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"The evolving Francophile..."
My husband Jack has always wanted to live in Paris and learn French. I thought it would be good for him to achieve his life time dream. Hence, we moved to Paris in 2008. My first year was difficult. I started "missives" to relieve some stress and chronicle my life so friends back in the US could read what I am experiencing. I currently write about my food and travel experiences, which is my passion.
It is definitely a challenge to live here, but each year it gets easier, and quite enjoyable, in large part because I value friendships over locale. I have a love/hate relationship with Paris as do most Parisians, mais La vie est belle (but life is good)!
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Video Presentation -- Restaurant Dix-Huit
Aaron Isip from Manila, Philippines has recently taken the Parisien culinary world by storm with his innovative French cuisine with a Filipino twist. We had a great opportunity to visit and taste his fabulous cuisine. Please join us.
Interview with Chef Aaron Isip from Archie Ibardolasa on Vimeo.
2 comments :
- AnonymousMarch 22, 2015 at 10:37 PM
This was delightful. I love this video concept for the reviews and actually getting to meet the chef. The pigeon dish reminded me of my Jewish grandmother who, when I always asked what we were going to have for lunch or dinner would always say, "Squabs heart on toast!" I am supposing that when she was a growing up in the 1910s and 1920s, that dish was considered the ultimate of sophistication. Since I don't eat red meat, I eat a lot of poultry but this is one that I have never tried. Just another meal to look forward to when I come to Paris. Cheers, StephanReplyDelete
Over the so many visits we made to Paris, considered as my second city, we have managed to limit ourselves with French cuisine, of course. There's nothing else like enjoying it right in the heart of the city. Over the years, we visit and revisit our old time favorites and most of the time, try new ones as well. This time, I think we are ready to try yet another new one, one that has the same French culinary techniques but with a Filipino twist. It would be a great chance to see what our "kababayan" is cooking up to (no pun intended). The squab dish hopefully will still be in the menu! Sante!ReplyDelete


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President Richard Nixon, much like George W. Bush, believed in an expansive interpretation of executive power, especially in the context of "national security." Nixon once expressed an almost imperial sense of executive infallibility, telling interviewer David Frost that "when the president does it, it's not illegal."
Nixon had no qualms about ordering illegal surveillance of political opponents or burglarizing opponents' offices in search of evidence with which to discredit them. Nixon's views led to Watergate, and his eventual resignation.
Egil "Bud" Krogh worked for Richard Nixon, and went to prison trying to do his bidding. Yet unlike Nixon himself or Nixon's other White House conspirators, Krogh did the unthinkable: He took full responsibility for his illegal actions and pleaded guilty to violating his victims' civil rights.
In retrospect, Krogh admits that "my absolute loyalty to President Nixon personally and to his view of the national security threat had skewed my perspective. This kind of absolute loyalty lacked integrity...." Krogh rejected Nixon's expansive view of national security "as a blanket justification for any type of conduct."
Integrity is Krogh's enlightening, straightforward description of how he went wrong and how he's tried to make it right. It begins with the divisiveness of an unpopular war and a president trying to defend his policy.
When military analyst Daniel Ellsberg leaked the top-secret Pentagon Papers (a pessimistic view of US involvement in Vietnam) to The New York Times in 1971, Nixon went ballistic and wanted Ellsberg punished.
In a July 1971 meeting with Krogh's boss John Ehrlichman (counsel to the president), Nixon described his plan to undermine Ellsberg: "I really need some [S.O.B.] ... who will work his butt off and do it dishonorably," said Nixon. "We are going to use any means. Is that clear?" In order to destroy Ellsberg, Nixon needed somebody loyal who wouldn't ask troubling questions and could keep his mouth closed.
Ehrlichman gave the assignment to Bud Krogh, telling him it "had been deemed of the highest national security importance by the president." Krogh, a former Navy officer who had babysat Ehrlichman's kids, soon hired G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt to handle operational issues.
Initially, Krogh believed both patriotism and loyalty justified his conduct. In an effort to smear Ellsberg, a burglary of his psychiatrist's office was carried out, after being approved by Ehrlichman. The burglars broke in on Aug. 11, 1971, but found nothing of use.
While Krogh was not part of the later Watergate break-in, his role in the Ellsberg-inspired break-in came out as part of the Watergate investigation, despite White House efforts to cover it up. Under federal indictment, Krogh decided to plead guilty: "I came to accept that I could no longer defend my conduct." Even more surprisingly, Krogh refused to barter his testimony against other indicted officials in order to get a lighter sentence. Krogh would take full responsibility, go to prison, and do his time: "[M]y final decision to plead guilty was an important step in restoring some of my integrity," he writes.
After Krogh was released from prison, he visited Ellsberg's psychiatrist and personally apologized for his role in the break-in. He also met with Nixon, who adamantly refused to admit any wrongdoing: "[Nixon] told me that he did not feel guilty." Postprison, Krogh rebuilt his life and restored his integrity. He taught college and worked for a congressman, then returned to practicing law.
Alas, Krogh believes the lessons of the Nixon years have not been heeded. In 2001, Krogh wrote a memo to members of the new Bush administration, explaining how the Nixon White House had experienced "a major breakdown of integrity" through unquestioning loyalty to the president and blind faith in blanket assertions of national security.
Krogh feels his warnings have been largely ignored: "I have been disappointed to observe the Bush administration," writes Krogh, who bemoans a return to a Nixonian "imperial presidency" as evidenced by secret surveillance programs carried out by the National Security Agency and Bush's murky constitutional defense of torture in places like Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
Krogh has obviously learned his lessons from the Nixon years, and his accessible account is impressively direct, thoughtful, and free of the usual, logic-twisting political justifications for wrongdoing. It's bracing to hear how one man learned from his mistakes working in the White House. And yet, at the same time, it's deeply troubling to think that those mistakes, bred from blind political loyalty and unquestioning reliance on invocations of national security, may keep on repeating themselves.

