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- All Posts
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Mountain BikingSAM HILL WINS THE MERIBEL UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP FINALS
- News
- August 25, 2014
Teammate Josh Bryceland Takes Third Place and the Overall
Sam HillSAM HILL DOMINATES MONT SAINTE ANNE!
- News
- August 07, 2014
Sam Hill made a triumphant return to the winner`s circle this weekend in Mont Ste Anne taking home the win in front of a very partisan crowd...
Mountain BikingMONSTER ENERGY'S TROY BROSNAN WINS HIS FIRST WORLD CUP
- News
- June 12, 2014
Teammate Sam Hill Takes Second Place
Steve PeatWONT BACK DOWN: THE STEVE PEAT STORY
- News
- June 03, 2014
See the rivalries, the friendships and the history in the making as Steve proves to the world that he is the king and certainly WONT BACK DO...
Troy BrosnanSAM HILL SWEEPS NATIONAL SERIES AND TROY BROSNAN FINISHES A CLOSE SECOND!
- News
- March 21, 2013
The 3rd and final round of the Australian National Series took place this past weekend in Bright, Victoria on arguably one of the best downh...
10 PhotosSAM HILL
- Photo Gallery
- December 27, 2012
Mountain Biking1-2 AND 3 IN A ROW FOR BROSNAN AND HILL!
- News
- February 07, 2012
Australian National Series round 3 // Canberra, Australia- February 5, 2012
Mountain Biking2010 FREECASTER.TV DOWNHILL WORLD CUP DVD!
- News
- October 26, 2010
The 2010 Freecaster.tv DVD documents one of the closest fought UCI Downhill World Cup contests we've ever seen... and is now ready to o...


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Competitive Fun Run to Benefit the Greater Autism Community in Central Wisconsin
Welcome to the 6th annual Jigsaw Run, to benefit the greater Autism community in central Wisconsin. It's almost that time of year again! Thank you all in advance for supporting the Jigsaw Run. We are only successful through everyone's support.
Last year, we were priviliged to have over 1,000 close friends out to South Wood County Park to support our event and help us reach our goals. We hope to see you this year on May 3, 2014, for lots of fun and another great Jigsaw Run around Lake Wazeecha.
On behalf of the Autism Impact Corporation (AIC), the race committee, our sponsors and amazing volunteers, please accept a very sincere thank you from us and from the greater Autism community in central Wisconsin. / Learn more about the AIC.

subset: commoncrawl


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Can someone give me some directions on preparing the soil for planting lavender please? Do I add much compost? Do I add bone meal? The soil right now is loose and well drained. It has only had weeds growing there for many years - this will be the first time in at least a decade, possibly more, that any perennial will be put in this spot. Any help greatly appreciated - thanks! |
Follow-Up Postings:
Hi, this is my favorite plant. I have several in my garden. Loves a south facing yard - loads of sun. You could add compost mixed in with your soil but bear in mind this plant likes free draining soil Too much compost can produce too much moisture being trapped in the ground. I prefer using triple mixes - specifically the Black Earth ones from Loblaws or Home Depot. Bone meal is unecessary. Mound the soil a bit so when it rains the plant will not sit in too much water. That's it. Don't hard prune this plant in the fall. Always prune them in late spring or early summer. Ianna |
Thanks so much Ianna! I have the perfect spot - south facing raised bed. I will plant them tonight. Thanks again! |
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Hi all, i'm starting to write a kernel module to control a Marvel 88E6097 switch connected to a MPC8306 processor through MDIO. Unfortunately i can't find online documentation about MII/MDIO ...
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- 05-18-2011 #1
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How to control switch Marvel 88E6097 by MDIO bus on MPC8306 processor
Thank you all for help!


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Price: $77,500.00
Availability: In Stock
1818 $5 Half Eagle NGC MS-64, 5D Over 50, BD-3 R.5. This issue is extremely rare at the near-Gem level, as NGC has certified only the present coin in MS64, with none finer; while PCGS has graded no examples at the near-Gem level, with two finer. The coin is an outstanding specimen, with deeply frosted luster offering a mixture of rich red and orange coloration on each side. The striking details are extremely sharp, with only slight weakness on the lower hair curl and the eagle's talons. A totally original piece worthy of the finest early gold collection.


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Grand Canyon Photography Workshops
What makes my Grand Canyon photography workshops so extraordinary?
The Grand Canyon is an awe inspiring wonder of nature, and a challenging landscape to photograph. I spend on average 70+ days a year in the park photographing it in all conditions. My personal journey of exploration at Grand Canyon began many years ago and has included time as the park's Winter 2009 Artist-in-Residence. This journey has resulted in the creation of my nearly 200 page photography book, Chasing the Light – Grand Canyon. Together, we will explore and photograph from my favorite locations as we chase the light together. This is a place that I know and love. I'm happy to share my knowledge of photography with you because I love what I do. It's my goal, that ultimately you can go home a better photographer, with exceptional images of your own that you're proud to hang on your wall. Read what my workshop alumni have to say about their experiences.
Upcoming Grand Canyon Photography Workshops
• The Silence of Winter in Grand Canyon National Park – February 20 to 22, 2015
• Grand Canyon Photography Workshop, South Rim – August 2nd to 5th, 2015
• Grand Canyon Photography Workshop, North Rim - August 5th to 7th, 2015
Private Grand Canyon Photography Workshops & Tours
If you're traveling solo, with your family, or coming as a group, get the most out of your time at the Grand Canyon while learning new and exciting technical and creative photographic techniques while photographing from some of the most stunning locations in the park. Learn more about my private Grand Canyon photo workshops >>>


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Pentagon eyes Vt. for missile interceptor siteSeptember 12,2013By Neal P. Goswami
MONTPELIER — The Camp Ethan Allen Training Site in Jericho has been selected as one of five potential sites by the Pentagon for a missile defense battery, despite strong objections to the program from Vermont's congressional delegation.
Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat and the most senior member of the Senate's Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, was informed Thursday that the Vermont site was chosen a potential Ground-based Midcourse Interceptor East Coast location, according to Leahy spokesman David Carle.
The missile shield system consists of ground-based interceptor missiles and radar to intercept incoming warheads.
Other possible sites announced Thursday are located at Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training Center in Ohio, NAS Portsmouth SERE Training Area in Maine, Fort Custer CTC in Michigan and Fort Drum in New York.
The Pentagon is studying possible new locations for the missile shield system to determine their suitability as future interceptor deployment sites, Vice Admiral James D. Syring, director of the Missile Defense Agency, wrote in a letter to Sen. Patrick Leahy, which his office released Thursday morning.
Members of Vermont's congressional delegation reacted strongly to the announcement that the Vermont National Guard training facility was selected.
"I've always felt that the multiple billions spent on missile defense are a monumental waste of money, on technologically challenged systems, and I am emphatically against putting one of these sites in Vermont," Leahy said.
Democratic Rep. Peter Welch went even further, giving the Vermont site no chance of being selected.
"This is absurd. It's the wrong location for a bad idea and dead on arrival," he said.
Sen. Bernard Sanders, an independent, said he, too, doubts that Vermont will ever serve as a missile defense site.
"My first impression is that this is a very bad idea and, for a wide variety of reasons, I do not believe that it will ever happen," Sanders said.
Carle said neither Congress nor the Pentagon have made a decision on whether any additional interceptor sites will be deployed in the U.S, nor is there any money appropriated for a new site.
"Based on the fiscal 2013 defense authorizing law, the Pentagon is required to conduct a study to validate or invalidate the requirement for an East Coast ballistic missile defense location, and part of that study, which will be completed before the end of this year, will be to identify the possible locations for consideration under an Environmental Impact Study if the basic requirement for a site is validated," Carle wrote in an email. "By virtue of this announcement, Camp Ethan Allen may, or may not, be included in that list of locations for further study under an EIS."
According to Syring's letter, the Missile Defense Agency will contact each site as part of a data gathering process for the study that will assess potential interceptor sites. The sites will then be reassessed to determine suitable locations for further consideration, including on-site visits.MORE IN This Just InThe Associated Press Full StoryPolice: Man robbed Full StoryIllegal gun buy Full Story -
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- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day in 1393, quick thinking teen girl saves King Charles IV of France from burning alive at masquerade ball; in 1760, Vermont town of Pownal created by N.H. Gov. Benning Wentworth; Canuplin, Filipino movie star, born.
- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day, 1700, Cascadia Earthquake, Magnitude 9 plus, strikes West Coast with tsunami effects felt as far away as Japan; in 1885, troops loyal to Sudanese Mohammad Ahmad conquer Khartoum; in 1992, Boris Yeltsin untargets U.S.
- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day in 971 AD, Southern Han war elephant corps defeated by Song Dynasty troops bowmen; in 1870, Montana, Marias massacre, U.S. kills 173 Native Americans; in 1941, Charles Lindbergh recommends neutrality pact with Nazis.
- TOMORROW'S HEADLINES TODAY: Bryanna Allen reports Castleton Downtown hosts open house, fire in Springfield leaves family without a roof of their own, suspected Bosnian war criminal trial goes to jury, Brent Curtis reports Rutland Town budget set to rise.
- TOMORROW'S HEADLINES TODAY: Bill in Legislature proposes naming beagle Vermont state dog; Associated Press looks back at year in opiate abuse; Shapiro's in Brandon soon to close after 75 years; probe shows illegal online gun sales booming.
- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day in 1861, JEFFERSON DAVIS resigns from the U.S. Senate to become president of the Confederate States of America, in 1908, NYC passes law forbidding women from smoking in public; in 1968, B-52 crashes, loses H-bomb.


