text:
Planet B-Boy
|Planet B-Boy
Promotional movie poster
|Directed by
|Benson Lee
|Produced by
|Benson Lee
Amy Lo
Knucklehead Zoo
Last For One
Phase T
Ken Swift
Thomas Hergenröther
Trac 2
|Music by
|Woody Pak
|Vasco Nunes
|Edited by
|Benson Lee
Jeff Marcello
|Distributed by
|Elephant Eye Films
Release date
Running time
|101 minutes
|United States
|Box office
Planet B-Boy is a 2007 documentary film that focuses on the 2005 Battle of the Year while also describing B-boy culture and history as a global phenomenon. This documentary was directed by Canadian-American Korean filmmaker Benson Lee, shot by Portuguese-American filmmaker Vasco Nunes, and released in theaters in the United States on March 21, 2008. It was released on DVD on November 11, 2008.
Planet B-Boy features extensive footage of the dancers in competition as well as street performances and various rehearsals by the different crews from around the world. The narrative of the film centers on five particular crews (representing France, Japan, South Korea, and the United States) in their quest to win the Battle of the Year, and it includes multiple interviews with the B-Boys and their families. The film also includes interviews with German B-Boy and promoter Thomas Hergenröther (who founded the Battle of the Year competition) and legendary B-Boy Ken Swift of the Rock Steady Crew.
This film has been shown at numerous festivals around the world[2] after originally making its debut on April 26, 2007 at the Tribeca Film Festival.[3] Planet B-Boy has received many strong reviews[4][5][6] and currently has a 91% rating at Rotten Tomatoes - with the consensus that "Lee's dazzling documentary makes a compelling argument for breakdancing as an art form".[7] In March 2008 it was revealed that director Benson Lee was working on a feature adaptation of Planet B-Boy, starring Chris Brown and featuring many American b-boys such as Kid David from Renegades and Casper from Boogie Brats.[8]
Awards and Selections[edit]
- Best Documentary Feature Award – 26th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival[9]
- Audience Award – 26th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival[9]
- Moviesquad DOC U! Award – 2007 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam[10]
- Official Selection – 2007 Tribeca Film Festival[11]
- Official Selection – 2007 Sydney Film Festival
- Official Selection – Edinburgh International Film Festival 2007[12]
- Official Selection – 33rd Deauville American Film Festival
- Official Selection – 2008 Constellation Change Film Festival
- Official Selection – 2008 Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival[13]
- ^ https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=planetbboy.htm
- ^ Planet B-Boy review at variety.com. Retrieved April 3, 2008.
- ^ B-boy film debuts at Tribeca
- ^ Planet B-Boy review San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 3, 2008.
- ^ Movie Review: Planet B-Boy The New York Times. Retrieved April 3, 2008.
- ^ Movie Review: Planet B-Boy Monsters & Critics. Retrieved April 3, 2008.
- ^ Planet B-Boy at Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 3, 2008.
- ^ [1] MTV website. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
- ^ a b Om Shanti Om and Planet B-Boy Win Audience Awards Archived 2008-04-15 at the Wayback Machine SFIAAFF page. Retrieved April 3, 2008.
- ^ And the winners are... IDFA page. Retrieved April 3, 2008.
- ^ Planet B-Boy at Tribeca Film Festival film guide archive. Retrieved April 3, 2008.
- ^ Planet B-Boy at Edinburgh International Film Festival page. Retrieved April 3, 2008.
- ^ 'Planet B-Boy' Lands in Philly Hyphen Magazine. Retrieved October 16, 2008.
External links[edit]
- Planet B-Boy on IMDb
- Planet B-Boy at AllMovie
- Official website
- Interview with Benson Lee
- Planet B-Boy director aims to give break dancing its due March 2008 interview with the New York Daily News.
- Conversation with Benson Lee, Director of Planet B-Boy April 2009, State of Mind Music


text:
Videotron carrier of Canada is offering Huawei E5377 (E5377Bs-508) and Huawei E5786 MiFi wifi routers. Videotron's E5377Bs-508 comes with un-customized firmware and after changing the default SIM it asks for SIMLock NCK / unlock code. Means, if you put correct 8 digit NCK code then Huawei E5377Bs-508 Videotron will be unlocked forever to use any another network provider SIM.
How long we need to wait for a Huawei unlock code?
The approximate delivery time for a Huawei unlock code is 10 minutes to 8 hrs.
The average response time for a Huawei unlock code is 30 minutes (based on last 100 orders).
How to Unlock Videotron (Canada) Huawei E5377Bs-508 Mobile WiFi Hotspot Router?
1. Make sure your Huawei E5377Bs-508 Mobile WIFI Router Gateway is fully charged.
2. Switch off the modem / router and insert a non-acceptable Network SIM (another than default) in E5377Bs-508.
3. After changing the another network providers sim on your Huawei WiFi / MiFi, switch the device on. It will display "Invalid SIM" because you have used another network providers sim.
4. Now just establish a WiFi connection to Huawei E5377Bs-508 Gateway with your PC / IPAD / IPHONE / Android Device.
5. Browse for 192.168.8.1 and login to your device's dashboard (IP Address may be different for your device). Go to Advanced Settings – SIM Settings – Unlock Device – Enter Unlock Code – Click on Apply.
Open your Settings – Dial-up – Unlock SIM card – Enter 8 digits unlock code in your Huawei E5377Bs-508 Mobile WIFI Router. Click OK and the device will reboot to display the new network.
Now yourHuawei E5377Bs-508 Mobile WIFI Router Gateway is unlocked forever. Create the profile as per correct APN and connect to the internet.
Note: Don't enter any free code into your Huawei E5377Bs-508, your device will be locked permanently. Either purchase a correct NCK code from any server or place an order at routerunlock.com. Unlock code / NCK will be delivered to your email.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The release dates for a couple of Sony Pictures Classics flicks are now known. Director Pedro Almodovar's The Skin I Live In is set to be released in the US in November, with a UK release date of August 26th. The film, an adaptation of Thierry Jonquet's novel Tarantula, stars Antonio Banderas as a plastic surgeron out for revenge on the man who raped his daughter.
Additionally, Jeff Nichols' Sundance hit Take Shelter is slated for an October 7th release. Starring Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain, the thriller tells the story of a husband and father trying to figure out if his dreams of an apocalyptic storm are a sign of things to come or a result of his own mental illness. Hit the jump to read the official synopsis for both films.
Here's the official synopsis for The Skin I Live In (via The Playlist). Release dates via Coming Soon.
Ever since his wife was burned in a car crash, Dr. Robert Ledgard, an eminent plastic surgeon, has been interested in creating a new skin with which he could have saved her. After twelve years, he manages to cultivate a skin that is a real shield against every assault. In addition to years of study and experimentation, Robert needed a further three things: no scruples, an accomplice and a human guinea pig. Scruples were never a problem. Marilia, the woman who looked after him from the day he was born, is his most faithful accomplice. And as for the human guinea pig…
Here's the official synopsis for Take Shelter:
Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.
Curtis LaForche (Michael Shannon) lives in a small Ohio town with his wife Samantha (Jessica Chastain) and six–year-old daughter Hannah, who is deaf. Curtis makes a modest living as a crew chief for a sand mining company. Samantha is a stay-at-home mother and part-time seamstress who suplements their income by selling handmade wares at the flea market each weekend. Money is tight, and navigating Hannah's healthcare and special needs education is a constant struggle. Despite that, Curtis and Samantha are very much in love and their family is a happy one.
Then Curtis begins having terrifying dreams about an encroaching, apocalyptic storm. He chooses to keep the disturbance to himself, channeling his anxiety into the obsessive building of a storm shelter in their backyard. His seemingly inexplicable behavior concerns and confounds Samantha, and provokes intolerance among co-workers, friends and neighbors. But the resulting strain on his marriage and tension within the community doesn't compare to Curtis's privately held fear of what his dreams may truly signify.
Faced with the doomed proposition that his disturbing visions signal disaster of one kind or another, Curtis confides in Samantha, testing the power of their bond against the highest possible stakes.


