text:
San Diego avocados – pretty much all Hass
Water's the big problem
Moss Gropen noon, Oct. 23
Thanks to our year-round mild weather, San Diego is one of the few cities in the U.S. with not just one but TWO drive-in theaters still in operation; the South Bay DI and the Santee DI.
THE SOUTH BAY Drive-In has been screening movies since 1958 at 2170 Coronado Avenue. One mile north of the border and with space for up to 1500 cars, it was built over former farm land on a triangular 13.2-acre site bordered on the north and east by Interstate 5.
Originally called the Bayview and sporting a single screen, in 1961 the theater installed a "real midget auto ride" in its playground.
The South Bay is operated by the Oldknow family, whose history in film exhibition dates back to 1909. When San Diego's third drive-in the Rancho, at the corner of Euclid and Federal, opened on January 28, 1948, it was the first business venture of William Oldknow, who went on to run theaters across the country (his family still runs Atlanta's Starlight Drive-In, and others).
William Oldknow's grandfather had opened the third-ever U.S. movie theater. William began as an usher at L.A.'s Beverly Theatre, later becoming a doorman at the nearby Westlake before changing courses to attend Harvard Military Academy and do a tour of duty as a Navy ensign.
"When I got out of the Navy in 1946, I got into the business, too," he told the San Diego Union in October 1978. "Euclid and Federal at that time was in county territory, and one of the reasons I built [the Rancho Drive-In] there was because the city had an amusement tax on theater tickets of, I think, five percent. We didn't want to charge that. Later, the tax was repealed, so we petitioned for annexation to the city in order to get city water. Our water came from a well, and it tasted awful."
After building the Rancho, Oldknow partnered with Sero Amusements, which owned the land the Frontier Drive-In (near the Sports Arena) would be built on. Before long, Sero hired Oldknow as company president. "As Sero went through some restructuring, and as various partners were bought out in the '50s, he came to own the company," says William's daughter Teri Oldknow, operations manager for De Anza Land & Leisure Corporation (as Sero came to be known after 1968).
From the late '50s onward, Oldknow oversaw other local Sero properties like the Frontier and Midway Drive-Ins, as well as the Del Mar, Big Sky, and South Bay Drive-Ins. Sero also held leases on area outdoor screens like the Aero Drive-In in El Cajon, plus Oldknow was running ozones in Pomona, Riverside, Ontario, L.A., Beaumont, Salt Lake City, and Tucson.
In the mid-'70s, the South Bay added two more screens, both a bit smaller than the original but well landscaped into the background hills. The main screen had a black border painted around it, about three feet on all sides, so its actual picture size was about the same as the two newer screens. The entrance was restructured to include three individual ticket booths, separated on each side by paved lanes so that a total of five lanes led into the various screen lots.
Most of the speaker poles were phased out for AM sound in 1972, and then FM beginning in the early '80s (movies are currently broadcast in stereo, via FM only). The snack bar has been renovated a few times, most recently sporting a nautical theme, with the entire concession building painted blue and white and designed to resemble a ship, portholes and all. A mast rises from the center of the building.
Local legend has it that actor Matthew Modine used to work at the South Bay. "Actually, that was his father, Mark Modine, who worked for us," laughs De Anza operations manager Teri Oldknow. "That was in the '70s, and they had, like, eight kids who all grew up at the drive-in. His sister still works there to this day."
When I mention to Oldknow my recollection of how run-down this drive-in got in the early '80s -- with frequent gang activity, drug trade, and other scary goings-on -- she says, "I know it was bad. There were plans to sell around that time. I wasn't with the company then, but the attitude was kind of like 'We'll just let it go long enough to get a good offer and then sell it.' I started here in 1996, and that was one of my big pushes, to revive places like that and make them better than ever."
"If you manage a drive-in properly, you keep it fun, keep it clean, keep it safe, there'll be so much business you'll have to turn customers away."
Reader reader Tony D. Metal emailed me to say "The South Bay Drive-In was always a trip. The back rows were reserved for the lowriders. Somewhat intimidating, they did draw attention. However, everyone got along. The whites and Hispanics showed mutual respect, and we were on their turf, but the drive-in was for all to enjoy. No racial barriers. We all got along very well."
De Anza also runs the six-screen Redwood in Salt Lake City, the four-screen Mission in Pomona, the four-screen De Anza in Tucson, and the three-screen Van Buren and three-screen Rubidoux in Riverside, California.
The De Anza company really goes all out for the Starlight Drive-In near Atlanta. This well-advertised ozone regularly hosts pop-culture conventions and car shows on its lot during the day, and frequent "Drive-In Madness" theme-athons (often with live band performances) run all night long.
"We had [exploitation filmmaker] Dave Friedman there last year for Blood Feast," Oldknow says. "His offices used to be across the street from ours in L.A., and we'd share the same screening room. We can get away with that at the Starlight because it's an industrial area with no neighbors but a cemetery and a landfill."
"We can't do adventurous stuff like that at the South Bay because we're surrounded by residential properties. Neighborhood people are going to complain no matter what you do, so we're reluctant to have that kind of programming there. I'd like to, though, maybe timed around the Comic-Con."
The South Bay has done events such as all-night Monsteramas, "Bloodsucker Film Festivals" with back-to-back vampire films, an "All-Beatles" program, and even occasional daytime concerts, though this sort of cult-inclined programming faded out by the late '70s.
A swap meet has run on the lot since April 1977, operated by the drive-in's owners rather than being leased out as at other area ozones. It appears to have been the area's fourth drive-in swap meet (Midway began leasing to Monte Kobey's swap meet the previous summer, the Valley Drive-In held an Oceanside flea market as far back as 1971, while the Aero was holding "swap fairs" in 1960).
"That's why the South Bay survived," says Oldknow. "There was that early recognition of how to turn daytime use into profits on the property. There's no overhead for a swap meet, whereas we're paying 50 percent of our box office take to the studio for movies. Swap meets were the only thing enabling most drive-ins to survive the '80s. We're charging money for parking spaces and keeping all the proceeds...this was so profitable that it would be difficult for other businesses to compete for the property."
In 1986, the Swap Meet on the South Bay lot was the only area Meet to operate on Wednesdays. This created a big problem with the ozone's neighbors, who said the parking shortage resulted in vehicles overrunning the entire area, often blocking driveways or even parking on people's lawns. Swap Meet attendance was said to be from 3,500 to 5,800 patrons every Wednesday.
By mid-January 1987, things hadn't improved. The City Planning Commission actually voted to suspend the Wednesday meets, but the City Council overturned the decision and offered De Anza one more chance. "If you don't clean up your act in three months, you're not going to get your permit," Mayor O'Connor quoted saying in the January 14 Union-Tribune.
Police Commander Jim Sing noted that ticketing on Wednesdays was three times higher than other days, and that some customers spent Tuesday night sleeping in their vehicles on the neighborhood streets. "I think they'll never be able to fix some of the problems," said Sing. "They [patrons] don't pay any attention to the traffic laws."
Angry ozone neighbor Sue Martin dramatically told the City Council "I pray every Wednesday night and thank the Lord that I still have my child alive."
"We've taken a lot of steps to improve this," Stephen L. Pentoney, secretary-treasurer for De Anza Land and Leisure Corporation told the San Diego Union-Tribune. De Anza began offering lower admission prices to patrons who parked in the theater lot instead of outside on city streets. They also built a wall to keep patrons out of the Meet until 7 a.m., allowing the parking lot to open 45 minutes earlier and thus cutting down on parked cars backing up outside the facility at sunrise. Barricades were also erected, to detour traffic away from neighborhood streets, with six hired security guards to redirect traffic.
De Anza also got Swap Meet exhibitors and patrons to mount a write-in campaign to Save the Swap Meet. In addition, they distributed pamphlets called "It's Your Last Chance to Save the Swap Meet," with a list of "dos and donts" about parking and driving on neighborhood streets. These efforts resulted in De Anza's "conditional use permit" being extended to cover the Wednesday events.
(South Bay entrance 1999 - Drive-In Theatre Fan Club 1999 Yearbook)
By 1999, the South Bay's swap meet had become a local institution, praised by all but a few occasionally unhappy neighbors. Oldknow estimates that the meet brought in around $1 million dollars annually, while the land beneath the theater lot was worth around $8 million.
The main screen number one at the South Bay blew down during the early 2003 winter storms and had to be replaced that spring, at a cost of around $60,000. In summer 2005, a new Technalight installation was done on the projectors for all three South Bay screens.
"That increased the picture brightness from five to nine times brighter," says Oldknow, "so it's as bright as any indoor screen now."
Open seven nights a week, 52 weeks a year, it may be the only drive-in in the U.S. to serve menudo.
THE SANTEE Drive-In at 10990 North Woodside Avenue is still operated by the same family that built it in 1958, James and Patti Henry, along with sometime partner and builder Walter Long.
In 1961, the Santee was only charging $1.50 per carload, boosting attendance through 1963. A playground with a merry-go-round, swingsets, and monkey bars used to sit in the grass area beneath the screen, until rising insurance rates forced owners to remove all the equipment. Lawnchairs lined up in front of the screen were also removed, possibly to discourage pedestrian gate crashers, but also eliminating the need to landscape that part of the lot quite so meticulously.
By 1973, fortunes had downturned and the theater was screening X-rated triple features. That year, a second screen was added; for a time, features like Last House on the Left and Ned Kelly would show on one screen, while porn unspooled on the other.
For a short time, there was even a drive-in church service on the lot every Sunday, while sex flicks screened at night, making for quite the eye-catching marquee.
A daytime swap meet has run on the lot since July 1982 (at the time, the Henrys formed a separate corporation to run this endeavor, but it's now owned by a separate unconnected party). Joe Crowder (who also owned drive-ins in Escondido and Oceanside that held swap meets) next ran the lot's resale market. The swap meet's current operators feature monthly shows themed for ham-radio enthusiasts and sports-equipment traders.
In 1986, four large banks of high-intensity floodlights were installed at nearby Santana High School's football stadium, to illuminate the playing field at night. This affected the clarity of movies projected on both Santee screens, resulting in the drive-in filing a $10,000 claim against the Grossmont Union High School District in early 1991. The field is around three-quarters of a mile from the drive-in, whose screens are visible from the stadium bleachers.
"The frequency of [outdoor field] use has increased dramatically in the last year," said Santee lawyer James Sternberg. "At first, they used it just for football. Now, they're using it for all kinds of things."
With two 1.85:1-ratio screens facing each other and room for 700 cars, it's open seven nights a week. Until fairly recently, there were still two rows of speakers on poles, and films were also broadcast in FM sound, though I understand the speakers have now been removed. The orange-painted bathrooms can be a little dicey, but their snack-bar food is surprisingly edible and affordable.
Santee employees say they still have to be vigilant about gate-crashers. "When we see them going over a fence, we wait until they get to a car and kick them all out," says assistant manager Matt Jarbo (who in 2005 was taking film classes at Grossmont College). "Nobody comes in the trunk anymore. From the ticket booth, I call in the license numbers of any cars with a single driver. We'll have a security guard walk past, see if the driver's the only one in there. If not, we walk up and talk to them."
"Sometimes they'll say, 'I lost my receipt, we came together' and get all belligerent. We just step away and say, 'You're trespassing, we can call the sheriff,' and they usually just leave."
Santee co-owner Mike Long said "There's a big dent in the fence from somebody we kicked out. They came around the corner and just rammed the fence and left. They even tried to run me and [manager] Jeff [Messenger] over. We jumped up on the curb as they zoomed on past. I think they did more damage to their car than the fence."
I recall arriving early at the Santee on April 20, 1999, I think for a showing of Jawbreaker. The staff was used to seeing me stake out a speaker pole near the front rows, where I'd sit with the convertible top down and usually work on whatever drawing or writing project had been due the previous weekend. On these occasions, I'd also get my dinner at the snack bar - $3 for a large popcorn, and $6.50 for an entire pizza.
On this visit, it was still daylight, and the speakers near the screen and alongside the snack bar broadcast a local oldies station.
Several other early arrivals were playing the music along in their cars, so the whole lot echoed and reverberated to the same sounds, coming from all directions at once, a multisourced auditory experience only attainable on certain drive-in lots, right about at twilight.
Suddenly, the music was interrupted by an all-too-detailed breaking news report on the Columbine school shootings.
I remember looking around and seeing everyone on their own individual little auto islands, everybody pale and still, nobody speaking or moving for what seemed like several moments. Then children started crying, a slowly rising cacophony as the stillness was broken and parents tried various ways to comfort their increasingly upset charges. I just happened to catch the eye of a guy in the car two spaces down from me, also attending alone; even as I saw his face was glistening with tears, I realized he was staring at my own wet face.
It was an extraordinary shared moment, just before crisis-management kicked in and everyone tried to pull themselves together a bit. That twilight, I overheard hushed bits of many sobering conversations, especially coming from cars containing young kids. Several vehicles just up and left after the news report.
A more upbeat group experience occurred when Herbie: Fully Loaded was released in 2005. Bug owners swarmed the Santee lot in droves, beginning midafternoons and eventually covering nearly every square inch of drive-in pavement for two consecutive sold-out weekends. Transformed into a convention-hub for area Volkswagen fans of all ages, the Santee also brought in a replica Herbie car, which was popular for family photo ops (an enterprising photog was usually onsite with a Polaroid, charging $2 per pic).
(Most of the vintage local drive-in ads were provided courtesy of http://www.myspace.com/sandiegocinerama )
DRIVE-IN THEATERS – A SELECTED TIMELINE by JAS
1932: Richard Milton Hollingshead Jr., a chemical engineer and oil and grease salesman, conducts his first experiments in outdoor viewing by nailing a bedsheet between two trees and putting a 1928 16mm movie projector on the hood of his car. He designs a ramp system to angle parked cars upward and tests the effects of rain on the windshield by using lawn sprinklers.
By August, Hollingshead is ready to patent his idea (#1,909,537).
June 6, 1933: Hollingshead's first outdoor theater opens on Crescent Boulevard in Pennsauken Township, near Riverton and Camden, New Jersey. Admission is 25 cents per car and 25 cents per person. The venue is originally just called Drive-In Theatre, although the actual name is the Automobile Movie Theatre.
The opening feature is Wife Beware, a second-run from the previous season. This begins a long-running feud between "ozones" (outdoor theaters, as dubbed by Variety magazine) and indoor theaters battling for first-run features. Hollingshead pays $400 for a four-day rental of Wives Beware when indoor exhibitors can get it for $20 a week! The first drive-in closes in 1936 and is moved by its new owner to Union, New Jersey.
April 15, 1934: Shankweiler's Auto Park theater in Orefield, Pennsylvania, opens. Like all other drive-ins, it must pay Hollingshead's Park-In Theatres for the rights to run an outdoor screen: a one-time fee of $1000 and 5 percent of the gross box office receipts. Shankweiler's is still open today, and is reportedly as well-attended and as popular as ever.
1934: The Pico Drive-In opens at the corner of Pico and Westwood in Los Angeles, California's first and America's fourth outdoor theater.
May 6, 1936: The Weymouth Drive-In opens in Weymouth, Massachusetts, though owners Thomas DiMaura and James Guarino fail to obtain a license from Park-In. On July 3, Park-In files a lawsuit charging patent infringement, obtaining a writ entitling Hollingshead to place employees at the Weymouth to collect the entire box office proceeds for July 3, 4, and 5. Subsequent money is paid, and in a few months the Weymouth's owners reach a licensing agreement with Park-In.
1938: Hollingshead sells his patent to Willis W. Smith, who franchises it and requires drive-ins to pay royalties. However, Loew's Theaters (owned by MGM Pictures) convinces a Boston circuit court that a ramp built into the ground isn't an invention, it's landscaping, and Hollingshead's patent becomes unenforceable. With drive-ins now public domain, the industry undergoes a growth spurt.
June 1938: Just over a dozen ozones are operating nationwide.
1941: RCA develops the in-car speaker, which by the mid- to late '40s becomes commonplace.
1942: Around 100 drive-ins operate across 27 states.
1948: Around 820 drive-ins are in the U.S. and Canada, 44 of them in California. The Supreme Court votes unanimously to prevent the monopoly of movie theater chains, whose price fixing and discrimination hurt independent theaters and drive-ins. This also results in a rise of independent film production, because producers can now deal directly with theaters without fear of reprisals from the big moviehouse chains.
June 3, 1948: Former Navy pilot Edward Brown Jr. opens a Fly-In Drive-In Theatre, with room for 500 cars and 25 airplanes.
Located next to a New Jersey airport, the planes can taxi to the last two rows (though a jeep is needed to tow planes back to the airfield after showings). Soon, there are also fly-in food drive-thrus.
1949: The Drive-In Movie Association lobbies against the Daylight Saving Time movement, claiming parents won't take their families out for showings starting as late as ten p.m. By 1964, DST would be in full swing across America, though West Coast ozones say they're hardest hit by the new late showtimes.
1950: At a time when around 3500 drive-ins operate in the U.S., in-car heaters are introduced, enabling year-round showings.
1954: Autoscope drive-ins feature a screen for each car.
1955: RCA sells a complete drive-in package (with its own financing), including a sound system, projection equipment, and lights to mark the parking-lot pathways.
1957: Concession stands generate important revenue, as do "free for children" admission policies (the latter heavily protested by the film industry, which feels this "cheapens" their prestigious product). Most drive-ins utilize fondly recalled intermission films featuring singing snacks, dancing hot dogs, and countdown clocks, popularized by filmmakers at the Filmack Company.
1958: The U.S. has approximately 4000 drive-in theaters, while Canada has around 40. Quebec has none because the province has banned them on the advice of the Catholic Church, which calls ozones "pits of iniquity and sinful excess."
1960: In Texas, a few drive-ins have horseback hitching-posts. The Theater Motel in Brattleboro, Vermont, rents rooms facing the screen and wired for sound.
1967: California has its all-time peak of around 223 operating drive-in theaters.
Late '60s through early '70s: Thanks to a series of lawsuits, the big film companies no longer hold a monopoly on distribution and drive-ins are able to get more first-run A-list features. Some ozones show racier fare not suited for most suburban hardtop theaters, a few eventually going X-rated. A handful of drive-in owners take to making their own films geared specifically for outdoor screens, such as Bob Lippert Sr., who runs a chain of 23 drive-ins from Oregon to Hollywood (he once owned San Diego's Cinerama). Lippert produces nearly 200 movies for his chain, including Jungle Goddess, Treasure of Monte Cristo, Tales of Robin Hood, and Mask of the Dragon.
1973: AM radio transmission of movie sound becomes practical thanks to innovations by Cinema Radio, a company started by Fred J. Schwartz to combat poor drive-in audio. At the time, an estimated 97 percent of cars have AM radios.
1978 - 1988: Over 1000 outdoor screens close. Reasons include land value increases that make selling for redevelopment attractive financially, aging owners wishing to retire, decaying properties, the increasing popularity of malls and multiplexes, and the home-video explosion. Many drive-in lots become strip-malls containing, ironically enough, video stores.
1982: Around 2130 drive-ins still standing.
1987: Around 1000 drive-ins operating.
1990: Only about 900 drive-ins remain open.
December 1997: 815 outdoor screens remain.
1999: United Drive-In Theatre Owners association formed.
June 2005: 419 drive-ins operate nationwide.
Present: In the last 18 years, around 50 drive-in theaters have reopened and about 30 new ones were built. At this writing, California has 21 drive-ins operating with a total of 50 screens.
The owners of the South Bay Drive-In, De Anza, remodeled their four-screen Mission Drive-In in Pomona (now the Mission Tiki), which frequently hosts events by SoCal Dims, the Southern California Drive-In Movie Society.
"The theater got very run-down, but I completely redesigned it and refurbished the marquee to reflect the same tiki theme as the old Del Mar Drive-In," says Teri Oldknow. "I really loved that place. It totally inspired me to make over the one in Pomona, with the same great '50s patio-culture theme."
"Field Of Screens" -- Cover story 7-6-06: Complete theater-by-theater history of San Diego drive-ins thru the years, including interviews with operators and attendees, dozens of rare and unpublished photos, vintage local theater ads, and more. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"Do You Remember: The Midway Drive-in" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"Before It Was The Gaslamp: Balboa's Last Stand" -- Cover story 6-21-07: In the late '70s/early '80s, I worked at downtown San Diego's grindhouse all-night movie theaters. This detailed feature recalls those dayz, the death of the Balboa Theatre, etc., including interviews with operators, vintage local movie ads, and more. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"Pussycat Theaters: When 'Cathouses Ruled California" -- for the first time, the inside story of the west coast Pussycat Theater chain of adult moviehouses, which peaked in the '70s but later died out. Company head Vince Miranda owned and lived part time at the Hotel San Diego, operating several other local theaters downtown and in Oceanside, Escondido, etc. Told by those who actually ran the theaters, with a complete theater-by-theater encyclopedia covering every Pussycat that ever screened in CA -- http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
Grindhouse Movie Reviews/Seen on DVD columns:
"Black Caesar (1973) and Cover Me Babe (1970)" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"Donnie Darko Sequel Doesn't Deserve Bad Rap" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"Queen of the Damned: Anne Rice Offshoot Doesn't Deserve Bad Rap" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"Cult Movie Review: Forbidden Zone (1982)" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"Cult Movie Reviews: Andy Warhol's Bad & The Sentinel" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"Movies Shot in San Diego: Wicked Wicked (1973)" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"Movies Shot in San Diego: A Force of One (1979)" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"Phantom of the Paradise and the Day the Ken Cinema Made Cult Movie History" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"Velvet Goldmine Channels '70s Glam and Oscar Wilde" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"They're Rebooting the Crow?! 4 Remakes Good as (or Better) Than the Originals" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"Wonderwall w/ George Harrison: Lost 1968 Psychedelic Gem" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"Iron Man vs Watchmen" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"Pan's Labyrinth vs. The Devil's Backbone" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"John Waters Newbie Screens a Waters Marathon" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"We Asked 25 Local Celebs What's Your Favorite Twilight Zone?" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"What Do YOU Think? Does the Walking Dead Stink, Or ?" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"Dateline: May 1959 - Elvis Movie Causes Mexican Riot" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"Local Celebs Who LOVE Star Wars!" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"Former Local Co-Creating Newest Star Trek Adventures" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"Rod Serling's Night Gallery: Local Wrote the Book (& Upcoming DVD Extras)" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"Punk Rock Dads Docu: Blink, Red Hot Chili, Pennywise, more" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"Local Drummer Featured in New Documentary" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"Local Singer & Ramona Footage in Quiet Riot Documentary Film" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"Why Porn Movies Deserve To Die Out" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"American Artifact Documentary DVD Celebrates Concert Poster Art" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"DVD Documentary Features Local Cult Star Gary Wilson" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
"Locally Shot Transvestite Documentary on DVD" - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs...
Famous Movie Poster Rejects You've Never Seen Part 1: Private collection of movie poster designs published exclusively on the Reader website for the first time ever: Batman, Witches of Eastwick, Supergirl
Part 2: The Fly, Vamp, Fright Night, Howard the Duck, Stallone: Over the Top, Ladyhawk
Part 3: Horror film Near Dark, horsey drama Phar Lap, the Robert DeNiro/Albert Brooks sleeper Midnight Run (still under its working title Running Scared when these two posters were mocked up), 3D cartoon Starchaser: The Legend of Orin, Airplane-style comedy Bad Medicine (with Steve Gutenberg and Julie Hagerty), and war story Hamburger Hill.
Part 4: Collegiate comedy Campus Man, horror hits Wes Craven's Deadly Friend and Blood Diner, and rock and roll horror flop Trick or Treat, as well as Texas Godfather, Vanishing Act, China Girl, 8 Million Ways to Die, sci-fi biker flick City Limits, and war romance Purple Hearts.
Part 5: Voyage of the Rock Aliens with Pia Zadora, the Annette Funicello/Frankie Avalon/Pee Wee Herman surf comedy Back to the Beach, psycho-ex thriller Fatal Attraction, alleged comedy Planes Trains & Automobiles, James Woods in Cop, the Tom Cruise hit All the Right Moves, drive-in horror hit Deadly Blessing, the re-release of Roger Corman's original Little Shop of Horrors, import sex comedy Perfect Timing, historical drama Hanoi Hilton, Stallone sequel Rocky V (under its original title Final Bell), and Nothing But Trouble, back when it was still known as Welcome to Valkenvania.
Part 6: Horror comedy Return of the Living Dead, Force III, Meatballs III, plainclothes cop thriller Off Limits (Willem Dafoe, Gregory Hines), sci-fi McDonald's commercial Mac & Me, the Diane Lane potboiler Lady Beware, UK comedy Mr. Love, Robert Townsend's Hollywood Shuffle, Walter Bannert's German-language Austrian film the Inheritors, the Dudley Moore/Eddie Murphy flop Best Defense, Richard Donner's Inside Moves, William Peter Blatty's Ninth Configuration, adventure flick Tai-Pan, German musical the Frog Prince with Helen Hunt, and the Rosary Murders.


