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Comparatively speaking, our state has done well through tough economic times, yes.
But if West Virginia is to prosper in the future, it must look for ways to continue to be on the forefront of promising industries.
West Virginia has to diversify.
We must take advantage of all of our resources.
Some of our best resources are our people and their ingenuity.
One such example rests in Raleigh County.
West Virginia has a fledgling aquaculture industry, with Mountaineer Trout leading the way.
Established about a decade ago at an abandoned coal mine site near Sophia, the company is producing about a half million pounds of fish annually.
The site is conducive to raising trout because it has clean water flowing at a rate of up to 1,200 gallons a minute, and is about 55 degrees.
Reclamation of a mine site and a bustling business.
Mission(s) accomplished.
A win-win.
The aquaculture business in West Virginia reflects an output of between $2 million and $3 million a year, Deputy Agriculture Commissioner Steve Miller said this week.
He also pointed to the state Legislature which over the past few years has helped open the road to success through enacting a law that declared the fishing industry as agriculture.
It's great that fish are being raised here, but there is also a need for a processing plant.
It's another opportunity that must be seized.
Our hope is that the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority, which works on new business recruitment in our region, along with state officials can help lure business investors for a local processing plant.
It's time to give our citizens the opportunity to establish businesses that would provide new jobs, while also serving a need by providing food for the nation's consumers.
Let's hope that our state is truly "Open for Business" and lawmakers have the foresight to be on the cutting edge of these industries that are literally in our backyards already.


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I'm as old as dirt, but I'm still able to bend over and dig in it.
These days, there's likely to be dirt under the nails on my green thumbs. I can thank my late mother for that. Growing up, we always had large gardens. You name it, Alta Grace grew it. She always allotted a small plot for me. I was given seeds and plants and allowed to care for my little corner.
I always wanted to dig in the dirt and sew my seeds on the first warm day in May. She would shake her finger and warn me to cease and desist until June 1, when the last frost should be over. She allowed me to put the peas in before that, and I was appeased.
There were always little plants started earlier inside the house and transplanted into her makeshift greenhouses, constructed from old glass windows and who knows what all? Gardening was for me and my mom an important rite of spring.
She canned everything she could. Up until recently, I still had the old copper canning receptacle under the bench in my garage. She called it a boiler washtub. It had a top and wooden handles. I watched her fill the Mason jars and put them into the water as it heated on the old kerosene stove. I ended up donating the tub to the Babbie Rural and Farm Learning Museum on the River Road in Peru. There were many pleasant memories attached to it. I even recall her using it to boil water for washing clothes when it wasn't canning season.
I've had large and small gardens over the years, depending on available space and inclination. One year, my plantings took over the entire side lawn, much to Kaye's consternation — especially when a friend backed his pickup truck and dumped a large load of horse manure onto the grass. We had good crops that year and needed them for our burgeoning family.

subset: commoncrawl


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Cyclist involved in crash with car (From Southend Standard)
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Cyclist involved in crash with car
Updated 10:59pm Friday 18th April 2014 in Southend
A CYCLIST in his forties has been involved in a crash with a car this afternoon.
The accident between a Ford fiesta and the male cyclist happened shortly before 4.30pm today, on London Road near Fleetwood Avenue, in Westcliff.
Police and Ambulance crews were called to the scene of the collision and the man was treated by ambulance crews.
He did not require hospital treatment.


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Atiyeh Collection
Gov. Victor Atiyeh hon '96 recently donated a collection of personal papers, artifacts and memorabilia to Pacific University. Housed in the Pacific University Library, the collection has been archived and much of it digitized for public access. The collection debuted with a reception and exhibition Oct. 3, 2013, and remains available to the public for scholarly research.
College of Business
Pacific University launched its College of Business on July 1, 2013. The new college offers undergraduate majors in accounting, business administration, finance, international business and marketing — degrees previously offered within the College of Arts & Sciences. The college also will begin its first graduate degree, a master of science in finance, in January 2014. The college's opening was funded almost entirely by philanthropic gifts from trustees, friends of Pacific University.
Early Learning Community
Look what children in the Pacific University Early Learning Community (ELC) are building! These new life-sized blocks, purchased with a gift from Margaret Thompson in honor of her husband, Tommy Thompson '38, are letting the preschoolers and kindergartners in the ELC build new worlds. Thompson also has funded two endowed scholarships and an endowed professorship. Her son, Roger Thompson is a 1967 alumnus, and her great-grandson is a student in the ELC.
Employee Giving
Almost two-thirds of Pacific University employees made financial gifts to the university during the 2012-2013 fiscal year. The 63 percent employee giving rate is among the top at Pacific's peer universities.
Massih Prize
Dori Carlson '88, OD '89 received the Kamelia Massih Prize for a Distinguished Optometrist on May 18, 2013. Carlson was the first female president of the American Optometric Association, has been a strong proponent of pediatric vision care and continues to practice with her husband in North Dakota. The prize was named for the late Kamelia Massih, a 1985 Pacific University College of Optometry alumna who passed away in March 2010 following a three-year battle with cancer. Massih's compassion and care for her patients and community exemplified Pacific University alumni.
President's Circle Inductees
Pacific University hosted its President's Dinner in September 2012 (pictured). This year's
President's Reception in December will include the recognition of four new members being inducted into the President's Circle, which honors those who have given $100,000, lifetime, to Pacific University. New members include Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon, Medical Research Foundation of Oregon, Steven Stewart '69, and an anonymous donor.


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Providence Village real estate listings include condos, townhomes, and single family homes for sale.
Commercial properties are also available.
If you see a property you're interested in, contact a Providence Village real estate agent to arrange a tour today!
Learn more about Providence Village Real Estate.
MLS# 12160115 - Built by History Maker Homes - August completion! ~ This is an awesome inventory; 4002 sq.ft, 5 gorgeous large bedrooms, jackjill bath, huge media room; front balcony off gameroom; ALL THE BEDROOMS ARE EXTREMELY LARGE, BIG OPEN GOURNET KITCHEN, OVERSIZE STUDY!! MUST BE TO APPRECIATE!!!
MLS# 12064598 - Built by History Maker Homes - Ready now! ~ gorgeous 4,000 sq.ft. property; HUGE backyard!! BIG CORNER LOT!!!! Big covered patio; all bedrooms VERY LARGE and SPACIOUS!!!! LARGE MEDIA ROOM, MASTER RETREAT!!! MUST come see for yourself!!
MLS# 12160679 - Built by History Maker Homes - August completion! ~ THIS IS SIMPLY A GORGEOUS INVENTORY; SAME PLAN AS MODEL HOME; HUGE BEDROOMS, GOURMET KITCHEN; BIG OPEN FRONT BALCONY; MASTER BATH SUITE TO DIE FOR!!!! MUST COME SEE THIS SPECIAL AND ONE OF A KIND INVENTORY!!
MLS# 12160158 - Built by History Maker Homes - August completion! ~ WHAT AN AWESOME PLAN THIS IS!!! MUST SEE THE FRONT BALCONY OVERLOOKING THE NEIGHBORHOOD!! HUGE MASTER RETREAT WSITTING ROOM, PRIVATE MASTER BATH, GOURMET KITCHEN, HUGE WALKIN PANTRY...MUST COME SEE THIS INVENTORY!!!
Most popular Historymaker Plan with spacious upgraded lot, Front Porch for your rocking chairs, back covered patio overlooking lots of trees, 2 story with all beds up & family loft! Master SUITE,2 walk in closets, sitting 10x10 area w-rear window overlooking trees in Nature Trail, enormous Master bath. Lg kitchen wtih loads of storage, laundry & pantry from the 2 car drive up garage.Neighborhood park at the end of the st. as well as Nature trail
Beautiful 2 Story in sought after Providence Village. Open floor plan with master down and three bedrooms up. Upstairs gameroom or secondary living room. Two upstairs balconys. House is move in ready complete with New Carpet throughout, New Interior Paint, New Roof in 2011, Exterior Paint 2011. Large Backyard! Walking distance to community pool, playground and sports field.
Sparkling Diamond in much sought after Providence Village! Beautiful full landscaping and large trees, with white picket-like fence grace this corner lot. Home is meticulously maintained and many updates have been added, including new light fixtures thru out. Gorgeous kitchen with Granite countertops and tile backsplash. Ceiling fans, inside and out! Step out onto the full length 2nd story balcony and enjoy the peaceful ambiance! Wonderful home!
Lakefront Cape Cod Style Home in Desirable Providence Village! Beautiful home with fresh interior and exterior paint, new roof, new gutters, new ac, and new carpet upstairs. Open floor plan with wood flooring, granite in kitchen and gorgeous views. Views of the lake from the living room, master bedroom, and upstairs balconies from the game room and bedrooms. Completely move-in ready. Large fenced backyard with arbor and grassy area.
Beautifully maintained home with over 2500 SF. Walking distance to all the family facilities offered in Providence Village including tennis court and swimming pool. Game room up stairs where the childrens bedrooms are. This home is a must see. Priced to sell and ready for move in before school starts. Seller will negotiate formal dining room set and refrigerator. Welcome to your full time vacation home.
Adorable home with beautiful wood floors & vaulted ceilings. Huge entry opens to formal dining area. Kitchen, with island & bkft bar, opens to large living area with fireplace. Master is down for privacy & features door to extended patio, garden tub, sep shower & dbl sinks. C-fans & walk-in closets throughout. Home also features surround sound speakers, covered patio & solar screens. Lots of storage space!
Real Living Real Estate Group
Serving Greater DFW Metro
Dallas, TX 75252
Email Us | Visit our Real Estate Website


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By Vicki Hunter, North Mankato
I met Clark Johnson the very first year I moved to Mankato, seven years ago. He headed a committee that selected students for the social studies program at MSU, and I was fortunate to have been asked to serve on this committee.
I was immediately struck by Clark Johnson's intensity and positive outlook. I had never met someone who smiles so genuinely and so often. He cared so much about each of the students who had applied to the program. In our meetings, he remembered many details of their personal situations and struggles (and there were a lot of applicants).
The social studies program at MSU has stringent entry criteria, and he never wavered from holding students to very high standards, but he worked intently with struggling students to encourage them and help them find opportunities to heighten their performance.
I strongly believe that Clark Johnson would demonstrate the same intensity, compassion, fairness and positive outlook as the state representative for our district (19A). He genuinely cares about the people he would represent, whether they are students or his future constituents. He would remember the stories and the struggles of the people he represents and he would think about those individuals when making choices for our state.
I truly hope that voters in District 19A (North Mankato, St. Peter, near Sibley Park and behind Menards) will show up in droves Tuesday to send Clark Johnson to the Minnesota House of Representatives.
There has never been a more sincere and enthusiastic advocate for democracy for all people than Clark Johnson.


