text:
Username or email address *
Password *
Remember Me
Log in
New client Register ?
Yummy fudge in Gillian's characterful and useful Tartan Coo tin! A delicious treat which makes a fantastic Scottish gift. What will you do with the tin once the fudge has gone?
See the rest of the Tartan Animals range here.
Out of stock
A square tin with removable lid, decorated with Gillian's Tartan Coo design in sky- blue, black and white. Filled with delicious pieces of individually wrapped fudge.
Measures 12.5 x 12.5 x 6.5 cms. See the rest of the Tartan Animals range here.
£22.00 £17.60
Only 1 left in stock
Only 4 left in stock
In stock
Only 2 left in stock
© Gillian Kyle 2019


text:
City of Punta Gorda, FLHome Menu
Quick Links
Calendar Meeting List
"Finish Your Book" with James Abraham
- Date: 09/24/2019 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
- Location: PGI Civic Association
2001 Shreve St
Punta Gorda, Florida 33950
Return to full list >>
Writer, editor, literary critic, columnist and owner of Book-Broker Publishers in Punta Gorda, James Abraham presents a four-class writing series "Finish Your Book". If you have begun the adventure of writing a book, or if this is something you have always wanted to do, this is an opportunity to explore some of the key elements of making your project successful. $80 for the entire series. Call the PGICA office 941-637-1655 for more information and reservation.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Moderator: GnATTERbox Moderators
Grum wrote:Last week I did a full track test on Longstone, ......there were a few problems of course, damn and blast!
A couple of bits of track were laid badly, two bad baseboard joints, the bogie coach was under gauge and kept shorting on the frogs, a Kadee undertrack un-coupler kept uncoupling - I doubted that it would work well where I put it anyway!....and I decided that the track power electrics were too complicated. So all had to be remedied.
Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot] and 24 guests


text:
Brian Burnett has signed mortgage documents using the job titles listed below during the approximate same period of time. All of these were notarized in Travis County, Texas, where IndyMac Mortgage Services is located. IndyMac Mortgage Services is now a division of One West Bank.
A certified signer for Mortgage electronic Registration Systems, Inc. was authorized to sign on behalf of the affiliated mortgage entity that employed him. Burnett, for example, would have been authorized to sign as an officer of MERS, as nominee for IndyMac Bank.
MERS signers were never authorized to sign on behalf of all other lenders.
[ipaper docId=53758521 access_key=key-vakbq9sniymd894p23c height=600 width=600 /]


text: Imagine if everything you knew was a lie. And those close to you were not what they seemed. How far would you go to seek the truth? To what extremes would you keep a secret? And what lines would you cross to expose corruption? After a devastating war, a group of survivors must come together to search where no one has gone before, and uncover a 4 billion year old mystery that could lead to insights into the answers we have has sought since the dawn of mankind. This december catch the voyages of the starship Swiftwind as she embarks on a clandestine journey of discovery, revelation, enlightenment and deceit, whilst trying to prevent a deadly web of interstellar war unfolding as an ancient insidious enemy returns to control the galaxy. This is an animated 5 season story with 10 x 20 minutes episodes per season. It has an overall story arc that will tie in the pilot and finale along with many episodes going back to previous story threads. It is going to be a bit different from the watered down family network shows(which I enjoyed- but wanted something a bit grittier). It will be darker than DS9 at times. It will explore the issues Voyager tackled (but then reset the button half way through the first season) and explore 2 different opposing crews working together. But it's not going to go down the lines of some cable shows with shock tactics to grab viewers. I believe the story is solid enough and there will be entertaining and interesting plot twists and eye openers. The characters will also be explored, a little delving into their pasts.And also some strong emotional confrontation as they interact with each other; expect mutiny and power play. This may sound a lot different from the traditional format of Trek series, but I assure you it is still set in Gene's vision of the future whilst tackling the aspects DS9 opened up with the darker side of paradise. I don't want to watch anything that doesn't seem very Trekkian- is that a word? And I wouldn't expect any trekkies to either. Well there's as much as I want to say about the show so far. I have 9 main characters I need to be played by people with a) a good voice and acting, and b) a good mic for recording. Characters- Admiral Karmali Vrashan- A 54 year old highly driven, authoritative and devious Andorian woman with a lighter humorous side. She is deeply involved with Section31 and is keeping something from the crew. Captain Henry Blixx is a 28 year old human. He's a consummate professional embroiled in a dark secret past he has yet to come to terms with. Captain Inula Phwaana, a 38 year old Betazoid. A lonely broken down bitter woman who suffered betrayal at the hands of her superiors, until a dangerous crusade gives her a new zest for life again. Lt. Frayda A happy 21 year old Benzite woman ahead of her game, friendly and too trusting. Lieutenant Cara/Sito Jaxxa, a 24 year old Bajron woman who has had to hide her identity for several years after a bitter introduction to Section31. She is extremely driven and feels a need to constantly prove herself. P'rin, a 26 year old Ferengi stowaway. She is a greedy, narcissistic, untrustworthy but brilliant engineer with a very sharp tongue. Lt. Kal-Del- Miradorn - 26 A mercenary recruited by Starfleet to spy on his government after they signed a non aggression pact with the Dominion. He is cold, calculated and dangerous, but has a big heart for his close friends. Lt. Digits, the surviving half of a pair of Bynars engineers. He is a passive aggressive personality not at all comfortable with being without his mate. Lt.Commander Allan Thresher, a 44 year old human mixed Chinese/Australian. He's a devious and cunning man with a hidden agenda. He is an excellent officer and prepared to do the dirty work when needed. He bears a grudge at being passed up for promotion of the Swiftwind. He knows more about the mission than he let's on Ensign Samantha Kudril, a 22 year old Indian born human. She is a keen and brilliant scientist. A little overwhelmed by the sudden change in her life and very opinionated when under stress. Doctor Drexyl, a 102 year old Temporian. An exotic non humanoid member of the reclusive ground based Federation planet Tempus. He is forced away from his planet and into space after being blackmailed. Well thats the crew. If anyone wants to audition for this show please email me at caithlindar @ rocketmail dot com and I will send some lines to be read. Thanks for reading. This was formerly under the working title Star Trek: Ascension in case anyone remmebers me asking for help a few months back.


text:
Enter to win a 4-pack of tickets to see…
First Annual Hilltown Bluegrass Festival
Three Sisters Sanctuary in Goshen
Sunday, June 10th from 2-7pm
The First Annual Hilltown Bluegrass Festival will take place at the Three Sisters Sanctuary in Goshen, MA on Sunday, June 10, 2012 from 2-7pm… and Hilltown Families has a 4-pack of ticket to giveaway to one lucky family!
Win the tickets and take your family and friends to a fun new music festival in the Hilltowns! Deadline to enter to win is Friday, 06/08/12 @ 7pm (EST). Details below.
The festival is a fundraiser to benefit the Hilltown Community Development Corporation (CDC). It will feature live bluegrass and old-time music by New England bands. Headlining the festival is Western Mass-based 'Appalachian Still', a bluegrass and old-time band formed in 2005. While rooted in bluegrass and old-time traditions, Appalachian Still draws significant influence from classic rock, blues, folk, and country. They have two albums to their credit, "Lost and Found" released in 2007 and "Feelin' Alive" in 2010. Joining Appalachian Still is 'Acoustic Brew', playing what they affectionately refer to as "Brewgrass – a bluegrass-infused blend of original compositions, traditional songs, and old school country and blues, generously seasoned with covers of classic tunes from bands like the Grateful Dead, Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, The Band, Fred Eaglesmith and more." Also joining the line-up are bands Sweetheart Mountain and Rocky Hill.
Your chance to win a 4-pack of tickets to the First Annual Hilltown Bluegrass Festival at the Three Sisters Sanctuary in Goshen, MA on Sunday, June 10th from 2-7pm is as easy as 1-2-3 (4)!
To enter to win simply:
- CONSIDER SHARING ON FACEBOOK by selecting the Facebook icon below;
- TELL US HOW HILLTOWN FAMILIES HAS CONNECTED YOU TO THE HILLTOWNS OVER THE YEARS below (one entry per household); and be sure to tell us your
- FULL NAME and where you
- LIVE (TOWN/STATE), Must include your town to be eligible.
- ACCURATE EMAIL IN THE EMAIL FIELD BELOW (we never share your email address with a third party).
- We'll randomly draw a winner and will share the results below.
IT'S THAT SIMPLE! — Deadline is Friday, 06/08/12 @ 7pm (EST)
Tickets for the show are $15 per person with kids 12 and under free. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.appalachianstill.com. The Three Sisters Sanctuary is an outdoor event space located at 188 Cape Street, Route 112, in Goshen.


text:
Reagent DX
For reducing foaming of lysis buffers during sample disruption and homogenization
Reagent DX is used to prevent foaming of samples during mechanical disruption while using the QIAamp UCP Pathogen Mini Kit, RNeasy Plus Mini Kit, RNeasy Plus Micro Kit, AllPrep DNA/RNA Mini Kit, and AllPrep DNA/RNA Micro Kit. Reagent DX has been carefully tested with the RNeasy Plus Mini Kit and RNeasy Plus Micro Kit, and has been shown to have no effect on RNA purity or on downstream applications.
Buy Products
Product Resources
fragment fix placeholder
Customers who bought these products also bought


