text:
"Knowledge can be the initial impetus for any significant life-change. It is, however, our passion for change and our internal discipline, which will empower us to sustain change, until it becomes meaningful transformation."
Denise J Charles
Denise J Charles
Okay; so that man or that woman did you wrong. Well maybe that's not so okay, but the reality is that as long as we are in a relationship, we are going to experience some pain. Things definitely do not always go smoothly in love-land. So what exactly should we do when we find ourselves deep in the throes of relationship pain or anguish? We have a choice among several responses which will more or less determine how well we are able to cope with the seeming injustices of relationships. Of course I'm in no way suggesting that all relationship infractions are equal; breaking a date, constantly leaving the toilet seat up and being unfaithful are all distinct issues with varying levels of gravity. When an action or behavior by our spouse causes us to experience feelings of rejection, low self-esteem, extreme irritation or bitter disappointment, it's within our power to determine where we will allow these experiences to take us.
The Pity Party
When we are hurt or angry, feeling sorry for ourselves can be fairly valuable; for about two minutes. We need that much time to hunch our shoulders, bite our lips and concentrate on our pain; before we decide what we're going to do about it. This pseudo-comfort which a pity party allows is actually quite short-lived. There is perhaps nothing as dis-empowering as wallowing in a place of self-pity for too long. When we do this we are seeing ourselves as victims, as weak, as powerless and even sometimes as deserving of the "punishment" we are enduring. In a pity-party we don't only own our pain (as we should) but we hold on to it for dear life. We come to identify ourselves by it and see ourselves only through the lens of our relationship pain or dissatisfaction. Ultimately, this is counter-productive and inhibits us from moving into action.
Revenge Mode
There is a very common human emotion which encourages us to want that "eye for an eye". When we have been hurt and we are in the throes of pain sometimes we can be motivated to retaliate by causing similar hurt to our partners. It is not always literally feasible to perhaps do the same thing that was done to us but the objective of dwelling in this mode, is to try to damage our partner's psyche as much as ours has been. Usually this is an extreme response to deep pain caused by infidelity or some other really serious infraction. Some actually do cheat or at least flirt in return for their experience of infidelity. For other infractions, there may be angry, insensitive words hurled at the offending partner, the withholding of sex or affectionate gestures, the withdrawal of financial support or even an act of secretive, wild spending, where the family funds, personal account or credit cards are splurged. These responses are of course surface responses to deeper issues and may only bring momentary satisfaction. They are incapable of addressing the real problem of relationship pain and what caused it.
Somehow, some of us believe that remaining silent, while fuming and seething on the inside, is self-empowering. Because we are not crying, ranting, raving or throwing things, we deceive ourselves into thinking that we have a handle on our difficult emotions and that we are somehow large and in charge. Actually, we couldn't be farther from the truth. Refusing to talk about the things which our partner or spouse does that irritate us, only serves to give those things more power over us. When an issue remains un-discussed and unsettled, it retains the power to shape our thinking, feelings and emotions. This is why individuals who refuse to vent, tend to suffer from raised blood pressure. Just imagine, poor relationship habits can actually affect our health. While there may be critical times in our lives when silence may indeed be golden, a relationship confrontation or problem is not one of those times. Stonewalling represents a certain character weakness and a tacit refusal to confront issues.
Claiming Personal Power
Seizing personal power out of relationship difficulties sounds wonderful and resonates with a certain political correctness; it is, however, no mean feat. This preferred response often involves admitting personal weakness and exposing our own vulnerability. We have to be willing first to admit that what our partner has done or neglected to do caused us pain. Sometimes we even have to admit our own part in the problem. Whether we communicate this calmly or with loads of emotion, we must be willing to share our real feelings. This is the beginning of our own healing. While we cannot control what someone else does to us, we can control our responses to it. This brings us to the need to assume personal responsibility for our relationship well-being.
Assuming responsibility does not mean that we can manipulate our partner into doing whatever we what him/her to do. Nor does it signify that there is any secret behavior which we can do, which guarantees that our partner will never hurt us again (how I abhor those articles and books which make these false promises). Rather, it means that we are responsible for communicating honestly our feelings and our expectations. Even though I promote relationship education and believe that we should "clear the air" on certain issues even before getting together, the truth is that relationships are on-going and developmental. There will always be the need to grow, change and make adjustments; no matter how many relationship seminars we attend!
Seizing personal power also involves being willing to share our challenges and our ineptitudes with others. Admitting to friends and family that our relationship is far from perfect can be a cry for a help or a source of encouragement to others who may also feel that they are going through difficulties alone. It means admitting being wrong. It means being willing to acknowledge that we don't know everything. More so, it involves using our relationship challenges as a learning curve to catapult us into better relationship practices.
If we truly want a healthier relationship, these best-practices should involve:
Getting to this point of positive relationship practices, is however not automatic. We must be proactive and willing to do whatever is necessary to breed a healthy relationship, even before the challenges come. This means knowing the pulse beat of our relationship by living in the moments and not avoiding them. Ultimately, when we are open about our pain, and seek help, we begin the cycle of relationship renewal.
In most couples' forums today, there are several arguments advanced as to why sexual fantasy is a good practice among couples. There is the belief that it adds some needed excitement and dynamism to the bedroom. Through fantasy individuals can become somebody else and can take on attributes and characteristics not necessarily their own on a regular day. But before we go any further into our discussion it is perhaps necessary that we define fantasy.
I believe that we can fantasize at various levels and perhaps all sexual fantasy should not be lumped together in the same way. Loosely speaking, sexual fantasy can be described as any thought or imagining which is of a sexual nature. It can involve the individual behaving sexually with herself, her partner, a friend/friends, acquaintances, virtual strangers or purely fictitious or made-up characters. I believe that our natural ability to imagine is God-given. How or why we use this natural gift is, however, another matter altogether. Perhaps the sexual fantasies we engage in provide a hint on how we feel about sex. If we perceive sex to be something to be hidden, that is dirty or bad, then this may influence us to become someone else who can enjoy this "badness" without guilt. We may also use fantasizing to become someone else who is allowed sexual pleasure because as we are, we don't see ourselves as being very sexy or sexually desirable. In this light, fantasy can be used to shed pounds, increase breast size and in the case of the male, lengthen and strengthen a certain important attribute.
Very often the tendency to fantasize may also be linked to how we learnt about sex. If our sexual repertoire was built through romance novels, pornographic images or through the reading of graphic erotica, then our brains are likely wired to accessing our sexual arousal and enjoyment through these avenues. In other words, we become hooked on the habit and can't seem to enjoy sex without it.
I am aware that several of us engage in sexual behaviour without giving it much thought. It is highly possible that people will continue to blissfully do what works for them, especially when it yields an orgasm. For those of us interested in improving the quality of our sexual relationships, however, it may be good to give the "sexual-fantasy" habit some deep thought. Why is there a need to fantasize? Does it signify some dissatisfaction with our partner? Are we unhappy with his/her love-making skills? Do we long for more excitement and passion? Have we trained our bodies only to orgasm through certain sexual thoughts and therefore we need to rely on such thoughts if we are to experience a sexual climax? Are we doing it because Oprah said it was good or because we think that every body else is doing it?
I have no scientific evidence but I honestly believe that most people fantasize because it is behaviour which they have learned to rely on for sexual arousal. It is most likely linked to past experience and exposure. I think, however, that private fantasizing is also a sure fire way for couples to become disengaged and disconnected during sex. It also does not encourage dialogue between couples about the things with which they are unhappy. Some couples may claim to share sexual fantasies but if after this so called "sharing" they revert right back to focusing on someone else, then theirs is no real exclusive couple-intimacy and the sharing is counter-productive.
If we need to expend so much energy thinking about somebody else, or about ourselves in some other sexual scenario, then surely we are robbing our spouse of some of the fire and passion that should be reserved for him alone. What right-thinking woman (unless she's kinky to the bone) wants her husband to be thinking about another woman when he's making love to her?
The reality is that sex is as much a mind-activity as it is one which involves the genitals. It is unlikely that we can enjoy sex with an "empty mind". The mind was not designed to be empty. Deliberately using the mind during sex is perhaps good and necessary. It is great for focusing in on our own pleasure and on that of our spouse. But if our focus is "relationship" and not "self-love", then perhaps we can utilize this brain energy by thinking only of ourselves and our partners. Maybe we can imagine ourselves doing something hot and delicious that we have not yet had a chance to try. While the possibilities may be endless, the mind should not be allowed to become an enemy of the relationship where we prefer to live there, than in the reality of our real union.
Very often we drag our feet when it comes to the start of a new work week. This time of COVID 19 has in many respects enlarged the anxiety, stress or tension that many of us may feel going into a new work week. Some may even be jobless or without their financial anchor which makes the task of meeting a new week even more dauting. Mondays with its propensity for false starts will always be with us but then, there's always Tuesday. Enjoy my latest poem.
Monday is a moon,
a mountain
a great wall high with plans,
and pronouncements.
A barrier to sunsets and sweet sundaes with cherries on top,
a pile of enemied white papers and white-blue-grey filtered screens.
Monday is a motion,
an ocean;
a flow not restricted nor restrained.
It is a hope and happy accomplishments
promised by last week's rain.
Monday is a…
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Denise J
© 2020
If you've been married for a while, chances are you've experienced some level of bedroom boredom. Like any often performed human activity, sex runs the risk of becoming routine and predictable. While we may choose from a variety of natural responses, if we really want to tackle this relationship challenge, it may mean stepping outside ourselves a bit and evaluating how we tend to respond. This is needed before we can craft our way forward to a what I will call sexual best practices.
The Auto-Pilot Response
This occurs where couples mostly have sex when either half-asleep or half-awake (just a matter of perspective). Sex occurs as a matter of course, pretty much like the necessary bodily function of going to the bathroom. There is absolutely no effort at creativity or ingenuity extended into the love-life. Sex is brief, functional, perfunctory and release-oriented; pretty much along the lines of that well worn expression "wham-bam-thank-you-mam!" The missionary position becomes etched in stone and sometimes the wife can even do the grocery list during the act, if she can get her eyes opened wide enough.
The Sexless Response
Couples go sexless when the cares of life become so overwhelming that sex is no longer worth the time, work and effort. This couple begins to function almost along the lines of a brother and sister. There may or may not be a certain sense of warmth between them but life has become so centred on the activities of family (children and in-laws) that this couple has actually lost all sense of being a couple. In this response pattern, the practice of not having any sex (or as little as twice a year), is not necessarily a well-thought out or deliberate response. It usually occurs because one individual loses his/her desire and the other capitulates because he/she gives into a feeling of powerlessness in the situation.
The Nocturnal Headache Response
This response occurs when there is a simple lack of common sex, I mean common sense. One partner (usually the woman) gets locked into complaining of a nightly headache, while failing to realise that she's having that headache precisely because she has not had some good sex in a while and perhaps needs that great orgasmic release. No seriously, the headache response reveals an escape-route mentality. Of course I am not denying that there may be times when illness may prevent partners from experiencing a good roll in the hay but that's not the point here. Barring genuine illness, partners can become locked into various excuses as to why sex does not happen. "The kids will hear us", "the dogs are barking", "my mother lives next-door", "there is a hole in the ceiling" all become viable reasons as to why sex should be circumnavigated. While this sex-avoidance behaviour may only be perpetuated by one individual, it becomes a significant road-block to sexual intimacy since it definitely takes two to tango.
The Roving Reporter Response
Perhaps this is the most lethal of responses to bedroom boredom. It occurs when one or both partners begin to look outside the relationship for the sexual excitement which they know is lacking. The partner or couple who gets locked into this response may not be necessarily interested in leaving the relationship. There may be a sense of security in knowing that they have built a life together. They perhaps share a mortgage, a car loan, kids, pets and the list goes on. What they don't share however is an exciting sex life. When sexual boredom has set in and there is a lack of dialogue on the matter, the result could very well be a tendency to inspect the grass on the other side. This is a response that is grounded in laziness and a self-serving agenda. The energy, spontaneity and ingenuity that is often required to make an affair work, had it been applied to the marriage, would most likely have resulted in a re-kindling of the sexual fires. The self-serving partner is however looking for a quick fix and working on a relationship can be time-consuming.
The "I Want to Have Great Sex With You" Response
There are couples who love to have great sex, and I mean with a capital L. There is however one condition. They only want to have that great sex with the person to whom they are committed. Sex for such individuals is not an end in itself. It's not a case of "any sex will do". They are not into trading vaginas and penises for their own personal aggrandizement. Do such couples experience boredom in the bedroom? Of course! Their boredom could be as palpable as the next guys. What distinguishes their response however is their level of commitment to the relationship and their intuitive understanding of the value of a good sex-life to the health of the relationship. Because they understand the basics of relational health, they are, therefore, willing to put in the extra work to alleviate the bedroom blues. They also understand that love is really about putting the needs of another individual before their own. This means that if each partner focuses on what to do to please the other sexually, then the result is likely to be one sexually fulfilled couple.
Regardless of the response mode you and your spouse may have found yourselves in when it comes to the bedroom blues, the following tips represent a starting point for your continued sexual renewal as a couple:
As human beings we all have an overpowering need for human connection. We want to feel as though we matter. It is important that we are affirmed and that our worth is validated. Most of us therefor…
Source: Protecting Your Relationship From Emotional Infidelity
Every relationship has its highs and lows but do you know when yours is in serious trouble?
Do you know when your relationship is in serious trouble?
Whether your significant relationship/marriage is new or old, chances are it has gone through its fair share of highs and lows. While the traditional notion of "falling in love" may seem a tad euphoric and short-lived, growing in love, according to scientific research, is still a very real and explainable occurrence. Which brings me to the focus of this article.
What happens when our relationships seem to have reached a growth stalemate? Do we even recognize that things have come to a screeching halt in the growth department? Are we even aware of the signals which might suggest that our relationship may be in serious trouble? Do we even know what we can do to turn things around? The following list, though not exhaustive, represents some of the common warning signals which suggest that our relationship may be in serious trouble.
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Men and the New CPR: Chase Penetrate Retreat?
"For many men, sexual expression over time becomes habit and impulse driven, leading often to fleeting or diminished pleasure and perhaps increased longing, desire and frustration."
While many of us may be familiar with C.P.R as a life-saving technique, in the context of my discussion, it takes on a whole new definition which I'm sure will easily resonate with my female reading-audience. Male "relationship-behaviour" has been governed for centuries by what I term the three pillars of male sexuality. For the purposes of this article, this behaviour is represented by the letters CPR, which in turn stand for Chase, Penetrate and Retreat. These "pillars" are in fact, a series of collective-behaviours which have become familiar themes in today's male-female relationships.
While phrases like "a leopard doesn't change its spots" and the less complimentary "you can't teach an…
View original post 1,243 more words
Are you completely satisfied with the state of your intimate relationship or marriage? If not, how do you demand what you want from your relationship without begging or appearing bossy or worst yet, desperate? The fine art of being at peace in our relationship is a combination of set of core factors. These include knowing our worth, having realistic expectations about our partner, and demonstrating an unwillingness to settle for long-term mediocrity. Of course the glue that holds these factors all together should be the practice of unconditional love. But I don't mean to get ahead of myself by suggesting that real love will gloss over or tolerate all wrong doing. So let's head back to factor one.
Know Your Worth
While unconditional love or loving our spouse in spite of, is very necessary for a successful relationship, even more important is a healthy dose of self love. Love which comes from a place of self worth and value allows us to understand that our love is precious and not to be taken for granted. When we love ourselves, we expect to be treated well. We know when to say "I don't deserve this". That self-love and confidence also exudes a level of inner strength which can be very appealing. It can make our partner sit up and take notice when the situation demands it and this can be a pathway to relationship improvement. Of course this attitude can also produce fear or intimidation in a potential abuser but this is why it's completely necessary to demonstrate this in the early stages of a relationship. It can alert us to common relationship red flags. If we came into self-love later in our relationship or marriage, it gives us options; especially in the case of serious relationship infractions like infidelity or abuse. When we know our worth, it becomes easier to be assertive or to find our voice in terms of articulating our core needs and desires.
Have Realistic Expectations
Many times we're unhappy in love because we expect too much. We have that old fairy tale etched deeply in our minds and when our partner flops at being our prized prince or princess, we protest; loudly. It's a great thing to have high relationship expectations but the practice of putting our partner on a pedestal can be fairly problematic. Our relationship peace can be disturbed because we appear to have infantile needs or we approach our needs with a certain level of immaturity. We can expect constant affirmation from our spouse or we expect a relationship that is free from major challenges. But life happens even when we're in love. We gain weight, we don't always look our best, sometimes illness interrupts, babies get cranky, teens cause stress, our parents age, we lose jobs and yet we have to adjust. Understanding that your life with your partner will be no bed of roses must then be carefully balanced against knowing what you will not tolerate. Discerning what you will battle out together as a couple, must, therefore, be distinguished from major relationship deal breakers, which yo will not tolerate for the long term.
Don't Settle
While problems and challenges are unavoidable in an imperfect world, any relationship worth its salt must be buttressed by a healthy set of relationship goals. It's important that a couple shares what is most important to each of them, in the relationship. Differences in age, sex, religious persuasion and socialization, can often cause a couple to start out on different pages even when the physical or sexual attraction is strong. Starting the conversation towards critical core needs, should ensure that each knows what is most important to the other. Having reached that stage of initial understanding, working towards aligning goals and dreams for the present and future, is a great way to safe guard against settling for relationship mediocrity. Above all else, loving your partner unconditionally, is a great way to be at peace in knowing that in spite of it all, he or she is your chosen number one.
Sometimes we hold on to a relationship for all the wrong reasons. At times it can be a sign of desperation or it may reveal our insecurities or our obsession with romance. Follow the link here to watch an episode on Digital Romance TV, where I share on when it's right to "kick that relationship to the curb."


