text:
Russian hackers steal 1 billion passwords – now what?
Reports on "the biggest hack ever" recently surfaced. A Russian hacker group allegedly captured 1.2 billion unique username and password combinations.
With this latest security breach, AVAST encourages consumers to take necessary precautions. Change your passwords immediately and if you're using the same password somewhere else, you must change it there, too. Choose complex passwords so it will be more difficult for hackers to de-encrypt them. In general, we recommend changing passwords every three to six months, or after news of a breach.
A password manager like avast! EasyPass helps encrypt and protect personal information online, with random, strong passwords. avast! Easy Pass generates complex passwords and removes the inconvenience of having to remember them.
If financial and credit card data is compromised in an online threat, AVAST advises users to monitor and check their accounts for unauthorized charges and to immediately report any suspicious activities to their bank or card provider.
Interested in reading more?
Try our articles on creating strong passwords: Do you hate updating your passwords whenever there's a new hack? and My password was stolen. What do I do now?
Thank you for using avast! Antivirus and recommending us to your friends and family. For all the latest news, fun and contest information, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Business owners – check out our business products.
Internet Explorer users: AVAST has got your back – for FREE
AVAST protects users running Internet Explorer.
Microsoft announced a new vulnerability in Internet Explorer, which allows attackers to execute code remotely, ultimately giving them full control over a PC. The vulnerability targets Internet Explorer versions 6 through 11 and was published under the name CVE-2014-1776. Out of all the Internet Explorer users, Windows XP users are most vulnerable as Microsoft recently stopped supporting the operating system and will therefore not issue any security patches, including one to fix this problem.
AVAST gave its word to Windows XP users that it would continue to protect them: AVAST has issued a new definition update which addresses this specific Internet Explorer vulnerability, protecting its users running Internet Explorer.
Windows XP users browsing on Internet Explorer in even more danger
On April 8, 2014, Microsoft ended its support for Windows XP, terminating automatic updates to the operating system, and even worse it will stop providing anti-malware signature updates as of next year. It's remarkable that it has only been three weeks since the cut off and its users are already being confronted with a major security flaw, which will affect and put Windows XP Internet Explorer users at risk the most… Will this now make Windows XP users migrate?
Windows XP users: We promised we wouldn't leave you hanging
Prior to the Windows XP support end date, AVAST committed to supporting Windows XP by creating protection modules and detections specifically designed to cover XP vulnerabilities and security problems for at least the next three years. Currently 45 million of our more than 200 million customers use Windows XP. Of those 45 million, more than 20% run Internet Explorer and our latest update 140428-1 covers them from the CVE-2014-1776 Internet Explorer vulnerability. Even with the update, we urge Windows XP users migrate from Internet Explorer to another browser. The latest version of Internet Explorer available on Windows XP is version 8, making it outdated and lacking a number of security improvements that were already unavailable before the official support end date. We recommend Google Chrome as an alternative to Internet Explorer, as it is fully compatible with Windows XP, updating itself automatically.
Explore the Internet with caution
Windows XP users aren't the only ones at risk. We recommend users always use caution and think twice before opening any links. This particular flaw accesses deleted or misplaced objects in memory, thus corrupting the browser's memory address space. This in turn gives attackers the opportunity to execute code remotely by hoaxing users via email or instant message to visit sites specifically designed to exploit the vulnerability. Once Internet Explorer users click on the malicious link, attackers can gain the same user rights as the person currently logged into Windows. This means if someone clicks on the link while logged into Windows in the administrator account, the attacker would have full administrative control over the PC and the data on it.
AVAST supports everyone
AVAST believes that everyone has the right to protection while using the Internet and therefore offers Windows and Mac users free antivirus. We are devoted to supporting all of our customers and do not believe in turning our backs on Windows XP users. All AVAST Antivirus users with virus definitions 140428-1 or newer are protected against the CVE-2014-1776 vulnerability.
Thank you for using avast! Antivirus and recommending us to your friends and family. For all the latest news, fun and contest information, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Business owners – check out our business products.
The first eco-friendly email virus?
A few minutes ago, I noticed a new infected email landing in my inbox. The body of the email said:
Please find Attached Invoice payment format of Marina private ltd. Thanks Marina.A.Beg Marina Private Limited Plot No. 544-J, Pace City - II Sector - 37, Gurgaon - 122 004 Haryana - Bharat
That's pretty normal / boring stuff — and so was the attached ZIP file, which contained a run-of-the-mill sample of a well-known virus family.
However, what grabbed my attention was the footer of the email, which said:
Another Data Breach Crisis Looms as Microsoft's D-Day for XP Forces Security Scramble
Opinion by Ondrej Vlcek, Chief Operations Officer at AVAST Software
The termination of security updates by Microsoft to Windows XP will create severe security issues. The already rather unsafe operating system will face even more risks with the missing security updates, but the question is: Should Windows XP users be the only ones worried?
Microsoft recently announced that technical support will no longer be available for Windows XP as of April 8, 2014, ending automatic updates for the operating system. Microsoft will also eventually stop providing anti-malware signature updates to XP users, in 2015. Abandoning Windows XP is a big mistake, especially since Microsoft has not been very successful in transitioning XP users to newer systems. The AVAST database shows that 23.6% of its more than 200 million users is still running Windows XP.
XP users more susceptible to attacks than Windows 7 users
The abandonment by Microsoft will not only affect Windows XP users, but will create a big security problem for the whole ecosystem. Tens of millions of PCs running XP connected to the Internet, unpatched and without security updates, are just waiting to be exploited. The vulnerable OS will be an easy target for hackers and be seen as a gateway to infect other non-XP operating systems. Our telemetry data shows that XP users are 6 times more likely to get attacked than Windows 7 users and once Microsoft stops issuing patches, this can worsen.
The next Target-like attack is brewing
Home users are not the only ones who will be affected by the Windows XP support cutoff, according to reports*, 95% of ATMs in the world still run on Windows XP. These ATMs along with businesses still using Windows XP on their PCs need to be updated, or at the very least seek alternative protection. Medical offices that store confidential patient information and stores that keep customer details, such as credit card numbers, on their computers running Windows XP could easily be attacked. The Target data breach last year was conducted through a trojan that attacked the shops' point of sales system. If businesses don't keep their systems safe, we will, unfortunately, see more of data breaches like this. The news of the XP support cutoff was published a year ago, which means that IT professionals should be well aware of the change and the consequences it will have. For those who haven't taken action yet, the time is now.
AVAST is devoted to protecting the PC ecosystem by not only supporting Windows XP for at least the next three years, but also by creating protection modules and detections specifically designed to cover Windows XP vulnerabilities and other security problems. We have already taken additional steps in our latest product release, avast! 2014, by making the product lighter, both in terms of speed and resource consumption, tailoring it for older machines still running Windows XP. In addition to the security value, avast! 2014 is offered for free, which is especially important for XP users. Upgrading to a newer version of Windows comes with costs, costs that not everyone can afford and is probably a big reason why many users haven't upgraded yet.
Another reason to ditch Internet Explorer
In addition to Windows XP itself being a security risk, Internet Explorer on Windows XP poses an even larger threat. The latest version of the browser available on Windows XP is version 8, making it outdated and lacking a number of security improvements available in its later versions. Of our existing Windows XP user database, 21.5% run Internet Explorer, leaving themselves open to easy attacks. Google Chrome is a good alternative and is fully compatible with Windows XP, updating itself automatically.
Windows XP users will not be the only ones affected by the end of updates by Microsoft and should not be the only ones worrying about the end date. Users still running Windows XP need to act both proactively and responsibly to ensure safety for not only their own data and PC, but for that of others as well.
Thank you for using avast! Antivirus and recommending us to your friends and family. For all the latest news, fun and contest information, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Business owners – check out our business products.
Introducing the New Avast Bug Bounty Program
Hello Avast fans!
It is my pleasure to officially announce the new Avast bug bounty program. As a security company, we very much realize that security bugs in software are reality. But we also realize that companies that are able to use their user communities to find and fix bugs are generally more successful that those that don't. Therefore, we have decided to reward individuals who help us find and fix security-related bugs in our own software. This makes us probably the first security vendor with a reward program like this: I think it's mainly because the other companies generally take the position that 'Hey, we're a security company. So we know security and it can't happen to us.' But in reality, that's not what's happening. Just look at bugtraq or the CVE databases and you will find that security software is no more immune to these issues than any other programs. A bit of irony, given that people generally install security software to fight security issues in the first place, isn't it?
We at Avast take this very seriously. We know that being a market leader (Avast has more users than any other AV company in the world), we're a very attractive target for the attackers. So, here's our call to action: let's unite and find and fix those bugs before the bad guys do!
Here's how it works:
- The bounty program is designed for security-related bugs only. Sorry, we're not paying for other types of issues like bugs in the UI, localization etc. (nevertheless, if you find such a bug, we will of course very much appreciate if you report it).
- This program is currently intended only for our product, i.e. not the website etc.
- We're generally only interested in these types of bugs (in the order of importance):
- Remote code execution. These are the most critical bugs.
- Local privilege escalation. That is, using Avast to e.g. gain admin rights from a non-admin account.
- Denial-of-service (DoS). In case of Avast, that would typically be BSODs or crashes of the AvastSvc.exe process.
- Escapes from the avast! Sandbox (via bugs in our code)
- Certain scanner bypasses. These include include straightforward, clear bypasses (i.e. scenarios that lead to direct infection, with no additional user input), as opposed to things like deficiencies in the unpacking engine etc. In other words, we're interested only in cases that cannot be mitigated by adding a new virus definition (please don't report undetected malware)
- Other bugs with serious security implications (will be considered on a case by case basis).
- The base payment is $200 per bug. Depending on the criticality of the bug (as well as its neatness) the bounty will go much higher (each bug will be judged independently by a panel of experts). Remote code execution bugs will pay at least $3,000 – $5,000 or more.
- We might change these ranges based on the number and quality of incoming reports. Generally, the less reports we will get, the higher the bounty will go.
- We will only pay for bugs in Avast itself. For example, if you find a bug in a Microsoft library (even if it's used by Avast), please report it to Microsoft instead (it would be great if you could also notify us, but unfortunately, we cannot offer any reward in such cases).
- The program is currently limited to consumer Windows versions of Avast (i.e.: Avast Free Antivirus, Avast Pro Antivirus, and Avast Internet Security). Only bugs in the latest shipping versions of these products will be considered.
- Payment will be done preferably by PayPal. If you can't accept PayPal (e.g. because it doesn't work in your country), please get in touch with us and we will try to figure out something else.
- Because of certain legal restrictions, we cannot accept submissions from the following countries: Iran, Syria, Cuba, North Korea and Sudan.
- It is the researcher's own responsibility to pay any taxes and other applicable fees in their country of residence.
- In order to be eligible for the bounty, the bug must be original and previously unreported.
- If two or more researchers happen to find the same bug, the bounty will be paid only to the one whose submission came in first.
- You must not publicly disclose the bug until after an updated version of Avast that fixes the bug is released. Otherwise, the bounty will not be paid.
- The bounty will be paid only after we fix the issue (or, in specific cases, decide to not fix it).
- Some bugs may take longer to correct. We will do our best to fix any critical bugs in a timely fashion. We appreciate your patience.
- Employees of AVAST and their close relatives (parents, siblings, children, or spouse) and AVAST business partners, agencies, distributors, and their employees are excluded from this program.
- We reserve the right to change the rules of the program or to cancel it at any time.
How to report a bug and qualify for the bounty:
- Please submit the bug to a special email address email@example.com
- If you'd like to encrypt your email (recommended), please use this PGP key.
- A good bug report needs to contain sufficient information to reliably reproduce the bug on our side. Please include all information that may be relevant – your exact environment, detailed bug description, sample code (if applicable) etc. It also needs to contain a decent analysis – this is a program designed for security researchers and software developers and we expect certain quality level.
- You will receive a response from an Avast team member acknowledging receipt of your email, typically within 24 hrs. If you do not receive a response, please do not assume we're ignoring you – we will do our best to follow up with you asap. Also, in such a case it is possible your email didn't make it through a spam filter.
Finally, I'd like to say thanks to everyone who helps to find and fix bugs in our products. Hopefully, this new reward program will take this initiative to a whole new level.
Happy [bug]hunting!
P.S. The bug bounty rules are also available on our main website here.
New Toy in the Avast Research Lab
The Avast Research Lab is where some of the Avast's brightest brains essentially create new ways of detecting malware. These are either features inside the product (such as FileRep and autosandboxing, including all of its recent development) as well as components that run on our backend – i.e. things that users don't necessarily see but that are equally important for the overall quality of the product.
In fact, working on the backend stuff takes up more of their time these days, as more and more intelligence in Avast is moving to the cloud and/or is being delivered in almost real time via the avast! streaming update technology. Read more…
New avast! program update [7.0.1473] is here!
Today, we have released a brand new avast! program update, version number 7.0.1473. It's the last program update we plan to do before version 8 (slated for Q1 2013). I'd like to take this opportunity and explain some of its new features.
First and foremost, the new version is fully compatible with Windows 8 – scheduled to finally hit the stores this Friday. The changes we have made went well beyond just making sure everything works. For example, we had to replace the internals of the Network and Web Shields to accommodate the new networking APIs in Windows 8. Also, we had to make sure avast! plays nicely with the new Windows Security Center and that it correctly handles certain scenarios that are new to Windows 8.
This version of avast! will shortly be officially certified with the Windows 8 Compatible logo, and will be included in the new Windows Store.
Frequently asked questions about avast! Mobile Security
With the introduction of our new mobile product, avast! Free Mobile Security, we officially entered the mobile security business. While most of the feedback we have seen to date has been very positive, some of the reviews and comments on the Android market indicate that some people are a bit confused about the product and its features. This blog post was meant to explain some of the concepts and hopefully help resolve some of the confusion. It is structured as questions and answers. If you have additional questions, please feel free to post a comment below or head to our forum.
1. Why should I install a security product on my phone? There's no viruses anyway, right?
First, it's important to realize that the product goes well beyond malware protection. Components like Anti-theft, Firewall, SMS and call filtering and Application management are very useful irrespective of the malware situation and are all a good reason to install the product.
However, even the malware situation is not that great. To date, we have registered about 4,000 unique apps that exhibit malicious behavior. Most of them were pulled from the market relatively soon (some didn't even make it to the market), but we dare to say that we can detect them faster.
Also, some of the threats are completely platform independent. A great example is phishing. Here's how it works: you are sent a link to a website that looks and feels exactly like your online banking site, but in fact it's a fake site whose purpose is to capture your credentials and steal your money. This has been a long-time classic on the desktop, but as people start browsing the web using their mobile devices it's also becoming a problem here. Therefore, it does make sense to have an app that will alert you whenever you do something stupid like this (in case of avast! Mobile Security, the Web Shield component takes care phishing URL filtering). Especially given it's free.
AVAST acquires mobile security app developer ITAgents
For those interested in all things Android, I have some exciting news. AVAST Software has acquired ITAgents, the Austrian developer of the Theft Aware mobile phone theft protection and recovery system.
The acquisition strengthens AVAST's technology base and gives us a hands-on security app designed for today's Android-powered smartphones. Read more…
False positive issue with virus defs 110411-1
Virus definition update 110411-1 contained an error that resulted in a good number of innocent sites being flagged as infected. Generally, all sites with a script in a specific format were affected.
Our virus lab staff discovered the problem quickly after releasing the bad update and immediately started working on a fix. The fix was released about 45 minutes after the problematic update and has version number 110411-2. Anyone who still has this problem is kindly asked to manually update the definitions to the latest version, e.g. by right-clicking the avast taskbar icon (the orange (a) ball), and selecting Update -> Engine and Virus Definitions.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. As this typically only affected remote sites (and not local files), simply updating to the latest definitions should completely solve the issue (no local files have been quarantined).


