text:
Friday, December 24, 2010
The snow has finally arrived, albeit in fits and bursts, bringing with her a true feeling of Christmas. The wind whistles and howls outside as the snow whips around in the wind, lighting up the square below and adding a festive luster to the treetops, while inside we sit cozy and warm. Like wide-eyed children on Christmas morning, we stare through the panes into the velvet night as the heavy plops of white thud against the glass and settle onto the inky black iron curlicues of the balcony railing for the night. The lamplight shimmers in the glistening snow blanketing the roofs of the cars and we snuggle up a little closer and whisper our prayers that it will last through the holidays.
One last day of shopping before Christmas and the gifts are all bought, piled up in secret places around the apartment. My baking has taken a festive turn and Stollen and cookies of all sorts have been tumbling out of the oven and lining themselves up prettily on the kitchen table. We've stocked the pantry with all kinds of simple, warming foods, enough to see us through the wintry weekend. My favorite Christmas films are stacked up on the coffee table, the old and the new, the real and the animated, each begging to be watched first, promising to fill our house with holiday music, laughter and good cheer!
Tomorrow morning, we will wend our way to the market, bundled up in heavy coats, arms wrapped close around ourselves to ward off the blustery wind and the tat tat tat of wet flakes stinging our cheeks. We'll push our way through the Christmas Eve crowds and fill our basket with oysters and a slice or two of foie gras, and maybe, just maybe, he will make a wonderful seafood choucroute for two. I'm rather a sentimental old soul, and as I step out into the flurries and chill, memories of Christmases past whirl up like a snowstorm in my mind and visions of icy white nights in Milan pulling smoky chestnuts out of paper cones, warming our hands, and popping them one by one into our mouths, excited little boys dashing up to greet le Père Noël who magically appears laden with gifts at their grandparents' house, arriving late Christmas Eve to a balmy Florida town and being driven around up and down every street just to ogle the gaudy, outrageous Christmas decorations and the romantic luminaries all aglow, hands clapping and faces brimming over with delight, all intermingle in one glorious dance! But nostalgia is not far behind and I remember the most amazing of gifts arriving from Uncle Michael, chosen special for each of the boys, a silly drawing, his own self-portrait scrawled across the card in guise of a signature, and personalized e-cards arriving in our e-mailboxes on Christmas morning, singing and dancing us awake, making us howl with laughter. My smile hides my sadness and I chatter on tirelessly to create an atmosphere of mirth while I am crying inside knowing that no more phone calls, no more gifts or cards, no more old black & white movies arriving by post to cheer up another Christmas season will be mine for the asking, no more brother to call, no more phone ringing on a holiday afternoon only to hear his cheerful Helloooo on the other end of the line, no more gossipy silly supportive chats, my big brother and I, whenever the need or the desire rush over me. I miss him.
Yet the sadness is tempered with joy as we bustle around the house preparing for the festivities. No, I do not celebrate Christmas, but this year the pleasure is for JP. He called me up a couple of weeks ago in the middle of his workday and declared that maybe this year, this Christmas, we should exchange gifts. Which, of course, also means a special dinner. So as the last day of shopping and preparations begins, as the sun just begins to peek over the rooftops, as the day dawns not so much clear and bright as steely gray and hauntingly mysterious and smelling of snow, I make my market list, place the last of my gifts on the mantelpiece and pour myself another cup of coffee to accompany yet another slice of Stollen.
I wonder if I shall be considered naughty or nice? I suspect that this old elf ain't the only one who has been buying presents, and joy and merriment fill the house from end to end. December's Daring Bakers' Challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie's Baking and she chose to challenge Daring Bakers' to make Stollen. She adapted a friend's family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart's book.........and Martha Stewart's demonstration. Now, as many of you know, I made Stollen last year, a recipe quite unlike the one Penny has offered us. Last year's was cake-like and, truth be told, not one of us was enchanted with either the texture or the flavor. It had, sadly, an unhappy ending. The Daring Bakers' Stollen had me jumping for joy as it was a yeast recipe as well as an allure of something much more bread-like. I loved it before I even began. I followed the directions to a tee, yet I did alter the flavors to suit our taste more: no candied fruit, the bane of our gastronomic existence, adding a cupful of fabulous, tangy, fruity dried cranberries along with the citrus zests and the slivered almonds instead. I added a few tablespoons of ground almonds to the batter, soaked the cranberries in rum and added only vanilla extract. I sprinkled several tablespoons of cinnamon-sugar over the flattened dough before rolling it up, creating a decorative and flavorful swirl throughout the baked, barely sweet, delicate Stollen. I must say that this Stollen was absolutely one of the best things I have ever baked, ever eaten, and I have been eating slice after slice since I removed it warm and fragrant from the oven. Half was taken to the office, the other half enjoyed at home. This will be a favorite holiday recipe every year from here on out, although next time I will increase the quantities of rum, cranberries, almonds, both slivered and ground, and I will definitely double the amount of cinnamon sugar in the gorgeous swirl. Thank you, Penny, for a simply stunning holiday recipe!
I would like to share this wonderful Stollen with Yeastspotting, my favorite yeast baking event created and hosted by Susan of Wild Yeast!
I also want to share this for December's Bread Baking Day #35, a fabulous bread event created by Zorra of 1x umrühren bitte. This month's theme was Bread with Dry Fruits and was hosted by Taste of Pearl City!
And a joyous holiday season to you one and all!
Prepare the Stollen dough the day before baking:
¼ cup (60 ml) lukewarm water (110º F / 43º C)
4 1/2 tsps (1/2 oz/14 g) active dry yeast
1 cup (250 ml) milk
10 Tbs (140 g) unsalted or salted butter, cubed
5½ cups (770 g) flour + more as needed (measure flour before sifting)
½ cup (115 g) sugar
2 – 3 Tbs finely ground almonds
¾ tsp salt (if using salted butter there is no need to alter this salt measurement)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup (100 grams) slivered almonds
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
Grated zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange
2 tsps very good quality vanilla extract
¾ cup (135 grams) mixed candied peel, optional
1 cup (170 gms) firmly packed dried cranberries
3 Tbs (45ml) rum
4 – 6 Tbs cinnamon sugar for the swirl, optional but fabulous!
Melted unsalted butter for coating the wreath
Confectioners' (icing/powdered) sugar for dusting wreath
Note: If you don't want to use alcohol, double the lemon or orange extract or you could use the juice from the zested orange.
Soak the dried cranberries in the rum in a small bowl the time it takes you to prepare the dough.
Pour the warm water into a small bowl, sprinkle with yeast and let stand 5 minutes. Stir to dissolve yeast completely. In a small saucepan, combine the milk and 10 tablespoons (150 ml) butter over medium-low heat until butter is melted. Let stand until lukewarm, about 5 minutes. Lightly beat eggs in a small bowl and add the vanilla extract.
In a large mixing bowl or in the bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment, stir together the flour, sugar, ground and slivered almonds, salt, cinnamon, orange and lemon zests. Stir in (or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment) the dissolved yeast, the lightly beaten eggs, the lukewarm milk/butter mixture as well as the soaked cranberries with the rum in the bowl. (Some people add the almonds and the dried fruit in after the dough has come together and knead in, but I find that extremely difficult and slippery. I now always add all dried fruits and nuts directly to the dry ingredients before incorporating the liquids and forming the dough). I added another half cup or so flour to the dough as I was stirring in order to have a working consistency. This should take about 2 minutes. It should be a soft and most likely sticky dough. When the dough comes together and all of the dry ingredients are moistened and everything is well blended, cover the bowl with either plastic or a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 10 minutes.
Scrape the dough out onto a well-floured work surface and knead the dough for 8 minutes until you have a soft and satiny, smooth, bread-dough consistency, flouring the dough and the work surface as needed. It may be slightly tacky but not sticky and the dried fruit and nuts should be evenly distributed.
Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling around to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator overnight. The dough becomes very firm in the fridge (since the butter goes firm) but it does rise slowly… the raw dough can be kept in the refrigerator up to a week and then baked on the day you want.
Shape the Dough and Bake the Wreath:
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow to rest at room temperature for 2 hours before shaping. Line a large baking sheet with parchment or oven paper.
Once the dough has rested, scrape it out onto a floured work surface, punch it down and roll out into a large rectangle of about 16 x 24 inches (40 x 61 cm) x ¼ inch (6 mm) thick. Sprinkle the dough generously with cinnamon-sugar all the way to the edges. Starting with a long side, roll the dough up tightly, forming a long, thin cylinder. Transfer the cylinder to the sheet pan. Pull the two ends around together, forming the dough cylinder into a ring and join the ends together, trying to overlap the layers to make the seam stronger and pinch with your fingers to make it stick. You can form it around a bowl to keep the shape. Using clean kitchen scissors, make cuts along outside of circle, in 2-inch (5 cm) intervals, cutting 2/3 of the way through the dough (to make this easier and to make sure that the slices were evenly spaced and that I had an even number of sections, I used a sewing tape measure. Once sliced, gently pull the sections out from each other so they will stay separated once risen and baked. Either spray the wreath lightly with spray oil or tap gently with a vegetable oil soaked paper towel. Cover lightly yet completely with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel and allow to rise at room temperature for 2 hours until at least 1 ½ times the original size.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
Bake the stollen for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan 180 degrees for even baking and continue to bake for 20 to 30 minutes until the bread is a dark mahogany color and should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.
