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Nemea Wines - V.Q.P.R.D. Vin de Qualité Produit Dans Une Région Déterminée or Wine of Quality Produced in Determined Regions - are briliant and only 20 minutes away from Loutraki
Nemea to the north-east of Peloponnese is a hotspot for red Greek wines in terms of quantity and certainly, of quality.
Nemea is distinguished by a bedazzling variety of soils, aspects altitudes and hence microclimates which explain the many facet of the Agiorgitiko grape: Its wine styles range from fresh roses, very light velvety reds that are drunk chilled, to medium-bodied and moderately tannic, oak-aged, forward-drinking reds, to some of the most deep coloured, tannic and concentrated monsters produced from native Greek grapes.
Agiorgitiko wine"St. George's" bears many similarities with Merlot. In terms of flavour expression, texture and blending potential. At their best Nemea and other Agiorgitiko wines display soft, "sweet" tannins in abundance. As a result they are outstanding candidates for both barrel ageing and carbonic maceration.
Nemean winemakers have also experimented at various degrees of success with international varieties. One practice blends low-yielding Agiorgitiko grapes that originate from the higher vineyards with small amounts of Merlot and Cabernet, creating a style dubbed "super-Nemeas" (outside of the AOC classification) that can age and develop gracefully for several years. There has been a call for a super-appellation, High Nemea, to make these distinctions within the Nemea appellation zone more clear.
Recommended Producers:
George Skouras, a Dijon graduate, Yiannis Paraskevopoulos, one of Greece's most famous consultant enologists and owner of the pioneering Gaia Estate in a high-elevation site near Nemea. Also the artisan Thanassis Papaioánnou.
The wine of Fliasion became popular in antiquity due to its widespread consumption during the ancient Nemean Games that attracted crowds from various areas. Unfortunately, there are few archaeological finds providing information on the ancient history of wine. This may be due to the limited excavations in the Fliasion Field and the destruction of ancient buildings and facilities caused by deep ploughing and the illegal hunt for antiquities. However, there is sufficient archaeological evidence to support the conclusion that human life, and therefore the ancestral productive activities, continued in the ancient Fliountas until the middle Byzantine period.
Some believe that this was also the seat of the Diocese of Polyfeggos, a name given later to the Diocese of Flios. It seems that, in the beginning of the late Byzantine period, times were rough and people took refuge in the safety of Polyfeggos which, along with the newly-established village of Aghios Georgios, became the twin settlement of lower town and fortress, similar to Ancient Corinth and its acropolis. By the mid-14th century, Aghios Georgios was one of the tax-collecting centres in the Frankish principality of Achaia. This certainly justifies the thought that at the time the settlement of Aghios Georgios-Polyfeggos continued to be a residential and productive hub in the region, just as the wine-producing Flious in ancient times, "a city worthy of Dionysus' praise", according to the poet Bacchylides.
After the destruction of Polyfeggos by Muhammad II The Conqueror in 1458, the name Polyfeggos seems to survive only in the Diocese and the mountain, and the name of Aghios Georgios in the lower village and, consequently, the excellent regional products: the black grape and the dark wine. At times, the name of the local Aghiorghitiko wine was attributed to the small church of Aghios Georgios; however, the church is post-Byzantine, therefore it was built later than the settlement of Aghios Georgios.
* The texts of this section are taken from a speech by George Kostouros, writer and civil engineer from Nemea.
The Aghiorghitiko wine in the 21th century
The Aghiorghitiko wine entered the twentieth first century accompanied by a broad reputation and great credentials. Its course in this century was even greater, and would require not one, but a whole series of relevant articles and speeches to be properly presented.
The construction of the Harilaou winery by the Society of Wine and Spirits in 1923-25; the creation of the Winemaking Cooperative in 1937; the establishment of the Lazopoulos winery and dozens of small or larger wineries and raki-making facilities later on; our local architecture, shaped by the needs of red wine-making; wine trading outside regional and national borders; the awards and distinctions of many producers; the establishment of the Nemea "Appellation of Origin of Superior Quality" (OPAP) Zone; place names such as Linoi and Dragasouritsa, which means a small hut for the vine worker/keeper of vines; past and present viticultural and wine distinctions and awards for the Aghiorghitiko; the contemporary Wine Roads; the friends of Aghiorghitiko and Nemea – all these are huge capitals for us, to be deposited to the Bank of History, as is the case in many other parts of Greece and the world, adding to our wine, with "competence and expertise worthy of Kallikratis", the surplus value from the interest of timeless, age-old local tradition and heritage.
Hotel Segas offers 24 single, double and triple rooms accommodating up to 50 guests...View more...
Taking advantage of its beautiful natural enviroment,its therapeutical water sources...View more...
Hotel Segas is located 80km southwest from Athens and Athens Airport. It is about 4 km from Corinth Canal and 7km from Corinth.Click on map to view more...


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The APDL PD Library
Clip Art Compilation section
This part of the library contains clip art 'theme packs' or compilation suitable for use individually or in DTP programs. All in Acorn format, usually Sprite or Drawfile.
Most of the material in the library dates from the 1990's, some is even earlier. You should therefore be aware that this is an historical archive and some programs may may not work on modern versions of RISC OS. Most of the contents of the library are not 32bit compatible.
It is therefore offerered with absolutely No Warranty or guarantee as to Fitness for Purpose. There is no reason to belive that any of this could in any way harm your computer but because of its age you use it entirely at your own risk and APDL accepts absolutely no responsibility for any consequences of its use.
This Web site was hand coded by the Friends of David Holden.
All contents are © The estate of David Holden and/or Aaron Timbrell & David Bradforth 2014
Graphics constructed using DrawWorks Millennium
Last updated 24/7/14

subset: commoncrawl


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Finding a Leader With Answers
As problems cry out for solutions, we need more Richard Daleys.
Leadership is the kind of lofty and abstract subject I don't usually ponder; most of my thoughts are far more mundane. But recent events and experiences have made me consider it.
First, curiosity led my wife and me to political commentator Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor rally on the National Mall. We wanted to see how this odd -- some would say unhinged -- hyper-emotional media personality and promoter, who started out in Top 40 morning zoo radio, was able to summon so many people from around the country to a rally that's purpose was so vague -- even to Beck. He admitted in his speech that, "We didn't know what we were going to do when we got here."
A fascinating analysis by civil rights historian Taylor Branch in The New York Times reveals that Beck evidently experienced some kind of transformative moment while planning the event, deciding to make it spiritual, not political, and to embrace the civil rights movement rather than disparage it as he had done so often in the past. Instead, he and other speakers invoked the memory of Martin Luther King Jr., who had spoken from the same spot 47 years earlier. "We must get the poison of hatred out of us," Beck implored the vast crowd. "Go to your churches, your synagogues, your mosques, anyone that is not preaching hate and division, anyone who is not teaching to kill another man."
This isn't exactly what I expected to hear, nor I suspect did many others in this very polite, nearly all-white crowd of middle-class Americans. I have no idea what this will mean for Beck and his "restoring honor" movement. Will it presage a more permanent change in tone and direction or not? And either way, will he remain its leader?
Then we went to see Invictus, the film about Nelson Mandela's bold move to unite white and black South Africans after his release from 27 years in prison, the ensuing demise of apartheid and his election as the new nation's first president. Mandela embraces, of all things, the nation's rugby team and hosting this year's World Cup, even though the sport and team are closely associated with the white minority Afrikaners who had imprisoned him. In an understated, yet moving way, the film explores leadership -- both Mandela and the rugby team's young captain, who is inspired by what he learns of how much his new president overcame in all those years in that tiny cell. Needless to say, this young man of conscience leads the South African team to an upset victory.
Then came the surprising news on Sept. 7 that one of the nation's pre-eminent political leaders, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, would be retiring after 22 years in office. It prompted another unusually strong and blunt mayor, New York City's Michael Bloomberg, to call Daley a transformational leader. "He's a doer, has guts, has beliefs. … If you called Central Casting and said, 'Send me a great, forward-thinking mayor who does the job and doesn't pander,' that's who they'd send."
This is all true. Daley is a visionary who remade his city -- not only its dazzling downtown, but much of its public housing, parks, libraries and other amenities. He did the "soft" stuff, like adding miles of bike trails and thousands of trees, but he also took on the dangerous task of making improvement in the schools his responsibility. He is one of the outstanding political leaders we've seen in the past two decades.
It's a time when we sure could use more like him. All levels of government are facing significant challenges that, if not met, will only become increasingly serious. Washington, D.C., must invigorate an anemic economy while devising a plan to prevent what now is being called the most predictable financial crisis in our history -- the implosion caused by our mushrooming national debt. States and localities will have to confront their imbalances, which increasingly are seen as structural, not cyclical. From the White House to the smallest county courthouse, solutions must come from people willing to lead and ask for sacrifices for the common good.
A recent article in The New Yorker about the U.S. Senate, titled The Empty Chamber, vividly describes the dysfunction and myopia that defines Washington today. There's a huge surplus of special interest money, but very little trust. The chamber, a generator of ideas and inspiration three or four decades ago, has become the domain of ideologues and charlatans. Senators of good will who want to practice the time-honored politics of compromise and consensus are pressured into uncomfortably rigid ideological positions. There is little interest in crafting solutions.
As noted by David Rothkopf, a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace visiting scholar, the debate between the two parties "is about assigning blame rather than assuming responsibility. It's a contest to see who can give away more at precisely the time they should be asking more of the American people."
Given the level of discourse in these elections, it's hard to see where the leadership we need throughout our federal system -- the leadership that in different ways Daley gave Chicago or Mandela gave South Africa -- will come from.


