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Half an hour before the Brit Awards kicked off at Earl's Court in February, I homed in on John Leckie, seemingly lost in a reception full of anonymous record company execs, and wished him luck as a 'Best Producer' nominee. "You're bound to get it," I said, reminding myself of the year in which he was responsible for Kula Shaker's chart-topping K, Cast's uplifting million-selling debut album, and the first release by ex-Take Thatter Mark Owen. "I doubt it," he replied. "There's a lot of competition." It was a sign of the current popularity of the British guitar band that he wiped the floor with this perceived competition and rose to the lectern to collect the UK's ultimate producer accolade. A broad grin appeared across my lips. It was as if Music had come home.
Leckie's award came almost 27 years to the day that he walked through the doors of Abbey Road Studios for the first time as an EMI employee on February 15, 1970. Initially hired as a tape op, he quickly progressed to the position of balance engineer. But for all his early success in music recording, his original ambitions lay in the movie world. After completing a two-year course in film and television at Ravensbourne College of Art, Leckie turned down opportunities with the BBC and the newly-launched London Weekend Television to make obscure 16mm films at a small Wardour Street film company. Although the job lasted for just five months it was a useful outlet for Leckie's vivid imagination.
He says: "I was heavily inspired by the weird underground avant-garde films that were happening around 1968 and 1969, but there was a major obstacle preventing me from becoming a film director: I couldn't get into the ACTT [Association of Cinema and Television Technicians]." Survival tactics took over and his other great interest, music, provided the means for a new direction. Whilst at college, Leckie had written a thesis on electronic music, based on information gleaned from liner notes of albums by Stockhausen and the few other serious electronic composers of the late '60s. "I tied it all in with Hendrix and Floyd and the whole underground psychedelic movement, which was what I was into. I was always into experimental media, whether it was film or music, because it was stretching boundaries beyond their perceived limits."
Already familiar with the basics of putting sound on tape through his experience with film, Leckie decided to blanket the London recording industry with applications for non-existent jobs. He struck gold when EMI was the only company to reply. "I was offered an interview and got shown around Abbey Road, then three months later I received a letter asking me to start as a tape op the following Monday. Like every other new starter, I spent the first couple of weeks sitting around watching what the engineers did on a session and suddenly the guy wasn't there any more, so I was asked to take over. It was 100% practical experience and exactly what I wanted. The last thing I was interested in was training for two years with the BBC and sitting exams before I did any actual work."
At the time of Leckie's arrival, around 90% of Abbey Road's workload was EMI recording artists, and it was from the studio's Progress Office that the whole process of a record release was managed -- from the A&R department's booking of a session to the final mastering. Leckie saw it all, and when he was not directly involved in a session, he would find various essential tasks to fill his hours. "White label test pressings were always approved here, and checking their quality was often a good way of generating overtime money," he recalls. "You'd have a pile waiting for you which were identified by a catalogue number, not by an artist's name, and you would listen out for excessive noise, pops, clicks or jumps, and reject them if necessary.
"Another little job we had to do was the banding of 15ips quarter-inch tape copies which came to us from Capitol, or overseas subsidiaries like the Russian label Melodia or ABC Dunhill [once famed for Steely Dan]. They would arrive without white leader tape between tracks, so in breaks from sessions, I would spend an hour or two putting leader tape in the right places, and then top and tail it with white leader at the front of the tape and red at the end. If you were quick and did it in half an hour you could knock off early and go down the pub!"
Times may have changed but there are some aspects of working at Abbey Road which remain the same, such as the wide range of musical disciplines faced by the staff engineers. "Because of the huge range of music recorded here, engineers have always had the opportunity to work with different styles and become acquainted with the various demands of each type of session. When I was on the staff in the early '70s, it was expected that even though you might have stayed up half the night with Pink Floyd, you had to be in the next day to prepare the studio for a German opera singer. Even now, a young assistant engineer might find himself working on a four-week Oasis project and then go straight into recording a solo piano concerto. Abbey Road is one of the few studios in the world where you can gain that breadth of experience."
One of the first hard lessons learned by Leckie was that he and all of his young colleagues were dispensable. A session would always continue in his absence and should things go critically wrong, there would always be another wide-eyed, aspiring engineer ready to fill his shoes. He also discovered that accidentally erasing an in-progress tape could be dangerous to one's health! "When it's no one's fault but yours, because you pressed the red button, you just want to die. It only takes once and you don't wipe anything for six months or so because you double-check everything."
The tape operator's role was well defined in the era which pre-dated the use of the multitrack remote controller, and much responsibility was placed on the shoulders of the young Leckie as he nervously activated the controls of the tape machine. He says: "It was always someone's very specific job to start, stop, rewind and fast-forward the tape. That was the tape op's first priority because at any time the producer said 'Run the tape' or 'Go back to the second verse', the whole focus had to be on being able to act on his instruction as quickly as possible. It was down to you to record the tracks, do all the drop-ins and take care of the headphone sync mix, while the engineer positioned the microphones and made the balance on the desk. Invariably you had to be one step ahead of what everyone else on the session was thinking, but also be ready to go one step back. If you were working with a nutty producer like Phil Spector, you would never assume anything, and when he said 'Run the tape' you would need to know what song he was talking about. He'd say 'Play that song again!', and you'd rewind to the beginning of the track you'd just been working on and hit the play button, only to hear him yell 'Not that song, the other one!'. It was hard to know what was going through his mind most of the time."
Leckie is referring to the unique experience he gained within less than a year of joining Abbey Road when he 'tape opped' on the Phil Spector-produced sessions for George Harrison's All Things Must Pass triple set and the John Lennon/Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band albums, their first collections following the break-up of The Beatles. Along the route to excellence, however, a control-room nightmare resulted in Harrison's track 'Awaiting On You All' appearing in a shorter form on All Things Must Pass. "We were working with 3M 8-track machines on which the tape wound past the record head, around a roller and past the playback head in a kind of elongated 'S' shape. Running at 15ips, you had a good half a second between playback and record which, obviously, was a consideration when dropping in. You really had to drive these machines and slow them down before you slammed them into fast-forward.
"I was having a few problems controlling one of these machines and kept complaining to the famous maintenance guy Eddie Klein (now the manager of Paul McCartney's private studio in East Sussex). He said 'Oh, don't worry about it, I can't fix it now.' Five minutes later, during George's vocal overdub on top of the finished track, complete with strings and horns, I pressed fast-forward and stop, and the tape went flying across the room. My heart was in my mouth. I panicked and said in a quivering voice, 'It wasn't my fault, Eddie said it would be alright!' Fortunately the tape was retrieved, but I suspect part of the recording may have been damaged amidst the chaos."
Leckie survived the Spector sessions, credibility intact, and went on to work on a vast array of fascinating projects as an Abbey Road staffer during the 1970s, including Pink Floyd's Meddle, Be Bop Deluxe's Sunburst Finish and the early albums of Magazine and Simple Minds. By July 1978, however, he was faced with the choice of either remaining loyal to EMI or taking the huge leap into the world of the unknown as an independent producer/engineer. He explains: "I had produced XTC's first album [White Music] at The Manor during my holiday in late 1977 and purposely didn't tell anyone at Abbey Road about it. Although I had been working with Be Bop Deluxe in other studios, they were an EMI band so it was OK, and I could have recorded XTC at Abbey Road but not at a non-EMI studio. There had to be an EMI element and I was threatened with the sack if I stepped out of line. By the summer of '78, XTC had become quite successful and were ready to do their next album [Go 2] at The Townhouse, so I felt compelled to explain my predicament to my studio manager. But he once again told me that I'd be fired if I worked with them at The Townhouse. EMI wouldn't hire my services out to Virgin, so I had to leave."
Interestingly, Leckie's success has been totally built on a foundation of British artists, even though he has been offered the chance to produce American bands. Whilst with EMI, he turned down a job with Capitol Records in Hollywood, preferring to stay in Britain where, he says, the harder-edged music had more appeal. This decision, made exactly 20 years ago, ultimately steered him towards his landmark achievements in the '90s. "Britain in 1977 was a really exciting place for music but what was going on in America was the Eagles and a lot of what I'd call unadventurous, old-fashioned crap. I decided it was more happening in the UK and returned home.
"There are some great things in America; it's a land of extremes. You can always tell an American band from their attitude and the way they've learned to play, which is very different from the British method. An American band in rehearsal will jam for three hours, whereas an English band's idea will be to sit around and talk about it! I think there's more craziness and eccentricity here, which leads to greater invention. American music tends to be a little too conventional for me. The contrast between the UK and US dance scenes is a good example. In the UK it is a thriving market with some incredible, creative music that is more than just music to dance to; it's constantly breaking down the boundaries, and is everything I aspired to when I was at college in the late 1960s. What's happening in dance music today is not too dissimilar from what the Floyd were thinking about in 1968, but they didn't have the simple technology that people now have at their disposal to create the sound. If they or Hendrix had used it then, the results would have been phenomenal."
So is the dance market something that interests him as a producer? "Yes: it's all about fantastic sounds and there is immense control, but it seems that the best things happen when it goes out of control. That's when I get a buzz from dance music. I'm not inspired when I hear it thumping away in a predictable manner. It's the same with humans playing guitars and drums in bands. American musicians probably find it more difficult to get out of control than their British counterparts."
