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By Jacob Stockinger
Walking out into the heavy snow last Sunday afternoon, The Ear left the Madison Opera's production of "Fellow Travelers" – done in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center – feeling sad and moved, but also satisfied and proud. (Below is the full cast in a party scene. All performance photos are by James Gill.)
He was proud that the Madison Opera chose this 2016 work by composer Gregory Spears and librettist Greg Pierce — based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Thomas Mallon — for its annual winter staging of a modern or contemporary opera.
It was a brave choice.
For one, it focuses on a same-sex love affair in the oppressive political environment of the McCarthy era with its Lavender Scare, which, during the larger Red Scare, tied gays to communists and tried to purge and ruin them lest they be blackmailed.
In addition, the opera speaks to today's politics of smear and fear, as practiced by President Donald Trump and conspiracy theory proponents on the far right. The Madison Opera wasn't afraid to point out possible parallels in the program notes.
But the real affirmation of the opera's contemporaneity came from the first-rate quality of this memorable production.
The cast of nine made a tight ensemble in which each member proved equally strong in singing and acting.
The two leading men who played federal government workers – tenor Andres Acosta (below right) as the young Timothy Laughlin and baritone Ben Edquist (below left) as the older Hawkins Fuller – turned in outstanding performances from their first meeting on a park bench, through their sexual encounters, to the final breakup.
Particularly moving were the same-sex love scenes and moments of casual affection. Perhaps there are precedents in the history of other Madison Opera productions, but no one seems to know of any.
The two men in bed — wearing only boxer shorts while kissing and caressing each other — seemed like another brave first for the Madison Opera. The explicit scenes of the two men being intimate were tasteful but also sensual and realistic, erotic as well as poignant. (Below are Andres Acosta, left, as Timothy Laughlin and Ben Edquist, right, as Hawkins Fuller.)
Acting seems the real fulcrum of this chamber opera, with the appealing music underscoring the scenes and the acting rather than standing on its own. Yet the two men proved to be powerful singers, especially in their solos and duets. (You can hear Andres Acosta sing an aria in the Minneapolis production in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The haunting music was always accessible and atmospheric, disproving the notion that music in new operas is always discordant or hard to listen to. True, The Ear heard no tunes to take away from the opera, no earworm arias from a first hearing. But the singing by all the cast members was uniformly strong.
John DeMain's conducting exuded both control and subtlety. He maintained a balance from the Madison Symphony Orchestra players in the pit and never overwhelmed the singers.
DeMain (below, in a photo by Prasad) knew exactly when to pull the music into the background and create a context for the action; and then when to push it to the foreground to accompany the singers or set a scene.
Stage director Peter Rothstein (below), who also staged the opera for the Minnesota Opera in Minneapolis with some of the same cast, kept the show moving at a brisk and engaging pace.
The 16 scenes moved quickly throughout the two-hour show, thanks in part to the austere and portable but convincing sets.
The atmosphere of the 1950s, for example, was believably evoked by a simple office setting — a desk, a few filing cabinets, an American flag and a portrait of President Eisenhower. (Below, from left, are Ben Edquist as Hawkins Fuller, Andres Acosta as Timothy Laughlin, and Adriana Zabala as Mary Johnson.)
Particularly effective and disturbing was the interrogation scene, from the embarrassing questions about whether Hawkins Fuller walks or talks like a homosexual to the lie detector test. (Below, from left, are Andres Acosta as Timothy Laughlin, Ben Edquist as Hawkins Fuller, Stephen Hobe as the Technician and Alan Dunbar as the Interrogator.)
One outstanding performance involved the resonant and expressive Sidney Outlaw (below) as Tommy McIntyre, the bureaucrat who knows all the secrets in the office of Senator Charles Parker (played by Andrew Wilkowske) and how to use them in order to get his way. (Below, from left, are Andres Acosta as Timothy Laughlin and Sidney Outlaw as Tommy McIntyre.)
Another outstanding performance came from Adriana Zabala (below) as Mary Johnson, the secretary who finally quits her job and leaves Washington, D.C., to protest the treatment of Timothy by the aptly nicknamed "Hawk" Fuller and the government inquisitors. (Below, from left, are Ben Edquist as Hawkins Fuller and Adriana Zabala as Mary Johnson.
Throughout the entire opera, the audience proved amazingly quiet, rapt in their attention as they laughed out loud at humorous moments and openly cried at the heart-wrenching plot.
At the end the audience — gay and straight, men and women, old and young – gave the singers and orchestra players a prolonged standing ovation and loud applause.
And walking out, you heard many people talking about the opera in the most positive and approving ways.
The underlying irony, of course, is that an opera with this much insight into both the human heart and the exploitative politics of oppression could never have been staged in the same era it depicts.
At least on that score, we can say we have made some progress in confronting and correcting the injustices and bigotry we witness in "Fellow Travelers."
But in the end the opera tells us to keep traveling.
You can see what other critics thought of "Fellow Travelers":
Here is the review that Jay Rath wrote for Isthmus: https://isthmus.com/arts/stage/forbidden%20love/
And here is the review that Lindsay Christians wrote for The Capital Times: https://madison.com/ct/entertainment/arts_and_theatre/theatre/opera-review-fellow-travelers-is-a-certain-kind-of-wonderful/article_0ebc5a83-afbe-5f50-99eb-51e4baa4df0e.html
What did you think?
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The guy who did "the demo." Who invented the mouse. And a whole lot more.
We'll be streaming video from his house at about 4 p.m. today. Join us.
UPDATE: we had a TON of problems getting live video done at his house. Turns out he's in a cell phone dead zone. Neither Sprint nor AT&T works inside his house. Amazing that in Silicon Valley's richest neighborhood there's still such dead zones. Anyway, his DSL line wasn't working either. Funny, cause he was around at the invention of the Internet and it still doesn't work for him.
The problems continued when we got home. We can't figure out how to record the video we're playing in Mogulus. We'll figure that out tomorrow, or we'll just put it up on YouTube or something. Luckily the Mogulus team will be on the bus with us on Saturday so we'll get help from them with our technical issues.
The interview was amazing, as usual. I could talk with Engelbart for hours. He is simply the most amazing inventor/visionary I've interviewed in my journey.