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Do you remember Tex-Mex 7-layer dip, the outrageously popular appetizer and party buffet table mainstay of the 1990s? I've certainly dunked more than my fair share of tortilla chips into that wonderful dip while attending other people's parties. However, I've never actually served it at my own. This appetizer always struck me as too filling, too addictive, and thus too likely to ruin my guests' appetites for whatever dinner I was serving that night. In fact, 7-layer dip seemed to me better placed as an ingredient for a main course, rather than a starter.
This recipe, which includes a vegetarian option, is an effort to follow through on that last thought above, and the result pleases me no end. Here a lighter variation on the ingredients list of 7-layer dip is used as a filling for baked bell peppers: seasoned black beans, reduced-fat sour cream (or yogurt) flavored with chipotles and cilantro, avocados, cheese, fresh tomatoes, green onions, and black olives. Please note that this is intended as a flexible recipe and can comfortably accommodate an eighth layer of chopped chicken, beef, or pork. As a test case, I added leftover smoked pulled pork to one of the peppers made for this recipe and thought the flavors melded together beautifully.
2 slices bacon, chopped (or substitute 2 teaspoons olive oil for a vegetarian version of this dish)
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely minced
1 1/2 cups home cooked or canned black beans, drained
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
A small pinch of dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon (or more) crushed red pepper
Salt and pepper, to taste
4 large or 6 medium-sized bell peppers
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream (or Greek yogurt)
2-4 finely minced canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (plus 1 tablespoon adobo sauce)
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro (coriander greens, dhania, etc.)
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup coarsely grated cheese (Monterey jack, cheddar, or queso blanco)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh tomatoes
1/3 cup chopped green onions
3 tablespoons pitted and sliced black olives
- In a frying pan, saute the chopped bacon until lightly browned. Stir in the minced garlic and saute until golden. Stir in the drained black beans, cumin, oregano, and red pepper. Cook for one minute, taste, and season with salt and pepper, if the latter are needed. Set aside. (For the vegetarian version of this dish, substitute 2 teaspoons olive oil for the bacon and proceed as described above.)
- In a small bowl, combine the sour cream (or yogurt) with the chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, and cilantro. Set aside.
- Prepare each bell pepper for stuffing by cutting off its stem end to create a "lid", as shown in the photos above. Scoop out each pepper's core, seeds, and any excess white pith. Place the bell peppers, cut side up, in a shallow glass or ceramic baking dish just large enough to accommodate them and poke a tiny hole (with a toothpick, for example) in the base of each pepper.
- Stuff each bell pepper, in order, with layers of the black bean mixture, sour cream (or yogurt) sauce, avocados, cheese, tomatoes, green onions, and olives.
- Add 1/4 cup water to the bottom of the baking dish and bake the stuffed bell peppers covered at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 15-30 minutes until the peppers are cooked through and lightly browned on top. Serves 4-6.


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The first of three pairs of king-size metal drums will journey from Redondo Beach to Chevron's El Segundo refinery Wednesday night.
The two 500,000-pound coke drums, which resemble tanks, arrived in Redondo Beach on a barge from the Port of Los Angeles Monday morning, said Chevron spokesman Nathan Rearick.
They are both 100 feet long and 28 feet across and were among six that arrived in January aboard a cargo ship from Spain.
The drums will be used as cokers at the nearby Chevron refinery in El Segundo, replacing units installed in 1968. They will be used to heat crude oil to "crack" it and refine different grades of fuel, Rearick said.
From the barges, the cokers were transferred to self-propelled, remote- controlled modular transporters. The move one-fourth mile from Marina Way to Harbor Drive north to Herondo Street, which becomes Anita Street at Pacific Coast Highway, started around 10 p.m. Monday and ended before 11:30 p.m., when they parked on a Southern California Edison lot, he said.
At the holding area on Pacific Coast Highway, they will be transferred to different vehicles that will haul the 28-foot-wide, 28-foot-high loads up PCH and Sepulveda Boulevard to El Segundo starting around 11 p.m. Wednesday, Rearick said.
"It's called a 'California Dollie,' and it's a customized transporter with trucks in front and back like a 'push me-pull you,"' he said. They will move at about two to three miles per hour.
Southern California Edison will rotate street lights in Manhattan Beach during the day Wednesday to make way for the coke drums. Overhead traffic lights will be turned sideways and other temporary adjustments will be made along Highway 1 from Redondo Beach to El Segundo at 10 p.m. Wednesday night, lasting until 5 a.m. Thursday.
The other two pairs of cokers are scheduled to be unloaded on Feb. 25 and March 4, Rearick said. The treks up Pacific Coast Highway and Sepulveda will occur Feb. 27 and March 6.
Once all of the cokers are at the refinery, Chevron will build "the world's largest crane" to take out the old tanks and install the new ones, he said. The old cokers will be torn up and sold for scrap. The project is set for completion in early 2014, Rearick said.
People with questions can call Chevron's hotline at 310-615-5298 or visit cokedrumproject.com.
Coke Drum Transport Timeline (Late Wednesday/Early Thursday):
- 10:00 p.m. | Road closure on Herondo at the beginning of route to rotate street lights.
- 11:15 p.m. | First drum begins rolling onto Pacific Coast Highway at Herondo Street at the Redondo Beach/Hermosa Beach border.
- 11:30 p.m. | Second drum begins rolling onto Pacific Coast Highway at the same location as the first drum.
- 12:00 a.m. | Drums reach intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Aviation Boulevard.
- 1:00 a.m. | Drums reach intersection of Sepulveda and Manhattan Beach boulevards.
- 2:00 a.m. | Drums turn west from Sepulveda Boulevard onto Rosecrans Avenue.
- 2:45 a.m. | First drum enters the Chevron refinery at intersection of Pacific Avenue and Rosecrans Avenue.
- 3:15 a.m. | Second drum enters Chevron refinery at same location as first drum.
- 5:00 a.m. | Any closed roads reopen to traffic by 5 a.m at the latest.
- Chevron Coke Drum Transport to Affect Beach Cities
- Coke Drums Roll Through Redondo
—Editor Nicole Mooradian contributed to this report.


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Left to Right – CMA Board Chairman John Draheim, City of Clearwater Council Member Paul Gibson, Mayor of Clearwater Frank Hibbard, Honorary Ride the Wave Chairman Herb Brown, CMA Board Member and Restaurateur Frank Chivas, Progress Energy Community Relations Manager Melissa Seixas, BB&T Senior Vice President Chip Faulk, Clearwater Marine Aquarium CEO David Yates
Renovations will triple resident dolphin space & double sea turtle rehab capacity
Clearwater, FL (June 10, 2011) – Surrounded by dignitaries and supporters, CMA embarked upon a $12 Million campaign to expand the current facility rapidly, before the release of Dolphin Tale. The growth will provide CMA the opportunity to host thousands of visitors, allowing CMA to educate each one about the marine environment and the animals that call our waterways home.
New features include:
• Doubling the sea turtle rehabilitation capacity
• New 1.4 million gallon Dolphin Pool Complex with stadium seating
• Enhanced surgical facilities
• Educational exhibits and signage
• Expanded viewing areas and lobby
• Education enhancements with additional classroom space
• Multi-level parking garage and lot
Today's speakers included Campaign Supporter and Mayor of the City of Clearwater, Frank Hibbard, Honorary Capital Campaign Chair, Herb Brown, CMA's CEO, David Yates, CMA Board Chair, John Draheim, and Board Member and local restaurateur, Frank Chivas.
The public can become involved in many ways, including through the newest opportunity, Winter's Path. Personalized paver stones, which will surround the new facility, are currently available for purchase for as little as $100 each. This striking design element will also allow the public a permanent way to show their support of CMA's mission of Rescue, Rehabilitation and Release of marine animals.


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Deborah52 Wrote:
Sep 11, 2012 10:22 AM
Becca, I don't believe the problem is the level of government which is involved, the problem is that elected officials who make the contracts with the unions are elected by union votes, which makes for an inherrently corrupt system of management. That's what needs to be changed. The taxpayers, who foot the bill for edcuation, need to be represented at the bargaining table, or better yet, in control of the system since they pay for it. Let each individual school negotiate with their teachers on a one-on-one basis to determine what works best for their students.


