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One of the great things about WoW is that they throw in those little things that make you laugh and smile. There are tons of things in game that have given me these reactions. Here are a few examples.
Druid Forms: Not so much the feral forms, but the Boomkin and Tree make me laugh. How can you not enjoy a giant lazer shooting owl with a fat ass that dances like Chris Farley? The tree is another of my favorites because they are so damn ugly. Not to mention their /cower animation is gold. The thing that I find silliest about them is their tree form casting animation. Especially the instant cast spells. Sometimes it looks like you are the only one in the crowd doing the wave.
Extreme Mouse Spinning: Obviously mouse turning is a good thing. What is extreme mouse turning? Making yourself spin in ridiculous circles. This one is mostly for my wife. She will literally laugh out loud every time I do it. It looks especially ridiculous on the Ram mount.
Training Mobs: Not training as in teaching and not mobs as in Moffia, but the act of pulling a ton a mobs at the same time...and running like hell. I used to do this so that my wife would not get knocked off her mount. This was yet another thing that gave her some good giggles. There can be some very comedic results when a Hunter tab targets Midknight in Karazhaz through the wall and sends his pet in. Now that is a train.
Pop Culture References: There are pop culture references everywhere in the game. Starwars, Startrek, Starship Troopers.....OK, so there are a lot of Star movies. One of my favorites are the Arathi Battle Master in Shattrath. The one who looks like He-Man and is named Adam Eternium. He even has his Battle Tiger along for the ride.
Eating Shitty Food: Literally. You eat nuts. Quest giver gets mad. Makes you shit out nuts....next person comes along and eats nuts. MMMMMMMM. Another one that made me laugh was the quest where you bring the rotten eggs back to Tobias the Filthgorger. He throw up and causes everyone else in the area to hurl uncontrollably. Definately one of my favorite quests for laugh factors.
To me, this is one of the things that seperates WoW from the competition. They are kind of like the Family Guy of MMOs. Tons of obscure references and shenanigans fitting together into a nice package.


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Joshua Jackson: 'Fringe' at Summer TCA Tour!
Joshua Jackson flashes a smile at the 2012 Summer TCA Tour held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Monday (July 23) in Beverly Hills, Calif.
The 34-year-old actor spoke on stage about his show Fringe with his cast mates Anna Torv and Lance Reddick, as well as producer J.H. Wyman.
"I'd rather have the ability to end well… I'm really looking forward to the process of putting this to bed together knowing that it's going to be the end so we can enjoy that ride off into the sunset," Joshua said on stage about the final season of the show, which will premiere on September 28.
10+ pictures inside of Joshua Jackson at the FOX 2012 Summer TCA Tour…

subset: commoncrawl


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It looks like ScummVM does not include support for FluidSynth on the Caaanoo. It would be nice to be able to use sound-fonts on the Caanoo, and as far I can tell, that requires FluidSynth.
Is this planned for a future version of ScummVM? Can the Caanoo support FluidSynth/sound-fonts, or is there a hardware limitation that prevents it?
In simple terms there is not the CPU power to offer support for soundfonts and maintain a decent playable game speed.
I may have a look at what the performance is like on the Caanoo (with the extra memory over the Wiz), when I tried this in the past on the Wiz it was a non-starter.


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A fire broke out inside a zinc mine in Tennessee on Wednesday, trapping three miners inside for about three hours before they were rescued, authorities said. Two other miners below ground were injured by smoke inhalation.
The three miners were trapped by smoke and needed respirators before they could leave the mine. A rescue team helped them out and they appeared unharmed, though they were taken to a hospital as a precaution, said Tim Wilder of the Jefferson County EMA.
"They looked about as good as expected for being underground for three hours," he said.
Wilder said the miners had been in contact with authorities by couldn't leave because the smoke was so thick. "It's the ending you hope for," he said.
Renata Roberts, a spokeswoman for Switzerland-based mine operator Nyrstar, said the three rescued miners were "in fine spirits."
"We are working with mine safety officials and others to make sure it's safe to resume operations. We are undertaking a full investigation," Roberts said.
There were 54 miners underground at the time of the fire, according to Amy Louviere, a spokeswoman with the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
It was not clear yet how the fire started on a drill rig about 800 feet below ground around 1:10 p.m. EST.
The Young Mine is about 25 miles northeast of Knoxville.
According to MSHA records, Nyrstar has been operating the mine since 2006 and has had six operator injuries this year and seven operator injuries last year. Most were minor, according to descriptions of the incidents available on the MSHA website.
In November, a truck bed hit a high voltage cable causing a power outage in part of the mine. The mine was evacuated until power was restored about two hours later.
The mine had an average of about 99 miners working underground in the third quarter of 2011.


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I used broccoli, yellow capsicum and carrot for their colour. They can be substituted with preferred vegetables. Adding tofu and milk last is to keep tofu soft and in shape, and to prevent milk from curdling.
Ingredients (2 servings):
200 g Fish Fillet or Steak Cut (I used Mackerel or Tenggiri in Malay)
Pinch of salt
1 tsp corn flour
1 tbsp cooking oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced
3-4 slices ginger
1 cup stock or water (I used water)
½ cup fresh milk
Salt to taste
- Clean fish, pat dry with paper towel. Cut into chunk if desired. Lightly season it with salt and coat with corn flour.
- Heat oil in pan, pan fry fish until browned lightly on all side.
- While frying the fish, prepare vegetables.
- Transfer fish to a plate and set aside. Using the same pan, stir in ginger and garlic. Then, carrot and capsicum. Cook for about 1 minute and discard extra oil if necessary.
- Return fish into the pan, add in stock or water and broccoli. Bring to boil, then let it simmer for 1-2 minutes. Add in tofu and milk, add salt to taste.
- Bring to boil. Once it is boiled, remove from heat. Serve warm with ground pepper.
For John, I transferred fish and vegetables into a plate, and soup in a bowl. He said "waa..." and got up his highchair straight away. The serving portion was too big for him, he could not finish all but I am glad that he ate bit of everything.


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Our objective is to continually provide superior arboriculture services that add value to trees, prepare them for storm season and enhance the overall health and beauty. We focus on servicing our customers to the fullest extent to ensure their satisfaction.
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Note: ISA is the International Society of Consulting Arboriculture. ASCA is the American Society of Consulting Arborist.


