text:
We are a native-led non-profit
Based in San Francisco, California, Turtle Island,
we work in the Americas and the Pacific,
collaborating with communities, organizations and individuals
of all kinds, native and non-native.
Our Team
Melissa K. Nelson is a Native ecologist, writer, media-maker and indigenous scholar-activist. She is the President/CEO of The Cultural Conservancy, which she had directed since 1993. She is Professor of American Indian Studies at San Francisco State University. Her work is dedicated to indigenous rights and revitalization, biocultural heritage and environmental justice, intercultural solidarity, and the renewal of community health and cultural arts. For over two decades Melissa has worked in the Native American food movement and since 2006 in international indigenous food sovereignty. Melissa is a Switzer Environmental Fellow and has received awards for films, community engagement, and experiential education. She publishes essays in academic and popular journals and books, and documents Native issues through AV recordings. She edited two anthologies, Original Instructions – Indigenous Teachings For A Sustainable Future (2008), and Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Learning from Indigenous Practices for Environmental Sustainability (2018). She has served on the boards of Earth Island Institute, Bioneers, and the Center for Whole Communities. Melissa currently serves on the boards of the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center and the Sogorea Te Land Trust. Anishinaabe, Cree, Métis, and Norwegian, she is a proud member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians.
Contact: email@example.com
Sara Moncada (Yaqui) is a Native educator, dancer, filmmaker, author and cultural arts advocate. As the VP of Programs for The Cultural Conservancy, she works closely with the President/Chief Executive Officer and other staff to co-create and implement TCC programs in accordance with the vision, mission and goals of the organization. In addition to her work at TCC, Sara is co-founder of Wise Women Circles a women-owned inspirational media company, and is director/artist/educator with Sewam American Indian Dance. She was previously the Managing Director for the not-for-profit Institute for Staffing Excellence and Innovations and On Nursing Excellence, organizations devoted to inspiring and strengthening the effectiveness, recognition and well being of caregivers' worldwide. Prior to her focus in the non-profit sector, Sara was on the early team of multiple start-up technology companies with a spectrum of responsibilities that supported rapid growth, positive Board and client relationships, and launching successful products and media programs into the market. Sara speaks and presents across the country and internationally on Native American arts and culture. She is producer of the internationally successful film NURSES If Florence Could See Us Now and co-author of The Dance of Caring a newly released book exploring Native American Hoop Dance as a model for wellness, connection and self-care for caregivers.
Contact: email@example.com
Mateo Hinojosa is a documentary filmmaker and educator. He has put art on screen and on stage in the US, Bolivia, Argentina, Spain and Cameroon. In South America he has worked teaching at orphanages and in the mountains, leading theater workshops in prisons, and filming everything from neurosurgeries to street art. He has taught high school literature in California, and cross-cultural documentary skills to U.S. college students in Asia. His films explore issues of individual identity in collective struggle; spirituality and health; public space and art; politics and performance. His debut feature documentary, Spectacular Movements, follows young indigenous and mestizo actors in Bolivia as they struggle to embody their people's collective voice to revive the spirit of the recent revolution on stage and in the street. His production company, Woven Path, produces documentaries as well as educational and workshop services. Mateo is TCC's Media Director, and he also works with Te Ha and the Mino Niibi Fund.
Contact: email@example.com
Nícola Wagenberg is a clinical and cultural psychologist, artist, film producer and educator. Nícola has worked for over 20 years with diverse individuals, communities and organizations on personal and cultural transformation. Since 2005, Nícola has been working with TCC directing media projects, developing and implementing arts and cultural health programs and helping with the operations and development of the organization. She is the co-producer of "Traditional Foodways of Native America," "The Salt Song Trail Living Documentary," co-directed TCC's Friendship House Urban Garden Project and is the director of the Native Youth Guardians of the Waters project. Dr. Wagenberg has a private practice in Berkeley, CA. Her doctoral research focused on transformation of historical and intergenerational trauma. She trains therapists and health workers on the impact and transformation of historical and intergenerational trauma.
Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com
Maya Harjo is an organic gardener and educator dedicated to restoring Native food systems through the revitalization of traditional foodways and the practice of sustainable agriculture. Maya grew up in Los Angeles, CA and attended Brown University, where she majored in International Development Studies and wrote a senior thesis on the concept of tribal sovereignty. On the White Mountain Apache Reservation in Arizona, she collaborated with local Elders and community partners to bring a wide range of health and culture programming to tribal schools, community organizations, and the tribe's organic farm. Her experience in Native youth education, project planning, curriculum development, and community engagement is bolstered by her love of growing food. After many years of working and volunteering for farms and gardens, she became a Farming Apprentice at the UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS) program and recently graduated with a Certificate in Organic Horticulture. Maya applies her experience growing organic food with the direct aim of increasing access to healthy and culturally appropriate food for Native communities. She is Shawnee, Muscogee Creek, Seminole, Jewish and an enrolled member of the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma.
Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com
Ben Schleffer was born and raised in Redwood City CA. He received his BA in American Studies from UC Santa Cruz. After moving to Oakland, Ben then spent 5 years with the Seneca Family of Agencies where he worked as an after school program manager and garden facilitator. After spending some time in New Mexico and west Marin working on farms and ranches and deepening his knowledge of traditional practices, Ben moved back to Oakland to welcome the birth of his son, Isaiah in 2014. Ben has worked as a mentor and educator in Oaklands American Indian community ever since. In addition to his work with the Cultural Conservancy, Ben works with the American Indian Child Resource Center where he facilitates varied cultural, environmental, and agricultural programming for Oaklands native community including "Sovereign Seeds & Starts"—a youth led organic native seed and start company born from our east Oakland garden space/ Chochenyo Ohlone ethnobotanic landscape "Huichin Gardens."
Alejandra Cano is a PhD student in the Native American Studies Department at UC Davis. Her work focuses on the intersection between Culture, Food Sovereignty, Land Stewardship, and Native Science. She has been farming with TCC for the past years as part of the Native Foodways Team. She is passionate about growing food as it is a key to greater resilience, autonomy, and well-being. Alejandra graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.S. in Conservation and Resource Studies with a focus on Agro-Ecology. Since graduating in 2011, she has applied her skills as part of the Food and Environmental Justice movements in the greater Bay Area as well as abroad. Her experiences as a migrant, mestiza woman, farmer, Native American and Indigenous Studies scholar inform her efforts toward hemispheric unity of the indigenous people of the Americas. Alejandra is fluent in both Spanish and English and is excited to learn the Embera language.
Wendy Johnson is an organic gardening mentor and an ordained lay dharma teacher in the traditions of Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and the San Francisco Zen Center. As one of the founders of the organic farming program at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, Wendy has been teaching organic agriculture and meditation for decades. Since its inception in 1995, she has been a mentor and advisor to the Edible Schoolyard Project affiliated with Chez Panisse restaurant. She is a founding instructor and mentor of the College of Marin's innovative Organic Farm and Gardening Project established in 2009. In 2000 Wendy and her husband, Peter Rudnick, received the annual Sustainable Agriculture Award from the National Ecological Farming Association. Since 1995 Wendy has written a quarterly column on gardening for Tricycle Magazine, a national Buddhist review, and she is the author of Gardening at the Dragon's Gate.
Cyndi Frank is a consultant to nonprofit organizations by helping them raise the potential of their fundraising capacity to support the wonderful but critical programs that help our communities. Although she has worked with many important causes over the years, including environmental, animal, hunger, rare disease and cultural causes, her personal passion lies with being a patient advocate and a long-standing member of several rare disease communities. Over a 40-year span, she has participated as a Gaucher disease patient in many clinical trials and research studies to help bring treatments to market. She acts as a mentor and advocate for Gaucher patients in the community and raises awareness through speaking at patient educational events and conferences, Gaucher and rare disease symposiums and pharmaceutical patient and educational meetings. She has served on multiple boards and committees for many rare disease organizations, including Global Genes Advocacy Leaders Group, Corporate Alliance Committee and Patient Education Committee; the National Gaucher Foundation's Gaucher Advisory Group and as a patient advisor to Sanofi Genzyme, Shire, Pfizer and Blue Turtle Bio.
Lois Ellen Frank is a a Santa Fe, New Mexico based James Beard Award-winning author, Chef, Native American foods historian, culinary anthropologist, and photographer. Lois has spent over 20 years documenting the foods and life ways of Native American communities throughout the Southwest writing and photographing many articles and papers on the topic. She is presently working on completing her PhD on the discourse and practice of Native American cuisine, which she is planning to publish as her next book, tentatively entitled The Turquoise Plate. Lois is an adjunct professor at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), where she teaches about the anthropology of food, the ethnobotany of foods and plants of the Southwest and Traditional Arts & Ecology. She is a featured cooking instructor at the Santa Fe School of Cooking, and the chef/owner of Red Mesa Cuisine, a Santa Fe catering company where she cooks Native American, local and sustainably sourced foods and teaches about Native American foods of the Southwest Indian Nations with Diné Chef Walter Whitewater.
Kaylena Bray is the former Foodways Program Coordinator (2013 - 2016) and currently serves as a Foodways advisor and consultant for the "Braiding the Sacred" and "Conversations with Maize" network. Over the last 5 years, she has consulted for Indigenous-led and social entrepreneurship organizations including Ashoka, Conversations with the Earth (CWE), Indigenous Peoples Biocultural Climate Change Assessment, and the California Indian Environmental Alliance. Kaylena has spent her career working to strengthen the role of traditional ecological knowledge on climate change mitigation and agricultural food systems locally in Ecuador, Peru and the Seneca Nation; and internationally with Indigenous leaders and activists at major international events at United Nations fora. Her experience in social media includes marketing and strategy development to bring Ashoka's Changemakers and CWE increased visibility, audience, and support. She is currently a MSc candidate in Environmental Change Management at the University of Oxford.
Board of Directors
Kaimana Barcarse, whose passion is using the wa'a (canoe) as a platform to strengthen Hawaiian language and cultural skills, is the Coordinator of Hawaiian Language and Culture for the ʻĀina (Place) Based Education Department of the Kamehameha Schools. He is a deep-sea voyager and captain, and has instructed at the High School, University, and community levels in the disciplines of Voyaging & Navigation and Ethno-zoology. He is also the Program Director of Alana I Kai Hikina, a Hawaiian Language Radio Show at KWXX-FM, an indigenous focused photographer, and the current co-chair of The Cultural Conservancy's Board of Directors.
Kimla McDonald is trained both as a landscape architect (University of California, Berkeley) and as a midwife, and is currently working in the health care field. She has worked as a producer of documentary films with the Earth Island Institute's Sacred Land Film Project. She has decades of experience protecting sacred sites and working with Native nations in the desert Southwest and serves as a special advisor to our indigenous health projects. Kimla is an original founding board member of the Sacred Land Foundation, the parent organization to the Cultural Conservancy. She lives with her family in Washington, D.C.
Pearl Praise Gottschalk is a philanthropist, educator, and indigenous rights activist. She holds a Masters in Conflict Resolution and International Peace Building and an undergraduate degree in International Development with a focus on disability and peace processes. She was formerly the Charitable Givings Ambassador and International Volunteer Trip Leader with LUSH Cosmetics from 2010-2015 where she managed a multi-million dollar fund for grassroots charities. She has worked as a Refugee Advisor and Grants Manager with the Winnipeg School Division, as well as an Environmental Campaigner and grassroots activist with many environmental NGOs in Canada. Pearl has traveled to 50 countries and has lived, volunteered, and worked with myriad grassroots communities, indigenous communities, and NGO's around the world. She currently volunteers for a retreat center in Mexico, is a proud Ambassador for the oceans with 5 Gyres, and loves salsa dancing, making Mexican food, and rock climbing.
Priscilla Settee is a member of the Cumberland House Cree First Nations from northern Saskatchewan, Canada, is a Professor of Native Studies at University of Saskatchewan and a leading indigenous rights advocate locally and internationally. Her many roles include: chair of Saskatoon's only Aboriginal high school, member of the Iskwewak group that focuses on disappeared and missing Indigenous women, board member for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (Canada's leading progressive think tank), Faculty Fellow at the Centre for Global Citizenship Education and Research at the University of Alberta, Research Fellow at the Adivasi Academy in Gujarat, India, former board member for the Indigenous Women's Network, and leader of a project with Andean and Amazonian students at the University of San Marcos in Peru. A frequent speaker on Indigenous Food Sovereignty, Indigenous Women's Rights and Environmental Rights, Settee's most recent book is Akemeyimow, Indigenous Women's Stories.
Stefano Varese, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, Native American Studies, University of California, Davis. Stefano is an anthropologist, author, and indigenous rights activist. He is the founder of the Indigenous Research Center of the Americas (IRCA) and has authored numerous books, including, Witness to Sovereignty, and Salt of the Mountain. He has received numerous awards to his service to the Indigenous peoples of the Americas and advancing the concept and practice of human rights anthropology.
See Melissa's bio above
Advisory Council
Dennis Martinez (O'Odham/Chicano), Indigenous Peoples Restoration Network
Jacquelyn Ross (Pomo/Coast Miwok), traditional food gatherer, writer, artist
Kathy Wallace (Yurok/Karuk/Hupa), Basket weaver, educator, museum specialist
Diana Almendariz (Maidu/Wintun), native plant specialist, basketmaker, "the Tule Lady"
Edward Willie (Pomo/Wailaki), California native historian, ethnobotanist, artist
Wikuki Kingi (Maori/Hawaiian), traditional artist, master carver, cultural symbologist
Tania Wolfgramm (Maori/Tongan), cultural psychologist, evaluation specialist, language educator
Marsha Small (Northern Cheyenne), sacred site protector, buffalo restoration advocate, native educator
Malcolm Margolin, Publisher, Heyday Books/News from Native California
Photo credit on this page: Mateo Hinojosa, Melissa K. Nelson


