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Consigned to Texas for its ominously brief theatrical release, Highwaymen suggests that its distributor, New Line, possesses some virulent animus toward the Lone Star State. It's not like Texas has historically been an exclusive dumping ground for bad cinema. What exactly was the studio trying to say? Was this simply the indiscriminate fulfilling of a regrettable exhibition contract, or was there a political motivation, and, if so, why not just opt for one screen in Crawford rather than 100+ all over the state? On a more pragmatic note, why didn't New Line wait until after its star, Jim Caviezel, was turned into a metaphorical heavy bag by Mel Gibson in order to potentially capitalize on his sudden, sacred popularity? (Not that this helped Rowdy "Road House" Harrington's Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius much.) If one finds themselves asking a multitude of questions following a viewing of Highwaymen, it's only because the central dilemma it poses How did it escape the development stage without a series of top-to-bottom rewrites? is irresoluble. It's unclear how much invective should be loosed on director Robert Harmon, a workmanlike fellow still capable of currying "B"-movie fan favor on the strength of his cruel 1987 minor classic The Hitcher. The road-bound Highwaymen unavoidably elicits (false) hope that this is Harmon's trash-cinema rebirth, and, to be fair, he seems primed to deliver in the early going. When Rennie Cray (Caviezel) sees his wife mowed down intentionally by a 1972 Cadillac El Dorado-driving madman (Colm Feore), he sets out on a five-year, soul-snuffing quest for revenge, laconically tracking the killer all over the country. An early scene, in which Cray identifies the psycho's proximity by tasting spilled motor oil in a recently fled hideout like a cop tonguing narcotics, promises giddy heights of unabashed (and, hopefully, knowing) stupidity that the film never comes close to reaching. Instead, the writers (Craig Mitchell and Hans Bauer) invent an imperiled female (Lara Croft-inspiration Rhona Mitra) whom Mr. El Dorado has chosen as his next victim. Also joining the pursuit is an accident investigator, who, of course, believes that Cray is actually the killer. There's the germ of an exploitable idea here, and Feore's post-crash cyborg design (reminiscent of dude-on-wheels from Charles Band's epic The Eliminators) is the right kind of ridiculous. But if Harmon's having a measure of fun amping up the look of the film with his stylish scope visuals and reasonably well-staged crash-'em-ups, that same kind of unfettered enthusiasm went sadly unexpended in the writing of the script. The bad dialogue (and it's absolutely execrable for a studio picture) would be pardonable had the plot been pointed in imaginatively ludicrous directions, but it remains on a wholly pat trajectory that should've parked it permanently on blocks on the Sci-Fi Channel's front lawn. Also wasted is an atmospheric score from Mark Isham that, fortunately, he should be able to recycle for a better film in the future. New Line presents Highwaymen in an excellent anamorphic transfer (2.35:1) with solid Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. Extras are limited to theatrical trailers for this film and other New Line releases. Keep-case.
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AFGE on Feb. 22 filed a petition with the Federal Labor Relations Authority for an agencywide election at TSA, saying it had enrolled 12,000 of 40,000 nonsupervisory TSA workers as members. Kelley said on Tuesday that NTEU also had gathered 12,000 membership applications or signed union cards indicating TSA workers wanted to organize with NTEU. She added her union would file its own petition for a national election soon, though she declined to give a date. Unions must demonstrate that they have organized 30 percent of an agency's workforce before they can petition for an election to become its sole union.
"This is a critical issue, not just for Transportation Security officers, but for every federal employee," said NTEU President Colleen Kelley, during the opening session of the union's three-day legislative conference in Washington. "We cannot let the TSA workforce continue to go unrepresented, and I know NTEU will provide the best possible representation, unmatched by any other union, without question."
In response to AFGE's petition, FLRA has asked the Transportation Security Administration to provide a list of employees to verify their names against the union's membership lists. FLRA also asked AFGE to state its position on the unionization campaign, and to post notices in airports nationwide informing employees that an election petition has been filed. AFGE President John Gage praised FLRA's rapid response to the petition.
"The process of determining who TSOs want to bargain their contract is one that the FLRA takes very seriously," he said in a statement. "We are confident that an election will take place very soon."
But FLRA spokeswoman Sarah Spooner said her agency's actions were a routine first step in processing a petition, and "no decision has been made with respect to the merits of the petition."
AFGE had filed a petition for an election in 2003, but FLRA rejected it, saying TSA, which is not covered by the Title 5 civil service rules that govern most federal agencies, was outside FLRA's jurisdiction. Carol Waller Pope, now the chairwoman of FLRA, disagreed with that decision, but it is not clear if the agency will reverse its ruling.
The two unions have taken different positions on the question of whether to try to hold an agencywide election at TSA before its employees are guaranteed the right to bargain collectively, whether through legislation, an executive order, or a decision by the TSA administrator, who under current law has the authority to extend or deny collective bargaining rights to the workforce. NTEU previously said the question of collective bargaining rights should be decided first, while AFGE maintains it makes more sense to start by determining representation.
"By settling the question of representation first, AFGE will be ready to begin negotiations as soon as the bargaining rights are established," the union wrote in its petition to FLRA.

subset: commoncrawl


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Luxury Budget Baazi Task Result Bigg Boss 9 22nd December 2015 Episode Written Updates : Last night's episode of the one of the popular TV show "Bigg Boss 9" was filling-up with the mixed emotions. In on one hand the superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol played games with the housemates in their jovial Andaaz. The participants' had been fight with each other to performed best in the luxury budget task and to have the "Luxury Budget".
Bigg Boss 9 22nd December 2015 Episode
So, we saw in the yesterday night that a conflict took place in the house in which everybody fought with Priya Mllik. Means the entire house made a sleazy comment on Priya which makes her arrogant and the ugly spat took place. But the housemates believed the same did by Priya herself in front of SRK and Kajol about the entire housemates. The housemates including Rishabh discuss about it with Prince and eventually the entire house blasted on Priya with questions. Priya became so angry but somehow she handles the situation.
Tonight it will be extension of the "Luxury Budget Task" in which a new aspect is to introduced and in the new task the housemates have to perform now. By this new task they are getting second time to have their lost money back.
Tonight it will be shown that the second new task name is "Baazi" in which the housemates will be divided in to two groups and these two groups have to perform the task in two levels. Last night already we saw the housemates were divided into groups and they have to stands continuously in the pole with massive water flowing on them. They lose first task of the house by the way.
Tonight the housemates have to play wrestling with each other in the battlefield of "Bigg Boss". Although, they are not professional wrestler but they will be performing like professional wrestler. As the participants' of the house have to do wrestling with the professional wrestlers and they need to survive under the wrestling ring for at least 20 minutes against a professional wrestler. If the house mates successful doing so, they will get some amount of price money.
This is a gymnastic task which will be given to three "Jodis" of the house which includes "Suyyash-Priya", "Kishwer-Mandana" and last but not the "Nora-Keith" had to perform the task one by one against the professional wrestlers. Being captain of the house Prince gets chance to bid on the "Jodis" whom he thinks that able to win and survive till last. This bid was for Rs 4 Lakh and with this Prince had bid on "Priya-Suyyash".
We hope you like article of Bigg Boss 9. Stay tuned with us for more latest news and updates.


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Photos of Caofeidian, a Chinese 'eco-city' that's become a ghost town.
The idea of an eco-city is ridiculous. There's nothing 'eco-friendly' about a development that destroys a natural space, and replaces it with concrete, steel, glass and bitumen.
Photos of Caofeidian, a Chinese 'eco-city' that's become a ghost town.
The idea of an eco-city is ridiculous. There's nothing 'eco-friendly' about a development that destroys a natural space, and replaces it with concrete, steel, glass and bitumen.
Posted at 09:25 in Destruction, Disasters, Photography | Permalink | Comments (0)
Eight years ago I read the works of the Stoic philosophers Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius and Seneca. The experience changed my life. Now, in May I'm re-reading Epictetus's Discourses and Manual (Enchiridion), and seeking a deeper understanding of what Epictetus taught, and to put it into practice. Unlike today, when philosophy seems, for the most part, dry, technical, and confined to ivory towers, the ancient Greeks and Romans believed that philosophy is practical, about living in the real world, and that we should practice it daily so that we can live better lives.
Reading 1
Epictetus said...
and then you will be in a condition to befriend others - forming easy and natural relationships with like-minded people, but capable too of treating unenlightened souls with sympathy and indulgence, remembering that they are ignorant or mistaken about what's most important. Never be harsh, remember Plato's dictum: 'Every soul is deprived of the truth against its will'.*
Should we pity people who are enslaved by external things (such as the desire for wealth, status, recognition)? No, because that would be arrogant, and because we'd let our beliefs and feelings about other people get the better of us. And we'd feel superior to them, and superiority is a form of status, and therefore an 'external' too. By pitying others, and feeling superior, we'd enslave ourselves.
* Epictetus, Discourses, II, 36, in Robert Dobbin (ed.,) Discourses and Selected Writings (Penguin, 2008), pages 139-140)
Posted at 18:35 in Stoicism | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Epictetus, Stoicism
The Shark's Teeth, entrance to Wellington harbour (Peter Hodge © All rights reserved 2013).
Spotted Shags are breeding again at the Shark's Teeth. On 26th March I saw two breeding pairs on the north-facing nests on the North Pinnacle. Three days later I saw the two pairs again, and another bird which got airborne from one of the south-facing nests. All birds looked resplendent in their breeding plumage.
Last year, through the winter and spring, I studied the breeding birds on North Pinnacle. There were eight nests on the pinnacle, two on the north side, and six on the south side (observable only from the water), with sixteen birds (eight pairs) nesting. At least three chicks fledged: two from each of the north nests, and one from a south nest. The nests were abandoned during the summer, although on two occasions I saw immature birds on the pinnacle, possibly the birds which had fledged in the spring.
One of the north nests, shaped like an upside down beehive, is mostly intact, but the other nest, which is shallower and shaped like a dinner plate, needs a fair bit of repair work. Based on last year's observations, I'd expect to see one of the birds sitting on the nest while the other brings nesting material, such as seaweed.
Most Spotted Shags in the Wellington breed on Matiu/Somes Island, with smaller colonies on Mokopuna Island and Makaro/Ward Island (further north, there is also a small colony on Kapiti Island). The small breeding colony on the Shark's Teeth appears to have been recently established, with the first record of the colony made by me on 26 May 2013. According to surveys, the Spotted Shag population in Wellington seems to be fluctuating stable or possibly declining:
"The population expanded rapidly after colonisation in 1972 and by the early 1990s had spread from a single site on Shag Rock/Te Papa a Tara to several nesting sites along the west coast of Matiu/Somes I and to Mokopuna and Makaro/Ward Is. By 2013 the Harbour's breeding population had expanded even further to include a new site off Breaker Bay. However, this breeding range expansion appears not to be linked with an overall increase in the population size."*
* S Waugh, A Tennyson, R Orange, R, S Sharp, R Cotter, R Batcheler, D Batcheler, 2013. "Numbers of spotted shags (Stictocarbo punctatus) at breeding sites in Wellington Harbour, 2002-2012". Notornis 60 (4), page 288.
Posted at 10:08 in Birding, Birds, Breaker Bay, Phalacrocoracidae, Shark's Teeth Diary, Wild | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: breeding, Shark's Teeth, Spotted Shag
Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor), Breaker Bay (photo: Peter Hodge © all rights reserved 2014)
I came across a moulting Little Penguin at Breaker Bay two days ago. It's quite a surprise to see penguins in moult, as usually they look sleek.
Some people say that moulting penguins look 'miserable', but I wonder if this is an example of anthropomorphism (attributing human characteristics to animals or things). I'm sure that moulting is uncomfortable for penguins, and that they'd rather be at sea. But this penguin just looked to be waiting it out.
Posted at 10:33 in Birding, Birds, Breaker Bay, Wild | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Little Penguin, moult, penguin
In the opening scene of the film Last of the Mohicans, Hawkeye, Uncas and Chingachgook hunt a deer in the forest. In the course of the chase, they run, sprint, walk, leap, and scramble across rough terrain. They use their minds and their senses to follow the deer. They are focused, existing in the moment, intent only on their prey. When they run the deer down, Hawkeye makes a clean kill with a single musket shot.
This is persistence hunting, a technique practiced by our hunter-gatherer ancestors. It involves pursuing a prey animal over long distances, and killing the prey when it's overcome by exhaustion and hyperthermia. Other hunting techniques, such as ambush and stalking, also involve considerable exertion - generally speaking, game does not come to the hunter, but rather the hunter must go to the game.
In hunter-gatherer societies, the hunting of game was largely the work of men. Women were foragers, roaming over wide areas and gathering foods, natural medicines and materials. While foraging they carried heavy loads - the materials they gathered, tools, small children and babies. Both hunting and foraging were vital for kin group survival, and routinely involved a great deal of physical and mental activity (as did other tasks, such as making and repairing tools, clothing and huts, and preparing, cooking and preserving food).
For our ancestors there was no separate thing called 'exercise'. Physical activity was an intrinsic part of their daily lives. It was purposeful, a means by which food was acquired and families fed.
Compare this with the way things often are today. Exercise often lacks real purpose ... instead, we do it to get fit or to keep fit, or to 'escape' from the tedium of lives spent mostly in offices, warehouses and shops. Ironically, trying to escape tedium we find another version of it - for an hour each day the office worker exchanges a cubicle in a grey office for a grey gym, or pounds along on a pavement. Exercise is repetitive. It doesn't engage the mind or the senses, nor does it use the whole body. It is static, meaning that people work out in a fixed position, often confined to a special contraption, like a bike or a weight machine. It is boring - the man thumps along on a treadmill, like a lab rat, listening to music through headphones or watching a video clip on an overhead screen. You wonder why he is alive.
It doesn't have to be this way. In fact, the hunter-gatherer lifestyle of our ancestors points the way. Like our ancestors, when we exercise, we should do it outdoors, we should do it using our whole body, mind and senses, and we should do it for a real purpose.
Here's an example - last Sunday I went to a boxing club I belong to, about 6 km from where I live. I could've driven there - most people would - or I could've cycled there. Instead, I went on foot - walking, running, scrambling up steep banks and across obstacles, here and there doing chins-ups on a tree branch, much of this in fields and woodland. By the time I got to the club I'd had a reasonably intense 50 minute workout. After a 30 minute blast of shadow boxing and bag work, I headed home, same way back, walking at a moderate pace. Along the way, I noticed things - a small flock of terns flying into Evans Bay, several Tui feeding on wattle tree flowers, a street, houses and a new path through the woods that I hadn't seen before. It felt good - sunlight, fresh air, green trees, and body, mind and senses working in unison.
I call this natural fitness, or wild fitness. In my book, wild fitness has seven key characteristics:
So that's six principles. The seventh principle is Being in the present. Many people live in day dreams, thinking about stuff they did (or didn't do) in the past, thinking about things they'd like to do in the future, or just mindlessly staring at a television or computer screen. In doing so, they miss out on experiencing the present moment, the only time we have.
Posted at 23:36 in Fitness, Foraging, Walking, Wild | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: fitness, gatherer, hunter, natural, paleo, wild, workout
Yesterday the dog and I walked in the bush at Watts Peninsula (northern Miramar). This is old defence land, an area of pine forest, regenerating native bush, grassy fields, scrub, and military fortifications built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
We came across large patches of blackberry. As I watched a flock of Silvereyes, I noticed that the blackberry was heavy with fruit. Luckily I had a plastic bag, so I spent an hour picking fruit. It poured with rain, but I didn't mind as I came away with a big bag of delicious tasting blackberries. As my partner said later, "That amount of fruit would cost $30 in the supermarket".
This is a good illustration of what I call 'natural fitness' or 'wild fitness' - physical exercise that has a real purpose, such as foraging for food or exploring a new area, rather than merely getting or staying fit. It's an idea which I'll expand on in an upcoming post.
Posted at 09:48 in Foraging, Walking, Wild, Wild food | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: blackberry, fitness, forage, gathering, wild food
The Guardian describes Darren Almond's landscape photographs, taken at night with long exposures, as "astonishing" and "ethereal". With a couple of exceptions (Fullmoon@Cape Verde, 2013, and Fullmoon@Esk River, 2013) they don't do much for me. This is because the photos look as though they were taken during the day.
The essence of night is mystery. At night even the most mundane landscape is transformed into something strange and otherworldly. Night reveals things that we do not usually see, in particular the moon, planets, meteors, stars, and galaxies. It hints at things we can never really 'get', like the alien atmospheres of other worlds, the vastness of interstellar distances, our insignificance in the infinite cosmos.
For night photos, darkness is the key ingredient. Almond's long exposures burn away the darkness, turning night into day, a flat and mushy sort of day. In doing so, he strips away night's mystery.
Posted at 08:45 in Night, Photography, Wild | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: darkness, night, photography
Seven thousand summers ago, a dark-skinned, blue-eyed European died in a deep Spanish cave...
"He was probably lactose intolerant and had more difficulty digesting starchy foods than the farmers who transformed diets and lifestyles when they took up tools in the first agricultural revolution."
Like birds but can't draw them? We're not alone...
A review of Germaine Greer's new book White Beech: The Rainforest Years, in which she describes her work to rewild a patch of Queensland rainforest.
No words, just images of weather, forest, and wild animals: a short film shot in Scotland's Argyll forest.
George Monbiot is interviewed about Feral, his book on rewilding Britain's uplands and seas.
Posted at 15:04 in Birding, Books, Forest, hunter-gatherer, Rewilding, Wild | Permalink | Comments (2)
Tags: Argyll, birds, blue, book, draw, eye, forest, gatherer, greer, hunter, monbiot, rainforest, rewilding
I like eating wild foods. The other day I harvested some bull kelp (rimurapa) on Wellington's south coast, near Red Rocks.
Wellington's south coast, looking towards Red Rocks (photo: Peter Hodge © all rights reserved 2014)
Overnight I dried the kelp on the clothes line. You can eat kelp raw, but in the evening I chopped the kelp into chips and cooked them in a wok. I figured the chips were done when, after a minute or so on a high heat, they started jumping out of the pan.
Kelp chips (photo: Peter Hodge © all rights reserved 2014)
The kelp chips tasted pretty damned good, especially with a glass or two of red wine.
Posted at 20:54 in Wild, Wild food | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: bull kelp, cooking
Saltwater crocodile at Yellow Water, Kakadu (photo: Peter Hodge © all rights reserved 2011)
I walked near the water's edge at Burdbulba billabong. Saltwater crocodiles lurked nearby, but I wasn't sure where they were or if I would see them. It was Wurrgeng, cold weather season in the Northern Territory's Kakadu National Park, yet the air was hot and still.
Above the water a whistling kite soared, searching for prey. A black-necked stork, Jabiru, hunted in the shallows. Jabiru has long legs and a massive bill which looks like a dagger. When it sees a fish it moves swiftly, threshing with its feet, jabbing with its bill. Local legend has it that all the animals, the saltwater crocodile fears only Jabiru, for the bird's bill can punch through its tough hide.
Sunlight glinted on a smooth surface. Bark or leaf, I thought, as I peered through binoculars. The surface shifted, and a crocodile crawled out of the mud. I glimpsed yellow eyes, a scaly hide, and a gaping jaw. The crocodile was fifteen metres away, camouflaged in a tangle of branches, roots and mud. Called Ginga by local Aborigines, saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porous) are big and fierce, top of the food chain.
I felt awed, and a little afraid, to be so close to such a beast. There were no barriers, no health and safety inspectors. Ginga could have been on my side of the billabong. A little closer to the water, and I might have become its next meal.
This sounds sensational, but the danger is real. Every few years in the Territory, someone is taken by a crocodile. In January 2012, a 12 year old boy was taken by a crocodile while swimming in a billabong at Mudginberri outstation. In 2009, a girl was killed in a lagoon at Black Jungle near Darwin. Six years earlier, a man was slain in the Finniss River...
I went past the croc, I didn't see it, Ashley screamed out 'croc, croc'...we just swam to the nearest tree and straight up we went. We were looking around for Brett but didn't hear a thing, didn't hear a scream, no splashing or anything.1
The victim's two friends clung to a tree as the water rose and a crocodile waited below; eventually, they were rescued by a helicopter. And in 2002, a crocodile took a young German tourist while she swam at Kakadu's Sandy Billabong. The coroner found that
a large saltwater crocodile swam amongst the group and dragged the deceased below the water. She was not immediately seen to be missing. It took some time for the remaining members of the group to realise something was amiss.2
Saltwater crocodiles are ambush predators, superbly adapted to hunting in saltwater and freshwater. They prefer to hunt at night, when prey animals come to the water to drink. Crocodiles lie in wait, hidden in the water. Their attack is a lethal combination of stealth, speed and smash – they approach quietly, break from the water with ferocious power, clamp jaws onto the prey, and drag it into the depths.
Before 1971 saltwater crocodiles were hunted almost to extinction in the Territory. Now protected, saltwater crocodiles live in most coastal, estuarine and inland waters in the tropical north. Adult males, on average five metres long, will take wallabies, cattle, dogs, lizards, birds, humans - anything in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Despite their fearsome reputation, or because of it, crocodiles are a big tourist drawcard in the Territory. Crocodile tourism is often spectacle, sometimes farce, with cage dives, crocodile feeding, and jumping croc cruises. But Kakadu is the real deal, where crocodiles can be seen in the wild, on their own terms.
About three hours drive from Darwin, Kakadu National Park is owned by the indigenous Bininj-Mungguy people and jointly managed with the Australian federal government. It's big country, sprawling across beaches, floodplains and hills, and home to many species of birds, mammals, reptiles and insects. There are towering cliffs, high waterfalls, and savannah woodlands that stretch to the horizon. Aboriginal rock art decorates sandstone cliffs at Nourlangie and Ubirr. Even the names on the map – East Alligator River, Wildman River, Red Lily Billabong, Jim Jim River – suggest this is a special place.
Wurreng (June to August) is a great time to see crocodiles, as they gather in the shrinking water bodies, and Yellow Water wetlands is a top spot for crocodile watching. There we took a mid-morning trip in a small but sturdy boat.
"Don't lean overboard," said the boatman. "Keep your arms inside. Give the crocs half a chance and they'll take you."
We cruised across an expanse of water, trees, grasses and mud banks. Pink and white lilies floated on the water. Flocks of plumed whistling ducks gathered on dry ground. These birds have stiff buff-coloured plumes that resemble the spikes of a punk's hairdo. Magpie geese flew in V-shaped formations. Many wading birds, like the white ibis with its curved bill, hunted in the shallows. The boatman pointed out a Jabiru, perched in a large nest on top of a lone tree, and another stalking the shallows.Black-necked Stork (Jabiru) at Yellow Water, Kakadu (photo: Peter Hodge © all rights reserved 2011)
Then there were the crocodiles, many of them, basking, wallowing, swimming, lurking. Spotting one beast, the boatman manoeuvred up to a mud bank. We were very close to the crocodile – almost within reach. Everyone stood up, necks craned, and the boat tipped to the right. No-one seemed bothered – we were too busy gawking or taking photographs.
Next to me were three Australian men, young, burly and tanned, cattle hands from an outback station. One of them looked at my camera with its zoom lens. "You must see this sort of thing all the time," he said.
"Err, yes," I replied, wondering what he was on about. Then I clicked – he must have thought that I was a wildlife photographer, jetting around the world. For a moment I basked in utterly undeserved glory.
The crocodile lay on the bank, resting in dappled sunlight and shade. Its short and stubby limbs seemed oddly out of proportion to its muscular bulk. Its snout was open – the crocodile's smile - showing a set of jagged yellow teeth. These teeth are designed to hold, not chew – the crocodile can't swallow large prey, so it breaks carcasses into smaller pieces by rolling and threshing in the water.
Bony plates ran along the length of the crocodile's back and tail. Its scales were a mottled yellow and grey. Local Aborigines believe that in the Dreamtime, Ginga was a man. One day, while Ginga was sleeping, he rolled into a fire. His body was badly burnt and blistered, and he became a crocodile.
After a while the crocodile slid into the water. It swam effortlessly, only its head above water. Its yellow eyes seemed to track us. Clinging to the crocodile's face was a white lily flower. It gave the beast a dainty look, like caricatures of crocodiles in books, cartoons and movies. Remember 'Tick-tock' the saltwater crocodile who swallowed a clock in Peter Pan?
It seems strange, but seeing crocodiles like this almost lulled me into a false sense of security. Perhaps it has something to do with being so close to a deadly creature and yet being safe (this is a leitmotif of modern tourism – the sensation of danger without its ugly consequences). I reminded myself that if I fell into the water, my life would play out in seconds, minutes at most. There's nothing dainty about saltwater crocodiles, just sheer danger.
It's this visceral sense of 'nature, red in tooth and claw' that makes Kakadu a remarkable place to visit. It's a reminder that in the wild, everything is wary, everything lives on the edge, and everything, potentially, is prey.
1 Karen Michelmore, "Croc kills man, stalks mates", The Age, 24 December 2003.
2 Findings of the Inquest into the death of Isobel von Jordan, Coroner's Court, Darwin, 22 December 2004, file no. D0197/2002.
Posted at 13:54 in Birds, Crocodile, Kakadu, Wild | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: black-necked stork, crocodile, jabiru, kakadu


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Wednesday, November 23, 2011
DIY "Peter Pan Glitter Collar"
Here is how you can do a Peter Pan Glitter Collar. I already did a post about the other simillar one, but I decided to do this one as well.
Here is the nine steps how to do it:
1. Choose your fabric, must be a thick fabric like leather. (I used fake leather.)
2. Draw your collar on a paper and cut it out. (If you don't know how to do that, email me and we'll find a solution.)
3. On the inner side of the fabric pin your pattern.
4. With a pencil draw around the pattern.
5. Cut it out. (Try to really stick to the lines.)
6. Now you will need a brush, fabric glue, glitters and the collar.
7. Mix together glue and glitter. (Use a lot of glitter or you will have to add another layer. It has to be thick.)
8. Apply the mixture to the collar.
9. Wait for it to dry and wear it. :)
Here is how the back looks:
It's really easy to make so go and have fun! :)
If anyone decides to make this please share, I would love to see :)
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Author Unknown Oznake: Barby, Collar, DIY, DIY idea, First Blue Shoes, Glitter, Peter Pan Collar
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As a previous governess and former psychotherapist, I have eternally had a rampant notion about relations reinforced: We are creatures of craving and make over doesn't come up jammy for any of us. With admiration to our breathing environment, this is specifically echt. It more often than not takes whichever nice of jar or "smack in the face" to get us to muse devising changes in where on earth and how we be.
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The most recent and paramount lighting creativity is the heavy light restrained rhizome besides famous as the CFL. The oldest CFLs had more than a few definite drawbacks. Like most new technology, they were more pricey than their light counterparts, had disconnected tubes and ballasts and were reachable in vindicatory a controlled amount of shapes, sizes and the magnitude of feathery that they generated. These limitations ready-made the untimely CFLs slightly limited in position of quality and applications were routinely narrow to a moment ago the apt condition and want.
The bad matched quality of our civilization before long began to cue prodigious changes in all aspects of the CFL. If you haven't been hanging in the region of the lighting department in your district marital middle or munition store, you may be in for a astonish near honour to what is currently forthcoming to householder and company owners and why you should gravely balance devising any changes in the way you wishy-washy your state of affairs.Post ads:
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First, let's brand cost. Modern CFLs use give or take a few tierce the electricity and ending as considerably as ten modern times long than their light counterparts. For example, if you meditate on one lonesome 18 watt CFL in function of a comparable 75 w light bulb, terminated its lifetime, the CFL will bar you as more than as $30-$40 at an mediocre kWh unit outlay.
Remember, we are speaking in the region of honourable one rhizome. Multiply the figure of bulbs by the standard funds per stalk and you will be in for a concrete eye-opener.
Related to the fee fund provided by the CFL, let's also reflect on helpfulness. The prototypical CFL is up to 4 present time more modernized than its candent counterpart and will closing on border line ten contemporary world longer. Taking a 22-watt CFL as an example, it will create the said level of lights as a 100 power unit candent. Translated into sparkle efficiency, the CFL uses just about 60% less dash than a comparable light.
The characteristic of the buoyant generated by the newer CFLs has built radically concluded the quicker versions. Everyone is familiar next to the make colder light visage of the rash light. While this species of color saved oodles applications in factories and offices, it retributive wasn't causative to the strain of illumination maximum those desirable in their homes. Newer CFLs use in danger of extinction earth phosphors that can render a wide-ranging mixture of flag as well as those that expel a warm, yielding floaty that is lucky in a sentient environment. In addition, the newer CFLs include application that eliminates the pestering hum and flicker of the old versions.
The big word is that today's CFLs can be utilised just in the order of anyplace that the conformist light stem is in use. They can be nearly new in tabular array and horizontal surface lamps, on path lighting, in deep-set fixtures, in ceiling fixtures and even exterior. The up-to-the-minute engineering as well provides 3-way CFLs that can be utilized in lamps beside high, moderate and low settings and CFLs that can be in use beside a rheostat control are too now on the open market.
For the environmentally awake individuals, CLFs have been established to trim some air and hose smoke. For example, replacing vindicatory one light tuber next to a comparable CFL will downsize almost common fraction ton of CO2 complete the vivacity of the bulb. If using CFLs became the light course of evaluation for the complete country, we could stamp out a outsized cipher of physical phenomenon powerfulness undergrowth and their noxious by-products.
While the word roughly speaking change to CFL light is well-nigh all-positive, location are a few drawbacks or limitations that should be mentioned. Not all CFLs are dimmable. This application is in principle recent and the models that are accessible are therefore controlled. Be sure to painstakingly draft the parcel since purchase a CFL that you think to use next to a rheostat or in a 3-way wishy-washy. If you programme to purchase a CFL for use on a timer, be specially vigilant in making your action. While the mean CFL will mathematical relation beside a timer, its life will be a lot shorter.
Unfortunately almost all CFLs are not as long-lived when they are recurrently overturned on and off. Consider wherever you programme to pose CFLs and hold fast near an light tuber if this is an bring out (such as in closets, washables rooms, etc.).
Many CFLs don't emanate their rated pale even when utilized in an outdoor setting. The collection should let you know if the CFL is fit for exterior use.
CFLs are not designed to manoeuvre as spotlights so if you have a want for accent lighting in your warren or in a retail setting, it's leaders to see remaining alternative illumination.
Finally, CLFs incorporate teeny amounts of mercury, which is categorised as a nephrotoxic bits and pieces and may be released if the tuber is wrecked or when it is fain of. Take vigilance to remark local, state, and federal regulations with esteem to the disposal of this lethal bimetallic. If you happen to fall foul of a CFL use a wet rag and sell of both the bag and the pieces in a steadily hermetic plastic bag. Your regional employment midway may judge this refuse but if they don't, use your local trash pencil case fashioning definite to groom your keeping after disposal.
Under no circumstances, direct the dribble away bits and pieces to an furnace because it will simply rescue the hg into the character.
Some crucial libretto in the region of CFLs:
These fixtures are visible in a yawning variety of sizes, styles and shapes and have from two to six tubes. Some CFLs have the matter for good permanent and must be replaced as a unit time others have a standing apart rhizome and fixture which permits you to renew only the bulb.
These CFLs are forthcoming next to normative sockets, which are easily installed, in maximum house fixtures:
Triple conduit lamps render greater light in stunted areas victimisation shorter bulbs. These lamps are just right for table and linguistic process lamps as very well as for ajar hanging lamps. Spiral lamps are retributory as delineate and are routinely nearly new as replacements for candent pale bulbs. Globe lamps expression look-alike bunting candent bulbs and have a diffusor that will bring in a like velvet and good night light. Globe lamps are naturally utilised on room vanities and add the plus point of reducing the warmness in this area, which is routinely blazing by multiple bulbs. Flood lamps are planned for track and recessed illumination and can roughly be used both inside and open air. They impart a woolly light, which is diffused and generates notably smaller amount warmth than their light counterparts. Candelabra method CFLs are screw-in fixtures that have a slender base planned in the main for chandeliers. Socket reducers, unclaimed at best weapons system stores, may be needful to mutate these bulbs to faultless chandeliers and sconces.
While the bulk of this nonfictional prose focuses on the benefits of CFL lighting, other insubstantial well is decent more and more favorite. I'm discussion going on for crude visible radiation. Some DIY will muse installation a window(s) a focal undertaking and for the peak part, they are accurate. However, when considering new construction, skylights are surely an picking to in earnest think. While they may be a little more expensive to install, they will more than breed up the auxiliary bill completed the eld in small physical phenomenon bills. If you decide to lineman the job yourself, be in no doubt that the fanlight is a stiff fit and healthy caulked.
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I probability the content in this passing nonfictional prose has been functional and will turn out useful to you as you keep up to face for in good health and more efficient ways to street lamp your section of the global.


text:
Drew Nelson
CPA / Senior Operations Associate - 5 years experience
Drew Nelson joined BlackGold Capital Management LP in 2016 and is serving as Controller and Chief Compliance Officer. He is responsible for covering middle and back office functions along with compliance efforts of the firm. Mr. Nelson works closely with the firm's service providers and assists both the Investor Relations and Marketing teams. Prior to joining BlackGold, he was an Assurance Associate for PricewaterhouseCoopers from 2014 to 2016 where he participated in the audits of asset management companies including mutual funds, hedge funds, and private equity clients. Mr. Nelson is a cum laude honors graduate from Mays Business School at Texas A&M. He received his B.B.A. in Accounting and M.S. in Finance through the Professional Program of Accounting and is a registered Certified Public Accountant in the state of Texas.


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Yoko Ono Urges New Gun Control Laws
Since John Lennon was shot and killed on Dec. 8, 1980, his widow Yoko Ono has devoted herself to campaigning for stricter gun control legislation -- so it's only fitting that yesterday (March 21), Ono celebrated what should have been their 44th wedding anniversary by issuing a poignant reminder of what's at stake in the ongoing battle over our interpretation of the Second Amendment.
Ono tweeted to followers a photo of the glasses Lennon was wearing when he was murdered -- still splattered with the former Beatle's blood -- along with the caption "Over 1,057,000 people have been killed by guns in the U.S.A. since John Lennon was shot and killed on December 8, 1980."
That's the kind of grim imagery (and number) that speaks for itself, but Ono continued to address her followers, adding, "31,537 people are killed by guns in the U.S.A. every year. We are turning this beautiful country into war zone" and "Together, let's bring back America, the green land of peace."
She concluded with a fourth tweet, saying, "The death of a loved one is a hollowing experience. After 33 years our son Sean and I still miss him."
Ono's tweets coincided with widespread outrage over the removal of an assault-weapons ban from gun control legislation currently making its way through the U.S. Senate -- a decision memorably scorned with a harrowing cover of the New York Daily News.


text:
My darling Sadie,
All that second day, the storm kept on us. We ate, slept as we could, swapped lies, pissed as we had to, farted a lot in that godawful tiny tent, anything to pass the time. Darkness came again. If anything, I believe both of us were feeling more busted up than we had when the day started.
While it was still light out, I'd dug around in the snow–which by now was loincloth deep on a tall Indian–and finally managed to come up with my rifle. Never did find Stanley's long gun, though; that shooter was lost to us forever. Got a feeling it might be buried under that thousand pound, deep-frozen bear carcass.
If so, it's gonna have to stay there.
The bunged-up ankle wasn't too bad as long as I remembered to favor it and used the homemade crutch I'd fashioned out of a tree limb. Might be able to ride without too much misery.
If I had a horse.
Somewhere deep in the night, my eyes snapped open in the darkness. The sound–or rather the lack of sound–said it all.
The wind had quit blowing.
Stanley's breathing said he was awake, too, but neither of us spoke. What was there to say?
I went back to sleep. Slept like a baby, right through to first light. The dream had been powerful…and this time, there was a noise outside the tent. A critter, sure as shooting.
My hand touched my partner's shoulder briefly, and I slipped out of the tent, ghosting like some great snow snake–which, if memory served, was the way Grandpa Tam had done it against his renegade Blackfoot enemy, back in the day. Except that was in the deepest night.
Back to the tent briefly.
"Your plug-ugly mule and all three horses are right here, digging for grass like nothing ever happened."
"Ungh." Which meant, obviously, "What a f**king relief!".
"Pass me that coil of rope, wouldja?"
Remarkably, the animals not only let me approach and secure them without playing avoid-the-cowboy, but Rowdy and the mule had apparently decided they were blood brothers (or something) after all. No more giving each other the evil eye or nothing. Buddies to the end.
Must have been the bear attack. Runaway bonding.
"I do believe it was your mule that led the horses back here, Stanley." Crenshaw had made it out of the tent and onto his feet, though he was still obviously wobbly. "The thing is, I can't fer the life of me remember what you call this blessed beast."
The old man lifted his skunkskin cap to scratch his balding scalp. "Hunh. Know what? Neither can I."
"Maybe. Well, he's a dang mule. Guess I could call him Muley."
"Oh, come on! You can do better'n that!"
"Speak fer yourself, kid, I ain't none to sure my brain's as sharp as it was before getting buried under half a ton of bear."
"Speak fer myself? Yeah, okay…how 'bout…hmmm…how 'bout Sensible?"
"Say what?"
"Sensible. He was sensible enough to run from a beast that could shred him into muleburger and sensible enough to come back home to us when the coast was clear. Sensible."
"Sensible…why not. That's your new name, Sensible. Whaddya think of that?"
Sensible the mule promptly shook his head and snorted green snot all over the new-fallen snow. His way of registering approval, obviously.
By the time I'd unsaddled the animals, rubbed them down, repacked three pack horses' worth of gear onto two (since the third lay dead under the snow), resaddled our riding mounts, rigged a rope hackamore to replace Sensible's missing bridle (Rowdy still had his), and helped Stanley misery his way into the saddle, it was maybe an hour short of high noon.
But the sun was shining, the snow was melting, and we'd only had to ride a matter of a few hundred yards to find the "missing" road through Tennessee Pass.
That's right. To Hell with heading back to Leadville. Damn town was trying to keep us from leaving. At least, that's the way it felt to us.
Couldn't be we shared a deep stubborn streak and a hatred of backing water, or a refusal to let them Leadvillians know we'd been thumped by a lousy griz. Two Super Warriors like Skunk Man and the redoubtable Henry Julius Tamson, gunfighting bounty hunter of great renown? No way could any mere bruin be a problem for hee-roes like us.
Besides, once through the pass and dropping down the western slope, the going got easier with every mile. By midafternoon, we were outa the snow entirely. Even heavy-laden as they were, the two remaining pack horses–oh, and Sadie? Tell Susie that Bonnie is still with us, would you? The tail-end mare that got bear-killed was the extra I bought in Salida, not any animal she'd know.
Anyway, the horses could handle the loads okay as long as we didn't push it too hard.
Which none of us felt like doing, I can tell you that much. Rowdy didn't exactly limp, but the claw marks from the griz had left him a bit stiff both fore and aft on that right side, and my partner could barely sit his saddle at all.
Just at sunset, we came–stiff, sore, worn, and in Stanley's case, ill–to the town of Red Cliff.
Which was a good thing. Crenshaw was in trouble, and Red Cliff not only boasted two drugstores but also a doctor.
A woman doctor.
Never heard of such a thing, but there it is. Her name is Sharon Pecunie–that last name is Indian of some sort, I think, and she's got the cheekbones for it. Somewhere around forty or so, as tall as Mom but whipstock lean and smarter'n a whip, too.
Took one look at my partner and let us know in no uncertain terms: If we'd not stopped to see her, Stanley woulda been dead in a matter of a day or two at most. If we'd gone back to Leadville, where the doctors are in her opinion less skilled by far than they'd have the public believe, he also woulda died–maybe faster.
I get the impression she and the rest of the medical profession don't like each other much.
But she's good. We been here three days now, honey, and I finally realized I hadn't gotten this letter finished to go with the other. So here you go, the one wondering if we'd live, and the one telling you we definitely will, thanks to Doc Pecunie. Crenshaw is healing fast under her care. She ain't letting him outa her place, and I get the impression he's already got the hots for the lady sawbones something fierce.
Must have. He's up and around some, and not once has he bothered to freshen up his signature stink oil on his buckskins.
Whether or not she's got a thing fer crosseyed old imitation mountain men, it's too soon to tell.
That said, baby, we'll not be heading up to Wyoming this winter after all. Red Cliff has a Post Office, and you can send my mail here to the Southern Hotel, where I'm staying at least fer now. The locals argue some over the population, what with this still being mining boom country (though at just under 8,300 feet elevation instead of over 10,000). Best estimate seems to be around 300 Souls, and I can live with that.
Which is why I accepted the Marshal's job: This place ain't near as crowded as monster Leadville. Besides, when I was thinking it over yesterday, I saddled Rowdy up and rode out of town just for an hour or so, to clear my head.
Asked for a sign…and a huge hawk suddenly appeared out of nowhere, hovered right over my head.
Didn't crap on me or anything, so I figured it was saying, "Go for it!"
I ain't sure what the town fathers done with the old Marshal; it's kinda hard to git a straight answer out of 'em at times. Either they canned his ass fer cowardice (rumors abound) or he quit on his own or he's–well, there are plenty of tales out there, no two of 'em quite alike, and most of 'em growing some every time they're retold.
I may have a few Saturday Night Whoppers to tell when next I write. My first weekend on the job is coming right up, and they say it gets a little western around here on Saturday night. Plus, they were all-fired happy to be able to hire a renowned young gunfighter and snake-eyed bounty hunter such as myself fer a mere $60 a month plus meals at the Mountain Munch (yeah, that's what the owner calls it) plus half my room rent.
Gotta get this in the mail, honey.
From the county seat of Eagle County (and the oldest town in Eagle County to boot),
Love always,
Your Henry
My darling Henry,
Thank goodness, your letters arrived today. And you know what? Red Cliff sounds like a cool place for you to spend the winter.
Cool place. Winter. Get it?
You didn't say anything more after you got to Red Cliff about your own injuries, so I'm guessing your ankle's healing on its own. Glad to hear it's Stanley Crenshaw, not you, who's dinged up enough to need constant care from Sawbones Sharon. For any number of reasons!
But if I know my Henry, there'll be an eager female in that little town, sniffing around, before spring snow melt. They're drawn to you like moths to the flame, you know.
Seriously, baby, I'm awfully relieved to know for sure you're okay.
Because your brother Reggie…is not.
It's a shaggy dog story, but not one that takes long to tell. You know the Hopstead brothers, in their early twenties, dropped out of school way back. Shiftless, etc. etc. Well, it happened last Wednesday. School had just let out, and Reggie was walking with the rest of us back to the rental house, when we saw those two lowlifes kicking a dog out in the middle of the street. It was their dog, but that didn't make any difference.
He called those guys out. One thing led to another–mostly them telling Reggie what they did with their own dog was no rich bleeping Tamson's business, and Reggie getting all deathly quiet and losing color like he does when he goes into kill mode.
Deputy Markus happened to come around the corner just in time to see Reg kick Janus Hopstead between the legs so hard, it lifted him in the air a good two feet. Dennis Hopstead was already down for the count. Those two had swung first, but Markus said he could only go by what he saw–guess the rest of us Flywheel kids backing up your brother didn't count for much at that point.
So Reggie went to jail. Not for long; Mom was our chaperone that week, and she bailed him right back out in thirty minutes flat. But the Hopstead boys were some messed up, and Reggie's got to go to court tomorrow.
See, I don't think I've mentioned this till now, but Reggie put on an unbelievable slab of muscle this summer. Right now, I do believe he could Indian wrestle a buffalo and win. All that raw power crushed the nuts of Janus so the word is, he won't be siring the next generation of hapless Hopsteads. Plus, Dennis has a busted jaw they had to wire shut and a cracked kneecap, and they've got a bunch of lesser dings.
Nobody's too worried about the court thing–the consensus is, probably a fine for trying to tell other folks what they can or can't do with their own property, pay for the medical costs on those two rounders, and that'll be that.
But the whole Flywheel bunch kind of agrees that after the court date, Reggie needs to get out of town for a while. So he's going to skip out on school for a whole month and go on the Box Boy exchange run to the Reservation. It'll do him good to travel with both Cougar and Tam for all that time–they're both going–and to see how the Utes live on their home turf. All that.
Plus, it'll keep him out of reach of the Hopsteads for a few weeks. I haven't been told or anything, but I'll bet you a dollar to a doughnut hole, Reg is going to learn a whole lot about strategy and tactics from his Dad and Granddad on this journey.
Which he'll need, 'cause as you know, that whole Hopstead clan is nothing but a bunch of mean, low-minded, worthless weasels. They couldn't possibly take on Flywheel straight up and come out of the confrontation in one piece, but they'll try something.
Love and lust,
Your Sadie


text:
"Finally, I suspect that it is by entering that deep place inside us where our secrets are kept that we come perhaps closer than we do anywhere else to the One who, whether we realize it or not, is of all our secrets the most telling and the most precious we have to tell." Frederick Buechner
Sunday, August 24, 2014
But, who do you say that I am?
28 comments:
"Not that it will make a real difference, because I believe with all my heart that you'll be welcomed into heaven, no matter what."
Contrary to the preaching of Christ and the unbroken teaching of the Church, from beginning to recently. Any evidence besides your self-assertion that this is true?
- Mon Aug 25, 07:32:00 PM
- Elizabeth Kaeton said...
Oh, Hi, Michael.
Here's the thing: Belief is a choice. You choose to believe what you believe. You don't have to believe what I believe. I don't have to believe what you believe. It's your choice. My choice.
That's because God gave us (1) intellect (2) free will. And, Jesus gave us (3) grace when we fail and (4) The Holy Spirit gives us guidance and hope.
No gift of humility. That's something you have to work for. I recommend it highly.
- Mon Aug 25, 09:27:00 PM
- Elizabeth Kaeton said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- Mon Aug 25, 09:27:00 PM
- MarkBrunson said...
Well answered to Michael, Elizabeth. So many conservatives want to be "special," "better," "greater." They posit a loving God, then go on to do everything they can to deny it.
Like you, I believe all will be welcomed - but many will make their own Hell in Heaven. Especially when they find the wrong sort there.
Who is Jesus to me? The First. The Guide. The Model. The True Awakened One. Otherwise, why would He have told us that we would do as He had and even greater?
- Wed Aug 27, 12:03:00 AM
"Belief is a choice." Yes, but you preached this from a presumably Christian pulpit. If you were some poorly catechized blogger typing away in obscurity, that's one thing. But here it is a message delivered as part of worship in a Christian community.
While you speak of intellect, your intellect is fully aware that universal salvation has been condemned by Christians everywhere for the vast majority of our history. And yet you freely choose to reject that datum and preach a gospel of your own invention.
"The Holy Spirit gave us guidance and hope." True, but He did not give each and every one of us infused knowledge of the Last Things. For those, we are primarily reliant on Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Lord Jesus Himself. And the Gospels are far from universalist, as you well know.
"No gift of humility." That's rich coming from someone who apparently considers herself a superior source of divine revelation than the Holy Bible and preaches accordingly.
- Wed Aug 27, 01:16:00 AM
"No gift of humility." That's rich coming from someone who has apparently decided that her subjective guesses about the afterlife trump the authority of Sacred Scripture and the recorded preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
It's one thing if you were some obscure New Agey blogger nobody reads. But this heretical universalism being expressed at a pulpit in the context of Christian worship: just wow.
- Wed Aug 27, 01:20:00 AM
- Elizabeth Kaeton said...
Well, Mark,
He's at it again. See below. Not a shred of humility in that man. His way or the highway.
Le sigh. Jesus loves him, anyway. They'll have a good laugh together when they get to heaven. Yes, even Michael will get into heaven. He's not surprised about that. He WILL be surprised to see the rest of us there. And then, we'll ALL join Jesus in a hearty laugh.
- Wed Aug 27, 07:54:00 AM
- Elizabeth Kaeton said...
Michael, Michael, Michael,
Take a breath, honey.
It's going to be all right. Really. Just because you choose to believe a certain interpretation of scripture doesn't make it right. I mean, for thousands of years, people believed what the bible says: that the world is flat, that left handed people are sinister, that people with seizure disorder are possessed by demons, and women with their menses were unclean, and men who masturbate would go to hell for "wasting seed" and God would punish anyone who ate shellfish or pork or got a tattoo or collected interest from the bank or ate the grain that came from the outer edges of the field.
That's not all of the things people once believed that are in the bible, but some people still choose to believe that stuff, contrary to evidence right in front of their noses.
And, you know what? Jesus loves them, anyway. They are absolutely entitled to believe whatever they want to believe. To use their intellect or not.
But, if you choose to elevate the beliefs you have chosen over the beliefs I have chosen, you have absolutely no evidence to prove your claim except to say that lots of people have believed what you've believed, even though most of those people are no longer living.
And, well, that just makes you arrogant. It also doesn't do much to prove that you are using the intellect God gave you. And, you know, I really do think that pisses God off.
I can't prove that, of course. But, the next time there's a "natural disaster" like a flood or a hurricane, you go ahead and choose to believe that God is punishing us for homosexuality or abortion or whatever it is you believe. And, and I'll giggle thinking that God is pissed off b/c you believe that. And, when we both get to heaven, we'll all have a good laugh with Jesus about all this stuff.
Yes, Michael, I'll see you in heaven. I choose to believe that Jesus loves me and, for some reason absolutely unknown to me, Jesus loves you, too.
Have a GREAT day!
- Wed Aug 27, 08:04:00 AM
- MarkBrunson said...
Oh, I knew he would. Pity him. It must be terrible to believe the entire world is in some vast conspiracy against you, personally, because you are God's ONE! TRUE! Voice (pat.pend. all rights reserved).
If Hell is aloneness, then Michael is in a particularly cold one. No Living God, a world against him, his only companions paper wrapped in dead animal skin, and his own hate and fear.
- Thu Aug 28, 12:16:00 AM
- Elizabeth Kaeton said...
I know. As insufferable as he is when he visits my blog, imagine being related to him and having to live with him! Or being a member in his church! It's such a tedious responsibility to be right ALL the time and know ALL the answers.
But, I guess, someone has to do it. In that way, Michael is doing us a service, I suppose. See? That way, neither you nor I don't have to do it. He's doing it for us.
Le sigh.
- Thu Aug 28, 07:03:00 AM
- Bex said...
I hope you guys never encounter "Atheist Max" who hogs the comments at Religion News Service. He makes Michael look like the soul of reason.
- Thu Aug 28, 02:34:00 PM
- Elizabeth Kaeton said...
Why on earth would someone named "Atheist Mark" make any comment on a Religious New Service site?
Never mind. Probably for the same reason Michael comes here, reads what I have to say and then leaves a comment.
Arrogance. Sheer arrogance.
- Sat Aug 30, 06:21:00 PM
"Arrogance. Sheer arrogance."
Let's see. Jesus spoke about Hell how many times? Quite a few.
Jesus spoke about everybody going to Heaven how many times? Zero.
What percentage of Christians have held, or currently hold, to the existence of Hell? Very high.
What percentage of Christians have believed in a human-free Hell? A very small percentage. Those churches foolish enough to believe the balderdash are currently dying, TEC among them. God is not mocked.
XY Michael
- Sun Aug 31, 03:20:00 AM
- Elizabeth Kaeton said...
So, Michael,
The bible says that the world is flat. Jesus said that how many times? None. And yet, the bible still says that the world is flat. Neither Jesus nor any of his disciples said anything to contradict that belief. No, not one. And, how many people for how many centuries believed that? Tons.
Does that mean that the world is flat? Absolutely not. And yet, there are still those in the world who believe that the earth was created in six days and that there were dinosaurs roaming the earth right along side Jesus. Why? Because it says so, right there in the Bible.
Jesus also had some pretty strong things to say about divorce and remarriage. Does YOUR church allow divorce and remarriage? Why yes, yes, as a matter of fact, it does. Even though Jesus was pretty clear about being four-square agin' it.
And, did Jesus ever say a mumblin' word about homosexuality? Nosireebob. No, he absolutely did not. But, we all know what YOU think about homosexuality, Michael.
So, while you pick and choose, cafeteria style, what you choose to believe, you'll excuse me if I return to my original argument: Belief is a choice. Faith is a gift.
Here's where we agree, Michael: God is not mocked.
I'd be real careful, if I were you.
- Sun Aug 31, 03:09:00 PM
- George Waite said...
Religion is pitiful. It's most common in backwards, dysfunctional societies.
You can't prove any of it. The Fundiegelicals and the "Progressives" are mirror images of each other.
- Tue Sep 02, 11:44:00 AM
"The bible says that the world is flat." Book, chapter, and verse please.
"Does YOUR church allow divorce and remarriage? Why yes, yes, as a matter of fact, it does." Hmm, that's strange. I was just speaking with a parishioner this past weekend, dealing with the horrible pastoral case of her husband who left their marriage after 20+ years. Right now, it certainly doesn't seem like she has strong grounds for annulment, so we discussed the difficult future she is now facing. She certainly wasn't planning on living a sexless life or lacking a life partner for the rest of her life and yet, that is the prospect she is facing. Remarrying was not part of our discussion.
"And, did Jesus ever say a mumblin' word about homosexuality? Nosireebob. No, he absolutely did not."
Nor did he need to, the Jews among whom He ministered understanding quite well the sinful nature of sexually active SS activity. He also didn't speak about child slavery and idolatry (in the classic sense). These didn't exist in his pastoral context.
This SS activity certainly existed in St. Paul's context, which is why the Holy Spirit inspired him to write what he does in Romans and elsewhere.
- Tue Sep 02, 10:00:00 PM
- Elizabeth Kaeton said...
Hi, George. Trolling again, I see. Believing as you do, why do you even bother? Never mind. Don't answer that. I think I know.
- Wed Sep 03, 08:37:00 PM
- Elizabeth Kaeton said...
1. Read Genesis. Read the history of the R.C.C. Read how they just recently apologized to Galileo because he said the earth wasn't flat. (Do try to keep up.)
2. If you aren't talking annulment for that woman whose husband of 20 years left her, you are an inordinately cruel man for whom the word "Pastoral" has absolutely no application.
3. Re: The silence of Jesus regarding homosexuality: So you, in your arrogance say. Maybe he said nothing because he knew that what was being condemned was heterosexual men using children (Temple prostitutes) for their own sexual gratification and that it had absolutely nothing to do with two people of the same sex who love one another. I mean, besides the fact that "homosexuality" wasn't a word known in antiquity and didn't show up in biblical translations until the late 1930s.
4. See also: Temple prostitutes. Besides which, if ever there was a sexually conflicted, phobic human being it was St. Paul.
Really, Michael? That's all you got? Just tired, old, worn out, easily disproven assertions? Seriously? Man, it's no fun dealing with amateurs. You make it waaay too easy.
- Wed Sep 03, 08:48:00 PM
- MarkBrunson said...
Ah! I see our sad little Brad is still furiously masturbating to public humiliation. I've never understood getting turned on by appearing to be a clown in public, but . . . there he is, with his relatively new name of George.
As for Michael. Really, Elizabeth, you should be ashamed. A battle of wits with him is like watching you box a toddler! :D
- Thu Sep 04, 01:38:00 AM
- Elizabeth Kaeton said...
Hi, Mark,
George (Brad) is so dishonest, he can't even sign his real name. Pity the fool.
And, speaking of which, what really annoys me about Michael, I mean, in addition to all of his fussing and fuming about who gets into heaven (and, isn't that JUST so silly, seeing as no one has ever been and come back to tell us for certain, so he just points to millions of people over thousands of years who have believed whatever the Bible says, even though there's now evidence that much of it is wrong. Le sigh) is that he didn't even appreciate the joke about the Episcopal priest.
I mean, really! His arrogance clouds his ability to think AND laugh and even robs him of the opportunity to take a pot shot against a group of clergy he DETESTS. (I'm thinking he was turned down in an ordination process in some Episcopal Diocese somewhere, what do you think? Or worse, that a woman - or a gay man (HORRORS!)- made it through and he didn't. )
Le sigh.
- Thu Sep 04, 09:28:00 AM
- George Waite said...
How do you know that Brad and Michael and George aren't all the same man? Or a member of the transgendered female community?
- Thu Sep 04, 03:46:00 PM
- Elizabeth Kaeton said...
Because I do.
Besides, why in heaven's name would a trans woman, who is trying to be who she is with great honesty and integrity and at great personal, emotional, spiritual (and, in many cases, financial) cost, bother trying to be anonymous for a blog - especially one that is a sermon about the identity of Jesus?
That only makes sense in the mind of someone who obviously, as we say, has "issues".
- Thu Sep 04, 06:19:00 PM
- MarkBrunson said...
What's adorable, Elizabeth, is he actually thinks he's opaque, actually believes he's fooling someone.
That's what makes his comedy act so amusing!
- Fri Sep 05, 01:49:00 AM
Another wow. The Galileo affair had nothing to do with the flat earth theory. I offer you a couple quick reads to demonstrate that no educated European held that position for centuries prior to Galileo.
The heliocentrism vs. geocentrism debate Galileo was engaged in had nothing to do with a "flat earth."
I'm too tired this evening to rehash the GLBT thing. Same old, same old. I don't post much about it anymore. I think it will taken act of grace to bring repentance regarding the subject for those locked into that lifestyle and their straight enablers. But this new foray into the universalist heresy, especially in a homily-- it's not a good thing.
Let me dissuade you from the speculation that I'm a dissatisfied ex-TECster. On the contrary, I'm a cradle Roman Catholic. Never occurred to me be a member of TEC, much less seek ordination in that church. My interest in TEC is based upon its reputation as "Catholic Lite." To me, TEC is the canary in the mineshaft. I observe the theological and moral faults TEC exhibits as it struggles in contemporary America and then I watch like a hawk to fight those same tendencies whenever they arise in the RCC.
- Fri Sep 05, 02:24:00 AM
- Elizabeth Kaeton said...
I dunno, Mark,
I suppose I should find it flattering and think myself pretty special that this bozo atheist who doesn't have the cajones to use his real identity and this decidedly mean spirited, bigoted RC man who actually thinks he's pastoral come to my blog - and return to my blog frequently.
I don't.
It just leaves me wondering what's wrong with them.
I don't spend much time wondering about that, but I do scratch my head every now and again when they leave a comment here, or I see them over at some of the other blogs - especially when I see Michael leave a comment over at the conservative, "orthodox" blogs.
Me thinks they both protest too much.
- Fri Sep 05, 08:45:00 AM
- Elizabeth Kaeton said...
Michael -
Here's a nickel's worth of unsolicited advice:
Swim in your own lane.
You're in waaaay over your head, buddy. This ain't "Catholic light".
The Episcopal Church takes scripture too seriously to take it literally.
- Fri Sep 05, 08:52:00 AM
Dear EK - About the trollers: among those who think God is constantly testing us, they can be explained as the ones who fail ... and fail and fail ... to love one another, because they're so busy judging and rejecting ... and they lack the imagination to posit that God created all of us in our astonishing diversity to test our commitment to follow the directive to love one another, no matter what.
I don't actually think God is all that interested in the constant test business (seems more like a human construction designed to sort people into categories of worth) ... way too limited and boring an activity for One of limitless potential ... seems to me Christ was here to tell us to drop the nonsense whereas the trollers thrive on divisiveness and exactly the sort of nonsense that destroys the Word by turning it into a weapon.
- Fri Sep 05, 10:08:00 PM
- Elizabeth Kaeton said...
Amen, Marthe. Amen.
And, thank you.
- Sat Sep 06, 10:02:00 AM


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DURHAM, NC – The VA healthcare system is providing racially equitable care in terms of time to initiation of treatment and referral to supportive care for lung cancer patients, according to a new analysis.1
Researchers from the Center of Excellence for Health Services Research in Primary Care, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, in Durham, NC, noted that the "small racial difference in survival time of approximately two weeks is not clinically meaningful," calling for future studies to "validate this possible trend prospectively, with longer periods of follow-up, in other veteran groups."
Background in the article, which was published in the journal Cancer Management and Research, stated that non-small cell lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the United States, with patients in the late stages having five-year survival rates of only 2% to 15%. Time to receiving recommended care and survival are measures of care quality.
For the study, researchers used data from the External Peer Review Program, a nationwide VA quality-monitoring program, focusing on Caucasian or African American patients with pathologically confirmed late-stage non-small cell lung cancer in 2006 and 2007. Three quality measures were examined: (1) treatment initiation, (2) palliative care or hospice referral, and (3) death.
Study authors report that, after controlling for patient and disease characteristics, there were no racial differences in time to initiation of treatment (72 days for African-American vs. 65 days for Caucasian patients, hazard ratio 1.04, P = 0.80) or palliative care or hospice referral (129 days vs. 116 days, hazard ratio 1.10, P = 0.34).
The adjusted model, however, found longer survival for African-American patients than for Caucasian patients (133 days vs. 117 days, hazard ratio 0.31, P < 0.01).
- Zullig LL, Carpenter WR, Provenzale DT, Weinberger M, Reeve BB, Williams CD, Jackson GL. The association of race with timeliness of care and survival among Veterans Affairs health care system patients with late-stage non-small cell lung cancer. Cancer Manag Res. 2013 Jul 24;5:157-63. doi: 10.2147/CMAR.S46688. Print 2013. PubMed PMID: 23900515; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3726302.
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Most read Realitybase posts in October 2013
The Dysfunction and Corruption of Our Healthcare System, Its Damage to the National Economy and other Basic Healthcare Matters (Guest Post) Describing a system that is destroying global competitiveness of American business, that violates fundamental insurance risk principles, and that has inherent conflicts of interest preventing quality national health care delivery and cost efficiency; and proposing a solution.
The other American Dream of rising incomes—Horatio Alger stories One of my earliest and longest inquiries into upward socioeconomic mobility in America. The rate of upward mobility has been declining since 1980, and Horatio Alger stories are now more likely to occur in Denmark, Norway, Finland, Canada, Australia, and other advanced nations than in the US.
The American Dream died in February 1973. With graphs showing stagnation of inflation-adjusted middle class incomes since the 1970s after strong and steady post-WWII growth.
In reporting about a rigorous statistical analysis showing different rates of intergenerational income mobility, NYT leads with stuff they just made up. The article bungles the reporting of a significant new study by saying that commuting difficulties were found to cause reduced intergenerational income mobility. The study does not say anything like that, as the author (David Leonhardt) clarifies in a blog post pointing out a striking similarity between the map of immobility and the map of race. The Executive Summary of the study is quoted in my post.
The Citigroup Plutonomy Memos With key quotations from documents that are being disappeared. This post has been the #1 response to a Google search for "plutonomy memo."
Two hypotheses for why US CEO pay is so high Charts show that US CEO pay is about double that in other advanced countries, meaning there is either a shortage of talent in the US or the US CEO pay market is broken.
How mortgage backed securities increased systemic risk The securitization of mortgages and other debt obligations gives senior tranche holders less risk of individual defaults, but increases the risk to a general economic downturn. The increase in systemic risk was not generally appreciated but is demonstrated by Coval, Jurek, and Stafford in The Economics of Structured Finance. The paper contains exceptionally lucid descriptions of how structured finance works and uses simple examples to demonstrate the sources and magnitudes of systemic risks. This post is my summary of the paper.
The history of US per-capita petroleum consumption will surprise you. A graph and other data show US per-capita consumption of petroleum is down substantially from the 1970s, has been very stable since 1983 because of CAFE standards, and has fluctuated only slightly with retail price changes.
America's foreign trade agreements have not only been bad for jobs and deficits but have actually been bad for trade as well. US trade deficits have worsened by 440% with FTA countries while improving 7% with non-FTA countries. US exports to FTA partners have increased more slowly than have exports to non-FTA partners. Quoting a deputy US trade representative telling Koreans they should expect their trade surpluses to go up after the Korean FTA, which has happened. I name several goals that are more important to US trade negotiators than "trade." Links to data.
Comparative Advantage—The Unicorn of Free Trade Collection of sources and analyses demonstrating that the assumptions of classic Ricardian trade theory rarely if ever align with real-world conditions.


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Heather joined CAPTEL as a Client Representative in 2006 and was promoted to Director of the company's Wyoming office in August, 2008. With her positive energy, she has managed the dramatic expansion of client work and staffing at the company's Western office.
Heather takes great pride in being a fourth generation Thermopolis, Wyoming native, and, as mother to her daughter Rhiannon. She hails from a long line of Wyoming ranchers and quarter horse breeders. Heather continues in the family tradition of caring for and riding horses, which she enjoys with her daughter. Heather is an active volunteer in her local community, and directs CAPTEL's annual sponsorship of the Thermopolis PRCA Cowboy Rendezvous Rodeo and barrel racing competition.


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Bring money and mortality together and you have an unstable mix. The more important these values and issues are in a society the greater the likelihood the discussions and debates blow up in the smoke and fire of self-interest.
That is the sad sum and outcome of the United States' healthcare 'debate'. A conversation over proposals aimed at helping the less fortunate has become twisted by those who profit from the status quo who have abetted ideological warfare alongside the true believers in the long and dishonorable tradition of willful ignorance. Much like what has happened to peace plans in other troubled parts of the world. That millions suffer through being uninsured or underinsured in the U.S. and poverty in others is just collateral damage.
Unfortunately the refrain from the business community--the one constituency that could bang heads to work this out--has been 'we don't want any pay more either in premiums or taxes or put up with what we fear is more red tape'. Yet is this attitude and approach really in their best interests, let alone the nation's?
Have businesses especially really taken a hard look of what the total costs of the healthcare crisis inflicts on their bottom lines? How can their books benefit when staff comes in injured or sick to work when they can't afford to get adequate treatment? When staff benefit-shop: jumping from company to company to stay alive and well? When individuals leave flexible part-time jobs or independent contractor work for benefit-paying full time employment?
Is it in the employers' best interests to collectively pay huge sums for administration, back office, and overhead, including marketing, customer care, and billing/collections contact centers and their underlying technologies? Dollars shelled out by them and their employees that could have gone instead to keeping employees and families well and keeping their costs down? Shouldn't they be demanding streamlining of the present bloated industry?
Shouldn't businesses also be demanding increased effectiveness of medical services delivery by demanding a nationwide standardized intermediate caregiver level, between MDs and RNs, who can make diagnoses and prescribe and administer treatments now carried out ad hoc by PAs, nurse practicioners, and in emergencies, by highly-trained paramedics? Would this not save huge sums while providing more immediate and widespread higher quality of care?
Moreover shouldn't those also who underwrite health costs be asking where is the bottom-line value in having huge resources going into prolonging the lives of those terminally ill by another six to eight months to live, in subsidizing doctors and their attendant infrastructure? When those resources can be used more effectively with more caring and less suffering through palliative care and in enabling others to get well better, quicker, back to work, happy, and productive? As The World According to Garp author John Irving put it: "we are all terminal cases."
Contact centers, and contact-center-dependent organizations especially ought to take a hard look at whether the existing system works for them. They are the ones who get hit the most on turnover, sick days, and high healthcare costs.
Not that the United States is alone in facing healthcare issues. Other countries have been debating how to manage rising costs amidst aging populations, with matters such as physician shortages and wait times. There is ongoing fighting between established medical interests and with other spending and fiscal priorities, with no quick fixes. There too the business communities have washed their hands even though their firms as a whole are impacted.
There needs to leadership in both the U.S. and in other countries to triage such debates, to look beyond their constrictively-defined self-interests to where their goods and society's meet, and engage in truly rational discussions about what is best for their societies. In this process there needs to be second and third opinions, and compromises and consensus.
Only in this fashion will there be courses of treatment fashioned for the healthcare systems that may not be ideal and will require some effort on the patients' parts but which are best prescriptions for their, and society's long-term survivability.


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How to Make Paper Flowers, Tissue Flowers Tutorial1:17 PM
I made a ton of these tissue flowers as centerpieces for my husband and I's reception. We just used dollar store vases and glass jars and let people take them home as a favor. I haven't made any since then but I wanted to add an accent color of blue into or living room and thought this would be a great way. It's super easy! For the ones I did for my reception I used one pastel tissue paper and 2 sheets of white tissue paper, this helped to create variation in color which made it look more realistic. I tried this method with the blue used in this tutorial and it did not look good, so I opted to not use white in this project and only suggest it with pastel colors. Click here too see one I made for our reception with one sheet of yellow and 2 sheets of white.
3-4 tissue papers 20"x20" (will make 4 flowers)
long twist ties (I got mine at the dollar store during gardening season)
sharp scissors
lay the tissues down flat and smooth out (if your using white and pastels alternate the colors), and lay on top of each other.
|fold accordian style, about 1/2 inch.
|cut into 4 pieces (this pic, cut in half and then half again)
|cut the twist tie to twice the desired length and wrap the twist tie around and cut the ends in a rounded shape
|spread out the folds
|pull each layer apart towards the center till you are satisfied with the look
|twist the steam until you are satisfied with the length
|You are Done!


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When your gunite or vinyl pool is suffering from extensive wear and tear, we can revitalize it. We can even change the size and shape of your pool or add a stamped concrete design to improve its look and increase its value. There are also options for adding hot tubs and waterfalls.
Contact BAKER•BUTLER POOLS AND SPAS to get a free estimate on your swimming pool remodeling project.


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I can not believe how behind I am. Seriously. My students have just finished up a unit on Colonial America. To end the unit they had to write a speech as if they were a colonial child during that time. They had to pick their colony, where they lived (farm, plantation, town, etc), and their speech had to accurately reflect that. They somehow had to sneak in something about their economy, geography, education, daily life, and politics. They did SUCH a great job! Then...for the FUN PART!
You upload a photo, place a mouth, record your speech, and tada! Your photo speaks! So, so, so cool! Since this I've used blabberize to introduce units, tell my students important announcements when I'm sick, and review units. Currently they are working on blabberizing an animal to explain what kind of ecosystem it lives in.
*You do need to login. I used my email and a very generic password and all my students share. That way I have access to them to grade them.
Have fun! Share ideas below!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Happy New Year! Blabberize!
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Plymouth Argyle
Coverage of the League One clash between Plymouth and Scunthorpe.
Next Game: Walsall vs. Plymouth Argyle - Saturday, September 2 at 3pm in League One
|Current League Standings
|Plymouth Argyle
|Rotherham United
Follow @sportsmole for the latest breaking news stories, and follow @sm_headlines to get every headline from Sports Mole
Plymouth Argyle loan Celtic striker Nadir CiftciPlymouth Argyle announce that they have completed the season-long loan signing of Celtic striker Nadir Ciftci.
Aug 21, 16:07
Reading handed home tie in League Cup first roundBeaten Championship playoff finalists Reading are handed a home tie against League One side Gillingham in the first round of the 2017-18 League Cup.
Jun 16, 13:16
PFA announces Championship, League One and League Two Teams of the YearThe PFA announces its respective teams of the year for the Championship, League One and League Two, ahead of the organisation's awards ceremony on April 23.
Apr 20, 09:45
Plymouth Argyle, Portsmouth promoted to League OneThe final two automatic promotion spots are wrapped up in League Two, with Plymouth Argyle and Portsmouth joining Doncaster Rovers in going up.
Apr 17, 17:16
Liam Kelly given six-game suspension for shove on ball-boyLiam Kelly will miss Leyton Orient's next six matches after being found guilty of violent misconduct by the Football Association for pushing a ball-boy.
Feb 17, 20:30
Plymouth Argyle want FA action on Leyton Orient captain for alleged ball-boy pushPlymouth Argyle want the Football Association to take action on Liam Kelly after the Leyton Orient captain allegedly pushed a ball-boy in Tuesday's game between the two sides.
Feb 15, 20:32
David Goodwillie leaves Plymouth Argyle after 'rape' rulingDavid Goodwillie leaves League Two side Plymouth Argyle "by mutual agreement" after a judge ruled that he had raped a woman in 2011.
Jan 25, 12:39
Jurgen Klopp: 'Liverpool players looked embarrassed at times'Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp believes that some of his players "were embarrassed to be losing challenges" during Wednesday's FA Cup third-round tie with Plymouth Argyle.
Jan 18, 22:42
Result: Liverpool win in FA Cup thanks to rare goal from Lucas LeivaLiverpool record a 1-0 win over Plymouth Argyle in their FA Cup third-round replay at Home Park after Lucas Leiva nets his first goal in seven years.
Jan 18, 21:39
Live Commentary: Plymouth Argyle 0-1 Liverpool - as it happenedRelive Sports Mole's live coverage of Liverpool's 1-0 victory over Plymouth Argyle in their FA Cup third-round replay at Home Park.
Jan 18, 18:45
David Goodwillie, David Robertson ruled as rapistsDavid Goodwillie and David Robertson are ordered to pay £100,000 in damages after a judge finds that they jointly raped a woman in 2011.
Jan 17, 12:37
Liverpool ready to defy FIFA over Joel Matip?Liverpool are reportedly ready to defy FIFA and play Joel Matip in their FA Cup replay with Plymouth Argyle despite the ongoing uncertainty regarding his eligibility.
Jan 16, 21:22
FA reveals televised FA Cup fourth-round fixturesThe Football Association reveals that six games will be televised during the FA Cup fourth round on the final weekend in January.
Jan 13, 17:04
FA Cup holders Manchester United face 2013 winners Wigan Athletic in fourth roundThe draw for the fourth round of the FA Cup on Monday sees holders Manchester United drawn against 2013 winners Wigan Athletic.
Jan 9, 19:24
Jake Jervis: 'Plymouth Argyle deserved FA Cup draw against Liverpool'Plymouth Argyle striker Jake Jervis believes that his side's goalless draw at Liverpool in the FA Cup was "deserved".
Jan 8, 15:55
Result: Young Liverpool side held by Plymouth Argyle at AnfieldPlymouth Argyle hold an inexperienced Liverpool side to a goalless draw at Anfield to set up an FA Cup third-round replay.
Jan 8, 15:26
Team News: Loris Karius, Joe Gomez start for Liverpool in FA Cup clashJoe Gomez and Loris Karius return to the Liverpool lineup to face Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup.
Jan 8, 12:35
Live Commentary: Liverpool 0-0 Plymouth Argyle - as it happenedRelive Sports Mole's live text coverage of Liverpool's goalless draw with Plymouth Argyle, as the League Two side held out for a third-round replay.
Jan 8, 12:31
Jordan Henderson a doubt for Plymouth Argyle FA Cup clashLiverpool manager Jurgen Klopp reveals that captain Jordan Henderson is a doubt for the FA Cup clash with Plymouth Argyle due to a heel injury.
Jan 2, 21:18
Football Association announces televised FA Cup gamesThe Football Association reveals which FA Cup third-round fixtures will be televised in January, with West Ham United's game with Manchester City kicking off the weekend.
Dec 8, 18:51


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Crowdfunding is one of the newer tools in the funding box for adventure. It comes in three categories.
- Charity funding
- Project funding
- Micro-payments
charity funding
Where the justification for the adventure (or challenge) is to raise money for charity.
project funding
Not many adventurers blatantly raise funds to pay for the costs of their trip. It seems to veer too close to asking other people to pay for your holiday, and it doesn't get a great response. Most commonly funds are solicited to cover the costs of making a film about the trip. Having a funded film then makes it much easier to interest other sponsors.
micro payments
Some adventurers solicit micro-payments from their 'fans'. It is normally done in exchange for ongoing content, such as podcasting or blogging. Again it is unlikely to work just for you to wander off adventuring.
In all cases, crowd funding comes from your network. This is crucial! The crowdfunding platforms provide an infrastructure to promote your project and receive the money. They are not there to channel strangers into your fanbase.
When a crowdfunder catches fire, it is not because they crafted the perfect video or had magic words in their pitch. It's because they spent months/years building a following and then weeks of detailed work before launch firing up their fanbase and adapting their pitch to work for their audience.
helpful resource
Khierstyn Ross @khierstynross (quoted above) runs the CrowdfundingUncut podcast. Check out this episode with Jake Heilbrunn @Jake_Heilbrunn, who successfully crowdfunded a self-published book Off The Beaten Trail "An inspiring memoir about my soul searching journey leaving college to backpack through Central America & what I learned along the way."


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Crisp, Clear and COLD!
Good morning, Steamboat! Thank goodness for inversions because today is a frigid one out there! Don't let the cold temperatures turn you away from skiing or riding because the sun is shining and the snow is sparkling.
As I pulled into the parking lot, my car thermometer read -7 degrees. Dang! But as I made my way up the gondola and then up Storm Peak Express, the temperature warmed up considerably. Inversions are common here in Steamboat, and today we are especially thankful! Before writing today's blog, Switchboard Kent informed me that it was a balmy 20 degrees at the top of Storm Peak while still reading -1 at the base.
Today was a day I like to call the conditions 'hero snow'. The manicured corduroy allows for carving perfect railroad-track arcs. The cold, grippy snow lets you gracefully set your ski on edge, and easily stand on it while it makes a perfect carve in the snow. Today's early risers got a taste of the best 'hero snow' around. Hard to believe it's barely December because our coverage is great! More trails are opening nearly every day.
The remnants of the last couple days of powder were evident at the side of the runs. I couldn't help but to pop into the trees along Rudi's Run, Rainbow and Buddy's Run just to get a first teaser taste of the Champagne Powder that is sure to surprise us many times over this winter.
On days like today, be sure to cover up all exposed skin. If skiing or riding with friends, do each other favors and check for frostbite on noses and cheeks. It doesn't take much for your skin to freeze, and when it does, it takes longer to heal and is more damaging than you realize. Cover white, frostbitten skin immediately and go inside to warm up.
I'm headed back out to eat up some more 'hero' corduroy!
Happy Skiing and Riding,
Brett Buckles, Alpine skier
Follow #SteamboatResort:Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
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