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Capitol Hill developers do not have to preserve the neighborhood's oldest buildings to reap the construction benefits that come with that preservation — they can buy those perks, too, as Johnson Carr plans to do for its planned seven-story development at the corner of Pike and Harvard. Someday, you might call it the 95 Slide building. Kids will look at you like you're old and crazy. That's the Pike Flats building, old timer. The preservation perks without preservation plan will be on the table Wednesday night as the East Design Review Board takes what will likely be its final look at the project.
John Feit, chair of the Pike/Pine Urban Neighborhood Council, said transferring development rights is analogous to moving apples around from basket to basket. "Melrose Market paid for the ability to create an extra floor, they just didn't," said Feit. Instead, the developers of the Capitol Hill retail project are selling that right to Johnson Carr.
Though a city planner says a "transfer of development rights" is a common occurrence in parts of Seattle, it will be the first time it has happened on Capitol Hill. Developer Johnson Carr plans to entirely demolish the pre-1940 building at 722 E Pike that currently houses sports bar 95 Slide to build a seven-story, 75-foot structure in its place. The site is only zoned for a 65-foot structure and typically a developer would have to preserve the existing building in order to gain the extra 10 feet under the Pike/Pine Conservation District incentive program, but instead Johnson Carr plans to purchase that ability from the developers of Melrose Market, who gained — but didn't use — the right to build higher by preserving the auto-row era character structure.
The practice of transferring development rights is common in parts of Seattle, says city planner Dennis Meier. The requirements change from neighborhood to neighborhood – downtown, an area that has taken extensive advantage of the program, developers are able to sell unused development rights if their structure falls under the heading of affordable housing, open space, or landmark development. In Capitol Hill, development rights can be transferred from one site to another in the Pike/Pine district if the sending site — the one selling the rights – is a pre-1940, auto row era character structure.
At the July 13 Design Review Board Meeting, Johnson Carr will finalize its request for a departure to allow them to use the acquired Melrose Market's development rights to build a taller structure at 722 E Pike without preserving the existing structure, said developer Kelten Johnson. The board indicated initial support for the plan during its first review last August, and most seem to agree that even though the sports bar-hosting building Johnson Carr plans to demolish technically qualifies as a character structure, there is no reason to preserve it.
"The building that is on that site is not at all significant," said Feit. "No one likes that building. No one's going to bitch if it gets torn down." Meier agreed, saying that while the 722 E Pike building was "technically considered a character structure, it was in bad condition," and thus the board determined that the requirement to preserve character structures could be waived.
Feit said that in addition to there being no reason to preserve the current structure, it is typically cheaper for a developer to purchase the rights to build a larger structure from another site that did not use them, rather than go through the expensive hassle of preserving a character structure.
The plan to "create a timeless contribution to the built environment through design, craft, and sensibility to the surrounding context" from architects Skidmore Janette will create a 90-unit apartment building with no parking on one of the last undeveloped corners in the heart of Pike/Pine.
Meier said that transferring development rights on Capitol Hill is uncommon partly because some developers hold on to the rights themselves in case they want to develop the site to its full potential in the future, and partly because while many sites qualify as sending sites, not many sites qualify to receive the rights.
"There aren't a lot of sites that would qualify as receiving sites because you would need a site that didn't have a character structure on it," said Meier. Unlike the structure at 722 E Pike, most developers are now required to preserve the character structures on their sites.
Though Meier said the Pike/Pine preservation incentive transfer program was widely supported by the community due to interest in preserving character structures, he worries that the surplus of sending sites will drive down the value of the development rights. Johnson declined to disclose how much his company planned to pay for the Melrose Market development rights.


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/*Karine Hakobyan*/, 38, was shot to death on March 26 at her apartment complex in the /*Little Armenia*/ area of Los Angeles.
Hakobyan's 14-year-old daughter found her body in the complex's car port.
Tersargyan was arrested weeks later and charged with one count of murder with the special circumstance of lying in wait. He pleaded not guilty May 3.
In 2008, Hakobyan's 43-year-old husband Khachik Safaryan and their 8-year-old daughter Lusine were also found fatally shot in the same apartment.
Tersargyan was expected to be arraigned Wednesday, but a preliminary hearing has been postponed until Aug. 13.
AP contributed to this report.

subset: commoncrawl


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So what all can we expect, besides a new coat of paint on an old concept? For starters, selecting different blades and dojos will now have a real effect on the gameplay, instead of only providing a cosmetic change. As Halfbrick notes as an example in its press statement "the Great Wave dojo periodically spawns ten fruit at once, and the Autumn Blade creates a fruit-swirling tornado with every pineapple sliced." The studio also mentions that they have "broken the score ceiling" and are bringer greater depth to the strategy of slicing in the update.
Keep in mind this isn't a full sequel to Fruit Ninja, and will simply roll out as an update to the existing experience. The update is expected to arrive in early October. What do you think, enough of a change to lure you back into playing the game or would you like to see a more massive reinvention or full sequel to the Fruit Ninja experience?
[Source: Android Authority]


text: We have 199 Deluxe rooms at our beachfront hotel in Karon, Phuket. Each cosy room is 24 sqm offering space to relax and feel at home with comfortable king size or twin beds in view of the large screen TV with international channels. Take a seat on the balcony and enjoy the views with a cup of tea or coffee, and connect to the free hotel Wi-Fi to keep in touch with home.


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Oakland, Berkeley, And East Bay News, Events, Restaurants, Music, & Arts
On a recent gray midday, half a dozen preservationists gathered on the wet sidewalk in front of the now-dark Fine Arts Cinema in downtown Berkeley to show their opposition to the impending demolition of the outdated movie house. They were led by Oakland resident Leslie Landberg, whose father Ed Landberg, along with the late film critic Pauline Kael, built the building in 1961 to house what some people claim was the first repertory theater in the country.
Rep houses, of course, are rapidly vanishing even in the movie-loving Bay Area. With the closing of the Fine Arts earlier this month -- in preparation for an August 2004 rebirth inside a new mixed-use building to be erected on the site by developer Patrick Kennedy's Panoramic Interests -- only the Parkway and the Pacific Film Archive still show old movies in the East Bay. Home video and changing tastes killed the reps, but don't tell that to Leslie Landberg. Armed with placards and a grim sense of purpose, she has sued to stop the transformation of the Fine Arts and even obtained a hearing before Berkeley's Landmarks Preservation Commission -- which was evidently attended by the same six antidevelopment activists. Not exactly a groundswell of public opinion. "I can appreciate this passion of hers," says the Fine Arts' Keith Arnold, who's anxious to move ahead with Panoramic's plans to help him build a new theater. "I'm trying to keep that thing going, but if they landmark the building, I can't imagine anyone occupying it. The business environment is pretty slow there."
Landberg and her little band of outsiders deny they're being unduly nostalgic, but when pressed are vague about how saving a rundown, tacky-looking building from the pre-George Jetson school of modern commercial design -- which has a beam running across the sightline in front of the projection booth, among other design flaws -- is going to benefit their vision of "a living legacy of the American Film Movement." Landberg is fond of comparing this depressing box to the truly noteworthy Grand Lake. "I'm this one person like Don Quixote tilting against public opinion," asserts Landberg. "I don't believe they are going to really build a new theater. You might as well believe in the Tooth Fairy." Her blitz of e-mails and phone calls on the subject has puzzled local movie people, seemingly including her own father. The elder Landberg was recently quoted as saying he didn't care one way or another about the building's landmark status. When asked about that statement, Ms. Landberg replied: "He's 81 years old. I'm the voice of Landberg now." Her Web site is www.savethecinema.com.
A continuation landmark hearing is scheduled for Monday, March 3. It may be too late. Chris Hudson, Panoramic's project manager for the Fine Arts, says: "I have all the permits I need. We expect to get a demolition permit in March."
Contact the author of this piece, send a letter to the editor, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.
News - October 26, 4:00 AM
News - October 22, 3:09 PM
News - October 22, 4:00 AM
News - October 21, 1:32 PM


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SEO Blogging Software – Give Credit Where Credit Is Due
March 26, 2012 | Comments Off on SEO Blogging Software – Give Credit Where Credit Is Due
By Kenneth Middleton
At one point in time SEO blogging software was given a really hard time; today this software is so highly developed that it is able to give credit wherever credit is due. Let us explain this a little further.
SEO blogging software basically takes already existing content and/or even images and uses them to create automated content for refreshing your own blog with similar content. Some content owners get freaked out about this and don't like the fact that automate blogs make these copies, they want something different to be used so that no copyright infringement exists. We are talking about plagiarism here.
We also have to remember, that all writers get their ideas from other writers, unless what they are writing about is autobiographical. However, that having been said, technology has advanced to such a degree for SEO blogging software, that attribution can even be given to credit to the content owners, and it can be important to them for the software do this. What most content owners don't realise is that when an excerpt is grabbed by the software from the RSS feed, it actually points to the original content and creates a valuable link. So, credit is being given, where the credit is due.
Anyone who has link-building experience knows that this is a good thing. It is a simple matter to build generic back-links to a website homepage. The difficulty lies in building deep links from home or other pages which contain applicable content and keywords. Where this is possible, SEO software can connect the dots and create the deep links, so, it will include tags and targeted categories from the original author when adding the post. This supplements attribution to the original website and the software has other ways of doing this too.
It may be able to extract the description, source name, logos, author, links and even copyright details. It offers HTTP retrieval customization for referrer and user agent, identifies aggregators, sets RSS cache times, and adds blacklist to exclude certain authors. Some writers or bloggers just don't care about those valuable back links or deep links, and don't want your blog to use any of their content, so, exclusion is viable too. Without going into too much detail, there is also much more that can be done to benefit original sources.
Obviously the designers of SEO Blogging software have had a number of years to iron out the creases and tweak programmes to be more user friendly, but also to get rid of their 'spammy' reputation, and create programmes that do add value. The only thing that really needs to be overcome is the mindsets in certain circles regarding this software. At no point in time does is claim to be a be all and end all for bloggers, but it does claim to be a valuable marketing tool, and quite rightly too.


