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Sometimes you just have to embrace it.
Three and a quarter for a twelve ounce can at Bottlecraft.
01 Monday Oct 2012
Posted beer reviews, bottlecraftin
Sometimes you just have to embrace it.
Three and a quarter for a twelve ounce can at Bottlecraft.
31 Friday Aug 2012
It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Societe Brewing Company. Ever since I met Travis [Smith] and Doug [Constantiner] I knew they'd be making great beer. I've slowly sampled my way through all of their available beers (well, except for the new Every Man's IPA they released this week that is). They have a handful of IPAs — five now by my count, and another four more non-IPAs, three of which are Belgian style beers. I enjoy all of their beers, though I certainly have my favorites (I'm looking at you The Dandy) but it was The Butcher that I had been wanting to try for a while now, but it had alluded me until recently.
It's been on tap quite a bit, I've had a few chances to try it, but The Butcher is a roughly 10% ABV Imperial Stout that I just couldn't bring myself to order when it's close to 90 degrees outside. But thankfully it was on the menu, paired with dessert, at The Grill at The Lodge at Torrey Pines beer dinner with Societe Brewing Company and Rough Draft Brewing Company. Dinner took place outside, not far from the coast so by the time dessert rolled around some fog was in the air and the temperature had dropped below 80, making The Butcher more desirable.
The beer was paired with Tiramisu, which had been soaked in The Butcher to add some beer flavor. The pairing wasn't perfect in my opinion (though no one was complaining, me included). The dessert was sweet, I didn't really get much flavor from the beer in the Tiramisu, which contrasted pretty drastically with the deliciously roasty beer.
And how big and roasty it is. With all the roastiness it's reminiscent of coffee and dark chocolate. It's full and rich but it's 10% ABV doesn't show.
With weather like this I'm not sure when I'll choose to enjoy The Butcher again, but come cooler weather The Butcher will be hard to beat. And while I haven't heard that they have any specific plans, I imagine some day they'll put some of The Butcher in some sort of old spirits barrels and it will only get better with age.
20 Monday Aug 2012
Posted beer reviewsin
I've been slightly obsessed with cucumber's lately, mostly the process of fermenting them into sour pickles. So I was pretty bummed when I heard about Cigar City Brewing's Cucumber Saison. Not because I didn't like the idea behind it, but because Cigar City isn't distributed in California so I thought I'd never get to try it. Cue a backyard BBQ and a friend with a Rare Beer Club membership. So a big thanks to Ken for sharing this with me, otherwise I probably won't have gotten a chance to try it.
I'm sure I've said this about other beers before, but this time it could just be the one: This seems like the perfect summer beer. Saisons are already great beers for long hot days, but the added cucumber here just makes it that much more refreshing. Sitting around drinking it the idea of aging came up. Maybe, just maybe Cigar City threw some bugs in, so that that what is now a bottle of fresh Cucumber Saison may start to develop some sour pickle-like flavors after a bit of aging.
10 Friday Aug 2012
Posted breweries, stone brewing co.in
Oaked Arrogant Bastard, Stone Brewing Co. 4-packs, Stone Ruination IPA, stone sublimely self-righteous ale
Stone Brewing Co. this week announced that they would be releasing Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale, their Black IPA previously limited to draft and 22oz bottles in 12oz 4-packs. They will also be transitioning Stone Ruination IPA and OAKED Arrogant Bastard from 12oz 6-packs to 12oz 4-packs.
It will be nice to have the 8.7% ABV Sublimely Self-Righteous available in 12oz bottles for those times you don't want or need to drink an entire 22oz. And personally I think that removing two bottles and dropping the price a bit from Oaked Arrogant Bastard and Ruination should help with sticker shock as well a bit. Speaking of price, Stone tells me price per bottle for Ruination and Oaked Arrogant Bastard isn't changing.
As you've probably noticed beer prices tend fluctuate from store to store, I've seen the 6-packs going for anywhere from $15 to as high as $16.50 which works out to $2.50-$2.75 per 12 ounce bottle. Keeping the price per bottle the same would equate to $10 or $11 4-packs, which sounds about right as Stone PR Specialist Sabrina LoPiccolo said in an email that they should retail for the same price as 6-packs of Stone Pale Ale, Stone IPA and Stone Levitation Ale, commonly between $10 and $11.
(As an aside, does this mean that if a particular store charges more for say Stone IPA 6-packs than they do for Levitation Al 6-packs they're just making more profit on the IPA?)
Ruination and Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale will continue to be available 22oz bombers as well, but in my mind look much less attractive price-wise now. I don't know that I've ever bought a 6-pack of Ruination, but I've picked up plenty of 22oz bottles of it over the years. But the 4-pack, at a lower cost per ounce and in smaller servings seems like a much better way to go. It's far easier to drink two 12oz bottles than it is to only drink half a bomber depending on your mood.
4-packs for Sublimely Self-Righteous should be hitting shelves very soon (if not already) and the 6-packs of Ruination and Oaked AB will be coming out as current 6-pack inventory runs out. Which means if you're still seeing 6-packs a few months from now you might want to take a good look at the date stamps on the bottles.
09 Thursday Aug 2012
As a San Diego hophead I recognize that Alpine Beer Co. makes some of the best IPA's in the world. Despite how infrequently Alpine's beers show up at local bars and bottle shops, we're pretty damn spoiled with the fact that the brewery is a short 30 minute drive from San Diego, where we can buy bottles and fill growlers five days a week.
Alpine has extremely limited distribution outside of their own brewery and pub, I've heard there are a few shops in the LA area that occasionally get Alpine's beer (legitimately from an actual distributor, there are many more shops around the state that buy beer at Alpine and then resell it, a process frowned upon by the brewery) but for the most part if you want to drink Alpine's beers you have to be in San Diego (and maybe even drive up to Alpine). The fact that their beer is so good, and so hard to come by outside of our small corner of the country has caused quite a bit of demand amongst beer geeks out there. Demand that just cannot be filled by Alpine's rather small brewery.
So when I learned that Alpine Beer Co.'s Pat and Shawn Mcilhenney were headed to Fort Collins to brew an Alpine style Double IPA in collaboration with New Belgium Brewing Company I was certainly excited for the beer itself, but recognized this might be a much bigger deal to those folks within New Belgium's wide distribution area but outside of Southern California. A whole lot of people are about to be exposed to Alpine Beer Company, many probably for the first time. Thankfully Super India Pale Ale is superb beer and even though it wasn't brewed in Alpine, CA it's well deserving of having Alpine's name attached to it.
I picked up a bottle of Super IPA at Bine and Vine (which I hadn't been to in a month or so, I have to say it's looking pretty nice in there) last night for $6.99, I think I saw them tweet that they're now sold out but are expecting more next week. New Belgium brewed a lot of this beer, 1400 barrels according to one of Alpine's past email newsletters, which they state is almost equal to Alpine Beer Co.'s entire annual production, but demand is expectantly high. It's all over town, but may take a bit of searching to find, especially at some of the more popular beer spots.
Super IPA is everything you would expect from an Alpine IPA, big and hoppy. Without having drank the two side by side (so this may not be an accurate comparison) it reminded me a bit of a bigger version of Duet. Quite a bit of citrus and pine hop flavors supported by a malt backbone that doesn't get in the way of the hops. It comes in at 9% ABV but it's not overly sweet or too boozy. Super IPA is delicious, but I don't know that it's any better than other Alpine IPAs/Double IPAs (in fact my tastebuds are still loyal to Nelson). So while I hope to drink a few more of these while they're around, once this one-off beer is gone I'll go back to drinking Nelson, Duet and Pure Hoppiness and have no complaints. But for those beer drinkers that aren't as lucky to be able to pick up beer's from Alpine regularly, this is indeed a special treat.
And as a side note, I think this might be one of the coolest beer bottles I've ever bought. I don't save too many bottles, but this one is a keeper.
21 Thursday Jun 2012
Posted beer reviews, breweries, stone brewing co.in
That Stone Brewing Co. decided to brew a stronger (10.8% ABV), hoppier (110 IBUs) version of their Stone Ruination IPA in honor of it's tenth anniversary shouldn't surprise anyone. Bigger isn't always better in my opinion though, and while Stone Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA certainly isn't bad, now that I've tried it I'll be reaching for the more subdued original Ruination next time that hop craving comes calling.
Note: Stone Brewing Co. provided this bottle of Stone Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA as a promotional sample free of charge, but that in now way biased my opinion of it.
07 Thursday Jun 2012
Posted breweries, societe brewing co.in
When Societe Brewing Co. opened last month with two beers on tap, The Harlot, a Belgian Pale Ale and The Apprentice, a Strong IPA they called it their soft opening. Since then they're released a few more beers in their tasting room and kegs have started to get around town. At the end of the month, Saturday June 30th to be exact, they'll be celebrating their Grand Opening at their Kearney Mesa brewery.
There will be two sessions of 150 people each. Tickets went on sale yesterday and the first session is already sold out. The $5 tickets include entry (no entry without a ticket, no tickets sold the day of) and your first beer. Subsequent beers will be available for purchase. There will be six beers on tap for the Grand Opening, three IPAs, two Belgians and one San Diego Gold. That last style has me curious.
I've had tastes of both The Harlot and The Apprentice, both of them are quality beers that I look forward to enjoying more of soon. Since they first opened Societe has released three more beers, The Pupil, a Citra and Nelson hopped IPA that I've heard many people compare to an Alpine IPA (let's face it, Alpine is the gold standard when it comes to clean hop forward IPAs), The Widow, a Belgian Strong Ale and the so-new-I-haven't-heard-anything-about-it (other than that it's a 6.4% "San Diego IPA") The Dandy.
With how fast tickets to the first session sold out I wouldn't wait to buy tickets for the second session if you're interested in going. Societe has said on Twitter that they may add a third session on another day if there is enough demand and the two Saturday sessions sell out.
27 Sunday May 2012
Posted beer reviews, beer stores, bottlecraftin
I've been increasingly on the hunt for flavorful "session" beer lately, something I can drink a couple of and not feel it too much. Drake's Brewing Alpha Session fits the bill pretty well. It's 3.8% ABV, so by the time I finish this 22oz bomber ($5.99 at Bottlecraft) I won't be feeling the booze too much. Ratebeer lists it at 75 IBU, which kind of surprises me, it's hoppy, but I'd expect the IBUs to be lower along with the the alcohol.
Brian Jensen at Bottlecraft mentioned that he thought the aroma was better than the taste, which I have to agree with, though I don't have many complaints about the flavor (nor did it sound like he did). This beer smells good. From the smell alone you'd have no idea that it's such a low alcohol beer, you might think you're in for a hoppy IPA or even a Double IPA. The taste is definitely hops, pine and grapefruit, but the body is (understandably) on the light side.
I'd drink this again no questions asked, but I think I'll be on the lookout for slightly stronger Session IPAs. For their part, Drake's doesn't call this an IPA or even a Session IPA, they label it a NorCal Bitter– a nod to the low ABV English style Bitter but with their own West Coast touch.
23 Wednesday May 2012
All Day IPA, Dogfish Head / Victory / Stone Saison Du BUFF, Founders Brewing San Diego, Green Flash bottled on dates, Green Flash date codes, Ken Schmidt, Ken Schmidt / Iron Fist / Stone Mint Chocolate Imperial Stout, Ken Schmidt / Maui / Stone Kona Coffee Macadamia Coconut Porter, Stone Company Store Pasadena, Stone Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA, Stone Smoked Porter with Chipotle Peppers, Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Bean
Apologies for the lack of posts lately. Things have been busy outside of beer blogging.
The 2012 Craft Brewers Conference and World Beer Cup have come and gone. San Diego brewers didn't do as well as two years ago at the WBC, but our local brewers still brought home a handful of awards. The full winners list can be seen here.
Earlier this week Green Flash Brewing Company posted a picture to their Facebook page of a bottle of West Coast IPA with a bottled on date. Until now it's been hard to know for sure just how long that bottle of Green Flash beer had been sitting on a shelf, but once these new bottles with dates start getting out into stores it should be easy enough to tell exactly when the beer was bottled. I have to admit, the lack of bottle dates has kept me from buying Green Flash beers on more than one occasion (usually at larger stores, places like Trader Joes, where I don't know how long the beer has been sitting around). I see more four packs of fresh West Coast IPA in my future.
For the last few weeks beers from Michigan's Founders Brewing Company have been turning up at various bars, restaurants and even a few bottle shops around town. Founders hasn't distributed in California in the past, and unfortunately this looks like it is only temporary. The beers started showing up around town during the CBC in early May, according to The Full Pint, Founders has a temporary 60 day license for distribution here, which will end next month after the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival. Some people have speculated that Founders could be using this time as a way to test the market, but so far there is no indication that Founders is looking to distribute here on a regular basis. So if you see anything from Founders on tap at your favorite bar in the next few weeks it might be a good idea to order a pint. The stand out for me has been the All Day IPA, a 42 IBU, 4.7% ABV session IPA that tastes much hoppier than the IBU's let on.
A thread on the BeerAdvocate Forums last week pointed out that Stone Brewing Co. is looking into opening some sort of tasting room and retail store in Pasadena. The post links to a PDF at the City of Pasadena website regarding a public hearing for a conditional use permit. The notice describes the space as being 2,071 square feet including a 363 square foot outdoor patio which would have on-site tasting of beer and off-site (to go) sales. No word on exactly what this will be, but it sounds a lot like the Stone Company Store South Park and the in progress Stone Company Store Oceanside. The public hearing was held last week and it looks like the recommendation was to approve the permit.
Speaking of Stone Brewing Co., they have a number of special releases coming out in the next few months:
Stone Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA will make it's debut Sunday, June 10th with a special release party at Henry's Pub downtown. It's described as an amped up version of Stone Ruination IPA which clocks in at 10.8% ABV with extra dosings of Columbus and Centennial hops as well as Citra and Centennial for dry hoping. 22oz bottles should start hitting store shelves the next day.
Stone's version of the second release of Dogfish Head / Victory / Stone Saison du BUFF was rebrewed in early May when Dogfish Head's Sam Calagione and Victory Brewing Company's Bill Covaleski were in town and is set to be released Monday June 18th on draft and in 12oz bottles. I was a big fan of the original Stone brewed version released about two years ago, but recently picked up a bottle of the new release of the Dogfish Head version and was pretty disappointed. The herbs (the beer is brewed with parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme) were way too over the top for my tastes. I typically like herb-y beers, but couldn't finish a 12oz of this one. Here's to hoping that I find the Stone version more palatable.
Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Bean and Stone Smoked Porter with Chipotle Peppers are also being released in 12oz bottles on Monday June 18th. Stone has been brewing both of these as occasional draft only beers for a few years now, so it's nice to see them make it into bottles. Stone says "It's a one-time only bottled release, unless we decide to change our minds later."
Last but not least, Ken Schmidt / Iron Fist / Stone Mint Chocolate Imperial Stout was brewed a few weeks ago and is expected to be released on draft and in 12oz bottles sometime in early July. Ken Schmidt was the top prize at the Stone March Madness Homebrew Competition which earned him the right to brew his beer at Stone as a collaboration with them and another brewer of his choice. If the name Ken Schmidt sounds familiar it's because he was also the winner of the original Stone March Madness Homebrew Competition a few years ago, which brought us Ken Schmidt / Maui / Stone Kona Coffee, Macadamia, Coconut Porter
04 Friday May 2012
Posted Uncategorizedin
The Siebel Institute of Technology hosted an off flavors in beer calibration tasting at The Craft Brewers Conference Friday.
The tasting used Coors Light as the control and base beer and then spiked twelve samples with different common off flavors found in beer. These included: Acetaldehyde, Contamination (Diacetyl and Acetic acid), D.M.S., Isovaleric Acid, Spicy (cloves), Papery (oxidation), Diacetyl, Ethyl Acetate, Ethyl Hexanoate, Geraniol, Hefeweizen (Eugenol and Isoamyl Acetate), and Isoamyl acetate.
Participants were instructed to sample the control beer first (unspiked Coors Light) and then move on to the spiked samples. Attention should be paid to smell, taste and mouthfeel with each of the spiked samples. The levels for the spiked samples were fairly high to help the off flavors stand out more and make them more easily detected.
For my part I was easily able to smell and taste the off flavors in all but one of the spiked samples. It turns out I'm not very susceptible to D.M.S. sticking my nose in the glass for a good whiff and then tasting there was a very slight difference, a dry sort of bland taste, but it wasn't easy for me to pick up on. I even resorted to getting a second glass with the control beer in it to smell and taste side by side but the two samples were almost (but not quite) identical to me. In a commercial beer where D.M.S. might show up in lower amounts without a control sample I don't think I would be able to detect it.
As strictly a beer drinker that might not be such a bad thing, but as a homebrewer and someone that likes to critically evaluate beer it could be a problem. With this knowledge that it is hard for me to detect D.M.S. I can work on improving my ability to taste it through more sampling and analysis.
On the other end of the spectrum the Isovaleric Acid spiked sample was one of the worst thing I've ever tasted. The description of sweat socks and cheesy held true for both the smell and taste, it was repulsive. I'm happy to say I've never had a commercial beer contaminated this badly with Isovaleric Acid, and hope I never do.
This was my first time doing a comprehensive off flavor tasting and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in craft beer.
The Siebel Institute offers classes on off flavors as well as kits one can purchase to spike beers with off flavors on their own.