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Walking through a pile of colorful crunchy leaves may be one of the best parts about fall, but it can only get better if you have a pair of cute fall boots on your feet.
From the over the knee boots trend to Western-inspired styles to ankle booties to high-heeled boots, the picks are endless. Below are just a few of the great boots out there. Check out this season's styles below and tips on how to incorporate fall boots into your wardrobe while staying on budget.
Cowboy boots
You don't have to be from the Midwest to enjoy wearing Western-style boots. The four styles below are modern and affordable.
[Both of these cute ankle styles (pictured top right and left) are only $30 from Target. Photos courtesy Target. These Western boots with great details (pictured bottom right and left) are $37 and $35, respectively. Photos courtesy Forever 21.]
With a palette of warm browns, these boots are the essence of fall. Tuck skinny jeans into Target's pointy toed ankle boots to show off the detailed buckles and straps. If skinny jeans aren't your thing, wear these high heel ankle boots from Target under wider-leg jeans. The slight heel will give a boost to your height and the cute rounded toe will peep out from the jeans.
For a more edgy look, wear these suede ankle boots with crossover straps from Forever 21 with a tight mini dress. Or give off a more casual vibe by pairing these Western slouchy boots from Forever 21 with a flowy dress. The key with cowboy boots is to not go over-the-top with Western. Don't wear a plaid button-down shirt and a cowboy hat with your boots (no matter how cute they are separately.)
Cuffed boots
One of this season's super fashionable trends is cuffed boots. These statement-making shoes aren't for the faint of heart, so proceed with caution.
[These black cuffed boots (pictured left) from Forever 21 are only $35. Photo courtesy Forever 21. These studded boots from DSW (pictured right) are $50 and also come in black. Photo courtesy DSW.]
Wear these flirty black cuffed boots from Forever 21 on a night out. The heavy cuff might weigh down the look so make sure to balance with form fitting pants and tops or even a tight mini skirt. For an easy bohemian look wear these studded cuffed boots from DSW with a floral or abstract print dress. Or wear them with your favorite worn-in jeans for a casual weekend look.
Over the knee boots
With the right outfit, over the knee boots can be super fun. Go for a dramatic look with stiletto styles or wear flats for a more understated confidence.
[These slouchy black over the knee boots (pictured left) can be oh-so-chic with the right styling. They are $43 from Forever 21. A flat pair of over the knee boots, like these casual tan boots, (pictured right) are great everyday wear. They are $36 from Forever 21. Photos courtesy Forever 21.]
Although thigh-skimming over the knee boots can be extremely sexy, you'll be walking a fine line between stylish and dominatrix if you choose a black high heeled style like the one pictured left from Forever 21. If you're confident enough to pull these black bow boots off, pair them with black leggings and a tunic dress. The boots will blend into the leggings and tone down the sex appeal. Avoid wearing tight mini skirts and leather with these boots.
If you want to try an over the knee style, but are concerned about looking too Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, try a flat pair or a pair that isn't so tight on the legs. For a comfy everyday look, wear these over the knee riding boots from Forever 21 with skinny jeans and a slightly oversized top.
Do you love fall boots? What's your must-have style of the season? Tell me about it in the comments section.
For more fashion inspiration, follow me on Twitter @kirsten_hudson
Boots obsessed? Find out more about this stylish fall footwear:
- Worn with the right outfit, these vintage ankle booties look über-trendy.


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In the neighbourhood.Friday, 22 January 2010
I carry my camera with me almost all the time when I go out, even when I just go quickly run to the post office. These are what I always see, I enjoy seeing them at different times of the day, how they look different at different times. The house in the top photo is my favourite house in my neighbourhood. They have a cherry tree in their balcony up on the first floor, I should take a photo when the blossoms are out to show you. I hope the house owner will not be mad at me.
Happy weekend!
P.S. Check out olivelse new web shop! Also pieni. These are my favourite lovely shops from France. And these mittens from mieke willems are SO CUTE!


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How ironic: some may say our lockdown actions have been like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife. It has often been observed that Alanis Morissette really should have looked up the definition of 'irony' before penning her 1996 hit, although she could just about get away with a free ride when she'd already paid.
What is this collective madness that has engulfed us at our lowest ebb? With the lockdown now 'over the hump', we should be revelling in our newfound space, embracing the truly important things in life, such as family, love, and the breathing of fresh air, as we have had time to reassess, re-evaluate and reaffirm what we truly hold close to our hearts.
It seems, however, to have had the opposite effect, with an onset of lunacy and hypocrisy that has not been witnessed before. We seem to be making a laughing stock of ourselves in all manner of ways: by our social media utterances as we attempt to shout the loudest, quite often reverting to incendiary comment and vitriolic abuse with which to nail home our position, which often has more holes in it that a moth infested old jumper. We rally, justly, against historical indiscretions and indignities, yet turn a blind eye to modern day slavery, which many agree is as prevalent now as it ever was. The problem is in our supposedly progressive society: we have not yet fathomed a universally-agreed definition of the term, although estimates number around 40 million are in such pitiful positions, be it through forced or state-imposed labour, sexual exploitation or arranged marriage.
As we march, and chant, and some of us throw things, some for legitimate purpose, others for the sheer hell of it, we wear our new trainers - constructed by child labour in Indonesia where they receive 'pay' of, in some cases, $1.25 per day. We have seen videos of workers being whipped and women being refused sanitary respite as companies deploy corporate PR teams to distance themselves from the sub-contractors when undercover reporters manage to infiltrate the factory confines. This type of practice has been prevalent since the 1970s yet now, half a century on, because they make a mean pair of sneakers, we turn our ire toward figures from yestercentury who were involved in the very trade that we all buy into now.
We must be out of our tiny little minds to bring about the following: Churchill fought against Nazi tyranny and yet was susceptible to a gaffe or vicious turn of phrase. Yet he did as much as any one man to fight them on the beaches and preserve self-rule, as well as liberating others who were not so fortunate and suffered horrendously in the Second World War. We then have a situation where right-wing thugs, many clearly making the Nazi salute, stand in town centres to defend statues of Churchill. Surely, they should be the people attacking such monuments and those reportedly attacking them should be defending them, as Winnie stood against fascism?
We have the wonderful Lewis Hamilton, a man who has clearly suffered racial abuse as he clambered his way to the very pinnacle of a white-dominated sport, backing racial equality whilst wearing a Hugo Boss suit. Boss of course manufactured Nazi uniforms, but the irony is lost on many of us as.
We wear leather shoes as we rally against animal welfare, scream about the environment as we lean out of our diesel spewing 4X4s and leave the bath running as we bemoan those who dare to give the geraniums a soaking in the current drought-like conditions.
Our actions have become moronic, if not ironic, and it is more apparent each and every waking day: Bojo's wingman, Cummings, helped set the rules, as did Professor Ferguson, before both spectacularly broke them. Isn't it ironic? Not half….and our current mindset seems a lot worse than a black fly in your chardonnay, don't you think?
- Brett Ellis is a teacher


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Choose the Best Air Conditioning System for Your House
Aug 09, 2017
Gharpedia.com helps to Build/Own/Rent/Buy/Sell/Repair/Maintain your dream house by providing all the tips & tricks in easy languages. It provides solutions to all problems pertaining to houses right from concept to completion.
Staying cool in the summer is lot easier with a properly functioning air conditioning system in your home. It removes heat from confined space and therefore cools the space and removes humidity. But that requires selection of the right air conditioning system for your home.
The choice of air conditioner suitable for your home depends on some factors i.e. how large the area is to be cooled, the total heat generated inside the home, etc. An HVAC designer would consider all the related parameters and suggest the most suitable system for your home.
Here we give you different types of air conditioning system which will help you to make a right choice for your home:
01. Window Air Conditioner:
Window Air conditioner is most commonly used for single rooms. It consists of four parts: Compressor, Condenser, Expansion Valve or Coil, Evaporator, Cooling Coil. This all parts are enclosed in a single box. This unit is fitted in a slot made in the wall of the room, or more commonly on the window sill.
It needs special installation like a wooden plank or a metal frame for support. Since it needs an immediate external outlet, a window is the only place where it can be placed.
02. Split Air Conditioner:
A split air conditioning means the condenser (Outdoor Unit) is separated from the Indoor Unit, thus it is called Split Air Conditioner.
Courtesy - bluestar
The split air conditioner consists of two parts:
- Outdoor Unit: The outdoor unit is fitted outside the room and comprises of three parts like Compressor, Condenser and Expansion Valve.
- Indoor Unit: The indoor unit comprises the Evaporator or Cooling Coil and the Cooling Fan. You need to make arrangements in wall to take water out from indoor unit.
Split AC has aesthetic appeal and does not take up as much space as a window AC. A split air conditioner can be used to cool one or two rooms.
Unlike a Window AC, a Split AC does not require a window and cool a wider area than a Window AC. As its condenser unit is placed outside, Split AC is less noisy on the inside. However, they are expensive than the Window AC.
03. Central Air Conditioning:
Courtesy - woodpecker
Central air conditioning is used for cooling big buildings, houses, offices, entire hotels, movie theatres, factories, etc. If the whole house is to be air conditioned, HVAC engineers find that putting individual units in each of the rooms is very expensive, thus making this a better option. A central air conditioning system consists of a large compressor that can produce hundreds of tones of air conditioning. Cooling big halls, malls, huge spaces, galleries, etc. is usually only possible with central AC.
04. Inverter Air Conditioner:
Courtesy - bluestar
Inverter Air Conditioner is a new version of AC that is slightly expensive but energy-efficient. AC functioning without an inverter needs to start and stop their compressor to maintain certain room temperature. In the process, they consume more energy and take a toll on the parts.
However, in an Inverter Air Conditioner, the speed of the compressor keeps on varying, to ensure precise cooling without stopping and starting. The cooling capacity and the amount of energy required are automatically adjusted, depending on the room's temperature. This results in energy efficient cooling and enhances the durability of the spare parts. Inverter AC is available in the Split AC format.
Also Read: Keep your Home Bacteria Free
05. Portable Air Conditioner:
Courtesy - thesweethome
Portable AC is a small mobile air conditioner unlike window or split ac, but without any permanent installation required. Portable air conditioner is placed on the floor and can be easily moved from room to room. It works well in the apartment where a window unit is unacceptable. It is a good choice for temporary building use, in buildings that do not have a window opening.
Choose air conditioning system wisely. Choose the air conditioner that meets your requirements and hence enjoy using it but also take care for it.
Also Read:


