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When Chuck Lorre created Dharma & Greg in 1997, he (like all showrunners) was given a second at the end of each episode to flash a vanity card — usually a logo of the writer's production company. But Lorre decided to use the time to quietly run an essay about interference from the network.
It was the age before DVRs, so few noticed. Lorre kept on writing new ones, week after week, and slowly viewers began to hit pause on their VCRs to make out the tiny words. Lorre says the cards eventually "turned into a diatribe about the silly things I believe in. It has been a great opportunity to try and write something that isn't a script."
Now, Lorre writes three a week for CBS's Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory and Mike and Molly, and the vanity cards are dissected by millions of viewers — and plenty of network lawyers. "Blame TiVo," Lorre says. "Prior to that it was very difficult to read them. VCRs couldn't catch them well. I got into a lot of trouble once people started reading them. For every vanity card I've written for the last four or five years there's probably 10 sets of lawyer eyeballs on each one. It's an interesting process to even make them now, there's no much scrutiny."
Several cards have been censored by the network over the years, but now Lorre has collected his favorites, including some of those banned ones, into the coffee table book What Doesn't Kill Us, Makes Us Bitter, which Simon & Schuster will release on October 30. Lorre has made his vanity cards available online for years and had been approached several times about publishing them in a book. "I hesitated because I didn't really see the value in solidifying something that was already readily available," he says. "Then we hit upon the idea of adding original artwork and making it a coffee table book. That sounded like something that added some value."
Priced at $100, proceeds will go to Lorre's Dharma-Grace Foundation, which supports the Venice (Calif.) Family Clinic. "I really liked their mission, to provide medical care to people regardless of their ability to pay for it," says Lorre, who remembers being sick without health insurance in his 20s. "A large percentage of people who walk in the door have jobs, they just don't have medical insurance. It was a personal issue for me."
Lorre combed through countless vanity cards to choose his favorites and admits he was stunned by some of the ones he hadn't read in years. "I was surprised to see how seemingly open I was to sharing my thoughts and experiences," he says. "I didn't have a good censor at the time, I was just sort of spilling it all out. I probably should have used that time to see a therapist or something."
The writer, who just signed a new mega deal at Warner Bros. TV to expand his company (and venture into dramas and features), compares his vanity cards to the liner notes that used to be found on record album sleeves. "I don't want them to hurt the shows, to distract from the shows," he says. "They should be a dollop of sour cream on your scrambled eggs, not the scrambled eggs themselves. I don't like sour cream on scrambled eggs, I don't know why I used that analogy."
Among the vanity cards that have been heavily publicized were several with references to Charlie Sheen's troubles, including one in February 2011 in which Lorre detailed his own health regimen, before quipping, "If Charlie Sheen outlives me, I'm gonna be really pissed."
There have been several times over the years that network censors simply refused to air a card. One censored card wasn't even a question of inappropriate taste: It was an open letter to newly-single Viacom executive chairman Sumner Redstone, suggesting they hit the town together to find love. Another censored card referenced a lawsuit between CBS and Warner Bros. TV and, coincidentally, one included a reference to having been "both cheered and jeered by TV Guide."
This pictured card gives a taste of What Doesn't Kill Us; it includes several words that sound dirty — but aren't — that CBS nonetheless found inappropriate for air. Lorre replaced the offending card with this short message: "Tonight's vanity card is about censorship. It was censored."


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Animals are usually presented as a live animal sitting or running around the garden. We offer you several types of animals such as lions, horses, falcons, donkeys, eagles swans and many more... Animals in the garden as a concrete element are a beautiful garden decoration, but they can also be used indoors. Their sizes range from a very low, around 20 cm and up to 110 cm. Concrete animals will surely make your area more alive.
Like statues, they also stand out more, if they are put on a pedestal.
We also have several other animals to choose from in our offer, which are not shown on our website. It is best to contact us, or visit and together we will find the right solution for your environment.

subset: commoncrawl


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So, I started waiting for this box at the end of every month waiting to see what's new and what to try and enjoy. This month it included 2 new items, not in the store but in the beauty box. A body scrub and a Shea butter cream.
I have to tell you that I really really loved the scrub. Leaves your body soft and moisturized with a beautiful light scent of freshness and cleanness. It's easy to use and I'm replacing it with body scrubs as it cleans better.
The Shea butter is very different from other creams. This one is very thick and heavy but light on the skin and gives your it a glowy soft look and texture. I love looking at my hands after applying the Shea butter on them. And it stays for long hours. You don't need to apply cream every now and then to keep your body moisturized.
The box also included a hand cream as always and a lavender soup which I'm using on daily basis now for my hands. Beautiful items for this month. Thank you L'occitane.


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This quilt is the Grand River Modern Quilt Guild's entry into Quiltcon in Savannah 2017.
The Modern Quilt Guild designates a set of fabric for the challenge and a theme. In this case, the theme is scale. At a particularly enjoyable meeting, our guild decided to take the scale theme a bit deeper and the idea of fish scales popped to the surface. We loved the humour in the idea. Each member of the guild then took some of the challenge fabric to make a fish. We strove for scale – big, medium and small fish. We had enough fish that we made two quilts.
We had a design evening when the group collectively decided on the layout of the fish. Then member Lois assembled this top. Once the top was complete, I quilted it in a fish scale pattern, which most traditionalists might see as clam shell. The backing is a lime green bubble fabric that echoes the fish colours of the front. A happy fabric. I made a scrappy binding which guild member Liz will apply and hand stitch to the backing. It will be fun to see this hanging at Quiltcon. Savannah, Feb 2017! Here we come!
After the competition, the finished quilt will be donated to Victoria's Quilts, an outreach charitable group which gives quilts to cancer patients.


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By Edie Melson @EdieMelson
Thursday, December 21, 2017
Take Your Writing to the Next Level with Intentional Consistency
By Edie Melson @EdieMelson
12 comments:
GREAT post going into 2018, Edie. Mine is a spin on your #6 in that our group uses prompts and challenges to keep the bar (our individual production) high. It sounds competitive, but it has never felt that way. It's all voluntary and all any of us have to do is check 2017 results vs 2016 vs 2015 and decide whether it was worth it. 6 of us have published our own book of our own work in the last 2 years. I'm agreeing with you - the right group helps you make wiser choices.ReplyDelete
Jay Wright
Anderson, SCReplies
Jay, I think that's a GREAT idea! Thanks for sharing, Blessings, EDelete
Wonderful counsel Ms. Edie. Thank you so very much for sharing with us. For me, I always make my study and devotional time a priority (right after I feed the livestock each morning before the wife awakes). Most of my writing ideas come from my time spent with God. I somehow sense the same happens with you ma'am. God's blessings...ReplyDeleteReplies
Jim, you're right. My creativity comes straight from God! Blessings, EDelete
Hi, Edie! As long as I'm teaching full-time, it is hard to do anything but write "between the insanity." But I'm trying harder to recognize areas where I can give myself more writing time. For instance, this will be the first time in 24 years that I don't have senior research papers to grade over Christmas break. I made changes to the semester schedule, so by the time the research unit started, we could start a few days early and research papers would be finished a week earlier than usual. So now I have the last week of the semester to grade, which frees up Christmas break for me to write...and I'm excited! Spring semester will be a little easier for me to find more writing time. Rather than teaching Comp I and grading essays, essays, and more essays, I'll be teaching a lit class. Thank you for sharing your strategies to prioritize your writing life. I want to be more intentional in all the areas you mentioned.ReplyDeleteReplies
Karen, that's excellent! And remember writing on a regular schedule looks differently for each of us. For some, it means only once or twice a week. Or 20 minutes at lunch. The idea is to carve out regular time. You're doing a great job of that. Blessings, EDelete
Excellent time management advice.ReplyDeleteReplies
Ingmar, thank you! Blessings, EDelete
Your word of wisdom are sage advice. Thank you for sharing your insights as well as inspiring all levels of writers on their journey.ReplyDelete
Teach on. You shine.
Edie: Thank you or the reminders. Sometimes things crowd in or I don't feel well. Writing goes by the wayside. I need to be more intentional about my activities.ReplyDelete
Thank you so much Edie. For me, time with God is essential for my focus, themes and sometimes titles in my writing. I am learning to recognize my own expectations vs. His leading.ReplyDelete
Thanks for convicting me, Edie. Aside from my blog, the rest of my writing has sort of fallen to the wayside. That being said, starting a new job next month, and having two book deals in the works, it'll be more important to have some consistency in the time I spend writing. Thanks for the reminder. For me, that may mean stepping back from the big picture.ReplyDelete
Expecting great things in 2018! Happy New Year Edie!


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Deployments whether sudden or expected are never convenient. They challenge us to grow in ways that we never imagined our families could grow. One of the best tools I have used in parenting and to keep the momentum up during a deployment has been with deployment counters. While we must stay flexible to changes, the counter will also stay flexible and give a general idea of progress which helps the days go by. For children it makes it more visible and tangible that daddy or mommy is returning home, and as the days get shorter on the calendar then we know it's going to be soon! Here are some fun and crafty ways to do your own deployment count-down.
Also be sure to check out the special deployment counter giveaway we have this month from Stick With Me Vinyls at: Giveaways or at the bottom of this article.
Blessings Jar
I've mentioned it before, but during a long remote, the regular counter became overwhelming at first. The blessings jar did the trick. We fill a jar with blessing marbles or stones and each night say 1-3 things we count as our blessings. At the end of the deployment we have counted "up" a multitude of blessings!
Tried and true deployment counter.
This one is made by Stick With Me Vinyls of Wasilla, AK
It features days until on one side and weeks until on the other- for a variety of deployment situations. My daughter has enjoyed flipping the blocks to get to the right day- ever closer to daddy being home!
Kisses & Moments
This next idea is wonderful, especially for school aged children. It comes to us from Oursevendwarfs.com.
The first part is each day the child gets a "kiss" from daddy/mommy. Then they can place special momentos in the box to later tell their mother or father about items or experiences that meant alot to them while they were gone.