subset: commoncrawl


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Due to the high volume of phone calls, we strongly encourage you to place orders online. Orders placed by phone may incur a $36 order fee. Questions, feedback and suggestions are always free.
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« A Ford, perhaps. |
| Growing mess and a new stylus »
I have been drawing for my classes lately. We are doing classroom requests with my Freshmen ("Je peux recharger ma tablette, SVP?"), and in my mind, a little doodle is always better than a translation.
Paper app for the iPad.
Posted on Oct 02, 2013 | Permalink
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2017 Speed Networking needs descriptionRead Post
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Here's the Rookfall Android puzzle game apk download full unlocked game free download. The aim would be to eliminate the tiles by touring them over. The rook moves in a way as much as feasible. Your route will be blocked by dropped rooks. Discover yourself caught? Reset and attempt again. The rook's look may change as degrees are completed by you. Uses spatial focus and thinking.
- APK Size: 34M
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- Android Games Developer: Michael Bunger and Ronald M. Burgess
Addicting -what I was looking for this game is actually challenging on a lot of levels so it doesn't get old fast. love it! A great mind challenging game! which is amazingly fun. Puzzle games are a genre of computer games that emphasise puzzle solving. The kinds of questions may analyse many problem-solving skills including word achievement, design acknowledgement, series solving, and reasoning. The gamer might have efforts or infinite period to fix a problem, or there might be easy questions created hard by having to finish them in real-time. Puzzle games focus on logical and conceptual challenges, although often the games add time-pressure or other action elements. Although many action games and adventure games involve puzzles such as obtaining inaccessible objects, a true puzzle game focuses on puzzle solving as the primary gameplay activity. Games usually involve shapes, colours, or symbols, and the player must directly or indirectly manipulate them into a specific pattern.
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It's ALL about the Aesthetics
Do you have a green and lush backyard and want your retaining wall to blend in? Well we have a solution for you! One way of making your wall look more visually pleasing is by incorporating some greenery and colour with plants. Now don't get ahead of yourself here, because some plants like to grow long roots and travel in all directions, so you must be careful as to which ones you use! You will need plants that won't impact the structural integrity of the retaining wall and cause a wall failure.
Our mate Jamie Durie and his team lent their expertise to us and gave us a list of different plants you can use. Since the options are endless and we don't want to bombard you, we thought we'd start a plant selection of the week series.
So to start off, this week we have recommended a hanging plant, a climbing plant and a screening plant.
The Dichondra Silver Falls pictured below is a hanging plant that can be planted at the top of the retaining wall. As you can see it will grow over and down towards the ground covering the top part of the wall.
A climbing plant called the Ficus Pumila, can be planted at the base of a retaining wall. As the picture depicts it will grow up the retaining wall.
Lastly, screening hedge such as Murraya Paniculata, are planted in front of the retaining wall. As in this picture, you could even plant some flowers around the hedge to add a pop of colour.


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Anthony Bowie, 24, of Bangor makes his first court appearance after being arrested Friday. He is charged with elevated aggravated assault in connection with a stabbing reported to police about 10:40 p.m. Thursday in front of 209 Warren St. in Bangor.
Man accused in Bangor stabbing goes to court
Have feedback? Want to know more? Send us ideas for follow-up stories.


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Then I know someone who wants to hear from you.
And on a day after the Galaxy announced they had sold more than 70,000 tickets for Saturday's game against Barcelona there (remaining tickets start at $35) it's an apt post:
I'm Miguel Melendez and I'm a sportswriter at the Pasadena Star-News. I'm working on a story about the Galaxy's return to the Rose Bowl Saturday for the first time since leaving in 2002 for Home Depot Center. The story is scheduled to run later this week in such newspapers as the Daily Breeze, L.A. Daily News and the Star-News. I want to talk to fans who were at the first Galaxy game in 1996 at the Rose Bowl. Tell me about your experience, your thoughts on the atmosphere and the game itself. E-mail email@example.com and be sure to put "First Galaxy game" in the subject line. Thank you all very much!
I'll go first: I was there as a fan.
MLS had opened its inaugural season the previous weekend, Eric Wynalda's 88th minute goal for the San Jose Clash against D.C. United saving the league (and its fans) from the humiliation of its first-ever game ending scoreless.
It seemed somewhat unbelievable to think that top class professional soccer was returning to where I lived for the first time in a dozen years.
All week long the L.A. Times revised (upwards) the estimated attendance for the Galaxy's first game Saturday against the New York-New Jersey MetroStars: 25,000, then 35,000, 45,000 and then somewhere north of 50,000.
I drove down from Ventura with my wife in our 1983 Oldsmobile Omega, which had a habit of overheating and certainly didn't disappoint on April 13, 1996, grinding to a vapor-spewing, volcanic halt in bumper to bumper traffic en route. We finally got to the vast stadium, negotiated the grassy oceans of parking lot/golf course and got in a huge line for tickets (the first and last time I bought tickets the day of the game).
It was around half time before we got in. It was impossible to find your seat. People sat and stood anywhere. I didn't care. Football was back. In the end almost 70,000 attended.
I don't remember a whole lot about the game (and certainly didn't have the best view anyway). Cobi Jones scored the Galaxy's first-ever goal in the 37th minute and I missed it. The Galaxy won 2-1. And I'm sure New York was as crap then as they are now.
(The Galaxy XI: Campos, Semoli, Calichman, Fraser, Noamouz, Jones, Cienfuegos, Armas, Motajo, Karapetyan, Hurtado; Andrew Shue came on as a second half sub).
There were things to like about the Rose Bowl: the pubs in Old Town Pasadena, tailgating before the game, barbecuing on the lush golf course, the numerous bacon-wrapped hot dog vendors after the final whistle.
But it was a long trip (made longer at the end with the seemingly never-ending winding drive through residential neighborhoods with no signs pointing to the stadium and populated by people that quite clearly didn't want you there) to sit in those tiny uncomfortable seats (and I'm not a big guy) in often oppressive heat. (BTW, I still remember sitting sweating in full sun and then seeing Dennis Hopper walking past me clad in a huge heavy coat as he negotiated the steps of the Rose Bowl on June 16 when more than 92,000 of us – the largest crowd ever to a (professional/club) soccer game in the U.S. at the time – crammed in to watch the Galaxy play the now deceased Tampa Bay and the U.S. face Mexico in a doubleheader).
These days I appreciate the cozy confines of the HDC and my 15 minute drive. But I'll be reliving memories of the early years of MLS at the Barcelona game. I'm heading out to a few days of vacation. Posting will be light and there's no column Tuesday. See you at the Rose Bowl.
Including you, Josh. Hope Becks buys you a Becks one of these days.


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What the heck is Podcasting, I hear you ask... or if you ain't asking, I'll tell you anyways :)
Podcasting is the act of producing Podcasts.
Recently (August 2004 ?), several people (including Adam Curry and Dave Winer - now acknowledged as two of the 'pioneers' of Podcasting) formed a small community who produced short audio commentaries, as an adjunct to their blogs (Web Logs -> 'b'logs -> blogs).
These commentaries are integrated as mp3 audio file 'enclosures' into an RSS (Real Simple Syndication) 2.0 'feed' associated with a blog.
This means that essentially anyone with a computer connected to the Internet can 'subscribe' (via a special-purpose program such as iPodder, iPodderX or jPodder) to a number of such feeds, and have these short audio 'podcasts' automatically fetched (say, overnight) into their MP3 players (e.g. an Apple iPod - hence the name Podcast).
Having done this, the recipient is free to listen to (or skip over) the short programs at their leisure, using the MP3 player - while walking, cycling, driving, on airplanes, wherever the fancy takes them.
More recently, interest in this method of producing and distributing audio programs has exploded, and now major players in the broadcasting industry are sitting up and taking notice. The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), long known for high-quality and well-researched news and documentaries, now themselves produce at least one (no doubt many more to come) podcast feed - 'In Our Time' with Melvyn Bragg (of The South Bank Show arts review fame).
At the other extreme of the scale, it's relatively simple now for anyone with a computer, sound card and microphone to produce their own Podcasts - and many people are doing just that. Consequently some are saying that this will lead to a democratic revolution in broadcasting - no longer will broadcasting be the domain of the media barons such as Rupert Murdoch, Kerry Packer and their ilk.
What I would recommend you do is to download and install one of the players available at http://www.ipodder.com or http://www.jpodder.org - then subscribe to a few feeds (there are preloaded lists in the 'Podder programs, and you can add more feeds as you discover them), download some podcasts and listen to them in the MP3 player in your computer - just to get a sampling of what's out there. Come on in, the Podcasting's fine!!
A warning though: there's no censorship (yet!), and some of the podcasts are more- or less-liberally peppered with profanities - so you'll want to vet these to your own tastes and standards before, say, you let your children start listening regularly. There's also a spread of political view; most of the ones I've heard so far tend to be rather leftish.... Your Mileage May Vary!!
Some of my favourites (you should be able to find these readily in the preloaded lists) are:
In Our Time - The above-mentioned, very eclectic discussion panel programme by the BBC.
The G'Day World Podcast - tech-related stuff, Aussie Slang lessons, and all manner of other tangents.
The Engadget Podcast - more techie stuff :) - about PDA's, smart phones, media players, TiVo's etc. in particular.
The Firesign Podcast - oldish American comedy from the 60's - mostly pretty innocuous from what I've heard so far.
Adam Curry's Daily Source Code - One of the pioneers - profanity alert! - Serves as a 'hub' with references to a lot of what is happening in the Podcasting world.
Career Opportunities - some sage advice on careers in the Hi-Tech industry (much of it valuable in any industry).
Your tastes will no doubt differ from mine - but the thing is, get in there and see for yourself - then if you want, make your own Podcasts and share them with the rest of us!
Happy Podcasting!!


