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In June 2012, a smiling Richard Scudamore announced that the Premier League had secured bids totalling just over £1 billion a year for its UK live rights (2013/14 to 15/16) – a 70% increase. For what was already the world's most valuable football league, this was an astonishing achievement.
Much has been written since about how BT's entry to the market for Premier League rights had such a dramatic effect on the price. We have read about the additional rights that BT has bought (FA Cup, Serie A and Ligue 1, rugby, WTA, UFC), its acquisition of ESPN's UK channels business, its hiring of expensive presentation talent and its extensive marketing campaign – all on top of its £246 million a year payment to the Premier League. We have also heard a lot about BT's groundbreaking tactic of giving away BT Sport to all of its broadband customers – making it one of the world's biggest-ever freebies. But I want to look at why BT has made this bold move.
Ironically, BT's strategy re-works Rupert Murdoch's: back in 1996, he announced the use of sport as "a battering-ram in all our pay-television operations". True, he wasn't giving it away for free as BT is currently doing, but he recognised that sport (and, in Europe, that means football) is the trump card in pay television. His insight has been key to BSkyB's success in the UK and now underpins his strategies for Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia. Through football, Murdoch has gained the whip-hand over entire pay-TV markets.
The difference is that BT is targeting a market that encompasses not only pay-TV but also broadband and fixed telephony (including wi-fi) and, soon, mobile. This is a reaction to Sky's rapid growth in broadband. It now has 23% of the market, making it second only to BT (31%), having overtaken Virgin Media (21%) and TalkTalk (19%). BT has long dominated in broadband and now wants a means of halting Sky's advance onto its turf. While the value of the UK's broadband market is perhaps only half that of pay-TV subscriptions (which was £5.3 billion in 2012), 80% of all homes in Great Britain have an internet subscription and therefore it has enormous strategic value as the gateway to a range of other services.
Sky and BT believe that most homes will end up with a single provider of pay-TV, broadband and fixed telephony and that there is a big opportunity to extend this customer tie-up into mobile as well (the UK mobile phone market is approximately four times the size of pay-TV!). This all adds up to a fight with very high stakes and, while Virgin Media, TalkTalk and the mobile operators will make it a competitive one, BT and Sky both believe they have the opportunity to secure a commanding position. Not only are they the largest players in their core markets but now they both have the magic ingredient: content – and sports content specifically.
These two big beasts are engaged in what will be a long and tough battle but, while they take aim at each other, it is the other industry players who are likely to be the losers in the longer-term. Perhaps that is the real intention – to make this a two-horse race. With so much to play for, BT can commit about £1 billion this year to building BT Sport. It is fundamental to BT Retail's entire strategy – and, with revenues of £7.3 billion (similar to BSkyB's) and a market capitalisation of £26.8 billion (for the entire group), BT has the deep pockets to stick with the plan.
In an effort to simplify things for the consumer – by offering multiple services through one provider – ironically, the market is going to become more complicated. Consumers will have to weigh up the relative advantages of different content and service offerings at various price points and make decisions about switching from several providers to one. Overall, prices for existing services should come down but new services will be offered on top. Of course, there will be numerous legal challenges over wholesaling, bundling, network access and pricing that the regulator, Ofcom, will have to resolve. But, apart from being good news for the lawyers, it is also going to be positive for sport. For the next five years at least, neither of these titans can afford to back down: rights fees aren't going to be falling any time soon.
William Field
William is a Partner at Prospero Strategy , providing business advisory and consulting services to sports and media organisations.
Global Sports: the world's leading specialist careers platform for the international sports industry
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text: "The burning house" is a great site dedicated to documenting and photographing items that you would want to take with you if your house was burning. It's a really great idea where people submit their items photographed or illustrated. The amount of creative and unique content I come across daily still boggles me. I'm happy to have a great space to share all of this wicked stuff here!


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Over the past 2 years my first feature film entitled 'DARKSLIDE' was created through a DIY (do it yourself) practice and mindset. It isn't the first project I have been involved in, but it is the longest and most accomplished of my films. Using this experience I have utilized what I have learned about the evolving technological advances and classical filmmaking processes alike, in order to create my own original works with complete creative control, on my own terms, at my own pace.
Film is a collaborative medium, so not everything can always be done alone, but the film industry is evolving in a way where more and more things are possible with less and less people to accomplish them. This is good and bad for the industry and creators, because people need jobs and need to be paid. But, when you don't have money and you are starting at a lower level, sometimes as the creator of a piece you can wear a few more hats and accomplish things yourself.
I was able to raise around $3675 through Indiegogo, combined with the equipment I had amassed over the years I was able to accomplish DARKSLIDE as an entirely independent DIY production.
Here are 7 anecdotal tips that come to mind after the experience of creating DARKSLIDE, which I will elaborate on. These tips explore how to get the most out of a very small budget and still make your film stand out from the crowd:
1. Know about the camera:
Okay, so let me preface this by saying that not every director is a camera wizard, Kevin Smith is a good example of a director who admits to not being super camera savvy, but he none-the-less makes great movies (in my opinion). The greatening accessibility and the lowering costs of modern cameras, as they seem to be getting smaller and more efficient at a constant speed, makes me feel that it is important to understand how cameras work to ensure that you are getting the most bang for your buck. Even at the no-budget level, it will cost something, or you will have to be pulling a lot of favours (do it if you can). We are talking around $5000 CAD or less here, for the bare basics of what I needed to achieve in order to be satisfied artistically. It is possible to make a film for less, but I found that to be the choice amount if you want to acquire your own gear. If you can find people with their own gear who are willing to help out, that can save you some more money. But I personally enjoy having my own gear as a director so that I can ultimately decide to shoot anything at anytime I feel necessary, with any crew I want.
You can now get a camera for $2000 or less that has incredible capabilities when it comes to dynamic range, and utilizing these cameras can make your film stand out visually and increase the value of your image. At this point it becomes a sound investment towards the quality of your films picture, without endangering your life financially in the process. Learn about dynamic range, codecs, resolution, aspect ratio, depth of field, sensor size, etc. Apply this knowledge to which camera you decide to buy.
For example, the camera I chose was the Black Magic Cinema Camera, which comes in many different variations. I bought mine used, and saved around $300 doing so. The camera was practically like new and worked without issues. The version I chose has a Super 16MM equivalent sized sensor. Now, I needed a lens. I wasn't sure which mount I wanted to go for, as the camera offers several different options. I knew that I wanted a lens that could open to 2.8, and I knew that I wanted it to be as versatile as possible so that it would be feasible to shoot the majority of the film using just one lens. What I settled on was the EF-Mount and a used Tamron zoom lens that has a range of 17-50mm (without the crop factor), f2.8 constant, costing $320. For a cheap lens, it is surprisingly sharp. The options and combinations of lenses and cameras seem ever abundant. But this combination gave me exactly what I wanted for around $2400 total, adding on the price of an extra battery that plugs into the camera and gave me up to 6 hours of extra life.
Find out which options work for you and fit that within your budget. It will pay off in the end, when your visuals look great. With a little saving, you won't be completely broke in the process. Take your time, and shoot your movie, with a capable camera that you now own. It made sense to me.
2. Pick up graphic design:
Photoshop is an insanely powerful tool that can take a stale image and within seconds make it stand out to the eye. Not to state the obvious, but learning how to have a consistency and doing research goes a long way when it comes to promoting your film through graphic design. Thumbnails for trailers and videos, posters, banners, cover photos, profile pics: these are all examples of things you should spend time on and ensure that you are adhering your art style to the proper size for each format. Don't just hodgepodge some stuff together, I mean, that can be a certain style if you are going for something chaotic, but overall just have a theme or idea of why it is you are doing what you are doing when you are designing these images for the public. These are what will give people an initial impression of your film, and so the more compelling the better.
There are really no concrete rules to how you get someone to buy something, or how you get something to be seen. There are tried and true methods, but everything seems to depend the most on the content of what you are displaying. People are bombarded with so much content these days. I feel it is important to be very clear and concise with what you are displaying. You want them to notice exactly what it is you are trying to show them, whether it be an image promoting the title of the film itself, or a website URL that helps direct people to your official website. With this said, I find it best to try to be creative with how and why I am posting images, instead of just constantly posting them. I try to wrap the content of these images around certain events or themes within the film so that they not only promote it but also help to enrich the world within it.
Being able to create images with a sense of consistency and eye grabbing imagery will come in handy when it comes to getting the word out about your film, trying to sell it through VOD, or trying to promote your campaign towards raising funds for your film.
3. Study the sound:
I find that the best people to ask advice about sound are sound engineers themselves. Filmmakers can be very knowledgeable, but the engineers specialize in sound. Sometimes they know little tips and tricks or how exactly to approach different recording scenarios in different ways than one might normally think as a filmmaker.
