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Monday, March 22, 2010
Skittles Fizzl'd Fruits
Back in October I heard that Wrigley's was introducing some new Skittles. These weren't just new flavors, they were going to be a completely new way to experience the chewy fruit-flavored candy lentils.
Skittles Fizzl'd Fruits are billed as Fizzling fun for your mouth. As you can imagine from the name, they're Skittles with a foaming, fizzy component.
The package is cobalt blue and holds the same amount as the Sour Skittles, 1.8 ounces (the regular flavors are 2.17 ounces). I couldn't wait to find them in stores locally, so when I saw a box of them posted on eBay, I bought them right away.
From the outside of the package they looked like Sour Skittles, which of course gets my mouth watering immediately. The images show a softly sanded set of Skittles, my guess was this was the fizzing part.
This sort of fizzing reaction is the same as AlkaSeltzer or other effervescent tablets. Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) is mixed with an acidic agent, in this case citric acid. When it's dry, nothing happens but when water (or saliva) wets it, they begin a reaction that results in carbon dioxide (the air) and sodium citrate (an alkaline salt with a tangy flavor that works as a mild antacid).
I took one Skittle and carefully put a drop of water on it and sure enough as the water wicked around the whole candy the surface started to bubble slightly. It looked like it was being deep fried, or like putting a strawberry in a glass of champagne. It's not like the whole thing got covered in scrubbing bubbles nor would a whole bowl of them create a "snap, crackle, pop" but it's still a remarkable little chemistry demonstration.
The flavors are Berry Punch, Melon Berry, Raspberry, Strawberry and Wild Cherry. If this set of flavors sounds familiar, yes, it's the same as Wild Berry Skittles.
They smell softly sweet with a light floral note, but nothing that really hints at the experience to come.
They are strange! I can say right now they are not for me, but they are definitely intriguing.
I was expecting the caustic and biting sour coating when I popped two of the Melon Berry flavor in my mouth, and yes, there was a sour tingle, but then there was a fizz. It's not a carbonation fizz, it's more like putting an Alka Seltzer tablet on your tongue. The foaming is soft and has small bubbles which dissipate quickly, especially when I chewed up the candy. I didn't care much for the melon berry flavor as it was, so the additional component was weird and slightly metallic.
The Raspberry went nicely, the sour bite was less noticeable and the foam seemed to support the floral flavors. The coating, I was noticing, has a medicinal mineral salt flavor to it, like eating antacids.
Berry Punch had a kind of bubble gum note to it, so the bubbly coating fit right in. It reminded me of a cheap soda from my childhood, in the best way possible.
Strawberry was much more tangy than the one found in the regular mix and combined well with the fizzling.
Wild Cherry was a strange combination of foreign flavors, it simply put, an effervescent cough drop. It had all the worst aftertastes for me, a mid-tone metallic note and then the lingering cherry and bitter red dye afterglow.
As I mentioned earlier, they're just not for me. I'm not much for effervescence; the caustic burps after just aren't worth the tongue tingling. The mineral aftertaste is also a bit disconcerting for me, but I know it's completely benign. Finally, I'm not that keen on the name. They're using the Wild Berry mix so seems like they could have gone for Bubbly Berry instead of Fizzl'd Fruits since Fruits is the name of the classic flavor mix. I also ate three bags of these over the past five days and found that the fizzy coating was inconsistent. Sometimes it was fizzy but flavorless, other times it was a perfect blend of tangy and foamy.
I know that kids like to snort the sour powder from Sour Skittles, but this would be a very bad idea ... I give it about 11 days before videos start showing up on youtube of kids doing it. Skittles are now gelatin-free and gluten-free. They're also no nuts and vegan if you're the kind who will eat artificial stuff. Not Kosher.
Ebidebby also has a review of them today.
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POSTED BY Cybele AT 10:39 am
Monday, November 17, 2008
Wonka Tinglerz & Nestle Buncha Crunch
Years ago, before the current rage of putting carbonated popping candy into chocolate, there was a Wonka bar called the Exploder. It was released in 1999, though I don't recall seeing it until the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie was released in theaters. And then poof, it was gone before I even got to try it.
Flash forward about four years and suddenly chocolate and pop rocks are all the rage. And finally Wonka (part of Nestle) has gotten back into the act. Earlier this year they released Wonka Tinglerz which they bill as Poppin' Tinglin' Chocolate Candy or Chocolattos que revientan en tu boca.
The package doesn't hold much, just an ounce, but comes at a pretty dear price of a normal sized candy bar. (I got mine for $.69 at KMart.)
I honestly just figured that these were chocolate covered pop rocks, just like the ones made by the Pop Rocks folks themselves.
Nope, Nestle Wonka-fied these and the result is pretty surprising.
Instead of just chocolate covered unflavored pop rocks, it's a combination of pop rocks and crisped rice. So biting into the bits, it was a gamble as to whether they were going to bite back.
The flavor isn't as stellar as I'd like though. The chocolate is sweet and waxy and tastes more like powdered hot cocoa mix than rich chocolate. But the malty flavors of the crisped rice and of course the blend of textures sets this apart from other candies.
Rating: 6 out of 10
Above, on the left are Wonka Tinglerz. On the right are Nestle Buncha Crunch. Obviously Buncha Crunch are bigger nuggets (though some were the same size).
Pretty different, not just in size.
Buncha Crunch came along after I'd already made my crisped rice affections be known. As I'd already decided that I didn't like Nestle Crunch much any longer, trying Nestle's movie bite version seemed silly.
So at least I get to approach this with an open mind!
The movie box was a pretty good deal at only a dollar and filled with 3.2 ounces.
The idea behind the candy is pretty simple, globs of crisped rice covered in milk chocolate. They're irregular, some as large as hazelnuts, some as small as peas.
They smell milky and sweet, a little malty.
Biting into them, they're less than crunchy. There's a lot of chocolate in most of them, which is a disappointment for someone who is expecting bunches of crunches.
The texture of the chocolate is decent. There's a little waxy glaze on the bits but the chocolate flavor is mostly sweet, kind of musty and empty.
I was hoping the crunches would offset the sweetness or have a little salty kick. I can see these being a nice antidote to popcorn, but that's about it.
Crispy M&Ms were far better at this game.
Rating: 5 out of 10
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POSTED BY Cybele AT 1:45 pm
Monday, July 28, 2008
Christopher Elbow: No. 6 - Dark Rocks
I picked up this Christopher Elbow Artisanal Chocolate bar in San Francisco a few months ago and have been saving it for a time when I need a little sparkle.
Elbow is known for his inventive combinations of spices, fruits and savories with chocolate. His bonbons are distinguished by their bold and bright patterns. His bars, on the other hand are subdued and understated and dare I say lacking any pretension that a bonbon piece named Strawberry-Balsamic Caramel might connote (or my favorite from Elbow right now is the Venezuelan Spices Chocolate Pecan Turtle).
Instead his bars are numbered, currently 1 through 12. I picked up No. 6 Dark Rocks which features 61% dark chocolate blended with popping candy.
The bar is anything but intimidating. The fresh brown & aqua box protects the sizable 3.5 ounce bar well. It's wrapped inside with a simple silver aluminium foil. (A little thin for me, I like a foil I can wrap and unwrap a few times before it falls to bits.)
The bar is simple looking, just 24 little sections. No logo, no letters, no names.
It's a glossy dark brown with a good snap to it. The little popping candies are easily seen in a cross section, though don't look quite as dense as the Pop Rocks Bar.
The chocolate is smooth and on the sweet side but has a wonderful buttery quality that sets this apart from any other pop rocks confection I've had to date.
Letting the chocolate melt means that the pops come out as a little background sizzle. Munching the bar means that they crackle and hiss. Either way is certainly a different experience.