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Roscoe Trods The Boards
Back in the Arbuckle briar patch and still awaiting definitive bio's from better authorities than myself. Several are said to be in offing. Roscoe's Pierce-Arrow was auctioned recently, or attempt was made at same, I'm told. Someone had re-painted it a strange color, not unlike spray jobs done on RA's image since besmirch for all time by Frisco law way back in 1921. I'm for tracking Fatty movement from those dark days, his never-give-upping for work behind or in front of cameras. To that last, he'd been forbidden by edict of chief censor Will Hays, but a decade's exile came to clouds parting by 1932 and Warner approach to star in two-reelers shot at
In the run-up to his Vitaphone comeback, Arbuckle filled live dates on both coasts, a number of these trade-reviewed with welcome, if spotty, detail of what his performances amounted to. Variety's coverage of a Hollywood Pantages appearance in March 1932 began by saying that Arbuckle was again hesitantly testing the duration of his ostracization, but that this stand, along with recent work with a
The money was modest, certainly in comparison with what Arbuckle earned in halcyon
Arbuckle's Series All Depends On 1st Short, said Variety's headline announcement (8/2/32) of a try-out RA comedy for WB-Vitaphone. It was called a "gamble" and product of an understanding reported to have been reached between the Warners and the Hays organization prior to the announcement of Arbuckle's return. Production was to begin August 24, Roscoe to direct himself (though he wouldn't be credited as such in completed Hey, Pop!). Turnover was reasonably quick, Hey, Pop! opening with The Match King on 12/7/32 at Warner's NY flagship, the
The series, thank goodness, went forward, despite the critic's jibe. Roscoe knew best of anyone how tough a comeback could be, but at least he was well-glued to
Company Roscoe kept on stages fascinates as well. He'd help a youngster in career need, to wit a beginning Bob Hope, who, according to the New York Times in a 10/9/32 profile, was spotted by Arbuckle during a night club dance act and invited to join the latter's tour, where several subsequent months were spent in a succession of vaudeville acts and the "tab" shows peculiar to the outlands, said the Times. I've heard that Hope credited Arbuckle for an early boost, but don't recall specific interviews to that effect. Does anyone know where Roscoe got a latter-day mention from Bob? Reportage after Arbuckle's death indicated three of the six Vitaphone comedies yet to be released, these being Close Relations, In The Dough, and Tomalio, a last completed only a few hours before his death (the Times also set Roscoe's estate at not more than $2,000). The Vitaphone Comedy Collection: Volume One from Warner Archive is culmination of long-held hope for the half-dozen Arbuckle shorts on DVD, and contrary to Mordaunt Hall's contrariness, they do not disappoint.


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I have a question about Windows Defender. I've completed the removal of the McAfee software and installed the Security Essentials which seems to be working fine. When I go to the Action Center and click on Security it shows that Security Essentials is "ON." Right below that there is an entry for Spyware and unwanted software protection, which also shows "ON." There is also a link below there that for "View installed antispyware programs." When I click on it, a box pops up and it has two entries: Microsoft Security Essentials - ON and Windows Defender - OFF. Does the Defender need to be turned on?
My system shows the same status, and that is a normal state when Security Essentials is installed. Windows Defender is already packaged inside of Microsoft Security Essentials, but it can be run separately if you decide to turn off or uninstall Security Essentials. That is why you see it listed separately under the "View installed Antispyware programs" link.
* * *
I often copy recipes from the Internet and paste to my Word 2007 program on my Windows 7 laptop. Just about every time I do this, the first time a large oval black dot appears in Word.
Properties indicate it is some sort of picture. I delete it, go back to the still highlighted text, and copy and paste exactly the same way again. The second and subsequent efforts always work perfectly. Can you tell me where this annoying "image" is coming from?
You may be inadvertently selecting some HTML and Word will try to recreate this in the document, which is the default Paste mode in Word. Try this: Instead of just pasting as usual, click Paste Special and select "unformatted text."
* * *
I tried your fixes for adjusting the zoom level within Internet Explorer and they work, but they do not stay at that new bigger adjustment. Could you please tell me how I could make it permanent?
Good question. I don't know why, but there doesn't appear to be an easy way to set this permanently. It can be done using a registry edit, but I only recommend doing registry edits if the user feels comfortable performing the proper precautions of setting a System Restore point, and then being able to go back to that Restore point if needed. Use Google to search on "setting a system restore point" to find more information. It's not difficult, and it's a good thing to know.
Now for the registry edit. Go slowly and follow the instructions exactly: click Start, Run and type regedit and click OK. Drill down to the target key by double-clicking each of the following: HKEY_CURRENT_USER, then Software, then Microsoft, then Internet Explorer.
Scroll down to find the Zoom key and click it once to select it. On the right side of the window you'll see the ResetZoomOnStartup2 sub-key. It will be set to the number 1. Double-click ResetZoomOnStartup2 and change the value to the number 0 and click OK. You can close regedit. Now Internet Explorer will remember your zoom level each time you start it.
Send questions to firstname.lastname@example.com or Personal Tech, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731.


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When I found out I was going to have a baby, all I wanted was a healthy, happy mini me. I would say a lot has changed after having him, as in just a stronger will to make sure he is developing while being healthy, happy and everything else. There are still nights that I have many questions, and just need that reassurance and suggestions on what works for other babies too. Happiness can be a peace of mind, and accepting help from others. I needed help with maintaining a bedtime routine without feeling judged on Nutrition Consultant, Breastfeeding Support, and Sleep Support,
Gerber® Good Start® Gentle believes that the Formula for Happiness™ can be a lot of things, and moms have different ways of enjoying the journey through motherhood. That journey isn't always perfect, but getting support every step of the way helps. That is why Gerber® Good Start® Gentle is happy to introduce a Certified Sleep Consultant to support expectant and new parents by providing free, personal 1-on-1 baby sleep consultations.
Make your free appointment to have A Certified Consultant to call you. Gerber Start Healthy, Stay Healthy even has Pre-Natal Consultants that can help answer any questions too, Check all the free Services offered by going here to Gerber Experts, http://www.gerber.com/experts.
Disclaimer: This post is part of a sponsored campaign with Gerber® and MomSelect. All thoughts and opinions are my own.