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I had an excellent weekend, even though my back is still hurting. Reminder recap for me: bastille day crepes, heating pads, motorcycle ride, snookers, fire, jen's birthday, lots of fire, liquid advil, ann arbor, girlfriends, devil wears prada, f conversation, motorcycle rescue, yummy food, euchre, and sleep.
A quick preview picture (credit to cjdoyle), and hopefully I will write an actual post soon.


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Call us at 207-400-4065
353 US Route 1, Freeport, ME 04032
Driving the Heat Pump Train
Royal River Heat Pumps has installed heat pumps in hundreds of homes and we often think that we have seen every challenge there is. However, we always seem to find homes that present a unique obstacle or fascinating feature that must be taken into consideration in order to complete the installation successfully. On a recent installation we encountered a new obstacle and one we may never see again; A model railroad. The masterpiece that spanned across almost the whole basement was 18 years in the making with most likely another 18 years to go. It was critical that we in no way damaged so much hard work during the installation process.
Our crew had to run electrical wire through the false ceiling above the railroad with limited space to move. Royal River Heat Pumps takes extra care to ensure that your space looks as though we never even stepped foot in your house. We want to make your life easier by installing a air source heat pump, not harder by leaving the cleanup to you. This installation was no exception. The homeowners were extremely impressed with how the crew worked flawlessly around the railroad and throughout the rest of the house.
Check out some photos of the model railroad and read what the homeowner had to say about the installation bellow!
"Just a note of thanks for your kind and efficient assistance in the design and installation of our heat pump system. The work was done quickly and the cleanup efforts belied the fact that anyone had been there. The installation was not complex when compared to many other projects with the exception that a portion of the work had to be accomplished working around and over a sizable model railroad that occupies a major part of the basement. It was necessary to access the false ceiling above the railroad to install the power supply to the heat pump. In addition, movement was restricted to the aisles between sections of the road. Not a leaf or tree or piece of the railroad's sizable collection of equipment was disturbed – a significant accomplishment!" ~ Ralph and Anne N.


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I have played with LEGO bricks since I was young(I am now 34), but never collected them in any way until recently. A couple of years ago, my wife got back into LEGO and started buying sets to build with our nieces and nephews. Before long she was asking for LEGO sets from me for her birthday and Christmas. Well, of course a few of the sets were hard to find so I had to turn to eBay. I was shocked by how much some of the sets were going for and that's what turned me into a true LEGO investor. Even though I have been doing it for only a short time compared to many, I have learned some very good tricks to getting good discounts on LEGO sets and I thought I would share some of them...
Credit Cards
Although I would never suggest anyone sign up for a credit card that they don't need or cannot pay off every month, in certain instances this can save you a lot of money. Before I was even buying LEGO sets I signed up for a Chase Freedom Card. I never had a need for a credit card, but I figured it was safer than using my debit card that was tied directly to my bank account, and if I have to spend the money, I might as well get 1% cash back which the Chase card offers(Many other credit cards, like Discover for instance, also gives 1% cash back). I started using the card to pay my bills and just about anything else I could that I used to use my debit card for. I would pay the card off 2 of 3 times a month(a little over the top I know) to avoid any interest charges. The 1% started adding up quickly since I was putting everything through the card including all of my business expenses, and before I knew it, I had hundreds of dollars in points through the card. The points can then be converted into a check which they will send you in the mail. However, the nice thing about this card is that you can also use those points on Amazon.com and they are as good as cash. Just link your card up through the Chase site and you are all set. After a while of doing this, I was able to spend my points and buy LEGO sets on sale at Amazon. Now, even though this was the same as spending cash, it did save me 1%. Although that doesn't sound like a lot, I feel that every little bit helps. Also, at times Chase has promotions where you can save up to 5% by shopping at certain stores. This happened to be Amazon.com over Christmas.
After having an Amazon account for years and years, I finally caved and got an Amazon credit card. It wasn't the $50 I saved on that order that finally made me pull the trigger but rather the 3% I can save on orders through Amazon.com in the future. I just recently signed up for this and haven't seen the results yet, but I should be earning 3% cash back that I can use on Amazon.com purchases. So basically, if I need to buy something through Amazon, I use this card. If I buy it elsewhere, I use the Chase card.
Editor's Note: The Amazon Card deposits 3% of your previous month's "paid bill" into your account, which can be used directly on Amazon purchases. I have used this card for over a year and along with the Amazon Prime service, which gives you FREE Two-Day shipping on most items, makes Amazon a favorite retailer of mine for purchasing LEGO sets.
That being said, I have perfect credit and pay my card off every month (actually multiple times a month to avoid one large bill) and I would never suggest anyone sign up for a credit card if they cannot do this. If you end up paying any interest at all, then it defeats the whole purpose of the card and costs you more money than it saves.
Amazon Lightning Deals
Every day the first thing I do is check Amazon Lightning deals for the day. Usually, there is nothing good but every now and then they will have a popular LEGO set that can be purchased at a huge discount. Lightning deals only last for a certain amount of time and usually only have a certain number available, but when you do find one, you can save a lot. The best place to see LEGO Lightning deals is on the BrickPicker site on the Amazon Discounts Page. This page shows up-to-date deals on LEGO sets that are 10% OFF MSRP or more on the Amazon site.
Barnes and Noble Membership
I can't remember offhand what a Barnes and Noble membership costs per year(I think $25) but it pays off if you plan to buy a lot of LEGO sets. Basically you save 10% off of any purchase throughout the year by having the membership. They also frequently send out coupons which can be as much as 30% off. While Barnes and Noble doesn't have the widest selection of LEGO sets, they do have some that are fairly popular, and they frequently have discounts on certain sets.
Damaged Box Discounts
Not sure if everyone knows this or not but a lot of places will give you discounts on damaged boxes. All you have to do is ask. Granted you have to ask the right person and the discounts vary depending on the damage and the set, but at times it can be worth it. A while back my wife and I found set 7208 at Barnes and Noble. It had minor box damage, so we asked if they would give a discount. They offered us 10% off, plus we used our 10% Barnes and Noble membership on top of that for an OK discount. I wouldn't recommend buying damaged boxes for investing, but if it is for your own personal collection which you plan to build and you don't mind having a box that isn't in excellent condition, it can work out on occasion.
Bottle Returns
I added this one in because it makes me feel good about my LEGO purchase when I walk out of the store without having to spend a dime. Basically I consider my bottle returns money already spent. Sure I could return them and buy groceries or anything else, but why not make a good LEGO investment with the returns and maybe make a little more money on it. This one doesn't really save you any money but at least it keeps you from spending "more" money. Of course it only works in states with a bottle deposit and stores like Walmart or Meijer.
Membership Cards
My wife has had membership cards at her favorite stores forever, but I am just recently signing up for my own, and I don't know why I didn't do it long ago. Most stores have some sort of membership you can join which will give you certain perks. Most times these memberships are free and give you huge benefits. Some just ask for your phone number, but most give you a card you carry around. I found using the Key Ring app on my phone works better so I don't have 50 cards in my wallet everywhere I go. By having these memberships, you either save right there on the spot or later get reward coupons that can be used as cash or for other discounts. For example, Toys R Us rewards program rewards you by shopping there by sending you $5 coupons. I just recently received $30 in coupons that can be used just like cash in the store. Kmart does something very similar. Also, if you have a Meijer in your area I found this to be one of the best places to save by joining their mPerks membership. The membership is absolutely free and all you do is clip digital coupons that you want to use in the store before you shop. You then just type in your phone number and a pin at the register and it applies those coupons automatically. They also occasionally send out 20% off 1 item coupons.
This one seems obvious but I can't tell you how many times I have shopped online or in store only to find a coupon the next day. In most cases it is a trip back to the store to return and then rebuy the item with the coupon, but I have had cases where that didn't work out because I couldn't get back to the store before the coupon expires. If you are shopping online, check retailmenot.com before every purchase to see if there is a coupon you can use. In some cases it may just be a free shipping coupon but it still helps. If you are shopping in a brick and mortar store, then make sure you do your homework first. Look at their current flyer online and check if there are any coupons you can print from their site. Also check competitors ads because many stores will price match. Also, when you walk in the door, grab a flyer. Sometimes they contain coupons you can use on your purchase that day.
Target Red Card
Recently I went through the checkout line at Target and as usual they asked me if I would like to save X amount on my order by applying for a Target Red card. My response was "No thanks, I don't want another credit card". Well, the cashier responded that they also have a debit card version that will work just like a check. I still wasn't sure I wanted it until she told me that with the card I save 5% on any purchases in store and online, and you also get free shipping on any online purchases. It sounded like a good deal and a way to finally match some of the Amazon.com prices, so I signed up. Basically, the 5% just about covers the tax (6% here in Michigan) and with free shipping it makes some prices on Legos just as good as Amazon. Plus, I have had much better luck on getting undamaged boxes from Target than I have Amazon, so I am now a happy Red Card holder.
ebates.com pays you money for shopping at online stores such as Amazon, Target, Kmart and more. I just recently started using this site and am very skeptical that I will ever get any money back on my purchases. I have heard both good and bad things about it, but it is definitely worth a try since it is free and takes very little work to first visit their site and then click over to Amazon or another online retailer. Only time will tell on this one.
Buy from out of state
Due to the Interstate Commerce Law, many purchases made from retailers located outside the buyer's state are tax free. Although the fine legal print might say differently, many online retail sites do not collect sales tax from buyers if you are from another state. This policy is void if the retailer has a Brick and Mortar store/warehouse in the state the buyer resides.
Sometimes you can get really great deals on eBay and other times not. What I do is a few different things. A few times a day I search the word "LEGO" by newest listings with a Buy it Now. Although rare, every now and then you can find someone that has just listed something at a really great price. Either they don't know how valuable the LEGO set is or they want quick cash. In either case, it works out to your benefit. Usually these great deals go fast though. I have been beat out many times doing this. By the time I click the buy-it-now button, I get a message saying the item is already sold so I can say I am not the only one who does this. Another way is to search "LEGO" and view by auction format ending soonest. There are times of the day that very few people are bidding and you can get some great deals on auctions that have 0 bids ending soon. I don't view Buy it Now listings when doing this because I figure if the item was on eBay for days at a great buy it now price and no one picked it up then it might not be worth it. This is just my opinion though, and you might have luck with buy it now and ending soonest listing. And finally, my favorite thing to do is search for "make an offer" LEGO listings. You would be surprised at what people will really take for an item when they have a real guaranteed offer right in front of them. I have been able to knock up to $20 off of a Buy it Now price just by making a fair offer.
Don't Pay Over Retail
This may sound silly but always check the retail price on brickpicker.com before purchasing. Some stores (you know who you are TRU) will mark LEGO sets way up past retail and then put them on sale or a BOGO(Buy One Get One) 50% off deal. In some cases you are still paying way more than simply buying the set on Amazon. Just make sure you know the "real" price of the set before you jump on it.
And lastly…. Stalk The Return Line
Now I have never done this myself, but I have heard of others doing it. Basically, you linger on a busy day of returns in the weeks after Christmas and once a LEGO set that you may want gets returned you jump in line and ask if you can purchase that set. While this almost sounds a little creepy to me, I guess it works out for some. I would imagine maybe you would find a set that is now sold out but I don't know. I guess instead of "stalking" you could always just go in once a day and ask if any Lego sets were returned that you could purchase. Count me out on this technique.
Money is tight. That is how the old saying goes. Every penny saved on a LEGO set purchase can go towards investing in new LEGO sets. These are just some tips I thought I would offer to help everyone save on their LEGO purchases. While many are already well known, others might be less known, but nonetheless effective in saving a couple of bucks. Whether it's a couple of dollars or a couple of hundred dollars, every little bit helps. Good luck and happy LEGO purchasing...
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Browsing by Author "Crowley, James L"
Now showing items 1-1 of 1
A comparison of three methods for measure of time to contact Alenyà Ribas, Guillem; Nègre, Amaury; Crowley, James L (IEEE Press. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2009-10-11)
Conference lecture
Open AccessTime to Contact (TTC) is a biologically inspired method for obstacle detection and reactive control of motion that does not require scene reconstruction or 3D depth estimation. Estimating TTC is difficult because it requires ...