text:
When faced with an eating disorder, finding the time and energy to deal with insurance matters can be overwhelming.
Our professional, experienced Admissions team will assist with this so you can spend your time focusing on what's most important: helping yourself or a loved one to recover. We accept self-referrals as well as referrals from providers.
Most insurance plans are accepted. For questions or to schedule an evaluation, please call our Admissions team, which can be reached at 609.853.7575 or 1.877.932.8935. They will answer your questions confidentially and help you determine if our program is right for you.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Atlanta continues their 10 game road trip tonight with a 4 game series in San Francisco. Ryan Vogelsong will start game one for the Giants, and the Braves will counter with Julio Teheran.
Braves Lineup:
- Jordan Schafer, RF
- Andrelton Simmons, SS
- Justin Upton, LF
- Freddie Freeman, 1B
- Dan Uggla, 2B
- Brian McCann, C
- B.J. Upton, CF
- Juan Francisco, 3B
- Julio Teheran, P


text:
Italy are out, so who's it to be?
I'm going for Germany because its the sort of **** thing they'd do to ruin my Sunday.
Book closes before the first semi on Wednesday, 19:45 BST.
I was going to bet 250 on Russia but I got here a little too late.
ลาน้องก่อน พี่จนถึงต้องจำจาก, ถึงแม้พี่จะหลงรัก ฐานะพาพราก ต้องจากจอมใจ
ถ้าหากมั่งมี แล้วพี่จะคืนมาใหม่, ไม่ว่าจะอยู่แห่งไหน จะนานเท่าไร ยังไม่ลืมบาง...
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
I want Spain to win because of their team but I also want Spain to lose because of their fans. The spanish papers say it's only one case of racism but it's fucking not, spanish fans tend to be racists so I am split. I hope the Germans win though......n I'm English lol, would love spain to win but their fans have made me feel sick lately and hopefully they will lose their right to host the GP soon.
Daniel Bedingfield claimed that his new album is what it would sound like if Sting, Stevie Wonder and Micheal Jackson were in a basement together - I haven't got the album so I'll have to imagine the sound of a blind bloke and a Geordie kicking the shit out of a pedophile.
Turkey Germany is starting to get a bit dirty at 1-1. If this goes to extra time, I'd forecast sending offs.
is your broadcast gone just like mine?
alright, its back. wtf was that 5 min break thing???!!?
Last edited by samsara; 26th June 2008 at 03:08. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
Powercut in Austria. And the pics go again in time for Klose to score.
Last edited by naboo; 26th June 2008 at 03:24.
Then there's the team's national coach Aragones who made a racial slur about Thierry Henry. Instead of being fired he was given a ridiculously small fine by FIFA - nice job boys.
Then Lewis Hamilton was abused in formula one after testing in Spain......


text:
Planet of the Apes and Philosophy: Call for Papers
Deadline for abstract submission: January 15, 2012
Open Court Popular Culture and Philosophy Series
Editor: John Huss
The editor encourages contributions from philosophers and other intellectuals that explore topics connected to the Planet of the Apes franchise, from Pierre Boulle's 1963 novel La Planète des singes to the 1968 politically charged blockbuster starring Charlton Heston,through the sequels and TV series to the 2011 reboot/prequel, Rise of the Planet of the Apes (the first in a planned trilogy). The prequel, which was released at roughly the same time as the documentary Project Nim, has recently received attention from philosophers and animal rights activists, including Peter Singer. Much public discussion of Rise of the Planet of the Apes has centered on ethical and philosophical issues.
Of particular interest for the volume are popular essays addressing topics in political philosophy. Authors who would like to try their hand at engaging a non-academic audience in philosophical dialogue using the Planet of the Apes films as a touchstone are especially encouraged to submit an abstract.
Email abstracts and a c.v. to: firstname.lastname@example.com.
Deadlines: Abstracts due by January 15, 2012; notification of abstract acceptance by February 15, 2012. First drafts due by June 15, 2012; final drafts due by August 15, 2012.
The fine print: Contributors will not be paid in cash, but in copies of the book, in addition to worldwide fame and prestige.


text:
Routes Sorted
L to R R to L Alpha
This route starts from the same anchor as Wagging the Nub on the far right side of Easter Rock (Rolofson, Vol. 2, page 74-75). This is the first anchor after you pass the Flying Beast and walk across the exposed traverse�that's why there's an anchor. Follow the line of bolts up and slightly right. The climbing is mostly pretty moderate with a short crux after you've gone over a roof (11-) and are moving to and from a diagonal crack on a clean little face (12c). It looks like one could traverse in from the left and get to the crack that way, but, for full value, start low with a cross through to a small left hand crimp that you undercling to get to the crack from below�it'll be obvious when you're there.
Wagging the Nub goes further left after the first bolt and has fewer bolts on it.
About eight bolts to the anchor. The crux is very well protected.


