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Omicronians are large sentient aliens native to Omicron Persei 8, a planet located exactly 1,000 light years from Earth.[1]
Omicronians are overtly belligerent, and they possess a proclivity for waging wars over seemingly petty matters.
For example, in 1999 a FOX television station was knocked out during the season finale of "Single Female Lawyer". The Omicronians in the year 3000 enjoyed watching the show, which was broadcasted on Omicron Persei 8 via television signals originating from Earth, but were enraged when the show ceased abruptly during a climactic scene. They subsequently invaded Earth and demanded to see the ending of the show, and if it wasn't for Philip J. Fry I's expertise in television programing, they would have laid Earth's cities to waste with their anti-monument lasers.[1]
In a Parallel universe in which life was more like video games, the Omicronians headed a force of Invaders (possibly from space) that defeated Earth's Army to demand the Planet's quarters so that they could do their laundry.[2]
Biology Edit
The Omicronians mating process can be dangerous to bystanders, and it is highly recommended that one stays outside a 500 meter radius during the process.[3] The sex organs of the males are located in their horns. The larger the horns are, the more attractive they are to the females. Once born, the Omicronian raise their young, which resemble fried shrimp, by depositing millions of them into large pits on nursery planets (though they watch over them from a distance with security cameras). When their young grow up, they eat their mothers.[4]
They have great strength and durability and are more technologically advanced than humans. Their mouths are big enough to swallow adult humans whole. The members of the species tower over humans, reaching heights of at least 8 feet on average, with the males usually taller than females.
Known Members of the raceEdit
- Lrrr's father
- Lrrr - RULER OF THE PLANET OMICRON PERSEI EIGHT!!!!!!!
- Ndnd - wife to Lrrr
- Jrrr - an Omicronian youngling that becames friends with Leela in The Problem with Popplers. He is seen later on now more grown up and befriends Fry when he finds him in his backyard he is the son of Lrrr and Ndnd.
- Drrr - The vet of Omicron Persei 8, Jrrr goes to him when Fry was feeling ill.
Relations with EarthicansEdit
Omicronians have an interesting relationship with the planet Earth. On several occasions the Omicronians have invaded Earth for a variety of reasons, and they don't understand the Earthican cultural norms such as chalky-valentine hearts.[5]
Despite this, they seem to have a great affinity for other aspects of human pop culture enjoying Earth sitcoms that many humans don't particularly like, apparently because they can relate to the characters.[1] This is particularly interesting because Omicronians are unable to distinguish between humans, or even the various primates native to Earth.[4]
This appears to be the case even after it was discovered that the Earthicans had eaten over 198 billion of their young: After the Planet Express Crew came across a nursery planet, they brought back shiploads of what they assumed were simply delicious snacks, and sold them through Fishy Joe's as Popplers. [4]
- "When Aliens Attack"
- "The Problem With Popplers"
- "Anthology of Interest II"
- "Love And Rocket"
- "Spanish Fry"
- "Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences"
- "T.: The Terrestrial"
Most Omicronians appear to be named based on their occupation; namely those that have the suffix "er". The first letter of their name is the first letter of their occupation, and the last 3 are "rrr". For example, Drrr is a "Doctor", Lrrr is the "Leader" of Persei 8, and Jrrr is a "Junior".


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Block and load: British student builds replica guns with LEGOs
- Image 1 of 3
- Image 2 of 3
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This kid's a real chip off the old Glock.
As gun control dominates Capitol Hill and dinner discussions nationwide, one British engineering student is on a block-by-block mission to put more guns into more homes — one LEGO block at a time.
Jack Streat, an 18-year-old University of Durham student, is a well-known LEGO weapons builder with more than 30,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel, where he showcases four life-size, functional replicas of the world's most recognizable firearms, including the imposing Desert Eagle with blowback action and an AKS-74U assault rifle with folding stock.
"It started when I was about 12," Streat told FoxNews.com of his hobby turned part-time profession. "Guns were my thing at that age and I always built with LEGOs, so it was obvious to combine two things I thought were pretty cool at the time."
Streat, who estimates he has "quite a few thousand" LEGO blocks, took his love to the publishing world last year with the release of "LEGO Heavy Weapons," a 368-page how-to-guide to build realistic replicas of firearms that use rubber bands to propel tiny plastic blocks several feet or more.
While Streat is not the first LEGO enthusiast to build guns with the iconic toys, he has sold more than 4,000 books since May and is lauded online as a "legend" of the LEGO community.
"If you sold these in kits, I would buy them," one post on Streat's YouTube channel read.
"Long Live the Streat," read another.
Streat's book provides exhaustive instructions to build the replicas, which he estimates would cost roughly $100 to build separately, a "fairly expensive" venture, he said. But he does not sell his finished products to toy gun or LEGO enthusiasts, as he keeps the virtually all-black pieces to build new weaponry.
"They already existed when I turned up on the scene, but I came up with a few new ideas," Streat said of LEGO guns. "But I suppose I was one of the top people at the moment doing it."
For now, Streat has "packed away" his countless LEGOs as he focuses on studying engineering. When asked about critics who say any replica gun is a potentially dangerous standoff waiting to happen, Streat compared his wares to Airsoft or pellet guns.
"They're less powerful, less realistic and less durable than an Airsoft gun," he said. "And they're not as dangerous. So whatever views you have on Airsoft guns apply vaguely here. For me, it was about finding something interesting to build and guns filled that criteria."
Michael McNally, brand relations director of LEGO Systems, told FoxNews.com that the company does not endorse the content or practice of unauthorized books, and in particular, those featuring content that doesn't fit with its brand values.
"That said, we do have a Fair Play Policy that members of the fan community use to fuel their passions for building those things that we will not produce," McNally told FoxNews.com in an email.
Streat's book does come with an emphatic warning that the replicas are not suitable for children under the age of 12 and requires adult supervision.
"When building or firing them, always wear eye protection," the warning reads. "For maximum safety when carrying these models, the hammer and bolt should both be forward and the chamber empty. The replicas may fire when dropped or hit."
The book also warns against handling the replicas in public because they have been mistaken for real weapons.
"If you take your LEGO gun out in public, add a bright orange tip to the muzzle as a way of saying that it's not the real thing," the warning concludes.
Streat, meanwhile, acknowledged that some of his online critics find the juxtaposition of LEGOs and high-power artillery to be "quite scary," including someone he suspects to be affiliated with the Denmark-based company.
"I find it quite hypocritical," he said. "It's just good fun."

subset: commoncrawl


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Enjoy free shipping on orders of $150 or more. See details.
Designs Inspired by the Work of Vincent van Gogh
- Vincent van Gogh Action Figure$28.00$28.00
One of the most influential artists in the canon, Vincent van Gogh created artworks that feature thickly applied paint, contrasts of saturated colors, and scenes from nature—many of which are instantly recognizable today. The Met Store offers art lovers the chance to own exquisite items based on the Post-Impressionist master's unique artworks.


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|Take Me Home Tonight
|Two Tickets to Paradise
|Baby Hold On
|Think I'm In Love
Jan 2016 • 15 songs
Dec 2015 • 1 song
Jun 2014 • 35 songs
Eddie Money arrived in the late '70s at the height of album rock's popularity. While Money didn't have a remarkable voice, he had a knack for catchy, blue-collar rock & roll, which he delivered with a surprising amount of polished, radio-friendly finesse. He was able to survive in the early MTV era by filming a series of funny narrative videos, something his AOR peers were reluctant to do. However, he wasn't able to resist the temptations of a rock & roll lifestyle, and his popularity dipped in the mid-'80s as he struggled with various addictions. Once he sobered up, he made a... Read more


