text:
Paul Roderick Gregory, Contributor
I cover domestic and world economics from a free-market perspective
November 21, 2012 was a dark day for us Gen X-ers, who grew up with calorie-rich Twinkies and Ding Dongs in our school lunch boxes. (Nowadays, they would probably be confiscated by the food police, but that is now not then). After a failed mediation, Hostess Brands announced last Tuesday it would proceed with liquidation after 82 years of operations. Its various brands, many of them household names, go on the auction block as Hostess's competitors, such as Flowers Foods, ConAgra, and Mexico's El Grupo Bimbo, are poised to pick up Hostess's iconic Twinkies, Wonder Bread, Ding Dongs, Home Pride, Ho Hos, and Dolly Madison brands.
A successful bid from Grupo Bimbo, the world's largest baker, means Twinkies labeled "Hecho en Mexico" – the ultimate insult to the American baker and delivery man. News reports claim this result is likely. Twinkies can return as a highly profitable Mexican expat free from U.S. tariff-inflated sugar prices and unions.
The liquidation leaves Hostess's 18,500 workers, most members of the Teamsters or bakery workers union, out in the cold. They are probably asking: President Obama: Where are you when Twinkies and Ring Ding Juniors need saving rather than Detroit?
Recriminations from organized labor fill the air. Obama ally, Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO, blames "Bain-style Wall Street vultures making themselves rich by making America poor." In Trumka's world, high union pay, gold-plated pensions, and restrictive Teamster work rules have nothing to do with Hostess's demise. No. Hostess was "Bained" by a greedy private equity company, whose goal was to destroy Hostess while making millions for itself and its greedy vulture investors as American "workers pay the price." No matter what the facts, that is organized labor's line. Someone else is always to blame.
Trumka's tirade was designed to tee up Hostess for a media anti-Wall Street feeding frenzy. But we are still waiting for the screaming headline: "Wall Street Vultures Destroy Iconic American Company for Own Gain." Despite intensive coverage of the Hostess bankruptcy, the mainstream media has largely given the private equity company that took control of Hostess as part of a bankruptcy process in 2009 a surprising pass.
Could the fact that Hostess's private-equity partner, Ripplewood Holdings, is owned by one Timothy C. Collins, a major Democrat donor and pro-labor advocate, explain the media's curious reticence to pounce on Wall Street?
Imagine the media outrage if Bain Capital had acquired Hostess, had hired a former congressman and presidential candidate to lobby for it and had placed his son in a lucrative board position, and had collected management fees until Hostess no longer had money to pay. Imagine a liquidation in which Hostess brands are acquired by a Mexican company that sells made-in-Mexico Twinkies to sugar-addicted American consumers.
We must turn to the ever-predictable New York Times' account to explain the silence on Timothy C. Collins' Ripplewood Holdings. Per the Times, Bain is a "bad" and Ripplewood Holdings is a "good" private equity firm. Timothy C. Collins is a benevolent private-equity tycoon, who donates big bucks to the Democrats. He wants to help the little guy. His Ripplewood Holdings is a mother hen. Bain Capital is a vulture.
For those, like me, who are confused, the Times goes on to explain that Ripplewood Holdings wasn't "part of a get-rich-quick scheme." In fact, the benevolent Timothy C. Collins decided to "to make investments in troubled companies with union workers…. convinced that (he) could work with their labor organizations." (Good luck on that one!) The troubled Hostess, with its rocky relations with its Teamsters and bakery workers union, was to be a model for such deals. According to the Times, pro-labor private equity companies that contribute to the Democrat cause and do not aim for a quick buck are absolved of capitalist guilt.
After acquiring Hostess Brands, Ripplewood hired former house minority leader and presidential candidate, Richard Gephardt – a longtime friend of labor – to work out a deal with organized labor to lower labor costs. As a token of good will, Gephardt's son was appointed to the Hostess board at an annual compensation of $100,000. Timothy C. Collins clearly had his political bases covered. His money, however, meant little to labor leaders.
The concessions that Gephardt and Ripplewood extracted from the Teamsters and bakery workers union proved insufficient to correct (to quote the Times) Hostess's "out of whack" labor costs. With $860 million in debt and a $1.2 billion net loss, Hostess filed for bankruptcy in January insisting that it could not continue to operate without further cuts in union wage, health and pension cuts.
The bakery workers union, enraged by pay raises for management, struck on November 9. Court-ordered mediation failed, and Hostess announced it would wind down operations. As a final straw, Hostess determined it could not service its $860 million in outstanding loans and keep contributing to the unions' pension plans. Better an end to misery than misery without end.
At least Ripplewood Holdings had the good form to lose its shirt along with Hostess. The Times assures us that Ripplewood did not, like the Bain "horror stories," pay themselves huge dividends and leverage the company even further. (We should ask who would lend Hostess more money under these circumstances.) I guess losing money is a virtue, and so much for Timothy C. Collins' business model of helping troubled unionized companies.
But the Times cannot resist class envy rhetoric. It echoes union complaints that Hostess Brands "increased management's compensation at the same time it was seeking to cut employee compensation." The new CEO was paid $2.5 million and another executive received a $400,000 pay increase. (I guess unions cannot understand that top executives can jump a sinking ship pretty fast, ensuring that it actually sinks). But for the Bakery workers union that was too much: "Our members …. are not willing to take draconian wage and benefit cuts …. and give up their pensions so that the Wall Street vulture capitalists in control of this company can walk away with millions of dollars."
Even as liquidation proceeds, the Hostess unions hold out hope for Hostess's 18,500 workers. "When the various Hostess brands are auctioned off, surely the new owners will hire you as part of the package." Small chance when higher union costs and work rules were the problem in the first place.
Although the liberal press gives Ripplewood Holdings a pass on account of its union friendliness and Democrat party donations, labor leader Trumka is in a less generous mood. Wall Street, not inflated union wages and Teamsters work rules, "destroyed an American icon and the working lives of some 18,500 families." Take that Timothy Collins and remember: If you make your bed with vipers, you are likely to be bitten.
A question for Trumka: Why did you not ask the White House to create a "bakery czar" to dictate a bailout that injects billions of dollars from the Treasury into Hostess Brands in return for 51 percent government ownership. Hostess's creditors and Ripplewood Holdings could be ordered to the back of the line, and the Teamsters and bakery union and their pension funds could be given the remaining shares along with their existing contracts. Everything could have worked out just fine. Obama will have saved 18,500 jobs, Twinkies, and Ding Dongs.
Maybe Trumka could have made the sale. After all, where would the President be without the AFL-CIO? Oh, but I forget: Obama has run his last race for elective office, and how could any President sanction such an obvious political bailout of a private company?
Paul Gregory's new book The Global Economy and its Economic Systems will be published shortly by Cengage.
A small point in this story needs to be corrected: Dick Gephardt was
Minority Leader in the House, but was never a Senator.
Pr. Gregory,
Think now, when was the last time you ate a Hostess product? When was the last time you saw someone else eat one? The sales of Twinkies and Ding Dongs have been declining for decades. This is simply a shift in the market place, no some grand conspiracy or nanny state tyranny, it is just what happens in Capitalism, some times capitalists cannot keep up and they go the way of Kodak. Hostess has had unions for since the 1930′s yet the decline in their sales started in the 1980′s, long after unionization and long before Mr. Obama had been elected to any office whatsoever.
The market place has spoken, it does not want Ding Dongs. It is just that simple.
In overall scheme of things, you are correct that Hostess was doomed to a smaller market for its current product but inflexible labor laws and contracts assured that it would fold. Many companies have transitioned or transformed themselves with a better business model or product/service. Here a what if….they got rid of their union contract….sold some assets and then tried to enter another food product line? Maybe then some of those 18K employees would be still employed….in this economy we need them!
Hello William Starr,
You wrote:"Many companies have transitioned or transformed themselves with a better business model or product/service.
I would suggest that "many" is too high an estimate. I cannot think of too many firms that have done this. I would suggest that the fate of Hostess is far more common than the reverse. Kodak, Pan Am, American Motors, Montgomery Ward, and do forth exist no longer at all while other emerged from bankruptcy a small fraction of their former selves.
There may have been a firm or two that shifted with the market place and succeeded but none that remained the same. Hostesses demise had nothing to do with anything than the fact that consumers no longer desired products of limited nutritional value with with large quantities of sugar and fat.
Hello David Duh LiAr,
So why did they sell $2.5 billion worth of goods?
Its not that they don't have a market, Mr. Ignorant. Its that they cannot sell their products profitably because of all the costly union demands.
You still haven't learned anything. The walking dunce strikes again.
And now you know David why so many investors are taking their money and placing it outside of the country.
moving to mexico, just like some of Gm's plants, sad… Never liked twinkies any way.
Or maybe the Hostess management failed to keep with the changing times and reinvent their product line up. Or maybe the unions just got tired of making concession after concession when those concessions did nothing to help the company's financial problems like it was claimed. But hey, what do we know.
this is absolutely 110% obamas fault. the reason why i say this is because they always praise him for all the job saving (even when he has nothing to do with it) so now that we are losing jobs he has to take blame for that too or he can blame bush if he wants.


