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(WMC-TV) - An urban legend became reality last Friday on this stretch of South Third Street when at least one woman driver became victim of a "bump and rob."
Memphis Police said the "bump and rob" really happens, and female drivers should perhaps beware more than others.
Last Friday, the car two women were traveling in was bumped from behind on South Third Street.
The driver was attacked and robbed of her purse after getting out to inspect the damage.
While a female accomplice, 24 year-old Selenia Holden, was caught — the suspect, last seen in a Pontiac Aztec, got away.
The suspect is identified in this affidavit as Ronald Walker.
Holden told police Walker was intentionally targeting female victims by bumping then robbing them in order to buy drugs.
One man's advice to his friends is something you should keep in mind.
"If somebody bumps them in the back they either need to go to a public place or a police station. If the guy's sincere, he'll follow there," said Memphis resident Kesean Henry.
Remember, you can always file a minor accident report later.
Meanwhile, call Crime-Stoppers at 528-CASH with any information about this latest "bump and rob."
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This is a terrific Mercedes Benz station wagon at a great price. Runs terrific. Nos issues. Ready to give the next owner years of... More
GR Auto Gallery is pleased to present this 1981 Mercedes-Benz 300TD Saloon for purchase. The 300 TD was built on the storied W123 platform,... More

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External bottom bracket bearing cups for use with 105 FC-5700, FC-5703 and all other Shimano HollowTech II chainsets.
Excellent customer service pleased to support a local UK cycle business
Our Pro Bike Fitting service helps you find the perfect setup for maximised efficiency, comfort and control.
We offer a great range of flexible payment options on orders over £500, making it even easier for you to buy that new bike...
World class triathlete and multiple world champion, Spencer Smith, talks us through the pros and cons of turbo trainers and rollers. With the summer nights drawing ...[More]
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Staffing Studies
UCDS offers a full line of consulting services to evaluate your current plant condition, make realistic and achievable recommendations for improvement and aid you in implementing our recommendations. An integral part of this line is a set of staffing assessments and complimentary work team design services.
In a typical oil refinery study, it is not unusual to identify field operator staffing reductions of 10% and console operator reductions of 25%. At a typical $500,000/duty station, the cost of our services can be recouped in a matter of weeks. In addition, when properly implemented, these staffing reductions can result in reduced labor expenses while seeing improvements in normal operation, abnormal situation management and emergency response.
In many facilities the staffing levels are set through evolution of the process and negotiation with the labor force. This method has obvious drawbacks, since the workforce typically is not concerned with optimizing expenses. Over time there have been many techniques to determine operator workload from time and motion studies to loop counts but each had their limitations. We believe the UCDS methodology is unique in that it can address the differences between types of operations and facilities, a fact borne out by multiple studies that have generated a comprehensive database of operator positions against which your facility can be measured.
It is also extremely important to ensure that when changes to the organization are made the safety of the facility is not compromised. As such we strongly recommend a Management of Organization Change study is undertaken. Based on recent incidents, and subsequent recommendations from investigations such as the Baker report, and legislation, such as that in Contra Costa County, this is becoming a requirement. A complimentary abnormal situation staffing assessment should also be considered.
Are you thinking about consolidating, adding or eliminating an operator position? Watch this video:
Currently we offer the following staffing services:
- Field Operator Staffing Assessment
- Console Operator Staffing Assessment
- Inside/Outside Staffing Assessment -updating
- Abnormal Situation Staffing Assessment
- Work Team Design
- Management of Organization Change (MOOC)
We are also happy to provide customized services based on any specific client requirements.


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3-Zip Rocker
Regular Price: $195.00
Special Price: $127.00
This sling is high on style, function and rock-inspired detail. Big enough for your cell, camera, and wallet. Small enough to slip inside your MAB. Remove the strap to take your Rocker from cross-body to clutch.
Style: H029I01A
Product Details+
- 9.5" x 6.75"
- Genuine leather
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Send an Atheist to Church
|Planning Time
|2 to 4 weeks
|Group Size
|Staff #
|Event Date
Activity Overview: Send an atheist to church is a unique way for your group to give back to the community in an innovative way while also generating positive buzz for your group and atheists at large. The Send an Atheist to Church event is an excellent idea because it produces positive press worthy material via genuine community service volunteering. The essential process to Send an Atheist to Church are as follows:
1. Individuals make a cash donation to a charity of your group's choosing.
2. Individuals then choose what denomination of religious services they want the atheists to attend.
3. The more money donated in a denomination's name, the more visits it receives.
Planning Timeframe: While the essential process and overall idea are simple enough, you still would want to carefully prepare for the event beforehand. Give yourself enough time it will take to contact the relevant charity (or charities if you prefer), engage with various faith based organizations & their churches and planning for advertisements. You should consider contacting or appealing to most religious institutions in your area. Set aside time to contact local mosques, synagogues, monasteries etc. It shouldn't take more than a few weeks to collect all the information you need. Actually going through all the motions should depend on how many souls you are willing to sacrifice to the gods. If you have many, you should keep a flexible window of time open and if not, make it clear that the opportunity to save heathen souls is a limited time offer. You don't want to have 7 sheep and 20 requests for sacrifice.
Coordinating: Three coordinators are recommended for the task: one to handle research for charity & handling donations, one for contacting religious groups and another for spreading the word and any further publicity. It is not uncommon for such this event to become newsworthy. The rest of the group are the potential volunteer sheep to be sent as a burnt offering for the cause. If you're using tabling as a way to advertise the event, you'll want at minimum two volunteers at the table at any one time: one solicit people's interest, the other to handle the cashbox.
Material Requirements: Have the usual tabling supplies (banner, flyers, custom literature) on hand. You'll also need a cashbox to handle donations, and possibly a receipt book. You can promote event through signs and fliers. Check out our Design Exchange to pick out a flyer you could modify or get an idea of how you might want to advertise. Feel free to create your own design.
- Chose a charity that both theists and non-theists can support. Food Banks and the Red Cross are good choices. The Richard Dawkins Foundation and The Salvation Army probably aren't.
- Decide as a group how much each soul is worth (suggestions are around $10) and how long you are willing to keep donations open. Some sheep may have to be sacrificed more than once.
- Consider pitching the fundraiser as a contest to see which church denomination can raise the most money. Before adding a church representing a denomination to a list, make sure it is okay with them. Email and call whoever is in charge of that place of worship, or better yet, find a friend who can vouch for your character. Some places will say no, but they're more likely to agree if one of their parishioners can vouch for your good standing.
- Table the event in a high traffic public area.
- Note: If your group sets up a Squareup account, they can accept donations via debit/credit card.
- Hold the event for more than one day. Some people might not have cash on them, and what you're doing is likely to spread from word of mouth. Besides, a consistent presence shows your group is serious about this project.
- Have a nice big bar graph that you keep updated with running totals for each denomination. People like competition, and they're more likely to throw in a couple bucks if they see their denomination losing!
- If possible, try to find less mainstream groups to visit. People (be they theist or atheist) get a kick out of sending a bunch of heathens to the Mormons or Scientologists. I wonder why they find that so amusing…
- When the fundraising has stopped send the atheists out to Church to fulfill their end of the bargain.
Send an Atheist to Church is inspired by Hemant Mehta and his book, I Sold My Soul on eBay.
This activity packet was inspired from the members of the Society of Nontheists at Purdue.


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Rivercane Studies
Donate rivercane Request rivercane Help transplant rivercane
The green dots show locations of rivercane patches where land owners have agreed to donate plants. Blue dots show sites that want rivercane OR have received. Click on the link above to have your patch of rivercane show up as a donor site on the map.
Click on the picture to view the title and description.


