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Hitting the Nail on the Head:
by: Schvach Yid
Shmuley Boteach hits the nail on the head with his comments entitled 'Spreading Jewish Radiance', which appeared in the Opinion section of the Jerusalem Post's on-line edition, dated May 6, 2007. And thanks to Yo Yenta for introducing this article on her blog site (YoYenta.com), in which Rabbi Boteach of 'Shalom in the Home' fame (which appears on the TV cable channel TLC) tackles the dual issues of conversion to Judaism and of the Catholic Church's centuries old campaign against Judaism. First he considers the matter of conversion to Judaism which, he concludes, is necessary because of the declining birthrate of Jews (okay, I'm guilty) and, he feels, is the right thing to do – that the world Jewish community should now actively seek converts. Oh, I dunno. I'm a live and let live kind of guy. To actively seek, instead of readily accepting would be converts on the basis of his/her own initiative is perhaps, well, too un-Jewish. Besides, don't we realize how futile it is to try to convince someone to abandon the faith of his youth in exchange for some other belief? I don't think salesmanship has been very successful at this in the past - other pressures were necessary. I like the thought of non-Jews independently discovering the beauty of living a Jewish life. Those who want to – good; the others – laz im gehn! – they too are entitled, and as Rabbi Boteach points out, Judaism is not the true religion. Any religion that teaches belief in HaShem is valid.
The rabbi then goes after the current serving pope's proposal of reinstating an old Latin mass which offers a prayer concerning the conversion of Jews to Catholicism, and which moreover, denigrates Judaism. Need I say it? Shades of Mel Gibson! Can you imagine, and from a German pope at that! Gott es willen (for Gd's sake ). It's just what we need, a return to the 'good old days' .What might we expect from a Spanish pope … We, the recipients of HaShem's revelation and commandments are supposed to be spiritually deficient? Has the leadership of the Catholic Church ever read the 'Old Testament'? From where do they suppose stems their belief in the Almighty? And what about their scripture - no, not Catechism, I mean the 'New Testament'? It's about a Jew and his family and followers, in Eretz Yisrael. Whom do they suppose wrote it, Rudyard Kipling? Why do they suppose we reject it? Since we are the authors of much, if not all, of it don't they even suspect we know what we're doing in regard to it? I think that just a modicum of consideration on their part would be appropriate. They might demand from us an explanation of the horrendous history we Jews have suffered (much of it at their hands) if not for Judaism's rejection of the Christian messiah, to which I would retort: 'Have you ever read Deuteronomy?' If Gd was miffed with Pharaoh for diverting the service we owed Him, then how much more (to invoke the rabbinic ditty) would Gd be angered by our creation of a deity taken from among ourselves? We created another golden calf, but this time it wasn't fashioned from the lifted jewellery of Egypt. This time it was one of us! (upon writing this article the image of two construction worker thugs at my former place of employment flashed to mind - one had grown a moustache like you-know-whose and, upon seeing me walking down the hallway, called my name and began to shochel).
Yasher koach to Rabbi Boteach for writing about these issues which are so vital to Jews around the world.


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Department: Man and Mobility
WHAT The world's first 3D printer that uses paper pulp. WHY There is a growing market for 3D printing on demand. Printing your own or existing designs is now widely accessible. Apart from some expensive exceptions, the print material is almost always plastic. Beer Holthuis was surprised to discover that there are no real sustainable materials or printers on the market. WHY Using the mountain of paper we waste: 80 kg per person per year! The pulp in Beer's printer needs little natural binder, which makes the products endlessly recyclable. The printed objects exploit the possibilities and beauty of the technique. Tactility, bold lines and print speed result in distinctive shapes. QUOTE Printed paper is surprisingly strong.

subset: commoncrawl


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Looking to spend some time in the Florida sunshine this year, but also hoping to save some green? The following destinations are trending up, extremely popular, but also affordable compared to hot spots like Miami Beach or Clearwater. Consider one of the following beach havens for your summer trip to Florida:
Siesta Key
Siesta Key is a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Sarasota, Florida. It's known for its sandy beaches and friendly locals. Fine white sand and gentle gulf breezes keep visitors coming back year after year. An ideal escape for a couple looking for romance, or a family looking to escape the Disney or Panama City crowds. Prevalent sunshine and gentle coastal breezes should be expected daily. Sounds incredible, right? Well, it is. With well over 300 sunny days per year, you'd be hard pressed to visit Siesta Key at a "bad time". Low humidity makes the area comfortable, as well as warm. Bring your sunblock to protect against UV rays and don't forget a few pairs of swim trunks, as the warm gulf waters are perfect for boogie boarding and bodysurfing.
See all Siesta Key beach rentals
Marco Island
Grab your beach chair, your sunblock, and your volleyball set and come to Marco Island. For those who love the sand and the sun, while also staying out of the craziness of Florida's "traditional" locales, Marco Island can't be beat. Along with nearby Naples and The Everglades, this area is dubbed the "Paradise Coast" and with good reason. Next time you're looking for fun and sun in Marco Island, skip the traditional beachside hotel and opt for one of our Marco Island vacation rentals instead.
The largest of Florida's "Ten Thousand Islands" Marco Island is also the most developed of the group. Luxury resorts, well-manicured parks, and flawless beaches dot the landscape. The turquoise waters of the Gulf of Mexico provide endless entertainment and relaxation. Hunt for seashells while you pack together sand for the perfect castle. Take a fan boat through the Everglades to experience southern Florida's amazing ecosystem.
See all Marco Island beach rentals
Sunny, friendly Islamorada is a smart choice for those who want a quiet escape away from the hustle and bustle of the major Florida hot spots. Located between Mile Marker 91 and Mile Marker 74, Islamorada is situated halfway between Miami and Key West along Florida's scenic Route 1. Islamorada itself is spread out over six islands, each surrounded by tranquil ocean and soft sands.
Getting here from Miami International Airport or Key West Airport is easy with a rental car, and the views on Route 1 and connecting bridges are incredible. Worth the drive! Once you've arrived, island hopping via boat is a fun way to see the entire area. Named by early Spanish explorers, Islamorada literally translates to "purple isles" – a nod to the colors one might see during one of the legendary sunsets.
See all Islamorada beach rentals
Treasure Island
In the middle of it all, but offering a world of its own. Treasure Island has the sandy beaches, family-friendly attractions, and unique restaurants that are usually reserved for the big name Florida locales. Here, you'll have the privacy and relaxation you crave, plus the endless sunshine promised by a stay on the Gulf Coast. Treasure Island got it's name from a hotelier with a flare for the dramatic. He buried a "treasure" in the sand, then "discovered" it and told anyone who would listen. The name stuck. Visitors love its central Gulf Coast location. Treasure Island is just a short drive from St. Petersburg and Tampa and Central Florida's major theme parks.
See all Treasure Island beach rentals
Anna Maria Island
A mere 20 minutes from Bradenton, laid-back Anna Maria Island awaits. What feels like "old" Gulf Coast Florida with strict business regulations, little to no car traffic, and a peaceful way of life. That's right, you won't find any chain restaurants or high-rise, view-blocking buildings here. And oh, the beaches! A seven-mile strip of beautiful white-sand beaches line the barrier island of Anna Maria Island between the turquoise Gulf of Mexico and peninsular Florida. It won't be difficult to unwind here.
See all Anna Maria Island beach rentals
New Smyrna Beach
Ever been to Florida's Central Atlantic Coast? Think white sandy shorelines and charming little beach towns. You'll find all that and more in New Smyrna. This area is rooted in local culture and that shines through in the cozy downtown area with shops, art museums, and coastal architecture galore.
Your family will enjoy discovering the hidden adventures offered here, like the drivable beach, eco-tourism, and unique history. NSB was settled way back in 1768 by a Scottish physician and 1,000 Spanish settlers who intended to grow indigo, sugarcane, and hemp. The area really took off in 1892, when the famously entrepreneurial Henry Flagler provided rail service to the town and a resort boom was born.
See all New Smyrna Beach rentals
Miramar Beach
Step back in time to another "Old Florida"-type in Miramar Beach. Scenic beach roads, quaint surf shops with chill owners, and gorgeous beachfront rentals. Search for a place with panoramic views, you'll want them of the sugar white sands and friendly families out on the water. It also has ultra-modern amenities and activities that are ideal for family fun. Spend the day enjoying jet ski rentals, parasailing and endless shopping opportunities at one of the nation's largest designer outlet centers, Silver Sands Premium Outlets.
Sanibel Island
Warm weather, soft beaches, and incredible shelling opportunities await visitors to Sanibel Island. It's the perfect spot to relax and enjoy Florida's beauty. The island boasts over 400 different shell species, making it a premier spot for finding rare beauties. Sanibel's geographic location makes it ideal for shelling. There are endless activities out on the water, like kayaking, boat tours, and golf.


text: Unlike some very fortunate writers, I am NOT also a drawer. This has been a cause for frustration when it comes to sketching my characters, but I have FINALLY found a way to bring my brain children to life! In this post, learn how to create anime portraits of your characters with Rinmaru Games. >>


