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- TwoPenny Terror
- http://www.gamingangels.com
- Member Since Feb 24th, 2006
Recent Comments:
The Daily Grind: When will you be done with WoW? {Massively}
Feb 25th 2008 9:16AM After more than a year of consistent WoW-ing, I've come to my first "burn out" period. I can't put my finger on exactly what it was that made me take an indefinite break; I simply realized I wasn't having fun anymore. Perhaps the feeling will pass after a brief break, or maybe I've dinged my last in the World of Warcraft. Time will tell.
GDC08: Turbine talks about gaming's future {Massively}
Feb 19th 2008 4:03PM Yes, thanks for posting this Elizabeth. I've recently begun playing LotRo again and I think they're heading in an interesting direction. I'd love to see what they have planned in the future.
Atlus countdown raises hopes for Persona FES {Joystiq}
Feb 19th 2008 10:41AM If it is FES, I will squeal with delight. I've been trying to get my hands on a copy of Persona 3, but unless you want to spend over $70 on Ebay for just the game that's not happening :(
Warhammer video shows real PvP {Massively}
Feb 16th 2008 6:05PM RELEASE IT ALREADY!!! :)
I'm currently experiencing WoW burnout and WAR would certainly hit the spot.
Cinemassively: Here Without You {Massively}
Feb 15th 2008 1:49PM I could not disagree with Adam more!
That is one of the best machinima I have seen that invokes emotion above all else. Sure, he could have used different transitions (and perhaps a better song), but it's not about the graphics and fancy crap. It's about the story being told through images. In that regard, I think Dimoroc did a damn fine job.
Get Grumpy, Faster and cheaper than Figure Prints! {WoW}
Jan 31st 2008 12:12PM Can some of you actually READ the blog post before you comment? Kthxbye
Blood Pact: How to be evil, Warlock edition {WoW}
Jan 24th 2008 8:59AM O-M-G...I think I've just found my WoW calling! My lock alt has been sitting idle for a while now why I leveled a druid. Not anymore :)
Breakfast Topic: Non-combat uses for combat spells {WoW}
Jan 24th 2008 8:46AM My warlock friend & I used to have a lot of fun standing around casting Blizzard and Rain of Fire simultaneously on the heads of anyone around. Not sure why we found it to be so much fun, but the graphical effect was very cool.
Patch 2.3.3 glitches {WoW}
Jan 23rd 2008 12:49PM OK, so there were definitely patch issues. I experienced the same empty mail messages, naked characters, and random disconnects for a bit last night. Hopefully all is well tonight when I log in.
Orlando museum attracts record numbers with gaming convention {Joystiq}
Jan 23rd 2008 9:52AM DOH! I had press passes for this but I was way too sick to go. Oh well, maybe next year, if I still live here.


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WoW Insider's Weekly Webcomic: Safe Passage
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Overgrowth. In such a wild land, what's more dangerous: the land itself or its inhabitants?
Check out the full comic right here, and tune in next Tuesday morning for a new page. You can also see all the previous pages in the gallery below.
Filed under: WoW Insider's Weekly Comic

subset: commoncrawl


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STOKE-ON-TRENT, England–Portmeirion Group has reported a profit of £5 million, or $7.5 million, for 2012, a 6.6 percent increase over the previous year.
Sales for the group, which includes the Portmeirion, Spode, Royal Worcester and Pimpernel brands, increased 3.6 percent to £55.5 million, or $84 million for the year, which ended Dec. 31, 2012. The company said events in the United States, including Superstorm Sandy, the presidential elections and government budget uncertainty, hampered sales—they declined by 6.4 percent in U.S. dollars. The U.S. is Portmeirion's largest market; it accounted for 36 percent of revenue in 2012, compared to 40 percent in 2011. U.K. sales grew 7.9 percent. Online sales, the company said, were 75 percent higher than in 2011 at more than £500,000, or roughly $758,000.
"Our global brands are respected and valuable, our product ranges are excellent, our people are best in class and our balance sheet is strong," said Dick Steele, non-executive chairman, in a statement. "We remain confident for the future."


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Oct 26, 2012 12:00 PM
Save up to 90% off on deals across the Central Coast!
Pamper yourself at spas and beauty salons, have some fun and let yourself go at some prime recreational spots across our beautiful Central Coast, or just pick up a few certificates for some delicious food here on the Central Coast.
And don't forget to sign up to receive the Deal of the Day first thing in the morning, just two or three times a week!
Click here to check out all of our current deals today!
Such a deal at My 805 Deals!
Offensive or inappropriate comments are subject to removal. To report a comment, please e-mail us at firstname.lastname@example.com, and include the name of the story and information on the comment.
Thank you! KSBY.com
10 hours ago


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Blog | Comments |
WoW | 14 Comments |
Recent Comments:
The Queue: Lore questions? Oh, boy! {WoW}
Feb 9th 2011 5:10PM The game developers have indicated that the next expansion will likely take place on a new continent. I know that there are absolutely no details available at this time, but does Azeroth have a fourth known continent? Northrend was preexisting in the lore, but is there yet another continent?
12 Days of Winter Veil Giveaway Day 2: $100 SwagDog code {WoW}
Dec 24th 2010 5:13PM :3
12 Days of Winter Veil Giveaway Day 3: $20 J!NX codes {WoW}
Dec 24th 2010 5:11PM /want
12 Days of Winter Veil Giveaway Day 3: Worldbreaker Epic Collection boxes {WoW}
Dec 24th 2010 2:24PM I love the TCG, the art is the most amazing ive seen in any tcg, I have the art book and everything :P Hope the luck of the draw picks me :3
Win a 10-Man Raid eyeshadow set from Geek Chic Cosmetics! {WoW}
Aug 17th 2010 4:41PM Free things!
Win one of three free FigurePrints Busts {WoW}
Jun 8th 2010 4:59PM Drpeppah the Light of Dawn
Enter to win an Ethereal Soul-Trader {WoW}
Jun 3rd 2010 12:38AM :3
Win a copy of "The Guild Leader's Handbook" by Scott Andrews {WoW}
May 11th 2010 7:20PM Looking foward to hypothetically reading this!
The Queue: In which Amy Pond is profiled {WoW}
Apr 22nd 2010 1:01PM Worgen FTW!
Win a pony from WoW.com {WoW}
Apr 15th 2010 7:42PM I would also like a pony!


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Universal mind control
Let me see you robot
Racism construct
Let me see you robot
from Noname Gypsy (Ft. K.O.) – Sunday Morning Lyrics on Genius
Mass Media controls how people identify themselves and their race in popular culture, which makes masses of people act like robots living under the New World Order.
She could also referring to Common's Universal Mind Control
To help improve the quality of the lyrics, visit "Sunday Morning" by Noname Gypsy (Ft. K.O.) Lyrics and leave a suggestion at the bottom of the page


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Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial
Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial
Jaime Garcia is the son of cigar legend, Jose Pepin Garcia, and although this is the first cigar to feature his name, this is not the first cigar he has blended. The original My Father cigar, a tribute to his father, was his first blend. Now he's back with the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial, a cigar that is considered to be one of the best new releases of 2010.
The Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial differs from most traditional My Father and Don Pepin blends in that while it is a complex journey of flavors, spice is not the main player but is instead a complementary one. Hitting the nose and tongue are notes of mocha, rich chocolate, nuts, cinnamon and a small smattering of spice. While not the typical cigar we've come to expect from either Pepin, this one still is a wonderful treat.
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Satellite Radio, XM Receiver. To enhance the ownership experience, Toyota offers a choice of either XMâ or SIRIUS Satellite Radio for an extensive programming selection through a wide variety of nationwide network listening choices. Featuring radio controls integrated into the vehicle audio head unit, satellite radio programming includes commercial-free music, news, talk, sports, lifestyle and entertainment channels, plus dedicated channels providing instant traffic and weather reports—and other exclusive programming.


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Reality TV is a tricky medium. It claims to be a realistic portrayal of the people ("characters") and themes ("storylines") it pieces together in each episode, but viewers are often left wondering how much of it was all for the cameras. So when a show is supposed to be a "real" portrait of a subset of under-represented people, it can be a little dangerous. And I'm not talking about any Housewives, Kardashians or aspiring pop stars.
Last summer, Showtime premiered the first season of "The Real L Word." Reviews and ratings were poor, but the president of the network and producers of the show believed they identified a diamond in the rough in one of its "real" lesbians named Whitney. The second season, which premiered last Sunday night, is a radically different show in that Whitney is the only returning cast member, and the rest of the new ones all appear to be just as willing as she is to get naked and intimate on screen. Keep reading »


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Courteney Cox on the set of "Cougar Town" (10/16)
1 of 28
Courteney Cox and Busy Philips filmed scenes for Cougar Town this afternoon in LA, and folks, that is one nice looking 45-year-old. Seriously, gotta give credit where credit is due, and Courteney could easily pass for Lindsay Lohan's little sister. But then again so could Phyllis Diller, I should w...


