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Christine Ota
Group: Esha Patel, Judy Wu
Des40A Winter14
Prof. Christina Cogdell
Raw Materials Used in the Production of Ugg Boots
As people of today's ever consuming society, we tend to overlook the aspects of production and waste. For society, the cost of the product is displayed in dollar signs while, in fact, it costs far more. A product's life span doesn't begin on the shelf and end in a trash can. A product must be conceived from raw materials taken from the earth and its resources; not only to physically make the product, but to fully support the life cycle, from construction to decomposition.
Although the fashion industry is continually attempting to produce "affordable" products that are both stylish as well as eco-friendly, many companies overlook the environmental aspect of the process to achieve a high-income and popular item. Despite the amount of pride in its "premium" product, Ugg Australia uses a costly amount of raw materials to create the "finished piece of sheepskin worthy of only the UGG Australia name" (Craftsmanship). Putting such a high price and high standard on the product increases the amount of interest in the product as well as the amount of energy and materials spent. The process of creating a pair of Ugg boots consumes a wide range and large amount of raw materials, most of which are used to prepare the sheep skin that is used to construct majority of the boot. The amount of resources that the singular product consumes is more than just the life of the sheep and some chemicals for the sole. One pair of Ugg Australia Boots can consume over twenty different materials in the process of production.
The life of an Ugg Australia boot begins with the life of sheep in Australia. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the average flock size of the Australian merino sheep is 2,200 (The Wool Industry) and a low-intake sheep can eat 100g per day, where as a high-intake sheep could eat 800g per day (Holst). If the average consumption of grasses is 350g per day per sheep, the average flock of 2200 would consume 770,000g of grasses a day. To support this large diet, a farmer must either own a vast pasture or buy the needed amount of food to keep the sheep at optimum size and health. If the farmer does decide to outsource the food, whether it be grasses or pellets, the cost of harvesting and shipping is more than just the money. It includes a large amount of fuels and raw materials for the production. Besides the need of grassy pastures and food sources, the sheep also need a supply of water, and ample amount of space for waste.
When the sheep are at a prime age and have high production of the merino wool, the sheep are sent to a slaughter house. At the slaughter house, the sheep are butchered for meat and the hides are preserved for the manufacturing of the boots as well as other sheepskin products. The sheep hides are first placed in a large vat, called a paddle, of salt water that can hold anywhere from 3,000 to 15,000 liters (VanPelt). It is there that they are gently cleaned, clearing the pelts of loose debris and dirt. After the sheepskin is taken from the salt water, it is placed in another vat, this time filled with fresh water, which removes finer debris as well as the salt from the first rinse. Since flesh and fat may still be attached, the process of fleshing takes place so that none is left on the hide. This part of the process is "essential for allowing more rapid and complete penetration of chemicals in the later stages of processing, particularly during the pickling and tanning stages" (Ibid). A machine carefully does this task so that precision and efficiency meets time standards. This standard is met by using energy sourced from fossil fuels that provide electricity for the factories in which these many processes take place. Scouring, the next step after fleshing, makes sure that the wool of the sheep (still intact with the hide) is clear of dirt and grease. Scouring also takes place in other methods of processing wool and is the integration of surfactants at a high temperature to clean the wool. The anionic surfactants commonly used are "linear alkyl benzene sulfonates (LAS), alcohol sulfonates (AS), alcohol ethereal sulfonates (AES) and alkaline soaps of the fatty acids," all of which are biodegradable (Hot Water). After all this takes place, the pickling stage of the tanning may begin.
When the hide completes its time for scouring, it moves into the tanning stage. The first step, pickling, takes an average of 16 hours, where the hide is placed in a solution of salts and acids. The acid can cause the hide to swell so the salt is added to prevent the swelling. After the 16 hours spent pickling, the sheepskin moves on to a new 16 hour process where it is exposed to chromium salts and sodium bicarbonate. The chromium salts, considered the tanning agent, are used to prevent rotting while the sodium bicarbonate fixes the salts to the sheepskin and raises the overall pH (VanPelt). When the total 32 hours of the tanning process have been completed, the wool is able to be dyed to the preferred color. It was explained in VanPelts article that "pelt reserve agents" must be added to keep the skin from being dyed along with the wool, but such agents proved hard to find sufficient information on. Fatliquor, emulsified oil, and dyes are combined in this process to achieve an even dye as well as flexibility for the sheepskin after the dying has been completed. Forced air is used to dry the hides and it usually takes anywhere from 4- 24 hours to complete (Ibid). Despite the many cleaning processes before tanning and dying, the sheepskin must be dry-cleaned with perchloroehtylene after dyed to ensure that all grease has been removed. To condition the sheepskin suede after all the processes have taken place, the suede leather is rubbed down with a "natural" concoction of "coconut and jojoba oils" (Sheepskin Cleaner). Although more ingredients take place in the conditioner, the contents weren't able to be identified.
The construction of the sole of the shoe can go two different ways. The older shoe soles were mainly made of rubber. Rubber can be made from latex harvested from the hevea brasiliensis tree or can be made from petroleum. As hevea brasilinesis trees and petroleum became over harvested—the tree for other rubber products and the petroleum for a wide range of products—the manufacturers developed EVA soles to compete with the depleting resources. EVA, ethylene vinyl acetate, is a light-weight compound that has become very popular in the shoe industry. Widely used for athletic shoes, EVA is prized for its air-like qualities. These qualities can be attributed to the addition of expanding agents. The expanding agents are responsible for creating the desirable lightweight qualities, but can also create air pockets in the sheets, so that when the soles are cut from patterns, holes sometimes appear, rendering the sole undesirable. A variety of websites claim that this product is cheap and eco-friendly. As we find in many products, most cheap plastic products come at a large price when dealing with resources and bi-products. The consumers are most concerned with the durability qualities of the product, but it has been found that while lightweight, ethylene vinyl acetate is easily degraded by wear. To accommodate this weakness, EVA can be combined with rubber to increase the durability of the sole.
Although EVA has become more common, rubber is still being manufactured for soles, if not at least to be added to the EVA. As far as the research showed, the manufacturing of rubber from a hevea brasiliensis tree can include far more raw materials compared to the making of EVA. Materials such as water, dyes, acids, sulfur, silica/calcium carbonate, and antioxidants are all added to the mixture, not to mention the main ingredient: latex. To support the manufacturing, lots of resources must be put into the harvesting of rubber. Although many environmental groups are working to protect these trees from being harvested, they are not considering the alternative to latex from the hevea brasiliensis tree, which is petroleum. The harvesting of petroleum for the creation of rubber or for any reason is harmful to the environment and the organisms within the environment. Not to mention the massive amounts of energy and resources that are being used to pump and distribute the oils. As this "natural" resource is constantly being harvested, petroleum may seem like a fix to the problem concerning shoe soles now, but when these resources deplete, we will have to think of new ways to sole our shoes, especially since our newest and brightest technology—EVA—isn't considered durable enough without the rubber.
No matter which type of sole is used, after they produce the two main components of the boot, they must assemble the final product. After the sheepskin is cut down with patterns—usually by machine— machines stitch together sheepskin pieces, making sure that the suede is on the outside while the wool is protected on the inside. From what little found on the binding, the stitching and binding is usually made from cotton. Like any crop, water and oil are two very important components in the harvest of cotton. Water is necessary for the growth and development of the cotton, while the oil is used for all the machinery necessary for tending to the cotton. After being harvested, the cotton goes through extensive processes to be wound into yarns. These yarns not only are used to stitch the boots together, but are also woven into binding for the top of the boot. On certain occasions, the binding may be made from synthetic materials.
Before the shoe sole may be attached, it must go through surface prep. Surface prep of the sole requires chlorination so that the rubbery sole may react more easily with the adhesive and attach to the rest of the shoe. A polyurethane adhesive is used to attach the boot upper to the sole, and the wide brim of the sole that wraps around is stitched to the upper to reinforce the sole's connection to the rest of the shoe.
An aspect easily overlooked, even in this research, is the embellishments that commonly adorn on the Ugg boot as well as the packaging that is applied to distribute and sell the product. Embellishments as simply as tags were forgotten, but, like the binding, is generally woven from cotton or a cotton blend. It must remain durable so it can withstand the wearers' adventures, so a likely combination would be cotton and polyester. Polyester provides strength to the product, commonly not found in cotton, while still retaining popular cotton qualities such as comfort. Packaging, while important, is manufactured completely independently from the actual manufacturing of the boot. It has a completely different life cycle, only intersecting with the Ugg boot product for a short period of each cycle.
When being disposed of, the Ugg doesn't have many options. If it is in good shape, it could be donated to thrift stores or sold to consignment. All Uggs, eventually, end up being sent to landfills. In landfills, the Ugg boot waits to waste away like the rest of the garbage. Unfortunately, studies have not shown how long the Ugg boot lives in the landfills, but with all the chemical and other treatments to the leather, along with the rubber or synthetic sole, the boot does not have an easy time biodegrading.
While researching the Ugg Australia boot, many aspects were overlooked as less significant when considering the raw materials that go into the production of the boot. While many routes could be taken, extreme measures weren't made. An example of an extreme measure would be following the raw materials that go into producing and running the machinery required for the production. It was mentioned that petroleum fuels the factories and the machineries within, but it was chosen to not go into detail over the machines that drilled the petroleum and what sort of materials were needed to construct said machines. In a way, that would be going in circles. Many of the same raw materials are used over and over again during the life cycle of the Ugg boot, and would also be present in the manufacturing of the tools and machines. Despite the similarity in the raw materials put into the product, depending on the specific style, many of the materials could change for the Ugg boot. Different styles offering different aspects include different materials and different techniques for those materials. In the end, the main research that had taken place mainly focused on the materials, energy, and waste of the production of sheepskin.
Sheepskin, being the main material of the average Ugg boot, used the greatest amount of resources to manufacture. It demanded the most focus during the research process and proved to be quite interesting. To those unaware of what the process is like, the Ugg boot is an overpriced luxury of comfort and style. Like most other products, humans overlook the amount of resources, energy, and waste that is used and created for one singular product. Just the amount of effort expressed in preparing the sheepskin for authentic suede Ugg boots is astounding, yet when the sole and other aspects are added to the product, the amount of resources steadily rises. One of the hardest ideas to fully comprehend is the scale at which these are being manufactured. While there is some gain through producing on a large scale, the full amount of raw materials that are used, and possibly wasted, is an unfathomable amount. When a consumer buys a product, he is not only buying that garment or gadget, he is buying all the resources and energy that went into the production of the product. When he disposes of the leftover product in the end of its cycle, he is disposing of materials that, in some cases, we can never get back. If this research shows anything, it demonstrates that the life cycle of a product is far more than what it appears. The life cycle of a product encompasses all that come in contact with the item as well as those items that are sacrificed to produce the overall manufactured item.
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VanPelt, Don. "How Do They Make Ugg Boots?" Sheepskin Boots for You. N.p., 2012. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. <http://www.sheepskinbootsforyou.com/howdotheymakeuggboots.htm>.
"The Wool Industry--Looking Back and Forward." Year Book Australia 1301 (2003): n. pag. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 24 Jan. 2003. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. <http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/1301.0Feature%20Article172003?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=1301.0&issue=2003&num&view>
Esha Patel
Research Assignment: embodied energy
Professor Cogdell
March 13, 2014
Embodied Energy in Uggs
Essentially unisex sheepskin boots, fleeced on the inside, UGGs were originally worn by Australian surfers in the 1960s and, as American surfers visiting discovered the comfort and warmth they offered, followed them back to the California coast. Some small retailers caught on the trend and started selling imported boots as early as the 1970s. The popularity of the boots was quick and well-noticed and after some legal naming conflicts where the word UGG was already used to describe a generic sheepskin boot in Australia and New Zealand, Deckers Outdoor Corporation bought the trademark in America, and eventually over 100 other countries as well, although neither Australia not New Zealand are on the list. The popularity of UGG boots rose rapidly in the late 1990s and the mid 2000s where teenage girls decided UGGS were "the shoe" and a variety of UGGs were released in pink, blue, black, with sequins, with knit outsides, with buttons, with zippers, and even with heels. Today UGGs style boots can be found in all colors of the rainbow and with various outer coverings and an array of styles. With the recent rise in popularity, Deckers UGG boots have found themselves facing scores of knock-off brands such as Bearpaw or Euram UGG, although they still control about 90% of UGG boot distribution. On top of that, with a recent backlash against sheepskin boots, there are companies selling faux sheepskin UGG style boots, made of polyester and cotton blends. For this report however, the boot whose production we will follow is the traditional sheepskin UGG boot made in Australia, although distributed from the United States.
To trace the main material used to make original high quality UGG boots, we go to the Australian Merino sheep. These come in four varieties, Peppin, Saxon, South Australian, and Spanish, and are generally raised in different parts of Australia. Rearing sheep takes within itself a great amount of energy, both human and otherwise. First, land has to be cleared for sheep raising. Sheep farms vary from very open grassy fields to total confinement, where sheep are always kept indoors to raise the number of sheep possible per plot of land or to protect the sheep from local predators. Almost all farms will have a barn for the sheep to sleep in and most require feeding and watering equipment. These are often made with mixtures of both plastic and metal elements. The plastics, used for feeding equipment and part of the shed, are generally petroleum based and are also manufactured using fossil fuels, often in China. The metals, often aluminum, would be mined from various sites, refined, shaped, and transported to Australia to make fences, roofs, and troughs and more. This transportation would likely be done through various modes of transportations from truck, to train, to ship, to potentially plane, all of which are powered by fossil fuels. Building the barns would require both human energy and expertise help supplied by construction vehicles, also run on fossil fuels. Once the raising habitat is complete, there is the energy input required to keep the sheep alive, which includes nutritional input. Sheep are usually fed hay and various grains through V-shaped troughs and water from flatter troughs. When possible, all hay, grains and water are obtained locally to minimize costs, and consequently fossil fuel energy potentially used in transportation. Sheep are also often fed extra minerals for added health security, although which minerals are effective vary by climate and season. To check sheep health and for parasite, such as worms, breeders often do stool samples checks, which are done regularly with testing kits, which require a variety of chemicals, likely made synthetically and transported from a distant lab, as well as some lab equipment, with its own manufacturing and transportation energy costs. De-worming is usually done through feeding infected sheep supplements, although some herbal remedies are being tested.
Finally, as the sheep grow up and mature, they can be sent for either further breeding, sheared for fleece, or to killing factories, where depending on the facilities, they are killed humanely with some anesthesia or with other quick, effective methods, or if the facility is not quite so well-maintained, they would be scalded half-alive or electrocuted to death. Both have their respective energy counts and less humane methods tend to have lower energy counts, though a humane death may be argued to be worth a higher energy count.
After, the hides are separated from the meats and each sent their separate ways. The now sheep-less sheepskins begin a lengthy tanning process. They are first set for preservation by soaking for about 10 days in a large metal drum shaped vessel called a paddle. These vessels can hold between 3,000 to 15,000 liters of salt water, depending on the size of the vat. The large container is usually heated and contains rotary paddles which would skin at most very slowly, allowing the salt water to thoroughly soak the skins. The paddles can be run on hydraulic power, but are also on motors, which would likely use gas or electricity, which in this day, tend to be from fossil fuels. The salt water would also be mixed on site, leaving the salts to be either transported from wherever they are artificially made or mined.
The hides are also then soaked and thoroughly rinsed for 16 hours in cold water, which is cooled through a refrigeration process. A fleshing machine is then used to remove excess fat and other tissue leftover from the skinning process on the underside of the skins. This is so chemicals which will be later used in the process can pass through the skin more easily. Most of these machines can be imported worldwide, though there are many suppliers selling cheaply from China. Unless the process is happening in China, as with many off-brand UGG boots, this would add transportation costs and energy total energy use in making the boots.
The skins are then "scoured" with high temperature surfactants (around 38 °C or 100°F), of which linear alkyl benzene sulfonates (LAS) is a biodegradable, but toxic variety. It is created from propylene and benzyne, which are both petroleum products. The scouring process usually lasts from 30-45 minutes and the goals are to remove all leftover dirt or grease from the skin.
The sheepskin is then "pickled" using an acid and salt mixture for around 16 hours. This is to bring down the acidity of the skins to in between 2.8-3.0 to allow the tanning agent in the next step to properly permeate the collagen of the skins. The tanning agents in this context are usually chromium salts, which bond with the collagen in the skins, stabilizing the molecules and preventing most of the skin from rotting or decomposing. Chromium is generally mined in India, North Africa, and some parts of Brazil, and after mining and processing, is shipped to Australia. To bind the chromium to the collagen, the acidity and temperature of the vat is raised. This process in itself is heated by either gas or electricity.
The tanning part of the process is over and is quickly followed by the dying of the skins. The pH of the skins is raised to about 4.5-6 and the solution is heated to between 60-65°C (about 140-150°F). The dye, along with a "fatliquor" or treated oil to keep the skin soft is added to the mix. The dyes are often aniline dyes and made from petroleum. The mixture is allowed to soak for about 3-4 hours and then is set to dry, a process which entails the skin be stretched out over a frame and blow dried at temperatures ranging from 50-80°C (about 125-175°F) from anywhere between 4 to 24 hours. This is one of the most energy intensive parts of the process, as far as energy usage goes. Over the next 4-24 hours after that, the skins are dry-cleaned using a high-boiling petroleum faction. Then the hides are once again put back in the paddle to ensure removal of any and all traces of fat or grease. In the paddle, the pelts are dyed again, at a cooler temperature. This reduces the chance the dyes will stain other materials after the process is complete. The pelts are then tanned once more with synthetic tanning materials or "syntanned" for added firmness. Some of these synthetic materials include resin tanning agents and are manufactured in various factories globally. They are then dried as the last part of the tanning process.
The skins are then conditioned to "20% moisture content" although further searching did not very many details on this process. The pelts are then staked and stretched to restore nappy texture to the suede side of the skin. This process seems to involve stretching the skins or beating them with a dull headed stick or other item.
The wool is then combed for any remaining burrs, leaves, seeds or other unwanted natural stragglers. After combing, the wool is straightened by an iron to remove crimps in the fibers. A clipping machine is then used to trim the wool length to an even pile. All these machines can be assumed to operate on electric or gas power.
At long last, after the skin ready for processing, the pelts are cut using a clicking press for even and uniform pattern pieces.
The soles of UGG boots are usually made out of EVA rubber, which is made from vinyl acetate and ethylene gas. It is known to be easily moldable and flexible, but nonetheless strong. The soles of UGG boots are shaped in molds and then added to the factory line with the cut-outs of the main body of the boots.
The sheepskin pieces are fitted together, using industrial sewing machines and cotton thread, which is grown and processed mainly in the tropics of Southeastern North America, Northern Africa, India, and some Pacific Islands. This part is done using human energy. The finished soles are then attached to the rest of the boot using polyurethane adhesives as a bonding agent.
The material used on the final patch on heel of the boot could not be identifies though, it seems to be a waterproof textile and as such, is likely synthetic. The embroidery could be doine with either cotton thread, as follows the craft of the boot seams, or by using a synthetic thread for sustainability.
The boots are then packaged in cardboard boxes with some tissue paper inside to soak up moisture, as well as to ensure the boots keep their shape despite being on their sides for months up to years. This cardboard boxes and tissue papers are usually made of recycled paper pulp, which reduces resources, but still requires energy to churn out.
The UGG boots are then shipped from the plant in Australia to the Deckers Outdoors Corporation warehouse in southern California, either by freight or plane, or even both. The shoes are then stored then as outlets and stores request them. They are from there, shipped out as necessary, both national and international. Shipping details as to whether they were transported by plane, train, ship, or truck were unavailable, although the company website does state they use FedEx Shipping Company to ship their packages. A solid guess would be that the company uses all four as needed. Depending on where the boots ship to, shipping charges and the energy burned in excess movement can be cancelled out by having a warehouse in Australia or China, where the factory would be.
After the UGGs are in stores, they are bought by consumers largely through human power. As with almost all consumer products, they go through their allotted lifespan when no longer comfortable or wearable, they are usually trashed with common garbage.
The boots are then taken to landfills, adding yet one last transportation cost to their lifespan. At eh landfill they are either sorted with textile waste and disposed of as such, or kept with common waste and are left to slowly degrade.
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"Sheep 201: A Beginner's Guide to Raising Sheep." Sheep 201: A Beginner's Guide to Raising Sheep. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. <http://www.sheep101.info/201/index.html>.
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"Common Products and Building Materials: A Quick Guide to Eco-smart Choices; rubber." City of Port Phillip Community Environment: EHub. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. <http://www.enviroehub.com.au/index.php?nodeId=264#rubber>
Judy Wu
Research Paper
Authentic Ugg Australia Feel - Wastes and Emissions
As I walk though the halls of my high school, walking from class to class, I see girls showing off their new Ugg Australia boots. I admit, I own a pair myself and they are quite comfortable and soft. But I honestly had no idea what they were made out of when I bought them; like many other girls (and guys), I just thought they were cute, comfortable shoes!
"Do you know why they're called Uggs? Because it stands for 'ugly'!"
"But they're so comfortable! And I think they're cute; you're just jealous."
I remember overhearing two girls having this very conversation back in high school. Ugg boots were really popular then and they still are now. They are comfortable and cute, though everyone has their own opinions about its aesthetic appearance. Ugg boots first became popular when Pamela Anderson donned a pair while on the set of Baywatch. She, like a lot of us, thought that Ugg boots were simply made from shaved wool, which sadly is not true. Ugg boots are not made from just wool. They do not call Uggs "sheepskin boots" for no reason. Most people do not know about the materials that are put in to making Ugg boots, nor do they know about the waste and emissions as a result from the production of Ugg boots.
Real authentic Ugg Australia boots are made from Australian Merino Sheepskin (Ugg Australia, 2013). So where does the sheepskin come from? Most people believe that sheep are raised and slaughtered specifically for their sheepskin for the production of Ugg boots, but that's only half the truth. Sheep are never raised specifically for their skins, but for their meat. The skin used for Ugg boots are simply a byproduct of the meat industry. Sheep farmers sell their sheepskin byproducts to manufacturers like Ugg Australia so that they can use it, instead of tossing it out, for high quality sheepskin boots. However, there have been videos surfacing the net showing mistreatment of sheep and sheep being tortured.
Before any processing can be done, the sheepskin has to be properly prepared at a tannery. The sheepskins have to be soaked in salt water for about 10 days. "[The] tanneries use large vessels called paddles, that hold anywhere from 3,000 to 15,000 liters of salt water, slowly swish the skins around inside. (VanPelt, 2012)" Even before the production of Ugg boots begin, tanneries are already using thousands and thousands of liters of water just to soak the sheepskins as preparation. After preparation is done, the actual production process begins. The first step in processing is "soaking" the sheepskin overnight, which takes about 16 hours to complete, in fresh cold water to remove all impurities. After soaking is "fleshing" which removes excess fat and muscle tissue from the sheepskins, and allows better penetration of chemicals in the later stages of processing. Then comes "scouring," which is a 30-45 minute process of surfactants at 38 degrees Celsius, to remove impurities and lanolin from the wool. After scouring is "pickling" which soaks the sheepskins in a solution of acid and salt. Pickling helps prevent potential swelling of the sheepskins due to acid, and lowers the sheepskins' pH to about 2.9; this takes about 16 hours to complete. The next step is "tanning," which also takes about 16 hours to complete. This step is crucial in that it helps the sheepskin structure to stabilize and prevents putrefaction and rot. Just like the scouring step, this step also requires that the sheepskin be heated to about 38 degrees Celsius.
After all of that preparation and processing, the sheepskin is finally ready to undergo dyeing. Wool dyeing takes about 3 to 4 hours to complete, and is only done after the sheepskin completes the tanning process (VanPelt, 2013). Once the dyeing process is complete, the sheepskin needs to be dried. During the drying process, which can take anywhere from 4 to 24 hours to complete, the sheepskin is force dried with strong air dryers at high temperatures; then, the remaining impurities, if any, are removed from the sheepskin. As finishing touches, the sheepskin is conditioned to have that signature Ugg Australia look and feel; and the wool is combed, trimmed and ironed to soft perfection (Winton, 1949). Now, the sheepskin is finally ready for the manufacturing process. Pieces are cut, sewn and glued together, then sold at retail stores.
The production of Ugg boots is a tediously long and complicated process that involves a lot of different materials, requires a lot of energy, and ultimately produces a lot of waste and emissions. A lot of waste byproducts and emissions are created by the production and manufacturing processes of Ugg Australia boots. The major waste byproduct is water pollution. During almost every step of the production of Ugg boots that I mentioned earlier uses thousands and thousands of liters of water. The dyeing process of the sheepskin uses the most water, and produces the most waste water that is not recyclable or reusable; chemicals from the dye are permanently left in the water. During the dyeing process, "special 'pelt reserve agents' must be added to keep the wool dye from staining the pelt (VanPelt, 2012)." Emulsified oil is then added to the dye solution after the dyes have been stabilized on the wool. The emulsified oil is an important step in the dyeing process because it is what helps lubricate the sheepskin so that it is soft, flexible and has that "authentic Ugg Australia leather feel." According to Turnkey Solutions Inc., emulsified oils are created in two ways: mechanically and chemically (2012). Mechanical emulsions simply refer to the vigorous mixing of the oil droplets in water; it is a physical process. Chemical emulsions are created when surfactants, soaps or detergents are used in the mixture; the use of surfactants, soaps and detergents interferes with the oil's natural reaction when mixed with water, and instead is permanently stabilized. This step creates more waste water in that the water cannot be reused, since the emulsified oil is "permanently stabilized" with little to no chance of breakage. Ugg Australia also sells a "conditioner," emulsified oil solution, to Ugg boot owners that want to keep their expensive boots in good, soft condition. Even after production of the Ugg boot is done, the product keeps contributing to waste and emissions throughout the product's life cycle.
In 2010, the global textile market was worth 1.175 trillion dollars, suggesting huge amounts of investments into textile dyeing processes (Savageau, 2012). Dyeing processes are very water intensive, and uses thousands of different kinds of chemicals, which we cannot safely remove from the water used. Also, a lot of pollution is created as a negative externality. Textile dyeing is one of the biggest players in water pollution and carbon dioxide emissions. The paddles that the sheepskin dyeing is taking place in requires lots of energy to run, which in turn creates a lot of carbon dioxide emissions and water pollution as a consequence. Also, before and after the actual dyeing of the sheepskins, preparation and finishing steps must be taken, which also uses thousands and thousands of liters of water as well, tripling the amount of carbon dioxide and water pollution created (Savageau, 2013). The dyes themselves are very toxic and many are also carcinogenic. Ugg Australia uses acid dyes for their sheepskin and wool to lower the pH level of the sheepskin so that the dyes will stabilize in the sheepskin and become permanent. However, about 60 to 70 percent of the acidic dyes used in the textile industry contain carcinogenic compounds (Savageau, 2013). One carcinogenic dye, anthraquinone, is found in almost all dye classes, regardless of whether it is acidic or not. These toxic, hazardous dyes are found in Ugg Australia boots, which can potentially be absorbed through our skin and into our bodies. Also, when dyes are used, lots of water is used to mix the dyes, which are then turned into just waste water when the dyeing process is over. The waste water is also toxic since it contains carcinogenic compounds which cannot be removed, and if the waste water is not discarded carefully, then the water can easily end back up in our faucets and drains, therefore entering our homes. Ugg boots are not harming only the environment with the waste and emissions created during production, but also the consumers in that in extreme cases, the carcinogenic compounds from the dyes can potentially be rubbed off and absorbed through the skin of the consumer.
There are many alternatives that could reduce the amount of waste water created and the amount of water used, which ultimately would reduce the costs of production as well. As an alternative, the sheepskin can undergo air dyeing or digital printing instead of pelt dyeing. Air dyeing does not require the use of water at all, which could reduce water usage by up to 75 gallons of water per one pound of textile. Dyes are transferred from paper to textiles by heat in just one step, which ultimately reduces energy use by 85 percent. Also, there are no harmful byproducts or chemicals. Digital printing reduces water usage by 90 percent and energy usage by 75 percent; and like air dyeing, digital printing also does not create any harmful byproducts or chemicals.
Ugg boots are not made from just sheepskin and wool, but also cotton. The stitching and binding of the Ugg boot requires cotton. Cotton is, according to Ann Savageau, a "textile villain (2013);" it uses ten percent of pesticides and 23 percent of herbicides worldwide, which include some of the world's most hazardous pesticides. Volatile organic compound emissions from cotton pesticides are currently over 11 million pounds in California, making cotton one of the highest crop contributors to volatile organic compound emissions in the entire state. These pesticides are so toxic, that many Californian farm workers get sick and die from pesticides each year (Savageau 2013). The soles of Ugg Australia boots are made from ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and rubber. EVA is a light, expanded rubber that is both soft and flexible. But according to an experiment done at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, EVA produces acetic acid when it decomposes. Acetic acid is an organic compound; when concentrated, acetic acid is corrosive and attacks the skin. The rubber used in the sole of the boots is natural rubber extracted from the hevea brasiliensis tree. Over extracting of the hevea brasiliensis tree can easily cause deforestation which ultimately causes carbon dioxide emissions to rise; and carbon dioxide emissions are already at a historical high as of right now with about 400 parts per million (Savageau, 2012).
According to Wikipedia, surfing helped popularize Ugg boots in the United States, and other places outside of Australia and New Zealand. Authentic Ugg Australia boots are manufactured in Australia which then need to be transported to the United States; and according to one of Ann Savageau's lectures, shipping long distances by air emits more than 40 times the carbon dioxide than just using a container ship. I could not find any information on how Ugg Australia boots are actually shipped from Australia, so I am just going to assume that they are shipped by air because it is a lot faster than by sea, and the demand for Ugg boots in California just keeps rising. In fact, Ugg boot sales have grown about 80% since it was first introduced to the states by surfers; though the demand is mainly in southern Orange County, with an increase in sales of 60% (Wikipedia, 2014).
Like all other textile products, Ugg boots are not kept forever, sometimes even thrown away much earlier than when the life cycle of the product ends. According to the US EPA, "12.7 million tons of textile waste is landfilled per year (Savageau, 2013)." In general, garment producers expect to waste about 15 percent of the textiles needed to produce a garment (Gwilt, page 84). This means more waste from the production of Ugg boots. Ugg boots have a very distinct shape, which means that it has a very distinct pattern pieces cut from the sheepskin. Since sheepskin come in all shapes and sizes, and Ugg boot shafts are not perfect rectangles, we can imagine how much of the sheepskin fiber is wasted during the production process.
From the production to the manufacturing to the transportation of Ugg Australia boots, a lot of unwanted waste and emissions are consequently produced. The major emissions of the production of Ugg boots is waste water and water pollution. The dyeing, soaking and rinsing processes of sheepskin require a lot of water, enough water to quench the thirst of India for awhile. Using alternative dyeing methods would greatly reduce the consumption of water and even carcinogenic compounds left in the dyed sheepskin. If the goal of Ugg Australia is to reduce waste and emissions, then they should start by using another dyeing method, then by using alternative methods for drying sheepskin too. The forced air drying method that they are currently using requires way too much energy consumption that ultimately emits a lot of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which contributes to our already very high carbon dioxide levels. If the goal of Ugg Australia is to make the world a better place, while still being stylish and fashionable, they should start by reconsidering their current Ugg Australia boot manufacturing and production practices. By just changing a few things in their production process, they can instantly make a difference in the world because one small change is multiplied by thousands since Uggs are now being mass produced to satisfy the high demand in Southern California.
1. Gwilt, Alison, and Timo Rissanen. Shaping sustainable fashion: changing the way we make and use clothes. London: Earthscan, 2011. Print.
2. Kempe, Michael D., Gary J. Jorgensen, Kent M. Terwilliger, Tom J. McMahon, and Cheryl E. Kennedy. "Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate Potential Problems for Photovoltaic Packaging." National Renewable Energy Laboratory. 2006: n. pag. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Web. 9 Mar. 2014.
3. Ugg Australia. "Craftsmanship & Materials." Ugg Australia. 2013. Web. 8 Mar. 2014. <http://www.uggaustralia.com/world-of-ugg-craftsmanship.html>.
4. Savageau, Ann. "Textile Dyes." DES142B. UC Davis. Cruess Hall, Davis. 12 Nov. 2012. Class lecture.
5. Savageau, Ann. "Textiles and Dyes." DES127A. UC Davis. Art Annex, Davis. 26 Nov. 2013. Class lecture.
6. Turnkey Solutions Inc. "What is Emulsified Oil and where does it come from?" Turnkey Solutions. Turnkey Solutions Inc., 2012. Web. 5 Mar. 2014. <http://www.turnkey-solutions-inc.com/wieo.html>
7. VanPelt, Don. "How Do They Make Ugg Boots?." Sheepskin Boots For You. N.p., 16 Apr. 2012. Web. 1 Mar. 2014. <http://www.sheepskinbootsforyou.com/howdotheymakeuggboots.htm>.
8. "Ugg boots." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Feb. 2014. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugg_boots>.
9. Winton, E.R.. "Processing of Woolled Sheepskins." Journal of the Society of Dyers and Colourists 65.7 (1949): 333 - 335. Print.