They're expensive at $7 a bar, but of course not your every day fare. A fun bar to share, especially for a special occasion.
There are plenty of other bars that caught my eye on the list though, so I'm more likely to experiment (I'm likely to go for the white chocolate with nibs next) before buying this again. But I have a few friends who adore this bar and still others that I would consider gifting this in the future.
POSTED BY Cybele AT 8:52 am
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Short & Sweet All Candy Expo Bites
Here are a few items I sampled, I'm probably not going to do a full review of them but I wanted to show them to you:
The newest addition to the ChocoPod line. I got this one in a simple little cellophane bag, so I didn't think it was fair to give it the full tilt boogie review without final packaging.
It's similar to the classic Spicy Maya ChocoPods, just a little cacao pod shaped disk of 60% dark chocolate, weighing in, I guess, at a little over a third of an ounce, it's about two bites.
The inclusions make it a little bumpy in spots. The chocolate smells more like chili, but a little sweet and smoky. There are a lot of pop rocks in there, they're completely unflavored, just lightly sweet little sugar bits ... that just so happen to pop. Some of the little bits, however, are salt crunches.
Some bites are pretty poppy, some bites are really hot, others are salty. It's a noisy bit of chocolate (and even got a few sneezes out of me).
It's a fun little diversion. I appreciate that it's a small piece, not a huge bar, but I don't think I'd want more.
Rating: 7 out of 10
First, you'll probably note that I don't mention PEZ much on Candy Blog. I don't like it. The candy just isn't very good and the idea of collecting the little dispensers never thrilled me. But I fully applaud those who get into it.
PEZ has brought out a few other flavors of their candy tablets. Last year it was Cola and they have a Sugar Free version as well. This year they're highlighting the Chocolate version.
As you can tell from the photo, they're very light in color, which should give you an indication of the depth of the flavor. It tastes like I've inhaled some Cocoa Pebbles. Not actually eat then, just, you know, been near the Cocoa Pebbles dust. They're sweet but have just a slight cocoa note.
Rating: 3 out of 10
Organic Confections Raspberry & Cream Bar
It's an organic twist on classic tastes.
So just looking at it, with only the name to go off of, I thought, "this is a white chocolate bar with dried raspberry bits in it." Which sounded pretty good in my head, kind of like the Hershey's Limited Edition one a couple of years back ... but organic!
Hmm, somewhere I led myself astray. It's not white chocolate, it's a non-colored confection made of organic sugar, organic whole milk powder and organic fractionated palm kernel oil. And it's crunchy. Those presumed raspberry bits are actually crushed raspberry flavored hard candy.
It took me a while to get used to the texture, but it wasn't creamy enough for me.
Rating: 5 out of 10
Albanese Confectionery Cappuccino Biscotti
These little milk chocolate covered nuggets smell sweet and like a light coffee drink. They're about the size of a garbanzo bean, though some are twinned (not that it keeps me from eating them). The nugget inside isn't quite as hard and crunchy as a biscotti, but they're plenty crunchy. They're almost like graham cracker nuggets.
The combo is quite nice, easy to eat and keep munching.
Rating: 8 out of 10
Albanese Confectionery Dark Chocolate Cranberries
It's not an illusion in the photo, these are very dark, like clumps of tar. The chocolate covered dried cranberries are not as flavorful as I'd hoped. Honestly, I've tried a few products over the years and none of them have really satisfied me. The cranberries, while soft and chewy, they're just not tangy or flavorful. The chocolate is sweet, but not dark and flavorful enough ... though the texture combo of the creamy melt and moist chew is good.
They're probably jam packed with antioxidants, but I'll probably stick with chocolate covered raisins, if only because they're cheaper and provide pretty much the same experience.
Rating: 6 out of 10
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POSTED BY Cybele AT 6:06 am All Candy Expo • All Natural • Candy • Review • Albanese Confectionery • Chuao Chocolatier • Carbonated • Chocolate • Coffee • Cookie • Organic • 3-Unappealing • 5-Pleasant • 6-Tempting • 7-Worth It • 8-Tasty • United States •
Monday, March 31, 2008
Cadbury Popping Mini Eggs
Amber, a dear reader from Toronto, came to Los Angeles over Easter weekend and was kind enough to run around to three stores before leaving Canada in search of a list o' candies from the Great White North. Her timing couldn't have been better for this one, the Cadbury Popping Mini Eggs which are pretty much what the name implies.
They're Cadbury Mini Eggs (a creamy milk chocolate egg with a crunchy shell) with a little bit of carbonated candy thrown in.
They look just like their non-bubbly counterparts, except they don't have the little speckles on them. They come in all the standard eraser colors: white, yellow, pink and turquoise.
I have to say that the bag is teensy and contains a rather small amount: 32 grams (1.13 ounces). The standard Canadian single serve bags are 39 grams. I guess instead of charging more for that special ingredient they just give you less.
Where the Pop Rocks Chocolate Bar had an odd texture because of the addition of Pop Rocks, these don't have that jarring granularity, because we're already accustomed to the crunchy bits of the shell.
After chewing a few times the chocolate melts away, it's sweet, creamy and a little malty ... then the popping starts. It's not a lot of popping, not as much as the Pop Rocks bar, but still a nice experience.
The regular packaging is purple, this is yellow, so it's hard to mistake one for the other on the shelves. And once you pop it in your mouth, well, it's the same sort of shocking difference.
I thought these were a bit of a novelty item, but I like it. I wouldn't want to have a huge 11 ounce bag of them, but a little handful brought a smile to my face.
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POSTED BY Cybele AT 11:19 am
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Peeps Monster Mash Ups
I've been planning another Peeps Mash Up for a while and thought that Halloween was the perfect opportunity for a Monster Mash Up.
I even went out and bought the new Peeps Spooky Friends, thinking it'd be so fun to have the variety of the different shapes. Alas, Peeps Spooky Friends are not terribly mashable. However, the Candy Blog Candy Archives is always prepared, and I was able to pull out my trusty Peeps Yellow Bunnies as a stand in. (They also photograph better than the conjoined Peeps Ghosts.)
If you've never done a Peeps Mash Up, the recipe is simple. Pull a Peep apart to reveal the sticky innards. Then press that sticky puff into a dish or package of something ... consume.
First up is Oreos & Peeps which was a combo I wanted to try for a while. Cookies and Cream is a nice combo that seems to go so well with ice cream, how could it be bad with Peeps? I tried it two different ways, the first was crumbling Oreos, as shown and mashing them into the crumbs. What I found is that I didn't care for the cream part in there ... the closeness of the texture and graininess to the Peep itself wasn't distinctive enough. Instead, the way to do a Peep & Oreo Mash is to open your Oreo, scrape the cream off with your teeth, then place the whole Peep on one side, replace the cookie topper, mash down and consume.
The darkness of the cookie, the little hit of salt and of course the sandy crunch of the Peep makes an excellent combination. (And completely redeems my opinion of Oreos after last month's tasting of the new Cakesters.)
I give them an 8 out of 10.
How about more crunchy cocoa for Peeps? I hit upon the idea of breakfast cereals and Peeps. After all, some breakfast cereals already have marbits (marshmallow+bits) in them.
I picked up a mini-mix pack from Kellogg's (as they seem to be the only company that still makes them). First up, Cocoa Krispies & Peeps.
Cocoa Krispies are ideal for this snack, as they're small and adhere easily to the exposed sticky marshmallow. They're lightly crunchy, though a little sweet without enough cocoa contribution. I give them a 6 out of 10.
I was never a big fan of Apple Jacks as a cereal as a kid. I so rarely got to eat sweetened cereals, this was pretty far down on my list. (Cap'n Crunch was my favorite, followed by Froot Loops.) Would Apple Jacks & Peeps change my mind?