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why even go down the working for a university route?Josh's article is a nice addition to conceptualisations of independent teaching practice, from someone who IS doing it, and claims to be making a fair living doing so.
My initial investment in some basic digital publishing training and equipment has produced the highest ROI imaginable: a debt-free, global, six-figure teaching business. I'm making more than most college professors with a fraction of their schooling.The business model
- The book sells on Amazon for nearly US$16 plus postage.
- The courses are chunked into 6 tax deductible fees of US$297, or a discounted one payment of US$1497
- The blog articles and subscription emails are free, as are the videos that preview his ability to present and explain concepts in accessible and engaging language.
- To be approaching a 6 figure income, Josh must be selling about 1000 books and 60 full course enrollments a year... as well as a little extra for writing articles and speaking, which would probably be largely part of the free/marketing work...
Attracting students requires learning the arts of content marketing and sales — and using them every day.
Delivering quality training requires developing technical skills you may not yet possess. Above all, you must overcome your discomfort in charging what your services are worth, and learn to ask for the sale.We can only take Josh's word for it - that he is happily earning a comfortable living in the US doing this, certainly he pushed the right buttons for me with:
I can work from anywhere that has a stable internet connection and a phone line. I operated my business on a dialup connection in the mountains of Colorado for six months. And I could easily move anywhere in the world at any time.The marketing, enter Jim Groom
Marketing should be education, education should be marketing
|Where it all began. Image: Wikimedia Commons
Jim markets himself and his teaching with a self mocking invitation to engage, a sophisticated handling of media and message based on cinema industry symbolism, and drawing on a loyal "fan base" who share in the vision and help with the marketing because its fun.
Jim's products and services are still developing, and it is in this that he could take a leaf out of Josh's set up. To achieve the 6 figures and be independent, Jim needs to set up a product line. EduPunk and DS106 t-shirts for $30, nude posters with a course calendar on em for $10, underwear for the highest bidder, and a textbook-comic for $40. Sell all this to 100 people a year and he's made $8000 without even blinking yet! Put a price on a corner of his teaching service, and he rakes in the rest (more on this below). 6 figures Groomy, and from anywhere you like!
But can Jim Groom and others like him, do this without forfeiting the trust and contribution of his fan base, or the authenticity of his brand? I think he can, with the open, self mocking honesty he naturally has.
Is Jim Groom's niche big enough to deliver his family a comfortable and happy living? I'm not sure, I think if he widened the scope, and targeted businesses wanting to develop their own marketing messages with more sophisticated story telling, bingo! Jimbo has a fee based corner to draw an income from, and he can start sending fat cheques my way because he wants me.
The precarity
There is precarity in this business model however. It relates to the balance between free and fee. Josh and Jim have established reputation to ride on for a time, but their competition is with the others, who offer more free and less fee, all-the-while building a reputation over time. What happens when the next Salmon Khan starts offering business skills tuition in his Kahn Academy? Digital Story telling even? As I type, my brother-in-law Chris is learning guitar for free from martyzsongs. That just put the next guy, offering some free and more fee, out of business. The balance between free and fee just keeps sliding to free.
So Josh and Jim need to stay nimble and keep quick. Get the next thing on the boil, leverage their existing reputation, and dominate the next available space. Develop product, set up courses, and rely on it for a year or 2 before going onto the next thing. Most of all, and as Peter suggests up top, get out of gaol free, work toward independence.
Further reading
My interest in this all began with Kathy Sierra's post, Marketing should be education, education should be marketing. I've posted a whole bunch of thinking drawn from that, but most recently was A crisis for institutions, opportunity for teachers. Linked from there are better articulations of why and how teachers need to get out of gaol: Out From Under the Umbrellas and What Would it be Like to be the Rain. But if you're really stuck on making the gaols work (like me) then, adapting Josh's approach back into the institutions might be more your style with, The role of marketing in educational development.


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I made a thread like this but it was only for AF's quote. :| Anyways post your favourite quotes. =D
That is from a person that was from YouTube.You hold on desperately to memories of that love, being as strong and as pure as you can for that person. You wait forever, waiting for that princess to return, but somewhere inside, you know she won't. Love slowly becomes obsession, obsession gives way to fantasy. Fantasy of a life you might have had with this person. But the more you peek into the dimension, the more it hurts when you look away. A feeling of emptiness over rides everything, until you finally can't take the pressure anymore.


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By Steve Thorpe
Legal News
Sometimes a puzzle just requires all the pieces before the picture becomes clear.
When Lloyd Semple took over the post of dean at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in the spring of 2009 and looked at all the school's future options, one of the options that had been considered was moving the school out of downtown Detroit.
Instead, the school moved ahead with a massive renovation of the existing facility on East Jefferson, in the shadow of the Renaissance Center. And recently, on Feb. 1, the school closed a deal to purchase a nearby former firehouse as the eventual home of their extensive law clinic program.
"The firehouse decision fortified our commitment to downtown Detroit and our tie to its history," Semple said in an interview this week.
The story of how the firehouse project caught fire includes a dedicated law school "team," the coming together of several organizations committed to downtown Detroit and the love of a brother.
Chronologically, the story begins when George Asher, eldest son of Syrian Catholic immigrants, was suddenly thrust into the role of surrogate parent to a large household at the age of 16 upon the death of both parents. The sacrifices George made, including dropping out of high school, made a lifelong impression on his brother Anthony, 10 at the time.
Decades later, Anthony, now leader of one of the area's top law firms, stepped forward to memorialize his brother with the primary gift for the firehouse project.
"He's a wonderful man," Semple said of Anthony Asher. "He's a little unsettled by all the publicity. It's a wonderful story about his brother and one he can tell best. It brings tears to your eyes. A very American story. Commitment, things to rejoice about, tragedy -- it's all there."
George Asher was eventually able to claw his way back academically toward his dream of law school, but tragically died in 1963 from hemophilia complications just months before he would've graduated from law school.
Soon after, in 1965, UDM Law made a commitment to the concept of lawyers learning their craft, in part, by helping the less fortunate. That was the beginning of what would become the explosive growth of the school's clinic program, leading to today's 10 clinics serving well over 1,000 needy clients a year.
But those clinics needed space. By 2011 they didn't have nearly enough and what they had was less than ideal.
"The beautiful renovation involved everything we do at the law school -- except for our clinics," said Semple. "The clinics had been moved into the back of the church next door into an area cobbled together with partitions and fiberboard. The church has been wonderful and a great landlord, but it was a space that was inadequate for the quality of the clinic program."
And the problem involved more than just inconvenience and discomfort for students and faculty. The American Bar Association had expressed its dissatisfaction with the clinic space.
"The ABA wasn't particularly happy with the state of our building during its accreditation process," Semple said. "Eight years ago, we had some non-conforming classrooms, we had issues with the HVAC (heating and cooling) system ... a lot of fundamental stuff."
What to do?
Some sort of new facility might have been a possibility, but Semple had other ideas. He thought the best thing to do was to draw a page from the school's "playbook" -- the same page that led to the extensive renovation of their existing, historical main building.
"I'm very interested in historical preservation and have been for years. I'm a longtime member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and admire the work that they do," Semple said. "We looked at this old (main) building and everybody decided it's a pretty good building. It's got 'good bones' and a lot of history and our graduates are very attached to it. So we said, let's spend our money and do a renovation. Over less than a year's time, we did everything and without missing one minute of class. It was a logistical nightmare, but we have some wonderful people here who pulled it off. Some people now think this might be the most beautiful law school anywhere."
So when it finally came time to provide a new home for the clinics, it's probably not too surprising that Semple's wandering architectural eye strayed to the grand old lady across the corner.
"I had my eye on the firehouse and saw the 'For Sale' sign go up and thought, 'Boy, this is made in heaven.'"
The next step was to try and find a way to acquire the property with the less than huge purse of a law college.
"I was at Opus One one afternoon with a couple of our faculty members talking about how I'd like to have that firehouse," Semple said, "when restaurant owner Jim Kokas, a graduate of the university, said, 'I know who owns that. It's owned by heirs of Henry Ford.' "
At this point, Semple's decades in Detroit and his connections in the legal community came into play.
He had grown up in Grosse Pointe and had actually gone to school with members of the Ford family. They had always been friendly and he had gotten to know the family quite well. He also knew they were represented by the Bodman firm here in the city.
"I knew Dave Hempstead, a partner, who is one of their really wonderful attorneys, so I called him up and said, 'David, I understand clients of yours own that building and I want it,' " Semple said. "He said, sure you can get it. The asking price at that point was half a million, which was a real deal. I said, let's see if your clients would be willing to do something really great for the law school. I have the perfect program to put in it. Hempstead was extremely helpful and we made a deal. I'm not at liberty to disclose the amount they donated, but it was a substantial gift."
The building will be called Walter Buhl Ford III Hall.
So one piece had fallen into place.
The school also had a significant commitment from the McGregor Fund, which was part of the original expansion plan and intended for clinic operations. But the commitment had a timeline, which was in danger of being exceeded.
"They gave me an extension for 2011 while we were negotiating to buy the firehouse," Semple said. "I knew we wouldn't get it done in 2011, so I went back to them -- on my knees, basically! -- and said 'Give me another year.' They were wonderful and agreed but said, 'This is it. You committed to something and you've got to produce.' With the agreement in hand, I told the university that I could raise the money we needed for the renovation."
Second piece in place.
The school now needed the final piece of financing that would see the project through to completion.
"It was clear to me that the program we would put in there would have enough 'sizzle' so that we could raise the money," Semple said. "Fortunately, I know a lot of the people around town who are in a position to give. Late last October we put out some brochures that had pictures of the firehouse and descriptions of all the wonderful things we do in the 10 clinics."
It wasn't long before the final "angel" arrived.
"I got a call from Anthony Asher and he said he'd be very interested in a 'naming opportunity' for the project," Semple said. "After some discussions, he said' we have a deal.' "
And a brother was honored.
"So we're off to the races!" Semple said. "We've closed on the building, the faculty is thrilled and the clinicians are thrilled."
Other details are falling into place. Donors want to participate in named office space. The architectural fees are being donated by an anonymous benefactor. The floor plans are done and finishing touches are being applied to engineering plans.
And, in the end, the school itself has met the challenge.
"We've mobilized the same strong university team that did such a great job on the main renovation," Semple said.
There are always special challenges in an older building this old and this one was no exception.
"It's a flat roof and that may need work," Semple said. "It has a full basement, but it's been empty for a long period of time. Fortunately, a lot of the tough work had been done for the recording studio project. As we said in our announcement, it's a clean slate."
And the advantages of a "vintage" building are apparent at a glance.
"It's got a lot of things we want to keep. It's got character," Semple said. "Metal spiral staircases, an old fireplace, a paneled area with wainscoting. We're going to try and maintain all that character."
The firehouse even has a tower once used for drying fire hoses. It will be a challenge for a law school to find a use for that, but it would probably be unwise to bet against it.
Published: Thu, Feb 9, 2012


