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Vic Parks – Lou Costello's Stunt Double
Vic Parks was a car salesman, real estate agent, radio host, farmer, acrobat, vaudeville performer and
Lou Costello's stunt man. The above booth photos and a series of other small identity pictures, (see below) proudly sit alongside three original studio portraits of Vic in my collection. You can see the other photos on Mugshots and Miscellaneous.
In the set of undated photobooth photos, above, we see Vic posing in a dapper silk tie and scarf. On the back of one image is written "Let me see, I've been away about 6 months now! …more…that…" (The second sentence has been mostly obscured by glue.) For a time in the 1930s Vic toured in an acrobatic/dance show, so I imagine these were taken specifically to send home to loved ones while he was away.
There are many references to Vic's relationship with Lou to be found online. One of the more curious is from Stories of the Past.
"January 29, 1959
Have you seen TV and movie star Lou Costello walking down the streets of Calexico lately?
We hate to disillusion you, but chances are it's Vic Parks, owner of Border Fords. And there is a good reason for the resemblance to Costello. Parks is his stand-in in Hollywood.
Parks has been working with the comedian since 1938. Parks has been in one form of show business or another for many years. He and his wife, Margie, still keep their hand in the entertainment business in Calexico.
Parks continues to double for Costello, traveling to Hollywood or other parts of the country when the shooting of a picture is in progress."
From the photograph in his obituary article (below), it is easy to see why one may have mistaken him for Mr Costello.
Above is a publicity portrait of Vic with Leona and Naomi Krummel (The Keene Twins) and George Lamar, Vic's vaudeville "tumbling" partner. The troupe were at Fays Theatre in Providence, Rhode Island, from March 4 to March 10, 1933.
Brian Murphy, who has given me permission to use this image, has a wonderful photostream on Flickr that show cases hundreds of wonderful vaudeville images and ephemera from the 1920s, 30s and other eras. His father was a vaudeville performer at the same time as Vic. Please have a look at Brian's archive.
Remember to go to Mugshots and Miscellaneous to see more images of Vic.


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The city of Edmonton has confirmed that it will run the 2010 Rexall Edmonton Indy despite large financial losses in the first two years of the event under IRL sanctioning.
Edmonton City Council has voted unanimously to run the race in 2010 to fulfill it's contractual obligation to the Indy Racing League. Mayor of Edmonton Stephen Mandel has even gone so far as to say that losses are expected to be less then 2009 citing poor sponsorship and luxury box sales that will be remedied in 2010.
"Every councillor realizes that we can't be a city that doesn't honour our commitments," said Coun. Kim Krushell. "Yes, we're moving forward with 2010. Are we happy about losing dollars? No."
Will Power won the 2009 version of the race for Penske Racing, leading from start to finish.
I'm happy to see the race return. Seeing Edmonton pay the fees to cancel the race would leave a blackeye on the IRL and would hurt all the good vibes we have going on right now. On top of that, I think we do not have enough races north of the border (ahem, Montreal or Vancouver, Vancouver would fill in the Northwest nicely).


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GE and Accenture joint venture Taleris provides Intelligent Operations for Etihad Airways
Dubai, UAE; June 19, 2013: Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates, has entered into an agreement with global technology company Taleris to launch groundbreaking new technology which can help predict potential maintenance faults and recommend preventive action.
Taleris' web-based prognostics service, a part of its Intelligent Operations offering, is a first for the commercial airline industry and will be used to monitor Etihad Airways' fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft. The prognostics technology will leverage the Industrial Internet to increase the airline's overall operational efficiency.*
It is expected to deliver significant financial savings for Etihad Airways and improved reliability for passengers and freight customers as the technology continuously analyses data from multiple sensors on aircraft components and systems, and warns of imminent problems.
The expected benefits include a reduction of unscheduled maintenance, fewer delays and cancellations, increased aircraft availability, enhanced on-time performance, increased maintenance efficiency, reduction in maintenance costs and reduction in lost revenue costs.
The service also can reduce the requirement to store expensive spare parts, which are typically stocked in case of failure.
Norm Baker, president and CEO of Taleris, said: "Around the world, airlines are seeking ways to manage their maintenance and flight operations more efficiently and Taleris is proud to work with Etihad Airways as we launch our new Intelligent Operations service. Significant benefits can be realized through our predictive analytics technologies which leverage an aircraft's data within the context of the operations so one can address an issue before it occurs."
The new Taleris-developed prognostics use unique data analytics based on the already established global Probabilistic Diagnostic and Prognostic System (ProDaPS) technology standard which monitors engineering systems anomalies and overall systems health.
Werner Rothenbaecher, Senior Vice President Technical at Etihad Airways, said: "This represents a leap forward in maintenance prognostics technology and we look forward to realizing the benefits of this deal with Taleris.
"The advanced capabilities of the service will help Etihad Airways to make rapid and informed decisions in relation to maintenance, while gaining technology leadership in diagnostic and prognostic health monitoring. With Taleris' prognostics, we will be able to predict future faults and take proactive measures which result in less unscheduled disruption to our global operations."
Kelly Home
ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller
[email protected]
+971 4 4507 600
Nivine William
ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller
[email protected]
+971 4 4507 600
Caroline Wehbeh
GE Communications Leader, North Africa
[email protected]
+971 4 429 6318


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Butterfly Garden 40 Grey Outdoor Rollaway Table Tennis Table
An entry level outdoor table tennis table at a stunning price. It has a 4mm grey melamine surface on an 8-wheel model undercarriage. Comes with a clip net and a 10 year warranty.
Butterfly Garden 40 Grey Outdoor Rollaway Table Tennis Table
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Feeling lost? There's only one route to the gold medal, and this tribe thinks they know which way to go.
official tribe colors: blue & yellow
Common room
~thanks to Poptrickia for the image! click to enlarge.
You step into the top floor of a peaceful study, with chandeliers hanging above shelves and tables of archaeological equipment. On either side of the second floor, you can light up a torch flame by clicking on it. And this place is just brimming with fascinating artifacts!
On the left, there's an ice skull whose jaw you can open and shut, and on the right is a bright pink spinning crystal. With a click, you can change its rotation from one side to another.
Below the ice skull, on the left side of the first floor, is a fountain. A shower of watery sparks fly when you touch it. And on the right side of this floor, you'll find a cat statue with its eyes closed. When you click, a fine mist of sand will blow past, and you may even catch the slumbering cat peek open an eye for just a moment. If this feels like home to you, you might just be a Pathfinder.
Do you have a map? I just keep getting lost in your eyes…
Check out this gallery of Pathfinders concept art from the PHB's Daily Pop sneak peek archive, plus take a look at the Pathfinders' fountain in action!
visit our Tribes page to learn more about the other tribes! 🙂
found your way with the Pathfinders? show your support in the comments below!


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Fifty years after the American Youth Soccer Organization was founded in Torrance, the nonprofit returns to its roots this week as the city partners with Riverside to co-host the biennial AYSO National Games.
"This will be the largest event in AYSO's history and one of the largest youth soccer tournaments in the nation," said Mark Stewart, president of the group now based in Harbor Gateway. "Nearly 500 teams from over 150 communities in 19 states will converge on Riverside and Torrance.
"It's a great accomplishment for the over 7,000 AYSO kids who will be participating."
Players ranging in age from 8 to 18 will compete in the tournament that runs through Sunday.
About a quarter of the teams are from Southern California communities, including Long Beach, Woodland Hills, South Pasadena and Ontario. The South Bay also will be well-represented, with more than three dozen teams taking part from Westchester, Manhattan Beach, San Pedro, the Palos Verdes Peninsula and Redondo Beach.
The group estimates the nearly 30,000 players, parents, coaches and volunteers involved will spend in the neighborhood of $15 million in Southern California over the next week.
"It will be a huge economic boost to the region, not just Torrance," said Mayor Frank Scotto, a longtime AYSO volunteer and soccer enthusiast. "I'm hoping businesses in the area realize they need to staff up and they're ready for it."
The Torrance-South Bay Marriott will host registration for teams involved in the tournament on the access road north of the hotel.
The hotel was blocking off the roadway outside it so registration could be held in a festive, open-air atmosphere complete with more than a dozen soccer-related vendors and Radio Disney in attendance.
The 487-room hotel, the city's largest, is expecting one of its most high-profile weeks of the year, said General Manager Kandee Anderson.
"We anticipate being close to selling out, if not selling out," she said. "It's a highlight of the year weekend for us because of the significance to Torrance and all the activities."
Those activities include the opening ceremonies Tuesday evening at StubHub Center in Carson, home of the MLS Galaxy, and a Wednesday night party at Seaside Lagoon in Redondo Beach.
It's not just Torrance that will benefit.
Participants will stay in hotels throughout the region, from Los Angeles International Airport to San Pedro.
Games will be played in Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach and San Pedro as well as at three Torrance locations, including the brand-new, $3.2 million Toyota Sports Complex on Maple Avenue.
Before tournament play begins Thursday, AYSO will host Soccerfest on Wednesday, which involves players taking the field to form teams with others from elsewhere around the country.
"I've got kids from Hawaii who will play with kids from Chicago," said Fred Silver, assistant venue chair. "They get to play with kids from all over.
"They're excited," he added. "They get to visit the birthplace of AYSO. That's like going to see a national monument for some people."
Torrance, which last hosted the National Games in 1992, is rolling out the welcome mat in hopes of persuading AYSO officials the city should become the permanent host for the event, Scotto said.
"We could become the soccer capital we've always wanted to be," he said. "It's the perfect place to play soccer at this time of year."
The city is spending about $70,000 to host the event, almost half of it on marketing costs that include AYSO banners hanging from light poles, said Economic Development manager Fran Fulton.
About 80 local restaurants will offer those in town for the tournament discounts through the Discover Torrance mobile app.


