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Bastille Storm The Charts
With his intricate and eccentric songs that meld indie and pop into a stadium-sized whole, Bastille's Dan Smith is being hailed as a bright spark who might just start a revolution
The first single from South London indie-synth popsters Bastille was released last year and didn't chart anywhere. Overjoyed 's impact was underwhelming and led to a crisis in confidence for the newly formed band. Their second single, Bad Blood , reached the heady heights of number 90 in the singles chart before scarpering away quickly the following week. Third single Flaws – released last October – went to number 21 and the follow-up, Pompeii, made it to number two.
It°'s the sort of trajectory that used to be relatively commonplace – a band building slowly over a series of releases – but is now virtually unheard of in the quick-turnover pop world, where if you don't hit hard with your very first release, you're commercial history. The slow burn on Bastille paid off in spades last month when their debut album Bad Blood went straight to number one in the album charts.
Live-wise, it's a mirror reflection: last October the band played to a small audience at Dublin's Academy 2. To mark the release of Bad Blood , they were booked for a show in Whelan's for next week (April 4th) but that sold out so quick the venue had to be upscaled to the main Academy venue. That show has sold out in record time.
In The Cinema Museum, a museum dedicated to the history of cinema, hidden away on a south London backstreet, Bastille frontman Dan Smith – a film obsessive, hence the choice of venue for a promo gig – comes across as a reluctant and surprisingly introspective rock-star-in-waiting presence. The consensual bottom line on Bastille is that they are a male Florence and The Machine, a Killers for the pop generation, a band ready to take the next big step up towards arena-ville.
"It's just one huge surprise after another these days with the singles doing better and better each time and a lot of attention on the album," says Smith, a 25-year-old with a glittering academic record behind him. "But to be truthful, this world isn't really me. I was always a quiet and studious type and there are aspects of the music world – performing and doing promo – which I find really uncomfortable to do. In fact, it is my idea of hell, but if it gets the music out there then it's a good thing."
There are a lot of industry heavyweights in the invite-only audience tonight – eyeing Bastille up for future festival dates – and the four piece don't disappoint with a theatrical set. Smith is transformed on stage – described by the Guardian as "a wild mutation of Coldplay's Chris Martin and Justin Bieber", he looks to the stadium born.
But such was his initial diffidence that he had to transform Bastille from a one-man band to their current group status. "Bastille used to be just me and I was very much in the singer-songwriter mould. The songs used to be very intricate and eccentric – I had written them all in my bedroom – but early on, I decided the last thing I wanted to be was a singer-songwriter. I wanted to be in a band, so Bastille went from just me to the four of us, and I feel much better how we are now," he says.
Smith has been writing songs since he was 15 but was always too embarrassed to tell his friends. "I just used to write for myself and would never have played them to anyone," he says. While studying English literature at Leeds University, a friend overheard him tinkering around on one his songs on his laptop and convinced Smith to enter a local talent competition – which he duly won.
"Performing for the first time was a really traumatic experience," he says. It didn't help that he describes his early songwriting efforts as "significantly bizarre – quite off-the-wall". There was also a reluctance, as a solo performer, to write autobiographical songs. What he really wanted was to compose music that reflected his love of cinema. He chose the name Bastille – his birthday falls on Bastille Day – because of his dread of going out under the name Dan Smith.
In keeping with the changing times in the music world, Bastille first got a foothold through YouTube views and the placement of their songs on various TV shows – Hollyoaks, Made In Chelsea – and on a FIFA videogame soundtrack.
While Smith says he's equally happy writing in the general realms of "indie, pop, folk and hip-hop", what singles Bastille out from the pack is how – unlike many of their leather-jacked clad indie contemporaries – they aren't scared of a big pop chorus.
"Pop is important; getting that hook in is important," he says. "It may not make you the coolest new band around, but I've always really wanted each song to be its own story with its own atmosphere – so you need to get something memorable in there." A synth-heavy sound with minimal guitars ensures Bastille are ripe for radio play, but what surprises Smith most about the reaction to the songs this early in their career is how many audience members knew all the lyrics months before the album came out.
"For someone like me who really isn't comfortable on stage yet, when you're playing in a big room and hearing hundreds of people singing the words back to you is a really enjoyable experience," he says.
With the album going in straight at number one last month and the current single Pompeii just missing out on the number-one slot to One Direction, Bastille are already one of the big breakthrough stories of the year. Even though it's been a slow build for the band over the past three years, Smith says he's a bit shell-shocked by their recent success.
"We made the album in a studio the size of a cupboard," he says. "There was certainly never any expectation that we would even get near the Top 10 with our first album, so all of this feels like it's happening to someone else and we are just watching on. We were on tour with Two Door Cinema Club when we heard Pompeii had gone it at number two, and not really knowing what to do, we ended up in Pizza Hut that night – not the most rock'n'roll celebration ever held. We've been touring so much over the last few weeks that it's hard to get a real sense of perspective, but the fact that so many people bought the album in the first few days of its release was a great joy."
With so much indie landfill out there at the moment – identikit guitar rock going nowhere fast – what has lifted Bastille up is their mix'n'match sound and their popularity with the crucial early twentysomething record buyers. Smith speaks of his great appreciation of soul and hip-hop and of how he grew up listening to Jurassic 5 and Crosby, Stills and Nash. But it's his A-Ha-like sensibilities which give his songs a pop sheen.
As happy talking about the musical merits of Damon Albarn, Kanye West, Bon Iver and Jack White as he is confessing to a chronic obsession with film-maker David Lynch (there's a song on the album called Laura Palmer ), this is also a man who is happy finishing a Bastille show with a sincerely done cover version of Snap's euro-dance tooth-rot anthem Rhythm Is A Dancer .
"You can say what you like about that song and I'm still really not sure about it, but the one thing it does have is massive hook. A bloody massive hook. And that's good enough for me," he says.


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Nutcracker 209 at the Cabrillo Crocker Theater and Agape Dance Academy is all about
From its inception nearly seven years ago, Agape Dance Academy created for it's classical dance technique training, the mission statement of, "Training Up Dancers for Great Purposes!" As Owner / Artistic director Melanie Useldinger knew first hand how many hours of sacrifice, discipline, and dedication it takes to create a highly trained classical ballet dancer, she wanted her students to know that impacting the lives of others was an important part of character training that would parallel their intense dance technique training schedules at Agape Dance Academy.
And the blessings just continued to flow with unprecedented growth to five studios with locations throughout Santa Cruz County and a growing cast of superbly trained dancers that now grace the stage in our annual Nutcracker. Though we usually cast our Sugar Plum fairy and cavalier from San Francisco Ballet professional guest artists, this we year were thrilled to have local talent Zaiah Jones and Kelly Beach take us by surprise at our annual auditions in September by performing a stunning presentation of the Nutcracker Grand Pas. Zaiah received his training at the San Francisco Ballet School and danced in the San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker during his time there. Kelly Beach came on board to the faculty of Agape Dance Academy just this year. The couple can be seen in rehearsal with a superb pas de deux rapport and amazing strength in both technique and artistry. We expect nothing less than a stunning performance from this couple who will be coached by San Francisco Ballet Company member Kimberley Olivier.
Agape Dance Academy's students have been blessed in the academic realms this year as well. It' a well known fact that serious ballet dancers tend to be high achievers in many areas that they chose to focus on. With the incredible time management skills they must master to progress as dancers, most ballerinas have excellent study skills and the disciplines of training carry over into great academic achievement. Our first graduating Seniors have been accepted to prestigious University programs and are returning as alumni in this year's performances of the Nutcracker. Aly Ely , who attends the highly acclaimed Claire Trevor School of the Arts at UC Irvine will return to her former role of Snow Queen with exquisite finesse. She will also debut in an alumni performance of the Grand Pas with Tiffer Aguirre.
All of these wonderful happenings and performances are joined with the blessing of combining with Jacob's Heart Children's Cancer Support Services so that all the amazing energy and resources inspired by our Nutcracker performances including its mission and vision for impacting the world around us has found special meaning. A portion of ticket sales and the raffles before and at the performances all go to support this amazing organization!
Audiences will be amazed by both the superb quality of The Agape Dance Academy 2018 Nutcracker and the spirit of the dancers and the surrounding community. They will be touched not only with the beauty of snow scenes, Tchaikovsky's timeless musical score, costumes and choreography, but also the special touch of ballerinas that dance for great purposes and in doing so lift the human hearts of many!