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Dead Humorous
Arsenic goes to the dark side
BODY SHOTS: Jenkins, Morgan and Alley juggle cadavers with mixed results.
There's some irony in the coincidence of national events and the Clarence Brown Theatre's selection of Arsenic and Old Lace as the first show of its new season. Theater history purports that, in 1941, New Yorkers found some comfort from the trauma of the escalating European war in Joseph Kesselring's irreverent black comedy. Despite the many laughs the CBT's production of Arsenic inspires, its twisted theme of two old ladies liberating sad old men from their lonely, pathetic lives via poisoned wine struck me as morbidly depressing—an unfortunate side effect of black comedy.
The show brings together some of the most enjoyable and talented CBT alumni ever to walk its stage. Most remarkable here is Jayne Morgan, whose cheerful, open expression conveys the aged aunts' purest motives and complete obliviousness to their criminality. Her round face and chipper delivery go far in establishing the play's tone. Not one iota of doubt enters Aunt Abby Brewster's mind that what she and her sister Martha (played with sweet, flirtatious ditziness by Carol Mayo Jenkins) do to old men is really for the sake of the men's souls. The Brewster sisters aren't killing as much as delivering the poor creatures from desperate lives into a better afterlife—"that peace," they call it. And that's funny, if you're able to see it that way.
The situation comedy gets underway when the Brewsters' estranged nephew Jonathan (a wholly creepy Christian Kauffman) appears unannounced at the sisters' Brooklyn walk-up with his Igor-like partner Dr. Einstein (Tony Cedeño). Jonathan is an amoral serial killer who has left victims in his worldwide wake, along with his original face; Dr. Einstein is a plastic surgeon specializing in mug-manipulation for those who don't wish to be recognized. Jonathan's troubled past includes a childhood stint at his aunts' home, and their memories of his sociopathic behavior keep them from welcoming him with open arms.
While Cedeño, frequently a source of comedic relief on the CBT stage, hobbles around with cartoonish malevolence, Kauffman strides monster-like, his almost 7-foot frame towering menacingly over everyone in his shadow. Rarely at Clarence Brown is a make-up artist given the job of making an actor's face truly monstrous, and in this case to such freakish effect. Kauffman, to his credit and the viewers' skin-crawling discomfort, contorts his malleable face into wicked smiles and ghoulish grimaces, and his eyes go buggy as if threatening to pop out like one of those rubber Martian toys.
If Abby and Martha were murderers in the classic sense, they would put this maniacal madman out of his misery and bury him in the cellar. Instead, out of some fear and lingering family loyalty, they humor their visitors and try to hurry them along. Jonathan and the doctor, however, have plans to set up a sort of cosmetic surgery clinic for criminals in his late grandfather's upstairs laboratory.
Arsenic 's straight man, the only relative who isn't out of his tree, is nephew Mortimer Brewster (David Brian Alley), a drama critic who is thoroughly stunned to find out what his sweet old aunts are perpetrating in the venerable home (Robert Cothran's set design is spectacularly detailed). Mortimer spends the play's first half in a tizzy about the body in the window seat (Mr. Hoskins, "a Methodist," says Miss Martha), and the second half figuring out how to get the police to haul away his psychotic brother without also finding out about his aunts' 12 old men buried in the cellar.
Most unambiguously humorous is Teddy Brewster (Ron Venable), Jonathan and Mortimer's brother, who believes he is Teddy Roosevelt. "He's so happy being Teddy Roosevelt," say his aunts, who indulge his delusion. And although the former president couldn't be farther from our current public consciousness, Venable's impersonation rings brilliantly, a sort of classic caricature of insanity, and one that doesn't involve dead bodies. Teddy charges up the stairs—"The stairs are always San Juan Hill," says one aunt—calls cabinet meetings with his bugle, and digs the Panama Canal in the cellar. The body-sized trenches then become graves for the ever-mounting count of "yellow-fever" victims.
In a hilariously self-referential moment, Jonathan and Dr. Einstein ensnare Mortimer as he describes the play he's just seen, a doozy called Murder Will Out , in which the oblivious protagonist gets tied up by two villains. "Haven't you learned anything from the plays you've seen?" Dr. Einstein asks. Apparently not, and that's the fun of it.
The clever comedy of Arsenic holds up surprisingly well after 64 years. Dark humor can be timeless, but it takes a certain unpredictable timing to strike a receptive audience. The depths of unwavering innocence conveyed by Morgan and Jenkins temper the shock of such macabre circumstances. And because everyone's funny bones are struck differently, it's hard to say who will laugh heartily and who will be left cold.
Rendered touchy and somewhat humorless by the recent natural disaster, I identified overly much with the old men whom—with no families, no homes, no obvious things to live for—were deemed by these proper, Christian ladies as the needy objects of their mercy. But what they didn't understand—and maybe this is an unintended moral to the story—is that when you don't have anything left, at least you have your life.
What: Arsenic and Old Lace
© 2005 MetroPulse. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Croscill Foot Baths
Give your tired feet a refreshing treat with a heated, massaging footbath. Get the spa experience at home with a tub featuring power jets and hot-water controls, all designed to provide a warm massage that relaxes the muscles and exfoliates the skin. Shop for footbaths that are compact for easy storage and made of easy-to-clean materials.


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Avail: weeks in July thru December
~ ~ Call/Email for Availability & Rate ~ ~
Located at 501 & 511 9th Street, this stilt duplex is TWO (2) units each having TWO (2) bedrooms and TWO (2) baths (accommodating up to SIX (6) in each unit). Great for TWO families wanting to vacation together, and still have their privacy. Plenty of car and boat trailer parking either under carport or on gravel next to unit.
Use of Cabana Club (a short walk, drive or take advantage of club shuttle) 1/2 mile from Sunkeys rental which includes: ocean beach, heated pool, showers, restrooms, poolside cocktail lounge, game room, fishing pier, snack bar, and Cabana Breezes Restaurant.
Wi-Fi access, fully furnished, amenities featured are listed below including: ceiling fans, blender, coffee maker, and toaster. The large, wide porch has a partial glass block wall separating each unit, which overlooks 75' of boat dockage on a 100' wide deep water canal with cement bulkhead (lights, electric, and water at dock), with very easy access that leads to both the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.
Many nearby attractions and activities . . Dolphin Research Center, Theatre of the Sea, Crane Point Hammock & Museum, Bahi Honda State Park, Key West, etc, etc.
On KCB 9 hole PAR 3 golf, tennis, bocci ball, basketball court, pickle ball, horseshoe area, playgrounds, bike, walking and roller blade paths, boat rentals, deep-sea fishing, diving, and snorkeling.
A FUN PLACE: Miniature Golf at Boondocks (MM 27.5) and while there enjoy a nice lunch or dinner.
RESTAURANTS ON KEY COLONY BEACH: Key Colony Inn, Cabana Breezes, and Sparky's Landing (all a short walk or drive)
Many more restaurants in Marathon too numerous to mention (List posted in rental units)
This home is SMOKE-FREE and CLEAN and NO PETS PLEASE
Commercial air connection is available to Key West, Ft. Lauderdale and Miami Airports. Major car rentals available at all airports.
Keywords: Duplex
The Haase's came through at last minute for us when we had another reservation that was not acceptable for anyone to stay in. Our 2 weeks went much too quickly, and went home with our limit of 'tails'. Beautiful home with all amenities we needed. Thank you for renting to us.
We bought one half of this duplex in 1986 as it was being built, and the other half in 1989, and have been renting it since then. The family (myself, husband, and 2 children) have spent many vacations at Sunkeys, and always thoroughly enjoyed it. Husband and I are now full time residents of Key Colony Beach for 12 1/2 yrs.
|Rate Period
|Weekend Night
Lobster Season
Jul 26 2014 - Aug 9 2014
Changeover Day: Saturday
7 night minimum stay
|Notes: Rates are based on 4 guests; add $25 per night, per additional guest
Christmas-New Years
Dec 20 2014 - Jan 3 2015
7 night minimum stay
|Notes: Rates are based on 4 guests; add $25 per night, per additional guest
My Standard Rate
Changeover Day: Saturday
7 night minimum stay
|Notes: Rates are based on 4 guests; add $25 per night, per additional guest
|Refundable damage deposit
|Cleaning-Processing Fee
|$120 + Tax
|$400 Refundable Security Deposit to Reserve a Unit. Rates are subject to change.
|Tax Rate
|There is $120 fee for cleaning and processing per rental.
Additional guest fee for over 4 people is $25/wkly per guest at all times of year (maximum occupancy per unit is 6).
Payment is usually accepted in the quoted currency (USD) unless the currency and the amount is specifically agreed in advance with the owner / advertiser.


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Some parts catalogs are GM originals. Others are reproduced but WILL be stated as that. Used to correctly restore a car and being wise to bu...read more
We are currently on summer vacation until Friday, July 25, 2014. You can purchase any item, so that you know it's yours but it will not be shipped until the following Monday July 28, 2014. Thanks for understanding, Sandy


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Search For Tickets:
The Eagles Tickets
The Eagles won't ever have to worry about their musical legacy, because they'll go down as one of the greatest bands and entertainers of all time. Since the Eagles released their first hit album self-titled Eagles in 1972, they've been one of the must-have concert tickets in North America and around the world. The Eagles have won an amazing 6 Grammy Awards and have sold more records than just about any other artist in music history. During 1980-1994 when the band was broken up, they still sold over 1 million albums a year! So you can imagine what the demand for box office tickets is now that the group is touring the world; they're enjoying monstrous ticket sales and sold out shows night after night, and the best news is that the Eagles' event schedule is loaded and is absolutely calling your name!
Few event tickets offer access to a one-of-a-kind musical experience like these do, so you and your friends should get ready to have the time of your life at premier venues all over our great nation. Our fantastic selection of box office tickets all offer unobstructed views and crystal-clear acoustics throughout mezzanine and balcony seating. These tickets are flying off the shelves, so make your plans now and get your concert tickets for an unforgettable evening of music with the Eagles, and make sure you add your comments about these legendary musicians to a new blog featured here.
Certified 7x Plantinum Eagles Albums
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Here is another Sodial deal that I just had to share. We have been watching entirely too much Cake Boss lately, and now there is a budding baker and cake decorator in my house who would like to start experimenting with fondant. ;-) Amazon has this Fondant & Gum Paste Cake Decorating 8-Piece Tool Set priced at only $2.86, including FREE shipping!
Product Details:
- Set of 8 modeling tools with 16 different shapes
- Use to model, shape and form sugar paste
- Perfect for adding detail of leaves, flowers and other figures to fondant and gum paste
As always, you'll want to verify the price before heading to check out, as sometimes things can change pretty quickly over on Amazon.
Don't forget to get the Bargain Blessings toolbar to print coupons and stay up to date on all the latest deals!


text: Incandescent is an awesome new bi-annual zine that is made in Portland, Oregon by Pine Island Press. It showcases colour film photography by contributors from all over the world and I was lucky enough to be featured on the cover as well as a spread inside. The cover is a shot from New Zealand at Mount Cook and was taken on my medium format Mamiya 645 film camera. I'm not sure how, but every time I look at it I get the Portlandia theme song in my head. You can order them from here if you would like one for your zine collection!