Transfer to a cooling rack and immediately brush the top with melted butter while still hot then tap a generous layer of powdered sugar over the top through a sieve or sifter. Wait for 1 minute, then tap another layer over the first. The bread should be coated thickly with the powdered sugar. Let cool at least an hour before serving.
37 comments:
- My Carolina Kitchen said...
I wish you a very happy holiday filled with wonderful food, family and friends.
Be good 'cause Santa Claus comes tonight.
- December 24, 2010 at 5:08 AM
- MeetaK said...
an awesome post with an exquisite stollen. it seriously looks divine. my dearest saucy sister i wish you and jp a very merry christmas! hugs!
- December 24, 2010 at 5:16 AM
- Elle said...
Jamie, it's absolutely gorgeous! I'm making my first stollen ever later today. Like you, I've stayed away from the candied fruits, and have been soaking my dried fruits in brandy for a few days. I hope mine looks as beautiful as yours does!
Have a wonderful holiday--I hope it['s as magical today as it was for you when you were just a child. xo!
- December 24, 2010 at 5:21 AM
- browniegirl said...
Sweetest Jamie, I just skimmed through as I am so busy in the kitchen but already I see another delightful, not to be missed, post from you. I will come back and read at my leisure, and pleasure, tomorrow after all the activity is over. STOLLEN!!! How did you know this is my absolute favorite of all the festive sweet treats? I just love it. Have never baked my own. But would love to! Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones. I hope you have a wonderful festive season and may 2011 bring you just love, joy, peace, good health, wealth and happiness. Love you xx
- December 24, 2010 at 5:23 AM
- Lael Hazan @eduatedpalate.net said...
Lovely story with beautiful photos and a doable recipe! Thank you for a lovely Christmas present. I wish you and yours a WONDERFUL holiday!
- December 24, 2010 at 5:23 AM
- A Thought For Food said...
This post just filled me with such joy... from the stories to the recipe.
Rest assured, you are most definitely nice.
- December 24, 2010 at 5:30 AM
- Cathy said...
Christmas stollen is a very old tradition in my family. I think yours is the most beautiful one I've ever seen, Jamie.
Merry Christmas!
- December 24, 2010 at 5:31 AM
- Jamie said...
@A Thought For Food: Oh, Brian, you made me laugh out loud but be sure that I will be sharing your opinion with Santa! Thanks and a joyous holiday to you!
- December 24, 2010 at 5:34 AM
- debug said...
Gorgeous stollen my dahling...beautiful crumb and I love yr step by step pictures...merry Xmas to U & JP..
- December 24, 2010 at 5:45 AM
- Heavenly Housewife said...
Doesnt matter much if I'm naughty or nice (of course I'm naughty), Mr P still buys me goodies :D
Beautiful stollen, its a work of art.
*kisses* HH
- December 24, 2010 at 6:05 AM
- Sarah, Maison Cupcake said...
Ah Jamie your stollen looks so light and fluffy, sweet and comforting and pretty. (I have a confession about mine which I will share next time we skype).
Thanks for posting this early for I hadn't realised we could post DB early at Christmas but now I see we can so I can look forward to a blogging holiday!
Hope you and JP have a lovely day tomorrow and I look forward to sharing more laughs and stories with you in the new year XX
- December 24, 2010 at 6:10 AM
- Pavithra said...
Hi Jamie.. Happy Christmas to you. Thanks for dropping by my space. I am so happy which in return took me to your wonderful space. Your stollen looks stunning. Wonderful pictures and the texture. Great job on the challenge..
- December 24, 2010 at 7:02 AM
- doggybloggy said...
Jamie I wish you and your family a beautiful Christmas and a most generous and prosperous new year - now send me one of those Stollen!....Happy Holidays - your friend Christo.
- December 24, 2010 at 7:15 AM
- Rosa's Yummy Yums said...
What a splendid wreath! You did a great job as always... I bet it tasted divine!
What a splendid post. I love the way you picture the festivities.
Happy holidays to you, dear friend! I am so happy to have got to know you virtually and hope we'll be able to meet in reality! I'd love to bake or cook with you. That must be an inferno!!! LOL.
Rosa xoxo
- December 24, 2010 at 7:32 AM
- Umm Mymoonah said...
Wow! The swirls inside the bread looks gorgeous, lovely pictures.
Thank you for sending it to BBD 35 :)
- December 24, 2010 at 7:40 AM
- foodwanderings said...
Love this Stollen project! Looks so beautiful!! Happy Holidays to you and your family Jamie!
- December 24, 2010 at 8:17 AM
- Barbara @ VinoLuciStyle said...
It's been a stollen sort of day and both Deeba's and yours are making me nostalgic, not just with Christmas traditions but remembering my German grandmother's homemade stollen and my Dad's not homemade but Sunday bakery tradition.
It looks wonderful and enough surely to serve to all of your friends on Twitter!
Happy Holidays Jamie. XOXO
- December 24, 2010 at 8:20 AM
- Mary said...
I suspect that apartment is a wonderful place to be for the holidays. Enjoy the comfort of family and friends. Blessings...Mary
- December 24, 2010 at 8:21 AM
- Deeba PAB said...
Boy O Boy...what a gorgeous stollen sistah. Like it naughty and love how whimsical it looks ... DIVINE! Wish we had met for real this year, but I'm aiming seriously for 2011. Either you pick the right numbers {grrr} or I hold a gun to da man's head and make him buy me a tkt to Nantes! Have a wonderful wonderful Christmas, and a fabulous 2011! Love ya my sweet...Skype later!!
- December 24, 2010 at 9:13 AM
- Peter M said...
Jamie, nicely done...I hope you made more for back-up and extra guests dropping by (like me).
- December 24, 2010 at 10:12 AM
- asiangrrl said...
The holidays are often bittersweet, Jamie. Hugs to you. However, this stollen? Simply gorgeous and luscious-looking.
- December 24, 2010 at 10:58 AM
- Kulsum@JourneyKitchen said...
a great post as usual! Stollen looks good. Merry Christmas and happy holidays dear Jamie.
- December 24, 2010 at 10:52 PM
- faithy, the baker said...
what gorgeous looking stollen! It's so beautiful and perfect! love it! ..now can i have a slice please..:D
- December 25, 2010 at 2:09 AM
- Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...
Beautifully evocative post dear Jamie! It's so funny to think that while we are sweating it out here for our Christmas, you guys are cold! I hope you had a happy holiday with lots of good food and laughter :)xxx
- December 25, 2010 at 4:28 PM
- tasteofbeirut said...
A wonderful goodie for Xmas season! Oh how I wish I had a fresh one to cut into every morning! Guess I will have to make it myself!
- December 25, 2010 at 5:03 PM
- Sugar Daze said...
this looks so delicious. i haven't baked mine yet and think i will use your suggestion for the cinnamon swirl. Happy Holidays!
- December 25, 2010 at 11:40 PM
- Lora said...
Your stollen is wunderbar! I love the cranberry swirl flavor and it looks so pretty. Wishing you a wonderful holiday season and happy new year. Thank you for making me feel so welcome as a Mactweeter.
- December 26, 2010 at 7:49 AM
- Fiona at Inner Pickle said...
Don't know whether to start with your biscotti or Stollen but planning to make both!! Gorgeous!
- December 26, 2010 at 2:11 PM
- Carolyn Jung said...
Hope you had a very merry Christmas! The stollen wreath must have made it memorable, indeed. One bite of that beauty and I would never forget it. ;)
- December 26, 2010 at 5:14 PM
- Cake Duchess said...
Ciao cara amica mia. Buon Natale, even though you don't celebrate:)Your story made me teary eyed about your brother Michael. Holidays are lovely and also sad. I love your description of Florida at Christmas time! We just went to look at the lights the other night:)
Gorgeous stollen!! un bacione!
- December 26, 2010 at 8:11 PM
- Aparna said...
YOur stollen looks lovely and its perfect for your Christmas. :)
What did you get?
We don't celebrate Christmas, but our daughter always looked forward to Santa's visit as a child so we had Christmas. Lots of great memories. :D
Season's greetings and best wishes for a very happy new year.
- December 27, 2010 at 6:00 AM
- Namratha said...
Absolutely stunning Stollen,looks gorgeous...too pretty to eat.
- December 27, 2010 at 7:38 PM
- Pierce said...
That is a fine looking stolen! Great post…I felt like I was right there with you as walked in the cold and windy evening, I could imagine your DVDs of favorite movies…fun!
- December 29, 2010 at 3:18 PM
- Y said...
Christmas is usually such a beautiful time of the year. Sorry to hear yours is tinged with sadness.
All the best to you and your family for 2011.
PS:That's one very good looking stollen.
- December 31, 2010 at 9:57 PM
- Jeanne @ CookSister! said...
Now that's a Christmas wreath I could get into... I never likes Stollen as a child - but now in retrospect I think it's only because I hadn't had GOOD stollen!! Yours looks perfect.
- January 2, 2011 at 3:53 AM
- Sue said...