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Pronunciation: /ˈtʃæləndʒ; ˈtʃælɪndʒ/
Translation of challenge in Spanish:
transitive verb/verbo transitivo
- 1 1.1 (summon) desafiar*, retar one knight challenged the other un caballero desafió or retó al otro he challenged him to a duel lo desafió a un duelo, lo retó a duelo to challenge sb to +
infinitive/infinitivo desafiar* a algna que +subjunctive/subjuntivo I challenge you to prove that! ¡lo desafío a que lo demuestre! 1.2 (offer competition to) no one can challenge the leaders now nadie puede hacer peligrar la posición de los líderes they'll be challenged by a coalition at the next election en las próximas elecciones se les enfrentará una coalición 1.3 (question) [authority/right/findings] cuestionar; [assumption/idea/theory] cuestionar, poner* en entredicho or en duda or en tela de juicioExample sentences- He said that either a Newton Hearing, in which the disputed evidence is challenged, or an agreed basis of plea needed to take place before he could proceed with the case.
- Morrison completes her trilogy by confronting contemporary race and gender representations and challenging declarations of truth and law.
- By saying she doesn't remember she is tacitly accepting the truth by not challenging it.
- 2 (stimulate) suponer* or constituir* un reto or un desafío para this job will really challenge him este trabajo realmente supondrá or constituirá un reto or un desafío para élExample sentences
- The rare breeds hatchery business has challenged them, Drowns says.
- No strategy he could come up with would challenge him enough to spark interest.
- During the trading year, random events could spring up to challenge your ability to manage the business through such unforeseen situations.
- 3 3.1 (stop) [Military/Militar] darle* el alto a she was challenged by a store detective un guarda de seguridad la abordó 3.2 [Law/Derecho] [juror] recusarExample sentences
- The parties to any jury trial may inspect a copy of the panel from which the jury in their trial will be chosen, in order to decide whether any should be challenged
- Defence Counsel may challenge two jury candidates and jurors will be asked if they have any connection with case or defendant.
- Since one is not allowed to select jurors, but only to challenge (deselect) them, traditional approaches to jury selection have focused on identification and challenge of undesirable jurors
Example sentences- A pioneer in liquid crystal displays, Sharp has seen its once-dominant position challenged by Taiwanese and Korean rivals.
- Fan is so far the only candidate and no one has yet emerged from the democratic camp to challenge the position she has held for the past seven years.
- The impressive and young Nurney team have not lost sight of the fact that they are one win away from getting themselves into a promotion challenging position.
Example sentences- The security guard challenged him outside the building and the youngster gave himself up.
- Harkishin was challenged by security guards when he approached the checkout on Sunday.
- Sometimes a guard will challenge me and demand to see my pass.
- 1 countable/numerable 1.1 (to duel, race) desafío (masculine), reto (masculine) to issue a challenge to sb desafiar* or retar a algn to take up o accept the challenge aceptar el reto or desafío 1.2 (competition) rival (masculine) the Democrats are a serious challenge to the government los demócratas constituyen un serio rival para el gobierno 1.3 (disputing) I cannot tolerate this challenge to my authority no tolero que se cuestione mi autoridad
- 2 c and u (stimulation) reto (masculine), desafío (masculine) it isn't going to be easy, but I like a challenge no va a ser fácil, pero me gusta todo lo que supone or constituye un reto or un desafío
- 3 countable/numerable 3.1 (by policeman, sentry) alto (masculine) 3.2 (to juror) recusación (feminine)
Definition of challenge in:
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Cultural fact of the day
Radio broadcasting in Spain began in the 1920s. The state-run Radio Nacional de España (RNE) was established during the Civil War. There are many private radio stations and they compete fiercely. Radio personalities are paid huge salaries, out of which they employ the staff for their programs.


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Maximum relaxation for up to 12. Colorful and spacious 2 story, 4 Bedroom, 3 Bath, Mediterranean Style Villa with private pool and beach access off the driveway. Gulf views in a very comfortable and private setting.
2 bedrooms, 2 baths on lower level, spacious living room + dining + 2 bedrooms, 1 bath on the upper level. 2 large verandas; one is located off the master bedroom with maximum privacy, Gulf views and access to the pool; the second is adjacent to the living area offering excellent Gulf views and a large table for outdoor dining.
Oversized 2 car garage w/openers. Additional parking plus street parking. The property is fenced and gated for privacy, there are three large courtyards. Just a 30 minute drive to Mexico for shopping.
Private pool, cable television, washer & dryer in the Villa; maid service available upon request.
Walk to local shops and restaurants, or use complimentary shuttle (The Wave) out the front door that passes every hour.
I know that Nina already sent you a thank-you note, but I just wanted to chime in here and say that your place in South Padre was so magical. The thoughtful, beautiful way it was decorated, how clean and inviting everything was, and the overall VIBE of it! I can tell a very loving hand created that space, and we all felt so lucky to be there.
So thank you for sharing your house with us - I know we definitely want to come back in the future! Nina let me know too that the deposit is on its way (yay!), and if you have any questions on my address, it is ...
The whole weekend was just what I needed Victoria, a retreat away from busy work life! :D I seriously can't tell you how much we all appreciate it.
Fishing (Gulf & Laguna Madre Bay)
Party Cruise
Water Park
Dolphin Watch and ECO-tours
Beach Buggy Rentals
ATV Rentals
Horseback Riding
Mexico Day Trips
Bird Watching
Sea Turtle Reserve
Convention Center
Rate Period | Nightly | Weekend Night | Weekly | Monthly | Event | ||||
My Standard Rate
Apr 1 2015 -
May 31 2015
2 night minimum stay
Payment is usually accepted in the quoted currency (USD) unless the currency and the amount is specifically agreed in advance with the owner / advertiser.
A deposit payment is requested to hold your dates, this is applied to your invoice. The balance is due 60 days prior to arrival. Your security deposit is refunded 3-5 days after your departure and we deposit directly to your bank unless you prefer a paper check.
Weekly Rate: $1800 - $5500
Weekly and nightly rates available on request. Rental prices vary depending upon length of stay, time of year and number of guests.


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Bible in Basic English (BBE) | New International Version (NIV) |
13 And their bones they put in the earth under a tree in Jabesh; and for seven days they took no food. | 13 Then they took their bones and buried them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted seven days. |
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain. (The Bible in Basic English Version Online) | Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |


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WHAM13 - Search Results
Local man's estate sues GM
Hamlin, N.Y. The estate of a Hamlin man is suing General Motors claiming he was killed in December by a defective ignition switch the same switch that was part of a large recall.
According to court paperwork, in December of 2013, 23-year-old Daniel Hollaert, Jr. was killed when the ignition switched from the run positions caused him to lose control. He crossed the center line on Ridge Road in Orleans County and hit a school bus head-on.
At the time of the accident, Police said they didnt know what caused the crash.
Court paperwork said the ignition switched out of the run positions and airbags failed to deploy.
The plaintiff claims in February, General Motors knew that the Chevrolet Cobalt had an ignition problem and only notified the dealers.


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Nelspruit Hotels
Nelspruit, South Africa
Famously known as the gateway to Kruger National Park, Nelspruit lies in the fertile valley of Crocodile River, 330 km (210 miles) east of Johannesburg in northeastern South Africa. Nelspruit boasts the Nelspruit Nature Reserve, with its rare collection of indigenous vegetation, and the Sudwala Caves, the oldest caves on earth. Nelspruit was renamed Mbombela by the South African government in 2009, although the city is still referred to as Nelspruit. ... Read more »
Nelspruit Attractions
- Croc River Enviro Park
- Nelspruit Lowveld National Botanical Garden
- Barberton Museum and Heritage Walk
Nelspruit Activities
- Witness the wide variety of birds and enjoy the indigenous flora and fauna of the Green Heritage Hiking Trail in Nelspruit
- Wander amongst statues of long-named carnivores while subtropical birds tweet overhead at The Dinosaur Park
- Visit the tranquil Chimpanzee Eden, the only chimpanzee sanctuary in South Africa
Nelspruit Climate
Nelspruit summers (November to February) are warm at 25ºC-35ºC (77ºF-95ºF); winters (May to August) are mild at 11ºC-23ºC (52ºF-73ºF). Average yearly precipitation is 667 mm (26 inches). Winter is the best time to visit this lovely destination.
Getting There & Around
Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport is the nearest airport to Nelspruit. Taxis are available to take visitors to their destinations.
Getting around the bougainvillea-lined modern streets of Nelspruit is best by hiring a car or taxi to get a fantastic view its meandering mountain passes. Visitors may also opt to walk along the streets of Nelspruit.
« HideMercure Nelspruit Hotel
3.5 Stars- Overview
- Description
- Photos
- Map
- Amenities
Protea Hotel Nelspruit
4 Stars- Overview
- Description
- Photos
- Map
- Amenities