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The Austin Police Department is one of the most corrupt in the State of Texas but they have nothing on some smaller backwoods hamlets. The FWPD definitely has some who are affiliated with the KKK. They hire Blacks and Hispanics (but mainly Mexicans) as a cover to provide the appearance they are not racist. Once they become part of the brotherhood many Mexicans and Blacks become some of the most prolific civil rights abusers there can be. Policing used to be marginal noble profession years ago but has evolved into a major racketeering and money making scam.
Press Release: Austin Police SGT Randy Dear Watch
Tonight, August 14th, the Peaceful Streets Project will dedicate our effort and resources to holding Sgt. Randy Dear #4422 accountable. We will be shadowing his operations for the night with banners and fliers, stating his violations of our Constitutional right to film.
On the night of August 1st, Sgt. Dear illegally conspired with his subordinates to threaten and then arrest Peaceful Streets Project founder Antonio Buehler and Film The Police Portland founder Mike "Bluehair" Smith. While Buehler was filming from over 10 feet away, Sgt. Dear #4422 approached Buehler and told him that he would arrest the members of the Peaceful Streets Project the next time there was a "disturbance" and they got "in the way" that they would be arrested. Buehler questioned Dear how they could be interfering if they were just standing where hundreds of other people were also standing. Later, after Dear re-approached and moved within inches of Buehler, he gave Buehler an arbitrary order move claiming Buehler was now interfering with his duties. While Buehler was complying, and protesting the illegal order, Dear and five other paramilitary soldiers* jumped, assaulted, and arrested him, while Cpl. Quint Sebek #3454 turned and assaulted and arrested Mike "Bluehair" Smith. Ofc. Aljoe Garibay #6155 then submitted a lie filled affidavit to support the illegal arrests. The Peaceful Streets Project later released multiple videos of the incident in a public rebuttal, proving that APD lied in their attempts to justify an illegal arrest.
A few weeks prior to this incident, Dear gave an unlawful ultimatum to the members of Peaceful Streets Project requiring them to maintain an arbitrary distance from APD officers. In response to the quoted facts of the law regarding filming, and rulings by both the 5th Circuit and the Supreme Court, Dear stated, "This is not a judicial system. This is the law I'm telling you."
It has become an obvious reality that there is a disconnect between the ruling of the courts and the actions of the Austin Police Department. If the constitutional right to film is no longer being respected, then we have no choice but to advance our tactics and strategies. We will exercise our constitutional and legal rights to the furthest extent possible to document the illegal actions of Sgt. Dear.
Sgt. Dear, Chief Art Acevedo, and the rest of the Austin Police Department, in three and a half years you have yet to beat us in court. We remain undefeated. You have attempted to murder, hospitalize, imprison and assault members of our community. Yet we remain ever strong, ever fearless. If you seek to end the existence and operations of the Peaceful Streets Project, the only way is to cease wrongfully abusing and murdering members of our community.
You WILL be filmed.


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Last month, 360world, a Hungarian company took two 25-megapixel Sony A900 cameras fitted with 400mm Minolta lenses and 1.4X teleconverters and a robotic camera mount from 360world to the top of Janos Hill on the outskirts of the Buda side of Budapest. It was no easy feat to make the 70-gigapixel photo, and it took two days to shoot, and two solid days of post-processing that resulted in a single 200GB file — not to mention a 15-meter-long printed copy of the photograph to display it to the public.
It's just been a few months since a 45-gigapixel panorama of Dubai claimed the title of world's largest digital photograph, but it's now the 70-gigapixel, 360-degree panorama of Budapest is the new king of the hill.
To see the photo:
When you go to the site, use the tools on the left side to zoom in and out, and to move around the picture left click the mouse and move it.
It is incredable that you can zoom in to the windows on a house on the other side of the river!!
The photos on the bottom of the main photo are links that cause it to zoom into sites of the city and the photo.
Have fun with this!!!