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|Ghost Ship
If you even begin to take this film seriously it will let you down horribly! It starts with a scene of unbelievable grisliness and then plays with every cliche of the genre as it progresses, right down to boneheaded lines of dialog that are obvious included to make us laugh. Director Beck (who also made 13 Ghosts) really keeps things moving, spending the first half of the film setting up the atmosphere, showing us the ship and its ghostly passengers (little girl Browning, chanteuse Rettondini, captain Ruggiero), then suddenly dispatching each character with over-the-top slasher-film gruesomeness. The cast gamely goes along with this combination of action movie heroics and ghost movie terror, injecting humour into every scene to keep us off balance. And it works, because the characters are actually intriguing and the "mystery" plot is preposterous and clever at the same time. It's refreshing to watch a horror film that's this unpretentious. It's not afraid to be profoundly cheesy ... and it actually unsettles us with hideous grisliness rather than mere noises on the soundtrack.
dir Steve Beck
scr Mark Hanlon, John Pogue
with Gabriel Byrne, Julianna Margulies, Ron Eldard, Desmond Harrington, Isaiah Washington, Karl Urban, Alex Dimitriades, Emily Browning, Francesca Rettondini, Robert Ruggiero, Boris Brkic, Iain Gardiner
release US 25.Oct.02; UK 24.Jan.03
02/US 1h31
Something's fishy! Epps (Margulies) shows the boys what she's found (Eldard, Urban, Harrington, Byrne)
"Eew! OK, I am a fan of horror movies. I am even a fan of blood, gore and make-up effects. But this was a little much even for me. This movie went to two extremes. From over-the-top disgusting to painfully boring. Everyone talks about the 'cool' opening sequence, but the only scene I found to be remotely 'cool,' is the scene where the eroded ballroom restored itself to new condition. Fascinating cinematography. Still not worth the price of admission though. I want my money back." --Larry, Oklahoma City 16.Mar.03
"Brilliant movie. Realistic special effects, tons of plot twists and a pretty nifty storyline. Make a change from haunted house movies." --Leanne, England 4.Apr.03


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VIEIRA, Miguel Said. "Success… for whom? Methodological individualism and power relations in Ostrom's approach to commons". The Commons in Latin America: Struggles, Policies and Research. CEDLA / UvA: Amsterdam, 2017.
Em inglês. Comunicação apresentada em evento da Universidade de Amsterdam, cujo tema foi "The Commons in Latin America: Struggles, Policies and Research". Os slides estão disponíveis aqui.
Meu trabalho aprofundou um tema que abordei inicialmente em meu doutorado (os impactos negativos do individualismo metodológico na abordagem de Elinor Ostrom sobre bens comuns); planejo ampliá-lo e sistematizá-lo em um artigo.
This paper analyses possible drawbacks brought by methodological individualism in Elinor Ostrom's approach to commons, and their relevance in Latin America. It argues that, while Ostrom's work has contributed immensely to disprove the narrow-minded view of the homo economicus as a model for human rationality, as well as strengthened many communities' efforts against both privatization and undue government interference, some of the theoretical underpinnings of that work can also lead to blind spots in the analysis of commons, obscuring issues of power relations and inequalities. The data for the argument comes from a review of Ostrom's studies on the California groundwater basins, from her PhD up to the recollection of that work in Governing the Commons; its analysis (particularly regarding the case of Hawthorne) shows that, while the IAD framework has many merits, it is not sufficiently well suited to take into account issues of power relations and inequalities, possibly due to its reliance on methodological individualism; because of that, a commons may appear to be successful (under the lens of the IAD) even when enabling an important concentration of power in the hands of corporate actors (vis-a-vis public or community actors). The paper concludes by considering that, while Ostrom was far from dogmatic in her approach, methodological individualism continues to be a foundation in much of the "Bloomington school" of commons studies; and that the blind spots it generates are particularly relevant in Latin American contexts, where inequality and power struggles are integral to the social backdrop commons are set in.


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brazen (it) out
brazen (it) out
To face something, especially a difficult situation or an accusation, shamelessly and/or with brash self-confidence. Timmy brazened out his teacher's scolding about misbehaving. I just had to brazen it out when the boss suspected me of mishandling the account.
brazen out
1. To face or endure something boldly: The determined people brazened out the political crisis. Your first month in the army will be tough, but I know you can brazen it out.
2. To face or admit to something shameful or untrue without expressing any remorse or shame: I can't believe that the government would brazen out such a terrible scandal. Instead of admitting that her story was a lie, she brazened it out.
3. To invent some bold story to cover up something that is embarrassing: The angry student brazened out a poor excuse for his bad behavior.


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From: http://www.waldorfhomeschoolers.com/creation.htm
After the world was created and after the animals, birds, and plants were placed on the surface, Gisoolg caused a bolt of lightening to hit the surface of Ootsitgamoo. This bolt of lightning caused the formation of an image of a human body shaped out of sand. It was Glooscap who was first shaped out of the basic element of the Mik'Maq world, sand. Gisoolg unleashed another bolt of lightening which gave life to Glooscap, but yet he could not move. He was stuck to the ground only to watch the world go by and Nisgam travel across the sky everyday. Glooscap watched the animals, the birds ,and the plants grow and pass around him. He asked Nisgam to give him freedom to move about the Mik'Maq world.


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In Arabists' rule – Apparently, If you attempt to defend yourself against racist Arabs you are 'the racist'
No surprise that the Arabist BBC would highlight an anti-Jewish Arab-Israeli racist organization's so called "research", that –so cynically– documented 'how Israelis fear of Arab terrorists' & used it to label it "racism".
The thing is is that Israeli Jews with its super high morality & Jewish guilt feels knoced by it.
This cruel exploitation of kind Jews' emotions is always part of Arab racism, they sure know how to use it, and take advantage of it, the next Israeli gesture which amounts to less security measures where needed, is their fruit.
What more can Arab racists wish for? lowering safety for Israelis, increasing danger to innocent non Arabs [Jews] and still having them defamed as "racists".
Dec 12,
The second point is that the same survey
supposedly collected for ACRI asked no questions about Arab racism
against Jews. How curious. …
Technorati – Arab racism Arab supremacy Arabization Arabs slavery Freedom 911 Sudan Mauritania Chad Darfur Sudan genocide Al Qaeda Al Qaida Bin Laden Anti west Anti American Terrorist oganization 'palestinian' terrorism Suicide bombing Saddam Hussein Torture chambers WTC bombing Homicide bombing London bombing Bali bombing Muslim clerics Mullahs Islamic Hitler jihad Sudan genocide Islamic slavery Arab slaver masters Genocide bombing Anti Israel bias Arab racism Anti Israel racism Islamofacsism Conflict Israel Islamic Jihad Hamas "palestinian" Animalism "palestinian" cruelty "palestinian" Savagery "Palestine" "Palestinians" Israelis Jewish refugees Victims of terror Moderates Islam Radical Islam Militants Arab occupation Arab Muslims Indoctrination Arab hatred Muslim hatred Nubians Kurds Berbers Marsh Arabs Maronites Assyrians Arabism Racism Anti Israel Racism Ahwazi Azeris Balochis "palestinian" Racism Rape Jihad Israeli Arabs Race Clashes Akhdam "Abid" "Zurka" "Arabic" Horsemen Non Arabs