text:
TLTS Blog
My Story
Contact Us
Privacy Statement
Website Designed
Design a Website
List Your Business
Go Daddy
The Leads To Succeed Recommended Resources
Best Domain registrar from $1.99 various hosting pkgs,email
Get Response
Grow your list with confidence, accurate and dependable great support
Tweet Adder
Voted Best Twitter Management Tool. Finds friends, auto post tweets to prospects,fans and more
Host Gator
Great Customer Service one click wordpress install & much more.Great for Blogs.
A Great Resource for your business. Helps grow your list with dependability and ease
Unique Article Wizard
Here's Your Shortcut To Mastering THE #1 Money Making Secret of 6 And 7-Figure Network Marketers…
Complete Contact Manager. Keep Track of all aspects of your campaigns in one place
Here are some great places for solo ads,banners,text ads and
referral commissions. Use these to promote traffic and learn how
your competition is marketing.
Also, here are some quality Ezine submit links and list building sites.
All are FREE to join and most you can promote. The reward is in the upgrade so be sure take advantage if you are able.
Social Media Mktg
Email Marketing
When it comes to Lead Generation and Internet Marketing, whether you are just getting started, at the top of your game or some where in between, You are or will be in the market for tools and resources to take your business to the next level.
We have put together a comprehensive collection of what I feel are the top providers for a variety of products and services. Most of the links provided are available not only for use but also as income stream generators (affiliate or distributor) while most are free some are paid services. please check out the links below, get what you need, as you are able, then come back for more as often as you can. These resources are monitored for their effectiveness, reliability and profitability and are subject to change.
We make no representations of financial gain, however we do use or have used these products and services myself to grow our business and are well pleased. We think you will be as well.
Black Belt Recruiting
Magnetic Sponsoring
Article Marketing Robot
MLM Traffic Formula 2.0
Building On A Budget
Industry standard for Premium WordPress themes.
A Must Read For serious Marketers. It should Be required for your team
Learn How To Build Your Marketing Empire on a Shoestring Budget
How To Sponsor 10 to 20 Reps Per Month In Any Company - 100% Guaranteed...
Maintain Your Subscriber List with social Media Integration
great Free Trial lets you build
Start your own Radio show.Inexpensive and grows your audience
A genius content syndication platform designed to get your website massive exposure FAST
Everything You Need To succeed in Network Marketing - This is Your Blueprint
Master Your phone skills and become a recruiting giant using Todd Falcone's actual amazing scripts
Little Black Book Of Scripts
Real Writing Jobs
Blog Talk Radio
The most simple and effective tool for creating great looking banners and other cool graphics.
Self Improvement
Affiliate Hubs
Marketing Tools
Comm Junction
Article Marketing
Share A Sale
Studio Press
This program is designed to show you how to do turn your social media efforts into cash
This SEO Software will submit your articles to
over 8000 articles directories and leaves tons of your backlinks there.
Hyper FaceBook Traffic
The Copywriter's Guild
European Safelist
Gain top search engine positions by submitting a different unique article to 100's of article directories.
In order to succeed in any endeavor, you must have a great strategy.
provides that strategy. This Top Rated System not only has high converting sales pages and software tools to acquire and maintain your customer list, prospect and subscriber list but they have the absolute best Network Marketing Training available. Sign Up Today!
Keyword Winner
SEO Profiler
Powerful SEO Tool with unlimited reports, link building tools,web page optimization and more
MY Safelist Mailer
Premium SEO Wordpress Plugin.Less than 1 minute to research keywords.
Website Tools
If You Are Looking For A Residual Income Business Opportunity with a Well supported Group that offers all the training you need to succeed, We invite you to look at The Liberty Health And Wealth Group. This is what we promote in conjunction with a powerful Online lead generation system and offline prospecting. This winning combination is not only affordable to start and maintain but the potential for growth is phenomenal. Click the Banner below to see more about the Liberty Health and Wealth Group and Learn how easy it is to claim financial security for you and your family .
Life is Too Short ,You Deserve To Live It On Your Terms.
Service helps you create squeeze pages using a simple point and click system.
Protects against commission theft and lets you create attractive, personalized links you can customize.
List Jumper
Instant Squeeze Page
Number one online privacy policies, terms of service generator for your site
Free Privacy Policy
Social media management system for businesses to execute campaigns across multiple social networks from one secure site.
Best Ezines
Instant Banner Creator
Phantom Link Cloaker
Get paid to write articles from home, you pick topics. Use this to offset your expenses and perfect your writing skills.
Affiliate Blogger Pro
Learn from Super Affiliate Blogger Rosalind Gardner. How to make money with your blog
Online Grammar Checker And Proofreading Tool That Identifies Complex Grammatical And Style Issues.
"You Don't Need To Be Great To Start, But You Do Need To Start To Be Great" -
Zig Ziglar
Majic Article ReWriter
This amazing software completely removes the pains and frustrations of article spinning, rewriting, and submitting.
No matter what your current level of expertise as an internet or network marketer is, you will gain knowledge and value by simply returning to this site.
We are here to serve you and your need to be successful. There is everything here for you to build your network marketing empire probably too much.
However, we want to make sure that we cover it all. Please don't become overwhelmed you only need to get what you can use and when you are ready, return to expand your knowledge base and increase your profitability.
Social Oomph
Boost your productivity by managing your social media sites in one place.
Rim Digest
Great Social Marketing and Connecting Platform
Free One Time Offer Script
Your own one-time-offers without the expensive, hard to use software
Directory Of Ezines
Make Money With Ezines
Ezine ads create
Targeted Traffic
Get more leads now.
Homestead Websites
Build your site easily. Start your Free trial today.Best Value
SafeList Genie
If you use safelists then you need this.Saves loads of time, increases credits, provides more exposure
A Better Networker
Add prestige and credibility to your site join ABN a social scene for professional networkers
Self Growth
Use your skills to start an expert page and grow your brand
Avalanche SafeList
The List Auction
Viral Nugget
List Outbreak
Mister Safelist
Simple Step-by-Step video tutorials teach how to lock down your WordPress site
Blog Defender
Article Trader
Solo Ad Dir
Active Safelist

subset: commoncrawl


text:
By Jason Elmquist
CNHI News Service
STILLWATER — Loved ones are distant. Former coaches can't be reached.
It must mean one thing — it's Bedlam week in Oklahoma.
No matter which side of the Orange-Crimson line you stand, you likely know somebody standing firmly on the other side. For Oklahoma State football players, there's plenty of OU fans among family and friends that find this week incredibly hard to take.
"It's a big rivalry, with in-state bragging rights on the line," said OSU senior fullback Kye Staley, a graduate of Guthrie High School. "A lot of families won't talk this week, I know I won't talk to my uncle (who is an OU fan) the rest of this week. It's just a big, big rivalry game."
Staley even said his former high school coach, a Sooner fan, suddenly goes off grid during this week, as well.
"When he found out I had an offer from (Oklahoma), he was ecstatic, but my mom didn't care as long as I was happy where I went," Staley said. "I've talked to him probably four or five times during the season, but once this game rolls around, all communication shuts off."
For some Oklahoma State players from in-state high schools, this game has significant meaning. Some of the players may not have received offers from Oklahoma — and feeling slighted — while others joined the Cowboy program to help build it up to a Big 12 title contender.
"My uncle really wanted me to go to OU, but he still supports me no matter what. But especially around this time, the talking gets limited," Staley said."... I decided to come here because they had some much going for them back when I came here. They were coming up and I wanted to be a part of that success that we're part of right now."
This week is extra special with extra meaning for players such as Staley and other seniors from Oklahoma. Not only do the Cowboys have a Big 12 title in their sights against their hated rivals, but Saturday will also be Senior Day — with a large contingent of seniors from Oklahoma, such as quarterback Clint Chelf of Enid and receiver Tracy Moore of Tulsa, to be recognized before the game.
"This will the last time playing at Boone Pickens Stadium. And for me, it's been a long journey," Staley said. "We are going to try to enjoy the day with my teammates, play hard like we have these past few games, and hopefully come out with a victory.
"It's going to be very emotional. I feel like two years ago, we had that all on the line and came out with a lot of passion and a lot of intensity and were ready to play and we just dominated. I'm not saying we're going to have the same success as we did that year, but if we play the way we're capable of playing, I don't see why we shouldn't."
And as if the significance of the momentum wasn't enough for players to step up for this game, some players still have the memory of last year's heartbreaking loss in overtime on the Norman campus lingering on their minds.
"I actually have a picture of Coach Stoops celebrating, while I'm in the background walking off the field. I've been using that as motivation," Staley said. "I printed that off and hung it on my mirror. It's been up there since two days after Bedlam last year. I keep it up there just for that reason.
"I felt that last year we had a few losses and teams we wanted to get back at. We've done that so far this year, we've gotten some redemption. We just have one more game to complete that."


text:
I Love Trader Joe's College Cookbook: 150 Cheap and Easy Gourmet Recipes
TIRED OF FAST FOOD AND FROZEN PIZZA?HATE THE CRAP FROM THE DINING HALL?HAVE ONLY A MICROWAVE IN YOUR DORM ROOM?No problem. You can still make awesome meals!Even if you??????ve never cooked before, this book shows how quick and easy it is to turn Trader Joe??????s tasty and affordable groceries into delicious dishes:• Pulled Pork Sandwiches• Fish Tacos• Sweet... More at Amazon.
Gift Gurus Also Recommend
They Might Also Like
Other Similar Products
Recently Viewed Gifts
You don't have any recently viewed gifts


text: Kate posted a poem a while back that, she said, bonked her on the head. Robinson Jeffers, nature poet of the Central Coast in California, wrote this one that never fails to make me gasp. As the snows linger on in Minnesota, it also makes me a little homesick for the grandeur of the Pacific.