Since producing tracks such as the seminal 'Fools Gold' by The Stone Roses, Leckie has gone on to help define the sound of today's British guitar pop music with Radiohead, Cast, Kula Shaker, Ride and others, although he is the first to concede that finding an identity for each of these bands has been the result of a two-way partnership. "I feel that my input as a producer can only work if the band's music is already of a high standard before I step in. The bands I choose to work with are those who are halfway towards the sound that will happen on record because of their live work, and I think I contribute the other half in terms of communicating ideas for them to act upon or guiding them in that direction."
This 'other half' may include flavouring music with Leslie speakers, Mellotrons and other exotic hardware. "Both Cast and Kula Shaker are known for their use of Leslies and Mellotrons, and that comes from me. I just turned on the Leslie one day and they loved it. I might choose to set the Symphonic effect on an SPX90 and speed it up, but when you make the effort to use a real Leslie and you can find one that doesn't rattle or hum, it is a very special sound because it's the Doppler effect and it has a life of its own. Knowing when to use it is part of the secret. [Cast frontman] John Power instantly fell in love with the sound and, of course, there were all kinds of observations like 'It sounds just like [The Beatles'] 'Blue Jay Way''. The way I record drums and get a certain sound also appeals to them. What I hope I can do above everything else is capture the spirit of a band on stage so that when you see them play live after liking their record, it's not a big disappointment."
Cast's 1995 first album, All Change, was briefly the biggest-selling debut in the history of Polydor Records, and legend has it that immediately upon hearing their demos, an impressed Leckie headed straight for Liverpool, urging the band to hire him as their producer. What was it that attracted him? "The first thing I noticed was the quality of the songs and John's voice, which I knew anyway, having produced The La's. I could tell where John's head was at. When I heard 'Walkaway' it was a very scratchy acoustic guitar demo but I could tell it had the potential to be a classic record."
Nearly two years on, Cast are back with their second album, Mother Nature Calls, an incredibly mature and diverse collection of songs and styles, with Leckie once again at the production helm. The major difference between the albums (apart from the fact that Mark 'Spike' Stent mixed the new release) was in the approach to the sessions. Whereas All Change consisted of material routined on the road before recording, Mother Nature Calls relied almost totally on new, previously unperformed songs which were arranged with Leckie's input during a two-week stretch of rehearsals. There was also a glimmer of complacency to overcome. Says Leckie: "We made the first album for ourselves and there was a lot more excitement. This time there was the comfort factor which came from knowing that whatever we did was ultimately going to sell a substantial number of records. But I still wanted to make a great album and they needed a bit of a kick from me to get going!"
Backing tracks for Mother Nature Calls were recorded over four weeks at RAK Studio 1, in the room which Leckie eagerly describes as "the best in the country". After the Christmas break, Cast relocated to the Sawmills in Cornwall where they re-worked the backing for 'Free Me', 'I'm So Lonely', 'She Sun Shines' and 'Mirror Me', and recorded guitar overdubs. It was at this point that the clock seemed to be ticking too fast for comfort.
"Our original plan was to do all the backing tracks at RAK, the vocal and guitar overdubs at Sawmills and then mix in Studio 3 at Abbey Road, but somewhere down the line we ran out of time and ended up doing more recording when we got to Abbey Road. That included B-sides, for Christ's sake! Right at the end of the project, when 'Free Me' was about to be mastered for the single, the label were saying 'Give us as many B-sides as you've got, a minimum of four and a maximum of six. We need them now, finished and mixed, for the dual-format CD singles.' So I suggested to Cast that every night after dinner we should go back into the studio at 9pm and bang out a B-side by midnight, and by the end of the week we'd have five of them. I had the same problem with Radiohead, where a single was brought out before the album was finished, so you have to abandon the album for a while until you've delivered these bonus tracks. This is a major distraction to your focus on the main event. So my advice to any band is to get the B-sides recorded and out of the way before you concentrate on the album, otherwise your judgment can be damaged."
Much acclaim has been accorded to the guitar sounds Leckie captures in the studio. His miking technique usually involves the mixture of either a Shure SM58 or 57 dynamic mic with a Neumann 87 or 67 condenser. "There's obviously an amazing difference in the sound and coloration you get from adjusting the balance of each of those mics, and you can get radically different textures depending on your mix of the two. I always have the mics positioned right up close to the guitar cabinet, literally touching the speaker cloth, and never two feet back, no matter how loud the cabinet's being driven. Whether you have the mics in the centre of the speaker or to the side, off-axis, is a matter of experimentation. I tend to prefer a 58 because I'm not overly keen about the top lift of a 57. A lot of it is down to perfect tuning and the tone you get on the amp in the first place, because if you have a shitty sounding amp, it'll still sound bad no matter what you do in the control room. If the guitar sounds great in the room, that's most of your battle won. Very rarely do I use any ambient miking away from the cabinet. I might do on the odd solo or for a special effect, but it certainly is not the rule."
To my surprise, Leckie informed me that many of the guitar tracks on Mother Nature Calls (including the main riff of 'Free Me') were recorded with a £30 battery-powered miniature Fender Twin replica. "It wasn't out of laziness but because it sounded so great! I placed a 58 on the speaker and just added a touch of low-end EQ on the desk because you don't get too much bass out of those toys! One of the things about recording guitars is that although there are no rules, you have to be careful with EQ."
Maybe as a throwback to the era in which Leckie began his career, he is an enormous fan of the psychedelic-hued backwards guitar. This is mirrored in the new Cast track 'She Sun Shines'. He says: "I normally turn the multitrack tape over and get the guitarist to play completely spontaneously, do a few passes, then use the most interesting sections. The most difficult aspect of recording in this way is to know where you are in the song, and the result essentially depends on where the guitarist's head is at on the day. That's the beauty of the whole backwards guitar thing -- you never know what you're going to get until you turn the tape back over and play it. It's full of surprises and often if you are lost for an idea, the backwards thing might just produce a magical phrase that sends a track in a new direction.
"You can, of course, sample some guitar licks and reverse them via the sampler, and if it sounds good, then great. But if the whole point is to have a random feel, the old manual method of turning the tape is the best. One of the features of 'She Sun Shines' is Skin's backwards guitar riff which we spent a lot of time on and is actually a sample loop that was used by Brendan Lynch on the original demo of the song. However, if Skin had played to the reversed multitrack I'm sure a lot more strange ideas would have evolved."
Obviously, working with guitars has its limitations and there are few ideas and sounds left for Leckie to discover. It is not surprising, therefore, that he is constantly on the lookout for unique touches to add to his clients' tracks. His subtle contribution to 'Live The Dream', a wispy, swampy sound which appears in gaps between the vocal lines, is a typical example. He explains: "It was a sound I found on a Roland Sound Canvas (the actual setting of which shall remain a trade secret!) and I just pushed it up to the highest possible octave so that it no longer sounded musical, but instead produced an effect. I just love taking things to the edge and I've often stayed up all night listening to some of the craziest noises to see if they'll fit. Suddenly you'll hear something that totally captivates you and you then try to see how you can incorporate it without it sounding false. It's great to work with people who'll allow you to do that."
With so much attention given to Leckie's guitar-orientated achievements, it is easy to forget that ethnic music has played a significant part in his career. In 1981, he spent three months in Nigeria at EMI's studio in Lagos (the venue for Wings' Band On The Run) to assist with its transition to 24-track, and it was there that he recorded native artists such as Fela Ransome Kuti. He even rates his involvement in the Real World Recording Week (both in 1992 and 1995) as his most enjoyable studio experiences to date.
He says: "The whole studio complex is completely taken over by little World music projects. In '95 there were 16 separate recording areas, with everything from 48-track digital in the Big Room to ADATs on the lawn. It was held on the same weekend as the WOMAD festival, so we'd have all kinds of musicians walking in and contributing something to various recordings. It's like a mini commune, with everyone recording and the most unlikely groups of people collaborating, and totally unlike a normal studio environment where egos are at stake. Because there is no commercial goal the ideas flow differently and musical risks are constantly taken. It's just for the music -- you'd be sitting there with African drummers, Billy Cobham, Iggy Pop and Joe Strummer, and there'd be people calling each other saying, 'Hey you, can you play violin?' And you'd suddenly find yourself embroiled in a bizarre session."
Being awarded the 'Best Producer' prize at the Brits is something of which Leckie is naturally proud, but more than anything he sees it as a reflection of the healthy British music scene. "I think it's a really good sign that I got it rather than Trevor Horn!" he laughs. "I always tend to pick new bands and do their first couple of albums, by which time they have got an established sound of their own. That's the period in a band's career when they tend to be at their inventive peak and have the most energy. It is also when you are essentially recording them as they really are."
He is quick to point out that the award could have a negative effect. "Some bands who might have wanted to work with me before might take the view that I'm now in a different league and would not be on their level any more, which is probably very far from the truth. So that sort of acclaim can work against you. It's for a slightly similar reason that I'm debating whether or not I should produce the next Page & Plant album. I was approached by them because they liked Radiohead's The Bends. Peter Jenner, Billy Bragg's manager, recently told me that if I did it I wouldn't be hip any more. But I suppose that would depend on how the record turned out! It would worry me if people believed that just because I've won the Brit award, I've turned into Mr Big Time with a Rolls-Royce, because it will always be the fresh young bands who excite and inspire me."