text:
Where to go
All visits to Sri Lanka currently begin at the international airport just outside Colombo, the island's capital and far and away its largest city – a sprawling metropolis whose contrasting districts offer an absorbing introduction to Sri Lanka's myriad cultures and multi-layered history. Many visitors head straight for one of the west coast's beaches, whose innumerable resort hotels still power the country's tourist industry. Destinations include the package holiday resorts of Negombo and Beruwala, the more stylish Bentota, and the old hippy hangout of Hikkaduwa. More unspoilt countryside can be found north of Colombo at the Kalpitiya peninsula and in the vast Wilpattu National Park nearby, home to leopards, elephants and sloth bears.
Beyond Hikkaduwa, the south coast is significantly less developed. Gateway to the region is the marvellous old Dutch city of Galle, Sri Lanka's finest colonial town, beyond which lie a string of fine beaches including the ever-expanding village of Unawatuna and the quieter stretches of coast at Weligama, Mirissa and Tangalla, as well as the lively provincial capital of Matara, boasting further Dutch remains. East of here, Tissamaharama serves as a convenient base for the outstanding Yala and Bundala national parks, and for the fascinating temple town of Kataragama.
Inland from Colombo rise the verdant highlands of the hill country, enveloped in the tea plantations (first introduced by the British) which still play a vital role in the island's economy. The symbolic heart of the region is Kandy, Sri Lanka's second city and the cultural capital of the Sinhalese, its colourful traditions embodied by the famous Temple of the Tooth and the magnificent Esala Perahera, Sri Lanka's most colourful festival. South of here, close to the highest point of the island, lies the old British town of Nuwara Eliya, centre of the country's tea industry and a convenient base for visits to the spectacular Horton Plains National Park. A string of towns and villages – Ella, Haputale and Bandarawela – along the southern edge of the hill country offer an appealing mixture of magnificent views, wonderful walks and olde-worlde British colonial charm. Close to the hill country's southwestern edge, the soaring summit of Adam's Peak is another of the island's major pilgrimage sites, while the gem-mining centre of Ratnapura to the south serves as the best starting point for visits to the elephant-rich Uda Walawe National Park and the rare tropical rainforest of Sinharaja.
North of Kandy, the hill country tumbles down into the arid plains of the northern dry zone. This area, known as the Cultural Triangle, was the location of Sri Lanka's first great civilization, and its extraordinary scatter of ruined palaces, temples and dagobas still give a compelling sense of this glorious past. Foremost amongst these are the fascinating ruined cities of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, the marvellous cave temples of Dambulla, the hilltop shrines and dagobas of Mihintale and the extraordinary rock citadel of Sigiriya.
Gateway to the east is the characterful, if war-torn, city of Trincomalee. The east's huge swathe of pristine coastline itself remains almost completely undeveloped, save for the sleepy villages of Nilaveli and Uppuveli, just north of Trinco, and the surfing centre of Arugam Bay, at the east coast's southern end, although the construction of a huge new resort at Passekudah is likely to change that. Even less visited, the north is slowly emerging after years of civil war; increasing numbers of visitors are making the long journey to the absorbing city of Jaffna, while a side-trip to remote Mannar, closer to India than Colombo, is another adventurous possibility.
Book through Rough Guides' trusted travel partners
Explore Sri Lanka
Your comprehensive guide to Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka features
The latest articles, galleries, quizzes and videos.


text:
'high quality battery'
'The CEZAI998 phone system from Uniden offers a lot of versatility and is extremely well suited for people with visual and/or hearing impairments.'
'range is average'
'Add up to eight additional handsets (sold separately) to this phone for extra convenience in your home or office.'
ReviewGist helps you find the best products to buy by making sense of online reviews.
We are currently aggregating 376,500 reviews
covering over 29,474 products.
© 2020 ReviewGist.com. All Rights Reserved.


text:
Your Favorites
To our customers,
I hope this message finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy.
At the center of our company's purpose is a commitment to "protect and beautify the world." Today, the word "protect" is taking on an even greater significance to all of us. We are focused on protecting our people and our customers. As One PPG family, we will continue to work with our community partners to provide support and deploy resources wherever possible, most recently donating a supply of 80,000 masks to hospitals in need.
In late March, we informed you of the temporary closure of the front doors of all US store locations to protect our team and minimize the spread of the virus. As the number of coronavirus cases across the US continues to rise, in order to do our due diligence in limiting the number of employees traveling to physical work locations, we will temporarily close 178 stores across the US. We are pleased to support our employees impacted by these closures with extended paid time off to bridge to unemployment benefits.
In making decisions regarding store closures, we ensured continued coverage across all regions and remain confident in our ability to service you. We are actively awaiting your next contactless pick-up or delivery order from your nearest open store location. Call-ahead orders are greatly encouraged. Contact your designated local representative or your nearest open PPG Paints store which you can locate here.
For pick-ups, upon arrival at the store, please call the phone number listed on the front door flyer. The in-store team will be happy to facilitate a contactless pick-up by loading your order into your vehicle. Where operations are continuing, store hours will remain the same for order pick-ups only (no store entrance permitted).
I encourage you to continue to work with our team of representatives to take advantage of live virtual meeting options and training on products and services that can help your business not only manage through these unprecedented times but excel.
We understand the essential role our products play in a wide range of important industries during this pandemic, and we are honored and proud to partner with our customers to create the products that people count on. Our paints, coatings and specialty materials help create life-critical products in health care, hospitals, defense, food and beverage, hygiene, agriculture, energy, public works, and information technology systems, as well as many others.
Like you, we are hopeful that, sooner rather than later, the worst will be behind us and we can begin to collectively focus on a brighter future. Thank you for your continued partnership and trust in PPG.
Vinny O'Sullivan
General Manager, US Trade


text: Hannam's | FINE ART AUCTION | 27TH APRIL | SALE HIGHLIGHTS HOME NEXT AUCTION SALE HIGHLIGHTS CATEGORIES Buying at Hannam's Selling at Hannam's Valuations About Us Contact August 17th, 18th & 19th Auction - Entries Now Closed. FINE ART AUCTION | 27TH APRIL | SALE HIGHLIGHTS Back to Sale Highlights Clocks English & Continental Ceramics ©2014 Hannam's Auctioneers. All rights reserved. PARTICULARS OF OWNERSHIP OF Hannams Auctioneers Limited Directors Peter Hannam, Harry Hannam Address at which documents relating to the business may effectively be served: 4 The High Street, Alton, Hampshire, UK, GU34 1BU Home Next Auction Sales Highlight Specialist Areas Buying At Hannam's Selling At Hannam's Valuations About Hannam's Contact Us Connect With Hannam's Get the newsletter: Live Auctions at: Bespoke web design by:


text:
Horrors: How George Garrett met his Space Monster
Renowned author and educator George Garrett has helped put Charlottesville on the literary map. Over his 50-year career, this esteemed UVA professor has published 30 books and launched countless young careers. But unlike the kudos his many accomplishments have garnered, a project he launched on celluloid earned him catcalls, bad reviews, and perhaps even a few rotten vegetables.
Of his malformed cinematic brainchild, Garrett is not afraid to reminisce. Unashamedly.
At his home just off Rugby Road near the University, Garrett reads a review of the opus in question, Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster.
The high-handed reviewer dissects the film as if it had been made for thinking adults and not for its intended audience: the teen drive-in crowd of the '60s. As Garrett reads the critic's stolid synopsis of his creation, he laughs in relief that someone could make heads or tails of the plot. He sure can't.
Speaking of critics, FMSM's abysmal reputation has only grown sourer with age. Actor Bruce Glover, one of the film's pointy-eared aliens, claimed that FMSM was "much worse" than Plan 9 From Outer Space, Edward D. Wood's 1959 yardstick for all lousy cinema that followed.
Virginia Film Festival chief Richard Herskowitz admits, "I'm ashamed to say it, but my film experience contains several embarrassing gaps, such as never having seen D. W. Griffith's Intolerance or Garrett's Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster." Perhaps screenwriter Ed Naha summed FMSM up most eloquently in his Horrors: From Screen to Scream, when he simply called it "the pits."
"The big gross-out"
Directed by Robert Gaffney, FMSM tells the touching story of Martians, clad in what resemble souped-up beekeepers' outfits, on a mission to kidnap beach bunnies for procreative purposes. Led by the nefarious Princess Marcuzan and her aptly named dwarf assistant Nadir, the invaders deploy the terrifying Mull Monster, a gigantic, mangy, obese sort of buzzard with antennae. Earth's only hope is android astronaut Frank Saunders, scarred by Martian space rays, who is pitted in stirring galactic combat against the monster. Or something.
FMSM's camp status was assured by the time Dan Aykroyd heckled clips from it in the 1982 documentary/comedy It Came From Hollywood. And from the moment he became involved, Garrett swears he was aware of FMSM 's inherent absurdity.
"There's a big scene," begins Garrett. "Written, it sounded pretty good. They're having a press conference, and he loses [his scalp], the fake astronaut. They back him out of the room, he's 'not feeling very well,' they get the press away, and they peel off the top of his head– the big gross-out– and it's full of old-fashioned radio tubes, those big glass ones!"
Other FMSM props included plastic Wham-O air pistols as Martian ray guns, the roof of a hot dog stand doing duty as the Martian ship, and a radio tuning knob visible within the robotic astronaut's damaged face.
How did the upstanding Garrett– now Virginia's Poet Laureate– get swept into this sinkhole of cinematic depravity?
Friend o' Sam
It all began during Garrett's brief tenure in early 1960s Hollywood, writing scripts for producer and UVA graduate Sam Goldwyn Jr. Although one of these, The Young Lovers (1960), starring Peter Fonda, actually got produced, Garrett concedes that his Hollywood career wasn't exactly peaking on the scale of a Fitzgerald or Faulkner. He found another patron.
"I ran into a guy I had known in college, who had gotten into the film business and was a cameraman... and a very good one," deadpans Garrett. That friend, Richard Hilliard, had made some short films– a rarity in those blissful, pre-film-school days– and was ready to progress to features. Together, Hilliard and Garrett crafted the full-length, black and white The Playground (1965), an odd meditation on death that's now virtually forgotten.
"When we put The Playground together," says Garrett, "Hilliard said, 'If you'd ever like to work on a Frankenstein picture or a horror picture of any kind, I know some guys that you'd be really interested in working for.' The more I thought about it, the funnier I thought the idea was."
Enter Tenney and Iselin
Still out in L.A., Garrett got in touch with the duo who would pave the way for FMSM: Del Tenney, a third-rate horror film director, and Alan V. Iselin. Tenney operated a string of upstate New York drive-in theaters. The two had been partners for nearly a decade and had developed a cyclical system of making two drive-in movies each year on miniscule budgets.
"I took a guy from Goldwyn Studios, who got to be a friend," says Garrett. "Everyone said he could look at a movie and, in the first two minutes, tell you exactly what it cost to within a nickel." Garrett's friend pegged a Tenney and Iselin flick at $400,000 minimum. "It had been made," chuckles Garrett, "for $25,000."
Garrett reveals the secrets of the low-budget filmmakers: "It was full of stock footage and the families of these guys were drafted to play parts."
Their cheapjack corner-cutting, necessary in the unsavory low-budget film world, gave Garrett the impression that the creditors were lining up to collect. Tenney couldn't be reached for comment.
Whatever their reasons, Garrett notes that the pair relied on their unusual communication system with artistic collaborators: audio tapes, mailed to a New York post office box.
Even as unpopular as they were, 1964 was a banner year for the two drive-in hucksters and for Garrett's chum.
"My friend, as cameraman, had just finished doing two pictures for them," said Garrett. "It was a package: The Curse of the Living Corpse and The Horror of Party Beach. The Horror of Party Beach has no story at all, but my friend talked them into going ahead and shooting it so he could get paid. And it's very nicely shot, splendidly photographed."
When shooting of their chintzy films was finished, the producers sold them to a distributor as a package for drive-ins– or "passion pits" as they were often called. The double feature became a huge success, the films' lackluster mise en scene notwithstanding.
"They were reliable people who produced adequate product for the drive-in trade," explains Garrett. "Nobody watched the pictures anyhow. It was all teenagers eating popcorn or each other or whatever."
In fact, Garrett claims, it was a novelty that FMSM was scripted at all. For most Tenney and Iselin productions, "They would just talk about it over dinner and then shoot."
However, they did initially hire Garrett and some friends to script it. Sadly, Tenney and Iselin soon split up and sold their various script properties. The FMSM project hung in jeopardy. Egads!
One of the FMSM script buyers was Charles Schulz, producer of the then-popular Omnibus TV series. Schulz cast his wife, actress Nancy Marshall, as FMSM's leading lady, a move Garrett says was "intended to advance her acting career, which was a disaster. I guess they blamed me for the fact that she didn't have one," he laughs, "but she went on to do good social work, as I understand."
Mary Shelley in the 20th Century
Writing FMSM, as Garrett describes it, was a kind of freewheeling, "stag" reenactment of the 1816 weekend during which Mary Shelley conjured up her own Frankenstein, with Charlottesville standing in for Switzerland.
Gathered around Garrett's kitchen table to compose the script were Garrett, then teaching at UVA; Richard H. W. Dillard, who received his Master's from UVA in that summer of '64; and John Rodenbeck, a recent retiree from the American University in Cairo.
Rodenbeck had quite an effect on the literary world, Garrett says. "He sort of discovered and arranged to have translated into English the Arabic writer [Naguib] Mahfouz, who subsequently got the Nobel Prize when someone could read something he had written."
Furthermore, poet Henry Taylor, now director of the MFA program at American University in Washington, would drop by occasionally. "He'd have a drink and watch us type and make a suggestion," Garrett says. Richard Dillard later married Annie Doak, who won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize as Annie Dillard.
Quite an undertaking for three dignified men of letters. But they were hardly the only people honing their craft for the drive-in crowd around that time. It's common knowledge that director Martin Scorsese's first widely seen film was American International Pictures' Boxcar Bertha (1972), and Jack Nicholson's first leading role was as The Cry-Baby Killer (1958). Francis Ford Coppola's directorial bow was with Dementia 13 (1963).
And Del Tenney's Curse of the Living Corpse, which Garrett mentioned earlier? It featured an early appearance by a young actor named Roy Scheider.
While almost everyone in the movie industry has his or her own personal Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster, history almost lost the real thing. When the three writers submitted their initial FMSM script, it was politely, but promptly, rejected.
"We got carried away with comedy," Garrett says. "So the first version of the script was just a slapstick comedy. Immediately, back came a tape from Alan and Del saying, 'This is very funny. Me and Alan laughed our asses off. It's a wonderful script, but we can't use this. We're in the horror business, not the humor business! You got it? You gotta go back and make it a horror picture.'
"So we said, 'Okay, we can turn it easily into a horror film.' Which we did, but we were still in a comic mode, sort of. The world wasn't quite ready for a comic Frankenstein. Young Frankenstein hadn't been done yet," he explains.
A full decade before Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, the three had written a scene presaging Brooks' famous "Puttin' on the Ritz" sequence. In the script, their "Frankenstein Monster" is sewn together from the parts of various donors, including the legs of a tap dancer. After he comes to life, their creature does a soft-shoe to "Sweet Georgia Brown."
The trio began their rewrites with more instructions: Their 'Frankenstein' had to deal with the Space Program. Lucky for them, working as they were with a $25,000 budget, they'd won some key permissions and footage from NASA.
And although the producers hoped to wrangle some Florida locations, the closest they came was Puerto Rico, where they managed a "product placement" deal of sorts with the government. By including a lengthy motorcycle travelogue through Puerto Rico, the producers were allowed extensive use of Puerto Rican locations. "We were hustling the whole nation of Puerto Rico," laughs Garrett.
As they wrote, Garrett, Dillard, and Rodenbeck saturated their script with in-jokes relating to UVA and Charlottesville.
"There was a girl here," Garrett says, "a graduate student named Marcus Ann Morrison: 'Princess Marcuzan.'" They also knew an assistant professor in the English department named Donald Mull, "a very elegant guy who wrote a book about Henry James. And he also loved movies, so we decided to make him the monster. So the monster is called 'Mull' with no explanation of where he got this name! The commander of the American military forces is named 'General Fred Bowers' after the chairman of the English department here, whose name was Fredson Bowers."
The screenwriters tipped their hats to the literati in the audience when naming their lead female character, a nurse, Karen Blixen. That's the real name of Isak Dinesen, author of Out of Africa. "But nobody noticed that when they showed it at UVA," dryly observes Garrett.
The producers approved of the second version. "They paid us whatever we got, which was about $100 apiece, and that's the last we saw of it until it hit theaters," he says. The entire scriptwriting process took "two weekends!" Garrett remembers. "We actually did it in one, but we took the wrong approach, so we went back and took another weekend. On the other hand, that was one of the very few scripts that they had ever had. They were delighted to have this script and sold it."
Up on the roof
After the film was finished, Garrett insisted on meeting Tenney and Iselin. As he was soon to discover, reaching his former employers was an intricate operation. The search eventually led him to "The Deuce," Manhattan's 42nd Street, then the scuzzy hub of America's exploitation film industry.
"They gave you the name of a theater," Garrett recalls. "You went and you bought a ticket. When you handed your ticket to the usher, you were told to ask for Joseph the janitor. He will point you to a stairway, which was a ladder, actually, like a fire escape."
Garrett says he climbed the ladder and found a series of offices "like a set from a movie" with frosted-glass windows bearing bogus names.
"Theirs had some kind of cement company, like 'New York Cement.' So I go in there, and they're peeping around to see that it's not a creditor or something," he says.
The big double-bill
According to actor James Karen in a Fangoria magazine interview, FMSM was shot in black and white by director Robert Gaffney over two weeks in November 1964 at a Long Island studio and in Puerto Rico. It clocked in at a typical low-budget running time of 82 minutes.
During its theatrical run, audience members were supplied with "space shield eye protectors" as defense against the allegedly deadly "alien radiation" emanating from the screen. The eye protectors were basically 3-D glasses, without the benefit of 3-D.
"It does f*** up your vision," cracks Garrett. "People think they've been drinking something. Half the stuff looks purple through those things."
The distributor, Allied Artists, originally put FMSM on a double-bill with the now forgotten Curse of the Voodoo, but it soon found higher-end company when the multi-million dollar Natalie Wood vehicle Inside Daisy Clover (1965) began bombing. Warner Brothers madly dashed to flush it away by pairing it with some other movie: any other movie. The lucky candidate plucked from drive-in obscurity was FMSM.
Some reviewers have left-handed praise for FMSM. In his Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film, Mike Weldon enthuses in his finest telegrammatical prose, "Don't miss. It's the worst." Fangoria magazine's video critic opines that FMSM "has as much to do with Mary Shelley as the Pillsbury Doughboy does," but notes that it "remains a minor legend in the annals of bad moviemaking."
FMSM played as Duel of the Space Monsters in England, and as Mars Invades Puerto Rico in Spanish-speaking countries. For those curious to actually witness FMSM, it was released on tape by Prism Video in the '80s.
Nearly four decades after the production of FMSM, Del Tenney is still at it, faithfully churning out B-grade horror filler. Of FMSM's cast, Bruce Glover and James Karen have had successful careers as character actors in movies like Chinatown (1974) and Poltergeist (1982) respectively. Richard Dillard became the chair of Hollins College's creative writing program.
George Garrett, as previously mentioned, graduated to a much grander calling. His brief drive-in screenwriting career faded softly away long before even the drive-ins themselves have almost become extinct. For that particular career move, he, UVA, and moviegoers everywhere can be eternally grateful.
Justin Humphreys has been published in several film magazines including Filmfax and Psychotronic Video, and he has a contract to write a biography of the late animator George Pal.


text:
SEO Biz is an attractive smooth business site geared towards corporate / business genre level.
Each PSD file is tidy. All layers are organized very well for easy manipulation of the layout and design elements.
- Tahoma
- Futura
- AGLetterica
- AuX DotBitC
SEO Biz comes with 7 PSD files with a readme.txt.