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To the editor:
The Pettengill House, Inc. would like to extend its sincere thanks to the community for the incredible support we received for our ninth annual Operation Backpack program. This annual backpack and school supplies collection drive is part of Pettengill's School Link Service program, the goal of which is that all children come to school every day ready to learn. Through the generous donations from schools, businesses, organizations, individuals and families and faith communities, we were able to distribute 403 brand-new backpacks filled with school supplies to local children in need. This brings our nine-year total to over 3,800 backpacks! We will continue to distribute backpacks on an as-needed basis throughout the school year for children in need moving into our community.
In addition to everyone who donated to this program, we would also like to thank our community collection site partners: Amesbury Public Library, Annarosa's Bakery, Boys and Girls Club of Lower Merrimac Valley, Flatbread Company, Healthcare Complete, Hope Community Church, Institution for Savings, Latitude Sports Clubs, Marshall's, Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank, The Provident Bank, Stone Ridge Properties, Stop & Shop, Supercuts, Tom's Discount, Unity on the River, Walgreens, Walmart, West Newbury Food Mart and YWCA of Greater Newburyport.
A special thanks to our local school partners who were so helpful in providing district-wide communication to families and faculty. Further thanks to area principals Kristina Davis at the Bresnahan Elementary School and Michael Curry at the Amesbury Middle School for providing school-based distribution sites.
Finally, we would like to acknowledge our dedicated volunteers who donated their time and energy to collect, sort and distribute backpacks: Thanks to Courtney Borkowski, Peg Brown, Colin Cavanaugh, Corey Claflin, Stephanie Conover, Amy Estabrook, Barbara Harrington, Lea Healy, Kristin Nelson, Rachel Mace, Dave Mackie, Jean Mercer, Colby Morris, Susanne Murphy, Heather Penny, Zac Rigoli, Donna Scott, Caleb Stott, Ralph Turgeon, Taylor Turgeon and Ricky Whittier.
On behalf of Deborah Smith, executive director, as well as our staff, volunteers and the Board of Directors, I would like to thank everyone who contributed to Operation Backpack. The joint support, generosity and collaboration we received from the community enabled area children to start this year prepared for school and ready to learn.
Megan Hoyt
Case manager, The Pettengill House, Inc.


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Get fit this year, councillor urges (From Thurrock Gazette)
Get involved: send your pictures, video, news and views by texting TGNEWS to 80360 or you can email us Click here for details »
Get fit this year, councillor urges
10:20am Wednesday 16th January 2013 in News
THURROCK Council's portfolio holder is urging everyone in Thurrock to active in the new year.
Labour councillor Victoria Holloway has taken up a gym membership with the council's leisure centre operator Impulse.
She said: "There are loads of free classes at Impulse and you don't even need to be a member to take part.
"The council's partners are supporting our aim of encouraging people to get and stay healthy and active – so there are a variety of different offers in January.
"It doesn't really matter what you do to get active, just as long as you do it.
"Whether you go to the gym or go for a walk or perhaps fancy doing something more sporty, or more daring there are lots of opportunities across the borough to get involved."
Log on to www.thurrock.gov.uk/sports
Comments are closed on this article.


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Africa News blog
African business, politics and lifestyle
Eritrea and Somalia: did they or didn't they?
As Somalia goes up in flames again , fingers are being pointed at Eritrea for its alleged role in fuelling the conflict. East African regional body IGAD and the continent-wide African Union have both called for sanctions on Eritrea – including a no-fly zone and blockade of its ports – for allegedly supplying arms and equipment to Al Shabaab and other militant Islamist insurgents fighting Somalia's interim government.The accusations have been around for years, and have surfaced in U.N. reports on breaches of a weapons embargo for Somalia. Asmara says its arch-enemy Ethiopia is driving the accusations, helped by CIA agents in the region, and denies it has given any material aid despite its antipathy towards President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's government.Asmara says the government, formed in January during a U.N.-brokered process in Djibouti, is an illegitimate administration imposed by foreign powers. It challenges its critics to produce hard evidence, and says the accusations are particularly hypocritical given Ethiopia's recent armed intervention in Somalia.Analysts say the spat plays into the wider, unfinished conflict in the region between Ethiopia and Eritrea. They fought a border war between 1998-2000 – just a few years after Eritrea won its independence from Ethiopia – and their armies still face each other, while the governments spit enmity between them. So who is right? How can the rest of the world know the truth? What should Eritrea and Ethiopia both do to further peace in Somalia?
Media values on the high seas
It's a cynical adage of British journalism that one dead Briton is, in headline terms at least, worth several dozen foreign fatalities.
A similar law seems to be in play with the latest hostage drama on the high seas off Somalia, where four pirates have been holding an American sea captain in a life boat under the watchful eye of the USS Bainbridge.
Will democracy work in Ethiopia?
Six Ethiopian opposition parties have joined forces to go up against the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in next year's parliamentary elections, but their chances of bringing change look slim at best and they complain of heavy-handed tactics by the ruling party.
The foremost opposition figure in Africa's second most populous country, Birtukan Mideksa, a 34-year-old former judge, has been in solitary confinement since December. She was jailed after the first democratic poll in 2005, which ended in rioting that was bloodily suppressed, was pardoned in 2007 and rearrested last year after renouncing the terms of her pardon.
Is Africa a good bet?
For those looking to invest in Africa, the best prospects are in Nigeria and Ethiopia according to a new index of potential investment destinations published this week.
But should anybody want to put money into Africa at a time the global financial crisis and falling prices for export commodities, on which the continent is so reliant, have discouraged investors who had begun to see some African countries as promising frontier markets?
from The Great Debate:
Somalia's slim hope
By Daniela Kroslak, Deputy Africa Program Director, and Andrew Stroehlein, Communications Director, of the International Crisis Group, Any views expressed are their own.
Pirates, Islamists, refugees, anarchy, civil war -- not much good news has come out of Somalia in the last couple of decades. With warlord replacing warlord over the years and transitional governments constantly hovering between extremely weak and non-existent on the ground, the temptation will be to view this week's election of a new Somali president with an eye-rolling, "so what?"
Somalia's new chance
How times change. Somalia's new Islamist president has been feted in Ethiopia, whose army drove him from power two years ago – with Washington's backing – when he headed a sharia courts movement.
Sheikh Sharif Ahmed was greeted with a standing ovation from African Union leaders at a summit in Ethiopia, which pulled the last of its troops out of Somalia last month, leaving the government in control of little beyond parts of Mogadishu. The hardline Islamist al Shabaab militia control much of the rest of southern Somalia.
Can world now stop Somali pirates?
With the naval might of the United States, Europe, China and others now lined up against Somalia's pirate fraternity, shippers are hoping the nightmare year of 2008 will not be repeated.
Somali pirates — mainly gangs of poor young men seeking a quick fortune under the direction of older "financiers" and boat leaders – reaped tens of millions of dollars in ransoms last year in a record haul of 42 hijacks, 111 attacks, and 815 crew taken hostage.
That pushed insurance prices up, persuaded some ship-owners to go round South Africa instead of through the Suez Canal, and prompted the unprecedented rush of navies from 14 different nations to the region. Even China is in on the act, deploying its navy for the first time beyond its own waters. And Japan is considering following suit despite its post-World War II pacifist constitution.
There have been some early successes from all the deployments – half a dozen pirates arrested and a series of attacks blocked, by helicopter and boat. Bad weather, too, has given the pirates some real problems, drowning five of them when their pockets were stuffed with dollars after taking their share of the ransom from the release of a Saudi super-tanker.
Yet the pirates have still managed two new hijacks and 11 attacks in the first half of January. They are hanging on to 11 ships with 207 hostages – most notably a Ukrainian ship with tanks on board.
And with such a vast area of operations — plus fancy new speedboats that have taken them as far as Kenya and Madagascar, and GPS equipment to keep away from the warships — the pirates are confident of keeping their business going. So who will win this modern-day battle of the seas? Will the shipping industry lose as much to the pirates this year as they did last? Should they keep paying huge ransoms like the $3 million paid for the Saudi boat?
Maybe, some argue, it will never really be possible to eradicate such a lucrative business which, in one of the world's most failed states, offers an opportunity for poor and hungry men to become millionaires after a few successful raids. As one pirate told us, they will carry on until there is government again in Somalia.
from Global News Journal:
New world shapes up off Somalia
The Somali pirates who released a Saudi supertanker got a $3 million reward, according to their associates. Good money in one of the world's poorest and most war-blighted corners.But the waters off Somalia are getting ever more crowded with foreign ships trying to stop the pirates. As well as potentially making life more difficult for the hijackers, it has become a real illustration of the much talked about global power shift from West to East in terms of military might as well as economic strength.This raises a question as to whether this will lead to close cooperation, rivalry or something altogether more unpredictable.This week the United States said it planned to launch a specific anti-piracy force, an offshoot of a coalition naval force already in the region since the start of the U.S. "War on Terror" in Afghanistan in 2001.It wasn't clear just what this would mean in practical terms since U.S. ships were already part of the forces trying to stop the modern day buccaneers, equipped with speedboats and rocket-propelled grenades. It was also unclear which countries would be joining the U.S.-led force rather than operating under their own mandates.The U.S. announcement came two days after Chinese ships started an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden. This is the first time Chinese warships have sailed to Africa, barring goodwill visits, since Ming Dynasty eunuch Admiral Zheng commanded an armada 600 years ago.As my colleague Sanjeev Miglani wrote last month, the Chinese deployment was being scrutinised by the strategic community from New Delhi to Washington.The Chinese had actually been catching up to other Asian countries. India already had ships in the region. So did Malaysia, whose navy foiled at least one pirate attack this month. Reasserting its might, Russia had sent a warship after the big surge in piracy in the Gulf of Aden between Somalia and Yemen. The European Union has a mission there.For Asian countries there is good reason to send warships. This is the main trade route to markets in Europe and their ships have been seized. Attacks on shipping push up insurance rates and force some vessels to use more fuel on the longer, safer route around Africa instead of taking the Suez Canal.But there certainly appears to be evidence too to back up the U.S. National Intelligence Council's "Global Trends 2025" report late last year that highlighted the relative decline in Washington's long term influence in the face of the rise of China and India.As well as being a chance for the world's old and new powers to show their strength in terms of numbers, the anti-piracy operations off Somalia could prove something of a test of effectiveness.While the hardware the navies have will always outclass that of the pirates, the new powers may have an advantage in more robust rules of engagement. That might lead to mistakes, however. In November, India trumpted its success in sinking a pirate "mother ship". It later turned out that a Thai ship carrying fishing equipment had been sunk while it was being hijacked. Most of the crew were reported lost.There is a lot of sea to cover, one of the reasons why naval forces have had so much difficulty in stopping the hijackings, but the presence of so many navies in the same area at the same time must raise questions over how well they are going to work together.Will this become a model for cooperation in a new world order? Or are there dangers? Might this also end up being a display of how little either East or West can do in the face of attacks by armed groups from a failed state with which nobody from outside seems prepared to come to grips? What do you think?(Picture: Commanding officer of a U.S. Navy guided-missile cruiser monitors the pirated ship off Somalia REUTERS/U.S. Navy/Handout)(Picture: Forces from French naval vessel "Jean de Vienne", seen in this January 4, 2009 photo, capture 19 Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. REUTERS/French Navy/handout)
Which way will Somalia go?
The withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from Somalia has left a nation beset by conflict for nearly two decades at a crossroads.
Ethiopia invaded to oust Islamists from the capital, but insurgents still control much of southern Somalia and more hardline groups that worry Washington have flourished during the two-year intervention.
from Pakistan: Now or Never?:
And now the Chinese navy in Somali waters…
Chinese naval ships may soon be steaming into the Gulf of Aden to join a growing fleet of international warships fighting Somali pirates.
A first probably for a navy that has long confined itself to its own waters, the move is certain to stir interest in the strategic community stretching from New Delhi to Washington.