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In sailing terms, kedging is the process of moving a ship forward by sending an anchor out ahead of it, and then pulling the ship forward by hauling on the anchor. This slow and laborious process can be repeated indefinitely.
As the book "Younger Next Year" explains, the same process can be used to pull yourself through the slow and laborious process of a daily exercise regime. The idea is to set a physical stretch goal that will keep you moving forward when the couch is softly calling.
Last year, I had used our upcoming fall cycling trip to the hilly Dalmatian Islands as my kedge, and the thought of those climbs got me out riding our local hills on many a summer's day.
This year, I elected to participate in a late-August two-day bicycle ride to raise funds for cancer research. However, the real fun began when I elected the optional "challenge" route of 290 km (180 miles.) The longer Day One would be close to double the longest ride I'd ever done.
As I started my training rides, I soon realized that my trusty hybrid cycle was not up to the task. At a top average speed of perhaps 22 kph, I'd be at risk of not finishing before dark. I also wanted to join the local road-riding club for extra weekly motivation, and they had a "no hybrids" policy. So, in April, I acquired an entry-level road bike, the first since my 20s. Shortly after that, I persuaded myself to try "clipless pedals" – so called because the cyclist's shoes are clipped into the pedals – go figure!
As anyone who's had their feet attached to the pedals can tell you, a few slow-motion falls are to be expected, especially on days with high cross winds. It hurts a lot less if you land on flat ground rather than a roadside planter. Ouch!
As spring headed towards summer and I worked my way towards 225 km a week, I inched my average ride speed from 22 to 24, then 25, and finally 27 kph. That was the point I'd told myself I'd be ready to join my first group ride. An informal ride was advertised for Tuesday morning: "Pensioners' Easy Ride." That sounded good.
I arrived at the meeting point with a slightly bloodied knee – remember those cross winds? The collection of sleek carbon-fiber machines looked intimidating, and some of those "pensioners" must have taken very early retirement. For 20 km, I managed to keep them in sight – although it nearly cost me a lung – after which, they disappeared from view. At the end-of-route coffee stop, they gently suggested the "other" club might be closer to my speed.
Towards the end of the summer, I did manage to get out with the "other" club a few times, and while the rides kept me moving, I was able to hold my own. Good thing! I had my hands full learning the hand signals and other techniques for riding in close formation. This was a very different style of riding than what we do in our recreational club, and I came back from a few "white knuckle" rides with aching fingers.
Meanwhile, our recreational club kept Cheryl and me busy this summer with a number of great rides including a three-day circuit of Oregon's Columbia Gorge, a multi-day exploration of the BC wine country around Oliver, and a couple days of riding on Washington's Whidbey and BC's Pender Island. I knew my training was starting to have an effect when fellow riders remarked on how my hill climbing had improved, and sometimes complained that my "easy" pace seemed to be quickening.
Despite all this, by August I was growing concerned that I still hadn't proven to my own satisfaction that I could do the ride at month end. So I pushed myself to do longer rides, and ten days ago, I completed my longest ride ever. Although I was still only at 75 percent of Day One, I knew I still had the reserves to do that last 25 percent — and before sunset to boot. Not a moment too soon, as our training advisors soon told us it was time to taper down for event day.
Now, with the ride only a few days off, the kedge has done its work. It got me out cycling on the days I otherwise wouldn't: when it was too hot, or sprinkling, or when my road bike needed repairs and I needed to take my hybrid. It got me out earlier, later, and longer. My attitude towards hills shifted from "OK, if I have to" to "Bring' em on – I need the practice!" A 70-km cycle went from being a full-day's outing to a shorter morning ride.
It got me trying new things such as close-formation riding on a new type of bicycle. I met a whole new set of people I wouldn't have found otherwise. And it kept me focused on my goal while dealing with a number of mechanical problems such as bent derailleurs, broken spokes, and the need to replace a wheel. And ergonomic problems – I had to hire a bike fitter to implement the recommendations of my physiotherapist. It's definitely helped my fitness, including loosening a couple of joints that had been over-tight since last October.
This particular kedge has also done something else. It's allowed me to raise several thousand dollars towards cancer research. For many riders, the fundraising part is the hardest – and many struggle with it. In my case, a number of generous friends, associates, and family members made the job painless. All I had to do was keep them entertained with my painful cycling pratfalls.
With only a few days left, I'm looking forward to my weekend ride – forecasts of showers notwithstanding – and already wondering what my next kedge will be. While Cheryl and I plan a 400-km cycling trip in Vietnam early next year, it doesn't seem solid enough for the purpose. So, I'll have to come with something else. Stay tuned. I'm off for an evening training ride.
What experience have you had with your own kedges?
Related Posts:
- "Younger Next Year"
- "Cycling in the southern Dalmatian Islands"
- "Adventures in Our Back Yard"
- "Do Not Go Gently: Adventures in Aging"
For More Information
- "Younger Next Year" (web site)
- The 2015 Ride to Conquer Cancer