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Best of 2009: Belligerate!
I was originally planning to write one massive Twi-Hard hatemail post to commemorate their email amazingness over the last year but then new photos of Robert Pattinson emerged today so why not split them up, highlighting some of the best? I wonder if you've forgotten some of their gems.
Pattinson was spotted in London with his sister, having spent time with family for the holiday. This of course has prompted much anxiety – my inbox is filling up from Twi-Hards worried that he and Kristen Stewart, apart for Christmas, must be apart in their lonely, lonely hearts.
In other words, if they aren't coitally connected 24 hours a day, it must be because it's over.
Chill. It's fine.
Instead, let's go back and enjoy Julie C from Minnesota who introduced us to "belligerate", a word I used far too infrequently this year:
Hi Lainey,
I have been reading your blog for a few weeks now but will not be coming back after your comments today about Rob Pattinson. Maybe you didn't like the movie but millions of us did. Rob was great in the movie and has proved that he's a great actor. He was not making a "poo" face. What you don't understand is that Edward has to control himself around Bella because he can't kill her she's the love of his life. He's waited a long time to find her. This struggle is what's causing him so much pain. You are heartless not to appreciate it.
Why do you continue to belligerate this beautiful sensitive person? He is a gentle human being who has captured our hearts with his sweetness. He doesn't deserve your constant attacks. Please reconsider what you are doing to him. Thanks for your site and I wish you good luck.
Original post here.
Photos from INFphoto.com


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Import Contacts List
While you can add email addresses to Website Builder's contact manager one by one, you also can import your entire contacts list with a bulk upload. When used in combination with an email marketing plan , you can send out sales alerts, newsletters, and other items to promote your site.
- Log in to your Website Builder account.
- Click the Contacts tab.
- If you have no contacts, click Create Contact.
- When the Contacts tab's content changes, click the arrow next to Add Contact and choose Import Contacts.
- Click Download a sample .csv file to use it as a starting point for adding your contacts. (If you already have a file of contacts you want to upload, skip to Step 6 to make sure it's properly formatted.)
Note: Not sure what a .csv file is? Learn more about the format.
- Navigate to where the sample file (example.csv) was downloaded. Open it and you'll see that it contains a header row and a single sample contact.
- For each contact you want to add, you must fill in the email address in the email column. It's entirely optional whether you also include a contact's name, company, or phone number.
Note: Do not change the name of the email header; otherwise your upload will be not be accepted. Don't worry about duplicate contacts: Website Builder will filter them out even if you re-upload the file after adding more contacts.
- When you're done preparing your contacts file and have saved it in the .csv format , click Choose File, navigate to the file, and click Upload.
- When upload confirmation displays, the contacts in the file will be added to your Online Store store list.


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Hey everyone how are things going for all ya'll around the world? I have been doing well, and it's mainly because Halloween is drawing closer and closer. I'm going to start things off on a cool note by submitting something I drew live. Here is "how to draw Jack Skellington", step by step. Some may also call this version of Jack, Bloody Jack Skellington. No matter how you want to label this depiction of Jack, you are sure to have an awesome time drawing him out. As you can see this tutorial is going to be wicked easy to tackle. All you are doing is drawing out a head, some eyes, and his menacing grin. The end results are good enough to decorate your windows, walls and fridges with. So go ahead and enjoy drawing Bloody Jack, and I will get busy making more drawings and steps for you all to enjoy and learn from.
DragoArt members upload artwork and drawing tutorials! They are also allowed to leave comments on tutorials, profiles, etc. Many more features, as well; it's way better than just being a boring guest! Register Now!


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Message Board
Rae Lawrence Message Board
Talk about the novels, new and used books that Lawrence has written!
Author Lawrence's Book Reviews
Shadow of the Dolls
Shadow of the Dolls continues the stories of Anne, Neely, Lyon, and their children in the modern day. Anne finally leaves Lyon, and takes their daughter Jennifer, with her, and tries to make it again on her own. Neely continues to struggle with various addictions, while her twin boys grow up. ...


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DAUGHTERS OF AMERICA; or, Women of the Century
HANNAFORD, Phebe A.
AbeBooks Seller Since January 5, 2004Quantity Available: 1
AbeBooks Seller Since January 5, 2004Quantity Available: 1
About this Item
Bibliographic Details
Title: DAUGHTERS OF AMERICA; or, Women of the ...
Publisher: True and Company, Augusta, Maine
Publication Date: 1883
Binding: Decorative Hard Cover
Illustrator: Illustrated
Book Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
Edition: First Edition.
Store Description
Please e-mail or call to reserve. Shipping & Handling rates as follows:
Domestic U.S.A. Mimimum $4.50 for up to 2lbs.; $5.50 for up to 5lbs: For non-domestic shipment, or over 5 lbs., and shipment other than USPS media rate, will quote. Will accept checks, money orders and purchase through ABE's credit card program. Vermont residents please add 6% sales tax. We will accept returns, if the book is not as stated, within 30 days of receipt of item.
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GIGABYTE GA-B85M-DASH Motherboard User Manual document was written in English and published by the official GIGABYTE in PDF file. We provide the original GIGABYTE user manual you can see or download from here. This manual document contains plenty of information for a user, such as tips to use, maintenance, installation guide, device accessories, warranty information, repairment, and troubleshooting problem. Please refresh this page if the preview didn't load properly or hit the download button.
The user manual booklet is free to download as it was published by the manufacturer. The document above is available for the public without fee.
Please keep in mind that we only provide GIGABYTE GA-B85M-DASH Motherboard User Manual from the official sources. We have no permissions to change or modify the file and all responsibilities belong to the host. Some manual document might contain a serial number or unique identification code of the respective product that probably not identical with your own. Please contact the GIGABYTE Support for further information about your device that not being covered in this document.