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I try to build a system to send picture messages etc. I have tried many gif -> hex encoders but every time my pic don't arrive. I have to send this parameters to my smsgateway:
They said that I have to use 06050415820000 for an operator logo and in the text param I have to put the encoded image and operator. When I put:
in the text parm and my image arrives. This is the example they send to me.
They said that 02F42100 is the operator code and the other code is the image. But when I change the code for the image in this:
I don't get a message.
They say that's the hexcode I use is wrong. I think that also
Can anyone help me how I could my .gifs correctly so I can send images etc.
The conversion program I use is that from sms-wap.com in the pdf where they have the example code for Visual Basic


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Grimm Episode 301
"The Ungrateful Dead"
Written By: Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt
Directed By: Norberto Barba
Original Airdate: 25 October 2013
In This Episode...
We pick up precisely where season two left off - or, more accurately, we pick up a few minutes before the season two finale. Nick is still zombified, trapped in a steel coffin, and on his way to Austria. Monroe, Rosalee, and Juliette are still trying to fight their way out of the container yard. They are stranded atop a container and are running out of time. Juliette calls Hank and asks him to send backup. Renard is there, separate, trying to get his hands on Nick, but is attacked by zombies before he can stop the Baron from transferring Nick into the car.
Hank and Wu show up with the riot squad and round up the infected into an empty shipping container. Rosalee, Monroe, and Juliette head back to the magic shop to make as much antidote as possible. Renard calls airport security to have them detain the plane that the Baron is escaping on with Nick. The Baron easily zombifies the security guards and our crew arrives in time to see the plane taking off. While Renard and Hank go back to the station to get a flight plan, Monroe, Rosalee, and Juliette return to the container yard to administer the antidote to the zombies that Wu has corralled. It works.
On the plane, the Baron is alarmed by a banging from the coffin. Nick bursts out, and the Baron gives him another mouthful of toxin. Nick is only down for a few seconds before he is up, stronger and angrier than ever. He attacks the Baron and when the pilot checks on the commotion, he is attacked, too. The co-pilot loses control and the plane goes down. The baron is dead; the two pilots are alive but barely; and Nick lurches away from the crash with hardly a scratch. He stumble-runs through the forest until he comes across a bar. In he goes, and a massive bar brawl ensues.
Hank gets a call about the plane crash and the crew heads out to the site. Monroe tracks Nick's scent through the woods, to the bar, but Nick is already gone. The tracking continues, but they must hurry - Nick has found his way to a remote farmhouse and the family inside sounds delicious....
Meanwhile, over in Austria, Stefania is taking Adalind through the trials to gain her powers back. Frau Pech's heart is removed, still beating, and put into an ornate box, sealed with blood. Adalind must then cut off Pech's hands, feet, and scoop out her eyeballs. They take the bag of body parts along with the heart to a beautiful, serene poppy field. Adalind must then dig a hole in the field, put the body parts - heart included - into the hole, and rebury it by hand. Now they must wait to see if Adalind will be accepted. The poppies around the burial site start to die, reaching out in a huge circle. From the hole, green hands made of smoke billow up and wrap around Adalind. Stefania informs her that she has been accepted. Now she must gather up all the dead flowers.
Also: Renard calls Sebastian, the spy working for Eric, and puts a hit out on his brother.
Dig It or Bury It?
I love zombies, but I miss Nick. He's just not as fun as a zombie, and I am tired of Juliette being "the girl" - always having to wait outside, whining about finding Nick, etc. That's not her, but I feel like in the last season or so she has become much more the damsel in distress than she initially started as.
I am a little disappointed that the plane crashed, because I wanted to see what Eric had planned for Zombie Nick. I'm sure it will be revealed eventually.
I can't quite put my finger on it, but Adalind was really adorable and endearing in tonight's episode. I don't know what it was, but I liked her more than ever.
Fractured Fairytales
The antidote is administered to the container zombies via a Molotov cocktail. They slam the door on the container and let the gaseous antidote do its work. "How do we know if it has worked?" Wu asks. "I think it's like popcorn," Monroe answers. "When it stops making noise, it's done."
The zombie storyline wraps up next week. Will Nick be saved? Will there be any repercussions? And will Adalind get her powers back?


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Comparison of low power, wide tuning range 5 GHz quadrature phase LC CMOS VCO with different devices for resonant circuit
Foo, Jo Yi (2005) Comparison of low power, wide tuning range 5 GHz quadrature phase LC CMOS VCO with different devices for resonant circuit. Masters thesis, Iowa State University.
Full text available as:
Three low power 5 GHz LC cross-couple quadrature VCO with different resonant circuits were designed and fabricated in a standard 0.18µm single-poly, six metal layer mixed-signal CMOS process. Combination pairs of an active inductor, spiral inductor, junction varactor and MOScap are used to make the resonant circuit of the quadrature VCO in order to have the best possible performance circuit. Active inductor used in the design is a simple common-source amplifier structure with a PMOS feedback while the passive inductor used is a spiral inductor design using two of the highest level of metal in the process. Junction varactors used in the resonant circuit made use of the capacitance of NWELL and P-implant. All three VCO's have the same topology structure, which is the LC cross-coupled structure. This architecture is used in the design because of the simplicity while the cross-coupled featured will minimize the phase noise of the oscillator. Output drivers and pre-drivers are design to drive the VCO to a 50 ohm load. Phase noise, power dissipation, output power, spectrum accuracy and quadrature phase error are looked for and tested both in the simulation and on chip. Results of all three different types of resonant circuit VCO's are compared and discuss. All the circuits were fabricated through the MOSIS Educational Program.
Archive Staff Only: edit this record


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- Place the dumplings on a baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes, or until banana leaves are fragrant and slightly crispy on the outside.
- Steam the sticky rice dumplings in a steamer (on high) for 15 minutes, or until heated all the way through.
- If you happen to have your grill or barbecue going, grill for up to 10 minutes each side (depending on how hot your grill is), or until banana leaves have turned brown, crispy, and fragrant.
Then simply place the packets on individual plates and serve! Thai chili sauce, or sweet chili sauce may be served on the side.
Note that these dumplings stay good in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Thereafter, wrap in plastic and freeze for up to 3 months. Then simply thaw and heat up for an easy meal or snack. ENJOY!


