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Set in the aftermath of WWI, Goodbye Christopher Robin chronicles the life of author A.A. Milne (Domhnall Gleeson) and his son (Will Tilston) as they created the world of Winnie-the-Pooh, which helped mitigate a pervasive post-war sadness. Margot Robbie co-stars as Milne's wife, and Kelly MacDonald (who is heard but only briefly seen in the trailer) plays Christopher Robin's nanny. Based on a true story, the movie looks like a heartwarming and visually sumptuous biopic of the author of one of the most beloved children's franchises.
In many ways, the style and the story remind me of Finding Neverland, which reduces me to tears every time I watch it. I have little doubt this will do the same, especially because I love Milne's work even more than J.M. Barrie's (Finding Neverland is just a great movie, what can I say?)
Check out the trailer below:
What the trailer doesn't show, but the synopsis (below) alludes to is that the mega fame and success that befalls the Milne family in the wake of the Winnie-the-Pooh's success may cost the family some of their newfound happiness. Regardless of what happens though, I'm telling you, we're all going to be in tears.
The film is set to premiere in the UK this September, and the US November 10th.
GOODBYE CHRISTOPHER ROBIN gives a rare glimpse into the relationship between beloved children's author A. A. Milne (Domhnall Gleeson) and his son Christopher Robin (Will Tilston), whose toys inspired the magical world of Winnie the Pooh. Along with his mother Daphne (Margot Robbie), and his nanny Olive (Kelly Macdonald), Christopher Robin and his family are swept up in the international success of the books; the enchanting tales bringing hope and comfort to England after the First World War. But with the eyes of the world on Christopher Robin, what will the cost be to the family?


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Also found in: Dictionary.
A situation in which a security price is moving mostly upward. Though there may be, and usually are, a few downward price movements in-between, this does not stop the overall bullish trend. For example, a security may be priced at $100 per share on January 1, $105 on January 10, and $109 on January 31. This indicates an uptrend, even if the security closed lower on certain days in January.
A series of price increases in a security or in the general market. Some investors believe a security tends to take on a certain inertia; as a result, these investors search for stock in an uptrend, thinking that it will probably continue to move in the same direction. Compare downtrend.

subset: commoncrawl


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Wonpara Wars
Published by
Developed by
DescriptionGod has created a paradise called Wandante. Men, women, and animals lived together in peace. But where there is God, there is also Devil; where there is love, there is also hatred. The hatred between men and women grew, until it resulted in a bloody war. Having superior physical strength, men were victorious for a while - until female demons offered their help to women's army. Men's army was nearly destroyed. It was at that time that the hero, named Leopard Chateau-Lyon, appeared in Wandante. He is the only hope of the men, the one who will have to defeat the demonic women and to bring peace to both genders.
Wonpara Wars is a strategy board game which is somewhat similar to chess, but with much simpler rules (and decidedly much simpler than the Japanese chess, shogi). Some pieces are identical to those of Western chess (bishop), or move similarly to Western chess pieces, but have different names ("magicians" who move similarly to rooks); "soldiers" can walk in all directions, including backwards. There are also treasure chess scattered around the board, which can be captured by both the player's and the enemy army.
The battles are dictated by the plot; there are cut scenes before and after each battle, and they take place in different locations. The enemy army has a "boss" piece, unique for each battle. The battle is won when one of the sides has captured enough enemy pieces. Whenever the player's piece captures an enemy piece, a hentai scene occurs, typically showing a girl taking off her battle clothes.
Promo Images
There are no promo images for this game
Alternate Titles
- "Wonder Parallel Wars" -- Full title
- "ウォーズI" -- Japanese spelling
Part of the Following Groups
User Reviews
There are no reviews for this game.
Critic Reviews
There are no critic reviews for this game.
There are currently no topics for this game.
There is no trivia on file for this game.
Contributed to by Infernos (26997) and Unicorn Lynx (181564)
There are no game credits on file for this release of the game. Everything in MobyGames is contributable by users.


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One objection people have about completely surrendering to Christ is that it makes us feel too vulnerable. Men especially despise admitting that they need help. It makes us feel deficient and dependent in some way.
Yet, humility is always the best course of action in this life. Admitting that we are not self-sufficient and that we need a Savior is actually freeing and empowering (John 8:36).
We cast our cares on Christ, knowing that He cares for us enough to give His life for us and to submit Himself to the horrendous crucifixion in order to guarantee our salvation (1 Peter 5:7).
We can ask God for protection and provision and reject Satan's lies in his attempt to discourage us with contempt and judgment for vulnerably admitting that we are powerless.
We come to realize that feeling emotions and admitting our needs is not weakness but strength. We acknowledge that we need our Father God, and possibly even a human confidant as well.
This helps us to heal and to feel less anxious, alone and shamed (2 Corinthians 5:20). We rely less on addictions and destructive behavior and have more inner fortitude to live our life for Christ.
God's Spirit can then empower us to help other people who have similar needs as our own. Seeing God's light and love shining in our life inspires them to trust Him with their life as well.
Father God, thank You for caring for all of our needs as a doting Father who delights in us and even rejoices over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17). We can pour out our heart to You with all of our hopelessness and fear, knowing that You care about everything, which concerns us.
Although You often require that we traverse the trial anyway, we are confident that You are walking through it from within us as well as beside us, completely surrounding us with Your love, wisdom, presence and power. You help us to look beyond despair to Your comfort, which is always more powerful than our burdens.
Thought for the Day:
When we come to Christ in our weariness and hopelessness, He hears us and comes to our rescue; He helps us to carry our heavy load of cares with His gentle humility, and we find true rest for our devastated soul. – Matthew 11:28-29


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Carrie Neumayer is a Louisville, Kentucky based artist, musician, and educator. She studied painting, printmaking, and illustration at the Kansas City Art Institute and received her BFA in Fine Art with a concentration in Painting from the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Carrie also holds a MAT in Art Education from the University of Louisville and worked for eight years as an art teacher with Jefferson County Public Schools. Carrie is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Louisville's College of Education and Human Development. She is also a participant in the Kentucky Arts Council's Teaching Artists Directory, a juried roster of professional teaching artists. The arts council is funded with state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment from for the Arts.
Additionally, Carrie teaches classes and leads residencies and workshops through the Louisville Visual Art Association,The Speed Art Museum, Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, and VSA Kentucky.
Carrie works in a wide variety of media, including painting, drawing, printmaking, and collage. Her work has been exhibited at The Green Haus Gallery, Cinderblock Gallery, Kin Ship Gallery, Spalding University's Huff Gallery, Carnegie Center for Art & History, and other galleries in the Louisville area. Carrie's illustrations have appeared in Louisville Magazine, Kentucky Monthly, Bitch Magazine, Rethinking Schools Magazine, LEO Weekly, Why Louisville, Presbyterians Today Magazine, and The Louisville Paper.
Carrie has also been part of Louisville's music community for over 18 years, performing in the bands Second Story Man, Minnow, Julie of the Wolves, and Early Age. Carrie is the co-founder of the Louisville Outskirts Festival, Louisville's first music festival dedicated to female performers.
3 thoughts on "About"
Can't believe how much you've already done since deciding to work on illustration. I love this stuff. Some of it seems so poignant–looking out at snow, girl in a bottle. Working from photos seems to inspire you, The results are intriguing. Love it.


text: Level Crossing Removal Project Listen Six level crossings in Darebin will be removed as part of the State Government's Level Crossing Removal Project. Level Crossing Removal projects are State Government projects and Council's role in these projects is as a stakeholder, not a decision maker. Council is advocating for the best outcome for the community to minimise disruption, achieve better design outcomes for our community, and protect trees and heritage as much as possible. Council officers are regularly visiting local businesses and listening to their feedback. We are advocating on behalf of businesses and communicating their needs to the Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) throughout the construction period. #LoveRezza – share your photos to celebrate the changing face of Reservoir. Historic change is taking place in the heart of Reservoir with the Level Crossing Removal works well underway, transforming the intersection as the railway bridge takes shape. During this time of change, local traders are still open for business, so make sure you continue to shop local. Check out Council's series of videos sharing the stories of some of the local businesses and why they love Rezza. You can also spread the Rezza love and celebrate the changing face of Reservoir by sharing your photos old and new. Whether it's a photo of the local shops from decades ago, or a snap of you today enjoying a coffee in your favourite café – if it's in Rezza then we'd love to see it! Share your images on social media and tag #LoveRezza! Keep an eye on Council's social media over the coming months for competitions, events and giveaways as part of our #LoveRezza campaign. Head to Council's YouTube channel to watch videos showcasing some of Reservoir's fantastic local businesses sharing why they 'Love Rezza'. Which level crossings are gone? The Grange Road level crossing in Alphington was removed in 2018, with the train line lowered under Grange Road. Which level crossings removals are underway? The Reservoir level crossing removal project is well underway and includes construction of a new station and elevated rail. Trains will continue to operate during most of the construction period, with alternative access routes for road traffic, and changes in place for pedestrians. Works are scheduled to be completed by mid-2020. For project updates, visit: https://levelcrossings.vic.gov.au/projects/high-street-reservoir Which level crossings will be removed? Four more Darebin level crossings will be removed, with new stations built at Preston and Bell. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2020. Find out more information about each project at the Level Crossings website via the links below: Bell Street Murray Road Cramer Street Oakover Road I have a question about Level Crossing Removals The Reservoir level crossing removal project is funded and delivered by the State Government. If you have a question about design and construction, contact the Level Crossing Removal Project via email firstname.lastname@example.com or call 1800 105 105. For project updates and to sign up for email updates, visit www.levelcrossings.vic.gov.au/projects/high-street-reservoir For service disruption updates visit www.levelcrossings.vic.gov.au/disruptions. Plan your travel on public transport using the PTV Journey Planner. For questions about changes to parking, call Darebin City Council on (03) 8470 8888. How can Council help? Level Crossing Removal projects are State Government projects and Council's role in these projects is as a stakeholder, not a decision maker. However we are advocating on behalf of the community for the best outcomes. We may able to help with: Parking arrangements during improvement works Support to local businesses disrupted by the works Traffic management and public safety The retention of trees along the rail corridor You can speak to Council staff, along with Level Crossing Removal Project staff, at drop in information sessions held every Tuesday from 2pm to 5pm at the Reservoir Community and Learning Centre, 23 Edwardes St Reservoir. Where can I park my car? Reservoir station will be LXRP's major construction site, accommodating temporary station buildings, site facilities, and construction equipment. All commuter car parks at Reservoir Station will be closed from 15 January until mid-2020. LXRP is providing alternative parking options in the following places: 90 car spaces at Regent Station 80 car spaces at Keon Park Station 50 car spaces along Macartney Street 46 car spaces along Cheddar Road Passengers requiring accessible parking are advised to use neighbouring stations listed above. Please observe all safety signs and instructions that are in place. Council is regularly reviewing and refining parking arrangements throughout the project to ensure there is as much space available as possible for residents, workers and customers. Council has introduced the following changes to parking: All day parking spaces on Byfield Street All day parking spaces on Ralph Street Parking on the east side of the former Reservoir Library in the Ralph Street car park changed to 2P Parking on the west side of Ralph Street car park will be restricted to 1P between 7am-9am View a detailed map of all current parking changes. If you have questions or feedback about these changes, call Darebin City Council on (03) 8470 8888. Read more Read less