text: My wife Sarah and I adopted Georgie on Sunday. I just wanted to drop you a line to let you know that he is adjusting wonderfully to his new home and his new "brother" Floyd. Last night and this morning, they were really playing with each other, chasing one another around the apartment. Floyd has gone from initial fear, to curiosity, and now he has a sincere interest in Georgie. They are at the point now where they both feel comfortable enough to eat with one another! I hope you enjoy the pictures I sent. Again I would like to thank you for bringing Georgie into our lives. He is a perfect addition to our family, and Sarah and I are deeply in love with him.

subset: commoncrawl


text: On Mon, 16 Mar 2009, Timo Juhani Lindfors wrote: > > (pkg-fso for example). To achieve this the requirements to get into pkg-fso > > shouldn't be too demanding imho. > I thought pkg-fso was a temporary repository for packages that are > aiming to enter debian. I would be surprised if I got some low-quality > stuff from there. and I aim to ship pythm into Debian as soon as all dependencies are available (python-edbus is the one and it is to be provided by pkg-fso team) in the Debian main Debian package is already almost complete imho (just missing manpage and need a correct xpm icon for menu). Not sure what additional steps I need to do to make the package 'high quality' ;) -- .-. =------------------------------ /v\ ----------------------------= Keep in touch // \\ (yoh@|www.)onerussian.com Yaroslav Halchenko /( )\ ICQ#: 60653192 Linux User ^^-^^ [175555]


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Visit Duke Energy's Proposed Route Interactive Comment Map to view the affected routes and submit your comments.
We emerged from a partnership between community groups and MountainTrue, a Western North Carolina-based advocacy organization. Visit their page on Duke's plans to learn more about their work on this and other important issues facing our mountains and foothills.
Support our Cause
If you are concerned about the impacts of Duke Energy's proposal, please join the Carolina Land Coalition.