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text:
I have switched to the new MacBook Pro 13" (With Touch Bar) a few days ago. Here is my opinion after the first few days 😉
I decided to get the 13" cause, I want an ultra portable system, cause I carry it with me every day and the weight counts for me. And the 13" model weights just 1,37 kg instead of the 1,83 kg of the 15" model.
My MacBook has the 3.3 GHz i7 with two cores (Turbo Boost up to 3,6 GHz) and 16GB of RAM. Another Upgrade was the SSD: I have the 512GB PCIe, that is enough for me.
I had a MacBook Air (13" from 2013) until now, and I was impressed with the weight and size! The 13.3" (33,78cm) IPS display is also very impressive. Very bright and the 2460×1600 pixel resolution is awesome. At least for me, the on board Intel Iris Graphics 550 is enough. I don't do many graphics on this system, just a few photos here and there. I use this system as my work horse, mostly for programming and visualization (Parallels) for testing.
Shortly before my new MacBook arrived the first reviews popped up… that gave me a mixed feeling! Many of the reviews criticised the battery life and the overall performance! Both things I desperately need!
I decided to start from scratch and don't restore my Time Machine back up. That is something I like to do from time to time, cause I play around a lot with my systems and install/delete a lot of things. So a fresh start seems to be a good idea. The only thing a transferred directly: Two virtual Windows installations from Parallels!
Here is what I installed so far:
- Sublime (My main Editor)
- Microsoft Office 2016 (Insider Fast Ring)
- Coda 2 (my Web related editor)
- Shimo (I use a lot of different VPNs)
- Snagit, Camtasia and ScreenSteps (For creating documentations)
- Parallels 12 Pro (Virtualisation)
The overall installation and transfer took a bit over three hours. I used the first adapter (later on that later) to connect my Apple Thunderbolt 27" Display; the performance of the build in gigabit ethernet helped me a lot.
During the initial installation of all my stuff, I started to play around with the Touch Bar! Nice, but at least for me and now: just nice to have!
Something totally different is Touch ID: It Makes perfect sense! It's fast, very precise and accurate, like on the newer iPhone models.
Because I have a long and complex password, this is nice and a great time saver! And I hope that more and more developers start using it.
Right after the installation I started my regular Workflow: Fire up an Windows 10 based virtual system, Sublime and a few other things. The performance was and was impressive! And the 16 GB Ram makes perfect sense for me (doubled from my MacBook Air). During the first few hours, I had to start another virtual System (A Windows 2016 Server) to test a few things and the overall performance was great, much better than on my three-year-old MacBook Air. Some of that is based on the fact, that the MacBook Pro has the double amount of memory, sure.
After working a while at the office I had to leave and now the interesting part of my initial test started: Working while traveling, where often is no changing option available! My 3-year-old MacBook Air lasted between 8 and 10 hours, even when I had a virtual Windows 10 based system running minimum 7 to 8 hours. While traveling, I mostly do the same workload like in the office: Developing stuff and testing it on virtual Windows and Linux (Centos) systems. The only part that didn't impress me: eight Hours! That is OK, but not better than my older Air! I use a 50% display brightness and WiFi during all the time. Like with my Air before.
There are a few things that I like very much: The huge new trackpad is great! And I must admit: I love the new keyboard! The first impression wasn't so good, but that changed very quickly.
Adaptors: OK, Apple decided to make the new MacBook Pro series USB-C only. That could be a pain! And I mean a real Pain… I need a lot of adaptors for nearly everything! To connect my Apple Display, to use regular USB Sticks and due to the fact that there is no native HDMI Port: To attach a Beamer! Some customers don't have a WiFi, so adapters for an Ethernet Adapter.
I think it will take a while to get everything with a native USB-C connectivity. And a least the original Apple Adapters are pricey!
To wrap it up a bit: After the first few days, I like the new MacBook Pro a lot. There are a few things that I don't really like (e.g. the lag of USB-C equipment), but the overall impression is good and solid.
Do I really recommend that new MacBook… Puh, that is a tough one! It depends: I started to look at some PC systems (e.g. The Microsoft Surface Book and some from HP), but I'm a Mac guy, and I don't need a Touchscreen! So I decided to stay with the Mac. And it's not cheap! You might get a better deal if you go with a PC Utrabook or Tablet.
So, if you want a powerful and portable Mac, and if you are willing to spend a bit more than you have to for a powerful PC: YES! The MacBook Pro 2016 is definitely worth a look!


