text:
This is a serial mystery thriller. Look for a new installment every Wednesday! Enjoy.
Part I is here
Part III is here
Part I is here
Part III is here
Part II
Chapters 5-8
This is the second installment in the Retro Diary Serial. Enjoy and be Horrified.
Chapter 5
Barbara Bain's Rough night
She was happy. She was slightly dizzy from a warm cocoon of liquor, good food, great friends and beautiful surroundings. It all made her feel like she belonged in this pretty, clean world. For a girl who was once so poor that she made her own toys to a 6,000 square foot home, two beautiful children and a husband who was a university big shot, she had reached the big time. She worked and slept her way through college and graduate school, graduated with a mountain of debt from financial aid and was about to go into the diplomatic corps when she met the love of her life.
He swept her off her feet and had her pregnant before she could mail her applications. The happy, debt free couple eloped and then confirmed their marriage with a big show that his insanely wealthy family could appreciate. Her family consisted of a brother in the Army and stationed in Italy. Her sister-in-law was more like a best friend. A third brother practiced medicine with Doctors Without Borders. He was married to a gorgeous Italian princess. She was a struggling clothing designer.
The three siblings had escaped poverty and entered into the good life, away from broken down rooms that could never be cleaned and away from the incessant fears that could swallow a poor person whole. Barbara's parents were comfortable in a new house trailer that they vowed never to leave for the rest of their lives.
Her only vice was men. Her husband traveled so frequently that she started to feel like a single mother. When she found out that her husband was having affairs on two continents, she decided to do the same. She sought a man's touch, but only found quick and sometimes satisfying sex in Los Angeles where no one knew her.
"I don't pick up men like I pick up toilet paper at the grocery store, that's for sure. You won't see me doing it with the handyman or the landscaper. I want a man of quality who makes me feel special. I want to make a man feel special. Oh, who am I kidding? There's no better snob than a snob who started with nothing. I just don't want to think about it any more."
She shut the negative thoughts from her mind and paid attention to her friends. They were still snickering over a dirty joke that one of them told a good five minutes earlier. One by one, a member of the group would add an embellishment or a new interpretation. Cherisse had obtained some killer pot, meaning that judgment was low and spirits were high.
"You're awfully quiet," Brittany said, poking her left boob. "Are you missing the hubby?"
"No, and why are you poking my boob? Why did you do that?" After the laughter died down, she said, "I was just thinking about getting myself a dream hubby who would cancel his flight out of here and sweep me off to Hawaii for a romantic weekend!"
"Why don't you go with him next time?"
"Oh, I tried that. It's lonely being in a strange country with no context. He's got his mistress and his work." She stopped and thought for a second, "Hey! If you all came, we would really have a blast. Why don't we go? We get along just fine!"
That brought a new round of laughter. "That's not a bad idea!" Tiffany yelled. "We leave the kids with the hubbys and go to Europe!"
"I want an Amex and three nights in Paris!"
"I want a theater night in London!"
"I want a gigolo! A big, honking GIGOLO!"
That comment caused a wave of laughter to roll through the entire bar. A man yelled from across the room,
"I'm a gigolo! Take me!" He was adorable. His wife yelled,
"Yes! Take him! With the money you pay him, I can come to Europe and party with you!"
The bartender wiped his tears and jokingly told everyone to settle down. He was watching a newcomer he had seen a few times before. The man looked familiar but he was not a regular. This meant he stopped in when he was traveling some kind of regular route. This time, the man was eying the regulars and the bartender did not like the look in his eyes.
"Those women come here on Friday nights to have some fun. They don't need that kind of stranger hitting on them, especially when that fellow likes the kind of relationship that goes on for days down in a basement." He completed an order and continued his thoughts, "I may be new in town, but I've been bartending for long enough to know when someone is not right and this guy is sending off all kinds of signals."
While the bartender was busy thinking, Deputy Brandson stalked into the bar and took a barstool. He was in civilian clothes and was obvious about seating himself where he and the bartender could talk. He looked like he was ready to buy absolutely nothing.
"Hey, Jason. See anything hinky in here tonight? I'm making the rounds tonight." The Deputy kept his voice low and regular.
"Yeah, it's a 'don't look now' kind of thing, but he's at ten o'clock over your left shoulder. I got nothing to back myself up, but there's something wrong with that guy. You need to keep an eye on that guy."
"Good job. Hey! I got a budget tonight! No alcohol, but I'll have an Irish coffee without the Irish. You even get a tip!"
"Hey, man, you're moving up in the world."
"Ha! How are our girls doing tonight?"
"They're high. They're having fun. They might not want to go through the drunk check at Waterston so I'm going to make sure they're on the Buddy Program tonight. I'm not letting any of those girls out of here without an escort. I just have a bad feeling and I can't shake it."
"I know how you feel man. After that crazy theater group killing, we're all on edge.
"Whoa! Here he comes. He's got the moves tonight."
"Wait. I've seen that guy before. He looks like Honey Barton's cousin, but Honey's cousin... hmm... anyway, I'll take care of it. Fire up the Karaoke, my friend and watch my drink."
Deputy Brandson left his seat and called Kevin. "He's here at the Blue Lagoon! I don't know for sure, but he sure looks like one of the Barton clan. Get over here, please." He pretended that everything was normal when he walked over to the tiny stage, picked up the mike and yelled, "Hey! Are we ready for some groovy tunes, some rock and roll, some smooth grooves?"
The entire bar erupted in groans. "Not you again!" they yelled in unison.
"Heck yeah, it's me again! I got the moooves tooonight!"
Deputy Branson made a near fatal mistake that night. He did not keep his attention focused on the irregular bar regular.
Chapter 6
An Unforgettable Evening at the Blue Lagoon
"Kevin!" Franklin yelled. "That was Deputy Branson! He's at the Blue Lagoon Bar and Restaurant. Call the Sheriff and tell him to send everything he has and to keep them half a block away, no sirens!" Kevin looked at a drunk he had been holding up and dropped him gently to the ground before he ran for their police car. Franklin tossed a half written citation through a car window before he sprinted across the street to jump into the already moving vehicle. He called the sheriff while he helped Kevin navigate the crazy route to the southwest area of town and the Blue Lagoon. Sloughs, creeks and train tracks crisscrossed and curved through Taylor City to create confusion.
Fifteen minutes later, they waved their badges, drove through a checkpoint and pulled over a half block away from the bar. The sheriff pulled in right behind them and the three of them walked the rest of the way together. Kevin and Franklin deferred to the sheriff who was working up a strategy for the strange situation. All three knew that something was completely wrong, but they had no idea what was wrong. Deputy Branson was unresponsive. No one answered when the Sheriff called the Blue Lagoon. They could hear music playing, but there was no buzz of conversation or people lingering in the parking lot.
"There's no conversation, no yelling. I hear nothing but the sound system. I don't feel good about this. Keep everyone outside of this perimeter," Kevin indicated the entire parking lot. He, or they, had to have left something in this parking lot and we need this place unmolested! Do you have a gas mask?"
"A gas mask! This stinks of a hazmat situation!"
The Sheriff called for gas masks and was soon holding three bulky packages. He gave masks to Kevin and Franklin, then donned his and ordered his key personnel to put the others on.
Kevin had his mask on in seconds. He slithered up to the entrance, flung the door open and slipped to the side. He peered in the doorway and stood completely still before he relaxed and waved the others forward.
More people barged in and froze when they saw what was inside. Kevin stepped inside, ignoring the screaming radios and bleating phones. The scene was like something out of an apocalypse movie.
Every person who was once so lively was now an inert body. Bodies were draped over tables, curled up on the floor, flattened out behind the bar and curled up in a pile on the tiny bandstand. No one moved or made a sound. Kevin went to the first body he could get to, donned a pair of latex gloves and checked for a pulse.
"This one is alive!" he yelled. "Check everyone in this building. I think he used some kind of sleeping gas. He took a woman! I am positive that he took a woman."
Franklin, the Sheriff and several others flooded into the bar, checking and straightening out every body they could find. "Lay them out on the floor so they won't stop breathing or choke on their vomit," The Sheriff yelled. He was the first to react with the hazmat orders. "Check for head injuries and bleeding. They probably fell right where they were standing or sitting. Check all the restrooms and every other room in here!"
Kevin and Franklin sprinted from the bar and bashed through the building. They found several people, all unconscious, in a back room. It became obvious that an illegal card game had been going on when Franklin whistled softly at the pile of money and chips strewn over the table and the floor.
"This must be at least half a million dollars! Look at that Rolex. And that's a Savile Row suit. These are whales!" He was referring to big-ticket gamblers who travel the world, thinking nothing of winning or losing a million or two in one night.
Three waitresses and two cooks were on the floor in the kitchen. Fortunately, no one was working at the still lit stoves or fell into a massive deep fryer. Franklin turned off the stoves and fryers while Kevin left to find the Blue Lagoon manager. Kevin found the man in his office, slumped over his partially naked head waitress.
"You go, dude!" Kevin muttered.
The searchers located four more assorted individuals in other parts of the building. Kevin did not stop with the building. He went outside and carefully examined every square foot of the parking lot.
"Now what are you up to?" A police department detective barked.
"He's examining the evidence before the ambulance crews arrive. Get over there and walk the rest of the property or leave my scene," the Sheriff barked back. Kevin grunted and took several pictures with his smart phone. Then he went inside.
"How many women and purses are in this bar?" He asked. When no one responded, he yelled,
"Will someone count the women and the purses in this bar?"
"Why?" A deputy asked.
"Just count the females and answer his question! You don't waste anyone's time here, Deputy!" The Sheriff would not tolerate bad behavior from rookies like Jarrod Clark. Jarrod was another local who enlisted in the military for two years, saw no combat and came back acting like he knew more than anyone else.
A few minutes later, the kid said "Twenty three females, sir."
"Good, now count the purses, please." Kevin said. He was taking more pictures with his smart phone.
"Women keep their purses close, so see that every female should match up with one. Don't move anything, just count and do it quickly please. Once the ambulances arrive, getting them to hospital will be the first priority."
"Yeah!" Someone added. "Once the evidence apocalypse team gets here, we're gonna lose everything."
Franklin had other things to worry about and could not care less about evidence. He wanted to know why Percival Windsor gassed everyone in the building, but left the poker cash behind. "You know, Kevin. It doesn't make sense that Percival would leave that poker money behind. What's your thought?"
"I imagine he saturated the place with that gas. He did not want to take anything with him that would carry the residue from his own gas?" This was Jarrod.
"That is a very good answer, but he could have just bagged it all. I got it." Franklin said. "He made a bigger deal tonight. Half a million was nothing to him. He just wanted a woman. Now we just have to find out where he made that deal and where he took the woman."
"I have twenty four purses and twenty three women, sir!" Deputy Clark yelled a few minutes later.
"This is the extra purse." Kevin yelled, grabbing an expensive leather clutch from a far corner of the stage area. He videotaped that part of the floor and carried the clutch to the bar. He opened it and carefully removed the contents. He opened a wallet and read the name of the owner,
"Barbara Francis Bain. She is Barbara Bain, age, uhm... thirty-three. She is with him."
"You mean she works with..." The Sheriff started to say,
"No, he took her! She is unconscious, like the rest of these people. He had plenty of time to get her into the car..."
"Surveillance cameras!" Franklin yelled from a back room. "I got the video. He's driving a black Mercedes SUV with upgraded rims, license..." Franklin stepped out into the bar. He started to write the statement for an all points bulletin, but stopped and said,
"Let's hold off on an APB. The suspect may have a scanner. We do not want the public getting involved. Let's just keep this with law enforcement for a few minutes. Put this out instead. If you this car, you are to back off and use their cell phones to call for backup. If they use their radios, lights or sirens, the suspect will probably kill them before they can even remember whether they paid their last life insurance premium. This is a sophisticated, almost whimsical killer."
"We're not completely incompetent here," a senior Taylor City detective barged in with the Chief of Police. The Chief looked like he was ready to take automatic offense at any of Franklin's orders.
"We've dealt with some serious players along the I-5 corridor, I'll have you know!"