subset: commoncrawl


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"Its two distinct states of existence simultaneous within one physical body. The duality of humanity. The yin and the yang. The Ike and Tina Turner of it all."
So Grimm is a show that I have gotten really into. It's modern day telling of the Grimm Fairy Tales but with a twist. Creatures from the fairy tales live among us, appearing as human to all but a select few. Instead of being the "brothers Grimm", the Grimm are certain people who have the ability to see those monsters, or Wesen as they are called, from the tales. It is their job as Grimms to destroy all of them. Grimm is passed genetically, and sometimes it can miss a generation or skip a few, but all Grimms are related if you go back far enough on the family tree.
In the series the main character is a homicide detective named Nick Burkhardt, who is played by the very handsome David Giuntoli.
OMG I just find him so attractive. He has these really intense green eyes that just bore into you. He also has an amazingly adorable little boy/mischievous smile. Sometimes I'll be watching the show and lose track of what has been happening because I'm too caught up in staring at him.
What can I say? He's dreamy. Anyways let's get back on track.
So the "Grimm sight" didn't come to Nick until he was in his 30s. He discovers that it's up to him to destroy all the creatures, but Nick actually does things much different. Because he is a cop, he likes to ask questions first before shooting, maiming, beheading, etc. Because of this he actually befriends a lot of Wesen. He meets up with a vegetarian Blutbad (Werewolf) named Monroe, who helps him figure out what the monsters are and how to take them down. Later on they recruits a Fuschbau (Fox) named Rosalee. It's really cool as they bring to life all those fairy tale stories you used to love as a kid, but at the same time they also use a lot of German and the culture; promoting the same thing the Brothers' Grimm did. There also is a lot of mystery and intrigue with a story that spans over the three seasons (can't wait for season 4!!!)
So season one is Nick trying to figure things out, as everything is completely new and a little hard to understand. Season two he has a better handle on it, but also faces issues of trying to conceal or reveal to his close friends. He also gets involved more in the political intrigues and history of the Grimm. In the third season we have a guy who really has it together but faces a lot of issues as an enemy from the past is trying to kill him, a new Grimm comes to town, and much, much more. I highly recommend it!
So now that you all have a better handle on the background, lets move on to the episode. So this episode falls in the first season when Nick is still floundering, trying to figure out a lot. What is a Grimm? What are these creatures? How do I stop them? What really happened to my parents? What is this secret key that was given to him by his aunt? Etc. Now the episode I choose isn't really a Halloween episode, but it was one that I thought was done very well. To be honest, the material that these episodes cover could be used for any Horrorfest post. Just like Supernatural, they cover a lot of "supernatural" things that are ripe for the Halloween countdown.
Okay, I'm sorry. Back to the episode. So the reason I chose this was because I liked how they presented the material. So here we go.
So the film starts off with a Ponzi-scheme guy committing suicide. Arthur Jarvis, handsome, rich guy is listening to the radio when he hears about the Ponzi scheme and the suicide. He becomes extremely worried as he has invested all his money with him. He doesn't want to upset his new wife, Lucinda, and instead goes to her godfather Spencer Harrison to ask him what to do. He tells him that the only thing he can do is to go to Lucinda's stepmother, Mavis, and ask her for money. He doesn't want to go there but has no other choice.
They go to see her but she refuses.
Mavis has always hated her stepdaughter, and feels that Lucinda and Arthur will have to deal with it. That upsets the Arthur and Spencer. The two leave to try and figure things out.
That night Mavis is going to bed when she hears a noise
She looks under the bed and sees a Horned King-like creature!
Mavis runs out of the room, but the creature follows giving off this loud screeching that destroys all the glass in the house; blows the her eardrums, eyeballs, and arteries. Mavis goes falling off the stairs and hits the floor. DEAD.
The next day her daughter, Tiffany, stops by and discovers the body. She calls the police, and Nick heads to the crime scene.
He and his partner start investigating and find it very strange in how she was killed. They then go on to question the two daughters, Tiffany and Taylor. Thats when they discover that there is a third sister (Lucinda). Apparently Lucinda received nothing from the estate as her father gave everything to the stepmother. The stepmother hates her so much that she promised she would never give her a cent.
Nick also discovers that Lucinda's husband and godfather came asking for money, but were refused. The husband and godfather are the top suspects now.
The Nick and his partner Hank Griffen go down to talk to them. As they are about to question the two, Lucinda (who knows nothing) walks in. Nick and Hank tell the three that Lucinda's stepmother is dead. As they say this they discover that Harrison isn't who they think he is. In fact he is a Wesen.
Nick sees the change and knows that something is up. He decides to bring the three in for questioning to try to figure out what's happened.
When they question Lucinda, they discover that Mavis never really cared for her. She hated her and always gave her daughters everything while Lucinda received nothing. When her father died and left everything to the stepmother, her home life was awful. Luckily she met Arthur at a benefit and was able to get away.
Her alibi is that she was home all night with her husband.
They then question Arthur. He tells them that he knew Tiffany and Taylor, Lucinda's stepsisters before he met Lucinda. He met them at a benefit and danced with them, but when he danced with Lucinda he fell for her. She was "so beautiful" that he couldn't help it. Sound familiar?
His albi, that he was also home all night.
They then question Spencer, who tells them the backstory of Lucinda and her family. Her mother died when she was 6, and then her father remarried when she was 11. He died 7 months later. Mavis has always disliked Lucinda, and Spencer was worried about what might happen to Lucinda. He promised her father that he would watch over her and always tries to.
His alibi was that he stayed at the Jarvis house, as he and Arthur had gone late into the night working.
There isn't enough evidence to hold anyone so they have to release all three.
That night we see Arthur and Lucinda fighting. Lucinda wants to go see Tiffany and talk to her, but Arthur wants her to stay home. He's afraid that one of the sisters killed their mother and will kill Lucinda.
Spencer goes to find Lucinda at the Jarvis' home but he's too late. Lucinda has gone out to see her sister. Spencer is mad that Arthur allowed her out as he is supposed to protect her.
Back at Tiffany's place, Lucinda has come to talk to her sister. Tiff won't have any of it as she hates Lucinda for how she has treated the family. Lucinda pleads with her, that the past is the past and that they should move on. Tiff just ignores her.
Lucinda tells her stop and woges out, revealing her true self and transforming into a monster. She uses her screeching powers to murder Tiffany.
Meanwhile Nick and Monroe meet up at his Aunt's trailer that houses a collection of Grimm items. The look through one of the Grimm diaries to figure out what Spencer is. As they look through the book they discover that the cause of all this is a Murciélago Matraca, or a batlike creature.
After reading about how their screeching can destroy vital parts of you body, Nick becomes worried. How is he going to stop this thing? They discover a special weapon that also gives off a high screeching sound. The two test it out.
He goes looking for Spencer and heads over to the Jarvis' home. Lucinda and Arthur tell him they haven't seen Spencer since earlier that morning. Arthur tells him, how he was planning to head over to Tiffany's. Nick rushes over to Tiffany's home and finds Spencer, along with Tiff. Tiff is doing a wonderful recreation of The Birds.
Nick takes Spencer in as he is sure he is the one doing the killing. However, Nick has issues actually charging him as they can't really pin the murders on him. They have no murder weapon, (the cops besides Nick have no clue how somone could have killed the girls) and Nick can't tell anyone that Spencer is a wesen. However, they are saved when Spencer says he wants to confess. He tells the truth, and unfortunately it sounds crazy and unbelievable.
He then tells Nick the whole story. Cinder-I mean Lucinda is the villain. She is the Murciélago Matraca and has no conscience whatsoever. She is a blend of the yin and yang, as she is pretty on the outside but pure evil on the inside. Spencer has been taking care of her all these years, giving in to every demand as, as long as she is happy things are fine. However, this financial crisis of the Jarvis family proved to be too much unhappiness for her. Nick freaks out and goes to his partner to talk it over. His partner tells him that if the rest of her family dies, then she gets everything.
Just as they are discussing it, Spencer breaks out and heads over to the Jarvis house. There he finds Arthur drunk and upset. Lucinda told him that she never loved him and she took off.
Spencer hunts her down at Taylor's as does Nick. Lucinda goes running into a barn to hide from the two. Monroe meets Nick there and they set up the device to create the screeching sound to take down Lucinda. As they do that, Lucinda goes running out of the barn and right into Spencer. He attacks her as he knows that is the only way to end her. As he is apologizing for killing her, she "awakes" and kills him.
Nick finds their bodies.
Monroe asks Nick how he is going to explain everything. And Nick just gives that smile and tells him he has a plan.
Back at the police station, Nick shows his boss the device he used to stop Lucinda and tells him they found it at the crime scene. "Apparently" it was what they used to create the sound that killed everybody. Another case and monster destroyed. Also leaving us with that old adage:
I know its a little unusual, but be expecting to see more Grimm in the future!!
To start Horrorfest III from the beginning, go to Even a Man Pure of Heart
To go to the previous post, go to Only a Woman
For more on Cinderella, go to Episode VI: Return of the My Favorite Movie Lines List
For more modern twists on classical literature, go to A Hunky Helping of Manwich
For more on fairy tales, go to For She Filled Their Lives With Sunshine
For more on monsters, go to What Is This Thing?
For more TV shows based on books, go to Quite a Horror Story
For more of my fav quotes, go to In Their Proper Place
For more bible verses, go to Unbound
For more on Supernatural, go to You Can't Have Just One


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Severe Weather in North America & United Kingdom | Update 04/02/2014
Update | Severe weather 04/02/2014
As advised in our January Monthly Bulletin the severe winter weather in North America is causing some disruptions. Record low temperatures across the USA are likely to cause delays in rail or container collections and putting stress on operations.
The winter weather has now extended through the Southern parts of United States. A winter storm has brought snow and icy conditions from New orleans through Norfolk effecting terminal and inland operations. Some terminals are reopening while other remain closed. Road conditions are dangerous and we are expected to see delays throght this region.
Sub-freezing temperature continues to persist throughout the entire region. Many terminals have had to close for snow removal and terminal congestion is being experienced throughout.
Update | Severe weather 20/01/2014
As advised in our January Monthly Bulletin the severe winter weather in North America is causing some disruptions. Record low temperatures across the Mid-West of the USA are likely to cause delays in rail or container collections.
Problems related to the deep freeze, train derailments, port backlogs and what appears to be higher than usual general freight demand in January are testing transportation networks and shipping capacity.
The Chicago area has been hit with continuous extreme weather which has put stress on operations and led to businesses and schools being closed.
Severe Weather in North America & United Kingdom | January 2014
Please be advised that severe weather is causing disruptions across North America and the United Kingdom. While all regions are accustomed and equipped to deal with their intense winter weather, the continuous extreme weather has put stress on their operations which is likely to affect service in and out of these regions.
Severe Weather in Canada
An ice storm has swept most of Canada with dangerous chills ranging from –30 C to –45 C, wind gusts reaching speeds as high as 135 km/h and a "very violent blizzard" about to hit. The relentless extreme weather conditions has caused flight delays and cancellations across most of the country and generally wreaking havoc on air, road and other forms of travel. Find out more here.
Severe weather in USA
Record low temperatures have crept across North America. At Chicago airport, a record-breaking 26 degrees below zero - or 42 below with wind chill. Colder than it was at the South Pole, where it was minus 23.
The bitter weather and ice have become so intense in the Mid-West and North East of USA that it has created treacherous driving conditions and flights are being cancelled out of most airports.
Severe Weather in United Kingdom
Britain's western coast is being lashed by strong winds and heavy rain with more than 100 flood warnings remain across England and Wales.
We appreciate your patience and understanding and please be assured that our teams right around the world remain focused on delivering the best possible service. We will be updating this page with information as it become available.


