed an email layout recently? What all aspects did you take into consideration? Share your thoughts and views with us using the comments below!
Image Credits: Nutzumi | Sean MacEntee | Marie-Chantale Turgeon | Gino Borio


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This Entrepreneur Quit His Job and Moved In With His Mom. Now He Owns a $20 Million Company
Small Business Owners of America started six years ago as a consulting firm. Now it's one of the top financing options for startup capital in the country. This post originally appeared on Inc.com.


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If your looking to get a Tow Bar supplied and fitted look no further than DB Vehicle Electrics, we offer a complete mobile tow bar fitting service in Lincolnshire offering a basic tow bar to a dual electric set up were you can power your caravans fridge while on the move from your vehicle.
All our Tow Bars are supplied from well known suppliers which are all E approved for the UK. Meaning its safe for you to tow a trailer or caravan. We offer a wide range of towing options such as a fixed flange ball or swan neck and we also offer a full detachable range.
Offering different electrical set ups such as..
Single 7 pin socket – Just one socket which powers the lights on your trailer, cycle carrier or caravan.
Twin socket – Two 7 pin sockets, one for the lights and one to power the fridge and battery etc. on your caravan.
13 pin socket (Europlug) – Does the same as the twin sockets, this is mainly on newer caravans.
We solder all wiring connections unlike other Tow Bar engineers and use bypass relays for the lighting circuits meaning nothing is over loaded and meets all safety requirements while driving. This means your vehicles wiring won't be void if your still within your vehicles warranty period.
We offer Tow Bar Fitting in all local Lincolnshire areas such as Mablethorpe, Louth, Grimsby, Cleethorpes, Lincoln, Market Rasen, Scunthorpe, Immingham


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Lots of photos of our recent productions on the Photos page!
Del Rio's Award-Winning Live Theater Group
The Upstagers have been performing award-winning live theater in Del Rio, Texas, since 1977. Twice The Upstagers have been Texas State Champions in the American Association of Community Theaters (AACT) competition, and we have won at Quad level and advanced to State countless other times. Our doors have always been open to anyone who wants to see a live play or be a part of a live production.


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Property management software resources from www.SimplifyEm.com is used by Property Management Companies, Property Managers, and Landlords. Rental property management software focused for property managment Companies, property managers, landlords
Version: 3.6Property management software by SimplifyEm saves property managers and landlords time managing their properties and makes it easy to keep organized.
License: Free To Try $9.95
Operating System: Windows
Homepage: www.SimplifyEm.com
Developed by:
Users are able to track everything related to tenants, owners and vendors such as income and expenses, payment histories, balances, communication histories, work orders, maintenance requests, online payments and can generating reports needed with a click. Many tasks can be done in bulk or automated, saving time and money.
Users can bulk send notices and statements, record payments, automate fees and transaction entries, automatically collect rent, make rent collection entries and much more.
Many advanced features allow larger property managers and landlords to provide the best experience possible for their owners and tenants such as portals to manage payments, share documents and make requests. SimplifyEm is also the most cost effective solution on the market and includes unlimited support for every user at no additional cost.
Updates based on user feedback are also included as well, ensuring users will always have the best possible solution for property management.
SimplifyEm for Landlords, Property Managers, and Property Management Companies is easy to use.
One easy to use property management resource from SimplifyEm.com (www.SimplifyEm.com / property-management ), is now available for those who want to save time and money while managing their rental properties. SimplifyEm.com has a free property management software application (www.SimplifyEm.com / property-management-software ) that exceeds all expectations.
The software is very user-friendly and allows you to track the income and expenses that are associated with each property, manage tenants, and maintain accurate records for the purposes of filing taxes. Use SimplifyEm.com Property Management Software ( www.SimplifyEm.com / property-management-software ) for rental property management.
What's New
Version 3.6: Change look and feel, add new functionality, make more user friendly


text: Technology Tech Group To Set Industry Standards For Artificial Intelligence September 29, 2016 Artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming part of everyday life: think Apple's Siri. Major tech firms formed a group to help the public understand AI and develop standards so it isn't misused. Tech Group To Set Industry Standards For Artificial Intelligence Listen · 2:48 2:48 Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/495882758/495882759" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript


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Vigilance and Incitement
What do you feed?
Pryde's EasiResponse as this works best for my horses as well as mixture of other roughage.
What do you require from your horse feed?
From this feed, I require my horses to not only feel good in order for high performances but also for them to be happy and healthy.
Special care and management considerations of your horse(s):
Special care and management considerations include feeding the appropriate amount of feed and to know how often in order for healthy horses.
Special highlight(s) in your riding career:
Winning and placing in both Junior and Young rider classes as well as other titles.
Austral high jump 1995 – 2.47m
What are your riding ambitions?
My personal riding ambitions include to be the best that I can be through striving to make improvements within my riding in order to make and achieve goals such as producing nice horses and to ultimately represent Australia.
Do you have any hobbies/other interests?
Water skiing


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As I've said before, the women in my life have been a pretty heterogeneous bunch. But in spite of their differences, I...
Live Action News publishes pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective. Learn More
Finley's parents are grateful abortion pill reversal saved their little girl
This viral video is changing minds about abortion
10 reasons abortion is not the answer


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Integration & Synchronisation platform
The Data Integration and Synchronisation platform reduces the cost of integration projects and integrating on-premise and cloud applications is simplistic and quick to deploy. This powerful platform can also transform data so that it is always compatible with the recipient system(s).
Example Integrations and Synchronisations created by our customers include:
- Magento integration
- Parcelforce integration
- Ebay integration
- Mailchimp integration
- Amazon integration
- EDI integration
- Saleforce integration
Want to learn more?
Download the following brochure and discover the benefits your organisation, customers and suppliers could achieve by your use of the integration and synchronisation platform.


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This is a comic were you and others will find many of the things you are looking for. We offer the freshest and/or most well aged items that you could need for your comics. Wether it's a dasturdly-basturdly villain, or an epic-bad ass hero, you can find it on our shelfs. We take requests. Jesus lizard is in charge, talk to him for membership "n" such. We do not accept stolen material, if the sheet in question has no tag to say who made it, it's fine by JL. Sonic recolors, though alowed, are looked down apon harshly. (we are O.K. with Sonic edits.) We want to help you get better, the only ways to do that are to give tips, yell at you, or insult you. (we usualy only use the first one if possable.) We accept edits, customs, rips, and other such things. Recolors are only alowed with exclusive permission.
Timothy the mouse
June 16th, 2009, 12:55 pm
Author's Comments:
Reply Advertisement, September 23rd, 2019, 5:59 am
User's Comments:
Reply Teel The hedgehog (I QUIT!) (Guest), July 18th, 2009, 6:56 pm
*girly scream* THIS MOUSE IS EATING MY CHEESE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *steps on timothy*
Reply Gehshi teh hedgy (teel) (Guest), April 8th, 2010, 11:06 pm
jesus lizard,i like yer comment,but some people miss me,like rex,he was happy when he saw me in warray's chat.
Post A Comment


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Bryan College Station Independent Restaurants (Taste of BCS) are showing support for families that have been displaced from Hurricane Harvey by pledging $10,000 in gift cards to provide evacuees with local meals on the house. Gift cards that can be used at any of our members' eighteen locations will be distributed in increments of $100 to families displaced from the Houston area staying in our town. We want our neighbors to feel welcome in BCS and invite them to be our guests and enjoy a freshly cooked meal. Our hope is that the hospitality extended to these displaced Texans provides a small bit of relief from the devastating effects of this destructive storm.
The area restaurants involved in the Taste of B-CS include: Amico Nave Ristorante, Blue Baker, Brauhaus at Murphy's Law, C&J's BBQ, Café Eccell, Carney's Pub and Grill, Casa Rodriguez, Chicken Oil Co., J. Cody's Steak and Barbeque, Lakeside Icehouse at Lake Bryan, Shipwreck Grill, The Corner Bar and Grill, The Proudest Monkey, and The Village Downtown.
If anyone is interested in joining the group's efforts by contributing additional funds so that even more families can be welcomed into our great community, please visit the Taste of BCS website: www.tasteofbcs.com and click on "Gift Cards".