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Indian Captain Virat Kohli to Play County Cricket for Surrey
This will be Virat Kohli's maiden county cricket experience.
Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli will be playing for Surrey in June to prepare for India's tour of England later in July. This is Kohli's first county cricket tour.
"Surrey County Cricket Club are delighted to announce the signing of India captain Virat Kohli for the month of June," the club announced on their website on May 3.
"It has long been an ambition of mine to play county cricket and I am thankful to Alec Stewart and Surrey for allowing me the opportunity to join them during their 2018 season. I can't wait to get to the Kia Oval," Kohli said.
The Indian cricketer is said to have inked the deal to hone his batting skills in England. He will be available for four County Championship matches against Hampshire, Somerset and Yorkshire and possibly three one-day games versus Kent, Middlesex and Glamorgan. Kohli's spell with Surrey begins on June 1 with a one-day game against Kent at Beckenham.
Alec Stewart, Surrey's director of cricket, added: "We are thrilled to have signed the biggest name in world cricket for the month of June. Playing and training alongside Virat will be a massive benefit for our players who will have the opportunity to learn so much from him."
Kohli will miss the first-ever Test match of India against Afghanistan, scheduled in Bengaluru during June 14-18.
He is also not the only Indian player to feature in the inter-county matches this season. Cheteshwar Pujara is currently at Yorkshire while seamers Ishant Sharma and Varun Aaron are at Sussex and Leicestershire, respectively. Axar Patel is supposed to play for Durham in August.
"Contrary to popular belief that Virat will cost a bomb for Surrey, it was completely the other way round. Let's get it clear. Surrey is paying airfare, accommodation and a very nominal match fee during the month," a senior BCCI office-bearer privy to the deal told the Press Trust of India. "Since the Board and Virat himself was very keen, the monetary part was least of concern for us," he added.
"We are not at liberty to quote the amount but it will be a very nominal amount that he will be paid and that is at par with any standard county player. We can vouch it's a win-win deal for Surrey as well as for the BCCI," the official said.


text:
Some more new poses coming your way, this time for The Mens Department! TMD opens August 5th and oOo Studio has a great relaxing couples/friends pose called "Comfortable" as well as a set of male (or unisex) singles called "Judicious" that will be out for your sampling. Get your malt, get your guy friend, get your more than a guy friend.. or if you're a guy.. just GET (on over to The Mens Department) and check it out!
:: Couples Photo ::
Mesh Head – Trinity – LAQ **NEW**
Mesh Body – Hourglass – Slink
Skin/Applier – Petra (Jamaica) – Glam Affair **NEW** @Uber
Hair – Xaverie (blondes) – Elikatira **NEW** @ShinyShabby
Top – Tove Blouse (lilac) – Vinyl **NEW** @Uber
Bottoms – Halsey Bootcut Jeans (dirty blue) – Vinyl **NEW** @Uber
Ala Fresca Collection: Bench (RARE), Rugs – CONCEPT **NEW** @ShinyShabby
Cosette Gacha: Cushions – Serenity Style **NEW** @ShinyShabby
Pose – Comfortable – oOo Studio **COMING SOON** @TMD
:: Singles Photo ::
World Traveler's Corner Gacha: Full Set – Kunst **NEW** @ShinyShabby
Poses – Judicious – oOo Studio **COMING SOON** @TMD
**for male model's styling please contact Jett Roxan in world**


text:
Read of the week: Michael Guillén's piece inspired by the latest issue of the Film International journal, guest-edited by Dina Iordanova. I can't wait to get my hands on this issue myself. Michael cherry-picks quotes from its articles that help crystalize questions modern-day film festivals must tackle in the face of audiences who are finding other ways to see the stock-and-trade of certain kinds of fests; he believes "new strategies must be devised if these festivals are to survive." I half-wish Michael hadn't quoted me -- a big surprise midway into the article -- because it would have kept this paragraph from seeming a bit like an appeal to join a mutual admiration society.
But I'm ultimately glad he pointed to my piece on October's film festival glut here on Frisco Bay, for one because it provides an opportunity to point out that most of November is looking hardly less glutted with appealing festgoing options. DocFest and the SFJFF continue into the month, and I've also already mentioned that third i and the San Francisco Film Society are both bringing festivals the weekend of November 13-16. In addition, the SFFS's Animation Festival leads right into their New Italian Cinema presentation November 16-23, ending with the festival-lauded Gomorrah. After a chance to catch a Thanksgiving breath, it's followed by Quebec Film Week (titles as yet unannounced) December 10-14. 2008 has been the first year that I've sampled the SFFS's fall offerings, at the successfully-inaugurated French Cinema Now where a rare opportunity to see two early films by Arnaud Desplechin has sparked a re-evaluation of the filmmaker on my part. More on that on another day...
Two more November festivals begin on the same date: the Latino Film Festival and the American Indian Film Festival both start on the 7th day of the month. The AIFF has at least one program I really don't want to miss: Kent MacKenzie's the Exiles, a highly-praised 1962 film set in the Bunker Hill district of Los Angeles, that played for a week at the Castro Theatre this summer while I was out of town. The LFF brings the reputedly Guy Maddin-esque La Antena from Argentina and is tributing Gregory Nava's extremely significant El Norte (hopefully in a new 35mm print). More suggestions of titles from either of these festivals would be welcome.
Frank Lee is bringing back his Chinese American Film Festival to the Four Star on November 14-20 with titles including Johnny To's Sparrow, and an additional November 8th Marina Theatre screening of Ganglamedo, a Tibet-themed musical which also plays on the last day of the festival at the main venue.
Looking further into the festival crystal ball, the Berlin and Beyond film festival will run January 15-21, 2009 at the Castro and include an in-person tribute to Wim Wenders along with a presentation of his newest film Palermo Shooting. And it's already time to anticipate Noir City 7 (January 23-February 1st), a "newspaper noir"-themed special edition promising some of the most cynical print-stained newshounds ever to have collected a kill fee. Like Chuck Tatum from Ace in the Hole, or JJ Hunsecker from the Sweet Smell of Success. Lesser-known films from Fritz Lang and Anthony Mann (two apiece) and a repeat Noir City presentation of the 1946 B-picture Night Editor (did Joe Eszterhas see this before he wrote Basic Instinct?) are additional cursory highlights, but this is one festival in which its worth looking beyond the filmmaker pedigrees, so easy is it for all but the most committed noir-heads to feel like they've unearthed a forgotten gem (Night Editor was one such gem from Noir City 4, and I'm glad it's being brought back, this time on the Castro screen.)
In the meantime, other notable screenings and events not connected with film festivals keep popping up on the calendar. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts has announced some more screenings through mid-December, including brand-new 35mm prints of five Alain Robbe-Grillet films (Last Year in Marienbad, which he wrote, and four he also directed) December 4-18. The new Pacific Film Archive calendar starts this weekend with the first films in a tremendous Japanese cinema series, beginning with post-war films from Kon Ichikawa, who died earlier this year, and Akira Kurosawa. Then it continues with screenings of career highlights from most of the major figures of the Japanese New Wave (Shindo, Oshima, Suzuki, Imamura) and beyond. I hope to say more on the November-December PFA calendar soon.
But I'll just wrap up this post with a shout-out to the Balboa Theatre, which is bringing some special-events to the Richmond District just in time for me- I've moved back to this corner of Frisco myself. This Sunday there will be two appearances by animation wizard Richard Williams. He's best known for his Oscar-winning work as animation director for Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but has an extensive filmography in both theatrical and television, feature-length and short-form animation. He also created title designs for films such as Murder on the Orient Express, Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?, and the 1967 Casino Royale -- and when Friz Freleng's outfit passed the torch after putting together the beloved title sequences for the first three Peter Sellers Pink Panther features, it was Williams who picked it up. Williams will be on hand for a noon show and another at 7PM, though the latter is already listed as sold out. Future special events at the Balboa also include an opportunity to watch Tuesday's election results on the big screen with an enthusiastic crowd (free admission to this one), and on December 10th, the horror host documentary Watch Horror Films, Keep America Strong will have its Frisco premiere (it's shown in Oakland, Sacramento and elsewhere but not in this county yet) with a set of as-yet-unannounced guests in attendance.
Speaking of witch, Happy Halloween!
Friday, October 31, 2008
So Many Festivals It's Almost Scary
Read of the week: Michael Guillén's piece inspired by the latest issue of the Film International journal, guest-edited by Dina Iordanova. I can't wait to get my hands on this issue myself. Michael cherry-picks quotes from its articles that help crystalize questions modern-day film festivals must tackle in the face of audiences who are finding other ways to see the stock-and-trade of certain kinds of fests; he believes "new strategies must be devised if these festivals are to survive." I half-wish Michael hadn't quoted me -- a big surprise midway into the article -- because it would have kept this paragraph from seeming a bit like an appeal to join a mutual admiration society.
15 comments:
- Anonymous10/31/08, 9:57 AM
There is one more festival that may occur in November. The SF Korean American Film Festival is scheduled for November 21 to 23.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous10/31/08, 10:37 AM
Let me know when the Quebec Week Schedule is announced! I'm really excited about that one, having finally ventured to Montreal and picked up a Box Collection of Michel Brault's films.
- Anonymous10/31/08, 2:43 PM
Quebec Film Week titles will be announced next week at sffs.org.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous10/31/08, 10:14 PM
Good luck with all the films. Of the Japanese series, I cannot emphasize The Ceremony too much, if you've never seen it. I think it's Oshima's best film.ReplyDelete
Brian, I hope you had a wonderful Haunted House. I'm aware that Halloween is nearly totemic for you.ReplyDelete
As for a mutual admiration society, there's nothing wrong with us West Coast writers sticking together.
Thanks, Michael- it was one of our best, and smoothest yet. I even had time to squeeze out this post before showtime, since we had pretty much everything in place much earlier than usual.ReplyDelete
Peter, thanks for the Oshima rec. I unfortunately have committed to another activity the evening that the Ceremony is playing, and it's one I simply can't get out of. I'm more optimistic about catching Boy and Violence at Noon, but I'm also hoping there's truth to the rumors of a full Oshima retro in the spring, and that this current series won't be my only shot at seeing a 35mm print of the Ceremony in the next several months. So far I've only seen a couple of his films: Cruel Story of Our Youth on VHS, and Death By Hanging on 16mm.
Oh, and thanks to both anonymouses for your tips- and Adam, you're going to have to let me take a peek at some of those Braults- I'm currently taking another look at the cinéma vérité and Direct Cinema strains of documentary...ReplyDelete
I believe that would properly be anonymice?ReplyDelete
Oh, lets not go down that rodent...ReplyDelete
Oh Cheeses Christ, just because I'm rat and you're wrong....ReplyDelete
- Anonymous11/4/08, 10:02 AM
The Oshima Retrospective will indeed wind itself down here int he Bay Area, according to FILM COMMENT, so no worries. (I actually might go to Cleveland to catch it there in March/April.)
I'm really anxious to finally see BOY. Have tickets for that and THE CEREMONY. (btw, I have Violence of Noon on VHS just in case you don't catch it at PFA.) And for those who will have the retrospective come there way, DEATH BY HANGING is one of my most favorite films.
And, yes, let's get together to watch the Brault films some time this month before the Quebec Series.
- Anonymous11/4/08, 3:49 PM
Would you recommend Sumiko Haneda's Into the Picture Scroll?ReplyDelete
Absolutely. More on that later (hopefully sooner, actually.)ReplyDelete
- Anonymous11/11/08, 10:25 PM
Quebec film week lineup was sent out to SFFS members today, link hereReplyDelete
Thanks. Was having trouble finding the link myself. It's now on my sidebar.ReplyDelete