"It's not that you are incompetent, it's that the suspect is a genius at evasion and killing, detective. He's like nothing any local agency has dealt with and that is why we are here."
"Still, we know what we are doing and we... "the detective started to say.
"You know, I would say that Deputy Branson is pretty sharp, detective, wouldn't you?" Franklin interrupted. He was standing by the stage.
"Why yes, in fact, he'd make a damned good detective."
"He's one of the best I have worked with," The Sheriff made his way over to the stage, wondering what Franklin was up to, but ready to back him up. The detective was a known racist.
"Yeah, he is that," the detective barged after the Sheriff.
The Sheriff suddenly saw what Franklin was getting at. He went red faced and yelled, causing everyone in the room to jump.
"So do you want to tell me why my best Deputy is over here, lying on this stage, sleeping like a baby?"
Chapter 7
Percival Entertains His Victims at the Lumberyard
Percival Windsor was a proper British gentleman. He was only three years old when his father, a veteran of the first Gulf War, wanted to test Percival's ability to hold his breath under water. His father tied a rope around his feet and slowly lowered the tiny boy over the side of the family yacht. He kept lowering Percival into the waters off the coast of Monte Carlo until the boy could no longer breathe.
Percival's mother had to hit his father with a marine fire extinguisher before she could convince him to end the exercise. The yacht captain barely managed to grab the rope in time to bring her unconscious son aboard.
After that incident, Percival and his mother moved from village to town to city. His father pursued them relentlessly and with determination until he caught up with them at her father's estate in Cardiff. Percival's father became so loud and violent that Percival's grandfather used a shotgun to finish the job that his mother had started.
Percival's mother recovered from her injuries and buried his father with full military honors. She was a new woman now that she and her son would never have to run from that monster again.
After inheriting his father's substantial estate, Percival attended the best public schools and attended Oxford University. He fell in with an elite crowd and developed a reputation for high living. He avoided drugs and kept his drinking within limits, but he was a confirmed hedonist.
He had a brilliant understanding of art history and went into the art appraisal business. He entered the job market as an eager flunky at Sotheby's, where he patiently suffered the merciless scrutiny of his superiors. After a few years, he worked his way up to a senior appraiser position. When the firm offered him the assignment of his choice, he chose to work in the New York offices.
New York made it easy for Percival to continue with the lifestyle he enjoyed at college and in London. He partied hard on weekends and added to his existing stable of beautiful, sophisticated women from around the world. The major modeling agencies sent young beauties to him because he had a reputation for smoothing their rough edges and sharpening their not so dull young minds. The lucky girl who spent a few months with Percival gained a worldliness and refinement that made her even more valuable to designers, agents and wealthy men.
Older women loved Percival for his social graces. They made sure that he was seen and heard at the best parties. They guaranteed him a place at every major event during the Palm Beach and Hampton social seasons. He vacationed in Palm Beach during the winters and stayed at the best ski resorts in Europe. The Paris social scene fit him like a glove.
He dutifully visited his mother and grandfather four times a year until their private jet exploded and crashed into the sea near Dubai. He quickly inherited his parents and grandparents money, but continued to work in art appraisal. He kept to his lifestyle, eventually becoming an older, more relaxed version of his Oxford self.
Then he learned how to deal in forgeries. He became addicted to the gratification that came from forgery, stealing and running confidence games on gullible billionaires. He had finally found a drug that he could not resist.
While the streets around the Blue Lagoon in Taylor City erupted into a frenzy of ambulances and police activity, a man believed to be Percival Windsor drove a black Mercedes SUV down a two lane back road.
"I am GOD tonight!" the man howled, flipping his head back and forth, flinging beads of sweat all over the cockpit. "Ain't no one gonna forget me tonight, Whooo!"
The man sped past the farm where he had just stolen millions of dollars, killed a man and set up a freeway disaster that killed several more people on I-5. He continued eastward along the base of the Sierra foothills until he pulled into a lumberyard. The lumberyard was just one of several properties that Percival Windsor had purchased over the years. He buried the property ownership under so many corporations that no one but his most trusted attorney could connect the lumberyard to him.
The man believed to be Percival Windsor pulled up to the lumberyard's front gate and used a gate opener. Slowly, he drove onto the property. Two large dogs bounded out of the dark to snarl and bark at his SUV. He shot both dogs before slowly proceeding toward a large pile of creosote soaked railroad ties.
"My brain's on fire! Fire! I'm gonna have me a time tonight. First, I'm gonna let Honey know who's boss, then I'm gonna take out these two. I feel like I could do this all night. Maybe I'll head on over to the school and get me some more fruit for my tree... ha ha!"
He wiped spittle from his mouth, took a huge swallow of Jack Daniels and parked at a distance from the creosote woodpile. He got out of the SUV and stepped over to a shed. He removed a hand truck and went to the back of the vehicle where he opened the large rear hatch. With an impish grin, he leaned into the compartment and yelled,
"Well, trusted attorney, are you coming out of it yet? I got hired to do some work on yew!" He used a loud, grating voice to annoy his captives into semi consciousness. He wanted them to feel something when he went to work on them.
"It's a fine evening in rural Taylor County. This here's the quietest place on Earth! Yee Hah." His rebel yell echoed through the isolated lumberyard but went no farther.
Percival talked aloud, telling stories and explaining his actions for the next two hours. He had a grandiose opinion of himself that would be annoying had his captives been awake.
"I made a big mistake in San Francisco. Shoulda burned that girl before I threw her into the bay. I don't know how that Black cop got his nose in my business. I got a lotta money. I can lay low in Oklahoma City for a while. Them Russians will be looking for me but they won't find me there!"
He wheeled his groggy victims from the SUV and onto the creosote soaked railroad ties. That wood was kept well separated from the other wood stock to prevent a pitch fire from spreading. After he tied his victims to the woodpile, he continued to talk about his life and his situation,
"I should never have given in to Honey's charms. She needs to be next tonight. Nah. I better leave her alone 'cause she made me rich."
He felt a stirring in his groin as he carried the woman to a pile of railroad ties and laid her down. He was never good at controlling his urges when he stripped a victim's clothes off. He used a heavy nautical rope to tie her.
"Yeah, girl, now I got yew in a way I can get to any part of yew I wanna use."
Barbara Bain groaned softly, indicating that he needed to start on the lawyer.
"Yew'll be good and ready for me at midnight, girl! That man gave me gas from a lab in Atherton. He said it would keep yew semi conscious like this."
Percival continued to mutter and ramble until he was finished securing his victims to the woodpile.
"I can't hardly contain myself," he whispered. "I got to have you now," He groaned, tore at his pants to release himself, and mounted her. He squirmed and rutted on her like an animal until he exploded. He repeated his acts until he was satisfied.
"Oh yeah, this was much better than sex with that dead girl. You moved real good. I'm gonna remember that gas."
He hauled himself off the woman, pulled up his pants and went to work on his attorney with a set of surgical knives. He stripped much more than clothes from the man's writhing body. He skinned him because Honey told him to. That was not true. The man believed to be Percival Windsor believed things that were a product of his fractured mind.
When he was finished with the still groaning, horribly mutilated lawyer, Percival went to his SUV, climbed into the back and slept for three hours. When he awoke, he felt rested and ready to do more. He hogged down a stale sandwich and coffee as he went to the lumberyard's storage building and returned with a shovel and a can of gasoline. He set everything down, went to the woman and forced her to satisfy him a few more times. Then he said,
"Time to finish my masterpiece!"
When he was through, he cleaned himself up, changed into fresh clothes and repaired his disguise. He got into the SUV and headed toward the university.
"There is at least one drunk or drugged child out there for me tonight. It will be one more for the woodpile!" He laughed heartily at the idea.
The man believed to be Percival Windsor did not hear the words that came out of the lawyer he just skinned. With what was left of his mouth, the lawyer clearly said,
"You're not Percival Windsor! Who are you?"
Chapter 8
Franklin and Kevin's lumberyard adventure
Kevin was on either the phone or his computer from ten o'clock to midnight. Franklin asked questions and listened to people, learning as much as he could about Taylor County. He was the more sociable agent while Kevin preferred to retreat to a closet sized room at the Sheriff's department. He used the resources of his security firm, Ap-Sec, where he had a growing team of investigators and information technology specialists.
Franklin chatted up anyone who knew the county while Kevin gathered information that much larger security firms or government agencies could access. At midnight, Franklin found something interesting. He surveyed odd property purchases in Taylor County and struck gold just as Kevin took a phone call that got him excited
"He owns properties in Taylor County? No wonder he came here. What is that? A timber yard? What?" Franklin walked in and signaled for Kevin to hang up.
"The lumber yard sounds like the place, Kevin! The Sheriff and that asshole detective were talking about an old lumberyard that went bankrupt. They hate the place because it is an abandoned firetrap. The yard holds a large stock of creosote soaked wood used in railroad construction. Someone bought the yard at auction and beat the county's bid by fifty thousand dollars. The problem is, the county can't find the owner because the property is buried under several corporations. I did some checking and found out that..."
"Percival Windsor owns it!"
"Bingo! Damn we're good! High five, brother!" Franklin put his hand out and met with air. Kevin had missed by a mile.
"Damnit, Kevin, you must learn how to do a proper high five. It is not right for a Black man living in America to miss a high five."
"I practice, Franklin, I do. I fail in the execution. Where is this timb... uhm... lumber yard?"
"It's about five miles east of the Sheriff's property and a couple of miles due south of the university."
"We must get out there now, Franklin. If he is at the university, he has access to anyone who is outside. He is hunting. He is a good looking man... oh here's his photo, by the way!"
They rounded up the Sheriff, his top deputies and the county SWAT team for a planning session. With little to go on but local knowledge and some luck, the team packed their equipment, vehicles and weapons and led a caravan to the lumberyard. The Sheriff knew that the roof of the main building would allow the SWAT team to look down on the entire property, but Kevin and Franklin insisted on getting Barbara Bain out of danger first. They did not know that Percival's now mutilated lawyer was also on the property.
It was 1 o'clock when Kevin, Franklin and five SWAT team members slithered through a back fence and into the lumberyard and hid in some shrubs for a few minutes and waited for guard dogs. When no dogs appeared, they slithered around the perimeter of the lumberyard until they found the dead security dogs near the front gate. The front gate was open.
Three SWAT team snipers headed for the main office building. Two team members carried a medical kit and went with Franklin to rescue the victim. Kevin headed for an equipment storage shed to look for a vehicle. As he approached the shed, he heard an engine.
"That can not be Percival." He muttered. The Sheriff radioed the SWAT team commander and asked what was happening.
"It's the Chief, sir!" The commander radioed back.
"What the hell's he doing here?"
"He appears to be heading toward Agent Ap-Reece! He's driving...!"
Kevin yelled, "Someone get a weapon on him now and flash his windshield. Take out his tires! Something's wrong with him."
It took a special round to "flash" or cause the windshield glass to go opaque. Kevin had given several flash rounds to the SWAT team leader. Two loud pops indicated that the team had blown the police chief's tires.
Kevin went back to work, slithering around the entire perimeter of the creosote woodpile. He saw Barbara Baird and something that looked like a giant red dummy.
"Oh my God, Percival has skinned someone alive!" He yelled into his radio. "Get over here! I must find out how Percival planned to ignite this pile. The man will get more satisfaction from a more primitive mechanism and I am sure of it."
"What's he doing, sir?" A SWAT team member asked the Sheriff. The Sheriff was sprinting toward the creosote woodpile.
"He wants to locate a trench or wires before Percival can return and light up that pile over there. The woman is tied to that pile."
Kevin scurried faster until he found a small, deep trench and a forklift about twenty feet to the south of the woodpile. He radioed his findings and was looking around for something to dig with when a giant sledgehammer pounded into him and knocked him to the ground.
"Oh that is a big bullet...," he muttered. Before he lost consciousness, Kevin managed to turn his eyes to the left. A scrap of paper lay on the ground. It boasted about "The Finest Timber and Creosote Pine".
To be continued....
Part III is here!
To be continued....
Part III is here!
A New Installment every wednesday! Part III is next!