The simplicity of the flavors Apple Jacks, a little apple, a little cinnamon, actually sets off the flavorless Peep really well. They larger loops though, don't hang onto the Peep quite as well, so smashing them a little to break the Os is a big help.
It helps that Apple Jacks had a pretty good jingle. (A is for apple, J is for Jacks, Cinnamon-toasty Apple Jacks! You need a complete breakfast, that's a fact. Start it off with Apple Jacks. Apple Jacks! Apple Jacks! Ten vitamins and minerals-that's what it packs. Apple-tasty, crunchy, too! Kellogg's Apple Jacks! Apple Jacks, Apple Jacks ...)
I give them a 5 out of 10.
While Frosted Flakes & Peeps may sound like a pretty mundane treat, I have to say ... they're great!
Even though the large flakes don't stick well, the little bits do cling and still provide a good crunch. The thing I like best about this combo is that Corn Flakes have a wonderful dark, malty taste to them, and that sets off the lightly toasted sugar flavors of the marshmallow.
There's also a little hit of salt in there, which mellows the more overt sugar. I think I might prefer an unfrosted Corn Flake in this case. But plain Rice Krispies are probably a good bet as well.
I give them a 7 out of 10.
It's not illustrated here with a photo, but I also tried Corn Pops & Peeps. Once Corn Pops are removed from their packaging, even in a desert they immediately become sticky and tacky, so they're an ideal item to Mash. Though they're very sweet, their flavor profile matches Peeps really well. They have that lightly toasted flavor, but none of the malty, salty tones of the Corn Flakes. I give them a 7 out of 10.
They make a nice combo, though they don't really have much of a visual appeal (but then again, neither to the Corn Flakes).
Froot Loops & Peeps has to be the Mash Up I was most looking forward to. Like the Apple Jacks, these loops are a little too big for good stickage, but a little crunching in the bowl helped.
The one thing that disappointed me though, was that Froot Loops have changed so much since I was a kid. Back then we only had three flavors ... Orange, Lemon and Cherry. They went together really well and looked like food. The modern Froot Loops, well, I just can't get behind blue food. And I don't like all my flavors mixed up, I just wanted some light citrus fruit flavors, not a whole jumble of a world-traveled fruit stand.
The fruity flavors, though, stood up very well to the sugary sweetness of the Peep.
In the future I'll probably go with the generic brand of fruity loops that have more limited flavors ... because I'm a fuddy duddy.
I give them a 5 out of 10.
I couldn't ignore the wonderful advice on the last Mash Up post when I went looking for other mashable items.
The idea of wiping peanut butter on my Peeps wasn't quite in the cards, but Reese's Pieces & Peeps sounded like the perfect Mash Up. I heard that Reese's has put out minis, but I can't seem to find them. The larger Reese's Pieces didn't stick well to the Peeps, but the flavor combo of the lightly sweet peanut butter, the crunch of the shell and grainy sugar was a solid combo.
The colors also went really well. You've gotta give props when it comes to the appearance.
I give them a 8 out of 10.
The photo there at the top of this page is Sixlets, which are mockolate spheres covered in chocolate. Sixlets and Peeps also had a great deal of visual appeal with the muted fall colors and shiny shells. Sixlets have a natural coolness on the tongue, but not a very strong chocolate flavor. They stuck well to the marshmallow, but the overall effect was too sweet and not flavorful enough. I think I'll stick to the original idea of M&Ms Minis.
I give them a 4 out of 10.
Since the nuttyness of the Reese's Pieces went well, I thought maybe some Boston Baked Beans & Peeps would be a fun change of pace.
It's been years since I've had BBB, and if you aren't familiar with them, they're candy coated peanuts. The candy coating is pretty thick, so some of them at first seem like jawbreakers. So the mixing of two vastly different densities has an odd and scary feeling to it. I'm afraid of chomping down too hard, lest the hardness of the BBB be too unyielding, but I also felt like I was practically gumming away the marshmallow and losing the texture and flavor combo.
I give them a 4 out of 10.
Finally, even though this is a Christmas item, I was too tickled to contain myself when Pop Rocks sent me some new flavors to try.
Candy Cane Pop Rocks & Peeps seemed like the perfect Mash Up. Peeps is coming out with Peppermint Star Peeps later this year, but I so loved my Pop Rocks and Peeps earlier this year, I thought, what could be better than peppermint Pop Rocks and a nice mellow Peep.
Well, the main problem with this idea is that the Candy Cane Flavor Pop Rocks aren't actually peppermint!
Say what? Seriously, what would you think if someone handed you this package? If you opened it and dumped out the contents and saw the above pile of pink and white Pop Rocks ... what flavor would you expect?
Would you expect Strawberry?
Yeah ... they're strawberry. I have nothing against strawberry Pop Rocks and thought they rocked my Peep ... but I wanted Peppermint Pop Rocks and I'm completely annoyed that someone out there not only thinks that any pink flavor can be considered candy cane flavored, but that they wouldn't actually SAY that on the package if it was so.
I give them a 3 out of 10 ... not because it was bad, but because I'm irritated.
The next Mash Up Round Up will focus on Savory & Spicy!
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Friday, October 5, 2007
Chocolate Poppers
Late last year I did a head to head between Shoogy Boom and Pop Rocks, just to see if the original is actually the best. I actually prefer the Shoogy Boom brand, made by Hleks in Turkey.
While Pop Rocks were displaying their new Pop Rocks Milk Chocolate Bar at the All Candy Expo, Hleks was quietly showing their chocolate popping candies as well. I don't know how long these have been on the market, the copyright on the back of the package says 2003 ... and also says that these are a product of Impact Confections (known for their Warheads line).
These little chocolate spheres are smaller than a malted milk ball but larger (or perhaps just more spherical) than a Peanut M&M. They look a little waxy, but smell pleasantly sweet. (I can figure that I beat them up pretty bad on the trip, because they were unmarred and glossy at the All Candy Expo booth.) Each sphere is milk chocolate mixed with unflavored carbonated hard candies.
With the popping candy mixed with chocolate, I find initially chewing them a bit to expose the carbonated bits helps to activate them. The chocolate isn't stellar on these, but they're just the transportation medium for the popping. They flavor is a little malty, with the popping bits adding only texture and sound with a little extra sweetness.
They can get kind of noisy inside my head and I was surprised at how well I could hear the popping inside other people's heads when I passed them around last night when the neighbors came over.
I don't know if I'd eat them often, but they're kind of fun. I wish the chocolate as a bit better, but these might be fun to mix with other things in a "movie mix" (but maybe you wouldn't be able to hear the movie?) like popcorn, SnoCaps and Junior Mints. I like the spherical design of them a bit better than the bar format of the Milk Chocolate Pop Rocks Bar. I shared most of them, which is the way candy should be!
Brad Kent has this wrapper on his excellent database, so I'm guessing these have been around for a while.
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POSTED BY Cybele AT 7:56 am
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Pop Rocks Milk Chocolate Bar
Last year I tried the Limited Edition Chocolate Covered Pop Rocks. They were interesting, not really anything to bring me back to eating Pop Rocks on a regular basis.
But this year Pop Rocks had something completely new and not packaged in a flat envelope. This is the new Milk Chocolate Pop Rocks Bar. The gentleman at their booth at All Candy Expo was careful to tell me that they used premium chocolate for this bar. (I'm not sure I'd call it premium, it does have PGPR in it.)
The bar is petite at only 1.16 ounces and three chunky segments.
The chocolate is soft and rather creamy but sweet. It melts quickly to reveal the chunks of Pop Rocks that, well, pop. It's like a proactive Nestle's Crunch Bar (with better chocolate).
