text:
Just checked the Webby Awards "People's Voice" standings. Currently the Frugal Traveler: Budget Europe is in third.
Did I mention Your Vote is Appreciated?
Have a huge Twitter audience or fans who read your blog? Have them check out the series -- it was 14 solid episodes of Euro travel, and I'm not sure that's reflected in the link people who arrive cold at the Webbys get. Voting ends April 30th, so it's not over yet....
Saturday, April 25, 2009
And Sarah Palin is in Fourth
Just checked the Webby Awards "People's Voice" standings. Currently the Frugal Traveler: Budget Europe is in third.
Posted by Ted Fisher at 10:01 AM 0 comments
Labels: awards, frugal traveler
Friday, April 24, 2009
Bernie, Elliot, Madge
Sure, my neighborhood has one or two unsavory characters in it, like anywhere else. And questionable newcomers move in from time to time. That's fine.
Despite the downsides, you can't beat the tulips on Park Avenue when Spring decides to show up.
Above: iPhone snap from yesterday, taken while walking over to teach a photography class.
Posted by Ted Fisher at 3:43 PM 0 comments
Labels: snapshots
Thursday, April 23, 2009
But I've Never Been To Me
What type of news story would I like to read? Well, anything Ted-centric would be fine. And they say journalism's dead....
Indie Filmmakers Q&A Series: Part I
Posted by Ted Fisher at 9:16 PM 0 comments
Labels: media coverage
Now I Have to Look Up If He Won
Did I mention that Webby nomination, and how you should go vote for Frugal Traveler: Budget Europe immediately? I guess it slipped my mind. In any case, go vote now, it's going to be very close.
Your vote is needed. I'll wait.
Okay, now that you're back, a little humor at Slate. It's not necessarily accurate, and the article is a year old, but it's still pretty funny....
What? You've Not Been Honored by the Webbys?
Posted by Ted Fisher at 12:01 AM 0 comments
Labels: awards, frugal traveler
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Profluence shows up in the darndest places.
This time it's in a story on filmmaking contests -- a topic we know well -- and where they might fit into the future of filmmaking.
The future of storytelling - from Soderbergh to YouTube
"I used to roll my eyes … how could this serious life pursuit be reduced to a contest? Why would makers play directly in to the hands of needy promotional types? But years later, I'm starting to see the opportunities, and how it's grown far beyond simple commercialization. In posing story as game, isn't there value in simply inviting broader creativity? Aren't there new types of opportunities for collaboration?"Check out the full post, as it's the first column by Annie Howell and Lisa Robinson on Sundance Channel's new "SUNfiltered" blog.
Posted by Ted Fisher at 10:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: blogging, documentarians
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Documentaries in the News, Stripper Edition
This might be a good doc. Or not. It definitely needs a better title, though. Really, there have to be a couple dozen double-entendres just ready to go, and no end of possible puns.
Stripper Impersonates High School Alum: Classmates Learn About Reunion Prank on YouTube
So, rather than attend her reunion, Wachner, 31, sent someone else in her place, a stripper, and made a documentary about it. "I Remember Andrea" wasn't picked up by the film festivals this go-around, but Wachner did find a manager who took interest in her project. They are shopping it around as a reality TV show or a narrative feature.
Posted by Ted Fisher at 5:52 PM 1 comments
Labels: documentaries in the news
Monday, April 20, 2009
ASU Screening Followup
I've screened films for small audiences before, and that's fine. I can think of a few times when there were only 30 people in the audience. No problem. So it's nice to see 1,300 turn out for the screening at ASU Art Museum. That's a good-sized audience.
ASU museum's reel deal
Posted by Ted Fisher at 8:47 PM 0 comments
Labels: film festivals, screenings
Your Vote is Appreciated
The web series I produced / edited last summer -- Frugal Traveler: The Grand Tour -- is nominated for a 2009 Webby Award.
Please vote for the show at the People's Voice site.
It would be much appreciated.
How it works: click on "sign up now" and give an email address (you can opt out of receiving anything) and make up a password. They email you a link, then you follow that to a ballot.If you haven't seen it, here's the series:
"Frugal" is under "Online Film / Video" in the "Travel" category.
2008: Frugal Traveler: The Grand Tour (14 Episodes)
Week 1: Dover to Calais
Week 2: Paris, France
Week 3: Southwestern France
Week 4: French Riviera
Week 5: Rome
Week 6: Malta
Week 7: Cyprus
Week 8: Bucharest
Week 9: Vilnius, Lithuania
Week 10: Gdansk, Poland
Week 11: Germany
Week 12: Dutch-Belgian Border
Week 13: Frugal Edinburgh
Frugal Traveler: Looking Back
Posted by Ted Fisher at 12:01 AM 0 comments
Labels: awards, frugal traveler
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Editing by the Numbers
I've been grading papers by my students this week, and as usual there are many references to how editing has changed in the digital era. It makes sense: while the basic concepts are the same, editing on a computer can be significantly faster and allows a lot of room for quick experimentation.
I think they miss the bigger, more significant point, however.
Compare the same editor working in 1979 and 2009 and of course you'll see the power of computer-assisted editing. On some tasks, the digital editor will be amazingly faster, and will likely have less need of multiple assistants to sort the material.
On other tasks, though, they may in fact work at about the same pace. A decent film editor on a working pre-digital system is not inherently slow, and a digital system includes no magic wand.
The significance of digital technology is not found in comparing one editor (1979 version) to one editor (2009 version). The real change is this: the number of people with training in editing and a reasonable amount of practice is way, way up. The shift to computer-based editing has given the individual editor potentially more speed and power -- but it has also made it a more competitive field, with a much larger talent pool. How many 19-year-olds had edited a short film in 1979, compared to the number today?
The real effect, then, is that in our one-to-one comparison that 2009 editor would probably be better. Not because of the function of the tools, but because of the amount of practice and competition allowed by the tools.
Posted by Ted Fisher at 10:20 PM 0 comments
Labels: editing
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Anthony Goicolea Documentary
Here's a short documentary on artist Anthony Goicolea I edited last year. It was directed and photographed by Richard Giles. It's done in a very slow, contemplative style that I really enjoy. We spend a lot of time experiencing his process of making art, and we get a sense of what it's like to hang out in his studio. It's 8 minutes and 30 seconds.
(It was done for Haunch of Venison, and you can see more about the artist on their site.)
Posted by Ted Fisher at 10:15 AM 0 comments
Labels: documentaries, documentary production, editing
Screening Tonight
Tonight at 8 p.m. our film 12th and 3rd in Brooklyn (by Ted Fisher, Iris Lee and Maya Mumma) will screen at the Thirteenth Annual ASU Art Museum Short Film and Video Festival in Tempe, Arizona.
I've seen the film with a number of audiences, and it usually goes over well, with one particular moment that gets a laugh / cheer. The ASU event looks like fun -- it's outdoors at night in Arizona -- so I wish I could be there to see how it plays....
Posted by Ted Fisher at 12:02 AM 0 comments
Labels: screenings
Friday, April 17, 2009
Always Bring An Attorney
Ah, documentary production. Camera? Check. Tape? Check. Allegedly peering through Britney Spears windows? Check.
Just a 'joke' says woman caught at Britney's
"The whole thing — it was all a joke in the beginning, everybody knew about it," the woman, who claims to be a student at the Art Institute of California, told Billy Bush for Access Hollywood and "The Billy Bush Show" on Friday. "It was supposed to be like a 'Paparazzi 101' documentary type deal."At least she didn't get egged by Lindsay Lohan.
Or mistaken for a Zombie by Woody Harrelson.
Posted by Ted Fisher at 7:32 PM 0 comments
Labels: documentaries in the news
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Besides Depends commercials, what is Errol Morris making next? Variety knows.
Errol Morris tries icy tale
Documentarian Errol Morris is taking on a narrative feature for his next project. The "Fog of War" helmer will direct the Untitled Cryonics Project, which Zach Helm is writing. Mandate Pictures and Steve Zaillian's Film Rites are producing the dark comedy, which was inspired by both Robert F. Nelson's memoir "We Froze the First Man" and a story that aired on "This American Life" this week titled "You're as Cold as Ice."
Posted by Ted Fisher at 9:23 PM 0 comments
Labels: documentarians
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Heddy Honigmann
One of my favorite documentaries is Heddy Honigmann's Forever. So I'm glad to see that her new film is out.... Indiewire has a good interview about the film and her process.
Interview | "Oblivion" Director Heddy Honigmann: "I need more than one lifetime…"
Some years ago, I visited my mother in Lima. We went to a chic restaurant. When the waiter came, I recognized him. He was still working in the same restaurant after forty years. "So," I asked him, "have you seen many coups, have you served presidents and ministers, and have you suffered because of the continuos corruption, inflation and violence in Peru?" The waiter nodded smilingly and every time he served us he told us bits of what he remembered. And although I was on a vacation, a "film idea" was conceived.
Posted by Ted Fisher at 6:18 PM 0 comments
Labels: documentarians
Webby "People's Voice" Voting Open
If you enjoyed the Frugal Traveler: The Grand Tour series, you can vote for it at the People's Voice site.
How it works: click on "sign up now" and give an email address (you can opt out of receiving anything) and make up a password. They email you a link, then you follow that to a ballot.
Pick the shows you like. "Frugal" is under "Online Film / Video" in the "Travel" category.
Posted by Ted Fisher at 9:43 AM 0 comments
Labels: awards, frugal traveler
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Frugal Traveler Webby Nomination, 2009
It looks like last year's Frugal Traveler: The Grand Tour series is nominated for a 2009 Webby Award.
I notice the Webby Awards site has it listed as "Budget Europe," which it is, sorta, though that's not the official title. As well, it currently links to the "send off" episode (an episode I was not involved in -- I served as Producer and Editor on the 13 weekly episodes and the "Looking Back" episode) without really guiding you to the episodes of the series. I'm sure they'll update. (I'll post the series links in order below, so if you want to watch the series you can.)
Webby Awards, Online Film / Video, Travel Category
I'm glad to see it nominated -- I think it was a very good series and shows that organizations other than the big networks can produce high-quality shows.
(I believe there will be "People's Voice" voting enabled, also, and I will link to that later. I hope you'll give it a vote.)
2008: Frugal Traveler: The Grand Tour (14 Episodes)
Week 1: Dover to Calais
Week 2: Paris, France
Week 3: Southwestern France
Week 4: French Riviera
Week 5: Rome
Week 6: Malta
Week 7: Cyprus
Week 8: Bucharest
Week 9: Vilnius, Lithuania
Week 10: Gdansk, Poland
Week 11: Germany
Week 12: Dutch-Belgian Border
Week 13: Frugal Edinburgh
Frugal Traveler: Looking Back
Posted by Ted Fisher at 10:21 AM 2 comments
Labels: awards, documentary production, frugal traveler