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Despite strong rhetoric against aggressive Wall Street lobbying and deceptive Republican attacks, President Barack Obama appears ready to declare victory on a tepid and ineffective financial reform bill. The aims Obama outlined in his April 22 Cooper Union speech are laudable, but the legislation that cleared the Senate Banking Committee under the stewardship of Chris Dodd (D-CT) simply will not protect our economy from bank abuses. Fortunately, it only takes a handful of legislative amendments to fix the Dodd bill. Here they are:
1. Break Up the Banks: The Brown-Kaufman Amendment
Washington has tied itself in knots trying to find a way to thwart "too big to fail" without cutting megabanks down to size. It can't be done. When something is too big, the solution is to make it smaller. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Ted Kaufman (D-DE) introduced a bill this week to cap big bank liabilities at 2% of gross domestic product (about $300 billion). Right now, Bank of America's liabilities total 7% of GDP (about $1 trillion). Nothing--nothing--that has been proposed other than Brown-Kaufman will for force our banking behemoths to shrink.
Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner have been saying for some time that size alone isn't the most serious problem in today's financial system. That is simply not true. The bigger the bank, the more power that bank has over Washington, and the greater its ability to block other important reforms. But even if Obama and Geithner were right about size, it's worth asking why anybody in Congress would vote against breaking up the big banks. There is literally no evidence that banks of today's scale create any economic benefits whatsoever. Even if you don't think size is the central problem, voting in favor of this amendment would create zero economic problems.
If your goal is to protect the bonuses of Wall Street executives, this amendment looks terrible. The bigger the bank, the more money its executives can pay themselves. If a $1 billion bank and a $1 trillion bank have the same profitability ratios, and pay out the same percentage of profits in bonuses, then the $1 trillion bank is going to have 1000 times as much money available for its executives.
So make no mistake: a vote against Brown-Kaufman is a vote for big bank bonuses.
2. Protect Consumers: The Jack Reed Amendment
The most significant proposal Obama asked for when he rolled out his reform plans in June 2009 was the establishment of a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Existing regulators are charged with both ensuring bank profitability and keeping consumers safe from abuses. In practice, this has meant that regulators look the other way on predatory lending, so long as it creates big short-term profits for banks. The solution to this problem is a new agency with the power to write and enforce consumer protection regulations for anybody who offers consumer loans.
Dodd essentially gutted the proposal in the Banking Committee in an effort to garner Republican support (nevermind that zero Republicans on the Committee actually ended up voting for the bill). Jack Reed has authored legislation that would reverse all of Dodd's useless concessions and restore President Obama's original intent.
There is no reason anybody should oppose the Reed amendment. A vote against the Reed bill is a vote in favor of the banking industry's right to pillage your pocketbook.
3. Reinstate Glass-Stegall: The Cantwell-McCain Amdendment
As Nomi Prins has detailed, Obama and Dodd have diluted the already-compromised Volcker Rule into even weaker broth. Volcker had a good idea: Banks that benefit from federal deposit insurance shouldn't be going out and gambling with taxpayer money. Commercial banks that accept deposits and extend consumer and business loans are the core of the financial system. If they go down, the payments system dissovles, people cannot pay for goods and services with money, and we're back to the barter system. We shouldn't be subjecting such a critical economic function to the risks inherent in the securities markets.
So Volcker wanted to ban dangerous speculation by cracking down on "proprietary trading"--pure bets that are unrelated to serving any clients a bank works with. The trouble is, proprietary trading that Volcker targets is very difficult to distinguish from other "client-related" trading, and in many cases, client-related trading is just as dangerous.
We need to go further. For more than 50 years, the Glass-Steagall Act banned banks that accepted deposits from playing around in the securities markets in any way, whether for clients or themselves. During that time, there were zero financial crises. For anybody eyeing bipartisanship, John McCain is a co-sponsor of this amendment.
4. Crush the Casino: Blanche Lincoln's Derivatives Bill
Derivatives are extraordinarily dangerous. They brought down AIG, and AIG nearly brought down our economy. The market is huge--the trading value of derivatives is $3.3 trillion, and the contracts bet on $500 trillion worth of stuff. A whopping 96 percent of this market is housed in just five banks.
What's worse, three of the biggest derivatives dealers, Bank of America, Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase are commercial banks - the kind that accept deposits, make loans and form the core of the payments system. Commerical banks like to back derivatives, because federal deposit insurance gives these companies stronger credit ratings, which makes their risky bets appear less risky to investors. And in fact, they are less risky for investors--because taxpayers like you and me are protecting them. So Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) has pushed a bill that would ban banks from dealing derivatives. Bravo.
Lincoln also wants to make sure derivatives are traded on exchanges, where everyone can see what risks everyone else is taking on, and her bill has the strongest language on this requirement of any proposal in Congress. Sunshine really is a good disinfectant-- nobody would have traded with AIG had they seen the trillions of dollars in subprime mortgage risk the company was loading up on.
5. Audit the Fed: The Bernie Sanders Amendment
Speaking of sunshine, the Federal Reserve has pumped out $4.7 trillion in bailout money for the financial sector over the course of the crisis, and refuses to tell the public who is receiving that money and on what terms it is being extended.
Reps. Ron Paul (R-TX) and Alan Grayson (D-FL) authored legislation requiring a full audit of the Fed's activities and it passed the House in December with loads of bipartisan support in December. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) plans to offer the same amendment in the Senate. It's our money. We deserve to know where it's going.


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Graton Park--wooded area with building in background and people at picnic tables, about 1909
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Lifetime is taking a stab at one of America's oldest murder mysteries for this week's original Lifetime movie, Lizzie Borden Took an Axe.
It's the story of Lizzie Borden, the girl who was accused of murdering her father and stepmother with an axe. Though she was acquitted of the murder in 1892, for many, the question of her guilt remains unanswered to this day.
That's where Lifetime is stepping in. Reviews aren't great, with the Los Angeles Times saying that it veers into "camp" and The Washington Post complaining that the movie is "tedious." But there's no question that the story is an enduringly bloody tale and is bound to entertain.
We won't spoil the movie's take on the "whodunnit" question, but here are some crazy things you should know about Lizzie Borden before you watch tonight.
1. For the novices out there, she killed her parents with an axe…or did she? The trial was so sensational, in part, because the murder was so bloody. Lizzie's parents were hacked to death with a hatchet, so it was the trial of the century.
2. One of her father's eyeballs was chopped cleanly in half. Enough said.
3. You may have sung a fun little children's rhyme about the murder.
Lizzie Borden took an axe
And gave her mother forty whacks.
When she saw what she had done
She gave her father forty-one.
The rhyme isn't quite right, however: Her father got up to 10 or 11 whacks, her mother 19.
4. Lizzie stuck around town after the murders. She inherited her parents' money, moved into a large modern house in a different neighborhood, and lived until age 66 in relative isolation. But she wasn't done making headlines: in 1897, she was accused of shoplifting in Providence, Rhode Island.
5. Status? Unsolved. Whoever killed the Bordens didn't leave many clues. A murder weapon was never convincingly identified, including the hatchet that was found in the Borden's basement. Lizzie burned one of her dresses shortly after the murder, saying she'd gotten paint on it, but no bloody clothing was ever found. And, there were no direct eyewitnesses. No one else was ever charged for the murders.
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Texas medical board charges controversial cancer doctor
Fans of Houston doctor Stanislaw Burzynski love him for defying the medical establishment and offering alternative therapies to terminally ill patients.
The latest charges against Burzynski by the Texas Medical Board, which has tried and failed to take away his license for more than two decades, paint a very different picture.
Burzynski has long lured patients from around the world to his Texas clinic by promoting his unapproved drugs as safe, effective and available from nobody else. Yet Burzynski knew that most patients were ineligible for the experimental therapy, according to a 200-page complaint that describes problems with the care of 29 patients.
Desperate patients have sought out Burzynski because of his claims about antineoplastons, drugs that he invented and patented. Although they haven't been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the FDA has allowed Burzynski to dispense them through a clinical trial. The FDA put that trial on hold after the 2012 death of a 6-year-old boy, but gave Burzynski the green light to resume the trial last month.
Once patients arrived at Burzynski's office, the board says, he misled them in several ways:
• By making patients pay a retainer before receiving any diagnosis or treatment.
• By performing unnecessary tests and "non-therapeutic treatment" with no potential to help them.
• By imposing "exorbitant charges" for drugs and lab tests, without telling patients that he also owned the pharmacy and lab being used.
• By allowing unlicensed staff to treat patients, while describing the staff as doctors.
Burzynski also prescribed unapproved combinations of highly toxic chemotherapy in ways that caused harm to several patients, the board says.
Burzynski — who was the subject of a USA TODAY investigation last year — broke Texas law, the board says, through "unprofessional and dishonorable conduct that is likely to deceive or defraud the public."
Oncologist Howard Ozer, who reviewed the board's case, said the charges against Burzynski are medically sound. For example, the board says Burzynski tested one patients' blood oxygen levels eight times in two weeks — at $35 a test, in addition to a $4,500 monthly case management fee. While these oxygen tests are common for patients in intensive care, they aren't used for patients receiving outpatient treatment, Ozer says.
In Burzynski's case, "these tests seem to me to be simply for generating extra revenue," says Ozer, a professor at the University of Illinois Cancer Center.
Several of Burzynski's critics praised the board's decision.
"Burzynski should not be practicing medicine. Period," says Ronald Lindsay, president and CEO of the Center for Inquiry, an advocacy group that promotes evidence-based medicine. "The Center for Inquiry hopes that this case will be pursued vigorously and promptly, and that Burzynski will no longer be able to exploit patients."
Burzynski's attorney, Richard Jaffe, says his client hasn't broken any laws. Jaffe says that it's common for doctors to order blood tests or dispense cancer drugs from their own pharmacies.
Jaffe notes that the unlicensed employees singled out in the complaint — Tolib Rakhmanov, Larisa Tikhomirova, Sheryll Acelar and Lourdes DeLeon — all earned medical degrees abroad. Although they don't have licenses to practice medicine in Texas, Jaffe says they are all skilled doctors. He said they mainly performed tasks such as checking in on patients by phone after patients returned home from Houston.
But the board charges that Burzynski led patients to believe these employees were licensed doctors, and that they performed a number of medical roles, including evaluating patients, diagnosing them and making recommendations about their treatments.
Wayne Merritt, a former Burzynski patient, says he didn't know that Burzynski used unlicensed employees. Merritt and his wife, Lisa, say they hope the board "is able to do something to stop him this time."
Burzynski last battled with the medical board in 2012 about the care of several patients. He was cleared of charges at that time, after a judge found that the care in question had been provided by Burzynski's employees, not him.
The board has since filed charges against two employees.
Physician Robert Weaver, a former Burzynski employee, was formally reprimanded in May in relation to a patient treated in 2008 to 2009. The board found that Weaver failed to meet the standard of care while working for Burzynski, "who implemented multiple therapies, which had insufficient evidence of clinical efficacy and high probability of additive toxicities."
The board also found that while Weaver signed the order, he consulted with Burzynski on the patient, whose care was a "team effort." The board found that the patient should not have been charged for treatment related to the clinical research, and that the patient was "inappropriately billed" for study-related lab work.
The board has charged a current Burzynski employee, physician Zanhua Yi, with failing "to practice medicine in an acceptable professional manner" while caring for a cancer patient in 2011. That case has not yet been decided. Jaffe, who spoke on behalf of Yi, said that doctor's care was appropriate.
Jaffe says the board, which put Burzynski on probation from 1994 to 2004, is "under tremendous pressure to take away Burzynski's license" because of negative publicity that Burzynski has received in recent years.
Jaffe predicts that this would be the last time that Burzynski, 70, will tangle with the medical board.
"One way or another, this is the last time that this is going to happen," Jaffe says. "Either they are going to take away his license or the board is going to be humiliated, because we are going to ask a judge to decide whether this treatment works better."


