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Rick Steves' Europe
Rick Steves, America's leading authority on European travel, returns to transport viewers to the continent's bustling cities, quaint villages and picturesque countryside.
Distributed nationally by American Public Television
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Rick Steves, America's leading authority on European travel, returns to transport viewers to the continent's bustling cities, quaint villages and picturesque countryside.
Distributed nationally by American Public Television
Starting in Glasgow, we travel to Stirling Castle, taste whisky, and watch a sheepdog demo
We'll wander across the Isles of Iona and Skye, then set sail for Orkney's Scapa Flow.
Let's visit Scotland's Glencoe, Inverness, the Culloden battlefield and Loch Ness.
Let's relax in Cefalù, ponder ancient Siracusa, and fill up at a Sicilian banquet
Let's enjoy Sicily's Palermo, Monreale, Agrigento, Villa Casale, Taormina, and Mt. Etna
Celebrate with the locals in Sevilla, Paris, Pamplona, Munich, Nürnberg and the snowy Alps
Let's join the locals at Siena's Palio, Scotland's Highland Games, Carnevale in Venice
Travel Skills: Greek Islands: Santorini, Mykonos and Rhodes
Traveling to Santorini, Mykonos and Rhodes, we'll see how cruising can help you island-hop
We'll learn how to get the most out of a cruise, and look at the joys and the downsides
We'll visit Portugal's cities of Nazare, Coimbra and Porto, and savor tasty port wine
Let's stroll through Lisbon and listen to some fado music.
In England we'll wander through Oxford, Cambridge, Blenheim Palace and Ironbridge Gorge.
Rick travels throughout the Continent celebrating the top 10 festivals
In this one-hour special, Rick sails from Barcelona to the French Riviera to Rome & Athens
Rick Steves teams up with the Cascade Symphony Orchestra and Michael Miropolsky
From Norway to Rome...we're celebrating Christmas all over the Continent.
The Story of Fascism in Europe
Rick Steves travels back a century to learn how fascism rose and then fell in Europe
Rick Steves traces the events of the Protestant Reformation where they happened
Rick observes Easter across Europe, from Carnival through Lent to Easter Sunday
The Holy Land, Israelis and Palestinians Today
Weaving together the Israeli and Palestinian narratives to better understand the Holy Land
Berlin, Germany: The Wall and Checkpoint Charlie
In Berlin, we explore museums dedicated to the history of the gone-but-not-forgotten Wall.
Berlin, Germany: Trendy Prenzlauer Berg
Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg is a classic case of an old workers' quarter becoming trendy.
A tumultuous 20th century left reunited Berlin entertaining more visitors than ever.
Prague, Czech Republic: Old Town Square
Prague is one of Europe's best-preserved cities, and Old Town Square shows it beautifully.
Prague, Czech Republic: Charles Bridge and a Czech Language
In Prague, Rick explores the historic Royal Way and tries to learn a little Czech.
The capital of the Czech Republic, Prague is the best-preserved Baroque city in Europe.
Delft, Netherlands: Town Square and Delftware
Laced with tranquil and picturesque canals, Delft would easily win the cuteness contest.
Haarlem, Netherlands: Herring and Heritage
Cute and cozy Haarlem is a good place to start a European trip.
The Netherlands beyond Amsterdam Preview
By train, bike, and boat, we visit the top Dutch sights outside of Amsterdam
Amsterdam, Netherlands: The Van Gogh Museum
Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum tells the story of Vincent's life, through his art.
Amsterdam, Netherlands: Coffeeshops and Red Light District
Amsterdam's creative approach to marijuana use and prostitution: legalize and regulate it.
Europe's best-preserved 17th-century city, Amsterdam is a delight to explore.


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World Seeds
A World Seed is a code (really just a string of random numbers and letters) that determines the layout of your world, down to the selection of Biomes on the map. To use a seed, create a new world and go to world options- enter the seed exactly as you see it.