text:
If you raced in the Nordic Fest Season Opener and are a member of a Michigan Cup team, you are now in first place in the individual standings. The VASA Ski Club leads the team standings.
The Nordic Fest Season Opener awarded each participant with 1 point toward the Michigan Cup individual standings. Since this is the first race of the season, and no other points have been awarded, simply completing the race gives the lead in the Michigan Cup Series. Congratulations! You have bragging rights!
Teams also received a point for each skier. The home town VASA Ski Club raced 26 skiers, topping the team standings with 26 points. Grand Rapids Nordic is in second place with 7 points, followed by the Cross Country Ski Headquarters with 5 points.
Team Standings after Nordic Fest Season Opener
|VASA Ski Club
|Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team
|Cross Country Ski Headquarters
|Hanson Hills/Cross Country Ski Shop (tied)
|Team NordicSkiRacer (tied)
|Straits Striders

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Best Workplace 2018
delivery manager
Control Engineer-PLC Programmer
Location: Poznań
The challenges waiting for you:
- Preparation of technical specifications
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- Documentation
Required skills:
- Minimum 1 year of work experience related to control systems and/or industrial robots
- Good knowledge of Siemens and/or Allen Bradley (RA) PLC's
- Ability to read and create technical documentation and project documentation including requirement definitions, functional design specifications and test documentation
- Ability to produce good quality application software programs for PLC and industrial robots
- University degree (preferably in Automatics and Robotics)
- Very good knowledge of English
- Open to work abroad
- Teamwork
- Very good interpersonal and communication skills
Your benefits:
- Great atmosphere- the award of Best Places to Work in IT in Poland and Great Place to Work!
- A wide variety of trainings: technical trainings, soft skills courses, English/German classes, Knowledge Sharing Groups
- Private health care, Multisport package, life insurance- from the beginning of employment!
- Beer Thursdays, monthly breakfast, family events, team building weekends, interests groups
- Work in a comfortable office in the city center, projects rooms instead of open space, the opportunity to relax in fun room with table football and PlayStation 4
- Flexible development paths, a variety of projects (possibility of change)