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By Carlos Rebatos
Microsoft has made it pretty clear they are not launching any new flagship phones until Windows 10 for mobile is ready. Instead, they have introduced two new Lumia models, Lumia 640 and 640 XL. We take them for a spin in Barcelona at MWC.
They excel at what Microsoft does best: affordable phones with a decent spec sheet and a good overall experience. Both phones feel pretty big when you hold them in your hand. Lumia 640 has a 5-inch screen and the 640 XL goes up to 6 inches, both with a 720p screen resolution and Gorilla Glass 3.
Considering the 3G version of the Lumia 640 starts at $150 dollars and the XL at $200 (UK pricing and availability TBC), I was honestly surprised by how Microsoft has managed to put such good-looking screens on such affordable phones. They are still not as good as higher tier phones but they're much better than previous Lumias.
Design of both of them is practically unchanged. Sure, Lumia's design was cool two years ago, but the looks are starting to get a little tired now. Cameras (rear: 13 MP, LED flash and Zeiss Optics; front: 5 MP, wide angle) are not going to wow, but they should do reasonably good on most situations, even with low light.
Both phones come with a 1-year subscription to Office 365, 1TB on OneDrive and 60 minutes per month on Skype.
Battery capacity is at 2500 mAh for the Lumia 640 and 300 mAh for the Lumia 640 XL but we have no indication on how manny battery hours that will give you in real life. Colors are black, white, blue and orange for both.
These are cheap Lumia phones we are talking about. They are not probably going to change anybody's life and they won't, perhaps, become best-selling devices—but they offer a pretty good bang for your buck and should compete reasonably well with phones such as the Motorola Moto G. They will be available in April worldwide. Microsoft hasn't specified countries, but it's almost certain we'll se them in the US, Europe and Latin America.
Welcome to Gizmodo UK's coverage of all things MWC 2015. For our comprehensive rundown of everything new and shiny at the year's biggest phone event, check here.


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Colombia: the ICRC's role in the possible release of hostages
27-12-2007 Interview
There are growing hopes that several people held by the FARC in Colombia may be released in the coming days following negotiations between the Venezuelan and Colombian authorities as well as the FARC. Maria Dos Anjos Gussing, the ICRC's head of operations for Latin America and the Caribbean, talks about the organization's role in the current situation.
According to the information given to us by the Venezuelan authorities, the FARC are prepared to release the former Colombian congresswoman, Consuelo Gonzalez de Perdomo, as well as Clara Rojas and her son born to her in captivity. Clara Rojas is the assistant to Ingrid Betancourt. In its role as a neutral and independent intermediary, the ICRC has offered its services to all parties involved and ha s been asked to help facilitate the announced release of these three people. Our two delegations in Caracas and Bogota have immediately started to work on this assignment, taking care of all the practical arrangements that need to be put in place to carry out such an operation. However, the ICRC is not participating in the actual negotiations and the success of the operation will of course depend on the ongoing discussions between all the parties involved.
Can you give more details about the role the ICRC is expected to play?
The ICRC is playing an exclusively humanitarian role in this operation. Aircraft and helicopters bearing the Red Cross emblem are expected to fly to the Colombian town of Villavicencio once the green light is given by all the parties concerned. Passengers on board will include several ICRC delegates. From Villavicencio, helicopters with ICRC markings and ICRC delegates on board will continue on to an agreed location in the jungle where the handover of the two hostages and the child is expected to take place. The ICRC's involvement will end once the hostages are reunited with their families.
Can you give any details about their medical condition?
The ICRC has not been able to visit the hostages and has no details on their current state of health. The ICRC reiterates its readiness to visit all persons held by the armed groups in Colombia.
What are the precedents for the ICRC's action?
The ICRC, as a strictly neutral and independent intermediary, has for a long time been involved in humanitarian missions to facilitate the release of hostages or detainees in Colombia. The role is accepted by both the Colombian author ities and the armed groups that have agreed to such missions regularly in the past. We have been asked in various instances to transport released hostages in different parts of the country in full transparency and agreement with the Government and all armed parties to the conflict. As a recent example, in September this year, the ICRC also recovered the bodies of the 11 deputies who died in captivity in June 2007, handing the bodies over to their families in Cali.
Does this situation raise hopes for further releases of other hostages remaining in the hands of the FARC?
We certainly hope so. The ICRC is of course very concerned about the well-being of all those held by armed parties to the conflict and by the anguish caused to their families. For each family, it is an individual human tragedy that results in enormous suffering each day.
Regarding further releases, I cannot speculate. This remains in the hands of the parties to the conflict but the ICRC stands ready to provide any humanitarian service that may be deemed useful now and in the future.


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Carlton Online Bingo are also on Facebook where players can join in the fun and play our competitions and quizzes as well!
At Carlton Bingo Online we offer all kinds of prizes and prize money to suit every one and it is exactly like your favourite land based bingo club.
From massive bingo jackpots, a selection of different slots and instant games (such as our favourite - Fluffy Favourites) and a wonderful selection of weekly bingo events to please all of your bingo desires!
We're always striving to make our players happy! Our amazing CMs will have you smiling from ear to ear and you'll be swimming in loyalty points in no time.


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Foreign Languages at GRCC prepare you to connect and contribute to your local and global communities, enhance your personal and academic growth, and expand your world view.
Foreign Language classes transfer to four-year institutions and fulfill four credits of the Humanities requirement for graduation and the Michigan Transfer Agreement (MTA) . Classes are offered at a variety of flexible times and locations — from our downtown campus to regional sites around West Michigan. We are committed to providing excellent instruction and learning opportunities for our students. Our goal is to develop maximum language proficiency and bring cultural awareness to students in their chosen language.
Full-time and adjunct faculty members can advise you with details on available classes, potential career options, and travel and life experience opportunities while studying a foreign language. We can also help you understand how foreign language classes tie-in to programs and graduation requirements at four-year transfer institutions.
Department Contacts
Carmela Zapata - Spanish
Office: Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall, formerly Main Building 360 F
An Ling Lai - Chinese
Hillery Haney - French
Office: Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall, formerly Main Building 360B
Phone: (616) 234-4380


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Changing Illusions is an interactive that contains five illusions. These illusions show how certain patterns trick our eyes and brains. Some of the patterns are made up of circles while others are made up of lines. It is up to you to decide if any kind of adjustment needs to be made to the pattern in order to fix it.
Going Further
Students will be able to experience these illusions by trying to make adjustments on various patterns. They will be able to adjust the size of circles on some illusions and they will be able to select line positions on other illusions. Have students choose one of the optical illusions and write down why they think this pattern confuses their eyes and brains! Remember, their speculation is as good as any because even the experts don't agree on why this happens! This activity may be used as an enhancement to classroom lessons surrounding the human senses, particularly vision.
Animal Adaptations
3-5 | Interactive
Light 3: All Those Seeing Color, Say Eye!
6-8 |
Transplant Tolerance
6-12 | Audio
Word Associations
6-12 | Audio
EyeDecide App
6-12 | Interactive