Monday, April 13, 2009
This Saturday
On Saturday, April 18, 2009 at 8 p.m. our film 12th and 3rd in Brooklyn (by Ted Fisher, Iris Lee and Maya Mumma) will screen at the Thirteenth Annual ASU Art Museum Short Film and Video Festival in Tempe, Arizona. It's a very diverse program drawn from all over -- looks like great fun.
We won't be able to attend, but if you do (and happen to find this blog post) please give the film a rating at IMDB.com or leave a comment and let us know what you think.
Posted by Ted Fisher at 11:15 AM 0 comments
Labels: documentaries, film festivals, screenings
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Went to Film Forum to see the new documentary Valentino: The Last Emperor. Excellent production values, seamless editing, strong cinematography, remarkable access. Very polished and entertaining.
After some reflection, my only complaint: there are no surprises. Everything is as it seems, and there's no particular transformation or moment where a challenge is overcome.
Still: the film is at least a match for the other four or five fashion docs that have come out in the last few years, and avoids the pitfalls so common to the genre. The filmmakers seem to realize that at a certain point, heroicizing a fashion designer becomes a little silly -- and they walk it right up to the limit, but no further.
Posted by Ted Fisher at 9:12 PM 0 comments
Labels: documentaries
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Beer Wars
I can't drink. Well, not until Tuesday.
I went to the doctor a while back, and all the tests seemed fine except one. Probably nothing, I was told -- but don't drink anything until you come in for your physical, as that will throw the test off. It's taken a long time to schedule that physical, though, so I've been drier than a small town in Utah. For weeks and weeks and weeks.
Which makes a documentary on beer seem really appealing right now.
Small brewers battle 'evil empire' in 'Beer Wars' film
Though "Beer Wars" is Baron's first documentary feature, she brings a unique perspective to the subject, with a background as both a beverage business executive and a Hollywood producer. And while "Beer Wars" might seem to be targeted at beer drinkers (something Baron is not), it's ultimately a David and Goliath story about big beer companies vs. smaller beer companies and the current economic climate.
Posted by Ted Fisher at 9:22 PM 0 comments
Labels: documentaries
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Speaking of "Dig!"
Posted by Ted Fisher at 4:11 AM 0 comments
Labels: documentaries, Ondi Timoner, snagfilms
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Ondi Timoner
I'm a big fan of Dig! -- and I'm definitely looking forward to We Live in Public. In fact, I'm slowly beginning to think the "available same day as theatrical release" model will win out -- when I hear about a film I want to see, I'm ready to see it immediately.
The "Public" Life of Ondi Timoner
So I set out to document all of life. I shot 2500 hours of footage [for "Dig!"]. I didn't realize that would make me be in the edit bay for three and a half years. I was more economical with "We Live in Public," only this time, my subject was obsessed with documentation -- he documented thousands of hours of footage. Suddenly, I'm with 5000 hours of footage again. And thank God because it's all viscerally told and when I wasn't filming, Josh [started] WeLiveinPublic.com with his girlfriend. I should give surveillance cameras main [cinematography] credit on the film.
Posted by Ted Fisher at 9:43 PM 2 comments
Labels: documentarians, Ondi Timoner
Monday, April 06, 2009
Last Book Read: Outliers
I've just finished Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. (The Kindle version, actually, read on my iPhone.)
I went through it with an eye to documentary production -- which makes it a very strange read. Some of his main points -- mastery of a craft will take 10,000 hours of work, practical intelligence is more important than I.Q., timing is critical regarding opportunities -- are fairly common-sense-based if we think about fields like music or computer programming or math.
But filmmaking?
A good argument can be made that he's wrong: the people with the "most" experience are often hacks, doing drudgery-work. The most "practical" folk end up making lowest-common-denominator work. The right-time-right-place filmmakers invariably fail on their second effort.
Clearly, his argument doesn't apply directly. Can we adapt it, though? It seems valuable, so can we filter it to work for doc production?
First, 10,000 hours isn't a figure to use when thinking about editing. Walter Murch seems to do about 1,000 hours of serious feature film editing a year, if we make a guess based on his books. That's probably the highest figure in the field -- I just don't think someone's hours cutting wedding videos, pre-structured television shows or anything that doesn't require high-level problem solving really count toward mastery. My guess is that someone like Murch could be said to get close to mastery after cutting three features -- 3,000 hours of work, give or take. I expect, though, that we're talking about a practice where pure hours don't matter above a certain point. Rather, Gladwell's 10,000 hours probably translates -- for those with the opportunity to work extended hours at the high levels of the craft -- into somewhere between 5 and 10 years of intense work. And that does seem to match reality, as far as I can tell.
Second, practical intelligence does seem to be more important than any raw I.Q. Making a documentary is dependent, in most cases, on one's ability to work with people -- whether a documentary subject or a crew. And the ability to get people to help you get what you need -- something Gladwell stresses -- is clearly more important than pure knowledge. So here Gladwell's notion is probably on target.
Gladwell's idea of being born to the right time and place for big success, however, is a little hard to apply to the field. Pick any doc maker with at least 2 big hits -- Barbara Kopple or Ondi Timoner, Al Maysles or Michael Moore -- and you'd be hard pressed to see a reason that success couldn't have happened in another time and place. There are always waves rising and falling: television supporting documentary production, then letting it go, film festivals rising, then falling, then rising again, DVD sales climbing then falling, and now the Web. There's been no "lucky elevator" to catch -- just films that are good enough to jump out of the box marked "documentary" onto the shelf for "new releases."
So why bother with Gladwell if he's just giving us common sense, and if it isn't a perfect match for documentary production?
My answer is that what he's really done in his book is to go against "common sense" -- the popular idea that success is a product of genius, that brilliance translates to productivity, that lightning can strike anywhere. He's instead pushed a very pragmatic take: put in long hours, find ways to work with people, and wait for a hittable pitch. There's nothing wrong with any of that advice, and nothing very surprising about it. His bigger point -- that if we as a society recognized these principles, we could produce twice as many "successful" students as our current "genius will out" model -- is the real value of this book.
Think about the current model: students go to film school, and those that do well earliest get the most access to higher training and resources. Everyone else is expected to bow to that glimmer of genius they've shown, and perhaps move toward "craft" -- serving those "natural Directors" as lighting crew, or as a camera loader. Just fantastic.
The main dent in that model came when computers became powerful enough to edit at home. Suddenly, a DV-camcorder and a copy of Final Cut Pro was a bit of an equalizer. But there's been a constant pushback since that revolution: the shift to HD production, the idea that "Dude, you've got to shoot on the Red camera!" and the idea of "production values" has returned us to that old-school model: get to USC, make the best short in your first class, and you're a "Director" with everyone else supporting your feature production and the school paying your way.
I'm with Gladwell: I think that existing model is the reason we get "The Fast and the Furious 18" as the tentpole of our culture. I'd rather have twenty of the people from the crew making their own shorts, and I think our culture would benefit more from that.
The takeaway? "Outliers" deflation of our expectation that "success comes from innate talent" is a perfect message for these times. We've lost our veneration for merit -- expecting instead that success will come from oversinging on a television reality show. All the hype in the world can't match what can be done with hard work -- and as a culture we don't seem to want to believe that.
What Gladwell does is pile up the evidence for it. I think it's worth considering.
Posted by Ted Fisher at 2:29 PM 2 comments
Labels: documentary production, last book read
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Ah, Politics: Documentaries in the News
I enjoyed "Religulous." It was entertaining.
I consider it more of an essay, though, than a documentary. Even if I agree with it, I don't appreciate one-sided films. Reality is messy, and that's my favorite thing about documentaries -- they struggle within that messiness.
Which is why I hate most advocacy films. Doubly so those that one could fairly consider expanded political ads.
It's interesting to see the Supreme Court get involved in a decision relating to documentary films, of course, and it will be very interesting to see what they decide.
Justices Seem Skeptical of Scope of Campaign Law
"Hillary: The Movie," a documentary with elements of polemic and advocacy journalism, was produced by Citizens United, a conservative nonprofit corporation. It was released during the Democratic presidential primaries last year, and a lower court said it could not be broadcast within 30 days of those elections.It's a bit disheartening, however, to know what we're in for....
Anti-Obama Film On the Way
A conservative group -– Citizens United -– that has produced a film now in distribution attacking Hillary Clinton called "Hillary, the Movie," has its sights set on a new target: Barack Obama. The group has budgeted about $1 million to produce a documentary film about Mr. Obama that is set to be distributed this summer.
Posted by Ted Fisher at 9:59 PM 0 comments
Labels: documentaries in the news
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
IMDB Web Series Credits
I know a few of you Web producers will be interested in a comment received yesterday from Casey McKinnon (of Galacticast, A Comicbook Orange and Kitkast fame).
She makes it clear: it's time to dust off your Web Series resume and get ready to go through that IMDB submission process. If you recall, she asked Col Needham, IMDb founder and managing director, about this issue and -- to the relief of a zillion video makers -- the answer was yes.
Hi Ted, Not yet known, however, is how IMDB will deal with its qualification requirements. I would expect factors will be the size of a program's audience, media coverage, and maybe awards.
The audio file I provided is really only half the story since I went to talk with him one-on-one after the Q&A. He confirmed that it's happening and said that it would roll out in the 2nd or 3rd quarter of this year (anytime between April 1-September 30).
We've been waiting a LONG time for this... looking forward to it.
So will the Webbys and the Streamys be competing to be the "official" award for Web shows? Will we see credits for daily web shows that list "412 episodes" and will there be a debate about what counts as a "significant" media source? Certainly.
It should be an interesting year....
Posted by Ted Fisher at 8:11 AM 1 comments
Labels: imdb, web television