text:
One Week To Go and Still a Crap Shoot
Just a week until Election Day and no honest person can tell you who's going to win the presidency. I've put modest amounts of dough on George W. Bush to squeak past John Kerry by a 1.5 percent margin in the popular vote, while taking the Electoral College with a tally short of 300. That's a far cry from 2000, when I was certain the Texan would defeat Al Gore comfortably. There's too much conflicting information buzzing on the internet about last-minute dirty tricks, upcoming stories that'll embarrass either candidate and an absurd number of national state polls that are at odds with one another.
On Oct. 24, for example, if you logged on to Real Clear Politics, two shocks assaulted the eyes: a poll (500 likely voters) finding a 48-48 tie in Arkansas, a state Kerry had written off, and a similarly weird snapshot in Hawaii (as Democratic a state as Rhode Island, despite encroaching GOP gains in recent years) that has Bush ahead by a point, according to that state's Star-Bulletin. It all makes you dizzy, and with any luck the final result will be conclusive sometime in the early morning hours of Nov. 3. Otherwise, it's a month or more of litigation and a bonanza for lawyers, a group of professionals held in about equal esteem as politicians and journalists.
Not that the previous week wasn't without its moments of high-octane hilarity. By all indications actor Matt Damon seems to be a fairly intelligent fellow, a celebrity who makes smart career decisions (unlike his buddy Ben Affleck) and can now open a movie to huge box-office receipts. I thought Matt Stone and Trey Parker's depiction of him as IQ-challenged in Team America was a riot and, unlike Sean Penn, Mr. Bourne Supremacy hasn't made a stink about it. But when it comes to politics, Damon does appear a little slow. Who cares one way or the other if he's an ardent Kerry partisan—in Hollywood, endorsing Bush puts you on the fast track to a blacklist—but his recent statement in Berlin last week was downright nutty.
Damon said, "I would pay $1 million to have Kerry in the White House." Yeah? Considering that the native Bostonian commands Curt Schilling-like millions for a single film, isn't that kind of on the skinflint side? One lousy million! I'd still disagree with his choice for president, but would have a lot more respect for the relatively young man if he'd pledged his next monstrous paycheck to a Kerry-friendly charity. I'm sure the Sierra Club, NOW or the ACLU would be grateful for the donation.
At least Damon can take comfort that another entertainer, Eminem, appears even more stupid, according to a recent Rolling Stone story. The white rapper told the biweekly that although Kerry hasn't closed the deal on his vote, "Bush is definitely not my homie."
On about the same intellectual plane is Harper's editor Lewis Lapham, who moaned in his November "Notebook" column that he, an affluent member of the Manhattan media elite, is a disenfranchised voter. Just like felons in Florida! Maybe Eminem can have dinner with Lord Lapham at Nobu, two "homies" just passing the time over $300 worth of sushi and sake while discussing Sudan, the inherent evil of Wal-Mart and those neat "No More Blood for Oil" posters that are for sale in certain parts of the country.
Lapham is disconcerted because, as a New Yorker, his vote won't mean anything since the state is a gimme for Kerry, and then presents a repetitious condemnation of the Electoral College. The editor goes on and on—as if this is a new argument advanced by his ilk—about how most of the U.S. is shut out during presidential elections with the "swing states" getting all the advertisements and appearances by the candidates and their surrogates. Most people, I think, are pleased they're spared the deluge of baloney, but not Lapham.
He writes: "The majority of the country's African Americans live in the southern states, their presence unremarked upon and their concerns unaddressed by either presidential candidate, because the southern states routinely deliver their electoral votes to the Republicans. Similarly, in the New England states, the electoral vote routinely goes to the Democrats, with the result that both presidential candidates ignore the presence of conservative, socialist, libertarian, or independently minded voters in Rhode Island and Connecticut."
What Lapham doesn't grasp is that "swing states" vary from election to election—perhaps not every four years, but certainly in a 12-year cycle—and that it depends not only on the candidate but the era that puts a state in play. Surely he hasn't forgotten Bill Clinton's strength in the South in '92 and '96, or the not-so-ancient time when New Jersey, Illinois and even California fell into the GOP column.
Apparently not. He'd rather be down with the masses and declare himself "disenfranchised." And this guy still has a job. Just like Manny Ramirez could use a "designated fielder," I think Harper's might try out a "designated editor."
There's a wealth of choices for the position. Perhaps the UK Guardian's Charlie Brooker, who may have done the impossible on Oct. 23, writing a column that's so paranoid and devoid of reason that he makes the entire BBC seem like a non-partisan organization.
Brooker writes (and the Guardian subsequently apologized): "[At least Kerry's] not a lying, sniggering, drink-driving, selfish, reckless, ignorant, dangerous, backwards, drooling, twitching, blinking, mouse-faced little cheat… On November 2, the entire civilised world will be praying, praying Bush loses. [Brooker, like too many Europeans, doesn't consider Israel "civilized."] And Sod's law dictates he'll probably win, thereby disproving the existence of God once and for all. The world will endure four more years of idiocy, arrogance and unwarranted bloodshed, with no benevolent deity to watch over and save us. John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley Jr.—where are you now that we need you?"
Harper's could go the Rosie O'Donnell route, which would probably meet with Andrew Sullivan's (this year's David Brock) approval. Last Saturday night in Fort Lauderdale, O'Donnell headlined a sparsely attended Kerry rally and was sublimely on-message. After a rousing defense of the stout United Nations, Rosie turned on the accelerator, saying: "We were built on the foundation of freedom and truth and equality for all people. [I may have skipped history class one day, but Benjamin Franklin's treatise endorsing gay marriage and his stinging rebuke of slavery eludes me.] And the rich, corporate, horrible, horrible people who have been destructing and ruining everything this country was made on has been really unbelievably damaging to all of us spiritually, emotionally, monetarily."
Maybe Rosie didn't sock away the millions she made from the corporate entities that funded her television show and magazine once upon a time, and it could be that unlike Damon she doesn't have a million bucks to wish upon a star that Kerry occupies the White House, but couldn't she do the public a favor and just disappear?
Or least take over Lapham's job at Harper's, which amounts to the same thing.
As I said above, the election results are anyone's guess. But Democratic journalists are already preparing for the worst. Let's start with Paul Krugman, who began his Oct. 22 Times column with the following message, undoubtedly approved by Kerry. "If the election were held today and the votes were counted fairly, Senator John Kerry would probably win. But the votes won't be counted fairly, and the disenfranchisement of minority voters may determine the outcome."
Nostradamus is alive and well.
Robert Kuttner, a Boston Globe contributor and president of the paleolib American Prospect, trumps even the noxious Krugman. His Oct. 20 Globe column, which doesn't address the simple fact that voter fraud is a bipartisan vocation, worries, soulfully, that the country is heading toward catastrophe. He writes: "The Republicans are out to steal the 2004 election—before, during, and after Election Day. Before Election Day, they are employing such dirty tricks as improper purges of voter rolls, use of dummy registration groups that tear up Democratic registrations, and the suppression of Democratic efforts to sign up voters, especially blacks and students."
Kuttner acknowledges that a handful of rich Democrats who, like the Kerrys, own multiple homes in different states, might vote twice or three times, but preposterously claims that the days of his side's election shenanigans belong to the ages. Recounting the 1960 election, in which the campaigns of John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon were a bit slimy, Kuttner proclaims: "It was Richard Nixon, that scoundrel's scoundrel, who resisted the temptation to mount a court challenge to the Illinois result because he felt the country couldn't take it. Imagine longing for the days when we had Republican leadership as principled as Nixon's."
According to the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz (Oct. 25), who wrote about Kerry's journalist buddies girding for the worst next week, some fear the apocalypse is right around the corner. Columbia professor Todd Gitlin, a frequent Times essayist, said: "I would not be surprised to see outbursts of political violence the likes of which we haven't seen since the Weather Underground of the 1970s."
Get a grip, man. Does Gitlin really believe, in private, that without the military draft, which mobilized the youth-led protests of the 60s, that another four years of Bush will result in "political violence"? Maybe he hopes so—a delightful acid flashback—but 21st-century kids, at least those not indoctrinated by Boomer academics like Gitlin, have more to worry about than the media-created hobgoblin named George W. Bush.
The Israeli left (and far right) both hate Bush because they feel that the administration has interfered with Israel's political process by shoring up Sharon. A degree of interference akin to imperialism.
To think that there is one candidate better or worse for Israel (or more or less supportive) is, I think, untrue.
Mugger is smart. W is dumb.
Mugger has never (I presume) killed 15,000+ innocent people and called it an act of liberation.
Mugger is not (I presume) likely to benefit in any significant way from the W tax cuts for the wealthy or the correlative corporate loopholes that reward businesses for moving jobs abroad.
Mugger (I presume) was disturbed to learn that W failed to secure tons, yes, TONS, of explosive materials in Iraq, thus clearly making the entire region less, not more safe.
Mugger (I presume) would like his children and his children's children to live in a world with green grass and trees.
Mugger (I presume) thinks it is wrong for W to charge reckless taxcuts to Mugger's children's credit cards while simultaneously abolishing social security.
I just don't get it. It cannot be (can it be?) that Mugger believes that because W swaggers and talks like a redneck illiterate hick from a blue collar family, that he really is just an average hard-working guy trying to run a country as best he can?
Mugger must know that W bankrupted every company he ever ran and is well on his way to bankrupting this country. Don't you see that, Mugger?
In conclusion, Mugger, you don't really believe (do you?) that W's policy directives are actually handed down to him by God? (Is God just a wealthy man?)
1) You may have heard of the "felony murder rule", according to which all people killed during the commission of a crime are considered murder victims of the person committing the crime. The reasoning behind the felony murder rule is that, had the crime had not occurred, then the victims would not be dead, and so the criminal is directly responsible for their deaths.
George W. Bush invaded Iraq illegally. He violated international law by waging an offensive war, which is forbidden by the Charter of the United Nations(1945), a document largely composed by the U.S. itself, I might add. Since only the UN Security Council can sanction an act of war, unless it is a direct response to a direct attack (which would constitute an act of self-defense), and George W. Bush brushed aside the UN as "irrelevant", his war in Iraq is just as illegal as was Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Saddam Hussein also claimed at the time that his invasion was an act of "self-defense", but that did not make it any less a crime, according to international law. Just because a leader claims that he is acting in self-defense, does not mean that he is. (Another good example is Hitler.)
People who break laws are referred to in English as "criminals". Therefore, since George W. Bush violated international law, he is a criminal, and every person killed during his criminal war is a murder victim.
15,000+ innocent people have been killed in Iraq. George W. Bush is directly responsible for all of those people's deaths, since had he never invaded Iraq, they would not be dead.
2) I am cheered by your use of verb tense in describing Kerry's prospective actions (as commander-in-chief). Like Susan Smith (who spoke of her "missing" children in the past tense), your use of language reveals that you believe that Bush will indeed be defeated next week. Let us all hope, in solidarity with the world community, that about this, at least, you are right.
"In a medical study being published today, scientists have concluded that the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq has resulted in the deaths of at least 100,000 Iraqis, 'and may be much higher'. It further revealed that most of the 100,000 Iraqis who died were killed in violent deaths, primarily carried out by U.S. forces' airstrikes. 'Most individuals reportedly killed by coalition forces were women and children,' according to the study. The study was designed and conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University and the Al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad (The Lancet, October 29, 2004)."
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Tannin and the Purge
Jerry Hillborn
A somewhat reliable sea pilot hired by Group 2.
Level 4 Pilot
Seasoned Pilot
When used as a pilot, the hireling grants the vehicle a +1 bonus to the vehicle's speed
Melee Attack (weapon) At-Will
Attack: Melee 1 (one creature); level + 5 vs. AC
Hit: One-half level + 3 damage.
Ranged Attack (weapon) At-Will
Attack: Ranged 10 (one creature); level + 5 vs. AC
Hit: One-half level +3 damage
Jerry says he has experienced sailing many different seas, and gone on routes to and from the Northern continent of Boreas. His recent show of skills have caused some concern amongst his current employers, group 2.