text:
California Franchise Tax Board to Enforce Withholding on Non-Resident S Corporation Shareholders
January 12, 2007
By Phil Jelsma and Mark L. Mann
The Franchise Tax Board has announced that it will, as of January 1, 2007, enforce a 7% withholding tax on distributions of California source income to non-California S corporation shareholders. Although the Franchise Tax Board has required withholding on distributions to non-resident partners and members of LLCs, historically, it has not enforced the same requirement on S corporation shareholders. Nevertheless, to help address the state's projected deficit in 2007, the Franchise Tax Board will begin to require California S corporations and foreign S corporations qualified to do business in California to withhold 7% of distributions of California source income to non-California shareholders. The Franchise Tax Board does not require withholding if one of the following exceptions are met:
- The S corporation shareholder is a California resident;
- The S corporation shareholder is a parent corporation qualified to do business in California or has a permanent place of business in California;
- The total distributions are less than or equal to $1,500 during a calendar year;
- The S corporation has received a withholding waiver from the Franchise Tax Board;
- The distribution is tax-exempt income; or
- The S corporation shareholder certifies that the income was previously reported on the S corporation's shareholder's California tax return.
The Franchise Tax Board will require withholding even if the S corporation has previously reported losses to the same shareholder, however, waivers may be obtained in the following circumstances:
- The S corporation shareholder consistently files a California return and makes estimated tax payments when required.
- The S corporation shareholder is included in a group or composite return. Individual nonresidents may elect under Revenue and Taxation Code Section 18535 to file a group return in lieu of filing individual returns.
- The S corporation shareholder can demonstrate that the 7% result in overwithholding. Waiver is obtained by filing a Form 588, Nonresident Withholding Waiver Request. Withholding must generally be paid within 20 days of the month following the date of distribution. A Form 592, Nonresident Withholding Annual Return, and Form 592-B, Nonresident Withholding Tax Statement, are due to the Franchise Tax Board by January 31 of the following year for the S corporation shareholder.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Stephanie Heckenkemper: Guest Speaker at University of Tulsa
Wow, so pumped I was able to check this off my bucket list! I was so very honored to speak to the communication students over at The University of Tulsa. Thank you to Erin Lynch for setting this up and inviting me over to campus to speak.
The University of Tulsa is such a landmark and cornerstone of our Tulsa community, personally I love driving over by the campus. Up until now, I had only attended games and taken my kiddo's to summer camp there and to finally be driving over just for me was genuinely thrilling! Now, as I gave myself a pep talk of "keep it cool Steph" I ran through my talking points in my head on the short drive over from my office.
I shared mainly about how social media is impacting marketing and the relationship of millennial behavior and overall consumer influence on social media and what that means for them as students moving into a varied assortment of communications/marketing fields. Consumer privacy was a hot topic of interest for this group and they had thoughtful questions about online privacy, consumer behavior tracking and I was impressed with this line of critical thinking for undergraduate students - soon to be be the newest generation of marketers moving into the workforce. Of course I never miss an opportunity to plug professional development so I loved sharing about the local Tulsa chapters of professional groups around town including AMA, PRSA, AD & AWC to name just a few.
Thank you again to Erin Lynch and TU, it was genuinely a privilege to come over and speak to your students!