Like with camera equipment, sound recording devices are getting smaller, cheaper and more capable. Typically a shotgun microphone is used to record sound on set, with a focus on getting the dialogue spoken by the actors, as well as the sound effects made by their actions. Some cameras have good built in audio recording, but those tend to be on the more expensive side. In my experience with the Black Magic, it is best to use a separate device for recording audio and then sync it with the video later.
The microphone I ended up choosing was the Rode NTG-2, which I got in a kit with a boom pole, dead cat, and XLR cables for around $700 CAD. For a recording device, I chose the Zoom H1, which cost about $100. This made for a very light weight sound kit, which we could bring anywhere. The H1 does not have a very good preamp, so one thing we had to do was to be very careful about background noise. But it does have a great sound quality if you are able to avoid background noise as much as possible. When recording dialogue with this device it is most of the time a good idea to record in the quietest locations you can find. For every dialogue scene I tried to shoot close ups of all the actors where I could get the microphone as close as possible, to ensure that every scene had clear dialogue that was usable in editing.
Consider recording your own music for your project. This will give you a chance to bring an original tone and atmosphere to your film. I was able to have a mix of both original music pieces created by other artists and music created on set during the filming process by the fictional band within the film called 'P.F.C.' (find some of those songs here).
4. Find your unique advantages:
By unique advantages, I mean things that you already have in your life. Whether it is people you know who can act or have a talent, locations you can get due to family or friends, networking advantages if you know people with experience, etc. Everyone has some sort of unique advantage.
Another aspect of this is any talents you may have, or any access to expensive equipment or cinematic and expensive looking things. For example, if you are good at guitar, and you have a guitar or two lying around, try writing that into your story. I used everything I could from computers displaying custom abstract videos, to artwork my friends made for me, even cut up strands of orange cloth that I had leftover from previous projects, anything I could get my hands on to keep the backgrounds interesting while staying true to the look I wanted. Find your own examples of this in your life that fit into your story lines, DARKSLIDE involves a band who has a jam space that is decorated chaotically, so it allowed for a lot of creative freedom in how I messed the place up.
They say that you should write what you know, and that is true to an extent. I also believe that you should not be afraid to write what you do not know. With this said, I feel that one thing to remember is that it is helpful to write about things that you are already interested in and knowledgeable about. If you know a ton about mechanics, maybe you should write about a mechanic? If you play sports religiously, perhaps a movie about a person who shares similar interests in that regard? It is likely that you already have a bunch of stuff in your life based around this interest to help kickstart a story.
5. Do things on set in a timely fashion:
At this budget level, you are likely not going to be able to pay cast and crew, which means they will be volunteering their time. When people are volunteering their time, I very rarely push them to do things like 12 hour shoots and it is important that enough food for the duration is provided if it happens. I want to make sure that people are having fun, especially if they aren't getting paid.
As for planning each scene, arranging the location, gathering the props and scheduling the actors, this can all be done at a slower pace. DARKSLIDE was shot over a 1 year span by shooting almost 1 day every week (usually on the weekend). This means you will have to find people who are generally interested in your idea, because they will have to be on board for the long haul, if you are going this route. This is another important reason as to why you should make sure that their time is utilized well and that they are having a good time.
Many shooting days on DARKSLIDE would be 4-6 hours long, and did not require much travel from home base, and the scenes were setup quickly. When we didn't shoot 1 day a week, sometimes there were 1-2 week breaks in between working with the actors. On these breaks I used that time to gather b-roll footage and time-lapses, that way I would not be wasting time doing that kind of stuff while I am with the actors.
6. Consider crowd-funding, but with caution:
Everyone wants to make movies with someone else's money, and the key to doing this seems to be appealing to their sentiments. The crowd-funding projects that I often see get funding success usually have a very convincing argument that the project offers something unique that nothing else has ever talked about, and that the idea is in fact important to be talked about in the first place.
Going into the DARKSLIDE crowd funding campaign, which raised around $3675, I initially set the goal high at $10,000. What I found out, is that even with the amount of work I had put in (making quite a few video updates and promotional images all over social media), it still was not enough to raise the $10,000 goal.
I redid my pitch video 5 times for the first version (out of 3), it took over 13 hours for that one version alone. I must have spent over 150 hours on the campaign for the 60 days it was open. But it still wasn't enough, me working on it alone was not enough, I needed a team of people all putting in hours of their time to promoting and networking.
Still, with flexible funding, we received the $3675 raised and it did indeed help the film greatly. So choosing to crowd-fund was a good choice for DARKSLIDE overall. Having done it, I can now see just how much work it is. I thought I put a lot of work into the campaign, but if I had put more work into it and raised $10,000, the project could have expanded even more.
7. The sky is the limit:
You should start by writing in what you have already, that will give you a good baseline. But from there, I say the sky is the limit. Don't limit your imagination (within reason). If you want to have a helicopter chase, do it, but conceit that you might need to use miniatures or sound trickery and that it isn't going to look like a James Bond film.
The story is number one, and don't be afraid to tell your story any way you can, with any means you can. Focus on strengthening the world in which your story takes place. Dream big, and look to the sky as the limit. You want your main character to turn into a giant? Do you want the sky to turn purple and an evil vortex to appear protruding with horrifying tentacles? Do you want a field of wildflowers so bright they make your eyes hurt to start singing a lullaby? Do it. Why not?
You don't need thousands of dollars, you just need creativity. Don't do the thing where you limit yourself and your ideas. Find a way, make a compromise, find a creative route around the problem. Refine this new route until you are happy, and adjust your vision to fit this new strategy. What you imagine can be more grand than what is capable in reality, but this should not be limiting. Focus on capturing the feelings and the messages of what you imagine with the means and materials that you have in real life.
People will naysay, but it doesn't really matter. A filmmaker makes films, and as long as you are making films, you are a filmmaker.


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Archive for February, 2007|Monthly archive page
Paper sent!
The ICEL paper is now winging its way to the conference organisers for reviewing. The names of the authors is removed from the paper and is blind reviewed by judges who decide if the paper is worth of inclusion. I've just checked the web site, and we will hear by the 19th April if the paper has been accepted.
Sharon has done a great job on this, taking an idea and less than half a paper sent to her a fortnight ago, and creating a well crafted piece. We ended up with version 11 of the paper, which shows the amount of collaboration there has been between us. It's right that Sharon should get the 'lead' on the paper, even though I'll be waving the UCE Birmingham flag (hopefully) at Columbia university.
I've updated my homepage to reflect the paper's submission.
Last night was the first of just two tutorials for the OU course T324. We had been placed in the largest room at Harborne, so hopes somewhere were high for a good attendance.
I have 33 students currently registered on the course. around ten of them are working overseas or in the armed forces.
In total, I had five students attend. This is a better ratio than I achieved last year, with twenty students I usually only got two to the tutorials, but stil disappointing.
Could it be that because I provide the handouts online through the tutor conference that students see this as a replacement for attendance? But if I don't do this, then the people who genuinely can't attend are disadvantaged.
I've had one note this morning from a student saying that they appreciated the time taken, which is nice (and rare, I don't think I've ever thanked a tutor for a tutorial!), so those who turned up did seem to get something out of it.
The next tutorial isn't until early September. Looking at the timing I've got a chance to go through the final TMA as well as some examination preparation with them. Those who were there yesterday were keen to drive the content of this tutorial, so hopefully it will be more student focussed.
Writing abstracts
I went to the inaugural lecture last night for a new professor who used to be part of the Business School, now moved onto better things. It was good to be able to go to these sorts of things and be at least on nodding and 'small talk' terms with a few people.
In the after-lecture buffet (something which I strongly agree with, maybe student attendance would improve if we fed them after the buffet), I was asked by my friend Beverley Maynard to come up with some tips for research students and others who are struggling to write abstracts to be accepted at conferences and journals. Here they are!
1) Audience, Purpose, Medium. The abstract should be readable my anyone, not just a specialist in the field which you are writing. Avoid using abbreviations, in-jokes, and situations which are specific to your academic institution. Always imagine you're trying to explain your research paper to a member of your family.
2) Sell the paper. If you're submitting an abstract in the hope it will be accepted by a conference, then you need to do a little selling of the paper. Ensure that your paper includes the latest 'buzz words' and hot topics. The first abstract for the paper recently written included the words FaceBook, MySpace and Web 2.0 – all 'hot topics' at the moment.
3) Don't hold anything back. This was an error I made originally when writing abstracts, I wanted the paper to have a 'punch line', which I didn't want spoiled by anything that was in the abstract. This error was pointed out to me quite robustly at the time, and I've not forgotten it since. It's true for PowerPoints presentations, report writing and abstracts – "Say what you're going to say, say it, and say what you said".
4) Write to at least 90% of the word limit, but don't go over. Some abstracts will be rejected because you exceed the word limit, even by one word. But you'll be unable to make a persuading case if you only use half of the allocated words. Do the judges use the word limit to see if you can write succinctly?
Some more general guidelines are available from the academic conferences site here, they do seem to reinforce the tips above.
Ah, the irony!