text: Woodhall Spa Camping and Caravanning Club Site (80 reviews) from £6.30 to £10.65 Per person/night Contact Us Book It 20% Off Grass Pitches In August and September Code: Grass20 Images Map Select Section Overview Top site for photography Our campsite is beautifully located under the big skies of Lincolnshire. Lincolnshire's coast and countryside is waiting to be explored from our pretty Woodhall Spa Club campsite located in the Fenlands area of the county. The site enjoys a quiet, rural setting near the Edwardian town of the same name and accommodates some 90 units. It is bordered by trees and offers some secluded pitches. There is a lake on site and you're likely to share your pitch with a variety of wildlife including rabbits and wild birds such as woodpeckers and moorhens. The Edwardian town of Woodhall Spa is within walking distance and offers several places to eat. The Cottage Museum tells the history of the local community and the Kinema in the woods – a unique two-screen cinema – is open seven days a week. For sandy beaches head to the popular resort of Skegness and Chapel St Leonards, both brimming with activities to keep the whole family entertained. In contrast the peaceful Lincolnshire Wolds provide a landscape of rolling hills and gentle valleys, perfect for walking, cycling and wildlife watching. The market towns of Market Rasen, Louth, Horncastle and Spilsby provide a range of shops, eating places. Air enthusiasts will enjoy the Battle of Britain Air Museum at RAF Coningsby and the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre at East Kirkby. Other local attractions include Lincoln Castle and Tattershall Castle, a dramatic red brick tower managed by the National Trust. WiFi 100% coverage cannot be guaranteed due to rural location, weather conditions and changing flora. These can cause variable signal strength. Hotspots are available. Prices. Eat Local Free range eggs are sold at Brackenside Farm and the Bakery and Delicatessen in Woodhall Spa sells local cheese, bread and cakes. The Petwood Hotel serves food prepared with local ingredients, as does the Ebrington Arms in Kirkby-on-Bain. Facilities Woodhall Spa has the following facilities on or around the site. Members' and non-members' caravans welcome Members' and non-members' trailer tents welcome Hardstanding with electric hook-up Grass only pitch (no electric) Flushing toilet Washbasins Dedicated accessible facilities Chemical toilet disposal point Washing Machines Ice pack freezing Gas cylinders Pets welcome Club Site Wi-fi Grass pitch with electric hook-up for larger tents Members' and non-members' motorhomes welcome Members' and non-members' tents welcome Grass pitch with electric hook-up A well-sheltered site Showers Electric shaver sockets Parent and baby room Drinking water taps Dishwashing facilities Ball games Payphone Designated dog walk Grass only pitch for larger tents Reviews Review 1 |2 |20 |Next » Expand review Recommended: yes 5 First visit her and most impressed with the facilities and general upkeep of the site. Robert (Club Member) stayed Jun 2014 This review is for Woodhall Spa First visit her and most impressed with the facilities and general upkeep of the site. The grounds are very well maintained with an emphasis on the flora and fauna. Lovely to watch the families of ducks visiting the caravans and motorhomes looking for handouts. Rabbits come out in the evening and can be seen around the pitches. Not too far from the village of Woodhall Spa which is handy for shopping. Can't recommend too highly. Towing: Easy Location: Country,Secluded Suitable For: Families,Older couples,Active break,Peaceful break,Younger couples Friendliness: 5 Cleanliness: 5 Facilities: 5 Expand review Recommended: yes 5 This is a fantastic well maintained site. Very friendly welcome, clean ,quiet , secluded site. Paul C (Club Member) stayed Jun 2014 This review is for Woodhall Spa This is a fantastic well maintained site. Very friendly welcome, clean ,quiet , secluded site. Ideal for short or long breaks. Close to Lincoln . Take care on arriving down narrow lanes to site as there are limited passing sites . Towing: Moderate Location: Country,Secluded Suitable For: Families,Older couples,Peaceful break,Younger couples Friendliness: 5 Cleanliness: 5 Facilities: 5 Expand review Recommended: yes 5 Well kept site, rural feeling but close to Woodhall Spa itself for shopping etc. ginger123 (Club Member) stayed May 2014 This review is for Woodhall Spa Well kept site, rural feeling but close to Woodhall Spa itself for shopping etc. Pitches well laid out, spacious but not always level, so levellers and chocks may be needed in some places. Shower/toilet facilities were very good and kept clean, a credit to the wardens. The indoor pot wash has nice large sinks and plenty of hot water. The wardens here were friendly and helpful - the only problem being that no one seemed to enforce the "no ball games" around the caravans rule, even though there was a dedicated area for the kids to play football. The local area provides lots to see and do, Tattershall Castle and the BBMF at Conningsby are close by and definitely worth a visit. We also went to Boston and Lincoln and had good days out at both (also reasonably priced parking). Stocking up on supplies is easy - Co-Op in Woodhall itself and Sleaford for Sainsbury's and other local/interesting shops. Our second visit to Woodhall Spa - don't think it will be the last. Towing: Easy Location: Country,Lake Suitable For: Families,Older couples,Active break,Peaceful break,Younger couples Friendliness: 5 Cleanliness: 5 Facilities: 5 Expand review Recommended: yes 5 This site is a real gem. seaside bill (Club Member) stayed May 2014 This review is for Woodhall Spa This site is a real gem. Quiet, rural setting with excellent facilities and helpful/friendly wardens. The level site is peaceful and ideal for a relaxing break or a good base for visiting the local area. Public transport is not really an option so motorhomers need to take bicycles or face a lengthy walk down country lanes to the pub (Ebrington Arms is excellent) or shops at Woodhall Spa. The lake, complete with ducks is delightful and the small playground area is great for small kids. Pitch in the open field area or under the trees whichever suits best. Highly recommended. Towing: Easy Location: Country,Secluded Suitable For: Families,Active break,Peaceful break Friendliness: 5 Cleanliness: 5 Facilities: 5 1 |2 |20 |Next » Travel Local Travel Nearest bus stop: 1 mile from Site entrance Nearest train station: Metheringham 10 miles Get Directions to Woodhall Spa Staying here? Public transport from the site Bike ride? Find cycle routes nearby Sat Nav Download our POI file Safe Directions Print Friendly PDF Widget by Frixo Standard Fees For more information take a look at Pricing explained. Minimum booking periods do apply.


text:
Merchant & Mills Heavy Fabric Pins
Strong, high carbon content steel pins with real glass heads. Won't bend under the weight of thick canvas or heavy blankets and drapery. 49 mm (1.93 inches) long. Made in Spain. (
As strong as they are long, and with a black glass head to match, these heavy fabric pins are not for the delicate. The impressive 49 mm (nearly 2 inches) of high carbon steel can tack down the heaviest fabric without buckling or bending. These are the pins you want when sewing blankets, winter-weight drapes, waxed canvas bags and other heavy fabrics. The daintiest job you'll want this for is to pin a rose to your lapel.
Produced in a century-old Spanish factory, the nickel plating ensures superior wear, a sliding polish and a sharp point that will sink into thick fabrics. Pins like these were the precursor to buttons and were used to hold together heavy Victorian dresses and bear the weight of binding corsets.
The glass heads mean you can iron over them, and the pin's length gives it enough leverage to hold down even thick, stubborn rolled seams.
Use & Care
Make the most of the length and strength of these pins on heavy cloth and large projects — blankets, tote bags, tents. The subdued black means they'll work for holding down bouttonieres, errant seams and other temporary weight-bearing tasks.
When using these for sewing be sure to pin meticulously — it'll make a difference in the accuracy and beauty of your final product. To pin fabric, place the pins perpendicular to the edge of the fabric, and arrange them about 3–4 finger widths apart. Since these pins have glass heads, you can iron over them, but be sure to pull them out just before they are set to go under a sewing machine needle.
Store these pins in their box, on a pin magnet or stuck into a pin cushion with a good quality filler — wool felt is best. A bad, grating filler will dull the point and wear away at the pin's polish. You might want to make sewing a proper pin cushion (with trusty fillings) your first project.
Production & Design
Pin-making was cited by economist Adam Smith as an example of the benefits of division of labor during the industrial revolution. Before the advent of the assembly line, pin production was a complex, time-consuming task, and it was hard to make it financially viable. Even after production was industrialized, it took the invention of John Ireland Howe's pin-making machine in 1832 — capable of churning out 60,000 units per day — to take pins from expensive precious jewels of metal-crafting, to common, trusty tools for tailors and homemakers.
It was this, the beginning of large-scale pin production, which led to widespread domestic usage – and the derivation of the curious name: pins sold in large numbers to textile firms were known as "bank pins," while the smaller batches sold to homemakers were known as "toilet pins."
49 mm x 0.78 mm 4.2 mm head diameter Uses
Pinning layers of thick fabric, like curtains or blankets, or for keeping a corsage in place Materials
Nickel-plated high carbon steel with a black glass head Made in


text:
Ben Tinsley
Jacksonville Daily Progress
The Jacksonville City Council on Monday unanimously denied a proposed gas rate increase from CenterPoint Energy.
The decision followed a 90-day period during which the issue was examined at length.
It had been lingering since July 2, after CenterPoint Energy Texas Gas filed a statement of intent for the increase within its East Texas-Beaumont district.
In a strongly-worded resolution denying the hike, the council concluded it is "unreasonable" and that the company has not made "the appropriate adjustments to its proposed rate."
Additionally, the council concluded reasonable efforts to resolve the issue by way of settlement have been rebuffed by CenterPoint officials, who have refused to undertake settlement talks until after the cities submit their evidence in a case before the Texas Railroad Commission.
In that case, the Austin law firm Herrera & Boyle, PLLC, is attempting to negotiate an appropriate price increase on behalf of the Alliance of CenterPoint Municipalities – a city and council coalition of which Jacksonville is a part.
Once the Railroad Commission determines a rate between the coalition and the energy company, it will go into effect for all coalition members. The commission could approve or deny a proposed increase or settle on a lesser amount.
According to the resolution, the proposed increase would have brought Jacksonville residents' bills from $12.25 up to $20.25 per month, from $16.25 to $23.75 for small commercial customers and from $35.25 to $63.75 per month for large commercial customers. The proposed increase would impact every residential and commercial gas customer in the district, including 3,165 Jacksonville residents, 504 small commercial customers and 11 large volume customers, according to the company's public notice.
"I personally feel some of the increases were exorbitant," Mayor Kenneth Melvin elaborated after the meeting. "It was 60 to 75 percent of the base rate. It was just too much. I realize they have to have capital on hand to make improvements but they shouldn't try to get it all at one time."
Alicia Dixon, a spokeswoman for CenterPoint Energy out of Houston, said the decision was the council's to make, but the matter is still not concluded.
"Cities are certainly part of the gas rate-making process in Texas, and this decision is what Jacksonville has elected to do at this point," she said. "But the decision will be made by the Railroad Commission."
Ultimately, CenterPoint is making the process much harder than it has to be, contends Alfred R. Herrera, of Austin firm Herrera & Boyle. He expressed the sentiment in an email to coalition officials earlier this month.
"It's a case that truly should be resolved via settlement, and we have made every effort to minimize rate case expenses," Herrera wrote.
City Manager Mo Raissi said CenterPoint officials could have been more reasonable about negotiating with the coalition.
"Our attorneys really tried, but CenterPoint decided to let it go to the judge," Raissi said. "We have been discussing this issue back and forth trying to determine our next step since we are on in one group – all against it."


text:
Restaurant > DiningFamily fusion
Eurasian Grill
|4771 Haggerty Rd.
West Bloomfield, MI 48323
More on Eurasian Grill.
Published 8/15/2001
The Eurasian Grill is a family project. Dad David Lum, who formerly owned the Rickshaw Inn, can be found in the front of the house, warmly greeting customers and presiding over the bar. Son Michael Lum is the head chef, and is joined by his mother, Jane Cheng, in the kitchen. Michael's sister Susan, an architect, designed the sleek techno-chic interior. Uncle Kun Chio, who recently emigrated from Hong Kong, is the noodle maker, and his wife, Kwan Chio, makes sushi and other appetizers.
David Lum explains that the concept of the restaurant is reflected in the black-and-white photographs of his nieces and nephews that line the walls. "They're all Eurasian kids," he said. "That's how I got the name of the restaurant. I told them, 'I'm going to name it after you.'"
Michael says he grew up at the Rickshaw, where he worked first as a busboy, then as a waiter, a bartender and finally a chef. "That's where I learned to cook," he recalls. He was recently promoted to head chef and kitchen manager. He has updated the menu, eliminating the old separations between Asian and fusion cuisine. Now all the entrées are listed under "Enticements."
"The idea is Asian-based, new-American cooking. It's traditional American cooking with Asian spices to give it a new flavor, to get the most flavor to come out of the dish," Michael comments.
He described duck Macao ($14.50) as a case in point. The duck is marinated in Asian spices, deep-fried, then coated with a spicy Asian sauce. It is served with braised baby bok choy and decorated with a frizzy topping of fried taro root. My co-diner enjoyed it immensely.
I loved the tomato soup, another example of fusion cuisine. A thick tomato broth, just what we're used to in America, is reinvented with blocks of crispy sizzling rice, Chinese vegetables and big chunks of chicken and shrimp. I found myself wanting to order it again on my second visit, but in service to you, dear reader, I had the seaweed wonton (it was fine), while my companion chose hot and sour soup, which was quite overseasoned with vinegar.
For appetizers we ordered shaomai, a traditional Chinese dumpling of minced chicken, shrimp and vegetables gathered into a kind of tiny cupcake, with a thin noodle serving as the cupcake paper, then steamed. Other choices include mussels in a garlic sauce, Italian-style calamari and California rolls (an already Americanized version of sushi).
Buddhist Island ($11) is a melange of stir-fried Oriental vegetables with bean-thread noodles. We requested the addition of tofu ($1.50), which enhanced the dish.
I was less pleased with Shangai pasta ($14.50), which featured thick noodles stir-fried with chicken and shrimp in a spiced sauce. More attention to the veggies would have made this a better dish.
Desserts are heavy and very sweet and very American grasshopper pie, brownie à la mode, or cheesecake. Here's where the lighter Asian cuisine litchi nuts or Japanese ice cream would be welcome.
Michael Lum enjoys his job. "I just love to cook," he laughs. "Sometimes when I finish cooking I go out in the dining room and I see happy faces. Someone waves me over and they're having a great meal I love the feeling of it."
Elissa Karg dines for Metro Times. E-mail firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
Home > Podcasts > Software Development & Management
OnOpenSource (Audio + Video)
Conversations & tips from Open Source technologists across a wide range of programming, development, and IT topics: Linux, Web Development, Ruby, Python, PHP, Ubuntu, AJAX, & more. Learn from the world's best-selling authors, experts, & trainers.
Topics: Engineering, Operating Systems, Server, Programming, Software Development & Management, Web Services