text:
7 posts tagged with USPresident and election. (View popular tags)
Displaying 1 through 7 of 7. Subscribe:
The donors complain in this article about how much they have to shell out. Are their complaints legitimate? Is this simply the cost of doing business? Is this the way campaigns should be funded?
posted by Sean Meade on Mar 6, 2001 - 14 comments


text:
Law in Popular Culture
Ex-Associate Says 'Unbillable Hours' at Latham Made the Job Worthwhile
Posted Aug 17, 2010 6:02 AM CDT
By Martha Neil
Having gone to law school at the University of Texas for lack of a better career option, Ian Graham turned out to be a stellar student.
A BigLaw job was his virtually by right, and when Graham was interviewing, Latham & Watkins stood out, he recounts in a recently published book, Unbillable Hours.
A partner from a competing Washington, D.C.-based law firm distinguished himself during interview season by pulling out a bottle of sanitizer and disinfecting himself immediately after shaking hands; at Latham, associates and partners were pleasant, upbeat and proud of the firm, he writes. Accepting a job there that paid an annual salary $125,000 to start plus a bonus of as much as $50,000, depending on billable hours, seemed like a no-brainer.
Actually working for Latham in California however, rather than being wooed as a summer associate, Graham soon began to realize that working there—or any any other large corporate law firm—might not be a good fit for him.
"I knew I would be working hard. I just didn't know the work was going to be so seemingly meaningless and boring," he says of his first four months there, which he spent "numbly" reviewing documents.
Desperate for relief and an opportunity to do something interesting, he volunteered for a pro bono assignment. It eventually offered him a litigation experience most associates only dream of, working with a senior partner and taking major responsibility in a murder case in which a teen had been sentenced to life in prison without parole. And their work resulted in a huge win—the vacation of their apparently innocent client's conviction on appeal because of ineffective assistance of trial counsel.
The case gave Graham a high profile both inside and outside the firm. But a basic problem remained unresolved: Especially as he focused on his pro bono client, Mario Rocha, and his family and supporters, much of the rest of Graham's work didn't seem meaningful. Not surprisingly, Latham also wanted to see Graham involved in productive billable work, and that left him with little time for a life outside the office. So, soon after Rocha's conviction was reversed, Graham left the firm.
"When I left Latham, in October 2006," he writes, "only five of the 47 members of my first-year associate class of 2001 remained at the firm. Two of those left within the next six months."
Add a Comment
We welcome your comments, but please adhere to our comment policy. Flag comment for moderator.


text:
|You Are Here:
DescriptionThis 27 oz. BPA-free Tritan copolyester water bottle features a slim, sleek design with screw-top lid.
Product Size: 9-3/4"H tall with 3" bottom diameter.
Imprint Area: 5"W x 4"H, wrap around.
Price includes one color, one location Silk Screen imprint. Full color imprinting available for clear item color only; please call for details and pricing.
Item Colors
Blue, Light Translucent
Blue, Translucent
Green, Translucent
Red, Translucent
Smoke, Translucent
*Stock item colors shown on website are for reference only and may not match actual item color. Please request a sample for exact colors.
Additional Information
|Imprint Area
|See Description
|Standard Production Time
|5 days. (Rush production may be available. Learn More)
|5.67 oz
|Multi Color Imprint
|1 Color - Included
|Multi Color Imprint
|Full Color Available
|Oz Capacity
|27 oz
|Free Rush Production
|FREE 24 Hour Rush
|Back To School
|Company Picnic
|Memorial Day
|Copolyester Polycarbonate Alternative - BPA-Free
|Prime Line
Question & AnswerAsk Question Live Chat
General FAQ
- Can I order this item blank/unimprinted?
- Can I request a sample of this item?
- How are shipping costs calculated?
- Can I order less than the minimum quantity listed on the website?
Knowledge Base FAQ
- Does InkHead carry drinkware made from BPA-free plastic?
- What is the difference between location and full-wrap imprints?
- Do you offer free rush service for water bottles?
- Can I get a full-color imprint on an aluminum or stainless steel water bottle?
- Do you have any custom water bottles made in the USA?
- Are your promotional water bottles BPA-free?
- Are your water bottles dishwasher-safe?
- Are your imprinted water bottles lead-free?
- What is a resin identification code?
- About Promotional Plastic Water Bottles and Safety
Knowledge Base Articles
This product has not been reviewed. Be the first to review this product and share your thoughts with other customers
Create your own review
Create your own review
How to order


text:
Enter your username and password below to sign in to your PewterReport account.
x close
We all saw this kind of crap coming: http://dailycaller.com/2013/04/16/actor-blames-boston-attack-on-gun-culture-2nd-amendment-must-go/
Ban pressure cookers, backpacks, nails, bbs, trashcans etc............come on you liberal fanatics....do it....
Arrest made
What is your point? I was wrong? Ok. You win. I was wrong.
So its officially ok to start getting political now, I take it? LOL
Quote from: Dolorous Jason on April 17, 2013, 04:30:03 PMSo its officially ok to start getting political now, I take it? LOLDepends on the terrorist's skin color.If he's white, the media will go weeks on end about how bad the Republicans are for criticizing the government and provoking terrorism.If he's arab, the media will make sure everyone knows Islam is a religion of peace, and that it is only one lone wacko not representative of the whole religion.


text:
A lemon tree may seem an odd choice for a baby gift, yet you have to admit, it is different and unique! However, you may be wondering, 'is a lemon tree appropriate?' I think so.
Many people send plants, flowers or gift baskets to the hospital or home to commemorate a baby's birth. Trees are sometimes planted to mark the event. It is so amazing to say to your child years later 'we got that tree when you were born. It was just a twig and look at it now!' My lemon tree suggestion is just a variation on that tree theme. The big difference is that the lemon tree should be producing fruit when you have that conversation with your child.
4 Great Reasons to Give a Lemon Tree:
A child's lemon tree can provide almost unlimited teachable moments. Here are some topics that quickly come to my mind: gardening, pruning, nature, energy (make a battery with lemon), butterfly life-cycle & host plants, nutrition, cooking (lemonade, lemon meringue pie, lemon chicken, etc.), household economy, household cleaning, entrepreneurship, plant natural history, plant/flower/fruit anatomy, aromatherapy, natural remedies… Did I say unlimited?
Lemonade Day
Lemonade Day has a short but rich history of inspiring and empowering children to think creatively and giving them real life experience as an entrepreneur. A child's lemon tree gives both child and parent inspiration and good reason to follow this path.
Nutrition & Health Benefits
Children don't always like to eat the foods that promote good digestive function and thus constipation is a not an uncommon issue. Lemon aids in digestion and helps the colon work better. Thus, lemon and real lemon lemonade can help control or even prevent diarrhea and/or constipation. Lemon also helps the body cleanse itself of toxins. A parent need only to look at the ingredient labels on the foods their children like to find a host of things that they can't even pronounce let alone believe are good for their children. Of course, lemon is a rich source of vitamin C, an important and necessary nutrient for a healthy body & proper immune function.
Economically Smart Gift
For the money you would spend on a nice vase of flowers or gift basket from a florist you can typically buy a young lemon tree. Unlike a vase of flowers that will die or the food in a gift basket that will be eaten up in days if not mere hours and toys that will soon be outgrown, a lemon tree will give its gift of fruit, grocery savings and produce for a lemonade stand for many, many years. When a child's tree reaches peak productivity, that level of productivity typically lasts 10-15 years. Most lemon trees live for 40 or more years and continue to produce fruit throughout their life, just not as prolifically.
Lemon trees perform best in low or no freeze regions. However, many varieties can be grown in ½ barrels and maintained in large shrub form with pruning. Thus, in colder regions when the winter's first freeze arrives your lemon tree can be moved to a protected location with strong natural or artificial light, such as an atrium, greenhouse or garage. In the spring, your potted lemon tree can then be moved back outside again.
Some of us long to give meaningful, inspired and unique gifts. The gift of a lemon tree to commemorate a birth is just such a gift. It is a gift both parent and child can enjoy and benefit from for more than just a few days, but rather, a lifetime.
Author: Dee Lusk, PhD
© 3/21/13,www.worldinplants.com
1. Walheim, Lance. 1996. Citrus, Complete Guide To Selecting & Growing More Than 100 Varieties For California, Arizona, Texas, The GulfCoast & Florida. Ironwood Press.
2. http://lemonadeday.ja-development.com/about/mission-and-history
For more information & registration, Google: Lemonade Day
3. http://www.2020site.org/history/history-of-lemonade.html


text:
Lumina News file photo�
Wrightsville Beach Sea Turtle Camp educator Emily Rossi discusses the variety of different shells found on Masonboro Island with fifth graders from Wrightsville Beach School during Masonboro.org�s pilot trip to the island on Oct. 22, 2013.�
For many who live around Wrightsville Beach, Masonboro Island is a common weekend destination during the summer months.�
But for children attending downtown Wilmington schools, a trip to the uninhabited island could be a life-changing event.
That is the impact nonprofit organization Masonboro.org is hoping to bring to the hundreds of students attending New Hanover County Schools by sponsoring field trips to the island at no cost to the students.�
On Oct. 22, Masonboro.org and Wrightsville Beach Scenic Tours conducted a pilot trip to Masonboro Island with Wrightsville Beach School fifth graders.�
Masonboro Island Reserve Local Action Committee member and Masonboro.org board member Haywood Newkirk said that trip�s success inspired the organization to take it further.
�How cool would it be if every kid that went through the county schools at one point was taken to Masonboro for a field trip,� Newkirk said. �It is something they will remember for the rest of their lives.�
After a meeting with Dr.�LaChawn Smith, New Hanover County Schools director of instructional services, Newkirk learned the program would begin with fifth graders from Gregory Elementary and Sunset Park Elementary.
�I have heard from other folks who have worked with fifth-grade students on the island and have done some similar things in the past and they are very excited,� Smith said. �I am really looking forward to this. I think it would be excellent if it is something we could bring to scale to the whole district.�
Before the field trip, which Newkirk said would occur sometime in late April or early May, the teachers at Gregory and Sunset Park will be trained on the curriculum that will be covered on the students� trip. Educators from the North Carolina Coastal Reserve Program will lead the teachers� instruction and each teacher will receive credit for his or her training.�
�We thought we were kind of inventing the wheel with this field trip idea but [the coastal reserve educators] were already doing this up around Morehead City,� Newkirk said. �Prior to the students going on the field trip, they will have in-class instruction from their teachers, and then we will take them on the field trip and then a day after they will have more instruction about what they saw.�
Smith said the principals at Gregory and Sunset Park have already agreed to the field trips, and that going to Masonboro Island could be an experience not afforded to many of the students at those schools.�
�I am confident that for the majority of students this will be a new experience, and will be one that they find very engaging and applicable to the content in their science curriculum,� she said. �Kids thrive in a hands-on environment, and I don�t think you can get much more hands on than actually being on Masonboro Island.�
email firstname.lastname@example.com � �
Copyright 2014 Lumina News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


