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Friday, June 17, 2011
Pizza seems like the perfect subject for a Friday night 20 minute sketching session. No kind of pizza beats New York-style thin crust, in my opinion... unfortunately for me it seems hard to come by in Western NY. Until we find the perfect local pizza joint, we'll just enjoy the searching! This sketch is (blue) pen, 5" x 7".
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Balancing Pear
This little pear was just lopsided enough to balance for my sketch (water soluble crayon, 5 1/2" x 7 1/2"). I love sketching fruits and veggies; they are classic and simple every time, yet interesting and different each time as well. Surprisingly I used very little actual green color here, simply lots of blending of blues, yellows, oranges and browns. Another fun experiment for me to use my water-soluble "grown-up" crayons too - with wet paper to start, and without the watercolor paint this time. They allow me the comfort zone of colored pencils, but with more saturation as well the option to blend as liquid, which is neat! I am a big fan, Caran D'ache Neocolor II!
Monday, June 13, 2011
"Consider the state of your heart..."
Any advice or meditation can become a good jumping off point for a little bit of abstraction. There are many small enjoyable moments in this sketch for me, and it's just so relaxing drawing colorful combinations like this. Colored pencil, 5 1/2" x 8 1/2".
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Swamp Dragonfly
Walked a short nature hike today to take some pictures, and saw some small wildlife including this awesome and huge (at least 5" wingspan) dragonfly. I think he might be a male "Swamp Darner Dragonfly" after just a bit of quick internet research, which makes sense since we were near a swamp. Since my photo barely does him justice, I just couldn't resist painting him. His eyes were such an amazing iridescent turquoise! Pen and watercolor, approx. 5 1/2" x 8".
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Drink More Water // 5 Tips to Keep You On Track
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser.
All opinions are mine alone. #StopSpills #OnTheGoWithContigo #CollectiveBias
I am constantly working on ways to remind myself to drink more water. I, as I'm sure most of you, always struggle with keeping up with or even making the time to get enough water, each day. Luckily, I've come up with five fool-proof tips to keep mine and your goals on track! I know it can be daunting, so just take one day at a time and soon, you'll be drinking enough water without having to think much about it! It'll be as easy as breathing.
This Contigo AUTOSEAL® Chill Bottle, which I found in the housewares section at Target, is perfect for my on-the-go lifestyle. Water always tastes better when it's cold and this bottle's Thermalock™ Vacuum Insulation keeps it that way for up to twenty-eight hours! And bonus, it's AUTOSEAL® technology keeps the water inside with no worries about spills (as long as I don't accidentally depress the AUTOSEAL® button... whoops). I love that it comes in this gorgeous matte black with iced aqua accents (which is a Target exclusive color, btw!), that it has a carry-on handle for easy travel, and a spout cover to keep it clean and safe to drink from. All of the Contigo AUTOSEAL® Chill Bottle's accessories makes it the perfect accessory for my daily life.
Tip 1 - Stock up on some Contigo AUTOSEAL® Chill Bottle
With the Contigo Chill Bottle you have the perfect way to take water with you, wherever you go! It's an easy way to keep track since once it's empty, you know it's also time for a refill.
Tip 2 - Use a Water Tracking App
Technology is here to help us out, once again! There are many apps out there that you can download to your phone to help you with your water intake. They calculate how much water you should be drinking and remind you whenever it's time to take a swig. I've heard good things about this water tracking app!
Tip 3 - Naturally Flavor Your Water
As you know, I'm all about being healthy the natural way. Rather than buying juices and sports drinks which are just packed with sugar and who knows what, infuse your water with some raw fruits or tea! There are a lot of teas (like passionfruit) which taste amazing cold. But if you prefer fruit, it's easy to chop up some fruit and toss them into your water bottle for all-day flavor!
Tip 4 - Make it a Game
There are lots of fun ways you can remind yourself to take a drink of water. If you work in an office, take a gulp every time someone walks by your desk or clears their throat. If you wear bracelets, start with them all on one wrist and move them over to the other, one by one, each time you take a drink, then start over when they've all moved. The options are endless!
Tip 5 - Drink More Water
Wait... What? How is that a tip, you ask? Well, I've been doing this a long time and I can tell you from experience that the more water you drink the easier it is to drink even more! Whenever I find myself not drinking enough water, it takes a couple days for my body to adjust back to a higher water intake. But once it does, I can drink a ton of water without... well, needing to use the restroom every ten minutes... TMI?
Now get out there, grab yourself a Contigo AUTOSEAL® Chill Bottle, and start drinking more water! You will love seeing all of the amazing benefits that comes with it. (For me that means clearer skin, more energy, and less headaches!)
What tips do you have for drinking more water?

subset: commoncrawl


text: Looking back on these sacred pregnancy images, I feel so grateful that all the stars aligned and allowed for me to meet these parents and for them to meet me. Us meeting was so last minute and surprising, that it truly felt like our paths were meant to cross and this was truly meant to be. If you'd like to see the birth story of their twin boy and girl babies at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, you can follow the link here.