If you are playing and want to know what the world seed of your world is, type in /seed.
This is a place for IGN users to post cool Minecraft world seeds. To use these codes, copy the code from this page. Then, when creating a new world, click on "more world options," paste the code into the box, and click "done."
Just post your seed code below and describe it in the length of a twitter post (140 characters). Don't forget to note the platform and version of Minecraft the seed works for.
Generates either large cliffs that stretch to the map ceiling or large cave systems depending on which version of the game the world was generated in.
Spawns you inside a NPC Village full of Villagers in a plains Biome. Plenty of natural resources as well as pre-made Wheat farms.
Creates a world with very few resources, but very impressive terrain - from giant arches to floating islands in the sky, caused by the combination of a mountain and ocean biome.
A big flat area to build great stuff and a big jungle right next to it.A big cave system right near a river enjoy.
Creates a cave right in front of you with a monster spawner and a chest right at the beginning and the cave has tons of diamonds and just about everything else. You will see sand fall out in front of you, that is where the dungeon is. Works on 360!
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subset: commoncrawl


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Indigo Dye Drop-In Workshop
Friday, April 21 | 1pm-5pm | Ages 13+
$20 Members, $25 General, includes materials
Explore the basics of dyeing indigo, learn new techniques, and practice creating patterns and varying color depth. Yards of muslin fabric will be provided, and participants are welcome to bring their own un-dyed cotton, linen, or silk fabrics as well, including t-shirts and napkins. Please wear clothes you don't mind getting messy, as indigo will stain fabrics.
Zoë Umholtz is a graduate of the Oregon College of Art and Craft in Portland Oregon majoring in Fiber Arts. She has been living in California for the past three years, and has been rediscovering her love for natural indigo dyeing and working with small, local communities.


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"Chefs are a nomadic tribe," Milwaukee chef Dave Swanson says with a laugh as he talks about his traveling culinary school, Braise on the Go. For a few years now he has been hauling his portable kitchen to farms and orchards in counties surrounding Milwaukee to serve dinners using local ingredients. But the real reason for heading out to the farms was "connecting people to the farmers."
I hadn't been able to make it to one of his events, so when I heard about Braise, his restaurant without wheels, I had my mission: Find out how can he connect with a farmer in the heart of a big city?
On a street corner in Walker's Point on Milwaukee's south side, Braise occupies a former tavern and bowling alley. The dining room itself is inviting, with both private and communal tables fashioned from reclaimed bowling lanes, a deep counter — bowling alley wide? — for casual dining facing the kitchen, and Ball jar lamps and strings of lights hanging from the open rafters above. Candles flicker at each table, and across one wall is a collage of food photography and recipes stripped from gourmet magazines that I can imagine may have accumulated in someone's corner.
The menu changes almost daily depending on what's in season and what was harvested last weekend. Braise offers small and large plates and even does its own butchery; you can see the latest cuts on the menu under "butcher board."
I order roasted heirloom tomato soup with cilantro cream, an appetizer of Thai red curry broth with pulled pork, grilled bok choy and shiitake mushrooms, and, for the main event, grilled bison strip loin and boudin blanc with summer squash, spring onions and black-eyed peas in marjoram-garlic broth.
We're talking about a lot of ingredients here, so I ask the servers if they can tell me where my meal originates. We count 16 collaborating regional farms, fisheries, creameries and brewers represented on the table before me, and three of them just in my cocktail (made with Death's Door gin from Door County, Wis.).
Cilantro from Springdale Farm in Plymouth, flour from Great River Organic Milling in Fountain City, shiitakes from River Valley Ranch. Everything is Wisconsin in origin, from the cuts of meat right down to the minutiae such as the marjoram, which hails from a place called Dave's Garden. Hold on. That's the chef!
With so many sources, one wonders how the kitchen manages to gather it all without a big distributor like Sysco.