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The reason why I have decided to shrink my LinkedIn network
Yesterday I downloaded my connections list from LinkedIn and exported it into Excel. There is a new service being launched by Edenchanges in March specifically for recruiters and I wanted to ensure that my sales and email database had all my recruitment contacts in it from all my various networks.
As I was processing the contact list and removing all the non-recruitment clients it struck me just how few actual recruitment connections I have given that I spend the vast majority of my time working with recruiters.
Whilst I have over 4,500 LinkedIn connections what I discovered yesterday was that only around half are in the recruitment field. If my connections more accurately reflected how my time is split then the number would be much closer to 4,000.
Yesterday it took me quite a while to filter through the non-recruitment contacts to generate a list of names and people who I could present the new service to. Like everyone I hate irrelevant emails so I I worked hard yesterday to ensure that everyone I will email about the new service is in the recruitment field.
As I was wading through the names I couldn't help but think how much easier this would have been if I had been more selective in my networking on LinkedIn.
Now it can be argued that simply having a large number of connections is a good thing. It's something that early in my time on LinkedIn I strongly argued. Indeed I blogged about it (How Many LinkedIn Connections Should I Have?) back in 2011 but since then my thoughts have been shifting. In 2012, in this article (Removing LinkedIn Connections) I advocated a large network but I offered the thought that you might want to focus your network.
During 2013 I thought about this a lot and started to really examine how people use their LinkedIn networks and where business tends to come from. That thinking combined with my experience yesterday has brought me to the firm conclusion that the best type of network is a large one that is in proportion to a person's target market.
Consequently as I do 90% of my work in the recruitment field so 90% of my contacts should be in that market and to that end I am now in the process of removing contacts that don't fit with the aim of reaching a 9:1 ratio of recruiters to non-recruiters in my network by the end of the exercise.
Yesterday was a specific event – going through the contacts and sorting them out and as such not enough reason in itself to keep a focused network. Rather it was for me a practical illustration of what I have been witnessing during 2013.
In 2013 I either saw people win business through LinkedIn with established contacts who they already knew fairly well and were simply keeping in touch with via LinkedIn or people won business from industry specific contacts. I didn't witness any business won in a new industry simply as a result of a connection on LinkedIn; either by myself or anyone I worked with last year.
Yesterday when I was going through the list the people I recognised were, for the vast majority, in the recruitment sector. And those who I didn't know were mostly outside of the recruitment sector and on inspection didn't look like they would be likely clients.
I had simply connected with them at some point. What I realise now is that has little value and is in fact a detriment. So it's time to trim down and focus my network where the bulk of my business comes from – recruiters!
I will talk more next week about how I am selecting who to remove and who to keep in an article entitled "How to Create a More Focused and Profitable LinkedIn Network".
So those are my thoughts at the start of 2014 – what are your opinions on this?
Until next time, be successful;Stephen Hart Development Specialist, Edenchanges.com


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Staff were uniformly polite and professional. Our cabin steward was amazing and among the highlights of the trip. Restaurant staff were helpful and service was generally good, although sometimes they were a bit overwhelmed by the crush of guests.
Excursions were excellent. The Shore Excursion staff held a briefing each day outlining the next day's activities, and rode herd on the local guides, although in an unobtrusive manner. The guest speakers each offered several lectures, which were generally very entertaining, although sometimes only tangentially related to the sites we were visiting. I also would have preferred if the lectures were timed better--related to sites we would be visiting the next day rather than places we had visited a few days ago or three days from now. Still, well done.
Most of the local guides were well chosen also, or we were very lucky. Some of these guides really made the sites come to life (e.g., in Split, Crete, and Naxos). In general, I would have preferred a bit more time ashore, especially when guests could navigate to the ship on their own or via tenders (as opposed to ports where we used shuttle buses.
The food was generally good, although arranged around the excursions in such a way that EVERYONE was usually trying to eat at the same time. I don't know how better to time it, however. We had some nice meals in the sit-down Marco Polo room, although the buffet upstairs offered nice options even at dinner.
Post-cruise stops were managed awkwardly. The cruise line tried to crowd in as many things as possible in Istanbul after disembarkation, hitting all of the obvious stops. This resulted in a rushed morning, where we did in three hours what our local guide told us he would usually recommend doing in a day and a half.
All in all, we learned a lot, enjoyed our trip, and felt positive about the cruise line. We would definitely cruise on the Aegean Odyssey again!


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Ball State quarterback Keith Wenning was back on the practice field five days after having arthroscopic surgery to repair his left knee on Aug. 3.
Then three weeks after returning to practice, he threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more scores in a 51-28 season-opening win over Illinois State last Thursday.
He's one of the best quarterbacks in the state of Indiana with quarterback inconsistencies at the Big Ten's Indiana Hoosiers and Purdue Boilermakers.
Now, as a senior, Wenning is feeling better than ever and ready to lead the Cardinals to a second straight bowl game.
But first, the Cardinals will need his help on Saturday when they host the Army Black Knights.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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customizing the icon that gets added on iphone
@modemlooper could you point me to the code that i can modify to change what is pulled in by iphone to bookmark the site ? it cuts off my site name in the text and then i'd like to use a custom icon to represent thanks!!
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GE transferring jobs from Erie to Texas
June 26, 2013 - Ben Klein
Jim Martin reports this morning that GE Transportation has confirmed it will move work from the GE plant in Erie to a new facility in Forth Worth, Texas.
GoErie previously reported the company expects to cut 950 jobs after failing to come to an agreement last Saturday.
"The company and the union negotiated for more than two months over proposals that would have reduced the company's plans to lay off 950 union workers in Erie. Those talks ended at midnight Saturday without an agreement," Martin said.
GE Chief Executive Lorenzo Simonelli reportedly said in an email, ""We have considered the subjects discussed during bargaining, and looked closely at what is best for our long term competitive position. We have decided to move forward with our proposed transfer of locomotive and OHV production to GE's Manufacturing Solutions facility in Fort Worth, Texas and take corresponding job actions in Erie, beginning in October."
Read the full blog post here.
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This is a Robinson Racing Hardened 32 Pitch, 23 Tooth Absolute Pinion Gear. These hardened steel pinion gears are built to last, and are best suited for use with Robinson steel spur gears. They feature an 1/8 inch bore, with the tooth number stamped on the side for easy identification. 5-40 set screw included.
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I was shocked that I was the first person to 'break' the story of the Army's *mandatory* Spiritual Fitness testing, and the equally mandatory remedial training that comes with it when you fail. Hours of remedial Spiritual Fitness training - so that I don't commit suicide because I'm an atheist.So is 'Spiritual Fitness' about religion?There are two different and conflicting responses coming from DoD.One line paints a rosy picture where "Spiritual" means team spirit or human spirit. This is … [Read more...]
U.S. Army says: Spiritual people make better soldiers
August 23, 2011 by 11 Comments


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Vancouver's favorite IFF is back and there are no buts about it
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Remembering Robin Williams (1951-2014)
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Silly walk right in and sit right down...
Capsule Reviews: Jersey Boys, Bad Words & The Fault in Our Stars
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Interview: RichardLinklater on "Boyhood"
Criticwatch - The Not-So-Perfect Date Movie
DVD Reviews For 7/6: "There You Go--Hiding Behind A Smokescreen Of Bourgeois Cliches!"
Films I Neglected To Review: Wet Hot American Romantic Comedy
Capsule Reviews: Oculus, Transcendence & A Million Ways to Die in the West
DVD Reviews For 6/15: "You Were Ready For A Love Affair But Not For Love!"
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American BioScience DGP (Dog Gone Pain) Mobility & Flexibility for Dogs - 60 Chewable TabletsAmerican BioScience DGP is specifically formulated to help support a pet's joint mobility and flexibility. American BioScience DGP may help ease aches and discomfort caused by daily exercise, activity and training. Developed by master herbalists and scientists in Australia, American BioScience DGP is a unique blend of high quality ingredients that helps support mobility, flexibility and ability to continue to live a healthy active life.
American BioScience DGP is highly effective because it contains the finest ingredients known to support mobility (some only available from the fertile soils of New South Wales in Australia). American BioScience DGP contains a blend of European and Australian herbs and marine extract. The high quality of each and every ingredient, as specified by the formulators, ensures the ultimate levels of ingredient actives and bioavailability so your pet readily and fully absorbs all the benefits American BioScience DGP has to offer.
About American BioSciences
American BioSciences' goal is to help people enhance their lives and health through the most effective natural dietary supplements supported by outstanding research. They put "helping people" over "selling products" and so encourage consumers who want to use their products to become knowledgeable about their health conditions – to learn the causes of these health problems, how they progress, what diagnostic techniques, and the risks and benefits of their "conventional therapy" options , so they know how to evaluate the natural and nutritional therapies. They also encourage consumers to consult with doctors that specialize in natural medicine to take advantage of their clinical experience.
Educated consumers that use their products with guidance, for the right purposes, appropriately and for the right periods of time are their best customers and get the best value for their investment. American BioSciences is working with universities and research organizations around the World to bring new natural therapy options to American consumers and the doctors and retailers that support them. They have several outstanding products available currently, and many in the final stages of research, development and approval we look forward to making available in the near future.
American BioSciences' products have earned the endorsement of many opinion leaders and experts in the field of natural and nutritional medicine, but they look forward to earning the most important endorsement of all, yours. Please call us, or contact us through this website to request information and supporting research, to ask questions or comment on your use of our products.
For animal use only. Keep out of the reach of children and other animals. In case of accidental overdose, contact a health professional or manufacturer immediately.
Cautions: Safe to use in pregnant animals intended for breeding has not been proven. Consult veterinarian, or manufacturer, if animal has a clotting disorder, currently treated with an anti-coagulant or NSAID. Use with caution if animal has renal disorder. If animal's condition worsens or does not improve, stop product administration and consult your veterinarian. An examination from a veterinarian is recommended prior to using product.
Serving Size: (For Use in Dogs and Cats Only)Under 15 lbs = 1/2 tablet15-30 lbs = 1 tablet31-60 lbs = 2 tablets61-90 lbs = 3 tablets91-120+ lbs = 4 tablets
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The Cedar River in Cedar Rapids crested at 18.23 feet early Sunday morning and the city didn't see much flooding.
In the New Bohemia neighborhood on the southeast side of the city many volunteers helped sandbag businesses. In 2004 a similar crest flooded the streets but this flood did not.
Since the record flooding in 2008 the city has made changes to the way it prepares. Thanks to those changes, and the number of volunteers, much of the city is free of floodwater.
"The volunteers have been incredible," said Craig Hanson, Public Works Maintenance Manager. "If you come to the New Bohemia area here in Cedar Rapids you just see all the sandbags that the volunteers made. It just shows what our community really is.
The Cedar River is still above flood stage in Cedar Rapids. That means boat ramps and some streets will remain closed until the water levels drop.