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Hello and welcome to the Department of Works online boutique. The Department of Works is a young independent design company specialising in producing original t-shirts, crafted by hand using bench silkscreen techniques.
We take the t-shirt out of its sloganeering doldrums to create shirts that are ahead of the trend, upwards of cool and a step beyond the urban uniform.
Our in house clerks are working, round the clock to bring you new designs that are updated regularly so, check out our shop to see our current designs.
For further info on our garments, codes of practice and how to use this site check out the About Us page.
If you've already got one of our shirts then send us a picture of yourself for our customer gallery.
Send your shots to us.
Enjoy the site and let us add a swagger to your mojo.
The Clerks x


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Unlock the entire Houzz
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| Email | Full Article (TrendHunter.com/id/51595) |
When I say powerful solar panels, I mean both physically and figuratively. These installations of sun-harnessing panels are contributing to the world in many different ways regardless of their size (which varies).
The powerful solar panels are put into architecture, athletic gear, fashion accessories, and even children's toys. It's nice to see innovations that are doing all that they can to make this world a better place.


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I was contemplating these ideas while driving past Children's Hospital on Downing Street last week, and, as usual, I was reminded of Lua Blankenship. I've never met Blankenship, who was the hospital's president for a short time, but I think of him whenever I'm in this area. It was Blankenship, more than anyone else, who decided to demolish the Boettcher School -- which once stood on Downing between 18th and 19th avenues -- in order to expand Children's Hospital.
Boettcher was a modernist masterpiece created by Burnham Hoyt, one of the most artistically distinguished architects in the city's history. Hoyt is best known for designing the magnificent Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The school, with its poured-in-place cast concrete and experimental green-tinted aggregate and aluminum trim, was a high-style building. But Boettcher wasn't only a first-rate example of vanguard modern architecture; it was also one of the first buildings in the world to be handicapped-accessible. Originally designed in 1938 to serve as a school for Children's patients, the facility was connected to the hospital by a tunnel accessed by elegant, gently sloping ramps.
Of course, now that Children's is moving to the Fitzsimons campus in Aurora, Blankenship's expansion plans have been scrapped. And Blankenship is long gone, teaching at Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia.
As I was driving past Court Place on 15th Street, my mind, of course, turned to memories of Fred Kummer, the president of HBE, which owns the Adam's Mark Hotel. Like Blankenship, Kummer presided over the destruction of one of the city's greatest architectural treasures -- in this case, I.M. Pei's Zeckendorf Plaza.
Begun in 1956, the plaza was one of Pei's earliest major projects, and it boasted a three-part composition that included a department store, a high-rise hotel and an open-air courtyard with a sunken ice-skating rink. The department store had a novel entrance pavilion in the form of a hyperbolic paraboloid. Today the paraboloid is gone, the department store has been entirely resurfaced, and the ice-skating rink is a driveway. Only the tower survives.
Kummer, who lives in the St. Louis area, has visited Denver only a few times; he recently announced that he was putting the hotel up for sale after owning it for less than ten years.
As I continued down 15th, I suddenly thought of James Mejia, director of the Denver Department of Parks and Recreation during the final years of Wellington Webb's administration. I was skirting the edge of the ruined Skyline Park, once a world-class piece of landscape architecture that was done in 1970 by Lawrence Halprin, a designer who is as famous in his field as Pei is in his. Skyline ran below grade from 15th to 18th streets, with each block anchored by a distinctive fountain. The park was lined with aggregate walls and planters, which created a wide, meandering walk that opened up into courtyards and staircases.
Private interests pressured the city to destroy the park, which they claimed attracted vagrants, but instead of Mejia playing the role of park protector, as he should have done, he facilitated its destruction.
The city's budget woes are preventing the construction of the main design features of Skyline's planned replacement, but Mejia is no longer concerned, having left to go to graduate school at Princeton.
You see the pattern, don't you? People with little or no commitment to living here are making life-and-death decisions about our most important works of architecture. People like Blankenship, Kummer and Mejia make choices that absolutely diminish the character of the area, and -- all the more galling -- they don't have to live with their poor decisions. But we do!
This trip down memory lane has more than a nostalgic value because, as Sonny and Cher would say, the beat goes on. Two more area landmarks are headed for the chopping block because, again, people who care little or nothing about our region are making the calls.
The first is down in Englewood, and the name to remember here is George Quittner, Commercial Federal Bank's director of purchasing and property administration. He's the guy who decided the little jewel-box bank at 4301 South Broadway has got to go.
Now, truthfully, Englewood's central business district, on South Broadway around Hampden Avenue, is pretty grim and has little to recommend it. The City of Englewood commissioned a planning study recently to evaluate the buildings on South Broadway; in the report, the Walgreens building was identified as being exemplary. In other words, a structure need only clear a very low hurdle to be considered notable in downtown Englewood.
The Commercial Federal Bank, however, doesn't need any "Walgreens standard" grade inflation in order to earn top marks. No, the bank's a high-quality work of architecture in comparison to all others of its date and type -- and not just in Englewood, but anywhere in this state. That's not a surprise: It was designed by William Muchow, one of the most successful and accomplished architects to have worked in Colorado in the second half of the twentieth century.


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Hardware news tagged 2Gb
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Memory Makers to Slowdown Migration to New Process Technologies, Bit Growth.
[4:33 am]
To Reduce DRAM Capacities, Manufacturers to Slowdown Progress
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Contract Price of 4GB DDR3 Memory Module Price Drops Below $16 as Demand Falls.
[9:03 pm]
DRAM Prices Down Again as Peak PC Season Ends
Monday, October 1, 2012
DRAM Makers Continue to Suffer as DRAM Price Falls.
[12:32 am]
4GB DDR3 DRAM Module's Price Drops to $16.25
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
DRAM Prices Continue to Fall Despite of Back-to-School Season.
[8:30 pm]
Contract Price of 4GB DDR3 Memory Module Drops to $18
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Average Selling Price of DRAM Begins to Gradually Increase - DRAMeXchange.
[2:05 pm]
Memory Price Continues to Stagnate, But Show Signs of Rebound
Thursday, September 29, 2011
BTS Season Does Not Bring Relief to DRAM Industry: 4GB Memory Module Costs Below $20.
[8:50 pm]
Back-to-School Season Slightly Increases Pricing of Some Memory Chips
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Samsung Begins to Produce 2Gb DDR3 Memory Chips Using 40nm Process Technology.
[3:37 pm]
Samsung Launches Inexpensive 2Gb 1600MHz DDR3 Memory Chips


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PrimodelsProfessional, betragtes som Australiens high fashion scouting agentur er altid på j...
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Osama Bin Laden Reported Dead, Body In US Hands
DNF (1855 comments)
Another thing to add to the long list of "Things that took less time than Duke Nukem Forever".
Announcing: Slashdot Deals - Explore geek apps, games, gadgets and more. (what is this?)
We are sorry to see you leave - Beta is different and we value the time you took to try it out. Before you decide to go, please take a look at some value-adds for Beta and learn more about it. Thank you for reading Slashdot, and for making the site better!
DNF (1855 comments)
Another thing to add to the long list of "Things that took less time than Duke Nukem Forever".
Wow, what "news". (143 comments)
I don't know what's the most ridiculous; The headline (since when is "what could be but probably won't" news?), the fact that these news start with "An opinion piece at CNN" (opinion
Next up: Some guy on the street says cars could run on liquid gold soon but probably won't. In his opinion car manufacturers could produce cars running on gold for 5$ less than the average gas-guzzling car and thus eliminate the demand for oil.
Activision and Innovation? (101 comments)
Where's the innovation? First they copy Guitar Freaks and milk this new franchise dry, then they keep releasing Call of Duty games that basically only differ in their titles. Where does Activision deserve credit for anything besides overstaying their welcome?
Epic? (235 comments)
Is it really necessary to refer to EVERYTHING as "epic"?
Damn Computers... (622 comments)
They tuk or jooobs!
Okay, hold on a second... (376 comments)
"...an obsessive fact-loving realm that is dominated by men and, some say, uncomfortable for women." "The big problem is that the current Wikipedia community is what came about by letting things develop naturally" So...it was a natural development that men are in the majority, and it may be uncomfortable for women. Why do we need to shoehorn them in then? What's with this diversity-fetish?
Should they? (804 comments)
No, they shouldn't.
Hey, you there! (81 comments)
You want clean energy, buddy? Well asshole, I got your clean energy right here.
Re:Free as long as we don't cross our own politici (488 comments)
I know, rite?
The way it should be (412 comments)
"(...)we believe the quality of the games beyond Crysis 2 and other CryEngine developments will be pretty much limited to what their creative expressions is, what the content is."
The way it should be.
Re:Go ahead, stay on my lawn... (56 comments)
I'm pretty sure the PSX was worse in that respect. Much worse.
Can't wait (155 comments)
Looking forward to live tweets from their teaparties. I hear they're quite a "good show".
The U-Force worked (135 comments)
TFA (yeah yeah, I know, I wasn't supposed to actually read it) seems more like an advertisement for Kinect to me. I actually owned a U-Force and it worked without a hitch, even the flight-stick accessory. But oh well, guess they were going for that whole "Thanks for liberating us from the oh so sucky past, Microsoft! Now could you pay us?" thing.
Well, (799 comments)
Gotta start 'em young I guess.
Beta for everyone (401 comments)
What is everyone complaining about? Square-Enix has given us all an opportunity to get into a beta of a huge, anticipated game. With Halo, Medal of Honor etc. everyone was desperately trying to get into the betas, but with Final Fantasy XIV it's now as easy as picking it up in stores. Isn't it great?
War of the Worlds (401 comments)
Next up: Suing the estate of H.G. Wells, because his Tripods are giving Apple bad publicity.
So? (468 comments)
So? Is that supposed to be surprising or something?
Re:Yeah, That'll Last (832 comments)
"You wouldn't download a CPU"
Re:iPad is the gold standard? (156 comments)
Well, it's not like they really had a choice. As far as the general public is concerned, Apple's products are the best ever and the absolute pinnacle of technology. So in order to appeal to a wide audience the other manufacturers have to compare themselves to Apple I think. It's the only basis of comparison the general public has. In order to make Linux appealing you have to say "It's better than Windows"; just providing data and technical mumbo jumbo won't do it for a general audience.
Re:Why do people post Explicite details in info? (63 comments)
I really don't know. I suppose it may have something to do with people STILL not grasping how dangerous the internet can really be. After all, it's "not real" and "anonymous".
I recently asked a friend of mine (who is a facebook addict) why she was posting all this personal information and updates her status with every little thing that enters her mind. Her answer was along the lines of "I dunno...why not?" I fear the only way for people to wake up and finally take internet security (or at least facebook security) serious is for their account to get hacked and all their nude photos leaked, or if someone uses their geotags to show up at their doorstep, or something like that. People don't learn until they fall flat on their face. And a litle spam on their wall is not enough for the average user (i.e. idiot) to rethink their behaviour.