The chocolate is light and lacking in the darker chocolate flavors, I got an overwhelming taste of raisins, but I don't know if that had something to do with some actual flavor to the Pop Rocks.
The bar can be eaten two ways, as far as I'm concerned. The first is to simply let it melt and allow the Pop Rocks to pop. This creates a mild and interesting effect, but not terribly different. The second is to chew up much of the bar and then let it melt, giving it another chew or two as it dissolves completely. This is extremely noisy (at least inside my own head) and by far the most fun.
Popping candy chocolate bars have been around for a few years, most notably a brief appearance in the United States by the Wonka Xploder bar, which I never got to try.
I expect them to be found in the same places I see Pop Rocks (7-11, Target and candy shops), no word on the retail price. This bar was made in Spain.
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POSTED BY Cybele AT 7:03 am
Meticulously photographed and documented reviews of candy from around the world. And the occasional other sweet adventures. Open your mouth, expand your mind.


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I am often asked how I learned to sew and what advice I would give beginners. Since I started sewing only two years ago, it's all very fresh in my mind!
So here, in no particular order, is my entirely subjective, highly biased top ten tips list:
1. Start off with a good machine. I can't imagine anything more discouraging than learning to sew on a temperamental sewing machine. You may know by now that I am extremely biased toward vintage machines, straight stitchers in particular. But most people these days start with zigzaggers and that's OK too.
Here in the USA, good used machines can be had for less than $50 on Craigslist, eBay, and at many local thrift stores. Maybe your neighbor or a family member has one in storage. Make sure you clearly ask the seller/donor whether the machine has any mechanical problems. The last thing you need is to bring home your first sewing machine and discover the bobbin winding mechanism doesn't work or the cams are cracked (if it has embroidery cams). A manual is always helpful and if missing, can usually be downloaded online for a few dollars.
There's nothing wrong with spending more for a high quality machine, but when you're starting out you don't really know which features you'll value most. I recommend thinking of your first machine as a starter and spending the big bucks later, if at all. Doesn't that makes sense?
2. Avoid (avoidable) complexity. The simpler the machine the less is likely to be/go wrong with it, which is why I like old straight stitch machines. If you're interested in making clothes, you don't need fancy embroidery stitches, which is the selling point for new machines. Nothing has changed mechanically in decades and little (if anything) has improved. I know that some people prefer a new machine and that's fine. Just keep it simple and don't let yourself be wowed by fancy computerized geegaws you're unlikely ever to use.
3. Buy yourself a good beginner's book. In my experience, there aren't that many of these. There are countless excellent encyclopedic sewing guides, like the Readers Digest guide, and these are great to have on hand for reference, but I would not use them to get started — too much info.
My favorite beginner's sewing book is Diana Rupp's Sew Everything Workshop. Diana walks you through step-by-step in the gentlest, most caring way, and the book itself is beautiful to look at AND spiral bound, which is a tremendous help. It also includes many simple patterns for some basic garments and home dec items that are cute and trendy (and on real pattern paper too). They're mainly for women, of course, but not exclusively. I made my first garment — a pair of boxer shorts — from a pattern in Diana's book and I still wear the results!
4. Start small. If you follow Diana's book you won't have to think about this. It's more fun to sew something simple and do it well than to tackle something too advanced and be disappointed with the results. You'll learn either way, for sure, but some of us get very discouraged when our results don't match our expectations. Whether we're making a pencil case or an evening gown, choice of fabric and other details is going to make a huge difference in our enthusiasm and happiness with the result. It's not what you sew but how you sew it.
5. Practice. Like any other skill, sewing takes some practice. After a while things that seemed difficult at first, like matching the edges of two separate pieces of fabric at 5/8", become second nature. When I got my first sewing machine, I just loved to sew scraps of fabric together — any fabric. It all seemed very miraculous to me at the time and still does!
6. Lower the stakes. A lot of perfectionists are drawn to sewing. I've sewn many dozens of garments, and some turn out better than others. I try not to make sewing a reflection of my self-worth. Sewing should be fun, even when it's challenging. With skill you can make some fantastic things but ultimately, most of us don't have to sew to have clothes to wear. Many of us already had bulging closets before we even picked up a needle. Sew like a child and enjoy it. You're only going to get better with practice.
7. Make up your own rules. I am a big believer in trusting one's intelligence. Some things you read in a sewing book or in pattern directions — how to insert a zipper, say — may sound unnecessarily complex. Don't be afraid to try it your own way. The people who wrote those directions are just people. Maybe there's a simpler method and YOU are the person who will have discovered it. If it doesn't work, you'll have learned something. You have nothing to lose provided you're not experimenting on your nearly-finished garment made of $75/yd. silk shantung!
8. Find a sewing community. I could not have learned as fast as I have without the support and encouragement of Burdastyle and Pattern Review members. Sewing friends are tremendously valuable, not only at the beginning but all along your sewing journey. Having a community makes sewing so much more fun. A dirty little secret is that I rarely looked at sewing blogs until I started Male Pattern Boldness, but some of the blogs I enjoy most are written by people who are just starting out because I can relate to their sewing challenges — and their enthusiasm.
9. Make sewing your play and not your work. Life is stressful enough without adding even more stress. Sewing can be challenging, especially when things aren't working out the way you'd like them to. Remember why you're sewing in the first place. You didn't learn to walk in a day or in a week and you're not going to master sewing in that amount of time. But imagine how much you'll know a year from now if you just keep plugging along, making mistakes and learning from them. Just keep going and maintain a sense of humor.
10. Make something you really like. I've heard a lot of stories from people who were taught — and turned off — sewing in Home Economics class where they were forced to make something they hated, like an apron or an ugly skirt. As an adult, you make the rules. It's much more inspiring to sew something you might actually want to wear. You don't have to pay a lot for the fabric (Pick up some old sheets!). I also think sewing for oneself, especially at the beginning, is more fun than sewing for others. You don't have to please anyone but yourself and you know best how you want something to look or fit.
11. Take a class. Don't take a class. A lot of people ask me if they should take a class. Some people really enjoy the social aspect of a class or the way a class organizes their week or (potentially) keeps them from making costly mistakes. I didn't take a class though I wouldn't rule it out for the future. I'd recommend that anybody who wants to take a class take one and anybody who wants to learn on their own do so. It's not either/or.
I will say that given the tremendous amount of information available in books, DVDs, on YouTube videos, sites like BurdaStyle, and blogs, nobody has to take a class to get the information they need. All those "sewing secrets" have already been revealed!
So wise readers, anything to add? Anything that would be in your top ten that I haven't included?
How did you learn to sew?
When native New Yorker Peter Lappin bought his first sewing machine two years ago to hem a pair of thrift store jeans, little did he know he was initiating a journey that would bring him fame and fortune. While awaiting his fortune he stays busy writing "the world's most popular men's sewing blog," Male Pattern Boldness, and now contributing to BurdaStyle.
"For more than twenty years I'd lived on the edge of the Garment District without even knowing what a seam ripper was. Now I rip daily!"

subset: commoncrawl


text:
|2011-04-02, 22:40
|Link #401
Join Date: Jan 2004
As weird as that may seem, its where I found the last remaining copy of Fruits Basket Ultimate Edition vol. 3
They had run out of stock everywhere else, and I only happened to find this store by luck after whining about the unavailability of it on IRC - there aren't any Barnes & Noble in Canada I think, at least not in my Province.
(Amazon, Ebay, etc all have it USED starting at something like $170 and going to over $400, screw that very much!)
So sometimes you can be lucky and find something out of print where they still have it in stock - and somehow I guess I bought the last? As they pulled down the ability to buy them New for the usual price, my order is marked as Shipped. So I guess I was extremely lucky?!