One of my colleagues cannot give his lecture today due to a crisis outside work. I'm able to step into the breech with little hassle – I had already sent my apologies to an internal exam board, and was just sitting in on two Action Learning Set meetings this afternoon, whom I've asked to send me a summary of their meetings.
Flexibility is all important, if you can help a colleague out then it can help you in the long run. Over the last six months I've needed some help with various things, and now it's my turn.
I'm lucky that the lecture is about something I know a little about anyhow, and some reviewing and research, plus some notes mean I should be able to give a good presentation of myself.
And the title of the lecture (you couldn't make this up). Managing change!
Paper developments
The second blog of the weekend – so much for my long break!
It has been really useful though, as Sharon and I have sorted out the bulk of the paper for ICEL 2007. Sharon has a deadline of the 28th for completion, and whilst we have a little time beyond this, it suits me to get this sorted soon as Week 6 of teaching is looking very busy for me.
We're 7% over on the word count, and I've got to put the paper in the correct format for submission (at least there are no diagrams in the paper), but it hangs together well, with the two case studies (reflection from students I've taught, and this blog) tying back to other people's research well, reinforcing our own experiences and hopefully providing some food for though for others.
It hasn't been all work and no play though. I did manage to order my new car – delivery in three weeks.
In my early morning surfing, I've just come across a neat site called TagCrowd – I've seen these crowds, or clouds on blogs and sites such as Flickr, but never one where you can enter a text file, and generate a crowd. I'm really interested in ways that documents can be represented visually.
As an experiment I submitted my MA dissertation (submitted last week) to TagCrowd, and got the results below –
Given that the title of the dissertation is "Exploring the use of formal project management techniques to improve the learning experience of students in Higher Education", it seems that I've hit most of the right notes!
How to make the most of tutorials
I've had four tutorials with students this morning, an average of twenty minutes each. Most of these have been final year project students who are due to hand in within the next six weeks.
I offer these tips up to students regarding how to get the best out of time with their supervisors.
- Dont' be late, or too early. There's nothing that's more likely to annoy a supervisor than arriving late for a tutorial. I schedule mine in half-hour slots, if you turn up after fifteen minutes you're not going to get me at my best, and towards the end of the tutorial I'll be unlikely to give you my full attention as I'll be thinking about the next student, and whether I'm prepared for him/her. At the same time, if you arrive too early, then I'll not be ready… woe betide anyone who tries to see me before my first cup of coffee in the morning!
- Send stuff in advance. This is especially true for project dissertations. Towards the end of a project these can be large files, I had a 5Mb file land in my Inbox on Monday, and this was just one chapter! Even if I don't get chance to read through the work prior to submission, morally the student is on the much stronger ground, and I will act suitably chagrined that I've not had chance to read.
- Come with specific questions in mind. This is important, please don't come and say 'what do you think of this?' or 'am I on the right lines'. This shows a lack of preparation on your part, and the answers I can give are also limited. I can say it looks 'fine', or that 'this area needs some work', and you can leave the tutorial without having gained any real benefit from the contact. Specific questions, which I can give specific answers to, will always yield better interactions.
- Make notes. I am a fast talker, and odds are you won't remember 10% of what I say. Making notes is not a sign of rudeness, it's a sign that you're taking on board what I'm suggesting. Some people use digital voice recorders or even their mobile phone to record the conversation – this is fine if you listen to them afterwards. I tend to make my own notes especially if it's an important meeting or I think the student is struggling, it's very worrying when I make more notes than the student.
Different tutors have different technqiues, but I don't think there's anything too contraversial in what I've said above. I think it's mostly common sense, but then again, doesn't everyone think that what they say and do is common sense.
A long weekend holiday for me, have a good one yourself.
Tick, tick, tick…
An administration day today, putting the coursework, exams, resit coursework and resit exams though our moderation system, as written about before.
I've got a sheet of A4 in front of me, with five columns and six rows, and a full row of satisfying ticks in three of the columns. There's a few blank spaces still, mostly (actually all) through waiting for other people to do their bits.
If you're in the right frame of mind, administration such as this can be satisfying, a nice feeling of completion, and knowing that it's all been sorted early (the deadline for all this work to be completed is 7th March). But there's also a sense of resentment that when writing the assignment and exams you're expected to be innovative and creative, and creat stimulating questions and well structured marking schemes, then have to spend upwards of half an hour of admin, cutting/pasting etc.
And as I've typed this, I've noticed that there's some resit work which I need to do, so now have two new, blank, columns on my pad, grrr.
Better get back to it.
Less productive day
An early start working from home, preparing lectures for next week – very last minute and not a way that I like to work.
I did intend to do a second lecture, but I didn't get very far, instead spending some time on the research paper, sending a very early draft to Sharon, though I know I'll need to spend time on it the weekend.
That, plus emails, took up most of the rest of the day, but it wasn't as productive as I had planned or hoped.
This evening I've been OU focused, sorting out some queries and sorting out my tutorial next week.
No teaching tomorrow, but lots of meetings with students and staff on various things. Maybe I'll get chance to do some 'catch up' then.
Pomp and Circumstance
Today was graduation day for our students. Two hundred and sixteen of them entered stage right, shook the chancellor's hand, and exited stage left.
There were some poignant moments. The parents of a student of mine on the MSc scheme who had died tragically during the summer flew over from India to receive his honorary degree.
There were some 22 of us in the academic's procession. Yes it is a fuss, and yes there are probably better things I could do on a Friday, but I was disappointed by the relatively low turnout of academic staff. It's all really good natured, this is my fourth presentation, but I'm not bored yet, and will continue to be suited and booted (and gowned) as necessary.
My top tip for the audience, and anyone else who has to clap every student is to strictly ration yourself… five claps and no more.
Below is a picture taken by our roving reporter on the day… I am next to Barbara Chivers, another lecturer. My leaning was emphatically not due to any alcohol consumed.
Then back home, and making the final changes to my dissertation prior to submission, Paul kindly proof read it for me, and I've made a few more minor tweaks to ensure that it reads well.
I've also sent some journals to Sharon to look at for the ICEL paper -Wednesday was a good day writing wise and I got a thousand words on paper (well, electronic paper anyhow). Sunday afternoon will be my next session. For all of you reading this whilst stuck at work on a Friday evening, I hope your'e home soon and have a great weekend.


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The Friday evening talk will be in Yreka - TBA
Hike leader and botanist with the USFWS, Sheri Hagwood, will introduce us to some native wildflowers found in the California region of the Monument expansion. Sheri teach us about native trees, shrubs, and forbs that we might observe on Saturday. She will also be discussing the uses of these plants by Native Americans and early pioneers.
On the Saturday field trip we will hike into the Horseshoe Wildlife Management Area, part of the California side of the Monument.
Come and enjoy the talk, even if you are not going on the hike.


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The Good Leads
Links for the informed adviser...
Expect a quiet day today, here's a look at the economic news to come including U of Mich Consumer Sentiment: (MarketBeat)
The REITs are acting very well and look like they're headed higher, check out AHT, BMR, BXP and LRY. (iBankCoin)
What the junk bond (HYG) vs Treasurys (IEF) ratio tells us about stocks right now. (All Star Charts)
How advisers in tornado-ravaged Joplin are handling the catastrophe. (Investment News)
Would UBS's CEO have been better off just staying retired? (NetNet)
Millionaires hate the market...and can't stop throwing money at it. (TRB)
David Einhorn makes his inner child very happy this week... (Dealbreaker)
Josh Brown is a contributor to the Financial Adviser blog. He is a vice president at Fusion Analytics, an investment advisory firm, and the author of the The Reformed Broker blog. His commentary here is for informational purposes and should not be construed as research or advice. Mr. Brown buys and sells investment instruments for his own and his clients' accounts, and will disclose if he holds a position in a company or industry he writes about.


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Scientists say substance in turmeric can help cure erectile problems
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"Education is less like filling a bucket
and more like lighting a fire."
I have developed this web site to use as a tool for potential employers to get to know a little bit about me as a person and as an educator. Included in this online portfolio is a copy of my resume, pictures and descriptions of my teaching experiences, and some personal information about me.


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We write, direct, produce, and perform plays that directly address matters of the soul, all for the greater glory of God.
The entertainment world, once a beacon of light, is now shrouded in confusion and darkness. Too many movies, TV shows, and plays show beautiful things in one scene and sinful things in the next. Our goal is to help renew the culture of live performance, one show and one audience at a time. We hope to bring Christ's message of mercy and salvation in a small way through each story we tell.
Audition to join our cast for our new show!
Take Action
Ready to take the next step? You can become a contributor to our cause, or participate yourself.
Video is the original content of St. John Paul the Great University, 2014.


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Traveling butterflies need a place where they can rest their weary wings. Build a butterfly house that will protect these winged beauties from wind, rain, cats and birds. Make plans for your butterfly house before you begin building. Place your butterfly house in a garden that has plenty of bushes and flowers that will attract the butterflies to your yard.
