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Downton Abbey Fans: Do you have an aristocratic title in trivia? Take our Downton Abbey, Season 4, Episode 4 trivia quiz to put your episode 4 knowledge to the test! Then share your results, challenge your friends, and the watch full episode online for a limited time.
Downton Abbey Season 4 airs Sundays, January 5 - February 23, 2014 on PBS' MASTERPIECE.
Sign up for MASTERPIECE email and get the latest scoop on the series, exclusive video, sweepstakes and more. Update your email address if you're an existing subscriber.
NEW Poldark video: People are starting to talk... An exclusive scene from Episode 3, airs this Sunday, July 5 at 9/8c on MASTERPIECE on PBS.
As Ross celebrates new beginnings, rumors fly. Poldark, Episode 3 airs Sunday, July 5, 2015 at 9/8c on MASTERPIECE on PBS. #PoldarkPBS
In Case You Missed It - Poldark, Episode 2 is now available to view online, for a limited time:
Determined to open his risky copper mine, Poldark seeks backers. Verity's big chance leads to a showdown. Poldark, starring Aidan Turner, airs on MASTERPIECE on PBS. #PoldarkPBS
via The Wall Street Journal - "...Cornwall has never before looked so handsome, and Capt. Poldark's frequent gallops along the coastline provide ample opportunity to display its charms."
A series' second coming born of more than a previous success.
NEW Poldark behind-the-scenes photo: Aidan Turner is on a mission! cc: PBS
"Tune-in alert: #PoldarkPBS Ep. 2 continues this Sunday, 6/28 at 9/8c on MASTERPIECE on @pbsofficial #BTS #onset"
NEW Poldark video: Ross faces reality. An exclusive scene from Episode 2, airs this Sunday, June 28 at 9/8c on MASTERPIECE on PBS.
Ross and Uncle Charles discuss the hardship facing Cornwall. Poldark, Episode 2, airs Sunday, June 28, 2015 at 9/8c on MASTERPIECE on PBS. #PoldarkPBS
Was Ross's love for dogs (Garrick!) the reason he took an interest in Demelza? (cc: PBS)
Vote in our Demelza poll now:
There's something about Mary! Vote now, Poldark airs Sundays through August 2 at 9/8c on MASTERPIECE on PBS!
via Los Angeles Times - "Robin was amazing. He was totally supportive and lovely." ~ Aidan Turner on working with the original Ross Poldark, Robin Ellis
When the epic romantic TV series "Poldark" premiered this spring in England, its success took even the producers by surprise.
Downton Abbey creator/writer Julian Fellowes on working with Maggie Smith: "It's a luxury, rather like a muse for a designer."
Read the full interview with Julian and executive producer Gareth Neame via Deadline Hollywood:
Downton Abbey currently is filming its last season, which will make it six in total for the lauded British period drama that has captivated audiences around the world. Produced by NBC-owned Carniva...
via The Wrap - "I'm just really proud of the show and I've learned so much, and I do believe that every year it gets better." ~ Jeremy Piven
"No scenes are easy because I feel like it's our job to not take anything for granted," the "Entourage" actor tells TheWrap
via The Hollywood Reporter - "Aidan Turner...simply exudes charisma from his first scene..."
A reminder to join us tonight as we live tweet the #PoldarkPBS premiere! Details: to.pbs.org/1d4rzCT cc: PBS
Ross Poldark is the protagonist of a beloved series of historical novels (twelve in total) published between 1945 and 2002 by English author Winston Graham.
NEW Poldark video: With Jud, it's always something...
What's your favorite Jud quote? cc: PBS
Tidn't proper! Hear some of the malevolent manservant's best quips, as seen in Poldark. Episode 2 of Poldark airs Sunday, June 28, 2015 at 9/8c. #PoldarkPBS


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We all know that DVDs are dying, and pretty soon people who want to watch movies at home will just stream or download them from the Internet, cable or satellite. Right?
Don't tell that to the executives at Redbox. This mouse of a company — it generated just $389 million in revenue last year — is flooding Walmart, McDonald's, 7-Eleven and other retail, supermarket and convenience store chains with vending machines that rent the latest DVDs of Hollywood blockbusters for just $1 a day.
That combination of low price and convenience has suddenly made Redbox a force with consumers — and a threat to Tinseltown studios and rental giants such as Blockbuster and Netflix, which typically charge much higher prices.
"Our (DVD) product rented at a dollar is grossly undervalued," News Corp. President Chase Carey, whose company owns the Fox studio, told analysts last week. "It's a real issue. And we're actively determining how to deal with it."
It may be too late. Following agreements with Albertson's and Kroger supermarkets, Redbox expects to end this year with 22,000 kiosks in all 48 mainland states, up 61% from the end of 2008. Company parent Coinstar says that revenue from the DVD rental operation could double to as much as $780 million.
"We calculate that 150 million people every week walk within 10 feet of one of our locations," Redbox President Mitch Lowe says. "The way we'll grow is by focusing on the customer experience. That's how we've come out of nowhere."
Success breeds competition, and Blockbuster says it will have nearly 3,000 kiosks renting and selling discs and games by the end of this year, growing to 10,000 in late 2010.
"One of our price points will be 99 cents," Blockbuster CEO James Keyes says. "But we will have a broad range of other offerings."
For now, Redbox is sticking with DVDs while it tests interest in $1-a-day Blu-ray discs.
Its machines stock as many as 700 discs, usually about 200 different titles. Consumers use a credit or debit card to rent DVDs — no membership required — and can return them to any Redbox kiosk. The machines read bar codes on each disc to register what's gone out and come back.
Renters hold on to discs as long as they want; after 25 days (and a total charge of $25) they can keep the DVD. About 10% do so.
The machines constantly communicate with Redbox, primarily via cellphone transmissions. People can go to the company's website to see what's in stock at different kiosks, and reserve a movie at a particular machine.
But kiosks are taking off mostly because credit card companies have improved their ability to securely handle massive numbers of transactions.
"We're among the top 10 credit card processors in the country," Lowe says. "On an average Friday and Saturday, in the evening, we process 70 to 80 transactions per second, which is around where Amazon has stated its peak Christmastime sales volume was."
Low-price model
Redbox pays about $18 for a DVD and rents it about 15 times at an average of $2 per transaction. The company sells half of the used DVDs back to wholesalers for as much as $4 per disc, and sells about 3% directly to consumers for about $7. It destroys most of the rest.
That low-price model suits Redbox just fine, but not so much the Hollywood studios, which count on home video rentals and sales for about half of their revenue.

