text:
Social media is widely thought to be crucial to a successful marketing plan, especially when a vast majority of the upcoming customer base view it as an extension of themselves. Many small businesses realize this and have successfully integrated at least one platform into their daily operations. It seems like there's a new social network every six months, it can be hard to keep track of them.
Here's some important information about each of the top five, as of 2012, social networks, that as a whole make up social media.
- Facebook. With around 900 million users, Facebook is "the" social network for connecting with nearly everyone and has become one of the main forms of communication among the younger generation. In general, over half of users are between the age of 18 and 34, and spend an average of 405 minutes a month connected. If you're looking to connect to customers, while driving brand awareness, your company should be utilizing this network.
- Linkedin. Linkedin is the social network for professionals to connect with other professionals, share their experience and find a job. There are around 150 million users, 55% of whom are between the ages 26 and 44 and spend, on average, 21 minutes a month logged in. If you're looking to connect with your colleagues, other businesses or potential employees, this is the network that allows you to do so.
- Twitter. Twitter is the social network that allows users to announce, or find events going on nearby. With a 140 character limit, twitter is great for those who are efficient with their words, which is apparently over 550 million people. The majority of twitter users are between the ages of 26 and 44 and spend an average of 89 minutes a month logged in. Twitter is a great way for small businesses to broadcast announcements and promotions, with the goal of driving traffic to other social networks.
- Google +. Google + is the closest competitor to Facebook with many similar features. There are two major differences however. The first is the userbase is quite a bit lower, around 170 million users. The second difference is users only spend 3 minutes a month, on average logged in. If your business has a Google Places page, you're already on Google +, and with recent changes to the platform, it should become a solid network to connect with your customers in the near future.
- Pinterest. Pinterest is the network to discover new content and products and is one of the fastest growing social networks. Founded in 2010 and coming to prominence in 2011, the userbase is around 11.4 million and growing rapidly. What's intriguing about Pinterest is that users spend, on average, 90 minutes a month logged in, second only to Facebook. This network is a great way for companies to drive interest in their physical products.
These five networks are by far the most popular in terms of both users, time spent logged in and overall content. What social networks you use and why do you use them? We look forward to your comments below.


text:
Lotus and Renault have extended their Formula One partnership for 2014 and beyond, both sides announced in a statement.
The deal was seen as a formality, with Lotus testing in Bahrain this week with their new car ahead of the season starting in Australia on March 16.
Lotus, the former Renault-owned team, had financial problems last season and were the last to announce officially their engine supplier.
Renault are also supplying power units to champions Red Bull, sister team Toro Rosso and Malaysian-owned Caterham. Mercedes and Ferrari are the sport's other engine makers.
"Lotus F1 Team and Renault Sport F1 have enjoyed a successful partnership these past few years and we look forward to continue to build on our relationship and collaboration in 2014 and beyond," said Lotus chief executive Matthew Carter.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Deputies charge house cleaners in NSB condo burglary, official says
Deputies are searching for a woman's future mother-in-law and fellow house cleaner after surveillance video showed them using a stolen credit card, an official said.
The Volusia County Sheriff's Office arrested Amanda Middlebrooks on Monday after connecting her to a recent theft from the Errol by the Sea condos near New Smyrna Beach, spokesman Gary Davidson said in a release. Now, they are seeking the public's help in finding Joann Livesay.
The condo was being rented by a 65-year-old man and his 61-year-old wife, who officials have not named. They left their door unlocked Feb. 15 while they went to the swimming pool, Davidson said. When they returned, they discovered the woman's purse was stolen, and they soon started receiving alerts from their bank about purchases being made in the area with their credit cards.
Investigators obtained surveillance video from two Walmart stores and a pawn shop, where some fraudulent purchases were made, and saw two women using the cards together, Davidson said. During each fraudulent trip, the women were seen traveling in an orange 2007 Chrysler PT Cruiser.
The car was traced back to Middlebrooks, 32, who initially denied the whole thing but, after being shown surveillance video, said she didn't know the woman but offered to give her a ride to several businesses, Davidson said. Middlebrooks eventually confessed she and her future mother-in-law, Livesay, 53, were cleaning houses near the condo and decided to commit a burglary.
Middlebrooks said she participated because her fiance doesn't have a job, and she's having financial trouble caring for her two children, Davidson said. Middlebrooks is charged with burglary, grand theft, use of another person's identification without their consent and two counts of attempted use of another person's identification. She is being held at the Volusia County Branch Jail with bail set at $50,000.
Davidson said an arrest warrant has been issued for Livesay on charges of burglary and unlawful use of a credit card with bail set at $100,000.
Investigators are asking anyone who may have employed the women and had property stolen to contact the Sheriff's Office at 386-423-3301. Anyone with information about Livesay also is asked to call the Sheriff's Office, or Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida, toll-free, at 888 277-TIPS. Tips also can be sent via text message to Crime Stoppers by texting "TIP231 plus your message" to CRIMES. Individuals who provide information to Crime Stoppers can qualify for a reward of up to $1,000


text:
Political endorsements rarely make interesting reading. But this year is different. Take the endorsements of Hillary Clinton by the New York Times [NY Times, January 25, 2008] and Barack Obama by Caroline Kennedy [NY Times, January 27, 2008].
To the editors of the New York Times, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama agree on policy goals:
"On the major issues, there is no real gulf separating the two. They promise an end to the war in Iraq, more equitable taxation, more effective government spending, more concern for social issues, a restoration of civil liberties and an end to the politics of division of George W. Bush and Karl Rove."
What matters to the editors is experience in "tackling ... issues" -- in mastering details of policy and carrying them out one by one. "The next president needs to start immediately on challenges that will require concrete solutions, resolve, and the ability to make government work."
To Caroline Kennedy, policy is not the real issue:
"Most of us would prefer to base our voting decision on policy differences. However, the candidates' goals are similar. They have all laid out detailed plans on everything from strengthening our middle class to investing in early childhood education. So qualities of leadership, character and judgment play a larger role than usual.
"I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved."
The difference is striking. To the editors of the New York Times, the quality of leadership seems not to be an "issue." The ability to unite the country is not an "issue." What Obama calls the empathy deficit -- attunement to the experience and needs of real people -- is not an "issue." Honesty is not an "issue." Trust is not an "issue." Moral judgment is not an "issue." Values are not "issues." Adherence to democratic ideals -- rather than political positioning, triangulation, and incrementalism -- are not "issues." Inspiration, a call to a higher purpose, and a transcendence of interest-based politics are not "issues."
It is time to understand what counts as an "issue," to whom, and why.
In Thinking Points, the handbook for progressives that the Rockridge Institute staff and I wrote last year, we began by analyzing Ronald Reagan's strengths as a politician. According to his chief strategist, Richard Wirthlin, Reagan realized that most voters do not vote primarily on the basis of policies, but rather on (1) values, (2) connection, (3) authenticity, (4) trust, and (5) identity. That is, Reagan spoke about his values, and policies for him just exemplified values. He connected viscerally with people. He was perceived as authentic, as really believing what he said. As a result, people trusted him and identified with him. Even if they had different positions on issues, they knew where he stood. Even when his economic policies did not produce a "Morning in America," voters still felt a connection to him because he spoke to what they wanted America to be. That was what allowed Reagan to gain the votes of so many independents and Democrats.
There is a reason that Obama recently spoke of Reagan. Reagan understood that you win elections by drawing support from independents and the opposite side. He understood what unified the country so that he could lead it according to his vision. His vision was a radical conservative one, a vision devastating for the country and contradicted by his economic policies.
Obama understands the importance of values, connection, authenticity, trust, and identity.
But his vision is deeply progressive. He proposes to lead in a very different direction than Reagan. Crucially, he adds to that vision a streetwise pragmatism: his policies have to do more than look good on paper; they have to bring concrete material results to millions of struggling Americans in the lower and middle classes. They have to meet the criteria of a community organizer.
The Clintonian policy wonks don't seem to understand any of this. They have trivialized Reagan's political acumen as an illegitimate triumph of personality over policy. They confuse values with programs. They have underestimated authenticity and trust.
So do the pundits who pose the questions in the debates.
This nomination campaign is about much more than the candidates. It about a major split within the Democratic party. The candidates are reflecting that split. Here are three of the major "issues" dividing Democrats.
First, triangulation: moving to the right -- adopting right-wing positions -- to get more votes. Bill Clinton did it and Hillary believes in it. It is what she means by "bipartisanship." Obama means the opposite by "bipartisanship." To Obama, it is a recognition that central progressive moral principles are fundamental American principles. For him, bipartisanship means finding people who call themselves "conservatives" or "independents," but who share those central American values with progressives. Obama thus doesn't have to surrender or dilute his principles for the sake of "bipartisanship."
The second is incrementalism: Hillary believes in getting lots of small carefully crafted policies through, one at a time, step by small step, real but almost unnoticed. Obama believes in bold moves and the building of a movement in which the bold moves are demanded by the people and celebrated when they happen. This is the reason why Hillary talks about "I," I," "I" (the crafter of the policy) and Obama talks about "you" and "we" (the people who demand it and who jointly carry it out).
The third is interest group politics: Hillary looks at politics through interests and interest groups, seeking policies that satisfy the interests of such groups. Obama's thinking emphasizes empathy over interest groups. He also sees empathy as central to the very idea of America. The result is a positive politics grounded in empathy and caring that is also patriotic and uplifting.
For a great many Democrats, these are the real issues. These real differences between the candidates reflect real differences within the party. Whoever gets the nomination, these differences will remain.
It is time for the press, the pundits, the pollsters, and the political scientists to take these issues seriously.
George Lakoff is Richard and Rhoda Goldman Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of Don't Think of an Elephant!


