text:
Sula's Voyage
by Catherine Torres
Publication Date: May 2016
Publisher: Scholastic
Source: Author
Source: Author
Find This Book: Sula's Voyage
Rating: 4/5
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I'm not sure if I was in the position to truly comprehend and appreciate the culture represented in this novel, but I loved to try. The novel included beautiful portrayals of the Philippines and their culture, though some of it might have gone over my head. Divine superstition, kissing elder's hands and the food is mainly what I got from this novel. I'd only read one other book set in the Philippines before, so it was great to leave the usual American setting (Memoirs of a Non-Enemy Combatant by Alex Gilvarry for those interested).
This was a great coming of age book about the main character, 15 year old Sula, with some fantasy elements and romance swept in for good measure, which was really cool. The book wasn't particularly focused on Sula's magical healing powers; in fact they weren't even 100% confirmed until the very end of the book. Instead it was about Sula's self-identity and family. As the daughter of a marine science researcher she constantly moves and changing schools which can't be easy when searching for stability and a place one can call home.
On a different note, a major plot point was that Sula was made fun of for her dark skin, which contrasts starkly from her family's pale skin. Her father's parents even seemed to disown them because Sula was a "bastard" child. This plot point left me extremely confused. Maybe it's a difference of culture? I don't understand why Sula's parents didn't just admit and say that she was adopted to begin with. Obviously she is not theirs, so why pretend up to the point where you have a fake story of her birth and the father's parent's believe you has an affair with a dark skinned man? Does it really matter that she's not their flesh and blood? That's pretty much the only thing that bothered me with this novel, but again it could just be a cultural thing that I'm not getting? But at the end this was kinda swept under the rug really fast and they became a happy family again without much discussion about them lying to her about her heritage after all these years. This is the one thing that detracted from the book for me.
I thought that Sula's relationship with her parents, especially her dad, was really cute. The story starts out with Sula being in her father's college classes because she decided to not go back to her high school. She hits it off with another student named James until he mysteriously disappears and her mother sweeps her off to The Cove, the home of her Mother's best friend. More characters are then introduced including the best friend, her husband, and their three children, which whom Sula has intricate relationships with. My favorite was probably her newly formed relationship with the daughter, Mira. Beach bonding and fire dancing was just so sweet and fun to read. It wasn't even a big part of the book but it really is all about the little moments adding up, and this was done really well by Catherine Torres! This was an extremely enjoyable and easy read and my biggest problem with it is that there should be more! There's lots of nice details in the book and it overshadows the relationships a bit, but I wouldn't want the details cut either. Making the book a bit longer would have been worth it to show off the different relationships at a deeper level!
I don't normally do this, but a quote really got to me and this review wouldn't feel right without me sharing it. The quote was Tita Lupe's (who is dying of cancer) last words:
"The sea had salt enough without us adding our tears to it"
This simple eloquence really made me think, which is exactly what a great book should do!
Another thing that I loved was Sula's relationship with James. He was mentioned before as her fellow classmate and love interest in the novel. I felt like their relationship was important to the novel, but it didn't become the center point or take over the plot. Furthermore, they actually had interesting and intelligent conversations instead of the clichéd jabs-back-and-forth-until-the-inevitable-kiss. This as not only refreshing, but also extremely thought-provoking to read. Particularly their first conversation alone when James discusses his project about turning the sea waves into music. This reminded me of the sort of smart, creative, weirdness that my own friends get into. It again wasn't a huge plot point in the novel, but it was probably my favorite part. I love getting to learn new things and the second I read this I immediately texted them up about what a cool concept this would be!
All in all, I'm glad I had the opportunity to read this book and it's no surprise this was an Asian Book Award finalist!


text:
Whether you're a hitchhiker, a digital nomad or a holidaymaker, South America is absolutely phenomenal. Let's not hold off on that long-desired trip to the southern hemisphere any longer! Here's your randomly ordered justification to go ahead and get south the coming year: 1. Pick up fifty shades of Spanish! South America is very Read more >
Butterflies & the Bolivian Border
I've arrived in Bolivia! Here I was taking a *butterfly break with the backpack before hitchhiking to the Paraguayan border with Bolivia in Gran Chaco. This was one of the most difficult roads I've ever hitchhiked in terms of traffic, road quality, temperature and water availability – and it took four days! Luckily, it's the Read more >
Paraguay from the Back of a Pick-Up Truck
Just another day at the office… for a hitchhiker! Today I hitchhiked in the back of this pickup truck towards Mariscal, the last village with a sizeable population in Paraguay before the border with Bolivia – and that's still 250km away! In Paraguay you usually get your entrance/exit stamps in your passport at the migration Read more >
Welcome to Paraguay
Paraguay! I've been weirdly and inexplicably excited about going to this country for a while now and I'm finally here. Hitchhiking is fairly easy and yesterday I did 400km in seven rides to get to the capital city of Asuncion, which doesn't sound like a lot unless you factor in the road quality in certain Read more >

subset: commoncrawl


text:
To get in touch with us, send us an email, call, or direct your mail carrier to the address listed here.
The Pixel Shop
561 Bloor Street West, 3rd Floor
Toronto, Ontario
view map
E: email@example.com
Recently recognized as IDEA System of the Year, Markham District Energy is a thermal energy system serving Markham Ontario. When it was time to rebuild their site on a modern web platform, The Pixel Shop was chosen to make it happen.
We worked with the client to create a modern, vibrant site that is a better reflection of this forward-thinking organization. It's responsive, and built on an easy to manage content management system. Wins all around.


text:
Did you know that your vaccines were made by a corporation whose president led the US' biological warfare program? This video explains.
Merck and Co created the HPV vaccine Gardasil, the MMR vaccine, and others.
During the middle of World War II, George W. Merck, president of pharmaceutical company Merck and Co was in charge of the War Research Service, the biological warfare division of the Federal Security Agency in the US military.
George W. Merck secretly led the biological warfare agency during the same years he was the president of Merck and Co.
His trusting customers had no idea he was in charge of a secret biowarfare program: they only saw his face on the cover of Time Magazine, as he was lauded as some kind of hero for health.
His War Research Service was in charge of Ft. Detrick, in Maryland. Academic institutions participated in the War Research Service: the same prestigious colleges that promoted eugenics for decades leading up to World War II, such as Harvard and Stanford.
Ft. Detrick was a mad science center, and it produced biological warfare experiments on Americans. It produced the plan to spray San Francisco with the infertility causing bacteria Serratia marcescens.
Their techniques were improved with the aid of paperclipped **** scientist Kurt Blome. Kurt Blome was brought to the US from Germany to advise biowarfare experts at Ft. Detrick. He had a history of experimenting on victims with the dreadful Black Death, or Bubonic Plague.
In the very beginning of these biowarfare efforts at Ft. Detrick, that would lead to the spraying of San Francisco, George W. Merck was there.
George retired from Merck and Co in 1953, years after his retirement from biowarfare. Immediately following his departure, Merck manufactured Eli Lilly's polio vaccine, which was found to be contaminated with the cancer causing virus SV40.
Today, Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil has injured and killed thousands.
Those who wonder about the malicious intent of mandatory vaccination have been searching for answers: this history is sure to open to door to a lot of answers about why Merck's vaccines are killing people today.
Yet governments are pushing to make their vaccines mandatory as if people aren't getting hurt. Recently, a person of influence's daughter was injured by the HPV vaccine.
Sacramento, California District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert realized the HPV vaccine is dangerous when her son was injured by it. According to the Sacramento Bee:
"It was Sept. 12, 2016 – a typical work day. Schubert faced a full schedule of meetings as soon as she dropped her two boys off at school. But first, she needed to take her older son in for a quick doctor's appointment.
Not long after they arrived at the doctor's office, her 12-year-old son was unconscious and unresponsive on the floor, and Schubert was screaming at nurses and other hospital attendants for help.
One moment, she said, he was standing there. Then he passed out, tumbling backward without using his hands to break his fall. "His head slammed full force onto the floor, which was like concrete," Schubert said. "For a moment, I thought he was dead."
He wasn't dead, but within an hour, Schubert and her family would learn that her son suffered a severe skull fracture from the fall. And within weeks, they would learn something even more horrifying: The boy now was deaf in his right ear because of the trauma he experienced when his head hit the ground.
The details of her son's fall continue to haunt Schubert. "At that time, my son never called me Mommy," she said. "But (when he came to) he was crying, 'Mommy! Mommy! I want to go home.'"
While at the doctor's office at Kaiser Permanente in Elk Grove, Schubert was informed that her son was due for his vaccination for human papillomavirus, which is given to boys and girls at age 11 or 12."
Too many people have been injured by Merck's vaccines for the issue to remain unnoticed: it's time for this issue to blow up and for the history to be known. Please share this with as many people as possible.


text:
From addy_157140
by Beatdacore
Poncan Gadang Island is a beautiful island near Sibolga city with a nice star rated hotel. The hotel here offers many water sports activities, including diving trips, and a relaxing atmosphere, and a nice view towards the Sibolga waterfront.
There is a hill behind the resort with nice views and a Japanese made cave, not yet explored. The drawback is its closeness to Sibolga making the water less inviting. They arrange tours to their island of Mursala Island, Putih (White) Island, where there are five bungalows. In this resort, diving equipment is available.
Thing to Do: Swimming, Fishing, Scuba Diving, Snorkling, Sun Bathing, Water Skiing, Speed Boat Trips, Power Boating, Taking Photo, Jungle Trekking, Camping, etc
Getting There: Take Ferry from Belawan Seaport (2 hours crossing Malacca Straits)
Source: toursumatra.com
From addy_157140
by Beatdacore
Poncan Gadang Island Map
Poncan Gadang Island Video
Video by: rickynelsonak
Last edited by lenstraffic; 24-04-2012 at 09:59.