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The Sharpening Phase
As with any program doing the final block of preparation for a goal event is key for optimal performance. Many refer (see references) to this period as the "sharpening phase" and it normally lasts for roughly 4 – 6 weeks depending on the race being undertaken. I truly believe this period is very important to really apply the principle of specificity to training and that this phase should most definitely be of a higher intensity than the build phase, but still a high training load.
|Descending Scotsman Hill in King of the Mountain
My last 5 weeks have been about developing my fitness in the key areas for the Buffalo Stampede Ultra next weekend. I had a transition week and two fortnightly blocks that I used to really push my comfort levels in an attempt to get the final bit of conditioning I believe is required for me to complete such an event successfully. This method can be walking a fine line and once again I was very much aware of what I had done incorrectly in 2014 and was keen to not make similar errors that would lead to injury or wasted training.
I broke my program down into three areas; aerobic, anaerobic and strength. This was the focus of each session and I employed a particular methodology to my program. I will explain below how I attempted (see references) to develop each aspect over this period;
- Aerobic: as an ultra race is on the cards my volume had to be high. I set aside a minimum of 4 runs that were specifically aimed being at least 60min and working between 50 – 75% max effort levels, including two longer specific runs weekly. I was allowing my body to be conditioned to the stress of Buffalo at an intensity level similar to that of what I will be operating at during the race. During my aerobic sessions I included steep, rocky and technical hills, both up and down to try and replicate the muscle memory needed on the climbs in a Skyrunning race.
- Anaerobic: my anaerobic base was sound so I attempted to develop this threshold by including additional interval work and long higher intensity sessions. I began rep based track work, focused on a control run mid week and added a tempo/steady run of a longer duration to my program. This indicated my form and fitness and included three races of varying distance that all had very important elements similar to those that will be undertaken at Buffalo.
- Strength: I had put a lot of work into my strength over Summer and was really keen to top this work off with some high impact strength sessions. I took part in some CrossFit 2795 sessions and began plyometric work as well as continuing with my balance based strength work. I felt that I was able to round out my regime with some good sessions allowing me to cut to race weight, engage my fast twitch muscle fibres and take the muscle through a greater range in each activity.
I was able to manage some very good training over this phase and am happy with where I am placed leading into my first goal of 2015. I have been able to train consistently well and avoid injury, this combined with a greater idea of what is required in the race allows me to move into my taper with confidence that I can develop a plan that will allow me to reach my goals. I have been looking at the race for five months now and while my focus has been all about Buffalo it is only now I will start to work the finer details for race day. I have my nutrition down after a couple of practice runs, my gear is now sorted and within the next few days my plan, splits, strategy, etc. will come into place.
|On way to 2nd (blowing up) and 1st in
the series at STS
Nutrition (Supported by Hammer Nutrition)
- Perpeteum – 1.5 scoops to 500ml water for 3hrs.
- Gels – 1 each 45min or as needed.
- Endurolytes – 1 each 30min
- Fizz – 1 to 150ml water at each crewed aid station.
- Shoes – Inov8 X-Talon 200
- Shorts – Inov8 Race Elite 210 Trail Short
- Shirt – Hammer Nutrition Race Tank
- Visor – Hammer Nutrition Headsweat
- Pack – Ultraspire Omega or Surge (weather pending) 1.5 litre bladder + 500ml soft flask.
- Watch – Suunto Ambit Sport 3
I was happy to have been able to have a successful series of races during this period as well, my results are as follows;
- Lithgow King of the Mountain: 2.2km 150m + 13:34 1st Place.
- STS Manly Dam Big Dam Run: 30km 750m + 2:22:44 2nd Place.
- Orange Volcanic MountainChallenge (NSW Mountain Champs): 11km 550m + 52:08 5th Place.
* I also won the long Course Summer Series at STS placing 3rd, 3rd, 2nd and 2nd in the four events from December to March.
So Buffalo is now just around the corner and I am looking forward to putting into play all the training I have completed over the last 25 weeks. I am genuinely excited to see how Bright comes alive for this massive weekend of running and getting to race alongside some of the best local and international athletes. The atmosphere will be rad!
I am also looking forward to watching Kel take part in the 26er. She has been doing it tough lately, being diagnosed recently with an endocrine disorder after 5 months of unknown illness which has greatly affected her running and overall wellbeing. Hopefully this race can be a springboard to her having a great back end of the year. Over winter there will be some change required to my training to accommodate more support and balance to my family life, and I am looking forward to simplifying things even more and enjoying time with my family just that bit extra and a nice holiday over the cooler months.
|With Womans winner, Megan Reeves, who
was 2nd to the top of the hill!!!!
Lactate Threshold Concepts. Faude, Kindermann & Mayer, 2009
Lactate - A signal of coordinating cell and systemic function. Philip, MacDonald & Watt, 2005
The Impact of Rest Duration on Work Intenisty and RPE during Interval Training. Seiler & Hetleid, 2005
Relationship Between Repeated Sprint Performance and both Aerobic and Anaerobic Fitness. Dardouri, et al., 2014
Effects of Plyometric Training on Endurance and Explosive Strength Performance in Competitive Middle and Long-Distance Runners. Rami-Rez-Campillo, et al., 2013
Essentials of Exercise Physiology. McArtile, Katch & Katch, 2000
Photo Credit
Lithgow Mercury - Fairfax Media
Geosnap Shot
Photo Credit
Lithgow Mercury - Fairfax Media
Geosnap Shot


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He may not be a household name just yet but aspiring artist Edward Norton already has a claim to fame. He has just teamed up with some of the country's top illustrators, designers and sculptors in the lead-up to the latest exhibition launch at Kingston University's Stanley Picker Gallery.
In fact, the talented 10 year old was so keen to rub shoulders with some of his idols at the South West London gallery's inaugural summer art fête, he travelled all the way from Sevenoaks in Kent to take part. Under the watchful eye of regular Tate Britain exhibitors Phil Duckworth and Ben Sadler – better known as the Juneau Project – the Year 5 pupil at Solefield School in Sevenoaks was soon in his element letting his imagination run wild as he decorated a CD and cover.
Edward, who has his heart set on one day becoming an artist or actor, wasn't alone in putting his creative talents to the test. He joined a crop of other novices working alongside such critically-acclaimed experts as Bob and Roberta Smith, Cullinan+Richards and Caroline Todd as the exhibition took shape. Kingston University students Tom McCaughan, Laura Bird and Rose Blake, who spent a week illustrating the gallery walls with a sideshow theme, were also on hand to offer inspiration and advice.
Edward's mother, Rebecca Norton, praised gallery staff for their commitment to making the venue a true community asset. "Having the opportunity to collaborate with such established artists was a tremendous way to draw people in to the whole gallery experience," Mrs Norton enthused.
Gallery director David Falkner said his team was always looking for novel ways to forge stronger links between the art world and more amateur enthusiasts. "The Summer Art Fête and Exhibition has given us a wonderful opportunity to tap into the wealth of talent that exists in Kingston and the surrounding area. Rather than staging a more traditional exhibition, we decided to fling open our doors to aspiring artists of all ages and the result is a really eclectic mix featuring some quite astounding work."
The colourful collection will continue to take pride of place at the gallery, next to Kingston University's Knights Park campus, until 19 July.
General enquiries:
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Hubris- Protein and Contein
on February 14, 2018 at 12:01 am
Chapter: Comic
I've tried a couple of different kinds of protein pancakes. First was a recipe that a personal trainer had come up with. Kinda tricky, and I never got it right. The other is a commercial brand, and I figure there's probably not as much protein in there as they say there is. You watch. "Protein" is the new 'Gluten Free' or 'No Trans Fats'. Big seller.


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Mt. Holly, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/04/2013 -- For those who are on the road every single day, they are bound to notice some imperfections on bridges, highways, and other roadways. With Atlantic Concrete Cutting Inc. now offering diamond grinding in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, they will be able to provide a smooth surface for pavements that need rehabilitation in those areas. Not only will this prevent future accidents, but it will also extend the life of pavements, bridges, and roads while also increasing the roads resistance so automobiles will not slip.
Road rehabilitation seems to be in high demand, and is very much needed in all areas throughout the world. Diamond grinding in Connecticut also has the ability to shed water faster, reduce hydroplaning, and it can increase braking capabilities. This is a great benefit when the roads are wet from any inclement weather keeping automobile drivers safe when on the roads. Diamond grinding in New York offers numerous advantages such as the increase in texture, and it can also decrease the amount of noise that some highways and roads produce. Diamond grinding has the ability to improve the pavement even from its initial design.
Not only can it increase the roads on highways and other essential roadways, but also bridges. By using diamond grinding on bridges, it decreases wheel hop from automobiles. Atlantic Concrete Cutting, Inc. uses only state-of-the-art equipment in the concrete cutting industry that will provide diamond grinding on time and at a budget one can afford. With the most professional, highly trained operators at Atlantic Concrete Cutting, they will surely be able to provide the most professional concrete cutting services in any area.
About Atlantic Concrete Cutting
Since 1991, Atlantic Concrete Cutting has been providing core drilling and full service concrete cutting. They have the most experienced professionals that have the ability to operate state-of-the-art equipment. They offer services varying from wire sawing, core drilling, sealing of any type of roadways, wall sawing and much more. Atlantic Concrete Cutting, Inc. is headquartered in Mount Holly, New Jersey but they cover all areas including New York, Pennsylvania and other parts of the United States.
To learn more visit http://www.atlanticconcretecutting.com


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6707 Via Regina, Boca Raton, FL - Sold Price $3,000
- Plum At Boca Pointe
- Sold
- 2 Beds
- 2 Baths
2 Bedroom, 2 Bath, Second Floor Walk Up Seasonal Rental With Pretty Canal Views. Neutral Colors And Furnishings Throughout The Apartment. Tv In Living Room And Master Bedroom. Queen Size Bed In Master Bedroom. Screened In Patio.


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Choi Sungbong, born 18 February, 1990, in South Korea) is a vocalist who became famous after his appearance on Korea's Got Talent was picked up by the worldwide news media. He finished second in the competition.
Abandoned in an orphanage at three years old, Choi ran away from the abusive institution when he was five years old, because he was beaten up. Choi sold chewing gum and energy drinks from five years of age. He delivered milk and newspapers in addition to working as a laborer to survive, beginning at age eight. Choi later met a woman who ran the food cart outside of night clubs, who gave him the name Ji-Sung. Choi did not have a name prior to their encounter. She also encouraged Choi to take the Korean equivalent of a GED to complete his elementary and junior high curricula in order to enter high school. Choi tracked his official record with the name Sungbong Choi at the orphanage; however, this was not his given name by his parents. Instead, it was the name given to him at the orphanage; as a result, Choi preferred the name Ji-Sung over Sungbong.
On 6 June, 2011, Choi's outstanding performance of "Nella Fantasia" moved judges and audience members to tears. Choi took to the stage appearing unfit for the part, sporting a bowl haircut and a flannel shirt. He introduced himself as a manual laborer, who had made a living selling gum and energy drinks for ten years. All the judges, including Kolleen Park, were impressed with his vocal talent. Choi advanced to the finals of the competition, finishing second by 280 votes.
its not about win or lose..but we really knew that music has massive effect to our life...strengthen our spirit..that we should never give up in life...so music is part of life itself...
Nella fantasia io vedo un mondo giusto,
Lì tutti vivono in pace e in onestà.
Io sogno d'anime che sono sempre libere,
Come le nuvole che volano,
Pien' d'umanità in fondo all'anima.
Nella fantasia io vedo un mondo chiaro,
Lì anche la notte è meno oscura.
Io sogno d'anime che sono sempre libere,
Come le nuvole che volano.
Nella fantasia esiste un vento caldo,
Che soffia sulle città, come amico.
Io sogno d'anime che sono sempre libere,
Come le nuvole che volano,
Pien' d'umanità in fondo all'anima


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This entry was posted on Monday, May 23rd, 2011 at 3:45 pm and is filed under Film, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
Hi Bryan Here….
I'm literally laughing as I write this. I love this HBO series. Some of the funniest moments on television are conjured up in this show. Well Larry David is back for the eighth season of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'. The new season premiers July 10th on HBO and you can expect gut busting laughs and excellent cameos.
From the trailer I saw Michael J. Fox, Rich Sommer from 'Mad Men', and Paul F. Tompkins. I did not see Cheryl in the preview though. The final shot of the last season was when Cheryl and Larry got back together as they were sitting on the couch and Cheryl quickly realizes what an asshole Larry is and regrets her decision. I have no idea if we will see Cheryl in this season or not. But Jeff Garlin, Bob Einstein, and Susie Essman all return.
And it looks like Larry is in New York this season rather than Los Angeles. I love the line by Marty Funkhauser's character, "You're a colossal " while Jeff Garlin told Larry he was "a social assassin" which Larry liked.
I can't wait.
Enjoy the trailer below.