text:
So, I thought that my picture arrangement was for this outfit was sheer genius, but looking at the pictures…I don't think this worked quite as well as I hoped. Oh well, you are all creative people, I'm sure you can put all of this together. It was a good idea that was modeled in a slightly unfortunate way.
I thought that the tree shade would provide some artistic shading for the outfit…The shading was accomplished, but not in quite the way I expected.
This outfit consists of a very simple black dress, a much used and loved red belt, and my all purpose red jacket which I kind of wear whenever it works. And sometimes when it doesn't I'm sure. The final touch (And my favorite) are my perfect red shoes, which are not only classy, but comfy as well.
Thanks for reading,


text:
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Photo of the Day!
The coolness never ends here.
Posted by Millie at 6:55 PM
Labels: James Dean, photo of the day
6 comments:
- Jason H. said...
May his coolness rest in peace.
- October 3, 2010 at 7:34 PM
This is one of the coolest photos of him I've ever seen.
- October 3, 2010 at 7:38 PM
- Kalli said...
I love this picture! haha
- October 3, 2010 at 9:20 PM
- quizshowbob said...
That is a cool photo. There's a great movie about the death of James Dean and the effect that it has on this guy who worships him. It's called 9/30/55. You might want to check it out if you haven't seen it.
- October 5, 2010 at 6:25 AM
- Lolita of the Classics said...
Haha, how can one NOT love Jimmy Dean? Love your blog header! Matches this time of year ;)
- October 8, 2010 at 11:25 AM
- Romance Movies said...
Wow! What a great photo you found! I wonder how he got into the trash can? Plus I love the girl on the right, she looks like she should be saying "Yipee"! Hahah Thanks for sharing!
- October 18, 2010 at 5:03 PM
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
We planned to use the I2C interface to serve as a means of communication for each candle. Two data lines are used: a clock line and and data line. These two line are shared with every device including the master and slave boards. The master board can request to write or read data to each slave board. The signal consists of multiple sets of two bytes of date. The first seven bits in the first byte is the address of the slave board that is being addressed. The last bit is signaling whether it is requesting for the following data to be written or read. The second byte is the data the master is trying send. If the slave successfully received the data bit then it will send an acknowledgment bit to the master board.
We ran in to difficulties trying to simultaneously interface with P and PB variant boards because they require different address name schemes.


text:
The Opacity Board publishes the "O Factor", a numerical rating assigned to each country, which measures five factors: (1) level of corruption, (2) nature and effectiveness of legal systems, (4) economic policy, (4) whether accounting practices are firmly established, and (5) regulatory systems. The most transparent country is Singapore, with an O Factor of 29. The U.S. ranks higher at 36. Chile, the most transparent country in Latin America, also ranks at 36.
Argentina's O Factor is 61, a hidden-tax equivalent of 25%. If Argentina were able to reduce its O Factor to the level of Singapore, it would be the equivalent of cutting corporate taxes by 25%. Argentina's government is inefficient and evidence of bureaucratic red tape is everywhere. When doing business in countries with high O Factors, it is important for firms and business people to find local expertise to help them navigate the bureaucracy and insulate their enterprise as much as possible from these hidden costs.
Before selecting ARCA to process their visas, many clients experienced delays -- some longer than one year -- just to obtain a residency permit from Migrations. With each Argentina Consulate using different procedures, different forms, and having different requirements, foreigners can find it difficult, if not impossible, to get their visas processed when working with consulates abraod.
With more than 20 years in the field of immigration, numerous contacts and personal relationships at the Department of Migrations, one of ARCA's primary assets is the ability to rapidly obtain permits for clients. With a normal turnaround of less than 20 working days, ARCA can ease a client's transition into the country and allow him or her to focus on meeting objectives rather than fighting against the bureaucracy.


text:
Aragon Iridium Mono Power Amplifier; Silver Pair
Product: Aragon Iridium Mono Power Amplifier; Silver Pair
Product SKU: 15031
Serial Number: 10003
Voltage: 120V
Cosmetic Description: 9/10 Excellent condition with no notable blemishes.
What is Included: Pair of amplifiers, Manual, Power cables, Factory packaging
Functional Notes: Operational condition of this item is excellent, fully tested and no issues found.
Age: Unknown
# of Owners: 1
Tobacco Exposure: No
Service History: None
Other Notes: 400W monoblock amplifiers. These appear to be new / unused
"The ultimate in amplification from Aragon, the Iridium is our flagship Differential Monoblock Amplifier. A natural evolution from its revered predecessor, the Palladium, two Iridiums form the heart of a serious 2-channel setup.
Inside and out, every detail has been precisely engineered to consistently deliver the ultimate in audio reproduction, year after year. The Iridium is a natural choice to ensure you can hear the best performance a high-quality loudspeaker can deliver. While media standards may change every six months or so, Aragon owners can simply sit back, relax and enjoy years of trouble-free service from these highly coveted products. "
Reviews: Sound and Vision
Shipping: Cost to ship this item within the contiguous United States is a flat rate of $179- including packaging and insurance. For all other locations including Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Alaska, please request a quote prior to purchase. Items with factory packaging will be double boxed. When factory packaging not available re-usable shipping box with custom injected-foam mold will be used. (for all items over 10 lbs). Note that all items valued over $500 will require a signature upon delivery.


text:
Three seasons into his rebuilding plan, Wilmington College baseball coach Dan Cleaver has a roster full of his recruits as the 2017 version will have zero seniors and just six juniors.
For the first time in his tenure, Cleaver will have a plethora of dedicated arms to turn to as Wilmington could have as many as 10 players strictly for pitching.
"That is one of the things that in the course of the rebuild you have to get here. When I got here, there were no POs (pitcher only's), now we are up to eight," said Cleaver. "Actually, we could go to ten here early in the season. We will see how things shake out. We added a pitching coach, Rhyker Miller, and he has done a terrific job for us this last month and a half. It's made a difference."
Sophomore Jarett Trautman (Hartville, OH/Field) will shed his catching gear, and focus solely on being the team's ace. He pitched in 12 games with five starts last season, posting a 7.45 ERA.
"Jarett can just focus on pitching," said Cleaver. "In Division III baseball, you can't have a potential number one pitcher be your third catcher as well. It just doesn't work."
Freshman Jacob Helterbrand (Hillsboro, OH/Hillsboro) has come in and made an immediate impression on the coaching staff, and will start the season in the rotation.
Sophomore Ryan Collette (Wilmington, OH/Clinton Massie), sophomore Joey Hollback (Salem, OH/Sebring McKinnley) and freshman Matt Oney (Carlisle, OH/Carlisle) will fight for the third slot in the conference rotation. The other two could slot into conference relievers or non-conference starters.
Hollback had an up and down freshman season, finishing with a 7.59 ERA over 14 appearances. The southpaw has worked hard in the offseason to be able to go deeper in games. Collette only hurled 7 2/3 innings before being lost to a season-ending injury.
Sophomore Jared Ferenchak (Concord, OH/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin) will find a spot on the mound this season. He is the top returning pitcher, ERA-wise for the Fightin' Quakers. Ferenchak made a team-high nine starts last season, posting a 6.75 ERA with 21 strikeouts. His strikeout total was second on the team.
One of the most important pieces of the staff will be junior Tyler McDaniel (Trenton, OH/Edgewood).
"I have told him several times how important he is to us this year," said Cleaver. "He has to just step up. He has done a really good job for us, but we are talking another junior who has been on the mound. This will be his third year on the mound, in the middle relief role to hold down the fort.
"In a close game, he has done it well in the past," Cleaver continued. "He is going to be asked to do it more often this year, and I do think that he is still going to swing the bat. He handles it well enough to move a runner, and he is also a left handed bat off the bench. I don't see him in the outfield very much so he is kind of a PO/pinch hitter."
Freshman Bryant McCarty (Russia, OH/Russia) and sophomore Alec Robinette (Lebanon, OH/Little Miami) could earn some innings for the Fightin' Quakers.
For the first time in four seasons, Wilmington will not have Max Ramsey to turn to behind the plate as he graduated in 2016.
Junior Kyle Short (Trenton, OH/Edgewood) returns behind the dish after a one-year hiatus in which he played the outfield. He played in 23 games, hitting .200 (11-of-55). Short will provide needed experience as Wilmington has two freshmen catchers behind him in Kasey Bottorff (Columbus, OH/Hamilton Twp.) and Kendall Vilvens (Lynchburg, OH/Lynchburg-Clay).
"Catching depth has been an issue here for three years," said Cleaver. "The maturity of Kyle helps a lot. He has a high baseball IQ, makes good decisions behind the plate, he blocks the ball well and his arm has improved."
Wilmington will have a ton of college experience in the infield with two juniors and a sophomore that started every game as a freshman.
Sophomore Jake Hyatt (Madeira, OH/Madeira) led the team with 12 doubles and three homeruns in the middle of the WC lineup.
Junior Daniel Hayes (Beavercreek, OH/Beavercreek) returns for his third season as a starter, but will be moving to shortstop this season. He hit a team-high .315 in OAC action, and had a hit in 11 of the last 14 games for the Fightin' Quakers. He will be joined in the middle by second baseman Joshua Chua (Lancester, England/Claremont, CA), who transferred from Citrus Community College.
Rounding out the infield will be freshman third baseman Nick Silvis (Beavercreek, OH/Indian Lake).
Wilmington will have plenty of infield depth as junior Keith Hayes (Beavercreek, OH/Beavercreek), Shane Hale (New Lebanon, OH/Dixie) and Shawn Barnes (Columbus, OH/Whitehall-Yearling) will all find time in the lineup.
While the depth may not be as plentiful as the infield, Wilmington has some talent roaming the grass in returning starters Jake Robinson (Westerville, OH/Central), Antonio Miller (Cincinnati, OH/Northwest) and Gage Bley (Harrison, OH/Harrison).
Bley, who started at second base, moves to left field as the top returning bat. He hit .279 with nine doubles and 19 RBI in 2016. After hitting almost .300 as a freshman, Robinson took a step back a season – batting .245 in 112 at-bats. Cleaver expects him to return to his freshman form.
Rounding out the starters will be Miller, a sophomore, finished the season with hits in six of the last eight games to boost his average to .248.
Sophomore Lane Stevenson (Brookville, IN/Brookville) and freshman Bryce Fordyce (Cuyahoga, OH/Cuyahoga) could find some time in the outfield.
Wilmington opens the 2017 season Saturday, February 18 with a three-game series at Sewanee in Tennessee.