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No matter how long I stare at it, the ceiling doesn't change. This must be what it's like to be a corpse.
* * *
There are too many people in this apartment and no one knows anyone else, but that's the way it goes when the club empties out and someone announces to no one in particular,
Hey, I've got synthemesc back at my place.
Not even sure whose place it is, if it's anyone's, if the proper tennant is out of town or asleep in another room or cut to pieces in a bag in the fridge. Probably not the fridge thing. That's where they kept the wine, and you've seen the wine. You've seen the synthemesc too, but you opt for the wine because it's one thing to be in a strange environment, surrounded by unknown quantities, intoxicated to the edge of reason, but if you popped the pills and your eyes rolled back and you started seeing funny little green ghouls, too? Well, shit, that's just reckless.
And besides, that's not why you came here anyway.
You came here because she came here. You came here because you'd been dancing together. One in the morning on a Tuesday night, not exactly a sensible hour to be out. Folks got work in the morning. Kids got school. People got girlfriends and boyfriends, husbands and wives they ought to get home to.
But not you. And not her.
She takes a pull of wine and stands up and announces she has to go to the bathroom. No one pays her any mind, occupied by other things or other realities, but you hear her and you watch her and she's watching you. Her statement was both an admission and an invitation. She's making eye contact when she turns. You give her a few minutes to take care of whatever she's got to take care of, and then you go exploring. The bathroom door is unlocked. The bathroom door is ajar. The light is off.
She's sitting on the counter, a cigarette in her hand, her eyes staring out the open window. Outside, the city murmurs, tossing and turning in its sleep. You close the distance, put your hand over hers, your fingers on the cigarette.
May I?
I've got more.
But I want this one.
The cigarette carries her lipstick with it. Iris. You can't tell if you taste it or if you smell it, but it's there. It's her. She's there. Ten minutes later, the bathroom door securely locked, her lipstick smeared, your hands on your belt, she tells you,
I'm married.
The words don't even make sense to you. They don't resolve into anything meaningful in your brain. She might as well have told you that purple is the cubic root of eleventy-spleen.
You're what?
I'm married.
What to do with this information. How to process it. You have no answers. Your hands fall limp at your side, your belt still buckled. You have no answers, but you have questions.
Are you happy?
Yes. No. I don't know.
Where is he? Or she? Or whatever?
He. Business trip. Out of the state.
What are you doing here?
I don't know!
There are tears in her eyes. You've been in the bathroom far too long. Even if no one's curious about where you went or suspicious about your absence, sooner or later, someone's going to need to use the facilities. And if she starts moaning, if she starts sobbing, there's going to be suspicion.
So what are you going to do?
I don't know. What do you want to do?
It's a Hell of a question, you think. But then, you know there's a difference between desire and reality.
I don't know either. How are you getting home?
I don't know. I went to the Salarian with friends, but they went home. I could call a cab. Or call them.
Too far to walk?
I live in San Solano.
You laugh. Oh, yeah. Way too fucking far for her to walk.
Well. I'm going to leave.
What? Why?
Why? Why would I stay?


text:
Rancho Cucamonga scored five runs in the first inning and made them stand up in a 5-2 victory over Inland Empire on Tuesday night.
The Quakes (3-3) managed only four hits, but took advantage of nine walks issued by the 66ers (1-4).
Chris Jacobs had the key hit in the five-run first, smacking a two-run single. Steven Proscia and Brandon Dixon also drove in runs to knock Inland Empire starter Nate Smith from the game after just 1/3 of an inning.
Quakes starter Chris Anderson, the Dodgers' first-round pick last year, made it through only 42/3 innings but didn't allow an earned run and struck out six. Daniel Coulumbe threw 21/3 scoreless innings of relief to record the victory.
Jose Rondon went 2 for 2 with a run scored and Sherman Johnson went 2 for 4 with a double and a run to lead the Sixers.
LAKE ELSINORE 11, HIGH DESERT 9: Every Storm starter recorded at least one hit in a win over the Mavericks at Stater Bros. Stadium.
Lake Elsinore (3-3) did most of its damage by scoring nine runs in the fifth inning, including a solo homer by Stephen Carmon and a three-run blast by Alberth Martinez.
Top prospect Joe Ross gave the Storm a strong start, scattering three hits over six shutout innings and striking out four to pick up his first Cal League win.


text:
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text:
Featured in the July 2010 issue of Word mag
From IndieLullabies.com:
"'Stage invasions aren't supposed to be this cute. As sprightly folk-popsters The Leisure Society launch into their second number, a two-year-old wobbles up to the front of the stage, making it to the edge before he's whisked off by his mother to a murmur of aahs.'
James Medd of Word interviewed SMTS co-producer and art director Kate Garchinsky and attended the show on May 15 with his two sons. Read his account of the festivities, and learn more about the Kindie movement in children's music."


text:
If you'd like to request a quote for the cleaning of your commercial business, please fill out the provided eform with the relevant information, including the square footage that needs to be cleaned and any other pertinent comments about the space. One of our representatives will respond back to you with a quote, after which you can move forward with signing a janitorial contract.
For more information or to speak with a staff member, please call us today.


text:
Posts tagged as:
Globalive disappointed with Federal Court Decision on Competitors' Application
|byon February 4, 2011
Bell Charges $10 More for HSPA+ Access
|byon October 21, 2010
Is Canada's Telecom Tech Ahead of America's?
|byon July 5, 2010
T-Mobile Hopes that Slow and Steady Wins the 4G Race
|byon March 29, 2010
Koodo HSPA Network Coming in April-May?
|byon February 9, 2010
AT&T Gearing Up for iPad
|byon February 7, 2010
Sony Ericsson's Aspen: Another Bland Entry in an Overcrowded Market
|byon February 3, 2010
Virgin Mobile Canada's HSPA+ Network Arrives
|byon February 1, 2010
Anthony Lacavera and Wind Mobile. Interview Part 2
|byon January 19, 2010
Interview with Anthony Lacavera, Chairman Wind Mobile
|byon January 18, 2010


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Hubris- Both or Neither
on November 3, 2017 at 12:01 am
Chapter: Comic
Things are rarely just one thing or another.
Of course, that kind of talk doesn't get used much these days.
We don't remember that one of the logical fallacies that invalidates an argument is 'black or white thinking'.
We've been raised in a world full of advertising. I've probably pointed out before that the list of logical fallacies which can never be used in a valid argument, and the list of the most effective advertising strategies are pretty much the same list.
Bad recipe, if you want a country that'll outlive you.
There you go. That's as political as I plan to get for the next few years.