subset: commoncrawl


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We Also Recommend


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Retailer Amazon has listed tentative dates and platforms for Star Wars Battlefront III, long rumored to be in development at Free Radical, developers of Haze and Timesplitters. While we've been under the impression that the UK based dev was hard at work we didn't know how hard at work they are. According to Amazon, Battlefront III is coming to everything — Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, DS, PSP, PlayStation 2. OK, not everything, since it doesn't list a PC version, but if these listings are accurate, anyone and everyone will have access to a version of the game come March 2009. We await more news at E3 next week.
The Week In Games: What's Releasing Beyond Diablo IV


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Biopics can be a hard sell at times. "FORD v FERRARI" is one of the latest true stories out of Hollywood that will be hitting the big screen, and here's why this one deserves to be seen whether you are a racing fan or not, it absolutely deserves your attention.
In the mid-'60s, Ford and Ferrari fought it out for real at most brutal of all car races, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a road race that lasts almost as long as this film. At a whopping 152 minutes, director James Mangold's biopic is no quick win, but buckle up and sit back for the duration and you will be rewarded with a film that delivers great performances, a gripping tale of determination and courage, and some truly spectacular racing scenes (real or CGI? I couldn't tell).
This could've simply been just a car movie. Instead, "Ford v Ferrari" delves into taking us in glorious detail, thru the true story rivalry between Enzo Ferrari (Remo Girone) and Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts), which sparked after the former refused to include his iconic racing team, Scuderia Ferrari, in a buyout of the Italian car company to Ford. Angered not only by this, but by a stinging comment Enzo makes to the effect that Ford is not credible with enough to be any part of a legendary firm like Ferrari with Henry Ford II at the helm because the real legend is Henry Ford himself, not his son. Ford II then calls on legendary car maker Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) to design a car that can beat Ferrari at Le Mans, leading Shelby to create the iconic GT40 with the help of championship driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale), even though he is deemed by Ford's second in command, Leo Beebe (Josh Lucas) as a 'loose cannon'.
Herein lies the classic underdog story, as the film follows the team as they design and test the new race-car, experiencing various setbacks along the way (some of which are orchestrated by Beebe, who wants to see Mills fail), before finally making it to France. Following all these multiple characters throughout, Ford v Ferrari focuses on the fact that Henry Ford II was given a challenge to create the fastest race car in the world and thereby improve the company's image in the eyes of young Americans and putting the Italians in their place at the same time.
If you're a fan of racing or cars in general, this movie will have you over the moon as it takes you thru the paces of the racing sequences, all which take up a good chunk of the film. Luckily, they are intense, well shot, with a fantastic score to back it up and sound effects to get your heart pumping. Everything about the exciting aspects of this film was top notch. But even if you aren't a racing enthusiast, this movie doesn't bore you with minutia, but instead gives you the necessary overview of the needed context so that every viewer understands what's on the line here. But secondary to the racing we have backstory about Miles and his family including what it's like for his wife Mollie (Caitronia Balfe), and his son Peter (Noah Jupe), as they watch in trepidation as Ken goes about not only his racing with a few terrifying crashes that they are witness to, but also the fact that Ken puts racing above just about everything in his life, including his family business of an auto repair garage i.e., food on the table. While Shelby's character doesn't have the struggle of a family life, he has the struggle with the Ford executives over every single aspect of how to build the car that can win Le Mans with Miles at the driving helm. Until one wonderful moment when he takes Ford II himself out for a spin on the track and thereby ensures himself a blank check much to the angst of Beebe.
Christian Bale and Matt Damon give stellar performances here as the two leading men in the film and you totally buy their rigid friendship that slowly develops based on a mutual respect. Bale seems to disappear into his character especially noting he can 'speak' as himself here – accent and all. Damon as well, has the opportunity here to show quite a range from confident showman to a vulnerability we rarely get to see. The supporting cast is flawlessly put together as a well-oiled pit crew with notables such as Jon Berenthal playing Lee Iacocca (yes, THAT Lee Iacocca – who not only developed the Mustang itself, but the Pinto as well and went on to revive the Chrysler Corp.). Tracy Letts layers his performance here with strength and flair as Ford II, Ray McKinnon does top-notch mechanic Phil Remington true to form, and Josh Lucas is the perfect fodder of 'bad guy executive' of the bunch.
In the end, Ford v Ferrari is engaging, emotional, and downright thrilling when it wants to be. You find yourself invested in these characters and on the edge of your seat during the climactic races. The only small flaw is some missed opportunity in terms of emotion during certain scenes but all is forgiven in that, seeing as the rest of the movie is so impressive. Ford v Ferrari is one of the definitely one of the most exciting movies so far this year and is sure-fire to be crossing the finish line in first place come opening weekend.
Grade: B+
Follow me on twitter: @pegsatthemovies and Instagram: peggyatthemovies
Media Review Screening: Wednesday, November 6, 2019 ~ Courtesy of 20th Century Fox
"FORD v. FERRARI" WILL BE OUT IN THEATERS WORLDWIDE FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2019


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Highlighting the creative magic behind post-processed photos
6 galleries from 6 photographers this week. Many thanks to all. We'd love to have you join us. No need to write a post if you don't want to – you can simply submit a before and after photo. It would be fun just to see the transformation! Guidelines are on the After-Before Friday Forum page.
My submission: This week, I am trying something new – a slide show of my post-processing choices to help those who can't access the videos because of internet issues. I've captioned the images with a description of my adjustments made in Lightroom 5 (and a quick visit to Photoshop). I'd be interested to know whether you like this format better.
The photo I'm showcasing this week is one I took a year ago at the Inn at Little Washington, in Washington, Virginia. It was an overcast afternoon following a rainstorm when I shot this photo of the beautiful garden where afternoon tea is traditionally served. (This day, tea — or in our case, champagne! — was served indoors.) I wanted the focal point of the image to be the red bench, which helped to guide my post-processing.
Submitted by Robin Kent — PhotographybyKent
Robin says: My submission to Stacy Fischer's After-Before Friday Forum was taken at Bodie State Historical Park in California. Bodie is a kind of preserved ghost town and, thanks to the leader of a photo workshop, our group of about ten photographers had the town to ourselves. The final image is actually two images merged in Photoshop. The color in the sky to the right was too good to crop out and I also wanted a little more of the building's left side. The Before image here is one of the two original RAW files as it was downloaded. Almost all of the changes were made in Adobe Camera Raw, followed by the Photomerge in Photoshop, then a minor tweak in Photoshop resulting in the After image shown here. More details on the processing and the town of Bodie can be found here on my post. Thanks again to Stacy for keeping this forum running.
Submitted by Loré Dombaj — Snow's Fissures and Fractures
Loré says: In the wake of last week's failed experiment, I decided to put a little bit more effort to this week's entry. It took me few hours playing with Gimp and I must admit it was a test of my patience replacing all that area around the boat. First I cropped the image, which gave me a good starting point. The biggest things was to replace the docking area with the sea. I don't know if it is easier in some other program, but it was a long process, especially when I came close to the boat. When I finished the image, I still didn't quite like it, because it was too grainy. So, I softened the image a little bit, lost some details, but camouflaged all the grainy area, especially the sails.
Submitted by Manal Ali — A Single Shutter
Manal says: This was taken at Blue Hour, at the River Thames. I actually took this photograph as part of a set of time-lapse footage, that proved to be unusable. However it did mean that I had a lot of choices to choose from. I edited the photograph using Adobe Camera Raw. My aim was not to heavily edit the photograph but just make sure that the colours popped and that the image was sharp.
Submitted by Benjamin Rowe — aperture64
Ben says: This week for the before and after forum I have decided to step away from Photoshop and share a picture from my phone, take edited and then shared. Enjoy!
Submitted by Jaime Perez — My Photolanguage
Jaime says: This week, just practicing with layer mask. The photo is of a rural traditional family from a Venezuelan Andina little town called "Los Nevados."
My inclusion of this second gallery of my photos is a workaround for the WordPress mobile Reader, which I discovered last week does not post my chosen featured image but seemingly the last image in the last gallery of the post. I don't want to take credit for anyone else's work, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will work.
Please click on the links of those who contributed this week, to read about their post-processing steps and/or to see what other treasures they have on their blogs. They'd love to have you visit!
So what do you think of the ABFriday forum?
Feel free to leave your thoughts and suggestions in the comment section. And don't forget to view the guidelines if you want to participate. I'd love to have you onboard!