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Visionary Wild, LLC • 2200 19th St. NW, Ste 806, Washington, DC 20009
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com • Tel: 1-202-558-9596 (9am to 6pm, EST). • Justin Black's iPhone: 1-202-302-9030
We look forward to hearing from you!
By Justin Black
For Outdoor Photographer, October 2014
One of my most important photographic mentors, Galen Rowell, grew accustomed to being told how lucky he was to capture the stunning natural events that he photographed. He would chuckle politely, and respond that he tried to be prepared to receive luck. In other words, he went to great lengths to be in the right place at the right time, well-practiced with his tools and technique, familiar with his subjects and surroundings, and able to anticipate and account for as many variables and technical challenges as he could. Galen knew that if he stacked the deck in his favor making pictures would be easy.
Each year, tens of thousands go on safari in Africa, hoping to bring home wildlife photos that capture the drama and beauty they've seen in the pages of National Geographic. Too often, though, the deck seems stacked against them. A photographer's first African safari always comes with a steep learning curve. Even with the benefit of a good guide and abundant wildlife, it takes a while to get a feel for the place and animal behaviors. For many, it's their first time with a big telephoto, introducing a range of technical challenges that they may not even have the opportunity to identify, much less overcome, during their trip of a lifetime. It's no surprise when many people leave Africa disappointed with their photographs, wondering what they did wrong, or thinking they were plain unlucky.
The good news is that with a little preparation, awareness of the situation you're going into, and practice of a few techniques in advance of your trip, you can radically improve your chances of "getting lucky" on safari.
Shutter Speed: If your goal is to make sharp, detailed wildlife action images with a long telephoto on a high-resolution DSLR, the common advice to use a shutter speed that is the reciprocal of focal length (i.e. 1/500 of second with a 500mm lens) isn't going to cut it when things are in motion. Instead, try to use shutter speeds around three times the reciprocal of the focal length. For instance, with the 500mm f/4 and 1.4x teleconverter (a 700mm combo) that I commonly find myself using for wildlife, I know from experience that I'll often need at least 1/2000 sec to truly freeze the motion of the animal, the safari vehicle, wind, my adrenalin-driven heartbeat, and so on. At the other end of the scale, you could instead choose to embrace creative blur of animals in motion, panning with them at slow shutter speeds in the range of 1/30th to 1/2 second.
ISO: It's often said that low ISOs maximize the quality of the digital image data, but what about maximizing the photograph itself? Photographs sink or swim based on qualities other than a little noise or compressed dynamic range, so don't be afraid of using higher ISOs if you need them. With wildlife, using a low ISO could result in too slow a shutter speed or too little depth of field, and hence a lousy photograph (though a noise-free one to be sure). I consider ISOs in the range from 800 to 1600 as "normal" for fast-moving wildlife. It is of course preferable to use lower ISOs if you can still achieve the shutter speed and depth of field that best serve your photograph, but don't limit yourself with the notion that low ISOs are the only way to make a quality picture.
Setting Proper Exposure: It's very easy to overexpose highlight detail in animals with light-toned fur or feathers, so make sure that you are properly evaluating your exposure for the highlights. You can do this by playing back a test image with the RGB histogram displayed on the camera-back LCD, and then magnify the image to display the brightest highlights in which you want good texture and tone. The histogram you see will be derived only from the portion of the image displayed, so you'll be able to see whether or not your highlights are clipping. In some circumstances, such as when photographing a sun-lit bird against a dark background, you may find that you need to dial in as much as -2.0 stops of exposure compensation to avoid blowing out whites. Keep in mind that today's RAW conversion software gives you more highlight "headroom," so a highlight that looks mildly blown out on the camera's histogram may be just fine in Lightroom.
Exposure Mode: Just as with my landscape work, I use either Aperture Priority or Manual modes for wildlife. You might also consider using manual exposure mode to select the specific shutter speed and aperture you need to freeze motion and achieve the depth of field you want, and then use your camera's Auto ISO feature to adjust exposure value. This is a very powerful technique that puts tremendous creative control in the photographer's hands.
Controlling the focus point: Virtually all DSLR cameras these days have multi-point autofocus to help you track moving subjects, but it's important to understand how they work so you can judge when and how to use their various modes. For instance, Nikon's 21-point Dynamic continuous focus mode makes it easy to track a flying bird, but be aware that the camera won't necessarily find focus on the focus point that you have highlighted in the viewfinder. Let's say you position the highlighted focus point over the bird's eye as you follow it through the air. The camera will focus on the eye, right? Not necessarily. If the far wingtip of the bird is the area of greatest contrast falling under one of the 21 active sensors, the camera may focus there. In this case, to better control the actual point of focus, you might do better switching to single-point mode, or at least the tighter pattern of the 9-point Dynamic mode. I don't mean to pick on Nikon either. An AF system that can read your mind to select point of focus has yet to be invented.
Depth of Field: As always, you'll want to consider what aperture you need to stop down to if you wish to keep the subject sharp from front to back. If we imagine the bird flying by us from the previous example, let's say we want it sharp from wingtip to wingtip. One wingtip is toward us, and the other is behind the bird's body, so they are in different planes of focus. The priority for sharpest focus is typically the bird's head, so that's what you'll probably choose to focus on. In this scenario it isn't uncommon to need fairly small apertures to keep everything sharp. For example, if the bird in this example has a three-foot wingspan, is sixty feet away, and you're photographing it with a 600mm lens on a full-frame DSLR, you would need to use f/16 to keep it sharp from tip to tip. This is one of the reasons those higher ISOs are so handy.
Also, when making head-on animal portraits, try focusing in front of the eyes and just behind the tip of the nose, and then stop the aperture down so depth of field covers the tip of the nose back to the eyes and ears. If you focus precisely on the eyes, the nose of the animal could be disturbingly soft.
Camera Control and Setup: The ability to react quickly is critical for wildlife photography, so you'll want to set up your controls and presets for efficiency, and then you'll want to spend time familiarizing yourself with them. For instance, for landscape work I focus using my camera's thumb-operated AF button and deactivate autofocus activation on my camera's shutter release so it won't re-focus when pressed. For wildlife, however, I turn shutter-release AF back on, because I can simultaneously focus track a subject and change AF point or aperture with my thumb via the controls on the back of the camera. I've learned that my favorite AF modes – single-point, 21-point, and "auto" – are all three clicks of the dial apart so I can set them by feel. Special features that you like to use frequently can often be assigned to function buttons for instant access, such as your camera's crop mode, which gives you greater magnification and faster frame rate on some cameras. It's a good idea to use your cameras' personal menu features to provide quick access to menus that you access most frequently.
Attentiveness: I have real difficulty following baseball games at the ballpark. The action is so intermittent that I end up chatting with friends rather than paying attention to the game, so I always miss the peak moments. Some people find wildlife photography challenging for the same reason. If you want great wildlife photographs on safari, you've got to pay attention to animal behavior, be aware of what is going on around you, and be ready to react quickly and decisively. Peak action sometimes comes on fast and with little warning, but often, the attentive and perceptive photographer can improve their changes by anticipating opportunities and staying ahead of the game. It goes without saying that it is a lot easier to get a great shot of the bird in flight or the sprinting impala stretched flat-out in mid air if you saw it coming toward you ten seconds ago, as opposed to trying to catch up with it when you notice only as it zips by.
Tracking the Subject: Speaking of zipping by, the ability to pan a fast-moving animal with a long tele while keeping it where you want it in the frame is not one that most people are born with. Photographers who are good at this make it look effortless, but it takes a lot of practice. For the first time safari photographer, I recommend going out with your longest lens to find subjects that you can use to practice panning, even if its just pigeons in flight or dogs playing at a local park. The goal is to decide where you want the subject in frame, lock tracking focus on it, and try to keep it sharp and in the right position as you fire off a series of frames. It may not be easy at first, but after some practice it will become child's play, and your safari images will be much better for it.
Predicting Animal Behavior: Studying up on the behavior of the animals you'll be photographing will help you anticipate what an animal might do in a particular situation, but if your local safari guides are knowledgeable and experienced in the area you visit (as they ought to be), you should be able to rely on them to advise you about wildlife activity and the position the vehicle properly to take advantage of the opportunities you encounter. The selection of local guides is tremendously important, since few first time visitors will be able to adequately anticipate animal behaviors and habits.
Safari vehicle photo setup: The arrangements for photography in your safari vehicle significantly influence the quality of a photo safari experience. A safari operator who understands the needs of serious photographers will limit the number of photographers per vehicle to provide plenty of space for you to maneuver with a big telephoto and work unobstructed. The bar has recently been raised, however, in the form of state-of-the-art safari vehicles (both 4WD land vehicles and boats) with a small number of customized swiveling photographer's chairs positioned along the centerline for maximum visibility and stability. Each incorporates an integral 360-degree revolving camera mount that is height-adjustable with a gas-assist lift, and mounted with a Wimberley head to balance a long telephoto for effortless handling for hours on end. This setup delivers smooth and stable panning of fast moving animals, quick repositioning, and an incredibly stable and user-friendly camera platform. I've found that vehicles equipped this way absolutely revolutionize the experience, enabling even relative novices to take home a surprising number of great images. The traditional camera mount solutions for safari vehicles – bean bags, window brackets, or clamp-on mounts – may provide decent stability, but in general they can't compete in terms of capability, flexibility, and performance.
When to go? Now!
Finally, you'll want to give some thought to the timing of your safari, and I'm not simply referring to the month or the season. The sad reality is that wildlife in Africa is facing tremendous pressures and is experiencing a startling decline. Anyone with an urge to see African wildlife in a diversity and abundance that we associate with "wild Africa" ought to do so sooner rather than later.
Lions, for example, are 95% gone. Numbering in the hundreds of thousands in the early 20th century, over the last century they have been decimated – as few as 15,000 may still remain in only 14 of the 49 African nations that were once their home. The fundamental cause of this crisis is the rapid growth of human populations in Africa, along with the accompanying pressures on wildlife: expansion of agricultural land and fragmentation of habitat, persecution of lions by herders, hunting of both lions and their prey species, and more. Since they need expansive territories, large predators like lions are "canaries in the coalmine" of habitat loss. They are also essential to maintaining healthy balance in the ecosystems they inhabit. As go the lions, so goes wild Africa.
Despite the challenges, there are credible efforts being made to protect lion populations and habitats that are also depended upon by countless other species. The international non-profit organization Panthera is at the vanguard of coordinating conservation of important big cat habitats, and numerous other conservation NGOs are working tirelessly to make the connection between sustainability of biodiversity and the sustainability of human societies.
Responsible eco-tourism is critically important to this equation, as nature-loving tourists (and many readers of this magazine) convey a compelling economic value on healthy ecosystems and sustainable wildlife populations. Visitors to Africa can vote with their dollars by giving preference to nations, communities, safari operators, parks, and preserves that are doing the most for sustainable resource management, protection of biodiversity, and the well-being of local communities that benefit more from protecting the resource than from destroying it.
I remain optimistic despite the challenges. Years from now, perhaps others will look at the pictures from our latest African safari and tell us how lucky we have been to capture them. Hopefully we'll be able chuckle like Galen, amused in the knowledge that an abundance of wildlife served up endless photo opportunities ripe for the taking. If so, the trick will have been two-fold: we were prepared to receive luck, and did what it took to ensure that there was still luck to receive.
On our recent safari in east Africa's Maasai Mara / Serengeti ecosystem, we encountered three very special lions – Sikio, Morani, and Scarface (as viewed left to right above). These powerful brothers are the leaders of the Marsh Pride, made famous in BBC's Big Cat Diary documentaries. They had crossed the Mara River to follow the bounty of the wildebeest herds, and made most of their foray into "foreign" territory by mating with the lionesses of the Oloololo Pride.
One morning, we spotted Morani returning to a tree they seemed to use as a rallying point, carrying a young wildebeest that had likely been taken down by one of three lionesses that followed close behind him.
After setting his stolen prize in the shade of the tree, Morani strutted, scent-marking the tree with an expression on his face that gave the impression of immense self-approval. One of the lionesses used this moment of apparent distraction to sneak in and attempt to snatch the kill away, but Morani chased her off. While the big male continued carrying on, she sat across a small ravine, glaring at him.
To watch this drama unfold just a few meters away was a tremendous honor.
The November 2011 issue of Outdoor Photographer magazine features an article by Justin Black about ways to add greater meaning and purpose to your photography. You can read the full text and see the accompanying photos here:
by Justin Black
The very American artistic tradition of celebrating the concept of wilderness, associated so closely with photographers like Ansel Adams and Galen Rowell, reached an early zenith in the mid 19th century with the Hudson River School painters. Their work attempted to capture exceptional qualities of light, topography, and weather to render idealized visions – not always far from the truth – of sublime landscapes across the continent, from the Catskills to California, in which humanity is often permitted to be present but never dominates.
It is hard not to characterize the light captured with oil on canvas by the likes of Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Church, and Sanford Gifford as "photographic" while we often refer to comparable light in photographs as "painterly." We still see and photograph similarly sublime scenes in wild areas across America today. A key difference is that the Hudson River School artists experienced a view of nature and our place in it that was entirely new, but our vision still works the same way theirs did 150 years ago.
In fact, this piece by Gifford once helped to open my eyes to the way we see and go about capturing images of the world around us.
His painting depicts three tiny figures on a frozen pond, with a fence line and shrubbery in the foreground, and a row of trees in the background. The trees' bare branches are silhouetted against a colorful evening sky. Something about the way the artist rendered the highlights and shadows in the image seemed oddly familiar…
Back in the film days, frustration with the limited range of tones that photographers could capture led to the development of solutions like graduated neutral density filters that enabled us to easily balance differences in brightness between two or more areas of a composition. The apparent flaw of grad ND filters, however, has always been that when an object is itself entirely in shadow but crosses over from dark to bright backgrounds within the composition, the filter gives away its effect because the section of the object that is against the brighter background (the area being darkened by the dense part of the filter) ends up going black, while the part of the same object that falls against the shaded background (not being effected by the filter) shows good mid-tone detail.
In Gifford's painting, objects in the area of shade at the bottom of the painting displayed good shadow detail, while the tops of the trees against the brighter sky and were painted as black silhouettes – exactly the sort of rendering I had seen time and time again in color slides made using a graduated neutral density filter. But the painter had never seen a color photograph, much less the effect of a grad ND filter, so why would Gifford paint the tops of his trees black when good detail is readily apparent in similarly illuminated subject matter within the scene?
Without resorting to complex darkroom masking, a film photographer attempting to render good color saturation in the bright sky behind the trees would have had no choice but to force the silhouette and the accompanying loss of detail in the branches. Gifford on the other hand, with the unrestricted palette of artistic freedom at his command, chose to paint the trees this way. It's the way he visualized them and what looked most natural to him as he applied paint to canvas.
To put it simply, the silhouette of branches against the sky is precisely how he saw it – and how any of us would see – despite the fact that the light source for the illumination of the treetops is the same as that in the shadowy parts of the scene that he chose to paint a bit lighter and with good detail. This makes sense: when we look at an object illuminated by diffuse indirect light against a dark background, our visual system sees good detail in it. The same object illuminated by the same light but against a sufficiently bright background will look black as our visual system responds to the increased overall brightness. This is precisely the reason why, when used carefully, graduated neutral density can make an image look more like what we saw with our own eyes.
Fast forward to the present day. Finally, digital technology empowers photographers in the early 21st century with a degree of control and creative freedom comparable to that of a 19th century oil painter. In comparison, however, photographers have it easy – no need to sketch numerous detailed studies in the field for use as artist's references in the creation of the final piece later, and no need to labor for weeks on end to complete a single finished work.
The tradeoff of course for our powerful digital tools is a greater burden of creative and aesthetic judgments. As wonderful as they are, all the array of technological tools at our disposal are only as good as the eyes and brains used to apply them. High dynamic range processing (HDR), for example, can create visually striking images, but the lure to routinely over process can be seductive. When technology guides the creative process rather than serving as a tool under the thoughtful control of the artist, we can experience more difficulty in aesthetically and intuitively accepting an over-manipulated photograph of a real scene than we do a naturalistic 19th-century oil painting of a scene that only ever existed in the artist's mind.
HDR and other new tools are not the problem, but we are faced with an broader array of decisions that influence the quality, relevance, and character of our work. We take for granted the immense power of post-production tools that enable us to radically lighten and enhance detail in a shadow area – that back in the film days might have been rendered as pure black by default – while simultaneously rendering finely detailed bright highlights. We have the technology to do it, but one has to carefully consider when, how, and how much to use the tools in the digital toolbox, and whether each modification really serves the image. We can boost saturation and contrast of the most banal composition to the point that it grabs visual attention, but will it mesh with our visual intuition and actually hold up aesthetically over the long term?
Finding ourselves with complete and easy control over the color and tonal value of every pixel in every photograph we produce, photographic artists can enjoy the freedom of total creative license. Like a painter, we have the option to render the treetops as silhouette, or instead can choose to depict them as richly detailed mid tones against the same bright and vibrant background. Gifford conspicuously chose the approach that is more in accord with naturalistic visual perception despite his ability to have depicted it any way he wished.
In the context of a world filled with high-definition digital animation and fantasy photo-illustration, it is truer than ever that the most meaningful nature photographs will be those that inform us in some way about real nature and our relationship to it. These images may be spectacularly beautiful; they may reveal situations, phenomena, and juxtapositions in nature that seem unbelievable, uplifting, or devastatingly depressing; but the greatest power of nature photography stems from the trust that the image we find so compelling is also representative of another human being's authentic experience.
Interestingly, A Winter Twilight doesn't depict an actual event in time and space. Concealed by Gifford's masterful rendering of light and tone is the fact that it is an imagined composite of real situations that he sketched in various locations and at all hours of the day rather than during the fleeting twilight depicted in the final painting. His highly tuned ability to see and visualize a final composition, however, enabled him to create a fairly convincing illusion of reality back in his New York studio. Though we photographers work on location and in the moment, we can still learn a great deal from the impressive visual intuition, understanding of light, and thoughtful aesthetic choices demonstrated by Gifford and other painters like him. As fast as the times, technology, and tastes may change, we share a profound connection with our antecedents through the human visual system.
…the ocean was illuminated as if under a black light…so awesome, cannot describe in words…no need to drop acid on this one…every white particle of wave was iridescent, florescent, glowing like you can't believe…step on the sand and your footprint glows and sparkles… there were banks of waves coming in, white caps in the distance just glowed, and when the waves connected it was elongated strips of fluorescent green stripes across the water… whew…
This strange oceanic occurrence is likely the root of ghost stories told by early sailors who saw the mysterious green fire in the water but failed to comprehend what they were seeing. Documented as far back as 500 B.C., most bioluminescent light occurs in tiny plants called dinoflagellates which live in the sea and gain energy from the photosynthesis of sunlight. In darkness they emit a blue light in response to movement within the water. The intensity of the light peaks about two hours after dark and is simply amazing to watch. During the day they turn red and can be the source of the neurotoxin that poisons shell fish during Red Tides.
After receiving Ellen's note, and being somewhat fascinated by natural optical phenomena, my mind immediately began pre-visualizing how I could make an interesting photograph. I often try to imagine best-case situations that might occur in nature. The trick is to carefully consider the conditions which would be necessary for a scenario to occur and then consciously reverse engineer it and attempt to put yourself on location at just the right time while being prepared to capture the moment. Something magical often ends up happening, even if it is somewhat different than what you had imagined.
As I pondered the complexity of making an evocative image of the psychedelic tides I felt that the images would look very alien if there wasn't an earthly land form with which the viewer can easily identify. I started piecing together two ideas that I thought I could achieve in the same night. I'd seen the first sliver of a moon the night before, just after sunset, and knew that the next day it would be about fifty minutes higher in the sky. So I wanted to first make an image of the crescent moon setting at twilight above the breakers and Arched Rock near Jenner. The second image I was visualizing was a long exposure at the cusp of night where I would have just enough light to see the arch, and enough darkness for the dinoflagellates to show up in the water.
I checked the wunderground.com weather satellite which showed crystal clear skies, then double checked the angle of the moon relative to the arch by using a very useful software for such things called The Photographer's Ephemeris. All the elements seemed to align and it looked like a promising evening.
I pulled up at Goat Rock Beach in Sonoma Coast State Park right about sunset, (which-oops!- is when the Park closes), geared up in rubber boots and wind gear and headed south down Blind Beach in gorgeous light that I would normally have been shooting. This time I was on a mission for something more mysterious than a sunset but at one point I did stop and made a few exposures of boney rocks protruding from the sand with crazy beams of light coming over the horizon. This was an early and unexpected bonus shot. As the light diminished I came to where the convergence of the setting moon and the sea arch were just perfect.
The first set of images were exactly what I expected. In years past I'd made similar images here with the full moon setting at sunrise into the Earth's shadow. What I didn't expect this time is that my camera's sensor was picking up the Milky Way directly above the Arch! This added a layer of intrigue to the image that was far beyond what I'd imagined. Soon the starry night was fully visible to the naked eye.
If the moon had been larger or higher I believe its light would have polluted the clear, cold night sky and blown out the reflection in the water. But it was just slight enough that the relative contrast between the starlight and reflections fell into a range which could be handled if I was careful. But it was the bioluminescence that was most incredible. Each waved rolled in looking like a million neon glow sticks had been dumped into them. The blue-green light shot across the breakers as they crashed, the more wave energy released, the more light emitted. The backwash on the beach left momentary trails of light which resembled a million little galaxies.
I was in "the zone" watching wave sets, adjusting exposures as it got darker and darker, moving south down the beach as the moon traversed to the north, trying to keep my juxtaposition with Arched Rock in alignment. It was a bit ridiculous to realize a shot like this had come together: crescent moon shining through the arch under the Milky Way with the glowing ocean. Then as if in a nod to affirm all was okay in the universe, I watched in awe as a brilliant shooting star streaked across the sky above the arch while I had the shutter open. All the while I was very aware that I should not have parked my car in the heavily patrolled parking lot.
The moon was finally setting so I packed and hiked across the beach toward the car, arriving just as two park rangers stepped out of their cruiser with spot lights on. "Hello!" I called out of the darkness in attempt to not get myself Tazed as I stepped into the blinding beams with a big tripod on my shoulder. I received the full lecture from them (the park closes at sunset…we don't want to have to come looking for you…) and apologized sheepishly. They wanted to know what I was doing out there. Still buzzing from an incredible experience, I pulled out the camera and offered to show them. The three of us huddled in the wind with our heads close to the back of my Nikon's LCD and looked through the entire image set frame by frame while dispatch ran my plates and ID. The officers have one of the best office views in the state out their front windshield and were excited to see my photographic interpretation of what they see every day. As it turns out we share mutual friends and a deep connection for preserving California's wild coast. I didn't get a ticket that night. Instead I walked away with a couple of new friends, some images with which I'm really happy, and the good info on where to park the car for my next outing.
-Jerry Dodrill
Sebastopol, CA
Visionary Wild instructor Jerry Dodrill will co-lead two workshops on the California coast with Jeff Foott in 2015, among the northern Redwood Coast in June and on the Sonoma Coast in September. We hope you can join us.
More info:
Bioluminescence: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioluminescence
Sonoma Coast State Park: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=451
by Justin Black
The lone-wolf photographer is a concept with which we are all familiar. Many of us like to think of ourselves as self-reliant and passionately free-spirited, driven only by an innate creative vision. In my experience, however, most of the people I know who have mastered anything haven't done it on their own. They've done it through interaction with others.
One of the most important experiences in my formative years was in George Washington University's small but excellent photography program, founded by a landscape photographer named Jerry Lake. Professor Lake treated his students like family and regularly joined us on weekend photography outings, an act of "above and beyond" generosity to be sure. Back in the studio, students and professors alike would regularly pin up prints in a common area and critique each others' work. The atmosphere was open and supportive, and everyone felt free to share their work and honest opinions. We all benefitted tremendously from the process of peer review and constructive critique.
In the early days of my photography career, I began to miss the honest and constructive feedback of other photographers, so a friend invited me to participate in Photo Salon, an informal group of serious photographers who met each month at a photo studio outside Washington, DC. Work prints were spread across a huge table, everyone would circle around, look them over, ask questions, share impressions, and offer suggestions. Each of us would have the opportunity to say a little bit about what we were working on and what challenges we faced as we developed our body of work. There was a documentary photographer following the stories of cancer patients, a portraitist doing a book project on transvestites, a fellow who created beautiful abstracts in abandoned industrial sites, and my landscapes among several others. With so many different genres coming together in one place, we each left our comfort zone and benefitted from the insights of professional peers who were all sophisticated visual communicators despite coming from differing interests and backgrounds.
These experiences taught me the art of constructive critique that I regularly apply to this day as a workshop instructor, and they drove home the tremendous value of gathering with other serious photographers in a spirit of camaraderie to discuss aesthetics, themes, techniques, ethics, potential outlets and markets, and myriad other topics. As much as I value creative independence and cherish solitude when I can find it, it seems to me that engaging with a community of passionate and insightful peers is one of the most personally and artistically rewarding activities any photographer can undertake. It is with this knowledge that I look forward eagerly to every workshop critique session and the happy déjà vu experienced every time a participant tells me that they learned far more from the critiques than they ever imagined possible. I have indeed been there before.
by Justin Black
The Dragon rippled as I slid the kayak out into the swamp's caramel-brown water. The still quiet of pre-dawn was broken only by the song of a prothonotary warbler, a croaking bullfrog, the sudden splash of a jumping sunfish. Gliding along on the glassy surface past lush swamp plants – arrow arum, water lilies, swamp rose, the lovely purple poker-like blooms of pickerelweed – and under the spreading branches of bald cypress, their conical "knees" emerging from the water in rows like the Dragon's teeth, I felt completely removed from the Tidewater Virginia farmland that encircled me beyond the forest. Entering this place was like time-travel.
by Justin Black
A recent dialog with a friend and fellow photographer got me thinking about truth in photography. For over 170 years, we have relied on photographs to document and share information about the world around us. How many books and documentary films have relied on photographs to connect us with the reality of events and the familiar humanity of lives long past? Using photographs we've seen, we construct a broader picture of the reality within which we live, though we may experience only a tiny percentage of it directly. I've never been to the Taj Mahal, and yet it's part of my reality, in large part because of photographs.
Of course, it has long been said that photography routinely misleads us by means of the selective and exclusionary perspective of the lens and the agenda or tastes of the photographer, despite the noblest intentions of honesty. Before even considering the problem of manipulation in the computer or darkroom, some would even go so far as to say that every photograph lies the moment it is accompanied by the claim that it represents "truth."


