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Neverwinter Nights 2 : Storm of Zehir
Other details regarding the expansion are (and I quote ) :
Travel the Sword Coast and Samarach using the open ended exploration of the new Overland Map. Use skills like Spot and Survival while on the Overland Map to avoid ambushes and even find hidden locales and lost artifacts.
Create your own full party of adventurers. Devastate your foes with a squad of fireball-flinging Sorcerers, form a solid wall of steel with a party of Fighters, or strike the perfect balance in your party by spreading out the classes you choose for your characters.
Improved party gameplay including streamlined party conversations, a new Teamwork Benefit System, and powerful party feats.
The world's economy reacts to your adventures and choices. And, through trading and quests, you can expand your merchant company into a massive trading empire.
Some trailers to feast your eyes on :
Review : Universe at War
After impressing us in 2006 with Star Wars: Empire at War and Forces of Corruption, probably the only quality real-time strategy games placed in the Star Wars universe, Petroglyph Studios focused on an internal IP, the main attraction point of this new title being the possibility to personalize the units "on-the-fly", depending on the situation on the battlefield.
Although it takes place in the near future, the Universe at War story is a bit different than the usual standard fare. Yes, Earth is invaded yet again by a hostile alien race, called the Hierarchy - the galactic equivalent of a locust swarm - and of course humanity is almost obliterated, even though scientists warned the world's governments before the imminent disaster. But this time around we don't need to lead the human race to victory, because a short while after the Hierarchy's initial attack, the Novus forces appear, androids which have the sole purpose of fighting a guearilla war against the Hierarchy, to revenge the annihilation of their creators. As if this wasn't enough, the permanent battles on the Earth's surface alert the last survivors of an ancient and extremely powerful race, the Masari, which refugeed on Earth after they were defeated by the Hierarchy. And they realize that the only solution to end this conflict is to eradicate everyone.
Fortunately for Petroglyph, few real-time strategy games can boast completely different factions in terms of look and game-play, and Universe at War is one of them, because each belligerent force will need different tactics and strategies to win. Having the experience of thousands of conquered and devastated planets, the Hierarchy prefers frontal attacks, as the term subtlety isn't featured in their vocabulary. The first interesting aspect regarding the Hierarchy is that besides the initial landing point, its bases are mobile, taking the form of colossal walkers, which will certainly remind you of Steven Spielber's War of the Worlds. Barring the three main types of walkers (Assembly, Habitat and Science), the Hierarchy also uses flying saucers (a little tribute to Mars Attacks!) as well as very strong infantry units and tanks, and the ability to turn civilians into mutants.
The walkers are one of the most terrifying sights on the battlefield, each type having its own upgrades and weapons which can be used (only the Science mode can use one of the two Hierarchy's super-weapons for example). To knock down this kind of monster, the opponents will first have to destroy the armor which protects the upgrade slots (if it exists), the slots themselves and in the the end, the core reactor. And because of their size and number of upgrades which they can use, knocking down a walker is quite a challenge, especially if you play against an experienced opponent.
Another interesting aspect is that the drones which gather resources are mobile too - they don't need to return to a refinery. Because of this, economic strangulation is quite difficult to pull off against a Hierarchy player, because you'll need to constantly look for his drones, as they won't be in the same area for too long.
On the other side of the barricade, Novus is the Hierarchy's opposite, with its units being more fragile, but extremely fast and easy to produce. The main advantage of these androids is their ability to disassemble into nanites and "flow" through a special transport network, making mobility and "hit and run" tactics essential in the long-term strategies for this faction. The fact that the units are very fragile means that a Novus player must have a very good micromanagement too, because during battles, if you don't use a unit or a special ability at the right moment, you may very well lose the fight.
To balance the unit's fragility, the Novus relays which make up the transport network mentioned above are permanently camouflaged, with special units being needed to detect them. The drones which gather resources can also use the relays as well, which means that a Novus player doesn't really need a secondary base built right next to an area rich in resources in order to exploit it. And although individually they are not very tough, in larger groups Novus units are extremely dangerous, and a decent number of Ohm robots can knock down even a Hierarchy's walker, using the Swarm ability.
Unlike the Hierarchy and the Masari, the Novus can also use temporary bonuses (patches). There are 12 bonuses, though you can use only two at the same time (you have to build a Science Center first). Another problem is that you can't use the same bonus forever, as you will need to activate them in rotation, which makes it necessary to carefully schedule them. Some of the patches are very powerful if they are used in tandem – Viral Cascade + Viral Reboot for example – while others can represent a short-notice solution to a particular problem – Coolant Boost, Overclocking or Emergency Flow.
And so we've reached the point where we can talk about the Masari, a race with a technology far superior to that of the Novus or the Hierarchy's. Gameplay wise, the Masari can be considered the standard faction for a real-time strategy game, with some players marking it as a "turtle" race, because its evolution is a bit slower than the other factions, and the starting units aren't that powerful.
But once they evolve, the Masari units and technologies are some of the most dangerous in the game. An interesting aspect is represented by the Light/Dark energy system, as only one of these two modes can be used at a given time. In Light mode, the Masari units have increased visibility and attack range, the attacks have "light" bonuses, but the movement speed is reduced. In Dark mode, the firing rate and the movement speed are increased, units and buildings get the equivalent of shields (Dark Matter Armor), the attacks have a "slow" effect, but the aerial units are grounded and the visibility is reduced. As a result, a Masari player will have to carefully consider at the advantages and disadvantages of each mode vs. the enemies on the battlefield, the available units and the researched technologies.
But as interesting as the three races are, the single-player campaigns leave a lot to be desired. It's true that a single player campaign in a real-time strategy game has the role of a broader tutorial, as the cases in which you want to finish the story for the plot and characters are very rare, but in Universe at War, the single-player part will be disappointing. Besides the fact that the missions are heavily scripted, and the bugs can prevent the activation of some triggers, the technologies which you can research are limited, and you don't really have the ability to customize your armies like in the multiplayer mode.
Another problem – although this is about personal preference – is the camera. Or rather the limited zoom-out level available, with the perspective being very close to the battlefield. This shortcoming is somewhat balanced by the relatively low maximum unit limit (90), but there will be a lot of moments in which you will wish for a better perspective of the battlefield, mostly when one or two Hierarchy walkers will appear, which literally fill the whole screen.
Fortunately, the multiplayer mode is the place where Universe at War trully shines, but even here there are some problems, "thanks" to Microsoft and Games for Windows LIVE. To play online, you have to be registered on Windows Live. The game comes packed with a one month trial for the Gold subscription of LIVE, after which, if you don't want to spend €7 on a monthly basis, you will be downgraded to Silver level, which means that you can't access the Conquer The World mode, you won't participate in Ranked matches and you won't obtain medals, which offer you various bonuses in skirmish or multiplayer games (each race has its specific medals, alongside other five, which are common to all factions).
The only online options left will be Custom and Quick Match. Why do you have to pay for features which should be free? Call 0-800-WENEEDMONEY and a Microsoft representative will kindly answer all your questions.
The direct result of the online Conquer The World - LIVE Gold subscription link is that you hardly find players for this mode, regardless of when you will try to play. Things are somewhat better for the Quick and Custom Match modes (but not by much), but if you want Ranked matches you'll need patience until you find an opponent. There is of course the option to play in the skirmish mode or a Conquer The World scenario against the AI, but despite its admirable efforts (it knows to fall back for example if it sees that it's losing a battle), the AI can't be compared with human creativity.
But once you start a multiplayer match, you won't have enough time to think about these things, because you will have to find the most efficient way to defeat your enemies as fast as you can. Thanks to the research system's flexibility and other gameplay elements, it will be very difficult to always use the same build-order/strategy; as a Novus player for example, you can try to focus on the aerial units card to attack the Hierarchy's walkers, but you will have to move quickly, because the upgrade slots can be reconfigured on the spot if there are enough resources available, and you can have the unpleasant surprise to see how a Habitat Walker equipped only with plasma turrets suddenly transforms into a walking anti-aerial fortress.
If you play with the Hierarchy, you must know from the beginning what to do with the walkers, because you can only have maximum 3 at the same time. Will you use them as assault units, or will you armor them from head to toes and use the other slots for unit production? Even so, you must not ignore the Repair Pods when configuring a walker, because once destroyed, an upgrade slot can't be repaired and you can get into an unpleasant situation when you only have half of its attack or production capacity.
As a Masari player, besides the Light/Dark modes juggling you will have to take care of the Architects, as they are one of the most versatile units in the game. Their main role is to build and repair buildings, but they can also boost the unit production, the fire rate and the damage of the turrets or speed up resource gathering. Considering the maximum unit limit, you will have to find the optimum balance between the Architects' number and the military units themselves, but also a way to protect them, because the Architects will be the main targets in case of a surprise attack on your base.
Besides these considerations, you have to also be aware of the fact that although all the races have 3 research branches (Assault, Mutagen, Quantum – Hierarchy | Computing, Nanotech, Signal – Novus | Light Mode, Balanced Mode, Dark Mode – Masari), the total number of technologies (suites) that you can research in a single game is limited, so you can't use them all. This only happens if you play with the Defcon mode activated, in which case all the research branches are gradually and automatically unlocked for all the players after a certain period of time. So you will have to think very well what you research, because a wrong step will usually mean defeat. Yes, you can undo researched suites (but without recovering the resources spent) to pursue another one, but if you play against an experienced player, it's nearly impossible to have time for something like this, because the units' limit automatically brings a large tactical importance to any battle. If you lose a big part of your forces in a single confrontation, it will be very hard to come back and to win the match, especially if your opponent knows where your base is. It's not impossible, but it's very hard.
To bring even more variety, every race has three heroes, which are the main characters in the single-player campaigns, and they can also be summoned on the battlefield in skirmish matches or multiplayer if you research the correct suites. Even though they have different strengths, abilities and weaknesses, the heroes can be placed in one of three categories: Assault, Support or Stealth, with Vertigo being very good for those who prefer speed, hit-and-run attacks and scouting, while Orlok The Eternal is a true war machine.
The special abilities are their most important weapons though, being able to change the tide of a match if they are used at the correct time. The Novus Founder, for example, can activate Flow Tap to create a temporary relay through which an entire army can pour through and attack the enemy base, while the teleport ability of Prince Zessus can be used in some very interesting ways.
Considering the number of available options, a clumsy interface would have buried the game 10 feet under, but in Universe at War it's a very ergonomic one, with the research menu, unit and hero abilities, production buildings, units groups, Novus temporary bonuses, Masari Light/Dark modes or the upgrade slots for the Hierarchy's walkers being only 2 or 3 mouse-clicks away. This accessibility is very useful for creating reinforcements without getting back to the base or using all the abilities of your army without remembering dozens of keyboard shortcuts. Also, the tool-tips are very generous, detailing buildings/units/technologies descriptions, strengths and weaknesses, the researching/building completion time, the available/needed resources and so on. And speaking of resources, in Universe at War there is only one general resource, the second element which confines the army creation being the maximum population number. So during battles, the accent will be put on tactical side of things rather than on juggling with x types of resources to build more advanced units.
This will be useful when you will play one of the Conquer the World single-player scenarios, because the "global" buildings require the same type of resource. Also, all the action takes place in real time, so you will always have to be on your toes at what happens with the other territories on the globe, so you won't be taken by surprise by your enemies. Structures and improvements built on the global map (like defensive turrets) will also be present during skirmish matches, which decide who controls a certain territory. If you win, the created units will follow you through the next mission, with each hero having a maximum number of units which can make up his army. Also keep in mind the fact that heroes have different action range, fact which limits their movement ability, turning particular territories into disputed strategic choke-points.