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Jan Dennis, Business & Law Editor
217-333-0568; firstname.lastname@example.com
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Women can make inroads into male-dominated management ranks as companies that downsize restructure their scaled-back workforces, according to new research by a University of Illinois labor expert.
John Dencker says the findings are surprising because downsizing whittles the pool of jobs available for both men and women, but also show that firms apparently make an effort to balance gender inequities during staff shakeups.
"It might be that they try to make up for past inequalities or they may be aware of other firms that have had legal difficulties and want to make sure they don't run into the same problems," said Dencker, a professor in the U. of I.'s Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations.
But women's sharp gains during downsizing are short lived, said Dencker, who studied nearly 30 years of employment records of a Fortune 500 manufacturer that pared its workforce in the mid-1980s and again in the early 1990s.
Women entered management ranks at rates up to 25 percent higher than men in some grade levels after downsizing, which created supervisory openings as older male managers took company-offered buyouts, Dencker said.
But the gap closed within a year or two as management jobs became scarcer in the aftermath of restructuring, according to the study, which will appear in the American Sociological Review.
"Everybody's rates of promotions slowed after downsizing because there simply weren't as many positions to promote people into," Dencker said. "With fewer positions available, promoting women more rapidly than men would be more visible and the company may have been concerned about how male managers would react."
Overall, women accounted for nearly 36 percent of the company's managers after restructuring, compared with an average of about 24 percent during the period from 1967 to 1993, according to the study.
But Dencker said women made less headway into top levels of management, composing about 17 percent of the highest salary grade level after restructuring compared with an average of about 11 percent during the 26 years studied.
He says a host of factors slowed the climb up the corporate ladder for women, who make up half of the nation's management workforce but hold only 15 percent of top leadership positions.
Along with the decreased pool of jobs after downsizing, Dencker says women also began their management careers in lower-tier jobs, so they have farther to climb.
"There remains this sort of glass-ceiling effect," he said. "Women have more rungs to climb, so their rates of promotion relative to men slow as they move up the corporate ladder."
Parity is likely 15 or 20 years away, but Dencker says he is more optimistic that women will close the gap than he was a decade ago.
"I think women are going to keep pushing higher and higher up organizational ladders," he said. "As far as CEO-level positions, I think it will be easier once it reaches critical mass. But that's a long way off."
Editor's note: To contact John Dencker, call 217-333-2383; e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Beaver Latex Neck Seals
The Beaver Latex Neck Seals are the standard neck seals used on most Beaver drysuits and can be used for other brands too.
The Beaver Latex Neck Seals are the standard neck seals used on most Beaver drysuits and can be used for other brands too.
Beaver Latex Neck Seals
The Beaver Latex Neck Seals are the standard neck seals used on most Beaver drysuits and can be used for other brands too. Comprised from strong latex, these seals are extremely flexible to ensure maximum comfort at all times.
Coming in a medium weight they are perfect for any Beaver drysuit. These are a great purchase as a replacement seal for your current drysuit while having a few spares is never a bad thing. Can be fitted using Beaver Aquabond, it is advised that this is done by a dive specialist, a service Deep Blue provides.
Key Benefits
Who are the Beaver Latex Neck Seals For?
Perfect for anyone with a Beaver Drysuit, these Latex Neck Seals are a great replacement for any damaged seals and are also great to have as spares just in case of any damage to your current seals.
Who are Beaver?
Beaver is a well known dive brand popular for offering quality equipment at very affordable prices. They grew from a small factory into a globally known brand because of their competitive pricing without negating quality. Their range is continually expanding, with a vast range of suits and other dive equipment to improve diver experience.
Beaver have introduced a range of innovative products to the diving market such as lead shot pouches, weight belts and the semi-dry suit. Many of these inventions have been picked up by other manufacturers and are now commonplace in the industry. They continue to research, develop and introduce new products making diving more accessible to the recreational diver.
We will take every effort to get you goods to you as efficiently and effectively as possible. All orders placed before 3pm will be shipped on the day of ordering subject to payment authorization and item availability.
Any items which are out of stock will be shipped as soon as they become available. If this causes a delay in your delivery, you will be notified and your order dispatched as soon as possible. If any items are unavailable, you will be contacted and offered a replacement or refund.
UK Delivery
If your order total is under £45 then you can choose one of the following options. Please take note of the availability on the product page and your confirmation email - if the availability is not 'In Stock' then the order will be shipped according to your delivery preference once it arrives into stock. For example if the availability is 'Ships in 3-5 Days' because it isn't in stock and has to come from Italy, and you've chosen 'DPD Next Day Delivery' then the item will take 3-5 working days and then be shipped on a next day delivery.
If your order total is over £45 then you can choose
Please be aware that the prices above are for areas classed as "UK Mainland" by DPD which does NOT include offshore islands, Scottish highlands or Northern Ireland.
Non-UK Delivery
Our website has a comprehensive postage system which takes into account the weight of your delivery and the destination address - to get a quote for your order please add the products you'd like to buy to your basket, go to the basket page and fill in the "Estimate Shipping & Tax" section to get the price.
BFPO Addresses
This shipping method is available for British Forces Posted Overseas and addresses only. Shipping is as with all other UK mailing but please check to see that the size and weight of your order does not exceed maximums for your BFPO destination number by checking with the BFPO website.
Please note that once we have shipped the item and handed over to the BFPO service we have fulfilled our contract and delivery responsibility. All queries and problems with delivery must be taken up by yourself with BFPO and any claims must be handled between yourself and them.
Restricted Products
Please be aware that some products have restrictions on which countries we can send them to. Please enquire ahead of time if you require an order dispatched outside the EU and we can advise.
VAT Exempt
If this applies to you, the price you will pay for the goods will automatically be adjusted to remove the VAT element - you MUST choose the correct country on checkout for this to apply. We CANNOT refund the VAT once the order is completed.
You can also avoid paying VAT if you are having your goods sent to you in the UK, but are taking the goods abroad permanently within 3 months of making the purchase. You will have to pay the VAT with your order and reclaim the tax per relevant regulations - please be advised we cannot help with this process.
We stock the vast majority of products listed on our website in our Whitley Bay superstore and warehouse and these products are available for same day dispatch & next day delivery.
Due to the huge quantity of products we stock, we offer the ability to backorder products which have gone out of stock and less popular products which we don't carry stock of.
Depending on the brand these backorder products can take anywhere between 1 and 10 days to arrive into stock. We estimate 3-5 working days on average but please be aware that products from Mares and Scubapro are shipped from Italy & Germany respectively so can take a little longer.
As always if you aren't sure or want a more accurate estimate just give our team a call or email!
You can return any product that is in an UNOPENED, RE-SALEABLE condition within 30 days as long as it is not marked as clearance. Please contact us before doing this so we can confirm this ahead of time - we recommend using a recorded delivery service for any returns as you will be responsible for ensuring it reaches us.
Please get in touch to confirm a return by email or phone before sending anything back. When sending a return it is important that you include:
We will try and get your return processed as quickly as possible but if you don't send this information it can delay the return.
If you have ordered something and it doesn't fit then we can exchange for a more suitable size, stock permitting, but you will have to pay the return postage.
Our customers have the right to cancel their orders within 14 days unless their order has been dispatched. After the order has been dispatched, it is the customers responsibility to return the item in a saleable condition and receieve either a full or partial refund.


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Blueberries! My favorite food of all time. We are big blueberry eaters here, all year long (frozen organic for most of the year), so nothing beats the treat of having an abundance of fresh picked. Straight up, in smoothies, with a drizzle of half and half, on top of my oatmeal, in a glass of wine, whichever way – I like them raw and fresh. I usually can't bring myself to cook with them or can them and while the idea was to pick enough to freeze, I think 13 quarts will be gone in no time. Yum! We might have to go a few more times before the season here is up.
The owner of the farm gave us a couple of cuttings, and we are trying some experimental propagation. If we had a 100% success rate, we should have a dozen little bushes next year. But I'd be happy with even just a few. I am learning how easy this kind of propagation is, and we are super excited about it. I'll try to report any notable successes and failures here, in case any of you are interested.


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So this back button was working on Chrome browser but not on Internet Explorer. Chrome is enough intelligent browser and it can detect that the page is from one redirected page. So when we click on the back button it will land you to 2 pages back. But Internet Explorer cant has this intelligence.
Here we are using Back button which will call goBack() onclick event.
<input type="button" onclick="goBack()" value="BACK" />
We all know that we use window.history.go(-1); for loading previous page. But we need window.history.go(-2); to load in Internet Explorer. We can use the following code which will load these actions depending on which browsers you are using.
<script> function goBack() { // Internet Explorer 6-11 var isIE = /*@[email protected]*/false || !!document.documentMode; if(isIE) { window.history.go(-2); } else { window.history.go(-1); } } </script>
This script can be used to load window.history.go(-2); for IE browser and window.history.go(-1); for browsers other than IE.
If you like this article, please share it with your friends and like our facebook page for future updates. Subscribe to our newsletter to get notifications about our updates via email. If you have any queries, feel free to ask in the comments section below. Have a nice day!