text: Banner Health and North Colorado Medical Center (NCMC), longtime supporters of the University of Northern Colorado, have pledged to create a distinguished professorship in nursing. The $170,000 gift will go toward creating an endowment for a faculty member in the School of Nursing. Banner Health and NCMC intend for the endowment to grow to $500,000 over the next five years."Educating and preparing nurses to ensure an adequate workforce is important now and will be even more critical in the years to come," said Rick Sutton, Chief Executive Officer of North Colorado Medical Center. "We are pleased to partner with UNC to assist in expanding their capabilities through this distinguished professorship."The endowment allows the school to recruit and retain top-notch faculty amid a critical shortage of nursing faculty. The faculty resources help UNC expand nursing programs, including offering Banner Health employees with Associate of Applied Science degrees the ability to earn Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees through a hybrid program that provides coursework online and at their place of employment. The first class will be admitted in Fall 2010 and begins coursework in Spring 2011.Banner Health and NCMC have provided previous support to the School of Nursing, including financial support of both the school and students enrolled in a second bachelor's degree program in nursing, equipment for the skills laboratory, scholarships and ongoing clinical placements for our students at all levels."The Banner Health Distinguished Professorship in Nursing award will enhance the School of Nursing's opportunity to attract and retain a highly qualified nursing faculty member, a critical foundation to strong nursing education," said Kathleen LaSala, director and professor of the School of Nursing.About North Colorado Medical Center?North Colorado Medical Center is a fully accredited, private, not-for-profit facility licensed to operate 398 beds. It serves as a regional medical center with community-based and specialty services in a service area including southern Wyoming, western Nebraska, western Kansas and northeastern Colorado. A family-centered obstetrics unit, cardiovascular, oncology, ortho/neuro, Level II trauma, Western States Burn Center and acute inpatient rehabilitation are among the many services offered through the medical center. Nearly 400,000 square feet of new patient care space was added to the northern Colorado region when the NCMC opened an expanded facility in December 2005. Included is the CardioVascular Institute of North Colorado featuring state-of-the-art heart services; expanded birthing center and neonatal care unit, new intensive care units and new surgical suites. For more information, visit www.BannerHealth/ncmc.com.Based in Phoenix, Banner Health is one of the largest, not-for-profit health care systems in the country. Banner has 22 facilities that offer an array of services including hospital care, home care, hospice care, nursing registries, surgery centers, laboratories, rehabilitation services. These facilities are located in seven states - Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada, and Wyoming. In addition to emergency and medical services, Banner Health medical centers house a variety of specialized services, including heart care, cancer treatment, delivery of high-order multiple births, organ transplants, bone marrow transplants, rehabilitation services, and behavioral health services. For more information, visit www.BannerHealth.com.The University of Northern Colorado annually enrolls more than 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students studying in a broad array of programs in education, the arts, sciences, humanities and business. The UNC experience combines a solid liberal arts foundation, relevant professional coursework, innovative technology and real-world experiences to prepare students for a life of learning. Visit http://www.unco.edu for more information.UNC's School of Nursing is fully accredited by the Colorado State Board of Nursing and the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. The school offers: a bachelor's degree program in nursing for the traditional student, a second-degree option for those who've already earned a bachelor's degree in another field, an online option for registered nurses who want to pursue a bachelor's degree, a master's program with an emphasis in either Family Nurse Practitioner or in Nursing Education (online) with a clinical focus in case management of chronic illness, post-master's certificates in Family Nurse Practitioner or Nursing Education, an online Ph.D. program in Nursing Education, and an online post-master's Doctor of Nursing Practice program. Online at: http://www.unco.edu/nhs/nursing/


text:
Twinkling lights
Big red bows
Snow flakes {hopefully}
Christmas cookies
Christmas trees and wreaths
Hustling and bustling
Decorating EVERYTHING in our home
Charlie Brown
The Polar Express
Biltmore Estate
and above all...
And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."--Luke 2:9-12
What an amazing time of year!
|tree at Birkdale Village


text:
Austock Group Limited (ASX: ACK) Share Price and News
Chart and Price Data
20mins delayed
|Avg Daily Volume
|Day Movement
|Day High/Low
|52 Week Range
|Year Return (Capital)
|As at
Austock Group Limited (ASX: ACK) Latest News
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Austock Group Limited (ASX:ACK) is a small-cap company, seemingly complex and unusual, but lovely. More »
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Owen Raszkiewicz | August 11, 2017 2:30pm
If you haven't heard of Paragon Care Ltd. (ASX:PGC) and Austock Group Limited (ASX:ACK), you'll want to keep a close eye on them after... More »
Probably, my 4 favourite ASX financial shares right now
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Could these 3 small cap share ideas juice your ASX portfolio?
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Catapult Group International Ltd (ASX:CAT), Gentrack Group Ltd (ASX:GTK) and Austock Group Limited (ASX:ACK) shares look like winners. More »
Are these 3 ASX small cap shares still blockbuster value?
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Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) shares, Praemium Limited (ASX:PPS) shares and Austock Group Limited (ASX:ACK) shares have performed exceptionally well in the past five years. More »
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Gentrack Group Ltd (ASX:GTK) shares, Austock Group Limited (ASX:ACK) shares and Pro Medicus Limited (ASX:PME) shares are on my watchlist. More »
5 SIMPLE ways to save on $500,000 school fees
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It costs $500,000 to put a kid through private school. Austock Group Limited (ASX:ACK) provides a solution. More »
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12 comments
abby jenkins says:
what a nightmare! a good friend had the same thing happen in her kitchen, all her glorious 30s/40s and 50s kitch that she has been collecting at southern california flea markets for decades destroyed in a matter of seconds.
Good thing no one was seriously injured in either incident. Makes me think of Newton. Juice Newton.
propriatress says:
yikes! wishinb a quick healing for Porter.... Nice...Insane Asylum shelves!
I think about this happening to me all the time...most of my "shelves" are old, and books are heavy...I wonder if my few Ikea shelves, made of sawdust and concrete will hold together longer than the pretty old ones...
Unknown says:
I resemble your problem -- only solution I have found that is physically strong enough has been 1 x 10 (or 12) in. board in 30 in. spans, supported by steel uprights concealed in stained 2 x 4's. and lining entire room walls. Almost everything sold commercially is just not strong enough to support real books...
Don't know if you have come across this blog:
Photoblog porn for book lovers, shelf photos from around the world
Kimberly says:
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kimberly says:
nice! Made me think about these bookshelves in the March 2011Anthropologie catalog http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/category.jsp?popId=CLOTHES&navAction=jump&id=CLOTHES-CATALOG4#/42 My man friend is stealing their idea & building some like it for himself.
brohammas says:
Sounds like a pretext fro the next Hovey murder mystery night.
The Red Velvet Shoe says:
Eeeks, I've seen the buildings that once were the home of the Taunton, MA Insane Asylum....creeeeeeeppppy! Hopefully your fabulous library will scare away the boogie monsters....
GoldenDay says:
Great new shelves! I ended up building a new set of shelves for myself. After moving them twice, my tacky Billys started listing badly. Now I'm about to build even more.
boocat says:
Thank God that was all that happened. Porter might have been seriously hurt. Your chihuahua might have been killed, if you had one.
Jessica Define says:
those are some hauntingly awesome shelves-pun not really intended.
i used to go and "hangout" at that insane asylum when i was in high school, it was very close to where i went...what a small, weird world! they look great!
Erica says:
Great new shelves! Made me think about these bookshelves in the March 2011Anthropologie catalog.
affordable medical insurance


text:
Ezra Mehlman
Health Enterprise Partners
Ezra is a Principal at Health Enterprise Partners, a healthcare IT and services-focused growth equity firm. Among the key distinguishing features of HEP is a strategic investor base comprising 30+ hospital systems and healthcare insurance companies. Equipped with insights from its industry limited partners, HEP seeks to invest in companies that map to the most pressing executive priorities of the top healthcare organizations across the country.
Prior to joining the HEP team in 2010, Ezra was a Senior Analyst at the Advisory Board Company (NASDAQ: ABCO), providing best practice consulting and research services to hospitals and health systems. After leaving the Advisory Board Company, Ezra served as a Senior Consultant in the health care practice of Booz Allen Hamilton focusing on engagements in the provider space.
Ezra serves as a director of CenterPointe Behavioral Health System and InDemand Interpreting, and as a board observer of Evariant. He served as a director of Applied Pathways prior to its acquisition by AIM Specialty Health, a division of Anthem, Inc. He sits on the Harvard School of Public Health's Health Policy and Management Executive Council. He is on the faculty of Columbia Business School, where he co-teaches a class in healthcare investing and entrepreneurship. He publishes frequently on the topics of strategic investing and innovation, and his articles can be found in American Journal of Accountable Care, Hospitals and Health Networks, and ACHE's Futurescan.
Ezra holds a BA cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis, and an MBA from Columbia Business School.