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Photo by ISIPhotos.com
By DAN KARELL
A familiar face could be returning to Craven Cottage on New Year's Day.
Seattle Sounders forward Clint Dempsey is set to move on a short-term loan to his former club Fulham when the winter transfer window opens up, according to a report in the British newspaper, The Guardian. Dempsey's loan is expected to take him from Jan. 1 through late-February so that he has time to return and re-adjust to the Sounders ahead of their season opener on Mar. 8 against defending champions Sporting Kansas City.
The U.S. Men's National Team forward spent 5 and a half years at Fulham, scoring 50 goals in the English Premier League and helping lead Fulham to a Europa League final appearance in 2010. Dempsey eventually manufactured a deadline-day move in August 2012 to Tottenham but just one year later, he decided to move back stateside and join the Sounders, where he struggled to make an impact in his first three months under heavy expectations.
A number of teams have been reportedly interested in bringing in Dempsey on a short-term loan and it's been expected that he would look for one, considering that USMNT head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has urged his Major League Soccer-based internationals to continue playing throughout the long MLS offseason.
The loan return of Dempsey could be just what Fulham needs as they battle to stave off relegation. The London club have already parted ways with head coach Martin Jol as the side currently sit in 19th place in the Premier League. According to the Guardian report, forward Dimitar Berbatov is unhappy about the sacking of Jol and would like to move in January, making Dempsey's signing, albeit a short one, of even more importance.
What do you think of this report? Do you see Dempsey moving back to Fulham on loan? Think he could produce goals at the same rate he did in 2011/2012?
Share your thoughts below.


text: Protecting our environment, quality of life, and planning for our future requires innovative thinking. Expanding renewable energy, preparing for climate change, and sea level rise is overdue. We must protect our environment, preserve our county's natural beauty, water resources, and air quality. Assuming our natural resources are unlimited and ignoring the impact of sprawling development on our county's wetlands and water resources, we run the risk of ruining the paradise that is Florida.


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Our recipe inspiration for Not Dogs comes from all around us, let's go on a little journey starting close to home with the...
Kickin' Katie Nacho Dog
Of course, this Not Dog is named after co-founder Katie and was created to represent her love for spice! The pickled jalapeños on top of the cool guacamole, creamy cheddar and crunchy nachos are her favourite part!
Bali Breakfast Dog
Whilst on holiday in Bali, on a tiny island called Gili Trawangan, we had a simple, delicious, fresh breakfast of toasted sourdough bread topped with a freshly mixed avocado salsa and feta. We knew instantly this mix of ingredients would go perfectly on a Not Dog and they did! With a touch of chilli flakes of course!
Waffle Fries
Standard chips just weren't going to cut it for us so we went on the hunt for something a bit special and came up with our lightly seasoned Waffle Fries - a little homage to the Japanese recipe of Furi Furi Fries.
We love to hear your recipe ideas as creating new menu items is one of our favourite things to do so please do get in touch across our social media channels at the end of this blog post!
Eat. Sleep. Not Dogs
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day 64. open source & bloggers in delhi
yesterday was a great day... a wash in new faces, names, scents and foods, i found my self at home in delhi. if you have a chance, click on the photo and see the day unfold.
Technorati Tags: bloggers, delhi, global voices
I just started following your trip with the Dries B. video. I'm really enjoying it. I particularly enjoyed the slide show linked to this post. Seems like a welcoming and fun community you've hooked up with in Dehli. Keep up the great reports.


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By Kim Grimshaw Bolton
Photo by Shaz Rasul
The season's first cold snap did not deter nearly 40 nonprofit leaders from turning out at 9 a.m., on a Saturday for the Doing Good, Writing Well workshop, sponsored by the Community Programs Accelerator at the University of Chicago, an initiative of the Office of Civic Engagement.
The half-day workshop was the first in the Community Programs Accelerator's Community Programs Education Series for community groups. It was a collaboration between the Accelerator, UChicago Medicine, and the University's Career Advancement office. UChicago Medicine recommended the workshop to nonprofit organizations that have applied for its Community Benefits grants; students worked with the attendees to fine-tune their mission statements and goals.
Nadia Salibi, Community Benefit Program Manager in UChicago Medicine's Office of Community Affairs, said, "This is something we've wanted to do for a while. We provide grants to nonprofits working in our five health priority areas, and we want them to be successful. This was an opportunity to build capacity on the South Side."
"The students at University of Chicago are an untapped resource for communities," said Gregory Gaither, founder of the Woodlawn Community Re-Entry Project and an UChicago Medicine referral. "I've written grants before, but this experience really reinforced my grant-writing abilities. The students were outstanding in being able to cite those gaps in my understanding about writing grants."
"It was a very intellectually stimulating experience working with the groups. There was a lot of collaboration between them, which we as volunteers helped to facilitate," said David Valencia, a fourth-year student in the College, who volunteered on behalf of the UChicago Careers in Public and Social Service (UCIPSS) - Philanthropy and Institutional Development program. "It was very exciting to see different organizations take interest in each other and provide their insight to one another. I learned a lot about the different challenges that these organizations face in the community and made a handful of professional connections that I will maintain for the future."
Nora Feely, Program Director for UCIPSS, said, "The grant workshop was an amazing opportunity for the Philanthropy and Institutional Development students to engage one-on-one with their community members and put their grant training into action. I think both the students and participants learned a lot, and we are so glad the Office of Civic Engagement partnered with us to make it happen."
In October, the Community Programs Accelerator selected four nonprofits to receive a suite of support, ranging from strategic planning to office space. The Accelerator will be providing project-specific support to an additional seven "Associate" organizations. The Education Series is open to the community at large, but was designed especially for the organizations that applied for the Accelerator but were not chosen; organizations like Annie's Legacy, founded by Beverly Billy, who attended the writing workshop. "Although I was not selected for the incubator, I was invited to attend all the workshops, which I think is an amazing gift for me and a great opportunity."
Ryan Priester, Associate Director for Community Programs in the University's Office of Civic Engagement, is organizing the workshop series. He explained, "People are doing good work, but they're not telling their story well. We had them bring in materials they already had, so they could leave with something tangible they could use right away."
"I have written grants before," said Beverly Davis, founder and CEO of Prosperity House. "One I received, the others I didn't. Coming here allowed me the opportunity to find out why, what can I change, and all of that. It was really, really helpful."
La'Keisha Gray-Sewell, founder of the Girls Like Me Project, also appreciated the opportunity. "They went over everything. I loved the whole thing. I don't have any question about what's necessary for a grant," she said. "I'm not intimidated by the process like I was before." When asked about next steps, she said, "I'm going to make sure that I stay connected so I can come to more of these workshops."
The next workshop, Technology & the Nonprofit: Planning Ahead to Prevent Falling Behind, will be held on Wednesday, December 10, from 12-1:30 p.m., at the Chicago Innovation Exchange. It will feature Chris Riedel, of UChicago's IT Services. Future sessions will include evaluation techniques from the Crime Lab, nonprofit financing guidance from IFF, and advice on board development from the Civic Knowledge Project.
Originally published on December 3, 2014.


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Jackson posted a statement to Twitter Sunday evening saying that his mother Katherine is complying with doctor's orders to de-stress. The singer writes that the Jackson family matriarch is with his sister Rebbie and has been told to stay away from phones and electronics, but is not being blocked from speaking with anyone.
The statement came a day after a relative reported Katherine Jackson missing and her granddaughter Paris posted on Twitter that she hadn't spoken with her guardian in a week.
Authorities have said they believe Katherine Jackson is safe, but want to speak with her.