text:
Episode 331
It's just this season in Germany, where thousands of people dress funny and walk the streets, Carnival. And if you don't care or need a change from deafening drinking songs, you are at the right place with tonight's show. And what will you get? Simply wonderful electronic music, like from a pleasant dream or marvellous movie. Enjoy tracks by Sverre Knut Johansen (Earth From Above), Simon Jones (Elements), Sequential Dreams (Lost Dimensions), Chris Huelsbeck (GeoDrop Soundtrack EP), WiGi Project (Midnight Radio Compilation 56), and Vlad Nedelin (Postante).
- Sverre Knut Johansen - Echoes of Tomorrow (Earth From Above)
- Simon Jones - WhiteSpace (Elements)
- Sequential Dreams - Distant Signals (Lost Dimensions)
- Chris Huelsbeck - GeoDrop Remix Medley (GeoDrop Soundtrack EP)
- WiGi Project - Judge (Midnight Radio Compilation 56)
- Vlad Nedelin - Through the Tunnel (Postante)
Image: http://de.freeimages.com/photo/slicing-machine-the-ancient-1424536

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Like it or not, times have changed. The manner in which we used to conduct our daily lives - personally and professionally - has been altered to at least some degree over the past few years. Some of these changes can be linked to technology, others to human evolution, and still some due to economic conditioning.
Case-in-point: At the last meeting of the Sanibel City Council, a resolution to make an adjustment - from the current first and third Tuesday of each month to a new once-per-month format- was unanimously approved. Local leaders said that they made the change in an effort to cut city spending while managing their time more effectively.
"At this time, staff recommends that in the interest of controlling costs, City Council establish a meeting schedule for the upcoming year which will convene City Council once per month, except for the months of September 2010 and March 2011," said City Manager Judie Zimomra in a memorandum dated Feb. 10. "Two meetings will be necessary in September to comply with the statutory budget schedule and the staff is recommending two meetings in March 2011 to accommodate the annual election of Mayor and Vice Mayor."
Zimomra speculated that the switch could save the city "a minimum of $1,000 per month in labor and materials. That figure sounds a bit inflated, in our opinion, but we're willing to give her "guess-timate" the benefit of the doubt.
The approved resolution, which will take effect this April, is the latest in the city's ongoing effort to think "outside the box" and trim expenses, following last year's 15 percent salary reduction giveback (offered by Zimomra herself, by the way) and council's move not to raise the annual millage rate.
True, other expenses were trimmed via staff reductions and through attrition. However, nobody in Lee County government can deny that the City of Sanibel is one of the most ardent budget "watchdogs" anywhere in Southwest Florida.
Responding to criticism that by making the change, the City Council will be shirking their duties in operating city business on a one-meeting-per-month schedule, Mayor Mick Denham defended the move during Tuesday's Land Development Code subcommittee session, noting that he and his fellow councilors will not be negligent in addressing Sanibel's needs on a timely basis.
"The rationale is that meeting once a month, there will be a cost savings," Denham said. "The amount of paperwork that has to be done and the amount of time that it takes each council member to prepare for a meeting certainly adds up."
We agree, although squeezing all of the city's business matters - without cutting any presentations, staff reports or public comment - into a single meeting every month may seem like the council will be doing "double duty."
The new schedule may take some time to get used to. Even Denham admitted that instead of meetings that last three or four hours, those meetings might take up to eight hours to complete. Not only is that a long time for our volunteer councilors to commit to, but for residents who regularly attend these gatherings - or those who wish to speak on a particular issue - it may be a long wait until that topic comes up during a particular agenda.
The council also offered that should the new meeting schedule be prohibitive to conducting their duties, they could add additional meetings to the calendar, or return to the original twice-per-month deliberations. Given that the public will now have less opportunities to have their voices be heard, that might become necessary.
Only time will tell if this change will work, but we are willing to let the city give it a go.
- Reporter editorial


text:
While yesterday's card was a close CASE of its inspiration, today's is a distant cousin of Ashley's design. But I can see a resemblance. As prompted by Ashley's card, I layered a dark cover plate over a light yellow print, then added some bright vertical stripes and a bold sentiment on white in a yellow frame. Though my end result is very different from the original, I never would have made my card without that starting point. Thank you, Ashley and Nichole, for inspiring my card today!
Card details:
- Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) enchanted evening (dark blue), summer sunrise (yellow-orange), pure poppy (red), stamper's select white, a yellow swirl print from PTI pretty pastels 8x8" paper pad, and the narrow stripes print from PTI pure poppy "+ white basics" patterned paper.
- Dies are cover plate: circles, wonderful words: thank you, and seeing stars. I popped out the circles from the cover plate die cut, but left the little diamond and triangle shapes in place. The white star is inlaid into the yellow star, making a flat surface to adhere the "thank you" die cut.


text:
Bikini Boot Camp would like to congratulate Kate De Kruif from Kelowna! Way to go! Kate's name was randomly drawn for a free Bikini Boot Camp program, valued at $375. Just for blogging with us! The odds were leaning in her favour as she had an amazing 12 entries. Keep up the blogging Kate we love to hear from you!
Wednesday, October 21. 2009
Congratulations to Kate!!!
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text:
Each month Anita Goodesign releases 6 collections and, with Anita's Club program, you receive some or all of those releases at a huge discounts. Our Club program has 5 different tiers for you to choose from: Diamond, Quilting, Diamond with Platinum, Quilting with Platinum, and the new All Access VIP Club.
details pending