Wow, Your stollen is BEAUTIFUL! And the taste matches the looks!?! You've got a winner here! I'm sad that I didn't get to it(or the macarons) this month...maybe I'll just make it anyway. As always, you're an inspiration! Happy New Year, Jamie!
- January 2, 2011 at 6:44 PM
- zorra said...
Looks just perfect. Mine was a disaster. So next year it can get only better. ;-)
- January 7, 2011 at 4:26 AM


text:
Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Report
Part H. Research Recommendations
- Overarching Research Recommendations
- Research Recommendations of PAGAC
- All-Cause Mortality
- Cardiorespiratory Health
- Metabolic Health
- Energy Balance
- Musculoskeletal Health
- Functional Health
- Cancer
- Mental Health
- Youth
- Adverse Events
- Understudied Populations
Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee (PAGAC) members were requested to consider the research needed to help resolve unanswered or inadequately answered questions they identified during their review of the science. Although a substantial amount of research on physical activity and health has been published since 1995, major gaps still exist in our knowledge needed to establish cause and effect for various health outcomes and to better define dose response, especially at the low and high ends of the activity spectrum. At the end of many of the chapters in Part G: The Science Base, authors have included a listing or discussion directed at needed research for specific health outcomes included in their review. This section initially focuses on some overarching recommendations that are applicable to many of the outcomes considered during the PAGAC review. Following these general recommendations are priority recommendations specific to the outcomes considered by each subcommittee.
Overarching Research Recommendations
Participant Diversity
One issue that became evident during the PAGAC review was the lack of data on selected subpopulations, especially various race/ethnic groups, persons of low socioeconomic status (SES), individuals with specific cognitive and physical disabilities, and obese persons. Some of these groups have been excluded from participation based on study eligibility/exclusion criteria (e.g., ability to walk at a moderate pace, read or speak English), or because study logistics precluded them from easily participating (e.g., travel distances, study visits during work hours). Since 1995, many studies that included women as subjects have been published. However, only a few have provided within-study comparisons of the impact of physical activity on health outcomes between the sexes.
- Because of the scientific and logistical challenges of including adequate-sized samples of multiple groups in a study conducted at one institution, well-designed and executed multi-center studies are needed in which each research site can have access to subjects who represent various specific understudied populations. This is critically important in providing investigators with opportunities to examine interactions between sociodemographic factors, particularly sex and race/ethnicity or SES, and physical activity in relation to health and to make inter-group comparisons.
- Funding agencies should support well-designed studies of individual understudied populations, especially race/ethnic minorities, persons of low SES, and individuals with physical and cognitive disabilities, so that major questions regarding the effects of exercise and effectiveness of physical activity interventions in each of these populations can be answered. If an organization funded a number of such studies with at least a core of shared measures, they would have a well-diversified research portfolio on understudied populations. Such an approach would more likely answer key questions than would an approach that requires each investigator to include relatively small numbers of understudied populations in their studies.
- Journal standards for peer-reviewed articles should require a reporting of the race/ethnicity (in addition to sex and age) of the sample and presentation of subgroup analyses by race/ethnicity and/or SES if sample sizes are sufficient, rather than simply treating these as co-variates and adjusting for them.
Dose Response
In each of the review chapters, the dose-response data currently available are summarized. Based on these reviews, it is apparent that major unanswered issues still exist in response to the question, "How much of what type of activity is enough to improve health?" To have sufficient statistical power to appropriately evaluate dose response in experimental studies, the overall sample size needs to be relatively large. In observational studies, it has been difficult to isolate parameters other than overall activity amount from data collected using questionnaires. Many experimental studies have used one level of physical activity as the intervention (usually that included in recent recommendations) and, consequently, evaluation of any dose-response effects must rely on post-hoc comparisons. Given that the number of dose-response questions that can be asked are nearly limitless when considering various activity characteristics (type, intensity, frequency, duration, amount/volume), possible health outcomes, and different populations, it is important that some priority be developed for which dose response questions are most important.
- Some recently published data indicate that physical activity of a lower intensity and/or smaller amount than is currently recommended may provide significant health benefits for chronically inactive or unfit adults (who comprise a large proportion of the American population aged 18 years and over) and older adults. Both experimental and observational studies are needed to answer a variety of questions about the nature of benefits provided and characteristics of dose required at the low end. The range of physical activity used in the intervention should include a dose below that currently identified in physical activity recommendations to evaluate its impact and the stability of this level of physical activity behavior over time.
- There remains a lack of data defining both the shape of the dose-response curve at the higher amounts and intensities of activity for most health outcomes and whether an upper limit of benefit exists. Most current recommendations focus on a minimal or target amount/intensity of activity that is consistent with much of the population receiving some benefit, but don't address questions of "optimal" or "maximal" benefit. Studies are need to clarify the amount of physical activity, defined by metabolic equivalent (MET)-minutes per week or some other measure, at which additional improvements in various health outcomes no longer occur or at which increases are negated by increased adverse medical events.
- To fill the gap in our knowledge about dose response, investigators should design and conduct studies that evaluate effects of the following variables at fixed volumes of physical activity: intensity, frequency, duration, and multiple bouts. Details related to these variables would allow more precise physical activity guidelines to be developed across the breadth of activity-related health outcomes.
- Reasonable evidence exists that activity accumulated in short bouts throughout the day can favorably alter selected biomarkers for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases and improve cardiorespiratory fitness. However, no evidence is available that such patterns of activity may be beneficial for musculoskeletal health. Experimental studies are needed to extend this research involving activity bouts of different durations, especially multiple bouts shorter than 10 minutes and a few long bouts per week (e.g., 2 x 75 minutes) on various health outcomes. Observational studies are needed using assessment methodologies that will allow accurate quantification of a range of types of activity in different population groups (e.g., abdominally obese, frail elderly) and an evaluation of the effect of accumulation of short bouts on clinical outcomes independent of activity intensity and amount.
Measurement Methodology
The ability of the PAGAC to draw strong conclusions for various outcomes was limited by the wide variety of questionnaires used to assess physical activity and numerous different approaches to data analysis and presentation.
- Uniform data collection is needed with respect to the type of physical activity (e.g., leisure-time, occupational) and physical activity characteristics (e.g., intensity, duration, amount).
- The Compendium of Physical Activity has been very useful in assigning standardized values of absolute intensity to a wide range of activities, but it should be updated and expanded to children and youth.
- During the past decade, technology that provides for the objective assessment of physical activity in relatively large groups of subjects has increased rapidly, especially through the use of motion sensors and physiological monitoring. These technologies have the potential to greatly improve the accuracy and reliability of physical activity assessment in free-living populations leading to a better understanding of health benefits and dose response. Development and evaluation of these technologies are needed for assessing populations with different activity profiles and sociodemographic characteristics.
- A much better understanding is needed on how the results of physical activity assessed by new objective measurement methods can be compared to data collected by commonly used questionnaires.
Physical Activity and Physical Fitness Surveillance
Physical activity surveillance of the US population has been provided by the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (http://www.cdc.gov/brfss/), the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/yrbs/index.htm), and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes.htm), but the information provided by these surveys remains quite limited. Also, longitudinal physical fitness assessment of most population groups in the United States is non-existent. Lack of these data prevents evidence-informed decisions regarding the contribution any change in physical activity has on various health outcomes, such as the rapid increasing incidence of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes (T2D).
- Surveillance of the total activity energy expenditure of representative samples of the US population needs to be implemented once appropriate assessment tools have been developed and validated. Such tools could include either questionnaires or new objective measurement technology, or a combination of the two.
- Special attention needs to be given to the surveillance of both the physical activity and physical fitness of the US population at both ends of the age spectrum toddlers/children and the oldest adults. These groups constitute a substantial portion of the US population and receive unique benefits from being physically active, but no national surveillance system for physical activity or physical fitness data exist for them.
Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
During literature reviews by the PAGAC, it became evident that, for selected health outcomes in various populations, a large number of studies have been published since 1995, but neither quantitative systematic reviews nor meta-analyses have been published. Such reviews would be very helpful in drawing conclusions about health benefits, modifiers of the effects of physical activity, and dose response.
- Experts investigating specific health outcomes from physical activity should assess the nature and volume of recent publications and determine whether quantitative reviews of the data would contribute to existing knowledge, help formulate guidelines and policy statements, and help set research priorities.
Research Recommendations of PAGAC Subcommittees
In the review chapters in Part G: The Science Base, each subcommittee highlighted areas in which data are lacking and provided guidance regarding research needs for specific populations and health outcomes. The following section provides a consolidation of the key recommendations from these chapters. The varying format and style of these recommendations reflects the different approaches that subcommittees took in identifying and articulating research needs in their topic areas.
All-Cause Mortality
- Empirical data are needed that are specific to minority populations African Americans and Hispanics, in particular.
- Empirical data are needed that are specific to disabled populations, whether physically or intellectually disabled.
- Additional studies are needed to clarify whether all activities "count" equally, because limited data now suggest that vigorous-intensity activities are associated with additional risk reductions, beyond their contribution to total energy expended, when compared with moderate-intensity activities.
- Additional data are needed to help clarify the shape of the dose-response curve. An emphasis on two areas of data collection would be particularly useful: (1) uniform data collection to assess the same domains of physical activity (e.g., leisure-time, occupational, household, and/or commuting) across studies, and (2) collection of sufficient details on physical activity to assess different modes of exercise (e.g., aerobic versus strength training) as well as energy expenditure and intensity.