Although during battles you don't really have time to admire the landscapes, the atmosphere of a world coming to an end is very well reproduced: civilians will start screaming and running when they will see your (or your enemies') units, the car alarms will automatically start if something explodes near them or if a walker will pass nearby, the helpless cows will start mooing when they are lifted by the Hierarchy's drones and so on. Also, the feeling that you are surrounded by bugs when you are directing a walker to the enemy base is surprisingly satisfying and mostly you will choose to smash some buildings or parking lots just for the fun of it. The music composed by Frank Klepacki (who also scored the soundtracks for the Westwood Studios titles and the Empire at War games) fits very well with the action on-screen, with its tempo is rising right in at the moment when you are attacked, but the tune being specific to each race. The voice acting is good... not bad, but it could have been better.
On the visual front, Universe at War looks good, although the limited zoom-out level won't allow you to really appreciate the clean, Apple-like, style of the Novus bases or the huge size of the Hierarchy's walkers. A little warning though: the frame-rate can vary during battles when there are a lot of units on screen if you play on high resolutions or maximum details. So, don't activate them if you don't have a really powerful system. Unfortunately, the game has some annoying bugs, which can make the difference between victory and defeat, especially during an edge-of-your-seat match-up. It happened to me on many occasions to try and group some units with the classical group combination CTRL + #, only to see that nothing happens. After several attempts I noticed that there is a certain lag between the command and its execution, being necessary to perform an... easier key pressing to recognize the command. This is also valid for the ulterior group selection performed with the numeric keypad. The units are also kind of stubborn, sometimes not following an order until they stand idle for a couple of seconds. The path-finding isn't that brilliant, fact that can be very dangerous when you have to retreat.
Universe at War is a true diamond in the rough, a game with great potential, but sabotaged by the LIVE system and some elements which can be repaired by a future patch (the bugs, the limited zoom and the pathfinding). When it comes to the online multiplayer however things aren't really that simple, because forcing players to pay for features which could have (and should have) been free isn't the best way to build a strong community.
A ray of hope comes from the moders and their possibilities to modify the game. Some total conversions are already in development, but some time will pass until these will get to a playable stage. And until then, it's highly possible that Jim Raynor & company will finally make their long-awaited on stage and strike down the competition, regardless of its potential.
Update: at the date of the review's writing, the #2 patch wasn't available. As such, some shortcomings mentioned in the article are no longer valid, so the score for the #2 version of Earth Assault would be 88.
Legendary Game : Spore (part III)
Part I or Part II
A few hiccups
Apart from what I think is a skewed game mechanic, the game falls short on a couple of other counts. What I'd have really liked to see is a simple feature called auto-save -- that is not too much to ask for in a game. Although 'death' in the game is of little consequence, an auto-save feature was sorely missed when the game crashed on more than a couple of occasions and I found restarting that stage of evolution all over again. Spore obviously has a save feature; however, the creation tools and the world can be so engaging that you miss to save your game. Some gameplay aspects feel too easy and simple, reaching Armageddon was never so easy, although it's addictive to expand; the civilization phase seems too short. In Space phase, you can't save a game if you are on a planet, one has to exit a solar system to save the game, and the game does not convey as much. Then there is the DRM issue -- you can read about that can of worms here. These are some of the flaws that I hope will be fixed through future patches.
The game is well designed with many amusing add-ons. Funny voice effects and amusing antics by the creatures are found throughout the game. The game looks good, for what it sets out to do, and the interface is smooth. Visually, the game looks perfect for its content.
A few nifty multiplayer features have also been built into the game, mainly encouraging sharing and flaunting of your creations. While in the creation mode, the game automatically captures frames at each stage and creates an animated forum avatar that'll let you show off how you went from that simple block to the uber-cool space ship. The 'My Collections' feature of the game is a repository of your creations and collection that you can share over the Internet. Additionally, you can create videos of your creature in action and upload it onto YouTube from within the game. I am guessing that there are more features that'll emerge after further exploration and hopefully through updates and patches.
As it stands right now, Spore offers a Petri dish, a sandbox, a snow globe -- you can pick your analogy. If you are looking for deep strategic options, you'll find this game wanting. For those who enjoy building things, the game will offer you endless hours of fun (unless the dreaded DRM decides otherwise) and take you back to the days of playing with Lego blocks and play-dough. If you are looking from more 'traditional' form of game play, skip directly to the space exploration stage where creation takes a back seat in the game. This game is a true masterpiece in my opinions and it is one of those masterpieces that brake the mold and fire fresh imagination .
Legendary Game : Spore (part II)
Civilization Phase can be quite challenging because you have to capture the entire planet. You start off by designing the city, the factories, the houses as well as the combat vehicles. I designed my very own Metal Gear Spore and a Spore 22 Raptor as well as my favorite -- the Sea Santa. These vehicles are necessary to acquire Spice, which is the main currency. Spice can be found gushing out of land and sea. You have to plan out your city, which includes creating a house and factory model in the editor.
Building a house increases the vehicle cap, while building factories increases the revenue. It's up to you to keep a balance of both and make a profitable empire. Once you have enough resources, you need to start capturing cities. Every new city you capture will unlock a new feature. You will eventually be able to create sea and air vehicles, which are absent at the start. Capturing new cities also unlocks various super weapons including one which nukes all the other cities. The city planning and resource management aspect of the civilization phase is quite addictive; you want to advance fast and nuke even faster.
At the end of the civilization stage and depending on your choices, your species will now have enough economic and/or muscle power to develop space technology and you set out to find other sentient beings in the vast universe of Spore. It's fairly easy to go from a single-celled organism to a dominant space-fairing species, in a matter of three to four hours.
The final frontier
The Space Phase starts off with you building a spaceship. You use the spaceship to scout your planet, learn about the various creatures, and do some simple tasks to get used to the controls and so on. One of the tasks includes tractor-beaming up a creature and bringing him to any of the cities: reminiscent of the time you were the creature. Your progress during the space stage is significantly slowed down; the ultimate goal is to travel to the center of the universe.
In Space stage you can explore other planets, some of which are created by other users, interact with their creatures and lean more about them. The space phase is vast and you can explore the 500000+ planets in the game's galaxy. A user-created planet and its AI borrows traits off its creator's style of play: if the creator is aggressive, the AI will be aggressive. You can make allies like in the tribal phase or launch an inter-galactic war. The Space Phase is never ending; you can keep exploring deeper and deeper, and keep interacting with the ever increasing world of Spore.
Up until this point, Spore is dominantly about playing an architect and you'll likely spend the bulk of your time within the cleverly crafted creation tools. Once you enter the space stage however, it begins to feel more like a game and also compels you to drastically rethink your strategy. This brings us to the difficulty balance of the game.
To test the game mechanics, I experimented with different levels of aggression. One of my creatures was an aggressive carnivore and I found the going got really tough at the civilization stage of the game. Alternatively, I created an herbivore creature that befriended, impressed and bought off others to breeze into the space stage of evolution. Maybe it's just me, but I found that my passive ways forced me to be submissive to the more aggressive species of the universe. With limited military might, our economic dominance at the home planet offered little help to counter the opposing forces of the universe. Running helter-skelter between fighting off raiding space pirates, retaliating against aggressive species, and preventing biological disasters -- my aspiring space marine found little time to do what I wanted -- peacefully explore, colonize and build inter- planetary trade routes. At this stage, you do have a choice to refit or upgrade your spacecraft with more destructive force, but I was disappointed to find myself in a situation where I was forced to take a certain path.
Part III
Legendary Game : Spore (part I)
Speaking of evolution, the game tends to throw our traditional understanding of the Darwinian theory of 'survival of the fittest' out the window as you have fair amount of choices to ensure your species survival and dominance in the universe. Having said that, the game design doesn't stray too far from our understanding of evolution and offers the progression stages starting with a single-celled organism all the way to what we may consider peak of a civilization -- space exploration.
Starting your journey
Your creature's journey in Spore begins as a humble single-celled organism, whose sole purpose in life is to consume and multiply. Determining your creature's traits at this stage are two main factors -- your dietary preference (plant-eating, carnivore or omnivore) and your survival tactics (aggressive, passive or adaptable).
This Cell Phase is basically a top-down view of your creature eating and growing on a 2D surface. Since I was an herbivore, I was swimming around looking for plants to chew on. As you eat, a progress bar at the bottom of the screen will track your progress to the next phase. You will have to keep your distance from other carnivores -- since to them, you are on the menu. Occasionally you will discover useful body parts that can be used by you inside the game's editor: such as a spike on your back to hurt those pesky predators.
Irrespective of the means you choose, the end entails making your creature's DNA complex enough to grow 'legs' and move on to the land above. Before exiting to land and entering the Creature Stage you are given a special ability, to survive in the outside world. I was given the Siren Song, for example.
With similar choices offered at the Creature Stage, your main goal is to collect more complex body parts that you will use to enhance your creature through an incredible fun and simple to use tool kit. In this phase, the game will also generate species around you, to balance the ecosystem. The world around you is thus filled with many different creatures; you will also find many dead animals as well as skeletal remains. These skeletal remains can be scourged to discover new parts that can be later used in the editor.
Do the dance
The Creature stage of the game ends with the consequence that your creature will emerge as the dominants species in the world, right at the top of the food chain. Since you are the only sentient species on the current planet, the power struggle shifts to intra-species strife for domination or survival.
At the end of the tribal stage, the biological blue print of your creature will be set in stone and the way forward at this stage is through collection and implementation of various tools that'll lead you through to the civilization stage. The game introduces balance by spawning bigger and stronger creatures around you. I turned into a carnivore after a while by editing and adding a new carnivorous mouth piece. I realized that as an herbivore I was very passive and harmless, hence was hunted quite easily. A few modifications later -- I got me an offensive bite ability as well the ability to sprint -- attributes of my new-found body parts.
In the creature phase one can earn DNA points by either eradicating other species -- this is done by killing 5-7 members of the species, or by being friendly and impressing 3-5 members of that species. It's your decision, and as you complete the tasks your progress bar grows towards the next Phase.
An interesting anecdote: During one of my hunts, I saw a huge herd of creatures running away, after a while I heard a strange noise and before I could comprehend, I saw a giant spaceship looming overhead. I was quite shocked and not knowing the ship's intentions, I fled. The ship started abducting many creatures and after a while, it just flew away. I saw a couple of creatures waving at the ship with gloomy faces, as the ship had abducted one of their own.
Every time you are ready to evolve and add new parts to your creature, you have to mate. The creature phase can be quite action-packed if you are a carnivore. After earning a decent amount of DNA points your brain gets bigger and you can now add a member to take along on your adventures. In plain language, you start a pack. You can make allies by singing to others: a small mini-game starts and if you are able to impress, you win an ally. This socialization is not limited to singing and there are other abilities like charm and dance which are earned depending on the body parts you use in the editor. However, a tribe might demand you dance for them to become allies -- whenever one asked me to dance, I eliminated their entire species. I remember earning an achievement (yes the game has achievements) as I eliminated about 20 species to earn DNA points.
Once again, at these stages of the game -- starting from your arrival on land to the peak of your civilization, the course of the species is determined mainly by how you use your acquired technology and your social interaction with other species, tribes and civilizations.
In the tribal stage your goal is to grow as a tribe and dominate others. You start off by hunting and collecting food. Once you have enough food, you have to produce more babies and increase the size of your tribe. More food leads to more development, which can be used to create tools. These tools can be used for making allies or for eliminating rival tribes. I faced five tribes, I dominated and captured 4 of them and made the last remaining tribe my ally. Every time you eliminate or become allies with a neighboring tribe you receive their tribe Totem to indicate your victory. Once all the tribes have been defeated you get to advance to the Civilization Phase.
Part II