text:
Safari Books Online is a digital library providing on-demand subscription access to thousands of learning resources.
1-6 of 6 Items < Prev | 1 | Next >
By: Kel Smith
Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann
Publication Date: 18-MAR-2013
Insert Date: 05-APR-2013
Slots: 1.0
Overview: Digital Outcasts
The blind person who tries to make an online purchase. The young girl who cannot speak due to a cognitive disability. The man confined to his home due to permanent injury. The single mother with a long-term illness who struggles to feed her family. With one in seven people worldwide currently living with a disability, the term "outcast" covers numerous scenarios. Digital outcasts rely on technology for everyday services that many people take for granted. However, poorly designed products risk alienating this important (and growing) population. Through a "grass roots" approach to...
Pro HTML5 Accessibility: Building an Inclusive Web
By: Joshue O Connor
Publisher: Apress
Publication Date: 21-MAR-2012
Insert Date: 10-MAY-2012
Slots: 1.0
Overview: Pro HTML5 Accessibility: Building an Inclusive Web
Pro HTML5 Accessibility helps designers come to grips with building exciting, accessible and usable web sites and applications with HTML5. The book covers how to use HTML5 in order to serve the needs of people with disabilities and older persons using assistive technology (AT). It aims to be a useful 'go-to' guide, providing practical advice. It takes several approaches, including a look at the new semantics of HTML5 and how to combine its use with authoring practices you know from using earlier versions of HTML. It also demonstrates how HTML5 content is currently supported (or not) by...
By: Joshue O Connor
Publisher: Packt Publishing
Publication Date: 31-OCT-2007
Insert Date: 31-AUG-2010
Slots: 1.0
Overview: Joomla! Accessibility
A quick guide to creating accessible websites with Joomla! Understand what accessibility really means and why it's important Ensure that content editors and writers publish accessible articles Create accessible Joomla! Templates Understand Assistive Technology (AT) and the needs of people with disabilities In Detail Understanding how to create accessible websites is an essential skill these days . You may even be obliged by law to create websites that are usable by the widest audience, including people with a range of disabilities. This book looks at what...
Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance
By: Jim Thatcher; Michael R. Burks; Christian Heilmann; Shawn Lawton Henry; Andrew Kirkpatrick; Patrick H. Lauke; Bruce Lawson; Bob Regan; Richard Rutter; Mark Urban; Cynthia D. Waddell
Publisher: friends of ED
Publication Date: 24-JUL-2006
Insert Date: 25-JUN-2009
Slots: 1.0
Overview: Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance
Art and Business of Speech Recognition: Creating the Noble Voice, The
By: Blade Kotelly
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Publication Date: 22-JAN-2003
Insert Date: 08-APR-2003
Slots: 1.0
Overview: Art and Business of Speech Recognition: Creating the Noble Voice, The
Most people have experienced an automated speech-recognition system when calling a company. Instead of prompting callers to choose an option by entering numbers, the system asks questions and understands spoken responses. With a more advanced application, callers may feel as if they're having a conversation with another person. Not only will the system respond intelligently, its voice even has personality. The Art and Business of Speech Recognition examines both the rapid emergence and broad potential of speech-recognition applications. By explaining the nature, design, development, and use...
Maximum Accessibility: Making Your Web Site More Usable for Everyone
By: John M. Slatin, Ph.D.; Sharron Rush
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Publication Date: 20-SEP-2002
Insert Date: 28-JAN-2003
Slots: 1.0
Overview: Maximum Accessibility: Making Your Web Site More Usable for Everyone
Accessibility is now a legal requirement for all national government Web sites in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the European Union. Throughout the world, many other organizations--universities, schools, and private companies--are recognizing that accessibility is a moral and business imperative; many are adopting policies aimed at making Web resources accessible to the more than six hundred million people with disabilities worldwide. Maximum Accessibility is a comprehensive resource for creating Web sites that comply with new U.S. accessibility standards and conform to the World Wide Web...
1-6 of 6 Items < Prev | 1 | Next >


text:
The German Pirate Party has released a brochure (PDF, German), outlining the party's agenda for a free and open Internet, based on discussions with a group of German publishers. The program they set out is one that I hope to see many parties adopting -- I could certainly see liberal democratic, green, and libertarian parties all adopting this, along with left-leaning labor parties like Canada's NDP.
I have less hope for the UK's larger parties. I don't expect that UK Labour will be able to adopt this, as they've proven themselves (repeatedly) to be hopeless compromised on questions of Internet freedom, establishing themselves over 12 years as the party of Internet surveillance, censorship, and corporatist special favours without regard to the cost to wider society. Which is a shame, given that the UK Tories have nearly identical views, and the UK LibDems, for all their adoption of conference motions on Internet freedom, have also been active participants in making UK Internet policy worse, both in opposition and in power.
Here's Glyn Moody's summary of the Pirate position, from TechDirt.
* No online surveillance, blocking technologies or data retention
* The reduction of the term of copyright
* Legalization of DRM circumvention tools
* More rights for creators when negotiating with publishers
* Legalization of free, non-commercial copying of all creative works online
* Digital archives for libraries
* Exemption of educational establishments from copyright licensing fees
* Open access to all publicly-funded academic work and broadcasting
* Legalization of open wifi networks
German Pirate Party Makes Some Shockingly Unshocking Proposals For Copyright Reform Discuss
13 Responses to "Sensible Internet policy platform from the German Pirate Party"
nowimnothing says:
I am always amazed, considering how libertarian and individual-centered the U.S. is, that something like this just does not seem to resonate with the general population. Maybe it is just the age of most libertarians here. There does seem to be a new wave of libertarianism within Generation Y, so perhaps it will be a bit more technologically literate.
Dan Hibiki says:
As far as I can tell, the only Politician that actually has libertarian ideals is Ron Paul, and he was laughed out of the running by fellow Republicans.
the rest just say Libertarian sounding things to get elected and proceed to suppress personal freedoms and improve their own profits.
Joshua A.C. Newman says:
"Libertarianism" in the US is code for slavery. The Right has no sense of irony.
Simon Péter says:
Though generally libertarian politicians with no known stance on IP laws could still approach the issue from the logic of "what is good for Disney is good for the country", and from an "Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?" question.
nowimnothing says:
To be clear I was referring to libertarian in the philosophical sense rather than the U.S. political one.
Theo Grace says:
I love the idea of free, open, safe and unbiased internet. But declaring that you are going in for "No online surveillance" sounds like a good way to ensure all your policies are ignored. Sometimes surveillance is necessary. Terrorism and child porn are used as an excuse, but they exist and must be accounted for, how about a policy of no surveillance without just cause, where just cause is the assumption that if you wouldn't surveil a person in real life you wouldn't surveil them online, but where evidence is present…
But otherwise this sounds like a utopia, if only the UK government had a chance of ever having a decent stance on the internet.
ocker3 says:
I wish I could trust my government (or in fact any large body) to not abuse, leak from, or mess up any large-scale online surveillance project
Theo Grace says:
I wish I could trust my government (or in fact any large body) to ONLY abuse online surveillance, at least hen we'd know where governments are abusing our trust. I long for the day when MP's understand their job description "The UK public elects Members of Parliament (MPs) to represent their interests and concerns in the House of Commons." Yes to represent the concerns of the governed, not decide what those concerns should be! I would sacrifice my internet freedoms for a government that did that, but I fear in today's society the only way to be fairly represented is on the internet, that fair and free place where… oh.
wysinwyg says:
Dude, today's BoingBoing is filling me with pure squee. Are you guys trying to put the greasy peccadilloes behind you and get back to the wonderful things?
Antinous / Moderator says:
You'll have to pry my greasy peccadilloes from my slippery, pulsating hands.
Bradley Hall says:
I'll have to check this thing out.
confu says:
Here in Germany we (at least me and most of my friends) always have a controversial discussion wether the pirates are able to cope with the "bigger" political issues aka foreign affairs, finanial crisis in the EU etc., since they have no serious agenda for those problems.
But even if they aren´t, I´m glad to have them in the German Parliament as an opposition party to keep an eye on the internet policies, the media / copyright lobbyists or the strange "general suspicion" behaviour of the collecting societies like GEMA or those copyright trolling lawyers.
(Almost every second youtube video linked on BB is blocked in Germany because it "could POSSIBLY (not proven) contain music for which GEMA didn´t concede the music rights" … And I do not refer to videos named as "artist xy – song yz – official video" but rather homemade vids, like instructions or vids about kittens or squirrels with a barely hearable radio running in the background and stuff like that.)
And reasonable internet policies are a "big" issue nowadays, but the bigger parties still have certain difficulties to adopt an unambiguous position.
But that is a matter of time, I think.
I´m glad they uncovered and made an issue out of ACTA, CETA, IPRED and their equivalents to keep them from passing without anyone ever noticing.
paco229 says:
Surveillance??? who said surveillance? http://bundlr.com/b/estamos-vigilados-we-re-being-spied