text:
We have a large suite of rooms for Music with good space for pupils to work. There are facilities for full classroom Music performance, individual instrumental lessons, small group and individual practice and an interactive whiteboard for listening and appraisal. Pupils are encouraged to develop independence by knowing where and how to appropriately use musical instruments. The practice rooms are open at lunchtimes and after school for pupils to access the resources.
We use a variety of learning approaches, table discussions and pair work, interactive demonstrations, peer and self-assessment using the 'Two Stars and a Wish' method. We use the School's IT facilities to notate music and research music facts and history, and the School's iPads to programme and record music on Garageband.
In the Autumn Term we have the Winter concert where we hear items from the choir, solo instrumentalists and ensembles. In the Spring Term we have the School Production – we pride ourselves on the fact that the band for the production is composed of students from the school. In the Summer Term we have speech day where we hear a number of different musical items to accompany the prize giving and presentations.
We work hard to make sure that lessons are a safe place where pupils feel safe and confident to perform individually and in groups for the rest of the class. We believe that Music is for everybody to perform, appreciate and enjoy and anyone in the school who wants to be involved in music can be. We are able to arrange and compose Music to suit anybody who wishes to take part. We also make sure that there are opportunities for those pupils who are more advanced to stretch themselves and perform more difficult Music.
Pupils are introduced to the three main areas of the Music curriculum – performance, listening and composition. We learn how to use the keyboards responsibly and how to find the notes to perform pieces. We learn how to listen to Music critically and recognise the main elements. We are introduced to notation using score making software which we relate to pieces of Music we have played on the keyboard.
Later in the year pupils learn how to play Music in groups, how to co-operate with each other and lead each other. We do this with Music from Indonesia and a range of untuned and tuned percussion. We are also introduced to composition through analysis of Melody in Music.
In the summer, pupils put everything they have learned throughout the year together by composing and performing their own songs in groups. This is an opportunity for pupils who learn instruments outside the classroom to bring them in and use them with their groups.
Pupils learn about the Blues and how it developed at the end of the 19th Century in the USA. They develop their group performance skills by forming Blues Bands – guitarists are encouraged to bring their instruments in for this unit. Directly after this we learn about Rock 'n' Roll – the structure of this Music is closely related to the Blues but the technical skills required are more advanced.
Later in the year the pupils learn about the compositional approach of Theme and Variations and how it is related to Mathematical Transformations – Music is closely related to Maths and we add some fun to this by making a competition to see who can incorporate as many of these Mathematical Musical Transformations as possible into a solo keyboard performance.
We revisit Musical notation when we learn about the Romantic Music Era and learn how to play Beethoven's Fur Elise.
At the end of the year we introduce the iPads and Garageband when we learn about Electronic Dance Music. This is a opportunity to develop the pupils' composition and arrangement skills and learn about contemporary approaches to Musical production.
Pupils learn about Hip Hop and how it grew from the USA in the 1970s to become a worldwide musical form today. Pupils develop their group work and composition skills while they are learning about Hip Hop and further develop their word-setting skills. We then go on to make our improvisation skills more advanced when we learn about Jazz.
Later in the year pupils learn about Music for Film and how different sounds can enhance on-screen action. We then use the iPads to create ever longer pieces of Music – this is important to pupils who wish to take GCSE as they will need to be able to compose longer pieces of Music.
Pupils learn about Dubstep and how it has its roots in Jamaican Music. We also learn about Reggae and Ska when we do this and what a huge influence the Music of Jamaica has had on British Music.
In the summer, pupils put everything they have learned throughout Key Stage 3 into an extended composition project. They are encouraged to add as many different styles and techniques as they can to the pieces. This provides a fitting end to Key Stage 3 and a springboard into the coursework they will have to do in practical subjects in Key Stage 4.
Year 9 have been learning about Hip Hop. They have found about the ways in which the beats are put together and how the lyrics tell a story about the rappers lives. On this track, MC WIll Price and MC Oliver Baggot tell us about there Gaming skills over a beat provided by Felix Smithson and Aislinn Keegan.
Click the button below to have a listen.
Pupils will be building on the skills and knowledge they gained during KS3 in composition, individual and group performance, and listening and appraising music. The performance component is not under exam conditions and students can have multiple attempts to get the best possible outcome. Both of these performances can be made using Music technology as well as live performance. The listening exam is the most traditional part of Eduqas Music GCSE. Students will have to improve their Music theory knowledge and learn how to apply it under exam conditions. This isn't as hard as some people think – if you already enjoy listening to and performing Music, Music theory is just a question of learning the words to describe what you already know. The exam has been extended from 2016 and now includes more questions about musical history and genres to go with the technical theory that was already included. Happily, we have been learning about musical history and styles throughout KS3. Above all, Music GCSE is an Art award – students should be ready to express themselves artistically.
Encourage them to play an instrument that they enjoy and feel comfortable with. This can include using music technology. There are a number of free music creation websites that students have successfully for their coursework, including: https://soundation.com/ and https://www.audiotool.com/. You should encourage them to listen to music they might not normally listen to. Three of the pieces mentioned in connection to the new exam are The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Carlos Santana's Superstition and Aaron Copland's Hoedown. However, recognising the elements of any piece of music you have not heard before is useful – there are lots of different genres but music is all the same when it comes down to the elements.
Music GCSE is 60% Coursework split over 30% composition and 30% performance. There are two compositions, one to a brief and one free composition. There are two performances, one solo and one group which are not under exam conditions and can also be made using the music technology that we have used during KS3. The other 40% is the Understanding Music Listening Examination. This is externally marked – we will be having plenty of practice throughout the two years as it comes right at the end of the course.
We have a large multi-purpose Art room with good space for pupils to work. There are facilities for fine arts, digital based media, a ceramics room and separate kiln. Pupils are encouraged to develop independence by knowing where and how to appropriately access materials and equipment. The art room is open at lunchtimes and after school for pupils to access the resources.
We use a variety of learning approaches, table discussions and pair work, interactive demonstrations, pupil as teacher, peer and self-assessment using the school policy start, star, wish method. There is a word of the week board where pupils can gain an A1 for emailing the correct definition, also an artist of the week award for an outstanding piece of work in a lesson. Head teacher's commendations are given for outstanding work and handed out in assembly. The best images from pupils across the key stages are photographed and used as the attendance postcard that goes home to parents. Regular photography competitions are run across all ages and the winning image gets framed and presented by the staff room.
Pupils explore colour theory; they use paints to experiment with colour mixing and use the art work of contemporary artist Michael Craig-Martin to create responses that demonstrate their understanding of layering, proportion and the use of colour. They are introduced to the formal elements and use these to explain their own and others work.
Later in the year pupils do a team sculpture project where they study the work of sculptor Robert Indiana, linked with the 2D work of Michael Craig-Martin and plan a final piece which they make as a table. This helps with communication and independence.
In the summer, pupils use the sea as inspiration for a series of workshops to help build confidence using different materials. Working on the basics of observational drawing to record images. Using the ceramicist Kate Malone as inspiration, pupils plan and create a ceramics piece, whilst learning about rolling, mark making and the firing process of working with clay.
Pupils develop their observational drawing skills, focusing on the use of tone in images. They learn techniques to support their drawing skills so that they feel confident tackling tricky objects. They consider proportion, perspective, and techniques of shading using pencil and graphite sticks. They consider the work of Georgio Morandi and discuss the importance of context and how this may affect the work of the artist.
Context is later explored in a project about Cubism, where pupils build on their drawing skills to create a fragmented final piece in the cubist style using a variety of materials.
Later in the year pupils begin a topic on portraits and self-portraits. They discuss the work of a range of artists who use sculpture, painting, installation and photography to challenge the concept of portraiture. They draw the facial features and build up to a full self-portrait, sometimes developed into a painting or a ceramics piece.
Pupils learn various tracing techniques to support their drawing skills, pupils are encouraged to draw freehand but can use these new skills to help them try increasingly tricky objects. They study the work of contemporary artist Andrea Joseph and build a collection of work building to a final piece that demonstrates doodling, biro images and the use of personal items to keep their work meaningful.
Later in the year pupils consider the work of Jim Dine and their work takes on a more experimental approach, building on the skills they have developed earlier in the year. They experiment with outlines of tools, negative space, photographs, collage, using, and materials such as inks, paints, charcoal and mixed media. They have chance to experiment and explore the qualities of the materials on a larger scale.
Towards the end of the year pupils explore a cross curricular link with History; the context and historical importance of WW2 and how this affected artists of this generation. The pupils consider the installation work of contemporary artist Christian Boltanski and the importance placed on objects of the casualties of war. They consider alternative methods of presenting their art work. A more recent photographer Zayih Gafic will give them the opportunity to compare and contrast two artists who deal with similar themes. The depth of this final topic helps pupils to understand the importance of critical thinking and cultural and historical awareness, allowing for a smoother transition from KS3 to GCSE Art.
Pupils study the AQA Art and Design (Fine Art) course which allows them to explore all aspects of Art; this could cover; drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, collage, mixed media, photography, digital media, experimental textiles and ceramics, depending on the class size and pupils. Students will be given the opportunity to gain direct experience of handling materials and developing an understanding of artistic practice through the study of contemporary art and encouraged to consider their links to art of the past. We usually offer an Art pack which has lots of useful materials that pupils can purchase form the school at a great price. The year 10 pupils visit an Art Gallery and this helps them with their coursework. All work is internally assessed and externally moderated using examination board marking criteria which the pupils are encouraged to access.
Students will produce a portfolio of work selected from 45 hours of controlled assessment which will take place in phases distributed over 2 years. The coursework is teacher led to allow pupils to create a foundation of work on which to develop their own ideas and final pieces, nearer the end of the coursework time. The theme for these projects changes every few years, last year, the year 10 pupils explored 'me, myself and I', this year, the theme is 'sense of place'. Pupils can use their sketchbooks to record notes and do drawings but they are encouraged to work on A2 paper as this is better for presentation and marking purposes.
Students will have approximately 12 weeks to prepare for a 10 hour timed practical Art examination which would take place over two days in the spring term of Year 11. Students are given a paper with different themes to choose from as a starting point for their own ideas (set by AQA). Students are expected to produce a body of work in response to a theme provided by the exam board; as with the coursework, they are required to produce a sketchbook, portfolio of preparatory work and a final piece.
Drama is taught primarily through the art form of theatre, whether it be pupils in Key Stage 3 creating devised work that they then perform to each other in class, pupils in Key Stage 4 creating devised work and scenes from existing plays for external assessment, or pupils from all years appearing in productions performed to the public.
We are particularly proud of our shows. We aim to produce work of the highest standards possible in a High school, with an emphasis on challenging texts, original music, ambitious acting and beautiful and creative production. Past shows include A Midsummer Night's Dream, Doctor Faustus, The Adventures of Pinocchio, and Mermaid.
Drama is taught mainly in a multi-purpose class room with extensive prop and costume resources, with a black box studio theatre space also available. Larger scale shows are performed in the Hall which can be converted into a theatre space for up to 250 people.
We use a variety of learning approaches in Drama including discussion, role-play, group and individual writing, skills workshops and rehearsals.
All pupils study Drama in Key Stage 3, where pupils gain not only knowledge and understanding of the history of theatre and the art form of acting, but also learn the skills of relaxation, self-expression and teamwork, leading to greater confidence and better understanding of self and others.
We aim to make Drama lessons as safe and inclusive as possible: pupils learn how to perform and how to analyse and evaluate each other's performances in a supportive environment based on mutual respect and appreciation.
Year 7
Pupils learn how to manipulate their attention in order to create effective performances. They learn how to relax efficiently and how to use mental images as a way of accessing their imagination in a practical way. They present performed work to the class and learn how to analyse and evaluate. They learn the basic principles of improvisation both in small and large groups and begin to analyse scripts from the point of view of an actor. They also learn how to take direction and how to analyse their work from the point of view of an audience.
Year 8
Pupils develop their ability to work in more stylised conventions. They develop their physical skills through mime and scenes without spoken language. They learn more extreme styles such as expressionism and total physical theatre, and they stage their work using a greater variety of methods such as split stage, angel and devil on the shoulder, and direct address to the audience. They create more detailed scripts and develop their specialised vocabulary further.
Year 9
Pupils develop their ability convey meaning in their work. They are encouraged to create characters that are unlike themselves in their outlook, and they experience more challenging and contentious topics. They show more independence in their creative decisions and are required to demonstrate more rigour in their analysis and evaluation. They study published scripts and learn conventions and terms used in the theatre industry.
Pupils study the OCR Drama course. Students study live theatre production and classic and contemporary plays concentrating on the roles of actors, directors, designers, sound and lighting technicians and costume and prop makers.
They work practically as actors, writers and/or designers on an original piece of theatre written and performed by themselves, they appear in a showcase performance of two scenes from an established play performed to a visiting examiner, and they sit an exam where they write about a set text from a theatrical point of view and write about a live performance that they have seen.
Practical activities are supported by written portfolios in which students explain and illustrate their ideas and contributions.
Devised theatre project- 30% of total mark
Pupils work in a small team as an actor/ writer or as a designer or sound or lighting technician creating a piece of original theatre. Pupils are marked on the quality of their contributions to the project and on the quality of their individual written portfolio.
Showcase performance- 30% of total mark
Pupils appear in two scenes from a published play assessed live by a visiting examiner from OCR. Pupils are marked on the quality of their performance and on a written submission explaining their creative intentions.
Traditional written examination (end of Year 11) – 40% of total mark
Pupils answer questions on a set play text and evaluate a live performance they have seen.
GCSE Drama is ideal for students who like to combine academic and practical study. Students develop useful transferable skills including critical and creative thinking, teamwork and negotiation, confidence and presentation skills and meeting deadlines.
How can I help my child?
Pupils attend live performances as part of the course, but if you can take your child to see any additional live theatre including telecasts, this will help enormously, particularly if you encourage them to discuss what they have seen critically and comparatively. Some pupils get involved in youth theatre groups and workshop classes outside of school, and of course we offer a major production project every year rehearsing in the spring term.