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I am sure that the legislators in Texas know that needle exchanges are much safer for drug addicts and for the public, but they'd rather act all judgmental towards addicts and the people who live near them. Sometimes I hate Texas! What is it like to live in a state that cares about the people?
Texas' 1st needle-exchange program foiled by legal opinionBexar County officials will not move forward with what would have been the first legally sanctioned syringe-exchange program for drug addicts in Texas.
SAN ANTONIO — In the wake of a long-awaited opinion issued Monday by Attorney General Greg Abbott, Bexar County officials will not move forward with what would have been the first legally sanctioned syringe-exchange program for drug addicts in Texas.
The opinion essentially supports the view of District Attorney Susan Reed, who argued that the bill creating the local pilot program didn't trump state drug laws and would leave county workers open to prosecution. The opinion left such prosecution to Reed's discretion.
"We were hoping the attorney general would see the value of operating the sterile needle exchange in toto, which included the distribution of sterile needles," said Aurora Sanchez, who as the county's executive director of community and development programs is overseeing the pilot program. "But since it doesn't do that, it appears to me we have to wait until the legislation is changed in 2009."
Here is more from the article:
"Based on the previous approach she's taken, I expect her to say she's going to exercise her discretion to prosecute these wholly good-hearted people. That's an unfortunate result," said Neel Lane, an attorney with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, which is representing the coalition at no cost.
"I think that the attorney general has reached an absurd conclusion that, in passing a law creating and funding a pilot needle exchange program, that the Legislature may nevertheless intended to prosecute those who carried out the program it funded," Lane continued. "The practical effect of the opinion is to tell the Bexar County DA that she has the discretion to veto laws passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Perry."
And this really helpful part! ***sarcasm***
Sanchez said the county would continue to provide educational materials to addicts to prevent the spread of disease.


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Cheetham Salt is the largest manufacturer of Australian solar salt products and offers reliable high quality salt for the food and industrial markets.
Cheetham Salt prides itself in offering value added Australian solar salt products. Using high quality Australian salt, Cheetham Salt offers reliable salt products
to a broad range of industries including the industrial, food, stockfeed, hide and pool sectors
The use of salt is varied and differs across a number of industrial applications. Some examples include the manufacture of paper, textiles, laundry detergent, rubber, pharmaceuticals, and drilling in the oil and gas industry. Naturally crystallised from sea water and salt lakes, our extensive product range is specifically manufactured to cover the broad range of uses.
Mermaid Grade 9
This is an industrial version of Mermaid Premium food grade salt. This multi-purpose salt is used for an array of applications that require a fine granulated salt.
Mermaid Grade 6
This is an industrial version of Mermaid Flossy food grade salt. This multi-purpose salt is used for an array of applications that require a refined particle size of 1.0mm.
Mermaid Washed Coarse
As the name suggests, this product is washed and crushed to an average grainsize approx to 2.8mm.
Cheetham Salt offers a vast array of products packaged from 10kg bags to 1,200kg bulker bags. For more information on our various products along with recommended applications please contact our customer service centre
Cheetham Salt is a wholly owned subsidiary of CK Life Sciences Int'l., (Holdings) Inc. | Office365


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Dear N,
I've been missing in action for so long that I know you thought I was gone for good. You never hesitate to tell the world when you think you've won. I'm sorry to disappoint you this time.
It took me quite a while – almost 2 years to be exact – but I'm back. And just like I promised, I'm armed with the truth and ready for war.
Remember when you were driving me home, after you held me in place and got your sexual jollies out of me on that cold cut of wooden table, and I screamed that you should have killed me? I meant it, but back then it was for a different reason. Because of what you did to me, I wanted to die. I used to pray every night that I would go to sleep and stay that way. I kept breathing, every day feeling angrier than the day before because my prayer went unanswered.
Today, I'm so glad I told you those words, because I'm alive with blood boiling in my veins, and you are finally, finally going to be made to regret the terrible things you did to me. You're going to remember my name one more time. When everything is said and done and your life and reputation lie in ruins around you – just like you did to me – you will sorely wish that on the day you raped me, you used some of your perverted strength to put me in the ground. That instead of handing me my skirt and driving me home, you beat me to death or drove me off a cliff. Because you left me alive, God has avenged me.
I would do anything to be around on the day that you get the sheet of paper that tells you I'm back – but you can imagine me sitting at home with a bowl of popcorn and a smile instead.
Thank you for giving me the most satisfying moment of my life.
Until we meet again,


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As Fassbinder's newly-rediscovered sci-fi opus WORLD ON A WIRE makes its rounds in US theaters, I thought I'd share a few steps in the poster design process. I was honored to have Janus Films ask me to work on this exciting project, and it ended up being a tricky journey from complexity to minimalism. After watching the 2-part film, the first step was obvious: convert the iconic original title treatment into English. After incorrectly assuming that the typeface was a form of Helvetica, a little detective work identified it as an out-of-print version of Akzidenz Grotesk, the typeface that branded the famous and iconic Marber Penguin covers. I knew off the bat that these white lines could be a great graphic starting point for my design.
I felt that we should present WORLD ON A WIRE as a kind of event movie for its target audience: lovers of international cinema, science-fiction and the avant garde. For some reason at the time-- likely my infatuation with the complex, detail-filled Mondo screenprints designed by the likes of Tyler Stout and Ken Taylor-- my initial instinct was to create something epic in scope and volume, filled with sci-fi imagery and digital abstractions, with a retro 70's frame. This resulted in the rough comp below:
Meanwhile, I came up with this idea for a teaser poster that could trumpet the arrival of the film as an event...
...and, in the interest of additional options, this quad-style teaser poster that typographically suggested the film's worlds-within-worlds theme:
Janus liked my use of the white lines of the title treatment as a both a graphic element and a suggestion of the film's multiple layers of reality, but after sitting on it for a while we started to think it was too complex, too cold. I felt I just went overboard... I didn't like it. I sent them this next idea, switching the main color field to the red background of the film's credits, and simplifying the concept to something more graphic and minimal. The hero's face would be broken up and delayed through the white lines as his identity in the film is fractured through multiple realities:
(The below image, which I made based on a shot of a computer panel in the film, was integrated as a background pattern for many of these comps... The dials and panels could, I thought, help remind viewers of the sci-fi genre):
A couple other variations on the same concept:
And a no-good, too-abstract pattern-only variation...
Janus loved these color schemes, but we still felt like we hadn't nailed it. We wondered if we even needed the hero's face at all... if we could convey the concept of alternate worlds and multiple realities with an even simpler iconic image. They pointed to my posters for Before Sunrise and Before Sunset as examples, and I was happy to indulge in such a liberating guideline. Kind of the opposite of a studio telling you that they want all the actors' heads big and large across the poster, this is the kind of direction from their client that a designer dreams of. I started with this simple overlay of two circles, a vertical representation of multiple realities:
...and the rest presented itself almost instantaneously. The overlapping shape would become a watchful eye, a sinister symbol of control; within the target of that eye we would see our hero running for his life, and from that eye would hang the puppet strings holding the title, suggesting an invisible manipulating force. The lines from the title treatment could continue upwards and suggest a modern cityscape. I went back to black for the dominant background color and had fun coloring the rest in a way that resembled the look of the film, but with a little more vibrancy and play.
I was really happy with the result and Janus approved it without any further suggestions. Of everything I've done, this piece was probably most inspired by my dad's artwork, which he would often execute by hand with skillful airbrushing techniques. I'm very proud of this one, but the coolest thing about it is that a studio like Janus was willing and happy to take a purely graphic approach to a theatrical poster for an important release. We hope it seduces viewers into Fassbinder's newly-rediscovered world(s)...
Poster for sale in the Criterion shop.
Janus Films presents WORLD ON A WIRE
Art direction: Sarah Habibi
Trailer (long version) edited by Damon Packard


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How do I update who can submit support requests?
Note: This article covers your contacts with Support. Please keep your account manager up to date on who to communicate with at your organization. Support contacts are people in your organization w...
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Comparing SEO & Social Media as Marketing ChannelsBlog Post: November 16, 2010
As someone who's worked in SEO and with travel blogs, I think I can shed some light on why there is such a big disconnect in this debate on the SEO subject. This might also be true in lots of niche blogging topics as well, but I'm sure it's true in travel. Things to consider:
1 - Nearly every travel blog is originally started as a personal trip journal, rather than a business or commercial site. The better ones can gain a following far beyond their family and friends, so in some cases the writer begins to think they might somehow make a living at it, or at least make a bit of a salary for continuing with it.
2 - Once a site gets a bit of visibility, the writer starts getting emails and blog comments from SEO services. Some emails are sincere reasonable offers, though usually from companies that have no idea of the site's goals, while others are the "we'll get you to #1 in Google in one month!!!!" variety. Both types of emails look like spam to a travel blogger, so SEO instantly gains a reputation alongside V1agra and Acai Berry, as an expensive hoax. Sadly, this also means that some people completely ignore even the basic Google webmaster suggestions and guidelines.
3 - The "conversion" for a travel blog is often not directly related to money. Most bloggers realize that a full-time living is likely out of their reach, so the holy grail for these sites is often the free press trip. If you are struggling to make $50 a month in Adsense, and you hear about slightly-more-famous travel bloggers getting $1500-value free luxury trips, it can make sense to concentrate more on fame than small pageview increases from search traffic.
4 - Most travel blogs generally write about "Here's where I went recently" or "Here's what I think of this topic" so there isn't a lot of search potential there to begin with. Writing like an SEO-oriented travel guide can seem cold to many bloggers.
5 - The people who know about effective travel SEO practices have an incentive for others in the field to keep going down the wrong path, so they are often silent when bad advice is being given out.
6 - Travel bloggers almost all have only one site, or in some rare cases a few, so they have only a tiny frame of reference. One or two successful posts might make them think they've discovered the ideal way to work, so they just keep doing it.
I could go on, but you get the idea. Travel bloggers are rarely worried about converting into specific sales, so the social media thing (combined with basic SEO guidelines) can be the best use of their time.