text:
Schools & Colleges
A-Z Index | School of Medicine Quick Links
Find a Health Care Provider | Contact Us | Maps and Parking
Please update your bookmarks to: http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/Graduate-School/academic-programs/biomol/
The Program is an interdepartmental graduate training program offered within the School of Medicine at the University of Colorado at the Anschutz Medical campus in Aurora, Colorado. Student training places a major emphasis on research experiences, both in lab rotations and thesis projects, and includes a range of coursework in biochemistry; drug design; pharmacology; cellular, molecular and structural biology.
The Program encourages students to engage in collaborative projects and provides shared mentoring that can include faculty from outside The Program. Such interactions are geared towards fostering interdisciplinary training.
Faculty research activities cover a range of structural and computational techniques including NMR Spectroscopy, X-Ray Crystallography, Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics, Biophysics, and Peptide/Protein Chemistry that are focused on a diversity of biological targets such as signaling molecules, transmembrane proteins, RNA, genome bioinformatics, lipids, and oligosaccharides.
© The Regents of the University of Colorado, a body corporate. All rights reserved.
Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. All trademarks are registered property of the University. Used by permission only.


text:
A vintage typewriter can tie your vintage-style wedding together nicely. And what guest wouldn't love to type a sweet note to the bride and groom on one of these beautiful typewriters.
Bonus: with a little searching, you can find a typewriter in nearly any color to match your wedding decor.
Image from curtisztypewriters.com
Image from The Girl Can't Help it Vintage Blog.
Image from Brunette on a Budget.
Image from Poetic Home.
Image from Polyvore.


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I wasn't sure what to expect from Faith Camp, but the experience was amazing and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to be part of the last one.
Here's what I took away from the week:
- It's wonderful to be amongst a group of people that expect God to be at work in this world in amazing ways. I think some parts of the church know that God is at work, but here they see God at work.
- The message that I heard most clearly from the week was the need for me to find time and space to be alone with God. I'm planning my first, semi-silent retreat this October.
- No matter how much a church may focus on the work of the Holy Spirit, there's always a need for a course or a programme to help put building blocks of faith in place.
- Oh, and 3,000+ people singing is pretty amazing (see the video)


text:
Atlas MultiTrip®
Underwriter: Lloyds of London
Within PPO/Outside U.S.: After deductible, plan pays 100% to policy maximum.
Otherwise: After deductible, plan pays Usual, Reasonable and Customary to policy maximum.
*Exception for US-Urgent Care: Deductible waived, $25 copay; unless $0 deductible. Coinsurance still applies.
Direct Billing: Through United Healthcare PPO Network
- Plan Benefits
- Brochure
- Certificate Wording
- Optional Coverages
- Outstanding Restrictions
- Refundable
- Sample ID Card & Visa Letter
- Rx Discount Card
- Covers outside home country including during travel
- Geographic Restrictions
- Must be enrolled in a primary health plan in home country


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They are old family friends. We have been largely out of contact, such that my incompetent parents do not have a current phone number. I googled and found a couple of listings - they were heavily involved in the local community- but that turned out to be their old number. The missing persons number doesn't have any registration for them.
I fished with Terry Hubbard when he came to the NT, and in turn I stayed on his farm, the 3 Sisters, and played saxaphone to the cattle. He is a big gregarious man with pink cheeks and a room-filling personality.
The bushfires razed Flowerdale to the ground. We saw it last night, I stopped washing dishes and stared mute as they ran across the charcoal stumps and pieces of tin sticking out of piles of ash in that post-apocalyptic desolation. They are still looking, they said, expecting to find more things that they don't really want to find.
Only then the worst possibilities hit me. If you know anything let me know please.
Elsewhere, a beautiful and poignant piece by Barista, and others from Guy, Pavlov's Cat, Helen, Legal Eagle, Hoyden and LP. A constant stream of updates as the fires take over Twitter.
The weather said 20 and showers. Fall where you're needed, you contrary bastards.
UPDATE: Flowerdale is angry and feels abandoned. Scouring articles for names, nothing yet.
UPDATE II: Thanks Leonard.
UPDATE III: Just got word they are alright, my mother rang the hardware store where he used to work. Apparently the fire stopped short of their property, a result that was beyond my hopes for them. Can relax and get some work done now!
What is this? - After writing the previous post I went again to the internet and attempted a second purchase of a copy of the Flore Laurentienne record. It's like Bernard ...
7 hours ago


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Join David Burton and Robinsons Bookshop for a presentation that will surely end in both laughter and tears. Come and listen to the 2014 Text Prize winner discuss some highlights from his funny, sad and serious debut memoir How to Be Happy: A Memoir of Love, Sex and Teenage Confusion.
David Burton is a twenty-seven-year-old writer from Brisbane, Queensland, whose memoir How to Be Happy won the Text Prize for Young Adult and Children's Writing in 2014.
How to Be Happy is a funny, sad and serious memoir. It is David Burton's story of his turbulent life at high school and beyond. Feeling out of place and convinced that he is not normal, David has a rocky start. He longs to have a girlfriend, but his first 'date' is a disaster. There's the catastrophe of the school swimming carnival—David is not sporty—and friendships that take devastating turns. Then he finds some solace in drama classes with the creation of 'Crazy Dave', and he builds a life where everything is fine. But everything is not fine.
And, at the centre of it all, trying desperately to work it all out, is the real David.
How to Be Happy tackles depression, friendship, sexual identity, suicide, academic pressure, love and adolescent confusion. It's a brave and honest account of one young man's search for a happy, true and meaningful life that will resonate with readers young and old.


text: To ensure that Tally Shorts can continue to bring a unique cinema experience, we need you to help spread the word and, if you can, lend your support to the festival in any way possible. We're a small dedicated crew and can use all the help we can get! Thank you![button link="http://tallyshorts.com/lend-your-support/" color="red"] Lend Your Support[/button]


text:
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View all Africa videos.
Location Côte d'Ivoire
Learn more about the Alliance field of Côte d'Ivoire
First Love
February 2017
Côte d'Ivoire
An Alliance pastor in Côte d'Ivoire challenges the North American church to remember its legacy and history of missions.
Faith at Gunpoint
November 2006
Côte d'Ivoire
Amy Nehlsen recalls her harrowing experience at gunpoint and how she put her faith into practice. Produced in 2006.
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text:
March is upon us, and we are drawing close to Holy Week. I pray and hope that your Lenten season has been meaningful and powerful.
I think of Lent as an adventure in drawing close. It's an adventure because it's rugged wilderness time for us, when our faith becomes so easily sterile and fragile. After all, Lent is not just about giving up chocolate or getting ready for Easter. It's a time that mirrors the time of Jesus in the wilderness for forty days. It's a time of getting away and out in God's great wilderness of nature, of facing the demons without and within, and allowing the Word of God well up inside of you to give you strength, perspective, and peace. When Jesus emerged from the wilderness, he was passionate and ready for ministry. I pray we will be too.
We go through lots of wilderness times in life, it's part of our rhythm. It's a good thing we can't remember being born, because I imagine it's cold and bright and scary. We grow up and we go through the teenage years, which are tough times of emotional swings and trying our best to fit in and find our way. We pursue college and career, which can be very stressful and lacking in clarity and direction. We get married, and the early years of marriage are a wilderness of intrigue, full of difficulties as well as triumphs we were not expecting. We go through the wilderness of becoming parents, and every child is so different that each one would have to have their own instruction book, even if there were such a thing. We go through the wilderness of our 30's when we are trying so hard to build our lives, and through our 40's when we are having our mid-life crises because our lives are not working out quite like we'd hoped. I can't tell you much about the 50's and beyond (I'll let you know) but I know they will have their own unique wilderness experiences.
While some of the wilderness times are part of the rhythm and seasons of life, sometimes they are because of experiences that come our way. My family and I are, once again, going through the wilderness of grief over losing Sandy's dear mother. This is something we all must face, and yet in all the difficulties blessings abound and peace comes, even tears of joy and gratitude.
So Lent is not just an annual season of giving up something and reading scripture and devotionals. It's a liturgical rhythm that gives language and perspective to the wilderness times we all go through. There is something in the Lenten experience that gives life a sense of holiness, knowing that Jesus can be our model for what it means to go through wilderness and emerge stronger than you were before.


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From NRN:
T.G.I. Friday's has unveiled a new kitchen and bar design in a unit that re-opened this week in Nashville, Tenn.
The Opry Mills Friday's location, which was destroyed by flooding two years ago, debuted this week with an open kitchen that is about 25 percent smaller than a typical Friday's unit and a redesigned bar.
"After the flooding, we were totally committed to coming back to Opry Mills, but this time with a restaurant that would knock people's socks off," said Ricky Richardson, chief operating officer T.G.I. Friday's, which is owned by Carrollton, Texas-based Carlson Restaurants.
"We've completely redesigned the kitchen so guests can see how we cook their favorite dishes," Richardson said in a statement, "and the bar is now the centerpiece of the restaurant."
The bar also includes community tables, located across from the bar, which the company said, "encourage friends to gather and talk, watch a game or wait for a table."
. . .
To read more visit NRN.


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I finished this little guy a while ago.
In this last Handy Hands newsletter there was a free handkerchief, so I immediately started working on an edging (pattern from same newsletter).
I'm also starting another Tischband, different colors this time and in size 40 instead of 20. We'll see how this goes.