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March 14 — or 3.14 — is Pi Day! And this year, it's also Pie It Forward Day, in honor of the new book of pie recipes by master baker Gesine Bullock-Prado. GeekMom sponsor Abrams gave us a chance to look at the lusciously-photo-illustrated Pie It Forward and talk to her about how to step up our own game in the baking department.
Gesine (pronounced Geh-see-neh, with a hard "G"), has devoted herself to the pastry arts since 2004, when she left the Hollywood production company of her sister Sandra Bullock and moved with her husband to a farm in Vermont to open her own bakery and mail-order company. Her 2009 book, a memoir called My Life From Scratch, describes the life transformation, with recipes. Gesine's first true cookbook was Sugar Baby: Confections, Candies, Cakes & Other Delicious Recipes for Cooking with Sugar, which came out last year.
Now in Pie it Forward, Gesine stretches the definition of pie to include fruit pies of all varieties as well as tiramisu tart, German apfel strudel and frangipane pithivier (look it up: page 102). There are also savory selections such as Cornish pasties, Fried Green Tomato Tart, and a Bavarian calzone.
But to start, Gesine explains the right way to make a delicious pie, including a whole section on "The Basics" regarding crusts and fillings. As a novice in the pie-baking department myself, I had a few questions for her, which she answered below. And as a bonus for GeekMom readers, she also sent step-by-step photos for her Chocolate Cream Pie. Keep reading for the recipe:
GeekMom: Pie-making, and especially pie crust-making, seems very unforgiving. For a busy mom who doesn't have a lot of time, experience or equipment, it can seem intimidating. What advice do you have for the novice who wants to learn to make a respectable pie?
Gesine Bullock-Prado: This is exactly why I think the phrase "easy as pie" is cruel and unusual. Pie crust isn't hard to perfect but requires some knowledge about how the science of baking works. The ingredients you work with MUST be cold, including the flour and water. If you work with warm ingredients, the fats and liquids saturate the flour and make for a brick of a crust. Instead, you want the fats to exist independently of the flour so the butter can provide steam in the oven (flaky!). There should be visible bits of fat in the finished rolled crust, this provides lift and flakiness. A measure of salt and sugar are crucial to give the crust flavor (yes, butter does that too but you'd be surprised how much salt matters). Adding too much water is also a common mistake. It's easy to do, though, because a truly great crust often looks just a bit dry and shaggy when you've added the prefect amount of water. By pressing it into a round and refrigerating it, you allow the gluten to relax and the water to saturate the flour a bit more, making the crust easier to roll.
GM: I know the crust is all-important. Is it better to master one type of crust before going on to another, or should a beginner try a variety to see which they like best?
GBP: Pie It Forward contains different crusts for very different pies. My favorite ultra flaky pie crust is quick puff, a very traditional French method. It's not hard but it's definitely more of an involved technique that is worth learning (there's a photo demo in the book). A foray into quick puff is a gateway to learning traditional puff and things like croissant, so I'm warning you it can lead to advance pastry work in the home kitchen. My easy all butter crust is similar to quick puff but not as flaky (and not quite as buttery) but is a great way to start on your journey. I have lots of photo demos on www.pieitforwardcookbook.com so you can get a very good idea of what the steps look like to making a great crust.
GM: The official Pie It Forward recipe is Wild Blueberry, but fresh blueberries are pricey this time of year. Is it OK to substitute frozen?
GBP: You CAN use frozen berries. Find the best quality around. Just be very aware that by freezing the berry you are adding a ton of extra moisture and the berries themselves are degraded by the freezing and thawing so won't come out as plump as a fresh berry would in the finished. Add a teaspoon extra of the thickening agent in the recipe.
GM: What are some ways to get kids involved in pie-making?
GBP: If your kid's digits are clean and run on the cold side, getting them to do the hard work of adding the butter to the flour in quick puff is a life saver and fun for the kids. Kids also love making (and eating) pie pops. Fresh fruit tarts are the most fun for girls of a certain age. They are beautiful fruity art pieces and arrangement is crucial to how the pie looks.
GM: Which recipes in the book appeal more to grown-up tastes? What would you suggest for a special occasion?
GBP: There are, of course, the event pieces I created in the back of the book that require decor sides and a bit of time but if you want something beautiful with a little less work, I love the poached pear tart (wine poached, that is). It's beautiful and combines pistachio and red wine poached pears to gorgeous effect. The Yuzu Ginger Rice Pudding tart is crazy good and a combination of ingredients and techniques you don't often see in pie but is whimsical with the spiky meringue and full of insane flavor. Fresh fruit tarts are always the perfect capper to a summer meal while the Sticky Toffee Pudding Tart is the ultimate winter treat.
GM: I caught the Earl Grey joke on one of your blogs. This being GeekMom, I have to ask: Who's your favorite Star Trek captain, and what pie would you bake for him or her?
GBP: Capt Jean Luc Picard with the Earl Grey Truffle Tart, of course (page 138). I mean, what else would I serve the man? Sigh.
For more tips and photos — including a photo demonstration of Gesine's Chocolate Cream Pie, above — visit Gesine's blog PieItForwardCookbook.com. You'll find the recipe in Pie It Forward, available from Stewart, Tabori & Chang, an imprint of Abrams.


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Historic Lahaina TownExplore > United States > Maui > Historic Lahaina Town
"Once known as Lele, which means "relentless sun" in Hawaiian, Lahaina is a historic town that has been transformed into a Maui hot spot with dozens of art galleries and a variety of unique shops and restaurants.
Once the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom in the early nineteenth century, Lahaina was also a historic whaling village during the whaling boom of the mid-1800's. Up to 1,500 sailors from as many as 400 ships took leave in Lahaina including Herman Melville, who immortalized the era in his classic novel Moby Dick.
Today, Lahaina is on the National Register of Historic Places. You can still get a feel for old Lahaina as you stroll down lively Front Street and visit historic stops like the U.S. Seamen's Hospital, Hale Paaho (Lahaina Prison), the Pioneer Inn and other sites on the Lahaina Historic Trail. Approximately 55 acres of old Lahaina have been set aside as historic districts.
Lahaina's sunny climate and oceanfront setting also provides the perfect backdrop for a variety of activities and entertainment. Get a fresh taste of Hawaii Regional Cuisine in Lahaina's fine restaurants. Get your tickets to some of Maui's best seaside luau where you can eat, drink and watch the traditional dances of Polynesia. The award winning show Ulalena at the Maui Theatre offers a Broadway-caliber production showcasing the culture of Hawaii.
And during the winter months, don't forget to set sail from Lahaina Harbor on an unforgettable whale watching tour. The channel off the coast of Lahaina is one of the best places in the world to spot humpback whales. Even these magnificent creatures can't get enough of Lahaina."
-Information gathered from www.gohawaii.com/maui/regions-neighborhoods/west-maui/lahaina


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Katarina Petrinovich met her husband Jerry two weeks after their marriage ceremony. Katarina, born Katarina Marcesovich in Split, Dalmatia in 1892 was a pretty 19 year-old girl, sang beautifully, and was fluent in three languages. Jerry learned of the accomplished young woman through his brother who lived in Split, and began writing the young woman letters. Told good things about her countryman in half-way around the world, Katarina responded and a correspondence developed between the two.
Jerry told her of the wonders of California, that he had a fine home, was a mere 30 years of age, and that he'd built a career as a successful restaurateur. There's no way around it, Jerry lied to the distant girl. He lived in a one room apartment, and worked as a night cook. The picture he sent on, if not exactly fake, was the 1910 version of photo-shopped; in the words of a reporter from the San Francisco Call "it flattered the original."
Jerry proposed and Katarina accepted. Of course, her parents weren't keen on dispatching an unmarried daughter half-way around the world to a man they never met, and so Jerry arranged a legally binding proxy marriage. His brother in Split, given power of attorney stood in for Jerry and married the girl in his name. With that, Katarina was dispatched to California, a journey of about two weeks.
The couple took up residence in Jerry's small apartment. Jerry kept his new bride a virtual prisoner. If he wasn't available to watch her, an aged aunt was assigned to keep an eye on her. Disappointed and repulsed by a husband who'd led her to have such high hopes only to see them dashed by poverty and misery, Katarina rebelled and the two fought. Long and loud, their words echoing through the thin walls of the apartment house in Orchard Street.
Jerry's refusal to take Katarina to a picnic sponsored by their fellow Croatians on June 20, 1910 proved the final straw. Their high volume argument went on and on, and finally Jerry's aged aunt went to the door of the couple's room and forced her way in. Harldy had she made her way in to see what the ruckus was about when Jerry pulled his pistol from his coat hanging on the door and sprung at his wife, who was lying on the bed. A pistol shot, in her right breast was followed by a cut with a knife along her throat and abdomen. The Aunt did nothing but scream, as Jerry turned the knife on himself, drawing the knife over his own throat.
Jerry died that evening at Belvedere Hospital, never recovering consciousness. Katarina lived long enough to give a statement to San Jose's assistant district attorney James P. Sex. "I am 19 years o f age. My husband shot me because I did not love him. He was trying to make me care for him, but I could not. He did not threaten me. He never did. I knew that he was going to do me harm because he said he would not let me out of the room unless I promised that I would care for him. He was talking a great deal about his caring for me and my not caring for him."
Tragically it seems, Jerry got his wish never to be separated from his beautiful wife. The two share a gravestone at the Santa Clara Mission Cemetery.