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Thread: Some Fun
Results 1 to 10 of 174
#1 Some Fun12-23-2011, 12:30 AM
A married couple had been out shopping at the mall for most of the afternoon, suddenly,
the wife realized that her husband had "disappeared".
The somewhat irate spouse called her husbands cell phone and demanded: "Where the hell are you?"
Husband: "Darling you remember that jewelry shop where you saw the diamond necklace and
totally fell in love with it and I didn't have money at the time and said 'Baby it'll be yours one day'."
Wife, with a blushing smile: "Yes, of course, I remember that my Love."
Husband: "Well, I'm in the bar next to that shop."
The Baptist & The Texas Cowboy...
A Baptist Preacher was seated next to a cowboy on a flight to Texas.
After the plane took off, the cowboy asked for a whiskey and soda, which was brought and placed before him.
The flight attendant then asked the preacher if he would like a drink. Appalled, the preacher replied, "I'd rather be tied up and taken advantage of by women of ill-repute, than let liquor touch my lips."
The cowboy then handed his drink back to the attendant and said,
"Me too, I didn't know we had a choice."
Stay Safe for the Holidays
Since the Christmas holidays are fast approaching, and you may be attending festivities where alcohol might be served, I would like to share an experience with you about drinking and driving. As you well know, some of us have been known to have had brushes with the authorities on our way home from the odd social session over the years.
A couple of nights ago, I was out for a few drinks with some friends and had a few too many wines and some rather nice bourbon. Knowing full well I may have been slightly over the limit, I did something I've never done before - I took a bus home. I arrived back safely and without incident, which was a real surprise since I had never driven a bus before and am not sure where I got this one.
Merry Christmas
#2 good point12-24-2011, 12:13 AM
A motor cycle mechanic was removing a cylinder head from the motor of a Harley motorcycle when he spotted a well-known heart surgeon in his shop.
The surgeon was there, waiting for the service manager to come and take a look at his bike.
The mechanic shouted across the garage, "Hey, Doc, can I ask you a question?"
The surgeon walked over to the mechanic. The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, "So Doc, look at this engine. I open its heart, take valves out, fix 'em, put 'em back in, and when I finish, it works just like new. So how come I get such a small salary and you get the really big bucks, when you and I are doing basically the same work?"
The surgeon paused, smiled and leaned over, and whispered to the mechanic...
Try it with the engine running
#3 Gooduns
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Posts
- 169
Good Stuff as always, especially liked the heart surgeon one!!
Trooper's statements
These are actual comments made by South Carolina Troopers that were taken off their car videos:
1. "You know, stop lights don't come any redder than the one you just went through."
2. "Relax, the handcuffs are tight because they're new. They'll stretch after you wear them a while."
3. "If you take your hands off the car, I'll make your birth certificate a worthless document." (My Favorite)
4. "If you run, you'll only go to jail tired."
5. "Can you run faster than 1200 feet per second? Because that's the speed of the bullet that'll be chasing you."
6. "You don't know how fast you were going? I guess that means I can write anything I want to on the ticket, huh?"
7. "Yes, sir, you can talk to the shift supervisor, but I don't think it will help. Oh, did I mention that I'm the shift supervisor?"
8. "Warning! You want a warning? O.K, I'm warning you not to do that again or I'll give you another ticket."
9. "The answer to this last question will determine whether you are drunk or not. Was Mickey Mouse a cat or a dog?"
10. "Fair? You want me to be fair? Listen, fair is a place where you go to ride on rides, eat cotton candy and corn dogs and step in monkey poop."
11. "Yeah, we have a quota. Two more tickets and my wife gets a toaster oven."
12. "In God we trust; all others we run through NCIC" ( National Crime Information Center )
13. "Just how big were those 'two beers' you say you had?"
14. "No sir, we don't have quotas anymore. We used to, but now we're allowed to write as many tickets as we can."
15. "I'm glad to hear that the Chief (of Police) is a personal friend of yours. So you know someone who can post your bail."
16. "You didn't think we give pretty women tickets? You're right, we don't. Sign here."It's not how old you are, it's how you got here.
It's been a long road and not all of it was paved.
. If you ain't havin' fun, it's your own damn fault
A US Air Force C-130 was scheduled to leave Thule Air Base, Greenland, at midnight during a winter month. During the pilot's pre-flight check, he discovers that the latrine holding tank is still full from the last flight. So a message is sent to the base, and an airman who was off duty is called out to take care of it.
The young man finally gets to the air base and makes his way to the aircraft only to find that the latrine pump-truck has been left outdoors and is frozen solid, so he must find another one in the hangar, which takes even more time. He returns to the aircraft and is less than enthusiastic about what he has to do. Nevertheless, he goes about the pumping job deliberately and carefully (and slowly) so as not to risk criticism later.
As he's leaving the plane, the pilot stops him and says, 'Son, your attitude and performance has caused this flight to be late, and I'm going to personally see to it that you are not just reprimanded but punished.'
Shivering in the cold, his task finished, he takes a deep breath, stands tall and says, 'Sir, with all due respect, I'm not your son; I'm an Airman in the United States Air Force. I've been in Thule, Greenland for 11 months without any leave, and reindeers' asses are beginning to look pretty good to me. I have one stripe; it's 2:30 in the morning; the temperature is 40 degrees below zero; and my job here is to pump shit out of an aircraft. Now just exactly what form of punishment did you have in mind?'
The surprised pilot thought a long moment, grinned, and then threw the airman a salute.It's not how old you are, it's how you got here.
It's been a long road and not all of it was paved.
. If you ain't havin' fun, it's your own damn fault
#6 Ponderisms12-28-2011, 12:10 AM
1. There are three religious truths:
a. Jews do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah.
b. Protestants do not recognize the Pope as the leader of the Christian faith.
c. Baptists do not recognize each other in the liquor store or Hooters.
2. Ever wonder about those people who spend $2.00 a piece on those little bottles of Evian water? Try spelling Evian backwards : NAIVE
3. Isn't making a smoking section in a restaurant like making a peeing section in a swimming pool?
4. The Jacksonville Jaguars are known as the 'Jags' and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are known as the 'Bucs,' what does that make the Tennessee Titans?
5. If 4 out of 5 people SUFFER from diarrhea does that mean that one enjoys it?
6. If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren't people from Holland called Holes?
7. If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?
8. Why do croutons come in airtight packages? Aren't they just stale bread to begin with?
9. Why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist but a person who drives a race car is not called a racist?
10. Why isn't the number 11 pronounced onety one?
11. If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked, and dry cleaners depressed?
12. If Fed Ex and UPS were to merge, would they call it Fed UP?
13. Do Lipton Tea employees take coffee breaks?
14. What hair color do they put on the driver's licenses of bald men?
15. I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older; then it dawned on me. they're cramming for their final exam.
16. I thought about how mothers feed their babies with tiny little spoons and forks, so I wondered what do Chinese mothers use? Toothpicks?
17. Why do they put pictures of criminals up in the Post Office? What are we supposed to do, write to them?Why don't they just put their pictures on the postage stamps so the mailmen can look for them while they deliver the mail?
18. If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?
19. You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive.
20. Ever wonder what the speed of lightning would be if it didn't zigzag?
21. If a cow laughed, would she spew milk out of her nose?
22. Whatever happened to Preparations A through G?
23. At income tax time, did you ever notice: When you put the two words 'The' and 'IRS' together it spells...'THEIRS'?It's not how old you are, it's how you got here.
It's been a long road and not all of it was paved.
. If you ain't havin' fun, it's your own damn fault
#7 It all began with an iPhone...12-30-2011, 01:04 AM
March was when our son celebrated his 17th birthday, and we got him an iPhone. He just loved it. Who wouldn't?
I celebrated my birthday in July, and my wife made me very happy when she bought me an iPad.
Our daughter's birthday was in August so we got her an iPod Touch.
My wife celebrated her birthday in September so I got her an iRon.
It was around then that the fight started...
What my wife failed to recognize is that the iRon can be integrated into the home network with the iWash, iCook and iClean.
This inevitably activates the iNag reminder service.
I should be out of the hospital next week!!
PS: iHurt!!!It's not how old you are, it's how you got here.
It's been a long road and not all of it was paved.
. If you ain't havin' fun, it's your own damn fault
#8 Cletus & Billy Bob12-30-2011, 03:49 PM
Cletus is passing by Billy Bob's hay barn one day when, through a gap in the door, he sees Billy Bob doing a slow and sensual striptease in front of an old green John Deere.
Buttocks clenched, he performs a slow pirouette, and gently slides off first the right strap of his overalls, followed by the left. He then hunches his shoulders forward and in a classic striptease move, lets his overalls fall down to his hips, revealing a torn and frayed plaid shirt. Then, grabbing both sides of his shirt, he rips it apart to reveal his stained T-shirt underneath. With a final flourish, he tears the T-shirt from his body, and hurls his baseball cap onto a pile of hay.
Having seen enough, Cletus rushes in and says, "What the world're ya doing, Billy Bob?"
"Good grief, Cletus, ya scared the bejeebers out of me," says an obviously embarrassed Billy Bob.
"But me 'n the wife been havin trouble lately in the bedroom d'partment, and the therapist suggested I do something sexy to a tractor."
(Don't make me come 'splain this to you!)It's not how old you are, it's how you got here.
It's been a long road and not all of it was paved.
. If you ain't havin' fun, it's your own damn fault
#9 retardment12-30-2011, 03:58 PM
After Christmas, a teacher asked her young pupils to write an essay on how they spent their holiday away from school.
One child wrote the following:
We always used to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa.
They used to live in a big brick house but Grandpa got retarded and they moved
to Batemans Bay where everyone lives in nice little houses, and so they don't
have to mow the grass anymore!
They ride around on their bicycles and scooters and wear name tags because they don't know who they are anymore.
They go to a building called a wreck center, but they must have got it fixed
because it is all okay now. They do exercises there, but they don't do them very
There is a swimming pool too, but they all jump up and down in it with hats on.
At their gate, there is a doll house with a little old man sitting in it. He
watches all day so nobody can escape. Sometimes they sneak out, and go cruising in their golf carts!
Nobody there cooks, they just eat out. And, they eat the same thing every night
--- early birds.
Some of the people can't get out past the man in the doll house. The ones who
do get out, bring food back to the wrecked center for pot luck.
My Grandma says that Grandpa worked all his life to earn his retardment and says I should work hard so I can be retarded someday too.
When I earn my retardment, I want to be the man in the doll house. Then I will
let people out, so they can visit their grandchildren.It's not how old you are, it's how you got here.
It's been a long road and not all of it was paved.
. If you ain't havin' fun, it's your own damn fault
Bob walked into a sports bar around 9:58 PM. He sat down next to a blonde at the bar and stared up at the TV.
The 10 PM news was coming on. The news crew was covering the story of a man on the ledge of a large building preparing to jump.
The blonde looked at Bob and said, "Do you think he'll jump?"
Bob said, "You know, I bet he'll jump."
The blonde replied, "Well, I bet he won't."
Bob placed a $20 bill on the bar and said, "You're on!"
Just as the blonde placed her money on the bar, the guy on the ledge did a swan dive off the building, falling to his death.
The blonde was very upset, But willingly handed her $20 to Bob. "Fair's fair. Here's your money."
Bob replied, "I can't take your money. I saw this earlier on the 5 PM news, so I knew he would jump."
The blonde replied, "I did, too, But I didn't think he'd do it again."
Bob took the money.It's not how old you are, it's how you got here.
It's been a long road and not all of it was paved.
. If you ain't havin' fun, it's your own damn fault
|« Previous Thread | Next Thread »


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Brief SummaryRead full entry
A. saliva grows up to 1 m (3 feet) tall and has large, drooping seed heads (spikelets), generally with two overlapping husks (glumes), although recently developed cultivars of "naked oats" have looser husks from which the grain can be more easily threshed. A. saliva no longer occurs in the wild, but related species of Avena occur in Europe and the Fertile Crescent region of the Near East. Cultivation appears to have started roughly 2,000 years ago during the Bronze Age in Celtic and Germanic regions of Europe, and emanated to other temperate and cold regions (Hedrick 1919). Oats appear to have originated as a weed in fields of other cultivated grains, including wheat and barley. Oats are grown in temperate regions worldwide, with a 2009 total harvest of 23.3 million tons produced on 10.2 million hectares; leading producers are the Russian Federation, Canada, and the U.S. (FAOSTAT 2011). Total area cultivated with oats has declined since 1950 (IndexMundi 2011), with a concurrent increase in soybeans (Glycine max).
Oats are used as food for humans, in oatmeal (porridge), cereals, and cookies. Oats were long considered an inferior food: Samuel Johnson is said to have written, in his dictionary definition, oats were "eaten by people in Scotland, but fit only for horses in England" (to which a Scotsman retorted, "That's why England has such good horses, and Scotland has such fine men!" [Gibson and Benson 2002]). However, oats have increased in popularity in recent decades with research on health benefits of soluble fiber and with increasing numbers of people intolerant to wheat. Oats are high in soluble fiber, carbohydrates, and protein, and are a good source of magnesium, iron, and panthothenic acid (Wikipedia 2011).
Notwithstanding the increasing popularity as a health food, oats are primarily used for animal feed and fodder. They are commonly fed to horses and cattle, and are used in chicken feed and dog food. Oats are also used for pasture, hay, and sileage, and the straw is used as animal bedding (Magness et al. 1971).
(FAOSTAT 2011, Gibson & Benson 2002, Hedrick 1919, IndexMundi 2011, Magness et al. 1971, van Wyk 2005, Wikipedia 2011)