text:
2003 Mercedes-Benz SL 500 5.0 V8 from Spain
Fantastically beautiful, but don't buy one unless you have deep pockets
Glove box failure - adjustment required.
Torque converter failed along with the entire transmission - complete rebuild required from specialist at a cost of Euro 2700 (after paying Mercedes dealer 800 euros for gearbox oil change and valve plate.
Rear wheel arch rust bubbles - done by Mercedes independent specialist.
SBC module "expired" - replaced by Mercedes dealer at a cost of 2000 euros.
Roof misalignment broke black plastic strips either side of the rear screen - cost 400 euros from an indie.
General Comments:
Beautiful. Not overly powerful. Looks a million dollars. However it's massively expensive to run - I have spent thousands and thousands of euros on this car - probably something like 7000 euros since I bought it.
The SBC pump thing, which cost me 2k, is a joke - it basically "expires" - doesn't break down, just NEEDS replacing due to the number of brake applications - dash says it's unsafe to drive the car. Yes I know you can buy a module from eBay which cancels it, but sorry I am not risking my life and others too driving a 2 ton car which just might have complete brake failure.
Despite all of the above, I love it dearly though!!
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know
Review Date: 28th February, 2016


text:
Cheers to Irrfan Khan for his tour de force on In Treatment.
Want more Cheers & Jeers? Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine.
The intensely charismatic Bollywood veteran best known in the U.S. for his role as the police inspector in Slumdog Millionaire has been the breakout star of the HBO therapy drama's third season as Sunil, a widowed Indian immigrant who clashes with his Anglo daughter-in-law (Lost's Sonya Walger). In the season finale, Sunil was deported back to India after a physical confrontation — but not before he revealed this had been his plan all along and that he'd used shrink Paul (Gabriel Byrne) as his pawn.
Khan's talent for depicting deception and manipulation should serve him well in his next major role — as Nels Van Adder, aka supervillain Proto-Goblin, in director Marc Webb's upcoming big-screen revamp of Spider-Man (not to be confused with the seemingly ill-fated Broadway musical). Our Spidey senses tell us that will win Khan even more fans.
Did Irrfan Khan impress you on In Treatment?


text:
I work with a lot of Esri users to help them successfully implement ArcGIS within their organization. Customers reach out to us because they are often challenged in a few key areas:
- Seeking ways to reduce the time it takes to install and configure our products
- Getting started and building proficiency
- Maximizing effectiveness and productivity of the implementation (which could include data, maps, apps, etc.)
These are common challenges as our users are often supporting many roles within their organization (analysts, managers, system administrators, etc.) and often have limited bandwidth to roll out the latest version of our products.
I find our users can experience a much quicker time to value and improved productivity through a services package. In these services packages, we often focus on a few best practices:
- Considering the needs of all stakeholders
- Supporting quick wins through understanding customer needs and configuring maps and apps to meet those needs
- Building a better user experience
Please find attached a flyer that can be used a resource to read and understand more about some of our product and subject matter expert specific services packages (ArcGIS GeoEvent Server, ArcGIS Monitor, Insights for ArcGIS, etc.)


text:
If your are thinking of selling things on the web, you should consider some way in which you can accept credit cards on your web site.
Today consumers have the utmost convenience of buying goods and services via the net on a web site from the comforts of their offices or homes. Consumers are becoming more and more comfortable with online purchasing and want to pay with a credit card because it's fast, convenient, and safer than ever before.
Credit card acceptance is now so widespread online that you will lose customers to your competitors if you cannot accept payments directly through your site.
Credit card payments on a web site allow you to take advantage of impulse buyers. They have means of making a purchase immediately, and prefer to make payments online with their credit cards.
First Data Independent Sales provides Internet merchant account and payment gateway package available that will enable you to process credit card transactions in real time on your website. You do not need to host your site with us to use this Internet merchant account and gateway package. It can be integrated with any website as long as the website includes a shopping cart.
Credit card payment is a tremendous convenience if your customers are overseas. It automatically takes care of the problems of currency differences as well as the time it takes for a cheque to travel to the vendor. You will lose a large number of overseas customers if cheque payment is the only way you can accept payment.


text:
ALPIANE - spray naturel de coiffage
L OREAL PROFESSIONNEL - LOREAL - Hair Spray
on the market
directly from the factory
click here
Compra al
del mercato
direttamente dal produttore
eco-friendly without gas
The professional formula of ALPIANE guarantees a high yield because it contains only pure product and allows extended use, even in a closed environment, without any hassle.
ALPIANE, suitable for all hair types and for all the work techniques and drying, model, fixed and gives volume without weighing down the hair.
is available in two types :
- ALPIANE NORMAL FORMULA, dries fast and a normal fixation and sealing prolonged hairstyle.
- ALPIANE STRONG FORMULA ensures a strong hold and a prolonged seal hairstyle.
method of use : on slightly damp or dry hair : spray at the roots or on the whole hairstyle holding the bottle about 30 cm. to ensure the ideal distribution of the product.
box: 250 ml bottle


text:
Is it just me or do you miss getting drunk around a campfire and telling true ghost stories without a care in the world for such things as "facts" or "credible sources"? Okay, sometimes the campfire was the living room coffee table, but there was always beer.
I was very happy to discover that I could eavesdrop on someone else's barstool ramblings of the mysteries of the universe, complete with tangents and amusing life stories. So, shout out to the Rigor Mortis Paranormal podcast for the nostalgia, and for the inspiration for this little bit of flash.
This little ditty is inspired by Episode 26: Phantom Killer.
The Hunter
The tap, tap of my shoes cheers me, and it sets my grit against the crumbling buildings that have too many street lights broken. The shadows have things larger than rats and stray dogs, I know that, but I am vigilant.
He still he grabs me, and it doesn't work when I twist my arms the way the self-defense videos showed, and I have no time to react before the soul crushing whump thud crunch of the plastic lined trunk traps me. I can barely hear the engine over my panic as regrets scream in my ears and 'I told you so's laugh at me in the dark.
After the eternity of a nightmare, a hand comes for me, jerks my hair hard enough to tumble me crashing to the dirt and gravel below. Slow, sensual laughter runs a steady beat under something that must be my screams, can't breathe, taste blood in my throat and maybe I will scream myself to death.
Stones claw my legs and back as I grab his hands above my head, trying to keep my scalp from peeling away like it wants to, and he drags me.
I see an old barn and feel sudden hope I might be rescued, relieved and excited, but I see there is no help around except for three frightened children. They can't be hurt, I pray for them, that they would not be seen by him and would not follow us as the dark woods at the edge of the field that swallow me and the monster. I pray for all of us, to anyone that will hear.
Brambles and sharp broken sticks tear at me, and will it be the man who kills me or some snake? My body will not rest in a soft lined casket, and my soul screams because I know I will be eaten by squirming things and creatures will chew on my bones.
I stop thinking when I see the wolves. The largest one stands with his eyes locked with the monster, his low song of anger smothering the man's chilling laughter.
I can't tell if I fainted or not and a mist is forming right where the man can't see. A woman in the mist reaches her hand to me, pours into me, and I am swimming, falling, flying, but also my body is moving, and I am somehow free of him and standing up.
I feel a line of strength running through my body and it dances and a flick sends my leg under the man, sends him tumbling through the air, but cat-like he lands in a crouch.
I start moving, I see the flash of silver in his hand, but I am already disarming him. Then, somehow, I have my hand in his hair, holding his face locked on mine. I raise a hand and strike as if to punch, but there is a sliding wet pop and my fingers are curled inside the sockets of his eyes.
He screams, part of me screams with him in revulsion and terror, the wolves howl in delight, and I smile someone else's smile with someone else's satisfaction in my heart, and I step back to watch the wolves leap in and carry him off into the dark.
I flick my wrist and a wave of something within me rushes down the broken trail, setting broken things back into place, pushing the blood into the earth. The moment of horror erases itself from the land.
With a sigh she steps from me, and the woman in the mist smiles. A voice of starlight whispers through me as she speaks, "Child, you have done well and being weaker is not your fault, but you will be stronger if you find the warrior in your soul. Let your instincts guide you. I might not be around to hear your prayers next time."
Then she blows me a kiss, wiggles her fingers goodbye, and with a parting flick of her wrist I suddenly know how to find my way out of the woods and to safety.
P.S. – Yes, this is another repost, but this week at least I've written up a better explanation for the lack of new content.


text: Charter Bus Rules vs Transit 1/27/2016 12:48:00 PM View Count 2301 Effective April 1, 2008, new Charter Bus Rules were issued by the FTA which explain what a charter trip is and who can perform the trip. View the Charter Service Rule to find out if transit authorities are doing charter work in violation of federal law. Read More


text:
Sold Out.
Your baby will be ready for Halloween in this classic Pumpkin Infant Costume! The adorable costume includes a plush orange jumpsuit with black friendly jack-o-lantern lace, matching hat with a green stem, and orange leggings (not pictured) in case the air is a little chilly. Your little one will be the cutest pumpkin in the patch this year!


text:
Alexander Skarsgård has opened up about how his Swedish military experience has helped to advance his acting career.
While appearing on Live with Regis and Kelly earlier today, the True Blood star confessed that Sweden's mandatory military service led him to earn one of his first major roles.
"I worked on another HBO show before True Blood called Generation Kill," Skarsgård said. "And it helped a lot. That guy was also a team leader sergeant and that's what I did in the navy in Sweden."
When asked if women commonly request to bite him, the 34-year-old explained that most female fans prefer to be bitten.
"It's more common that they want me to bite them," Skarsgård said. "Because I play a vampire on the show. You don't bite a vampire. What's the point?"
Finally, Skarsgård cited his Swedish upbringing as the reason that he is so comfortable with being completely naked.
"I'm from Sweden," the actor explained, before going on to joke: "Let's get naked."
"I'll hold your pants," show host Regis Philbin responded.
Skarsgård recently split from his longtime girlfriend Kate Bosworth.
Last month, the actor joined the cast of the Viking film The Vanguard
Watch Alexander Skarsgård's interview on Live with Regis and Kelly below:


text:
Thanks to the wonderful students from Forest Green for their great thank you video below and for their thoughtful questions. Thanks also to their great teachers, Corre Mahan and Lesley Cameron, for the nice follow-up e-mail and for coordinating this! You can also see the entire video of Roshan and Jeff's interview at the bottom of this post.
I would be remiss if I didn't also thank Principal George Couros from Forest Green School for sharing so much about his school (especially his awesome students) with Principals and teachers all over the world.