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How to choose skates when you are a speed-skating beginner?
It is often the logical follow-up: after having had a go at fitness skating, lots of skaters turn towards speed skating, attracted by the feelings of speed and gliding... but the choice of the skates is often tricky and it is not that easy to go from high-cut to low-cut skates. Tips...
From a Sedan to a Racing car
For the love of gliding, you are always in pursuit of more and more performant skates with a better efficiency. Very often, fitness skaters let themselves be tempted by speed skates, just like the amateur cyclist will not resist a carbon bike. While a cyclist will still manage to cycle on a carbon model (even if they lose in comfort), in skating you cannot get away with it that easily. You have to change your carpet slipper fitness skates for the Spartan comfort of high-end speed skates.
What are the differences between a fitness skate and a speed skate? What does it change as for skating?
There are a lot of design differences between a fitness skate and a speed skate.
It is quite obvious at first sight: the boot of the fitness skates goes higher! It goes around the whole ankle and up to the shin, which conveys a good support and a lot of control on the skate.
On a speed skating boot, the cut is lower and hardly goes up to the malleolus, so that the foot is more free in its movements but the support is reduced to the strict minimum, and you should have muscled and tonic ankles in order to control your skates.
As for the comfort, it is quite different too. It is the same difference as that between the seats of a Sedan and the bucket-seat of a Formula 1. The fitness skate is equipped with a thick and soft padding while the speed skate only has a thin layer of padding separating the foot from the carbon. The comfort is quite Spartan.
Why? Because a thick liner like that of a fitness skate disperses the strength of the push during skating, whereas in a speed skate, the energy is directly transmitted to the boot, the frame and the ground.
In order to get into more details, the materials they are made of should also be compared: a fitness skate has a rather flexible and tolerant boot made of plastic, completed with a leg made of mesh, which is a breathable fabric, or of synthetic leather. On a speed skate, the boot is made of composite materials: glass fiber, carbon fiber, resin... it is more rigid and lighter.
Diameter and development of skate wheels
Here again, the differences are huge: most of the time the frames of fitness skates are of mid-length and rather flexible in order to smooth the flaws of the road. On speed skates, the frames are longer in order to welcome wheels with bigger diameters, and more rigid in order to optimally transmit the strength of the push. Then, they are also higher and you are less stable on them.
The design of the frames itself is quite different too most of the time: on fitness skates they will be more likely stamped and in two parts, whereas on speed skates they are cast in one piece and extruded in aluminum, or even made of carbon for more lightness and rigidity!
The difference of diameter is obvious. A fitness skate will have wheels varying from around 80 to 100mm... whereas in speed skating you may go up to 110mm! It is useless to say that the inertia is bigger and that you can go faster. You are also perched higher and, once again, you are less stable.
Another important detail: the hardness of the wheels. In fitness, wheels are rather smooth in order to remain comfortable and offer a good grip (78 to 84A on most models). In speed, wheels are harder in order to improve the performance (85 to 87A).
And what about bearings?
Contrary to what one may think, there is but little difference between bearings on mid-range fitness skates and bearings on high-end speed skates. The difference of efficiency will be rather small.
What type of speed skates to choose in order to make a successful transition?
In order not to be totally disoriented, you should opt for a skate half-way between all the mentioned characteristics...
Choose a boot that is slightly high-cut
When you leave the support of a fitness skate, your ankles need time to strengthen and get more tonicity. Changing for a low-cut boot would be a mistake because you would not be precise enough and would not have control on your skates yet.
Moreover, starting directly with too low carbon models will hurt your ankles: carbon boots do not forgive technical mistakes.
We advise you to go toward a model with a composite boot that goes up to the malleolus without sacrificing comfort (too much).
Frames and wheels
Do not go for too big too soon. Do not rush to wheels with too big diameters because they only make the skate set-up higher and solicit the ankles. And let's not forget that the bigger the diameter, the harder to push the skate because of the inertia of the wheels.
Several options:
- Opting for a model of frame with 4 wheels of 100m for a few months (even a year according to your ease)
- Choosing a model of frame welcoming up to 110m wheels right away and putting 100mm wheels at first in order to adapt yourself, and why not going through intermediary sizes (104mm or 105mm then 110mm)
- Or having a 3*110mm + 1*100mm model. You can set it up in 100/100/90/100 at first, in 104/104/94/104 afterwards, and then in 110/110/100/110 once you have the hang of things.
Several models suitable for a successful transition
Powerslide and Bont seem to be the only brands of the market to offer models suitable for skaters transitioning from fitness to speed skating...
The Powerslide Virus SL, a newcomer that may seduce its public
That skate is available since April 2012. It has the advantage of being equipped of a removable cuff. You can take it off once you feel better at ease with big diameters. That model has a magnesium frame for 4 wheels up to 110mm. Its composite boot mixing nylon and fiber remains quite flexible and comfortable.
The Powerslides R2 and R4
They are safe bets in the Powerslide range, very appreciated by long-distance skaters. Their boot is quite high-cut and is made of glass fiber. It has a good support and remains quite comfortable. The 3*100 and 1*90 configuration leaves time to get used to big diameters.
The Powerslide C8
In the same vein as the R2 and R4, the C8 has a rather high-cut boot that will reassure even the most hesitant skaters.
On the other hand, it is equipped with a 4*110mm frame right away and is thus not within every skater's reach. Advised for tall and powerful skaters...
The Bont Cheetah
This low-range model with a glass fiber boot is affordable with a price around 300€. The comfort is reasonable, the leg goes quite high, and you will get sensations very close to those of a real speed skate without ruining yourself.
The Bont Semi-Race
Just as its name shows, this skate is an excellent transition between fitness and speed skating. It is very popular in long distance. You may criticize its lack of comfort and the stiffness of the boot, but the support is excellent. You can thermoform it if needed...
It gives feelings very close to those of speed skates too.
To conclude: be humble and take time to improve together with your equipment!
You will not be able to control a high-end skate right away and you will not get any pleasure skating:let's not forget that pleasure is the main driving force of the practice of skating...
Useful Links
Technical description of the Powerslide R2 2012
Technical description of the Powerslide C8 2012
Technical description of the Powerslide Virus SL 2012
Technical description of the Powerslide R4 2012
Technical description of the Bont Cheetah
Technical description of the Bont Semi-race
Translated by Close Yr E's
Photos: Alfathor


text: I have the complete 250ti Jubilee network diagram and service manual. I want to share with you guys, but problem is that it was scanned to PDF files and I have since coverted it to a word doc. which I can't attached to this forum. Pls share some light to this so all 250 owners can convert their network to the charged coupled network of the jubilees.


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Jenny Mills Architecture & Interiors
Jenny Mills graduated from the University of Cape Town (B.A.S.; B.ARCH.) and first distinguished herself as a young architect with Stefan Antoni. Jenny launched her own Cape Town based practice in 2003. Over the past 15 years her work has been prominent in South Africa, particularly in the Western Cape, and highly regarded by discerning local and international clients. Her design solutions have been widely and on television.


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James Curtis Talley
Being a Good Samaritan that iam. I had came across a neighbor of mines, who is in need of help. This individual has had a messed up childhood, who is angry and bitter because I turned down his offer to go out with him. After the fact he told me he has the AIDS VIRUS, threatened to infect me with it because of the fact I don't want him. He's psycho, id say his AIDS medication isn't the only thing he needs to be on. Why would I want that? I don't have it, and surely don't need it. Despite this fact, he has serveral different phone numbers, along with using other folks identity. Plus, has former charges from the police related to some of the things I've mentioned here. He has to much time on his hands, and not one person will be with him!
Caller type: Sociopath
Caller: James Curtis Talley
Number: 405-309-7402