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(David Cronenberg, 1983)
What's The Story? Max Renn (James Woods) is a jaded cable TV honcho who finds a new buzz in 'Videodrome', a mind and body-altering S&M channel.
Soon after schtupping Blondie Debbie Harry, his stomach slowly transforms into a video socket and his hand a gun...
What's It About? It's a conspiracy-themed sci-fi satire on the notion that we are what we watch.
"I wanted to see what it would be like," Cronenberg ponders, "if what the censors said would happen, did happen."
Videodrome also pre-empts virtual reality and reality TV by asking, what if TV became as 'real' as real? Try running that one past the Big Brother housemates.
Weird Fact: In an early draft, Renn's gun-hand grew into a grenade...
(Peter Weir, 1975)
What's The Story? On St Valentine's Day, 1900, a group of boarding-school girls and their teacher vanish during a day-trip to the titular landmark.
What's It About? It's vaguely implied that the lasses have been abducted by aborigines for trespassing on sacred ground, suggesting the perils of (European) civilisation tampering with nature.
There's also a theme of sexual blossoming, the girls' disappearance representing a 'crossing over' into womanhood.
Ultimately, though, it's a mystery about mystery - elusiveness is the whole point.
"I did everything in my power to hypnotise the audience away from the possibility of solutions," says Weir.
Weird Fact: The cast and crew's watches played up on the Rock – just as the girls' watches do in the story.
(Luis Bunuel, 1929)
What's The Story? A woman's eye is slit open, a hand swarms with ants, a mouth turns into armpit hair, a transvestite ignores the traffic and a couple break up and make up. It's a love story, see?
What's It About? Salvador Dali and Luis Buñuel's Surrealist soup turns Freudian thinking into film by twiddling riffs of deferred desire in parallel with disconnected, dreamlike images that deny any satisfaction for sense.
Follow? You're not supposed to. "This film has no intention of attracting, or pleasing, the spectator," said Buñuel. "Indeed, on the contrary, it attacks him."
Weird Fact: The Pixies' squalling classic 'Dolittle' album-opener 'Debaser' homaged Buñuel but changed "Andalou" to "Andalusia". Because it sounded better.
Next: Sick, El Topo, Freaks... [page-break]
(Kirby Dick, 1997)
What's The Story? Dick's doc focuses on cystic-fibrosis sufferer Bob Flanagan, who turned his life of "coming, coughing and bad runny bowels" into S&M performance art.
Among other things, this process involved skewering his cock on a nail.
What's It About? Sick is a touching, bawdy S&M love story and memorial to Flanagan's often-inspired takes on art, desire and illness.
Essentially, he's transcending his ailment by wilfully exceeding the pain it gave him.
According to Dick, that crucified-penis close-up was a purely aesthetic decision ("I thought the impact of the image would play well cinematically").
Weird Fact: Flanagan starred in Nine Inch Nails' widely banned video for 'Happiness Is Slavery'.
(Alejandro Jorodowsky, 1970)
What's The Story? Ultraviolent, black-clad gunslinger El Topo avenges the slaughter of a small town's inhabitants, and is then injured in a face-off with four grandmasters of pistol-duelling.
Years later, he's rescued by mutant dwarves and sets off to liberate his keepers from their underground hidey-hole.
Everyone gets killed by more outlaws and El Topo burns himself alive.
What's It About? It's a lateral metaphor on the Old and New Testaments. The grandmasters are the prophets Ezekiel, Daniel, Isaiah and Jeremiah while El Topo, naturally, is ol' JC.
Weird Fact: El Topo is one of Marilyn Manson's favourite movies, and he's desperate to star in Jodorowsky's long-awaited sequel.
(Tod Browning, 1932)
What's The Story? Cleopatra (Olga Baclanova) is a beautiful circus trapeze artist, adored by Hans the midget but canoodling with Hercules the strong man.
When Cleopatra learns Hans is sitting on a huge inheritance, she plots to deprive him of his fortune by poisoning the tiny toy-boy.
But the circus' malformed members – including the pinhead twins, the limbless Living Torso and, naturally, the bearded lady – plot a nasty revenge on this depraved gold-digger.
What's It About? 'Who are the real freaks?', jabs real-life circus man Browning. The 'stars', or the 'normal' people in the film? A bit like real life, eh? EH?
Weird Fact: Studio boss Louis B Mayer banned the 'freaks' from eating in the MGM café because they were upsetting their fellow diners.
Next: Primer, Head, Boxing Helena... [page-break]
(Shane Carruth, 2004)
What's The Story? Engineer buddies Aaron (Shane Carruth) and Abe (David Sullivan) design a superconducting machine in Aaron's garage. Then, er...
What's It About? ...they realise that the machine can be used as a portal to 'travel' back to the time it was turned on - it works by creating a time loop.
As Abe says, it's like "two ends of a street and both are cul-de-sacs". So, entry to/exit from the machine can only happen safely at either the past or the future end of the street.
If you enter at the past end, you enter the back-side of the loop and, when you exit at the future end, you've effectively travelled back in time – but never further back than the start-up time of the machine.
Weird Fact: Shane Carruth made the film for $7,000 and had to keep it ultra-lean. The 78-minute running time came from cutting just two minutes out of the 80 originally shot.
(Bob Rafelson, 1968)
What's The Story? The '60s. Processed-pop moptops The Monkees slosh around in a stream of consciousness featuring musical numbers, spinny-eyed psychedelic asides, genre dress-up lunacy and even the odd dash of Vietnam satire.
What's It About? Basically, it was Monkees co-creator Bob Rafelson – and cameo star Jack Nicholson – getting out of their heads and devising a lurid action-painting satire of the band's birth, phoney existence and spectacular commercial death. It didn't work. And no one bothered to go see it.
Weird Fact: Guitarist Michael Nesmith's mum invented Tipp-Ex in the '50s. When she died, Nesmith inherited $25 million of her estate.
(Jennifer Lynch, 1993)
What's The Story? Creepy surgeon Nick (Julian Sands) nurses Helena (Lynch Sr fave Sherilyn Fenn) after she's hit by a car.
Well, actually, he develops a deranged obsession with her; removing more body bits than strictly necessary in a bid to ensure she'll never leave his caring clutches...
What's It About? Advanced acrotomophelia (amputee fetish) driven by paranoid megalomania, aggravated by Helena's own Stockholm syndrome (captive's perverse attachment to captor).
Nick's urge to utterly 'possess' Helena completely overrides her increasingly disturbing lack of extremities, while the stress of Helena's resulting ordeal plays havoc with her emotional response.
The gleaming great cherry of spookiness on top of this deeply odd cake? Director Jennifer Lynch was the inspiration for dad Dave's weird opus Eraserhead .
Weird Fact: Kim Basinger paid heavily in court for doing a runner on her original casting as Helena ("It was the best $8m I ever spent").
Next: Huckabees, Jacob's Ladder, Schizopolis... [page-break]
(David O Russell, 2004)
What's The Story? (Environ)mentalist Albert (Jason Schwartzman) hires 'existential detectives' Bernard and Vivian Jaffe (Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin) to investigate a bizarre minor coincidence, but soon gets mixed up with a rival nihilist philosopher (Isabelle Huppert), convenience store kings The Huckabees and a paranoid fireman (Mark Wahlberg). Result? Enlightenment!
What's It About? Existentialism 101: the practical anti-philosophy that discounts conceptual/spiritual moral frameworks. Only through shared human experience might we one day achieve transcendence.
Weird Fact: Hoffman's character wears a completely faceless watch: no hands, no numbers. A timeless classic, etc.
(Adrian Lyne, 1990)
What's The Story? Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins) is a Vietnam vet pummelled by sizzling fevers and hallucinogenic panic-attacks... And menaced by shadowy G-men with vibrating faces.
He vents all to sympathetic chiropractor Louis (Danny Aiello), but when his war buddies start getting picked off in dodgy accidents, Jacob is forced to decide if he's going brain-mental from experimental drug tests back in 'Nam or if he's about to get popped for real...
What's It About? He's in purgatory, and the vibratey-faced men are demons out to claim him for Hell, while Louis is a guiding angel, trying to work out his fears and regrets and get him into Heaven...
("If you're frightened of dying and you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the Earth").
This is all backed up by the opening scene – a 'Nam flashback – where Jacob is ambushed and bayoneted. So, the film is all a metaphysical allegory for his journey from death to afterlife. Easy.
Weird Fact:
Louis' speech is sampled in UNKLE/Thom Yorke's 'Rabbit In Your Headlights'.
(Steven Soderbergh, 1996)
What's The Story? Suburban schlub Fletcher Munson (Steven Soderbergh) works for Scientology-alike group Eventualism as his life disintegrates.
His wife (Betsy Brantley) is having an affair with the dentist next door, Dr Korchek (also Soderbergh), and someone's trying to kill his boss...
What's It About? Having just made Crisscross remake The Underneath , Soderbergh was bored out of his mind and desperate to recapture the spirit that had driven sex, lies & videotape to landscape-shaping Cannes glory.
The resulting mix of mid-life introspection and slapstick served as an artistic reboot, exorcising demons and allowing Soderbergh to climb out of "the arthouse ghetto", make Out Of Sight and partner with George Clooney to produce some of the noughties' most entertaining and provocative films.
Weird Fact: Soderbergh's real-life ex played his on-screen missus, lending a keen edge to the post-modern frippery.
Next: Pound, Tetsuo, Altered States... [page-break]
(Robert Downey Sr, 1970)
What's The Story? Eighteen dogs await either adoption or gassing. The twist? The mutts – including a boxer, Pekinese and mad Mexican hairless – are played by real human actors. Barking...
What's It About? Life. That horrible limbo between birth and death; the terrible unknowingness of when you will be taken. What with dogs being man's best friend, their plight feels all the more unsettling.
Would it have worked as well with humans? Of course not. We hate other people; we love cute little doggies. Er, even when played by humans.
Robert Downey Sr's film asks, "When life goes to the dogs, where do the dogs go?" Caught up in the hellish whirlwind of survival, it's a question no one thinks to ask.
Weird Fact Robert Downey Jr features in his first role. As a puppy.
(Shinya Tsukamoto, 1989)
What's The Story? A regular Japanese Joe (Tomorowo Taguchi) accidentally runs over a freaky fella (Tsukamoto) with a stomach-churning penchant for pushing big bits of scrap metal into festering wounds on his body.
Assuming he's killed the perve, our protagonist dumps the 'corpse'. But then, oddly, he starts to morph into a walking cutlery drawer...
What's It About? Many view Tetsuo's sleazy but sterile dystopia as a protracted whine about the dehumanisation of Japan in the wake of her industrial megaboom.
Others cite several scenes – particularly the massively controversial 'drill dick' murder bit – as evidence of a general riff on male impotence and the ultimate weakness of the flesh. See also Number 23 ( Videodrome ).
Weird Fact: Director Tsukamoto also starred in Ichi The Killer (2001). At least a quarter of the alleged bucket of man-fat used in the icky Ichi title sequence was his.
(Ken Russell, 1980)
What's The Story? Over-eager psychophysiologist Dr Jessup (William Hurt) is anxious to progress in exploring consciousness, so he sets out to experiment on himself...
A few ethical dilemmas, hours of sensory deprivation and LSD-aping Ken Russell visuals later and he's a slobbering neo-Neanderthal living RIGHT ON THE EDGE.
What's It About? From the pen of Network scribbler Paddy Chayefsky, Altered States could be seen as a satire on babyboomers' attempts to conquer the beast within and expand the mind via LSD and free love.
From Russell's demented POV, it's an excuse to tear people apart, scare epileptics and traumatise William Hurt.
Weird Fact: During shooting Ken Russell insisted mega-bore Hurt was silent at meal-times, or foot the bill. Hurt paid for every dinner.
Next: Visitor Q, Dwarfs, Society... [page-break]
(Takashi Miike, 2001)
What's The Story? A father gets it on with his prostitute daughter. Then, the family's lives are turned inside out by the arrival of a strange guest who encourages mom, dad, son and daughter to satisfy their darkest needs.
Necrophilia, murder, dismemberment, heroin and anal rape are on the menu, all washed down with a barrel-load of milk squirted from ma's wildly lactating breasts. Did we mention it's a comedy?
What's It About? It's a modern-day Gulliver's Travels shot on DV; grainy images and jagged satire combine to demonstrate how humans are pathetic, self-serving, squabbling, rancid and downright low.
Miike especially bludgeons the nuclear family, and explains/excuses his OTT imagery as a cultural thing: "In Japan, violence isn't as controversial as it is in the West, so it's easier to make a crazy, extremely violent film."
Weird Fact: Gratuitous sexploitation cinema? Of course not. Miike claims to have been influenced by Pier Paolo Pasolini's metaphysical chin-stroker Theorem (1968).
(Werner Herzog, 1970)
What's The Story? Egged on by cackling leader Hombré (Helmut Döring), the inmates of an asylum rise up against their oppressors, tying their supervisor to a chair.
A monkey is crucified. Chickens are forced to eat each other. Plants are torched. Oh, and it's all set in an alternative universe inhabited solely by dwarves.
What's It About? There's method to Herzog's madness: Dwarfs unmasks man's beastly nature, trashing his bourgeois values.
The dwarves aren't freakish, society is. And the cannibalistic hens? "Chickens frighten me because they are so stupid," says Herzog. "When you look into their eyes, it's really, really weird."
Weird Fact: Herzog celebrated wrapping Dwarves by leaping into a field of cacti.
(Brian Yuzna, 1989)
What's The Story? Orange-faced, Jeep-driving class president-in-waiting Bill Whitney can't shake a creeping sense of alienation in his sterile Beverly Hills 'hood; or the notion that something vaguely rotten lurks behind the white marble pillars...
Turns out his nearest and dearest are an alien race engaged in murderous, body-morphing sex orgies, sucking precious nutrients from their less monied peers. Good instincts, then...
What's It About? A none-too subtle wad of phlegm in the beady eyes of America's vampiric upper classes and their sniffy, gated communities.
The metaphor couldn't be more direct: Yuzna literally accuses them of being another species, feeding off those below them and spunking their swollen bank balances over each other's smug little faces.
Not sure about the body-morphing, mind. That just looks cool.
Weird Fact: Society bombed in the States but was a hit in Europe (Yuzna: "Europeans are more willing to accept the ideas buried in a movie. To Americans, it was all a big joke").
Next: Pi, Donnie Darko... [page-break]
(Darren Aronofsky, 1998)
What's The Story? Pill-popping maths boffin Maxmillian Cohen (Sean Gullette) treads the dark path to a numbingly complex theory: everything in the universe can be predicted through graphology and numeric patterns.
Suspecting he's about to crack The Code with his Blue Peter-esque homemade supercomputer, shifty representatives of both Wall Street and a Kabbalah sect start to hassle him. Max snaps, and decides to drill out his demons. Literally...
What's It About? Generally speaking, it's the old 'troubled genius' chestnut, but, in a sense, the film isn't really about Cohen as such. It's more of a florid riff on - hold tight - the concept of nonlinear dynamics. Chaos theory.
Aronofsky pokes fun at narcissistic academics setting out to achieve the impossible – in Cohen's case, finding a pattern that makes sense of apparently chaotic systems.
Weird Fact: A bona fide human brain appears in the film. One prop runner clearly earned his keep...
(Richard Kelly, 2001)
What's The Story? Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) sees rabbits. But the rabbit is in his head, or maybe it's his sister's boyfriend. Or an acid trip. Or God. Or the wooden head of a bunny in the kitchen... The one certainty is that the world is coming to an end. Very soon...
What's It About? Love. Anyone can point out the oddity of bunny-suits, '80s tributes and time travel, but this is just a romantic tale of Everyteen Don – forgetting the world, running off with a girl and losing his cherry along the way...
"I don't care if you've seen it 80 times," says Kelly. "It's not about mental illness. Gretchen is not a mystical recreation of Rose as a young girl, Cherita Chen isn't a spy for the Chinese government."
Given the choice of dying, turning back time and saving his beloved, or living a life without her, Donnie chooses the former. It's really that simple. Everyone dies. Love survives.
Weird Fact: Donnie was shot in 28 days – exactly the time-span of the film itself.
Next: Being John Malkovich, Eraserhead... [page-break]
(Spike Jonze, 1999)
What's The Story? Puppeteer Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) stoops to a day-job at a finance company in Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman's feature debut.
The ante ups when, behind a filing cabinet, Craig finds a portal to 15 minutes of fame where he transforms into John Malkovich.
He and colleague Maxine (Catherine Keener) tout the trip to punters, Maxine humps Craig's wife via Malkovich's body, and a chimp recalls childhood traumas.
Then things get a bit weird...
What's It About? "I don't know if I was consciously trying to do anything," Kaufman claims, "but decide what would happen to these individuals."
Despite the third act's riffs on Oedipal desire and delusions of fame, Kaufman insists he just ran with the Malkovich idea to keep the film open ("I don't have any solutions, and I don't like movies that do.")
Weird Fact: Far from softening the film, Malkovich asked Jonze and Kaufman to be meaner to him.
(David Lynch, 1977)
What's The Story? Against a bleak, post-industrial backdrop, sticky up-haired Henry (Jack Nance) is about to get a real shock.
During a dinner of still-twitching man-made chicken with his girlfriend Mary X (Charlotte Stewart) and her family, he discovers he's about to become a father to Mary's baby-creature.
When the child is born, it looks like a cross between a sperm and a calf foetus. Mary and Henry break up.
The baby wails incessantly. Henry dissects it, while a lady who lives behind the radiator sings about Heaven and stamps on foetuses...
What's It About? Eraserhead is a murky excursion into fatherhood anxiety, post-nuclear nightmare and folksy Americana.
It's also a self-referential wink at the idea of audience befuddlement: Henry's final dissolution into the light is like losing one's self in the film.
As Lynch claims, "I felt Eraserhead . I didn't think it."
And here's another theory: Lynch's wife left him a year into the making of the film and a few years after his daughter was born.
He's called the film "my
Philadelphia Story
", referring to the classic comedy about commitment anxiety. A veiled fear-of-marriage confessional, then? Maybe, but don't ask Lynch ("I love the idea that one thing can be different for different people").
Weird Fact:
Lynch worked a paper round to help finance the film.
Next: The Wizard Of Oz... [page-break]
(Victor Fleming, 1939)
What's The Story? Farm girl Dorothy (Judy Garland) is snatched from rural Kansas by a tornado and dumped into a world of witches, wizards, talking scarecrows, human/lion hybrids, flying monkeys, disturbing dwarfish folk and men with upturned funnels on their heads.
What's It About? It's a political allegory for late 19th-century America. L Frank Baum, author of the original book The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, was a political activist, and illustrator WW Denslow had dabbled in caricature.
The Lion, Tin Man, Scarecrow, Yellow Brick Road, silver slippers, cyclone, monkeys, Emerald City, little people, witches and wizards were all popular images in political cartoons of the 1890s.
Baum and Denslow simply drafted them into a single story, all carried by an everywoman character Dorothy, representing the American people.
According to historian Hugh Rockoff, the Tin Man is the downtrodden industrial worker. The Scarecrow is the farmer.
In the book, the Scarecrow and Tin Man work together to defeat the tyrannical Wicked Witch Of The East (future president Grover Cleveland, who supported the rich-favouring gold standard currency).
In 1890s Minnesota, the Farmer-Labor Party, a coalition of industrialists and farmers, was big news.
The Lion is 1896 Democrat Presidential candidate William Bryan (described as having "a great roar but no bite"). The Wicked Witch Of The West was Republican William McKinley, who won the Presidency. The Munchkins are the ordinary citizens, the 'little' people.
So, Dorothy follows the Yellow Brick Road (the gold-standard currency) to the promised land of prosperity (Emerald City) but finds the whole thing is an illusion constructed by the Wizard Of Oz (Republican chairman Mark Hanna) to dupe the American people (Dorothy).
It isn't the Yellow Brick Road that gets her home, it's the ruby slippers (representing the free silver movement – the alternative currency of the people).
So that Christmas childhood fixture is really a barely veiled call for revolution in America.
There's no place like the home of the brave...
Weird Fact: The now-iconic 'Over The Rainbow' signature tune almost didn't make the film. MGM thought kids wouldn't get it, and that it would be degrading for Judy Garland to sing in a barnyard.
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Ben & Jerry's latest flavor riffs on 30 Rock'Staff Report | January 29,2013BURLINGTON Ben & Jerrys will unveil a flavor aimed at the NBC series 30 Rock on Thursday during a series finale viewing party in New York City.
Co-founder Jerry Greenfield will introduce the flavor, the ice cream company said Monday. Tickets to the viewing party are limited and will benefit a local nonprofit. Those who attend will get to sample the new flavor.
The flavor will be available across the country in Ben & Jerrys scoop shops in February and at grocery stores and convenience stores shortly afterward.
Tickets cost $21.50 each.
The viewing party will also feature 30 Rock trivia contests and giveaways. Go to www.flynntix.org for more information and tickets.MORE IN Vermont NewsMONTPELIER Gov. Full StoryWhile they weren't happy about doing it, the City Council in Montpelier voted against allowing... Full StoryMONTPELIER Gov. Full Story -
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- TOMORROW'S HEADLINES TODAY: Bryanna Allen reports Castleton Downtown hosts open house, fire in Springfield leaves family without a roof of their own, suspected Bosnian war criminal trial goes to jury, Brent Curtis reports Rutland Town budget set to rise.
- TOMORROW'S HEADLINES TODAY: Bill in Legislature proposes naming beagle Vermont state dog; Associated Press looks back at year in opiate abuse; Shapiro's in Brandon soon to close after 75 years; probe shows illegal online gun sales booming.
- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day in 1861, JEFFERSON DAVIS resigns from the U.S. Senate to become president of the Confederate States of America, in 1908, NYC passes law forbidding women from smoking in public; in 1968, B-52 crashes, loses H-bomb.
- TOMORROW'S HEADLINES TODAY: Aldermen debate request for $75K from Zamias Fund for Wonderfeet museum, Bryanna Allen covers CSC Spring Convocation, proponents of sugary drinks tax meet press at State House, Neal Goswami reports revenue forecast for state.
- TOMORROW'S HEADLINES TODAY: Oil prices continue to drop, good news for Vermonters who heat their homes with the stuff; Pawlet man still missing after one year, icy road make driving and walking sketchy propositions, funding for B&G Clubs announced.