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Ian Clark's On Baseball: Conway product not a Locke for All-Star game
June 22. 2013 8:18PM
Will Conway's Jeff Locke be playing in the MLB All-Star Game next month?
If the question is, does the rookie pitcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates deserve to make the All-Star roster for the National League, then that answer would be yes.
A 25-year-old lefty, Locke is 6-1 with an ERA of 2.01, tops in the NL and second in all of baseball to Clay Buchholz of the Red Sox, who has a 1.71.
Locke made his big league debut in 2011, going 0-3 with a 6.48 ERA. In 2012, Locke appeared in eight games, going 1-3 with a 5.50 ERA.
This season, it all appears to have come together for Locke, who has honed his best pitch, a nasty inside fastball to both righties and lefties.
"We call them survivors here initially when guys get up (to the majors). Then we look for them to turn that corner and become competitors, and then the last stage is a winner," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle told bucsdugout.com earlier this month. "I think we've seen Jeff grow out of that surviving stage. I think he's right in the middle of the competing stage now."
While Locke's numbers are great, they could be even better. But the Pirates' offense has failed to deliver for Locke in several outings this season. On two occasions Locke threw scoreless baseball into the sixth inning only to leave the game and end up with a no decision.
Last Wednesday, Locke left a game against Cincinnati with a 1-0 lead after seven frames but Pirates closer Jason Grille allowed a home run to Jay Bruce to spoil a potential Locke win.
Locke, who pitched at Kennett High in Conway, also put together several strings of scoreless innings, going 13 without allowing a run in April, 18 1/3 in May and currently has thrown 14 frames of shutout ball.
So with great numbers that are only getting better each time he takes the mound, why would Locke not make the All-Star Game at Citi Field (home of the New York Mets)?
Each team is only guaranteed one spot on the roster and Pittsburgh outfielder Andrew McCutchen is the likely candidate for the Pirates. He was seventh in fan voting for outfielders and is a two-time all-star, which always seems to carry some weight.
The good news for Locke is that no one says the Pirates can't have more than one player in the ASG and another positive is that the fans don't vote for pitchers, taking the popularity contest aspect out of it.
The pitching staff is selected by the coaches and players and Locke will have several more starts between now and then to garner some attention and make his case.
Locke's next scheduled start is set for Tuesday against Seattle as the Pirates are on a west coast road trip.
- - - - - - -
Carpenter suffers setback: St. Louis Cardinals pitcher and Bedford native Chris Carpenter suffered a setback to his rehabilitation last week, sustaining a back injury during a bullpen session.
According to Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak, Carpenter's rehab will be put on hold.
"We don't think it's as serious as we first thought," Mozeliak told the Associated Press. "It's slowing things down. Hopefully we can continue to work at it. As you can tell, we've got to be patient here."
The Cardinals were not expecting to have Carpenter at all this season, so if he can return - even late in the season - it would be a bonus for the team that boasts the best record in baseball.
Carpenter is 144-94 with a 3.76 ERA in his career, won the 2005 NL Cy Young award and has two World Series championships. But injuries have plagued Carpenter throughout his career.
Ian Clark is a New Hampshire Union Leader staff writer. His email is firstname.lastname@example.com.


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October 3, 2013 -
Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) made the following statement today on the five-year anniversary of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Chairman Hensarling also served on the Congressional Oversight Panel for TARP.
"During my work on the Congressional Oversight Panel for TARP, it became clear to me that the great tragedy of the financial crisis was not that Washington failed to prevent it but that Washington helped lead us into it. As we reflect on the five-year anniversary of the financial crisis and subsequent bailouts, it's disheartening to see that Washington has failed to learn any lessons and continues flawed policies that created this mess. Washington elites still have the power to take hardworking taxpayers' money to bail out cronies who make bad bets. And nothing in the Democrats' response to the crisis - the Dodd-Frank Act - will prevent another bailout. In fact, it writes bailouts into law.
"It is crucial to remember that the biggest bailout of them all didn't go to a bank or car company – it went to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac who received nearly $200 billion from taxpayers. People who couldn't afford to pay their own mortgage were forced to pay for someone else's. Folks who couldn't save for their own retirement were paying wealthy executives at Fannie and Freddie millions of dollars in bonuses. The president likes to talk about fairness. What's fair about bailouts?
"Just last week the Obama administration admitted the Federal Housing Administration is not only broke, it is bailout broke and will require a $1.7 billion taxpayer-funded bailout. That's nearly double the bailout the administration predicted it might need just five months ago, and it's an unacceptable use of taxpayer dollars.
"The Financial Services Committee recently passed sustainable housing finance reform legislation, the Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners (PATH) Act, that will ensure taxpayers will never again be forced to write bailout checks to pay for Washington's failed housing policies.
"Nothing symbolizes the limitless power Washington elites have over our economy like politicians bailing out the wealthy and well-connected. We can't expect a strong economy with capitalism on the way up and socialism on the way down, and that's why bailouts must end."
Print version of this document


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An introduction to Johann Hari's "The Next Crash Will Be Ecological - and Nature Doesn't Do Bailouts," and his article on why it's been so difficult to curb climate change, and the consequences of not doing so. Read the rest of this entry »
Robert Jensen Interview: There is a lot of individual variation in the human species, which means there will be lots of different reactions as the reality of our predicament sets in. I worry that in a society like the United States, where so many have lived for so long with abundance and a sense of entitlement, people won't be able to face up to the dramatic changes that are inevitable. That could lead people to accept greater levels of hierarchy and authority if political leaders promise to protect that affluence. In that case, people's inability to deal with the emotions that arise out of awareness of collapse could usher in an era of even more unjust distribution of wealth and resources in an even more violent world. The only way to combat that is to talk openly about what we see coming and work to create conditions that allow us to rely on the best of our nature, not the worst. Read the rest of this entry »
There is a vitally important piece of the equation that continues to go missing in the culture of environmentalism and in society in general. That piece can be summed up in a single word: psyche (as in psychological). It's a word you don't hear much. And yet, in so many ways, it's the most important word in the world. What are the key elements of a resilient foundation for a sustainable and life-affirming society? One critical element, I believe, is the inner resilience that only work with the psyche can bring. Read the rest of this entry »


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Two injured in late night car crash in LondonderryBY APRIL GUILMET
Union Leader Correspondent
August 19. 2014 8:48PM
LONDONDERRY - A driver and passenger were taken to different hospitals after the car they were in struck a tree late Monday night.
The Londonderry Fire Department received several calls reporting the crash shortly after 11:30 p.m., Battalion Chief Douglas Cardwell said Tuesday morning.Rescue crews found a car that had veered off the road at Griffin Road and Larch Lane.
Speed likely played a role in the crash, officials said.
"We found a single vehicle crashed into a tree with significant entrapment of the two occupants," Cardwell said.Authorities said the initial dispatch utilized all on-duty Londonderry personnel, with Windham later providing an additional ambulance. Litchfield provided station coverage.
Members of the Hudson Fire Department assisted at the scene to provide extrication assistance and crews summoned a DHART helicopter."Crews were all hands on deck, using multiple sets of hydraulic tools, hand tools and saws to free the two occupants," Cardwell said.
Members of the Derry Fire Department set up a helicopter landing zone at the nearby South Elementary School. The two victims, who police and fire officials didn't identify because their families had not been notified, were taken to separate hospitals. One victim, whose injuries were described as "serious," was transported to a Boston hospital, while the second patient was taken to Parkland Hospital in Derry with unknown email@example.com


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(Props: MMA LABBET via MiddleEasy)
Last night, Deadspin posted newly leaked footage from The Day the Clown Cried, a never-released Jerry Lewis movie about "a clown in a concentration camp who entertains Jewish children as they are led to their deaths." That film should have never made it to production in the first place, just based on its horrific premise alone. But it was actually completed in 1972, and would have made it to theaters if the movie's producers didn't have the good sense to bury it. Since then, it has become one of cinema's greatest urban legends, only viewed by a handful of Jerry Lewis's friends.
If there is an MMA equivalent to The Day the Clown Cried, it's this: A 2007 Spike TV special called "Bad Blood: Dana White vs. Tito Ortiz" which follows the UFC president and former light-heavyweight champion as they prepare for a three-round boxing match, which was organized only because of their mutual dislike. The premise is just as absurd, the footage is just as embarrassing, and luckily for humanity, the fight never happened.
In fact, the 90-minute special ends with the revelation that the fight isn't happening. Ortiz fails to show up to the weigh-ins — which he claims was due to a contract dispute — and the Nevada State Athletic Commission officially cancels the proceedings. So in a way, this video is also MMA's version of Geraldo's visit to Al Capone's vault, in terms of pathetic anti-climax. But in this case, we were spared an indulgent freak show on top of a serious lose-lose situation for the UFC: Either Dana White gets his ass kicked on cable TV, or a 37-year-old fight promoter out-strikes a future Hall of Famer. It wouldn't be a good look in either scenario, and we can't help wondering if it was all just hype in the first place.
Anyway, enjoy.


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We've talked in the past about what effects smoking and a poor diet can have on the skin so now, just in time for the last party weekend of the summer, let's talk about the effects excessive alcohol can have on the skin….
Every time you enjoy an alcoholic drink the blood vessels in your skin dilate for a while and your skin quite often becomes red and blotchy. Generally, for most who keep their drinking occasional and in moderation – the skin will go back to normal after a few hours. However, after a period of time of frequent excessive drinking, these blood vessels will take longer and longer to go back to normal and may eventually never completely undilate and your skin could stay damaged. If you already have skin conditions such as acne or rosacea, alcohol will aggravate these problems too.
Alcohol depletes your body of its natural hydration, as well as important vitamins in the body such as Vitamin A. Over time, this means the body's ability to repair itself, or create immunity to health problems will be in jeopardy because the anti-oxidant levels are too low from lack of vitamins and hydration. Excessive alcohol can do a quick number on your liver and your liver is what helps to remove most of the toxins from the body – so if your liver doesn't work properly, not much else will either. Liver damage, brain loss, ulcers, and mood changes are just a few of the effects on your body, but your skin will see the damage first in the form of dryness and dehydration, the broken red capillaries, as well as blemishes, constant redness, and skin wrinkles.
For those of you out there who like to enjoy a few alcoholic beverages a week, or even those who go on the occasional bender – do not be too concerned because alcohol in moderation is actually not bad for you unless you do have skin or medical issues that respond unfavorable to alcohol consumption. So enjoy your Labor Day weekend – have a few brews – but just remember to stop after a few and not make a habit of it for the sake of your skin!