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Snack for all occasions. Also goes nicely with drinks.
(Note: Different types of vegetables can be used to make bajka. Such as lauki slices, bhindi cut in small pieces, pumpkin flower, or soaked chan
A hugely popular spicy snack in east and north India.
Healthy and tasty.
A great snack loved by both young and old!


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Book Description:
Do you want a better way to make decisions as a couple peacefully? The two of you have decisions to make constantly, everything from who will go to the grocery to how you will manage your money. And you would like to do it all without fighting. All sizes of topics can be tough–and sometimes painful–when you need to agree and act on the decisions together. No matter how long you have been together, there is a better way.
Deciding in Unity provides couples with useful new knowledge and tools:
– Practical and helpful content
– A clear decision-making process
– Inspirational couple stories
– Humorous cartoons
This encouraging book will help you have the happy, healthy marriage you want! (Also useful for unmarried couples)
Be sure to check out the other Entrée Press interactive cookbook titles available through Book Hub.
Author: Susanne M. Alexander
Category: Marriage; Self-Help
Price: $9.99
Author Biography:
Susanne M. Alexander is a Relationship and Marriage Educator and Coach with her education and publishing company Marriage Transformation® (www.marriagetransformation.com). In her life, Susanne has been single, dating, engaged, married, divorced, and widowed. She has been a parent, stepparent, and grandparent. She has also been a child and a stepchild. All of this has given her a diversity of experience to share!
Available at:
Amazon Nook GooglePlay Kobo Samsung


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Levon Helm, key member of The Band, dies at 71
ALBANY, N.Y. - Levon Helm, The Band's commanding drummer and singer, whose solid beat and Arkansas twang helped define classics from the tragic "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" to the playful "Up on Cripple Creek," died Thursday. He was 71.
Helm, who was found to have throat cancer in 1998, died peacefully Thursday afternoon, according to his website. On Tuesday, a message on the site said he was in the final stages of cancer.
Helm and his band mates - Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Robbie Robertson and Richard Manuel - were musical virtuosos who returned to the roots of American music in the late 1960s as other rockers veered into psychedelia, heavy metal and jams. The group's 1968 debut, "Music From the Big Pink," and its follow-up, "The Band," remain landmark albums of the era, and songs such as "The Weight," ''Dixie Down" and "Cripple Creek" have become rock standards.
Early on, The Band backed Bob Dylan on his sensational and controversial electric tours of 1965-66 and collaborated with him on the legendary "Basement Tapes," which produced "I Shall Be Released," ''Tears of Rage" and many other favorites.
It was a quintessential American band, but only Helm came from the U.S.
The son of an Arkansas cotton farmer, he was just out of high school when he joined rocker Ronnie Hawkins for a tour of Canada in 1957 as the drummer for the Hawks. That band eventually recruited a group of Canadian musicians who, along with Helm, spent grueling years touring rough bars in Canada and the South.
They would split from Hawkins, hook up with Dylan and eventually call themselves The Band - a conceit they well lived up to.
In some ways, The Band was the closest this country ever came to the camaraderie and achievement of the Beatles. Each of the five members brought special talents that through years of touring, recording and living together blended into a unique sound.
The tall, lanky Robertson was an expert blues-rock guitarist and the group's best lyricist, his songs inspired in part by Dylan and by the stories Helm would tell him of the South. The baby-faced Danko was a fluid bassist, an accomplished singer and occasional writer. The bearish Hudson was a virtuoso and eccentric who could seemingly master any instrument, especially keyboards, while the sad-eyed Manuel's haunting falsetto on "Whispering Pines," ''Tears of Rage" and others led Helm to call him the group's lead singer.
But for many Band admirers, that honor belonged to the short, feisty Helm, whose authoritative twang once was likened to a town crier calling a meeting to order. He not only sang "Dixie Down," he inhabited it, becoming the Confederate Virgil Caine, "hungry, just barely alive," his brother killed by the Yankees, the South itself in ruins. It was the kind of heartbreaking, complicated story and performance that had even Northerners rooting for the proud and desperate Virgil.
"The Weight" and many other songs were true collaborations: Helm's voice was at the bottom, Danko's in the middle and Manuel on top. Helm - the group's musical leader on stage - played drums loose-limbed and funky, shoulders hunched and head to the side when he sang.
But the group, especially Manuel, struggled with drugs and alcohol. While Danko and Manuel shared songwriting credits in the early years, Robertson was essentially the lone writer for the last few albums. By the middle of the decade, Robertson, especially, was burned out and wanted to get off the road.
They bid farewell to live shows with a bang with the famous "Last Waltz" concert in 1976. Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Dylan were among the stars who played the show in San Francisco, filmed by Martin Scorsese for a movie of the same name, released in 1978.
"The Last Waltz" is regarded by many as the greatest of concert films, but it also helped lead to a bitter split between Robertson and Helm, once the best of friends.
Robertson became close to Scorsese during the production, and Helm believed the movie was structured to make Robertson the leader and advance his own movie career. They rarely spoke after, despite efforts by Hawkins and others to intervene.
While Helm would accuse Robertson of being on a star trip, Helm, ironically, was the more successful actor, with acclaimed roles in "Coal Miner's Daughter," ''The Right Stuff" and other films. And no one who watched "The Last Waltz" could forget Helm's performance of "Dixie Down," shot mostly in closeup, his face squeezed with emotion.
In his memoir, "This Wheel's on Fire," Helm said some hard feelings about Robertson also included his getting songwriting credits on Band songs that other members considered group efforts. Robertson would deny the allegations. On his Facebook page this week, he revealed that he had been devastated to learn of Helm's illness and visited him in the hospital.
"I sat with Levon for a good while, and thought of the incredible and beautiful times we had together," Robertson wrote.
Without Robertson, The Band reunited in the 1980s but never approached its early success. Manuel hanged himself in a Winter Park, Fla., hotel room in 1986. Danko died in his home near Woodstock in 1999, a day after his 56th birthday.
Highlights from the '90s did include The Band playing at a Dylan tribute concert at Madison Square Garden in 1992 and a collaboration among Helm, Danko and Keith Richards on the rocker "Deuce and a Quarter."
While Helm's illness reduced his voice to something close to a whisper, it did not end his musical career. Beset by debt, in 2004 he began a series of free-wheeling late night shows in his barn in Woodstock that were patterned after medicine shows from his youth. Any night of the bi-weekly Midnight Rambles could feature Gillian Welch, Elvis Costello or his daughter Amy on vocals and violin.
He recorded "Dirt Farmer" in 2007, which was followed by "Electric Dirt" in 2009. Both albums won Grammys. He won another this year for "Ramble at the Ryman."
Original members of The Band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.


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Plantwise: Smokin' Herbs
Q: Kate, I want to garnish my spring cocktails with fresh herbs, but I only have crabgrass. Is this a good time to get some going?
A: Cold-hardy, evergreen herbs—sage, rosemary, thyme, lavender, winter tarragon, and parsley, for example—can be purchased at well-stocked nurseries year-round, although selection peaks in June. You can plant herbs outdoors any time the ground is workable (i.e., not too soggy), or tuck them into pretty pots near your door.
If you buy four-inch plants, you can crowd half a dozen cold-hardy herbs into one 12-inch-diameter pot. Do this now, and the crop will be full and lovely by the time you switch from juleps to old-fashioneds in November. You can start judiciously harvesting sprigs pretty much immediately. This method is particularly useful in early spring for mint, one of the best garnishes, which loses its leaves if temps drop below 30 degrees. Chocolate and apple mint make fantastic accents. Kept from frost, they will grow new shoots year-round. The more you snip, the bushier they become! Lemon balm, like mint, drops its leaves in cold weather, so keep it inside if you want to use it year-round.
Try some exotic options indoors in pots. Look for frost-tender lemongrass and lemon verbena. (Check with local nurseries in June.) Both make pretty and aromatic houseplants. You can also grow shiso and basil (cinnamon basil is particularly nice for garnish) indoors even in winter: give them maximum light and warmth. Wait till warm weather has truly arrived to plant outdoors.