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Nuggets put win streak on line against Suns
The Denver Nuggets, winners of four straight after they dropped their first three of the season, head to Phoenix on Monday night to battle the Suns.
The Nuggets' last victory came Saturday with a 107-101 double-overtime decision over the Golden State Warriors. Denver coach George Karl only went eight deep in that one and that meant starters Ty Lawson, Andre Iguodala, Kenneth Faried and Danilo Gallinari all played over 47 minutes.
The Nuggets had a huge edge on the boards Saturday. Three Denver players had double-figure rebounding games, including 17 from Faried, and the Nuggets hammered the Warriors on the glass, 65-54.
"Kenneth's energy on the boards and the offensive rebounds are giving us extra possessions so that we can survive shooting the ball as poorly as we're shooting it right now," said Karl.
And the Nuggets did shoot it poorly against the Warriors. Denver made 38 percent from the field, 20.8 percent from the 3-point line and a putrid 59.3 percent from the foul line.
Among the main reasons for these horrid numbers is Gallinari. He came into Saturday's game not even a 30-percent shooter and went 8-for-22 from the field against the Warriors. Gallinari righted the ship some and had all 21 of his team-high points in the second half and overtimes.
The Suns are excited to be home.
A win on Monday night and Phoenix will start a season 3-1 at home for the first time since the 2009-10 season, which, coincidentally, is the last season the Suns made it to the playoffs.
It hasn't been easy sledding for the Suns. They've trailed by double digits in six of their seven games and have played the second-most games decided by three points or less this season. Phoenix is 2-1 in those games decided by three points or less, all home games.
The Suns could not contend with the Utah Jazz' great front line on Saturday. The Jazz starting bigs, (Marvin Williams, Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson), combined for 58 points, 34 rebounds and four blocks.
What really ailed the Suns on Saturday was the first quarter. Utah jumped out to a 10-point lead and never looked back.
"Just another bad start," Suns coach Alvin Gentry lamented. "We keep digging ourselves holes and then try to dig our way out of it, and you can't do that, especially on the road."
Denver has won six straight in this series and two in a row in Phoenix. The Nuggets had lost 12 in a row in the Mile High City prior to this mini win streak.


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A good day to hang it up
Yeah, Happy Valentine's Day, Mother Russia.
But is it "A Good Day to Die Hard," a good time to be had by all as Bruce Willis takes his fifth shot at "shootin' all the scumbags"?
Loud and tedious, "Die Hard" 5 is a shaky-cam/Sensurround blast of bullets and bombs, digital explosions and death defying feats of defying death.
Not a decent villain or catchphrase in it, it's an attempt to CIA-up the New York-cop-takes-on-the-world's-terrorists franchise. And it doesn't work.
Director John Moore ("Behind Enemy Lines") spends an endless opening filled with no-names speaking Russian and laying out an elaborate scheme to nab/ kill or release a rich "political prisoner" (Sebastian Koch). Moore gave his cinematographer a Steadicam and a case of Red Bull, and shot the whole thing with a jittery frame that doesn't mask how dull the action beats are, and how REALLY dull the chatty father-son bonding scenes in-between the action beats are.
John McClane (Bruce Willis) is in Moscow to check up on a son (Jai Courtney of "Spartacus") who's in jail. Turns out the estranged son is CIA, and he's on a mission. And dad, who's "on vacation," is interfering. Or saving the day, depending on your point of view.
The kid calls the old man by his first name.
"John? Whatever happened to 'Dad'?"
"Yeah, whatever happened to him?"
They don't get along.
"Need a hug?"
"We're not really a hugging family."
They crash through an epic Moscow traffic jam — which Moore & Co. shoot and edit into a jumble of crushed cars and feeble wisecracks from the villains — "Boy, dis guy iz really gettink on my nerves."
They get into fights with helicopters. In the middle of the city. Not that local law enforcement notices.
And it's all in pursuit of some mysterious "file," which the prisoner they're trying to slip out of the country has. Or doesn't.
Vast arsenals turn up, at their convenience. Unlimited supplies of lead are exchanged with legions of evil minions.
With "Red Dawn" remade, badly, and Stallone and Schwarzenegger stinking up cinemas in the weeks leading up to this, you kind of hoped the last '80s action star to take his shot could conjure up a little of the old magic.
Willis, sad to say, doesn't.
For 25 years, it's generally been "A Good Day to Die Hard." But these last two films have neutered the franchise and wrecked any hopes that Bruce as McClane might be Bourne again. The guy can still take a licking — still pull those shards of glass out after every death — and physics-defying stunt. But the character is weary, and the "I'm on vacation" line is played out. McClane needs to trot out "I'm retired" from here on out.