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Warner Bros. associates with BitTorrent to distribute movies, TV shows
MUMBAI: Warner Bros. will distribute its films and television shows over the internet using peer-to-peer technology developed by BitTorrent. The studio will also sell permanent copies of films and TV shows online that can be burned to a backup DVD, although the copy will only play on the computer used to download the film and not on standard DVD players.
The company is planning to kick off the new initiative within six months and the service could be priced as low as $1. According to BitTorrent, movies will be sold for about the price of buying a DVD.
"If we can convert 5, 10, 15 per cent of the peer-to-peer users that have been obtaining our product from illegitimate sources to becoming legitimate buyers of our product, that has the potential of a huge impact on our industry and our economics," Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group president Kevin Tsujihara has been quoted in media reports as saying.
BitTorrent uses a technique called "file swarming" to distribute large files. Rather than download a single large file from one central computer, BitTorrent assembles files from separate bits of data downloaded from other computer users across the Internet.

subset: commoncrawl


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Cartoon Network has provided CBR with clips and pics from this week's new episode of "Batman: The Brave and the Bold," featuring guest stars Detective Chimp, B'Wana Beast and Vixen!
The official synopsis:
SYNOPSIS"Gorillas in our Midst!" - Gorilla Grodd and his super secret ape alliance replace Gotham's entire human population with gorillas. Batman teams with Detective Chimp, B'Wana Beast and Vixen to thwart the mad Grodd's plans.
"Gorillas in our Midst!" airs Friday, April 16 at 7:30 p.m. on the Cartoon Network.
Watch the video clips by clicking on the trio of images directly below, and then check out our library of screengrabs from the episode!
Avengers: Infinity War Concept Art Shows Very Different Infinity Gauntlet


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The Online Guide to Traditional Games
|Board Games
Bagatelle - History and Useful Information
|Lawn Games
|Pub Games
|Game Index
|Table Games
Old English Bagatelle
The game of Bagatelle is a pub game of skill that is closely related to the games of Billiards, Pool and Snooker. Modern derivatives include Children's Bagatelle, Bar Billiards, Western Pinball and Japanese Pachinko.
The picture of this early 19th century Rosewood Bagatelle table is with thanks to Henry Adams Auctioneers. Notice that the table comes with one cue and one mace, the obsolete ancestor of the cue. The table is designed to fold over to become a desk when not in use and plays bagatelle in one direction and La Trou Madame in the other.
A competition Bagatelle table is of a similar form to a Billiards table, slate bed, cloth covered with cushions and measuring 6 - 10 feet long and 2 - 3 feet wide. The first major difference from a billiard table is that one end is rounded instead of square. The second diversion is that instead of pockets around the edge, the semi-circular end features nine holes (in the manner of Bar Billiards), one in the middle of the semi-circle and the rest surrounding it evenly in a ring. The hole in the middle is numbered nine, the others are numbered 1 - 8 in a semi-random order. Rather like a Billiards table, Pool table or Darts board, a variety of games can be played with it but all involve the players standing at the square end of the table and hitting the balls with a cue towards the holes at the other end.
The origins of Bagatelle are even less clear than most games of a similar history although, since the name is a French one, the most obvious guess is a French derivation. Anyway, from 1770 to 1850, it seems that the Bagatelle was just as popular as Billiards throughout England and Britain. The journals of John Thurston, one of the leading manufacturers of Billiards tables in the 1800s, show that he made a large number of Bagatelle tables between 1818 and 1845. To add to the mystery further, the French version of his catalogue refers to the game as "Billiards Anglais", from which this author deduces that the French connection is either much older or is a red herring. In this latter year, the game joined the long list of restricted and banned games when a Gaming Act decreed that there should be "no play on a public billiard table or bagatelle table from 1 am to 8 am and on Sundays, Christmas Day and Good Friday".
Bagatelle became very fashionable during the Victorian era and numerous games were produced for the home. These tended to be smaller than the pub games and often folded up for easy storage but most were high quality articles. The two top pictures were kindly sent by Peter Thompson who is the owner of the table shown (click on the right hand picture to see a larger version).
The table is without legs or any sign of them ever having existed so the table presumably rested upon a dinner table or other amenable surface. When unfolded, the table top looks identical to the picture lower right. However, included with the table are the set of arches shown. These arches could be used to play other Victorian games of the same family - most are no longer played as far as the author is aware. In "Trou Madame", also known as "Small Trunks", players gain points for going through the arches as well as into the the cups but it's not permitted to go through the same arch twice in a turn. "Mississippi", was another version of the game in which proceeding directly through the arches was not allowed - a ball had to bounce off a cushion first.
The two lower pictures were very kindly sent to the author by Jerry
Head from Georgia, USA. They show one of two similar bagatelle
tables owned by him. The picture of the table unfolded is apparently one
of the Victorian tables discussed above. Notice the scoring holes in groups
of five down the length of each side - ivory pegs would have been used
to keep score in these. The other picture showed how this table serves
as a piece of high quality furniture when folded up. It seems most likely
that the game was adapted in America by a craftsman to add value to the
antique table rather than appearing like that when originally sold. However,
another owner from England says that he believes his was made with the
table so this is a moot point.
jm at tradgames.org.uk
Copyright © 1997 - now by James Masters.


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Before I go and hit the hay, I must mention my fun delivery today of some Ouchies Bandages, courtesy of Girly Girl Giveaways! Thanks so much! I heart you! I know these are for little kids, but since I found a use for them, can I have them for me? You see, I'm a disc golf player, as I might have mentioned before, because my husband loves to play,and it's our together time as a couple! Good thing we both really like it!
The one thing I notice about it is that when I throw the disc, it tends to tear up the end of my middle finger! So bandages are the perfect thing to protect it! Here is a picture of me heading out to the course just today, because there was a bit of sun and it was a tropical 40 degrees outside! I had my ouchies band-aid on too. Doesn't it look so sporty? Yeah, I know!