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Buono Greek Vine Leaves In Brine. 420gm.$8.65
Availability: 2 - 3 Days
Delicious vine leaves for dolma/dolmades and other dishes.
What are dolmades?
Dolmades ( Dolmathes ) refers to Greek dishes made with either cabbage or vine/ grape leaves, stuffed with a delicious herb-y rice mix, shaped into little rolls and boiled until wonderfully tender. Some dolmades recipe variations besides rice, herbs and seasonings also include minced meat (beef and/or pork).
The most popular meat dolmades variation are the Lahanodolmades (Greek cabbage rolls), which are best suited as a main course. Meat dolmades are served warm and usually garnished with egg lemon sauce (Avgolemono), while meatless vegetarian dolmades are served cold or at room temperature with a last minute squeeze of lemon juice and some thick creamy yogurt.
These Greek dolmades recipe may take little bit of time to prepare (mainly to roll) but they are absolutely worth every minute of preparation!
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Hydrogen Plants
Follow @DaveVolekOrg
Wind turbines of the early 1980s operated at only one speed: the speed that would generate electricity to match the grid's AC frequency of 60 Hz. This speed was controlled by automatically mechanically adjusting the pitch of the propellers. This meant that whether the wind blew at 10 km/hr or 100 km/hr, it generated the same electricity. "Why not," I thought, "just have a DC generator, which would spin as fast as the wind would let it, then convert all available wind energy into hydrogen gas, storing the gas in times of high winds and burning the gas later to generate electricity when there is no wind." In this way, the hydrogen would become the "stored electricity" in the AC grid, which really can't store electricity.
Wind turbine technology evolved differently than what I had anticipated. Wind turbines now have all sorts of electronic and mechanical gizmos that harness much more of the energy from high speed winds while maintaining the AC Hz requirement of the electrical grid. But the fact that still remains is when the winds are not blowing, these advanced turbines are not generating much electricity.
Right now, the electrical grids use conventional electrical power (coal, gas, hydro, or nuclear) to pick up the slack when the winds are not blowing. But as more and more renewable energy resources come on stream, these sources of reliable electrical delivery will decrease. Hydrogen plants—facilities to create, store, and later convert hydrogen gas into electricity—will be the future source of reliable supply when the weather is not cooperating.
Operators of renewable energy sources would split their production into two streams. The first puts electricity directly into the grids. The second creates hydrogen when the weather has more energy to harness than the grid demands. Operators would convert their hydrogen in times of lower electricity supply, making their decision based electricity prices, how full their hydrogen tanks are, and their synopsis of weather and electricity supply. They should get a higher price for their hydrogen-based electricity when supplies are lower to justify the capital costs to build hydrogen plants. This higher price gives the renewable electrical grid its necessary stable long-term supply.
Hydrogen plants would be much more environmentally friendly than other electrical generating stations. There is no CO2, global warming, or nuclear wastes to deal with. And because hydrogen plants would still be made and operated by people, accidents will still happen. But when one such plant has a serious malfunction, hydrogen has very little polluting residue to clean up.
One interesting development I read about is that some scientists and engineers are thinking about running electricity co-axially with liquid hydrogen. The electricity would be carried in the middle of the pipeline, and the liquid hydrogen would super-cool the electrical conductor, thus reducing electrical resistance losses of electrical energy to almost zero (these losses consume about 7% of total electricity generated today). The hydrogen being pumped with the electrical line would also be converted to electricity at its destination. So I can see a hydrogen production and compression plant at the location of the renewable energy source and a big hydrogen fuel cell generator at the other.
When we finally reach this stage of technology and infrastructure, then we will be a true hydrogen economy. It's too bad we don't really have a social engineering plan to get there.
Copyright 2012
Other Articles· Big Brother Database
· BP Oil Spill
· BP Macondo—and Cognitive Dissonance
· The Business of Business English
· The CEO
· Chemistry
· Cocaine
· Dynamic Recovery
· Fear Mongering
· Funding Students and Universities
· Germany Goes Non Nuclear, Maybe
· Good Lessons from Smoking
· The Grain Elevator
· Higher Fuel Prices
· Hydrogen Plants
· Impedance of the American Constitution
· Jason Hale
· Jubilee 2000
· Loony Left
· Minus Signs & Being Professional
· Myth of Responsible Drinking
· Oppression of Self-Actualization
· The Passing of Jack Layton
· Public Sector Wages
· Rationality and Poverty
· Righteous Right
· Scrawny Ronnie
· Taxes for the Rich
· To My Countrymen · Universal Welfare
· Vancouver Hockey Riots
· Vilification
· Women's Rights
· Youth Justice


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South Kitsap Boy Still Recovering from ATV Collision
A South Kitsap boy continues to recover at Harborview Medical Center this week after being struck by an ATV while sledding in December, his family said.
Evan King, 10, was critically injured when a man on a four-wheel recreational vehicle collided with Evan's sled on Banner Road near Fragaria Road early on Dec. 19.
He remains at the Seattle hospital and is still in a lot of pain, his mother, Glenda Golnik, said Monday.
Evan had his first facial reconstructive surgery last week, Golnik said, and will likely need more surgeries in the future. He might be able to come home for the first time this week, but outpatient treatment at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in Tacoma will be necessary for a while, his mother said.
Because his skull was fractured, he won't be able to play contact sports, she said. But the 10-year-old has developed other interests, like music and even gardening. Golnik said the family is confident he can bounce back.
"He's a jack of all trades," Golnik said.
He'll likely be home-schooled in order to catch up to his peers at Olalla Elementary School, Golnik said.
Evan's family is seeking help in covering the medical costs of his recovery. An account has been set up in his name at all Bank of America locations for those who would like to donate.
Peter M. Ohman, 53, the man Kitsap County Sheriff's deputies believe hit Evan, has been charged with hit-and-run resulting in injury by Kitsap County prosecutors.