text:
In this in-depth hour-long interview: we dive deep into River of Grace – gratitude in the midst of difficult times – obedience as a joyful "yes" to new adventures, new life after loss and restoring the joy of living, life metaphors for grace … Also, a quick sneak peak at Louisa May Alcott: Illuminated by The Message! Elizabeth Reardon really did her homework! Check it out.
Visit An Engaging Faith on Facebook.
Join my Email List (special surprises just for you!)
to subscribe to this blog.
Keep up with news and free giveaways regarding Susan's new books, River of Grace
and Louisa May Alcott: Iluminated by The Message!
Susan Bailey, Author, Speaker, Musician on Facebook and Twitter
Read Susan's blog, Louisa May Alcott is My Passion


text:
Today I came across an article on Daily Life that discusses how female authors should consider male — or at least gender neutral — pseudonyms if they want to have a higher likelihood of being
a) published, b) reviewed, c) read by men.
This may or may not be true… but what makes me feel sad and a bit angry is that the subject has even come up. The idea that women should pretend to be men in pursuit of greater success is just infuriating.
We all know that's how it used to be; but haven't we come past this by now?
The article thus cited is actually not condoning this course of action, but rather promoting the Australian Women Writers Challenge (AWW) — an initiative aimed at encouraging people to read and review Australian women authors. It was kicked off last year very successfully, and I think I just might sign up for it this year. All are welcome — you can sign up for the 2013 challenge here.
Raising the profile of women's writing is important, no matter how much we might lament the need.
But as for the idea that I might ever adopt a male pen name — forget it. We women need to stand up and be proud of being women, and scorn any man narrow-minded enough to discriminate against a book based on the gender of its author.
If someone elects not to read a book because of its subject, or style… that's another matter entirely.
All right I'll jump off the soap box now. Feedback, people? Thoughts on the topic? I accept there may be some alternate views I've not thought of…
Would any of you women authors reading this consider adopting a male pseudonym? What do you blokes think? [Bloke: Australian slang for man.]


text:
Scholastic recently released A Birthday Cake for George Washington. Even before I tell you about it I imagine you can guess what's happened after a few guesses.
The book is about Washington's enslaved chef, Hercules. He's baking a cake for Washington without sugar. His daughter is happy to assist him.
Therein lies the major issue people have had with the book. It depicts slaves as quite happy in their situation because the author labels these two as nearly free. Now Scholastic has stopped distributing the book. Which I think is the correct path forward.
They wrote the truth about slaves and the time period in an editor's and author's note. Which tells me they knew they'd done the book poorly. And they sought to clarify things outside its text without rewriting and illustrating everything all over again. Or they're just clueless. Could be either one or both.
I don't think kid's books are inherently easier to write than other genres, but this definitely isn't the right way to do it. Not even close.
What do you think of this book depicting slaves in such a positive light?


text:
I originally posted this excerpt in 2015, but it's hard to believe it wasn't penned yesterday. I don't know the original date it was written, but it first appeared in the collection titled God in the Dock, and we found this excerpt in another anthology tiled The Joyful Christian. Since Lewis died in 1963, we know the material is, at minimum, around 60 years old. I've changed the paragraphing and (horrors!) Americanized some spelling. Revisiting it today, I was struck especially by the second-last paragraph which reminded me of the ESV "permanent translation" discussions of 2016.
It is possible that the reader … may ask himself why we need a new translation of any part of the Bible… "Do we not already possess," it may be said, "in the Authorized Version the most beautiful rendering which any language can boast?" Some people whom I have met go even further and feel that a modern translation is not only unnecessary but even offensive. They cannot bear to see the time-honored words altered; it seems to them irreverent.
In the first place the kind of objection which they feel to a new translation is very like the objection which was once felt to any English translation at all. Dozens of sincerely pious people in the sixteenth century shuddered at the idea of turning the time-honored Latin of the Vulgate into our common and (as they thought) 'barbarous' English. A sacred truth seemed to them to have lost its sanctity when it was stripped of the polysyllabic Latin, long heard at Mass and at Hours, and put into 'language such as men do use'—language steeped in all the commonplace associations of the nursery, the inn, the stable, and the street.
The answer then was the same as the answer now. The only kind of sanctity which Scripture can lose (or, at least, New Testament scripture) by being modernized is an accidental kind which it never had for its writers or its earliest readers. The New Testament in the original Greek is not a work of literary art: it is not written in a solemn, ecclesiastical language, it is written in the sort of Greek which was spoken over the Eastern Mediterranean after Greek had become an international language and therefore lost its real beauty and subtlety.
In it we see Greek used by people who have no real feeling for Greek words because Greek words are not the words they spoke when they were children. It is a sort of "basic" Greek; a language without roots in the soil, a utilitarian, commercial and administrative language. Does this shock us? It ought not to, except as the Incarnation itself ought to shock us. The same divine humility which decreed that God should become a baby at a peasant woman's breast, and later an arrested field preacher in the hands of the Roman police, decreed also that He should be preached in a vulgar, prosaic and unliterary language. If you can stomach the one, you can stomach the other. The Incarnation is in that sense an irreverent doctrine….
When we expect that [the Bible] should have come before the World in all the beauty that we now feel in the Authorized Version we are as wide of the mark as the Jews were in expecting that the Messiah would come as a great earthly King.
The real sanctity, the real beauty and sublimity of the new Testament (as of Christ's life) are of a different sort: miles deeper and further in.
In the second place, the Authorized Version has ceased to be a good (that is, a clear) translation. It is no longer modern English: the meanings of words have changed. The same antique glamor which has made it (in the superficial sense) so 'beautiful', so 'sacred', so 'comforting', and so 'inspiring', has also made it in many places unintelligible…
[He then gives some examples.]
…The truth is that if we are to have translation at all we must have periodical re-translation. There is no such thing as translating a book into another language once and for all, for a language is a changing thing. If your son is to have clothes it is no good buying him a suit once and for all: he will grow out of it and have to be re-clothed.
And finally – though it may seem a sour paradox – we must sometimes get away from the Authorized Version if for no other reason, simply because it is so beautiful and so solemn. Beauty exalts, but beauty also lulls. Early associations endear but they also confuse. Through that beautiful solemnity the transporting or horrifying realities of which the Book tells may come to us blunted and disarmed and we may only sigh with tranquil veneration when we ought to be burning with shame, or struck dumb with terror, or carried out of ourselves by ravishing hopes and adorations.


text:
Do you have any idea what the little bits of deliciousness that are stuck to the bottom of you pan are called? Claire Vanderhoof does.
I met Claire at the BlogHer Food Conference this past September in San Francisco. She works for Calphalon and can tell you about any of their products. Claire has amazing energy and great food knowledge. I love her description of the what, how and why's of deglazing. If you got lucky like me, a new pan was waiting for you under the tree. I can't wait to get started cooking with mine. What are you going to deglaze in your pan?


text:
Kibitzer in chief
In Israel last week, President Obama was quite the kibitzer.
He kibitzed — Yiddish for offering unsolicited chatter, jokes or advice — about the stripes on the tarmac at Ben Gurion Airport. He kibitzed about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's family and about being a lefty. He kibitzed about the weather and gardening. He kibitzed about Israeli President Shimon Peres' health, a mechanical snake, a chandelier and the relative troubles presented by Congress and the Knesset.
He even kibitzed on a visit to Yitzhak Rabin's grave Friday, as overheard by reporters in the White House press pool: "Bibi arranged for perfect weather ... Shimon plied me with wine ... [Rabin] had a great speaking voice. ... I can sing. They had me on YouTube."
Obama didn't accomplish much of substance: no obvious progress toward talks with the Palestinians, no new ground in deterring Iran's nuclear program or Syria's chemical weapons. But the Israelis, who had been suspicious of Obama's commitment to the Jewish state, were delighted by the attention. "He had us at 'Shalom'" was the headline on an analysis in The Jerusalem Post.
The trip was so successful that it could provide Obama with a road map (to use the moribund term from peace talks) for success in his second term in areas beyond the region. Call it the triumph of low expectations: When your goals are less ambitious, they are easier to meet.
When he came into office in 2009, Obama had encouraged the belief that he could bring peace to the world and prosperity to the American economy, and still be home for lunch. Now, after a humbling four years, he has lowered his sights. White House officials discouraged any belief that the Israel trip was about something other than good will.
When reporters asked Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, about the early stages of the trip, he replied: "This is fantastic. We have not had to talk business yet."
Obama began his presidency with hopes of being an honest broker between Israelis and Palestinians. "The situation for the Palestinian people is intolerable," he said in his Cairo speech four years ago proclaiming "it is time for us to act." Construction of Israeli settlements, he noted, "violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop."
Two years later, Obama alarmed Israel when he proclaimed that "the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps."
But on this trip, he stood in Ramallah with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and encouraged the Palestinians not to "put the cart before the horse" by demanding a settlement freeze before entering peace talks.
Speaking to Israeli students in Jerusalem, Obama was philosophical. "I know that only Israelis can make the fundamental decisions about your country's future," he said. He told them he had proposed "principles on territory and security that I believe can be the basis for [peace] talks — but for the moment, put aside the plans and the process. I ask you, instead, to think about what can be done to build trust between people. ... That's where peace begins — not just in the plans of leaders, but in the hearts of people."
Even a heckler demanding the release of Jonathan Pollard, a spy for Israel, didn't interfere with Obama's friendly spirit. "I have to say we actually arranged for that because it made me feel at home," he told the crowd.
Gone were Obama's demands. Suppressed were his lofty ambitions. And absent were expectations, in his audience and among the American public, that he would achieve a peace breakthrough. It was a tacit admission of failure, yet everybody seemed happier with the scaled-back aspirations.
Obama expressed particular delight in the ceremonial parts of his visit, such as toasting Peres, the 89-year-old president. "Mmm, that's good wine," he said after requesting a fresh glass. "Actually, we should probably get this out of the photograph. All these people will say I'm having too much fun in Israel."
Earlier, Obama planted a magnolia tree in the president's garden. "I want everyone to know, this was on Air Force One," he said. Shoveling earth, he added: "And we're very good gardeners."
After the ceremony, Israeli officials said the tree would be inspected for pests and that it may need to be dug up. But that didn't matter: The point was the gesture — not whether or not it took root.
Dana Milbank writes this column for The Washington Post. Follow him on Twitter, @Milbank.