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Through his many New Yorker covers, Barry Blitt has become one of the pre-eminent satirical cartoonists of America's recent presidents. He is probably best known for his controversial 2008 cover of Michelle and Barack Obama, dressed as a Muslim and a militant with an AK-47, fist-bumping in the Oval Office.
Other famous covers include his 2005 depiction of President George W. Bush and Cabinet partially submerged in Hurricane Katrina floodwaters and a 2010 illustration of President Obama trying unsuccessfully to walk on water.
Now Blitt has trained his eye and pen on the nation's first president in a new children's book, George Washington's Birthday. The book, written by Margaret McNamara and illustrated by Blitt, follows young George about his normal day: chopping down a cherry tree, fording a creek — and worrying that his family has forgotten his 7th birthday.
Interview Highlights
Why George Washington at 7?
"It's a nice age to look at George Washington. He bears no resemblance to the severe and great man that we know him as, and he's young and he wants people to recognize his birthday. ... And he learns some important lessons on dwelling on stuff like that."
On his recent Super Bowl New Yorker cover
"The genesis of the idea basically was that the art director was calling me at the last minute, asking me if I had any ideas — political ideas but also to keep in mind that it was Super Bowl week. And Gingrich and Romney were beating each other up then. Remember when it was a two-man race? It just seemed to make sense to put them on the screen. I think first the idea was just them on a football field tackling each other, beating the crap out of each other, and then it seemed like a funny idea to move and pull back and have Obama watching the game and smiling at his good fortune, at his team winning — or his team ahead, in any case."
On his controversial 2008 cover of the Obamas
"Anytime I produce a cover, I always regret it afterward. Sort of agreed with [the critics]. Even to this day, I'm not sure if that was the worst thing I have ever done — I know it wasn't the best thing I've ever done — but I am still ambivalent about it. It was obviously taking a chance — the intention going in was trying something different and something interesting. I mean, there was all this stuff in the ether. On the radio waves and on Fox and everywhere you went, you heard the descriptions of this guy — of the president being a 'secret terrorist Muslim.' It just seemed funny to draw it all out, to put it all on a piece of paper."
On the reactions to the 2008 cover of the Obamas
"The magazine comes out on a Monday, but it leaked to the press on Sunday evening. So Sunday evening, I immediately started to get a lot of emails ... from very, very angry people. And my reaction was to try to answer all of them. So I would answer each email personally, saying, 'I don't know. This is obviously satire. Look at the ridiculousness of it. This isn't how I feel, and no one can take this seriously.' And then there were thousands of emails and I couldn't answer all of them. My reaction was kind of horrified on Monday and Tuesday. My mom called me screaming, 'What did you do?' But the tide changed by the middle of that week, and I have been living a normal life since then."
On the editorial process of pitching covers to The New Yorker
"I think they are looking for good ideas. ... The art editor sends out a calendar to a regular stable of artists who contribute covers and illustrations. It'll have dates on it — it'll say Valentine's Day is still open, or Purim — and then people will send in ideas for those days, and they are always open to topical covers. Sometimes I will get a phone call — and I imagine other people get them, too, at the same time — saying, 'It would be great to do something about Santorum rising in the polls,' say, or something. And then you send stuff in.
"As it comes to press the week before, it comes down to doing it the Thursday of the week, and if [the cover is] decided on the Wednesday, you really have to scramble to put something down on paper. And that sort of thing does suit me because I'll just redraw things a million times — I'm never done. I'll draw it once and think I can do a better job of it and go back to the first one, and then start a third one. So it's nice to have someone come and take it away from me. Usually a courier is sent and waits outside the door, and they just pull it away from me."
This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross.
We're going to observe Presidents Day in a way that presidents might not approve of, by talking about satirizing presidents. My guest Barry Blitt is best known for his New Yorker covers satirizing Presidents Obama and George W. Bush. The recent cover cartoon of President Obama watching the Super Bowl, that was Blitt's. So was the 2008 controversial cover that satirized the right-wing image of the Obamas, depicting them fist-bumping in the Oval Office.
Blitt won a Cover of the Year Award from the American Society of Magazine Editors for his September 2005 cover of President Bush and his Cabinet meeting in the Oval Office while Hurricane Katrina flood waters rise around them.
Now Blitt has illustrated a new children's book called "George Washington's Birthday," written by Margaret McNamara. It follows the young George as he goes about his day, chopping down a cherry tree, fording a creek and worrying that his family has forgotten his seventh birthday.
Barry Blitt, welcome to FRESH AIR. Now, I know you didn't write the book, you've illustrated it. But do you know why the premise is that it's George Washington's seventh birthday?
BARRY BLITT: Well, I'm not inside the writer's head, but it seems to me it's a nice age to look at George Washington. He bears no resemblance to a severe and great man that we know him as. And he's young, and he's - he wants people to recognize his birthday. His family is going about the day as if it isn't his birthday, and he learns some important lessons about dwelling on stuff like that. And it's sort of an interesting way of seeing him.
GROSS: So, how did you figure out how to draw George Washington as a little child? And I should mention, he's like this little kid with a powdered wig that he hangs on his chair at night.
BLITT: Right. I mean, a big premise of the book is that we deal in the myths that are told about George Washington. And then there's like a disclaimer on each page, you know, saying this didn't really happen. And one of those disclaimers is that he actually didn't wear a wig.
But it was more fun to depict him that way and hard to resist. Obviously, developing the character of young George, I drew him several different ways, and it was nice to have him frowning, as he usually is when you see him depicted, you know, in later paintings of his life. But ultimately, I mean, he just looks like a normal child in a book.
GROSS: He's also wearing one of those jackets. I tried to figure out what they're called, but I really don't know. It's one of those jackets, in front buttons to the waist, but in the back, there's kind of like tails.
BLITT: Right, yeah. You won't get the answer from me, unfortunately.
GROSS: OK. I thought you might know.
BLITT: I mean, are you getting the feeling here that I fudged it because...
GROSS: No, no.
BLITT: Because I actively fudged it, basically. But, you know, I mean, there aren't pictures of him. And so, you know, no one's the wiser.
GROSS: So, what were you taught about George Washington when you were a child? And did you care?
BLITT: Well, first of all, I'm Canadian.
GROSS: Oh, right.
BLITT: So, do you want to start the interview over, maybe?
GROSS: No, I'm not even going to do it. I don't even think we should do it.
BLITT: He was - he was a guy down there, you know, an important American guy. I can't - really, I probably couldn't tell you what I was taught about John Diefenbaker. You know John Diefenbaker?
Who's John Diefenbaker?
GROSS: Oh, he was an important Canadian prime minister. For all I know, we were taught about George Washington in school. But, you know, I really don't remember much.
So, is it wildly inappropriate and terribly wrong for the author of this book to have asked you, a Canadian, to illustrate a George Washington book?
BLITT: I ask myself that every day. But the truth is, I'm sort of getting pigeonholed. I mean, first of all, there is a lot of Canadian illustrators working in the States. So...
GROSS: Infiltrating the States.
BLITT: Yeah, that's right. They walk among us. But this isn't the first, and it's not the last American - a sort of book about Americana that I've done. I did a - my last children's book was about Mark Twain that I illustrated. And I'm working on one about the Founding Fathers. So, you'd better get used to it, (unintelligible).
GROSS: OK. So, you not only have this new "George Washington's Birthday" book, you've done a bunch of presidential covers for The New Yorker magazine, satirical illustrations. Most recently, you did one of President Obama watching the Super Bowl, and he's sitting in his chair with, I think it's a beer, a bowl of potato chips next to him, watching this big, flat-screen TV of the Super Bowl. But the Super Bowl is actually Mitt Romney tackling Newt Gingrich.
BLITT: That's right, yes. What would you like me to tell you about that one?
GROSS: The genesis of the idea, how you came up with it.
BLITT: The genesis of the idea basically was the art director Francoise calling me sort of at the last minute, wondering if I had any ideas, political ideas but also to keep in mind that it was Super Bowl week. And Gingrich and Romney were beating each other up then. Remember when it was a two-man race?
It just seemed to make sense to put them on the screen. At first, I think the - as far as the genesis of the idea, it was just them on a football field, you know, tackling each other, beating the crap out of each other. And then it seemed like a funny idea to remove and pull back and have Obama watching the game, smiling, you know, at his good fortune, at his team winning, basically, or his team ahead, in any case.
GROSS: So, what kind of reaction did you get to that?
BLITT: It was a little bit of a suck-up, I'm afraid, that particular cover. It was sort of cheering for Obama. And you don't always want to be cheering for one side. I mean, you never want to be cheering, really, if you're a political cartoonist.
But - so, there were a lot of positive comments on Huffington Post about it, for instance. And I felt the sting of negative comments on the Huffington Post before. So - but, you know, I personally wasn't crazy about the drawing, it was done at the last minute, as those often are, topical covers for The New Yorker. So, I mean, I cringe over most of the things I turn in, whether they're kids' books or illustrations in magazines. So, I have to learn to live with that.
GROSS: Do I sense a self-esteem issue?
BLITT: Yes.
GROSS: Let me ask you about what's probably your most controversial New Yorker cover, political cartoon, and that was the one from July of 2008, the fist-bump cartoon. So, this is candidate Obama and Michelle are giving each other the fist-bump, and he's dressed in a robe and turban. Her hair is in a big afro, and she has a rifle. Is it an AK-47?
BLITT: I still don't remember this one. This - you'll have to keep describing it.
BLITT: That was a joke. Yeah, she's got - I think she's got an AK-47. She's dressed like - I guess like a Panther, perhaps, like Angela Davis maybe.
GROSS: And she has a bullet belt, too, strapped around her back. Meanwhile, the American flag is burning in the fireplace, and there's a picture of bin Laden on the wall. And I think the intention here was to draw the Obamas as the right wing was trying to describe them. She's a secret black radical; he's a secret Muslim. And they both want to destroy the country.
BLITT: Exactly.
GROSS: A lot of people misinterpreted this. A lot of people were, like, really angry at this cartoon. And they were thinking people are going to see this, they're not going to look at it carefully enough to realize it's a satire of a far-right stereotype. And they're going to think that this is proving...
GROSS: ...that she's like a guerrilla fighter, and he is a radical Muslim, and they're both intent on destroying the country. What was your reaction to the people who condemned you for that?
BLITT: Well, you know, anytime I produce a cover, I always regret it afterwards.
BLITT: So, I sort of agreed with them. I mean, even to this day, you know, I'm not sure if that was the worst thing I've ever done or - I know it wasn't the best thing I've ever done. But I'm still ambivalent about it.
It was obviously taking a chance. It was - I mean, the intention going in was trying something different and something interesting. I mean, there was all this stuff in the ether. You know, on the radio waves and on Fox and everywhere you went, you heard these descriptions of this guy, of the president being, you know, being a secret terrorist Muslim. And it just seemed funny to draw it all out, to put it all on a piece of paper.
And I brought the artwork into the New Yorker myself because it was really a last-minute thing. And I stood there with Francoise, the art director, and we sort of held it up. It was like a scene in "Citizen Kane," where, you know, this is going to change everything. This is the one they'll, you know, they'll remember. You know, no one will call him a Muslim again after this, which obviously was ridiculous.
I mean, part of it was the time when it came out. You know, people were nervous, and there was so much hope behind Obama becoming president. And, you know, I guess there was some, you know, underlying hysteria that a cartoon could change those fortunes and imperil that possibility. So - but luckily, you know, it faded quickly.
GROSS: What was your reaction to the people who thought the cartoon would actually prove - like in some people's minds reinforce the stereotype instead of laughing at it?
BLITT: Yeah. I mean, the magazine comes out on a Monday, but it sort of leaks to the press on a - I think it goes out to the press on Sunday evening. So, Sunday evening, I immediately started getting a lot of emails. I think it as - the Huffington Post got a hold of it and some other websites, and it was just all over the place, on the Internet.
And I started to get, you know, emails, personal emails to me from very, very angry people. And my reaction was to try and answer all of them. And so, I would answer each email personally, saying I don't know. This is obviously satire. Look at the ridiculousness of it. You know, I wasn't obviously - you know, this isn't how I feel, and no one can take this seriously. And I would - but then, you know, there were thousands of emails, and I couldn't answer all of them. And so my reaction, it was kind of horrifying, basically, for Monday and Tuesday. You know, my mother called me screaming: What did you do?
GROSS: Oh no.
BLITT: But the tide changed probably by, you know, by the middle of that week. And I have been living a sort of a normal life since then.
GROSS: My guest is artist Barry Blitt. He's contributed more than 40 covers to the New Yorker. He illustrated the new children's book "George Washington's Birthday." We'll talk more after a break.
This is FRESH AIR.
GROSS: My guest is Barry Blitt. He illustrated the new children's book "George Washington's Birthday," and he's done satirical illustrations of Presidents Obama and George W. Bush for The New Yorker. When we left off, we were talking about his controversial 2008 cover of the Obamas fist-bumping in the Oval Office.
So, the White House was very critical of your fist-bump cover cartoon for The New Yorker. But later, President Obama asked for an autographed copy of one of your cartoons. Which one was it?
BLITT: It was a drawing I did shortly after health care was passed. Health care was passed, right? And it was a drawing of an elephant, you know, in a hospital robe sitting in a doctor's room and a donkey as a Democrat, a Democrat donkey is behind him. He's the doctor. And he's slipping on his, you know, his glove. He's going to give him a rectal exam.
BLITT: And I did a drawing of that - I mean, we made a print of that for the president.
GROSS: And then you had a cover illustration of President Obama, I think it was on the cover, walking on water, but then it's several panels. And in the final panel, he's kind of sinking into the water.
BLITT: That's right, yeah. He was looking kind of vulnerable then.
GROSS: And - yeah.
BLITT: And so, you know, it seemed only right to let everyone know that we didn't believe he could walk on water, and that's OK.
GROSS: So, what's the editorial process like at The New Yorker when it comes to covers? Do your covers had to be in political agreement with the, like, editorial staff of the magazine? I have an idea of what, like fact-checking and editing is like for a written piece, but what's the process like for a political cartoon, for a satirical cartoon?
BLITT: I think they are looking for good ideas. I really - there isn't any - I mean, we've done anti-Obama covers. But if you're asking about the process, as I mentioned, the art editor, Francoise Mouly, sends out a calendar, you know, to - there's a sort of a regular stable of artists who contribute covers and illustrations.
And often it'll have dates on it, you know, Valentine's Day is still open, it'll say, or Purim. There isn't a Purim cover yet.
BLITT: And then, you know, people will send in ideas for those days. And they're always open to, you know, to topical covers. Sometimes I will get a phone call, and I'd imagine other people will, too, at the same time, saying, you know, it would be great to do something about, you know, about Santorum, say, you know, rising in the polls or something. And then you send stuff in.
And as it does go to press a week before, it's often - it comes down to doing it, you know, the Thursday of the week. And if it's decided on the Wednesday, you really have to scramble to, you know, to put something down on paper.
And that sort of thing does suit me, actually, because, you know, I'll just redraw things a million times. I'm never happy with what I've done. And so, I'll draw it once and think I can do a better job of it. I'll draw it again, and I'll go back to the first one and say that was a little bit better and start a third one.
And so, it's nice to have someone come and actually take it away from me. Usually a courier is sent and waits outside the door, and they just pull it away from me.
GROSS: Is that true?
BLITT: There's not really pulling, but they're there and I have to give them something.
GROSS: So, you're doing both children's books and New Yorker covers. Do they draw on different parts of your brain?
BLITT: Yeah, completely. I mean, children's books are a marathon, and it's against my nature. And New Yorker covers are a perfect thing for me. I can just - you know, as intense as it is for one day or maybe two days, you know, it ultimately gets taken away from me quickly. But a children's book is, you know, it'll go on for months. And if you've got a character, you've got to imagine him from all sides and be able to, you know, make him look the same on every page. And it's really a job for someone with a greater attention span than I have.
GROSS: What materials do you use for your drawings, like for the cover illustrations for The New Yorker?
BLITT: So many people are putting their drawings together on the computer with Photoshop and stuff, and there are so many advantages to that. I mean, I'm using pen and ink, basically. I'm like a scrivener. I mean, it's harder to find nibs that I like. It really makes me feel old.
BLITT: And a lot of the inks that I liked are, like, discontinued. You know, God knows what was in them. But, you know, I use India ink and scratch I drawing onto a piece of watercolor paper and then color it in. And a lot of my contemporaries will - you know, they'll do a drawing one way or another and then scan it and put the colors in that way and change the colors.
And that would be a great thing to do to be able to, you know, after you've painted something, and it looks terrible, to be able to change the color on something. And, you know, maybe one day. But I don't adapt very easily. But we'll see. But right now...
GROSS: Why else have you resisted? What do you like about the pen-and-ink scrivener approach?
BLITT: What do I like about it? I didn't say I liked it, it's just what I'm doing.
BLITT: It's just what I'm doing now. I mean, it's - you know, a number of people have tried to, you know, sit me down and teach me how to use Photoshop, and it's just my eyes glaze over. It does feel kind of mechanical. And I guess there's something - you know, there is a certain amount of control that you have with pen and ink. I don't know.
GROSS: So, in addition to your New Yorker cartoons, you know, you do the books for children. Do you have children? Do they read your books? Are you a star among your children and your children's friends?
BLITT: Well, that - actually, that you mentioned that, it reminds me of a story. I took my son Sam to a movie recently. I was dropping him off to meet a bunch of friends there. So I dropped him off, and a bunch of his little friends were there. And he, like, didn't want me to come anywhere near them. He wanted me to drop him off and not say hi to friends.
And I was, like, offended. You know, I'm just going to say hi to them. And he said - he basically, I guess I was just too uncool for him. And I said: But I did the cover of the New Yorker last week.
BLITT: He - that didn't change his mind.
GROSS: How old is your son?
BLITT: He's 41.
BLITT: Sorry, he's 15.
GROSS: So, I don't know how you get around that. You know, there just seems to be that moment when parents are just - are an embarrassment to their children no matter...
BLITT: I know. It was awful.
GROSS: No matter how famous you are, you know.
BLITT: Well, or not. But, yeah, I mean, I left him, and we text to each other. I just wrote (beep) you.
BLITT: And he wrote back: I'm sorry, dude.
BLITT: So we understand each other.
GROSS: So, has it changed the relationship, or are you just adjusting to this new phase?
BLITT: The phase has been - it's not new. We're getting along fine, actually. You know, we're honest with each other. So...
GROSS: So do you do anything special on Presidents Day? I know you're Canadian, but do you have a George Washington children's book, and you do a lot of presidential covers.
BLITT: I'll probably lie down.
BLITT: I don't know what I'll do. I don't think I'll do anything special. I'm sure I'll be working. You know, I work weekends for the most part.
GROSS: Well, it sounds like a great way to observe Presidents Day. Barry Blitt, thanks so much for talking with us.
BLITT: It was fun.
GROSS: Barry Blitt illustrated the new children's book, "George Washington's Birthday." You can see his New Yorker cover illustrations, the ones that we talked about, on our website, freshair.npr.org. We've got a great concert coming up tomorrow with Catherine Russell, who was a backup singer for Steely Dan, David Bowie and Paul Simon before becoming a solo artist. Her father, Luis Russell, was Louis Armstrong's music director.
Here's a track from Catherine Russell's new album, "Strictly Romancing." The song was written by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.
I'm Terry Gross, and this is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.