text:
UTAS Home › › Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology › Resources for Teachers › › Prize for Science/Maths Teaching in Secondary Schools
The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Prize for Science/Maths Teaching in Secondary Schools recognises a Tasmanian teacher who has continually inspired students to pursue their studies. The Prize is administered and sponsored by the Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology.
The Prize is $1000 plus a plaque and is presented at the SET Research and Teaching Awards Evening held each year.
In addition, the winning teacher and his/her class (or 20 students of the teacher's choice) are invited to visit the research facilities at the University of Tasmania, with relevant expenses met.
Eligibility for this Prize is limited to Year 7 – 12 teachers in Tasmanian government and non-government schools and colleges who are teaching in the areas of mathematics or environmental, physical and/or life sciences. Entrants need to be currently employed as science or maths teachers.
Application form and conditions (PDF, 297KB)
If you have any queries, please contact Jeannie-Marie LeRoi on 6226 7477 or email firstname.lastname@example.com.
Past winners of the Prize for Science/Maths Teaching:
Authorised by the Dean, Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology
8 May, 2014
Future Students | International Students | Postgraduate Students | Current Students
© University of Tasmania, Australia ABN 30 764 374 782 CRICOS Provider Code 00586B
Copyright | Privacy | Disclaimer | Web Accessibility | Site Feedback | Info line 1300 363 864


text:
HIXSON, TN - (WRCB) Tom Kizziah III from Chickamauga, GA took top honors in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Weekend Series Tournament held at Chester Frost Park, on Saturday, May 12th. Kizziah caught a 5 bass limit weighing 25.25 lbs., netting him first place and a check for $2,093.00.
"I fished the lower end of the lake with a crankbait," Kizziah said. "I had all the fish I weighed in by 9:30 a.m., but lost a 7-pounder. We fished the breaks, mussel beds and ledges that had bait on them."
Bill H. Freeman of Knoxville, Tenn., landed the tournament big bass, a 7.62-pounder.
"I caught the big fish at about 11:30 a.m. on a plastic crawfish bait," Freeman said. "We fished the middle part of the lake."
This was the third tournament of a five event trail of the Tennessee East Division for the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Weekend Series.
The top ten are as follows:
For complete results visit: www.americanbassanglers.com
900 Whitehall Road
Chattanooga, TN 37405
(423) 267-5412
WRCB Jobs EEO | FCC Public Files


text:
Overcoming Mental Blocks
Intimidated by first races, hard courses, fast runners? Here's how to get over all that.
Every runner has moments of doubt–and that's not always bad. Wondering if you're up to the challenge of a first marathon reflects a healthy investment in the outcome. And if you haven't trained properly, your concerns are valid. But other worries–especially those triggered by outside influences–can create a self-defeating sense of intimidation. These doubts go deeper and are rooted in negative emotions, says Windee Weiss, Ph.D., a sports psychologist who is an associate professor at the University of Northern Iowa School of Health, Physical Education and Leisure Services. "Realism accepts that a demand may be tough but doesn't place a judgment on it," she says. "Intimidation assumes you won't have the goods to meet the demand."
Failure-oriented stress can cause a host of problems. It can tighten muscles so that they fatigue faster, hamper coordination so you can't find your stride, distract you from your goals, and undermine mental toughness. Here's how to get past common sources of intimidation and run your best, without doubt.
Faster runners
They're everywhere–at the starting line, on the road, among your running buddies. Don't just stew over others' times–tap their achievements for inspiration. Catherine Andrews of Washington, D.C., felt fast among friends but recently joined a running group of six-minute-milers knowing she'd be a laggard. "I joined to be more motivated," she says. Andrews soon stepped up to tempo work and speed running. "It made a difference within weeks," she says. If you can't embrace a faster group, at least quit comparing. "Focus on the true satisfaction of running the way you want to run," Weiss says.
A tough course
When Beth Strickland of Brooklyn completed her first marathon at Walt Disney World in 6:33, friends prodded her toward the San Francisco Marathon. "It has a six-hour time limit and many hills," she says. "If I tried and didn't make it, I'm not sure I'd attempt another." While Strickland decided to tackle one or two flatter courses first, sports psychologist Cindra Kamphoff, Ph.D., cautions against getting derailed by general impressions. Instead, prepare. Use online street-view maps to review a course's geography. If hills are the issue, make them part of your weekly training. Practice mantras to keep your inner dialogue positive.
People who train more
Banish guilt over your presumed lack of dedication by acknowledging that your training reflects your life, not someone else's. What's more, training needs are different depending on one's goals. If you're truly not satisfied with your results, you'll have to change your training. "No amount of confidence-building will improve your performance above what you've trained to do," says Doug Hankes, Ph.D., a sports psychologist for the athletic department at Auburn University.
The idea of a first race
"A first-time 5-K can be more daunting for a beginner than a marquee marathon is for an experienced runner," Hankes says. "There are many more unknowns." So take comfort in your courage to sign up in the first place. Talk to seasoned runners about their experiences. "Ask what they think would have been helpful, looking back," Hankes says. But keep the stakes low and focus on having fun. On race day, try running with a friend. "Tying your pace to someone else's takes pressure off," Weiss says.
Entering a mega-race
TV cameras, elite athletes, mobs of people, online tracking, mythic features (think Boston's Heartbreak Hill)–they're all distractions. "The essence of mental training is getting your head out of the way and letting your body do what it's trained for," Hankes says. Build a routine that makes every race feel familiar, honing elements like the amount of socializing before the race, your music playlist, and mantras geared to different sections of the course. Defuse pressure to perform by imagining life a week later. "Don't make the race more than it is," he says.
Saying "I'm a runner"
Even after running her first half-marathon last fall, Beth Probst of Iron River, Wisconsin, says she feels uncomfortable calling herself a runner. "I like to be good at what I do," she says. "If I'm not trying to be a runner, I don't have to justify being mediocre at it." Runners of all levels often equate the phrase with speed. But in reality the words represent a lifestyle. Probst should embrace her new identity, says Kamphoff, of The Runner's Edge in Mankato, Minnesota. Acknowledging one's effort has benefits: "You start eating better, boosting core strength, telling people about running," she says. "That's what makes you a 'real' runner."
Rewire your brain
The right steps to take when you're worrying too much
Fears and doubts are natural. But dwelling on them–or ignoring them–can prevent you from improving, says sports psychologist Doug Hankes. Be on the lookout for the following warning signs that your fears are holding you back.
1. You're focused on potential race outcomes, and not the process of improving.
Sure, there's a chance you won't set a PR in a race. But your training time is better spent focusing on confidence-building workouts like tempo and long runs rather than worrying about "what if's."
2. You're ruminating about the source of your intimidation.
Performance anxieties need to be dealt with before race day. ID your trouble zone and practice ways to conquer doubts. For example, if in past events you've slowed down in the final stretch, finish the last mile or two of each workout fast.
3. You're questioning your commitment to your sport.
Sounds like you've forgotten or misplaced the joy of running that once motivated you. Temporarily set aside any time goals and spend your next few workouts having fun. Do whatever you can to ditch the stress of "performing."


text:
United will meet Liverpool in the Capital One Cup third round next month, with the tie being played at Old Trafford in the week commencing 23 September
Sunderland 1-0 Liverpool [Premier League] 10/03/2012
(via afootballobserver)
David de Gea spat at before half-time bust-up between Manchester United and Liverpool
The half-time bust-up between Manchester United and Liverpool players in Saturday's match at Old Trafford was started by spitting, according to the Sun.
United keeper David de Gea was allegedly spat at while walking down the tunnel at the interval as he walked to the Red Devils dressing room, however, it is unknown who the perpetrator was.
The incident incited a confrontation between the two sides as players had to be separated by police and stewards and the situation nearly escalated into a brawl.
A source told the Sun: "De Gea was making his way to the tunnel and was clearly shocked to be spat at.
"Obviously the players reacted angrily and both teams became involved, before stewards managed to quieten it down."
Tensions between the teams weren't helped by Luis Suarez's failure to shake Patrice Evra's hand in the pre-match build-up, in just the Uruguayan's second start since his eight-game ban for racially abusing the Frenchman.
Evra also incited tempers on the Reds' side when he celebrate enthusiastically in front of the United fans and Suarez following their 2-1 win, an incident which led to further confrontations.
Liverpool substitute Craig Bellamy was also allegedly involved in a spat with the head of security at Old Trafford at the full-time whistle.
Source: goal.com
Manchester United statement on Liverpool
Goal 1 - Wayne Rooney
Suarez refused to shake Evra's hand
(via itsjonnyevans)
Source: fuckyeahmanchesterunited
Manchester United 2 - Liverpool 1
Patrice Evra celebrates the victory and walks off ahead of Luis Suarez
The Patrice-Suarez Failed Shakehand
I wish Pat's goal against Liverpool!
Rio showed the 19 number on Welbz's kit at Anfield when Liverpool against united in last encounter, can't wait for the next game against liverpool at old trafford!
Liverpool's Luis Suarez gets an eight-match ban and £40,000 fine after being found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra.
(via football-disorder)
"We need to try to cool down and reflect on what happened and to contact the FA and see what form their inquiry will take."
"It's good to get this put behind us as quickly as possible, instead of letting these things fester and become blown up again. It's very disappointing to have two of our players from different countries at odds over a very serious issue. Only by having a full inquiry on such matters can we get to the bottom of it and try to make sure that such problems don't arise again in the future."
- Gordon Taylor, the PFA chief executive on the Evra/Suarez issue
(via afootballobserver)


text:
A mix of wet and wintry weather
reached our region Tuesday night and is expected to continue through Wednesday,
but so far the conditions have not been all that bad.
One exception was a tractor-trailer
rollover on Interstate 91 in Rockingham. The crash at about 6 a.m. Wednesday
closed both northbound lanes of the highway. Police directed traffic on to
Route 5.
It took nearly five hours to clear the
road, but traffic is flowing again.
There we no major injuries in that crash.
The Vermont Transportation Agency's Brent Curtis spoke with Steve Bottari about the morning road conditions. Watch the video for more.
PO Box 4508
Burlington, VT 05406-4508
Primary Phone: 802-652-6300
Primary email: email@example.com