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Milk it Does a Body What?
Cows on Two Farms
Lactose intolerance
How did it come about that we humans consume milk from a different species? How about a nice cold glass of rat's milk? No? Maybe dog's milk would be nice on your cereal. Ewww! All mammals produce milk yet we settled mostly on cow's milk to add to our diet. Elsie the cow is a wholesome reminder that we should drink our milk to make our bodies strong. Elsie or not, lactose intolerance is actually the norm for the human race. Places like Asia, the Middle East and Africa (where the human race is supposed to have origins) are almost completely lactose intolerant.
For the first people to drink milk we have to look elsewhere. Looking at the statistics, we see that Northern Europeans have the most tolerance for lactose. We can surmise then that milk drinkers came from places with northern climates. Even in hot places the farther north you move the more likely the people are to be able to drink milk. Almost all Dutch people and 99 percent of Swedes are lactose tolerant while in England, Germany and Finland as much as 85 percent of people can drink milk. In Northern India and East Africa 70 percent of the people can drink milk but further south the numbers reverse.
Mutants drinking milk
Scientists say we developed the ability to digest milk sometime about 5000-4000 B.C. by the spread of a genetic mutation called lactase persistence. This genetic mutation allowed humans to continue to digest milk after weaning. Those without this mutation lose the ability to digest milk around the age of eight years. Those of us that can drink milk are therefore mutants! This lactase persistence seems to have developed in different peoples at different times and not because of interbreeding.
Whomever was the first to drink milk had to have some guts or be desperate. The first cattle to be domesticated were the Aurochs, but by the 16th century, the Aurochs were extinct. Imagine looking at an aurochs cow and thinking that if I can just grab those teats and squeeze I will get to drink the stuff that comes out. No word on what the cow thought but they are not known to be deep thinkers. Before the domestication of cattle, we were already busy milking domesticated goats but since goat milk is such a small part of modern dairying, we will stick to cattle. There is some evidence of the domestication of cattle as early as 8000 B.C. in Mesopotamia but Neolithic farmers in Britain and Northern Europe are thought to have been the first to begin milking cattle for human consumption as early as 4,000 B.C. A thousand years later, by 3000 B.C., the milking of dairy cows had become a major part of Sumerian civilization (present day Iraq) with Sumerians drinking milk and making cheese and butter.
The question remains, why cow's milk? All mammals produce milk and each species produces milk that will help their young thrive. As for us, why not rat milk or dog's milk? That's pretty disgusting and who wants to milk a rat but it does point out that our love of cow's milk is just cultural conditioning, there is nothing special about cow's milk. Other people are milking camels and goats.
Health effects of cheese
No Lactose in Cheese
Quite possibly, the ancients discovered that they could consume cheese. When milk is turned into cheese the process of fermentation converts the lactose (milk sugar) in milk into lactic acid. When the cheese is complete, most or all of the lactose is gone. The longer a cheese has to ripen the less lactose will remain. As a result, cheeses like Parmesan or aged Cheddar may be completely digestible while ricotta and Mozzarella will still present a problem to the lactose intolerant person. If you still cannot digest a cheese like Parmesan, chances are you have a milk allergy, which is far more serious and thankfully rare.
Casein is the primary protein in dairy. It shares structural similarities with gluten. An intolerance to casein can sometimes cause symptoms similar to lactose intolerance as well as gluten intolerance. Most dairy products contain casein, but not all. Casein s found in dairy products that have a higher protein content, such as milk, yogurt, kefir, cheese and ice cream. Dairy products such as butter and cream only have traces of casein. If you clarify butter into ghee you will remove all of the lactose and casein.
Industrial Food
Ghee (Clarified Butter) Indian Recipe
Food Allergies and Intolerances
The symptoms associated with a food allergy can be quite severe and immediate and include wheezing, difficulty breathing, vomiting, hives even death. The reaction for food intolerance is usually less severe and may take some time to show up. Common symptoms of a food intolerance include problems such as diarrhea, bloating and abdominal cramps, although some people can also experience joint pain, fatigue and behavioral changes.
Fox News in Florida Hiding the Truth for Monsanto
Being Fooled at the Supermarket? 20 Claims on Food Labels Exposed!
Cheese is giving Americans a heart attack
Cheese is giving Americans a heart attack, says the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). Cheese and ice cream consumption has skyrocketed since 1970, making cheese the nation's biggest source of saturated fat. If you look at a menu at McDonalds you won't even see a burger offered that doesn't have cheese on it and this practice is almost universal.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, we each now eat 30 pounds of cheese a year. That compares to only 11 pounds in 1970. Look at the dairy isle in your supermarket to see how many varieties of yogurt are available, how many different types of cheese? A recent study showed that the more servings of dairy foods that adults consumed, the greater the percentage of their total calories that came from saturated fat At the same time the amount of many important nutrients -- like calcium, magnesium, folate, the B vitamins, and vitamins A, D, and E -- also increased along with the number of dairy servings. A study in Finland looked at changes in bone thickness and density in girls 10 years old-12 years old whose diets were supplemented with either cheese, calcium, or calcium plus vitamin D. The cheese-eating group appeared to have bigger increases in bone mass than the other groups. Spanish researchers found that calcium from low-fat dairy products was related to a lower blood-pressure risk. Iranian researchers have concluded that those who consumed the most dairy (milk, yogurt, and cheese) were less likely to have enlarged waists and metabolic syndrome. A researcher from the University of Alabama at Birmingham noted that although an analysis of overall calcium consumption has not linked calcium to greater weight loss, there is increasing evidence that calcium from dairy products may play a role in body-weight regulation.
Abby Martin Milk Doesn't Do Your Body Good
Novel Proteins in the US
Cancer from milk? You bet!
In October 2015, I was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer. So far I am okay with suppression of testosterone and only time will tell when this will kill me. There is no cure although it can be held at bay for an uncertain period of time which can range from months to years. Prostate cancer is only curable in the early stages before it has spread. When it spreads the most likely place for it to go is to bone which weakens the bone.
I looked into the causes of prostate cancer and what I found out is sobering. One might think that smoking would underlie this as it does so many other cancers but no. A high fat diet, specifically high fat dairy and meats is the chief culprit. So, all those years in the restaurant business with prime rib and Brie beckoning from the menu will be my downfall.
Somehow I always thought that cigarettes would kill me and no one ever said Just say no to milk.
Low-fat dairy is the answer! Or is it?
Looking at the studies above yields one other conclusion. The studies were all conducted in countries that ban the use of synthetic growth hormones and which therefore use less antibiotics in their cattle. Milk allergy is the most common food allergy in the US according to CNN and WSJ. Is there something foreign in our food that was not there years ago? In 1994, scientists developed synthetic growth hormones that are injected into cows to make them produce more milk. These hormones also make the cows sick so farmers also feed antibiotics to the cattle to keep them alive and well. Around the world, governments have prohibited the use of these synthetic growth hormones in their cattle because they have not been proven safe. All 27 countries in Europe have banned these chemicals. Except of course for the US, we say: They haven't been proven dangerous"! So we allow their use, we eat the meat, drink the milk and eat the cheese. We will continue to do so until and unless someone proves that these substances are dangerous or we have an outbreak of illness that can be traced back to these hormones and antibiotics. Good luck with that, there is a lot of money invested and a lot of profit to be made.
Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone RGBH
Fifty years ago an average cow produced 2,000 pounds of milk per year. Today the top producers give 50,000 pounds! Drugs, antibiotics, hormones, forced feeding plans and specialized breeding gave American farmers sick mutant cows that produce huge amounts of milk and heavy cuts of beef. The latest high-tech onslaught on the poor cow is recombinant bovine growth hormone or rBGH. This genetically engineered drug is supposed to stimulate milk production but, according to Monsanto, the hormone's manufacturer, does not affect the milk or meat. There are three other manufacturers: Upjohn, Eli Lilly, and American Cyanamid Company. Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone is a genetically engineered copy of a naturally occurring hormone produced by cows. Manufactured by Monsanto Company, the drug is sold to dairy farmers under the name POSILAC, it is also called BGH, rBGH, BST and rBST. You and I get milk and meat that is banned in Canada and Europe but it is profitable for Monsanto and farmers. There have been no long term studies human about the effects this milk or meat will have on us. The FDA to the rescue! No, the FDA says these chemicals have not been proven dangerous.
Milk was a questionable food source even before Monsanto became involved. Mammals produce milk according to the needs of the species, cows need large muscles and heavy bones and cow's milk is well designed to do that job. People need large brains and a well developed nervous system, for this we need essential fatty acids which are deficient in cow's milk. Mothers' milk has six to ten times as much of the necessary fatty acids, especially linoleic acid.
Robyn O'Brien at TEDxAustin 2011 Cleaning up the Food Supply
Lactose Intolerance
Allergies Politics and Diet
Between 1997 to 2002 peanut allergies doubled. One out of 17 kids under the age of three now has a food allergy. During the same period, hospitalizations due to food allergy reactions increased by 265 percent.
There is a great deal of politics involved in the debate about dairy and dairy states want to keep using chemicals that increase profits. If we sort out and eliminate the crackpots who promote weird diets and unattainable lifestyles we still have to decide if we are willing to consume dairy and other food products that may be contaminated in order to get the benefit of more vitamins and protein. If you have kids, you are turning them into guinea pigs for companies that want to sell genetically modified seeds and hormone treated meats. Alternatively, you could buy expensive organic foods and write your legislator demanding the FDA remove these toxins from our food supply. You could even contact companies like Kraft and Coke and Wal-Mart and tell them that you want foods that are uncontaminated with antibiotics and hormones. These companies already sell foods in Europe where the worst chemicals are banned, we can demand that they do the same here. Individually we may have little power but collectively we can roll back bad decisions by government and business.
Most of our milk comes in plastic bottles made with the synthetic female hormone BPA
Crude Language Alert Lewis Black on Milk & Water
Is Organic Milk the Answer?
According to the FDA and USDA, there are no significant differences between organic and regular milk in quality, safety and nutrition. Biotech giant Monsanto even went so far as to file a suit against a small milk producer in Maine. Oakhurst, dairy advertises its milk contains no artificial growth hormones. Monsanto claims the advertisements give the public the impression artificial growth hormones are not safe. Monsanto claims that by doing this Oakhurst is directly disparaging Monsanto's product Posilac, the only artificial growth hormone on the market.
On one side of the argument we have Monsanto, the FDA and the USDA all promoting the use of hormones, antibiotics, chicken poop and genetically modified corn being fed to the cows kept in milking sheds to produce the milk you gave your child this morning.
On the other side are a handful of dairy farmers that actually allow their cows to graze in pastures, avoid antibiotics unless a cow is sick and use no growth hormones. Becoming a "Certified Organic" producer is an expensive proposition so some small farmers use organic methods but cannot afford to become certified. Organic milk is the kind of milk your grandparents drank when they were growing up. Certified Organic has no hormones, no antibiotics, and no GMO feed, plus thousands of years of history behind it. Monsanto milk does have one benefit, it is cheap.
So, drink up! Or buy a cow.
Very good information! I like your research!
My husband and I were just talking about this very same issue! I grew up on a home farm. My grandfather raised his own cows, pigs, and chickens. We had several huge gardens. One was all corn. The other two were every thinkable vegetable. My grandmother canned them and froze what she could in the extra basement freezer. We also had a root cellar for potatoes and certain types of squash. I was never sick except for the occasional cold.
Skip forward to after I had children....been living in the city, working 60 + hours a week, and eating out.
The last two years I've been sicker than ever. I've had multiple surgeries. I was paralyzed. I now suffer from migraines. Go figure!
I do cook for my family every single day, but I no longer have the farming opportunities I was raised on. I rely on stuff bought at the store. :(
Wonderful! This is very in-depth and well-written. My friend's husband is allergic to food additives. If he eats red meat he gets a terrible headache. She told me that she has to spend a fortune on food at Whole Foods, but once in a while a grocery store will carry beef that is not raised in the US. She gets whole beef tenderloins that are imported from Australia that do not have any of the additives we put in our food in the US.
My son was diagnosed with lactose intolerance this past spring.
I'm definitely going to have to look more in to that casein allergy. That's interesting.
At the beginning of the school year, the school nurse called and said she needed doctor's notes for all children with allergies this year. She said that there are so many more children with bee sting allergies, milk allergies and peanut allergies than ever before. She actually is holding private teacher meetings to discuss how to handle the amount of children with allergy issues. The school doesn't have a good handle on how to handle all of the allergies this year!
Excellent information!
Voted up and shared.


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Pastor PreoccupationTweet
"Pastor preoccupation."
And the simplest way I can explain it is the person in the pulpit becomes an unhealthy focus on his (or her) part. (It can take place with a worship/music leader, a teacher, etc, also.)
Of course, it happens at varying levels. I would expect that it ranges from a harmless grade school like "crush" to constant thinking/thoughts bordering on the point of obsession over them. (I say "them" because the obsession can include the Pastor's wife, too, at times?)
The reason for this (in my humble opinion again) is there's a need, a lack, an emptiness on the part of an individual that he (or she) sees as only being met through the person up front each Sunday. After all, they're "Superman" and "Wonder woman," aren't they (the Pastor and his wife)?
This "Pastor preoccupation" can turn ugly. When the guy or gal perceives the person in the pulpit as not entering into the level of relationship that's quote "required," they can get angry, even hostile. Some may even begin to purposely undermine their ministry (through gossip and other ways). (Pastors who read this might say, "Been there. Done that"?)
And it's just so funny how easily it's forgotten how preachers and Pastors (and their wives) are human beings, too. They have flaws, foibles. They fail. They are far, far from "Super heroes." (The only thing that makes any of us worth anything is another "F" ~ faith!)
Bottom line: Preoccupy yourself not with the person in the pulpit, but with the person in the "pew" / the back chair of the church who nobody knows about, who can't give you anything, who's hurting, in need of care, compassion. You'll be surprised how that hole in your heart that needs filling and you thought the Pastor should do it, but now Jesus does as you're serving the least of these. (Matthew 25:40)
Labels: bible, blogger, christ, christian, church, god, jesus, mother lode, obsession, preacher, religion, sonora, spiritual, teacher, twain harte


text: Volunteer Don Olson walks past a mound of artificial snow created by a snow gun on Tuesday at the Vasaloppet Nordic Ski Center in Mora, Minn. Christine T. Nguyen /MPR News hide caption toggle caption Christine T. Nguyen /MPR News National In Northern Minnesota, 'Snow Farmers' Make Sure A Ski-Racing Tradition Endures MPR News February 9, 2019 For the past few years, there hasn't been enough natural snow in Mora, Minn. to carpet the forests for a famed cross-country ski race. Local farmers now volunteer to make snow for the trails. In Northern Minnesota, 'Snow Farmers' Make Sure A Ski-Racing Tradition Endures Listen · 3:38 3:38 Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/692840362/692849131" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">