text:
Nicola Zaghini is a software architect at Mobile Travel Technologies. He has been developing mobile apps since the first iOS SDK was released, from indie game development to major airlines and travel companies. Prior to that, he enjoyed Java development as professional and researcher in academia. He is currently in charge of mobile architecture in MTT and helps teams deliver amazing apps.
Talks I've Given
Mastering reuse: A journey into application modularization with VIPER
Featuring Nicola Zaghini
Mobile apps development requires a great amount of time and dedication, and getting your product to market quickly with high quality is a key factor for success in today's business.
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short keys in a list
i am having a list of 5 rows and selecting of each raw it should populate
text fields for edit or delete. or i enter new data in the text fields it shouls add to the list as a new raw. I want to impliment short keys also to select each raw to the text fields
Friday, January 26, 2007
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Ottorino RESPIGHI (1879-1936)
Marie Victoire - Opera in Four Acts and Five Scenes (1912) [164:45]
Marie de Lanjallay - Takesha Meshé Kizart (soprano)
Maurice de Lanjallay - Markus Brück (baritone)
Clorivière - Germán Villar (tenor)
Simon - Simon Pauly (baritone)
Cloteau - Stephen Bronk (bass-baritone)
Kermarec - Jörn Schümann (bass-baritone)
Lison/Emérantine - Martina Welschenbach (soprano)
Caracalla - Gregory Warren (tenor)
Chor und Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin/Michail Jurowski
rec. Deutsch Oper Berlin, Germany, 6-7, 9 April 2009
CPO 777 121-2 [3 CDs: 42:12 + 63:31 + 59:02]
Received wisdom would have you think that Ottorino Respighi was Italy's most famous composer of the 19th/20th centuries not for opera but for orchestral music. That might well be true to a degree but it masks the fact - which still comes as something of a surprise - that he wrote ten or so operas, plus two major ballets plus others and re-arranged Monteverdi's Orfeo along the way. In fact his appointment as professor of composition at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome in 1913 was as much based on the perceived success of his first two operas - Re Enzo (1905) and Semirâma (1909) as anything else since all the orchestral works on which his fame rests today lay in the future.
Marie Victoire was Respighi's third opera - and a rather unloved offspring it proved to be. Respighi's wife in her biography of the composer relates how he struggled with its composition and how after his death she felt her energies were better spent ensuring the completion of his final stage work Lucrezia. Indeed, it had to wait nearly ninety years for a first performance in 2004. Nowhere in the notes is there any reference to the need to edit for performance or 'complete' the work so it would seem that Respighi finished the work in its long and complex entirety and then put it in a bottom drawer - a thought I find extraordinary. This is not a world-premiere recording; there is a review of an off-air recording of the 2004 Rome performance and detailed synopsis elsewhere on this site. However, this new performance is in effect the first 'recorded-for-CD' set.
Hurrah for CPO. They really are one of my favourite recording companies regularly releasing discs of completely unknown works or composers. More importantly, they are one of very few companies actively expanding our knowledge of operatic repertoire. In this they are fortunate to be able to make use of the extensive network of opera houses in Germany that are still dedicated to producing high quality work. The downside for some collectors is that this results in many of the recordings being made live with the attendant bumps, clumps and applause that implies and that the casts are rarely international singers of huge renown. This Marie Victoire is just such a live performance and the stage noise is often audible and it is substantial enough to teeter on the edge of being distracting. CPO recorded this performance at one of Germany's premier houses, the Deutsche Oper in Berlin with all the quality that implies. The large cast (some 22 named singing roles plus chorus) are not stellar but in soprano Takesha Meshé Kizart in the title role they have a singer bound for stardom. So, to be blunt, did it deserve to be ignored for ninety years? - on the evidence presented here resoundingly no. For sure, it is not Respighi's most consistently inspired opera and the style of the writing changes through its two and three-quarter hour duration but there is enough of substantial interest to tickle the fancy of admirers of Italian opera in general or this composer in particular.
A very brief synopsis probably helps. The work is set in France - and curiously for an Italian composer not writing for the French market setting a French language libretto - and opens four years after the Revolution in the home of Count Maurice de Lanjallay (baritone Markus Brück) and his wife the eponymous Marie. They have managed to live in relative peace and tranquillity. A new maid informs on their royalist sympathies and while Maurice leaves to help his father, Marie and another old friend of the Lanjallay's - Clorivière (tenor Germán Villar) - are arrested by revolutionary guards. In the second act a year has passed and Marie and other Aristocrats/Royalists are in prison awaiting sentencing and probable death. Oddly, her former gardener Cloteau (bass-baritone Stephen Bronk) is now her jailer and has split loyalties. Meanwhile Clorivière is making advances. Cloteau sees the list that marks Marie down for execution and kills the informant who carries it. Marie believing herself about to die allows Clorivière to seduce her. During the night there is a great tumult due to the news that Robespierre is dead and the prisoners are saved. Marie, now a fallen woman, longs to die. Another six years pass before Act 3. Marie runs a millinery shop in Paris and is known as Marie Victoire - her past a closely guarded secret. Cloteau the jailer/gardener still works for her and she has a son Georges as a result of her seduction. Ridden with guilt, she will not allow Clorivière access to his son but he begs one last visit before leaving France forever. Shortly after his departure the long-thought dead Maurice appears and Marie admits to him that Georges is not his son. Suddenly a massive explosion is heard - a failed attempt on Napoleon's life. The would-be assassin is Clorivière driven by his despair to such acts. He appears closely pursued by a mob. Maurice is broken by the revelation of Georges' parentage and although guiltless confesses to the mob guilt for the bombing. Act 4 takes place the same night in the criminal court. Maurice refuses to defend himself so Marie tells all assembled what has happened during and since her imprisonment. Maurice forgives her but refuses to name the would-be assassin. Clorivière suddenly appears in the crowd, admits his responsibility and with the words "Long live the King!" shoots himself in the head - the curtain falls.
If that reads like some penny-dreadful story then I would say it's about right. Clearly, the interest lies in the musical setting not the narrative. My guess the reason Respighi put this into a bottom drawer was that he sensed his musical style was drawing him in a different direction from that he used here. There is none - not surprisingly given the narrative! - of the modal quasi-antique style that dominated so much of his music from the 1920s onwards. Neither is there a great deal of evidence of what might be termed the Mediterranean impressionism that suffuses elements of the Rome triptych he was to start only a couple of years later with the Fountains of Rome. Instead, and this is of real interest to the operatic archaeologist, he created a style which shares a kinship with some of the hothouse fantasy operas emanating from just north of the Alps. I'm thinking here of Schrecker's Die Gezeichneten (1911; 1913-1915) or Zemlinsky's Eine florentinische Tragödie (1915). I have no idea if Respighi knew - or could have known - either work. The Respighi does not share the same musical vocabulary but there is a similar heady intoxication in the spirit of the writing. A valuable and interesting point the liner throws up is that this libretto is 'realistic' - historical events portrayed in a quasi-factual manner - in the way that no other Respighi opera - or indeed those favoured by the composers mentioned above - are.
The first act is the shortest and the simplest by some way since its real function is just to set up the drama to follow. So the characters are introduced in a fairly perfunctory way and the love-duet between husband and wife is touching rather than passionate. Even so, there is music of some considerable interest - if not melodies to indelibly etch on your memory - and, as implied above, Kizart establishes herself as the dominant personality on the stage. Hers is a fantastic voice; vibrant, exciting and with a tremendous presence. Add to that a lustrous sound and pitch-perfect tuning and you can understand why she makes such a positive impression. The best compliment I can pay her is to say that her voice reminded me of a young Leontyne Price - her Scene 8 monologue in Act II is a prime example of the focus and intensity of her performance. Indeed the entire sequence from here to the end of this Act is probably the most dramatically effective sequence in the work.
I'm guessing that Respighi's dissatisfaction sprang from an awareness of the musical and dramatic unevenness of the work. The plot depends too heavily on characters introduced solely to generate 'an event' which cause the central roles to respond. Also, the basic dramatic shape of the work is very uneven. Act II runs in performance for over an hour - and as mentioned above in the main succeeds very well in slowly ratcheting up the drama - but the opera's dénouement is the single scene fifteen minute Act IV. Brevity alone is no sin but after the power of Marie's defence, Clorivière's blustering appearance, confession and suicide feels anti-climactic and somewhat contrived. The music lacks a core continuity - it does sound rather like a sampler for Romantic operatic styles 1890 - 1920. For all the undoubted skill in orchestration the fatal flaw is the lack of a great melody to embody Marie's love for Maurice or the lusting passion of her liaison with Clorivière. That said, many of the 'big' moments work tremendously well - I like a lot the layering of the drama in the second Act with some of the prisoners taking their minds off their incarceration/imminent execution by rehearsing a popular play with onstage music whilst Marie laments her fate and others mutter prayers. For moments like this the music deserves to be known without a shadow of a doubt. The more one listens the more one realises that again - in the spirit of seeking musico-dramatic balance - too often the best and weightiest music is reserved for Marie alone. Not that this is a hardship when sung by Ms Kizart. I wish I warmed more to Villar's voice - it sounds harsh and generalised next to Kizart.
A mention here for the conducting of Michail Jurowski. This strikes me as a very assured and convincing interpretation of a big and unfamiliar score. CPO have caught the fine orchestra the Deutsche Oper in excellent form - rich and full-toned amply alive to the sensuous writing. Likewise the chorus, are very impressive when required so to be.
The centre-piece of the two final Acts are again monologues for Marie - her Act III lament Je suis laisse and her passionate defence at the tribunal in Act IV. As mentioned previously the opera's ending is unsatisfactorily abrupt. What is it about Revolutionary subjects in opera that makes the characters act with even more self-sacrificing heroic stupidity than normal? Allowing for that, all credit to the performers; especially the orchestra and Jurowski's direction for driving the drama as convincingly as possible through to this breathless conclusion.
Now to gather some thoughts: Respighi's admirers need not hesitate - this is a big and significant work that in no way deserved the neglect its composer and his associates imposed on it. Yes, it might be uneven, and more tellingly for the composer, lead in a direction he chose not to follow, but there is much to enjoy. Every character is subservient to the eponymous Marie - indeed her music and the performance of it here is the over-riding reason to hear this work. Takesha Meshé Kizart is the real deal as a dramatic soprano - I see from her website recent roles include Tosca and Norma. If she can sustain the thrilling intensity and control of her singing over a number of years I suspect she will cement her position as a major international star. Her performance does rather eclipse all the others singing here but that is due in part to the ancillary roles Respighi has written. Even the two men in Marie's life are given little chance to shine musically - decent husband baritone and bounder lover tenor are too stereotyped in what and how they do. CPO's liner - in their usual rather overwritten academic style - tries to makes a case for them representing the two poles of aesthetic and erotic love but ultimately they have not been given any cherries to sing. While mentioning the liner - as well as the earnest but interesting essays, synopsis and biographies there is a full libretto. All are supplied in CPO's standard three languages; German, French and English.
The 'live' nature of the recording will bother some - not that there is any apparent musical fallibility. Put simply there's a degree of extraneous staging and audience noises including enthusiastic applause. Against this, the voice/orchestra balance is remarkably stable and effective. One minor observation - the pronunciation of the French libretto is a somewhat moveable feast - none of the principal singers is native French speakers and it does show. However, this is most definitely not a French opera, simply an opera in French so personally this does not grate too much. The scale of this work and the demands it places on any cast and indeed opera house are going to preclude its ascension to anything like standard repertoire. I hope though that this recording will serve two purposes: to enshrine a fine collective performance by a high calibre team and to provide a reference point to encourage other houses to stage more productions.
A major release of great value and interest.
Nick Barnard
A major release of great value and interest.
see also review of the live production by José Mª Irurzun
Respighi resources on Musicweb International