text:
I am in
This show will be filming in
My trip so far:
August 24 – August 27
On Aug. 24th I flew to
First we saw old
Michael Schumacher is the most successful race car driver ever and is the second highest paid athlete after Tiger Woods, so escorting him was something special.
Next on Aug. 25th we flew a helicopter to the F-1 track and got fantastic views of old
Arriving by helicopter again, we watched the Grand Prix from the Ferrari Pit on Aug. 26. Those cars are so loud they resonate in your whole body, making your nose run.
August 27 – August 28
The next day Aug. 27 we flew another private helicopter to
We arrived in Tromso on Aug. 28 and began preparing for the film.
Pre-production Rehearsals Week 1
August 29 – September 1
In Tromso we attended film rehearsal and set up an office.
September 1 – September 2
Film Camp near bardufoss,
The night before a Norwegian Nome stole my car keys, setting me up for an awkward morning retrieving new ones when the rental place opened.
For preparation we attended a training camp of sorts about an hour and a half drive south. There was training in shooting rifles, roping, herding and butchering reindeer.
Instruction came from a Sámi person (the aboriginal people of northern
Tomas had me pretend to be a reindeer so my friend could practice lassoing as the photo shows. I also ate raw bone marrow and did other disgusting stuff like that, though I got worried about blood borne pathogens.
That night we saw a fantastic display of the Aurora Borealis.
Tromso is possibly the best place in the world to view the northern lights as there is a band that circles a certain latitude and concentrates right above Tromso. I've included a picture showing this.
September 3
On September 3rd we had a day off and took in some fishing in the fjords. We saw some wild reindeer on the drive home but did not have any luck with the fishing.
Uriel Noriega was murdered in
I heard word from
Pre-production Rehearsal Week 2
September 4
Film Camp near bardufoss,
We returned to film camp for training in dog sledding and wardrobe fittings. As can be expected, I was harnessed for some mushing myself!
I am learning so much! I learned what happens when you put gasoline into a diesel engine. WOW I'm an Einstein. The car goes Zoom, Putter Putter Putter Wheeze…. Kurplutz! In all honesty, I was thinking about the murder and my head wasn't in the game.
I have today and tomorrow to organize things for the ship in
On Friday we will fly to
Production Week 1
September 10 - 16
We flew an hour and a half to Longyearbyen, the main city in
After arriving we boarded the Polaris, a Russian Class A cruiser. I moved M. into the best cabin on the ship right next to the Capitan's quarters. There was enough space to fit all her things and some of mine as well. Then I had the delightful task of jamming all of my things beneath a bunk bed and into a foot locker. The crew are all sharing rooms and I am roomed with the Unit Photographer or still photographer in a room smaller than my first dorm room.
The still photographer takes still photos while shooting, which are then used for publicity, key art (promotional posters), "The makings of", (and placemats for breakfast if the photos are particularly bad).
We departed the same night we arrive, sailing for location where we will be shooting the next few weeks. I got a little sea sick before we even left port, but recovered rapidly.
The first location is referred to as
We have not seen any northern lights just yet because the sun's glow never fades to reveal the stars. But the sunset lasts from an hour and a half to two hours. Once we were treated to a tall-ship's arrival at dusk.
All this week we have filmed on a beach which is protected by the sea and mountain. The polar bears are a real danger so we have from five to seven scouts with rifles watching for them. Several of our Logistics Polar Bear guards are cute Scandies! I'm feeling very safe already!
Our new friends are very exciting. As honored guests, we are treated to the company of explorer Jason Roberts. Check out his imdb.com credits. Jason has worked closely with the BBC and has logged over 58 trips to
The weather is already harsh though it is barely below freezing. We have enjoyed 50 mile/hr winds, meter high waves (really fun to ride the Zodiac boats in them) and sleet. When the sea is calmer I hope to take some photos of the Beluga and Orca populations that surround us. We will eventually come across a bear as there are more bears than people, but I have the cute Scandies to protect my yankee ass.
Because we work 6 days a week and only have one day on land, my blog will not be updated more than once a week. I hope all are well and healthy. Thank you for viewing my blog and send warm thoughts to the top of the world.
Production Week 2
September 17 - 24
On our last day off last week we took a tour of a working mine. We rode five miles into a mountain lying on our backs while riding a Uherman car. The Uherman car was especially built for mine transportation, has no electrical components to ignite the methane (coal is compressed vegetation or old peat bogs and releases methane gas that is trapped inside of it when mined, methane is very explosive) starts with air pressure instead of an igniter, and stands about three and a half feet high. Passengers must lie down while riding because the mine tunnels are very short, the clearance while lying down was at best a foot and at worst three inches... the car had guardrails so just make sure you don't sit up above the rails. Our driver was way too enthusiastic to provide adequate safety, plowed into an underground river splashing us, rear ended another Uherman driving too slow, and even scraped the guardrail as we were airborne from jumping a bump. I don't believe my survival instincts are properly working... I was perfectly relaxed, sleepy even while screaming down these tunnels on my back. At one point I was thinking this is really fun, like
This past week was very cold and we finally got great shots of the snow. The crew has all become familiar with each other, partnerships have formed and couples have assembled and re-assorted themselves.
So far we have seen many wild seals, reindeer and a white fox. I found myself feeling a little isolated from the rest of the crew and not very useful, so yesterday I volunteered to help the crew disassemble our base camp. Now I am better and am and feel I'm a respected contributing crew member. We are moving locations tomorrow to a living and a dead glacier.
M. has been receiving shipments of meats, cheeses, wine and fresh vegetables from
The crew is quite the international mix consisting of over 17 nationalities. I am one of two Americans. My roommate is a lifelong professional photographer and has toured with several famous bands. I get a kick at throwing him band names to hear his personal anecdotes about them. His father is a particle physicist who was a member of the Nobel Prize winning team who discovered quarks (sub-atomic particles that boggle the mind, time and space).
Last night we returned to a snow covered Longyearbyen. Thank god for that because without it, the town resembles a charred scabbed wasteland. I stayed out until and am wondering if it was worth it today.
Production Week 3
September 25 - 30
This week was the most enjoyable of all so far. Last week I was fortunate enough to get the blog updated with pictures and enjoyed a Thai meal compliments of my friend. It only took the ship two weeks to get used to me (most of you know I'm an acquired taste), but now that they have I am having a ball. I am tightest with an Ulsterman named Andrew and together we make the tweedle dumb and dumber pair.
On Monday we shot scenes where the actors were in small boats, giving me the opportunity to do some manual labor on shore. There were fresh polar bear tracks but no bears to greet us ashore. I love to work like a mule but was having so much fun I neglected my friend. Sorry about that.
We were in the territory where a brilliant blue glacier glowed. The winds kicked up and we had the most dangerous ride yet. We all got sopped by waves and laughed the whole way back.
Glaciers that are alive are ones that are moving, expanding and contracting. They have a bright blue color as much of the oxygen becomes compressed out, just like de-oxygenated blood. Dead glaciers are basically solid still blocks of ice and no longer sculpt the land. Their color is a dirty black brown ice.
When we were loading up the actors onto the boats on Sunday morning we experienced our first glacier calving. When a live glacier is heated by the sun the ice contracts, and then expands again in the night as temperatures cool. When this happens great faults are created near the edge and occasionally pop or break under their own weight. This is called calving and is accompanied by the sound of a thunder crash. When the huge ice chunks fall they create huge waves that wash ashore. We had to scurry to rescue our gear from the coming waves. This calving can take place as frequently as ever thirty minutes in the right conditions.
The following day we shot on land and eventually on my first living glacier. We had a 45mn hike to this location but it was worth every step. I had a fantastic day with my crampons (fiercely sharp ice cleats attached to boots for mountaineering) but found ice was easier to climb then to descend. When we returned for our zodiac trip back we discovered the bay that was clear in the morning was all iced over and blocked our passage. We managed to navigate our way through a maze of icebergs and returned safely.
Sean Bean left the ship and will join us in
The very next morning the tide had cleared all the bergs and we shot below the glacier we were on the day before. It was so sunny and warm (just above freezing) with no wind. Yesterday we did pick-up shots with the actors on the little boats again and I was invited to hump on shore.
I overloaded a bag carrying equipment to be loaded by the boats crane and it took three of us to load it onto the zodiac. In the process of loading I had one foot on shore and another on the raft… and the raft began to drift out to see. There I was trying to keep the boat there while holding a few hundred pounds of gear and I ended up showing the crew how to do the splits. For my next act I worked it the front hold of the ship unloading the crane. One of the grips was off loading an articulating camera head that weighs 45lbs. and it slipped out of his hands and my reactions spared me broken bones and the like but gave me one hell of a sore shoulder. So I ended up getting my rugby workout after all this week.
Last night the Polaris unloaded us carnies and we took the circus into town again. My friends had a head start and were beyond conversation by , so I made it an early night. Today my friend and I were to tour the fjords via helicopter but there were repairs needed. I'm not in the mood to go down like a stone falling from heaven today.
Tomorrow we will be filming on another glacier which will include the coldest weather on the trip. My days of adventure have kept me from missing
October 1 - 7
Then back to
We set off for the new glacier Svea Saturday night. The weather sent us some beautiful snow in Longyearbyen. It felt like an early Christmas and all was quiet. It was a nice gesture but Mother Nature never gives gifts for free.
Our week began on Sunday with the long ordeal of loading Ski-Do's (snowmobiles) onto our zodiac boats and shipping them to land (ice actually). One Ski-Do punctured a zodiac offloading and added an extra challenge to our preparations.
The crew was transported to the top of the glacier by Ski-Do and a ski cart-trailer. Every day began with an amusement park ride. The snow the night before made the terrain more dangerous because this glacier was striped with huge crevasses that were just waiting for you to take that fatal step. We were only allowed on designated trails and NO ONE WONDERED OFF THEM. You never knew if that lovely snow was in league with the hidden crevasse, plotting for your demise.
The first three days spared us the worst of the cold. In the winter when you have overcast skies (like we did the first three days), the cloud cover acts like a roof keeping in warmer air. When skies are clear all the warm air (every things relative, not actually warm) rises and you feel the bone chill of the arctic in full splendor. These same cloudy skies caused beautiful sunsets that rivaled those of our first week.
We were lucky enough to get a quick boat ride up close to the glacial face. This can be risky incase a calving takes place. You could not only be crushed by ice but drowned by the huge waves. This all makes it all that more fun. The dark blue stripes represent different periods in time, much like the rings on trees. Some colors are very dark because instead of being frozen compressed snow, the ice melts into water then refreeze. Ice cores are drilled and analyzed to discover what our atmosphere was like thousands and millions of years ago. This makes sense because the falling snow traps in air from the atmosphere and preserves the gasses.
We were also visited by a curious seal on our adventure. The clear ice block near the seal is not your average ice berg. This one is made from frozen water vs. snow, and can really cause trouble when boating if there are any waves... you can't see them like regular ice bergs.
Being on such a high frozen plateau it was only a matter of time before vicious winds visited. Thursday was our trial by cold. Staying comfortable and safe in sub zero temperatures can be very tricky. The worst thing that can happen to you is you perspire. This is so dangerous because once you stop moving you are wet, and your core temperature can drop suddenly. In addition to this, your body burns a lot more calories trying to stay warm. This vicious combination can catch you suddenly and it is very easy to pass out / faint. The best thing to do is to warm up in a dry tent and eat something. But atop a glacier with limited sunlight to shoot with can make this very difficult.
Rumor has it that a few B camera crew spotted a polar bear. I believe it was Ingrid from locations who actually spotted it but since I missed the sighting I believe it to be B.S. (yes I'm a bit jealous).
Our ship returned to Longyearbyen on Thursday night and we were all treated to a great meal. Living in such close quarters under such rough conditions can create a pressure cooker but surprisingly everyone got along and laughed a lot. This fact really speaks testimony to how positive, supportive and fun our crew really is. In my few years in film production I have never worked with more fun and friendly people. If you can believe it, on our last night we all stayed on the ship.
We off loaded our belongings and took a flight back to Tromso yesterday. It is really weird being back on mainland, having your own room and delicious food in all varieties. I hope to keep this blog updated but things are really busy and I think internet connection will be questionable so we'll have to see.
Production Week 5, 6 & 7
October 8-31
John Lennon defined life as what happens when you are busy making other plans. At times my life's adventure feels like a moving train passing through space and time on its own accord. My role is to sit back and take it all in while trying to accomplish my daily chores. I can't believe our Norwegian portion is over already.
Our time at Filmcamp has come to an end. Everyone feels the loss of new friendships as we move to
Filmcamp Week 1 (October 8-15)
We arrived in Overbygd after two full days off in Tromso. It seemed very strange to have the space and privacy that was lacking aboard the Polaris. It took some of us a full week to adapt to our new accommodations. The crew was housed in four different locations, a large military barracks, an officer's barracks, a block of three bedroom apartments, and a small hotel above Overbygd's pub.
Once on set it was back to doing what ever needed to be done to make our day. We started shooting 45 minutes away from filmcamp in a boggy area tucked away high in the mountains. The weather changed daily but finally settled on making us miserable with cold heavy rain. Wet, cold, miserable rain! Oh, you poor poor Brits. We finally got a little snow on Saturday giving us a little boost of spirits for our day off.
We discovered the local gym which houses a rock climbing wall. Several of our crew were so used to heavy physical exercise in the harsh environment that after dinner we needed some work-outs. Matt, Asif, Jack, Ahmed and several other limies owned the football field. After climbing with my friend I was lured onto the football pitch. As soon as I saw the ball and gave chase I was reprimanded for rough play. Apparently you are not supposed to slide tackle your teammates. English football is not like American football, so after trying not to slide tackle anymore I realized I should give it up and stick to rugby. Sorry Rubin and Asif.
Filmcamp received an honored guest on Sunday. The Formula One Ferrari hero arrived, giving the crew a chance to thank him in person for all the food from
With her apartment finally in working order, my friend continued her hospitality by hosting twelve lucky crew members to a home cooked meal. Bravo!
Filmcamp Week 2 (October 16 – 23)
The second week shooting on solid Norwegian ground began on a mountain-framed lake. Another guest of honor arrived, Tim Miller, Asif's co-writer! He immediately charmed his way into a tight knit unit and became one of us. The snow receded but mother nature substituted it with wind. It was a little cold but dry. Anyone can handle cold if it's dry. On this location we were on boats, in the forest, threw someone in the freezing lake, and hired Scuba Dan to be a human ice-breaker.
Whilst the department heads were on the river, us second classer's entertained ourselves with umbrella races. Thee people hold an umbrella to their forehead, spin in a circle ten times while looking at the ground then race to there and back. I finally got my full contact sport as being so dizzy we knocked each other over like dominoes.
This week the moon was waning, allowing the dark sky to showcase some fantastic auroras. The sun rotated and exposed the earth to some very large sunspots, producing excellent Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday we moved locations again and filmed deep within a mountain valley. We were here only one day but it had snowed heavily all night and all day, so it was very memorable. It reminded me of snow-days from childhood where the snow closes schools early and let's all us kids discover the wonder of deep quiet magical winter. I didn't make any snow forts or go sledding, but hell yes snow balls were thrown. Thank you for the whitewash down my back Kerstin!
That night my friend and I drove to Tromso through heavy snow while the aurora played hide and seek behind the curtains of snow. The following day we again hustled through the driving snow for good reason. Below the officers barracks our Ulsterman Andy discovered gold in the form of a private bar and the Formula One season finale in
The race did not earn Ferrari the Driver's nor the Constructor's championship but it was the best performance I have seen out of our road-rocket-scientists. The young protégé from Brazil Felipe Massa lead the pack earning him the first prize in his home country. Schumi, the Driving Adonis raced his last race and really showed the world just how good he is. Starting tenth he worked up to sixth place when foul fortune destroyed one of his tires. He drove an entire lap with only three tires and pitted. Returning to the track in last place he fought his way past everyone until he ran out of laps, finishing fourth, just seconds behind a proper podium finish. I know only a win would satisfy team Schumi, but I'd be hard pressed to find a disappointed fan.
Filmcamp Week 3 and 1/6th (October 23 – 30)
Our final seven days of shooting in Norway were snow filled. We moved to a location where we worked with a small portion of a reindeer herd. There is a saying in the film industry "Never write a script with children or animals in it", as both are not very direct-able.
This week in addition to shooting we were also in the process of wrapping up strong friendships. Though dusk was approaching these friendships, dawn arrived with a few last minute friends. We attended a traditional Sámi dinner of stewed reindeer and heaps of atmospheric smoke inside an over crowded tent. It seems we could not get enough of close quarters, having learned that tight proximity often leads to joyful exchanges.
By the time the week was over and we finished our packing for
Death By Stage
Our scaled down lonesome crew arrived lean and mean for what could only be considered an easy end… filming inside a heated sound stage in the world's city,
Several Scandies visited us from the great white north, one was mugged but recovered his bag. We shot in Twickenham film studios where I had the pleasure of missing two International Rugby Tests (international matches) that were being played no more than a mile away. Twickenham Rugby Stadium is one of the best places in the world to see rugby, a place I've longed to go to. And I was there, just on a sound stage. Okay, no more whining, I know its boring to most of you.
Moments of note… I enjoyed fantastic hospitality by the writer Tim, got stranded trying to meet up with friends when the tube system closed (eventually met them after two busses and a rickshaw ride), literally bumped into Jude Law outside of our stage (I've worked 2 films with him previously), was visited by our Ferrari Hero (affectionately known as The Pope), assisted my friend with the London premier of the new James Bond installment Casino Royale, ended up running errands in a chauffeured Ferrari and Masaratti, looked for work in the UK via some celebs I've worked with before (no luck), and thought about friends, family, Norway and South Africa!