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No, I just mean everybody always has opinions about why this thing in math is whatever, and half of them are contradictory. Quoting the age-old sage wisdom, "opinions are like *******s, everybody has them and they all stink".
No, I just mean everybody always has opinions about why this thing in math is whatever, and half of them are contradictory. Quoting the age-old sage wisdom, "opinions are like *******s, everybody has them and they all stink".
Wow, somebody's bitter.
I am pretty sure Danny was just finding a way to humorously justify his own research program.
Anyway, when you expressed frustration with group theory, I was reminded of Danny's characterization of the study of finitely presented groups as "full of monsters", with almost all interesting questions unsolvable, and how he contrasted the dire situation along that line of research with his own study of "typical" groups, which are much nicer (he says that a typical group is "hyperbolic", which apparently is "the best thing a group can be").
And as a joke, he named these two visions GGT: "Grumpy Group Theory", and "Generic Group Theory".
At any rate, I probably could have avoided setting you off on your little rant about how "people shouldn't have opinions about math" (and apparently not even about their own research program???) by starting the video a few seconds earlier, where he says:
And I don't want to suggest that these are competing visions, but they do sit in a funny relation to each other.
It's more just boredom of meta-level discussion of math. I've been around it for a few years now and used to participate in those kinds of discussion online.
Math is becoming slightly more "job-like" in a sense, so I'm starting to avoid it more in my casual conversations.
Apologies for being snappy.
Once quals are done, which will be tomorrow, every ounce of stress will shift to preparing to instruct calculus next week. I have to prepare a course plan and write a syllabus. ****tt.
Annnd topology is done. I was stressed beyond worry about differential topology because I often struggle with it. I also understudied it. Fortunately, just knowing the IFT's, Sard's theorem, stuff about regular values, and related definitions helped me stumble through the proofs at least somewhat competently. I made a few false assumptions, so that's going to hurt a bit. Hopefully that plus my generally on point algebraic topology answers will be a passing grade.
hang in there
Alcohol is detrimental to memory, but I suppose that's sometimes what we want.
Not alcohol is detrimental to sanity. It's a balance.
So that's what I've been doing wrong all these years...
Intel is updating its loadable CPU microcode to handle various side-channel and timing attacks. There is a new license term applied to the new microcode:
You will not, and will not allow any third party to ... (v) publish or provide any Software benchmark or comparison test results.
Since the microcode is running for every instruction, this seems to be a use restriction on the entire processor. Don't run your benchmarker at all, not even on your own software, if you "provide" or publish the results.
I guess Intel is pretty scared. This is, what, the 3rd or 4th microcode patch in the last year that drags down Intel CPU performance? Obviously someone is going to publish these benchmarks anyway, and I'm both excited and terrified to see how bad this is going to be given they're threatening to sue anybody who finds out.
Sounds to me like either the lawyers at Intel have no clue about what they are doing, or this is purely an intimidation tactic made in desperation.
The only aboveboard explanation I can think of is that the license was accidentally repurposed from a pre-release version. But honestly, given Intel's recent choices and the kinds of customers most affected by this side channel attack, I would be surprised if it weren't the latter.
I've been reading that recent AMD CPU's have a better performance/price ratio.
I've always been partial to AMD because motherboards for AMD processors sometimes make it possible to run them completely without any proprietary BIOS code at all. I don't think there have been any recent Intel processors where this is even possible.
Basically short version of the story is, certain Intel customers (the Googles and Amazons) have been using their monopolies to pressure Intel to deliver exclusive advance access to their upcoming Xeon chips. They want a perf/watt advantage over their smaller competitors and have been threatening Intel with developing their own ARM server chips to get it.
(Intel's also been pushing this exclusive advance access up the supply chain, which is why I heard about it. It's not secret now but it was when I first heard.)
So here's the problem for Intel.
Most of these recent vulnerabilities - this L1D side channel exploit, Meltdown, etc. - don't really affect we prole end users. Home users will probably never need or want to install this most recent microcode update, because our machines are single user or trusted multiple user. Previous patches only affected syscall heavy workloads, like I/O intensive stuff. The kinds of workloads where you might, just hypothetically speaking, need to purchase a Xeon Platinum for the extra PCI-E lanes. Just for example.
So for the kinds of customers who've done this back door, maybe-antitrust-regulators-ought-to-look-at-this-please deal, it's getting worse. These microcode patches aren't slowing the chips down like... it just takes longer for a certain instruction to finish, or it needs to wait longer to get stuff from memory. They're making the processors do a lot more work and consume a lot more energy to do the same work they used to do. Throughput down, latency up, perf/watt down down down.
No idea what this'll all mean for Intel. Probably nothing good though. Xeons are obscenely overpriced, but for the kinds of high volume companies like Google and Amazon, the price basically does not matter - they want performance/watt, they're limited much more by waste heat than by petty cash, so they're willing to spend any amount to get it. $16-$20k per CPU, quad socket motherboards, whatever. They just don't care. Intel currently dominates the server market and therefore can charge basically whatever they want to Googles and Amazons as long as they continue to cut down perf/watt. The server market is absolutely critical for Intel's survival as a company.
Last edited by Jon`C; 08-23-2018 at 02:08 AM.
The more algebraic **** you learn in math the more you learn to appreciate category theory. It really boils down to this:
Math without categories
Math with categories
Not even going sky-high with the meta-level category theory BS, it's really convenient to have universalized notions. It's nice to see, for instance, the universal property appear in a category. You just know how it works.
A d j o i n t F u n c t o r
You're the morphism now, dog!
Did Halmos do work in category theory?
(That's Sammy Eilenberg.)
Oh, he looks like Halmos. Eilenberg is definitely the category theory guy..
Halmos would have probably preferred to work directly with matrices: "We [he and Halmos] share a philosophy about linear algebra: we think basis-free, we write basis-free, but when the chips are down we close the office door and compute with matrices like fury."
Also, that's a picture of Sean Category from the little known movie Finding Formalism
I stumbled upon the obituary of Peter Landin, of "The Next 700 Programming Languages" fame (a paper which seems to have stimulated the invention of modern, non-Lisp functional programming languages, such as ML and Haskell).
I was amused to read the following bit, though:
...BUT (emphasis added):In the early days of computing, software written for one make of machine would not run on any other. Computer scientists wanted to define "programming languages" that could be universally understood. That this is normal today – the software of the internet, for example, can run on every kind of computer – is a consequence of Peter's insight that the meaning of a computer program could be pinpointed in mathematical logic and liberated from the control of the manufacturer.
Instead leaving him time to tend to more important matters:Towards the end of his life, Peter became convinced that computing had been a bad idea, giving support to profit-taking corporate interests and a surveillance state, and that he had wasted his energies in promoting it. But whether he liked it or not, his ideas underpin developments to this day.
Always bisexual, he threw himself into the politics of the Gay Liberation Front in the early 1970s. He separated amicably from his wife in 1973, and was closely in touch with her and his children till his death. For the rest of his life he pursued gay politics, and his house in Rona Road, Camden, became a gay commune. Always more of a facilitator than an activist, he saw many plots hatched at his dinner parties. Aids: the Musical! was conceived there, as was the reinvigoration of Gay Pride marches in the mid-80s, just in time for the battle over Clause 28.
Last edited by Reverend Jones; 08-26-2018 at 10:48 PM.
People who have developed an open-source project, I have a question. There's a package for SublimeText that has a feature I really like and would love to use outside the context of the that package (specifically it's the live preview of math for LaTeXTools, outside of .tex files). However, LaTeXTools has no license on the repo, so I don't know what the etiquette is for reusing the code from the package. Obviously I could do it locally and no one would care, but if I can get it working, I think it might be a useful tool for other people.
My larger vision is to use the inline math preview with the PlainTasks plugin and have a nice todo/notes file that I can write my daily notes in, which frequently include a few equations/mathy expressions.
I had a blog. It sucked.
Send an email to the owner of the repo?
There is no license. By default that means all rights have been reserved by the original authors, which means technically you dont even have the right to use or redistribute this software. Youd need to contact every single past contributor to secure those rights.
Likewise, in order to apply a license now theyd need written permission from everybody whos ever contributed to this repository. For a project with no CLA that actively solicits anonymous contributions, this is impossible.
lol **** me
Looks like we lost the author of TempleOS to mental illness.
(N.b.: strong / racist language in that thread is a reference to Terry Davis' frequent paranoid outbursts about those who were out to get him, probably due to his schizophrenia).
I never tried it, but it looks like a neat little OS in the spirit of Amiga and other minimalist 80's home computer systems.
Relevant insight to Eversor's point about racism being about intent (contrary to the now popular definition of prejudice based instead on words rather than actions):
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17913367Originally Posted by deft
Actually, on the other hand, I'd be interested to hear what Eversor thinks of this guy's idea about how to respond to racist comments:
It sounds like he's saying that intent doesn't matter, because we can never really know what the person intended. But then that it is still necessary to chide them for having made a racist remark. But then, is there any room for comedy? And who defines what is acceptable comedy, if we can't trust ourselves to correctly interpret their intent?
maybe the tl;dr is that we can always let people get away with saying racist things so long as they are either schizophrenic or simply assure us it's part of their comedy act


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Everyday thoughts on the grant world from Veronica Robbins, the Grant Goddess.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Are You the Bear or the Salmon?
The salmon were swimming upstream, struggling to make progress against the strong current, following an instinctual ritual that had been followed by millions of other salmon before. They kept swimming, regardless of what happened to the other fish in front of them - some made it, some were eaten. They continued to leap out of the water, persisting upstream through the rocky river, in spite of the danger of being snatched out of the air into a bear's mouth.
Some even adjusted their fishing strategy and started stepping on salmon to trap them before going after them with their strong jaws.
Lots of salmon died. All the bears were fed.
The salmon just kept doing the same thing that millions had done before them. No change in approach or tactic regardless of the risk. Some made it, but the cost was high for those who didn't. The bears assessed the situation, applied a strategy, and modified the approach if it didn't work.
As a non-profit or school administrator, which are you - a bear or a salmon?
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About Creative Resources & Research
- Grant Goddess
- Woodland, CA, United States
- Creative Resources and Research is a consulting firm specializing in grant writing, grant seeking, program evaluation and professional development training. We have worked with hundreds of clients including public and private schools, school districts, universities, non-profit organizations, and social service agencies throughout California, securing over $155 million from federal, state and private foundation funding sources over the past decade. Our primary grant writers and program evaluators have over 50 years of combined experience in the education and social services fields. At CRR we prefer a personal approach to the clients we work with; by developing long term relationships, we are better suited to match client's needs with available funding sources. We provide a variety of services to help assist you, including grant writing, evaluation consulting, professional development opportunities, and workshops.