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Darlene Pallay's passion for kickboxing changed her life both personally and professionally. Pallay was an overweight stay-at-home mom with three children when in 2009, she ventured into a CKO Kickboxing facility near her house in Franklin, NJ. Today, Pallay is 50 pounds lighter, and she and her husband, Joe, are owners of two CKO Kickboxing franchises.
"I make sure I explain my journey to members," Pallay says. "A lot of the franchisees have been a member, have gone through a journey and then come to own a franchise. Sharing that story really touches people."
The transformation of boxing, kickboxing and mixed martial arts (MMA) studio members into franchisees is not just happening with CKO Kickboxing, Hoboken, NJ, but with franchises such as LA Boxing, Santa Ana, CA, and Title Boxing Club, Overland Park, KS. Their growth is creating a stir in the rest of the fitness business, causing some traditional fitness facilities to look more seriously at offering this type of programming.
Keeping It Low
Several factors are at play in the growth of these facilities, but chief among them is that they are affordable to open, easy to implement with turnkey programs and require low overhead. Facilities for these franchises range from 2,500 square feet to 5,000 square feet and are located in B-tier strip malls. They include few pieces of traditional cardio and strength equipment. Instead, the main equipment is 40 to 60 heavy bags.
Payroll expenses typically consist of paying instructors per class and per personal training session and paying front desk staff. To get a return on the investment, many of these facilities need just 800 to 1,000 members. Start-up costs range from $98,000 to $306,000.
The cost of membership at these types of facilities is also kept low (typically $59 to $100 per month) partially because operators are aware that some of their members also belong to traditional commercial clubs where they can use the pool, basketball court or other services not offered at the studios.
However, LA Boxing members are more loyal than members of traditional clubs, says Philip Jacobs, director of franchise development at LA Boxing.
"They show up more," Jacobs says. "Ours average three times per week."
He adds that LA Boxing differentiates itself with efficient and effective workouts that teach members new skills, build their confidence and empower them. The staff also engage with members.
"Walking into an LA Boxing should be like walking into your local bar where they know your name and what you drink," Jacobs says. "That engagement leads to more loyalty, fewer cancellations, more referrals—and they spend more money."
Up-selling for that additional revenue is a big part of the model for all three franchises. Franchisees earn additional revenue through personal training sessions and through sales of apparel and merchandise in the pro shop. Branded apparel sells well, according to the three companies.
LA Boxing recently began earning revenue by offering seminars to members and nonmembers on self-defense, weapons takeaway and antibullying.
"It's a way for them to bring a friend—a referral vehicle—and we believe we are actually doing good by teaching something of value," Jacobs says.
The model seems to be working. Growth for LA Boxing and CKO Kickboxing has earned them spots on Entrepreneur magazine's Franchise 500 list. CKO, which was founded in 1997 by Joe Andreula and began franchising in 2007, had 21 locations (including four company-owned) in 2011, placing it at No. 360 on the Franchisee 500 list this year and at No. 35 on the magazine's top new franchise list. In 2011, it ranked No. 428 overall and No. 48 on the new franchise list.
Its 2010 total revenue was $347,291, with a gross profit of $204,292, according to its 2011 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
LA Boxing, which was founded in 1992 and was purchased by member Anthony Geisler, who began franchising it in 2004, appeared on Entrepreneur magazine's list in 2009 (No. 496), 2010 (No. 427) and 2011 (No. 498). The company now has 70 open locations, 12 of which are company owned, and another 60 locations under development, Jacobs says. Total revenue for LA Boxing increased from $3.4 million in 2009 to $3.7 million in 2011. In first quarter 2012, LA Boxing brought in $1 million in total revenue.
A Comparison of Franchised Boxing and Kickboxing Facilities
The average net sales for an LA Boxing facility that has been open for more than one year was $442,879 in 2011, according to the company's FDD. Jacobs says that the earnings claim can serve as a sales tool.
"It also helps our franchise owners manage their expectations," Jacobs adds. "What can they really make? How much will this really cost? That's what they want to know, and an earnings claim helps them manage that."
Title Boxing Club, which is owned by former professional boxer Danny Campbell, businessman Tom Lyons and the Title Boxing equipment company, had one company-owned facility in 2008, then three in 2009 before franchising in 2010. As of last month, it had 195 franchises sold, 30 of those open. In that first year of franchising, the company had revenue of $92,000, but it jumped to $515,000 in 2011. Revenue for 2012 should be even higher as the company recorded $325,000 in revenue for the first quarter, according to Rick Washburn, CFO for Title Boxing Club.
Some people credit the popularity of MMA for the growth in these types of workouts. Takedown Entertainment, an MMA promotional company, estimates that the MMA industry is worth more than $3 billion, with annual pay-per-view revenues making up about $500 million of that total. The first UFC on FOX event in November 2011 drew 5.7 million viewers, and a February event drew 4.6 million viewers, ranking first in the adult 18-49 market that night, according to MMA Weekly.
Although Dana White, president of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), which is the main force behind MMA events today, has said that 18- to 34-year-old males are the main core of the MMA audience, he also said last summer that women now make up 45 percent of the fan base.
Even though White's numbers are difficult to verify, the boxing franchise companies estimate that 60 percent to 70 percent of their members are female. That estimate may seem incongruous, considering that boxing and MMA can be intimidating to many people. However, these facilities have overcome that partly by doing something simple: installing big windows in their clubs.
"When you walk by a shopping center and see someone on a treadmill or bike, you don't look up anymore," Jacobs says. "But you see a real boxing ring—and you more often than not see a woman in there working out—that causes people to stop, put their hands over their eyes and look in. They will walk in, gingerly at first, and that's engagement. Then we combine that with our TV ads, print ads, social media. We know about the nervousness. We expect it. That is overcome by making it easy for them to come in. That's a challenge, but a good challenge."
Campbell says the popularity of these workouts for the middle- to uppermiddle- class suburban women that his company targets (although men are members, too) stem mostly from the fact that the hour-long workouts are quick and can burn up to 1,000 calories.
"Not only do you get physically fit, but you get mentally fit, you get stress relief," Campbell says. "You feel empowered." And women tend to invite their friends to come with them, making it a group social event, as opposed to men who come by themselves, Campbell says.
"Men are not as social as women. They are withdrawn," Campbell says. "Men might not be intimidated by the fact that they are coming to hit a bag, but if they do not do it well, they might be embarrassed. Women don't care. They come in and say, 'Show me how to hit a bag.'"
Traditionalists Go MMA
The growth that these franchised facilities are experiencing has caused some big-box club operators to look to this programming for additional sources of revenue. And those clubs include high-end facilities, such as Renaissance ClubSport, Aliso Viejo, CA, which unveiled its new MMA, boxing and CrossFit training studio after its existing boxing and MMA programs outgrew their former space. The studio features a bag rack that includes various training bags, pull-up bars and rolling monkey bars. A hydraulically bent I-beam track allows the space to transform from an MMA training room to a studio for traditional yoga, stretching and cross training by rolling the bags on the U-shaped track to any part of the room.
Gold's Gym franchisee Bill Lia also has gotten in on MMA programming. Lia's four Gold's Gym facilities in the Albany, NY, area had offered traditional boxing programming with little success in the past, but this year, he implemented a circuit-style MMA program that gave him a return on his $15,000 per club investment in just three months.
Lia says the cost of an entirely new program, which includes the installation of striking pads and equipment, is equal to three treadmills.
"This is a program that sets us apart and is unique and is affordable to install and allows us to earn revenue," Lia says.
The classes, which are offered as a separate paid program or as a higher-cost membership for unlimited classes, last 30 minutes and are limited to 12 participants. The participants are coached by an instructor and are reminded of the moves at each striking station by an instructions placard. Between the striking stations, participants do core exercises.
"It fit into our model of trying to develop small group training," Lia says. "We believe it is part of the future of our business as well as the industry."
For John Narleski, MMA is not just part of his business—it is his entire business. The one-time New Jersey state champion kickboxer opened Strategic Combat Academy, Sayreville, NJ, in 2009 around the MMA concept, eventually expanding from 3,000 square feet to 6,000 square feet by merging with a business next door called Weapons 9. He has just 200 members, but those members, who range from age 5 to 65, come in three to four times per week on average. The facility offers training for novice and pro fighters as well as people looking to get in optimal physical condition. Members can get one-on-one attention, take classes or simply use the equipment in the facility, Narleski says.
Narleski's facility weathered the recession and now is seeing an increase in memberships, perhaps partly because he targeted 5- to 18-year-olds for memberships. Narleski reasoned that parents would continue to pay for their children's activities during a recession, even at the cost of $124 per month. Despite his club's growth, Narleski is not ready to franchise, preferring to perfect his model before considering franchising, he says.
However, one company that is considering franchising its MMA concept is UFC Gyms, Lafayette, CA. UFC Gyms was created in 2009 by Mark Mastrov, founder of 24 Hour Fitness and now founder and chairman of New Evolution Ventures (NEV), and Jim Rowley, founder and CEO of NEV, in partnership with Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta and UFC's White. The company has four facilities open in California and one in Hawaii.
Mastrov and Rowley expanded the UFC Gyms slowly to test the family-friendly concept, which mixes traditional cardio and strength equipment offerings in 35,000 to 42,000-square-foot facilities with MMA-style group exercise classes. Rowley says they wanted to get the right demographics, pricing and programming before expanding.
Although the company is considering franchising as a growth opportunity, no decisions have been made, he says.
"The amount of requests that we have received to franchise these gyms—if I told you, your jaw would drop," he says. "We are getting it from every country in the world."
Rowley says that UFC Gyms have had double-digit revenue and membership growth each year, and one of the reasons may be because they offer something different.
"The gym industry had become very myopic," Rowley says. "Everybody was doing the same thing. Every club had the same treadmills, everyone had the same gym bike, everyone offered the same classes, everyone had the same square footage, basketball, swimming pool. We felt like it was best to break out of the industry a little bit and bring in something different."
So far, breaking out of the routine has proven to be a knockout for UFC Gyms and other MMA and boxing facilities and franchises.