text:
Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.
Jessica Hensley is the most recent addition to the coaching staff of the New Mexico State University Equestrian Team. She will be joining the Aggies as the assistant hunt seat coach, under Head Coach Robin Morris-Walters.
"I am very excited to add Coach Hensley to our coaching staff. She has an extensive background in the hunter seat events and was a student-athlete in a well respected Equestrian program. I know the team is excited the coaching void from last fall is filled and am confident Coach Hensley will be a great resource for our hunter seat riders and will help us as we strive to continue building a successful program."
Prior to joining the New Mexico State Equestrian coaching staff, Hensley spent her undergraduate career at Kansas State University where she was a member of the Wildcat Equestrian Team. There she was exposed to a strong and nationally competitive program – an experience she will bring to the NM State Equestrian team. She rode both over fences and on the flat, but began to specialize in equitation on the flat following her Sophomore year. In that time, she became a JustWorld International Athlete Ambassador, as well.
Before joining Kansas State University's equestrian team, Hensley spend her junior years competing on the United State Equestrian Federation 'A' circuit in hunters, jumpers, and equitation. She has competed in shows in Alaska, California, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Texas, and Missouri.
In 2006, Hensley qualified for the United States Equestrian Federation Junior Working Hunter Finals in California. That year, she was also Zone champion in the Large Junior Working Hunter, 16-17 division.
Her list of titles includes the 2006 USHJA Zone 12 Horsemanship Challenge Champion, the 2006 USEF Zone 12 Large Junior Working Hunter, 16-17 Champion, the 2006 ASH Hunter Seat Medal Final Qualifier, the 2006 ASH Team Cup Champion and the 2005 ASH Team Cup Champion, as well as numerous show championships in hunter, jumper, and equitation divisions.
Besides her competitive successes, Jessica Hensley has an impeccable training background. Her former instructors include a USEF 'R' judge, two former Olympians, and a member of the Dutch national dressage team. She has spent several summers abroad, studying with some of the best instructors in the world.
Hensley graduated from Kansas State University in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. Originally from Palmer, Alaska, she has been riding since she was four years old.
She currently resides in Las Cruces, NM.


text:
You are here: Home / School Calendar
Education for a Lifetime
Indian Harbour Montessori is a private elementary and preschool located in Indian Harbour Beach, FL offering a unique, diverse, and Highly Academic, Montessori Program. We serve the educational needs of families in Indian Harbour Beach, Satellite Beach, South Merritt Island, Melbourne Beach, Melbourne and surrounding communities in Brevard County. Our Toddler Montessori School for children ages … Learn More


text:
SAGINAW (AP) -- The Michigan appeals court has made a key ruling in a case involving the rights of grandparents to see grandchildren.
The court says Robert and Judith Porter have no standing to seek time with two grandchildren. That's because the kids' father had his parental rights terminated.
In a 2-1 decision, the court says the Porters may be biological grandparents but they're no longer considered legal grandparents. The case originated in Saginaw County.
Saginaw County Judge James Borchard had reluctantly ruled against the Porters in 2011, saying they're "fine people." He had hoped the appeals court would reverse his decision, but the court said Borchard correctly interpreted Michigan law.
Published: Fri, Jun 14, 2013


text:
DJDinosaurViolet replied on Singapore Permalink
My favourite number is 96
MissTwilightWat... replied on Vietnam Permalink
My lucky number is 9
FastPlayerForever replied on Turkey Permalink
my lucky number is zero
HiLake replied on Iran Permalink
my lucky number is 17.
OrangeRap9000 replied on Chile Permalink
Hello. I don't have a lucky number, because i think that is weird. In Chile, the 13 is the bad luck number, but i don't believe that. I love the numbers and calculate them. It takes 15
seconds to count backward from twenty 20 to zero 0.
SportyMoonstone200 replied on Maldives Permalink
my lucky number is 25 .
AmuletUnicornNe... replied on Romania Permalink
My lucky number is seven. I can count bacwards quickly. Not very but quickly.
IncredibleCrystal6 replied on Iran Permalink
Hello MissInternetEarth
I ask my mother she says yes in iran is 13.Why 13?
MissInternetEarth replied on United Kingdom (Great Britain) Permalink
I'm afraid I don't really know why people say that 13 is an unlucky number! I think that there are many different explanations in different countries.
Best wishes,
LearnEnglish Kids team
MasterSilver500 replied on Vietnam Permalink
my lucky number is 4


text:
Hi everyone
I saw a question on Mathoverflow asking for some applications of pigeonhole principle, among the answers I saw a problem set which was proposed by Prof. Richard Stanley and in this problem set there was a question which I am interested on it, here it is: Consider these two sequences $a_1< a_2 < \cdots < a_n$ and $b_1 >b_2 > \cdots >b_n$ such that $$\{a_1,\cdots a_n,b_1\cdots b_n\}=\{1,2,\cdots 2n\}$$ show that $$\sum_i|a_i-b_i|=n^2$$
I have no idea how to do this. Perhaps someone can give a hint? I try to consider some cases but the answer was long and boring, I think there is a nice trick.