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This post is a SYNContinuation to Loren COLEMAN's "Robin Williams, Former Trident Busboy, Dies By The Sea." In Coleman's post, he mentions the TRIDENT in connection to Robin Williams, which has been a popular theme this year. Here are some SEA-worthy things I noticed while watching The Birdcage recently. I don't know if it's just me, but it seems many films starring Robin Williams have been added to Netflix since his transition. The Birdcage is one of them.
A ROBIN is a type of BIRD. In The BIRDcage, ROBIN Williams plays Armand Goldman, a South Beach drag club owner married to Albert Goldman, played by Nathan Lane. The setting takes place in South Beach, Florida–a geographical place by the OCEAN and another connection to NEPTUNE.
In The Birdcage, Robin Williams' character "Armand Goldman" alters his last name to COLEMAN to hide his Jewish ancestry when meeting the Keeleys. This syncs up with Loren COLEMAN.
Another thing Coleman mentions in his post is that Robin Williams' favorite animal is the DOLPHIN. He notes that they are the "clowns of the OCEAN." This, you may see for yourself in the documentary below starring Robin Williams titled "In the Wild Dolphins with Robin Williams." What I find interesting is that in the beginning of this film, Robin is seen on the BEACH with a DOG (named "Flipper"). The documentary was released in 1994 (in the UK), which was the Chinese year of the DOG.
In the above documentary, Williams mentions that cows are distant cousins to dolphins and whales. Perhaps this is where the name "sea COW" comes from. I wrote about sea COWs here. As above, so below.
In The Birdcage, Williams makes a reference to DOLPHINS twice in the movie.
He mentions the god NEPTUNE as well.
And then Williams mentions the HORSE.
When WIlliams' costar, Nathan Lane asks the Keeleys where they are staying in Florida, Dianne Wiest (Mrs. Keeley) replies with "FISHER Island." This syncs back to another one of Williams' films–"The FISHER King."


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On his 100th birthday, Allan leaps out of his nursing home window and onto the nearest bus, kicking off a journey involving a cash-filled suitcase, criminals, and an elephant named Sonya. Based on the best-selling novel.
100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared, The
Action & Adventure | Comedy | Foreign | 2015
Robert Gustafsson
Powered by the antics of a mischievous centenarian on the run, comic fable The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared abounds with irreverent charm. After a long and colorful life working in munitions and getting entangled in the Spanish Civil War, the Manhattan Project, and other definitive events of the 20th century, Allan Karlsson finds himself stuck in a nursing home. Determined to escape on his 100th birthday, he leaps out of a window and onto the nearest bus, kicking off an unexpected journey involving, among other surprises, a suitcase stuffed with cash, some wicked criminals, and an elephant named Sonya. Like an unruly Nordic cousin of Forrest Gump, Allan's youthful escapades and current adventures weave together into an offbeat treat for anyone who's young at heart.
Malte Forssell, Felix Herngre, Henrik Jansson-Schweizer, Patrick Nebout
Felix Herngren


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Simplicity Taken Seriously: Soho Star Vaut le Voyage For years, the grimy paint store on Spring Street across from the Sixth Avenue subway station has been a Soho fixture. But now, instead of cans of paint and dropcloths, you're greeted at the door by a line of eager young women asking you how you are. The checkout counter on the ground floor has become a bar, and the old freight elevator has been replaced by a glass one that smoothly whisks guests to dining rooms on the second and third floors.
Fiamma Osteria, designed by Jeffrey Beers, is the latest venture of Stephen Hanson and B.R. Guest Restaurants, who have taken over all four floors of the building. Mr. Hanson also owns Isabella's, Ruby Foo's, Blue
Fiamma(Italianfor "flame") is very different; it's not big and brash, but low-key and more grown-up. The décor is sleek and modern: Low-lit, wood-paneled dining rooms done up in warm tones of red and brown are hung with mirrors and small paintings, and the tables are set with white linen cloths and candles. Even though it has a staff dressed by Nicole Miller and Michael Stars, Brazilian music on the sound system and banquettes upholstered in black leather (with pale green velveteen along the back), Fiamma doesn't feel like a Soho restaurant at all. It's like one of those Michelin-starred restaurants in Italy that tourists drive miles to get to for that one blow-out meal of the trip. Were it written up in the Guide Michelin, Fiamma would probably be described as " vaut le voyage ."
"The hallmark of Italian cooking is simplicity," says executive chef Michael White. "It's all about ingredients." Mr. White is from Spiaggia in Chicago. Before that, he worked at Ristorante San Domenico in Imola, Italy (a restaurant to which Fiamma bears more than a passing resemblance). If you want to get an idea of exactly what Mr. White means when he speaks of simplicity, order the house-made garganelli. Each quill of pasta-which might be described by an advertising salesman as "individually hand-crafted" (rolled, in fact, one by one over a skewer with a reed comb)-is tossed in a creamy truffle butter with peas and strips of prosciutto. It's a classic dish that's elevated to another plane. Taste this and you'll understand why Fiamma needs three pasta cooks for just seven pasta dishes on the menu, which also include stracci, a wide-ribbon spinach pasta with braised rabbit Bolognese, and raviolini with braised veal shank.
The respect Mr. White has for his ingredients is evident throughout his cooking. Each component of a dish stands out; nothing is superfluous. Sautéed sea scallops served over a bed of fried baby artichokes and earthy black trumpet mushrooms come with a delicate mache salad which is tossed with a brown butter balsamic vinaigrette with truffle oil. The tuna carpaccio is an exercise in subtlety: A plate is covered with paper-thin slices of fish topped with fried capers, black olives and citrus oil. Shaved bottarga (gray mullet fish roe) adds a briny touch to the dish, which Mr. White tops off with a touch of lemon juice and peel and a couple strips of fennel.
If you ordered red mullet in Italy, it would come whole with the head on. Soho eaters are more skittish, so here you get two filets, served over fingerling potatoes warmed in olive oil, with oven-dried grape tomatoes and bitter arugula in a ring of salsa verde. The Muscovy duck breast is good, too. The richness of the meat is complemented by mostarda (spicy mustard fruits), saba (wine must), toasted hazelnuts, a balsamic vinaigrette and a jaunty apple chip stuffed with Taleggio cheese. The only dish that lacked sparkle-and I tasted it on two occasions-was the seared halibut, which was a tad dry. It came with white asparagus, braised red chard, caramelized salsify and a leek vinaigrette.
The meat is full of big, powerful flavors. A veal chop is cooked with a paste made of sage, garlic, sea salt, lemon peel and rosemary (I'm going to try this one on grilled meat at home) and comes with sweet-and-sour cipolline onions and a bundle of asparagus wrapped in prosciutto. Juicy, rare roast squab with a crisp skin arrives with a perky little custard made from the liver and seasoned with nutmeg.
To go with the food is a 400-bottle list of mostly Italian wines. There are many unusual boutique selections at reasonable prices and good choices by the glass. At the waiter's recommendation, we tried the Red Angel from Venezia Giulia ("Excellent-eucalyptus in the nose," pronounced the wine buff at our table).
The desserts-by Elizabeth Katz, the former pastry sous chef at Daniel-are gorgeous: They're made from Italian ingredients and are playful, original and sensual. The chocolate torta-made with crunchy layers of hazelnut and gianduja chocolate feuilletine-is decorated with a long coil of spun sugar and looks like some electrical contraption from Edison's day. It comes with chocolate sauce and a gianduja gelato rolled in the feuilletine. The banana chocolate tortino, adorned with an undulating tuile that looks like a sculpture by Richard Serra, is a revelation, made with a chocolate streusel layered with caramel rum sabayon, topped with caramelized banana slices and served with chocolate sorbet. But the most thrilling dessert of all is the crocchette: beignets made with fresh ricotta bound with crushed amaretti instead of flour. These puffs, which fill your throat like a custard, come with four dipping sauces that change daily, such as blood orange, raspberry, chocolate and espresso cream.
At the end of our dinner, the women were presented with small boxes of chocolates to take home.
The men at our table looked put out. "What about us?"
"The women are supposed to share," said the waiter, looking at me.
No way.