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Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits by Linda Gordon
Lange's photographs, with their perfect composition and gorgeous gray scale printing evoke horror; both at the way we treated one another then, and how little has changed today.
Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond LimitsPublisher: W.W. Norton
Length: 536 pages
Author: Linda Gordon
Price: $35.00
Format: Hardcover
Publication date: 2009-10
"A Portrait is a lesson on how one human being should approach another." -- Dorothea Lange
Linda Gordon's assiduously researched biography represents a monumental effort about a difficult subject. In her introduction, Gordon writes of her wish to create Lange's story as "a woman embedded in the historical events of her time...The story I tell is not only limited by the areas of my expertise but also by the available source material." Indeed, Lange kept no diaries until later in life. Few letters exist. Such is the paucity of source material that Lange never even made a self-portrait: in a book full of gorgeous plates, there are few photographs of Lange herself. This forces Gordon to fall back on American history, her area of expertise. Long passages are devoted to the machinations of federal agencies and California agricultural history. Unfortunately, the writing is often numbing in its exhaustive detail and dry academic language.
When Gordon does discuss Lange, she professes taking great care to prevent viewing Lange's actions through the prism of present social mores. But she often fails, bolstering assertions by stepping onto the page much as the Victorians did. This "dear reader" address is startling, to say the least: "The contrast between this domestic tyrant and her approach to photographic subjects is so great that at first it was difficult for me to integrate the two." Later she comments, parenthetically: "(He even said she climbed a tree, hard for me to imagine.)"
Gordon even goes so far as to call Lange's photo captions "found poetry." All of this miscellaneous commentary is disappointing, for Lange was a fascinating individual. I only wished there were more Dorothea and less history.
Dorothea Nutzhorn was born in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1895, the first child of wealthy German-American parents. Her mother, Joan, was a talented singer; her uncles were lithographers. When Dorothea was seven, she contracted polio, leaving her right foot twisted. She limped the rest of her life, contracting post-polio symptoms in late middle age. In 1907 her father, Henry, left the family. Once a civic leader with political aspirations, he was found guilty of embezzlement. Joan, Dorothea, and her younger brother, Martin, were forced to move in with Joan's mother, falling from their formerly comfortable post. But Joan was resourceful, soon finding employment. Dorothea, enraged at Henry, took her mother's maiden name, never again seeing or speaking of her father. Gordon asserts this left Lange with an orphan complex, forever seeking the approval of older men.
Yet the young Lange was an independent, headstrong woman with little interest in formal education. Instead she spent hours walking New York City, looking and looking. Despite Gordon's repeated assertions of Lange's "disability", it's clear that until the post-polio symptoms manifested, her weaker leg was more a nuisance than a true limitation. The book's cover depicts Lange sitting atop a car, balancing an enormous camera on said weak leg. Despite field garb -- pants and shirt, hair covered by a kerchief -- Lange is glamorous, the silver cuff she wore gleaming in the sunshine.
Lange studied photography with Arnold Genthe, then apprenticed herself to a variety of male photographers, female professionals being in short supply. She honed her sense of "fineness," a quality ingrained by her grandmother, not only in her exquisite photographs but her personal style, dressing in restrained but always unusual garb, decorating her homes in a Spartan style unwittingly echoing Japanese design aesthetics.
When Dorothea decided to make a grand tour with her dear friend Fronsie Ahlstrom, circumstances landed them in San Francisco, where Dorothea opened her own studio, rapidly ascending to star status, photographing the wealthiest citizens of the city. Lange's studio became a salon of sorts, where friends came and went as she worked in the darkroom downstairs. One day she heard the clomping of cowboy boots, worn by Maynard Dixon, a highly regarded artist. The couple's courtship was rapid: despite the twenty-year age difference, they were passionately in love. But Dixon proved a difficult husband. He was anti-Semitic, hated industrialization, and loved nothing more than to go off into the wilderness alone, often leaving Dorothea with their two young sons, Dan and John, and Consie, the child of his first marriage.
Dorothea's relationship with Consie was strained and often outright hostile. Maynard, all too happy to leave domestic troubles to a woman, left Dorothea in the still-unsolved, impossible position of being wife, artist, and mother. And though she worked hard to maintain all three roles, becoming an accomplished cook and housekeeper, she frequently lost her temper with the children, who even now, as elderly adults, have mixed memories of her.
Although Dorothea learned much about art from Maynard, even acquiring his love of the wilderness, his tendency to escape reality diverged from her desire to document the growing impact of the Great Depression. Gordon's rendition of San Francisco during this time, the men in breadlines, hungry children roaming the streets, is enough to chill any current reader's heart. Gordon herself comments "I never anticipated finishing this book under economic conditions resembling those she felt and illustrated."
In 1935 Dorothea met her second husband, economist Paul Taylor. It was Taylor who truly sparked the political activism that drove Lange's work until her death in 1965. Taylor was impassioned about farmer's rights. To that end, he taught himself Spanish and learned to move among Mexican migrant workers in a way that earned trust. The coupled traveled together, documenting California's farmworkers. Their love blossomed gradually: both were in difficult marriages; both had children. When they decided to divorce their spouses and marry, they began a thirty-year partnership shaped by New Deal tenets. Though Taylor rarely won his battles -- his employer, the University of California at Berkeley, was unsupportive, and his publications were often suppressed -- he never ceased speaking up for migrant's rights.
The couple worked under the now-famed auspices of the WPA, writing and photographing for the Farmer's Security Administration. It was here that Lange would produce her most famous images of impoverished of "Okies", Mexicans, Filipinos, and the iconic "Migrant Mother", a woman named Florence Thompson, who was a full-blooded Cherokee.
The misogyny Lange endured is also exhaustively documented and enough to raise any modern reader's hackles. Lange was, by all accounts, often irascible and demanding, though one wonders how much of that was cultivated simply to receive equal treatment. Like all FSA photographers, she had no control over her images. She was required to send all negatives to Washington, where they were printed by technicians. Her repeated requests for reimbursements or equipment were at times ignored; she was often fired, rehired, asked to travel at a moment's notice, then informed the trip was cancelled. When FSA director Roy Stryker finally fired her for good, he refused her final request that the office pay to have her cameras cleaned.
Lange went on to work for the Army, who hired her to document the Japanese internment camps, then attempted destroy or suppress nearly all the photographs. She also worked for Life magazine, who, like the FSA, demanded full control of negatives and rejected Lange's repeated requests for input about the use of her images.
Like so many artists, Lange longed for more time to execute any number of projects, few of which came to fruition as her health declined. Post-polio fatigued her. Worse were the bleeding ulcers and esophageal problems that plagued her as she aged, becoming so serious she often had trouble eating. What she did eat she often lost though chronic diarrhea. Treatment at the time was primitive: manually stretching the esophagus, cobalt radiation. What could be treated easily today by drugs like Prilosec or Prevacid killed Dorothea Lange slowly and agonizingly. She was prescribed Librium for pain. Later, diagnosed with an inoperable, cancerous esophageal tumor (the result of years of bleeding ulcers and acid reflux), she was given Percoset, which must have felt like baby aspirin. Lange fought, working whenever she could, rushing to choose the photographs comprising her first Metropolitan Museum of Art show, which she would not live to see. She answered the call of the nascent civil rights movement, but did not live to contribute.
What emerges is a talented, conflicted persona. The mother and later stepmother of six children sent those children into foster care while she traveled the state with husband Paul. This was common practice at the time, but left all the children scarred: Consie Dixon never made peace with her stepmother. Biological son Dan Dixon went through a period of serious rebellion that included truancy and theft, while Paul's son Ross, a talented musician, became mentally ill and died after overdosing on medication and alcohol. All of Lange's descendants recall her mania for an immaculate house and her ironclad holiday rituals, which, though abundant, were inflexible. Yet all speak of her kindness to her grandchildren and endless delight in the visual world.
Gordon extols the beauty and dignity of Lange's subjects, stating the impoverished men of the FSA shots "ooze sex appeal". I found the photographs wrenching. The men Lange photographed did their best to present themselves as clean, upright citizens, but their surroundings -- shacks, makeshift tents, filthy creeks -- belie their efforts. The perfectly composed shot of a crying girl waiting for deportation to Manzanar is made all the more searing by the beautifully sunny day. The smiling Mexican woman is indeed pretty as she stands in a wintry field, clad only in a dirty sweater and torn blouse, her arm around a child.
Here is a child covered in flies; here is another, perhaps seven years old, changing a car tire. The photographs, with their perfect composition and gorgeous gray scale printing, evoke horror, both at the way we treated one another then, and how little has changed today. This is what Lange wanted: to get our attention. Whether or not she succeeded remains to be seen.
I have no doubt Gordon faced great obstacles in writing about Lange, and her efforts at ferreting out information about her elusive subject are laudable. I only wish the text were more accessible -- both Vickie Goldberg's biography of Margaret Bourke-White and Patricia Bosworth's of Diane Arbus come to mind. At the risk of a slighter book, I would choose more Dorothea and less history. Yes, the two were bound, but on balance, the book's historical details shove Lange into the last place she wished to be: on the sidelines.


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Supermodel and entrepreneur Christie Brinkley says itâs an âexciting time to be sixtyâ in business today after spending the last four decades holding major contracts with brands like CoverGirl, Chanel, Diet Coke, Anheuser-Busch, and Max Factor in the past.
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âI think that my industry has really been expanding our ideas of beauty and really opening their arms to be really inclusive and diverse. Whether itâs multi-cultural, multiâethnicities, sizes or shapes. Itâs really expanding our ideas of whatâs beautiful and includes breaking down stereotypes thatâve limited women of a certain age,â Christie Brinkley tells FOX Business.
The 63-year-old has since ventured into creating her own businesses like a skincare line, a hair extension business, and an eyewear company, after her brand received a boost when she posed in a bathing suit for the cover of People Magazine ahead of her 60th birthday.
âIâm really happy to be a part of that movement that is saying women my age are relevant and we can take on the world and take on new projects and do all kinds of exciting things,â Brinkley adds.
And, sheâs not the only one benefiting either. Brinkley says other supermodels her age have also seen an uptick in recent years.
âI was just talking with a couple other models that said that their businesses really picked up as well. People want to see what people their own age are doing and I think itâs really important for women to be able to relate.â
The attention has even caught the eye of big food corporations like Nestle, whose Purina Pro Plan pet brand has recently hired her as spokesperson to promote its line of pet food formulated to help aging animals.
âJust like itâs important for us to give our families good nutrition, our pets are like members of our family, too,â she says.
And that trend seems be happening globally, according to new research from GlobalData, who found that nearly half of all pet owners are becoming highly attentive to the ingredients in the pet food they buy and are opting for more âclean eatingâ options.
Brinkley, whose daughter, Sailor, just started her modeling career last year says the best business advice that she tells her daughter is to âstay in school.â
âAnd to keep all her interests alive because I think that it all works copacetically. You can incorporate your interests and passions because [modeling] isnât just putting on an outfit off of a hanger anymore. Itâs very much becoming a brand and you have to know who you are and what youâre passionate about.â


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This dish is the result of spontaneity and invention in the moment. This is not to say it's particularly groundbreaking or inventive. But it is another demonstration of the clever use of leftovers and "on-hand" ingredients.
Basically I cooked about a half pound of these Japanese yaki-soba noodles (fresh ramen, chow mein noodles, or even spaghetti will work) that I had on hand. In a saucepan I melted a couple of tablespoons of butter and whisked in a tablespoon of shiro miso paste and a tablespoon of hot water. I whisked the miso butter until smooth and then added a half teaspoon of sesame oil, a full teaspoon of minced fresh ginger, a splash of soy sauce, a half teaspoon of sugar, and a pinch of white pepper.
I blanched the noodles about 45 seconds (they were fresh, precooked noodles), drained them well, and added them still hot to the miso butter. I tossed the pasta in the sauce to thoroughly coat and then a quarter cup of minced scallions and about two heaping tablespoons of crushed salted peanuts.
It was delicious!!