text:
"What was good for our country," a former president of General Motors once declared, "was good for General Motors, and vice versa." G.M., which has been losing billions, has announced that it will eliminate 30,000 jobs. Is what's bad for General Motors bad for America?
In this case, yes.
Most commentary about G.M.'s troubles is resigned: pundits may regret the decline of a once-dominant company, but they don't think anything can or should be done about it. And commentary from some conservatives has an unmistakable tone of satisfaction, a sense that uppity workers who joined a union and made demands are getting what they deserve.
We shouldn't be so complacent. I won't defend the many bad decisions of G.M.'s management, or every demand made by the United Automobile Workers. But job losses at General Motors are part of the broader weakness of U.S. manufacturing, especially the part of U.S. manufacturing that offers workers decent wages and benefits. And some of that weakness reflects two big distortions in our economy: a dysfunctional health care system and an unsustainable trade deficit.
According to A. T. Kearney, last year General Motors spent $1,500 per vehicle on health care. By contrast, Toyota spent only $201 per vehicle in North America, and $97 in Japan. If the United States had national health insurance, G.M. would be in much better shape than it is.
Wouldn't taxpayer-financed health insurance amount to a subsidy to the auto industry? Not really. Because most Americans believe that their fellow citizens are entitled to health care, and because our political system acts, however imperfectly, on that belief, tying health insurance to employment distorts the economy: it systematically discourages the creation of good jobs, the type of jobs that come with good benefits. And somebody ends up paying for health care anyway.
In fact, many of the health care expenses G.M. will save by slashing employment will simply be pushed off onto taxpayers. Some former G.M. families will end up receiving Medicaid. Others will receive uncompensated care -- for example, at emergency rooms -- which ends up being paid for either by taxpayers or by those with insurance.
Moreover, G.M.'s health care costs are so high in part because of the inefficiency of America's fragmented health care system. We spend far more per person on medical care than countries with national health insurance, while getting worse results.
About the trade deficit: These days the United States imports far more than it exports. Last year the trade deficit exceeded $600 billion. The flip side of the trade deficit is a reorientation of our economy away from industries that export or compete with imports, especially manufacturing, to industries that are insulated from foreign competition, such as housing. Since 2000, we've lost about three million jobs in manufacturing, while membership in the National Association of Realtors has risen 50 percent.
The trade deficit isn't sustainable. We can run huge deficits for the time being, because foreigners -- in particular, foreign governments -- are willing to lend us huge sums. But one of these days the easy credit will come to an end, and the United States will have to start paying its way in the world economy.
To do that, we'll have to reorient our economy back toward producing things we can export or use to replace imports. And that will mean pulling a lot of workers back into manufacturing. So the rapid downsizing of manufacturing since 2000 -- of which G.M.'s job cuts are a symptom -- amounts to dismantling a sector we'll just have to rebuild a few years from now.
I don't want to attribute all of G.M.'s problems to our distorted economy. One of the plants G.M. plans to close is in Canada, which has national health insurance and ran a trade surplus last year. But the distortions in our economy clearly make G.M.'s problems worse.
Dealing with our trade deficit is a tricky issue I'll have to address another time. But G.M.'s woes are yet another reminder of the urgent need to fix our health care system. It's long past time to move to a national system that would reduce cost, diminish the burden on employers who try to do the right thing and relieve working American families from the fear of lost coverage. Fixing health care would be good for General Motors, and good for the country.
Thomas L. Friedman is on vacation.


text:
tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098806767610764815.post3821664621315234001..comments2020-06-17T03:48:37.764-04:00Comments on My Asian Kitchen: Claypot Chicken RiceMy Asian Kitchenhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098806767610764815.post-52791012081665097762010-02-22T21:48:52.893-05:002010-02-22T21:48:52.893-05:00Hi Lily, Love..Love..Love your blog! I had the ste...Hi Lily, Love..Love..Love your blog! I had the steamed claypot chicken and rice in Beijing last October and can't wait to make it at home. I live in Chicago and have access to a fine Chinatown.Can you reccommed a salted fis? I get overwhelmed when I see the salted fish...I don't know which one to get.
Thanks in advance!
RachelRachel email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098806767610764815.post-14868056272396278302009-10-19T12:39:28.090-04:002009-10-19T12:39:28.090-04:00It's delicious and really made me hungry for i...It's delicious and really made me hungry for it. I have to wait until my next trip home to eat it to my heart's content.pixenhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098806767610764815.post-66424652449973712842009-05-05T14:53:00.000-04:002009-05-05T14:53:00.000-04:00Looks totally different using claypot to cook this...Looks totally different using claypot to cook this rice. I don't have claypot so i used non-stick pot and also minus the "haam yue" :firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098806767610764815.post-44275623832089153152009-05-03T21:44:00.000-04:002009-05-03T21:44:00.000-04:00icook4fun: These day Eliot is more tolerance with ...icook4fun:
These day Eliot is more tolerance with my flavour cooking,maybe he used to it. When you buy claypot ,look for the one I choose,the sale person recomand this coz it's more durable than the traditional one.it's also look better and larger.I think this type was sealed and can tahan hot and cold temp.

sue:
I see you make great chicken rice,look yummy la.Don't worried,look really good!!

tigerfish:
Jom,let's go to hawker stall,outside the street! hahaha!My Asian Kitchenhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098806767610764815.post-78265206684866107182009-05-03T05:32:00.000-04:002009-05-03T05:32:00.000-04:00So hungry now leh......how?So hungry now leh......how?tigerfishhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098806767610764815.post-4080516939309091162009-05-02T17:28:00.000-04:002009-05-02T17:28:00.000-04:00Hey, Lesly, great minds think alike...I made this ...Hey, Lesly, great minds think alike...I made this same dish just a few days ago..but yours looks more appetizing..even my son says how come mine is so plain looking...:-).I'm still busy painting house..so no tine to blog lately...suehttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098806767610764815.post-37433760374920980852009-05-02T12:50:00.000-04:002009-05-02T12:50:00.000-04:00Your claypot chicken rice look great. Wish I can h...Your claypot chicken rice look great. Wish I can have some for lunch now. I have to buy another claypot as the one I always used cracked. Eliot didn't pengsan smelling the fried salted fish?ICook4Funhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
The Holy Trinity Church of England Secondary School Increases Network Reliability for Students by Upgrading to 802.11abg+n Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays
Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi "Power-Play" that delivers the most wireless coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry announced today the deployment of their high performance 802.11abg+n Wi-Fi Arrays across the Holy Trinity School campus in Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom. The Holy Trinity School, a certified math and science specialist college, chose to replace their traditional access point network with Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays in order to gain more bandwidth and reliability for their growing student population and eminent one-to-one initiative.
"From the time our school was established in 1969 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, we have endeavored to provide each student with an exceptional education through implementation of advanced facilities and technologies," said Justin Wheelhouse, Systems Manager at Holy Trinity. "We tasked Xirrus to cover our 25 acre campus with Wi-Fi connectivity to run hundreds of devices over the site as we implement our one-to-one initiative. Xirrus was able to cover all five buildings on campus with fewer devices and installation time while providing more coverage and bandwidth than any other offer we considered. While the solution was being deployed we saw instant benefits; before we had even completed the rollout we were already receiving comments from staff about the reach and reliability of the new network. One teacher gushed 'The new wireless service is AMAZING!!!!!!' while another said we 'could not have made one teacher any happier.'"
Justin continued, "Xirrus provided us with a free site survey and a coverage guarantee which gave us the ability to know the total cost of our wireless deployment before making a decision. Combined with the reliability of the Arrays and after sales service, this allowed us to know exactly what we were getting for our money. In addition, the Array architecture and de-centralized connectivity creates a reliable wireless network that does not have to tunnel all the way back to the server room, effectively reducing network traffic and cable runs. Further exceeding our expectations, the Xirrus network offers the ability to upgrade or introduce new technologies such as VoWiFi at any time. This is an extremely important factor to consider in the continually changing educational field and we are very happy to know that we can rely on our new network through all of our future developments."
"The administration and IT staff at Holy Trinity know how important it is to implement satisfactory Wi-Fi in their classrooms in order to properly integrate technology into the teaching process," said Simon Hollister, Regional Manager at Xirrus. "By upgrading their network, they will be able to focus their time and energy on the educational environment without draining important resources on traditional worries such as the number of users that can be on the network at once or which areas on campus are covered."
Xirrus Press Contact
John Merrill
E-mail: email@example.com
Phone: +1.805.262.1644
About Xirrus
Xirrus, the only Wi-Fi "Power-Play", manufacturers the Wi-Fi Array® architecture that displaces both overlay Wi-Fi offerings and switched Ethernet to the desktop. The Wi-Fi Array integrates 4, 8, 12, 16, or 24 802.11abg+n radios coupled to a high-gain directional antenna system into a single device along with an onboard multi-gigabit switch, Wi-Fi controller, firewall, dedicated Wi-Fi threat sensor, and an embedded spectrum analyzer. The Wi-Fi Array provides more than enough bandwidth, security, and control to replace switched Ethernet to the desktop as the primary network connection. The Xirrus Wi-Fi Array delivers the most coverage, bandwidth, throughput, and user density on a per device and per system basis than anything else available on the market today – resulting in a solution that uses 75% fewer devices, cabling, switch ports, power, space, and installation time compared with any other offering.
Xirrus is a privately-held company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. For more information, please visit www.xirrus.com.
Xirrus – Switching: Without Wires™
Xirrus – High Performance Wi-Fi™
Xirrus – The Air is the Network™
Xirrus – Wi-Fi Array®