text:
2011-SepMeasurements Ultimate Ears Triple fi 10 Pro
Nick Name: Golden Ears Registered Date: Sep 06, 2011, 23:51:43 IP ADRESS: *.56.123.5 Views: 66147
* How we measure (Earphones, Headphones)
* Golden Ears Measurements F.A.Q.
* About the Golden Ears Recommendation Index (G.E.R.I.)
* How to read measurements - Earphones, Headphones
* Frequency response & perceived sound
Please keep in mind that the following data are from a test unit reviewed by Golden Ears - the test unit is not necessarily a representative sample of the model being reviewed.
Eartip: Silicone / Red:Headroom Amp, Blue:E-MU 0404,Green:NuForce Mobile
Diffuse Sound Field Equalization + The small room X-Curve Compensation
for more information : How we measure (Earphones, Headphones)
Lower is better - if the G.E.R.I. is below 3, the product will be listed as a Golden Ears Recommended Product.
for more information : About the Golden Ears Recommendation Index (G.E.R.I.)
The following chart is an expression of the reviewer's opinion on this product's measured data and perceived sound, and may include bias from using the Golden Ears reference unit as a standard.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Rubber Case is in stock. We will print it as soon as you order it.
Ready to ship in 1-2 days
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Rubber Case | Brand: BestSub
Product dimensions measured on a flatly laid out product.
Tip: measure an item of clothing at hand to compare.
blacks made america great


