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Day Spa: Different Services Available
With so many different day spa services available to you, how do you know which one(s) to choose? Taking a few minutes to become familiar with the different services available at the spa will help you make a good decision on your services.
Every day spa is going to offer one very traditional service, the manicure and pedicure. A manicure if where they will trim your cuticles, nails, massage your hands and most often paint your nails. The pedicure is the same service, but for your feet. Within this service, there are different varieties of manicure and pedicures. They can vary by the time allotted for the service, the type(s) of products (lotions, salts, etc.) used for the service among other things. One type of pedicure that is becoming increasingly popular is the hot stone pedicure. It is a little more costly than the traditional, but the hot stones do wonders to relieve stress and sore muscles in the feet. It is a great added bonus to an already wonderful day spa service.
Most day spas also offer massages. Massages are another service that usually comes in many different varieties. It is important to know what kinds your day spa offers so that you may choose the one that is best suited for your own needs and desires. Most spas will offer different massages ranging from traditional, deep tissue, and even hot stone massages. They will also have massages that will vary by the type of oils used for the massage. If you are not sure which massage to choose, you should consult your spa and they can walk you through the different options.
Facials are another popular spa service. A facial can be relaxing; however, it can also be somewhat of a painful experience as well. A facial can have long lasting impacts on the healthier of your skin. Keeping your pores open and clean will lead to a better completion. People who get facials often have skin clear of blemishes. Day Spas offer different varieties of facials as well.
These are the most popular services offered by most every day spa that you will get in contact with. However, there are a variety of different services that can be found at most spas as well ranging from waxing, body wraps, and some will even offer spray or mystic tanning. You can even find day spas that cater to mens needs and offer spa services specifically for men. Whichever services you choose to do, make sure your spa offers that. Then, relax and enjoy!
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Indiana adopts the higher standard of care between participants in sporting events in this Triathlon casePosted: December 10, 2012 Filed under: Cycling, Indiana, Release (pre-injury contract not to sue), Triathlon | Tags: Co-participant, Cycling, Duty of care, Indiana, Standard of Care, Summary judgment, Triathlon, USA Triathlon Leave a comment
Mark, v. Moser, 46 N.E.2d 410; 2001 Ind. App. LEXIS 671
This decision examines the different legal decisions involving lawsuits between participants in Indiana and other states.
The plaintiff and the defendant were racing in a triathlon. Both agreed to abide by the rules of USA Triathlon, and both signed releases. While in the bicycle portion
of the race, the defendant cut in front of the plaintiff causing a collision. The defendant was disqualified for violating the USA Triathlon rule concerning endangerment.
No cyclist shall endanger himself or another participant. Any cyclist who intentionally presents a danger to any participant or who, in the judgment of the Head Referee, appears to present a danger to any participants shall be disqualified.
The referee stated the defendant's conduct was not intentional, "rather, he was disqualified for violating the rule "because, by moving over, an accident occurred." As you can seem the rule, and its interpretation are subject wide interpretation and would lead to more arguments (lawsuits) after that.
The plaintiff sued the defendant for negligence and for acting intentionally, recklessly and willfully causing her injuries. The defendant filed a motion for summary judgment on both claims. The trial court granted the motion on the negligence claim and denied the motion on the second claim, the international acts.
In some jurisdictions, you can appeal motions for summary judgment that do not finish the case in its entirety. Here the plaintiff appealed the decision. Whether or not you can appeal the decision is dependent on the state rules of civil and appellate procedure.
Summary of the case
The Indian appellate court did a thorough analysis of the legal issues after determining this was an issue of first impression in Indiana. An issue of first impression is one where the court has not ruled on this particular legal issue before.
The issue was what was the standard of care owed by co-participants in a sporting event. The standard for a school sporting event was negligence. The court stated that the standard was negligence, low, because of the duty the school personnel had to exercise reasonable care over the students.
The court then looked at other decisions for the duty between co-participants. The court found three states, Arizona, Nevada and Wisconsin where the duty was negligence. The court found California, Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, and Texas had adopted a "reckless or intentional conduct" or a "willful and wanton or intentional misconduct" standard of care. This is a much higher standard of care than the negligence standard.
The court found the higher standard of care was established because participants assume the risk of the activity, to stop mass litigation that would arise every time a foul occurs, and not to limit the sport because of the fear of liability.
The Indiana court determined that participants in sports activities:
…assume the inherent and foreseeable dangers of the activity and cannot recover for injury unless it can be established that the other participant either intentionally caused injury or engaged in conduct so reckless as to be totally outside the range of ordinary activity involved in the sport.
The court granted the summary judgment as to the first count, the negligence claim and sent the second claim back to the lower court to determine if the plaintiff could prove that the action of the defendant was intentional, reckless and willful when he rode his bike. The court sent it back with this statement.
…the trial court must determine whether Kyle's [defendant] action was an inherent or reasonably foreseeable part of the sport, such that Rebecca [plaintiff] assumed the risk of injury as a matter of law. In our view, it is reasonably foreseeable that a competitor in a cycling race may attempt to cut in front of co-participants in an effort to advance position. Thus, if Rebecca is unable to develop the facts beyond those presented at this juncture, we would conclude that Kyle's action was an inherent risk in the event that Rebecca assumed as a matter of law, thereby precluding recovery.
That is a very specific statement as to how the lower court must examine the facts in the case.
The appellate court also made another statement that is very important in this day and age.
As is generally the case, the release form that Rebecca signed does not relieve Kyle from liability as co-participants are not listed among the specific entities or individuals released from liability ac-cording to the plain language of the document.
The court looked at the release to determine if the release stopped the suit even though that was not argued by the parties.
So Now What?
It's OK to play touch football, softball and have fun in Indiana.
At the same time, the court pointed out the fact that if the release had included the term co-participants in the release, the lawsuit might have started because the defendant would have been protected.
Here just one additional word in the release might have stopped a lawsuit.
What do you think? Leave a comment.
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PR Newswire
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Sept. 12, 2014
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Sept. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Crown Baus Capital Corp. (OTC BB: CBCAE), a global acquisition-based conglomerate targeting five primary industries: high-tech incubation, drug development, entertainment/media, education, and financial services, is in the final stage of acquiring niche social and dating app, LoudCrush, which the Company intends to complete with an all equity based transaction by issuing five (5) million dollars worth of its 144 restricted common shares.
The initial rollout of LoudCrush will serve the burgeoning community surrounding the U.S. legal cannabis industry with an ArcView Market Research estimated worth of $1.44 billion in 2013 and an expected $2.34 billion in 2014. The features of LoudCrush combine functionality similar to popular apps like Facebook, Tinder and Vine, which allow users to post videos and photos, to search for friends and singles in their areas, and to chat and discreetly socialize. Users can even send gifts. As development of LoudCrush continues, additional languages will be added to serve larger and larger audiences with a likely first integration of Spanish language functionality.
The beta site is available at www.LoudCrush.com to pre-register for the official launch.
"Most cannabis consumers avoid posting about marijuana on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter because their families and coworkers are on these networks, and cannabis-inclusive profiles are often deleted by mainstream social networks," said Drue Young, Co-Founder of LoudCrush and Crown Baus Capital Corp. VP of Business Development.
"The LoudCrush mobile app, founded and developed by CrownBaus Vice Presidents Alex Frejrud and Drue Young, provides cannabis-friendly users a place to kick back, relax and socially engage in community discussion, meet, and perhaps find that one true romantic love in an unbiased group community platform," said Robert Kane, Director and CFO of Crown Baus Capital Corp. "CrownBaus will add LoudCrush to its value-added Digital Entertainment Division, along with three additional apps, currently in the incubation stage, to be unveiled in the near term."
As noted above, ArcView estimated in its annual "State of Legal Marijuana Markets" report that the industry is expected to grow to $2.34 billion in 2014. The report projects that in five years, 2018—by which time ArcView expects that 14 states will have legalized retail sales of cannabis—the industry will be worth $10.2 billion. (The illicit market currently is estimated to be between $18 and $30 billion.) CrownBaus expects growth in the legal cannabis industry to add significantly to the number of LoudCrush users and value of the app.
About Drue Young, CBCA VP of Business Development Mr. Young's experience as creative director and designer for high-profile companies and clients in the entertainment and Fortune 500 companies, gives CBCA the additional focused in-house expertise to move much faster in its new product launches. Mr. Young has previously worked with companies such as Wells Fargo Bank, Bank of America, Credit Suisse, H&R Block, Auge Media, The Lourdes Foundation, Hearst Media, Chevrolet, KIA, Scion, AquaHydrate, Chronic Ice Hemp Beverages, FOX, Discovery Communications, SFGate.com, Universal Music Group, and A&E's hit show Wahlburgers, which received an Emmy nomination.
About Alex Frejrud, CBCA VP of Interactive StrategyRaised and educated in Sweden, Mr. Frejrud has an extensive background as a telecommunications engineer, film editor, music producer and transmedia pioneer. Aided by his considerable entrepreneurial skills, Mr. Frejrud has been the driving force behind various successful startups. In 2004, he co-founded the award-winning social network Trig.com. He followed up in 2008 with the establishment of the Glampire Group, consisting of Glampire Labs, Dapptive AB & WebCongress. As director and president of The Glampire Group, he runs and finances various startups and works with a number of renowned record labels, fashion brands, corporations, and movie production companies, enhancing their media strategy, visibility, and connectivity of clients including BMW, MySpace, H&M, Sony, EMI, and Universal Studios.
About WebCongress, Inc.WebCongress is a leading source for digital marketing strategies, business and new trends in the tech industry. With a database of over 65,000 qualified businesses and the top 200 tech influencers involved, WebCongress events attract 100+ CEOs and over 450 Digital Agencies. The social impact of WebCongress exceeds one million impressions per event, 200 V.I.P bloggers are talking about WebCongress and WebCongress events have been a trending topic on Twitter 9 times. WebCongress was launched in 2008 by Founder and CEO, Ouali Benmeziane, and it has been growing rapidly ever since. With more than 27 events in 9 different cities attracting powerful speakers from companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Spotify, Blackberry, Microsoft, Skype, Samsung, Intel and Ericsson, WebCongress is considered to be among the most important Digital marketing events in the world.
About Crown Baus Capital Corp.Crown Baus Capital Corp. (CBCA) is a global acquisition-based conglomerate targeting five primary industries: High-Tech Incubation, Drug Development, Entertainment/Media, Education, and Financial Services. The Company is based in the United States but is already operating globally through its subsidiary, WebCongress, Inc., and Company partners. Crown Baus seeks to add shareholder value through cross-industry synergies and strategic growth.
Forward Looking StatementsThis Press Release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934. A statement containing words such as "anticipate," "seek," intend," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "project," "plan," or similar phrases may be deemed "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Some or all of the events or results anticipated by these forward-looking statements may not occur. Crown Baus Capital Corp. does not undertake any duty nor does it intend to update the results of these forward-looking statements.
Crown Baus Capital Corp.Chad S. Johnson, Esq., Director, President & email@example.com www.crownbaus.com+1 866.784.7239
Investment InquiriesRobert Kane, Director & firstname.lastname@example.com +1 561.420.4824
SOURCE Crown Baus Capital Corp.