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Funded by Senate Bill 1407
Initial Funding Year: FY 2009-2010
The Main Courthouse and Annex, constructed in 1956 and 1965, respectively, has nine courtrooms for criminal, civil, family law, and probate calendars. This building is also occupied by several county agencies. The Justice Center was constructed in 1985 and is co-located with the main County Jail. This courthouse has two courtrooms for criminal calendars. The Juvenile Courthouse was constructed in 1950 and is co-located with the County's juvenile detention facility. This courthouse has one courtroom for juvenile and delinquency calendars.
The proposed project would provide a new 14-courtroom facility occupying 173,350 square feet. It would consolidate all adult and juvenile court operations in one location. A total of 12 existing courtrooms would consolidate into the new project. In addition, two courtrooms would be provided to support new judgeships. The project will improve court operational efficiency, access to justice, and overall public service.
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Compliance
The AOC complied with CEQA by filing a categorical exemption for this project's preferred site on December 15, 2010.
Architecture/Engineering Firm
Construction Manager at Risk
To be selected, schedule TBD
Subcontractor Bidding
Schedule TBD
What is the impact of the state's current budget crisis on this project?
The state Budget Act for fiscal year 2011–2012 contained unprecedented cuts to the judicial branch budget in general and to the account that funds SB 1407 projects in particular. Taking account of the state's continuing fiscal crisis, in April 2012, the Judicial Council approved cost-reduction measures affecting all projects funded by SB 1407. News release.
As a result, this project will be required to undergo a budget reduction of 10 percent of hard construction costs. Further reductions beyond the minimum are expected if no compromises to safety, security, building performance, or court operations will result. This project is still in site acquisition and has not yet started architectural design, so this action is not expected to delay the project. Until the state Legislature resolves the budget for the coming fiscal year, any future impact on funding the next phases of this project is unknown. This web page will be updated with any changes.
May 2011
What is the New Redding Courthouse?
The project will construct a new courthouse for the Superior Court of California, County of Shasta. The courthouse will replace three inadequate, undersized facilities and will include 14 courtrooms, space to support courthouse operations, and improved security including a larger holding facility for in-custody defendants who are transported from the main jail for their court appearances.
Why is a new courthouse needed?
The existing Superior Court has courtrooms and supporting facilities that are severely lacking in security for court staff, the public, jurors and witnesses. They are overcrowded and substandard in size. The new courthouse will be used to accommodate the existing caseload and new security requirements, as well as provide two additional courtrooms for two new judgeships, for a total of fourteen courtrooms.
Who owns the existing court facilities?
In 2002, the Trial Court Facilities Act made the state responsible for court facilities statewide. Unlike many counties, Shasta County chose to retain ownership of the Main Courthouse and Annex.
Who is the AOC, and why are they managing this project?
The AOC is the staff agency to the Judicial Council of California. The Judicial Council is the policymaking body for the California judicial branch, which includes the trial courts, known as "Superior Courts," based in each county. Among other responsibilities, the AOC is responsible for planning, acquisition, design, and construction of court facilities statewide. The AOC has regional offices in San Francisco, Sacramento and Burbank. The Superior Court is responsible for the management of all court operations within Shasta County.
Why can't the existing courthouse be renovated?
Because the County owns the existing courthouse, it was not a feasible option for the state to renovate the building.
How is the new courthouse being funded?
The courthouse will be funded through statewide increases in court fees, penalties, and assessments authorized by Senate Bill 1407 which passed in 2008. This bill approved the issuance of up to $5 billion in lease revenue bonds to fund this project and 40 others throughout the state. Since the funding from these projects comes from court "user fees" collected by all 58 courts in California, the projects do not affect the state's General Fund.
What facilities will the new Redding Courthouse replace?
The proposed new Redding Courthouse will have 14 courtrooms replacing the 9 in the Main Courthouse, 2 in the Justice Center, and 1 in the Juvenile Court. The existing courtrooms are undersized and do not provide for accessibility in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Where are we in the process of building the new courthouse?
The project is currently in the site acquisition phase. The City of Redding is working with the AOC on acquisition of the preferred site, approximately 2 acres at Oregon and Yuba Streets, directly across Court Street from the current courthouse. Site acquisition agreements must be approved by the State Public Works Board before they can be executed. After site acquisition concludes, the project will continue with the design and construction phases. Site acquisition is scheduled for completion by July of this year.
Who is the architect for the project?
The AOC received numerous proposals for architectural services for the proposed new Shasta Courthouse. The AOC and the Superior Court of Shasta County interviewed a short list of qualified architects. The award-winning firm of NBBJ Architects of Seattle was selected.
What will happen to the Dubrowsky House?
The entire site is necessary to accommodate the requirements of the new courthouse. None of the existing structures can remain. There has been interest by several parties in potentially moving one or more of the buildings to another location. This may be a possibility, and the state is willing to consider it; however, the specific details cannot be worked out until the state owns the property.
What will happen to the trees on the property?
The majority of the large trees fall within the setback required for security purposes, therefore, their presence will not affect the footprint of the building. The AOC and the architect desire to work around the remaining trees to the extent possible. The trees will be evaluated by an arborist to ensure that they are healthy and to determine the best precautions to take to protect them during construction.
How will the local community have input regarding the courthouse project?
The AOC recognizes the importance of the local identity and historic presence of the court. It also recognizes the importance of community input on this project. The state's funding process does not release design funds until acquisition of potential sites is complete; therefore, the AOC has not yet begun detailed design for this project. When the project is approved and design work begins, the local community will have input in the new courthouse project through these avenues:
These vehicles are being established so that the project architect is able to develop a building that meets the court's operational needs, as well as reflects community input. The architect is committed to producing a highly functional, high-quality courthouse design that will complement and enhance downtown Redding.
Will the project hire local contractors and use local suppliers?
The AOC will contract with a construction manager to manage construction of the project, including local outreach to ensure qualified local subcontractors and suppliers have the opportunity to bid on construction work.
Will the new courthouse be energy-efficient and sustainably designed?
All courthouse projects funded by SB 1407 are being designed to achieve a LEED* Silver certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. This is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance "green" buildings. More information on LEED
*LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), adapted from GBC's FAQ doc.
|Administrative Office of the Courts
Judicial Branch Capital Program Office
455 Golden Gate Avenue, 8th Floor
San Francisco, California
Customer Service Center:
888-225-3583 or email@example.com


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Ben Haskell wrote: >Are you saying that agricultural research stations don't do science? Because no growing season is the same from year to year, so by definition the results are not precisely repeatable.< Yes, of course they are doing science. My statement was meant to show that we should have Mr. Wilhelm's tests repeated under the same conditions. He apparently controls more variables than the uncontrollable weather. Regards, Tony email@example.com - Turn off HTML mail features. Keep quoted material short. Use accurate subject lines. http://www.leben.com/lists for list instructions.


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Bud Light, the official beer sponsor of the NFL, is teaming up with NFL Hall of Famer Bruce Smith to launch "Stay in the Game/Drink Responsibly" — an integrated campaign that will provide adults with a reliable way to travel during the weekend of the big game.
Dollar General and Procter & Gamble are teaming up to honor a Florida mom as its official Every Day Hero for the month of May.
New brands Budweiser Black Crown and Beck's Sapphire will make their national television debut with 30-second ad spots which will air during Super Bowl XLVII on Sunday, February 3 on CBS, Anheuser-Busch announced.
Sports Authority, in conjunction with NFL PLAY 60 and USA Football, the official youth football...