text:
Learning Cursive Worksheets – Channies Handwriting Practice
Learning cursive has become a thing of the past at many K5 learning enviroments. Yet, having your child practice cursive handwriting is extremely important. While they may not be getting these lessons in their classroom, this doesn't mean you cannot be an educator to your child on cursive . With Channie's 'Learning Cursive Worksheets' you can do precisely this in no time at all. But why do your children need to learn how to write cursive words if it is slowly being pushed out of the curriculum by the American school system? There are truly a number of reasons, and you can discover what they are below!
Your child should know how to sign his/her name in cursive.
Regardless of whether or not you think your child will be writing in cursive on many occasions or not, there is one very important reason to teach a child this style of writing. Throughout his/her life, your child will be asked to sign their name an insurmountable number of times and if they do not know cursive, how can they possibly do so?
Writing cursive sentences is good for your child's brain.
According to research, writing print letters and cursive sentences actually activates different parts of the brain. Your child will also increase their skill level at longhand which will allow them to retain more information and come up with more ideas when they are in a classroom setting.
Other subjects besides Language are tied to cursive.
Other subjects like History will require that your child know how to read cursive. For example, say a teacher is giving a lesson on the Declaration of Independence and is showing the class photos of the original document (which is written entirely in cursive). Do you think your child will be able to retain the lesson as well as they may have been able to while trying to figure out what all those connected letters mean?
Your child should have pride in his/her penmanship.
You may not realize this, but having less than uniform handwriting can be a touchy subject for some people. It's embarrassing when someone has to ask you to read back to them what you have written because it is illegible. Make sure you child can be proud to hand anything they have written on to someone else.
Prepare your kid with a very important skill that will enhance their overall education and self esteem when you order Channie's Cursive Worksheets.


text:
IF YOU TEACH FILM, MEDIA, LITERATURE, GENRES, ADAPTATION, CREATIVE WRITING, SCREENWRITING, or video games
Dear Educators,
View or Download a Printable Brochure with More Information
Click here to download Table of Contents (PDF)
Please find below information on the types of courses this textbook is suitable for, its method, style, educational levels, formats, and specific features.
The expanded 4-part transmedia edition, Fictional Worlds I-IV, is a work in progress: Part One is already available on iTunes. The transmedia version may function as "a course in a box": when projected onscreen in a classroom, it provides instructors with all they may need for a semester-long study. You can work through most of its 38 sections by covering 2-3 per week. You may supplement lectures with the screenings and clips suggested and linked here.
Learn more on the ABOUT, REVIEWS, FOR WRITERS and COMMENTS pages of this site. See BIO for the author's teaching background. Send questions, comments, and inquiries about the examination and desk copies to: firstname.lastname@example.com
Courses and Programs
For literature-related courses: Introduction to Narrative, Comparative Literature, Story Structure, Narrative Genres, Poetics, Creative Writing, Drama, Tragedy, Mystery, Comedy, Myth and Literature, Storytelling and Gender, General Humanities
For media-related courses: World Cinemas, Media Genres, Screenwriting, Writing for the Media, Film Narratology, Film Directors, Adaptation, Media and Society, Interactive Storytelling, Fictional World-Building
Style (from reviews)
"Its very style – breezy, lucid, transparent – evokes that of a well–designed series of class lectures... Fictional Worlds constitutes an impressive treatise on narrative genres and heroic figures in film." — Gerald Prince, author of Narratology, in Semiotica: Journal of the International Association for Semiotic Studies, Issue 210, May 2016
"Compelling... A page turner. Wonderfully accessible! One of the most impressive recent books, [it]... also succeeds in providing helpful practical suggestions for developing and improving your own visual narratives." — Andrew Horton, author of Screenwriting for the Global Market, in Film & History, Issue 46.1, Summer 2016
"Richly detailed, generous-spirited and inspiring book... filled with many intriguing ideas... Profoundly useful." — Ellen Berry, author of Transcultural Experiments; Founding Editor of the journal Rhizomes: Cultural Studies in Emerging Knowledge, in The Russian Review, Issue 75, April 2016
Structure modules: books-chapters-sections-case studies-pull quotes-key points
Fictional Worlds is organized as four books/parts, each divided into 2-3 chapters (12 total), with subdivisions (thematic sections), accompanied by case studies. The key terms, ideas, and conclusions are highlighted in bold face (students' favorite feature). A comprehensive Index, Glossary, as well as Bibliography and Filmography are included. While it is best to read and teach FW logically, from beginning to end, it is designed to be effective in any order, with the selected parts to be explored autonomously. A specific feature of FW is its "expandable content": chapters and even sections contain condensed information and can "unfold" into resources for many separate courses. The Four Parts of Fictional Worlds are:
The Symbolic Journey & The Genre System
Dramatic Characters & Dramatic Action
Part One (also available as an interactive transmedia edition) introduces the key concepts and theories of narrative and media communication, introducing a socio-anthropological theory of genres as a cultural system. Part One examines the Symbolic Journey stories, essential part of the ritual-mythological apparatus of culture, and a basis for many genres, including epic, action-adventure, coming of age, fantasy, Sci-Fi and a road movie. Proposing The Masterplot, the author adds essential new theories and ideas from anthropology to Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey paradigm. FW explores the complex, sometimes controversial, socio-historical roles of the Symbolic Fathers and Sons, framed differently by distinctive political eras. The book's meta-protagonist and its guide, Odysseus-Ulysses, is introduced in Part One, to accompany readers through all parts and chapters of Fictional Worlds. Case studies include political cinema and propaganda, The Odyssey onscreen, Roman Holiday, Seven Samurai, Cast Away, The Polar Express, and The Green Mile.
Part Two introduces drama as a cultural phenomenon, its social role, politics, poetics, and the ways of achieving a powerful dramatic and cathartic composition. Part Two focuses on the patterns and paradigms of drama, as well as the functions and possibilities behind different character types, including the protagonists and antagonists, with their excessive pride and tragic missteps (hubris and hamartia). The author proposes the idea of the Crossroads as a key to understanding the phenomenon of drama, and the Rule of the Three C's -- revealing the golden rules of the dramatic arc (vital to interactive storytelling and games as well). Case studies include a spectrum of the Journey-stories of the "Penelopes" -- The Symbolic Daughters and Mothers, as well as 12 Angry Men and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
Part Three investigates the cultural functions, poetics and key themes of the genres, which focus on the hard to comprehend and resolve conflicts, violence and intolerance: from the classical tragedy to contemporary "difficult cinema" and dystopia, and from mystery to thriller, crime drama and the film noir. Discussions include Tragedy of Fate vs. Tragedy of Choice, the God's Eye View and the "consequential" serial drama, the stories of sacrifice and revenge, pathos vs. suspense, as well as the rise of the femme fatale and the global noir. This part further investigates what is the proposed in Part One as The Second Hero's Journey and why the Private Investigator becomes a new cultural hero. Case studies include a comparative analysis of The Trojan Women vs. Troy; a spectrum of screen narratives about men and boys on the path of revenge and war; the Joan of Ark story and an array of its politically-charged screen versions; as well as The Lottery, The Reader, Gosford Park, Checkpoints on the Roads, Road to Perdition, and The Departed.
Part Four provides a comic relief and explores the infinite possibilities of various forms of comedy and their cultural functions, offering two dozen formulas of symbolic inversions which ensure astonishment, laughter and success with the audiences. Tragic farce is investigated in the contexts of the classical tragedy, existentialism, and the "theater of the absurd", accompanied by the discussion of these elements in Shakespeare and the Coen Brothers. Part Four offers the exploration of the "expressiveness of realism" and the extraordinarily effective stories about the Everyman and Everywoman, who show the determination to overcome all obstacles and beat all the odds. This part also follows the figure of Odysseus-Ulysses, in the new "clothing" of the modern and the postmodern protagonist. While on the Journey, often arrogant and unaware of the Butterfly Effect, he is now viewed through the disapproving or laughing eyes of prominent 20th and 21st-century writers and directors. The discussion focuses on the philosophical and political aspects of "history vs. myth." Case studies include an array of screen references to The Odyssey and the symbolic journey in modernity and postmodern culture, which convey a spectrum of opinions on the humanity, from pessimistic to optimistic.
The "Conclusion" in Part Four, "Poetics of Tomorrow," offers the distilled "Twenty Most Effective Story Formulas" of the transcultural narrative tradition -- something a smart writer may put to good use. The Conclusion proposes key discussion points for further exploration of many paradigms and possibilities on the Symbolic Crossroads, in the interactive narratives, and in video games.
For more on the meaning of the symbolic roads and crossroads in storytelling, see the article on the Chronotope available online (not part of the FW text).
While covering mandatory subjects and concepts required by related fields of knowledge, FW offers a spectrum of intriguing interdisciplinary angles, which add stimulating effect. The book's methodology is thoroughly addressed in the interviews with Professor Henry Jenkins (University of Southern California). FW combines theoretical and creative approaches toward storytelling: comprehensive, it clearly explains key issues of the discipline; practical, it offers numerous useful tips and inspiring techniques for the writers. Questions and comments are most welcome from the educators who are considering this textbook. Please inquire about methodology, writing or creative assignments, essay and discussion topics, as well as the screenings and tests.
Levels: suitable for intro to advanced
As a textbook, Fictional Worlds is engaging, accessible, yet intellectually challenging, which makes it suitable for the levels ranging from the 2nd year of undergraduate programs to graduate courses, depending on the instructor's approach. Fictional Worlds has been extensively classroom-tested on all levels, and used as a textbook in eight courses at the City University of New York and New York University. Students demonstrate excellent understanding of the course material. For the responses/feedback from the undergraduate students, who took courses based on Fictional Worlds as a textbook, see COMMENTS page on this site.
View the detailed Table of Contents here. Or download a PDF.
Formats: print, digital, interactive
Three formats are available. The print volume contains all four parts. Digital editions come as a four-book set.
* print edition (amazon.com sites, North America and Europe)
* digital Kindle edition, a 4-ebook set (worldwide), and
* 4-iBook set, a transmedia, visually-enhanced, interactive edition for the Apple platform: Mac computers and iPads (worldwide). The iBooks Two, Three and Four are coming soon to the iTunes store.
While FW examines the sources and forces of creativity in the storytelling practice, for courses in creative writing and screenwriting, please also see the page FOR WRITERS of this site.
Video Resources
Clips for the screening in class or home assignment, related to the chapters and case studies, may be accessed via the page VIDEOLINKS on this site. Video resources will be continuously added.
See comments from the students, teachers, and scholars on the pages ABOUT, REVIEWS, and COMMENTS on this site.
Why IS Fictional Worlds an effective tool for educators?
A volume Fictional Worlds: Traditions in Narrative and the Age of Visual Culture or the four-part digital sets offer the following:
• 12 chapters and Conclusion match the time frame of an academic semester (print edition)
• may be employed for a spectrum of courses, by using selected chapters, sections and case studies -- as noted by book reviewers, FW has enough materials to support specific course foci, such as Mystery and Crime Fiction; Gender, i.e. Symbolic Mothers and Daughters; or Films about Joan of Arc)
• relying on the Aristotelian concepts of Astonishment and Recognition, vital to creativity and learning, FW has many exciting themes and subjects up its sleeve to surprise its readers
• features engaging case studies based on outstanding books and films of world culture, both familiar and new to most students
• the films featured as case studies are widely available and can be effective for class screenings and in-class analysis
• the transmedia edition may serve as a visual lecture series; for example, Part One, with its 38 sections, supports a semester-long study
• while a serious scholarly and educational text, FW does not shy away from humor and what the students call "fun", highlighting that learning doesn't have to be boring
• the iBook digital editions are searchable and have digital glossaries, as well as interactive visual galleries with 100+ images and content-related captions
• accessible language; clearly explains core theories and key concepts essential to the studies of narrative, cinema/media and culture
• introduces well-known and new or poorly studied conceptions and theories, vital to the humanities
• the pull-quotes and keywords, highlighted in bold face, help to focus on significant issues; also serving as a resource for test and exam questions, or essay topics
• interdisciplinary deliberations are logical and grounded in such fundamental and "relatable" issues as human bonds, compassion, family and community
• the humanistic pathos of this book is underscored by the meticulous analyses of narrative traditions and trends
• highlights both similarities and differences in the global narrative and media traditions
• encourages and provokes discussion in the classroom
• providing comprehensive glossary, index, filmography and bibliography, FW can also serve as a reference book for student individual research and writing projects.
Many students commented that they chose to keep this book because they found it to be useful long-term, potentially supporting a spectrum of courses and a variety of projects.