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"There are good ships and wood ships, ships that sail the sea, but the best ships are friendships, may they always be!" — Irish Proverb So, I've been going to therapy for nearly a year. One of several ways I've tried to deal with my mother's death. I'm not going to talk about any of… Continue reading Ideal Chit-Chat
Category: Blog
"Sweet Dreams, Lilac"
The smell of moist earth and lilacs hung in the air like wisps of the past and hints of the future. (Margaret Millar) Ahhhhhhh…the melodious scent of lilacs is practically enough to put me into a trance. I can't really think of another more distinctly memorable essence with such direct links to my childhood.… Continue reading "Sweet Dreams, Lilac"
April…Come She Will
Time strode with the swiftness of spring blossoms. — Terri Guillemets It's been almost eight months since I've written a blog post. There are several reasons for that, but I'm not going to make excuses. I've missed it though. Even if it's just a small project of mine, it is mine and I'm attached to it.… Continue reading April…Come She Will
She Implored Me to Speak Up
I mean no disrespect to those who also find these debates complicated, charged and even bewildering, but I wish that I could understand why so many people are threatened by the #BlackLivesMatter movement. And I'm not talking about the extremists, although they are out there, they are out everywhere, in every group; religion, politics,… Continue reading She Implored Me to Speak Up
A Letter from My Inner Wise Self
You, dear soul, are doing fine. You have been finding your way through the struggle, and the muck and mire. You've had a lot to contend with over this past year. But you've done it every single day. Every night you've gone to bed, and every morning you've gotten up and faced the day. That's… Continue reading A Letter from My Inner Wise Self
Hungering for Solid Footing
"…nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know." ― Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times Often lately I find myself asking my conscience or my inner voice what all this past year has taught me? I really plead with her to answer me. What have I learned that I needed to know, I ask. Have I even learned it, because some things seem to be holding on so tightly? Almost a year ago now I can pretty much pinpoint precisely when things started snowballing around me, and I felt myself losing the tenuous control that I thought I had had on my life...
The Lunch
Almost exactly three weeks after we lost my mother, my father and I were grabbing lunch one day, just the two of us. We'd decided to eat at a lovely little cafe not too far from where we'd been staying every night for these past few weeks; my grandmother's house, overlooking the beach and the… Continue reading The Lunch
A Hundred, Million Worlds
When my son was a child, we said some variation of this to each other every day and every night, "I love you a hundred, million worlds." I'm not exactly sure of the origins of our saying it, but I know that my heart had never before felt the way that it did about him,… Continue reading A Hundred, Million Worlds
Practice Compassion for All Beings; (Including Yourself)
Practice Compassion for All Beings; (Including Yourself) I don't get crazy-upset very often, at least not in public. But quite honestly I don't often have reason to? I am not very aggressive, unless it's called for; as in taking a chance to get ahead or through, like when I have to drive on a busy,… Continue reading Practice Compassion for All Beings; (Including Yourself)
Don't Just Hand Over Your Joy
It's such a powerful idea when you consider it carefully: Comparison is the thief of joy. I'd say it goes directly towards how often comparing ourselves or what we have to others or what they have, makes us, well, an awful lot of negative shades of our former selves. Negative shades of jealousy, envy, resentfulness,… Continue reading Don't Just Hand Over Your Joy
A Mom of a Different Ilk
This August will mark a major milestone event; our youngest son will be going off to university and moving into residence life. It will be almost exactly one month shy of the twenty-fourth anniversary of the day that I became a mother. In other words it means that I will have had a child living… Continue reading A Mom of a Different Ilk
Some of the Best Things About Being a Kid
(by a Forty-Something) Growing up on the East Coast of Canada when I did was pretty great. Since moving to the United States and spending much time getting to know friends down here I'm realizing something that as a kid I'd hadn't put together – we had available to us most all the same popular… Continue reading Some of the Best Things About Being a Kid
The Lure of the Coffee Date
One of the best things in the world must be entering a coffee shop, either to meet up with a friend or to escape life if even for a few minutes. My favorite is the coffee date. Two words that when strung together, completely and utterly appeal to me. In fact it really is one… Continue reading The Lure of the Coffee Date
A Few Common Misconceptions
("What Is-es" and "What is Nots") Here is my little compilation of some commonly heard and easily recognizable misdirected, misappropriated and completely farcical fallacies. They are often perpetuated without malice, but once they're out there they become akin to Urban Legends without the kitschy, horror-movie bent. If we choose to sustain and bolster these mistaken… Continue reading A Few Common Misconceptions
Happy First Anniversary!
Made it to the first anniversary of this blog life. Feeling very happy about that. Thanks to Wordpress & all you wonderful readers!! I may make some upcoming changes to how things have been, but my goal was 52 weeks of a Tuesday post and I only missed one while I was in another country. It… Continue reading Happy First Anniversary!
Insta…Creation According to my Instagram account I have posted 1911 photos and my very first post was 159 weeks ago. Who knew? For those who aren't familiar, Instagram is a photo app for smartphones. Wikipedia describes it as follows: " Instagram is an online mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing and social networking service that enables its users… Continue reading Insta…Creation
Prêt-à-Porter…Again & Again
So, I've been ill the past few days, and in order to subsist I've been trying to wear something that allows for comfort. It has really got me thinking about some of my favorite articles of clothing that I've owned over the years. And lying here, has of course given me a chance to think,… Continue reading Prêt-à-Porter…Again & Again
The Trouble with Overthinking
o·ver·think ōvərˈTHiNGk/ verb gerund or present participle: overthinking think about (something) too much or for too long. "must you overthink every relationship?" So I woke up with one-half of my face particularly numb today, it's numb every day, but today it is amplified. It's really weird and it's a feeling that I never ever could… Continue reading The Trouble with Overthinking
It has become somewhat painfully apparent that time truly stands still for no one. I had recommended that it slow down. It did not comply. I must accept that life goes on and things change, of course. Yet although it's incredibly exciting, it's also overwhelming some days. And it's not that I'm in the twilight… Continue reading Reflectionology
Ten Times Karen Salmansohn Resonated Perfectly with Me
(When I Really Needed It) **And so now for a little inspiration… I am a big fan & "Like" her Facebook page, but it has been totally uncanny some days when one of Karen Salmansohn's illustrated quotes has randomly showed up on my FB newsfeed...and then it's just the thing, I mean the exact thing… Continue reading Ten Times Karen Salmansohn Resonated Perfectly with Me
From the Booklet on Uneasiness:
From the Booklet on Uneasiness: When I was fifteen I had a mysterious caller. Maybe now he'd be called a stalker. I automatically want to qualify that; I had a bit of a stalker, but then I hesitate because that makes it sound of less importance, and I don't think that is the case. Well, except at… Continue reading From the Booklet on Uneasiness:
From the Guidebook for Distress:
From the Guidebook for Distress: Ringalingaling ringalingaling... Ringalingaling ringalingaling... I'm just barely a teenager, home alone on a weeknight. The house phone is ringing; it's the eighties after all...so I answer it, "Hello." A male voice comes onto the line, an older male, "Hi, is your father home?" "No," I say. He says, "Is your… Continue reading From the Guidebook for Distress:
Dispelling the Myth
A relationship is an absolute ton of work, the magnitude of which vacillates within our daily lives. If I or anyone else has led you to believe that love, romance or marriage are easy, well then I would like to go on record as saying that this is complete rubbish; twaddle, poppycock, bollocks and so forth.… Continue reading Dispelling the Myth
Snippets & Moments
Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same. – Emily Brontë It's in the little moments. It truly is. And in the scheme of things...these are but a few snippets. "Life is not made up of minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years, but of moments. You must experience each one… Continue reading Snippets & Moments
These Hands
The final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands. – Anne Frank I find myself noticing my left hand as I leaf through my old pictures from before I lost some of the movement and a lot of the dexterity a couple years ago. Photos from just before, from my childhood and… Continue reading These Hands
Metro-politan Surprise
Stockholm is surely an urban planner's dream. Everything works. Everything looks good. – Janine di Giovanni Exactly one year ago tomorrow I woke up in a charming boutique hotel in an area of Stockholm, Sweden called Solna. The sun was streaming in through the windows and it was a gorgeous day. I was nearly over… Continue reading Metro-politan Surprise
Across the Great Divide
"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up… Continue reading Across the Great Divide
You Were There with Me, Sister
... I hear you laugh, my heart fills full up ♫♪♪♫♪ Sisters share the scent and smells – the feel of a common childhood. — Pam Brown Our Family Tree: So, my sister is about to celebrate a milestone birthday this week, and I wish that I could be there to celebrate her big day!… Continue reading You Were There with Me, Sister
I Can't Control the Wind, But I Can Adjust the Sail
A Little Then I'm lying in a hospital bed; it's never quiet here during the daytime. I'm lying very still, partly because I'm too tired to move and partly because when I'm perfectly immobile I feel like I might be fine. Even though I'm lying prone, it's like I could possibly get up and walk… Continue reading I Can't Control the Wind, But I Can Adjust the Sail
Maybe We Can Make This Last a Lifetime
Valentine's Blog Disclaimer: Although I personally am pro-Valentine's Day & this post is pro-romance, I don't subscribe to the pressures put onto us about Feb 14th, and sadly I can understand why some people have come to resent, avoid & scorn it… The rose is red, the violet's blue, The honey's sweet, and so are… Continue reading Maybe We Can Make This Last a Lifetime
Stand Upright and Be Strong
You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own, and you know what you know. And you are the guy who'll decide where to go. — Dr. Seuss Our youngest got his first college acceptance letter – well let… Continue reading Stand Upright and Be Strong
Everything Zen…I Don't Think So
Recently it occurred to me that I too often am not living my life in a very Zen-like way. I hear my inner voice, or my inner critic, chastising me, "That's not very Zen-like", it admonishes, but the thing is: I want to be more Zen-like. I want to be more tolerant, more at peace,… Continue reading Everything Zen…I Don't Think So
Let's Go to the Movies, Annie
My life has spanned the Seventies, the Eighties, the Nineties, Y2K to today. At different times I've measured it in different ways; chronologically, in milestones, the "no kids-kids at home-grown kids" years, where I lived, from elementary school to college, before and after marriage, etcetera. This is a first though, measuring it, and I use… Continue reading Let's Go to the Movies, Annie
The Leaves that are Green Turn to Brown
I was twenty-one years when I wrote this song. I'm twenty-two now but I won't be for long Time hurries on. – Paul Simon Dear Twenty-Year-Old Me, You're two decades into a great life. You're fortunate; you were born into a loving family. You've had a pretty normal and happy upbringing. You've enjoyed a great… Continue reading The Leaves that are Green Turn to Brown
All You Have to do is Call My Name
What makes a fictional character memorable? Or relatable? As a devoted-and-proud diehard fan of the television show Gilmore Girls, it was with great sadness that I took the news of the wonderful character actor and Tony winning Stage aficionado, Edward Herrmann's passing on New Year's Eve 2014. He had portrayed the family patriarch Richard Gilmore… Continue reading All You Have to do is Call My Name
It Seems Like, Yes it Feels Like a Brand New Day
It's almost 2015, tomorrow is New Year's Eve. I've started to notice articles about resolutions online and also shared on Facebook. And I feel that old familiar pull to better myself. Technically, it's really no different than any other day, but beginning a new year can seem like and feel like, at least in our… Continue reading It Seems Like, Yes it Feels Like a Brand New Day
The Story of a Girl (Part Five)
To recap: It begs the question, have you ever wondered just how much the Universe is capable of conspiring to make something happen…to make something come true? To bring two people together… Part Four continued the story of a girl, and her journey to happiness. She'll again be typed in this color and she'll be known simply as the girl. As… Continue reading The Story of a Girl (Part Five)
The Story of a Girl (Part Four)
To recap: It begs the question, have you ever wondered just how much the Universe is capable of conspiring to make something happen…to make something come true? To bring two people together… Part Three continued the story of a girl, and her journey to happiness. She'll again be typed in this color and she'll be known simply as the girl.… Continue reading The Story of a Girl (Part Four)
The Story of a Girl (Part Three)
To recap: It begs the question, have you ever wondered just how much the Universe is capable of conspiring to make something happen…to make something come true? To bring two people together… Part Two continued the story of a girl, and her journey to happiness. She'll again be typed in this color and she'll be known simply as the girl. As… Continue reading The Story of a Girl (Part Three)
The Story of a Girl (Part Two)
To recap: It begs the question, have you ever wondered just how much the Universe is capable of conspiring to make something happen…to make something come true? To bring two people together… Part One began the story of a girl, and her journey to happiness. She'll again be typed in this color and she'll be… Continue reading The Story of a Girl (Part Two)