Plan to make the butterfly house approximately 6 inches wide by 15 inches tall. Design the house so that the pieces can be cut out of one or two pieces of wood that are 1 inch by 6 inches by 10 feet, for the least amount of cutting.
Design the roof of the butterfly house to have a slant. Make the roof slanted to keep water out of the house and keep the butterflies dry during inclement weather.
Include a way for the butterflies to enter the house without birds being able to get in. Plan to cut several slits in the front of the house that are approximately 3 inches long by 1/2 inch wide. Build the front of the house out of slats to avoid making awkward cuts in the wood.
Make an area in the plans to include a large piece of tree bark for the butterflies to rest on. Plan to put a round stick in the center of the house or to secure tree bark to one of the walls.
Pick a way to mount the butterfly house in the yard. Choose from attaching the house to an existing structure, such as your house or fence, or mounting the house on a wood pole to plant in the garden.


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The Ideas Kitchen
The Ideas Kitchen
The Ideas Kitchen is where great ideas become great projects in your community. It's where local people pitch ideas to their neighbours who vote for the project they'd like to see realised.
If you have a creative idea that will benefit your community, and you live, work or study in the borough of Waltham Forest, you can submit an idea to the Community Board made up of The Barbican, Bebop Baby, Gnome House, The Mill and x7eaven. The board selects four ideas to be shared at a community dinner held locally in the borough.
The next community dinner will be held on the 30 November.
Creative Citizens
Creative Citizens with the Barbican and the London Borough of Waltham Forest
The Creative Citizens programme launched in January 2018. The programme is produced by Beyond Barbican in partnership with the London Borough of Waltham Forest thanks to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England through the Great Place Scheme.
The Creative Citizen Fellowship builds on the Barbican and LBWF's pioneering partnership model between a leading international arts centre, a local authority and a local community. It is developed in conjunction with the jointly produced Walthamstow Garden Party and takes inspiration from both the Walthamstow Garden Party programme and the ideas and writings of its celebrated host, the late textile designer William Morris.
Become an ambassador and represent the Barbican in your community
Our Ambassadors are incredible people, aged 16+ who are actively engaged with their community and want to bring more opportunities to the people in it.
By becoming a Barbican Ambassador you will promote the Barbican and the work we develop in east London to diverse community groups, children's centres, schools, public libraries and community organisations – especially those who haven't heard of the Barbican before.
The Ambassadors work together to identify potential community partnerships and encourage local engagement with the Barbican, to ensure that everyone can have access to a world class art and learning offer.
We are not currently recruiting Ambassadors but sign up to our Creative Learning newsletter and get information our programmes and opportunities.
Future Band
Young people and adults to come together and explore music making
Future Band is a creative ensemble made up of 20–30 young musicians aged 8–14 from across London, led by Guildhall MMus Leadership graduates Natasha Zielazinski and Detta Danford.
During holiday time the band comes together for 3 or 4 day projects to explore music making; to think, compose, interpret and play. The musical identity of the group reflects the personality and creative voice of every band member, as well as taking inspiration from musicians and artists from all over the globe. Over the past 5 years Future Band have performed at Barbican and beyond, including the Vortex Jazz Club in Dalston, Union Chapel, Walthamstow Garden Party and the Olympic Park.
To find out more about the project, and be in the band, email firstname.lastname@example.com
Discover future band
Watch: Future Band
Future Band is a creating, composing ensemble made up of young artists from across London.
The Messengers
The Messengers
The Messengers is a band comprised of Masters students at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and people who seek support from St Mungo's Homeless Charity. It is a unique collaborative project between people from very different backgrounds brought together by their love of making music. The band is led by Sigrun Sævarsdóttir-Griffiths, Guy Wood and Ashton Mills and in four years has grown from playing in small community halls to the main stage at Field Day and Walthamstow Garden Party. Recently the group has worked with legendary outsider musician Doug Hream Blunt and is currently recording an album with David Byrne's Luaka Bop Label.
Drum Club
Play Drum Works beats and learn drumming technique at Tuesday evening Drum Club sessions.
Whether you're an experienced musician or a complete beginner, Drum Club is an opportunity to learn new skills and make some music in a friendly, supportive environment.
Led by leaders and tutors from Barbican artistic associate Drum Works, weekly sessions include working on drumming technique, learning some of the project's core rhythms and writing new material. The band perform at their own events and join in with the school ensembles for our en-masse performances at summer festivals.
Drum Club meets at the Barbican on Tuesday evenings, 6.30–8.15pm, and is open to anyone over 18 regardless of musical experience.


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Web South Solutions occasionally offers photography services. We specialize in website and print design and often times use our photography services to capture images for use in our designs. Please contact us if you are in need of photography in addition to your next creative project.
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PG&E on Monday outlined a major shakeup of its board of directors, vowing that most of the board will be new and independent directors, a move designed to appease volleys of criticism in the wake of a series of lethal infernos and gas system failures.
The embattled utility, already a convicted felon for crimes it committed before and after a fatal explosion in San Bruno that killed eight, toppled into bankruptcy on Jan. 29 in a quest to ward off a mountain of debts that looms over its crumbling finances.
Those debts include potentially $30 billion in liabilities arising from deadly firestorms in Northern California in 2017 and 2018.
Critics of PG&E maintain that its current board of directors continues to supervise the utility despite a string of catastrophes, and needs to be ousted or dramatically shaken up.
"As we have seen since the San Bruno explosion, nothing has changed," state Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, said in an interview Monday. "A radical shakeup is necessary to bring about the changes at PG&E we all want and expect."
Skeptics note that half of the board members were on the panel at the time of of the San Bruno disaster.
"We fully understand that PG&E must re-earn trust and credibility with its customers, regulators, the communities it serves and all of its stakeholders," PG&E's board stated in a prepared release outlining the plans to revamp the panel's membership.
Among the laundry list of disasters or failures linked to PG&E that were overseen by the board of directors, as viewed by PG&E critics:
- Five of PG&E's convictions in its criminal trial involved pipeline safety violations that occurred before the San Bruno explosion — and one occurred after the blast when PG&E obstructed an official federal investigation into the disaster.
- The San Bruno blast occurred due to a deadly mixture of PG&E's shoddy maintenance, flawed record keeping, as well as lax and ineffective oversight of PG&E by the state Public Utilities Commission.
- PG&E in 2018 was accused by the PUC of falsifying gas pipeline records over a five-year period from 2012 to 2017 — despite claims by the utility that it had learned the tragic lessons of the San Bruno blast.
- A fatal 2015 wildfire in Amador County and Calaveras County sparked by a tree coming into contact with a PG&E power line.
- The lethal Wine Country firestorms of 2017, including 17 that were caused by PG&E's electrical equipment.
- The deadly Butte County wildfire of 2018. PG&E stated that it suffered equipment failures near where that blaze began.
"We recognize the importance of adding fresh perspectives to the Board to help address the serious challenges the business faces now and in the future," PG&E's board stated Monday.
San Francisco-based PG&E should be given the benefit of the doubt with its board shakeup, but not much more than that, said Sen. Hill, whose district covers parts of Santa Clara County and San Mateo County, as well as San Bruno.
"PG&E must recognize that what they have done in the past has not worked," Hill said. "PG&E's past approach has brought it more of the same, which is failure."
The embattled utility intends to have the board changes in place prior to the company's annual shareholders meeting, which might be held this spring, even during the ongoing bankruptcy case. In its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, PG&E listed $51.69 billion in debts and $71.39 billion in assets.
"Perhaps this bankruptcy will cause PG&E to see the light," Hill said. "No one will accept the status quo going forward."


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Bridgegate now has it's own Wikipedia page
It seems a community with extensive knowledge of "bridgegate" and a lot of time on their hands has put it to good use.
The George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal now has its own - extremely comprehensive - Wikipedia page.
The page, titled "Fort Lee lane closure scandal" is more than 10,000 words long and contains nearly 200 media citations. It also features an extensive timeline going back to August of 2013.
The entry includes dozens of headers and sub-headers detailing everything from the players involved to speculation over the motive.
It is under constant update and was tweaked as late as this morning.
The original entry seems to have been copied from Gov. Chris Christie's own Wikipedia page, however, the bridgegate page is now far more detailed than the governor's page.
At least some of the updaters have no connection to the scandal, and the "talk" and history pages of the entry show extensive discussion about the validity of each entry. Wikipedia is an entirely self-policed community, where interested editors eye even the smallest change to a page for correct citations and to weed out users with a clear self interest.
To date, the page has been viewed more than 76,000 times.


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Global assembling of Academicians, Researchers, Scholars & Industry to disseminate and exchange information at 100+ Allied Academics Conferences
In the interest of Allied Academies we invite all of you to Global Physical Therapy Conferences
"With the considerable intention and huge devoted approach towards Human Health movement and concerns, Allied Academies Physical Therapy Conferences to withhold the huge subjects devouring the Physical Therapy World and Unravelling the Census of Physical Therapy".