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Armenia: Helping wine growers to improve their structure
Yerevan Brandy Company, the Armenian subsidiary of Pernod Ricard, provides entrepreneurial support to its grape suppliers in the Tavush region. By assisting in the creation of a cooperative and providing appropriate training, the Group is helping wine growers to achieve independence and improve the stability of their income.
Providing producers with economic structure


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Jamey Johnson honored the late songwriting hero Hank Cochran at a short-but-sweet set at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on Tuesday night (Oct. 16). Although he was onstage barely for an hour, Johnson was able to deliver an all-star show featuring Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Ronnie Dunn and Alison Krauss for a sold-out crowd.
With that classic country sound ringing in the Ryman rafters, it was almost like a very special segment at the Grand Ole Opry. It helped that the knowledgeable emcee Eddie Stubbs offered insight into Cochran's career throughout the night.
Johnson released a new tribute album to Cochran, Livin' for a Song, on Tuesday, with numerous singing partners joining Johnson on the album. Not all of them could make it that night, which might be why the show was only an hour long, yet it's hard to argue with the guest list.
When a concert opens with Krauss lending harmony, the bar is set high right off the bat. The sterling "Make the World Go Away" is well-suited to her melancholy soprano, and you can imagine how beautiful her version of "I Fall to Pieces" is.
After that, Dunn cranked up the honky-tonk factor with "A-11," Johnny Paycheck's first charting single from 1965. And it was over in about three minutes, which was par for the course when it comes to country songwriting from that era.
Harris, a perennial Ryman favorite, graced the stage with "Don't Touch Me," a Grammy-winning single from 1966. The song was originally recorded by Jeannie Seely, the Opry star who went on to marry and divorce Cochran.
Johnson didn't load up Livin' for a Song with a bunch of well-worn songs, so hearing him sing lesser-known Cochran compositions like "You Wouldn't Know Love" and "Love Makes a Fool of Us All" provided the audience a sense of discovery. Of course, it helps when you can follow that up with "Would These Arms Be in Your Way" and "She'll Be Back," recorded by Keith Whitley and Lee Ann Womack (as "He'll Be Back"), respectively.
Because you get almost no banter from Johnson, the Ryman echoed with fans hollering and screaming between songs. Stubbs attempted to talk a little bit more about Cochran until he realized why the volume suddenly escalated -- Nelson had sauntered onstage. The crowd leapt to their feet as he grabbed his trusty guitar Trigger and started to play.
Together, Nelson and Johnson strummed their way through "A Way to Survive," "Don't You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me" (made famous by Ronnie Milsap and recorded by Nelson and Johnson for the new album), "Everything but You" (also recorded by Nelson and Johnson, with Vince Gill and Leon Russell sitting in on the album track) and the exquisite "Livin' for a Song."
Even from the balcony, you could tell Johnson and Nelson were happy to be there but missing their dear friend. On the last verse of "Livin' for a Song," they paused long enough for Cochran's own voice to come in. It was a poignant moment in an incredible evening of music.
Maybe just to lift the mood and tempo, Nelson burst into playing "On the Road Again." Cochran didn't write that song, yet it didn't feel unwelcome to hear another country classic.
With the final song being "Can I Sleep in Your Arms," Johnson acknowledged the crowd and walked offstage. The audience stayed put. Then the curtain came down. Still, we sat there. The house lights came up and a recording of Nelson's "The Party's Over" came on. Didn't budge.
Finally, even brighter house lights came on and the music stopped. It's not like you can check Jamey Johnson's Twitter account for a "Thanx 4 comin!" message, so we filed out of the historic Ryman somewhat confused but ultimately satisfied that Cochran, Johnson and all of their friends lived for a song. Country music history is richer because of it.


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Scroobius Pip
Annie Nightingale - IMusic That Made me interviews with Scroobius Pip
Annie Nightingale talks with hip hop and electronic musician Scroobius Pip about the music that made him.
We currently have no biography for this artist. You can contribute biographical information for Scroobius Pip to Wikipedia, the user-contributed encyclopedia. If you know that a biography for Scroobius Pip already exists in Wikipedia, you can add a link to Scroobius Pip's entry in MusicBrainz.
Links & Information
- Official homepage at scroobiuspip.co.uk
- MySpace at https://myspace.com/scroobiuspip
- Last.fm page on Scroobius Pip
- Discogs at discogs.com/artist/797296
- MusicBrainz entry on Scroobius Pip
Collaborated on
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BBC Reviews
Distraction Pieces 2011Reviewed by Lou Thomas
For his third album in four years, Scroobius Pip has temporarily gone solo.


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Introduce yourself!
My name's Luke Harwood. I'm the director and co-founder of Stolen Girlfriends Club. Our brand was created in 2004 and we've been around for about eight years now. We're from New Zealand.
Why did you and your partners decide to start your brand?
We didn't mean to start a fashion brand, we were just really excited about music and art, which I guess sounds like a clichè thing to say, but at the time we were kind of bored with what was happening around our city. We started doing art shows and then we were like, "Let's make a couple of T-shirts," and that was really the basis for Stolen Girlfriends Club.
Why did you and your partners decide to start your brand?
We didn't mean to start a fashion brand, we were just really excited about music and art, which I guess sounds like a clichè thing to say, but at the time we were kind of bored with what was happening around our city. We started doing art shows and then we were like, "Let's make a couple of T-shirts," and that was really the basis for Stolen Girlfriends Club.
Yeah, it was kind of before there was a lot of jewelry around in fashion. We looked at these old punk and rock and roll guys and thought it'd be cool to do something similar, so we made these like, different jewelry pieces made out of links and sterling silver.
How much are you influenced by music?
Originally and still now, music has been one of the biggest inspirations to the brand and a lot of our collections and shows we have done-even just the feeling behind everything is inspired by music.
Can you name some of the artists that inspired you?
In the beginning, Bands like Nirvana (obviously huge for the grunge input), The Rakes, The Horrors, O Children, TV On The Radio, These New Puritans. New music is definitely inspirational to the progression of work.
Can you tell us a little bit about your newest collection, The Fates? What's the story and inspiration it??
The collection's called The Fates and The Fates is actually the very first collection we ever made for Stolen Girlfriends Club, which was a collection about a guy and a girl who were in love, and then they broke up, so that was where the name for the collection line comes from. We like the idea of juxtaposition so it's mixed up with really cool prints and some are prints mixed with some mesh and sporty sort of looks.
Your partner Mark talked about how the collection is somewhat androgynous. It's like when couples are in love and they share each other's clothes. Have you ever stolen anything from a girlfriend, or had anything stolen?
For sure. My wife she steals my clothes a lot, but I don't steal her clothes because I'm a lot bigger than her [laughs]. It's cool, you feel comfortable too when you do that.
Yeah, it bonds people.
Yeah, that feeling of like maybe you're like camping or at the beach and it gets cold and your girlfriend puts on your sweater and she's all cozy. That's a cool feeling.
And it smells like them and it's cute and kind of creepy but romantic at the same time.
Exactly. Especially when you're young and just falling in love for the first time. There's a kind of nostalgia thing about it.
Where did the name "Stolen Girlfriends Club" come from?
It was the name of one of our first art shows. It really can be interpreted how you like, but it's like a damsel in distress, a girl who has been mistreated and someone comes along and saves her. That's where Stolen Girlfriends Club comes from, but then other people interpret it in another way. It's open to interpretation.
What was the first T-shirt you ever created?
We created a couple. My business partner did one and it was like a homage to the old "Frankie Says Relax" but it said Stolen Girlfriends Club Says Relax. And then I was into hand drawing stuff so I was using lots of markers and writing on them and turning them into screened tees, like Girlfriends Death Metal and things like that.
Since you didn't go to school for it, what do you think was the hardest part of learning how to design?
I think the technical part was the hardest bit. Like understanding garment construction and things like that, being really naïve to that. Making a pair of jeans and being like, "Aw these are cool!" but not prewashing them so that when we did wash them, they shrank. Really dumb things like that.
What other kind of things did you start out doing?
In the beginning it was definitely a lot of T-shirts and like jersey cotton stuff. We locked in and made a lot of denim pieces like patchwork, and we did a lot of cool long cigarette jeans and then stovepipe-kind of Ramones style, with lots of different details in them. Some of the details were so cool, and like if I saw those jeans now I'd think they're cool, but almost too expensive to make now so I can't do it from a business point of view [laughs] but really fun when you're just learning and making these pieces. Also, jewelry. That was a big part.
What is your favorite piece in the collection?
I love the cropped tank. The mesh cropped tank.
What is your favorite piece in the collection?
I love the cropped tank. The mesh cropped tank.
Any new projects coming from your team that you'd like to share?
In the last few months we have actually created a new music program where we release a song/album each Friday so people have something for the weekend. We do it mostly to support new and up and coming bands and our friends and our love for music. If anyone wants to receive the music download, they can just join here and get the Friday release in time for the weekend!