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Before we get into the real stuff, a couple random deals.
1. Have you seen the new commercial for the i-Pod or portable music device of some sort with "Why can't we be friends?" playing in the background? The whole premise is there's these fans of rival teams (Yankees-Red Sox and Dodgers-Giants) who decide they can set aside their differences because they both use the same mp3 player. What's weird is in part of the commercial this Angels fan glares at Cal Ripken wearing his Orioles uniform before they get all chummy due to their peacemaking accessories. Did I somehow miss out on the great Angels-Oriolez rivalry? What's this all about? Is there bad blood over the haloes picking up Bobby Grich and Doug Decinces in the early 80's? That's just odd.
2. There seems to be a perception, perhaps due to the Jim Rome show, that sports fans can't also be sci fi geeks, but I intend to debunk that Wednesday at midnight to see the opening of Revenge of the Sith. And yes, I was also at the midnight premiere of Return of the King a couple of Christmases ago. If it makes me uncool, so be it, Jedi.
On with the Chlorophyll . . .
What's the most unbreakable single season record in baseball? The one that probably comes to mind most readily is DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak, for a few reasons. 1) We all know about it and 2) it's stood for over 60 years, and 3) every so often some guy gets around 30 games, thus bringing the record back into our consciousness. This record is very close to unbreakable, but I would give someone like Ichiro an outside shot, if they caught the right breaks.
Some other notable records:
Avg. Hugh Duffy .440; Nap Lajoie .427
OBP. Barry Bonds .609
SLG. Barry Bonds .863
Runs Billy Hamilton 192 Babe Ruth 177
Hits Ichiro Suzuki 262
2B Earl Webb 67
3B Chief Wilson 36
HR Barry Bonds 73
RBI Hack Wilson 191
SB Hugh Nichol 138 Rickey Henderson 130
ERA Tim Keefe 0.85 Dutch Leonard 0.96
WHIP Pedro Martinez 0.74
Saves Bobby Thigpen 57
K Matt Kilroy 513 Nolan Ryan 313
The stats with two names listed indicate a 19th century record and the later 20th century record. Most historians agree the 20th century game is a more mature version, and so you'll get some anomalies in the 19th century like Kilroy's 513 strikeouts. My favorite of these is probably Chief Wilson's 36 triples. Cristian Guzman had 20 in 2000, but no one's seriously threatened this record in some time. I doubt it'll be broken in our lifetime, but if Willy Taveras can learn to hit it in the gap in Minute Maid . . . well, a guy can dream.
However, all the most unbreakable single season records in baseball history belong to 19th century pitchers. All the rest of these are cute, but my all time champion is Charley "Old Hoss" Radbourn's record of 59 games won in 1884. (He also completed 73 games that year, just shy of Will White's record of 75). "Old Hoss" has to get my vote as the most understated nickname in history; I'm not sure what they'd call him nowadays, other than sir. Kind of like Albert "Decent" Pujols or something.
59 games won. This is, by the way, undoubtedly the most valuable season anyone has had ever — pitcher, hitter, whatever. The top 24 spots on the list for games won in a season all belong to 19th century guys, mainly because they were all working in two-man rotations and there were no real relief pitchers. As you ease into the 20th century you get some remarkable perfomances here and there, but most of these are also really old — Jack Chesbro won 41 in 1904, Ed Walsh won 40 in 1908. Again, these guys were working in a different era, three man rotations, lots of complete games; so it's probably not fair to compare today's pitcher with these ancient ones.
The standard that does loom for pitchers is the 31 games won by Denny McLain in 1968. This was still a different era than our own; we'd made it up to four-man rotations and there was more relief work but nothing like the extensive 6- or 7-man bullpens that prevail in today's game. Still, this is a number that is, yes, daunting, but at least conceivable; if somebody got the right breaks and had an excellent bullpen and was absolutely dealing all year, well it seems conceivable that somebody could chase down 30 wins.
This standard is like DiMaggio's or maybe more properly like Ted Williams' .406 in '41. Every few years some pitcher will cruise into an All-Star break with 15 or 16 wins and people begin to wonder if 30 is a possibility. I remember a few years back Pedro started 14-1 or something and people started to talk. And, of course there was the year Smoltz won 24. Bob Welch won 27 as recently as 1990.
This year, Jon Garland and Dontrelle Willis are off to red-hot starts, stirring thoughts in the mind that well, maybe . . . Garland is 8 for 8 in his starts; Dontrelle finally dropped one, but is 7 for 8. Adding to the speculation is the fact that these guys are completing a few games, thus ensuring they get the decision in their starts. Sure, these probably aren't the guys you would have expected, but who would have picked Denny McLain before '68?
What odds are these guys facing to get to the 30 win mark? Pretty steep. The main obstacle is the five-man rotation, which limits a pitcher to 35 or 36 starts a year. Thus, to get to 30 wins, they would have to win either 83 or 85% of their starts, depending on if they got 35 or 36. It's important to distinguish that it's 83% of their starts, not their decisions, which wouldn't be all that unusual.
Well, how difficult is this? Let's look at some of the great pitching years in history and see:
Yr Pitcher W GS %
99 Pedro 29 23 79
'02 Unit 24 35 69
'95 Maddux 19 28 68
'96 Smoltz 24 35 69
'90 Welch 27 35 77
'86 Clemens 24 33 73
'85 Gooden 24 35 69
'84 Sutcliffe 16 20 80 (Cubs only)
'72 Carlton 27 41 66
'69 Seaver 25 36 69
'68 Gibson 22 34 65
'68 McLain 31 41 76
'66 Koufax 27 41 66
'61 Ford 25 39 64
'53 Spahn 23 32 72
'44 Newhouser 29 34 85
'30 Grove 28 32 88
'16 Alexander 33 45 73
'13 W. Johnson 36 36 100 (Holy Smokes! did have 12 relief appearances)
'08 3-Finger 29 31 94 (!)
'08 Mathewson 37 44 84
'08 Ed Walsh 40 49 82
'95 Cy Young 35 40 88
'84 Radbourn 59 73 81
Well, that's more than enough to be getting on with. I'll have to admit I wasn't sure what I'd find before I ran these numbers. I halfway expected to see that even the ancient legends didn't win at high enough a clip to get 30 wins in the modern era. I certainly didn't expect too see the Big Train at 100%. To be fair, this is somewhat misleading, since Johnson didn't literally win 100% of his starts; I'm sure some of them came in relief. Also, until 1920, baseball was heavily pitching dominated, so results of this kind are a little less surprising. Still, these guys did some astonishing things.
I think the key thing that let these guys put up these huge percentages is how deep they pitched into games. Johnson pitched 29 complete games in 1913, thus ensuring he would get a decision in those games. It's not the losses that hurt a modern starter's chances at 30 wins; it's the no-decisions. Wins are already a fairly luck-driven stat, but you only pitch six innings, you not only have to rely on your offense to help you get the victory, but also two or three other pitchers of lesser quality than you.
The random nature of wins can be seen in two recent years for very different lefthanded pitchers. In 2003, Jeriome Robertson pitched rather poorly for the Astros, with a 5.10 ERA, averaging just over 5 innings a start but still wound up with a 15-9 record thanks to tremendous run support and an unholy bullpen featuring Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel, and Billy Wagner. Last year, Randy Johnson pitched brilliantly with a 2.60 ERA, 290 K's, and an average of 7 innings a start (with a perfect game mixed in), yet went 16-14 because the team behind him couldn't hit or field, and the bullpen wasn't reliable.
So, the most encouraging development in the quest for 30 may be that pitchers are finishing games more this year. It remains to be seen if managers hold to this philosophy in the dog days of July and August, but if pitchers start getting more decisions, then perhaps a pitcher with the right combination of brilliance, health and run support can get to this goal. It wasn't long ago when 60 home runs seemed an unassailable mark, but certain shifts in the game made it attainable. Now, the game may be trending away from that, though it's dangerous to declare trends based on six weeks of a season. Such a trend could create the right environment for a 30-win season. It will be difficult, but Welch's 27-win season provides encouragement. In '90, Welch was far from the most dominant pitcher in baseball; he was 6th in the league in ERA and no where on the leaderboard for K's. He was very good, no doubt, but he also played for the best team in baseball, and was very lucky even for that. So, one of these years the Yankees will sign the right free agent pitcher who'll pitch brilliantly enough and deep enough into games that the Yankees will provide all the luck he needs to get 30 wins.
Meanwhile, Denny waits.


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Student Ambassadors
Dundee College
With funding from LIFT OFF Dundee College were able to create a Student Ambassadors framework. All Ambassadors went through an application process, completed Disclosure Scotland forms and were provided with job descriptions. The students were provided with training including workshops and on-line assessments using the VLE blackboard.
Student Ambassadors have assisted the college in a variety of events including:
- Dundee University Go Young People Dundee event
- Schools and Careers fairs
- School visit days
- A college enrolment and information session
- International conference
- Student tours


text: Coral Ridge is participating in Operation Border Blessing. This initiative is a bi-partisan, cross denominational effort to support "Welcome Zone Churches" along the US-Mexican Border. These churches have identified themselves as places that are willing to minister to the influx of immigrants in both word and deed. Between unaccompanied minors, human trafficking, and illegal drugs, there is an unprecedented crisis at the border. Operation Border Blessing is our way of being a part of the solution and bring Jesus to the least of these. You can participate by either donating the items posted on this page or by giving a one time financial gift that will go to supply the distribution centers along the border. Thank you for supporting this culture-shaping mission.


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Almost all people who've ever asked me weren't actually interested in mopeds as what they are (small 2 smoke vintage motorcycles) but as "a good way to get around."
Re: Should I get a moped?
Want to post in this forum? We'd love to have you join the discussion, but first:


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We've all heard that saying... When life gives you lemons....
Well when you are done with making your lemonade why not give the lemons to your kids to paint with them? Who says you can only paint with brushes?
Not Me!
Give this a try on your Easter break.
First make lemonade:
Then paint!


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Political violence, drought and child malnutrition: empirical evidence from Andhra Pradesh, India
Political violence, drought and child malnutrition: empirical evidence from Andhra Pradesh, India
Households in developing countries have to cope with a myriad of uncertain events, some of which may happen simultaneously. One important example is the interplay between climatic shocks and violent conflict.Although the extent to which conflict and disasters interact differs across countries and contexts, in general, people living in fragile and conflict-affected states find it harder to cope with natural disasters given the impact of violence and instability on health, basic service provision, social cohesion, mobility opportunities and livelihoods.
Existing evidence on how individuals, households and communities cope simultaneously with violence and natural disasters is, however, largely anecdotic and descriptive. This is partially due to lack of data, but also to challenges in identifying empirical causal effects when endogeneity biases may be potentially large.
The objective of this paper is to address this gap in the literature by analysing the combined effect of exposure to political violence and drought on child nutrition. The context of the analysis is the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, which was for several decades affected by a left-wing (Naxal) guerilla insurgency. Households in Andhra Pradesh face in addition cyclical climatic shocks that affect the nutrition levels of their children, often quite severely.
The paper shows two important results. First, drought exerts a strong impact on malnutrition, but only when it occurs in a violent environment. Second, the authors found that political violence exerts a long term impact on child malnutrition only indirectly, when the combination of conflict with drought prevents households to appropriately protect their children against adverse nutritional shocks. Although existing data does not show irrefutable evidence for the mechanisms at play, analysis strongly suggests that the adverse combined welfare impact of conflict and drought is explained by a failure of economic coping strategies and restricted access to public services and aid in conflict affected communities, possibly due to fear, insecurity and isolation.


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GIULIA SARA CORSINO (Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa)
Artikel hier als PDF herunterladen.
Please download the article here (PDF).
Abstract: For the ancient Greek novel, Plato was at the same time an unavoidable and problematic model. The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate how, on the one hand, specific points of the Platonic theory of eros were reemployed by the novelists by means of allusion and intertextual references to ennoble a recent literary genre such as the novel, which put love at the heart of its thematic concerns. On the other hand, the paper intends to offer some evidence about the process of substantial cleansing that Plato's doctrine underwent at the hands of the novelists. In the Imperial Age, a new erotic model, based on heterosexual love, family and procreation, and celebrated in the so-called 'ideal novels', opposed the erotic views expressed mainly in the Symposium: eros as a male-male flourishing in the context of the hetairia and the drinking party, aiming at the transmission of certain skills and seeking to bestow immortality through "reproduction and birth in Beauty" (206e).