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Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Beer 101
Find everything from a list of beer styles to tips on tasting beer online at beeradvocate.com/beer/101.
For more beer and food pairing suggestions, go online to brewersassociation.org. Click 'Brewpubs' then 'Business Tools and Resources.'
If anyone fits the beer-drinker demographic, it would be the beer-maker-in-chief at a brewery, right?
Well, Free State Brewing Co. brewmaster Steve Bradt has a secret that may shock people: He loves beer floats.
To be clear, Bradt isn't talking about plopping ice cream in a Bud Light.
The craft beer movement — being celebrated this week during American Craft Beer Week — is creating new, flavorful and multidimensional brews every day. Just like wine, these beers have colors, aromas, mouthfeels and flavors. And just like wine, they can be strategically paired with food to enhance the sensory experience of both.
"It's really shaken up what people see as the demographic of a beer drinker," Bradt said. "It's not just guys sitting in front of the TV watching a football game anymore."
In recent years, brewers at Free State, 636 Massachusetts St., have led numerous beer dinners at upscale restaurants in Lawrence and the Kansas City area, including one just last week at Rye in Leawood — days after its chef Colby Garrelts was named Best Chef in the Midwest by the James Beard Foundation.
The beer floats Bradt likes come from a more casual environment: the summertime Cottin's Hardware Farmers Market, 1832 Massachusetts St. Drop a scoop of ice cream from the Iwig Dairy stand into an Oatmeal Stout from the Free State stand, and you've made your own Stout Float.
Rich, creamy stout plus rich, creamy ice cream, with the beer's strong flavor balancing the ice cream's sweetness — it works.
Another of Bradt's favorite matches is strong, hefty beer such as barley wine with artisan cheese. The flavors go well together, Bradt said, and the beer's bubbles and crispness almost act as a palate cleanser between cheeses.
Last week amidst a morning of brewing, Bryan "Bucky" Buckingham, head brewer at 23rd Street Brewery, 3512 Clinton Parkway, surmised he'd probably be eating hot wings for lunch, along with a glass of IPA.
Why does that work?
According to the Brewers Association, good beer pairings either balance out or emphasize the flavor of the food. So as long as you can handle the heat, the hoppy bitterness of an IPA will rise up to the spiciness of those wings and emphasize the flavor.
Buckingham said he'd recently enjoyed a "nice Belgian blond" alongside an organic beet salad with champagne dressing while on vacation in San Diego. An avid fly fisherman, he also named blond ale and Kölsch, a light but medium-hoppy German style, as his favorite beers to drink with a day's haul of fresh trout.
But even Buckingham doesn't walk around furiously focusing on his next beer-food pairing all the time.
At the end of the day, there's another beer pairing rule that's just like wine: Drink whatever you like, whether an expert or some kind of chart suggests it or not.
Pizza is a case in point.
"It really doesn't matter what beer it is," Buckingham said, it's probably going to taste great.
Perfect pairings
Craft beer is generally agreed to mean all-malt beer brewed with traditional methods and ingredients, inspired by classic styles, according to the Brewers Association. Craft beer offers a huge range of colors, flavors, strengths and sensations, making it a natural companion to food.
The Brewers Association offers these examples of beer pairings for any course.
Salads and appetizers
Crisp, refreshing beers are the best way to start the meal. More delicate dishes call for more delicate beers that won't overpower them.
Try: Salad with a lighter wheat beer, bitter greens with a hoppy Pilsner, seared ahi tuna with a floral blond ale, rich appetizers such as cheese tartlets with hoppy American pale ale, New Orleans style shrimp with a spicy saison, smoked fish with a full-flavored red ale or amber lager.
Main courses
Match the intensity of the beer with the intensity of the food.
Try: Grilled fish with a Pilsner, roasted chicken with a malty lager or pale ale, barbecue with a Maibock or abbey-style dubbel to tame the heat, grilled or roast beef with a hearty porter or stout.
Bright carbonation and crispness can handle cheeses' mouth-coating richness.
Try: Powerful cheese like Stilton with an assertive barley wine, blue cheese with an IPA, chèvre with hefeweizen, soft-ripened cheese like Brie with fruit beer, aged cheddar with stout, smoked cheese with a smoked porter.
Rich, full-flavored beers are good for balancing the sweetness of most desserts.
Try: Fruity desserts with a strong pale tripel, caramelly bread pudding or nut tarts with old ale, super-sweet cheesecake or crème brulée with highly hopped beers like double IPAs, milk chocolate with Belgian-inspired strong dark ale, flourless chocolate cake or truffles with inky imperial stout, fruit desserts with fruit beers.
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March 23 @ 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm
The basics of machining using a lathe. Safety, the parts of the machine, how to set up your part. How to choose cutting tools and how to use them effectively and safely. Hands-on instruction. Link to registration.
Cost: $50 (includes materials)
Limit: 4 people
Instructor: Dan Sykes
Dan Sykes (Steampunk Dan) has nearly 40 years' experience with lathes, mills, and metal fabrication.


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The Rock has encountered some strange characters over the years in WWE. From throwing Shawn Stasiak over the top rope over and over again to losing to the Hurricane on Raw, a lot has happened in the career of the Great One. Wacky and unique characters bring out the best out of The Rock, so how about a lunatic fringe for a future program for the Brahma Bull? How about The Rock… vs Dean Ambrose?
This is actually a very unique clash of styles. We've got the big hollywood movie star with an incredible physique against a lunatic with a hardcore mindset. There's quite a difference in the two styles, although you could argue that Dean Ambrose would be very similar to Rock's former tag team partner Mick Foley. However, Dean is much leaner than Mick but not as well built as The Rock.
In past How I Would Books, I've usually put Rock up against big men like John Cena and Roman Reigns. Dean Ambrose is not like them. Much like The Rock however, he is charismatic and talented in the ring. If The Rock wanted to throw down verbally and physically, Dean would be more than up for the challenge.
How to get to Dean Ambrose vs The Rock from this point on is very tricky. How do you give The Rock or Dean a reason to want to beat the tar out of each other? Do you have The Rock challenge for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship that Dean currently holds as of August 2016? Do you have Dean call out The Rock, feeling the need to face a megastar of the past to see if he's as good as he thinks he is? No. What's the one factor that could draw both these two into battle? Family.
The one person that connects both Dean Ambrose and The Rock is Roman Reigns. Roman Reigns is related by blood to The Rock, with the People's Champion saving the Big Dog on WWE television before. However, according to the storyline, Dean is probably closer to Roman than anyone else on the roster. They both refer to each other as brothers. It's the connection between both men which could draw these two charismatic superstars together.
The bigger issue at the moment, when it comes to these two and Roman Reigns, is the WWE Draft. Roman Reigns is on RAW, Dean Ambrose is on SmackDown! and The Rock is currently undrafted. How are we going to develop a storyline involving all three men, while trying to preserve the idea of separate brands? I always preferred the idea of keeping RAW and SmackDown! as distant as possible. Therefore, with this in mind, let's see if we can write a storyline without breaking those barriers TOO MUCH.
With that being said, we need to plant the seeds for a confrontation between Dean and Rock with Roman. Where's the best place to start? The one pay-per-view coming up that will see the integration of the rosters… Survivor Series 2016.
The whole idea behind this pay-per-view is to allow these rosters to interact after months away from each other. The whole idea behind the brand split is for these brands to compete with one another. My idea is after several months of taking shots at each other and the rise in competition, Stephanie and Foley would flat out call out Shane and Bryan for a inter-promotional five-on-five elimination match for Survivor Series. Team RAW would be consisted of Roman Reigns, Rusev, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Team SmackDown! would be consisted of Dean Ambrose, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Chad Gable and Jason Jordan. These teams are interchangeable so it's up to you who you want in the match. The two essentials for this storyline though are Dean and Roman.
Due to the competitive nature of the brand split, it would be difficult for the commissioners and general managers to agree on a referee to call it down the middle. Remember what happened when RAW and SmackDown! feuded in 2005. In a couple of matches (notably at Taboo Tuesday and Survivor Series), the RAW and SmackDown! referees would officiate the same match and prevent each other from making decisions. If WWE want to acknowledge the previous brand split, then this could make way for a special referee that would supposedly be impartial. Enter The Rock.
While I'm currently unaware of what The Rock's filming schedule will be like in November, surely it's possible for The Rock to appear as a referee. Not to mention that his inclusion will give the WWE the mainstream boost they need for one of the biggest pay-per-views involving both brands.
The match comes down to Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins for RAW and Dean Ambrose for SmackDown!. Seth and Dean are the legal men. Roman accidentally clocks Seth with a spear when going for Dean. Dean hits Dirty Deeds on Roman as Seth comes to. Seth gets frustrated at his point, grabbing a chair. Seth goes to hit Roman but Rock stops him. He pushes Seth into Dean, who hits Dirty Deeds and eliminates him. Dean and Roman battle until Dean hits Dirty Deeds once again. As this happens, Seth gets to his feet on the outside and re-arms himself with the chair. The Rock sees this and goes after Seth, with Dean waiting in the ring for Rock to count Roman down. Rock eventually makes his way back into the ring but Roman kicks out at the last minute. Believing that Rock screwed him, Dean gets in his face. Rock hits a Rock Bottom on Dean, with Roman still out and oblivious to this. Roman gets to his feet, hits one more spear on Dean and pins him. Team RAW wins.
Now the seeds are starting to be planted. Rock screwed Dean but Dean can't do anything about it… at least contractually. The Rock does make one more appearance on the night after Survivor Series, congratulating Roman and giving him his endorsement. This obviously gets boos as the fans didn't like Roman and Rock screwing Dean. The Rock and Roman are cut off by Byron Saxton, who is told to go backstage as there are reports of wrestlers being taken out. He goes to the back but is launched right back onto the entrance ramp. Dean comes out and stares right at Rock. Dean comes down to the ring but Roman steps in between his "brother" and his blood. Roman tries to push Dean away but Dean retaliates with Dirty Deeds. Dean and Rock come to blows, drawing the attention of the security. Stephanie and Foley can't afford for one of SmackDown!'s stars to cause havoc on RAW. Dean and Rock are pulled apart by security but Dean gets out. As he's about to charge The Rock, Roman spears Dean out of his boots. This isn't exactly a heel turn, but this does get negative reactions from the crowd.
On SmackDown!, Dean makes weekly challenges to The Rock to fight him on Dean's home turf in the blue brand. He says that he'll forgive Roman for the spear from RAW, provided that he gets to fight Rock. Nothing happens up until the week before SmackDown!'s PPV in December. Let's just say for now that this pay-per-view is TLC. Dean gets no word but Foley confronts him. Foley tells Dean that The Rock is a lot more dangerous than he lets on. He tells him to drop it but Dean is unwilling to listen. Dean tells Foley that HE has no idea how dangerous DEAN is, claiming to be just as extreme as any of your "ECW boys" from back in the day. Mick tells Dean to prove it and makes a challenge. While Foley can't force The Rock to come out of hiding, he can organise a match with Dean and Roman for Royal Rumble. He will only do this if Dean defeats a free agent that is willing to make a one-off appearance in a tables match on SmackDown!'s pay-per-view. Dean agrees when the lights go out. The lights come back on and it's Rob Van Dam. He takes out Dean with a chair and hits the frog splash. It's ON now.
The reason I went with the lights out for RVD's appearance is that it's a callback to Jerry Lawler's invasion of ECW at Wrestleaplooza 1997, when the lights went out and Jerry appeared with an alliance INVOLVING Rob Van Dam of all people. RVD might seem a random choice for an opponent for Dean, but he works with the hardcore style of the lunatic fringe. Dean wins the match, allowing him to fight Roman at the next inter-promotional pay-per-view in the Royal Rumble.
What's in it for Roman Reigns to wrestle this match? How can Foley bargain with Roman? Simple. The promise of a Universal Championship match at FAST LANE if he wins. Him winning the title at Fast Lane means that Roman can main-event WrestleMania for a third year in a row… assuming a RAW wrestler wins the Royal Rumble that is. Dean is hungry for revenge but Roman is not exactly blood-thirsty himself. He only speared Dean on RAW as Dean attacked him first. He's interested in winning the title and that's that. Dean and Roman have choice words, with Roman having very LIMITED choice words. Dean's deal is telling Roman that he should want to stop living in the Rock's show. Rock bailed him out at Survivor Series, but he won't be able to do it at Royal Rumble. Roman simply states that Dean is in his way for a title shot and he's willing to do whatever it takes to beat his brother and main event WrestleMania again, something Dean's never done.
At the Royal Rumble, it's a close encounter. As Dean has Roman beat with Dirty Deeds, the lights go out. Trust me, there's a purpose behind this one too! The lights come back on and there's a jacked man in all-black, wearing a black mask. He lights up Dean with a huge clothesline. He takes the mask off and reveals himself to be… The Rock. He hits Dean with a Rock Bottom and People's Elbow. Roman comes to and hits a spear to beat Dean again. The Rock officially accepts Dean Ambrose's challenge and tells him to meet him at WrestleMania.
The finish can be what you desire, although a victory for Dean over The Rock would definitely get him super stardom.
Roman could have some confrontation with The Rock, getting involved in his matches twice now but ultimately, there's some sort of idea about how The Rock and Dean could come together. This was a very difficult one to write and maybe it seems like a simple storyline. However, on Rock's side, not a lot is needed and not a lot can be done. His scheduling does provide issues but Dean can surely help spice things up on television for SmackDown! every week.
Have any suggestions for a How I Would Book? Simply tweet me at either @ArmbarExpress or @TomRobinson5199 on Twitter with your suggestions. Do also check out the rest of the content on my blog. I do a lot of other cool fantasy booking blog posts with my playthroughs of fantasy booking game Extreme Warfare Revenge. And there's all sorts of other wrestling content as well. You never know, you might just like what you see!