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Malwarebytes I suggest anytime you download anything from the internet and before you use that file just right click on it and you can scan that file alone.
You can do the same with Avast if you choose to do so.
I usually run a full system scans once a week but I do not download very much but you may so depending on how much maybe every couple of days or so. First thing that caught my eye with your Autoruns is you have Utorrent installed.
Although using P2P programs like UTorrent are not illegal, the files downloaded could contain potential infections. By continuing to use these programs will put you at a higher risk for infection. If you continue to use these programs GTG may not be able to provide assistance in the future.
The next file needs to be manually disabled and is only needed if you use multi language on your keyboard. If you do then skip the step.
To turn off just ctfmon.exe go to:
Control Panel then to Regional and Language Options
Click on the Languages Tab then click the Details button
Click on the Advanced tab
Check the box that says Turn off advanced text services option
Click A and then OK
When done restart computer and then:
Download TFC by OldTimer to your desktop
- Please double-click TFC.exe to run it. (Note: If you are running on Vista, right-click on the file and choose Run As Administrator).
- It will close all programs when run, so make sure you have saved all your work before you begin.
- Click the Start button to begin the process. Depending on how often you clean temp files, execution time should be anywhere from a few seconds to a minute or two. Let it run uninterrupted to completion.
- Once it's finished it should reboot your machine. If it does not, please manually reboot the machine yourself to ensure a complete clean.
Download Auslogics Defrag from the link in my signature below. Auslogics Defrag in my opinion is better because:
It does a more comprehensive job at Defragging
It will actually show you what it is doing
At the end of working it will show you how much speed you picked up
You can view a online log of the files that Auslogics defragged
Let me know how everything is running once all the steps are completed
Edited by rshaffer61, 18 January 2010 - 09:08 AM.


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Next year I am taking on a new adventure....Kindergarten! I will be the LIFT teacher in my district. This stands for Literacy Initiative Focused Teaching. I will be teaching literacy to Kindergartners in the morning and afternoon that will be in addition to their regular K class. I couldn't be more excited!!
I feel like I've been in Kindergarten boot camp this summer. I've been reading everything I can to prepare for my new journey. I hit the PD book jackpot when Mandy Robek graciously lent me her fantastic professional reads. But along with PD reads I read lots of new to me picture books to find some great titles to share with my readers. I had the perfect reading partners this summer, my own almost Kindergartner (1 more week!) and my 3 year old.
I want my beginning of the year read alouds to engage students. I want them to laugh, giggle, shriek, and TALK! I want books that are simple in format, but also lend themselves to big ideas and good discussion. I want to find books with a great beat, music for the ear. I want to find books that lend themselves to drama and storytelling re-enactments. I want books that make kids come home and talk about them. Finally, the best books are ones that my K readers will ask for again and again and again. They will have characters that will remembered and celebrated in our classroom.
Thank you for organizing the event Cathy and Mandy! I love reading about everyone's posts about great books.
1. The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli
I LOVE this book. It will remind you of I Want My Hat Back, Simple in format, but leads to great conversation and laughter. It is an engaging story about an alligator who worries after he eats too many watermelon seeds. He finally solves his problem by burping up the seeds. What Kindergartener wouldn't love this plot solution? This book is great for teaching fiction story structure, inferring feelings of the main character, and retelling through drama. I am hoping my K readers want to re-enact this story with each other. It also has great sound words to notice if you are reading for author's craft. It's one I think you could read again and again.
2. The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires is a great story for any grade level. It shows themes of perseverance, grit, hard work, and creativity. It is the perfect beginning of the year read aloud to guide discussions about the struggle that occurs when trying something new.
3. Almost by Richard Torrey is one I will share with my Kindergarteners to build confidence about the many things we can almost do. We will talk about how if we something is hard, we may just not feel strong at it YET. I see us turning some of our almost statements into I Can statements.
4. Alligator Baby by Robert Munsch is my 3 year old's favorite book. It will make kids laugh. I read it to her preschool class last week and kids loved interacting with the story. We shrieked together each time a new animal baby was brought home. This is a good story for making predictions and inferring character's feelings.i
5. Garbage Trucks by Terri DeGezelle is a great nonfiction book for our classroom library. It is simple in format and one that we can read together to collect facts about the monster trucks.
7. National Geographic's Book of Animal Poetry is full of amazing poems and extraordinary photographs. I love using these poems to explore language and vocabulary while also learning facts about animals.
8. Another great non fiction find is Little Kids First Big Book of Animals by Catherine D. Hughes. The photographs are excellent and the animals are separated by habitat. We can begin learning how to read the pictures by observing these animals in their habitats. It will also help us learn about features of non fiction.
9. I LOVE Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems! I bought a 20 book set for our library. I think they will be great shared reads. I love the themes of jealousy, friendship, sharing to name a few. I think they will be a great books to practice beginning reading skills. We can also use these books as mentors for our own writing. We will study Mo Willems' to see how he uses author's craft and how his illustrations help tell the story.
11. I had to edit this post and add just one more I had forgotten I wanted to add....
I LOVE Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses! This is a perfect beginning of the year read for any age. The message is all about looking at things in a whole new way with a positive attitude. When Pete puts on his sunglasses his mood begins to change as he looks at situations. I hope our communit can work together to focus on the good in a day!


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For this quiet book I decided to make the cover a little bit more elaborate than I have in the past. I kind of made it up as I went, but this tutorial is sort of similar to what I did. I made the quiet book cover a little loose so that I can add additional pages in the future if I want.
Inside view of binding:
Each of the individual pages are 10X10 inches. I then sewed each of the pages onto 10X11 inch pieces of white felt. I sewed two buttonholes on the edge of the page so that I could use binder rings to hold it all together.
You can click on the links below to read more about each of the pages :)
I just hope my little boy loves it as much as I do! :)
To view more of my quiet book pages, head on over to my Quiet Book Round Up!


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Charming Bay Front Home situated in the Beautiful Avalon Fingers Area. This Five Bedroom Home Built in 2006 has Everything. Custom Window Treatments, Hardwood Flooring, Expansive Kitchen, including Large Breakfast Bar, S/S Appliances, Oversized Gas Stove Top, Wall Oven, Sky Lights. Home is Tastefully Appointed throughout. Cathedral Ceilings, Wood Burning Fireplace, stubbed for gas. Recently Refinished Decks Yield Perfect Bay Views, including a Grandfathered 8 Foot Wide Pier leading to Two Large Deep Water Docks set up for Large and Medium Size Boats. Three En Suite Bedrooms, including Bay Front Master Suite are on the first floor. Master Suite exits Bay Front to a Mahogany Decked Four Person Hot Tub. Home Construction is 2 x 6 exterior walls with full insulation in all interior and exterior walls and all ceilings. Two Zoned Heating and Air. Oversized Two Car Garage and adjacent office with outside entrance. Weather Monitoring System and Bose Sound System are some of the amenities.
The data relating to real estate for sale on this web site comes in part from the Broker ReciprocitySM program of the Cape May County Multiple Listing Service. Real estate listings held by brokerage firms other than Coldwell Banker James C Otton Real Estate are marked with the Broker ReciprocitySM logo or the Broker ReciprocitySM thumbnail logo (a little black house) and detailed information about them includes the name of the listing brokers.
Please Note! - IDX Listings that are rentals, or without address displayed or NOT included in IDX display ARE NOT available on this site!
© 2014 Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. A Realogy Company. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated. Coldwell Banker®, the Coldwell Banker Logo and "We Never Stop Moving" are registered service marks owned by Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. Pictures and Information deemed to be accurate but are not guaranteed.Consumer Information Statement


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Siebel Field Service Guide > Setting Up and Using the Dispatch Board > Process of Setting Up the Dispatch Board >
This task is a step in Process of Setting Up the Dispatch Board.
The Dispatch Board allows a dispatcher or customer service representative to drag an activity from the Unscheduled Activities list to a block of time and employee in the Gantt chart. If the service region of the activity is different from the service region selected for the Gantt chart, the result depends on the setting of the system preference FSDB:Override Service Region:


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Talk:Open Data License/Open Issues
What is the reason for license change
Reasons for a license change should be listed somewhere. I don't think they are convincing.
If your country protects databases by copyright, current licensing is fine. Maybe you should add clarifications (not license changes) explaining how cc-by-sa applies to database, but...
If your country does NOT protect databases by copyright... then you have pretty much lost. You can try to wrap the database in ugly click-through "agreement" but you can't tell if it is human above legal age clicking "yes" or if it is a cat. Anyone is then legaly able to redistribute the database... and you can sue the cat.
So, proposed licensing change is a lot of work (you have to re-negotiate database import) and it does not really prevent anything.
Now... I do not think that "U.S. company is going to take openstreetmap data, modify them and not share back" is realistic. First, you can still try to sue them. And second, if databases are not protected by copyright, you can just take their data without their permission.
- The motives for the change are given on this blog post and on the Open Data License FAQ. With reference to comments about the license in non-EU territory then I suggest we need advice from qualified legal people. Can anyone help with that? PeterIto 17:05, 5 March 2009 (UTC)
- I don't believe that this is an 'open issue' and I propose to remove it unless people object. PeterIto 08:46, 6 March 2009 (UTC)
10 pages of ugly legaleese
So, instead of simply downloading the web, proposed "improvement" is to get me to agree to 10 pages of legaleese in foreign language. I don't think that's an improvement.
- This appears to be a general comment rather than a relevant Open Issues. I propose to remove it soon. PeterIto 09:02, 6 March 2009 (UTC)