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10 Ways To Help Your Kids Cope With Your Divorce
By Ilene Dillon
3. Never talk trash about your estranged/divorced partner. That person is your child's parent. My 10 year old daughter said to me: "I'm going to tell you the same thing I told my Dad. It hurts me when you talk mean about my Dad. He's my dad; and I love him. Talking mean about somebody I love hurts me."
4. Allow yourself to cry or feel sad, even if your children are present. Kids are not hurt by your emotions; they just need to know that adults are in charge. "I want to let myself feel sad right now," you can say even to a two-year-old.
5. Leave room for your children to feel sad, share their tears, or miss the other parent. Put them in moving water (swimming, showers), as often as possible, do art projects involving big movements (keeps the diaphragm from locking up), take walks in nature, etc. Regardless of your own pain, let your child fully express the pain they feel! Don't focus on who caused it, but on how can I support my child to successfully transit what is happening now? Focus on facilitating healing. Get help if you are too emotionally upset or don't know what to do.
6. Leave time for the grief process because there is no set time limit. Don't introduce new partners or dates to your children right away. For instance, my three-year-old son was terrified when my brother visited me right after my divorce: he thought I was replacing his father with this man. Grief occurs in waves, and may show up for months or even years.
7. If you have seen an escalation in arguments and fighting prior to separation, that must end first. Studies have shown it's not the separation or divorce itself that is the most emotionally costly for kids: it's actually the fighting and arguing. The greatest damage occurs when they continue after the separation or divorce. Anger: Manage It (Forever), or Master It (For Good)?
8. Check in with your child as her or she gets older. Children make decisions, even before they can talk, about what they need to do to ensure their survival in your family. My daughter was 10 months old when I got a divorce and age 13, she would not allow herself to participate in after-school activities. I discovered she had made a decision that it was up to her to keep me and my ex happy. So then we both informed her we were happy, thanked her for her love, and then told her the way to really make us happy was to go into her own life fully, which she did!