text:
Heliconius lucianaAndrew V. Z. Brower and Margarita Beltrán
A geographically-restricted Heliconius species, apparently belonging to the silvaniform group, occurring in Roraima (northern Brazil) and Venezuela. It is involved in Müllerian mimicry with H. antiochus, and perhaps also local dark forms of H. hecale and H. burneyi.
Early stages: Eggs are yellow and approximately 1.5 x 1.1 mm (h x w). Females usually place eggs singly on growing shoots and tendrils of the host plant (Brown, 1981).
Adult: H. luciana is blackish-blue with white transverse forewing bands. It may be distinguished from mimetic H. antiochus by the presence of submarginal white spots on the forewing which give the white band a more broken appearance. The costal margin of the hindwing in males exhibits the pale androconial scales typical of members of the silvaniform and cydno-melopmene groups. The underside of the hindwing is marked by a costal yellow stripe reminiscent of that found in H. elevatus, to which this species may be related.
H. luciana occurs from sea level to 1,500 m in riparian forest.
Hostplant: H. luciana larvae feed primarily on plants from the subgenus Granadilla from Quadrangulares, Digitales, and Laurifoliae sections (Passifloraceae) (Brown, 1981).
Geographical Races
Two subspecies/races have been described:
- Heliconius luciana luciana Lichy 1960, Roraima (northern Brazil) and upper Orinoco in Venezuela
- Heliconius luciana watunna Lichy 1970, Rio Cuchivero, central Venezuela
Brown KS (1981) The Biology of Heliconius and Related Genera. Annual Review of Entomology 26, 427-456.
Lichy, R. 1960 Documentos para servir al estudio de los Lepidopteros de Venezuela IV. Un especie nueva del genero Heliconius Kluk (Rhopalocera, Nymphalidae) Heliconius luciana sp. n. Rev. Fac. Agron. Univ. Central. Venez. (Maracay) 2, 20-44.
Lichy, R. 1970 Documentos para servir al estudio de los lepidopteros de Venezuela. Una subespecie nueva del genero Heliconius Kluk (Rhopalocera, Nymphalidae): Heliconius luciana watunna subsp. nov. Bol. Acad. Cienc. Fis. Mat. Nat. (Caracas) 30, 39-47.
Lichy, R. 1960. Documentos para servir al estudio de los lepidópteros de Venezuela (4a. Nota). Un [sic] especie nueva del género Heliconius Kluk (Rhopalocera, Nymphalidae) Heliconius luciana sp. n. Revista de la Facultad de Agronomía (Maracay) 2(3): 20-44, 10 figs. (May) [general; mimicry; ecology]
About This Page
Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA
University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Andrew V. Z. Brower at and Margarita Beltrán at
Page copyright © 2010 and
Page: Tree of Life Heliconius luciana Authored by . Andrew V. Z. Brower and Margarita Beltrán. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.
- First online 24 June 2008
- Content changed 03 July 2008
Citing this page:
Brower, Andrew V. Z. and Margarita Beltrán. 2008. Heliconius luciana http://tolweb.org/Heliconius_luciana/72901/2008.07.03 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/. Version 03 July 2008 (under construction).


text:
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The Daily Dress: Jordin Sparks
It's hard to tell from the photo, but it looks like the dress may have some interesting diagonal seaming. It reminds me a bit of this Butterick pattern:
28 comments:
- AnonymousApril 12, 2011 at 4:12 PM
Ha, I love the whole "desperately wanting to pull to the hair back" thing, and I'm definitely in agreement. I say YES!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousApril 12, 2011 at 4:26 PM
definitely yes!ReplyDelete
I would love to see you in this, and a couple of tips of how you did it! I'm a novice sewer and bought the pattern, as it's marked easy, but I'm terrified to do all those tucks and markings! please oh please!
yay...especially if you make the cap sleeves! I love that idea.ReplyDelete
Definitely yeah!!ReplyDelete
I made this dress in red. Definitely Yay! It makes your waist look tiny.ReplyDelete
Maybe you could get her to stand up straight while you're pushing her back. I really like that Butterick pattern & bought it during one their sales. Whether I ever get to it is another matter, though!ReplyDelete
- Sew Show MeApril 12, 2011 at 5:28 PM
I don't think either example is especially flattering, although I like the color of the first dress and think that Sparks is a pretty woman.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousApril 12, 2011 at 5:40 PM
Amanda did a version of this dress in winter white that looks fantastic: http://amandasadventuresinsewing.blogspot.com/2011/01/butterick-5559-winter-white-doubleknit.htmlReplyDelete
I don't sew from patterns but was tempted to buy the pattern after I saw her version, not sure if I'd be able to draft those tucks to fall so perfectly
-Grace L
Yes, love the Butterick pattern. I've seen it made up elsewhere and it was super flattering. I'm interested to see it made again -- I might even be tempted to do one!ReplyDelete
P.S. Not like you don't have enough to do already, but I like the addition of a 'similar' pattern to the Dress of the Day post ;)ReplyDelete
I made this dress and posted about it a number of times. Here's the finished product: http://line4line.blogspot.com/2011/02/orange-you-glad-to-see-this.htmlReplyDelete
It's surprisingly fussy. But I do enjoy the finished product.
I have a dress very similar to the Butterick pattern, but I made it in black with more of a V neck. I love the fact that the diagonal lines are slimming to the waist.ReplyDelete
I love the idea of that Vogue pattern made retro with a lower hem. I really love the boat neck and elbow-length sleeves and think it's extremely demure for a dress that's basically sex on toast.ReplyDelete
I think that is just a fabulous design! If you really didn't want the diagonal lines you can just improvise and not add them. (I definitely don't notice the lines in her dress, but it's a small picture.)ReplyDelete
I say yes to the dress!ReplyDelete
I like the pattern, but I think the dress is way too tight.ReplyDelete
I say yea but with alterations. I would fiddle with the neckline and sleeves they are a bit too plain for me.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousApril 13, 2011 at 3:47 AM
Based on all the versions I've seen so far: yeahReplyDelete
I made the Butterick dress in a black cotton doubleknit with silver topstitching on those pleats and I get tons of compliments on it. It is very flattering and not all that difficult to make.
- AnonymousApril 13, 2011 at 8:52 AM
I am not in love with this pattern either, but I have to admit that the lines are very flattering.ReplyDelete
I, too, have overlooked this design and may yet consider it!ReplyDelete
I like the Butterick pattern and hav noticed it but rejected it: my figure is not right with it, and I imagine fitting the diagonal lines could become a fitting nightmare. I would do a PatternReview search before taking this one on.ReplyDelete
I love it! I have a Maggie London dress in some kind of thick poly/rayon in plum, exactly the same as the pattern, and I get loads of compliments! Def enhances an hourglass (even a more generous one) figure.ReplyDelete
I actually have the pattern you link to, and am planning to make it as soon as I can afford an adjustable dressform for tailoring purposes.ReplyDelete
in summation, I say YEA!!
I say yes! I have that pattern in my que and just bought the perfect violet knit on my first trip to NYC! It's going to be my birhtday dress in May!ReplyDelete
I've seen several versions of that Butterick dress on Burda Style and Pattern Review, and when the fit is right, it's really stunning. The pintucking makes a truly simple dress very unique and special, and made in a neutral or a "new" neutral (red, for example, is a neutral for many people these days), it's a really easy piece to accessorize and change the look of. I don't have this pattern, but I admit that it's on my list.ReplyDelete


text:
Well, maybe not that important. Just a mini rant about the overuse of the word important, along with its close cousin, urgent, in communications and especially on mail items. They seems to be cluttering half of the envelopes that arrive in my mailbox, yet their contents are rarely important to anybody except the sender.
Why do mail marketers and others continue to use this tired old trick? I suppose that's rhetorical — they use it because it works. After all, even though we know the odds are it isn't important, and may be of no interest to us at all, we don't dare throw it away unopened just in case it actually is important.
More Tricks
Sure, sometimes you can tell from the return address who it's from, but sometimes there's no name; just an address. Or worse yet, the return address is misleading. Bank Of America (or its "marketing partners" – euphemism for "companies we sold your name and address to") sends all sorts of things in essentially identical envelopes, all with the bank's return address. Usually it's an offer for some sort of insurance, or trying to get me to apply for some sort of loan or another, but I am forced to open each and every one and give its contents at least a cursory glance, lest I discard my statement or other legitimate communication regarding my account.
OK, now that I have that mini-rant out of my system, and just to show you my headline isn't totally bogus, let's move on to something that, while it might not be too important in the overall scheme of things, you might enjoy.
About My Home
With all that describing of different kinds of RVs in my last post, I didn't even tell you what I live in. My home is a 1979 Georgie Boy Cruise Master CM20RB. It is a 20-foot class C motorhome. Interior space is 18 feet long by 7 feet wide, or 126 square feet. Here's the floor plan:
Here's what it looks like on the inside…
…or at least what the one in this brochure did when it was new:
If you'd like to learn more, or are just into 70's advertising or shag carpeting, you can click the brochure cover for an eight-page PDF.
Ahhh, but what does it look like now, 32 years later, you ask? Time for…
Clutter Porn!
I know that at least one of my readers (Hi Tanja!) has been patiently waiting for me to post some photos of my clutter. While I'm not quite ready to offer a full portfolio yet, I'll dip my toe in the water with this small offering:
As you can see, I still have my work cut out for me. In my defense, pretty much everything I own is in here, in 126 square feet. I'm still plugging away at it, and I'll get there eventually (and post more photos, too).
Oh, and here's what the outside looks like:
Yeah, even the outside is cluttered, but the stuff on top of the table and the boxes and pile near the rear wheels are stuff to be sold or donated, so it's not quite as bad as it looks. Why's the hood open? Mechanical trouble? Naw, it's just open to discourage the packrats (the 4-legged kind) from nesting in there. They'll make a mess and chew through hoses and wires, too.
What Do You Think?
Are "important" and "urgent" overused? Is 126 square feet too big? too small? just right? Want more clutter porn? Comments are always open.