text:
Videos > Melina Mason > Sexy Melina Mason loves slurping on this stiff shaft
Big Tits Round Asses A multitude of giant jugged beauties for you to feast your eyes on!! With their round asses and fleshy melons, they are poetry in motion as they put their breasticles on display.
Featured Pornstars:
- Melina Mason


text:
Would you like to create amazing star trails and cloud effects with a few clicks?
We thought so. Hundreds of hours of experimentation and testing have been poured into this singularly handy addition to Photoshop. This action supports any version of Photoshop from CS2 to CS6 and even CC on Mac or PC to create images like these and includes special effects like comets, midgets and streaks. NOTE: Versions of Photoshop prior to CS2, Photoshop Elements and Photoshop Lightroom are NOT supported.
With Photoshop you have awesome incredible power to aid your creation. And with the action you can combine, RAW, TIFF, JPG, GIF, PNG… anything that Photoshop is able to open.
Not only does this Advanced Stacking action smush your photos together in interesting ways, but it can also be used to create eye-popping timelapse effects. Like this, and this and this. If you have Photoshop CS6 or an extended version of Photoshop you can create a timelapse without exiting the program. Or you can use one of many methods to take your fancy images to create a timelapse.
Get the bundle with instructional video, notes and practice files
Or get the Photoshop action
Without the Creating Star Trails Video and Notes
What You'll Learn
- Equipment recommendations
- Camera settings for shooting star trails
- Recommended workflow
- What "Stacking" Is
- How to create star trail images using free tools - StarStax (free)
- Special tips and hints about where to point the camera and when.
- How Moonlight affects your shot(s).
- Some sneaky processing tips
- How to overcome some common problems
- Learn about the Advanced Stacker capabilities
- Links to great resources
Select and option below to shop for
- Videos - Instructional Videos
- Notes and Ebooks
- Webinars
- Workshops
- Field Events


text:
WTAE Channel 4 conducted a seven-minute interview with Ben Roethlisberger at his home.The reporter, Sally Wiggin, speculate that the reason for doing the first interview locally -- and not on a national program like Oprah or Larry King, as some have suggested -- was that he wanted to speak straight to Steelers fans because "that's who he cares about."
The full interview will be available tomorrow but here's Roethlisberger apologizing to all of his fans.
"I've wanted to apologize to them for so many things. For being immature, for being dumb, for being young, not knowing any better and getting caught up with everything that was thrown my way. I didn't want to gain the whole world and lose my soul and that's what I was doing.
From the bottom of my heart, I know I haven't been the best person, the best quarterback for the Steelers. I'm not talking just on the field, I'm talking off the field. I try my best and hardest to be a good role model for the kids and do things in the community but I know I can be even better. And that's what I want to do.
"I want to be the best. I strive everyday and I bust my butt to be the best quarterback in the NFL for these fans and for the Steelers. I'm going to strive even harder to be the best off the field, to be the best role model and the best community leader and whatever I can be off the field. I owe that to the fans because I have made a lot of mistakes.
From the bottom of my heart to them if I've ever wronged even one fan. I'm so sorry. I'm going to do everything in my power not to let it happen again."


text:
I happen to like New York.
I'm a die hard San Franciscan, but this place is better. Kick me out if you have to, but it's the truth. Last night, we met up with my friend Dani and Alex's friend Jason, Mom supplying us with cocktails before she and I went off to Passing Strange and Daddy and Alex saw Young Frankenstein.
Mom and I were in the front row of the mezzanine (the balcony for you straight men). I have a day job and it's in musical theater. I roll my eyes at some of the shit I see every day, but there is something incredibly amazing about real people 'selling it' right in front of you. I had an intense experience at Passing Strange and you should listen to "Arlington Hill", available on the website.
I pretty much raised my hands up in the air and testified.
Anyway, we met up for 11pm dinner at (an in) Hells Kitchen and on the way home, my father maintained his hold on my heart.
"Wanna get a drink, Bethy?"
We went to One if by Land, Two if by Sea which is basically across the street. Just the two of us. Piano player singing standards, gorgeous Gibsons and me and my Dad on a velvet couch discussing careers and politics and family and walking home at 1am, arm in arm.
Oh, Manhattan.
I dragged myself out of bed as early as possible (10am) which isn't hard because "my" room looks out on the very busy 6th Avenue and by 8am, someone's screaming on the sidewalk and the sun is shining through Jon Cryer's window. God Bless United Airlines and their complementary sleep masks. Anyway, Dani wanted a tour of Duckie's apartment, and Alex and I finally dragged her away from her chat with Dad so the three of us could have a three hour brunch at The Cupping Room.
Dani played Snow White at Beach Blanket when I worked backstage. Both of us went from wide-eyed innocents to jaded fag hags together. As Alex said tonight, "Shit, it was good to see Dan. She's like, our family."
There's something about Dani.
I can't articulate it better than that. Within 30 minutes, we were crying and laughing and she and Alex had shot the poster for their movie, which I've named, "P.S. I Like You." Dani can find out in 5 seconds exactly what's on your mind and unable fix it, listen and identify.
Oh, and she's like, a Broadway star.
There are few perfect people on Earth. Dani isn't one of them. but she's close. Her flaw? It takes her 45 minutes to BEGIN to consider her menu options. It's like every meal is her last. It's ridiculous.
Anyway, Alex walked himself back home whilst I shopped.
Amidst my wadering SoHo, I saw a call from an unfamilliar number. Turns out, my mom had stumbled upon a street fair on her way back from the gym (I know) and borrowed a phone to call me. With the cross streets scrawled on an ATM receipt, I made my way over there.
Ages ago, I lost my lucky earring 'abroad' and have spent the past 3 years trying to find it. I'm sure BTOB doesn't remember, but years ago, we bought me $7 earrings on a sidewalk. I lost one and have spent the past few years scowering vendors for it's replacement.
Guess what I found, amidst funnel cakes and fried Oreos, today?
I went back to Mom's apartment (cuz, you know, my mom lives here now) and watched The Sound of Music and ate 'Curried Almonds' from Murray's Cheese Shop.
We had dinner at Po tonight. Po is basically why my mom lives in the Village. She loves it. It's tiny and fabulous and where we met Kerri Russell. After dinner, we had drinks at the Comedy Cellar, as seen in Comedian and wandered around until I fucked it up by announcing that I was getting a tattoo. Right then and there.
I AM getting another tattoo. But my dad hates it. I don't blame him. It's just not his style. He was mad and wandered off, leaving mom, Lex and I in the middle of Greenwich Village. We walked in silence for blocks. Every bar seemed packed with frat boys and douchebags. Mom said that she too was going home.
Oh, okay. Well, Lex and I might try that weird black door down the rickety steps next door to Ma's new pad. It looked kinda scary and small.
Mom was now in. "I've been eyeing that place. I'd just never go alone."
Yeah. we don't blame you.
Mom said she'd pay if Alex would go in first.
So, just to recap, this is the dive bar underneath my mom's subletting of Jon Cryer's apartment.
Turns out, it's AMAZINGLY FABULOUS!!!
It's big, with rooms! The walls are packed with movie posters and stills. My mother handed me a twenty and nervously asked, "Is it horrible if I order a Chardonnay?"
Casually, I inquired. "Do you have white wine?"
"Sure!" Tattooed bartender responded. "We have Chard. Is that cool?"
Yeah. I just got you a customer for the next 4 months.
'Emme' found us a table in the back by the pool table and mom and her offspring errupted into laughter at the sheer serendipty of the STONED CROW.
My mother sipped her white wine in a dive bar next door to her building in Greenwich Village and listened to her kids get really honest at midnight at New York. I will admit it was one of those moments you have with a parent, where they cease to be your guardian and, for a momentary window at least, become your friend.
My mom is amazing. Truly amazing.
She headed the 5 feet home and Alex and I stayed, sharing 1am burger sliders and a new discovery about mon frere.
Alex Spotswood does quite an impression of a Long Island Spinster.
It. Is. Brilliant.
He sells it.
It's 2am here and Lex just went to bed, saying, "Alright, doll. I'm going to bed, but my gawd, wake me up fa Jesus. Who do I love? I fucking love you, Elizabeth Anne. Sleep like ya mean it."
He grabbed my face and kissed my cheek.
I'm listening to music from Passing Strange, I have a glass of wine and t-shirts from the Stoned Crow (I even got one for Daddy as a peace offering), I'm closer to Pretty in Pink than most gays think is possible and it's all going to work out.
I don't know if you ever had the mom or dad or bother that I have, but spending 72 hours in New York with them makes me realize that these people drive me fucking nuts.
I mean it, nuts.
But, my god, I wouldn't pick anyone else.
In closing, my beautiful friend Melissa was on TV today. Yay Mel! I couldn't be more proud:


text:
No Bull(ies): Cow Brings Children Moo-zical Message of Kindness
It's not every day that a talking cow and an orchestra of talking instruments share top billing with a litany of celebrity artists on a new CD. But that's exactly what happened on Moozie's Musical Adventures!, the first musical recording of the Tennessee-based Children's Kindness Network.
All this bovine business was the brainchild of Ted Dreier, a former corporate executive and professional public speaker, and now the executive director of the Children's Kindness Network. In creating Moozie the Cow, Dreier was doing what he knew best: he had grown up on a Kansas dairy farm and much later in life drew upon those experiences to fashion his own cow creation – just for fun.
"I thought it would be fun to see if I could make something that looked like a Holstein cow," Dreier said in a telephone interview.
A teacher at a nearby school heard about Dreier's robotic talking cow and asked him to bring it to her school to help teach her students about farming. Dreier worked up a talk on spreading the milk of human kindness and, with his wife, Karen, took the cow to school.
"What was amazing to me and to the teachers was the fact that these kids sitting on a hard cafeteria floor were glued to hearing Moozie talk about kindness," Dreier said. "We went home saying, 'Wow, that cow may have some real value to helping building kindness on this planet.'"
Around the time he was first setting to work creating Moozie, Dreier had seen first hand the ill effects of unkindness, especially bullying. For a year and a half, Dreier met weekly with a young man serving a life sentence in an area prison.
"I thought, if he had had a Moozie in his life, would he be in jail?" Dreier said. "And so I thought, you know, there's a lot of young people out there today that might make the wrong decision at a very, very, very young age. Maybe Moozie will help them have a better life and not end up in jail."
A Curriculum of Kindness
Armed with a charismatic spokescow and with a mission to save at-risk children from going down the wrong path, in 1998 Dreier founded the Children's Kindness Network, a non-profit organization devoted to building what Dreier calls a culture of kindness by teaching children the importance of being kind.
To that end, Dreier has created a kindness curriculum which teachers can use in schools to share Moozie the Cow's message of the value of kindness.
This curriculum consists of lessons and activities that aim to teaching children about the importance of kindness to oneself, others, animals and the environment.
Sharon Wood, a teacher at Nashville's urban Falls-Hamilton Enhanced Option School, has used Dreier's kindness curriculum in her pre-kindergarten classes, where each student receives a copy of Moozie's Kind Adventure, a children's poem by author Jane Morton, and his or her own Moozie the Cow hand puppet.
Wood says Moozie has been an inspiration to her students – so much so that she has adapted Moozie's pre-kindergarten kindness curriculum for repeat use at the kindergarten level.
"There are definitely some students who have really connected with Moozie and want to show Moozie that they're kind to people," Wood said. "And especially when they've been in pre-k and go on to kindergarten and they see Moozie again, it resonates with them, they remember it."
Moozie's Musical Adventures
In the run-up to the tenth anniversary of the Children's Kindness Network, Dreier commissioned a musical work that could take Moozie's message of kindness into the concert hall.
"I thought if there's a great piece of music that would be played by youth symphonies across the United States over and over again, that would be fantastic," Dreier said.
He asked composer Kim Scharnberg to write a piece that could convey Moozie's message and also teach children about the instruments in the orchestra.
The project developed into two musical works: Moozie's Kind Adventure, a musical accompaniment to Jane Morton's poem about a cow who kindly rescues some of her fellow critters from impending disaster, and Moozie's Orchestra Adventure, which sets a story by Tom Easton in which Moozie the cow helps Tiny Tinny (TT) Triangle find his place in an orchestra full of instruments bigger and, in some cases, meaner than he is. Scharnberg describes both works as "friendly and accessible."
Listen to an excerpt from Moozie's Kind Adventure:
[audio src="http://wosu.org/audio/classical/2011/110323Moozie's-Kind-Adventure.mp3"]
"(They) needed to have a language that wasn't too complex for children, but it was also important for me that if they were going to be used for playing for children and in family concerts, (they) would still be interesting to the orchestra musicians and the conductors and the people who would be playing it," Scharnberg said.
Scharnberg enlisted ProMusica's Timothy Russell and his orchestra at Arizona State University to record both works for Summit Records on a CD to benefit the Children's Kindness Network. That recording, Moozie's Musical Adventures!, was considered for a 2010 Grammy Award, likely as much for the orchestra's dynamic playing as for the convincing performances by the roster of celebrities who perform the roles of Moozie and the talking instruments.
Legendary soprano Jessye Norman voiced the role of Moozie the Cow in both musical works. In Moozie's Orchestra Adventure, she was joined by National Public Radio foreign correspondent Anne Garrels, country star Wynonna Judd, trumpet sensation Chris Botti, Broadway star Ben Vereen, Peter Schickele (AKA P.D.Q. Bach) and Gatlin Brother Larry Gatlin, who narrates both works.
Schickele says Scharnberg's "Moozie" compositions have the potential to allow children to have positive experiences with orchestral music while learning about kindness.
"We live in an age in which everything is becoming so fragmented in terms of entertainment and there are so many things on the Internet that you can do. So anything that gets kids having a positive experience at a symphony orchestra concert is a plus," Schickele said.
And maybe, Schickele says, those experiences will ignite a passion for music that could turn into a positive outlet for kids' creative energies later on.
"My feeling is that kids, particularly starting in middle school, should be involved in the drama department and the music department in their schools, because those performing arts, you get so involved in them. It can take over your life and maybe keep you off the street and keep you out of drugs. Not because it's better, but because it's all-encompassing, it takes your time," Schickele said.
What's Next For Moozie?
Now that Moozie's Kind Adventure has been performed by a number of professional orchestras and arranged for concert band, and Moozie the Cow has made appearances in books and recordings, as well as in classrooms, what's next for the benevolent bovine?
Dreier says he'd like to commission a dance work based on Moozie's message, and he dreams of developing a line of Moozie products that would help financially support the Children's Kindness Network.
For now, Dreier says Moozie the Cow's first recording, Moozie's Musical Adventures!, sends the message that orchestral music and kindness go hand in hand.
"The orchestra is beautiful because of its diversity," Dreier said. "I hope the kids when they leave (a musical concert) will have a new appreciation for orchestra instruments, and I hope it will generate a conversation related to kindness."


text:
Lilburn police are investigating an attempted kidnapping that happened at a thrift store.
The child was looking at toys while his parents were in other sections of the store.
A witness saw a man approach the child and try to grab him.
After the witness spoke with the parents, the father went outside to try to confront the man, but he was gone.
Management reviewed video surveillance and saw the suspect who looked to be in his 40s.
He was wearing a lime green shirt with khaki pants.
On video the suspect is seen approaching the child and pulling out money to lure him over, according to reports. He then grabbed the child's arm, but let go and left the building.
According to police reports, the child told his parents that the man "touched him."
Police are trying to identify the man in the video.
Copyright 2012 WGCL-TV (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.


text:
CATEGORIES MoviesWelcome to "Star Trek Into Darkness" week on Moviefone! From April 22 - 26, we're featuring a spankin'-new exclusive from JJ Abrams's highly anticipated sci-fi sequel. Oh, Captain Kirk. You're always pushing the boundaries!
Kirk (Chris Pine) takes Spock on a wild (and very narrow) ride in this exclusive clip from "Star Trek Into Darkness."
With hostile forces on their tail, the crew seems to have no way out -- that is until the brash captain sees a small sliver of an opening. "This ship won't fit," Spock screams, just as Kirk ignores his plea, turns the ship on its side, and tries to squeeze on through. Did the Enterprise and its crew come out unscathed?
Watch the suspense-filled clip above, and find out what happens next when "Star Trek Into Darkness" hits select IMAX theaters starting May 15th and theaters everywhere May 17th.
For more info, check out "Star Trek" on Facebook and Twitter.


text:
There's a great interview with Austin Appleby at GoldandBlack.com. Not only is he positive about his future with Purdue, but his attitude is simply unbelievable considering the circumstances of the team and the fact that he really hasn't been given a chance to play on this offensively-challenged squad.
From Gold & Black: "I love this school. I love Purdue," he said. "(The reason) I chose this school No. 1 was if I'm not playing football, where do I want to go to school? That's why I chose Purdue University. I love everything about this place. Football-wise, I'm totally invested in being 1-0 this week and beating Indiana. I'm not worried about anything else besides beating Indiana and doing everything I can to make sure I'm ready and my teammates are ready to get this win. That's how I've been and that's how I'm going to be. Nothing changes. I'm all about Purdue University. This is where I want to be. This is what I love.
He also talks about how his supportive family upbringing has helped him understand that being ready when called upon is the only way to look at life. With major college athletics being such a "me first" culture right now, Appleby's words are even more impressive. Hopefully that attitude will permeate the culture of this team going forward.