"Non-intrusive treatment Conferences are the answer for overcome overall Physical Therapy issue by amassing prominent researchers and specialists, which will maybe outfit a basic stage for talking about critical Physical Therapy confuse. It empowers with credited specialized and useful research progresses in the clinical, indicative and physiological parts of Physical Therapy"
Meet the Global Inspiring Speakers and Experts at the accompanying Physical Therapy Conferences, to examine on New Advances in Physical Therapy to Improve Health and Treatment. All the Physical Therapy movement has been arranged and executed as per the accreditation prerequisites and strategies of the Accreditation Committee.
The live organization of this instructive action will be certifying with CME and CPD Credits.
Allied Academies every year hosts interdisciplinary international conferences worldwide on cutting-edge basic and applied research in life sciences, Pharma, Medicine, Healthcare and Nursing delivered by the best talents in industry and academia. Our conferences are oriented to drive the scientific community at large, facilitating access to the newest technical and scientific achievements and to shape future research directions through the publication of applied and theoretical research findings of the highest quality.
Bound together Allied Academies has transformed into a prominent choice for the experts and academicians to display their marvellous duties. The distributer gives pursuers and creators an aggregate stage to confer their work to the overall gathering.
Allied Academies Conferences aims to gather the Researchers, principal investigators, experts and researchers working under academia and health care industry, Business Delegates, Scientists and students across the globe to provide an international forum for the dissemination of original research results, new ideas and practical development experiences. This academic occasion to revitalize the enduring connections and flash with new peers around the globe.
Meet the Global Inspiring Experts and Speakers at Allied Academies Conferences to talk about on new advances in the field of medical and engineering to improve e health and treatment and additional innovations. Our Conferences is not just to make a phase to exchange estimations to the enormous social occasion of individuals, yet also endeavour to spread focused and research advances in the clinical and physiological parts of various fields.
Exercise based recuperation endeavours to address the sicknesses, or wounds that point of confinement a man's capacities to move and perform practical exercises in their everyday lives. Physical Therapy utilize a person's history and physical examination to touch base at a determination and set up an administration design and, when vital, join the consequences of research facility and imaging thinks about like X-beams, CT-output, or MRI discoveries. Electro diagnostic testing may likewise be utilized. Physical Therapy administration ordinarily incorporates solution of or help with particular activities, manual treatment and control, mechanical gadgets, for example, footing, training, physical specialists which incorporates warm, frosty, power, sound waves, radiation, assistive gadgets, prostheses, outhouses' and different intercessions. Moreover, Physical Therapy work with people to keep the loss of versatility before it happens by creating wellness and wellbeing focused projects for more advantageous and more dynamic ways of life, giving administrations to people and populaces to create keep up and re-establish most extreme development and practical capacity all through the life expectancy.
Active recuperation is an expert vocation which has numerous fortes including musculoskeletal, sports, neurology, wound care, EMG, cardiopulmonary, geriatrics, orthopaedics, ladies' wellbeing, and paediatrics. Neurological restoration is specifically a quickly developing field. Physical Therapy hone in numerous settings, for example, private-claimed non-intrusive treatment facilities, outpatient centres or workplaces, wellbeing and health facilities, restoration doctor's facilities offices, talented nursing offices, expanded care offices, private homes, instruction and research focuses, schools, hospices, mechanical and this work environments or other word related conditions, wellness focuses and wears preparing offices.
Physical therapist additionally rehearses in the non-quiet care parts, for example, wellbeing strategy, medical coverage, medicinal services organization and as social insurance administrators. Physical advisors are engaged with the therapeutic legitimate field filling in as specialists, performing peer survey and autonomous medicinal examinations.
The Conferences of Physical Therapy not just make a stage to trade estimations to the monstrous group of onlookers, yet in addition try to spread specialized and research propels in the clinical, indicative and physiological parts of Physical Therapy. It happens to be more possible for everybody to put in the photo with novel research and to distinguish the extension and significance of particular research regions in the field of Physical Therapy. In the wake of breaking down the measurements, we have refined around 50,000 Physical Therapist worldwide are serving open day by day to battle the Physical Therapy injury. Aside from circles of surgery, therapeutics and scatters, our Allied Academies Physical Therapy Conferences is additionally steering meetings consistently that partners recognized keynote speakers with praiseworthy arranging board of trustees individuals, which invigorates overall Speakers and critical representatives, Sponsors and Media accomplices to take an interest in our gathering which drives wide acknowledgment and increases the value of the enrolled profession profiles. The Physical Therapy Conferences are the helpful discourse on Physical Therapy, for example, Manual treatment, practice treatment, and electrotherapy happen to be an imperative piece of our Physical Therapy Conference.
Our Physical Therapy Conferences is certifying by a CME declaration which empowers with a practical vocation. The understudy will be profited with the testament that will demonstrate redesigned learning in late research in your separate field. The CPD Certification happens to edify experts to approve their skill into an organized and set up approach towards the yearning of information.


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Merry Christmas from EH
Smocks are Freakin' Cute
Other things he loved?
The Mister Rogers tree.
The giant tire.
He loooved the seed table.
It was hard to peel him away from that thing and I seriously started thinking I needed to get him a seed table! But then he started eating the seeds and a girl next to him started throwing seeds all over the floor and I was like, "Yeah, never mind on that seed table. We'll leave that for the museum."
But what EH loved most of all was the Water Play room. This kid in a smock is seriously the cutest thing ever.
And as if you needed more evidence, here are two videos of him playing in the Water Play room. I fully recognize that these are probably things that only a parent or grandparent or aunt or uncle would appreciate, but since I know some of those people are out there reading this, this is for you!
Video #1
And Video #2
Yes, we did take his pants off and let him walk around in his shoes and onesie. You can see it sagging off of his bum from it being wet. We depantsed him because we wanted to put semi dry pants on him when we left (even though he got them wet within seconds) and we had a sweatshirt that we were going to use as his top. It was a little bit trashy and a whole bit cute and he just had a blast.
After he played with the hoses he then spent a significant amount of time by the pool scooping water up with a cup and then dumping it on the ground. As long as he knows that's only allowed at the museum, then we're good. Otherwise I'm going to have a really wet bathroom floor tomorrow during bath time.
In summary, we had a great time at the Children's Museum. It's a little pricy if you're paying full price ($26 for 2 adults and 1 "under 2" year old) but we had purchased a buy one get one Groupon so it only cost us $13. It's definitely something worth doing every couple of months because I'm sure he's going to discover new things every single time he goes!
Stupid Picasa
But no, even after all of that deleting, it's still telling me I don't have any more storage, and it wants me to buy storage. This is stupid. I know I have space - is google just trying to make money off of me? How can I actually get Picasa to recognize and admit to the fact that I deleted hundreds of photos, so I should be allowed to upload 3 new ones???? I know that some people post WAY more pictures than I do to their blogger blogs - are all of those people really paying a monthly fee to be able to do that??? I can't imagine so..
Anyway, I will continue to investigate but if you have a quick solution, PLEASE let me know! Otherwise, this blog will be even more boring than it already has been lately!
What's wrong with this tree?
The answer - no ornaments on the bottom half.
The reason - a toddler who has suddenly decided that he will get into EVERYTHING!
At first it was cute, now it's annoying. But I guess I should be grateful that he hasn't pulled the tree down on himself, right?
(knocking on wood)
Loving Leaves
But I did. And he loved walking around them enough that I'll call it a success, and I'm sure next year he'll be even more enthusiastic.
This was a weekend at home, and since there was little on the agenda we got a ton done, including finally getting my summer clothes packed up and into the attic and my sweaters and winter clothes into the closet, 5 loads of laundry (4 of which were mine, and 1 of which was EH's) and plenty of other small around the house projects. It's leave us slightly cleaner and slightly more prepared for hosting Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, something I haven't done for three years now!
EH is excited - last Thanksgiving he was sick with a horrible ear infection. This year he's not only going to be healthy but he's going to get eat turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing - all foods that I know he's going to love! I'm took nearly 200 pictures this weekend (making up for the month that I took none at all) so I'm going to try to post a few of the highlights over the next couple of days!
One Fresh Thanksgiving Turkey
But here's what I'm not sure about the animal kingdom - does the number of females that you attract give you higher statue? Is an animal that has attracted a following of 19 females better than one who only has 5 ladies following him around?
If so, this turkey that visited our yard yesterday, might be the king of all turkeys.
He had 19 - actually, there were really too many to count, so I will correct that to say at least 19 - female turkeys following his every move. If he started moving in one direction, they skittishly followed. If he didn't seem concerned then they weren't either.
It's hard to really see in the picture above just how many turkeys there really are, but take my word for it - there were a lot. And the big guy was definitely the only male.
I am not a hunter, and in general don't advocate the killing of animals (except for anyone who wants to come down and take care of the deer that keep eating our plants,) but I would be lying if I didn't admit that the following thought crossed my mind - "That bird would make for one fresh Thanksgiving turkey."