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Tagged: post-punk
Why we should care about Suburban Lawns
So, my friend Curran just told me about this Long Beach-based post-punk band from the early 80s. Apparently they were set to be something of a bigger deal than they ended up becoming. They had a recording contract with I.R.S. Records, who were also home to West Coasties The Go-Gos. Jonathan Demme directed the music video for their single "Gidget Goes to Hell," which played on Saturday Night Live and later cast lead singer Sue McLane (alias Su Tissue) in Something Wild.
But while I'm sad that I didn't know about them until today, I'm glad I know about them now. I think you should too. I'm pretty in love with the following clip that Curran sent me, which is of the band performing their song "Janitor" for a TV appearance. Note Tissue's awkward unperformance performance, the weird voices she affects seemingly at random, and that the song's main lyric is about mistaking someone saying "I'm a janitor" with "Oh, my genitals." Are you in love yet?
Records that made me a feminist: Electrelane's "Axes"
Recently, my friend Ivan posted a clip on Facebook of the late, great Electrelane playing "Bells" off their penultimate Axes at a Portuguese music festival in 2007. Since I've been mentioning the album's influence on my feminist development for a while, let's get into it.
I was already a fan of the group when Axes came out. I reviewed The Power Out for KVRX, perhaps helping in some small way to make "On Parade" a college radio hit.
I only had the pleasure of seeing Electrelane in concert once, but I really couldn't ask for a better experience. They opened for erstwhile Mr. Lady labelmates Le Tigre at Emo's right after my birthday in 2005. Le Tigre were fine, but Electrelane were a lightning bolt into my being. Simply put, it was one of the best shows I've ever seen. I've never seen a band so much in control of the chaos they were making.
One thing Electrelane demonstrated for me was the power that emanates from women playing music together. I'm not referring to the novelty of it, as I wish all-female bands and female instrumentalists in mixed-gender bands were more commonplace. I'm talking about women coming together collaborate on a creative project. I believe it to be a decidedly feminist act.
Collaboration is important and should not be devalued. Often women are singled out in music culture and are expected to work alone if they choose not to work with men. I'd argue that this is true in other professions as well. In their seminal book Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future, Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards mention that several women discouraged them from writing the book together, as it would not be taken seriously. I think much of this is to do with the privilege given to sole (male) authorship, and having women abide by it — if we are to follow liberal feminist principles — ensures professional advancement. I also think it's bullshit. There is nothing weak or compromised about working with someone on a project. In my experience, it only adds depth and nuance to whatever I'm working on. I also think it helps prove that women and girls can, in fact, be civil and work together rather than tear each other apart for individual advancement. Thus, female collaborations can be politicized acts. Modeling these working strategies in public is a politicized act too. It's why Kristen at Act Your Age and I do it whenever we can.
Though I do think there's something distinctively female about Electrelane, I don't think it's their sound so much as their approach to creating that sound. There's muscularity to it, which is bolstered by precision. Being precise may not seem a rock ideal, but it's how they work together as a unit, even when it sounds like they are in discord or riding musical tangents. It's the sound of work. To my ears, it's the coiled fist and dexterous fingers of women proving they can rock even harder and tighter than the men.
And there's just something so empowering about seeing women work together so well. And while I love Sleater-Kinney and have seen and heard some of their remarkable concert footage, their shadow may be cast over bands like Electrelane who I feel don't get as much credit for being such a tight musical unit. Lead singer Verity Susman doesn't have Corin Tucker's golden wail. Neither Susman nor Mia Clarke channeled Pete Townsend's showmanship the way Carrie Brownstein did on stage. But that doesn't mean that these women aren't their peers. I mean, Emma Gaze is just as mighty a drummer as Janet Weiss. As far as I'm concerned, we should link these bands together more. Maybe put them on a bill together. That'd be a hell of a reunion.
At the time of its release, many critics noted that Axes was largely instrumental. This only seemed exceptional against The Power Out, which offered lyrics written in English, French, German, and Spanish. Indeed, their debut album Rock It to the Moon was scant on lyrics as well. Apparently Susman told the NME that this was much to do with lyrics making their compositions sound predictable and too resolved. While band members considered themselves feminists, they tended not to address their politics through lyrics (though "On Parade" is absolutely about same-sex desire, and their cover of "The Partisan" is meant to be read as a protest against the Iraq War). By creating the songs as instrumentals actually gave the band more room for sonic exploration. I'd concur and often think about how dispensing with lyrics can be used toward political ends.
Sure, lyrics convey information. They also give listeners easy, sometimes profound points of identification with artists. Lyrics can be mounted as evidence. They can also be ignored, though they shouldn't be. But as valuable as words are, they can also be limiting. They can demystify. They can be too exacting, and therefore obvious. They can fall short of delivering the message they're attached to as well. And sometimes putting them into verses and choruses and bridges can take away the words' charm. Instead of telling the joke, they explain it.
Some vocalists have bypassed proper lyrics, opting for gibberish, lists, scat, sloganeering, or free association. Some musicians, like Electrelane, forgo words altogether at times, and I don't think the decision to do so should be conceptualized as a devaluation of their verbalized ideas. Rather, I think we might be able to argue that systems of language can fail women and girls, both in their musical compositions and in the larger world of cultural interaction.
Also, sometimes talking about being feminists isn't enough. Sometimes you have to lead by example. Show, don't tell.
Thus, they turned toward their instruments — which abide by the conventional, masculinized rock set-up, particularly channeling bands like Neu!, Can, and The Velvet Underground — to make loud, abrasive, abstract music that evolves and builds but never tends to arrive at full resolution (or "climax," to use a masculinist term). Their compositions, and the deliberate stylistic choices they made toward repetition and dischord bring to mind Susan McClary's seminal Feminine Endings: Music, Gender, and Sexuality, which argues against the traditionally masculinized values of structure and resolution in canonical classical music and champions the hypnotic, dissonant, unresolved tonal quality of many female composers' work.
In Axes, there are no proper choruses or verses. Some songs don't even reach a proper theme. Others do, either to repeat it at length or vary it slightly with each refrain. A song will stumble upon a melody as if by accident, and then deny the listener a chance to re-engage with a familiar tune. The band has already moved on and will not be returning unless they feel like it. Nothing is fixed. It's not taking the master's tools to dismantle his house, but it feels pretty close to me at times. Re-enlisting veteran engineer Steve Albini after his work on The Power Out and recording together in one room domesticates their sound in surprising ways, and roughs up staid notions of female domesticity. Having Susman stab at her piano — once a symbol of proper female socialization — probably helps too.
This lack of emphasis on lyrics and hummable melodies can be really frustrating for casual listeners, especially those looking for the one single to latch onto. Electrelane doesn't really provide it on Axes, requiring that you listen — and feel — the entire album as a total experience. This is a pretty audacious thing to ask a listener to do, particularly when an album can get cut up into mp3 files. It's also music that doesn't make for easy participation. There's no place to shout "words and guitar, I got 'em!" and thus no easy site of identification either alone with your headphones or with the crowd at the gig. The band doesn't give many nods of recognition. But I think if you spend time with the album, you'll find it. Maybe start with "Two for Joy" and work your way through "Gone Darker." After that, stretch past to the end and let it play to the beginning. That way, you can listen to "Bells" over and over again.
However, I do propose a listening tactic for people struggling to get into this album: play along. If you have a guitar, pile it on top. If you have a flat surface to bang on, tap out a rhythm. And if you have a voice, sing along. Just because the songs are instrumental doesn't mean they have to remain that way. Remember the feminist possibilities in collaboration and join in.
Is Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette" saved by the soundtrack?
The first time I saw the trailer for Sofia Coppola's third movie, which featured New Order's "Age of Consent" . . . the word you're looking for is "stoked." I watched the movie several times when it came out. Indeed, the subject of my first grad school conference presentation (originally developed as a term paper) was about the use of popular music in Coppola's movies and paid particular attention to her third feature.
Some friends at the time dismissed the song selection as evidence that this was to be Coppola's A Knight's Tale. To me, this suggested short-sightedness (short-hearedness?). While I wasn't sure whether the movie was going to be good so much as pretty, I knew the meaning of this biopic on Marie Antoinette would be gleaned from the music. Selecting a song about coming of age and its desperate, doomed implications from a band who, at the time of the song's recording, had reformed after the recent loss of their young lead singer to suicide at the dawn of the Reagan/Thatcher era? Using it to frame the inevitable tragedy of a young woman who unknowingly inherited a fallen regime? Pitch perfect, if you ask me. You can say what you want about Coppola's movies, but she knows how to pick a song. Or at least she knows how to pick a song selector, in this case music supervisor Brian Reitzell, to clear some post-punk classics from her youth.
The movie itself appears apolitical, as would seem appropriate as it focuses on a clueless and ridiculously wealthy group of young people who have no idea what kind of tragedy they're about to inherit after generations of neglect. The audience, on the other hand, know Marie Antoinette's life will end at the hands of righteously pissed poor French people who cut off her head. Some characters clue others in on the contentious relationships France has with itself, Austria, Poland, and a set of colonies that was becoming the United States. Most people are too busy buying shoes, throwing parties, trying to extend the family line, or having affairs.
The musical selections serve to politicize the movie. The deliberate use of anachronism intrigued me, particularly when creating analogues between the political unrest of pre-Revolutionary France and England's recessionary 70s and the early days of Thatcher's reign. Class distinctions aside, it's easy to draw connections between the unseen revolutionaries and the somewhat subcultural art school punks and New Romantics, many of whom drew from this era in their own work. Thus, I was thrilled that Coppola's imagining of Versailles last days included Adam Ant, Siouxsie Sioux, Bow Wow Wow, and Converse sneakers.
Take the opening sequence as an example. The movie begins with an opening credit sequence accompanied by "Natural's Not In It" from once-anti-capital post-punk band Gang of Four. The song indicts the empty pleasures of consumerism. The screen is black, with personnel credits appearing in hot pink. Only one vignette is shown during this part of the movie. It is of the young queen complying with the mythology of the frivolous heiress. In this scene, she lazes while an attendant puts on her shoe. She absent-mindledly runs a finger across an elaboratedly iced cake, licks off her treat, and addresses the camera with a decided air of self-satisfaction. Let them eat cake off my finger, bitches.
Unfortunately, Gang of Four sold out big time. Did anyone see catch reunion tour? I didn't, but I heard they charged $20 for merch. Upon hearing this news, I let out of a sigh, looked up, and nodded to irony's unseen deity.
There are several moments where post-punk is used. One scene uses a cover song to highlight the sexy but empty promises of commodity fetish from a pre-fab band with a pre-teen girl singer who was marketed as sexually available by their Svengali. Another scene highlights the spoils of youth during moments of celebration with a song performed by a band that were supposed to be Joy Division but became New Order. The scene at a masked ball suggests a Western mindset that criticizes the packaging of girls like consumer goods with a song that has racist assumptions about Eastern traditions from a female punk who played with fascist and Orientalist imagery. The last scene seems to endorse the belief that sexual awakening, like many white people's romantic notions of a monolithic Native American culture, is primitive and innate. Yowza. Of course, if you don't know these songs you may lose these layers of interpretation. Thus Coppola's movie demands that you listen as well as look for meaning.
Coppola also does a good job stealing from other people's movies. The jump cuts suggest indebtedness to the French New Wave and the mise-en-scène recalls Barry Lyndon and The Leopard. But musical cues suggest other cinematic references. Witness Antoinette's morning routine, which is shown three times during the movie. It's scored by Antonio Vivaldi's "Concerto alla rustica," originally composed in the early 1730s. These scenes are supposed to convey the repititious and dehumanizing nature of her existence. The song is used the same way in Bob Fosse's All That Jazz, except instead of playing as a young heiress gets dressed in front of the female members of the court, it scores a director-choreographer pounding Dexedrine and Alka-Seltzer.