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Some pets develop skin and ear problems that require special expertise for proper diagnosis and treatment.
Our dermatology services are provided by Dr. Klaus Loft, who is specially trained to treat pets with chronic ear problems, severe allergies, cutaneous cancer conditions, and immune-mediated skin diseases. With more than ten years of experience, Dr. Loft is available to diagnose and treat:
- Allergic skin diseases
- Infectious skin diseases (bacterial, fungal, viral)
- Dander-related skin disorders
- Benign and malignant skin cancer
- Chronic ear infections and disorders
- Inflammatory ear conditions
- Autoimmune skin diseases
In addition, he provides many specialized diagnostic procedures, such as:
- Skin cytologies and biopsies
- Skin scrapings
- Skin and ear cultures
- Allergy testing
If you believe your pet's skin condition may benefit from a consult with Dr. Loft, ask your regular veterinarian to provide a referral to VESH or call 413-665-4931.
After Dr. Loft graduated from the Royal Agricultural & Veterinary University of Denmark in 1999, he worked in private practice in Denmark and Sweden. During that time, he became increasingly interested in skin conditions and allergies, which prompted him to focus his caseload primarily on dermatology. Since completing a two-year American College of Veterinary Dermatology-approved residency at Michigan State University in 2007, Dr. Loft has limited his practice in the greater Boston area and New England area solely to the specialty of dermatology. He has published numerous articles on veterinary dermatological topics and lectured extensively, both in Scandinavia and the United States.


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Excerise Bike Hire
4 Week Hire €120
6 Week Hire €160
8 Week Hire €180
10 Week Hire €200
16 Week Hire €240
If You Would Like a longer Term Just Ask For A Price And We Will Gladly Quote You
Please Note Weekly Payments Plans Available
Terms & Conditions Apply
Delivery Details
Don't forget if you prefer you can also 'PAY ON DELIVERY' All prices include delivery. Delivery (including collection on hires) and demonstration for this product is Free Of Charge
Brands Of Exercise Bikes On The Fleet Precor, Pro Form, SciFit
The backlit LCD console contains 16 pre-programmed workouts to keep you motivated and the iFit SD reader offers many more training options to keep you on goal.
Make your workouts more entertaining with the built-in speakers for any music source. The padded adjustable handlebars allow you to train in a comfortable upright position or a traditional racing cycle tuck position depending on your preference.
Digital resistance allows you to adjust your workout resistance for increased calorie burn and higher intensity. The smooth, frictionless resistance system allows you to adjust your workout intensity without interrupting your workout.
The 300 ZLX features 16 pre-programmed workouts to help you reach your goals and keep you motivated.
An iFit SD card reader allows the use of goal and ability specific workout programmes in a handy SD card format. Featuring the voice of a personnal trainer, you get motivating tips and encouragement as you would in a gym but in the comfort of your own home.
Easily move the bike from one place to another with these built-in transport wheels.
The console features an LCD display that tracks speed, time, distance, resistance, pulse and calories. Intermix Acoustics audio makes it easy to attach a music source for entertainment as you train.
Make the most out of every workout by monitoring your heart rate via the EKG pulse grips and ensure you are training at the right intensity.
The 12 levels of resistance help you reach your fitness goals.
The 300 ZLX bike features a sturdy 7kg flywheel.
Intermix Acoustics 2.0 audio is integrated into the console giving you an easy way to stay entertained as you pedal.
The ProSoft seat is horizontally and vertically adjustable to ensure the most comfortable position for your workout.
125 kg
144 x 64 x 95 cm
Padded for comfort, the multi-position handlebars conviniently allow the user to sit in an upright position or a traditional racing cycle tuck position.
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At the time of his first arrest, Blackmon took responsibility for his actions, stating, I made a mistake.Like newcomer Dexter Fowler does a new-look outfield, Wong personifies what the Cardinals want from a renewed infield, what they want more of from the 2017 roster.Yet he hit just .217 with 18 homers and a .654 OPS 2014, and .226 with 26 homers and a .729 OPS last .On top of that, Kalil also had a procedure performed on him March called Regenexx, a procedure- easy to understand terms-is removed, given a bit of an overhaul, and then reinjected.There's a bit on uptick there, and I think that you that guys that have his kind of characteristics and makeup.
On last thing about , just asking for fun, but going into Foxboro , if you had a choice, would you rather have Woodley his prime or Dupree?Loyola Assistant Professor of Voice Dreux Montegut, accomplished tenor, served as organist.To qualify to collect democracy vouchers, Holmes had to first collect 150 small donations – the rule is a buffer against people who might not take them seriously, a fitness test of the candidate's commitment to grassroots campaigning.Let's do it the right way.I 't even know what I like yet.
The group includes three first-year eligible nominees Dawkins, and LaDainian Tomlinson.Osuna's month-to-month fastball placement does not suggest he's losing anything, either.Against the Falcons Week 8, Montgomery didn't touch the ball.Though similar strength and savviness, Dumars and Harden are hardly obvious parallels.
his early years, he was enigma.That wasn't the case year six, and while it's certainly possible it could happen year seven, at this point there's still ample reason to believe Werth has at least one more productive him.This particular play, on balance, felt like a positive, however.Figuring there was a more efficient way to gather medical info, and other clubs pushed for joint medical testing that led to exams being held at three different spots around the country.
When it comes, you're not surprised by it.And often, when a player was demoted, fate and circumstance carried more weight than the quality of his performance.fact, and Henrik have combined for just five points the past eight .I believe there are two main factors, terrible puck luck and adjusting to a new role with the team.one of their most disappointing showings of the , the offense was unable to put any points on the board until they were already down 31, having just about every possible break going against Green Bay the process to bury them and never let this truly become a contested game.
He's also averaging a very impressive 9 shots on goal per 60 minutes during 5-on-5 play, which is above his career levels but helps indicate his production at even strength be sustainable to a degree.The Mets had hoped to have Matz back on Wednesday.The teams that are vying right now for the worst records the league – and consequently a top pick – seem to be the Jets, Dolphins, Browns, Jaguars and Chargers the AFC and the Bears, 49ers, Saints, Bucs and Panthers the NFC.And does this.That's how careers go.He does pretty much everything you'd want a to do.
Able to match with tight ends coverage.has increased its annual dividends paid to shareholders for 60 consecutive fiscal years, among the top five longest-running dividend-increase records the S&P 500 index.seem to have no enthusiasm of any kind.I'm just going to listen to peers because I respect those guys, and I can't put myself their shoes.– @Lucy4802 Because I think you can easily construct a case that Cutler isn't the best quarterback for the Bears moving forward.The leverage the Ravens have is that enjoys playing Baltimore.
New England was third with 35, the Steelers were fifth with 31.When the pair arrives to Cooperstown, N.Y., for its induction on July 24, it be the first time Griffey visits the baseball museum.He hasn't practiced yet this week and likely be ruled out on Friday.