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Contains excerpts from "Any Time Any Place" as performed by Janet Jackson. Used courtesy of Virgin UK, under
License from EMI Music Marketing
from Kendrick Lamar (Ft. DJ Dahi, Dr. Dre, Jay Rock & Punch) – Good kid, m.A.A.d city [Credits] Lyrics on Genius
Peep Janet's tune here. Note that the Janet sample is especially appropriate because she starred in the movie Poetic Justice
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See Ethan Hawke Get Tortured in 'Sinister' Before Any of Your Friends Do
Movie News By Jack Giroux on August 24, 2012 | Be the First To CommentIf you're looking forward to Scott Derrickson's Sinister, then you may want to get in on this chance to catch his restrained horror film sooner rather than later. The movie had its "surprise" premiere at SXSW this year and, after receiving some positive buzz there, Summit Entertainment is continuing to show promise in the project. Today the studio has launched "See Sinister First," offering audiences the opportunity to attend an early screening of the film.
You can join a screening which is already live or even request a showing for your hometown, and, for the latter option, use Tugg. The chance to make a screening close by you happen only lasts a week, so move fast. So far there are only showings scheduled in California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and one in Washington D.C. that Film School Rejects happens to be co-hosting. The screenings that reach full attendance will receive a collectible poster for Sinister, as well as possible Q & A from the filmmakers. All in all, a pretty snazzy deal.
Here are the official details:
Kate Erbland and I were both fans of Sinister at SXSW. It's a well-crafted horror movie, the kind that relies more on atmosphere than gruesome kills. It's not exactly the crowd-pleasing brand of horror either, so it'll be interesting to see how general audiences respond to the film's unwillingness to go big in the conventional genre sense.
Sinister opens in theaters October 5th.
Neil Miller
Scott Beggs
Rob Hunter
Kate Erbland
Christopher Campbell


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POSTED: Saturday, June 13, 2009 - 7:43pm
UPDATED: Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - 11:04am
HENDERSON - Today the Henderson Police Department offered a seminar to help church leaders prepare for violence in their churches.
This comes after a string of church shootings in the last few years, and about six months after Henderson had its own close call.
Police say on December 21st, a masked gunman entered a church in Henderson during a holiday program.
Church leaders say although church violence is not something people want to think about, it's a harsh reality of our time.
"Most people in churches are not armed, are not prepared for it, and we need to make ourselves aware of it," Henry Wiggins, a Deacon, says.
Henderson police recommend working with a security team and make staff aware of threatening behavior before it happens.