text:
Everdure by Heston Blumenthal is a range of barbeques like no other. Working closely with designers and engineers, Heston embarked on a mission to create the perfect modern barbeque. By combining the latest technology and design aesthetics, with ease of use and thoughtful attention to detail, he created a range of kit that will help you go on a journey of discovery.
Complete your cooking experience from the range of Everdure by Heston Blumenthal barbeque accessories available at Heathcotes. Enjoy safe & secure online shopping with fast delivery.


text:
By AUDREY FISCHER
Cultural stewardship for Asian Pacific American (APA) collections is something that Franklin Odo knows more than just a little about. The recently retired founding director of the Smithsonian's Asian Pacific American Program, which was established in 1997, has spent his 40-year career developing curricula and collections around this theme.
"I defected from Asian Studies in 1969," quipped Odo, who recently delivered the keynote address for the Library's celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. That year, Odo was "knee-deep in trying to figure out an Asian American studies curriculum at UCLA."
Born in Hawaii, Odo is third-generation Japanese. Educated at Princeton and Harvard, he returned to the West in 1968 to teach at Occidental College in Los Angeles. In an atmosphere of political activism, he was inspired to advocate for an Asian American studies curriculum.
"We were not trying to create divisions but rather to come together in creative ways," said Odo, noting recent proposals in Arizona and Texas to "expunge ethnic studies" from school textbooks.
According to Odo, 40 years ago there were approximately 1.5 million Asians living in America—or less than 1 percent of the population. Like Odo, most of them were of Japanese descent, living in Hawaii. Today that figure is 15-16 million Asian, or 4-5 percent of the population. Asian Americans of Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Indian and Korean descent are living throughout the continental U.S.
"We are here to stay," said Odo. Referencing dark periods in American history such as the suspension of Chinese immigration during the 1880s and the Japanese internment camps during World War II, Odo said, "We were not simply victims. We fought in the courts and in the media to assert our rights."
Given the increasing number of Asians in the U.S. population, Odo believes that institutions like the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress must be the cultural stewards for Asian Pacific American materials.
"With more than 140 million items in more than 400 languages, the Library of Congress is set up to serve Congress," said Odo. "The Library will find it hard to respond to [congressional] requests," Odo added, if Asian Pacific American materials are not collected and preserved.
Odo explained that in 1997, the Smithsonian Institution established an advisory group headed by the Norman Mineta (former U.S. Congressman and the 14th Secretary of Transportation) with a mandate to research, deliberate and then report on the Institution's ability to increase and diffuse knowledge about the nation's richly diverse Asian Pacific American communities. Released in June 1998, the Asian Pacific American National Advisory Group's final report called for the creation of an Asian Pacific American studies program. Odo, who retired in January 2010, was the program's founding director.
Odo also credited James Early, director of cultural studies and communication at the Smithsonian's Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies, for "his act of solidarity" in helping to launch the APA Program.
"The Smithsonian's 'castle' is a good metaphor for the institution," said Odo. "It's like a medieval European feudal system. There's a king and each of the 19 museums are their own fiefdom, controlled by dukes, barons and earls," joked Odo. "It's an interesting challenge depending on where you stand."
Odo believes that one of the key measures of the program's success is its sustainability over time. Since its inception, the Smithsonian's APA Program has sponsored more than a dozen successful exhibitions featuring Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Indian and Vietnamese Americans, to name a few ethnic groups.
He noted that $60,000 needed to be raised in six weeks to mount the exhibition focused on Vietnamese Americans.
"The community not only met but exceeded the goal," said Odo who believes that another important ingredient of success is "empowering a community to engage people to control their own destiny."
In retirement, Odo is working on a book about folksongs that were sung on sugarcane plantations in Hawaii.
"These documents almost disappeared because this form of expression from common people was not valued," said Odo, "and the next generation may be unable to determine its importance or to read the original language."
"The Library of Congress, like the Smithsonian, has the responsibility as a national, federally funded institution to preserve our heritage," concluded Odo. "And if we do this, future generations will be grateful."
For information on the 2010 Asian Pacific American Heritage Month go to www.asianpacificheritage.gov.


text:
Month: January 2012
There seemed to be three choices: to give up trying to love anyone, to stop being selfish, or to learn how to love a person while continuing to be selfish. I did not think I could manage the first two, but I thought I could learn how to be just unselfish enough to love someone at least part of the time.
A Dog After Love
After you left me
I had a bloodhound sniff at
my chest and my belly. Let it fill its nostrils
and set out to find you.
I hope it will find you and rip
your lover's balls to shreds and bite off his cock –
or at least
bring me one of your stockings between its teeth.
Yehuda Amichai
how to kiss
- put your mouth on their mouth
- start screaming into their mouth until you pass out
You don't get to yell at me for being dead, if you're the one that killed me.
when I think about what a hot mess I was throughout college, I want to die of shame
The Future, Miranda July
who did this remind me of?