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It's May – the weather is warming up and it will soon be time to plant out the tomatoes.
Let's assume you've either started some tomatoes from seed or have picked up some organic heirloom tomato seedlings from Dig This. Here are some tricks we've learned over the years to grow amazing tomatoes:
- Warm up the soil before you plant them. Tomatoes love heat. Cover the planting area with black or red plastic a couple of weeks before you intend to plant. Those extra degrees of soil warmth will translate into earlier tomatoes.
- Plant your tomato plants deeper than they come in the pot, all the way up to the top few leaves. Tomatoes will develop roots all along their stems and more roots will make for a stronger plant. You can either dig a deep hole or simply dig a shallow trench and lay the plant sideways. The plant will quickly straighten itself up and grow toward the sun. Just be careful not to drive your stake or cage into the buried stem!
- Put a banana peel in the planting hole. Banana peels provide much needed potassium.
- Mulch – but not until after the ground has had a chance to warm up. Mulching conserves water and prevents soil born diseases from splashing up on the plants.
- Remove the bottom one foot of leaves once your tomato plants reach about 3 feet tall. These are the oldest leaves and they are usually the first leaves to develop fungus problems.
- Prune judiciously. Remove suckers that develop in the crotch joint of two branches to maintain one strong central stem, but go easy on pruning the rest of the plant. You can thin out a few leaves to allow the sun to reach the ripening fruit, but it's the leaves that are photosynthesizing and creating the sugars that give flavor to your tomatoes.
- Water deeply and regularly while the plants are developing. Irregular watering leads to blossom end rot and cracking. Once the fruit begins to ripen, you can ease up on watering. Lessening the water will coax the plant into concentrating its sugars, for better flavor.
- Feed your tomatoes! Tomatoes are heavy feeders, whether you're using compost, organic fertilizer or synthetic water-soluble nutrients. Choose a fertilizer that is higher in phosphorus (the second number on a fertilizer label) because too much nitrogen will encourage leaf growth at the expense of big fruit. Whatever you use, it's better to give your plants a steady stream of weak fertilizer than big doses every other week or once a month. Consider cutting the fertilizer dose in half or quarters (depending on the manufacturer's recommendations) and feeding every week.
- Plan for success! Make sure you have a staking system in place before the plants start to bear fruit, and provide a sturdy enough staking system to hold up heavy plants.
- Watch the temperature if you are growing your tomatoes in a greenhouse. Tomatoes won't produce flowers – and that means no fruit – if the temperature is over 90º F or 32º C. That's usually not a problem here on Vancouver Island for tomatoes grown in the garden, but if you have them in a greenhouse, provide more ventilation and shade during the hottest parts of the day.


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Product Highlights
Product Benefits and Features
Update your wrap for a new season with the half ream Tile Gift Wrap, and its grey and yellow geometric pattern. All items are sold separately unless noted.
- 24" x 417'
- 1 roll of gift wrap.
- Made of 50# white paper.
- Recyclable.
- Please allow 3 - 5 business days for processing. Product ships from a separate warehouse. Additional time might be required during peak holiday season.
- 20% restocking fee if item is returned.
- Made in USA.


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On a recent project, I've had to refamiliarize myself with the process of creating custom command buttons within Sitecore Content Editor. Some existing commands our team had already defined used convention in which they passed along control to Sitecore.Context.ClientPage.Start. What this does is allow the command to execute asynchronously without locking up the user's browser. This is especially appropriate if your command is making an external call to a third-party resource or a possibly time-consuming transaction with Sitecore's databases.
This seemed like such a useful approach that I thought it would be worthwhile to capture it as an abstract class.
I'm employing the template design pattern. The Execute method will stay the same for all derived classes because it's simply setting up the async mechanism. The Run method is marked abstract requiring the subclass to "fill in the blank" of what the command should actually do. The PrepareArgs method builds the collection that gets passed to the Run method. I'm assuming most implementations will want the ID, language, and version of the item that was active when the command was clicked. Since the method is virtual, it can be overridden to do more or less.
I debated adding a layer to pack/unpack the data passed in the NameValueCollection but I decided against it. I thought it would over-assume what the Run method was going to do and limit the implementations. There's always the opportunity to create another abstract subclass that does that extra step.
When you find yourself recommending something as a "best practice", it's that much easier make it part of your application and not just a recommendation. With this small class, any command called from the Content Editor can have this asynchronous ability without someone having to "reinvent the wheel" each time.


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*** Get 10% off! ***
Visit us this weekend at the Wilderness Fair in Stockholm (Älvsjö). I am at our stand on Saturday and Sunday, and submit you in person this voucher to you! Good huh?!
You can find us in the stand of Nedre Dalälven, shared with Visit Svartådalen (stand#: B08: 02, B08: 10, B09: 12).
See you soon!


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Emergency Strategies For Fixing Negative Results
Regardless of who you are, negative search results can happen to you and severely impact your brand. A single bad status update or blog post made by a disgruntled former employee or client, an angry ex or the posting of one questionable picture could destroy an otherwise impeccable reputation. Even good people can suffer the effects of bad search results; therefore, when it happens, it is important to find ways to salvage your reputation. SEO news suppression is a good place to start. Essentially, SEO news suppression or reverse SEO involves using a variety of strategies and techniques to make bad
Gretchen Carlson Files For Sexual Harassment Against Roger Ailes – What This Could Mean For Gender Equality
In the latest news to afflict the news network, FOX news has come under fire after a sexual harassment lawsuit was filed against the CEO of FOX, Roger Ailes. The news comes as Gretchen Carlson, a former news host, officially filed the lawsuit in court. The news is startling because it came seemingly out of nowhere. Some of the allegations made against the news executive have been negative, but for many people they see it as just another case in a long line of different cases involving men in positions of power. Gretchen Carlson Fired 50-year-old Gretchen Carlson, a former beauty queen, was fired from the


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Some might say Be careful what you write You might be exposed For a fraud What a site. A hoax to some A liar too Oh how foolish Shame on … Continue reading
December 5, 2012 · Leave a comment
M&M I'm not May…
M&M I'm not Maybe yet Just a thought. "Just for you" 😉
December 4, 2012 · Leave a comment
Background noise
I sit here alone with my thoughts Almost daily Every night Wondering what will I hear Who will call In the dark cold night Well as I wonder The telephone … Continue reading
December 4, 2012 · 1 Comment


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Starting MSRP from * $40,300
- Requires Silverado 3500HD Crew Cab Standard Box 2WD SRW with fifth-wheel hitch. Before you buy a vehicle or use it for trailering, carefully review the Trailering section of the Owner's Manual. The weight of passengers, cargo and options or accessories may reduce the amount you can tow.
- Requires Silverado 3500HD Crew Cab 2WD DRW with fifth-wheel hitch and available Duramax 6.6L Turbo-Diesel V8 engine. Before you buy a vehicle or use it for trailering, carefully review the Trailering section of the Owner's Manual. The weight of passengers, cargo and options or accessories may reduce the amount you can tow.
- Chevrolet Infotainment System functionality varies by model. Full functionality requires compatible Bluetooth and smartphone, and USB connectivity for some devices.
- Vehicle user interface is a product of Apple and its terms and privacy statements apply. Requires compatible iPhone and data plan rates apply. Apple CarPlay, Siri, iPhone and iTunes are trademarks for Apple Inc, registered in the U.S. and other countries.
- Service varies with conditions and location. Requires active service plan and paid AT&T Data plan. See onstar.com for details and limitations.
- Requires compatible Apple or Android device and data connection. Remote Services require paid plan. Visit Onstar.com for details.
- Based on the 2006-2017 Vincentric Fleet Awards analyses of the full-size ½-ton, ¾-ton, and 1-ton pickup segments.
- Dependability based on longevity: 1987–July 2017 full-size pickup registrations.
Test Drive a New or Used Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD in Newark at Porter Chevrolet
If you're searching for a new in the Newark or Wilmington area, visit Porter Chevrolet to test drive a new Silverado 3500HD, used Silverado 3500HD, or a certified pre-owned Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD. At Porter Chevrolet we have a large inventory of Silverado 3500HDs with many different options to choose from. Porter Chevrolet is ready to explore financing options or lease specials on a new or used Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD as well; apply for financing online and view our specials. When it comes to providing competitive pricing and selection, we are your new and used Silverado 3500HD authority in the Wilmington area. We encourage you to come to our Newark dealership to test drive the new 2019, or used Silverado 3500HD and find out why more Chevrolet drivers are choosing us for their needs. If you have questions or would like to schedule an appointment please call 302-722-4822.
New 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD at Porter Chevrolet in Newark
Discover the new Silverado 3500HD, available to buy or lease today at Porter Chevrolet. On this page, you will find the vehicles that are currently available to buy or lease at our Newark dealership, be able to see the exterior color options, view photos, and more. If you have a question about this new Silverado 3500HD or any other new or used vehicle at Porter Chevrolet, please give us a call at 302-722-4822, and our friendly staff will be happy to assist you.