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text:
[Verse 1: Meyhem Lauren]
Rosetta blow that's pink tinted like a Mary Kay caddy
Shorty gotta sniff it up she got a fatty
I'm in the room shirtless sippin' on the VSOP
Brown water. Law and Order on - she giving me top
I'm an addict like a fiend that critiques rock
The way she polishes a fucking dick will make the heat pop
I like her personality but son I love her mouth
And I don't even give a fuck that niggas dug her out
My phone rang I had to stop the session and bounce
A nigga hit me on the jack that owe me paper for an ounce
Hopped in the _______ still had saliva on my head
Whoever thought I'd be the guy that would supply the dread
Sleep with her eye open keep the biscuit by the bed
Gold buttons on hand-knitted cashmere
That was this year, last year, and next year
Met up with son he hit me with my smack ____
He told me that my work helped him purchase black Audis
Keep it real with the game and it'll love you back
Ain't watch my movie got the money up to purchase (pack?)
Went back to my (JOs) crib to get some dirty head
I had my back against the wall like a Murphy bed
She sucked me off the whole fucking night
I'm talking bout I was, I was on the wall like I was punished
She was just grabbing the shaft, and just sucking the whole
Sucking the whole shaft man, licking my balls
I was just standing my back against the wall
Just know what I mean I just had that face of gratification just getting sucked off
Know what I mean?
Thinking 'bout my money man, all we do is count money and get dick sucks
Bitches give us those sweet dick sucks
That's why we keep em in rotation, right?
[Verse 2: Hologram]
The way she suck dick, ridiculous (crazy)
Not too quick or meticulous (just right)
Without a dick in her mouth she's slick and articulate (she's smart)
Niggas saying damn what type of shit is this (what the fuck)
We 69 from 6 to 9 in my 69
Impala drop top hitting switches I'm getting (___wop/guap)
She said the cock was delicious she couldn't stop
Cool, that's hot, 'cause you bitches will get shot
But I'll never hit a lady, I gotta get em baby
Turn a bitch to breakfast, eat her hot pocket (her pussy)
Have her suck a dick until she blow a snot rocket
She can't breathe through her mouth now she's sick
She came up for air and said now that's a dick (she's choking on it)
She looked at me and said damn nigga that's a dick
You might as well be DP'ing me is what she said
Like I got two dicks
Yo I'm bout to, I'm bout to eat this bitch out right now
Yo ma I need you to lay down I'm gonna put this female condom in you
And then I'm gonna go to work on you
You know I just, I just don't give head to bitches unprotected and all that
You know, I gotta look out for my future