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Sleepy Creek wants to add 2 new processing plants
Sleepy Creek Lands is looking to expand its controversial Fort McCoy beef processing facility by adding both a pet food production building and a processing center for human food.
The Marion County Planning and Zoning Commission will meet Monday to review Sleepy Creek's request to modify its special-use permit for its cattle processing operation. Sleepy Creek seeks permission to add a 7,500-square-foot pet food plant and a 10,800-square-foot processing and cooking facility for human food. Both would be connected to the existing meat processing plant.
That latter plant measures more than 62,000 square feet. It is five miles north of the intersection of county roads 315 and 316.
Planning and Zoning staffers are recommending approval of the special-use permit amendments, though with conditions. Among them: Sleepy Creek must submit a master site plan and an environmental impact study. The Planning and Zoning staff also recommended that the entrance and exit of the larger, modified campus remain via CR 315.
Environmentalists such as Karen Ahlers, who among others is suing Sleepy Creek because of its request for groundwater pumping, said this latest request is one more slight-of-hand by the cattle ranch as it constantly changes its applications to minimize public input.
"Who knows what they're going to do next? It just seems like they try to add a lot of new projects to what is a cattle ranch and they're doing it with little notice to the public … and the public has little opportunity to weigh in on what's happening … to Silver Springs," Ahlers said.
The cattle ranch, formerly called Adena Springs Ranch, has been the focus of one of the most heated water disputes in Marion County. In 2011, Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach asked Florida water regulators for permission to pump more than 13 million gallons per day for his 30,000-acre operation and its future 10,000 cattle.
Environmentalists objected, saying that amount of water withdrawal in the Fort McCoy area would have detrimental effects on nearby Silver Springs. The original water request to the St. Johns River Water Management District asked for more water than allowed for the city of Ocala.
In the face of intense opposition, Sleepy Creek reduced its water request by breaking the massive cattle ranch into separate tracts.
Still, it says it needs to pump more than 2 million gallons a day for the ranch's northern tract. The cattle will be grass-fed, and thus irrigation is an important part of the operation.
The Planning and Zoning Commission advertised the Monday meeting and sent notice letters to 44 parties who live or own property within 300 feet of the ranch.
The land in question is zoned for general agricultural use. In 2011, the county granted a special-use permit allowing for the development of a cattle harvesting facility with supporting uses.
Sleepy Creek now wants to amend and supplement that permit to allow for the two new processing plants: one for pet food, and the other for human food.
The Planning and Zoning Commission will make a recommendation on the request, but the County Commission will have the final say.
Earlier this week, Sleepy Creek executives and TECO Energy held a ground-breaking ceremony to mark the beginning of a joint project to build a 17-mile natural gas line from Silver Springs to the meat processing facility. Sleepy Creek is paying for the $3.4 million project.
Ahlers complained that the public was not informed about the natural gas line to the plant. TECO's project engineer told the Star-Banner the gas line will be buried along Marion County easement property.
The cattle ranch currently has 2,600 cattle and about a dozen employees. It will soon begin processing about 25 cattle per week, according to plant management. The meat processing plant will have 100 employees when fully operational.
Sleepy Creek declined comment Thursday about the proposed changes to its special-use permit.
Contact Fred Hiers at 867-4157 or email@example.com.
What: Sleepy Creek Lands is requesting that the Marion County Planning and Zoning Commission recommend approval of a modification to Sleepy Creek's special-use permit to allow for a pet food processing facility and human food processing center at Sleepy Creek's existing cattle processing center. When: Planning and Zoning Commission hearing begins at 5:30 p.m. Monday Where: McPherson Governmental Complex, 601 SE 25th Ave., Ocala. Info: To see the backup material for this issue, either click on this story at ocala.com or go to sire.marioncountyfl.org Looking ahead: The Marion County Commission will hold a public hearing to discuss the Planning and Zoning Commission's recommendation at 2 p.m. Aug. 19 at the same location.


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These courses will focus on a particular issue, concept, problem or question at an advanced level with specific prerequisites. In 2009-2010, the course offered will be:PSC 373 Topics in Political Theory
Just War Theory
This course examines the tradition and principles of just war, focusing on justice with respect to reasons for going to war, justice in the conduct of war, and justice at the conclusion of war. Special attention will be paid to applications of jus war theory in specific cases, including cases arising in the post 9-11 era. This course offered in the spring semester, 2010.
Prerequisite: Political Science 231 or 242 or consent of the instructor.
Credits: 1/2