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We continue our series on Men in the Arts with famed illustrator, Frankie B Washington. With over 30 years experience working as a professional illustrator, Frankie has more experience than words can communicate. From advertising, storyboards and key-frames for studios, to Marvel Comics trading cards and Transformers, just have a look at his hand drawn art and see what Frankie B is all about!
"I consider myself a versatile illustrator because of my many years working in advertising and with various art & creative directors. Working with many different clients forced me to have an adaptable art style yet


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Why do Men Have Nipples?
Essentially, men have nipples because nipples are part of the basic human design option at conception. While modern societies may view nipples as secondary sexual organs, in reality a fetus of either sex develops nipples within a few weeks of conception. The human fetus actually develops several sets of nipples, much like other mammals, but only one set will fully mature in the womb. At this point in a fetus' development, there is no genetic difference between male or female. All fetuses develop nipples, chest muscles and milk glands.
The situation does not change until the chromosomes which determine sexual characteristics have the opportunity to affect development. This is the classic dividing line between females with the XX chromosome and males with the XY chromosome. While the nipples themselves may appear on both male and female fetuses, it is the introduction of hormones such as estrogen and testosterone which determine whether or not those nipples and breast tissues will function or not.
There are very few scientific conclusions concerning the original purpose or function of male nipples. Some human body parts, such as the wisdom teeth or appendix, did serve a real purpose for early human civilizations but have since become redundant or vestigial. There is little evidence, however, that men ever fed their young from their own lactating breasts.
While men have nipples, they generally do not develop the milk glands necessary for lactation. This is one of the functions suppressed by an influx of testosterone and a limited supply of estrogen in the male body. There are some reported incidents of men producing small amounts of breast milk as a result of a hormonal imbalance, but these cases are very rare.
Another question to consider about why men have nipples concerns the theory of evolution. Conventional wisdom suggests that any evolving species should eventually lose non-essential vestigial or redundant organs over time. Some experts suggest that human ancestors once possessed tails, for example, but modern humans have lost almost all traces of such an unnecessary body part.
If male nipples were truly redundant and served no real purpose, theoretically they should not exist in modern humans. Some scientists theorize that male nipples have not disappeared entirely because the body considers them to be relatively harmless. Male hormones naturally suppress any lactation or breast development, although male nipples and breasts are still vulnerable to cancer and other serious medical conditions.
The short answer to why men have nipples is because women have nipples. Male and female humans are virtually identical genetically except for a few sex-related chromosomes. The blueprints called genetic code create the same basic chassis for every fetus until the instructions for sexual development arrive. Based on the XX or XY chromosome information, the fetus will follow either the male or female template. A female will receive enough estrogen to trigger full development of breast tissue and milk glands, and her nipples will act as a conduit for a nursing baby. A male will not receive enough estrogen to activate his underdeveloped milk glands, therefore he will have nipples and some breast tissue, but will not be able to produce milk for his offspring.


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Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death among teens in the United States. To change this statistic, many states have adopted laws that put restrictions on young drivers. But experts say parents can play an even greater role in steering their teens to safety behind the wheel.
Every year millions of American teens get behind the wheel of a car for the first time.
Sarah, 20, was just one of those new drivers a few years ago. "I started practicing driving a little bit after I turned 15. I had my full license when I was 16," she says. Her learner's permit allowed her to practice driving with an adult driver in the front seat with her.
"I practiced with my father most of the time," she says. "First, we started in parking lots. Then, we started practicing on local roads and gradually we built up to highways."
To Sarah, like most teenagers, driving a car meant freedom. However, she says, she was very careful not to repeat her older sister's mistakes.
"She had a rather unfortunate incident a few weeks after she got her license," she says. "She briefly fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into a neighbor's car. So, I learned from her you shouldn't drive when you're too tired and stay within 10 miles of the speed limit."
But a lot of teens never learn that lesson, according to Timothy Smith. As a certified driving instructor, he has always been concerned about teen safety behind the wheel. He interviewed dozens of parents, teens, driving instructors and police officers to find out why the teen accident rate is so high.
"The primary cause, in my opinion, is simply because we do not train our teen drivers adequately enough in this country," he says. "Eighty percent of all teen driver crashes are caused by driver error. That's a stunning statistic.
In his book, Crashproof Your Kids: Make Your Teen a Safer, Smarter Driver, Smith presents a series of behind the wheel exercises designed to improve a teen's driving skills. He says today, driving has become more complicated and risky than ever.
"When parents learned to drive, we had far less traffic, less road rage and far less distractions," he says. "Think about all the electronic devices we've invited to our automobiles: televisions, VCRs, DVD recorders, iPods, laptops. It's astonishing. I've seen teenagers text-message on their cell phones to other teens while driving. To help reduce those distractions, eliminate them in the beginning stages of your teen learning to drive, at least the first three to six months."
Smith says he believes that laws to regulate young drivers' activities in a car can have a major impact on teen crash rates. "The vast majority of states, over 40 states, now have some kind of graduated licensing laws," he says. "Some of the laws that are now being passed by states increase the driving age, increase the amount of hours of the parental supervision and ban the use of the cell phones. These are all really positive developments."
Maryland is considered a model for tougher teen driving laws. Delegate William Bronrott sponsored legislation that was enacted last year.
"The legislation strengthened our teen driving laws by restricting cell phone use and also requiring more behind-the-wheel practice time during driver's education," he says. The law also restricts the number of passengers a new teen driver can have in the car.
Bronrott says the rash of teen-driving deaths in his community was a huge wake up call. "I think most parents were very supportive of these laws," he says, adding, "a surprising number of teenagers got involved in helping the bills pass because they recognized that this is the number one threat to their lives as well."
Though it's still too early to measure the effect of these new laws in reducing the teen crash rates in Maryland, a recent study by Johns Hopkins University found that the states with the toughest rules had the fewest teen fatalities. Li-Hui Chen was one of the researchers. "We took the crash involvement rates of 15-year old drivers in those states with graduated licensing laws compared to those without," she says. "We found the average there was 11 percent reduction in crash involvement for 15-year old drivers with graduated license program. So we're encouraging states have comprehensive graduated license programs that include some sort of age restriction, nighttime restriction and passenger restriction."
However, Maryland Delegate William Bronrott notes that tougher laws alone will not solve this problem. "I think that we need parents to play a stronger role in overseeing their children's driving," he says. "We need parents to be involved in making sure that their children are biding by the laws."
Driving expert Timothy Smith agrees. He says parents have to teach their kids safe driving behaviors and set down rules before handing over the car keys to a teenager. He recommends that parents start doing that early on, by setting a good example and being safe and courteous drivers themselves.


text: Academy Reopens Grant Program Following Its Controversial Suspension 5:16 PM PDT 10/14/2015 by Chris Gardner FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Matt Sayles/Invision/AP Dolby Theater Oscars Interior - H 2013 After an extensive evaluation process, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is relaunching its grant program, offering the Film Scholar Fund and the Film Craft and Film Watch grants. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is reinstituting a trio of grants that were tabled in 2014 to give the organization time to reevalute its grant-giving processes. The Academy is resuming its Film Scholar Fund — two $25,000 grants awarded to individuals to support new works of film scholarship. According to the organization's website, the purpose of the Film Scholar program is to "support new works of film scholarship." The other two grants are the Film Craft grant, awarded to an education institution in an amount ranging from $5,000-$25,000, and the Film Watch grant, given to eligible film festivals in an amount ranging from $5,000-$30,000. The grant programs launch Oct. 15 when the Academy opens the application process on its website. Winners are scheduled to be announced in the spring. The Academy's Randy Haberkamp, managing director preservation and foundation programs, tells THR that during the suspension period, the organization closely examined the grant process to determine which grants were most effective and how those grants tied in with the Academy's focus on diversity, education, outreach and mission. Haberkamp adds that he's grateful to the Academy's membership and committees for their work during the evaluation process in getting the program back on track. "One of the insights from the (reevaluation process) is that the Academy needed to communicate with itself better," he explains. "We are responsible for the programs and we needed to ask ourselves, 'What is the cost?' It's more than just cutting a check. … Even though it was a controversial decision, it was a very smart decision to stand back. We have limited resources, and it was a good time to use those resources … and say, 'Let's take an educated look at everything.' " Haberkamp notes that the Film Scholar fund is closely tied to the Academy library, where scholars are able to utilize the facility for research purposes. "We've spent all this time and energy — and money — on this library, and it's gratifying to be able to have these collections available for scholarly work," he says. The suspension period did not come and go without controversy. There was an outcry from organizations and individuals criticizing the Academy for pulling its grant programs ("They spend more money on flower arrangements at the Governor's Ball," complained one film scholar). And Haberkamp says they heard the talk. "Nobody wants to just be gladhanding; people want to see results. Of course, I wish it were under less controversial terms, but I'm happy people know that the Academy took a long hard look at it and it's now back on track," he concludes. "It's a fully formed program." FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Chris Gardner firstname.lastname@example.com chrissgardner