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This is a non-spoilered review of Endgame, a drama broadcast in Canada in 2011 now available for streaming on Hulu that features a chess grandmaster with agoraphobia trapped in a Vancouver luxury hotel who becomes a private investigator.
This is a non-spoilered review of Endgame, a drama broadcast in Canada in 2011 now available for streaming on Hulu that features a chess grandmaster with agoraphobia trapped in a Vancouver luxury hotel who becomes a private investigator.
This is a non-spoilered review of Short Poppies, a comedy broadcast in New Zealand in 2014 now available for streaming on Netflix that features comic actor Rhys Darby profiling a different lead character in every one of the eight episodes of the series.
This is a non-spoilered review of The Librarians, a smart comedy broadcast on ABC in Australia from 2007-10 and now available for streaming on Hulu.
This analysis of the lessons learned in the Justified series finale puts a bow on the Season 6 coverage, co-branded between this site and The FDH Lounge.
Warning: Spoiler Alert
NOTE: Assuming that Mad Men answered its definitive question in its final episode, the previously-intended headline was "Who Don Draper Is." And while the conclusion definitely provided a strong hint, it was not a definitive statement.
Out of all of the trademark shows of TV's New Golden Era, Mad Men may be the most unlikely. Sure, it's wrapped in the glamorous coating of the advertising business at the time when it was becoming truly ascendant in modern society and it covers one of the three or four most divisive/colorful/consequential decades in American history, but at heart it's about the existential journey of one troubled man. That's unlikely territory for a pop culture phenomenon.
The question "Who is Don Draper?" from an episode near the midpoint of the series (actually, the opening line of Season 4) has always been right near the surface and the answer has seemed, at times, frustratingly inconsistent. He's a man who cares about maintaining a marriage to Betty – and later Megan – until he doesn't. He's a man who, although softer than Betty, keeps an emotional distance from his children – missing birthday parties and confessing to Megan about the children evoking numbness instead of love from him – until he realizes that he loves them (although he continues to make grave mistakes). He's a man who values his standing as one of the most respected creative minds on Madison Avenue – until he doesn't, throwing away his career more than once. And he's a man who maintains good relationships in his professional orbit – until he doesn't, disappointing others with bursts of selfishness, ego and unilateralism.
Just as the other show that helped put AMC on the map for prestige dramas (Breaking Bad) did, Mad Men preceded its series finale with a marathon that lasted several days, taking viewers through the journey of Don Draper and the world around him one last time. For Breaking Bad, the marathon served to remind everyone of the signature moments in the transformation of Walter White into Heisenberg. While it might have highlighted some moments that would prove significant in the end, viewing the marathon didn't serve much of a purpose beyond entertainment, because the stakes were clear and there was little of a revelatory nature in this re-airing.
But the chance to revisit Mad Men in this format actually proved useful in terms of tracing the journey that Matthew Weiner intended the viewers to witness. Dick Whitman was wearing the skin of another man, the "real Don Draper," peddling the alternate reality of high-level advertising. His quest for authenticity in his life has been omnipresent, even when it seemed otherwise. The writing of Don may have seemed inconsistent in terms of his happiness when solving his problems (many of them self-created), but the lesson learned when approaching the finale with a revisiting of the full history is that previously, Don was never to be believed when he professed joy at turning a certain corner. Even on the rare occasions when he was attacking a single root cause – such as the trauma in his childhood in the whorehouse at the end of Season 6 – by not stripping his life down to the core and re-examining everything from there, he was papering over the other issues that shaped him so profoundly. From this perspective, it seemed clear that Don's search for real life answers was incongruent with a life in advertising, which taught him that the secret to success was cynicism. Think back to the pilot, when Don boasted "What you call love was invented by guys like me to sell nylons." Surely, Don was never going to find his elusive authenticity in that business – or so we've thought. Your perspective on that issue alone will be enough to shape your interpretation of the finale's conclusion.
As such, Don's extended road trip through the stretch run of the show almost seems inevitable in retrospect considering his previous experiences. He had to get out of that Greater New York bubble, away from all friends and family, to learn about what direction his life should take.
Rarely does a finale benefit from the showrunner ruling out a certain path, but Weiner stating last week that Don does not become DB Cooper is one such instance. Sure, creating an iconic television series that ends with the lead character shockingly becoming America's most mysterious legendary criminal would be very clever. But it would really betray the soul of the show, especially in the aftermath of the death sentence that Betty received from her doctor. While Don's children seemed to be doing just fine without him before he left, circumstances have changed in a way that would render his desertion – the second one of huge magnitude in his life – as the furthest note possible from a feel-good ending.
Let's put a pin in the subject of Don, however, since Weiner made the fan-pleasing decision to feature a large part of his cast in the finale, even characters that could have plausibly been considered to already have closure. For example, Ken pops up at lunch with Joan to try to recruit her to help him obtain better-quality industrial films for Dow. Before you know it, old Joanie's looking at coming out of retirement to start a small production company and she tries to bring Peggy on board as a partner and the chief writer. While Peggy – a bit frustrated with some matters at McCann already – considers the offer, the show's signature redhead deals with the two older men in her life. Roger, who has decided to marry crazy Marie after a wicked fight, wants to put Kevin in his will and Joan accepts after some consideration. And adventurous retiree Richard (who shared a toot with her near the top of the episode) is none-too-pleased with Joan being tied down to New York by her new company and he dumps her. Peggy declines the job, but for all of the turmoil involved in the situation, Joan seems to be doing just fine in the end.
For Peggy, a number of factors play into her staying at McCann. A departing Pete tells her that he is certain that she'll be the creative director at the mammoth company by 1980 (which she considers to be a long way off!) and Stan wonders if the allure of becoming her own boss rather than accumulating power in the big firm might be based on ego. This leads to a vicious fight between them and the wounds are still fresh when she talks to Rizzo coming off of Don's "goodbye" call from California – much more about that below. When she apologizes for her earlier tirade and indicates that she's staying, a relieved Stan comes clean with the reality that he is in love with her. Peggy is stunned, but as she talks through her feelings, she realizes that she feels the same way. Keep in mind that this entire conversation is taking place over the phone in the office and they aren't in the same room until Stan comes down to her office and they kiss at the end of the scene.
Back to Don, who never physically appears back in New York during the episode, although his final moments surely tell the tale of where he lands. At the outset, on the surface, he's living the free and easy life of a "retiree" from the ad business (as the 45-year old man laughably calls himself), testing rocket cars in the desert and consorting with women of ill repute, but it's clear that he remains enmeshed in a downward spiral. It's interesting that his road trip had been previously pointing in the direction of him re-embracing his Whitmanesque qualities, but the boozing and womanizing point more in the direction of his Draper life – with the accompanying self-hatred that underlies all of his breakdowns.
During a phone conversation with Sally, she predictably informs him of Betty's fate and he resolves to come home and take full custody of the children upon her passing, but her disagreement and another phone call with Betty convinces him otherwise. Her final wishes, she informs him, involve her brother and sister-in-law handling the primary raising of the children with Don continuing in a secondary role. He is crushed, but understands her point of view. Meanwhile, his children are having to grow up faster than he wanted, with Sally deferring her European trip and Bobby telling her that he's overheard everything about Betty's grim news.
Still grasping for some authentic connection in his life, Don looks up Anna Draper's niece Stephanie. She takes him to some kind of hippie self-help commune/seminar series, where she admits to her lack of interest in reclaiming her baby from his grandparents. This creates much emotion in the room and when Don later tries to comfort her, she throws his role-playing as "Don Draper" back in his face. She's right, he's not really her uncle, but he cares nonetheless and he is shaken that his advice about putting the matter behind her – previously delivered to Peggy on the exact same subject with much greater effectiveness – is so effortlessly rejected by her. When she has vanished the next morning – leaving him stranded in a remote area without a ride – the reality of his present circumstances bears down on him with full force. First his young daughter Sally and now screwed-up Stephanie are seemingly showing more of a grasp on adulthood than he ever has. This is absolute rock bottom.
Feeling resigned to his fate, he calls Peggy to apologize for not saying goodbye when he left and to try to achieve some closure with her. She starts by chewing him out for running away again, scaring people as he is wont to do (and, although she doesn't mention it, costing poor Meredith her job without having Don to employ her anymore – although perhaps that development proves reversible in the end). Don states that he has a lot more to feel badly about than that, confessing to having screwed up everything in life, including stealing a man's identity and making nothing of the chance. He declares that he's not the man that she thinks that he is. Peggy is puzzled by many of these statements, although troubled by Don's state of mind and she tells him that it's not too late to turn everything around. Even his job can be salvaged, as apparently McCann has forgiven worse than this. Don doesn't want to delve further into matters, having completed his mission of trying to make good with his star protégé and he ends the conversation. Seeing his pain, a woman asks him to accompany her to one of the remaining seminars.
In the final segment, amidst a montage of wider final developments – Pete and Trudy getting on a Learjet, Joan answering a new work phone line at home, Roger and Marie cavorting on what appears to be their honeymoon, Betty smoking (!!!) morosely at home as she waits for the cancer to finish her and Stan approaching Peggy in the office to kiss her – Don remains at the commune and he is moved by the words of Leonard, a man living an average existence and feeling invisible to and isolated from all who are around him. In short, this man is the exact opposite of the Don Draper who has commanded every room for seven seasons, but they are bonded in that moment by the pain of their self-induced loneliness. A crying Don embraces the man as we are left to wonder what it all means in the final moments of the final show.
The build to the finish of the program was one of the stranger ones for any epic show on television, because leaving Don amidst the self-help folks at the very end would have been a conclusion even stranger and more random than the legendary Sopranos one that Weiner helped to craft. [Side note: the nature of the self-help hippie gaga that Don was immersed in is actually more commonly associated with the mid-'70s than 1970 itself, but California is usually ahead of most trends, so it's possible that the setting was not unrealistic.] The final scene of Don shows him as part of a group meditation doing the "Ommmmmmmmmmm" chant along with everyone else, but the tiniest, barest hint of a Cheshire grin grips his face … as the final scene pops up, the iconic "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" ad from 1971. Of course, that campaign was created by none other than McCann Erickson!
So the crystal-clear inference is that Don Draper, having spent the past three episodes fully marinating in the juices of his inner Dick Whitman, found a way to get back into the good graces of McCann while presumably maintaining his rediscovered true values. With the real-life McCann having been responsible for other big-time successes in the 1970s, such as the previously-teased Miller Lite launch, the stage has long been set for this fictional character to be assumed responsible for so many huge productions yet to come. And yet, his cross-country wanderings in the endgame seemed certain to preclude this course.
Still, the ending was enigmatic, but that word is practically a signature for the Weiner style. Because the last few episodes had been spent establishing the advertising business as antithetical to the authenticity that Don needed so desperately, the Coke campaign could have been crafted by the mind of a man who backslid into his old patterns and would spend the 1970s and beyond as the same inconsistent presence to those around him that he always had been. Perhaps Weiner himself will feel compelled to shed additional light on his vision – which his Sopranos boss David Chase has always been loath to do about his final fade-to-black – but until then, the bet in this corner is that Don was meant to be seen as someone who had finally figured out how to balance being a great creative presence with his very human Dick Whitman qualities. Otherwise, if he merely figured out how to leverage the pain of Leonard and others who shared his suffering into big money through a phony "togetherness" ad campaign, then he is revealed as a truly repugnant person.
Additionally, and this won't necessarily go down as one of the bigger swerves of the finale, McCann Erickson proved to be a more durable home for the old Sterling Cooper crew than previously anticipated with Don almost certainly rejoining old partners Roger and Ted, as well as Harry, Stan and the sticking-around Peggy. Nevertheless, the impetus of Sterling Cooper being swallowed up – as well as Betty's shocking health news – drove the action of the last half of the half-season in grand style. It's difficult to compare Mad Men's ride on an apples-to-apples basis with those of a more transparent nature, such as Justified, Breaking Bad or The Shield. Every one of those shows was barreling down a pretty clear path. Don's story could have ended in so many different ways without Weiner seeming to have betrayed his vision. In the end, the path he chose was a satisfying one that seemed to leave everyone involved with a logical start to their "post-show canon" lives. More so than most of the aforementioned programs, you're left with a sense of wanting to know the alternative ideas that were batted around, because it's possible that some of them could have been better (although it's probable that many would have been worse). But in the end, this final episode worked and any praise beyond that would be superfluous. Good job, Matthew Weiner.