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Sant'Adriano is a former 7th century church in an early 4th century edifice in the Roman Forum, better known now as the Senate House or Curia Julia. Pictures of the building on Wikimedia Commons are here.
The dedication was to St Hadrian of Nicomedia.
Curia JuliaEdit
The Curia Julia, the official seat of the Senate of Rome, was originally begun by Julius Caesar in 44 BC to replace the earlier Curia Hostilia which had burned down in 52 BC. However it was completed by Augustus, and inaugurated in 29 BC. There was a restoration under Domitian (81-96), in the course of which the famous bronze doors were provided.
The building was gutted in a fire in 283, during the reign of the emperor Carinus, and was rebuilt by his successor Diocletian (284-305) who provided the extant floor. It was restored again by Annius Eucharius Epiphanius, prefect of the city, in 412.
Original AppearanceEdit
The plan was straightforwardly rectangular. There are four broad buttesses aligned with the façades at front and rear, and both of the latter have triangular pediments. The fabric is concrete clad with brickwork, which itself was originally clad on the principal entrance façade. Here the lower half of the walls had marble revetting, and above was stucco laid down to imitate marble ashlar. All this is long gone. There was a single principal entrance, but two doors at the rear. Above the main entrance were three large windows in a row, matched in the modern reconstruction although there was no continuity of fenestration.
The interior is 27 metres long, 18 metres wide and 21 metres high. Vitruvius wrote that a well-proportioned senatorial building should have its height at half the sum of its width and length for the sake of the acoustics, and this seems to be an approximate example of this. The layout was divided into three longitudinal sections running the length of the building, the central one being a circulating area and the two on either side holding the seating of the senators. The seats numbered about three hundred, in five rows on each side on three wide steps. The side walls had three niches each framed by small columns supported by brackets and intended for statues; the central pair were semicircular and the other four, rectangular.
There was a wide podium between the two rear doors, reserved for the chairman, and behind it was a statue of Victory on a pedestal. This was the presiding deity.
The floor was opus sectile, to a sumptuous and intricate design which combines geometricity with curlicued scrollwork. Much of it survives in the modern floor, although not as much as people pretend. The background is yellow-veined Numidian marble from Algeria, giallo antico. The purple motifs are in imperial porphyry (a very rare form of granite) from one place in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, and the green ones are lapis lacedaemonius from Krokees south of Sparta in Greece, hence the name. This is a serpentine ; it is often misnamed "green porphyry", even though "porphyry" means "purple".
History of the ChurchEdit
The Senate was still functioning as a political institution in 603, when it dedicated statues to the emperor Phocas and his wife. This is its last recorded act, and it is thought that it was disbanded very shortly afterwards. However, there is no documentary record.
In 630, according to Anastasius Bibliothecarius (who wrote in the 9th century), Pope Honorius I turned the building into a church dedicated to the martyr St Hadrian, whose relics had been brought from Nicomedia in what is now Turkey. The text is: Fecit ecclesiam beato Hadriano martyri in Tribus Fatis, quam et dedicavit et dona multa obtulit.
According to the architectural evidence, there was little substantial alteration to the structure. The seats of the senators were left alone, although a schola cantorum was erected between them. The podium became the high altar, and the schola took up the entire central space between the seats in front of it. The walls were embellished with frescoes in the Byzantine style.
An epigraph threatening anathema to those disturbing the martyr's relics has been found, and read: S[anctus] Adrian[us], quicumque ea traxerint vel fregerint anathema sit. This would have been on his shrine, and dates to the period of its foundation or the following century.
Pope Adrian I (772-95) made the church a titular diaconia, and enriched it with many gifts in honour of his patron saint.
In 1213 the relics of SS Nereus and Achilleus were enshrined here, and remained until transferred to Santi Nereo e Achilleo by Cardinal Baronius. The church was known then in the catalogues as in Tribus Fatis or in Tribus Foris.
In 1228 there was a major restoration ordered by Pope Gregory IX, which gave the church a basilical plan. The roof was removed and the side walls were pulled down to half their height. The back wall between the doors was removed. The floor was substantially raised, burying the senators' seats and establishing the main entrance in what is now the central window. (This is useful evidence that the ground level of the Forum had risen by then, to the level it had before the modern archaeological excavations.) Then ten antique columns were used to make arcades for a nave and aisles of six bays, an apse was added and a Romanesque campanile built at the back. The latter was at the end of the right hand aisle.
It was reported that the relics of St Hadrian were re-enshrined, also that the bodies of two putative saints called Marius and Martha were discovered.
In the 16th century the building was reported derelict, with grass growing on the floor inside. As a result Pope Sixtus V granted it to the Mercedarian Order from Spain in 1589, which began the necessary restoration as well as building a convent next to the church to the north-east. They paid for it by enforcing a levy on all their convents in Spain and Latin America, which certainly focused the interest of the ordinary Spanish friars on "their church in Rome".
The building of the convent entailed the demolition of the Romanesque campanile, and a new one was placed over the near end of the right hand aisle.
When the money was finally got together, in 1653-6 the interior was remodelled in the Baroque style by Martino Longhi the Younger , who was also responsible for the church of Santi Vincenzo ed Anastasio near the Trevi fountain. The ancient columns of the arcade were encased in pillars, the ceiling was vaulted and a cupola was provided over the main altar (the design of the last has been ascribed to Luca Berettini). The floor was further raised. On the negative side, the ancient bronze doors were removed and re-installed at the Lateran Basilica. The doors here now are copies.
Oratory of the Distillers and TobacconistsEdit
The Compagna degli Acquavitari was founded in 1690 to represent the interests of city's distillers, and attached itself to this church. It also had a membership from the box-makers (cassettanti), and from 1711 took over the Università dei Tabaccai or tobacconists' guild. To have a meeting-place of their own they built a small oratory attached to the right hand side of the church's façade, where there used to be a small courtyard leading to the sacristy block. Part of the courtyard remained as a tiny open space between the back of the oratory and the sacristy entrance. The plan of the oratory was a simple transverse rectangle.
There was a separate dedication, to Santa Maria del Riscatto or "Our Lady of Ransom". This was a title of hers fostered by the Mercedarians, since they were founded to ransom Christians taken captive as slaves by North African Muslims.
Modern timesEdit
There was another restoration by the Mercedarians in 1703. The convent had become one of the most famous in Rome, with many of the friars resident deriving from Spanish-ruled Latin America. The church was also a minor place of pilgrimage, not just because of St Hadrian but because it contained a venerated icon of Our Lady of Graces (the original one was at Santa Maria delle Grazie al Foro Romano nearby).
A major re-ordering of the parishes of the Centro Storico took place in 1824, under the bull Super Universam issued by Pope Leo XII. Rather oddly, in this the church was made parochial for the first time in its very long history.
The church was only identified as the ancient Curia in 1860, and from that time on there was pressure by certain members of the Italian archaeological establishment to conduct destructive investigations. The Mercedarian friars were able to resist such claims for sixty years. The campaign went as far as having a gang trying to break into the church at night to dig up the floor, which attempt was foiled when the friar on night watch called the police.
After the Italian government took power in Rome in 1870 the area in front of the church was excavated, leaving the main door hanging in thin air. Visitors had to enter via the side door at the end of the left hand aisle. The oratory was also destroyed, and the friars lost their garden.
The power of secular ideological interest in ancient Roman remains became overwhelming when Mussolini took power in 1922. His obsession with past imperial splendours led the Fascist government to purchase the church and monastery in the following year, although the church was not finally deconsecrated until 1932. The money for the purchase went to the Collegio di Spagna in Bologna.
Between 1935 and 1939, the church was then gutted and evidence of Christian occupation was removed, including most of the ancient frescoes. The side and back walls were rebuilt, the vault replaced by the present modern wooden one and the floor dug out. The 16th century Mercedarian convent next door was demolished.
Since then the building has functioned as an ancient monument only, and contains a selection of ancient sculptures.
Layout and fabricEdit