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Prenatal Vitamins
Provides the most important, best-known natural vitamins and organically source plant-based minerals. Enriched with doctor recommended key nutrients; Iron, Folic acid, Iodine and Vitamin B12, to support maternal health and normal fetal development.
How does providing Total Balance Nutrition before and during pregnancy support healthy normal fetal development?
A continual supply of important nutrients
In order to develop & function normally, we need a continual supply of important nutrients. At no other time is this more important than during pregnancy.
A developing fetus requires key nutrients be present, in exacting amounts and the timing of their delivery is critical.
A delivery of key vitamins and minerals for a developing fetus
Providing the best known, important organically source plant based minerals and select natural vitamins on a daily base, helps optimizes "Total Body Nutrition" and therefore healthy development.
Key ingredients recommended by doctors are required in increased amounts during conception and pregnancy to optimize support. Liquid formulations aid absorption and are more easily taken.
Doctor Recommended Key Nutrients
Vitamin B12
B12 is an essential nutrient for keeping nerve and blood cells healthy. Critical in the synthesis of DNA and prevents some types of anemia. Works with Vitamin B9 (folic acid) to help prevent birth defects. One of the most important and well-known vitamins for improving energy and aids in the metabolism of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins.
Folic Acid
In combination with Vitamin B12, Folic acid can help prevent spinal cord associated birth defects. NTDs develop at a very early stages of pregnancy. It is important to supplement your diet early, before the time you start trying to conceive.
An essential mineral required in trace amounts. It is involved in oxygen transport as key part of hemoglobin and is involved in many metabolic functions and enzymatic reactions. Plant sourced organic Iron is more easily absorbed because it is chelated (attached to) Fulvic acid.
One of the best known and most important essential trace elements, because it's involvement in thyroid hormone production and function. This Iodine containing hormone, acts on every cell in the body to control the rate of metabolism and oxygen use.
Humin (Fulvic acid/Humic acid)
Fulvic and Humic acid, collectively known as Humin, are the bases of all plant/soil relationships. These organic acids have the ability to carry and put into water solution some 40 trace minerals. Nature's Energy "Fulvic acid Mineral" is easy to absorb and assimilate.
Nature's Energy provides a natural way to absorb the nutrients you and your baby need. This prenatal blend offers a rich mixture of vitamins and minerals to keep both of you safe and strong. A 32oz bottle will last you an entire month.
Most nutritional experts agree that a healthy diet, supplemented with rich, easily absorbed micronutrient liquid, is the best way to assure complete nutrition. Here at Nature's Energy, we kept that in mind when we made NE Prenatal Vitamins and Minerals. Nature's Energy Pre-Natal is the best choice because it contains 100% plant-sourced minerals and select natural ingredients for increased bioavailability and better overall effectiveness.
Studies have shown that Prenatal supplements are effective ways to help you make up for any nutritional gaps that you may have from your diet. Folic acid has been shown to be a necessity for normal development of the human baby. Make sure you are getting the RDA (recommended daily allowance) you need with NE Pre-Natal Vitamins and Minerals.
Suggested Use:
One ounce/capful can be taken alone or with food. Can be taken in divided doses during the day or incorporated into a drink or smoothie.
Consult your healthcare provider before using this or any other supplement.
These statements have not been reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat or prevent any disease or condition.


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Music Classes for Babies and Toddlers near Strathmore, Victoria
Lullabies, rhymes, movement and songs are the means through which our Little Stars baby and toddler music classes near Strathmore, Victoria aim to develop the precious bonds between a mother and her child. You will be equipped with the ability to integrate music into your home in order to develop a calm and happy atmosphere.
Research tells us of the positive influence music plays in the development of your baby's brain. The brain activity of a baby's brain is twice that of an adult brain in the first three years of life and is also growing rapidly! This is a chance to create a nurturing, supportive beginning through music. Arouse your baby's developing brain by stimulating more than just one sense – involve sound, touch, sight, movement, timing and even emotions in a musical setting.
The following are music, props, games and instruments that we use in the introduction of music to children in Little Stars baby and toddler music classes near Strathmore, VIC:
- Shakers
- Counting books
- Triangle
- Qualified, expert teachers!
- Tuned percussion instruments to train pitch
- Good quality instruments, not toys!
Bonding with your baby during the early months and years of their lives is extremely important.Have fun and enjoy quality time with your baby by playing music and singing songs with them. Early beginnings lay the foundations for a love of music that can last a lifetime.
Music tips for Babies and Toddlers near Strathmore, VIC
Why not explore these easy ways and weave music into your daily life?
- You can liven up events like a meal preparation, nappy change or bath time by singing and using the melodies of songs including, "here we go round the mulberry bush".
- For some people, singing doesn't come naturally. However, it's important to sing whichever songs you enjoy since research shows that babies and infants simply love to hear the sound of their parents voice. So be courageous and sing a song, even if you start with a classic like "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".
- "Open shut them" is an example of a game that encourages toddlers to listen, anticipate and perform actions for themselves. Repetition is the key to success and the more you play these games together, the more fun the children have!
- Rhymes like "round and round the garden" or "this little piggy" are useful in beginning sensory play with children, for whom touch is very important.
- Ensure that classical music is a part of your bedtime routine. Instead of using baby classical CDs which are often made using synthesizers you could turn the radio into classical channels or buy an orchestral CD which will be pleasant for baby to listen to and will also stimulate their developing brain.
- Bonding with Baby classes are suitable for babies under six months at which point they can transition into the music for Babies and Toddlers classes. The CD you purchase for bonding with the baby can be used until preschooler music classes.
Get your baby or toddler started in music today:


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Christine Murray attended law school at the University of Western Ontario. She opened her own real estate law firm in Midland before moving to Barrie in 1992. Christine now focuses on plaintiff personal injury claims and mental health law.
Christine is legal counsel for persons injured in a broad range of circumstances including injury arising from medical procedures or failure to diagnose, birth trauma, abuse/neglect at seniors facilities, and prescription errors. She also represents victims seriously injured in motor vehicle collisions and animal attacks.
Christine regularly appears before the Consent and Capacity Board as counsel to patients with psychiatric issues including involuntary committal, consent to treatment, financial capacity, and community treatment orders.
Christine is member of the Board of Directors of the Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary. The sanctuary provides safe permanent refuge for primates that have endured a variety of hardships including medical and neurological research. She is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Simcoe County. Also, she is an avid supporter of the arts and has served on the Board of Directors of both the South Simcoe Theatre and the Strolling Youth Players. Christine continues to volunteer her time to theatres throughout the region. Christine is an award-winning author and is currently completing the second novel in her young reader fiction series. She also wrote a stage play, War of the Unknown Warriors, which raises money for Veterans' charities.


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Higher Education – Recession-Proof? College Admissions Are Up
"Recession? What recession? College admission, applications at some top Washington universities are up despite our national, economic, stagnation.
New York City popcorn ceiling removal companies are thriving!
At Georgetown University, for example, freshmen applications for fall 2011 rose 5 percent from 2011 …"…


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Three years ago when we moved in to our one-bedroom condo unit in Ortigas, my husband made sure we'd have a big TV in our living room; that's because he's a certified TV and movie addict. LOL! That big TV was the first appliance he bought for our new place in 2008. He scouted out plasma TV mounts in different stores in different malls until he found the one we both liked. The plasma TV mount he chose was a space saver, quite appropriate for our tiny home. It's also multifunctional because we're able to use its many "compartments"–I'm not sure if I'm using the right word here–for storing most of our son's stuff. Today, that plasma TV mount still stands, and I had my picture taken last Saturday beside it.
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Stories about Syria from April, 2018
Telcos must disclose more data about internet shutdowns, say civil society groups
New research shows that the world's largest telecommunications companies disclose little to no information about their network shutdown policies and practices.
China Central Television backs Russian version of the Syrian crisis, saying chemical attacks were staged
Russia claims the Syrian chemical attacks were staged; China's state media echoes that narrative, but not everyone is buying into it.
Syria and the anti-imperialism of idiots
"This anti-war left exhibits deeply authoritarian tendencies, that place states at the centre of political analysis. . . . "