text:
Not too long ago I got the opportunity to review Kiss Me Organics Matcha Green Tea. I liked it. A lot. Clean, not jittery, energy and overall a nice switch from regular coffees and teas. Kiss Me Organics decided to then send me the Ceremonial Grade Matcha. I'm more than game.
Ceremonial grade Matcha must meet specific guidelines. From only the youngest, brightest, most vibrant leaves, grown in the shade, from only the very tip of the bush. Streamed, air dried, and stone-ground, this highest grade green tea is traditionally harvested from specific regions of the Japanese mountains, and is reserved for special occasions or a special treat due to the unique conditions required for growing and harvesting. It's taste is unique as well, delicate but also full bodied with high sweet notes and a touch of butter at the finish.
Kiss Me Organics Ceremonial Grade Matcha is also the most sensitive to light and oxidization due to it's delicate nature. So it comes in a vacuum sealed foil pouch inside a sealed metal tin with a twist off top that seals airtight again after. Kiss Me Organics is serious about this tea, and one taste will tell you it's worth the effort. Ceremonial grade is the highest in nutrients, antioxidants, chlorophyll and fiber as well, with no artificial flavors or colors. I didn't think I'd notice so much difference from one grade to the next, but I did. It's a whisked tea that's thicker, richer, and with more range in the flavor than the premium grade. It leave s just a little sediment at the bottom, but that's nothing to complain about. I just love this tea.
If you're wondering if the higher grade is worth the higher price, I say it is. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and plan to save it for special occasions. It has all the same energy benefits I noted with the premium version. It also has the one big drawback too. It's so finely ground that it's nearly impossible to not drop a bit, and it stains almost instantly. So I'd advise preparing your tea over glass or something that is glazed and dishwasher safe. I hope my readers treat themselves to this tea and enjoy it as much as I did.
Retail Price Point: $28.00 via Amazon
Connect with Kiss Me Organics:
I received the above product(s) free of charge from Kiss Me Organics LLC. I am not obligated to provide a positive or favorable review, just my honest opinion. My review is based on my experience with the product and/or brand, which may differ from yours.


text:
Disorderly Conduct Attorney
Disorderly Conduct Attorney in Peoria
Many in Peoria Arizona refer to this as disturbing the peace. The disorderly conduct charge can be abused by police every day and can be used in just about any circumstance due to the broadness of the way the law (or statute) was written. Many times our Peoria disorderly conduct lawyers at Canyon State Law we find that the Peoria police department will include a disorderly conduct charge to just about any other criminal charge.
Why could you be charged with disorderly conduct?
The law or the statute ARS 13-2904 prohibits the following types of conduct, as you can see many of the behaviors below are broad and have been used to unnecessarily arresting Peoria, Arizona residents:
- Engage in a fight, act of violence, or seriously disruptive behavior.
- Make unreasonable noise.
- Use abusive or offensive language or gestures in a manner that's likely to provoke an immediate physical retaliation.
- Make protracted commotion, utterance or display with the intent to prevent transaction of the business of a lawful, meeting, gather or procession.
- Refuse to obey a lawful order to disperse issued to maintain public safety in dangerous proximity to a fire, a hazard or any other emergency.
- Recklessly handle, display, or discharge a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument.
What are the penalties for disorderly conduct in Peoria?
- Felony Disorderly Conduct: When charged with disorderly conduct involving a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument, it's a class 6 felony that has a maximum of 2 years of imprisonment. (see ARS 13-702)
- Misdemeanor Disorderly Conduct: Unless the charge involves a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument or aggravated, disorderly conduct is a class 1 misdemeanor. A class 1 misdemeanor carries $3600 in fines and surcharges, up to 6 months' jail, and a maximum of 3 years of probation. Should you be convicted of a domestic violence disorderly conduct, you will most likely lose the right to own or possess firearms and must complete at least 26 weeks of the State's mandated domestic violence program.
As Criminal Defense Lawyers in Peoria AZ, we know that felony convictions include more severe punishments, including prison, higher fines, and harsher probation. Someone charged with disorderly conduct could face up to two years in prison if the felony disorderly conduct is charged as a dangerous offense. However, oftentimes, felony disorderly conduct is charged with an allegation of dangerousness because a deadly or dangerous instrument was used. When convicted of a felony disorderly conduct probation is not allowed to be offered. Should it be your first offense of dangerous disorderly conduct, you possibly will face between 1.5 and 3 years in prison. However, if you have a record of felony convictions in the past, you could face as much as 6 years in prison. Once convicted of a felony in Peoria you will face a loss of civil rights and gun rights. We have seen felony conviction severely impacts employment, finances, civil rights, and future opportunities. Because of the consequences of such a broad law, you need to be aggressive in choosing the right disorderly conduct attorney in Peoria when you are arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.
What is a common defense to disorderly conduct?
- The person charged didn't have the right state of mind. To be charged you must have had the intent to disturb the peace, or known that your conduct was disturbing the peace. If it was simply a reasonable mistake or accident, it's not a criminal charge. If you have been charged with disorderly conduct for disturbing the peace of a neighborhood, your conduct may be measured against an objective standard, and the state doesn't need to prove a particular person was disturbed. It's enough if the Defendant, at least, should have known that the conduct would have disturbed the peace of anyone in the neighborhood.
If instead, you are charged with disorderly conduct for disturbing the peace of someone, in particular, the state MUST prove that you knowingly disturbed that victim's peace, or that you intended to disturb that his or her peace. The statute defining disorderly conduct doesn't require that one actually disturbing the peace of another through certain acts. Rather, the statute requires the commission of certain acts with intent to disturb the peace, or with knowledge of so doing.
- There was no criminal act. The Arizona law is clearly stated, that the disorderly conduct statute is not unconstitutionally broad or ambiguous; however, the statute's broad language can often help you or someone charged with a disorderly conduct crime. This is because a criminal defense lawyer can point out the shortcomings of the alleged conduct as it compares to previous Peoria Arizona court decisions interpreting the disorderly conduct statute. There's a difference between merely rude or offensive behavior and criminal conduct. The state of Arizona criminalizes behavior, under the disorderly conduct statute, only when it involves fighting, violence, or seriously disruptive behavior. Seriously disruptive behavior is of the same general nature as fighting or violence or conduct liable to provoke that response in others. The disruption must be serious—something that causes considerable distress, anxiety, or inconvenience.
- 1st Amendment, Free Speech. The right to free speech is protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. The right to free speech, however, is not absolute. The constitution doesn't allow fighting words. Fighting words that inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace are not afforded constitutional protection. Fighting words are those words that are inherently likely to provoke a violent reaction when addressed to the ordinary citizen. Offensive language is not disorderly conduct unless it amounts to fighting words.
Our lawyers can provide the following benefits when representing you against disorderly conduct charge:
- Transparent Flat Fees and Payment Plans: We know that one's stress once charged with disorderly conduct can be severe. We want to be as transparent as possible and keep the cost of your defense upfront with no hidden fees or costs.
- Attention and Excellent Communication: We use a team approach as we have seen this have the best result for our clients. Many prosecutors and judges have a predisposition to certain lawyers. In our experience, we have seen the outcome of a case be drastically different solely because of the personality of the defense attorney and his or her relationship with a judge or prosecutor.
- Disorderly Conduct Case Evaluations: We would love the opportunity to represent you with your disorderly conduct charge. However, we know that every case is unique and the circumstances surrounding it. We don't take all cases. Call us to schedule a time for one of our defense attorneys to review your case.
Schedule a legal consultation with our Peoria disorderly conduct lawyers today!
14050 N 83rd Ave Suite 290, Peoria, AZ 85381
(602) 726-9955


text:
Epic Games' chief Mark Rein says the NGP will offer a ridiculously compelling" console experience to gamers.
Speaking to Eurogamer at GDC, he claimed the addition of dual analogue sticks will boost the PSP successor's appeal to shooter fans and encourage people to play it for longer periods of time.
He said: I love console game experiences. I love, love, love playing Gears of War, Call of Duty, Borderlands – I just love those kinds of games. And you really need the DualShock type controls to do it effectively.
The NGP delivers it in spades. You really do want to play those kinds of games on it for sustained periods of time. Sat down on your couch, or in a hotel room, or somewhere you don't have a big TV. It's a fantastic experience."
Rein went on to claim that the price – expected by some to be as high as $349 – would not deter potential buyers, adding that the presence of titles like Call of Duty means the NGP could sell like frickin' crazy".
He further argued that higher price points hasn't prevented the iPad from achieving success.
Who would have thought iPad could survive?" he said. Everybody poo-pooed the idea of iPad and they've sold over 15 million of them. It's an indispensable part of your life now."


text:
It's been a crazy year for my magazine collection & I'm guilty of maintaining a pretty high stack of fashionable pages. However, it's nearly the end of August & the mountain is getting higher, especially since there are so many amazing September issues hitting stands & arriving in mailboxes all over the country. I've included a whopping 21 covers in this post, also featuring links to the coordinating articles / cover shoot details online.
Amanda Seyfried – Glamour Paris
Kelly Osbourne – Cosmopolitan UK
Sarah Jessica Parker – Harper's Bazaar
Scarlett Johansson – Harper's Bazaar Australia
Victoria Beckham – Vogue Australia
Zooey Deschanel – Marie Claire
Which magazine is your must-have for fall fashion? Which celebrity cover is your favorite? For more magazine-related posts, check out Girls actor Adam Driver's Vogue shoot, Chloe Grace Moretz's beauty shoot with Glamour, a behind-the-scenes video with Claire Danes, & the many playful & dramatic sides of actress Kate Mara! Happy Styling!