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BURG-WACHTER Piano Post Box - Granite
Product details
- Height: 40 mm
- Width: 38 mm
- Interior or Exterior Use: Exterior
- Includes: Fitting Instructions & Fittings
- Finish: High Gloss
- Type: Letter Box
- Manufacturer Model No: Piano 886G
- Brand Name: BURG-WACHTER
Features & benefits
- High quality Piano lacquer effect, Gloss finish
- Integrated paper box
- Interior lighting
- Opening stop for easy and safe post removal
- Extremely weather resistant
- Suitable for large envelopes
- Made from high quality plastic
- Granite Grey Gloss finish
- Product Dimensions (cm) H40.0 W38.0 D17.80
Customer's gallery
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You can arrange for the product to be collected, by ourselves or nominated carrier, or return the product to your local Wickes store, with proof of purchase.
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Made-to-measure products may NOT be returned unless they are deemed to be faulty or have been damaged in transit.


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Crowds have started to flood the streets of west London as Notting Hill carnival, the largest street festival in Europe, gets underway.
Up to 70 floats are expected to take part in the children's day parade amid a heavy police presence. Officers are manning knife arches on London underground links around the capital.
The Metropolitan police confirmed there were plainclothes officers among the carnival crowd but refused to discuss numbers.
With tensions high in the wake of the riots, about 16,000 officers will be deployed across the capital for the duration of the carnival. Organisers were allowed to proceed on the condition that the parade would end by 6.30pm and the sound systems be turned off by 7pm, hours earlier than usual, with the aim of minimising the risk of violence breaking out.
Police also have a section 60 order in place across London, giving officers extra powers to stop and search members of the public. The power was also used during the royal wedding in April, when a number of protesters were arrested during the event even though they were up to a mile from the celebrations themselves.
The police said a total of four arrests had been made as the carnival got under way, three for possession of drugs and one for a public order offence.
As if to emphasise the police presence a helicopter flew overhead, the sound of the blades competing with the music blaring out from sound systems on sidestreets.
Earlier in the day, 50 dancers and brass band members from the Yaa arts group trouped through the streets in red, black and yellow camouflage. Organisers said the camouflage costumes represented the uniform of "hooded youth" who believe themselves disguised when they are in the streets. The live brass band symbolised that young people also had constructive talents, the group said.
The festival kicked off with the messy and colourful Jour Ouvert in which festivalgoers covered themselves in paint and flour, an event that has become a carnival tradition in the past three years.
Organiser Franka Philip said the idea was taken from the Phagwa festival in the Caribbean, which itself originates from the Indian spring festival of Holi, when people throw paint and powdered dye over revellers.
On an otherwise sunny day, a brief downpour sent festivalgoers scurrying for shelter just after lunch.


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Masterfully told and beautifully illustrated, Shimi Cohen, sheds light on the connection between Social Networks and being lonely. Enjoy! The Innovation of Loneliness from Shimi Cohen on Vimeo. < p style="text-align:center;">Inspired and Based on the wonderful book by Sherry Turkle – Alone Together. Also Based on Dr. Yair Amichai-Hamburgers hebrew article -The Invention of Being … Continue reading
Category Archives: Photography
Where You Lead
Murad Osman documents his travels on Instagram in a beautifully unique way: with his lover leading him into new and exciting worlds. Follow me [she beckons] to Ravello, Bali, Berlin, Singapore, Venice, Hong Kong, Moscow, Cairo… It seems to me, however gorgeous the backdrop, she remains the most beautiful sight. Continue reading
Finding Vivian Maier
A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. I've been following Vivian Maier's story since its inception. Finding Vivian Maier is the incredible story of an amazing street photographer who moonlighted as a nanny. This documentary was supposed to be out early in 2012, and it has been an arduous wait for all of … Continue reading
Love Would Never Leave Us Alone
Could you be loved and be loved? Could you be loved and be loved? Don't let them fool ya, Or even try to school ya! Oh, no! We've got a mind of our own, So go to hell if what you're thinking is not right! Love would never leave us alone, A-yin the darkness there … Continue reading
A Box of Old Films : The Vivian Maier Story
Vivian Maier would still be unknown to the world if not for the dedication and hard work of John Maloof. John had purchased a box of old film at an antique action. This purchase led to his discovery of this obscure photography savant who resided in Chicago until late 2009. The appreciation for Maier's work … Continue reading


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Private Weer Singh
Name: Weer SINGH
Rank: Private
Regimental Number: 1131, F Company 14th Reinf
Age: 44
Place of Enlistment: Trentham, NZ
Place of Birth: Punjab, India
Occupation: Labourer
Marital Status: Single
Address: New Plymouth
Religion (as stated on enlistment forms): Hindoo
Previous Service: British Forces in China
Service Outline:
7 March 1916 - Enlisted at Trentham
6 June 1916 - Discharged (unknown reason) - served for 91 days
Other Information:
Described as 5 foot 9 inches, brown eyes, black eyes.
Note: The information contained in the above webpage is a work in progress and will continue to evolve as further research is conducted.
We acknowledge that inadvertent unintentional omissions may have been made in compiling this information in its current form. We would be happy to amend/add information to the above pages to ensure accuracy. Please kindly use our "Contact Us" page to provide us on any information you believe may require updating.


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Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Chic Artistique Fav'sPosted by Unknown at 9:31 AM
It all started with a trip to the neighborhood boutique, which much to dismay, had been replaced by an intriquing bead store called 'String Bead'. The minute I walked into the store, I was instantly addicted. That is where I learned fine jewelry making techniques.
"I want to learn it all, and I will!"
Thank you for stopping by...and remember to "Bloom where you are planted"
JMJ Creations
5 comments:
- Audrey said...
Ooooooh, I love that sterling chainmaille necklace!!
- October 9, 2013 at 6:05 AM
- Robin Pedrero said...
Beautiful pieces!
- November 5, 2013 at 8:36 AM
- Alex said...
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create a Wordpress Website for your Real Estate Business
- September 21, 2016 at 4:24 AM
- Blogger said...
Order A .925 Silver Chain Online.
- January 15, 2017 at 11:02 PM
- Anonymous said...
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Pete McCall - Fitness Industry Leader/Educator/Author/All About Fitness Podcast Host - Episode 72
Episode 72 – Pete McCall – Fitness Industry Leader/Educator/Author and All About Fitness Podcast Host
The Pete McCall Swapcast
PMc Fitness Solutions, San Diego CA
All About Fitness podcast, Host
In Episode 72, the Two Fit Crazies conduct their FIRST EVER "Podcast Swap" (SwapCast) with the legendary Pete Mc Call. For those of you who don't yet know of The Pete McCall, he is a frequently quoted fitness expert in publications such as the Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Time, Men's Fitness, SELF, Glamour, US New & World Report, Shape, and more. Pete is a world-renowned fitness educator with a Master's of Science in Exercise Science and Health Promotion. He has worked for the top fitness leaders such as NASM and ACE while also serving as a Master Trainer for Core Health & Fitness. If that is not enough, Pete also hosts his very own podcast called All About Fitness. Be sure to check it out!
Brian, Christine, and Pete talk candidly about the dire need to educate people about the benefits of exercise. Wait until you hear about the latest study from Ball State. Did you know that NOT exercising is worse than smoking cigarettes? Yes! It is true! Pete shares some amazing facts and advice about how to feel better, live longer, and improve the quality of your life through movement. Gone are the days of scraping your lifeless body off the floor after grueling workouts. Hello active recovery days and improved cognitive function! Wait until you hear THE TRUTH with Two Fit Crazies and Pete McCall! Exercise is about enhancing the quality of your life, not just about your appearance.
Listen up!
Pete Mc Call is "Where It's At!"
-Two Fit Crazies
Website: www.petemccallfitness.com
Podcast: All About Fitness https://petemccallfitness.com/podcasts/
Facebook: Pete McCall
Instagram: @PeteMcCall_fitness
Twitter: @PeteMc_Fitness
#ACE #NASM #Shape #SCWMania #healthliving #AllAboutFitness


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¡Hola! to all Argentinians in Aarhus! Would you like to meet fellow Argentinian expats in Aarhus? Would you like to get insider suggestions from other Argentinians, e.g. where in Aarhus your hometown team's next match is shown on TV or where to get empanada?
We would like to invite you to become a member of InterNations Aarhus. As a member of InterNations, you will have access to an active group of Argentinian expats, hailing from Buenos Aires, La Plata, Córdoba and all regions of Argentina.
Attend our monthly events and activities and join various interest-based groups to get to know like-minded expatriates and fellow Argentinians in Aarhus.
Get trustworthy advice and local insights from fellow Argentinians in our Aarhus expat forums.
With InterNations, Argentinian expats in Aarhus are able to find both the help they need as well as lots of valuable information. The City of Smiles offers so much for expats to explore - our community helps you enjoy your stay to the fullest.
Our Aarhus community is also lively and welcoming offline. The InterNations Ambassadors host regular get-togethers and a range of expat activities, e.g. a chic dining experience in Aarhus's trendiest restaurant or a get-away with fellow Argentinian expats to discover the densely populated region around Copenhagen. These activities make it easy for you to get to know other expats from Argentina in your local community and meet Argentinians in Denmark in a comfortable setting. If this sounds interesting to you, simply sign up for membership – we are looking forward to welcoming you among our Argentinians living in Aarhus!