This is another of the ongoing episode previews for the final batch of Mad Men episodes, as always, focusing on the Top 5 developments coming out of the previous episode.
Warning: Spoiler Alert
A quick note, first: there are a great many people for whom this Mad Men episode hits a little too close to home to be able to rate impartially, airing as it did on Mother's Day. When the episode revolves in large part around a mother receiving a fatal cancer diagnosis and having to confront the notion of leaving her children behind … well, one might have hoped that AMC could have worked the schedule in such a manner to leave this episode a week earlier or later. It certainly undercuts the "TV drama as escapism" motif, that's for sure.
Frankly, though, so much of the penultimate episode of the series was a complete downer and yet, because of the unique nature of these highly-acclaimed television dramas, somehow that description is not meant as a criticism – merely an observation. Matthew Weiner is such a master of evoking the exact tone that he is seeking that it has to be assumed that he intended to leave us 70 minutes of storytelling that would make us want to slash our wrists out of despair. Toward what end … well, (presumably) the series finale will provide us with that answer.
The predominant source of angst for this bottomless pit of depressing material was Betty's cancer diagnosis. Having fallen down at school and broken a rib just as she's beginning to pursue her postgraduate degree, X-rays reveal the full scope of her real problem: lung cancer that has metastasized to her bones, lymph nodes and other vital organs. While Henry jawbones the doctor about fighting through with state-of-the-art approaches (circa 1970), the devastated look on Betty's face says it all. This is one fight that was truly over before it started.
Unable to get Betty to spend her exceedingly short – 9 ½ months to a year – time remaining utilizing all of her energy in a futile fight, a desperate Henry tries to play a volatile trump card: Sally. A surprise visit to his teenage stepdaughter to break the news at first appears to break her, but soon it's Henry who's sobbing and wondering what he's going to do if Betty dies. This steely girl, on the eve of adulthood, is proving yet again that she's stronger than her elders.
Betty is upset when Henry brings Sally home to lobby her, leaving her daughter alone for dinner with Bobby and Gene. Sally intuits that she's about to become the woman of the house, sitting Gene on her lap in Betty's chair and looking after him tenderly. Later, Betty delivers Sally a note with her wishes to be administered after her passing. She explains to Sally that she watched her own mother suffer horribly and that she will not inflict that on her own children. Betty's manner is not cold, but definitely stiffer than you'd hope for in such a situation. But later, as Betty musters the energy to return to school in her remaining days, Sally cracks the envelope open for a look and finds a more personal, truly motherly expression than Betty has ever delivered before. Even through Sally's tears, you can find her relief that her mother truly loves her.
Of the three main storylines of the night, the sole hopeful one went to Pete, who seems to be truly growing up at long last. Although he's fitting into life at McCann seamlessly, a visit from Duck triggers an examination of his own state of affairs. Duck tricks him into interviewing with an executive at Learjet (on the pretext of simply having an informative discussion with him) and Pete's satisfaction with his current state of affairs is not enough to ward off the persistent Duck. Through certain machinations, a package is assembled that would provide Pete with everything that he would ever want at Lear, including a replacement for the million dollars that he's due from McCann by 1974. Pete tries to get a sense of what his brother would do given such an opportunity, but instead he ends up observing the emptiness of Bud's pursuit of extramarital fun. Seeing his own personal failures mirrored in Bud's affairs, he realizes that he's not a slave to his mistakes just because he and his brother have imitated their father's behaviors to this point. Undeterred by Trudy's brushoff when he had waxed sentimental about their life together earlier, he comes to her house in the middle of the night to tell her of the job offer and to beg her and Tammy to move to Wichita with him. Still feeling burned by his profound marital failures, she is resistant, but when she admits that she still loves him, the ice is shattered. If there was only one happy ending to go around, would anyone at all have bet on Pete being the recipient?
OK, back to the aura of truly repressive depression, this time with Don. Driving through Kansas and then Oklahoma, his car breaks down and he spends weird, lonely several days in a tiny-town motel awaiting the completion of repairs. As he's about to leave at the end of the week, the motel owner beseeches him to attend a fundraiser with him at the local American Legion hall. At the affair, Don's generosity makes him popular but he is loath to join in the sharing of war stories because of his own traumatic experience. He is visibly nervous when a fellow Korean War vet comes to make his acquaintance, but just when you think he's going to escape the function without any kind of exposure … he voluntarily bares his soul. Moved by the confession of a fellow vet that he massacred surrendering German soldiers in World War II, Don admits to accidentally causing the death of his commanding officer and exploiting the circumstances to get sent home. The understanding and warmth of his fellow veterans makes you think that Don's purpose for enduring this small-town purgatory was to find a way to make peace with the death of the real Don Draper … until Weiner winds up and throws one of those characteristic curveballs right down Broadway.
Don's episode-beginning nightmare about being discovered as a fugitive by law enforcement manifests itself – sort of – when he is awakened at the motel and confronted about stealing the $500 raised for the poor man who burned part of his house down. Don protests his innocence and is beaten for it, with the threat of more violence if he doesn't cough up the missing cash. He quickly realizes that the motel's shifty (male) maid, who was also working at the Legion event, was the culprit and he indicates in no uncertain terms to the kid that he'd better produce the money. Even as he is stern with the youngster, it's clear that Don sees something of his younger self in him as he lectures about how such an incident can cause you to enter a damaging, lasting race from your true self. After Don passes along the refunded five C-Notes, he accedes to the young man's request for a ride to the bus stop. As Don pulls over, you're waiting for the kid to bop him in the head with a tire iron and make off with all of his money, but then Don surprises us all by simply offering the kid his car. At the end, a bemused Don, sitting on a bench, has just added his vehicle to the long list of possessions that he has shed since the midseason finale: his marriage, his apartment, his career in the advertising business (referred to in the past tense by both himself and Duck) and indeed, his very interest in being big-city Don instead of country mouse Dick anymore.
But Don's still got three entities left in his life and they're named Sally, Bobby and Gene. Until Betty was revealed as terminal, the consequences of Don going Kerouac seemed fairly minimal with his kids enmeshed in a comfortable household with an attentive stepfather. But a shattered Henry's not going to be any use to anybody and indeed, there's no substitute for your actual father anyway. With only one episode of the series remaining, word needs to quickly reach Don about the fate of his ex-wife so that he can begin formulating an actual plan to take care of them – and provide for them, now that he's apparently booted the big money back to McCann. Speaking of that, will Megan's million-dollar check bounce now? One can only hope. But the fates of Don, those crazy star-crossed kids Stan and Peggy and wealthy-but-unemployed Joan hang in the balance with the series finale looming. Mere weeks ago, Justified faced the seemingly-impossible task of tying all of the threads together in the final episode and they actually accomplished 95% of that in the first two-thirds of the story. There's no way that Matthew Weiner will do that, because we know that's not what he's after. Hopefully, though, resolution itself in a grand, over-arching sense isn't going to be too much to ask. We'll know all the answers in six days.
This is another of the ongoing episode previews for the final batch of Mad Men episodes, as always, focusing on the Top 5 developments coming out of the previous episode.
Warning: Spoiler Alert
Apologies for the self-indulgent headline – a staple of this corner, granted – but Matthew Weiner was just asking for it by rolling some Bowie over the final scene of Don going AWOL (yet again!), giving a ride to a hippie hitchhiker in the middle of Flyover Country. In terms of what led up to that, suffice to say that McCann's investment in Sterling Cooper – which was subtly hinted to be going poorly in Episodes 7.8-7.10 and was flat-out revealed as such in 7.11 – isn't working out well for any of the major players. Granted, in his brief moment on-screen, Pete seemed to be getting by, spineless Ted has given up and Harry was glad to be going to a place that he thinks will indulge his pomposity, but the professional saga of these characters isn't front-and-center at this stage.
In Episode 7.12, Lost Horizon, the stragglers to the new office are Roger and Peggy (not counting Ed, a redundancy in the move who spends his last week in the Sterling Cooper offices ringing up huge long-distance charges), with the Silver Stache hanging around SC a bit longer on the pretext of fully gathering his belongings and Peggy left without an office by the McCann crew – who seem to mistake her for a secretary. And based on what was mentioned in a brief aside to Joan, Peggy's not going to be the badass copy chief over in the big leagues, but don't anyone try to tell her that. After venting her frustrations to Roger and bonding with him over some vermouth and stories, she struts like a bad mofo into the new agency in shades, puffing on a cancer stick and clutching a saucy painting from Cooper for her office. OK, then!
Roger's musings, comparing Sterling Cooper to his World War II experience of going swimming off of his naval ship – "this was a helluva boat" – set the right wistful tone for the nightmares being experienced by everyone getting sucked into the McCann Erickson whirlwind. The person who has it the worst by far is good old Joanie, who continues her pattern of being sexually harassed by everyone and their grandmother at McCann. She makes the prison-like mistake of complaining to an executive who she will now owe "a favor" and wonders aloud to her new boyfriend Richard about how to handle the situation. Richard, who didn't get to be a millionaire developer based on his gentle good charm, implies that he invoked Cosa Nostra connections whenever intimidation was needed and plants the seed in her head about the white-collar equivalent thereof. When she is summoned to meet with an unhappy Jim Hobart, she has her enforcers in mind: the EEOC, the ACLU and anybody else concerned about the plight of working women in the "times-are-a-changin'" year of 1970. Extremely put off by what he sees as her insolence, Jim makes a bottom-line offer that he warns her will never improve: 50 cents on the dollar of what she is owed in the buyout so long as she never darkens the doorstep of McCann ever again. She defiantly refuses, but later, she is convinced by Roger that she is fighting a war that she can never win. Perhaps with the realization that she is a most imperfect warrior given the circumstances of how she first obtained her partnership stake at Sterling Cooper, she accepts the terms of her defeat.
But for Don, the most prized aspect of the takeover, Jim Hobart's "white whale," everything looks like it's going to be fine – at least initially. Against all odds, Meredith is showing greater competency, even the aptitude to decorate his new apartment. And while Don is displaying some subtle discomfort with the big new surroundings – glancing out the windows distractedly – he is invigorated by the challenge presented by Hobart with a new potential Miller Beer account. Hobart explains that McCann purchased the agency with the Miller account so that they could put Don on it, with the promise of working on a revolutionary new product that even the densest dummy watching the show could tell you is going to become Miller Lite. But the intimate meeting that he imagined with Miller – in the mold of his entire previous professional history – turns into a big cattle call that he and Ted are obliged to sit through while a research company honcho drones on endlessly about the challenges inherent in pitching a "sissy" product to a blue-collar audience. Unfortunately for everyone involved, when the state of Wisconsin is invoked, Don's latent dissatisfaction with his current state of affairs collides head-on into his quest for answers about Diana and he takes off driving to the Badger State, departing mid-meeting without any explanation. Granted, he stops in on the kids (who've made other plans) and chats up Betty about pursuing the education that she's always wanted, but that just seems like a time-filler until he hits the road.
As he's driving through Cleveland and digesting what seems to be a radio ad for Higbee's (a North Coast shoutout on Mad Men and it only took seven seasons!), it turns out instead to be the dulcet tones of Bert Cooper, having been conjured by Don's overly-tired mind. Bert's sardonic advice about searching for Diana being a bad expenditure of his time and energy sounds like what the old coot would have actually said, but to paraphrase that era's most celebrated diplomat Henry Kissenger, "It had the added benefit of being true!"
Don's bright idea is to show up on the doorstep of Diana's ex-husband and impersonate the research doofus who literally bored him out of the Miller confab. He finds out that her ex-husband remarried and in short order, his cover story about being there to present a sweepstakes award is blown. It seems as if he's going to preserve a shred of dignity by changing his story to being a collection agent trying to track Diana down, but the ex-husband merely plays along with the charade to spare his new wife any further discomfort. As Don's about to drive away, he is confronted with the knowledge that the collection story is not believed and furthermore, he's not the first jilted lover of Diana's to come to town looking for answers. Don is chagrined, but based on his decision to drive further out of the way to take the hitchhiker to St. Paul at the end of the episode, it wasn't enough to jolt him back to his day-to-day life yet.
And that's going to be a problem, as Hobart has punched his foot down harder and faster on the "Don Draper Zero To Disillusionment" scale than anyone ever has before. He questions Meredith on whether her missing boss is on a bender and he vents about his prize acquisition to Roger. For all the duplicity of the McCann buyout and the unfair treatment of many Sterling Cooper mainstays, Hobart wasn't lying about the opportunities involved. Miller Lite (and their iconic Seventies ad campaigns) are about to become a thing, along with the "Buy the World a Coke" slogan that owned 1971. It's too late now for Joan, but everyone else still has the opportunity to grasp the world by the nards and make it happen on the big stage. But, to varying degrees, it doesn't seem as though that is what any of these characters want and, with only two episodes remaining in the series, the time to change all of these minds is expiring. Fitting all of the jigsaw pieces together on the board in a coherent fashion will be an incredible challenge for Matthew Weiner in his last 120 minutes with the show.


