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My newish job has it such that I no longer work in the same building in which I park my bike and shower and change for work and now when I leave I walk across campus and get a general sense for the weather. Tonight's general sense: coldish. Not much else to say about that, other than the coldishness suggested that I wear two pairs of socks, which wasn't wholly necessary, but it's Friday, so why not indulge?
I'm never going quite as fast as I think I should be. The power of positive thinking doesn't exactly translate into velocity.
I ended up on the sidewalk on lower Massachusetts because I got stuck in the wrong lane. Quite a bumpy, unpeopled sidewalk with unexpected holes and divots and whatnot. Suboptimal. Stay on the road if you can. I merged back onto the street past California St and it was mostly fine, except for the indeterminateness (real word) of the number of lanes, which is exactly 1.5.
If you ever come to visit Washington DC, you should try to see it by bicycle. We even have a Hard Rock Cafe, so that's something.
Q street is getting lame. What's the highest number Trek Road bike your average meshie will buy? 1.2? I think that's about right. It's not really the best commuter, but it is what it is. I followed a guy for a while on one and he seemed rather zippy.
If a driver pulls in front of you and into the bike lane to avoid getting stuck in an intersection after the light changes, shoal him if there's space to get around. Why not?
11th street madness will probably not become any less mad once they're done with City Center DC. Mostly because the real 'madness' part of 11th street madness starts after H where there's virtually no lanes painted, UPS trucks everywhere, and cars turning dither (not hither and) at every street. Would it be better with a bike lane? Yes. But only a little.
Who did I see at Pennsylvania and 9th? Friend of the blog, @JDAntos. I don't think he saw me.
At 3rd and Pennsylvania, some guy shoaled into something off a power skid and stopped about 2 feet in from of me. Strangely, he started only about 5 feet behind me. The other bicyclist behind me chortled. After a couple of seconds, I looked back and him and he just sorta shrugged. Yeah, I know. I don't know what happened to shoal guy, but the other bicyclist lost his pannier when it hit a security bollard when he started riding up the Capitol driveway. Another cyclist said "I hate when that happens" as she rode by but I don't think it's ever actually happened to her and she was just trying to make him feel better.
Lots of bicyclists in and around the Hill. Some of them suffered the bad luck of not making it past the bus stop before the driver of the 97 starting pulling in, cutting them off. Just another mundane indignity of riding a bicycle.
Enjoy the winter weekend wonderland. Hopefully it's not too bad.
2 comments:
Caught! :) About 5:45? I hit the light so crossed Penn to get on 9th southbound, on a joyride to Courthouse and back. Must've missed you headed east, dang.ReplyDelete
Yeah, it was about then. I was in the Penn lane and you were waiting to cross 9th. Hope the ride to Arlington was good. A bit nippy for my taste for a joy ride, but I'm glad you got it in before real winter.ReplyDelete
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The Rose and Crown Inn is a 16th century coaching inn located in the heart of Ashbury village, Oxfordshire, near to the border with Wiltshire and Berkshire. Just three miles from Shrivenham and six miles from Lambourn traveling along the B4000.
We are a family and dog friendly local pub at the heart of the community serving a choice of Arkells Real Ales and a comprehensive selection of wines and spirits.
Food is served at lunchtime and in the evenings; our menu comprises a range of modern British food made from locally sourced ingredients.


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Sometimes there are things one thinks are common knowledge, but are not! Yesterday evening, I discovered one I though "everybody" knew no one else did but me! We were at a fellow choir member's house, and the pastor got pine pitch on his hat, didn't realize it, went to wipe it off, thinking it was bird poop, and ended up with his fingers stuck together no matter how much soap and water he tried. He was wearing yellow rubber gloves to drive home so he didn't get stuck to his steering wheel, when I told him, "when you get home, use vegetable oil, the pitch will come right off.
At church this morning he wiggled his clean hands at me, delighted that it worked. Said, in surprise, "It was great, came right off! How did you know that?" I explained my parent's house has two big pine trees, and as a kid, I also would pick up pine cones wherever I went because I think they are neat! So my grandmother, my mother - everyone knew veggie oil of any sort was the key for removal!
Pine pitch removal: vegetable oil of any kind
And skunk smell remedy - Listerene - soak the dog, cat, object in Listerene for 5 minutes, then wash with normal soap, and it's gone!
What similar remedies do you know for everyday problems? Let's make this a resource thread!