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Exciting resources from our mission areas and leaders.
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Why, yes, I do - a peach crostata! Just crust and fruit. It is the epitome of a simple summer dessert. A crostata is a rustic tart/pie/pastry made directly on a baking sheet with parchment paper (see my favorite pre-cut parchment sheets here, 200 for $12), with fruit piled into the center, then the edges are folded up. There is no pie dish, tart pan or spring-form pan to clean, and if you use the parchment sheet while baking, you just have give the baking sheet a quick rinse when you're finished.
What else makes this so simple? You don't have to the peel the peaches, and you can even use store-bought pie dough. It only bakes or 15-20 minutes, unlike a 45 minute pie. I mean really, could there be anything easier?
Oh, I forgot to mention that it is delicious, too. The flaky crust coated with sugar, filled with warm cinnamon sprinkled peaches is magical. The short baking time allows the peaches to stay firm and fresh, instead of getting over done and mushy, as sometimes happens in a pie or cobbler.
Farm to Table Dinner Party Series :
Farmer's Market Themed Menu
The Peach Crostata is part of my Farm to Table Dinner Party Menu & Farmer's Market Table Setting. To see the entire menu, click here.
Peach Crostata
serves 4
1 pie dough
2 peaches, sliced (keep the skin on)
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 tablespoon of butter, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 pinch of nutmeg
1 egg
Roll out pie dough into a 10-12 inch circle. Pile peaches into the center. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar, the cinnamon and the nutmeg over the peaches. Dot the peaches with butter. Fold up the sides of the dough. Create an egg wash by beating 1 egg, then brushing it on the pastry. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar over the dough. Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes.
The pieces of butter combine with the peaches and sugar to make a little bit of sauce in the crostata.
Fold up the sides, pinching it together.
Isn't it beautifully rustic?
Brush with the egg wash.
I like a good amount of sugar (about 1 tablespoon) on the outside of the crust - when it bakes it makes a sugary crust that is perfect with the warm peaches.
Farmer's Market Themed Menu
The Peach Crostata is part of my Farm to Table Dinner Party Menu & Farmer's Market Table Setting. To see the entire menu & table setting, click here.
Heirloom Tomatoes with Green Goddess Dressing
Eggplant Focaccia Bread
Corn on the Cob with Basil Butter
Classic Cucumbers & Onions
Lemon & Chive Halibut in Parchment Bundles
Peach Crostada with Vanilla Ice Cream


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Read the full report here: Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (PDF).
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Iran's elite military unit designated by the U.S. State Department as one of the "proliferators of weapons of mass destruction," plays a central role in all aspects of Iran's political structure.
The IRGC was formed in 1979 to protect Iran's new revolutionary government against both international and domestic threats, and has played a vital role in Iran's domestic economy and politics. Many Iranian politicians, including cabinet ministers, parliamentarians, mayors, governors and ambassadors are drawn from the IRGC's ranks. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly threatened Israel's existence, is a former IRGC member.
As tensions between Iran and Israel, America and other Western countries continue to escalate, in particular over Iran's nuclear program, IRGC leaders have continued to threaten their "enemies" and boast of their military preparedness. For example, in late 2011 in response to increased international sanctions, Iran threatened to close the Straits of Hormuz, a shipping route vital to the global oil markets at the entrance to the Persian Gulf. Amid war games near the Gulf less than two month later, the IRGC ground forces commander said that the "Sepah [IRGC] ground troops are able to carry out deterrent operations and our reaction will be quick and enemy targets will come under heavy fire."
In addition to defending the regime, the IRGC appears to be pursuing an offensive against its "enemies" abroad. Several recent attacks and planned attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets in Asia and the Caucasus have been tied to the IRGC according to various governments.
IRGC's leadership has also sought to take credit for the uprisings throughout the Arab world, describing them as an "Islamic Awakening" directly resulting from Iran's revolution. IRGC General Yadollah Javani described "Islamic Iran" as "the source of this great change and awakening" throughout the Middle East. In Syria, however, the IRGC has been supplying weapons to help Bashar al-Assad's regime suppress dissent, according to U.S. government officials.