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Moscow, Russia
Innovation center SKOLKOVO - is a modern scientific and technological complex in Moscow. The focus is a research & development activity. The complex provides special economic conditions for companies operating in priority sectors of modernization of the Russian economy: telecommunications and space, biomedical technology, energy efficiency, information technology, and nuclear technology.
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Products delivered: DV, Topvex air handling units; ducts fans: KD-EC, K-EC, KT, RS, RSI, MUB; Axial fans: AW Sileo, AR Sileo, RVK Sileo, AXC, AXCBF; Explosion proof fans: AXC-EX; Smoke fans: DVV with accessories; air distribution products and regulators.


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Jurrasic World borrows from the Jurrasic Park films but it has some very original concepts. Imagine the movie "Jaws" except the beach go'ers are replaced by the Jurrasic World attendees and of course the monster is a dinosaur.
The movie inroduces a new style of dinosour, unstoppable and intelligent. This makes for a suspenseful movie. The vehicles used through out are cool. The 4 wheel drives from the original movies are back and we have some technologically advanced ones too.
Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard put in solid action performances. Pratt's physical presence and charm make him a good choice for an action lead. This follows his Guardians of the Galaxy performance which was also great.
I won't spoil the movie any further and end with saying that the scenes with the pterodactyls is impressive.
"I loved the ending, I didn't see it coming"A fun 124 minutes.
|2020 Movies
|Total ($)
|Bad Boys For Life
|225.08 m
|146.0 m
|124.0 m
|Birds of Prey
|84.1 m
|2019 Movies
|Total ($)
|Avengers End Game
|3.6 b
|The Lion King
|2.1 b
|Captain Marvel
|1.5 b
|Toy Story 4
|1.4 b


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Jack Shields | @Jack_Shields20
With the 2020 election approaching fast, many Americans are thinking about how they will vote at the polls. This election cycle consists of intense interest, most of which is well deserved. The election will be a hotly contested one. Many dislike the Trump administration but can't seem to find a replacement for him outside of the Democratic Party. However, the Presidential election should not block out another important issue: the reallocating of the 435 Congressional seats in the House of Representatives between the fifty states and the subsequent redistricting of said seats.
Read moreLike All Things, Technology Could Solve Gerrymandering


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Martechma is a respected association of Greek marine technical managers.
Antifouling paint and technology was identified by members as a confusing subject that they would like to understand.
Safinah, as independent marine coating experts, had the pleasure to present on the subject on 8th September at Maran's training auditorium in Athens.
Safinah was represented by Raouf Kattan, Managing Director, and Alan Walker, Managing Partner, and the presentation detailed the penalties of fouling and roughness on hull performance, drag and fuel consumption.
The final slides as shown below ended with some "Golden Rules", "Practical Advice" and things to "Keep in Mind" when considering antifouling coating: all aspects for which Safinah can offer independent support.
Golden rules
- Clarify performance expectations vessel by vessel
- Define the correct scope of work/needs
- Are you satisfied with current performance
- Specify coating technology and products correctly using in house or external expertise
- Ensure coatings are selected against requirements
- If possible obtain a guarantee to meet operational/charter party parameters
- Measure and monitor performance and ROI
Practical advice
- There is no default specification – save money by considering vessel by vessel
- At NB (new building) consider the need of the NB process
- The dry dock specification & scope is a rough unseen estimate – review/revise at the in-dock inspection
- savings up to 20% are possible
- Full blast or plan a part blast
- In service – measure, analyse, feedback and act (for ship and fleet if appropriate)
Keep in mind
- Specification and selection is key
- Slime and fouling give rise to higher penalties than roughness
- Maximum penalty from roughness is about 7%
- Savings must be measured
- Forget the chemistry – focus on your performance needs
Feedback from the members was positive in that the presentation was practical and concerned the effect of roughness and fouling on fuel consumption rather than the "baffling" chemistry that is often fed to Martechma members.
For independent, practical advice on all marine coatings please contact Safinah


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Hull's HVAC Ductless System Contractor
Ductless System Repair and Install
Hull's HVAC offer install, service and repair for Ductless ductless cooling and heating systems. All mini-split ductless cooling and heating systems feature streamlined, mounted indoor units paired with quiet and compact outdoor units and are very energy efficient. A mini-split/ductless system is a split system, which means it has components that are located inside and outside the home.
However, unlike traditional split HVAC systems, ductless units do not rely on air ducts to route air throughout your home. A ductless air conditioner/heater is designed to heat or cool a single room, a zone or an addition to your home that may lack or cannot accommodate ductwork. Multi-Zone units are also available.


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These two girls were on the bus (one wearing a Laurier sweatshirt and one with a UW lanyard...
Laurier Girl: Well, I don't know. It's hard to say but I feel like he just kind of, like, inseminated me. It's not that I feel pregnant or anything; I just, like, think he really wanted to cum inside of something really gorgeous *laughs* So, win-win!
Waterloo Girl: ... Were you wearing your "Sperm Dumpster" t-shirt at the club, again?
Updated on Saturday, April 13, 2013
4 comments
- AnonymousApril 14, 2013 at 1:24 AM
lol nice oneReplyDelete
- AnonymousApril 26, 2013 at 12:32 AM
this didn't happenReplyDelete
- AnonymousMay 27, 2013 at 4:42 PM
it did in OP's mindReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 11, 2013 at 12:16 PM
Yeah, this seems too well-remembered and perfectly-worded to be true...ReplyDelete
OP needs hobbies.