text:
The financial reform compromise may keep our financial system from reprising Chernobyl anytime soon, but it will also change the way consumers use their credit cards. Merchants will soon be allowed to refuse plastic for purchases of less than $10, a rate the Fed can boost as they see fit. Both the Fed and universities will also gain the power to set maximum credit charges. That means no more free flights to Europe after charging your kid's tuition to your rewards card. The changes will go into effect the day after the compromise is signed into law. [More]
Financial Reform Bill Oks Minimum, Maximum Credit Charges
Delta Plays Airport Roulette When Flying Into D.C.
On Sunday, Andy emailed us from his seat on Delta Flight 2744 from Minneapolis to Washington, D.C., to let us know that he had no idea where his flight was going to land. The ticket he purchased said he was flying to Ronald Reagan National Airport, but Delta said it would all depend on whether they could beat their scheduled 10:19 arrival time and get there before the ten o'clock airport curfew–otherwise they'd have to land at Dulles. Strangely, they didn't mention this 10 p.m. curfew to Andy before he bought the ticket. [More]
"$10 Minimum For Credit Card Purchase" Signs May Soon Be Totally Legit
As we all know, merchants are generally not supposed to mandate minimum credit card purchases. It's a violation of the merchant agreements they sign with the credit card companies. (For more info, check out this article.) The proposed finance bill, however, may legitimize those handwritten signs if it ends up passing. [More]
Watch Out For Changes To Your Flight Itinerary
Alexandros received an update from Orbitz about his trip and realized that United had changed the time of his flight. For various reasons he couldn't make the new time, so he was lucky to have caught it—not to mention he could have missed the flight entirely had he not seen the change.
Need To Change Your UPS Delivery Address In Transit? There's A Fee For That
If you're having a package delivered by UPS and want to change the delivery address while it's in transit, be warned: this service will now cost you either $4 or $6 depending on whether you make the request online or over the phone.
Radio Shack Is Levying The Wrong Sales Tax In New York City
Radio Shack is charging New York City consumers an extra half-percent of sales tax, even though the State hasn't approved a new tax rate. Before descending into a chaotic mess of embarrassing inaction, the New York State Senate was widely expected to hike the sales tax New York City's local sales from 8.375% to 8.875%. That never happened, a minor detail that isn't stopping Radio Shack from collecting more tax, as reader Jeff discovered…
Have A Discover Card? Check Your Due Date For June
An anonymous reader says both his and his wife's Discover cards—the accounts are separate—had their due dates moved up by four days in June. He called Discover, "and they stated that they sent out notices in the mail 45 days in advance warning of the change, which I don't remember seeing. Regardless, they were able to revert my due date starting in July. You may want to have your readers closely check their Discover Card statements."
Capital One Changes Everything But The Design On Customer's Card
We're starting to think Capital One isn't just hurting financially, but also throwing a temper tantrum about the new credit card legislation. Eric received notice that they're converting his current fixed rate to a "promotional rate." In January 2011 they'll switch it over to an adjustable rate and hike it to 17.9% (it's currently 9.9%). Erik has until July 28th to agree to the new terms or they'll close the account on August 2nd, 2009.
AOL Has A New CEO AOL has named Google Senior Vice President Tim Armstrong as its next chairman and chief executive officer. Current Chairman and CEO Randy Falco and Chief Operating Officer and President Ron Grant "plan to leave the company after a transition period," Time Warner said in a statement. [UPI]
ThankYou Network Announces Changes To Its Rewards Program
What's going to happen with Citibank's ThankYou Network on March 1st? Is Vikram Pandit going to convert all of your points into executive bonuses? Will it be nationalized?!? Um, no, but here's a copy of the letter one of our readers received today announcing the changes that are going in place next week.
Blockbuster Reduces Total Access Benefits, Disguises Change As "No More Due Dates!"
Blockbuster's Total Access subscription service—their bid for relevance in the Netflix era—used to ship the next movie in your queue as soon as you dropped it off at a Blockbuster store in exchange for a free rental. Now the next movie won't ship until you return that free store rental—in other words, now it will count as the next movie in your queue. Of course, in Blockbuster marketing-speak, that's considered a great new benefit.
Great, Airplanes Are Cleaner. Do You Care?
No longer distracted by high oil prices, airlines now claim that they're starting to focus on customer service. Two of them, American and United, think that their biggest issue is dirty planes. Wouldn't it be great if that were true?
Putting The Wrong Name On An Airline Ticket Is An $800 Mistake?
Here's an odd problem. Reader Austin bought some airline tickets for a business trip and wasn't sure who was going to go, so he booked an extra ticket with his name on it — thinking that the name could be changed later. Whoops.
Kinko's Is Dead, Long Live "FedEx Office"
FedEx announced yesterday that they would be renaming Kinko's "FedEx Office"
Are Starbucks Baristas Forgetting To Give You Your Free Refills?
The Starbucks card has some spiffy new benefits (including free refills on brewed coffee), but it seems that some employees didn't get the message.
What Complaining About Starbucks Hath Wrought: Punch Cards?
We decided to check back in with Starbucks' social "idea" site to see what ideas they were thinking of implementing.
Starbucks To Buy Fancy Coffee Machine Maker, Add Reward Program
Things are still changing at Starbucks. First off, they're going to buy the maker of "Clover" the crazy $11,000 coffee machine that makes one cup at a time.
Starbucks, the world's largest chain of coffee shops, also said today it would acquire Coffee Equipment Co., the maker of the $11,000 Clover machines that brew one cup of coffee at a time. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
An Interview With Sprint CEO Dan Hesse About Customer Service At Sprint
The author of the BuisnessWeek article "Sprint's Wake-Up Call", Spencer Ante, has posted his entire interview with Sprint's new CEO, Dan "At Least I'm Not Gary Forsee" Hesse.


text:
One of my favorite quotes comes from John Milton. It specifically reads "None can love freedom heartily but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license which never hath more scope than under tyrants." Another that I love comes from a more modern writer, namely Terry Pratchett that reads "No practical definition of freedom would be complete without the freedom to take the consequences."
The Tea Party is, apparently, all about license to do whatever they want while pretending to do so under the guise of freedom. They do not want to take responsibility for the harm that their actions could do to others or to the world around them even though they claim that they are opposed to that.
Last night, The Daily Show highlighted one of those incidents where the Tea Party pushes for the license to do what they want while pretending to be about freedom.


text:
News Article
The Vampire Diaries Episode 322
"The Departed"
Story By: Brett Matthews & Elisabeth R. Finch
Teleplay By: Julie Plec
Directed By: John Behring
Original Airdate: 10 May 2012
In This Episode...
Elena wakes up in the hospital. When Jeremy discovered her passed out, he rushed her in. Both Stefan and Damon are unhappy to hear this - she is a sitting duck in the hospital. The boys essentially flip a coin: Stefan goes back to Mystic Falls to look after Elena, while Damon continues on with Klaus's corpse. Matt, Tyler, Caroline, and Jeremy take Elena home and care for her until Stefan arrives. Not long after, Elijah shows up. He proposes a deal: turn over Klaus's body to him, and the originals will scatter to all ends of the earth. He will make sure Alaric chases him, while keeping Klaus safe, and vows never to wake Klaus. The decision is Elena's alone, and she decides to trust him.
Damon has stashed Klaus at a storage unit. Bonnie is there for a moment, casting some secret spell before Rebekah turns up to take possession of Klaus. Alaric shows up as the pair are trying to wheel Klaus's coffin out of the storage unit. Ric goes straight for the coffin and stakes Klaus. His corpse goes up in flames, leaving a shocked Rebekah and a scared Damon. Rebekah takes off while Damon sits in shock. He calls Stefan. Neither of them feel sick, but it took Sage about an hour to show symptoms. Upon the news of Klaus's death, shock waves run through our little team of vampires and vamp-friendlies.
This is how Elena is forced to make a decision between brothers. Matt had drugged her tea, so she woke in his truck, with Matt driving them somewhere far away. When the news comes that Klaus is dead, Elena can choose one Salvatore to drive to; there is no time to say goodbye to both. She chooses Stefan, but calls Damon to give a teary goodbye. Damon handles it with surprising maturity and calm, realizing that Elena's choice has been made. "Maybe if I had met you first, but I fell in love with Stefan - I can't unfall. I care for you, Damon, which is why I have to let you go."
After Ric outed Caroline and Tyler to the council, Mayor Lockwood and Sheriff Forbes decide the only way to keep their kids safe is to send them away. They have a stash of money and new identities. Caroline just needs two hours to make sure everything is okay with Elena, and they will meet in the old cellar in the woods. When Caroline hears about Klaus, she arrives in a panic, absolutely hysterical. Tyler is there and they say their goodbyes. Tyler starts having symptoms soon, while Caroline, like Stefan and Damon, feels fine (something that confuses both Rebekah and Elijah, as she is certain that they are of Klaus's bloodline). She refuses to leave him to die alone - until he starts to wolf out and she is scared off. Bonnie shows up - the secret spell she did put Klaus in Tyler's body so that (I guess) it was only Klaus's body that burned up; his "bloodline" is still intact.
With Klaus now dead (or at least Rebekah believing he is dead) the deal is off. She wants Alaric dead, and the only way to do that is to kill Elena. As Elena and Matt drive back into town, Rebekah appears on the bridge. Matt swerves to avoid her and the car goes into the river. In a "life flashing before your eyes" kind of thing, we flashback to the night her parents died (we have been flashing back off and on throughout the episode, but this is where the important stuff happens). Elena had just fought with then-boyfriend Matt, and she runs across Damon in the middle of a deserted road. He mistakes her for Katherine, and the two chat amiably for a few minutes. Her parents drive up, and Damon compels her to "get everything she wants, and to forget you ever met me - I can't have anyone knowing I am here yet." A beautiful cross-cutting montage between the drowning four years ago and the drowning now takes place. Then, mom was killed instantly, Stefan swims up to help, and dad directs him to Elena in the back seat. Now, Stefan swims up, and a panicked Elena insists that Stefan rescue an unconscious Matt. He does so unhappily, and Elena goes limp.
Alaric, who is still fighting Damon at the storage facility, suddenly goes limp and grey. Alaric then appears to Jeremy as his old self, and promises he will always be there for him no matter what. Jeremy realizes this is Alaric's ghost, and both men are overwhelmed when they realize what this means: Elena is dead. She is really dead.
But it's not over yet. Damon storms into the hospital, overwhelmed with grief and anger. Meredith lied earlier - Elena's original injuries were far more severe than she let on. When Jeremy brought her in, she had a cerebral hemorrhage, and was near death. So Meredith used her "cheater medicine" - vampire blood - to save her life. Which means Elena died with vampire blood in her system. Which means - Elena wakes on the morgue slab with a gasp.
Dig It or Bury It?
I hate that The Vampire Diaries makes me feel like a 14-year-old girl. But damn, this was an emotionally intense episode. Beautifully done, without feeling too cloying or obnoxious. I will say, I didn't find anything "shocking" or "surprising." That may be because this show has taught me that anything can happen and because of that, I expect absolutely anything. Let's be honest - I am talking mostly about Elena's newfound afterlife. On the one hand, this solves a lot of problems. If she is now a vampire, that means she is no longer the doppelgänger, so Tyler / Klaus can no longer use her blood for hybrids. Of course, with Klaus, that was the only thing keeping her alive. Maybe this will solve her Salvatore problem. She can "date" one of them for 50 years, then switch. She will be eternally beautiful, and she can't get knocked up. My brain is already churning with where the show can go next season.
Is it September yet?