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Electric power's five biggest challenges, Part One: Balancing supply and demand in the face of complexity
Quick Take: A decade ago, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) primed the smart grid pump with a Grid Vision workshop in Washington, DC. Many of today's smart grid concepts and policies can be traced back to that seminal meeting.
Now DOE has partnered with the GridWise Alliance (GWA) to hold four regional workshops followed by an Executive Summit in Washington, D.C. to once again develop a stakeholder-driven vision of the future grid. As a participant, I received background materials in advance.
Those materials included thoughtful discussions of five future scenarios. Or, if you prefer, five future challenges. They did such a good job of framing the issues that I asked permission to share them with you in a series of articles.
Part One in the series talks about an electric power system's most fundamental job -- namely, balancing supply and demand. At the end, you'll find a handful of questions. I invite you to use the Talk Back form at the bottom of the page to leave your own answers and opinions. When the series has finished, I will share the comments with the DOE for their consideration as they set the agenda for the next 10 years. - Jesse Berst
By Steve Hauser and Becky Harrison
Today, transmission grid operators must ensure there is enough power generation to service the load, both in terms of wattage and volt-amperes reactive (VARS). To do so, the operator continually adjusts central generation.
Some systems can also use a limited amount of demand response (DR) as another resource to keep supply and demand in balance. For residential DR, the operator typically sends a signal to switches on customers' air conditioners, water heaters, and/or pool pumps. The switches then cut off the load completely, or cycle it off for a given percentage of time in an hour. This simple but effective mechanism allows the operator to ride through a few critical peaks as an alternative to providing additional generation.