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by Brad Felmey
The City of Weatherford operates (at least) two distinct businesses, although both are managed together: utilities and property management. Property management in this context refers specifically to 400-500 real estate holdings abutting Lake Weatherford, which are currently owned by city taxpayers and leased to the private sector for both residential and commercial purposes.
Some residents have been asking for a while now why the city council continues to maintain these functions under governmental auspices. Although a few of the vocal opponents of the current system tend to be dismissed out-of-hand by some, the topic nevertheless merited investigation. Should the city (or any governmental tier) be running businesses for profit? After asking questions of both sides, followed by the careful, considered application of rational thought and a healthy dose of the spirit of the U.S. Constitution, the result was one inescapable answer: No.
A good portion of that conclusion is rooted in the political philosophy that governments should have very specific, enumerated roles. Do a few things, and do them well; stay out of the way of people and businesses who have actually made this country work for 230-odd years. Nowhere in that philosophy is found "create a monopoly, enforce it by law, and run the resultant business to make money". This isn't about "can", it's about "should". These two terms are not the same thing.
The most compelling argument encountered for keeping the current scenario is that the city makes a profit on utilities and leasing out those lake properties, which reduces the property tax rate. That's an admirable concept, but by logical extension, should then the city open a couple of convenience stores, a car dealership, perhaps a bank? If running a business and making money for the city is desirable, then why not expand the scope – more is better, right?
Answer: Because running businesses is not a core competency of government. Anything that does not fall under core responsibilities (such as roads and emergency services) should properly reside in the private sector. This is said knowing full well that in this case it would cause a change in the city's finances. For City of Weatherford residents, no longer operating these businesses would almost certainly mean either an increase in taxes, a decrease in services (such as parks and library hours), or both. This is mentioned so as not to be intellectually dishonest about the resultant effect.
The sale of these assets, properly divested, could provide a significant amount of capital to be used for things like desperately-needed roads and debt retirement – the latter potentially reducing the debt-service portion of the effective property tax rate.
These properties (real and business) are taxpayer-owned, and therefore it is in the taxpayers' interest for their divestiture to be handled in such a way that the value of these properties is realized. Plain-English translation: a fire sale at rock-bottom or giveaway prices would constitute a breach of stewardship, and should not be countenanced.
The result would be a city with a much clearer focus on the things that it should be doing well, and a reduced opportunity for negative public discourse that distracts from and impedes the proficient dispatch of constitutional governmental responsibilities.


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Really great news today! Lena has a new film coming up and I've no idea why I haven't heard about this before. Anyways it's a film called Pete Smalls is Dead and its made by the director, Alexandre Rockwell. Lena stars against some amazing cast, for example: Peter Dinklage, Mark Boone Junior, Tim Roth and Steve Buscemi.
I'm so excited that Lena will star against one of my very favorite actors Steve Buscemi and it's also great to see that Lena gets to star along side friend and former co-star Peter Dinklage again. She stars with him in the upcoming series Game of Thrones and also in the pilot episode for the TV Series Ultra, which wasn't picked up.
Read more about the film, such as synopsis and trivia at our filmography page.
Several trailers has been released for the film but only two includes Lena – I'm guessing she has a smaller part. But view both in our Video Archive!
– Movies: Pete Smalls is Dead


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If President Bush thought that his release of selected payroll and service records would quell the growing controversy over whether he ducked some of his required service in the Air National Guard three decades ago, he is clearly mistaken. The payroll records released yesterday document that he performed no guard duties at all for more than half a year in 1972 and raise questions about how he could be credited with at least 14 days of duty during subsequent periods when his superior officers in two units said they had not seen him.
Investigative reporting by The Boston Globe, our sibling newspaper, revealed in 2000 that Mr. Bush had reported for duty and flown regularly in his first four Texas Guard years but dropped off the Guard's radar screen when he went to Alabama to work on a senatorial campaign. The payroll records show that he was paid for many days of duty in the first four months of 1972, when he was in Texas, but then went more than six months without being paid, virtually the entire time he was working on the Senate campaign in Alabama. That presumably means he never reported for duty during that period.
Mr. Bush was credited with 14 days of service at unspecified locations between Oct. 28, 1972, and the end of April 1973. The commanding officer of the Alabama unit to which Mr. Bush was supposed to report long ago said that he had never seen him appear for duty, and Mr. Bush's superiors at the Texas unit to which he returned wrote in May 1973 that they could not write an annual evaluation of him because he had not been seen there during that year. Those statements are so jarringly at odds with the payroll data that they demand further elaboration. A Guard memo prepared for the White House by a former Guard official says Mr. Bush earned enough points to fulfill his duty but leaves it unclear whether he got special treatment.
The issue is not whether Mr. Bush, like many sons of the elite in his generation, sought refuge in the Guard to avoid combat in Vietnam. The public knew about that during the 2000 campaign. Whether Mr. Bush actually performed his Guard service to the full is a different matter. It bears on presidential character because the president has continually rejected claims that there was anything amiss about his Guard performance during the Alabama period. Mr. Bush himself also made the issue of military service fair game by posturing as a swashbuckling pilot when welcoming a carrier home from Iraq. Now, the president needs to make a fuller explanation of how he spent his last two years in the Guard.


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On November 2, FFT proudly announced that they had built a official partnership with the famous Rolex and it will be the official timekeeper. In the past 40 years, the popular copy Rolex has always been the loyal partner of tennis sport. The well-known watch brand will be the golden partner of French Open, and taking charge of the official timekeeper of Roland Garros competition held in Paris next year.
The bond between Rolex and tennis is based on the pursuit of excellence, perfection, precision and elegance. Rolex has already be the official cooperative partner of Wimbledon Championships, the Australian Open and US Open. Now Rolex has been the most popular watch brand that has cooperated with famous tennis championships, meanwhile, it has sponsored some world's top players including Chris Evert, Roger Federer, Jim Courier and so on.
The stories between Rolex and the tennis sport can't be finished in 3 days. The accurate Rolex knockoff watches are honored to cooperate with FFT which has consolidated the relationship between Rolex and international tennis.


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Relais Villa Il Sasso
|A luxury relais on the green Tuscan hills
On the green hills of Tuscany, 15 minutes away from the Florence city center, 5 minutes away from the Ugolino Florence golf club in a villa of 1300. Relais Villa il Sasso offers a unique solution for who want a luxury hotel accommodation in Florence, enjoying at the same time the landscape of the Tuscany country.
The villa rooms, suite or deluxe, are furnished with old furniture, and they have large bathrooms, LCD tv with SKY service, Air conditioning, internet connection and free mini-bar service.
The swimming pool, the wood, and the private little church, complete the atmosphere, allowing to the guests of the relais to enjoy moments of relax and to find out a little of Tuscan history with a guided tour, which is possible to arrange on demand.


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|bearing name:
|NTN 63/22-2Z bearing
|Brand model :
|outer diameter D :
|56 mm
|diameter d :
|22 mm
|thickness B :
|16 mm
|Deep groove ball bearing specifications
|63/22-2Z bearing price
Tek Bearing company supply NTN 63/22-2Z bearings, NTN 63/22-2Z bearing related information: Model: 63/22-2Z Bearing; Brand: NTN; Type: Deep groove ball bearing. If you want to know more about NTN 63/22-2Z for information, you can do online consultation or call the hotline and email us [email protected], we will serve you in detail.
NTN 63/22 Special equipment installation (maintenance) safety approval certificate 2 outer ring outer ring raceway bearing ring on the inner surface. If the fit clearance exceeds the specified usage limit, the critical frequency is changed.
Bearing a is a leading online supplier and distributor of over 1,000,000 bearings and ancillary products, from some of the world's most trusted brands including SKF, FAG, NTN, NSK, Timken, INA, IKO cheap NSK 63/22-2Z bearings for sale.


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Fragile Future
Knowing that we are mist-people motivates us to cling to our solid God....Keep Reading
Knowing that we are mist-people motivates us to cling to our solid God....Keep Reading
If we're not careful, we'll plan our lives without giving thought to God....Keep Reading
We are freshwater people. ...Keep Reading
We are made in God's image and likeness....Keep Reading
Knowing that we'll stumble prepares us to receive God's helping hand as he draws us to our feet to try again....Keep Reading
Fire in the fireplace can give warmth to the house. Fire in a grill can feed a family. Fire in a lamp can give light to a community. But we must, must, must prevent forest fires....Keep Reading
This week we'll be listening to James' teaching on the importance (and difficulty) of taming the tongue....Keep Reading
Take a Holy-Spirit-led inventory of your faith and deeds...Keep Reading
What are some ways you can put your faith into action?...Keep Reading
Why would anyone claim to have faith without deeds?...Keep Reading
James believes that God can use the law to give freedom. ...Keep Reading
Listening is important work. But listening is not the same as doing....Keep Reading
How does favoritism connect with The Great Commandment? ...Keep Reading
We can find a dozen different reasons to justify our favoritism. But in the end, just like an unhealthy relationship, favoritism will hurt us....Keep Reading
When James tells us not to show favoritism, it isn't because everyone's equal....Keep Reading
We find ourselves attracted to people who are like us and to people who are like the people we wish we were like...Keep Reading
Given our relationship with each other and our relationship with Jesus, how can we show favoritism? ...Keep Reading
We pray for wisdom and courage to navigate life in this beautiful, dangerous world....Keep Reading
James explicitly singles out the care of orphans and widows in his description of "acceptable religion." This is not a random choice....Keep Reading
As the church expanded and grew, their concern for those who were less fortunate became one of their distinguishing marks....Keep Reading
James wants his readers to experience the joy of integrity....Keep Reading
This week we'll be exploring James' thoughts on religion, particularly the difference between "worthless religion" and "acceptable religion."...Keep Reading