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British GP: Saturday Press Conference
1. Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull), 1m19.509s
2. Rubens BARRICHELLO (Brawn GP), 1m19.856s
3. Mark WEBBER (Red Bull), 1m19.868s
Q: Sebastian, fastest car all weekend here, a great final run, you look to be in very good shape.
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, fantastic weekend. From the beginning to the end we didn't have a single problem. All the new parts we brought here seemed to have worked very well, so I think we have made a step forward but you know, when it comes to qualifying there is tension there. You try to do your best. It was quite difficult today. At the beginning of qualifying I was struggling a little bit sometimes here and there with traffic. The wind was not such a big issue today but it was always a bit tricky when you have cars ahead of you, you can feel it even though you are three or four seconds behind. So in the first two qualifying sessions I was struggling a little bit. Then in Q2 we put on the soft tires and then from there onwards I was quite happy with the car. And in Q3 we had two very good runs I would say, especially the last one. I think that was the lap of the weekend. From the beginning to the end it was very close to being perfect. Of course, as a driver you always think there is a little bit here, a little bit there, but this lap was very good. I was able to use the tires perfectly well and yeah, I brought the lap to the chequered flag and I was surprised by how quick I was at that stage and finally it was enough to get pole position, so that's the most important thing. I can only say – and I don't do it because everyone usually does it at this stage – but I can only say very, very big compliments to all the guys back in the factory. It's only half an hour from Silverstone and they have been working so hard to get this car to where it is now, so it's all down to them. I think both of us have proved that the car is working very well and yeah, I'm looking forward to tomorrow's race.
Q: Rubens, it's been a tough weekend for Brawn Grand Prix. You're second, your team-mate, Jenson Button, is down in sixth place. It looks like it's been hard work; you must be pleased with the outcome today.
Rubens BARRICHELLO: Very, very pleased. I think those guys have been doing a fantastic job the whole weekend. For me, too, it was the best lap of the weekend in Q3 where I took the extreme of the car. I need to check if I breathed during the lap because it was such a nice one. Silverstone has always been quite good and I want to thank all my engineers for their hard work because we found a good balance and I'm pleased to be in the middle of them (the Red Bulls) at least. It's going to be hard to beat them tomorrow but that's what I'm here for.
Q: Mark, you've been trading fastest laps with your team-mate all weekend. This Red Bull car looks absolutely fantastic but right at the end there it just didn't work out for you; what happened?
Mark WEBBER: Yeah, as you say, it's been a good weekend for us so far. I would have liked a slightly cleaner run on my last Q3 lap. Kimi (Räikkönen) was, I don't know, drinking some vodka or dreaming or something… I don't know what the hell he was doing. He should have been on the right and he's on the racing line, dreaming, so that wrecked my rhythm into Stowe, I was very tight into there and so... Anyway, no-one's here to listen to a shopping list of excuses. I would have liked to get more out of the car on the last lap, it wasn't the case but we're still third. Congratulations to Seb, he did a good job. I think both of us are getting some good results out of the car now, so all the guys at Red Bull, all their hard work is now being realized. We're definitely in for a good result tomorrow if we can have a clean race.
Q: Sebastian, this car is obviously good here. It's good in the slow sections and in the fast sections and Jenson Button, the championship leader is down in sixth place. Do you see this as a potential turning point weekend in your season?
Vettel: I can tell you after tomorrow's race. It's sixty laps around here, this circuit is very, very tough for both the car and us, the drivers, so we will see. It's a long way. Obviously if you ask for the championship ranking he has the advantage, so he has quite a comfortable gap but we are here to fight, we want to win races and today I think we did the best possible job, it put us in the best position for tomorrow's race but still it's a long race. I can tell you now that we have a fantastic car. We have a chance to win tomorrow but you never know what will happen, so we will definitely fight. Of course, I would be lying to you if I said that I hoped that Jenson (Button) was straight behind me, so it's good to hear that he's not sitting with us in this room now but on the other hand it's a long race. I think they have very strong pace, they have always proven so far on Sundays that they are extremely competitive, so even if he starts sixth I think he can still come back and score a lot of points – which I hope he doesn't but they have proven in the past that they are able to do it, so let's see tomorrow. We focus on ourselves, I focus on myself and we try to have a clean race and try to do the best we can.
Q: Your second consecutive pole, of course Sebastian, but the car seems to have been good all weekend, your name has kept popping up to the top of the timing screens throughout the weekend.
Vettel: Yeah, it's a good thing for me, obviously. I'm very pleased with today and also I think big, big compliments – I know usually everyone says this at this stage – but big compliments to the team. On Wednesday, prior to the Grand Prix, I have been in Milton Keynes and it was incredible how much work was behind all that. We brought a couple of some quite new parts to the car and it was a huge effort by the team, a hell of a lot of work and they have been working flat out to make this happen and it's good that both of us are in the top three and we have proven that the new parts are working, so I think we've made a step forward. But this is Saturday, you get points on Sunday, so the main task is tomorrow's race. Two weeks ago we were also in a very strong position on Saturday but then on Sunday, unfortunately, we were proved that there is still a little bit that we have to improve. But I think this weekend the circuit suits us very well, it's a pleasure to drive here. It's only my second time, so it's a shame that we won't come back. But yeah, I really enjoy this circuit and today has been a fantastic day. I was struggling a little bit in Q1 and Q2. I didn't really feel the car but then in the last run in Q2 with the soft tires I was able to get a proper feeling and improved a little bit here and there, so was able to make a step which was, I think, very important, and then for Q3 the first run I was quite happy and then on the second run with new tires I was very pleased, the lap was very, very good, very close to perfect. There's obviously always a little bit to come but I would say it was a very strong lap and I think we should be in a strong position for tomorrow, so let's see.
Q: Looking at the modifications, particularly the new nose and new front wing as well, you seemed to use them all day yesterday, yet you reverted to the old wing this morning for a little while.
Vettel: I think the wing you put in qualifying is the preferred one. I don't think we have to go into that.
Q: What about the tire temperatures here; it's quite cool, yet you have quite a hard tire as well. How difficult is that to get up to temperature?
Vettel: It's not easy. You can play around with pressures and the way you bring the tires in, the pace you have on the out lap and so on and some of the guys are weaving more, some are weaving less, so it's quite tricky. The first lap is extremely important, you start a lap here and then you go down through turns one, two, three, four and five, very high speed corners. Apart from having the pressures ready and the tire ready, the temperatures, you need to have the confidence to do it, otherwise you lift your foot too much and you lose time. I think that's the big secret. It was quite tricky. With the hard tires you're struggling a little bit more to get the temperatures in whereas with the softs it seems to be a little bit better but I think both tires are pretty similar, there's not much between them, so we will see tomorrow. It will be a challenge which tire to use at which stage of the race but we have a night to think about that.
Q: Rubens, similar question to you: has it been a bit more difficult for Brawn to get the tires up to temperature?
Barrichello: Overall, it has been a little bit more difficult to get the lap done. Basically we seem to be where we wanted to be but we think Red Bull just made a step and they are better, so I'm delighted to be here, right now, splitting them because it was a really good effort from me with the car on the track and from my engineers to put everything together. It was a good thought this morning but the car was still not the way I like. Silverstone, for me, is very special, I love it and I took everything I could out of the car in qualifying, apart from Q1, when I could only manage one lap because of Sutil's accident. I was really, really happy with the lap and I thought today P3 was the best I could manage and P2 is one better and I hope I can do one better tomorrow.
Q: How much did you change the car overnight, how much did you change the car between this morning and this afternoon?
Barrichello: Well, Formula One nowadays is funny, it's really good to work on it because you change so much from day to day. It's not like it used to be: a touch on the front wing or a touch of this or that. You change things, especially with myself and the enthusiasm I have to change things overnight, you just do so and see what happens. If you don't you have a baseline on which you can faith. We did change the car a little bit from yesterday, it wasn't that good this morning but then we fine-tuned for qualifying which was to my liking again.
Q: Tell us a little about your love affair with Silverstone.
Barrichello: I've had two pole positions here. For me, there is a positive and a negative about it. The negative is why the hell are they taking this race away from here? You can see the fans, you can see they made such a big effort on the outside to make the traffic better. I know they cannot make an effort to improve the weather but that's England. If you change to anywhere in England it's going to be the same. The track is safe. You saw Sutil today walk from what looked like a very hard impact, so it is safe. The positives are that I love this place that since Formula Three I've run here so much and I get on with the circuit, so it's really nice.
Q: Mark, I guess there's real disappointment not to be on pole or at least on the front row?
Webber: Well, second is not the greatest starting position but I would like to be on pole, of course. I was happy with every lap I did in qualifying to be honest, except the last one. It was a pretty good lap, I had a big distraction from Kimi because he was totally asleep on the back straight. He couldn't have done a better job to distract me into Stowe. He sat on the racing line and just basically didn't care what was happening, so that was very frustrating for me because it broke the rhythm. These laps need to be absolutely perfect, so it wasn't the tidiest and cleanest of laps to finish the important lap and the most important part of qualifying, so that's some frustration inside, but hey, I'm not tenth, I'm third. Seb did a good lap, the team's done an incredible job this week, so there's still a huge amount of positives but obviously these days, when we're aiming a lot higher, it's easier to get more disappointed. That's the way it was today.
Q: What about the progress over the weekend, particularly with the modifications that have come on the car?
Webber: Yeah, we've made a few changes and they've definitely helped us. This is the quickest the car's ever been this year. Slightly little modifications to the nose and engine cooling and a few things like that have put us in the right way, yeah.
Q: And they've obviously been very positive.
Webber: They'll be staying on, I'm sure.
Q: (Bob Bull – BBC Three Counties Radio) I know the guys back at Milton Keynes have had some very frustrating seasons, so how pleased are they when you actually get back to see them? Do you get a positive reaction from them?
Vettel: Yes. They are very happy, every single one. Just yesterday, before I went back to sleep, I was in the garage, spending some time with the boys and independently, whether it's the guys at the circuit or the factory, they are very, very pleased. You walk by, the music is playing and everyone is kind of dancing but still focused and working very hard to get the car ready. I think we have a fantastic atmosphere. If you have such a good car and if, as a driver, you enjoy every single lap so much, especially on circuits like this, I would almost say it's your duty to perform well, you have to deliver. The boys deserve that and you have to deliver. It's a fantastic situation for us, the drivers and obviously for the team which, as you said, hasn't had a very easy time over the last few years, so now it's our time, which is very good.
Webber: I was also at the team when it was under a different name, so there have been many personnel there who have gone through a lot, as the questioner referred to. They're now in a new situation, they're incredibly proud. Obviously the work that's gone in has been working because there's nothing worse when you're breaking your balls and it doesn't work. At least now we're definitely on the right path and we're doing our absolutely utmost to get the best results and trying to race Brawn who have been doing an incredible job which has been a big challenge for us. There's still a long way ahead in both championships, we're aware of that and we're doing our best to close up.
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T-Mobile posted quarterly earnings above and beyond what Wall Street had expected. Apparently, mobile service customers flocked to the nation's fourth-largest carrier in droves with new customers numbers reaching upwards of 1.33 million, far better than the expected 807,000, though postpaid service is slowing. On the other side, business customers appear to be on the rise with the carrier.
And, on the heels of this announcement, shares of T-Mobile rose more than 4 percent in trading on Thursday.
Looking more closely at the data, second-quarter revenue reached $10.21 billion, again surpassing Reuters estimates of $9.81 billion.
T-Mobile CEO John Legere comments, "In Q2, we delivered our highest absolute service revenue ever with 8% year-over-year growth and 10% in total revenues where we expect to lead the industry for the 16th time in the last 17 quarters," in a conference call, on Wednesday.
He continues, "If you're looking for the big news from Q2, you could simply say that T-Mobile's business continues to perform at peak levels."
Legere says that the impressive numbers from this quarter could be likely due to the network's investments and, as he puts it, "good, old-fashioned focus" from engineers. Of course, he also reminds that this was quite a competitive quarter as it was the first full three-month period with all the unlimited plans available on the market.
All in all, T-Mobile stock is up 8 percent on the year (as of close of day on Wednesday).
In addition, Barclay's analyst Amir Rozwadowski reaffirmed T-Mobile should be a Top Pick within the telecom sector on the heels of this outlook. He goes on to say that this should quell all concern about T-Mobile's ability to continue gaining more and more market share.
He notes, "A clear beat and raise against heightened competition demonstrates that T-Mobile's momentum is unlikely to ease anytime soon. Ongoing progress in its fundamentals, expectations for improving cash generation, and its position as potential beneficiary of strategic options (of which management seems to be evaluating several) leads us to reiterate our Overweight rating."
Similarly, Cowen & Co analyst Colby Synesael attests, "While we continue to believe the stock will be driven by M&A-related stories and events that add near-term risk, the company is showing it can continue to be successful on a standalone basis while it waits to see what ultimately happens."