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The Valley Grill provides a relaxed, family friendly atmosphere and excellent value for money meals. Led by Executive Chef Anurag Gautam, the recipient of many national and international awards, the Valley Grill dining experience is based on quality, consistency and outstanding value for money.
OPENING HOURS: Sun to Thurs 9am—2am | Fri to Sat 9am—4am | Closed Good Friday
Copyright 2018 Canberra Southern Cross Club. All Rights Reserved.


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Origins of Darwin's Evolution: Solving the Species Puzzle Through Time and Place by J. David Archibald does something that not enough studies of Darwin's work do: Get off the island. Continue reading Origins of Darwin's Evolution: Solving the Species Puzzle Through Time and Place
Tag Archives: Darwin
Happy Darwin Day
Charles Darwin was born on Febrary 12th, 1809, and lived until 1882. He was a geologist who significantly advanced our understanding of how coral reefs form. He contributed to the study of archaeology through his study of soil formation processes. Darwin made many contributions to the collections of natural materials including insects and birds to major British museums and institutions of study. He was an experienced traveller, and reported on the ethnography of peoples around the world, especially in South America. He played an important role as keeper of the clocks on a major British mapping project, also in South America.
Reflections on Darwin's Origin of Species
The The Origin Of Species by Charles Darwin was published over 150 years go. At the time, several different alternative theories of the origin and history of life were being discussed in the West. Some of these theories were theological. Theological ideas included a literal translation of the bible, with the flora, the fauna, and humans created in three separate but related creation events on a freshly made earth just a few thousand years ago. Another theological idea had an Abrahamic God's hand involved in the history of life but in ways we were not likely to understand until after death. Still another idea, championed by the influential Louis Agassiz, had several God-made origins each representing a different combination of habitat, ecology, climate, and human race. Ice ages would periodically wipe everything out and then God would replace the bits, much like how a gamer re-creates a simulated landscape after system crashes or save failures in SimCity (See Reef Madness: Charles Darwin, Alexander Agassiz, and the Meaning of Coral for an excellent overview of this and related issues). Maybe the gamer does it a little differently each time, and maybe god did that too. Non theological ideas were emerging at the time as well including some like Darwin's, but Darwin refocused and created de novo several of the key models that are part of Evolutionary Theory today, and it was Darwin and Wallace who advanced the specific theory of Natural Selection. These evolutionary ideas rested within a broader panoply of evolutionary ideas, some of which have faded away, others incorporated, others waiting to be reconsidered.
Continue reading Reflections on Darwin's Origin of Species
Darwinism, Darwinian, Darwinist
Happy Birthday Charles Darwin!
Oh, and Abe Lincoln too.
For Darwin's birthday, I want to discuss the uses of the terms "Darwinism, Darwinian, and Darwinist." Many have written about this and many don't like any of those words, some seem to equally dislike all three. A couple of years back, writing for the New York Times, Carl Safina said,
Equating evolution with Charles Darwin ignores 150 years of discoveries, including most of what scientists understand about evolution. Such as: Gregor Mendel's patterns of heredity (which gave Darwin's idea of natural selection a mechanism — genetics — by which it could work); the discovery of DNA (which gave genetics a mechanism and lets us see evolutionary lineages); developmental biology (which gives DNA a mechanism); studies documenting evolution in nature (which converted the hypothetical to observable fact); evolution's role in medicine and disease (bringing immediate relevance to the topic); and more.
By propounding "Darwinism," even scientists and science writers perpetuate an impression that evolution is about one man, one book, one "theory."
I don't fully agree. Darwin proposed, discussed, and integrated into his theories of evolution the idea of inheritance. Yes, Gregor Mendel independently demonstrated an atomistic theory of inheritance and worked out key features of that process, essentially creating the concepts of "gene" and "allele" as we often use them today. Having said that, Mendelian inheritance turns out to be a very incomplete picture and more often than not is inadequate in real use. The difference between what we now know about inheritance and what Darwin needed to develop much of his evolutionary thinking isn't really all that large. Darwin certainly did address developmental biology, in that he understood that life forms underwent changes within the lifetime that were controlled by the same factors that shaped any feature of those organisms. And so on.
In particular, Safina states that the term "Darwinism" puts too much emphasis on the contributions of one person and one book and one theory. But Darwin wrote more than one book on Evolution, and he proposed more than one theory. Mayr says there were five theories and makes a reasonable argument for that. Darwin even foresaw, though he did not develop, higher level behavioral theories such as kin selection.
Safina goes on to note that "We don't call astronomy Copernicism, nor gravity Newtonism" and otherwise warns against the "ism"-ish nature of a word like "Darwinism" reminding us of Marxism, capitalism, Catholicism, and racism.
Before I go any further, I want to strongly agree with Safina and others who have eschewed the term "Darwinism" but not for most of the reasons stated. Darwin was a key figure in defining evolution, and for the most part, the "evolution" we know of today is Darwin's evolution plus, not a form of evolution that required the overthrow of Darwin's ideas. Newton was wrong. We can use the word "Newtonian" to refer to a subset of physics that work like Newton said they worked but only on a very limited scale. Newtonian mechanics does not describe how the universe, or reality, or matter and energy work. Newtonian physics changed from a theory of everything (dynamic and physical) to a mere approximation that is fundamentally flawed. Copernicism, as it were, more so. Darwinism (to use that term for just a moment) is still at the core of modern evolutionary thinking.
The reason to eschew the term "Darwinism" is for that final reason mentioned above: isms are sucky. So I'm fine with that. But evolution as we know of today is a Darwinian thing to a much much greater degree than physics as we know of it today is Newtonian (or for that matter, even Einsteinian!).
So, I'm happy to be a "Darwinist" but I'd prefer to use the term "Evolutionary Biologist."
There is another term that people have elected to toss out for similar reasons: Darwinain. That is an error, and most biologists who would happily agree with Safina (and me) in avoiding Darwinism use Darwinian all the time. The term Darwinian refers to one part of Darwin's body of theory: Selection. We say that during neurogenesis, neurons over produce and over connect, and then, over time, undergo culling based on use. Neurons that are used are retained, those that are not go away. It is said to be a Darwinian process, because it is a selection process in which over production is followed by selective retention or survival. There are other examples of Darwinian process that occur in biology, and of course, they happen outside of biology and the term is often used, including but not limited to the nefarious idea of Social Darwinian process.
And now, for your reading and listening pleasure, a few Darwinian blog posts:
A podcast celebrating Darwin's birthday. The first part is great but the part with me starts at 15:10.
A few essays focusing on Darwin's Voyage on The Beagle
- Bon Voyage HMS Beagle
- The Voyage of the Beagle
- Darwin Crossing The Atlantic
- Charles Darwin and the Rain Forest
- Darwin Gets his Wellies Wet
- South America on Five Dollars a Day
- Bugs (Darwin)
- Darwin South of the Tropics
- Darwin and The Gauchos
- Fossil Quadrupeds
- Rheas and the Birth of Evolutionary Theory
- Elephants and Horses
photo of Darwin by kevinzim
Charles Darwin, Geologist
Everyone knows that Darwin was a biologist, and in many ways he was the first prominent modern biologist. Though Darwin scholars know this, many people do not realize that he was also a geologist. Really, he was mainly a geologist on the day he stepped foot on The Beagle for his famous five year tour. This is especially true if we count his work on coral reefs as a geological study, even though coral reefs are a biological phenomenon. After all, the standing model for coral reef formation at the time came from the field of Geology.
To exemplify this, I've put together a list of several of Darwin's print publications with their publication dates:
The Autobiography of Charles Darwin Audiobook
Have you read The Autobiography of Charles Darwin? Do you read, er, listen to audiobooks? If so, did you know about this one?
Read by Greg Wagland:
This work, unsurprisingly, offers invaluable insights into the life and times of Charles Darwin, his personality and the formative influences that made him what he was, for here we have his own words and 'voice' at the close of a prodigiously productive career. He tells of his childhood, his student days at Edinburgh and Cambridge, his love of beetles, shooting and geology and of his grandfather, Josiah Wedgwood. He talks at some length about his meetings with the great scientific men of the age, his attitudes to his critics, to religion and of his theories of evolution. He also discusses his scientific methods and the background to the publication of many of his works including 'The Origin of Species' and 'The Descent of Man', and how he came to join 'The Beagle' as naturalist. This is an indispensable work for any student of Darwin, of evolution and conceivably, creationism. It is undoubtedly the autobiography of a great man.Greg Wagland reads The Autobiography of Charles Darwin for Magpie Audio. Note: This is the version authorized and edited by his son, Francis. Francis Darwin and Charles' wife Emma censored and excised some passages, in part to limit references made to his home life.
What Would Darwin Say to Today's Creationists?
Charles Darwin, Geologist
We know that Darwin was a biologist, and in many ways he was the first prominent modern biologist. But many people do not realize that he was also a geologist. Really, he was mainly a geologist on the day he stepped foot on The Beagle for his famous five year tour. This is especially true if we count his work on coral reefs as a geological study, even though coral reefs are a biological phenomenon. After all, the standing model for coral reef formation at the time came from the field of Geology.
Here is a list of several of Darwin's first publications with their publication dates:
Seattle-ites: Strawberry Theatre Workshop does Darwin
Click Here to get tickets while they last!
Here's a review: 'Inherit the Wind' airs current creationism debate
Last month Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a top candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, remarked, "Evolution is just a theory out there." He also claimed Texas schools teach both evolution and creationism.
Perry was mistaken: In 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled public teaching of Bible-based creationism (or "intelligent design") unconstitutional.
The creationism vs. evolution in schools debate has reared back into our national political dialogue, which may be reason enough to revive "Inherit the Wind," a 1955 play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee.
We don't see many revivals of this sturdy courtroom drama…
Louis Agassiz + Alexander Agassiz + Charles Darwin + Coral Reefs = High Entertainment and Science!
There are many fascinating stories linked to the early days of evolutionary biology and geology, and more than one of them is intertwined with our understanding of coral reefs. I had always thought that Darwin's interaction with the question of how coral reefs form was central to Darwin's own formation as a scientist, in part because of Charles Lyell. Lyell was the Big Kahuna of geology and earth science of the day, and had more or less established the standing theory of how coral reefs formed. Darwin, on observing reefs "in the wild" very quickly realized that Lyell was mostly wrong, and proceeded to develop his own models for reef formation. But Darwin was timid, intimidated even, in the light of Lyell's monumental stature in the field. This, I think, caused Darwin to use a multi-faceted approach to documenting his ideas and developing his models that then became something of a template for his later work, On the Origin of Species.
What could have been a major showdown between Lyell and Darwin turned out much differently. By the time Darwin had returned from The VoyageBooks on Travelogues) (of the Beagle) Lyell and others were aware of Darwin's new models of reef formation. If Lyell was going to have a negative reaction to Darwin's revisions of his (Lyell's) work, that reaction was significantly reduced by the delay between first hearing that there was a revision and meeting up again with young Charles. As I understand it, Lyell was quite happy to have his work overturned.
But there was conflict, and the conflict continued for decades and indirectly or directly engaged everybody who was anybody in the field at the time. David Dobbs writes:
Today the main argument about coral reefs is how to save them. But in the 1800s, the question of how coral reefs arose, known as the "coral reef problem," ranked second only to the "the species question" in ferocity. In many ways it reprised the evolutionary debate, engaging many of the same people and ideas. It provided both an overture and a long coda to the fight over Darwinism. The coral reef problem did not concern the origin of species or humankind's descent. Yet it reiterated the evolutionary debate's vexing questions about the importance of evidence, the proper construction of theory, and the reliability of powerful abstractions.
Continue reading Louis Agassiz + Alexander Agassiz + Charles Darwin + Coral Reefs = High Entertainment and Science!
"If You Love Evolution, Tweet About It!" COE # 36
Welcome to the Thirty Sixth Carnival of Evolution. The world of blog carnivals is in a state of flux and uncertainty these days, with the distinct possibility of a mass extinction just around the corner. One of the oldest, longest running, and most important carnivals, I and the Bird, issued its last issue only a few days ago, and the Keepers of the Carnival of Evolution themselves are said to be thinking about ways that this whole carnival thing can be made to work better. That could, I suppose, mean killing it and replacing it with something else. We are hopeful that this will not be something monstrous. Well, actually monstrous would be fine, I suppose, just highly unlikely to found a new species of scientific social networking.
With that thought in mind, I'd like you do to me a favor. If you are into evolution (which you probably are because you are reading this post) then help promote excellent evolution blogging. Do you have a facebook account? Good. Open up a selection of the following posts and if you like them or find them interesting, post them on your wall. Let your facebook friends see some of this interesting blogging. Do you tweet? Then tweet them! Oh, and go ahead and facebook-share and tweet this very carnival. Stumble, Digg, Reddit, Whatever. The idea is go get the word out that there is some interesting stuff to read, about evolution, on the intertubes. We want Evolution Blogging to be more linky and socially networked than other topics such as, well, creationism for example. This carnival is a pretty darn good listing of what has come out over the last few weeks across the blogosphere. So, your job as a lover of and promoter of evolution is to use this list of blog posts as a kind of todo list … working off this list, promote the posts.
I've taken a very straightforward approach to the carnival, which is my style; I let the posts speak for themselves. So, in the following listing you'll see the title of each post and a brief excerpt. Click on the title to see the post. The categories into which I've divided the post make total sense and form a very good taxonomy of evolution blogging. For some of the posts. For others, the categories suck. It is not easy making categories for this sort of writing, as many of the posts are so darn multifarious, which is a good thing.
And now, the carnival:
Continue reading "If You Love Evolution, Tweet About It!" COE # 36
Ark Park Makes Mark with Darwinian Snark!
For that special organization or person that makes you throw up a little in your mouth when you hear about their latest aggravating attack on our children's education, by way of making fun of something that is not really all that funny, DontDissDarwn Central annually awards the highly alliterated angs-ridden accolade: The Upchucky. And this year's award is bestowed, nay, foisted on Answers in Genesis, for their latest dumb-ass venture, the Noah's Ark Park.
Click here to read about all of the nominees and find out what they wore to the ceremony.
Happy Birthday Charles Darwin!
And, for your birthday I'm going to repost my epic (as in long) series on Darwin and the Voyage of the Beagle. And, to save electrons, each of the following (see above, because this is the blogosphere where everything is upside-down) will be a pointer to the original post. Enjoy!
NASA's new organism, the meaning of life, and Darwin's Second Theory
In his highly readable book, One Long Argument, Ernst Mayr breaks down the body of thought often referred to as "Darwin's Theory" into five separate and distinct theories, the second of which being "common descent." Darwin's second evolutionary theory (second by Mayr's count, not Darwin's) is really a hypothesis that could be worded this way:
All life on earth descended from a single, original, primordial form that arose eons ago.
The evidence in favor of this hypothesis is strong, but the test of the hypothesis … the means of disproving it, which is, after all, the point of stating it to begin with … is difficult to define, but like pornography to a judge, one would know it when one sees it.
Continue reading NASA's new organism, the meaning of life, and Darwin's Second Theory
Half of Americans think evolution did not happen
Therefore, we should teach that as fact in schools, right?
Continue reading Half of Americans think evolution did not happen