text:
The general theme of the book is that we're shifting away from a society of hyper-consumption and equating personal self-worth with amount of material good accumulated, and instead to a world where our ability to access and exchange resources, develop a reputation, and build community and social capital takes precedence in how we choose to express who we are and what we choose to define us.
The authors give hundreds of examples of how people are finding new ways to share and exchange value – what they call "collaborative consumption" – using social lending platforms (Zopa, LendingClub, Prosper), open barter networks (ITEX, Bartercard), peer-to-peer coworking and currencies (Hub Culture), reuse networks (Freecycle), car sharing (ZipCar, GoGet), bike sharing (BIXI), swap trading (SwapTree), and peer to peer rentals for plots of land (Landshare, a room for the night (Airbnb), or any other item you could imagine (Zilok).
The list goes on, and the book is packed with some pretty interesting statistics (for instance, did you know that bike sharing is the fastest-growing form of transportation in the world, or that peer-to-peer social lending is set to grow to $5 billion by 2013?). All the examples are broken down in three main categories of collaborative consumption: product service systems, redistribution markets, and collaborative lifestyles – which highlights that there are numerous ways that consumption is being redefined.
I loved that in the closing chapters, they pull out "design thinking" as being at the center of collaborative consumption. (we've had thorough discussions on that topic here before) The idea is that it's not just about creating more things anymore, but about thinking from a systems perspective and understanding how to find the balance in the relationship between business, sustainability, and consumption. Our planet can't handle an endless supply of product creation, so the shift is underway for us to begin to design for participation, collaboration, and enabling new experiences. When this intention is present in design, it can lead to empowerment, changes in the thoughts and behaviors of large groups of people, and advances in conscious decision-making.
All in all, if you're unaware of what's happening in the peer-to-peer exchange space, this book will quickly bring you up to speed.
In closing, here are a few of my main takeaways:
– The Internet enables a new infrastructure for participation, reducing the transaction costs of matching the wants and needs of people and giving them the opportunity to coordinate. We're finding this enables us to allocate resources and solve distribution problems more rapidly and effectively.
– By taking out the middlemen, people can begin to build trust with one other again. In the online space, this becomes transparent as reputation systems become more robust, revealing our interests, our social connections, and the trail of behaviors and actions across the Web.
– The "Tragedy of the Commons" is not a given. People are capable of sharing resources if given the tools to self-organize, coordinate, and monitor each other.
– New marketplaces are being built for people to build community, shape their personal identities, earn recognition, and participate in meaningful activity. They are finding new outlets for autonomy, control, freedom, and self-expression. While these activities strengthen social capital, they are also done for very practical reasons – to save time and/or money, to be more sustainable, or to gain access to better services.
– Aided by new communication infrastructures, we are learning to find the balance between the pursuit of one's own self-interest and the greater good.
For more information or to order a copy of the book, check out the online hub for Collaborative Consumption. You can follow Rachel on Twitter @RachelBotsman.


text:
Hillsong Chapel - Salvation is Here (Live)
Hillsong Chapel - Salvation is Here (Live) Buy Now: http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/hillsong-chapel/id399426154?ign-mpt=uo%3D4
Suggested For You
Christian Podcasts
Christian Podcasts
Inspirational Videos
Comedy Videos
Cute Videos
Today's Devotional
A Prayer to Grow Strong in Our Faith - Your Daily Prayer - June 9
Let's be like Abraham and never waver from our beliefs.
Top Music Videos
Christian News
The latest news and hot topics trending among Christian music, entertainment and faith life.
10 Best Hymns and Songs For Lent
As we prepare for Christ's Resurrection during the season of Lent, we must praise God's sacrifice of His only Son. Whether you connect through traditional hymns or modern worship songs, sing from your heart and rejoice in God's gift of salvation! Here are the 10 best hymns and songs for Lent.


text:
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says he supports beleaguered Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, but adds that the care the VA offers veterans is "not good enough."
Shinseki is a retired four-star general and Vietnam veteran who has come under criticism since reports surfaced that as many as 40 veterans died while waiting for medical care from the VA hospital in Phoenix. Veterans have also waited years in some cases to collect benefits from the administration. The American Legion and some in Congress have called for Shinseki's ouster.


text:
TelexFree owners charged with fraud, conspiracy
James M. Merrill and Carlos N. Wanzeler, principals of TelexFree of Marlboro, were indicted Wednesday on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy.
Merrill, 53, of Ashland, and Wanzeler, 45, of Northboro, were charged by a federal grand jury in a nine-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Worcester.
According to the indictment, TelexFree provided telephone services that allowed customers to use the Internet to make phone calls. The indictment alleges, however, that TelexFree actually operated as a pyramid scheme.
The U.S. Attonrey's office said that between early 2012 and March 2014, TelexFree purported to market its VOIP service by recruiting thousands of "promoters" to post ads for the product on the Internet.
The indictment includes eight charges of wire fraud based on Merrill wiring about $10 million in TelexFree funds to personal accounts belonging to him and Wanzeler. The indictment also seeks to have $140 million seized from TelexFree's accounts and various real assets, such as homes, condominiums, cars and two boats forfeited.
The men face up to 20 years in prison on each count.
Merrill was previously arrested on similar charges on May 9 and remains released on bail. A federal arrest warrant was issued today for Wanzeler, who is a fugitive.


text:
WINCHESTER (AP) All Michael Bryan was looking for was a deed. What the local attorney eventually found was a bit of a mystery — one nearly 169 years in the making — with a possible solution that involves spirits.
Bryan was seeking the deed for the property that housed the Winchester-Frederick County jail and Starting Point Detox Center for years but could not find the document.
Records in the Winchester Circuit Court Clerk's Office included older deeds for the parcel at 317 S. Cameron St., but he could not find the 1843 document transferring ownership of the property to Frederick County and the corporate municipality of Winchester.
City property records indicated it was on page 456 of deed book 71, but that information didn't match courthouse records.
"It puzzled me," said Bryan.
After trying everything he could think of for about a day, Bryan decided to search Frederick County's records. There, on page 456 of book 71, was the deed.
The document outlined the transaction that occurred on May 12, 1843.
John W. and Harriet R. Miller and George B. and Camelia E. Deiffenderfer, two married couples, had sold the property for $450. The sum was paid by "the said Justices of Frederick County and the said Mayor, Recorder and Aldermen of the Corporation of Winchester."
Rebecca Hogan, clerk of the Frederick County Circuit Court, said occasionally city documents are found in county records and vice versa. Fixing that problem is simple — a copy is made and transferred to the proper office.
With this deed, though, nothing would be simple.
"The problem," Hogan said, "was that it was in a bound book and was handwritten in, and it was in a big book that couldn't be easily copied."
Her solution was manual labor. Seeking peace and quiet for the task, Hogan took the deed book home one weekend and spent a few hours deciphering the document and typing a new one.
"I've never before had a clerk willing to hand-type a document," Bryan said.
Hogan's task wasn't easy. The deed is faded in spots. The script handwriting is difficult to decipher, with "p's" that look like "f's." It featured phrasing and terms considered arcane nowadays.
"I wouldn't want to do that for a living," she said of interpreting the deed. "If somebody comes to me with a book and wants me to type one, I'm going to run the other way."
The document twice used a version of the term "enfeoff." Hogan didn't know what it was, but Bryan was familiar with it.
"It means delivery of possession," said Bryan, who said he's searched thousands of deeds since he began practicing law in 1976. "It used to be a person taking a handful of dirt from the property and handing it over to the buyer.
"I learned it from law school at the University of Virginia, but it's the first time I've had to use it. My property law professor would be proud that I remembered that."
The document also chronicled a practice discontinued long ago. Two justices of the peace certified that they met with Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Deiffenderfer "privately and apart from their husbands" to explain the deed to them and insure that they understood and agreed to the sale.
Also included in the deed was a provision that a 9-foot-wide alley be kept open to give "the lot now owned by Maria Weaver, a free mulatto woman, communication with Cecil Street …."
Bryan took steps to verify that the lot the property described was, indeed, the one being sold by the Winchester Economic Development Authority behalf of the city and county.
A survey shows the 9-foot alley that opens onto Cecil Street. Also, an old plat of what then was the town of Winchester shows a jail on lot 200; the deed refers to the parcel as being lot 200.
To be certain the deed was correct, Hogan said she had it proofread by two of her deputy clerks, former deputy Janet Lowery, and Michael Foreman, Winchester's clerk of the court for 28 years.
"It might have a word that doesn't make sense to us," she said, "but we're very confident we've got a good copy."
The re-created deed was recorded in Winchester, and the property's sale to Anne Palmer of Winchester is expected to close by April 30. Palmer plans to turn the building into a spa retreat.
Earlier this year the Economic Development Authority unanimously approved selling the property for $395,000. The money will be split between the city and Frederick County, which jointly owned the old jail, which was most recently an inebriate center.
While the mystery of the deed's location was solved, how it got there hasn't been explained.
Foreman, ever the local historian, offered a couple of theories.
Originally, the former court clerk said, Winchester's southern border was Cork Street. It also was a only a town, not a separate city, and it contracted with Frederick County to house arrestees in the county jail.
Up until 1870, he said, minor offenses were tried in town courts but felonies had to be heard by the Frederick County courts.
"I think the real reason was that the land was in Frederick County," Foreman said, "and therefore there was not any legal requirement to record it in the city."
Still, the fact that previous deeds for 317 S. Cameron St. were in city property records left him puzzled. It could be, he said, that the practice was to record such deeds in both the town and county offices and simply wasn't followed in this instance.
That led Foreman to surmise another possible explanation — poor record keeping, perhaps caused by spirits.
He said that years ago, the handling of records locally was somewhat suspect. Lawyers would drop documents by the clerk's office, and they might sit for days before being filed.
While in office, he found documents indicating that an order once was issued for someone to come to Winchester to straighten out its clerk's office.
In those days, Foreman said, it was common for court officials to be intoxicated while on the job.
"The clerk could've been drunk, the lawyer could've been drunk, they both could've been drunk. Regardless of which is the case," he said, "I'm sure it was the lawyer's fault and not the clerk's."
– By Vic Bradshaw