text:
It is hard today even to conceive of the glory that surrounded the novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in the first days of his exile from the Soviet Union in 1974. There was something 19th-century about it, reminiscent of an era when writers, more than politicians or entertainers, set the civilizational tone. Solzhenitsyn was walking alone one day on a wooded mountain path outside of Zurich when he encountered a very old Swiss man. "He was astonished to see me," Solzhenitsyn later recalled, "came up to me and with both hands took me by the elbow, looked at me with emotion, and kept looking at me, tears flowing down his cheeks." Crossing the frontier into Italy, Solzhenitsyn was detained for half an hour while the border guards left to get their copies of The Gulag Archipelago for him to sign.
Mathematician, scientist, poet, World War II artillery officer, Solzhenitsyn served years in various far-flung labor camps as punishment for the irreverence toward Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and Stalinism that censors discovered in his letters home from the front. In 1962, during the "thaw" in Soviet culture brought about by Stalin's successor, Nikita Khrushchev, authorities permitted Solzhenitsyn to publish One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, a spare novella about a camp inmate's daily routine. The spareness was what rendered it so devastating. Shorn of elaborate official rationalizations, the camps were not just an unfortunate side effect of building a Communist society. They were Communist society.
The authorities soon realized their mistake. The magazine Novy Mir, Solzhenitsyn's literary home, froze him out — a drama he described in his memoir The Oak and the Calf (1975), written at the end of his time in the USSR. But by now, two novels had been smuggled out of the country. Solzhenitsyn was working in secret on his historical-autobiographical-philosophical masterpiece, The Gulag Archipelago. The Swedish Academy awarded him the Nobel Prize in 1970. After Gulag was published in France in 1973, Solzhenitsyn was arrested, stripped of his citizenship, and expelled from the country. He lived briefly in Switzerland and then, for almost two decades, in Cavendish, Vt.
Exile did not cure him of his compulsive truth-telling. "My overall impression," he wrote of his visit to Stockholm to collect his Nobel in 1974, "was that this was not the highest literary Areopagus in the world." It became apparent that Solzhenitsyn had more on his mind than what Communism had done to him. He was a bold and eccentric man of ideas, most of them Christian, conservative, and running counter to the recent evolution of Western societies. Between Two Millstones is the name of the autobiography that picks up where The Oak and the Calf left off. This first installment covers the years 1974–78; a second volume, coving the years until 1994, will follow. Published in Russian periodicals in the late 1990s and now translated into English, the book charts a striking transformation in how Western readers saw Solzhenitsyn, and how he, in turn, saw himself.
Dissidents are always a little crazy by definition. Everyone has an urge to truth-telling and an urge to self-preservation that, in most cases, outweighs it. A person ready to stand up to a system that has for decades inflicted maximum harm on its critics is, in this sense, an abnormal person. His urges are disordered. There is a cruel paradox of political oppression: The less humane, the more ruthless, the more violent a system, the easier it is to cast someone who opposes it as off his rocker. Whether he overestimates his personal persuasiveness or the public's backbone, a dissident is wrong about something, and his more cowardly fellow citizens can cling to this wrongness as an excuse for ignoring him, mocking him, informing on him.
Vain, Solzhenitsyn was less vain than most dissidents. He had no political deference, but a metaphysical humility had been beaten into him by what he had undergone. Exile was not a "new beginning" for him. He undertook it with dread, and a somewhat unrealistic idea of how tight a link he could maintain to the culture of the old country. He dreamed of establishing a Russian university in Canada that might serve the children of emigrants, "encouraging them to break free from Western satiation and turn toward the rigor of their motherland." He appreciated the archives at the Hoover Institution in California and the writing conditions in Cavendish, but none of that made America home. Solzhenitsyn surrounded his property with chain link, to protect his tranquility and discourage interlopers, including those from the KGB. When he appeared at a town meeting in Cavendish to apologize to hunters and snowmobilers for the inconvenience, he took the opportunity to explain that "Russian" did not mean Soviet and that to confuse the two was to mistake a patient for a disease: "My people, the Russians, have been suffering from it for 60 years already; they long to be healed. And the day will come when they are indeed healed of this Soviet disease. On that day I will thank you for being good friends and neighbors, and will go back to my homeland."
Solzhenitsyn resented fellow émigrés who did not feel this way, especially those who began arriving from Russia in the 1970s, "wily polemicists" who had flagged in their anti-Communist zeal and "given themselves up without resistance to the torrent of Western prosperity."
At no other stage of his life does Solzhenitsyn appear in such an unflattering intellectual light — and not just because this is an unpolished book, clearly done on the side, in time spared from bigger projects. Solzhenitsyn was trapped in a situation in which it was impossible for him to make good decisions. Even after his wife and sons were able to follow him to the West, there were still literally dozens of people engaged in the dangerous work of either hiding or smuggling his Russian archives.
"We had no sense of how things really work in the Free World," Solzhenitsyn recalled — and yet this was precisely the subject on which he was constantly being asked to pronounce. The Swiss lawyer tasked with donating to charity all the royalties from The Gulag Archipelago screwed up the paperwork, and Solzhenitsyn found himself described as a tax cheat on front pages across Europe. Initially grateful to the family that smuggled The Gulag Archipelago out of the Soviet Union in 1968, he discovered that they had still not translated the book five years later but were claiming world rights and agents' fees for his works. He entered a CBS interview "poorly prepared, not realizing who Walter Cronkite was, how left his leanings were, his questions bristling with hidden jabs," and, confused by a poor translation, wound up saying things about recent Soviet exiles that he immediately considered stupid and unfair. "All those years," he writes, "I had acted either within the confines of the Gulag or the USSR, and had been almost free of error in my actions and in sizing people up. But suddenly I had to confront another world that was unknown to me, and here I began making one mistake after another."
About known things he was clear-eyed. He rushed into print a Letter to the Soviet Leaders, a speculative political essay that envisioned the potentially chaotic end of Communism. "A transitional authoritarian period would be necessary," he warned. "We can only be saved by a smooth, gradual descent from the icy cliffs of tyranny." In theory, Solzhenitsyn was naïve, ignoring the way authoritarian governments work to prolong, rather than resolve, the emergencies that bring them to power. The essay was, in Western terms, a mistake, costing him the support of Andrei Sakharov and other prominent exiles. In practice, it was a fairly accurate prediction of what ended up happening in the 1990s, in the lawless aftermath of Communism. "Freedom" permitted Russia to have its assets looted by the only people who knew where its assets lay — the heirs to the former Communist bureaucracy.
Just because there was no censorship in the West didn't mean there were no taboos. Solzhenitsyn had neither the cultural savvy nor the inclination to edulcorate his Russian Orthodox and anti-Communist views for a happy, sappy mainstream press. Westerners who could speak the truth without getting killed were, as he saw it, frittering that freedom away. Increasingly he flung his own truth back in their faces. Fascinated by the simple peasantry of Spain, with its "extremes of godliness and ungodliness" that reminded him of Russia, he made a speaking tour there in the days after strongman Francisco Franco's death: "I had to explain to the people of Spain in the most concise possible terms," he recalled, "what it meant to have been subjugated by an ideology as we in the Soviet Union had been, and give the Spanish to understand what a terrible fate they escaped in 1939." This was not a common view among American diplomats, even at the time. For Winston Lord, a protégé of secretary of state Henry Kissinger, Solzhenitsyn was "just about a fascist."
He was not. He was a writer, a literary writer, sucked into a set of political conflicts he had not chosen. His measures of justice and of the good life were drawn from Dostoevsky and Chekhov, not Eleanor Roosevelt. The least appreciated of his writerly virtues was his capacity for self-criticism. And in exile, coming to see that he had taken for granted certain excellences of Russian (as opposed to Soviet) society, he grew both more patriotic and more tolerant. Solzhenitsyn spends many pages in this volume responding to a 1977 essay by the literary critic Vladimir Lakshin that got under his skin. Lakshin had accused Solzhenitsyn of having been unfair in The Oak and the Calf to the poet Aleksandr Tvardovsky, the Novy Mir editor who had published Ivan Denisovich during the Khrushchev thaw. Indeed, this is the impression that most readers will have formed from that first memoir, even if it was not the one Solzhenitsyn meant to leave. (Nowadays the fascinating thing to an American about The Oak and the Calf is not its strangeness but its familiarity: The form Soviet repression took in the early 1970s has more in common with our own political correctness than with the Stalinist repression of earlier decades.)
Tvardovsky's bravery was sufficient to establish Solzhenitsyn's reputation, but insufficient to protect it, as Khrushchev gave way to the harder line of Leonid Brezhnev. Tvardovsky mumbled excuses and sat on Solzhenitsyn's work. Once his anger cooled, Solzhenitsyn softened his opinion, saying of Tvardovsky and colleagues: "The fairer thing would be to admit that they all acted exactly as their prison-like Soviet conditions bound them to act, and that they could not have done otherwise." In exile, in fact, he marvels at "the calm, dignified, and deep discourse that Novy Mir managed despite its having been shackled within such rigid confines."
Harvard University had invited Solzhenitsyn to speak at its commencement almost as soon as he was driven into exile. Had he visited then, he would have been able to deliver what was expected of him: an expression of "the gratitude of the exile to the great Atlantic fortress of Liberty." Indeed, his early speeches to labor-union leaders and Cold War academics had taken just this tone. But he could not accept Harvard's invitation until 1978, and by then almost half a decade in the West had changed his mind.
Solzhenitsyn had become convinced that, far from being a reliable defender of others' liberty, the West was at risk of fumbling away its own. He saw in the rich nations a "blindness of superiority," a "decline in courage," relativism, litigiousness, and a sense of responsibility to God that was growing "dimmer and dimmer." The speech was a turning point in the Cold War, redrawing all its lines in a way that would anticipate the conflicts of our own time. Indeed it was with this speech during the Carter administration, not with the Putin ascendancy in the first decade of this century, that one first began to hear the progressive complaint that "the true Russia, as opposed to the Soviet Union, is a far greater danger to the West," as Solzhenitsyn lamented. That foolish but durable view is the cornerstone of elite Western thinking about Russia today.
All along, there had been something false about the heady early days of his exile, Solzhenitsyn would later come to suspect: "That incredible and unjustified groundswell that lifted me had been triggered by a mutual lack of understanding." A giant of Western literature and philosophy had taken up residence in the United States, had spoken to the West in a spirit of friendship, and had gone on to write much of his best work there. Yet, within a few years, many of the West's most influential people discovered to their surprise that they distrusted and even detested Solzhenitsyn, much as his Soviet persecutors had — and, alas, for many of the same reasons.