text:
Business is Booming . . . What You Need to Know./
1) Denver is Hot!
No doubt if you are in the development industry in the Rocky Mountain region you are well aware of this fact. It is the main topic or at minimum the sub-headline of all industry events. Denver has garnered both domestic and international attention as the hot spot of the interior U.S. for capitol investment and development.
Check any top list (thriving economy, diversified economic market, gen Y hot spot, sustainable market, venture capital funded investment hot spot, 2nd Best place in the US to launch a start-up according to Forbes, healthy and fit communities, effective public education, etc.
Denver is the envy of almost any interior United States metropolitan community. So naturally investors and capital development has quickly followed these positive trends, creating the construction boom we are living and serving our clients in.
2) Emerging New Players
On both the development and investment side of the equation many new people are getting involved. Of course everyone wants the "best" working on their projects. However the labor market has not been flooded by the same vigor, in fact other factors, such as the need for labor in the emerging energy markets of North Dakota has pulled many away.
What does this mean? More people are demanding the supply of good labor and trades. Who are the trades choosing to work for in such a flush market? Their loyalties stay with those who they know, who will pay a fair price (within the hot market) and who have longevity and will survive when times are not as abundant. We are proud to maintain our strong trade relationships with those we have worked with for years.
3) You Get What You Pay For
Ah, yes. Quality and cost!
Aren't these some of the most important factors that drive all business decisions? Don't we wish they charted a parallel course to that of the proven trends of supply and demand (i.e the higher the quality (demand) the lower the cost (supply).
Even though this is what we all desire, the truth is, quality and cost DO NOT follow the trend of supply and demand. In fact your grandma's adage is more accurate; "You get what you pay for!"
These factors frequently consume conversations in our office. Stonebridge Builders is known for its quality. We characteristically find ourselves competitive with pricing, but exceed our customer's expectations with quality.
However, we still have clients that desire the supply and demand trend. Sometimes they pick a competitor that is cheaper, but pay for it in the long run with change orders. Or they pick the "yes" contractor that sounds good (i.e. is saying what we all want to hear) but in the end turns out to be a farce.
Stonebridge Builder's president Chris Tolar warns, "When clients treat cost and price as a top priority, they may very well be pursuing expensive, slow, and the wrong results. Just ask any friends who have hired the cheapest contractor for their project, how it went."
We as a firm actually believe there is another critical factor that matters the most and that's communication. When we can talk with our client and work together that is what creates a winning relationship for all. It is always why more than 90% of our business is referral based.


text:
Ismaäl Essome is a Cameroonian entrepreneur who manufactures canoes by recycling plastic bottles in a bid to protect the environment..
The first made-in-Cameroon ecological canoe is a means by the young entrepreneur, an engineer in environmental management, to add to the fight against pollution in the environment. The project cost is estimated at about one million francs CFA (approximately $1,850).
According to Ismaäl, it wasn't an easy task as they had to define the shape and look for a durable rope to bind the bottles together. Talking to Le Monde Afrique who followed him for a test ride, he said "We added modifications. We are constantly trying to improve".
The canoe, built with plastic bottles and ropes is capable of transporting up to three people and a total weight of about 90kg on water. Also, the canoe can resist upcoming waves.
The environmentally sustainable project has three main objectives according to the inventor:
Tourism: The boats will be available for tourists, hence encouraging seaside tourism.
Cleaning the Environment: Using plastic bottles helps to do away with one of the biggest problems in Cameroon's big cities which is the dumping of PET bottles in streams and drains.
Protect Trees: Trees are cut down to make canoes in the coastal regions of Cameroon. This invention will bring down the number of trees that will be cut to make canoes.
According to him, if he could get finance for this project, the canoes will be modernized and marketed. This will bring about a success in the war against PET bottles, protection of trees as well as fishermen and river transporters will spend less to purchase a canoe.
[aio_button align="center" animation="none" color="orange" size="small" icon="gamepad" text="NOSTALGIA: Childhood Games" target="_blank" relationship="dofollow" url="https://joy2endure.com/2015/08/03/nostalgia-childhood-games/"]
For the price, he said the eco-friendly canoe will cost about 100,000FCFA ($185) which is far cheaper than the wooden canoes whose cost varies between 150,000 to 500,000FCFA ($278 – $925).
In October 2014, the government of Cameroon implemented a regulatory text whereby those producing plastic packages will have to come up with recycling chains or projects in other to effectively win the war against plastic pollution.
Watch Video:
Source: Business in Cameroon
[…] Thought of a plastic boat for a play-ground or tourism? I fell into this project by Ismaäl Essome, a Cameroonian entrepreneur who manufactures canoes by recycling plastic bottles in a bid to protect the environment. You can check his exploits here. […]
[…] Related article: Cameroon: Entrepreneur Manufactures Canoes With Plastic Bottles […]
[…] Related article: Cameroon: Entrepreneur Manufactures Canoes With Plastic Bottles […]


text:
Today I'm feeling grateful to one of my third-grade girls, who surprised me this morning with this beautiful, one-of-a-kind necklace. What a terrific way to start my day, with the words, "Mrs. Gruener, I made this for you."
Shortly afterward and still basking in the glow of the warmth of her kindness, my friend and former Assistant Principal Mr. Whitlock stopped by with a surprise from The Thumb Team. A few weeks ago, he told me that he was leading a group of specials teachers during their Professional Learning Community (PLC) time that he fondly referred to as The Thumb Team. They're called that, he explained, because they sometimes feel a little different, like the thumb on a hand. But, he was quick to add, that they are as every bit as important to a school family as a thumb is to a hand. Isn't that a great analogy? So I offered to give them each a copy of my book if he'd like to lead a book study. He accepted, that study started on Tuesday, and he was bringing me a stack of bucket-filling thank-you notes. How much happiness can one heart take? I thought I might burst from the joy.
After school, I spent an hour with these superheroes.
We read Max's Magic Seeds,
then painted these character rocks
to plant around school and spread sunshine!
Before they left, because it's a Making Magic Community Education class, we learned how to put a second bottom into a bag and make it look like there's nothing in the bag because it is hidden between the two bottoms.
Have you ever tried that trick?
Yesterday, I had a Change Theory chat with the counselors in the district;
|Slide adapted from CharacterCounts! 5.0 training.
here's a link with a link to
The Elephant, The Rider & The Path clip I shared.
Finally, in case you missed our #CharacterEdChat tonight,
click the graphic below for the archive.
Happy weekend!


text:
- "No use, your highness! He's stopped sending!"
- ―The Ensign
A Rebel ensign served in the Alliance to Restore the Republic as a communications officer in the secret base on Yavin 4 in 0 ABY. When Luke Skywalker cut off all communications between his ship and the Rebel base, Leia Organa ordered the ensign to boost the receiving power. The ensign replied that that would be useless because Skywalker had stopped sending and that they had lost him. Leia had him stop sending lest the signal be detected by the Empire.
- Star Wars 9: Showdown on a Wasteland World! (First appearance)
- Star Wars 11: Star Search! (Appears in flashback(s))
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.


text:
Well, we've been talking about the holidays for weeks now and right now we're in the eye of the wonderfully-festive storm. Last week we had our annual House Party holiday party and got a chance to spend some quality time celebrating with our work family.
It's been a wonderful year to reflect on and we're constantly reminded of what a wonderful community we've cultivated and how much fun it is to come into work each day. Thanks so much for being an enthusiastic, engaged and caring community. We wish you and yours the warmest holiday wishes and happiest coming new year. So, we toast you, House Partiers - here's to you!
Holiday cheers,
The House Party Blog Team