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At Dollar Curtains and Blinds we are always on the lookout for new motivated people to join our sales team. Come and develop the skills to work in our window furnishing stores and conduct home/business consultations, measuring and quoting.
Is this you?
- Excellent communication and organisational skills
- Well Presented and Punctual
- Motivated and Energetic
- Passionate about sales and customer service
- Entry Level computer skills
- Current Driver's Licence
A background in window furnishings, Interior decorating or previous measuring/quoting experience will be advantageous but not essential as full and on going training is provided.
Full time and Part time positions are available.
If you think you fit the criteria please email us your resume and a brief introduction to email@example.com


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Ancient science exists that can help one understand the deeper meaning in the cosmos by simply observing the patterning of one's own breath. This traditional Indian Tantric science is known as Swara yoga, or 'brain breathing' and is an art form originally thought to be so valuable that it's secrets of prophecy and health were only passed down from teacher to student orally. In today's day, these ancient teachings are being revealed as it is believed that human kind has reached a crux in it's evolutionary progress where it 'needs all the help it can get.'
Translated as 'the sound of one's own breath', Swara is the art and science of becoming finely in-tuned with the way in which the breath moves in the body, tracking it's patterns, as well as the patterns in the cycles of nature and relating them. In this way, the breath becomes a microcosmic 'revealer' of the grander cosmos.
It is the association of the breath in relation to the activities or phases or positions of the sun, moon, planets, seasons, time of day, with the physical and mental conditions of the individual and then taking the appropriate action according to these subtle relations. For example, knowing the moon phases and checking the flow of your nostrils before you get out of bed in the morning and letting the corresponding foot be the first to touch the floor and make the first step, is a simple practice that ensures success in everything that happens for that day. The first foot to touch the ground will get the prevailing 'successful' flow of energy from the cosmos.
Whether you are a 'spiritual person' or not, it does not matter. Swara yoga enables anybody to discover truths pertaining to their individual reality and subsequently 'awaken' their whole being to these truths – as an embodied experience of higher expression. Some of the 'methods' of Swara may seem like superstition to some, but as the science is more deeply revealed it becomes clear as to why the practice works as it does – it is as if the whole being becomes a compass of universal widsom. Before this can be true, certain things must be understood about the body and the flow of breath.
The Way the Breath Flows
It is assumed that respiration takes place through both nostrils, but if one will observe the breath at any given time of day or night, one will notice that this is simply not so. We actually breathe in waves or patterns, generally for around 90 minutes through one nostril, 90 seconds from both and then 90 minutes through the other nostril. By observing the flow and location of breath, much can be told about the state of mind and energy available in the body.
If the right nostril is open and flowing with breath, this represents the active quality of 'pingala' or the solar force in the body. It shows the activity of the left brain hemisphere is 'turned on' and is the dynamic, logical force in the body. If, on the other hand, the left nostril is open and breath is moving freely through it alone – this means the quality of the moon – or 'ida' – is active and dominant in the body, the right hemisphere of the brain is stimulated and more intuitive, creative, feminine qualities are accessible.
If both nostrils are working together, meaning there is air running through both simultaneously, this clues one into full brain access, the flow of the neutral sushumna energy of the spine, and a more balanced meditative state in the mind. For swara to be comprehended, one must also understand the basics of prana, or the life force energy, which is said to 'ride on the breath', energizing the entire body. In fact, the practices of pranayama – basic to yoga – is the art of learning to control, store and redirect prana in the body- different from swara which instead analyzes rhythms of breath and so forth, for deeper knowledge to be revealed.
Deeper Purpose for Learning Swara
The above mentioned details are the stripped down basics for understanding the breath in yogic terms. Swara yoga goes much deeper – for example – as taken from Swami Muktibodhananda's text Swara Yoga: The Tantric Science of Brain Breathing:
There are many techniques for controlling the swara so that during the day the left nostril remains active and prana moves in a particular direction. Or by making the prana flow through the right nostril during the night you can create another type of energy movement and stimulus, so that you can have a good sleep without tranquillizers, work the whole day without becoming fatigued, or you can digest food without taking appetizers or digestives. These are all different aspects of swara yoga.
In fact, if someone comes to you with a question which you cannot answer, you will be able to answer it correctly by studying the particular flow of the swara. Of course, you must be careful as you may make a wrong calculation if the breath is disturbed. But, just as an example, if the person who is questioning approaches from the side opposite to the flowing swara, the answer has to be no, and if he approaches on the side of the active swara, the answer has to be yes.
The benefits of helping out mundane, ordinary life, as exemplified above, are but 'side-effects' of swara yoga, just as a healthy body is a 'side-effect' of the true purpose of any yoga. The ultimate purpose is to enable any person to realize their truest potential and to live an authentic life expressing the purest essence of their being.
It is the philosophy of swara yoga that because breath is the one thing you cannot do without in this body, one's most valuable treasure, that each and every breath does indeed carry with it an 'underlying coded message' or significance that one can learn to decipher.
The Three Swaras
As identified above, the breath can be flowing through either the left, right or both nostrils at any given time. By observing this, according to swara yoga, one can identify what other systems of the body are being affected, as each 'swara' is said to correspond to a different system.
First of all, the body is divided, for comprehension's sake, into three aspects – what yoga terms chitta, prana and atma. Chitta can be translated as the mind, Prana – as the energy or life force, and Atma – as the individual spirit or soul. If you are not big into the 'spiritual' terminology, you can simply think of the 'atma' as the individual self. In swara, it is said that "Chitta controls the sensory nerves of eyes, nose, tongue, ears and skin; Prana controls the five organs of action: speech, hands, feet, reproductive and urinary/excretory organs; Atma is the over-all witness of these."
With these elements in mind, and through observation of the breath – the correlation is now drawn between the nostrils and the aspects. So, when the left nostril flows one knows that the mental aspect, or chitta, is dominant. When the right nostril is flowing, the pranic forces are strong and when both are active, the atma – or individual self, soul – is in the driver's seat.
By observing, or learning to persuade the appropriate swara activity, one can correlate actions and daily activities to suit. For example, all physical activities are best performed with pranic flow active, in the right nostril- such as exercise, eating, digestion, taking care of the body – like using the bathroom or showering. Any mental activity, planning, memorizing, writing, thinking, etc. are all best done with an active chitta flow – in the left nostril. All things of a more 'spiritual' nature including sitting in stillness, like meditation, praying, deep contemplation of life situations and all 'spiritual' or self-directed action ought to be performed with atma swara – breath through both nostrils. Variations of these can cause disturbances in the particular activity in which you are involved.
Even Deeper Implications
We are merely scratching the surface of truly understanding the implications of practicing the ancient tantric science of brain breathing. In order to delve even deeper would take a whole book or more, and several can be found on the subject, namely the original text The Shiva Swarodaya as well as the one referenced above by Swami Mukitbodhananda. As one goes deeper into swara yoga it becomes important to familiarize oneself with basic knowledge of the energy systems in the body, as known in yogic and Tantric philosophy, namely the chakra system. Another area of wisdom which reveals the possibility to 'prophecy' possible outcomes based on understanding the basic electrical and magnetics of the body and how they respond to life- is understanding the tattwas – or specific elements with pranic and sound qualities.
The basic tattwas are recognized as earth, water, fire, air and ether. The texts of swara yoga explain correlating colors, sounds, chakras, mind attributes, body locations, planets, directions, body functions, type of prana and body types (or doshas) for each tattwa. As these things become familiar references, because they correspond in logical ways, the 'mysteries' of swara yoga begin to reveal themselves to the practitioner and cosmic wisdom is imparted.
Here is an example of tattwa correlations: The earth element has the quality of weight, the color yellow, correlates with smell, the body, and of the body – the thighs, the ego, the planet mercury, the direction east, the base root chakra, the skin, blood vessels and bones, the sound 'Lam' and it's basic shape is the square. The fire element has the quality of 'hot', the color red, correlates with sight, the mind, the shoulder region, thought, the sun and mars, south, the navel chakra, appetite, thirst and sleep, the sound 'Ram', and it's shape is a triangle. These may seem abstract now, but as one learns the 'formula' or language of swara, the patterns and messages become clear.
When deeply understood, swara yoga becomes a type of inner astrology, revealing to the practitioner what would seem to be 'prophetic' events – due to the logical understanding of the body system and how is playing out through the breath.
The flow of prana within the body is affected to various degrees by the external environment and the energy flow in other people. You know what happens when you put two opposite poles of a magnet together, or place the same poles end to end, or put many magnets together side by side, and then bring a metallic object within close range. The result of the interaction depends on the magnetic properties of the interacting objects and the strength of their magnetism.
Similarly, by knowing the active pranic flow or tattwa in the body, you can estimate what is going to happen when you are in particular situations because the magnet-like properties of the tattwas depend on the external environment. It is like seeing a shadow; you know it is created by an object, or when there is smoke, you know there is a fire or when it rains, there must be clouds. Similarly, through swara yoga you can know the outcome of events in the past, present or future through the interaction of the pranas and tattwas.
Simple uses for Swara in every day life
With the left nostril active – chitta swara- it is best to engage in the following practices:
- drinking water
- getting out of bed
- calm, silent work, creativity
- buying jewelry
- beginning a long journey
- planting seeds
- women to have sex
- taking medicine
- singing or playing music and composing music
- religious practices, ceremonies, initiations, marriage
- settling disagreements
- helping others
- urinating
When the right nostril – prana swara- is active it is best to engage in:
- hard work/physical activity
- eating/drinking alcohol/evacuating
- heroic feats, risky/challenging adventures
- men to have sex
- men to attract women
- intellectual study/mathematics
- travel
- riding motor bikes and horses
- buying and selling
- protests
When breath is in both nostrils – atma swara – it is best to:
- meditate
- pray
- sit in stillness
- activities with minimal exertion or attention
- yoga or spiritual practices
- nothing to do with money, success or profit – or it can be ruined
- death/transitions
You can start your day beneficially by checking the swara before getting out of bed. Step out of bed with the foot correlating to the active swara for a 'lucky' day. It is recommended to shower with the right nostril active and to start work with the left nostril active. If you have conflict with someone, approach them with the same foot as your active swara for best results in your interaction. And when accepting or offering something, do so with the same hand as your active nostril, or swara.
Whether you are interested in simply optimizing your daily performance, saving energy and regulating your body systems so you are feeling the healthiest and happiest possible, or you are really interested in uncovering deeper truths within the self, swara yoga could be the key. The Indian art of brain breathing is an amazingly detailed and ancient Tantric science which can be implemented for prophecy, personal health, empowerment and inner wisdom.
Written by: Stasia Bliss
Sources: Swara Yoga by Swami Muktibodhananda; Swarayoga.org;