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GAZA CITY (CNN) -- Just a few hours before President Barack Obama rode in a triumphal parade from Capitol Hill to the White House, in Gaza City there was another triumphal parade.
Members off the Hamas-affiliated Palestinian National Guard inspect their destroyed headquarters.
Thousands of people, carrying Hamas' green flag and the banners of other Palestinian factions, converged on the now demolished Palestinian parliament.
There, the usual bombastic speeches were made over a makeshift sound system about "victory over the Zionist enemy" and the need to resist Israeli aggresion and liberate all Palestinian territory from Israeli occupation.
I've covered dozens of such "victory" celebrations in Gaza -- and what struck me as I watched the smiling, chanting crowd go by was that despite everything that has happened here since 27 December 2008, when Israel launched its version of "shock and awe," little has actually changed.
Despite Israel's intense bombardment of Gaza, the deaths of more than 1,300 people (a majority of whom appear to have been civilians), the wounding and maiming of more than 5,000 more, the destruction of thousands of buildings, including ministries, hospitals, U.N. facilities, even Gaza's American International School, Hamas is still in business. Watch Hamas supporters celebrate in Gaza »
The morning after Israel's unilateral ceasefire went into effect, Hamas-controlled police were back on the streets directing traffic. Hamas fighters were walking around central Gaza City with their AK-47 assault rifles slung casually over their shoulders, workers from the electricity company had begun the mammoth task of repairing the damage, and government bulldozers were busy clearing rubble off the streets.
That same morning I was on the northern edge of Beit Lahiya, close to the border with Israel, and saw two rockets streak into the sky in the direction of Israel. The rockets were a message to Israel: We are still here. Later Sunday Hamas announced its own ceasefire.
Israeli officials insist they have successfully crippled Hamas, but no one in Gaza -- not even those who would like to see Hamas disappear off the face of the earth -- shares that opinion.
Hamas was shaken by the Israeli offensive, but is still standing. Among many in the Arab world -- though not necessarily the region's rulers- -- Hamas and its fighters are now heroes.
Like Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006, Hamas did not raise a white flag nor did its fighters surrender en masse to Israeli forces.
Compare that with the utter humiliation and defeat suffered by the combined regular armies of Jordan, Syria and Egypt in just six days of fighting with Israel in June 1967.
A pattern may be emerging where the Israeli military -- by far the best equipped in the region -- simply cannot defeat its enemies on the battlefield. And, as any student of the Middle East knows, to survive is to triumph.
Also unchanged is Israel's determination to maintain its stranglehold on Gaza, put in place in January 2006 following Palestinian parliamentary elections that brought Hamas to power.
It will almost certainly not ease its strict control on what and how much goods enter and exit through Gaza's crossings. Israel is equally determined not to open a dialogue with Hamas, and will do its best to bend sympathic ears in Washington and European capitals to ensure no one else talks to them either.
Western warships may soon be deployed to ensure nothing -- weapons but also non-military goods -- reaches Gaza by sea. Officials of the European Union have said no aid will go to Gaza as long as Hamas is in control.
Likewise, Israel and the U.S., during the final days of the Bush administration, signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at stopping smuggling from Egypt to Gaza (never mind that Egypt was neither a signatory nor was consulted).
It all adds up to a continuation of the policy best summed up by Dov Weisglass, an advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who said: "The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger."
In short, all the factors that led up to Israel's offensive -- the rockets, the siege, Hamas' political isolation -- are unchanged. After the war, Hamas needs a respite, the Israeli government probably would like some relief from the harsh international criticism of its actions, and the people of Gaza are desperate for peace and quiet, as are the Israelis who live around Gaza.
There may indeed be a period of relative quiet, but another flare up -- perhaps worse than the latest -- is a definite possibility.
Get ready for the next round.


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JJC Deluxe Lens Pouch DLP-2
JJC Deluxe Lens Pouch is designed to carry a typical SLR lens. This pouch features heavy duty nylon construction with a soft interior. It will provide you great protection and shock absorption for your lens. The pouch can be carried by a double touch belt loop and two webbed eyelet loops for an optional shoulder strap. This series lens pouch is available in 6 sizes to fit a wide variety of lenses.
DLP-2 Inner size is 85 x 150mm


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Get tips while shopping
From the Kent County Health Department
The holidays seem to catch up with us quickly. Eating, drinking and being merry can sometimes lead you to pack on the pounds. Statistics show nearly half of Americans will make a New Year's resolution, but a third of those resolutions will be broken by the end of January!
The Kent County Health Department can help you with one of the top New Year's Resolutions: developing healthy eating habits, through Individualized Nutrition Counseling and Grocery Store Tours. Our registered dietician, Sarah VanEerden, offers nutrition services to individuals, schools, community groups, and worksites. Sarah will take your concerns to the store–literally! She offers grocery store tours to teach healthy buying habits. The tour is free, lasts 90 minutes to two hours, and can be tailored to fit the specific dietary needs of you and your family.
For more information, call her at (616) 632-7286.


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Sharjah National Travel and Tourist Agency, Al Arooba Street, Sharjah Tower, P O Box 17, Sharjah, UAE
+971 6 568 4411
Sri Lankan or Sri Lanka Airlines is a leading carrier of the country with its headquarters in Katunayake. Launched in 1979, it is currently flying to several destinations in more than 20 countries. For its outstanding services and exceptional facilities, it has been awarded the 'Superior Achievement in Passenger Experience' from the APEX Passenger Choice Awards and Future Travel Awards in 2015. SriLankan Airlines has several customer care centers across the world including Sharjah. So, if you need detailed information about the SriLankan Airlines Office in Sharjah to get the answers to your queries, keep on reading this post.
SriLankan Sharjah Office
Are you planning to visit Sharjah, Sri Lanka? Check out the following to learn more about the SriLankan Airlines Office in Sharjah mentioned below:
SriLankan Airlines Sharjah Ticket Office
Sharjah National Travel and Tourist Agency
Al Arooba Street, Sharjah Tower
P O Box 17, Sharjah
|Ticket Office Phone Number
|+1-844-234-6014 or +971 6 568 4411
|Contact Number for Reservations and Related Queries (within Sri Lanka)
|+1-844-234-6014 or +94117771979
|Ticket Office Fax Number
|+971 3 764 3362
|Email ID of the Ticketing Office
|Email ID for Reservation and Related Queries
|Working Hours of Sharjah Ticket Office
|Monday to Saturday (8:30am to 5:00pm) (it is closed on all public as well as mercantile holidays
SriLankan Airlines Head Office
Airline Centre,
Bandaranaike International Airport,
Katunayake, Sri Lanka
|Head Office Phone Number
|Fax Number of the Head Office
|Email ID of the Head Office
|Operating Hours of Head Office
|Monday to Friday and Between 08:15am to 04:45pm
SriLankan Airlines Airport Ticket Office
Bandaranaike International Airport,
Sri Lanka
|Airport Ticket Office Phone Number
|Fax Number of Airport Ticket Office
|Email ID of Airport Ticket Office
|Operating Hours of Airport Ticket Office
|24 hrs operation
SriLankan Airlines Other Contact Details
|Contact Number for Fly-Smiles and Related Queries
|+94197333333 (available 24*7)
|SriLankan Airline Official Website
|Email ID for Fly-Smiles and Related Queries
|Contact Number for Customer Affairs, Passenger Compliments and Complaints
|Email ID for Customer Affairs, Passenger Compliments and Complaints
|Contact Number for Baggage Feedback and Complaints
|+94197331393 (from Monday to Friday between 08:00am and 04:30pm)
|Email ID for Baggage Feedback and Complaints
|Cargo Office Contact Number
|+94197333280 (from Monday to Friday between 08:15am and 05:00pm)
|Cargo Office Email ID
|Galle Ticket Office Phone Number
|Kandy Ticket Office Phone Number
|Vavuniya PSA Office Phone Number
Queries Resolved at SriLankan Airlines Office in Sharjah
The airline has a dedicated team of professionals to help you with your queries related to the following (but not restricted to these only):
- Ticket booking and rebooking
- Ticket cancelation and refunds
- Flight schedule, status, and other information
- Seat options
- Seat upgrades
- Visa information and services
- Check-in options
- Baggage allowance and policy
- Airport facilities and lounges
- Delayed and cancelled flights
- In-flight services and facilities
- Missing and damaged baggage
- Fly Smiles memberships and related information
Count on Us for More Details and Professional Support
Have more questions but are unable to connect with the customer support team sitting in the Sri Lankan office in Sharjah? Do not fret when we are here with the finest services. Here, we have a dedicated team of professionals who consist of several years of experience in this field. Additionally, they all are well-trained and well-equipped to address and resolve your queries in the best way possible. Whether you want to know the specific contact numbers of a department or need airport-related details of SriLankan Airlines, we are always here with the best services. Since we have been in this field for the last many years, you can trust our services. Get in touch with us at least once to experience the difference.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Related to SriLankan Airlines
We have answered some of the frequently asked questions about Sri Lankan Airlines and its related aspects. Take a look to find more:
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Tags: Airlines, Sharjah, SriLankan Airlines


text:
Buried Secrets is a sad but mysterious piano led song full of intense emotion. There something hauntingly beautiful about it. Thanks for listening!
Purchase includes WAV and MP3 versions.
For more of our music, please browse the categories below.
All music is straight out of the shop! Check us out at http://www.TheStoryShop.tv


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All About Glass
All About Glass
This is your resource for exploring various topics in glass: delve deeper with this collection of articles, multimedia, and virtual books all about glass. Content is frequently added to the area, so check back for new items. If you have a topic you'd like to see covered, send us your suggestion. If you have a specific question, Ask a Glass Question at our Rakow Research Library.
The first mosaic artist to be awarded a Rakow Commission, Gardner creates large-scale sculptures and installations with shimmering glass tiles that transform space. With their reduced forms and subtle decoration, Gardner describes her sculptures as quiet and simple. Most work in mosaic is
Hear from Tiffany's Glass Mosaics curators Kelly Conway and Lindsy Parrott as they detail a series of discoveries related to the mosaics installed at Saint Michael's Episcopal Church in New York City. Learn how these revelations allowed the curators to achieve their goals of


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Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper. Nothing beats the luster and shine of silver! These brilliant textures can be used for so many things; cut out your design shapes, add color with enamels and patina, solder and embellish, form and shape them to create one-of-a-kind jewelry. The possibilities are endless.
Made in the USA.