text:
Pity poor Cate Archer. Everyone's favorite superspy in paisley has been replaced with a man in the latest addition to the No One Lives Forever franchise, a prequel called Contract J.A.C.K. The move is a timely one, seeing as the comely female version of James Bond by way of Austin Powers hasn't been wowing consumers accustomed to the stereotypical testosterone-heavy shooter. It's just a shame that developer Monolith couldn't have come up with something fresher and more involving, as the new release is merely a mediocre shoot-'em-up that can be finished in four hours.
Even in that limited time frame, Contract J.A.C.K. never takes off. You portray "ruthless assassin" John Jack (the J.A.C.K. of the title is also an acronym for Just Another Contract Killer), a thug working the other side of the street from Archer and her goody-two-shoes comrades in UNITY. Just weeks before the beginning of the events recounted in No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way, he gets forced into an assignment by arch-villain Dmitrij Volkov of HARM. But the potentially interesting angle of facing off against your old friends has been dumped for a hackneyed plot where Jack fights a group of Italian ne'er-do-wells called Danger Danger for the rights to a mad scientist currently dwelling on the moon.
Not being able to take on the likes of Ms. Archer and her mentor Bruno is a letdown from the very start. Even more disappointing, the sense of fun that permeated the series has been replaced by a guns-first philosophy. In some ways this is good, as the game gets right to the point in a way that its predecessors did not, but most often it proves simply numbing. All seven multipart missions deal strictly with shooting your way through waves of enemies from start to finish. You slaughter hired goons to escape a trap laid by a rival. You slaughter HARM agents that Volkov has sent to test your mettle. You slaughter Czechoslovakian soldiers guarding a rocket base. You slaughter Danger Danger storm troopers in secret headquarters, Italian villas, and even on the moon.
These are some interesting locales, particularly the moon base and a climactic fight in space reminiscent of the final scene in the Bond movie Moonraker. The lead-up to the final battle in the Italian countryside allows you to drive a scooter equipped with machine-gun cannons and is very scenic, set amidst rolling hills and a canal. Most settings, however, are pretty bland. The succession of Czech military installations consists of faceless warehouses awash in crates, and the huge village at the end of the game is like a maze of dead ends and doors that don't open. But no matter where you are, you never have time to soak up any atmosphere, since you're too busy bathing in blood.
And you get pretty bloody in Contract J.A.C.K. Aside from regular pauses to search for ways to open blocked doors (and pad out the running time of this brief shooter), there is nothing here but splattering bad guys all over the landscape. There is no stealth, no lock-picking, no playing around with the lethal hairpin, banana, and other nifty devices that UNITY's Santa's Workshop weapons lab provided Cate in the first two games. There are no conversations worthy of eavesdropping, no note trails to be pieced together to tell amusing side stories. Even the swinging '60s atmosphere has been all but eradicated. If not for old cars scattered through the levels and the great title song reminiscent of the classic Peter Gunn theme, the game could be taking place in the present day.
Enemies even lack the character of the previous games. There are really just three types--garden-variety thugs, Czech soldiers, and Danger Danger troops in black jumpsuits and helmets similar to the yellow togs sported by HARM minions in the previous games--and the thugs show up in just the first mission. Those famously goofy catchphrases from the likes of the Moroccan assassins in the first NOLF have been replaced with bland action-movie dialogue, which isn't amusing even when spoken with Super Mario accents by the Italians in Danger Danger.
The artificial intelligence has been dumbed down so that foes often charge your location no matter what. They still duck and throw over tables for cover and are quick to toss hand grenades, although they typically leave safety almost immediately and run right into your crosshairs. Bad guys seem less human in other ways as well. While headshots continue to be noted in mission wrap-up screens, they have little if any effect. It takes at least two or three clean bullets to the cranium to put down a foe, which is at least better than the dozen or so shots that are required to the torso. You practically have to shred enemies to kill them here, spraying blood in all directions like an out-of-control garden hose sprays water.
Supervillains from earlier in the series are no-shows. There isn't anyone here to rival the big Scotsman Magnus Armstrong and mime King Pierre. Danger Danger leader Il Pazzo is a presence, but only through goofy speeches threatening his nephew over various public address systems. You don't even fight him face-to-face in the final battle, a disappointing long-distance affair conducted by rocket launcher from the windows of a far-off house. Your boss, Volkov, is heard only on occasion over a two-way radio. The biggest personality in the game is the unhinged Dr. Harij, who delivers some hilarious monologues--again, always over PA systems for some reason--but he doesn't show up in person until the very end of the game. Even then, his biggest moment is a darkly humorous conversation with Volkov that plays over the closing credits.
Not much is offered in terms of multiplayer, either. All of the modes of play--deathmatch, team deathmatch, doomsday, and demolition--were released as free downloads for NOLF 2 months ago. Many of the maps are also retreads. You do get some new weapons to play with, like Jack's trademark Desert Eagle pistol and a powerful combat shotgun, along with a few snazzy new skins, but for the most part, this is familiar ground.
Contract J.A.C.K. is sort of a backhanded response to all those naysayers who found Cate Archer's adventures to be too cute. The sense of humor, varied mission design, nifty Bond-inspired thingamajigs, and even the groovy 1960s threads have been swapped for a straight focus on action that strips the franchise of its identity and charm. It seems almost as if Monolith is sending a "be careful what you wish for" message to the complainers via one of the most uninspired shooters of the year.


text: This girl - so wonderful. I loved getting to spend some time with Britt at her Buckhead studio. We chatted while I took photos and she painted. It was a great little morning talking about life, art, and being a creative. It was wonderful getting to meet her husband and sweet little pup and I've loved getting to see how hard she's followed after her dreams since college. Thanks Britt for letting me come hang out at STUDIO STUDIO while you prepped for #studioseshxo! This space is an artist's dream - light and open with fresh white walls now enhanced with beautiful hand painted canvases by Britt. Enjoy this little peek into where all the action of Britt Bass Turner takes place including Gather Workshop tomorrow! I loved attending this workshop and the incredible girl bosses behind it. If you are a creative, you need to go.


text:
- Eat & Drink
- News & Features
- Travel
- Culture
- Style
- Home
- City Life
- Scene
- Videos
- Search
- Events
- Cityguide
- The List
- Guide to Private Schools
- Weddings
- Charity Datebook
- Interiors California
- Daily Newsletters
- Best of Wine Country
- Timepiece & Jewelry Book
Our Publications
- Aspen
- Atlanta
- Boston
- Chicago
- Dallas
- The Hamptons
- Hawai'i
- Houston
- Las Vegas
- Los Angeles
- Miami
- New York
- Orange County
- Palm Beach
- Philadelphia
- San Diego
- San Francisco
- Scottsdale
- Silicon Valley
- Washington, D.C.
The weekend forecast is looking good, and it's going to... More»
Today is FourSquare Day, a self-made holliday from the social networking company that allows you to "check in" at places and earn special badges,... More»
Regardless of allegiances, March Madness is a flurry of buzzer-beaters, underdogs, and overtimes that must be witnessed from one's favorite bar stool... More»
Kick off the weekend this Friday with a Blood and Shamrock or an Irish Margarita, and a corned beef appetizer, at... More»
What: Fauna, the sister bar to restaurant Flora in Downtown Oakland. Vibe: art deco shaken and stirred with film... More»
Squabbling over politics and getting drunk: Two American pasttimes that have gone together since the Whiskey Rebellion. Whether you'll need to toast your... More»
"I know it when I see it" is how Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously defined pornography. The same could be said for a dive bar. One... More»
Royal Cuckoo If Twin Peaks–era David Lynch opened a bar with an audiophile—say, Nick Hornby from the High Fidelity days... More»
Yeah, yeah, in the world of YouTube, something two days old is old news by now. But a couple of people just simultaneously emailed me the link to this... More»
CAUSING A RUCKUS The owners of Dear Mom came up with the idea to create a bar where you could take your... More»
THE WINE Bieler Père et Fils 2011 Rosé ($10) Just because it's pink and cold doesn't mean it's well... More»


text:
You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'cabbage' category.
A friend asked me for this recipe today, and it occurred to me that my garden blog might be the proper place to share it, since it uses veggies that I often grow. And since it's January and not much else is going on in the garden.
1 medium cabbage, finely chopped
5 green onions
2-3 large carrots, cleaned and cut into matchstick pieces
Break up noodles from two packages of Ramen Noodles and sprinkle over vegetable mixture. (Save bouillon for dressing.)
Toss together above ingredients in large mixing bowl.
Toast 2 T sesame seeds in nonstick skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle over vegetables. Toast 1/2 c slivered almonds, also in nonstick skillet over medium heat, and sprinkle over vegetables.
Mix together dressing ingredients:
1/4 c sugar or equivalent sweetener
1/3 c olive oil
1/3 c sesame oil
1/3 c rice vinegar
1 t black pepper
2 pkgs. bouillon from Ramen noodles or equivalent vegetable bouillon, if desired.
Pour dressing over vegetable mixture and toss. Cover and refrigerate. This slaw tastes best if allowed to chill several hours before serving.


text:
Nesting in the nest of Nesting Dolls - S01E01
Where our hero discovers catamorphisms and makes new friends
Hi ! I'm Valentin Kasas and this is my programming blog.
I am a happy Scala user since 2012 and here is where I recount some of my wanderings in that vast landscape.