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Moscow Hotels
Editor's Pick
4 Ulitsa Neglinnaya
Russia 109012
Tel: 7 495 783 1234
The Park Hyatt hotel is in a terrific location—around the corner from the Bolshoi Theatre and within a few minutes' walk of Red Square and the Kremlin—and until the Ritz-Carlton opened in 2007, it was the best hotel in Moscow. Inside, it's modern, with glass-and-steel elevators and 216 light-filled, beige-on-white rooms; the huge bathrooms feature black-granite heated floors, roomy showers, and soaking tubs. As at the Ritz-Carlton, the least expensive rooms start at more than $1,000 a night; booking a Park Deluxe room with a kitchenette can save on extras, such as nearly $60 for a hot breakfast (or nearly $50 for a cold one) at the Park Restaurant. The hotel was built on the site of a legendary Soviet-era Armenian restaurant, and it recalls its predecessor not only in name but also with ethnic touches: artwork by contemporary Armenian artists, a depiction of an Armenian fertility goddess in the atrium, an Armenian chapel with a priest on call, and, of course, Café Ararat, which dishes up satisfying Armenian fare (bonus: Sunday brunch in winter includes unlimited Veuve Clicquot Champagne). Sushi bars are mandatory in today's Moscow: The Park Hyatt's is called Enoki. The tenth-floor Conservatory Lounge and Bar has a splendid view (although not quite as spectacular as the vista over the Kremlin from the Ritz-Carlton's rooftop bar), and the Ararat's spa includes a 45-foot-long swimming pool and a choice of Finnish sauna, Russian banya, and hammam. The service is unobtrusive but friendly—and though it's unusual for Moscow, the staff actually smiles.
Editor's Pick
5 Bolshoi Starodanilovsky Pereulok
Russia 113191
Tel: 7 495 954 0503
This placid five-story hotel on the grounds of the Orthodox Danilovsky (St. Daniel) Monastery feels like a cross between a monastic inn and a Soviet-era hotel for top party officials. But don't let that put you off one of the few hotel bargains near central Moscow. The 116 air-conditioned roomsdecorated with icons and portraits of Russian Orthodox patriarch Aleksy IIwere upgraded with new furnishings and modern bathroom fixtures in June 2008. Some, however, still feel slightly fusty: The flowery suites, for example, are reminiscent of an alpine B&B. If you want a double bed, be sure to ask for one (some "doubles" have twin beds). And request a room facing the cathedrals and the complex's lovely garden: The exterior view is industrial and unpleasant. While rooms are cheap by Moscow standards (about $250 for a double), the nondescript restaurant, which used to be known for relatively inexpensiveyet tasty and heartyRussian fare has become pricier and more Continental. There is a small business center, sauna, and pool, and the Russian Orthodox Church sponsors concerts and exhibitions on the grounds. It's likely you'll encounter clergy among your fellow guests. The nearest metro station, Tulskaya, is a few minutes' walk away, and then it's a ten-minute ride to the Kremlin. A few years ago, the neighborhood (usually called Tulskaya after the metro stop) was remarkably dreary, but has been spruced up with the addition of big shopping malls (one with a roller rink).
Editor's Pick
Ulitsa Malaya Dmitrovka Dom 11
Russia 127006
Tel: 7 495 980 7000
Anton Chekhov once stayed in this 19th-century building, but the sophisticated European tourists, visiting executives, and celebrities (Christina Aguilera, Fergie) who pass through these days aren't here for the history. They come for this 92-room hotel's hip vibe, convenient location near Ulitsa Tverskaya (the main thoroughfare to the Kremlin), and a Philippe Starckstyle design that's not unlike a high-tech, high-concept cruise ship, courtesy of Canadian architect Rafael Shafir. The hotel's namesake fruit is echoed throughout the hotel, notably in the huge lobby sculpture and the motif decorating the guest room carpets. Avoid standard rooms: A neighboring office block obstructs the view from most, those with small windows feel like prison cells, and the tiny bathrooms don't help (the "showers" are just curtained-off corners). The sympathetic front desk staff readily move guests when space allows, so booking a standard room couldwith a bit of luck and a pained expression on your faceland you a VIP superior room with floor-to-ceiling windows and one hour of free Internet per day. But since the standard rooms are priced just under $1,000 and the VIP rooms are just over $1,000, we recommend booking the latter in the first place. Breakfasta selection of berries, omelets, pastries, breads, carpaccio, and smoked fishis very fresh and included with all rooms. The Apple Lounge, which is adjacent to the slick restaurant, looks like something out of New York City or London, with psychedelic blowup photographs of trees, fur-covered cube stools, and a long bar. The whirlpool tub, sauna, and cardio room are open 24 hours as is the Coffee House, a Starbucks-like chain located down the street where Wi-Fi is just $2it's a good place to avoid the hotel's $35-per-day charge.
Editor's Pick
1 Ulitsa Baltschug
Russia 115035
Tel: 7 495 230 6500
A pioneer in the 1990s, the Baltschug (located in the Zamoskvorechya district), was among the first Western-managed hotels to open in Moscow, but lost its way when even flashier, more centrally located competitors like the Park Hyatt and Ritz-Carlton opened. Now it's on a comeback. Thanks to a top-to-bottom upgrade, finished in July 2008, the old Art Decostyle furniture and wine-colored furnishings were jettisoned and managing director Gianni van Daalen commissioned reproductions of Kazimir Malevich's paintings to hang throughout the hotel. The revamped rooms are done up in shades of beige, blue, or rose; some are classic in style, others are more contemporary; all 230 are spacious (350 to 1,100 square feet). They also include the usual menu of luxury amenities (Frette linens, pillow menu, bath butler, plasma TVs). What didn't change are the great views of the Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral. Deluxe rooms are equipped with telescopes for a closer peek at the landmarks, and the corner Kremlin Suite and Princess Suite have especially fine panoramas. Some superior rooms (the hotel's least expensive accommodations) overlook the pipes and industrial buildings of the Mosenergo power plantwhich isn't quite as oppressive as it sounds. It also didn't hurt when GQ Bar, Moscow's trendiest restaurant, opened next door in 2007. But dining at the Restaurant Baltschug is almost a bargain by Moscow standardsa dinner prix fixe starts at $70. There's also a Japanese restaurant; Café Kranzler, which resembles an airport lounge but has a pretty river view from its summer terrace and even prettier pastries; a bar with a cigar sommelier and hundreds of vodkas on the menu; and breakfast (not included in the room rate) includes red caviar and Champagne. The health club has an indoor pool, solarium, juice bar, and massage facilities, and the newly renovated Baltschug Beauty Center offers a range of facials and body treatments with Sensai and La Biosthetique products.
Editor's Pick
Ulitsa Sretenskaya Dom 15
Russia 107045
Tel: 7 495 933 55 44
One of Moscow's first "boutique" hotels, the Hotel Sretenskaya opened in 2000 in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood (usually called Sretenka) two subway stops from Red Square. It's not luxurious, but has a B&Bstyle homeyness that stands out in Moscow's over-the-top hotel scene and attracts older British and American travelers. The theme (in the public areas at least) is Russian fairy tale: Painted pastel filigree and carved wood and plaster moldings decorate the lobby and restaurant, and a glass atrium soars above the lobby bar's junglelike winter garden. The 38 rooms are considerably less fanciful: You get a bed (comfortable), a dated TV (English-language channels, though), and a bathroom (shower stalls only). On the other hand, there is a nice sauna that can be reserved for private use. Note that the layout of some suites is Russian provincial stylelarge living rooms for entertaining plus a tiny bedroom. There's no nighttime room service, so after the restaurant and bar close at 11 pm, your next chance to eat is at the filling breakfast buffet (including blini and cereal), which is included in the room price. If you're on a budget, check for weekend discounts and note that Wi-Fi is free in the lobby and bar, although it can be very slow.
Editor's Pick
15/1 Ulitsa Mokhovaya
Russia 125009
Tel: 7 495 258 7000
For historical atmosphere, the National is hard to beat. In 1918, Lenin moved into a two-room suite here overlooking the Kremlinnaturallyand so can you if you're willing to fork over a very capitalist $3,000 per night. Other famous guests have ranged from Stalin to Pelé to Catherine Deneuvetheir photographs hang side by side in a portrait gallery. The Art Nouveau building's historic status forestalls the possibility of major reconstruction to squeeze in more rooms (there are 216), but beware of standard singles: They're like glorified train compartments with tiny beds. All rooms are decorated with stately oak furniture and the suites upgrade to French and Russian antiques; unfortunately, many rooms are burdened by a somewhat off-putting mauve color scheme. Bathrooms, most of them spacious, have been spiffed up with modern tiles and bathtubs. The entire seventh floor and most of the fourth are nonsmoking, which is relatively rareMoscow is still a smoking city. Owned by Moscow city government but managed by Starwood, the hotel has all the usual perks: a spa and fitness area (the indoor swimming pool and whirlpool bath were renovated in 2007) and a business center (as in most Moscow hotels, Internet is pricymore than 60 cents a minute). But there are also a few extras: Breakfast (included in the room rate) is served overlooking the Kremlin, which is possible because Red Square is right outside the door.
Editor's Pick
40 Ulitsa Pokrovka, Stroyenie 2
Russia 105062
Tel: 7 495 229 57 97
Mamaison isn't quite as central as Moscow's top-end hotels, such as the Ritz-Carlton and Ararat Park Hyatt, but it is more affordable. Mamaison claimed the title of Moscow's first all-suite hotel when it opened in 2007, although standard rooms, called Junior Suites, are really one-room studios with a seating area and a minibar. For a full apartment, you'll have to bump up two room categories to a one-bedroom Junior Suite Deluxe, which includes a full kitchen (you'll want to skip the subpar—and pricey—buffet breakfast). All rooms are decorated with wood floors, modern furniture, Art Deco accents, and bright pops of color; the best in all room categories overlook Ulitsa Pokrovka, one of Moscow's busiest, prettiest old streets. The spa, opened in 2008 as Russia's first Algotherm facility, has a Turkish hammam, Moroccan rassoul, and 14 treatment rooms.
Editor's Pick
1/4 Teatralny Proyezd
Russia 109012
Tel: 7 499 501 7800
The Metropol vies with the National for the title of Moscow's most historic hotel: Lenin lived in the National, but he gave speeches here. It's a huge hotel (363 rooms), with a grand lobby, an even grander restaurant under a vaulted stained-glass ceiling, and fountains and marble pillars for adornment. Some of the early Bolsheviks lived and worked here (the presidential suite includes a huge desk used by Lenin's comrade Yakov Sverdlov); more recent notable guests include heads of state, Michael Jackson, and Sharon Stone. Guest rooms have high ceilings and many are decorated with antiques preserved and restored from the hotel's opening in 1901. (Some are lovely, while others have an overwrought Victorian feel that might not be to everyone's taste.) The bestsuch as rooms No. 4464 and No. 5564have views of the Bolshoi Theater and Revolution Square (Ploschad Revoliutsii), which is adjacent to Red Square; for a view of the Kremlin's towers, book No. 3340. Avoid the seven tiny single rooms and the rooms with views over the glass ceiling of the Metropol Hallyou'll feel as if you're stuck in a broom closet. High-speed Internet can be installed for a flat fee of nearly $200 plus about $35 per day for the service. Skip the tired breakfast buffetlive harp music notwithstandingand upgrade instead to the VIP floor, which for an extra $40 gets you breakfast, a light dinner (you can bring a guest, free of charge), and meeting room. The pool and sauna are beautiful, but close at 10 pm.
Editor's Pick
11/20 Ulitsa Petrovka
Russia 107031
Tel: 7 495 937 1000
The official hotel of the Bolshoi, the Royal Aurora hotel is located a mere pirouette away from the theater on historic Petrovkaone of Moscow's oldest streets and home to a beautiful monastery founded in the 14th century. It's also just around the corner from the boutiques of Stoleshnikov Pereulok. At the end of 2008, the hotel's 230 air-conditioned rooms are slated for renovations, including an upgrade to plasma TVs. Each room has a different configuration, most are spacious, and some have arched windows thanks to the hotel's location in two 19th-century buildings; potted plants and pretty reproductions of 19th-century artwork soften the executive-style decor in wine-colored hues. Mansard-level rooms feel more like homey attic spaces than chain-hotel lodging although some might consider them cramped because of their unusual shape and low ceilings in certain spots; some also have just one small window instead of two large ones. For $115 per night on top of the regular rate, you get a room on the club floor, which includes butler service, access to a lounge, library, and meeting room, as well as breakfast and cheeses, tea, and desserts throughout the day. Prime beef is the specialty of the hotel's decent Polo Club Restaurant (try the Australian Wagyu or Argentine Angus steak). The staff is friendly and helpful, and the excellent concierge can usually snag you a couple of tickets to "sold out" performances (the Marriott Aurora is one of the Bolshoi's sponsors). The basement level has a Guerlain beauty salon and one of Moscow's best hotel fitness centers, open 24 hours, with a pool and two dozen exercise stations.
Editor's Pick
2/1 Kutuzovsky Prospekt
Russia 121248
Tel: 7 495 221 5555
Converted from a Soviet relic on the Moskva River (to the tune of $300 million), the Radisson Royal Hotel quickly became the status address of Moscow after its 2010 opening. It is a hotel of brands: Etro, Provasi, and Frette in the guest rooms; Balmain and Rolls-Royce for sale in its stores; Veuve Clicquot in your glass at breakfast. It is also an exercise in superlatives: the world's biggest hotel art collection (some 1,200 paintings), one of the world's largest arrays of marble (10 different kinds), and the only Moscow hotel to own icebreaking yachts for cruising the river in winter. There's also a 3,500-volume library, five restaurants (including hot spot Tattler Club, owned by megarestaurateur Arkady Novikov), two bars, and a spa and gym with an Olympic-size pool. Neo-Baroque furniture and upholstery fabrics of toile and raw silk in soft palettes (mint and lemon, or indigo and toffee) give the 505 guest rooms a lived-in opulence. And service, the Achilles heel of other Moscow luxury properties, here goes far above and beyond: Staff greet you by name, move heaven and earth to secure an impossible reservation, and even will help you navigate Russian bureaucracy. It all adds up to the kind of home away from home you'll appreciate amid the madness of Moscow.—Colleen Clark
Editor's Pick
3 Tverskaya Street
Russia 125009
Tel: 7 495 225 8888
Perhaps it's fitting that a Ritz-Carlton has risen from the ashes of one of the grimmest examples of Soviet-era hospitality, the Intourist hotel, and to complete the break from the past, it's charging hedge-fund-high rates for the privilege of staying right off Red Square. There's more than a bit of czarist Russia in the faux classical facade and chandeliered lobby, but it's the sleek rooftop bar, O2 Lounge, that's the standout here, serving up a sweeping view of the Kremlin along with sushi and shots of oxygen. Gustatory offerings include a vodka sommelier in the lobby lounge and one of the capital's most popular restaurants, Jeroboam; a full-service spa and a glass-domed indoor pool are available on the lower level for morning-after penance. The 334 spacious guest roomsthe smallest measuring 450 square feetare decorated in polished cherrywood and feature the requisite Frette linens and feather bedding; bathrooms have heated marble floors and separate showers and tubs. The fluent-in-English staff's attentiveness is a refreshing antidote to the gruffness most foreign visitors encounter elsewhere. Moscow's reputation as the world's most expensive travel destination won't change with the Ritz-Carlton's arrivaldepending on the date, the standard room rate is as high as $1,000.