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1) What do you feel the Pisces Party from March 12th-20th revealed to you? Any gifts? Any insights?
2) How were you able to greet the Pisces New Moon? With what ritual, practice, or offering? Do you feel clear about what this time has invited you to?
3) The New Moon on March 8th was also a full solar eclipse. Eclipse cylces are times when things brew below the surface, then come to light at just the right time. With 4 eclipses happening this year, the Pisces New Moon one being the first, what is brewing beneath the surface for you? What do you feel is awakening/dying, emerging/closing?
4) Where is your natal Chiron placed (sign and house)? Do you feel as though a journey of wounding has led you to become a teacher/healer in this area of your life? How have you shifted the blockage of Chiron into a gift?
5) For the Full Moon on March 23, which takes place with the Moon in Libra and the Sun in Aries, we're invited to a cardinal spectrum that invites us more deeply into the relationship we have with ourselves, and the intimate/close relationships we have with those in our lives. This Full Moon is also an eclipse, and the second of 2016. How did you experience the energy of this time? What became clear to you? How are you being invited to live more courageously in your life? How are you being invited to shift/transform your intimate relationships?


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|Most people rode mules on the trip into the canyon.
Dad and his friends decided walking would be safer.
|Dad wrote in his journal that the view of the Colorado River
from the bottom of the Grand Canyon was "the most beautiful site
[he] had ever seen."
|"10 degrees this side of Hell"
|Grand Canyon photos in Frank W. Lee's photo album


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Carla Espinosa
|Carla Espinosa
|Scrubs character
|First appearance
|"My First Day"
|Last appearance
|"My Finale"
|Created by
|Bill Lawrence
|Portrayed by
|Judy Reyes
|Head Nurse
|Registered Nurse
|Mrs. Espinosa (mother, deceased)
Marco Espinosa (brother)
Gabriella Espinosa (sister)
Maria Espinosa (sister)
Marie (last name unknown) (aunt, deceased)
|Christopher Turk
|Isabella "Izzy" Turk (daughter)
unnamed daughter (born between seasons 8 and 9)
|Roman Catholic
Carla Espinosa, RN is a fictional character in the American comedy-drama Scrubs, portrayed by Judy Reyes, who appeared on the series from October 2001 to May 2009.
Carla appeared in every episode during the first eight seasons except three Season 8 episodes, My Happy Place, "My Cookie Pants" and "My Full Moon". She worked as the head nurse at Sacred Heart Hospital,[1] in which the main action of the show takes place.
Judy Reyes was a regular cast member for the first eight seasons, and is the only original cast member not to return for season nine, though her character was still mentioned. According to Donald Faison, who plays Carla's husband Christopher Turk, Carla becomes a stay-at-home mother following the birth of their second daughter, explaining the character's absence from season nine.[2]
Judy Reyes describes her character as "sassy, no nonsense". Reyes relied on her sister, a real-life licensed nurse, as an inspiration for character, and to address technical questions Reyes had about nursing and medicine. After watching an episode, Reyes' sister commented, "You stole my character!", referring to Reyes emulating her personality.[3]
Family life[edit]
Carla was born in the Dominican Republic but moved to Chicago while still a child. All her family is from the Dominican Republic, despite Turk's frequent and incorrect assertions that she is Mexican or Puerto Rican. It is revealed in Season 5 that she is 36 years old. It is also revealed in the episode "His Story" that Carla's father ran out on the family when Carla was a child.
Carla starts dating Christopher Turk (Donald Faison) in the show's second episode, "My Mentor". They remain together for the entire run of the show. Carla marries Turk in the season finale of season 3, "My Best Friend's Wedding". She and Turk go through a trial separation in season 4 after Carla discovers that Turk is still talking to his ex-girlfriend without telling her he is married. The situation gets worse when she and J.D. share a drunken kiss. Following some couples' therapy and some frank discussions with Turk and J.D., however, the couple reunites. Despite these issues, Judy Reyes believes the characters were made for each other, and set an example for other couples on the show to emulate.[3]
Soon after reconciliation, they start trying to have a child. Initially, they are unsuccessful, but she finally gets pregnant toward the end of the season after several episodes are spent on Turk and Carla worrying about their respective fertility. Carla gives birth to a girl, whom they name Isabella, in the episode "My Best Friend's Baby's Baby and My Baby's Baby". J.D. becomes the godfather of the child. In "My Coffee" when J.D. enters the room that Carla's in with Isabella in her arms, she points to him and says "Isabella, this is the man you will be competing with for your father's love." In "My House", it is revealed that she suffers from post-partum depression. She spends most of the following episode in denial about the condition, but finally gets help after a frank discussion with Jordan Sullivan, who had also suffered from the condition.
Carla announces that she is pregnant for the second time in "My Absence".
She has two sisters and a brother named Marco (Freddy Rodriguez) who hates Turk, and who for years pretended he was unable to speak English in front of Carla.[4] Her mother, who also hates Turk, dies in the episode "My Drama Queen".
Relationships with other characters[edit]
Carla affectionately nicknames J.D. "Bambi" in season 1, and the nickname sticks. She claims that of all the interns she has worked with, J.D. is the only one whose approval she actually cares about, to the extent that she feigns an interest in black-and-white photography so he would think she is intelligent.[5] She is highly protective of J.D.; when Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) tears into him in "My Nickname", she is quick to come to his defense and tell off the senior doctor. Unfortunately this leads Cox to publicly embarrass J.D. again, which in turn leads J.D. to blow up at Carla. This results in a heated (albeit brief) fight between the two.
Carla and J.D. are close friends; he even gossips with her "like one of the girls".[6] They even use Mardi Gras beads to signify their friendship and trust shared, almost like a friendship heart necklace.[7] Once J.D. and Carla share a drunken kiss, which leads to some tension between each other and Turk, though this is resolved soon afterward.[8]
In the series finale, a flashforward scene suggests that Carla and J.D. will be friends long into the future, and that Carla and Turk's daughter, Isabella, will get engaged to J.D.'s son Sam.[9]
Early in the series, Carla doesn't feel particularly close to Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke) but they later become best friends. Series creator Bill Lawrence has said on DVD commentaries that this mirrored Reyes' and Chalke's real-life relationship.
Though they are close, their relationship is not without friction; Carla sometimes resents Elliot's neurotic perfectionism and (unintended) condescension about her family background. Elliot in turn is often annoyed by Carla's bossiness. In "My Lucky Charm", the two get into a vicious "catfight" (much to the delight of the male employees) over what had started as a disagreement over plans of theirs that were flaked on by both Carla and Elliot.
Elliot is a bridesmaid at Carla and Turk's wedding. Before the ceremony, Carla says that she feels closer to Elliot than she does to her own sisters.[10] In "My Cold Shower", she fantasizes (along with all the other main characters) about marrying Elliot and comments that life would be simpler if she did.[11]
Dr. Cox[edit]
Dr. Perry Cox has always had a soft spot for Carla, as she is not afraid to stand up to him. Cox claims that Carla is the only one who 'gets him' and is often very protective of her. During the first season, it is revealed that Dr. Cox has feelings for Carla, but since she is with Turk, he does nothing about it.[12] Before Carla started going out with Turk, she and Cox went on a date together that did not end as he would have liked, but nevertheless strengthened their friendship.[13] Even though Cox detests Turk, he admits that the two of them belong together.[10] When Carla confesses how fearful she is of being a parent, Cox tells her that he knows she'll be a terrific mother.[14] Carla is godmother to Dr. Cox and Jordan's daughter, Jennifer Dylan.[15]
- ^ "His Story IV". Scrubs. Season 6. Episode 7. February 1, 2007. NBC.
- ^ "Buzz Interview: Donald Faison and Dave Franco on Scrubs 2.0". December 1, 2009. [BuzzSugar.com]. Accessed September 11, 2011
- ^ a b "Scrubs - Judy Reyes Keeps Talking". YouTube. June 5, 2009. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
- ^ "My Self-Examination". Scrubs. Season 3. Episode 21. April 27, 2004. NBC.
- ^ "My Nickname". Scrubs. Season 1. Episode 10. October 27, 2001. NBC.
- ^ "My Roommates". Scrubs. Season 4. Episode 18. February 22, 2005. NBC.
- ^ "My Moment of Un-Truth". Scrubs. Season 2. Episode 19. March 30, 2004. NBC.
- ^ "My Kingdom". Scrubs. Season 3. Episode 17. March 30, 2004. NBC.
- ^ "My Finale". Scrubs. Season 8. Episode 19. May 6, 2009. ABC.
- ^ a b "My Best Friend's Wedding". Scrubs. Season 3. Episode 22. May 4, 2004. NBC.
- ^ "My Cold Shower". Scrubs. Season 6. Episode 19. May 3, 2007. NBC.
- ^ "My Drug Buddy". Scrubs. Season 1. Episode 14. January 22, 2002. NBC.
- ^ "My Quarantine". Scrubs. Season 4. Episode 16. February 8, 2005. NBC.
- ^ "My Way Home". Scrubs. Season 5. Episode 7. January 24, 2006. NBC.
- ^ "My Point of No Return". Scrubs. Season 6. Episode 22. May 17, 2007. NBC.