Just a few months after joining the Abbey Road team, John Leckie received a major injection of experience as the tape operator on the sessions for George Harrison's classic All Things Must Pass album, co-produced by Phil 'Wall Of Sound' Spector, whose employment of a white chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce and an armed bodyguard were viewed by several staff as being sinister and threatening. Leckie recalls: "I worked on nearly all of that album, which was recorded mostly in Studio 3 from April right through the summer of 1970. My experience of the Phil Spector sound was that it had less to do with the studio itself than the large amount of musicians playing together simultaneously in the same room. There were two drummers (Ringo Starr and Jim Gordon), two bassists (Klaus Voormann and Carl Radle), two pianists (Gary Brooker and Gary Wright), two organists (Billy Preston and Bobby Whitlock), four acoustic guitarists (Badfinger), two electrics (George and Dave Mason), Bobby Keys on sax and Jim Price on trumpet, and a lot of it went down live.
"There were also a lot of overdubs with strings, guitar solos, vocals and backing vocals, and some of this work was done at Trident, which was the only studio in 1970 with 16-track facilities, and that was important for things like the massed 'Hare Krishna' vocals on 'My Sweet Lord'.
"Phil Spector was used to the 'what you hear is what you get' idea of recording and would expect the reverb and delay effects normally only heard through the monitors during recording to be put on tape. At his request we would have two or three machines running for tape echo delays, and a lot of time was spent working delay times out via the monitor. The next day, we would come in and Phil McDonald would pull up the faders and put all the reverbs and delays back into place because they weren't on tape. Of course, it never sounded exactly the same as the previous day, and Spector would know that and so he insisted that the effects and music were as one on the multitrack. So on things like 'My Sweet Lord' and 'Wah Wah' a lot of the reverbs were recorded. It was, of course, the album which defined George's double-tracked slide guitar style and also the one which enabled him to record all the songs that he was never free to do with The Beatles."
Immediately after the Harrison sessions, Leckie worked with Spector yet again on the Plastic Ono Band albums by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. "John's album was a much more stripped-down affair with just piano, bass, guitar and drums, recorded live and often in one or two takes. Yoko's album took much longer than John's, and both were recorded simultaneously with the same band. Yoko would essentially scream over the top of blues jams, and we'd spend about three weeks editing them. I suppose what we did was the forerunner of sampling because we would copy a vocal line from the multitrack on to quarter-inch and splice it into place at John and Yoko's instruction. It was a way of forming a composite article from half an hour's worth of improvised music. John was very spontaneous as an artist but I remember him being incredibly disciplined in the studio, as was George, and both of them were good at taking instructions and respecting Spector's wishes."
The guitar amps used for both projects were Fender Champs with American 110 volt tubes. Leckie remembers that because they were being run at 240 volts they inevitably blew up by the end of each session! "Every night, Mal Evans (The Beatles' roadie) would leave with two or three of these amps to have them fixed overnight and would return with them in the morning."
Mother Nature Calls was recorded at three studios and on three quite different consoles. Says Leckie: "At RAK we used their old API made by Boeing around 1975 -- I don't think it has been turned off since! That's a straight-through desk with no form of automation, and it has fairly basic EQ in 2dB steps. Sawmills has a Trident Series 80 which has been modified, while at Abbey Road the desk in Studio 3 is an SSL G Series 8000. That's my favourite mixing desk because you can do anything with it, but my favourite desk for recording is probably the API, although I manage to get what I want from most permutations of equipment."
Crispian Mills: "We recorded 'Tattva' at first in a Kilburn 8-track studio with the riff going round and round. That's when we were learning about recording. We did some full-on psychedelic rock epics on 8-track, I'll tell you."
John Leckie: "There were two demos. The very first one had no verses and it was more of a jam with tabla and a drum loop, and it was pretty wild-sounding. Then they did a demo which had verses and still had all of the ingredients, but with a much lengthier structure, lasting about 10 minutes."
Mills: "The 'St. George's Day' version was recorded at a place called Eastcote and it was the first time we'd used a Mellotron. It wasn't '90s enough or where we're at now, but the charm and magic of it was wonderful. It was the first time that song really started to happen as a possible single."
Leckie: "I knew it was a brilliant single but it sounded a bit tame to me at this stage, so we went back into rehearsals with it and formed a new arrangement before going into Townhouse 2 to record the single. Crispian had the idea for the slide solo even though no one definite solo existed; he plays it differently every time they play live and it was a question of picking the right one for the mix. What makes Kula Shaker great is that they work really hard at their music and there is always room for spontaneity and improvisation. Crispian has a classic musician's soul ethic and nothing scares him. He'll happily make mistakes in pursuit of something outstanding and he'll instinctively know when it's right.
"Unlike a lot of today's keyboard players, Jay Darlington is not ruled by synths and MIDI. He keeps to his Hammond and provides keyboard colours for the rest of the band to fall back upon. And he's bloody good! Despite how it might appear, we didn't use any esoteric valve gear to record K, but instead did it more or less totally on SSLs at different modern studios like Eden, Livingstone and Townhouse 2."
"When you're laying tracks you're going with the vibe of the energy that is around you and the band, and your aim is to get the best from the musicians. With mixing, you are trying to please everyone but it really isn't possible because everyone has a different opinion. There are so many different ways of mixing. I mixed some tracks for Elastica which I part-recorded, and I was aware that they wanted an upfront, hard punky sound. I noticed that the bass drum sounded particularly awful and it amazed me how easy it was to turn Elastica into Shampoo when I notched the bass drum's EQ! You really can make huge changes to anyone and anything at the mixing stage.
"If you are working on a single, the priority is for radio and the mix will be vocal heavy to ram the song home because that's where the melody is. Most of the time it seems unnecessary to me when it's a great record, but that seems to be the way for radio. Given the choice, I prefer to make records that sound good at home on the hi-fi. A mix can sometimes take four days, but it might just as easily take half an hour, and what's the best one? You can play people a string of mixes of the same song and they will all have different ideas about which is best, none of which are related to how much work you put into it. There might be some sort of magic that leaps out at the listener, but that magic was first recognised by the producer who, at the end of a take, put his finger on the talkback button and said to the band, 'Great guys, that's the one.' But that same producer may not be allowed to say 'Hey, that's a great mix', because it's a decision that is made by the A&R guy or the band's manager. So it's ironic that at the end of the day, despite all the time and effort spent on a project by the producer, he is powerless when it comes to the very end result."
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Dave Stewart: Creating A New Album From Archive Material
Time Trial: Bringing Multitracks and MIDI into the 21st Century
Dave Stewarts career has spanned several generations of music technology (from National Health band in the 1970s to hits with partner Barbara Gaskin. For his latest project, he faced the challenge of bringing his old multitracks and MIDI sequences into the computer age.
Secrets Of The Mix Engineers: Humberto Gatica
Inside Track: Michael Bublé 'You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You'
In a rare interview, legendary engineer and producer Humberto Gatica explains how he and singer Michael Bublé breathed new life into big-band swing music — with stunning results.


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(I got a gulpworthy dose of this shoot-from-the-hip quality at the Sorensen Institutes 2012 gala dinner, when a woman at our table told Hay that her husband was a Navy flyer. Really? Hay deadpanned. Mine was an asshole. The woman visibly blanched: Her first husband, she said, had died during a nighttime training mission.)
As for the asshole, he was Hays second husband, and the marriage lasted three and a half years before ending in 2010. All she wants to say about it is that she didnt know the person she was marrying, that she rushed into it. Hay is more forthcoming about her first husband, whom she married right after she graduated from the Naval Academy. They grew apart because of differences in ambition; things came to a head when she was stationed in Hawaii, where, instead of pursuing a masters degree as hed promised, he developed a passion for surfing.
Romance is the one area I havent figured out yet, she laments, so lately shes tried to apply some principles from her work. Just making sure I do market research and analysis. You know, treat it likeI dont want to say something as crass as a business transaction, but my time is very valuable, and I want to make sure Im spending it with a quality person, just like I wouldnt waste my time with a business deal that wasnt going anywhere." Hay really wants childrenher life line lists Baby 1 in 2014so she has 14 eggs on ice (hence, her friend the fertility nurse) in case she doesnt find Mr. Right in time. Her political mentors have warned her, she acknowledges, about doing too many things that make me more of an outlier than I already am, but she says shes seen how having kids has transformed the lives of so many of her girlfriends.
When I ask Gibson whether Virginia, which has never had a female governor, is ready for a twice-married single mother whose progeny are the product of frozen eggs and a sperm donor, he says, It may be a less traditional path, but how many women who have graduated from the Naval Academy have gone on to the career that she has? Then he adds, Maybe shell get married. You cant rule it out.
Maybe, but that gets back to whats refreshing about Hay. Despite all her exhaustive planning, she doesnt strive for the vanilla-pudding virtue of the twentysomethings I met at Yale Law School, for example. (I was there on a journalism fellowship.) More than once I heard a classmate say, with a straight face, that he wasnt smoking pot or engaging in some other questionable activity because it wont look good when I run for office.
The fullness of who Hay is hasnt stopped spurting out. Or rather, she hasnt stopped herself from spurting. Theres her BeDazzled toilet, which her sometime publicist Jessica Hoy says she begged her not to install: I have to take governors in there! Hay waved her off. A friend started a business crystal-coating everything imaginable, and she wanted some of his handiwork in her place, she explains. DC wags also love to gossip about the stripper pole Hay has in her basement, which she installed because yet another entrepreneurial friend was selling them during the pole-dancing fitness craze. And when I joined her and two of her friends on a Navy Seals trip she won at a charity auctionwe drove ATVs through the California desert, jumped out of a plane, and shot at life-size paper targets of jihadist fightersshe didnt hesitate to bring me along for the late-night hot tub, where we drank cheap wine and I got to glimpse the tattoo at the base of her spine: balance, compassion, love.