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Peter Righton – His Activities up until the early 1980sPosted: August 21, 2014 | Author: Ian Pace | Filed under: Abuse, PIE | Tags: ann goldie, barclay report, Benjamin Britten, Brian taylor, cuddesdon college, cyril smith, eileen fairweather, gaveston hall, haute de la garenne, Home Office, ian campbell dunn, islington, jersey, john rea price, keele university, keith hose, larchgrove, leonard f. davis, london metropolitan university, michael hanson, national children's bureau, national institute for social work, new barns school, north london polytechnic, North Wales, open university, paedophile information exchange, perspectives on paedophilia, peter mckelvie, peter morrison, peter righton, redhill school, rochdale, social work today, society for saint francis, stewart payne, suffolk, tom o'carroll | 32 Comments
[Updated: I am immensely grateful to Peter McKelvie, Liz Davies, Martin Walkerdine and @Snowfaked (on Twitter) for providing extra information which has helped to fill in gaps in my earlier account]
I do intend at some point to publish a comprehensive account of all that can be ascertained about the life and activities of the sinister figure of Peter Righton, perhaps the most important of all figures in terms of the abuse scandals soon to be investigated by the national inquiry, and believed to have been a serial abuser himself with a great many victims. Both demands of time and also legal constraints do not permit this at present, but for now I wanted to publish some information and sources on Righton's activities up until the early 1980s.
Righton was born in June 1926 as Paul Pelham Righton, in Kensington . He grew up in Kent , and attended Ardingly College, West Sussex from 1940 to 1944, where he was a 'favourite' for history master and A dormitory housemaster, Denis Henry d'Abedhil Williams. From 1944 to 1948, Righton served in the Royal Artillery, based initially for his six week's primary training at barracks in Lincoln from April 1944 (Righton, 'Working with the 'misfits", Social Work Today, May 6th, 1985); no further details are known at present other than that his rank upon demobilisation was Lieutenant. By 1948, aged 22, Righton was living in 19 Garway Road, in the Paddington area of London (my thanks to Martin Walkerdine for this information). That year, Righton went to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics, graduating in 1951 (with a second class degree), and receiving his MA in 1955 .
Following graduation, Righton undertook training in the probation service from 1951 to 1952, and served as a Probation Officer in Gray's, Essex from 1952 to 1955, where he also ran a project to develop reading skills for children with learning difficulties. In January 1956 he began teaching at Gaveston Hall, near Horsham in West Sussex, but was only in this position until July of that year. In Righton's diaries, he lists boys he abused whilst at Gaveston Hall. The circumstances of his departure are unclear; after leaving he retreated for six months to the Society of Saint Francis, a closed order (all information courtesy of Peter McKelvie).
Righton re-emerged in January 1957 to teach at Cuddesdon College near Oxford. Soon afterwards (in the same year), however he moved to teach English at Redhill, a school for disturbed boys in Maidstone, Kent. Righton had taken a range of vulnerable pupils under his wing, and Mark Thewliss claims he was abused by Righton there from the age of 12. Righton's diaries list boys he abused at both Cuddesdon and Redhill (source Peter McKelvie; see the Inside Story documentary below for more accounts of Righton's activities at Redhill). He left Redhill discreetly on April 8th, 1963, resigning his position (source Peter McKelvie) (not 1964 as mistakenly mentioned before). In July 1963, a police investigation began into complaints against Righton of abuse; around time he wrote several potential suicide notes admitting having done harm to boys. However, Righton was able to get the investigation dropped after having lunch with a police inspector (Source McKelvie).
After leaving Redhill Righton worked for two years (1963-65) as a tutor and organiser for the Workers' Educational Association in Wiltshire; his address was given as North Flat, Marden Grange, Marden, Devizes, Wiltshire.
From 1965 onwards, Righton established his influence within the world of social work and child care. He became a tutor in charge of a two-year course for child care officers at Keele University from 1965-68 (see Inside Story below); how and when exactly he had become qualified in this field, are who were his referees, are questions the answer to which remains unclear.
then as. From 1968 to 1971 he was a Senior Lecturer at the National Institute of Social Work, a government-funded educational and research centre. On October 11th 1968, as Paul Pelham Righton, he gave a talk at Shotton Hall, Peterlee, entitled 'A New Deal for Children: Thoughts on the White Paper 'Children in Trouble" (Paul Pelham Righton, A new deal for children Reflections on the White Paper 'Children in trouble' a paper given at Shotton Hall on 11th October 1968 (Shrewsbury: Shotton Hall Publications, 1968); he also published an article entitled 'The Need for Training', F.G. Lennhoff and J.C. Lampen (eds), Learning to Live: A Sketchbook of Residential Work with Children (Shrewsbury: Shotton Hall, 1968), pp. 13-16, which is reproduced on the Online Journal of the International Child and Youth Care Network, Issue 95 (December 2006). In 1969, Righton published an article entitled 'Social work and scientific concepts' in Social Work, Vol. 26, p. 3. . He also at some point in the late 1960s started working at North London Polytechnic (now London Metropolitan University), based at Ladbroke House, Highbury Grove, leaving the institution in 1970 (source Liz Davies).
The report by Tom Bateman for the BBC Radio 4 Today earlier this week made clear that as early as 1970, Righton was already credited as giving 'considerable assistance' to a Home Office report (Advisory Council on Child Care: Research and Development Committee; Community Homes Project, Second Report (London: Home Office Children's Department, April 1970). The relevant chapter is printed below.
Between 1971 and 1974, Righton was a development officer at National Children's Bureau and head of two-person Children's Centre ('The National Children's Bureau', Evening Standard, May 12th, 1993).
In October 1971, here listed as a 'lecturer in residential care' for the National Institute for Social Work, and 'director-designate of the centre to be established by the National Children's Bureau later this year', Righton addressed a social services conference organized by the County Councils Association and the Association of Municipal Corporations, arguing for integration of social workers with residential home staff, and against too-frequent placing of those with social, physical and mental handicaps in residential homes. He also thought children 'could be greatly helped in a residential unit'.
In 1972, Righton published 'Parental and other roles in residential care', in The Parental Role: Conference Papers (London: National Children's Bureau, 1972), pp. 13-17 (Peter Righton – Parental and Other Roles in Residential Care). Here he wrote about the shift during last 25 years away from 'total substitute care' towards 'planned alternative provision', with child placed in open community with frequent access to their own parents. Righton argued that many still believed that substitute parenting is central role of residential worker, and that the family is good model for a residential unit. He questioned this – saying that it is impossible to provide 'a relationship of the desirable uniqueness, continuity and intensity in a residential setting', mentioning that the majority of children in care still have their own parents and maintain some sort of relationship with them. Righton argued that it would cause conflict by having 'two competing sets of adults' trying to outdo each other. He preferred to see residential care as 'alternative caring 'sui generis' rather than as substitute family care'. It has been suggested to me by some experts in child care that the substitute parent model helped children feel safe from abuse and mistreatment in care; Righton's concern to move away from this model may well have been another strategy to facilitate the ability of himself and others to sexually exploit children in residential care.
This same year, Righton also had a letter published in The Listener (June 29th, 1972), in which he expressed his fierce objection to Lord Hailsham's views on homosexuality (my profound thanks to Daniel de Simone for locating this); Righton would use claims of homophobia more widely to silence critics of his relatively overt exploitation of young boys.
Also in 1972, Righton took part in a published debate with Antony Grey (of the Sexual Law Reform Society and Albany Trust, who would later fund PIE – see articles here and here), and Kevin O'Dowd over the role of therapy. At another time during this year, Righton shared a platform (New Society, Vol. 21 (1972), p. 60) with Keith Joseph, then Secretary of State for Social Services, and who has himself been named as an abuser according to at least one source (Matthew Drake, 'Margaret Thatcher's Cabinet bigwigs named in Leon Brittan paedo files', Sunday Mirror, July 24th, 2014)
In January 1973, together with Ronald Bennett, QC, Righton was called to conduct an independent inquiry into allegations of violence by staff against boys in Larchgrove Assessment Centre on the outskirts of Glasgow; the report found that 13 out of 30 allegations were proved and was highly critical of the corporation for allowing conditions inducive to violence to occur; later reports found that John Porteus, a houseparent, had sexually abused boys at Larchgrove in the late 1960s, and others testified to sexual abuse during this time. Righton and Bennett's report did not deal with sexual abuse, and it was possible for a convicted abuser, Robert William Henderson, to gain a position towards the end of 1973, where he formed 'an indecent association with a 13-year-old boy'. Glasgow City Council are currently looking for any documentation connected with the case, whilst the council and Scottish government have called upon anyone who suffered abuse there to contact the police; it has been revealed that there are claims that staff of both genders were involved in the abuse of boys at the home (see 'Notorious paedophile headed Scottish care home inquiry', Sunday Herald, August 24th, 2014).
Also in 1973, Righton gave the Barnardo's Annual Lecture (Edward Pilkington, 'Shadow of the Attic', The Guardian, June 1st, 1994); the title was 'A Continuum of Care', which was published the following year (Peter Righton, A Continuum of Care: The Link between Field and Residential Work (London: Barnardo's, 1974)). This year, he also published Counselling Homosexuals: A Study (London: Bedford Square Press, 1973).
On March 8th, 1973, Righton gave a talk on 'Co-operation in child care', for the British Association of Social Workers Conference at St. Williams' College, York (Residential Social Work, Vol. 13 (1973), p. 63). In September 1973, he argued that children's homes were like 'ghettos' which 'stigmatize', because they are deprived of being part of a normal family. As a remedy of this, Righton believed such homes 'should be made as open as possible to people in the immediate neighbourhood, and to the families and friends of the children living there'; and 'Staff and children should be encouraged to go out to meet people and residential schools should take both children needing special substitute care and those needing boarding education', all of which (not, of course, said by Righton) would ease the access of paedophile predators to them.
From 1974 to 1982, Righton was Director of Education for the National Council of Social Work ('In Residence', Social Work Today, February 4th, 1985)
In 1974, Righton visited Algeria in April, and published 'Child Care in Algeria', International Social Work, Vol. 17, No. 4 (October 1974), pp. 51-53. (Peter Righton – Child Care in Algeria). He also gave the David Willis Lecture for the Planned Environment Therapy Trust, at New Barns School, Toddington, Gloucestershire (where he would later become a governor, and which was closed down following a police raid in 1992), published as 'Planned environment therapy: a reappraisal', in Association of Workers with Maladjusted Children Journal (1975) (see James S. Atherton, Review of Perspectives on Training for Residential Work, British Journal of Social Work, Vol. 8, No. 2 (1988), pp. 227-229). From 1974 to 1982, his address was listed as 48 Barbican Road, Greenford (near Ealing, West London) (source Ealing Local History through Martin Walkerdine). This also became in 1975 the address of the organisation London Friend, which had been founded in 1971 (one of the co-founders was Mike Launder, a social worker activist; another was the well-known writer Jack Babuscio (1937-90), though it is not clear whether Babuscio did not resign before Righton's involvement) as the counselling wing of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (Rosemary Auchmuty, 'London', in George E. Haggerty, John Beynon and Douglas Eisner (eds), Encyclopedia of Lesbian and Gay Histories and Cultures: An Encyclopedia, Vol. 1 (New York: Garland Publishing, 2000) , p. 477), but split from CHE that year 1975 (London Friend, 'LGB&T milestones – a timeline')
In October of that year, the Paedophile Information Exchange was founded in Edinburgh by Ian Campbell Dunn and Michael Hanson (Marcello Mega, 'Paedophile list set up by gay rights leader', Sunday Times, July 6th, 1997); the group would soon afterwards relocate from Edinburgh to London, and Keith Hose would take over as chair. Righton was part of the group (member number 51, and a member of the Executive Committee, by mid-1976 at the latest ('It's the Magnificent Six', Understanding Paedophilia, Vol. 1, No. 2 (June-July 1976), p. 7), serving as 'Organiser of prison-hospital visits/general correspondence/PIE befriending'; in May 1977, he stepped down from the committee (at the same time as Hose stepped down), by which time his position was listed as 'Community Liaison Officer' ('Stop Press – Stop Press', Understanding Paedophilia, Vol. 1, No. 4 (1977), p. 12).
In October 1975, Righton became chair of a working group for the mental health association MIND, with the assistance of the King's Fund Centre; this led to the publication of Assessment of Children and Their Families: A Report Produced by a MIND Working Party Under the Chairmanship of P. Righton (London; MIND, 1975). MIND also organised for Keith Hose to speak at an event called Mind Out in 1975 (Annette Rawstrone, 'Paul Farmer of Mind apologises after report that pro-paedophile leader spoke at 1975 event', Third Sector, July 23rd, 2014). In 1977, London Friend's sister organisation Cardiff Friend, and the MIND Office in Wales, organised a day seminar entitled 'New approaches to homosexuality'; speakers were Righton, Michael Launder, and Rachel Beck, co-founder of the then recently established service Lesbian Line ('Seminar on homosexuality', Social Work Today, Vol. 9, No. 11 (November 1st, 1977)).
From 1976 to 1985, and especially from 1976 to 1979, Righton published regular articles in Social Work Today, which are all collected here. Of particular note is his article 'Sex and the residential social worker', Social Work Today, February 15th, 1977, thus written during Righton's period on the PIE Executive Committee. Citing a 1975 article by then Lecturer in Social Work at Brunel University Leonard F. Davis seeking to legitimise sexualised touching of children in care (Leonard F. Davis – Touch, Sexuality and Power in Residential Settings, British Journal of Social Work, Vol. 5, No. 4 (1975), pp. 397-411 – Davis himself acknowledged Righton's advice in the preparation of the paper; he is listed as having 'recently completed the Course in Educational Studies at the National Institute for Social Work', so may have been one of Righton's students), Righton argued ''Provided there is no question of exploitation, sexual relationships freely entered into by residents – including adolescents – should not be a matter for automatic inquiry'. Amazingly, several responses to this were essentially sympathetic to Righton's position (see letters from March 15th and 22nd, 1977; another by an A. Whitaker, published on April 12th, 1977, was sharply critical, but the editor added a note at the end disputing whether this letter accurately represented Righton's views).
In the mid-1970s, fellow social worker Ann Goldie was present at a dinner party with Righton, who confided to her that he had engaged in sexual relations with eight or nine boys in residential care homes. Knowing that Goldie was a lesbian, Righton (rightly) trusted a group loyalty when giving this information. Daphne Statham had first encountered Righton in 1966 and frequently thereafter, and admitted that she had had suspicions (especially when Righton mentioned about a 'motorbike club'), but didn't enquire further, something she later came to bitterly regret (Pilkington, 'Shadow of the Attic'). A similar story was related by Stewart Payne and Eileen Fairweather, of Righton's being able to be quite blatant about his activities in the knowledge that some other fellow lesbians or gays, or feminists, would not break ranks (Payne and Fairweather, 'Silence that cloaked child sex conspiracy', Evening Standard, May 27th, 1994).
As well as the Social Work Today pieces, Righton would in 1976 co-edit a volume with Sonia Morgan, Child Care; Concerns and Conflicts (London: Hodder Education, 1976), and publish an article 'Sexual minorities and social work', Health and Social Services Journal, February 28th, 1976, pp. 392-393. At some point prior to 1977, Righton also sat on the Central Council for Education in Training and Social Work (Peter Righton, 'Positive and Negative Aspects in Residential Care', Social Work Today Vol. 8, No. 37 (June 28th, 1977), cited in Lucy Robinson, Gay Men and the Left in Post-War Britain: How the Personal got Political (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2011)); he also spoke at a conference in Doncaster in June 1977 jointly organised by Doncaster metropolitan borough and Yorkshire region of the Residential Care Association, called 'Residential care – resource or last resort?', where anotehr speaker was Janie Thomas ('Residental care – resource or last resort?', Social Work Today, Vol. 8, No. 37 (June 28th, 1977), p. 8). On October 16th, 1978, Righton gave a talk to the Camden and Islington branch of the British Association of Social Workers on 'Links, conflict and relationships between residential and fieldwork', in the Royal Free Hospital in London (Social Work Today, October 10th, 1978); on 20th March, 1979, he spoke to the Croydon and East Surrey branch of BASW on whether 'The farmer and the cowboy can be friends?' at Rees House, Croydon (Social Work Today, March 20th, 1979)
In 1979, he would further co-edit a volume with Margaret Richards entitled Social Work Education in Conflict (London: National Institute for Social Work, 1979), in which he published articles 'Knowledge About Teaching and Learning in Social Work Education', pp. 1-18 (Peter Righton – Knowledge about Teaching and Learning in Social Work Education), and 'Four Approaches to Curriculum Design', pp. 62-80 (Peter Righton – Four Approaches to Curriculum Design), and edited a further book on Studies in Environment Therapy (London: Planned Environment Therapy Trust, 1979).
In 1977, Righton also participated in the London Medical Group's annual conference, on this occasion the subject being 'Human Sexuality', speaking alongside agony aunt Claire Rayner amongst others (M. Papouchado, 'Annual Conference of the LMG: Human Sexuality', Journal of Medical Ethics, Vol. 3 (1977), pp. 153-154).
In 1979, Righton sat on a steering committee to establish a course for training staff to work with disturbed young people, together with John Rea Price, director of Islington Social Services, 1972-92, subsequently the Director of the National Children's Bureau. Other's on the committee included G Godfrey Isaacs, chairman of Peper Harow, Mary Joynsons, director of child care for Barnardos, Janet Mattinson, Tavistock Centre, and Nick Stacey (see Social Work Today, April 3rd, 1979 (see links above), and the advert below, from The Guardian, March 28th, 1979).
The 'Barclay Report' of 1980, Social Workers : Their Role & Tasks : the report of a working party set up in October 1980 at the request of the Secretary of State for Social Services by the National Institute for Social Work ; under the chairmanship of Peter M. Barclay (London : National Institute by Bedford Square Press, 1981/1982 [printing]), included the following text: 'We pay tribute to the work of our Secretary, Mr Bob King, of Mr Peter Righton, formerly Director of Education at the National Institute, who has shouldered a considerable drafting burden and of Miss Carol Whitwill, their personal secretary and helper'.
And then in 1981, Righton published his most blatant article to date, 'The adult', in Brian Taylor (ed), Perspectives on Paedophilia (London: Batsford, 1981), pp. 24-40. Drawing upon an unholy canon of paedophile writers, Righton made the case for sex with children being unharmful, in his characteristically elegant manner. No-one who read this could have been in any doubt about Righton's inclinations (or the nature of the volume in general).
One might have thought that one so flagrantly brandishing their sexual interest in children, speaking about it shamelessly to various others, publishing two articles making this clear, and also having been publicly identified as on the Executive Committee of the Paedophile Information Exchange, would have had difficulty being accepted as an expert on child care and child sexuality. But not at all; in 1984, he was one of the major speakers at a conference on Child Sexual Abuse (alongside fellow PIE member and academic Ken Plummer). Righton's career continued to flourish through the 1980s, and in 1991 he was invited to give evidence to the Pindown inquiry into sexual and physical abuse in Staffordshire ('Britain's top kiddies home expert is evil child-sex perv', The Sun, September 17th, 1992). He helped with translation and editing of some writings on music produced by Donald Mitchell, a major figure involved with the estate of Benjamin Britten and the Britten-Pears Foundation (having been Britten's publisher); later he would be a co-translator of the volume Truus de Leur and Henriette Straub (ed) Keep these Letters, Please! A Written portrait of the Concertgebouw Orchestra 1904-1921, translated Ian Borthwick, Nicholas Pretzel and Peter Righton (Amsterdam: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, c. 1998).
At the time of his arrest for importation of child abuse images in 1992, Righton was also a senior tutor with the Open University (previously the employer of PIE chair Tom O'Carroll, and who had published Righton's volume Working with Children and Young People in 1990), working on a project to do with residential children (Peter Burden and Peter Rose, .'Porn Squad quiz Child Care Expert', Daily Mail, May 28th, 1992); James Golden, 'Hoard of filth in childcare expert's home', Daily Mail, September 17th, 1992). Chris Andrews, of BASW, described Righton at the time of his arrest as follows: He [Righton] is a highly respected figure within the residential field, particularly working with highly disturbed children. He is very much concerned with therapeutic work in child care' (cited in Burden and Rose, 'Porn Squad quiz Child Care Expert').
The Department of Health and then-Health-Secretary Virginia Bottomley were told in 1993 about an influential network involving Righton. but appear to have done nothing. Nor does there appear to have been much action following the disturbing Inside Story documentary on Righton broadcast the following year, with various testimonies of Righton's victims . After Righton was convicted, receiving a £900 fine, in September 1992, he was able to relocate on the estate of Lord Henniker in 1993, and continue to have contact with children in care, many of who (not least from Islington) were regularly brought to the estate (Stewart Payne and Eileen Fairweather, 'Country house hideaway of disgraced care chief', Evening Standard, May 6th, 1993).
From 1996 to 2002, he had an address of 1 Wheatfields, Rickinghall, Diss IP22 1EN, but also in 1998, he appears to have lived at an 8 Badsey Road, together with another person called Wendy C. Hall-Barnes (source Martin Walkerdine). He would move to Hamworthy, Poole, Dorset, in 2003, where he would die on October 12th, 2007.
Politicians, social workers, civil servants and many others have huge questions to answer about how a figure like Righton could manage to operate with apparent impunity for such a long period of time when his real nature was far from hidden, preying upon the most disturbed and vulnerable boys, and manipulating child care policy towards his own exploitative ends. Righton has been linked to major scandals in Islington, Calderdale, Suffolk, Rochdale (also said by one survivor to have been friendly with Cyril Smith – Keir Mudie, 'New victim links notorious paedophile Peter Righton to VIP child abuse network', Sunday People, April 6th, 2013), North Wales (where MP Peter Morrison, Margaret Thatcher's PPS, has alleged to have abused boys), Haute de la Garenne (Jersey), a series of public schools, networks in Sweden, Malta, Denmark and Holland, and more, and may be one of the worst offenders ever known in the UK, certainly one of the most influential in facilitating others. The existence of diaries kept by Righton on his 'conquests', as seen by Peter McKelvie at the time of his earlier investigation, was the impetus for Tom Watson's October 2012 intervention in Parliament, which more than anything else set in motion the process which has led to the inquiry which has now been announced.
Police collected a whole seven boxes of evidence during the raid on Righton's home. It is imperative that the full extent of his activities (and also those of the equally sinister and highly-connected Morris Fraser), and the many lessons to be learned, are central to the inquiry.