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I recently read an article about stroller habits that piss off the entire world. I had to giggle because I am guilty of most of them! Of course I have to throw my two cents worth in and explain the stroller issues.
1. Not closing the stroller in a crowded restaurant- Ok, for starters, crowded restaurants are a pain in the ass for everyone. And depending on how many babies are in there… a high chair may not be available. Now some may say that if one isn't available I should go somewhere else. I say, "If you don't like it, you can leave." We usually try to stay away from crowded places but it's not always easy. We also try to eat outside to avoid the crowd inside.
2. Hitting people in the back of their ankles- I've only ran my hubby over so far with the stroller, but accidents happen people! You don't get all bent out of shape bumping shoulders on a crowded street. Why get all crazy about this?
3. Blocking the view at the zoo- Teach your children patience! Oh, and find some for yourself as well. We all have to wait our turn at the zoo sometimes. This one is just crazy to me…so petty. Parents these days need to work on their parenting skills. My children have to learn to wait their turn, why not yours???
4. Refusing to fold the stroller on a crowded bus- I've never taken the bus so I cannot relate to this one. I don't even see how someone could get on a bus with a stroller unfolded.
5. Using the stroller as a walker- Oh yea! I've leaned on the stroller quite a few times! Does it really bother you that I lean on the stroller? How does it affect your day? Seriously? And have you gone days and days without sleep because your 5mth old has his/her days and nights mixed up? Didn't think so….so shut up.
6. Knocking over store displays- I haven't had this accident but not saying I won't. Some stores are so cramped and have no organization. I've been in some stores that made maneuvering a stroller about as hard as playing Operation!
7. Taking up the entire sidewalk- Really? Go around or go play in traffic! Geez! How petty can people get? We don't control the width of the sidewalks. Talk to your city council about that one. Does this really piss you off or are you just trying to get smashed in the ankles?
8. Using the stroller as a glorified shopping cart- I admit that when I go to places like a swap meet or flea market, I use a huge ring thing that clips on the stroller handle that holds the bags. But why does that piss anyone off?
Well, there you have it. Just a few things that some people get irritated about for no particular reason.


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It's Amazon, but with a smile! AmazonSmile is the same as Amazon, same products, same prices, same service.
Make Chavez Schools the "Charity of your Choice" and 0.5% of all your eligible purchases will be donated to our school! Eligible products are marked "Eligible for AmazonSmile donation."
NOTE: If you always visit https://smile.amazon.com/ when making purchases from Amazon, every one of your purchase contributes to Chavez Schools! so bookmark the site and shop with a smile!
Want to give back in a bigger way? Sponsor A Student to visit his/her top three colleges!
Other Specific ways you can support Chavez Schools:
- Support our Annual Public Policy Symposium in June
- United Way: # 8530
- Combined Federal Campaign: # 32521
- Grocery Store rewards
- Giant A+
- Harris Teeter - Together in Education
Make checks payable to "Cesar Chavez Public Charter Schools for Public Policy" and send to:
Finance Department
Attention: Cheryl Cunningham
Cesar Chavez Public Charter Schools for Public Policy
3701 Hayes Street, NE
Washington, DC 20019


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Don't Let Your Competitors Steal Your Visitors: Using SEO Strategies Effectively
This article features several SEO tips you can use for your online business. Some of these search engine optimization tips are pretty standard ones you may have heard before. Others may be unfamiliar to you and just the pointers you need to make a difference. Read on and see which ones you can use.
When using SEO on a page that has images, be sure to make ample use of the
When setting up SEO on your site, avoid duplicating content on various pages within your site. Instead of making your site seem larger and more relevant to search engines, you will be penalized for duplication. Instead, try to have individualized content on each section of your site that is highly relevant to the target keywords.
Taking advantage of the opportunities that SEO presents means taking advantage of the various content directories scattered across the web. These great sites are specifically for submitting articles and reaching the public's eyes. Having well written and targeted articles submitted to these sites will mean the right people read your article and more potential sales are created.
Social media can be a useful tool in search engine optimization. When you write something new, tweet the link, encourage your followers to share the link and post it on social media sites. When a link is attached and sent around Twitter, real-time searches will be more successful for your search engine goals.
To ensure that your website is as easy as possible to crawl, keep your site architecture flat. Don't use too many sub folders, instead use descriptive names for each page. Keep your pages with the most competitive keywords in their names, close to the root folder, so they will gain a higher page rank.
Search engines can only search what is actually in your website, and not what is in an image description. Try and stay away from image description. Instead you should put a text box below the actual image so the words can be searched for in a search engine.
This seems basic, but a good practice to follow is to constantly monitor your page rank using independent traffic monitoring services. Doing so will help you determine whether your optimization is having any effect on your site traffic. A good site to use is Alexa, which will show an abundance of useful statistics.
In order to optimize incoming links to raise your search engine rankings, try to have links to different parts of your website, not just your homepage. Search engine spiders read links to different parts of your site, as meaning that your site is full of useful and relevant content and therefore, ranks it higher.
Post videos of your products on the various video sites across the web. These video channels can open up your product or service to a whole new world of potential buyers who may never have visited your site on their own. Plus, these video channels tend to make it easy for a viewer to pass a link onwards to a friend, essentially increasing you market reach with no more effort on your part.
There are many more things you can learn about search engine optimization, but these few tips are a great place to start. Perhaps you have read a few tips here that you would like to implement on your site. Try incorporating the ideas you have learned in this article, and you are sure to see your website rankings improve significantly.


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Heartland Auto & industrial Supply Ltd. is proud to be the Alberta distributor for Dump-Lok safety braces produced by Blue Ribbon Safety made in the USA.
Safety is a very important part of our lives. In most cases accidents that happen in the workplace or on the farm are preventable with a simple safety precaution which is why we believe in this product.
New safety products include No-Jack, Cab-Lok & Gate-Lok
Contact us today for more information!
- This is the only product of its kind, dedicated to dump bed maintenance safety.
- Safely hold dump beds at higher angles than manufacturer provided props, giving employees safe access to more area underneath the dump bed.
- Will work on any brand of dump box.
Dump-Lok Safety Braces


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eBay is the world's online marketplace; a place for buyers and sellers to come together and buy or sell almost anything! Find the products you want to buy at the best prices from thousands of ranges such as Men and Women's Fashion, Homeware, Garden, DIY and Technology from some of the best UK retailers. Search for the hidden gems, offers, deals and voucher codes.
You can always change your preferences by clicking on the "Cookie Settings" link at the bottom of the page. View our Privacy Policy & Cookie Policy for full details.