At times I find myself wondering whether Hays swan dive into girlishness in her off-hours (her favorite designer is the maestro of outrageous glitz, Roberto Cavalli) isnt a way to emphatically escape the no-nonsense, tough demeanor required to function as a relatively young female boss in a predominantly male environment. This toggling between femme and macho can also be a survival strategy for female soldiers like Hay. Act too rough, and youre a dyke or poaching on male prerogatives; act too ladylike, and youre the reason the military didnt want women in the first place: too weak.
On the Navy Seals trip, Katy Young, one of Hays Annapolis friends, whos now a mother of two, gave a lesson in this method when we met the cocky but utterly charming Seals assigned to teach us to drive the vehicles used to traverse Afghanistans unforgiving terrain. The leader introduced himself by offering that hed never taken women out before, to which Young replied, Well pop your cherry! Manly eyebrows arched in surprise, then chiseled features relaxed: Wed passed the cool test.
All this raises the question of whether Hays persona as a buttoned-up businesswoman by day and Kardashian by night would fly for a female president. Its already attracted negative notice in certain female DC power circles. When I ask one detractor who scoffs that Hay isnt the real thing to explain, she sends me a picture that says it all. Into my inbox pops a snapshot of Hay in a low-cut turquoise dress, her two miniature poodles (bought for extra company after her second divorce) in her arms, framing her impressive cleavage.
Fels calls figuring out how to comport oneself as a powerful woman a new art. While she noted in her book that there hasnt been a female equivalent of the former presidential candidate Bill Clinton, a self-proclaimed Elvis wannabe, wiggling his hips and playing a mean saxophone on The Arsenio Hall Show, she says shes not sure what the future holds for her gender. (Yes, Clinton was also a policy genius, but thats not the point here.) In my lifetime, women started out in these horrible power suits, trying to find their way. Margaret Thatcher completely based her look on Queen Elizabeth II: the pearls, the hat, the gloves. But more recently, she says, theres Sarah Palin and all her odd sexiness. Who knows, Fels says, whether a rawly authentic quality such as Hay possesses might end up working to her advantage?
For all her flamboyance and idiosyncrasiesat least for a politicianperhaps whats most disconcerting about Hay is her seeming lack of ideological conviction. She held an event at her house for Sarah Palin because John Warner asked me to; I dont say no to him. (He wrote her recommendation to get into the Naval Academy.) Before throwing her support behind Hillary in 2008, she gave $1,000 to Rudy Giuliani, unsure which party she wanted to join. The main reason she seems to have opted for the Democrats is the partys support for womens rights (though her brand consultant assures me she isnt a female chauvinist). She complains about how Virginias Republican attorney general has covered the bare breast of the goddess on the state seal, about the state legislatures widely ridiculed (and ultimately abandoned) effort to require vaginal ultrasounds before abortions. Ive always been pro-choice across the board, Hay says. I dont want the government in my vagina, period.
Minus the female-empowerment agenda, the politician she reminds me of most rhetorically is Mitt Romney. (I dont buy his right-wing conversion.) My company has given me such a grounded sense of self-confidence that I can really do anything I set my mind to, Hay says. Its a very complex, highly regulated business that Ive created and run. Yes, but, againwhy is she so driven to become president? Because I see that there are so many things that need to get fixed and changed. And Im a natural fix-it person. Im a solution architect.
She could be a pragmatic centrist, that dying breed not bound by the dogma of either party. But still, doesnt a politician need to know what she stands for, whose interests she finds most pressing, to decide which problems need solutions in the first place? Is it a problem, for instance, that income inequality in the U.S. is among the highest in the developed world? Is racial diversity in the nations universities an outdated goal?
Put differently, is it enough to be president if your main credential is the certainty that youd be a top-notch decider-in-chief? One answer is that conviction took Romney pretty far. Another answer is: For a self-made woman, maybe substance, or idealism, doesnt have to precede personal ambition (or sometimes cant). Perhaps the order can be switched, and ones passionate core can be discovered. According to her life line, Hay has 10 years to look.

subset: commoncrawl


text: tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55349731308188427922014-10-01T00:28:56.218-07:00http://linuxtweaking.blogspot.comBlog containing news, views, rants and how-to guides on firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-11618546931731471662013-01-26T09:41:00.000-08:002014-03-05T09:18:51.854-08:00Looks like I am not the only one disturbed by the new Fedora InstallerIt's the one distribution I always download the very moment it is released, big Fedora fan. But this new installer is really really eh? For a pretty harsh review, I highly recommend http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/fedora-18-kde.html I agree about the issue concerning the installer, funnily enough I also have two identical disk drives and this is the first time ever I have been unsure about email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-70090085096593669592012-10-31T08:46:00.000-07:002012-10-31T08:50:31.572-07:00openSUSE 12.2 on a Samsung R510, almost perfect out of the box! Had the brightness function buttons worked...but the solution is very simple. Just add acpi_backlight=vendor to the boot loader and the brightness buttons will now work as intended, controlling the backlight. This will also apply to other Samsung Netbooks/Laptops. On the subject of openSUSE 12.2, I have to say it is a very nice release. Everything seems to be working, it is fast and nippy! firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-55481879753926833572012-10-19T13:51:00.000-07:002014-03-06T12:23:03.145-08:00First thing to do after installing Ubuntu 12.10, protect your privacy!Protect your privacy! By default Ubuntu 12.10 will record all your keystrokes / search terms when using the Unity Dash and send it to their servers and other third parties. Personally I think this really sucks. There can be no doubt that they anticipated many users will remain oblivious to this change / practice, such users will therefore have their privacy compromised. Even if it is out of email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-53236216437547389232012-09-06T11:05:00.000-07:002012-10-09T11:34:46.976-07:00A quick spin with Kubuntu 12.04.1 LTS After trying to live with Ubuntu 12.04 and Unity for some time I decided to just accept that it isn't for me. So in my quest to find an alternative (Rosa Linux 2012?) a reader posted a comment about Kubuntu LTS. My past experiences with Kubuntu have been fairly consistent, buggy. But 12.04 is an LTS, so perhaps it would be better? After downloading 12.04.1 I wasted no time in trying to email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-84664106960191493922012-08-25T10:10:00.000-07:002013-04-18T10:58:14.114-07:00Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Kernel Compile Guide Important Note: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PrecisePangolin/ReleaseNotes/UbuntuDesktop#PrecisePangolin.2BAC8-ReleaseNotes.2BAC8-CommonInfrastructure.Ubuntu_Kernel_3.5.0-23.35 Whether it's for educational purposes, tweaking or curiosity, compiling a Kernel in Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is generally a straight forward exercise. However, it can be a little more complex depending on what sources are used, for email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-10423039785914937402012-08-18T07:49:00.000-07:002012-10-09T11:35:19.391-07:00After a while of using Ubuntu 12.04 LTS... You don't often see post reviews / analysis of Linux distributions so I thought I would break the trend and share some of my thoughts after using Ubuntu 12.04 LTS for quite some time. So, the great thing which I have observed with all Ubuntu LTS releases starting with 8.04 LTS is how well they work (eg lack of bugs and good support). 12.04 LTS in no exception. It is what I expect from email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-82251880135166566172012-06-25T09:10:00.002-07:002012-06-25T09:10:12.131-07:00ROSA Linux 2012 EE - The best Linux for Desktop users?It looks almost like Mandriva 2011 but it isn't, it is Rosa Linux 2012. Given the uncertainty with Mandriva you can't blame Rosa Labs for going their own way and creating their own spin. Sure enough, it is very similar to what we saw in Mandriva 2011 but with a big difference. Mandriva 2011 was unrefined, broken and buggy. I suppose you could call that an accurate reflection of the company email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-72856127259611058342012-06-06T14:10:00.002-07:002012-10-09T11:35:39.014-07:00Fedora 17 - Where's the artistic wallpaper?So after taking Fedora 17 for a quick spin I see the default wallpaper is lacking the usual artistic design. What's up with that guys? The distribution itself however still seems to be another rock solid release, admittedly I had Ubuntu 12.04 LTS installed but after installing this I will not be going back. Fedora 17 with Gnome Shell (with extensions + tweak tool) is smoother, faster and firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-65473086459078269592012-04-26T11:56:00.000-07:002012-04-26T11:56:58.092-07:00Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is here - Download now! It is available to download, maybe I will write something useful like a kernel compile guide at a later date.I think the default wallpaper (which is not in my screenshot) was a poor decision but easily changed. And I like the fact that your desktop wallpaper is also used for the login screen, it makes things feel consistent. Go download it email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-13126195488944673142012-02-28T12:07:00.002-08:002012-02-28T12:08:45.034-08:00Didn't