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Actually, it was a Kookaburra and for those of you who don't live in Australia you might be interested in playing the video link below. It does make me laugh everytime I hear it but it wasn't all that funny so early in the morning. I have to say that it is the first time I have heard a kookaburra here where we live in Melbourne - we are quite near the City although the garden does back onto a small area of rough parkland.
Please take a few seconds to listen HERE - and I am sure it will bring a smile to your face too!


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Currently unavailable
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text: Featured on the cover of Street Rodder in May 1983, this 1932 Ford roadster is a milestone machine in rodding history. Built by Chuck Lombardo of California Street Rods fame, it won the title of America's Most Beautiful Roadster in 1983 and pioneered the use of billet aluminum components that now pervades the hobby. It is built on a stretched custom chassis with the first Wescott body using hidden door hinges and showcases luscious two-stage hand-rubbed House of Kolor Candy Brandywine paint, a Light Grey leather interior by Dave Putnam and machined billet windshield posts, valve covers and dash by the late Boyd Coddington. A supercharged 350/400 HP Chevrolet small block, automatic transmission and chromed Ford 9-inch third member get this iconic rod rolling on T/A-shod one-off polished Centerline Indy Champ 500 wheels.


text:
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text: News Volleyball 28/07/2015 "The Governor" leads a team of champions: USA top of the world again Jordan Larson-Burbach (10), Kayla Banwarth (2) and Kelsey Robinson (23) Lausanne, Switzerland, July 28, 2015 - Should anyone still have any doubts about which women's team is currently the best in the volleyball world, last weekend provided an emphatic answer: USA. Nine months after their historic first World Championship title, coach Karch Kiraly's team claimed their sixth FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix title with five wins from five matches in Omaha. Almost simultaneously, USA also defeated Olympic champions Brazil in the final of the Pan American Games in Toronto."We are really excited. It was awesome to bring the trophy back to America. It is a tribute to all our staff, our medical staff, our coaching staff, everybody involved - not just the 14 players here, but everybody who has come to the USA gym this summer and previous years," said US captain Christa Dietzen. "We have been coming everyday with the same mentality to work hard and to be learners. That is a tribute to constant desire to learn to be better and efficient in the game. I think that is why we can be successful on multiple occasions in these tournaments." Having previously won in 1995 and in 2001, and three times consecutively between 2010 and 2012, USA won the prestigious FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix title for a sixth time this year. That puts the team in second place in the all-time list of winners, behind record winners Brazil (ten titles). The Olympic champions had to settle for third place this time, behind Russia. This was the first time since 2007 that Brazil had not finished in the top two of the FIVB World Grand Prix.For the United States, the first final round of the FIVB World Grand Prix played on home soil was a huge success – and not only thanks to winning the title and 200,000 dollars in prize money. Thousands of spectators in the bubbling arena in Omaha created an electric atmosphere. And Olympic broadcaster NBC showed live volleyball for the first time outside of the Olympic Games. Brazil and China may not have sent their strongest teams, but the US team's performances in the five matches that made up the final tournament were still nothing short of extraordinary.The USA fielded a different line-up each night, with big contributions coming from two newcomers on the world scene. Opposite Karsta Lowe, who joined the programme this year, led the Americans in scoring with 79 points and 65 kills. Setter Molly Kreklow was given the responsibility of running the offense. Lowe and Kreklow led a strong contingent of US players in the all-tournament team and award winners: Kreklow (Best Setter), Christa Dietzen (2nd Best Blocker) and Kelsey Robinson (2nd Best Outside Spiker). Lowe was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player in her first big FIVB tournament. A newcomer named MVP, just like Kimberley Hill was at last year's FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship in Italy – it is precisely this unpredictability in a squad littered with big names that makes USA so strong at the moment. And the squad also has a steely will to win. "It doesn't matter who we're playing or what's on the line, we've got to be all in to this thing. That's what we are and how we operate," said coach Karch Kiraly. "We're not about playing it safe and being careful, we're about playing hard and letting it rip. That's the fun way to play and that's the way we think we can achieve our greatest potential."The youngsters in the team are led magnificently by experienced players like captain Dietzen, who is lovingly known as "Mom". However, the boss in the team is Jordan Quinn Larson-Burbach, who is affectionately called "The Governor." However, even she showed a soft side after the final match.She is a role model for setter Kreklow for example: "I remember watching Jordan Larson play when I was younger and just being super impressed by who she is and how she carries herself." As well as the World Championship title with USA, Larson-Burbach also won the FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship in 2014 and 2015. Appropriately, "The Governor" scored the winning point in the 3-0 defeat of China in the United States' last match of the FIVB World Grand Prix.Next up for Team USA will be the first Olympic qualifier next month in Japan, the FIVB Volleyball World Cup, which begins on August 22. The US players, including those on the gold-medal winning Pan American Games team, will take one week off, then start a two-week training block in Anaheim, California. The top team in the world continues its relentless pursuit of titles. Print this Page News {{item.LocalShortDate}} {{item.Title}} All the News


text:
Over 100 arrests made during 'Go Topless' weekend
More than 100 people were arrested as "Go Topless Galveston," an event that brings together hundreds of Jeep drivers, attracted intoxicated crowds.
Public intoxication, driving while intoxicated, vehicle burglary and other offenses caused the Galveston County Sheriff's Office to work around the clock. The majority of the arrests took place on Crystal Beach, where the event was held.
Many people at the event suffered vehicle-related injuries.
"We've seen them fall out of vehicles, get struck by other vehicles, fall out and hit their head," said Sheriff Henry Trochesset Sunday afternoon. "We had a head-on collision last night by Gilchrist. A vehicle caught on fire. The passenger was extracted from the vehicle and we called Life Flight," a helicopter ambulance service. "That I know of, there are no fatalities so far. But the weekend's not over."
PHOTOS: Were you 'Seen' at Go Topless Jeep Weekend 2019?
Go Topless is a weekend-long celebration organized by Jeep drivers across the country. The name nods to the Jeep Wrangler's removable upper body, one of the features that endears the vehicle to outdoor enthusiasts, though many Mardi Gras beads can also be found at the event. For Go Topless Galveston, Jeep enthusiasts navigated an obstacle course, drove through the waves and parked on Crystal Beach with coolers full of beer and flags waving from their vehicles.
According to its website, Go Topless Galveston has recently ballooned in popularity, growing from 180 Jeeps in 2016 to 700 in 2017. It was unclear how many attended this weekend's event.
It is clear that the number of emergency calls stemming from the event prompted Galveston County Emergency Services to request assistance from Acadian Ambulance, Brazoria County Emergency Services District #4, Santa Fe Fire and Rescue, City Ambulance, Winnie-Stowell Emergency Medical Services and Chambers County Emergency Services District #2. Ambulances and helicopters flocked to the scene to provide emergency services.
Heather Farr, who has attended Go Topless Galveston for four years, said she believed the number of accidents was aggravated by higher-than-normal tides that occur twice a year as the seasons change. The bull tide meant there was less beach on which vehicles could park, resulting in dense, hard-to-navigate crowds.
"It was very difficult to even walk through all the cars and people," she said. "Much less drive." She said she witnessed one vehicle speed through the water at an estimated 50 miles an hour near an officer who was unable to intervene because of gridlock.
"In previous years, I've seen them stop many of the people riding on top of or on the hood of buggies or jeeps and tell them to get down, which prevents the accidents like we saw this weekend," she said. "If they are unable to get anywhere, they can't stop people and tell them to pour out their beers... which means people drink more."
Trochesset agreed that the crowds were the worst he has seen in over a decade.
"We staffed this weekend like it was the Fourth of July," he said. But the sheer number of people gathered at the beach was unlike what the area has seen since Hurricane Ike devastated the Bolivar Peninsula in 2008.
Because the Texas Open Beaches Act guarantees free public access to state-owned beaches on the Gulf of Mexico, there is no way to limit the size of the crowds at Crystal Beach. Trochesset said the only way to increase safety at events like Go Topless is to increase police presence, which involves taxpayers paying officers overtime.
"Be careful," he warned beach goers. "Next weekend is another holiday weekend. So we'll gear up for that one too. This may have been a precursor."
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Doug Morris of Universal Music Group has said that his company may try and take a slice of profits from the sales of Apple's iPod .
Universal already has a deal in place with Microsoft which gives the Music company a nominal royalty fee for every Zune player that Microsoft sells.
Record labels have been claiming that iPods and other MP3 players all over the world are jam-packed with illegal and downloaded music, which is why they want a slice of iPod sales. The next round of negotiations with Apple is due to begin in February 2007.
"It would be a nice idea. We have a negotiation coming up not too far. I don't see why we wouldn't do that... but maybe not in the same way," Morris told the Reuters Media Summit. James Rivington


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Just finished publishing our latest book about Latin America ChildCare in El Salvador over on Blurb.
Here is a link to it. link to book
It is also available for sale if you desire.
Latin America ChildCare is a ministry that partners with local professional educators to bring schools to poverty areas in Central and South America and in the Caribbean. They facilitate matching Americans with local children who need sponsorship to be able to attend school. Each sponsor is assigned a child who corresponds and shares their joy about being able to attend school. LACC is a christian organization so the children are also learning to love God and find that He cares about them. Sponsors get to encourage them and see them mature and become upstanding citizens.