text:
When our dear friends at Alison Events asked us to design their most recent wedding planner book All the Essentials we couldn't have said yes any quicker. This talented group of women knows all there is about planning a perfect wedding, and their eye for design is off the charts. Some of our lovely ladies attended the book party and it was a ball, as expected.
The book, filled with prime planner advice, offers check lists, templates, and gift trackers - all to make your wedding day a dream.
We asked Alison herself a few questions about the process and here is what she had to say!
What's the first step for any bride planning a wedding who wants to stay organized?
Getting organized and staying organized is always such a daunting task. We designed this book with that in mind. We modeled it after a binder because that's exactly what we use with our own clients. We make a client blinder that stays with us in the office and we send one to our couples. Month by month we make a "to-do" list with things we are working on and things our couple should be completing in that month. Taking it one step at a time is the only way to go at it and not get completely overwhelmed. It's also super helpful to have one place where you keep everything and can reference that so easy.
What inspired you to create this wedding planner and to share all this helpful info?
We've been lucky enough to be doing what we love for over 12 years now and have learned so much along the way. Trends change, design shifts but the core of planning more or less stays the same. This planner is set up to guide couples through the process and keep them on track. Everyone will need a place to keep those important contracts, hotel information, menus, registry, and seating charts etc. With this wedding planner, you'll be able to hole punch and put them right in the binder with the added bonus of some advice on how to go about these monumental decisions.
In all your wedding planning experience, what's the most important tip you've learned along the way?
Surround yourself with a solid team. This is true in my business as well as couple's hiring on help. Couple's should be reaching out to vendors that have great reputations and speak to their personal style but they should also be someone you click with and trust. You have to follow your instincts and this will make the process all the easier.
What's your best advice for a bride who is feeling overwhelmed and stressed out while planning?
Hire a planner! The amount of money & stress you will save will be worth it in the end if planning just isn't your thing! Some couples really enjoy the process of finding unique ways to incorporate their story or things they enjoy into their special day, while others might need a little help getting there. Don't let it get to a place where it just isn't fun anymore and you're dreaming of eloping. You can always turn things around by either getting a professional on board or just getting some advice on how to attack intimidating tasks.
The day of the wedding can often be hectic. Do you have advice for a bride and groom for when the big day arrives?
When the big day arrives…it's time to party and celebrate major milestone accomplishments! By that time, the two of you have already made executive decisions together and come out on top. Stay focused on what that day will represent for years, decades to come and enjoy being surrounded by your closest friends, family, and most of all, the person you're meant to spend your life with.
To get your copy of All the Essentials, published by Chronicle Books leave a comment below telling us your best wedding tip or your dream wedding location. We'll pick three winners on Friday, February 22nd.