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Shhhh… can you hear that? It's the sound of the halo of light that the Naked 3 palette is emitting… for the launch of Urban Decay's Naked 3 Palette is something that a lot of people (me included) are very excited about.
They kicked off the Naked range with the origal Naked palette (check out my review here) – a velvet cased twelvesome of gorgeous warm toned neutral bronzey shades. Soon followed Naked 2 – a metal cased palette along the same kind of lines, but cool toned neutrals. Since then there have been an array of others added into the Naked line… Naked Basics (check out my review here), Naked Flushed (review here) and a variety of Naked skin products such as foundations.
The latest addition to the family is Naked 3 – jam packed with warm toned pink to brown hues, with a rippled metallic rose gold case. One of the founders of Urban Decay saw a beautiful sunset one night, which led her onto the decision to create a palette of these colours (God bless that sunset).
Inside the mirrored case you will find 12 shadows ranging in finishes, and a double ended synthetic eyeshadow brush. One end is for packing on colour or using for liner, and the other is great for blending or for using on the lid for a soft wash of colour into the crease. When you purchase Naked3 you also get a Primer Potion sampler which has about a weeks worth of original, Sin, Eden and the new anti-ageing formulas.
This is the first time they have released 12 shades entirely for this palette – there are no repeats from other palettes – all fresh and new and gorgeous.
The story beings at Strange – a very pale pink in a satin-matte finish – this colour would be good for a delicate daytime look, to use as a base to creating others, or to add to the inner corners of your eyes. Dust is a pale metallic pink shimmer with iridescent micro-glitter. Burnout is a beautiful pink with a hint of frost, and Limit is a stunning matte muted rose shade.
Buzz is a beautiful cranberry/rosey colour with iridescent microglitter, Trick another metallic pinky copper shade, with a hint of a sparkle. Nooner is a gorgeous purpley matte brown, and Liar a metallic milk chocolate brown shimmer.
Then we reach the darker shades. Great for adding in a bit of definition, or for a full on smokey-eye. Factory is a pinky-brown satin shade, Mugshot a pinky-taupe shimmer, Darkside a deep purpley brown satin, and Blackheart a gorgeous matt black with pink micro-sparkle.
I quickly threw together four looks using the palette.
As the inspiration behind the palette was a sunset, that's where I was trying to go with this. I used Burnout all over the lid, then added Liar in the crease, then blended it out with Trick. I then added some Buzz to the middle of my lid. I used Urban Decay's Perversion liner on a smudger brush along the lashline.
For this look I added Blackheart all over my lid and underneath my lower lash line, then blended the edges using Nooner. I used MAC Prunella on my waterline.
I used Dust all over my eyelid then added Darkside into the crease of my eye and under my lower lash line. I added L'Oreal Superliner to my upper lid, and Urban Decay Perversion to my waterline.
I used Liar all over my lid, then Mugshot in the outer corner. I used Factory under my lower lash line, and added Urban Decay Perversion to my tightline and waterline.
The big question is…. when!? When does this go on sale? Well I've been told "mid December" and will retail for £37…. I've spotted them on lookfantastic.com for pre-order for delivery by 21st December.
*UPDATE!* The official launch date in the UK is 16th December, but if you go to House of Fraser on Oxford Street from 12th-19th December you can preview and purchase there, plus have a makeover by an Urban Decay makeup artist.


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The most important trait of these systems is the use of transformers on the loudspeakers (usually internal) to "step down" the signal voltage before applying it to the loudspeaker. This is necessary because the signal voltage is "stepped up" at the amplifier.
In fact, at SynAudCon we prefer the term "transformer distribution system," especially since they can be based on voltages other than 70 V.
The ratings and specifications are based on sine waves, but any audio signal can be played over the system.
Myths regarding these systems abound. Some are rooted in fact. Others are not. Here are some of the more common misconceptions about transformer-distributed loudspeaker systems.
1. 70.7 volts is present all of the time, just like 120 V on a household electrical circuit.
This illustrates the difference between a "rated" voltage and an "actual" voltage. Audio signals are dynamic, meaning that they are only present when something is playing over the system. Contrast this to utility power distribution systems, where a voltage is always present at the electrical outlet. The 70.7 volt system gets its name from the RMS (think average) voltage of a pure tone (a sine wave) whose peak voltage is 100 V, which is the highest voltage that, by code, can be present on the line. So, feed a sine wave into the system and turn it up until the "70 V" amplifier clips, and you will read 70 Vrms on the line, and 100 Vpeak. Substitute speech or music and turn it up until the amplifier clips, and you will read a far lower voltage (typically 1/3, depending on the program material). Play nothing into the system and there will be no voltage on the line, other than residual noise.
2. These systems have poor sound quality, and are only suitable for paging and elevator music.
This is an undeserved reputation. If you use good quality loudspeakers and transformers, these systems can have excellent fidelity, indistinguishable from conventional systems that use 8 ohm loudspeakers. It is true that there are many poor quality 70 V systems in use, but that is due to the factors that can make any sound system sound bad – poor quality products, poor design, improper calibration, or user error.
3. These systems are low frequency deficient because you can't get "bass" through a transformer.
The transformers used in these systems do indeed saturate more easily at low frequencies, resulting in potentially poor bass performance. This can be remedied by over-sizing the transformers, or by simply high passing the system (filtering out the low frequencies). It is reasonable to expect good fidelity to about 80 Hz without taking special measures to extend it to a lower frequency (larger transformers, dedicated subwoofer, etc.). Now, I don't know about you, but I really don't miss the very low frequencies when sitting in a meeting room, airport or restaurant. In fact, they can be annoying. They are not needed at all for speech systems, and music systems for most applications can still sound quite good if high passed at 80 Hz.
4. Due to the lethal voltages present on these systems, the wiring must be in conduit.
It's not the voltage that is potentially lethal. It's the current. The higher the voltage, the more current is "pumped through" something that finds its way into the circuit. It is best to treat these circuits with the same respect you would render an electrical outlet, even though in practice the voltage and available current are far lower. Many of todays larger power amplifiers (1 kW and higher) can produce higher voltages than 70 V, along with many amperes of current. These are potentially much more dangerous than the typical 70 V system. None the less, keep your tongue off of the loudspeaker's terminals and don't use 70 V distribution for your hot tub loudspeakers without strict adherence to the electrical code.
5. You can't install one of these systems unless you have an expensive impedance meter.
The impedance meter is handy, but not essential. In fact, the whole reason for the way that these systems are specified is to avoid impedance ratings and impedance measurements.
The objective is to avoid overloading the amplifier (too many loudspeakers). You can assure that by adding up all of the power taps used on the loudspeakers, and making sure that the amplifier's rating is larger. In scenarios where you are replacing an existing amplifier, an impedance measurement can assure that the replacement amplifier is large enough for the application.
6. The system won't work right unless there is 70 volts on the line.
The voltage rating of the amplifier and the power taps on the loudspeakers assume the presence of a 70 Vrms sine wave. You can operate the line at any voltage lower than the rated voltage. It is common practice for small systems made up of identical loudspeakers to "max out" the power taps on the loudspeakers and then adjust the amplifier for the desired playback level, with no regard for the rated line voltage. Keep in mind that this may complicate future expansion, since the power tap on the loudspeaker assumes the presence of the full distribution voltage. In other words, your 10 W loudspeaker will not get 10 W unless the system is operated at 70 V.
7. It is incorrect to refer to a 70.7 V distribution system as simply a "70 V" system.
Technically true, but why make it complicated? There is no practical difference between the two voltages.
8. These systems are only for "ceiling speakers," and one shouldn't mix/match loudspeaker types.
The 70 V system is just a means of signal distribution. It has nothing to do with the type of loudspeaker used. While 70 V distribution works well for ceiling loudspeakers, the amplifier doesn't know or care about "what" or "where" with regard to loudspeakers. Do you have separate circuits in your house for toasters, TVs, and lamps? Of course not. These can all share the same circuit, so long as they don't draw more current than is available. In the same way, it is perfectly acceptable to mix and match loudspeaker types on a 70 V line. In fact, it is one of the greatest benefits of this means of signal distribution.
9. 70 volt systems have lots of phase interference and comb filtering.
High density ceiling loudspeakers do indeed exhibit significant phase interference and comb filtering. This is one of the reasons why they can produce even sound coverage. In general, the more loudspeakers, the more interference, the more even the coverage. A common mistake regarding ceiling loudspeaker systems is to install too few loudspeakers. In essence, if interference is inevitable, more is usually better than less.
This "carpet bomb" approach to sound coverage works well for some applications, such as meeting rooms, airport gates, and clothing stores. A more surgical approach that minimized phase interference is preferred for theaters, auditoriums, and studios.
That said, the interference has nothing to do with whether or not the loudspeakers are on a 70 V line. There would be just as much interference if each loudspeaker were 8 ohms and had its own amplifier.
10. You need a "70 V amplifier" to drive a "70 V system."
That's the easiest way to do it, but what you actually need is an amplifier that can produce the needed voltage and the needed current. The needed voltage is determined by how loud you want it to play. The needed current is determined by how many loudspeakers (and their power tap) that you daisy chain onto the line. The "70 V system" (and other standard distribution voltage schemes, such as 25 V, 100 V, etc.) assure that you can meet these conditions by simply adding the power taps and buying an appropriate amplifier.
I can use a conventional (non-70 V) amplifier to drive the line if it allows the desired SPL to be reached. Since a conventional amplifier can be loaded to a fairly low impedance (8 ohms) it should be able to easily drive a zone of loudspeakers with transformers (usually a fairly high impedance). An additional factor is that transformer loads (70 V loudspeakers) are inherently more reactive than transformer-less loudspeakers, and some conventional amplifiers may not like that. For this reason, it is good practice to use an amplifier that is designed to drive a 70 V system.
Done properly, the transformer-distributed loudspeaker system is a nice arrow-in-the-quiver of the sound system designer. They have served our industry for nearly a century, and will likely do so for another. There is simply no other way to accomplish what these systems can do
- Drive many, many loudspeakers from a single amplifier.
- Use a relatively thin cable to do so.
- Set the volume of each loudspeaker independently
If your system needs these attributes, transformer distribution is the way to go. pb
*This article first appeared in Practical Audio – A Technology Blog by Pat Brown