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Ahh Christmas. The party season is fast approaching, the party invites are flying in and basically every evening from now until the big day is packed full of drinks, dinner dates and loadsa cheese and wine.. Sounds like my kind of heaven!
One thing that always stresses me out this time of year is what to wear to all of these events. How casual is smart/casual? Is everyone going to be dressy dressy or just wearing the old jeans and a nice top combo? This time of year I like to go all out with my outfits, wearing things that I wouldn't usually be brave enough to the rest of the year. I love a dress but I get a bit bored of turning up to places and wearing exactly the same as 1/2/3 other girls with equally good taste ;). So this year i'm going for something a little bit more jazzy; the Christmas Suit!
This suit is a little number from ASOS and is the perfect alternative to the usual dress. I love the metallic shine and the waist belt clinches you in at just the right spot. The trousers and blazer also look equally aaaaamazing worn separately day to day.. 3 outfits in 3 = WINNER! So there you have it, the perfect alternative option to bring some sass to your Christmas party this year. Are you tempted to try something a little different this year or are you sticking to your failsafe?
L x
Shoes - ASOS
Bag - ASOS


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Hilton Denver Inverness200 Inverness Drive West, Englewood, Colorado, 80112, USA TEL: +1-303-799-5800 FAX: +1-303-799-5874 Email us
Tee off on our stunning golf course, the J. Press Maxwell championship course, when you book the Golf Stay & Play Package. Each registered guest receives one round of golf per day and a golf cart to get all the way to the 18th hole.
Tee Times are available after 12:00pm. Offer valid for one round of golf (including cart) for each registered adult guest per night of stay at the J. Press Maxwell championship course. Offer subject to availability. If you are making this reservation by phone, please call our Internet Customer Center at +1 800 Hilton Honors and request booking code PGGSP1 or request the "Golf Stay & Play" package. View here for a complete list of Hilton Honors Reservation phone numbers.
Offer components are not transferable or redeemable for cash, and cannot be used during future stays. Advance tee-times are required, please contact the hotel directly at 303-397-7878 to schedule and confirm availability in advance. Golf reservations are subject to availability and weather conditions and may have deposit or cancellation requirements; please contact the hotel and/or golf course to confirm.
This offer may not be combined with other select promotions, offers or discounts and is not valid for existing reservations or groups.
Hilton Honors™ membership, including the earning and redemption of Points, is subject to Hilton Honors Terms and Conditions.


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Welcome to The Reliable Dog of Cape Cod
We are a small locally owned business that takes pride in what we do. We treat every dog as if they were a part of our family.
The Reliable Dog offers dog training services to Cape Cod and the South Shore. Our services are based on The Reliable Dog Training System.
What is The Reliable Dog Training System?
This system is a holistic approach to dog training. It takes into account your dog's whole life: from puppy years to senior years, from play time to rest time, from good manners to obedience, from walking on leash to recalls off leash, and everything in between. We all want to set up our dogs for a life full of successful interactions with both people and other animals. How do we do this? By smart training. Every part of this system works on different levels of conditioning. We are never teaching just one thing at a time, even though it might look like it. All training begins with the comprehensive Essentials Program. This addresses your dog's unique needs and covers topics such as: human v. dog space, a progressive approach to recall and loose-leash walking, good manners and the foundations for obedience, plus choosing equipment that's right for your dog.
Why would I need it? Who is this appropriate for?
This training is appropriate for all ages, breeds, and temperaments. Whether we're aware of it or not, we are not the only people involved in our dog's life. Our dogs need to be adaptable to any situation life might throw at them. Ask yourself these questions:
Can my dog be touched?
Can my dog relax in new environments?
Can my dog be calm in his crate?
Can my dog be away from me without being anxious? (separation anxiety)
Can my dog be approached by new people?
Does my dog pull on the leash?
Does my dog display aggression towards other people or dogs?
Does my dog have any issues around meals or food?
These questions are just the beginning. Your answer might be, "My dog doesn't need to work on any of that stuff. He's just fine loose in the house." That might be true, but the fact is that all dogs will be asked to do different things during their lives. Examples: vet visits, walks outside the house, boarding, relatives coming to your home, bed rest after illness or injury, travel, etc. This training is designed to build a strong, healthy relationship between you and your dog. It is also designed to create confident dogs and happy owners. The training will address problems that already exist, but it is also proactive, and carefully designed to help you handle behaviors that might come up in the future.