text:
Recently added item(s) ×
You have no items in your shopping cart.
In stock
In Stock + Dispatched within 1-2 business days
Excludes bulky items and furnitures
All orders despatched within 1-2 business days.
"In Stock" items are ready to be shipped within 2 business days.
30 Days Money Back Guarantee.
Subscribe To Our Newsletter And Receive A $25 Coupon.*
*Valid for one use when you spend $99 or over
Call Us Today


text:
Mr. Kreepy: "Viagra."
Dr. Grumpy: "Viagra isn't a pain medication."
Mr. Kreepy: "Yeah, but when I'm jacking off I don't notice the pain as much."
I need to learn not to ask. Sometimes I don't want to know. And the mental images are never pretty.
A Blog detailing the insanity of my medical practice and the stupidity of everyday life.
I think it started with Phil Donahue, Riviera, Winfrey, Dr Phil, et al. Drop 'em drawers at the the drop of a hat.
"And while I'm on the subject, could you get some better magazines for your waiting room?"
Brain bleach, please. That is giving me a mental image I need to erase.
Wow. What do you say to something like that?
Helen- I move on, FAST, and ask them if they're allergic to any medications.
Excellent pain-management skill. Viagra should try to get the indication.
I have so much to look forward to during my clinical rotations....
I assume you recommend whacking off for migraines too ?
ERP- Not tonight, I've got a headache.
Your patient is a wise man.
Honesty. Refreshing and disturbing :P
That's actually pretty clever. And hilarious.
That's the kind of thing that would make me have to excuse myself so that I could go poke out my mind's eye. ;-)
I'd tell him not to take the Viagra for neck pain, because if it gets caught in his throat he might get a stiff neck.
What? I am allowed to make bad jokes, aren't I?
I thought that Viagra CAUSED neck pain, as in: I took a viagra but it got caught in my throat. I've had a stiff neck ever since.
Lots to be said for those endorphins. Lol
Sorry Frank, you beat me to the joke by a half-hour.
Wow! Really?
I am laughing so hard my kids think I'm demented!!! This is one of the few I can't read to them, either...But I am going to share it with all of my friends....
But. I. I mean... You know, i can't really fault the guy, but that -is- a little weird...
talk about a real whack job. Geez.
I have a mental filter that stops me seeing disturbing pictures. When everything else turns to crap, I reflect on what a great blessing this is.
Little Calf Creamery. Delicious homemade ice cream and food in Thousand Oaks!


text:
Watch CBSN Live
Actor Kevin Spacey attends the premiere of Netflix's "House Of Cards" at Alice Tully Hall on January 30, 2013 in New York City.
The two-time Academy Award-winner's hefty resume not only includes a roster of Hollywood stand-outs (including "Glengarry Glen Ross," "The Usual Suspects," "American Beauty" and "L.A. Confidential"), but also a decade of running London's Old Vic theatre.
By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan
Credit: Jemal Countess/Getty Images
Credit: Paramount
Credit: Columbia PIctures
Credit: New Line Cinema
Credit: Touchstone Pictures
Credit: Gramercy Pictures
Kevin Spacey as "Verbal" Kint: "Keaton always said: 'I don't believe in God, but I'm afraid of him.' Well I believe in God, and the only thing that scares me is Keyser Soze."
Spacey won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Credit: Warner Brothers
Credit: Fox Searchlight
Credit: Fine Line Features
Credit: Dreamworks
Credit: AMPAS
Credit: Universal Pictures
Credit: Miramax Films
Credit: Lions Gate
Credit: HBO
Credit: Sony Pictures Classics
Credit: Overture FIlms
Credit: Anchor Bay Films
Credit: ATO
Credit: Lionsgate
Credit: Netflix
Credit: nowthefilm.com
For more info:
"Now: In the Wings on a World Stage" - Also available on VOD
"House of Cards" (Netflix)


text:
29 November 2010
Winter Dresses
I don't have any outfit photos to show you this morning, as I usually would on a Monday, because winter arrived in full force over the past couple of days and I wasn't quite prepared. I was going to take some this morning when I awoke and saw the warm sunlight pouring in through the windows but then I checked the weather and realized all that "warm" sunlight was just an illusion. It's 25 degrees out there!
Instead I spent the morning in search of the one thing that seems to elude my wardrobe; long sleeved dresses. Why is it that so many dresses offered in winter collections are still short sleeves or at most, three-quarter sleeves? I'm a fan of cardigans as much as the next gal, but sometimes I don't want to worry about all those layers.
Steven Alan
Once I really started looking I was pleasantly surprised by the selection that I found. Granted, I'm not going to be affording A.P.C. or Steven Alan any time soon, but there are affordable options from Modcloth and Topshop. The grey striped dress from Modcloth should be arriving in my mailbox any day now.
Hopefully I can bolster my wardrobe with a few of these choices (or I really love this one from Dear Creatures) so that getting dressed on these super cold mornings won't seem like such a chore. Today will be spent in my pajamas, getting packages ready to send out. Maybe I'll actually get dressed tomorrow!
Built by Wendy
9 comments:
- Anonymous said...
Love the stripes from APC, and the polka dots from Topshop x
- November 29, 2010
- Rosaspina Vintage said...
Oh I love that nautical dress from Dear Creatures too! I would spend my whole winter in it!
- November 29, 2010
- Chaucee said...
These are beyond perfect. I would add every single one of them to my wardrobe if I could.
- November 29, 2010
- Cel said...
I just have a hard time finding good winter dresses at all. I only thrift my clothes, and when September hit, dresses became an endangered species all together!
- November 29, 2010
- Looks and Books said...
Yes, long sleeved dresses are so difficult to find sometimes! My aunt bought me one yesterday from a local boutique and I'm wearing it today already. :) Good luck finding some for your closet!
Looks & Books
- November 29, 2010
- Dulcie said...
I have that cream topshop dress with the black polka dots but it shrunk so badly when I washed it, I can now only use it for layering. And I only washed it at 30 degrees centigrade!! xx
- November 29, 2010
- Jenni said...
Drool. These are gorgeous. I love that Dear Creatures dress!
- November 29, 2010
- A Little Brighter said...
I have a crazy amount of long sleeved dresses in my wardrobe (all vintage too!) my problem is that I am going into summer and they are too hot to wear! :(
Can't wait to see your new dress(es) and your picks are perfect!
I work from home too and often spend entire days in my pajamas ha! I guess it's a perk of the job!
Ayesha x
- November 29, 2010
- AP. said...
I always wear long sleeves in the winter, whether it be just a cardigan over my dresses or a long sleeve dress, which I much prefer. I have really severe keratosis pilaris and strange birthmarks that show up in the winter more than ever and long sleeves are the only thinks that do the trick in covering them - lotion doesn't help in the slightest. I'm currently drooling over these dresses now.
- November 29, 2010


text:
The continuing saga of a wannabe GM who can't get a game started ...
Lately I've found myself fascinated by minimalist D&D rules like "Searchers of the Unknown" and its worthy successor "1974 Style". I also like the d20-only philosophy of True20 and Numenera's Only Players Roll principle. All three have collided in my brain to create the following incomplete rules:
Every character, player or NPC, has a Level, which denotes attack, defense, and miscellaneous physical prowess. PCs start at 1, as usual. Every character has the
Originally Posted by Jorge Luis Borges
These ambiguities, redundancies and deficiencies remind us of those which doctor Franz Kuhn attributes to a certain Chinese encyclopaedia entitled 'Celestial Empire of Benevolent Knowledge'. In its remote pages it is written that the animals are divided into: (a) belonging to the emperor, (b) embalmed, (c) tame, (d) sucking pigs, (e) sirens, (f) fabulous, (g) stray dogs, (h) included in the present classification, (i) frenzied, (j) innumerable, (k) drawn with a very fine camelhair brush, (l) et
Updated 11-24-2014 at 03:33 PM by fmitchell
Recently I've been playing The Strange with a reasonably stable group. Yesterday I had an idea for a space-opera style recursion (parallel world for the rest of the gaming world), and having nobody else to tell I'm telling you. Don't you feel special?
The problem with wedging an entire galaxy, or even a solar system, into one of the Strange's recursions is that recursions are supposed to be small, much smaller than Earth, so that the GM isn't madly mapping planets for every adventure.
Updated 11-14-2014 at 03:35 AM by fmitchell
For those of you who don't know what "sword and planet" is, it's science fiction in which our lone Earthling hero is thrown onto an alien planet with generally low technology and must fight to survive. Examples include Edgar Rice Burroughs's Barsoom series (A Princess on Mars, etc.) and some of Jack Vance's work (particularly the Planet of Adventure series). The excuse for swords being the weapon of choice varies from decaying cultures to alien oppressors.
Recently I've
Updated 05-26-2014 at 12:50 PM by fmitchell
(Originally posted on Google+, for some inexplicable reason.)
Just to toss out a topic (or possibly sweaty dynamite) ... what's the general opinion on "evil races" in games? By which I mean entire intelligent species whose sole purpose is essentially to kill/enslave/annoy humans.
As one might gather, I'm not a fan. My first problem is that real-world societies have attributed two-dimensional malice to their enemies far too often, with tragic results, and


text:
Toggle navigation
Elder Care Services
Elder Care Finder:
Elder Care Services
Alpine, CA
Elder Care Servies Serving Alpine, CA
Below is a list of caregivers in Alpine, CA that provide elder care services.
Aging & Independence Services
PO Box 23217
San Diego, CA 92193
Division of the County of San Diego's Health and Human Services Agency. More than 30 different programs to benefit older adults and persons with disabilities.
Learn More »
AIS and A2i - San Diego
9335 Hazard Way (for Aging and Independence Services)
San Diego, CA 92123
Learn More »
AIS and A2i - San Diego Aging and Disability Resource Center
9335 Hazard Way (for AIS)
8885 Rio San Diego Drive, San Diego, CA 92108 (for a2i)
San Diego, CA 92123
The San Diego pilot is a parternship between two to agencies -- San Diego AIS (this county Area Agency on Aging) and Access to Independence, the San Diego Center for Independent Living
Learn More »
Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP)
1600 K Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
HICAP assists individuals and families with Medicare problems and other health insurance concerns. Trained counselors provide information on Medicare, Medicare supplement insurance, managed care, long-term care planning and health insurance.
Learn More »
San Diego Red Tape Cutters
9335 Hazard Way
San Diego, CA 92123
Learn More »
Southern Indian Health Council-Area I & II
P.O. Box 2128
Alpine, CA 91903
Learn More »
Elder Care Services
Elder Care Finder App
© Copyright by HappyElderCare.com. All rights reserved.