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The future of our forests
I recently got an email from a reader who was considering moving to Flagstaff. With its excellent bike trails, university, and a populace full of outdoor nuts, it sounded like a pretty nice spot. So he paid a visit, and while there, sought out the answer to a big question: "I needed to know when 100 percent mortality of the forests around Flag would occur," he wrote to me. "Why would I want to move there if all the trees were going to die?"
Here at HCN, we've been keeping an eye on recent research about the climate change-induced decline of Southwestern forests. This reader's email was a good nudge to give Park Williams a call. I chatted with him this week about a paper he published this fall in Nature Climate Change. While the paper doesn't go so far as to predict the complete demise of Southwestern forests by 2050, it offers strong evidence that trees will be under extreme stress due to rising temperatures by then, making them much more vulnerable to death.
Here are some excerpts from our conversation:
High Country News: What was the major question you set out to answer?
Park Williams: The major question was really: As the globe warms, how should we expect forests in drought-limited places to respond – places where drought has meant trouble for forests? The reason that question was important is because it was unclear how important warming itself is to forests. It doesn't necessarily affect how much water falls out of the sky, and the previous thought on drought-(troubled) forests was that they're mainly sensitive to (precipitation).
We wanted to ask the trees directly and see what they said about the importance of warmth.
HCN: What did you find out?
PW: We did a tree ring study where we used tree ring data from hundreds of locations throughout the Southwest. The first interesting thing we saw was that all the trees in our data set were telling the same story. They all agreed on the years of good growth, and which years were years of bad growth. All the trees are dancing to the same tune, and that tune must be regional climate variability.
We created one regional tree ring record, and were able to compare the most recent 100 years to observed climate records. This is where we allowed the trees to tell us how important temperature is relative to the amount of water falling out of the sky. What we found was temperature during the warmest part of the year is at least as important as the amount of water that falls out of the sky.
HCN: How so?
PW: When we think of the effect of warmth on forests, we're really thinking about ... the sponginess of the atmosphere. It has more potential to suck water out of soil and plants the warmer it is.
Trees are scared of dying. When the air gets very dry, they close up their stomata – the holes in their leaves, which are like their mouths. While bringing in CO2, they accidentally let water vapor escape. They know they make that mistake. So when the air gets very dry, they close up their stomata and stop growing.
When you have very dry air, changes in (the sponginess of the atmosphere) is almost entirely driven by temperature. That makes ecosystems in these dry regions – forests on the border of desert – it makes those uniquely vulnerable to warming.
HCN: For a long time, people have said global climate models are too coarse to provide meaningful information to land managers about how warming will impact local or regional landscapes. But it seems like you've come up with such information.
PW: Using global climate models to derive information about specific regions can be dangerous -- especially when dealing with variables that are not temperature. Precipitation, for instance, is very unreliable in many parts of the globe.
One thing you can do to see how much confidence you should have in global projections is to take all the models, and say you're interested in future rainfall in the Southwest, then ask each of the models what they say about rainfall in the Southwest. If they all agree, then you can have a little more confidence. In the Southwest, almost all agree that precipitation in the cold season should decrease slightly. But there's still a lot of uncertainty.
The reason that doesn't matter so much for our study is that the models all agree so strongly on increased temperatures in the Southwest. And in the Southwest, because (the atmosphere's sponginess, or) its "vapor pressure deficit" (VPD)-- (the difference between the moisture that's in the air and the total amount that could be in the air) -- is so strongly dictated by temperature, we have a lot of confidence that VPD is going to increase a lot. VPD is so important that even if the models have over-predicted our rate of warming to a factor of two, drought stress will still reach megadrought-type levels by the end of the century.
HCN: So it doesn't take much?
PW: No. This is assuming a business as usual emissions trajectory. But we redid all these projections considering alternate scenarios. I considered a scenario where we begin curbing emissions significantly yesterday – a path we are definitely not on. What is interesting but also really grim about that analysis is even in that most optimistic scenario, we're still looking at megadrought conditions by the 2070s. So it's not really a question of will forests start experiencing these conditions this century, it's when?
HCN: What are the implications of this for land management in the Southwest?
PW: In order to grow a tree ring, you need to be alive and growing. But is anybody really going to notice if forests just start growing slower? People are more concerned with death.
So we looked at death. Two popular ways to die in the Southwest if you're a tree are by bark beetles and wildfires. One of the reasons we chose to focus on the Southwest in this study is that it has such a rich range of data sets on forests. We have great wildfire records, and since 1997, we've had decent data on bark beetle outbreaks.
We found an exceptionally strong relationship between (the drought stress on trees), and the areas of forest that were killed by wildfire and bark beetles in the past 20 to 30 years. Using climate variables to estimate drought stress in 2012, you can estimate how many acres burned almost exactly.
What's important about the relationship between (drought stress on forests) and the area of forest killed is that the relationship is exponential. So a small increase in drought stress tends to lead to a very large increase in the vulnerability to death. Even if we think of a couple degrees of warming as relatively minor, forests notice a couple of degrees and they express it by dying.
When large fires get going, it seems like agencies are more likely to let the fires burn. It's recognized now that forests are artificially dense, and it's really increasing the probability of having monster wildfires. So in that way, they've been making decisions to try to bring the forests to more reasonable densities.
HCN: Is that likely to do any good?
PW: When I was doing this work, I was thinking, "Gee what's the use of spending all this money trying to preserve our forests if they're just going to go up in flames no matter what?" But I don't think there's any reason to believe we should lose all of our forests in the next century. There are some parts of the Southwest that receive enough precipitation and are cool enough now, that even with a few degrees warming, the climate should still be suitable for forests.
If we decide as a society that we really like forests and want to have them around, I do believe it's going to take some work to ensure that forests can still be in places where the climate is suitable. Maybe the correct species aren't there right now. Maybe one of the things we want to consider is planting them in the climates that may be suitable.
Even in climates that are suitable to forests, the forests are still vulnerable to large wildfires. It may be worth thinking about what we can do to protect these forests. Maybe that means thinning in forests that we think we have a chance of preserving. Or building fire breaks to protect those forests. A strategic approach there will be good.
Of course, these ideas cost a lot of money to put into practice. But it costs a lot of money to fight huge wildfires as well. The current approach is to wait to spend most of our resources once a disaster is in progress. I think it would be worth looking into the idea of spending those resources beforehand.
Cally Carswell is HCN's assistant editor.
Photo: The 2012 Hewlett Gulch Fire near Fort Collins, Colorado. Courtesy USDA.