text:
Kevin Weisman
• Fanboy Fight: Joss Whedon Vs. J.J. Abrams - Who Is Your Favorite?
Birth Name: Kevin Weisman
Kevin Weisman was born and raised in Los Angeles, and he received a BA from UCLA's prestigious School of Theatre/Film/Television and also studied at New York's Circle in the Square Theatre. Weisman has frequently worked as an actor and producer with the award-winning and critically acclaimed Buffalo Nights Theatre Company, of which he is a founding member. Most recently he starred as Griffith J. Griffith in the award-winning "Crazy Drunk" at the John Anson Ford Theatre. He also appeared in the title role in Arthur Schnitzler's "Anatol," Jean Giraudoux's "Apollo of Bellac," which received a Garland for Production of the Year and seven LA Weekly Award nominations, Archibald McCleish's "J.B... Continue Bio >>
Photo Gallery:
View All Pictures >>
Popular Movies:
Unicorn City
Space Buddies
Clerks II More Credits >>
Browse More Actors:


text:
"Don't let your side b-----s settle in / Might have to headbutt your Evelyn"
Here Pusha is referring to, of course, Evelyn Lozada, the ex-wife of NFLer Chad Johnson, who infamously (allegedly) head-butted her in a marital dispute. We don't think Pusha's actually advocating taking domestic matters into your own hands (or, um, head) this way; he's saying that things can get messy if you don't play your player cards right. Either way, it's not a PC line — but it's ruthlessly sharp.
(Photos from left: John Ricard / BET, Maury Phillips/WireImage)
Don't Label Me: Artists Beefin' With Their Record Labels 07/11/2014
Instagram Photos of the Week: Chris Brown and Drake Unite 07/11/2014
Tweets of the Week: Azealia Banks Leaves Universal Records 07/11/2014
It Was All Good: Throwback Instagram Pics of Music Frenemies 07/10/2014
So Sick: When Illness Forces Music Stars to Cancel Concerts 07/09/2014
The Score: Memorable Movie Soundtracks 07/09/2014
The Best of Wale's Twitter Beefs 07/08/2014
Double Duty: Kid Stars on the Mic and the Big Screen 07/08/2014
10 Things We Want to Hear From Kanye West 07/08/2014
Young Money Entertainment Endorsement Deals 07/08/2014
Famous Prince Beefs 07/07/2014
Artists Accused of Cultural Misappropriation 07/07/2014
Music Stars and Lawsuits 07/07/2014
Instagram Photos of the Week: August Alsina Thanks Breezy 07/03/2014
Lauren London Says She Not Pregnant by Nipsey Hussle 07/03/2014
17 Rappers Being Patriotic on Instagram 07/03/2014
Unsung Hitmakers: Female Music Producers 07/02/2014
Girlfight: When Female Rappers Beef 07/01/2014


text:
slideshows MORE
13 Hottest Back-to-School Fashion Trends for 2013
11 of 14
Flashy Fingernails
Nail art is all the rage these days. Girls are painting their nails every color of the rainbow (plus shades of neon that don't exist in nature), and with funky patterns they've learned about on Pinterest or in Seventeen. Don't be surprised if colorful or complicated nail design is part of your tween's or teen's first-day-of-school look.
Next: Blazers
More on: Back to School


text:
David Hurst
A food court shop says it will bring "a better burger" to The Galleria mall.
Build-a-Burger owners say they hope to open a food court location in April that will offer fresh ground beef patties and free toppings such as jalapenos, grilled onions and mushrooms.
"We see ourselves as sort of like a Subway for burgers – or a cheaper Five Guys (Burgers and Fries)," said Veronica Wang, a Build-a-Burger co-owner.
"If you want a 4-ounce hamburger, it's $3.99 ... and you can put whatever you want on it for that price."
The location will also offer chicken sandwiches.
Wang said the menu is still being finalized but breakfast sandwiches, kids' meals and milkshakes also will be featured.
The business is locally owned. For Wang and her husband Qing Min "Kyle" Wang, it's their first venture in business ownership, but they have previous management experience just next door at Yummy Japan, she said.
Renovations are already under way at the site, which was home for years to a Wendy's location that closed in January.
If all goes well, Build-a-Burger will open April 1, Wang said.
Click here to subscribe to The Tribune-Democrat print edition.
Click here to subscribe to The Tribune-Democrat e-edition.


text:
September 2009
Africare kicks off its new Pass It On! Campaign with a touching story out of Lagos, Nigeria about a young teen's fight with HIV.
tanding just over 5 feet tall, 15-year-old Gani of Lagos, Nigeria, is a young man with BIG aspirations. He's a whiz at government studies, a gifted chalk artist, and loves soccer! But several years ago he found himself constantly sick and getting progressively weaker. Gani was infected with HIV.
When he was identified by Africare-Nigeria staff through a comprehensive Health and HIV/AIDS program, he weighed just over 50 pounds (24 kg). That was the day Gani's life turned around. Today, he is back to school, playing sports, and looking to a bright future...
Read Gani's FULL story now!
Here you can read a detailed story about Gani, the Africare TAP Project, and watch a video testimony straight from Gaini!
(Click photo above to donate)
Keep Gani's Story going, and Pass It On!
Forward this message on to a friend and make sure they are signed up
to receive Africare's monthly Pass It On! stories
Sign up here!
Africare's Approach
Africare helps Africa. A leader among private, charitable U.S. organizations assisting Africa, Africare is also the oldest and largest African-American led organization in the field — and Africa is Africare's specialty. Africare programs are in the following broad areas: health and HIV/AIDS, food security and agriculture, water and sanitation, humanitarian and emergency assistance, environmental management, women's empowerment, literacy and vocational training, microenterprise development, and civil society development and governance.
Learn More.
You can give back AND tell the world how they can help with one of Africare's color-themed t-shirts! The t-shirts come in a variety of colors and themes that spread the Africare mission. Get your shirt today at
For more information about Africare,
visit us on-line at
Who's coming
Pass It On!
Story Line-up:
October 2009
November 2009
December 2009
COPE Club Kids
See more stories
What is Pass It On!?
It's Africare's new campaign to connect YOU to people overcoming major issues impacting the African continent, issues like unsafe drinking water, food insecurity, and the growing number of children orphaned by AIDS.
Each month, the campaign will bring you a new powerful testimony told directly from the individuals who see, work with, or benefit from Africare's assistance on the ground.
Each story is packaged in a format that is ready to "pass on" to a friend or someone you know through video, social networks, and even your phone!
Get started now!
Africare is on
For more details, contact the Office of Development
Contact Africare
Office of Development
Office: 202.328.5334
Copyright 2009, Africare. All Rights Reserved.


text:
For the 11th year, nurses were voted the most trusted profession in America in Gallup's annual survey that ranks professions for their honesty and ethical standards. Eighty-one percent of Americans believe nurses' honesty and ethical standards are either "high" or "very high."
Since being included in the Gallup poll in 1999, nurses have received the highest ranking every year except in 2001, when fire fighters received top honors. Results were based on telephone interviews with more than 1,000 adults.


text:
Product Recall: Voluntary recall of 260 cases of Velveeta Original Pasteurized Recipe Cheese Products. Click Here.
18 SKUs of Knudsen Cottage Cheese, 9 SKUs of Breakstone's Cottage Cheese, 5 SKUs of Simply Kraft Cottage Cheese and 2 SKUs of Daily Chef Cottage Cheese. Click Here.
HEAT oil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add ham and vegetables; cook 4 min., stirring constantly.
ADD shrimp; cook and stir 4 min. or until shrimp turn pink.
STIR in rice, soy sauce and egg; cook 2 to 3 min. or until egg is set and ham mixture is heated through, stirring occasionally.


text:
OPEN DAILY 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
From a hairy tarantula to a talking African gray parrot, you never know what you'll bump into in Ranger Rick's Backyard Safari at the Tennessee Aquarium!
Get a peek behind the scenes of the Aquarium's Husbandry department. Read their weekly animal updates and get an insider's look at caring for over 10,000 animals and plants.
» Our Animals » Invertebrates » Leather Sea Star
This sea star gets its common name from its smooth skin. Its soft skin can exude a mucous making it feel slippery to the touch. The leather sea star does not have spines like other sea stars, but six-eight rows of papulae, small feathery sacks used for respiration on each of its five arms. Sea stars are unique because unlike most other animals they do not have blood but instead use sea water to pump around their bodies.
SIZE: Up to 10 inches diameter RANGE: Prince William Sound, Alaska to Sacramento Reef, Baja California HABITAT:Mostly found in rock areas from intertidal to about 300 ft deep DIET: Sea anemones, sea cucumbers and sea urchins
One Broad Street, Chattanooga TN, 37402
phone: 800-262-0695
Map & Directions
The Tennessee Aquarium is a non-profit institution.
See how you can help support our many education, conservation and research programs.