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The reuse of wastewater for augmentation of drinking water supplies (a process known as 'indirect potable reuse') is rapidly gaining support as a means of achieving a sustainable water supply and for protection against drought.


text:
How will 'Survivor Nicaragua' affect the country's image?
It's not PBS or National Geographic
Survivor has never claimed to be educational or informative. It is the original "Reality Show". From the TV advertising and rights selling game point of view it is a huge success, spawning hundreds of other so called reality shows around the world. 22 seasons of the show is impressive from a pure marketing point of view.
How they pick and then obtain permission to film in the next location is quite clever, the "host" country practically begs them to 'pick me', even though some must have watched the show and realized that it does not exactly tour the country every week showing the sights. Never the less, the government departments of tourism and trade push like crazy to have them. Survivor then gets the pick of a country, a very useful "press pass" so to speak and sets up camp. It was a bit like having the President here every day for 6 months (if you have ever witnessed his team set up for a two hour speech, it is a sight to behold).
Having said all that, can it harm to have even a glimpse of Nicaragua in headlines every week on US TV? of course not.
Will droves of visitors come to NIC because of the show?, maybe not directly but it has to be having an effect on the Google search engines and the like. La Flor (wildlife area) must be getting hits with one of the teams being named after them.
On the other hand, all it may do is balance out (if that) the press Nicaragua is going to get over the next year leading up to the election.
So who has actually seen the show now?
So who has actually seen the show now? I'm going to make a point of watching it at least once.
the show.....
i have seen the show a few times and you really see nothing or hear nothing of the country. you really don't even know that they are a few miles away from San Juan del Sur. I have a place in SJDS and have been down there 6 times in the last year. I have met many of the workers and a lot of my local Nica friends work for the show building stuff. The production teams have totally taken over Pelican Eyes and Villas de Palermo (good for them). I just got back from San Juan a week ago and things are slowly coming to an end.
It may have a short term impact on people's interest in the country, maybe will even spurn some increased travel, but i doubt it will increase the overall investment in the country. The infrastructure of Nica is still lacking enough to deter people from coming forever.
who has actually seen the show now?
I've seen it twice, but had never watched it before. Do you think Survivor will show any more of Nicaragua?
From what I understand, the
From what I understand, the show was limited to areas around SJDS. Aside from that, THE SHOW IS NOT ABOUT NICARAGUA! Therefore, it is not likely they will show anything worth while.
Very few
of th shows are about the country they are in...mostly contrived games and personality conflicts. In a real survivor situation (as in man/woman vs. the elements or a disatster, few of them would make it.ZZT
Not going to watch any more episodes
I found the head games stupid and agree with ATZ that few of the participants would make it in a real survivor situation. I've stopped watching the show since the head games are boring and Survivor won't be showing any more of Nicaragua.
Maybe the real Survivors are the viewers who survive watching all the episodes.
I agree but...
I want to prove this to myself by actually watching it...... have you?
Dave: Do you advertise in Honduras and El Salvador?
You may have to re-think the comment "North Americans and Europeans (who spend 90% of the tourists dollars)"
Honduras is the number 2 foreign tourist after the US.
Don't forget the Spanish speaking dollars...61% of ALL tourists come from Central America.
You are only a hop skip and a jump from a big potential market, ES and Honduras - nearly 32% of ALL tourists.
Where they came from 2009:
Honduras 18.9%
El Salvador 13%
The whole of Europe 7.5 %
I just searched for you on the web, as a tourist would, not using the link in your post. I see you don't have any Spanish options on your web site. You may want to review that.
"Survivor" coming to Nicaragua, why? What's in Nicaragua?
How will "Survivor" help/hurt Nicaragua?
I read all the comments and someone said the gringo's get all the money and it goes outside the country.
"And the establishments that most successfully draw in rich tourists are themselves owned & run by foreigners because they best understand foreign likes & dislikes, speak their language, know where to advertize, &c. They're for-profit businesses, and most of the windfall leaves the poor country."
I don't know about "corporate" ownership, but here in the north in Las Penitas-Leon, there ARE foreign owned establishments, and ALL mom and pop types, individuals with a dream. If there weren't for foreign owners there wouldn't be a Las Penitas for tourists to visit and stay. Of the establishments on the water, either beach or bay, there is only one Nica owned and 7 international owners (one American(Playa Roca), 2 Canadian, 2 French, one German and one Swiss).
We, Playa Roca, personally have spent nearly 1/2 million dollars here building and re-building (hurricane Alma wipped us out in May 2008). Except for one U.K. contractor, who hired Nicas, 100% of labor, materials and supplies came from locals, either Las Penitas or Leon. I know that everyone that took the entrepreneur/risk brought their "nest eggs" from either North America or Europe, I know we did. All employees are Nicas. If their weren't for the foreigners, there would be a lot of unemployed locals. Las Penitas isn't a money making endeavor/destination, there is NO WINDFALL, YET, this is not SJDS or Granada, but word is spreading and hopefully "Survivor" will help, but IF and WHEN a WINDFALL occurs, it will go back into the business for building the Playa Roca Learning and Language Centers properly, etc., but definitely all dollars stay HERE!
"Survivors" will help Nicararagua, but per usual will help SJDS and the Granada regions more, as almost all propaganda from nearly ALL governmental sponsored tourist advertising forcus on these two spots, Ometepe, or Corn Islands nearly exclusively. Northern Nicaragua gets the crumbs left over, mostly word of mouth from the more traveled tourist, NGO's, and web site searches. Did you notice in Intur/ProNicaragua web site the had listed under "Nicaragua's Playa's" San Juan del Sur, Ometepe and Corn Island only. Playa's of Nicaragua includes SJDS, obviously, but 2 sparsely populated Islands! Not a mention of the "zillion" miles of unspoiled beaches in the North, Cero! Southern bias FOR, and Northern bias NIL. Curious to eliminate the most diverse region of all Nicaragua.
So any exposure via "Survivor" is a major bonus for Nicaragua as a whole, especially the "image" that has for decades been either non-existent or very negative (war, guerrillas behind every tree, communists, poverty, etc.). Every single tourist that flies into Managua impacts the economy as much or more than anything else in the entire country. Airport fee's, terminal personnel, taxi's, car rentals, restaurants, buses, hotels/hostels, gift shops, etc. But also the tourist infrastructure that occurs,; the beer companies drivers, the restaurants supplies, the fisherman, hardware stores, etc. Lots of JOBS and millions of dollars a day that come from OUTSIDE and are spent here and circulates HERE.
We have 11 employee's and there are 100 on a waiting list to WORK. If advertised "workers wanted" we could have a 1000+. Because of what we have to offer to the tourist, we have tripled in the last 3 years even during the recession. BUT from losing a lot of money to coming close to even is just the risk of trying to live a dream of living in a beach paradise and sharing in a location no one really knows about. The coffee and cigar plantations are north, the waterfalls and highland lakes are north, skiing down volcanoes are north, incredible beach front locations are just minutes from the major colonial/historical capital city of Leon. World class surfing, un-fished (commercial and Charter) Pacific Ocean, Isla de San Juan National Wildlife Preserve walking distance from Las Penitas
All of Nicaragua could use ANY boost to bring awareness of where it is, what it has to offer. It seems like the present government is "half-assed" attempting to help the tourist industry with minor promotions and retiree plans. If they wouldn't give nearly 100% negative political view points (we don't need the U.S. or E.U.'s aide money tied to transparent electrions, etc.) that turn off the North Americans and Europeans (who spend 90% of the tourists dollars) Nicaragua could see a real middle class develop and be sustained.
david cardin on facebook http://www.nicaliving.com/node/17621 Learn Spanish "ON THE BEACH!" $45 Ocean Front Suite to a $6 ocean dorm www.playaroca.com Nicaragua is the "Survivors" choice of destinations and we need more survivors interested in experiencing paradise for dimes on the dollar. Save more money on vacation than staying at home! http://www.laspenitas.net
Advertising like above is what I use to try to reach the international traveler, it works to an extent that they surf the internet tagging Nicaragua or Beaches or Learning Spanish or Pacific Ocean Surfing. "Survivor" IS a reality, millions upon millions of people will be exposed to the beauty and nature of Nicaragua and can't help but have a positive impact. We (Playa Roca and Northern Nicaragua) will get the "trickle down" exposure from the series, but ANYTHING will be a BIG help to put Nicaragua "ON THE POSITIVE MAP" and Nicaraguans to WORK, no just "free" hand-out money. They need our help to climb out of their political and economic mess, and being "good" role models and supporting their communities will only bolster their rise to self determinism as a nation OF, BY and FOR the PEOPLE, and not of, by and for the government(dictatoship) or corporations(ALBA INC).
To address drugs and prostitution is rather ridiculous. If a druggie wants drugs or sex, any major tourist area will have those unique industries in place. Just like any convention will have their pick pocketers, it's THEIR industries "work place". SJDS or Las Penitas is/cannot not be immunized from these activities and are naive to believe otherwise.
David "NO BASURA" Cardin de la Playa Roca
Tourism is the second largest industry in the nation
This is according to Wikipedia which has a Tourism in Nicaragua page and incidentally it mentions attractions all over the country. It's just ready for all those Survivor fans.
P.S. Nice to hear from your part of the country.
Hey Dave
Please post all your advertising on the NicaPlaza webpages. This board is just for discussion not hyping business ventures. Or you might talk to Phil on advertising in one of the side panels. Thanks.