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|1890 U.S. Federal Census
Holy cow! I haven't posted one of my U.S. Census forms since September 5th! I knew that I had been distracted, but I didn't realize how distracted until seeing that! Well, I should have been done by now, but still, we're a month away from the 1940 census is released and I should be able to get them all up easily by then. The last census I posted was the 1880, so onward...
For most of us the 1890 U.S. Federal Census isn't available. The majority was damage by a fire in the U.S. Commerce Building in 1921. The records of just over 6,000 people survive. Why is the loss of the 1890 census so significant to us in our research? Here's a perfect example...
You are trying to figure out the parents of Melanie Beaty (made up name). Melanie was born in 1881 and by the 1900 census she is married to George Quirk (another fake name). You think that her parents were William and Dorris Beaty, but the only census you could check to see if she's with William and Dorris would be the 1890 census...and it's gone.
It doesn't matter if you're researching backward in time or forward (researching collateral lines, perhaps), the problem still exists. Does this mean that you can't find out more about Melanie? Does this mean that you'll never figure out if she is the daughter of William and Dorris? No, but you obviously won't be finding it out from the 1890 census. We love the U.S. Federal Census. It's like a warm, cozy blanket and we love keeping it handy, but just because the majority of us can't find our ancestors in it doesn't mean we're at a genealogical brick wall. We use other sources all the time (or at least we're supposed to be) so why wouldn't we now? Even if we did find Melanie in a census it's our job to ensure we've got the right Melanie by seeking out other sources and discovering if our theory makes sense.
Ancestry.com has a 1890 Census Substitute that you can check through if you are looking for someone and, like most of us, don't have them in the surviving 1890 census. Check it out. You can see the various sources that compile their "census substitute". But keep in mind that there are so many other places to check besides the 1890 Census or the Census substitute. Yes, 1890 was before mandatory records were set by the federal government for registering births, marriages and deaths, but that doesn't mean that your state or county didn't have those records. Know the church your ancestors went to? That's gold waiting to be mined! Everything non-census related that we would normally look in is fair game as a replacement. It doesn't mean that we won't sadly reflect on the 1890 census and wish that we still had it, but it's not the end of days either.
I haven't really referred back to Ancestry.com for many of the posts that I've done, but they do have some very good tutorials about getting around the loss of the 1890 census, so I'll break from tradition and refer you there now!
-Blazing New Trails: Reconstruction of the 1890 Census
-A Fire Destroyed the 1890 Census, but it Doesn't Have to Destroy Your Search
-1890 Census: Your Next Steps and Alternate Sources
FamilySearch.org has tons of tutorials that can pretty much help you with anything in your research. While I didn't find anything dealing with only the 1890 census that doesn't mean that I didn't miss something in my cursory search. Here's the link to the Family Search Learning Center.
Now for those of you that have won the figurative jack-pot and do have someone in the 1890 census, well, I'm incredibly jealous, but this post is for you. I've never used this census and I can tell you it really made my mouth water. As usual, I've kept the spreadsheet I've created as close to the original as I could while still making it visually useful. Also, when you view the spreadsheet in Google Docs it's not going to look quite right, but once you download it, the sheet will be 2 pages and look very close to the original. The sheet has been protected to you can only make changes in the open boxes. This means that you just need to hit the "tab" key to move to the next box and you won't have to worry about accidentally erasing the worksheet! If you've got any suggestions to make the form more functional, please let me know!
Until next time have fun tending those roots!
You can check out the other census forms I've posted by clicking on the following links:
-1850, Schedule 1
-1850, Schedule 2
-1860, Schedule 1
-1860, Schedule 2
And now you've got census forms that you can input data into and save to your computer!


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Meteor shower washout?
A meteor shower that is usually paltry in the best years doesn't stand a chance Saturday and Sunday in the glare of the so-called "super moon."
Called the Eta Aquarids, the meteor shower has a wide maximum, peaking a few hours before dawn on both mornings.
Only about 10 meteors per hour are expected. With the closest and biggest moon of the year out all night, sightings will be slim.
Meteor showers are named from the constellation where they appear to radiate. In this case, Aquarius. The constellation is set to rise in the east-southeast at about 4 a.m.
The Eta Aquarids are caused by the debris from the infamous Comet Halley skimming the atmosphere, with the friction causing them to flare.


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Florida State University quarterback Jameis Winston was cited for shoplifting snow crab legs from a Publix supermarket in Tallahassee, in what the Heisman Trophy winner described as a "terrible mistake."
"In a moment of youthful ignorance, I walked out of the store without paying for one of my items," Winston said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.
The red-shirt sophomore was issued a civil citation, the Leon County Sheriff's Office said. Winston told deputies that he had forgotten to pay for the food, according to Major Michael Wood of that office.
"He was issued a civil citation, and he has indicated that he has every intention of fulfilling his obligation for the community service hours," Major Wood said.
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
Winston, who is also a pitcher for the Seminoles baseball team, was suspended from that team indefinitely, FSU's athletic department said in a statement.
"As a result of his citation last night, we are suspending Jameis Winston from the baseball team. I am confident he will complete his community service obligation and the situation will be resolved soon," the statement read.
Winston's statement also said that he takes "full responsibility for what happened," and that he understands that his conduct needs to be "above reproach."
"I make no excuses for my actions and will learn and grow from this unfortunate situation," Winston wrote.
Winston led the Seminoles to the BCS Championship Title in January with a 34-31 win over Auburn.
Winston had been investigated in November 2013 for a year-old sexual assault complaint, but no charges were filed and the case was closed.
Read Winston's full statement below:


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Minutes after NFL Draft prospect Michael Sam announced he's gay, Sports Illustrated ran an article in which several anonymous people working in the NFL threw cold water on the news.
It's a sobering reminder that the environment Sam is about to enter isn't entirely supportive of gay players.
The most horrible quote came from an unnamed NFL player personnel assistant, who said:
"I don't think football is ready for it just yet. In the coming decade or two, it's going to be acceptable, but at this point in time it's still a man's man game. To call somebody a [gay slur] is still so commonplace. It'd chemically imbalance an NFL locker room and meeting room."
It's important to note that this isn't an assistant saying that this is the thought within the league. This is a person speaking for himself.
The phrase "chemically imbalance an NFL locker room" is patently ignorant, and it's pathetic that he'd voice that sort of bigotry while hiding behind anonymity.
Another person in the article, an assistant coach, called Sam's decision "not a smart move." SI reports that "multiple executives" questioned the decision to come out as well.
In all likelihood, Sam will become the first openly gay NFL player when he's drafted in April.
Sam came out to his Missouri teammates before the 2013 season. They supported him, and the team went 12-2 in the SEC. There were not locker room issues.
The NFL released the following statement in support of Sam:
"We admire Michael Sam's honesty and courage. Michael is a football player. Any player with ability and determination can succeed in the NFL. We look forward to welcoming and supporting Michael Sam in 2014."