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March 22nd 2019 Fishing Report
CONDITIONS: The adage that March is probably the most unpredictable weather month in the year…….and here on the Paradise Coast that has played out in a straight flush this year. We've had just about every facet of weather related issues……with the thankful exception of snow and ice. But for anglers it's been a back and forth paradise, especially with the unpredictable and (sorry weather news shows) unforecastable situations. As we enter this last March hurrah, we see a stunning beautiful weekend that roils into a couple of days with roaring winds with gust velocities tickling mid 20 mph speeds. Might suggest a weekend fishing trip and then defer to shopping or movies early week…….those winds will muddy the waters especially backwater and in the 1-3 miles offshore. The water temperatures are hovering in the low seventies but that will change as April rolls in with spring species of mackerel (inside), bluefish, pompano and BIG mangrove snapper. Otherwise the this weather week will be kind with moderate tides both ways heading to a new moon late week
BACKWATER: Post late weekend, and as the winds subside, would encourage some backwater angling where the tides are normally tide friendly with reasonable water flow and, more importantly, where the water is generally cleaner. Could well be there are still some of the winter holdouts…..black drum and spawned sheepshead holding in the deeper holes all throughout Addison Bay, Johnson Bay and as far north as the local centerplace of Rookery Bay. Working a cut crab or a small shrimp tight to feeding structure for the drums…….barnacles, crabs, should get you a nudge or two…….hold off the short compact set until you feel the weight on the end of the rod. Elsewhere, the bigger mangrove snapper will show all along the mangrove edges especially where there is downed timber……all of those guys on tipped lindy rigs or tipped jigs. Finally, allocate some time to work the Passes during the first and last hour of either tides for the arriving pompano, mackerel working tipped jigs on a drift.
NEARSHORE: Feeling is that there is a number of retreating sheepshead spqwners waiting it out on the first line of reefs………South Seas to the "J.W." and continuing to feed. Now this is late March and the big sheepshead spawners have done their business in the chilled down winter and have gone off their voracious reproduction feed BUT in the last two or three weeks have personal experience and received similar reports that the spawners have not deposited roe and are still eating for the neewbies.
Wonder what effect that wil have on what has been a super generous sheepie population????…….Bottom line for the time being the "big ones" are still hanging around. Elsewhere, we are seeing hungry mackerel on first and second reefs on structure holding bait. You need to spot 'em on the finder first and then get them in the mood with a good chum effort. Good catches on a 4 KT troll towing a spoon or flashy jig just past the edges of the very evident schools or on open water top water jigs soaking the tidal current.
OFFSHORE: Topsy-turvy out here now………you meet long term anglers that have spent the better part of a lifetime "loving" the waters and fishing results in the offshore (usually measured from ten miles on out) who are seriously disappointed with current results. Time and time again, the lament is "couldn't get anything like the usual action we got at reef after wreck last week". But "hope springs eternal" and many think this migration from the Keys with returning pelagics could well turn the dead reefs / wrecks back to full volume. That could well happen but the known depletion of oxygen caused by algae infusion and red tide over those terrible months this last fall and winter has yet to turn itself around. Enthusiastically, there is hope as the great summer species like kingfish, cobia, permit, and the long awaited return of sizable red and gag grouper once again will take hold as summer kicks in on all burners.


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- Online Games
- Adventure Games
- The Rainy Day
Related Games - continue your journey on Abroy.com with one of these games!
The Rainy Day
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The Rainy Day - The rainy day is an old style point and click adventure game. You have to help the police to solve a crime as a detective. You have to find the hidden diamonds!


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Scientists use the term "boring billion" to describe when evolution stalled and life on Earth was basically slime. more...
November 12 , 1927 : Joseph Stalin became the leader of the Soviet Union. more...
Learn something new every day
More Info... by email
Pane carasau is a traditional flatbread. It originally came from the autonomous Italian island of Sardinia. The bread is thin and has a crisp consistency similar to that of a cracker. It can be the size of, or even larger than a dinner plate. This versatile food can be prepared and served in several ways and with a wide array of seasonings, condiments, and toppings.
The bread is also commonly known as carta da musica. This term means "sheet music" in Italian. It is a popular name for pane carasau because it is as thin as paper and its large size is similar to that of the sheets used for musical notation.
Pane carasau is an ancient dish, with roots reaching back to at least 1,000 B.C. The bread was originally popular among shepherds, who found its portability and longevity useful as they would typically be away from cooking facilities for long periods of time. It was originally eaten dry, though it is now more commonly served wet with accompaniments such as olive oil, sauces, and wine.
A typical pane carasau is made in two steps. First a piece of flatbread is prepared. Then it is split into two sheets which are cooked further until they have reached the desired crispness.
The basic traditional recipe for pane carasau consists of flour, water, salt, and yeast. Often more than one kind of flour is used in the mix. First the yeast is combined with warm water. Then the ingredients are combined to make the dough, which is left to rise for at least an hour. Usually it is then kneaded thoroughly and given another hour to rise.
Once the pane carasau dough has risen, it is divided and rolled into balls. These balls are flattened as much as possible. Ideally, the flattened dough will reach to the edge of the baking pan.
The dough is then baked in an oven for several minutes. It is removed after it blisters, but before the bread browns. Usually the bread pieces are then piled in stacks to cool.
Pane carasau is often then split apart and reheated before serving. It is typically served with condiments such as oil, wine, and sauces. The bread may also be seasoned with coarse salt or dried herbs. Some cooks heat the bread with accompaniments on top such as sauce, fresh vegetables, or shredded cheese. Depending on the way in which it is prepared, it can be a side dish or serve as the centerpiece for a light meal.
One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK!


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Mairav Zonszein
Police arrest three minors in Bedouin village as expulsion efforts continue
Police arrest three children in 'unrecognized' village of Al-Araqib, as the Jewish National Fund continues its forestation project on village land. Two children, 12 and 13, were arrested in the unrecognized Bedouin village of al-Araqib in Israel's south on Monday, as the Jewish National Fund (JNF) entered the village accompanied by police forces to resume cultivating land for a forestation project. Another youth was also arrested Tuesday morning, the circumstances of which are still unclear. [tmwinpost] After a long and successful struggle to stop the JNF from cultivating the remaining plots of land that have not been destroyed, authorities returned this week, even establishing a camp southeast of…Read More... | 1 Comment