text:
Posts Tagged Quantum Mechanics
Quantum physics and Consciousness
Posted by Kim Graae Munch in Esoterics, Quantum Physics, Science on July 24, 2009
A friend of mine have just made me aware of the physicist Amit Goswami:
Quantum physics, as well as a number of other modern sciences, he feels, is demonstrating that the essential unity underlying all of reality is a fact which can be experimentally verified. Because of the enormous implications he sees in this scientific confirmation of the spiritual, Goswami is ardently devoted to explaining his theory to as many people as possible in order to help bring about what he feels is a much needed paradigm shift. He feels that because science is now capable of validating mysticism, much that before required a leap of faith can now be empirically proven and, hence, the materialist paradigm which has dominated scientific and philosophical thought for over two hundred years can finally be called into question.
Consider instead the possibility that the entire story only existed as an abstract potential—a cosmic dream among countless other cosmic dreams—until, in that dream, life somehow evolved to the point that a conscious, sentient being came into existence. At that moment, solely because of the conscious observation of that individual, the entire universe, including all of the history leading up to that point, suddenly came into being. Until that moment, nothing had actually ever happened. In that moment, fifteen billion years happened. If this sounds like nothing more than a complicated backdrop for a science fiction story or a secular version of one of the world's great creation myths, hold on to your hat. According to physicist Amit Goswami, the above description is a scientifically viable explanation of how the universe came into being.
Goswami is convinced, along with a number of others who subscribe to the same view, that the universe, in order to exist, requires a conscious sentient being to be aware of it. Without an observer, he claims, it only exists as a possibility. And as they say in the world of science, Goswami has done his math. Marshalling evidence from recent research in cognitive psychology, biology, parapsychology and quantum physics, and leaning heavily on the ancient mystical traditions of the world, Goswami is building a case for a new paradigm that he calls "monistic idealism," the view that consciousness, not matter, is the foundation of everything that is.
He is not the only one, Martin Rees:
"In the beginning there were only probabilities. The universe could only come into existence if someone observed it. It does not matter that the observers turned up several billion years later. The universe exists because we are aware of it."
From the interview (it's simply filled with Goodies):
WIE: In your book The Self-Aware Universe you speak about the need for a paradigm shift. Could you talk a bit about how you conceive of that shift? From what to what?
Amit Goswami: The current worldview has it that everything is made of matter, and everything can be reduced to the elementary particles of matter, the basic constituents—building blocks—of matter. And cause arises from the interactions of these basic building blocks or elementary particles; elementary particles make atoms, atoms make molecules, molecules make cells, and cells make brain. But all the way, the ultimate cause is always the interactions between the elementary particles. This is the belief—all cause moves from the elementary particles. This is what we call "upward causation." So in this view, what human beings—you and I—think of as our free will does not really exist. It is only an epiphenomenon or secondary phenomenon, secondary to the causal power of matter. And any causal power that we seem to be able to exert on matter is just an illusion. This is the current paradigm.
Now, the opposite view is that everything starts with consciousness. That is, consciousness is the ground of all being. In this view, consciousness imposes "downward causation." In other words, our free will is real. When we act in the world we really are acting with causal power. This view does not deny that matter also has causal potency—it does not deny that there is causal power from elementary particles upward, so there is upward causation—but in addition it insists that there is also downward causation. It shows up in our creativity and acts of free will, or when we make moral decisions. In those occasions we are actually witnessing downward causation by consciousness.
WIE: In your book you refer to this new paradigm as "monistic idealism." And you also suggest that science seems to be verifying what a lot of mystics have said throughout history—that science's current findings seem to be parallel to the essence of the perennial spiritual teaching.
AG: It is the spiritual teaching. It is not just parallel. The idea that consciousness is the ground of being is the basis of all spiritual traditions, as it is for the philosophy of monistic idealism—although I have given it a somewhat new name. The reason for my choice of the name is that, in the West, there is a philosophy called "idealism" which is opposed to the philosophy of "material realism," which holds that only matter is real. Idealism says no, consciousness is the only real thing. But in the West that kind of idealism has usually meant something that is really dualism—that is, consciousness and matter are separate. So, by monistic idealism, I made it clear that, no, I don't mean that dualistic kind of Western idealism, but really a monistic idealism, which has existed in the West, but only in the esoteric spiritual traditions. Whereas in the East this is the mainstream philosophy. In Buddhism, or in Hinduism where it is called Vedanta, or in Taoism, this is the philosophy of everyone. But in the West this is a very esoteric tradition, only known and adhered to by very astute philosophers, the people who have really delved deeply into the nature of reality.
AG: Yes, it is. Henry Stapp, who is a physicist at the University of California at Berkeley, says this quite explicitly in one of his papers written in 1977, that things outside of space and time affect things inside space and time. There's just no question that that happens in the realm of quantum physics when you are dealing with quantum objects. Now of course, the crux of the matter is, the surprising thing is, that we are always dealing with quantum objects because it turns out that quantum physics is the physics of every object. Whether it's submicroscopic or it's macroscopic, quantum physics is the only physics we've got. So although it's more apparent for photons, for electrons, for the submicroscopic objects, our belief is that all reality, all manifest reality, all matter, is governed by the same laws. And if that is so, then this experiment is telling us that we should change our worldview because we, too, are quantum objects.
AG: We all hope so. Now this is called the "quantum measurement paradox." It is a paradox because who are we to do this conversion? Because after all, in the materialist paradigm we don't have any causal efficacy. We are nothing but the brain, which is made up of atoms and elementary particles. So how can a brain which is made up of atoms and elementary particles convert a possibility wave that it itself is? It itself is made up of the possibility waves of atoms and elementary particles, so it cannot convert its own possibility wave into actuality. This is called a paradox. Now in the new view, consciousness is the ground of being. So who converts possibility into actuality? Consciousness does, because consciousness does not obey quantum physics. Consciousness is not made of material. Consciousness is transcendent. Do you see the paradigm-changing view right here—how consciousness can be said to create the material world? The material world of quantum physics is just possibility. It is consciousness, through the conversion of possibility into actuality, that creates what we see manifest. In other words, consciousness creates the manifest world.
AG: I mean that literally. This is what quantum physics demands. In fact, in quantum physics this is called "delayed choice." And I have added to this concept the concept of "self-reference." Actually the concept of delayed choice is very old. It is due to a very famous physicist named John Wheeler, but Wheeler did not see the entire thing correctly, in my opinion. He left out self-reference. The question always arises, "The universe is supposed to have existed for fifteen billion years, so if it takes consciousness to convert possibility into actuality, then how could the universe be around for so long?" Because there was no consciousness, no sentient being, biological being, carbon based being, in that primordial fireball which is supposed to have created the universe, the big bang. But this other way of looking at things says that the universe remained in possibility until there was self-referential quantum measurement—so that is the new concept. An observer's looking is essential in order to manifest possibility into actuality, and so only when the observer looks, only then does the entire thing become manifest—including time. So all of past time, in that respect, becomes manifest right at that moment when the first sentient being looks.
It turns out that this idea, in a very clever, very subtle way, has been around in cosmology and astronomy under the guise of a principle called the "anthropic principle." That is, the idea has been growing among astronomers—cosmologists anyway—that the universe has a purpose. It is so fine-tuned, there are so many coincidences, that it seems very likely that the universe is doing something purposive, as if the universe is growing in such a way that a sentient being will arise at some point.
Connie: We think science and spirituality are mutually exclusive but lately it seems that the two ideas are moving closer together.
Amit: The division happened because of a quirk of history: that classical physics was discovered before quantum physics. If quantum physics had been discovered first we would not have these separations between science and spirituality. Carl Popper coined the phrase "promissory materialism." Materialism will always remain promissory in those areas of spirit, soul, mind, meaning and what life is all about. Science based on materiality will never make total sense. It fits some questions that have a reductive tendency. Some things we do are materially oriented. If you need a job you learn a skill. But on the other hand if you want to be happy, to think money or work will make us happy is foolhardy. One becomes happy by connecting with wholeness. This wisdom has escaped most scientists.
I am finding a shift among budding scientists who want to find real answers to questions like happiness, soul, reincarnation and the meaning of life. All those questions that science thought it could never answer. It's clear that if we continue our present direction, the decline of the stock market and business ethics are just a few of the symptoms of the disease, which is leaving spirit, ethics and values out of the equation. If you understand reincarnational philosophy, you'll know that we come back again and again if we are unethical. No one would ever dare to be unethical. You do come back and you have to answer for those propensities. So there's no sense in building bad karma, bad propensities.
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Amit Goswami: Amit Goswami is a theoretical nuclear physicist and member of The University of Oregon Institute for Theoretical Physics since 1968, teaching physics for 32 years. After a period of distress and frustration in his private and professional life starting at the age 38, his research interests shifted to quantum cosmology, quantum measurement theory, and applications of quantum mechanics to the mind-body problem. He became best known as one of the interviewed scientific experts featured in the 2004 film What the Bleep Do We Know!?. He is the author of six books including the successful textbook, "Quantum Mechanics." Amit is a pioneer of science within consciousness "science based on the primacy of consciousness" which is developed in his books "The Self-Aware Universe: How Consciousness Creates the Material World" and "Science and Spirituality." He has also authored "Quantum Creativity" and "A Quantum Physicist's Guide to Enlightenment," "The Visionary Window" and "Physics of the Soul," and the upcoming "Integral Medicine." Amit gives workshops in the United States, Brazil, Sweden, and India on the subjects of quantum creativity, quantum healing, physics of the soul, and science and spirituality.
Also read-worthy The Universe, Quantum Physics, and Consciousness by Subhash Kak, Ph.D.
Max Planck
I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.
As quoted in The Observer (25 January 1931)
As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter.
Das Wesen der Materie [The Nature of Matter], speech at Florence, Italy (1944) (from Archiv zur Geschichte der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Abt. Va, Rep. 11 Planck, Nr. 1797)
From WikiQuote