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diamond totem stud earrings
$ 825.00
A luxe mix of rose gold and champagne diamonds, our oval pave totem bracelet is the perfect addition to your wrist stack. Available in 18k yellow or rose gold with with white or champagne pave diamonds (0.195ct total weight).
Size: 8mm charm on 7" chain with station at 6.5"
*Shown in 18k rose gold with champagne diamonds


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There also some incredible giveaways on the night including:
• Freedom Furniture: $1000 in gift vouchers
• The Loft: High tea for 2
• Nads Laser Hair Removal Clinics: 2 x $100 laser hair removal vouchers
• The Artery Aboriginal Art Gallery
• Shearers Bookshop: A selection of books
• Alto Jaguar: A weekend with the Jaguar of your choice and a full tank of petrol(!).
• Fitness vouchers from DT Fitness
Plus many more!
There are only 200 tickets available to purchase, and your support is greatly appreciated. Click here to buy your ticket online.
I look forward to seeing you all there!
PS Please forward on to your friends - this is an incredibly worthy cause.


text: Brand MarketingGlobal Ad Spending Will Grow 6% in 2015 With Help From Mobile, Report PredictsU.S. stays on top, China ramps upBy Toni McQuilken|December 10, 2014 ShareBy Toni McQuilken|December 10, 2014 Share Global ad revenue growth might be projected to slow slightly in 2015, but ad spending is on track to increase more substantially. EMarketer, a research firm that reports on the advertising industry, predicts advertisers will spend $592.43 billion next year, a 6 percent increase from 2014. The new report notes that the top five ad spenders worldwide—the United States, China, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom—will continue to dominate in 2015. The U.S. is expected to remain at the top, with an estimated $189 billion in spending, roughly 32 percent of the total market. And it will hang on to that spot for the foreseeable future, dropping to just 31 percent by 2018. One key to this growth will be digital and mobile platforms. Mobile ad spending, in particular, will see tremendous growth in the coming years. It's projected to hit $64 billion in 2015 and $158 billion by 2018, when it could account for as much as 22 percent of ad budgets. "Our latest figures for worldwide mobile ad spending are higher than our previous forecasts, due chiefly to faster-than-expected growth in China's mobile ad market," eMarketer noted in the report. In 2014, marketers in China spent roughly $6.4 billion on mobile ads, a 600 percent increase from $913 million in the previous year. In 2015, the report expects China's mobile ad market to jump an additional 90 percent, up to $12.14 billion to surpass the U.K and Japan. Sharehttp://adweek.it/1zQlAay copy Adweek Adweek


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A Longueuil couple had no choice but to get rid of their animals. Mélanie Desfosses and Ian Paquett had over 147 animals living with them in their 4 1/2 in Longueuil, a suburb of Montreal.
The couple who work in a petshop had "rescued" reptiles, cats, dogs, birds, fishes and etc…
Last month a news article about the makeshift animal "refuge" was featured in a local newspaper and citizens wasted no time to file complaints.
The Police ordered that the couple get rid of the excess of animals found within their residence, the municipal by-law only allows 5 animals per residence, the Longueuil couple obliged by the Police got rid of the excess.
The couple kept 5 animals in order to respect the municipal by-law.
Now that the animals are gone, Mme Desfosses received a ticket of $773 for having refused the Police access to her apartment.
The Longueuil Police had no warrant, but Martin Simard, spokesperson for the Longueuil Police department explains that the ticket is justified.
"The by-law stipulates that an owner must allow all public servants, employee or representative of the City to visit a property within reasonable hours." says agent Simard.
However, in 2011, Judge Helene Le Bel of the Superior Court of Quebec ruled against the City of Montreal in a Judgement regarding such warrantless access.
Judge Helene Le Bel ruled that the by-law that allowed such warrantless entry in Montreal was invalid and unconstitutional.
The Longueuil couple has been in contact with a lawyer in hopes to contest the ticket.
Sophie Fournier who runs a small foster based adoption service in Montreal said, "no one should have that many animals inside a residence, but if the Cities and SPCAs applied such unconstitutional practices on hoarders and puppy-mills, I would be happy, but they don't, they only target the smaller ones. – A City Canine inspector once told me I had to let them in. – When asking the Police to review the by-law a Cop told me he would fall off his chair if the City could infact enter without a warrant, he did fall off his chair after reviewing the by-law, as a Cop I couldn't enter but the City can, he told me."
The Montreal Police once told Sophie Fournier that the City had more power than the Police and God. Sophie Fournier took the City of Montreal to court and won, City inspectors can no longer enter a residence without a warrant, they need to make an appointment sent by registered mail, like all other public servants.
© 2013, Montreal Dog News


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Excerpts From the Kennebec River...
The Kennebec River flows 170 miles from Moosehead Lake down to the coast of Maine through Merrymeeting Bay, past Bath Iron Works and eventually empties into the Atlantic near Popham Beach State Park.
* * *
The name "Kennebec" comes from Abenaki, meaning "large body of still water" — but the section of river we raft is anything but still. Our trip covers an 11 mile stretch beginning below Harris Station Dam (the largest in Maine) and ending in a town called The Forks where the Dead River ends as it meets the Kennebec - hence the town named after the fork created by the two rivers.
This section of river is considered Class IV which means there are powerful rapids with large, unavoidable waves and hazardous whitewater. These waves and rapids are powerful enough to flip a raft resulting in long and extremely challenging swims.
Chilly as it was, a few brave souls swam in the pools above the falls while a few of us sat below a cascade and enjoyed an invigorating whitewater massage!
All in all, we were blessed to have beautiful, sunny weather on yet another thrilling, safe, and fun rafting adventure!


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Ha, no. Just kidding.
No I'm not.
|bobby gets me.
I've been riding the heart broken train with the rest of the equestrian blog-o-sphere because I love Lauren like a hunter princess turned jumper princess but still my go-to hunter guru sister, and I've been dealing with plenty of heavy shit in my own life lately. It's piling up, but I'm dealing with it mostly through stress eating which I can get away with because then I stress all the calories away.
Seriously, there are no better diets out there than being a fucking neurotic mess literally one hundred percent of the time.
|i also take selfies with my dog because she's my only friend.
Before I dive into riding recaps (preview: failure), I want to acknowledge the amazing secretary for the Genesee Valley Hunt HT this weekend. This is my first multi-day show, and I'm doing day one solo, so I've taken it upon myself to just go full on crazy bitch and freak the fuck out about everything.
I've been like, "Madame Secretary, please hold my hand and pat my head and tell me all will be well and also how to get to the fucking new dressage area because help."
And Madame Secretary has responded with, "Sure thing, demented girl. All will be well. Remain zen. I will help you in all the ways."
|tried using phone for video. did not excel.
When I last left off, I think we'd just finished with a totally amazing jump school where Robert was very good. After that....we did another dressage school or two, jumped with Hubby there to document, and jumped again.
Flatting was good. I still need to make a conscious effort to not collapse my core and lift my fucking hands up more, but I pushed Bobby for his best, and he delivered. There might have been brief moments of sass, but the good outweighed the bad. I'm feeling ready to drop our last dressage score by a lot Saturday.
As for our documented jump school? Here, let this one picture sum it up for you:
I set up a diamond with two strides between each jump. The two strides were fine. The mother fucking approaches to the first jump--no matter which one it was--were the bomb dot com. And by that I mean they blew serious....
Well, I'm not sure how much I want to start making phallic jokes on a horse blog. That seems slightly inappropriate.
I persevered for awhile, but nothing I was doing was making any difference. The take off was just a hot mess.
Then Bobby started playing his favorite game: I have boots on, yes I do. I have boots on, watch me crash through everything I touch because I have boots on. Listen bro. I want to fucking accessorize. I want to put my fucking purple duct tape on something, so learn to pick your damn feet up regardless of what your outfit is.
|lolz, SMASH.
|can't touch this.
oh, wait. YES HE CAN.
I finally quit and had Hubby drop everything to poles. Which we walked. And then trotted. But never cantered. Because he could barely find a distance to the pole.
Bobby got a day off, did some fancy prancing, and then we addressed the Appropriate Distance for Take Off, So Help Me God problem. Obviously this involved placement poles. A lot of them. And a one stride for more poles no such thing as too many poles.
Bobby came through the first time like a fucking kamikaze pilot. Then he realized poles. I slipped my reins and let him figured out his feet on his own. There was much crashing and smashing, but when we came through the next time, and the times after that, someone took stock of what the fuck was going on and behaved like a gentleman.
To finish on a fun note, we figure eight-ed over this thing:
Because if there's one thing Bobby's good at, it's skinnies.
|and looking super smart.
Then I got off and tried once again to figure out what the shit is going on with his RF. I do not understand its random swelling. It's not hot, it's not squishy, it's not painful. It's just stocked up looking around his ankle, and only when it feels like it. I thought it might be an abscess, and then I briefly freaked the fuck out that he was foundering, but no. His feet are icy cold and not tender.
Whatever, Bobby's leg. One more push for the show this weekend, and then you get some time off.