The answer to that is the core of the restaurant's philosophy: RSA, or restaurant supported agriculture. Think of it as something like the CSA model (community supported agriculture). Rather than individuals receiving their weekly supply of vegetables from one farm, RSA is 20 restaurants being stocked by 400 farmers each week. Farmers deliver to a holding center on Milwaukee's south side, and food moves from there to restaurants in reusable bins.
But not everything comes from outside the city limits. Some of the cheese selections come from Clock Shadow, an urban creamery just five blocks away. Several of the bottles behind the bar, from Great Lakes Distillery, travel twice that far. I order one of Braise's featured microbrews, Wisconsinite, the latest from Milwaukee's Lakefront Brewery three miles north of my glass. All the ingredients in the beer are local: the malted barley, the wheat and the hops. That's not entirely new to Lakefront; they've done that before with Local Acre. But Wisconsinite even goes local on the yeast strain.
Farm-to-table menus are all the rage, but the prices can keep the casual diner hesitant. Swanson wanted to create a restaurant where the neighbors could frequently just stroll on over rather than wait for a special occasion.
"Local has had the myth of being elitist. I don't want to be preachy. That will turn (customers) off no matter how good the food is," he says.
Braise Restaurant delivers on that promise of getting you as close to the producer as possible. Well, there is one step closer, but chef Dave delivers on that, too, when he hauls his traveling kitchen out into the country to serve meals to bicycling gourmands on his Tour de Farms each fall. Tickets sell out for the September event in a single day in February.
But if you've missed the tour, you can always make a reservation to enjoy a different sort of harvest in the heart of Milwaukee.
Braise, 1101 S. Second St., Milwaukee; open Tuesday-Saturday
5 p.m. to close. 414-212-8843; braiselocalfood.com


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|OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso
A lamp burns in a corner of the media center named for murdered journalist Norbert Zongo. It is a reminder that after eight years no one has been brought to justice for the killing of one of the most prominent investigative journalists in the West African country of Burkina Faso.
The case, which spurred journalists, politicians, and human rights activists to push for a high-level investigation, reaches into the presidential palace. But the momentum that followed the findings of an independent Commission of Inquiry in May 1999 is ebbing. The commission identified six "strong suspects" in the murder, but no one has been prosecuted.
"The lamp was placed here the day the independent commission submitted its report," said Salif Kouala of the Association of Burkina Faso Journalists. "It will remain here and will remain lit until the truth is found. I can remember very well one Western diplomat asking me that day ... 'Do you guys have enough oil to keep it burning until then?'"
Kouala understands the question only too well. Wenceslas Ilboudo, the examining magistrate in charge of the Zongo investigation since 1999, dropped charges in July against the only suspect he ever indicted. Ilboudo, who has refused to talk to the media, cited a lack of evidence in dismissing charges against Warrant Officer Marcel Kafando, a member of the Presidential Guard Regiment.
With that, Ilboudo's appointment--and the active investigation--came to a conclusion. It was a severe blow for family and colleagues who have sought justice since Zongo's charred and bullet-riddled body, and those of three others, were found in a remote area 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Ouagadougou on December 13, 1998.
Zongo, editor of the weekly newspaper L'Indépendant, was riding with his brother and two companions when gunmen fired on their jeep. Before his death, Zongo had been investigating allegations that François Compaoré, brother and special advisor to President Blaise Compaoré, took part in the January 1998 killing of his driver, David Ouedraogo. The chauffeur was suspected of stealing 20 million CFA francs (then US$27,000) from François Compaoré.
Outrage at Zongo's murder sparked a mass movement led by journalists and activists who were sickened by the Compaoré government's alleged corruption and violent suppression of political dissent. In early 1999, President Compaoré promised the commission a free hand in its investigation, and within months the panel concluded that Zongo had been killed for investigating Ouedraogo's murder. Kafando and five other members of the Presidential Guard were named as "serious suspects" in the Zongo murder.