text:
Tag Archives: olive branch
Wedding Stationery} Larissa & Simon's Green and Gold Olive Wreath Romance
Honestly, you cannot beat this colour combo – so elegant and classic, yet has a nice bit of punch to it with those gorgeous greens! Larissa & Simon had a beautiful summer garden wedding at the ever popular Ataahua Garden … Continue reading
Wedding Stationery} Olive Grove Romance
It's beautiful Canterbury days like this – clear blue skies, gentle sunshine and crisp mornings that get me excited for the impending season of spring! And spring means beautiful outdoor weddings – here is NZ we are spoilt rotten with countless … Continue reading
Just My Type} Olive wreath & kraft paper
Ahhh, you can't beat a good wreath, nor beautiful kraft paper! Check them out combined here for the order of service for the lovely Laura & James wedding last year. Their big day was a relaxed affair, styled with olive … Continue reading
Just My Type} Black & white wreath stationery suite
Introducing the latest Ready-To-Go Stationery Suite! This black & white number features an ornate, organic wreath motif and a combination of calligraphy & traditional serif fonts. Enjoy! x Like what you see? Each suite is ready to be customised with … Continue reading


text:
Ground Control To Fanboy: It's Time For Reality Check
Jun 30, 2013
Question: When is a superhero comic not a superhero comic? Answer: When the protagonist may be on the verge of losing his mind, and the story you read may be one that's whispered through a crack in the wall, because the guy on the other side of the wall might be wearing a straight-jacket. Hey, it can happen. It's one of the many possibilities for the new Image Comics series Reality Check (JUL130410). In this PREVIEWSworld Exclusive interview, writer Glen Brunswick reflects on the importance of one fanboy getting a grip.
PREVIEWSworld: The story opens up: Bam! Our main character lives in the middle of Hot Chicks Central, i.e.: North Hollywood, California. He's sketching gorgeous women to make a comic book character, and when his inner thoughts are discovered, he gets in trouble by the women he sketches. Oh, and one of his books was optioned for a film that never got produced. Hmmm. Sounds like a day in the life. Is this the part where you smile and say "Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt?" How does Glen Brunswick relate to the main character, Willard?
Glen Brunswick: How do I relate to Willard? I've definitely spent some time pouring my soul into screenplays that were sold or optioned by studios with high hopes and promises of seeing the light of day that never came to fruition. Not so much writing about beautiful women that smack me around when they discover that I'm writing about them.
I guess that my character and I share the theory that it's better creatively to create for comics where your words not only come out as written but a few months after the work is complete they're actually been published and touch your audience. As opposed to a few screenplays for which I was well paid, but fifteen years later the stories still haven't seen the light of day. Okay, thanks for letting me get that off my chest. I can exhale again.
I also don't sketch my own characters. In my case, I was lucky enough to connect with the extremely talented Viktor Bogdanovic who brings all these idiosyncratic characters to life with all their quirks and expression that truly allows the book to flourish. This is his first Image Comics series, and believe me when I tell you that Image fans are in for a special treat with him. His work on Reality Check absolutely rocks!
PREVIEWSworld: There's a renewed interest in superhero comics, as they're obviously doing well as box office properties. And you touch on that theme in the first issue of your book, with the carrot for Willard's success being to prove just how good he is as a writer. Do you think his predicament is a universal problem for comic book writers? If we were to look at Man of Steel as an example, would it illustrate the conundrum? The challenge of writing a story that may not necessarily be original, but doing it in such a way that it fits in with the times?
Glen Brunswick: I think that some writers are lucky because they have such a strong vision of what they want to accomplish that they can afford to completely ignore the marketplace and forge ahead with their work. And these are the writers that carve out their own unique niche. Then there are the writers that try and pick an area of passion that overlaps with subject matter that is commercially appealing. This is what Willard is attempting when he comes up with the idea of a hero that is more focused on finding love than serving justice. He refers to his hero, Dark Hour, as libidinal Batman.
Man of Steel is a perfect example. How many years did that franchise languish simply because the studio didn't think that the take was relevant enough with the times to justify the massive financial outlay? How many talented individuals' ideas went down in flames — Kevin Smith and Nic Cage among them? It took the Christopher Nolan dark template that had worked so well on Batman in order to assuage Warner's concern that the take would appeal to a modern audience — and yet, at its core, it is still basically the same story beats of Superman.
What Willard doesn't expect is that he does such a good job imbuing his Batman-like hero with his new take — consisting of relatable human frailties — that he creates a situation that actually brings his character to life in the real world. And now that he's here, he's not going back until he finds love with the perfect woman. Willard could live with this situation if it hadn't caused a form of writer's block that's wiped his memory of his story clean from his mind. And if he doesn't get Dark Hour to return to the book he may never be able to continue the only hit series he's ever had. And if that weren't bad enough, the homicidal maniac from the book has come to life to threaten him in his world as well.
PREVIEWSworld: So what does Willard covet? Granted, his brother has had a huge impact on his life, but is Willard really just trying to live the American Dream, or is his character The Dark Hour an extension of his ID that any shrink would love to pick apart in a doctoral thesis?
Glen Brunswick: Willard wants the big hit and recognition, but it's not for the sake of fame. Everything he does is to honor his brother whose death he feels responsible for. He feels that his act of creation is almost an act of resurrection for his brother. He has a chip on his shoulder that his brother was the talented one — the kind of guy who was able to just float through life's difficulties making things easier for the rest of his family. His death left a huge hole in his heart. When Willard is focused on his art, it actually brings him closer to his brother. He's striving to make him proud. You could say that since his brother passed, he's been trying to live his brother's life. The problem is that he's forgotten to live his own.
PREVIEWSworld: The classic underdog who wants his shining moment is basically what we get from issue #1. But Reality Check, by the issue's end, does have us lead up to critical mass. The book's title is appropriate because by the end of the first issue we don't know if Willard is a schizophrenic mess, or if the story will take us on a rocket ride between parallel Earths. So what investment do you have in such a plot? Is this you paying homage to past head-game classics (Alan Moore's "For The Man Who Has Everything"), or is there something else that you're trying to drag into the sunlight?
Glen Brunswick: Willard clearly thinks that he's going crazy, but this isn't a parallel world or a bridge to one. Everything that happens in the book happens in his real world. He's just brought elements from his fantasy world into the "here" and "now" where they will have a lasting impact on him and everyone else that they touch. Will Willard get what he wants in life is actually not as important a question as will he get what he needs. In Moore's "For The Man Who Has Everything," Superman's granted his heart's desire and it all goes horrible wrong.
In Reality Check, the characters that enter our world are actually here to further their own mischievous ends. But it's the takeaway during all the chaos and havoc caused by the characters Willard created that may actually give him a vision of what should be important in life. When chaos comes, if you're lucky, it can sometimes be your mentor. Willard better hope that that's true because things are falling apart in his world. And he better get ready to deal with it.
PREVIEWSworld: Glen, if people want to learn more about your work and stay in touch with you as you develop Reality Check, where should they go online to get more details?
I'll continue to do updates as I have on my Facebook page. I'm also at @glenbrunswick on Twitter. And in the next few weeks I'll set up a Reality Check blog which will update teasers for the series. Our first issue launches on September 4th.


text: MSU at-a-Glance Founded: 1887 as Morehead Normal School Enrollment: More than 10,200 students from 113 Kentucky counties, 45 states and 27 countries Student-faculty ratio: 18 to 1 Average class size: 19 Faculty: 70% of full-time faculty members hold doctoral degrees. Residence Halls: 12 main campus residence halls for MSU students, two residence halls on the University Farm, and one residence hall for Craft Academy students. Undergraduate degree programs: 142 Graduate degree programs: 69 Professional preparations: 21 - Graduates of our professional program preparations are accepted into professional schools, including law and medical schools, at rates that exceed state and national averages. Ranked nationally and regionally for academic programs and student support Percentage of undergraduate students receiving financial aid: Nearly 94% Alumni: more than 68,000 Colors: Blue and gold Mascot: Eagle (a.k.a. Beaker) The campus is ranked among the safest in the nation. We offer more than 100 student clubs and organizations. MSU is recognized by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as an Institution of Community Engagement. MSU was named by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best public regional universities in the South for the 16th consecutive year. Eagle Athletics Information Major in YOU More than 68,000 call MSU their alma mater. They have taken their invaluable education, skills and experience from MSU across the U.S. and internationally. Some have gone on to become an NFL Super Bowl MVP or an NBA 1st round draft pick. Others are making an impact as state legislators, broadcasters or teachers of the year. Wherever we go, the goals, achievements and attitudes of Eagle alumni continue to put MSU on the map. (Updated May 2019) MSU Fight Song MSU Eagles MSU Fight Song Fight, Fight, Fight for Morehead. Fight on, varsity. Ever onward marching To our victory. We're gonna Fight, Fight, Fight for Morehead. Colors gold and blue. Our hopes on you we're pinning, whether losing or winning. Go, you Eagles and fight, fight, fight.


text:
The Dirty Little Secrets art gallery crew is a group of like-minded people that are passionate about art, about erotica, and about the Pacific Northwest. We want to give local artists a venue to share their passions with the rest of the community, so that we all can experience, enjoy and enhance our own perceptions. We are now in our fourth year, and we are growing in incremental steps.
3D art is now being accepted! Please read the rules and the FAQ for more information. We hope you choose to become apart of this growing event! Please join us as an artist, as an attendee, or as a volunteer. We look forward to meeting you!