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Sept. 20. 2010, 2010 -- After two days of hearings, several members of an 11-member advisory panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found that there are not yet sufficient data to determine that a genetic modification that enables salmon to grow twice as quickly is safe for the affected fish or for consumers.
The panel, made up of outside experts, did not vote or make a recommendation on whether to approve these fish for human consumption, after holding today's public hearing to determine whether genetic engineering is safe for the fish; whether the fish are safe to eat; whether the fish actually do grow faster; and the potential environmental impacts the production of these fish could pose.
AquaBounty Technologies, the company that hopes to get the modification approved, faced considerable criticism from a number of consumer and scientific advocacy organizations at the hearings.
The genetically altered salmon eggs include a growth hormone gene that cause them to reach full size in about half the time it takes regular salmon to reach the same size.
Ron Stotish, the CEO of AquaBounty Technologies, said after the hearing that the committee misinterpreted much of the data and got confused by the "enormous" amount of data presented to them during the hearing, which lasted more than eight hours.
FDA Documents released before the hearings also indicated the fish are safe, and one FDA scientisttestified to that earlier today.
"In conclusion, all of the data and information we reviewed ... really drive us to the conclusion that AquAdvantage salmon is Atlantic salmon, and food from AquAdvantage salmon is as safe as food from other Atlantic salmon," said Kathleen Jones of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine.
But several of the technology's opponents attended the hearing to urge the FDA not to approve the eggs, accusing the FDA of relying on shoddy science when they did their initial review and determined the fish to be safe.
"The FDA is relying on company data from only a handful of fish," said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food and Water Watch. "Such flimsy science isn't good enough to assure the public that this product is safe to eat.
Donald Prater of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine, visited AquaBounty Technologies and helped gather data for the agency's intiial review. He testified earlier today that the safety study included some fish that were selected based on certain characteristics, but said they were comparable to normal salmon in terms of health problems. He also said the fish would require additional monitoring to determine whether the growing conditions could cause additional health abnormalities.
Other critics said these fish pose a threat to salmon in the wild. The Ocean Conservancy, a Washington, DC-based conservation organization which opposes the salmon production, said these fish could pose a huge risk to native salmon species if they were to escape from captivity.
"This dangerous precedent could eventually allow genetically modified fish in the very same pens and cages where hundreds of thousands of fish escape every year," Anna Zivian, a senior manager with the Ocean Conservancy has said. Zivian testified before the FDA today.
Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), also weighed in on the issue, urging the FDA, in what he said was the interest of the safety of the public and the environment, to avoid "ram[ming] the decision through."
Some Experts Say Technology is Beneficial
Other scientists say the salmon may not pose an ecological risk after all.
Yonathan Zohar of the University of Maryland's Center of Marine Biotechnology said as the human population increases, so will the consumption of seafood. In order to avoid overfishing and depleting wild fish, fish must be grown.
He added that if it's done in fully-contained, land-based tanks, the effects can be positive for the ecosystem and for people's health.
Eric Hallerman, a professor of fisheries and wildlife at Virginia Tech University, also spoke of the benefits these salmon can provide.
"This may be good news for the environment," said Hallerman, adding that native populations are tapped out.
But he stressed there must be very strict confinement of these fish so they can't escape into the wild.
"If they interbreed with native salmon there could be loss of local adaptations and perhaps loss of those populations," he said.
The FDA will hold its next public hearing tomorrow, as it considers whether to label the salmon as genetically modified, if it is ever approved.
The FDA declined to set a timetable for making a final decision on the matter. ABC News' Lisa Stark, Brian Hartman and Andrew Miller contributed to this report.