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Guns and the Tyranny of the Minority
"One in three Americans knows someone who has been shot. As long as a candid discussion of guns is impossible, unfettered debate about the causes of violence is unimaginable. Gun-control advocates say the answer to gun violence is fewer guns. Gun-rights advocates say that the answer is more guns: things would have gone better, they suggest, if the faculty at Columbine, Virginia Tech, and Chardon High School had been armed. That is the logic of the concealed-carry movement; that is how armed citizens have come to be patrolling the streets. That is not how civilians live. When carrying a concealed weapon for self-defense is understood not as a failure of civil society, to be mourned, but as an act of citizenship, to be vaunted, there is little civilian life left. [. . .]These are some of the concluding comments from this smart essay by Jill LePore at The New Yorker. I have posted here numerous times about gun ownership and its absurdities. If you want to hunt, fine. I don't but nothing about hunting implies opposition to gun laws. If you think having a gun makes you safer, you are wrong. I hope you never mistake your teenage son, coming in late at night, for a dreaded "intruder." If you want to carry a concealed weapon, get therapy - quickly.
Kids in Chardon High are back in school. Nickolas Walczak is in a wheelchair. There are Trayvon Martin T-shirts. Oikos University is closed. The N.R.A. has no comment. [. . .]
In an average year, roughly a hundred thousand Americans are killed or wounded with guns. On April 6th, the police found One Goh's .45. Five days later, George Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder. In May, T. J. Lane will appear at a hearing. Trials are to come. In each, introduced as evidence, will be an unloaded gun."
It is interesting that gun ownership in the U.S. has declined over time. A minority group is imposing idiotic policies on the rest of us. Tyranny of the minority.


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1. I had written in this blog that the attack against the New York World Trade Centre and the Pentagon on 9/11 2001 was not by Muslim terrorist. It could have been by other groups.
2. In the Star of Friday 2nd September, a report by AFP, date-lined New York has this to say:
"For some Americans, the deaths of nearly 3000 people was not the scariest thing about 9/11. It was realising who carried out the attack: yes, the American Government."
3. I believe Arab Muslims are angry enough to sacrifice their lives and become suicide bombers. But they or their handlers do not strike me as capable of planning and strategising such attacks so as to maximise the damage to the enemy.
5. But consider the attack on 9/11. The planning must have taken a considerable length of time. The candidates had to learn to fly in tiny aircrafts. Unless they were already airline pilots familiar with big passenger aircraft, their pupil pilot licenses would not be of much help to fly the four aircrafts to their targets which were not an the route of the planes.
6. Planning to hijack four aircrafts simultaneously would require great precision in timing and logistics. One aircraft maybe. But four simultaneously!! I don't think Arab terrorists from Saudi Arabia can carry out this highly sophisticated operation with such success.
7. Then there was the collapse of the two towers hit by the aircrafts. They came down nicely upon themselves without toppling against the other buildings close by. It looks more like planned demolition of buildings than collapse consequent upon being hit by aircrafts.
8. But a third building also collapsed in the same fashion although it was not hit by any aircraft or by the collapsing twin towers. What is the explanation for this untouched building collapsing upon itself and not damaging other buildings nearby?
9. Then there is the total disappearance of the aircraft which hit the Pentagon building. There was no debris of any kind, no broken parts of the aircraft, no black box, and no human bodies flung into the surroundings. Is it possible for an aircraft to vaporise totally after a crash?
10. And the fourth aircraft which was supposed to have crashed in an open field. Again no sign of any debris. No big crater. Did it vaporise into nothingness also. Did the innocent passengers also vaporise?
11. The American press is great at reporting incidents. They will give full coverage, with great pictures sketches and detailed descriptions. For months they would publish stories with revealing photographs. They would interview the relatives of the passengers who died in the crashes. But the American press was strangely silent about 9/11.
12. It is now the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Bush lied about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction. As a result hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, Afghans and a few thousand of young American soldiers died, thousands more are wounded, maimed for life, suffering mental breakdowns. Two countries have been devastated and fratricidal wars have become endemic. And still no democracy.
13. This is the legacy of George W. Bush. If they can lie so as to kill Iraqis, Afghans and American soldiers, it is not unthinkable for Bush & Co. to lie about who was responsible for 9/11. Human lives do not seem to mean much to Bush!!


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This is the bit that no one gets to see, the hours of time spent downloading memory cards, backing the images up so they are safe choosing & culling images, then taking each & every chosen image through the various stages of post production - one at a time. Every single image from every single wedding goes through this critical process before anyone sees them.
Why Is Editing even Necessary?
Understandably, clients or potential customers question the price of photography - often because they are unaware of how much time & effort occurs after the wedding. Many assume I'm a professional photographer so the images should be great in camera & pretty much ready & job done as soon as I stop shooting.
To understand why it's not the case & why so much time is involved, we need to understand that there are deficiencies with DSLR cameras - all of them, even my cameras. So whilst images might look ok on the back of a camera, they're far from ready for presenting. I need to accurately perfect colours, add quality contrast & considered sharpening - all before any creative retouching
My Editing & Post Production
I take a lot of pride in my wedding photographs, each one is considered and retouched by me personally. I have been learning Photoshop for over 12 years & will always continue to do so - constantly refining my techniques. There are many faster workflows & programs that others use, but the quality & consistency just isn't there with them, it's a time consuming labour of love but an area on which I will never sacrifice. I love my images to look exactly how it did to the eye, no weird effects that scream fake! I prefer accurate colours, punchy contrast, beautiful delicate sharpening, smooth realistic skin and attention to detail to ensure every image is at its best
When The editing is Complete
I aim on having your full set ready within 3 - 4 weeks - which is extremely fast. I can even do you a few sneak peak images in the interim - which couples seem to love. When complete, your images are uploaded onto your own personal online wedding gallery to which I will email you a link with a password to access them. The gallery can be shared by you with all of your friends & family, the gallery will have a host of features including slideshows, choosing favourites & a full shopping cart for your family & friends to use for prints etc
Shortly after receiving your online gallery, you'll be invited to my office so we can get together to discuss your images and to look at all of your options on how best to present your wedding photographs. I offer a wide range of prints, canvasses, frames, acrylics and other wall display pieces along with a stunning range of wedding albums.
I stock a wide range of wedding albums from simple coffee table books, modern full bleed photo book albums right the way through to more traditional matted wedding albums. I use the best manufacturers from around the world, their print quality, the leather, the paper is genuinely beautiful.


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Mac Users Catch a Lucky Break with Nettikasinot
Are you a Mac user that likes to gamble? If so, you are probably already aware of how few online casinos create software compatible with Mac computers. Nettikasinot, a very large and respected online casino portal created two Mac-compatible versions of their casino software to give often-ignored Mac users a real choice.
Mac users now have two options at Online-Casino:
Flash Games – These newly included games load instantly on the No-Download Quick Play Version – Players can play with real money or practice with free play money. This version offers users all of the same features and games as the Download Version.
Of course, both the No-Download Quick Play Version and the Flash Games are compatible with standard PC operating systems as well.suomalainen nettikasino 2017
Sean Lifton, a manager at Nettikasinot.fi, pointed out that "…on most sites, it's difficult for a Mac player to find one compatible online casino. Nettikasinot is now offering them two."
Our gaming website features tutorials on how to play a number of popular casino games like online slots, blackjack, video poker and craps. The brand is powered by Casino-On-Net (888), which is the largest online casino in the world. Over 20 million people have experienced online gaming with Casino-On-Net (888) since 1997, when the online casino was launched.


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Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run, game-ending home run in the ninth inning as the Toronto Blue Jays beat Milwaukee, 7-4, on Wednesday, the third straight loss for the visiting Brewers.
Jose Bautista and Juan Francisco also homered for the Blue Jays, who have hit a major-league-high 113 home runs this season.
Facing Will Smith, Jose Reyes led off the ninth with a double that left fielder Elian Herrera dived for but could not handle. After Melky Cabrera was intentionally walked, Brandon Kintzler came on to face Anthony Gose, who failed to advance the runners with a bunt when Reyes was forced at third.
Darin Mastroianni struck out, but Encarnacion ended the game with a drive into the second deck in left, his 26th home run.
Encarnacion called his homer "the best moment you can have for any player." He is tied for the major league lead with Baltimore's Nelson Cruz, who played later, the Chicago White Sox rookie Jose Abreu.
NATIONALS 4, ROCKIES 3 After a replay review, Ian Desmond's solo homer provided the go-ahead run, helping Washington rally from a three-run deficit and sweep the three-game series against visiting Colorado.
Jayson Werth also homered for Washington, which has won a season-high five straight.
WHITE SOX 3, ANGELS 2 Leury Garcia drove in the winning run with a pinch-hit single off Michael Morin in the ninth inning to lift host Chicago past Los Angeles.
The White Sox shook off a doubleheader sweep and finally defeated the Angels after dropping their first five games against them this season.
CUBS 16, RED SOX 9 Justin Ruggiano, Mike Olt and Welington Castillo hit two-run homers to power visiting Chicago past Boston, completing a three-game interleague series sweep.
Ruggiano drove in five runs and Nate Schierholtz added a solo homer for Chicago, which earned its first interleague sweep of three or more games since taking three from Cleveland in 2009.
MARINERS 5, ASTROS 2 Logan Morrison drove in two runs in the sixth inning, Chris Young pitched seven strong innings, and Seattle completed a three-game sweep at Houston.
The Mariners trailed by two before a four-run sixth inning, highlighted by Morrison's double to right field off Brad Peacock, which put them on top.
TIGERS 9, ATHLETICS 3 Torii Hunter hit three run-scoring singles, one of which capped a six-run burst in the sixth inning, to help Detroit finish a three-game sweep of visiting Oakland.
The Tigers won for the 11th time in 13 games. The division leader, Detroit reached the halfway mark with a 47-34 record.
INDIANS 5, DODGERS 4 Mike Aviles capped a three-run eighth inning with a two-run single off Brian Wilson, and Cleveland beat host Los Angeles. Ryan Raburn homered off Hyun-jin Ryu, who was removed after seven innings with a 3-2 lead.
PIRATES 5, DIAMONDBACKS 1 Gregory Polanco homered, Charlie Morton continued his effective pitching at home and Pittsburgh won for the fifth time in six games, beating Arizona.
Polanco, a rookie who has reached safely in 19 of 21 major league games, had a double, a walk and his third home run for Pittsburgh.
MARLINS 5, PHILLIES 0 Casey McGehee doubled home a run and scored another, helping visiting Miami past Philadelphia, which lost its sixth game in a row.
Tom Koehler (6-6) allowed three hits in six innings and earned his first victory since June 4. (AP)
PADRES 3, REDS 0 Tyson Ross threw a three-hitter for his first career shutout, and Rene Rivera hit a three-run single off Cincinnati's Johnny Cueto to help host San Diego to its first three-game sweep since September.
ROYALS 4, TWINS 0 Jason Vargas pitched seven scoreless innings, and Raul Ibanez homered in his second game for Kansas City, a win over host Minnesota.
Vargas allowed only two runners from a diluted Twins lineup to reach second base.