text:
Tropical Storm Ernesto Soaks Jamaica; Florence in Atlantic
(NEW YORK) -- Tropical storm Ernesto is expected to soak Jamaica with three to six inches of rain and winds of 50 mph today as it barrels toward Central America. It is forecast to make landfall there Monday or Tuesday.
The storm has lost some of its circular motion and "organization" but is expected to continue gaining speed today and reach Honduras within 24 hours, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
The storm's westerly track has decreased the likelihood that Ernesto will become the first hurricane of the summer to reach U.S. shores.
The storm is expected to be felt from the Cayman Islands to Aruba today, before it heads toward landfall over Belize or Mexico.
While Ernesto will likely miss the U.S., a new tropical storm, Florence, has formed in the mid-Atlantic and is picking up speed as it heads toward the Caribbean.
Florence, which formed just west of the Cape Verde Islands, has sustained wind gusts of 60 mph and could be upgraded to a hurricane today. It is the sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio


text:
BURBANK, California President Barack Obama is criticizing a Republican Senate candidate for his comments about women and rape, saying that "rape is rape" and that distinctions offered by the Republican candidate, in Obama's words, "don't make any sense to me."
The Tea Party-backed Republican in Indiana's Senate race, Richard Mourdock, said during a debate Tuesday night that when pregnancy results from rape, that is "something God intended."
Asked about Mourdock's comment Wednesday on "The Tonight Show," Obama told host Jay Leno, quote: "Rape is rape. It is a crime."
Obama says such remarks reflect why politicians, mostly male, shouldn't be making decisions about women's health care. He also says that women are capable of making their own decisions and that intrusions by politicians is part of what's at stake in the presidential election.
- Romney campaign stands by Mourdock
- Richard Mourdock: Even pregnancy from rape something "God intended"
Just as Mitt Romney and other Republicans had cut into the Democrats' advantage with female voters, Mourdock's awkward remark has propelled the emotional issue of abortion back to the political forefront. It's put GOP candidates in tight races, from the presidential candidate on down, on the defensive.
Divisive social issues are hardly what most GOP candidates want to be discussing in the few days remaining until elections largely hinging on jobs and the economy. Almost immediately after Mourdock's comment, Republican candidates distanced themselves from the Indiana state treasurer - though by varying degrees.
The Romney campaign immediately distanced itself from Mourdock's comments, and stressed that Romney's position on abortion - he supports exceptions in cases of rape, incest and when the mother's life is in danger - differs from that of Mourdock. Mourdock supports exceptions for abortion only when the mother's life is in danger, the same position that many conservatives, including Romney's vice presidential nominee, Paul Ryan, also espouse.
"Gov. Romney disagrees with Richard Mourdock, and Mr. Mourdock's comments do not reflect Gov. Romney's views. We disagree on the policy regarding exceptions for rape and incest but still support him," said Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul.
Sen. John McCain, the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, told CNN that his continued support of Mourdock "depends on what he does." Earlier, he had endorsed Mourdock, but said he was rethinking it.
The Arizona lawmaker who was the GOP's 2008 presidential nominee, said he wants to see "if he apologizes and says he misspoke and he was wrong and asks people to forgive him. It's when you don't own up to it that people will not believe in you."
Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, struggling to hold onto his seat against a challenge from Democrat Elizabeth Warren, said he was "a pro-choice Republican and that's not what I believe and I disagree with what he said." Pressed on his support for Mourdock's candidacy, Brown said that was up to Indiana voters.
Connecticut Republican Linda McMahon, bidding for the Senate seat there, called Mourdock's remarks "highly inappropriate and offensive. They do not reflect my beliefs as a woman or a pro-choice candidate."
New Hampshire Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who had planned to campaign with Mourdock in Indiana, canceled her appearance.
In Wisconsin, former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson, who faces Democratic Rep. Tammy Baldwin, called Mourdock's comments "really sad."
"I've got a wife and two daughters and six granddaughters," he said in an interview. "Anything dealing with rape against women is uncalled for. Period. No tolerance whatsoever."


text:
PENSACOLA, Fla.—The Birmingham-Southern men went 2-1 and the women went 2-2 on Saturday in the regular season finale, competing at the West Florida spring quad meet at the UWF Aquatic Center in Pensacola, Fla.
The Panthers are done with their regular season and now prepare for the 2014 Southern Athletic Association Championship, Feb. 12-15, hosted by Hendrix College at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
The BSC men defeated Thomas University and LaGrange College but lost to No. 14 Delta State, and the women also defeated Thomas and LaGrange but fell to No. 21 West Florida and No. 8 Delta State, both NCAA Division II squads.
Highlights included senior diver Cody Spradlin winning the 3-meter, and sophomore swimmer Duncan Bonney placing second in the 100 breast and 100 free. Sophomore Wil Cushman was also second in the 1000 free, sophomore Drew Priede was third in the 200 free, and freshman Scott Taylor was third in the 100 back. On the women's side, sophomore Hannah Busk placed third in the 100 back.


text:
Through GALILEO, Georgia citizens have access to authoritative, subscription-only information that isn't available through free search engines or Web directories. Here's a sampling of what's inside:
(See also "Private College or University" below if your school is not in the list above.)
Note: To obtain your GALILEO password, you will need to log into your GIL account. Follow these instructions to obtain your GALILEO password:
For more information on obtaining your GALILEO password, see this FAQ.
GALILEO Guest access includes non-password-protected resources only, such as the Digital Library of Georgia databases, the New Georgia Encyclopedia, and other public databases. It is possible to log in as a Guest in one of three ways:


text:
Single Purchase
Purchase this Vector Art / Clipart image for just $25.90. Includes all 3 formats and 30 days to come back and re-download.
Purchase with an AIVectorArt Subscription
With an AiVectorArt.com subscription you pay $39.95 /month and receive upto 40 Vector Art / Clipart images of your choice. Each month you receive 40 credits to make your purchases. You can cancel anytime from your control panel and there are no contracts, no minimum number of months you have to pay. More Info
Signup for Membership | Login to Existing Account
All of our images are available in 3 formats, once you have purchased the image you can choose to download the image in any or all of the formats available at no extra cost. You also have 30 days from the date of purchase to come back and download the image from your purchase history absolutely free. Available Vector Art and Clipart formats are:
Find More Related Products
Terms of Use | Sitemap


text:
Jamcculloch1 necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 112 diseños de 34 diseñadores freelance.
Guiding Capital
Guiding Capital is an investment business focused on helping small and medium sized businesses reaching their potential. We provide both financial and intellectual capital; we invest and then walk along side management to deliver added value:
supporting them,
constructively challenging thinking and strategy, and
actively draw on our network of businesses contacts and other
The three Principals (directors) of the business have extensive business experience, both in running their own and supporting successful investments. We are commercial in our approach to investment which is UK focused. We also have more socially bias investments in developing countries where our need for financial returns is lessened where there is a wider positive economic in the community we're investing in.
Businesses requiring funding of between $250,000 and $5m range We get to these via :
o Intermediaries – people who are advising businesses on fund
o Accountants
o Solicitors
o Commercial Banks
o Insolvency practitioners
o Other similar investors for whom the size is too small
Business owners/managers themselves
The logo must help to establish a sense of professionalism, a greater than normal level of personal involvement and guidance from the Principals.
Guiding is the key word in our name.
We do not have an existing logo or web-site.
1) We are looking for a clean and modern style logo.
2) It must portray a professional, innovative and supportive business.
3) Although we are looking for a clean modern design, we are looking for a design that really stands out and is memorable.
4) You may want to include a visual icon related to growth/success. Note that we do not have a huge budget for stock images.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text:
If you're just starting out in the internet marketing world, then it's likely that you'll turn to affiliate marketing for some quick income. Affiliate marketing is easy to do, once you've chosen your product. But from all the offers available, how do you find the best affiliate product for you?
Well, that's easy too, you just need to answer these four essential questions, to make sure that your affiliate career gets off to a great start!
No.1. Are You Interested In The Product You're Marketing?
This definitely comes first. Just as when choosing a product to create yourself, you need to pick an affiliate product that you're interested in or already know about. For example something connected with one of your hobbies or leisure activities, or previous employment.
Having this kind of connection to the affiliate product, will help to bring your personal experience into your promotion and will maintain your own interest when you're doing your marketing.
You'll find this of most help if you're using the regular blogging and article marketing, which is recommended for the best affiliate product promotion. It's always so much easier to write about something with which you're familiar, rather than trying to make up a post for something that you don't know about and have no real interest in. If you do go down that route, you're likely to find your initial enthusiasm waning quite quickly and your promotional output slipping as well.
No.2. What Is The Commission Rate?
When you're looking for the best affiliate product, you're intending to make a profit. That means earning more from sales than you pay out in expenses. So, obviously, the commission rate that's paid, coupled with the products selling price, is of prime importance.
The way to approach this step to finding the best affiliate product, is to take the subjects that interest you and compare the different affiliate offers in those markets, until you find the higher value products and their commission rates.
Obviously, at any given commission rate, the more expensive the product, the more profit you make. So, generally, the higher value products will be the best bet. However, you'll also need to assess the product's saleability as well (No.3.), in order to decide the overall profitability of the product.
This is something to be learnt from experience and a good step right now would be to have a look at the range of offers on ClickBank.com and familiarize yourself with the sales statistics they give for each offer.
No.3. Will The Product Be Saleable?
Here you need to consider the saleability of the product. By that I mean, is it likely to be popular. Is it something that people will want and is it something that your target market will find both affordable and value for money.
These are the key elements that will achieve the product sales, once the prospects have arrived at your site. Another aspect that will make sales easier, is if the product is seen as unique or is easily recognizable to customers, for example by having a brand name or trademark.
Picking a product that has this sort of individuality, will make it easier for you to carry out your search engine optimization and will bring more focused traffic to your site, than will a general product description.
No.4. Is The Product Merchant Well Established?
If you are right at the beginning of your own internet business, the best affiliate product to choose will be one from an established seller. Here you'll get the benefit of knowing that all the production and commission systems are set up and bug free, and all you need to do is concentrate on making the sales.
Well established merchants will often have good quality sales aids, like ads and banners and sometimes offer affiliate help lines. They're also more likely to have the benefit of some brand recognition, which will help your own sales and marketing.
So, if you're ready to start, two of the best known places to take a look at are ClickBank.com and Commission Junction. Take some time and look around these sites to see how they work, what's on offer and how the commissions are paid.
Then, wherever you choose your product remember to answer these four questions to find the best affiliate offer for you.


text:
One-pot cabbage & beans with white fish
Nutrition and extra info
- Healthy
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal423
- fat16g
- saturates4g
- carbs29g
- sugars13g
- fibre0g
- protein42g
- salt1.45g
- small knob of butter
Butter is made when lactic-acid producing bacteria are added to cream and churned to make an…
- 5 rashers smoked streaky bacon, chopped
- 1 onion, finely chopped
Onions are endlessly versatile and an essential ingredient in countless recipes. Native to Asia…
- 2 celery sticks, diced
A collection of long, thick, juicy stalks around a central, tender heart, celery ranges in…
- 2 carrots, diced
The carrot, with its distinctive bright orange colour, is one of the most versatile root…
- small bunch thyme
This popular herb grows in Europe, especially the Mediterranean, and is a member of the mint…
- 1 Savoy cabbage, shredded
- 4 tbsp white wine
- 300ml chicken stock
- 410g can flageolet bean in water, drained
For the fish
Heat the butter in a large sauté pan until starting to sizzle, add the bacon, then fry for a few mins. Add the onion, celery and carrots, then gently cook for 8-10 mins until softening, but not brown. Stir in the thyme and cabbage, then cook for a few mins until the cabbage starts to wilt. Pour in the wine, simmer until evaporated, then add the stock and beans. Season, cover the pan, then simmer gently for 10 mins until the cabbage is soft but still vibrant.
When the cabbage is done, cook the fish. Season each fillet, then dust the skin with flour. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Fry the fish, skin-side down, for 4 mins until crisp, then flip over and finish on the flesh side until cooked through. Serve each fish fillet on top of a pile of cabbage with a few small potatoes, if you like.
Recipe Tip
Or why not try…Cutting a cabbage into wedges and cooking it in a lidded pan with a small amount of chicken stock and a knob of butter until wilted. Serve the cabbage with its buttery juices.


