text:
Sea Serpent™
TM/MC EnTechneVision, Inc., lic. use/usager lic. KIDOONS Inc.
The KIDOONS Network presents Sea Serpent! Meet the little fish's friends, the shark, the eel, the whale and the wise sea-cow as they discover a new species of fish or a very odd object which they call the Sea Serpent. Read it now and join our friends in a great adventure under the sea as they try to find out how scary Sea Serpent really is!


text:
Our world is awash in pop culture, and increasingly what we call "geek" culture. Television and movies showcase superheroes and sci-fi/fantasy. Social media and mobile technology have given people new ways to share their fandom and obsessions. And we would argue that even those who love fantasy sports and the intricate details behind the games we follow show a level of engagement and behavior we might define as "geeky."
Intelligent Life is a comic strip that revolves around a set of characters who very much exist in this world of geek/pop culture, and it gives us a good laugh as we nod knowingly at their antics. The strip follows the personal life, the work life, the hobbies and obsessions of Skip, Gwen, Mike and Barry, and glimpses the mania of our world.
If any of this sounds familiar, don't be surprised – this is the modern world we all share. Intelligent Life celebrates the geek in all of us.
Barry is Skip's foil. He loves his sports, and he loves impressing the ladies. However, the way Barry obsesses over his sports and fantasy leagues shows awfully ironic amount of "geeky" behavior. Barry can ramble off sports standings and valuable draft picks the way Skip can ramble off the Marvel universe of superhero characters.
Barry is the top-selling rep at Finch Marketing, and he'll be the first to tell you that. He and Skip are polar opposites in so many ways, but it's clear they share a mutual amusement with one another – actually more like an other-worldly curiosity for one another.
Gwen is adventurous and strong-willed – you better believe she won't be trampled on. But she's also artsy and whimsical, and deep. She's okay with the fact that she might have a little "geek" in her. She obsesses over her blog and social media, and has a sharp eye and a fine-tuned ear for pop culture.
Gwen works in the front office of Finch Marketing, where she was transferred from the California office. She took the transfer in an effort to switch up her life and find herself. She's had lousy luck in relationships, and probably doesn't realize that her new friend Skip might be just the one for her. Until that day comes (if ever), she'll remain amused by him.
Mike is Skip's best friend since childhood. He shares Skip's enthusiasm for all things geek/pop culture – video games, comic books, sci-fi/fantasy. But Mike takes his fanatic fandom to an even higher level. Mike is the uber-fanatic, and can sometimes seem from another planet (actually, he might be).
Mike is highly intelligent and wonderfully imaginative. He has a great job as a computer programmer, makes really good money, but still lives with his mom – in his mind, it's completely illogical to pay rent or a mortgage, or even cook your own meals when your mom is delighted to continue doting on you.
Skip is a self-proclaimed geek who has a healthy (ahem) obsession with his hobbies. He lives for video games, comic books and sci-fi/fantasy movies and doesn't see anything wrong with that. Through his eyes (and the eyes of his slightly-weirder best friend, Mike) we glimpse the world of the geek/pop culture enthusiast. He's intelligent and friendly, and although he can be lovably dorky, no one would call him a loser.
Skip works as an account rep at Finch Marketing where he clashes with Barry and crushes on Gwen. He's resigned to keeping his feelings for Gwen a secret after making fast friends – that doesn't mean his angst about that crush won't provide plenty of funny fodder.
See what the Royal Membership is all about.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Ultrasound for Critical Care Physicians: Unchain My Heart
William Mansfield, MD
Michel Boivin, MD
Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine
Department of Medicine,
University of New Mexico School of Medicine
Albuquerque, NM USA
A 46-year-old man presented after a motor vehicle collision. He suffered abdominal injuries (liver laceration, avulsed gall bladder) which were successfully managed non-operatively. The patient remained intubated on mechanical ventilation and remained hypotensive after the injuries resolved. The patient required norepinephrine at low doses to maintain a normal blood pressure. It was noted the patient had a history of remote tricuspid valve replacement. A bedside echocardiogram was then performed to determine the etiology of the patient's persistent hypotension after hypovolemia had been excluded.
Video 1. Apical four chamber view centered on the right heart.
Video 2. Apical four chamber view centered on the right heart, with color Doppler over the right atrium and ventricle.
Video 3. Right ventricular inflow view.
Figure 1. Continuous-wave Doppler tracing through the tricuspid valve.
What tricuspid pathology do the following videos and images demonstrate? (Click on the correct answer to proceed an explanation and discussion)
Cite as: Mansfield W, Boivin M. Ultrasound for critical care physicians: unchain my heart. Southwest J Pulm Crit Care. 2017;14(2):60-4. doi: http://doi.org/10.13175/swjpcc013-17 PDF


text:
Hello - I wanted to inform you of the tragic news that I just received. Lizzy Benway was a great lover of romance books and a great asset for an...
Tags: Romance
Vote for the book you most want to read after seeing the cover.
Tags: CoverWars
Many years ago I started reading the Harlequin Presents line of books. These books have several themes, one being Desert Heroes.
Tags: Booklandia, Romance, ReadingList, TammieKing, BookList
We have some wonderful ways you can reach the readers of Night Owl Romance.
Get Free Books & Recommendations


text:
Forty-seven playwrights. More than 70 plays. And each only a minute long.
It may sound like madness. But the celebration of short-form works making its Philadelphia premiere at InterAct Theatre Company is not without a cause.
The One-Minute Play Festival, which opens Monday at the theater, is meant to explore the collective consciousness of a given community. A wild success in 12 other cities from New York, where it originated, to San Francisco, it is the culmination of a year of community and consensus-building workshops, with 30 actors and eight directors staging the works that emerged from that process.
But the playwrights were never steered toward a theme or topic.
�It�s important that they write about where they are now, what they�re thinking about and responding to in the world,� says Dominic D�Andrea, founder and producing artistic director of the New York-based OMPF, who is curating the event. �Many of the plays are about the experience of living in Philadelphia. Many of the themes that emerged this year are about gentrification, economic disparity, violence, but some of them are lighter, too, and funny.�
The festival thrives on a �context of radical inclusion,� given the diversity of represented playwrights, and has transformed what used to be primarily an academic exercise into an opportunity to capture specific moments in time.
�It�s not about cramming a bunch of stuff in and having a clock tick down from 60 seconds,� says D�Andrea. �It�s looking at a word, an image, an idea, an event � and building a moment based on that. It�s a moment that�s highly theatrical but also sort of takes a breath and allows us to live in it and look through a window that suggests a much wider world.�
Here, five local playwrights share their thoughts on creating that moment.
Plays: �Dope Tat� and �The Flow of Traffic�
The impetus: �I have an obsession with traffic and really complicated tattoos are funny.�
In the past: This is the Pennsbury High School graduate�s first experience with such a festival though he�s no stranger to brevity. Davis wrote a one-second play � for himself, he says � about globalization once. It was never produced.
On being succinct: �It�s good for a writer to have little time,� he says. �Brevity is the soul of ... something.�
Plays: �Step Nine� and �Lost and Found�
Bridge to Philadelphia: The Elkins Park playwright participated in a New York OMPF a few years back and introduced founder D�Andrea to Seth Rozin, producing artistic director at InterAct, hoping the theater would host a similar �cross-pollination of local playwrights, directors, actors and audience.�
Trimming the fat: Hollinger found inspiration for his plays in the form itself: �It pushes the playwright to identify a moment that reveals characters in a moment of intensity and simplicity, even though it may conjure complex emotions. This automatically eliminates many potential ideas right off the bat.�
Poetic leaning: �As with a haiku,� he says, �the challenge is to make a small gesture that has a big impact, and resonates after the work has ended.�
Play: �Through Security�
Timely inspiration: The Yardley playwright saw potential in the recent random security checks in the New York City Subway system. �These �random� checks seem to be targeted at random people who belong to specific races. My play explores the comedy of this unnerving controversy,� he says.
Briefly noted: Prior to this work, the shortest play Kaissar wrote was five minutes long. �It involved a man mistaking a bear for a cuddly pet. The bear ends up eating the man,� he says. �That�s a great way to end a play quickly.�
Superfluous no more: �If I can force myself to be this fastidious with all my work, many of my full-length plays become one acts, and many one-acts become 10-minute plays,� says Kaissar. �If I end up with a full-length play, then I know I�ve earned it.�
Plays: �With Mayo� and �The Face�
Food for thought: � �With Mayo� is poking fun at Philadelphia�s obsession with food traditions and their know-it-all inflexibility,� says the Horsham playwright, founder of Madhouse Theater Company. His second play was inspired by an incident that happened to him in the city. � �The Face� is about basic politeness and people�s habit of ignoring what�s going on around them.�
Trial and triumph: �The biggest challenge was understanding the parameters of what was expected from the piece,� he says. �What was fun was � writing what someone was looking for rather than whatever I felt like doing.�
Unlikely spotlight: Stanton appreciates the festival�s focus on playwrights. �We�ll see where it leads us,� he says. �In this theater world, playwrights are most times the bastard child of the process.�
Play: �The Beatitudes�
From a hat: The Pennsbury High School graduate drew on his religious background for his minute. �I remember sitting down to pray alone and, oftentimes, not realizing I was wearing a hat. This, at least in my mind, was disrespectful to God. I remember silently beating myself up for that, and for some reason, I just found that memory very funny,� he says. �So my piece features a character silently attempting to pray, while constantly being thwarted by his own attempts at piousness.�
Craft shake-up: �As writers go, I�m naturally a distance runner. I can see a full-length play through well enough, but this is also a weakness. I can also easily get stuck in my own head ... and brood over the same piece day after day. I love that Dominic travels the country, encouraging playwrights to get out of their houses and meet each other � and to shake up their own preconceived notions,� he says.
A collective force: Walsh was stunned recently to discover every playwright in two writers groups he belongs to had contributed to the festival. �I�ve never seen almost every Philly playwright involved in something together,� he says. �We could be a force to be reckoned with, if we ever got our acts together. This could be a wonderful start.�
The One-Minute Play Festival takes place Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at InterAct Theatre Company, 2030 Sansom St., Philadelphia. Show times: 8 p.m. Tickets: $20. Information: 215-568-8079; www.InterActTheatre.org
Naila Francis is a feature writer at Calkins Media. Phone: 215-345-3149. Email: email@example.com. Twitter: @Naila_Francis.
To subscribe, go to phillyBurbs.com/orderIntell.