Last edited by SilverHeimdall; 2011-04-02 at 22:55.
|2011-05-20, 20:47
|Link #402
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 61
I get most of my manga from B&N (online)... their recent restructure of their "brick'n'mortar" stores has decimated most of the book sections (including manga) in favor of ..... O.o games and froufrou.
Out of curiosity, I checked the current NOOK offerings of manga to see if manga publishers were experimenting with the new e-book field. Well, about 95% of the offerings were yaoi and there were only a couple of hundred stock items of manga.
Manga is one area I might consider e-books simply because a series takes so much shelf space and the resell value is often nil. But it doesn't appear that much of the publishing market has considered it.
|2011-05-24, 15:41
|Link #403
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Age: 31
|2011-06-06, 13:33
|Link #404
good-natured spirit
Graphic Designer
What is DRM?
I just know that German stuff is the worst. Despite French translations, German anime and manga are converted into cartoon stuff. Yes, anime to Germans is the same as cartoons. You know what that means. It means that the content gets cut down to a level where you can't possibly accept it from the time you become a teenager… ever.
No matter if we're talking about DBZ, Naruto, Hellsing or stuff, it all shrinks to the tiny level of Pokemon or even Digimon… they did it with Inuyasha, One Piece and especially Naruto. You don't see any full contact or just any fist or foot making contact with the target. You see extra large glaring and gazing scenes with characters thinking so slow you must believe they are totally brain-rotten. Is this to be accepted as licensed? Well, I do evade it by buying lots of stuff from Britain because I dislike having Japanese with French Subtitles and the Britain stuff is just okay (as is the Canadian…), but I think the French ones are better quality. French and Japanese… they got good contact. Germans not. So not There are few average and acceptable, many bad and worse.
|2011-06-06, 16:03
|Link #405
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Age: 31
Basically, anything in digital files that's there to restrict how they can be used. Like if a movie file is only allowed to be used on one computer, and if it's moved, it locks itself down and doesn't work anymore. Or like how HarperCollins is making it so the eBooks they sell to libraries automatically stop working after they've been read 26 times. etc etc. There's many varieties of DRM.
|2011-10-17, 20:00
|Link #406
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Age: 29
I didn't see this site posted on here. It's a listing of stores that sell manga/anime in NYC, Philly, and NJ. If there are any East Coasters here check this out!
I know off hand the Out of Time Comics store in Philly is no longer in business.
|2011-10-27, 10:02
|Link #407
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Unreality
Age: 29
sorry but which manga is this ?
|2011-10-31, 19:27
|Link #408
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: The dog gossips too much.
DVD question, not manga, but are all of Right Stuf's DVD's official? The format always says "Hybrid," and my understanding was that legit DVDs are usually coded to one region or another. Plus their items are suspiciously cheap. This has probably been covered before, but I thought I'd check before I wasted any money on fakes.
EDIT: Did some Google research and they seem to be okay. I'll experiment with a DVD or two first and then buy the rest if it pans out.
Last edited by AnimeFangirl; 2011-10-31 at 19:40.
|2011-10-31, 20:22
|Link #410
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Age: 31
|2011-12-01, 10:29
|Link #412
Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Sweden
I'm looking after a Japanese manga/book/magazine site
There you can find old, use manga's. Secondhand store perhaps
I looking for two manga's but can't fin them. They seems not to be out in the store anymore.
Both is in Japanese
So far I haven't been so lucky, mostly I see "Out of stock"
So I still looking and hope I perhaps can get some help here
I already check the links to the stores in the topic .
Well well ^^
|2011-12-05, 17:01
|Link #413
Join Date: Apr 2003
[Support Authors] How to do the most good
Manga artists and writers work long hours to provide you with the series you enjoy reading. Because of the serial nature of manga, they have to produce output pretty much every week, while also juggling compilation of completed volumes, future planning, promo art, etc. Ever read on ANN about authors getting sick or taking breaks? This is why.
What you can do to support them:
Buying the Japanese compiled volumes (tankobon) is the best way for you to support their efforts and (hopefully) keep them serializing the comic. While buying a translated copy is better than merely pirating, it's merely a feel-good placebo. Foreign licenses happen months or over a year+ after those chapters were penned. Not only is the royalty they receive that far down the chain a pittance, but it's so long after the fact, it doesn't help keep your favorite manga author employed. The sales are also a drop in the bucket compared to the home market in Japan.
(e.g. Naruto in the US sells 50k per volume, in Japan it's close to 1mil)
Information you should have:
Manga title in Japanese
www.mangaupdates.com is a good place to copy/paste the official name from.
www.amazon.co.jp is a good place to then paste that name and find the ISBN# for your title near the bottom of the page. (Amazon refers to it as ISBN-10)
The only major book chain I'm aware of in the US now is Kinokuniya. There are undoubtedly other smaller ones you could probably order from as well. Anyone living in Europe or elsewhere that knows of Japanese bookstores local to you feel free to post and I can add them to this thread. They can order pretty much any manga or light novel title you can get an ISBN# for, even ones they normally don't stock in the store or online. They usually arrive in around 2 weeks. You can either pick them up in person if you happen to live near one of their locations, or they can ship them to you cheaply via Fedex or such. Base shipping is $8, but only $1 more per manga afaik. Shipping is free on orders over $100.
Honto is my go-to site for importing manga and light novels. http://honto.jp
Here is a guide for registering an account and getting your address setup if your Japanese is weak: http://kaizora.wordpress.com/2012/05...nup-for-honto/
There is no markup on MSRP, they often have coupons or 3x-10x point sales for rewards, and their packaging is impeccable. I use SAL Small Parcel for shipping: It's not insured like EMS, but it's WAY cheaper, and I've never lost an order. Delivery takes around 14-21 days via SAL. EMS less than a week, but then you're probably paying more than just going with Kino.
Yesasia is also a decent place for manga or light novels as long as you order enough for their free shipping costs, because the "free shipping" is built into the price already. They took a bit longer when I ordered from them: About 3 weeks, since they send it from HK to LA, then ship it domestically. Honto is better pricing though IMHO. Their catalog search is also terrible. I recommend using Google to search their site. And be aware that they often format the titles in romaji and very oddly. IE: Log Horizon ログ・ホライゾン is like roguhoraizon blahblah blah blah. So you sometimes have to try multiple searches to find stuff.
Why ordering this way is great:
-- You don't pay for expensive SAL shipping. Only local shipping costs.
-- Exchange rate has rebounded to ~100:1 so after-shipping costs for volumes are only $6.75-$8.25 each (MSRP 440-600yen)
-- Directly support your author and keep them serialized. Get them the best royalty.
-- No worries about editing changes or censorship.
There is a growing selection of eBooks available for Japanese manga as well, but I believe some of them are region-locked, so you may have to use a VPN to purchase them. Places for eBooks include HMV, Honto, Nico Seiga, Amazon Japan, etc.
Personal disclosure:
My entire manga collection is original Japanese volumes that I all got for less than the English counterparts. I keep the scanlations archived, but it's also a good learning experience if you are studying Japanese
Last edited by JediNight; 2013-11-27 at 16:54. Reason: Updated 11-2013
|2012-05-29, 10:58
|Link #414
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Osaka, Japan
Age: 37
MANGA exporting from Japan to other countries
MANGA written in Japanese exporting from Japan to all over the world
I found this thread and knew many people are looking for MANGA. Then I noticed I can help you.
I am in Japan so I can find items you want to import from Japan.
Do you know the online store [JcomicWorld.com]
I am a stuff of this store.
I know there is very few MANGA in the store but we are adding.
Price is reasonable
MANGA written in Japanese(not translated) $8.99, $9.99~.
Delivering is by EMS or SAL.
EMS : to Asia $15~, North America $20~, Europe $25~, depends on weight.