No worries though. He and his entire harem of women made were left unharmed.
Also, after comparing a female turkey to a male turkey, I have to wonder if all of the turkeys we eat are male? Those female birds don't look like they would have much meat at all, and male turkeys are definitely more attractive than the females.
We Voted (barely)
We voted tonight, but it wasn't easy, or pleasant or anything that I ever wish to repeat. Taking a one year old and having to wait for nearly 90 minutes and having that wait extend into bed time was one of the least pleasant experiences of EH's existence.
I almost walked away. EH was screaming inconsolably, it was hot, I was cranky, my back and my knees hurt from bouncing him in the baby carrier. I had the keys in my hand. And then he quieted enough to convince me to wait a few more minutes.
We made it. But I hated every minute of it, and I am soooo glad it's over.
The tv ads, the phone calls, the junk mailings. Does anyone think that stuff works? The long lines at polling places - how have we not come up with a more efficient way to move people more quickly through the lines? It frustrates me, and to be quite honest, if DH hadn't pushed me, I would have walked away.
But I didn't. And while you won't hear me raving about how excited I am to have have "exercised my right as an american," I will say that I'm glad it's over and done with, and it is funny to me how much DH enjoys watching these results come in.
So, if you voted, I say "way to go!" But if you didn't, and especially if you have a toddler, I don't judge you at all, and I am - in fact - jealous of the probably calm evening you probably had. Your vote does matter, but your sanity matters more, and I know that I nearly lost mine.
Go America.
A Work-Out-Of-Home Mom's Routine
DH used to wake up at 5 a.m. and I would snooze until about 5:30 or whenever he was out of the shower. He would then work on school stuff or put dishes away until 6:30 when I was ready to go (he stays as back up in case EH would happen to wake up early.) When I vowed to start exercising again I resumed my previous routine from a year ago of exercising around 8 p.m. This worked well because usually by that time EH is in bed for the night. DH said he had trouble sleeping after night exercising though, so for a day or two he tried exercising in the morning and I woke up earlier to shower so that he could still fit in a shower after me.
But that didn't last for long. Although DH likes to believe that he is a morning person, I believe that it takes a special type of person to roll out of bed and immediately start working out, and DH was struggling with that as well. So we came up with this new schedule, and it's been working well for us so far.
It looks like this:
5:15 a.m. - My alarm goes off, waking us both up
5:24 a.m. - My 9 minute snooze cycle ends and I get out of bed and into the shower
During this time DH does things like put dishes away or do lesson planning
6:10 a.m. - I am done in the bathroom and DH goes in
6:15 a.m. - I work on prepping EH's food for the day, usually cutting up a banana (1/2 for morning, 1/2 for evening), putting yogurt in a cup and making sure he has food for lunch. I also get his bottles ready for day care and get my own breakfast and lunch ready.
6:35 a.m. - DH leaves for the day; I get EH's morning bottle ready
6:40 a.m. - I go into EH's room to wake him up; often times he is already awake and just playing quietly in his crib, although sometimes I have to wake him
6:45 a.m. - Change EH's diaper, get him dressed for the day, with bib, socks, etc, and then we start his morning bottle
7:05 a.m. - Done with the morning bottle; he plays or follows me around while I get dressed
7:15 a.m. - Pack up my bag and EH's bag and put them in the car
7:20 a.m. - Start to get him in his car seat, at which point he usually poops; diaper change
7:25 a.m. - Out the door for the day (this is a little later than I'd like to leave, but it's how it's been going lately)
7:40 a.m. - Drop EH off at day care
7:45 a.m. - On the road to work
8:15/8:20 a.m. - Arrive at work and start the day
In the afternoon:
4:30 p.m. - DH picks EH up from day care
5:30/5:45 p.m. - I usually arrive home from work, as long as traffic wasn't too horrible
5:45 p.m. - Start making dinner, and prep EH's dinner food (usually a combination of the other half of the banana or some veggies along with whatever we're having.)
6:30 p.m. - DH does the dishes while I play with EH; sometimes we'll play in his room and I'll tidy up or do other things, other times I'll just focus on playing
7:00 p.m. - Start filling the bath tub if it's a bath night, followed by a bath
7:20 p.m. - Get EH's night time bottle ready; put on jammies and get his crib ready (clean up the stuffed animals, fluff his pillow, make sure there is a blanket nearby and a "blankie.")
7:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. - Start the bedtime bottle, depending on his level of fussiness. As soon as he starts showing signs of being tired, he is whisked off to bed.
8:15 p.m. - DH and I head downstairs for our evening workout.
9:00 p.m. - Workout over; head upstairs to get ready for bed and read.
9:30 to 10:00 p.m. - Ready until we get drowsy and then fall asleep.
As you can see, there's not a whole lot of quality time in there for spending with EH, but we try to make the most of the time that we do have. Last night, for example, we had a quick dinner of frozen pizza and then went to the park instead of playing at home. There's also zero time for anything else that isn't already on this schedule. So, if I need to do my laundry or make food for Evan in the evening, then that usually means less playtime or less reading time (for folding laundry or something like that.) It can be stressful, having such a strict routine that doesn't allow for much variance. But in a way it's also helpful for all of us - we know what to expect and what comes next, and much like EH, we appreciate the sense of order that it brings to our lives.
14 Months Old
Those people who have infants and say they don't want them to grow? They're crazy. Those people made me worry that once EH started crawling or walking that I would go crazy keeping up with him, and that I'd miss the infant years. But that has not been the case. I LOVE the toddler months, and I wouldn't trade this in for anything.
Does he get into everything, including bathroom drawers, kitchen cabinets, dresser drawers, and everything on top of anything he can reach? Absolutely. But we just have to be smarter than him - keeping the doors closed to rooms we don't want him in and keeping things off of end tables and night stands. Easy enough.
He is so smart. So. Stinking. Smart. It blows me away. He will repeat almost anything that we say, and learns new words on a daily basis. Right now at daycare they are working on learning the sounds that each letter makes, and he's already mastered H, T, and M and a bunch more that I don't remember. When I ask, "Are you hungry?" He usually says, "Mmmm mmmm mmmm" to indicate yes and when I say, "Ok, go get in your chair," he walks over to his high chair and tries to climb into it.
He regularly says "more" when he's eating something that he likes. And he still has not developed a taste for meat of any sort, including chicken and turkey.
When you give him a bowl and a spoon he stirs around the imaginary food and then holds out the spoon to you to "eat." If you ask him where his tongue is he'll stick it out. If you ask him where his nose is he'll point to it (or his ear, he gets those two confused pretty regularly.)
When it's time for bed he comes into the kitchen to watch me make his bottle and then when he sees that I'm almost finished to starts walking back the hall to his room and stands by the rocking chair and waits for me.
The say that toddlers appreciate routine because it's predictable for them and they know what to expect, and that couldn't be more true for EH. While there are rare occasions (mostly on weekends) when his strict schedule can feel somewhat limiting, the majority of the time the schedule works like a dream for us, and I don't think there is anything about it that I would change (other than the time when I get home from work, which is far too late in the evening, in my opinion, but sadly something that I have no control over.)
14 months. I can say with certainly that THIS so far is my favorite age ever.
Baby Weight Loss Failure
I lost less than 10 pounds after my delivery of EH, which was a disappointing percentage of the 34 pounds that I had gained. But, over the next couple of week, most of it melted away. Between breastfeeding and being so sleep deprived that I was eating really poorly, that early weight loss came fairly easily. At 5 weeks post-partum I had lost 17 pounds, or half of the weight I had gained.
By 6 months or so I weighed in at 153!!! Awesome right??? Except that as of today, I weigh 162.5 which is nearly 10 pounds up from that 153 mark. So where did things do wrong?
As I mentioned above, in those early weeks with a newborn - we'll say months 0 through 3 - feeding your child and getting him to sleep is what you spend 95% of your time doing. That leaves very little time for something like feeding yourself, unless you have someone taking care of that for you, and I did not. I believe that the world is divided into two groups - those who chose to eat, and those who chose to sleep. When and if deprived of both food and sleep, which would you chose? I always choose sleep, and I am sure that in those days my calories in were far less than my calories out, which is the perfect formula for weight loss.
During months 3 to 6 I think that the sleep thing gets much better for a lot of people. But in our case, EH was very very sick during those three months, because of all of the illnesses and infections he was getting from day care. Even though I was back at work full time by this point, I still spent many, many nights awake with EH, rocking him to sleeping, giving him antibiotics and trying to suck the snot from his nose with those bulb things so that he could attempt to breathe. It was awful. I was too overwhelmed to cook most of the time and once again, I was losing weight simply because I was choosing to sleep instead of eat whenever I could. That's how I got down to 153.
Then we pulled EH out of day care and he started going to A-Care (a woman watching him in her own home.) This was a turning point in his health and his development, as he was finally able to start catching up developmentally with other 6 month olds, something he couldn't do when he was sick for 3 months. He started eating better and sleeping better and this finally meant that things started to get on a somewhat normal schedule for us.