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Alpha Sigma Alpha Tribal Feathers Flowy Long Sleeve Tee
This Alpha Sigma Alpha Tribal Feathers Flowy Long Sleeve Tee is part of our huge selection of Alpha Sigma Alpha clothing. Customize the shirt below!
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El Galeon in Pensacola
After sailing more than 40,000 nautical miles and visiting dozens of countries, El Galeon, a Colonial-era Spanish galleon replica, will sail into Pensacola Bay and dock at Plaza de Luna in downtown Pensacola. The ship will be open to visitors daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. starting Friday, October 23, ending Nov. 1. Five of the six decks will be available for the tour. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 5-12. Children 5 and younger are free. School groups are welcome and invited to tour the ship with advanced arrangement.
Date and Time:
10:00am - 6:00pm October 23, 2015 - November 1, 2015
VenueBerth 14
Plaza de Luna,
Pensacola, FL 32502
Event Repeat Summary:
Contact Information:
Ulises Custodio
(850) 436-5070
Social MediaEvent Facebook
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Milo Djukanovic has been Prime Minister for most of the 17 years since 1991, with two interruptions: once he was President of the Republic, rather than Prime Minister, and a second time - from September 2006 to February 2008 - he remained content to be leader of the main governing party. In post-communist Europe, no other party has dominated the political life of a country as much as Montenegro's Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and its leader, Milo Djukanovic. He recently resumed the Premiership after the ruling party's incumbent resigned through ill health in February 2008.
After the first multi-party elections in 1990, Djukanovic became prime minister in early 1991. It was his 29th birthday, making him the youngest prime minister in Europe at the time. In fact, the Prime Minister's post was his first ever salaried job. He was a towering figure in all senses of the word - 1.9 meters tall - and a former basketball player, the national sporting obsession.
As an ally of Slobodan Milosevic at the time, Milo Djukanovic supported Montenegro's decision to stay in the Yugoslav Federation with Serbia, after Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Hercegovina proclaimed their independence in 1991-92. It was under his premiership that Montenegrin forces within the Yugoslav army took part in the siege and bombardment of Croatia's historic port city Dubrovnik, and in the devastation of its hinterland in 1991, the so called "War for Peace." In recent years he has apologized for this attack in Croatia.
In 1997 Milo Djukanovic broke with Slobodan Milosevic. Djukanovic narrowly defeated the pro-Milosevic incumbent, Momir Bulatovic, in Montenegro's presidential elections that year. Slobodan Milosevic retaliated by encouraging Momir Bulatovic to instigate angry demonstrations against Milo Djukanovic's swearing into office as President. But Milo Djukanovic retained control, not only of Montenegro's governing Democratic Party of Socialists and the state administration, but also the republic's police. This helped him survive this challenge.
Milo Djukanovic also showed political courage two years later in 1999. When the atrocities instigated by Milosevic in Kosovo led to NATO air strikes, he declared that Montenegro was not a party to the conflict. He allowed thousands of Kosovo Albanian refugees in to the country. His stance earned him support from the European Union and the United States. As Balkan commentator Misha Glenny noted:
"Not only did Djukanovic support Western policy (despite having suffered since 1992 under the UN's stringent sanctions), but he provided a safe haven for Milosevic's opponents, ensuring that dissent was not stifled. Milosevic bullied and threatened Djukanovic, but the Montenegrin held his nerve and that took guts."
Milo Djukanovic told us that given the risks, every move towards independence had to be carefully calculated:
"We risked a lot, at the time, and in the following years, particularly 1997, 1999 and 2000. I was aware that one had to take this risk but proceed carefully. That meant not taking even half a step too many and trying to avoid incurring Milosevic's revenge. With time, his power waned, so that the chances of saving Montenegro in the case of an escalation improved. I was however, always very conscious of the fact that, due to Montenegro's political split, war could lead to an enormous amount of victims.
For this reason my decisions were always governed by the knowledge that one could not take half a step too many, had to avoid violence and might have to reach ones goal more slowly in order to preserve peace, stability, human lives and Montenegro's material possessions. This was shown to be the right approach. Many criticized us for this. The Montenegrin public accused us of moving towards independence far slower than was necessary. My idea, of moving slowly, with the occasional sidestep - for example the Belgrade accord - but with the assurance of avoiding conflict and Milosevic's aggressions and of moving towards our goal - independence - without human casualties, was proved right."
After the fall of Milosevic Djukanovic once again faced pressure from the West when he insisted on pursuing Montenegrin independence. The EU's High Representative Javier Solana pressed for an agreement for a continued joint state - the Belgrade accord - in 2002. As a result Montenegro agreed not to call a referendum on independence for three more years.
"Solania", as the State-Union came to be called, never really worked. In 2006, a referendum was called by the Montenegrin government. Given the threat of a boycott by the pro-Serbian opposition, the EU brokered a 55 percent threshold for a yes vote, a tough target as opinion on independence was rather evenly divided.
On 21 May 2006, 55.5 percent of Montenegrins voted in favour. This was just some 2,000 votes above the threshold! In achieving this, the ethnic Albanian and Bosniak communities courted by Djukanovic were critical for the "yes" vote. The Montenegrin Parliament declared independence on 3 June 2006.
Independence celebrations - You Tube - Pre-referendum independence rally in Cetinje:
"We were able to prove what we had set out to achieve. We have attained our own independence while fulfilling the high European standards we were set and maintaining internal stability. In this way we have contributed to the strengthening of regional stability. In roughly one year Montenegro was able to prove, that it is stable not only in the area of politics and security but also macro-economically, and doing so attracted the interest of foreign investors.
I would therefore emphasize the strong interest in Montenegro on the part of foreign investors, as the most important result. Montenegro is first in the region in the ratio of foreign investment/capita and third in Europe. This is, in my opinion, the crucial factor, and it guarantees Montenegrins today and in the future a better life. Naturally, this outcome - namely a better life and a life in line with European standards- will result in Montenegro becoming a fully fledged member of the European Union and NATO in the near future."
Milo Djukanovic is proud of the country's religious tolerance and inter-ethnic relations:
"What is remarkable is the harmony between different religions and nationalities, that has endured for centuries. This harmony has withstood attempted invasions, preserved Montenegro's freedom and finally, today, in the last decade of the 20th century meant immunity from all the religious and national conflicts that have raged all around us".
April 2008