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Irish town's missing snowman returned in deflated state
Pranksters who stole the 60ft inflatable snowman centrepiece of an Irish town's Christmas display have returned him in a deflated state.
The decoration, called Snowy, went missing from the roof of a building in Wicklow Town last week.
It was found on Tuesday morning with the air let out and a sign saying 'I'm sorry'.
Martina Robinson from the town's chamber of commerce said they were delighted to get him back.
"The guards (Irish police) got a call that he had been left at a museum in the town to Captain Halpin, a famous Wicklow man who captained the SS Great Eastern which laid the telegraph cables from Europe to America," she said.
"They had got him over a three foot fence, along with his 8ft base and left him there, it must have been quite an effort.
"We're delighted to have him back and have checked him over, he's not damaged and is being re-inflated.
She said that members of the chamber of commerce had invested heavily in the Christmas display and that the police had been checking the inflatable snowman for fingerprints.
"There was a lot of talk about what may have happened to him, someone with a few drinks taken may have been involved I think," she said.
"So there were supposed sightings of him all over the place. Some people were even saying he had got lonely and went to the other side of the town to speak to an inflatable ballerina we also have."


text:
Alvin Harney stretched his left arm out of the window and tapped the beat to an old Rolling Stones tune on the truck door. He bobbed his head as he sang the song off-key. There was no working radio in the truck, just a melody in his head and the crisp morning breeze in his face.
Except during a thunderstorm or hard downpour, he always drove with his window open. Even in winter when frost coated the Tennessee hills and most people cranked their heat up as high as it would go, Alvin kept the driver's-side window of his white Ford pickup rolled down. The cold never seemed to bother his fifty-year-old bones.
It made him feel alive.
This morning the air felt even fresher than normal. A heavy spring rain had fallen during the night—a cleansing deluge that had hammered the gray dust from the surface of the gravel and forged deep puddles across the road leading to the construction site.
The pickup rocked as Alvin splashed through the pools, the spray coating his arm with a fine brown mist. At the end of the road loomed a massive skeleton of steel and concrete, which, under his guidance as lead superintendent, would soon be transformed into the largest and most luxurious hotel in the posh Nashville suburb of Blanton Hills.
Alvin was usually the first to arrive at the site. It gave him the opportunity to review the progress from the previous day and then make adjustments to ensure the project remained on schedule. Not the bigwigs' schedule, dreamed up in a boardroom somewhere—his own schedule, honed into shape from years of hard work and experience.
He took pride in bringing projects in well ahead of the expected completion date, an ability that had garnered him a sterling reputation in addition to fat bonus checks.
Today, however, he was not the first to arrive.
Alvin wheeled his pickup into the parking area next to a black Dodge. Nico Williams sat on the tailgate eating a biscuit sandwich, a Hardee's sack in his lap. He swung his legs in unison with each chew.
Nico was new on the job. This was his third day. At first glance, he was not what you would expect a construction worker to look like. But for a man of around 250 pounds, he was extremely agile.
Agile and quiet.
On two separate occasions, Alvin had turned around to find Nico standing directly behind him, close enough to butt heads, never once having heard him approach. Nico reminded him of a big yellow tomcat stalking its prey.
Alvin never liked cats.
He turned off the ignition, got out, and slammed the pickup's door. The wet gravel crunched under his work boots as he rounded the corner of the truck bed. He nodded at Nico. "Hey, how's it going?"
"Can't complain."
As Alvin passed, Nico stuffed the last of the biscuit into his mouth, wadded up the paper sack, and tossed it into the back of his truck. Leaving his tailgate down, he followed Alvin to the double gates in the security fence.
Alvin removed the padlock and let the gates swing open. "So what got you here so early?"
Nico shrugged. "Just trying to make a good impression on the boss." His Cheshire grin revealed bits of what looked like either steak or sausage between his tobacco-stained teeth.
"Uh-huh. Well, here comes your chance." Alvin gestured toward the silver BMW X5 making its way down the access road. "That's Scott Chadwick. He's the man who designed the hotel, and he and his partner own all of this." Alvin waved at the SUV as it crawled through the gates, but the hard-hat-clad Chadwick stared straight ahead, a cell phone glued to his ear.
"Seems like a real nice guy."
A smirk had replaced Nico's grin, and Alvin wasn't sure which irritated him more. He turned and watched the BMW disappear around the corner of the hotel. "Well, actually he is, but he's probably got a lot on his mind right now. He's getting married in a few days."
"You don't say."
"I'll bet that's her on the phone, giving him her honey-do list."
Nico pulled a red bandanna from his pocket and tied it around his blond crew cut before slipping on his hard hat. "You married, Harney?"
"I used to be." Alvin hooked the padlock onto the open gate and headed for the construction trailer.
The trailer was one of three at the site used for offices and meeting space. The interior was small but adequate. A metal desk, a blueprint cabinet, and a bank of file drawers, topped with a copier and fax machine, filled the left side of the room.
On the right, a card table and four folding chairs were set up in front of a kitchenette complete with a coffeemaker, microwave, and miniature fridge. The plot plan and drawings of the front, rear, and side elevations of the hotel plastered the walls.
Alvin fired up the coffeepot and then settled at his desk. Through the open door, he could see Nico standing near one of the portable toilets talking on his cell phone. Probably getting his own honey-do list.
Alvin checked his watch. It was 5:15—about thirty minutes before the crews started trickling in. He opened his notebook to the day's agenda. He was glad Scott had arrived at the site early. They needed to go over several changes in the lobby's interior.
The hotel was being fast-tracked, Alvin's favorite type of project, though some considered this risky. He loved the challenge of coordinating all the phases of construction simultaneously. The project began with a preliminary design, and then the builder made modifications as the construction was completed.
In order to fast-track a building, you had to have a first-rate architect. Otherwise you could end up with the plumbing or electrical wiring in the wrong place. In Alvin's eyes, Scott Chadwick was the best. Alvin had worked for a countless number of design/build firms before signing on with Chadwick & Shore, but none of the contractors had earned the level of respect he held for Scott. And it wasn't just his boss's architectural skills that he admired. Scott always made Alvin feel that his opinions mattered—that he was more than just an employee.
The pungent aroma of the freshly brewed coffee permeated the trailer. Alvin glanced up and saw Nico standing at the door.
"Think you could spare a cup?" Nico asked.
Alvin checked his watch again. "Yeah, I think so, but don't expect it to become a habit."
He filled three cups and handed one to Nico. He placed the other two on the trailer steps along with his notebook, just long enough to close and lock the door, and then he set out to find Scott.
The hotel consisted of a twelve-story tower flanked by two five-story wings set at forty-five-degree angles. Designed to cater to an upscale crowd, the rooms were mostly suites, each equipped with a working fireplace and an elaborate bath. The hotel would also house two gourmet restaurants and a nightclub.
Alvin walked into the lobby area expecting to see the building's owner, but he wasn't there.
"Scott?" Alvin's voice echoed through the empty structure.
Maybe he was still outside.
Alvin crossed the lobby and peered out the doors that opened onto the rear courtyard and pool area. He could see Scott's car parked about a hundred feet away.
Still carrying the coffee, Alvin stepped onto the plank that served as a makeshift ramp from the door of the lobby to the ground. He was halfway down when he saw Scott Chadwick.
The coffee cups slipped from his hands.
The scalding liquid soaked through the front of his jeans, but Alvin didn't feel a thing.
Toni Matthews dialed the number for the fifth time.
"This is Scott Chadwick; you've reached my voice mail."
Why didn't he answer his cell phone? He wasn't answering his private line at the office either. She glanced at the clock on the bedside table: 7:23. Did he have an early meeting this morning? She couldn't remember.
"Hi, it's me. I was wondering if you could meet me somewhere. I left my briefcase in your car last night, and the file for my nine o'clock closing is in there. Call me when you get this. I love you."
She couldn't show up for the Barton-to-Collins closing without that file. Everything was in it—the termite inspection, the septic letter, even the keys to the house. And this was one property transfer she really didn't want to postpone. The sale of the Bartons' home was her final order of business for the next three weeks. She wanted to get it over with as soon as possible so she could spend the rest of the afternoon concentrating on last-minute wedding details.
It was hard to believe she would be married in less than seventy-two hours. There was a time when Toni was certain she would remain single forever. Not that she hadn't had meaningful relationships before. She'd had strong feelings for several different men during the course of her twenty-nine years. But in the past, she'd always managed to keep a sliver of distance between herself and them, sheltered by an invisible wall of protection. She'd cared for them, but never let them get too close. Never gave them the opportunity to break through that wall.
Then she met Scott, and everything changed. She remembered the first time he'd asked her out two years ago. She'd turned him down. The second time he asked, she'd turned him down again. Not because she didn't want to go out with him, but because she was afraid to say yes. She somehow knew from the moment they met that he was the one man she wouldn't be able to keep outside the wall. And she'd been right.
He was the only man who had ever truly understood her. He never pushed too hard. He never tried to change her or mold her into something he wanted her to be. Instead of stifling her independence, he acknowledged her freedom. She remained a whole person, never feeling that she was sacrificing a part of herself in order to be with him.
Scott never played games. His love was solid. Constant. He loved her as she was, for who she was. And when it came to loving him, she held nothing back for the first time in her life.
Toni returned the phone to the nightstand and shifted her focus to the mahogany-framed photo on the left, taken the previous summer in Cozumel, Mexico. Four faces smiled back. Scott, deeply tanned with gold streaks in his sandy hair; Scott's business partner, Clint Shore, wearing sunglasses and holding up a Corona; Jill, Clint's wife, lithe and blonde and as beautiful as any runway model; and Toni sitting in the front, clad in an emerald-colored sundress.
The shot was definitely not her best picture. But no matter how plain she felt it made her look, oddly, it was one of Scott's favorites. He said it showed her natural beauty—though she wasn't convinced she had any. Still, he loved the look of her long auburn hair falling across her bare shoulders and the glow the sun had painted on her nose and cheeks.
But Toni liked the photo for a different reason. It was a reminder of the best summer of her life. Clint and Jill owned a house on the beach, and the previous June, they had all spent two perfect weeks snorkeling, sunning, and relaxing. On the last night, after a quiet dinner for two, Scott had asked her to marry him.
The phone rang.
"Toni, it's Eva Collins."
"Hi, Eva. Are you ready for closing?"
"Exhausted is what I am. We've been driving all night. Let me tell you, it's a long trip from Savannah with three kids and two U-Hauls."
Toni laughed. She'd met the Collins's children. All boys—aged two, four, and five years. "I can only imagine."
"I just wanted to check in and make sure everything was still on schedule."
"Everything's fine. The Bartons moved out over the weekend, and I had the carpets cleaned yesterday. You'll be able to move in right after closing."
"I really appreciate how you've taken care of things. You're the best real estate agent we've worked with, and we've worked with quite a few. Thank you so much."
Toni hung up the phone. It was already seven thirty and she hadn't heard from Scott. She had to get that file. Knowing him, he was most likely out at the hotel site. He'd practically been living there the past few weeks. He'd probably left his cell phone in the car and had no idea she was trying to reach him. It could be hours before he checked his messages. She would just have to take a chance and drive out there.
It was eight o'clock by the time Toni reached the construction site. As she made the sharp turn onto the access street, a white van barreled down the center of the road toward her. She jerked the wheel and veered off the gravel, her right tires plowing into fresh mud.
You idiot, stay on your side of the road. You're going to kill somebody.
After the van had safely passed, Toni pulled back onto the gravel and continued down the road. There were three police cars in front of the hotel and a uniformed officer at the gate. The construction crews were huddled in groups a few feet away. She wondered what had happened. Had there been a fight between the workmen? Had some of them been arrested?
She left her car in the parking area and walked toward the workers, dodging mud puddles along the way. It was the first week of April, and the old nursery rhyme echoed in her mind. April showers bring May flowers. Looking at the raw red-clay earth surrounding the construction site, it was hard to imagine the lush greenery that would soon line the drive and walkways leading to the finished hotel.
She thought about the people who would stay here. Perhaps travelers from the North who had longed to visit the Grand Ole Opry, or peewee football players who had convinced their parents to bring them to a Tennessee Titans game. She imagined the hordes of conventioneers who would be lured by the beauty of the city on the Cumberland River. What a difference just three more months would make.
A man in a red T-shirt, standing by himself, gazed upward toward the roof of the building.
"What's going on?" Toni asked him. "Why are the police here?"
When he looked down, she could see the man's face was ashen. He cleared his throat before he spoke. "A guy did a swan dive off the top floor."
"You're kidding."
"No ma'am. Wish I was."
A man had died, and she'd been worried about something as mundane as a closing. No wonder Scott hadn't returned her call. He had far more important things to deal with. "When did it happen?"
"Early. I got here right before six, and the police were already here. They're not letting anybody in."
"Did you know him, the man who jumped?"