SAL : for example, one comic to NY, USA is $5.
Of course I am happy if you buy goods from our store but am happier that non-Japanese-people become happy with Japanese products.
So if you are looking for MANGA, Light Novel, ANIME or whatever Japanese stuff, I wanna help you. Just let me know and feel free to ask me.
|2012-06-01, 00:15
|Link #415
Beyond the Event Horizon
Join Date: May 2012
Age: 29
For Japanese untranslated manga/novels/whatever at least, for the longest time I have used bk1, which recently merged with honto:
If you know the minimal amount of Japanese necessary to navigate the site, they're very reliable, and ship SAL/EMS to the US. And everything is MSRP sticker price so you know you're not paying a cent more than you should be. For people who buy high volume, they also have lots of good promotions in place (for example, buy more than 10k yen and get a 1k yen coupon for your next purchase).
Super recommended.
The other source I sometimes use when I want a used complete set of something for relatively cheap is yahoo Japan auctions (with a deputy service)... but that place is a huge crapshoot.
|2012-06-01, 16:41
|Link #416
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Ottawa, Canada
|2012-06-10, 10:45
|Link #417
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
|2012-06-11, 16:45
|Link #418
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Ottawa, Canada
It seems that you could purchase them, but no help support would be given for customers from abroad.
|2012-06-23, 12:47
|Link #419
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Granada Hills Ca.
I mostly buy my manga/light novels from brick and mortar stores, but have bought manga/light novels and anime online. I have bought some items online and have had mixed results. starlightbreaker.com got seized by the feds for dealing in bootlegs, animeharu.com, at one time was reliable, now they take your money and run! (Disputed charges and changed card #, all a pain in the ass!) I've looked at justmanga.com and am wondering if I should give them a try, any opinions out there?
|2012-07-05, 09:58
|Link #420
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
you can also utilize unlimited downloads from www.movie-distro.com! hope this helps
|buying, import, japanese language, manga
|Thread Tools


text:
Ashley Fontaine interview
Saturday, January 14, 2012 - 3:46 a.m.
The witness, Ashley Fontaine, is the 29-year-old wife of the victim. She was interviewed at her residence, 655 North Lamar Boulevard. The interview was recorded on a portable tape recorder with the witness's knowledge and consent.
- Detective T. Armstrong
- Detective S. Murphy
- Ashley Fontaine
Detective Murphy: We appreciate your help, Mrs. Fontaine. For the record, could you please state your full and address?
Ashley Fontaine: Ashley Mathers Fontaine, and I live here, 655 North Lamar. Is this going to take long? I'm so distressed about this whole situation. I just cannot believe he is gone.
Detective Murphy: We're sorry to trouble you at such a difficult time, but we do have some questions we must ask you
Ashley Fontaine: Anything to help. Philip and I were very close, you know.
Detective Armstrong: With your cooperation, we can get this over with in no time. Just some routine questions. Would you like a tissue?
Ashley Fontaine: Yes, thank you. It's just that with us being in the Social Register and all‒being, you know, so prominent around town‒Philip's death presents added difficulties for us.
Detective Murphy: Why is that?
Ashley Fontaine: Grant and I are deeply grieving right now, and with this being in the press and all, the whole town will be, you know, looking at our family very closely. I'm not used to living life in a fishbowl, Detective.
Detective Murphy: Well, I think the people of Oxford will be very sympathetic with you, Mrs. Fontaine. After all, it's not as if you're involved in any way in your husband's death.
Ashley Fontaine: Me? Involved? Why would you think that?
Detective Murphy: I meant that your friends and everyone in town will likely feel very sympathetic towards you because of your very tragic loss. There'd be no reason for us to be suspicious of you, would there?
Ashley Fontaine: Thank you, Detective Murphy. I'm so distressed I can't think straight right now.
Detective Armstrong: We're just asking routine questions here, the same we'd ask of anyone else. Tell us what happened today.
Ashley Fontaine: Well, Philip left for the office early this morning‒about 7:00, like he always does‒and came home around dinnertime.
Detective Armstrong: What time would that have been?
Ashley Fontaine: Around 6:30 p.m.
Detective Armstrong: Did you notice anything unusual?
Ashley Fontaine: Philip did seem extra agitated. He's been under so much stress at work lately, especially with that obnoxious Bruno Coleman trying to stop the development.
Detective Armstrong: Mr. Coleman and Mr. Fontaine were having difficulties?
Ashley Fontaine: They've had difficulties for almost 20 years. That Coleman has always been jealous of Philip and out to get him.
Detective Murphy: Did Mr. Coleman make any threats against your husband?
Ashley Fontaine: Philip didn't say, but he didn't tell me a lot about the business. But he could have.
Detective Murphy: Who was in the house when your husband arrived?
Ashley Fontaine: Me, of course. And our son Grant. And the maid, Raquel. Raquel Santos.
Detective Armstrong: What happened next?.
Ashley Fontaine: Philip came home about 6:30 or 6:35, and then the phone rang. Philip was on the phone for a few minutes.
Detective Armstrong: Did he say anything to you after the phone call?
Ashley Fontaine: No. Nothing. He seemed even more upset, that's all.
Detective Armstrong: And then what happened?
Ashley Fontaine: I released Raquel early, and then we had a nice, pleasant family dinner like we always do.
Detective Murphy: What happened after dinner?
Ashley Fontaine: We all chatted a bit, and then Grant left to go out with some friends, and I left shortly thereafter to go see some friends of mine.
Detective Murphy: What time was that?
Ashley Fontaine: Around 7:30.
Detective Armstrong: Now, Mrs. Fontaine, you know we're going to talk to other members of the household, including your housekeeper and maintenance man.
Ashley Fontaine: Raquel and Joey? Why would you want to talk to them? Don't bother. They're just servants. They don't know anything.
Detective Murphy: Routine procedure. Is there anything they might tell us about the events that took place this evening that you might be forgetting? Just to keep our records straight.
Ashley Fontaine: No. Wait, maybe Philip did say something to me about Raquel. Yes, Philip did say that Raquel had seemed upset when he saw her earlier, but I'm not really sure what he was talking about. I mean, Raquel and I did have a discussion earlier in the day, and then Philip and I had a discussion about that discussion, but I really can't remember any more. I'm sorry I can't help you any further on that.
Detective Armstrong: A discussion. I see. Just a few more questions, if you don't mind.
Ashley Fontaine: That's fine.
Detective Murphy: What did you do after dinner?
Ashley Fontaine: I left to be with friends of mine for the evening.
Detective Armstrong: Who might that have been?
Ashley Fontaine: Some good friends from college. I felt so bad; I couldn't remember anyone's name.
Detective Murphy: Where did you go?
Ashley Fontaine: Well, let's see. We just went to a friend's house for a while.
Detective Murphy: Which friend's house did you go to?
Ashley Fontaine: I don't remember right now, Detective. I'm so distressed I just can't think straight. Yesterday and today are such a blur. I'm sorry. I really just don't remember where we went.
Detective Murphy: You don't remember?
Ashley Fontaine: No.
Detective Armstrong: Doesn't that sound odd to you, out with old friends on the night your husband was killed and you can't remember any names or where you were?
Ashley Fontaine: I was with friends! Just ask any of them. They'll tell you where I was. Philip and I had a very good marriage. Please, Detective, are we almost done? This is very, very distressing for me so soon after Philip's death.
Detective Murphy: I understand, Mrs. Fontaine. A few more questions and we'll wrap up for now. What time did you arrive home tonight?
Ashley Fontaine: I'd say it was around 1:00 a.m.
Detective Murphy: Did you have anything to drink?
Ashley Fontaine: Sure. My friends and I had a good time. I'd had a few drinks.