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Why I Am Removing the "Subscribe To Comments" Plugin
I believe I installed the Subscribe to Comments plugin around three years ago. If you are not familiar with the plugin, it basically allows people posting comments on your site to subscribe to new comments via email. In order words, if they do choose to subscribe (by clicking on a check-box) they will receive an email every time a new comment is made on that particular post.
As you can see using this plugin has some advantages. First of all it encourages community participation and increases the number of comments your posts will get, because readers who post one comment become engaged in the conversation. It might also increase your traffic slightly, because readers will be coming back to your site more often.
That being said the plugin also has some drawbacks. The first one is the volume of emails that your readers might inadvertently get from your site. Suppose one of your posts become viral and comments start piling up. This means that for each new comment one email will be sent to the readers who subscribed to that post.
Second, some readers forget that they subscribed to the comments of a particular post on your blog, and once your emails start arriving he might flag them as spam. One reader doing this wouldn't be a problem, but dozens of them certainly would.
The drawbacks I mentioned are particularly important if you have email subscribers, an email list, or plan to do email marketing on your site. That is because the spam complaints might affect the overall credibility of your domain name.
Weighting the pros and cons I concluded that the cons were winning on my case, and today I decided to remove the plugin. I visited some other popular blogs to see whether or not they were still using the plugin, and most weren't either.
What about you, do you use the plugin? Have you ever received complaints from readers about it?
Browse all articles on the WordPress category
43 Responses to "Why I Am Removing the "Subscribe To Comments" Plugin"
Nasrul Hanis
I agree with what you've done. From the perspective of a reader, I feel better if there's no such plugin that could draw a lot of emails to my inbox.
Some blogs tick the option in default and I believe later or sooner their credibility will be argued by their own readers.
I've subscribed to your feed and in that case, subscribing to comments is not a preferable option 🙂
People no longer want regular comment updates via email, specially if you blog is a big one. Bloggers should also consider removing those Email Thank You plugins. They are irritating too.
I'd wish to thank you for the efforts you've got made in writing this write-up. I'm hoping the same greatest perform from you inside the future also. In reality your inventive writing skills has inspired me to begin my very own blog now.
Map of Mass
I never use this plugin because I don't want to annoy my reader.If they find my blog is good,they will subscribe my newletters naturally
That will definitely cause a problem for popular blogs, but not for developing blogs, which are not able to get lot of comments.
Good decision to remove it. Cheers !
David Corman
I definitely hear the arguments against using the plugin. My biggest issue is that I usually don't remember to follow up to see if someone responded to my comment. It makes leaving a comment much less engaging.
My hosting provider requested me to disable that plugin because it uses a lot of RAM when each time it sending emails to all the subscribers.
So if you are thinking to use that plugin, better don't.
It is true . I always avoid to check the box " Subscribes to comments via email " because it always fills up my inbox with comments
I also disabled the 'subscribe to comments' plugin because of it's bad parts. Also, a bad part is that if your website gets a lot of traffic, and a lot of people subcribe to comments, the volume of emails sent (in 24h generally speaking) will get very high and it will start to look spammy and might damage the server on which the website is hosted, at least that's my opinion. Also, I tend to re-enable the plugin sometimes for getting some extra-traffic. It's been a pleasure to read this well-written article, good job!
Justin | Mazzastick
I never thought that you would get marked as spam because someone knowingly clicked subscribe to comments.
I did use Disqus for a while then I switched to Comment Luv in order to get more comments and to allow commenters links to their latest post.
I was using this plugin on most of my properties, until i got my first viral post.
I went very fast from zero to 700+ comments and the amount of emails my server sent was unspeakable. Removed it because I was afraid of the spam issue you mentioned in the post.
I never subscribe to comments to popular blogs. The number of the comments is really high plus nobody replies to comments or stats productive and interesting discussions. Most people say something like "great post!" so there's no sense to get notified of them. But on my blog I have "subscribe to comments" marked because I do need it right now.
Chris M.
One way to avoid the problem of people receiving comments years after they subscribed (which could indeed be annoying), is to set up WordPress (or your content management system) to close comments after a reasonable period (say, 15 or 20 days).
Then, you still have the benefit of allowing people to interact through comments, but the opportunity to actually forget that you asked for replies to come to your mailbox highly reduce.
I just ran into this problem at my site where someone subscribed to comments on one of my posts about three years ago and recently the comment section has been getting a decent amount of activity (about 20 comments in a couple days) after receiving only about 50 over 3 years. Needless to say I got a nasty email from this person telling me how I was spamming her and she was going to have her husband who was an FBI agent track me down.
The ReplyMe plugin that Justin mentioned sounds like a much better option and I might take a look at that plugin.
Justin Germino
This is one reason why I use the ReplyMe plugin and declare it in my comment section, this plugin will automatically email the commenter only when someone replies to their specific comment, they won't receive an email for comments in the whole post. I still leave the comment subscribe in case they want entire threads, I know on some of the major blog sites where particular interesting blogging problems or questions are asked or answered, I am very interested in the plethora of comments and opinions from readers, but this is few and far between I do admit and I usually unsubscribe a few weeks later when dozens of comments continue to pour in day after day. I think if the plugin were smarter and maybe gave 1 email with a daily update of all comments on that article it would be better.
Daniel Scocco
I wasn't aware of that plugin, so thanks for the heads up.
- Daniel Scocco
Mani Viswanathan @ DailyBlogging
Well I haven't received any complaints yet. Will give a thought on whether to keep it or not considering your points.
Dave Charest
I use the plug-in and also suggest people do the same. Although I can see it being an issue in a blog with high comment counts.
For me as a commenter, I would like to know when someone replies. I'm interested in the conversation. Without a notification I may never return to that particular post. And if someone HAS replied to me or asked a question, how does it look if I never respond back.
That's why I think it's important to have some way for the people who want to stay engaged to be able to do so.
Michael Martine
Use Disqus. The email address it sends from isn't your domain. Plus people can cross-post their comments to Twitter and Facebook.
People who comment only to try and get traffic (with a very shallow understanding of how that actually works) or for SEO reasons aren't interested in follow-up comments. But someone who's really trying participate in a discussion will want to know what the hell's going on.
Maybe your content/comment approach isn't giving you the results you want and what you need to look at is the possibility of changing that, not deactivating a plugin. Because if you want to build a community (vs. just get a lot of traffic) you need to engage and provide the tools to engage.
I removed the plugin for my blog too. I never actually think about it until I get an email from my reader asking me if I can stop sending comment notice. I think this plugin can be very annoying if the post gets more than 100 comments a day.
You just answered why we removed Subscribe to Comments from our blog.
Treathyl FOX
I never complain about anything DailyBlogTips does. If they want to start something? Fine. If they want to stop it? Fine. When I comment, if I want additional feedback, I usually "Subscribe to Comments". But most of the time if I comment – I say it and I'm done! Even if I subscribe and I don't want any comments I unsubscribe. Just click the button. Who the heck would waste their time complaining about something they can fix for themselves??
Daniel Scocco
You would be surprise by the amount of emails I get from people who simply want to unsubscribe from my newsletters (and yeah, they can do it themselves with a single click 🙂 ).
- Daniel Scocco
Marketing Radiation
Few points that I'd like to talk about here:
1. If you're blog really provided quality content the first time reader visited, then I am sure he'd remember your blog as soon as he looks at the comment.
2. Also, if your blog is about webmastering, seo etc. then most of the readers would know they can unsubscribe using the link in the footer of the email.
Those 2 points shall prove that there are more advantages then drawbacks. Hence, I would suggest using the plugin.
Daniel Scocco
Once you start working with email marketing you become paranoid about things that might affect your deliverability rate. That's why I prefer to play on the safe side, despite the benefits we talked about.
- Daniel Scocco
Through the Lens of Kimberly Gauthier, Kimberly Gauthier Photography
I don't have this plug in, but I've made the mistake of subscribing and then getting ramdom emails over time that I forgot about. That's the experience that popped up when I thought about adding the comment.
Luckily my blog does allow people to reply to other comments and emails are generated in the process. It's less of a hassle for everyone 🙂
Matthew Snider
Great post brother – removed mine this morning!
Kathy Berman
To tell you the truth, I have had comments closed for years because I am 70 years of age and wanted to spend my time writing and rewriting, etc. I started in 2004 and have 10 blogs I keep for various reasons.
Your blog is the 1st in many years that I care to follow and to comment on. Your ability to keep us interested and involved with new ideas is the way to keep readers.
I agree with your decision to not forward comments.
Loved the April Fools Day and have to tell you that I checked for few days.
THanks, Kathy
Daniel Scocco
Thanks for the nice words Kathy.
- Daniel Scocco
The one plugin I think is really a waste of time is the one that sends a thank you email for commenting.
I have that plugin installed I think on some of my blogs but as I have to get rid of a few plugins, it will have to go as as you said, people can just come back if they really want to.
But personally I don't mind subscribing to some comments just because I really really want to read what others have to say and I have already so many bookmarks and a million of things to do so I don't mind receiving an email and it is pretty easy to unsubscribe too.
Spunky Jones SEO
I think you have made a good decision about removing the plugin. People, have a tendency to forget that they signed up and turn you in for spamming. It's a little problem, however, it take time to sort it out. Time is valuable, and it could be put to better use.
UK SEO Company
Some sites just sign you up for it straight away, now that's annoying.
I think you're better off without it anyway, I'd never use it and who really has the time to check back every time someone makes a comment that 'might' relate to theirs?
I have been asking for a modification to the subscribe feature for years. What I would like to see (as a reader, and therefore would like to have as a blog owner) is the ability to check a box to subscribe ONLY to comments that are replies to the comment I just left. (It would require nested comments, but beyond that, it seems like an easy thing to create. But then again, what do I know?)
It would ensure that the number of emails I personally receive stays relatively low and that any comments directed to me actually get to me. I think overall it would create more dialogue. It would also answer the question I often have as a blog owner… do I email this person directly or just answer their question in the comments? If this were a feature, I wouldn't have to guess what they prefer; it would happen automatically.
I've suggested this on the WordPress site and on various blogs, but so far, I haven't seen it available as a plugin. I'm about to the point where I want to learn the coding just so I could make the damn thing myself.
Daniel Scocco
That would make the plugin a lot more useful indeed. I think there are some good chances that the WordPress guys will bring this functionality into the software (i.e., without the need for a plugin).
- Daniel Scocco
I think it is better until you get certain level of traffic. After that you don't need it because your readers are already dragged to visit your blog or website frequently.
My two cents.
Daniel Scocco
I agree.
- Daniel Scocco
Comments are closed.


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Time Limit: 2 hours
Number of Questions: 100
Out of Stock
The Fire Company Officer (FCO) series was designed to assess whether candidates have the competencies to perform successfully at the rank of fire company officer (i.e., lieutenant, captain) in a fire department. Read an overview of the FCO series tests.
Please be aware that there is a required reading list for this test. Candidates must receive this reading list 60 days or more prior to the exam. Be sure to allow enough time for candidates to locate a copy of each book (which could take up to two weeks if candidates order copies online) and study all the books (60 days minimum is suggested). The study period is important for learning purposes and is also an important developmental experience for candidates.