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1 cup Margarine
2 cups diced celery
1 ½ cups chopped onions
¼ cup minced parsley
2 tsp poultry seasoning
½ tsp pepper
3 eggs slightly beaten
1 large can chicken broth
2 bags of cubed bagged stuffing
In a very large sauce pot melt the butter and add the onion and celery. Saute over medium heat until onions are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add parsley, poultry seasoning and pepper. Mix well and take off the heat. Add the first bag of stuffing into the onion mixture and mix well. Add half of the second bag and continue to mix but this time add the 3 eggs and stir well. Stir in the broth a little at a time until it is absorbed into the bread cubes. You may not use all of the cubes or the broth, but add in more cubes if needed or more broth if needed.
When this is completely cooled down you can stuff your turkey. Do not add hot stuffing into the cavity of your turkey. Do not over stuff the cavity either. Put all remaining stuffing into a baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Mom's Turkey Stuffing
2 comments:
Thanks for this recipe, Rose. I didn't grow up with these traditional dishes and stuffing is not exactly my strong suit. This is the classic style we prefer. Gary doesn't like the stuffing with liver or sausage, and we won't even discuss the NC variety with scallops =:-OReplyDelete
I don't like the one with liver or sausage either but scallops...YUCK..The Italians in my family stuff between the skin and breast with an egg and sausage stuffing. I have been having this stuffing since I was a kid at my grandmothers house.ReplyDelete
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What Are the Recruitment Advertisement Requirements in the PERM Program?
Dr. William:
My employer will sponsor my green card application through EB3 Labor Certification, and I also plan to apply for NIW at the same time by myself without my employer's support.
Since the new PERM program will begin soon for the Labor Certification, I heard that the recruitment advertisement in the PERM program is different from the traditional Labor Certification, can you give me more idea of what are the recruitment advertisement requirements in the PERM?
The PERM regulation of Labor Certification requires different level of recruitment depending on the level of occupations. For Professional Occupations, it requires "Additional Recruitment Steps" on top of the "mandatory steps." Professional occupations mean the occupations that require minimum of a bachelor or higher degree.
Mandatory Steps: Two Sunday edition local newspaper ads. For the jobs that require a bachelor's degree without experience requirement, two newspaper ads are absolute requirements. However, those jobs that require either experience on top of a bachelor's degree or an advanced degree, the employer can combine one newspaper advertisement and one professional journal ad.
Additional Recruitment Steps: On top of the mandatory recruitment campaign, the employers are also required to engage in at least three (3) additional campaigns out of the following 10 options:
1) Job Fair: advertisement or program should name the employer name.
2) Employer website: Dated copies of the advertisement page.
3) Job Search Websites: Dated copies of the advertisement page.
4) On-Campus Placement: Collect a statement from the college placement office that it was posted with the name of the employer and date of interviews conducted.
5) Trade or Professional Organizations: Copies of pages of newsletters or trade journals of these organization carrying the employer advertisement.
6) Recruiters or Employment Agencies: Copy of contract with such firms and copy of the advertisement by such firms.
7) Employee Referral Program with Incentives: Employer should keep dated copies of the employer notices or memos advertising such program to the employees.
8) Campus Placement Offices: Copy of notice of job opportunity provided to the campus placement office.
9) Local and ethnic newspapers: Copy of the advertisement page.
10) Radio or TV Ads: Copy of the text of the advertisement along with a written confirmation that it was aired.
Green Card Apply Service - For All Your Immigration Needs
© Green Card Apply Service


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Former La Cañada resident Nancy Ann Carr died Feb. 18, 2011 at St. Johns Hospital in Santa Monica of complications from chordoma bone cancer that she fought for more than 10 years.
Born Sept. 8, 1960 in Hollywood, Carr was a member of the class of 1978 at La Cañada High School. She earned a bachelor's degree in journalism, with a concentration in public relations, from USC. She was a well-liked and well-respected public-relations veteran and a television corporate communications executive, most recently for the Hallmark Channel. Prior to that she worked for both the CBS and Fox networks.
She was known for her dedication to animal rescue, caring for feral cats.
Carr is survived by her husband, Ronnie Bradford, of West Los Angeles; and her brother, Michael Carr, of Pasadena. She also leaves a step-child, Leslie Bradford of Rancho Cucamonga.