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Those rascally Shaolin monks are at it again, and this time they're tracking down some vitriolic villains who have heisted a sacred book. Throw in an evil prince, a flying guillotine, and manic martial hijinks, and you've got a potent mix for action.
Mouna Rudo was born and raised among the Seediq people, an indigenous tribe in Taiwan, and as he grew to be a man he became a member of the Seediq Bale, a courageous band of native warriors. However, Rudo's way of life is threatened under the yoke of occupying forces from Japan, who took over the nation in 1895. As Rudo sees the traditions and honor of his people stripped away, he realizes the time has come to fight back, and in 1930 he brings together a group of former Seediq Bale soldiers, many of whom have been reduced to infighting, and molds them into a revolutionary army. Rudo and his comrades make their stand when they confront Japanese occupation troops at a youth athletic event, leading to a violent confrontation between the Seediq forces and their oppressors. Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale – Part 1: The Sun Flag is Part one of the two-part, four-hour Taiwanese edition of the film Warriors of the Rainbow.
It is an unusual day for the remote and isolated Desire Village. A mysterious Taoist priest brings a magical equipment that can erase one's memory. Since then, all the villagers have forgotten their past, living "happily ever after", while the dangerous plot behind their back is just about to be unveiled…
A Taiwanese drug mule has his foolproof smuggling method thrown out of whack when he catches a ride with the wrong cab driver, in this highly entertaining caper starring Hong Kong comedy legend Michael Hui.
Kevin, a young, fearless runner from a rough neighborhood in Taiwan, falls in love with his tough coach Ellie. When Ellie becomes sick and distant, Kevin fights to survive and conquer the famous 10,000 Miles Silk Road Ultramarathon in order to win her heart.
Through unlocked genetic memories that allow him to relive the adventures of his ancestor in 15th century Spain, Callum Lynch discovers he's a descendant of the secret 'Assassins' society. After gaining incredible knowledge and skills, he is now poised to take on the oppressive Knights Templar in the present day.
Not Available
A story about a video of a group of people going hiking and a mysterious little girl in a red dress following them.
A bachelor who decides to propose to his girlfriend with his mother's ring only to have the ring accidentally knocked into the gutter by a boy. He experiences the crazy nightlife in Taipei and meets many interesting individuals throughout his mission to get the ring back.
A Japanese porno actor, HIV positive, commits suicide. Natsumi, a popular porno actress who has often worked with him, learns that she is also HIV positive and becomes desperate. She receives mysterious post cards at times from Taiwan, and decides to go to Taiwan to solve the mystery. The latest film by director PAN Chih-yuan of "The Touch of Fate", which brought him multiple nominations at the Golden Horse Awards. LEE Kang Sheng, Golden Horse Awards' Best Actor winner, plays the leading role. Co-star HATANO Yui gives a wonderful performance in her debut feature.
Combining ancient designs discovered on the Silk Road, and an enigmatic natural power called the Origin, Zhang Meng created Arti-C, a powerful mechanical man made of wood and metal. Having stirred up fears, he was accused of treason and slain — but not before entrusting the Arti to his son Mo, who controls the wooden robot, and his daughter Tong, a cocky swordswoman. The siblings, now grown, pursue a perilous quest across the desert in search of the legendary city of Loulan, where they hope to find the Origin at its source. However, with ambitious royal schemes afoot and a mysterious tribe guarding the Origin, the Zhangs' goal will not be easy to achieve. In the battle to come, are they even on the right side?
Tired of her family constantly nagging her to get married, spoiled heiress Yeh Fenfen (Shu Qi) books a stay at a beautiful villa on the Penghu Islands, which are the subject of a classic song on a tape left for her by her mother. When she arrives at her destination, she's dismayed to find that the gorgeous villa is actually a rundown B&B owned by Wu (Richie Jen). It turns out that Wu's friends, hoping to drum up some business for the B&B, falsified a few details about the state of the property on the internet. Angered by the deception, Fenfen packs her bags and leaves the next day. But, when she loses all of her luggage on the boat ride, Fenfen has no choice but to head back to the island.
Pei-xun, an early university graduate, is eager to take risks, and believes that she can play in the game of love. She soon finds out that in the adult world of love, love is not merely love – it is a war between different generations of women, and it is a war created with business and power struggles.
Office worker Truly Lin goes on a journey through her memories. 20 years ago, she had a crush on the most popular guy in school. Taiyu, a ruffian and a bully, is in love with the campus belle. Truly teams up with Taiyu to tear the golden couple apart and help each other to get the ones they love.
A-Gu enlists a group of contract killers in the disguise of laundry service. One of them, code-named "No.1 Qingtian Street", is haunted by the ghosts of his victims. He seeks help from Lin Hsiang, a psychic.
From New York City to the farmlands of the Midwest, there are 50,000 Chinese restaurants in the U.S., yet one dish in particular has conquered the American culinary landscape with a force befitting its military moniker—"General Tso's Chicken." But who was General Tso and how did this dish become so ubiquitous? Ian Cheney's delightfully insightful documentary charts the history of Chinese Americans through the surprising origins of this sticky, sweet, just-spicy-enough dish that we've adopted as our own.
Set in the island Kinmen, often seen as the most dangerous military base because it's geographically close to China, "Paradise in Service" follows the adventure of a boy who serves his military service in Unit 831 from 1969 to 1972, in preparation for a war that could erupt anytime. Through an unlucky lottery draw result, Pao, a twenty-something young man from Southern Taiwan has to serve the military in the remote and perilous Kinmen. Moreover, he is assigned to the Sea Dragon (ARB), a unit noted for the toughest physical training. It never occurs to Pao, however, that the greatest challenge in his military service lies not in the Sea Dragon but in Unit 831, a special task he is later appointed to… In this peculiar assignment, Pao vows to keep his virginity against all odds.
It's the end of the century at a corner of the city in a building riddled with crime – Everyone in the building has turned into zombies. After Jenny's boyfriend is killed in a zombie attack, she faces the challenge of surviving in the face of adversity. In order to stay alive, she struggles with Andy to flee danger.
Seven people with seven love stories. They ignite the love and hate hidden under the table. In this battle of love, who will survive and who will lose? When the boundary between lies and truth has blurred, who can tell if the others are sincere or not? When one says, ' I love you', does one mean it or it's just another 'design'?
Through a famous painting "South Street Festival", a Taiwanese college boy unexpectedly travels 100 years back in time, back to the 1920's, when Taiwan was under Japanese rule. He is stuck, he panics, he wants to return to 2014 but soon changes his mind, not just because of the prettiest geisha girl in town…
All the CHEN family want is a quiet life but as daughter Lucy's behavior changes from strange to violent, they are forced to confront dark secrets they have hidden for years. One by one, their desperate poverty, the mother's rape and the father's revenge by murder return to haunt them…until a searing TRUTH no one knew is revealed. Will this truth give them a second chance to right the wrongs in their lives or destroy them all?
Taipei, late Dec 2012. The city is going through an unprecedented winter heatwave, with temperatures in the 30s. Eight-year-old Tiger (Antoine) lives with his divorced mother, Cao Yi (Vivian Hsu), 36, who is struggling to make ends meet with her job as a magazine editor and reduced alimony payments from her ex-husband (Tang Kuo-chung). Tiger, who has a hyper-active imagination and sees his mother as a run-down robot who needs a new model, is not very bright at school and worries his art teacher (Mini Yang) with the dark pictures he draws in class.
A father and his two children wander the margins of modern day Taipei, from the woods and rivers of the outskirts to the rain streaked streets of the city. By day the father scrapes out a meager income as a human billboard for luxury apartments, while his young son and daughter roam the supermarkets and malls surviving off free food samples. Each night the family takes shelter in an abandoned building. The father is strangely affected by a hypnotic mural adorning the wall of this makeshift home. On the day of the father's birthday the family is joined by a woman – might she be the key to unlocking the buried emotions that linger from the past?
Ah Bee, a former superstar motorcycle racer who gave up on the sport after a bad fall on the track left him physically and emotionally scarred. Now Ah Bee is a self-loathing, boozing, gambling layabout with a faithful girl named Maniu, a spunky tomboy who cooks his meals, launders his clothes and constantly reminds him of what a loser he is. Of course, she needles him in an adorably sassy way, making her one of those awesome in-the-movies-only girls who'll love a man faithfully even if he's a boozing, gambling layabout.
The story of an Indian boy named Pi, a zookeeper's son who finds himself in the company of a hyena, zebra, orangutan, and a Bengal tiger after a shipwreck sets them adrift in the Pacific Ocean.
Mouna Rudo was born and raised among the Seediq people, an indigenous tribe in Taiwan, and as he grew to be a man he became a member of the Seediq Bale, a courageous band of native warriors. However, Rudo's way of life is threatened under the yoke of occupying forces from Japan, who took over the nation in 1895. As Rudo sees the traditions and honor of his people stripped away, he realizes the time has come to fight back, and in 1930 he brings together a group of former Seediq Bale soldiers, many of whom have been reduced to infighting, and molds them into a revolutionary army. Rudo and his comrades make their stand when they confront Japanese occupation troops at a youth athletic event, leading to a violent confrontation between the Seediq forces and their oppressors. Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale – Part 2: The Rainbow Bridge is Part two of the two-part, four-hour Taiwanese edition of the film Warriors of the Rainbow.
Set in the 1980's, "Monga" centers around five boys (Mosquito, Monk, Dragon, White Monkey and A-Lan) who join the "Gang of Princes" who are tired of being pushed around. As the "Gang of Princes" rise in stature, they come into conflict with other gangs jealous of their rising power.
Five friends arrive at a party, fully unaware that the special night is just a cover for an evening of torture and murder.
In the early third century, the land of Wu is invaded by the warlord Cao Cao and his million soldiers. The ruler of Wu, Sun Quan, calls on the rival warlord Liu Bei for help, but their two armies are still badly outnumbered. However, the Wu strategist Zhou Yu sees that Cao Cao's army is unused to battling on the sea, which may just give them a chance if they can exploit this weakness properly.
A scientist uses his invention – the "Menger Sponge" – to capture the energy of a dead child's spirit in an old building. In trying to determine why the energy of the ghost does not dissipate, the team discovers the identity and the dramatic story of the boy.
Fa Mulan gets the surprise of her young life when her love, Captain Li Shang asks for her hand in marriage. Before the two can have their happily ever after, the Emperor assigns them a secret mission, to escort three princesses to Chang'an, China. Mushu is determined to drive a wedge between the couple after he learns that he will lose his guardian job if Mulan marries into the Li family.
Coral Reef Adventure follows the real-life expedition of ocean explorers and underwater filmmakers Howard and Michele Hall. Using large-format cameras, the Halls guide us to the islands and sun-drenched waters of the South Pacific to document the health and beauty of coral reefs. Featuring songs written and recorded by Crosby, Stills & Nash.
A movie within a movie, created to spoof the martial arts genre. Writer/director Steve Oedekerk uses contemporary characters and splices them into a 1970s kung-fu film, weaving the new and old together.
As the main character, The Chosen One, Oedekerk sets off to avenge the deaths of his parents at the hands of kung-fu legend Master Pain. Along the way, he encounters some strange characters
Set several years after the first film, Ariel and Prince Eric are happily married with a daughter, Melody. In order to protect Melody from the Sea Witch, Morgana, they have not told her about her mermaid heritage. Melody is curious and ventures into the sea, where she meets new friends. But will she become a pawn in Morgana's quest to take control of the ocean from King Triton?
Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword and a notorious fugitive are led to an impetuous, physically-skilled, teenage nobleman's daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life.