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The Kansas Pile-On/
For the forces of government growth, the worst possible thing is a state that breaks ranks from the endless creeping government expansion and actually tries to cut taxes and spending. In today's United States, that would be Kansas. So suddenly this state you never read about deep in flyover country is getting a lot of attention in the national press.
In 2010 Kansas elected Republican former Senator Sam Brownback as its governor, following two Democrats (one of whom was Kathleen Sebelius). With the support of a heavily Republican legislature, Brownback has set about to make big cuts in taxes as a way to jump-start the economy. The top income tax rate was cut from 6.45% to 4.9% effective in mid-2013. Further cuts are scheduled over the next several years (down to 3.9% in 2018), and Brownback has even talked about getting rid of the income tax entirely. Heresy!
The New York Times weighed in on Sunday July 13 with an editorial titled "Kansas' Ruinous Tax Cuts." The clear goal is to nip this tax cutting thing in the bud before it starts taking hold. The Times editorial quotes Brownback in 2012 as saying "Our new pro-growth tax policy will be like a shot of adrenaline into the heart of the Kansas economy." And then it proceeds to cherry-pick some data to try to show that the whole thing isn't working and should be stopped right now:
But the growth didn't show up. Kansas, in fact, was one of only five states to lose employment over the last six months, while the rest of the country was improving. It has been below the national average in job gains for the three and half years Mr. Brownback has been in office. Average earnings in the state are down since 2012, and so is net growth in the number of registered businesses.
As another example of the Kansas pile-on, here is Howard Gleckman from July 15 at the Forbes web site. His conclusion: "This is fiscal snake oil." And Mark Peters in the Wall Street Journal on July 15 cites "more than 100 Republican officials" in Kansas as supporting Brownback's opponent for governor in the upcoming election, largely attributing the phenomenon to cold feet over the tax cuts.
A few comments on this. First, I wouldn't be expecting very dramatic changes to be happening overnight as a result of what really are not-very-dramatic tax cuts. The process of creating a good investment climate and then attracting the investors takes years, just as the process of destroying a good investment climate and driving business away takes years. Here in New York, Bill de Blasio is doing everything he can to destroy the good investment climate created by his two predecessors, but you can't really notice any change yet. It would be nice if clear results could be in within 12 months, but these things just don't work that way. And then there are specific factors as to particular businesses and industries that can affect the results. For example, Kansas is big in the private aircraft business, which is struggling. That business would still be struggling even if they eliminated the income tax entirely.
So instead of cherry-picking some short term data about Kansas, let's take a look at a somewhat bigger picture. Here is the recent data from the Commerce Department on GDP growth by state for 2013:
Surprise, it is the usual case of low tax low spend states far outperforming the high tax high spend states. It's not a perfect correlation, and never is in any given year, but low tax states like Texas (3.7% growth) and Florida (2.2% growth) virtually always outperform the "blue states" (not blue in this chart), like New York (0.7%), New Jersey (1.1%), Connecticut (0.9%) and Illinois (0.9%). Oh, and there's Kansas at 1.9% -- a lot better than New York. Try to find that data in the New York Times!
For a little more long term perspective on things, take a look at demographer Joel Kotkin's op-ed from the Wall Street Journal on July 15, "Success and the City." Kotkin documents the remarkable success of low tax Houston, now the fourth largest city in the country and continuing to outstrip all rivals.
Houston's economic success over the past 20 years—and, more remarkably, since the Great Recession and the weak national recovery—rivals the performance of any large metropolitan region in the U.S. For nearly a decade and a half, the city has added jobs at a furious pace—more than 600,000 since early 2000, and 263,000 since early 2008. The much more populous greater New York City area has added 103,000 jobs since 2008, and Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix, Atlanta and Philadelphia remain well below their 2008 levels in total jobs. Los Angeles and Chicago, like Detroit, have fewer jobs today than they did at the turn of the millennium.
And from today's Wall Street Journal, we have "Weak Economy Dogs Christie On The Road." With New Jersey having a top income tax rate now almost 9%, why should that surprise anyone?
So Kansas, have a little fortitude. Success may take a little while, but it will come.


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The downside of the tens of thousands of NYC eating options is that they all can't last forever. Due to severe competition, greedy landlords and fickle trends, some really great, unique eateries vanish overnight. Here is my homage to a few deserving ones…
Mama's Food Shop (10-21-12) – My beloved Mama's Food Shop has closed after 17 years as my favorite cheap eats destination. I have been frequenting Mama's from the beginning, enjoying heaping plates of fried chicken, mac & cheese, and greens for the absurd price of about $12. The cafeteria style service and the East Village vibe were so comforting to me and the many people I have introduced to Mama's. With all of those portraits of Mamas looking down at you, you couldn't help leaving Mama's with a big smile and bigger belly. Spud and I will miss Mama's dearly. While we only visited a few times per year, we thought Mama's would always be there for us, serving mounds of soul food when we needed it. But that's just not the case. People, please get on the phone now and call your own Mama, or better yet, pay her a visit! Here is my love letter to Mama's from January 2010.
Mundo & La Papa in Astoria (11-01-12) – This duo by the same owners have both closed now. Mundo had been a personal favorite, and had lasted over 7 years serving a truly unique menu of Turkish and Argentinian dishes with lots of style, and a wonderful host. We will miss their Red Sonja, insane Vegetarian Wrap, and Ottoman Dumplings. La Papa, a baked potato mecca, was obviously Spud's dream come true. It was a shrine to the tuber with amazing baked potatoes and unlimited toppings. Favorite: All American with cheddar, bacon, broccoli and pickles. Hopefully the owners will be back with a new truck that I can stalk.
Jacques Imo's – It is still very popular in New Orleans, but unfortunately the NYC location only lasted 4 years. It had all the kitsch and grub of genuine N'awlins, and I am not sure why it closed, but it could have been due to location. Columbus Ave on the UWS is not the best place for a theme based destination eatery. Or it could have been the excessively heavy food. Either way, it may have fared better in midtown or a more touristy location. I will miss the food and fun though. It is nearly impossible to find solid, classic N.O. cooking in NYC.
Mo Pitkin's – I actually never got around to eating here, which I am bummed about because it was certainly an unusual experience. It always had live music, and a fun Jewish-Latino menu representing of its alphabet city neighborhood. I mean where else can you get a "Cuban-Reuben"???
Shopsin's Wow, talk about a one-of-a-kind! Shopsin's was a New York original if I've ever seen one. It was so special that they made a documentary about it a few years ago called "I Like Killing Flies". The movie wasn't bad, but the menu is the special thing. It is by far the largest menu I have ever encountered. I think there are 100 different soups alone. Check it out below (that's only page 1 of 2!). Plus, the rigid, cranky owner has his own list of eccentric rules posted on the doors. I have heard rumors that it has sprouted up in a new location. Hopefully it will be the same…
Update: The current location in the Essex Market (120 Essex Street) is not the same as the stand-alone. It's a small afterthought in the market and while the crazy menu remains, the setting does not fully showcase the eccentric personality of Kenny Shopsin or his rogue style. The food is still wild, and it's worth going to, just to have to make the world's toughest menu decision.