This board is just for discussion not hyping business ventures
playaroca.com BlackEagle, I believe I set up a discussion topic. I did get in a little "glurb" about Playa Roca, but used it as an example of the ONLY advertising Northern Nicaragua basically gets, not like the Intur/ProNicaragua advertising almost exclusively to the southern regions. I'm sorry that the ONLY thing you saw and the other NL commentor was "hyping business ventures". If you notice the comments that were made were in reference to the basic topic I brought up, "Will 'Survivor' help or hurt Nicaragua"?, accept for yours.
Maybe I could just put some reference links at the end and not in the "meat" of the text, would that be OK? I'm not selling washing machines, but a "chunk" of Nicaragua that NEEDS exposure. I am in the business of "Bringing in the Tourists" from around the world, may it be Playa Roca, great, but ALL my articles are in relation to Education, Politics and the Economy, but most importantly the plight of northern Nicaragua, the "bad step-child" of Nicaragua.
I will contact Phil and see if I can afford a nice little "paid" spot in the corner of some page.
As I point out in most of my messages IS that the most diverse region in ALL of Nicaragua is ignored. Therefore NO-ONE points their points of interest compass NORTH, they follow the path finder of "advertising and PROMOTION" and that ignores the rest of the country. Show me volcanoes you hike up and ski down? Waterfalls and rainforests, highland lakes, coffee and cigar plantations, miles of unspoiled beaches with world class surfing? This piece and others are about Tourism and Nica Living in NIcaragua. As the one commenter said, "nice to hear something from this part of the country". Very few people have tried to "settle" the northern area, why? I missed a plane 51/2 years ago, stuck at "Rancho Santana" while the sells person kept showing me properties. Back then there wasn't another plane out we could get on for 3 more days. So my wife and I re-rented our car and I said to her "why don't we go north and find out what everyone said, 'there was nothing up north'". Why did they say that? I found out fast once I got here. They knew NOTHING about the north, never been there, only a small percentage had even been to Leon, and zero knew about the coast.
That says it all, still NO-ONE knows northern Nicaragua and ALL it has to offer. Playa Roca just happens to be the best spot on the coast, but there are many other parts of the region that are incredible. The mountains and deep valleys, the waterfalls near Esteli, WOW, move over Hawaii. We are in such a "pioneering" stage that we have pulled off a number of "FIRSTS" in the history of northern Nicaragua, which blows my mind. Until only 3 years ago, Las Penitas did not have ONE cell phone that worked here. There are no land lines and cell phones only worked in a 10 mile radius from Leon, and we are 15 miles away. Can you believe in these days and times, NO phone access? We had a road to Las Penitas that needed a "HUMMER" to make it without blowing a tire and shaking off a piece of car. Taxi's wouldn't come at night for fear of either not getting here or not getting back. For me imagining from a major city like LEON and only being 20 minutes away, no-one really knew about one of the greatest beaches I've ever been at (between my brother and I, we lived in Hawaii for 37 years and born and raised in So. Cal.). Through a lot of red tape and ignorance of the beach facilities and the actual beach itself, I had the surfing attire giant Quick Silver come to Playa Roca and with their amazement of what we had to offer, surf and facilities, decided that they would help sponsor the FIRST ever International Surf competition in Northern Nicaragua's history. We held it here and the competitors came from everywhere and were surprised to see such a surf spot that was unknown to them. Again to my amazement, I had a tower built for Internet, again the 1st ever on the coast for a way to communicate without having to drive into Leon. Oh boy, are we a long way from being San Juan del Sur in just basic amenities, but we don't want to be San Juan del Sur, but amenities that the common traveler wants, yes. This year, the 1st ever Sports Bar on the coast. Super Bowl, World Cup, NBA finals, etc. If you are like me and all the people that showed up for those events here, how could we be the first? Nobody knows, knows how, or cares, that's why? Tourists and sports are addictions for some people, and in the hospitality business or tourism in general you need to give them what they want if you can. Seems like everything we do is a first, this is the wild west of yesteryear and I intend to change that. From only backpackers who want $1 rooms and steal spoons and toilet paper to full moon parties with Led Zeplin and Manu filling the air around a bon fire. Air conditioning was unheard of here, where do you get enough electricity to run those things when the power is off half the time anyway. It took TWO years (yes, we prepaid!) to get Union Fenosa to get us the 220W we needed and paid for and through some political maneuvering we actually finally got it. Now when we plug in an extra blender it doesn't blow a fuse. We are getting people brave enough to come up to "no-where-ville" and witness first hand the beauty and diversity we have to offer that is not available in the southern regions. Unique setting only steps to the ocean, minutes to the volcanoes, surf in 20 seconds from your room, no taxi or automobile needed, etc. We are starting the first "shuttle" service to Las Penitas this week. The last bus leaves Playa Roca now at 6:40 PM and that is a NO-NO to miss one of our sunsets. To get to the bus terminal from the middle of town is so difficult (walking a mile with luggage or packs in a strange city) so the beach communities are kind of dangling on bad/no promotion and ease of getting here. Most guests in town when asked if they are going to go to the beach respond "what beach?", and you know darn well the inn keepers in Leon are not going to volunteer information to have them leave with their money to somewhere else. You are in Leon, and they want you to stay. Understandable, but...
So this week we are going to shock the "shit" out to all the hotels and hostels, a big sign and bus will be erected and placed as a terminal IN down town, right next to Big Foot and Via Via (the most popular non traditional HOTEL accommodations in Leon). I am for the first time challenging the tourist for a choice they never had before; Beach or City? It will change the tourist activities in Leon quite a bit, and some establishments are not going to be happy with it, it is taking away their dominance and trapping of guests in Leon only. I mean, how many churches can you see in two or three days? Leon is a great city but you see travelers sitting on a curb or against the wall, bored stiff, seen everything that is there, now they either sit or drink or look at their outdated Lonely Planet Guide Book and plan their next trek. Alternatives? The Grand Pacific Ocean, 20 minutes for a buck, POW! It's not in the guide? Nope. (Lonely Planet's representative/reviewer made an appointment 2 years ago November 2007 and never showed, but there is a B&B in their book that has been closed for 2 years)
I care about the people coming to Nicaragua, I care about what they do, what they see, about the perceptions of the people, places and things. Hanging out in downtown Leon is not what I consider the best past time after you've seen the many great sites of the city. How do you get awareness heightened? In any endeavor is allowing people to choose from all alternatives available. Forms or government or places to go, same thing. give the PEOPLE ALL the alternatives and let them decide. The southern regions have a "monopoly" on the where, what and when of the normal tourist. Granada, Ometepe and San Juan del Sur, right? In Leon they have Leon and volcano tours, no mention of beaches within minutes, amazing but true, go to a volcano with us and come back TO us. Go to the beach and you might not return, or if you do you might be just coming to get your "stuff".
I am trying to break up the "monopolies" of the what, where and when of what are the tourists alternatives, and one is to educate and change the way "monopolies" dominate the promotional propaganda. I love Nicaragua, I am struggling to accomplish the establishment of the Playa Roca Learning and Language Center(Hurricane Alma May 29, 2008 did a "Katrina" on Playa Roca and Las Penitas, nearly 100% destroyed) "Mr. NO BASURA" is a nickname I enjoy having. NO BASURA at Playa Roca echo's in all the locals and guests brains. I have coined a phrase of "If it doesn't burn, they throw it" and it makes me sick to see how the culture allows this garbage throwing as an alright thing. In our restaurant if I catch someone throwing a cigarette butt on the floor, the cenicero (ashtray) will be politely moved IN FRONT of the abuser and stated 'POLITELY", NO BASURA, por favor. Bingo, changed a behavior at least for THAT day. We have the cleanest property, the beach is clean here and people are looking at me and then looking for a trash can. They love it, laugh and bring me trash and flopsom from the beach with a smile on their face. People are proud and rather have it clean, don't you? The other hotel close to us after they close has to RAKE their floors with debris that people throw all day long. I can see the tourist being asked to have a table and walking over butts, napkins, straws, and other litter and sitting down at the table for a nice meal. Off the track a little, but the Learning Center is about the kids of Playa Roca. They bring basura to Playa Roca in exchange they get tutored in English and Math, Math and English, English and Math and then geography, to show them where they are in the big and getting smaller world of ours. Education and basura, a slow start to change their lives forever. Tourism industry needs bi-lingual Nica's and someone who can count at least! Not a bad exchange to live and do what I do in my little piece of paradise (that no-one knows about), and get THEM to clean up THEIR own community.
It will change when the word gets out and eliminate the southern bias of what Nicaragua has to offer. It will change in Leon shortly when alternatives for the tourist are not "hidden". Allowing/forcing competition is going to create a little ruckus, ruffle a few feathers. So promotion within the framework of writing articles about this or that is how I try to get people to think about alternatives, and this region has me basically the "Commander Cody" of trying to change this whole beach community. Everyone else just loses money and hoping people will come through osmosis or spontaneous generation. We are "rookies" trying to play against the big leaguers in exposing an exciting alternative to what the normal tourist feels as having the full gamit of choices for their trip to Nicaragua. We are just a micro-cosum of the struggles of getting people to venture north and the ones that come north coming east to the beach and a wildlife reserve, fishing, surfing, beach combing, volcanic rock formations creating spectacular sunset wave explosions, etc.