realise blog was borked when using Internet Explorer 9I very rarely use Internet Explorer but given I have been using Windows a little bit more recently I thought I would test how compatible it was with my blog. And what a a mess it was. So I have resorted back to bloggers simple template which currently seems acceptable. However, that was after adding the following meta tag, meta content='IE=EmulateIE7' http-equiv='X-UA-Compatible' firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-75769968746225075502012-01-21T15:18:00.001-08:002012-10-30T16:10:05.367-07:00And when it doesn't work its back to Windows 7Unfortunately that is the only logical option. Since 2009 my Samsung R510 Laptop has been struggling to cope with Linux. Essentially it works but not as efficient as I would like. The biggest issues I have relate to the system performance and battery time, both of which just cannot beat Windows 7 (and Vista) Battery time has been an ongoing issue with Linux in general, I remain hopeful that email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-58824977605101898642012-01-05T05:42:00.000-08:002012-10-09T11:36:44.395-07:00The death of Mandriva - 16th January 2012?For the full details see: http://forum.mandriva.com/en/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=136549 Well,let's make it short: everything was fine, but there is a big problem: a minor shareholder (Linlux) refuses the capital injection required for Mandriva to continue, even though the Russian investor had offered to bear it alone . Except turnaround Mandriva should cease activity Jan. 16 (Sorry for the bad email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-9077846497674659712012-01-01T10:18:00.000-08:002012-10-09T11:37:02.065-07:00A look at openSUSE 12.1 and the openSUSE ProjectVisit http://linuxtweaking.com to read the full review. Final Thoughts... I have mixed views about openSUSE 12.1. It is often repeated across the internet that openSUSE is the KDE distribution to use but I am having serious difficulties agreeing with this view when Fedora 16 KDE currently offers a smoother, faster, less bloated experience. It is also very hard to work out what the firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-7287086628853321812011-12-27T05:32:00.000-08:002012-10-09T11:38:06.521-07:00CentOS 6.2 LiveCD 64-bit - Small Desktop Icons FixIf you have noticed CentOS 6.2 seems to have very small icons that behave strange when zooming in / out, here is the fix. https://www.centos.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=34921&forum=55 su -c 'yum reinstall gtk2' This issue has been driving me mad for a while. Thanks to maruska on the CentOS email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-84203528566544773252011-12-12T10:28:00.000-08:002012-10-09T11:38:22.365-07:00For a successful Mandriva 2011 install, follow these steps!Mandriva 2011 is a very decent and innovating Linux distribution but is sadly let down by a few fixable quirks. The biggest show stopper occurs when trying to update Mandriva 2011 for the first time. Unfortunately many newbies are struggling with this pain in the backside so let me tell you what to do in easy to follow steps. 1.After installing Mandriva 2011 read the Errata - http://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-17532990497428153632011-12-03T05:59:00.000-08:002012-10-09T11:38:33.632-07:00Tutorial - Recompiling Freetype with the patented auto hinter enabled in openSUSE 12.1Here is a great little exercise that will teach you how to recompile the freetype package in openSUSE 12.1 and enable the patented auto hinter for better looking fonts. Start by opening a terminal. Install required packages such as gcc and zlib-devel su -c 'zypper install gcc zlib-devel patch' Change to your Downloads folder cd Downloads We are going to download the freetype source rpm email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-88799882911638942102011-11-27T15:49:00.000-08:002012-10-09T11:38:56.764-07:00Firefox 8 and Thunderbird 8 on CentOS 6 / EPEL 6 / Scientific Linux 6If there is one thing I do not like about CentOS 6, it is the lack of up to date versions of Firefox and Thunderbird. Well not anymore, thanks to this person you can now easily update Firefox and Thunderbird using YUM to version 8. Who is Remi? I'm, for a few years, a fedora project contributor, indeed, I maintain various RPM for Fedora and EPEL repository and also some for RPMFusion An email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-34494923641673709162011-11-26T11:57:00.001-08:002012-10-09T11:39:13.520-07:00Enabling Samsung Laptop Backlight Support in Ubuntu 11.10Is your Samsung Laptop brightness buttons not working? Yep, mine isn't too. The Kernel in Ubuntu 11.10 includes support for a number of Samsung Laptops thanks to the efforts of Greg Kroah and if you are interested in improving this I suggest filing bug reports to your distribution vendor or upstream. What to do in the meantime... Follow these steps to make your Samsung Laptop's brightness email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-80767162679188443412011-11-23T07:53:00.000-08:002012-10-09T11:39:28.819-07:00The Super Easy KDE Users Guide for Fedora 16 The Super Easy KDE Users Guide Latest Edition Fedora 16 Introduction Follow these super easy steps to turn your Fedora KDE installation into a fully functional multimedia rich and enjoyable desktop. Add the RPM Fusion repository su -c 'yum -y localinstall --nogpgcheck http://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-stable.noarch.rpm http://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-6746167858593199882011-11-22T08:02:00.000-08:002012-10-09T11:39:44.749-07:00How to Recompile your Kubuntu 11.10 KernelThis quick and simple guide will help you to recompile your Kubuntu 11.10 Kernel. Modify where appropriate, eg amd64 / i386. 1. Install these packages sudo apt-get install fakeroot dpkg-dev libncurses5-dev kernel-package 2. Create your source directory mkdir ~/src cd ~/src 3. Download the Kernel source apt-get source linux-image-$(uname -r) 4. Configure your Kernel cd linux-3.0.0 make email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-238478592586298352011-11-20T14:28:00.000-08:002012-10-09T11:39:58.815-07:00How I enable restricted multimedia in openSUSE 12.1 KDEGiven that openSUSE 12.1 KDE uses the Gstreamer phonon backend by default, for better multimedia support it makes sense to install just the additional gstreamer plugins as oppose to installing every other multimedia framework known to man kind such as Xine and VLC on top of Gstreamer. Of course you are free to do as you please but I prefer to keep things to a minimal. To make openSUSE 12.1 email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-24607011001443683112011-11-17T12:50:00.000-08:002012-10-09T11:40:10.838-07:00How to install the Nvidia drivers manually in openSUSE 12.1The steps to install the Nvidia driver in openSUSE 12.1 is identical to the previous release, openSUSE 11.4. See this link for 11.4 This guide uses the terminal and wget command to download the Nvidia driver to your /home/username/Downloads folder. You may use your web browser although I suggest keeping the Nvidia driver in your Downloads folder as it may be useful at a later date. Please note email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-76386540358508499062011-11-16T05:39:00.000-08:002012-10-09T11:40:34.304-07:00openSUSE 12.1 - Just released and seems to be working?I am sure you have seen the default openSUSE 12.1 KDE Desktop, so here is a different one. I remember when openSUSE 11.4 was released and that was probably the most broken release in their history. So broken that I decided there and then that I would be dumping openSUSE for good. To date I have stuck to my words but for the past few months there have been significant developments in the world firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-15404939126923380222011-10-05T11:37:00.000-07:002012-10-09T11:40:44.495-07:00Fedora 16 - How to install 64-bit Flash Player 11Even though I am using the beta Fedora 16 KDE, this quick little how to will work with the final release of Fedora 16. And by the way, Fedora 16 KDE is the best ever! For those who are not aware, Adobe have finally "officially" released their native 64-bit flash plugin, which is great news for 64-bit Linux users. See here for more info - http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer.html The email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5534973130818842792.post-74394811612243993162011-09-28T09:31:00.000-07:002012-10-09T11:40:54.500-07:00Mandriva 2011 - A magnificent attempt but is it enough...After seeing some of the screenshots for Mandriva 2011 I was very tempted to try it, so I did. And what do I think? Well, visually Mandriva is the most impressive KDE distribution I have used. I really like the fact that rather than using the standard KDE look and feel Mandriva decided to be more innovative and create a refined piece of art. The level of finish Mandriva have achieved is email@example.com


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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - View original article
An insecticide is a substance used to kill insects.[1] They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and by consumers. Insecticides are claimed to be a major factor behind the increase in agricultural 20th century's productivity.[2] Nearly all insecticides have the potential to significantly alter ecosystems; many are toxic to humans; some concentrate along the food chain.[citation needed]
Insecticides can be classified in different ways:[citation needed]
The mode of action describes how the pesticide kills or inactivates a pest. It provides another way of classifying insecticides. Mode of action is important in understanding whether an insecticide will be toxic to unrelated species, such as fish, birds and mammals.
For products that repel rather than kill insects see insect repellents.
The best-known organochloride, DDT, was created by Swiss scientist Paul Müller. For this discovery, he was awarded the 1948 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.[6] DDT was introduced in 1944. It functions by opening sodium channels in the insect's nerve cells.[7] The contemporaneous rise of the chemical industry facilitated large-scale production of DDT and related chlorinated hydrocarbons.