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What should I do if my baby is more attached to her nanny than to me?
My 7-month-old is bonding with our nanny so strongly that at night she cries for her. This is really upsetting for my husband and me. I spend a lot of time with our daughter -- I give her breakfast, bathe her, and play with her for one to two hours every day. I'm worried that she's more attached to her nanny than she is to us. What should I do?
Posted: 02/02/2004 by a BabyCenter Member
Mom Answers
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Honestly it sounds to me like your nanny is spending more time with your daughter than you are, so I would think it would only be natural for them to have a strong bond. I am not trying to be harsh or mean, but if you are able to, you should try to spend more time with your daughter so she understands that you are the mom. She may be confused because of all of the time she spends with her nanny, especially if it's one on one time.posted 02/08/2004 by a BabyCenter Member
Well, if your Nanny is with your baby the ALL the time, then, yes, your baby will bond with that person. If you have 1-2 hours a day and the nanny has 10, I can only imagine the baby will be bonded more so with the primary care giver (the nanny).posted 02/08/2004 by a BabyCenter Member
Babies have a tendency to bond with those who are around them the most. Just be patient and understanding. In time, your daughter will realize that you are her parents, and that you will also take care of her.posted 02/08/2004 by a BabyCenter Member
babys go through alot of attachment phases. this can vary from week to week. So try not to worry about it to much.posted 02/08/2004 by a BabyCenter Member
SAHM back off! How could you assume and judge? Too much time on your hands to sit around and jump at another mother's throat perhaps??? Or is that just me acting like a judgemental person too? Honestly... why not offer advise in the form of possible solutions instead of personal attacks. I work because I have to. Am I going to explain my life for everyone to understand... NO! I am not. I'll just say that it is very common since infants/children go through different phases. Just try to get to konw your little one all over again and find ways to bond. If you can, visit during your lunch hour. I'm sorry that you had to read some of the insensitive comments.posted 03/19/2010 by Miguel&Sonia
In response to the question, your child doesn't love your Nanny more than you, your Nanny is probably more fun than you are. I don't say that to be judgmental, the two roles are just different. Even though I'm not around my child 24/7, I'm am "on" 24/7 either at work or at home. Nannies get to go home at night, recharge and come back the next day. About the being able to afford to stay home if you can afford a nanny, I rather doubt it's a question of "can't" if you're paying someone else's salary out of your own. I don't doubt that your bills are such that they can't be paid by one salary alone, but I doubt you would be living in poverty but for your second salary. I'm not talking about overpriced strollers, I'm talking about rent v s mortgage, 1 car vs 2, cable TV. I'm a WOHM (with a SAHD). Being a WOHM doesn't make you a bad mother but your child will (hopefully) become attached to their care provider. If that bothers you, reassess your priorities.posted 07/17/2008 by gorillamama27
WOW! ok, heres my 2-bits. I was a SAHM for my 3 children, now 26, 24, and 20. When we got married my husband and I discusses how we would raise the children. We both felt that, IF WE COULD AFFORD IT, one of us was going to stay home with the kids. He fondly says he took the easy job. Was it tough? Sure! we struggled financially for a while, but it was worth it. I am now raising a 5 year old girl whos parents did not take care of her and almost lost her to child services. We are praying that her 'bios' will sign off and let us adopt. I also has 2 wonderful grandsons. Now, do I look down on working moms? NO! I wsh every child could have a stay at home parent but I realize that there are situations where both parents must work to survive, expecially with the cost of living now. As for nannys, I personally never allowed anyone other than family to babysit my kids. Again, not all parents have the extended family to help this way. And some may have them but cannot trust them.posted 07/15/2008 by MommaStoves
As a sociologist and mother of a six-month-old son, it seems that many of these comments are inflammatory, self-righteous, and very condescending towards the working mother. However, the question submitted as well as the comments posted point to one of the greatest challenges our society has yet to adequately deal with: how to allow mothers to stay in the workforce and yet care for their children. A bit off-topic, but more women need to consider these issues rather than grinding their axes into other mothers. And, yes, I AM primary care-giver for my child.posted 08/10/2006 by a BabyCenter Member
Wow! What a bunch of disgruntled stay-at-home moms! A little harsh don't you think? And a little self-absorbed. Some of us don't have the option of staying home and it's not because we are selfish or unwilling to sacrifice. You don't know what that mother does for a living. She could be an active duty service member like me. We are serving our country and protecting YOUR families and that doesn't mean that we don't want or deserve the same things you do-like a family. We all do what we have to do to make it in this world and we try to make the best decisions for our families. For that Mom, if you have a great nanny and your child is safe and comfortable with her, consider yourself very fortunate. I know it's difficult to see your baby bond with someone else, but your situation is better than the flip side. Just cherish the time you do have with your child, sing special songs, play games that only the two of you do. YOU are her mother and nothing can change that!posted 03/22/2006 by a BabyCenter Member
Rubeye I am a working mom and have been a stay at home mom to to 3 kids. I do a modified holding time with my children it helps to promote bonding it worked really well with my children. The book is good and has a special section for working moms TITLE Holding Time AUTHOR Martha Welch Mom to Alex, Michael and Nicholasposted 02/17/2004 by a BabyCenter Member
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I went to 2 fairs this past weekend . I haven't gone in ages and was anxious to see what was new. What's new ?? -- NOTHING !!! I was really disappointed. At both fairs, almost half of the booths were jewelry.Most other booths were knitted/crocheted/sewn things. ( Lots of aprons and baby things ) A few booths had fall & Christmas florals.
That was it. Seems like craft fairs are really hurting for new & original ideas. Have you gone to any lately ? Anything good to share ? |
Follow-Up Postings:
- Posted by christopherh (My Page) on Tue, Oct 26, 10 at 8:44
We're seeing the same thing. Jewelry, jewelry, jewelry. And some of it isn't that good. I think they all get the same beads from the same wholesaler. We do shows with one particular promoter, www.castleberryfairs.com and she posts her schedule in early February for 15 shows. By the second week in February, the jewelry catagory is full for every show. Her link is below. I keep looking for something different too. Because the old adage is still true. The exhibitor who has something DIFFERENT will be the one who makes the money. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Castleberry Fairs
- Posted by adellabedella (My Page) on Tue, Oct 26, 10 at 12:19
I haven't been to a craft fair in a while because I got tired of seeing the same stuff. What I'd like to see is some nice, good size decorative pieces for the home that aren't imported from China and aren't all copies of each other. I'm willing to pay a higher price for original artwork, but not as high as I would if I had the piece commissioned. We built this house earlier this year and I'm having serious problems decorating it. I don't like the same look everyone else does. I'd like some signature pieces. I'm not a painter, but I've considered making my artwork just to have something to put on the wall. |
Adellabedella check with your local colleges for original art work. If you can't find anyone, perhaps I can help. Toomuchglass, the last 3 day fair I attended was pretty much as you stated, I would say food seemed to be the highest priority, followed by jewelry and bamboo cuttings. I did sell some of my note cards with reproductions of my paintings on them. |
Calirose, glad you sold some of your cards! Hope you had a good time & learned a lot. There is something new over on the Garden Junk forum tonight it's very simple. She got the idea somewhere else but so cute for Halloween. Cute enough that might make into something else for Christmas season. It's a frosted light shade for a fan light & she just painted cute eyes on it & mouth & put a battery votive inside & set on black plate. But I forgot what she called the post so will have to go back & see what it is & put it below. Sorry, Jan |
Recycled fan shade is name of post! Oh, I didn't tell you what it ends up being!! It's a ghost!! But I think it could be a caroler or something with a little imagination. The "book or sheet music the caroler would hold would be down almost at the bottom so the votive would light up the face! You get 4-5 of these light shades with each fan light so I have seen them often at TS. Might work with different shaped ones also so start looking at them as possible craft items! Jan |
Jan, thank you! I will check it out now. cali |
Jan, that is adorable! I actually have some of those shades. You have a great imagination! Wish I could put you in my pocket to keep you close so I could hear all those ideas that must be running through your mind! cali |
- Posted by netchannel (My Page) on Fri, Oct 29, 10 at 2:00
Thanks for the post next time i will definitely check what popular things at craft fairs. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Contemporary rugs
- Posted by grandma_bonnie (My Page) on Sat, Oct 30, 10 at 19:44
DANG - I hate when I fall for that. I clicked on the contemporary. rugs.... dang!!! |
- Posted by toomuchglass (My Page) on Sun, Oct 31, 10 at 1:48
This post proved my point . Someone was nice enough to share what sold good for them -- and people jumped on the bandwagon ready to copy it and sell it . I realize that different crafts sell in different areas . Maybe I'm just crabby tonight ..... LOL ... but I would never - ever .... copy an idea exactly . I'd use it as a base for a brain twister & come up with something new . **** I think this is menopause talking .....LOL ...I'm really not the crabby lady I looked liked here ! Sorry ~~~ *** |
I have been to two in the past two weeks and there was a lot of jewelry, but because of the season, lots of pumpkin stuff. In fact, the one last weekend was nearly all pumpkins, pilgrims, turkeys, and gourds. When I watch tv I can't wait for the elections to be over, and when I go to craft fairs, I can't wait for pumpkin season to be over. I never get tired of Christmas though. Why is that? |
Craft fairs are just starting here (ND) so hope to see something new. Mostly baby things, and many of them are not as nice as they use to be (too big of a hurry) and jewelry ( don't need any and even GD not wearing much) and way over prices. Our big one is next weekend so will let you know so if you are in the Bismarck ND area you will know what to look for. Some of the biggest sales is the homemade food items, again kind of pricy. |
- Posted by pumkingal (firstname.lastname@example.com) on Wed, Nov 3, 10 at 12:35
Hi all new to this forum,,I am in my first craft show this weekend and it has been years since I did one,, I also have jewelry too,,yukky,, but priced reasonable,, but my new thing this year and I hope it works is old time rag rugs,,,made 4 of them different sizes,,,with long stripes of sheets sewn together you gals should see how big of a ball that is,,lol kids laughed at it.. Also a rug that is all shaggy looking so very cute but takes 2 days to make it.. Also made organzia little bags put in 8 tiny packets of seeds and used my cricut to make flower cut outs and put seeds on a piece of card stock and put suran wrap over them glued it down added the dec,, so they get one card and 8 baggies of seeds all for $3.00,,whatcha think? Will be making fudge,, and cookies too,, and pot holders,,,I have also scarves,,, think I will throw together scarf kits,, so i don't have to knit any more,,lol Just wanted to share some ideas with you all,, Lisa |
- Posted by toomuchglass (My Page) on Wed, Nov 3, 10 at 18:25