- Studies are needed to determine the point (if any) on the dose-response curve at which no further reduction in all-cause mortality occurs.
Cardiorespiratory Health
Studies are needed to answer the following questions:
- What is the time course of acquisition of the cardiovascular health benefits resulting from increases in habitual physical activity?
- What are the cardiovascular health benefits of varying exercise bout duration, frequency, and intensity, while controlling for total volume?
- What effect do daily exercise exposures accumulated in short bouts have on the acquired cardiovascular health benefits of habitual physical activity?
- What are the effects of resistance training on cardiovascular health and what is the nature of dose-response effects (varying intensity, bout volume, and frequency of programs)?
- Are there sex differences in cardiovascular health benefits of habitual physical activity when controlling for activity volume?
- What are the specific harmful effects of physical inactivity on cardiovascular health and what are the characteristics of the inactivity most likely to produce harm?
- What are the specific effects of aerobic training, resistance training, and a combination on selected biomarkers of vascular health, such as brachial artery flow mediated dilation? What are the dose-response effects?
- What are the main characteristics of an exercise program for preventing and treating peripheral arterial disease (PAD)? What are the exercise dose-response patterns, sex differences, exercise modality options, differential effects on diabetic patients with PAD, on asymptomatic patients and are biomarkers available to predict exercise responders?
Metabolic Health
- Available data indicate that regular physical activity is associated with reduced risk of metabolic syndrome. However, it is not clear whether physical activity and exercise can be used in treating or reversing metabolic syndrome, and additional studies will help to clarify this issue.
- Research is needed in diverse populations to determine whether the effects of physical activity across the range of metabolic health issues, including metabolic syndrome, T2D, type 1 diabetes (T1D), and gestational diabetes, differ with race and ethnicity.
- Further examination of the effects of physical activity on metabolic syndrome and T2D also is warranted to determine whether and how its effects differ in youth and adults.
- Additional research evaluating dose-response patterns of exercise in preventing diabetes and cardiovascular outcomes in diabetes would make a valuable contribution to the metabolic health literature.
- Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are needed to examine the effects of exercise on treating T1D in children and adults. Good cardiovascular outcome data in response to physical activity in T1D is lacking and could potentially be obtained in adult-onset T1D.
- Clinical studies in post-exercise hypoglycemia are needed to further study the intermittent high-intensity exercise approach to prevention and to compare extra carbohydrate versus lower insulin-dosing approaches to treating T2D.
- Research is needed on several issues related to gestational diabetes. For example, RCTs are needed to determine whether physical activity can prevent gestational diabetes. It also would be useful to have additional dose-response data on the role of exercise and physical activity in treating gestational diabetes.
Energy Balance
- Additional large scale, multi-site RCTs are needed to more thoroughly characterize the dose response of physical activity on weight stability, weight loss, and body composition across a variety of population groups, especially for those in the normal body mass index range. Only a limited number of RCTs have addressed these outcomes. Large-scale multi-site RCTs would allow investigators to more effectively address issues related to susceptibility to weight gain or resistance to weight or fat loss that may vary by sex, race/ethnicity, and age. As mentioned in the overarching recommendations, various volumes should be evaluated within the same study design.
- Determine the most effective strategies for promoting and maintaining sufficient doses of physical activity to facilitate weight loss and/or weight stability. It is important to develop effective intervention strategies to promote and maintain the desired level of physical activity for weight loss and/or weight stability because adherence to this level of physical activity is currently less than optimal. Although some strategies have been shown to be effective for improving adherence to this level of physical activity, the success of these strategies has been demonstrated in limited samples and populations. Therefore, additional research in this area is needed.
- Determine how much physical activity is needed to prevent weight regain following weight loss. Most of the available literature related to this question is observational or has relied on retrospective analysis of self-selected and self-reported levels of physical activity. Use of state-of-the art technology and complete energy balance designs are absent from the literature. Specifically, it appears that no adequately powered studies of sufficient duration with randomization have been conducted to examine different levels of physical activity following weight loss.
- Determine the physical activity effects on total and regional fat loss from those of weight loss, per se, especially in those people very susceptible to weight gain in the current social environment and who thus may be most resistant to weight or fat loss with exercise. Additional RCTs are needed to distinguish physical activity effects from weight loss effect. In addition, the large-scale use of imaging techniques is necessary to distinguish between subcutaneous and visceral fat depots in their responsiveness to endurance and/or resistance training. The ability of studies to translate imaging findings into simple anthropometric measures such as the waist or the abdominal circumference would increase the clinical and personal utility of the research.
- More research is needed to establish the risks and benefits of various regimens of physical activity in men and women with a body mass index of 35 or greater.
Musculoskeletal Health
Bone Health
- Risk for osteoporotic fractures is strongly influenced both by bone fragility and by falling. Physical activity is the only therapeutic intervention that can both increase bone strength and reduce risk for falling. A large RCT of the effectiveness of physical activity versus anti-resorptive therapy (e.g., bisphosphonates) on the prevention of fractures is needed.
- Bone mineral density can be measured with a high degree of precision and remains the best predictor of risk for osteoporotic fracture. However, studies of animals provide evidence that small increases in bone mineral density in response to mechanical loading reflect very large increases in bone strength. Development of better technologies for the non-invasive assessment of bone strength in humans would provide additional insights into the relative effectiveness of physical activity to enhance bone strength and reduce fracture risk.
Joint Health
- Dose-response studies are needed to determine the optimal frequency, intensity and duration of physical activity associated with benefits (minimum dose) or increased symptoms (maximum dose) among adults with arthritis and other rheumatic conditions.
- Longitudinal studies of the relationship of lifetime accumulation of moderate physical activity, particularly walking, and incident arthritis of all types among the non-elite athlete population are needed. Special attention should be paid to adequately capture potentially confounding and mediating variables.
Muscle Quantity and Quality
- Studies of the specific modes of physical activity that are most effective in preventing the age-associated decline in skeletal muscle mass and function are needed, with a focus on whether age-related changes in other factors (e.g., nutritional, hormonal) are important mediators of the response.
- Investigations should identify the underlying mechanisms that limit the capacity for muscle hypertrophy in response to resistance exercise with advancing age.
Functional Health
- Design large RCTs to determine whether physical activity can prevent or delay the onset of functional limitations and/or role limitations in older adults. Few controlled trials have confirmed the strong evidence from observational trials that physical activity prevents or delays the onset of functional and/or role limitations. Given the problem of confounding in observational studies, large RCTs are needed.
- Determine the dose response of multi-modal activities on improving functional health and reducing falls. Evidence suggests that moderate-intensity, multi-modal interventions can help improve functional health and reduce falls. However, we do not know whether physical activity has a threshold or dose effect. Studies are needed to determine whether a threshold below the current recommendations exists and whether higher-intensity interventions are more or less effective than moderate-intensity interventions.
- Determine whether the dose-response effect is relevant to single component versus multi-modal interventions. We need to know the dose response for each component of multi-component interventions, not just the dose response for the total intervention. This would provide information on how to mix components to achieve maximal benefit for a given amount of time and would help clarify whether single-mode physical activity interventions would be as successful at improving functional health as multi-modal interventions. No trials have addressed this question. Most trials have included multi-modal interventions in older adults.
- Determine whether physical activity reduces injurious falls (e.g., falls that result in fractures) in older adults at risk of falls. Physical activity reduces falls in older adults at risk of falls; however, little is known about whether it can reduce injurious falls. An RCT is needed that has sufficient power to assess whether physical activity can reduce injurious falls.
- Knowledge about the role of physical activity in reducing the risk of common cancers would benefit from additional evidence gathered from clinical trials. In the survivorship setting, clinical trials showing a benefit of physical activity interventions on reducing deaths, recurrences, and reducing the impact of late or long-term treatment effects also would make a valuable contribution to our understanding of the needs of this growing population.
- Studies are needed to clarify biological mechanisms linking physical activity to specific cancers in order to identify associations with less commonly studied cancers.
- Studies are needed to define the shape of the dose-response curve of the physical activity-cancer relation in order to determine the effect of low-intensity activities and accumulated bouts.
- Observational epidemiologic research is needed to identify the dose, type, and frequency of physical activity on risk of various cancer sites and subtypes, in addition to identifying the effect of physical activity on risk of specific cancers within particular population subgroups, including various races and ethnicities, ages, sexes, and groups at elevated risk of cancer.
Mental Health
- Additional prospective cohort studies and tightly controlled RCTs are
needed, especially for anxiety and sleep disorders. Specifically:
- Additional studies of under-represented groups and of people at high risk of mental health disorders are needed.
- Selection of potential confounders specific to mental health risks need to be included in prospective cohort studies.
- Reporting of adherence to and dropout from trials should be improved, particularly with respect to the impact on the trial's efficacy and likely population effectiveness.
- Investigators should strive for convergence of subjective and objective measures of physical activity and should specify the social and environmental contexts in which physical activity occurs.
- Valid outcome measures need to be selected, refined, and used uniformly.
- Physical activity exposures and outcomes need to be measured frequently to permit investigators to model change.