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WRJ Representation
WRJ is represented on committees and commissions of Reform judaism, including the following:
WRJ Affiliations
WRJ is the voice and presence of Reform Jewish women not only in the synagogue and the Jewish community but in the local, national, and international community. WRJ represents Reform Jewish to numerous coalitions and commissions dealing with social concerns, including the following:
About WRJ
Women of Reform Judaism is the women's affiliate of the Union for Reform Judaism, the central body of Reform Judaism in North America. Established in 1913, WRJ now represents more than 65,000 women in nearly 500 women's groups in North America, Israel and around the world.
Committed to God, Torah, Israel and Tikkum O'lam (repairing the world), WRJ promotes the centrality of the family and Synagogue, and respects the importance of the individual woman.
Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ) is an affiliate of the Union of Reform Judaism (URJ). The URJ is a religious and educational organization dedicated to the principles of Reform Judaism. WRJ is the founder of NFTY (the North American Federation of Temple Youth), and of the Jewish Braille Institute (JBI). It serves as the women's agency of the World Union for Progressive Judaism and serves as the means for the Women of Reform Judaism to support the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR)
With a mission to ensure the future of Reform Judaism, WRJ works to educate and train future sisterhood and congregational leadership about membership, fundraising, leadership skills, advocacy for social justice and innovative and spiritual programming. Through our YES Fund (Youth, Education, and Special Projects), WRJ provides financial support to rabbinic and cantorial students at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, to the youth programs of the Reform Movement, and to programs benefiting women and children in Israel, the former Soviet Union, and around the world.
Our Mission Statement
Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ) strengthens the voice of women worldwide and empowers them to create caring communities, nurture congregations, cultivate personal and spiritual growth, and advocate for and promote progressive Jewish values.


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Publisher's description
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Monday, August 8, 2011
Nursery Preview
There is one more tiny project being installed tomorrow, and then the nursery will be complete. It's not a very big room but it has quickly become my favorite space in the house. I'll be back soon with all the rest of the pictures, but for now I am still here and still very pregnant!
Labels: Babies and Kids, House and Home
2 comments:
- Julia said...
amazing!!! LOVE the stripes and the crib is just like ours, so of course I'm a huge fan:) Great choices as always! I like the green because it reminds me of your wedding.
- August 8, 2011 at 6:15 PM
- stephanie michele said...
Gorgeous! And I'm not sure how I didn't know that you were pregnant?!? I'm way behind on my blogs... Congrats!
- August 8, 2011 at 7:02 PM
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Maybe it's the Canadian in me but referendums get me excited. Two hopeful nation-states have voted, two have voted yes, and both are considered illegal.
When I hear about the legality of an independence referendum I can't help but roll my eyes. Iraqi and Spanish politicians have decried the results of the referendums because their constitutions do not allow for secession. Off the top of my head I can't think of a single constitution that does allow for the breakup of a country, that's the whole indivisible thing. Nobody want's to write into the DNA of a state a self destruct button, that would be foolish. Facetiousness aside, it is an intriguing issue.
The Kurds without a doubt (and all politics aside) should have a state. They are a nation with a defined self, a region with borders, and are the authoritative military power within these borders. Unfortunately for them, all the chips are laid against them. Kirkuk has vast oil wealth that Iraq depends on, and the Kurds are spread over four countries, two of which are quite powerful, and they have no great power backer.
That last one is the real kicker. Greece needed Great Britain, France, and Russia to intervene militarily to ensure its independence from the Ottoman Empire. Kurdistan has Canada, reluctantly and fading fast.
In the mire of the Middle East Canada attached itself to the Kurds to defeat Daesh, not at a glance a bad thing. Canada has a small army, but our special forces are quietly renowned and we sent the Peshmerga our special forces. On training mission to be sure (Another phrase that has me rolling my eyes). Canadian forces are doing hands on training, as in side by side on the front lines. I was continually surprised no one called this out, until somehow one of our "trainers" broke a sniper record and there was a collective "oh." That is all beside the point now. Canada is responsible for creating a highly trained and effective militia among a people that have a long standing desire for independence.
One particularly awkward aspect of this is that our ally Turkey does not get along with the Kurds. Another is that it could create (continue?) a civil war in Iraq at a point when Daesh is weakening. This could be one of those actions that in a decade we look back and go "oops."
I think no matter what the international community says the Kurds will push forward with their independence. This could be their best chance at brokering independence. The region is stabilizing a bit, but not enough that the Peshmerga aren't needed to fight. They have not unilaterally declared independence, instead they want to barter with Iraq. This would probably need to involve a sharing of the oil fields for Iraq to even remotely agree, but who knows what could make Iran or Turkey agree.
Everyone knows that the Kurds want independence. This referendum creates a bit of legitimacy and could be an appeal to Western populations who are not concerned with the geopolitics of the Middle East and simply see people who want to control their destiny.
Unlike the Kurds, Catalans at one point were independent. It's been nine hundred odd years but still. I know relatively little about this movement except that it has a long history. I don't even know if there is a strategic reason for Spain to have Catalonia. I think it is simply to stop Spain from losing bits and pieces. Aragon, Basque, Valencia, and Galicia are autonomous from the central government and Catalonia could set a precedent that Spain does not want.
The referendum here is more of a problem than the Kurdish one. For one, only about 40% of people voted, I don't care that 90% percent of these voted for independence, 40% is too small a number to break up a country (Ahh my Canada is coming out, show me a clear majority). This number without a doubt is affected by the negative actions of the Spanish police forces at polling stations.
While I understand not wanting your country to break up (we love you Quebec), it isn't good for anyone to hold the territory of unwilling citizens, that is a path to violence and bitterness. I think the UK did it right with the Scottish referendum, set the date and let the campaigning begin. At least there is an understanding then. You can bet if the Catalan vote came back in the negative the government would want to stand by it.
Instead of forcing the state on people a government should convince people why it is good for them to be part of something greater. When the ballots are counted we know the will of the people and should stand by it.