After over 6 months of feeling that I never had a moment to breathe, I took full advantage of this change! I started cooking dinners again (although somewhat reluctantly, even now) and once EH was asleep for the night, we started soaking up the quiet time by sitting in the living room and having a drink or a snack. It was soooo nice to enjoy a Blue Maui and just not do anything. I loved it.
And that really became our routine. We started going out to eat more frequently and an evening libation was just part of the schedule. Of course, having a drink in the evening isn't a bad thing, but honestly sometimes I would have two or three, and I wasn't eating very well and you better believe I was NOT exercising at all.
That's how it snuck up on me. Slowly. An ounce here, a half pound there. I wasn't weighing myself regularly and so I wasn't keep tabs on things, but I started to notice that my pre-pregnancy clothes still didn't fit right (and many will never fit right again anyway, stupid hips.)
So here I am - with a nearly 14 month old baby and 12.5 pounds of "baby" weight still hanging on, mostly in my stomach region.
And today is when I start making changes.
Life with a toddler hasn't gotten any easier, and there are still way too many things to juggle and get everything done, but some things need to become priority now, and the main thing is exercising.
My goal is to work out at least 3 times per week for 45 minutes - that's basically one TV episode without commercials on HULU. 4 times would be ideal though. At least one night needs to be spent picking up and/or cleaning the house, and the other two nights can be at our discretion (many weekends we'll be traveling so there's no sense in scheduling those days for a particular activity - that would just guarantee failure.)
I am going the painfully embarrassing route of telling the world how much I weigh so that you can cringe with me now and cheer me on in a few months when I come back to "weigh in" - hopefully with a much MUCH lower number. I am not proud of my failed attempt to lose my baby weight, but I am proud of my myself for admitting it publicly and vowing to make a change and I hope that within a few weeks I'll have positive news to share. I've battled these demons before, and I know I can do it again with a little willpower!
Today is Wednesday, but I've already successfully worked out two times this week, so I am off to a good start. Let's just hope it continues!
The Name of the Game
And at the same time DH and I are learning how our lives need to change to accommodate EH. Two weeks ago we took him to a restaurant. It was a place that had closed for renovations and had recently reopened so we wanted to check it out. In retrospect, we should have known - it was too crowded and the tables were too small for a toddler and two adults. EH wanted to touch everything - our hot plates, our drinks, the woman behind him who was so close he could grab her cane. It was a nightmare for us and he hated it too - he yelled and fussed most of the time. After that experience DH claimed to everyone he talked to that we may have reached the point where we can no longer take EH out to eat with us.
But last weekend we went out again. We hadn't been out since that last meal two weeks ago and we needed it. We decided to go to a mexican restaurant that we knew was fairly kid friendly. At 6 p.m. on a Saturday night we were surprised to find that it was less than half full, and on this beautiful fall evening there was no one sitting outside on their patio, so we had the patio to ourselves. EH was his usual loud and somewhat messy self, but we didn't have to worry about it, so we enjoyed ourselves instead of stressing about it. Our waitress thought he was adorable and didn't mind his mess at all, and when we were done eating we let him walk around and explore while we finished our drinks. It was relaxing and wonderful and we had a great time.
Now we know - we can still go out to eat, but we need to go to places that aren't too crowded and places where we don't have to over-worry about him being a little messy or making noise. He's a toddler, and we can't control everything that he does, but we do know that he's a great baby as far as babies go.
Similarly, we learned last week that he no longer sleeps well in the car and that we should, whenever possible, avoid the need for him to do that. He's a crib baby now, a tried and true stomach sleeper, something that just can't happen in the car. And trying to force that just makes for a miserable ride for everyone involved.
Speaking of change, the leaves are changing so quickly that I think they might be at their peak of color around here. The first picture in this post was taken on September 28th. The second picture a mere 10 days later but there is so much less green, and so much more yellow and red. EH has been loving playing around, exploring on his own two feet, picture up acorns and rocks and sticks and everything a boy should enjoy. Fall is such a fun season and hopefully next weekend it will be dry enough so that we can blow the leaves into a big pile and let EH play in them.
Florida Vacation - Key Largo
So, on our fourth day Naples, we packed up the car and headed out bright and early for Key Largo. We drove across the state, from the west coast to the east coast, and then headed south past Miami.
The keys are the closest thing that the mainland US has to a tropical paradise. Google "Florida Keys" on Google Maps and look at the satellite view - totally gorgeous blue water speckled with little islands. It was totally up my alley.
Since snorkeling was high on my list of to-dos in Key Largo we headed to John Pennekamp State Park, which is a state park that is 99% (or so) completely underwater. That much became evident when we went to the "beach" area. It was tiny, and mostly rock. Nowhere to put a beach umbrella for shade and you couldn't walk out into the water without shoes or significant discomfort.
We went to sign up for a snorkeling trip only to find that they were already completely booked for the day. This was disappointing for me because I had read that during the summer you didn't really need reservations since it was the low season, so I hadn't even attempted to make reservations in advance. We put our names on the stand-by list for a 3 p.m. boat, and were told to check back at 1:50 to see if there were any cancellations.
We were the first names on stand by so I felt good about that and we moved forward assuming that we would get on the boat. Of course, this meant that we now had about 50 minutes to kill, so we drove to another section of rock beach and went for a little swim. Again, this was painful because of all of the rock and coral. It definitely was not a traditional "beach" - there wasn't any sand! I think that's because of the way it's protected from mangrove forests - there are zero waves. The water is just flat and calm. It was crystal clear though, in a way that I've never seen before.
We swam for awhile and then sat in the shade at a picnic bench, catching up on emails and facebook from our phones. When it was time to check in for our stand-by snorkeling trip, we headed back to the registration desk where they confirmed that we were able to get onto the boat. The girl at the counter was like, "Yay! You made it!" and I repeated her "Yay." What I realize now that she was trying to psyche us up for the craziness that she knew would ensue once we boarded that boat, because by our horrible luck, we ended up two of the only 5 adult on a boat full of 8 year olds who were part of a summer camp. The snorkeling was gorgeous and awesome - and I will cover that in a separate post since there are tons of pictures and this has already gotten quite long - but my god were those kids a nightmare. They were loud and obnoxious and running into people and flailing about and touching the coral when the tour guides CLEARLY stated not too.. they were so annoying.
If I didn't already have a wonderfully charming child, I seriously would have decided at that very moment that I was never going to have kids in my life. Seriously.
BUT... we saw tons of awesome fish and I got some great pictures. That was the ultimate goal, right?
Snorkeling pictures coming soon!
Oh boy! In addition to having a parrot, we have a little daredevil now as well!
Let the bumps and bruises begin! (or continue really, since bruises have been happening since he started walking.)
The Parrot
This morning when I was carrying him down the stairs in his car seat (yes, we're still using his infant carrier in my car - I like that I can strap him into it five minutes before we leave so that I can go up and down the stairs without worrying about him following me or getting into trouble) and the seat pushed down on my kneecap in such a way that excruciating pain radiated throughout my leg and I had to set EH down in the garage. As I huffed and puffed and said things like "oh oh oh... " he said, empathetically, "Uh oh!" I couldn't put any weight on my left leg at all, my vision was spinning and I started sweated and having trouble taking a deep breath. In an effort to calm myself down, I leaned again my car and started taking deep breaths.
Breath in.
Breath out.
In. Out.
A moment later I heard a puff of air come from EH's mouth and he was smiling at me. I realized that he was mimicking my deep breathing. So I did it again. And so did he. He was so proud of himself, he was grinning from ear to ear.
He's so impressionable right now, and we're trying really hard to take full advantage of that. That post a while back that I wrote about needing to be more present? We've totally done that and it's been amazing. Our time together feels so much more quality and even DH is trying to get better at putting down his phone or magazine during EH time so that they can play and learn together.
The other day we worked on colors and he said "blue." He says "row row" for Row Row Row Your Boat. He's said "I love you" when prompted although it sounds more like "Uh oh oooh." His new day care worker (who I need to tell you about sometime soon!) also claims that he's said things like "circle," which I find hard to believe, but who knows! He says "Hi" non-stop and the other day he even picked up his monitor base, put it to his ear, and excitedly said "HI!" like he was talking on the phone.
Seriously - melt my heart.
(By the way, my knee feels better although my entire leg still aches a bit. But I'm fairly confident there was no permanent damage done.)
EH is a lucky boy - he has two cousins who were both born within 11 months after him.
He may not see them much, because they both live far away, but we can already tell that whenever they do end up getting together it's going to be a good time for everyone involved.
They're adorable together now, and they can barely interact with each other. I can't imagine how much fun it's going to be when they can start playing together.
This boy's got moves
I like to call this one the baby booty dance. I'm pretty sure he learned it from his aunt Emmy.