- It would be helpful to conduct additional RCTs comparing the effects of exercise with other preventive interventions.
- Novel designs that distinguish social moderators and mediators of outcomes from experimental contamination (i.e., placebo effects) would make a valuable contribution to the field.
- Studies are needed that manipulate or directly compare standardized features of physical activity, including type, intensity, and timing, with the settings in which activity takes place (e.g., group versus solitary, community versus home, indoor versus outdoor).
- It would be helpful to accelerate the synergy between human brain imaging studies and neuroscience studies that use animal models of human disease. This improved synergy could help elucidate biological mechanisms underlying the benefits of physical activity to mental health. An increased emphasis on modeling of social-cognitive mediators of mental health outcomes and studies of gene-environment interactions also would be valuable additions to the field.
- Determine whether physical activity affects classroom behavior and academic achievement in children and adolescents.
- Determine whether physical activity affects depression, anxiety, and cognitive function in children and adolescents.
- Determine the types and amounts of physical activity that are needed to prevent the development of excessive adiposity during childhood and adolescence.
- Identify the optimal types and amounts of physical activity needed to maintain cardiorespiratory and metabolic health during childhood and adolescence.
- Establish the dose-response pattern for the relation between physical activity and bone health in children and adolescents.
Adverse Events
- Determine how one selects the initial increment (dose) of activity for individuals who have been inactive that will maximize continued participation and minimize adverse events. Recommendations have been vague about the amount of activity a person should initially select.
- Determine how a person should select the size and frequency of increments to an activity plan for a previously inactive individual that will maximize continued participation and minimize adverse events. Although a 10% increase per week has been suggested for youth and young adults, and a 2 to 4 week interval for older adults has been suggested, little research exists to support such suggestions.
- Determine the incidence and risk factors for adverse events associated with walking.
- Current literature suggests that risks may be unrelated to either total volume of walking or intensity (using elevated treadmills). These findings need to be substantiated in other settings and populations.
- Research is needed on the rate of adverse events in various populations resulting from participation in various modes of physical activity, including weight-bearing and resistance training.
- Research is needed to provide evidence-based answers to the following questions regarding pre-participation medical screening. Does a recommendation for people to develop an activity plan with a health care provider prevent adverse events? Does it reduce participation in physical activity? If the answer to both questions is yes, what is the balance at the population level? Are such recommendations justified for certain population subgroups? If so, which ones?
Understudied Populations
People With Disabilities
- Prospective cohort studies should be conducted to determine the frequency, intensity, and duration of physical activity associated with key health outcomes, including reduction in certain secondary conditions associated with the specific disability subgroup (e.g., pain in spinal cord injury, fatigue in multiple sclerosis, reconditioning in intellectual disability). Studies should be stratified by age, functional level, and severity of disability.
- Multi-center clinical exercise trials should be conducted to achieve adequate statistical power and to be able to generalize findings to certain subgroups within the targeted disabilities (e.g., young adults with paraplegia). A high level of intervention fidelity must be established that employs the same testing instruments, procedures and training regimen. The heterogeneity between and within disability groups and the low incidence of many disabilities make it extremely difficult to obtain an adequate sample size when recruiting from only one location.
- RCTs are needed to examine the effects of various types of exercise in addition to the actual training volume (frequency, intensity, duration). Group exercise such as tai chi or yoga may have additional social benefit, which may improve outcomes but may also confound the benefit of the specific dose of exercise. Future studies should control for the social aspect of exercise so as to obtain accurate data on the exercise regimen itself versus the social benefits associated with exercising in a group.
- Improved self-report assessment tools should be developed to measure changes in health in disabled populations. It is difficult to make comparisons between studies when instruments are not the same or not explained well enough to make critical comparisons between them. Given the small numbers of many disabled subgroups, it would be helpful to have a recommended set of instruments for each targeted outcome with good psychometric properties so that data from various studies can be compared.
- Development of new and innovative strategies for recruiting disabled individuals who generally do not volunteer for research studies must become a high priority. Because most experimental research is conducted with volunteers, it is difficult to generalize a study's findings to the entire subgroup. People who volunteer for exercise-related research may be younger and/or have a higher functional level than the broader population of people with disabilities.
- Determine how self-report measures of social integration and/or quality of life are associated with objective measures, such as quantifying an increase in community participation (i.e., increased number of outdoor and/or social activities, greater amount of time outside the home for social events, increased employment). The fact that physical activity can improve mental health and quality of life is an intriguing concept that should be examined in future research on disabled populations with a more objective and standardized measurement of these outcomes.
- Develop research designs that categorize subjects by function rather than disability to increase recruitment and identify key health outcomes that generalize across disability groups. Given the difficulty in identifying and recruiting certain populations whose disabilities have low incidence (e.g., spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy), use of the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF) model would allow researchers to identify specific eligibility criteria by impairments (e.g., lower extremity paralysis) and/or activity limitations (e.g., unable to walk) rather than by disability.
Women During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period
- Additional RCTs are needed evaluating activity regimens with different dose patterns on the course of labor and delivery.
- RCTs are needed to determine whether physical activity will help prevent gestational diabetes.
- More research is needed on dose response looking at the role of exercise/physical activity in treating gestational diabetes.
- Studies to compare effects of physical activity during pregnancy and the postpartum period in diverse race-ethnic groups are needed.
- Research is needed to examine the effect of physical activity in reducing risk of T2D in women with a history of gestational diabetes.
Racial and Ethnic Diversity
- An increased number of Federally-funded studies should be powered to include sufficient representation of at least one ethnic/minority or lower SES population, with sufficient sample size to permit subgroup analyses by race/ethnicity or SES. Strict exemption criteria should be rigorously applied.
- Cultural proficiency of recruitment and retention approaches and adequacy of resources directed toward recruitment and retention should be scrutinized by grant review committee members with special expertise in this area, similar to the separate assessments of adequacy of study methods and analytical approaches by review committee statisticians.
- Federal program officers should manage and balance their portfolios to ensure that racial/ethnic differences in physical activity-related exposures and outcomes are under active investigation, and should use requests for applications (RFAs) and other mechanisms to direct funding toward disparities examination and elimination.
- Journals should require reporting of race/ethnicity, sex, and SES of samples in the abstract as well as the body of the text.
- Subgroup analyses should be requested when sample size is sufficient, and further data desegregation should be encouraged to examine interactions between sociodemographic characteristics, e.g., sex-ethnicity, SES-ethnicity.
- Abstraction databases should include search criteria that permit ascertainment of inclusiveness (i.e., subgroup analyses by race/ethnicity or SES).
- Specific research questions deserve particular emphasis, such as the precise role in weight maintenance of racial anthropomorphic variations in resting or activity-related energy metabolism (as opposed to or in concert with age- or sex-related differences) in body composition.
Continue to Back Matter: Subcommittee Assignments &
Biographical Sketches
Back to G11. Understudied Populations
Back to Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Report
This icon,, means that you are leaving health.gov and entering a non-federal website. View full disclaimer.

subset: commoncrawl


text: This rattle teether is based upon the unforgettable character in Eric Carle's classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Multiple textures to touch, crinkle and jingle sounds, and a teether to chew provide your little one with plenty of entertainment and comfort. It is a sure way to bring the story to life and a smile to your child's face. Measures 8.5".


text:
Life is all about adjusting on the fly. And now there's a sandal that does it with you. The Kendall, a 2-band adjustable hook and loop slide, is ready for anything. And the woven, stitched detailing on the leather assures you will be as well.
A superior blend of foam cushioning and compression set, featuring rubber.
No reviews found for the Aravon Kendall


text:
WebMD Medical News
Jennifer Warner
Reviewed by
Laura J. Martin, MD
April 8, 2011 -- The charm of a Southern spring may be lost on millions of seasonal allergy sufferers. A new study shows Knoxville and a host of other Southern cities top the list of the worst places to live with spring allergies.
It's the second year in a row the Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America has given the dubious honor of "the most challenging place to live with spring allergies" to the east Tennessee town. Rounding out the top five were four other Southern cities: Louisville, Ky.; Charlotte, N.C.; Jackson, Miss.; and Chattanooga.
The rankings are based on an analysis of the following three factors for the 100 largest metro areas in the U.S.:
Researchers say Knoxville's top spot this year was primarily because of a higher-than-average use of allergy medications per patient and higher-than-average pollen counts. The city has ranked in the top 10 on the annual report for six out of the past nine years.
For the full listing of the 100 top allergy capitals, see www.allergycapitals.com.
The report shows seasonal allergies continue to be a challenge nationwide for 40 million Americans.
But the good news is that for the first time in nine years, the average number of allergy medications per person is less than 1.0. The national average is now 0.94 allergy medications per person.
Researchers say the report mostly measured prescription allergy medication purchases and refills, and this decline is likely a sign that people are relying more and more on the growing array of over-the-counter allergy medications.
Moving may be out of the question for most seasonal allergy sufferers, but there are simple steps people can take to reduce their suffering.
Researchers say many people with nasal allergies stay inside when pollen counts are high in the spring and fall. But the air indoors can be up to 10 times more polluted than outdoor air.
Indoor allergens (allergy-causing substances), such as dust mites, animal dander, pollen, and cockroaches can be triggers for people with seasonal allergies, too.