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Episode 3
Season 5 Episode 3 | 53m 6s
Ross' mission to help Ned bears fruit, but not without cost. Demelza wrestles with how best to help the community, and Morwenna finds hope. A new relationship continues to blossom, while George's sanity continues to deteriorate.
Aired: 10/13/19
Expires: 11/16/25Video has closed captioning.
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15thC Burgundian.west european outer garment/robe: velvet, fur, silk damask and embroidered and silk shirt/tunic
Ultra clean - worn once, indoors at dinner!
I found this 15th C burgundian/northwest european style of outer garment in flemish paintings of burgundian noblemen, for example in hunting scenes. The idea seems to have been a sort of a fusion of an italian gionea (the pleated front, over which one could wear a belt with dagger, despite that belt clearly remaining under the shoulder-and-back cloak part of the garment), with a north european style large outer cloak, with large padded shoulders, billowing sleeve-like panels hanging therefrom, and a long and pleated cape down the back.
The large number of heraldic badge were custom made for me my Hand and Lock, military and court embroiderers, in silver coiled thread. Gorgeous!
The dummy used has a 40" chest. The garment was made for a 42" inch chest. BUT the garment design is very clever in that it can very easily be tweaked to suit larger and narrower chests! See below.
The shoulders and chest and sleeves of the UNDER-garment are cream ribbed SILK. The garment is layered in those place to give it nice structure. The lower parts of the under-garment are linen., The brilliance to this design is that, as the front and back are only loosely laced together, and as the sleeves are laced to the yolk, this garment can fit much large sizes too (although arms of under garment would not fit someone with more than average arm circumference). Assuming you want the undergarment's collar closed, it currently accommodates a 15.5 inch neck.
Currently those billowing, concave shoulder panels are fixed to the front chest panel in not quite the originally the intended place (so that, having been made for me, it would instead fit a friend who has a much smaller chest) however they are thus fixed with no more than a great big stitch easily removed in a flash, although depending on the shape of the buyer you may want to replace those stitches with similar ones in a different location--you might be able to guess at what I mean from the detail in one one of the photos. In fact, if the pleats along the upper part of the front piece were loosened (can be done in seconds without a tailor--easy to see how with it in front of you, looking at the lining) that would allow for a larger chest still. If you wanted to use the garment for slightly later ear reenactment, it would even be possible to open the front right up down the middle which would be more close of 15th C
The velvet is very soft and heavy in a tasteful yet splendid aubergine. The whole cloak's lining--a massive expanse--is a silk and silver renaissance style brocade arabesque in a dusky violet/pink. The lining of the front panel is just linen. The ermine is of course all rabbit fur. With a little unicorn thrown in--but don't tell anyone. The whole garment is heavy.
This garment was extremely expensive to make. The silver embroidered heraldic badges cost at least as much as all the rest the rest of the cloak cost together. The fabric and fur was of course also very expensive.
Therefore I am asking £400. I will pay £20 toward your cost of delivery or I might deliver it free if you are in west london or fairly neatly on the way between that place church stretton.
If you take other items that I am currently selling (a velvet and silvered tod's stuff dagger, with sheath and belt and also some HEMA stuff including a pair of regenyei feders and a brilliantly hacked SPES AP jacket, size 40/42-ish) it will make me the more amenable to a DEAL!
SOLD: 15thC velvet, silk damask and embrodered man's outer garment
WTB Want To Buy or FS: For Sale - personal sales only please, not traders.
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32 dead in grocery roof collapse in Latvia
RIGA, Latvia (AP) — At least 32 people died, including three firefighters, after an enormous section of roof collapsed at a Latvian supermarket in the country's capital, emergency medical officials said Friday.
The reason for the collapse during shopping rush-hour Thursday was still not known but rescue and police officials said that possible theories include building's design flaws and poor construction work.
Pictures from residential buildings overlooking the store showed an enormous crater-like hole in the roof. Building materials were stacked on remaining sections of the roof, where workers were building a garden as part of the Maxima supermarket's original design plan.
The Fire and Rescue Service said 35 people were injured, 28 of whom were hospitalized, including 10 firefighters. The service could not say how many people might be trapped under the rubble.
Several large construction cranes hauled debris from the hole, where firefighters slowly sifted looking for survivors.
Rescue workers periodically turned off all equipment and asked relatives of missing people to call so that they can pinpoint ringing phones, rescue service spokeswoman Viktorija Sembele said.
She said work was proceeding slowly since both the rubble and remaining sections of roof were like a house of cards and could easily collapse further if a wrong piece is moved or lifted.
Firefighters suffered casualties when large sections of roof fell on them right after their arrival on the scene.
The rescue service estimated that approximately 500 square meters (5,300 square feet) of roof collapsed, destroying large sections of the store's high walls and nearly all its front windows.
The building was completed in November 2011. The Lithuania-owned Maxima was reportedly renting the space.
Maxima officials refused to comment and said that they would release a statement later.
The supermarket is located in a densely populated neighborhood between downtown Riga and the city's airport.
Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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At the same time, Timi was walking on the road, unaware of the potential danger trailing behind her. "I was walking with my headphones in and suddenly heard what I thought was a car horn," she said. The honking came from a truck driven by Anderson Chee, who saw the small lion as it darted from the road into some bushes.
After warning Timi and escorting her back to town, Chee called the Sheriff's Office, who put them in touch with Justin Shirley, of the Division of Wildlife Resources.
Shirley arrived a short time later and confirmed that a mountain lion had been stalking the area. "Lions are predatory animals and when they're alone and starving, their behavior can be impossible to predict," said Shirley.
The lion's tracks led to an abandoned trailer house. "We always try to tranquilize and capture an animal, if possible," Shirley said. But after witnessing the animal's behavior and getting confirmation from his supervisor, Shirley decided that precautions needed to be taken. "The lion was exhibiting strange behavior that posed a risk to public safety," he said.
The mountain lion weighed around 30 pounds and was approximately eight months old, according to Shirley. A young cat such as this is usually accompanied by a larger adult lion, but Shirley said no evidence of another animal was found. The young lion was most likely abandoned, which would explain its strange behavior.
Timi comes away from that day with a strong motto she is willing to share… "Watch where you're walking!"