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In John-Charles v NHS Business Services Authority UKEAT/0105/15, the Claimant, Mr J-C, was an ICT network engineer employed by the Respondent. In October 2012, Mr J-C was facing a disciplinary charge for breaching his employer's IT policies by copying data onto his personal computer hard drive. He had also then entered a restricted office area for which he did not have sufficient security clearance.
The following investigation concluded there was evidence of gross misconduct and the disciplinary hearing duly took place before a disciplinary officer in March 2013.
However, there had also been a history of failures by the Claimant to follow reasonable management instructions which culminated in a 'first written warning', issued by the disciplinary officer on 14 January 2013; which was confirmed in writing to the Claimant. Importantly, an appeal against that warning remained unresolved until the Claimant's dismissal.
When deciding on the action to be taken following the March hearing, the disciplinary officer changed her mind as to the appropriate sanction when she discovered that Mr J-C had already been given the separate written warning for his inability to accept reasonable management instructions. She was also under the impression that Mr J-C's appeal had ended due to the time which had lapsed since it was lodged.
The disciplinary officer had initially indicated she would not dismiss Mr J-C and issue a final written warning for his breach of IT policy instead. However, in light of her discovery, she decided that dismissal would be appropriate.
As a result, Mr J-C brought an action of unfair dismissal.
Employment Tribunal
The ET found that the reason for the Claimant's dismissal was his conduct in October 2012, a potentially fair reason. It concluded that the dismissal for that reason was fair notwithstanding the fact that the Claimant's appeal against the January first written warning remained pending, something of which the disciplinary officer had not been advised. In any case, the ET concluded that the appeal was unlikely to succeed.
Employment Appeal Tribunal
Mr J-C appealed to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, finding that the dismissal was procedurally unfair and overturning the Employment Tribunal's decision. Although it was acceptable for the disciplinary officer to have taken the subsequent written warning into account when deciding to dismiss Mr J-C, he should still have been given an opportunity to make representations on that warning.
The fact that the subsequent warning was the subject of an outstanding appeal did not affect the fairness of the decision, as the disciplinary officer had no knowledge that an appeal was being pursued. The unfairness arose when the disciplinary officer failed to explain the significance of the subsequent warning to Mr J-C and the impact it would have on the disciplinary process. As such, the process was a breach of natural justice.
There are a couple of interesting points to be made here. Firstly, although it was not applicable to this case, the court confirmed that when a warning was relevant to a decision on a dismissal, and that warning was being appealed, issues of fairness could arise. This suggests that in order to avoid potential claims of unfair dismissal, employers should ensure that all appeals to relevant written warnings should be concluded before action is taken to dismiss an employee.
However, the key lesson to be learned here is the importance of keeping employees completely informed at all stages in a disciplinary. This means fully explaining the reasons for the actions you are taking and ensuring the employee has understood them. If the disciplinary officer had informed Mr J-C that his earlier warning was going to be taken into account when making a decision, it would have provided him an opportunity to make representations. That, it turns out, would have made all the difference, whether he had made any representations or not.
To find out how Steeles Law Employment team can support you and your business, please do not hesitate to call 01603 598000 or email email@example.com. Appointments are available at our Diss, Norwich and London offices or at your offices by appointment.


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Sekai Ichi tomatoes (trying again as none came up from the last attempt)
Lil Pink tomatoes
Purple Fairy tomatoes
Cherokee Purple tomatoes
Pineapple tomatoes
Riesentomate tomatoes
Maglia Rosa tomatoes
Sweet Grape tomatoes (more seeds available in the Seed Bank)
Black Cherry tomatoes
Pink Sunshine tomatoes
Long Island Mammoth Dill
Sweet Basil
Triple Moss Curled Parsley
Lemon Thyme
Luffa Gourd
Bell Pepper (seeds came from a weird pointed bell pepper - also have more in the Seed Bank)
I've also added more mixed bell pepper seeds to the Seed Bank, so if you like bell peppers - please feel free to trade with me!
So of course, #2 wanted to know when he was going to be able to start planting his herb seeds that he got in the mail a little bit ago. I'll be making another trip to Fleet Farm to pick up another seed starting try and perhaps we'll make a project out of it. This week looks crazy busy, but maybe we'll find time. Otherwise, there's always next week too.
I did manage to find another grow light, but I haven't tested it out yet. I have to set up a second shelving unit to put the newest seed tray (above), and #2's seeds too. I also tracked down two big stacks of those cheap plastic containers that you get plants in from nurseries, so I can start to replant my peppers into containers that are uniform in size and can easily be lined up in a box and kept under the light still. That will also have to be a project on hold for now.
There is an exotic livestock auction this weekend, and I intend to go. I plan to pick up some meat rabbits if they sell for cheap, and stare longingly at the bottle-babies. One day... one day I will have a farm and will be able to have a bottle-baby goat, but for right now, it's just a dream.


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Multi-Instrument Digital Assistant – PIC16F84A
"It contains four instruments in one unit: logic probe, single channel logic state analyzer, frequency counter and serial code receiver."
|From Hobby Hound – DIY Electronics
The Engineer's Assistant – Erik Grindheim
Serial code receiver The serial code receiver receives 42 bytes and displays them in both HEX and ASCII. The baud rate is selectale in 8 steps from 1200 to 115200.
Logic state analyzer This is a one-channel logic state analyzer. It fetches 300 single bit samples in a selectable rate from 25ms to 1µS (40 Hz to 1 MHz in 16 steps).
Frequency counter The frequency counter displays the frequency with up to 8 digits on the LCD. The refresh rate is 500ms.
Logic probe The low and high logic levels are displayed by LEDs which are OFF if the probe tip is floating.


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This was always going to be the acid test. How would a Cov team, widely tipped this year as one of the favourites for promotion from National 1 to the Championship, fare against London Welsh, one of the favourites for promotion back to the Premiership, having been relegated from the elite division back in April? Just how much of a gulf would there be?
Well, on today's showing, nowhere near as great as many of the 976 who enjoyed this entertaining spectacle might have feared prior to the start of the game. Yes, 976…many of the teams in National 1 can only dream of attracting such a sizeable crowd against the top teams in the league, let alone for a pre-season friendly. But there is a mood of optimism amongst the Cov faithful at the moment and despite the loss, today's performance will have done nothing to dampen their spirits. And that gulf…? Well, whisper it quietly, for the first 50 minutes Coventry were arguably the better of the two teams on display.
Now I have no idea of the relative strength, or otherwise, of the London Welsh XV that took to the pitch in the first half, but any side LW put out is going to be half decent. By their own admissions, or Roland Phillips' at least, having retained 22 and recruited well, the club are 'very optimistic' Rowland Phillips. In that context, then, this was an extremely encouraging performance and the final result, whilst disappointing, can't hide the fact that there were some very promising signs during the course of the game.
The real difference seemed to be that when Welsh went 11-7 down just after half-time, they were able to raise their game to level we couldn't quite match. For 15 -20 minutes they looked stronger, quicker and fitter scoring four unanswered tries and we struggled to compete. However, part of this was caused by the changes Cov made at regular intervals during the second 40, with a stream of players going off; and in some cases, coming back on throughout the half. Absolutely no criticism of the coaches here, they still need to try out various combinations in different positions. In doing so, giving players 40-50 minute shifts (or less) mean they are less prone to injury, a very welcome by-product (although Weightman (?) did go off with an injured ankle).
As a result of the changes, our play seemed to become a little disjointed and the structures and routines clearly evident in the first half, especially in defence, seemed to have gone AWOL during the second. However, Cov started to get a second wind again and finished the stronger with the final try of the game, a move that started just outside the Cov 22, going through several phases and ending with Tom Poole diving under the opposition posts. A real crowd pleaser, that!
We were able to break their line on a number of occasions, and Knox, Hope, Pailor, Tincknell, Ryan and Lespierre all made some good yards. We retained the ball well, but too often we either lost possession or were penalised for naive mistakes. Cut those out and Cov will be a very hard team to beat this season. The lineout is still a problem, we lost the ball too often, especially in the first half and both hookers failed to find their mark as often as they should. Early days and I'm sure the Tuesday and Thursday training sessions will address this. Fitness seems better than last season; had it not been I think Cov might well have capitulated under the pressure Welsh exerted mid-way though the second half. But not these days.
With Rosslyn Park winning comfortably against Cardiff, albeit at home, 47-23 with 7 tries from the forwards, the two favourites for the league (as far as I'm concerned!) have put down their markers. Perhaps Cov have their noses slightly in front.
Ealing next week will be another stern test before the league begins in two weeks time. One more opportunity for the coaches to decide on their starting XV for the Wharfedale game. Hopefully, another big gate and encouraging Cov performance next Saturday will mean we go into the opening league fixture full of confidence and in the belief there is no one to fear in our league.
Final score: Coventry 18 London Welsh 33


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Dr Katherine Anagnostou is currently a Consultant at St Thomas' Hospital in London. Over the last 8 years she has worked exclusively in paediatric allergy, initially undertaking research in peanut allergy and subsequently as a clinician. Katherine has worked with Dr Fox and the Allergy London team for the last 4 years. She has experience in all aspects of allergic disorders and their management including eczema, food allergy, rhinitis and asthma and has developed a special interest in food allergies and oral immunotherapy.
Katherine graduated from Aristotle University Medical School with first class honours in 2000. She has trained in paediatrics in Addenbrooke's Hospital, in Cambridge and in Great Ormond Street and the Royal Brompton Hospital, in London.
Katherine was awarded her PhD in Allergy from Cambridge University, focusing on a trial of peanut oral immunotherapy in children, which attracted a lot of media interest all over the world. Her main research findings were published in the medical journal, The Lancet. She has a special interest in mechanisms underlying food immunotherapy and has presented her work in both national and international meetings. Katherine regularly teaches in Allergy Academy and MSc Allergy courses.Back to team page