Organophosphates are another large class of contact insecticides. These also target the insect's nervous system. Organophosphates interfere with the enzymes acetylcholinesterase and other cholinesterases, disrupting nerve impulses and killing or disabling the insect. Organophosphate insecticides and chemical warfare nerve agents (such as sarin, tabun, soman, and VX) work in the same way. Organophosphates have a cumulative toxic effect to wildlife, so multiple exposures to the chemicals amplifies the toxicity.[8] In the US, organophosate use declined with the rise of substitutes.[9]
Carbamate insecticides have similar mechanisms to organophosphates, but have a much shorter duration of action and are somewhat less toxic.[citation needed]
Pyrethroid pesticides mimic the insecticidal activity of the natural compound pyrethrum. These compounds are nonpersistent sodium channel modulators and are less toxic than organophosphates and carbamates. Compounds in this group are often applied against household pests.[10]
Neonicotinoids are synthetic analogues of the natural insecticide nicotine (with much lower acute mammalian toxicity and greater field persistence). These chemicals are acetylcholine receptor agonists. They are broad-spectrum systemic insecticides, with rapid action (minutes-hours). They are applied as sprays, drenches, seed and soil treatments. Treated insects exhibit leg tremors, rapid wing motion, stylet withdrawal (aphids), disoriented movement, paralysis and death.[11] Imidacloprid may be the most common. It has recently come under scrutiny for allegedly pernicious effects on honeybees[12] and its potential to increase the susceptibility of rice to planthopper attacks.[13]
Ryanoids are synthetic analogues with the same mode of action as ryanodine, a naturally occurring insecticide extracted from Ryania speciosa (Flacourtiaceae). They bind to calcium channels in cardiac and skeletal muscle, blocking nerve transmission. Only one such insecticide is currently registered, Rynaxypyr, generic name chlorantraniliprole.[14]
Transgenic crops that act as insecticides began in 1996 with Bt corn that produces the Cry protein, derived from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, which is toxic to moth larvae such as the European corn borer. The technique has been expanded to include the use of RNA interference RNAi that fatally silences crucial insect genes. RNAi likely evolved as a defense against viruses. Midgut cells in many larvae take up the molecules and help spread the signal. The technology can target only insects that have the silenced sequence, as was demonstrated when a particular RNAi affected only one of four fruit fly species. The technique is expected to replace many other insecticides, which are losing effectiveness due to the spread of pesticide resistance.[15]
Insect growth regulator (IGR) is a term coined to include insect hormone mimics and an earlier class of chemicals, the benzoylphenyl ureas, which inhibit chitin(exoskeleton) biosynthesis in insects. Diflubenzuron is a member of the latter class, used primarily to control caterpillars that are pests. The most successful insecticides in this class are the juvenoids (juvenile hormone analogues). Of these, methoprene is most widely used. It has no observable acute toxicity in rats and is approved by World Health Organization (WHO) for use in drinking water cisterns to combat malaria. Most of its uses are to combat insects where the adult is the pest, including mosquitoes, several fly species, and fleas. Two very similar products, hydroprene and kinoprene, are used for controlling species such as cockroaches and white flies. Methoprene was registered with the EPA in 1975. Virtually no reports of resistance have been filed. A more recent type of IGR is the ecdysone agonist tebufenozide (MIMIC), which is used in forestry and other applications for control of caterpillars, which are far more sensitive to its hormonal effects than other insect orders.
Many plants exude substances to repel insects. Premier examples are substances activated by the enzyme myrosinase. This enzyme converts glucosinolates to various compounds that are toxic to herbivorous insects. One product of this enzyme is allyl isothiocyanate, the pungent ingredient in horseradish sauces.
The myrosinase is released only upon crushing the flesh of horseradish. Since allyl isothiocyanate is harmful to the plant as well as the insect, it is stored in the harmless form of the glucosinolate, separate from the myrosinase enzyme.[16]
In general, tree rosin is considered a natural insecticide. To be specific, the production of oleoresin by conifer species is a component of the defense response against insect attack and fungal pathogen infection.[17]
Bacillus thuringiensis is a bacterial disease that affects Lepidopterans and some other insects. Toxins produced by strains of this bacterium are used as a larvicide against caterpillars, beetles, and mosquitoes. Toxins from Saccharopolyspora spinosa are isolated from fermentations and sold as Spinosad. Because these toxins have little effect on other organisms, they are considered more environmentally friendly than synthetic pesticides. The toxin from B. thuringiensis (Bt toxin) has been incorporated directly into plants through the use of genetic engineering. Other biological insecticides include products based on entomopathogenic fungi (e.g., Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae), nematodes (e.g., Steinernema feltiae) and viruses (e.g., Cydia pomonella granulovirus).[citation needed]
Some insecticides kill or harm other creatures in addition to those they are intended to kill. For example, birds may be poisoned when they eat food that was recently sprayed with insecticides or when they mistake an insecticide granule on the ground for food and eat it.[8]
Sprayed insecticide may drift from the area to which it is applied and into wildlife areas, especially when it is sprayed aerially.[8]
The development of DDT was motivated by desire to replace more dangerous or less effective alternatives. DDT was introduced to replace lead and arsenic-based compounds, which were in widespread use in the early 1940s.[18]
DDT was brought to public attention by Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring. One side-effect of DDT is to reduce the thickness of shells on the eggs of predatory birds. The shells sometimes become too thin to be viable, reducing bird populations. This occurs with DDT and related compounds due to the process of bioaccumulation, wherein the chemical, due to its stability and fat solubility, accumulates in organisms' fatty tissues. Also, DDT may biomagnify, which causes progressively higher concentrations in the body fat of animals farther up the food chain. The near-worldwide ban on agricultural use of DDT and related chemicals has allowed some of these birds, such as the peregrine falcon, to recover in recent years. A number of organochlorine pesticides have been banned from most uses worldwide. Globally they are controlled via the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants. These include: aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, mirex and toxaphene.[citation needed]
Insecticides can kill bees and may be a cause of pollinator decline, the loss of bees that pollinate plants, and colony collapse disorder (CCD),[19] in which worker bees from a beehive or Western honey bee colony abruptly disappear. Loss of pollinators means a reduction in crop yields.[19] Sublethal doses of insecticides (i.e. imidacloprid and other neonicotinoids) affect bee foraging behavior.[20] However, research into the causes of CCD was inconclusive as of June 2007.[21]
See also: Category:Organochloride insecticides
See also: Category:Organophosphate insecticides
Insect growth regulators[edit]
|This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2010)
|Look up insecticide in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
|Wikisource has the text of the 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article Insecticide.


text:
- - by
- Jay Hathaway
Justin Bieber Says 'Like' 63 Times in An 11-Minute Leno Interview
- topic:
- Humor
- Videos
- Busted!
- Television
So this guy on the internet is like, "Justin Bieber is on Jay Leno, and he's saying 'like,' like, a lot. Maybe I should, like, count how many times he says it, and make, like, a YouTube video."
And then I'm like, "Wow, this video is, like, insane. Bieber says like, like, 63 times! In 11 minutes! I have to, like, tell the whole internet about this."
Seriously, though: I didn't know "like" was still such a huge linguistic phenomenon with the kids these days. I remember being called out for it by my cave-teachers back in the prehistoric 1990s, but I didn't realize today's teen heartthrobs were dropping the L-bomb every ten seconds. Bieber fans, does this revelation make you, like, like him any less?
Oh, and he went on Letterman the next night. We counted 67 "likes" in this one.
- via:// Gawker.tv
- related:// All of Urlesque's Justin Bieber coverage
hot on the web
By Ally
Nah, you can tell he was nervous. I'm sure he's realized how many times he said 'like' and knows how dumb it sounded. Everyone does something different when they have to speak, whether it's fidgeting or saying 'like' however many times. I've heard plenty of kids in my classes in high school say it way too much, but it happens.
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A teen boy has been severely injured in a two-story story fall at the Arlington Mill Community Center.
A witness said the teenager had climbed on the other side of a railing two stories off the ground to do "pull-ups showing off for his girlfriend" when he lost his grip and "fell hard on his back."
He was transported to the trauma center at Inova Fairfax Hospital with life-threatening injuries. Another witness at the scene, who did not see the fall but saw the aftermath, said the teen was conscious but "in shock" after the fall.
Police are investigating the incident. One of the teen's friends caught the fall on video and accompanied him to the hospital, police told ARLnow.com at the scene.
(Updated at 2:10 p.m.) The western portion of Columbia Pike in Arlington is likely going to be home to the county's newest farmers market.
The Arlington County Board is expected to approve a proposal to create an open air market in the plaza of the Arlington Mill Community Center (909 S. Dinwiddie Street) at its meeting this Saturday.
The market, if approved, would take place from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Wednesdays and be run by the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization. The Arlington Mill plaza, in the middle of its first summer since the community center opened last fall, is already hosting half of CPRO's outdoor summer movies, including showing several Spanish-language films.
CPRO already operates one farmers market on the east end of the Pike, next to the Rite Aid parking lot (2820 Columbia Pike), but CPRO Executive Director Takis Karantonis has spoken about expanding the use of public spaces all along the Pike to engage the community.
"We try to think of how to activate as much public space as possible," Karantonis told ARLnow.com last month. "We want to do many small events that strengthen the idea of Columbia Pike as one corridor."
Karantonis said the market will focus on "fresh vegetables and produce" and will start small. If approved as expected, Karantonis expects the first market to be held on July 30.
"The western end of the Pike has had less than favored access to fresh food and choices in general," he said. "We want to remediate that. We want to have a farmer's market that caters to a large population that needs more affordable choices, so we will try our best to make it as affordable as possible."
The proposal is on the County Board's consent agenda, meaning it will be approved without discussion unless a Board member has an issue. CPRO anticipates seven or eight vendors per week this summer, but applied for permission for up to 10 vendor tents. The land is owned by Arlington County, so the Board must also approving licensing it to CPRO for use during the market.
The market is proposed to operate until the end of November during its first year, and to operate year-round after that. The Board is voting on a one-year open-air permit, with the option to review and renew after the year is over.
File photo
(Updated at 1:00 p.m.) Starting tonight, neighborhoods along Columbia Pike are getting in on the summer outdoor movie scene.
The Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization (CPRO) is bringing back outdoor movies in Penrose Square every Saturday from this week (June 21) through August 30. This year, CPRO also will offer movies every other Thursday in the plaza of the new Arlington Mill Community Center, starting tonight and running through September 11.
CPRO is trying out something different at Arlington Mill by offering a couple of Spanish movies subtitled in English, and vice versa. The push for diversity in the movie selection isn't just for Spanish-speaking cultures. CPRO Executive Director Takis Karantonis notes the movie "The Visitor" deals with issue of immigrating to the United States from Africa and the Middle East.