text:
Business owners can't change the tax code, but many of them say they might change the way their businesses are structured in order to pay less tax.
Chris Pullen of Fort Collins, Colo., is grappling with whether to convert his growing business into a so-called C-Corporation, as a potential tax-savings move.
Mr. Pullen, president of 20-employee RLE Technologies, is among the nearly 30 million business owners who include their business profits on their personal income-tax returns. Changing the company to a C-Corporation would let him pay corporate taxes separately from his personal taxes.
RLE, which makes sensors that monitor data centers, hospitals and other facilities for temperature, humidity and water leaks, had more than $5 million in revenue last year. It is structured as an S-Corporation, which means its profits "flow through" to its owners, who pay taxes on that money at personal tax rates.
"The more taxes we pay, the less we have to reinvest," says the 54-year-old Mr. Pullen, who became a part-owner of the company last year.
He says RLE's five shareholders generally take $100,000-a-year salaries. But claiming their share of business profits drives their collective taxable income several hundred thousand dollars higher—even though most profits go back into the business to pay for new employees or equipment.
This year personal income-tax rates for the highest earners—single filers exceeding $400,000 and joint filers exceeding $450,000—rose to 39.6% from 35% in 2012. The problem for shareholders of RLE, which has 12% annual revenue growth, is that the business could be bringing in enough profit within a few years to bump them into the highest tax bracket.
The top corporate-tax rate, by contrast, is 35%, though it might decline if Congress overhauls corporate taxes. President Barack Obama called for a cut in business-tax rates in his State of the Union speech last week, and has previously proposed eliminating loopholes and subsidies in order to reduce the highest corporate-tax rate to 28%. Such a move would make switching to a C-Corporation structure "even more appealing," Mr. Pullen says.
Lowering taxes is a top priority for business owners this year, especially in light of the higher individual tax rates. Tax worries are "right up there with health care, cash-flow concerns, debt obligations and financing" as big problem areas for U.S. small business this year, says Scott Berger, tax principal at the accounting firm Kaufman, Rossin & Co. in Boca Raton, Fla.
Thirty-five percent of 848 small-business owners and chiefs surveyed by The Wall Street Journal and Vistage International, a peer-advisory firm for CEOs and senior executives, said they would consider reorganizing into C-Corporations if corporate-tax rates were cut.
The survey, conducted online Feb. 4-13, included businesses in manufacturing, construction, retailing and other industries with annual revenue between $1 million and $20 million.
Larger companies are commonly organized as C-Corporations. Unlike S-Corporations, the structure allows for multiple classes of stock and an unrestricted number of shareholders.
Massis Chahbazian, 50, president and chief executive of Printery Inc. in Irvine, Calif., says he would "consider changing over" to a C-Corporation if the corporate-tax rate were cut. His digital printing firm, an S-Corporation, has 30 workers. He eventually plans to sell the firm to fund his retirement. Retirement planning also will influence his decision about its structure, he says.
David Gracey, 45, expects to be in the highest personal tax bracket this year. He runs Network 1 Consulting, an information-technology outsourcing business in Atlanta, as an S-Corporation. After he files his 2012 taxes, he says, he plans to consult his accountant about switching to a C-Corporation. "All options are on the table," he adds.
Ninety-five percent of all business entities declare business profits on their owners' personal tax returns, according to an August 2012 report from Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation. Some experts say C-Corporations may not significantly lower these business owners' tax bills—and might raise their tax burden.
"Even though on the surface you're looking at 35% versus 39.6%, it's a deceptive comparison," says Robert W. Wood, a tax lawyer with Wood LLP in San Francisco. "There may be a slight short-term advantage in C-Corporations, but there are a number of negative long-term implications that would outweigh short-term benefit."
For example, C-Corporation profits can be double-taxed. In addition to the corporate tax on profits, owners also would owe personal taxes on any money they take out of the company as dividends. The double tax kicks in when a business is sold, too.
Another potential problem is that a firm that switches from an S-Corporation generally has to remain a C-Corporation for at least five years.
Carol Piccaro, 54, is CEO of U.S. Chemicals LLC in Darien, Conn., a chemical-distribution firm her father founded in 1960. It started out as a C-Corporation, but she changed it to an LLC about 15 years ago for estate-planning reasons. The move was designed to reduce her tax burden when the company is sold.
Ms. Piccaro says she has no intention of going back to a C-Corporation, even if corporate tax rates do go down, in part because the costs in time and money to make the switch might offset any tax savings.In the survey, 29% said they wouldn't consider reorganizing into C-Corporations, even if corporate tax rates fell.
Source: online.wsj.com.


text:
The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage (Book of Dust, Volume 1) (Hardcover)
List Price: $22.99
Our Price: $20.69
(Save: $2.30 10%)
Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Philip Pullman returns to the parallel world of His Dark Materials--soon to be an HBO original series starring Dafne Keen, Ruth Wilson, James McAvoy, and Lin-Manuel Miranda--to expand on the story of Lyra, "one of fantasy's most indelible heroines" (The New York Times Magazine).
Don't miss Volume II of The Book of Dust: The Secret Commonwealth!
Malcolm Polstead and his daemon, Asta, are used to overhearing news and the occasional scandal at the inn run by his family. But during a winter of unceasing rain, Malcolm finds a mysterious object—and finds himself in grave danger.
Inside the object is a cryptic message about something called Dust; and it's not long before Malcolm is approached by the spy for whom this message was actually intended. When she asks Malcolm to keep his eyes open, he begins to notice suspicious characters everywhere: the explorer Lord Asriel, clearly on the run; enforcement agents from the Magisterium; a gyptian named Coram with warnings just for Malcolm; and a beautiful woman with an evil monkey for a daemon. All are asking about the same thing: a girl—just a baby—named Lyra.
Lyra is at the center of a storm, and Malcolm will brave any peril, and make shocking sacrifices, to bring her safely through it.
"Too few things in our world are worth a seventeen-year wait: The Book of Dust is one of them." —The Washington Post
"The book is full of wonder. . . . Truly thrilling." —The New York Times
"People will love the first volume of Philip Pullman's new trilogy with the same helpless vehemence that stole over them when The Golden Compass came out." —Slate
About the Author
PHILIP PULLMAN is one of the most acclaimed writers working today. He is best known for the His Dark Materials trilogy (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass), which has been named one of the top 100 novels of all time by Newsweek and one of the all-time greatest novels by Entertainment Weekly. He has also won many distinguished prizes, including the Carnegie Medal for The Golden Compass (and the reader-voted "Carnegie of Carnegies" for the best children's book of the past seventy years); the Whitbread (now Costa) Award for The Amber Spyglass; a Booker Prize long-list nomination (The Amber Spyglass); Parents' Choice Gold Awards (The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass); and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, in honor of his body of work. Pullman was knighted for services to literature in the New Year's Honors 2019.
Philip Pullman is the author of many other much-lauded novels. Three volumes related to His Dark Materials: Lyra's Oxford, Once Upon a Time in the North, and The Collectors. For younger readers: I Was a Rat!; Count Karlstein; Two Crafty Criminals; Spring-Heeled Jack; and The Scarecrow and His Servant. For older readers: the Sally Lockhart quartet (The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North, The Tiger in the Well, and The Tin Princess); The White Mercedes; and The Broken Bridge.
Philip Pullman lives in Oxford, England. To learn more, please visit philip-pullman.com or follow him on facebook at Philip Pullman author, and on Twitter at @PhilipPullman.
Praise For…
"Reading this novel is like standing in a room in which suddenly all of the windows have blown open at once." —Slate
"It's a stunning achievement, the universe Pullman has created and continues to build on." —The New York Times
"A phantasmagoric waterborne odyssey. Mr. Pullman is a supple and formidable writer." —The Wall Street Journal
"Enthralling, enchanting. The first half reads like a thriller. The story becomes darker, deeper and even more engrossing when a cataclysmic flood overtakes Southern England. Too few things in our world are worth a seventeen year wait: The Book of Dust is one of them." — The Washington Post
"Pullman's writing is as deftly brilliant as ever. A triumphant return to the alternate Oxford we love."—Bustle
"The Book of Dust passes by in one tumultuous wave of literature, that leaves you queasy, but wanting the next volume as quickly as possible. It deserves not only a reread, but an unpacking. It is not a one and done novel, something that, in a time where binging and passing is the status quo. This is a novel to digest. One to take in, let settle, and then revisit. We are lucky to have Pullman's words. Words that will continue to nourish the souls and imaginations of readers for a long, long time." —Hypable
"Once again, Pullman's fantasy arrives precisely when it can teach us the most about ourselves, as if it were guided by Dust itself." —Entertainment Weekly
"High-octane adventure accompanies ingenious plotting." The Times (London)
"Lyra Silvertongue, Lyra Belacqua, but really just Lyra: one of those characters—Pip, Emma, Lolita—who is on first-name terms with her public."—The New York Times Magazine
"Pullman's imagery is as dazzling as ever. La Belle Sauvage reveals the incredible ways in which 'ordinary' children can react whenplaced in extraordinary circumstances: with kindness, bravery and cunning." —The Bookseller
"A rollicking adventure. Delightful." —Mother Jones
"A stunning, otherworldly journey. La Belle Sauvage dives deeply into magic and intrigue. What a gift it is to be allowed back into this universe." —BuzzFeed
"Full of acute observation. A rich, imaginative, vividly characterized rite-of-passage tale." —London Sunday Times
"Thrilling and thought-provoking." —Times Literary Supplement
"A singularly beguiling work of fantasy. [Pullman is] perhaps the best fantasy writer alive." —The A.V. Club
"A profoundly compelling foundation for a new trilogy." —Vox
"This tense, adventure-packed book will satisfy and delight Pullman's fans and leave them eager to see what's yet to come" —Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Pullman is an easeful storyteller and an intricate and inventive world-builder, and everything he has to write is worth reading." —The Telegraph
"Magisterial storytelling will sweep readers along; the cast is as vividly drawn as ever; and big themes running beneath the surface invite profound responses and reflection." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Luminous prose, heady philosophical questions, and a lovable protagonist combine with a gripping plot sure to enchant fans and newcomers alike." —SLJ, starred review
"Pullman demonstrates that his talent for world building hasn't diminished, nor has his ability to draw young characters—here, Malcolm, who is layered enough to carry an adventure through multiple dimensions." —Booklist, starred review
"Pullman's immense powers of kinesthetic visualization keep the story pulsing on an epic scale."—The Guardian
"An immersive, creepy, edge-of-your seat adventure." —Shelf Awareness
"To connect once more with a fictional universe of such great power is a delight." —Financial Times