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A Healthy Dinner Out
Plan on taking home half of the main course of restaurant meals. Restaurant portions are almost always too large for one person.
Eat your lowest-calorie food first. Soup or salad is a good choice.
Beware of all-you-can-eat specials, buffets and unlimited salad bars -- it's too easy to overeat. If you do choose a buffet, fill up on the salad and vegetables first, and use the small plate, which holds less food.


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Copyright Laurent Chardon 2010 Courtesy Les éditions Poursuite
Laurent Chardon stated that as young man he was fascinated by the photographs of Mongolia and in the winter of 2002, he had an opportunity to investigate the memories of his youth, as well as the current culture. It may not have been the experience that he had anticipated.
Like many of those who travel and immerse themselves into a foreign culture, he was a stranger in a strange land, and further disoriented by the current conditions he found. He quickly altered his photographic frame of reference, employing tools that might provide him with photographs that were more in line with his observations and experience.
His black and white photographs are grainy and have a high amount of contrast, which combine to create a darker narrative. The details within the photographs are not sharply delineated, abstracting both the individuals and the landscape. Who the people of this region are remain elusive to the reader, as they are usually rendered as black featureless silhouettes. They do not appear as people, but abstract symbols that inhabit a barren landscape.
Without providing a sense of their individuality, Chardon indicates the presence of people, but not as individuals, but more as temporary and elusive inhabitants. People are usually visible with their heads bowed down, whether as a result of the weather, to ensure their footing on an icy and tricky terrain or representative of their mood in general.
The dark corner frame vignettes create a claustrophobic feeling that the landscape, perhaps similar to the picture frame, is collapsing and closing in. I have a sense of restriction and that space is limited. Something dark and menacing is lurking in this place. I do not perceive feelings of joy or an uplifted spirit, but of a gloomy melancholy that is foreboding and sobering.
A high-rise structure seems lonely and repressive and not a place that you would find in a travel brochure. Perhaps this feeling is due to the overcast skies of the winter season and the gray and dirty snow, nevertheless, it seems to be a place without trees, bushes and other vegetation. The structures appear cold, both in environmental conditions and in spirit. In another similar photograph, small individual structures are situated in the foreground at the base of a rising multi unit building, probably creating a future vision for those living independently. This is not inviting location, but a place only suited for survival.
One urban landscape photograph documents a mash-up of tents and permanent structures, with the inter-structural spaces between them now being occupied by thin fences. These fences are borders and boundaries, which I find to be odd for a nomadic people who had previously experienced unlimited space as they had previously moved freely about.
The concluding photograph is a sea of thin trees, with a backlit sun casting long radiating shadows. The trees appear very lonely in the otherwise desolate snow-covered terrain. I sense that this stand of trees represents the thin and dwindling spirits of the once nomadic individuals who now endure living in this region.
The text for the essays is printed in French, with an English translation insert available on request when purchasing the book
by Douglas Stockdale


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A little while ago I came across a tutorial for a little dress with a crochet yoke on Mon Petit Violon. I finally got around to making a similar dress for Emma!
I used the original dress idea as inspiration but tweaked it here and there to suit and fit Emma.
The crochet top basically comprises of a band of Summer Garden granny squares form Attic24 and rows of simple treble stitches. The neckline is finished with a row of little chain loops that double up as button holes. The bottom of the yoke is finished with a single row of half trebles and a single row of doubles.
I also added a little patch pocket to the front of the skirt (which is just another summer garden granny with an extra round added on and a row of doubles) to pull the whole dress together.
The skirt of the dress is made of a really pretty and soft polycotton that I picked up as an off-cut in my local fabric shop a while back. If I was going to remake the dress, this would be the part I'd alter. I'd add more gathers at the top an give the dress more fullness (i.e. not skimp on fabric!) but I love how it has turned out anyway.
Actually I love LOVE how it has turned out!
Although it's not pictured, it will be perfect with a little white t-shirt underneath now the weather is starting to warm up (fingers crossed!) for days at the park or paddling at the beach.
Although I have now realised she has no shoes that really go with this dress…. good thing she adores her pink wellies… LOL!
My mind is already spinning with ideas for different versions of this dress… and a grown up version for a top for me! But I have a list of other projects and commissions (read unfinished WiPs!!) that must be prioritised first.
I don't know why it has taken me so long to think of combining crochet and fabric together.. especially in a clothing context… but I'm very excited by the new possibilities!
Do you combine your crochet and fabric/sewing skills? What have you made? I'd love to hear!