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Do you ever flip channels, thinking nothing good is going to be on, ready almost to turn off the TV? Then suddenly one of your favorite shows that you forget exists is on? That just happened to me. With this show-
Dog the Bounty Hunter. I love it. I won't lie. This is an adrenaline pumped show, with some mild cussing and more than one bleep, but somehow we're all still Christians who chase down and always catch the bad guys? So, whatever I guess. I dig that he'll be in heaven with us. And a little part (read "big part") of me wants a Dog t-shirt, cause they are really tough, just like me.
If this "Annie used to be cool" ship is going down, I'm takin' Jeff Watkins with me, because he loves the Dog as well. So if you're gonna label me "mildly white trash" for my appreciation of Hawaiian bounty hunters, remember I run with some high quality people who also may deserve that label.
And let me conclude by saying that there is nothing trashy about justice. Got it?
This particular episode is drama packed. I've tried to call Haley and Jeff twice- they are probably so into the show they can't take their eyes off the television to answer the phone. I don't take it personal. If you called me right now, I probably wouldn't answer either.
While we're at it, let me share with you some other shows that have a special place in my heart.
Deadliest Catch is a Downs family favorite. We gather together and often look for this show first. Don't ask me why. We have watched MANY marathons, for some reason at the lakehouse a lot, that lasted for hours. The sad part is that we have watched the same marathon more than once. There is no shame in that. We love watching these guys try to catch crabs. There's something to be said for every show leading us to believe that a rogue wave is going to end it all. That's drama. And it's real. It's reality TV at it's finest. Truly. Let's just say that my Dad knows the names of the boats and the captains. Who am I kidding. So do I.
If that came on right now after Dog, I would pass out. Cold. Out of pure excitement.
Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe is also popular in the family. I introduced some dear friends of mine to this show over the weekend. I'm pretty sure they are changed. For life. If you've never watched this show, it is disgusting and hilarious. Mike Rowe has the sense of humor that I wish I could bottle up and spill on some unnamed people in my life- he is so quick-witted and sarcastic. A beautiful combo- mix that with some sick job that involves trash or waste or animals, and that makes for quite an entertaining half-hour.
Ready for me to kick it up another notch? Mike Rowe does the voice overs for Deadliest Catch. Yeah, I know. That's almost too much good scoop in one blog.
There are more shows that I love, but these three jump out at me as my new favs. I could keep my TV on A&E or Discovery Channel most of the time and be pretty happy.
As if this wasn't enough entertainment, in your future lies a blog about my favorite Food Network shows. And a blog about the Crocodile Hunter. I loved that man.
Update: it is 10:42pm. Channel 38- Dog. Channel 40- Dirty Jobs. So what's a girl to do? Be thrilled and flip back and forth. That's what.
You're hilarious.
We need to start our weekly TV-fest soon. When does the office start?!!
Annie, you might enjoy "Really Big Things" with Mike Rogers, former American Idol contestant and "Build it Bigger" with Danny Forster. He is a high energy, funny guy who travels the world to work with builders and engineers on constructing massive things. Me and Levi and Quinn so far loved "Superstadium", about the Arizona Cardinals new home. It is a fun show for the kiddies and the old man.
i love it when you blog.
Face's Fav Food Network Shows:
Ace of Cakes (the people are stuck like grunge in the mid 1990s), Paula Deen (the original, not the live one), and Barefoot Contessa… there's just something so soothing about her, and I love the pots of herbs on her back countertop.
Least Fav: SemiHomemade… that voice, all the pink… reeech…
:-)Stay-at-Home Face
Oh yeah… and anything involving Alton Brown… the man is a GENIUS, can make yogurt seem interesting, and frequents various Krogers in Hotlanta… what's not to love?!?!
why the heck do you get to be so funny?! it really isnt fair. That blog made me feel like my life will be wasted unless i get to enjoy watching you watch one of those shows. it was that good. I miss you!
diiiirrrty jobs!!!!!!! what what!!
my guilty-case-of-the-mondays-pleasure is "wife swap." or mom swap or whatever it's called … and i love the office (duh), the HILLS!! …mtv, foodnetwork.. etc. oh.. and what not to wear.
I'm a fan of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares on BBC America. Great stuff. Lots o' bleepin' though.
Supposedly an American version of that show is coming to Fox in the fall with Ramsay (He's the guy on that Hell's Kitchen show).
I love Mike Rowe. I (sicko that I am) have suddenly decided that he's actually ATTRACTIVE when he's chasing down pigs or scooping up Heron vomit. What can I say? I'm a sucker for a person with a great sense of humor.
And a person who isn't afraid to clean the bathroom isn't bad either…
Get a sneak peek of Annie's latest book! Click the link to download two free chapters of Let's All Be Brave.
© 2014 Annie f. downs. site by Byron Fanning + will smith.


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You organize a private or a public event, and you would like to install one or some of our inflatable bounce houses for making children wonderingly happy or to attract families to your event?
Premium Events Partner offers the highest quality, meticulously cleaned, and safe inflatable bounce houses rental in all Indonesia. Our proposal includes:
Contact us and ask for our list of playgrounds available for rent (Indoor only - Subject to availability).


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Health and Safety Fair in Manila on Saturday
Information from the event organizers:
"Troy Nicolini is going to be speaking at 9:00 about Tsunami readiness. We will be giving out starter Emergency Go-Bags to the first 20 folks who arrive. We will also have Yoga demos on the hour and The Lions will be doing Vision Screening (among many other local resources)."


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Brittany - posted on 04/14/2009 ( 13 moms have responded )
Well first let me start off by saying HI and introducing myself to the community since I am new. I am Brittany... I am 23 (almost 24). I have a three year old little boy named Zachary who is a great child (but is getting on my nerves lately). I am currently 38.5 weeks pregnant and wish I was done like 2 weeks ago. I really do not want to be pregnant anymore. My next Dr. appt. is Friday and I am hoping I am dialated enough to just go to the hospital. I don't remember being this desperate to not be pregnant anymore when I was pregnant with my son. Can anyone sympathize??? Well thats me in a nutshell right now. Can't wait to start meeting people...
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Mid Century Modern Sofa - $500
Although the owner doesn't mention anything about it, this Mid Century Modern couch looks like it could be from Selig. It could be worth going out to look at, but keep in mind it is going to definitely need some new more appropriate cushions.
Apartment Therapy San Francisco Furniture Classifieds are open for your business in the San Francisco Shopping Guide. They are local and JUST DECOR. Post a particularly good thing, and we'll highlight you here on the front page.
• Mid Century Modern sofa (USF / panhandle) - $500
• Mid century coffee table - Sigurd Ressell for Westnofa - $475
• Vintage sofa (downtown / civic / van ness) - $300
• Vintage solid teak coffee / cocktail table (albany / el cerrito) - $185
• Mid Century Modern white dining table (los altos) - $350
• Nice antique trunk w/ crocodile skin (sausalito) - $175
• Special and unusual vintage oak dining table (berkeley) - $200
• Hip modern rocking chair (albany / el cerrito) - $45
• Mid-Century Modern teak dining table by Johannes Andersen (marina / cow hollow) - $450
• Rocking chair (santa rosa) - $100
>> The most recent San Francisco Scavengers
Follow ATScavenger for the best furniture finds and projects.
Apartment Therapy is not the seller of these items. This is an edited selection of our favorite offerings from other independent sources. Please check the item's link for the original source.


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Mom reveals how she gave birth without making a sound while her husband drove on the high way
BabyLatest NewsPregnancy 2016-11-09 Henry Okafor 5
'I was like "um, you need to pull over, she's here" and he was still doing 60 kilometres an hour. I said "no, she's here, now",' Ms Keene told New Zealand Herald
'I felt serene. Quite calm. It was not how people would expect,' 'I don't think I had the capacity to think about all the things that could go wrong. All I could do was hold her and keep her warm.' Mrs Keene said
Thobile2016-11-09 #1 Author
Ohhhhh wow God is great.
Jennifer2016-11-10 #2 Author
There's no way I could of done that
Shay Riley2016-11-10 #3 Author
This is beautiful but I couldn't have done this lol congrats to you!
Alexis Albert2016-11-10 #4 Author
It's amazing what a woman's body is capable of. She's strong ?
Auriana price2016-11-11 #5 Author
That's is crazy , but she is brave but I would of been scared


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Today, your potential clients search the internet to find the latest news, information, best deals and services. Having a professional website will make all the difference because your website is the 'very first thing' most of your clients will ever see about you.
A professional website always creates the most desirable first impression to your customers and communicates your competent approach to business. That is the first step to success!
It doesn't matter if you are self employed or have a company employing 500 people; if you don't have a professional website and Social Media accounts, you are losing business to the other companies that do.
Is your website long passed its sell-by date? Perhaps it is time to bring your website up to date and take advantage of the latest technology so that your website adapts to display on all available devices.