text:
According to one LiveLeak poster, the Australian comedy show about down under yobbos was filming in Tasmania yesterday. According to the police, one drunk driver literally blew up his car to get on camera.
In an official Facebook post on September 29th, the Tasmania Police state that a man aged around 50 years old was arrested for "committing numerous driving offences then setting fire to his vehicle in a vacant block." The police further stated that a film crew was "filming a documentary and the man was attempting to become involved."
LiveLeak poster xr6tblue, however, states that the film crew was for the comedy show Housos about the fictional parody of Australians living in public housing.
Police state that the driver had a blood alcohol content of 0.185 and was charged with drunk driving and hooning, which is a crime in Australia.


text:
Owner's Center
Contact Us
1-800-269-6215Mon. - Fri. 9AM - 7PM &Sat. 9AM - 6PM EST
Part Finder
Know your part number?
- Know your model number?
- Don't know your model number?
You can use the Part Finder to help find your model and the right part for your machine.
Matching Models
Diagnose & Troubleshoot Lawn Tractors
Select one of the symptoms below to find possible causes and common solutions
Common Symptoms:
- Engine cranks but will not start
- Engine Smokes
- Engine will not crank
- Excess Vibration
- Mower discharges, bags or mulches grass poorly
- Mower will not cut in reverse
Mower will not cut in reverse
|Possible Causes
|Corrective Actions
1Safety switch
It is a safety feature. You must disengage cutting deck before putting mower in reverse.


text:
View Singles in Newcastle
By clicking continue, I agree to receive transactional and promotional emails from Match.com. I understand that I am free to withdraw consent at any time.
By using our site, you agree to the Match.com Terms of Use.
32 - Newcastle, WA
Active within 3 weeks
37 - Newcastle, WA
Active over 3 weeks ago
38 - Newcastle, WA
Active within 24 hours
33 - Newcastle, WA
Active within 24 hours
37 - Newcastle, WA
Active within 24 hours
The Evergreen State of Washington. It's the perfect way to see who is single in Washington, what we're all about, and it's free. With millions of singles and all the tips and tools you need to find your match, Match.com is just the Newcastle matchmaker you've been searching for. Flirting with the idea of dating again? View thousands of hot Newcastle single men and single women looking for dates on Match.com.
Ballard, Beacon Hill, Beaux Arts, Bellevue, Burien, Capitol One, Carnation, Clyde Hill, Columbia, Covington, Des Moines, Fall City, Hobart, Hunts Point, Issaquah, Juanita, Kent, Kirkland, Lake City, Maple Valley, Medina, Mercer Island, Normandy Park, Northgate, Preston, Ravensdale, Redmond, Redondo, Renton, Riverton, Sammamish, Seahurst, SeaTac, Seattle, Snoqualmie, Tukwila, University, Vashon, West Seattle, Yarrow Point view all states »
Asian , Black , Catholic , Christian , Divorced , Free Online Dating, Gay Singles, Gay Dating, Jewish , Lesbian Singles, Single Parents, view all communities »


text:
Photo Coverage: The New York Pops Rehearses with Pink Martini for JOY TO THE WORLD Concert
The concert program will feature favorite holiday tunes like "The Little Drummer Boy," "Ocho Kandelikas," "Do You Hear What I Hear," and "We Three Kings." The performance will also include musical highlights from famed composers Maurice Ravel, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Irving Berlin.
Pink Martini is a "little orchestra" that draws inspiration from all over the world - crossing genres of classical, jazz and old- fashioned pop. Founded by pianist Thomas Lauderdale in 1994, Pink Martini features 10-12 musicians and performs its multilingual repertoire on concert stages and with symphony orchestras throughout Europe, Asia, Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, Northern Africa, Australia and New Zealand, South America and North America. Pink Martini made its European debut at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 and its orchestral debut with the Oregon Symphony in 1998 under the direction of Norman Leyden. Since then, the band has gone on to play with more than 50 orchestras around the world, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the Boston Pops, the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center, the San Francisco Symphony, and the BBC Concert Orchestra at Royal Albert Hall in London. Other appearances include the grand opening of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall, with return sold-out engagements for New Year's Eve 2003, 2004, 2008 and 2011; two sold-out concerts at Carnegie Hall; the opening party of the remodeled Museum of Modern Art in New York City; the Governor's Ball at the 80th Annual Academy Awards in 2008; the opening of the 2008 Sydney Festival in Australia; two sold-out concerts at Paris' legendary L'Olympia Theatre in 2011; and Paris fashion house Lanvin's 10-year anniversary celebration for designer Alber Elbaz in 2012.
Between 1997 and 2010, Pink Martini released five albums, all of which have gone gold in France, Canada, Greece and Turkey, including Joy to the World-a festive, multi-denominational holiday album featuring songs from around the globe. Pink Martini's 2011 album, 1969, has been certified platinum in Japan, reaching #2 on the Japanese charts with the Japan Times raving "the love and respect Saori Yuki and Pink Martini have for the pop tradition shines through on every track." The band has collaborated and performed with numerous artists, such as Jimmy Scott, Carol Channing, Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, Jane Powell, Henri Salvador, Chavela Vargas, Michael Feinstein, filmmaker Gus Van Sant, clarinetist and conductor Norman Leyden, Japanese legend Hiroshi Wada and the original cast of Sesame Street.
The New York Pops is the largest independent pops orchestra in the United States, and the only professional symphonic orchestra in New York City specializing in popular music. Led by Music Director Steven Reineke, the orchestra performs an annual subscription series and birthday gala at Carnegie Hall. The New York Pops also gives free concerts in New York City parks, performs interactive concerts for families, and has toured throughout the world. The New York Pops' extensive education programs allow thousands of New Yorkers of all ages and backgrounds to participate in concert and music-making experiences at Carnegie Hall, public schools, community organizations, children's hospitals and senior centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City. A recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The New York Pops is a non-profit organization supported solely through the generosity of individual donations, institutional grants, corporate sponsorships and concert income.
Steven Reineke's boundless enthusiasm and exceptional artistry have made him one of the nation's most sought- after pops conductors, composers and arrangers. Mr. Reineke is Music Director and Conductor of The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, the newly appointed Principal Pops Conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Principal Pops Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. Mr. Reineke is a frequent guest conductor with The Philadelphia Orchestra and in the past year he conducted the Boston Pops, The Cleveland Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia. His extensive North American conducting appearances include Los Angeles, Houston, Seattle, Edmonton and Detroit. As the creator of more than one hundred orchestral arrangements for the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Mr. Reineke's work has been performed worldwide, and can be heard on numerous Cincinnati Pops Orchestra recordings on the Telarc label. His symphonic works Celebration Fanfare, Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Casey at the Bat are performed frequently in North America. His numerous wind ensemble compositions are published by the C.L. Barnhouse Company and are performed by concert bands around the world. A native of Ohio, Mr. Reineke is a graduate of Miami University of Ohio, where he earned bachelor of music degrees with honors in both trumpet performance and music composition. He currently resides in New York City.
Visit www.carnegiehall.org for more information.Photo Credit: Stephen Sorokoff
Steven Reineke & Thomas M. Lauderdale
Thomas M. Lauderdale
Thomas M. Lauderdale
Doris Fisher
Thomas M. Lauderdale & Steven Reineke
Thomas M. Lauderdale
Norman Leyden, Steven Reineke, Gavin Bondy
Gavin Bondy
Doris Fisher
Issac Stern Auditorium


text:
We tend to associate napping with babies, old people and slackers, but here's a news flash: Napping actually has a lot health benefits, including boosting your productivity, enhancing your libido and aiding in weight loss!
Today is actually "National Napping Day,"a day to bring awareness to the benefits of napping. The creator, William Anthony, a professor at Boston University, chose the Monday after Daylight Savings Time kicks in because it's a day that most people are usually sluggish.
"Americans are more 'nap-ready' than usual after losing an hour of sleep to daylight savings time," Anthony said in a press release.
"Our goal is to encourage folks to take a nap wherever they may be, at home, at the workplace, or on vacation, and to make it a regular part of their healthy lifestyle," said Anthony. "It is a day when nappers all over the country need to lie down and be counted."
A study by Tempur-Pedic found that more than half of Americans admit to falling asleep in inappropriate places, including bathroom stalls, graveyards, elevators and court.
In the book,"Take a Nap! Change Your Life," author Sara C. Mednick says a sleep-deprived population is actually a dangerous population, noting the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Union Carbide chemical explosion in India and nuclear catastrophe at Chernobyl have all been in some way linked to employees suffering from a lack of sleep.
"No single organ is affected by a lack of sleep more than the brain," Mednick writes. "In order to function, it must metabolize the glucose that it receives via the circulation of blood. Neither process is possible without sleep."
Several studies have found that decreased levels of nocturnal sleep have been associated with an increased risk of breast cancer and colon cancer, and they mess with the hormone that controls your appetite, Mednick notes. If your body isn't producing that hormone, then it doesn't always know how to tell you when you're full – —and you keep eating.
In the chapter titled, "The Nap Manifesto," she notes the positive side effects of napping such as increasing alertness, accuracy and decision making. It's also helpful for a company's bottom line: Fatigue-related accidents cost US industries over $150 million a year, she writes. It also helps keep you looking young – It improves skin and tissue regeneration. It also can help you lose weight and reduces your risk of heart attack or stroke.
And — this requires its own paragraph — it can improve your sex life. "Sleep deprivation dampens sex drive and sexual function," she writes. "Napping reverses those effects."
So let's all make a pact here and now to stop napping at our desks and in graveyards and start making naps at appropriate times and places a regular part of our day.
Ready! Set! Nap! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Post-Nap Reading From CNBC.com:
Questions? Comments? Email email@example.com or drop a line in the comment box below.
More from The Pony Blog: ponyblog.cnbc.com