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Each year, we explore electricity in our Family Inventor's Lab, a STEM class for families with kids age 3 – 7. We do experiments with electrical circuits, explore circuit building kits, and play with electrical toys and make an LED card that lights up. We explore static electricity, do some art, and learn about hydroelectricity. We have one group time focused on static electricity, and one on circuits, where we read books and play games to reinforce the learning.
Experiments with Electrical Circuits
Lighting a Bulb:
The simplest, most straight-forward way to illustrate a circuit is to use a lightbulb on wires, and hook it up to a battery.
First, hold up the lightbulb and ask why it's not lit. They say because it has no power. You hook one wire to the battery, then ask them if it's lit. Why not? Then hook the other wire up. Now the light comes on. Point out the circuit – the electricity is pushed by the battery into the first wire, then through the light, then through the second wire back to the battery.
We used a 6 Volt Lantern Battery and some old lightbulbs on wires we have in the store room. (I can't find bulbs quite like this on Amazon or at Radio Shack now, but you could do a similar experiment with LED bulbs and a battery pack. Or you could use a 1.5 – 3V motor and a AA battery pack.)
You can also add in a switch so they can see how the switch interrupts the circuit. We had mechanical switches and DIY switches we could include in the circuit. (If you don't already own these materials, there are several simple kits that include the basics, such as School Specialty 560962 or the Eisco Labs kit.)
You could also do this exploration with a battery pack and a motor. It can be hard to see the pin on a motor spin (though you can hear it), so you can put a bead or something on the pin to make it more obvious.
Conductive Play-dough (Squishy Circuits)
You can demonstrate circuits using conductive playdough.
You'll need LED bulbs and a battery pack. You can use Play-Doh brand playdough as your conductive dough, or make your own. We made two batches of play-dough, one conductive (made with salt and cream of tartar) and one insulating (made with sugar and distilled water). See recipes at http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/apthomas/SquishyCircuits/ or www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-conductive-play-dough/?ALLSTEPS.)
A simple circuit involves taking two balls of conductive dough. Push one wire from the battery pack into ball 1 and the other wire into ball 2, then insert one wire from the light into ball 1 and one into ball 2. Show the children the circuit.
Then play with it from there. What happens if we push the two balls together? We create a short circuit. The electricity just passes through the play-dough, not lighting the light. What if we put a layer of insulating dough between the two balls – light comes back on. Have the children test several lights, and sort them by color. (Note – they shouldn't touch the wires on the lights directly to the battery terminals – that can cause them to burn out.) Have them build series circuits. There's a lot more you can do with "squishy circuits" made of play-dough. Here's a video of a TED talk on why squishy circuits are cool for kids. http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/apthomas/SquishyCircuits/
Lemon Battery:
On many websites, and in many kids' books about electricity, you'll find directions for a lemon battery – you put a penny and a zinc screw in a lemon, and use it to light a lightbulb.
The science behind this: What's happening in a voltaic battery: two electrodes – one copper and one zinc – are submerged in an electrolyte – an acidic solution (lemon juice in this case). Zinc and lemon produce electrons and copper and lemon lose electrons. Electrons pass through the lemon juice from one battery terminal to the other, creating electricity.
The idea for the experiment is: roll the lemon with some pressure to get it juicy, then insert into the lemon one zinc item (screw or eyelet) and one copper item (copper wire, rivet or copper penny – from before 1982 when pennies were more copper than zinc). Be sure the two metals don't touch. Then take a lightbulb on wires – touch one wire to the zinc item and one to the copper to light the bulb. (Or so several sites / books claim.) We found that the current produced by the battery was way too weak to light our LED bulbs. We did get a voltmeter which could measure the current to show a small reaction was happening.
Apple Battery: Another year, we used a Granny Smith apple and copper rivets. You take a wire from the battery pack, wrap it around a rivet, and push it into apple #1. You take the other wire, wrap it around a rivet, and push it into apple #2. Then take the probes for the voltmeter and place them in the apple – be sure to put the red probe into the apple with the red wire, and the black probe with the black wire. The voltmeter will register the electrical current. Our older kids understood that the voltmeter indicated electricity was passing. Our younger kids didn't understand that, but they liked pushing the rivets into the apple. 🙂
A homopolar motor / spinning wire
There is a fun experiment where you set a battery on magnets, then balance a copper wire on the top of the battery – it will spin around and around. It's SUPER cool… and it's hard to make it work well! Learn more: www.exo.net/~emuller/activities/Simple%20Spinner.pdf https://science.wonderhowto.com/how-to/do-simple-experiment-using-copper-wire-and-battery-353194/ and www.wikihow.com/Make-an-Engine-from-a-Battery%2C-Wire-and-a-Magnet
Exploring Circuit Building Kits
We had the littleBits Base Inventor Kit. littleBits is kind of the Lego of electrical circuits. It's a modular system, with little bits that click together with magnets, so it's easy for even small children to assemble them correctly. There are inputs (buttons, dimmer switch / volume control, sound activated switch, etc.), and outputs (lights, buzzers, motors, etc.) The base kit comes with an instruction book to explain the basics, but also "ideas to get you started" on other things you can invent. I have a detailed review of littleBits and Snap Circuits here.
Here is a basic configuration: power cell, input switch (a push button) and an output (a bright LED light.)
Snap Circuits
Snap Circuits is another modular electronics kit. Kids snap items on to the base plate, such as battery packs, switches, lights, and motors. Then they snap on wire modules to complete the circuit. The set comes with an instruction manual, but I've created my own simplified directions for 5 of the projects. Our 5 – 7 year olds could assemble them but they were beyond the fine motor skills/strength and beyond the cognitive grasp of our little ones. Find a detailed comparison of these and littleBits here. You could also consider Design and Drill Circuits, or Start-Up Circuits for 2 – 3 year olds.
Playing with Electrical Toys
Create electricity with a hand generator: We had a crank-powered flashlight and emergency radio plus several small flashlights with dynamos. (Like these, but we got ours in the Daiso dollar store for $1.50 each.) These were a great free play activity for the active kids – we turned off most of the lights in one room and they just played with flashlights and did flashlight tag.
Plasma ball: We had one of these to let kids see the "lightning": Sphere Lightning Lamp
Sensor Toys: Ok, I know you've all seen toys during your life where if you touch two metal contacts on the bottom, it completes a circuit and the toy does something.
Years ago, my daughter got a toy chick one Easter that would chirp when you held it in your hands. When she brought her chick to kindergarten, she and her classmates discovered all sorts of cool concepts about electricity by playing with it. For example, if one person touches one contact and another person touches the other contact, the bird does not chirp. But then when those two people hold hands (to complete a circuit) the bird chirps. The bird chirps when set on a metal surface but not if set on wood or rubber, and so on. Her teacher, a master of emergent learning, was so excited by this. He said he wanted to jump in with "ooh! ooh! it's electricity" and explain it all at the start of the day. Instead, he told me he "sat on his hands" all day and didn't explain it until the end of the day when he asked the kids to share all the things they learned, make observations about what made the chick chirp and what didn't, and what they thought was the reason. And only after that discussion did he explain the principles of electricity.
For our class, I found a battered Easter chick at Goodwill, and I ordered this Tedco Sensor Ball which flashes and makes noise. (This Energy Stick looks like a great option, plus if you look at that item on Amazon, it suggests several other related products.)
Operation. We put out the classic board game Operation. The goal of the game is to use wire tweezers to pick little pieces of plastic out of openings without making it buzz and light up. So, let's look at the science… why does it light up and buzz?
Our 3 – 4 year olds basically just had fun setting off the buzzer over and over. Our older kids got both the point of the game (to try to get the plastic out without hitting the buzzer – a great fine motor challenge) AND got the idea of the electrical circuit. Here's a poster to go with this activity.
Static Electricity
Weather Note: There's lots of great static electricity activities you can do, but it's worth noting that your success will depend a lot on the weather! One year in January, we figured that our classroom air would be quite dry due to all the forced air heat that was blowing through the room. However, when the outdoor humidity is at 85%, the static electricity demonstrations were less effective than we had hoped…
History and an Experiment to Go With It: 2,500 years ago a Greek mathematician and astronomer named Thales (TAY-less) first noticed the effects of static electricity. He was polishing a piece of amber, with a piece of wool or fur. Thales discovered that after he rubbed the amber that it attracted dust particles or other light objects like straw or feathers. (More history here: http://inventionofelectricity.weebly.com/contributors.html) You could re-create this in class with amber, sheep skin, and feathers.
Static Station. We offered multiple ways to generate static electricity – balloons kids could rub in their hair, plastic combs and a plastic ruler that they could rub plus wool and silk to rub them with. Then we offered multiple items that will react visibly to the pull of static electricity. Some options are: puffed rice cereal, torn up tissue paper, plastic tubes filled with Styrofoam pellets, feathers, rabbit fur, and an empty aluminum can. You can also have a plate of salt and pepper. Wave the static charged balloon over it – the pepper will fly up first, and the heavier salt will be slower to attract. You could have a contest where kids charge their balloons, then stick balloons to a wall, and see whose balloon stays stuck the longest.
Light a bulb with static: Our teacher rubbed a balloon on her hair to build up a static charge, then held the balloon to one end of a compact fluorescent bulb, and it made it light up briefly. (Only works when humidity is low!) Learn more at: http://www.csiro.au/en/Education/DIY-science/Physics/Light-up-your-light-bulbs
Make Lightning: http://www.learnplayimagine.com/2013/04/how-to-make-lightning.html has two methods for getting a spark. We haven't tested these.
Water table: Have a static generator (balloon and hair, or amber and wool, or comb and wool) next to the water table. Charge it up, then pour a trickle of water past it – will the static electricity "bend" the stream of water? Here's a poster to go with this. The bending water is a little subtle. The littlest kids don't really get it. The 5 – 7 year olds could understand it if FIRST we showed that normally when you pour water, it flows straight down, then we showed how the static bends the water.
LED Card that Lights Up!
Our challenge project of the day is this cool card. Find the full tutorial here: https://inventorsoftomorrow.com/2021/11/05/an-led-card-that-lights-up/
Tissue Paper Art / Static Detector
On I Heart Crafty Things, we found this great idea for a butterfly made of tissue paper where the wings will flutter in reaction to a static electricity source such as a charged up balloon. My co-teacher had the seasonally appropriate idea to do a tree instead, where the fall leaves flutter. They cut leaves out of tissue paper and Mylar wrapping paper. The key thing you need to explain to the kids is to only glue down PART of the leaf. They need to leave most of the leaf loose to flutter. Here's a sheet of instructions.
We've tried a few other ideas, which are tangentially related to electricity. 1) drawings with Spirograph to represent electron orbits. 2) Scratch art pictures of lightning bolts… scribble with oil pastels to fill a piece of paper with bright colors. Paint over that with dark blue/black acrylic paint like the night sky. While the paint is still wet, use a stick to draw lightning bolts – it will move the paint aside to reveal the colors below. 3) Use electricity to draw by using a record player turntable. Put a paper plate on where the record goes, turn it on, and draw. 4) You could build a Scribblebot and use that to make art. You tape three markers onto a plastic cup to form "legs" on the robot. Add a motor and a battery, and your scribble bot dances around, leaving a drawing behind.
Water Power / Hydroelectricity
In the water table, use scoops and toy water wheels. (You can also make your own water wheel from plastic spoons or cups). Put pictures of water wheel generators next to the table so you can explain how, before the invention of electricity, water wheels on streams were used to do work (like grind grain or pump bellows.)
K'nex used to have a set called Exploring Wind and Water Energy. One of the projects you can make is this water powered generator. Your child can help to assemble it, then play with it.
Circle Time – Static Electricity
There are two big ideas to communicate: 1) things are made of atoms – atoms are made of protons, neutrons, and electrons. 2) Sometimes when things rub together, they lose electrons, and that "charges up" the item with static electricity.
History: Share the history of Thales, mentioned above.
Grounding in their Experience: Ask "have you ever slid down a plastic slide and then gotten a shock when you touched someone? Have you ever played parachute games at circle – did you notice that for the kids who went under the parachute, their hair would then stand up straight? When your parent gets laundry out of the dryer, have you ever seen a sock stuck on to something? That is static electricity."
What's happening? Explain that all things are made of atoms. Little itty bitty particles we can't see. (There are millions in one eyelash.) Each atom is made up of three parts: protons and neutrons are held together tightly in the middle. Electrons are negatively charged and they're held loosely. [Illustrate this with 3 balls of playdough – stick two together to be the proton and neutron, then use the other ball to show the orbiting electron.] Electrons bounce from atom to atom easily. So, when there's a static charge in my hair, because I've been playing under the parachute, an electron might jump away from me to something else. [Show with the play-dough electron.]
Static electricity demos: Use your hair to charge a balloon, or fabric to charge a comb, then demonstrate how tissue paper reacts, or how you can pick up rice cereal with it. These things are attracted to each other. Then lay an empty aluminum can on its side, and hold the static item near it. The can will either roll toward the balloon or away. (Learn more at Exploratorium.) Light a fluorescent bulb with static electricity.
Parachute: Begin by playing with the parachute. Especially do games where the kids are under the parachute that's going up and down. After a while, point out how all their hair is standing on end. It's charged with static, and the hairs are "repulsing" each other and trying to move away from each other.
If you want a theme song, play the Schoolhouse Rock Electricity Song. When it says anything else, ripple the parachute, but whenever it says "Electricity, Electricity" raise and lower the parachute twice. (I also like throwing balls on there to be bouncing electrons.)
Circle Time – Electricity
Our third big idea is: For electricity to work, you need a complete circuit. You connect the negative terminal on the battery to the output (a light or a buzzer) with something that conducts electricity (wire, water, conductive play-dough), then connect the output back to the positive terminal. This allows current to flow continuously.
Ask the kids what they know about electricity, and how we use electricity. This grounds the rest of the discussion in their experience.
Song: My co-teacher wrote a simple song, that goes:
Electricity is a powerful thing… I know, I know… Electricity is a powerful thing… I know, I know…
Then we ask kids to suggest something that they use electricity for, and we substitute in those words.
Electricity lights our streets… I know, I know. … Electricity warms our Homes… Electricity starts our cars… Electricity makes lightning >boom< And so on…
Intro: Thanks to the work of lots of scientists and inventors throughout history, we've figured out how to capture and store electricity. One of the places we store it is in a battery. We've also figured out how to help move electrons so they do work. For example, they can light a light, make a buzzer buzz, or turn a fan, like we did with the Snap Circuits and littleBits. To make any of these things work, we have to hook up the power source and the thing we want to power so electricity can move from one to the other.
Circuits Demo: Use the batteries and lightbulbs and switches to demonstrate the idea of circuits and how current passes through a circuit. And how a switch interrupts the circuit.
Pass the current: Have kids hold hands in a circle. Squeeze a child's hand, they squeeze the next hand, and so on, to pass the current all the way around a circle.
After you have done this, use your sensor toy (see above.) You touch one sensor. Have the child next to you touch the other sensor. Nothing happens. Hold hands with that child – you've completed the circuit – the light comes on, or the chick cheeps. Now, let go of that neighbor's hand, and take the hand of the child on your other side. Have all the children join hands, so kids can see that the current travels from you through all of them, back to the sensor. When we all hold hands, the chick cheeps. If anyone lets go, it interrupts the circle, and the chick stops cheeping.
You could also play either of the games described below.
I honestly haven't found any I love. So, I wrote my own. Click here to download a free PDF of Electricity: Let's Light It Up.
Here are some other books to consider.
- Oscar and the Bird. When Oscar the kitten finds a tractor in a field and accidentally turns on the windshield wipers, he is full of questions about electricity. Luckily, Bird knows the answers! With the help of his friend, Oscar finds out how electricity is made and stored, which machines need electricity to work — and why we always need to be careful around wires, batteries, plugs, and sockets. Ages 4 – 8. This would be a great SECOND book to read if we'd first read a book with a nice summary of basics of electricity.
- Electricity: Bulbs, Batteries, and Sparks (Amazing Science). A little long, but otherwise a good circle book for ages 5 and up. (skip the "fun facts" when reading aloud.) Over the head of younger ones.
- Switch On, Switch Off by Berger. Library description: Explains how electricity is produced and transmitted, how to create electricity using wire and a magnet, how generators supply electricity for cities, and how electricity works in homes. Ages 6 – 8. Probably too long for circle.
- The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Picture Book Edition by Kamkwamba. Tells of a boy in Malawi who learned about wind power in books at the library and worked to build a generator for his village when they were struck by a drought. This is a nice "window" into another world. Best for ages 5 and up.
Good resource books for older kids (age 5+) and for experiment ideas. Not for circle.
- Electricity (Real Scientist Investigates…) – ages 10+
- Electricity (Science Experiments (Benchmark)) – for ages 10+
- What Is Electricity? (Understanding Electricity (Crabtree))
- Electricity: The Best Start in Science (Little Science Stars)
- All Charged Up.
Group Activities / Games
Electrons: Explain that all things are made up of molecules (reminder of the states of matter activities last week.) All molecules are made of atoms. Atoms are made of protons and neutrons which hold tight together in the nucleus, and electrons are held loosely. Give each child a die (or a coin) where some/one side is labelled "proton or neutron" and one is labeled electron. On each turn, they roll their die or flip their coin, then pick it up. If it says proton or neutron, they run to the center of the room and huddle together. If it says electron, they orbit in a circle around the protons and neutrons.
Pass the Electron Game: This idea started with an idea on Hub Pages: http://hubpages.com/education/electricity-lesson-plan Have all the kids stand in a line. Tell them they are a copper wire. Give each one electron (a ball or other small toy). Tell them they're a balanced copper atom. But, when the battery (the teacher) gives an extra electron to one child, they have to pass on one of their electrons as quick as they can. When the extra electron gets to the end of the line, flash a flashlight to show the electricity was discharged. We tried this in our morning class – the teacher told them that they should take the new electron in their left hand, pass the old one on, then pass the new one to the right hand. But it turned out that it was too much of a small motor challenge for our three and four year olds – they had a hard time transferring balls from hand to hand. There are two ways to fix that. One is that they hold THEIR electron in their left hand the whole time and always use their right hand to take and pass the new electron. The other is what we did in our afternoon class, where we just pretended they were holding their own balanced electron, and the only moving ball was the extra electron that was passed to them. We were then able to pass several electrons at once, for a "hot potato" style game. You can also curl the end of the circle to complete a circuit.
Note: this post contains Amazon affiliate links. I get a small fee if you click through and order something on Amazon.