text:
The New Dark Green Age in Britain
"Welcome to the neo-medieval world of Britain's energy policy. It is a world in which Highland glens are buzzing with bulldozers damming streams for miniature hydro plants, in which the Dogger Bank is to be dotted with windmills at Brobdingnagian expense, in which Heathrow is to burn wood trucked in from Surrey, and Yorkshire wheat is being turned into motor fuel. We are going back to using the landscape to generate our energy. Bad news for the landscape.
"The industrial revolution, when Britain turned to coal for its energy, not only catapulted us into prosperity (because coal proved cheaper and more reliable than wood, wind, water and horse as a means of turning machines), but saved our landscape too. Forests grew back and rivers returned to their natural beds when their energy was no longer needed. Land that had once grown hay for millions of horses could grow food for human beings instead — or become parks and gardens."
By Matt Ridley
See the full article at: http://www.spectator.co.uk/essays/all/6954843/a-green-dark-age.thtml
No Comments
No comments yet.
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.


text:
Competitive intelligence scenario 5: continuous monitoring
In this blog post we will take a look at one of the more common types of competitive intelligence project: continuous monitoring of a competitor's activity.
Continuous monitoring can refer to primary or secondary. This post will focus on secondary, because it tends to be more common (regular primary monitoring of a single competitor needs commitment and budget) and because ongoing primary monitoring is not hugely different from a series of individual primary research projects.
Continuous secondary monitoring can seem like an easy task that anyone can do: you type the competitor's name into Factiva or Google News, set up an alert and wait for information to roll in. It can be tempting to outsource that to a low-value agency. In fact, continuous secondary requires a fair degree of skill and, more than that, a commitment to harvesting all the available information. It is rare to find people who think 90% is not good enough, who will be constantly on the lookout for gaps and fill them. And, despite appearances, Google News and its ilk are rarely enough - those aggregators do not cover all the news, let alone other sources such as patent office websites.
The best way to handle secondary information in this type of project is to use an experienced professional, who is a member of the Association of Independent Information Professionals or the Special Libraries Association, and hire them on a long term retainer. That has multiple advantages:
- That person will be willing to be trained to the client's requirements, since they know this is a long term relationship.
- They will be more likely to take ownership of this work. It will not be just one more set of information to process alongside the work of other clients. A good information professional is a perfectionist and with the assurance of a long term relationship, will be on the lookout for ways to do their work better and faster.
- They will have an incentive to tailor their systems/setup to what the client needs, whether that be a particular set of RSS feeds, state-by-state public records or other such matters.
- The costs tend to be lower.
- A qualified professional will cope better with the value-added tasks such as extracting all the facts from news stories and filing them.
Done properly, continuous secondary monitoring is a very rewarding source of competitive intelligence, and an excellent platform from which to analyze competitors.


text:
Position Overview
The User Interface Designer would be responsible for designing front end for all platforms and products for Vserv. Being a part of the product team, the User Interface Designer would be closely working with Product managers and engineering to ensure all Design and Usability needs are executed on time and at a high standard.
Principal Responsibilities
- Drive design strategy, project approach and scoping
- Develop conceptual diagrams, wireframes, interaction flows, and visual mockups to effectively communicate product intent.
- Ensure smooth presenting, refining, specifying and potentially integrating work with engineering, marketing, and operations – all within specified guidelines and timelines.
- Strategically design the customer experience, identify all potential customer scenarios, and write flow diagrams to share with product management and engineering teams.
- Conduct user requirement analysis to identify key current and future customer needs
- Effectively communicate product usability issues and design options to team members and leadership.
- Lead interaction design through the development lifecycle, from initial exploration through final design deliverables such as use cases, task flows and user interface elements.
- Set priorities, manage scope and provide actionable guidance to ensure delivery.
- Advocate consistency of user interface design while fostering consensus and understanding of the customer-centric intersection between Design, Usability, Content, Business and Marketing viewpoints.
Essential Skills
- Experience in appropriate design tools including Fireworks, Illustrator, Photoshop, etc.
- Experience in some kind of prototyping tool (Axure, Balsamiq, etc.)
- Document application navigation, interaction flows, page-level feature and functionality
- Unde4stand web-based information architecture and design, as well as fundamental usability principles.
- Strong understanding of user-centred design process.
- Quickly understand broad strategic concepts, capable of focusing on the details level to weigh options and identify tactical product solutions.
Competencies Required
- Combination of creative and analytical talents
- Ability to present ideas in user-friendly language
- Able to prioritize and execute tasks in a high-pressure environment
- Self-Driven Individual who proactively identifies opportunities and makes things happen.
- Excellent relationship management Skills and a good team leader
- Good project management skills
- Creative flair and enthusiasm for new ideas and concepts
- Great presentation capabilities
Qualification: B.Des, Any design related field, Any Degree in Design
Experience: 4 -5 yrs into User Interface / Interaction design


text:
Judging by the headlines Friday morning, Taylor Swift's music has finally returned to streaming services. But that's not exactly the case.
Taylor Nation, an official arm of the Swift machine, posted mid-evening on Thursday that, in celebration of her 2014 album 1989 selling 10 million albums globally and a 100-million song "certification" from the Recording Industry Association of America, Swift and her management would make her entire back catalog available on streaming services. As of this morning, a Spotify playlist of her greatest hits had drawn nearly 30,000 subscribers.
In truth, her back catalog was available in piecemeal or in full on various services well before early this morning. Subscription-only services all had her previous pre-2014 albums, and Apple Music, in a very public coup for the company following a very public act of contrition, also had 1989. And because of the legal structure of song licensing in the states, listeners on Pandora's radio service also could hear tracks from her catalog. The one conspicuous place you couldn't hear Swift's work was Spotify.
That was because of Spotify's industry-polarizing dedication to its "free tier," which lets listeners hear music without a subscription in exchange for regular interruptions from ads. "It's my opinion that music should not be free," Swift wrote in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal in 2014. Adding to the acrimony, Spotify had also maintained a no-exceptions policy on "windowing," wherein certain albums would be available to paid subscribers for a certain period of time. ("Windowing" should not to be confused with "exclusives," where an artist makes their work available only on a specific service, a strategy Apple Music has prolifically chased.) Both policies were taken as affronts by Swift and her team — on the latter point, as robbing artists and their labels of control. That's in large part why Swift pulled her entire catalog from Spotify in 2014.
A year later, an entirely different dispute, this time with Apple and its new-at-the-time Apple Music service, ended much differently. Swift pointedly criticized the company for not paying royalties on music streamed during a three-month free trial of the service it was offering to customers, drawing an apology (and a phone call) from a top executive at the company, which pledged to pay royalties on those streams. Swift "happily" made 1989 available on Apple Music afterwards, at a time when the album was still (relatively) fresh. Some months later Apple announced an exclusive concert film, '1989 World Tour Live,' for its music streaming service. Less than a year after that, she was starring in commercials for the service listening to Drake, while Drake was starring in commercials for the service listening to Swift. (Drake's More Life was an Apple Music exclusive, too.) It's an open question as to whether Apple's public contrition was enough to sway Swift.
So the question this morning is, why are Taylor Swift's albums now on Spotify? A request for clarification on that question by Swift's management and record label was not immediately returned. But it's worth noting that Spotify recently softened its stance on windowing — in return for paying lowered fees to labels — according to a report from the Financial Times in March. Streaming has also become the dominant revenue driver for the recording industry since the release of 1989. Spotify's anodyne statement on the news simply confirms "that Taylor Swift's entire back catalogue is now available on Spotify for her millions of fans to enjoy."
Perhaps most importantly (intimations of dueling pop queen pettiness notwithstanding and not worth repeating), Swift hasn't released a record in some time. The downtime means she's largely been absent from the mainstream conversation outside of precisely tailored Instagram posts, most of which are screenshots of her using… Apple Music. (Apple also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.) This is just a guess, but Swift's Spotify announcement feels like the first volley of a long publicity campaign behind a new album to come later this year.
One thing is for sure: If and when that record arrives, you'll have to pay to hear it.