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The popular broadcaster pays tribute to the one person she'd most like to interview.
At Howard, Mom fell for a handsome student named Lawrence Roberts. World War II interrupted their courtship. He joined the U.S. Army Air Corps as a private and in 1944 entered the training program for the Tuskegee Airmen, our country's first black military pilots.
"I had to wait till the war was over to marry your father," Mom reminded us. "Any notion that a groom should not see his bride before the wedding we had to dismiss because we were too busy setting up chairs and tying crepe paper bows to the branches of the apple tree."
Mom and Dad moved 27 times in the course of his 32-year career. In those early days, the armed services were newly integrated, and Mom was usually the only nonwhite officer's wife.
Times had changed so much by the time I came along (I'm the youngest of four) that it wasn't until I read her book that I truly understood the anger and hurt she felt at being excluded, being stared at, having the room go silent when she walked in.
The loneliness was tremendous. My brother, Butch, the oldest, was just a toddler when Mom and Dad were stationed in Japan.
"Nothing prepared me for the isolation I felt as the only black woman on a base in a foreign country," she says. What did she do? She met God at their special place.
"The base chapel was always open and I'd slip in and play the piano," she says. She'd sing her favorite hymns. "After an hour I felt revived."
It's no wonder then that church on Sundays was mandatory for us Roberts kids. A cold was no excuse. The three of us girls, Sally-Ann, Dorothy and I, had to wear our white bobby socks and best dresses too.
For some families, it's the three R's. For us it was the three D's: Discipline, Determination and Da Lord.
Not that Mom was dignified and disciplined all the time. Dad retired as a colonel in 1975 at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. My parents settled down on the Gulf Coast in the town of Pass Christian, Mississippi, where I went to high school and the place I call home.
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I didn't go far for college—Southeastern Louisiana University, less than 100 miles away. I played basketball and Mom and Dad loved to come to my games. Even retired, Dad was all military and buttoned up. Not Mom. She was loud.
"I'm not sitting next to her!" he'd tease. So he'd sit at one end of the gym and she'd sit at the other. I could pick out her voice, leading the cheering. "Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar," she'd get everybody to shout, "all for Southeastern, stand up and holler!"
The only time I can think of Mom taking me down a notch was several years ago after a commencement speech I gave. I thought I'd done a good job, talking about what I'd accomplished, what I'd learned, how I'd dealt with adversity.
Mom, though, was quiet. Finally I asked what was wrong. "You forgot to mention all the people who have helped you," she said. "We never do it just on our own. There are all those people behind us, our teachers, coaches, pastors, mentors."
And our parents. Come to my dressing room at the GMA studio, and you'll see a lot of Mom and Dad. Photos, a favorite quote of Mom's, models of the airplanes Dad flew.
Dad died in October 2004 at age 81. A heart attack took him in the middle of the night. Mom was griefstricken. I didn't know how she was going to cope. I wasn't sure how I would.


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Executive Searches
The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system comprises 31 state universities and community and technical colleges serving the higher education needs of Minnesota. The system serves about 260,000 students per year in credit-based courses and an additional 164,000 students in non-credit courses.
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President: Hennepin Technical College
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Additional Information
- About the MnSCU system
- Administrators Benefits and Information
- MnSCU Personnel Plan for Administrators
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- Laws: MS 136F.40 Appointment of Personnel, Subd. 2
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New Versions of Arch Linux and Zenwalk
The developers of Arch Linux and Zenwalk have just released the latest versions of their distributions. Both rely on kernel 220.127.116.11 and claim to be lean and fast.
Just over a month after the previous release, the Arch Linux team has released its new 2007.08-2 version. Besides bugfixes, the new version includes the latest kernel and new features. "arch_addons" have been disabled on booting. To use them, users need to specify a boot parameter. The installation environment can now access the package repositories of the two supported architectures, i686 and x86_64, and both free and Intel versions of WLAN drivers are available. Users are required to set a boot parameter to enable the Intel drivers. For more details on changes and enhancements, please refer to the changelog.
The new 2007.08-2 Arch Linux release is the first to use the new repository structure. Users can choose either to download the complete distribution as an ISO image, or just download an installer that uses ftp to fetch the remaining packages. Various mirrors are available for the download.
In its release notes for version 4.8 the Zenwalk team emphasizes the changes to Mozilla products. For licensing reasons the distribution has renamed Firefox and Thunderbird to Iceweasel and Icedove. Screen output has been improved. Video/X.org auto configuration now provides better support for widescreen displays and full support for Synaptics touchpads. The desktop and bootsplash have also been redesigned.
The Zenwalk image, which weighs in at around 440MB, is available from various mirror servers. Four different versions of the distribution are available. Besides a Live Edition, there are the Standard, Core and Server Editions. Standard gives users a complete system, whereas Core contains just the bare necessities for designing your own system. Server Edition is optimized for server use. Besides the selection of program packages supplied with the editions, another 1000 are available in the Extra repository, such as OpenOffice 2.3, Gnome 2.18.3. Zenwalk is based on Slackware, but it comes with its own package management system and other modifications.
Issue 171/2015
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Intel Unveils Compute Stick
Four-inch-long computer on a stick lets you boot a full Linux system from any HDMI display device.
Obama Proposes Personal Data Notification Law
New statute would require companies to report break-ins to consumers.
TGXf Project Warns of File Transfer through Screen Pixels
Weird data transfer technique avoids all standard security measures.
Industry Giants Announce a Fix for the Password Mess
FIDO alliance declares the beginning of the end for old-style login authentication.
Poll: Vote for the Best Open Source Software for Photographers
The Linux New Media Awards have honored the most significant products, projects, people, and organizations for open source/Linux every year since 2000.
Debian Gets Forked
Legendary Uber-distro splits over the systemd controversy.
Linux Mint Project Releases Mint 17.1
New LTS version offers many refinements for the Cinnamon and Mate desktops and significant improvement under the hood.
CeBIT Open Source Forum Call for Papers
One of CeBIT's most successful forums returns in 2015.
TOR Network Isn't So Anonymous
A new study says it is possible to unmask 81% of TOR users.
.NET Goes Open Source
Redmond joins the revolution by turning the .NET Core Runtime into a GitHub project.


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Archive: February, 2012
Scientists have long wondered why our brains contain proteins called prions, which from a medical standpoint seem like a huge liability. The prions in our brains make us vulnerable to mad cow disease and other brain wasting conditions that are caused by misfolded versions of these prions that clump up. It was a shock to the scientific community that any infection could be transmitted not by an organism but by a protein - an inanimate molecule. That discovery eventually led to a Nobel Prize for biologist Stanley Prusiner.
Now, research published yesterday in the journal Nature shows that yeast cells carry prions that can enhance survival, helping the organisms adapt to stressful conditions. Prions not only spread disease, they can also pass traits from one generation to the next. In doing so, they may allow an alternative mechanim for evolution to proceed.
Science News has a nice summary of the research, which used 700 strains of yeast to show that prions can pass on traits, possibly allowing the cells to "try out" changes without committing them to the genetic code.
People who claim to want "proof" of evolution would benefit from reading Darwin's On the Origin of Species. It gives a very good picture of how science works and what kinds of evidence scientists consider compelling. What Darwin did there was show why his theory blew creationism out of the water.
I should have written this post in honor of Darwin's birthday last Sunday, but I'm traveling this week, and I'm under the weather. But better late than never. Darwin was born in 1809, the same year Edgar Allen Poe was born. Of the many Facebook and blog posts acknowledging Darwin's birthday, one of the most interesting was on the site Why Evolution is True. There, biologist Jerry Coyne discussed Darwin's writing and why he used to assign On the Origin of Species to his students. I've read about half of it, though I do plan to finish. I felt obligated to read a number of other books in the last few months, including book by authors who were interviewed for this column.
But Origin is a great book and is written for real people. What I've read so far has given me a new appreciation for Darwin's achievements as a scientist as well as the magnitude of the seismic shift he unleashed on the world. Other people, including Darwin's own grandfather, had proposed that plants and animals could evolve, and even that one species could evolve into another. But Charles Darwin was the first to grasp how. He was the one to recognize natural selection as the mechanim by which living things became exquisitely adapted to their environments.
Here's my weekly evolution column, which appears Monday Feb 13 in the Philadelphia Inquirer:
On Star Trek, the aliens often look so human that crew members fall in love with them. But in real life, scientists in the field known as astrobiology can't be sure alien life would even be carbon-based like us, or use DNA to carry a genetic code.
Some insight now is coming from earthly labs, where scientists are building alternative kinds of genetic codes, and showing how they can evolve.
I've often heard scientists rather glibly point to nearsighted people as an example of human degradation. Now that we no longer have to hunt for our food, the thinking goes, natural selection is letting all kinds of defective examples of humanity survive and reproduce. Myopics are always singled out first.
I 'm biased, since I can't see the big E on the eye chart, but I can't help wondering if there's more to the story. One interesting thing about nearsightedness is that most of us aren't born that way. I saw quite well before I learned to read, but it was all downhill after that.
Today a kind reader sent me a discussion he was having with some science-oriented, nearsighted friends about a possible connection between myopia and high IQ. A paper written by a Polish team found such a correlation. I had never heard of this before, but it seems plausible that reading hundreds of books could have a positive effect on IQ and a deleterious effect on vision. Apparently, however, the authors of this paper tried to correct for number of books read. Here's what they found:
Are children with myopia more intelligent? A literature review.
A story from today's Inquirer describes a badly injured pit bull named Radar, who had been used in dog fighting. He had sustained multiple injuries and was left for dead. While this dog is making a remarkable recovery, I've heard from SPCA volunteers that there's an explosion of dog fighting in the Philadelphia area and a growing shelter population of unwanted pit bulls. Read the story here.
One place where I've been challenged by scientists is on the question of whether non-human animals such as Radar can feel pain. Evolutionary biologists tend to agree with me that of course they do, while some neuroscientists have voiced quite strong disagreement. Animal pain was among the many issues I raised with Richard Dawkins when I met with him last weekend. He told me that scientists who deny animal pain were "disgraceful" and added a few colorful British-isms that start with the letter B. It turns out he's thought deeply about this issue, so I'll have more on Dawkins and the status of non-human animals soon,
I've been collecting a file on dogs and dog fighting, thinking there might be a series of columns to be done about these creatures and the many misconceptions that surround them. Is fighting in their blood or in their "training"? And what happens when they're adopted into loving homes?
Scientists have dreamed for years of breaking through the ice covering Antarctica's Lake Vostok. Deep in the interior of the frozen continent, this lake is one of the least hospitable and most isolated environments on the planet, having been sealed in ice for 15 to 34 million years.
Yesterday a Russian group announced they'd drilled all the way through the two miles of ice that cover this lake. If they find any kind of life exists there, it raises hopes that life could exist elsewhere in the universe, including the permanently ice-covered oceans of Jupiter's moon Europa or Saturn's moon Enceladus.
A few decades ago, scientists thought all of Antarctica's frozen lakes would be lifeless, but a few brave scientists have since pierced the ice and taken chilly dives into the smaller lakes, finding they were full of algae and other living things. (On my 1995 trip to Antarctica, I watched drysuit- wearing divers perform this feat.)
This interesting comment came to the Inquirer's Facebook page after my column ran on the evolutionary implications of "wing bowl":
- This article leaves much to be desired. The use of sex, fertile, and orgy in an article about chicken wings actually stopped me from reading it.
I did not know the word "fertile" could be offensive. I would recommend to this person that she never ever attend an actual "wing bowl", especially if she thinks it's about chicken wings. She might also want to refrain from attending the Wagner Free Institute's program tomorrow night in honor of Valentine's Day.
This lecture looks promising even for those of us who find most Valentine's Day events annoying. Every year universities predictably rope scientists into giving talks about love, relationships and other tired topics. But Scott Gilbert's talk tomorrow promises to be original and fun, at least for those of us not offended by the facts of life. It starts at 5:30 and it's free though they'd appreciate a $10 donation.
(Note to readers: This was my Inquirer column this week. It ran on the cover of the Health and Science section. Tony Auth was on vacation. He'll be back to illustrate the next column.)
Timing is everything, and if there was ever a scientist whose legacy was tarnished by bad timing, it was Jean Baptiste Lamarck. The French naturalist lived from 1744 to 1829 — and published his own evolutionary theory decades before Darwin's theory went public in 1859.
In the popular imagination, those who've heard of Lamarck tend to associate him with a wrongheaded version of evolution in which giraffes can grant their offspring longer necks by reaching for high leaves. Historians say this unfair portrayal was engineered by Lamarck's enemies.