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Hey Look! It's Enrico Pallazzo!
Title: Naked Gun (1988)
Continuing from the "Airplane" post, this is another classic from the team of Abrahams, Zucker and Zucker. "Naked Gun" is simply full of belly laughs and can be seen over and over again without getting old, despite having OJ Simpson as one of the stars. I wonder if he gets royalties from this movie.
Memorable scene:
The entire baseball game scene when Frank Drebin disguised himself as the umpire. See video above.
Quotes from movie:
"It's the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl, girls dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day."
"Nice beaver!"
"Oh, and one more thing: I faked every orgasm!"
"Doctors say that Nordberg has a 50 - 50 chance of living, though there's only a 10 percent chance of that."
"It's a topsy-turvy world, and maybe the problems of two people don't amount to a hill of beans. But this is our hill. And these are our beans!"
"It's true what they say: Cops and women don't mix. It's like eating a spoonful of Drano, sure it'll clean you out, but it'll leave you hollow inside."
Leslie Nielsen is the linking actor from "Airplane". He had a pretty good comedic run in the 80's.
Technorati Tags: 80's Films, Naked Gun, comedy, Leslie Nielsen


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World Fair Trade Day event returning to South Bethany
World Fair Trade Day celebrates food, art and fair trade for all, and all are welcome Saturday, May 10, at Made By Hand, South Bethany's international cooperative that sells fair-trade craft pieces from around the world.
Owner Kimberly...
Thursday, May 8, 2014 - 7:55am
South Bethany beautifies canal end for Earth Day
In honor of Earth Day, the South Bethany Community Enhancement Committee (CEC) landscaped a Town-owned canal end.
"This is our second year, and we're really excited," said Sue Calloway, a South Bethany Town Council member and chair of the...
Thursday, April 24, 2014 - 8:04am
Members of the South Bethany Historical Society (SBHS) have been working for more than a year compiling information, interviewing longtime residents, collecting photos and raising funds to publish history of the town titled "The Best Little...
Thursday, April 24, 2014 - 7:50am
Heroin: Part two of a three-part series
"My son is addicted to heroin," said Heather LaRoue (whose name has been changed to protect her identity), an addiction specialist at a Sussex County outpatient counseling facility.
LaRoue, who has an associate's degree in drug and alcohol...
Thursday, April 24, 2014 - 6:53am
With the use of heroin growing steadily over the last few years, many people have been affected. Whether you know it or not, friends, family, neighbors, coworkers may be dealing with a hidden addiction. It could be your boyfriend, whose...
Thursday, April 24, 2014 - 6:19am
TRAFFIC ALERT: DelDOT announces Route 26 roadwork for April 22 to April 25
The State Route 26 Mainline Improvement Project continues with a road closure in Ocean View.
Due to relocation of the sewer force main, Central Avenue will be closed at Route 26 to through traffic. (Vehicles cannot turn from Central Ave....
Thursday, April 17, 2014 - 10:54am
Saxton files for South Bethany council
SaxtonFormer South Bethany town councilman Tim Saxton has filed to run for council once again, in the May 24 election.
Saxton, a home owner in South Bethany since 1996, previously served on the town council from June 2009 through May 2011...
Thursday, April 10, 2014 - 8:09am
Voveris throws her hat into the ring for South Bethany mayor
South Bethany resident and town council member Pat Voveris filed this week to run for mayor of the town in the May 24 election.
Voveris has been a home owner in South Bethany since 1995 and has served on the town council for the past three...
Thursday, March 27, 2014 - 8:41am
Food bank asks community for helping hand
This weekend, the Bethany Beach Christian Church & Conference Center will host a Fil-a-Truck event for Vethel Tabernacle Church's Helping Hands Food Bank. The event, on Saturday, March 8, from 10 a.m. to noon, is designed to help collect food...
Thursday, March 6, 2014 - 9:12am
Cottage Café owners have plans for Route 1's east side
The Bethany Beach area could see at least one new restaurant next year, as owners of the Cottage Café are proposing to flank Route 1 with beach eateries by building a new restaurant across the highway from the existing establishment.
Thursday, February 20, 2014 - 8:51am
South Bethany Historical Society announces contest
The South Bethany Historical Society (SBHS) is moving forward with plans to publish a SBHS calendar for 2015, but with a different twist. The SBHS will sponsor a photo contest of scenes taken in South Bethany. The winning pictures will be...
Thursday, February 13, 2014 - 8:26am
Coastal Point celebrates a decade of local news
A decade ago, newspaper veterans Susan Lyons and Darin McCann joined forces and created what you are currently reading — the Coastal Point.
The first cover of the Coastal Point."Susan and I decided that the community needed a second voice...
Thursday, February 6, 2014 - 11:30am
BREAKING NEWS: Changes made in Lord Baltimore principal, assistant principal
The parents and guardians of students at Lord Baltimore Elementary School received an automated phone call from Indian River School District Superintendent Susan Bunting on the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 15, informing them that changes were being...
Thursday, January 16, 2014 - 5:23am
South Bethany senior has built local Habitat homes from the beginning
At 87, Bob Hesaltine has helped build 100 entire houses for families in need, but he hasn't received a dime. He is the oldest volunteer in Sussex County Habitat for Humanity.
Coastal Point • R. Chris Clark: Bob Hesaltine is the oldest...
Wednesday, January 15, 2014 - 1:36pm
Residents asked to be vigilant against burglaries
In the off-season, many area police departments — including Bethany Beach, Fenwick Island and South Bethany — offer home checks for residents who may be away from their homes.
"Unfortunately, what's happening with a lot of these burglaries...
Wednesday, November 20, 2013 - 11:55am
Drug take-back offered at local police departments
On Saturday, Oct. 26, a number of area police departments are participating in the U.S. Department of Justice's Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) National Take Back Initiative. According to the DEA's Web site, "National Prescription Drug Take-Back...
Thursday, October 24, 2013 - 9:05am
South Bethany announces canal beauty contest winners
Last week the Town of South Bethany announced that residents Carol Stevenson and Maryann and Dick Schmitt had won first place in the 3rd Adopt-A-Canal/Road End Beauty Contest.
Coastal Point • R. Chris Clark: Carol Stevenson and Maryann...
Wednesday, September 25, 2013 - 2:35pm
South Bethany holding annual Canal End Beauty Contest
South Bethany's Community Enhancement Committee is currently hosting its 3rd Annual Adopt-A-Canal/Road End Beauty Contest, running through Sept. 2.
The contest was created to help spur community spirit and recognize those families who...
Thursday, August 29, 2013 - 5:40am
Lifeguards get a night in the spotlight
For the first time, local lifeguards got to shine in the night, as the Bethany-Fenwick Area Chamber of Commerce hosted its first Lifeguard Award Ceremony as a standalone evening event.
Each of seven local beach patrols honored their top...
Thursday, August 22, 2013 - 7:29am
South Bethany considers changes to building permit fees
At their council workshop last week, South Bethany Town Council members discussed possible changes to the Town's building permit fees.
Councilman Jim Gross said he entered into the discussion looking at simplifying and clarifying the fees...
Wednesday, August 7, 2013 - 3:30pm
Smyth adopts canal end for Eagle project
Tristan Smyth has been involved in Boy Scouts since he was 11 years old. Now as an active member of Ocean View Troop 281, he hopes to attain the coveted rank of Eagle Scout.
Coastal Point • R. Chris Clark
Tristan Smyth spruced up the...
Thursday, July 25, 2013 - 7:24am
Delaware beaches ranked No. 1 in water quality again
Delaware has always been the First State, and its beaches come in first, too. In addition to having top water quality conditions, Delaware's own Rehoboth and Dewey beaches were recently again named superstar beaches for 2012 by the National...
Thursday, July 11, 2013 - 9:01am
South Bethany prepares to adopt Mediacom pact
The South Bethany Town Council held a workshop this past week and will most likely vote on a Mediacom franchise agreement at their upcoming regular council meeting.
At the workshop, the council heard from former Councilman Bob Cestone, who...
Thursday, July 11, 2013 - 7:56am
Local beach replenishment timetable still uncertain
This summer, Delaware is receiving $30 million worth of beach replenishment services from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. But the big question is when.
After losing sand from the dunes and beach to Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the East Coast...
Thursday, July 11, 2013 - 7:54am
S. Bethany residents concerned about steep dune crossings
The South Bethany Town Council dove into the summer season by hearing from residents at their workshop this week about sand, grass and bike racks.
Dennis Franks, who owns a house on N. 6th Street, said he was concerned with how steep some...
Thursday, June 6, 2013 - 7:07am
Season's change brings new looks, new procedures and more
With the arrival of another summer season in the area's resort towns also come a number of changes, both from the winter months and from how visitors to the area may remember things being last summer.
Perhaps the most notable changes this...
Thursday, May 23, 2013 - 6:39am
Mother's Day weekend offers chance to adopt a baby...hydrangea
Those looking for a thoughtful Mother's Day gift need look no further. Gardeners by the Sea is holding a special Mother's Day sale of baby hydrangeas on Saturday, May 11.
"I thought it was a novel approach," said Lisa Arni, who...
Thursday, May 9, 2013 - 4:30am
World Fair Trade Day to be celebrated in South Bethany
Made by Hand International Cooperative will be celebrating World Fair Trade Day on Saturday, May 11, at their store in the York Beach Mall in South Bethany, from noon to 5 p.m.
Coastal Point • Submitted
Made by Hand in South...
Thursday, May 9, 2013 - 3:48am
Beaches to be restored with federal funding
Exactly six months after Hurricane Sandy scrubbed the East Coast, replacing basements and roadways with floodwater and debris, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is poised to rebuild Delaware's Atlantic shoreline.
Coastal Point • Laura...
Thursday, May 2, 2013 - 9:52am
SBPOA discusses combining efforts, resources with the Town
The South Bethany Property Owners Association (SBPOA) met last week to discuss the possible need to disband, due to the lack of volunteers to serve on the group's executive committee.
"I do want folks to understand what would happen if we...
Thursday, April 11, 2013 - 7:20am
South Bethany seeks residents to adopt canal/road ends
Moving into its third year, the South Bethany Adopt-A-Canal/Road End program is currently looking for residents who want to help enhance the town's beauty and water quality, while working together with neighbors.
"We wanted to see some...
Thursday, March 28, 2013 - 8:35am
SB votes to enter into agreement for sea-level rise grant
South Bethany Town Council voted unanimously last week to approve a grant agreement with engineering firm URS, stating that the firm would help write a grant proposal to the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (...
Thursday, March 14, 2013 - 9:12am
WEATHER ALERT: Winter storm expected to impact area Wednesday and Thursday
Officials with the National Weather Service are now predicting that a winter storm will impact the area between Wednesday and Thursday, March 6 and 7. According to the NWS on Tuesday:
• Low Pressure from the Midwest is expected to...
Tuesday, March 5, 2013 - 4:47am
Local first-responders honored at annual Valor Awards
They perform CPR. They investigate rape cases. They use kayaks to check on residents during hurricanes and floods. They also write grants and keep up with administrative needs, cover shifts, and go above and beyond their call of duty.
Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 12:59pm
WEATHER ALERT: High wind warning issued for tonight, gusts up to 55 mph predicted
A high wind warning has been issued by the National Weather Service for 7 p.m. Wednesday evening to 4 a.m. Thursday. Winds are predicted to be from the south at 25 to 35 mph, with gusts up to 55 mph.
The strongest winds are expected...
Wednesday, January 30, 2013 - 3:07am
BREAKING NEWS: Referendum public meeting postponed until Monday
The Indian River School District's public referendum meeting originally scheduled for Jan. 24 has been postponed due to inclemenent weather. It has been rescheduled for Monday, Jan. 28, at 7 p.m. at East Millsboro Elementary School.
Thursday, January 24, 2013 - 5:19am
Beebe gets another Distinguished Hospital Award for excellence
For the fourth year in a row, Beebe Medical Center has received the Healthgrades Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence. Beebe is the only hospital on Delmarva to receive the award four years running, and the distinction puts them...
Wednesday, January 23, 2013 - 1:50pm
Hocker hosts first 'Coffee's on Me' as state senator
Same-sex marriage? Check. Gun control? Check. IRSD referendum? Check.
"What do you want to talk about?" said state Sen. Gerald Hocker (R-20th), to the audience at his latest "Coffee's on Me" talk. "Gun control? Video lottery machines at...
Wednesday, January 23, 2013 - 1:44pm
WEATHER ALERT: Winter Storm Watch issued, up to 6 inches of snow predicted Thursday
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch for Thursday afternoon through late Thursday night, Jan. 17, projecting snow accumulations of between 2 and 6 inches.
The NWS is predicting that rain will mix with snow starting...
Wednesday, January 16, 2013 - 8:40am
BREAKING NEWS: Four men arrested for Plantation Park home-invasion
Delaware State Police detectives have arrested four suspects in a home-invasion robbery that occurred in Plantation Park near Frankford on Thursday evening.
According to police, the incident occurred around 9:05 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 10,...
Friday, January 11, 2013 - 6:44am
Fire destroys two homes in South Bethany
An early-morning fire on Nov. 15 destroyed two homes in South Bethany. A 911 call made at 3:30 a.m. reported that the home at 61 South Anchorage Avenue in South Bethany was on fire. Upon arrival at the scene, firefighters found that both 61 and...
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 12:45pm
Thanksgiving weekend offers peek in to local artists' studios
From South Bethany to Bethany, Ocean View to Dagsboro, little Southeastern Sussex is full of artists willing and able to open up their working studios and galleries to people who are interested in seeing them in action, creating their...
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 10:32am
New bridge survives Hurricane Sandy
On Oct. 30, Gov. Jack Markell announced that after much concern, it has been determined that the Charles W. Cullen Bridge, also known as the Indian River Inlet Bridge, did not sustain any structural damage during Hurricane Sandy.
"One of...
Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 7:23am
Hurricane Sandy swings hard, community still standing
After anticipating Hurricane Sandy for days in advance, expecting the worst and hoping for the best, the area was hit with winds and rain from the brunt of the storm for most of the day and into the night on Monday as she made landfall near...
Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 7:09am
WEATHER ALERT: Flooding and wind warnings in effect as conditions worsen from looming Sandy
A coastal flood warning is in effect until midnight Monday night, as the eye of Hurricane Sandy is expected to make landfall south of Atlantic City, N.J., according to National Weather Service officials. A flood watch is in effect through Tuesday...
Sunday, October 28, 2012 - 9:29pm
BREAKING NEWS: Level 2 Driving Restriction starts at 5 a.m.; only essential personnel permitted on roads
Gov. Jack Markell has ordered a Level 2 Driving Restriction begining as of 5 a.m., Monday, October 29,2012. Until further notice, no motor vehicles should be operated on any road in the State of Delaware unless operated by essential personnel: "...
Sunday, October 28, 2012 - 8:27pm
BREAKING NEWS: Delaware National Guard continues preparation
The Delaware National Guard is continuing to position troops and equipment as #SandyDE approaches.
"Within the next 12-18 hours, we will have approximately 250 support personnel in place and ready to assist with the needs of the state and...
Sunday, October 28, 2012 - 10:52am
WEATHER ALERT: Electric utilities offer tips for storm preparation
The Edison Electric Institute, the association of U.S. shareholder-owned electric companies, offered the following tips for local residents ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Sandy and the anticipated related power outages:
If a severe...
Sunday, October 28, 2012 - 3:15am
BREAKING NEWS: Route 1 between Bethany and Dewey being closed now
High water across Route 1 north of Indian River Inlet Bridge has forced Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) to begin the process of closing Route 1 between Dewey & Bethany Beach. Please share with others who may be affected.
Sunday, October 28, 2012 - 1:41am