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We truly hope and expect that you enjoy your experience with us, and we pride ourselves on ensuring that you do. Please feel free to contact us at any time with any questions or inquiries.
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While "Playing for Keeps" wasn't met with great success here in the US, that doesn't mean the film isn't doing well overseas!
The film has opened at number 1 in the Italian box office! It screened on 435 screens pulling in a total of $2.1 on it's opening weekend. This is a well deserved win for the movie as it had bad luck here stateside. It's unfortunate to as it was a really fun film. You can read the full article below;
After bombing at the U.S. box office, Italo helmer Gabriele Muccino's soccer romcom "Playing for Keeps" has scored in Italy, pulling $2.6 million in its opening frame and helping to kick off 2013 nicely for local helmers, who lost a roughly 10% market share last year.
The Gerard Butler starrer, released wide in Italian cinemas by Medusa on 435 screens and scoring the numero uno slot, is being dubbed "Muccino's revenge" by the Italo press. Muccino has said in local interviews that the release strategy for "Playing" in the U.S. was flawed because pic's core femme aud was too busy Christmas shopping when it bowed.
Stateside, "Playing" has pulled $13 million to date after its flop $6 million opening over the Dec. 7 weekend via FilmDistrict.
Muccino's Italo boost follows the strong local bow of helmer Giuseppe Tornatore's English-language artworld mystery, "The Best Offer," starring Geoffrey Rush. It has pulled a solid $6.7 million locally in two frames via Warner Bros., and is currently ensconced in the No. 2 Italo slot.
"The year has started out well," said Riccardo Tozzi, prexy of Italo motion picture org Anica at its annual presser on Tuesday about local box office data. "The only way for the Italian market to grow is if local movies click. It's crucial, and that is what we are working on."
According to Anica data Italo B.O. grosses were down 8% to $811 million in 2012, with Hollywood accounting for 53% of the pie.
Meanwhile the market share for Italo films plunged by more than 10% to 25% of the country's total intake.
Italy's top distributor in 2012 was Warner Bros. with $180 million for a 22% share of total Italo grosses.
Also, "Playing for Keeps" will be released on Blu-Ray on March 12th, 2013! This happens to be the same day as "Hitchcock." What a great day in Biel history tbh!