On this particular night, our evening was that scene - or a scene very similar to that one - replayed over, and over, and OVER and over again....How is it possible that something that should be so annoying ends up being so cute? Oh, that's right.... it's the rule of universal cuteness. What can I say? The boy's got moves.
(Video not working? Here's the direct link: http://youtu.be/FEsb_ldHWYQ)
Charming Our Pants Off
In my mind I was thinking, "Woman, you are crazy. There is nothing good about the age of two months!"
And I am not here today to tell you that my opinion on that has changed. I still can't find many redeeming qualities of two months old. (Sorry baby lovers - harsh, but true.) But now that EH is over 13 months old, I have an inkling of understanding with what she meant about each age being good in it's own way.
Ever since EH turned about 6 months (basically, ever since we pulled him out of day care) he's been healthy and growing and charming our socks off each and every day of his life. Each month we love him more, and each month we remark on how "this age" is our new favorite ago.
He's seriously the light of our lives. In the morning his goofy smile is brighter than any sun that may or may not decide to come up that day - the smile is always there. He can charm the pants off of anyone he meets with his southern accented, high pitched "Hhhiiiii!" He is oozing with personality, picking up on new words, forming new habits, mimicking things that he sees us do.
There are so many moments in the day when he does something and it makes me stop whatever it is that I am doing because I realize that I need to be more physically and emotionally present for him in the few hours of each day that I get with him. I look away for a moment and I could miss one of the cutest things he's ever done. Lately he has protested when we pick him up from his babysitting - he would rather stay with her than come home with us. This made me sad in a sense, but then I realized that I don't blame him. When he's home with us DH and I are usually both doing something else - cooking dinner, washing dishes, lesson planning, reading something on the internet or one our phones. When he's with the babysitter he has the dedicated attention of something who is kind and loving and is giving him the feedback that he is looking for. Too often he doesn't get feedback from us unless he's getting into trouble of some sort, or unless he's fallen and hurt himself.
My god, are we crazy!?!? That's totally not right! He may NEVER be this fun, or cute, or charming, or innocent, or at the very least, this "13 months" old age ever again. Look at that face in that picture above!!!! How in the WORLD could dishes be more important than that? I know I've said this before, and I feel like it needs to be said again because it's SUCH an important thing that I want to remember.
Be more present.
That is my goal. It's harder than it sounds, but I already know it's worth it.
Florida Vacation - Sanibel Island
But that aside, Sanibel is still a really interesting place to visit. It's sort of throwback - you feel like you've taken a step back in time when traffic lights didn't exist and everyone gets around on bicycle.
Biking is what you do on Sanibel Island. It's totally flat and the little town laid miles and miles of bike trails just off the main road out of the way of traffic. Some of it's even in the shade.
We first biked to the tip of the island, where an old, tiny, unimpressive light house was the main attraction. I was more impressed by the beach - crystal clear water that was ridiculously warm and super shallow for a long distance. We didn't go out far into the water - we still had a lot of biking to do and we had really just started - but the distance we did walk out didn't have the water over our knees and the waves were mild. It would have been a great spot to take little kids.
The picture above shows what most of the beach looked like. Yes, there were a lot of shells, like we had read about in the books. But they were all like this - extremely disappointing. Perhaps we needed to come after high tide or after a storm?
We hopped back on our bikes and rode just over 7 miles to the J. Ding Darling Wildlife Preserve. I was nervous about making that trek because of the distance - I knew we'd have quite a hike left - but we did it anyway.
Sadly we didn't see much wildlife. A few birds, that was it, really.
I'm still smiling at this point, but don't let that fool you. I. was. HOT. As you can see, I had already shed my shirt by this point, something that I don't do unless these are extreme circumstances, given that I still have 10 ponds of baby weight I neglected to lose sitting around my stomach region. But oh my god was it hot, and any unessential clothing had to go. Thus, bye bye shirt.
DH maintained a much more respectable appearance than I. Also notice that his face isn't beet red, and for some reason, his sky is a beautiful blue whereas mine was a murky gray. Was that a sign?
Anyway, we biked the 4 miles or so through half of the park, taking the short cut bike trail, and by the last two miles, I was done. I stopped looking around for any wildlife. I stopped making conversation. My only goal was to get to the end alive. I kept my face down and took deep breaths.
When we got back to the information center it had started to rain. DH went to fill our water bottles and I laid out a beach towel in the middle of the sidewalk near the bike rack and just laid there in the rain, trying to get over the dizzy, nauseous feeling that overwhelmed me. Yes, I was in the middle of pedestrian traffic and no I didn't care. Yes, people gave me funny looks, but no, no one asked if I was ok. I didn't care thought. I just knew that I wasn't going to lay in the wooded areas where there might be a lurking crocodile so the sidewalk was my only option.
The ride back to the bike place was long and hot, but I made it. I was drenched in sweat in ways that I had never been before, my legs felt like jelly and I was more than a little cranky, but I survived.
After that we went to Bowman's beach for some relaxation. Now I was in my element, but DH was starting to experience the heat exhaustion that I had already gone through, so he didn't last long at the beach. His crankiness kicked in and after less than two hours we headed out. It was too much biking for me, and too much beach for him. Oh well. Lesson learned - don't oversee it on the second full day of your vacation.
Day three was the Everglades, so the next Naples post involves LOTS of gators!
The First Birthday Cake
This post is going to be all about cake. Because honestly, giving a one year old a cake to smash and smear all over themselves is what first birthday parties are all about, right?
Actually, our original plan was to not give EH a birthday cake. We've kept him away from sweets for this long, we figured, why ruin that now? We lined up my mom to make him zucchini bread - since zucchini is one of his favorite foods anyway - with a little frosting to make it exciting, and we figured it would still be a blast for him to smash away at something.
I'm sure it would have been. And I'm sure that EH would have been perfectly happy to eat nothing but zucchini bread at his birthday party. But a few days before his party when DH called Giant Eagle to order the "adult" cakes (an almond torte and a 1/4 sheet cake that said "Happy 1st Birthday, EH!") the bakery person let him know that they give families a free smash cake for first birthday's when you order a regular cake through them, so DH said OK.
So that afternoon, EH's birthday cake table looked like this:
We put a candle in his little cake (which you'll notice was actually quite enormous for one little one-year old) and we sang "Happy Birthday."
He was quite intrigued when we put it down in front of him. (And thanks to my older sister who took all of the rest of these pictures with my camera.)
His thoughts, "Well ok then, I guess I'm allowed to have this!"
He was so intrigued.
Then his uncle S showed him how to really smash a cake. (The good news? Uncle S's little girl turns one next July, so we'll have plenty of time to plan our payback!)
After that, it was all over. The cake, that is.
"Yay! This is awesome!"
Starting to get a little full.
"Yaaay.... umm... ok, I think I'm done here, people."
"Dada, do you want some?"
"I guess there's always room for a little more." (Spoken like a true Hartman boy.)
"Time for a nap."
So, even though we thought we were going to be the people who bucked the trend of the smash cake, we gave in, and it was ok. He enjoyed it, the guests enjoyed it, and we got some really good pictures out of it. Plus, he got to enjoy the zucchini bread for the rest of the week! (Or, at least, for two days, until his daddy discovered and devoured it.)
You only turn one once, right? Live it up!
Florida Vacation - Naples, FL
The next day - our first full day - it was raining, but that didn't stop up from visiting the small "local"pool that was just down the street from our condo.
DH attempted to do 60 laps of the tiny pool and around lap 55 he stopped because it started thundering and because he was ready to throw up from exhaustion. I did 12 laps and felt like I got a good workout from it, so even though he was disappointed in coming in a little short of his goal, 55 laps is definitely no joke.
We spent most of the afternoon just relaxing and getting into the spirit of vacation. DH started reading his first recreational book in years, and I paged through the southwest Florida section of the Fodor's travel guide that I checked out of the library (which ended up being an amazing resource that we used to plan nearly every outing, in addition to what I had already researched on Trip Advisor.)
In the evening, even though it was still cloudy, we decided to venture to this ocean. This is when we started to realize that inland was always dark and gloomy, and it was often raining. But as you drove near the ocean the clouds thinned, the blue sky appeared, and it was usually sunny and beautiful. It was crazy, and consistently beautiful on the beach and gloomy inland where our condo was. We started calling the condo area Gloomsville.
The first beach we visited was Lowdermilk Beach. Although this picture doesn't really show it, this was a beach that was lined with lots of hotels and beach houses. It was very populated but very beautiful in the evening. In fact, it ended up being the most populated beach we visited during our time there, but since we were just there for a walk, it didn't matter anyway.
We saw some very ugly ducks in the park area of the beach, as well as their ugly ducklings.
After the beach, we strolled around the Naples upscale shopping areas, peering into restaurants and shops. We stopped to get ice cream at one point but when I saw the prices - $7.50 for a small milkshake! - we decided to stop at the store on our way home and buy a carton of ice cream. That decision served us well for the rest of the week....


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