The church had a nave and aisles, with no entrance porch or loggia (there had been one before the 17th century restoration). Structurally the nave had six bays separated by six arcade pilasters on each side, although the last bay had the Baroque cupola over it and was the presbyterium. At the end of the left hand aisle was a side entrance leading into a street called the Strada Bonella, now lost but formerly separating the church from Santi Luca e Martina next door. Over this door on the exterior was decorative scrollwork of the 17th century.
At the end of the right hand aisle was the entrance to the convent, which was behind the apse. A wing of the convent extended down the right hand side of the church, and the sacristy was here.
The side aisles were lower than the central nave, and when Longhi built a ceiling vault for the latter he supported it by providing external buttresses over the aisles in the shape of gigantic volutes. The campanile was in the form of a brick slab with three arched apertures for bells at the top, a pair of large and tall ones with a little one over them reaching into the crowning gable.
The dome of the cupola had a lantern in the form of a little circular temple with cupola.
The apse was incorporated into a wing of the convent, which was built against the altar end of the church. The main entrance of the convent was on the Strada Bonella just beyond the far left hand corner of the church, and this led into a square cloister behind the church. This was arcaded on three side, but not on the far fourth side where the convent abutted onto a separate building on the Strada della Salaria Vecchia (another lost street). Opposite the entrance, at the other end of the cloister walkway behind the church, was a passage leading into the friars' garden which was over the west end of the ancient Basilica Aemiliana.
The ancient entrance façade was left as an unadorned brick cliff for all of the church's lifetime. In the 13th century restoration, the ancient row of three large windows were bricked up (leaving the shallow brickwork archivolts visible), and a new entrance provided where the central window was. The old entrance was blocked up, and the stairs or ramp that led down to it was mostly filled in. This left the lower part of the ancient façade buried.
The following is the appearance of the façade at the end of the church's existence:
There were three doorways, all with simple marble doorcases. The aisles had a pair of smaller entrance doorways, and above these was a pair of rectangular windows of about the same size as the doors. This pair was in turn topped by another pair of slightly smaller rectangular windows, about where the top outer corners of the present left and right windows now are. In the centre of the façade was a trapezoidal window with a curved top, and above was the triangular pediment with a projecting cornice -part of the ancient fabric.
The top corners of the façade, including the ends of the pediment, were false -that is, there was nothing behind them. This was because the side walls were cut down in the 13th century to make the side aisles.
However the Renaissance façade, of which depictions survive, was different. There were no side doors before the Baroque restoration, and the doorway was lower than the one provided in that restoration. It was in a shallow sunken area approached by steps, and had a graceful propylaeum with a pair of Doric columns supporting a raised segmental pediment containing a relief. Above this was a round-headed window also with a pair of Doric columns, and a pair of unadorned rectangular windows flanking it.
It is very unusual in Rome for a Baroque restoration actually to reduce the amount of decoration on a church's façade!
The little confraternity oratory just to the right of the main church had its own façade, with a triangular pediment.
The description is as the church was after its remodelling by Longhi and before its deconsecration and gutting.
The columns of the nave arcades were encased in pilasters by Longhi, each of which had a shallow ribbed Corinthian pilasters which went up to a deep entablature running above the arches. This was topped by a cornice with modillions, which ran all around the church. Above these in turn were round-headed windows, one above each arcade arch, and then came the barrel vault of the ceiling into which the arched tops of the windows intruded as lunettes. There was no stylistic connection between the arcade pilasters and the vault springers, which was a weakness in Longhi's design.
The entrance was two holy water stoups with angels in the style of Bernini. These were by Antonio Raggi.
Sanctuary Edit
Longhi also turned the sixth bay of the nave into a sanctuary with an elliptical dome lit by a lantern. This he did by inserting a triumphal arch. A pair of gigantic free-standing ribbed Composite columns supported the molded semi-circular archivolt, above which was a screen wall displaying a coat of arms supported by cherubs in stucco relief.
This apse was provided with a conch framed with an archivolt of similar design, enclosing diagonal coffering imitating that in the Temple of Venus and Roma in the Forum.
The high altar was placed against the wall of the apse, and had a pair of porphyry Corinthian columns supporting a segmental pediment on which sat a pair of angels. The altar was by Longhi, but the stucco angels were by Antonio Raggi. The altarpiece was by Cesare Torelli, and showed SS Nereus, Achilleus, Domitilla, Papias, Simeon and Justin.
Side chapels Edit
As well as the main altar there were nine side chapels, four in each aisle and a ninth next to the sacristy entrance to the right of the high altar. These were sumptuously decorated with polychrome marble work. The description is anticlockwise from the right side of the entrance.
The first chapel on the right was dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. Side paintings showed St Peter Nolasco Receiving the Mercedarian Habit from Our Lady, and King James I of Aragon Receiving the Mercedarian Scapular from Our Lady. Both these events relate to the foundation legend of the Order, which alleged that these two had separate visions of Our Lady instructing them to found it in her honour.
The second chapel on the right was dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows (Pietà).
The third chapel on the right was dedicated to Our Lady of Mercy.
The fourth chapel on the right was dedicated to St Charles Borromeo, and had an altarpiece of the saint by Orazio Borgianni. He was shown praying during a plague epidemic.
The fifth chapel on the right (next to the sacristy entrance) was dedicated to SS Sergius and Bacchus. The reason for this odd dedication was that it kept alive the memory of the nearby demolished church of Santi Sergio e Bacco al Foro Romano.
The fourth chapel on the left was dedicated to St Peter Pascual, who had been a Mercedarian at Rome.
The third chapel on the left was dedicated to St Peter Nolasco, with an altarpiece by Carlo Saraceni.
The second chapel on the left was dedicated to St Raymund Nonnatus, and had an altarpiece of him from the school of Carlo Maratta. The saint was shown receiving his cardinal's hat.
The first chapel on the left was dedicated to Our Lady of Graces, and held the miraculous icon as well as a a painting of The Holy Family allegedly by Raphael (but not). The polychrome marble decoration was especially rich. The icon had been painted in 1677 as a copy of the original at Santa Maria delle Grazie al Foro Romano. The side walls had depictions of The Presentation (right) and The Visitation (left).
As it is nowEdit
The restored Curia looks impressive, but don't be fooled. An alarming amount of the exterior brickwork is actually modern, and if all the 1930's fabric were removed you would be left with a complete ruin with the façade full of holes, half the height of the side walls standing and a big gap in the back wall.When the interior walls were being stripped after the deconsecration, the 7th century frescoes came to light. These were mostly removed, without proper record apparently. Three fragments of frescoes were allowed to remain in three of the side niches and a fourth, larger one is on the counterfaçade just to the right of the entrance door. Rather typically, this last example is obscured by a large information board.
Other fragments were preserved after removal, and are kept in the Antica (museum of archaeological finds) in the Roman Forum. This is located in the former monastery of Santa Francesca Romana, but is not often open. A strong contemporary rumour suggests that much of the fresco work was simply thrown away.The opus sectile floor is impressive, but is also not what it seems. Photographic evidence exists of the floor in the state in which it was found, and there were substantial patches missing. The Fascist archaeologists gathered together supplies of the required porphyry, serpentine and giallo antico "from elsewhere" (does anyone know now which archaeological monuments or demolished churches they looted?), and restored the floor with them. It would also be interesting to know what they did with the set of ten ancient columns encased in the pilasters.
After the destruction, some salvaged artworks were put into store until the building of Santa Maria della Mercede e Sant'Adriano, which is regarded as the church's successor and where they are now to be seen.
Especially, the venerated image of Our Lady of Graces has been enshrined there, in a separate chapel off the main church. The other salvaged items are:
The pair of holy water stoups by Raggi.
Three of the Baroque side altars.
The Holy Family of the school of Raphael.
To visit this former church, you need to pay the entrance fee for the Forum and Palatine archaeological site. If you do, you can also visit the former entrance vestibule of Santi Cosma e Damiano which is now the "Temple of Romulus".
There are obviously a lot of ancient Roman bits about also (but beware of the "Temple of Vesta" and the "Arch of Titus", both of which are also fraudulent restorations engineered by the same nationalist ideology which destroyed Sant'Adriano).
External linksEdit
Skyscrapercity forum thread with old photos
Nolli map (look for 94 church, 95 oratory)
"Architettiroma" article with photo of side of church