text:
Cannibal stars like their food hot, XMM-Newton reveals
ESA's XMM-Newton has seen vast clouds of superheated gas, whirling around miniature stars and escaping from being devoured by the stars' enormous gravitational fields - giving a new insight into the eating habits of the galaxy's 'cannibal' stars.
The clouds of gas range in size from a few hundred thousand kilometres to a few million kilometres, ten to one hundred times larger than the Earth. They are composed of iron vapour and other chemicals at temperatures of many millions of degrees.
"This gas is extremely hot, much hotter than the outer atmosphere of the Sun," said Maria Díaz Trigo of ESA's European Science and Technology Research Centre (ESTEC), who led the research.
ESA's XMM-Newton x-ray observatory made the discovery when it observed six so-called 'low-mass X-ray binary' stars (LMXBs). The LMXBs are pairs of stars in which one is the tiny core of a dead star.
Measuring just 15–20 kilometres across and comparable in size to an asteroid, each dead star is a tightly packed mass of neutrons containing more than 1.4 times the mass of the Sun.
Its extreme density generates a powerful gravitational field that rips gas from its 'living' companion star. The gas spirals around the neutron star, forming a disc, before being sucked down and crushed onto its surface, a process known as 'accretion'.
The newly discovered clouds sit where the river of matter from the companion star strikes the disc. The extreme temperatures have ripped almost all of the electrons from the iron atoms, leaving them carrying extreme electrical charges. This process is known as 'ionisation'.
The discovery solves a puzzle that has dogged astronomers for several decades. Certain LMXBs appear to blink on and off at X-ray wavelengths. These are 'edge-on' systems, in which the orbit of each gaseous disc lines up with Earth.
In previous attempts to simulate the blinking, clouds of low-temperature gas were postulated to be orbiting the neutron star, periodically blocking the X-rays. However, these models never reproduced the observed behaviour well enough.
XMM-Newton solves this by revealing the ionised iron. "It means that these clouds are much hotter than we anticipated," said Díaz. With high-temperature clouds, the computer models now simulate much better the dipping behaviour.
Some 100 known LMXBs populate our galaxy, the Milky Way. Each one is a stellar furnace, pumping X-rays into space. They represent a small-scale model of the accretion thought to be taking place in the very heart of some galaxies. One in every ten galaxies shows some kind of intense activity at its centre.
This activity is thought to be coming from a gigantic black hole, pulling stars to pieces and devouring their remains. Being much closer to Earth, the LMXBs are easier to study than the active galaxies.
"Accretion processes are still not well understood. The more we understand about the LMXBs, the more useful they will be as analogues to help us understand the active galactic nuclei," says Díaz.
Notes to editors:
The findings appear in Astronomy & Astrophysics (445, 179–195, 2006). The original article, 'Spectral changes during dipping in low-mass X-ray binaries due to highly-ionized absorbers', is by M. Díaz Trigo and A.N. Parmar (ESA, Noordwijk, The Netherlands), L. Boirin (Observatoire Astronomique de Strasbourg, France), M. Méndez and J.S. Kaastra (SRON, National Institute for Space Research, Utrecht, The Netherlands).
For more information:
Maria Diaz Trigo, ESA, ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands
E-mail: mdiaz @ rssd.esa.int
Arvind Parmar, ESA, ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands
E-mail: arvind.parmar @ esa.int
Norbert Schartel, ESA XMM-Newton Project Scientist, ESAC, Madrid
E-mail: norbert.schartel @ sciops.esa.int