text:
Returning to work and still breastfeeding? Pump Talk 101 will help ease you back into the work setting, teaching you the basics of pumping for your baby. $10 per person. Please contact the front desk to sign up 651-895-2520
We have a Pumping Essentials gift bag available for purchase that you can preorder.
The gift bag is $75 ($87.50 value) and includes the following:
1 hands free nursing bra
2 Medela storage bottles
1 Medela Sanitizing Bag
Mothers Milk Tea
1 package of reusable nursing pads
1 package of Medela Breastmilk storage bags


text:
DHAKA, Bangladesh - Lawyers for a leader of Bangladesh's largest Islamic party sought Wednesday to have his death sentence thrown out after a late-night reprieve saved his life just hours before he was to be hanged.
Abdul Quader Mollah, convicted of war crimes during the nation's war of independence against Pakistan in 1971, was due to be executed at a minute past midnight, but lawyers went to the home of Judge Syed Mahmud Hossain and secured a postponement.
The lawyers are trying to convince the Supreme Court to throw out the sentence in a case that could usher in a new wave of political violence ahead of national elections set for next month.
After beginning to hear the case Wednesday, the Supreme Court adjourned until Thursday.
Mollah's party, Jamaat-e-Islami, an ally of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, enforced a nationwide general strike on Wednesday and issued a statement warning of "dire consequences" if he were executed.
Hundreds of pro-government activists, meanwhile, blocked traffic on a main road in Dhaka demanding Mollah's immediate execution.
The developments come at a time of deep tension in Bangladesh, a nation struggling to overcome extreme poverty and rancorous politics.
Mollah would be the first person executed in special trials begun by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2010 of people suspected of crimes during the nation's war of independence against Pakistan in 1971. The government says Pakistani soldiers, aided by local collaborators, killed 3 million people and raped 200,000 women during the nine-month war.
Most of the defendants in the trials are opposition members. Mollah's party and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party say the trials are an attempt to weaken the opposition and eliminate Islamic parties. International human rights groups have also raised questions about the impartiality of the tribunal. Authorities have denied the allegations.
Deadly clashes have followed court verdicts against six other current and former officials of Mollah's party, and extra police are stationed in the capital to head off any new violence. Paramilitary guards are on standby across the country as well.
Carrying out the execution would complicate an already critical political situation in Bangladesh, where the opposition has carried out violent protests for weeks to back a demand for an independent caretaker government to oversee the general elections early next year.
The government has rejected that demand and said a political government headed by Hasina would conduct the elections.
The election is set for Jan. 5, but the opposition alliance led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia plans to boycott it. Weeks of blockades and general strikes have left nearly 100 people dead since October. Mollah's party has been banned by the Election Commission from taking part in the elections.
Mollah's family had met him at a Dhaka jail on Tuesday for what was expected to be the last time.
As authorities finalized the time for the execution, many cellphone users in Bangladesh received text messages from an unknown number that said if Mollah was executed a civil war could break out. The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission said it is trying to determine who sent the messages.
Defense counsel Sazzad Ali Chowdhury said the postponement late Tuesday gave lawyers time to file the petition which the Supreme Court's Appellate Division was reviewing Wednesday.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, issued a statement late Tuesday urging Hasina to stay the execution, saying the trial did not meet international standards.
Mollah was found guilty by the special tribunal in February of killing a student and a family of 11 and of aiding Pakistani troops in killing 369 others during the independence war. He was sentenced to life in prison. The Supreme Court changed the penalty to a death sentence in September, triggering deadly clashes and a nationwide general strike.
Until it gained independence in 1971, Bangladesh was the eastern wing of Pakistan. Mollah's party campaigned against Bangladesh's independence and has been accused of forming several groups to help Pakistani troops in killing, rape and arson.


text:
A sign can be an object, quality, or event whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else.
Loaded with irony, a sign can also be a source of amusement or distress.
Signs of disconcerting hilarity are abundant in the swamp, and in the beauty salons.
For this augur, the interpretation of omens is a Sunday pastime.
I predict uniforms will be back in style and Diana Vreeland's movie will come to Miami soon.
A sign of the times is something judged to exemplify or indicate the nature or quality of a particular period, typically something unwelcome or unpleasant such as the hair loss on your head.
Signed, sealed and delivered means formally and officially agreed and in effect.
For bloggers it means hit the publish button.
Hard to ignore, signs are often notices publicly displayed giving information or instructions in a written or symbolic form, as with this political add asking you to pull the lever for Hardemon.
But a sign need not be printed words boldface on placards. Signs are also something regarded as an indication or evidence of what is happening or going to happen, as with the cranes that tower over the swampscape.
A sign of the cross is made in blessing or prayer by tracing a cross from the forehead to the chest and to each shoulder, or in the air in the hopes that all goes well for god's chosen few, such as the new museums dwntwn.
Signs are also each of the twelve equal sections into which the zodiac is divided, named from the constellations formerly situated in each, and associated with successive periods of the year according to the position of the sun on the ecliptic. The Design District is a Scorpio.
South Beach is a Pisces by day, a Gemini by night.
Whatever the horoscope says, the signs are clear.
South Florida and all its chipmunks will be underwater in 100 years.
But we are too busy replacing perfectly good sidewalks with some version of new and improved WTF.
This corner crossing has been people un-friendly for over a year.
A sign of abandonment, boarded windows near the ocean indicate that someone or something is not present where they should be or are expected to be.
Pigions and sea gull provide other signs of wild things to come with their tracks and droppings adorning a gutted hotel near the ocean.
A sign of privatization of public commons, South Point in SoBe typifies action or reaction that conveys something about someone's state or experiences, particularly developers and politicians.
Public art in private places, a monumental crankshaft up ended is a metaphor for excess capital.
This contraption is another sign of perceived security, a pataphor, a gesture or action used to convey information or instructions, such as big blubber is watching.
Alas, a sign can also be a miracle regarded as evidence of supernatural power.
In Swamp We Trust.


text:
ByVoice API
The By Voice API generates voice messages from content on the web site it is placed. The service converts a written text into speech files in mp3 or wav format to include in a flash movie or other form of presentation. Account required to access API information https://www.3scale.net/signup


text:
Our vibrant and diverse international community inspires critical thinking, creative expression and fosters a lifelong passion for learning.
Driven by their own imagination
Our students are confident critical thinkers, creators, collaborators, communicators and problem solvers.
Inquiry builds confidence
We educate the whole child - intellectually, physically and emotionally - in a joyful and happy environment.
Welcome to La Scuola!
Learning in 2 Languages (or more)
The research is compelling: better executive function, divergent thinking, global-mindedness.
Learning is most powerful when it's interesting, engaging and relevant.
Curiosity and Wonder
Hands-on Environmental Science
Our garden is a sanctuary where students connect with nature, grow food and learn about the life sciences.
Our teachers are facilitators
Teachers are co-creators of knowledge within a warm and nurturing environment.
We don't just tell them...
Our students inquire, they hypothesize, test, discuss and test again. We believe this is how they learn, understand and remember.
Music develops the learning brain
Every child learns to play several instruments, to read and write music.
The only Digital Atelier in the US
A space where technology, art, literacy and science meet.
Art and the "100 languages"
The Reggio Emilia Atelier is a workshop where students experience a large variety of materials within a trans-disciplinary curriculum.
Technology has its place
We use it as a creative tool, for research, coding and collaboration.
Nothing without joy! Niente senza gioia!
We believe that children who imagine, create and explore in a beautiful environment become lovers of learning for life.
Watch our gallery of Testimonial videos from the La Scuola community. Follow along as we add more to our YouTube channel.


text:
Allegations in Rolling Stone this week – that a US military officer may have been ordered to manipulate a congressional delegation visiting Afghanistan, by collecting information on their backgrounds and voting records – is creating a stir inside and outside the defense community over the proper roles of "psychological operations" (PSYOP) specialists.
The problem, say some senior military officials, is the often-complex distinctions between PSYOP specialists and public affairs officers, who routinely prepare background dossiers on visiting officials. The distinctions are further blurred, they add, by an increasingly media-savvy American military eager to influence "hearts and minds" both abroad and at home.
Troops specializing in PSYOP have clear legal boundaries. Targeting Americans, for example, is strictly off limits for military PSYOPs specialists. "Public affairs is really informing and providing information to a broad audience, including the American public," explains a senior military official, who asked to speak on background because he is not authorized to talk to the press. "Psychological operations is purely about influencing the behavior of foreign target audiences."
Was the PSYOP-trained officer asked to dig into the background of the visiting congressional delegation "because of his training?" If so, he says, "That would definitely be a concern."
The American Civil Liberties Union condemned the military's alleged actions. The Defense Department's use of PSYOP to manipulate members of Congress and target Americans with military propaganda is a clear violation of the law, they said. The ACLU called on Congress to investigate.
"If found to be true, these revelations are alarming. Using U.S. military intelligence assets designed for manipulating our enemies against our own elected officials is a brazen and chilling abuse of power that directly threatens the core democratic principle of civilian control over the military," said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, in a statement released Friday.
While the prospect of an officer trained to manipulate psyches using those skills on elected members of Congress is galling to some within the military, others wonder whether it was an innocent mistake or even all that wrong.
Context is key, says Matt Armstrong, a specialist on military strategic communications with the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Southern California.
Rolling Stone claims that Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, who is in charge of training Afghan troops, asked his team of PSYOP officers to create profiles of a visiting congressional delegation, including their voting records, "likes and dislikes," and "hot button issues." It's a common request of public affairs officers, who routinely put together dossiers that include a biographical sketch and articles written by visiting officials, for example.
"You could argue that he was just being prepared," says USC's Mr. Armstrong.
If General Caldwell used his information operations cell to prepare for the Congressional delegation visit, says the senior military official, that "was a mistake, because it could very easily have created the impression that professionals were being used to PSYOP" visiting senators – in other words, the officer adds, using their skills on fellow Americans to "present selected truths in order to influence [and] target behavior."
Legitimate foreign PSYOP targets include more than just enemy combatants, say officials. PSYOP specialists may direct messages to foreign civilian populations – to explain how the US-waged war in Afghanistan may actually benefit Afghans, by providing them with more security or access to health care, for example. PSYOP messages are often true, officials note.
Of course, psychological operations have long been associated with creepy or nefarious undertakings. The military acknowledged this last year, when it dropped the term "psychological operations" and instead began using the term "military information support operations" – with the decidedly less-intimidating acronym MISO. The military also engages in military deception, MILDEC in Pentagon parlance, which involves putting out false information to influence or demoralize enemy forces.
While there is widespread agreement within the US military that troops should not target Americans or allies with PSYOP messages – even when they are truthful – sometimes it is difficult to avoid, say senior military officials, particularly given the widespread use of Facebook and Twitter by the US military.
According to Rolling Stone, Caldwell asked Lt. Col. Michael Holmes, a National Guardsman and MISO specialist, "How do we get these guys to give us more people? … What do I have to plant inside their heads?"
Was that an explicit request for ways to manipulate the visiting senators? Caldwell "may simply have meant, 'I want to know what Senator McCain was thinking, so I can answer his question," says Armstrong.
Using MISO specialists for this sort of public affairs work may simply reflect a lack of understanding about their role. "A lot of senior leaders don't have one understanding of what information operations is," says a senior military officer who specializes in information operations.
A former senior defense official adds, "There are lots of very fine distinctions in this area. Many activities fall into the large bucket of persuasion and influence, from painting rocks to preparing pretty PowerPoint slides to developing and implementing targeted PSYOP plans against a specific target." He wished not to be named because he still works with the military.
It will take "a real expert and real investigation to figure out whether any specific activities crossed any specific lines," he adds.
Senate Armed Services Committee Carl Levin, who was part of the visiting delegation, was philosophical in his response this week. "For years, I have strongly and repeatedly advocated for building up Afghan military capability because I believe only the Afghans an truly secure their nation's future. I have never needed any convincing on this point," he said. "I am confident that the chain of command will review any allegation that information operations have been improperly used in Afghanistan."