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"For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!" (1 Corinthians 9:16, ESV)
Paul didn't seek bonus points for preaching the Gospel. That was just what he needed to do. The truth of Christ and the calling of Christ demanded that he live his life a certain way. There weren't any options.
Knowing what is necessary in life is a mark of wisdom. Living in light of that knowledge is even more so.
The question of true necessity shines painful light on my life. To be clear, I don't mean "necessity" in the sense of "eat rice and beans everyday and smile only when absolutely necessary." I mean necessity in the sense of what makes an image bearer of God tick? What causes a child of God to thrive? What feeds my soul?
When I ask these questions, I start evaluating why I spend my time the way I do. I start doubting why I fill my life and mind with distractions. I start questioning the value of the fluffy stuff and start wondering about what's really worthwhile.
As it turns out, I already know the answer. You probably do too. My soul needs my Savior. My soul needs the words of life. I think there's more, but that alone is a worthwhile foundation.
Live today as one who knows what is necessary. Live for your soul's good and your God's glory.


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ASGC launches new skill development programme
DUBAI, June 13, 2018
ASGC, one of the leading construction groups in the UAE, is expanding a number of its internal training and development initiatives to keep its growing workforce on the cutting edge of technological and engineering advancements.
Recent reports suggest that sentiment around the future of the UAE's construction industry has improved year-on-year, with the Gulf's largest construction markets determined to grow in 2018, said a statement from the company.
At the same time, the UAE's construction industry is rapidly evolving. The Fourth Industrial Revolution and digital automation are already influencing the skills and types of jobs required of today's workforce, it stated.
According to ASGC, this is creating a skills gap in the way that technical professionals across the region approach project planning, execution and supervision within the construction industry.
Building on global best practices, the company is therefore placing additional investments into a number of programmes for continuous learning and development, it added.
One of these is the ASGC Employee Academy, which first launched in 2017 to provide young, talented construction professionals across each of the company's departments with the education needed to help them progress more rapidly.
Selected individuals participating in the academy programme adopt their own 'passion projects' which include the development of ideas, innovations and technologies that enhance ASGC's operations, processes and procedures — steering the organisation towards boosting efficiency and growth, said the statement from ASGC.
In addition, the company has recently launched an ASGC Labour Academy, which is an independent facility owned by ASGC and is fully equipped for all kind of trade and HSE training.
The academy is now operational and is helping in skill upgradation of more than 200 workers per month covering various trades with a target to reach the full capacity of 400 plus trained workers per month by the end of 2018, it stated.
The emirati construction group also hosts various HSE (health, safety and environment) training programmes in line with the projects requirements. The aim of the Labour Academy is to provide development programmes that improve the capabilities and skills of ASGC's workforce while at the same time opening doors to career progression, it stated.
In the area of academia, ASGC has also bolstered its post-graduate education programme, which have been running for several years. Under this programme, ASGC covers the cost of the post-graduate degree tuition fees - whether it is in engineering, finance, HR or other related field, said its top official.
"As the UAE transitions towards a knowledge-based economy, the construction field is also evolving so that projects can be done smarter and more efficiently than ever before," remarked CEO Bishoy Azmy.
"Across the industry this means a shift in skill sets required. It is our responsibility to ensure that the workforce of the future not only has the necessary skills for employment, but the ability to make a meaningful contribution to the wider community," he added.-TradeArabia News Service