To improve the quality of indoor air, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America recommends:
SOURCE:Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America: "Spring Allergy Capitals 2011."
Here are the most recent story comments.View All
© 2015 Ramar Communications |
Site Map |
Terms Of Use |
Privacy Statement |
Copyright & Trademark Notice |
EEO Report |
FCC Public Files |
Closed Captioning |


text:
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS -- The New Mexico State men't tennis team claimed its fourth win of the season as it claimed a 6-1 win over the St. Mary's Rattlers. The Aggies are now 4-3 on the season.
Picking up the doubles point, each of the Aggie pairs won in close matches. As Luis Ramirez and Marc Westgate battled to a 8-6 win in the first spot, the other two Aggie duos prevailed with 8-5 victories.
"It was a great win for us," head coach Carlos Vargas said. "It was a good way to prepare us for conference play. We face UTSA tomorrow and this helped us prepare for that WAC (Western Athletic Conference) dual."
Each of the Aggies in the second through sixth positions earned points for NM State win wins in straight sets. It was Ramirez that battled through three tough sets before falling 6-4, 4-6, (10-8).
Sophomore Patrick Pfister sailed to a 6-1, 6-0 win at the No. 4 spot, while freshman Daniel Fernandez reamined undefeated in singles play with a 6-3, 6-0 decision in favor of the Aggie.
NM State now looks to open WAC play against the UTSA Roadrunners on Saturday, Feb. 9, at 10 a.m.
New Mexico State 6, #44 St. Mary's 1
Feb 07, 2013 at San Antonio, Texas (St. Mary's Tennis Courts)
Singles competition
1. Andrej Klipa (STMU) def. L. Ramirez (NMSU) 6-4, 4-6,
2. D. Fernandez (NMSU) def. Zach Nicholson (STMU) 6-3, 6-0
3. M. Westgate (NMSU) def. Jared Fellows (STMU) 6-1, 6-1
4. P. Pfister (NMSU) def. Carlos Olea (STMU) 6-1, 6-0
5. G. Degardin (NMSU) def. Matt Banner (STMU) 6-1, 7-6
6. S. Trecakov (NMSU) def. Brien Galon (STMU) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. L. Ramirez/M. Westgate (NMSU) def. Zach Nicholson/Jared
Fellows (STMU) 8-6
2. Y. Blank/G. Degardin (NMSU) def. Carlos Olea/Matt
Banner (STMU) 8-5
3. D. Fernandez/P. Denele (NMSU) def. Andrej Klipa/Brien
Galon (STMU) 8-5
Match Notes
St. Mary's 1-1; National ranking #44


text:
Gi Sportz has come together with Bob Long to create a top level paintball marker - The Victus
At its heart the Victus is driven by the Bob Long Insight NG internals. All ready world renound for its efficiency this spool based system is soft on paint, easy on air and super consistent over the chronograph.
The Victus from Gi Sportz and Bob Long takes this already stellar package and takes it up another notch.
The Victus comes with its own unique milling patter, sleek and smooth yet still dramatic.
The Victus paintball gun also comes packaged with its own custom case (pictures coming) as well as a match annodized and match milled multi-bore barrel set.
Even the electronics are updated for this gun with the Victus having its own unique board programing.
Punishers Paintball Supply © 2003-
All Rights Reserved.
All photography and text on this site is the original work of Punishers Paintball Supply and manufacturers.
Contents may not be used for any commercial or non-commercial purpose without prior written consent from www.punisherspb.com.
eCommerce Hosting by Resposio


text:
Tag: Tibetan Plateau
Expedition to Northern Tibet, Part 2: Where the Wild Yak Roams
Kiang live up here.
We're in the highest, most desolate section of Tibetan Plateau; a place no one lives and very few visit. And yet even here we're accompanied by oddly domestic shapes. Kiang, or Tibetan wild ass (Equus kiang), are a strikingly coloured relative of the donkey; their red-brown backs contrasting sharply with white flanks, belly, legs, neck and muzzle.
They can survive more arid conditions than any other large mammal on the plateau, and like their less-wild cousins, are masters at finding food where there appears to be none. Their equine shape and canter are familiar even to someone who has spent very little time with horses.
As we struggle with our bike and trailers, slouching exhausted every couple of hundred meters, the domestication of equines seems like one of our species smartest achievements.
A big part of the Chinese government's motivation for creating these nature preserves (Kekexili and Aerjinshan) was protection for the endangered Tibetan antelope or chiru (Pantholops hodgsoni). With slender arched horns the colour of ebony, chiru are an attractive antelope. But it is their pelts that are the cause of their decline. To deal with extreme cold, chiru have an extraordinarily fine and soft undercoat, known as Shahtoosh. Considered among the most luxurious and prized of all animal fibres, a shawl made of Shahtoosh can supposedly be passed through a wedding ring.
Poaching of these antelope – dramatized in the haunting film Kekexili Mountain Patrol – has pushed the small remaining population to the highest and most remote parts of the Tibetan Plateau.
Expedition to Northern Tibet, Part 1: The Land of Charging Blue Bears
Why is it that when you are trying to be the quietest, you inevitably drop or bang something noisy? Well, at least that's my experience.
The ice that just cracked under my foot was like a window breaking.
The bear sleeping on the bank of the river exploded with a roar.
Within a few seconds it was covering the frozen ground towards us at break-neck speed. My friend Hamish and I raised our airhorns above our heads and squeezed. The bear kept coming. Then just as the horns started to wheeze their last exhale of compressed air, the bear registered the sound and pulled up.
Standing less than 80 feet from us was one of the rarest bears on the planet, the Tibetan blue bear (Ursus arctos pruinosus).
We didn't speak, there wasn't anything to say. We both knew that our air horns were exhausted and that in retrospect we should have had a plan to let off one then the other.
The bear stared at us with lips curled back. We stood frozen holding our bikes. It wasn't more than a few seconds – time enough to process the gravity of the situation – before the bear turned and retreated. Twenty feet at first, then all the way to the bank, then half way up the sand dune, at each point turning to observe and perhaps reevaluate its decision to retreat, then finally over the top of the dune and out of sight. This was the first bear we had seen on the expedition.
"Holy [expletive]."
"These air horns just saved our lives."
Review: Two from Tibet
Tibet Wild: A Naturalist's Journeys on the Roof of the World. By George B. Schaller. Island Press, 2012. 372 pages.
"I am less a modern field biologist devoted to technology and statistics than a nineteenth century naturalist who with paper and pencil describes nature in detail," writes George Schaller in his latest book, Tibet Wild.
And, indeed, no one can accuse Schaller of being a lab- or desk-bound scientist: Few have spent more time among the large, wild beasts. He's studied Serengeti's lions, India's tigers and Brazil's jaguars. He's lived with gorillas and tracked snow leopards in the Himalayas. He led one of the first comprehensive studies of giant panda habitat and conservation.
But perhaps his most important work has been his three decades of research in the Tibetan Plateau, a remote region little known to most outsiders (including many wildlife enthusiasts). He first began exploring the region seeking the migration route of the chiru, a little-known antelope species that embarks on one of the great seasonal mammal movements in the world.
Schaller's search for chiru reads like adventure from an earlier time—with horrible weather, impassable routes and dead ends galore. He and his teammates persevere and map the migration through one of Asia's wildest regions.
However, he has never been content to merely record biological detail; he has been a fierce advocate for conservation throughout his career. As a biologist for the Wildlife Conservation Society and Panthera, he uses the information gathered to inform plans for protected areas and community-based conservation projects.
Over the decades, Schaller has witnessed alarming changes in Tibet. For millennia, nomadic herders and huge herds of grazing wildlife thrived together on the grasslands. But that deep relationship has been changing, fast. In part, that can be traced to the end of nomadic traditions. Herders have been encouraged (or forced) to settle, which means their livestock is fenced to one patch of land, leading to overgrazing, wildlife conflicts and economic hardship.
Schaller details a distressing list of problems facing plateau wildlife: fences, poaching, the slaugher of antelopes for fashion, corrupt trophy hunting programs, the poisoning of pikas, mining, roads and more.
He remains optimistic, though, that by involving local people in conservation programs that benefit them, the great herds, large predators and productive grasslands can once again thrive.
Tibet Wild is one of Schaller's best works, combining wild adventure with insightful recommendations for people and nature. And it demonstrates why "old-fashioned" field biology is still an essential part of conservation, and of science.
Enjoy Osprey Cam Live!
The Ospreys Are Back!
Live views, 24/7, of an Alabama osprey nest. Record your observations and ask our ecologist about what you're seeing.
What is Cool Green Science?
noun 1. Blog where Nature Conservancy scientists, science writers and external experts discuss and debate how conservation can meet the challenges of a 9 billion + planet.
2. Blog with astonishing photos, videos and dispatches of Nature Conservancy science in the field.
3. Home of Weird Nature, The Cooler, Quick Study, Traveling Naturalist and other amazing features.
Cool Green Science is edited by Matt Miller, the Conservancy's deputy director for science communications, and managed by Lisa Feldkamp, an American Council of Learned Societies fellow with the TNC science communications team. Email us your feedback.
Innovative Science
Call for Inclusive Conservation
Join Heather Tallis in a call to increase the diversity of voices and values in the conservation debate.