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Negative - Bairnsdale District (?), Victoria, circa 1935 Reg. No: MM 004665
- Description Of Content:
- A 'home made' baby Austin car which has been bogged in heavy mud.
- Acquisition Information:
- Copied from Alban Pearce, 1987
- Acknowledgement:
- The Biggest Family Album of Australia, Museum Victoria
More information
|Tagged with:
|accidents, motor cars, innovation design
|Themes this item is part of:
|Images & Image Making Collection, Transport Collection, The Biggest Family Album in Australia Collection
|Primary Classification:
|Secondary Classification:
|Motor Vehicles
|Model Name/Number:
|Seven; 7
|Negative: Black & White; 35 mm
|Place & Date Depicted:
|Bairnsdale District (?), Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, circa 1935
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Blend all the ingredients together. Add egg and blend it again.
Spread the mixture over bread slices.
Sprinkle sesame seeds on the toast.
Coat it with flour.
Now cut the bread pieces into more pieces.
Coat some more flour.
Heat oil in a pan and fry the bread slices.
Fry them until golden brown from both sides.
Drain excess oil.
Serve them with tomato ketchup.


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He had his heart broken by his ex...how do I reassure him?
I have been seeing this guy for almost a month now. He won't let me pay for anything and we have a lot of fun whenever we hang out. We have had... Show More
Most Helpful Opinion
I would suggest patience. My brother was in a similar situation. His new wife (they just got married on the 8th) and him have lived together for about a year or two. He didn't want another marriage because he had already gone through 2. He has a daughter, and his wife has 2 sons, all 3 are pretty close in age and they get along like brothers and sister. Everyone in the family could see that she was the one for my brother. He finally came to and realised that himself. I'm sure this guy would do the same if you're willing to stick by his side and show him that he has nothing to fear of you breaking his heart.
What Guys Said 4
Honestly, I think you being patient and respectful of his feelings is the first step, Tell him you understand and that you are not going anywhere so when he is ready you will be by his side, Keep reassuring him about how great he is and after sometime he will come around I promise. Just you being patient and supportive will show him a lot and if he doesn't realize that then you should probably try to start looking elsewhere.
What Girls Said 1
just take it slow. Does it really need a label? If he keeps you waiting longer than your ready to wait then let him know your going to be seeing other people bec you want a committed relationship and if he is not willing or able to give that to you then you are going to have to move on or at least see what else is out there, Chances are by then he wil realize that he wants to be with you - just make sure to give him sometime on "his" terms. Its impossible to assure someone your not going to break their heart, they just have to let you in and hope it works out. good luck. Maybe he just needs to get over the ex still .
Have an opinion?