text:
By Gary Lutz
Calamari Press, 2011
120 pages / $13 Buy from SPD
It's no wonder that someone who might be said to live in the sentence would apply its logic—and its subversions—to his lens on the higher-order structures of life. In Divorcer, Gary Lutz tinkers with each level of human-linguistic interaction, cascading from social power structures, to family dynamics, personal relationships, full-scale utterances, isolated sentences, words, morphemes and phonemes, with an eye to at-once humorous and devastating exposure of the failures of empathy and failures of semantic coherence echoing throughout.
September 12th, 2011 / 12:00 pm
2 New from Calamari: Gary Lutz's Divorcer & Vincent Standley's A Mortal Affect
Calamari Press jumps back to action with two exciting new titles, both now available for order: Gary Lutz's Divorcer & Vincent Standley's A Mortal Affect.
"DIVORCER is a collection of seven harrowing and hyperprecise short stories about ruinous relationships and their aftershocks." $13
"A Mortal Affect is a satire of meaning systems targeting the role bureaucracy and cultural assumptions play in creating, distorting, and replicating the things we believe to be true. Informed by an absurdism in the Modernist vein, the novel is a celebration of error and folly that questions the wisdom of conviction and the faith in metaphysics. These themes play out in a fictional world inhabited by mortals and immortals, the oppressed and the oppressors. The former understand their condition of being oppressed but have no concept of freedom, while the latter emulate mortals but lack the ability to eat, reproduce, or die, even by suicide. Never allegorical or polemical, the novel operates comfortably within the bounds of comedy, avoiding the earnestness and self-conscious urgency common to the novel of ideas." $18
August 25th, 2011 / 11:36 am
"My writing isn't a career or a craft or a hobby or anything like that. It is more like a tiny annex to my life, a little crawl space in which I occasionally end up by accident in the dark." — Gary Lutz, interviewed by David Winters @ 3:AM Magazine. Also: Lutz is reading tonight at the Soda Series.
Wag's Revue 7
The 7th issue of the Wag's Revue is now online, & includes a new interview with Gary Lutz by Dylan Nice: "I have too a hard time picturing anyone ever turning the pages of one of my books to worry about what that person might make of having ended up in the privacy of my paragraphs, though my heart no doubt goes out all the same." It also contains new work by Jen Percy and an interview with Paul Harding, as well as a compelling "frenetic examination of self-loathing in the online era" by Mitch Salm.
October 14th, 2010 / 12:04 pm
"But the days arched over us and kept us typical to our era." – Gary Lutz
LIGHT IS WAITING from Michael Robinson on Vimeo.
October 13th, 2010 / 5:52 pm
A Letter to the Editor from Gary Lutz, 1988
A letter to the editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 8, 1988, from Gary Lutz:
[via Caketrain]
August 21st, 2010 / 4:53 pm
Lutz, Gary.
August 9th, 2010 / 5:47 pm
Freaks Meeks 700 Sads
1. Excellent profile by Michael H. Miller on the excellent Meeks, by Julia Holmes, at the Observer.
2. This dude owns 700 copies of a book called Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana. What book do you own the most copies of? [via Electric Lit via Ron Silliman]
3. Brief but pleasant list of quality of Gary Lutz's writing, blogged by Ryan Kamstra. "For all the self-referential wizardry and playfulness with the expectation of the sentence overpowering his work, his fiction is tempered by deep human concern. It is also very sad."
August 4th, 2010 / 12:51 am
Blue Square Press
Introducing Blue Square Press, who will release their first title, Ben Spivey's Flowing In The Gossamer Fold, in August.
Here's what Gary Lutz said about it: "Ben Spivey's alluringly melodial debut novel of a marriage gone asunder unreels itself with the indisputable logic of dreams and delivers, along its phantasmagoric and dazing way, emotional clarities that feel entirely new."
June 22nd, 2010 / 4:21 pm
Michael Kimball Guest Lecture Series (6): Acoustics
I hate this quote from Janet Burroway: "Novelists and short-story writers are not under the same obligation as poets to reinforce sense with sound." I don't think she understands what Andy Devine does: "Words have acoustical qualities that resonate with being human."
Fiction begins with language, which is an acoustical occasion. The fiction writer who writes with acoustics uses a kind of close attention. It's looking hard at the sentence until it opens up. It's feeling around between words until you find spaces that require new words, new beats. It's beyond semantics (though it still depends on sense). It's recognizing the recurring sounds and using them to rewrite a sentence. Maybe the first word in the sentence has a long-o sound in it and the sentence will feel finished if it ends with another word with another long-o sound in it, say, smoke. Maybe the fact that that sentence ends with a hard-k leads to the next sentence beginning with another hard-k sound, so the consonants run together and there isn't any space between the sentences, not even really a pause, and then all of a sudden the narrative speeds up in a way that feels thrilling and there's a fire and that story never would have happened if the fiction writer weren't working with the acoustics. Working with acoustics, it's a different way to find the right word, or the right place for the right word. It's a different way to write or revise a sentence or a group of sentences. I like the compositional nature of it.
The fiction can sound however you want it to sound, but it's figuring out what those things are for you, or for the piece you're working on, and then using those sounds to make something happen in the fiction, even if it's something that the reader only feels and doesn't quite know why. I know writers who are partial to glottal stops and other percussive consonants. I know writers who like the liquid consonants and sibilance. And I know one very particular writer who tries to remove all of these acoustical relations, so that no single sentence is repeating any particular sound. I used to focus on assonantial relations within sentences, but now I'm more often looking for them from one sentence to another sentence, a way to get from one sentence to another sentence.
May 13th, 2010 / 12:20 pm
Michael Kimball Guest Lecture #2: Keeping Going
So let's say we have a great opening and maybe even a good idea or an interesting voice to go with it. Now what? How does the writer keep going? One of the things that has helped me keep going while I'm working on a novel is not thinking about it. That is, I try to not think about what I'm writing when I'm getting it down (the thinking, so to speak, comes later). For me, it's just a voice speaking, a way of talking, and I'm trying to be receptive to it, open. I'm just trying to get from one sentence to the next sentence. Often, I do this by looking at the previous sentence—its syntax, the words in play, the acoustics of it—I'm thinking in these small ways, but not so much in bigger ways (say, story or plot or idea). I'm just trying to get material down, which is the hardest part for me. After that, after I have something to work with, then I feel like I can do something with whatever I have on the page. It's the blankness that is difficult for me, filling in the blankness.
Here are some quotes from Sam Lipsyte, Gary Lutz, Joseph Young, and Blake Butler that discuss a similar process in somewhat different ways.
February 4th, 2010 / 4:54 pm
5.) A new review of Umberto Eco's The Infinity of Lists.
Inside is a Chinese encyclopedia created by Borges. Inside the encyclopedia:
There the world's animals are divided into "(a) those that belong to the emperor; (b) embalmed ones; (c) those that are trained; (d) suckling pigs; (e) mermaids; (f) fabulous ones; (g) stray dogs; (h) those that are included in this classification; (i) those that tremble as if they were mad; (j) innumerable ones; (k) those drawn with a very fine camel's-hair brush; (l) etcetera; (m) those that have just broken the flower vase; (n) those that at a distance resemble flies."
3.) Somewhere sinks a cruise ship named Fun with Puns.
10.) Lists shimmer in their making. Like the distance run, or Yeat's dancer (also the dance) the list is its own doing/undoing. The runner and the run the same, a cloud, a tributary, an experience and an artifact. The making doesn't wait for a list to appear; the list is the making and the thing. The list is the listing is the list.
January 16th, 2010 / 12:20 pm
Sleepingfish 8
Sleepingfish 8 is out now, edited by Gary Lutz and Derek White, featuring literary text objects by: Ryan Call, Anna DeForest, Sasha Fletcher, Nina Shope, Rachel May, David McLendon, Eugene Lim, The Brothers Goat, Lito Elio Porto, Adam Weinstein, Diane Williams, Dennis Cooper, Elliott Stevens, Tim Jones-Yelvington, Alec Niedenthal, Amelia Gray, Matt Bell, Eduardo Recife, David Ohle, Evelyn Hampton, Émilie Notéris, Ottessa Moshfegh, Cooper Renner, Christine Schutt, M. T. Fallon, Daniel Grandbois, Julie Doxsee, Terese Svoboda, Blake Butler, Stephen Gropp-Hess & Ali Aktan Aşkın.
$12, with excerpts online, including music and textual collage.
January 3rd, 2010 / 1:41 pm
The Tyrant has posted an uncollected Gary Lutz story 'In Kind' from their NYT issue 3 today at Vice. "I had no friends, just timid emergency contacts. I married the second woman to come along." Also worth checking out, an excellent interview with the stoner-Manson-looking Alan Moore.
Reading Ray Backwards (guest-post by Alec Niedenthal)
If Gary Lutz does it–and he says he does–I don't know how he does. In an interview with Michael Kimball, Lutz says, "Maybe part of the explanation of why I write the way I write has to do with the way I sometimes read. I sometimes read a book from back to front, sentence by sentence-a practice that, as one might imagine, can give a completely different disposition to a book." I've been trying to read Barry Hannah's slim marvel, "Ray," back to front. Sentence by sentence. It won't work. A book like "Ray" has a certain velocity, speed, force. You'd think that because most sentences here are jewels, are the sharpest of diamonds, that one could isolate them and pick them apart from the bone outward. But it's become clear to me that Hannah's sentences sing precisely because they are deeply embedded in a system of voice which, however fragmented the narrative structure of "Ray," is a system, and therefore, to my mind, necessary.
December 17th, 2009 / 1:48 pm
20 Important Books in Other Languages; or, "a list always growing longer"
A post re:– neither repost nor riposte–Blake's wichtige Liste and (only at first) about Infinite Jest in German. Maybe a chair is a good metaphor for who gets translated. Have you been translated? Have the Important Writers on Blake's list? And not 25 because Saramago, Ouredník, and Zizek are already others, Ben Lerner's a poet, Aase Berg's both, and I'll write about poets in translation and translation in poets at an other time.
Not sure if anyone went there during all the well DFW grammar talk (thanks, Amy), but imagine translating, say, Oblivion. Good that one of Wallace's German translators, Ulrich Blumenbach, did just that, presumably (it first appeared in 2006), while whittling away at Infinite Jest, which took him six years and has had, as Unendlicher Spass (literally, the less Shakespearean Unending Fun), endless success: ten times the expected five grand copies have been sold since it appeared at the end of August, on the heels of Infinite Summer, which the publisher, KiWi, has translated too, as 100 Days of Infinite Jest (in German–it ended on 12-1).
In an interview with Der Spiegel, Blumenbach (pictured–in German) regrets that the author never answered his many questions, "a list always growing longer": it seems Wallace had grown weary of taking translator's queries, and, according to The Complete Review's useful paraphrase of a slippery summary (still looking for the original source), considered the Spanish La broma infinita (tr. Calvo and Covian | Mondadori, 2002) and the Italian Infinite Jest (Nesi w/ Villoresi and Giua | Einaudi, 2006) and apparently other attempts (anyone know more?) to have "all failed, more or less."
In a warm war, France is responding with (900 pp. of) Vollmann's Rising (not translated by the great Claro, see below, who did six previous tomes, but by one Jean-Paul Mourlon, translator, it seems, of Jimmy Carter and Hilary Clinton). There's also German Vollmann (3 titles), Spanish Vollmann (3 more), Japanese Vollmann (2), Greek Vollmann (2), and Czech Vollmann, all (not counting the French) with only one title (Butterfly Stories) repeated.
American Genius is only a Great American Novel for now (does it even have a British publisher?), despite Tillman's first book of stories, Tagebuch einer Masochisten, having appeared in Germany in 1986, four years before her first collection in English, READ MORE >
December 17th, 2009 / 10:47 am