text:
Sometimes it's best to just put up a microphone in a room, sit down and play your guitar...
This is the record that Steve Dawson's growing number of fans have been waiting for. Rattlesnake Cage finally gives them the opportunity to hear Steve interact with his guitar in a way that has never been cap- tured on record before.
Until now, hearing the sweet melodies and deep soul of Steve playing solo guitar has been a treat reserved for live audiences in intimate settings. These new simple and unadorned recordings hearken back to the American Primitive sound that John Fahey and other artists such as Peter Lang and Leo Kottke recorded on Fahey's iconic Takoma record label in the '60s — instrumental music informed by the deep traditions of blues, ragtime, jazz and even Hawaiian music, but taking those influ- ences in unexpected directions. The opening track, 'Blind Thomas at the Crime Scene' which takes its title from Fahey's earliest nom de plume is the recording that most clearly communicates Dawson's respect for the American Primi- tive aesthetic, and gives the listener the clearest indication of what's to come.
"Anyone who can hear Dawson play and not be moved is made of stone!" — Penguin Eggs Magazine.
"One magazine hasreferred to Steve Daw- son as the T-Bone Bur- nett of Canada. I tend to think of him more as a Canadian version of Ry Cooder ... his fine slide guitar and sto- rytelling, everything seeming to flow effort- lessly." — Toledo Blade.
Recorded with a single vintage tube microphone that had recently been rescued from decades of hang- ing from the ceiling rafters of an old the- atre in Detroit, you can hear every detail and nuance of each note.
The effect of hearing a recording this open and pure is quite astounding. After countless successes in the industry both as a performer and produc- er in his native Canada (including seven Juno Awards as an artist and producer), Steve has relocated to Nashville to begin a new chapter in his career.
The fluidity of Steve's playing makes what he does sound so effortless that it's easy to forget that it takes years of disciplined practice to achieve such an apparent simplicity.
There are lots of guitar virtuosos out there who can reel off a diz- zying array of notes at lightning speed, and Dawson can certainly do that, but at a cer- tain point, great players like him realize that sometimes less is more.


text:
The sweet, demure little girl of 1810 Heritage House family, the Kemboja creates less of an impact than its other family members, but its small, petite, appearance may be just what many newly wed couples looking for a honeymoon retreat are craving for. This small suite, more isolated from its counterparts, is just enough for 2, with all the necessary bath soaps, blankets and pillows to ensure couples a night they will never forget.
1 king sized bed for 2 persons (Max 3)
Surcharge on the 3rd person for single bed


text:
Follow This Link to a helpful list of CSLB Publications and Brochures to help you through the reconstruction of your home, as well as a list of contractors who are ready to assist you.
The Ventura County Contractors Association is a non-profit membership association of general contractors, subcontractors, building material suppliers and many other leading construction industry businesses. Our primary area of service is throughout Ventura County and its ten incorporated cities.
The Ventura County Contractors Association
1830 Lockwood Street, Suite 110
Oxnard, CA 93036
(805) 981-8088 Fax: (805) 981-8089
email: firstname.lastname@example.com
We are located one block south of the Route 101 Ventura Freeway and Rose Avenue interchange in the City of Oxnard. See Map


text:
Subscribe To Joe Johnston Admits That The Wolfman Was A Trainwreck Updates
I've already subscribed
One of the biggest concerns for comic book fans regarding Captain America: The First Avenger has been the question mark surrounding Joe Johnston. It was just last year that the director made The Wolfman, a critical and box office disappointment that was plagued by problems behind the scenes. Fortunately, however, one very important person also recognizes how bad the movie turned out to be: Joe Johnston.
CBM recently asked Johnston for his thoughts now that the Captain America shoot has wrapped and most of his reflection came in comparison to the trails experienced while filming the Universal monster movie. According to the director, he only had three weeks of prep time to make The Wolfman, which he called a "ridiculously inadequate amount of time to try to bring together the fractured and scattered pieces of the production." He also admitted that he took the job largely as a paycheck, the first time he's ever done so, and he regrets it greatly.
I had taken the job mostly because I had a cash flow problem, the only time in my career I've ever let finances enter into the decision process. Money is always the wrong reason for doing something that requires passionate devotion.
Continuing, Johnston likened the production to "a leaky, rudderless ship in a perfect storm suffering from bad decisions, infighting, reluctance of the powers-that-be to take responsibility, and too many under-qualified cooks in the kitchen." In contrast, Johnston pointed out that he had nearly a year to work on Captain America before heading into production and lauded everyone that worked with him on it.
I had thirty weeks of prep on Captain America. I have a small team of qualified, supportive, creative producers who are actually helping me achieve my vision of the film. I had a dream cast headed by Chris Evans. I had the best designers, artists, sculptors, craftspeople…a creative team that could design, build and photograph anything and have it look amazing and beautiful. We had unbelievable luck with the weather wherever we shot in England. The weather was so good we were compelled to make it rain for a couple of sequences just for some variety. At times I felt as if the gods were saying, "Ahem, sorry about that Wolfman thing…let us make it up to you." Captain America was probably the most universally positive experience I've had in this mad business.
As I've said before, I can truly appreciate when a filmmaker or actor comes forward and admits that a project they worked on was below their standards and apologizes. There are simply far too many giant egos in Hollywood that can't admit when they've made even the most minor mistake, so this kind of story is always refreshing. The first trailer for Johnston's newest film is expected to drop in the next couple weeks, so here's hoping that all of his hard work pays off.


text: International International Trade International Student Placement Office - ISPO Our aim is to aid the international development of local businesses through the appointment of European students, specialising in international trade for short-term work placements. Students spend 6 months within a company building and using their knowledge of international commerce and cultural awareness, coupled with linguistic skill, to help organisations open or expand overseas markets. Through established links with universities throughout the European Union we are able to source motivated and intelligent students with the skills required to meet your business needs. Why host an ISPO student? An international student will act as a native guide into your international markets, helping you to develop trade opportunities and provide a bridge over cultural barriers. ISPO students have excellent linguistic and business skills and will help you to overcome language barriers and improve communication with customers and overseas contacts. A well educated and enthusiastic intern is a dedicated resource available to meet immediate business needs and offers you a very economical and flexible solution. The role of ISPO With our network of contacts within European universities we are well placed to source someone with a skill set tailored to your needs. We will pre-screen and select appropriate applicants to meet your requirements and arrange interviews between you and your chosen candidates. ISPO will also help to finalise placement details such as sourcing the students' accommodation and meeting students on arrival in the UK. We will remain an ongoing point of contact for both the Host Company and student throughout the placement, helping to ensure satisfaction for all parties. New offer to the ISPO programme Permanent Recruitment in the UK!! Through our relationships with members and patrons we want to create opportunities for local undergraduates and graduates for various projects, consultancy, placements and permanent positions. Do you have an opportunity to help us, help the next generation? If you do require Chinese or any other languages, please give us a call we can also help you find the right candidate with other languages than just European. Nature of roles ISPO students can undertake various roles to add value to your international trade function, including: Competitor Analysis Marketing/ Market research/ Social Media Business Planning Translation/ Language Assistants Sales Project management Design IT Engineering How long must placements last? Usually ISPO places students for 5/6 months as this the required placement duration of most universities, although there can be some flexibility in this. 5/6 months is also favoured by most companies hosting an ISPO student as this is long enough for the student to have considerable impact within the organisation. Start dates vary from country to country, university degree course or year of study. We have found that most students are looking to start their placements in the months January, February and March, and the summer months July, August and September. However, ISPO does also arrange placements to commence during the other months of the year, with the possible exception of December. Costs ISPO does not require companies to pay any salary to a student, although it is optional for the company - in fact the scheme aims to be as cost effective as possible. As an initiative of a regional Chamber of Commerce, ISPO operates on a non for profit basis and seeks only to cover operational costs. Students generally receive grant funding from European Union hosted student funds to cover the costs of carrying out a placement overseas (Erasmus+ will cover only basic expenses, companies can opt to grant students some kind of remuneration). Host companies are obliged to pay students' accommodation costs which are estimated to reach a maximum of £370 per month (in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire ISPO is able to guarantee, at the time of writing, that accommodation costs will not exceed this level. Clients outside of these two counties please note that accommodation costs may differ throughout the UK, though the amount indicated here will serve as a guideline.). Host companies are also obliged to pay for the students' travel costs to get to and from work on a daily basis (please note this does not cover flights or any other transport to and from the UK which is the responsibility of participating students). Furthermore, ISPO's placement management fee is currently £890.00 + VAT to cover operational costs. We offer a special fee for Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce members of £730.00 + VAT. How do I apply to host a student? You can apply to host an international student simply by contacting ISPO. Please find our details below. We will contact you shortly after hearing from you to arrange a meeting in which we will explain everything in detail and discuss your requirements. Once we are aware of what you are looking for in an applicant, we will create a tailor made advertisement that will be distributed amongst students of over 300 continental universities including the UK. For more information email [email protected]


text:
I'm so excited to share this! I just love how fellow consultant, Susan Williams, created cards to go with our National Paper Crafting Campaign, Year>>Noted, so I thought, "Hey! I can do this, too!".
This is what I came up with. If you've purchased this from me, please contact me, and I'll send you the PDF file.
Happy crafting!
It's not to late to take advantage of this special. Simply spend $50.00 or more, during the month of January and you qualify to purchase this paper pack, exclusive stamp set and Foil Sticker sheet for $5.00. It's a retail value of $24.95!
Go to my website to start shopping.


text:
EDIT: The freebie offer has died but you can get a $1 coupon. This seems to come back every week or two, so I'd wait until then.
The free Burt's Bees toothpaste offer is back in case you missed it in February. This reminds me, if anybody could pass along Burt's bee training trick, I'd be extremely thankful. I haven't a clue how he gets them to make toothpaste and shampoo let alone lip balm. The only thing I've been table to teach my bees is how to sting me in the face. Repeatedly.
[thanks to everybody who sent this in!]


text:
Filmmakers have been using ideas about time as plot devices for years. I've found at least 170 movies that involve time travel or other temporal phenomena, and have reviewed over 100 of them including science fiction, psychological and fantasy films. How likely is it that these scenarios will one day become a reality? And if we do find ways of travelling through time, what consequences might we face? These are tricky questions, but first we need to consider the physics of time travel.
Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity argues for the existence of a four-dimensional 'space-time continuum'. This is made up of the three dimensions of space: width, breadth and depth. We can see and touch all of these things. The fourth dimension is time, which we cannot see or touch, but whose passing we can experience. A physicist would say that we are experiencing ourselves passing through the dimension of time. In the 1960 film, The Time Machine, George Wells explains to his learned colleagues what the fourth dimension is and how his newly invented machine can travel backwards or forwards through it.
These four dimensions all relate to a constant. So for example, the faster a rocket moves through the three dimensions of space, the slower it moves through the dimension of time. This means that the rocket's onboard clock is ticking more slowly than a clock back on Earth – a concept known as 'time dilation'. When the rocket returns, less time will have passed for its passengers, so they will have aged less than the people back on Earth. In the extreme case, they may return to the Earth's distant future, as in Planet of the Apes (1968). So forwards time travel is a reality: how far forwards you wish to go in time only depends on how fast your technology will allow you to travel through the three dimensions of space.
Backwards time travel is a little trickier. Scientists have speculative theories in place, but technology hasn't caught up yet to the point that they can be tested. Creating wormholes is one such theory. If space can be curved enough, and there is no theoretical reason why it can't, then maybe a wormhole could be constructed to shortcut from one side of the universe to the other. If one of the mouths of the wormhole was made to travel very fast compared to the other one, then there would be a time difference between the two. Passing through the hole one way would allow you to move forwards in time and passing back the other way would allow you to move backwards in time. The main limitation with this method is that you would never be able to travel back to any date prior to the construction of the wormhole. Such a wormhole occurs naturally in Donnie Darko (2001), where a jet engine falls off a plane and then passes through space-time, which causes it to travel back 20 days before crash landing.
A jet engine is rather large, unlike sub-atomic particles. At that very tiny level, anti-particles moving forwards in time behave like particles moving backwards in time and vice versa. So backwards time travel is unproblematic on microscopic scales. As an aside, the physicist Stephen Hawking suggests that on the macroscopic scale (where we exist) time travel must be impossible. He argues that a 'Chronology Protection Agency' would prevent 'closed time-like curves' from appearing, thus making the universe safe for historians. But what is a closed time-like curve in the first place?
Causes and special effects
If you were able to curve space, then what would happen if you curved it right around to the point where you made a loop? This is theoretically possible using Einstein's equations. Indeed there may be parts of the universe where these loops naturally exist. A 'closed time-like curve' is when you loop right back to a place in space and time that you had previously experienced. You could hypothetically traverse the loop just the once, get stuck in such a loop forever, or go around several times before exiting. This happened to the character Phil Connors in Groundhog Day (1993), who kept waking up each morning to find he had returned to the start of the previous day.
As a weatherman, Connors no doubt would have known the work of Edward Lorenz, who in 1961 created a simple weather forecasting model using a software program with 12 equations. Lorenz noticed that the slightest change in his input data would give very different long-term weather predictions. Such systems are known as 'nonlinear systems' and are normally characterised by long-term unpredictability. Lorenz noted that the flap of a butterfly's wing could cause a tornado in some other part of the planet and thus the term the 'Butterfly Effect' was born. Examples of such systems are seen in the stock market, evolution and even in psychology. In the film The Butterfly Effect (2004) a man goes back in time and makes a few changes at a critical point in his childhood, which causes his original timeline to disappear and a new timeline to form from that point onwards. This new timeline diverges away from where the original used to be, so that when he returns to his adult life, he and all of his friends are following a completely different destiny.
One of the most famous temporal paradoxes thrown up by backwards time travel is the 'Grandfather Paradox'. If you went back in time and killed your grandfather when he was a child, this would mean that you would never have been born and would cease to exist. An example of this paradox occurs in Back to the Future (1980), when Marty McFly goes back in a time machine and meets his parents before they were married. His presence causes his mother to fall in love with him and reject his father. Marty fears this will prevent his birth, so spends the rest of the film trying to get his parents back together again.
If you were to travel back in time and send your grandfather to an untimely grave, there is a possibility your own timeline would continue unharmed. The physicist Hugh Everett III proposed his Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Physics in 1955. He suggested that when we measure quantum objects the world actually splits into two parallel realities. In this theory there are no paradoxes, but the idea of an infinite number of timelines scares away many scientists. How does this relate to time travel? Well, if you were to travel back in time, another timeline would be created in which you would begin to interact. You could kill your grandfather, if you wished to do so, and you would continue to live in a world where your grandmother did not marry your dead grandfather, so you would never be born in this timeline, and would not get to meet yourself. In parallel to this, your grandfather would still be alive on the original timeline and you would be born and live to become a time traveller. An example of parallel worlds is seen in the movie, Sliding Doors (1988), which follows two different parallel lives that branch out from each other after a brief time reversal.
Fate of a time traveller
What if you go back in time and your actions cause an event that later becomes the reason why you originally went back in time? This would mean that you would be predestined to go back in time in order to create a self-consistent timeline. This is known as the 'Predestination Paradox'. Any changes you thought you were making in the past would be not be changes at all, as they would be helping to make history just as it was originally written. This happens in The Terminator (1984) when a man is sent back from the future to protect Sarah Conner, the mother of his comrade, John. He gets her pregnant and thus becomes John's father. Therefore John is predestined to send him back in time so that he can be born and keep the timeline self-consistent.
But perhaps we wouldn't have to go to so much trouble to keep our timelines tidy. In the mid-1980s, Dr Igor Novikov developed the Novikov Self-Consistency Conjecture, which stated that if time travel were possible, there must be a law of physics that would prevent time travellers from doing any action that would cause an inconsistency and hence a paradox. This is exactly what happens in Terminator 3 - Rise of the Machines (2003). No matter what they do, or whom they kill, the protagonists can't stop the inevitable rise of the machines. The war has to take place for the robots to be sent back in time and for Sarah Conner to give birth to her son.
So it can be seen that although forwards time travel is a reality and its effects are being used in modern engineering, the technology required for backwards time travel is speculative. In fact, arguments between physicists are ongoing about how likely it is that a wormhole would actually work even if built. That hasn't stopped filmmakers from using wormholes and other time travel techniques as plot devices for their films to inspire audiences to hope that one day they will be able to venture back and change their past, just as people once dreamed of a rocket reaching the moon. As we move into the era of space tourism, who can say if and when backwards time travel will be possible.
Guy Micklethwait is an Associate Lecturer at the Dept of Physics and PhD researcher at the Centre for the Public Awareness of Science at ANU.
Fantastic films
Guy Micklethwait picks five time-bending movies worth watching.
Twelve Monkeys (1995) Time travelling backwards inadvertently causes a closed causal loop.
Slaughterhouse Five (1972) Experiencing life along a fixed timeline, but in a random order.
Déjà Vu (2006) Viewing and trying to change the past using wormhole technology.
Frequency (2000) Changing the present by communicating with people in the past.
The Jacket (2005) Involuntarily travelling to the future brings justice to the present.
Editor's Note: A story provided by ANU News. This article is under copyright; permission must be sought from Australian National University to reproduce it.


text:
With the Centre proposing to introduce the indirect Goods and Service Tax (GST) in the state replacing all existing Central and state taxes, the state Commercial Tax Department fears curtailment of its powers.
At the same time, the GST also plans to cover over 77 commercial services that has not been taxed so far.
"The GST will replace most other indirect taxes and harmonise the tax rates on manufactured goods and services. At present, the effective tax rate on services is 10.3 per cent, while that on manufactured goods works out to 20 per cent. Though the GST rate has not been decided it is likely to be around 15 per cent. So the tax on manufactured goods could go down while that on services could go up," said Mr K.R. Suryana-rayan, the president of the All India Confederation of Commercial Taxes Assoc-iations (AICCTA). "As a result, commercial services like spa which costs Rs 10,000 or more, that are not being taxed at present, and airway services would be taxed once GST comes into force," he added.
Though GST would simplify the taxation system and will benefit the corporate sector and traders, what the common man is likely to gain is still not known.
Tax expert Vijay Kumar said, "If manufacturers pass on benefits to consumers, the tax burden will come down." He said that for consumers to benefit from the GST system, the government should set up a commission to protect the interests of consumers as it was done in Australia when it introduced GST in 2000. If tax rates go up, it ensured that consumers were not charged more than what is necessary. Meanwhile, the officers of the state commercial tax department said that GST will curtail the state's power to take decisions.
The state which now has the right to take decisions on bringing changes and implementing VAT will lose its powers. Instead, a change needs to be okayed by the Committee of State Finance Ministers.
The AICCTA member met the Arun Jaitley on Friday to explain the possible curtailment of their existing power and functions in VAT regime, once the GST regime of indirect taxation is introduced.
The AICCTA sought division of jurisdiction between state VAT departments and Cenral Board of Excise Customs (CBEC) in a way that the new system should not prove disadvantageous to State TAX departments.


text:
Health and Healing Prayer
Because God's words are life to us and health to all our flesh (Proverbs 4:22), the prayer below has been filled with the Word—and what God has to say about your health and healing
Daily Protection Prayer
When we pray for God's protection, we can remind ourselves that we live in this long tradition of faith in a God as guard and protector.
Forgiveness Prayer
We know that forgiveness is a way of life for a Christian. Do not take it for granted. Do not assume it will just happen. It is continuous process. So pray continually to help you forgive continually.


text:
With SAP TechEd Las Vegas coming up next week, as well as a large amount of our SAP clients asking us about SAP HANA with VMware; I asked my good friend Axel Streichardt to write a guest post on the topic. Axel is a thought leader around SAP with VMware in the ecosystem and got his finger on the pulse of VMware for SAP HANA. Axel is a fellow European (German) also a very cool dude that I enjoy working with at EMC 🙂
See Axel's comments below on his perspective on this topic…
Exciting news. We are getting closer to a fully virtualized Hana (or vHana, how I call it, my mother calls it even my grandma calls it) support for production from SAP and VMware. Both companies announced back in June the availability of virtualized Hana (vHana) and the strategy and timeline for running vHana in production in various flavors, such on a supported hardware appliances like Cisco and VCE, TDI (tailored datacenter integration) or even on commoditized hardware.
In case you haven't heard, but EMC IT went live over a year ago with a fully virtualized SAP landscape, including app and database tier to reduce cost, minimize risk and increase flexibility. A couple of weeks ago, Mike Harding from EMC's IT team discussed the Hana strategy and the plans to deploy vHana for production, another milestone in EMC's journey to the cloud. Check out the replay of the webcast here.
Virtualization is undoubtedly mainstream and more and more customers deploying even top tier business applications, such as SAP, on VMware, because virtualized SAP provides tremendous business advantages over classical physical SAP deployments. Advanced flexibility, agility and cost are just a few of these advantages. Imagine hardware maintenance without disruption and live migration of running vHana nodes even under heavy load to avoid a disaster strike. VMware just released a demo video to underline the power of virtualization for vHana by moving a busy, running vHana node from one ESX server to another within minutes. No expensive standby hardware, no business disruption and maintaining all SLAs.
I am working on a more detailed blog on vHana to be released very soon with the full details on the various vHana deployment architectures and its advantages and why EMC is the number one storage and data management infrastructure for a truly, 100% virtualized Hana deployment.
Axel is about to launch his own blog on "Everything you need to know about SAP and Virtualization", so I highly suggest you check it out as well as follow Axel on twitter @aggi_gi
See you at TechEd next week!


text:
High-Rise Downsize.
I'm excited to share the final images from a remodel that's been complete for a while. I teamed up with Houston designer Kirk Longmire to complete the remodel of his mother's newly purchased high-rise in the inner loop of Houston. It was basically a blank slate and we had the luxury of completing the space before she moved in. It's really an amazing transformation. Here are the before & afters, click here for additional images.
If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love contact me about Jamie House Design services!


text:
Wednesday 15th February 2017, 1:01pm
In response to feedback from members about our joint letter with the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) to the Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham, we would like to clarify a few matters:
New tree growth with old on Mar Lodge Estate.
Mountaineering Scotland Participation Statement
Mountaineering Scotland recognises that climbing and mountaineering are activities with a danger of personal injury or death. Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions and involvement.
© 20/0 Mountaineering Scotland
ClimbScotland is a registered trademark of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland Limited
Mountaineering Scotland is a registered trademark of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland Limited


text:
Amazing: General Aladeen (Sacha Baron Cohen) Dumps Ashes on Ryan Seacrest on Oscars Red Carpet
I may lose my Twitter street cred, but I'm only half-watching the Oscars this evening (deadline calls!) – BUT there's a hilarious gem I just had to share.
In this video, Sacha Baron Cohen arrived on the red carpet at the Oscars as General Aladeen, from his upcoming film, The Dictator — carrying the "ashes" of former North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il.
Aladeen told Ryan Seacrest that Kim Jong-il had always dreamed of coming to the Oscars, and was wearing John Galliano, except for his socks, which are from K-mart! The Dictator then dumped Kim Jong-il's ashes all over Ryan Seacrest's Burberry tuxedo. Aladeen told Seacrest that now if anyone asks who is wearing to tell them he is wearing Kim Jong-il!!!!
Amazing. You have to see this.
1 Comment
I understand SBC's a comic, a shock comic, but I srill think he's a douche.


text:
Voting for Curragh Awards
The 2017 Curragh Racing Awards in association with Tipperary Crystal and Kildare Village will take place on the 17th October and for the first time the event will include two categories to be voted on by the public. The annual event, which has become an important date in the racing calendar since 2011, takes place at the end of each Curragh season and will celebrate notable successes during 2017.
The categories which will be open to public vote include the Leading Training Performance and Leading Riding Performance with five nominees in each category. The nominees are:
Leading Training Performance of 2017
Gordon Elliott for Group 2 winner and twice Group 1 runner up Beckford
Aidan O'Brien for winning 4 out of the 5 Irish Classics
Joe Murphy for three time Curragh winner Silverkode and Stakes winner Only Mine
Denis Hogan for two time Curragh Premier Handicap winner Tithonus
John Gosden for Enable winner of the Darley Irish Oaks
Leading Riding Performance of 2017
Seamie Heffernan for Capri in Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby
Kevin Manning for Clongowes in Silken Thomas & Locke 13 Handicap
Donnacha O'Brien for Happily in Moyglare Stud Stakes
Pat Smullen for Shamreen in Moyglare 'Jewels' Blandford Stakes
Chris Hayes for My Silver Nails in Paddy Power Onside App Nursery
Voting closes on the 13th October 2017 and the Award winners will be announced on the night. Anyone who places a vote will be in with the chance to win two places to attend the Awards night.
The other Awards to be presented at the event will be the Leading Trainer and Leading Jockey of the Season Award which is based on the total number of 2017 winners at the Curragh. There will also be two Special Achievement Awards, in association with Kildare Village and the Irish Daily Mail.


text:
1. To explain in a patronizing manner, assuming total ignorance on the part of those listening. The mansplainer is often shocked and hurt when their mansplanation is not taken as absolute fact, criticized or even rejected altogether.Yes. Mansplaining does have echoes in the world of music, particularly when it comes to the evaluation of newly-composed music or the relative importance of music written by women (either living or dead). I hear and read those echoes and utterances regularly. Of course not every musically-inclined or musically-informed man is a mansplainer, and, for that matter, not everyone who does it is a man, but the practice keeps rearing its ugly head, generation after generation.
2. Despite claims of superior strength in avoiding over-emotional reactions, when a man encounters even one iota of criticism of men on the internet, he must then mansplain why women suck by comparison or must be radical feminists.
3. To explain something in an unnecessarily long winded way, so as to dominate the conversation, and to make statements that are not based on facts, assuming that people will believe and agree with him because he is male.
4. Delighting in condescending, inaccurate explanations delivered with rock solid confidence of rightness and that slimy certainty that of course he is right, because he is the man in this conversation.
5. A word typically used to imply that the previous speaker is overly condescending and/or has a different way of explaining because he happens to be a man and the other party a woman. Usually, this is based in an over- or misinterpretation based on prejudice about the alleged mainsplainers intentions or on an inability to take constructive feedback. Sometimes it is used as an attempt to unfairly discredit the speaker or his arguments without having to provide counter-arguments. Typically, the mansplainer is simultaneously implied to be sexist or misogynistic.
Here's an article about mansplaining and the way Mormon men react to Mormon women who are pro ERA. It has an excellent comment section and a full array of links, including one to Rebecca Solnit's article on the subject in Mother Jones.


text:
WordPress is used on millions of sites form the simplest little blog to huge brand names like the New York Times, People, Flickr and more. There are several reasons why we encourage clients to build or switch to the WordPress platform. Here are a few:
1.) As a business owner, your number one priority is to get visitors to your website so they can learn about what you do and eventually become customers. WordPress gives you a great base to improve your SEO and get ranked for the keywords your customers are searching for.
Google loves WordPress: Search Engine Optimization is a very important component for clients to reach new customers. It's one thing to have a beautiful site, quite another to get traffic to it. As the world turns toward the Internet to find things, it becomes increasingly important for you to get your listing "up there" in the search engines. WordPress is a Search Engine Friendly platform. By starting with a WP site, you've got a great start to getting better rankings. The WP platform lets us easily add update/add content to our site regularly. Search engines love to see fresh content on sites and opt for the regularly updated sites/blogs.
2.) It is easy to add content to your site to keep it active and up-to-date. Some clients prefer that we do this for them, however, if a client wants to update their own site – they can easily do it with WordPress, with no programming knowledge whatsoever. We tell our clients "if you can do Word –you can do WordPress."
3.) More and more people are using mobile devices and tablets to find information on the Internet. All of our WordPress sites are developed to be "responsive", meaning that they look good and function well on any device.
When you add up these features and more, you find that a WordPress site will grow with you and you business over the years and ultimately deliver the internet results you want.


text:
Hello, my name is Erika Larson.
I may have been the treasurer of my high school's Ecology Club for about two seconds, but it wasn't until 2014 that it dawned on me that I could do more for the environment than just sign Greenpeace petitions and share articles on Facebook to friends with uneager ears. It was then that inspiration from other zero wasters out there encouraged me to begin trying to produce less trash. It is now my firm belief that change starts with us as individuals. Many people I've listened to want to wait for government laws and regulations that dictate how we interact with the environment and the economy, and while I'd love for that to happen too, I can't wait for it.
I believe in practicing what you preach, voting with $$ and living your values.
Over the years since then, through trial and error and a lot of research, I've developed other habits necessary of an ecologically and socially ethical lifestyle and I've gotten braver about sharing them with people like you. This is purely a passion project - not a business - and seeing that people have been inspired by my life has greatly encouraged me to keep sharing and keep pursuing a life of health and integrity. Thank you for following along. I am constantly inspired and shaped by the people I follow around the world who are also on a journey towards sustainability and health. I need to mention them because I am not doing this in a vacuum on my own and the zero waste community especially is responsible for most of my seemingly brilliant ideas. Though I'm absolutely not perfect, and my trash doesn't fit into a jar, you make me want to be better and keep me accountable. We're all on a journey - share yours with me!
About Me
I was born in Orange County, California and spent my first 19 years there. Always an indoorsy girl who hated the beach, wearing shorts and flip flops (and really anything to do with Southern California), I happily made the move to Bend, Oregon in 2007 with my mom. During the ten years I lived in Bend, I got married, bought a house, adopted a couple pets, went to massage school and started my own business, Third Eye Massage Therapy. In September 2017, my husband and I moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. We traded in our three bed, two bath house for a one bedroom condo exactly half its size. We searched high and low for an affordable large city with an amazing art scene (my husband is a writer/composer and is heavily involved in the theatre scene), good public transportation, and progressive ideals. Minneapolis was the place, and we love it so far (freezing temps and all).
Through it all, I've held an insatiable desire for knowledge, data and details. If you meet me, I may ask you too many questions about yourself and you'll realize at the end of a conversation you really don't know anything about me! I could ask questions for hours, happily. My interest ranges from natural health and eastern medicine, to art history and design; from social justice and environmentalism to alternative education; from world events to politics. I won't be writing about all of that here, but when I began writing a blog for my massage practice, I realized how much I have to say and how much I love writing about it.
When I begin to study a topic, it takes months or years for me to feel like I'm fully satisfied with what I've learned. I have to mull it over in my mind, see all the ins and outs, know everything. It's completely exhausting, as you can imagine. This blog is a place for me to put that research. I think you'll find at least something interesting. This is a place where sources are cited and where footnotes are long. With so much noise on the internet these days, I promise to not lead you astray with inflammatory allegations that are left without proof. To be honest though, I am biased. I do have opinions. After all my work of trying to figure out all the details, I often do not agree with mainstream thought, but I hope you like what you read, and I hope we all learn something new from the process.


text:
While many of our customers are quick to respond to offers, some may no longer be active on the app.
If you don't hear back from a seller, we suggest searching for a similar item from a different person.
If you do not hear back from a buyer, we recommend moving on to the next interested buyer.


text:
This website is no longer actively maintained
Some material and features may be unavailable
Update: December, 2001
Continued from
previous page
Only as we handed in our work did we come to realize that enjoyable as that assignment had been for two historians who'd long yearned to write historical fiction, the real Nate and Kristen, the real Glenn family, the real Clunes would not be reading the mythical biographies we'd created. For, as producer Simon Shaw was quick to remind us, our FRONTIER HOUSE families were not to be actors working out scenarios devised by historical consultants. They were to be, quite simply, themselves -- transported to the world of yesterday. Our back stories were strictly for the use of those charged with creating that world of yesterday, a world that would contain all the accouterments of homesteading life in 1883 Montana Territory, with various luxuries and limitations being meted out to our three time-traveling families according to the circumstances implied in our nineteenth-century versions of them.
One of our most difficult tasks throughout this project was determining how to translate the 2001 dollar and various other assets of today into comparable 1883 terms. We began by utilizing an index devised by a political scientist at Oregon State University (and available on the Internet) to calculate the comparable financial status of these specific families in 1883. That was only the beginning of our foray into homesteading finances. We corresponded with the staff of the National Railway Historical Society for help in determining the cost of the families' respective journeys from Boston, Memphis, and Los Angeles. How much freight would have been included on each ticket? What items would they have brought with them? What tools, furniture, and equipment would they have decided to purchase in Montana? In fact, what would the necessities of establishing a homestead have been -- and how much would those essentials cost?
That last question took us to the Montana Historical Society archives and the journals of George Bruffey, a Montana storekeeper whose ledger entries for 1881-82 recorded sales of items from beans to barley, from hay rakes to harnesses. A copy of the 1883 Montgomery Ward catalog gave us a good sense of the cost of clothing and house wares nationally. So it was that we established, budgets that would have been representative of the budgets of real homesteaders making their way to Montana Territory in 1883, bent on setting up housekeeping on their 160-acre claims. We established their monetary status and, in collaboration with Simon and Bernie, Rawhide and Sue, Micah and Emily Ann, we helped to determine the kinds of housing, food, livestock, and household goods that should be made available to each family. But it would be up to the homesteaders themselves to decide over the next five months exactly how much sweat equity they were willing to put into turning a wilderness site into a homestead that would sustain them from mid-May through early October ... and see all of them -- and their livestock -- safely through the legendary trials of a Montana winter.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]


text:
MOVIE REVIEW: Self/less
WARNING: The following picture attached this website's review is an actual image from the film "Self/less" but it may indicate what your own facial expression will look like either live while watching "Self/less" or after seeing the film in its entirety. The timing and severity of this effect will vary among each audience member, but, make no mistake, this is the end result. You have been warned. This has been a safety message from (hopefully) your favorite and most trusted film critic. Carry on.
Borrowing all kinds of pieces and ideas from better, more coherent, and more menacing science fiction and action films, "Self/less," which opens this weekend, blows any attempt at being a compelling thriller at each supposed twist and turn it seems fit to fashion. Science fiction is the correct playing field to allow the unbelievable to be made believable, but what director Tarsem Singh and his pair of low-rent horror veteran screenwriters are selling in "Self/less" cannot pass for edible, even with a side of popcorn.
Sir Ben Kingsley plays a wealthy New York tycoon named Damian Hale who is rapidly dying of a thankfully nonspecific aggressive cancer. He has spent his life conquering every business challenge to amass a vast fortune at the expense of estranging his family and children. He doesn't feel complete in terms of legacy and entertains a clandestine proposal that was floated to him by his most trusted business manager (the secondhand sage Victor Garber). It is an experimental scientific process is called "shedding," where the mind and memories of one person can be transferred to another, younger host body.
This highly off-the-books science is being engineered and controlled by the spectacle-tapping-instead-of-mustache-twirling Dr. Albright, played by Matthew Goode of "Watchmen" and "The Imitation Game." After settling affairs and faking his own death at Albright's insistence, Damian pays to go through with the procedure in a clearly not-on-the-up-and-up New Orleans warehouse laboratory. In absurdly less time than it would take your nice home computer to download pictures off of your camera's memory card into a folder, Damian's consciousness trades fifty years to wake up in the host body of Ryan Reynolds with a new lease on life and a new identity by the name of Edward.
Looking like a svelte stud after a period of recovery, Damian/Edward takes his new body for a spin, soaking up the decadent nightlife of New Orleans, playing basketball, and bedding women with a new friendly wingman (Derek Luke). Trouble in paradise comes when the new Damian forgets to take his vital medication from Dr. Albright. He begins to see visions of a life that is not his own. Damian learns that the Ryan Reynolds body he now occupies belonged to former Marine who had a wife (Natalie Martinez of "End of Watch") and daughter (first-timer Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen). Troubled to no end by that truth, Damian seeks out that family and comes to the thinking that he can set things right and stop Albright from doing this to more people.
We've known it for a while, but now it's official. Ryan Reynolds is slowly slipping off the face of the Earth for relevance. The man who once had us eating out of his hand with boundless charisma 13 years ago as "Van Wilder" now can't seem to stop playing the same boring victim/fish-out-of-water character. This film, "RIPD," "Safe House," and even "Green Lantern" have all asked Ryan to play the same constantly agape and out-of-his-element reluctant hero. They are dull and exhibit the same weakness opposite his own personality type. Somewhere, Reynolds stopped playing fun characters with confidence that suit his strengths. At a youthful 38, he should be making a killing as the go-to alpha male of smoothness. Instead, we get this broken record. As easy as it is to dismiss internet click-bait like a misrepresented Facebook headline from Cinema Blend that reads "So, 'Deadpool' is Ryan Reynolds's Last Chance," they are kind of right. If Reynolds can pull off the "Merc with a Mouth," he's done for.
The implausibilities pile high in "Self/less." The film has a great premise in mind, but wastes it on a hackneyed PG-13 chase film. Any intelligence that could come from the possible big ideas prime for harvest get stomped on by bullets and contrivances that wouldn't make a student film homage of Jason Bourne films. Any gravitas departs when Ben Kingsley leaves and no one picks up that baton to move the film in any substantial direction of interest. "Self/less" does a terrible job trying to squeeze you into caring about the broken family. It shoves that cute kid in your face immediately before or after the next dumb and violent set piece takes over. It's hard to buy and wrestle with the "daddy" feelings when pounded by Antonio Pinto and Duda Aram's techno-score music. The tone never matches. More so, the film, with ridiculous ambivalence, gets away with featuring a 70-plus-year-old man miraculously knowing how to use the skills and fight training of his trained Marine's body to conveniently get out of jams. It's leaps like that, and more, that ruin any possible specter or coolness.
Unlike far better identity thrillers like David Fincher's "The Game" or even last summer's indie gem "The One I Love," there is little, if any, real peril or mystery towards how the film will progress or climax. The attempted curveballs hang over the plate and are crushed by predictability and laughable, brainless absences of logic. That ineffective hitting is the kiss of death for a thriller that doesn't thrill. Head that initial warning and skip "Self/less." Your brain will thank you.
LESSON #1: THE RUTHLESS BUSINESSMAN GROWS A HEART-- When "Self/less" introduces us to Kingsley's Damian Hale, he's pulling the rug out from under a younger wannabe tycoon by displaying his plumage of toughness and stealing the kid's business deal over dinner. Somehow, after paying millions of dollars to get a new body and life, this unmerciful suit throws away his golden ticket of immortality (see next lesson) and grows a spine over a couple of cold sweats and bad dreams to make things right. It's nice and all that he changes, but it's a stretch of character from the self-made man and go-getter we meet. Again, this is weak of "Self/less." There's no boldness or brashness, just pushover after pushover.
LESSON #2: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS IMMORTALITY-- This lesson could be written as something as simple as "Duh," but let's expound. The erasure and conquering of immortality is a common story trope of dream fulfillment in science fiction. From vampires to cyborgs, many stories chase this illusion. "Self/less" is more of the same. We have a selfish character who thinks he can cheat mortality and death and, right on schedule, realizes how impossible that is, but not before letting science and fantasy entertain that possibility.
LESSON #3: CHECK ON A COMPANY BEFORE YOU DO BUSINESS WITH THEM, ESPECIALLY IF THAT BUSINESS INVOLVES KILLING YOU AND SAYING THEY WILL GIVE YOU A NEW BODY-- There isn't a Better Business Bureau section for the cryogenics of "Vanilla Sky" any more than for the shedding of "Self/less." Dude, Damian, you're still a billionaire. You can do better than random Google searches to do your homework on a decision of this magnitude. Equal to the wild ads for weight loss products, sexual performance boosts, and hair rejuvenation, you can't go believing some sketchy doctor with glasses when you're blindly taken to some mystery lab. Come on, man. You're smarter and more thorough than this!


text:
RiverBend Motorcoach Resort RV Lot 284 is a northeast facing lot with no incoming heat through your windshield located on the wooded west boundary with grand oak trees, spanish moss and all the charm of SW Florida living. This beautiful property has enhanced landscaping, upgraded 60 amp electric and outdoor lighting (w/ a lifetime warranty) creating the perfect private tropical oasis. The patio furniture, umbrellas and 2 outdoor storage units are negotiable. The 10x16 coach house is finished with awnings, french doors opening to the lush woods providing extra privacy, retractable screens, laminate wood flooring, kitchenette, refrigerator, stacked washer/dryer, leather couch, TV, ceiling fan, A/C, and bathroom. This gorgeous Class A Motorcoach Resort is full of friendly people and provides a special sense of community. The resort includes over 1000' of river frontage on the Caloosahatchee River with boat ramp and slips. There is a Welcome Center, gated entrance & 2 clubhouses w/ restaurant, full bar, billiard room, library, exercise rooms and laundry. Amenities include heated pool, 2 jacuzzis, pickle ball, bocce ball, shuffle board, picnic areas, grills, putting green and dog park.
863-675-4500 | Contact Us
180 N. Bridge Street - LaBelle, FL 33935
Copyright © , All Rights Reserved
Thank you for visiting today. If this is your first visit, take your time and look around. We have plenty of information and resources available to you. If you are a return visitor, thank you. We would love to hear from you. We can serve all your real estate needs.
This will allow you to save specific listings, searches, or property information so you can come back later and review. You can also sign up to be notified when new listings come onto the market that meet your requirements. This registration also helps us stay in communication with our clients and allow us to offer the best service possible.
**This information is NOT submitted to 3rd party marketing sources, our eyes only**


text:
When It's Not Growing Season
Earlier this week I had the opportunity to drive through some of the most fertile agriculture land in the United States. As I marveled at the rich, dark soil I also thought about the amazing farmers who make this land so productive. During the coming Winter they will work on equipment, plan planting schedules, research best growing practices and maybe even take some much needed time for themselves.
In the next couple of weeks you will have the chance to take a break from your own busy "growing season" at work. How will you spend it? Hopefully you will take the time to celebrate many harvest moments from this past year and prepare your own "planting schedule" for 2012.
Just realize that growing season will be here again before you know it.


text:
Diego Costa wins Premier League award after fine start to the season
Diego Costa has received the first Barclays Premier League Player of the Month award of this season after scoring in each of Chelsea's first three games.
Chelsea acquired Costa's services early in the recent summer transfer window for a deal worth £32 million, and, since his arrival from La Liga title holders Atletico Madrid, the Spaniard has been tremendous for the Blues.
It only took him 17 minutes of his Premier League debut to score against newly-promoted Burnley, but his second goal for Chelsea against Leicester the following week demanded a harder and longer effort.
Everton showing
Chelsea's last game before the international break - against Everton at Goodison Park - was perhaps the decisive match that left Costa clear to win this award.
Opening the scoring after 35 seconds, Costa went on add Chelsea's sixth of the game 35 seconds before the end with a left-footed shot. His performance was just outstanding.
And that's what has made the difference between him and new Swansea signing Gylfi Sigurdsson. The Icelandic international has also started the season brilliantly, registering four assists and netting the winning goal against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Related articles
Chelsea vs Swansea City predicted teams
Eden Hazard feels less pressure after duo arrive at Chelsea
Diego Costa could have joined Liverpool
Poor discipline?
Two yellow cards in three games is a slight negative for Costa, and the player was lucky not to be sent off against Everton after committing some dodgy tackles.
It's something that he has to bear in mind quikcly, otherwise he may harm Chelsea's chance of lifting the Premier League trophy at the end of the season.
Costa was a top player for Atletico Madrid, scoring 35 goals in 44 appearances for his former club. He will hope to repeat that feat alongside fellow new signing Cesc Fabregas this season.News Now - Sport News


text:
One of the joys of writing is making characters say what you want them to. At times my characters express thoughts or sentiments I have had, but often they express totally opposite ones. In The Topkapi Secret, I went to great effort to ensure my characters were authentic to the country and class they were from. Some of the cultural dialogue is lifted from conversations I actually had or overheard.
There isn't much of me in a character like Mohammed Atareek. In him I tried to create a unique hero - one with a specific type of Middle Eastern personality almost unknown in the West - witty, overconfident, people-pleasing, and a bit boastful - someone apparently totally open but who may not be all he seems. I felt if I could get him right, have him leap from the page into the minds of Western readers in a realistic way, it would be a major accomplishment.
Angela shares only a few traits with me. I tried to make her consistent with the complex elements in her background.
What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?
The craziest thing I have ever done, bar none, was to sing in Spanish loudly enough to drown out the sheik who was singing to me in Arabic. The sheik was shocked. He stopped and asked me what I was doing. I told him. He started singing again. So did I. There was no malice: it was simply a bizarre musical battle. This counterpoint might have gone on indefinitely but for my sense that we'd had quite enough drama for one afternoon. I turned and left the mosque, accompanied by the two speechless friends who had come there looking for me.
Perhaps you will say I was rude, and perhaps I will agree - but I couldn't handle it any more. I had been invited to meet with the sheik in the mosque to discuss Islam. I was modestly dressed. Since he was old and from a very conservative Arab country, I tried to be culturally sensitive and not look him in the eye. I was very polite and let him take the floor for monologue after monologue of what he assumed an ignorant American such as me did not know.
But he was rude, too. He would neither let me ask questions nor answer his. Then, when he tried singing the Koran, I snapped. I stood up and started singing as well. And here we complete the circuit of the story. What a day!
When did you first discover that you were a writer?
Now that's a question both simple and profound. If boxes of scribblings confirm the status of "writer" then I knew I was a writer in my ancient past. But something between humility and insecurity wouldn't let me accept that I was a "Writer" until I actually heard people laughing loudly at a play I wrote just a few years ago.
Grandmother was a great storyteller. We grandchildren loved staying with her. Sitting on her bed, we heard the sounds of summer while she repeated her famous tale of "The Big Bad Bullfrog." Such a scandalous amphibian he was! Folks were still telling stories back in that time and place. My mother was good at it, too. And my friends and cousins sat together on blankets on the lawn and told each other stories. I also had a vivid imagination which helped me through some boring spots and created dreams that actually came true.
I started writing poems at age 12 and songs at age 14. In high school I wanted to be a professional poet, but soon fatigued with unfashionable epic verse, and learned from the example of starving Keats that writers needed a day job. So I wrote on the side: poems, songs, proverbs, stories, dramas, training materials, meditations and even two unpublished books.
I came to see writing as double-amazing: personally - how a few words can totally capture a memory or feeling and bring it back to life; and socially - writing transmits one's own thoughts through someone else's head. This must surely be one of the most profound things a human can do.
Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading.
One blessing I have is a large and diverse library covering almost every subject, including Islamic collections with gleaming gold letters on green bindings. Mostly I read non-fiction, especially as it relates to what I am doing at the time. Although The Topkapi Secret is a novel, it required a huge amount of research and documentation. Taking on a major paradigm like the integrity of the Koran, I knew I would have to be accurate and document even minor statements.
I also like to read history, the arts and sciences. Biographies are great - not of the rich and famous, but of those who worked selflessly to make the world a better place or made great discoveries. These, along with inspirational writings, keep me going.
Sometimes when I am really stressed or obsessed, I do read fiction to give my mind a vacation. I try to learn even from the fiction I read, or to study it for technique. I like mysteries, adventures and thrillers in exotic settings, but thrillers that have no character development or cultural aspect leave me flat. Likewise, I suspect stories that rely much on violence or sex are trying to make up for a weak plot.
How do you keep your sanity in our run, run, run world?
I believe everything in our lives should fit into one of two categories: PEACE or PURPOSE. We get into trouble when these two essentials are out of balance.
But if we only produce, we will feel dried up and flakey, like a used expresso cake. So we need peace in our lives. There are three kinds of peace: peace with whatever you call the force of the universe, peace within ourselves, and peace with each other. The third flows from the first two.
This doesn't mean we can't do things like watch TV or play a video game. If an activity adds to our peace it is good, but if it starts to unbalance our purpose we should cut back. E=E+E. Our Entertainment should Educate or Encourage. If it does, it adds to our peace and purpose. If it makes us grumpy, we should cut it out.
For me, peace mainly comes in: quiet corners, noticing nature, thinking thanks, and Western meditation (quietly thinking restful, positive thoughts, rather than merging with the void as in Eastern meditation). Exercise, nutrition, rest, reading and laughter are also great peacemakers.
Once you get the concept, it is remarkably simple. Cut out everything in life that neither brings you peace nor increases your purpose. If we are doing something that is neither purposeful nor encouraging, why are we doing it?
How do you choose your characters' names?
In The Topkapi Secret, I tried to choose ethnic names that would be easy for Americans to remember. Recently I read a novel where most of the characters had two syllable names with the same first letter. I hate that. So I try to make the names distinct enough that readers won't mix characters up. Occasionally the names have a hidden meaning: Atareek means "the way". Angela and Peter have special reasons behind their names as well.
What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?
Getting my doctorate degree.
If you were an animal, which one would you be, and why?
I would like to be an impressive and respectable animal, but would actually be a squirrel: always busy, a little bit cute, surrounded by nuts, and when it comes right down to it, just a rodent in a nice fur coat.
What is your favorite food?
Date nut bars - my own variation of grandma's classic. The intense sweetness of dates connects us with the Middle East, conjuring up images of caravans and starry skies. Dates, the food eaten first to break the fast of Ramadan, are nice tummy and brain food. When mixed with oatmeal and nuts they make a meal in a bar - breakfast, lunch, or midnight snack.
When it comes to eating I tend to be a grazer rather than a hunter. This trait fits well with a writer's lifestyle: every hour or two we need to rise, let the blood flow and the subconscious go, while we make fresh tea or coffee and find a healthy snack. (Look for the recipe on http://www.terrykelhawk.com/)
What is the problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?
Being too busy and having to write late at night when I was exhausted from a full day. Most of the first draft of The Topkapi Secret, was written between 11 pm and 2 am. This means I wrote some real bloopers that had to be cleaned up later. For example, once while drifting to sleep I wrote, "The fatiha is a (family member's name)." I still have no idea what I was really trying to say. Perhaps when I remember it, I'll write another book.
Tell us about the featured book.
The Topkapi Secret is a high stakes adventure and romance novel that takes you from America, across Europe and into exotic settings of the Middle East.
There's an early Koran, called the Topkapi Codex on display in the Topkapi Palace museum in Istanbul. Researcher Mohammed Atareek believes that the Koran has been changed many times, and the Topkapi Codex could help prove it. But the risks of getting to it increase as other scholars turn up dead.
English professor Angela Hall's life in America is in tatters. Seeking escape with a purpose, she travels to the Middle East to research women's issues.
When Angela's path crosses Mohammed's, sparks fly from all directions. Her research trip has suddenly become more about escaping death for questioning long-held tradition than gathering information. Would someone really kill them for proving the Koran has been changed?
With references, research, and accomplished storytelling, Terry Kelhawk takes readers on a breathtaking journey through a beautiful—and dangerous—land.
Please give us the first page of the book.
Chapter 1
March 31, 2006
"Ican't see!" Angela cried out.
Angela Hall had never been in a sandstorm. Like most people, she relegated such phenomena to the Sahara Desert. She could not even imagine a sandstorm inMarrakech. So she was caught by surprise when the bright blue Moroccan skies clouded with sand.
Angela's contact lenses were grinding the sand into her eyes, and it hurt. Sand was everywhere. It was seeping into the folds of her clothing and chafing her skin. True dermabrasion. Her face had never felt anything like this before.
Breathing was difficult. Against her will, her eyelids kept pressing down against the onslaught of the sand. Angela reached for Fatima's arm, feeling frustrated, dependent; however, she had no choice but to rely on another. At that moment Fatima stepped into the street to flag a taxi. Angela grabbed at air. Blinking, she stumbled and nearly fell.
Once the taxi came into view, Fatima could see that it was occupied. It sped by, heedless of their plight. Taxis disappear like mirages when a sandstorm hits Marrakech. The lucky and the experienced grab one quickly or get off the streets. Fatima was experienced. But neither woman was lucky that day. By the time the sand had come, they were poorly situated for taxi grabbing.
A few minutes earlier, before the storm hit, they had ambled peacefully along, discussing the gardens of Marrakech.
"Menara's nice, but I prefer La Majorelle," Angela had said. "It has a lush, secluded feeling, with its paths winding through palms and bougainvilleas."
"But Menara's grander," replied Fatima. "It reminds me of a small Taj Mahal, the way the pavilion reflects in the water."
"And the way the sultans tossed their concubines into it every morning?" Angela asked, referring to the notorious practice of the sultans of Marrakech. "Did you ever wonder if they could swim?"
Interesting. How can readers find you on the Internet?
Please visit my website at either http://www.terrykelhawk.com/ or http://www.thetopkapisecret.com/. We have lots of great extras there including not only info about the book, but a thrilling video trailer, links to my articles, and freebees like recipes and travel tips. You might also want to Google my name and see what imbroglio I am currently embroiled in!
Here's the Facebook page about this book:
Readers, here's a link to the book. By using it when you order, you help support this blog.
Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)


text:
Looking for a slice of cake and pot of tea after a grueling day of wondering, relaxing and taking photos at Werribee Mansion recently (see here) - we poked our little noses into the Mansion Hotel and Spa to see what we could find.
What we found were bubbles, pinot and delicious cheese instead.
Cake Schmake!
Werribee Park Mansion
K Road, Werribee


text:
ABC iview
- Last update: 2 years ago
- Version: Varies with device
- Size: 11.72M
- Compatibility: Varies with device
- Author: Australian Broadcasting Corporation
- Content rating: Rated for 12+
- Package name: au.net.abc.iview
ABC iview Review
Unfortunately, professional review of the ABC iview app is not yet ready. This app is on the list and will be reviewed in the nearest feature. Meanwhile, you can find more from the official description below.View all reviews
ABC iview Review0
Never miss a moment of your favourite TV. ABC iview is simple, ad-free and free to use.
Download the official app now to watch ABC TV and exclusive iview programs on a range of Android phones and tablets, on demand, over wifi or mobile data.
Catch up on prime-time drama and trusted news and current affairs. Delve into a huge selection of popular children's programs. Discover must-see iview Exclusives and watch when it suits you.
Most programs are available for 14 days and new programs are added every day.
This version of the ABC iview app for Android extends official support for iview on a wider range of devices running Android OS 4.2 (Jellybean) and above. The list of supported devices is provided below. These devices have been tested to provide an acceptable level of app performance and stability.
If you have feedback specific to the performance of this app, please let us know: firstname.lastname@example.com
• Samsung Galaxy S3 & S4
• LG Nexus 5
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
• HTC One (M8)
• Sony Xperia Z
• Samsung Galaxy S6
• Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0)
• Samsung Galaxy Note 8
• Nexus 7 (2013)
• Nexus 10
• Samsung Tab 3 (8.0)
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5
• Sony Xperia Tablet Z
ABC iview on Android devices offers the following features:
• Instant and unlimited access to your favourite ABC TV programs
• Live Streaming: Watch all your favourite broadcast channels live over wifi or mobile data
• Google Chromecast support: iview is now Google Cast enabled so now you can cast your favourite ABC programs to your TV using a Chromecast device.
• Adaptive video quality: Programs automatically adjust to available bandwidth and network conditions
• Watchlist: Add a series to the Watchlist and the app will notify you when a new episode becomes available
• Discover: Search by program name or browse by channel or category. Catch up on last night's TV, browse the most popular programs on iview, and discover related shows you may also enjoy
• Share: Use Facebook, Twitter or email to share your favourite programs with friends
• Closed Captions: Set iview to display closed captions, available on a large amount of programs
This app is designed for devices running Android OS 4.2 and above. Watching iview on any Android device is metered regardless of your ISP. Due to rights restrictions, ABC iview is geo-blocked to Australia. Follow iview on Facebook www.facebook.com/ABCiView and Twitter @ABCiview for the latest programs, chat and updates.
Important: Data Consumption
Please note: you are responsible for the data transfer and consumption charges incurred by you when using any ABC app. The ABC disclaims all liability for such charges.
The amount you are charged for watching video over 3G/4G depends on several things:
* How much data your mobile phone company allows you to download each month at no extra cost (your quota)
* How much data you've already downloaded in that month, and how much of your quota remains
* How much your mobile phone company charges you when you download more than your monthly quota
If you have a small monthly quota, or have used almost all of your monthly quota, watching video over a 3G/4G connection could be expensive. For more information about data consumption in relation to streaming video, please visit the iview FAQs or the Help & Feedback section within the app.
Do check your quota with your mobile phone company, and monitor your usage. Your mobile phone company may be able to send you alerts when you reach the limit of your monthly quota. It is possible to disable 3G/4G in your device within your device Settings.


text: Silent Hill: Book of Memories on the PS Vita is an all-new game in the Silent Hill series, with a unique premise and storyline. The story begins with a strange book that is received and inside that book is your entire life story to this point, everything that's ever happened to you; all of your memories. You discover that by altering what's written… you can actually change the past. You can write your own ideal history. Players can work together as they explore several different Otherworlds, solving puzzles and defeating creatures to advance through the Nightmares and uncover the truth behind the Book of Memories. Scare rooms, limited resources, and dark atmosphere all return.


text:
Sign in
Sign in
Recover your password.
A password will be e-mailed to you.
Get real time updates directly on you device, subscribe now.
Romyna Camacho 12 posts 0 comments
Leave A ReplyCancel Reply
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More


text:
|Welcome, Guest. Please Login or Register
|Are you or do you know of any surviving relatives of Charles Harrison? If so please contact the Administrator
|British Anzani Archive Forum › Help Section
British Anzani Archive Forum » Powered by YaBB 2.5 AE!
YaBB Forum Software © 2000-2010. All Rights Reserved.


text:
This Could Happen To You… New Pool Errors To Avoid
The summer time months can get unbearably hot in some areas and cool down can become a challenge. If you live in one of these types of areas, then you might be contemplating having a pool set up. Is having a new pool installed a wise move? The choice in the end lies with you, yet below are a few facts that an individual will want to think about before getting your very own mini water wonderland. Your own pool is meant to be enjoyed. You will certainly without doubt spend many hours lounging and playing in your pool whenever you get the chance. It does not mean that you are not able to have fun getting in condition in your pool. Fresh pool fun and fitness products can help you get started. Swimming pool will surely boost the value of your own home. It makes your outside a place of relaxation and comfort, an area wherein the whole family may enjoy and have fun during the hot summer season. Yet did you know that there are some few things that you possess to take into consideration before you finally set yourself clear of the problems of maintaining a pool? Here are the top 3 questions of new swimming pool owners about pool servicing and cleaning. Pool unit installation is a process. Though it can go as swiftly or as slowly since you would like that to go, this is a very good idea to choose a provider that you know can produce everything you need. You'll be amazed from the options that are offered to you. Pool installation is definitely an exciting prospect when a person think about the finished product within your backyard, ready to be able to use. However the reality of the situation will be that it is really a main commitment that has a lots of aspects you should consider in advance. Pool Installation in Virginia Beach VA says though you could just call on the professional for pool installation and take whatever adequate course, it may be a better option to actually work with the particular contractors to produce your personal design. That's right. You are able to create an oasis which is right for you in addition to your family. Your desires for escape to a tropical island are possible with regard to at least for some minutes a day. You carry out not have to get a new standard square or oblong model. You can produce a space that works for your preferences as well as your yard. Why not do this? It is going to add value plus beauty to your home if you do. Swimming pool installation can mean anything at all from installing massive, Olympic-style pools inside your patio or backyard to using a little, shallow version just large enough for wading. For this reason, it goes without saying that it is constantly important to begin typically the process by choosing exactly which type you visualize having in your lawn. There are several steps involved inside the in ground pool installation process and several are incredibly complex. Unless a person will be very skilled in this area, utilizing a professional is recommended. Some retailers offer you packages that lower typically the overall cost and include necessary equipment like typically the pump, filter, and machine. By purchasing the pool, equipment, accessories, starter materials, and installation at the same time, consumers can get their pool up and running at the least expense minus delay. Choosing an over or in-ground swimming pool installation is a huge selection. Both types of pool area provide a lot of fun regarding the whole family but each and every one has different features. In addition, there are several styles of pools within each category. Finding the perfect one requires consideration associated with the yard size in addition to condition and other factors. Learning everything there will be to know about within and above ground swimming pools will make the selection and professional installation process much easier. Odds are the particular pool designer that you simply fulfill with will have a new project manager who will be accountable for keeping your current pool installation moving alongside. Make certain you have all of the necessary contact information for your job manager. Any time an individual have concerns or questions on the particular progress of the unit installation, ask. Your contractor won't know if you're getting concerns unless you speak with them. If there are any delays in the construction, he or she should communicate them to an individual. In the the sunshine, the family enjoys nothing a lot more than being placed in the drinking water. But finding the time within your busy schedule in order to take your family to a water park or general public bath sometimes is just rather than an option. Thankfully there is usually a solution. Bring typically the water park to yours backyard. Before you do this particular though, you need in order to consider what type regarding pool installation is going to be right for you. A perfect pool installation can become for nothing if the coping associated with the pool is of low quality. In many aspects the coping can either create or break the complete work. Cantilevered concrete coping is poured in place upon top of the pool area and is a skill that requires considerable encounter to master. We begin with the benefits of getting a pool in your own property. Pool installation provides recreation and appeal to your own home. Your kids might reap the benefits of this as it gives them more cause to spend more time in your own home. Building a going swimming pool in your house allows your own children to develop their swimming skills. They also become familiar with the principles and safety precautions when swimming. It can be a great learning encounter for your children in addition to help them become much better and safe swimmer. Often-overlooked aspects of pool set up are the zoning laws and regulations and regulations in your city or perhaps town. Because these installations are construction projects, they are subject to these regulations and restrictions like a home remodeling project would certainly be. Because of this particular, it is crucial to check with the regional zoning board first to see what you can and cannot do along with where you can plus cannot install.


text:
At Tectvs, we believe architecture should reach as wide an audience as possible. Over the decades, we have chosen projects that have tested our ability to translate our design philosophies to communities beyond the confines of the cityscape. Regional development is necessary for Australia's States to survive in increasingly competitive times. Projects have emerged from a willingness on both ends to seek the best solutions and draw on each others relevant strengths and skills.
The harsh and remote eco-tourism destination of Seal Bay is one of the few places in the world where people can walk at close quarters among animals in the wild. Each year 100,000 visit the Kangaroo Island coastal wildlife sanctuary and its sole amenity, the Seal Bay Visitor Centre. At peak periods up to 1000 people a day use the Visitor Centre's facilities and seek out information on the local wildlife and environs. Tectvs was engaged by National Parks and Wildlife SA to design an upgrade of the Visitor Centre that maintained its environmental integrity while improving its operational efficiency and the visitor experience, and better protecting the physical structure. It would project a new, confident identity and highlight the park's core roles in wildlife conservation, education and interpretation.
Tectvs's approach was to consolidate and refine the existing built infrastructure to improve interpretive displays, retail areas, visitor flow and external appearance. It maintained and expanded on the existing architecture, materials and finishes to ensure the built forms remained sympathetic to the natural environment of Seal Bay. Timber finishes matched the existing and, where possible, were sourced already weathered; paving was concrete, glazing set in timber frames and XSE decking used over existing pergolas. The interiors featured polished concrete, organic-base paints, limestone tiles, eco-ply and galvanised steel. Tectvs enclosed the existing breezeway area to expand the retail/interpretive display area, and rationalised the Visitor Centre internal layout to form one large space, providing for flexibility in interpretive/retail displays and multifunctional use of the interior. A stronger entry statement with new signage was designed to draw visitors into a free-flowing configuration that interacted with the displays and merchandising; a new, separate exit promoted circulation through the retail area and eliminated foot-traffic bottlenecks. The design improved counter, administration and storage efficiencies and staff amenity. It also upgraded services, and added a layer of environmental protection by covering existing pergolas to form verandas around the building. The upgrade was completed in 2001.
The existing site of the Whyalla Special School comprised a mixture of semi-permanent, transportable buildings originating from the mid-1970's. Tectvs was given the task to start fresh on the site to create an exciting and safe learning environment. The choice to redevelop from scratch was chosen to avoid long term issues regarding the costly removal of asbestos from existing structures - and given the delicate nature of the client - enabled the project to adopt a safety-first approach. Therefore, the project brief focused on creating both a sense of place within the community and a learning environment that would allow for increased student growth. A simple, safe, cost effective structure was required to serve as a gathering place for families and the community.
To create a sense of place, bricks were cleverly used as a repeatable yet decorative element. Finishes and colour selections brought indigenous aspects into the design that were extended to the surrounding landscape, engaging various sustainability principles. The school now presents itself as a striking place of learning within the community.
Cleland Wildlife Park is one of South Australia's most popular tourist destinations, especially with overseas visitors seeking the up-close-and-personal experience with some of the iconic life-forms of Australiana. Popularity, encouraged by ever-cheaper travel, has its downside: visitor traffic wears out destinations – physically and conceptually. Such was the case of Cleland Wildlife Park Visitor Centre by the late 1990s. Tectvs was asked to design an upgrade to revitalise the centre; to successfully assess and balance the often conflicting interests of people, wildlife and an eco-sensitive environment.
Tectvs managed to apply environmentally sustainable design principles in meeting the expectations and needs of visitors and operators alike. At this time, most of the major South Australian wildlife destinations still suffered from the Victorian-era legacy of the 'turnstile and freak show' approach to their customers. The redevelopment of the Cleland centre was the first of a number of projects Tectvs undertook for National Parks and Wildlife SA to treat visitors to a more 'human' experience in every aspect of their contact with the centre – right from the point of entry, through to the way merchandise and food was displayed and sold, to the staging of the interpretive experience. At Cleland, as with the other National Parks and Wildlife sites, total shutdown for the duration of the redevelopment was simply not an option. The project management challenge was to work around this constraint without compromising either delivery program or budget. The early influence of the 'slow' approach to sustainability through project and process can be found here. Think global, act local and others will follow.
Port Lincoln Fire Station is one of 17 regional stations operated by the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service (MFS). Tectvs was asked to stage the construction to enable the station to become operational – initially part-time – as soon as possible. It split the building into three components: the appliance bays and canopies, a services corridor, staff services. Each was separated to form independent corridors of services, allowing different sections to grow and contract without impacting on the others. The design of the building form developed from concepts of protection and human spirit associated with the fire-fighting service. Images of strength and durability were translated into robust forms contrasted with refined elements and detailing. A butterfly roof was set above the colonnade glazing to create the impression the great expanse of roof was being held up by the glass and, at night, that it was hovering impossibly above the vehicle bay.
Stuart Range Outback resort is a mainstay of Cooper Pedy. To capitalise on increased destination tourism, Tectvs has been asked to transform the predominantly caravan based accomodation into a precinct worth of the name 'outback resort'. Presently, the project has a completed reception area and pizza bar, with further stages of development unfolding throughout the year.