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AI Seminar
AI Journal Club: Inaugural Meeting
John Laird
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
4:00pm - 5:30pm
3725 Beyster Bldg.
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|On Dec. 6, we are going to try something different: have all AI students and faculty read a paper of broad AI interest and then discuss it. The paper is "Darwin's mistake: Explaining the discontinuity between human and nonhuman minds" by Penn, Holyoak, and Povinelli. This is a paper from Behavioral and Brian Sciences, and includes commentary at the end. The combination of paper and commentary is quite long (69 pages), so I recommend focusing on the paper. At the seminar, I will give an overview the paper, define terminology and concepts that might be foreign to AI students, and try to provide some structure for the discussion. Access the paper here (http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=1878852)
Paper abstract: "Over the last quarter century, the dominant tendency in comparative cognitive psychology has been to emphasize the similarities between human and nonhuman minds and to downplay the differences as "one of degree and not of kind" (Darwin 1871). In the present target article, we argue that Darwin was mistaken: the profound biological continuity between human and nonhuman animals masks an equally profound discontinuity between human and nonhuman minds. To wit, there is a significant discontinuity in the degree to which human and nonhuman animals are able to approximate the higher-order, systematic, relational capabilities of a physical symbol system (PSS) (Newell 1980). We show that this symbolic-relational discontinuity pervades nearly every domain of cognition and runs much deeper than even the spectacular scaffolding provided by language or culture alone can explain. We propose a representational-level specification as to where human and nonhuman animals' abilities to approximate a PSS are similar and where they differ. We conclude by suggesting that recent symbolic-connectionist models of cognition shed new light on the mechanisms that underlie the gap between human and nonhuman minds."
Additional Information
Sponsor(s): Toyota
Open to: Public


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Let's hear
it for some climate action now!
When the world is sick and dying,
the people will rise up like Warriors of the Rainbow
and lead humanity into a new world
of justice, peace and freedom.
Climate Change affects each one of us - effects of which are not geographically bound. The Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior ship is arriving in India, to add momentum to this global debate. She highlights the necessity to work across national borders in fighting the biggest threat today to our existence - climate change.
The iconic crowdfunded ship, custom built to make it environmentally friendly, has been sailing the seven oceans and busting environmental crimes that happen in broad daylight but in hidden corners of the world. Sailing for 39 years now, her work is a reminder to each one of us, to have courage to stand up for the planet against all odds.
The ship, considered a symbol of hope, courage and environmental resilience, has been at the forefront of Global Environmental Campaigns since 1978 with individuals and communities coming on the ship to voice environmental issues Read more
The 16-member crew belonging to 14 countries welcomed on board local groups fighting environmental destruction in the state and listened patiently as they elaborated on the issues they are battling on the ground. Read more


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Thursday, April 19, 2012
Under Construction
You will notice some changes - it's all because of some new things that are coming. Please, pardon my dust as I continue to adjust things. Be excited! There are great new developments, including pictures, coming and all will be revealed soon. :) Enjoy the anticipation!
Posted by Angelfire212 at 9:05 PM No comments:
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Working it out
I've been working on stuff; last week was pretty rough for school, but this week has lightened up considerably. So, finishing up the Bella Dress is up first.
I have a lovely lavender colored linen to line it; it should be great. There are other projects, like a vest that needs to be completed and an afghan that needs to be fixed. Hopefully by the weekend, completed projects will available.
There are other projects also in the works. There will be a big announcement soon. Keep watching - you're going to love it. :)
Posted by Angelfire212 at 9:00 PM No comments:
Tuesday, April 03, 2012
I don't think I've picked up a hook or needles since the last time I posted. I still haven't finished the flowers for the slippers I made, or finished Princess' dress, or anything. I've been swamped with school and other stuff. Kids make up a big part of that "other stuff," as does travel, hubby, and work.
I do have to say, I'm pretty excited about the progress I'm making on a side project. I know I've eluded to it before, and here it is again. It will be recurring theme. Hopefully, a big announcement can be made (those who know about it, please don't ruin the surprise). There are people who know about it. I have told a few friends, and until everything is in place, I'm not publicizing it just yet. It will take time, but it will be worth the wait (I hope). If it doesn't come to fruition, I'll still let you know what it was, once it's completely decided that it's not coming to pass. Completely confused? Don't be - it's big news, and good news, but it can wait.
I only have 3 weeks left of school, and hopefully everything will be in place by the end of the semester for the big announcement. Here's a hint: school is not dependent on the announcement, but it is fortuitous. And no, it's not about graduation. That has actually been pushed off by another semester, as I still have another class to take so I might as well push through 2 (instead of just one) and grab some extra knowledge. More learning is always better than less learning, right?
Posted by Angelfire212 at 8:17 PM No comments:
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Love is Love
In honor of Pride weekend I am writing a post with photos from the Industrial Bacon styled shoot (more can be found in my Portfolio). Cadence & Eli took so many incredible photos I could probably do a blog post once a week for an entire year and not show them all!
When concepting this styled shoot, I knew I wanted to use a same sex couple because I believe love is love and all people who love each other should be able to marry and have the wedding of their dreams. The models for this shoot are a real life couple and they wore their tuxedos from their wedding day. This shoot was featured in Lavender Magazine's 2016 Pride Issue as well as on WedLuxe and H & H Weddings. Inspiration is not bound by sexual orientation, race, age or gender. Inspiration, like love, is for all who seek it.
Endless thank yous go out to all the creative partners that helped make this shoot a reality: Machine Shop - for having us as the first styled shoot in the space (before it was done being renovated!), Apres Party & Tent Rental, Nuage, The Festive Frog, Event Lab, Beverly & Co., Be Things, On Solid Ground Rentals - for all the amazing rentals, Gretchen Berry Design Co. - for the invitation and paper goods, Avant Decor - for the draping and chair fabric, Cocoa & Fig - for the cake and dessert table (yes, we ate them after the shoot was done), and Steph Guidera - for her original artwork used in styling the lounge vignette.