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After Zalmai Azmi joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation as its chief information officer in 2004, he was understandably shocked to learn that the organization didn't have a centralized budget for information technology. That explained why he, the top technology officer for one of the world's best-known crime-fighting organizations, oversaw annual expenditures of exactly $5,800.
But that wasn't the half of it.
He would come to find out that most FBI agents had no email. Or access to the Web. Or their own computers. Or, for that matter, a sophisticated computerized database to track and share casework. They could not get tech support after hours because the help desk at the FBI shut down each night at 7 p.m.
"We don't have a great track record around here," Azmi observes.
Azmi's office is on the seventh floor of the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, DC, the legendary concrete edifice that houses FBI headquarters. Half his space is outfitted with the standard appointments of an executive's workspace–an expansive wooden desk, bookshelves, plaques. The other half, however, is plastered with oversized charts packed with marker-scrawled graphics and workflow arrows. It has the unbuttoned, organic look of a rescue effort in progress–which is precisely what it is.
More than five years after the 9/11 attacks spurred a top-to-bottom redesign of its mission and culture, the FBI is still battling to change itself–to adapt to the 21st-century world of technology and terrorism. It's not just a matter of installing computers, which in any case has proven far from simple. The FBI must address the way its people are hired, managed, and trained. It has to fix the way they communicate and the way decisions are made. It has to remedy a balky, hierarchical structure that sometimes thwarts local action.
That is, the FBI must change nearly everything about itself.
It could be among the most difficult organizational reinventions of our time. It's certainly among the most important: At stake is not quarterly profits and stock price, but the safety and security of America. The FBI is charged with protecting Americans from terrorist attacks on U.S. soil and specifically mandated to take the lead in matters of counterterrorism and counterintelligence. It's that mandate that's at the heart of the organization's current reinvention effort, because the FBI was formed in a much different era to do a much different job.
Before 9/11 exposed a startling mosaic of operational failures, the FBI, with its 31,000 employees, 56 U.S. field offices, and 50 foreign outposts, had earned an unquestioned standing as one of the world's preeminent crime-solving entities. Over the decades, its agents had successfully pursued countless bank robbers, narcotics traffickers, organized-crime kingpins, corrupt politicians, and serial killers.
The problem: Everything about the FBI–its organizational structures and processes, its incentive systems, its decision-making mechanisms, its culture–had evolved to support a mission of solving crimes and bringing criminals to justice after the deed. Today, the far more important mission demands that the agency gather intelligence and prevent acts before they occur. That new role requires different approaches to communication and coordination, different technologies, wholly different ways of thinking and problem solving.
People who know the FBI best–including many who've spent their careers there–would say that its culture, leadership philosophy, and links to the political arena make major change in "the bureau," as it is also known, highly improbable. It is, they argue, just too entrenched, too bureaucratic, too rigid, too old, too slow to understand and execute the scale and sweep of change that needs to happen.
"It's almost a total transformation of what the bureau does and how it does it. It's staggering," says Dick Thornburgh, a former U.S. attorney general who, at the request of Congress, is providing feedback and counsel on the FBI's transformation. In an interview in his Washington, DC, office, Thornburgh praises the determination of FBI leadership to pull off the transformation. But he also hints broadly at an uphill battle. "The bureau has simply not been as attentive to management and strategy and planning as most organizations of its size and reach," he says.
For decades, the FBI thrived with a compartmentalized, highly decentralized organization. When it came to snuffing drug traffickers or sniffing out political corruption, the talents, instincts, and efforts of a single agent in a field office always trumped the generic strategy devised by a detached bureaucrat back at headquarters.
But intelligence and counterterrorism require big-picture strategic planning, savvy resource management, coordination, and teamwork, as well as real-time, highly accessible flows of information. All of which have surfaced time and again, in numerous post-9/11 probes of FBI performance, as critical deficits.
And five years later, while
FBI director Robert Mueller is a figure as problematic as he is central to this change endeavor. Mueller, who took his job a week before the World Trade Center attack, is, by all accounts, a dedicated public servant and a bright, respected leader. His résumé combines partnerships at pedigree law firms–Hill & Barlow, Hale & Dorr–with notable public-service credentials: In the early 1990s, he ran the Justice Department's criminal division.
Yet his most visible management experience before now was as U.S. attorney in San Francisco, heading a staff of 181 and a $21 million budget. Now, he's leading a $6 billion organization with tens of thousands of employees all over the world. (The FBI declined requests for interviews with Mueller, among other key senior officials.) For everything he's accomplished at the bureau in five years, the question remains: Is it enough?
Mueller has, experts agree, created the foundation for a markedly more effective counterterrorism entity. In print, speeches, and videotaped messages, he has communicated widely and repeatedly the need for a change in mission and culture, and the reason for that change. In one address last fall to business executives in Chicago, Mueller acknowledged the need to "chart a new course" and "establish a new mission and new priorities."
"It's all over the bureau literature," says Paul R. Corts, a former assistant attorney general with the Justice Department who worked closely with the FBI for much of the past three years on management issues. "The word is out. Terrorism is the No. 1 priority, and intelligence is what the bureau is about. You've got to say it, say it, and say it again, and they're doing it."
Among other things, Mueller has dramatically shifted personnel and resources from the bureau's traditional focus, fighting crime, to the new–counterintelligence and counterterrorism. He has increased the number of intelligence analysts, who traditionally have played second fiddle to special agents, from 1,023 to more than 2,200. He has raised the ceiling on their pay grade and established a first-ever analyst career track.
The director has demanded better communications with other federal intelligence agencies, as well as state and local authorities–a clear break from the past for an organization whose unofficial founder, J. Edgar Hoover, obsessed over secrecy and "close holds" on information. The number of Joint Terrorism Task Forces, in which FBI agents work with federal, state, and local agencies, has tripled since 2001, from 35 to 101. Likewise, the number of linguists has nearly doubled to more than 1,400.
Mueller has signaled an open-mindedness to new perspectives that are decidedly at odds with bureau tradition. In the past year, he has met regularly with an advisory panel of 12 people mostly from outside the bureau, among them technology executive and investor Craig Fields and former CIO of Scott Paper Co. Darwin A. John. "These are some very smart people," says Floyd Clarke, a onetime acting director of the bureau who sits on the team. "This is the first time in the bureau's history that the director of the FBI has gotten this kind of counsel and feedback and guidance."
Mueller also has recognized the need for a renaissance in managerial style and capability within the FBI, which is not known for either. He has sent hundreds of bureau executives to the weeklong courses Leading Strategic Change and Navigating Strategic Change at Northwestern University's Kellogg School. Likewise, training has been bulked up across the agency: New agents now train for 21 weeks, up from 16, and counterterrorism/counterintelligence training has nearly doubled to 106 hours.
Within the FBI, that counts as a lot. It would in any entrenched bureaucracy. Not all the changes have been completely voluntary; Mueller is acting under significant political pressure for the bureau to get better, fast. But it's a start, nonetheless.
The problem is, it's just a start. Numerous congressional panels and investigative entities have produced a stream of reports that question the FBI's actual progress. And this is the heart of the matter: When a capable, change-minded leader meets a calcified, reluctant organization, progress becomes a matter of daily battles of inches gained, conceded, and then regained.
"The FBI has no corner on the market of people being resistant to change," says John Miller, the FBI's assistant director of the office of public affairs. "We don't recruit people from Planet Perfect; we recruit human beings. But in five years, we've changed dramatically, and we've done it while we're doing our job of protecting the American public."
The evidence on that, though, has been mixed. In one recent report, the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General–the entity charged with keeping closest tabs on the FBI–noted a flaw in the protection strategy for the nation's 360-plus seaports, considered among the most vulnerable entry points for weapons of mass destruction. The OIG team found that one FBI field office, tasked with overseeing six significant seaports in its territory, had only one maritime-focused agent, while another with no strategic seaports was staffed with five. The FBI declined to comment.
Another report cited allegations by a contract linguist and translator named Sibel Edmonds. Edmonds expressed serious concerns to the OIG about mismanagement of the FBI's critical foreign-language translation program. Investigators dismissed some of Edmonds's charges as unsubstantiated, but concluded that many were legitimate and held potentially damaging consequences for both the FBI and national security. (The agency terminated Edmonds's contract and issued a press release saying it would investigate the matter.)
Such incidents in themselves represent tiny pockets of concern. But they also hint at what Mueller is up against. To get the bureau's thousands of people to think and act differently, he has to clear away old baggage and old ways of doing business, including a decades-old organizational practice of shoot-from-the-hip, small-picture strategic planning.
Harvard Business School professor John Kotter has been studying organizational change for two decades, examining more than 200 major initiatives. In that time, he has identified eight core factors that can unhinge a change mandate. One, he says, is a failure to remove the old barriers that prevent people from acting in new ways. To some critics of the bureau, that's exactly what the seaport-protection gap and the Edmonds case suggest.
"Even when you can get people all pumped up about the 'new' and they understand what's needed and why, all people need to do is hit the same old barriers about four times and their enthusiasm drops like a rock," Kotter says.
Randolph Hite has observed and studied the FBI for years as a senior staffer with the Government Accountability Office. He sees steps in the right direction but likens the effort to the organization's having to train for and run a marathon. "You need leaders who are focused, attentive, and committed–and I haven't seen anything over there that leads me to believe these fellows are anything but that," Hite says.
"But it's too early. You're asking them to operate in a whole different way. You're trying to accomplish this transformation in an environment that's moving constantly. It's as if you're changing tires on a moving car and you need to upgrade the vehicle you're traveling in and the terrain you're on is dicey and unstable."
In all the examinations by the many commissions and panels dispatched to suss out the 9/11 intelligence failures, no issue attracted as much concern and criticism as the state of the FBI's information technology.
On September 10, 2001, the FBI's 11,200 agents, if they had computer access at all, still used 1980s-era
Even now, the main database available to agents–the Automated Case Support system–is governed by a paper-laden process that requires agents to write reports and official documents, print them out, and fax or mail them overnight to clerks who enter the documents' contents by hand into a system run by a mainframe computer. It was into this obsolete system that the now-famous "Phoenix memo," linking Arizona flight-school students to Osama bin Laden and a radical British Islamic group, fell in 2001. The type-written memo, dated July 10, did not get uploaded into the ACS system for 17 days. Then, a paper copy of the memo had to be mailed to headquarters. In the end, the "electronic" alert was not read by any of the senior officers it was meant for until after September 11.
As devastating an indictment as that was about the state of the FBI's information technology, even more disconcerting was the announcement in 2005 that the Virtual Case File, the FBI's $170 million IT fix, was being scrapped.
VCF was supposed to allow agents to communicate quickly with one another and share notes, reports, photographs, audio files, and other evidence in real time over a secure intranet–a must for counterintelligence and counterterrorism work. Mueller had hoped the new capability would fuel a revolution of dynamic, real-time interchange and collaboration between agents and analysts scattered around the globe.
Even by the standards of the bureau's past technology failures, the VCF collapse was spectacular–not just for its scale but for its timing, four years past Mueller's promise of reinvention. While there's a lingering dispute between the FBI and the primary VCF contractor about who should shoulder how much of the blame, Mueller himself acknowledged in a painful what-went-wrong session before the Senate appropriations committee in 2005 that there was no master blueprint guiding the design of the system specifications. He confessed that the bureau lacked critical skills in computer software engineering and program management, and that his inexperienced staff had underestimated the complexity of the demands of the system.
Compounding the chaos, the project cycled through 15 key IT managers in 40 months, including 10 project managers. And in a two-year period, the FBI burned through five different CIOs or acting CIOs. The result: In a 2004 test, the FBI chronicled 400 problems with the software. And a year later, a three-month pilot run by agents and analysts in the New Orleans office sent Azmi back to Washington with the worst possible news: The system was still too complicated and fell far short of what agents needed.
In the past two years, Azmi has made progress, including the purchase and installation of more than 30,000 personal computers and other hardware. But "a lot of work remains to be done," he says. He's attempting to develop basic IT policies, an enterprise architecture, a portfolio-management strategy, and a strategic plan, all of which the agency has simply never had–even though federal law mandates it. Only recently has he managed to identify all of the IT projects and assets that exist throughout the far-flung organization, no simple task given the history and degree of decentralized decision making.
Today, every agent and analyst finally has a computer, email access, and an ability to conduct specific queries through the Investigative Data Warehouse, a tool developed in 2004 that is a collection of 53 informational databases with a half-billion investigative records. "What we don't have," Miller acknowledges, "is an across-the-board paperless case-management system that works across all three classifications [unclassified, secret, and top secret] … a system where you can move through all of the FBI systems with speed and alacrity without leaving a single desktop."
The FBI plans to replace VCF with a $425 million system called Sentinel. But that probably won't be fully operational until December 2009–and in two audits, the Office of the Inspector General pinpointed a number of early concerns. It raised questions about the bureau's ability to migrate all of its current data to the new system. It wondered whether the process used to estimate Sentinel's cost was valid, and questioned the lack of contingency planning. The project manager at
Which is to say, it's hardly a sure thing.
Harvard's Kotter suggests another key axiom for change crusades: Leaders must provide enough visible, unambiguous short-term wins in mission-critical areas to persuade skeptics and marginalize cynics. "These are concrete successes," Kotter says, "ones that an objective group of people would agree are clear evidence of progress." So when VCF toppled in early 2005, the damage wasn't just measured in the loss of much-needed technology. The failure of the much-anticipated project also compromised Mueller's effort to convince people, inside the organization and outside, that change really was possible.
Here's a barometer of the mood within the bureau. Since 9/11, seven different executives have headed counterintelligence. In the administrative-services division, senior managers have resigned or been reassigned regularly, their tenures ranging from 7 months to 21 months. Within the key mid- and upper-level management ranks in investigations, the average tenure is about 14 months.
While some turnover can be healthy–a sign itself of constructive change–the FBI's hemorrhaging of talent over the past five years has worried Congress and the bureau's many overseers. "The turnover has definitely hurt accountability and effectiveness and the pace of reform," says Glenn Fine, who as the Justice Department's inspector general has assessed and reported to the attorney general on the FBI's performance for nearly a decade. "We'll deal with a certain individual on an issue, and then six months later, we're dealing with another individual, and then six months later, another."
There's a tapestry of explanations for the frenetic turnover. It's surely a function of the mandatory retirement age of 57, for one thing–instituted at a time when it was thought agents should be "young and vigorous." These days, too, FBI executives can attract rich pay in the private sector for their expertise in security. Former agents and executives say that stress and burnout, especially since 9/11, has only fueled the phenomenon.
The good news: The quality and quantity of the agency's new job candidates has never been higher. In the year before 9/11, the FBI attracted 7,100 applicants qualified to become special agents. A year later, it got 64,000. Today's candidates for intelligence analyst jobs are far more likely to have advanced degrees and experience in foreign languages and cultures than before 9/11, the bureau says. "For every [FBI] executive who's left for double and triple their salaries, we have people who've come here whose salaries are cut in half or thirds," Miller says.
Great–except that the bureau's hiring and training systems are overwhelmed. The hiring process is cumbersome to begin with, requiring dozens of steps and nearly 10 months on average to fill each position. Once on board, new recruits are shipped to a training center, at the FBI's famous Quantico Academy in Virginia, that is badly in need of renovation and simply hasn't been able to easily accommodate the growing numbers.
What's more, the bureau's increasingly better educated employees come with much higher expectations about the organization and their opportunities. A recent Justice Department survey of the first few waves of intelligence analysts hired since 2002 hinted at troubling levels of job dissatisfaction. One out of every three of the most-recent hires reported that they intended to leave the FBI within five years; only 16% of all analysts hired since 2002 said they were "very likely" to stay in their jobs for the next five years. The FBI says the integration of its new analysts is a work in progress, and that it has held town-hall-style meetings recently with analysts to understand their concerns and ideas.
Among the most praised of Mueller's actions so far was his recruitment in 2005 of
Making change, Kotter observes, comes down to this: understanding the awesome power of tradition. "Leaders underestimate it, and they don't find enough ways to bar the old culture from seeping into the new," Kotter says. "The bigger the organization and the older the organization, the tougher it is."
Troubling anecdotes continue to surface at the bureau. Outside auditors, for example, have found that the process around translation of electronic surveillance and intercepts–a critical step in effective counterintelligence and counterterrorism–takes up to three months, far longer than the FBI's post-9/11 internal policies were supposed to allow. The FBI says that it constantly reprioritizes backlogs in translation and interpretation, but that it never fails to review materials in its highest priority cases.
"The FBI's shift to a counterterrorism posture is far from institutionalized, and significant deficiencies remain," the 9/11 Commission concluded. "Reforms are at risk from inertia and complacency." Part of the challenge facing Mueller is rooted in the FBI's vast bureaucracy, laced with the qualities that make bureaucracies what they are. It possesses impressive pools of talent, determination, tools, and dedication. But it tends to be a risk-averse, plodding, highly politicized work environment with a bunker mentality that doesn't easily absorb outside criticism and input.
What makes the change effort especially difficult, of course, is the pressure of operating under intense public scrutiny. "Listen, what the FBI is trying to do can be done, but it's truly hard to grasp the significance and visibility of what they have to do–and they have to do it under the gun," says Warren Bennis, the author of Leaders and distinguished business professor and change expert at the University of Southern California.
In his Chicago speech last fall, Mueller seemed almost wistful when he referred to the days when the FBI took on infamous gangsters such as Bonnie and Clyde and John Dillinger–"G-men battling notorious criminals." Back then, the FBI's leaders more easily knew where they stood. Today, "it's difficult to measure progress in counterterrorism. We cannot post a profit. We cannot quantify freedoms protected and lives saved. We cannot measure the absence of damage."
Ultimately, it's not easy to gauge the pace or degree of cultural change, or the lack thereof. And the mechanics of that change are part science and part art. You have to know what to look for, what questions to ask, which answers are the telling ones. You can only hope that you're doing the right thing, and doing it in time.
J.J. Brazil is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist who lives in southern California.