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Leeds Building Society began as the Leeds and Holbeck Building Society in 1875.
Use the tools below to refine your search by only displaying reviews with a certain number of star ratings or to only show reviews from a certain time period. Eg click on '1 star' to just display the reviews we have which received a 1 star rating click or 'Within the last month' to display just reviews posted over the last month.
Written on: 03/07/2014 by happy-happy (1 review written)
I opened a savings account with the Leeds and supplied them with the required ID only to be contacted a week later and asked for even more ID which I supplied and was assured would be Sufficient ,Unbelievably I was then contacted a third time a week later and asked for 2 more ID documents and threatened with account closure with denied access to the £5940 I had invested in good faith , at this stage I had already produced my Passport/Driving licence /National insurance Number /Utility bill and… Read Full Review
Written on: 03/12/2013
Opened 4 new accounts for my mother on 1 November 2013 at your Kingsway Branch in London. Nothing was too much trouble for the staff. She was very understanding and patient in spite of the fact that she spent over 20 minutes opening the accounts for me. I have also received very good service from your Sale branch where staff took a lot of trouble to ensure that I opened the correct accounts, which were explained to me comprehensively. At no time did I feel rushed into making the right choice… Read Full Review
Written on: 15/11/2013 by Sevo (1 review written)
After 8 years of loyalty with no late payments the customer care help to find a more competitive mortgage deal for us were awful they offer their existing loyal customers no incentive to remain a customer the mortgage customer care team are never available i would advise anyone to not apply for a mortgage with Leeds we will be leaving as soon as our current mortgage term ends even though we have found a better deal the fees and redemption to leave are ridiculous. Cant wait to find a better… Read Full Review
Written on: 16/10/2013
THE WORST PLACE to get mortgage. Just check their SVR of 5.69%, they have not reduced at all in the last 5 years. Now all their discounted rates are only for NEW customers....not bothered about existing customers at all. Please do yourself a favour and stay away from them… Read Full Review
Written on: 11/10/2013
I have been a Leeds customer for several years. Today I used the central London branch in Kingsway for the first time and must express my findings that they are the worst branch I have ever used. I was the only customer in a queue and the 4 staff I could see all ignored me. 2 were just having a nice little chat. No one acknowledged that I was waiting for service. I stood at the "queue here" sign No one apologised for the seemingly pointless wait. When I was eventually served the man who served… Read Full Review
Written on: 03/09/2013
Well Weird! I've actually had problesm with them trying to transfer money IN to the Leeds Building Society isa from by current a/c. Three months ago, i transferred from my current a/c to the Leeds Building Soc ISA - the transaction went through ok on line. When I contacted my current a/c bank, they spent few minutes checking and said all ok at their end but money not accepted by Leeds Building Soc. So I went in to the Leeds branch and they gave me a strange technical explanation that… Read Full Review
Written on: 09/07/2013
Took our £200 booking fee gave them all docs all in order then near offer time refused,I think they are making money from people on the booking fee,rubbish company you have been warned… Read Full Review
Written on: 18/03/2013 by 2penced (1 review written)
The Leeds BS is the worst company I have ever had the misfortune of dealing with. Their staff are ignorant, rude and unhelpful, whilst their overall service is incompetent to a degree where I can not comprehend how it is possible. I have spent 2 months trying to get a mortgage application processed by them, with paperwork sent so several wrong addresses and when it does arrive it is incorrect. Call backs never happen and mistakes are not rectified. Large sections of the paperwork contain major… Read Full Review
Written on: 12/03/2013
Leeds building society is a disgrace, my mum is dying of cancer and they refuse to help in any way to get my dad on the mortgage. All they want is money out if you. My dad already pays the mortgage but they want to take money of him again and do credit checks ( even thought this as already been done). They tell you nothing but lies not to mention they set up the mortgage wrong in the first place!!! Now they are saying that if we do not do it the way they tell us when my mum does die they will… Read Full Review
Written on: 12/03/2013
Go to the financial ombudsman, they should be able to help as you have extenuating circumstances. They can mediate between yourselves and the leeds to negotiate a better outcome.
x x {hugs} x x
Written on: 26/05/2012
the leeds building society is the worst company i've ever dealt with, they are the slowest to make decisions, to reply to communications and to communicate. their level of service is just the most shockingly poor i have ever experienced. their communications are the worst i've ever experienced. do not use them under any circumstances. their ineptitude will cause you more stress than you can ever imagine. avoid avoid avoid… Read Full Review
Written on: 08/06/2012
But their branch in Gibraltar is efficient, courteous and established a new
account quickly.
Written on: 08/03/2012
my advice is not to use leeds building society for building and contents insurance, as they are agents for aviva insurance. leeds building insurance attempted to rip me off by trying to charge me in excess of £800 for the same policy from aviva for £240. so much for the propagnda, and to quote leeds "we have our members interest at the heart of our business" not only did leeds lose my business but i did not buy it from aviva either. DO NOT PURCHASE YOUR INSURANCE FROM LEEDS / AVIVA… Read Full Review
Written on: 23/09/2011
The service I have received from Leeds has been terrible to say the least. After the decision in principle was granted all income details were submitted and income was actually higher than first declared, they reduced the loan amount by nearly £10,000 with no explanation. Once a reference was received from employer they increased it again by another £4,500 and I decided to go ahead and put the rest in myself. THEN another two weeks later once valuation has been carried out and although the… Read Full Review
Written on: 03/03/2013
Sadly, they aren't the only building society to play this trick. Exactly the same thing happened to me with Virgin. I think one just has to accept that building societies have the upper hand at the moment and they are soulless, moral-less money-makers!
Written on: 09/09/2010
I had a mortgage with the Leeds. when I redeemd it part way through a month they charged interest to the end of the month. It is in the small print. They also increased interest rates without telling me! No satisfaction from customer service. Actually the worst mortgage product I have ever had and I have had a few.
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Written on: 30/10/2006 by Helen1779 (1 review written)
Leeds & Holbeck Building Society sent my account book and all personal ID, including bank statement and passport to another Leeds account holder "in error", and they don't seem at all bothered - it was "just a mistake". They eventually offered me £25 compensation, but they didn't seem to understand why I was cross… Read Full Review
Written on: 26/01/2012
that doesnt surprise me - we;re always getting other peoples mortgages statements, bank statements and even had court repossession paper for some poor man in London - total shambles
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New International Reader's Version (NIRV) | New International Version (NIV) |
48 The man brought me to the porch of the temple. He measured the doorposts of the porch. Each of them was almost nine feet wide. The entrance was 24 and a half feet wide. Each of the side walls was a little over five feet wide. | 48 He brought me to the portico of the temple and measured the jambs of the portico; they were five cubits wide on either side. The width of the entrance was fourteen cubits and its projecting walls were three cubits wide on either side. |
Holy Bible, New International Reader's Version® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Reader's Version Bible Online) | Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |


text: Hello! I know that this is the tiniest of accomplishments compared to most other people on the site, but I just wanted to share that I have had results in just my first 11 days since starting to be serious about working out and eating better!!! Through the exercises that I've done I can already feel muscle (even in my tummy and sides :D ) I've had problems in the past with giving up, but giving up is no longer an option for me! Thanks for reading my mini-goal! 2 lbs & 1 in. lost! Sexy muscle gaining=In action!