text:
Harvey Murray Glatman: First of the Signature Killers
The Call of the Wild
His crimes so far being small potatoes, the Albany Police Department nevertheless considered this phantom a danger. His modus operandi was striking at women, and that scared the bejesus out of Police Commissioner James Kirwin. Descriptions given to the authorities by Hayden, Berge and Goldstein matched, so they knew it had been the same assailant in all cases. He had already attempted to sexually molest the nurse. Kirwin assembled his forces and commanded, Get this clown!
Patrolmen moved quickly. Within two days they had Harvey Glatman in custody. Two officers had spotted the suspect, description matching to a T, following a woman down Western Avenue. Pausing him, they frisked him. In his pockets, they found a toy gun, a pocketknife and a roll of rope. Scared, he confessed.
Yonkers wanted him returned to face charges of assault on Thorn and Staro, but the city of Albany was rejoicing in its professional squelching of this goon and flat-out refused. Four days after his arrest, Glatman was indicted in Albany's Municipal Court for the attack on Flo Hayden. Even though the other women did not file charges, the city DA knew that this Glatman, who had already done time in Colorado, was no spontaneous small-timer. Harvey suddenly faced a prison term in the big league category.
Ophelia and Albert Glatman were stunned when they heard the bad news. All this time they had thought their son had reformed and was living clean, still in Yonkers. Ophelia rushed east to plead for leniency, but her tears won no results.
In October, her and Harvey's fears materialized. Judge Earl Gallup, with prodding from the DA's office, hammered the gavel down on the two-time loser: Five to ten! he proclaimed. Harvey was going back up the river, this time to the rock pile. Because Harvey was not yet 21 years of age, Judge Gallup recommended that the convicted begin his term in Elmira (New York) Reformatory, but, in due course, be committed to serve the remainder of his time at maximum security Sing Sing.
Prisoner Number 48337 spent nearly two years in Elmira. During that time, he was medically researched and evaluated. At the end of that time, Dr. Ralph Ryancale diagnosed Harvey as a "psychopathic personality schizophrenic type" having "sexually perverted impulses as the basis of his criminality." He strongly recommended that further studies on Harvey Glatman be resumed after his removal to Sing Sing.
Unfortunately, no records of his psychiatric examinations at Sing Sing have survived, apart from a case study performed just after his ingress. That perfunctory report apprises the new inmate as "not definitely mental defective or psychotic," but suggests that he should be "psycho-educated and if still anti-social should be segregated even if schizophrenia does not seem developed."
Parole reports which have survived the years show that Harvey was a model prisoner, had a high IQ, demonstrated ability and eagerness in his prison duties and responded positively to sporadic medical exams. Crime author Michael Newton who, for years, has studied Harvey Glatman and the serial killer mind in general, is unimpressed. He states, "Sociopathic sex offenders learn to 'play' the system early on, sometimes as children. After they have been arrested several times and spent time in jail, as Harvey had, they know exactly what to say and how to act in any given situation, whether dealing with police, attorneys, or psychologists. Despite solemn assurances to the contrary, many sociopaths...are fully capable of 'beating' polygraphs, manipulating the results of psychological evaluation tests and making therapists believe they have been 'cured'."
Harvey evidently played the game very well. Benefits accrued for "good behavior" severed a percentage of time off his minimum five-year sentence; after only two years, eight months behind bars, Harvey Glatman was paroled. Stipulations, however, decreed that he must return to the care of his mother, acquire a full-time job and remain under court observation for another four and a half years.
Going home to parental custody in Denver, Harvey worked a number of odd jobs and generally stayed out of mischief. Parole follow-ups refer to a spotty employment record, citing difficulties adjusting to a full-time work life. Harvey lived with his parents until after his father Albert passed away, at which time mother and son began to bicker. Allowed space to go on his own, he rented his own flat, continued to find on-again-off-again employment and visited his parole officer regularly and on time.
In September, 1956, Harvey Glatman received full liberty. With no more monthly updates to complete, no more authority-contrived check-ups, Harvey did what he'd been dying to do for years. Put Denver and Ophelia and courts and police records behind him.
With dust rising at his heels, he left the Mile High City and went west. Perhaps the horizon was blurry, but as he drove and drove down dirty highways, somewhere along the way he decided that Los Angeles was the place to go.
The call of the wild.Ā


text:
As winter ends and spring rolls around, hot girls flock to parks. It's one of the nicest places to meet women.
I'm in Madison Square Park, New York City. There is a path with benches encircling a center lawn.
I'm walking by and I notice this amazing hottie lying in the middle of the lawn on her stomach reading.
She's wearing immensely flattering tight, black yoga pants. Her ass looks amazing. Her face looks cute too. She's fairly young, about 22.
Talking to a girl who's standing, sitting, or walking is one thing, but it's been a while since I've hooked a girl who is lying down in the middle of the lawn.
No shame in admitting I'm a bit intimidated.
But that's okay, I simply follow the plan.
I first positioning myself near her. Even though I feel a bit apprehensive, I walk over to the vicinity of where she's lying.
I walk as if I'm going past her and then stop about four feet away from her. I'm not facing her but nor am I facing away. She's off to my side.
I pull out my phone and look at it.
The next step: Say something.
I decide I am simply going to ask her my opening question. That's it. And… see where it goes from there.
If she's not responsive, I'm no worse for the wear and I've gotten past my intimidation at talking with women lying in the middle of the lawn.
"H-hey" I say, stuttering a bit. "Do you know if there's a zoo in Central Park?"
I'm trying not to look at her fabulous ass in those tight, black yoga pants.
"There is," she responds. "I've never been there, but I know there's one there."
"Like, a big one?"
"It's not that big."
"Okay," I say. "Because I have some friends coming into town and I was thinking about bringing them there."
"I think it's a good zoo," she responds.
"Do you know if they have penguins? Because I've been really in the mood for penguins."
"I think they have penguins," she says.
"Awesome. Maybe I'll hire you as my personal tour guide."
She laughs.
And then picks up the conversation.
"Where else are you taking them?"
This is my invitation to stay longer. You generally won't find a stronger invitation than this.
"I don't know," I say. "There's a lot of stuff up around central park area."
"You know some good spots?" I ask.
She mentions the Museum of Natural History.
"Isn't there the Museum of Sex?" I ask.
I am purposely injecting sex into the conversation.
Talking about sex does a lot of good things. It raises tension and shows I'm not afraid to talk about inappropriate topics.
"That is somewhere near here."
"Is that any good?" I ask.
"I've never been there."
"You're not the type of girl to go to the Museum of Sex?"
"I've never had the opportunity" she says and laughs. "I haven't been here that long. Only like a year."
Another indicator that she's interested in conversation. Practically setting up the next question I ask.
"Where did you move from?" I take the bait but then pull it away from her. "Wait. Don't tell me. Let me guess…"
I sit down next to her.
"You moved from… New Jersey!" I say. She doesn't react so well to my tease.
"I'm just busting on you," I say.
"Maybe with my outfit," she says. "I never wear this. I was just going to gym."
When a girl acts insecure or says something negative about herself like this, I never jump in and compliment her.
A prompted compliment is a sure sign of a nice guy who does things because he feels like he has to.
"I'm from California," she continues.
We start getting deeper into conversation, talking about where she grew up. She's asking me questions.
I still tease her a bit, but I'm also giving her more about me, connecting on an emotional level.
At one point we are even talking about childhood and growing up.
That's always a good sign.
This girl is sweet and definitely into me. After about 15 minutes, I tell her I need to take off and move to exchange contact info with her.
The grass is a bit wet and I wipe off my pants as I get up.
"My ass is wet from sitting on the ground. Promise me you won't stare at it when I walk away," I say.
"I don't think I can keep that promise," she says, laughing.
posted in Field Reports, Park GameCOMMENTS
A couple questions: when she justifies what she is wearing – thats a pretty good sign of interest right? Also, when she realizes you've lived in NYC for awhile, Id imagine a few girls later ask how you didnt know there was a zoo in the park. just curious how you handle that.
Thats awesome Eric! You da man!
I love how NJ is automatically assumed to be a bad thing, ha. That would be a turn off to me–that the girl buys into dumb stereotypes.
But aside from that, you seem to be asking a lot of questions from the start. What's the deal on that? Many say that is rapport-seeking behavior, inappropriate at the start. What do you think about that?
Also, to me, if I had this interaction, I would be fairly certain this has flake written all over it. Even though she's clearly interested at that moment, I don't know if I would expect her to actually come out on a date. Maybe she would respond to a text, but ultimately disappear. What's your thinking on that? Did it turn out differently?
He asks questions and interjects statements and stories (see. Bach story in audio). The statements and stories you tell keep it from being and interview and if the girl is into you she will throw in stories and statements too. As long as shes investing in the conversation your chances are pretty good.
*also go back to Lance Mason's second interview in the book, it gives alot of insight into the question you asked*


text:
Mt Hutt 'all systems go' for 40th season opening
Immaculately groomed slopes and a genuinely warm welcome await avid skiers and snowboarders.....
Queenstown's Coronet Peak ski area first to open in Australasia
Queenstown's Coronet Peak ski area today (June 8) celebrated in style as the first Australasian ski field to open for winter....
Coronet Peak first ski area in Australasia to open on Saturday
Queenstown is officially open for winter as the 2013 season kicks off at Coronet Peak on Saturday (June 8).
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort: # 1 Snow in the Rockies Opened 4,139', Top to Bottom Today.
Ski Areas Go Out With A Bang!
Season extension and half price passes
Where To Ski And Board In June (01-Jun-11)
More resorts open, fresh snowfall in May and deep bases all bode well for snow skiing and boarding in June 2011!
Fresh snowfalls adding as much of 40cm of new snow in 24 hours to ski slopes at still-open ski areas in the US as well as glaciers in Austria, Switzerland and Italy; and bases still as deep as seven metres (23 feet) at some resorts, plus the early opening of an Australian ski area has left expectations high for June skiing in 2011 says www.skiinfo.co.uk.
After the number of open ski areas worldwide hit its annual low of around 25 resorts in May, that number will climb towards 100 as ski areas re-open in France and the southern hemisphere's ski season gets underway in Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, Lesotho and South Africa. The first of these, Coronet Peak in New Zealand, hopes to open this weekend (June 4th) with Afriski in Lesotho following next week.
Austria currently has the most glaciers open for snowsports in the Alps with the Dachstein, Kitzsteinhorn (above Kaprun), Kaunertal, Stubai and Tux due to stay open for all or most of the month. Most have more than two metre bases and Tux has the most terrain open – 45km.
All French ski areas are currently closed but that changes on June 11th when the glacier above Val d'Isere due to open with those at Les 2 Alpes and Tignes following a week later on the 18th.
In Switzerland the end of the season at Engelberg and Diablerets last weekend means only year-round Zermatt is offering snow sports through June in the country, with Saas Fee re-opening in July.
In Italy Val Senales and Passo Stelvio are joining the Presena Glacier above Passo Tonale, where two red runs are currently open, in offering June snow sports in the country.
In Scandinavia all three glacier areas in Norway are now open with bases of up to 6.5m (22 feet) and new snow reported. You can also ski or board twice a week under the midnight sun in Riksgransen in the Swedish Arctic until mid-June, a single ski run is also open at Ruka in Finland until then.
In North America record snowfalls mean that more ski areas are open in June than, probably, ever before. A dozen ski areas were open for the US Memorial Holiday weekend a few days ago and five have announced plans to stay open at least to Canada Day and/or US Independence Day at the start of July. Two more – Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley in California - say they'll re-open then. The five still open are Mammoth Mountain in California, Crystal Mountain in Washington State, Snowbird in Utah, Timberline in Oregon and Grouse Mountain above Vancouver in BC, Canada.
Arapahoe Basin in Colorado is also planning to open until mid June and may stay open to July with Donner Summit in California a further option. A tenth option, Whistler Blackcomb, re-opens for glacier skiing and boarding from June 18th to July 24th.