text:
By Nick Snow
PERKINS, Okla. —
It never was easy. Few trips to state are. But the Perkins-Tryon High School girls basketball team is one win away from checking one goal off following a 39-30 victory over Oklahoma Christian School Tuesday.
"We're happy to be where we're at, one game away from the state tournament," Perkins-Tryon coach Jerry Burnett said. "We have to play better. We have to score off our transition, hit layups and free throws. We played good defensively, but if we're going to get there we're going to have to play a little smarter and play a little better."
Senior Jordan Gorham overcame early foul trouble in the first half to lead the Lady Demons (26-0) with 14 points — including eight points in the second half.
"This was my last game at my home court," Gorham said. "I wanted to win my last game. It was like our lift to area and state. It's exciting. We're not going to lose, and as long as we keep working hard that's going to be the case for the rest of the time we have."
The Lady Demons got off to a quick start, opening the first half with a 12-2 run and it looked like the rout was on.
But then came the foul trouble.
Oklahoma Christian began going directly at Gorham, drawing two quick fouls and forcing Burnett to sit his senior with two fouls.
"When she got in foul trouble we went to the bench with Jessica Foster," Burnett said. "Jessica did a good job, but we have to have Jordan in there to be successful. We pulled her with two and we probably could have played her with three, but we wanted to be safe and make sure we had her in the second half."
Even with Gorham on the bench players like Sienna Hughes stepped up, knocking down a 3-pointer with just over 6 minutes before halftime. Perkins-Tryon also got a lift from McKenzie Stanford, who scored 10 of her 12 points in the first half.
The absence of Gorham eventually caught up to the Lady Demons as Oklahoma Christian went on a 9-2 run capped off by Abby Sanders' 3-pointer with 1:51 left before halftime. But with the lead trimmed 20-17, Perkins-Tryon answered with a 5-0 run over the final two minutes to take a 25-17 lead at halftime.
"We were tight," Burnett said. "This is a seasoned ball club. We're coming off two semifinals in the state tournament. I don't know what it was. Maybe it was just a bad day. We didn't have school today, so maybe that threw us off. But you have to give OCS credit, they played a good game."
Even with Gorham back on the floor, the Lady Demons struggled to shake the Lady Saints, clinging to a 30-23 lead after three quarters.
But with the game still in doubt — and as she's done so many times throughout her career — Gorham came through in the clutch, sparking the Perkins-Tryon offense with a 3-point play to open the fourth quarter, pushing the lead to 33-23.
"I made sure I didn't go over the back because I didn't want to pick up another foul," Gorham said. "There was a perfect path right there in front of me. I grabbed the ball, went up, hit the shot and got fouled."
Oklahoma Christian made a little bit of a run as Brittney Gonce hit a 3-pointer with 2:56 left, but the Lady Demons were able to milk the clock and keep the lead in double digits through the rest of the game, putting them one win away from a berth at state.
"I think a game like this definitely helps us," Gorham said. "During the whole game, I didn't worry at all because I knew we had it and I knew we'd get our heads in the game."
Along with Gorham and Stanford, Bailey Wensler finished with seven points — all coming from the free-throw line. Hughes had three points, while Lacey Shipp and Jeri Adkism each had two.


text:
HUMBLE, Texas – She's 30-something and was dangerously obese while struggling with her health issues.
That was just "touching the surface" for a woman from the Conroe area. Just two months ago she decided to make a change, and KHOU 11 News was there. Checking in with Tia Brameld today, she and her family are "all smiles."
After her weight loss surgery, Tia is able to join her family in an activity she's avoided for years: bowling.
"Just because it became so hard to bowl for me, and kind of embarrassing," Brameld tells KHOU 11 News. "My back would hurt. My arms would hurt. My legs would be sore already."
Two months after we first met her, however, bowling and life in general are much better.
She went from a size 8.5 – 9 to a size 7, and her shoe size slimmed down as well. She's off all her meds, is no longer a diabetic, and has lost nearly 50 pounds since her operation.
She says her experience is inspiring others who have been on the fence to go for it.


text:
I grew up reading comic books. Batman, Spider-Man and X-Men primarily, though every once in a while I could be talked into another title if the art were cool enough. I had friends who collected some of the more esoteric stuff, and some that collected nothing but the kind that were pretty much commercials for crappy toys. Regardless of type, there was something magical about getting lost in those illustrated pages for a couple of hours that became an essential part of my childhood.
And so it was that I met Ashton Adams.
I'm leaving out a lot of the story because there's just not enough time, but long story short, I met Ashton during high school and we became fast friends because we both loved comic books. Well, that's not quite true; I loved comic books. Ashton loved comic books. Loved the stories. Loved the characters. Loved the art. Loved the genre for the genre. It was that passion that gave us a lot to talk about.
Would Superman beat up Batman? What would happen if Wolverine ended up with Jean Grey? How often did superheroes need pee breaks?
We spent hours reading comics, talking comics, and, eventually, creating comics. And it was those creative endeavors that first led us to Galactic Quest Comics. Galactic Quest was a store owned by Kyle Puttkammer, a fella who didn't seem too much older than Ashton and myself, and who loved comics on a level that surpassed anything we'd ever seen. Kyle was so into comics that he even sold the official comic Bristol pages - the kind with blue lining that the pros used when drawing our favorite books.
Naturally, Galactic Quest became our go-to comic store.
Then life happened. We roomed together freshman year at the University of Georgia, but our lives during college went in different directions. So did our lives after college. You know how it goes: things change. You meet people, you get married, you start your career, and many of the the things that used to define you fall away and get replaced by other things.
Except for Kyle and Ashton. There was still a love for comics through it all. In fact, as Ashton said in a phone interview last night from his home in Suwanee, "Some people might say, 'Oh, you're immature,' and some people might say, 'Well, I'm young at heart,' as I like to put it. But I have stories to tell."
One of those stories can be found in Galaxy Man #4. Now, if you don't know Galaxy Man, that's okay; it's the brainchild of Kyle, who noticed that the comics in his store weren't necessarily for kids anymore. A father himself, Kyle wanted younger kids to have a comic all their own, one that was written with them in mind. So Kyle and a local artist named Allen Belk went to work.
The concept was the stuff of comic tradition: a family who loses their astronaut mother while she's on a mission to Mars; a father, Stanley Quest given super powers when a meteorite crashes near his observatory; a helpful sidekick named Cosmic Girl who hides a secret identity. This rich platform became the beginning of Galaxy Man. After the first three issues, the writer Kyle was using stepped away from the project.
Enter Ashton.
Having been a customer of Kyle's for years, and having developed a rapport with one another (even going so far to develop other comic projects still in the works), Ashton volunteered to step into the void. Kyle was hesitant.
"Well, Kyle said, 'Listen, I've read what you wrote for this other project and I like it a lot, but this is a completely different field.' But, if you can write a scene or two of Galaxy Man and show me what you can do with the character, then we'll talk about you writing it.' And I went home and wrote an entire comic book script."
That initial script wasn't used for the issue, but it more than showed Kyle that Ashton was capable of handling the book. He hired Ashton on the spot to write Galaxy Man #4, and after months of hard work, the book is now available in print and in digital form (via Comics Plus on the iPad). And perhaps most exciting, Galaxy Man was recently added by Diamond Distributors, the official clearinghouse for all things comics.
Now, anyone can walk into their local comic shop, ask for the owner to order Galaxy Man, and the owner can look in the Diamond catalog and find it. It's as legitimate as anything from Marvel or DC, and it's a huge step for an independently produced book. In fact, Kyle recently went to Chicago to speak about independent publishing in the comic book world and both he and Galaxy Man were well received.
Two weeks ago, Kyle hosted a signing party for Galaxy Man at his Lawrenceville store, and fans of the book turned out by the carload. Ashton said it was nice to feel like a rock star for a couple of hours. "You had these kids asking you to sign their books for them, and they were so excited. It was a great moment for me."
It was also reconnecting with his childhood in a way. "This is just the natural way for me to tell my stories," he said. "I was not ready in my teens or in my early twenties to be a writer, and certainly didn't have the experience to write for kids. I'm an expecting father, but I'm not a father yet, but I do have nieces and nephews, and it was my experience with them that allowed me to tap back into my own childhood and write about what would be appropriate in entertaining the kids."
But now comes the hard part: getting the word out. While sales at both of the Galactic Quest locations (Lawrenceville and Buford) have been good, the hope is for other local stores to begin carrying the book. With so much emphasis lately on keeping things local, it only makes sense to share our stories too, and this is a story that is completely family friendly: the goal of Galaxy Man has always been to produce a comic that a parent could either give their child to read or, even better, read with them.
Ashton feels like they've accomplished that. "One of our models is Pixar: where they really tell great stories that kids love but adults can enjoy too. Uncles, parents, aunts, grandparents - they can enjoy it with the kids in their lives."
So how can you help? Buy the book. Head to your local comic shop and ask for it by name. Download the digital edition. Read it with your kids. Share a little of the magic from your childhood.
And when you do, you'll share a lot of magic with some local talent hoping to make the comic book shop safe again for kids of all ages.