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Infogrames has released the first screenshots from Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide. The images show a fight against a group of stingers and antlike formians that takes place on the new desert tileset.
The expansion is being codeveloped by BioWare and FloodGate Entertainment, a new studio founded by a number of ex-Looking Glass designers. As the first of two planned expansions for Neverwinter Nights, Shadows of Undrentide is a new adventure designed for low- to mid-level characters, and it will require players to create a new character.
Shadows of Undrentide is scheduled for release early this year. For more details, read our detailed


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Some folks are positively giddy about Pope Francis's recent comment that he would not judge gay people of good will who seek to serve God.
I don't think, though, that he was saying what many of them seem to think he said.
It's right and proper and thoroughly Christian that we not judge people (to say nothing of hating them) on the basis, merely, of their temptations. In that regard, heterosexuality and homosexuality are surely on a par. Simply having an inclination is not, in and of itself, sinful. It's the acting upon an inclination, or the not acting upon it, that has moral significance.
This is true just about everywhere, not just with regard to sexuality. To want to make a searing response to an opponent isn't a sin when one bites one's tongue and remains silent. To wish that one owned that Lamborghini over there isn't a sin unless one steals it. Even to notice that a neighbor's wife is stunningly beautiful is no sin, provided one doesn't linger upon the thought in a lascivious way (let alone commit actual adultery).
It's absolutely right and proper, and Christian to the core, that we respect others — even those with whom we disagree. Even those of whose behavior we disapprove.
But the pope didn't, and almost certainly won't, endorse gay marriage or an actively homosexual lifestyle.
For a reasonably balanced brief discussion of the pope's remarks by a supporter of gay rights, see this article in the New York Times.


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2015: Has shown remarkable improvement from his first collegiate season to this one…hitting the ball with more authority, especially to all fields…doesn't chase pitches, works counts, and squares up the ball on the bat…will be used as a pinch-hitter and should see time in the outfield during a long season.
2014: Played in 19 games in his first collegiate season, giving the club much-needed depth…collected his first collegiate hit against Simpson on 1/18/14.
Desert Christian HS: A four-year performer for the Knights, he started at third base in his freshman and sophomore seasons and moved across the diamond to first for his final two years…played on four Desert Mountain League championship teams, including the 2012 squad that captured the CIF Southern Section Division VI title…named all-league his final two years and was an All-CIF selection as a junior.


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ppUL83, ppUL57, and ppUL32) was evaluated at an moi of 0.5, all failed to accumulate in HF cell lysates examined up to 192 hpi (data not shown), a pattern that was consistent with inefficient growth and slow spread of this virus. Even at high moi, accumulation of γ proteins, ppUL32, ppUL83, and ppUL44 were delayed in RC303ΔAcc-infected HF cells compared with a Towne control (Fig. 4C). Thus, RC303ΔAcc exhibited a very strong moi dependence for accumulation of IE2579aa, a regulatory protein that is likely to be essential for productive replication. This very early block to expression of IE2579aa is consistent with our prediction that autoregulation of the ie1/ie2 promoter-enhancer via the cellular transcription factor NF-κB is an important IE1491aa function (16, 17). Other activities of IE1491aa may also be disrupted in RC303ΔAcc, but not manifest as strong an impact on viral replication as this autoregulatory function.
RC303ΔAcc is a severely replication defective CMV mutant whose phenotype reveals a role for IE1491aa in productive replication as was predicted from transient assays (16, 17). In culture, IE1491aa is required for successful replication at mois of <0.01, but this requirement may be overcome when sufficient numbers of viral particles are used to initiate infection. The moi-dependent expression of IE2579aa by RC303ΔAcc provides further evidence of the importance of IE1491aa in regulating levels of ie2 expression and replication under conditions where virion transactivators are likely to be limiting. The behavior of ie1-deficient CMV parallels the behavior of herpes simplex virus ICP0 (Vmw110) mutants (36) and predicts a very important role for IE1491aa in the naturally infected human host (37). It is formally possible that IE1491aa fulfills a function analogous to ICP0 (38). These predictions can be tested by inoculation of human tissue implants in SCID-hu mice (39) or by evaluating latency and reactivation properties in granulocyte-macrophage progenitors (40).
Many studies (26, 27, 32, 41) consistently suggested that CMV, like other herpesviruses, carries virion tegument functions responsible for transactivation of α genes. IE1491aa is not a virion protein (unpublished data) and cannot account for the ability of inactivated viral particles to transactivate the ie1/ie2 promoter-enhancer (32). The moi-dependent growth properties of IE1491aa-deficient virus support a role for two tegument proteins ppUL82 (pp71) (27) and ppUL69 (26), in transactivation of the ie1/ie2 promoter-enhancer, although experiments testing the ability of these gene products or UV-inactivated virions will be needed to address this issue more directly. It appears that CMV may encode two different classes of proteins capable of transactivating α gene expression: (i) one packaged into the virion and (ii) one, IE1491aa, expressed immediately upon entering cells. In the absence of IE1491aa, virion transactivators alone may not be able to initiate replication at low mois. Whether IE1491aa can compensate for virion transactivators remains to be determined when mutants disrupting UL82 or UL69 become available. In transient assays, a putative minor ie2 protein, IE2425aa (42), may transactivate expression of the ie1/ie2 promoter-enhancer, but this would not account for the properties of RC303ΔAcc described here. A range of factors, particularly those found in serum (43), that increase levels of cellular transcription factors also stimulate expression from the ie1/ie2 promoter-enhancer during cell growth or differentiation. All of our experiments were carried out at high serum concentrations in actively growing HF cells that may have reduced the requirement for IE1491aa. Studies using resting, serum-starved HF cells are under way. Our comparison of mutant viral growth on complementing and noncomplementing cells (Fig. 3) showed that complementing cells provided a slight advantage to replication even at high mois and suggested that IE1491aa may play additional roles subsequent to α gene activation. Finally, both IE1491aa and IE2579aa are able to block adenovirus E1a-induced apoptosis (25). We did not observe any dramatic alteration in the phenotype of cells infected with RC303ΔAcc that would be consistent with any increased tendency toward apoptosis. An appreciation of how a balance is struck between all of these factors will require considerable additional work in different cell types as well as in different growth and differentiation states.
While the highly passaged, candidate vaccine strain, Towne, is attenuated and fails to reactivate in the immunosuppressed transplant recipient (44), strain Toledo, a virus that has undergone a limited number of passages in cell culture, maintains a level of virulence that can be observed after inoculation of susceptible individuals (45). These virulence differences may be attributed to the loss of a large genomic segment in highly passaged strains (2). The strategy reported here would allow the derivation of avirulent, replication defective mutant virus from any strain of CMV. The mutant virus we have described places 13 kbp of unique sequence from strain Toledo into a Towne background. Although replication defective, this recombinant contains a large array of viral genes that are not present in Towne. As a vaccine, this would be expected to induce a broader ranging immune response but be completely safe even in immunocompromised individuals.
Accumulating evidence suggests that hematopoietic progenitors in bone marrow are important sites of viral latency (40, 46). Cultured granulocyte-macrophage progenitors can support latent infection with either the Towne or Toledo strains and infection is characterized by restricted, latency-specific gene expression (34, 47). Productive viral replication can be induced when these cells are cocultivated with permissive fibroblasts for an extended period of time (40), suggesting that cellular growth or differentiation state may play an important role in the balance between latency and reactivation. By removing ie1 exon 4, RC303ΔAcc disrupts the antisense CMV-latency specific transcript expressed in granulocyte-macrophage progenitors. We are currently evaluating the ability of the ie1 mutant to latently infect this cell type and to reactivate following cocultivation with ihfie1.3 cells. Recombinant CMV lacking IE1491aa may be an appropriate avirulent vector to introduce genes into hematopoietic progenitors without a risk of reactivation or dissemination.
We thank Kirsten Lofgren and Tai-An Cha for providing sequence information on the cosmid ends, Danushka Formankova for immunoblot analysis, and Maria Kirichenko for performing plaque assays. We particularly appreciate the contribution of Jiake Xu who purified the glutathione S-transferase fusion protein from pON2307 and raised ie1 exon-4 specific rabbit antiserum. We acknowledge Mark Penfold, Mark Prichard, Barry Slobedman, Dirk Dittmer, Jiake Xu, and Cynthia Bolovan for helpful comments on the manuscript. Some of the experiments reported here were carried out by E.S.M. at Aviron, a company to which he serves as a scientific advisor. This work was supported by U.S. Public Health Service Grant R01 AI33852.
1. Chee, M.S., Bankier, A.T., Beck, S., Bohni, R., Brown, C.M., Cerny, R., Horsnell, T., Hutchison, C.A.I., Kouzarides, T., Martignetti, J.A., Preddie, E., Satchwell, S.C., Tomlinson, P., Weston, K.M. & Barrell, B.G. (1990) Curr. Top. Microbiol. Immunol. 154, 125–170.
2. Cha, T.A., Tom, E., Kemble, G.W., Duke, G.M., Mocarski, E.S. & Spaete, R.R. (1996) J. Virol. 70, 78–83.
3. Alford, C.A. & Britt, W.J. (1995) in Fields Virology, eds. Fields, B.N., Knipe, D.M. & Howley, P.M. (Lippincott-Raven, New York), pp. 2493–2534.
4. Stenberg, R.M., Witte, P.R. & Stinski, M.F. (1985) J. Virol. 56, 665–675.
5. Stenberg, R.M., Thomsen, D.R. & Stinski, M.F. (1984) J. Virol. 49, 190–199.
6. Stenberg, R.M., Depto, A.S., Fortney, J. & Nelson, J.A. (1989) J. Virol. 63, 2699–2708.