In 2000, Kafando and two other guardsmen were found guilty of killing the chauffeur and sentenced to 10 to 20 years in jail. Six months later, authorities acknowledged a link between the murders of the driver and Zongo, but the connection yielded little result.
Kafando's codefendant, Edmond Koama, was found dead in his prison cell in January 2001 "after a long disease," according to a government statement. A few days later, the state prosecutor questioned François Compaoré about the Zongo case but did not take any action. The next month, judge Ilboudo indicted Kafando in Zongo's murder. Yet despite the pending indictment--and his conviction in the chauffeur's murder--the former guardsman was released from prison for unspecified health reasons in August 2001 and has lived in his home here since. Repeated attempts by CPJ to contact Kafando were unsuccessful.
The dismissal of charges against Kafando has outraged Zongo's supporters, who say the government never intended the judicial investigation to find the killers.
"It was no accident that the government chose to appoint a very young judge," said Chérif Sy, editor of the weekly Bendré and president of the Society of Private Newspaper Proprietors. "This case is not legal but political," Sy, who was also a member of the Commission of Inquiry, told CPJ. "The case could have been concluded in three months if the judge was not a simple political appointee following orders."
Liermé Somé, editor of L'Indépendant, said he has no illusions about what progress can be made while President Compaoré remains in office. The Zongo case "has become a highly political issue and everyone knows that as long as Blaise is in power, it will be difficult to have a fair trial," Somé told CPJ just before the charges were dropped against Kafando.
Both the minister of justice, Boureima Badini, and the state prosecutor's office declined CPJ's requests for interviews. Numerous attempts by CPJ to contact Ilboudo were unsuccessful.
A presidential aide, however, dismissed allegations that Blaise Compaoré and his family had anything to do with Zongo's murder. "Neither the presidency nor anyone in the presidential family had an interest in killing a prominent journalist when the president himself had just won an election victory," the official, Victor Sanou, told CPJ. As far as the investigation into Zongo's murder is concerned, Sanou said that "more time is necessary" and pointed to a justice ministry statement that the case could be reopened if the evidence warrants.
Some of Zongo's colleagues and friends believe the government is stalling for time, and they fear the strategy is succeeding. The broad association of political and human rights activists known by its French name, Le Collectif, that sprung up immediately after Zongo's killing was beginning to disintegrate amid internal squabbling over strategy even before the July 18 dismissal of charges against Kafando. "The collectif is not the force it used to be," Sy said.
"Obviously we are all shocked, considering all our efforts in this case since 1998," said Somé, who vowed to fight on. "We can't accept that people come to put us off with such a decision eight years later."
The lawyer for the Zongo campaign, Benewende Sankara, has appealed Ilboudo's decision, which he said proves "that the judiciary is not independent in this country." The case is too high profile to simply disappear, he said. "No one will dare to bury this case. ... The people will never accept it."
Tidiane Sy, CPJ's West Africa correspondent, is a freelance reporter based in Dakar, Senegal.


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Born 18/04/05 at 3.20am
Weighing 8lb 8oz and 55cm long
You were a complete surprise to us at first but how wonderful for Jack (your big brother now 3 ½) to have a play mate. At 6 ½ weeks we had our first scan and your due date was April 18th 2005. We didn't want to know what sex you were as it's the best surprise waiting and guessing. After having an emergency caesarean with Jack I decided that I'd really like to try again for a natural birth (VBAC vaginal birth after caesarean). As the pregnancy went on and things were going great our doctor and gynaecologist agreed we could try for VBAC as my previous scar was good and if there were any problems they would just have to do another caesarean.
It was a good pregnancy, I felt healthier than I had with Jack the only thing that really got to me was the summer heat. The 12 and 18 week scans were perfect; as the weeks went by we all got excited about your arrival. Jack practised changing nappies on his doll and teddies; he was going to be such a little helper.