Detective Murphy: Was your stepson, Grant, with you?
Ashley Fontaine: He wasn't with me, but he came home at the same time. We arrived in the house together.
Detective Murphy: Did you notice anything unusual about Grant?
Ashley Fontaine: Well, he seemed distracted. I can tell you that. The rehab programs have been a failure as far as keeping him clean, the poor boy.
Detective Murphy: Did you notice anything else about Grant?
Ashley Fontaine: I saw a nasty cut on his arm. I asked him about it, but he didn't remember anything about it. He told me it didn't hurt.
Detective Murphy: So you don't know how the cut got there?
Ashley Fontaine: No, I really have no idea what happened to him.
Detective Murphy: So you and your stepson returned home. Then what happened?
Ashley Fontaine: After we got done in the garage, we went in. The house was a shambles. Philip's belongings‒all of our precious belongings had been gone through. It looked like somebody had come in looking for something, and they had to go through the entire house looking for it.
Detective Murphy: And then what did you do?
Ashley Fontaine: Poor Grant was so distraught he walked around in a daze, touching everything and moving things around.
Detective Murphy: And what happened then, Mrs. Fontaine?
Ashley Fontaine: I was in a state of shock, just walking around the house not understanding how or why someone would want to do this to us.
Detective Murphy: Go on.
Ashley Fontaine: I walked through the living and dining rooms, and then I entered the kitchen. Oh, it was awful, just awful to see him like that!
Detective Murphy: Your husband?
Ashley Fontaine: Yes. To see Philip like that in the kitchen, lying there, all splattered with blood. He had been stabbed and had bruises on his body. Are we almost done?
Detective Murphy: Almost, Mrs. Fontaine. Was your stepson with you when you found your husband in the kitchen?
Ashley Fontaine: No. Grant was in another room.
Detective Murphy: Did you call out to him?
Ashley Fontaine: Yes. I just shrieked until Grant came to the kitchen. I asked him to come help me.
Detective Murphy: Then what happened?
Ashley Fontaine: Grant was standing around in shock, doing nothing at first, then touching things, as if he didn't know what he was doing.
Detective Murphy: What did you do?
Ashley Fontaine: I called 911.
Detective Murphy: And after that?
Ashley Fontaine: Grant just kept looking at me. He just kept staring at me.
Detective Murphy: What time did you call 911?
Ashley Fontaine: It must've been about a half hour after we got home, around 1:30 a.m.
Detective Armstrong: Thank you for your help, Mrs. Fontaine. Oh, one last thing. You don't have any idea, do you, as to who would want to kill your husband?
Ashley Fontaine: No, like I said earlier, he was worried about some of his business and real estate developments. I don't know anything about his business, really. I don't get involved in that side of things, but I was worried he might have an enemy or two like Mr. Coleman.
Detective Armstrong: Thank you for all your help. Please do contact us if you have any other information you think could help us during our investigation.
Ashley Fontaine: Yes, of course.
End interview: 4:08 a.m.


text:
The dealer model may be nice and all, where it works. The European market is so fragmented (many small countries, language barriers etc) so what you often get is a one-man company 1000 km away whose main income is not from the products they represent. Service can be crap, it really can. When I turned to my "local" dealer for support for my Leaf back it turned out that he had sort of stopped actively selling Leaf backs (he preferred Phase One) and had an out of date price list, also overpriced from favourable currency conversion and did not know how the repair process works. After complaining for a while I was allowed by Leaf to change dealer to someone else, got one on recommendation and they seem good apart from that they don't communicate that often. Like once every four weeks. Support goes rather slow that way.By far, the best source of support for me has been this forum, but you don't do repairs here, unfortunately When it's this dysfunctional I really think one should look into other models or complementary models to the traditional dealer. I think one should shut down those one-man dealerships and instead concentrate to fewer but larger ones, some which has a strong web presence and can sell and support remotely, and the manufacturer should have some process to ensure the quality of the dealers. Currently quality control seems to be non-existent (at least with my manufacturer), and still they strongly urge you to turn to your geographically nearest dealer, and if you live in the wrong place that'll be a punishment.
I really do not know what this proves? Maybe that your daughter bought her car from a not so good dealer.
... Of course the Leica experience would better. Leica is the bestest.
Taking this somewhat out of context, I have to say my recent experience with Leica USA's service department lives up to the 'bestest' description. I sent my R8 body to Leica USA for service recently - this is a 17-year-old model from a discontinued product line - and the personal service, attention to detail and to my particular needs has been exemplary.
It is night and day from what it was even three years ago. Really good service on bodies. Quick turnaround.
This is really good news to read. I loved my Leicas but wasn't happy with the long waits on routine service.
The last time I had occasion to use Leica service it took over 5 months to get my camera body back, so this sounds like a real improvement. I had occasion to see and use a M240 and M Monochrome last month and I was really impressed with them. I thought the EVF for the m240 was really pretty cool considering how it could zoom in and highlight the areas in focus - focusing with the rangefinder is fine of course, but with a fast glass like the noctilux fitted in low light being able to nail focus with the EVF was really cool.
Might be that Leica will soon be a "pro" brand again - they could do a loaner replacement easily now they have boutiques in every major city in Europe. Edmund
Wouldn't it be nice if 'loaners' were redundant, that cameras just worked... and worked, and you could afford two, just in case.


text:
- Location:Home > DOSING PUMP
Dear customers:
You've been our distinguished customer since the moment you came to this page. We are honored for the opportunity at your service. We've always insisted on integrity management and professional service. We believe the friendship between us will last life long. Look forward to our cooperation!


text:
|Attention: DocWiki has reached EOL and will be decommissioned January 25, 2019.
Call Control: Reflecting a call made to an unmonitored line prior to login
From DocWiki
Call made prior to login is shown as an active call
|Problem Summary
|An agent is in state LOGOUT and makes a call to an unmonitored line and then tries to sign in. When the desktop comes up, the call appearance is shown as an active call when in reality, it is ringing on the other end.
|Error Message
|Possible Cause
|Unified CCE does not return any devices other than the agent's device on the call and Unified CCE returns the LocalConnectionState of the agent's device as CS_CONNECT, which Finesse interprets as a call with state ACTIVE.
|Recommended Action
|Do not use Finesse UI call control until the call is established.
|Release 8.5(3), Release 9.0(1), Release 9.1(1), Release 10.0(1), Release 10.5(1), Release 11.0(1)
|Associated CDETS #


text:
Counterfeit currency circulating in Orange
In less than a week, officers of the Orange Police Department have discovered evidence of counterfeit bills being distributed around the city in at least three separate incidents. Police reports indicate OPD received calls regarding counterfeit 10- and 20-dollar bills being passed at three locations from Dec. 13 through Dec. 16.
Dec. 13 at approximately 3:30 p.m., OPD Officer Robert Campbell was dispatched to Dairy Queen at 321 Strickland Drive in Orange in reference to a counterfeit 10-dollar bill. The manager of the restaurant reported a white male came in and attempted to pay for his food order with a suspicious looking bill. The manager went to the back to test the bill for authenticity and soon discovered the money was counterfeit. The man reportedly left the store before the manager was able to confront him. The counterfeit currency was kept in police evidence.
At about 6:18 p.m. on Dec. 15, OPD received another call regarding counterfeit money, only this time the restaurant accepted the cash before realizing it was fake. OPD Officer Jonathan Baggett responded to the call from Whataburger at 7241 Interstate 10 in Orange. The team leader reported that an employee working the drive-through of the restaurant unknowingly accepted two counterfeit 20-dollar bills from an unknown black female in a maroon 2000 Ford Mustang bearing license plate number BNJ4637 as payment for a food order. Baggett took the counterfeit bills into police evidence noting that the bills were slightly smaller than they should have been, there was no security strip and the border of the bills was disproportionate, all indicators the money was not real.