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Writers block is an understatement when people are asked to write something for the web site, it is more like run the other way fear. But I think a lot of this may rise from a feeling that when you right something for the web it has to be perfect and appeal to everyone, but in my opinion that is backwards of reality of the new web.
I picture writing for the web like a delicate balancing act in 3 rings:
Engagement balance between those that already know you and those who stumble upon you.
Audience balance between getting huge volume of traffic and reaching those who care.
Message balance between saying what you want people to hear and what your audience actually wants to hear.
I state those like they are a simple fact and it is easy to accomplish, yeah well good luck with that.
Engagement – We are addressing this issue by deliberately providing two ways to use our site browsing and utilizing it. For those who don't know who we are we will provide numerous ways and varying types of content (text, video, stories, interaction, etc) with the key focus of gradual engagement and small steps to get involved. For those who are already engaged we will provide them the fastest possible way to get to the things that are the most important to them.
Audience – We are doing a complete overhaul of our architecture to improve our SEO (search engine optimization). We are also revamping how all content gets created and written for the web to make it more search friendly.
Message - Many people try to manipulate their web site based on the message they want to send without taking time to consider what the audience wants to hear or how they want to get that message. It is a tricky balance to keep the content focused on your message while still meeting your audience needs.
This isnt an all encompassing concept and has a bunch of holes probably, but hopefully brings up some thoughts for you.
After this post, my blog is going to switch focus for March-April off of the web and onto IT Alignment, which is a good friend of mine from the recent past. I am doing this in honor of the book that I wrote chapter 1 for NTEN called Managing Technology to Meet your Mission. You can learn more on the wiki at www.meetyourmission.org.


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Check out this vintage window in my moms laundry room. This is such a great architectural piece that makes the entire room.
Love using vintage windows as architectural art in our dining area. The shutters add just the right touch.
I have this window above our dresser in our master bedroom. More wall art that adds beauty to any room..


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Sunday, 3 May 2015
Grimm 4x21 Video Promo "Headache" (HD)
Grimm 4x21 "Headache" - While investigating a grisly murder, Nick (David Giuntoli) and Hank (Russell Hornsby) get closer to uncovering the identity of the serial killer while Wu's (Reggie Lee) life is put in grave danger. Having turned down Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) and Rosalee's (Bree Turner) offer, Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) solidifies a new alliance as she works to get her revenge. Elsewhere, Trubel (guest star Jacqueline Toboni) makes a surprising return to Portland. Sasha Roiz and Claire Coffee also star. Nico Evers-Swinderll guest stars.
Official website: http://www.nbc.com/grimm/
Official Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/NBCGrimm/
Official Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/nbcGrimm/
Labels: Grimm
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What is Yoga, and Why Do You Practice? Is the first assignment at CorePower Yoga Teacher Training. It's a reflective entree to your journey to become a yoga teacher. I shared my thoughts fourteen weeks ago on this question when I began my Hot Power Fusion Teacher Training. Yet today I tackle the question anew.
Yoga is a sanctuary where I meet myself. Coming to my mat each day brings me closer to myself. As I strengthen my body the outer shell of my being more closely resembles who I truly am. When I practice yoga the anxious toiling of my mind quiets and slowly ceases leaving space for calm creativity and a blossoming of gratitude. When I step onto my mat and leave the world behind I find a respite from what was and what could be. In those moments I am now, and the present envelops me in an embrace that nurtures my soul.
Alone, yoga lets me see closer who I really am.
Yet through my experience in teacher training I discovered two new aspects to my yoga practice.
When I come to my mat in community I am no longer alone. I leave behind the solitary struggle through life and my heart lifts allowing friendship to germinate. When I practice together it is easier to extend the moments of being myself beyond the studio. When I yearn to know someone as dearly as I open myself to them I discover that life is a union of us, and that the spaces between are only imaginings.
Together, yoga lets me see others as they really are.
Yet in the seat of a teacher yoga gives me more.
When I invite others to their mat the hopeful future inside me ignites their radiant beauty. When I guide them further on their journey I discover that our paths have intertwined. When I honor the divine light in them I can finally see the divine light in all of us.
As one, yoga lets me see our enduring union.


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by Leneita Fix
"How often have I heard the phrase: "Think Globally, ACT locally!" This is a way that we are asked to think about the world around us. It helps us to take account of the issues at hand in our own backyard.
Yet, for those of us serving with youth in the urban context it can feel like the local concerns are so overwhelming that we don't even know where to begin in helping the students that we work with to see the broader picture. Many of our youth, or their families have barely seen beyond the area in their "hood" that is within walking distance. The four corners of their world can end at the edges of public transportation. It is not uncommon to find violence, rage, neglect, hurt, poverty, hunger, no running water, orphaned children, hopelessness and despair on the streets where our youth live. At best the very nature of being between the ages of 12 and 17 is to be self-focused and unable to see beyond the end of our nose.
Our world is their world. The weight of helping our own seems to be a load we could never bear. So, when the world wakes up on January 12, 2010 to find a tiny nation off the coast of America literally shaken to it core we don't know how to respond. As the church, the body of believers, we know that we are compelled to help in some small way. The same God, who sees the hurt on our corner, weeps with the people of a nation covered in dust and rubble. As the news unfolded in Haiti, each of us broke down as we watched the horror of this broken island nation. For many of us this was very close to home.
These are the moments when we feel the deep urgency to teach our youth to take action. Our hearts are crushed and so theirs must be too. All of a sudden it hits us that if we are to see these students truly as the "next generation of leaders" it is too small to allow them to be stuck in their tiny world. Watching the disaster we are moved to do something. As our lives are intertwined with our youth it is only natural that, we want them to do something also. For while today the tragedy is in Haiti, it was just yesterday that it was literally in our own back yard of New Orleans in the form of a hurricane. We live in a fallen world, and tomorrow another corner of civilization might fall due to manmade or natural disaster. Then we are reminded that every day around the world there is hunger and disease and people fighting to survive. It is our responsibility, I believe, as the shepherds of these next generation leaders, to help them to see the larger whole. This world needs the light of Christ and the youth of the city are called to be the light on the hill.
Looking at the litter in our own front yard and the dust settling half a world away, the question becomes then, "How do I care about it all? How can I help my youth care about the world around them?"
The answer comes in the form of a word a couple of my friends coined: "Glocal." In my definition of this word it means that we do not ignore one for the other. We recognize the deep need of the youth of the city, while helping them to see beyond themselves and their own needs. We can engage globally from our own city block.
For a variety of reasons urban youth overall tend to live in "survival " mode. This makes them stuck not only in local thinking, but unable to even see or dream about their own lives. They don't know how to think about the world around them, because they don't always believe that it matters that they care.
We begin by admitting that we must address the issue on a "glocal" level. It counts that they see the great needs of the world. We have an attitude of moving our youth from "survive" to "thrive." This means that, before we can truly move our youth to action, we must show them that their contribution is not only important but also vital.
Next week, we will talk about how to help our youth to move out of this place of survival so that they can truly meet the needs of the world.