On April 17th while having tea in bed the first mild contractions started, so after having breakfast and doing a few things we phoned Nanny and Grandad to say things might be happening today. By the time they arrived my contractions had stopped so after having some lunch we sent them home, only to phone again around 4.30pm to say it's on for sure this time. We said goodbye and gave Jack the biggest cuddles and said he would have a brother or sister by tomorrow. While waiting to be transferred from Gympie to Nambour, I recall saying to Robin, why don't we just have a caesarean as it was much more painful than with Jack. I arrived at Nambour around 9.00pm and Robin was there shortly after, we had the same midwife as we'd had with Jack which was nice.
I was given pethidine after some time as the gas just wasn't helping anymore; this of course made me drowsy so my recollection of events is very blurred. I remember being told on numerous occasions that I was doing well and at least I was dilating this time. My waters were broken and a trace was put on Lillis head, this was the best way to keep a check on her heart beat. Later the midwife told me that if I didn't stop pushing they would have to give me an epidural as I was only 7cm and it could bruise the babies head. I jumped at the opportunity as I just wasn't coping with the pain, neither was Robin as I had been crushing his hand for hours now. Once this was done around midnight I think, I relaxed and rested while they kept checking everything.
I guess I must have even slept as I don't remember much until the midwife said she would top up the epidural again. She had only just finished doing this when the constant beeping of Lillis heart beat slowed drastically, people seemed to come from nowhere. One of the midwives checked the trace to Lilli's head, it seemed ok but he replaced it just to be sure it hadn't come loose. Still no change the beeping was getting slower and slower, I never said a word as it seemed like chaos. After trying another machine, there was still no change. I was shaved and the midwife put a line in my arm. This was not easy as in the last six weeks of pregnancy I blow up like a balloon with fluid. By this time we were surrounded by Doctors, the first line was removed and a doctor inserted another (I have curly veins).
It was while he was doing this that the most incredible pain started, I felt as though someone was ripping my ribs apart and as I looked down, my belly had changed shape. It was excruciating and I was begging them to knock me out while they wheeled me down to theatre. I begged again and again, please knock me out and just before they did one of the Doctor's asked who was that at the theatre doors, it was Robin. Then the Doctor said to get him away from there, that's all I remember and you know to this day it never ever entered my head that they wouldn't get Lilli out alive.
Very, very groggy and really not at all with it, I remember Robin was leaning over me with a Doctor next to him and those words I shall never forget, "darling she didn't make it , Lilli didn't make it". It was one of those extremely rare cases were the uterus had ruptured, mainly on the previous scar. I had lost a lot of blood and Lilli's little head had come through the tear, it was just too much for her. As I was not awake for most of the first day Robin and the midwife washed, dressed and took Lilli's hand and foot prints which we have now framed and will treasure forever. Robin had the horrendous task of phoning my parents and telling them what had happened. They came with Jack and my brother to share some very sad but special cuddles with Lilli. That night after kissing Lilli on the head one last time we said goodbye.
Robin had to go home and make all those phone calls to family and friends waiting for what should have been good news. We were told on many occasions that I was lucky to be alive but this made little difference, we just wanted our dear Lilli back.
It's been almost a year now and we just keep plugging at living our lives, Jack has been the best medicine he really has kept us going. Only the other day he asked me if he could undo Lilli's belt and take off her wings then she could get in the pool and play with him. Jack involves Lilli in his games all the time, it's wonderful to see.
The incidence of babies dying in labour after their mothers had a previous caesarean is very rare. The following excerpt is from www.vbac.com
With access to a rapid caesarean, fetal death from a uterine rupture is an extremely rare event. Three large studies that determined the number of babies who died as a direct result from a uterine rupture when women laboured for a VBAC found the following:
Number of women who laboured for a VBAC Number of babies who died from uterine rupture Reference 17,613 5 Rageth, et al 2000 10,000 3 Rosen, et al 1991 5,022 0 Flamm, et al 1994
The Vermont/New Hampshire VBAC Project findings show the overall risk of infant death from a VBAC attempt is 6 per 10,000 compared to 3 per 10,000 planned caesarean births.