Appalachian Energy Development
Where will energy development hit hardest? And where can conservationists make a difference?
Not a sci-fi movie. A true story of nanotechnology & clean water.
On the Wild Side
Bird is the Word
Latest Tweets from @nature_brains
- Growing evidence suggests there are actually 2 species of African elephant http://t.co/urO63TTYHt on @guardian
- RT @MartyDowns: Congrats to Peter...and to UCLA. A brave and bold choice. https://t.co/mFNE1VgJLU
- RT @rlalasz: Peter #Kareiva steps down as TNC chief scientist. What's his legacy? @MichaelBTI @CristianSamper & others: http://t.co/J22WKsD…
- Congratulations to #PeterKareiva on joining @UCLAIoES!: http://t.co/HmeOB5FiAi https://t.co/KX3UNprn1v
- RT @mahlering: Wow! #UCLA is getting a great #scientist and #conservation leader. https://t.co/P6CtqREReC
Blogroll: Conservation and Science
- 10,000 Birds
- Bird Freak
- Blogfish
- Carl Zimmer's The Loom
- Climate Compass
- Collide-a-scape
- Conservation Biology Institute
- Conservation Bytes
- Conservation Magazine
- Deep Sea News
- Discover Magazine Blogs
- Dynamic Ecology
- Earth Lab
- Eat More Brook Trout
- Environmental Leader
- Gary Paul Nabhan
- God of Wednesday
- Grist
- High Country News
- I, Science
- Idaho Nature Notes
- Inside Science
- Knight Science Journalism Tracker
- Mongabay
- Mother Jones Blue Marble
- New Scientist
- New York Times Green
- Not Exactly Rocket Science
- NRDC Blogs
- Orion Blog
- Peter Gleick: Significant Figures
- Pew Environment Group
- Planet Change
- PLoS blog
- Prairie Ecologist
- Real Climate
- Science Blogs
- Science Daily
- Science Friday
- Science Jon
- Science Shots
- Scientific American Blogs
- Sea Monster
- Short Sharp Science
- Smithsonian Science & Nature
- Strange Behaviors
- Surprising Science
- Ted Williams Conservation Blog
- Tet Zoo
- The Blog Aquatic
- The Tiny Aviary
- TreeHugger
- Wired Science
- Yale Environment 360


text:
latest posts
dineLA is an exciting 2-week dining event created by the Los Angeles Convention and Visitor Bureau (aka LA, INC) to introduce diners to hundreds of neighborhood restaurants throughout Los Angeles County. LA's a huge county full of many great spots for food and drink. So, to help filter through over 300 participating restaurants, dineLA's invited me to call out a few restaurants offering vegetarian dineLA menu items. I live in West Hollywood, so most of my recommendations are for spots in my area.
For dineLA, participating restaurants offer a fixed 3-course menu for lunch and/or dinner…a great way to taste popular dishes. If a restaurant offers only 1 or 2 vegetarian items on their dineLA menu, many will let you order just those vegetarian items, so do ask. You'll also find a few vegan and almost raw items too.
With so many great dineLA restaurants, it was challenging to choose just 10! Here's a few vegetarian items to look for. If you prefer vegan, ask to leave off the dairy. It's that simple. Click each link below to view their dineLA menu:
:: Check out photos from the dineLA Kickoff Celebration at the W Hotel in Westwood last week with my Exec Chef friends.
Join the discussion on my Facebook page and at Twitter.
Download my free 2012 Healthy Jumpstart report with tips for recharging your immune system, nourishing your body, and boosting your metabolism at www.RawFoodRockStar.com.
One of my favorite foods is cabbage because it's super versatile, has hardly any calories, is free of wheat and gluten, is great for digestion, and is beautiful in color (purple and green). It tastes awesome in salads, gives us valuable probiotics as pickled sauerkraut, plus it works perfectly as a "shell" to be stuffed with yummy fillings to make a delicious hand held treat. I'm currently reintroducing heart-healthy fats into my diet from flax and chia seeds (omega-3), some nuts (vitamin E and antioxidants), and olives to keep my skin supple and moist, especially now that autumn is upon us. I picked up a bunch of avocados at the Farmers' Market, but am disappointed they didn't make it into my bag!
Today, I filled up a red cabbage shell with Chiffonade green cabbage. Watch our "How to Chiffonade" video I shot for Vegetarian Times Magazine: http://www.vegetariantimes.com/video/10). Please watch on the Vegetarian Times website to help generate viewer numbers. Thank you!
I'm also embedding it below from my own YouTube channel:
I first filled up my purple cabbage shell with Chiffonade green cabbage. Next, I layered on a Black Olive Tapenade, from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen, page 155, and Candied Onions, inspired by my Buckwheat-Battered "Fried" Onion Rings, from page 116 of Ani's Raw Food Essentials, plus I added maple syrup to sweeten the onions. I then topped it all with artichoke hearts, and would have added avocado, if I had some on hand.
Black Olive Tapenade
Place all ingredients into food processor, mix well.
Will keep for a week or longer stored in fridge.
Candied Onions
Place all ingredients into mixing bowl. Set aside to marinate and wilt for at least 10 minutes. Add syrup to your liking. I choose to make this sweet! Squeeze excess liquid before using.
Will keep for several days in fridge.
Old school friends came down from San Francisco last weekend to host the most wicked day of dance, tunes, and great vibes…and it was the best day I've enjoyed in a while! DJ's Solar (above) and Galen (below) are both Sunset and Pacific Sound crews. (I used to have a multimedia studio back in the day in SF, and we threw a historic NYE party in 1995 together with Sunset). When I lived in SF, all I would do is dance for exercise. It's the best workout ever! Plus, Solar cooks, and of course loves Raw Food!
Here's Galen. These guys still look the same as they did back in the early 90′s! And they put so much love into their music, you can feel it. We agreed dancing, good music, and raves are what keep us young! I was just up in SF a couple months ago, and went to the Sunset boat party hosted on a ferry that sails the Bay from 6 to 11pm. A perfect way to finish off the weekend, always.
Since I'm usually in bed by 10pm, this daytime party in the park was exactly what I needed! The sun was bright and warm in Van Nuys where we all laid out picnic blankets, brought food, and danced up a storm. Galen, Solar, and the Sunset Crew are known for their outdoor parties on Sunday afternoons. They've been hosting them for probably over 20 years now! We'd all end up at Sunset parties after a long weekend. Great way to taper down off the weekend.
Another great thing about partying in the park is that Kanga can join in too! She laid down in the middle of the dance floor early on, and made folks dance around her the rest of the afternoon. She loves to be in the center of everything. She was very popular, and calm, but, …..no parking on the dance floor Kanga!
My lovely lady friends, and Max the dog. Maria's the beautiful blond, and is the talented photographer who took the cover photo on Ani's Raw Food Asia.
Galen spun last, and brought in the sunset while pumping the dance floor. He and Solar both motivated me to go to their after party downtown, which started past midnight, …..and it went to dawn! A Sunset, and then sunrise event! (Small world too because the party ended up in a warehouse space owned by Thomas, who has assisted me in my raw food kitchen!)
Thank you Sunset, Solar, and Galen. Come visit us in LA again soon, and host more outdoor parties for us…please! I miss great SF tunes, the Sunset sound, and vibe. I'd head to SF for their Halloween Boat Party, except Mom's coming to visit me in LA. Thanks for bringing your tunes to LA for us to enjoy! Love you guys! xoxo
Labor Day marks the weekend my Rhodesian Ridgeback, Kanga, and I rescued one another….9-years ago! How time flies. (and yes, I cake sunblock on my face, as you can see).
Kanga had been at the Humane Society for over 2 weeks, and no one adopted her. Surprising, since she is a beautiful specimen of this breed. Plus, she came fully trained, so someone had spent a lot of time and energy with her. She was skin and bone, and 50+ pounds underweight with kennel cough and dusty fur. Poor baby.
Luckily, a truck intercepted 20 dogs on their way to get euthanized, and brought them back to a no-kill shelter in Portland, OR called Family Dogs NW. This was where I found Kanga early the very next morning. I applied the same raw food principles to Kanga as I do for human healing, and over the next month or two she gained 50 pounds and regained radiant health on a Raw Food diet. You can read more about her journey in Ani's Raw Food Kitchen, where Kanga has her own dog food chapter.
My brother Max saw this photo of Kanga and said she looks like she's "mugging". I had to ask him what the heck that means. Max said "mugging = posing, like rappers do for pics". Hahaa. Yup, Kanga is a superstar, and very popular too. Folks always stop us to pet her, especially young children.
Kanga's from Rhodesia, which is now Zimbabwe Rhodesia, and the Sahara so she loves the sun, warmth, and sand. She hates water, but it was so hot out that Kanga got her paws wet. I love dog beach because here she can roam off-leash, and run free to play with other dogs.
Kanga and I love laying in the sand and soaking up the sun. It's never hot enough for us, and soaking up sun is one of our favorite past times. I'm happy I got to take Kanga to Huntington Dog Beach yesterday on the final hot day of the summer (it was 90 F) to celebrate her 9-year Bday and Dogversary with me. Thank you Kanga for being my family, love, and for hanging out with me for the past 9-years! I love you.