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Here are the rankings of New Zealand blogs with publicly available statistics for January 2012. Please note, the system is automatic and relies on blogs having sitemeters which allow public access to the stats. There are now over 260 blogs on the list, although I am weeding out those which are no longer active or have removed public access to sitemeters.
I have listed the blogs in the table below, together with monthly visits and page view numbers for January, 2012.
Meanwhile I am still keen to hear of any other blogs with publicly available sitemeter or visitor stats that I have missed. Contact me if you know of any or wish help adding publicly available stats to your bog.
You can see data for previous months at Blog Ranks
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Ask Lisa: Yellow tomatoes can be canned, but do so safely
Q: Is it possible to can yellow tomatoes like I do red ones?
— Julie Crossen, Powell, Ohio
A: Any tomatoes can be canned; however, due to varying levels of acid in tomatoes it is always necessary to add acid when canning any type of tomatoes. This will keep the preserved tomatoes safe for eating by creating an environment where bacteria cannot thrive, regardless of the canning method -- boiling water or pressure.
Acidifying tomatoes can be accomplished by adding commercially bottled lemon juice to the mix (2 tablespoons per quart) or powdered citric acid (1/2 teaspoon per quart). Bottled lemon juice is recommended over fresh squeezed, because its acid level is consistent.
Canning is a rewarding hobby, but it is important to always can safely or the consequences can be deadly. Because new vegetable varieties are constantly coming on the market, it is important to follow an up-to-date recipe.
Two valuable sources of information are "So Easy to Preserve" produced by the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension (http://setp.uga.edu/about.html) and the "Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving." (www.freshpreserving.com).
-- Ask a food or cooking question by writing Ask Lisa at The Dispatch, 62 E. Broad St., P.O. Box 1289, Columbus, OH 43216; calling 614-461-5529; or sending email to email@example.com, with "Ask Lisa" in the subject line. Include your name, address and phone number. (Initials are printed on request.)


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I often choose films to watch by going to TCM's website, looking at their on-demand movies page, and browsing through the list for films that are expiring soon. One laundry day in July, with not much to do but move my clothes from washer to dryer and fold them, I decided to watch a couple of films.
I scrolled, paying special attention to films expiring the next day and looking at their descriptions. Nearing the end of the alphabetical list, I noticed The Seventh Victim, accompanied by this brief summary:
"A girl's search for her missing sister puts her in conflict with a band of satanists."
Sisters? A missing-person mystery? Satanists? Naturally, my interest was piqued.
The Seventh Victim was directed by Mark Robson and produced by Val Lewton. The film follows Mary Gibson (Kim Hunter), a teenager who travels to NYC to search for her sister Jacqueline (Jean Brooks) after Jacqueline fails to make the usual tuition payment to Mary's school. No one knows where Jacqueline went; she was most-recently seen at a restaurant, about a week before Mary's arrival in New York. Something strange has happened, and Mary is determined to find her sister.
In terms of mystery, The Seventh Victim hits all of the right notes, building up a series of suspicious events and complications before Mary actually begins to discover what happened to her sister. It's an eerie little film, building a chilling atmosphere as it progresses.
Visually, there are hints of noir that elevate this above the usual chiller. Stark shadows adorn the streets of New York City, as well as many of the film's most fascinating interior scenes. In one such scene, Mary has a conversation with a not-exactly-friendly character while in the shower. Her conversation partner (whose identity I won't reveal, as I think it'd be best for those of you who haven't seen this film to go into it knowing less about it) is seen as a shadow on the shower curtain — wearing a hat that gives the illusion of horns. It's a very spooky twist on a photographic style more frequently seen in the decade's crime dramas.
The performances, in general, offer nothing remarkable; however, all of the film's performers are capable in their roles and suit the film's mood/atmosphere.
The one standout, to me, was an actress with a small role: the mysterious Jacqueline herself, Jean Brooks. Her screen-time is brief compared to most of the film's other characters, but Brooks' subtle performance is incredibly effective. Her strikingly off-trend hairstyle (seen below) sets her apart from everyone else visually, but the character's attitude and Brooks' quiet portrayal of her are a captivating addition to the film.
Full of bleak atmosphere, The Seventh Victim is a thought-provoking mystery/thriller which questions life and death, good and evil. Despite the element of satanism in the story, this isn't a film that relies on cheap scares or supernatural twists to hook its viewer. It's a fascinating watch, powered by an intriguing script that is brought to life through well-executed production. The score: 4.5/5


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On the path towards a low emission society, Norway will cut emissions, and businesses must create new values.
In order to achieve this, we must exploit Norway's renewable energy resources effectively. We must invest more in innovation and technology development. We still do not have all the solutions we will need for the low emission society. These new solutions cannot just be sustainable – they must also be financially viable.
This will not happen by itself – which is where Enova comes in.
It can be costly and risky for individual businesses to start using the newest and most climate-friendly technologies. Enova can make a financial contribution so that projects can still be implemented. Each year, Enova invests more than NOK 3 Billion of public resources in solutions. These solutions help build a green Norway for tomorrow.
Our work is far from done. We will continue to help Norway reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop new energy and climate technology. We will still be here to help push ideas to the market. We will also do our part to ensure innovations increase in both scope and speed.
+47-74 60 74 20
Street address
Visiting address: Brattørkaia 17A, N-7010 Trondheim, NORWAY
Mailing address
Enova SF
Postboks 5700 Torgarden
N-7437 Trondheim, NORWAY
Call center (Norway only)
Some of Norway's most prominent energy advisers are available to you at our Call Center for a dedicated dialogue and correspondance from 09:00 a.m. to 04:00 p.m. (every weekday)
Business customers: 08049
Private households: 800 49 003


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I am a weather and environmental photographer, multi-media artist and storm chaser. Founder of the Webby Award Winning Clouds 365 Project. You can also find me on Facebook, Google+ , 500px and TwitterFollow @kellydelay


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I have not had the urge to word vomit all over this blog or journal. I think that is probably a good thing. I think I am just trying to maintain. I have been doing more reading on how to become involved with Parental Alienation advocacy. I am on a productive track...I'll keep you posted.… Continue reading Maintenance
Tag: targeted parent
The Front Right
The brain is so weird. What is going on in there? It is me. But, I know nothing about it. The only thing I know is that I have a picture of my son constantly etched in the front, right side. His face sits over my right eye. Isn't that weird? No matter what I… Continue reading The Front Right
All the truly good words of sadness begin with "D's." Have you noticed? Desperate, destroyed, distressed, despondent, despairing, dejected, dismal, disheartened. I need to make some changes. When I first started writing this blog, I felt depleted of all worth. That is why my heading read: "Motherhood is a role we take for… Continue reading Delight
Rabbit Hole
I spent a month away from writing. Several weeks ago, a perceptive, insightful friend insisted on stopping by my house for a couple of drinks. This seemed odd since we are both teachers and drinking past 9:00 pm on a Thursday night is a death sentence for Friday mornings. When she arrived, she wasted no… Continue reading Rabbit Hole
Please, Take a Shower
Seven days ago I willingly asked my son's father to come to my home and take my son from me. Indefinitely. My 48-hour weekend visitation began with a grumpy 14 year old staring at his phone or playing Xbox for hours. I tiptoe around him, leaving him be, because I am nervous and weary of… Continue reading Please, Take a Shower
The Badge
As a single mother of two receiving a meager teacher's salary and little to no child support, I managed to buy a house, pay my bills on time and involve my children in extracurricular activities. I was the cook, the clean, the tutor, the chauffeur, the referee, the police officer, the monitor, the folder signer,… Continue reading The Badge


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After the SPELL Tabs two weeks ago, I am now adding a Cascading Selects package to my Office 365 site.
I already mentioned the Cascading Selects back in November. It was initially created for demo purposes, to showcase the capabilities of SPELL Form, a module designed to enhance SharePoint out of the box forms.
In light of recent events (and in particular this update from the Microsoft Office team), I have repackaged it, and I am making a gratis version available to teams and small businesses. If you are interested, fill out the contact form with your company information, and you'll receive both gratis versions – Tabs and Cascading Selects.
These packages are end user solutions, and come with an "editor view" (cf. screenshot). The full versions are more sophisticated, with tools for power users and front end developers. SPELL works in SharePoint 2007, 2010, 2013, and Office 365 (version 16).
If you are one of the 100 users who already registered their company to get the Tabs, the link to the Cascading Selects should already be in your mailbox!