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Hybrid photo + video explained
"It's like wedding video for couples that don't really want a videographer"
Hybrid photo + video explained
Gone are the days where photographs were viewed only in albums and movies watched on the living room telly. And with these exciting changes (in the way we create and view images) comes the opportunity to better tell our story. Hybrid photo + video is the integration of still and moving images with music and sound, in order to capture moments with a greater sense of mood and emotion.
As a hybrid photographer, I use every tool (at my disposal) to tell the unique love story of a couple on their wedding day. I strongly believe couples should have many options when it comes to how they reminisce about such a major life event. And (for me) that really is the most appealing factor of being a hybrid photographer. It gives me more tools to help couples place themselves back in that moment..... to relive and feel those incredible feelings of joy once again.
When weaved together, still and moving images merge perfectly to bridge the gap between photography and videography. The stunning detail and sense of fantasy created with flash photography cannot be replicated by video, but can be integrated almost seamlessly within it. In turn, the emotion and fleeting moments captured dynamically by video are used to stop time during candid and unpredictable moments. This formula allows me to go far beyond what an average photographer or videographer can capture. Couples can share their digital images and video in an instant, while the ageless charm of traditional albums and prints, can be held and felt, and handed down through generations.
Hybrid photo + video not only combines the best of past and future, it also reduces planning time and lowers financial costs. Employing two separate teams for your photo and video means more people to organise, more of your wedding day taken up and of course a massive increase in financial cost. In fact, many couples are faced with the quandary of having to choose between photo and video; due to the financial cost of employing two separate teams. Hybrid means multiple camera coverage AND multiple end products without having to pay multiple professional fees.


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Top 5 Stories on Brownstoner This Week: A Look at Home Renovations in Flatbush and Carroll Gardens
'Artistic Home' With Porch, Stained Glass, Fanciful Topper in Kensington Asks $1.499 Million
This real charmer in Kensington belongs to a row of circa 1910 two-story brick homes with front porches and fanciful toppers. Inside are impressive original details like parquet floors with elaborate borders, stained glass windows, a pier mirror with fluted columns and foliate details, and neo-Classical columns between the two parlors.
The Insider: Carroll Gardens Brownstone Gets Restoration Outside, Modern Update Inside
If the renovation of this four-story brownstone wasn't a 100 percent gut, it was at least 90 percent. "Nothing from the original floor plan was maintained, except the exterior walls and the mantel in the front parlor," said architect Ben Herzog of Ben Herzog Architect, whose team has grown to number a dozen since he founded the Park Slope-based firm a decade ago.
Brooklyn Real Estate Six Months Later: One Sold, One Available, One in Contract and One Off Market
This week, our look back at four of our featured listings from six months ago centers on homes in Greenpoint, Crown Heights, Park Slope and Flatbush. How did they fare?
A Brownstone, Greek Revival and Two With Parking to See This Weekend, Starting at $1.399 Million
Here for your speculative real estate viewing pleasure we have a selection of open houses ranging from a mansard-roofed wood-frame Greek Revival in Fort Greene asking $2.7 million to a Romanesque Revival brownstone in Bed Stuy listed for $1.399 million. None are perfect, but all have original historic detail and appear to be in move-in condition. A few could benefit from cosmetic upgrades.
The Insider: Budget-Conscious Couple Turn Flatbush Row House Into Bright, Open Family Home
This modest three-story row house had been through "a lot of iterations" in its hundred or so years, as architect Sarah Jacoby of Long Island City-based Sarah Jacoby Architect rather delicately put it.
Related Stories
- Top 5 Stories on Brownstoner This Week: Tea in Brooklyn Heights, A Brownstone's Modern Update
- Top 5 Stories on Brownstoner This Week: New Looks in Design, a Hoboken Brownstone Reno
- Top 5 Stories on Brownstoner This Week: Frida Kahlo at Brooklyn Museum, Gothic in Bronxville
Email firstname.lastname@example.com with further comments, questions or tips. Follow Brownstoner on Twitter and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.


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He makes some really good points.
Everyone knows the keyboard worship leader is passe. And he is right, of course. No one wants to incur Piper's wrath.
My problem is that I'm not sure they make "True Religion" jeans in my size.
Southern Baptist News & Opinion
by Dave Miller
He makes some really good points.
Everyone knows the keyboard worship leader is passe. And he is right, of course. No one wants to incur Piper's wrath.
My problem is that I'm not sure they make "True Religion" jeans in my size.
Dave Miller is the senior pastor of Southern Hills Baptist Church in Sioux City, Iowa, and editor of SBC Voices. He served as President of the 2017 SBC Pastors' Conference. He is a graduate of Palm Beach Atlantic and SWBTS. He has pastored churches in Florida, Virginia, and Iowa. Twitter
There might have been a few…
I am thinking of creating one of these, Matt, and you will be a major character. You are likely to REALLY get angry about that one.
Honestly, if we can't laugh at ourselves a little….
By the way, I'm guessing True Religion jeans are expensive?
How does $319 sound?
And because I'm hardly a neutral observer, I just want to point out those aren't the MOST expensive, but they're more expensive than the average from a quick glance.
I picked this one because I'm pretty sure you can pull out the lime green dye and go to town on it.
If you spend 319 bucks on jeans, that ought to disqualify you from ministry – ever, anywhere.
What if that 319 goes to buy the only pair of jeans I will ever need – wear it all day, every day, for the rest of my life?
Spend 200 on a used washing machine, 50 on a drying line, 10 on detergent, and buy the pair at Walmart instead??
Walmart has current specials on walking sticks, tunics, and sandals . . . for cheap
you could outfit a whole tribe of Church planters at Walmart for the cost of one pair of those True Religion brand jeans
pray tell, what is 'the curse of Piper' ?????
I'm now a "bitly.com" evangelist. Copy the link address, paste it in bitly and it will shorten your link so it looks like this:
Bitly is a wonderful little helper for all those pesky long links. And if you're statistically minded, you can go back and see just how few people actually click through and listen to the sermon you put on the internet.
Oh, wait…
Your evangelism is sound. I just wanted folks to be able to read the URL. There are some security risks related to clicking that kind of link since it takes you to a page owned by someone other than Dave. Tinyurl has a preview feature so you can see the link at their site before clicking it. Didn't check bit.ly for that but they probably do as well.
I suppose it shows how out of touch and unstylish I am that I thought the "true religion" jeans were a joke. Lo and behold! It's a real brand, only without the awkward ties to religion.
This is a requirement for new planters at my church.
Just sayin.
I'm guessing some assumed that, Ed!
Is that the paraphrase you've been working on?
Here's the thing, Max. There is nothing wrong, per se, with any of this. If you are young and hip, be that. If that is your style, then do it.
Listen, we could make this just as effectively from 20 years ago with young church planters trying to be Adrian Rogers, Jr. or imitating some other stylistic bent.
The issue is not "being hip" it is the assumption that to be like Christ we all have to conform to some human style.
I was young, but now am old. I was actually "hip" in my prime and count myself as a contemporary worshiper who has evolved (transforming, but not conforming) through the decades. I've never had a problem with style, as long as there is substance to go with it. However, I'm growing increasingly concerned that this new wave of "cultural relevance" is stretching Christian liberty in method and message. I've listened to sermons coming from the plant I noted … shallow stuff with no exhortation to holiness … some messages approach antinomianism. I would have no problem with the same look… Read more »
Yep. I don't care how you dress or what style of music you use. Preach the Word and do the work of the ministry.
It's all in the balance, I suppose … but the focus should be on Christ, not our appearance.
That becomes easier when you look like me!
I suspect part of the problem is failing to distinguish contextualization as translation, and contextualization as marketing. As translation, you learn the language and culture of a group, and use that to make the Gospel clear in terms that that group understands. As marketing, you learn the language and culture of a group and use that to make your gospel presentation attractive to that group. Too much emphasis on the latter can lead to the loss of the former (possibly a form of C. S. Lewis's 'Law of First and Second Things').
I love what they said about the mailout advertising the church as relevant and relaxed and fun and better than the other churches. I have actually seen that in mailouts – comparing their new church with the people's previous boring church experiences and promising to be better than that.
I, too, have seen those mailouts Alan.
I also really liked the emphasis on clothes. Why do church planters dress that way? It is like a uniform or something. What is funny is that often, the ONLY people dressing like that are the ministry types. Everyone else in their 20's and 30's looks relatively normal and just wears clothes but the church planters are all wearing the same thing with the same hair. I can pick them out of a crowd. I am in my 30's, so I'm not ancient yet, but it has just always struck me as funny that there is some kind of uniform.… Read more »
My generation is was white shirt, dark suit and a red tie – kinda like I wore Sunday.
I thought about doing a mailout comparing our services to those boring, dated, "contemporary" ones…
We're better than drums and a guitar… we're vintage!
Vintage is cool now, isn't it? Or have I already missed that boat too?
Vintage. Wow.
Hey… I can milk cultural relevancy in favor of an organ! 😀
I wish I still had a copy of a video I did at MABTS for a church planting class. It was an infomercial for the Wrongco Church-O-Matic. Basically hit on the contrast between contextual and non-contextual church plants and was really fun to make.
Have you seen this one Doug?