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Photo © Meri Hyöky / Text by Leila Hall
For the past thirty years, 'Mateboho Lerotholi has worked as a street vendor at the Maseru Bridge Border Post. In 1985, as a high school student, she would come to the Border Post after school to help her aunt, who also worked as a street vendor. Now, at the age of 47, Lerotholi sits at a small stall and sells grass hats, brooms, t-shirts and jewellery to passers by.
"This is not an easy job," she says. "It gets extremely cold in the winter. I suffer from arthritis. When it rains, I can't come to work at all. Sometimes, in December or at Easter, I spend the whole night here to try and make a bit of extra money."
Lerotholi is one of the founding members of Khatang Tema Baits'okoli, a street vendors' association that was formed in 2002.
"Five hundred of us came together to form the association. Our aims are to protect our members and to help and support each other as street vendors. Every month, we help one of our members to improve their business."
Khatang Tema Baits'okoli is now a member of StreetNet International, a global alliance that brings together street vendors' associations from around the world and promotes the exchange of information, ideas and advocacy strategies.
"StreetNet International organises exchanges, to help us find out what life is like for street vendors in other countries. I have travelled to Colombia for an exchange, and colleagues of mine have travelled to countries such as Tunisia, Chile and Brazil."
"In Colombia, the government does a lot to support street vendors. They have big markets: buildings with proper covering, toilets and water. This is what we need in Lesotho. Street vendors here have no shelter, no toilets, no water. When it rains, we have no protection."
"I wish the government of Lesotho would support us by putting up shelters that would protect us from the rain and the cold. We would even be willing to pay rent for such a place. We ask for nothing from the government. We are self-sufficient, we do everything for ourselves."
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