Speaking of rag rugs - I'll never forget this booth . She had a Great Gimmick to sell her purses - they were made of rags like the rugs ( But I think she crocheted them ) Her gimmick was telling the story -"When I'm ready to make a purse , I buy myself a good bottle of wine & sit in my rocker & begin crocheting and drinking my wine. When I'm done with the purse and the wine - I put the cork in a little pocket of the purse so I know what wine to give the credit to when I'm done." Her booth was packed - you couldn't even get in . The story was passed out into the crowd & the ladies loved it !I guess it pays to have a gimmick ! |
Update on craft show. Lots of vendors, nothing new, not as much jewelery, but I did notice alot of decals that appear to be painted on. Did not like the clothing. Nothing special. I was disapointed and only stayed about 3 hours and bough one thing. Good variety, but nothing special |
- Posted by pumkingal (firstname.lastname@example.com) on Sat, Nov 6, 10 at 18:16
Hi ladies just reporting in,,made 175.00,, not bad at all I thought for what I did sell..It was not very big and not alot of traffic either..sold peanut butter fudge alot of it,,gave out wrapped samples,,6.50 for over a lb..went alot better at the end when I dropped it to 3.00,,lol sold 2 rag rugs 20.00,, dish clothes 3/5.00,,grab bags of jewelry wrapped up for 3.00 alot of them,,seeds for xmas cards at 8 packs for 3.00,, alot..they also commented what a great idea,,m&m cookies 13 for 4.00,, alot of these too. none of my made earrings,,none of my pretty scarves,,(that are 6' long),, I seen approns,,pot holders,,crystal glasses,,purses,,dish clothes,,really sell today,,our show was not a big one but this is all I have to go by,, hope this helps any one out.. |
Congratulations pumkingal on successful selling! |
My husband and I did our first craft fair yesterday. It was okay - not a huge crowd of people, but apparently there were three other major shows happening the same weekend. I sell tile coasters, as well as beaded bracelets. My husband sells handmade soap. Just soap, no other beauty products. I also had art cards to sell for a girlfriend. I ended up selling more bracelets than anything, and was actually disappointed that the coasters weren't a better seller. I've attached a picture of one set, so you can get an idea of what they are. I'd love to get your opinion on if they're 'different' enough that I should continue to pursue selling them or not. I was able to talk them up a lot and hand out business cards. I made sure people know I do custom work as well. My price is $15.00 for a set of 4 coasters. here's a link to my website (ignore the font in some places that seems 'space like' if you see it. I have no idea what happened and haven't had time to change it yet. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Pink Cow Creations
- Posted by concretenprimroses (My Page) on Mon, Nov 19, 12 at 19:59
Its interesting to see this thread revived. I've heard this is not a good year for craft selling, due to the economy I suppose. I am participating in a show at a friend's house on Dec.8. Last year I made $440! Even tho we only got about 60 people, it was 60 people who were there to buy! I made the most, but there were a couple in the $250 range. and then down from there, 8 crafters total. My main thing is plate flowers, but I made a bunch of mushroom ornaments and flowere brooches too last year. This year I'm also making coffee bag wallets and steampunk i-cord makers. I'll let you know how they go. The guy who posted an instructable on coffee bag wallets said he sells them for $7 and has been offered $10 but that seems unlikely to work to me. So I'm thinking $4. Plus maybe they are passe? I really want to make something matryoshka doll like, but can't quite come up with the concept. My plate flowers are priced $15 to $25, so the other items help fill in the corners and offer something for less. The great thing about doing a show in a home is I don't have to follow the rule about branding. I can have ornaments on the tree and brooches on the shelf, my stuff doesn't all have to be together and be cohesive. I know they say to stick to one thing, but its just not me! Good luck everyone. Kathy |
- Posted by toomuchglass (My Page) on Mon, Nov 19, 12 at 20:28
Well -- I see this post is 2 years old ! LOL I'll add .... I went to 2 craft fairs this past week - evetything was jewelry ,knitting or sewing. Nothing new under the sun. *sigh* |
- Posted by grandma_bonnie (My Page) on Tue, Nov 20, 12 at 19:40
I am still selling the Redneck Wine glasses (I etch different sayings like Mr. Right and Mrs. Always Right...) Sold 1200 last year - sales are down this year - last week-end's event only brought in $350 - half of last year... It's still OK with me. Too many jewelry booths at the shows. Weather is a problem here too lately - I have a huge 2 day show in San Luis Obispo this week-end I'm still having fun and it helps me with extra money as I am the legal guaradian of my six year old grandson. I still sell the Microwave Potato Bags along with the wine glasses - No shows after Dec 10th - THEN I can relax |
and reasonably priced. The only argument against is that they are impractical (you can really only use in December). I probably wouldn't give up if I were you. Hopefully the cuteness will beat out the impractibility of them! |
- Posted by concretenprimroses (My Page) on Wed, Nov 21, 12 at 12:56
I saw the red neck wine glasses in a "real" catalog that came in the mail to my home. I meant to notice the name to tell you guys. anyway, they were billed as "The Original" Redneck Wineglasses, how do you like that! Not as cute as Grandma Bonnie's either! Kathy |
- Posted by grandma_bonnie (My Page) on Wed, Nov 21, 12 at 21:57
hahaha - had a fella selling them at the state fair here. His claim to fame was that his were made in the USA... I told him Paso Robles was in the USA and I made mine from scratch in my garage - lol - he was sputtering... He was selling them for $12.95 each or 2 for $20.00... I sell the same un-etched ones for $7.00... |
- Posted by enjoyingspring (My Page) on Fri, Nov 23, 12 at 7:27
I was at a few craft shows last weekend, as everyone has said, Nothing New. I did find the vendors quite aggressive, as soon as you went close to their tables they would jump up and start chatting you up. I don't like that, I just like to look and then decide. I think when they do this they drive customers away. |
I agree about the nothing new...piles and piles of knitting and jewellery...I have been to about 5 fairs in the past week and have bought nothing...time for some new ideas..one fair had 15 tables of knitting and 13 tables of jewellery. |
Same with me mostly jewelry!! Ugh! Thought I was the only one that was sick of seeing it. |
- Posted by grandma_bonnie (My Page) on Sun, Dec 9, 12 at 9:41
Shame on the show's managers for allowing that - I went to a huge show in Morro Bay the Sunday after Thanksgiving (after doing another huge show the Thursday and Friday after Thanksgiving and don't do three days in a row of shows any more...) There were only 50% of the spots taken and 1/3 of them were Pampered Chef, Avon type businesses... Not as many shoppers either. Too bad - it used to be crafters only - the people in charge are now allowing anyone in. I do up to 30 shows every year and there were only 5 that were limited to crafts only, Sad... |
- Posted by Wyatt21842 (My Page) on Mon, Mar 11, 13 at 13:09
Found this at a Craft Fair in Ocean City, MD. Company is called Plak That |
Here is a link that might be useful: Plak that
now that's original! love that! |
- Posted by grandma_bonnie (My Page) on Fri, Mar 15, 13 at 9:35
...and a business advertising here - unusual, but we share how to make our crafts - this is NOT a place to sell items... ..you joined on the 10th and posted on the 10th??? hmmm |
- Posted by christopherh (My Page) on Fri, Mar 22, 13 at 7:22
My next door neighbor liked the wood image, so he stole the idea. He says it's easy to transfer images to wood. Plak Guy just has a bigger printer, that's all. |
Hi, everyone! I'm new to the forum and I'm excited to be here! I haven't done craft shows in quite awhile and I was wondering if the no sew fleece throws and quilts sell very well? I thought they would be fun to make as well as the rag quilts. Any suggestions or experience in that area? |
- Posted by grandma_bonnie (My Page) on Thu, Jul 25, 13 at 10:05
Good morning, Punky123. I know they sell in the winter shows, but people don't want to pay much for them so find things that don't take too long to make up... |
- Posted by concretenprimroses (My Page) on Tue, Jul 30, 13 at 17:15
This is the thread that won't die. Such a good topic. I didn't see much that interested me at craft fairs still. Except someone was making fairy wings for dolls, I thought they were awful cute, but didn't buy. Then I wished I had for the little girls down the street for Christmas. |
My two cents from the last time I went to a craft fair. As others mentioned there were a number of jewelry and knit/crochet booths that seemed to have the same kinds of things I had seen many times. But there were a few surprises; some of the items I bought to resupply my gift cabinet were: The items I was most drawn to were those that were either uniquely functional (placemats and bags) or involved skill or talent I don't posess (nail files, necklace, the silk scarves) At the other booths I often heard my mother's voice in my head "I could make that" and kept on going. I hope this gives you some ideas... |
- Posted by christopherh (My Page) on Tue, Aug 6, 13 at 20:01
You would be surprised at how many times we exhibitors hear "I can make that". One woman had a sign in her booth: That was back about 1985. |
- Posted by countrygirl_sc (My Page) on Fri, Sep 6, 13 at 12:44
As everyone has said, I usually see jewelry (and always think my daughter's is much prettier), those crochet scarves (everyone must be swapping the same pattern), jellies, etc. Going to a small apple festival tomorrow, went to last years and same old, same old, BUT I picked up a butterfly house that was really pretty for only $15. I thought that was a good price and I do love butterflies. So I am curious to see what may be available tomorrow. I'll get some apples regardless! |
- Posted by grandma_bonnie (My Page) on Sun, Sep 8, 13 at 12:00
How was the show, Countrygirl? I have to tell you, I tend to basically make the same things year after year with a few new things added for fun. I have been selling the potato bags for years and years and the etched redneck wine glasses for three yrs. Christmas/fall holidys, I sell the microwave popcorn snowmen - a repeat at $3 each and people depend on them for a little gift. This year, I plan on selling the tulle Santa Wreath - different than than other wreaths...I was at a Labor day event and there were few more craft vendors - not many, but I like the trend... Made only $750 in three days, but I had lots of fun and picked up lots of orders and handed out lots of my business cards.... Next week is rodeo! Ye haw! |
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The winner of the two-day event will earn an automatic bid to the NCCAA National Championship in Kissimmee, Fla., Dec. 2-7.
The Lady Flames will open the tournament on Friday at 1 p.m. against Union University. Mississippi College and the University of Campbellsville will meet in the other semifinal match at 4 p.m. The championship match will be held Saturday at 4 p.m.
"We are looking forward to getting back to playing after an 18-day break, but we know that we will have to shake the rust off quickly and get prepared to take this first step in postseason," said Lady Flames coach Matt Yelton. "I've been thrilled with the progress we have made this year and our leadership has been a big part of that. Our upperclassmen have certainly taken on a big role in that they do the right things on a daily basis and that feeds through the rest of the team.
"We have a great opportunity to produce something special this coming weekend as we host our first-ever NCCAA Regional Tournament. We have seen Union before and we had one of our better outings of the year against them, and will need another good performance to move on to Saturday's game," said Yelton.
It could be argued that the Mid-East Region could be the NCCAA's toughest. All four teams (Lee 12-3-1), Mississippi College (13-6-0), Campbellsville (11-5-1) and Union (7-6-3) all bring winning records into the tournament. The Lady Flames have been ranked No. 1 in the NCCAA poll for the majority of the season.
Final home game for seniors
It has been a great run for seven Lee seniors. They have been a part of two NAIA national championship teams and would like to add an NCCAA banner to their collection. Liz Hagan, Charlotte Canlett, Leah Fortune, Ode Fulutudilu, Danielle Clabattone, Debbie Rogers and Lauren Welch will be playing their final one or two matches on the Lee Soccer Field.