"We really are very interested in bringing movies from the many cultures we have along Columbia Pike," said Karantonis. "We will test to see how it works. We realize not everybody is happy with subtitles all of the time, so we will collect feedback and adapt according. Our goal is to make the movies as linguistically accessible as possible."
Movies begin around 8:30 p.m., or when it becomes dark enough. In case of inclement weather, event changes will be posted on the CPRO website, Facebook page and Twitter feed.
The Arlington Mill movie schedule follows:
- June 19 — La Misma Luna (Spanish subtitles)
- July 3 — Life of Pi
- July 17 — No se Aceptan Devoluciones (English subtitles)
- July 31 — The Visitor
- August 14 — Sofia y el Terco (Spanish subtitles)
- August 28 — El Estudiante (English subtitles)
- September 11 — Avatar
Below is the schedule for movies at Penrose Square:
- June 21 — Mama Mia!
- June 28 — The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
- July 5 — Sideways
- July 12 — Inception
- July 19 — Notting Hill
- July 26 — Little Miss Sunshine
- August 2 — Slumdog Millionaire
- August 9 — Before Sunset
- August 23 — The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
- August 30 — Gravity
The new Arlington Mill Community Center (909 S. Dinwiddie Street) will remain without a full-time food vendor for the foreseeable future.
The County Board on Saturday voted to release Pan American Bakery and Cafe from its seven-year lease at Arlington Mill. Rent on the 1,875 square foot retail location, on the ground floor of the community center, was to start at $56,250.00 per year and rise to $67,165.44 at the end of the seven year term.
The eatery was supposed to serve healthy fare, along with coffee, gelato and salteñas.
The owners of the restaurant, which has existing locations at 4113 Columbia Pike and at 650 S. Pickett Street in Alexandria, asked the county to terminate the lease "because of personal and family health problems." One owner's mother, who lives in Bolivia, was said to be seriously ill, and the other owner has been battling two serious illnesses, according to the staff report.
County staff "continues to pursue a replacement tenant," but the county is not projecting any lease revenue in its Fiscal Year 2015 budget.
Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) hosted an information briefing this morning on how low-income residents can file their taxes for free.
At the new Arlington Mill Community Center, Moran spoke briefly to a crowd of representatives from local nonprofits like Offender Aid and Restoration, AHC and from staffers at Arlington's Department of Human Services, extolling the benefits of FreeFile, the free tax filing available to those who make $58,000 a year or less.
"The FreeFile program is a terrific example of how government and private businesses work together to help families take control of their finances," Moran told the crowd of about 30. "Seventy percent of taxpayers in this country are eligible to file taxes for free."
After Moran spoke, representatives from the IRS and the Intuit Tax Freedom Project walked those in attendance — at least two of whom wanted to electronically file their taxes on the spot — through the process. The talk was focused on not only saving low-income families money when filing, but making sure they understand potential refund money they're entitled to.
"The Earned Income Tax Credit is the No. 1 poverty-fighting instrument in the world," IRS Senior Tax Specialist Loren Johnson said.
Moran told ARLnow.com after his talk that despite the substantial average wealth of his constituents, he is still focused on making sure the financially struggling residents of the 8th Congressional District are as informed as possible two weeks before the April 15 filing deadline.
"We have thousands of people eligible for free filing who work hard, and they ought to be able to keep as much of their income as the law allows," Moran said. "The representatives of the organizations here can now interpret what they learned to their constituents."
(Updated at 11:40 a.m.) Pan American Bakery and Café is asking Arlington County to terminate its lease in the new Arlington Mill Community Center (909 S. Dinwidde Street), ARLnow.com has learned.
The bakery was announced as the food service tenant for the center this past summer. As we reported at this time, the 1,875 square foot location on the center's ground floor was to serve healthier foods, specialty coffee, gelato and salteñas.
Rent on the seven-year lease was to start at $56,250.00 per year and rise to $67,165.44 at the end of the seven year term. For reasons as of yet unknown — its owners could not be reached for comment — Pan American is now trying to back out of the lease.
"We have recently received a request from Pan American Bakery asking to terminate their lease," Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services spokeswoman Jennifer Heilman told ARLnow.com. "Ultimately, this decision whether or not to terminate the lease will be made by the County Board as they approved the lease. There is no date set for this review by the County Board. We are currently exploring alternative options in the interim."
No word yet on what might replace Pan American at Arlington Mill. The bakery has existing locations at 4113 Columbia Pike in Arlington and 650 S. Pickett Street in Alexandria.
In announcing the bakery as Arlington Mill's restaurant tenant in July, county officials said its owners were chosen because of their "business experience, local presence, financial strength, willingness to accept the county's monetary terms, and readiness to proceed."
The community center will holding an open house on Friday, Dec. 6 and Saturday, Dec. 7.
Disclosure: Arlington County is advertising the Arlington Mill Community Center open house on ARLnow.com
Board Approves Paid Parking at Arlington Mill Center — The Arlington County Board has approved a plan to have drivers pay for parking longer than 4 hours at the new Arlington Mill Community Center. The plan, approved by a vote of 3-2 in a special Board session, is intended to discourage commuters from using the center's parking garage. Chris Zimmerman and Board Chair Walter Tejada voted against the plan, arguing that parking should be free at all times. [Sun Gazette]
Arlington Seeks Better Bike Map — Arlington County is asking for public input into its effort to design a better bike map of the county. Bike Arlington has created a short survey for local cyclists. The survey will remain open until Sept. 17. [Greater Greater Washington]
Old Bike Shop Profiled — The Old Bike Shop, which opened in January at 2647 N. Pershing Drive in Lyon Park, was recently profiled as part of an Arlington Independent Media student video project. "I sell what I think is good," said owner Larry Behery, of his bike "recyclery." [YouTube]
The $36 million Arlington Mill Community Center is only weeks away from opening.
County Board Chairman Walter Tejada and county staff members gave members of the media a preview tour Monday afternoon, showcasing the county's newest community investment.
Arlington Mill's construction "will definitely be under budget," according to George May, Department of Environmental Services bureau chief for facilities design and construction, and the five-story, 67,000-square-foot building will start hosting programs Sept. 3, and hold a grand opening Sept. 21. The project's expenditures are at about $35 million, May said.
Located at 909 S. Dinwiddie Street, the community center sits at a corner of Columbia Pike where there once stood a Safeway. Purchased by the county in 1996, the land remain unused for years while the economy crashed and the county had to reconfigure its plans for a community center in the area.
"It took a huge effort," Tejada said. "When the economy tanked, it looked like it might not move forward and the community was very disappointed."
Tejada had on a perpetual smile during the tour, seeing years of negotiations and false starts come to fruition. He was especially excited at the foosball table, which was covered by a piece of cardboard and he gleefully removed to spin the handles.
The facility will be free and open to the public from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. weekdays, 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Saturdays and 1:00 to 9:00 p.m. Sundays.
The only uses that will require fees are the fitness center and the parking garage after four hours. It was Tejada's hope that the garage be completely free, but, in a controversial decision, he and county staff compromised on four hours of free parking, to prevent the garage from becoming a "haven for commuters," according to the Sun Gazette.
The gymnasium has two full basketball courts and lines painted for volleyball and pickleball, which Facility Manager Rob Carter said was the most-requested activity in community meetings.
Arlington Mill also has a satellite office of the Arlington County Employment Center, classrooms, multipurpose rooms available to reserve, a room for the Project Family service and a rooftop garden. The center will have WiFi and, on the first floor, Pan American Bakery and Café. However, the bakery won't be open for a few months after the center itself opens.
Next door, the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing is still in construction on its apartment building, on land leased from the county. The window to apply for the waiting list for the building opens today and closes Saturday, Aug. 31. The fourth floor of the center is currently unoccupied, and is part of 9,900 square feet of the facility that is designated for future use.
When asked what he would tell critics who say Arlington Mill has been a vanity project, Tejada responded, "I would invite them to come here and meet the diverse people who will use this center, and then we can chat them up."
Construction on the Arlington Mill Community Center along Columbia Pike is expected to wrap up early next month, with recreational classes planned to start in early September and a planned ribbon-cutting on Sept. 28.
While it hasn't opened yet, Arlington County has just given residents a taste of what they'll get when the center opens its doors. The county posted a host of photos to Flickr Tuesday morning, previewing the new $36 million facility. It includes a basketball court, conference rooms, an outdoor plaza, a green roof, gathering places and more.
In addition to the recreational facilities, Pan American Bakery will be moving into the space in the fall with a full-service café on the ground floor.