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Which Snork Snitched?
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This page has been viewed 17 times this month, and 627 times total.
Which Snork Snitched?Which Snork Snitched? (1984) - Snorks Cartoon Episode Guide
This page has been viewed 17 times this month, and 627 times total.
- Snorks Cartoon Episode Guide
- Hanna-Barbera Studios
- Cartoon Characters: Allstar, Casey, Tooter, Occy, Daffney, Dimmy, Mrs. Kelp, Junior, Governor Wetworth, Mrs. Wetworth, Mr. Seaworthy, Auntie Marina, Mrs. Seaworthy, Baby Smallstar, Mr. Kelp, Willie.
- Originally Released in 1984.
- Season: 1
- Color
- Running Time: 12 minutes.
Cartoon Summary:
The snorks have a secret project that they are keeping from Governor Wetworth, but Junior uses a Parrot fish to spy and bring back secrets to him to snitch on them.
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Director: Doug Liman
Cast: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Brendan Gleeson, Bill Paxton
The Indian Express rating: ***1/2
An alien race sweeping the Earth; an American general leading the counter-offensive; $178 million and 3D thrown into the battle; and Tom Cruise at the frontlines. Shrugging already? Don't. Doug Liman juggles not just all of the above but also time travel to create a film that is not just highly enjoyable but even funny and, surprise of surprises, comprehensible.
Based on Japanese novel All You Need Is Kill, Edge of Tomorrow — starting from the much-improved name — has just the right cast both in front of and behind the camera, who play to their strengths and have fun with their weaknesses.
That includes Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Mr and Mrs Smith), who understands both kinetic action and kinetic romance, and scriptwriter Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects), who can manoeuver a mystery. That includes Tom Cruise, who starts off as a smooth-talking army media relations guy, Major Cage, trying to duck combat duty with his 32-wattage smile and a shrug, and who ends up saving the world. And that includes Emily Blunt's Rita with the sensitive eyes, who plunges into battles no questions asked and who is the face of this war for being its most decorated soldier as well as for the nickname she has earned for it — 'Full Metal Bitch'.
That nickname is thrown casually around Rita, but it's clear that within the behemoth and limitations of a summer blockbuster, McQuarrie and his fellow scriptwriters are tapping into their inner Stanley Kubricks. There are other hints at the futility and mindlessness of wars in not just the basic premise of the story but also how Cage approaches it.
Cage finds himself in that situation by mocking the American general (Gleeson) who is leading what looks like a lost war against the aliens. The latter are dubbed 'Mimics' for their ability to copy humankind's best arsenal and use it against it. The angry general packs off Cage to the battlefront at Heathrow, naming him a "deserter". His protests are ignored even as the inexperienced Cage is put into a battle suit and airdropped at a French beach along with the others to take on the aliens — Normandy is never mentioned but few will miss the parallels to the June 6 World War II landing.
Cage is barely able to walk inside that hulk of a suit, but nobody else fares much better. Liman depicts the ridiculousness of those machines not just by the gait of the soldiers but also by how a hapless Cage struggles to understand the numerous commands he has to deal with in the middle of battle. In contrast, the Mimics are minimal, no-frill things that move swiftly, emerge rapidly from under the ground and consume voraciously. There is no attempt to explain those things, which is fine because, really, what …continued »


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Queenstown Tourist Attractions
QueenstownQueenstown is an old gold-miners' settlement on the east side of Lake Wakatipu, unchallenged as the leading tourist center on the South Island. It is well supplied with hotels and other accommodations and offers a varied program of entertainment and leisure activities throughout the year. For the more energetic tourist there is a choice of activities, including bungee jumping, jet-boat trips, white-water rafting, paragliding and rock climbing.
Town Center
The town center is charmingly situated beside a promontory that reaches far out into Lake Wakatipu, now beautifully laid out as Queenstown Gardens.The best starting point for a tour of the sights is the Old Stone Library (1877), which is built on to the courthouse. From here the route runs under magnificent old trees into Camp Street. St Peter's Church (1932; Anglican) looks much older than it really is. Church Street leads down to the shores of the lake. Passing the Lake Lodge of St Ophir (1873), you come to the place where William Rees established his sheep farm, the Camp, in the early 19th C.Continue to Queenstown Gardens. On the way back, at the end of the Mall (pedestrian zone), you come to Eichardt's Tavern, which has been on this site since 1871.
There is plenty of scope for pony trekking in the hills round Queenstown, and for rides to some of the large sheep farms or abandoned goldfields in the area. Other activities for the adventurous are tandem parachute jumps, paragliding and ballooning. A trip in a balloon is a marvelous way of seeing the beautiful country round Queenstown.
Underwater World
On the pier at the end of the Mall is Underwater World, where trout and eels are visible in the clear waters of the lake; they are fed here, but otherwise live freely in the lake. Beside the pier are marks showing the level to which the lake rose in the floods of 1878 and 1983.
Kingston Flyer
A steam train, the Kingston Flyer, runs between Kingston, at the southeast end of Lake Wakatipu, and the little township of Fairlight.
Steamer Wharf
At Steamer Wharf is moored the old-time steamer Earnslaw.
Lake Wakatipu
This Z-shape lake, hemmed in by high hills, has an area of 293 sq.km. It is some 80km long, barely 5km across at its widest point, and up to 378m deep.According to a Maori legend the lake came into being when a sleeping giant was burned to death. His heart still beats, however, at the bottom of the lake, causing variations in the level of the lake, which can rise or fall by several centimeters within 5 minutes.The first Europeans reached Lake Wakatipu in 1853, and some years later the whole lake was surveyed. The Otago gold rush of the 1860s brought thousands of prospectors into the area. In those days there were 30 or 40 passenger ships, including four steamers, plying on the lake. One old steamer, the Earnshaw (1912), is now one of the lake's tourist attractions.
Skipper's Canyon
A trip through the 20km long Skipper's Canyon in a specially equipped bus is an exciting experience. Drivers who do the trip in a hired car are not covered by insurance.The return trip can be by jet boat for part of the way.Those interested in Bungy jumping can do a 104 m (340 ft) jump from an old gold-mining bridge over Skipper's Canyon.
Bob's Peak
A cableway, the Skyline Gondola, runs up to the summit of Bob's Peak (446 m; 252), from which there is an overwhelming view. Immediately below is Queenstown; beyond this is Lake Wakatipu; and beyond this again, forming a striking backdrop, are the peaks of the Remarkables.
Shotover River
The Shotover River is a challenge to the adventurous visitor, with trips by jet boat in which the steersman has to battle against strong currents, and white-water rafting in kayaks or rubber dinghies. There are organized rafting trips lasting several days, with overnight accommodation in tents.
SS Earnslaw Cruises
Cruises on the SS Earnslaw, which first went into service in 1912, are very popular. Some of the cruises include visits to sheep farms that are accessible only by boat. (The ship is taken out of service in June for its annual overhaul.)
There are a number of tracks, of varying grades of difficulty, through the beautiful mountain landscape of the Remarkables, which rise to 2300m.
Coronet Peak
Queenstown is the most popular winter-sports center in New Zealand, the season lasting from June to September or October. Coronet Peak (1650m), 15km north of the town, has excellent skiing facilities.
Greenston-Caples Track
This walk, a circuit which takes about four days, runs through the valleys of the Greenstone and Caples Rivers, which both flow into Lake Wakatipu. The best starting-point is Elfin Bay, on the west side of Lake Wakatipu.
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Originally written on nhl.com | Last updated 10/15/11
UNIONDALE, NY - JANUARY 12: John Tavares #91 of the New York Islanders looks on during the game against the Detroit Red Wings at the Nassau Coliseum on January 12, 2010 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Share John Tavares' third career hat trick jolted the Islanders past the New York Rangers for a 4-2 victory at Nassau Coliseum on Saturday in front of a sell out crowd of 16,234. Tav...
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Resolution: standard / high
Figure 4.
Colinearity between evolutionary age of cancer genes and their role in tumour progression. Parallels between the macroevolutionary origin of the global pathways leading to neoplasia and the developmental timing of mutations in these pathways are shown. The upper part of the figure is adapted from reference [11].
Domazet-Lošo and Tautz BMC Biology 2010 8:66 doi:10.1186/1741-7007-8-66


text: Page Content The University will be able to provide the resources, staff contact and support you need and deserve. It means that you will benefit from more contact with staff, first-class teaching equipment and an attractive learning environment. We are very proud of the student experience at Winchester and we aim to make it even better for our students over the next few years. Please note that as a student progresses onto further years of study (where the course is longer than one year in length), the tuition fees are normally subject to annual inflationary increases. Part-timeFoundation degrees are normally taken as part-time study. For new entrants in 2015/16, taking 60 credits, the cost of part-time study will be:Foundation degree in Childhood Studies 2015/16: £2,000. BA Childhood Studies (top up): £2,000. Tuition fee supportNew part-time UK and EU students who started their course after September 2012 are eligible to apply for a Tuition Fee Loan from the Government provided they are studying at an intensity of at least 25% of the equivalent full-time course. For more information on Tuition Fee Loans please go to the gov.uk site.Full-time Students taking 120 credits in an academic year will normally be regarded as full-time. Students studying a full-time foundation degree will be considered for the University's support package.Foundation degree in Childhood Studies 2015/16: £4,000. BA Childhood Studies (top up): £4,000FDA Management (open entry): £9,000 Tuition fee support UK and EU full-time students do not have to pay fees upfront before starting their course or whilst they are studying as they are eligible for a Tuition Fee Loan. For more information about Tuition Fee Loans please go to the gov.uk site. All students should initially apply for the full Tuition Fee Loan unless they wish to self-fund all or part of the year. Any fee waivers will be applied later in the academic year. Channel Islands and Isle of Man Students from the Islands will be charged the same fees as shown above. Please be aware that students from the Islands are not eligible for student loans from the UK government,or bursaries, fee waivers, or scholarships from the University, with the exception of the Academic Achievement Award. These students should apply to the Islands for financial support.