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Before My First Marathon: While I Still Have my Sanity
It's finally Marathon Week, and I'm trying my darnedest not to freak out. It's been a long time since a race has made me nervous and stressed out. In fact, I can't remember the last time I was almost afraid of running a race, not knowing what was going to happen (for those of you who have run one, please leave comments! I'd love to hear what you did for your first!).
This is what it feels like to be a newbie again. I'm a half marathon master now – I did 6 halfs in 9 weeks this past spring. I had a lot of pressure on myself to PR at Hospital Hill Half, but I knew I could run the race. And I knew how it would feel. And I knew the course by heart. And I knew how to prepare for running a race in Kansas City on the cusp of summer.
But a Full Marathon in an unknown city in an unfamiliar climate? I can't even FATHOM what that will feel like. What mental games I'll have to play to keep going. How physically exhausted I'm going to feel. Or even imagine how great the finish will feel to motivate me at the worst moments.
Reasons Why I'm Freaking Out
- The Weather – ah, this is every runner's biggest worry (after what kind of beer is going to be at the finish line). I learned from my half marathon in Dallas this spring that even though the weather says it will be nice, it's probably is lying to you. So I'm prepared by having at least one of everything. But acclimating is going to suck. We've trained all summer in hot and humid Kansas. By mile 2, you were soaked. The hardest decision I had to make about what to wear was figuring out which tank top was clean. It'll be refreshing to run in a cooler climate – but Portland is weird in between weather. It's chilly but humid but usually rainy but sometimes hot. I haven't gotten to try out my new water-proof jacket or my cold weather tops because I haven't run in cold weather in FOREVER, which brings me to
- New Gear – because I live in the land of heat and humidity, I have new running gear I haven't gotten to wear…at all. They tell you nothing new on race day, but I didn't need a rain jacket for Kansas, and I didn't have much for fall weather because in Kansas we have two seasons – really hot weather and really shitty cold weather. In between the 90-degree, 90% humidity summer and the cold as balls lots of snow winter, we get like two days of 70-degree weather.
- New Shoes – I've been training in Mizuno Wave Rider 14 and 15s for the past two years now (I love a running shoe clearance!) I finally got the latest model, the 16, which I started breaking in beginning of September – plenty of time to get miles on them but not wear them out. Well, the 16s are different than the 15s. On short runs they seemed the same. But anything over 8 miles and my feet started hurting A LOT. It feels like they sacrificed the cushion to brag it's a lighter shoe. So I went to the local running store, Gary Gribble's, which I will shamelessly plug right now because they are AWESOME. I told them my problem, explaining I didn't have time to find new shoes but my old ones were too worn for a full. They found me some insoles and gave them free of charge (I should note I bought the shoes there, so they understood since the product hadn't lasted as long as it was supposed to, they should do something about it. But as logical as that sounds, customer service like that is still lost on lots of places. I appreciate how this store maintains quality in products and service and understands that as runners, we need things to work right!) But it's been taper time the last few weeks, so I have no idea how having the insoles will go after a few hours.
- Our (Lack Of) Training – we definitely have trained for this full marathon, but not as much as most marathon plans say, but definitely more than a lot of people I've met who pretty much winged it (one of the racquetball players I know did the Portland Marathon with just 3 20-mile training runs). We ran 2-3 times a week. Our longest run mile-wise was 16 miles. My longest run time-wise was 3 ½ hours – a trail half marathon that is probably the hardest run I've ever done. But I'm trying to tell myself that we did a lot of really long runs back to back (we did 2 13-mile runs in less than a week) to make up for our lack of time to do 4-hour runs. I also have been doing Cross-Fit 3-4x a week as well as racquetball 2x a week. So it's not like I'm out of shape. But anyone who's ever run knows that running is such a different sport – the only way to really fully train for racing is to run.
And yet, despite all the unknowns and the factors that will probably work against me, I'm excited.
Reasons Why I'm Excited to Run a Marathon
- Bucket List Item – I can finally cross it off my Bucket List and never do another one ever again if I don't want to
- Time to Level-Up – I've been running long distance since 8th grade and have done several races now, from 5Ks to 10Ks to half marathons, and now the next step is the full marathon. It's time to join the ranks of veteran runners who have the bragging rights to say they went all the way – 26.2 miles.
- I Get Stuff – I get LOTS of race swag for this race. We get TWO finisher shirts, a medal, a pendant of the medal, a rose, a mylar blanket, all the goodies in the packet, and lots of food and beer at the finish. I'm going to be SO DAMN PROUD of that finisher shirt I'm going to wear it ALL week, especially to Cross-Fit, so when I can't do a pull-up, I can point to my shirt and say, "No, but I can run a MARATHON!"
- The Experience – physically I don't look forward to feeling like I'm going to die (but then again I go to Cross-Fit every week and am a runner), but I'm excited to experience such a huge race. I get to run with my fiancée Jason and best friend Jen. We'll meet new people and be motivated and inspired by all the runners, supporters, and entertainment on our journey. And I've only been to Portland for a few hours, so it'll be cool to see a new city instead of the same old Kansas City skyline.
- I found Pocket-Sized Body Glide for the race. Nuff said. Best shit EVER.
- I'll have new material for my blog
- I can finally quit worrying about the race and start worrying about my upcoming wedding in November; it's running-themed so I look forward to incorporating the marathon into our slideshow and running decorations; hopefully I will still be able to WALK down the aisle
- I can eat all the food and drink all the beer (and Mountain Dew!) I want that day (although I'll probably want a huge dose of NAP before that). I've read you can lose up to 7 pounds in water weight running a full marathon, and I fully intend to replace those and help my body recover with carbs and protein…lots of carbs.
What was your first marathon? How did you handle it? Any advice for a first-timer?
Posted on October 3, 2013, in Cross-Training, Exercise, Food, Humor, Marathon, Mountain Dew, Races, Ranked List, Running and tagged beer, Cross-Fit, Gary Gribble's Running Sports, Humor, Kansas City, Marathon Training, Mountain Dew, Portland Marathon, Running. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
Enjoyed reading your post, but will enjoy more the follow up. Excited for you and Jason. Just take it easy you got it 🙂
I was telling Jason at North Shore not to worry too much about the training. For my first I did ONE 20-21 mile run. Ever since then while training for marathons the most I can ever manage is 15-16 miles… even training for the 50k I only ever ran 13 miles training for it. In my opinion those multiple 20,20,22,20,18,20 mile runs are wayyyyyy overkill. Bottom line is you got it… even if you have to walk for an hour (which you won't) you got it.
Not saying it won't be tough though! Mile 22 will be fun, when you realize you are completely shot with MORE than 4 miles to go.
My first was KC in 2007. You guys are doing a cool one looks like… wish I was there!


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Answer Me This Episode 397 is an unofficial animals special! We've got:
dog mayors
goat mayors
crawfish presidential candidates
albatrosses around your neck
And also:
coffee berries
hot-but-not-boiling water
caffeine twitches
playing presidents
your friends mocking you for being a penny-pincher
Mary Shelley having sex on her mother's grave.
And if one probably-useless coffee gadget wasn't enough, you can get your fill of a second, in today's Bonus Bit of Crap on the App – available for Apple and Android.
Hear our other work:
• Olly hosts several podcasts, and you can find them all at ollymann.com. Subscribe to his all new daily show The Retrospectors!
• Helen makes The Allusionist, an entertainment show about language, and Veronica Mars Investigations, recapping every episode of Veronica Mars from the beginning – now digging into season 4.
• Martin makes music – including a new EP – which you can hear palebirdmusic.com, on the Pale Bird podcast, and on Spotify etc. You can also join him in contemplating the work of every song by Tom Waits Tom Waits in Song By Song, and he produced and composed the kids' science podcast Maddie's Sound Explorers, hosted by Maddie Moate.
Hang out with us online at twitter.com/HelenAndOlly and facebook.com/answermethis.
This episode is sponsored by:
• The Great Courses Plus, the streaming library of courses on topics from piano-playing to yoga to ancient history to dog training. AMT listeners get a free fortnight at thegreatcoursesplus.com/answer.
• Squarespace. Visit squarespace.com/answer and get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain with the discount code 'answer'.
Buy AMT episodes 1-200, our six special albums including AMT Holiday for your summer staycation, and our Best Of compilations from 2007-2015 at answermethisstore.com.
Send us your QUESTIONS, in writing or as voice recordings, to email@example.com for us to answer in future episodes.
We'll be back with AMT398 on 3 June 2021, and there'll be a Retro AMT episode in your feeds on 20 May.
Helen & Olly
••• AMT397 Child-Friendly Rating: 58%. Some swears, and a question about illicit sex. On parental graves. •••