text: 08 FEBRUARY 2013 - BANGKOK, THAILAND: Chinese opera performers wait to go on stage for a Chinese New Year performance at Seacon Square in Bangkok. Chinese opera is popular in Thailand and is usually performed in the Teochew language. The weeks surrounding Chinese New Year are important for retailers in Thailand and many malls put on special promotions and events honoring Chinese culture, like Lion Dances or Chinese Opera. Thailand has a large Thai-Chinese population. Millions of Chinese emigrated to Thailand (then Siam) in the 18th and 19th centuries and brought their cultural practices with them. PHOTO BY JACK KURTZAdd to Cart Add to Lightbox Download


text:
Beau Yarbrough
Beau Yarbrough wrote his first newspaper article taking on an authority figure (his middle school principal) when he was in 7th grade. He's been a professional journalist since 1992, working in Virginia, Egypt and California. In that time, he's covered community news, features, politics, local government, education, the comic book industry and more. He's covered the war in Bosnia, interviewed presidential candidates, written theatrical reviews, attended a seance, ridden in a blimp and interviewed both Batman and Wonder Woman (Adam West and Lynda Carter). He also cooks a mean pot of chili.
Location: Riverside, California, USA
Languages: English, American Sign Language
Affiliation: Investigative Reporters and Editors
Affiliation: Education Writers of America
Awards: 1st Place, Best News Story, Orange County Press Club, 1st Place, Investigative (Print under 50,000 circulation), Los Angeles Press Club, 1st Place, Investigative Reporting, California Journalism Awards, 1st Place, Public Service Journalism, California Journalism Awards, 5th Place, Breaking News, California Journalism Awards honor
Expertise: Local News
Expertise: Transportation
Expertise: Education
Expertise: Local Government
Expertise: Watchdog Journalism


text:
More info about the name "Mafalda"
Mafalda is an Italian variant of Matilda. Matilda is a derivation of a Germanic name Mathildis, which means "power, might in battle". Nowadays, the name is very popular in Scandinavian countries. In the United States, it was most popular at the end of 19th century. It was popularized by Roald Dahl in his novel called Matilda.


text:
The Mail on Sunday's front page from 16th December 2012
There are three factors which define my response this story. I am a human being, a Goth, and a Journalist.
As a human being, I abhor and reject the horrific violence committed in Newton, Connecticut. As a Goth, I abhor and reject any association with my subculture, and fear the demonizing effect of headlines like this. As a journalist, I abhor and reject the kind of 'journalism' that has led the Daily Mail to such knee-jerk reactionary headline writing. The Goth tag has been attached to this story because of the following quote:
Catherine Urso, who was attending a vigil Friday evening in Newtown said her college-age son knew the killer and remembered him for his alternative style.
'He just said he was very thin, very remote and was one of the goths,' she said.
A second-hand recollection from someone not even involved. The implication is that the world is struggling to try and understand what could motivate such a crime, and the Daily Mail – with characteristic unfeeling insensitivity – has chosen a marginalized and misunderstood group to 'take the blame'. Ironically, the Mail has previously written about attacks on Goths in a supportive light, especially the tragic case of Sophie Lancaster who was killed in an unprovoked assault in 2007. Since then her mother and others have worked tirelessly to promote diversity and tolerance; the S.O.P.H.I.E. charity released a statement in response on Sunday:
The demonisation of subcultures, in this case goth/gamer/alternative does nothing to help anyone understand why Adam Lanza woke up on Thursday and killed 20 people including his own Mother. Our frustration at this lazy journalism, where they are quoting distraught ex pupils and neighbours because they have no facts is made worse by the fact that the readers of the articles may well believe what they see and not challenge it, leading to yet more prejudice and fear.
Crucially, the Daily Mail failed to interview any representatives from the Goth subculture about their reactions. All responses, including what you are reading now, have been self-motivated – because for some reason, the majority of the mainstream media of the United Kingdom and the United States will not give us a voice. Notable exceptions exist amongst unbiased, regional media but the large part the Goth culture is sorely unrepresented in the press. When we are portrayed, observes Dr Catherine Spooner of Lancaster University (author of several social studies of the Goth culture), it is through a veil of journalistic interpretation.
'Goth' is sometimes used in high school slang as an insult or as shorthand for kids perceived as outsiders or weirdos, regardless of whether or not they self-identify as Goths or have any affiliations with the Goth scene. By labelling Lanza as a Goth on the basis of hearsay, apparently objective journalism 'fixes' this loose, slang use of the term, converting it into a firm evocation of a specific subculture and identity.
Many readers will not discern that this process of fixing has taken place, and therefore this loose term takes on the status of 'official' knowledge: Lanza was a Goth and Goths are weirdos and outsiders.It goes without saying that the evidence for the former is flimsy and the latter becomes self-fulfilling for those doing the labelling. This may seem a minor detail beside the larger fact of the tragedy. But scapegoating Goths is not going to help matters and may, in fact, cause further harm.
This view is concurred by Dr Paul Hodkinson of Surrey University – another social scientist – who expands on the newspaper relationship with the Goth Culture.
Newspapers like to develop familiar stories with familiar characters and will sometimes filter the information available in order to do so. So the reason they have picked up on use of the word 'goth' here is that, for them, it acts as the perfect narrative device to render the killer as deviant, different, other – external to normal society and not one of 'us' – and imagined 'normal society'.Paradoxically, however, the reference to things like goth may also serve to enable the development of a different angle of engagement, based on engaging the fears of parents and others over the possible links between dark subcultures their own children may have contact with and this sort of violence.
In our discussion, I asked Dr Hodkinson if he could expand on this 'different angle', in terms of the fears being developed by parents of Goths now faced with the possibility of association between this crime, and their own children. He responded:
…there is little evidence of any link to the goth scene and, even if there were, there's certainly no evidence that the goth scene would encourage anyone to behave in such a way. In this article the term goth really has been put into the headline here purely as a means of drawing in more readers for the reasons I previously gave. They don't even purport to be presenting a serious article about the dangers of the goth scene – they've just mentioned the term because it embellishes the profile and makes good copy.
Overall, it seems clear that the labelling of him as a goth is based on minimal evidence. More importantly, the issue of whether he identified as a goth, a gamer, a nerd or anything similar is almost certainly irrelevant to determining the cause of the horrible events that took place.
I questioned Dr Hodkinson's conviction that, in the face of the beliefs broadcast by the Daily Mail, The Sun and the FOX Network, any motivation for Lanza's murder-spree could not include his subcultural associations.
I think what I'd briefly say is that there is no evidence that they have a negative influence of the kind discussed. Millions of people are goths, gamers, 'geeks' etc across the world. Aside from anecdotal speculation in relation to the occasional isolated incident such as this, I'm not aware of any evidence that, amongst these millions of people, there is any substantial problem with violence. In the case of goths, evidence points towards an emphasis in the values of the group towards non-violence and, as I'm sure you know, goths are much more likely to be the subject of violent attack than the perpetrators of violence.
As mentioned above this has been the case, with the stories of assaults on Goths as reported by both the Daily Mail and The Sun. This time however, the reporting of these two papers has been met with disbelief, sadness and hostility by the culture. Well-known DJ and promoter Martin 'Oldgoth' Coles responded:
One passing comment about him being a loner 'like the goths', has been seized upon and used, in my opinion, maliciously by two of the UK biggest 'news' papers (The Sun and Mail) purely in order to create a shock headline.
Martin observes some of the underlying issues that have surrounded other tragic shootings which have lacked any 'Goth' angle.
If you read about his background, and in particular his day to day behaviour it just points to the fact that what the US [needs] is not only tighter gun control – to prevent things like assault rifles being obtained so easily (who really needs one to 'defend' themselves or their property?) – but better mental health care. I firmly believe that had this guy been given proper treatment then this would never have happened, and it helps to highlight that so people get the help they need.
He firmly believes that the media's performance is crucial to understanding crimes like these.
The media has fueled this kind of thing, 100%, and I feel is totally to blame for sensationalising the idea that doing this will have you going out in a 'blaze of glory', with all the worldwide fame that comes with it.
Concluding firmly, Martin states:
This guy did not attack anyone because of the music he listened to, he resorted to murder as never got the help he needed and had easy access to lethal weapons in a world where violence of this kind makes you famous, gets you noticed in a world that I'm sure he thought didn't care.
I also e-mailed Rosie Garland, better known as Rosie Lugosi – singer with legendary Eighties dark rock band The March Violets, as well as an award-winning poet, author, and sought-after compère. Her prompt response to my questions about her feelings on the reporting simply said:
So – the Leveson Enquiry into improving press standards is clearly having a massive effect on the tabloids.
The Goth community online has united to condemn the portrayal of the culture by headlines like this. The quotes used above were taken from responses gained within hours of publication by the Daily Mail and other outlets, none of whom had researched the scene or interviewed any relevant commentators. An e-mail to the Daily Mail asking for comment to be used in this article remains unanswered after a day, in comparison. Should a response be received, this article will be updated accordingly.
The Goth culture so rarely hits the headlines for the best reasons. In this case, blame has been laid at a subculture's door when no proof has been obtained – an act that goes beyond 'lazy' journalism and into the realms of downright dangerous.


text:
Samples of Ken in performance
|John Coltrane | Ornette Coleman | Dave Wild | Ken Wild | TJO | Central Texas Jazz | Home
|Dave Wild's WildPlace and its contents are protected by copyright and are published for non-commercial use only. Some of the contents of this site are based on The Recordings of John Coltrane: A Discography, (c) 1977, 1978, 1979 by David Wild and discribe, Issues # 1, # 2, and # 3, (c) 1980, 1981 and 1983 by Angelyn and David Wild. All the usual legal protections apply. Click here to send mail to Dave Wild.