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Reusable Packaging Sustainability: Evaluating its Effect at Retail
- mmr
Demand for produce packaging in the US is forecast to increase 3.2 percent annually to $6.0 billion in 2019 (2015 Research Study). In the retail marketplace, more fresh produce is being displayed and sold ready-to-eat, thereby increasing the demand for packaging products that can extend shelf life and allow contents to be seen clearly. Retailers are constantly adapting to meet shopper needs for fresh food – especially fresh produce – as part of their growth strategy.
But what do shoppers really think when it comes to fresh produce?
Is Sustainability Messaging Effective?
IFCO, A major marketer of sustainable, black, plastic reusable packaging containers (RPCs) wanted to understand the value of its sustainable RPCs to consumers. MMR was asked to evaluate the relevancy and business growth potential of adding sustainability messaging to the client's RPCs at retail, and provide guidance on how to most effectively communicate to consumers about sustainability. Specifically, the client wanted us to address several questions:
–How do fresh produce shoppers define sustainability and how much do they care about it?
–What are shoppers' preconceived perceptions of the sustainability of plastic versus corrugated containers i.e., benefits, features, preference, price/value implications?
–Which of the two solutions do they prefer given both are available and they understand their features and benefits? Does this make them more likely to shop at retailers with the RPC offering?
–Are consumers willing to pay a price premium for fresh produce products distributed to them in sustainable RPCs?
MMR executed online interviews for this evaluation project using a survey that: defined sustainability; determined whether shoppers care about it when buying fresh produce; identified perceived differences between plastic and corrugated RPCs; and identified the types of messaging most effective on RPCs.
Sustainability Messaging Fills a Consumer Need
The results of the research returned four key learnings that had implications for the client.
1) "Environmentally-friendly" messaging resonates most strongly. Consumer-facing sustainability messaging that positioned RPCs as 'environmentally-friendly' resonated best with fresh produce shoppers. This messaging should emphasize recycling, reducing landfill waste, and saving water.
2) The majority of fresh produce shoppers care strongly about sustainability & its benefits. All three age cohorts (18-34, 35-54, 55-64) demonstrated the same level of care.
3) Sustainability messaging positively impacts overall perceptions. RPCs with sustainability messaging overcomes the preconception that corrugated containers are more sustainable (based on appearance). When sustainability messaging is added to the container, consumers prefer fresh produce from that container.
4) Sustainability messaging impacts loyalty. If a consumer perceives a retailer as sustainable, then they are more likely to shop that retailer most often. When a retailer uses sustainable containers, it has a positive impact on visit and purchase intent.
MMR delivered a focused POV to the client from this project: At the point of purchase, containers with sustainability messaging can influence consumers to purchase incremental items or shop retailers more often. Because loyalty is improved when a retailer is perceived as sustainable, MMR recommended to the client that it position their offering as helping to create/reinforce the perception of being sustainable. From this, the client can also target retailers who are already perceived as very sustainable (Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Aldi) or retailers that show the most lift in loyalty among those who perceive them as sustainable (Kroger, Walmart, Costco).
Want to learn more? Join MMR's Rob Lorys as he presents the findings during part one of a 3-part webinar series.
Remove the Risk: Using Data to Drive Fresh Produce Growth.
A 3-part webinar series sponsored by IFCO beginning April 5, 2017 at 2:00pm.
Speakers for Session #1, Growing Your Fresh Produce Category: New Data Shows How to Optimize Fresh Produce Sales by Meeting Shopper Expectations, include Hillary Femal, IFCO VP of Global Marketing and Rob Lorys, MMR's Senior VP – Client Development & Marketing.
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Shopping in Colwyn Bay
Shopping in Colwyn Bay is the perfect place for a bit of retail therapy.
Pick up a gift for someone or why not treat yourself!
Many of our excellent independent stores are family run and if you're looking for your high street favourites, we have those too.
Plus one of the region's largest shopping malls complete with handy free parking.
A whole host of small independent shops and services sit alongside the more well-known 'High St' names, and coupled with the town's twice weekly traditional street market, provide a great shopping experience.


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Black President
Lagos, Nigeria. The country's largest city teems with people hustling to make a living. Despite Nigeria's oil wealth, daily life remains a struggle. Necessities like clean water and electricity remain elusive to many, and the government consistently ranks among the most corrupt in surveys by international organizations.
Against this backdrop, Fela Kuti in the 1970s created Afrobeat, a powerful concoction of American funk and jazz, West African highlife, and incendiary, rebellious lyrics. "Afrobeat is the African truth," says Fela's youngest son, Seun. "Nobody speaks for a lot of us in Africa. They speak for themselves and their business, but they don't speak for the people."
Fela challenged the military rulers of Nigeria and portrayed the plight of his people in songs like "Shuffering and Shmiling," which he sang in the dialect of the streets: Every day my people dey inside bus, suffering, and smiling. Every day my people dey inside bus, suffering, and smiling. Them go reach house, water no dey. Them go reach bed, power no dey. In response, the government dispatched 1,000 soldiers to destroy Fela's compound in 1977. The soldiers beat him, killed his mother by throwing her from a second story window, and torched the building. Fela was arrested more than 200 times in his lifetime.
Today, Fela's youngest son Seun is carrying his father's torch. He recently released his debut album, "Many Things," in which he delivers his own criticisms of the government. Unfortunately, things have actually gotten worse in Lagos, Seun tells reporter Marco Werman. In the Kuti family nightclub, The Shrine, Seun sings: As time dey go, things dey spoil more and more. As time dey go, children dey die more and more. No food to eat. No light to see. No water to drink. Nowhere to stay.
Cassandra Herrman, Producer
Marco Werman, Reporter
Andrew Gersh, Editor
Andy Bowley, Camera/Sound
Kole Payne, Nigeria Coordinator
George Uwaifo, Jib Operator
Christine Levy, Additional Photography
Faruk Lasaki, Nigeria Production Rentals
The Musical
The story of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti is now a high-energy Broadway musical starring Sahr Ngaujah and directed by Bill T. Jones. Watch this scene to see why audiences are dancing in the aisles.
Seun Kuti "Mosquito Song"
In March 2005, Seun Kuti joined world music star Youssou N'Dour in Dakar, Sengal for a festival of African music dedicated to fighting malaria. Watch his performance at the festival of "Mosquito Song."
Breaking it Down: Afrobeat
Host Marco Werman leads a musical exploration of Fela Kuti and the continuing evolution of Afrobeat.


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Your About Me website page is your opportunity to allow your visitors a chance to get to know you. People do business with those they know, like and trust, so here's your opportunity to get personal on your website.
If you're a complete newcomer to live video streaming and you've never streamed a video before in your life, then you might find it nerve wracking going in front of a camera. This can be a very scary feeling as you're going to be live on the feed and the whole process is quite unlike […]
A powerful Twitter bio is one way to grow your following quickly. This video makes it easy for anyone to create an effective Twitter bio.
Your Home page is your business' virtual front door. What does it say about your business? Does it engage your visitor? Learn how to make your Home page effective, so visitors will want more information.


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You might remember last month I mentioned the First Sunday Club. This is where Rebecca Sparrow from the Sunday Mail names a cause that could really do with our help, all we have to do is donate a little $10 once a month.
This month the cause is Street Swags. Brisbane school teacher Jean Madden is on a one-woman crusade to help some of Australia's homeless.
I find it really sad that Australia has homeless people, but there are at least 100,000 Australians sleeping on the streets every night. So if you can spare just $10 to help this great cause, you can donate here. Come on everyone, $10 once a month, most of us can afford that, donate now and you could be helping someone else sleep a little easier tonight.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
First Sunday Club
Posted by Natural Aroma Handmade Soaps at 5:10 PM
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Since 2007, Cypress has been providing reliable professional property and protection solutions to the Lower Mainland in BC and Alberta.
learn about us
Cypress Security is licensed, bonded and insured with over a decade of specialized security expertise. Our experienced management team is 100% committed to providing the highest level of service rooted in integrity, honesty, quality and professionalism from skilled experts. Click here for testimonials from our clients
What We specialize in
Commercial, industrial and residential property protection with on-site guards and mobile patrol.
Residential Towers
Construction Sites
Fire Watch
Emergency Response
Vacant Properties
Mobile Patrol
Loss Prevention
All of our security professionals are licensed under the British Columbia and Alberta security services commission, ensuring they operate under the highest standards of conduct and accountability.
Cypress Security services are integrated with our state-of-the-art patented technology, GPS-on-Guard, which sets us apart as an innovative leader in security services. GPS-on-Guard is a specialized multi-faceted tracking system developed by our management team which allows us to remotely monitor the guards on site, not only ensuring that you are receiving the highest level of service but the safety of the guards on-site.
Our clients trust us with their valuable assets and our employees trust us to provide them with a safe, professional and healthy work environment. Cypress Security makes it mandatory for our guards to have the knowledge and skills to protect their health in the workplace. Our guards may not work directly with hazardous materials, but could be exposed to them at work therefore they are trained to be familiar with the WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System) symbols and how to respond to hazardous situations. We also provide specially trained guards certified in First-Aid.


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The International Research Network Connections Network Operations Center (IRNC NOC) serves as a cooperative point of contact and communications for IRNC network management, providing consolidated network monitoring, reporting, and operational visibility for the IRNC program. The IRNC NOC facilitates a single set of operational expectations for all IRNC funded infrastructure programs; this enables greater availability of IRNC infrastructure and improves results in troubleshooting multi-domain network issues. A central data repository created by the IRNC NOC provides critical operational information, monitoring data, and performance metrics in support of NSF funded science and research.
Your request has been completed.


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Pros and cons of berms in Ocean Beach
Shelter for homeless, backwash for surfers – do they prevent flooding?
Delinda Lombardo 10:30 a.m., Nov. 18
"You need to get laid!" a drunk woman in a tube top yelled at the police officer arresting her. "What's the matter, haven't you ever [expletive] a pretty girl before?"
This is according to SDPD Officer Frank Cali in report #04-079198. At 1:20 a.m. on December 26, 2004, the cops were called to Deco's Night Club at 731 Fifth Avenue in the Gaslamp.
"I saw a white female wearing a tube top and blue jeans jumping over a railing," stated Deco's security guard, Donald Dansby. He asked the woman to stop doing that, and "she immediately started yelling at me and poking me in the chest with her finger. She pushed me with both of her hands.... I fell back a little. [She] then took a swing at my head.... I ducked and she missed me, but she did grab the back of my neck."
The woman was identified as Tara Noel. Officers found her in the club lying on the ground screaming, according to Cali's report. "[We] told her to relax, and we are going to stand her up," writes Cali. "Noel said, 'Okay.' Noel was also staggering while [we] assisted her down the stairs."
While Cali spoke with Dansby about the battery, two officers tried to put Noel in the back of a squad car and she spit in the mouth of one of them.
"I got a spit sock [a nylon mesh mask with only one opening] and placed it over Noel's head while Noel was lying on the ground," states Cali in his report. This is when she gave him the advice for relieving tension.
Dansby placed Noel under citizen's arrest for the battery; she was also arrested for being drunk in public and assaulting a peace officer.