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It was a steamy weeknight in July on Centre Street, and the extras in black tie were flagging.
The $100 million series "House of Cards" was prepping a crowd scene outside the Peabody Institute, across from the Midtown BBQ & Brew. For more than two hours, nothing happened. Extras were herded about, lights were adjusted, and onlookers complained alternately about the heat and lack of action on the set.
Then they snapped to attention. A current moved through the crowd.
There was Kevin Spacey, in the middle of the barricaded street.
People edged closer, nudged partners, pointing in the direction of the two-time Oscar winner, who chatted and laughed with members of the crew. He was smoking a cigarette, wearing tuxedo pants and a T-shirt, suspenders hanging down around his knees. And for all the suffocating humidity, he was looking Hollywood-makeup-artist cool and fine between takes.
Star power. You might think gifted Peabody students and professors in the crowd would be mostly immune to it. But not in the case of Spacey, who had been filming on campus for several days.
"I just graduated in May, and going up in Peabody the last four years, all you heard about are all the famous people and cultural icons who have passed through the halls: Charles Dickens, Tchaikovsky and [Leonard] Bernstein," said Robert Sirois, a teacher in the summer program. "But now to see stars like Kevin Spacey. … To witness that is exciting. I'm not going to lie."
Spacey's mere presence was a lesson in star power — a power that executives behind the production hope they can parlay to draw a significant audience to an untested platform for original content: Netflix.
TV that's not on TV
Based on a brilliant 1990 BBC mini-series, "House of Cards" focuses on House Majority Whip Francis Underwood (Spacey), who is promised the job of secretary of state — only to be passed over by the new president he helped elect on the basis of that deal. The drama tells the story of the revenge Underwood extracts from the administration that did him wrong. He is helped by his beautiful and cold-blooded wife (Robin Wright) and an ambitious and ethically challenged reporter (Kate Mara).
The resulting series is the most compelling and wise televised depiction of Washington realpolitik to come along in decades.
David Fincher ("The Social Network") serves as executive producer and as director of the first two episodes. Beyond him and Spacey, much of the talk surrounding "House of Cards" has been about its potential to usher in a radically new business model for the way TV programs are made and delivered to audiences.
As Spacey puts it, " 'House of Cards' is the new television series that isn't on television."
Media Rights Capital, the global production company that financed and put the series together, abandoned the old model, in which producers shop a pilot script around to a network or cable channel, trying to get money to make the pilot.
Instead, once Fincher, Spacey and screenwriter/executive producer Beau Willimon ("Ides of March") were on board, the production company made an unprecedented commitment for two seasons' worth of 26 episodes. And bypassing TV altogether, it sold the first-run American and U.K. rights to Netflix, which began offering its more than 20 million subscribers every episode of Season One streamed online as of Feb. 1.
Welcome to the world of new media. But financing and selling a series with a such a groundbreaking distribution model would not have been possible without the kind of star power Spacey brings to the project.
"There are very few actors alive who can be so intelligent and so charming and so intimidating and so dark and complex," Modi Wiczyk, CEO of Media Rights Capital, says of the 53-year-old actor. "This guy [Francis Underwood] has to be one of the most brilliant and despicable people in the world, and you have to absolutely love him and laugh at every joke he makes."
Underwood is constantly on screen. He addresses the audience directly, a la Richard III. (In a similar Shakesperean undertone, his wife will evoke Lady Macbeth in the minds of some).
"It's an incredibly complex role to play, because we are involved in the show in a way that we are not in others, as he keeps turning to us and telling us what he's going to do. We have a relationship with that character that's very intimate," Wiczyk says. "And there's just no one else who could do it. It was so obvious that it had to be him. When David [Fincher] came on board, the first call he made and we made was to Kevin."
The rise to stardom
While his acting career reaches all the way back to Chatsworth High in the San Fernando Valley where he starred opposite Mare Winningham in the "The Sound of Music," Spacey's rise to stardom did not begin until 1986 when he was cast as the eldest son in a Jack-Lemmon-led production of Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey Into Night."
The '90s were his breakthrough decade. He won a Tony in 1991 in Neil Simon's "Lost in Yonkers." Then came a number of knockout supporting roles in film, including a serial killer in Fincher's "Se7en" and an Oscar-winning turn in "The Usual Suspects."
Spacey says "Se7en" is one reason he decided to join Fincher in "House of Cards."
"It gave me a chance to work with a director I have admired who gave me an extraordinary opportunity when I was starting out in film," he says.
The '90s roll continued with "L.A. Confidential," "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" and "American Beauty," for which he earned the best-actor Oscar.
In 2003, Spacey made an extraordinary 10-year commitment to serve as artistic director at London's Old Vic Theatre. He exceeded expectations — in part with productions like the one that recently featured him as Richard III on stage at the Old Vic and as the conniving hunchback in a 10-month worldwide tour that ended just before he came to Baltimore last year.
"I can't think of a better preparation than Richard III, because there's a lot of Richard III in Francis Underwood," Willimon said last year before filming began.
'Bad for the greater good'
Spacey, too, notes the characters' similarities — the ambition and the use of direct address, which he calls "a remarkable experience as an actor."
Recalling his experience as Richard III, Spacey says, "In 198 performances around the world, I was able to look into audiences' eyes in cities as far away as Istanbul and Beijing and see the relish and the excitement and the naughtiness that an audience absolutely adores when they feel they are being let in on something that nobody else [on stage] is being let in on, when they feel they are co-conspirators."
Those memories fuel his work on soundstages in Baltimore, he says.
"In this series, I'm obviously just looking down the barrel of a lens," he explains. "But I do have that memory of lots and lots and lots of faces ... and it really helped me understand how to play it on the set."
Still, he says, "I am not playing Richard III, and I am not doing anything that I did in the play 'Richard III,' which is a big, theatrical, gigantic kind of production. And this, I hope, is a bit subtler."
Other personalities inform Underwood as well. Spacey points out that the South Carolina congressman has hung pictures of President Lyndon Baines Johnson in his office.
"Johnson is a character Francis admires because — while there is no doubt as he ended his presidency he was so tainted by the Vietnam War — what he accomplished as president, two civil rights bills and many other accomplishments, has sort of been forgotten," he says. "But I think he's now being re-examined as a politician. And one of the things that's fascinating ... is that you look at a guy like Johnson, and you say, 'Yeah, he was ruthless. Yeah, he was a son of a bitch. Yeah, he negotiated like a pit bull. But he was effective. He got s--- done.'"
And that leads to philosophical questions that Spacey hopes the series will raise in viewers' minds.
"We have a tag line that says, 'Bad for the greater good,'" Spacey says. "That's an interesting and complicated thing for an audience to explore. It's an interesting thing for America to explore at a time when we are watching and have been watching a Congress that doesn't get anything done.
"So, the questions of, 'Morally do the ends justify the means? Is it OK to be bad for the greater good?' — I think, all those things at this moment in our political life ... are going to give an audience a lot to chew on," he says.
Keeping it complicated
Spacey likes complicated. The first two adjectives he chooses to describe his experience at the Old Vic are "complicated and challenging" — and he means that only in a good way.
It's a quality that figures into his choice to sign on for 26 episodes of what is essentially a TV series that will be streamed online rather than, say, a feature film.
"I'm a big fan of complicated story arcs. And we've seen over the last 10 years, as the studios have focused less and less on the kinds of dramas that certainly I was fortunate to do in the '90s, that void has been filled by television," he says. "And it makes sense to me that actors, directors and writers would head in that direction."
Still, a schedule that will require him to live in Baltimore six months at a time for the filming of each 13 is a big lifestyle commitment. But he says the end of his term at the Old Vic offers an opportunity.
"It seemed like a perfectly good time to accept a job that is a lengthy one that offered me a fantastic part and gave me a chance to work with a director I have admired," he says.
He also says he likes the city to which he will be returning this spring.
"I think Baltimore has gotten a bad rap. A lot of people talk about Baltimore and they talk about 'The Wire' and they talk about the violence," he says. "It's like, 'Hey, hey, hey, you've obviously been there for a weekend.' Or, 'You only watched "The Wire."' I've really actually gotten to know Baltimore, because I wasn't in and out. I was there for six months."
He's also spent time in Washington and Annapolis, where he's been spotted at Navy games and at restaurants.
"But I really enjoy being in Baltimore, and I'm glad we're calling it home. It's a vibrant, exciting city. You look at what happened on the waterfront. … It worked," he says. "There are so many incredible things going on there … the great diners, the great music places, a couple of really awesome bookstores …"
And now, Kevin Spacey bringing a little star power to old Mount Vernon on a sweltering summer's night.
It was a steamy weeknight in July on Centre Street, and the extras in black tie were flagging.


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Crowne Plaza BRUSSELS - LE PALACE4
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Rue Gineste 3, Brussels, 1210
Welcoming reception.
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Located at the Place Rogier in the city center, our hotel is the perfect base for business trips. We are a short walk from the train station and only 12 km from Brussels International Airport. Via the metro station, we are only minutes from the European Commission and NATO, as well as major companies, including Procter and Gamble and BNP Paribas Fortis. The shopping, dining and historical sites of Brussels are nearby, including the world-famous Grand Place. Our hotel overlooks the Botanical Gardens, providing stunning views and settings. Within the hotel, our event facilities are ideal for small meetings up to a large convention and our Crowne Plaza Meetings Director is at your service. You may also use our Business Center and free Wi-Fi on multiple devices to keep productive during your stay. When the work is done, unwind in our Fitness& Sauna Center, dine at Nouveau Taste or sample a beer at Deco Verre brasserie. Book your stay today at the Green Engage and non-smoking Crowne Plaza Brussels – Le Palace.
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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A Florida judge has ordered a debt collection agency to not use Facebook or any other social media site in an attempt to locate a woman over a $362 unpaid car loan.
Judge W. Douglas Baird also ordered Mark One Financial LLC of Jacksonville, Fla. to refrain from contacting the woman's family or friends on Facebook.
The order is part of a lawsuit that Melanie Beacham filed last August against the debt collection agency. According to court documents, Beacham said Mark One sent messages to her and her family on the Facebook networking site to have her call the agency about the debt.
Most popular
Billy Howard, the woman's attorney with the Morgan and Morgan law firm in Tampa, said the debt collectors violated Beacham's privacy. He said they also violated a provision of Florida's consumer protection law that prohibits debt collectors from harassing people.
Howard said that in the past four months, nearly a dozen potential clients have contacted him because debt collectors have used social media sites to track them down.
"It's the beginning of an epidemic," Howard said, calling it "another weapon" debt collectors can use.
Beacham's claims Mark One contacted her six to 10 times a day by phone, sent her a text message, contacted her neighbor and sent a courier to deliver a letter to her workplace, according to court documents.
Mark One did not return a message Wednesday from The Associated Press.
Last November, the agency said it would not discuss Beacham's case and denied any wrongdoing. The company acknowledged that its collectors use Facebook to find people when they don't respond to other means, like letters and phone calls.
Social media experts and lawyers like Howard say that debt collectors are increasingly trying new tactics to contact people who owe money.
In one Chicago case, a man was friended on Facebook by a young woman in a bikini. The account turned out to be a debt collector's, something the man realized only when the "friend" posted a message on his wall: "Pay your debts, you deadbeat."
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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- Smell - Lavender
- Taste - Honey Sticks (He loved tasting the honey).
- Touch - Dried Black Beans (that feel slick), Yellow Pom Poms (that feel soft), Black Pipe Cleaners (with their unique feel) and the Lavender and Corn Meal were also interesting for Wild Thing to touch.
- Sight - All of the colors and the vibrant flowers (cut out from a postcard we received that had several different flowers on it).
- Sound - Wild Thing made buzzing bee sounds as he explored the sensory bin.
|We painted the heart together because Pooh loves honey.
Oh - and so Wild Thing's little brother wouldn't feel left out (and didn't end up putting dried black beans in his mouth), I made a simple, edible Bee Bin for the Baby (that's a lot of B's). The Baby version has raisins and popcorn.
You might also like:
|Sand Play & DIY Sandboxes
|Pretend Play: Library at Home