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Look around
Leaves are brown
There's a patch of snow on the ground
I desperately need the days to pass more slowly. But just the opposite is happening – the days are passing more quickly.
Another year's almost gone. Where the hell did it go?
Paul Simon is a very good songwriter, and "A Hazy Shade of Winter" is one of his best. It's depressing as all get out, but still great.
|Simon & Garfunkel
The song begins with these cautionary lines:
Time, time, time
See what's become of me
While I looked around for my possibilities
I was so hard to please
It behooves us all to be a little less hard to please. You quickly reach the point of diminishing returns when you demand perfection.
To paraphrase Voltaire, "The perfect is the enemy of the good."
And as the British scientist Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt put it, "Give them the third best to go on with; the second best comes too late, and the best never comes."
Look around
The grass is high
The fields are high
It's the springtime of my life
You don't really believe that, do you?
If I'm lucky, it's the autumn of my life – if I'm not lucky, it's already winter. But it's sure as hell not springtime.
Simon & Garfunkel released "A Hazy Shade of Winter" as a single in 1966, and it eventually worked its way to #13 on the Billboard "Hot 100." (I can't imagine such a challenging song being released as a single today.)
The Bangles recorded a cover version of the song for the Less Than Zero movie soundtrack in 1987. That cover made it to #2 on the Billboard chart.
If you think this song is depressing, you ought to watch Less Than Zero. Or if you prefer, read the Bret Easton Ellis of the same name that the movie is based on.
Here's how Wikipedia summarizes the plot of the novel:
The novel follows the life of Clay, a rich young college student who has returned to [Los Angeles] for winter break . . . .
After reuniting with his friend Trent . . . Clay embarks on a series of drug-fueled nights of partying, during which he picks up various men and women for one-night stands. While partying, he tries to track down two high school acquaintances: his ex-girlfriend Blair . . . and his best friend Julian, with whom he hasn't spoken for months. . . .
Over time, Clay becomes progressively disillusioned with the party scene as he witnesses the apathy of his friends towards the suffering of one another and those around them: at one party . . . he and Blair are the only two who exhibit revulsion when Trent shows a snuff film, which sexually excites several partygoers.
Clay ultimately tracks down Julian, whom he learns has become a heroin addict and turned to prostitution in order to pay off a debt to his drug dealer. Not believing what he has been told, Clay accompanies Julian on a job, where he is compelled by a male john to watch the man and Julian have sex for several hours.
After attending a concert with his friends, Clay accompanies them to a derelict alley where they stare at the corpse of an overdose victim which they have left there to decompose. Afterward, Clay follows the group back to the home of his drug dealer, Rip, who wants to show off his latest acquisition: a twelve-year-old sex slave whom Rip has been keeping drugged in his bedroom. . . . Clay leaves, but Trent decides to stay so that he can rape the girl.
Sounds like the perfect beach read for your 2015 summer vacation, doesn't it? (Assuming you live that long, of course.)
I'm not sure whether I like the Simon & Garfunkel or Bangles versions of "Hazy Shade of Winter" better. I'm featuring the Bangles version because I am sure that I like girls better that boys.
Here's the music video for "Hazy Shade of Winter," which includes some shots from Less Than Zero:
Click below to buy the song from Amazon:


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Education in the time of the third Industrial Revolution
Education systems were built to serve the first and second Industrial Revolutions. Neither education nor production models have really changed, until now. The third Industrial Revolution is upon us – people can access and create content anywhere, any time and increasingly this also includes manufacturing/making capabilities. How can we develop new education models to reflect this and to enable increasingly flexible, experimental and fairer learning environments, that help build a more resilient and confident workforce for the future?
The first and second Industrial Revolutions have dictated the way we manufacture and consume everything, from products and spaces to food and information, for over one hundred and fifty years. Education models that were initially designed to create a workforce fit for a burgeoning industrial sector have changed little over the same time period.
As we see the birth of the third Industrial Revolution, and the resultant shift in producer-consumer relationships (towards mass-customisation and domestic manufacturing) what does an educational model for the future look like, and how can it mirror this shifting dynamic to increase the role of learners in shaping the content, location and ways in which they learn?
The first and second Industrial Revolutions
People today have access to an extraordinary range of products and services. For several decades it has been possible to buy and consume almost anything imaginable. During this time the vast majority of production has been built around the models of the second Industrial Revolution i.e. remote mass production, freight and sale. Wherever possible consumer and product are kept apart until the point of purchase.
Therefore, while we the consumer have seemingly infinite choice, we are mostly choosing between a range of products designed to be manufactured at scale and to be consumed by as many people as possible. You could also describe these products as designed to be the least-worst option for millions, as opposed to the best option for any given individual. The impact of this can largely be summed up as relationships built on trust. In this context trust equals reliability. We see this not just in consumption of products, but services such as rail and health too. Generally, the consumer is happy when they trust the reliability of the product or service they are using. Trust breaks down very quickly as the product or service breaks down.
The first Educational Revolution
As has been well documented by eminent brains such as Sir Ken Robinson, state education systems were also created on a model of mass consumption and production, though in this context the 'consumption' is knowledge and the product is a suitable workforce. Universally available free education is a relatively new concept and dates to exactly the time that rapidly industrialising nations were seeing the necessary growth in GDP to invest in such macro-projects; the 1800s. Logically, the birth of these systems mirrored the hugely successful industrial growth of the era. Schools and schooling were built as factories of education, with the primary aim being to produce a 'workforce' of people to fit the burgeoning production lines of the industrialising world.
The third Industrial Revolution
While the first and second Industrial Revolutions happened sequentially, almost concurrently, since then we have seen over 100 years of stagnation when it comes to the broad principles of economic development and manufacturing. That is not to ignore the huge developments in technologies and production during that period, but rather to recognise the relatively minimal shift in methodology, particularly since the first production of Henry Ford's Model-T in 1908 spawned the birth of mass-production of consumer products.
Now through the rise of digital manufacturing we are starting to see the idea of mass-customisation as opposed to mass-consumption coming to prominence. Technological and ideological developments have seen producers able to offer even more choice to consumers via their input before the point of purchase i.e. during production. Equally, consumers now demand more involvement in decision-making than ever. However, most current mass-market examples such as Nike ID still rely on existing models of production, and therefore consumption, creating an illusion of customisation more than a reality. Nike mass-produce shoe parts, and allow customers to assemble them in whichever fashion they choose, but the range of choice is still restricted by predetermined factory output at mass-production scale.
However, the birth and growth of digital manufacturing and associated software is now starting to afford consumers the opportunity for the creation and manufacture of truly customised and high quality products, parts and even edibles in small spaces such as the comfort of one's home or classroom. Techniques such as 3D printing create the potential to 'manufacture' whatever we need or want, when we want it and to be able to customise more freely. This sees us at a rather Gladwellian tipping point, where the ideologies of the industrialised world can be challenged and a shift in power from producer to consumer could come into existence at mass-market level.
This in turn raises some interesting questions. If a consumer can play a much greater role in the production of goods, then how does their relationship with said products change? Do we see a greater sense of ownership developed, an increased sense of value and therefore interest in preservation and maintenance, even celebration of possessions? Do we therefore see a change in the volume of consumption or in the value of objects to their owners? Does producer-power change? Does the paradigm of trust equalling reliability shift towards trust equalling belonging? That is to say, if the consumer has involvement and control over the production of goods, do they feel they belong to the object and the object belongs to them? Could these same approaches be applied to services, such as education?
The second Educational Revolution
Preceding the third Industrial Revolution was the birth of the digital age. We are now able to consume information on any topic in a manner which suits us. The impact this has on learning is profound, with infinitely more information on any given subject available at the click of a button than could ever be disseminated by a teacher or textbook. There is an argument that this negates the requirement for formal 'teaching' in the traditional sense. Why would you 'teach' a subject when immediate access to the world's information is omnipresent and accessible through an increasing range of devices?
Therefore should we see a shift from traditional notions of a teacher-pupil relationship, to one with the onus on educators to facilitate free-learning by becoming catalysts, enablers and inspirers for accessing information, as opposed to conduits for prescribed and predetermined nuggets of information often presented as subjective?
A Continued link – Mass Customisation
As we look towards the potential of new economic models and understand that the lines between consumer and producer will continue to become more blurred, is it prescient to consider the future divisions between learners and educators in the same fashion? Can we mirror developments in mass-customisation of products in the way we learn?
Perhaps it is now possible to consider loosening the framework of a curriculum to enable more exploration and applied learning, more learning through making? Equally, how do technological developments, particularly those with a physical output, afford learners the opportunity to shape the environment in which they learn as well as the content they are learning? Are we seeing a shift away from institutions being the dominant providers of structured learning (and other public services) in the same way we might with products and producers?
As accessing content has become immeasurably easier in the past decade, so too has creating content, both physically and digitally. If accessing content that interests a learner allows for the mass customisation of a curriculum, imagine the possibilities of open creation to sit alongside this. If learners have access to information about what interests them, and the tools to challenge, develop and experiment with ideas around it, perhaps learning could become a more tantalising and dynamic experience for many more people.
How might a less prescribed curriculum, combined with greater exploration through access to digital content and 'making' tools, encourage more peer-to-peer interaction and learning? Professionally we naturally work in groups and teams, but in education we are habitually encouraged to learn by ourselves, with our successes or failures measured as individuals. Is this something that we can challenge at a macro level in the way that Sugata Mitra's 'Hole In The Wall' has experimented with in India?
The answer (if there is one) I suspect lies somewhere in between the current scenario of highly prescriptive curricula and the free-form 'Digital Steiner School' scenario some might imagine. Being more definitive than that would be guesswork. However, to summarise here are five key points I feel should define the future of education policy:
1. If it exists, use it. Don't be scared of technology in a classroom, and it doesn't need to be expensive.
2. Experiment. Successful businesses, people and organisations don't stand still, they try things. Some work, some don't, but it's all progress.
3. Collaborate. If possible, do not measure success of a learner by comparing them to others. Equally, if possible have them work with others and allow their success to be defined collectively.
4. Get personal. Afford learners the space to customise their education (within subjects as well as between subjects) and give them the space to explore their interests whenever possible.
5. Engage everyone. If learners are bored, unresponsive or under-achieving, it's the system that's broke, not them.