text:
The perks of going to Europe is you can visit many cities from various countries in the short period of time just by going by train. The next city that I visited was, Vienna, Austria, which is located only 3-hours away from Prague by train. Vienna has always been on my mind. One of the city I've put in my bucket-list and I somehow got the guts that I would be able to visit it someday. And… it happened!
I purchased the train ticket online weeks before my departure. It was super easy. You can Google it. The challenge was, it was a bit hard to find the right track at the Praha hlavní nádraží or Prague's Main Train Station since everything was written in local language. However, I was finally able to get on the right train after asking people here and there. The moment I stepped on my feet from the train in Vienna, I could see a very different train station compared to Prague. Prague's Train Station has traditional style, while Wien Hauptbahnhof or Vienna's Main Train Station is more busy and modern. They have a lot of information in English, so I felt a bit more secured here.
Again, I stayed in an AirBnB apartment where this time, I was so grateful that it was located very near to the city center. The tram/train station is located just a few meters away and the surrounding was very lively. I felt secured walking around here compared to the one I stayed in Prague. I arrived around lunch time, then I waited the host to come and gave me the apartment key for 10 mins. And you know what? There was an elevator in the apartment this time! So, I didn't have to carry my 30kgs+ luggage over the stairs. I took a rest for just 30 mins, then I started my exploration journey at this lovely city.
Art Journey at Belvedere Museum
I took the tram (which was very easy for me to plan and locate this time compared to Prague. The people here were also somehow very friendly and helpful whenever I asked them questions) and went to Belvedere Museum.
Belvedere Museum is a Baroque palace and museum which stores Austria's most valuable art collections. The architecture of the building is magnificent and it has several beautiful gardens within the area. There are two parts of palace, which are the Upper Belvedere and Lower Belvedere. The entrance ticket costs around EUR 20 to enter both of Upper and Lower Belvedere.
Evening Walk at Stephansplatz
I finished exploring Belvedere Museum at around 5.30pm. Then, I took another tram to Stephansplatz, which is one of the most popular square at the city center of Vienna. This is also officially the 'kilometer zero' of Vienna. I got off at one of the tram stop, then continued to explore the area in walking distance. There are many historical and the iconic building of Vienna, such as the Wienner Staatsoper (Vienna State Opera), the Albertina, Vienna Parliament Building, and so on. Besides, there is also shopping district and various coffee houses at the area.
Vienna's World-Famous Sachertorte
Who doesn't know about Vienna's World-Famous Sachertorte? While passing by the area, I dropped by Sacher Hotel, the house of the original Vienna's chocolate cake. How special it is until the country has a National Sachertorte Day every December 5!
Vienna City Tour
Exploring city in the day-light and in the evening gave you different feels. The next day, as usual, I decided to join a free walking tour to explore the city. This time, I booked Good Vienna Tour and we gathered in front of the Albertina at 10AM. The tour also took around 3 hours and explored pretty much everything at the city. Our guide was from Budapest, but she was just like locals in Vienna!
Here are several places we visited:
Vienna Parliament Building & Hofburg Palace
This is a pretty wide area where when we go inside, it connected us to many other places in the area. The highlight is in the Hofburg Palace and its garden. It was at the end of autumn and the view was just incredible!
Mariahilfer Straße, Austria's Longest Shopping District
What can be more enjoyable than go windows shopping at such a nice district, surrounded by pretty buildings?
St. Stephen's Cathedral
I went there at the evening the other night. And this is the view of the cathedral at the day. It is located in such a nice area with many other pretty buildings.
Figlmuller – The House of Viennese Schnitzel
Vienna has quite a lot of special culinary delicacies. One of the must-try is the Viennese Schnitzel, and Figlmuller is the right place to try it! This restaurant is sooo famous that I couldn't get any spot at its original place which is located in a small alley. The employee told me to go to their 2nd branch which is located not far from there. The portion of the schnitzel is quite big, so you might want to share with your friend. Since I went there alone, I kept some portion to be brought home for dinner. The perks of solo traveler… Haha 🙂
The Jewish Quarter
The last stop that we visited during the free walking tour is the Jewish Quarter. Our guide told us story about the Jewish community at Vienna. The picture below is St. Rupert's Church.
Concert Night at Schonbrunn Palace
I planned to visit Schonbrunn Palace right after the free walking tour that day. However, I've got an errand from my boss to buy some stuff for her wife, so I did some shopping that afternoon. The moment I arrived at Schonbrunn Palace, it was too late to enter the palace. I planned to watch Mozart concert at the palace area at the evening and visited a Schonbrunn Cafe before watching the concert. I wasn't able to take any picture during the concert… So yeah, I don't have any picture of it.
That was pretty much my 2-days solo trip at Vienna. I took a trip to Salzburg on the 3rd day which I will cover in my next post. See ya!


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Monday, 15 May 2017
Review: The Ninth Rain
The Ninth Rain
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!
The great city of Ebora once glittered with gold. Now its streets are stalked by wolves. Tormalin the Oathless has no taste for sitting around waiting to die while the realm of his storied ancestors falls to pieces - talk about a guilt trip. Better to be amongst the living, where there are taverns full of women and wine.
When eccentric explorer, Lady Vincenza 'Vintage' de Grazon, offers him employment, he sees an easy way out. Even when they are joined by a fugitive witch with a tendency to set things on fire, the prospect of facing down monsters and retrieving ancient artefacts is preferable to the abomination he left behind.
But not everyone is willing to let the Eboran empire collapse, and the adventurers are quickly drawn into a tangled conspiracy of magic and war. For the Jure'lia are coming, and the Ninth Rain must fall...
As you guys know, I loved the Copper Cat trilogy that Jen wrote, and if you've seen the front of the last two books...you definitely know! I am so ready for a new trilogy from her, so I eagerly dived in to this book. I was intrigued by the synopsis and after loving her first trilogy I expected great things! I wasn't disappointed.
My interest was piqued from the beginning, the letter extract at the beginning and the wording of it intrigued me, and I eagerly turned the page ready to get lost in a new world, and ready for story telling time. Jen weaves her magic from the first page, conjuring the atmosphere and painting the scene so you're sucked in fast. I was completely gripped by the book and lost in the world of it. I could picture each setting vividly, each setting had it's own atmosphere. The Winnowry was dark and dank...cold and unfeeling. Ebora eerily quiet and decaying, like a lavish, gilded mansion that's fallen in to wrack and ruin. The relics/abandoned ships are creepy and otherwordly. Each atmosphere makes you feel something, and pulls you further in to the story.
The prologue really draws you in and sets the scene and the tone for the book. I immediately wanted to know more about the world of the book. The Eborans tree had some Norse mythology echoes around it, and I'm intrigued to see if there's going to be any connections. Especially as there's a crow/raven on the front.
I really love Jen's storytelling and her writing, it's not just the settings that are rich and vivid, the characters are too. She creates them so perfectly you can easily picture the characters, and you connect with them and they have interesting histories and you want to know more. They're always so dimensional and I really loved the new group! Jen has very rich imagery and I love it! The history to the world is also rich and intriguing, as is the world itself. The plot is complex with threads woven together and full of intrigue and little hints and clues for you to try and put together.
Speaking of our new characters....like I said...I loved them. We have Lady Vincenza "Vintage" de Grazon. I liked her. I liked her a lot. And I knew I was going to love her from the first moment we saw her. She's the leader of the group, and she doesn't really care what anyone thinks of her. She does her own thing. Vintage is obsessed with the Jure'lia a force of invaders that have tried to take over the world again and again and have always been pushed back by the Eborans and their war beasts. Vintage investigates the ships and artefacts left behind by the Jure'lia in a bid to understand how they work and what the deal is with the creatures they attract. She's intelligent and kind and totally my favourite.
Tormalin is an Eboran hired by Vintage who's fled his home because he doesn't want to hang around there waiting to die from the Flux like everyone else. His people are dying out after their tree dies taking it's sap with it. In a bid to save themselves they went a little bit vampire...and that had it's consequences. Tor is very old, but also has a tendency to act like a bratty teenager here and there. I actually quite liked him, I loved his banter with Vintage and he cares deep down....past all his preening.
Our final group member is Noon. I wasn't sure what to make of her at first, she's a witch. A Fell-witch, and she's basically locked up in a prison for witches that's sold as a way to keep them safe but really they're used to make a drug that their jailors get rich on. It's more like a Victorian Asylum where women where admitted for "their own good" and stupid reasons. It's quite frankly chilling. Noon can absorb any living things life force and use it to create Winnow fire. I liked this magic system and it created some interesting scenarios and debates among the characters!
We literally have an Eboran who's hated by most and known as a bloodsucker and has some mild vampire vibes going on. A complete nerd and scholar who doesn't give a damn what people think but cares for her companions. And an escaped convict who can suck out your life and set things on fire. It's totally awesome and I loved the dynamics between the group and the banter and how they all worked together. They weren't really comrades for most of the book, but there would be moments when they where for a little while, or when you could see one of them cared about the others. Two of them hated each other on first sight which was interesting to watch play out! I totally ship Tor and Noon as well, I'm not going to lie.
I have to say, there are some brilliant creatures in this book, with the promise of more in the next book and I'm intrigued to see what other creatures we'll get. So far we've got giant bats, and guys...I need my own Fulcor bless her. And we have a dragon called Vostok. I love dragons. I really love dragons. Tor might have a new creature friend too.
The book has intriguing letter extracts and diary extracts scattered throughout to provide an interesting background and history to the world and characters, that provides the most amount of information...but in an interesting way and without info dumping. It also makes a nice break from the narrative!
Towards the end, I started to have a certain picture of the enemy in this book, and I don't know if it's just me, but I'm not sure if we're about to have a Sci-fi vs. Fantasy battle in the next two books. It really kinda felt like it but it might be my own mental image. I really felt like the Eborans and everyone in the world of the book where the good old fantasy characters, and the Jure'lia are the alien-ish creatures trying to takeover. I'm intrigued to see which direction this is all going to go in!
The Ninth Rain is a brilliant start to a new trilogy by one of my favourite authors! There's action, adventure, danger, romance, humour and intrigue. Plenty of life threatening situations, and plenty of characters to flat out hate. Jen's storytelling is as usual brilliant and pulls you in to the world she's created, and the characters and plot keep you glued to the page. I'm incredibly excited to see where this is going to go after the ending of this book!
Labels: book, book review, Bookish, Fantasy, Favourites, Jen Williams, review, The Ninth Rain
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