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I like the picks. With the strength (or lack there of) at this weight....I think we will see a true frosh sneak in there.
I like the picks. With the strength (or lack there of) at this weight....I think we will see a true frosh sneak in there.
I wish I could kick Matt Dragon in the balls. In his Dragonballz.
Alton was having a hard time sucking weight at the end of the year.
I expect Nico to wrestle this year. I would put him in the top 15 right now. I think he has a 3x AA potential with at least one Championship. Not Metcalf category but we saw what Cael has done with talent.
I could see Morrison being the tough rider that holds McDonough down. Possibly Patterson, but I wouldn't bet on him.
If Morrison can get his head straight I could see him being a level above Sanders, very unlikely anyone will challenge McDonough though. Also, if Ramos does go 125, assuming the cut is comfortable for him then he'd absolutely be a title threat - he's so much bigger/stronger than Sanders. Either Morrison, Waters, Mango or Patterson are bound to make a big jump this season, just not sure which one it will be.
RIP Jacob Schlottke - 1984-2011
"If Cornell finishes ahead of Iowa with five all americans I'll jump into the Des Moines River after finals." -Herkey#1 8/16/12
I was strictly speaking in terms of riding McDonough tough enough to hold him down like you mentioned Precin and Robles had done. Even so, I don't feel great about Patterson doing it.
Morrison has a decent chance if he gets healthy, I think. Patterson never appears as good, so I don't have confidence in him, but he wrestles very smart and just finds a way to ride and escape. That's why I mention him.
I was high on Mango all last season -if not for a late season SERIOUS injury-one I thought might end his season -he could easily won 35 matches , rather than 26 .
You know, I think I would rather be a man than a god . We don't need anyone to believe in us. We just keep going anyhow. It's what we do.
I feel like just because Anthony Robles turned him a bunch we think that McD has this glaring weakness on bottom. Precin gave him some troubles and in 4 matches he beat him once. McD had him completely figured out by big 10's and NCAA's. Precin is a far better rider than Morrison and Patterson are.
I think they are two talented kids, but we might be getting ahead of ourselves and letting the most recent memory of McD tell the whole story.
To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.
Had a tough time finalizing on 2-6 here at this weight...
1. Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State)
2. Andrew Long (Penn State)
3. Tyler Graff (Wisconsin)
4. Logan Stieber (Ohio State)
5. Scott Sentes (Central Michigan)
6. Tony Ramos (Iowa)
7. BJ Futrell (Illinois)
8. Devin Carter (Virginia Tech)
R12. David Thorn (Minnesota), Cashe Quiroga (Purdue), Flint Ray (Utah Valley), Garrett Drucker (Oregon State)
Looking back on the sets of picks that I did last summer and then last fall before the season got going its almost funny to me to see just how wrong I was about Jordan Oliver. I thought him staying down at 133 was an awful idea and that we'd see another solid season, but one where he'd have too many matches where he'd just hang on to narrow victories. Things wound up going down a little differently than that as Oliver ran off an undefeated season and finished second in Hodge Trophy voting. Demonstrated no weaknesses at all in his wrestling last year. Either 1B or 2 in terms of best guy in the country from neutral (depending on how you felt in relation to him and Jordan Burroughs) tough on top when he decided he wanted to ride someone, and he was able to get away from everyone he wrestled without much trouble. While there are some really good wrestlers from 2-6 here at this weight class, I still don't see anyone touching Oliver barring injury or fluke pin.
Spent a lot of time debating as to who I wanted to stick here in this #2 spot before deciding on giving the nod to Long. Had a stumble early on in his season last year when he dropped a match to Ramos, but after that match he went on an utter tear over the rest of the Big 10 season recording two wins apiece over Graff and Futrell and then a major over a guy in David Thorn who was steadily improving over the second half of the year. Like Oliver he's a guy who really doesn't have any glaring weaknesses in his wrestling. Tough offensively from his feet especially working out of his left underhook. He seemed like he was less reliant on that last year than he was as a freshman. Other than Sentes he's probably the best guy in the top group here at this weight class on top in terms of putting points on the board, then like Oliver he's generally able to get away from guys. His biggest thing will just be keeping his head right (I really want to try to avoid using the term "living the life") and staying committed.
Came into last year super high on Graff and while he put up another solid season he didn't really make the leap like I and some others may have been expecting him to, he was more or less the same guy he was when he was a freshman. Not to say that was necessarily a bad thing as he was really good as a freshman. Only lost one match over the first three months of the season last year. Still super technical on his feet, his single leg and his front headlock are both picture perfect. Coming into last year I thought he'd take a big step forward with his mat wrestling but he was still pretty much the same guy. Solid, but not necessarily super effective as a rider. Not really much of a turner at all. Seemed like he may have been a little beat up at the end of the year last year as he showed some gas tank issues in matches at Big 10's and NCAA's. That wasn't something you'd really seen out of him before.
I think Stieber may wind up flying under the radar at least for a little while during the early part of this season just as a result of the way his folkstyle season last year ended where he made the semi's at Las Vegas before losing a close match to Jarrod Patterson and then losing both of his consolation matches and finishing 6th. Stieber broke his hand at that tournament and spent the rest of the year on the sideline. Before that weekend though he had announced himself in a big way when he just utterly demolished Anthony Zanetta in an early season dual. Came back and out and showed that he still knows how to wrestle freestyle this spring as he made the Junior World team, and then this past weekend finished 4th at Senior World Team trials losing to Coleman Scott in the match for true 3rd and a spot on the national team. En route to that match he put tech falls up over former NCAA champions Derek Moore and Matt Valenti and defeated former World Silver medalist and multiple time world team member Mike Zadick.
Sentes was one of the most surprising guys to come out of the NCAA tournament last year as he came in as the #11 seed and was picked by some (at least me anyway) to get knocked off in the first round. Looking at his results though he actually had a better year going into NCAA's than some people may have expected. He was solid at Vegas and Midlands, but he had a bad loss (at the time) to Frank Cagnina and then an awful weekend at National Duals where he got majored by Devin Carter and pinned by Matt Fields. The thing is though, after National Duals he didn't lose another match until the quarterfinals at NCAA's. Was really effective at NCAA's in getting to his offense in order to get to where he's most comfortable (on top). That had always been what had limited him in the past. Guys would take neutral and try and beat him there.
My (second now) favorite Hawkeye from last season comes in here at the #6 spot, and he's someone who I recognize that I may be underrating based off his potential here at this weight class. Got an opportunity to get into the line up last year after Tyler Clark got hurt at the Kauffman Brand tournament and really just never relinquished the spot. Stylistically he's not really superlative in any one area, he's just solid. Keeps great position on his feet. Is aggressive, but not sloppy. Doesn't really put a lot of points on the board but he's solid on top. Over most of the year he demonstrated solid enough ability on bottom. Bottom was what kind of snake bit him at the end of the year as Sentes was able to control him at NCAA's, and then in the round of 12 he was much better than Ruggirello on his feet, but Ruggirello rode him for over four minutes and wound up sneaking out a one point win. Did some good work wrestling freestyle this summer, won University Nationals beating Nick Dardanes in the finals.
Did a lot pumping up of Futrell two years ago, but he wound up redshirting. Coming into the year last year I'd honestly just kind of forgotten about him, but after strong showings at Las Vegas and Midlands I and pretty much everyone else knew who he was. At his best on his feet. Super aggressive, super athletic. Tough on top as a rider and a turner. Bad on bottom. Pretty much all of the matches he lost last year were to guys who were good on top and were able to keep him down on the mat at bare minimum and sometimes put points on the board.
Similar to Graff and Futrell (although its even more pronounced) Carter is really, really good on his feet but pretty shaky on the mat. Came in last year as a true freshman under the radar to most people but really wrestled well. Announced himself early on when he beat Kyle Hutter in the finals of the Hokie Open. Just a wild man on his feet, has a lot of different techniques and he's not afraid to go deep into his arsenal to try and score on guys. Great motor too, always going after guys. Only losses last year were either to guys who kept him down on the mat (Hochstrasser, Futrell, Grey) or guys that he wouldn't be able to get tired and were just as good as him on the feet (Graff). I hesitate in typing this but stylistically he reminded me a lot of Colt Sponseller when he was a freshman. Hopefully for Carter he's able to break through and make the podium before he's a senior.
RIP Jacob Schlottke - 1984-2011
"If Cornell finishes ahead of Iowa with five all americans I'll jump into the Des Moines River after finals." -Herkey#1 8/16/12