text:
Filipino feast for Christmas
When Jun Belen was preparing to leave for graduate school at Stanford, he warned his mother not to expect him back home in Manila for at least two years. He planned to save his money. But it was hard adjusting to life in Palo Alto, and after a few frugal months he couldn't face the thought of spending Christmas away from home.
"When you're uprooted and don't have family or friends, it's so difficult. In November I called my mom and said, 'I think I'm coming for Christmas,' " recalls Belen, who now lives in Oakland and blogs about Filipino food.
Besides missing friends and family, Belen was homesick for Christmas traditions in the Philippines, which celebrates the holiday on an epic scale.
As a teen, he would meet friends for the 4 a.m. Masses called Misa de Gallo or simbang gabi, held for the nine days before Christmas. Afterward, they'd eat traditional rice cakes and hot ginger tea sold by vendors in the churchyard. On Christmas Eve, he would go to midnight Mass with his parents and five older sisters; that would be followed by dinner, a celebration called Noche Buena. Christmas Day was spent visiting extended family for more eating and gift giving.
Noche Buena
"The Americans have their Thanksgiving turkey, and the Filipinos have their Noche Buena," says MC Canlas, cultural specialist and co-founder of the Bayanihan Community Center in San Francisco.
"Sometimes you are being judged for the food you provide. But Christmas is also a symbol of blessing and is about serving and sharing. That's why food is so very important."
The Bay Area's Filipino community holds on to many Christmas traditions from the Philippines, where the population is more than 80 percent Catholic. Daily Misa de Gallo Masses at St. Patrick Church in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood are followed by Philippine foods served in the church basement. On Saturday night, the Bayanihan Community Center was scheduled to hold its annual parol parade, where community groups carry traditional star-shaped lanterns, called parols, that hang outside of Philippine homes during Christmas. And many Filipinos go to midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, though it's sometimes held earlier here.
Party all night
"We get together at midnight on Dec. 24," says Michelle Malang of Daly City. "We have the party until the early morning of the 25th. Usually on the 25th we're sleeping."
Christmas foods usually include ham, queso de bola - a round Edam cheese from the Netherlands - and pan de sal (bread rolls), but the menu can go on elaborately from there. Families often order lechon (roast suckling pig) from a restaurant to complement the spread of homemade dishes.
While many holiday foods are also a part of other celebrations, rice-based dishes are particular to Christmastime, a part of pre-Christian harvest celebrations. "The month of December in the Philippines is the harvest season for rice," Canlas says.
Almost as important as the early morning Masses are the street foods that follow: bibingka, a rice and coconut cake topped with salted egg; and putobumbong, a sweet cake made with purple sticky rice.
"December and January are the coolest months in the Philippines, so you bundle up with your jacket and your sweater when you go to Mass. It's always nice to have that cup of hot tea with your bibingka after," says Belen, demonstrating how to prepare a home cook's version of the cake in his Oakland kitchen.
He describes how bibingka vendors set up clay ovens with coals lit up inside.
"When someone orders bibingka, she lines a pan with the banana leaves, then pours the batter," he says. The vendor covers the cake with another pan loaded with hot coals for a makeshift oven.
Arroz caldo
Another rice-based dish served at this time of year is arroz caldo, which is similar to Chinese congee, with Philippine twists. Belen's mother, Juanita, slaughters a hen on Christmas morning, and then simmers the thick rice porridge with fish sauce and saffron and serves it with fried garlic, green onions and wedges of calamansi, a local citrus.
For their Christmas in Oakland, food stylist Noel Advincula and his mother, Benita, make kare kare, an oxtail stew with ground peanuts, bok choy and eggplant; and pancit palabok, a version of the noodle with homemade shrimp stock and tops with pan-fried jumbo prawns.
"Pancit palabok is special for Christmas," Advincula says. "Regular pancit is easy."
Gil Payumo, chef-partner of Senor Sisig, a food truck that serves Filipino versions of tacos and burritos, grew up in San Francisco and Daly City. He and his extended family get together in Walnut Creek on Christmas for glazed ham with pineapples, pancit, leche flan (custard) and sometimes lechon. For his young cousins, they might add American prime rib.
"The younger generation is not really into the Filipino food. We try to have them respect the fact that this is what we've been doing for a while and this is what we grew up with," Payumo says.
As for Belen, 13 years after that first year at Stanford, he rarely goes home for the holidays. Yet he continues to re-create the holiday dishes he grew up with for his blog, which has readers in Oman and Italy.
He and his partner, Dennis Allio, usually have a Philippine Noche Buena and then American-style roast turkey on Christmas Day, along with pancit and leche flan. They sit down in their dining room next to the Christmas tree, with Belen's handmade parol hanging from the front porch.
Makes four 6-inch cakes; serves 8
Adapted from Jun Belen's blog for a rice cake served from street food stalls after early morning mass on the nine days leading up to Christmas in the Philippines. Six-inch tart pans will make the most authentic-looking cakes, but if you don't have them, you can use six 4-inch ramekins or a large quiche pan.
- 4 pieces banana leaves, cut into 8-inch circles (see Notes)
- -- Melted butter for brushing + 1/3 cup more
- 2 cups rice flour, preferably Thai brand
- 1/2 cup glutinous rice flour, preferably Thai brand (see Notes)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 3/4 cup sugar + more for sprinkling
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups (or 13.5-ounce can) coconut milk
- 1 salted duck or chicken egg, thinly sliced (see Notes)
- 2 tablespoons frozen grated coconut, thawed (optional; see Notes)
- 2 tablespoons grated Edam or Gouda cheese (optional)
Instructions: Preheat the oven to 350°. Line four 6-inch tart pans with the banana leaf pieces. If using different-size ramekins or a large pan, cut the leaves to line the bottom and sides of the pan and to extend about 1-2 inches above the pan. Brush the leaves with butter.
Combine the flours, baking powder and sugar in a large bowl. Add the eggs, coconut milk and 1/3 cup melted butter. Beat by hand or use a mixer until just blended and some lumps remain; don't overwork the batter.
Pour the rice batter equally into the four pans or ramekins; top with a few slices of salted egg.
Place the pans on the top rack of the oven. Bake until the cakes are cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes (it will take longer with 4-inch ramekins or a large baking dish).
Remove from the oven; brush the tops with melted butter. Turn the broiler to low; return the cakes to the oven for about 2 minutes to brown the tops.
Brush the cakes with more melted butter and sprinkle with sugar, the coconut and Edam cheese, if using. Remove from the tart pans and serve warm.
Notes: These ingredients are available at Asian markets. If you don't use salted duck egg, you can add more sliced or grated Edam or Gouda cheese.
Drain the thawed coconut in a fine-mesh strainer, then place on paper towels to soak up the extra moisture. Place on a baking tray and lightly toast for a few minutes with the broiler turned on low.
Per serving: 374 calories, 6 g protein, 61 g carbohydrate, 12 g fat (7 g saturated), 100 mg cholesterol, 218 mg sodium, 1 g fiber.
Kare Kare (Oxtail Stew)
Serves 10
Kare kare is a celebratory food in the Philippines, and this is the version that Noel Advincula and his mother serve every Christmas. You can order oxtail (actually a cut of beef) at meat markets; ask the butcher to cut it to size. Bagoong (shrimp paste) is served as a condiment to contrast with the richness of the stew, but use it in small amounts - it's pungent and salty.
- 3 pounds oxtail, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt + more to taste
- 1 pound honeycomb tripe (optional; see Note)
- 1/2 cup annatto seeds soaked in a 1/2 cup hot water
- 1 cup roasted, unsalted peanuts, finely ground
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- -- Half of a 2-pound kabocha squash, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces (unpeeled)
- 1 small banana blossom (canned is fine), chopped into 2-inch pieces (see Notes)
- -- Pepper to taste
- 1 pound baby bok choy, quartered or halved lengthwise and washed well
- 1/2 pound Asian string beans or green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 Asian eggplants, about 1 pound, sliced about 1/2-inch thick
- -- Bagoong or sauteed Philippine shrimp paste, for serving (see Notes)
- -- Cooked rice, for serving
Instructions: Wash the oxtail thoroughly. Place in a large, wide pot and add about 6 cups of water, or enough to cover by 1 inch. Add the onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer and cook steadily until the meat is tender and practically falling off the bone, 2 to 3 hours.
If using the tripe, place in a medium pot, covered with water. Bring to a boil, drain, then return the tripe to the pot with fresh water to cover. Bring to a boil and simmer until tender, about 1 hour. Discard the water and chop the tripe into thin strips, about 2-inches long .
Strain and discard the annatto seeds, reserving the water to serve as the coloring. Once the oxtail is tender, slowly add the ground peanuts, peanut butter and the annatto water. Add the tripe, if using, the kabocha squash and the banana blossom, if fresh (if using canned banana blossom, add during the last 10 minutes of cooking). Return to a simmer and season with salt and pepper, then cook until the squash is quite soft, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, steam or microwave the bok choy, string beans and eggplant in separate batches until crisp-tender.
To serve, either add the steamed vegetables to the stew at the last minute, or serve them on top. Serve the kare kare over rice and pass the bagoong. Each diner should place a spoonful on the side of their bowl and have a little taste of shrimp paste with each bite.
Notes: You can also buy pre-cut, cleaned and partially cooked tripe from Asian stores. Banana leaves, bagoong and other specialty ingredients are available at most Asian stores. If using a fresh banana blossom, remove tough outer leaves and discard the small buds.
Per serving: 539 calories, 50 g protein, 16 g carbohydrate, 33 g fat (10 g saturated), 150 mg cholesterol, 399 mg sodium, 6 g fiber.
Arroz Caldo
Serves 4 to 6
This is adapted from a recipe from Jun Belen's mother, Juanita Belen. It's similar to Chinese rice porridge, or congee, with Philippine twists like fish sauce and calamansi, a type of citrus that is difficult to find here. This recipe makes a fairly thick rice porridge; for a thinner consistency add more cups of chicken stock when serving or reheating the soup.
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped, about 1/2 tablespoon
- 1/3 cup chopped onion
- -- Pinch of saffron
- 6 chicken wings, or 1 large boneless chicken breast cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup short- or medium-grain rice (see Note)
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth, or more as needed
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 3 hard-boiled eggs, sliced, to garnish
- 2 spring onions, thinly sliced, to garnish
- 3 calamansi or limes, cut into wedges, to garnish
Instructions: Saute the garlic in the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until golden brown and crisp, about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the garlic to paper towels to drain and set aside.
Add the ginger, onion and saffron; cook until the onion is translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken and brown on all sides for about 5 minutes.
Add the rice, chicken broth and fish sauce; cover and simmer over medium to low heat, until the chicken and rice are cooked through, 25-30 minutes, stirring frequently.
Ladle into bowls and serve with bowls of hard-boiled egg, spring onion, fried garlic, calamansi or limes and fish sauce, for garnishing.
Note: Shorter-grained rice creates the right texture for this soup; you can also use sticky or glutinous rice to make a thicker porridge.
Per serving: 253 calories, 15 g protein, 23 g carbohydrate, 11 g fat (2 g saturated), 41 mg cholesterol, 538 mg odium, 1 g fiber.
Tara Duggan is a food writer in San Francisco. Send comments to firstname.lastname@example.com.