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We are Happy to rececive general feedback, questions, requests, suggestions or any possible collaborative endeavours. For example do you have a talent you want to promote or display in a film and think it would fit into one of our short films? Let us know and we can arrange a meeting. Perhaps you are an actor and want to showcase yourself in one of our films? Again just drop a message and we will see what we can do.
You can reach us at the Darklake Studios Twitter page
Or on our Facebook page.


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New to WW at home
Hi. I am starting WW at home tomorrow, and I'm so excited. I am 24 years old and am tired of being fat. So, I decided to start WW. I want to lose 75 pounds ultimately. My short term goal is to be to 150 by June when I visit family in Switzerland. Hopefully, I will find a lot of support here.
Good For You!
Hello! I just started Weight Watchers this week. I want to loose 35 lbs. I have been overweight since the birth of my 2nd child. I have already lost 5 lbs. and I'm very excited. Between using my books to count my points, and this forum, I have learned a lot. I plan to look at this forum daily for support. It's nice that we don't have to do it alone.
:ebike: I haven't started exercising yet but plan to start next week.
Best of luck to you!:carrot:
Thanks and welcome to you as well. I started counting points on Monday and I weigh in this Monday. I can't wait to see if there are any results from my lifestyle change.:)
1 Attachment(s)
While getting groceries yesterday, I found a "Pilgrim's Pride" brand of frozen, fully cooked, 97% fat free, grilled chicken breast fillets (smoke flavor added). There is about 8 per bag. The cost was $6.88 per bag. This is a great idea for a healthy, on the run, kind of food. I hate spending a lot of time preparing meals, and with mine and my husbands on the go schedule, this is a Godsend. Here is a picture. I bought it at Walmart. Attachment 22152
I hope i did this right.
I too am starting WW at home this week. I want to lose about 85 lbs. total (long term goal) but I would like to lose 35 before summer if possible. I recently lost about 10 lbs after sickness and surgery so the balls already rolling. Hopefully I can keep it going. I really need encouragement to keep going so I hope this board will be a big help to me. Meetings are too hard for me to attend as I work fulltime and have 2 small children.
Weight: 254
Long term Goal: 169
On our way!!!
Kudos to everyone for making the decision to change your life! I too have just begun my lifestyle change (started jan 2) and already am proud to report results. I feel better and have more energy. I have a long road ahead of me, as do many I'm sure - but I know with support and love from family and friends we will all meet our goals. Just wanted to say hello, I'm new to this....but here are some inspirations that help me everyday...
~You never have to be that weight again!
~It took time to put it on, it will take time to take it off, but rest assured with determination and support it WILL happen!
Good luck with your goals!
Hi everyone! I have been back and forth on every single diet known. For the record, this is absolutely the only one that works. Swear.
I do WW at home b/c I know how now. I have all the books and with another porgram, I hit enough meetings to kill a horse. :)
Sooooo.....I am now doing this for the first time, for the right reasons. I still freak out the day before I wiegh myself. So far, the digital scale (at my gym, always use the same one) says I have lost 7 pounds. I go again tomorrow and will climb on it again. Wish me luck.
You are all so inspiring. I am so glad to have found this site. I love it.
I would put my ticker in, but the server is too busy, it says.
My start weight on 1/13 was 197, on 1/20, it was 190 and tomorrow, I am convinced it will be well over 200. I doubt it will be, b/c I am following this to a T and I feel great and have been so good it's frightful. Is really not that hard if I just be creative in my foods and eat when I am hungry and eat the right amounts. Regardless, is coming along at exactly the right pace as it supposed too, right?
Stay tuned.
Love you all......big hug.
Hi guys! Okay...did my weigh in.
Only lost 1 pound am trying really hard not to get discouraged. :(
I keep telling myself that this time is about doing it the right way and not crash dieting and that the way that I feel and am sleeping and thinking is much more prounounced than the size of my butt. But is still hard.
So....if nothing else, is still a pound.
Have a great day, everyone! Is Friday!
kb1144, don't get discouraged. The weight loss is going to get better. Trust me.
I started WW at home in July 05. I have lost 41 pounds so far. I remember my first weighin was on 1.1 pounds lost, I didn't get discouraged because 1 pound is better than no pounds. Just take each day one day at a time and it will pay off in the end!
Everyone just be encouraged!
Thanks! You are a gem....and so inspring.
Well done on yours, too.
You're right...a pound is a pound.
New Member, first post.
Hello to all,
Was so glad to find this site. This is my first post. I too have belonged to weight watchers and fell off the wagon, so to speak. When I fell off the ww flex plan, I had gotten down to 190. Had lost 35 lbs. or so. I have really gained all the weight back since then. I have started back on the ww flex plan at home as well. Back on the wagon on 01-01-06. My starting weight was 238, current weight is 232, my goal is 150-160. I'm trying my best to hang in there. But I crave food and eat in bulk amount. My worst times of food attack is at nights, around 8pm to 10pm. Thought about going to bed earlier, maybe I'll have too. If anyone has any ideas as to how I can get through this, please help. I've had 5 points so far today, trying to stretch out the points, so I won't blow it. It's so hard for a food addict like me, I eat when happy, sad, stressed, or bored. Thanks for listening, and hope all has a great day. Here's to trying. :crossed:
Thank you, Teresa
You go girl! You can do this. I have been a crab-face for 2 days now. I am grumpy and feeling irritiable. That, of course, allows me to stuff my face, right?
I am trying to stay on track, but man....I am so used to doing crazy crash diets that I am frustrated. I also know that this is the best way for me to train my mind and my body to be nicer to one another, but is still hard for me.
Anyway, so I know that if I check in and tell the truth, I might be less likely to stay on the path of destruction that I am currently on.
Thanks everyone.
new to ww @ home
Hey ladies! I started following ww monday. This is my 3rd day and I think I am doing okay. I am not very good at sticking with things though, but now is the time to change that. I can make the commitment. One problem I am having though, is that I feel hungry a lot! I am eating fewer calories than before so maybe my body just needs time to adjust. I was a big snacker, normally I just snacked out of boredom. I am glad I found this site, now I have support from other people who are experiencing the same thing I am!
Hi everyone. Today is my first day doing weight watchers and I had a good day. It is nice to see so many people doing it at home!
Hi everybody. Leia, this is a great site. I've been coming here, on and off, for quite a while. The friendly support just can't be beat. :)
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After years of working in and being a part of the greater Atlanta Community, I want to give back! In honor of my mother, Bettie Durden, who passed away from Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in January 2005, I am hosting and DJing an Ice Cream Social fundraising event to raise money for MS research and awareness on Sunday, June 1st, from 3-7pm . This event will span multiple genres of music but more importantly, music everyone can dance to! The event will take place at The SoundTable, located at 483 Edgewood Avenue SE, Atlanta, GA. Proceeds will be donated to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society of Georgia.
Currently there is no cure for MS. The money that is raised will be used to find the cause, treatment, and ultimately the cure of multiple sclerosis. The money is also used to provide education, information, direct financial support, and scholarships to individuals and families living with MS. With your support, we can help put an end to the mystery of MS, and through research, we can save other families from losing their loved ones. If you are not able to attend/participate, please consider making a gift to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society at http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/DiYFundraisingEvents/GAADIYEvents?px=13377292&pg=personal&fr_id=22657
Please join me in the movement to do something about multiple sclerosis now!


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For the Nintendo devout, Brawl is a never-ending source of joy. Just about every second of gameplay, be it single player, multiplayer orevent mode, is bursting with fan service and obscure shout-outs that only the hardest of the hardcore will get. But if you're reading this, you already know how much ass Smash Bros. historically kicks. You're also deadly curious to see all the alternate costumes, colors and accessories Nintendo laid out for its million-dollar mascots. Here they are.
Armored Samus suits up with a Prime 2-themed dark variant, plus pink, green and a purple alternate reminiscent of her Super Metroid days.
Not pictured: a yellow and blue suit invoking the color scheme of Metroid Fusion.
Zero Suit Samus (aka Zamus or ZSS) arrives in the same color as her armor. Black armor gives you black suit, etc.
Princess Zelda's Royal Closet is filled with pretty pieces any Hyrulian lass would fawn over. Green and white, a mix of reds, black with white hair and even a Peach-colored outfit with blonde hair to boot.
Not pictured: blue dress
Ike strikes a pose (er, four poses) with crossed arms and matching capes. His spiky blue hair stays the same throughout though. Color coordination is one thing, but you don't mess with the man's hair. We guess.
Not pictured: green
Marth's alts aren't too different from Ike's. Still knows how to ham it up for the camera though.
Not pictured: light blue cape