The third incident occurred on Dec. 16. OPD Officer Marcus Bernard was dispatched to the Star Stop located at 1402 16th St. in Orange at approximately 9:08 p.m. in reference to a counterfeit 20-dollar bill. The store clerk reported a known male had attempted to pay for items he was purchasing with the fake currency. When the clerk told the man the money appeared to be counterfeit, the customer told him he had received it as change from a local store. The counterfeit bill was turned over to police.
Captain Cliff Hargrave said investigating three incidents related to counterfeit currency within such a short span of time is "unusual" for OPD. He said about a year ago, OPD received some reports of counterfeit bills being passed, but since then they have seen very few instances.
The veteran officer said it is difficult to say whether any of the three incidents were related or if the bills were being distributed from the same source without further testing of the counterfeit currency. According to Hargrave, he has noticed from years on the job that a lot of counterfeit money is distributed during illegal drug deals.
"These drug dealers love to rip each other off," he opined. "A lot of counterfeit money gets passed around in drug transactions."
Hargrave said although fake bills might look better than in the past due to advanced printing capabilities, counterfeit money is usually fairly easy to identify. He said to look for the watermark that appears on legal currency, the security strip in the bill, the size of the bill, and the blue and red fibers woven into real money as indicators of authenticity.
"It's pretty easy to tell the difference," Hargrave said. "There is a different feel to it (counterfeit money). If you put a real bill in one hand and a counterfeit one in the other, you can tell the difference."


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First week with the new web site and first opportunity to post on our own to the blog. The web site is now a template design relying on Word Press – far leaner and more flexible than the older, clunkier flash version.
It's an open question how to use the blog space. We could write about the guests…but, no, probably not. What happens at the Inn, stays at the Inn. Instead, we'll write about the weather, which is a very New England thing to do and, since it changes every few minutes, it gives us plenty to discuss. (Rain is in the forecast for today. Currently, it is bright and sunny.)
We'll write about the wildlife. There is plenty of that to discuss, too. Bears, in particular, and moose, which are the two animals that arouse the greatest interest. There have been plenty of bear sightings this summer. Around here one is advised to take-in bird feeders at night if they don't want them mangled by bears that are after the seed.
We will write about hikes and the scenery and new waterways that have been explored by canoe or kayak and try and post lots of those pictures. We will report on the art and music of the region exemplified by The Peterborough Players theatre and Monadnock Music.
We'll write about the food – our food mostly. The Inn's menu changes in another week for the summer, through September, so more on that later.
We will also probably write a lot about Potter, our dog. He is a Golden Retriever, known variously as Potter, Potts & Pans, or the Puppie-Wuppie. Yes, he is indulged, but he gives back and he loves the Inn business – which is a business, after all, of caring and affection, which makes it just his kind of work.
Jarvis & Marcia Coffin


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CBC/Radio-Canada Adopts Avid Everywhere for Efficient, Organisation-Wide Production and Asset Management
Avid MediaCentral Platform at the heart of ambitious initiative to improve operational efficiency across mobile apps, websites, and 159 radio and television stations.
Burlington, MA, August 5, 2014 – Avid® (OTC: AVID) today announced that CBC/Radio-Canada is the latest global broadcast leader to put the Avid Everywhere™ vision at the heart of its operations, adopting the Avid MediaCentral Platform to power more efficient production and storage of media content within Canada and around the world.
By enabling a common content platform for CBC/Radio-Canada across mobile, web, radio, and television services, the MediaCentral Platform provides the foundation for completely streamlined media production operations. Leveraging proven and trusted solutions from the Avid Media Suite and Storage Suite, the organisation will streamline CBC/Radio-Canada's workflows and automate processes for the organisation's mobile applications, websites, 132 radio stations, 27 television stations, and foreign bureaus, in both English and French.
CBC/Radio-Canada's adoption of the Avid MediaCentral Platform will bring to life the Avid Everywhere vision for connecting media enterprises with audiences in more powerful, collaborative, efficient, and profitable ways. For example, Avid Interplay® | MAM, a key solution in the Storage Suite, provides a single, integrated archive platform for media management. The new system will replace more than 20 legacy archive collections at CBC/Radio-Canada, and promises to enhance operational efficiency across the entire organisation.
"The Avid Everywhere vision, with its focus on helping media organisations achieve efficiencies and enable better collaboration, is a key enabler of our own vision to modernise our organisation in order to bring us closer to our audiences," said Fred Mattocks, General Manager – Media Operations and Technology, English Service CBC/Radio-Canada. "With MediaCentral Platform and Interplay | MAM, our staff can quickly and cost effectively produce compelling mobile, web, radio, or television content, using legacy or fresh media assets through a single browser interface, no matter where they are in the enterprise or around the globe."
Specifically, the installation will support harmonised and simplified workflows for better orchestration and automation of key processes, making the process of producing and distributing high-quality content much faster and easier. For example, the new platform will integrate metadata for more than 25 million analog and digital media assets into a single consistent catalog and index database.
CBC/Radio-Canada production staff will access Interplay | MAM through Avid MediaCentral | UX (formerly Avid Interplay Central). As part of the platform, the Interplay | MAM system will integrate seamlessly with CBC/Radio-Canada's existing Avid solutions, Interplay® | Production, and iNEWS, as well as third-party applications.
"As a longtime partner to CBC/Radio-Canada, we are pleased to be a key part of the technology infrastructure for delivering important culture, content, and commentary to audiences in Canada and beyond," said Jennifer Smith, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Avid. "We've developed the Avid MediaCentral Platform to empower media organisations to streamline and simplify processes that are increasingly complex, fast-paced, and fragmented, requiring tight collaboration from remote locations. We look forward to helping the CBC/Radio-Canada realise these benefits in the months ahead."
About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada's public multi-platform broadcaster. From where the country has been, to where it is going, we are there. We share Canada's journey step-by-step, day by day, with the news, content, commentary and culture that Canadians need, today, tomorrow and in the future.
Josh Paterson, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, email@example.com, 44 (0) 207 403 8878
About Avid
Through Avid Everywhere™, Avid delivers the industry's most open, innovative and comprehensive media platform connecting content creation with collaboration, asset protection, distribution and consumption for the most listened to, most watched and most loved media in the world—from the most prestigious and award-winning feature films, music recordings, and television shows, to live concerts and news broadcasts. Industry leading solutions include Pro Tools®, Media Composer®, ISIS®, Interplay®, and Sibelius®. For more information about Avid solutions and services, visit www.avid.com, connect with Avid on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google ; or subscribe to Avid Blogs.
© 2014 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Avid, the Avid logo, Avid Everywhere, Interplay, ISIS, Media Composer, Pro Tools, and Sibelius are trademarks or registered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. The Interplay name is used with the permission of the Interplay Entertainment Corp. which bears no responsibility for Avid products. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.


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Monday's Leftovers: Lamb Pot Pie
Monday's Leftovers: Lamb Pot Pie
When I was putting together my English pie the other week, it seemed pretty clear that I should use the technique on other meats/stews. So when I found the recipe for yesterday's Sunday dinner, I immediately ended up thinking of turning the leftovers in to a lovely pot pie.
I didn't actually have time to make yesterday's delicious looking lamb shank, but if you did, i have a simple suggestion to turn yesterday's dish into today's treat. All you need to do is turn on the oven, place the lamb mixture into a pie plate (or smaller ramekins, depending on how much you have leftover) and cover with puff pastry. Bake and voila! Easy lamb pot pie! Just be sure to remove all the bones from the mixture before you create your pie. To learn more about the puff pastry technique, see my step by step instructions for a steak & ale pie.