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English | Espańol
All Issues > Volume 13, Issue 4
A certain priest quietly gives back half of his salary to his financially strapped parish. He faithfully proclaims the gospel, but because he is not a gifted speaker, many find the liturgies boring and leave his parish. Eventually, he is replaced by a pastor who is eloquent in speech and creative in his liturgies. This pastor does not believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist or the virgin birth of Jesus, and freely passes on these thoughts and other falsehoods to his congregation. Because of his dynamic style, the parish flourishes, accepts his teaching, and doesn't mind subsidizing his lavish expenditures.
This hypothetical story bears some resemblance to Paul's situation in Corinth. Like Americans today, the Corinthians were quick to be seduced by a pleasing presentation (2 Cor 11:4). Personal integrity, fidelity, and truth took a back seat to style, image, and stage-presence. Because the Corinthians were puffed-up with pride (1 Cor 4:18), they liked teachers who tickled their ears (see 2 Tm 4:3).
We who have a "sincere and complete devotion to Christ" can also be corrupted and fall away (2 Cor 11:3). We must put to death our fleshly desires for enticements and empty show (1 Jn 2:16), and seek only Jesus the Truth (Jn 14:6).
What influences you the most — the message or the messenger? "What are you looking for?" (Jn 1:38) Live in God's word. "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (Jn 8:31-32).


text: Rail Crossings and Engineering BranchCPUC staff ensure that highway-rail and pathway-rail crossings are safely designed, constructed, and maintained. The Rail Crossings and Engineering Branch (RCEB) engineers investigate and evaluate requests to construct new rail crossings or modify existing crossings. They also investigate train-related incidents that occur at rail crossings, and complaints regarding rail crossings safety or conditions. RCEB engineers are assigned to territories by county and are available to help you find answers to your rail crossing questions. Contact information Contact RCEB engineers regarding diagnostic meetings with roadway authorities and railroads, and to assist in review and authorization of rail crossing designs. Rules and Guidance Rail crossing rules and regulations provide minimum requirements. Design references include reports and engineering documents. Guidance documents discuss the use of YIELD and Emergency Notification signs. Construction or modification Formal Applications Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about new rail crossings. GO 88-B requests to modify existing rail crossings. Form G Report of Changes completed at a rail crossing. Additional References CPUC staff maintains rail crossing inventory data. CPUC staff administers railroad crossing funding programs. CPUC staff reviews Quiet Zones. CPUC staff publishes highlights of RCEB activity.


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Thank you for visiting today. If this is your first visit, take your time and look around. I have plenty of listings and other information and resources available to you. You will find most all listings in the State of Maryland. If you are a return visitor, thank you. I would love to hear from you and discuss what I can do for you as an experienced agent in marketing and selling properties here on the Eastern Shore of MD. If you are looking in other states, with 28+ years in the business, I have experienced agents available in any areas of the United States.
Glory Bee Costa
Exclusively Working The Eastern Shore Of Maryland
Cell (410) 310-9081
E-Mail: email@example.com
Website: http://www.Maryland-Waterfront-Homes.com
My name is Glory Bee Costa. I specialize in listing and selling residential waterfront and inland real estate on the Eastern Shore of Maryland...I am an expert in areas in Talbot County which includes Easton, St. Michaels, Oxford, Trappe, Tilghman, Bozman, Sherwood, Neavitt, Cordova, and Wye Mills; also Queen Anne's County including Stevensville, Chester, Grasonville, Kent Island, and Centreville; some areas of Caroline and Upper Dorchester Counties. For large waterfront estates I will travel with in a 2 hour radius of Easton. I have been a full time REALTOR® as a Broker/Owner, or Sales Associate for over 28 years. My current designation is Broker Associate with Keller Williams Select Realtors located in Annapolis, MD. I have aggressive marketing tools tailored to the needs of either buyers or sellers, and am an experienced negotiator for whichever party I represent. I would appreciate the opportunity to work with or for you. I look forward to hearing from you.
I know property values in detail; I do Broker Price Opinions for 15 different lenders and/or asset management companies in all types of property inland and waterfront, single family, condos, town homes, etc.
I am a native to Maryland, moved to Virginia and through boating, relocated in St. Michaels in 1980. I truly enjoy the people and the culture here on the shore. The area is a slower pace then the metro area, but is quite convenient to Annapolis, Washington DC, Baltimore, New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia area. So you have the convenience of modern living without the rat race of the metro area. You have fishing, crabbing, hunting, boating, golfing and great restaurants and numerous other activities. Check out our Chamber of Commerce sites for Talbot, Queen Anne, Caroline, Dorchester and Somerset Counties. In Maryland you have it all, normally very mild change in seasons, the ocean, the bay, the farms and the mountains all in Maryland!
On a personal note, I live with my 3 poodle Bella, Cayenne and Sage. From a social aspect, I love boating on the Miles River and Eastern Bay, have tried some golfing, although that leaves a lot to be desired. I do volunteer work, support the Humane Society and enjoy the wonderful friends I have met since moving here and acquired through my work in real estate. I am truly blessed with a wonderful life, loving the work I do, having wonderful friends, and I just love living on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and enjoying the summer breeze and salt air. Come visit the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and enjoy what I consider a little piece of heaven.


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Spring is here and and dare I say the footie will be over soon yeah!
I am off down south for a weekend to visit my fellow artist and creative coach Tanya Cole in Dunsborugh.
Even though we haven't met each other yet, we seem to have a whole lot in common and will have lots to talk about. Lots of painting and chatting + wine, especially while the grand final is on!
Hopefully come back with a whole lot of inspiration from each other.
9th Oct
I had a great time at Tanya's. We painted ate lots of chocolate and chatted into the early hours of the morning!


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Search for Medicine :
Mahalaxmivilas Ras improves respiratory performance and strengthens the lung tissue. Useful in recurrent upper respiratory tract infections such as sinusitis, rhinitis, sore throat cough, and chronic cough.
Each 125 mg tablet contains:
Calx of Mica (Abrak Bhasma) 41.67 mg
Purified Sulphur (Shuddh Gandhak) 20.83 mg
Tin Oxide Calx. (Vang Bhasma) 10.42 mg
Purified Mercury (Shuddh Para) 5.21 mg
(Shuhdh Haritala) 5.21 mg
Calx. of Copper (Tamra Bhasma) 2.60 mg
Myristica fragrance (Nutmeg) (Jaiphal) 5.21 mg
Myristica fragrans (Mace) (Javitri) 5.21 mg
Argyreia speciosa (Vriddhadaru) 5.21 mg
Cinnamomum camphora (Karpura) 10.42 mg
Calx. of Copper Pyrites (Swarnmakshik Bhasma) 10.42 mg
Calx. of Gold (Swarna Bhasma) 2.60 mg
INDICATIONS : Sinusitis, rhinitis, sore throat cough and chronic cough.
CONTRAINDICATIONS : None
SIDE EFFECTS : None
DOSAGE : 1 to 2 Tablets to be taken in the morning and evening or as directed by the Physician.
DIETARY ADVICE : Light, easily digestible food, Juice of sweet fruits, milk, urad, pulses, white pumpkin are advised. Avoid Red Chillies, Oils, Sour substances, Curd and Butter.
PRESENTATION : In packs of 10 and 25 Tablets.
Herbal Supplements used for Diseases


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It's one thing to upload a photo of the bride before she's even walked down the aisle (a huge no-no!), but what about at the end of the evening...is that cool? We answer this burning etiquette question and offer more sound advice on the common yet seldom discussed topic of posting wedding pictures on social media post-wedding.
Ask for permission first
According to national etiquette expert Diane Gottsman, owner of The Protocol School of Texas, guests should never post pictures of the bride and groom until they get the go ahead. Unless stated otherwise (for example, there's a wedding hashtag sign encouraging guests to Instagram photos), it's up to the couple to post the first picture, which also includes the wedding venue and fellow guests, she says. "There's always a chance that feelings could get hurt when someone sees posts from the big day, and they realize they weren't included."
Don't upload any potentially embarrassing pictures of guests
This goes for both the bride and groom and other wedding guests too. You can take pictures of your child if they're part of the wedding or even a selfie of you and your spouse, but don't post any pictures of guests gone wild on the dance floor or anything that would make someone feel uneasy, warns Gottsman. "Certainly don't tag anyone without their permission!"
See More: How to Prevent Wedding Guests From Posting Photos to Social Media If You Want to See Them First
Try not to over share
Yes, we know it's tempting to post every single picture your photographer sends you because, of course, they're all freaking awesome. However, refrain from bombarding your friends and family (and tell mom to do the same) with a billion wedding-related photos all at once. Otherwise, you may find yourself de-friended or unfollowed real quick. Instead, narrow down your favorites and create an album on Facebook or share different shots over the course of the year. We see lots of #tbt pics in your future!