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Testosterone is a most crucial hormone responsible for several body functions- physical, sexual and mental. However, as men age, body experience a natural declination in testosterone level – it can fall up to 4% every year! This effects your sexual performance, athleticism and muscle growth.
- Muscular– Loss of muscle mass and weaker muscle
- Sexual– Erectile dysfunction, low sperm count, infertility and early ejaculation
- Body- Early fatigue, obesity, mood swings and depression
- Low testosterone level
- Unhealthy life style and hectic schedule
- Addicted to drugs, smoking and alcohols
- Physically inactive and improper diet plans
But you can raise the testosterone level naturally by adding a health supplement in your workout regimen. Testo Fuse XL can amplify your testosterone level which helps you to deliver performance in gym and between the sheets. Keep on reading this review further.
Working Of Testo Fuse XL!
Testo Fuse XL is a testosterone boosting supplement and helps to maintain a healthy life. This herbal pill can assist those men who feel poor stamina, low energy, fatigued or unsatisfied with their gym and bedroom performance.
This formula gives you energy, stamina and endurance thus you can perform longer in gym and between the sheets. When you start taking its daily dosage, you will experience various health benefits like increased virility, enhanced sexual performance and improved muscle mass.
Ingredients & Their Working!
Tribulus Terrestris: It enhances the testosterone amount of body and balances the other hormones in body. It helps in building lean muscle mass body and maintains a healthy reproductive system.
Fenugreek: It is an African topical plant extract known for its ability to increase sex drive. This vital ingredient elevates libido and helps to sustain firmer erections.
Horny Goat Weed: It is highly effective in increasing sexual sensitivity and arousals. It eliminates the sexual disorders like early ejaculation, erectile dysfunction and low libido. It provides burst of energy and stamina during sex drive, so you can perform longer at bed.
D-Aspartic Acid: This amino acid functions by luteinizing hormone secretion in body. It helps to keep your body in anabolic state. It is key ingredient responsible for protein synthesis because protein is a fundamental block for building muscles.
Ideal Dosage!
Testo Fuse XL is filled with sixty capsules and you need to consume two pills a day for minimum three months without any gap. Else, seek an advice from doctor regarding the intake method and dosage.
Note: Follow all instructions carefully mentioned on the label of this product.
Key Benefits!
- Stimulates the production of testosterone and other growth hormones in body
- Eliminates sexual disorders like erectile dysfunction, low libido and early ejaculation
- Nourishes the muscle growth with vital nutrients, minerals for faster development
- Boost metabolism and improves blood circulation
- Trims down the response time between intense workouts
- Enhances stamina, endurance and energy levels for better gym and bedroom performance
How To Purchase Testo Fuse XL?
You can purchase your bottle of Testo Fuse XL from its official website. For reaching there tap on the icon given below. Fill up a registration form carefully and make digital payments. After payment, your order will be delivered to your doorstep within 3-5 working days.
Likewise, you can also claim for its free trial pack only at shipping charges if you are a first-time customer.
Contact Us
If you have any query, issue or problem regarding this product, make a call to customer support 0677-766-7655. Else, email your query on [email protected]


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So, i am considering a larger tire for a 85-90 mm rim for the deeper snow and loose conditions. The snows here in CNY lately transform over a weeks or so, melt or even rain a bit, freeze, repeat. So want a big all rounder.
I have some D4's studded on 65mm for speed on the ice and hard packed trails but still would like to run studs on a Bigger set up for traction Assurance on unexpected ice. Better than insurance and hospitals!
Is the Wrathchild like the Flow and Dunderbeist in loose and deep conditions? Anyone ride 'em both?
Anything i have missed or should know about the Wrathchild? I don't see much talk about folks riding experience on the forum here. I know they were not available for a long time. A good deal now though...
Pretty much the same size:


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Well, it's complete. I finished my 102-day cut, and the results were just about exactly what I hoped for. Over… Read more How I Lost 20 Pounds; Before/After Results
My Meal-by-Meal Cutting Diet
I've done updates throughout this cutting process on where my calories are and where my macronutrient breakdown is, but I… Read more My Meal-by-Meal Cutting Diet
My Progress: New Low Weigh-In!
Just wanted to check in really quick with a new update. I'm officially in the 175-pound range, which means I'm… Read more My Progress: New Low Weigh-In!
My Progress: Two Months of Cutting
It's been a while since I've provided a dieting update. Sometimes life gets in the way of blogging, and unfortunately… Read more My Progress: Two Months of Cutting
Detailing Refeeds; What is a Refeed Day?
Refeeds can be a huge supplement to your lifestyle when dieting down. Let's break down what they are and how they're applied.
My Progress: 5 Weeks into Cutting
This was the weirdest week yet, but with an added focus on my scheduling, meal planning, and counting macros, I've reached… Read more My Progress: 5 Weeks into Cutting
Meal Timing: What is Optimal?
There are a lot of strategies out there informing you of the most optimal times to eat your meals in order… Read more Meal Timing: What is Optimal?
My Progress: 4 Weeks into Cutting
What's up everybody?! Four weeks in, and still seeing progress. Pretty pumped. As I mentioned last week, I made some… Read more My Progress: 4 Weeks into Cutting
The BIG SECRET to Achieving Your Fitness Goals!
I do know the undisputed secret to success, but it might not be one you're excited to hear.
My Progress: Three Weeks into Cutting
Well, we're three weeks in and two weeks since my last update, so it's about time to touch base on… Read more My Progress: Three Weeks into Cutting


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CFD means Contract for Difference.
There are various advantages of CFD Trading for traders.
Main benefits of this Trading are:
1. Trading on Margin: By using margins, CFD Trading gives an opportunity to the individuals involved to hold more value than they actually contribute. Contract for Difference allows the traders to get higher returns on the investment.
2. No purchase of assets is involved: In Contract for Difference Trading, traders are not required to purchase the assets. This trading involves an agreement between the broker and the trader. This agreement is related to the value of the asset and no purchasing is done.
3. Stamp Duty not required: In case of CFD Trading, stamp duty is not required. This is because there is no purchase involved.
4. Traders get Dividend: Another advantage for traders involved in this trading is that time to time they earn relevant dividends as well. This is possible only when you hold CFD position in an organisation at the time of the dividend pay out. When the stock of the product or the company will rise, the traders involved will also get benefits from it. With this principle, CFD gives trader an opportunity to earn dividend.
5. Interest gets credited: Brokerage firm pays interest to the trader on the money tied up in short position CFD.
6. Short shares ability: If traders are able to predict the movement of the shares i.e. that the share's value will go down and the same thing happens, traders earn money. It is simple In case of CFD as in this situation; the trader has not actually purchased any shares. The trader earns money even when the share's value goes down as they predicted something and it actually happened.
7. After hour facility: There are several CFD companies that allow its traders to actually purchase Contract for Difference even after the time is over. This plays a very important role for people who are in this trading for second source of income.


text: 101 Outstanding Events ----- Event Themes Alien Invasion A woman with a hideously disfigured face stumbles into the assembled throng to tell them that she has just escaped from alien invaders who have gruesome plans for planet Earth. Before she perishes, she tells them of friends who have somehow changed and are behaving strangely. She refers to them as the 'pod people'. Seek and destroy the aliens and their clones. Fight paranoia and spot the impostors in this action packed multiactivity day which involves make-up, dares, scares and nightmares. Remote Camera Phone Monopoly Questions about teamwork, sacrifice, resource management and collateral damage are all closely examined in this example of a board game gone mad! The city or town of your conference or event becomes a Monopoly board. The first team to snap a road sign and send it back to their home team at the board, own the property. The rest is a merry-go-round of collecting £200 for passing Go, avoiding getting sent to jail and dealing with community chest challenges. The result is a test of teamwork and resource management. Who has the brains, quick wits and even quicker phone-fingers to monopolise? Event Themes


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The CW is opting for a non comic book adaptation for one of its next shows with the youth-skewing network developing a new TV series take on Louisa May Alcott's iconic 19th century novel "Little Women".
The project has been described as a "hyper-stylized, gritty adaptation" in which the disparate half-sisters Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy who must overcome their own lethal squabbles to survive the dystopic streets of Philadelphia and unravel a conspiracy that stretches far beyond anything they have ever imagined.
The project has joined the network's 2015-16 development slate and will be penned by Alexis Jolly and produced by "NCIS" star Michael Weatherly.
Source: Variety


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A social utility that connects people, to keep up with friends, upload photos, share links and videos.
Enables users to search the world's information, including webpages, images, and videos. Offers unique features and search technology.
YouTube is a way to get your videos to the people who matter to you. Upload, tag and share your videos worldwide!
A major internet portal and service provider offering search results, customizable content, chatrooms, free e-mail, clubs, and pager.
6. blogspot.com
A free encyclopedia built collaboratively using wiki software. (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License).
Top buy and sell and free classifieds website in the Philippines
9. twitter.com
Social networking and microblogging service utilising instant messaging, SMS or a web interface.
Free blogs managed by the developers of the WordPress software. Includes custom design templates, integrated statistics, automatic spam protection and other features.