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As languages go, English is a comparatively new kid on the block.
Greek was spoken in 1500 BC, Sanskrit dates back to at least 2000 BC, and Hebrew is estimated to be 5000 years old1. However, English began to develop following the Norman conquest of England in 1066 and only became recognizable as the language we speak today about 400 years ago.
Credit: By 12th century unknown - Lucien Musset The Bayeux Tapestry 2005 Boydell Press ISBN 1-84383-163-5 p. 243, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27217819
Before the Norman conquest, people spoke Old English, a West Germanic language brought to Britain by the Anglo-Saxons in the mid 400s after the fall of the Roman empire2.
Old English was nothing like modern English. If you listen to the reading of the Lord's Prayer in the video below, you will probably find it strange, harsh-sounding and totally incomprehensible.
Old English
Old English grammar had a complex system of word endings. Verb endings, for example, showed person, number and tense, as in these forms of the verb to kiss:
Present tense
ic cysse (I kiss)
thu cyssest (you kiss - singular)
he cysseth (he kisses)
we cyssath (we kiss)
Past tense
ic cyste (I kissed)
thu cystest (you kissed)
he cyste (he kissed)
we cyston (we kissed)
Credit: By Francesco Hayez - Web Gallery of Art: Image Info about artwork, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17614288
Nouns, adjectives and articles also had different forms which reflected whether they were singular or plural, masculine, feminine or neuter, as well as their case or grammatical function. For example, the noun stan (stone) is masculine, the noun glaf (glove) is feminine, and the word bedd (bed) is neuter. The three words in the modern English phrase "of the people" translates into Old English as two words, ðeode (the) ðære (people). These words have grammatical endings which indicate that ðære is a singular noun and that its grammatical gender is feminine. Also, instead of using "of" to indicate belonging it shows possession grammatically with the dative ending "e".3
The Norman Conquest
So how did Old English develop into the English we speak today?
Languages are always changing and developing. Changes in Old English were due both to this natural process of evolution and to the influence of other languages. One major influence was Latin, which the Anglo-Saxons encountered when they first arrived in Britain, and again when they were converted to Christianity. Other languages that had an influence on Old English were Norse, brought to Britain in the 9th and 10th centuries by Viking invaders[2], and the Celtic language spoken by the native Britons.
The greatest influence on Old English, however, was the conquest of England by William the Conqueror and the French speaking Normans in 1066.
1066 is considered one of the most important dates in English history because the Norman conquest marked the beginning of revolutionary changes in English society as well as crucial changes in the English language.
After defeating the English king Harold at the Battle of Hastings, William solidified his position by crushing all resistance. His cruelest campaign was the Harrying of the North. In order to pacify the northern regions, William laid waste to the land and salted the earth so that no crops would grow. It is estimated that 100,000 people died of starvation as a consequence.
Credit: See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
To consolidate his power, William created a strong central government. He replaced the former Anglo-Saxon aristocracy, senior government administrators and church leaders with his own Norman lords.
As a result, the Old English speaking people became subject to the harsh authority of their French speaking rulers. French became the language of the ruling class, and a two-tiered society emerged. The Norman conquerors formed a new elite that controlled major landholdings and occupied all the important administrative positions in the country, while the English survived as an underclass, with only a few of their members retaining minor landholdings. Most Anglo-Saxons were reduced to a lower position in the social hierarchy with no access to positions of power.4
Middle English
Under the Normans, the Old English spoken by the Anglo-Saxons continued to change and develop.
The grammar became simpler. The number of verb forms were reduced, as were grammatical endings on nouns, articles and adjectives, with noun gender disappearing altogether5. In contrast, the vocabulary became much more complex as it absorbed countless words from Norman French.
The pattern of how words entered the language from Norman French explains why English vocabulary is so complex. At the same time it provides interesting examples of the power relationships between the two languages in medieval Britain.
The language of official documents changed from Old English to Latin, and Norman French replaced Old English as the language of government, the law and the church. Consequently, words used in these areas (such as the word "government" itself) came from French, while the common people continued to use Old English for common everyday words such as "bed" and "sun".
In some cases there might be two words with the same or similar meaning depending on who was speaking. English peasants looked after Anglo-Saxon sheep (modern German Schaf) in the fields, but when their meat was served to their masters, it became Norman French mutton (modern French mouton). While a Norman lord would sit on a chair (modern French chaise), his serfs sat on humble stools (modern German Stuhl).
Credit: By Limbourg brothers - R.M.N. / R.-G. Ojéda, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=108569
But Middle English was still not the language we speak today. if you listen to the Lord's Prayer in Middle English at the end of this article, you might recognize more of it than the Old English version but you will still find it difficult to understand.
Modern English
Middle English continued to evolve. The grammar became even simpler and the pronunciation changed. By the time Shakespeare was writing in the sixteenth century the language was much more recognizable to modern English speakers.
As English spread around the world, first as the colonial language of the British empire and then as the international language of science and business communication, it continued to borrow words from other languages. As a result, modern English now boasts the ability to express every possible shade of meaning with a mind-boggling three quarters of a million words6.


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8 Ways Companies Waste Advertising Dollars
By Mark Combs
I understand, running a business is tough. Tons to do. Even more to think about. But, have you thought about how you are wasting those precious few advertising dollars? We see money wasted everyday in advertising, here are some of the most common ways:
Inconsistency – Rollercoaster advertising is not as fun as it sounds. Rollercoaster advertising is when companies don't stay in front of their customers. Business slows down so the company responds by doing some advertising. They soon get busy and the attention gets directed to serving the recent influx of business. Soon, that new business is starting to wane, and its time to ramp up the ad machine again. If you will consistently advertise to your perfect customer your rollercoaster will level out and you can ride that train to the bank.
"Me Too" Advertising – Do you remember the "Got Milk?" campaign? Of couse you do. Its one of the best campaigns of the 90's. Do you remember all the knockoff campaigns that it spawned. T-shirts, billboards, magazine ads everywhere had "Got _______?" in that nice narrow font. Do you remember any of the companies that did the knockoffs? I didn't think so. "Me Too!" advertising is jumping on a band wagon of a concept or tactic that works. Unfortunately, the "me too"ers seldom see the same returns. Be original, set the bar and let everyone else say "Me Too!" to your advertising.
Shotgun Advertising – This spray and pray method of advertising to EVERYONE is costly and not very profitable. It gets expensive trying to flood the marketplace with your message in hopes of hitting the perfect customer. Every time your message lands on the wrong customer you waste money. You may wonder why "the big boys" use so much of the mass market advertising, its because they can afford to. But in recent years they are learning that targeting specific customers that are ideally compatible with their message is paying off more than hitting everyone with the same ad.
Wrong Vehicle – Using mass transit advertising to market a kitchen utensil to stay at home moms doesn't sound like a good Idea, right? It's not. Stay at home moms are called that for a reason. They stay at home. They don't use mass transit very often. So why do companies use advertising vehicles that won't reach their perfect customer? Choose the advertising vehicle that best fits the needs of that one customer that your product speaks directly to. Its kind of like using a tank to go water skiing, it might pull you but it won't work that well.
Wrong Customer – Have you tried to sell tractors to a stock broker? It ain't easy. Choosing the right customer is half of the battle in advertising. Many companies say our target market is the whole world. That is a bit of a contradiction. Take an inventory of what needs your product or service fills. Look at what customers have the demographic and psychographic qualities that fit your product offer. Then work to craft a message that speaks directly to them and their needs. They are the right customer, speak to them.
Too Big – Every year a few companies spend millions on a single 30 second spot during the super bowl. If you remember the DotCom boom the Super Bowl broadcast was filled with quirky sometimes weird ads that "promoted" a website. A few years later, 90% of those companies were no where to be found. Would that money been better used in a consistent, targeted, custom message to the right customer? Guaranteed. Would they still be in business today? No way to know. My advice, don't spend advertising dollars on placement that is beyond your reach. Especially if your haven't tested the message. Think Big, Work Small.
Too Small – Money is tight. I get it. But, try to push yourself to the next level when it comes to your ad budget. I know it sounds weird after the last point. But I said the "next" level not the next stratosphere. If you wish to reach your perfect customer, they have to know you exist. You must let them know what you offer and how it meets their needs. Test your message as cheaply as you can. When you find a message that works, go big. Take a few risks, step out of your comfort zone. To get something different, you must do something different.
Poor Brand – What is your brand? Your brand is your look, your message, your value, your overall marketing message. Do you have a strong brand? Can you convey your message in 2 sentences? Do you speak to your Perfect Customer with every market touch point? Do the answers to these questions evade you? That probably means your brand isn't as strong as it should be. Branding is probably the most important part of advertising. Invest in your brand, it pays dividends.
If you can avoid these few mistakes, your advertising can be the life-blood of your business.
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"Any field requires imagination if you want to be good at it." Everyone is creative. Everyone. Even lawyers and accountants and republicans. Creativity is the dominant feature of the human endowment, the only common currency our species has and the highest example of what it means to be a person. And what drives me crazy is, the people who claim they aren't creative. Bullshit. What they're really saying is, they had it beaten out of them. Or they were taught not to value it. Or they buried their creative urges under a thousand pounds of cynicism. Or they chose to let their imaginative muscles atrophy from lack of use. But nobody isn't creative. That's like saying chocolate isn't sweet.
"People are always trying to shake my faith, as if the foundation weren't already flimsy enough." It costs nothing to encourage. That I knew. But I had no idea how powerful encouragement was until I actually had people to encourage every day. Holy crap. It's like oxygen to people's souls. When someone we care about is clearly questioning their own value, beating themselves up for not being useful to the world, the best gift we can give them is encouragement. And it doesn't matter how they receive it, either. Not everyone is good at accepting a gift like that. What matters is that we make the effort. Not just to encourage people to become more of what they are. But to empower people to become what they never thought they could be. To help people believe that something bigger is possible for them. That's magic. Inspired by yoga doubters.
"It's not a flaw, it's a feature." The moment we discover someone isn't like us, our first response is to round down and label their behavior as a negative. But most of the time, it's not a weakness or a flaw or a liability, it's just who they are. I have a friend who's a complete asshole, but he knows it, he owns it and most importantly, he uses it to bring out the best in others. When he questions every idea you have, it's not a personal attack, it's just his way of making you search for another answer. Maybe even a better answer. And that's hard for some people to handle, but once you understand who he is and how he operates––plus, how valuable his brilliance can be––you start to appreciate his assholery. Inspired by a sassy librarian.
"Comedy takes a lot of talent but an equal measure of temperament." Polarity fascinates me. The yin and yang of life, the simultaneity of two opposing forces pulling at each other like taffy, I just think that's interesting as hell. And I came across another example this week. The trouble with being persuasive is, you can compel yourself into a corner. Being an exceptional presenter goes a long way, but if the theater of the idea is better than the idea itself, the integrity of your creative foundation collapses. Conversely, the trouble with being gifted is, your genius can go unnoticed. Being brilliant is an great asset, but if you're not as convincing as you are talented, you'll always be winking in the dark. Inspired by a fascinating interview with the man who knows everything about nothing.