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© 2000 Routledge ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT OF THE EDITORS.
Twentieth Century Desire and the Histories of Philosophy
Hugh J. Silverman
Freud (sex) and Hegel (power). With respect to the question of desire, twentieth century continental philosophy has been preoccupied with two alternative formulations: desire as sex and desire as power. These two views oppose and complement each other. They form a frame within which the question of desire takes shape.
Sex or the libido characterizes a certain energy, drive, passion, or enthusiasm for the object of ones desire. Jouissance is charged with directionality, excess, and release of energy. The libidinal is affective, desiring, and often out of control. Sex is ecstatic it takes one outside oneself. Power, by contrast, arises out of concrete relations with others. The reading of the master-slave relation in Hegels Phenomenology of Spirit is based upon a notion of desire. The slave desires the position of the master. This desiring relation gives the master power over the slave since the master really only gets his/her position from the slaves interest to supplant the master. The master could not be master, could not exert power, if the slave does not desire the masters position. Unlike the sexual relation, the power relation uses desire to constitute domination and control, but also to achieve self-consciousness at the same time. For Hegel, we can be aware of ourselves only when others are conscious of us the master is a master only when the slave desires to be master.
In the sexual relation, the desire to surrender to the other includes a concomitant desire not to supplant the other. When desiring to exert control over the other in the sexual relation, then libidinal desire becomes excessive, converting itself into something like the Hegelian model of power. When desire is simply excessive, the id gets out of control a control which the ego is supposed to exert over the libidinal desires. But this means that there is another desire a desire to keep the animal drives in check, under control. And the ego often invokes the ego ideal or super-ego to help provide reasons why the ego should maintain control over its libidinal desires.
These two models dominate twentieth century continental philosophy. They are reiterated in different ways in a variety of contexts many of which are taken up in this volume. The binary pair -- desire as sex/desire as power -- as the basis for an understanding of desire in the twentieth century is itself situated in the context of the whole history and text of Western metaphysics.
Plato, for instance, thought that desire could serve different ends. In the Symposium, desire can be for another human being (eros), for friendship with another human being (philia), for a kind of intellectual companionship (nomos), and for harmony and unity with the world of ideas (theoria). Socratess account of what the wise woman Diotima taught him demonstrates how these four levels can be experienced even by the same person. The first type is consistent with the account Aristophanes is given to report, namely a physical desire of one person for another -- his narrative of strange beings with four legs, four arms, two heads, etc. who were split apart and are forever seeking to get back together is an explanation for sexual desire. But in the Diotima speech, desire to have friendship with another, rising above sexual, erotic desire is clearly more significant (for Plato as well). This kind of desire can be either heterosexual or homosexual. And given the value placed on homosexual love in Greek daily life as illustrated by Alcibiades who arrives at the end of the Symposium seeking an expression of Socrates interest the line between eros and philia is not always so clearly demarcated, particularly as Socrates entices young men with his rhetorical skills.
Desire at the level of friendship can also lead to a coincidence of minds desire for union with other minds, a kind of community of intellect. But even if successful, there is no assurance that this community of intellect will also provide knowledge of the ideas or forms. Although a community of intellect as in an academy, a research institute, or the like might help provide a context in which direct knowledge of the ideas might be possible, it does not necessarily follow that it will. Knowledge or intuition of the true, the good, or the beautiful comes from training in many things, including dialectic, but these do not guarantee knowledge of the ideas. The account of the Philosopher-King in the Republic is a story of persons who achieve this knowledge, but only after long training of body and soul, and even then there is no guarantee that they will achieve it.
In the Republic, Plato offers a description of the three parts of the soul. He says that the sole has (1) an appetitive part, (2) a spirited part, and (3) a rational part. The appetitive part is what acts out not only desire for food and drink, but also erotic desires, bodily desires. The rational part directs itself to the ends of reason and follows those ends scrupulously. The third part, which guides the soul in one direction or the other, what Plato called "thumos," is a motivational element in the soul. It can lead the soul to follow the appetites or to follow reason. This spirited element is also a form of desiring but not a desire for a particular object. Rather this spirited part of the soul is the soul desiring what it takes to be good for the soul. It thereby directs the soul to make reason agree with the appetites or, when properly directed, to make the appetites conform to reason. Thus desire can be appetitive or rational, and the spirited element of the soul both animates this desire and helps the soul carry out its ends whether for purposes of sex, friendship, community, or knowledge.
Many have noted similarities between this tripartite Platonic view and Freuds tripartite structure of the psychic realm: the id, the ego, and the superego. And while the ego should be in a position to determine whether it follows the "advice" of the id (libidinal desires) or of the superego (the moral ideals of the culture), it is not always successful at this invocation. Similarly in Plato, the spirited portion of the soul can sometimes allow reason to conform to the appetites rather than the appetites conforming to reason a perversion Plato clearly does not appreciate.
For Plato, as long as reason is properly guided such that the appetites follow its dictates, then it will seek what is good for the soul. This is no guarantee that the soul will achieve such a high end, but at least it will be properly guided. Along with the proper use of reason, the conditions are in place for the soul to know the good (or the beautiful or the true). Knowing the good, for Plato, assures that one will do the good. That is, if the soul truly achieves knowledge of the good, it will act accordingly. Love of ideas, the universal truths, and so forth, will help the soul to know the good, but only knowing the good will bring about such an end.
Aristotle has a solution to the Platonic dilemma that gives even more weight to desire. For Aristotle, knowing the good is not sufficient to do the good. For Aristotle, desiring to do the good is also part of the relation between knowing the good and doing the good. He claims, in his Nicomachean Ethics, that the virtuous person is someone who knows the good, desires to do the good, and does the good. A continent person knows the good, but desires something else, and nevertheless does the good. An incontinent person knows what is good, but desires the bad and does it. A brutish person ignores the good, desires the bad, and does the bad. Hence, for Aristotle, desire plays an important role in ethical behavior. And knowledge as well as action also need to take desire into account. Aristotles model in fact allows for cases of human action characterized by continence or incontinence both of which have no place in Platos account. The only way to bring these features into Platos version is to consider the role of thumos in the soul which orients the soul to conform to reason, but this does not constitute the kind of desire that Aristotle proposes. In Aristotle, desire gives depth to any action. What we do is either in compliance with or against our desires.
Aristotelian desire is not the same as eros, philia, nomos, or theoria. Aristotelian desire is not a form of love. Aristotelean desire functions between knowledge and action. It confirms or disconfirms our actions. A good action that is nevertheless colored by contrary desires is still a good action, but one that demonstrates a certain conflict in the process of choosing. This kind of desire has to do with a kind of power over oneself and ones emotions as opposed to a feeling or passion for another person or object. And this is the major difference between the Platonic view and the Aristotelian one. Clearly the Aristotelian version has more to do with the kind of psychological account one finds in Freud, where self-control is always a factor. Only to the extent that Hegel offers a notion of self-consciousness does it resemble Aristotles account but even in Hegel, self-consciousness is reflective, directed toward oneself and not a constraint upon oneself and ones actions.
Aristotles view of desire is incorporated into early Christian thought. Intention matters. Evil thoughts in the mind even if never acted upon mean that there are bad intentions for evil thoughts are bad intentions. And bad intentions are sinful. Sinfulness is not just by virtue of sinful acts. Even sinful desires are considered to be sin. Desires are now turned into something to be worried about. The desire to be good, to achieve salvation, to follow in Gods path is a desire to live the Christian life. To deviate from such a desire is to pervert desire. Augustines problem with desire is that it could lead to a surrender to bodily interests. Desire that is anything other than a desire for a visio Dei is a misguided desire. And so desire is distinguished from will. Will keeps one on track, directing ones goals and interests to that which is good, to doing good works. Weakness of will allows ones desires to have priority over ones calling to follow God, to seek oneness with the divine, to achieve a vision and harmony with the divine, and ultimately to experience Gods love (agape). The appeal to bodily interests become sinful when one follows them. Self-awareness must be awareness of how the body can deceive, how the body can demonize, how the body can pervert the proper goals of the soul.
The Platonic search for unity and the corresponding denigration of the bodily interests is reiterated in St. Augustine. The desire to follow the path of goodness needs to be a free choice. One must choose to express ones own sinfulness and to deny bodily desires. Self-knowledge means self-control. Love means loving another person, loving friendship, loving Church and community, loving God. And ultimately loving God is the desire that is to be encouraged.
With Thomas Aquinas, the Aristotelian structure of virtue, continence, incontinence, viciousness and brutishness is repeated only now in the eyes of God. God knows when we have sinned. God knows when we have allowed the desires of the body to take over. God knows when love is not his love. The difference between Augustine and Aquinas is that the former simply wants to overcome the corrupting call of bodily desires in favor of faith. Aquinas, however, believes that we have more rational ability to make choices in which we contain our desires, hold them in check, and nevertheless act morally as far as anyone else can tell.
But in the Renaissance, the crucial difference is that desire is again a yearning to know to know all things, to know the universe, to know our bodies, to know how machines can be made, to know the depths of nature, and so forth. The grand figures of Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Machiavelli to name a few are all committed to turning desire into knowledge knowledge of the human body, its anatomy, and its contexts, knowledge of the heavens, and knowledge of human society and personality. Desire is focused on achievement in the arts, sciences, and politics. Personal desires must ultimately conform to these higher desires for knowledge. And sometimes as Machiavelli make perfectly clear desire can take the form of a will to control, to maintain power, to use every means available to achieve such ends. This latter form of political desire is of course consistent with the notion of power as mastery over others. And the parallel between mastery over other people (as in Machiavellis recommendations to his Prince) and knowledge as mastery over nature (Bacon, da Vinci, Galileo) exhibits a common structure. The Book of Nature is plentiful and only through knowledge can it be delved into properly.
So strong is the desire for knowledge, the use of reason, and the fullest use of the intellect in the various fields of human endeavor that in the neo-classical age (the seventeenth century) a conflict arises between reason and passion. If desire is the proper exercise of reason, then significant achievements in self-knowledge are possible. But if desire becomes passion even excessive passion there is a problem, for often this conflict produces a conflict of choice as well. Many 17th century French plays such as those of Corneille and Racine are filled with this dilemma. Phčdre is torn between her passionate desire for her step son and her need to follow what is right, and what reason tells her is right. Desire in the 17th century is converted into passion, and passion alone. Reason has nothing to do with desire. Reason cannot allow desire to take over and yet, so often, this is precisely what happens. And when it happens, the individual is torn apart. The Princess of Clčves shows how important this kind of choice can turn out to be. And even in other works such as Descartess The Passions of the Soul and La Rochefoucaults Maxims passion becomes a taxonomy of desires a list of alternative passions. The fascination with the multiplicity of passions is set off against the obsession with reason.
On the one side of the English channel is an appeal to experience and knowledge derived from the senses and, on the other side, is the strict reliance on reason. For empiricists such as Hume, the multiplicity of the passions is like the multiplicity of sense impressions. Each one has its own characteristics, each one can be described in detail, each one can amount to the expression of desire without having explicitly to deny knowledge about them.
Knowledge of ones passions will help to achieve self-knowledge. Both Descartes and Hume offer a catalogue of the passions. But to different ends. Yet both are concerned ultimately with self-knowledge the one through reason, the other through sense-experience. Neither have a separate place for feeling, sentiment, emotion.
Out of the conflict between reason and experience, the feelings must be given a separate place and this place is offered in romantic theory, romantic poetry, romantic painting. Rousseaus sympathy for the appeal to feelings provides a third term to be added to reason and experience. And Rousseaus need to understand feeling is also a need to understand oneself. Self-consciousness is also understanding reason, experience, and feeling. And feeling is where desire most fully expresses itself. Feeling is the expression of ones innermost nature and the best way to achieve harmony with Nature itself. Knowledge of ones feelings is knowledge of oneself. The Renaissance ideals of knowledge are now fully addressed to ones own feelings, sentiments, emotions. And these emotions are not to be denigrated as in Augustine, or to be conflicted as in the 17th century. Rather feelings are to be explored and developed to the highest sensitivity.
With Rousseau, we are almost to the binary form of desire as exhibited in the twentieth century the dichotomy between the Freudian and the Hegelian models. With the celebration of feeling and the need for self-knowledge, Rousseau leans in the direction of Freud. Hence the appearance of Kant as setting the conditions for the limits of knowledge, choice, and experience demonstrates in effect the limits of desire. Desire cannot take one everywhere. Desire, as illustrated in Goethes Faust, has to have its limits, and if those limits are not respected, something like damnation is the certain fate. One cannot strive to know, experience, and feel everything without giving up ones very humanity. Just as Faust demonstrates what happens when one seeks to go beyond the limits of human knowledge, experience, and feeling, Kant delineates intellectually where those limits are located. The conditions of the possibility of metaphysics are also the conditions of the possibility of what can be said about what is beyond those conditions. Desire has its limits: Kants lesson taught, Fausts lesson learned.
After Kant and Goethe, desire is no longer concerned with the limits of knowledge and self-knowledge. Desire is desire to encompass everything through the fullest expression of the passions (de Sade), through the call to totalize all that can be known (Hegel), through revolution in the very fiber of bourgeois society (Marx), through the celebration of the individual subject (Kierkegaard), and through the critique of all ideals of any culture in favor of self-overcoming (Nietzsche). Nineteenth century desire is no longer content to accept the limits that Kant articulated and that Goethes Faust enacted. Nineteenth century desire wants it all through affirmation and this is ultimately the achievement of power, to overcome the other through desire, to overcome oneself through will to power rejecting established values, ideals, expectations. On the one hand, desire wants power by taking the place of the other, and, on the other hand, desire wants to express itself fully and without limitations as the individual expression of freedom.
This dichotomy between desire for power and libidinal desire frames the twentieth century continental tradition which is the focus of this volume. Desire in continental philosophy is either erotic, poetic, loving, transgressive, and insidious or it is an encounter with the other, productive, creative, and discursive. When desire is of the Freudian variety, it can also become the basis for a social theory. When desire is of the Hegelian variety, its negations constitute the other, give meaning to desire, and reaffirm oneself.
Part I ( Erotic Practices/Erotic Transgressions) outlines some types of eroticism as derived from the Freudian model and then shows two alternative ways of understanding the erotic. Martin Dillon distinguishes between what he calls "biological reductionism" and "semiological constructivism," and attempts to open a theoretical space capable of accommodating the "truths" to be found in both. The one version reduces the erotic to a physiological condition, the other turns the erotic into a discursive practice. For Dillon both of these accounts one, the medical side of Freud, the other, the narratological side of Lacan do not adequately account for the lived body that constitutes a historically situated natural condition and which founds a circumscribed plurality of competitive social forms in the domain of erotic norms and praxes. This (Merleau-Pontean) account of the lived body avoids the reductions of the medical model but also seeks to shy away from accounting or the body in the language of the body. It seeks to see the erotic as charged with energy but contextualized by social norms in relation to bodily erotic practices.
By contrast, LaFountains reading of Bataille examines alternatives to erotic norms and seeks to understand erotic transgression. Here the Freudian model is animated by the Hegelian dialectic. If there might be some possibility of "being whole again" -- an idea that the Hegelian totality could be understood not only as the achievement of mind or spirit in its self-actualization but also as some former unity which the erotic calls out for -- this condition marks the confrontation with death and excess (the experience of le petit mort). Death and excess present limits to totality. The erotic, orgasmic body confronts death and excess by trying to simulate them. A disruption in the dialectic between the socially accepted and the transgression of those norms produces an indecidability. This indecidability is the place in which the dialectic breaks up where it becomes "insidious." Death and excess would be expressions of what Dillon means by the "lived body." When textualized, the very question of the role of a textual death, one in which the erotic-textual body of the writer/reader is the practice of eroticism, introduces this moment of indecidability a moment of eroticism, a moment of textual "jouissance" (as Barthes would call it).
Part II (Desire for the Other: Levinas) takes a radical departure from the Freudian libido turned erotic. Brian Schroeder focuses directly on Hegels "Logic of Desire" in the Science of Logic as opposed to his Phenomenology of Spirit. He takes up the theme of "war" as the most extreme form of interpersonal violence and reformulates the problem in the light of Levinas notion of otherness. In short, he is looking for a way in which otherness for Levinas is something other than Hegelian negation. Schroeder asks whether the negativity, i.e., otherness, that desire negates in its movement as Spirit render the relation with the Other obsolete; or does it bring one into a genuine relation with the Other? And what is the role that desire plays in the promotion and/or overcoming of the violence that is war? Reading Levinas with and against Hegel sees the relation with the other as a logic of relation which is faced with the possibility of violence. But does violence reaffirm the face to face or does it reaffirm a dialectic of negativity?
Bettina Bergo comes at the question by asking whether it is not Heidegger rather than Hegel who frames the Levinasian concept of desire. She shows how Levinass reconfiguration of Heideggerian notions of space and time results in a radically new conception of desire. Levinass notion of desire can be formulated in terms of need and enjoyment as existential notions as opposed to transcendental ones. Is desire something that we feel, experience, live in relation to the other human being or is it a condition for our understanding of the possibilities of need and enjoyment in eschatological terms? Once again, the tension is between desire as an expression of lived experience and as a logical structure of interpersonal relations.
In Part III (Desiring Subjectivity: Sartre and De Beauvoir), the account of desire is framed in existential terms those of Sartre and de Beauvoir. Christina Howells points out that in Sartre desire is incompatible not only with beauty but also with love. Like love, however, desire pursues an impossible ideal: to possess the other as both subject and object, as embodied transcendence. Sartre's phenomenological descriptions of desire are predominantly negative, involving the body as flesh, as contingent, as being-in-itself. The fundamental project of the for-itself is its impossible desire for being, and this is manifest in all modes of desire. Saint Genet provides clues for a better understanding of these questions, especially in its inversion of Kantian ethics. Desire in Sartre is the paradoxical reconciliation of subject and object, love and desire that is our ultimate aim - not the failed synthesis that he had outlined in Being and Nothingness but rather a still point of fragile (and impossible) equilibrium. This impossible desire would make the transcendental desire of Kant or even Hegel or Husserl a real, existing phenomenon were it not impossible. Sartrian desire always falls on the side of the desiring subject and never overcomes the dichotomy inscribed in the impossible dream.
Simone de Beauvoir, in Eleanore Holvecks reading, stresses the role of her "ethics of ambiguity" as an understanding of female sexuality as basically incompatible with the Sartrian view. She rejects psychoanalytic readings of de Beauvoirs notion of female sexuality and links it more to the Hegelian tradition. And perhaps this very ambiguity of experience reformulates the "impossible desire" in Sartre. In de Beauvoirs notion of ambiguity, the very dilemma of desire between the psychoanalytic (Freudian) version and the dialectical, transcendental (Hegelian) version is particularly evident.
Part IV (Reading Feminine Desire: Irigaray) takes the question of female sexuality and reads it in the terms offered by Luce Irigaray as "a different relation to the transcendental." For Irigaray, according to Simon Walter, the concept of specularization is an important figure in the non-acknowledgment of sexual difference. The constituted Otherness of Woman has been subsumed into a discourse of masculine Sameness. The only representations of women made possible within this economy are duplication, opposition, or insertion. The Masculine has spoken the Universal on behalf of Woman by erasing her from discursive history. In Hegel and Heidegger, the relation of Being to non-Being implicitly relegated Woman to the position of nothingness in an ontological hierarchy, psychoanalysis in its description of linguistic signification makes this identification complete, by excluding Woman from the circulation of phallic meaning. The explicit sexualization of discourse is not simply a reactive development in metaphysics. Woman becomes visible in her absence, disrupting and instigating the rereading of the whole of the discursive history of subjectivity.
According to Dorothy Leland, Irigaray provides an inadequate account of the gendering of desire, partly because of her Lacanian tendency to ignore the social institutions and practices that contribute to this process. Lelands literalist-based complaint about Irigaray's discourse on feminine desire transfers to its strategic construal. If Irigaray is not giving an account of the gendering of desire, then she should not be criticized for failing to link this process to historically and culturally specific social relations. But her texts conceptualize this process as bound to the psychoanalytic tales she deconstructs. The effect, at least at the level of image and symbol, is to leave women where Freud and Lacan have consigned them, relegated to the realm of the ahistorical, transcultural Other, endowed with a "supplementary jouissance" that lies beyond the symbolic, linguistically constituted, phallically oriented world of men.
In Part V (Writing Desire: Barthes and Derrida), Robert Solomon explores how Roland Barthes writes desire through the genre of the "lovers discourse." Desire is written in Barthess text in a putatively "impersonal" way offering a dictionary/ encyclopedic format which yields only an "arbitrary" list of love words and phrases. In many respects, Barthess A Lovers Discourse is a rejection of an entire tradition of philosophizing about love, but its charm is its personal, even confessional nature. He claims that his work is impersonal ("there is no question here of a history"), but Solomon suggests that we should take this too as part of the writerly lover's discourse, one of those proclamations that we would expect from Barthes as part of his effort to "discourage the temptation to meaning." Hence Solomon invokes Barthess own "impersonal," "lexical" mode of writing in order to show (discursively) how love and desire are acutely personal despite Barthess semiological claims to the contrary.
By contrast, Nancy Holland offers an account of Jacques Derridas discourses of desire at three different times across the thirty years of his career. She shows that at least two different discourses of desire are at work in Derridas writings. The first, "male" discourse is discussed in the context of three essays in Writing and Difference (1967), the second, "female" discourse in the context of Cinders (1980) and Memoirs of the Blind (1990). The conclusion drawn from these texts is that while the "male" discourse allows for the possibility of a feminist understanding of the play of desire in traditional philosophical discourse, the "female" discourse in Derrida does not. The necessity of this paradox is examined in the light of the more general problem of the exclusion of female desire from the phallogocentric tradition.
Part VI (Producing Desire: Deleuze and Guattari) concludes the volume with a consideration of Gilles Deleuzes philosophy of desire in the context of the history of philosophy. Alan Schrift claims that the whole history of philosophy conceives of desire as a "lack in the object." Gilles Deleuze, however, explicitly associates the view of desire as lack with Freudian psychoanalysis and offers an alternative notion of desire as productive. Schrift shows how Deleuze draws upon Spinoza's "conatus" and Nietzsche's "will to power" for his account of productive desire in order to present an "other" discourse of desire in the history of philosophy one freed from the constraints imposed by the ideology of lack.
Correspondingly, Dorothea Olkowski situates Deleuzes writings in relation to theories of the body and desire in recent feminist philosophy. She argues that Deleuze and Guattaris account of the body and desire does not establish a pre-cultural eros as some feminists claim. Focusing in particular on Nietzsche and Philosophy and Anti-Oedipus (by Deleuze and Guattari), Olkowski argues for a conception of positive desire that is not connected in any way to the Platonic schema of "man" as lacking being and therefore limiting human productive activity. She questions Oedipal constructions of the body and desire as hierarchical and exploitative. She further demonstrates how, for Deleuze and Guattari, the body (understood broadly as chemical, physical, biological and social) is the force that undermines such constructions so that productive desire can once again open up human creative and political freedom.
website: M. Sanders