text:
Product Description
Power connector for the Apple iPhone 7 / 7 Plus - Designed to fit the Ultimate Addons motorcycle charging cable.
Use this connector with the Ultimate Addons direct to battery or Hella / DIN battery cables - both available in kits and sold separately.
If you already have one of the Ultimate Addons or BuyBits bike charger cable you'll know just how versatile it is. Unique design incorporates a waterproof interchangeable plug which allows alternative power cables to be connected so you can power other devices you might own. No need to replace the whole cable once wired to the bike, simply unconnect the charging end and replace it with the one you need. Range sold separately.
Length approx 0.5m. Includes weather cap.
Supplied - 1 x Connector for the iPhone 7 / 7 plus - ONLY fits the Ultimate Addons & BuyBits motorcycle charging cables.
Additional Information
Additional Information
|Bullet 1
|Power connector made to fit the Apple iPhone 7 & iPhone 7 PLUS
|Bullet 2
|Connector designed to fit Ultimate Addons & BuyBits motorcycle charging cables, suitable for both the direct to battery & Hella / DIN versions.
|Bullet 3
|Length approx 0.5m (19.7"). Includes weather cap.
|Bullet 4
|Supplied - 1 x Power connector for the iPhone 7 / 7 Plus - ONLY fits the Ultimate Addons& BuyBits motorcycle charging cables.
|Bullet 5
|Fits Apple
|Apple iPhone 7 Plus (5.5)
|Mounting Type


text:
Apparently, some things are just hereditary…like motion sickness. Every so often, Fussypants yaks milky, chunky, baby-barf all over himself right at the precise moment I pull into his preschool parking lot. For a fleeting instant, one day, I wondered if he did it on purpose so he wouldn't have to go to school. But I let that thought fade as he loves school and so doesn't love being covered in his own stinky, messy puke.
So back to the hereditary part…for years I'd throw-up all over the car too (39 years old and I still get told the story about the time I puked in my shoe with my brother and two cousins in the back seat with me, all piled on each other so they wouldn't touch it)…and I still get motion sick on boats and airplanes….can't ride backwards on a train, sometimes even feel a bit nauseous on swings. I mentioned Fussypant's penchant for puking to my birth mother and she told me she used to get car sick as a child too. So there you have it…three generations of motion sickness passed down. Yippee.
I'm trying a preemptive strike though: the barf bucket. For the two days we've used it, Fussypants has not gotten sick. So far, so good. He does, however, like to make gagging, bulyetch, barf noises into the bucket…I think it echoes when he sticks his head all the way in.


text:
The Value of Clean Ponds to the Environment
The Value of Clean Ponds to the Environment
By Clifford Woods
Environment has remained the most neglected entity in the world throughout history with industrialists and businessmen totally forgetting that they live in a world which they share with other creatures. This neglect of the surroundings we live in has resulted in severe consequences for us humans in the present day and age, which are going to affect our future generations as well. It is for this reason that people nowadays have started putting the environment above everything else. Business corporations and industries have started paying attention to the ecological system and are trying to find out ways to limit the pollution and to preserve our natural resources.
Why Is Cleaning a Pond so Necessary? Ponds are among the environments most polluted components. This is why finding a clean pond has become a rarity nowadays. All the polluted water from the factories and industries is dumped in these ponds, which has caused these freshwater havens for many creatures to become unclean and the breeding ground for mosquitoes and other insects.
Thus, cleaning a pond is not only necessary for providing a healthy environment for useful garden animals like frogs and toads but also for keeping the population of mosquitoes under control.
How to Clean a Pond: For cleaning a pond, the use of an organic cleaner has proven to be vital for the safety of the other animals living in the pond. An inorganic chemical used as a cleaner can prove to be harmful for the aquatic life that lives there and can severely damage their population. Moreover, the use of chemicals also lowers the quality of the water and makes it unsafe for humans as well. Therefore, in order to clean a pond, it is vital that only the use an organic pond cleaner should be attempted, as it would keep the pond clean without posing any threat to the aquatic life that lives there.
Environmental Benefits of Clean Ponds:
A clean pond can be of great value to the environment. Not only does a pond make the atmosphere cleaner and provide water and a breeding place for many animals, it also provides people a chance to enjoy nature in its purest form.
In addition to this, clean ponds are great substitutes for gardens and since they have no grass they do not need to be mowed every few days, thus they save a lot of electricity that would have been used in mowing the lawns.
Another great environmental benefit of a clean pond is that its underwater soil is nutrient rich and can be used as natural fertilizer for in-door plants, thus saving a person the need to use chemical fertilizer for nourishing his plants. As the ponds do not require as much water because of their ability to store water from rainfall, they keep the water consumption down and help in saving water as well.
It is because of these amazing environmental benefits that ponds are considered an important constituent of our ecological system and are of great value to us. Having a clean pond is a blessing for a community or a household as it keeps the natural balance and provides a soulful place for the people to relax and enjoy the beauty of nature.
Therefore, if you want to enjoy the ecological benefits that a clean pond can provide then always remember to use organic cleaners for cleaning your pond.
* * *
Clifford Woods is the CEO of Effective Environmental Services and Organic Environmental Technology.
Find out more about Natural Pond Cleaners
We brew Beneficial Microorganisms that eat toxins and offer Environmentally Friendly Products


text:
Unlock Resources
You will be redirected in 5 . If Not Click Here to download PDF
Thanks to mother nature, the Paracoccus carotinifaciens microorganism contains various carotenoids which will sustain the fish color but also participate to its good health. The most important of these being astaxanthin.
Learn more about why natural is important
Download Technical Data PDF
When compared to synthetic pigment, Panaferd provides an efficient and stable color to the fish flesh with equivalent colorimetric characteristics (Minolta measures). Fillets are visually indistinguishable in both color intensity and hue from fish treated with synthetic astaxanthin. The graph below depicts Atlantic salmon SalmoFan scores (commonly used industry tool) between synthetic astaxanthin and Panaferd. No significant differences can be noticed.
Panaferd-AX does not contain any additives such as antioxidants. Once packed in its strongly built bag, the product stability will remain in excellent condition for at least 2 years from manufacturing date. After the bag has been opened prompt use is recommended, (about 1 month stored at 25°C max).
At the feed plant, the stability of Panaferd is considered to be equivalent to that of synthetic astaxanthin. During the production process, especially after extrusion and drying, retention is estimated to be up to 90% depending on specific feed production conditions and equipment. The stability of Panaferd in feed in storage is also comparable and dependent on temperature and local conditions. Nevertheless, feeds containing pigment should not be stored for long periods of time.
On salmon and trout, several trials confirmed the excellent stability of Panaferd carotenoids over time during frozen conditions (graph below). Similar results are obtained in other fish processing conditions such as smoked trout and smoked salmon.
Our team and facilities are available for any technical support you may need.
Panaferd-AX is a ready-to-use dry red powder in a vacuum-packed 20 kg bag (2 units per carton) or 500 kg jumbo bag.
Panaferd-AX is to be mixed into the feed meal prior to the extrusion process. This product is not suitable for post-extrusion application.
Depending on varying conditions such as fish species, water temperature, feed ingredients, salmon fan target, Panaferd-AX inclusion has to be adapted and adjusted for its optimization. Inclusion is usually based on the astaxanthin concentration of the salmon feed and varies from 20 to 60 mg/kg of feed.
Our experts are available to recommend the optimum pigmentation program required to your conditions and expectations.


text:
What is driving people to online shopping
It is more economical to create an online store, than to own an actual one made of bricks. (See http://branded-usb-flash-drives.co.za/)
Affordable, decent servers (like the dedicated server WebEZ owns) make for fast usage.
To know your Product is one thing, but to know your client is the other:
- There are 51 Million people in South Africa, but only 5 Million of the population has buying power...
(click on top header to read more...)
- 6 Million of black consumers make up the buying sector.
- Only 1% of Woolworths and Pick & Pay's business is online.
- Most online customers are ladies
- Women are more likely to shop with companies which have loyalty schemes.
- Good service is very important to consumers. (Online Service includes snappy response on email and online queries as well as speedy delivery of products)
- Online Stores need to be verified to create trust with first-time shoppers. SABWA is a Verification Bureau for Website Business Authentication
There are Four Types of Online Shoppers
Our Youth (knows more about technology than the bright webdeveloper
New shoppers – 60% do research, but only 25% actually buy
Window shoppers or browsers - at least its done from the couch - and not the irritation created by walk-ins
Seasoned Shoppers – these shoppers are used to service and quality and will not visit a site that does not look the part, or give bad service.
We tell all our new WebEZ website clients the same thing over and over. Anyone can own an online store AND have their website ranked with us on the first page of Google and Bing, but not all will be successful, Why? Because you need to sell a solution not just a product. Retailers now have global competition, because people can shop anywhere in the world and have products delivered (even Iced Tea from Iceland).
So finally - what do customers want out of their Online Shopping Experience?
- Convenience (A website that is professionally designed and easy to use, plain layout that is easy on the eye, if you are not sure, leave it white!)
- Good Price in comparison to your competitors - remember a browser will shop until the third page of Google! That means 30 other prices will be considered.
- Selection - it is always good to have an array of products - giving the browser better options
- Customer reviews - have a space on your site for customers to review your product and service. Yes, its fine to have a bad review - don't remove it! It shows that you are human after all - and if a review reports shows NO bad reviews it creates suspicion.
- Presentation and level of service is very important – it must stay consistent.
- Don't promise what you cannot deliver!
- Have a good Social Network and build up a fan base. Post regularly to your followers, trends, specials, whats on's and more...
If you need anymore info regarding shopping online call WebEZ and make that change.