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Luke & Associates, Inc.
B-405348: Oct 13, 2011
Additional Materials:
- Full Report:
(202) 512-8278
Kenneth E. Patton
(202) 512-8205
Office of Public Affairs
(202) 512-4800
Luke & Associates, Inc., of Merritt Island, Florida, protests the exclusion of its proposal from the competitive range under request for proposals (RFP) No. FA4890-10-R-0001, issued by the Department of the Air Force for various advisory and assistance support services.
We deny the protest.
B-405348, Luke & Associates, Inc., October 13, 2011
The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release.
Matter of: Luke & Associates, Inc.
Edward J. Kinberg, Esq., and R. Brent Blackburn, Esq., Kinberg & Associates, LLC, for the protester.
Marvin K. Gibbs, Esq., Jared D. Minsk, Esq., and Beatrice Foster, Esq., Department of the Air Force, for the agency.
Peter D. Verchinski, Esq., and Guy R. Pietrovito, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision.
Protest challenging the agency's evaluation of proposals is denied where record shows that the agency's evaluation was consistent with the solicitation's evaluation methodology.
Luke & Associates, Inc., of Merritt Island, Florida, protests the exclusion of its proposal from the competitive range under request for proposals (RFP) No. FA4890-10-R-0001, issued by the Department of the Air Force for various advisory and assistance support services.
The Air Force has a requirement for various advisory and assistance support services for its Air Combat Command bases, headquarters, and other activities, which the agency has been receiving under Contracted Advisory and Assistance Services (CAAS) contracts. The RFP was issued for the fourth generation of CAAS contracts, which were stated to have a $4.7 billion ceiling. Offerors were informed that the agency intended to award 18 fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts, under which the contract holders would compete for the issuance of task orders to provide management and professional services; studies, analysis, and evaluations; and engineering and technical services. RFP sect. L, at 51. The RFP also provided that, of the 18 contracts to be awarded, 12 contracts were set aside for small businesses, while 6 awards were not restricted. RFP sect. M-1, at 69. The protest here concerns only the full and open competition for the six unrestricted awards.
The RFP provided that awards would be made on a low price, technical acceptability basis, considering the following factors: technical, past performance, and price. RFP sections M-1.1, M-3.1.2, at 69, 72. The RFP identified a four-step process to evaluate proposals.
Under the first step, the Air Force would rank the proposals "by the initially proposed total overall evaluated price, from lowest to highest, including all option years." RFP sect. M-188.8.131.52, at 70. The RFP provided that the total overall evaluated price would consist of the offerors' loaded hourly labor rates and other rates as proposed in a spreadsheet ("Table B-1") that was to be returned with the proposals. RFP sect. M-3.4.1, at 75. Offerors were informed that, with respect to the unrestricted awards, the agency would select a minimum of the 10 lowest-priced proposals for further evaluation. RFP sect. M-126.96.36.199.2, at 70.
Under the second step, the agency would evaluate the technical acceptability of the proposals selected under the first step.[1] Offerors were informed that if any of these proposals were found to be technically unacceptable, the unacceptable proposal(s) would be replaced by the next lowest-priced proposal, until there were at least 10 technically acceptable proposals (or proposals that were reasonably susceptible of being made acceptable), or until all proposals in the full and open competition had been evaluated. RFP sect. M-184.108.40.206, at 70-71.
Under the third step, the agency would evaluate the past performance of offerors whose proposals had been selected in step two. The RFP provided that any proposal with less than satisfactory past performance would be replaced with the next lowest-priced, acceptable (or reasonably susceptible to being made acceptable) proposal. RFP sect. M-22.214.171.124, at 71.
Under the fourth step, the agency would conduct "a complete Cost/Price analysis" of the proposals remaining after step 3. RFP sect. M-184.108.40.206, at 71. Offerors were informed that any proposal that was evaluated "as unrealistically low (or unreasonably high) priced or has unrealistic costs" would be replaced with the next lowest-priced proposal that was evaluated as acceptable (or reasonably susceptible to being made acceptable) with satisfactory or higher past performance rating. RFP sect. M-220.127.116.11.2, at 72.
The Air Force received 25 offers, including Luke's, in the unrestricted competition. Under the first step of the RFP's evaluation methodology, the agency assessed prices by ensuring that the pricing spreadsheet, Table B'1, did not contain inaccuracies or errors. The pricing spreadsheet automatically calculated total cost, loaded rates, and overall total for each labor rate based on historical multipliers for each labor category. Contracting Officer's Statement at 10. The agency also confirmed that the offerors had not inadvertently modified the formulas embedded in the spreadsheets. Id. at 11.
Luke submitted the highest-priced proposal of the 25 offers received. When the agency selected the 11 lowest-priced proposals for evaluation under step two, Luke's proposal was not selected. Contracting Officer's Statement at 8-9; Agency Report (AR), Tab 33, Initial Price Evaluation. The Air Force found under step two that five of the lowest-priced proposals were technically acceptable, and six of the proposals were reasonably susceptible of being made acceptable. The Air Force included these 11 lowest-priced proposals in the competitive range. AR, Tab 34, Competitive Range Memorandum, at 2-3.
Luke was informed that its proposal was not included in the competitive range, and following a debriefing, filed this protest.
Luke complains that the agency failed to evaluate the realism of offerors' proposed prices under step one of the RFP's evaluation methodology. Comments at 1. Specifically, Luke contends that the RFP required that the agency's ranking of offers under step one be based upon an "initial assessment of [the] offerors' total overall evaluated prices."[2] See RFP sect. M-3.1.1, at 70. Luke argues that this "initial assessment" was required to include a price realism evaluation. Luke also complains that six of the proposals included in the competitive range were not technically acceptable. Id. at 2.
In reviewing protests against allegedly improper evaluations, our Office examines the record to determine whether the agency's evaluation was, in fact, in accord with the stated evaluation factors. Computer Prods., Inc., B-284702, May 24, 2000, 2000 CPD para. 95 at 4'5; Computer Assocs. Int'l, Inc., B'292077.3 et al., Jan. 22, 2004, 2004 CPD para. 163 at 6.
Here, the record establishes that the Air Force evaluated proposals in accordance with the RFP's announced methodology for evaluating proposals. With respect to Luke's complaint that the Air Force did not assess the realism of offerors' proposed prices in step one of its evaluation methodology, the RFP simply did not provide for such an assessment in this step. Rather, as noted above, offerors were informed that the agency would assess price realism under step four. See RFP M-220.127.116.11, at 71. Although Luke argues that RFP indicated that the "initial assessment" of the offerors' prices would include a price realism analysis, this interpretation of the solicitation is plainly inconsistent with the announced evaluation methodology.
We also find without merit Luke's complaint that the Air Force improperly included six proposals in the competitive range that were evaluated as being reasonably susceptible of being made acceptable. The RFP specifically provided that proposals that were evaluated as being reasonably susceptible of being made acceptable may be included in the evaluation of proposals under step two, three and four. See RFP sections M-220.127.116.11.2; M-220.127.116.11; M-18.104.22.168. Luke has not identified anything in the RFP that restricts the agency's ability to include in the competitive range proposals that were evaluated as reasonably susceptible of being made acceptable.
The protest is denied.
Lynn H. Gibson
General Counsel
[1] The RFP provided that technical proposals would be evaluated as either acceptable, reasonably susceptible of being made acceptable, or unacceptable. RFP sect. M-3.2.1, at 72.
[2] In introducing the four-step methodology that would be used to evaluate proposals, the RFP stated that the agency would "rank offers based on an initial assessment of offerors' total overall evaluated prices, followed by a full evaluation of Technical Acceptability, then Past Performance, and finally Cost/Price . . . ." RFP sect. M-3.1.1, at 70.
Aug 10, 2020
Agile-Bot II, LLC--Costs
We deny the request to recommend that the agency reimburse costs related to pursuing protest issues beyond those the agency has agreed to pay.
U.S. Electrodynamics, Inc.
We dismiss the protest.
Aug 7, 2020
MicroTechnologies, LLC
We deny the protest.
VSolvit, LLC
We deny the protest.
C3.ai, Inc.
We deny the protest.
Looking for more? Browse all our products here


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Its been a while guys. I would like to say that I had a chilled Christmas break… Even though it was filled with laughter and happiness, surrounded by my favourite people, it was been a bloody stressful month. FIVE assignments due within the first ten days of January. Considering I had most of them planned and done in November, I assumed it would be a breeze. Let's just say I'm thankful that I am half way through third year and I made it this far. After arguments, tears and endless threats to quit…. I completed all assignments on time. (Not to mention a break down when I accidently deleted my only copy of the assignment when attempting to back it up SIX HOURS before the deadline) I would like to say I am prepared to start my dissertation but after seeing my friends attempt theirs, I'm not sure I'm ready to enter hell. I am just ready to be able to complete my degree and be able to have time to write for myself.
Christmas was magical as ususal. Very spoilt and loved seeing people's faces when they received their gifts. The Christmas markets were as wonderful and packed as ever and really made me feel Christmassy. New year was… I think it was good. I don't remember much of it apart from working at two the next day and not feeling particularly great. But here we are ready for 2017 a year for great things. Good things are coming and I'm sure you'll all be able to stay updated via the blog.
I have lots of ideas for posts over the next few weeks. Starting with the long awaited Collector review on Sunday 22nd. I go to Poland this week and I will be doing numerous posts on what I got up to (my first official travel writing post!). I will try my best to stay updated and have a new post every other Friday- however with me entering the hell of a dissertation, I can't promise.
Thankyou for all the support over the Christmas break, there hasn't been one day where I have had 0 views on my page! (and no it isn't me) My Twitter is doing the best at the moment reaching over 800 followers! I really appreciate the time you have taken to look at my posts and the blog. Views, likes, shares, subscribes and comments is what keeps the blog going and helps my writing advance. If your interested in following me on my on social networking sites, the links are at the bottom. Once again thank you and thanks your for your patience. I hope you will continue to enjoy and read the posts.
J xo