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Tom watched the life vanish from the black dragon's eyes through the flames. Zawkane kept blowing fire until the dragon stopped moving. This time there was no doubt, he led this dragon to his death. He was responsible. But it couldn't have been any other way. Tom knew that.
He wondered what was happening to the dragon at this moment. It was an animal, but it was intelligent. Did its essence just disappear or did it go somewhere? Did it even have anything inside that could go somewhere?
The answer probably lied in that quote that Chaphar had said earlier that day. It separated the mindless from the mindful animals and all animals from humans. Did that mean this dragon had a soul of some type? Where was that soul now?
"Well, that's three more dragons down," Chaphar said walking up. "Now we wait for the next batch to come looking for us."
"No," Zawkane answered weakly. "There won't be anymore. …They let up a little…if two teams don't return…from the same prey."
"Zawkane, are you okay?" Tom asked running up to him.
"I am afraid not," Zawkane said opening his eyes a tad. "I doubt I'll see the stars again."
"But we won, and you said there won't be any more dragons, you're safe," Tom said rubbing his nose scales.
"I used the last of my strength…to fight death with that last…blast of fire. I can't…hold myself here much…longer," Zawkane said even weaker than before.
Tom let a tear slid down his cheek. "No! …None of that my man. …A warrior must never show tears," Zawkane said diverting more energy to his voice.
"Your honor has reached my heart," Tom said letting another tear fall. "But at this time I care not if I am a warrior or not. I am going to say goodbye my own way."
"You are a man…after this dragon's…heart, …for I find I…can't hold back…my own tears…either," Zawkane said as a tear the size of Tom's fist splashed into the bloody grass. "I would…like to know…your father's…name, my man Tom."
"Well," Tom said thinking back. "I was actually named after him. My name and his is Timothy. My Dad's nickname is Tim so mine became Tom or Tommy when I was younger."
"Oh!" Zawkane said opening his eyes fully. "I've known…a few dragons…who did that. …They all were…very honorable…even if they…didn't value it…much."
Zawkane took a deep breath and released it. He spoke again, "Come Timothy…you are growing…blurry, …come sit…by my eye…so I might…see you…clearly."
Tom complied quickly. He gazed into the yellow eye that wouldn't fit on his own forehead. "I will never forget you," he said crying. "I don't care how much others criticize me. I intend to tell my family and any future friends of you. All three of you," he said looking over his shoulder.
"To have…my name…spoken of…in another…world is more…than I could…have wished…for. It…would be…a great…honor," Zawkane said as his eye drooped shut. "What…is the…name…of your…leader?"
Shehleg stepped up, "Aetos."
Zawkane's head jerked slightly. "I…feared…you'd…say…that…name." He sighed, "But…I…still…hope…to…see…him…be—" he stopped talking abruptly. His eyes shot open and his mouth dropped open a sliver. "I can't see much else, but I do see him. Clear as day, even in the twilight of my days," Zawkane said as if he were fully well.
Everyone turned but saw nothing. Zawkane spoke again, "It would be my honor to do so." Another moment of silence. "Thank you," Zawkane said yet again. He then added to them in his old weak state, "I…fear…my…end…no…more. …I…go…in…peace!"
Zawkane let his eyes fall shut and breathed in deep. As his breath gushed out his nostrils, they seemed to carry his life out too. The dragon breathed no more. Sadness filled the air and Tom wept. This was not the victory he expected.


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We took a few old iron headboards and used them to mask the ugly central air unit. The finished product is planted with vines that will grow in. We chose to only grow vines on the large front-facing frame to keep a safe amount of air circulation available for the unit. Here's how we installed it:
Post hole digger helps with the limited digging space. Mattock helps loosen rocks, loppers for tree roots, hori hori for digging out more rocks, rubber mallet for setting the PVC, level, and hand broom.
We set the two smaller outside headboards in PVC footings. That way the headboards can easily be removed so the central air unit can be serviced.
Once the headboards were absolutely level, we added cement to the footings. Notice the PVC being cemented in and the headboards can be easily removed.
Letting the concrete cure overnight. Vines will be planted on the front headboard. This garden install will last forever and add charm to this courtyard garden.
Christy, The Urban Gardener


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"Vision" is a lovely vessel that has been well maintained and upgraded. She has an incredible aft Master Stateroom unlike any other aft cockpit I have seen and another full stateroom forward. There are 2 full heads both with separate shower stalls making this a wonder vessel for 2 couples or a family lending to great privacy. Her cockpit is massive and very comfortable for a large group to go sailing or even enjoying the outdoors on the hook. Her salon is equally as accommodating and with her large forward ports very bright and inviting. This owners loss will be some ones great gain.
Starting in the bow, there is the guest cabin. This cabin features a large double berth with innerspring mattress. There is also a cedar-lined hanging locker and cabinet with shelves. Next aft to port is the ensuite head with corian vanity, sink, mirror, hot and cold pressure water, Jabsco marine toilet and separate enclosed shower. Next aft is the Main Salon with 6'6" head room throughout. This has a single settee to starboard with storage under and outboard. Opposite to port is the U-shaped dinette which converts to a large double berth. At the aft end of the starboard settee is the fully equipped Navigation Station with electrical panel, ample chart space, plenty of storage and comfortable seating. Opposite to port is the large, fully equipped galley. Continuing aft on the starboard side is the entrance to the Owners' cabin. This has a queen sized centerline berth with innerspring mattress, lounge chair, bookshelf, cabinet, cedar-lined hanging locker and reading lights. The Main head has access from both the aft cabin and the Main salon. This has a Corian vanity with sink, hot and cold pressure water, mirror, storage under and outboard, fresh water Marine Elegance toilet with macerator and a separate shower stall.
The whole interior has a very inviting decor, with dark blue fabric on the seating and matching duvets for both staterooms. Her wood below is of a medium color and not too dark or too light, just right to give her a warm but bright interior.
Her companionway leads to a very commodious cockpit with room for many. Not only is there a ton of room port and starboard but she has teak seats on both sides aft of the helm on the stern pulpit. Access to her forward deck is very comfortable and roomy and makes for ease moving around for lines docking or handling the ground tackle.


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So Switchfoot is set to release their new album called "Fading West" this October. And as part of their new album they've also completed a new kind of "tour film" which follows the band's touring and music-making adventures of 2012. Also showcasing their passion of surfing front and center. So far, it seems the band is wanting to hold back some of the real cool surprises in this new documentary film. The bands' official statement puts it this way: "The official trailer for Fading West lets you dive a bit deeper into our journey last year, following us through amazing adventures, inspiring places and some heartbreaking struggles. This is still just a taste of what's to come, though, and we absolutely can't wait to share the full-length version with you this fall!"
But man the bits they do let us glimpse are some of the most majestic oceanic landscape footage, it will give you chills. Check it out below:


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Saudi Arabia's PetroRabigh has received bids from up to six foreign engineering companies for the construction of new units at its petrochemical and refining complex in Rabigh, industry sources
PetroRabigh, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Japan's Sumitomo Chemical, had announced plans for the new units in October last year.
It said tenders would involve building a polyether polyols plant with annual capacity of 220,000 tonnes, a 17,000 barrel per day naphtha-treating unit to produce clean fuel and a sulphur recovery unit (SRU) with capacity of 106,000 tonnes a year.
Those in the race include leading global players South Korea's Daelim Industrial, Spanish specialists Intecsa and Tecnicas Reunidas, Taiwan's CTCI Corporation besides Indian construction giant Larsen and Toubro.
Italian group Maire Tecnimont too was among the bidders, one source revealed, but a second source said that it had ultimately decided against bidding.
Work on the Rabigh expansion is due to begin in the second half of this year, PetroRabigh said in October.-Reuters


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When you stroll through a city park with your favorite canine companion, you'll probably see dozens of other dogs. Most of them are like yours: someone's best friend, walking buddy, or favorite snuggling partner. But some of those dogs are different — they have jobs! Aside from being great buddies, dogs perform a variety of functions to help improve the lives of their humans. Let's explore a few of the various types of working dogs — therapy dogs, service dogs, emotional support dogs and more — you may encounter in your community.
Service dogs are working dogs who have been trained to perform tasks that make life easier and/or safer for those who are legally disabled.
While school-trained service dogs are traditionally German Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers or Lab/Golden crosses, service dogs may be of any breed, from toy to giant breed, with appropriate temperament and ability. Service dogs have an amazing variety of functions which are highly specialized to the unique needs of a handler, and their tasks may include (but are not limited to):
There are about a zillion other tasks service dogs can do — pushing doors closed and open, reminding their handlers when it's time for medication, retrieving nearly anything, loading and unloading the laundry into baskets, turning the lights on and off, and even calling 911 in a crisis.
When service dogs are working in public, do not approach or harass them. Trust me, I know it's hard to avoid a cute dog, but exercise some impulse control — that dog is working hard to keep her person safe! While service dogs often wear vests, they are not required to.
Therapy dogs may be any breed of appropriate temperament. While service dogs work to mitigate the disability of a single person, therapy dogs are generally exceptionally friendly and well-trained pets who are not generally task-trained except for really cute and fun tricks. They may visit hospitals, reading programs, rehabilitation centers and even courtrooms.
Therapy dogs are not permitted public access, except in the environments where they are working for the hours they are scheduled to work. They cannot go into restaurants, on public transportation where pets are not generally permitted, in stores or to the doctor's office. They may wear special vests while working.
Therapy dogs are often certified through various organizations like Therapy Dogs International. It is important to note that service dogs are not therapy dogs, and therapy dogs are not service dogs; the two are often confused.
Law enforcement and the military use dogs for a variety of reasons.These dogs may work in the streets, on the battle lines, and at many major airports. They are also trained to perform specific tasks, and the breed of dog selected often varies by the task – law enforcement and military operations use a variety of breeds, from Beagles to Beaucerons. The jobs these dogs may occupy include:
These dogs are permitted public access when they are on duty. Many of them spend their evenings relaxing as family pets and their days working hard to keep us safe. Again, these dogs should not be approached, distracted, or otherwise engaged while working.
These dogs provide therapeutic benefits to legally disabled handlers through companionship. They are not task-trained like their service dog brethren, and are therefore not entitled to the same public access rights.They are, however, eligible to live in housing where pets are otherwise banned, and also may travel with their handlers on airlines (though you may be asked to provide written verification from a medical or mental health professional regarding your dog's ESA status).
This category includes Border Collies that live their lives helping out on the ranch or are hired by local golf courses to scare the oft-pooping migrating geese away; Jack Russells who keep the farm free of vermin; and livestock guardians that protect the flock at night. Working pets may be the rarest of all breeds, which is why you'll need to find your dog new jobs (like agility, nosework, rally obedience, etc.) to keep him happily engaged and active.
Do you know of any working dogs, therapy dogs or service dogs in your community? Does your dog have a very important job? If so, please share in the comments!
Read more about therapy dogs, service dogs and other working dogs on Dogster.com:


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About Us / Our team
About Us
Baltic Credit Trading Group is a young investment company, created by partners with profound experience in financial markets. We are concentrating on active credit trading and portfolio investments in a wide range of financial products.
Widest network of contacts and trading lines enables the Company to source best prices and conditions in the financial market. Our priority is to closely follow and develop our relationships and to grow together with them.
Our team
People, who work in BCTG, are our main asset. They possess a deep and profound experience in the worlds largest financial institutions. They offer extensive knowledge of products and markets to serve the needs and wants of our counterparts..


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That Trident Missile "UFO" over Los Angeles
So when I started this set of articles on "Coming Out of the I Saw a UFO Closet" series, my intention was to write about my experiences in witnessing, filming and sharing videos of unusual sky phenomenon...something I had not really planned for in this lifetime.
Before I could get a chance to write about my second experience, the missile thing happened.
Most of my experiences in filming UAPs has been done alone, with a friend nearby who didn't see what I did. Who knew that as soon as I got off the train that day I'd be one of the many observers of a very public sighting? I thought I was seeing a Southern California version of the Norway spiral! (Whatever that was...)
Even though this is considered "old news" by now, the timing is good because it touches on some themes I want to address in the series later on.
Firstly, even though this was a "mass sighting" of an object that turned out to be a conventional, you won't likely find a 100% consensus on what was observed.
Some heard it was launched from Pt. Mugu or Edwards AFB even though we were told it came from an offshore sub. Others were convinced it was actually an extra-terrestrial craft, while still others thought it was a missile being shot down by a ET craft. Between the celebrity tweets and conjecture, I had no idea there would be such a diversity of views on this event!
This could be considered the first mass sighting this region has had in quite awhile...probably since the"The Battle of LA" on Feb 24-25, 1942 when our military found themselves trying in vain to shoot down an actual flying saucer.
Despite the tons of shrapnel jettisoned that night, they officially said it was a "balloon", once again rendering a 100% consensus obsolete. A whole lot of ammo for JUST a "balloon", huh?
So there are two examples of a "mass" sighting...where many others were around to witness an event all at once. In both of these cases, the opinions were all over the place.
But what happens if the sighting is not as Yuuuuge, as Bernie would say... What if its just a weird thing you happen to see? How do you tell what you are looking at?
I have my cameras ready. How do I know its 'really' a UFO?
Sky anomalies come in many different forms. The point is, you may have absolutely no idea what it is, or it may look like something completely conventional moving in a different way. If I have the time, battery power and medium space, I'll film it anyway to make sure. You never know what you might capture, and you never know what might "sneak in" the shot. More on that later. Here are some things to look for though...
Most of these objects do NOT fly with conventional aero-dynamics.
Natural and manmade objects that fly do so aero-dynamically. That means that they rely on air for lift, and some means of propulsion to push them along and through that "air". As a result, you'll see planes loudly expending fuel taking off, and flying with very wide curves while they turn.
Unconventional craft, UAPs, or UFOs...whatever we are calling them today, don't necessarily move aero-dynamically.
Some will give you an immediate clue by moving along the sky, pivoting for a few degrees, then flying straight again, then pivoting for another few degrees, then flying a straight course again. This is the "skipping" motion that was identified by Kenneth Arnold when he saw those faraway craft in 1947. He said that they were flying like "like a saucer would if you skipped it across the water."
Some objects appear to move like they are being squeezed in a tube... Its as if there is another force pulling and pushing the object at once as opposed to the "thrust" seen with aerodynamic machines.
If you see an object flying at nominal or slow speed, suddenly stop in mid-air for a bit, and then move off in a completely different direction, you are seeing something NOT conventional.
They've also been known to make drastic turns at 90 degree angles, a move that is pretty impossible with an aerodynamic craft.
The object pops in and out view, and may appear in completely different region of the sky.
Whether its cloaking or massive speed, many of these objects have been seen suddenly disappearing and then re-appearing in another area. Sometimes they'll stay in one area, blinking in and out of view erratically. Another clue that you might not be witnessing a conventional craft.
The object might change form.
Several UAP/UFOs have been seen changing shape, size, and dimension. Some have been observed first as a point of light that will eventually grow, and then morph into a sphere or a diamond.
A mini-triangle will boomerang upwards and transform itself to a saucer or cylinder shape.
A rather large object may mask itself to appear only as a very small object.
One shows itself as a cube, first silver reflective, then black, then silver-reflective, then black...and then when it gets closer to the ground, it alternates between a cube and sphere shape. Below are two stills showing this an example of this. The shots are from a capture I filmed in Topanga Canyon, a well known UFO hot-spot that I'll write about later.
This is the object taking form as a rectangular object.
Less than a full second before, the object was a sphere.
In the video I'll post here at another time, it almost looks like a luminous object of airborne mercury.
No Sound
Some observers have heard objects emit a humming sound, but a good majority of the time, no sound is heard at all. This has been one of the more remarkable aspects of the experiences for some...seeing a huge object the size of a football field, making no sound.
May split or converge.
People have often seen an object appear, and then suddenly split into four or five other objects which fly independently for awhile, before they re-converge into one object and taking off.
Bright, luminous, changes colour.
Many of these unknowns have been observed glowing very brightly, both during night and daytime sightings. A good example is the object captured and discussed in the last post, which was shining extremely brightly over a windy Saturday afternoon sunny sky. So far I have been unable to find any videos of LED balloons in the sky during the day, and I highly doubt they would shine that brightly under an afternoon sun in March.
I'll say now, by personal experience, if you see a shiny floating object in the sky during the daytime, don't just assume its a mylar balloon. There may be way more to the object than first meets the eye.
Hopefully this answers some beginning questions for the average person who hasn't heard much about this phenomenon, but after perhaps encountering what they think might be their first sighting, thinks they are ready to learn a bit more.
I've had quite interesting experiences since I've become aware of what is going on in our skies. I'll move on to the next experience...and others reaction to the video of it, in my next article.


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Today has been the most awesome day. Not because anything particularly excellent happened to me. It didn't. Nothing great really happened either. But everything seemed to go just right. For starters, I got to sleep in until 9 am. Oh heaven! That was awesome. Then, I got to go out in the arctic cold (-12 without wind chill) and go to the gym where I had an absolute butt busting workout. I got home, played with the baby and with Dan for a while, and then- the best part of my day- I finally got a handle on the laundry.
People tell you when you have a baby that all these surprising things are going to happen. You'll be amazed at how much you love him, you'll be surprised by how little sleep you can function on, you'll be amazed at how much you have to say about your child's poop, etc. One thing I wasn't expecting was how much laundry I would have to contend with. If you don't have any kids, you're probably thinking- come on he's only a little guy, how much more laundry can he generate? Well I do have a kid, and I am still bamboozled by this.
The truth is, I don't know. I don't know how it is that I always seem to be in some sort of semi-panicked state of laundry mayhem. Today for example, there were three baskets of folded, semi-folded, or just heaped up clean laundry. One basket of dirty laundry, and a floor covered in both. The linen closet was piled with dirty towels , and lets not even talk about the basement. It's not as though Parker really contributes that much more to my laundry piles, but some how, it the laundry has become a never ending cycle of guilt and work.
Thank goodness Dan didn't have to work until 4pm, and could watch the baby while I girded my loins and tackled the beast. In doing so I managed to psych myself into a full fledged cleaning frenzy. Which felt good. Who knew the day would come when cleaning and getting laundry done would feel so great?
And why all the hoopla about some stinky clothes? It must be something to do with all this resolution talk floating around the blogosphere (is that a word? If not, can I claim it is?). Before I went to bed last night, I was writing in my journal (amazing, I know) about all the things that I want to get done. I didn't even get to list the big things like "write a book" or "run a 5k". This is because the state of utter madness which has prevailed in my house had finally gotten to me.
Weird I know. But now that that madness is over (until Monday that is. Two days with both Dan and I working always leads to the house becoming an absolute disaster zone), I can focus on cooler things I'd like to do. And how to achieve them.
As far as the 5k goes, I took the advice of Roz and other friends and am doing the Couch to 5k Challenge. I started today- part of that great workout I was chattering about. That is step one. Step two is to find a 5k in my area to join, so that I will be more motivated toward a goal.
And for the rest, I'll have to ponder them tonight and present my plan at a later date. It is almost eight, the baby is asleep and there is laundry to be folded!