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The Senate as early as today plans head-to-head votes on House and Senate spending bills that are more than $50 billion apart on the scale of budget cuts for the balance of the fiscal year -- and even further apart on the rational for the cuts.
The House bill, passed on Feb. 19 without a single Democratic vote, proposes a historic $61.5 billion in cuts – bringing federal discretionary spending back to pre-stimulus FY 2008 levels. The Senate measure, released on Friday, calls for $6.5 billion in cuts – a level that Senate Democratic leaders say is about as far as the Senate can go.
Citing the $1.65 trillion deficit projected this year, Republicans say that $6 billion barely makes a dent in the scope of the nation's fiscal woes. "Washington will add more to the debt this week than they want to cut for the entire year – and that's the farthest their leaders say they're willing to go," said Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R) of Kentucky, in remarks on the floor on Tuesday. "Anything more, they say, is Draconian. I'll tell you what's Draconian: Draconian is what happens if Democrats don't get real about our nation's fiscal crisis."
In sharp contrast, Democrats say that too-deep cuts risk derailing the nation's economic recovery and jeopardizing critical investments for the future. Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D) of Nevada called the GOP plan reckless and irresponsible. "Do we want a government that is too limited to have invented the Internet?" said Sen. John Kerry (D) of Massachusetts.
"Getting our fiscal house in order can't just be something we use as cover to do away with things we dislike politically," said President Obama in his weekly address on Saturday. "And it can't just be about how much we cut. It's got to be about how we cut and how we invest."
"We've got to be smart about it. Because if we cut back on the kids I've met here and their education, for example, we'd be risking the future of an entire generation of Americans. And there's nothing responsible about that," he added.
Since Congress failed to pass a budget or spending bills for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1, government has been funded with stop-gap measures. The first, funded through March 4, froze government spending at 2010 levels. The second, funded through March 18, cut $4 billion in discredited congressional earmarks or programs that the White House or Congress had already agreed to phase out. Now, Congress takes up the tough cuts, many involving popular programs with strong lobbies to defend them.
A key flashpoint is spending on education. After supporting a spike in education spending during the Bush years, many House Republicans are questioning whether the investment was worth it. "The federal role in education is a history of underperformance, hype, and false promises," said Rep. Peter Roscam (R) of Illinois, the chief deputy whip, at a press briefing on Feb. 28. The Senate measure proposes spending $11 billion more than the House for education programs over the next six months.
Education programs already took a hit in the first stop-gap spending measure, which made deep cuts in federal literacy programs. With teachers' unions a key element of the Democratic Party base, Senate Democrats are gearing up to fight for many of these programs.
Most notably, the House proposes a $700 million cut in Title I grants to school districts serving low-income families, where Democrats would increase Title I funding by $100 million. Senate Democrats also propose spending $1.4 billion more than the House on Head Start – an early education program also targeting low-income families. The House cut the maximum annual Pell Grant to $4,705, but Senate Democrats want to maintain it at $5,550.
Both the House and Senate cut President Obama's signature Race to the Top grants, which gave the Secretary of Education a $4 billion fund to use at his discretion to encourage educational innovation. The Education Department says that this program has done more in the last 18 months to advance education reform than any program in the history of the Education Department. The House zeroed out funding for the program and the Senate proposes cutting it to $450,000 for the balance of the fiscal year, down from the $1.4 billion that President Obama had requested.
In addition to spending cuts, the House bill includes more than 130 policy riders that direct the federal government explicitly to cease activities that the majority opposes. The most prominent is a ban to block any Department or agency from implementing health care reform. A score of environmental riders cover issues ranging from banning greenhouse gas regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency to delisting wolves in the northern Rockies under the Endangered Species Act. Other riders end federal funding for Planned Parenthood, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and block the launch of a public product safety information database.
House Republicans agreed to leave policy riders out of the most recent stop-gap spending measure, in a bid to reach agreement before funding for government expired on March 4. Senate Democrats are pushing hard to again block the riders from spending bills for the balance of the fiscal year.
"Democrats and Republicans are being asked to vote on wildly different proposals for reining in spending. Both proposals will fail. Worse still, everyone in Congress knows that they will fail," Senator Manchin said Tuesday. "The debate will be decided when the president leads these tough negotiations, and right now that's not happening."