Coppola hedged her bets by casting Steve Coogan, perhaps because of his performance as Factory Records impresario/post-punk godfather Tony Wilson in Michael Winterbottom's 24-Hour Party People, as the queen's long-suffering advisor who knows Versailles, like Rome, is about to fall. It could also be argued that Marianne Faithfull serves a similar function in her role as Antoinette's mother Maria Theresa. Not only did she inherit a matrialineal heritage of Austrian nobility, but she's also a hardened, toughened relic of the swingin' Sixties and a survivor of the sexism behind its free love ideals.
This movie could've been really great. It sets out to do something fresh and modern with period pieces, deliberately disorienting the viewer with moments of anachronism, not only in music, but also in dialogue, characterization, and costuming. Coppola said the intent of these moments is to humanize the people behind this history, some perhaps interpretting the movie to be autobiographical. But I don't think Coppola ever fully humanizes her subject. I also don't believe the movie is really supposed to be about her, her jet-set life, or the ridicule she received for her performance as Mary Corleone in the final installment of her father's Godfather series. Though if you want to read Marie Antoinette as Coppola's attempt at a biopic, she does cast her boyfriend Thomas Mars in the movie, whose band seranades the young queen.
Coppola does accomplish something far more interesting here: by distorting place and time to such an extreme, she obliterates the idea that period pictures adapted from historical biographies ever attempt to be historically accurate. Indeed, there is no real history. The past then becomes open to interpretation, with no reading a true, definitive version. Indeed, history as a discipline becomes an unreliable narrator.
But the movie never quite works for me as a text so much as a theoretical exercise.
I hate to blame the success of a project on one person, but Coppola made was unwise in casting Kirsten Dunst. Past her performances in Little Women, The Virgin Suicides, Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, and what I'm told is a noteworthy turn in Interview With a Vampire, Dunst is a limited actress. I used to think that Dunst was believable in her portrayal of the young dauphine and that, once she had to play the queen of France and had to demonstrate (or believe she was demonstrating) emotional maturity, I was kicked out of the text. This opinion presents an interesting challenge, which I'd pose to Kristen at Act Your Age: what does it mean when an adult actress can convince an audience that she's 14 but not 30? Also, I think the movie should end once Marie Antoinette is crowned. By stretching on into her adult years and stopping short of her death, the movie no longer seeks to revise the period biopic and instead becomes one.
But upon review, I find that I don't buy Dunst at all. She gives a servicable performance if Coppola set out to turn a magazine photo shoot into a movie, an argument I remember my friend Karin making. The movie could be so much more than Nylon's take on Versailles, but Dunst can carry it. I don't buy her losing her dog, having a baby, embarking on a torrid affair, or saying goodbye to the palace and her life. I also never believe the complex angst she's supposed to be feeling about her sham marriage to late-bloomer Louis XVI (played by Jason Schwartzman) or all of the ridiculous expectations placed upon her narrow shoulders.
One scene completely kicks me out of the movie. Leading into the buyer's remorse porn of the "I Want Candy" montage, the dauphine breaks down and decides to rebel against the court by turning spending sprees into a lifestyle. This could be a very powerful moment in an ornately feminine movie about one of the most maligned and notoriously well-appointed female figures in European history. The camera is uncomfortably close to the subject, peering at her convulsing face and heaving chest with voyeuristic intent. This could be an ugly scene with a decidedly feminist subtext in line with Linda Williams's reading on the abject qualities of melodrama, horror, and pornography in her seminal essay "Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess." Except there is nothing to see. Dunst provides no tears, no facial distortions, no gutteral sobs. It's easily one of the prettiest and most detached fit of hysterics I've seen.
It would seem that this is the performance Coppola wanted, and that Antoinette's release comes from shopping. This also suggests that Antoinette can't cry, and that her upbringing does not allow her the ability to lose composure. But I have to wonder if it would be easier to empathize with a character played by someone who is acting instead of modeling. For a movie that attempts to humanize a villified historical subject, this scene actually suggests that she's inhuman. Perhaps it's because she's a theory and not a person. And if that person isn't presented as complex, at least the theories that cultivate her existence are a minefield.
Covered: The Breeders' "Pod"
I've noticed that all the album covers I've considered so far all feature the artist responsible for the work. Since I'll soon write a blog entry on Joanna Newsom's pseudo-odalisque for the forthcoming Have One On Me, I thought it would be fun to pick a cover that not only doesn't feature musicians, but instead has an image that's damn indecipherable.
Issues around legibility are why I didn't choose to write about Vaughan Oliver's cover for The Breeders' better-known and wonderful Last Splash or his work on Lush's Split. With the former, I'm 99.9% sure we're looking at a heart-shaped strawberry covered in something more viscous than dew (edit: according to my friend Erik, it's a liver). Also, that image compliments the album's sticky ruminations on ripe female sexuality. Split's cover focuses on fruit as well, displaying lemons in a presentational manner that honors the album's cinematic qualities but belies its ambiguous feelings toward dissolved relationships.
But what the fuck is going on with Oliver's cover for Pod, the band's debut? Is that some interpretive dancer wearing a leotard who has wilted green beans for arms? Are those even arms or are they another set of appendages? You got me.
(Note: again, according to my friend Erik, the cover is a picture of Vaughn Oliver dancing with eels strapped to his waist. Whoa!)
The swirl of gauzy lighting, sugary colors, and ambiguous figures is a hallmark of Oliver's work with 4AD. I believe he did as much to create an aesthetic to match the label's definitive dream pop and shoegaze as Peter Saville's stark, exacting compositions did for Factory Records' output. With 4AD, the defining principle around both its look and sound was abjection. Annie at Celebrity Gossip, Academic Style recently brought up issues of abjection with regard to the construction of Jessica Simpson's celebrity persona. Simon Reynolds and Joy Press made similar claims in The Sex Revolts about the womb-like sonic quality and pre-verbal, gender-ambiguous vocalizations that characterized much of shoegaze and dream pop, singling out My Bloody Valentine and 4AD labelmates Cocteau Twins.
I think The Breeders align with the abject as well. The name references founding members' Kim Deal and Tanya Donelly's sex and the naturalized biological function of the female body in ways that confront and mock patriarchal convention as well as evoke fear. This sense of terror is perhaps further enforced by the presence of bassist Kelley Deal, Kim's identical twin sister. The album's title suggests gestation, a bodily process fraught with abject implications. This theme extends to its songs as well. As Erik pointed out, "Hellbound" is about a baby who survives an abortion. The band's origins even suggest the process of casting off, as Deal and Donelly initially came together to form a side project during the twilight of their time with 4AD acts The Pixies and Throwing Muses.
Furthermore, while The Breeders seem to have a more conventional sound anchored by accessible melodies, their music is far emotionally murkier than initial listening may suggest. Pod showcases a surprisingly clear, crisp production aesthetic engineered by Steve Albini for a pittance, but there's something too narrow about the sound and too intense about the bright vocals and high harmonies. They help create a distinctly female tension that doesn't get resolved after a quiet verse transitions into a cathartic, loud chorus. When the other shoe drops, as it does on songs like "Iris," there's little chance of release after the chorus so much as the certainty of more claustrophobic terror constricting the still moments waiting in the next passage.
And songs like "Oh!" contain little structural release apart from Deal's splintered yelp at 1:47. They just wait. The band pounce elsewhere on the album, and you're never ready for it when they let loose. It just proves that with women, like albums, can't be judged by their covers.
Covered: Ladytron's "Softcore Jukebox"
Alyx, seriously? Today's post is about an album cover that features the women of Ladytron in bathing suits? Pin-ups for folks who wear cardigans, make library puns, and like skinny girls? Great. I'll go back to poring over my Tegan and Sarah albums. They look similarly gamine and like streaky make-up but aren't scantily clad in repose on the grass being shot from above like an American Apparel ad. You keep fighting that fight.
I bring up the cover of Ladytron's 2003 mix CD entitled Softcore Jukebox for these reasons:
1) The cover is eye-catching, though obviously in a problematic way. It objectifies vocalists Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo, respectively wearing a sky blue tank and shiny black skull string bikini that I hope came from their own closets (but probably didn't — do people swim in Liverpool?). In addition, it doesn't even show the rest of the band, which is also comprised of dudes Reuben Wu and Daniel Hunt.
2) The title seems leering and provocative, but is also jibberish. What the eff is a "softcore jukebox"? Is it different from a "hardcore jukebox" in that it works with a crotch patch and doesn't do penetration? Or would a cadre of queercore jukeboxes have to create a scene for themselves in response to the homophobic, homoerotic hardcore jukebox scene?
3) The cover is a modest revision of Roxy Music's Country Life cover, which features Amazonian models in see-through underwear boasting serious 70s ladygarden. Country Life was so controversial upon its release that a revised cover had to be printed with the women taken out of the image.
4) Apparently a German artist named Pia Dehne reconfigured Country Life to address the gendered aspects of camouflage and mimicry.
5) Softcore Jukebox came out during a wave of mix CDs that featured dance songs with electronic instrumentation alongside rockier fare. Critics like citing Kings of Convenience leader Erlend Øye's DJ-Kicks compilation, but he was hardly the first to do this, as compilations like the Back to Mine series suggest. Hell, he wasn't even the first person to make a DJ-Kicks compilation. I'd also like to put in a plug for Annie's DJ-Kicks compilation, which features ESG's "My Love For You." Hot Chip's gets my approval as well, along with any mix that has songs from both New Order and Positive K.
6) A cover that references an iconic album cover seems relevant, especially because the women in the band are the cover subjects and said band created a mix CD of pre-existing dance songs. Seems camouflage and mimicry may apply here, along with reference. This might be characteristic of the band. After all, Ladytron didn't just swipe the cover of Country Life for their mix CD. They took their name from a Roxy Music song.
Much of my interest in Ladytron is in Marnie and Aroyo. I like how they try to sound like robots (or ladytrons), mimicking their coldness and just-out-of-date technological make-up while singing songs about the inherent datedness and fickleness of fashion, beauty, and youth (see: "Seventeen," "Blue Jeans," and "Beauty No. 2″). This juxtaposes nicely with the band's reliance on electronic instrumentation.
In their later work — particularly the brooding Witching Hour — more traditionally rock instrumentation like electric guitars spike up their sound on songs like "amTV," suggesting that Bauhaus and Siouxsie and the Banshees were as much of an influence on the band as Kraftwerk. Also, I can't help but point out that TV on the Radio's "Wolf Like Me" features a fuzzed-out bass line very similar to Ladytron's "International Dateline," though my hunch is that both bands probably got it from Bauhaus.
This brings me to the mix CD itself, which smashes dance music and rock music against one another, suggesting the band's influences and approaches. It also unearths a long-obscured truth: dance music has always co-mingled with rock and, later, hip hop. And I'm not talking about The Rolling Stones' "Miss You," as their interrelation has a much deeper, storied history. I always hate it when detractors say things like "not another synth pop track" or "I hate disco," as if rock music and its studied authenticity doesn't rely on rhythm sections and repetitive passages of catchy melodies too. As if rock is about the truth and dance music is just piffle. C'mon now.
As for the album's content? Meh. Some songs work better than others, and some of it is fairly forgettable. Oddly enough, the most effective offerings for me are the rock songs that I didn't know you could dance to. I'll stand by The Fall, Wire, Shocking Blue, and Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra's classic "Some Velvet Morning," which is the compilation's haunting closer. I already knew you could dance to !!!, Fannypack, and Cristina, so they get a pass. You can kind of jig to My Bloody Valentine's "Soon," the intro from which Garbage stole for "My Lover's Box." I liked that I also like Ladytron's cover of Tweet's "Oops (Oh My)" — an ode to masturbation, a premonition for me that Tweet and producer Missy Elliott might be more than friends, Missy's first "ping!" on my gaydar, and a cherished memory as the "poem" one of my classmates read aloud with deadpan faux seriousness in a college English class. I like the original much more, but I appreciate the band's effort to suggest that hip hop and R&B influence them. Let's listen and compare, shall we?
Thus the cover, like song selection and reinterpretation, becomes a messy process for both band and listener that is guaranteed to leave grass stains.