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Hawaii Restaurant Costs
The Big Squeeze: Restaurants are paying more for everything and they know you don't want to.
(page 1 of 2)
by John Heckathorn; Illustration by Michael Byers
People complain to me about restaurant prices all the time. "It's getting hard for two people to go out to dinner somewhere and stay under $100," someone recently said. "Since when did entrées start costing $40?"
"The sad truth is that, if we put a steak on the plate for $40, we still don't make our margin," says D.K. Kodama, who owns Vino Italian Tapas, Sansei Seafood Restaurant and Sushi Bar, Hiroshi Eurasion Tapas and dk Steakhouse.
Consider this: Beef prices are at an all-time high, up more than 12 percent from 2010. It's going to get more expensive. Ranchers have reduced their herds. The cattle inventory in the United States is the lowest it's been since the 1950s, largely because corn, the most common cattle feed, has doubled in price.
It's not just beef: The costs of chicken, turkey, pork and veal are all up. The price for fish is skyrocketing, especially in Hawaii, where the seasonal ban against bottom fishing is underway, meaning there's no local supply of such popular fish as onaga, ehu and opakapaka.
"Even frozen mahimahi has gone through the roof," says Russell Siu, who finds cost increases hitting both his white-tablecloth restaurant, 3660 On The Rise, and his casual Kakaako Kitchen. "High-end, low-end, it's all the same. Even greens are more expensive."
The rise in food costs is exacerbated by the rising cost of fuel. Deliveries now charge for gas. That's true on the Mainland, but, in Hawaii, the problem is even more noteworthy, since so much of what Island restaurants have on the table, from salt shakers to wine, has to be shipped here.
"Matson's fuel surcharge just went up again, to 43.5 percent," says Gail Ann Chew, executive director of the Hawaii Restaurant Association. "Our guys end up eating that cost."
"I try to buy local, but I must pay for the gas. It's totally crazy," says George Mavrothalassitis, of Chef Mavro. His food costs are up 20 percent. "It's the worst situation in my 23 years here."
"Our cost increases are frightening," says Randy Schoch, whose Desert Island Restaurants owns the Romano's Macaroni Grills and Ruth's Chris Steak Houses here. "In fact, I'm frightened right now."
Food costs are not the only issue. "We have a vegan dish available at Tiki's," says Tiki's Grill and Bar partner Bill Tobin. "The other night a customer scolded me for charging her so much for vegetables she could have bought for $5."
Tobin finally had to say it wasn't just the veggies. "We're paying rent for oceanview property in Waikiki. When people think of the cost of a home-cooked meal, they never factor in what they're paying for their house. Not to mention our labor costs."
The runaway cost for restaurants, as it is for many businesses, is healthcare. "I swear our healthcare costs have doubled over the last three years," says Schoch. "Those are dollars we will never recover."
Göran Streng has a small, popular restaurant called Tangö in the bottom of the Hokua condominium. "You won't believe it," he says. "Healthcare for my little place now costs $80,000 a year."
So restaurant prices have to go up?
That's hard in the middle of a recession.
"Raising prices is the kiss of death," says Schoch. "The customer doesn't care: He wants only to pay so much for a meal, whether it's a ribeye at Ruth's Chris or lasagna at Macaroni. Your problems aren't his problem."
"We want Tiki's to stay a full step below the high end," says Tobin. "We monitor what's said about us on the Internet and already local people complain we are expensive, so raising prices isn't a good option for us."
"I have half local customers and half visitors. The visitors don't think we are expensive; local people think we are very," says Mavro. "I can't raise my prices and lose half my customers. I need local customers."
"We have many local restaurants that haven't raised their prices in three or four years," says the HRA's Chew.
That's where the squeeze comes in.
"I'm not going to make budget this year," says Mavro. "And it's not revenue. Our revenues are up."
"Revenue isn't profit," says Streng. "You work super hard, and after you've paid everyone at the end of the month, there's not much left for you."
"We're OK," says Schoch, "because we've paid our debt down. But where are the new restaurants going to come from? You can't start a restaurant now, because you can't promise investors a decent return."
"For heaven's sake, it's always been brutal to get a return in this business," says Dave Stewart, of Bar 35, Bambu2 and Brasserie Du Vin. Stewart admits that having major bar business is a help. "When times are good, people drink because they're happy," he says. "Times are bad, they drink because they are sad. We're up 13 percent this year."


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I am looking for a numerical value that expresses how representative a (non-random in this case) sample from a population is regarding the distribution of a certain attribute.
Take for example, the age distribution in a country and in its elected body of representatives.
I'll want to compare this value across many dimensions, so the value needs to be normalized in some way and not depend on the nature of the dimension. Some of the dimensions will be numerical and continuous (age, income), others discrete with many (county of residence, trained profession) or with few classes (gender).
The goal is to figure out in which of these dimensions the sample is most (or least) representative, i.e. in which ways the non-random selection (the electoral process) is biased.
Notes: There is a question of almost the same title here already, but I think it talks about something else, and this other question seems to ask for a very similar thing too, but there is no good answer for me there, either.


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Marking the Six-Month Anniversary of His Fateful Accident, Aron Ralston Returns for the First Time to Bluejohn Canyon on an Emotional Journey with Brokaw
Report to Feature Never Before Seen or Heard Video and Audio Clips Ralston Taped of Himself While Trapped in the Canyon
NEW YORK -- September 7, 2004 -- Marking the six-month anniversary of his fateful accident, Aron Ralston returns with NBC's Tom Brokaw for the first time to the canyon where he nearly died after being trapped by an 800-pound boulder. He discusses and relives his six days there with Brokaw, describing at length his thoughts, worries, and fears throughout the ordeal and, why his survival ultimately depended on him having to cut off his own arm. Trapped with only minimal amounts of food and water, Ralston explains his efforts to manage his body's resources as well as his attempts to free himself from the boulder. The report also includes never before seen or heard video and audio clips, Ralston taped of himself while trapped in the canyon, and interviews with his family, co-worker and rescuers. "Desperate Days in Bluejohn Canyon" reported by Tom Brokaw will be broadcast on Friday, Sept. 10 (8 PM, ET) on "Dateline NBC."
While trapped for six days in Bluejohn Canyon, Ralston ? who often carried a video camera on his adventures ? decided to record messages to his family and friends after realizing his slim chances of survival.
The following excerpts from Ralston's clips provide viewers with an intimate look at Ralston's most painful and poignant moments in Bluejohn Canyon:
"I don't know what it is about me that's brought me to this...Go out looking for adventure and risk...so I can feel alive...and don't tell someone where I'm going, it's just dumb."
"If I had a way to end it I probably would...it's miserable, it's cold. I cant keep the wind off of me it's cold...I'm doing what I can, but this sucks. It's really bad. One of the worst ways to go. Knowing it's going to happen."
"So again love to everyone. Bring love and peace and happiness and beautiful lives into the world in my honor. Thank you. Love you."
On the morning of his final day trapped inside the canyon, Ralston knew what he had to do to survive ? he had to cut off his arm that was pinned by the heavy boulder. In intimate detail, he describes to Brokaw the slow and excruciatingly painful process he went through to relinquish his arm from the rock, saying that once he was free from it he felt reborn.
Ralston tells Brokaw, "[It] was the happiest moment in my life...there will never be a more powerful experience for me. I...just spent all this time trapped here. And then having the opportunity I...thought I was going to die...and to have gotten to that point I...where I engraved my own epitaph...gravestone, in a sense that it...was absolutely the greatest feeling to be...given the chance to get out of here. And looking down in canyon, I knew I had a...hell of a trip left. But at least...I was not going to die right here. And the power of that was astonishing."
David Corvo is the executive producer of "Desperate Days in Blue John Canyon." Marc Rosenwasser is the executive editor, Colleen Halpin Rubino is the producer, Karen Epstein is the field producer and Richard Platt is the editor.