Sorry to get so long winded, sort to speak, but I do have a passion to share what IS here that the tourist guides and the governmental sponsored tourist agencies of Intur/ ProNicaragua ignore almost completely. As I have shared before, but is worth repeating, is that in the fancy magazine published for the unknowing potential tourist says under the heading of "Nicaragua's Playa's" were listed only three; San Juan del Sur, Ometepe and the Corn Islands! Say, WHAT? What about that, 2 islands and SJDS only, as the beaches of Nicaragua. Nothing, cero, nada on the northern coast, and I am offended. A whole major REGION of the country with 1/2 the nations pacific coast ignored and have two sparsely populated islands be the "playas" of Nicaragua? These are political issues, but it affects the whole of Nicaragua. I use Playa Roca is the anchor point or spear head to break the noose that is around northern Nicaragua's neck, and especially the beaches that are historically a tourist favorite, that keeps it from growing and prospering at least proportionately as other areas with tourist potential. It's like having the U.S. Chamber of Commerce promoting Florida and ignoring California! One commenter responded to an earlier article I wrote, maybe not NL, if I wanted the hassles of over crowding and the commercialization of Las Penitas like San Juan del Sur enjoys/loathes? My response is that it probably will become more commercialized and "touristie". It is inevitable that such a great beach area so close to a major city could stay a sleepy little fishing community forever, but proper expansion and education and it's existing residential lots would prohibit the formation of such a conglomeration and density that San Juan del Sur exhibits. All I am saying is that Las Penitas specifically and northern Nicaragua in general is a destination that is being withheld from local and national exposure by lack of promotion and in the articles I write are attempting to chip at this misrepresentation and Playa Roca Beach Hotel is just a symbol of the lack there of. There may be what you may call "spam" or self advertising involved, I don't deny putting in our links, but the word has to get out about "Spanish on the Beach", why not, it is a major attraction for foreigners wanting to learn a language, why not at the beach? All the poles I've taken said they would IF they knew where. BINGO, and what am I supposed to do, say I'm anonymous writer bringing up this great idea. check your yellow pages or contact Intur/ProNicaragua? Even if THEY found someone, it wouldn't be in northern Nicaragua, and surely not in Las Penitas and therefore NOT Playa Roca where it DOES exist. Yeah, my name is David, and I have to fight the Goliath's of a nation of economic nepotism, keeping the dollars funneled into their direction. We will come out of the pioneering period slowly or faster than slow. It is up to PEOPLE to make it happen that care about the nation as a whole instead of the desires of the few. I'm just throwing my hat into the ring, showing that "waiting" for anything to happen is like waiting for paint to dry. I'm not trying to sell ice to Eskimo's, just a jewel of the Pacific that is needed and wanted by tourists. It will have to wait to be enjoyed until it is exposed over and over again, as I AM the mass media or voice of the Beach people. Employment and a better way of life for the people in northern Nicaragua is only the opening of the door of opportunity, the product of natural beauty is already here, it just needs someone to see it and it's story will then be told. Playa Roca is not a Place, it's a Destination! OK, I'm done, time to get to work. firstname.lastname@example.com David "NO BASURA:" Cardin de la Playa Roca, Las Penitas-Leon, Northern Nicaragua, Nicaragua
Daves New Plan - "Press Gang the Tourists"
You said you posted a discussion topic. Yes it is, and could have been a good one but I'm not sensing you want to discuss anything.
Your fight with Leon is like SJdS asking tourists why they visit Granada? Apples and Oranges man. Art/Culture (lets stick to good reasons for this discussion) versus beach/surf/tourist action.
I thought the first rule of sales was promote whats good about what you have to sell, not talk about what's bad (In your opinion) about the competition.
(Good luck fighting Leon by the way, Somoza tried that once and I think before him a gringo called Walker tried to sir up trouble too.)
I have had all sorts of clients place adverts in the paper but none suggesting to potential clients that they are dumb because they are not using a particular service. (Which is how some may read your Leon campaign).
Give em a bit of honey Dave. Pick the biggest hostel or place that has the type of clientele you desire and do a promo WITH them, give them one night free if they stay for three and bring their wrist band or proof of stay at Leon. Create the flow to the coast with a trail of sugar. Hell you wanna go in and 'Press Gang' them like Nelson's boy's did. "Come on you lot, that's enough of the beauty of Leon, you jackasses are coming with us". (It would be a great Monty Python sketch).
I see you blanked my discussion comment on tourism numbers and putting Spanish on your Web Site. What did you think of that?
Reply was "Alfanuemerically" crashed out!
playaroca.com I was in the middle of responding to you a couple of days ago when the computer crashed, which is not all that amazing, Alfanuemeric charges mucho dollars but doesn't send the signal I pay for and it crashes daily. So sorry I didn't get back like I wanted to.
My old college roommate of 40 years ago and who helped design the web site took off on a 3 month trip to the middle east and just returned. He mentioned before he left that he had some program that would do the Spanish translation or create a button or something that would do what you are suggesting. It is a fabulous idea, I am just not "computer" savvy about the "how to" of web site design and function.
The statistics about Honduras, El Salvador, etc. are misleading to me. Here are some of my statistical stats for the year. And as a Hotel operator we keep pretty good statistics of who our clients are through room reservations, etc. In 5 years of operations we have had more guests from Spain, Italy, France, Norway, et. al. EACH. than we have had from Honduras or El Salvador. Maybe boarder crossings, yes, but as a "tourist" or visitor in Las Penitas, very few in comparison to many other places, many miles away.:
As for my battle with the disproportionate promotional dollars going/staying south is that simply the "whole" of Nicaragua is not being publicized as I stated in the "Playas of Nicaragua". The discussion was about "Survivor" helping or hurting Nicaragua. It's the tourism industry that is the main focus. It is not me against the SJDS or Granada or the southern regions, it's about the 'WHOLE" being the sum of its PARTS, that is all. I love those areas myself , but not to the exclusion of "other" areas, which I am in AND feel the "segregation". I really thank you for your comments, they are thoughtful and helpful, especially reminding me about the Spanish translation, it is muy importante.
Countries Unique Visitors United States 4196 41.81%
Nicaragua 3108 30.97%
Canada 843 8.40%
Spain 212 2.11%
Costa Rica 203 2.02%
United Kingdom 202 2.01%
Germany 143 1.43%
Netherlands 117 1.17%
Mexico 76 0.76%
France 69 0.69%
Norway 61 0.61%
Sweden 56 0.56%
Italy 53 0.53%
El Salvador 52 0.52%
Guatemala 50 0.50%
Switzerland 47 0.47%
Russian Federation 43 0.43%
Ireland 42 0.42%
Belgium 36 0.36%
Honduras 31 0.31%
Australia 28 0.28%
Granada versus Leon, again
Conservatives against Liberals. The seat of the Church versus the seat of the establishment. If only back then they've been fighting for tourists and their dollars 'what a wonderful world this would be'. Somoza Garcia was shot in Leon, la ciudad universitaria, by a poet . Rigoberto Lopez Perez. Occidente, as Leon and Chinandega are also called, have beaches, churches and plenty history. Leon puede ser abatido pero nunca vencido, Viva Leon, Jodido!
Dave, I would like to nominate you ...
... for the coveted MujerMagnetica award here on NL, rarely given to a macho blogger.
... for the coveted MujerMagnetica award here on NL, rarely give
playaroca.com Is that good or bad? and how often do YOU give these awards out? Any past recipients I may know?
Long, But
it's nice to see so much enthusiasm for, and commitment to, Nicaragua. I stayed at La Roca, met Dave & Cookie, enjoyed his wireless at the bar, the only internet in the area at the time..
Shelley insisted we move on, she's more of a Montelimar girl: "WHAT!! No bidet ...again"! Me: "Honey,, this is Nicaragua, not Ft. Lauderdale"
but I enjoyed it there. Did a lot of walking on the beach. Different crowd, for sure.
My only objection was, Dave does his french fries once a day, en masse, and they get soggy.
You beat me
and I'll add that Phil's user name is fyl and he's having internet connection problems so there isn't a quick turnaround on the response right now.
this gets old
"internet connection problems". yeah, ok, sure, whatever.
Trickle Down Trickle Up and Trickle Back.
Nicaraguan Coffee, seeing as Kelly is on.
How many tourist have fallen in love with our fantastic coffee, go home and then look for it there. The suppliers now come down and buy coffee at the annual expositions. That increases the value of that commodity. It was tourism that created a lot of that demand in North America and like a good "supply and demand world", buyers came down and bought!!
Its an 8.5" x 11" inch page, some just wanna look at that speck of dirt (Prostitution) instead of talk about the rest of the white page.
Just sayin.
(And as for "Surviving", after 5 years and what they have been through, Kelly & Rob know a little bit about it, and so do their 5 or 6 employees)
The problem is ...
... that speck makes the whole sheet stink.
The biggest drug bust I ever witnessed was on the road out of SJdS. 1.6 tons of cocaine, in bricks. Impressive. Why does it ship through SJdS? I think you know. Who uses most of it? The rich countries where tourists come from. Did the 'Survivor' crew snort? Duh . . .
Daddy Yo......
Yes....On a road out of SJdS.
It was LEAVING SJdS on the Chocolate.
Came in by boat and was on its way north.
Its all in bricks, not like Miami Vice, you cant press the ID seal in a loose powder bag very well can you.
I walk past coke heads and hookers all day, It doesn't cloud my day at all.
If you want it, its here.......there and everywhere.
For reality, turn off the TV and leave your house
Not a fan of these shows - My idea for Survivor is to drop them off and return for them in 20 years.
Ultimately, the country will benefit from the exposure, mostly through tourism but also because of the increased interest.
money, dollars, Cordovas Oro
That's what it's about. And sure, TV exposure with T & A on sunny beaches will bring the bloated gringos who can't speak Spanish with Yanqui dollar to spend in the joints that cater to such.
What is Nicaragua? That's the question that should be answered first. For me it's the people: simple, selfless, 'cool', & beautiful, and I confess I haven't met any of the 'owners', thankfully, in that mostly raw land of volcanoes, lakes & earthquakes squeezed by oceans.
So sorry, but I no longer believe in "trickle-down" economics, not sure I ever really did, but those economist seemed so smart back then.
Sure there's a certain percentage of the Survivor-crowd that'll spend some of those dollars on poor prostitutes (who often support families), or seeking out the bargain coca prices in the narco-barrios, but is that good for Nicaragua?
my Nicaraguan staff does not agree with your statement
"Sure there's a certain percentage of the Survivor-crowd that'll spend some of those dollars on poor prostitutes (who often support families), or seeking out the bargain coca prices in the narco-barrios, but is that good for Nicaragua?"
That statement has nothing to do with Survivor. People seeking cheap coca and prostitutes were here before Survivor was filmed. I seriously doubt that someone watching Survivor is thinking, "Hey, I should check out Nicaragua because in addition to beautiful beaches and jungles, I can get cheap coke and cheap girls!" The people who are attracted to those vices aren't coming here because they are available (they're available almost anywhere in the world), though some take advantage of the "opportunity" once they arrive.
A lot of people complain about tourism, but not many seem to realize that tourism is a huge source of tax revenue in this country, that the tourists are paying 15 percent sales tax when the vast majority of Nicaraguans are not (because of that f-$%#ing cuota fija) and that tourism has at least provided employment, medical care, education, and a larger middle class.
It is not my fault Nicaragua is a poor country. I did not create the problem, but I have done much to change the situation at the local level. If you don't like the idea of tourists coming here and supporting the economy, please offer suggestions that will allow Nicaraguans to create an economically sustainable country that does not require monetary, intellectual and physical resources from abroad.
Perhaps Nicaragua will eventually develop a solid economy. Tourism is not the end all, but it does bring people, resources and ideas to the area from which something bigger may emerge.
Sure. I understand ...
... where y'all are coming from, namely, SJdS. There are certain places that rely on tourism for survival: Disney World, Las vegas, SJdS, &c. Tourists don't go some place to "support the economy"; they go to have fun, see sights.
IMO, the problem with tourist dollars in poor foreign countries is that they make servants of locals, and the payscales are often such that those employees can't improve their kids' lives. For pity's sake KAT, I ain't saying you; for all I know you may be the saint of SJdS. Look up the hill, and on the waterfront.
And the establishments that most successfully draw in rich tourists are themselves owned & run by foreigners because they best understand foreign likes & dislikes, speak their language, know where to advertize, &c. They're for-profit businesses, and most of the windfall leaves the poor country.
"Suggestions that will allow Nicaraguans to create an economically sustainable country...?" It already is. No need for 'help from abroad' except for buying the stuff THEY are selling. Ain't that really how it is?
No it is not how it is.
Look up at the hills and I see Pacific Marlin, purchased by a Nicaraguan and developed by him. In fact so much so that he paid $500,000 for the Jesus statue to be built...
Bahia del Sol. Luxury condos...Nicaraguan owned and developed.
Best and most famous beach restaurant - El Timon - Nicaraguan owned and operated (along with their disco; Crazy Crab and the new Mexican place, Blue Marlin........all Nicaraguan owned and operated.
Best pulperias selling US food to Gringos for 40% more than its worth (and doing very well).......yes you guessed it Nicaraguan owned and operated.
Where is a lot of the money that these guys make and a lot more (Nicas) like them going?..........Would Costa Rica vacation and retirement property surprise you?
Are the stricter CR migracion laws coincidence or an anticipatory move for post November 2011?
Some Nicas may be making it here but ain't keeping it here......and can you blame them? They lost it 31 years ago, some are not going to lose it again.
Come visit sometime, I will show you the real SJdS.
While this venture is
While this venture is definitely a shot in the arm for the economy of SJDS, I can't see where it can have a positive impact at all long term. The problem I see is that the show (Survivor) is about the people in it, not the place. Viewers rarely catch even a glimpse of the "real" location, and generally only remember the unpleasant aspects of it (if they remember at all) such as mosquitoes, flies, other various insects and creepy-crawlies, and of course, the snakes. I am not much of a fan of reality shows (they are generally to reality as professional wrestling is to sports), but how many fans out there can tell you anything meaningful about any of the previous locations based solely on the show's content?
It's good for Nicaragua
And what is good for Nicaragua I applaud.
There is no doubt in my mind that if you are sitting in USA - Europe or anywhere else, you will look at the map, probably on internet and perhaps visit this for sooooooo many a unknown place.
Which again reminds me of a email a few years ago "Roger, another plane crashed down there, must be dangerous " I responded with what ?? "it's in the paper, yes it was, but it was Nigeria.
Survivor is good publicity.
With two seasons filmed back to back, we know it has brought some capital and jobs in, if temporarily. And even if it depicts hardly anything about Nica, other then a few volcanoes and a camp out in the bush (as seems to be the case), it does at least put the name, and some idea of where and what it is, out there. Can't hurt. However, I have to think that the people who might consider visiting Nicaragua don't have a lot of overlap with the people who are glued to their sets for season 21/22 of this TV show, and vice versa. I'd have to guess that it won't trigger a huge wave of visitors, but we'll see..
Do not watch it but
have surfed through it several times. Looks like it could pretty much be done in the same place for all shows as the emphsis is not on real survival, but on the games and the people headgames. What the heck, brought in some money for a while and will not hurt with some name recognition.ZZT
I agree
I agree with Roger, last year I went to Las Vegas for the AARP Annual Event, to explain about the law for Retiree people, 694, the benefits, requirements and other topics, and real estate transactions for people who move to Nicaragua; I was surprised because several people doesn´t know where Nicaragua is, or some other facts, like war, etc; So the most important part of the program will be the promotion of the name NICARAGUA, I am pretty sure people will check Internet to learn about Nicaragua, and Nicaliving will be a wonderful sources and your comments too.
Today I found this article and posted http://www.aarp.org/home-garden/livable-communities/info-07-2010/best-pl... "The title will draw the attention of several people too: Best Places to Retire Abroad", I know for Nicaliving users probably no there is any new, you live here, have been in Nicaragua or have more reference the gist is, in my opinion these information and promotion, plus the new law for retirees is working.
Best Regards
Paul Tiffer
It may have been PT Barnum,
It may have been PT Barnum, or Charlie Sheen, but I am sure someone has said this before me..."There is no such thing as bad publicity" (except mabey in the chisma of SJDS) Yes, i agree that the exposure of the name Nicaragua, will fuel a new interest in the country as a whole and there will certainly be the folks who filter on down to this lovely little little corner of the world.
Try that on
I plead ignorance
I don`t watch Survivor. I saw a few minutes of it a few years ago while channel surfing and concluded it was for silly yuppies who need to get a life.
Nicaragua suffers from 2 image problems: bad publicity and No publicity. Net net, anything that puts Nic. on the tube for anything other than President Ortega babbling about imperialism or street rioters in managua or leon is a good thing.
I read a book on êcotourism a while back. One issue brought up was that many tourist industries are foreign owned and the profits go back to the first world. The best example was the Galapagos, where 85% of the dough sticks in the first world or mainland ecuador. An interesting comment was that the much maligned 'budget' travelers leave behind locally about the same amount of money per day as the luxury travelers. (100% of $15=15% of $100).
Anyway, CR is an example of a country in which much of the tourist industry is locally owned and medium sized. Nicaragua is following a similar pattern, especially with the 'community based' tourism in the north and probably elsewhere. Certainly there is a need for all types of projects, including a few Mega Resorts that have the bucks to build infrastructure, but a mixed bag spreads the wealth around better.
Expat/immigrant businesses fall into the 'locally owned' category IN THAT the profits stay here. Foreign owned businesses also serve as a learning tool for Nicaraguans-- the expat businesses will show Nica how foreigners like to be treated. Enterprizing Nicas can then take this training to their own businesses.
"In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely try to train him to be semi-human. The point...is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog" --Edward Hoagland
Ignorant, no longer
I watched part of the show in its first season and concluded it wasn't for me. But I was surprised to read it was the highest rated show of the week, in Canada, last week. Tonight, I made myself watch it.
First of all, I ignored the people, the games, and the drama (admittedly the biggest part of the show - but we all know that). There are some stunning aerial shots of volcanoes and long expanses of beach. There are crabs, birds, red frogs, snakes, and alligators. When they switch scenes between one tribe and the other, they often show a volcano, or rolling waves, some wide vista. The many changing clouds lend themselves to the time lapse photography, which they use to show the passage of time. Sunny skies were few but there were some. One of the tribes encountered howler monkeys and they caught fish in a lagoon and cooked it over the fire. The vegetation could look tropical and exotic and there was plenty of mud around - but it's the rainy season. I think it will appeal to travellers who want to be far off the beaten track but I hope they manage a shot or two of a town before the series ends. Otherwise, it could seem beautiful but too desolate.


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Star power there for the taking for Parkland grad Andre Williams
It was a couple of hours before the start of ESPN's Heisman Award telecast, when the media had one last crack at the players invited to Manhattan for the announcement in a ballroom on the sixth floor of the posh Marriott Marquis on Broadway.
Reporters and cameramen were standing two-deep around the table where heavy favorite Jameis Winston or Florida State sat.
Nearby, a smaller but still impressive crowd surrounded A.J. McCarron's table (no, girlfriend Katherine Webb, wasn't with him), while Jordan Lynch (the "upstart" candidate from the Mid-American Conference), last year's winner Johnny Manziel, and Tre Mason each attracted a half-dozen or so reporters.
Meanwhile, two reporters joined Andre Williams at his table. Another two stopped by for the final moments of the 10-minute session.
Of the six Heisman hopefuls in the room, Williams, a Parkland High School grad, obviously had the least "star power" — most likely because until early November, when he ran wild for three weeks and turned his senior season from memorable to historic, few people around the country had heard of the 6-foot, 227-pound running back from Boston College.
But not even his historic 2,000-yard season could boost Williams above the pack in what, with the exception of Winston (especially after a Florida state attorney removed the threat of prosecution for an alleged sexual assault on Dec. 5), was a muddled Heisman field.
Winston, the second straight freshman to win the award, received 668 first-place votes, the ninth-highest total in Heisman history. The remaining 232 first-place votes this year were split by 14 players — and all but 23 of those votes went to the next five finishers, four of whom received 30 or more. That's by far the most players to receive that many first place votes in one of those nine years in history.
Williams received 29 first-place votes, the fewest among the top six, and was named on 32 percent of the 900 Heisman ballots received (28 voters failed to submit a ballot). He picked up 47 percent of his votes (221 out of 470) from two regions, the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, and finished fourth behind Winston, McCarron and Lynch.
Throughout the past week or so, since the list of invitees to the ceremony was announced last Monday, Williams spoke often of the "humbling" experience of his name being linked with the award and likes of Manziel, McCarron and Winston. All had better resumes coming into the season than Williams — even Winston, who was touted as the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the country two years ago and has obviously lived up to the hype.
"This is the height of college football and I'm just blessed to be this close to it and the great players it attracts," the soft-spoken Williams said during Saturday's media session.
One thing has been apparent throughout the whole process, however — as honored as he was to be among the elite players, Williams was even more satisfied and happier to talk about Boston College's upcoming bowl game as well as his and his fellow seniors' role in the program's resurgence this year after two dismal seasons.
"Getting to that bowl; that's what I'm really excited about," Williams said last week when he learned he was going to New York. "It's an awesome opportunity we've been handed. We get to play on Dec. 31, in prime time, and that's exciting.
"Whether I win [the Heisman] or not," Williams added Saturday, "BC football is in a better place than it was at this time last year, and I'm proud to be part of the senior class that helped do that."
Laying the foundation for the Eagles' future success, Williams said, is what his legacy is all about.
"The thing about a legacy is that it's something that moves forward and grows," he said. "This is only the start. BC football will continue to rise, and I'm just really excited about that."
What's also risen, by leaps and bounds since the end of last season, is Williams' future in the sport.
He said recently that he always had the confidence that he'd play in the NFL someday, but until this season, it appeared he'd have to fight his way into the league as a free agent.
Now, however, Williams should be walking in through the front door. After winning the Doak Walker Award last week as the nation's top running back, and after the added exposure of the Heisman Trophy race, he will be considered one of the top running back prospects for the 2014 draft — although that doesn't mean as much these days as it used to as some experts don't project a running back being taken until the second round.
Still, he's shown a blend of power and speed, a willingness to work hard — plus, he's got that 2,000-yard season on his resume, not to mention another game to play as well as the NFL Combine in April. However, he also knows he can't sit back and rest on what he's already accomplished.
Critics point out that Williams has not caught a pass this season, and has only 10 receptions in his entire career. Catching the ball for a running back is almost as important as running with it in today's NFL, not to mention the ability to help protect a quarterback.
"That's definitely going to be something scouts on the next level will look at when evaluating me, and I'm aware of that," Williams said last week. "I've been working on that every day. I know you can always get better at anything you do in some way, shape or form. I know I'm not the best running back I can be, and I know my game will have to evolve."
One thing's for certain — if Williams hits the NFL with anything close to what he hit college football with this fall, that "star power" he lacked on Broadway this week will find him.
In a hurry.
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text: The Gosselin Girls Go to Jonas Brothers Concert by POPSUGAR Moms 7/24/09 6 Reactions 1 Shares Print 0 1 0 0 0 The Gosselin girls are growing up! Kate took her twin daughters, Cara and Mady, 8, and a friend to see the Jonas Brothers concert at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia last night. The oldest kids of Jon and Kate's 8 were decked out in age appropriate outfits that didn't match. While Jon has taken a liking to Ed Hardy apparel, Kate unleashed a more sassy look wearing dark dungarees, a hot pink tank, strappy sandals and shades. No word on whether the mom and daughters rocked out to Love Bug, but it looks like they had a fun girls' night out! Source: INFphoto.com Read More Kid TVThe GosselinsJon And Kate Plus 8 5 years OMG OMG I WENT TO THAT CONCERT LOL YOU CAN HEAR ME ON YOU TUBE LOL 5 years wow i see nothing wrong with what the kids have on i say as long as its clean and ironed wear it ...i cant stand haters jon should have never left at least not to be with a kid he already got 8 kids now what 9 if it wasn't working fine leave, but not to start dating so soon wait at least a year.. miamixo 5 years I'm glad they got to have a good time! Kate has always been the more hands on parent. Jon never really did a lot of parenting, he had fun with the kids sure but a lot of times (not all the time) he sat back and waited for Kate to deal with the kids. PiNkY-PiNk 5 years 100% agree flowergirl. people always critisized kate but she's the only one stepping up while he parties with his 5 yr old gf. i swear i always knew he is such a douche. PiNkY-PiNk 5 years 100% agree flowergirl. people always critisized kate but she's the only one stepping up while he parties with his 5 yr old gf. i swear i always knew he is such a douche. flowergirl 5 years Glad to see an adult do some actual PARENTING in this household. Jon's midlife crisis thing is really unfortunate and it's making him look just awful. Link Love Mom forced to stop feeding baby homemade formula — BabyCenter Blog The easiest ways to save on organic food — The Stir A look inside Fergie's second baby shower — Celebrity Baby Scoop Danielle Jonas debuts her baby bump — People Moms & Babies 7 light and fresh recipes to take you through Summer — FitPregnancy Does where you live affect your risk for PPD? — The Bump Where to find the best deals on school supplies — Real Simple Now this is how you announce a pregnancy! — HuffPost Parents


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