"Not real well, but yeah. He owns the construction company."
Toni's stomach lurched. "What?"
"It was Scott Chadwick."
Her throat went dry, and for a moment, she forgot how to breathe. "Who told you that?" she demanded.
Startled by her tone, the man shrugged. "I . . ."
Toni shouted, "Who told you that?"
The man backed away, eyeing her as if he was unsure how to answer.
He couldn't be right. This had to be just a rumor somebody started. Like the game where you tell someone a secret, and by the time it gets around the room, it's morphed into something unrecognizable. She had to get inside. She'd find Scott, and he'd tell her what really happened.
Forgetting the mud, she ran toward the gate. The officer on guard caught her before she could get through. "I'm sorry miss," he said. "You can't go in there yet."
"No, you don't understand—I need to get inside." She jerked her arm free and tried to push past him, but he held her back.
"Just calm down—"
"Dammit, let me go!"
She saw Clint on the other side of the fence and called out to him. "Clint!"
When their eyes met, it was as if he didn't even recognize her. He hesitated for a second and then, seeming to realize who she was, headed for the gate. He nodded at the officer. "Let her in."
"I'll have to get her name first."
"This is Toni Matthews," Clint told him. "She's Scott Chadwick's fiancée."
The officer stepped aside and Toni rushed through the gate. "Where's Scott?" she said. "I need to talk to him, right now."
Clint pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm so sorry."
"No." She pushed him away. "Don't you dare tell me that Scott's dead."
"Toni, I'm sorry, but it's true."
She searched his face for some sign that this was all a mistake, some kind of sick joke. A harmless prank taken too far. Instead, she saw the truth in his soft brown eyes—a truth she was not ready to accept.
Hot tears spilled from her eyes, scorching her cheeks. Her strength seemed to leave her all at once, and her knees began to buckle. Clint caught her and held her close, gently rocking her from side to side as violent sobs wracked her body. When she was finally able to catch her breath, she pulled away from him, determined to stand on her own. "I need to see him."
"Toni, you can't. He's not here."
She remembered the van that had passed her on the access road. It must have been the medical examiner. "Then I'm going to the medical examiner's office or wherever it is they took him."
"I don't think that's a good idea. Not right now."
"I'm going."
Toni had started to head back to the gate when she caught sight of a familiar sandy-haired figure standing a few yards away, his back toward them. Relief flooded through her. They had been wrong after all. Scott was alive. She had never before experienced such a rush of joy in her life. She pushed past Clint and ran toward him. "Scott!"
Clint was right behind her. "Toni, wait—"
She grabbed the man's arm, and he turned around. Her chest tightened and the feeling of weakness returned. It wasn't Scott's face that met hers; it was the face of his younger brother, Brian Chadwick.
• • •
"Toni, this is Detective Russell Lewis," Clint said. "He just wants to ask you a few questions."
The way Clint was looking at her reminded her of the way one would look at a small child when trying to explain something too adult for a young mind to handle. She was sitting at a folding table in one of the construction trailers. He had somehow managed to get her here, and although she had been vaguely aware of his presence, she remembered nothing about the trip from the front gate. Had no idea if she walked or had been carried.
Someone—she wasn't sure who—had put a glass of water in front of her. She stared at the cup and tried to make sense out of what she'd been told. Only there was no way to make sense of it.
Clint moved behind her chair and put his hands on her shoulders, but his touch barely registered. Her body had gone numb. Nothing seemed real; it was as though she was trapped inside a bad dream—the kind of dream where you want to run, but no matter how hard you try, you can't move. She had the urge to shake herself, to do something—anything she could to wake up from this nightmare. To open her eyes and see Scott sitting beside her.
"Miss Matthews?" The voice was a deep baritone. She looked up to see the man she assumed was the detective standing expectantly before her. Middle-aged and dressed in a plain brown suit, he had thinning hair and kind hazel eyes. She wanted to connect with those eyes, wanted to make him understand how wrong they all were.
Without rising, Toni shook the detective's hand. She nodded but realized she couldn't yet speak. Her throat had closed up, strangling her words.
The detective pulled out one of the metal chairs and sat down facing her. "I'm really sorry for your loss, and I understand how hard this is right now, but I need to ask you a few questions. I need your help to piece together what happened here this morning."
Toni nodded, still not trusting her voice.
"Now, I understand you had a party last night."
She shook her head. "No. No, it wasn't a party." When she spoke, her voice sounded hollow in her own ears, as if it had come from outside her body and she was merely a wooden puppet mouthing the words of a ventriloquist. "We had our rehearsal dinner. We're getting married on Friday."
Toni noticed Detective Lewis and Clint exchange glances, and she realized how crazy she must seem. "I meant, we planned . . . we planned to get married," she said.
The detective nodded and slid his chair closer to hers. He motioned for Clint to step back, as if somehow giving her space would make her more comfortable. But nothing anyone did would make her feel comfortable. Not now.
"How did Mr. Chadwick behave at the dinner?" the detective asked. "Did he do or say anything out of the ordinary?"
"No." She shook her head. "He was fine ...everything was fine."
"Did you notice anything different about his actions over the last few days? Did he ever seem distant or preoccupied?"
Toni looked down at the tissue in her hand. She had forgotten she was even holding it. She twisted it around her index finger, wondering what she should say. What she could say that wouldn't be taken the wrong way.
"Miss Matthews?"
She cleared her throat. "There were a few times when it seemed that something was on his mind, but that's not unusual. This hotel is a big project; of course, he would be preoccupied with it."
She watched the detective scribble something in his notebook. She knew he was making a psychological profile of Scott—trying to justify his death as a suicide since everyone was saying he had jumped.
"What happened after the dinner?" he asked. "Did you go straight home?"
"Did you argue?"
The eyes that had previously held kindness were now full of accusations. "What?" She couldn't believe what he was implying. "Just what in hell are you trying to say?"
This was all too much to take. She needed to get out of there; she needed some air. She attempted to push her chair away from the table and accidentally knocked over the cup of water.
Clint stepped between Toni and the detective. "That's enough. She doesn't have to do this now. It can wait."
Toni tried to stand, but her legs wobbled. As the room began to spin and darkness threatened the edges of her vision, she sank back into the chair. A cold sweat broke out on her forehead, and she realized she was going to faint.
She closed her eyes, held onto the table, and took several deep breaths. She felt Clint's hand on her arm. His strong grip steadied her, helped her hang onto consciousness. She opened her eyes. The room had stopped spinning, at least for the moment.
"I'm taking you home," Clint said.
"No. No, you don't have to do that. I'll be fine." She wasn't sure who she was trying to convince—Clint or herself. But she had to stay. She couldn't leave, not until the detective knew that there had to be an explanation other than suicide for what had happened.
"The answer is no," she said. "Scott and I never argued that night. We were happy—both of us. There's nothing I could have said or done that would've caused this." Her eyes began to fill with tears.
"I'm sorry," Detective Lewis said. "I never meant to imply that you did."
Clint knelt beside Toni's chair. "Are you sure you're ready to answer questions right now? Why don't you let me take you home?"
Toni wiped her eyes with the tissue. She stared at the puddle of water that had dripped from the table onto the dusty green floor. She thought about the detective and wondered if he had a family—a wife, children. How would he feel if he were sitting where she was now? If someone he loved was gone? Would he realize how absurd the questions sounded, how they added to her pain?
But their roles weren't reversed. He wasn't the one who'd lost everything; the one being forced to recount events that didn't matter. He didn't know her, and he didn't know Scott. He was just doing his job, following a routine. And the sooner she answered his questions, the sooner he could start trying to find out what had really happened.
She nodded. "I want to get this over with."
The detective turned his gaze toward Clint, as if daring him to speak. "We're almost done here." His hazel eyes then locked on Toni. "Just take your time and try to remember. Last night, did Mr. Chadwick do anything unusual, anything out of the ordinary?"
Toni took a deep breath. Should she be truthful? Would the detective try to twist things around, use the events of the previous night to help strengthen his case? She hesitated for a moment, but then decided it didn't really matter what she told him. Once he did a full investigation, suicide would be ruled out. "I woke up during the middle of the night—around two, I think. Scott wasn't in bed, so I went downstairs and found him in the study."
"What was he doing there?"
"Just sitting at his desk, staring at the computer. He's got this screen saver that's a slide show of some vacation pictures we took in Mexico."
"So he was looking at the pictures?"
"No, not really looking at them—more like he was looking through them, if you know what I mean. He had a strange expression on his face, like he was off in another world."
"Like he was mulling something over in his mind?"
Toni nodded. "I asked what he was thinking about, but he said it was nothing."
"And you didn't believe him?"
"No. I thought maybe he was having second thoughts about the wedding. When I asked him, he pulled me onto his lap and told me he loved me." Toni's voice broke, and she swallowed a sob as tears rolled down her cheeks.
"It's okay. Take your time."
Clint handed her a fresh tissue, and she wiped her face. "He told me there were a few problems with the hotel. I asked him if I could help, but he said no, that it wasn't anything serious. We talked about the wedding and our honeymoon trip to Tahiti, and then he got out his blueprints and I went back up to bed."
"Did he tell you what the problems were?"
"What about this morning? Did he say anything else?"
"He was already gone when I woke up."
"What time was that?"
"Around six."
"Did he usually leave before you got up?"
She shook her head. "No, not usually, but I just assumed he had an early appointment."
The detective scribbled something else in his notebook and then closed it. "Thank you, Miss Matthews. I think I have everything I need." He started to rise.
"Wait." Toni stopped him. "There's one thing you need to get straight."
"What's that?"
"It doesn't matter how things look, or what you think about Scott's mental state. There's no way in the world he jumped off that building."
Detective Lewis exchanged another glance with Clint. "And how do you know this?"
"Because I knew him—just as well as I know myself. No matter how many problems Scott may have had, he would never even consider taking his own life. I'm not sure exactly what happened up there this morning, but I do know one thing: it was an accident—it had to be."
• • •
Brian Chadwick stood alone at the main entrance to the hotel and watched Toni as she emerged from the construction trailer with Clint at her side. His arm was around her, supporting her, as if he thought she wasn't strong enough to stand on her own. But Brian knew better. He knew not to underestimate her.
Toni might be many things, but weak was not one of them.
He'd been taken off guard when they'd met the night before. She was nothing like the woman he'd imagined. He'd expected to meet a blonde playmate type—all body with not much going on upstairs. But his memories of the kind of women his brother preferred were now twelve years old. Scott had only been twenty-two back then. His tastes had apparently changed with age.
Not that Toni wasn't attractive. She was—but more in a girl-next-door kind of way. More Mary Ann and less Ginger.
It wasn't only her appearance that had surprised him. Toni possessed a quick wit, an acute business sense, and an easygoing personality. It wasn't hard to see why Scott had fallen for her. Brian remembered how they'd looked together, the happiness he'd seen in his brother's eyes—the eyes of a man who thought he had a whole lifetime of special days ahead of him.
But what his brother had planned didn't matter, just as Toni's beauty and intelligence didn't matter. What concerned Brian now was her attitude. Toni was a woman who knew exactly what she wanted and was determined to get it.
And that just might prove to be a problem.
A Novel
Deed to Death
A Novel
But just days before their planned nuptials, Scott plummets to his death at one of his construction sites and Toni is forced to bury her fiancé on their wedding day. Now living all alone in their new, custom-made dream house, dealing with her loss becomes even harder when the police rule his death a suicide. Yet Toni refuses to believe that it could be anything other than a tragic accident.
When she learns that Scott's estranged brother, Brian, is contesting the will, threatening to take away her home, Toni starts to suspect that it may not have been a mere accident but something more sinister. Without the cooperation of the police, and in spite of her friends' growing concern that she's in denial and not dealing with her grief, Toni begins investigating on her own. As she crisscrosses Nashville on a mission to prove to herself and the world that Scott wouldn't try to escape this life, Toni can't shake the sinking feeling that something is off, that she's being followed—and that her search for truth may have deadly consequences.
A riveting novel of suspense, Deed to Death marks the launch of an exciting new talent.
This Edition:
|Trade Paperback
|July 05, 2011
Other US Editions:
|July 05, 2011
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Reading Group Guide
For Discussion
1. There are a series of plot twists and shocking discoveries throughout Deed to Death. Which of these developments surprised you the most?
2. After Scott's funeral, everyone moves quickly to secure his financial assets. Brian, his estranged brother, wants his estate, while Clint wants his business. Did these actions arouse your suspicions? Who did you suspect might have an ulterior motive, and why? Were your suspicions correct?
3. Scott designed their custom-made dream house. What does the house symbolize throughout the novel? What does it mean to Toni?
4. Almost all of the characters in Deed to Death have secrets. How do these secrets influence each character and their actions? Are any of the characters able to overcome their past demons?
5. Why don't the police believe Scott's death could be a homicide? Did you ever believe Toni was in denial, or did you think she was on the right track all along? In real life, do you think it's important to question the police&# see more