text: Celebrities Wearing Couture on the Red Carpet | Pictures Stars in Couture: The Most Haute Red Carpet Moments by Justin Fenner 7/10/14 369 Reactions 80 Shares Print 2 4 17 57 0 Zoe Saldana wasn't nominated for an Oscar at the 2010 Academy Awards, but she made fashion history with the ombré purple gown she wore on the red carpet that year. Her Givenchy Haute Couture design, a fashion-forward choice that blended unexpected textures like crystals and ruffles, landed the actress on many a best dressed list. The high-style move was nothing new, but rather in the tradition of Nicole Kidman, whose chartreuse Christian Dior gown in 1997 was among the first instances of truly modern couture appearing on the red carpet. Couturiers have always had a special relationship with celebrities, who need jaw-dropping dresses to wear for particularly glamorous events. But now more than ever, couture numbers (as well as custom-created gowns) have become the gold standard for women who have to look elegant and fashionable in front of the flashbulbs. As Paris Haute Couture Week closes, we're taking a look at our favorite couture red carpet moments in recent memory. Source: Getty Lupita Nyong'o What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 A rising style star in her own right, actress Lupita Nyong'o wore an Elie Saab couture dress to the Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala. Source: Getty / Jon Kopaloff 1 / 26 Amy Adams What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 Amy Adams accented her red Valentino Couture gown with $8 million worth of diamonds — and a Golden Globe for her performance in American Hustle. Source: Getty / Steve Granitz 2 / 26 Keira Knightley What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 The actress wore Elie Saab to the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of her film Anna Karenina in 2012. Source: Getty / Ernesto Di Stefano Photography 3 / 26 Lady Gaga What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 One of this singer's most memorable outfits was the spindly pink and purple Armani Privé dress she wore to the 2010 Grammy Awards. Source: Getty / Jason Merritt 4 / 26 Beyoncé Knowles What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 For the premiere of her self-made film, Life Is But a Dream, Beyoncé wore this Elie Saab couture gown. Source: Getty / Charles Eshelman 6 / 26 Cate Blanchett What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 The actress looked like a winner before she picked up her Golden Globe in 2013 — simply because she wore this Armani Privé dress on the red carpet. Source: Getty / Steve Granitz 6 / 26 Angelina Jolie What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 Angelina Jolie chose a stunning Atelier Versace dress for the 2009 Cannes Film Festival premiere of Inglourious Basterds. It drew a strong reaction primarily because the sheer fabric so closely matched the color of her skin. Source: Getty / Jeff Vespa 7 / 26 Jennifer Lawrence What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jennifer Lawrence fell in Dior — Spring 2013 Christian Dior Couture, to be exact — when she picked up the best actress award at the 2013 Oscars. Source: Getty / Jason Merritt 8 / 26 Jessica Chastain What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 A figure-hugging purple beaded Givenchy Couture gown was Jessica Chastain's choice for the 2013 Cannes Film Festival premiere of All Is Lost. Source: Getty / Venturelli 9 / 26 Zoe Saldana What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 Zoe Saldana wore a very different purple dress — albeit one by the same designer, Givenchy couturier Riccardo Tisci — at the 2010 Academy Awards. Source: Getty / Brian To 11 / 26 Anna Wintour What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 Anna Wintour has made a habit of wearing Chanel gowns to the Costume Institute's annual gala, and she wore a spectacular black-and-white patterned dress from Karl Lagerfeld's Spring 2009 Chanel Couture collection to the opening of the Model as Muse exhibit. Source: Getty / Kevin Mazur 11 / 26 Diane Kruger What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 Diane Kruger wore Spring 2012 Christian Dior Couture at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival premiere of Thérèse Desqueyroux. Source: Getty / Vittorio Zunino Celotto 12 / 26 Diane Kruger What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kruger wore another Couture gown — this time from Giambattista Valli — at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival premiere of Moonrise Kingdom. Its gentle pale green color and floaty fabric made for more than one spectacular photograph. Source: Getty / George Pimentel 13 / 26 Charlize Theron What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 Couture doesn't have to be festooned with floral embroidery or sequins, and Charlize Theron proved that in 2013 when she wore a striking strapless, white Christian Dior Couture gown to the Oscars. Source: Getty / Jason Merritt 14 / 26 Ashley Olsen What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 The floaty orange dress Ashley Olsen wore to the Met Gala in 2013 was a vintage Christian Dior Couture gown. Source: Getty / Larry Busacca 15 / 26 Natalie Portman What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 Natalie Portman has also stepped out in vintage Christian Dior Couture. At the 2012 Oscars, Portman wore a strapless red gown originally designed in 1954. Source: Getty / Ethan Miller 16 / 26 Julianna Margulies What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 Julianna Margulies opted for a Giambattista Valli Couture gown at the 2012 Emmy Awards that perfectly encapsulates the designer's love of flowers. Source: Getty / Jeff Kravitz 17 / 26 Carine Roitfeld What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 Carine Roitfeld is known for her love of basic black, but she chose a not-so-basic Givenchy Couture dress for the 2012 Met Gala. Source: Getty / Larry Busacca 18 / 26 Cate Blanchett What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 The strong-shouldered Givenchy Couture gown Cate Blanchett wore to the Academy Awards in 2011 was softened by its pale pink color and beaded appliqué. Source: Getty / Jason Merritt 19 / 26 Rooney Mara What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 Rooney Mara wore a white Givenchy Haute Couture gown on the red carpet at the 2012 Oscars that featured cream lace lined with chiffon. Source: Getty / Kevin Mazur 20 / 26 Angelina Jolie What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 The high slit in the black Atelier Versace gown Angelina Jolie wore to the 2012 Academy Awards spawned a thousand jokes, and even a now-defunct Twitter account, @AngiesRightLeg. Source: Getty / Jason Merritt 21 / 26 Amy Adams What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 Amy Adams looked fresh in the white Giambattista Valli Couture gown she wore to the 2012 Met Gala. Source: Getty / Dimitrios Kambouris 22 / 26 Milla Jovovich What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 Milla Jovovich wore a dress from Karl Lagerfeld's shoulder-focused Spring 2013 Chanel Couture collection at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival premiere of Blood Ties. Source: Getty / Danny Martindale 23 / 26 Ellie Kemper What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ellie Kemper wore a beautiful bronze Armani Privé gown at the 2013 Academy Awards. The intricate beading on the gown nearly matched her gorgeous red locks. Source: Getty / Michael Buckner 24 / 26 Julianne Moore What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 The Christian Dior Couture look Julianne Moore wore to the 2012 Emmy Awards had a simple, minimalist shape. But it also had a huge impact because of its citron shade. Source: Getty / Kevork Djansezian 25 / 26 Nicole Kidman What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 Nicole Kidman made waves when she wore a chartreuse dress from John Galliano's first Christian Dior Couture collection to the 1997 Academy Awards. Source: Getty / Kevin Mazur Archive 26 / 26 2 4 17 57 0 Back to Homepage Comments Read More Paris Haute Couture Fashion WeekCoutureRed CarpetGivenchyCelebrity StyleDiorChanelNicole Kidman Celebrity Style We Spy: Are Celebrity Butt Selfies the New Selfie? 11 hours ago Poppy Delevingne and Ashley Madekwe Tell a Tale of 2 Cutoffs 13 hours ago 16 Times Martha Stewart Was So "Fashion" and You Didn't Even Know It 17 hours ago These Dresses Are Good, but the Accessories Are Better 18 hours ago This Is Why We Know Allison Williams Will Bring Her A-Game to Peter Pan 18 hours ago Take a Virtual Vacation With the Most Stylish Beach-Bound Celebs 20 hours ago Nicole Kidman Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban Share a Sweet Family Video 1 week ago Nicole Kidman Goes Brunette For Her Latest Role 2 weeks ago Happy Birthday, Nicole Kidman! See Her Top Red Carpet Beauty Looks 6/20 Nicole and Keith Bring Their Aussie Love All Over the World 6/20 Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban Sing a Sweet Duet to Sick Children 6/16 All the Stars That Flocked to France For the Cannes Film Festival 5/23 Chanel Chanel's Runway Accessories Make For Street Style Magic 1 week ago Chanel's Craziest, Most Expensive Products EVER! 2 weeks ago Even Prabal Gurung Wants to Know Diane Kruger's Red Carpet Secret 2 weeks ago Karl Lagerfeld Had 1 Woman in Mind at Chanel's Couture Show 3 weeks ago Everything You Need to Know About Haute Couture 3 weeks ago You Could Be the Next Chanel Runway Model 6/09 Dior Rock the Double Cat Eye Straight Off the Dior Cruise Runway 5/09 Dior Beauty Takes a New Direction 3/10 Chanel Says It's OK to Wear Sneakers — Our Feet Rejoice 3/09 Does Anyone Make Tripping Look as Glamorous as Jennifer Lawrence Does? 3/03 Let's Talk About Jennifer Lawrence's Gorgeous Dior Ads 2/21 Let's Talk About How Gorgeous Jennifer Lawrence's Latest Dior Ads Are 2/21 Givenchy Summer Bag Inspiration! 2 weeks ago Men's Fashion Week Isn't Just About the Male Models 6/30 Finally! Kim Kardashian's Wedding Dress and Guest List Revealed 5/27 If You Can't Wait to See Kim's Wedding Dress, You Have Kanye to Thank 5/24 Alicia Keys Just Landed Her First Beauty Contract 5/07 We're in Knots Over the Givenchy Braids for Fall 2014 3/03 Get a Personalized Fashion & Beauty Newsletter! Help us customize your newsletter by selecting your interests (optional): Beauty Tips Fashion & Beauty News Street Style Celebrity Style What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Reactions Link Love Watch the supermodels put a permanent stamp on their friendship — Lucky Has Lululemon taken things too far? — HuffPost Style Here's how to take a virtual shopping vacation — InStyle The Reformation makes a stylish case for an extended Summer — Racked Things are getting a bit twisted on the street — Who What Wear Chloé is taking us on quite the stylish road trip — The Cut Why is everyone walking right past this mall store? — Fashionista Your wedding style game just got an upgrade — The Zoe Report This is one angel who won't take the runway anytime soon — Vogue UK Source: Getty / JP Yim


text:
Youth Classes -- Summer 2014
The 2014 summer session of MoonSchool is completely full. We thank you for your interest. Check back with us next year!
MOONSCHOOL returns this summer!
For Ages 7-17!
MoonSchool Summer Camp and Conservatory
This two-week summer course is aimed at students that want to know the ins and outs of putting on a show. Mornings are spent in rehearsal and afternoons are filled with building sets, props and costumes. Students will learn all aspects of theatre production, learning how to sing, dance, and act, and through participating in fun, age-appropriate art projects to create the design elements of the production. Older students will be much more engaged technically. Music theory and song interpretation, as well as motivated acting technique, and more complex dance choreography will be part of the course. Students will rehearse and produce Schoolhouse Rock Live, Jr., the fun, nostalgic, and still hip show based on the educational cartoon shorts popular in the 1970s. This high-energy, rock and pop theatre extravaganza will have two performances on the final Saturday and a party (of course!).
Ages: 7–17
Dates: July 7-18, Monday-Friday, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, plus a two-performance Saturday on July 19, 2014
(Performance Saturday begins at 1:00 pm for the students with performances at 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm.)
Tuition: $500
Special Discount for Families!
If you have more than one child interested in attending MoonSchool this summer, any additional siblings can attend for a discounted rate of $450 each!
Half-Day Attendance Also Available!
Children can attend half-day, either the Morning Performance Arts sessions (from 9:00 am to noon) or the Afternoon Scenic Arts sessions (1:00 pm-4:00 pm), for a rate of $250.
Because we are loath to turn any truly interested child away, we have a limited number of scholarships and partial scholarships available. Contact Education Director Dyan McBride (email@example.com) for details.
To Register by Mail:
Download this registration form (one for each student), fill it out, and follow the instructions to mail the form and your payment to 42nd Street Moon: MoonSchool 2014 (PDF format).
To Register On-Line:
Go to our online form here, and fill out the appropriate information. When you click the submit button, you will be taken to our online payment system, where you can use either your Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card. A 3% service charge will be added to all online transactions.
Private Lessons for All Ages
Do you have an audition coming up? Are you trying to get into graduate school? Do you need a new monologue? MoonSchool provides private lessons in multiple disciplines. We currently offer coaching in voice, piano, acting, dance and audition prep. Contact Education Director Dyan McBride at firstname.lastname@example.com for an appointment.
Ages: 7 – Adulthood
Dates: By appointment only
Tuition: $30 (1/2 hour), $60 (hour),
$200 (4 monologue sessions)


text:
DécorLightingKitchenBed & BathOutdoorHome ImprovementBaby & KidsMore...Sales
free shippingon orders over $49*
If you're looking for Coat Racks and Umbrella Stands for sale online, Wayfair.com has a zillion options sure to satisfy the pickiest shopper. We have a myriad of styles of Coat Racks and Hooks, and if you want to narrow your options to something more specific than your current filter of "Yesteryear Wicker," such as finding Coat Racks and Umbrella Stands by brands like Yesteryear Wicker or Yesteryear Wicker, just use the filters on the left. And remember, we offer free shipping on just about every order over $49, so buy Coat Racks and Umbrella Stands today and have them shipped free.Read more