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Om Shanti Om — Addendum
Don't know if there's anything to this but I found it interesting that Om Prakash was only able to achieve his goal of reaching a new level of society, a new class, through reincarnation. He had to be reborn into the upper strata. Hollywood films usually allow class-jumping to occur in a single lifetime. The original moguls of Hollywood, with their lower-class, eastern European origins, certainly understood this dynamic.
Also, when the villain, Mukesh Mehra, recognized the reincarnated Om as the original Om, and laughed because he knew Om's evidence, based upon his reincarnation, would never stand in a court of law, Om should've laughed back and said, "Don't you get it? I'm reincarnated. That means you're going to be reincarnated, too. And, given the way you've lived your life, what will you be reincarnated into? I don't care about the courts here but you should certainly care about the courts there." Might've turned the movie into more than a reincarnation-revenge flick.
Posted at 03:35 PM on May 30, 2008 in category Movies - Foreign | Permalink
Om Shanti Om
The biggest distributor of Indian films, Eros International, recently announced a distribution deal with Lions Gate, in which Lions Gate will handle many of Eros' films in the states. May they do as well. Last year Eros distributed 13 Indian films here, and, though 12 of the 13 never played on more than 100 screens at a time, seven still made over $1 million. Salaam-E-Ishq, which played for three weeks last January and February, still made more money ($1.7 million) than many U.S. films that played in six times as many theaters.
But their biggest success, in both the U.S. and abroad, not to mention back home in India, was Om Shanti Om. It played for five weeks in November and December and still made more money ($3.5 million) than Sony Classic's The Jane Austen Book Club, Paramount's Things We Lost in the Fire and Picturehouse's Gracie, despite playing in a fracture of their total theaters (570 theaters vs. 2,674, 2,615 and 2,524 respectively). It nearly made as much money as Warner Bros.'s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, a good, atmospheric western with a huge international star (Brad Pitt) and a great supporting performance (Casey Affleck), which is just another of the many recent and shameful mishandlings by that studio. Remember Kiss Kiss Bang Bang?
Anyway, curious, I watched Om Shanti Om last night. It's only my second Bollywood film and it made me wish I'd seen more. Not because the film was great, although it was fun, but because — besides being a reincarnation-revenge flick, a romance and a musical all rolled into one — the movie is, one suspects, an homage to the Bollywood of both the 1970s and today, and I had no point of reference. Jokes, both visual and verbal, flew by and I had no clue. Interesting situation to be in.
The plot? Get ready. Om Prakash (Shahrukh Khan), a "junior artiste" (extra?) in Bollywood in the 1970s, who wishes to be a "hero" (star?), falls in love with a true star, Shanti Priya (newcomer Deepika Padukone). After he rescues her from burning fields, they become friends; then he discovers she's already married, secretly, to the producer Mukesh Mehra (Arjun Rampal), who, when he finds out she's pregnant, leaves her in a burning building to die. (Somehow, public knowledge of the marriage/pregnancy will ruin both their careers.) Om tries to save her, dies, and is reincarnated. Thirty years later he's what he always wanted to be — a movie star — but slowly he begins to realize who he was and how he died.
Shahrukh Khan, particularly in his first, more comedic self, reminds me a little of Jackie Chan, while Deepika Padukone is deeply deeply gorgeous. The film is silly, melodramatic and lavish in the way of Cinemascope films of the 1950s. Some of the songs I can't get out of my head, particularly "Dhoom Taana," which you can see here, and which shows off nicely: 1) her beauty, 2) his comedic talents and 3) the whole Bollywood homage.
Posted at 01:48 PM on May 29, 2008 in category Movies - Foreign | Permalink
Web-head vs. Shell-head
Update on that Michael Cieply article. Two weeks ago he wrote that "As hot as 'Iron Man' is, with domestic ticket sales of about $180 million in its first week and a half, it still trails last year's summer season kick-off movie, 'Spider Man 3,' by about 25 percent in the same time."
Now it's about 16 percent. Iron Man is at $258 million while at this time last year Spider-Man 3 was at $307 million. And this isn't just the shortening shadow of percentages: Iron Man is also closing the gap in gross numbers. While Spider-Man 3 outperformed Iron Man during the first two weeks ($240M to $177M), Shell-head has outperformed Web-head during the next two weekends ($31 and $26M vs. $29 and $18M).
What's the point of this superhero horserace? Just this: In the long run, in some small way, quality matters. People seem to forget this when discussing movie box office.
Posted at 07:18 AM on May 28, 2008 in category Movies | Permalink
Memorial Day weekend
This weekend, between moving down the hallway and going to a friend's dinner party on Saturday night, Patricia and I watched two films, both of which surprised.
The surprise in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead was just how good Ethan Hawke was. I'd never been much of a fan. He always seemed a little too sure of himself without having reason to be. Here he goes opposite, playing a loser, a man without many choices left in life who nevertheless keeps choosing the wrong path. There's no even keel to his character. He's desperate in his sadness and desperate in his happiness: eyes a little too wide, smile a little too quick. There's nothing comfortable about him at all. I remember when the movie came out last fall but I don't remember Hawke getting much of a write-up. He deserved it. Great cast, of course (I'd watch Albert Finney anywhere, anytime), in a good, painful movie that loses a little something in the end.
The other surprise was less welcome. I assumed Le Souffle au coeur would be a good film — Louis Malle, coming-of-age, sex — but it was made in 1971 and it's set in 1954 and they do nothing nothing nothing to reflect this difference. The haircuts, the styles, the attitudes, all feel like 1971. The haircuts are floppy sixties haircuts, the rebellion has the anti-authority bent of the late 1960s. Seventeen-year gaps are pretty hard to bridge anyway but this one, from uptight to anarchic, close-cropped to free-flowing, is particularly wide. Wish I could've gotten past it but it bugged me every second I was watching.
On the other hand: What's interesting about the film is that it sets up a tension and keeps teasing you with it until you want that tension resolved. Even though the resolution is immoral. In this way it's a little like Paradise Now.
Posted at 02:36 PM on May 27, 2008 in category Movies | Permalink
Time flies. Seems like only yesterday I was saying it was a great day to hate the New York Yankees and now it's five days later and they've won five in a row. They won close games and blow outs. They came from behind. Their record is now even (.500) and their run differential is now even (222-223). They're only five games back of the leader of the AL East, which is Tampa Bay, the feel-good story in baseball this year.
But I wouldn't feel too smug if I were a Yankees fan because most of this was accomplished on the backs of the Seattle Mariners, tthe worst team in the American League. By far. The Yankees have faced the M's six times this year and are 6-0 against them. They've scored 50 runs and given up 17. What success they appear to have is partially due to these six games. Without them, the Yankees would look pretty crappy. And, sure, you have to beat the bad teams with the good ones but if I were a Yankees fan here's what I'd worry about: The Yanks only have three more games against the M's this year. After that, they're on their own.
And if I were a Mariners fan — which I kind of am — what would I be worried about? That the firings will stop in the dugout and won't reach the front office: specifically Billy Bavasi and/or Howard Lincoln.
Posted at 04:45 PM on May 25, 2008 in category Baseball | Permalink
It's Sunday and I love George Packer
If you don't get The New Yorker — and you should: it's the best general interest magazine in a world where general interest magazines are dying — you should at least check out George Packer's article on the death of modern conservatism. Or possible death. To me, conservatives are like Jason in the "Friday the 13th" movies: I never truly believe they're dead; they always seem to come back in the next reel. Both also seem to feed off of fright. A highlight:
Buchanan gave me a copy of a seven-page confidential memorandum—"A little raw for today," he warned—that he had written for Nixon in 1971, under the heading "Dividing the Democrats." Drawn up with an acute understanding of the fragilities and fault lines in "the Old Roosevelt Coalition," it recommended that the White House "exacerbate the ideological division" between the Old and New Left by praising Democrats who supported any of Nixon's policies; highlight "the elitism and quasi-anti-Americanism of the National Democratic Party"; nominate for the Supreme Court a Southern strict constructionist who would divide Democrats regionally; use abortion and parochial-school aid to deepen the split between Catholics and social liberals; elicit white working-class support with tax relief and denunciations of welfare. Finally, the memo recommended exploiting racial tensions among Democrats. "Bumper stickers calling for black Presidential and especially Vice-Presidential candidates should be spread out in the ghettoes of the country," Buchanan wrote. "We should do what is within our power to have a black nominated for Number Two, at least at the Democratic National Convention." Such gambits, he added, could "cut the Democratic Party and country in half; my view is that we would have far the larger half."
The Nixon White House didn't enact all of these recommendations, but it would be hard to find a more succinct and unapologetic blueprint for Republican success in the conservative era.
I also like this synopsis:
The fact that the least conservative, least divisive Republican in the 2008 race is the last one standing—despite being despised by significant voices on the right—shows how little life is left in the movement that Goldwater began, Nixon brought into power, Ronald Reagan gave mass appeal, Newt Gingrich radicalized, Tom DeLay criminalized, and Bush allowed to break into pieces.
But for all the talk, back and forth, about the death of this and that, I still believe the success of modern conservatism is the direct result of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. That's it. "We just lost the south for a generation," LBJ supposedly said upon signing the former, and he may have been optimistic. With the state of the economy, the state of the world, this should be the Democrats' year for the White House, but they are offering the unprecedented. Hell, not just the unprecedented. They are offering in direct form what the Republicans have been using for a generation, via code ("law and order") or symbol (Willie Horton), to beat the Democrats. What delicious irony if Barack Obama is what the Democrats need to finally beat the Republicans.
I don't know about the rest of the season but this day anyway is a great day to hate the New York Yankees. Yeah, sure, everyday is a great day to hate the Yankees, but it's been awhile since their woes have been so numerous: a 20-25 record, last place in their division by two games, out of first by 7 ½, and without the positive run differential they had last season that indicated they'd probably turn things around. (They did.) After yesterday's 12-2 drubbing by the Baltimore Orioles, the Yankees have now given up almost 30 more runs than they've scored.
I don't know what's better: that Mike Mussina got chased with only two outs in the first inning by a team who's best hitter (Luke Scott) is batting .278, or that Mussina would've gotten out of the inning fairly unscathed — only one run — but for a Derek Jeter throwing error that set up a bases-loaded walk, a bases-clearing double, a run-scoring single and then a run-scoring triple. Highlights please.
That bases-clearing double, by the way, came from former Mariners prospect Adam Jones, who's having a pretty good season with the O's. Meanwhile, several publciations have run articles on Jason Veritek, the Red Sox catcher, who just caught his record-breaking fourth no-hitter on Monday, and who, once upon a time, had been a Mariners prospect as well. In other words, it may be a good day to hate the Yankees, but it's still not a good day to be a Mariners fan.
Posted at 12:54 PM on May 21, 2008 in category Baseball | Permalink
Quick Quiz: Baseball
Name the five active pitchers with the most career wins.
I was checking out the numbers recently at baseball-reference.com. Greg Maddux just got his 350th career victory, so there's been a lot of talk lately about his place in history, and, indeed, if you look at the guys ahead of him, it's rarefied company:
- Cy Young: 511
- Walter Johnson: 417
- Christy Mathewson: 373
- Grover Cleveland Alexander: 373
- Pud Gavin: 364
- Warren Spahn: 363
- Kid Nichols: 361
- Roger Clemens:
- Greg Maddux: 350
Once Maddux passes Clemens, the only pitchers ahead of him, chronologically, are two from the 19th century (Nichols and Galvin), a pitcher who straddled the centuries (Young), the three greatest pitchers from the early days of modern baseball (Johnson, Mathewson and Alexander), and one, from the middle of the century, who kept pitching and pitching and pitching (Spahn), and who, lest we forget, still retired over 40 years ago.
So I wondered "After Maddux, who?" and scrolled down.
I found the usual suspects: Tom Glavine at 304, Randy Johnson at 288, Mike Mussina at 256. Mussina, at 39, is having a good year. Could he make it to 300?
The next guy on the list is the name that blew me away: Jamie Moyer at 233.
Moyer pitched for the Seattle Mariners most of his career, and, back in the late '90s and early '00s, I wrote the player profiles for The Grand Salami, an alternative fan publication in Seattle. Here's something I wrote about Jamie in June 2001:
When Jamie Moyer wins his 10th game this season he'll pass Mark Langston for second on the all-time Mariner win list with 75. If there's one thing Jamie Moyer knows how to do, it's win games. Since he arrived in our evergreen state in the middle of the 1996 season he's gone 6-2, 17-5, 15-9, 14-8, and 13-10. Even this season, with his strikeout-walk ratio a not-so-hot 23-14, and his ERA an unhealthy 5.28, and the ball flying out of the yard at an alarming rate (11 dingers in 44+ innings pitched), he's still standing tall at 6-1. Which is fine, but we fear some of the other numbers might catch up to him. Has he healed completely from his shoulder injury last April? Is it age? He still worries us. As for becoming the winningest pitcher in Mariner history, well, that'll take some work yet: Randy Johnson holds the mark with 130.
Sure, I may have written that Moyer knows how to win games, but, you can tell, I didn't think he had a chance at RJ's mark. Yet, in 2005, when I was living in Minneapolis, he passed it. Halfway through the 2006 season he was traded to the Phillies. He's still there. He's still winning games with his smarts and that tantalizing change-up.
But fifth on the active list? Here's what's so incredible. By the time Jamie turned 30, which is generally midpoint in a pitcher's career, he'd notched only 34 career wins and was being groomed for a coaching job. Only he thought he still had something left.
Apparently he did: 200 more wins.
Posted at 07:54 AM on May 20, 2008 in category Baseball | Permalink
Why is the New York Times encouraging Hollywood's myopia?
When I began reading Michael Cieply's article in yesterday's New York Times, "For Movies, A Summer That's Shy on Sequels," this was my main thought: "What's the point?"
A year ago, the headline would've read, "For Movies, A Summer That's Full of Sequels," which, it turns out, is exactly their point. Last summer, three sequels (Spider-Man, Shrek and Pirates) and one movie based on a toy/TV show (Transformers) each took in over $300 million at the domestic box office, leading to one of Hollywood's best summers. This summer, insiders believe only Raiders can reach the $300 million mark. They're bracing for an off-summer.
Even so: What's the point? Or better: How is this news? It's prognostication. It's a kind of vague economic hand-wringing over something that hasn't occurred. Cieply uses the conditional or tentative form of "could" five times in a pretty short article. He uses "may" five times. He writes:
- "…that could be a problem for an industry that has done well lately by peddling the familiar."
- "'Hancock'...could match [Will Smith's] recent hit 'I Am Legend,' and still fall short of the $319 million in ticket sales for 'Transformers'…"
- "'Kung Fu Panda,' from DreamWorks Animation, could do as well as 'Madagascar'…"
- "['Sex and the City'] could become a hit on the order, of, say, 'The Devil Wears Prada'…"
- "With a little luck and a few crowd pleasers, the business could look good, by comparison, at year's end."
With all the rules the New York Times has in its style guide, you'd think they'd have some limits on conditionals or hypotheticals in a non-Op-Ed article.
Still, if you're going to write about this kind of non-news, at least be imaginative with your use of box office stats. Cieply isn't. He writes: "As hot as 'Iron Man' is, with domestic ticket sales of about $180 million in its first week and a half, it still trails last year's summer season kick-off movie, 'Spider Man 3,' by about 25 percent in the same time."
Well, of course. Spider-Man 3 set a box office record, grossing over $150 million in its opening weekend. But if you keep following the stats you'll find that Spider-Man 3's take the following weekend dropped by 61.5 percent while Iron Man's dropped by only 48.1 percent. You'll find that while no movie was faster than Spider-Man 3 to the $100 million mark, three movies were faster to the $200 million mark and five movies were faster to the $300 million mark. You'll also find that of all the Spider-Man movies, the third grossed the least. Even with inflation.
Similarly, of the other two big sequels last summer — Shrek 3 and Pirates 3 — each grossed $100 million less than their previous sequel.
In other words, for all of their supposed success last summer, these films really weren't that successful. It was summer, people went to see them, but... They didn't keep returning. On IMDb.com, each film has the lowest user rating in its series. In the long run, they probably weren't good for the business.
I know: "the long run." Something Hollywood doesn't pay much attention to. But why does the New York Times, the paper of record, have to share, even encourage, their myopia?
Posted at 07:59 AM on May 16, 2008 in category Movies | Permalink
The Ten-Cent Plague and the ebb and flow of culture
Hajdu's also adept at our cultural ebb and flow: how and why the focus of comic books became superheroes, then crime, then romance, then horror, then Mad and all of its imitators; how comic books nearly went down in flames in 1954 after often going up in flames in comic-book burnings in isolated spots around the country in the late 1940s.
The general historical overview of this period tends to focus on Frederic Wertham's book The Seduction of the Innocent, and Hadju shows not only how Wertham was deeper — he opened the first mental health clinic, the Lafargue Clinic, in Harlem — but how the scare went wider, encompassing the rise of juvenile delinquency as far back as the early 1940s. Comic books were an easy scapegoat, the quick fix we're forever looking for. Even if delinquency wasn't necessarily on the rise, our concern about it was. One of my favorite bits, from pg. 213:
In the spring of 1953, juvenile crime showed no signs of worsening: to the contrary, on April 16, a headline in The New York Times announced "Youth Delinquency Down"...Eleven days later, the United States Senate approved a resolution to launch an investigation into the causes and effects of juvenile delinquency...Those televised subcommittee hearings seem a staple of the 1950s — Army-McCarthy, etc. — but what I didn't know, what Hajdu lets me know, was how popular they were. Sen. Estes Kerfauver's earlier hearings on organized crime, which traveled around the country, from New Orleans to Detroit to St. Louis and onto the west coast, before landing in New York in March 1951, produced gigantic ratings for the period:
Some 70 percent of New Yorkers with TV sets tuned in for the hearings — seventeen times the number of people who usually watched daytime television... Two theaters in Manhattan, finding their seats vacant during the "Kefauver hours," set up systems to project the broadcasts on their screens... Homemakers had "Kefauver parties"...Several schools dismissed students early so they could watch the hearings at home...I'm reminded of the discussion here a few months back on the fragmentation of our society and our current lack of a national meeting place; these hearings were obviously one such place. I'm also impressed that there was a time when Americans would rather be informed than entertained — or, at least, they found information, this information anyway, entertaining. Not sure how our culture flowed away from that dynamic.
El Orfanato and the power of women
I keep going back to that Manohla Dargis article from last Sunday's NY Times. Sure, she conflates two issues — "Where are the women in movies?" and "Why are the women in movies so unrepresentative?" — but her complaints raise a good question. The unrepresentative man, the fantasy man, in popcorn movies is the superstrong man — Iron Man, Batman, the Hulk — because power for men manifests itself in physical strength. But what's power for women? How does that manifest itself?
You could argue sex appeal. It's why women in those aspirational comedies Ms. Dargis dislikes (Legally Blonde, Pretty Woman) get their hair and nails done: they're strapping up for battle. But there's another, more obvious answer, and I didn't think of it until I watched El Orfanato (The Orphanage) the other night.
The Orphanage, directed by first-time director Juan Antonio Boyano, is a beautiful Spanish horror film that's super-spooky in the way of The Others and The Changeling: not a lot of gore, just a lot of creep. Laura (Belen Rueda) and Carlos (Fernando Cayo) are raising their adopted son, Simon (Roger Princep), in the orphanage where Laura grew up, and where she plans to open a school for children with special needs. On the very day they're opening the school, Laura fights with her son, slaps him (she's horrified with herself before the slap is even through), and he runs away. Or disappears. Or... It's a horror film. Anything's possible.
Earlier, he and his mother had a conversation about Peter Pan, which references his imaginary friends. (Exactly: Beware any imaginary friends in a horror story.) It's a great conversation in that it feels like a real mother-son conversation — both for what she says and what she avoids saying — while it encompasses most of the themes of the movie. In fact, it prefigures the rest of the movie. And it creeps you out:
Simon: Wendy grows old and dies?
Laura: Wendy grows old but Peter Pan takes her daughter to Neverland every year.
Simon: Why doesn't Wendy go, too?
Laura: Well...
Simon: If Peter Pan came to get me, would you come, too?
Laura: No, I'm too old to go to Neverland, darling.
Simon: How old are you?
Laura: 37
Simon: When will you die?
Laura: What kind of question is that? Not for a long time, until you're very old.
Simon: I won't grow old. I'm not going to grow up.
Laura: Will you be like Peter Pan?
Simon (smiles): Like my new friends.
Laura: There's more than one?
Simon: Six.
Laura: They won't grow up either?
Simon: They can't.
Months after Simon's disappearance the police are clueless, the husband is helpless (he's got the thankless Joseph role — not even contributing his seed) and Laura is more desperate than ever. Eventually she consults a kind of seer, Aurora, played by Geraldine Chaplin, who tells her, among other things, "My dear, you are a good mother. Your pain gives you strength. It will guide you. But only you know how far you are willing to go to find your son."
That's when I began to think of the Dargis article again. What is a woman's power? Her strength?
It's not very 21st century to say this, but... What's the most fierce animal in the animal kingdom? Isn't it a momma bear whose cubs are threatened? And who is the most successful action heroine in movie history? Isn't it Lt. Ripley in Aliens, with a big gun in one arm and a little girl in the other? One matriarch battling another matriarch. You could say The Orphanage is also a battle between two matriarchs.
A man gets super powers and does what? Protects society. These guys are usually single and childless and protect society against all the baddies. Attempts to slip women into this formula have been critical and box-office disasters. Nice girls like Supergirl and vixens like Elektra and Catwoman just come off as dopey. Maybe, deep down, we just don't think it's the job of women to protect society.
But a mother whose children are threatened? She doesn't even need super powers. As in The Orphanage, her pain is her strength.
It's just a happy coincidence, by the way, that this is being posted on Mother's Day. Have a good one.
Movie Review: Sansho Dayu (1954)
Early in Sansho the Bailiff, which is filmed so beautifully and hauntingly that it feels like a ghost, Zushio, the 14-year-old son of an exiled governor in the late Heian period of Japan (794-1192), walks and plays through the forests, leading his mother, sister and servant as the four head to Tsukushi to join their father after many years apart. The father was exiled to Tsukushi because he refused a superior's demands for greater taxes on the peasants, and for more peasants to fight his wars. The father was a benevolent governor, and as his son, Zushio, walks through the woods, he recalls his father's wisdom: "Without mercy, man is like a beast. Even if you are hard on yourself, be merciful to others." Some combination of the boy's youth, solemnity, and the woods made me think: Mercy, by its nature, is a quality of the privileged — the powerless cannot grant it, only the powerful — and Zushio, a boy leading women through woods, is not powerful. He thinks he can grant what is no longer his to grant.
Indeed. The four, en route, are betrayed, separated and sold into slavery — the mother as a courtesan on the island of Sado, the children to Sansho the Bailiff, a domineering lord and the richest man in Tango. The world, a beast, is without mercy. Even the sympathetic son of Sansho, Taro, who cannot bear to brand with a hot iron the foreheads of runaway slaves, can do little to help the two children.
Ten years pass. Zushio grows to be not brutal but pragmatic. He forgets his father's lessons — which caused the family nothing but harm — and is able, without much concern, to brand the runaway slaves for Sansho. His sister, Anju, is appalled by what he's become. Without mercy he is a beast — in that he acts without thought. But a momentary reminder of happier times re-awakens him and he escapes to a temple, where he encounters Taro, now a monk, who shields him from slavehunters. Zushio plans to go to Kyoto to attempt to right the wrongs done to his family. Taro attempted the same on his behalf years earlier and warns him: "I found that humans have little sympathy for things that don't directly concern them."
At first Zushio's supplicating petitition doesn't go well — the chief advisor to the emperor doesn't even listen to him — and he's tossed in jail. A keepsake of his father's, which he kept all those years as a slave, is taken from him, and here I thought, "The world will take everything, piece by piece, until he has nothing." But the opposite occurs: The keepsake is recognized, and he is recognized as the son of a former governor and reinstated to his rightful position in the world. He becomes governor. Now the big question. Would he remember his father's lessons? Or would he guard his position, knowing how tenuous it is, at all costs? Would he become merciful, pragmatic or cruel?
At one point Taro says to Zushio that "Unless [ruthless] hearts can be changed, the world you dream of cannot be true," and an argument can be made that this film, by breaking our hearts, is an attempt to change our hearts. But it's also more ambiguous. Early on, an uncle chastises the father for his benevolence, and the two have the following exchange:
Uncle: You've caused pain for your family.
Father: The peasants are in pain, too.
Uncle: Nonsense! You can't compare us to peasants!
The father's quality of mercy is profound, Christ-like, evolved, but, given what happens, you wonder how evolved a man can be in our world. How can anyone be for all mankind? Mustn't your loyalties lie with a smaller group? Father and uncle, above, are simply arguing over the size of the group, and most of us, even in this more benevolent age, would side with the uncle. Hell, most of us are loyal to an even smaller group: a group of one.
The text at the beginning of the film tells us that this tale is from a time "when mankind had not yet awakened as human beings," and we can argue forever on how, or if, we have awakened as human beings, but at least there's this. The first words we hear are probably more relevant today. A mother's voice to her child: "Zushio, be careful."
It's Sunday and I'm a little disappointed in Manohla Dargis
The questions Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott ask on page 3 of the New York Times Summer Movies section — respectively, "Where are the women in movies?" and "Why are the men in movies just overgrown boys?" — are answered on page 6 of the New York Times Summer Movies section. Michel Cieply writes, not very interestingly, about Hancock, a movie about a bum of a superhero, a guy with superpowers who drinks too much and crashes on park benches and goes to prison. The movie stars Will Smith and opens July 4th weekend and the studio is nervous because the subject matter is considered edgy. They feel like they're breaking the box. That's what writer-producer Akiva Goldsmith says in the article's last line. "Everybody knows that you want to break the box. It's just that the act of breaking the box is really frightening."
So if a summer movie starring Will Smith as a superhero is considered "breaking the box," what chances do movies about real women and men have?
To be honest, I was a little disappointed in Ms. Dargis. She's sharp but this time she conflates two issues: "Where are the women?" and "Why are the few women here so unrepresentative?" The first issue is true and undisputed: the second isn't limited by gender, as A.O. Scott's article shows. Hell, the photo accompanying her article shows it, too. It's the Incredible Hulk in low growl. Ms. Dargis complains that the new Anna Faris movie, The House Bunny, about a Playboy Bunny kicked out of the Playboy Mansion because, at 27, she's too old, will be another Legally Blonde: "...one of those aspirational comedies in which women empower themselves by havng their hair and nails done." I looked at that line, looked at the Hulk again, and wondered, "And how are boys empowering themselves? What is their fantasy?"
The issue of representation onscreen is a sticky one. Most of what we see onscreen is some combination of identification and wish-fulfillment. Action movies tend to be mostly wish-fulfillment, comedies mostly identification. Or are comedies anti-wish-fulfillment? You feel superior to the main characters: the 40-year-old virgin; the chubby slacker living with his loser stoner-friends; the chubby schlub who can't stop crying. You see some possible version of yourself and think, "There but for the grace of God..." But there's still wish-fulfillment, because these guys get girls they couldn't possibly get: Katherine Heigl and Catherine Keener and Mila Kunis.
Men aren't hard to figure out. We thrill at super versions of ourselves and laugh at lame versions of ourselves and in either version we get the girl.
As for women? Who is their identification and what is their wish-fulfillment?
Answer these questions and you'll render Ms. Dargis' first question moot.
Posted at 12:46 PM on May 04, 2008 in category Movies | Permalink
Nuit et Brouillard (1955)
A few years ago somebody urged Nuit et Brouillard (Night and Fog) on me and I finally got around to it. Now I'm urging it on you.
It's a 31-minute, 1955 French documentary on the Holocaust — one of the first — and it intersperses black-and-white footage of the Nazi era with color footage of the then-present day. We see, for example, those familiar shots of Jewish citizens being loaded into cattle cars for the camps; then we cut to those same railroad tracks in 1955. They look unused, grass grows in patches, and Michel Bouquet, the narrator, intones (in French), "The sun shines. We go slowly along them. Looking for what?" Footage of Himmler and the crematoriums leads to the empty camps of 1955. "A crematorium from the outside can look like a picture postcard," Bouquet says. "Today tourists have their snapshots taken in front of them."
The 1955 color footage is still bleak. The sky is overcast and autumnal, the grass sparse, the people… You quickly realize there are no people. Not one person is shown in the present day. All empty.
The narration, beautifully understated and matter-of-fact, was written by poet Jean Cayrol, a resistance fighter who was betrayed, arrested and sent to Gusen concentration camp in 1943, where he nearly died:
A concentration camp is built the way a stadium or hotel is built, with businessmen, estimates, competitive bids, and no doubt a bribe or two... Architects calmly designed the gates meant to be passed through only once. Meanwhile, Berger, a German worker, Stern, a Jewish student in Amsterdam, Schmulski, a merchant in Krakow, and Annette, a schoolgirl in Bordeaux, go about their daily lives, not knowing a place is being prepared for them hundreds of miles away. One day their quarters are finished. All that's missing is them.
How many books have I read now, movies and documentaries and mini-series seen, about the Holocaust? I should be inured. Yet it still has the power to horrify. Lessons are still imparted. Art Spiegelman's Maus made me realize I never would have survived it, while Primo Levi's Survival in Auschwitz taught me that the system was set up for you not to survive it — i.e., follow the rules, do the work they tell you, eat what they give you, and you die. Roman Polanski's The Pianist reinforced the sudden, by-the-way violence and degradation of it all without even getting into the camps.
And Nuit et Brouillard? In some ways the world recoiled from the Holocaust because they saw their own anti-Semitism taken to its logical extreme. Each of the Allies had its fascist, anti-Semitic wing. The Nazis just kept going.
But in Night and Fog I felt something else being taken to its logical extreme — and, unlike anti-Semitism, it's something generally viewed positively. It's heard in the above narration about competitive bids. It's in Himmler's line in 1942 when he told the camp commanders, "We must destroy, but productively." You see it in the piles of eyeglasses and combs, of shaving brushes and shoes, and in that infamous, impossible pile of human hair. The hair becomes cloth, we are told, and the camera focuses on a rolled-up version of same, with stray threads resembling stray hairs. The animate has become inanimate.
"From the bones, fertilizer," Bouquet tells us. "From the bodies, they make soap. As for the skin…?" Cut to: sheets of paper.
It's the production line. It's human resources taken to its final solution. After we strip you of your identity, your individuality, your personality, after we work what's left until it can hardly work, what else? How much can we take from you? The answer is everything.
I already knew the assembly-line aspect of the Holocaust — truly, it's what distinguishes this particular horror from the many horrors of human history — but Nuit et Brouillard made me feel it on a deeper level.
Something else you take away from this documentary: a sense of the arbitrariness of borders. Out there you can be a person, but in here, no. The 1955 footage accentuates this disconnect because the arbitrary borders of the Nazis have disappeared with the Nazis. Now we can film along the tracks that once transported us. Now we can film outside the camps that once held us. There's been no horror like the Holocaust, but other horrors continue; and other borders, just as arbitrary, dehumanize the people within.
Posted at 06:27 AM on May 02, 2008 in category Movie Reviews - 1950s | Permalink
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Early Sunday morning, in the tranquil treed garden on Riverlea Farm, Odette and Linda waited eagerly for the students to arrive. Riverlea Soap was to conduct the very first training session and officially launch Riverlea Soap Univer-soap-y!
The students arrived - even the family cat was there to greet them!
Everything was setup in the training room and they were presented with the '3G''s. Garmet (apron), Goggles (eyeware) and Gloves. The Riverlea Soap Manual was waiting at their station with all the equipment needed to learn how to make COLD PROCESS soap.
The mid-morning break came after all the theory had been learnt and students enjoyed choc-chip cookies, juice and a very welcome cup of tea.
Then the fun began – students went through the process of measuring oils, mixing lye, colouring and fragrancing and finally pouring their creations into the take-home moulds.
Courses offered by Riverlea Soap Univer-soap-y are:-
Cold Process Soap Making
Bath and Body Products
Advanced Soap Making
To find our more about these courses, and other fun workshops, please visit our website or email us now!