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Saturday, 6 October 2012
Shop Front.
The interior of the front section has also had a little work done with two of the main walls being panelled, I'm not sure yet if the fire breast wall will be panelled or not as i will most likely be building shelves of some sort for this wall.
I'm getting itchy fingers to start adding accessories and such but really need to contain myself until the main construction of the lower floor is complete.
So all in all everything is coming on fine, i now need to start installing all the other lights on the lower floor, some will be wall light fittings and others will be standard table oil lamps and candles i have not yet ordered these so in the meantime i will work on either some furniture or maybe some 1/12th scale pieces i always tend to have more than one piece of work on the go at any given time as if i come across a problem then usually walking away and working on another piece of work helps me tackle it better.
I do apologise for not replying to your comments straight away but i have been so busy this week and also working away from home please be assured i do read each and everyone of them.
A warm welcome to my new followers and many thanks for taking an interest in my journal/blog :)
Have a wonderful week everyone. Tony
14 comments:
It all looks so real, Tony, wonderful work.ReplyDelete
Sooo Nice! Can't wait for more photos and of your beautiful work.:)ReplyDelete
Love, Susanne
This is impressive work so far, Tony, it looks so real! I am glad your fingers are okay, thanks for answering ;)!ReplyDelete
Have a nice week(end) too, Ilona
That panelling is GORGEOUS!!!!ReplyDelete
Your work is so realistic and every little detail is considered, very impressive. It's hard to believe it is 1/24th scale!ReplyDelete
I also love the way you write about it and I will just keep reading older posts until I've read them all!
Beautiful work Tony! I look forward to seeing your progress on the shop.ReplyDelete
So beautiful and such perfect craftsmanship. I LOVE the interior and the exterior of your shop front!!!ReplyDelete
Amazing work as always, so precise. I love the panelling and your use of the coach light.ReplyDelete
Perfect work,Tony !I really love how you made the shop front and looking forward to the next steps. It will be an outstanding shop ! JeannetteReplyDelete
This shop looks amazing, I love all the fine detail, even more incredible in this smaller scale! A great piece of work! Look forward to seeing more of it soon!ReplyDelete
Adore the panelling. Especially the way it has got the deeper patina towards the corners. Such a wonderfully evocative room, you can imagine so many years have gone by since it was first installed.ReplyDelete
It is unbelievably perfect!ReplyDelete
Hell oTony,ReplyDelete
I am just stunned at your incredible workmanship. It looks wonderful and so rich and so much character. you really are a formidable miniaturist.
Big hug,


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People have flocked to the small headstone for years, leaving flowers and love notes at what they believe is the final resting place of the man who inspired Leonardo DiCaprio's doomed character, Jack Dawson, in the 1997 film "Titanic." And you can see why: The inscription reads "J. Dawson died April 15, 1912."
Not quite, though. While the grave does belong to a victim of the world's best-known shipwreck, he was not a handsome artist named Jack who won his passage in a poker game, but an engine-room worker named Joseph who probably had little time for onboard dalliances. The producer of the film denies any connection between the crewman and the fictional heartthrob.
Mr. Dawson is one of 121 people from the Titanic buried at Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, their graves arranged in the shape of a ship's hull. It is the largest collection of Titanic graves in the world. An additional 29 are buried in two more local cemeteries.
This somber stewardship came about largely by chance: Halifax happened to be the closest major port with good rail connections when the ship sank, 700 nautical miles away in the North Atlantic.
Three ships sent from Halifax to find the Titanic's dead recovered more than 300 bodies. About 100 were buried at sea, but families who could afford the cost had 59 others transported elsewhere by rail. The rest were buried locally, some of them attended to by a funeral home that is still in business.
Titanic devotees travel to Halifax for the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, which holds a large collection of artifacts from the wreck, including a deck chair, a balustrade from the ship's main staircase, and the leather shoes of a drowned toddler who remained unidentified until 2007.
About 160,000 people visit the museum each year, a figure that reached 220,000 just after the film came out. Fairview Lawn Cemetery became so inundated with tour buses that it barred them from the grounds a few years ago; visitors on foot are still welcome.
Richard MacMichael, a coordinator at the museum, said that 104 years later, people still have intense feelings about the ocean liner and its fate.
"The story is the greatest self-perpetuating phenomenon in human history," he said. "The Titanic is one of those things that's never going to leave our consciousness."
Source: The New York Times


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Cope Environmental Center would like to announce that we will be having our annual Spring Night Hike on Friday, April 13 from 8:30-10:30pm!
Have you ever wondered what happens in the woods after dark? Come and join us as we hike through CEC's woods in search of owls and other nocturnal creatures!
Local naturalist Russ Wright will lead this fun hike. A few activities will be done on the trails too! We will be using all of our senses to find our way through the woods at night!
The night hike group will be meeting on the south side of the CEC property, 4910 Shoemaker Road, Centerville, IN at 8:30pm. Please dress for the weather. Leave your flashlights and light-up shoes at home as lights from hikers will scare nocturnal animals.
Registration is required before the event. This exciting hike is $3 for CEC members and $5 for non-members. We have a limit of 40 spots available. Please contact Aubrey to register at 765-855-3188 or [email protected]. Payment required before this event.
For more information, head to copeenvironmental.org/upcoming-events-programs!
Cope Environmental Center is a 130-acre outdoor classroom for interactive, hands-on learning on sustainability and nature-based programming. Its Living Building demonstrates 'green' building and design features, while also providing educational spaces for programs and community events. CEC was founded in 1992 as a vision of Jim & Helen Cope and Francis Parks. CEC is located just south of U.S. 40 at 1730 Airport Road, Centerville, Indiana


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Mark Turner SOLOS
The album concludes with the virtuosic "Murley's in the House." As with the other selections, Turner's profound sense of architecture allows him to work convincingly without a band. And his breathtaking tone and total command through the tenor's range elevates the performance to that of genuine artistry. SOLOS: The Jazz Sessions is work that should be required listening for all saxophonists. Its triumph is that it's an equally compelling program for anyone else who may be interested in the current state of jazz improvisation.


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Michael G wrote:Qantas 747-400 VH-OEJ, operating QF2902, due in between 9pm and 10pm tonight on return from it's flight to Antarctica. The flight originated in MEL this morning. First 747 flight to HBA in many years. The last time I saw one in HBA was in the early 1990's.
Arrived at 9.34pm and departed at 5.25am this morning as QF6009 for Sydney.