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It's been ages since I updated The Gear page properly so on a rainy autumn weekend with yet another typhoon approaching I thought now would be a good time. I'm going to divide it into 5 sections: The bike, Clothing, Sleeping, Tech Gear, and Other. This is not a website devoted to equipment. You can find those websites all over the web. Just use what suits you best or what you already have. Just maybe, however, you are interested in the gear I use when cycling on a multi day trip in Japan. If you are then read on. On a side note, none of the links are affiliate links. I get no money if you click on them.
The Bike – Curve GXR titanium frameset/SRAM components/Hunt Wheels
In May 2018 I decided to ditch the Fairdale Weekender Drop and switch to a Curve GXR. The Fairdale had to go after I realized I was carrying around way too much unnecessary weight for riding in the mountains of Japan. I'd had the Fairdale for three years and decided that the style of riding I could do on it was exactly the kind fo riding I wanted to continue doing. So it was time for an upgrade. I wanted a bike that would last forever. Seriously. I don't want to buy another frame ever (maybe with the exception an e-bike when I hit my mid-seventies but I don't have to worry about that for a few more decades).
So I bought a Curve GXR titanium frame and put the components and wheels from the Fairdale on it.
The Curve GXR is superb. Honestly, I can't think of one thing I don't like about it. I'd been eyeing one for a couple of years after I immediately bought into Curve's philosophy on cycling when I saw the first Race to the Rock event in 2016 but held off because I couldn't justify a new bike after recently buying a new MTB (my older MTB was 17 years old). I bought the frame in May and immediately built it up and took it back to the U.K. where I rode it on sketchy English country lanes, along the Birmingham – Worcestershire canal and up the Lickey Hills in south Birmingham. I also rode it to Snowdonia in central Wales on gravel and pavement and it was great. I've taken it to the rainforests and dirt farm tracks of northern New South Wales and southern Queensland in Australia, I've commuted on it regularly, and of course I've taken it bike packing here in Japan. It hasn't missed a beat. It's handled everything that I've thrown at it with ease.
Hunt 4 Season Gravel Disc Wheels – I have mixed feelings about these. The rims, the weight, the value for money are all good. The free hub isn't. I'm on my second one and it's already making a weird noise (again). I know two other people in Japan that have had Hunt wheels and they've also had problems. I won't be changing them though unless there's a major problem as it's still cheaper to replace the ratchet every now and then that it would be to buy a new wheelset.
SRAM Force/Rival mixed Hydraulic groupset with Wolf Tooth chainring – Great. I run a 42 – 11/46. Never had any problems except for my recent purchase of some cheap brake pads from Amazon.jp. The cheap pads are great for scaring away bears and wild boar, not so good for braking. Lesson learnt.
Tyres – Vittoria Terreno Dry. I switched from Schwable G-One 38mm to these and I prefer them.
Jerseys – A mixture of Rapha and Road Holland jerseys. I have a pretty large collection as the differences in climate between the seasons in Japan can be quite extreme. I was riding in -6C in January and 40C+ in late July/August. Unfortunately Road Holland are no longer in business.
Jackets – I have a Rapha brevet gilet (yellow) which I like as it's extremely visible but doesn't seem to be available for purchase now, a Cumulus Windy Wendy windbreaker that Jesse Carlson from Curve swears by and I also thing is a no-brainer as it's so small and light, a Mont Bell gore-tex rain jacket that I wear when it's raining heavily and the temperature is below 20C or so as any hotter and I sweat like crazy, and a Rapha rain jacket that I use to take out the rubbish in the morning as that's the only thing it's good for. The Mont Bell jacket is hiking specific but if I'm riding in the rain I'd rather wear something substantial that keeps me dry and is fairly breathable compared to a cycling rain jacket. The Rapha jacket looks good but it is neither waterproof, weatherproof, or breathable. A complete waste of money. To be honest, I've been riding since my teens and I have never found a cycling specific rain jacket that is any good.
Shorts – Sportful bib shorts underneath Rapha touring shorts, because I don't want to look like an idiot on the train, and the extra pockets are always handy.
Waterproof Trousers – Mont Bell gore-tex trousers that are fine so long as it's not too hot.
Shoes – A pair of Shimano MTB shoes for winter, and some lightweight and more breathable Pearl Izumi ones for summer.
Bivy – Pneuma Bivy Tyvek from Locus Gear. Made out of Tyvek it's light, strong, and breathable.
I use a cheap one man tent occasionally during colder weather.
Sleeping bags – Two Isuka sleeping bags. One light for summer, and a winter version that is good down to 0C or thereabouts. They are bright green and make me look like a giant lettuce leaf which I suppose is camouflage.
Mattress – Puromonte inflatable mattress. Again it's fairly light, reasonably priced and comfortable enough.
Tech Gear
Cycling computer – Wahoo Elemnt. This is my second one after the battery died on the first. It was still under warranty so Wahoo replaced it for free. I prefer it to the Garmin 510 I was using previously. Everyone knows about buggy Garmin units so no need to go on about them here.
Phone – iPhone SE. When bike packing I use my phone for messaging, uploading rides to Wahoo, and checking where I am if I get lost with the Ride With GPS app. Occasionally I'll use it for Instagram stories or photos. That's about it. I don't need a bigger, faster phone. The SE is light and small and does everything I want it to do. Sure, I wish it was waterproof but I put it in a dry bag to keep it safe. I might upgrade next year but I'm not sure. I don't usually use the camera as I have my Lumix with me when I go bike packing.
Camera – Lumix GX8 with a Leica DG Vario 12-60mm f/2.8, a LUMIX 45-200 f/4-5.6, and a Lumix Leica 15mm f/1.7. I usually leave the15mm lens at home. Micro four-thirds is dead… If you say so. I rarely shoot in low light, couldn't care less about bokeh and shooting wide open so the GX8 is perfect for how I shoot. Why haul around big and heavy full-frame gear when micro four-thirds does the job? The body and 3 lenses combined weigh just over 1 kilogram. When the price drops I might upgrade to a Lumix G9 but that'll be a purchase based on pure camera lust, not practicality. The GX8, for my purposes, is perfect.
Update 2018/11/09 – I now have a Lumix G9 as well.
Camera bag – If the weather is clear I won't use a camera bag, I'll just have the camera over my shoulder. If it might rain I will usually take a Think Tank Photo Turnstyle 5 shoulder bag or a Mind Shift Photo Cross bag. I prefer carrying the camera and lenses over my shoulder as I hate to think what all the road vibrations would do to the internals of the lenses otherwise.
Power – An Allimity 10,000mAh capacity battery pack. It was reasonably priced and had decent reviews on Amazon.jp.
Wolftooth B-Rad Medium Strap and Accessory Mount – This fits next to one of your bottle cages and is very useful. I usually strap my Mont Bell rain jacket in it.
Woho frame bag – Awful. I don't use it unless I really have to. The internal divider started developing holes after only a couple of weeks and that was while I was commuting.
Woho top tube bag – It's light, cheap, and does the job. No complaints.
Blackburn Outpost seat bag – Again, this is fairly cheap, is easy to attach and does the job. No complaints.
Salsa Anything Cage – I keep my inflatable mattress in this and it works fine. It's handy that the carbon forks on the Curve are specifically designed to attach the Salsa cage.
Fairmean Speed Rando handlebar bag – A ridiculously light and simple handlebar bag for packing essentials. I use it mostly for clothes that I keep inside some Sea-to-Summit dry bags.
Mont Bell bike bag for Japanese trains – This does the job and is easy to use. It also doubles as a ground sheet for sleeping.
Other bags – 1L/2L Sea-to-Summit dry bags for clothes and electrical gear.
That's about it.