To read more on uterine rupture go to: www.vbac.com/what-is-a-uterine-rupture-and-how-often-does-it-occur/


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Morrison & Foerster is one of the leading banking and financial services law firms in the world, advising domestic and foreign banks, insurance companies, credit card companies, mortgage bankers, investment banks, investment management companies and investment advisers, and other financial institutions on regulatory and litigation, as well as transactional, matters.
Our clients tell us that the current financial and regulatory environment make it more important than ever for their law firms to have sophisticated bank regulatory capabilities, an in-depth understanding of the financial markets, and industry-specific litigation expertise. And they tell us that the breadth of our practice and this combination of expertise and experience is among the key reasons why they have come to rely on us.
Many of the largest financial institutions in the world turn to us for advice on bank regulatory matters. Our bank regulatory and financial services practice is one of the largest in the U.S. On any given day, we will provide advice to clients on privacy, money laundering, consumer financial services, commercial and retail banking, and regulatory capital issues.
It is fair to say that we have played an important role in shaping the evolution of financial services law in the United States. We have been involved in every federal legislative and regulatory initiative involving or affecting banking over the past 30 years, including proposals addressing bank powers, the regulation of consumer lending, fair lending, mortgage lending reform, privacy and information sharing, electronic fund transfers and other payment systems, capital requirements, and other matters affecting the banking industry.
The firm is particularly experienced in the regulatory and compliance requirements for credit cards, debit cards, and other payment products. The firm also has an unparalleled retail banking practice that includes assisting clients in the development of a broad range of innovative banking and mortgage products, and the expansion of financial activities by non-traditional financial service companies. In the wholesale banking area, the firm is well-known for its representation of a large number of foreign banks in their U.S. activities. We are, quite possibly, the most experienced U.S. law firm in the area of privacy and data security.
There are very few firms in the United States that have combined expertise in financial services, with highly evolved work in capital markets, debt trading, derivatives, financial product structuring, investment management, and restructuring. We are one of those few.
The firm represents banks and other financial services clients throughout the United States in both federal and state court matters. Our lawyers have been at the forefront of consumer class action litigation in the financial services industry, successfully representing banks and other financial services companies in numerous suits involving deposit and checking accounts, credit cards, real estate, mortgage transactions, consumer loans, loan-related fees, mortgage insurance, auto loans, ADR clauses, and other consumer relationships.
The consistent quality and efficacy of our work in the financial institutions and financial services has been well-recognized by rankings and directories, including Chambers, IFLR1000, Legal 500, and PLC Global 50.
U.S. News – Best Lawyers® Law Firm of the Year Litigation - Banking & Finance (2019) Financial Services Regulation Law (2018 and 2014)
Chambers USA 2018 Financial Services Regulation: Banking (Compliance): Nationwide Financial Services Regulation: Consumer Finance (Compliance & Litigation): Nationwide
Financial Times: US Innovative Lawyers One of five firms ranked "Highly Commended" in the category of Enabling Business Growth, 2017 Overall winner of the Innovation in Social Responsibility category, 2016 One of four firms ranked "Standout" in the category of New Products and Techniques, 2016 One of four firms ranked "Standout" in the category of Enabling Clients Business, 2015 One of five firms ranked "Standout" in the category of Finance, 2012
IFLR1000 2019 United States: Financial Services Regulatory United States: Banking
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A Salad Dressing Will Never Be Ketchup: How Hidden Valley Ranch Is Trying To Kidnap Ketchup And That Shit Is Not Happening On My Watch...Oh, Wait, I Don't Have A Watch. Fuck!
When it comes to ketchup, I've always been a Heinz man. I've addressed this on my two other blogs, 365 Bars and MAD. I grew up with Heinz and I'm repulsed when I see Hunt's ketchup at a restaurant and if it's a lower form than Hunt's, they probably spell it, "catsup."