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Rainbow Bridge
Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.
All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.
You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....
Author unknown...
Sleep well my Angels
Gibson is loved and missed by the Heille Family
Wildhart's Savor The Moment - Simon
Itty Bit
Wildhart's Abigail of Sherwood
12/11/97 - 1/25/10
Wildhart's Roman Poet 'Virgil'
Loved and missed by the Elwart Family
Wildhart's Simply Irresistible
Loved and missed by the Erwin Family
Wildhart's Outrageous Moment
Loved and missed by the Plauche Family
Sunnie Sanchez
Was dearly loved and will be missed by Ray, Elizabeth, Jared and Rocky
Back to Wildhart's Boxers home page.


text: How To Home Theater Setting Up Your TV and Home Theater System for March Madness How to properly celebrate March Madness at home Share Pin Email Print Joe Robbins/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images Home Theater Guides & Tutorials Basics Installing & Upgrading Tips & Tricks Key Concepts Cut The Cord by Robert Silva Robert Silva has written about audio, video, and home theater topics since 1998. Previously, Robert was an audio/video expert for About.com. Updated April 04, 2018 March Madness for 2018 is now history as the Villanova Wildcats beat the Michigan Wolverines by a score of 79 to 62. Come back to this page in late February or Early March 2019 when our TV and Home Theater Setup Tips will be updated for the 2019 March Madness NCAA Basketball Championship Tournament. March Madness isn't an official holiday, but it might as well be for dedicated Basketball fans. March Madness is the name given to the almost month-long NCAA Basketball Championship culminating in the Final Four match-ups. For 2018, team selections will be made on Sunday, March 11th, with the first round match-ups beginning play on Tuesday, March 13th and continuing through the rest of March (See March Madness Dates and Venues). Final Four and Championship play will be held on March 31st and April 2nd in San Antonio, Texas. March Madness On TV The entire tournament will be televised via several outlets (CBS, TBS, TNT, TRU TV). Check local listings for updated info. Canadian viewers will also be able to catch March Madness TV coverage on TSN. Broadcasts will also be available in select countries by ESPN International (check the ESPN schedule servicing your country or region). Of course, to see and hear all the March Madness action at home, you need an HDTV and Home Theater System. Receiving the Tournament Matches Make sure your Antenna, Cable, or Satellite box is functioning properly and that you will be able to receive the channel in your area that is broadcasting March Madness games. If you intend to receive any March Madness games via an antenna and need to get one, check out our Lifewire picks. Also, if you are a cable or satellite subscriber make sure your service will provide access to the channels providing any March Madness games in high definition. For further questions regarding cable or satellite, contact your local service provider. Watching the Matches If you want to get the best possible picture, you need at least an HDTV. If you already have an HDTV, you are all set. If you don't own an HDTV and want to buy one in time for March Madness (especially for the Final Four), an LCD (or LED/LCD) flat panel set is the most affordable option available as Plasma TVs are no longer being made (but you might be able to find one used). Another TV buying option to consider is a 4K Ultra HD TV. Although March Madness will not be broadcast in 4K (yet), an Ultra HD TV can deliver new viewing excitement as these sets will upscale standard HD broadcasts, providing more perceived detail, especially if viewing on a set that is 55-inches or larger, and you are sitting relatively close to the screen. 4K Ultra HD TVs are available with both LED/LCD and OLED technology, but keep in mind that OLED TVs are more expensive when compared with equivalent LED/LCD TV screen sizes. However, be wary of TVs with Curved Screens. They look stylish but keep in mind that if you have a large group, the people sitting off to sides may not have a complete view of all the action. Also, they are very susceptible to light reflections - so if you have lamps or other light sources that shine towards the screen, you might want to shut them off. To put it simply, other than the attractiveness of a curved screen, such TVs don't offer any substantial benefits over their flat cousins. Hearing The Tournament Matches To get the best sound experience for March Madness there are several ways to go. If you are planning to receive March Madness games with an over-the-air antenna, check to see if your TV has a digital optical audio output connection. Also, if you have a surround sound system, check to see if the receiver in your system has a corresponding digital optical audio input connection. If so, then simply connect the digital audio output of the TV to the digital audio input of the home theater system and you will experience the surround sound feed for March Madness.If your TV does not have a digital optical audio output, then check to see if the TV has an analog audio output option. If so, then connect the TV's analog stereo outputs (these may be RCA connections or a 3.5mm connection) to a set of analog audio inputs on your home theater system.If using the analog stereo connection option, check to see if your home theater system a Dolby Prologic II or IIx setting option. If so, then you will still be able to extract a surround sound signal from the stereo input signal, although it is not as effective as the surround sound signal accessed by the digital optical audio connection option. If you subscribe to HD-Cable or HD-Satellite, check your cable or satellite box for a digital optical audio output connection. If one is available, connect it from the box to the digital audio input of your home theater system. You will now be able to access the surround sound signal from the high definition cable or satellite feed.If you have a home theater receiver that has HDMI audio access, and if your HD-Cable box or HD-Satellite Box has an HDMI output, then the best option would be to simply connect the HDMI output from your Cable or Satellite box to your home theater receiver and then connect the output of your home theater receiver to your TV. This simplifies the number of connections; you will be able to access both audio and video using a single connection from the cable or satellite box to the home theater receiver, and then to the TV.If you access your TV signal via antenna, or cable without a box (very rare these days), then check to see if your TV and home theater receiver has a feature called Audio Return Channel (ARC). If so, then all you have to do is connect the HDMI output of the home theater receiver to the ARC-labeled HDMI input on the TV via one high-speed rated HDMI cable and activate the ARC function your TV and home theater receiver. The TV will then send the audio signal through the HDMI cable back to the home theater receiver without the need to make a separate audio cable connection between the TV and home theater receiver. What To Do If You Don't Have An External Sound System If you don't have a home theater system to complement your TV, consider purchasing an all-in-one home theater system, soundbar, or under TV audio system. Lastly, if you are starting completely from scratch, and need to purchase and set up a TV and home theater system in time for March Madness, Check out some useful tips. Streaming and Radio In addition to traditional broadcast, cable, and satellite outlets, when you're not at home you may be able to take advantage of the streaming options that are available for iPad/iPhone, Android, Windows 8/10 PCs and Laptops, Amazon, Roku, and Xbox devices. For more details, check out March Madness Live, as well as March Madness Mobile Apps. Enjoy your March Madness TV viewing or Radio/Streaming experience! May your favorite team win. Continue Reading


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I got an email from a wingnut friend (I don't have that many) the other day consisting of the subject line "No, you can't" That's as much gloating as I've seen after the GOP retook the House.
In the meantime, even in victory, the hard core conservatives continue to be the whiners they've always been.
The liberal media is picking on us because it won't stick to our preferred narrative!
We're being persecuted because we can't impose Dominionist values on the rest of the country!
The nasty liberals don't like us!
Nobody says anything nice about us!
How about you quit complaining about the problems and start working toward some solutions, for a change?


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No Reasonable Doubts: Hearing-impaired actress Marlee Matlin, 27, who counts screen hunks William Hurl and Richard Dean Anderson among her ex-beaux, is settling down with a regular Joe, Los Angeles police officer Kevin Grandalski. The two plan to main this fall.
Ferruccio Lamborghini, 16, maker of the luxurious Italian sports cars bearing his name, died in Perugia, Italy, on Feb. 21. He had had a heart attack two weeks earlier. He began making his sleek, chic sports cars in 1963, attracting such glitterati customers as Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra, but sold his interest in the company in the 1970s….
Soap actor Michael David Morrison, 33, who had played farmer turned policeman Caleb Snyder on CBS's As the World Turns for nearly five years, was found dead of an apparent heart attack in New York City on Feb. 18. The friend with whom he had spent the night called paramedics after Morrison failed to respond to a 6:40 a.m. alarm. An autopsy report is expected. Morrison taped his final episode on Feb. 17, and it will air this Tuesday (March 2)….
Federal Judge Gerhard Gesell, 82, who ruled in favor of allowing The Washington Post to publish the Pentagon Papers and presided over the politically sensitive trials of several Watergate coconspirators and Iran-contra scandal defendant Oliver North, died of liver cancer on Feb. 19 in Washington.
Beginning in October, Pulitzer-prizewinning author and New York Times columnist Russell Baker, 67, will host the PBS Sunday night series Masterpiece Theatre. Baker takes over the armchair of Alistair Cooke, 84, who made his final appearance last November after 22 years of genteel commentary. Meanwhile, Baker has voiced two concerns: what to do with his hands on air and what stylists will do to his hair, which he cuts himself.
Actor C. Thomas Howell, 26, and his wife Sylvie, 22, welcomed an 8-lb. 13-oz. baby girl named Isabelle Yasmine Howell on Feb. 17 in L.A. Howell, best known for the film Soul Man, was previously married to actress Rae Dawn Chong.
A California Superior Court judge awarded Gary Coleman, the 25-year-old former star of TV's Different Strokes, $1.28 million on Feb. 23 when he ruled on a four-year-old lawsuit Coleman had brought against his parents and a former manager. The court accepted Coleman's contention that between 1983 and 1987, the three had taken excessive salaries and other fees for their services as his guardians and manager.
Michael Milken, 46, the former junk-bond king, who was released from jail Jan. 3 after serving 22 months for securities crimes and is now at home in Los Angeles, announced Feb. 23 that he has prostate cancer. His doctor anticipates a full recovery.


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Get ready for Chris Forsyth's PhilaMOCA show with new live EP Rare Dreams
Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band are a go big or go home type of band. Everything they do sounds like it was made to fill up a vast open space, and it does. Their intricate and sprawling songs usually span several minutes and are full of wide, sweeping instrumentals, making for quite a dynamic live performance. Continue reading →


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I blog the entire today. Seriously, my whole day is full of thinking of introductions and conclusions. However, nine times out of ten, I do not use what I have thought of. I say something completely different. Today though... goodness I don't know what to say.
You know those days that are good for most of the day but then there is just one moment that it completely and totally the worst? So then that brings ALL of the good parts of the day down too. Goodness, goodness, goodness. Stressful. What do you call those kinds of days? Is there a name for them? I think there should be.