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Further plot details for the WWI horror title revealed.
MOSCOW, Russia – January 16, 2009 - Zombies? Check. Vampires? Check. Ninja vampires? Check. Giant robotic scorpions built by mad German scientists? Check. 505 Games is today pleased to reveal more details about NecroVisioN's horror-fuelled plot, which puts a whole new spin on the World War One genre.
NecroVisioN is a fast-paced shooter exclusively released on PC in February 2009 by 505 Games, under the 1C Company label. Developed by Polish developer The Farm 51, it mixes historical accuracy with a twisted plot that sees you venturing into the very jaws of Hell itself to stop a zombie army and an evil demon overlord. Along the way the action-packed plot ticks all the right horror-themed boxes.
Set in 1917, the Great War has been raging for two long years and new recruit Simon Bukner, a US Army soldier, is the latest to face the harsh realities of war. His first mission sees him get lost deep behind enemy lines, alongside his battalion of Allied troops, after trying to break through the German positions and into Allied territory. The Germans attack hard and the Allieds get pushed deeper into enemy trenches until they're ambushed and gassed.
Bukner manages to escape into an underground safe-house but everything has changed. The dead are rising from their muddy graves and attacking any living creature they can find. Now Bukner must try and escape through the scores of German soldiers, while fighting off flesh-hungry zombies. As Bukner shoots his way through the trenches, he uncovers a truly horrifying plot to create an army of the undead.
But, in a bizarre twist, Bukner discovers that the zombie force is actually being created for the benefit of humanity. A shadowy group of vampires has enlisted the help of a necromancer to make them their own personal army of the walking dead. This unlikely alliance is a final effort for the vampires who are struggling to stop terrible demons from opening up a portal to Hell and wiping out every living thing on Earth.
Now, armed with powerful vampire weapons and a magical artefact called the Shadowhand, Bukner must venture into the bowels of hell and stop the demons once and for all.
NecroVisioN will be released on PC in Europe in February 2009.
About 1C Company
1C Company specializes in distribution, publishing and development of business, entertainment and educational software. Founded in 1991, 1C has become the largest publisher and distributor of computer and video games in Eastern and Central Europe. 1C Company is widely acknowledged as a game developer and has several internal studios. Internal developments of 1C include IL-2 Sturmovik series and Theatre of War. 1C Company works as a publisher and producer with over 30 independent development studios and has produced over 100 projects for PC and consoles including titles like King of the Road, Space Rangers, Soldiers: Heroes of World War II, Perimeter, Fantasy Wars, Death to Spies, King's Bounty: The Legend.
For more information on 1C please contact us at the numbers above or go to our website at www.1cpublishing.com
About 505 Games
505 Games, headquartered in Milton Keynes is dedicated to the publishing and international distribution of full price, mid-range and budget computer and videogames in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) markets and Australia. The current portfolio includes the best selling games Cooking Mama, ArmA: Armed Assault, Bust-a-Move and Armored Core and covers all gaming platforms, including next generation consoles like Sony PlayStation® 3, Nintendo Wii™ and Microsoft Xbox 360™. For More information on 505 Games and its products please visit www.505games.co.uk
About The Farm 51
The Farm 51 was founded by industry veterans and maniac gamers working previously, among others, on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault and Painkiller franchise. More experienced and extraordinary talents joined the company soon. The team is currently working on the project "NecroVisioN" - FPS that starts in the raging battlefields of World War I and leads the player to a much darker and brutal underground world of vampires and demons.


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(CNN) -- A week after claiming a hacker had posted a lewd photo to his Twitter account, U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner on Monday apologized for lying about the incident and admitted carrying on inappropriate relationships with several women he'd met online.
Weiner, a New York Democrat, said he is not resigning his seat, nor is he planning on separating from his wife. But he said he took "full responsibility" for his actions -- both the relationships and for lying about sending the photo last month of his bulging underwear on his Twitter account.
"To be clear, the picture was of me, and I sent it. I'm deeply sorry for the pain this has caused my wife, and our family, my constituents, my friends, my supporters and my staff," he said, claiming he'd posted the Twitter photo accidentally as a "joke" and then "panicked." "I lied because I was ashamed at what I had done, and I didn't want to get caught."
An emotional Weiner described his actions as "dumb," "destructive" and "deeply, deeply hurtful" -- both for his admitted coverup and for repeatedly engaging in "inappropriate conversations conducted over Twitter, Facebook, e-mail and occasionally on the phone" with women he'd met online, mostly via Facebook.
The congressman claimed that he never met any of these women in person, and that his wife Huma only learned he'd been lying about the Twitter picture on Monday morning.
"I have made terrible mistakes," Weiner told reporters. "I have not been honest with myself or my family. ... I should not have done this, and I should not have done this particularly when I was married."
Weiner claimed he does not believe he used any government resources, while he "exchanged messages and photos of an explicit nature with about six women over the last three years." Some of those relationships began before his 2010 marriage and some happened, and continued, afterward.
Still, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi announced that she would call "for an Ethics Committee investigation to determine whether any official resources were used or any other violation of House rules occurred."
Weiner issued a statement saying he would "welcome and fully cooperate" with the probe, which other Democratic leaders also rallied behind. But one Republican source called the move "hollow," saying Pelosi should have insisted that Weiner resign -- as former Rep. Chris Lee, a New York Republican, did in February amid reports that the married man had tried to solicit women via Craigslist.
The seven-term congressman said during his press conference that he'd talked with Pelosi briefly that day, saying she was "not happy" but "also told me that she loved me and wanted us to ... pull through this."
He hails from New York's solidly Democratic 9th district, which includes parts of the New York City boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. He handily won re-election last November, besting his Republican challenger by 22 points.
If Weiner were to resign or be compelled to leave office, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, also a Democrat, would determine the timing of a special election to replace him.
Monday afternoon's admission came hours after images were published on BigGovernment.com, a conservative website run by Andrew Breitbart, that purportedly showed Weiner shirtless.
Before the congressman spoke at his scheduled 4 p.m. press conference, Breitbart -- who claimed he just happened to be staying at a hotel a few blocks down -- unexpectedly took over the podium to challenge Weiner and the media and defend his site's story.
"This is an ongoing story, this is a compelling story," said Breitbart, bristling at reports he orchestrated the issue for political purposes and was responsible for hacking Weiner's account. "I did not like that he doubled down that this is about Breitbart."
The conservative blogger also claimed that he had, in his possession, another "X-rated" photo allegedly from Weiner that he said he wasn't releasing because he hoped "to save (Weiner's) family."
"I'd like an apology," a defiant Breitbart said. "This was his strategy, which is to blame me for hacking."
During his press conference, Weiner apologized "to everyone that I misled in the media" -- including Breitbart -- but most of all to his wife.
"This was me doing a dumb thing, and doing it repeatedly, then lying about it," Weiner said.
Breitbart's website was the first to publish an incriminating photo, sent May 27 via Twitter from Weiner's account of a man in his underwear.
Weiner initially released written statements claiming that he was the victim of a hacker and a prank. Then, during a testy press conference, he dodged questions about whether the photo was of him and why he hadn't asked law enforcement to investigate if his account had, indeed, been compromised.
The following day, in a series of interviews, he said he could not say with "certitude" if the photograph was of him. He has also deflected recent questions from CNN, saying he had hired an attorney at the firm of Baker Hostetler to look into the matter.
The woman who received the Twitter photo in late May, Gennette Cordova, denied on her own account that she was one of the six women who Weiner admitted having an "inappropriate relationship."
But ABC News reports that Meagan Broussard, a 26-year-old single mother from Texas, provided them with dozens of photos, e-mails, Facebook messages and cell phone call logs related to her relationship with Weiner.
In a posting on BigGovernment.com, Broussard said she was a U.S. Army veteran and full-time college student who, on April 20, went to Weiner's Facebook page and commented that the congressman was "hot" on one of his videos. She said the two began corresponding "within an hour," adding that she didn't know if he is a "horrible person" but decided to speak out after hearing he'd "hired an investigative firm to go through all of his files."
CNN has attempted to contact Broussard, but she could not be immediately reached for comment.
Many Democrats first rallied around the liberal congressman. But members of the House Democratic leadership have talked repeatedly in recent days to try to get him to end what has become an unwelcome political distraction, a member of the party's leadership told CNN before Weiner's press conference Monday.
"It's frustrating because we'll talk to him, and say clean it up, and then he goes out and does stuff," said the member of the House Democratic leadership, who declined to speak on the record about private discussions with Weiner.
"He's got to put the period at the end of the sentence," the Democratic source said before Weiner's confession. "It's painful."
Whatever voters might decide in 17 months when he's next on the ballot, CNN contributor and longtime Democratic insider James Carville said that Weiner has hurt himself considerably among fellow members of his party. One big reason is that his wife, Huma Abedin, had been a longtime aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- with former President Bill Clinton even officiating the couple's nuptials last July.
"Right now, the Democrats are furious at this guy," said Carville. "He is married to one of the most popular people in the Democratic party."
CNN's Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.


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A winter virus gave me "a space", Sanctuary, to read this book from beginning to end. Prior to this I had dipped in and out of it and had thoroughly enjoyed titbits and contemplating the photographs.
But this big book of 226 pages and 172 references is a rich, deep, satisfying and stimulating read. It was a decade in the writing and covers much of the author's life experiences.
It is a well ordered book that circles from the first section: "Wondering about Sanctuary", to "Illuminating Sanctuary", to "Protecting Sanctuary" to "Wonderment of Sanctuary".
I doubt there was a page in Julie's book where I was not drawn in, encouraged to wonder, to absorb or marvel or question.
Her home on the Kapiti Coast is where my newly widowed mother sought sanctuary, in her new home and environment for the remaining 15 years of her life. The beach, the sea, the birds, the sky and the looming guardian of Kapiti Island are strong links to me and my understanding of this special environment.
The section of Julie's book where she writes about a poetry course she ran for people suffering from the effects of stroke, Alzheimers and Parkinson's disease, I found particularly poignant. No matter our age or physical condition, our soul remains a sanctuary.
Not only did I find this immensely reassuring but also a wonderful example of compassion. To take time, to give careful attention to detail and to offer attentive presence, gave rise to illuminations from these peoples' spirits.
The book is full of detail, research, images, references, journal entries, poetry, anecdotes, peoples' thoughts and experiences. Julie's writing skills are exemplified in her in-depth exploration of words, concepts, beliefs and experiences.
The thoughts and contributions of Julie's friends and acquaintances sit easily among those of influential writers and thinkers across the ages. Sanctuary is not the domain of the highly trained, specialised or profoundly learned and wise; it is for every one of us as human beings.
Sanctuary (from the Latin "Sanctus" meaning Holy) can be found anywhere and in limitless ways. It is not limited or definitively prescribed. As the title "the discovery of wonder" indicates – discover what works for you, what gives you inner space. The cover of the book is a contemplation on this very issue.
I found this book to be one I want to own so that I can return to it again and again for my own personal and spiritual understanding and development.
Note: For an in depth review of Julie Leibrich's book that I enjoyed reading go here: