text:
Chou, Praha!
Trip Start Aug 24, 2005
16Trip End Ongoing
Map your own trip!
Loading Map
Loading Map
Map Options
Show trip route
Hide lines
I had originally intended to go to Dresden, but an entire of packing and cleaning was hardly a fitting send-off for this city that has been my partner, through thick and thin for the last 4 months. Sure, we got into fights, I screamed I hated it and it shot back with sweltering days, dog poop on the sidewalks, and hordes of tourists. We took a necessary break though, went our separate ways, for a time, whilst I traversed Spain. When I came back things were much better. Finally I was able to accept it for what it was. It didn't quite return the favor, considering that it's been trying to change me since I got here
I began the day buying the last couple of postcards and mailing them off. After that our date started. I got off the tram at Narodni Divadlo and walked along the Vltava towards Charles Bridge. The sky was hazy from all the snow falling, so I could barely make out the castle at the top of the hill. It was a fitting scene, with the treacherous Gothic Castle acting as a specter on top of the giant hill. I finally made it to Charles Bridge, a surprisingly long journey, considering that I had to deliberate over each of my footsteps as I made my way over the collecting snow.
Walking across the bridge was equally beautiful, as I looked out over each new scene, covered with a sheet of snow. My hands were beginning to freeze since I kept exposing them to the icy air while taking pictures. Taking pictures with film cameras, leaves for a definite element of surprise. But I don't mind.
I made my way to the Kafka Museum (one of the few museums I actually managed to visit here--lame). By the time I got there, I was crusted with a layer of snow that quickly began to drip off of me, upon entering the warm building. I took a look through this, since The Trial is one of my favorite books, but was soon done and (barely) ready to head back out into the cold. It's days like these, with the snow falling consistently for hours with fat snowflakes that makes me realize I have to live somewhere that has seasons--somewhere that requires one to where a hat occasionally, as a matter of necessity
I walked to old town square to see Tyn Church covered with snow, but was getting too cold to tolerate much exploring in the weather. I made it back to my flat, where the romance continued. I remained tucked away from the cold, watching it snow outside through my giant Communist era windows and windowsills, whilst playing Chopin. Listening to the music made me realize there's something inherently Central European about his music. He is Polish, but listening to it almost makes me feel as though he too were couped up in a room, safe from the cold,looking at the snow falling outside, while contemplating some piece of music. It evokes a feeling that I have only felt here, something Central European. It doesn't surprise me that many of the great composers lived and worked in Vienna and Prague--there's something about this place.
After being distracted by the falling snow outside for an hour or so, I finally made my way to bed, marking the second to last night that I'll be spending in Prague. But now, I must continue learning French and live in a country where I can speak the language, if I'm to be in Europe.


text:
Threads 1 to 25 of 143
Forum: The Fantasy Lounge
Join some of the 24x7 fantasy experts and submit your roster for public ridicule. Who to draft, who to sit, who to play, who to trade? New to fantasy, new to managing a league? No clue whatsoever? Look here for help.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
- KCII Radio - http://kciiradio.com -
Pesticide Testing in Washington Tomorrow
Posted By News On @ 6:24 am In Today's Local News | Comments Disabled
The Iowa Department of Ag and Land Stewardship is offering pesticide testing at the Washington County Extension. Nancy Adrian with the extension says the testing is offered the second Friday of each month. The next training will be tomorrow for applicators who apply pesticide for a fee.
These tests are offered May through December from 10:00 to 2:00. Adrian adds the tests will be given on a first-come, first-serve basis.
She recommends that you register before the testing to make sure the schedule has not changed. For more information contact Washington County Extension.
No related posts.
Article printed from KCII Radio: http://kciiradio.com
URL to article: http://kciiradio.com/2011/05/pesticide-testing-in-washington-tomorrow/
URLs in this post:
[1] Image: http://lh6.ggpht.com/_gDDgXn7fh-o/Tcr_jcq-5zI/AAAAAAAAJ5o/uoRSupvZXWM/IA%20Dept%20of%20Ag%20and%20Land%20Stewardship.jpg?imgmax=640
[2] Image: http://www.printfriendly.com/print?url=http://kciiradio.com/2011/05/pesticide-testing-in-washington-tomorrow/
Click here to print.
Copyright © 2005-2013 KCII Radio


text:
The last Sunday of January has been designated annually as Welcoming Church Sunday, a day on which congregations—across denominations--celebrate and reaffirm their support for the full participation of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities in the life of the church.
Various denominational LGBT advocacy groups organize their own welcoming church program. In order to be considered a "welcoming church", a congregation creates a public statement of welcome that is inclusive of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. These welcoming church programs are denominationally specific, so the designation will be slightly different for each denomination (Reconciling in Christ for Lutherans, Open and Affirming for the United Church of Christ, Reconciling Congregation for Methodists, etc.). Even though each denomination has its own welcoming church designation, these programs coordinate on projects, like designating the last Sunday in January as Welcoming Church Sunday.
Ideas for celebrating Welcoming Church Sunday can be found on the Reconciling Ministries website as well as on the website of Lutherans Concerned North America. GLAAD encourages all congregations to review their welcome statement, educate themselves on the practice of welcome, and recommit to being a welcoming space LGBT people of faith.
GLAAD thanks all places of worship that have made a public declaration of their welcome of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. A listing of welcoming congregations can be found on the Institute for Welcoming Resources web site. If you are delivering a sermon that calls for a more inclusive world or if you attend a service that commemorates the full participation of all sexual orientation and gender identities, please share you r story with us either below or by e-mailing firstname.lastname@example.com.
GLAAD calls on the number of welcoming congregations to continue to grow until all people seeking a spiritual home will be able to find one that accepts them.


text:
It's restaurant-style quiche at home! This easy ham and Swiss cheese pie is sure to be a family-pleasing entrée.
This pie is impossibly easy because there is no crust to roll out. The crust forms as the pie bakes.
Save this recipe. It's a great way to use up extra holiday ham.
Savory Impossibly Easy Pies can be covered and refrigerated up to 24 hours before baking. You may need to bake a bit longer than the recipe directs since you'll be starting with a cold pie. Watch carefully for doneness.
© 2017 ®/TM General Mills All Rights Reserved


text:
Congratulatiions to Deb Stukey in the Am...
Congratulatiions to Deb Stukey in the Am...
John Lash
"If you run Field Trials, you learn to swallow your disappointment quickly."
"Field trials are not a game for good dogs. They're for great dogs with great training." E. Graham
Congratulations to Elizabeth Wilson and Woody. Always love hearing good things about Woody. Just curious, does this give him his AFC now?
edit: Answered in another thread ... appears Woody is not quite an AFC yet.
Congratulations on the Win, nevertheless.
Last edited by T-Pines; 04-29-2013 at 10:18 AM.
Congrats to Elizabeth and Woody!!!
Woody has sired a litter of pups due May 27th with "Salt Marsh Ceilidh Dancer*** MH", owned by Dave Boothman.
Gerri Mitchell
Salt Marsh Retrievers
196 Winding Trail
Laurel Grove Plantation
Brunswick, Georgia 31523
CONGRATULATIONS "Woody" and Elizabeth on your Amateur WIN!!!! Blue and Gold are wonderful colors!
Home of
"LACY" FC AFC Port Costas Chantilly Lace (2009 Nat'l Derby List, 2009 Top Golden Derby Female, GRCA 2009 #1 Derby Dog, 2013 & 2014 Top Open Female Golden, Qual 2015 Am Nat'l))
"AMBER" Windbreakers Premium Ale **
In Memory of
"STAR" Honeywood Rising Star WCX *** Dec 1999-Mar 2014
"RAVEN" Highstar Midnight Dream SH (Qual 2009 Am Nat'l) Aug 2001-May 2011
Congratulations Elixabeth and Woody!
Field trialer. I have an FC Golden Retriever and running trials Casey and a retired FT black lab Lightning.
Marie Annette Doherty
i wanted to send a congrats out to my friend tommy fairchild on carya's placement in the open! i have seen carya train lots and she is a good one tommy, keep on keepin' on! congrats to chris ledford too.
Last edited by roseberry; 04-29-2013 at 01:47 PM. Reason: i was informed by rf2 that my spelling sucked!
john mccallie
Congratulations to Tommy and Carya!
Congratulations to Elizabeth and Woody for placing 1st in a big Amateur Stake!!!! Yeah Goldens!
Peg Willbond
HRCH Rippling Run Good Golly Molly, MH, UD, WCX
Rippling Run Touch of Spice ** MH, WCX
Rippling Run Allie Allie In Free, QAA, MH, WCX
Don't bother to just be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.
William Faulkner


text:
Our Crane Concierge fields quite a few queries about everything from personalized stationery suggestions to wedding invitation etiquette. It is her job, after all — one she quite likes.
Below are some of our favorites, some that we get often and some might just want to tuck away for future use. (After all, you never know when you might need a formal font suggestion.)
From Meghan:
"I would like to order some personalized stationery for three of our executives. I would love to have a system where they could use the same envelope for a note or a thank you card… (they don't want to think about which envelope to use with which item)."
Dear Meghan,
Thank you for your query and for considering Crane & Co. for your personalized stationery. I would suggest choosing Monarch size letterhead for their sheets, which would use the same envelope as a monarch flat card.
Love & Letters,
The Crane Concierge
From Debbie:
1. Should the groom's suffix (junior) and the father of the bride's suffix (junior) be in capitals?
2. Should the year all be in capitals or only the first letter of the word, "Two"?
3. If the reception is a dinner reception, should it be stated as dinner reception on the reception card?
4. Should the joining word be "to" or "and" if it is a religious ceremony?
5. Is the light french block considered a formal font for a formal invitation such as this one?
Dear Debbie,
Thank you for your query.
- The groom and father of the bride's suffix should either be printed "junior" (lowercase) or "Jr." if abbreviating (which should only be done if space does not permit spelling it out). Keep in mind that the father of the bride only retains his 'junior' suffix if his father has not passed.
- Traditionally, the "t" is not capitalized. However, today most people capitalize the "T" because it tends to be more aesthetically pleasing. Both ways, therefore, are acceptable.
- If it is a sit-down dinner and guests are to choose their entree upon RSVP-ing, it is not necessary to state that it is a dinner reception. If it is buffet or family-style, however, the fact that it is a dinner reception should be included. A classic "Dinner and dancing to follow" will do just fine.
- For Christian weddings, "to" is correct for a religious ceremony. For Jewish ceremonies, "and" is correct as the names of both sets of parents traditionally go on the wedding invitation.
- Yes. Other types proper for a formal invitation include classic scripts such as Royal, London, Harrington, Bickham or, for more flourish, Rook or Palmer Script. Other options include serif fonts such as Light French Roman, Engravers Bold Roman, Chevalier or, for a bit lighter look, Serlio Roman. I would suggest avoiding sans serif if a formal look is desired.
Love & Letters,
The Crane Concierge
From David:
"I am interested in obtaining some stationery with engraved initials, plus envelopes and note cards that are simple and masculine. Your recommendations would be appreciated."
Dear David,
Thank you for your query. An ecru or pearl white flat card with navy or charcoal ink are two of my favorite masculine combinations. I suggest our Corinne card with monogram KC275AB in charcoal with a charcoal envelope liner or our classic ecru monogram cards with the KC266AB monogram in navy ink.
Love & Letters,
The Crane Concierge
From Patty:
"I would like calling cards to include with gifts. What is the best way to have a calling card with my name and my husband's?"
Dear Patty,
You have a few options for presenting you and your husband's name:
Mr. and Mrs. Ron Rennick
Patty and Ron Rennick
Or, if you would prefer them to be more casual, simply Patty and Ron.
Love & Letters,
The Crane Concierge
From Jan:
"Can a logo created by the customer be incorporated in personalized products?"
Dear Jan,
Thank you for your query. Yes, we can incorporate your artwork. Please find the guidelines for doing so here: http://www.crane.com/use-your-own-artwork
Love & Letters,
The Crane Concierge
Have a question for our Crane Concierge? Email her at email@example.com.


text:
Cheap Att Smart Phones Deals from $0.00 to $0.00
A pre-owned cell phone is often a better purchase than a refurbished cell phone, because refurbished cell phones often have to be taken apart and put back together. With a used phone, especially those in excellent or good condition on our site, it's often in very similar condition as when it left the manufacturer. Cellular Country has a full range of Cheap Att Smart Phones products for you to choose from. Each phone has been completely tested and inspected by an experienced technician. In the event that it doesn't meet your expectations, it comes with a full 30 day money back guarantee. You can browse our Cheap Att Smart Phones products and select the cell phone that fits your budget and lifestyle. We have many convenient shipping options, from affordable USPS shipping to expedited Fedex next day air shipping, so you can choose when your next cell phone will arrive at your home. Your next phone is just a few clicks or a phone call away. Should you have any questions about our phones, the process, or anything else, please don't hesitate to contact us via phone, email, or through our web form. Some is always here to answer your questions 24 hours a day.
Related Categories


text:
Title: Thanksgiving Party
Description: Two unidentified men holding up turkeys presumably at the SCBA Thanksgiving Party.
Date: 1958
Photographer: Ken Paton
Item Type: Photograph, b/w
Collection: South Central Business Association Records (P14 & SC39)
See finding aid: http://localhistory.kclibrary.org/u?/Local,36934
Location: P14, Box 4, Folder 6, Number 16
Notes: Found in Scrapbook #34, 1958, page 75.
Local Subject: South Central Business Association; Thanksgiving Day
Digital Format: JPEG
Barcode: 10015948
Repository: Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri
Rights: Reproduction (printing, downloading, or copying) of images from Kansas City Public Library requires permission and payment for the following uses, whether digital or print: publication; reproduction of multiple copies; personal, non-educational purposes; and advertising or commercial purposes. Please order prints or digital files and pay use fees through this website. All images must be properly credited to: "Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri." Images and texts may be reproduced without prior permission only for purposes of temporary, private study, scholarship, or research. Those using these images and texts assume all responsibility for questions of copyright and privacy that may arise.


text:
Badgers get No. 4 seed in NCAA hockey tournament
Wisconsin faces top-seeded UMass-Lowell Friday afternoon
INDIANAPOLIS - The Wisconsin Badgers' men's hockey team, coming off a 22-12-7 season that ended with a 3-2 victory over Colorado College in the WCHA championship game, have earned a No. 4 seed in the 2013 Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship tournament.
Placed in the northeast region, Wisconsin will face the No.1 seeded UMass- Lowell (26-10-2) on Friday at 3:30 p.m. at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Joining the Badgers from the WCHA are Minnesota, North Dakota, Minnesota State, Denver, and St. Cloud State.
If the Badgers win Friday, they would face the winner of the Denver/New Hampshire in a game that would take place Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
The Badgers enter the national tournament as the 2013 WCHA Final Five champion, having won six straight games. The conference tournament title marked the program's 12th WCHA playoff crown, its first Broadmoor Trophy since 1998, and its first ever under head coach Mike Eaves.
"I think that every team in this tournament can beat any other team," Eaves said. "We've seen that all year in our league and playing in our non-conference games. Any team in this 16-team tournament can win. The issue for us is maintaining what we have and keep rolling."
Wisconsin has won six NCAA titles, including most recently in 2006. The Badgers also won titles in 1990, 1983, 1981, 1977, and 1973.
Top-ranked Quinnipiac is the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA hockey tournament despite a loss in its conference tournament semifinals.
The Bobcats are joined by UMass-Lowell, Minnesota, and Notre Dame as the No. 1 regional seeds in the 16-team field announced Sunday.
Quinnipiac (27-7-5), which lost to Brown 4-0 in the East Coast Athletic Conference semifinals, is the No. 1 seed in the Northeast Regional and will play Canisius on Saturday in Providence, R.I.
The other two teams playing in Providence are ECAC champion Union and defending national-champion Boston College.
The rest of the field features Wisconsin, Denver, New Hampshire, Yale, North Dakota, Niagara, St. Cloud State, Miami (Ohio), and Minnesota State.
The Frozen Four is in Pittsburgh.


text:
Recently, I told you about when I was a shady bike seller on Craigslist Toronto.
My ads were pretty straightforward, but they worked. Maybe next time I'm looking to sell a bicycle I'll try using eBay and make sure I'm "rad to the power of sick."
Looking to make more profit selling your old bicycle in Toronto? Here's a video that could help:
Via Cycling Maven


text:
Perceptor is now mine as I found one at Target this morning. I ordered Kup and Scourge from HTS yesterday so I guess I'm caught up for the time being.
Perceptor is now mine as I found one at Target this morning. I ordered Kup and Scourge from HTS yesterday so I guess I'm caught up for the time being.
Aren't Thundercracker, Grapple, and Wheeljack out, with Warpath soon to follow?
How tough would it be to get a Target exclusive Revenge of the Fallen Shadow Striker? I didn't see too many on eBay, and have no interest in the Bumblebee. However, I opened Kup this morning and watched the movie with my daughter this afternoon, and, well, if Hasbro isn't going to re-release Wheelie, I might just have to buy one and paint it myself. Shadow Striker looks to be considerably cheaper, even getting the full set, than getting Wheelie. It's just, like I said, I have no interest in the Bumblebee and don't want to give it to my kids, since that might make them question my telling them that the live-action movies are bad. (I'm more concerned with them watching movies with gratuitous nut shots, leg humping, and masturbation jokes than anything else, no matter how much I hate those movies.)
Kup, by the way, is one of the nicest Transformers figures I've seen. Some minor kibble issues, but the fact that he can be posed in a variety of positions and remain balanced is a major plus. I can just imagine him telling my Classics Optimus Prime that, at his age, he feels like a piece of ****. (Look it up on YouTube if you don't know what I'm talking about.)
I just have no clue who the repaint head could be. Gears, maybe? Trailbreaker? The mold could actually work for Arcee, but the head in the instructions is definitely not her.
That's my jacket!
OK. I need:
Ultra Magnus - a good, poseable figure - probably that darn City Commander custom kit figure. I guess he's to scale with Deluxe Kup and Blurr? (Maybe)
If there is another, smaller Ultra Magnus, he can go with my Deluxe Galvatron, Cyclonus, and Rodimus figures.
Rodimus Prime - masterpiece, to go with the above figures.
Cyclonus, Galvatron, Scourge (Leader Class or Masterpiece) - un-maid, unannounced, as of yet.
These are my most-wanted Transformers.
Along with Leader Class Blackout.
I will be buying the Leader Class Ironhide. I think he will be on scale with a Human Alliance Jazz. Maybe I'll buy an extra Human Alliance Barricade for them to fight?
BAD Pts Need: R5-C7 lf leg (x2), , R4-P44 right leg BAD Pts Offered For Trade: PM me - I have lots of parts now including BG-J38!. New Kyle Katarn is also available.
Nowhere in your incoherent ramblings did you come anywhere close to the answer. Thanks to you, everyone in this room is now stupider having heard you. I award you no points and may God have mercy on your soul. -Billy Madison-
Kup arrived from HTS today.
I've seen listings on HTS for Thundercracker and Wheeljack but they're "out of stock" so I'm not sure if they were ever in stock in the first place or if they're there just as placeholders on the page.
Placeholders, as with Windcharger.
I got Kup from HTS yesterday, and my RTS Lugnut from the same order just shipped right now.
Kup is an oddity, the vehicle mode is nice but way lacking in paint to highlight its sculpt. It's not much of a throwback to the G1 alt mode, but it's got charm. Transformation is a tad odd and can be frustrating, especially back to alt mode when the spring-loaded chest elements don't cooperate. Bot mode is nice but the face is a really odd expression, the limbs aren't as thick as Kup's should be, and the shoulders are a mess. Still, some good stuff here, and the base deco is a great nostalgic color.
Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.
Kylo Ren - came from Space Brooklyn, although he moved to Space Williamsburg before it was trendy.
The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.
I have not seen any new Tranformers in any of the major retailers since January. We have plenty of Revenge of the Fallen crap, but I would really like to finish out my Generations.
I have found nothing new since I stumbled across Jazz and Tracks at Kohl's by accident.
Does anyone know what the deal is?
A large part of the problem is that the "Reveal the Shield" figures share an assortment number (?) with the same Revenge of the Fallen garbage that's been rotting for well over a year. What retailer is going to order new stuff when stuff with the same stock number didn't sell?
They also seem to have put quite a bit more faith in their War For Cybertron figures than actually panned out. I've seen some of the newer figures, but, mostly, it's WFC Prime, WFC Bumblebee, WFC Megatron, and WFC Cliffjumper. (Soundwave seems to sell better, probably because they never released a "normal" Soundwave.) Then there are figures that most folks aren't familiar with (Straxxus/Darkmount, Skullgrin, and Thunderwing--I love 'em all, but they weren't exactly released at the height of TF popularity back in the day), and that bizarre "Classics Bumblebee with movie paint scheme." That Bumblebee, the more obscure figures, and the WFC figures are the vast majority of what I see. (Of the newer figures, G2 Laser Prime appears to be poised to move into that territory if they ever ship enough of him.)
That's my jacket!
I still haven't found Wreck-Gar, Thundercracker, Scourge, Wheeljack, and now one of the other sites is reporting that the basic assortment, already released in Canada, Windcharger and Rumble, have been canceled in the US due to the big retailers not ordering. Hasbro got too ahead of the market in '10 with Movie/RTS, Generations, PCC, the kiddie lines, and Legends and Basics fighting for space on pegs. Now we're left with a disastrous mess.
I received RTS Lugnut from Hasbrotoyshop last week. It's an interesting figure, at first it's like "wtf?!?" because it's mistransformed and parts are floppy, but correctly transformed it's not too floppy (the shoulders dislodge a little too easily) and pretty interesting. Bot mode is pretty beefy, a tad kibbly behind the head and on the back, but fairly decent otherwise. The articulation is an oddball, but works with some thought, and the fact that the arms are made out of the wings is most impressive. Unfortunately, the singular weapon is the lamest, most tacked-on piece of junk ever, just a crappy missile-launcher flipping out of his back, nowhere near as good as the battle mace of the Animated figure. This non-animated version doesn't have giant bombs for hands, instead he has 2 large flat fingers and a large thumb on large forearms which spring forward to punch of kill everything (the instructions and packaging are totally ignorant of this, they think it's for transformation ). Oh, and oddly, this figure suffers basically the same problem with the chest-window-split as the original, only here it's rubbery so it's a little more annoying. Transformation is interesting. Alt mode is ok, but exceptionally wide at the wings with lots of detail, while the body ends up a tad sloppy on the lower midsection. Still, a nifty figure, and it grows on you over time.
Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.
Kylo Ren - came from Space Brooklyn, although he moved to Space Williamsburg before it was trendy.
The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.
If I can't get Rumble, I will be very perturbed. Possibly perturbed enough to say, "Eh, I don't have a full set, so why bother actively hunting any others?" I'm serious. I'm sure a number of other folks feel the same way. Hasbro runs a pretty significant risk here. Making Wheelie, Warpath, and Cosmos nigh unavailable is one thing. Simply not releasing Rumble in America could lead to riots in the streets. I exaggerate, but not by much. They probably could've gotten away with not releasing Windcharger, but Rumble is a different story. I hope he winds up here somehow. I don't know if they do the "online shared exclusive" thing, but the aforemetioned Legends in a set with these Scouts would be a possibility that might actually excite people.
Forgot to mention a while back, but, thanks to Metalmute, I have the Rodimus vs Cyclonus comic. It's definitely a Furman story, with all that means, and fits nicely within the framework of the 1986 movie. The only weird thing is that characters are drawn with their 2011 character models (except Magnus, for some reason). I can understand why they did it, but it still seems weird to have a cut scene with totally different-looking characters.
That's my jacket!


text:
Paradigm Shift E3m White Earbuds
Stereo earbuds with built in microphone and smart phone functionality.
WETBUDS Sweatproof earphones earbuds for all activities. Sweat proof
WETBUDS are extremely lightweight earphones that offer excellent resistance to sweat for a music-powered workout or for other activities that may cause the body to sweat. Most earphones can't take the added moisture and will eventually short out, causing you to miss out on the music that often gets you pumpin', not to mention the cost of replacing them. Not WETBUDS; they keep you...


text:
Prominent yoga clothing brand, Vancouver-based lululemon, has recently released a line of cycling gear. For women, a rain cape and tights, under the moniker "First Gear," are simple designs in subtle earthtones. For men, a cool weather jacket and pant, their "Bike Lane" pairing, are available in black with subtle reflective details. The clothing is currently available only at the lululemon Lab in Vancouver, though is expected to reach stores the second week of October.
Earlier this year the Yorkville location made some Twitter noise with their rather political "More bike, less Ford" window display:
While first impression of the men's jacket doesn't really stand out to me, the women's cape looks like a functional design (how many times have you arrived to work in full rain gear yet still soaking wet because you've been cooking and sweating under all of that plastic?).
Via Momentum


text:
II.page: 193
IT was a hot day. The sun poured down its rays over the scattered trees, and stunted bush, and long grass, and over the dried up river beds. Far in the blue, so high the eye could scarcely mark them, vultures were flying southward, where forty miles off kraals had been destroyed and two hundred black carcasses were lying in the sun.
Under a group of tall straggling trees among the grass and low scrub, page: 194 on the banks of an almost dried up river bed, a small camp had been pitched.
The party had lost their mules, and pending their recovery had already been there seven days. The three cart loads of provisions they were conveying to the large camp were drawn up under the trees and had a sail thrown across them to form a shelter for some of the men; while on the other side of the cleared and open space that formed the camp, a smaller sail was thrown across two poles forming a rough tent; and away to the left, a little page: 195 cut off from the rest of the camp by some low bushes, was the bell-shaped tent of the captain, under a tall tree. Before the bell-shaped tent stood a short stunted tree; its thick white stem gnarled and knotted; while two stunted misshapen branches, like arms, stretched out on either side.
Before this tree, up and down, with his gun upon his arm, his head bent and his eyes fixed on the ground, while the hot sun blazed on his shoulders, walked a man.
Three or four fires were burning about the camp in different parts, page: 196 three cooking the mealies and rice which formed the diet of the men, their stock of tinned meats having been exhausted; while the fourth, which was watched by a native boy, contained the more appetising meal of the Captain.
Most of the men were out of camp; the coloured boys having gone to fetch the mules, which had been discovered in the hills a few miles off, and were expected to arrive in the evening; and the white men had gone out to see what game they could bring down with their guns to flavour the mealie pots, or to recon- reconnoitre page: 197 noitre the country; though all native habitations had been destroyed within a radius of thirty miles, and the land was as bare of black men as a child's hand of hair; and even the beasts seemed to have vanished.
In the shade of the tent, formed of the canvas across two posts, lay three white men, whose work it was to watch the pots and guard the camp. They were all three Colonial Englishmen, and lay on the ground on their stomachs, passing the time by carrying on a desultory conversation, or taking a few whiffs, slowly, page: 198 and with care, from their pipes, for tobacco was precious in the camp.
Under some bushes a few yards off lay a huge trooper, whose nationality was uncertain, but who was held to hail from some part of the British Isles, and who had travelled round the world. He was currently reported to have done three years' labour for attempted rape in Australia, but nothing certain was known regarding his antecedents. He had been up on guard half the night, and was now taking his rest lying on his back with his arm thrown over his face; but a slight movement could page: 199 be noted in his jaw as he slowly chewed a piece of tobacco; and occasionally when he turned it round the mouth opened, and disclosed two rows of broken yellow stumps set in very red gums.
The three Colonial Englishmen took no notice of him. Two, who were slowly smoking, were of the large and powerful build, and somewhat loose set about the shoulders, which is common among Colonial Europeans of the third generation, whether Dutch or English, and had the placidity and general good temper of expression which commonly page: 200 marks the Colonial European who grows up beyond the range of the cities. The third was smaller and more wiry and of an unusually nervous type, with aquiline nose, and sallow hatchet face, with a somewhat discontented expression. He was holding forth, while his companions smoked and listened.
"Now what I say is this," he brought his hand down on the red sand; "here we are with about one half teaspoon of Dop given us at night, while he has ten empty champagne bottles lying behind his tent. And we have to live on page: 201 the mealies we're convoying for the horses, while he has pati and beef, and lives like a lord! It's all very well for the regulars; they know what they're in for, and they've got gentlemen over them anyhow, and one can stomach anything if you know what kind of a fellow you've got over you. English officers are gentlemen, anyhow; or if one was under Selous now—"
"Oh, Selous's a man!" broke out the other two, taking their pipes from their mouths.
"Yes, well, that's what I say. But these fellows, who couldn't do page: 202 as farmers, and couldn't do as shopkeepers, and God knows what else; and their friends in England didn't want to have them; they're sent out here to boss it over us! It's a damned shame! Why, I want to know, amn't I as good as any of these fellows, who come swelling it about here? Friends got money, I suppose!" He cast his sharp glance over towards the bell tent. "If they gave us real English officers now—"
"Ah!" said the biggest of his companions, who, in spite of his huge form, had something of the page: 203 simplicity and good nature of a child in his handsome face; "it's because you're not a big enough swell, you know! He'll be a colonel, or a general, before we've done with him. I call them all generals or colonels up here; it's safest, you know; if they're not that to-day they will be to-morrow!"
This was intended as a joke, and in that hot weather, and in that dull world, anything was good enough to laugh at: the third man smiled, but the first speaker remained serious.page: 204
"I only know this," he said, "I'd teach these fellows a lesson, if any one belonging to me had been among the people they left to be murdered here, while they went gallivanting to the Transvaal. If my mother or sister had been killed here, I'd have taken a pistol and blown out the brains of the great Panjandrum, and the little ones after him. Fine administration of a country, this, to invite people to come in and live here, and then take every fighting man out of the country on a gold hunting marauding expedition to the Transvaal, and page: 205 leave us to face the bitter end. I look upon every man and woman who was killed here as murdered by the Chartered Company."
"Well, Jameson only did what he was told. He had to obey orders, like the rest of us. He didn't make the plan, and he's got the punishment."
"What business had he to listen? What's all this fine administration they talk of? It's six years since I came to this country, and I've worked like a nigger ever since I came, and what have I, or any men who've worked hard at real, honest page: 206 farming, got for it? Everything in the land is given away for the benefit of a few big folks over the water or swells out here. If England took over the Chartered Company to-morrow, what would she find?—everything of value in the land given over to private concessionaires—they'll line their pockets if the whole land goes to pot! It'll be the jackals eating all the flesh off the horse's bones, and calling the lion in to lick the bones."
"Oh, you wait a bit and you'll be squared," said the handsome man. "I've been here five years page: 207 and had lots of promises, though I haven't got anything else yet; but I expect it to come some day, so I keep my mouth shut! If they asked me to sign a paper, that Mr. Over-the-Way"—he nodded towards the bell tent—"never got drunk or didn't know how to swear, I'd sign it, if there was a good dose of squaring to come after it. I could stand a good lot of that sort of thing—squaring—if it would only come my way."
The men laughed in a dreary sort of way, and the third man, who had not spoken yet, rolled round on to his page: 208 back, and took the pipe from his mouth.
"I tell you what," said the keen man, "those of us up here who have got a bit of land and are trying honestly and fairly to work, are getting pretty sick of this humbugging fighting. If we'd had a few men like the Curries and Bowkers of the old days up here from the first, all this would never have happened. And there's no knowing when a reason won't turn up for keeping the bloody thing on or stopping it off for a time, to break out just when one's settled down to work. It's a damned page: 209 convenient thing to have a war like this to turn on and off."
Slowly the third man keeled round on to his stomach again: "Let resignation wait. We fight the Matabele again to-morrow," he said, sententiously.
A low titter ran round the group. Even the man under the bushes, though his eyes were still closed and his arm across his face, let his mouth relax a little, and showed his yellow teeth.
"I'm always expecting," said the big handsome man, "to have a paper come round, signed by all the page: 210 nigger chiefs, saying how much they love the B.S.A. Company, and how glad they are the Panjandrum has got them, and how awfully good he is to them; and they're going to subscribe to the brazen statue. There's nothing a man can't be squared to do."
The third man lay on his back again, lazily examining his hand, which he held above his face. "What's that in the Bible," he said, slowly, "about the statue, whose thighs and belly were of brass, and its feet of mud?"
"I don't know much about the page: 211 Bible," said the keen man, "I'm going to see if my pot isn't boiling over. Won't yours burn?"
"No, I asked the Captain's boy to keep an eye on it—but I expect he won't. Do you put the rice in with the mealies?"
"Got to; I've got no other pot. And the fellows don't object. It's a tasty variety, you know!"
The keen-faced man slouched away across the square to where his fire burnt; and presently the other man rose and went, either to look at his own pot or sleep under the carts; and the large Colonial man was left page: 212 alone. His fire was burning satisfactorily about fifty feet off, and he folded his arms on the ground and rested his forehead on them, and watched lazily the little black ants that ran about in the red sand, just under his nose.
A great stillness settled down on the camp. Now and again a stick cracked in the fires, and the cicades cried aloud in the tree stems; but except where the solitary paced up and down before the little flat-topped tree in front of the captain's tent, not a creature stirred in the whole camp; and the snores of the page: 213 trooper under the bushes might be heard half across the camp.
The intense mid-day heat had settled down.
At last there was the sound of someone breaking through the long grass and bushes which had only been removed for a few feet round the camp, and the figure of a man emerged bearing in one hand a gun, and in the other a bird which he had shot. He was evidently an Englishman, and not long from Europe, by the bloom of the skin, which was perceptible in spite of the superficial tan. His face was at the moment page: 214 flushed with heat; but the clear blue eyes and delicate features lost none of their sensitive refinement.
He came up to the Colonial, and dropped the bird before him. "That is all I've got," he said.
He threw himself also down on the ground, and put his gun under the loose flap of the tent.
The Colonial raised his head; and without taking his elbows from the ground took up the bird. "I'll put it into the pot; it'll give it the flavour of something except weevily mealies"; he said, and fell to plucking it.page: 215
The Englishman took his hat off, and lifted the fine damp hair from his forehead.
"Knocked up, eh?" said the Colonial, glancing kindly up at him. "I've a few drops in my flask still."
"Oh, no, I can stand it well enough. It's only a little warm." He gave a slight cough, and laid his head down sideways on his arm. His eyes watched mechanically the Colonial's manipulation of the bird. He had left England to escape phthisis; and he had gone to Mashonaland because it was a place page: 216 where he could earn an open-air living, and save his parents from the burden of his support.
"What's Halket doing over there?" he asked suddenly, raising his head.
"Weren't you here this morning?" asked the Colonial. "Didn't you know they'd had a devil of a row?"
"Who?" asked the Englishman, half raising himself on his elbows.
"Halket and the Captain." The Colonial paused in the plucking. "My God, you never saw anything like it!"
The Englishman sat upright now, page: 217 and looked keenly over the bushes where Halket's bent head might be seen as he paced to and fro.
"What's he doing out there in this blazing sun?"
"He's on guard," said the Colonial. "I thought you were here when it happened. It's the best thing I ever saw or heard of in my whole life!" He rolled half over on his side and laughed at the remembrance. "You see, some of the men went down into the river, to look for fresh pools of water, and they found a nigger, hidden away in a hole in the bank, not five hundred page: 218 yards from here! They found the bloody rascal by a little path he tramped down to the water, trodden hard, just like a porcupine's walk. They got him in the hole like an aard-vark,* with a bush over the mouth, so you couldn't see it. He'd evidently been there a long time, the floor was full of bones of fish he'd caught in the pool, and there was a bit of root like a stick half gnawed through. He'd been potted, and got two bullet wounds in the thigh; but he could walk already. It's evident he was just waiting till we were gone,
* "Aard-vark," the great ant-eater.
page: 219 to clear off after his people. He'd got that beastly scurvy look a nigger gets when he hasn't had anything to eat for a long time.
"Well, they hauled him up before the Captain, of course; and he blew and swore, and said the nigger was a spy, and was to be hanged to-morrow; he'd hang him to-night, only the big troop might catch us up this evening, so he'd wait to hear what the Colonel said; but if they didn't come he'd hang him first thing to-morrow morning, or have him shot, as sure as the sun rose. He made the fellows tie him up to page: 220 that little tree before his tent, with riems* round his legs, and riems round his waist, and a riem round his neck."
"What did the native say?" asked the Englishman.
"Oh, he didn't say anything. There wasn't a soul in the camp could have understood him if he had. The coloured boys don't know his language. I expect he's one of those bloody fellows we hit the day we cleared the bush out yonder; but how he got down that bank with his
* A "riem" is a thong of undressed leather universally used in South Africa.
page: 221 leg in the state it must have been, I don't know. He didn't try to fight when they caught him; just stared in front of him—fright, I suppose. He must have been a big strapping devil before he was taken down.
"Well, I tell you, we'd just got him fixed up, and the Captain was just going into his tent to have a drink, and we chaps were all standing round, when up steps Halket, right before the Captain, and pulls his front lock—you know the way he has? Oh, my God, my God, if you could have seen it! I'll never forget it to my dying day!" The page: 222 Colonial seemed bursting with internal laughter. "He begins, 'Sir, may I speak to you?' in a formal kind of way, like a fellow introducing a deputation; and then all of a sudden he starts off—oh, my God, you never heard such a thing! It was like a boy in Sunday-school saying up a piece of Scripture he's learnt off by heart, and got all ready beforehand, and he's not going to be stopped till he gets to the end of it."
"What did he say," asked the Englishman.
"Oh, he started, How did we know this nigger was a spy at all; page: 223 it would be a terrible thing to kill him if we weren't quite sure; perhaps he was hiding there because he was wounded. And then he broke out that, after all, these niggers were men fighting for their country; we would fight against the French if they came and took England from us; and the niggers were brave men, 'please sir'—(every five minutes he'd pull his forelock, and say, 'please sir!')—'and if we have to fight against them we ought to remember they're fighting for freedom; we shouldn't shoot wounded prisoners when they were black if we page: 224 wouldn't shoot them if they were white!' And then he broke out pure unmitigated Exeter Hall! You never heard anything like it! All men were brothers, and God loved a black man as well as a white; Mashonas and Matabeli were poor ignorant folk, and we had to take care of them. And then he started out, that we ought to let this man go; we ought to give him food for the road, and tell him to go back to his people, and tell them we hadn't come to take their land but to teach them and love them. 'It's hard to love a nigger, Captain, but we page: 225 must try it; we must try it!'—And every five minutes he'd break out with, 'And I think this is a man I know, Captain; I'm not sure, but I think he comes from up Lo Magundis way!'—as if any born devil cared whether a bloody nigger came from Lo Magundis or anywhere else! I'm sure he said it fifteen times. And then he broke out, 'I don't mean that I'm better than you or anybody else, Captain; I'm as bad a man as any in camp, and I know it.' And off he started, telling us all the sins he'd ever committed; and he kept on, 'I'm an page: 226 unlearned, ignorant man, Captain; but I must stand by this nigger; he's got no one else!' And then he says—'If you let me take him up to Lo Magundis, sir, I'm not afraid; and I'll tell the people there that it's not their land and their women that we want, it's them to be our brothers and love us. If you'll only let me go, sir, I'll go and make peace; give the man to me, sir!'" The Colonial shook with laughter.
"What did the Captain say?" asked the Englishman.
"The Captain; well, you know the smallest thing sets him off page: 227 swearing all round the world; but he just stood there with his arms hanging down at each side of him, and his eyes staring, and his face getting redder and redder: and all he could say was, 'My Gawd! my Gawd!' I thought he'd burst. And Halket stood there looking straight in front of him, as though he didn't see a soul of us all there."
"What did the Captain do?"
"Oh, as soon as Halket turned away he started swearing, but he got the tail of one oath hooked on to the head of another. It was nearly as good as Halket himself. page: 228 And when he'd finished and got sane a bit, he said Halket was to walk up and down there all day and keep watch on the nigger. And he gave orders that if the big troop didn't come up to-night, that he was to be potted first thing in the morning, and that Halket was to shoot him."
The Englishman started: "What did Halket say?"
"Nothing. He's been walking there with his gun all day."
The Englishman watched with his clear eyes the spot where Halket's head appeared and disappeared.page: 229
"Is the nigger hanging there now?"
"Yes. The Captain said no one was to go near him, or give him anything to eat or drink all day: but—" The Colonial glanced round where the trooper lay under the bushes; and then lowering his voice added, "This morning, a couple of hours ago, Halket sent the Captain's coloured boy to ask me for a drink of water. I thought it was for Halket himself, and the poor devil must be hot walking there in the sun, so I sent him the water out of my canvas bag. I went along after- afterwards page: 230 wards to see what had become of my mug; the boy had gone, and there, straight in front of the Captain's tent, before the very door, was Halket letting that bloody nigger drink out of my mug. The riem was so tight round his neck he couldn't drink but slowly, and there was Halket holding it up to him! If the Captain had looked out! W—h—e—w! I wouldn't have been Halket!"
"Do you think he will try to make Halket do it?" asked the Englishman.
"Of course he will. He's the page: 231 Devil in; and Halket had better not make a fuss about it, or it'll be the worse for him."
"His time's up to-morrow evening!"
"Yes, but not to-morrow morning. And I wouldn't make a row about it if I was Halket. It doesn't do to fall out with the authorities here. What's one nigger more or less? He'll get shot some other way, or die of hunger, if we don't do it."
"It's hardly sport to shoot a man tied up neck and legs," said the Englishman; his finely drawn eye- eyebrows page: 232 brows contracting and expanding a little.
"Oh, they don't feel, these niggers, not as we should, you know. I've seen a man going to be shot, looking full at the guns, and falling like that!—without a sound. They've no feeling, these niggers; I don't suppose they care much whether they live or die, not as we should, you know."
The Englishman's eyes were still fixed on the bushes, behind which Halket's head appeared and disappeared.
"They have no right to order page: 233 Halket to do it—and he will not do it!" said the Englishman slowly.
"You're not going to be such a fool as to step in, are you?" said the Colonial, looking curiously at him. "It doesn't pay. I've made up my mind never to speak whatever happens. What's the good? Suppose one were to make a complaint now about this affair with Halket, if he's made to shoot the nigger against his will; what would come of it? There'd be half-a-dozen fellows here squared to say what headquarters wanted—not to speak of a fellow like that"—turning his thumb in the page: 234 direction of the sleeping trooper—"who are paid to watch. I believe he reports on the Captain himself to the big headquarters. All one's wires are edited before they go down; only what the Company wants to go, go through. There are many downright good fellows in this lot; but how many of us are there, do you think, who could throw away all chance of ever making anything in Mashonaland, for the sake of standing by Halket; even if he had a real row with the Company? I've a great liking for Halket myself, he's a real good fellow, and he's done me page: 235 many a good turn—took my watch only last night, because I was off colour; I'd do anything for him in reason. But, I say this flatly, I couldn't and wouldn't fly in the face of the authorities for him or anyone else. I've my own girl waiting for me down in the Colony, and she's been waiting for me these five years. And whether I'm able to marry her or not depends on how I stand with the Company: and I say, flatly, I'm not going to fall out with it. I came here to make money, and I mean to make it! If other people like to run their heads against stone page: 236 walls, let them: but they mustn't expect me to follow them. This isn't a country where a man can say what he thinks."
The Englishman rested his elbows on the ground. "And the Union Jack is supposed to be flying over us."
"Yes, with a black bar across it for the Company," laughed the Colonial.
"Do you ever have the nightmare?" asked the Englishman suddenly.
"I? Oh yes, sometimes"; he looked curiously at his companion; page: 237 "when I've eaten too much, I get it."
"I always have it since I came up here," said the Englishman. "It is that a vast world is resting on me—a whole globe: and I am a midge beneath it. I try to raise it, and I cannot. So I lie still under it—and let it crush me!"
"It's curious you should have the nightmare so up here," said the Colonial; "one gets so little to eat."
There was a silence: he was picking the little fine feathers from the bird, and the Englishman was watching the ants.page: 238
"Mind you," the Colonial said at last, "I don't say that in this case the Captain was to blame; Halket made an awful ass of himself. He's never been quite right since that time he got lost and spent the night out on the koppje. When we found him in the morning he was in a kind of dead sleep; we couldn't wake him; yet it wasn't cold enough for him to have been frozen. He's never been the same man since; queer, you know; giving his rations away to the coloured boys, and letting the other fellows have his dot of brandy at night; and keeping page: 239 himself sort of apart to himself, you know. The other fellows think he's got a touch of fever on, caught wandering about in the long grass that day. But I don't think it's that; I think it's being alone in the veld that's got hold of him. Man, have you ever been out like that, alone in the veld, night and day, and not a soul to speak to? I have; and I tell you, if I'd been left there three days longer I'd have gone mad or turned religious. Man, it's the nights, with the stars up above you, and the dead still all around. And you think, and think, and think! page: 240 You remember all kinds of things you've never thought of for years and years. I used to talk to myself at last, and make believe it was another man. I was out seven days: and he was only out one night. But I think it's the loneliness that got hold of him. Man, those stars are awful; and that stillness that comes toward morning!" He stood up. "It's a great pity, because he's as good a fellow as ever was. But perhaps he'll come all right."
He walked away towards the pot with the bird in his hand. When he had gone the Englishman turned page: 241 round on to his back, and lay with his arm across his forehead.
High, high up, between the straggling branches of the tree, in the clear, blue African sky above him, he could see the vultures flying southward.
That evening the men sat eating their suppers round the fires. The large troop had not come up; and the mules had been brought in; and they were to make a start early the next morning.
Halket was released from his duty, and had come up, and lain page: 242 down a little in the background of the group who gathered round their fire.
The Colonial and the Englishman had given orders to all the men of their "mess" that Halket was to be left in quiet, and no questions were to be asked him; and the men, fearing the Colonial's size and the Englishman's nerve, left him in peace. The men laughed and chatted round the fire, while the big Colonial ladled out the mealies and rice into tin plates, and passed them round to the men. Presently he passed one to Halket, who lay half page: 243 behind him leaning on his elbow. For a while Halket ate nothing, then he took a few mouthfuls; and again lay on his elbow.
"You are eating nothing, Halket," said the Englishman, cheerily, looking back.
"I am not hungry now," he said. After a while he took out his red handkerchief, and emptied carefully into it the contents of the plate; and tied it up into a bundle. He set it beside him on the ground, and again lay on his elbow.
"You won't come nearer to the page: 244 fire, Halket?" asked the Englishman.
"No, thank you, the night is warm."
After a while Peter Halket took out from his belt a small hunting knife with a rough wooden handle. A small flat stone lay near him, and he passed the blade slowly up and down on it, now and then taking it up, and feeling the edge with his finger. After a while he put it back in his belt, and rose slowly, taking up his small bundle and walked away to the tent.
"He's had a pretty stiff day," page: 245 said the Colonial. "I expect he's glad enough to turn in."
Then all the men round the fire chatted freely over his concerns. Would the Captain stick to his word to-morrow? Was Halket going to do it? Had the Captain any right to tell one man off for the work, instead of letting them fire a volley? One man said he would do it gladly in Halket's place, if told off; why had he made such a fool of himself? So they chatted till nine o'clock, when the Englishman and Colonial left to turn in. They found Halket asleep, close to the side of the tent, with his page: 246 face turned to the canvas. And they lay down quietly that they might not disturb him.
At ten o'clock all the camp was asleep, excepting the two men told off to keep guard; who paced from one end of the camp to the other to keep themselves awake; or stood chatting by the large fire, which still burnt at one end.
In the Captain's tent a light was kept burning all night, which shone through the thin canvas sides, and shed light on the ground about; but, for the rest, the camp was dead and still.page: 247
By half-past one the moon had gone down, and there was left only a blaze of stars in the great African sky.
Then Peter Halket rose up; softly he lifted the canvas and crept out. On the side furthest from the camp he stood upright. On his arm was tied his red handkerchief with its contents. For a moment he glanced up at the galaxy of stars over him; then he stepped into the long grass, and made his way in a direction opposite to that in which the camp lay. But after a short while he turned, and made his way page: 248 down into the river bed. He walked in it for a while. Then after a time he sat down upon the bank and took off his heavy boots and threw them into the grass at the side. Then softly, on tip-toe, he followed the little footpath that the men had trodden going down to the river for water. It led straight up to the Captain's tent, and the little flat-topped tree, with its white stem, and its two gnarled branches spread out on either side. When he was within forty paces of it, he paused. Far over the other side of the camp the two men who were on guard stood page: 249 chatting by the fire. A dead stillness was over the rest of the camp. The light through the walls of the Captain's tent made all clear at the stem of the little tree; but there was no sound of movement within.
For a moment Peter Halket stood motionless; then he walked up to the tree. The black man hung against the white stem, so closely bound to it that they seemed one. His hands were tied to his sides, and his head drooped on his breast. His eyes were closed; and his limbs, which had once been those of a powerful man, had fallen away, making the page: 250 joints stand out. The wool on his head was wild and thick with neglect, and stood out roughly in long strands; and his skin was rough with want and exposure.
The riems had cut a little into his ankles; and a small flow of blood had made the ground below his feet dark.
Peter Halket looked up at him; the man seemed dead. He touched him softly on the arm, then shook it slightly.
The man opened his eyes slowly, without raising his head; and looked at Peter from under his weary eye- eyebrows page: 251 brows. Except that they moved they might have been the eyes of a dead thing.
Peter put up his fingers to his own lips—"Hus—h! hus—h!" he said.
The man hung torpid, still looking at Peter.
Quickly Peter Halket knelt down and took the knife from his belt. In an instant the riems that bound the feet were cut through; in another he had cut the riems from the waist and neck: the riems dropped to the ground from the arms, and the man stood free. Like a dazed dumb page: 252 creature, he stood, with his head still down, eyeing Peter.
Instantly Peter slipped the red bundle from his arm into the man's passive hand.
"Ari-tsemaia! Hamba! Loop! Go!" whispered Peter Halket; using a word from each African language he knew. But the black man still stood motionless, looking at him as one paralysed.
"Hamba! Sucka! Go!" he whispered, motioning his hand.
In an instant a gleam of intelligence shot across the face; then a wild transport. Without a word, page: 253 without a sound, as the tiger leaps when the wild dogs are on it, with one long, smooth spring, as though unwounded and unhurt, he turned and disappeared into the grass. It closed behind him; but as he went the twigs and leaves cracked under his tread.
The Captain threw back the door of his tent. "Who is there?" he cried.
Peter Halket stood below the tree with the knife in his hand.
The noise roused the whole camp: the men on guard came running; guns were fired: and the half- sleep- sleeping page: 254 ing men came rushing, grasping their weapons. There was a sound of firing at the little tree; and the cry went round the camp, "The Mashonas are releasing the spy!"
When the men got to the Captain's tent, they saw that the nigger was gone; and Peter Halket was lying on his face at the foot of the tree; with his head turned towards the Captain's door.
There was a wild confusion of voices! "How many were there?" "Where have they gone to now?" "They've shot Peter Halket!"— page: 255 "The Captain saw them do it"—"Stand ready, they may come back any time!"
When the Englishman came, the other men, who knew he had been a medical student, made way for him. He knelt down by Peter Halket.
"He's dead," he said, quietly.
When they had turned him over, the Colonial knelt down on the other side, with a little hand-lamp in his hand.
"What are you fellows fooling about here for?" cried the Captain. "Do you suppose it's any use looking for foot marks after all this page: 256 tramping! Go, guard the camp on all sides!"
"I will send four coloured boys," he said to the Englishman and the Colonial, "to dig the grave. You'd better bury him at once; there's no use waiting. We start first thing in the morning."
When they were alone, the Englishman uncovered Peter Halket's breast. There was one small wound just under the left bosom; and one on the crown of the head; which must have been made after he had fallen down.
"Strange, isn't it, what he can page: 257 have been doing here?" said the Colonial; "a small wound, isn't it?"
"A pistol shot," said the Englishman, closing the bosom.
"A pistol—"
The Englishman looked up at him with a keen light in his eye.
"I told you he would not kill that nigger.—See—here—" He took up the knife which had fallen from Peter Halket's grasp, and fitted it into a piece of the cut leather that lay on the earth.
"But you don't think—" The Colonial stared at him with wide page: 258 open eyes; then he glanced round at the Captain's tent.
"Yes, I think that— Go and fetch his great-coat; we'll put him in it. If it is no use talking while a man is alive, it is no use talking when he is dead!"
They brought his great-coat, and they looked in the pockets to see if there was anything which might show where he had come from or who his friends were. But there was nothing in the pockets except an empty flask, and a leathern purse with two shillings in, and a little hand-made two-pointed cap.page: 259
So they wrapped Peter Halket up in his great-coat, and put the little cap on his head.
And, one hour after Peter Halket had stood outside the tent looking up, he was lying under the little tree, with the red sand trodden down over him, in which a black man and a white man's blood were mingled.
All the rest of the night the men sat up round the fires, discussing what had happened, dreading an attack.
But the Englishman and the page: 260 Colonial went to their tent, to lie down.
"Do you think they will make any inquiries?" asked the Colonial.
"Why should they? His time will be up to-morrow."
"Are you going to say anything?"
"What is the use?"
They lay in the dark for an hour, and heard the men chatting outside.
"Do you believe in a God?" said the Englishman, suddenly.
The Colonial started: "Of course I do!"
"I used to," said the English- Englishman page: 261 man; "I do not believe in your God; but I believed in something greater than I could understand, which moved in this earth, as your soul moves in your body. And I thought this worked in such wise, that the law of cause and effect, which holds in the physical world, held also in the moral: so, that the thing we call justice, ruled. I do not believe it any more. There is no God in Mashonaland."
"Oh, don't say that!" cried the Colonial, much distressed. "Are you going off your head, like poor Halket?"page: 262
"No; but there is no God," said the Englishman. He turned round on his shoulder, and said no more: and afterwards the Colonial went to sleep.
Before dawn the next morning the men had packed up the goods, and started.
By five o'clock the carts had filed away; the men rode or walked before and behind them; and the space where the camp had been was an empty circle; save for a few broken bottles and empty tins, and the stones about which the fires had page: 263 been made, round which warm ashes yet lay.
Only under the little stunted tree, the Colonial and the Englishman were piling up stones. Their horses stood saddled close by.
Presently the large trooper came riding back. He had been sent by the Captain to ask what they were fooling behind for, and to tell them to come on.
The men mounted their horses to follow him; but the Englishman turned in his saddle and looked back. The morning sun was lighting up the straggling branches of the tall trees page: 264 that had overshadowed the camp; and fell on the little stunted tree, with its white stem and outstretched arms; and on the stones beneath it.
"It's all that night on the koppje!" said the Colonial, sadly.
But the Englishman looked back. "I hardly know," he said, "whether it is not better for him now, than for us."
Then they rode on after the troop.


text:
Bob Gutermuth
Canvasback Chesapeakes
She was clearly overmatched. I do believe she brought a feather to a gun fight.
Article [I.]
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Article [II.]
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
I wish he would be using AR's instead.
If I were to be looking for a new truck I would go to him.
"Communism only works in Heaven, where they don't need it, and in Hell, where they already have it" Ronald Reagan


text:
It might replace the MKS at the top of Lincoln's lineup, but the Continental is a much more fully realized luxury car. Its name and shape aren't the only Bentleyesque things about it; the Continental offers the full suite of today's luxury equipment, including adaptive cruise, lane-keeping assist, a 360-degree camera, an automated-parking function, adjustable dampers, and heated, cooled, and massaging front and outboard rear seats.
Car and Driver article here
Related LCT articles:
The most noticeable change is the new interior redesign, now similar to that of the latest-generation E-Class.
Vehicle Pick of the Week: The Tiffany built vehicle has been expertly taken care of and is ready for the road.
Wedding planner Salama al-Odi had to get creative when he couldn't import a stretch limousine.
The long wheelbase allows passengers in its standard third row to sit more comfortably, as there's 34.5 inches of rear legroom.
WardsAuto also commented on the vehicle's overall fit and finish, lauding the attention to detail.
Sign up for LCT's free e-newsletters.
View the latest LCT E-Newsletters:
LCT E-News
LimoForSale Limo Showcase
Affiliate Report
Free Whitepapers
Experience the three annual industry events for networking for business, showcasing vehicles and products, and getting the tools for success.
What's Happening Near You?Click on any state to see the latest industry news and events in that region.
The Car and truck fleet and leasing management magazine
managing 10-50 company vehicles
Executive vehicle management
managing public sector vehicles & equipment
The number 1 resource for vocational truck fleets
Serving the bus and passenger rail industries for more than a century
Serving school transportation professionals in the U.S. and Canada


text:
During Nintendo's Direct broadcast it was announced that three major publishers - Namco Bandai, Capcom and Sega - are teaming up for a new 3DS project.
Details, as you can imagine, are scarce, but a teaser trailer was shown, followed by a website containing images of a vault. Are we going back to the vault to dust-off some cherished but neglected franchises?
could it be??
Street Fighter X Tekken X Streets of Rage X Dragon Ball Z
Edit : Teaser Site
Edit 2 : ok so Banpresto being the developer means it could be either a fighting game(DBZ SS warriors on GBA) or Super robot Wars (handheld again , RPG) ..... using characters from all 3 Publishers...
Edited by Shadoken, 23 February 2012 - 12:52 PM.


text:
|Getting Started The only dumb question is the one not asked
|Topic Review (Newest First)
|Capt. Mel Simpson
M. sax,
A little late in responding...almost a week, but this is how I see it:
The prey is well worth the best you can offer them,
It is so much easier to tie with really good feathers,
There are available, for a reasonable cost, very good quality feathers,
And you can be proud of your flies!
|M. saxatilis
I have fished the surf in Monmouth / Ocean Counties with spinning gear and artificials for the past 14 years. Right now I am looking for some new spice to add to my ever-increasing arsenal of tactics.
I am looking foward to hunting the southern shores of the Raritan Bay and throughout the Sedge Island of area of Island Beach State Park with the fly rod though. It is unfortunate that I only have the fall run to look foward to as my seasonal work beckons elsewhere.
Looking forward to seeing them.
Whereabouts in Joizey do you fish?
|M. saxatilis
Thanks Adrian,
What was I thinking that my fly wasn't going to get beat up? I like the optimism!!
By the way I am using strung saddle and have applied the steam trick to some ostrich hurl. Works great.
When this newbie gets a few tied up I'd like to post em for critique but I guess the fish are the best critics of all.
|Dble Haul
|I have to ditto what Adrian has said. Unless I'm tying flatwings, I usually don't fuss too much about hackle imperfections.
For full dressed patterns I wouldn't worry too much - although the fish is the final arbiter in any debate over pattern quality
Some patterns - flatwings in particular - need a finer quality hackle stem in order to get the feathers to stack level and swim correctly. For regular deceiver style patterns the odd missing tip isn't going to make much difference. The first couple of fish will make it look pretty ragged. In most cases, the more "beat up" the fly gets, the more effective it gets.
If you have feathers that are twisted or kinked try holding them (use pliers or tongs etc.) over a steaming kettle for a couple of minutes. Hot steam will sometimes bring them back to shape. Then lie them flat on a paper towel until dry.
Are you using a cape or strung saddle? The strung stuff seems to be cheaper but once you know what you want, you are much better of buying saddle hackle capes. Keep an eye out in your local fly shops - you'll see the odd bargain now and again. I've picked up some really good stuff for < $20 that was grade "D" or "not good enough" for trout patterns. A cape will give you a lot of material with a big range of sizes. Also, they last years soyou save money in the long run.
Hope this helps a bit - good luck!
|M. saxatilis
Saltwater saddle hackle
Fellow fly folk,
I am relatively new to fly tying and my question(s) are regarding saddle hackle for use in tying saltwater flies.
When I tie using saddle hackles I usually end up searching through the bundle of tied material in search of a few feathers that are not too damaged. However, I find it is like peeling Brussels sprouts trying to get to their core. There are none!
My question(s): Do tiers use hackles in less than perfect condition? That is, is it ok to use a few hackles with a few barbs missing their tips? What about a crimped rachis (quill portion)? How will these imperfections impede the natural fluid motion of my fly in the the water? If I am tying a fly with several hackles (i.e. Popovics Full dress pop lip or Semper Fleye) does this really matter?
If the answer to these questions fall under the ...individual preference of the fly tier category as my local fly shop owner likes to say, I fear I will be lost on the ebb and flow of my meticulousness and confusion forever.
|Posting Rules
You may post new threads
You may post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


text:
- Home
- About
- Intelligence Community
- Newsroom
- Careers
- Resources
- Contact Us
Chairman McCain, Ranking Member Reed, Members of the Committee, thank you for the invitation to offer the United States Intelligence Community's 2015 assessment of threats to US national security. My statement reflects the collective insights of the Intelligence Community's extraordinary men and women, whom I am privileged and honored to lead. Read more...
You have selected to open
If you would like to not see this alert again, please click the
"Do not show me this again" check box below


text:
Track Like narrow split hearts, pointed end forward, about 23" (5075 mm) long; dewclaws may print as twin dots behind main prints in snow or soft mud. In shallow snow (1"/25 mm deep), buck may drag its feet, leaving drag marks ahead of prints; in deeper snow, both buck and doe drag feet. Straddle 56" (125150 mm) wide. Stride, when walking, 1' (.3 m); when running, 6' (2 m) or more, and hindprints sometimes register ahead of foreprints; when leaping, 20' (6 m). Well-used trails are very noticeable, with numerous prints and damaged vegetation.
Sign Raggedly browsed vegetation, ripped rather than neatly snipped due to lack of upper incisors.
"Buck rubs": Polished scars or oblong sections where bark has been removed from bushes, saplings, or small trees, usually close to the ground; made when a buck lowers his head and rubs antlers against a tree to mark territory; trees chosen to fit antlers (e.g., a rub on a tree with a diameter of 45"/100125 mm would have been made by a very large buck).
"Buck scrapes": Pawed depressions with broken branches about 36' (12 m) above the ground.
Bed: Shallow, oval, body-size depression in leaves or snow.
Scat: When browsing, almost always hard, dark, cylindrical pellets, about 3/4" (19 mm) long; sometimes round. When grazing on succulent vegetation, cylindrical and segmented, evenly massed.


text:
Jailed Rwandan editors turn to African Commission
Among the 232 journalists imprisoned around the world are Rwandan editors Agnès Uwimana and Saidati Mukakibibi, who are serving years-long terms on charges they defamed the president, Paul Kagame, and incited violence. Their crime? The women had published a series of stories in 2010 on several sensitive issues the Kagame government doesn't want scrutinized. The articles criticized government agricultural policy, examined the July 2010 murder of journalist Jean-Léonard Rugambage, described the falling-out between Kagame and two now-exiled military leaders, probed divisions within the army, and pushed for justice for ethnic Hutus killed in the 1994 genocide. The editors have exhausted domestic appeals, but now a team of defense lawyers is pursuing a complaint with the African Commission on Human and People's Rights on grounds that Rwanda violated its obligations to ensure freedom of expression and the right to fair trial.


text:
How did it get so late so soon? It's night before it's afternoon. December is here before it's June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?
–Dr. Seuss
I was sitting at my desk today trying to prioritize the things that need to be done to finish the semester. I looked down at my fingers and noticed my fingernails. They were a little too long, so obviously it was time to cut them again. Not a big deal. But just a minute, didn't I cut them just last week? That couldn't be, but I was pretty sure it wasn't that long ago that I cut them.
Now remember I'm a scientist, I know how fast fingernails grow.
3 millimeters per month, 0.1 millimeter per day, that means they grow 1 nanometer per second.
Now as Americans, we don't have the concept of millimeters in our heads much less nanometers. A nanometer is about the width of a molecule. Which means a human hair averages about 100,000 nanometers wide…100,000 seconds for my nails to grow the width of a human hair.
Okay, outside of 'nerdsville' that means fingernails grow slowly. So, if you are using your fingernails as a timekeeper, you have a very slow clock.
It also means it was about a month ago that I cut my nails.
You've heard of these sayings:
- Time flies when you are having fun.
- A watched pot never boils.
- Be there in a second…
- Just a minute…
- A minute is not long, unless you're waiting for the bathroom.
These sayings allude to some interesting facts about our timekeeping. You see, time is not something we sense. There needs to be a receptor to have a sensation. That makes time invisible, but we are able to perceive time or intervals of time.
However, perceiving time involves some psychological and physiological tricks. If you are engaged in an activity, you lose track of time and so it flies by, and if you are bored, time seems to drag along. If you have an urgent need, the seconds seem to last for hours.
Oddly enough, when the brain becomes engaged, it seems to record more memories than normal. This acts more like a slow motion camera, so more details are remembered which acts to slow time down. An example of this is when someone is in a car wreck and the details are remembered in slow motion. Time has not been perceived at a different rate, just more details are recorded during the time interval.
So if the brain filters out details, we perceive time differently than if it records all details available. And if you record more details, then the world around you seems to run in slow motion.
That is one way to explain Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). If ADHD kids record more information with their brains for particular time intervals, then the world runs too slow for their attention system.
Or if you noticed that the years seem to go by quicker as we get older, it might be because we recorded more new information during our adolescence which slowed down the perception of time. Now our brains don't need to record as much and time passes quicker. In order to recover some of that youthful perception, we need to add novel experiences and information to our lives. Then the years would stop zooming by.
That is what happened with my time perception the past few weeks. With the lack of novel experiences, time was whizzing by and I didn't notice until I looked at my fingernails. The sight of my talons brought my world back into focus.
Or maybe it was just that I had so much to do trying to finish up the last weeks of the semester that I lost track of time. I probably just need to manage my stress, kick off my shoes and…hey, my toenails seem a little long…
Latest posts by David Brooks (see all)
- Parable of the Fingernails - May 3, 2014
- Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star - April 28, 2014
- A Pound of Flesh - April 25, 2014


text:
Janette Ann Chrisler
Janette Ann Chrisler, age 77, of Prairie du Sac passed away after a courageous battle with breast cancer on Monday, February 11, 2013. She was born on August 14, 1935 at home in Weyerhaeuser, the daughter of Joseph and Catherine (Poplawski) Jessick.
On September 25, 1954, she married James Chrisler, the love of her life, who preceded her in death in 2007. They were married 54 years. She worked for many years at Mueller Sports Medicine. She was also an avid sports fan. She loved watching the Packers, Brewers, Bucks, Badgers, NASCAR and all Sauk Prairie athletics.
Her true calling was being the best mom, grandma and great-grandma. She enjoyed her grandchildren and great grandchildren; they will truly miss her. She spent all her life loving and caring for her family. Family was always first.
Janette is survived by her children, Jeffrey (Amy), Jacquelynn (Ron), Jon (Kim), Joel (Lisa), Jay (Stacy), and Jeremy (Nichole); sisters Virginia Bloedel, Kathleen (Jim) Meister and sister-in-law Mary Ann Jessick; Grandchildren: Kerri (Nate), Kurt (Crystal), Ali (Jonathan), B.J., James, Taylor, Christopher, Christian, Reagan, Clint (Dana), Brent (Jill), Elliot, Mike (Brittany), Matt (Megan), Mikayla, Ashley, Lexi, Nikki, Emily, Luke, Emily, Logan, Parker, Cole, Noah and Evan; Great Grandchildren: Kinzie, Griffin, Madelyn, Emmalyn, Blake, Kaylin, Nora, and Harrison.
She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, grandson Kevin, and brother Edwin Jessick.
A funeral service will be held at ST.JOHN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, 100 Oak St., Prairie du Sac on Friday, February 15, 2013 at 11:00am. Burial will follow in the Prairie du Sac Cemetery. A visitation will be held on Thursday, February 14, 2013 from 3:00 pm until 7:00pm at the church.
The family would like to extend their thanks and appreciation to Dr. Frontiera and the outstanding caring nurses at Dean Medical Center Oncology.