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Cops: Priest traded service hours for 'intimate hugs' | News
Tampa -- He's a priest who looks like Jolly old St. Nick, but cops said his actions were anything but holy.
Charles Leigh is the head of Apostolic Catholic Church in Tampa, but Tuesday night, he was in custody- busted, cops say, for trading bogus community service hours for "intimate" hugs.
"He was a little too like- gripping too hard and then he was smelling my neck, and I was like 'no way dude," said one young woman who performed community service at the church. "That's why I didn't come back because I thought he was one of those pervs, man."
Tampa cops said they were tipped off back in June that Leigh was falsifying court probation paperwork in exchange for a quick feel, so on two separate occasions, they sent in an undercover female officer to pose as a woman on probation in need of community service hours.
"He wrote down on the official department of corrections form that she did 17 hours, which she never did, in exchange for four hugs," said Tampa Police Cpl. Felitia Pecora.
But according to TPD, the so-called hugs were suspect.
"In her estimation it was not a friendly hug. It was that thing inside you that tells you 'something isn't right', that was going off," said Pecora.
L.B. Jones, a priest at a neighboring church, said Leigh, who referred to himself as a bishop, never acted weird.
"When I heard that about him, and the way he projected himself with me, and the things we shared together, I couldn't believe it," said Jones.
Follow 10 News Reporter Charles Billi on twitter @Charles Billi