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This week, City Ink is going to set the record straight about the illegal cow in Blythe, the real time it took for a sheriff's deputy to respond to a wreck in the Red Lobster parking lot and the real "major donors" responsible for bringing the consultant to Augusta to advise city officials on drawing up a chronic nuisance property ordinance.
And we will talk about various and sundry other ironies and inside baseball, such as Realtor E.G. Meybohm's letter to City Administrator Fred Russell complaining he'd been shafted by Commissioners Joe Bowles and Jerry Brigham during the meeting in which commissioners voted to build a new sheriff's administration building downtown instead of renovating the Smartway furniture store at Southgate Plaza.
"The remarks by Commissioners Brigham and Bowles were erroneous, and I cannot help but be offended by implications that I was seeking to profit from the matter," Meybohm wrote the day after the meeting. "Nothing could be farther from the truth, and I was only involved because of my interest in helping the city."
During that meeting, Bowles said the Smartway property sold May 5, 2008, for $772,000, and he questioned why the city would even consider paying $1.8 million for it.
Brigham objected to allowing Meybohm to rebut some of the figures discussed at that meeting, saying if they were going to start arguing about construction costs they should open it up to other contractors.
Meybohm said he'd been in the real estate business for more than 40 years and had been financially and personally involved in the betterment of the community.
"When I think about all the time, effort and money I have expended to improve our community, I feel my contributions should merit more consideration than I was given at yesterday's meeting," he said.
Well, Mr. Meybohm, I can tell you from having been to hundreds of commission meetings, commissioners are like newspaper editors. They only want to know, "What have you done for me lately?"
A GROWING PROBLEM: Augusta Tree Commission Chairman Leroy Simkins spoke to commissioners about city employees committing crape murder and butchery on Riverwalk Augusta, chain-saw massacres on ancient oaks, camellia carnage in Summerville and other arboricultural atrocities. He said every great city in the country has "a serious tree program, a serious tree commission and at least one department that is primarily concerned with what the city looks like."
"I've had the good fortune of visiting a number of countries, even Third World countries," he said. "And I can tell you gentlemen, the tree program in Windhoek, Namibia, is better than the one in Augusta, Ga."
That was Monday. On Thursday, the mayor's office issued a news release saying Augusta has been recognized by the nonprofit Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree City USA community for the 22nd year.
Maybe the Arbor Day Foundation folks are like those at Forbes magazine who ranked Augusta, with its 9.2 percent unemployment rate, as the 23rd-strongest metro area in the nation. They make you wonder whether they've ever been here, or been here lately anyway.
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL: In an item slugged "Maybe It Was 45 Minutes for a Takeout" last week, City Ink related a vignette from the commission meeting attended by Sheriff Ronnie Strength in which Commissioner J.R. Hatney said he didn't want the sheriff to think he was "being funny" but that he remembered a wreck in the Red Lobster "yard" about a year and a half ago that "took 45 minutes to get police."
I thought that sounded a little fishy, so I asked the sheriff for a list of wrecks on the Red Lobster lot and at the adjacent intersection of Walton Way and Gordon Highway the past two years.
As it turns out, there were 62 wrecks at those locations, and the maximum time it took for a patrol car to arrive was 20 minutes.
NO LIMIT TO WHAT YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH IF YOU DON'T CARE WHO GETS THE CREDIT: A ranter called The Chronicle to complain that I hadn't done my research when I wrote in last week's column that Clay Boardman, Pete Caye and Barry Storey were major donors who helped pay the $7,500 cost of bringing John Campbell of Campbell DeLong Resources Inc. to Augusta to talk about creating a chronic nuisance property ordinance. He said three "concerned citizens" had donated individually more than those three combined.
"There is no doubt these men are interested in helping, but to say they were major donors is to belittle the efforts of so many 'average people' who want things to change," the ranter ranted.
Belittle the efforts of so many average people? Please.
What happened is that during one of Campbell's sessions, Butch Palmer, an active member of the Harrisburg Neighborhood Association, said the three men were "major donors." I concluded that must be the case when Campbell met privately with Boardman, Caye and Storey in the final session of the two-day event. I mean, Butch ought to know.
Then after Friday's meeting of the city's committee formed to work on a chronic nuisance property ordinance, I told Harrisburg Neighborhood Association member Lori Davis about the complaint, and she said her husband was the one who made it. She said they were very angry because they and Palmer were chief donors, not Boardman, Caye and Storey.
I said Butch told me they were, and she said she knew that, but that I shouldn't listen to him. Bowles, the chairman of the ordinance committee, agreed.
"Only listen to Butch about your makeup and hairdos," he said.
"That's right," said Butch, who calls himself a "recovering hairdresser."
A COW AND BULL STORY: Last week, I told you I'd be milking a story about the city of Blythe's efforts to get a cow out of town. As it turns out, the cow is actually something quite different, though certified letters from the city to owner Betty Saxon of Piney Grove Road stated she was in violation of the city's zoning ordinance because she had not removed a cow and goat from her property in a residential district.
The city and planning commission have been trying since August to get Saxon to remove the cow -- and the goat, too, until it died -- but she keeps missing deadlines. The cow supposedly is being used for therapy for Saxon's son, Lemuel James Chester.
Mayor Pat Cole asked city attorney Chris Dube to check to see whether any type of variance could be applied for if, in essence, the doctor wrote Chester a prescription for a therapy cow, but he couldn't find one. So at least one of Saxon's neighbors will ask the planning commission to change the zoning ordinance during Tuesday's planning commission meeting at Blythe City Hall.
When I heard the cow wasn't what it was purported to be, I called City Clerk Loriann Chancey, who had previously said it was a cow, to ask her what was up, and she said as far as she knew it was a "bull-cow."
"A bull-cow?" I said with a laugh. "I didn't know there was such a thing."
"I haven't inspected him, so I don't know, but I believe it is a bull-cow," she said.
Well, there goes the warm-milk-makes-you-feel-better defense they could have used at an ADA hearing.


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From In A Tuscan Garden, published anonymously 1902
Old Italian villas, about which so much has been written, and to the idea of which so much romance clings, are, as a matter of fact, gaunt, barren, hideous structures outside, and conspicuous for every kind of inconvenience within. You never see a creeper of any kind planted against their walls to soften their staring outline, and they have a desolate, forlorn look, in strong contrast to our own lovely English houses. For the most part, they are let in separate floors to different tenants; those who occupy the ground floor have the right of access to the garden, but no further interest in it, as it invariably remains the property of the proprietor. Some years ago, when the late king of Würtemburg rented the beautiful old villa of Quarto, near Florence, he was greatly surprised at finding he had to pay the gardener for every bunch of violets gathered.
This arrangement of letting in flats has, for its practical result, that, if the various residents manage to avoid quarrelling with each other on vexed questions of entrance-stairs and water-rights, their domestics will infallibly do it for them. We were, therefore, extremely anxious to find what is rarely to be met with, except in the wilds of the country, viz., a small house with a piece of garden attached to it, of which we should have entire and sole control.
We had seen such a place in a quite ideal situation in the neighbourhood of Carrara. It lay in a sheltered corner on grass terraces, just beneath an old convent, shut in behind by snow peaks and with the sea in full view about two miles distant. The climate in this part of Italy is delightful, never very hot in summer, and mild enough in winter for lemon-trees to stand out without protection.
This place had been occupied for some years by an English family from motives of health, and their object having been obtained, they were about to move on to a more active "sphere of influence". The house was in a most tumble-down condition, and its tenants told us candidly they were often obliged to sit under umbrellas, as the owner was so deeply in debt to the local tradespeople that they would not execute any repairs for her.
We stayed for a week at the little country inn at the town near where this house was situated; the food provided was, as an Italian friend described it, "a shock to the stomach", but we wanted to look about in a way that could not be accomplished in day trips. I knew that if I rented the place for some years, and put it into habitable repair, we should be charged a fancy price for all our improvements. Accordingly I drew up a most elaborate document, providing for a lease of a certain number of years, with a purchase price at the end, should I wish to become the owner. The Italian lawyer, into whose hands I committed the matter, was filled with admiration at the intricate nature of our proposals, which the lady would probably have been forced by her creditors to accept – but, just as this juncture, she was about to contract a second alliance with a Bentivoglio di Bologna (there is a fine medieval ring about that) and could afford to snap her fingers both at creditors and legal adviser.


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my eldest son is 7 years old today, coincides with the first day of the new year in islamic calendar. salam maal hijrah semua, and happy birthday khaleef!
we started the ball rolling that whole week before the exact date : took him to kidzania a few days before, had pizza dinner the night before, surprised him with a lego dinosaur from his opah that morning, and of course THE birthday meal at IHOP (international house of pancakes).
treated birthday boy to a fun time at kidzania, dubai mall. just mak and khaleef. details and pictures coming soon!
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thanks for the fb wishes, friends!
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lego dinosaur from his opah.
when mr. khairul last went back to malaysia for an exhibition, my mom-in-law gave this to him to bring back to dubai, and we've been hiding it in the closet for weeks and weeks – until today. surprise!
(what's with that face? oh, nothing. khaleef impersonating a dinosaur. haha. by 7 years old khaleef is absolutely crazy about all things DINOSAUR! do NOT get him started on dinosaurs – he won't stop talking!)
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as usual, a big birthday meal – this time at the newly opened IHOP at JBR. details and food review coming soon!
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thanks for the fb wishes, friends. appreciate it very much!