Photos via Flickr
Arlington Mill Community Center Modifications Approved — The County Board approved modifications to the Arlington Mill Community Center project that are being called safety and utility upgrades. The county will use already approved project reserve funds for improvements such as parking garage security doors, an in-building wireless system antenna to aid first responder communication and a revised design for the intersection at 9th Street S. and Arlington Mill Drive. As reported last week, a Pan American Bakery and Café will open in the structure. Construction is on track to finish by early August, with a ribbon cutting ceremony on September 28. [Arlington County]
Arlington Receives Funding to Fight Childhood Obesity — The Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth has granted more than $36,000 to the county to fight childhood obesity and promote healthy living. This is the second year of a two-year grant. The money will help continue to fund community gardens, healthy school vending machine options and active recess. [Arlington County]
APS Hiring Hundreds of Staff Members – More than 260 full time and part time employees have been hired ahead of the Arlington Public Schools 2013-2014 year. That's about two-thirds of the more than 350 open slots APS aims to fill. Superintendent Dr. Patrick Murphy expects to be fully staffed by the beginning of the school year. [Sun Gazette]
Alexandria Approves BRT Station Design — Alexandria approved the design for its Route 1 Bus Rapid Transitway stations. The seven stations include real-time bus arrival displays and will cost about $200,000 apiece. Construction of the bus dedicated lanes in the middle of Route 1 began in July 2012 and is expected to finish late this year, with the line becoming operational early next year. The BRT will eventually cover a five mile stretch to connect the Braddock Road Metro station with the Pentagon City metro station. The Arlington portion of the line is expected to open in summer or fall of 2014. [Del Ray Patch]
Father of Deceased Skateboarder Found Dead — Friends and family of 18-year-old John Malvar — a Washington-Lee High School student who died following a skateboarding accident — were supposed to gather at a memorial service for the teen on Saturday, but his father never showed up. Several friends visited the man's apartment and had a maintenance man unlock the door, where they found George Malvar dead on his bed of natural causes. After learning of George Malvar's death, the friends and family decided to continue on with the memorial service for his son. [Washington Post]
Snake Causes Power Outage — More than 10,000 Arlington and Alexandria residents experienced a power outage on Saturday night and Dominion says it was caused by a snake. The reptile apparently slithered into some electrical equipment and knocked out electricity at a substation on Four Mile Run. Power was restored by Sunday morning. [Washington Post]
Flickr pool photo by Christopher Skillman
Pan American Bakery and Café will be the in-house restaurant at the new Arlington Mill Community Center after it opens later this summer.
The location in the four-story community center, at 909 S. Dinwidde Street, will be Pan American's fourth, but it will be decidedly different than the storefront a few blocks down Columbia Pike — which will remain open — and the shops in Alexandria and Fairfax.
The restaurant in Arlington Mill will specialize in healthier foods and offer options like specialty coffee, gelato and its specialty, salteñas, according to its lease agreement with the county. The County Board is expected to approve the lease at its meeting Saturday. The restaurant will be on the ground floor and occupy 1,875 square feet.
The owners, Maritza Genny DeFoor and Ramiro Morgana, were chosen, according to county staff, because of their "business experience, local presence, financial strength, willingness to accept the county's monetary terms, and readiness to proceed."
The community center is on target for completed construction in early August, Department of Environmental Services spokeswoman Myllisa Kennedy said. The first programs are expected to be held in early September and the DES has planned a ribbon-cutting for the new building Sept. 28.
Arlington Mill Goes Over Budget — The Arlington Mill Community Center on Columbia Pike has gone $600,000 over its $31.6 million budget. The County Board is expected to approve additional funding for the project at its meeting this coming Saturday. [Sun Gazette]
New Coworking Space in Clarendon — A new coworking space has opened at 3140 N. Washington Street in Clarendon, on the second floor of the Wells Fargo bank building. Link Locale will house startup companies, entrepreneurs, freelancers and teleworkers. It's the second coworking space to open along the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor this year. [Patch]
Redskins Player to Sign Autographs in Clarendon — Washington Redskins defensive end Stephen Bowen will sign autographs and take photos with fans tonight at the AT&T Store in Clarendon (3000 Wilson Blvd). The appearance will take place from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.
The new, under-construction Arlington Mill Community Center recently celebrated its "topping out" — the moment when the last beam is placed at the top of a building.
The complex, which is expected to open in the summer of 2013, will include a community center, senior center, gymnasium, parking garage and an affordable housing development. Arlington County's "Arlington TV" crew produced a video about the topping out ceremony, above.
Work on the new Arlington Mill Community Center in South Arlington is progressing.
Crews are currently in the process of installing sewer and water lines, along with other infrastructure along Columbia Pike, South Dinwiddie Street and Arlington Mill Drive. Excavation has begun on the area that will be the garage; work on the garage foundation and walls will start soon. A new traffic light also will be installed at the intersection of Columbia Pike and S. Dinwiddie Street.
Although 9th Street has been reopened for residents of Park Glen Condominiums and to access the nearby trail, Arlington Mill Drive will be closed for the remainder of the project.
The five-story community center is still on track to open next year, along with the 122-unit affordable housing complex being built on the site. Together, the buildings will form one of four mixed use "Neighborhood Centers" developed within the Columbia Pike Special Revitalization District.
A set of temporary traffic signals has been installed at the intersection of Columbia Pike and S. Arlington Mill Drive.
The intersection, which sits between two existing sets of traffic lights at Four Mile Run Drive and at S. Dinwiddie Street, is adjacent to the under-construction Arlington Mill Community Center and a future 122-unit affordable housing complex.
On its web site, Arlington County says the new traffic signals — which haven't been switched on yet — are necessary because of construction. Don't expect the lights to stay on for long, though. Arlington Mill Drive is expected to be closed during the latter stages of the community center's construction.
"Once the traffic signal is activated, the 9th Street connection on the north side of the [Arlington Mill construction] site will be closed to upgrade water and stormwater infrastructure and install curb and gutter," the county said. "Access to Columbia Pike will be maintained for Park Glen residents via S. Arlington Mill Drive. At this time, additional stormwater drainage facilities will also be installed just west of the site along S. Dinwiddie Street."
"When 9th Street is reopened in two to three months, S. Arlington Mill Drive will be closed to all traffic – except for construction vehicles – for the duration of the project," the county added. "All Park Glen traffic will be directed to Columbia Pike through the new 9th Street connector and S. Dinwiddie Street."


text:
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Review: Jesse's Girl Baked Eyeshadow
Read on for the review and swatches.
The first thing that I noticed about these baked eyeshadows was the size. They're HUGE as in quite impossible to finish using. Next was the shimmery-ness of the eyeshadow which made me weary at first that my eyes might be mistaken as disco balls.
Fortunately, on skin, the shadow gives a smooth coloring with just enough sparkle. True to Vanessa's review, these shadows are incredibly pigmented and they pack on well. All in all, good quality eyeshadows.
Evergreen is a fresh teal green with gold shimmers. I got complimented the first time I wore it but then I realized, I have too many green eyeshadows that looks just like this one and with the vast amount of eyeshadows that I have to alternate, it'll literally take me decades to finish using it. This means that I'll be adding it to my Garage Sales soon in hope that it'll go to better hands.
I bought Volcanic to be used as a blush. Ya'll know I can't pull off pink eyeshadows. As a blush, it gives a very sweet plum shade and the glitter gives the cheeks a pretty glow.
In this picture, I've used both of the eyeshadows for my look. Evergreen on the eyes and Volcanic on the cheeks.
Now on to the downside, the entire line of baked eyeshadows only has 4 colors. FOUR! Even foundations have more shades than that! I really wish they'd make more colors and come up with baked blush as well.
Jesse's Girl Baked Eyeshadows are available from The Makeup Mix Shop for $4.99USD.
12 comments:
- LyNn said...
wow this thing looks professional.
really reminded me of the mac grand duos somehow.
wonder how much you selling it for.
btw when they say mineralized baked blusher / eyeshadow does the word mineralized means they are as pure as mineral make ups and wont further provoke skin conditions?
- March 25, 2009 at 9:38 PM
- Connie De Alwis said...
It does, doesn't it?
I'm letting go for RM18. And to answer your question about the white line, I haven't used a good one from easily available brands. I'd look into Rimmel. Overall they have great pencil liners.
Mineralized basically means that the product is made from minerals including the colors. For instance iron oxide gives red. So, they're using that instead of Red No.40 Lake. Some people get allergic reactions towards artificial colorings which is why they promote mineralized products to be good for sensitive skin. But it's not always the case.
- March 25, 2009 at 10:25 PM
- Askmewhats said...
Super pigmented!!! They are super pretty!!! Thanks for this!
- March 25, 2009 at 10:42 PM
- gio said...
wow they are gorgeous and so pigmented!!
- March 26, 2009 at 1:53 AM
- Jamilla Camel said...
The green is such a beautiful color on you!!
- March 26, 2009 at 4:07 AM
- prettybeautiful said...
i too think that the evergreen looks really nice! i think i really love green shadows
- March 26, 2009 at 9:45 AM
- pinkyping said...
wow I love the evergreen. It look really pigmented too. :) Look really good on you as well. Did you only use evergreen on your eyes?
- March 26, 2009 at 3:17 PM
- Sue said...
I like how the evergreen shows up on your swatch! So pretty!
- March 26, 2009 at 3:48 PM
- jojoba said...
sometimes less is more. maybe 4 is all your need. :P beautiful EOTD there.
- March 26, 2009 at 10:55 PM
- makeupmag said...
What a pretty eotd...and shadow! You make me want to order it right now! :D
- March 27, 2009 at 1:53 AM
- Connie De Alwis said...
Pinky: gosh.. I don't remember. I think I blended another color into the crease. i'm positive that evergreen is the on the lid below the crease. lol.
Jojoba: 4 eyeshadows will never be enough!! 40 maybe :p
- March 27, 2009 at 10:38 AM
- Tine said...
The Evergreen looks very pretty :) But then again, I've always loved green and blue e/s so I'm biased :p
- April 2, 2009 at 5:25 AM
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Your comments will help encourage me so please don't hesitate to leave one.
However, I only ask that you'd take a look at the FAQ page before asking a question.
Thanks a bunch!
<3 Connie


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