text:
SupplierSoft necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 89 diseños de 14 diseñadores freelance.
• Small startup that already has reference customers.
• A reputed publication will name us in "Top 10 companies to watch for in 2010" in their October issue.
• Vision is to provide enterprises an On-line portal to manage ALL interactions with their suppliers. This includes activities such as include qualifying new suppliers, designing products, placing purchase orders, receiving shipment notices, invoices and providing payment visibility. Manage supplier quality and supplier ratings as well.
• A key focus area is Green and Social Responsibility. Manufacturing companies (such as Apple, Mattel) have to comply with regulations that ban substances (such as mercury, lead) So they must work with suppliers to ensure that components comply to regulations. Retailers such as Walmart are trying to reduce packaging in their products they sell and are collecting packaging data from suppliers. GAP has to ensure that their China/Far-East suppliers are paying attention to health and safety of their employees. They have to qualify suppliers and audit them on these issues.
• Software is sold as a subscription based service with a month-to-month option with no long term commitments.
• Decision makers in Mid-to-large enterprise companies (100 Million + revenue)
• Decision makers are following titles and people reporting to them: VP of Operations, VP of Purchasing, VP of Quality, VP of Information Technology. Green/Social responsibility report into one of these.
• Decision makers are computer savvy, have college degree and look for information on-line.
• Current focus is manufacturing companies but will expand to distribution and services companies in future.
1. We are planning having a green theme for our website. Here is a theme under consideration, but this could change! Please be flexible in changing the color scheme.
2. Preferably, the name of the company is part of the logo.
3. If something communicates a sense of what we do (helping companies work with suppliers) it is better, however this is not required. The name of the company probably already communicates this.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text:
Photographer's Note
Varanasi ,also known as Benares,or Kashi,is a city on the banks of the Ganges (Ganga) in Uttar Pradesh, 320 kilometres (200 mi) southeast of the state capital, Lucknow. It is the holiest of the seven sacred cities (Sapta Puri) in Hinduism and Jainism, and played an important role in the development of Buddhism. Some Hindus believe that death at Varanasi brings salvation.It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the oldest in India.
Critiques | Translate
lousat (119719) 2014-02-12 4:13
Great choice of point of view an of the moment too,to take this magic moment in Benares,truly great this orange sky,so well exposed,and very nice the houses silhouttes under the reflections that seems as a lot of underscores! Have a nice evening and thanks,Luciano
williewhistler (16606) 2014-02-12 4:27
Hello Dwaipayan,
I do like your composition here, the upright format works very well with the boats and buildings creating attractive silhouettes against the most beautiful of evening sky`s.
Fine photography.
Regards Les.
Sergiom (114371) 2014-02-12 5:46
Bonjour Dwaipayan
J'aime beaucoup ce cadrage vertical qui suit la ligne de cτte dans une trθs belle ligne de fuite. La lumiθre et les couleurs sont superbes et on voit parfaitement le drapeau rouge mκme si il est dans l'ombre.
serp2000 (47063) 2014-02-12 6:23
Hi, Dwaipayan,
It could be good postcard for the guests of Varanasi. Very nice frame for this attractive evening scene.
Marvelous sunset colors, fine vertical format.
Best wishes,
Subhogen (4067) 2014-02-12 6:23
Hello Dwaipayan,
Superb shot from the banks of the Ganges. Love the magical colours of the setting sun in the sky and on the water. Top class chobi! Bahoba!
Royaldevon (63187) 2014-02-12 6:39
Hello Dwaipayan,
Thank you for these interesting notes.
Your photograph of this holy city is calm and tranquil, with the beauty of the warm highlights of the setting sun.
The contrasts of light and shadow give the impression of a general silhouette, which leads so naturally into the b/g.
The red flag and the figure are two images which stand out, both well placed and offer a slightly different route into the scene.
My warm regards,
Bev :-)
mrichat (1755) 2014-02-12 8:31
Ah! what a mood..
superb composition with well balanced tone. i like that frame.nice one.TFS.
holmertz (82168) 2014-02-12 8:32
Hello Dwaipayan,
You have captured these fine evening colours very well and made a great composition that uses the reflections perfectly.
Kind regards,
macjake (91739) 2014-02-12 11:22
Hi Dwaipayan
Varanasi....very very high ip on my travel list!!!! Cant wait to see this someday.
this is a very different photo compared to what we normally see from this location. And i like it.
lovely colors and the final result is quite beautiful. You have done well to capture and set the mood for us the viewer.
nice work
RhodieIke (11752) 2014-02-12 11:52
Hi dwaipayan,
Super sunset scene in Varanasi, love the mood with the light fading and orange colouring.
Interesting reading your note about this place is the holiest of the seven sacred cities.
Well managed and splendid presentation.
Cheers, Iain.
jemaflor (124547) 2014-02-12 12:14
Hi D,
Well taken and presented, good composition and so lovely light capture, warm tones and reflections are splendid.
DisAccount (8) 2014-02-12 14:05 [Comment]
Gigidusud (21669) 2014-02-12 14:06
Hello Dwaipayan
Beautiful composition at sunset with nice orange tones and splendid reflections on the water. Excellent choice the vertical format. Well done!
Best regards.
ngk (2413) 2014-02-12 14:07
Hi Dwaipayan,
What a wonderful sunset!!Amazing colors, great lighting, beautiful reflections !!
nasos k.
carlo62 (80711) 2014-02-13 0:11
ottimo taglio per accentuare questa bella composizione, le linee verticali interrompono la monotonia del panorama che θ ripreso da un'ottima posizione.
I colori sono molto belli e i riflessi ne esaltano tutta la composizione.
mirosu (16313) 2014-02-13 3:15
Hello Dwaipayan,
Beautiful photo in excellent sunset light. The composition in vertical format is excellent and the reflections in water superb. I was few times in this interesting town of Varanasi (on the way to Renusagar) but never experienced such a beautiful sunset atmosphere there.
Well done.
abmdsudi (80754) 2014-02-13 19:28
Namste Dwaipayan
Lovely a scene - the beauty of mother nature - that evokes a special atmosphere enveloped by the brilliant golden tone with the reflection makes it even more special glueing the eyes in. Great to see some details in shadow areas, i guess there's nothing can be done to the tall lamp post. Credit to the exquisite exposure control, a precise moment timely shot. Simply delightful to be proud off. Congrats
Best regards
Hello dear friend
we had the same inspiration about a photo
with sunset dreamy and amazing sunset
composition welldone and wellseen
this orange sky is truly great
superb composition wellmanaged
the lightness is first class
greetings for your work
have a nice weekend
adramad (62056) 2014-02-16 9:48
Hello Dwaipayan.
Wonderful this vertical composition, with the line of houses reflecting in the river, a great beauty that sky, which also stains the river water with the reflection of its colors.
Very good color, perfect lighting and sharpness.
Well done.
Have a good day.
Best wishes.
josepmarin (59383) 2014-02-19 3:11
Namaste Dwaipayan,
this photo is an elegant sunset capture, caught very well, in a good vertical framing, which enhances the beauty of the elements of the city, as the houses and the boat on the sacred river.
I like the orange tones, the soft light, and of course, the wonderful reflections on the water.
A great work.
Best regards,
Ninello52 (7576) 2014-03-07 7:26
Hello Dwaipayan!
Beautiful picture! Great management of light! Beautiful colors of the sky and beautiful reflections on the water!
Regards, Nino.
janneman (3817) 2014-10-12 3:20
The last light; the wonderful reflection, it gives a wonderful atmosphere. So India!
Regards, Jan
mayjayne (7380) 2015-05-13 3:34
Dear Dwaipayan,
What a superb sunset. I love the rich orange glow and your cleverly chosen perspective. Nice work..
Photo Information
- Copyright: dwaipayan das (adidas5nb) (5743)
- Genre: Τοποθεσίες
- Medium: Έγχρωμο
- Date Taken: 2013-12-13
- Categories: Καθημερινότητα
- Έκθεση: f/6.3, 1/500 δευτερόλεπτα
- More Photo Info: view
- Έκδοση φωτογραφίας: Πρωτότυπη έκδοση
- Date Submitted: 2014-02-12 3:52