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14 thoughts on "Hyperphantasia! The Joys of an overactive imagination"
I think I do and I find it kind of lonely. I Don't know anyone else with hyperphantasia or whatever it is called.
I came across this post while looking up hyperphantaia. I'm a computer scientist, but spent seven years at college / Uni studying illustration (I actually have no computer related qualifications). I too have issues with daydreaming, but I don't just visualise images in my head; I problem solve in four dimensions. In my work, I see things from multiple angles at once and begin to dissect them into small pieces until I find the problem. I even dream solutions to issues.
Everything has smell, texture and colour, including letters, words and numbers. I think my particular version of hyperphantasia would make me a good toy maker or 3D artist, rather than a story teller etc.
I believe that I have hyperphantasia. One example I can give is that a few months ago, I was shopping and to occupy my mind while looking for my mother in another aisle, I daydreamed about some story I started a day or so ago. I briefly forgot about being in the store until I came to and realized how deeply disconnected I was for that short time. It felt like I was really in that alternative reality.
I regularly make up stories to occupy my mind day and night, or even just interesting scenarios, and I sometimes physically and verbally react to someone fictitious in these stories because the imagery is so strong. Sometimes when I am not even thinking about a character I made up and my mind is quieter, I will get a sudden mental flash of a person whom I have never seen nor imagined before. The ages, clothes, hair, faces, and skin color vary, and these flashes are always quite interesting. I have joked to myself that I am seeing a glimpse of my future children and descendants.


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The Department of Justice gives out grants to groups to help fight human trafficking. That's good!
But this year, the DOJ decided to ignore the expected recipients, who both received high marks from grant application reviewers, and gave around $500,000 each to the Lincoln Tubman Foundation, a new organization founded by the daughter of a prominent Trump-supporting South Carolina Republican, and the Nevada-based Hookers for Jesus.
Here's what Reuters, who broke the story, had to say about Hookers for Jesus:
Hookers for Jesus, which received $530,190 over three years, is run by a born-again Christian trafficking survivor who has lobbied against decriminalizing prostitution, a policy position aligning with many in the Republican Party.
Hookers for Jesus operates a safe house for female adult trafficking victims that, in 2010 and in 2018, maintained a policy of requiring guests to participate in religious activities, internal program manuals obtained by Reuters through public records requests show.
The safe house's manuals had rules that included a ban on reading "secular magazines with articles, pictures, etc. that portray worldly views/advice on living, sex, clothing, makeup tips." Other rules limited everything from who victims could call to banning them from bringing their purses with them on weekly shopping trips. Rule-breakers could be penalized by being assigned chores such as washing windows.
There are major issues here. First, that the policies around this particular grant forbid the government from funding any activity that is explicitly religious — that whole separation-of-church-and-state thing. Second, that the organizations that have received the grant in the past, and expected to receive it once again, were both involved in activities that were decidedly opposed to the Trump agenda. Read the rest


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Theoretical Comparisons of Positive-Unlabeled Learning against Positive-Negative Learning
Part of: Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 29 (NIPS 2016)[PDF] [BibTeX] [Supplemental] [Reviews]
Conference Event Type: Poster
In PU learning, a binary classifier is trained from positive (P) and unlabeled (U) data without negative (N) data. Although N data is missing, it sometimes outperforms PN learning (i.e., ordinary supervised learning). Hitherto, neither theoretical nor experimental analysis has been given to explain this phenomenon. In this paper, we theoretically compare PU (and NU) learning against PN learning based on the upper bounds on estimation errors. We find simple conditions when PU and NU learning are likely to outperform PN learning, and we prove that, in terms of the upper bounds, either PU or NU learning (depending on the class-prior probability and the sizes of P and N data) given infinite U data will improve on PN learning. Our theoretical findings well agree with the experimental results on artificial and benchmark data even when the experimental setup does not match the theoretical assumptions exactly.


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What if you could study at a world-leading research university, consistently ranked in the top ten of UK university rankings? Warwick is ranked 51st in the world in the QS annual world university rankings 2016/2017, and we are proud to be awarded the title of 'University of the Year 2015' by The Times and Sunday Times. We have a thriving international community that we want you to be part of. A place where you learn with students from across the globe. Our location means our campus borders the cosmopolitan city of Coventry and the beautiful Warwickshire countryside.
Our campus environment ensures that we have everything a student needs, banks, restaurants, bars, a supermarket, chaplaincy and health centre. We have over thirty academically outstanding departments teaching across Management Sciences, Finance, Economics, Law, Political and Social Sciences, Engineering and Natural Sciences, Education, Medicine, Arts, Humanities and Modern Languages. We offer Foundation, Bachelor, Masters and PhD level programmes across our departments and specialist research centres. Come and study at Warwick!


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When I was 9 years old, I wanted to be a painter, a scientist and a pirate. I had a gallery in my bedroom and caught salamanders for my terrarium. I also always loved to travel.
Fast forward 25 years: I hold a PhD in life sciences from Cambridge University (UK), lived and researched in three countries and draw (almost) every day.
I discovered that my combination of skills, interests and background is unusual and valued - particularly by the life science crowd:
I understand your needs and language and I am able to communicate your often specialized research topics in an image of broad appeal to a wide audience.
I found that I like to observe people, their interactions with their environment and the freedom within the confinements of illustration. This forms the basis of most of the images and services I am offering here.
All of this ties in nicely with the growing field of Urban Sketching - a movement that advocates drawing on location. I am happiest when I am out sketching or teaching workshops in this context.
I live with my beautiful wife and energetic toddler son in charming San Francisco. It's a little pricy here, so let's hire me for your project!