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PMI Educational Foundation Awards –Don't Miss This Opportunity
Do you know a student with a bright future in project management? This is your chance to help them shine in 2018.
The James R. Snyder International Student Paper of the Year Award and Donald S. Barrie Award are two valuable accolades that can help students shape their future. The deadline is: February 15, 2018. Benefits include:
- No cost to apply
- Cash prizes
- Proven excellence in the project management field
- Recognized at PMI® Global Conference
PMI Research & Academic Award Nominations
Honor and recognize your peers through nominations for PMI Academic Awards. The call for nominations closes on 1 March 2018, and includes:
- David I. Cleland Project Management Literature Award
- Scholar-Practitioner Award
- Research Achievement Award
- Teaching Excellence Award
PMI Professional Awards
Honor the best in project management when you nominate someone for one of these prestigious awards and have them recognized at PMI® Global Conference or PMO Symposium. Deadline is 1 March 2018.
- PMI Fellow Award
- PMI Project of the Year Award
- PMI Eric Jenett Project Management Award of Excellence
- PMI Award for Project Excellence
- PMI Linn Stuckenbruck Person of the Year Award|
- PMO of the Year Award (deadline 1 April)
- PMI Young Professional Award (NEW)


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천문우주과학과 관련된 사업 공고 및 설명회 정보를 제공해 드립니다.
Post-doctoral Position (due: Dec. 30 2016)
Applications are invited for 1-2 Post-doctoral positions at Seoul National University. A successful candidate will work with Prof. Jong-Hak Woo to carry out research projects, including gas outflows and AGN feedback, reverberation mapping, and coevolution of black holes and galaxies. Preference will be given to those who have experience in observational studies, e.g., IFU data analysis and variability (spectroscopic and photometric) studies. Substantial amount of time can be available for independent research.
Astronomy Department at SNU provides a lively research environment. Currently, 12 faculty members (including 2 non-Koreans) and ~60 graduate students are actively working on a wide range of research topics. Successful candidates can work with graduate and undergradue students in various levels.
Applicants must hold a Ph.D. degree or equivalent in astronomy. The duration of this position is two years, with the possibility of renewal for 2 additional years contingent upon satisfactory research performance.
The starting date is negotiable, as the 5-year research grant supporting this position is secured,
but expected in 2017A. Applicants should submit CV, publication list, research summary, research plan, and three letters of reference to woo at astro.snu.ac.kr by Dec. 30 2016. The position remains open until it is filled.
Included Benefits:
National health insurance and pension will be applied. University-subsidized housing is available for a monthly rent of ~500-600 USD.


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Digital Standby Instruments
Aerosonic, provides the next generation of stand-by indicators. Digital accuracy and reliability that will track with the primary flight display and reduce life-cycle costs.
Features & Benefits
Cost comparable to traditional mechanical instruments
Data collection retrievable via USB port
High reliability providing low cost of ownership
Built in test feature
Accurate within 0.05% of full scale
Altimeter range in excess of 50,000 feet
Airspeed range in excess of 500 knots
Capable of overspeed/underspeed output
Tested to DO 160D
Complies with DO178B
WEDDING approved


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Starting from 7th July 2017 (every Friday to Sunday), Nook at Aloft Kuala Lumpur Sentral will be enhancing its buffet dinner spread with its Treasure of the Sea dinner buffet for their weekend crowd priced at RM 138 nett per adult and RM 69 nett for kids aged 6-12 years old from 6:30pm-10:30pm.
They will be serving the best catch from the sea, diners can indulge in a variety of seafood from freshly served on a bed of ice, to hot crock pot dishes to soups and noodle dishes.
Some of its fresh seafood highlights are; Prawn, Oysters, Clams, Bamboo Clams, Squids, Mussels Giant Grouper, Tiger Prawns, Green Mussel, Half-shell Scallop, Flower Crab and many more.
As for the hot seafood lovers, there were Baked Seafood Parcel, Braised Giant Grouper Fish Head with Ginger Dark Bran Sauce, Work-fried Squid Kam Heong, Poached Tiger Prawns with Herbs and Wolfberries, Oyster Rockefeller, Gian Grouper with Spicy Tamarind Gravy Steamed Mussle with Vermicelli, Work-fried Prawn with Creamy Butter Sauce and many more, all served on a rotational basis with a selected few made available each weekend.
Some weekend buffet dinner spread special on the menu includes Chicken Avongolomelo, Braised Beef Subed with Chille Teriyaki, Palak Paneer, Stuffed Beancurd Puffs with Vegetables Paste and Irish Lam Stew. This enhanced buffet spread will also feature Nook's regular servings on the buffett plus diners will be treated a free flow of fruit juice and soft drinks.
For more information or reservation, call 03 2723 1188 or visit www.aloftkualalumpursentral.com


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Intention to make Private Placements/
9 July 2016
NZX Market Announcement
Intention to make Private Placements
Aorere Resources Limited (NZX: AOR) is intending to raise capital from qualified investors by way of placing approximately $126,000 of new shares (New Shares) at $0.0009 (0.09 cents) per share.
AOR intends to use the proceeds to finance costs in relation to the proposed acquisition of American Innovative Minerals LLC (AIM) through its wholly owned subsidiary Nevada Gold Limited (NGL). In particular, AOR has been closely investigating the listing of NGL on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) to help finance the AIM acquisition and ongoing working capital requirements.
As first announced to market on 16 May 2016, AOR secured the exclusive right to purchase AIM which holds multiple exploration projects in resource-rich Nevada, including the flagship Fondaway Canyon Gold Project. AOR has been exploring a number of strategies to finance the acquisition of AIM and its initial working capital requirements.
Following two months testing of the investment market, AOR considers the best way to fund and develop the AIM project is to provide a listed company vehicle on a recognised stock market. A listing on TSX will provide further avenues of financing, with the TSX being a leading exchange for mining stocks, and exit opportunities for investors. Accordingly, AOR will use the raised capital to cover the compliance costs associated with the listing of NGL on TSX through a listed shell company (the TSX Listing).
Following the TSX Listing, NGL will move immediately to secure a financing to acquire AIM and proceed with the development of the project.
Extended Exclusivity Period
As announced to market on 16 May 2016, AOR signed a conditional term sheet securing the exclusive right to purchase AIM for the agreed purchase price of $2 million. The parties have agreed to extend the exclusivity arrangements to 31 October 2016. This will provide NGL with additional time to carry out due diligence, secure finance to fund the acquisition and finalise a sale and purchase agreement with the vendors.
On behalf of the Board,
Chris Castle
Managing Director


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People who dump hazardous material at bonfire sites will face prosecution: that's the warning from Mid Ulster Council after it passed a SDLP motion.
Councillors had vowed to tackle the illegal burning of tyres at bonfires, which creates toxic plumes of smoke, but a controversial Sinn Fein amendment, proposed by Councillor Cathal Mallaghan, widened the prohibition to include rubbish, flags, election posters and effigies of individuals.
Last year a number of nationalist symbols and election posters were burned on a bonfire in Cookstown.
The council called on statutory agencies, landowners, the PSNI and the Fire Service to work with it in outlawing the burning of hazardous waste at bonfires. It also warned that organisers should remove offensive material from bonfires.
Introducing the motion, Councillor Christine Flynn said that although there was a local tradition of celebrating with bonfires, and this should be supported, the burning of tyres was harmful to the environment and detrimental to people's health, in particular, the young and old, and asthma sufferers.
"I call on community organisations to stop the burning of tyres, and I ask the police and fire service to take a lead role in preventing this happening", she said.
However, controversy arose when Sinn Fein representative Cathal Mallaghan introduced his amendment to the chamber, which also called on the council not to clean up the remains of bonfires from non-council property.
"Sinn Fein aren't opposed to bonfires. We want people to celebrate their culture but they should not show disrespect to others in doing so," he said.
"We want bonfires to be done safely. respectfully and lawfully."
However, his addition to the motion led to a fury of debate from Unionist councillors before it was finally passed by the majority nationalist vote.
UUP Councillor Trevor Wilson said his party supported the right of people to celebrate their culture, but did not support the burning of tyres.
"Many bonfires in the district are well-run and should be supported by the council. There is widespread concern that Sinn Fein are attacking unionist culture.
"I appeal to nationalist councillors not to use this as a stick to beat the Protestant population of Mid Ulster. Eleventh night bonfires are part of our culture and won't go away."
Council Chairperson responded by pointing out that the motion did not propose the stopping of bonfires, only the enforcement of law, which applied to all the citizens in the district.
UUP Councillor Walter Cuddy warned that the motion risked criminalising young people who build bonfires, and put at jeopardy the safety of council staff who might have to remove flags and material without the consensus of local groups.
"This will put us back to square one and cause more trouble". he warned.
DUP representative Paul McLean added to criticism, accusing Sinn Fein of jumping on the SDLP bandwagon.
"I have concerns about the timing of this motion at the commencement of our marching season and the celebrations of our culture."
Unionists were furious last year when a bonfire in Maghera was sabotaged.
Councillor Mallaghan complained that whereas all representatives were united in opposing the burning of tyres at bonfires, unionists were disagreeing with the motion because Sinn Fein had proposed the amendment
SDLP Councillor Tony Quinn said he was offended by the DUP criticism of the motion.
"This is not an anti-unionist or anti-British move. These suggestions do not help move us on the way to peace. The burning of tyres is harmful and unacceptable, and this motion is not an attack on anyone's culture.
"We should be careful not to incite tensions."