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Reds unveil Morgan sculpture
The last time the core members of the Big Red Machine were assembled on a baseball field, they were celebrating their second consecutive World Series championship at the old Yankee Stadium in 1976.
Pete Rose and the rest of the starting lineup of the Reds' back-to-back champions were together again at Great American Ball Park on Saturday for the unveiling of a bronze sculpture of Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan.
Rose, the career hits leader whose ban from baseball usually prevents his participation in such events, was allowed to attend celebrations Friday night and Saturday by Major League Baseball.
"I want to thank Commissioner Bud Selig for allowing us to have the `Great Eight' on the field last night," Morgan said Saturday before the bronze sculpture — which depicts him just starting to steal a base — was unveiled near the main gates at the northwest corner of the ballpark complex. "It's an unbelievable experience to be with all of my teammates."
The location was no accident, said team owner Bob Castellini, who described the 5-foot-8 Morgan as a "little guy with a big heart."
"We're going to draw about 2.5 million people here," he said. "This is the busiest corner in Cincinnati. Who better to preside over our gateway. I can think of no one better than you, Joe, to make a first impression on our visitors."
Morgan was named the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1975 and 1976. He also won five Gold Gloves and was an All-Star in each of his eight seasons (1972-1979) with the Reds.
Morgan's sculpture is the sixth at the ballpark, joining those of Joe Nuxhall, Ted Kluszewski and Hall of Famers Frank Robinson, Ernie Lombardi and catcher Johnny Bench, Morgan's teammate on the Big Red Machine.
Morgan recalled the unveiling of Bench's sculpture two years ago.
"I remember him saying, `This is the greatest day of my career,'" Morgan said. "I started fiddling with my Hall of Fame ring, because as a player, the ultimate goal is to get to the Hall of Fame."
He paused and looked at Bench, seated behind him and to his right.
"Johnny, you were right," Morgan continued. "Today is a better day. The Hall of Fame is about numbers and playing on great teams. You only get a statue or a sculpture if they want you to be remembered."
The ceremonies concluded with an on-field celebration before the Reds-Dodgers game that ended with Morgan throwing a ceremonial first pitch to Bench while their former teammates manned their old positions, delighting a sellout crowd.


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Since the days of yore [2009], according to a tradition the origin of which has been long forgotten [Ben Malbon started it] we've used the last post of the year to look back over the previous 12 months of bloggery, not in a spirit of wistful nostalgia but in a spirit of enquiry. We look to see what our preoccupations were, what topics or technologies regularly bubbled to the the surface, what themes emerged from what has, like all the other years, been a hectic hurtle down the marketing superhighway.
This is also an opportunity for us to say thank you – for reading, for commenting, for debating, for sharing, for writing on our blog and letting us write on yours. This blog isn't our personal journalling site – openness and transparency are key Labs' tenets – and every contribution you all make adds value, helping all of us think harder and smarter. Gracias.
So below, in no particular order are the posts that to us seem to represent nodes of thinking or at the very least, nodes of writing activity. In an astonishing breach of protocol, this year we're going to present them by theme – enjoy, comment, disagree and share, and see you in 2013.
Happy holidays
Mel, Jeremy, Saneel, Tim and Griffin
The uproar regarding the changes to Instagram's Terms of Service – and continued debate about how web services treat users and the content they upload – demonstrates that discussions about openness and control are only going to get more empassioned as more users are exposed to the fact that, if they're not paying for a service, they are the product being sold. Openness has featured regularly in Labs posts, and we debated this subject with some vigour at SXSW in our SkyNet Vs Mad Max talk, co-authored with our friend Tom Uglow (at Google Creative Lab, Sydney). Clients are also appreciating that openness can be as much of an asset as a quality – The Guardian making it the key reason to believe in the award winning Three Little Pigs. And James Mitchell used this blog to consider 'truthiness' in marketing, the tightrope joining reality and hyperbole that we walk whenever we try to tell a story about a brand. As James writes, balance is not always easy to maintain.
In the year that BBH turned 30 it's perhaps not surprising that emphasising difference, subverting the norm and, yes, zagging, have been undercurrents on the blog. BBH Asia Pacific Chairman Chas Wrigley (together with Wieden & Kennedy's Rob Campbell) offered a series of provocations and debunked some flawed notions in their 'Everything we Know is Wrong' presentation – we were particularly struck with their observations on West knowing best. Then, in a series of posts entitled 'Advertising is Dead: Long Live Advertising' Mel made a few predictions about where advertising might be headed over the next 8 years. Check back in 2020 to see how she did. Subversion also produced some startling work this year as highlighted in this smart piece of engagement thinking for Refuge, the domestic abuse charity. Expecting to see the latest installment of her hugely popular make-up video tutorial, Lauren Luke's audience were instead shown advice on how to cover up the signs of domestic violence – massive impact created through subversion of expectation, a brave performance and a riveting piece of film.
Great to see experiments coming from around the globe this year. The BBH Barn team in Singapore tackled social media overload with their Social Rehab programme and kit while in New York the Labs team created While You Were Off, a service which kept track of the all important updates that you might miss during those darned inconvenient minutes or hours of Internet downtime. More seriously (and controversially), SXSW saw the launch of Homeless Hotspots, an experimental programme in partnership with a large Austin homeless shelter to see whether street newspaper vending could be updated to be more digitally focussed. After an admittedly rocky start it's great to see how the issues that the experiment raised might lead to some transformative change as we follow our ongoing attempt to drive innovation for Street Newspapers across the globe.
It's always a pleasure to get a note from BBH London Chairman Jim Carroll with a new draft post in it and in a particularly rich year for Jim's elegant reflections it has been hard to shortlist a selection for this round-up. But if you don't have time to go back and read them all here are a couple we particularly loved. In Laughing Together, Weeping Alone Jim suggests that we underestimate introverts at our peril – in a world that can't stop talking (and sharing), perhaps its the unspoken, unshared feelings that are most true. In Swimming in the Shallow End Jim raises a toast to modest ambitions, incidental victories and frivolity – not every brand should aspire to sup with sages and kings. Lastly, in this farewell post, Labs' strategist James Mitchell neatly articulated what for him (and many of us) BBH Labs offers – a place to wander, discover and build.
And so we end this round-up, with Robots. For us, as for Brad Pitt and Chanel No 5, it was inevitable. First announced in April, Robotify.me was finally birthed this month. We've learned a lot on the way – about process, about MVP, about delivering (yes, 'shipping is everything'), about APIs, about facets of our social media activity that we were not aware of previously. We continue to learn from the excellent feedback we're receiving and will continue to evolve Robotify.me in the new year. But if there's one conclusion that we can draw from the experiment so far it is this: you can learn through listening, you can learn from sharing, you can learn from reading, but there's no learning like the learning you get from doing.
See you all again in 2013.