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MADRID — Spain's Festival Films has taken all rights for Spain from FilmSharks Intl. on Finland's Oscar entry "Letters From Jacob."
A redemption drama from Klaus Haro ("The New Man," "Elina"), "Jacob" chronicles the evolving relationship between an ex-convict and blind priest.
Saint Charles, Ill. based Olive Films acquired North American rights to "Jacob" late last year and plans a summer theatrical release platforming out from New York and Los Angeles, said FilmSharks' founder Guido Rud.
Festival already handled the FilmSharks-repped Argentine marital break-up comedy "A Boyfriend for my Wife," which it released last summer.
A bullish Berlin buyer, NonStop Films has swept up all rights to Scandinavia on Jonathan Parker's comedy "Untitled," starring Adam Goldberg ("2 Days in Paris").
A satire of the contemporary art scene also co-written by Parker ("Bartleby"), "Untitled" was picked up for the U.S. by Samuel Goldwyn Films.
In futher deals, Ledafilms has closed Latin American TV rights on "Untitled," while Impacto Cine has licensed Argentina and Chile. Brazilian and Chilean theatrical releases are under negotiation, said Rud, who added that FilmSharks had sold "Boyfriend" to Chris Lee Pictures Intl. for South Korea.
The hottest comedy out of Argentina in 2008, "Boyfriend" has now rolled out in much of the world, with Olive taking U.S. rights and Warner Bros. optioning remake rights.
"Jacob's" deals add to a growing trawl: past buyers include Alcine Terran for Japan, Khan Ent. Co. for Taiwan and SBS for Australia.