As much as I hate all other brands of ketchup, at least they look like ketchup and they're a tomato-based product, no matter how vile they taste. A couple of weeks ago I saw something on EV Grieve (scroll to the bottom of the post) that caused my head to spin counter-clockwise and cave in and I've been obsessing over it ever since: Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing is starting a campaign to bill themselves as..."The New Ketchup."
In a Wall Street Journal article, Jon Balousek the vice president of Clorox, yeah, Clorox owns Hidden Valley, said: "Hey, this is ketchup." Jon, I hate to debate the issue with you, but no, Hidden Valley is salad dressing, it's not ketchup, but please, tell everyone in Delusionville, I send my greetings. Later in the article/press release it's explained that this whole "campaign" was hatched after an executive watched his college-age daughter bathe her entire salmon in ranch dressing.
First of all, let's just pretend that Hidden Valley is ketchup (which it's not), who in their right fucking mind puts ketchup on salmon? It's obvious that this executive's daughter is either mentally ill or high on a buffet of mind-zapping drugs, or, most likely, both. She's probably a shameless little slut too, but that's neither here nor there, but I did want to throw that out there. So some some zombiefied, psychotically-deranged, drugged to the gills, skankity-wankity college crack whore pours a bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing all over her dinner and all of a sudden a mass marketing plan to change the face of ketchup as we know it is hatched? Somewhere Darrin Stephens is spinning in his grave!
I read where they want to position Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing in grocery stores in the ketchup section, to further the illusion that Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing has been magically transformed itself into ketchup. It's time to call Hidden Valley out on their bullshit. I think it's time for a little investigative journalism here at TWM!
I thought we'd head over to my grocery store, The Food Emporium, near Union Square. If they have Hidden Valley salad dressing placed in the ketchup section I'm going to ask the manager to do the right thing and move it.
I'm just going to ignore that fork in the road and keep on moving in a straight line down 14th Street to The Food Emporium.
Okay, here we are at The Food Emporium. Let's go inside...
And find the ketchup aisle.
Here's cans of tomato sauce, my investigative nose says we're getting close!
And I was right, here's the ketchup section. So far I don't see any Hidden Valley and it's nice to see Heinz is the dominant force in the section.
There's lots of different flavors and styles of Heinz ketchup these days...
But I prefer the good old basic pure Heinz ketchup! Pure, bold and beautiful!
They do have some inferior, cheapo ketchup products here. This is a discount ketchup called, "America's Choice." If this truly is "America's Choice," I'm moving to another country that has better taste in ketchup!
And of course they've got Hunt's, who has played second fiddle to Heinz its entire shelf life, but it's nice to see it greatly outnumbered by Heinz in the store! As it should be!
Happily I didn't see any Hidden Valley in with the ketchup, so I thought I'd come over to the salad dressing aisle to look for it where it belongs.
And there it is, the little salad dressing that wants to be a big, bad bottle of ketchup.
Hey look, there's no mention of, "The New Ketchup" on the label. Maybe this is just at the test-marketing stage. My hometown of Peoria is a test-market city, so I beg anyone that lives there to complain about the new ketchup idea and if you see this salad dressing in the ketchup section, please, move it back to where it belongs! This has been a public service announcement!
Further proof that the marketing people at Hidden Valley are lost in la-la land. These are tiny tubs of the ranch dressing that you can take, "on-the-go." What do they think people jog with this stuff?
I thought I'd discuss this whole matter with a professional, so I went to customer service and asked to speak to the manager, who's name is Arthur. I showed him a printout of the Wall Street Journal article and asked what he thought about a salad dressing trying to hijack the good name of ketchup and he just looked at me like I was nuts. And believe me, I know that look. He declined having his picture taken and said any photos would have to be approved by the corporate office. I didn't tell him about the photos I had already taken, and corporate office, if you're reading this, I hope you approve! I decided this day of investigative journalism was over, I was starved and went to the corner deli for a big salad.