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Roses and chocolates make the best of combo ever. After all, who declines the yummy and beautiful combos? This bouquet of beautiful red roses and Ferrero Rocher chocolate is a perfect fit for all the occasions. On this special day, gift your loved ones something that is appealing to the eyes as well as the taste buds.
The image shown here is just for representation purpose. The original product may be subject to variations in terms of the design, arrangement or structure depending on its availability.
As flowers are delivered as and when the requirements came in, therefore, there are chances that the flowers in this arrangement may be delivered in either full bloomed, semi-bloomed, or budding stage.
The time chosen by the customers are just an estimated time of their delivery of flowers. Everything depends on the product availability, weather conditions, and the address at which it is to be delivered.
The delivery of perishable items like flowers is only initiated once at the desired address by us. Its delivery will not be redirected to any other place.
Since flowers are fragile in nature, we only provide their individual hand delivery at the desired address provided by the customer.
Sometimes, we substitute the ordered flowers with other blossoms in case of their unavailability.
Once you receive your flowers, trim the stems from the bottom and place the flowers in a vase filled with water. Again cut the stems to about 1-2 inches in a slanting direction.
Always put the flowers in a clean vase and fresh water.
Cut all the leaves immersing in water. Don't remove the leaves on the stems.
Keep a check on the water levels and try to change the water on daily basis for a longer shelf life of flowers.Keep the flowers away from direct sunlight and excessive heat.
Sprinkle some water on the flowers for that refreshing brightness.


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Health News
What's Good for Diabetes May Be Good for the Heart
For those with type 2 diabetes, keeping blood sugar levels under control can seem like walking a tightrope. But that delicate balancing act may benefit more than just blood sugar.
Cholesterol Rx and Stroke: The Effects on Older Patients
If you have to take a pill for high cholesterol, it would be nice to know that it does double duty. New evidence suggests that for healthy older patients, cholesterol drugs might have some benefits beyond just lowering cholesterol.
This Rx Combo Might Protect Hearts After Menopause
Women have a higher risk of heart disease after menopause, but a combination therapy may reduce that risk.
Blocked Arteries Might Affect Rx Effects
When statin medications don't work, check the arteries. They may not work because the arteries are blocked.
Exercise Still Key in Diabetes Care
The American Diabetes Associations' new guidelines send a message to patients to get moving and lower cholesterol for better heart health.
Kidney Patients Who Need Statins Might Not Take Them
Two major health groups recommend statins for many patients with chronic kidney disease. But a new study found that many patients who should take statins didn't take them — even after a doctor recommended that they do so.
Mayo Clinic Updates Cholesterol Guidelines
The Mayo Clinic recently assembled a task force to update existing cholesterol guidelines.
Cholesterol Rx May Be Lifesaver for Diabetes Patients
For those with Type 2 diabetes, heart disease is a major cause of death. Cholesterol-cutting statins, however, may help fight heart disease and prolong lives.
Debate Over Cholesterol Guidelines for Diabetes Patients
Last year, new guidelines on treating high cholesterol placed a focus on overall risk instead of specific cholesterol levels. Those recommendations set off a debate in the medical community. The controversy rages on.
Cholesterol Rx May Cut Physical Activity
As people age, exercise is important for maintaining good health, including healthy cholesterol levels. Sometimes, though, medications are needed to cut cholesterol. Unfortunately, treatment with these medications might have an unintended consequence.
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The massive wave of DDoS attacks that hit U.S. banks recently was thought to have been done by a fringe hacker group, however government officials now believe it was the work of Iran.
Several U.S. banks were hit with online attacks over the past few months, but it's been unclear who was responsible. Now, government officials and security researchers are saying Iran was waging these cyberattacks, according to a report by the New York Times.
"There is no doubt within the U.S. government that Iran is behind these attacks," James A. Lewis, a former official in the State and Commerce departments and a computer security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told the Times.
The attacks were aimed at several major banks, including Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, HSBC, and others. They involved inundating the banks' Web sites with bogus traffic, known as distributed denial-of-service attacks.
"The amount of bandwidth that is flooding the websites is very large, much larger than in other attacks, and in a sense unprecedented," chief executive of private security firm CrowdStrike Dmitri Alperovitch told the Wall Street Journal in September.
Apparently, it was the huge amount of traffic, along with the know-how to carry out these types of attacks, that convinced U.S. government officials that attacks were coming from Iran. These officials, however, have not provided any technical evidence to back up their claims.
While the cyberattacks were an inconvenience to both the banks and their customers, no private data or information was known to be stolen. According to the New York Times, security experts said this is further proof that the DDoS attacks were state-sponsored.
An unknown group called the "cyber fighters of Izz ad-din Al qassam" has claimed responsibility for the attacks -- saying that it was retaliating for the release of the controversial video posted to YouTube that mocked the Prophet Mohammad. The group has warned that the attacks would continue until the video was removed from "the Internet." However, according to the New York Times, officials now believe that Izz ad-din Al qassam was actually a cover for Iran.
The U.S. and Iran have a strained relationship, to say the least. The U.S. government has placed sanctions on Iran for years. In November, the U.S. State Department announced that it was sanctioning several Iranian groups and individuals for restricting Internet freedom and creating an "electronic curtain" that cut off its citizens from the rest of the world. The U.S. has also reportedly waged its own cyberattacks against Iranian power plants, oil companies, and nuclear facilities with three viruses called Flame, Stuxnet, and Duqu.
These attacks on banks show no signs of ceasing. A December security report by McAfee warned that mass cyberattacks on U.S. banks would continue throughout 2013. The security company also said that 2013 will see a rise in higher-level professional hacking groups that will aim to promote military, religious, political, and "extreme" campaign attacks.
Izz ad-din Al qassam has also promised to stay the course with its attacks. "Rulers and officials of American banks must expect our massive attacks!" the group wrote in a Pastebin post last week. "From now on, none of the U.S. banks will be safe from our attacks."