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John Kauffmann
(Australia 1864 – 1942)
- Location
- Not on display
- Further information
John Kauffmann was born in South Australia. After a period apprenticed to an architectural firm in Adelaide, he went overseas in 1887. In Europe he studied photographic chemistry and reproduction processes and became interested in the work of the pioneering British pictorialists. He returned to Adelaide in 1897 and held an exhibition of his work in February of the following year. It had an enormous impact on the young Harold Cazneaux, who wrote 'here was a new beauty beyond anything I had dreamed of in terms of the camera'.1
In 1909 Kauffmann moved to Melbourne and became a professional photographer. By 1919 his reputation was so established that the critic Leslie Beer published a book on him, one of the first monographs on any Australian artist. Kauffmann does not appear to have done any portraiture work, working instead for 'The Home' magazine and as the photographer for various books. Like the painters Hans Heysen and Claude Monet, Kauffmann invests his animal subjects with human qualities, the oval format of 'Turkey' suggesting a 19th-century painted portrait. This is a carbon print, one of Kauffmann's favoured processes. Carbon prints often have a richness of shadow which approximates that of an oil painting, as the emulsion is relatively thick and there is the sense of looking through a layer of pigment. During the 1930s Kauffmann turned to close-up floral studies having become embittered by the lack of interest in the European pictorialist aesthetic at which he excelled.
1. Cato J 1955, 'The story of the camera in Australia', Georgian House, Melbourne p 151
© Art Gallery of New South Wales Photography Collection Handbook, 2007
- Year
- circa 1910
- Media
- Photograph
- Medium
- gelatin silver photograph
- Dimensions
- 28.8 cm image (diam.); 34.4 x 30.4 cm sheet
- Signature & date
Not signed. Not dated.
- Credit
- Gift of John Bilney 1978
- Accession number
- 131.1978