text:
I was scared, but only I knew it. Momma combed my hair into long curls with a comb dipped in cold water – think Shirley Temple. A quick breakfast in the kitchen, and then I walked to the bus stop with the kids I'd just met and barely knew, and took a bus to the first school I'd ever attended.
Once there, my new friends left me to go to their classes saying just ask for the principal, so I asked the first grown up I saw.
I was determined not to cry, but the butterflies in my stomach made me feel like throwing up my breakfast. I swallowed hard before answering this kind and smiling lady's question of why my parents weren't with me. "Momma doesn't drive and she's home with my little brother. Daddy went to work at 5 this morning. I have all my papers and stuff, and I'm supposed to give them to the principal." I handed her the envelope full of information I could not yet read.
She took me in hand, and I eventually found myself in a first grade classroom with another young woman introducing me to a class of yet more strangers.
Sitting at a desk in a classroom listening to the teacher talk felt somehow right, and at lunch, everyone wanted to know me because I was from Texas. They all seemed to think that all Texans carried guns, rode horses and knew John Wayne personally.
The ride home that first day was reflective as I looked out the window at the verdant countryside. I knew that my entire world had changed, and I would never be the same. Some of my new friends were sorry for me, for in their eyes no one cared enough to go with me. Some of my friends thought it was cool that I could go out into the world alone and unafraid.
I was a little sad for myself, too, but I was also little bit proud; I knew I was okay alone among strangers. It would stand me in good stead as time and again, I walked into a brand new school and enrolled myself.
Although I enrolled in February, with the teacher's help, I caught up to the rest of the class before school let out for the summer in June.