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Why Massages Aren't As Bad As You Think
Combined Treatments That You Can Have From Massage And Yoga
It has been said that yoga for beginners can be a therapy in order to increase the body's resistance against pain and then relieve them in such a way that even those suffering from mild to moderate arthritis can be treated with the yoga experience. Since yoga for beginners has also been an exercise that will position your body and limbs in such a way that they have never been into before, it is best that you can supply your yoga instructors and teachers about everything that they need to know first about your body pains and body conditions before actually doing the positions. The fact that these yoga exercises for beginners can be able to supply the needed exercise for the body so they can handle pains and relieve them from stress can be enough to say that these are great routines. It is like strengthening and aligning the body is such a way that these yoga exercises for beginners can bring some of the body parts to positions that can refresh and rejuvenate them. These yoga exercises and routines can be painful at first but this is normal, and soon enough, you can notice how these exercises can help you relieve much of your arthritis pain and take you towards standing taller and doing things that you have never done before. For added relief, there are experts who recommend taking yoga related supplements for all the benefits.
Aside from yoga, there are other approaches that you can use and take part in so you can always have the best methods to relieve your body pains and more, and these come in the form of massage spa treatments and services. As much as yoga can be a progressive exercise, this kind of treatment can be progressive in terms of connecting with the body. Unlike yoga, the massage spa treatments and services are done to a stationary individual who can just lie down while his or her body is being massaged, and massage treatments are working in order to open you pores and joints and increase the flow of blood around the body. Because massage spa methods are always also about health, there are instances when the first strokes can be painful but as you go along, you can notice how much benefit these have given for the body.
It is always best that you can first consult with your doctors before taking any of these massage spa methods or yoga routines so you can know your body well and you can know which are the limitations of your body. While these massage spa methods and yoga exercise are always great, you have to think about the conditions of your body and how customized these exercises can be.


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If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below. Get information and user reviews for this lens at Amazon: Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras
Photo Zone
Thanks to a silent-wave AF drive and a VR (Vibration Reduction) mechanism the Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G IF-ED VR is a worthy improvement over the previous high-speed tele zooms made by Nikon. However, these improvements also come at cost of a substantially higher price tag and increased dimensions/weight. Performance-wise the results are excellent and slightly superior to the old AF 80-200mm f/2.8ED. Vignetting, distortions as well as CAs are well controlled and not really field relevant. The mechanical quality of the lens is exceptionally high and it's a joy to use this lens. … READ FULL REVIEW
Other Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Nikkor Reviews
SLR Gear
The Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR is a big, hefty (and expensive) hunk of glass and metal, but it packs a real wallop when it comes to performance and capabilities. One of its more prominent characteristics is that it incorporates Nikon's "VR" (Vibration Reduction) technology, letting you hand-hold shots up to 3 stops slower than you could otherwise. If you need superior optical quality and lens speed over this focal length range, the Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR is clearly the way to go. "¦ READ FULL REVIEW
Digital Photography Review
The Nikon AF-S VR 70-200mm F2.8G is a lens which would, were it designated 'DX', be fully deserving of the highest accolades. On the smaller sensor format, results are nothing short of spectacular – resolution is excellent even wide open, chromatic aberration and geometric distortion are low, and falloff negligible. Combine this with the impeccable build quality, excellent autofocus, and effective image stabilization, and this lens is getting close to flawless; only the occasional, but severe flare problems really count against it. … The problem is that, with the introduction of the D3, DX is no longer the pre-eminent format in Nikon's DSLR line, and 35mm full-frame has re-arisen from the ashes in the guise of FX. This of course places different demands on lenses … And the D3 is a top-end camera, so it seems reasonable to assume that Nikon's workhorse professional lenses should give excellent results on it; sadly, the 70-200mm F2.8 VR doesn't quite manage this, with significant vignetting at wide apertures throughout the zoom range …READ FULL REVIEW
This is a pricey lens that you won't be buying on impulse. … When you have light sources in the frame, this lens tends to produce ghosts more often than the preceding lenses in this line. You'll want to always use the supplied hood. This is a lens that absolutely requires that you turn the camera off before removing it or mounting it. If you use internal flash or the AF-On button, you'll find some more of the little gotchas. Minor quibbles, such as the four switches being indistinguishable by touch and the total lack of depth of field information mar what would otherwise be a world-beater design. One of Nikon's sharpest lenses ever. Sharp at every aperture. Sharp with tele-converters. And the VR helps you achieve that sharpness. Gorgeous out-of-focus rendering, perhaps as good as any existing Nikkor, VR and AF-S in one package. … VR doesn't slow the speed of focus of this lens, and AF-S doesn't keep VR from working. Nicely done. "¦ READ FULL REVIEW
Ken Rockwell
As Nikon's best professional moderate telephoto zoom, one of these (or one of its earlier siblings) is in almost every professional photographers' bag. Its optics and mechanics are superlative for everything a full-time career professional news or sports photographer would want to shoot with it, on any Nikon digital or modern film camera. The only reason I don't have one myself is because I usually use my 80-400mm VR instead, since I shoot things that don't move and prefer the longer range. "¦ READ FULL REVIEW