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A pair of battered Doctor Martens were not, I quickly realized, the shoes with which to make an entrance at a dinner party being held in Shanghai in honor of the late Salvatore Ferragamo. Were he to have seen them, the "Shoemaker of Dreams," as he was known when he was crafting platforms and slippers for Hollywood icons like Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe would doubtless have spun in his grave, fast enough to power the lights of the Bund, Shanghai's luxury strip.
The choice of Shanghai as the city in which to launch Ferragamo's 80th anniversary celebration hints at the growing importance of the Eastern hemisphere in the global market for luxury goods. Ferragamo's descendents know that growing their market share requires expanding their presence in nouveau riche markets like mainland China, where they have already opened an impressive 25 stores and have 8 more planned for this year. Some of these outlets are even popping up in unlikely and remote places such as icebound Harbin and industrial Shenyang far-flung, provincial cities where high style still means white socks, polyester slacks and faux-leather man bags. Educating these consumers in the general principles of fashion is a gargantuan task, never mind teaching them the difference between Ferragamo and Fendi or Fiorucci. Presumably, this is why Ferragamo organized two days of brand-building events here last week, beginning with a dinner party, followed by the opening of "Salvatore Ferragamo: Evolving Legend 1928-2008," a retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA), a fashion show and an after party.
The dinner a cozy affair for 150 guests was held at the eccentric loft apartment of Pearl Lam, a Hong Kong-born art dealer and local society doyenne. Filled with large art pieces and furnishings that might be charitably described as vibrant, it resembled a gallery or a slightly camp club more than a home. (Last year, Lam freely confessed to the New York Times that her loft was "bonkers.") A gaudy, stainless steel sculpture by Zhang Wang filled one entranceway; a trio of brightly dotted, spoon-shaped chairs by Zhang Qingfang was clustered in a corner.
Lam's apartment overlooks what expats somewhat offensively dub the "French Concession" the old colonial name for the Luwan and Xuhui districts although the almost exclusively white, champagne-sipping crowd certainly had something of a colonial air about it. The celebrity quota included actresses Melissa George, Jennifer Jason Leigh, January Jones and Ginnifer Goodwin, as well as ballet dancer Roberto Bolle and several generations of Ferragamo family members.
The next afternoon, guests gathered at the MoCA forecourt in People's Park, where Ferruccio Ferragamo, Salvatore's eldest son and the company's CEO, launched an retrospective exhibition that consisted mostly of shoes and handbags, some of which had been worn by Taylor, Monroe and Mary Pickford. He was flanked by movie stars Tony Leung (In The Mood For Love) and Zhang Ziyi (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Memoirs of a Geisha), whose presence drew hordes of passersby to gawk from just outside the VIP enclosure, holding phones aloft in an attempt to capture a grainy souvenir. Ferruccio talked about how Shanghai was chosen for the exhibition's premiere partly because the city represented 'the future.' Let's hope they do something about the eye-watering, throat-searing pollution before the future actually arrives.
The exhibition was a let down two floors of display cases filled with fashion paraphernalia that managed to make MoCA look like a slightly funky trade pavilion (albeit one attended by people like Christina Ricci, spotted gazing into a shoe cabinet). On the other hand, that evening's show of Ferragamo's 2008 fall/winter collection was a stunning triumph. It started an appalling hour and half late, but once it was underway the brand's design team deftly demonstrated the remarkable evolution of its wares in recent years. Models sported modernist, layered basics in somber tones of black, white, navy and dark grey. Some of the men's wear a glittery black jacket and a pair of brown leather pants worn with a dress shirt and black tuxedo jacket appeared too Italianate for most male tastes, but in general the quality was a genuine revelation. For days afterwards, I found myself coveting the cool trench coats. You could even describe some of the stuff as edgy and street-smart. Who knows? Perhaps I'm onto something with the Doctor Martens after all.


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The world beats within my heart...
The Aerth Mother.
It is done. As promised, A Lady's Prerogative Book I: The Yearning And The Learning Part III has been published.
Also, A Lady's Prerogative: The Devil In Music received a much needed update that will lead into other aspects of the unreleased A Lady's Prerogative Book III.
Oh. And in case you're wondering what happened to the Butterfly Dragon.
Alicia has become regarded as Imperial Samurai
followed by Heylyn, Monique and Valeria being regarded as...
Shotokan Shaolin Jeonsa Méngbì Butterfly Dragon
Please do enjoy.
Brian Joseph Johns aka Weltherwithsp aka Nothing
Regent Park - Toronto, Ontario, Canada


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"Why don't you think your spaceship is a time machine, Johnny?" Glenn asked.
"Well, Glenn," Johnny said. "I don't think it is a time machine because it's never time-traveled before and I use it quite often. Also because it is pink, which would be a ridiculous color for a time machine."
"That's a good point, Johnny," Glenn said. "All fine points, for that matter."
Their pet polar bear was napping by the fireplace.
by Leanna Togo


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Contact Us
Contact Details
Get in touch with our team
Our team are here to help between 10:00am to 5pm GMT Monday to Friday:
Please contact via the form below. We aim to get back to you within 24 hours,
but we are usually much quicker than that!
Alternatively, Free Phone for UK Customer's : 0800 612 8027
Please call us on +44 (0)121 270 9423 (Calls charged at normal UK rates)
Fax: +44 (0)203 475 5220 (Calls charged at normal UK rates)
We're usually also available on Live Chat.
Our postal address is:
Super Tech Health Ltd
129 Shady Lane
Great Barr
West Midlands
United Kingdom


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The gun that can destroy an enemy 100 miles away and fire bullets at eight times the speed of sound
By David Gardner – Daily Mail – Dec 14, 2010
It will obliterate a target 100 miles away through sheer power using a bullet fired at eight times the speed of sound. That is, if everything goes according to plan. This supergun has been described as the most powerful in the world after tests at a U.S. Navy firing range.
A shot fired by the electromagnetic railgun at the Naval Surface Warfare Centre in Dahlgren, Virginia, generated 33 megajoules of force out of the barrel, a world record for muzzle energy and more than three times the previous record. A single megajoule is roughly equivalent to a one-ton car travelling at 100mph. The impact of the projectile hitting a target would be 33 times that force. The bullet would take just minutes to fire over 100 miles and would hit with pinpoint accuracy with a velocity that's impossible in conventional guns. The hi-tech cannon fires a 20lb bullet or missile at a speed that is impossible in conventional guns. The makers claim it has pinpoint accuracy.
A high-speed camera image of the Electromagnetic Railgun firing a world-record setting 33 mega-joule shot on December 10, 2010 in Virginia. The black square is the shell as it is fried from the gun, the smoke behind is the trail it leaves
Currently, U.S. warships can only reach targets about 13 miles away, but the navy hopes the new gun will allow attacks from a much safer distance. Rear Admiral Nevin Carr, chief of naval research, said the gun could be aimed at a magazine on an enemy ship and 'let his explosives be your explosives'. But it will be at least another five years – possibly ten – before the weapon is ready to be used on ships.
'People see these things in the video games, but this is real,' said programme manager Roger Ellis. 'This is what is very historical.'
In Friday's tests, the gun fired a bullet 5,500ft through the woods. The shell caused a small sonic boom before dropping harmlessly back to earth. But it was fired at a very low trajectory and scientists calculate it could have travelled up to 100 miles if fired at optimum trajectory. The main obstacle the navy is trying to overcome in its research is to build up sufficient charge to allow the gun to keep firing at supersonic speeds.
In Friday's tests, it took about five minutes for the gun to power up before launching a bullet about 5,500ft through the woods, causing a small sonic boom before dropping harmlessly back to earth.
But it will probably be another ten years before the weapon is ready to be deployed on ships. By 2025, scientists say the technology will almost double the power of the gun, enabling it to send a bullet 200 miles in six minutes.


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Kelly Anne, my wife, drew this for the Saturday get together.
Swords & Wizardry/Majestic Wilderlands
AC 1[18]; 8th level Burglar; HP 17; HTB +2; Atk 1 Dmg 1d6; Move 120'; Save 8;
ABL Climbing +5, Eavesdropping +3, Legerdemain +8, Perception +2, Stealth +8;
Posses: Leather [+1], Shortsword (1d6) Dagger (1d4) (15 ft), Shortbow (1d6), 20 arrows, Broom of Flying, Portable Hole, In Portable Hole [One Petrified Orc, A iron door], five throwable Hairsticks (1d3), one throwable hairstick inscribed with a Fireball Rune*, Two Arrows with Lightning Bolt runes on arrow head*
*In the Majestic Wilderlands, Runes are created the same way as scrolls and work the same. They can be inscribed on any surface. When inscribed on a weapon the rune will activate where the weapon hits.**
**Runes have the range of the original spell but only when a Runecaster activates it. For everybody else activating a rune makes it takes immediate effect centered on the rune. The use on hairsticks and arrows allow the user to activate it from far away.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Alia Juliet Rose, a Swords and Wizardry NPC.
Posted by Robert Conley at 6:00 AM
Labels: family, Legacy DnD, majestic wilderlands
4 comments:
- Welleran said...
That's quite good!
- May 25, 2013 at 9:07 AM
The correct term is 'I'm in Acquisitions...'
Wish I could draw like that, I'm still trying to get stick figures down.
- May 25, 2013 at 1:29 PM
- Phersv said...
Very nice !
Do the hairsticks have d20? :)
- May 26, 2013 at 5:43 AM
- Kelly Anne said...
Phersv, of course they do. ;)
- May 27, 2013 at 9:38 PM
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Art Money
Mundaring Arts Centre is now offering Art Money: a new way to buy art
Art Money makes owning art easier and more affordable. Payments are spread over 10 monthly instalments. After paying a minimum 10% deposit, you can take your artwork home and pay the remaining balance over 9 months, interest free. Art Money is available from $675 to $50,000.
Apply online for instant approval, take your art home and pay for it later.