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Rahm Emanuel Wants A Re-Count For Chicago – Disputing 2010 Census ResultsTuesday, February 21st, 2012
In the run up to the 2010 Census, Rahm Emanuel took a significant amount of flack for trying to bring the 2010 Census under the auspices of the White House. Republicans were enraged that President Obama's then chief-of-staff had the chutzpah to try to transform an independent agency into a White House subsidiary. But now Emanuel is in the news for other reasons. As Mayor of Chicago, Emanuel is fighting for the $1,200 that each resident is worth in terms of annual federal subsidies. The Chicago Tribune reports:
Mayor Rahm Emanuel is mounting a challenge to 2010 U.S. Census estimates that Chicago lost about 200,000 residents.
Big city mayors regularly contest the once-a-decade census results, which determine how much federal funding flows to different parts of the country. Chicago would gain about $1,200 annually for the next decade for each person added to the official population, according to Emanuel's office.
Emanuel's predecessor, Mayor Richard Daley, launched an unsuccessful bid to get Chicago's 2000 population numbers increased. In 1990, Daley and other mayors tried futilely to get Congress to give them additional time to fight the census results.
The 2010 census estimated Chicago lost about 181,000 African-Americans and about 53,000 whites. Meanwhile, the Latino population grew by about 25,000 and the Asian population went up more than 20,000. Overall, the city's estimated population in 2010 was 2,695,598.
City workers used estimates of the occupancy rates of housing units in particular neighborhoods to come up with areas they believe the census numbers were low, according to a news release from the Emanuel administration.


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Cirque Éloize leaps into fanciful urban universe in Cirkopolis Sept. 27
Cirque Éloize leaps into fanciful urban universe in Cirkopolis Sept. 27
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.—Cirkopolis, the newest creation from Montreal's Cirque Éloize, dives into a vibrant imaginary world and pushes the boundaries of visual and audio innovation through different forms of projections. Circus, dance, music and theater meet in an urban landscape of the imagination at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27, in Penn State's Eisenhower Auditorium on the University Park campus.
The classic films "Metropolis" and "Brazil" inspired the unique imagery that takes audiences into this industrial yet fanciful sculptural city. The 12 performers -- and audiences of all ages -- shift between dream and reality in an uninterrupted stream of acrobatics, music and dazzling images.
Tickets for the Center for the Performing Arts presentation are $42 for an adult, $15 for a University Park student and $24 for a person 18 and younger. Buy tickets online at http://cpa.psu.edu or by phone at 814-863-0255. Outside the local calling area, dial 1-800-ARTS-TIX. Tickets are also available at four State College locations: Eisenhower Auditorium (weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.), Penn State Downtown Theatre Center (weekdays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.), HUB-Robeson Center Information Desk (weekdays 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) and Bryce Jordan Center (weekdays 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.). A grant from the University Park Allocation Committee makes Penn State student prices possible.
Co-commissioned by the Center for the Performing Arts, Cirkopolis unfolds in the heart of an imposing city in which giant gears and dark portals symbolize the crushing lack of individuality. Bathed in the music of an original score and surrounded by projected video, the performers rage against monotony, reinvent themselves and dare the limits of the factory city in which they're bound.
"Cirkopolis was imagined as a crossroads between imagination and reality, between individuality and community, between limits and possibilities," said Jeannot Painchaud, Cirque Éloize (serk el-WUHZ) artistic director and co-director of Cirkopolis. "The show is driven by the poetic impulse of life, the physical prowess of the circus and the humor, at once serious and light-hearted. Cirkopolis is all about letting go and allowing yourself to be borne aloft by hope."
Cirkopolis features a number of circus disciplines, including contortion, trapeze, Cyr wheel, Diabolo, straps, Spanish web, hand to hand, balancing, Chinese pole, German wheel, teeterboard and group acrobatics.
Painchaud co-founded the company in 1993. A native of Québec, he has worked in the circus arts for more than a quarter century. This marks Cirque Éloize's fourth appearance at the Center for the Performing Arts. The company's most recent visit to Eisenhower was in 2011's iD.
Artistic Viewpoints, an informal moderated discussion featuring Cirkopolis Tour Manager Valérie D'Amours, is offered in Eisenhower one hour before the performance and is free for ticket holders. Artistic Viewpoints regularly fills to capacity, so seating is available on a first-arrival basis.
The creation of Cirkopolis was co-commissioned by Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC), Crédits d'impôt spectacle du gouvernement du Québec, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Conseil des arts de Montréal et Conseil des arts du Canada, the Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State and La Place des Arts.
The presentation of Cirkopolis at Eisenhower is made possible, in part, by Hilton Garden Inn. Radio station 95.3 3WZ is the media sponsor.
Find the Center for the Performing Arts on Facebook at http://facebook.com/pscpa.