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A Marathi power loom worker's poems, written to the sound of machines, have been winning awards
Why does poverty enter my house, and not that pucca house there?" asked 60-year-old Mohammad Naikavadi. "Well, my next poem is on poverty, my close friend."
A retired loom worker from Rendal, a village in Maharashtra's Kolhapur district, Naikavadi is a rural poet with six published books. He has written close to 3,000 poems about life in the countryside on themes such as poverty, plight of workers, humanity, people's lives, art, environment, pollution and nationalism, among others.
His book Vedna (Anguish), a collection of 65 poems, was published in 2014 by Sanmitra Prakashan, Kolhapur, and won a Karvir Sahitya Parishad Award in 2016. Naikavadi has also presented a few of his poems at Akhil Bharatiya Muslim Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, an annual conference on Marathi literature, in 2011 and, again, in 2016.
"I am a poor man," he said. "I've bought this register recently in which I can write my poems properly. Earlier, I used to collect the advertisement pamphlets which came in newspapers and wrote on the blank side."
Shyam Kurale, a litterateur from Kolhapur, reviewed three of Naikavadi's books – Aamraai, Jach and Gavran – in 2007. In the Marathi daily Pudhari, Kurale wrote:
"The colours, appearance and smell of the trees grown in city gardens differ from the colours, appearance and smell of the trees growing naturally in jungles. The poems from Gavran, written by Naikavadi, bring the same natural feel. You will find a variety of poems like Lavani, Abhang, poems on nature, love, social issues in [this] poetry collection. The subjects, context and expressions of the poems [in Jach] are the best compositions of the poet… Aamraai is the poet's collection of nursery rhymes, with very good subjects regarding the emotions of children. The poet has written the songs for children considering the changing world, which makes them unique."


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Private channels are now available for all accounts! With a private channel your content is password protected and requires a user to log-in for viewing. You can create as many users as needed and track analytics per user. Devices paired with a channel for kiosk viewing will continue to function normally.
To get started with private channels –
- Log in to your account
- Go to "Management" – > "Channels"
- Click the 'Private' toggle button for the channel you would like to be private
Additional features and fixes in this release –
- Updated notifications for the Manager app
- Renamed 'Manage' button to 'Login' on Channels page
- Added private channel switch on Channels page
- Added private channel feature in Client & Manager
- Set client window title to project name – page name
- Removed unused "Interactive" checkbox on new channel dialog
- Arrow keys can be used to move text boxes
- Fix for client connection routine
- Fix for anti-aliasing on rotated objects with shadow/border
- Fix for pasted text formatting (paste as plain-text by default)
- Fix for slideshows that weren't initializing properly
- Fix for manual size setting in style dialog
- Fix for slideshow re-ordering / drag-and-drop disappear
- Fix for text editor not working on Safari


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Find out how Energy360 can help you realize up to 25% in savings
using real-time sub-metering, energy analytics, automation, wireless building controls,
and more.
How much energy are you wasting due to inefficiency?
How much can you save on energy costs? Use our online calculator to find out.
See how Energy360 can lower energy bills across various building types


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Do you develop software? Can you do it on a Chromebook? We take a look at how and why you might want to develop on a Chromebook. ... Watch or Listen »
News Hour
Nothing but the news this week. With reviews of the new Nvidia K1 chipset, Microsoft releasing a version of Windows with Bing, Apple&... Watch or Listen »
Lenovo N20p Chromebook
Lenovo officially sets it sights on the consumer market with the touchable and convertible N20p. With industry leading enterprise compu... Watch or Listen »
After the Last Bell: Privacy Questions Regarding School Issued Chromebooks
Where is the line between privacy and safety when it comes to kids and schools? Should they monitor a child's computer at all times, ... Watch or Listen »
Buy a Chromebook for School
Don't let them fool you, Chromebooks might just be the exact computer you are looking for when it comes to back to school shopping... Watch or Listen »
The Idea of Chrome OS
We have had many operating systems since the time of the computer began. From DOS to Windows, Mac OS to OS X, users have come to know an... Watch or Listen »
Croutons & Bitcoin Part 2 - Practical Chrome 32
In part 2 of the crouton challenge, we find out how John, Craig and James fared . How difficult was each install? Were any Chromebo... Watch or Listen »
Croutons & Bitcoin Part 1 - Practical Chrome 31
A few brave tech savvy folks have installed another distribution of Linux next to Chrome OS, but why? In the first of a two part episod... Watch or Listen »
ARM vs x86 - Practical Chrome 30
This week on Practical Chrome we look at the difference between ARM and x86 processors. With more models coming out containing both ch... Watch or Listen »
The Pinnacle of Native Client - Practical Chrome 29
This week on Practical Chrome we look at and try and understand Native Client vs HTML5 when it comes to Chrome Apps. One is using only we... Watch or Listen »
Google I/O 2014 Post-show - Practical Chrome 28
This week on Practical Chrome we jump into all the Google I/O happenings. Will Android and Chrome OS join hands and sing or will a merger... Watch or Listen »
Google I/O 2014 Preshow - Practical Chrome 27
This week on Practical Chrome we have our first Google I/O pre-show. The Google I/O developer conference for 2014 is starting tomorro... Watch or Listen »
Acer C720P - Practical Chrome 26
This week on Practical Chrome we review the Acer C720P. The C720 we all know and love as a fast, light, Intel powered performer get jus... Watch or Listen »
I Need a Shoulder - Practical Chrome 25
This week on Practical Chrome we find a shoulder to lean on. What communities are out there for support? What type of support does Google... Watch or Listen »
Nine Tenths of the Law - Practical Chrome 24
This week on Practical Chrome we talk about what you own, and what is good for you, when it comes to your apps. Last week Google disable... Watch or Listen »
HP 14 Chromebook - Practical Chrome 23
This week on Practical Chrome we take a deep look at the HP 14 Chromebook. With 4GB or ram, an Intel Celeron processor and a 14 inch scr... Watch or Listen »
Q and A Spring 2014 - Practical Chrome 22
This week we read and take your questions live on the air. Do you have a question about your Chromebook or Chrome browser? Then send it ... Watch or Listen »
If You Can, Snagit - Practical Chrome 21
On this episode of Practical Chrome we interview a few members of the team from TechSmith that created Snagit for Chrome. We will disc... Watch or Listen »
Scuttlebutt - Practical Chrome 20
On the episode of Practical Chrome we dive into the Scuttlebutt of it all. There have been a few big stories recently around G+, new Chro... Watch or Listen »
The New Age Of Ascension - Practical Chrome 19
This week on +Practical Chrome we interview +James Niesewand , CEO and lead Game Designer at +Illyriad Games. The web is dramatically ... Watch or Listen »
Stand And Deliver - Practical Chrome 18
This week on +Practical Chrome Education IT Coordinator, and fellow podcaster, +Bjorn Behrendt joins us to discuss Chrome in education... Watch or Listen »
Calling All Gamers - Practical Chrome 17
Tonight on +Practical Chrome we discuss why Chrome, Chrome OS, and modern browser gaming is getting better and better. Did yo... Watch or Listen »
Time To Change Your eXPerience - Practical Chrome 16
On this episode of Practical Chrome we discuss why Chrome OS is a great choice for users leaving the grand old OS Windows XP. XP wa... Watch or Listen »
Wrap Me In Leather And Take Me Home - Practical Chrome 15
On this episode we take a hard look at all the news and reviews around the new Chromebook 2 from Samsung. Does the leather make it b... Watch or Listen »
How Much Is That Doggy In The Windows - Practical Chrome 14
On this episode of Practical Chrome we get curious about the rumor mill as Microsoft is thought to be making a free OS! It may revolve... Watch or Listen »
Tell Me What You Really Think - Practical Chrome 13
On this episode of Practical Chrome we interview ZDNet Contributing Author Ken Hess. Ken has spent the entire month of February using an ... Watch or Listen »
The New OS Wars - Practical Chrome 12
On this episode of Practical Chrome we explore the âNew OS Warsâ. Thatâs right, it is that time of the decade to look at the OS ... Watch or Listen »
Even Small Devices Chromecast a Large Shadow - Practical Chrome - 11
On this episode of Practical Chrome we explore Chromecast. What is Chromecast? Why do I need one? What is the future for this u... Watch or Listen »
With Just a Touch of Magic - Practical Chrome - 10
On this episode of Practical Chrome we explore touch in Chrome. Where is touch heading with Chrome? Will it be the baseline inter... Watch or Listen »
Offline Behemoth - Practical Chrome
We find out why Chrome OS is an 'Offline Behemoth', and why the Chrome Store is filling with more of the same. Do you have this common ... Watch or Listen »
Chrome is the New Frontier - Practical Chrome
Where is Chrome going? Is it going in a good direction? Why should I, or do I care? These questions are being answered everyday by Google... Watch or Listen »


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Meet the Pagani Huayra Hermes
The Pagani Huayra Hermes is finally here. Indeed, the bespoke 1 of 1 Pagani jewel had been in the italian brand's drawers for quite some time now. American owner & famous car collector Manny Khosbin had already told his followers a long time ago about his garage getting bigger with a specific model, which was the fruit of a particular partnership: Pagani Automobili and Hermès. Now, the garage got bigger and welcomes this incredible Pagani Huayra Hermes.
This new masterpiece is the fruit of Manny Khoshbin's imagination and creativity. Featuring a full brown carbon-fiber body and, obviously, Hermès leather interior and details. It's one of the only two Huayras in the USA with the Tempesta pack, yet the biggest aesthetic change is probably the incorporation of the Hermès logo/pattern throughout the car, mainly in the front grill or side vents. Black wheels and golden brake calipers. An awesome detail is the fact there is the italian flag on the left side-view mirror, and the french flag on the right side-view mirror (unless you're looking at the car from the front, though, which kinda bugged me lol). Needless to say, the Pagani Huayra Hermes truly speaks « unique » and customization. I kinda like it to be honest, though I can understand how and why some people might not.
As far as I know, this is the second time Hermès worked with an auto manufacturer to prove a point and create something incredible (first one was the Bugatti Veyron « Hermès »). However, this is the first time Pagani works with another brand to create something completely unique (that I know of). Good news for future things to come, hopefully? I think that opens the door to more partnerships of the same-kind in the future, provided more clients feel the need to commission a one-off.
I don't even want to begin imagining how pricey this car was, though.
But it's definitely worth it! It's a stunner!
This car is a lovely addition to an already very very big private collection (SLR, Bugatti Veyron, Bugatti Veyron « Mansory » Vincero, McLaren P1, Carrera GT, Aventador SV, Saleen S7… and so on).