text: What a fabulous person to kickstart the podcast - the woman who not only epitomises the "seize the yay" life philosophy, but who has dedicated her life to helping others do the same. Yep, our first guest is the entrepreneur for entrepreneurs, Lisa Messenger - CEO of Messenger Group, founder of globally acclaimed Collective Magazine, prolific author, inspiring speaker and all-round legend.When I met her a few years ago, I was completely taken aback by her uncensored, down to earth and crazily passionate nature belying the seriously successful CEO that she is on paper. She hasn't changed one bit and is all the more inspiring for her openness and authenticity. Her latest book, Risk and Resilience, shares in surprising detail the nitty gritty of her rollercoaster closure of the much-loved Collective Magazine and we caught up to chat a bit more about why the biggest loss in her career has turned out to be a blessing in disguise.If there's anything I wanted for Seize the Yay, it's to show some of the less glamorous behind the scenes of finding your "yay" and explore the ups and downs of creating a life you love. Lisa has gotten us off to an amazing start, showing the importance of pivoting, cultivating resilience and finding the silver lining.+ Show notes are available here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!


text:
- CA OTUTF MS Coll. 00050
- Manuscript Collection
- 1929 - 2008
Collection contains personal and professional papers pertaining to Robertson Davies. This includes material relating to Davies' early life, including writing and acting as a student at Upper Canada College (1929-1932), his studies at Baillol College at Oxford (1935-1938), and participation in theatrical performances in Kingston, Oxford, the Old Vic Theatre, Peterborough and the Stratford Festival (1934-1960). The papers contain a small amount of material related to Davies' career as a journalist at Saturday Night magazine and the Peterborough Examiner. These papers contain extensive material on the novels, books and writing of Davies. This includes drafts, proofs, correspondence, reviews, clippings and any stage adaptations of his novels from The Salterton Trilogy (Tempest-Tost, Leaven of Malice and A Mixture of Frailties), The Deptford Trilogy (Fifth Business, The Manticore and World of Wonders), The Cornish Trilogy (The Rebel Angels, What's Bred in the Bone and The Lyre of Orpheus) and the incomplete Toronto Trilogy (Murther and Walking Spirits and The Cunning Man). Also included are a complete set of original drafts and woodcuts for the Penguin edition covers of Davies' novels, which were designed by the American printmaker Bascove. Limited material related to his essays, short stories and non-fiction publications, notably including Shakespeare's Boy Actors, A Voice from the Attic, High Spirits and his books of fictional essays by Samuel Marchbanks are a part of the papers. Additionally, the collection includes considerable records relating to Davies' contributions to anthologies as well as professional writing in academic journals, newspapers and magazines. These papers encompass Davies' career as a playwright, including material related to twenty-two original works including drafts, scripts, photographs, posters, playbills and clippings, as well as the complete papers relating to the production of The Golden Ass which was staged after Davies' death. The collection contains a large sampling of correspondence of both a professional and personal nature spanning from 1934 to his death in 1995. Also included in the collection is material related to the professional career of Davies' as a well-known Canadian writer, this includes photographs and press clippings as well as speeches and commentaries made by Davies and his awards. Records also pertain to academic and trade writing on Davies and his work, most notably a complete set of interviews conducted with family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances by Val Ross during the course of her writing Robertson Davies: A Portrait in Mosaic (2009). Papers also relate to the eighteen years Davies spent as the Master of Massey College beginning in 1963. Including articles on the founding of Massey College, the death of Vincent Massey, newsletters, teaching material and invitations and programmes for the annual Christmas Gaudy, printed on the Massey College Press. Also included is a small amount of personal records including travel records, calendars, real estate and list of personal effects. Finally, the collection contains a series dedicated to the collecting practices of Dr. Rick Davis, who collected and assembled these papers. This includes Davis' invoices and notes for his Davies material, as well as correspondence including exchanges with Robertson Davies, Moira Whalon, Brenda Davies and Jennifer Surridge.
Davies, Robertson


text:
Content Writer
Budget ₹12500-37500 INR
We are looking for content writer for our website daily basis blog, article, PR and web page content need.
Content must be fresh and good quality, you can work from home also as a freelance writer.
We can pay Rs. 60-70 per article or blog word estimate around 500 word call us at our number or send your profile resume at our email id with some article / blog sample ( posted or unposted ) any topic, if you are interested. Male and female both can apply for this opportunity.
18 freelancers are bidding on average ₹23271 for this job
Greeting!. Yours work is one of the tasks that can be done very perfectly by us. We work within your budget, Within your deadline. We are highly experienced Post Graduate Engineers, IT, ITES, Software, Infrastructure P More
hii sir i vishnu from tamilndu i will do it properly so plz give me a chance
I have a great knowledge in content writing So pls give me a chance to prove myself Tq Relevant Skills and Experience Content writing, Article writing Ghost writing
I assure you best quality and reliability. Give me chance you won't regret it. :) Relevant Skills and Experience Content writer
I am a writer myself and I have been working with a publication house as an assistant writer. I will be able to do the job properly with no inaccuracy. I will deliver work on time. I hope you consider my bid.
Dear Employer, As an engineer with overall band 6.0 in Ielts, and with a great experience in this field, I assure you that I will provide you with the needed skills to implement the job successfully. please text m More
Hi i am youtuber,blogger,reading lover and creative [login to view URL],writing with innovation and quality is my passion.I think you are the luckiest person when your hobby becomes your passion . Relevant Skills and Expe More
Hi there, I'm interested in your job post for a content writer for website. I'm an expert SEO web content writer and SEO I ensure to provide meta title, meta description and meta tags for proper SEO optimization and More
Hi sir i have well experience in writing this kind of rewriting ,text writing content building and the other one here is fine to be in a mirror is the word on the world is that same thing I have to know if you are int More
I will write articles with an inter-disciplinary approach Relevant Skills and Experience I have wrote many artcles related to my college curriculam


text:
Hi Mike: > * `script-nonce` has been cleaned up a bit, adding a non-normative "Usage" > section that attempts to explain the core functionality to web developers, > and making two things clear that confused me while experimenting with a > WebKit implementation. First, invalid nonces now fail loudly, blocking all > script execution on a page. > Is there a particular motivation for this? (i.e., is there an attack that would break the soft-fail case?) -- -EricReceived on Thursday, 19 July 2012 03:57:28 UTC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Friday, 17 January 2020 18:54:28 UTC