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Water & Drought
West-side San Joaquin Valley water calamity may be unfolding
After the water table below Stratford dropped an astounding 100 feet in the past two years, it set off a slow-motion collapse of the ground underfoot, crushing part of a town well.
Repairs were made quickly, but the crumpled well holds significance beyond this Kings County town of 1,200. After three dry seasons -- the last one being one of the driest on record -- summer havoc has begun for west San Joaquin Valley groundwater.
Some west-side wells have dropped nearly 200 feet over the past two years, nearing historic low points dating back to the 1950s, the U.S. Geological Survey says.
"I've never seen anything like it," says USGS hydrologist Michelle Sneed, who has been studying Valley groundwater for the past two decades.
As the water table drops, the ground sinks perhaps faster than anyone has ever recorded it, jeopardizing canals, dams, buildings, roads and bridges.
The drawdown is happening because farmers are desperately pumping water to keep their orchards and other crops alive.
The drought and environmental protections this year have resulted in a zero allocation of Northern California river water from the federal Central Valley Project for farmers over more than 2 million acres of the west side.
The loss of groundwater is taking place across a multibillion-dollar agricultural landscape. The scale of the issue is mind-boggling.
Westlands Water District, the country's largest irrigation district, estimates its farmers will pump a record 670,000 acre-feet of water. That's about five years worth of water for Fresno, a city of 500,000.
"We're making history, but not in the right way," Westlands spokeswoman Gayle Holman says.
The 600,000-acre Westlands district, whose farmers grow almonds, cotton, grapes, garlic, beans and other crops, is not alone out there.
It is part of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, representing water agencies covering 2.1 million acres. That's the size of Los Angeles times seven.
Decades before the dams, canals and reservoirs of major water projects, west-side farmers mainly used wells to irrigate crops on less land.
In the half century between the 1920s and the 1970s, the USGS recorded nearly a 30-foot drop in the landscape near Mendota in west Fresno County. Federal scientists at the time called it one of the largest alterations on earth.
Farmers in Westlands and other west-side districts began buying Northern California river water several decades ago, hoping to stop the drain of groundwater in the region. It largely worked, the USGS said.
But the drain is starting to happen again -- only faster, according to Sneed.
"We're on course for a 30-foot drop in 30 years," she said.
In the past, sinking land has been responsible for millions of dollars in damage to irrigation canals that lose capacity. The ground sinks naturally in the Valley and many places across the globe. But not this fast.
Federal scientists say the west-side landscape generally won't rise back to its previous level after collapsing. And when the water table drops, farmers and cities will need to drill deeper for water.
Sneed said the groundwater extends thousands of feet below the surface, but water at such depths could be tainted by chemicals and salinity. The saline water is a leftover from a time when an ancient sea filled the Valley.
She said there are other problems with tapping deep water: "It's expensive to drill, and you pay higher costs to lift the water to the surface."
In Stratford, southeast of Lemoore Naval Air Station, the damaged well is nearly 1,300 feet deep -- many hundreds of feet deeper than most city wells around Fresno and the east side of the Valley.
Stratford, where generations ago the Kings River drained into the now-dry Tulare Lake, should be able to continue pumping water, said Jon Demsky, manager of the Stratford Public Utility District.
He said the district will continue to monitor the 6-year-old well carefully for any other subsidence problems.
"The water table is down at 320 feet now," Demsky said. "The well is drilled down to 1,290 feet. We should be OK."