text: Danilo is quickly becoming one of our favorite producers from the Netherlands. His records knock every time, and he's creating collages of sounds that entice the ears. This one is called "Estephania" (his girlfriend's name), but it's not a melodic love song at all. It's moobahton vibes that ease off for piercing vocals, led by a destructive kick and those signature Dutch synths. It's a Do Androids Dance exclusive, and it's downloadable. Sharing is caring. And if this is your first time hearing about Danilo, we highly suggest you head over to our "Half A Dozen Free Downloads" post dedicated to his work. There's another handful of records from this monstrous producer ready for the taking.


text:
Mark Thorson wrote:
> Dentist's office was raided after he sent a teabag
> to his Congressman:
> http://unionleader.com/article.aspx?...4-24e10790b5f9
Bah, humbug. That was in response to a right wing email
that was going around
asking people to send tea bags to Pres. Obama to represent a
modern "Boston Tea
Party" movement against taxation.
One of my very conservative friends sent it to me a month or
so ago.
I consigned it to the trash.
gloria p


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Pierre Federal Building/U.S. Post Office/U.S. Courthouse
225 S Pierre Street, Pierre, SD 57501
This building was originally built in 1965 and it is the only federal building in Pierre including five floors that have about 94, 600 total rentable square feet. There is an on-going long-term need to provide office space to agencies such as the Courts, U.S. Attorney's Office, the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Probation and the U.S. Postal Service.
The building underwent a major renovation that allowed it to achieve the status of a high-performance green building. For details, download the project fact sheet here.


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Former Hebron official sentenced for stealing from client
By Ruth Ann Krause Post-Tribune correspondent March 26, 2013 3:02PM
Updated: April 28, 2013 6:39AM
Lake Superior Court Judge Sheila Moss sentenced a former attorney and elected official to three years for stealing from one of his former clients.
Michael B. Haughee, 61, who was tried and convicted in absentia last month, was ordered to serve two years in prison, and the remaining year on probation. Moss also ordered Haughee to pay the client $10,000 in restitution while he is on probation
Haughee, a former Hebron town councilman, represented himself in the case, which was filed in March 2008 on behalf of a woman who had hired Haughee to represent her in a December 2002 car accident in Merrillville. At the time, Haughee was practicing law from an office in Griffith. The woman became suspicious because Haughee wouldn't show her any court documents in that case and a second lawsuit he filed for her stemming from a subsequent car crash.
The woman later discovered a copy of a $15,500 insurance settlement check for the first accident, which Haughee had endorsed and deposited into a trust account in January 2004 while claiming to have the woman's power of attorney. The woman had never authorized Haughee to have power of attorney over her affairs.
Deputy prosecutors Brandy Darling and Tom S. Mullins prosecuted the case, which was reassigned to Moss in 2011 after Judge Nicholas Schiralli recused himself because of a conflict of interest.
Haughee was allowed to remain free pending his sentencing hearing that was set for March 6, but he failed to appear and was arrested last week in Tell City, Ind., where he has pending felony cases, including failure to register as a sex offender. Haughee's law license is suspended.
In Porter County, Haughee was convicted of sexual battery involving a woman in a wheelchair who said Haughee kissed her, fondled her and took the phone from her to prevent her from calling 911. In that case, prosecutors told the jury Haughee apologized before he left the woman's home and offered to make her a salmon dinner. Haughee was sentenced to one year in jail for that case.


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Has anyone ever tackled custom races or customized rules for Robotech?
The factions as I see them would be something like this:
REF (Earth and Aligned forces)
The Robotech Masters (the remnants of them, at least)
The Zentraedi (Those independent of the Master and REF)
Regiss Invid
Regent Invid
The Local Group Alliance (Karbarra, Peryton, Praxis, Haydon V, Spheris and Garuda, seperate from the REF)
One could break the local group up into 10 races instead of 5 together, I suppose.
I'd love to hear how fighters and ground forces (including mecha maybe?) get figured into the equation. Some sort of shock troop that could be purchased perhaps?
How would protoculture play into the game?