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(CNN) -- No wonder Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher were so affectionate at a recent Clippers game: The couple are reportedly expecting a baby.
"They are both very, very happy," a friend of theirs tells People magazine. "It's still early."
Kunis, 30, and Kutcher, 36, are also said to be engaged.
Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher: A love story
Reps for the stars haven't commented on the engagement or baby reports, but the actors have made no attempts at hiding their status. At the Clippers game Saturday in Los Angeles, Kunis' large diamond was in full view for all to see -- especially once the couple were caught on the kiss cam.
The former "That '70s Show" co-stars were sitting courtside when the cameras panned down to their choice seats, and a bashful Kunis initially didn't know how to react.
But after Kutcher moved his cap and leaned in for a kiss, Kunis obliged, much to the amusement of the cheering crowd.
The couple might soon lock lips on camera once again when Kunis guest stars on Kutcher's CBS comedy, "Two and a Half Men." In an upcoming episode, Kunis will portray Vivian, a beautiful free spirit who catches the eye of Kutcher's character, Walden, right before he's supposed to propose to another woman.


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manage_kelley necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 118 diseños de 38 diseñadores freelance.
Amplify Studios, a full-service web development company in Manchester, NH, is expanding its reach and exposure and is looking for a new look. Instead of doing the traditional approach and doing designs internally, Amplify is asking for some help in designing a new logo that will be part of a rebranding effort (new site, etc).
Amplify Studios
Amplify Studios has been in existence since 1999, built
mostly by word-of-mouth and friends of friends. In the past year, the focus has
been more of a regional rollout, making the masses aware of our group of web
development services and capabilities. Part of this initiative is a new website
that better showcases our skillset, but we need to lock-and-load on a branding
logo before that happens.
Amplify focuses on three main objectives: Creative, Strategy, and Technology. All of
our projects use our capabilities in order to accomplish client goals. We
strive to be the best in these three areas without diluting our capabilities in
others. Recently, we went through an exercise attempting to identify words that
we associated Amplify Studios with and ones that we didn't:
Forward Thinking, Fluid (ability to move between focus)
Advanced, Cutting Edge, Rock (everything embodied with the genre), Elegant (our
solutions are tasteful and K.I.S.S.), Bold, Dynamic and Approachable.
Small, Open Source (we will share our knowledge, but not our
intellectual property), Formal, Traditional (less of a button-down culture…
being who you are and not sugar coating tough truths…honesty and personality
will come thru), Old Fashioned, Peaceful (we are not complacent… at our best we
are organized chaos and well orchestrated), Corporate (while we work with corporate
brand, we ourselves are not), Timid and Country.
- A mark and typography
treatment of our brand
- Treatment should be
expandable to encompass our web hosting business branding as well
- Entities should be able to
live separate of one another and also together
- Open to color theme
- Open to font suggestions
- clean design
- white space
- simple
- Mark should not be a
literal interpretation of the brand
- Overstated
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Slow dig: When the Leyland cypress didn't show
Michael Vlasis, owner of Mulch Monkeys in Palmyra, was distressed when he saw my recent column on a Lake Monticello landscaper who'd collected a customer's $320 deposit but declined to deliver the mulch she'd ordered ["Mulch Ado," October 30, 2002].
Vlasis' distress was understandable: I had broken my usual policy and refused to name either the landscaper or his business, and Vlasis felt that my doing so had compromised other landscapers in and around Lake Monticello who are now being eyed nervously by customers.
So let me begin by saying that I was writing about Steve Adkins and Lakeview Landscaping; I withheld that information because Adkins had claimed to be going through some distressing personal circumstances. Whether he is or not, however, I now believe that I was wrong to leave readers to wonder. That belief got stronger when I learned that Adkins had done the same thing– collected a deposit without delivering the goods or services– to another customer last year.
Donald Collins, who lives at Lake Monticello with his wife, saw a Lakeview flyer and hired Adkins to plant an evergreen screen along one side of his property.
On November 22, 2001, Collins says he gave Adkins a deposit of $522, which was half the total. The plan, according to Collins, was that Adkins would dig the holes on November 28 and plant the trees, Leyland cypress, on November 30.
Instead, he claims, nothing happened. According to his records, he left messages for Adkins on December 24 and again on January 2. He claims that on January 4 Adkins promised to do the project by the end of the month and said that things had been tough because he "wasn't getting work."
At this point, Collins says, "I still felt he might eventually show up"– but that didn't happen. Finally, on February 5 Collins left a message asking that his $522 deposit be returned; more calls ensued.
During one, according to Collins, Adkins said he was "having trouble getting the plant material," but he said he thought he could get some Leyland cypress in Richmond. That's curious; the fast-growing species has become a stock item at almost all nurseries.
In a later call, he offered to "come out and dig the holes," but Collins said no. In the end, on February 13, Adkins agreed to refund the deposit.
A check arrived on February 20, and Collins deposited it into his Guaranty bank account– but a week later it came back, marked "NSF"– insufficient funds.
As I knew from interviewing Fluvanna County Commonwealth's Attorney Jeffrey Haislip for my earlier column on Adkins, to accept a customer's money and not deliver the goods or services is considered construction fraud, which is a criminal offense.
Collins consulted an attorney, who told him the same thing. Of course, he could always go to small claims court– but if there's no money to collect, it's an empty victory. In the end, Colllins got lucky: He took the check to a branch of Adkins' bank and, to his relief, was able to get his $522.
Collins did one other thing: He began making what he calls "public service announcements" at the newcomers' club his wife, Judy, has started at the Lake, in which he holds up the flyer for Lakeview Landscaping and "lets them benefit" from his experience.
I spoke to Adkins, who claimed that he had had to special order the trees from a tree farm, and that when they came in, Collins "wouldn't take shipment."
When I stated that Corbin Snow of Snow's Garden Center in Charlottesville describes the shrub as so common that "If you're having trouble getting Leyland cypress in this area, you're not looking in the right places," Adkins countered by claiming that Collins had wanted the trees a certain height, which complicated things. Collins confirmed that he had specified a height; even so, he maintains that the cypress should have been easy to find. He says that Adkins "could have gone to the Home Depot in Short Pump."
Adkins asserts that Collins and the woman I wrote about last month are the only two Lakeview customers who have ever had trouble getting deposits refunded. When I pressed him on that, however, he wavered and changed his assertion to "I wouldn't say it's never happened."
Before we hung up he declared, as he had back in September, that he intends to refund the earlier customer her $320. Will he? I'll follow up and let you know.
Do you have a consumer problem or question? Email the Fearless Consumer, write her at 100 Second Street NW, 22902, or call 295-8700 ext. 406.