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Subaru XV is a new type of crossover SUV.
The new type of crossover SUV is the Subaru XV that despite its compact sporty design projects a great presence and boasts a range of new features never seen before in an SUV. Its exterior design combines high ground clearance, large tire wheels, and all of the other features one would normally expect to find in an SUV while the proportions of the Subaru XV convey a sense of elegance and lightness.
As defined in our new brand statement, "Confidence in Motion", the Subaru made it possible to truly provide "safety and pleasure". Subaru XV will thoroughly satisfy the needs of a diverse range of customers.


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Yes, we do just do a write up on the Perez Art Museum, and as we promised here we've split it up into a second gallery that focuses exclusively on the hanging garden, plants that come flowing down Read More
Perez Art Museum Gardens
Perez Art Museum In Downtown Miami
I had the pleasure of making my way over to the Perez Art Museum in Downtown Miami just the other day. It was nice and warm, hot really as August typically is in Miami, but thankfully not raining and Read More
The Stunning Temple Emanu-El Fifth Ave
There are innumerable stories edifaces throughout New York City and with any luck we'll get around to more of them as time passes, we're in no rush. One of our personal favorites right in the Read More


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Your shopping cart is empty!
|It can be frustrating if injury stops you running, here are some 3 coping strategies that you can use to lift your spirits and keep you on a positive path:
1) Stay active.
If you try something new remember to start out slowly, don't push yourself too hard, you'll be using new muscles so you don't want to add a new injury into the mix. Keep it low impact.
If you can keep your body moving or working in some form it will keep your spirits uplifted.
2) Stay in touch.
Keeping yourself involved helps prevent you feeling excluded and keeps your motivation up for when you have recovered.
3) Use the time wisely.


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Open Door Days During World Ice Hockey Championship
Hi friends,
a few days ago we have launched a page dedicated to PPM meetings. This page will keep you up to date with all the meetings of managers going on in your neighborhood or anywhere else. You can also check out pictures from previous meetings. We have spent a lot of time compiling information from the past meetings, but we are still missing some. If you can provide information about some meetings please contact maTTko. You can also contact him if you want to organize a meeting yourself.
We would like to invite you to Open Door Days which will take place during the World Ice Hockey Championship (May 4 and 5, from 10.00am). You will have the oppotunity to see the PPM headquarters in Bratislava, have a talk with game creators or take pictures with them and see for yourself how the game is being developed. There will also be some snack and a guest book and all visitors will receive a souvenir. Find out more in the meetings page. You can also keep up with the community news by joining our facebook page.
We have made a small improvement in the calendar. If you click on a date, the calendar window with the details about the game on that date now has info about which day of the season is selected. It is a rather small thing, but we think it will help you find out when the season ends.
Finally, we would like to welcome back our former programmer Mysho who has returned to our team to help us with development.
Have a nice day!
שתף בפייסבוק שתף בטוויטר שתף במיי-ספייס
צפה בעוד


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Liquid Binding Agent
Keeps stones in place
Gator Rock Bond is a one component binder, that when mixed with clean and dry riverstone, granite, linestone or marble creates a durable yet solid permeable and decorative surface. Great for garden pathways where erosion and drainage is a concern.
Ideal For:
Wear gloves to avoid having binder sticking on your hands. Products should be mixed in a wheelbarrow or on a plywood board.
Application Instructions:
Types of rock that can be used with Gator Rock Bond:
GRANITE – LIMESTONE – MARBLE (1/8" to 3/4")
these rocks have to be clean, free of dust & 100% dry.
Method of application of GATOR ROCK BOND
Please Note:
1 US gal mixed with 300 lbs of dry clean rock will cover 80 sq. ft. at 1/2″ thickness.
(3.78 L mixed with 136 Kg of dry clean rock will cover 7.4 sq. m. at 13 mm thickness.)
Store in a cool, dry, well ventilated area.Store in upright position.
Store at above freezing temperature 32°F (0°C).
Shelf life is 1 year in original unopened container.
Alliance Designer Products inc. cannot guarantee results as it has no control over surface and sub-surface preparation and product application. Alliance Designer Products inc. agrees that, if the product is proven to be defective, and on the condition that it was installed pursuant to the method of application of surface and sub-surface preparation described above, then Alliance Designer Products inc. agrees to refund the purchase price. Proof of purchase is required for any claim. EXCLUSION OF RESPONSIBILITY THE PARTIES AGREE THAT REFUND OF THE PURCHASE PRICE AS STATED IS THE ONLY OBLIGATION OF ALLIANCE DESIGNER PRODUCTS INC. IN ALL EVENTS, ALLIANCE DESIGNER PRODUCTS INC., SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY OTHER DAMAGES OR COSTS, DIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, ALLIANCE DESIGNER PRODUCTS INC., EXCLUDES ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR PURPOSE.


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mission statement
- Community: We need to support each other. We need to welcome out of town bands to H-Town. We should go occupy our local venues. Be sure to stay for the first and last bands. Support our scene while supporting the other music scenes in Houston. It's our hope that events like Houston Punkfest bring bands and people together to create a sense of community where we all support each other.
- Passion: We believe in the music we play and the messages we convey in our songs. We have a spirit inside that is screaming to be let out, to be expressed through our art and craft. We all have that drive to express ourselves in a positive way and to be open to the lessons and messages of others. This attitude fuels us and makes us strong.
"All punk is attitude. That's what makes it. The attitude." –Joey Ramone
- Charity: We believe that when you take care of others, you are investing in your community. Its our goal to support a local or national charity with each festival and direct as many proceeds as possible to the charity selected. Giving back is an important aspect of Houston Punkfest and is one of our core values.
- Music: This is a music festival after all, so the music is a central figure in all of this. From skate punk to Ska to Emo to 90's So Cal inspired punk, Houston Punkfest is an opportunity to find a new band or genre of punk you may have not known about. It's an opportunity to celebrate the diversity of punk music in its many forms and nuances.


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With messages everywhere, teens can take back power by making their own voices heard.
It is impossible to go through the day without consuming information. In fact, there is so much competing for our attention that it can be dizzying. In 2014, spending on advertising in the United States was $180.1 billion.[1] With people being bombarded by messages, not necessarily for their own good, it can be tough to remember the value of our own experiences. Teens have important lives, important stories to tell. Sometimes, it is the job of adults in their communities to remind them of this. Librarians can be catalysts to their discoveries.
Teens can feel like their lives, which aren't cut to thirty eye-popping seconds of air-brushed glamour, don't matter. They DO matter. Teens who are validated are also empowered. Engagement isn't a minor deal. There was a report in 2004 that said, "student engagement has been found to be one of the most robust predictors of achievement and behavior in schools, a conclusion that holds regardless of whether students come from families that are relatively advantaged or disadvantaged socially or economically."[2]
So, getting students involved in their own learning can be like switching on a light bulb. Either they are into what they are doing or not. Don't we all prefer when we can relate what we do to our own lives? I know that I do. If it seems distant or foreign, it doesn't work for me. If it seems unattainable, like those images in ads that teens constantly see, it can actually be damaging. For teens to tell their own stories replaces "Why can't I be like that?" with "I am like this."
Staff from The Kansas City Public Library recently teamed with MindDrive (link to http://www.minddrive.org), an organization whose mission is "to inspire students to learn, expand their vision of the future and have a positive influence on urban workforce development. Our objective is to involve the adults of our community in the education of the children of our community."
Here is what Linda Buchner, President of MindDrive, said. The Kansas City Public Library youth staff helped "the students create a poignant piece by guiding and gently encouraging them to dig deeper, helping them to create wonderful 'moments in time' when their lives seemed to change. The students took to the assignment right away, were very eager to record their audio piece and then lay the images and music in around it. It was magical to watch each story emerge."
In three minutes or less per video, the teens conveyed moving, life-changing events. In the process, they came to know each other better and to appreciate their own abilities to communicate. What a great way for us to uphold the Kansas City Public Library's mission to "support individuals of all ages pursuing a program of independent learning."
Anna Francesca Garcia earned her Master of Library and Information Sciences degree from the University of North Texas and has worked for a decade in public libraries in Nevada and Missouri. So far, she has created three digital stories. Her seven-year-old daughter expressed interest in making one but decided to dictate a made-up story for her mom to type instead.
[1] MCPHERSON, DOUG. "U.S. Ad Spending Sees Largest Spike In Decade." Response 22.11 (2014): 7. Business Source Complete. Web. 17 Dec. 2014.
[2] "Students as Co-Constructors of the Learning Environment: Building Systemic Approaches for Youth Engagement." Academy for Educational Development. (2011): 32. ERIC. Web. 17 Dec. 2014.