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Sustainable Infrastructure
NEW: Water, Water Everywhere and Not a Drop to Drink: Adding Water to the Sustainability Equation, Betsy Otto, American Rivers
NEW: Sustainable Infrastructure Solutions, Chris Lotspeich, The Second Hill Group
NEW: Living Buildings and the Competitive Advantage of High Performance, Brandon Smith, Cascadia Region Green Building Council
Sustainable Manufacturing
Green Chemistry: Turning the Ship, John C. Warner, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Center for Green Chemistry
Life Cycle Assessment: A Tool for Sustainable Manufacturing, Tom Swarr, United Technologies Corporation; Jim Fava, Five Winds International
The Quest for a Manufacturing Model that is Sustainable, Mike Bertolucci, Interface Research Corp.
Thinking Like an Ecosystem, Reid Lifset, Journal of Industrial Ecology
Sustainable Finance
Turning the Ship: Transforming the Everyday, Peter Liu, New Resource Bank
Sustainable Investing and Portfolio 21, an interview with Carsten Henningsen, Progressive Investment Management
Green Energy 3.0: This Time, It Is Different, Jackson W. Robinson, Winslow Management Company
Green Insurance Products, Stephen G. Bushnell, Fireman's Fund Insurance Company
Sustainable Purchasing
Providing Incentives to Coffee Suppliers to Produce High Quality, Sustainable Coffee, Ben Packard, Starbucks Coffee Company
Talking Until You're Green in the Face: Environmental Communications Comes to the Fore, Don Millar, The Element Agency
On the Power of Purchasing and the Potential of 1%, Terry Kellogg, 1% For The Planet
Promoting Green Products and Services: Cure for Asthma and Global Warming?, Arthur B. Weisman, Green Seal, Inc.
Power of Local Government Dollars, Michelle Wyman, International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives, USA (ICLEI-USA)
The Green Wave
Climate Change as a Driver of US Market Behavior, Truman Semans, Pew Center on Global Climate Change
Ford Motor Company and the Green Wave, Dan Esty, Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy
Has the Era of Green Business Finally Arrived?, Joel Makower, GreenBiz.com
Turning the Ship: Environmental Transformation of the U.S. Economy, Brian Kuehl, Harvard Loeb Fellow and The Clark Group, LLC
By Betsy Otto, Senior Director, Healthy Waters Campaign, American Rivers
You know the old joke: "Buy land, they're not making any more of it." Well, the same might be said about water. Only one per cent of the total water resources on earth are available for human use. Seventy per cent of the world's surface is covered by water, but 97.5 percent of that is salt water. By 2025, UNESCO estimates that two-thirds of the world's population - about 5.5 billion people - will live in areas facing moderate to severe water stress.
In his famous 1960s essay, Garrett Hardin coined the term "tragedy of the commons" for his notion that free access and unrestricted demand for a finite resource ultimately dooms the resource through over-exploitation. Water has always been artificially cheap to end-users. It's priced well below its value because we think of it as infinite, a virtual free good. When it's gone, however, it's priceless. We have the geographic good luck to live in a water-rich part of the globe so we take plentiful fresh water for granted.
Even in the dry western U.S., we have long borrowed from far-away mountain snow packs and rivers to fill swimming pools in San Diego, irrigate golf courses in Phoenix, and fill industrial pipelines in El Paso. These dry cities consume far more than the 10 inches or less of rain they actually receive in a year. It is simply not sustainable. Even in the East water shortages are becoming a serious problem. Some regions in the U.S. have seen groundwater levels drop as much as 300 to 900 feet over the past 50 years. A recent Government Accounting Office (GAO) report noted that most state water managers expect either local or regional water shortages within the next 10 years under average climate conditions. Recent climate change reports suggest anything but average conditions.
Water, Energy, and Climate Change
We have been living beyond our water means, and climate change is going to make the problem worse. Global warming is disrupting natural water cycles, mainly the form, amounts, and timing of precipitation. The recently released International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report notes that more intense and longer droughts are occurring, particularly in the continental interior and the Southwest. Paradoxically, the frequency of heavy precipitation events has also increased, bringing massive flood damage and disruption. Precipitation in the mountainous West will shift away from winter snow – nature's time-release water system – to rain. Putting in new dams to catch more of the winter rain is not the answer. That requires huge expenditures of capital, energy, materials, and thus, adds to greenhouse gases. Endangered salmon can't swim through a dam. Rainstorms are more erosive than snowfall, carrying heavier loads of sediment that bind with pollutants and are expensive to remove from water supplies. We will have to adapt to the coming changes, but we can make it easier on our ourselves – and cheaper – if we start getting serious about using less water.
There is a very powerful water-energy nexus, but it is not well understood. It consists of two interrelated feedback loops: first, huge amounts of energy are required for basic water and wastewater treatment; and, second, enormous amounts of water are required to make energy. It takes a great deal of energy to develop, pump, treat, and distribute water for municipal, commercial, and industrial use (we'll put aside for the moment, the enormous water-energy demands of agriculture). It takes a great deal more to deliver and treat wastewater before it is disposed. California water agencies currently spend more than $500 million per year in energy costs alone. In the United States, municipal water and wastewater systems use 75 billion kilowatt hours — 3% of total U.S. consumption of energy, as much as the entire energy-intensive pulp and paper sector.
The second feedback loop is in the water required to make energy. The electricity industry is second only to agriculture as the largest user of water in the United States. Electricity production from fossil fuels and nuclear energy requires 190,000 million gallons of water per day, or 39 percent of all freshwater withdrawals in the nation.
So, what does all this mean for business? As more water is required to meet our growing energy demands, water sources for cities, commercial buildings, and industry will be further strained. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) estimates that energy use for water supply and treatment in the U.S. industrial sector is expected to triple between 2000 and 2050 because of growth projected in inudstrial activity. It takes more energy to pump water from greater depths or greater distances as water tables drop and communities and industry have to look around for other sources. So every time any sector uses a little less water, we save not only water, but also energy and greenhouse gas emissions, and we help to prevent even more extreme climate disruptions to our water.
Businesses that reduce water use will save in water, wastewater, and energy expenses, and they will minimize their exposure to water supply shortages and future price spikes. New water technologies and processes offer a significant new market for business – everything from EPA-certified water efficient appliances and plumbing fixtures to low water-use industrial processes, and green building approaches like grey water reuse, green roofs and rain gardens.
The Good News: Water Efficiency Works
The Pacific Institute estimates that 317 billion gallons of water, or 39 percent of California's 2000 water use levels, could be cost-effectively saved in the commercial, institutional, and industrial sectors every year. Investment payback on many water efficiency methods can be less than one year. Water efficiency not only reduces water demand, but postpones investment in infrastructure expansions, protects water quality and natural water levels and flows, as well as providing other environmental benefits.
Business can take steps to reduce water use in many ways:
• Intel operates semiconductor fabrication and assembly/test facilities in seven countries around the world. Water is a primary production input used to clean silicon wafers during fabrication and packaging, and ultra pure water must be used. Several of Intel's plants operate in locations where water resources are limited. In Albuquerque, NM, Intel used an integrated water management system to increase water purification efficiency and to improve water reuse. The site has offset over 50% of its freshwater needs through water reuse.
• Abbott's bulk pharmaceutical manufacturing plant located in Puerto Rico took various steps to maximize reuse of 2.5 million gallons per day of treated wastewater from the facility's on-site treatment plant. Reclaimed water is now used within various plant systems that require large amounts of water, and collectively, these steps have reduced groundwater withdrawals and wastewater flows by over 1.3 million gallons per day.
• Southern Company's electric generating plant in Cobb County, Georgia had a plant chemistry sample once-through cooling system that used 200,000 gallons of county water per day. A new system was installed that uses condensate water as the cooling water and river water as the "heat exchange" water. Plant water use was reduced by 140 gallons per minute, a savings of over 75,000,000 gallons per year, enough to supply 2,000 Cobb County homes' annual drinking water needs. And at a cost of $2.10 per 1,000 gallons, the new system resulted in a savings to the plant of over $150,000 per year.
• Johnson Controls worked with St. John's County, Florida to upgrade the county's water metering technology. A development boom required hook-up of 3,500 to 4,000 new customers per year to the water utility, but physical reading of water meters was no longer feasible. Through a performance-based contract, Johnson Controls committed to a $7 million dollar loan to replace 18,000 aging meters with a new fixed-based, radio-read system connected to a central control room.
• As part of a broad green infrastructure program to minimize stormwater flows into its overburdened sewer system, the City of Chicago provides grants of up to $5,000 to homeowners and commercial building owners to install green roofs (roofs with plants that absorb rainwater and cool the building). Starting with 20,000 square feet of its own City Hall building in 2001, the city now has three million square feet under green roofs – more than any other city – and 24 companies have responded to the demand to install green roofs. Monitoring data show that the city hall green roof is as much as 30 degrees cooler in summer than surrounding conventional roofs.
• U.S. EPA recently launched its new WaterSense water efficiency labeling program for appliances, landscape irrigation products, and plumbing fixtures, based on the highly successful EnergyStar program. EPA estimates that if all U.S. households installed water-efficient appliances, the country would save more than 3 trillion gallons of water and more than $17 billion dollars per year, and reduce the need for costly water supply and treatment plant investments.
Barriers to Change
So, if investment in water efficiency provides such an obvious payback, why aren't more businesses doing it? There are several reasons. First, water costs too little. In many places there is little awareness of the growing scarcity of water or the impacts of large withdrawals and discharges into municipal sewers because there is no price signal to conserve. Water and sewer charges in much of the country are priced below even basic O&M costs because it is politically difficult to raise rates and over time receipts fall behind expenses. And that doesn't even include the burgeoning cost to replace aging infrastructure (the American Society of Civil Engineers recently downgraded the nation's water infrastructure from a "D" to a "D-"). Some utilities even have disincentives to conserve, charging industrial and commercial customers "declining block" volume discounts for withdrawals and waste discharges.
So a first step is for more utilities to structure rates to encourage efficiency and conservation. Then, if we begin to capture the other "externalities," like energy costs and global warming, through carbon taxes or cap and trade schemes, water efficiency efforts should get a boost.
The second reason that water efficiency is not as widespread as it should be is the lack of knowledge and training by engineers and other technical professionals within utilities and companies themselves. Many engineers and water experts were (and still are) being trained like it was still the good old days when energy and water were cheap and limitless and their use had no consequences. They don't even think to do manage water differently, and they aren't trained to know how.