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The idea of America is just as much a moral premise as a governmental structure. To fully understand that moral premise, we have to look to the Constitution's rule of law. But we can't stop there.
We must go back 13 years, to the Declaration of Independence. Much of it detailed the "long train of abuses" by King George III. But not all of it.
In Jefferson's explanation of why such a declaration was necessary, he eloquently laid out a moral case for rights. These rights (among them, life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness) were not capricious or based on personal whim, but "Nature's Laws". Why did Jefferson, a very precise penman, emphasize Nature's Laws so strenuously? And what do all of these unalienable rights entail?
"Unalienable" means they are as necessary to sustaining your life as oxygen. The only way to remove these rights is to cease living. So, how does the pursuit of happiness fit that definition?
Well, Natural Law recognizes the fact that your time and effort are both finite. It is further understood that effort is not just physical, but intellectual. Applying time, talents, and physical and/or mental labor to existing matter is generally done to improve it.
That improvement adds value that you can exchange for items (or money with which to purchase them). Perhaps an illustration, then.
I exchange my time and effort for money. With that money, I buy the latest TV. Watching various programs on this TV makes my family happy. Thus, I have pursued (and acquired) a modicum of happiness. The time and effort has already been spent. But it was worth the trade-off.
Then, the unthinkable happens: one night, two men break into my house. They want my TV, but are unwilling to trade their own efforts for it. On top of that, my state has strict gun laws, in knee-jerk response to heinous acts that were already illegal.
So I stay in bed and the men take my TV.
But it's not just a TV, is it? They also took the happiness my family derived from watching it, and the hours of work I traded for it.
The pursuit of happiness, embodied in that TV, has been stolen from an entire family. Now, more hours of work are needed to replace it. And, on top of redundant pursuit, for items already acquired, I have to also pursue legal action against the thieves.
But I haven't even seen their faces, because of the fear that they may be armed, while I was not. So the TV's serial number is all I have to go on, and I give it to the authorities. Of course, it never pops up again.
If I'd had a gun, in our hypothetical scenario, might the outcome have been different? It depends, for the most part, on how badly the men wanted the TV.
You may say, "But, Bradley, that's absurd! You wouldn't shoot a person over a trivial item like a TV, would you?!"
But, is it trivial? How important is a workweek of your time, not a second of which you can ever replace? That is, in fact, a portion of your very life.
And if the whole of your life is an unalienable right, according to Natural Law, how can a certain portion not be? You would also do well to remember that force was initiated by the burglars, not me.
Further, why would you take the utilitarian "production for use" approach and presume that simply having a gun, in that scenario, entails using it? Perhaps I would simply hold the robbers at gunpoint, so they didn't run off before the police arrived? Would you be OK with that?
You say, "Fine. But it's still not worth a life. Scare 'em off and go back to bed." Inaccurate, given what the TV represents. But, let's go with it.
Maybe I live just across the border from a state where politicians have respect for unalienable rights, thus access to guns is easier.
Suppose I have no gun, stay in bed, and let the burglars take my TV. They then break into a house in the next town, just across the state line from me, and steal some guns.
The next morning, they use those stolen guns to murder 43 people in a shopping mall. Would it have been better if I'd had a gun to stop them at TVs?
Are you beginning to question the wisdom of my state's hypothetical gun laws? Perhaps another scenario will cement the premise?
What if intruders came to steal a TV, and a child walked in on them? What if they were armed, but the homeowner couldn't own a gun? What if the intruders were so startled they fired their weapons, killing the child?
Did the state's prohibitive gun laws prevent it?
Would another knee-jerk law, piled atop the others, stop it from happening again? Or bring the child back? Or ease the parents' grief?
Of course not. But a simple preventative measure, such as the homeowner holding the intruders at gunpoint till police arrive, would do all of the above. And, with the robbers in jail, any further criminal acts they may have planned are thwarted.
Does that not make infinitely more sense?
The villains are no longer free to take a life at the next house (or any portion of a life).
But, rather than a sensible solution, the Progs want even more gun restrictions. Why?
And it's hypocritical. A microscopic fraction of high-capacity weapons are used in crimes. So high-cap mags must be banned? But, I thought they loved democracy? Wouldn't that be "majority rule", rather than tyranny of the minority?
But, I digress. Prog hypocrisy is documented to the point of tedium. A handful of mass murders justifies gun bans. A handful of gays necessitates universal marriage "rights". Et cetera.
The point is this: top down policies never solve highly individualized problems. This is why I advocate federalism. Localized rule.
The government closest to individual citizens can best respond to individual issues. And they usually have more reverence for Natural Law.
By way of conclusion, let's take a look at collectivist regimes:
Tell the people in 1970's Cambodia that guns, let alone high-capacity magazines, would serve no useful purpose. Wait. You can't. Because they're dead. And they couldn't legally own guns. Maybe high-capacity mags could've helped them out when Saloth Sar's mobs came to round them up?
Tell the people of 1950's China the fairy tale you insist on pushing, that gun control saves lives. As it turns out, only criminals had guns, and those criminals ran the government. When mobs of soldiers came to murder these innocent rice farmers, could high-capacity mags have saved a few lives? Even if only one life, would you say it was worth it? For the children?
Maybe the Jews in 1940's Germany could have stood a chance, if they were armed? But Jewish gun ownership had been outlawed long before the first boxcar was loaded with its human freight. Might Anne Frank have lived to have children of her own, if her parents had access to MG34s?
Could the Bolshevik purges have been prevented?
Or perhaps your Leftist sensibilities are unmoved by any of this history? After all, those are foreign countries. And it's hyperbole, anyway. All you're calling for is "common sense gun control measures", right? That kind of thing could never happen here, right?
Perhaps we should look to the Reconstruction South, then? Yes, in America. Progressives and Democrats instituted what they saw as "common sense gun control." After all, what could be more common sense than keeping guns out of the hands of people you'd very recently held as slaves, amiright!?
Didn't work out so well for the people in the pictures collected here, did it?
Here's an idea, Mr. President, and the rest of you gun-grabbing, rights-hating Progs out there: tell the descendants of all these people that the society they lived in would've been worse for them, and much more dangerous, if they'd been allowed to have guns (or high-capacity magazines, with which they might have fended off collectivist/racist mobs).
No? Yeah. We didn't think so.


text:
161 Fort Washington Ave, Suite 601
New York, NY 10032
525 East 68th Street, Starr 8
New York, NY 10065
425 East 61st Street, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10065
425 East 61st Street, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10065
Weill Cornell Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery provides high quality care in the full spectrum of plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery. Our academically based program provides treatment for conditions and deformities related to trauma, cancer, and a wide range of elective cosmetic procedures. Our clinical expertise includes:
- Cosmetic and reconstructive surgery of the face, neck, eyes, nose, ears, cheekbones and chin in the adult and pediatric population
- Rhinoplasty and nasal reconstruction
- Liposuction
- Laser surgery for facial skin resurfacing
- Surgical treatments of congenital hemangioma, port wine stains, and dilated blood vessels of the face
- Reconstruction of facial defects from removal of skin cancers or congenital defects
- Reconstruction after removal of benign or malignant tumors of the head and neck and aerodigestive tract
- Surgery for facial injuries, including facial bone fractures and skin lacerations
- Superficial, medium, and deep facial chemical peels, dermabrasion, collagen injections, scar revisions, removal of skin lesions or tumors
- Cleft lip and palate
- Botox and collagen injection
Our specialties include a congenital and craniofacial pediatric surgery program that is a leader in the care for children with complex facial deformities, helping to transform the lives of young patients struggling with these disfigurements. Members of our surgical team regularly organize and participate in non-profit missions to other countries, including Colombia, Honduras, Ecuador, and China to treat children with cleft lips, cleft palates, and other craniofacial conditions.
As part of our commitment to providing patient-focused care, we encourage our patients to actively participate in their treatment plan. Before proceeding with elective surgeries, we provide extensive information about the procedure, including any potential risks and complications, as well as realistic expectations of results. The majority of procedures are performed on an ambulatory basis. In state-of-the-art surgical suites, our surgeons use the latest regional anesthetics and medications that allow our patients to recover more quickly and heal faster.
We are committed to ensuring that our patients are well-informed about the procedures available and have the opportunity to discuss their questions in confidence with any member of our team. The work of our division plays a very important role in patients' lives, helping with issues of self-esteem and confidence.
For a complete description of our services, please visit: Weill Cornell Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery


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