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A simple example – the Y0 (x) Bessel Function routine s17acc
According to the C Library Manual, the prototype for function s17acc looks like this:
#include <nag.h> #include <nags.h> double s17acc(double x, NagError *fail);The function takes two arguments. The first one is of type double and is the argument x of the Bessel function Y0 (x). The second argument to s17acc is the error handling argument fail which is of type NagError. See the NAG C Library Manual for more information about the NagError type; we need not be overly concerned with it here except to know that it allows us to get feedback regarding the correct operation of s17acc.
To keep things as simple as possible for this first example, we are not going to try to pass the contents of the NagError structure back to Java. Thus, in our Java program, we declare the function like this:
// Declaration of the Native (C) function private native double s17acc(double x);i.e. a method with a double argument, returning double. The native keyword tells the Java compiler that the method will be implemented outside Java.
System.loadLibrary("nagCJavaInterface");will search for a library named "libnagCJavaInterface.so", whereas under Microsoft Windows it will search for a library named "nagCJavaInterface.dll".
public class Bessel { // Declaration of the Native (C) function private native double s17acc(double x); static { // The runtime system executes a class's static // initializer when it loads the class. System.loadLibrary("nagCJavaInterface"); } // The main program public static void main(String[] args) { double x, y; int i; /* Check that we've been given an argument */ if (args.length != 1) { System.out.println("Usage: java Bessel x"); System.out.println(" Computes Y0 Bessel function of argument x"); System.exit(1); } // Create an object of class Bessel Bessel bess = new Bessel(); /* Convert the command line argument to a double */ x = new Double(args[0]).doubleValue(); System.out.println(); System.out.println("Calls of NAG Y0 Bessel function routine s17acc"); for (i = 0; i < 10; i++) { /* Call method s17acc of object bess */ y = bess.s17acc(x); System.out.println("Y0(" + x + ") is " + y); /* Increase x and repeat */ x = x + 0.25; } } }
The main program simply gets a value of x from the command line, and calls the native method using that argument and nine other arguments derived from it.
Now that we have written our Java program, which includes the native declaration of function s17acc, we can compile it with the following command:
% javac Bessel.java
If all goes well, the compiler should produce a file named Bessel.class.
% javah -jni Bessel
After this, you should have a file named Bessel.h which looks like this:
/* DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE - it is machine generated */ #include <jni.h> /* Header for class Bessel */ #ifndef _Included_Bessel #define _Included_Bessel #ifdef __cplusplus extern "C" { #endif /* * Class: Bessel * Method: s17acc * Signature: (D)D */ JNIEXPORT jdouble JNICALL Java_Bessel_s17acc (JNIEnv *, jobject, jdouble); #ifdef __cplusplus } #endif #endif
Points to note about this header file:
JNIEXPORT jdouble JNICALL Java_Bessel_s17acc (JNIEnv *, jobject, jdouble);
The function is named Java_Bessel_s17acc, showing the Java class in which it is declared.
JNIEXPORT and JNICALL are defined via <jni.h>. They are used to alter calling conventions on some systems and need not concern us here.
#include <jni.h> /* Java Native Interface headers */ #include "Bessel.h" /* Auto-generated header created by javah -jni */ #include <nag.h> /* NAG C Library headers */ #include <nags.h> /* Our C definition of the function s17acc declared in Bessel.java */ JNIEXPORT jdouble JNICALL Java_Bessel_s17acc(JNIEnv *env, jobject obj, jdouble x) { double y = 0.0; static NagError fail; /* Tell the routine we want no output messages on failure */ fail.print = Nag_FALSE; /* Call the Y0(x) Bessel function s17acc */ y = s17acc(x, &fail); if (fail.code != 0) printf("Error: s17acc returned fail code %d for argument %g\n", fail.code, x); return y; }Points to note:
First compile the file BesselImp.c:
% gcc -c -fPIC -I/opt/jdk1.6.0_11/include -I/opt/jdk1.6.0_11/include/linux \ -I/opt/NAG/cll6a09dhl/include BesselImp.c
Note the -I switches telling the C compiler where to look for header files. The first directory mentioned, /opt/jdk1.6.0_11/include, must locate the jni.h header file. The second directory, /opt/jdk1.6.0_11/include/linux, is machine dependent and is needed by jni.h to find type definitions. At least the linux element of this name will alter depending on your machine type. The third and fourth include directories should point to the location of the NAG C Library header files installed on your system.
When BesselImp.c has successfully compiled, turn it into a shareable object with the command
% ld -G -z defs BesselImp.o -o libnagCJavaInterface.so \ /opt/NAG/cll6a09dhl/lib/libnagc_nag.so -lm -lc -lpthread
The -G flag means create a shareable object. The -z defs flag means fail to link unless all symbols are resolved at link time. This flag is not strictly necessary, but it can avoid egregious "failed to load library" Java run-time messages (egregious because the messages may refer to libnagCJavaInterface.so when the problem really is due to something else needed by that library). The -o flag names the shareable library as libnagCJavaInterface.so, the name needed by the LoadLibrary() call in our Java code. Finally, the -lm and -lc flags ensure that we link with required system mathematical and C run-time libraries.
Note that on other UNIX machines it may be necessary to add further libraries at link time, depending on the operating system and the version of the NAG Library being used.
We compile and build the DLL in one step:
C:\> cl -Ic:\jdk1.6.0_11\include -Ic:\jdk1.6.0_11\include\win32 -I"c:\Program Files\NAG\CL09\clw3209dal\include" /Gz -LD BesselImp.c "c:\Program Files\NAG\CL09\clw3209dal\lib\CLW3209DA_nag.lib" -FenagCJavaInterface.dllAs under UNIX, the three -I switches tell the C compiler where to look for header files. The first directory mentioned, c:\jdk1.6.0_11\include, must locate the jni.h header file. The second directory, c:\jdk1.6.0_11\include\win32, is the Windows version of the machine-dependent directory needed by jni.h to find type definitions. The third include directory, "c:\Program Files\NAG\CL09\clw3209dal\include", should point to the location of the NAG C Library header files on your system. "c:\Program Files\NAG\CL09\clw3209dal\lib\CLW3209DA_nag.lib" is the location of the NAG C Library installed on your system. The /Gz compiler option (use the __stdcall calling convention) is IMPORTANT. Without it, the code may compile and link, and even start running, but eventually it may cause an access violation. The -LD flag means "build a DLL". The -Fe flag names the output file as nagCJavaInterface.dll.
% java Bessel 1.0The expected output looks like this:
Calls of NAG Y0 Bessel function routine s17acc Y0(1.0) is 0.08825696421567678 Y0(1.25) is 0.25821685159454094 Y0(1.5) is 0.38244892379775886 Y0(1.75) is 0.4654926286469062 Y0(2.0) is 0.510375672649745 Y0(2.25) is 0.5200647624572783 Y0(2.5) is 0.4980703596152319 Y0(2.75) is 0.44865872156913167 Y0(3.0) is 0.37685001001279034 Y0(3.25) is 0.288286902673087
Tip: If you get a Java error message saying that the interface library nagCJavaInterface cannot be found, or that the NAG C Library cannot be found, you may need to set an environment variable to tell the system where to look. The environment variable name is operating-system dependent.
% setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH .:/opt/NAG/cll6a09dhl/libwill ensure that both the current directory (.) and directory /opt/NAG/cll6a09dhl get searched.
% javac Bessel.java
% javah -jni Bessel
% gcc -c -fPIC -I/opt/jdk1.6.0_11/include -I/opt/jdk1.6.0_11/include/linux \ -I/opt/NAG/cll6a09dhl/include BesselImp.c % ld -G -z defs BesselImp.o -o libnagCJavaInterface.so \ /opt/NAG/cll6a09dhl/lib/libnagc_nag.so -lm -lc -lpthreadwhere /opt/jdk1.6.0_11/include, /opt/jdk1.6.0_11/include/linux, /opt/NAG/cll6a09dhl/include and /opt/NAG/cll6a09dhl/lib are directory names appropriate to your Java and NAG C Library installations.
C:\> cl -Ic:\jdk1.6.0_11\include -Ic:\jdk1.6.0_11\include\win32 -I"c:\Program Files\NAG\CL09\clw3209dal\include" /Gz -LD BesselImp.c "c:\Program Files\NAG\CL09\clw3209dal\lib\CLW3209DA_nag.lib" -FenagCJavaInterface.where c:\jdk1.6.0_11\include, c:\jdk1.6.0_11\include\win32, "c:\Program Files\NAG\CL09\clw3209dal\include" and "c:\Program Files\NAG\CL09\clw3209dal\lib" are directory names appropriate to your Java and NAG C Library installations.
% java Bessel 1.0


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Okay, I cannot resist. The image above is a 1953 Indian Chief motorcycle — I've never been on a motorcycle, let alone owned one, but even I know the mystique that surrounds the Indian Chief. The picture is there because a 1953 Indian Chief bike is a central (albeit non-speaking) character in Drew Hayden Taylor's first novel, Motorcycles & Sweetgrass. The novel is strange enough that, if you object to a review of it being introduced with a picture of a motorcycle, I am sure you will not like it. If you can accept the image (do you realize that KfC will now be getting a large number of hits from googlers who are looking for pix of an "Indian Chief" motorcycle?), then read on, because I suspect you might want to consider the book.Motorcycles & Sweetgrass is part of Knopf Canada's New Face of Fiction series, but that is a bit misleading. While it is Taylor's first published novel, he has an impressive resume. An Ojibway from the Curve Lake First Nations, he is also a stand-up comedian of note, a playwright and journalist and, perhaps most important, has worked on a number of television series and documentaries. This novel started out as a script for a "cool movie", in the author's own words, and it is worth keeping that in mind when you read the book.
The prologue of Motorcycles and Sweetgrass introduces us to Lillian, a young Ojibway woman, having a swim with a young male friend. Lillian is due to leave for a residential school the next day:
Manifest Destiny, as the White people to the south believed, dictated that this little Anishnawbe girl be removed from her home and sent away to be taught about the Battle of Hastings, dangling participles, and how to draw a pie chart. For a year or two anyway. Starting tomorrow. And this man, who'd come into her life a few months ago, was about to be left behind.
"It's your new boyfriend, isn't it. What do women see in him?" the man asked.
"Everybody used to talk about me. Now they talk about him. I don't understand. What's he got that I don't. He's so depressing. What's his name again?"
Not too many pages later, we meet Lillian Benojee again, now an elderly woman (she has 18 grandchildren) on her deathbed, surrounded by her very extended family "hovering about her house, bringing her food, taking out dishes of half-eaten casseroles, all frustrated by their inability to do anything to help Lillian Benojee." One of her children, Maggie Second, is chief of the First Nations community of Otter Lake — she has held that office for three years since her husband, the previous chief, died in a boating accident and she was acclaimed as his successor. Maggie has a son, Virgil ("the bell curve was invented for boys like him") who is in the seventh grade; he becomes an essential character in the story when the motorcycle arrives at his grandmother's house:
Virgil had a much better view of the motorcycle that was coming up his grandmother's driveway. An old one, by the looks of it, but in immaculate condition. It glistened in the sunlight as it stopped by the side door. Like most boys his age, Virgil had more than a passing interest in gas-powered vehicles, especially anything that could be classified as "cool." And this scarlet vision before him put the word cool to shame. It was red, with white trim, old-fashioned headlights, a black solo seat complete with fringes made from what appeared to be black leather, and larger-than-normal wheel fenders. Hanging from the end of each handlebar was a feather, but each was different. The feather on the right looked like it had come from an eagle. But the one hanging from the left was darker, smaller, shinier.
The rider of the motorcycle is young and white and he finagles his way past a couple of Lillian's protective sons into her room. They talk and he kisses her passionately, despite the decades of difference in their ages. Virgil sees it all and does not really understand but he knows that he should be worried.
From here on in, you need to be willing to accept the mystical and the magical to continue with this book. Both John the motorcyclist (he will use a number of last names and the color of his eyes keeps changing) and Virgil have embarked on a voyage of discovery. A number of other characters, both human and animal (raccoons become particularly threatening — you will note their presence on the book's cover), will play a part.
It is also at this point that the author's screen-writing talents start to takeover as Taylor juggles (quite successfully) a number of subplots. Some are quite funny. For example, the band has purchased a large piece of adjoining property — Maggie is more or less continually beset by band members who have great (and conflicting) ideas about what to do with it. She also has a younger brother who has spent the last few years on an island in Otter Lake, where he is inventing a First Nations martial arts form. Virgil recruits him to help sort out the puzzle of John the Motorcyclist.
Taylor moves back and forth between the mundane and the mystical. While it makes for a fast-moving and quite readable book, in the final analysis it is not much more. There is nothing the matter with that (particularly if you are looking for a bit of escapism). Motorcycles & Sweetgrass is an entertaining first novel (if you know the work of Thomas King, another First Nations writer, you will find yourself in familiar territory). And for those who know and appreciate the almost iconic reputation of the Indian Chief Motorcycle, its role in the novel alone makes the book worthwhile.


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The Hunting of the Snark Concluded by Cathy Bowern.
Illustrations by Brian Puttock.
Published by Angerona Press, 1997.
The same Isle of Wight based author and illustrator combination that produced "A Looking Glass Sequel" in 1993.
Also includes the original Carroll poem; or Agony in Eight Fits… Brian Puttock has illustrated that section as well as the sequel.
There are a selection of (I assume) humourous fake reviews on the back:
Cathy Bowern's continuation of the Snark is particularly devoid of merit…deserves to be trampled underfoot by 150 Indian elephants
Available on amazon: Cathy Bowern books