Finally, there may be regulatory barriers that need to be overcome. For example, an industrial plant that succeeds in reducing water use by 80 percent but still discharges the same amount of pollutants in its waste will have a hard time meeting its water discharge permit without the benefit of the extra water dilution. Industry will need to look for ways to reduce the pollutant concentrations in its processes, and regulators will need to be willing to reconfigure permits to allow higher concentrations in exchange for the environmental benefit of reduced water withdrawals.
At the end of the day, if more businesses invested in water efficiency, the effects would be huge for not only for the individual enterprise but also for public infrastructure and even the global environment. We have an opportunity to make a difference by using water more carefully. It's smart business and it's good for the planet.
By Chris Lotspeich, founder and Principal at Second Hill Group
The built environment is where most sectors of commerce most directly impact the Earth. Every business has a building, and must pay overhead to keep the roof up. Buildings account for roughly 40% of U.S. energy use and pollution. Industrial facilities contribute roughly another 30% of these impacts. This discussion explores best practices in sustainable infrastructure—here defined as commercial and industrial buildings and facilities—and considers the barriers to growth and wider adoption of these approaches.
Sustainable infrastructure performs the same functions and serves the same purposes as conventional structures, but with a smaller ecological "footprint." Because it is more resource-efficient and incorporates fewer toxic materials and better ventilation, sustainable infrastructure provides healthier indoor and outdoor environments.
Optimized design and operation reduces environmental impacts throughout a facilities' life cycle and across the supply chain of materials, components and operations. Cutting-edge practices are represented in high-performance installations that deliver energy and water services such as light, comfort, lavatories and production output at reduced cost and pollution. The best facilities mimic natural systems in their resource efficiency, elegant frugality, innovative design, and invigorating interiors that foster greater occupant health and productivity.
The most exciting developments in this field are the expanding range of exemplary installations of all types and applications; the continued adoption of green design into mainstream practice, exemplified by the rapid market penetration and sustained triple-digit growth of the LEED green building standard; and the growing acknowledgement of the compelling economic benefits and strong business case for sustainable infrastructure. The next two years will see more of the same.
Green design is hot, and it's not just for buildings anymore: industrial facilities are reaping the benefits, and even earning LEED certification. Factories and similar installations are often energy- and resource-intensive, providing larger-scale opportunities for improvement than commercial buildings. These advances do not require new technology, but instead careful attention to design integration. Among the most impressive recent examples is Texas Instruments' new microchip factory in Richardson, Texas that reduced energy use 20%, water use 35% and emissions even more, yet cost one-third less to build. Similar examples of leapfrog improvement have been demonstrated in other industries ranging from wineries to refineries.
The green building industry is perhaps the most successful example of an industry reorganizing itself for dramatic performance improvements without a government mandate. In the late 1990s a broad coalition of stakeholders formed the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Interest in environmentally-friendly design and construction was not new and numerous innovative projects existed. But there was no consensus about what building techniques and technologies were "green" and no standard guide to the most effective and broadly replicable approaches.
In 2000 the USGBC created the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, which provides a menu of design features and accepted best practices that earn points toward certification. Within three years 6% of new commercial buildings in the U.S. had applied for LEED certification. Applications continue to grow by about 200 percent annually.
Today LEED represents the thickening wedge of new ideas entering the market mainstream. It defines the most effective approach for first-time practitioners of sustainable design. LEED evolves and expands but is not perfect. Some applicants try to reach the lowest score needed for certification and no more. Most folks in the industry still have little experience with green techniques. Yet LEED has unquestionably changed the game for the better.
The rapid market penetration of this innovative approach has been driven not so much by environmental considerations as by the added value of better buildings. Green buildings need not cost more than conventional versions, and can even cost less with excellent design. LEED buildings cost an average 2−7% more to build, ranging from little or no extra cost for lower-scoring buildings to 20% more for the highest-scoring examples. The primary variable in initial cost is the skill and attention of the design-build team. Typically 85% of a facility's life-cycle cost is for operations and maintenance. On average green design cuts O&M costs in half due to energy and water savings, so additional up-front costs are soon paid back. There is evidence of a "green premium" boosting sales and leasing revenues, but the data varies on a case-by-case basis.
The most compelling financial result is an average 5% increase in occupant worker productivity (in cases up to 16%) in a wide range of contexts. This is the most valuable, though least predictable, green building benefit. Labor costs are roughly one hundred times higher than energy per square foot, so a 1% productivity increase would pay the entire annual energy bill.
Best practice buildings use local, renewable and nontoxic materials; are tailored to their specific location and purpose; maximize use of available daylight and climatic conditions; and use only as much fuel as is necessary to provide a pleasant, healthful interior environment. Comfortable, passive structures that draw all their energy from earth, water and sun exist in every climate.
The Challenges with Standard Buildings
Why do standard buildings perform so poorly in comparison? The primary obstacles to improvement are organizational rather than technical, economic or legal. If a camel is a horse designed by a committee, then most facilities are camels. Buildings are manufactured products designed and built in a collective production process comprising a sequence of discrete steps: conception, architectural and engineering design, construction, occupancy, and demolition. Participants come from different disciplines, departments, and companies, each with their own self-interest. Most participants engage in only one or two steps in the process and rarely meet all other participants, even those whom their decisions affect. No one alone determines the outcome, yet everyone influences the result.
Consider four participants in a standard building process: owner, architect, construction contractor, and tenant. Most owners are concerned with minimizing capital costs and complying with building codes rather than specifying environmentally beneficial standards, particularly for a structure they intend to lease or sell. Even if the architect can do green design, she has little incentive to work harder for her low bid or fixed fee to sell the idea to clients who don't ask for it. The contractor seeks maximum profit from his low bid and therefore has an incentive to install the least expensive equipment regardless of how inefficiently it operates. The tenant has little say in the matter and is stuck with high utility bills. The result is a relatively inefficient building that costs more to own and operate.
Even within the same company, managers from different departments face competing incentives. Quite often one department (e.g., production) funds a new facility from its budget, while another (e.g., facilities) pays the utility bills from a different pot of money. If a project manager's bonus is tied to completing construction on time and under budget, she is more likely to cut corners and slash initial costs—even if that means buying cheaper, lower-quality heating, cooling and lighting systems that cost someone else more to run.
Much of this wasted energy and money results from minimizing first cost instead of cost of ownership in fast-track design and construction. High-efficiency design and equipment can cost more up front. Penny-wise, pound-foolish shortcuts and cost-cutting degrade performance and increase energy bills for a facility's lifetime. Design firms often use outdated rules of thumb and copy old plans to save time and effort, and rarely measure and improve the performance of previous designs unless asked. Mechanical systems are sized for peak loads that rarely occur, and often lack the ability to efficiently vary their output to heat or cool the facility in real time. This frequently results in oversized equipment that runs inefficiently at partial loads.
Efforts improve infrastructure after it is built are hindered by nonsensical financial hurdles. Upgrades are commonly held to higher return on investment (ROI) standards than are purchases of new equipment. Most facilities cap retrofit payback periods at two years or less—effectively a 50% ROI at least, compared to 10%–15% ROI (or up to a 7 year payback) requirements for new capital assets. These standard practices undermine competitiveness and shareholder interests. Even if a facilities manager improves efficiency and reduces his utility bill, his reward might include a reduction in his budget the following year.
A Better Way
These obstacles can be overcome with management strategies that align the incentives of design-build process participants to reduce total cost to facility owners and occupants. These include specifying environmental and cost performance criteria; rewarding greener design and operation; integrated design workshops that gather process participants as a first step; and increased awareness of proven best practices.
It is possible to produce a good, environmentally efficient building without any individual championing the cause. But success in green building is more likely when an entrepreneurial leader shapes the design-build process. This person is usually the owner, but it could also be a project manager, an environmental expert, or an architect—a change agent with the credibility and authority to steer the process and work in a new way with a wide variety of people, the majority of whom have little or no experience with green design because it is not yet common practice. These champions are pursuing not just product innovations—the buildings themselves—but innovations in the process and in organizational behavior. And they achieve these by making a few important changes, most of which do not involve fancy new technologies.
One of the most effective techniques is a charrette, an integrated design workshop convened at the earliest phase of a project. In this setting, participants from every stage of facility design, construction, occupancy, and even demolition or recycling come together to learn about new approaches and technologies, and to explore how their decisions affect one another and the performance of the building. Guided by the owner and expert consultants, the group can identify opportunities for improvement and obstacles to progress, overcome resistance to unfamiliar technologies and techniques, and work to align conflicting incentives.
Implementation plans should define the desired outcome and quantify it wherever possible. Specify premium-efficiency equipment, oblige participants to satisfy LEED criteria, and require building system performance to exceed benchmark metrics for energy and water efficiency, renewable and nontoxic resources, and other aspects.
Owners can change the way designers and builders are compensated to reward green design, acknowledging that it usually takes more time and effort than standard practice. Performance-based fees reward measured savings in the building's operational costs compared with conventional designs.
Integrated whole-systems design yields particular leverage. Careful attention must be paid to the interactions between the component parts of the facility's systems. High-tech windows with special coatings and gas insulation cost more than conventional glass but better maintain interior temperatures, saving on more expensive cooling and heating capacity. Efficient lighting emits less heat, reducing air conditioning requirements. Using larger ducts and pipes, which cost a bit more up front, reduces friction in the flow of air and fluid, enabling the use of smaller fans and pumps. The result is a heating and cooling system that is less expensive both to build and to run. Life-cycle costing or cost of ownership analysis helps preserve design integrity and focuses on long term value rather than myopic component-level cost cutting.