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Representative Trey Gowdy [R-SC], Chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, Cost American Taxpayers $7Million Dollars with Nothing to Show for it.
Very rarely can a House Representative make a 'horses ass' of himself. Yet,Congressman Trey Gowdy [R-SC] did it over an eight hour hearing investigating the Benghazi affair by inadvertently allowing ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to perform at her best. Gowdy and his "Animal House" Republican sycophants, were so completely ignorant of the matter at hand that they fell into a "bear trap" that insulated Hillary from any accusations that she might be a liar. At the same time, they made her appear stoical,smart,diligent, and resilient all at once.In financial terms, Gowdy and his miscreant staff wasted $7-12M without even having the vaguest idea about what they were trying to achieve neither short and long term.
Even I,a loyal Republican opposition member, was taken aback as I watched Hillary correctly answer all the questions that Gowdy and his sycophants asked her about the State Department and the so-called failed Benghazi security problem.
South Carolina's wonder-boy prosecutor, Trey Gowdy, has shown the world that ineptness and narcissism are the crucial ingredients for self-immolation on the stage of worldwide media. Without any semblance of self-awareness, or even a modicum of self-reflection, the 'Spartanburg Wiz Kid', Gowdy never asked the right questions about a covert installation that had absolutely nothing to do with the State Department or Ambassador Chris Stevens.
Instead the Benghazi problem revolved almost entirely around what really happens when 'black ops' and 'off the book' operations get into unforeseen problems. As someone who has been involved in such off line operations around the world, I can categorically state that there are no set rules for protection or safety wherever you might be working. Gowdy and company should have realized this reality from the minute they started researching the Benghazi affair.
No… they decided to go on air for a good eight hours, demonstrating to me and the world how truly ignorant and incompetent our legislators really are. (CIA gotcha!) Equally disturbing was the $7M cost to the American taxpayers to allow these vapid glory boys to insist on having their one day in the sun in front of countless millions of viewers.
Never again!
I think that Trey Gowdy has done enough damage for one congressman. What a tool! Might suggest that he retire ASAP! I am sure he has a comfy $$$ account based on his NON-work in the Benghazi-Non-Investigation. Love to see a record of his deposits in his Swiss bank or North Carolina bank account. Can't wait for the NEVER READ book that he will get an advance on…from some GOP/DEM PAC.
As for Hillary Clinton, there are many things wrong with her. Yet resilience, hard work, competitiveness, and endurance are not any of them. May the best she-man in the 2016 Presidential race win!
The creator of Peter Pan [i.e. Gowdy] wrote the following suggestion:
"Life is a long lesson in humility."


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Another Beervana has come and gone, and I think everyone who attended can agree that it went off without a hitch! The event took place at the Rhodes on the Pawtuxet, and was host to brewers from around the country bringing their best beers to wow the festival goers. For those of you who are not familiar with the event, Beervana is a beer festival that features (though is not limited to) strong beers, sour beers, hoppy beers, barrel aged beers, and rare beers. The festival also featured bands, dancing groups, and a guest speaker (this year it was Phil Markowski from Two Roads Brewing Co).
I decided to try and review as much as I reasonably could while still enjoying the festival- which, admittedly so, is a very difficult task when you're engulfed in a crowd of beer enthusiasts. But I managed to find an empty table in the balcony area of the building and I decided to, first, showcase one local brewery who killed it at the festival and, second, dissect a rare beer that I have had my eye on for a long time.
At the beginning of this year, Long Live Beerworks opened its doors to the public on the West Side of Providence with a focus on delicious hop-forward ales. So because they are the new kids on the block, I was interested to see what they would bring to the table at Beervana. Owner and head brewer, Armando DeDona, brought it strong this year with three offerings to festival-goers: a pale ale with wild yeast, a Double IPA, and a cask conditioned coffee stout with bourbon (all of which fit right in with the rest of the offerings at the festival).
His first beer was a beer called Wyld Cat- a version of his "Black Cat" pale ale (which was one of the brewery's first beers) that he inoculated with wild yeast. Truth be told, the beer (to my palate) did not exhibit many of the characteristics that one traditionally finds in wild ales (earthy, sometimes sour, and funky notes), however this was a fantastic beer. The beer poured a nearly opaque pale gold color, and it smelled like pineapple and mango juice. The taste of the beer matched the aroma- pineapple and mango, but I also picked up hints of grapefruit as well. The hop bitterness was firm, but not as intense as an IPA- which made for an extremely crushable beer. Very well done!
The second beer offered was a Double IPA called Snakes (followed by a hiss from Armando as he poured your beer). This beer poured a beautiful golden color that was hazy, but not opaque. There was some fruity aroma, but surprisingly not a ton of dry hop character (dry hops add to the aroma of beer, and is extremely common in IPA's). The taste of this beer was on point– it was dank, citrusy, had notes of tropical fruit, and a firm bitter backbone (so that you knew you were drinking a DIPA). Overall, a really nice Double IPA. Did I mention that Armando knows what he's doing with hops?
But in my opinion, I saved the best beer for last- his third offering "Rough Hewn" stole the show. Rough Hewn was his coffee stout that was cask conditioned with bourbon (boom!). For those who are not familiar, cask conditioned beers are served warmer- which is great for darker beers because many of their more complex malt characteristics begin to shine as the beer warms up. This beer poured jet black and opaque with a tan head. The beer smelled like coffee and smoke, with light bourbon notes in the background. And to say that this beer was smooth is an understatement. It was chocolatey with strong notes of coffee and smoke that were not overbearing. Just as a side note- smoke is one of those characteristics that is extremely easy to overdo in beer (and it can get unpleasant when overdone). Armando has managed to find a fantastic balance in every beer to which he adds smoke, and this ability is rivaled only by his skill with hops. The beer finished sweet with the light notes of bourbon to round out the beer. It's scary how good this beer was. If you find yourself on the West Side of Providence, go to Long Live Beerworks. Considering this is only their first year, they are already producing killer beer!
Now no recap of Beervana would be complete without one review of a "whale" (a rare beer that might require a change of pants for beer nerds). I was lucky enough to get one of the last pours of Cantillon's Classic Gueuze (I know I was one of the last because when I went for a second pour, they were all out). Cantillon is a Belgian Brewery that brews lambic-style beers exclusively. Gueuze (pronounced goo-z) is a style of sour beer that is traditionally a blend of one, two, and three year-old lambic. Cantillon's Gueuze is basically the gold standard for the style, and is also extremely difficult to get (particularly in the United States). I have been trying to get my hands on this beer for awhile, and now I get to share my experience with you. Check it out:
Beer Name: Classic Gueuze
Brewery: Cantillon
Brewery Location: Anderlecht, Brussels, Belgium
Beer Style: Gueuze
This beer pours a crystal clear golden color with a white lacing that persists down the glass as you drink it.
As one would expect with sour beers, I picked up a lot of earthy and grassy notes. One common characteristic used to describe these types of beers is "barnyard" (sort of part of the "earthy" category…if you've been inside a horse stable you might be able to relate). I also detected some acidity in the aroma which stings the nostrils.
Taste & Aftertaste
This beer is more than just tart- it's full on sour. With my first sip, I get an almost strawberry-like fruitiness to the beer (but way, way more sour than a strawberry). The beer's sourness has some inexplicable complexity to it- it's more than just a lactic-like sourness (think like Orange Juice). There are just some qualities from the sourness that I cannot put into words. The yeast gives off some earthy-grassy notes (almost mushroom-like), which I like in my sours (and some other Belgian-style beers for that matter). There is also a sort of dusty aged quality to the beer (as though it has been lying around a cellar for ages), which sounds negative, but actually adds to the overall complexity of this beer. This beer is dry as a bone (zero lingering sweetness) and there is no hop character whatsoever from this beer (which is traditional). Overall, a very complex and great-tasting sour beer!
Overall Impressions
Maybe I'm just waxing poetic because this beer met the highest expectations that I had for it- but I'm telling you right now that this beer is amazing, and there is a reason that it is the gold standard for sour beers. The earthy-grassy notes of this beer compliment perfectly with its dusty/aged qualities, and there are no words to describe the complexity of the sourness. In short- this beer made me happy. This is the part where I would tell you to go out to your store or bar and get this beer- good luck with that. It is rare that stores or bars have this beer readily in stock (and only a select few would). In my opinion, you will likely have better luck going to some of your better craft beer bars, namely the ones that have a beer cellar/beer aging program. That said, most stores and bars won't have it (even the better ones). This beer is not impossible to find, but do your research– only a select few will have it. This is a prize worth having if you manage to find it. This beer was the top highlight of my night, and it helped to make Beervana that much better (and the festival gets better every year). I can't wait to see what is offered next year, but until then- Cheers!


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Need a good way to use up some tomatoes? My mom brought me a bunch of super ripe tomatoes from her garden and I wanted to use them before they went bad. I also didn't feel like cooking, so what to do? Tomato soup!
Combine the following ingredients in the VitaMix
Several medium size ripe tomatoes
Cheese (all I had were two slices of swiss and some feta but could also use cheddar if you prefer)
1 clove garlic
1 shallot (could also use onion)
handful fresh cut basil
1.5 cups chicken broth (or homemade chicken stock in this case)
1 cup water
salt and pepper to taste
With the VitaMix set on variable speed, begin on 1 and slowly turn up to 10. To heat the soup in the blender, let it run on high for 5 minutes. Garnish with Parmesan cheese. Great served with a grilled cheese sandwich or quesadilla!


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