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But Emmerich was thinking of something even more explosive: the Kaaba, the cube-shaped building at the heart of Mecca, the focus of prayers and the Islamic pilgrimage called the Hajj; it is one of Islam's holiest sites.
"Well, I wanted to do that, I have to admit," Emmerich says. "But my co-writer Harald said I will not have a fatwa on my head because of a movie. And he was right. … We have to all … in the Western world … think about this. You can actually … let … Christian symbols fall apart, but if you would do this with [an] Arab symbol, you would have … a fatwa, and that sounds a little bit like what the state of this world is. So it's just something which I kind of didn't [think] was [an] important element, anyway, in the film, so I kind of left it out."
No offense, but I wouldn't care if the movie portrayed it. It's not real. And even if something like that was to happen, Muslims don't have to protect it. God protects it. We also don't worship it. We worship God. Also the article forgot about Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and all non-Christian holy sites. The movie doesn't attack any of those.


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The men's 50-kilometer, or 31-mile, racewalk is the longest athletic race in the Olympic Games. Although racewalking debuted at the 1908 Olympics, the 50-km race was not introduced until the 1932 Olympic Games. Today, 20-km men's and women's events are also offered.
Unlike running, rules state that the back toe may not leave the ground until the heel of the front foot has touched; it must appear that one foot is in contact with the ground at all times. The athlete's supporting leg must also straighten at the point of ground contact, and the knee must not bend until the body passes directly over it.


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Ballymun aim to rein in Cooper
IT took about 10 minutes for Colm Cooper to decide last year's Kerry county final.
In that period, the Dr Crokes man gathered possession five times. From that, he had a hand in 2-2 and kicked a point himself to leave Dingle's challenge in ruins.
With a three in-a-row secured on a bank holiday weekend, Killarney should have been hopping. It wasn't. Dr Crokes had their eyes on a bigger prize.
And while Saturday's All-Ireland senior club semi-final opponents Ballymun might be looking at ways to stop Cooper, the Kerry side have plenty more besides. Kieran O'Leary and Brian Looney have been in excellent form, running hard lines off Cooper and invariably scoring.
"They have quality all around the field," agreed Ballymun's Derek Byrne (pictured right). "They have three Kerry and two Munster titles, so they are a quality outfit. We have to concentrate on ourselves, there's no point in being caught up with Dr Crokes.
"It's not just the Gooch – though, in fairness to the man himself, he's a super, super footballer. He's one of the best to have played the game."
In terms of experience, Crokes have been around the block while Ballymun are on new ground.
GAA Newsletter
"It's been a massive season. We set out to win Dublin and that's so hard to do. Then we went and won Leinster and it's never been achieved here and we're in the history books in the club," said Byrne.
Crokes are the other side of the coin. They secured a record seventh East Kerry title last year on top of everything else.
Looney, for example, is only 25, but has already lost an All-Ireland club final (in 2007 against Crossmaglen after a replay).
Like Looney, team captain Kieran O'Leary joined the Crokes panel in 2005 and insists they are stronger for some of the defeats they have suffered in recent years.
"We have learned a lot from the defeats in the county finals to South Kerry ('05, '06 and '09) and in 2005 and 2007 in the club championship, because we were young at the time and there were lessons learned from those losses," he said.
"We came back and showed tremendous character. We love training together, we socialise together and I guess we are like a family in that we all grew up together. So, we are stronger for all those defeats and that is why we don't want our winning run to end."
Crossmaglen ended Crokes' interest at the semi-final stage last year and in Ballymun they face a side that have hardly taken a breath since winning their first Dublin championship in 30 years. No fewer than seven of Paul Curran's squad are waiting to join the Dubs when their club commitments end.
"We took a nice break collectively," Byrne said. "We had four weeks off, we started on December 17, 2011 so we were on the road for a full year and we needed a break.
"We came back on the field on January 8 and it was set in place from there on where we were going. We're in a very good place at the moment."
Full-back Philly McMahon will most likely pick up Cooper, but there are other big battles.
Davy Byrne is one of the smaller midfielders around, but he jumps like a flea and, along with James McCarthy, will tackle Johnny Buckley and Ambrose O'Donovan.
Crokes will also have to make allowances for Ted Furman, but the extent Ballymun manage to curb Cooper's influence by will have a huge bearing.
"We've had a game plan all year and it's all about us executing that. It has worked all season," Byrne concluded.
Irish Independent


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Hormonal contraceptives are used successfully by millions of women to prevent pregnancy and treat menstrual-related conditions and acne. For a small group, however, contraception is linked with adverse mood effects, including depression. A recent study[1] took this a step further to focus on the risk for suicide.
Almost half a million Danish women were followed prospectively from age 15, before they began using birth control. In women ages 15-33, hormonal contraceptives were associated with an increased risk for first suicide attempt. The risk peaked after 2 months of contraceptive use and decreased after 1 year.
Adolescent women had the highest relative risks. And use of the patch, vaginal ring, and progestin-only products had a higher risk than oral combined products.


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The origin of this brand dates back to 1848 when the Spaniard Antonio Allones set up his own tobacco business in Havana. Only four decades later, in 1882, he made the registration of a cigar of premium quality and rate, under the extravagant name El Rey del Mundo (King of the World). Success unsurprisingly came overnight and soon the factory was named after the mark, El Rey del Mundo Cigar Co. This brand name is one of the most popular and coveted Habanos among all cigar smokers of the world. All sizes are made with tobacco from the Vuelta Abajo region using the 'totalmente a mano, tripa larga', totally hand made, long filler method.Read more
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My name is Stephen Ross. I'm an award-winning writer, and sometimes a musician, and sometimes a film maker. This website is my "Live" space on the internet; it's my playroom and place to put stuff. Think of it as a living filing cabinet.
My short stories and novelettes have appeared in the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, the Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, several Mystery Writers of America anthologies, and many other magazines, anthologies, and publications. I've been nominated for an Edgar Award (2011, Best Short Story), a Derringer Award (2011, Best Novelette), a Thriller Award (2015, Best Short Story), I was a 2010 Ellery Queen Readers' Award Finalist, and in 2018 I won the Rose Trophy for Best Short Story from the Hibiscus Coast Writers Inc.
I'm a member of the Mystery Writers of America (MWA) and the International Thriller Writers Organization.
Music is my hobby. I started playing the piano when I was 10, and the electric guitar when I was 17. I've been in a bunch of bands (trust me, you would not have heard of any of them). I've written tunes/scores for bands, radio, theater productions and rock musicals, student, experimental and short movies (including my own short story trailers), and a travelogue/documentary (that they used to sell in airports). The logic and language of music is a huge influence on my fiction writing.


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Wadsworth Park Soccer Fields To Be Dedicated To Commissioner Frank Meeker
Flagler Beach, FL – Flagler County will be dedicating the Wadsworth Park soccer fields to the late Commissioner Frank Meeker on Saturday.
Officials will unveil a monument that memorializes his many contributions to the county during a ceremony scheduled to start at 10 AM on January 28, 2017. "Mrs. (Debbie) Meeker chose the date because it's Frank's birthday," Commission Chair Nate McLaughlin said. "He would have been 62, and this is a good way to celebrate the day."
He served as a member of the Board of County Commissioners since 2012 and served as the chairman in 2015. Meeker secured funding for the MalaCompra Basin Water Quality Enhancement Project and helped finalize the Manatee Protection Plan.
He was also a soccer youth coach for over 15 years and had a passion for the environment. "The Wadsworth soccer field was selected for the memorial dedication because Frank spent many hours on this field with the Flagler County Youth Soccer League," McLaughlin said.
The dedication will be held in a garden near the flagpole. Wadsworth Park is located at 200 Moody Blvd in Flagler Beach.
Meeker passed away on July 22, 2016, having battled cancer.
(Frank Meeker, photo courtesy Flagler County)
Photo courtesy CityOfFlaglerBeach.com.
Copyright Southern Stone Communications 2016.


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Now THIS is a great business!
Franjo's Kitchen is the result of three clever friends knocking heads, combining skills and knowledge and filling what really is a super important gap on the mothers market!
Firstly they got to work create nutritious AND delicious "Tanker Toppers" (guess what that means?) for breastfeeding mums of course but an equally yum snack for everyone in the family ! They have since followed up with naturopathically designed "Belly Bump Biscuits" stacked with goodness for pregnant Mums.
With such a strong passion for delicious AND nutritious solutions for families I really think this is only the start of a whole pantry we will see from Franjo's Kitchen in the future!
Imagery courtesy of Franjo's Kitchen
Styling and art direction by Kate Watkinson