text:
CREDITS: Written by Steve Vance; art by John Delaney and Ron Boyd.
REVIEW: In an issue that, but for only slightly more cartoony art, could have slotted into the regular series, Vance gives us two stories, really, but the second plays like a B-plot, not a back-up. And is a bit more interesting. But both are tied to the same theme - don't judge by appearances. In the A-plot, Legionnaires fight a losing battle against some kind of space antibody that sees them as a virus, but (spoiler) it turns out to be all an illusion broadcast by a wounded Sensor. Okay, but I wish it had more to do with her psychology. Instead, it's a bit of a runaround about an "unbeatable" amorphous foe. The Legionnaires get to show off their powers, but it's really to no avail.
The B-plot is less about the techno-thief who wants Brainiac 5's stuff and more about Ferro having a hard time fitting in as an exile from the 20th Century. And though disfigured, he's surprised the thoroughly alien Gates is accepted in the group. This serves as a platform for reiterating the Legion's basic tenets about different species collaborating in a positive way. And with "losers" like the characters formerly known as Bouncing Boy and Matter-Eater Lad helping with the bad guy, it really is about "IDIC". Everybody has a role to play and talents they can bring to the table.
Though in line with mainstream continuity of the time, the characters are just a touch more bantery, and Gates sheds a secret tear for the isolation he feels. Not that the Reboot Legion wasn't a happy place, but the characters seem just a little happier to be in the animated world. There's a lot of charm to the issue, regardless of its weaker plot elements.
REREADABILITY: Medium - Reads like a contemporary issue of Legionnaires, which is fine.
0 comments:
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Do Sweat It! Enjoying yoga and perspiration August 1, 2011Posted by Simon Maxwell Apter in Essays.
Tags: asana, karma, power yoga, saucha, sweat, tom wolfe
1 comment so far
For the first few years of my practice—and indeed, occasionally today—I was self conscious of my sweat. For whatever reason, there's something about an asana room that opens the floodgates more than other torrid spaces, and I've often chanted my three OM's with a trace, then a trickle, and then a torrent, of perspiration running down from my shoulders to that uncomfortable spot behind the manufacturer's label of my shorts. I used to shy away from adjustments, for fear that the teacher would be disgusted by the incessant dripping; and I used to seek out real estate on the edges of the room so that I wouldn't be boxed in by students whom I assumed would be revolted. Though I knew yoga to be a purifying practice, I felt that there was something embarrassingly wrong with me, and I tried to protect others from my freakishly copious moisture.
Sometimes during my regular practice, I'd look with envy at fellow students who'd created beautifully geometric sweat circles and patterns on their shirts over the course of their practice–on all but the chilliest days, my T-shirts are completely saturated by the third surya namaskar. Now, there's something to be said for my "comprehensive" style of perspiring—it's like having the box set instead of the greatest hits album—but the art of selective sweating can be wonderfully literary as well and, given my verbal inclinations, I feel like I'm missing out. Tom Wolfe describes in A Man in Full,
Croker stared at the upright middle finger and squinted and stared some more, and his face grew red. And then Peepgass saw them . . . the saddlebags! The saddlebags! The saddlebags had formed! They were complete! The great stains of sweat on the tycoon's shirt had now spread from both sides, from under the arms and across the rib cage and beneath the curves of his mighty chest until they had met, come together, hooked up—two dark expanses joined at the sternum. They looked just like a pair of saddlebags on a horse.
Oh, Peepgass loved it! Harry had done it again!—gotten his saddlebags—even with a tough old bird like Charle Croker!
Fellows here at the PlannersBanc at the end of the table were nudging each other and smiling. They'd noticed it, too. Peepgass was elated. Somehow Harry had redeemed them all. He turned toward the Artiste and said, behind his hand, "Saddlebags, Harry! Saddlebags!"
Ahh, the aesthetics of perspiration! How could Tom Wolfe's Charlie Croker be so splendidly skillful at sweating while I'm just a slowly melting man? It's Yoga 101, of course but, as usual, it's all about intention.
We're taught the intention that engenders an act is just as—if not more—significant than the action itself. So to find a less judgmental frame in which to watch my sweat, I practiced hot yoga, where if you don't sweat as much as I do, you'll overheat like a stalled semi heading over the Grapevine into L.A. If instructors didn't want to touch me when I was more Swamp Thing than man, then, well, it was their own damn fault for teaching hot yoga.
To get the full experience, I took a 75-minute class at Prana Power Yoga here in New York City on what was, at the time, the hottest day of the year. (Last month's heat wave has since relegated that day into bronze-medal position as far as hottest day of the year goes, but it was still somewhere between 95 and 100 degrees.) Despite the weather, though, it was still hotter inside the asana room than it was outside.
Like most yoga classes, Prana turned me into a raisin. Because I expected it, though, I enjoyed it, indeed felt sympathy for those whose mat-pools were only half the size of mine. I hoped the instructor would come over to witness the wetness she'd wrought.
If sweating could be enjoyable and encouraged in one yoga class, why couldn't it be so highly regarded in others? Embrace your waste, and you'll never feel embarrassed again.
On the cleanliness of trash: thoughts on saucha July 5, 2011Posted by Simon Maxwell Apter in Essays.
Tags: conservation, everyday yoga, food, niyamas, sadhana, saucha
add a comment
One of life's biggest hassles concerns proper maintenance and disposal of "yoga clothes." Now, one need not practice yoga to have "yoga clothes"—you might have "work clothes," or "lab clothes," or "gardening clothes"–and when I played soccer as a kid, my yoga clothes comprised mud-and-grass-stained socks and shorts, sweat-soaked shinguards, and two (or three) pairs of soccer shoes with mud and dirt (mercifully) or dog doo (unmercifully) clotted around the cleats.
These inevitably reeked and in high school, I took to leaving empty soap boxes in my duffle bag to absorb some of the smell. At that time, my family bought Lever 2000 soap which had become, after its successful 1996 launch (That year, the company sent bar after bar of free samples to our house), the first non-Dove soap to be used in family showers (Though like Dove, Lever is a Unilever product). I preferred it as a deodorizer to other soaps because, quite frankly, it was the strongest stuff on the shelf. Seriously–you could open a box of Lever 2000 in Portland and they'd feel fresher in Seattle in less than five minutes.
After graduating from college, I pulled a three-year stint as a professional baker, and "bakery clothes" became the new yoga clothes. These were caked in flour, dribbled in egg white, and smeared with brown sugar, honey, and molasses; vanilla extract, butter, and blackberry juice; cake yeast, cinnamon, and the occasional mutilated raisin. Of course, those of us who wander into bakeries always marvel at the delightful smell wafting out of the ovens, but when the raw ingredients are concentrated, tinctured with sweat and early-morning funk, then caked onto a hardworking T-shirt, the resultant odor is decidedly less pleasant.
Today, of course, my yoga clothes are, well, yoga clothes, and though I need only contend with one adulterating substance–sweat–the problem is essentially the same as it was after soccer practice or a baking shift. You don't have to practice Bikram Yoga to work up a sweat, and in my daily go-rounds at Jivamukti, I feel cheated if I haven't soaked through an entire shirt within ten minutes of practice. When class is over, it's not unusual for people to mistake me for having just taken a shower, not a yoga class.
I've always been drawn to activities that encourage making a mess. To me, there's something satisfying in the temporary desecration of cleanliness, that is, in the physical manifestation of "breaking a few eggs to make an omelet." In my mind, it helps strengthen one's commitment to non-attachment; after all, when they're seen as necessary ingredients in the creation or production of something beautiful (a tray of muffins, a yoga practice), how can "leavings" be considered any less esteemed than the final product? Those sweaty T-shirts are ingredients, not by-products, of my sadhana, and I try to regard them as such.
And if you're able to confront so-called waste with admiration, then how can that consideration not then extend to everything we deem "essential" or "complete?" When you look at waste as the equivalent of produce, it then becomes imperative to treat it as such. You sort food, leaving perishables in the fridge, frozen food in the freezer, so why wouldn't you sort recyclables, or hand-me-downs, or (if possible) compost? Venerating garbage (Well, that may be a bit extreme) makes taking out the trash, drying yoga clothes, recycling Coke cans, part of your practice, as necessary as asana to purify your body.


text: mekks-mechanics 0 Posted March 28, 2017 · need new design software... hello everyone. i have been using 123design to make my parts and stuff since i got my 3dprinter a couple of years ago. but now 123design is shutting down :( soo i need a new program to make all my stuff in i never got used to or manage to understand CAD softwares thats why i used 123design. It was easy to use and very fast to learn with no help soo does anyone know of similar program to 123 design thats fast and easy to use and learn and not have to be on youtube all day to try to understand how to make a simple box. have tried 360fusion but find it hard to use and not very intuitiv for me personaly have also tried tinkercad but i was missing alot of the stuff from 123design Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


text:
Baseball Double Feature - Kill the Umpire / Safe at Home (1950)
Sony might have been swinging for the fences with this DVD release, but it ended up hitting an easy pop fly to the shallow outfield.
Baseball Double Feature - Kill the Umpire / Safe at HomeDisplay Artist: Lloyd Bacon / Walter Doniger
Director: Walter Doniger
Cast: William Bendix, Una Merkel, Ray Collins, Gloria Henry / Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, William Frawley, Patricia Barry, Don Collier, Bryan Russell
Studio: Columbia
Distributor: Sony
MPAA rating: Unrated
First date: 1950
US DVD Release Date: 2007-04-03
America must have been a wonderful place in the '50s. Sure, people faced the problems prevalent in modern society: pride, fear, and financial insecurity, to name just a few. The difference is that in the '50s, people somehow managed to dodge the consequences of their actions, ignore constrictions of logic, devise ludicrous solutions to their problems, and pull off all these feats in tidy, 30-minute segments.
At least, this is the version of the '50s that reigns supreme in popular film and television from that era. In this American utopia, children were rambunctious but loving, parents reciprocated that love, and whole families indulged in the pleasures of the national pastime, baseball. The Baseball Double Feature, a new DVD containing two films, the '50 comedy Kill the Umpire and the 1962 heartwarmer Safe at Home, is notable not because it is likely to appeal to any conceivable modern audience, but because it presents such a vivid document of life in this America that never was.
Kill the Umpire features Academy Award nominee William Bendix playing the main role of Bill Johnson. The DVD case proudly announces Bendix's Oscar nomination, but if Sony really wanted to celebrate the actor's legacy, it might have released a Bendix film in which acting is actually important. In Kill the Umpire, characters and emotion take a back seat to ridiculous plot events and slapstick shenanigans. Of course, this type of movie can be entertaining and worthwhile, but Kill the Umpire has a preachy undertone that becomes grating as the film wears on.
In the film, Johnson, an ex-baseball player and ardent critic of umpires' visual abilities, loses his job when he skips work to watch games at his local ballpark. Johnson's father-in-law recommends that he become an umpire in order to incorporate his baseball passion into his career. Johnson initially refuses, but after watching an umpireless children's ball game that erupts into chaos, he reaches the "Gee, ain't that swell" epiphany that umpires are a necessary and even beneficial part of baseball. The idea that a grown man and ex-player could sincerely doubt the significance of umpires is ludicrous, but no more so than the series of events that erupts after Johnson makes a controversial call at home plate in a professional game. The movie ends with a wacky chase scene and, of course, a clean resolution to Johnson's dilemma.
Safe at Home, the second film on the DVD set, stands out not because of any Oscar nominees in the cast but because it features the acting "talents" of two of baseball's greatest heroes: Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. These two superstars provide the main reason to watch what is otherwise a pleasant but predictable film. The movie plays like a 90-minute episode of Leave it to Beaver with no mother and a more resourceful protagonist.
Safe at Home is the story of Hutch Lawton, a 10-year old, baseball-loving boy who lives with his father on a boat he rents out to make a livelihood. Mr. Lawton never comes to his son's baseball games, so the other neighborhood children mock Hutch, who attempts to mitigate his humiliation by lying that he knows Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle. When his peers call his bluff, Hutch must go to Yankees Spring Training and try to earn an audience with his heroes.
Eventually, the preposterous circumstances in Safe at Home overshadow the plot. Hutch's boast becomes tied to his father's ability to afford his boat. Midway through the film, Hutch finds a stray cat that seems to be oblivious of its need for food and follows the boy around Fort Lauderdale. Managers and players respond to Hutch not with anger but with patient amusement. Despite these unbelievable events, the section of the movie most likely to elicit eye rolls from viewers is the ending, in which Maris and Mantle teach Hutch a tidy moral lesson.
Of the two films, Safe at Home is much more likely to attract the attention of baseball fans. In addition to Mantle and Maris, the movie includes appearances by pitcher Whitey Ford and manager Ralph Houk. It also contains footage of the Yankees' Spring Training stadium and the players in action that will appeal to avid baseball fans.
Other than these features, the Baseball Double Feature has little to recommend itself to any audience. Some moments are enjoyable, but, on the whole, the movies just aren't very exciting. Modern viewers will find these films too didactic and ludicrous. Older fans might be put off by the film's overly specific subject matter. Perhaps this collection will appeal to baseball fans who lived through the '50s and are experiencing nostalgia for the cinematic footnotes of half a century ago. Surely, though, this demographic is not very large.
The timing of the Baseball Double Feature release coincides nicely with the Opening Day of Major League Baseball. Only the most generous consumers would identify this release as anything but a clever ploy to capitalize on America's annual baseball frenzy. The extras included on the disc, which are limited to scene selection and subtitles, reinforce the notion that Sony is only releasing these films to make a quick buck.
But even if the intention behind this collection is suspect, the release is not completely worthless. The films might not provide great entertainment, but they are helpful historical documents. They introduce viewers to a safe, idealized America and transport them to a time when such a saccharine vision (for some, anyway) was part of mainstream culture.