text: June 14, 2014 / Jalisa Roberts / Source franticcurls: akatasia: humansofnewyork: "I tend to be cynical about a lot of things, but Maya Angelou is somebody that no matter how much I pick her apart, she still has integrity. She was a victim of incest and rape, and she worked as a stripper. And now she's a literary icon and Nobel Laureate. It goes to show that life is cumulative, and you can't devalue any type of experience." Spot on. Bless. 0 Likes


text:
Mikko is the Cinderella story in this Pro Tour. He came out of nowhere to reach the first draft table for the crucial last three rounds. Not a bad weekend for the Finnish player. He started his feature match with a feature for every rookie: the playmat tutorial by Mark Rosewater.
Denmark's Svend Geertsen will forever be remembered as the very young player who turned Stompy in a legendary deck with his performance at Worlds 1997. No matter how many great results he piled after that - he had another two Pro Tour Top 8's - he will always be the Stompy guy and one of the nicest players in the circuit.
The winner here gets a spot in the Top 8. The loser gets to play the last round for the Top 8 slot.
Game 1
The game started off slow with the first creature being a turn 3 Krosan Avenger by Punakallio, followed by Ambassador Laquatus. Geertsen answered with his own copy of Avenger and Halberdier.
While they stared at each other across the table Mikko played Cartographer and Thought Eater. The pace of the game was extremely slow. At five mana Svend decided to shift things a bit: he played Shower of Coals leaving Punakallio only with Laquatus.
He sent Avenger and Halberdier in and Laquatus traded with the green creature. The Finnish was in trouble, drawing land after land with only a Repel in hand. Geertsen played Nantuko Disciple and Mikko drew Turbulent Dreams.
He used it to bounce the two creatures, forcing. The Danish replayed the Disciple, only to have it bounced again by Repel and return the next turn, and the Halberdier before Punakallio could find a creature.
Hydromorph Guardian isn't exactly stellar, but it's better than drawing another land. The Halberdier came in one more time bringing the despairing Finnish down to four.
He followed that up with Gorilla Titan but Geertsen had enough creatures to swarm for enough damage. He finished the game with Fiery Temper.
Svend 1-0 Mikko.
Game 2
Mikko started things with Cephalid Scout before Geertsen found Basking Rootwalla. On the next turn he played Elvish Lyrist and Reckless Charge to start the Red Zone trips.
The Scout ate up a land but Mikko dropped a Cartographer to recover it. The little green creature persuaded Geertsen to sit back and drop Werebear instead of attacking.
When he tried to play Nantuko Disciple Punakallio was ready: he used Rites of Refusal to counter it. Rites of Spring brought up a Plains that made Geertsen raise his eyebrows.
Floating Shield gave Cartographer protection from Green, with Mikko hoping to grind the ground slaughter to a halt. But - and this is a huge but - Svend finally reached five mana. Out came Shower of Coals and away went the Finnish's creatures.
The free swing brought Mikko to ten. He played Krosan Avenger with enough mana to regenerate it, forcing Geertsen to sit back and drop enough creatures to alpha strike.
Although the Avenger gave Punakallio a stellar blocker it also tied up his mana. While he tried to balance things out Geertsen played creature after creature. Punakallio Repelled one of them and played Obsessive Search to find Aquamoeba.
Centaur Veteran and the twice casted Metamorphic Wurm gave Svend a five to three creature advantage but he seemed afraid of the Finnish's massive amounts of bounce.
Indeed Mikko had Turbulent Dreams in hand. Between keeping cards in hand, mana for that and potentially regenerating the Avenger Punakallio was having a hard time developing his game.
He risked a Cephalid Scout and seeing only three mana untapped across the table Geertsen discarded Fiery Temper, along with Leaf Dancer (which was a bit strange since that creature could get past Mikko's blockers with Forestwalk), to Rites of Spring getting his third green source.
The Temper hit the Avenger just to tap it out of the way. The whole Danish crew waltzed into the Red Zone and Mikko Punakallio considered his blocks. Svend's reason for discarding the Dancer soon became clear: he put him one card away from Threshold with and untapped Timberland Ruins in play.
He sacrificed it to pump the Rootwalla making his Werebear and Metamorphic Wurm a lot bigger. Mikko fell all the way down to two. His last draw couldn´t save him and he extended his hand.
Final Result: Svend 2-0 Mikko.
With this win Svend Geertsen reached the Top 8.


text:
On Wednesday, March 20th at 7pm Dr. Aaron White – Program Director of Underage and College Drinking Prevention Research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, is presenting the latest research on the relationship between alcohol and the developing brain. The program is most appropriate for 8th -12th grade students and any community member, parent, youth worker, elected official, etc.
Please join us in the Auditorium at Barrington High School to arm yourself with the latest information to help our young people reach their full potential! If you have any questions, please email firstname.lastname@example.com.
The flyer with more information is attached as a PDF here.


text:
According to the band, they say their new album will be about, "insomnia, f*cking up, fashion, all the devices and gadgets attached to our brains, getting wasted, watching people die in other countries, watching people die in your own country, dancing your ass off, questioning the cops, poetic justice, standing up for yourself, sex, the apocalypse, doing some stupid sh*t and totally regretting it but then telling everyone it made you stronger, leaving town as a solution to unsolvable problems, owning your actions and owning your time."
If it's anything like their last album ('Fantasies'), it'll be gold Jerry. GOLD!!!!
'Synthetica' will be released on June 11th.
Keep an eye on their website. They should be announcing their new tour schedule soon.
Here's a tune off their last album. It's reeeeeeeally good.


text: This has been blowing up in the community for the last few days. It all started when a 17 year old compLexity Gaming player from the Phillipines player named Andrei "skem" Ong, while in a tournament match against Chinese team Royal Never Give Up, wrote this in All Chat: The Chinese DOTA 2 community went up in flames and demanded something to be done against the player. compLexity Gaming's response was this Loading tweet... We have been made aware of an inappropriate comment by one of our players in today's #coLDota #DreamLeague match. Complexity Gaming does not condone intolerance of any kind and the player will receive a formal reprimand, as well as a maximum fine. As time went on, and neither Dreamleague(the company behind the tournament) nor Valve acted upon this, the Chinese community started to get angrier about the whole situation. Doesn't help that just a few days after the skem incident, another professional player from the Phillipines Carlo "Kuku" Palad did this on a public game: So now Chinese players, angry at the inaction of the companies involved, started to do whatever they can to show their dissatisfaction at the whole thing. From Tweets, to emails, to mass negative reviewing DOTA 2. There's a whole lot more to unpack from a few Chinese players comparing that usage to calling someone a n****r to others actively using racial slurs as a "reaction".


text:
Business Principles for Power Plant Engineers and Supervisors
16-17 May 2019
NBC TOWER | Chicago, IL, United States of America
- call back request
- Conference Speakers
Roger Schaver
Consultant | Forest View Collaborations, LLC
He has 40 years of experience working in power generation. After obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Bradley University, he worked for 15 years as a plant engineer and project manager. He managed a varietyof O&M and capital projects in nuclear and fossil-fired power plants. He realized that successful project managers had strong business skills in addition to their technical knowledge, and therefore earned his Master of Business Administration from Marquette University.He went on to manage engineering and maintenance organizations in large coal-fired power plants. He then managed a fleet-wide organization for supporting maintenance management, long-term service agreements, contractor management, external labor issues, and outage planning and execution.
- Social Media
- General Enquiries
Emily Jones
marcusevans, The NBC Tower
455 N. Cityfront Plaza Dr.
Chicago, IL 60611
Telephone: 312.540.3000 x6714
Fax: 312.894.6304
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Hi friends,
Just wanted to share something with you. Sorry if you don't find something about Linux or Java in this post.
I am in a good mood today. It is because I was featured in the Techgig.com's ad with headline "Only 24 super techies out of 5000 cracked it so far" on today's (i.e. October 3, 2011) newspaper Times Of India, Mumbai edition, page number 26. I was one of them.
I would not have known it as I live in New Delhi and Delhi's edition din't have the same. I came to know about this only someone(Edit : Nanda Kshirsagar) posted on my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Manohar-Bhattarai/130973796914160. The post was like this "Congratulation!!! SUPER TECHIES out OF 5000 ON CODING CONTEST". I was surprised by the post because I dint have the slightest idea.
I participated in the Techgig.com's online coding contest few days back. Just wanted to exercise my brain a bit because I had time. I was not too serious while coding. The "Easy" level was solved at once when I wrote the code in "Java" on the editor provided by the website. I din't even try it on my computer before submitting. But "Medium" level took a while to solve. But finally got it right. And then I did the "Expert" level.
Please comment below on how you liked this post as in this post I am just sharing what I felt. Hoping to get a well paid job soon.
Edit : Thanks "Nanda Kshirsagar" for posting on my facebook page and letting me know.
Manohar Bhattarai (मनोहर भट्टराई)
Twitter :- http://twitter.com/mhrbhattarai
Identi.ca :- http://identi.ca/manoharbhattarai


text:
Carlos G. Gonzalez, of Brownsville, TX passed away on November 10th 2016 in Garland, TX. He was born in Los Aldamas, Nuevo Leon, Mexico to Florencio and Maria Antonia Gonzalez on July 5th 1922. He married Ester Guillen Gonzalez on December 8th... View Obituary & Service Information
Obituary & Service
Carlos G. Gonzalez, of Brownsville, TX passed away on November...View More
Sympathy Cards
Customized sympathy cards. Mailed for you.Send a Card
Photos & Videos
Share and view memories of Carlos...View Photos & Videos