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The Vincent Club
The Vincent Club is a women's organization dedicated to supporting the health and well-being of women through its educational forums and its fundraising activities for the Vincent Memorial Hospital, now the Vincent Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Massachusetts General Hospital. Fostering friendships generated through these efforts is central to its mission.
Save the Date - Saturday June 13, 2015
For The Vincent Club's Gala to be held at the Museum of Science Washburn Pavilion


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Pentagon, military, and intelligence officials outlined plans on Wednesday for warfare in space and warned China not to attack U.S. satellites in any future conflict.
"The threats are real, they're technologically advanced and they're a concern," said Air Force Lt. Gen. John "Jay" Raymond, commander of the Joint Functional Component Command for Space, in testimony before a House subcommittee. "We are quickly approaching the point where every satellite in every orbit can be threatened."
Douglas Loverro, deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy, said that the threat of attacks on satellites in orbit is no longer a theoretical concern.
"Quite frankly, it's one thing to anticipate an imaginary threat," Loverro said. "It's another thing to see that threat develop, watch it be exercised as with the Chinese on several occasions, recognize what it can do to our capability, and react to that. And that's what we're doing right now, is reacting to it and making it very clear we have no desire to have a conflict extend to space."
Military Gears Up for Space Warfare | Washington Free Beacon
China is using its earnings from China-US trade to point big guns (missiles) at the US and to destroy US satellites. Still think trading with a country that behaves like this is a good idea?
Delusional thinking in the West pushed more and more trade toward China. All those cheap products from China will certainly make life better over in America. Except all those geniuses forgot to factor in the probability of war.
Why would China want to go to war against the US? If you have to ask that question then just go home.You haven't been paying attention.
The "China Dream" demands that China reaches its past glory. Right now the US and Japan stand in its way. Given the internal instability of China, the current regime is at risk of revolution in some form. Aggressively pushing outward toward its neighbors is one way to redirect people's attention and achieve the China Dream. However, that aggressiveness could very well lead to war. China is preparing for that war.


text:
Dr. Arnold Dorosario specializes in geriatric medicine, internal medicine in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Dr. Arnold Dorosario has been compared 127 times. Details of Dr. Dorosario's 40 years experience as an MD and education at Universidad de Navarra are available on your free doctor report.
Primary Location for Dr. Dorosario
4699 Main St
Suite 105
Bridgeport, CT 06606
Patient Ratings and Reviews
Dr. Arnold Dorosario has an average rating of 5 stars (out of 5) with a rating of Excellent based on 3 reviews.
Have you visited Dr. Arnold Dorosario? Rate you experience below.
Board Certification, Specialty and Expertise
Dr. Arnold Dorosario has been identified as specializing in Geriatric Medicine and Internal Medicine.
Accepted Insurance
Insurance plans and networks accepted by a doctor are not necessarily universal across all locations at which the doctor practices. This can be affected by many factors such as different group practices, hospital affiliations and working arrangements at those locations. Checking that the doctor you are visiting and the facility they are at are in-network providers for your insurance plan can save you money and headaches later from surprise medical bills.
Dr. Arnold Dorosario accepts the following plans at 4699 Main St, Bridgeport, CT
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Dr. Dorosario attended medical school at Universidad de Navarra Facultad de Medicina and graduated in 1975 having 40 years experience.
While there is no proven correlation between the quality of one's educational institution and the quality of one's professional competence, it is often an indicator. Medical schools have various levels of selectivity (some are harder to get into than others), and both the quality of their clinical training and level of research are measured. Additional medical training in both residency and fellowships and the facilities they are conducted at also provide a history of the doctors' level of training and experience.
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Alexandra is an Australian citizen and an experienced expat, having spent (quite a bit of) time in A...
Europe not the most popular place for expats11 November 2013, by Alexandra Gowling
British bank HSBC asked 7.000 expats about their experiences living abroad in 37 different countries, to conclude that life in China is the best.
Rounding out the top five are Germany, Singapore, the Cayman Islands and Australia. Life as an expat in the Netherlands was rated 18th overall.
The three main areas of investigation for the survey were: economics, including disposable income; experience, including food, social life and local culture; and (for 24 out of the 37) raising children, including childcare costs and quality of life.
Why is China so popular?
Asia in general is a popular destination and one very clear reason why is the money. Asia hosts some of the highest-paid expats in the world, with average expat remuneration packages at least 15 per cent higher there than the global average (55.000 euros per annum, compared to 48.000 euros elsewhere).
The lowest-paid expats live in Europe, where average yearly salaries are around 40.000 euros.
Further, Asian countries have relatively low costs of living, especially in Southeast Asia, with expats reporting that they spend far less than the global average on daily necessities.
The other big saving is tax. According to the survey, the global average tax rate is 36 per cent, whereas in the Netherlands it is 62 per cent, in Germany 58 per cent and in the UK 46 per cent. Hong Kong, on the other hand, has a maximum tax rate of 17 per cent.
China and Asia also scored very highly in the experience questions, especially for food, sports and social life. Costs of childcare and education, as well as diversity of experience for children, also rated highly.
Not happy in the Netherlands
While the Netherlands was seen as a good place overall for children, rating particularly highly in education, in economic and experience terms, expats here considered themselves far from satisfied.
While financial incentives in the Netherlands are clearly lacking in comparison to low-tax, low cost-of-living nations, it was the experience questions that rated especially low.
The Netherlands scored:
› the lowest rating out of all 37 countries for social life;
› second last for feeling welcome at work; and
› third last for making local friends, enjoying local food and fitting in with the local culture.
Areas that rated higher were work-life balance (which given that the Netherlands has the shortest work week is not altogether surprising), transport and using the language.
Breathe easy
One area that HSBC did not ask expats to examine was anything concerning the environment.
The OECD's report on well-being showed that in the Netherlands, measurements of air pollutant particles PM10 are higher than average at 30 micrograms per cubic metre, over the average of 21 micorgrams per cubic metre.
That's far from ideal, yet expats in Beijing routinely suffer through air pollution at four times Dutch rates, and the number of lung cancer patients in Beijing has increased by 60 per cent in the last 10 years, with no matching increase in tobacco use.
An even more interesting study might be on how long expats are prepared to live in each country, because a full wallet and fun friends can only compete with good health for so long.
Sources: HSBC, China Daily
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It would be nice if you could either provide a link to the full rankings or give the complete list!
Greetings from the Cayman Islands..There is no income tax at all. The cost of living is moderate to high, therefore you must make good decisions if you want to increase your savings. Its summer time 365 days a year and the beach is always great..which is wonderful of course. However after a few years it can be a bit boring, not as many things to occupy the mind as in Europe or North America. (Miami is a quick one hour flight away)
- Study reveals most popular Dutch towns and cities according to locals
- The Edge, world's most sustainable office building, opens in Amsterdam
- The perks of Dutch directness
- Dutch civic integration exam: what expats need to know
- Spreek Nederlands met mij: Seven reasons to learn Dutch
- Latest Dutch News | All Articles on IamExpat


text: Hey ladies. Below are some links about a precious baby girl from the Feb 2012 board who is battling cancer. These videos will make your heart break for this family, but I wanted to share them with you ladies because I think we can all make time to offer up a prayer for the healing of this baby. The mom's SN is in_luv. She stated in another post that she's not on BBC much, but she does try to update when she can.


text:
Maclay, whose experience includes global corporate strategic planning, has been affiliated since 2007 with FocalPoint Coaching, an international consortium of business enhancement experts. She will be joined for the workshop by FocalPoint colleague Jerry Cohen; the two will guide attendees through strategic planning exercises, discuss how to adjust tactics to meet current market conditions and demonstrate how overall organizational performance is a means to accomplish long-term goals.
"In today's ever-changing business environment, it's no longer enough to have stated business goals," said Maclay. "C-level executives and senior managers must be flexible in terms of modifying their action plans and being flexible in the face of uncertainty or unplanned events that can throw even a seasoned professional off course."
The cost for the workshop is $39.95 per person in advance or $50.00 at the door. Attendees who register by March 12 may bring a guest for half price. All course materials and refreshments are included. For more information about business coaching services offered by Maclay, call (201) 406-1690 or visit http://margaretmaclay.focalpointcoaching.com.
# # #
Margaret Maclay and Jerry Cohen are Certified International Business Coaches with over 50 years of combined experience building, transforming, managing, leading and growing businesses and teams. They use the FocalPoint Coaching method to help small business and large corporations improve business performance and determine process solutions. They work with senior level managers, executives and business owners to clarify current processes and identify opportunities to maximize efficiencies, and offer support to overcome internal resistance to change.


text:
Whatever the reason, this 1955 Buick Special 2-door sedan always get people talking. With just 18,900 miles (not a misprint) from new and featuring... More
1977 BUICK RESTO ROD. 462 STROKER V8 PERIOD CORRECT 455 BORED .30 OVER AND STROKED. THE TRANSMISSION IS A TCI AND THE REAR IS... More
The Buick Grand National resides today in the hearts of many, and in the hands of a select few. A surge in the following... More
1991 Buick Reatta Convertible - Rare hand crafted 1991 Buick Reatta convertible. This is a beautiful 2 seater convertible luxury sports car carefully hand... More
1970 Buick Gran Sport Drag Car1970 Buick Gran Sport Drag Car built by PMR Race Cars in Rancho Cucamonga CA.Complete back-half and mid-section in... More
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1954 Buick 70 Roadmaster ConvertibleYEAR MAKE and BODY - 1954 Buick 70 Roadmaster Super Convertible (Painted) Red Berry and White brand new Windshield and... More
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