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Season's Greetings!!!
Monte Vista Projects would like you to participate in our annual Holiday Raffle event on December 10th from 4 - 6 pm. If you would like to participate this year, you can drop off artwork at Monte Vista Projects on:
Tuesday, December 6th, 6-9pm
Wednesday, December 7th, 6-9pm
Thursday, December 8th, 6-9pm
Friday, December 9th, 6-9pm
Please have work ready to hang.
All of the proceeds go towards maintaining Monte Vista Projects, including preparing for future exhibitions by Zac Bucek, Kelly Loudenberg, Bessie Kunath and Nick Loewen and many more.
Music and food will be provided during the raffle. Please feel free to spread the word and invite other artists, friends, or family to the event. Raffle tickets will be $10 per ticket.
We are very appreciative for the ongoing support we have had over the last nine years and we hope to continue providing a space for underrepresented artists.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, and we hope to see you soon!!!!


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At the beginning of November we sent out an update on our family's journey to get to Kenya. At the time we were at 63% and needed approximately 28 more partners to reach our goal of 100%, which then allows us to move forward and make travels plans. The responses to that email over the past few weeks have been downright amazing!!
We've been on this journey to join the team there equipping pastors and ministry leaders in discipleship for two years. So, we are very excited to share that our current update as of today is that we've reached 83% of our monthly goal!! This means that we now only need (roughly) 15 partners by December 10th to begin making travel plans for January!!
We lastly wanted to share the INCREDIBLE news that we have 392 people who have joined our team to walk with us specifically providing prayer support! This is huge as we can do nothing without prayer! Thank you to all who are partnering in holding us up!
Please join us in praising Jesus for His faithfulness on this journey to see us through and bring such a powerful team together! Please also join us in asking Him to bring the final 15 soon!
- For a snapshot of what exactly it is that we're moving to Kenya to do and why we're needed, click here.
- Click here to become one of the final 15 and send us on our way!
Thank you for sharing in our joy and excitement at what has been happening and what is still yet to come!


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Simone's tent is a location in Fallout 3. It is the tent of Simone Cameron at the Lincoln Memorial. Simone's tent only appears only if the quest Head of State has been completed in favor of the slaves.
It is small, cramped and one of a number of tents located at the base of the Lincoln Memorial. It is adjacent to Caleb's tent and has two bunk beds, metal shelving, tables and chairs. One of the bunk beds is marked as owned by Caleb Smith and the other is free to use.
Simone's tent appears only in Fallout 3.
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.


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Hire Michael Jackson Tribute in Northamptonshire
Browse Michael Jackson Tributes
Recent review: "David Boakes put on a fabulous act as Micheal Jackson my daughter is very autistic and there were lots of people with various disabilities at the party David was absolutely lovely with everyone I would highly recommend this act to anyone for any kind of occasion very polite professional and mo
Recent review: Had Edward last time by himself but this time he had twin dancers and they were fantastic and he was to, it was amazing whole set up costumes, very friendly and made everyone up on there feet a cannot give one fault amazing his voice if you just shut your eyes sounds like the real Michael ... could
About: The Jackson Experience is one of the few Michael Jackson tributes that can replicate the intense energy and stage presence of the great King of Pop. Each performance the team give their all with a spectacular display of dancing prowess that leaves audiences across the country and Europe spellbound.
About: A Michael Jackson tribute act you will experience the full magic the iconic moves and songs by Michael Jackson himself
About: 21 Entertainment is a modern, creative and innovative entertainment agency. Our aim is simple. To provide you with the highest standard of entertainment for your next party, event, function or wedding. We do this by working with some of the UK's finest musicians, bands, entertainers and performers a


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Google Home Can Now Find You a Plumber
Google Home users will be happy to hear that the smart speaker is about to get even smarter thanks to the introduction of two handy new features.
If you're looking for a plumber, electrician, house cleaner, or another nearby service provider, Google Home can now help you out with that. Just say, "Ok Google, find me a plumber," for instance. The speaker's built-in virtual assistant will ask you a few follow-up questions then provide a list of some local options.
Besides Google Home, this feature works on the Google Assistant app for iOS and Android, and other voice-activated speakers with Google's virtual helper built-in. Google will be rolling out this feature in the US over the coming week.
"In many cities the Google Assistant will suggest providers that have been prescreened by Google and companies like HomeAdvisor and Porch so you can feel confident they're ready to take on the job," Google Assistant Product Lead Gummi Hafsteinsson wrote in a Thursday blog post. "And if you're in a city that doesn't have any available guaranteed or screened providers, you'll still get an answer from the Assistant with other nearby results."
Meanwhile, Google Home can now handle two commands in a row, a feature Google quietly started rolling out this week, as was first reported by CNET. You can, for instance, say "'Ok Google, play jazz music and set the volume to 5,'" and the smart speaker will handle both requests without getting confused, the report notes. Just don't try to ask Google Home to do three or more things at once, because it's not that smart yet.


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Android & iOS mobile app development
Development of bespoke smartphone/tablet apps for Android and iPhone/iOS to fit your individual business needs.
Website design & development
Design and development of responsive websites that look great on mobile phone, tablet and desktop web browsers.
WordPress design & development
Custom WordPress design and development of themes, plugins and Gutenberg blocks.
Portfolio A selection of apps and websites designed and developed for clients
Happiness Every Day
Android and iOS apps
Android and iOS apps
Larches and Savick ABC Boxing Academy
Responsive website
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Top HR Influencers to Watch in 2016
Lucy Babbage is their Director of People, and is responsible for driving the company culture and recruitment practices that mold marketing to millennials.
As a member of Betterment's senior management team, Babbage has high stakes in the business, and greatly affects how the people, culture, and trends shape this up-and-coming organization. She's gathering some of the industry's best talent for marketing to millennials, and changing the way this generation thinks about their wallets and their futures.Read the Original Article
This article originally published April 26th, 2016 on Kisi


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Avoid Low-Hanging Fruit/
Today's quote is inspired by events from late 2014 and early 2015. During that time frame, we lost a lot of maintenance business. And what was so hard about losing this business was that the reason we lost it had nothing to do with our company or our work - it was due to only 1 thing - PRICE. It was very frustrating and left me with a feeling of helplessness. It also called into question everything I believed about who we are. Today's quote highlights my struggle at the time as I faced this crisis of belief. The quote is by Richard A. Davis is found in his book The Intangibles of Leadership. The intangible he is discussing in the chapter where this quote is found is entitled "Will."
"Leaders who become overly tempted by "low-hanging fruit often do so at the expense of valuable long-term opportunities."
Translation: it was very tempting to give up on our commitment to quality and service and change our entire business model to replace this work. I actually thought to myself, "if the customer is not willing to pay for the quality and service, and shows no loyalty to save a buck, maybe we should develop the same calloused approach and become like every other landscaper?" Thankfully that was a fleeting thought!
We held true to our credo - quality, service, and a commitment to honoring our word. We worked hard to discover new ways to operate so that we could offer the same exceptional quality and service but at a price that can be more affordable. We kept our eye on the long-term goal despite opportunities to grab some low-hanging fruit. As a result, since early 2015 we've been incredibly fortunate to experience another significant growth spurt to the point that our maintenance billings are at an all-time high. We've been rewarded again for our commitment to quality, service, and honoring our word.
Remember: all of this hard work to gain our reputation can be destroyed by a few poor choices. Everyone at Crawford has the ability to effect this and must take our credo seriously. Quality is job 1. Service each client like you would like to be serviced. And always, I repeat always, do what you say you're going to do. Wash, rinse and repeat!


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Indian Classical Music
Indian Classical Music was born out of deep meditation.
The meditators – when they realised themselves – expressed their bliss through singing or playing on instruments: this was the origin of Ragas.
That is why Indian Music has the flavour of Meditation – bliss grows through it.
Samadhi flowers from it.