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As part of the Landshapers series, a range of short audio accompaniments were created as a background to the beautiful landscape of the the South Downs National Park and the South Downs Way National Trail.
The first set gives voice to the many farmers on the varied landscape of the South Downs.
- Early farming
- Farming on the South Downs
- How farming has changed on the South Downs
- Modern farming on the South Downs
- Farming, the South Downs landscape and how visitors can help
Hear the other audio accompaniments in the series
These one to two minute audio tracks give voice to real farmers and conservationist's stories and thoughts of how their lives on the South Downs continue to shape the landscape we see today and how the South Downs landscape evolved, to help us further our understanding of this remarkable place.
For more details see www.nationaltrail.co.uk/southdowns
All audio is copyright South Downs Way National Trail


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The Cat® C1.5 Industrial Diesel Engine is offered in rating 18.4 bkW (24.7 bhp) @ 1800 rpm and meet U.S. EPA Tier 4 Final emission standards. Industries and applications powered by C1.5 engines include: Aircraft Ground Support, Auxiliary Power Units, Bore/Drill Rigs, Chippers and Grinders, Compactors/Rollers, Construction, Forestry, General Industrial, Material Handling, Mining, Mobile Earthmoving Equipment, Mobile Light Towers, Pumps, Trenchers, Turf and Landscaping, Underground Mining Equipment and Welders.
2200/2800 rpm
148 kg (327 lb)


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Here we go ... 10 questions with Aidan Harding. For those who don't know, amongst other things Aidan has competed in 2 Iditarod Trail invitationals and raced the Tour Divide last year. He'll be racing the TD again this summer but I'm sure the highlight of his year will be the WRT ;o)
You can follow Aidans adventures via his web site www.aidanharding.com
• On last years TD you rode singlespeed, was that for simplicity, weight saving or just because?
Mostly just because. There's no doubt that gears ought to be faster, especially on a route with as much flat as The Divide. There were definitely times when I would have killed for a big ring. But, singlepeed does impose a certain rhythm to long distance riding. You can't get to the top of a hill, whack it up a few gears and stay on the power - you have to slow down a bit when the going is easy. I like that. And if you ride singlespeed all the time, hulking up climbs is just normal.
• Are you going to have another go at the WHW double and how fast do you think it could be done in perfect conditions?
I'm not. I didn't enjoy it at all. That's not entirely the trail's fault - I did go there to train for the Iditarod Trail Invitational so I wasn't 100% committed to finishing the WHW double. What I got was a lesson in mental toughness and how much I'd let it slip. That was a useful lesson and helped me to get my head right before Alaska.
The thought of carrying around Loch Lomond again fills me with boredom, so I can't see the temptation to go back. I think someone will make it this year. The best person for the job would probably be a 24 hour racer rather than a multi-day rider. When I get tired, I just want to go to bed. To make the WHW double, you'll be going way into sleep deprivation.
• You ride a Singular, do you believe 29ers offer a big advantage over long distances?
I don't think that wheel size is the whole story. I absolutely hated another 29er I rode a few years ago, but the Swift is the best XC bike I've ever ridden. I was a sceptic when I first met Sam for a test-ride, but I rode the tightest trails I could find and it was great.
So, it's hard to speak from personal experience about 26 vs 29 without having ridden enough 29ers. But the numbers on a race like the Tour Divide are pretty compelling. In 2010, there was only 1 rider on 26" wheels. Maybe we're all sheep, but I think there's something to be said for having big wheels for long distance.
• Do you have one piece of kit you wouldn't be without?
In Alaska, my neoprene face-mask was the best thing ever. This year was the first time I've used one and I had no idea how much my perception of cold was dictated by my face getting chilly.
But overall, it's my Leatherman. Ever since a wet ride in The Chilterns when my brake pads wore out and my fingers were too numb to change them, I've always made sure I have those pliers. On that ride, I had to limp home in the dark with one brake and a light that kept cutting out. Eventually, the other brake was worn out too, I lost feeling in my hands and feet and I started to feel dizzy. It all started from not having the tools to sort my brakes out. I've used that tool loads of times since and it considerably increases my bodging options. With that, duct tape, and cable ties I can get out of pretty much anything. (Just ask Aron Ralston!)
• What keeps you motivated during an ultra endurance event? ... there must be times when you just want it all to stop.
The truth is: every single time, I reach a point where I don't want to carry on. Then, I have a sit down, eat and drink, and eventually realise that I couldn't quit if I wanted to. When you're a day or more away from help, quitting isn't very practical.
I like to read books about Polar exploration and I'm greatly heartened to find that those guys go through the same thoughts. And they reach the same conclusion, once you're committed, you're not going to be able to give up so you might as well get on with it. They also face much harsher challenges than I ever have and come through them.
In general, though, the places I've raced through are so amazing that they motivate you. If you can postpone your bad feelings, eventually some view or some section of trail or some local person will blow you away and then you realise why you're there.
Aidan ... Tour Divide 2010
• You're racing the TD again this year, will you do anything differently from last year?
I'm riding a lighter bike - a Singular Pegasus; and trimming down my kit. The biggest difference in kit is switching from a 35L drybag on the front (cheap but difficult to keep off the front tyre) to a smaller front bag and more stuff directly attached to the frame.
I'll also be going harder tactically. I slept in hotels a lot last time and that meant some days ending earlier than they ought to. I know I can do the distance, and just finishing isn't my aim so I can risk more in the direction of possibly breaking myself :)
• How many calories a day did you get through on this years Iditarod?
I have no idea. When I rode to McGrath in 2009, I had spreadsheets with calories per gram and all sorts. The food that I took as a result was dreadful. I didn't want to eat it, so I was undernourished for the whole trip.
This time, I just took the kind of foods I know I crave and guessed the amount per day by sight/heft.
But, I can tell you I ate about 2000 calories in one sitting in Kaltag (the village at the end of the Yukon section). My food had gone missing and the stuff I managed to get hold of had the calorie totals written on it.
• If you could ride with one person who would it be?
It's always fun to ride with my friends and I don't get to do that enough.
Aside from them, it would be Mike Stroud. He is a polar explorer, adventure racer, medical doctor, and researcher into endurance sport.
• Which do you worry about most bears or moose?
Moose. They're belligerent animals that will take you on just to have supremacy on the trail. Bears aren't generally that interested in messing with people.
• Is there anyone you'd like to thank?
There are way too many people, but here's a short-ish list:
Emily and my family for putting up with me.
Sam at Singular Cycles for making great bikes and helping me out loads.
9 Bar for helping me out with food for Alaska. Tastier, more nutritious, and easier to eat frozen than anything else out there.
And all the race organisers: Bill & Kathi Merchant, Matthew Lee, and your good self.


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Enjoy a Trip to Rio's Water Planet
As the famous seaside city of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro is known for its famous beaches and historic buildings and streets. And aside from the famous statue, Copacabana is one place that you simply cannot miss. Rio de Janeiro is also blessed with a reasonably temperate weather and that is why Rio Water Planet is the perfect spot to hang out with friends or even with your children for a good time.
Located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro city, the Rio Water Planet is perhaps South America's largest and beautiful water theme park. The park and the amusement rides are all designed to keep visitors of all age groups engaged, and the entire park is designed in a way to blend in with the natural landscape as much as possible.
The exciting water park contains over 40 rides in total and is a place of attractions which include Rio Kart Planet, Rio Show Planet and even a Rio Circus Planet! The theme park has a total of 16 waterslides and ranges from easy and fun to exciting and thrilling. Take your little ones to the kiddie slides while the older ones can try the wave generator producing waves. If you are enjoying with friends then try out the thrilling Giant People Eater, the Surfhill Racer or explore one of the many tube rides to enjoy prancing about in the water. With an admission access lasting an entire day, you can easily lounge around and take in all the rides bit by bit, choosing as per your interests.
Why frolic in the beach waters when you can have more fun in a water park? Book a tour and enjoy the experience of a lifetime with the people you love.


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Esprit Mega Yacht
Have you always dreamed of battling some seriously impressive big game fish while relaxing in the lap of luxury? Esprit Mega Yacht charters invites you to join them in stunning La Paz, where you'll be cruising the beautiful, bountiful Sea of Cortez on a top-of-the-line mega yacht!
Charter operator Ray Novelli created Esprit Mega Yacht with two goals in mind – firstly, to pass on his knowledge of these waters, and secondly, to provide his guests with the luxurious angling adventure of a lifetime. Whether you're a hardcore angler looking to target some hard-fighters from a truly outstanding vessel, or want to treat your family to an unforgettable vacation, then come aboard and get ready for the experience of a lifetime.
You'll be setting sail on a vessel that has been tailored to make your journey as luxurious and comfortable as possible. She's an impressive 110' Broward mega yacht, and she offers three floors of true opulence. Onboard, you'll find 6 staterooms and 8 restrooms, top-of-the-line navigational and safety gear, and even a jacuzzi. What more could you ask for? You'll also be joined by a 6-man crew who can't wait to make sure that your every need is met.
If the vessel isn't impressive enough by herself, the species of fish you'll be targeting on your trip are truly outstanding, too. Get ready to battle some big game beasts! Ray Novelli is known for reeling in trophy-sized billfish, so expect to target Blue and Black Marlin and Sailfish. You'll also come face-to-gills with other hard-fighters, such as Yellowfin Tuna and Wahoo. Get ready to troll, kite, bottom, and fly fish to your heart's content.
You'll be provided with top-quality rods and reels, as well as live bait and cleaning and filleting of your catch. Your trip also includes some seriously fine-dining, too – you can discuss your options with Ray. Climb aboard Esprit Mega Yacht charters and treat yourself to the angling adventure of a lifetime!
Fishing License
Live Bait
You Keep Catch
Catch cleaning & filleting
Child Friendly
Air Conditioning
Snorkeling Equipment
Ice Box
Rods, reels & tackle
Fighting Chair
Food (Lunch & Snacks)
About the Charter Operator
About this listing
Targeted Species
Boat Specs
BROWARD (Mega yacht) originally built in 1996, and restored in 2013. Powered by 2 1080HP CATERPILLAR engines, with a maximum cruising speed of 18 knots.
Types of Fishing
Fishing Techniques
Trip Includes
Cancellation Policy
Customers can cancel or modify their booking up to 7 days before the trip date free of charge. If the trip is canceled or modified later, or in the event of a no-show, 100% of the deposit will be charged.


text: The Stabyhoun or Stabij is one of the top five rarest dog breeds in the world as of 2013. It is from Friesland and in particular from the Frisian forest area, a region in the southeast and east of Friesland. The breed has been mentioned in Dutch literature going back to the early 1800s, but has only extended its range from the 1960s outside of Friesland and not until the 2000s did the range officially extended beyond the Netherlands. The name Stabij translates roughly as "stand by me" with the last part simply Frisian, meaning dog, which is pronounced "hoon". The dog is considered a Dutch national treasure. There are only a few thousand Stabyhouns in existence today worldwide.