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New post on Off the Beaten Track in Wales
An Exciting New Year in Bridgend County!
by bridgendtourism
Hello and welcome to the very first blog of 2015!
Here's hoping you had a Christmas and New Year break filled with turkey, treats and tempting tipples. And while the past two weeks may well have been all about box sets and dietary excess, January is the time to look to the year ahead and discover all the amazing activities and events available in the coming months. Here are a few ideas on how to enjoy 2015 in Bridgend County…
Brass Bands 2012 Brass Band Championship (21st February)
Things will get brassy in February as Porthcawl's Grand Pavilion plays host to some of the top brass bands on the planet (just look at the '4barsrest' rankings). These bands will then go head-to-head, each playing their own twenty minute entertainment mini-concert programme to find out who will be crowned the champions.
Cwlwm Celtaidd (27th February – 1st March)
A family festival that brings together the traditional music, song and dance of the Celtic countries: Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, Cornwall, Brittany and, of course, Wales. Expect a packed programme of concerts, dances, workshops, street dance displays in the Town Centre and Esplanade, as well as a few legendary sessions in the bar and Beach Ceilidh on Sunday!
See the website for prices and further information
Jazz on the Sands (17th – 19th April)
Once again, renowned musicians from miles around will descend on the sands of Porthcawl (as well as numerous other venues) for three days of the jazziest musical mayhem you can imagine. Musicians and bands that will be performing include The Temperance Seven, the Simon Spillett Quartet, the Rhondda Symphony Pops Orchestra, Afternoon in Paris and the Sarah Smith Trio.
See the website for prices and further information
The Ty Hafan Rainbow Run (18th April)
Based on the Indian Holi festival of colour, this is your very unique opportunity to get a little fitter, run a little faster and feel a whole lot better about yourself by helping a fantastic cause. Be sure to wear some old clothing; as you run (or walk) your way along the 5k beach route you'll be showered with various shades of powdered paint! Ty Hafan is one of the UK's leading paediatric palliative care charities.
Welsh Rockabilly and Burlesque fringe festival (18th – 20th September)
Looking all the way forward to September, you can't not get excited by the sound of the Welsh Rockabilly and Burlesque fringe festival! Expect outdoor music stages, collections of classic cars and bikes, a rare vinyl hideaway store, stroller and jive workshops, not to mention the single largest traditional fairground in Wales! Quite simply one not to be missed!
For more see:
The Welsh Events in Bridgend, South Wales for 2015 page was posted "By Mike Armstrong"


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Whether "Dragon Ball GT" is "canon," or part of the "official story," is a subject of fan debate. As of 2014, no definitive answer has been reached. Although "GT" is not based on the "Dragon Ball" comic book, the series' author, Akira Toriyama, is a credited author of the show.
Toriyama wrote the original "Dragon Ball" comic book, which was adapted into two different television shows, "Dragon Ball" and "Dragon Ball Z." While "Dragon Ball GT" is not based on his comic, Toriyama oversaw production of the show and helped design elements of it, including the main cast and logo.


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Emergency Food Production in Haiti: Getting It Right.
A paper by Mervyn Claxton (Trinidad and Tobago) a consultant and former international civil servant with UNESCO who has written widely on the subject of Culture and Development, supporting the critique by the Haitian Platform to Advocate Alternative Development (PAPDA) of the Haitian Government's Emergency Food Production programme. PAPDA is correct, he says: the programme will worsen the very problems it is supposed to address.
For the full document Emergency Food Production in Haiti: Getting It Right, by Mervyn Claxton, click here.
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BLOOMFIELD, NJ - Gardeners, butterfly enthusiasts, and the entire community are invited to the opening of Bloomfield's Certified Butterfly Garden Sunday July 9 at 1 p.m. The garden, located at 337 Belleville Avenue in Bloomfield, is on the grounds of the Van Tassel Funeral Home.
The Bloomfield garden is certified by the North American Butterfly Association (NABA.org.), a New Jersey based organization devoted to the enjoyment and conservation of butterflies.
Isabel Van Tassel was inspired to create a garden the garden after seeing the garden photos that her friends shared. Van Tassel's friend, Patrick L. Lull inspired her to take the garden a step further and create the certified butterfly garden.
Only a few months old, the butterfly garden has become a place for butterflies to feed as well as lay eggs and establish the next generations. Van Tassel's gardens, which include traditional grounds, as well as container gardens on the roof, have also attracted cardinals, finches, and jays. A hummingbird was recently spotted, a first for Van Tassel.
Lull, who is pursuing his Master Gardening Certificate, will be the guest speaker at Sunday's event. Lull will share information about plants for feeding as well as hosting butterflies. Information about which plants to include in a butterfly garden, and how to get certified will also be shared on Sunday.
Van Tassel Funeral Home is a few doors from the intersection of Belleville Avenue and Broad Street intersection in Bloomfield. The is ample free parking in the parking lot on the property.


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Meet the Manufacturer is seeking sponsorship partners that specifically align with the core values and focus of this event.
Sponsoring this show presents a unique opportunity for your organisation to highlight their commitment and support of British manufacturing. With influential and engaged attendees expected from high profile retailers and designer brands, along with the best fashion and textile factories in Britain, it offers an unparalleled opportunity to connect with the leading figures in this sector.
To discuss the opportunities for your business at this event please complete this form:


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Surviving hitler : A Boy In the Nazi Death Camps. / Andrea Warren.
Electronic resources
View other formats and editions
Record details
- ISBN: 9780062252135 (electronic bk)
- Publisher: [Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 2013.
Content descriptions
|Summary, etc.:
"Think of it as a game, Jack.Play the game right and you might outlast the Nazis."Caught up in Hitler's Final Solution to annihilate Europe's Jews, fifteen-year-old Jack Mandelbaum is torn from his family and thrown into the nightmarish world of the concentration camps. Here, simple existence is a constant struggle, and Jack must learn to live hour to hour, day to day. Despite intolerable conditions, he resolves not to hate his captors and vows to see his family again. But even with his strong will to survive, how long can Jack continue to play this life-and-death game?Award-winning author Andrea Warren has crafted an unforgettable true story of a boy becoming a man in the shadow of the Third Reich.
|Reproduction Note:
Electronic reproduction. New York : HarperCollins, 2013. Requires Adobe Digital Editions (file size: 2063 KB) or Amazon Kindle (file size: N/A KB) or OverDrive Read (file size: N/A KB).
Search for related items by subject
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Fractora™ Cherry Hill
The effects of aging on the face are rarely positive. They often include skin discoloration, broken blood vessels, scars, redness, and wrinkles in a variety of areas. Crow's feet, smoker's lines, chin wrinkles, and neck bands are embarrassing – and Fractora™ can remove them all. Fractora™ is a revolutionary type of skin resurfacing that improves the complexion and skin texture, making you look better than ever.
Fractora™ involves very small, precise tissue damage (called ablation) using pin electrodes. These electrodes produce radio-frequency energy, which heats the skin tissues to stimulate deep collagen remodeling. After the procedure, almost no recovery time needed, a couple of days at the most. Within two weeks, you'll see the effects in your beautiful, smooth skin. If you're interested in amplifying the effects, repeat treatments are available.


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Hello ladies! So recently, I ran out of my black Lakme eyeconic kajal and as I did not have the time to visit a Lakme counter or wait for an online delivery, I got a new one from a local store. Since I have been a regular user of this kajal from the time that it was launched, it took me less than a minute to figure out that I had bought a fake one as soon as I removed the tube from its packet and held it in my hand. To my utter dismay, something about it just didn't feel right. But instead of sulking over my precious 199 rupees I decided to write this post to help others to spot a fake one.
Now, the packaging of the fake kajal versus the authentic one shows absolutely no difference. It is completely identical. Even the tubes look indistinguishable at first glance. But there are some subtle differences which will help you figure out whether the one you are using is authentic or not. Read on for some helpful tips.
Every Lakme kajal tube comes with the inscription "eyeconic kajal" written on it. On the fake one, the writing starts from the top end of the tube, while on the original one it starts from the base of the tube, in the opposite direction.
At the base of each tube there's a turquoise band with the word "Lakme" inscribed on it. If you hold the tube straight, with the cap facing upwards, you will notice that the fake one has the word "Lakme" written on it upside down while the original one doesn't.
After reading the manufacturing and packaging information on both the tubes, I have found a few discrepancies. The one that stands out is the spacing between the words. As you can see, the original one has a considerable spacing between the words "Net Wt", "B. No" and "Pkd", while the fake one doesn't. Also, the fake tube does not come with the batch number and the RC number (found near the turquoise band at the base of the authentic tube).
When the Lakme kajal is uncapped for the first time, the tip is visible without having to twist the tube up. However, in the fake one, this was not the case.
The authentic kajal comes in a twist up tube that is extremely smooth to operate. However, the fake one's twist-up mechanism felt a little tight and out of place to me.
Lastly, let's talk about the color and pigmentation of the Lakme eyeconic kajal. The kajal glides very easily onto the skin and gives a jet black shade right at the first swipe. Not to my surprise, although the fake one was almost as smooth to glide over the skin as the original one, it did not give that jet black shade in the first swipe.
So to conclude, I have learnt my lesson and henceforth, I am going to be extra careful about where I buy my cosmetics from and keep a watchful eye for duplicates. I hope this post was helpful as well as a reminder to all you ladies out there and to myself to buy our cosmetics only and only from designated brand counters or from a trusted online store. You never know what harm the duplicates can do to your skin.
Stay gorgeous! J


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Some give speeches with their flies undone. Others wear mismatched socks. I perform lap dances on unsuspecting women using public transport.
Inadvertently, of course.
It happened when I was 17 and returning home from school, weighed down by a bag that was bursting at the seams.
It must have been a pot-hole or the driver swerving to avoid a jaywalker, for whatever reason, the bus lurched and the jolt sent me sprawling across the laps of two middle-aged women.
For a split second, two pairs of eyes locked into mine. And then out of nowhere, their arms hit out at me, their mouths hurled abuse. I must have been heavy -- all 70 kilos of me.
I flailed about for support, but couldn't get up immediately, burdened down by the schoolbag on my back.
Eventually, I broke free and escaped to the back of the bus, unable to stem the stream of abuse that still poured from their lips.
And which part of all this embarrassed me the most? The fact that some passengers thought I did it deliberately.
Most embarrassing moment
Thursday, September 17, 2009
An even more embarrassing moment
Posted by Tony Tharakan at 2:43 AM
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