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Hi there! Today's post is about the second mani I did for the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge – it's challenge #2 ORANGE NAILS.
For this mani I painted my nails with Sally Hansen Sugar Coat 260 Candy Corn (3 coats, pinkies, ring fingers) and with Sleek's Quick Drying Polish 22 Florida (2 coats over a white base, middle and index fingers, thumbs).
I needed a white base because Sleek's orange polish isn't of great quality. It's incredibly thin, and I doubt that even 4 coats would have been enough. I also found that this polish took ages to dry. Yikes! It's obvious why Sleek discontinued this nail polish collection!
The stamping plate I used is the my trusted unbranded Flowers 02 plate. The black polish I stamped with is Revlon Colorstay 270 Stiletto.
I liked this mani – especially the textured polish. I didn't like textured polishes when they were the rage a few years ago, but I do like them now! 🙂


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If you are interested in purchasing any photos contact John Terry by email at "firstname.lastname@example.com".
All images shown on this website, johnterryphoto.com, are copyrighted and are not to be reproduced, copied, transmitted, downloaded or manipulated without the written permission of John F. Terry
There are at least 69 types of Field and Stream Birds to include Bluebirds, Cowbirds, Crows, Doves, Flickers, orioles, Roadrunners and Swallows.
Field and Stream Birds is a general term that describes types of birds that are usually found and associated with this type of environment, although this might not be the case every time. All the different types of birds in North America and elsewhere adapt to certain kinds of habitat that best suit their behavior for finding food and protection.
There are many species of birds that live along the edge of fields and forests. These birds may seek their food in the fields and nest in the forests or vice versa. It is not always so easy to separate one from the other. As an example, there are woodpeckers found pecking to their hearts delight in one lonely tree in the middle of an open field or following a few sparse trees along a stream. These same species of birds can also be found deep in the forests. It all comes down to where they best find their food.


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On My Faith and this Election
Goldie Taylor's latest article for the Daily Beast, Donald Trump Is Exposed, And So Are the Republicans Who Are Sticking With Him, demonstrates the hypocrisy inherent in the extreme right-wing of the GOP, and their "do as I say, not as I do" holier than thou cavalier attitude towards their Christianity.
"But no principled, Christian conservative can justify backing a thrice married, serial philander who essentially confessed to sex crimes. However, this race was never about principle. It was never about Republican themes like small government, personal responsibility or family values. From the start, Trump's campaign has been predicated on sexism (and ethno-nationalistic racism). It is and always has been about white male resentment and anguish. Trump bottled that antipathy—for women and minorities— and put it on a chartered flight to Iowa."
There IS a choice for voters of Faith who believe that we ARE our brothers' and sisters' keepers. A candidate who has raised an intelligent, poised, confident, loving daughter; who remained faithfully married to an adulterous husband for 40 years; who has championed the rights and protection of children her entire life; and who has been an outspoken advocate for women, People of Color, LGBTQIAP people, military personnel, Veterans and their families; and people of all Faiths and beliefs.
HER name is Hillary Clinton and we KNOW what her credentials are.
You can vote for the GOP nominee, who is the very personification of the "ugly American" – undisciplined, greed-driven, arrogant, ill-prepared, unhinged, deranged, impetuous, irritable, pathologically unfit, and fundamentally dangerous.
Or you can vote for Hillary Clinton. Third-party candidates are simply not an option.
We know Mrs. Clinton's record. We know that ALL of her Democratic primary opponents have not only supported her candidacy for President of the United States, but are campaigning on her behalf. That says more about her character and their respect for her, than the slickest political advertising.
So, my fellow voters of Faith, it is time to search your hearts and spend time meditating on the teachings of Jesus. Then, take a close, long look at His actions, the people he surrounded Himself with and those He ministered to.
Then, ask yourselves which candidate more closely embodies those ideals. She needs our votes in November. She has EARNED our votes.
Thank God, and may our Blessed Mother guide and keep Hillary Clinton safe from now, through Election Day and her Inauguration. Use your voice and vote for Hillary Clinton to be President of the United States. She is the RIGHT choice. She is the ONLY choice.
As a Roman Catholic Latina, #ImWithHer and you should be too, because we Americans are #StrongerTogether.


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I recently published an article about 5 Critical Steps to Sales Management Mastery. It was not originally intended to be a complete list but rather the top five steps to take and skills to learn to raise your own bar and truly master the role. Absent from the list were many well-known mechanical, tactical, and even strategic components of sales management. As for critical steps, at the core, make sure it's the right role for you, that you model and learn from the success of others, that you understand people's motivations, you create an environment that ensures success and that you build a culture of constant improvement through coaching.
After publishing the article, sales expert and international thought leader, Dave Kurlan, rightly pointed out that leveraging technology and holding people accountable belonged on the list. He's right. So here they are, below. And if you want to read about all seven, click here to see the whole article, now with the two additional components added, 6 and 7.
7 Critical Components to Sales Management Mastery
1 Model Success
2 Choose the Right Role
3 Know What Motivates
4 Make Coaching Your Most Important Skill
5 Create an Environment that Supports Success
6 Leverage Technology
There are numerous tools available to managers to help them do their jobs and to help their people do theirs. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems work when everyone uses it and keeps it 100% up to date. If less than 100%, the information reported from the data is almost useless. Managers that report 100% compliance also report that it is one of the most useful technology tools in the kit. Another is their pipeline tool.
Let's make an important distinction. CRM is not Pipeline and most CRM tools talk the pipeline talk without walking the walk. CRM focuses on customers whereas Pipeline focuses on opportunities. If you're visual, imagine the two dimensions of customers and activities. That's CRM. Now add a third dimension of opportunities and you have Pipeline.
Client after client ask me how they can turn their CRM tool into a pipeline tool. In Salesforce, for example, thanks to integration with Membrain and other pipeline tools, that's possible. If you don't want to spend money on both, err on the side of pipeline because it's more helpful to salespeople. Many companies use industry-specific CRM tools. E.g., Media companies, or heavy equipment sales, etc. They don't always have the luxury of tossing out a sub-par CRM tool because it is interwoven into many other parts of the business. In that case, either we are able to rig up a Pipeline tool within the structure of their CRM or we set up a separate Pipeline tool. Thanks to the integration tool, Zapier, sometimes we can even save the step of double entering customers.
Another effective tool for managers is the use of video for asynchronous communication. A video challenge can be sent to a rep who then responds with a video of their own. The manager asks a question such as, "Describe product x in detail," or, "Open a conversation with a positioning statement," and the rep responds so the manager can critique and provide feedback. Refract is an example of this kind of technology.
7 Hold People Accountable
Sales Managers often look at sales revenues as a primary data point for management. As we know, however, sales is a trailing indicator. To improve forecasting, we look ahead by examining activities and behaviors that are likely to lead to more sales. If we focus on behavior that is within the control of the salesperson, we can bring more accountability to our leadership.
Here's my Thursday-Afternoon Test: Imagine that you are meeting with your team Friday morning and you want them each to report on what they accomplished yesterday. What expectation could you set for team members such that it has the power to change their behavior on Thursday afternoon? That's the test.
Here's an example: You want them to sell more and you have a three-month sales cycle and an average monthly sales number of $100,000 per month per rep. (Let's keep it simple.) You give them the metric of selling $25,000 per week and reporting to you Friday morning. Does it pass the Thursday-Afternoon Test? Let's see. It's Thursday at 3:00 pm and they've only sold $15,000 so far this week, and many of the deals were started two to four months ago. Can they make up the difference in a couple of hours? Probably not, so are not likely to change whatever it was they were doing on Thursday afternoon. They usually can't magically make $10,000 in revenue appear just by working harder for a few hours. That's not to say it isn't possibly, just that it isn't likely to change behavior.
They do, however, have control over many other activities. For example, making calls, following-up, setting up a new meeting, identifying a potential referral source, etc. These kinds of activities have two important features. 1. They are leading indicators. Doing more of them leads to more sales later. 2. They are within the control of the salesperson. Using our example of a Friday morning meeting, let's say we ask our team members to set up six new meetings per week and report on their progress during the meeting. Does it pass the Thursday-Afternoon Test? Let's see. It's Thursday at 3:00 pm and they've set up five meetings. What will they do? Mostly likely, they will get on the phone for next few hours and get that last meeting set up so they can report accomplishing the goal at the meeting the following morning. It passes.
Creating accountability starts with setting expectations that are within the control of the team member. What is doable? What is reachable, within the time frame? How is being reported? Is there a peer component (the morning meeting; a daily huddle; a group chat or email, etc.)? And are their consequences for not meeting metrics goals, activity goals, and behavior goals? And how do those consequences change for one or two violations versus a pattern of missed metrics?
When the goal is sales related or any other trailing indicator, the assumption that poor performance is due to a lack of ability, drive, commitment, or concern can only be established with an appropriate amount of time. Maybe they are doing the right things well, but sales didn't reflect that this month. When the goal is activity-based, doing it or not doing it is a choice, and therefore an easier place from which to hold people accountable.
Here are some additional resources you might find helpful:
White Paper: The Modern Science of Sales Force Excellence
White Paper: The Science of Sales Effectiveness
Register to use candidate assessments (sales and sales management)
Book Dennis Connelly to speak at your event.
Photo Credit: gajus (123 RF)