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The work of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health is rooted in a resounding call sounded more than thirty years ago to address the racial and ethnic health disparities that plague our nation. It was then, in Health, United States 1983 (the annual report card on the nation's health) that then HHS Secretary Margaret M. Heckler took note of significant disparities that existed between non-Hispanic whites and racial and ethnic minorities despite evidence that showed improvements in the health and longevity of all Americans.
Fueled by this report, in 1984 Secretary Heckler established a task force that within a year developed the Report of the Secretary's Task Force on Black and Minority Health (also known as the Heckler Report). Released in 1985, by Secretary Heckler, the report provided a detailed analysis of the major factors that contribute to illness and death among racial and ethnic minority populations and signaled a turning point in understanding the extent to which these groups experienced health disparities. The report also led to the creation of the HHS Office of Minority Health to improve minority health and help eliminate these disparities.
Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) continues to prepare the Health, United States report, a consolidation of the most current data on health status and determinants, health care utilization, health care resources, and health care expenditures from federal agency and private entity sources. HHS recently released Health, United States, 2015, which dedicates a portion of its report to trends in health disparities in a Special Feature on Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, in commemoration of the recent 30th anniversary of the Heckler Report.
Some of the highlights from the Special Feature include:
These findings are encouraging as they mark important improvements in some health measures for racial and ethnic minority populations and reflect our collective efforts to improve minority health and build a healthier, more equitable nation. However, significant disparities still exist, and we must remain vigilant in our efforts to end health disparities in America. It is my hope that this report will help reinforce our shared commitment to achieve a nation free of disparities in health and health care.
To view the Health, United States, 2015 report and the Special Feature on Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, visit http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus/index.htm.
J. Nadine Gracia, MD, MSCE is the Former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health and Director of the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Please note: We are performing some necessary blog maintenance. During this time, both new comments and prior comments will not be available.


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My Skin feels clear and less bumpy after using this serum. Ive also noticed how plump and refreshed I look in the morning compared to usual :) Thumbs up from me!
Charcoal Teeth Whitening Powder
Get the Hollywood smile you have always been searching for with our 100% Natural Activated Charcoal Teeth Whitening Powder made with zero peroxide. Its simple to use just Wet your tooth brush and dip into my whitening powder, clean your teeth as normal and notice whiter teeth more polished teeth after only one use. This product is the number two best selling product amongst top airlines and on Zalando.de and so a high number of people are searching for this product. It's a low environmental impact product with its glass jar packaging and natural Ingredients.
✰Removes Stains ✰ Fluoride Free ✰ Freshens Breath ✰ Polishes teeth ✰ Removes plaque ✰ Great for people who smoke ✰Removes Stains such as coffee and tea ✰ Easy to use ✰ Fluoride Free
Ingredients: Activated Charcoal, Bentonite Clay, Calcium Carbonate, Ginger, Peppermint Powder.


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The Treasury Laws Amendment (Bourke Street Fund) Bill 2017 has passed both Houses of Parliament, ensuring that public donations are tax deductible.
Members of the public who wish to donate should visit the Bourke Street Fund website at www.vic.gov.au/bourkestreet.
Ref: Minister for Revenue and Financial Service's Media Release, 17 February 2017


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Grotta Azzurra, Capri, Via Grotta Azzurra, Anacapri, Metropolitan City of Naples, Italy
A tour to discover an archaeological treasure and a pearl of nature in Campania region.
This tour will give the customers the opportunity to see an archaeological treasure and a wonderful pearl of nature on a single day.
Pompeii is one of the most famous historical sites in the world which is included in the Unesco's World Heritage List. With its streets, buildings and plaster casts Pompeii gives the tourists a real insight into what the Roman life was like before the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79. Pompeii's history has been trapped in the ash for eternity and today it's a dramatic example of beauty and magnificence of the Roman Empire.
Capri is one of the islands in the gulf of Naples, with natural beauties and stunning panoramas. It attracts numerous visitors all year around especially in the summer. The famous Faraglioni rocks, the chairlift train of Mount Solaro and the beautiful Blue Grotto are crowded by thousands of international travelers. It is a celebrated summer destination for a lot of VIPs too, with designer boutiques and cafés that overlook the deep blue waters of the sea.
Customers can decide to take an unforgettable boat tour to circumnavigate the Island in the Mediterranean sea. Capri's charm and beauty never cease to amaze.
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Absolute Links vs. Relative Links – SEO Value
- May 1, 2015
- Advanced SEO Techniques, Business advice, SEO
The debate between absolute links and relative links continues to live on in the SEO world. The individual significance of each has been contested, but it is widely regarded that absolute links provide better SEO value on the whole than relative links.
Many believe that absolute links have less potential for getting messed up when search engines index your page. It shouldn't really make a difference, but many conclude that this is reason enough.
Furthermore, content scrapers and RSS services may 'repurpose' your content legitimately (or not). In either case, shouldn't a proper back-link be attributed to your site? This situation favours absolute links. Although this is a minor argument, it's still worth considering.
Frank Engel, principal at Edge Creation, is an experienced business & marketing professional with a proven track record in managing a diversity of marketing projects for premium brands.
About us and this blog
Edge Creation is a Chilliwack based marketing agency that provides compelling digital marketing and branding solutions for local Fraser Valley businesses. We consistently deliver outstanding results for our clients.
Request a free quote
We offer professional marketing services - from strategic marketing to branding and website design. We deliver measurable results for our clients.


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A secret retreat for goddesses and royalty
FOR AN authentic taste of Cypriot hospitality and charm, the Columbia Beach Resort ticks all the boxes.
This recently refurbished five-star and all-suite resort, surrounded by mountains and white cliffs overlooking the secluded bay of Pissouri, feels like a resort fit for royalty. In fact, it is.
Prince Harry is said to have visited while Zara and Mike Tindall honeymooned here in 2011.
The resort, largely made up of two-storey suites with traditional shutters on the windows, restored roof tiles and elegant arches, also has a spa, a kids' club and a creche as well as several eating and drinking options set around a garden of tropical trees with the heady scent of jasmine.
Beyond the fragrant foliage, on the eastern side of the resort facing the coast, was my executive suite with its interior of white wood panels, floor-to-ceiling patio doors, dark wooden beams and handcrafted furniture. Colour came in the form of splashes of blue while the sofa and armchairs gave the place a homely touch.
The Columbia Beach Resort ticks all the boxes
The tiled bathroom, stocked with luxurious Molten Brown toiletries, was no less lavish with a bathtub you could almost do laps in, alongside a walk-in shower big enough to hold a party in.
Meanwhile the award-winning Hébe Spa offers an array of treatments using Elemis products. After a couple of lengths in the pool, I headed to the gym for a bit of downtime in the Jacuzzi before heading for my treatment.
I opted for a Swedish back massage which was therapeutic and relaxing. I did promise myself to attend one of the many fitness classes, then go for a steam and sauna throughout my stay but the relaxation room proved more tempting. They also have squash and tennis courts and a hair and nail salon for more pampering.
All that relaxing works up an appetite, so it's good to know there's plenty of delicious food on offer. Running the culinary show is Michelin-star executive chef, Ioannis Giakoumidis, who ensures that taste buds are tickled with Greek and Cypriot dishes combined with world influences.
Options range from a la carte to buffet with the opportunity to dine al fresco. My favourite dish was the spicy grilled shrimp tacos served with red cabbage salad, red onion, coriander and avocado, alongside a spicy mayo dressing at the Cape Aspro seafood restaurant which has recently introduced a sharing concept.
You can taste a variety of the region's best fish dishes while enjoying views of the sea and white cliffs that are no less delicious. The Apollo Taverna restaurant, more typically Cyrpiot in its appearance, was another hit.
Try the juicy lamb chops served with sautéed asparagus, kefalotiri flakes and garlic oil. If you want to know how to recreate Ioannis' tasty grilled halloumi or warm Greek salad, you can join one of his surprisingly simple cooking classes running over the summer.
Beyond the resort there is much to lure you to this part of the Med. Explore pretty Pissouri Bay by cycling with Thomas Wegmüller, a Swiss cycling champion, who leads exciting – and gentle – bike tours (bikecyprus.ch).
It's a great way to discover the region's natural beauty and interesting architecture as he identified local plants and their uses, taught us a bit of history and shared some of his favourite viewpoints.
Golfers as well as cyclists are also well catered for. Play a round at the prestigious Eléa Estate Golf Club.
Designed by golfing legend Sir Nick Faldo, this 18-hole course has a tropical feel thanks to its planting.
Arguably the most famous sight, though, is Aphrodite's Rock, a rugged formation out at sea that is believed to be the birthplace of the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure and procreation.
History lovers will also love the Mosaics Archaeological Park.
The site dates back to prehistoric times and magnificent mosaics depict elements of the inhabitants' lives such as births and hunting rituals.
From there, take a trip to Pissouri, a small and traditional village that's big on personality, the kind of place where everyone knows everyone.
It has cosy bars, tavernas and quaint shops along its narrow cobbled roads and square and just a short downhill stroll back to the luxurious confines of the Columbia Resort.