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Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Fashion Hactivism
I have been following the work of Otto von Busch, designer, theorist and atctivist. Hew has just completed his PhD entitled Fashion-able, Hactivism and Engaged Fashion Design at the University of Gothenburg.
Through >self_passage< he collaborated with other designers to challenge tradtional fashion design through a series of workshops to produce a series of open source toolkits of a "how to nature" - inspiring people to hack tradtional fashion methods.
His work is provactive and inspires people to actively engage in the fashion cycle to take ownership. By making things our own - we can create new ways to produce, consumer and adorn fashion. I find his work empowering and his approach challeneges us to re-evaluate fashion and find ways to relate to our clothing at a time when we are becoming disassoicated and things convey less value.
I love his newly coined terms of Craftivism (craft meets political activism), Shopdropping (the art of reverse shoplifting), or Swap-o-Rama-Rama workshops.
His thesis and toolkits are available to download via www.selfpassage.org/
Posted by Jen Ballie at 12:28
Labels: CO-DESIGN, DIGITAL CRAFTING, Posted by Jen
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On Sunday night, photographer Steph Catsoulis shot the show, and here are her notes.
On Sunday, Adan Jodorowsky made his first appearance in New Orleans at Gasa Gasa. The French-Mexican guitarist and son of film director Alejandro Jodorowsky topped a bill that also included Julie Odell and Tasche and the Psychedelic Roses. Photographer Steph Catsoulis was there to shoot in the artists in the venue's low-light situation, which sometimes allows beautifully intimate photos. Here's her take on the night:
Tasche De La Rocha hit the stage with gold dust on her lips and eyes, and her charisma and the bond between her and the Psychedelic Roses drew the crowd to the front of the stage. Some came to dance, while others were clearly struck by her hypnotic, gravely voice. The backing singers' voices were as idiosyncratic and haunting as hers, and the vibe between them, the band members and the audience brought the room together.
Jodorowsky was the reason for the show, but a lot of the crowd was clearly there for De La Rocha and Julie Odell, whose raw emotion and vitality captured the room as soon as she stepped onstage. Her songs felt loose, almost improvised, but her musical relationship with her drummer made it clear that they weren't. That improvised feel and the occasional shows of vocal power gave her set emotional and musical immediacy.
Jodorowsky began his performing career as Adanowsky, and even though he sings in Spanish, with a little coaching he got the audience to sing along. The show was clearly a performance down to comedic moments with the band including one where everybody froze in place. That theatricality played nicely with looser moments, including one when he brought a couple onstage to dance with him. With Gasa Gasa's low stage, stage/audience divisions often feel artificial. He addressed it by letting fans cross it, and the night was better for it.
On the marquee, the Latin Jodorowsky seemed like an awkward fit with two female New Orleans singers, but on stage, the night's through-line was clear. Folk music was at everybody's core. Jorodowsky's vocals were often hushed, but that leant them the same intimacy that Odell and De La Rocha achieved in other ways.


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- Page 1 Pentax Optio P80 Review
- Page 2 Pentax Optio P80 Review
- Page 3 Pentax Optio P80 Review
- Page 4 Features Table Review
- Page 5 Test Shots – ISO Performance Review
- Page 6 Test Shots – Detail and Lens Performance Review
- Page 7 Test Shots – Exposure Evaluation Review
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Since Pentax merged with the Hoya Corporation in 2007 there have been persistent rumours that the company's Optio range of digital compact cameras would be cancelled, freeing resources for the development of its much more profitable digital SLR range. However these rumours seem to be unfounded, at least so far, because new Optio models continue to appear, such as this Optio P80, a stylish 12-megapixel ultra compact with a 4x zoom wide-angle lens.
There may be some evidence that compact camera development isn't as high a priority as it used to be though, because the P80 is virtually identical to the Optio P70, launched earlier this year. The only real upgrades are the video recording mode, increasing the frame rate of the 1280 x 720 mode from 15 to 30fps, and an improvement to the face detection/recognition function, which can now detect up to 32 faces, and do so more quickly.
All of the camera's other features remain unchanged, including the 12.1-megapixel CCD sensor, the 4x zoom wide-angle lens (equivalent to 27.5 – 110mm) and the 2.7-inch 230k monitor. The body is also identical to that of the P70. The P80 is a very slim and compact camera by any standard, measuring 97 x 54 x 21.5mm, and tipping the scales at an ultra-light 120g including battery and memory card. The body is all aluminium, and is available in either silver, metallic green or the attractive gloss black finish shown here. The build quality is as good as ever, but like the P70 the round-ended shape is hard to grip securely especially with sweaty fingers.
Unlike other sites, we thoroughly test every product we review. We use industry standard tests in order to compare features properly. We'll always tell you what we find. We never, ever accept money to review a product. Tell us what you think - send your emails to the Editor.


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I drew these girls for this month's Horoscope page in Vogue Girl Korea. They're wearing SS'11 Christopher Kane of course (and I scanned in the lace before anyone asks, I like details but I'm not some kind of martyr!).
I drew these girls for this month's Horoscope page in Vogue Girl Korea. They're wearing SS'11 Christopher Kane of course (and I scanned in the lace before anyone asks, I like details but I'm not some kind of martyr!).
Oh man, I think I'd buy Vogue Girl Korea just because of this page.
It's seriously such a good magazine (obviously I can't read it, but you know, pictures!) and HUGE. It's like an inch thick! Not gonna lie, one of the best things about doing editorial jobs is getting magazines sent to me.
& thank you! xx
you are too awesome… well done girlfriend :)
What a darling illustration – I'm jealous of their dresses!
lovely! i'm curious about your work with a korean magazine, did they find you work and contact you or did you approach them in english? is the language barrier an issue?
thank you!
They contacted me and language hasn't been too much of an issue actually. Everyone that I've dealt with via email has had pretty great English! But sometimes it's just a case of making sure that everyone is on the same page and asking a million questions before I get started. x
The girl on the right has my hair (as well as my very round face)!
Loves it.
Wow, what a beautiful drawing! Love the shade of pink and the texture of the lace…must be so cool seeing your work in print!
Really cute! Love that color pink and all the texture you added.
I just realized you like Nancy Mitford? I read The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters when it came out years ago and was completely intrigued! I haven't read any of Nancy's books yet. Have you? Any recommendations?
ha, glad to hear you're not a martyr! :)
These are beyond cute, in fact, cute enough to make me want to read horoscopes.
that's realy beautiful
girls in pink are cuties
Why do you draw European-American looking girls for a South Korean audience? Don't you think it would be more culturally sensitive to draw Korean-looking girls?
I really don't know how to respond to this! I drew what I was commissioned to draw (by Vogue Girl Korea) and the (Korean) commissioning editor was happy with it. I don't think it's really my place to dictate how Korean my drawing should look, to them!
How would I make them look more "Korean" anyway? Give them dark hair?! I think it's a bit harsh to call me culturally insensitive though…
Also logistically speaking, I'm hired by clients on the strength of work I've done in the past and there is a certain expectation that what I draw for them looks how they expect it to.
I hope that answers your question.
Kris x
Copyright © 2013 Kris Atomic | Use of Cookies


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The Story About Instagram Stories – Desperate Times, Desperate Measures?
Well… This is a surprise. After spending three years trying to buy and create a more successful clone of Snapchat, Instagram (and by extension, Facebook) have shamelessly ripped off Snapchat Stories with an identical feature named "Instagram Stories."
So let's start with that elephant in the room – it's essentially a carbon copy of the Stories concept, from the destructible posts to the continuous playlist of your friends' snaps.
Hell, even Instagram's CEO, Kevin Systrom, said that the ghostly social network "deserve all the credit," in a surprisingly frank comment to TechCrunch. After that, he went on to defend the move in a lot of exposition about how no tech company in Silicon Valley is the first to make anything, but the clear admission is there.
Facebook just made the biggest competitive move against Snapchat through Instagram.
Now let's not forget this battle has been going on for a while, starting with the rejection of a $3 billion all-cash offer from Facebook.
Ever since then, Facebook has tried hard to create a Snapchat-killing clone. First there was Poke, then we had Slingshot, and finally there was Bolt. All of these, which progressively were built to be more and more identical to Snapchat, failed miserably.
You could class this as their hail Mary – Facebook/Instagram have literally copied the story feature.
So why did they copy it?
Simple, Snapchat is massive. The user base and time spent on the app is rapidly increasing, and Facebook/Instagram want a piece of that pie.
Facebook's user base is getting older, and younger audience sign ups have been heavily reported to be on a downward spiral. Instagram doesn't have this problem, but the increasing quality of photography has put a certainly higher psychological bar on the question "what makes a good picture?"
So with a lack of connection to younger people, or Instagram users who don't want to share anything, something needed to be done.
Should Snapchat be worried?
In one word – no. In two words – hell no. But since you've come here for more detail, allow me to divulge.
Yes, Instagram have shamelessly stolen Stories here. But IG have taken the function and made it simple for the masses.
Snapchat's common problem has been its confusing interface – millennials have taken to this learning curve, this UI gamification of sorts, like wildfire. Whereas adults have scratched their heads and frequently complain about not knowing how to use the service.
Instagram replaces swipes for taps, and symbolic buttons for clear labels. It's a Snapchat that's accessible to older people, and that's the exact reason why Snapchat should not be worried.
It's still a microcosm of millennial conversation.
So what does this mean for the future?
Look, I'm sat here ranting about this shameless rip off, which has been done out of desperation because Snapchat has begun eating into Instagram's influence. But chances are you're going to still use it, and I'm still going to use it.
Immediately, I see people are using it to either exactly like Snapchat or to promote their own Snapchat. With that shadow hanging over it, Stories won't be used any differently to what people are used to.
Maybe it will get its own personality in the future – turning into a conversation tool more than a broadcasting medium. Maybe Facebook's recent purchase of live filter and face swap company MSQRD will be implemented. Differing audience tastes will ultimately impact the type of content people post, meaning they may end up using this same story feature just like Instagram.
Whatever happens, it's clear to see this is a bit of a dick move on Instagram's party; but one I'm not surprised to see given Facebook's previous track record. Guess we'll wait and see what happens.


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Anamorphic Zombieon May 20, 2014 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: News
Here is a doodle I did of a zombie breaking through a fence. I hand drew it and then colored it digitally in Manga Studio.
The next Smithee page is going to take longer than this week to do I expect, it being tuesday already. So I thought I'd throw you all a bone till next week.