I got the salad at the corner deli and went up to the cash register to pay and it was then I saw this in a plastic container off to the side of the register. Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed!
Further Reading: Huffington Post, Sacremento Bee and Business Insider.
All I want is the truth,
Just gimme some truth.
Surprise link, click on it, I dare you!
A Questionable Link!
DJ Gidget has started a new feature at her blog where I ask her three questions and she in turn, asks me three questions. You can find out when I lost the "Big V" and find out other information about the both of us here: Question me two times baby! And don't forget to tune in to "The Secret Weapon," the radio show where "Boris" picks out the tunes and Gidget spins them. It's on Woody Radio right now!
Bonus Photo From Danny the Freelancer!
After seeing yesterday's Carnegie Hall violin that I got from the Christmas Cottage, Danny the Freelancer sent in this photo of a real violin and here's what he says about it: "When my Grandfather first came to America from Ireland all he had with him was a tiny suitcase and this 1917 John Juzek Violin handmade in Prague. His first job was playing in the Orchestra at the NY World's Fair in 1938." Very cool, thanks for sending in another great photo, Danny!
Bonus Big Brother Art From Jaws!
Jaws the Cabbie sent in this art to try to get me to surrender to Big Brother. Thanks, but I'll never surrender, Jaws!


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Rick Cusick
Rick Cusick has worked at Hallmark in Kansas City for more than 40 years in various capacities including: lettering artist, book designer, package designer and lettering studio manager. As Font Consultant, he presently directs font design and development for the company.
He was born in Stockton, California, where he studied calligraphy with James Lewis at San Joaquin Delta College, and designed illuminated signs at Ad/Art, Inc., which at the time provided much of the casino work in Las Vegas, Reno and Lake Tahoe. He also studied lettering with Mortimer Leach at Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles.
A significant part of Cusick's education in lettering and type came from his extensive correspondence with calligraphers of an older generation, resulting in his association with TBW Books as a design and editorial consultant, and in the publication of With Respect…to RFD, a festschrift for designer and calligrapher, Raymond F. DaBoll, Straight Impressions, essays and calligraphy by the influential teacher from Reed College, Lloyd J. Reynolds, and The Proverbial Bestiary, a collaboration with Warren Chappell featuring Chappell's drawings and Cusick's calligraphy. He is the author of What Our Lettering Needs: The Contribution of Hermann Zapf to Calligraphy and Type Design at Hallmark Cards, published by RIT Cary Graphic Arts Press in 2011.
As the proprietor of Nyx Editions, Cusick has produced small publications of personal interest including: OK? It's All Yours: Informal Recollections of Arnold Bank, Typefacetious, featuring the type designs of Jill Bell, a version of Mark Twain's The War Prayer, and The Ink & Paper, by Richie Tankersley Cusick, based on an idea by Leonardo da Vinci.
He art directed Letter Arts Review for ten years and taught Editorial & Publication Design, and Typography, at the University of Kansas, for six years. His work has appeared in numerous international publications and exhibitions. "Quiet Passion," a traveling retrospective of his lettering and design, first appeared at the San Francisco Public Library in 1995.


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SAN FRANCISCO -- Colin Kaepernick has set an NFL record for rushing yards by a quarterback in a playoff game.
Relive every game this season online and on-demand with enhanced viewing features, including the "All-22" coaches film. Get NFL Game Rewind.
Kaepernick broke Michael Vick's mark of 119 yards with a 56-yard keeper on an option play in the third quarter of Saturday night's playoff game against Green Bay. The run gave Kaepernick 163 yards on 12 carries, setting a 49ers franchise record for the postseason. Vick set his record for Atlanta in a 47-17 win over St. Louis on Jan. 15, 2005.
Kaepernick earlier scored on a 20-yard run and also threw two touchdown passes in the first half. He joined Chicago's Jay Cutler and Cleveland's Otto Graham as the only players to throw two TD passes and run for two TDs in a playoff game. Graham did it twice.
Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press


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