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Now, just imagine the apoplexy if someone was looking to pass a bill requiring that the Bible be taught in public schools. Religions, and cults, should not be taught in school by Government decree Bill would require schools to have climate change lessons A bill up for consideration before the New Hampshire Legislature in 2020 […]
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Also known as Kokor or npopo.
Patja is a soup that is well known by the Surinamese Bush negro population. To the rest of the Surinamees population this recipe is completely unknown and cannot be found in any of the Surinamees cookbooks.
The basis of Patja is a strong boullion which can be made with meat (red or white) or fish. Beef would be great but if you have fish available that would be great; red snapper tilapia anumara krobia kwikwi jarakaba etc. For those that don't have any of the afore mentioned tropical fish available you can try any other kind of fish. Keep in mind that salt water fish is not recommended for it will change the taste of the broth.
Patja is also delicious with any dried or smoked fish. The bouillon can also be brought up to taste with a bouillon cube or a dash of salt. Spices are not recommended except for half an onion. Another very important ingredient is grated cassava.
In Suriname they use the bitter cassava for this broth. The cassava is cleaned and washed and grated to a bitter mush. This is then put in a special long basket like container which we call a matapi. This basket is structured so that when you pull on the bottom it squeazes all of the cassava together. The liquid of the bitter cassava which is poisonous is getting squeazed out of the cassava* and a solid substance is left over. Outside of Suriname bitter cassava and matapi are usually hard to find. Sweet cassava fresh or frozen would be a good substitute even though the taste would be slightly different. If you are unable to use a matapi a clean strong dishcloth can also be used to squeeze the cassava. After five uses you might want to throw out the dishcloth. In the meantime use a centrifuge to dry the cassava. Separate the cassava in two equal parts in two clean dish cloths for balance in the centrifuge box and start spinning. You wont be able to get it as dry by squeezing it in a towel...dont forget to clean the centrifuge box before and after every use!
Once the grated cassava is dry take out the big rough pieces or put it through the grinder once more. Out of this make thick sturdy balls. If the cassava is too dry add a little bit of water. It is only supposed to have enough liquid so that it breaks apart easy enough (if it does not it is too wet) but if it starts crumbling too easily,(it is too dry); it is just a matter of trying. Out of these big balls make smaller balls about half a centimeter in diameter.
Once this is done take out the fish or meat out of the bouillon and set the flame to high. Then add the cassava balls to this. Carefull! Do not put all the balls in at once it will cool off the soup too fast. Also do not stir immediately because it will break apart the balls too fast because you will get a glazy looking soup that looks like hangovers vomit. Go to work with caution. Once all the balls have been added to the soup lower the flame and continue cooking. After two to three minutes you can start stirring and try getting the balls that have clumped together apart. Also add a pepper for taste preferrably an adyuma (habenero) cayenne pepper or madame janet pepper but if these are not available a spanish pepper will do.
Serve this up with a piece of pepper that can be used at the persons own discretion. So hot that you can just barely eat it. If you like you may also add a dash of vinegar which makes the soup absolutely delicious.
* What happens with the poisonous liquid from the bitter cassava? Throw it away? No absolutely not. This poisonous liquid can be used as an insecticide for lice in your vegetable garden. You can also boil it in a big pan and make a syrup like liquid called kasripo. The poison is hereby taken out and is no longer dangerous. If by any chance you should run out of soy sauce you may use this liquid as a marinade.


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It is quite common that you come up with a research question for your dissertation review, or for a review you wanted to publish and then you find a systematic review on the same subject has already been published- can you still go ahead anyway? There is a simple answer and a more complicated answer. If you don't mind thinking of a brand new question the simple answer is no, don't go ahead. However, the reason you are asking what you can do about the situation suggests that you want to hold onto your question despite finding this other review. That makes the situation a little more complicated.
First I'll describe what a review is, and then I will discuss why repeating a review is inappropriate, and then what you can do if you just can't let go of your idea.
A review is form of research. It allows you to bring together information from a variety of sources and synthesise it. A synthesis is when you combine component parts to create a whole. Usually the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. In a review you find as much information as you can that will help you generate an answer to your research question. Often you are asked to restrict the information type to peer reviewed primary research studies – studies in which data has been collected. You decide during the critical appraisal phase whether the primary research is trustworthy, and it is you include it in your synthesis.
A review is conducted when the research question can be answered by combining (synthesising) the results of already published primary research. Its no good trying to answer a question by review if there is very little or no primary research. If there is very little primary research then you would need to do primary research. If someone has already answered your research question by undertaking a review then you won't find anything different to them – so it is pointless repeating what has already been done. However, of course there are exceptions to this rule and that is how we arrive at the third part of this blog -reasons to go ahead anyway.
- A review has been conducted a relatively short while ago but since then there have been a number of new primary research papers published – then you should go ahead and update the previous review.
- The review was poor quality or didn't include all the relevant primary research – then you can go ahead and do a better job.
- The review was broad in scope – then you can identify a similar question that enables you to take a new perspective on the topic.


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If you don't know by now, I am a baking junkie. Baking cakes has become one of my favorite things to do since my daughter was born. I'm not a professional baker, but I am living proof that anyone can bake a killer cake! With a few tips and tricks, you can get an awesome cake on the table for your next event! Here's how…
Start With a Great Cake:
Some might tell you that you can just go with a boxed cake to make your life easier. I am going to tell you that there's nothing like a homemade cake! Now, I have used boxed cakes in a pinch, but I am always disappointed in them. I consistently use cake recipes from Add a Pinch and I have never been disappointed. The cakes are moist and can be prepared and frozen ahead of time. I have made chocolate cakes, vanilla cakes, yellow cakes and even red velvet and pound cakes for different events. I am always able to freeze them without the cakes drying out or tasting funny. With a great cake as a base, nobody will notice your less than perfect decorating techniques.
Why Freeze?
When making a cake that you plan to spend a little more time decorating, freezing is the way to go. Why? I suggest freezing the cakes for two reasons. The first is so you have enough time before the party to get everything organized. I never cater, so the week before my daughter's birthday is usually filled with a laundry list of things to do. If I prepare the cakes the weekend before, that is one less thing I have to worry about. The second reason is because the crumb coat goes on so much easier when a cake is frozen or refrigerated! I don't know about you, but there is nothing worse than getting crumbs all over your frosting. Trust me, I've learned from the very first Pinterest fail cake I made for my daughter's birthday.
Get the Right Tools:
A few years back I was using some crappy decorating tips that ended up breaking right in the middle of decorating. So not worth it. If you know you are going to be making lots of cakes and cupcakes, invest in the right tools. I'm a huge fan of the KitchenAid mixer to help with making buttercream. Buttercream is one of those things that has to be mixed for awhile and it's awesome to not have to hold a mixer for any extended period of time. I also really enjoy using the Wilton system for decorating. The hubs gifted me this huge set for Christmas a few years back, but you can start with just a few and work your way up. As for the pans, I use Wilton as well, but I have used all kinds in the past and never really had an issue.
Cake Cooling is Key:
If you have ever had an issue getting a cake out of the pan, I have some good news. You can easily fix this problem. Once you take a cae out of the oven, set the timer for 10 minutes and let the cake sit in the pan until then. This works like magic. Too soon and your cake is so hot it will likely break apart. Too late and your cake will stick to the pan like glue, no matter how much cooking spray you used. This 10 minute deal has made all the difference in the world. Once the cakes are out of the pan you must let them cool completely before you do anything with them. That means if you want to freeze, refrigerate or ice them you mjust let them cool completely.
Use Pinterest:
Since I am not a professional baker, I am constantly looking for ideas and tutorials on Pinterest. There are so many ideas, even for the most novice baker. If something looks too complicated, I might only use part of the design and modify it to suit my skill level. The more practice you get, the easier it is! There are also a lot of tutorials about specific shapes and designs. If you are a brand newbie, these are super helpful.
People love to eat a great cake! Even if your first try isn't as perfect as you might want, I guarantee everyone will still enjoy a homemade dessert. My cakes have come a long way over the years, but everyone has to start somewhere.
What are some of your favorite cake designs that you have tried over the years? I would love to see some photos!


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Storm Water Information
The La Crosse Urban Stormwater Group is taking on the challenge of slowing down the rush of rain and snowmelt that takes pollution to rivers. We are working together to educate you, residents and small business owners, about what runoff is, why it's bad, and how to fix it. Our goal is not only to protect water, but to make our towns better places to live. To reach this goal, we want to award action, with the Soak It Up Project Award. Community members who've finished a stormwater management project on their property will be recognized, and their projects will be shared so others see how it's done and be inspired to take on projects of their own. Visit our site for more details. www.lacrosseareawaters.org
Habitat Restore brochure "Soak it Up"
3-2003 Driveway Ordinance
2-2004 Land Disturbance Ordinance
Rain garden report
Rain garden poster
"Rethinking Yard Care" brochure


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Daily Archives: September 1, 2018
When the Heavens open up ~ Ashwini Nawathe #writephoto
Climbing up the narrow mountain lanes Shivering slightly in the dashing rains Away from the chaotic world we walked Panting, but enthusiastically we talked Trekking higher up the mountain side We explored the secrets it had to hide A cold … Continue reading
Posted in photo prompt, Photography, Poetry Tagged memory, poem, weather Leave a comment
A Glimpse/A Moment ~ Hélène Vaillant #writephoto
Far into the deserted valley, She saw nothing stirring. She'd been told he had journeyed there A noble looking personage; Even though the mist obscured the downward path Her curiosity to see this being Lead her into the walk; She … Continue reading
Posted in photo prompt, Photography, Poetry Tagged glimpse, inspiration, reflection, the moment, Watcher, writephoto Leave a comment
Amanda in New Mexico, on #LisaBurtonRadio
Reblogged from Craig Boyack speaking to Darlene Foster at Entertaining Stories: Welcome all you research junkies, and skeptical paranormal fans. You've landed on Lisa Burton Radio, the only show that brings you characters from the books you love. I'm your … Continue reading
Posted in reblog Tagged adventure, ghosts, middle grade, New Mexico, travel 4 Comments
The light In the Dark ~ Anthony Clinkscale #writephoto
This is where they walked everyday for the past 6 years. Every morning they would go on a hike through the mountains until they came to the top. At the top of the mountain they could see the most beautiful … Continue reading
Posted in photo prompt, Photography Tagged creative writing, family, flash fiction, flash fiction challenge, Life, writing challenge, writing prompt Leave a comment
Instant reaction Fear is the true aggressor Challenge accepted Altered mode of perception Renewed curiosity Triumph of nature Miniature magnificence Confronting terror Looking with eyes wide open Accepting transformation For Colleen's Poetry Challenge
Posted in Photography, Poetry Tagged fear, opinion, tanka 31 Comments
Watcher ~ Sisyphus #writephoto
The moor already wears its autumn veil, and, soon, we will be home. I know what you will say, when we walk up the hill, towards the place we have chosen for our retreat. "Look! He's waiting for us, he's … Continue reading
Posted in photo prompt, Photography Tagged #writephoto, autumn, legend, lost love, mist, moor, Watcher 1 Comment
Free Time… Stuart France
* '…all the great thinkers recognise the importance of rational thought and also the importance of getting beyond the rational and that's where the myths and fairy stories come in…' – The Heart of Albion * Ancient terms of measurement … Continue reading
Posted in albion, Books Tagged Don and Wen, esoteric, Fairy Tale, Folk Tale, giants, landscape, Life, mystery, Mythology, story, Stuart France and Sue Vincent, symbolism, The Silent Eye Leave a comment