text:
Greetings, Werebangers! This week's episode of Teen Wolf was all about motive. After all, even the most self-righteous of characters can be lured to the proverbial darkside, if given a good enough reason to do so . . .
Of all the episodes of Teen Wolf that have aired so far this season, "Raving" was probably the most chock full of information. We learned a lot this week about the relationship between the kanaima, and its Master. We also got to take a closer look at the kanaima's victims . . . what ties them together . . . and what they might have done to merit such horrible demises.
And yet, despite all that, the writers STILL somehow managed to give us a genuinely action-packed hour, complete with stellar acting, amazing character moments, and of course, a WHOLE LOTTA STILES!
Color me impressed . . .
So, slip into your party clothes, grab a handful of fairy dust, and try to avoid taking hits off the wolfsbane pipe, because it's time for another Teen Wolf recap . . .
[As always, special thanks to Andre for all the awesomesauce screencaps you see here. Also, this week's screencaps all come from two fabulous tumblr sites: teenwolfgifs and allteenwolf. So, feel free to show their owners some love, as well.]
In 'Da Club
Go Wolf Twins! It's your birthday! We're gonna party, like it's your birthday. We're going to huff some wolfsbane, like it's your birthday . . .
Go shorty, it's your birthday! (But hopefully, not your 24th.) Apparently, there's some Big Hip Rave in Beacon Hills. And everybody who's ANYBODY under the age of 25 (and a few people OVER it . . . here's looking at YOU Grandpa . . . and Creepy Pedo Chemistry Teacher) . . .
. . . is going to be there. This is true, even though admission costs a whopping 75 bucks!
Seriously? Where I come from, all the "good" raves (at least, if you're into that sort of thing) take place in abandoned warehouses. And the only things you pay for are the glow sticks, cheesy pacifiers, and the bruises you get on your legs, while running away from the cops who just broke up the party . . .
But that's neither here nor there. What matters here is that it's been a while since we've had a Big Party that literally brings all of our main characters together in one room (remember prom?). And that makes the expectations for this party rather heightened. Did I mention that the kanaima will be in attendance to snuff out yet another unlucky victim?
"Hi! Welcome to my funeral! Admission is $75 . . ."
The victims . . . Stiles and the Sheriff finally manage to draw a few parallels between them. For example, with the exception of the Dawson's Creek daddy, they are all the same age (24), and all attended Beacon Hills High together in 2006.
Kudos to us TW fans, who picked up on this trend a few weeks ago, back when Hot Black Argent, Sassy Mechanic, and Derek had been the only kanaima targets, aside from Isaac's dad. (Honestly, I thought the "young married couple" looked a bit "long in the tooth" for 24. But hey . . . life in a trailer park can be tough, I guess.)
is was a hard knock life for us."
Stiles had also deduced that these folks had been in Mr. Harris' chemistry class together, which confirmed the latter as a chief suspect for Master . . . at least until that last victim bit it, who wasn't in his class.
The Sheriff thought her death blew his theory to shreds. However, thanks to a little fancy camera work, WE know that SHE was, in fact, still part of the Class of 2006.
Of course, this begs the obvious question: which member of that Class died in 2006, and HOW?
"I got it! I know who the Kanaima's Master is! It's KAISER SOZE!"
We already know from the mythology that the kanaima thrives on vengeance, and will only kill killers (hence, it's decision to delay the murder of the pregnant woman, until AFTER she gave birth). But how did all of these seemingly unrelated 24-year olds have their hand in the exact same death?
Confused yet? There's more!
The Puppet Master
OK, I have no clue what that "Are you listening?" poster behind the guys heads has to do with vaccinations. All I know is that I really want one for my bedroom . . .
While Stiles and the Sheriff were focusing in on the kanaima's victims, Scott, Derek, Isaac and the Vet were more interested in the kanaima himself, and why he might be afraid of water, given that Jackson is Captain of the Swim Team (Of course, he is! Jackson is "Captain of Everything").
The Vet notes that this has to do with some "merger" of the kanaima's personality with that of his Master. They can feel eachother's thoughts and feelings. So, what hurts one, hurts the other. (He even shows us some gnarly bling to illustrate this premise.)
"Hey kids! Check out the earring I'm going to wear with my pirate costume, this Halloween!"
In other words, we're talking about a two-for-one special on killing Big Bads! Talk about a bargain. (It's a way better bargain than $75 for a rave ticket. That's for sure!)
Speaking of the Rave to End All Raves . . .
Isaac gets a two-fist discount.
Finally, Isaac does something RIGHT in this episode of Teen Wolf. Up until now, I've felt like pretty much every week, the writers have spent at least some time illustrating how Isaac and Erica are "special needs" wolves. They can't fight Scott. They can't fight Derek. They're outsmarted, and out-maneuvered by Allison. And they are scared sh*tless of Jackson. (Remember, one is an incident, two is a coincidence, three is a pattern. Four = these two are pathetic.)
But they are excellent at sleeping!
And yet the n'er do well Isaac does seem to possess one particular talent: picking on the weak and completely unsuspecting. When Scott and Stiles need a ticket for the "Big Rave" in order for their "Catch Jackson's Master" plan to work out, Isaac knows exactly to get them what they need, and for a really great price too. FREE!
Two wolfy ass kickings later, Scott and Stiles have their tickets, and Isaac has a goofy grin on his face. Then again, now that you mention it, we never actually got to see Isaac kick those lacrosse players ticket-holding bums. Perhaps, he did something a bit less G-rated to get those tickets, hmm?
The World may never know . . .
In which Allison's loyalties are divided (for real, this time) . . .
In other news, Allison's parents might finally be winning the battle for their daughter's soul . . .
For the longest time on this show, we've been told that Allison was "Torn Between Her Hunter Family and Her Wolf" lover. "Who will she choose?" The over dramatic, deep-voiced promo narrator would often ask.
Except, to be honest, most of the time, it never seemed like all that difficult of a choice for Allison.
For one thing, and I know this sounds awful, but Allison never really seemed all that jazzed about her family. I mean, we all know Stiles loves his dad . . .
And Scott loves his mom . . .
But Allison? With the exception of "cool" (Read "CRAZY") Aunt Kate, the littlest Argent seemed, at best, to tolerate her wacky "fam," and, at worst, to be just as frightened of them, as the rest of the fandom seems to be. (Though, I have to say, her dad is actually pretty hot!) I never really bought Allison as being particularly "torn" between two loves. It was all Scott, Scott, and . . . wait for it . . . more Scott.
However, that all changed this week. It started when Papa Argent used a little coroner's office "bonding session" . . .
"Hey Allison! You used to like playing with Barbie's right? Well, these are life size! I'll be the wife, you be the husband!"
. . . to coerce Little Argent into (1) fingering Jackson as the Kanaima; and (2) revealing his upcoming attendance at the "Big Rave," despite the fact that Scott and his new wolf pack had already made their own plans to intercept Jackson there.
"I think I liked Daddy / Daughter bonding time better, when you just tied me to chairs, and threatened my life . . ."
And then came the whole "let's see other people" talk Allison had with Scott a bit later in the episode . . .
"It's not you. It's me. It's just that I know you're Team Edward in Twilight. And I really can't date anyone who isn't Team Jacob."
Now, in Scott's defense, he and Allison had been so sloppy about their "secret relationship" that even a deaf, dumb, and blind guy could probably figure out that they were dating.
And to prove it, Scott had been beaten up by pretty much every single member of the Argent family, ever since his and Allison's "breakup."
That said, in terms of Allison's state of mind, Scott probably picked the absolute WORST time in the world to tell her that he'd be "totally cool" with her "dating" and "making out" with Matt the Creepy Camera Guy. For one thing, it probably made her feel like she was a prostitute and he was her wolfy pimp. For another, Scott's sudden seeming indifference to Allison's feelings, had to make her wonder whether her consistent betrayal of her family values for his sake was worth it.
"Silly Scott! And you're supposed to be the smart one. Oh wait, no your not. Nevermind then."
Now, if Mama Argent new that THIS was the conversation her daughter was having with a sworn enemy, she probably would have been doing this . . .
Unfortunately, Mama Argent couldn't HEAR what these two crazy kids were saying to one another, when she spied them talking heatedly in an empty classroom. All she was . . . well . . "the heat." And so, instead, she looked like this . . .
That's right, werebangers, Mama Argent is one Scary B*tch! And boy did she prove it, in this week's episode!
In much kinder and gentler news . . .
Stiles gets a tearjerker and a Dead(?) Tinkerbell moment in the same episode . . .
Good ole, Stiles. Not only is he a fan favorite, because of his tendency to bring the comedy, and awesome one-liners to the series . . . .
. . . he's also the heart of this whole damn show!
And boy did he show that this week, when the poor guy learned that his father had lost his job as Sheriff, as a result of Stiles' "bad behavior," i.e. the "kidnapping of Jackson."
If only Sheriff Stilinski knew about the whole "lizard thing," maybe he wouldn't have to feel so sad . . .
Then again, he'd still probably be out of a job so . . .
But as guilty as Stiles obvious feels about his father's job loss, he also knows that he has to keep all this supernatural craziness, a secret from his father, in order to protect him . . . or, at least, keep him from looking like a total wackjob in front of his cop buddies . . .
Lest you think that Stiles' story in "Raving" was all angst and puppy dog tears, he also got to experience some serious Dead Tinkerbell Triumph.
You have no idea what I'm talking about, right?
Allow me to explain . . .
Remember that part in Peter Pan, where everyone thinks Tinkerbell is dead . . . so Peter Pan turns to everyone in the audience as says that "if you clap your hands, and believe in fairies, you can save her." So, a couple of idiots actually clap (the rest of the audience just stares at the screen, dumbfounded), and, SURPRISE, Tinkerbell is alive again!
Well, that's kind of what happened to Stiles, this week . . .
You see, thanks to our good friend The Vet, our wolf pack had a seemingly foolproof plan to trap Jackson / the kanaima / and his Mystery master all in the same confined space, using a bit of intravenous drugs, and some Magic Fairy Dust . . . I'm sorry . . . I meant "mountain ash."
"Oh this? This is just body glitter . . . for the rave!"
However, in order for the plan to work, Jackson needed to be trapped inside the Rave. And, in order for Jackson to be trapped in the Rave, someone HUMAN had to lay out the
Magic Fairy Du mountain ash barrier that would keep him there.
And we all know who our resident Team Human member is, right?
So, while all his buddies, get to go inside the Super Cool Rave, dance, stab lizards with drugs, and kick some Argent ass, poor Stiles is stuck outside sprinkling dirt around the parking lot. Real nice!
"Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to trap Douchey Jackson, I go . . ."
Given that, you can imagine how frustrated Stiles is, when he finds himself ridiculously low on Kanaima Keep Away Dust, way before he's completed his Magic Circle. But does Stiles get discouraged. Heck no! Instead, he takes the Vet's advice, and BELIEVES he has enough fairy dust to finish the circle. And, just like that, HE DOES! It's magical . . .
. . . which, is why I've decided to BELIEVE that my laptop will turn into a million dollars, immediately upon my completing this recap.
I'll let you know how that goes . . .
In which Derek, Boyd, and the Argents reenact a Jets/ Sharks scene from West Side Story . . .
Despite Papa Argent assuring Allison that his family's plan to catch the Kanaima will have "no collateral damage" Grandpa Bad Ass tells his men, in no uncertain terms that this is a Seek and Destroy Mission. "Something wicked this way comes," Gerard says.
You know, because he's old . . . so, of course, he's going to quote Shakespeare prior to heading out on a murder mission! (Speaking of Old Grandpa Argent, any guesses as to what those pills are, that he always seems to be popping like candy? Because something tells me they aren't your typical "old guy" pills, i.e. heart and cholesterol medication, and/or stuff for his arthritis . . .)
But if the Argents want inside the party, they are going to have to get past the wolves first. Derek and Boyd are ready and waiting for them. It's time to do battle!
At this point, I'd like to mention how happy I am that Boyd is back. You know, last week I bitched that Boyd might be the "forgotten werewolf." Now, I know the truth. Boyd isn't the "redheaded step child" of his wolfpack. On the contrary, he's Alpha's Pet! This is why he's not sent off each week into the land of Failure and Humiliation like Derek and Erica are. Instead, he gets to be on the front lines with the Pack Master . . . getting sh*t done!
Except this time, when the Argents kinda kicked Derek's and Boyd's asses, using their . . . weapons and stuff.
"Don't brink claws to a gunfight." Consider that a lesson learned. Hey, you can't win em all!
Speaking of Failure and Humiliation . . .
It's Bump and Grind Time!
It's the scene you've all been waiting for, folks. Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumb Boobs have a mission, should they choose to accept it. That mission is to stab Jackson with a syringe, the contents of which will, if I'm not mistaken, both temporarily stave off the kanaima transformation, and unify the Puppet and Puppet Master of this team, so that our wolf pack can theoretically control them both . . .
Easier said than done . . .
I mean sure, Isaac and Erica are ACES when it comes to entrapping Un-Lizard Zombie Jackson into a Wolf-Kanaima sandwich.
And I'll be damned if the possessed kanaima doesn't look more than a bit hot and bothered by the notion of slapping his salami against the blonde bombshell, and the curly-hair with the pretty eyes. Though, it's kind of a toss-up as to who turns the lizard on more, thus calling into question the sexuality of both Jackson (which has long been a subject of debate), and the person controlling him . . .
Things get a bit more dicey when it comes to syringing the beast. It turns out, for all his wolfy moxie, Isaac just can't seem to get his stick in Jackson. (Don't you just hate it when that happens?)
It takes a few tries, and a bit of a struggle. But eventually, the Leather Twins are able to drag a napping Jackson into an abandoned room. But Poor Pathetic Isaac. Here we have a SLEEPING Jackson, and the werewolf STILL can't successfully slap him around.
"Don't you dare interrupt my Evil Naptime!
In fact, I'm starting to think that Isaac's getting his arm broken in every episode is going to start to become a running joke of the show, much like Stiles' seeming inability to ever be seen on camera without his shirt on . . .
But hey, the plan isn't a total bust! The Leather Twins (with Stiles' help) eventually get the Kanaima to SPEAK through Jackson. As it turns out, the wolf pack might not just be dealing with a Jackson Jekyll and Hyde, and a HUMAN master, there also might very well be a spirit involved.
In a weird disembodied voice that kind of sort of sounds like the Possessed Person in Every Horror Movie Ever, "Jackson" tells the Scooby Gang that he's not really here to kill them (Could have fooled us!), because he's got bigger fish to fry, namely, the people that killed HIM.
"Jackson's" words seem to confirm the theory that the spirit that embodies Jackson, when he's the kanaima, is some high school student, who died in 2006, at some school event. Furthermore, quite a few other students seem to have witnessed the event in question, and either, did nothing to stop it, or helped it to happen.
This, of course, begs the question, how did "the kanaima" die. My theory? Drowning!
It would explain why Jackson was seen coming out of the water shortly after he was bitten by Derek, as well as the kanaima's seeming fear of water . . .
Unfortunately, we don't get much time to ponder this theory, because, in a flash the "medicine" wears off, and, just like that, Jackson is Lizard Man again (well, more like half and half), and he is on the loose . . .
It's like one of those moisturizer commercials, where the model only puts the cream on half his face to show you how great the stuff works . . .
Stiles rushes out to tell his boyfriend, Derek, the news.
Isaac and Erica would probably like to rush out too, but . . . you know . . . fairy dust . . .
Meanwhile, the kanaima has found it's next victim. Nice knowing ya, Ticket Taker at a Rave Chick . . .
"Go, BYE BYE!"
Hey, look on the bright side. Now, you will never have to worry about suffering from one of those pesky quarter-life crises!
How Mama Argent destroyed Scott's chances of ever becoming a pothead . . . (And, boy, did she pay for that!)
"I was going to kill the kanaima, but I got high . . . I was going to have sex with my girl, but I got high . . . now this scary lady is out to get me, and I know why . . . cause I got high, cause I got high, cause I got high . . ."
Meanwhile, Scott's a bit less than pleased with not-girlfriend Allison, because her Stupid Family is interfering with the Wolf Pack's fun-filled game of "Catch the Kanaima." This makes Allison sad, which nimrod Creepy Camera Guy Matt takes as a sign that, "Gee! Now, seems like a totally great time to stick my tongue down her throat."
Real smooth, Matty-poo!
Scott rushes outside for some "air" only to be hit by Mama Argent's car . . . "He came out of nowhere! It was just an accident."
WRONG! As it turns out, this is all part of Mama Argent's master plan to kidnap her daughter's "ex" boyfriend, and asphyxiate him with a wolfsbane bong / vaporizer, of sorts (thus confirming my suspicions that Mama and Papa Argent were both TOTAL potheads, back in the day . . .) And it seems like this EEEVVVIIILLL plan just might work too, until Scott gives out a howl to his new pack mate, Derek, who rushes to his dawg's rescue (after Stiles' sweeps up the fairy dust, of course, so he can pass).
What happens next is a little shocking . . .
I mean, sure, we all figured that Scott was going to get out of this alive. What we didn't plan on was Derek giving a big ole' F-U to the Argent's and their so-called "Code of Honor," by giving Mama Argent the bite, thereby prospectively turning her into the thing she hates more than anything in this world . . .
In the final scene of the episode, we see Mama Argent rushing to Papa Argent's arms, bloody and tainted, as Papa Argent looks on in dismay, undoubtedly wondering if it might be time for a little mercy killing. Are any of you fellow werebangers nerdy enough to have supernatural pacts with your friends. I am! All my best friends know that I'd be totally cool with becoming a vampire, or a werewolf (provided I'm financially stable enough to afford regular waxing treatments . . hairiness . . .ick), but if I ever become a zombie, they are totally within their rights to chop my head off.
Somehow, I suspect that the Argent's have a similar pact at the ready, should any of them become werewolves. Papa Argent hinted as much in his "lesson" to Allison early on in the season. "One bite can change everything."
This, of course, begs the question, how will Allison respond to the idea that her boyfriend's pack mate effectively signed her own mother's death warrant. I'm thinking the answer is going to be "not particularly well," no matter how creepy and unloveable Mama Argent might be . . .
In other news, while The Vet is once again saving the life of a wolfsbane poisoned Scott . . .
"Why do all you werewolves always seem to end up on your backs?"
. . . that sucks-at-Latin guidance counselor randomly appears to make eerie comments to him about how "these kids don't know about all the bad crap that's going to happen to them really, really soon." But what's she doing in there in the middle of the night, anyway. Is she a relative? Does she know more about the kanaima than she's letting on? Is she . . . TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OLD?
Unfortunately, I guess we'll just have to wait until next week to find out the answer to these questions. Until next time, Werebangers!
[www.juliekushner.com] [Fangirls Forever – Now featuring Team Stiles and Team Derek tees!]