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Here is news on three Bronx entities that united to make sure we all have an extra opportunity to connect with mother nature. They installed a video cam to provide live footage of a Red-tailed Hawk that calls the our borough home. Kudos to everyone that took the time to make the video stream a reality.
The South Bronx, N.Y. – A new nest camera in an undisclosed location in the South Bronx is streaming up-close, high-definition views of a Red-tailed Hawk nest <http://www.ustream.tv/
channel/southbronxhawks> thanks to a partnership of local organizations.
The new video stream puts viewers seven stories off the ground and right beside the nest, where they can watch the hawks arrive, see them taking turns feeding the recent hatchlings the eggs, and compare notes on the birds.
The Female, who delivered three eggs has not been named yet. Visitors to the "BirdCam" site can vote on what to call all the hawks.
To watch, go to: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/
BronxWorks Executive Director Carolyn Executive Director said, "BronxWorks is thrilled to host this nest of three wonderful red tailed hawk chicks. We salute the Bronx groups who have worked over the years to heighten the environmental awareness of the people of the Bronx and to make the Bronx more environmental friendly."
"I was so pleased to hear that yet another family of wild creatures has taken up residence in the Bronx," said Congressman José E. Serrano who represents the area and has been known as a vocal supporter of environmental initiatives, and even has a beaver in the Bronx River named after him to recognize his support for it's revitalization. "It seems that all the new green spaces we've created over the years are attractive to humans and wildlife. I look forward to checking in on the nest on the HawkCam, and watching them grow and thrive."
It is believed that these are the same two parents that have nested young here for at least the past three years.
On the weekend of the 14th of April the first eggs hatched. The last of the three hatched this morning it is believed. (The typical clutch size for Red-tailed hawks is two to three eggs.) It has been about four weeks since the eggs were laid.
The nest should be active for at least the next two months.
To make sure no one misses a moment of the early stages of this Red-tailed Hawk story, BronxWorks and Friends of Brook Park created a temporary BirdCam website for the world to watch these magnificent birds.
Friends of Brook Park are no strangers to the local raptors. Their team was credited with rescuing a Red Tail Hawk in 2010 that was later released in Central Park.
See here for that story: http://www.nycgovparks.org/
Daniel Chervoni, Head Gardener with Friends of Brook Park and avid Bird Watcher often walking around the neighborhood with his binoculars and camera said, "We are always trying to help restore Nature around here. This shows you why we need to preserve all the community gardens we have now, and create more open space, especially on our waterfront."
Candido Nieves, a local resident and volunteer with Friends of Brook Park who also helped rescue the hawk in 2010 said,"I am so happy to see our hawks coming back again. I hope some of the local schools will use this as a resource in their classroom to inspire the next generation to protect the environment."
See some of Mr. Chervoni's footage of a hawk landing in the nest from street level here:
More on BronxWorks here:
BronxWorks helps individuals and families improve their economic and social well-being. From toddlers to seniors, we feed, shelter, teach, and support our neighbors to build a stronger community.
More on Friends of Brook Park here:
Friends of Brook Park is a leading environmental organization in the South Bronx, working to cultivate community gardens and food justice, and for the revitalization of our waterfront with green jobs and public access.
Congress Member Serrano of the 16th District:


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Named one of the top 20 hikes in the world, the Laugavegur Trail in Iceland did not disappoint. 50 miles of incredible terrain with what we thought was great weather (just a bit of rain and wind) considering the time of year. Honestly, if you are planning a trip to Iceland, tackling this trek is a MUST. What visitors typically do in Iceland is rent a car and drive the Ring Road, stopping intermittently along the way. While that is a great way to see a lot of Iceland, there is something about seeing it through a car window that creates a disconnect. It just becomes another screen, another barrier, another lens in which you don't feel fully present and immersed. Yes, you can stop along the way and check those fantastic landmarks off your list BUT when you hike for multiple days completely saturated in the climate, you see it and appreciate it in a completely new way. The textures, the dimension, the colors, the scents, the sounds are all at your fingertips. This trek gives you everything you want: mountains, geothermal springs, volcanoes, glaciers, lush valleys, lava fields, lakes, rivers, waterfalls and more. Photos to ogle over below:
The one important thing to remember about this trek is that it's not a cake walk. It requires preparation and it's not for everyone. While you can tailor the amount of miles you hike in one day and you can stay in huts at night, there is elevation gain, unpredictable weather, glacial river crossings, mountain scaling, and you're carrying a bit of weight on your back. Read up on the trek and make sure you're ready to take it on. But remember, ITS WORTH IT!


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Lynda.com FileMaker 13 New Features
FileMaker 13 New Features | 852.68 MB
Duration: 3h 55m | Video: AVC (.mp4) 960x540 15fps | Audio: AAC 48KHz 1ch
Genre: eLearning | Feb 05 2014 | Appropriate for all | Language: English
Cris Ippolite is your guide in this tour of the new and enhanced features in the entire FileMaker 13 platform. Learn how to work with styles and object visibility; add objects like popovers and slide controls to your layouts in FileMaker Pro; share your database with FileMaker Server 13; and publish it to a web browser with WebDirect. Cris also reviews the scripting and calculation enhancements and improvements in the FileMaker Go app for iOS.
Topics include:
An overview of the new FileMaker 13 platform
Working with Object States
Defining custom styles
Creating new themes
Object visibility
Applying Active state to portal rows and lists
Outer and inner shadow and padding
Working with popovers
FileMaker Server 13 Admin Console
Uploading files to FileMaker Server 13
Performing scripts on the server
New FileMaker script triggers
Base64 encoding and decoding
The new Get functions
Introducing WebDirect
The new FileMaker Go 13
Custom iOS keyboard types
Barcode scanning
Kaydol: Kayıt Yorumları (Atom)


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Order & Shipping Info
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Shipping of bare root plants - $11.00 plus $0.50 per plant. All daylily orders placed between November 1st, 2017 and March 1st, 2018 will be held for shipping until early March 2018. This is to ensure success in receiving your fresh bulbs when the weather is well suited for planting.
During our normal shipping season of March thru October- the shipping is as follows:
Orders are dug on Monday and air dried for Tuesday shipment. All orders received by Thursday are shipped the following Tuesday unless a later ship date is requested. Orders for California are shipped UPS, all other orders are shipped USPS. All orders outside the Continental USA will be shipped USPS and will be billed at the actual shipping cost. You may also pick up your order the next Tuesday afternoon and save shipping charges. We do not ship out-of-state orders during holiday weeks. We are not able to ship potted plants.