Considered individually, many of these changes are incremental improvements. Taken together, they add up to radical product and process improvements. Entrepreneurial leaders in sustainable design identify the key leverage points in the building and in the process where a coordinated suite of small changes will yield the greatest synergy. Sustainable infrastructure does not result from business as usual. But business as usual is getting greener, one facility at a time.
Chris Lotspeich is founder and Principal at Second Hill Group, an independent consulting and research practice on business, environment, energy, and security issues. Chris was a 2002–2003 Batten Fellow at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. From 1994 to 2001 he was a Senior Associate at Rocky Mountain Institute in Snowmass, CO, where he worked on six continents and led numerous resource efficiency surveys at industrial facilities and on a Navy warship.
By Brandon Smith, Chief Operating Officer, Cascadia Region Green Building Council
When most people think of saving the environment, they think of saving the Amazon from slash and burn farming or preserving habitat for species facing extinction. What they should be thinking about are buildings because buildings are the largest single contributor to environmental degradation and, therefore, the single largest opportunity to reduce our environmental impact. Buildings are the nexus for massive sectors of the global economy including energy, water, transportation, forest products, plastics, minerals and metals.
In the US, buildings account for:
Building design significantly dictates the ongoing impact of society's use of energy, water and materials. As Winston Churchill said, "We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us."
This paper will explore high performance green building in the following ways:
The most successful companies building and managing green buildings are integrating green building strategies into their corporate DNA, so it is not ancillary to what they do, but actually guides their decisions and future strategy. More information about the benefits of high performance green buildings can be found at www.usgbc.org.
The Emergence of LEED®
LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a voluntary, independent, third-party, environmental rating system for buildings developed by the non-profit, US Green Building Council. LEED® measures a building's performance in the areas of energy, water, materials, indoor environmental quality, and site characteristics. The LEED® rating system has made significant inroads into the construction industry faster than ever thought possible. How did this happen? Why has LEED® been so successful?
The success of LEED® can be attributed to two factors:
Moving from Early Adopters to Mainstream
In less than a decade the commercial construction and real estate industry has transformed from one that was indifferent and even hostile to environmental metrics to one that is scrambling to understand them and how to position itself to seize an opportunity whose significance is only beginning to become apparent. Is green building really more than a trend? How successful has LEED been, and what is next? Most importantly, how can forward thinking companies position themselves now to create a competitive advantage, not despite, but because they are positively impacting the environment?
While at the end of 2006, LEED® represented less than 5% of new commercial construction, consider that LEED® was only launched in 2000, and that the typical commercial construction timeline is 2 – 5 years from design to completion of construction. While the first version of LEED® was developed for the new construction market, versions have now emerged for operations of existing buildings and tenant improvements, making certification available to the largest segments of the built environment. There are currently 735 commercial LEED® certified buildings and 4,927 more seeking certification [6].
All 50 states in the US have buildings participating in the LEED® program. Building types include condominiums, bank branches, hospitals, schools, office buildings, retail outlets, government facilities, mixed use projects and many more. Various LEED® initiatives including legislation, executive orders, resolutions, ordinances, policies, and incentives are found in 53 cities and 17 states in the U.S. [7], and green building continues to be published with greater frequency in mainstream publications like The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today and The Washington Post.
Between 2002 – 2006, the amount of LEED® registered space has seen a net increase of 838% over 4 years from the 2002 level of 80 million square feet to the 2006 level of 750 million square feet [8]. Green building is clearly entering the mainstream and doing so quickly. The fact that green building is primarily market driven and not chiefly a result of federal legislation and incentives implies that the recent growth is more than a passing trend. Companies, organizations and governments are realizing that green building is a smart financial decision and the growing momentum is creating economies of scale, which are lowering the costs of green building products and services and enabling green building practices to become more widespread.
The Cutting Edge – Living Buildings
While LEED® has been an extremely effective tool for shifting the design and construction industry toward more sustainable buildings, LEED® certified buildings, even at the highest level, are by no means truly sustainable if sustainability means the balance of human and natural systems. LEED® has been and will continue to be an extremely important and useful tool for shifting the market, but it is not a representation of true sustainability in the built environment. So, what is next?
In November 2006, the Cascadia Region Green Building Council launched the Living Building Challenge, which "is attempting to raise the bar and define a closer measure of true sustainability in the built environment." The Living Building Standard requires that a building:
The Living Building Challenge has already unleashed significant creativity and innovation on the part of developers, architects and engineers striving to meet the challenge, and a number of projects around the US are targeting Living Building status. If we are to truly reconcile the existence of the built and natural environments, we must move to the Living Building model and beyond. In so doing, we will also create more valuable buildings both financially and for society at large since a Living Building will not burden society with the externalities of pollution, environmental degradation, and the over-consumption of resources.
Barriers and Opportunities
The most significant barriers to green building are separation of capital and operating budgets for institutional owners, perception of cost/risk, lack of education, and, most importantly, the failure to recognize and account for the increased value of green buildings.
With institutional owners like universities and government agencies, one often finds a strict separation of capital and operating budgets. The capital projects department cannot invest in high performance strategies with higher first costs even if there will be a significant return on investment because this department cannot access any of these operational savings for the construction budget. The most successful models addressing this issue have set up a loan scenario where the capital projects department can invest in high performance features with the loan being repaid through operational savings.
The most crucial driver in the private sector is the value equation for green buildings and the way that the financial community recognizes or fails to recognize the value of these projects. One often hears that green building costs more, which may or may not be true, but the question not being asked is "What value am I receiving for these expenditures?" Developers do not put in granite countertops or marble floors because they are the lowest cost option, but because they add value to a project. Also tied to this question of value is the perceived risk of high performance green technologies and strategies, which do not conform to "business as usual." Increased risk means higher cost of capital and "fear-based" premiums from project teams who are unfamiliar with a certain product or technology. These issues point the lack of education about green building strategies and technologies, many of which have been used for decades in other countries. As the real estate and construction community becomes more familiar with green building, the perceived risk of these strategies will be reduced and their adoption increased.
Related to the question of value is the consideration of who is receiving the value - the developer, the tenant, the lender, the investors, society at large or some combination thereof? To address this issue, it is crucial that building owners consider the structure of leases. Who benefits from productivity gains, energy and water savings and to what extent? If a developer invests in significant energy saving measures, then they need to participate in those savings to recoup that investment. However, the tenant also needs to benefit from the savings or they will have little incentive to conserve energy and water. Triple Net and Gross Net leases do not effectively address this issue.
Perhaps the largest opportunity to make significant change in the sustainability of the built environment lies with the real estate finance community. There is overwhelming anecdotal evidence and an increasing amount of research to support the idea that green buildings have more value than conventional ones due to lower operating costs and healthier indoor environments. To address this issue more formally, a significant effort is underway called the Green Building Finance Consortium (GBFC). GBFC is a group of leading corporations, real estate companies, and trade groups whose mission is to enable the private real estate sector—corporations, investors, lenders, and developers—to appropriately recognize the value and risk of investment in green buildings. The implication of this current gap in market knowledge is significant. Companies that understand the value proposition of green building before the general market can position themselves to be leaders in the field and adjust their portfolios to take advantage of an impending market shift that is already past the tipping point. The soon-to-be quantified recognition of the financial value of green buildings by the market will cause many of the other barriers to fall away and lead to the more widespread adoption of green building strategies. Companies that position themselves to take advantage of this shift now, will be prepared and benefit from the market transition as opposed to being negatively impacted.
The Way Forward
What can companies who own and manage real estate do today to strategically position themselves to take advantage of the green building market, incorporate green building practices into their businesses, and promote widespread adoption of green building?
Welcome to the official Blog of Turning the Ship: Environmental Transformation of the U.S. Economy.
Starting February 5, 2007 our contributors will be posting their articles here. For detailed information about the program, please visit www.turningtheship.com.


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Bettie of SANTA FE, writes:
I have looked at a Restonic Eiffel plush top KS $1499. Then I went to a store and the big sales pitch and best feel to me was the S & F Patricia on sale for $2499. Now I am in a huge dilemma. My husband is 275, 6'6". He wants a medium firm. Do you recommend a regular mattress without the pillowtop or plush. For softness, I could just buy a removable pillowtop . What do you think?
Hi Bettie. A topper that can be replaced will result in your purchase lasting longer than if you were to buy a pillowtop mattress. The S&F is an excellent set, but I think you can get it for less if you shop around. The high price would be the reason for the big sales pitch.
From what I can see with that Restonic model, it has individually pocketed coils also, but doesn't say of the steel is tempered. In the S&F, the steel is double tempered...and in that Patricia model, it's a double coil. Also, the Restonic shows the use of a lot of memory foam near the top. This material feels comfortable to try, but doesn't feel the same at home because it softens from your body's heat. There have been a lot of problems with memory foam. Sleeping hot, not keeping its shape are the two most common, but negative physical reactions have been widely reported...like headaches and nose bleeds.