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Clinton's Corporate Cabinet
The Business of Government
by Nadav Savio
MICHAEL DUKAKIS'S LOSS to George Bush in the 1988 presidential election left the Democratic Party leadership desperately assessing blame and searching for some way to capture the seemingly unreachable White House. By creating and working with the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), Bill Clinton believed he could achieve that goal. As a founder of the DLC, Clinton hoped to forge a "new Democratic Party," one that could win back both voters and corporate contributors lured away by the Republicans' feel-good imagery and conservative fiscal policy. As president, Clinton has seen his plan come to full fruition in a cabinet that looks less like America than like American Express or Philip Morris.
Now, more than ever, multinational corporations are multi-partisan; entrenched corporate influence extends well into the Democratic Party, once dismissed by conservatives as the party of organized labor. The Clinton cabinet's corporate ties are especially troubling to environmental, consumer and labor activists who had hoped for a change from the preceding administrations' business bent. Neither Reagan nor Bush appointed as many millionaires to cabinet positions as Clinton has.
Among the cabinet positions of most interest to business are those overseeing trade, finance and commerce. As well, the secretary of state will play a key role in negotiating U.S.—and U.S. corporations'—global interests. It is worth examining the past and present corporate ties and activities of Clinton's appointees in these key areas in order to gauge the tack the new administration is likely to take on such important issues as the pending North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), reform of the nation's health care system, the management of taxpayer assets and worker and consumer protection.
Perhaps the cabinet agency most attuned to corporate concerns is the Treasury Department. By all accounts, Clinton's Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen has been a dependable ally of business throughout his congressional career. "The joke about Bentsen is that he never met a tax break he didn't like," says Dean Baker, staff economist for the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute (EPI). In 1986, for example, then-Senator Bentsen, along with Senator David Boren, D-Oklahoma, pushed to preserve tax breaks for the real estate, oil and gas industries in that year's major tax-reform legislation. As recently as last year, Bentsen supported efforts to reinstate lucrative tax breaks for those industries by reversing key portions of the 1986 Tax Reform Act. Given Bentsen's allegiance to corporate interests, it is hardly surprising that business Political Action Committees (PACs) contributed 89 percent of the $2.5 million in PAC contributions Bentsen received for his most recent reelection bid, according to Open Secrets, a review of congressional campaign spending. Journalist Sam Smith reports that "when he [Bentsen] became head of the Senate Finance Committee in 1987, he invited corporate lobbyists who contributed $10,000 to his re-election campaign to monthly breakfasts.
After the story became public—dubbed 'Eggs McBentsen'—Bentsen cancelled the meetings and returned the contributions."
The business community is well aware of the influence it has gained on Capital Hill by its contributions. Following his nomination, Bentsen received glowing praise in the press from, among others, Charles J. DiBona, president of the American Petroleum Institute, top business lobbyist Charls Walker and Paul Taylor, vice president of the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks, a real estate industry organization.
Bentsen's deputy treasury secretary, Roger Altman, is even more directly linked to the corporate world than his boss. As a treasury official in the Carter administration, Altman helped to manage the federal bailout of the Chrysler corporation, one of the more egregious examples of government-sponsored corporate welfare to date. More recently, as vice chair of the New York investment banking firm, the Blackstone Group , Altman completed four of the six largest acquisitions of U.S. firms by Japanese corporations, including Sony 's much-publicized takeover of CBS Records and Columbia Pictures. "Altman and [assistant to President Clinton for economic policy and former Goldman Sachs chief executive Robert] Rubin are obviously both big-time Wall Street characters," Baker says, "which makes one wonder what sort of legislation they would be willing to consider."
At the Commerce Department, former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ron Brown will have extensive opportunities to return favors to corporations such as RJR Nabisco , MCA , Sony, Philip Morris and Atlantic Richfield (ARCO), each of which donated more than $100,000 to Brown's DNC. As a lawyer, Brown represented American Express , Japan Airlines , Oman , Zaire , Gabon and a coalition of 21 Japanese electronics producers. He formerly represented deposed Haitian dictator "Baby Doc" Duvalier, lobbying the U.S. government on behalf of the human rights-abusing Haitian government.
Brown has offered to recuse himself for only one year on issues handled by his former law firm, Patton, Boggs and Blow , which represents New York Life Insurance , Mutual Life Insurance and, formerly, BCCI . Citing his "very far-reaching recusal," a Brown spokesperson told Multinational Monitor, "I don't see there being any problem or potential problem." Critics, however, say Brown's failure to recuse himself from dealing with current and former clients for his entire time in office belies the likelihood of undue outside influence at the Commerce Department.
Past events do not encourage those who fear Brown may be tempted to trade political power for money or favors. Reports have surfaced that Brown and Thomas Boggs, a major Clinton fundraiser and former law partner of Brown, also ran a waste treatment company which was granted a $210 million contract with New York City just before the DNC selected New York for its 1992 convention site. While Brown has denied any connection between the contract and the selection of New York, the city subsequently rescinded the contract and Brown resigned from the company's board. Reports of similar dealings appearing in both the New York Times and Washington Post suggest Brown used inside influence to gain a contract for Capitol Pebsco Inc., which he founded, to manage $100 million in Washington, D.C. city employee pensions. Another company has charged that Capitol Pebsco was not the lowest bidder for the lucrative city contract, but Capital Pebsco District Director Lawrence Johnson insists, "That's been dealt with. ... We're the lowest bidder."
Laura D'Andrea Tyson, the new chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisors, is known as a liberal for her advocacy of industrial policy, a view that the federal government should actively intervene in the economy to promote strategic industries; she is also a friend of the electronics and other high-tech industries. As a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, Tyson co-founded and co-directed the Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy, a University of California trade and technology research organization which has been heavily financed by the Silicon Valley businesses and trade groups on whose behalf Tyson advocates government intervention. Critics worry that Tyson's "industrial policy" will be implemented as nothing more than a big business subsidy policy. "To have an administration coming into power that is explicitly committed to moving money from taxpayers' wallets into high-tech companies and politically favored industries is going to mean a lobbying field day for every company and trade association," Brink Lindsay, director of regulatory studies at the CATO institute, told the San Francisco Chronicle. "There's no lobbyist worth his salt who can't make a plausible argument for why his client industry is the linchpin of U.S. strategic interest and deserving of support."
Making corporations' case to Tyson will be former colleagues and peers of Washington lawyer-lobbyist Mickey Kantor. Advocates of political reform have decried Kantor's nomination as United States Trade Representative (USTR) as a continuation of the sort of revolving-door lobbyist influence which has helped fuel voter dissatisfaction with the federal government. As a partner in the law firm of Manatt, Phelps, Phillips & Kantor, the new USTR has represented Philip Morris, Occidental Petroleum, Martin Marietta, ARCO and a host of other companies. Kantor has been especially involved in tobacco industry lobbying and legal efforts. According to a joint 1992 report by the Public Citizen Health Research Group and the Advocacy Institute, "In 1987 he represented the Beverly Hills Restaurant Association, a group organized by the [industry funded] Tobacco Institute to oppose an ordinance making all restaurants smoke-free. After the city council unanimously passed this ordinance, the first of its kind in California, Kantor filed a suit to repeal the ordinance. ... Legal fees were paid for by the Tobacco Institute." In addition, Manatt, Phelps, Phillips & Kantor has represented GE , United Airlines and NEC .
Named Secretary of Energy, Hazel O'Leary has been lauded for her emphasis on energy conservation and commitment to moving away from the country's dependence on oil. However, O'Leary's past work as executive vice president for corporate affairs for Northern States Power of Minnesota, a major private utility company, suggests she was more concerned with company profits than with environmentally sound energy policy. "She was a spokesperson for a very pro-nuclear utility," says Peter Grinspoon, director of Greenpeace's nuclear power campaign, "and we basically think that in much of her experience at Northern States Power she was on the wrong side of the trench." O'Leary has led several efforts by Northern States to pursue environmentally questionable practices over opposition by environmental and other groups. The utility, for example, is attempting to store radioactive waste from its Red Wing nuclear reactor near a Native American reservation on the Mississippi River plain. While the plan has been approved by state regulators, the conflict is still being contested in court. Native Americans have joined environmental groups in fighting the plan. Separately, O'Leary led Northern States's attempt to burn PCB-contaminated oil at a separate facility. A permit was granted, but later blocked by state lawmakers. While environmentalists have offered only muted criticism in light of O'Leary's conservation efforts, it remains to be seen whether her commitment is to energy efficiency or profits for nuclear power companies. According to Grinspoon, "It's still too early to tell."
As a lawyer for the O'Melveny and Meyers firm, new Secretary of State Warren Christopher represented Exxon in lawsuits related to the oil giant's pollution of Prince William Sound. In 1985, Christopher helped E.F. Hutton conduct damage control in the aftermath of the company's check-floating scheme in which the financial giant took advantage of the lag between when its checks were written and when they actually cleared to earn millions of dollars in interest over several years. Along with such cases of aiding known corporate wrongdoers, Christopher served on the board of Lockheed and Southern California Edison , and his former firm represents IBM , United Airlines, Occidental Petroleum , Fuji Bank , Mitsubishi and Banker's Trust . Christopher also lobbied for the European chemical conglomerate, CEFIC . Such corporate—in particular oil industry—ties suggest the potential for business interests to help shape key U.S. foreign policy decisions during Christopher's tour of duty.
"The corporate crew"
Corporate influence does not automatically dictate policy; the Clinton administration's cabinet members may spurn the corporate pandering feared by their critics. In addition, not all of the Clinton appointees have strong corporate ties and some appointees, such as Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbit, have earned praise from citizens' organizations. Big business's former representatives and friends do, however, occupy key positions in the new administration, and they are likely to provide access and influence to their old colleagues. Says EPI's Baker, "They're pretty tied in with the corporate crew. ... It's certainly caused worry in terms of how fair their programs will ultimately be."