text: I am a soon to be mother of a beautiful daughter and would like to find out more about breastfeeding an adopted baby. Has anyone done this? I want the best for my daughter and seeing she is underweight right now due to being born prematurely, I believe she would do nothing, but benefit her. She is 12 months old and weights only 15 pounds. She does crawl, but does not walk yet. She is behind a little bit on developing.... I think the cause being she was very premature and was neglected by her parents at an early age. I think breastfeeding would not only benefit her, but also help us to bond as mother and daughter! Can anyone give me advice, or tips? She will be coming home by May 10th and I would like to be completely ready for her. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!


text:
Mr. and Mrs. Eric and Krystal Katzer
Debbie Middleton of Overland Park announces the marriage of her daughter, Krystal Middleton, to Eric Katzer, son of Paul and Patti Katzer of McPherson. The wedding took place at Legacy Christian Church in Overland Park on May 19, 2012.
Krystal is a 2007 graduate of Kansas University with a degree in human biology and biochemistry. She is currently a nurse and attends Saint Luke's College of Health Science to obtain her bachelor's degree in nursing.
Eric is a 2006 graduate of Kansas State University with a degree in horticulture. He is currently employed as a firefighter for Johnson County Fire District No. 2 and also part-time for H & R Landscape in Stillwell.
Their family also consists of Krystal's four-year-old daughter, Bella.
A reception and rehearsal dinner was held at Meadowbrook Country Club in Overland Park.