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Hotel Indigo® to Become Part of Miami's Brickell Neighborhood
Boutique Brand to Move In to Its Third Miami Neighborhood in 2016
ATLANTA – InterContinental Hotels Group's (IHG) Hotel Indigo® brand has signed its third location in Miami, bringing guests together with another of the city's distinct neighborhoods. Every Hotel Indigo property is uniquely designed to reflect the culture, character, and history of its surrounding neighborhood, and this hotel will delve into the story of the Brickell neighborhood, once known as Miami's "Millionaire's Row" and now considered a living cultural mosaic. With a rich multicultural heritage of Latin, Spanish and Native American influences, Brickell today serves as the heart of the U.S. international finance community as well as one of the largest financial districts in the country.
"Each of our hotels has a unique neighborhood story that is woven throughout the guest experience, from the locally sourced food and drinks served in the restaurant and bar, to the art, photography and architecture incorporated into the hotel's design," said Mary Winslow, director, Americas Brand Management, Hotel Indigo. "We think Brickell has an undiscovered story that many people don't know about, and we look forward to helping guests discover something new when they visit."
The Hotel Indigo Miami Brickell, expected to open in late 2016, will be located at 145 SW 11th St., blocks from historic Brickell Avenue and Downtown Miami. The new-build $48 million property will have approximately 2,000 sq. feet of meeting space, a full restaurant, fitness center, and an outdoor pool with its own bar and grill. Guestrooms will feature plush bedding, hard-surface flooring with area rugs, and spa-inspired bathrooms. Guests and locals will enjoy a great neighborhood bar with seasonal and locally sourced food in a stylish environment. The hotel will feature the brand's newNeighborhood Guide, an innovative touchscreen display that connects guests to each other, the local neighborhood, and to Hotel Indigo locations around the world. Hotel team members, many of whom are locals themselves, will share their favorite hidden gems with guests looking to explore and discover the neighborhood.
The 24-story, 140-room hotel is a joint-venture by HES Group and Sunview Companies, and will be franchised by an affiliate of IHG.
"Brickell is the neighborhood local residents vie for. Its unique blend of arts, culture, business and technology ensures our guests will experience everything that makes this area special. We are thrilled to enrich this already exciting community in partnership with IHG and the Hotel Indigo brand," said Pedro Villar, CEO, Sunview Companies.
"We are very happy to be a part of IHG and the Hotel Indigo brand," said Francisco Arocha, CEO, HES Group. "This is a strong location for the brand given Miami's diversity and various business offices, and we look forward to bringing the neighborhood's unique story to life while also providing the consistencies that guests expect from an established global hotel brand."
In addition to this signing, the Hotel Indigo brand recently announced new properties set to open in three major European cities, Hotel Indigo St. Petersburg Tchaikovskogo, Hotel Indigo Madrid Gran Via and Hotel Indigo Rome St. George.
The Miami Brickell hotel will participate in IHG's guest loyalty program, IHG® Rewards Club. The industry's first and largest rewards program with over 77 million members is free and guests can enroll at IHGRewardsClub.com, by downloading theIHG® app, by calling 1-888-211-9874 or by inquiring at the front desk of any of IHG's more than 4,700 hotels worldwide. The scale and diversity of the IHG family of brands means that its hotels can meet guests' needs whatever the occasion.
About Hotel Indigo®
The Hotel Indigo® brand is a global boutique hotel brand that delivers a refreshing and inviting guest experience that is truly reflective of the local community. From the locally-inspired murals to the renewal program where the music, scent, and menu items change throughout the year, each Hotel Indigo hotel delivers a vibrant, engaging and genuine boutique experience that gives guests the confidence to step out and explore the local neighborhood. Each Hotel Indigo property is unique and designed to reflect the local culture, character and geography of the surrounding area while brand hallmarks ensure consistent and reliable service from location to location. No two hotels are the same. There are 55 Hotel Indigohotels open around the globe. With a quality global pipeline of 51 hotels, the Hotel Indigo estate is set to double in size to 100 properties within the next three to five years. For more information or to make a reservation, visithttp://www.hotelindigo.com. Find us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/hotelindigo or Facebookwww.Facebook.com/hotelindigo.
About Sunview Companies
Sunview Companies is proud of its 50% ownership stake in Hotel Indigo Miami Brickell, Aloft Coral Gables, and Aloft Miami-Brickell. With extensive experience in the real estate development and construction industries, Sunview Companies has been an important presence in southeast Florida for the last 35 years. With ownership in several rental projects in the Miami area, a variety of major construction management contracts in their portfolio, and an inspired outlook on the future – Sunview Companies continues to be an industry leader and innovator now and into the future.
About HES Group
HES is a well-established group of hospitality entrepreneurs with extensive expertise in Latin America. HES controls Brickell West Hotel Properties LLC, a new Florida entity that holds a 50% stake of West Brickell Hotel LLC. The HES portfolio of projects includes the iconic 60-year-old InterContinental Tamanaco Hotel in Caracas, Venezuela; the new VIP hotel in Caracas; Hotel Byblos in Maracay; and several other hotel and restaurant ventures. HES is also known for its ownership and operation of the MLB-affiliated winter league professional baseball team, Tiburones de La Guaira BBC (The Sharks).
Media Contacts:
Caroline Huston, Hotel Indigo® Hotels, email@example.com, (770) 604-2495
Notes to Editors:
IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global organization with a broad portfolio of nine hotel brands, including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites®, Candlewood Suites®, EVEN™ Hotels and HUALUXE™ Hotels & Resorts.
IHG manages IHG® Rewards Club, the world's first and largest hotel loyalty program with over 77 million members worldwide. The program was relaunched in July 2013, offering enhanced benefits for members including free internet across all hotels, globally.
IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns over 4,700 hotels and 687,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories. With more than 1,100 hotels in its development pipeline, IHG expects to recruit around 90,000 people into additional roles across its estate over the next few years.
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group's holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.


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One of the world's most cherished party holidays is fast approaching. Have you thought …View Post
Fall is giving way to winter, and nothing says fashion quite like the final season …View Post
Like it or not, people form opinions of you based on how you look. Maybe …View Post
Knitwear and Jumper 2018 season already? Yep! If you watched my September Primark Haul and Try …View Post


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Gospel is every Sunday from 12:30 to 3:30!
Back to All Events
Earlier Event: January 17Jim Raby and the Good Whiskey Band
Later Event: January 18Ben Beckendorf
"You can't forget memories.®" ~ Hondo
Welcome to Hondo's on Main, located in beautiful uptown Fredericksburg. We offer the very best in Texas food, Texas music, and Texas fun. Hondo always said, "You can't forget memories®," so get on in here and make some!
Gospel is every Sunday from 12:30 to 3:30!


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Jacob's MINECRAFTMILE/
Fitness can be fun
He says that he got his inspiration from my birthday dash last year when we did something similar with a neighborhood run, homemade bibs and even virgin mimosas! Since Minecraft is all the rage with the kids these days, he wanted to incorporate that theme with his love for running at his Birthday party. Here's the best part. Jacob asked that the invitees bring $5 for a charity that donates shoes to needy local student athletes.
So, the crafty juices began to flow and out came life-sized Minecraft creepers and pigs. A balloon arch was brought in for the run and homemade bibs were created along with the best part - participant tees!
It was hot that day but since the run was only a mile and earlier in the day, the kids were able to power through it. Oh i forgot to mention that there was even a water station at the half way point on the course! Overall, the party was a success, the kids enjoyed the run, the theme and had a fun time.


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Did Attorney General Eric Holder Lie To Congress Under Oath?
{!hitembed ID="hitembed_1″ width="510″ height="287″ align="none" !}
During Attorney General Eric Holder's testimony before the House Oversight Committee he made an interesting statement in response to a question from Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA):
JOHNSON: I yield the balance of my time to you.
HOLDER: I would say this with regard to potential prosecution of the press for the disclosure of material. That is not something I've ever been involved in, heard of, or would think would be wise policy. In fact my view is quite the opposite.
Interesting statement given that we now know Holder approved a search warrant for a reporter's emails who was cited as a co-conspirator in a leak investigation.
Holder was under oath at the time raising the possibility of a perjury charge.
This comes as a new report reveals prosecutors fought to keep the James Rosen warrant a secret. Perhaps Holder thought they would succeed and he could make the false claim that he had no involvement in the prosecution of a member of the press for disclosure of material and get away with it. In any case, AG Holder has proved again that he can not be trusted to perform his duties.


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Edible Baja Arizona Magazine
Apis Shrugged. The honey bee genus, "Apis," bears the weight of the agricultural world on its shoulders.
This was my second cover I created for Edible Baja Arizona, a bimonthly journal devoted to the foodways of the Sonoran Desert region.
Graphite and digital media, 2015.
The Night Shift: Unseen and unheeded, Baja Arizona's many bat species provide our local food producers with natural pest control, written by Charles C. Hofer.
July/Aug 2016 issue.
Read the online article here.
Ark of Taste, recipes from Tucson's finest head chefs. Jan/Feb 2015 issue; April/May 2016 issue of Edible Santa Fe.
Find the online recipes here.


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3 cups raspberries
1/4 cup Cointreau or other orange liqueur
5 tablespoons agave nectar (divided)
6 mint leaves (plus additional for garnish)
12 oz (1 1/2 cup) organic heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 lemon peel twists
Using a food processor, puree raspberries with the Cointreau, 3 tablespoons of agave nectar and 6 mint leaves. Continue pulsing until smooth and consistent.
In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat cream, vanilla and remaining 2 tablespoons agave nectar until the cream thickens and firm peaks are formed.
Divide the whip cream among four glasses or bowls. Gently fold into each 1 teaspoon of the raspberry mixture. Be careful not to over stir as you want it to appear to be swirled rather than mixed.
Spoon the remaining raspberry puree over the top. Top each with 1 or 2 mint leaves and a lemon peel twist.