Watch my debut on Los Angeles TV with ABC 7′s Health Coach Lori Corbin. I show her 5 raw food recipes that have gone mainstream including my Zucchini Pasta (featured in Food Network Magazine), Nut Mylks (like Almond Milk), Green Smoothies, Kale Chips (from Ani's Raw Food Essentials), and Seaweed Chips (from Ani's Raw Food Asia).
Watch the 3-minute video, and learn how raw foods helps with weight loss too!
I had so much fun celebrating the pre-launch of Ani's Raw Food Asia at Artisanal LA in Santa Monica.
All of these beautiful photos were taken by the amazing Sherman Lee. Thanks Sherman!!
It was a weekend full of local and seasonal gourmet foods (though way too much bacon! – what's up with bacon these days?) and great expert panels and talks.
I love this fish eye photo, it was a full crowd with great people old and new to raw foods and the raw food diet and lifestyle. Thanks to the wonder woman organizer Shawna Dawson for all her support, for announcing my talk over the loud speaker, and for putting me and Ani's Raw Food Asia in their printed program.
Q+A is my favorite part of my appearances because I get to listen and interact with my new friends.
It's always so nice to have my brother Max and my family with me at my events.
This lovely lady kept asking me about how to learn to make raw food. I say if you're interested in making food, you have to learn how to make all foods first. Then you can translate it into raw food prep.
Libby drove all the way up from San Diego with her friends just to grab an early copy of Ani's Raw Food Asia.
Please check my homepage and also my calendar of events for upcoming events and stops along my book tour. Hope to see you all very soon. xoxo
It was Kanga's 8th 'birthday' and also our anniversary on Labor Day. Each year, I make my darling pooch a heart shaped cake (you may have seen the photo from last year's birthday on page 301 of Ani's Raw Food Essentials). This year, the cake was made with sunflower seeds and a few Medjool dates. Kanga was so eager to eat it, she got green birthday candle wax on the tip of her nose….so cute!
In a blink of an eye, the cake was gone! And, I wonder if you can guess who's in the background with her 'magic' tatoos….hint….London and the UK.
For our birthday ladies' luncheon, I made Jicama Rice, Mexican style by processing Jicama, then adding chopped red bell peppers, onion, corn kernels, cilantro, and a pinch of sea salt. Recipe below…. It was a lunch of British guests, one of whom is a celiac. That means she needs to avoid wheat gluten. I love that about the raw food diet, it's free of wheat, gluten, refined sugar, dairy, and guilt!
I had made myself a beet, parsley, lemon, and cucumber juice earlier that morning, then mixed in the beet pulp with a sunflower pate. I used this pate to stuff poblano peppers, then dehydrated them for a few hours to soften. For a sauce, I blended a simple tahini with lemon juice, salt, splash of water.
This was the dessert my lovely friend Kate Magic made us for dessert! It was made with figs, cacao, coconut, and lucuma…and it was incredible! But this was one course poor Kanga didn't get to try (dogs and cacao don't mix well…chocolate).
Jicama Mexican Rice
Place jicama in food processor, process into small bits. Be careful not to over process. Scoop into mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients, toss to mix well.
Kanga's Birthday Cake
Place sunflower seeds in food processor. Process into small pieces. Add pitted dates, and process. Sunflower will stick together and bind into a cake 'dough'. Form dough into heart, and serve.
Note: Sweets should be served in moderation to dogs, as to humans as well.
If serving to humans or to mix up variations to this recipe, try adding in sea salt, vanilla, cacao / carob, and or goji berries.
I made several smoothies in San Diego on FOX TV including an Almond Buttered Banana Freeze.
Watch my 6-minute video segment here.
Almond Buttered Banana Freeze + Açaí Recipe (adapted from Ani's Raw Food Essentials) Makes 4 servings
Almonds provide calcium, protein, and vitamin E, bananas are loaded with potassium, and açaí is full of antioxidants and healthy omegas. This easy smoothie is a great post workout fuel – it helps increase circulation and blood flow to stressed muscles, while building lean tissue.
Combine the banana, almond butter, and organic Sambazon Açaí Juice in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. Best served immediately, but will keep for a couple days in the fridge.
I'm using my favorite blender, the Personal Blender. It costs about $69, and you can find more about the Personal Blender and find organic ingredients at www.GoSuperLife.com.
I was invited to Rockefeller Center for a guest appearance on LX New York with hosts Janice Huff and Jane Hanson. I talk about 4 key ingredients in the raw food diet, and made 3 recipes using 'secret' ingredients: Marinara Pasta, Strawberry Tartlets, and Chocolate Pudding "slash" Frosting.
(this video's audio is totally out of synch, and I'm trying to get my hands on a better copy of the segment, which I'll upload later)
I was a guest on San Diego Living with host Erin Mikael's Green Scene segments on June 24, 2010, and then again on June 27th. We make Cashew Kream with Fresh Red White and Blue Berry Parfaits and Fruit Tartlets.
Ani Launches New VitaMix TurboBlend VS
I was invited to the VitaMix headquarters to shoot a 60-minute DVD they'll include in...
Ani's Raw Food Essentials
My new book, Ani's Raw Food Essentials, will be available everywhere May 3rd! I was...
Ani's Recipes in the 2009 Food & Wine Cookbook
Two of my recipes are included in the 2009 Food & Wine Cookbook: my Zucchini Noodles with...
ani's books
©2007-2010 ani phyo. all rights reserved.


text:
According to reports provided by the Aiken County Sheriffs Office:
An Aiken woman reported on Saturday that the front door of her home on Plum Road had been forced open and that various items were missing from inside the house. She said she had been staying in a motel because she had no power.
A North Augusta woman reported on Saturday that she noticed that her debit card was missing from her pocketbook while attending a party at a house on Teresa Avenue on Friday night. When she called the card issuer to report that the card had been stolen, the company told her at had been used at an ATM at a bank on Knox Avenue.
A 23-year-old Augusta man was arrested for possession of marijuana on Sunday after an anonymous complainant reported a suspicious vehicle on Tavelle Plantation Drive near U.S. 278 in Beech Island. The vehicle was parked on the side of the road. The responding officer saw a Tupperware container on the passenger seat with a green leafy substance inside that appeared to be marijuana. The officer detained the subject and then searched the vehicle. A pipe with a green leafy substance in it, a wooden grinder, a homemade packing device and a cigar cutter were in the Tupperware container. A pill bottle with a green leafy substance inside was in the vehicles console.
A Ridge Spring man, who lives on Dairy Road, reported on Saturday that someone had dumped 32 large vehicle tires on the side of Boatwright Hill Road. The responding officer observed that some of the tires were blocking the roadway.
An Aiken woman reported on Saturday that someone took a tricycle from out of a backyard on Abbeville Avenue without permission.
An 87-year-old Aiken woman reported on Saturday that there was a suspicious vehicle parked behind a cinder block building on her property on Pipeline Road. The 1989 Buick Park Avenue had been stolen from a woman on Banks Mill Road. The responding officer reported that the cars steering column had been damaged.
An Aiken woman reported on Saturday that there had been a burglary at her home on Adams Avenue. She said someone had entered her house through a window near the back door. The inside of the home had been ransacked, but she said nothing was missing. The responding officer found a footprint on a dining room chair near where the unknown subject had entered through the window.
A Waynesboro, Ga., man reported on Sunday that his vehicle had been stolen while he was doing maintenance work for a business on Augusta Road in Warrenville. The victim said the vehicle was unsecured and that he had left its keys on the floorboard.
A North Augusta woman reported on Saturday that several sterling silver necklaces were missing from her home on Loper Drive.
Notice about comments:
Aiken Standard is pleased to offer readers the enhanced ability to comment on stories. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point.
We do not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click the X that appears in the upper right corner when you hover over a comment. This will send the comment to Facebook for review. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our website. Read our full terms and conditions.


text:
Military baby shower - Your source for unique, fun announcements, christmas cards and party invitations for every occasion.
Man made diamond engagement rings - We offer the widest selection of stunning award winning man made diamonds, engagement rings, bracelets and pendants up to 75% off! 866-833-4350
Wholesale sterling cross pendants - Welcome to Silver California! Our high quality sterling silver jewelry is offered in a large variety of unique and popular styles. We specialize in providing you with our best Italian jewelry and manufacturing cubic zirconia jewelry with great designs.
Wholesale hip hop jewelry - Samsoneinc is a wholesaler and distributors of real hip hop jewelry and sterling silver jewelry. Also offering iced out hip hop crosses, pendants and earrings.
Self winding watches - Looking for breitling watch band, rolex watch winders, watch classifieds and cases! WatchNetwork.com is committed to bringing you the most comprehensive watch online.
Hardwood inlay rings - Boone Titanium Rings is the industry leader in Titanium Engagement Rings, Custom Made Rings, Meteorite Jewelry, Tension Set Rings, Titanium Wedding Bands, Wedding Rings Custom and Customized Carbon Fiber Rings worldwide.
Wire puzzles - Zoom Puzzles offers huge variety of Jigsaw Puzzles, jigsaw puzzle, Wooden Puzzles, Metal Puzzles, Brain Teasers, Puzzle Boxes, and Wooden Games.These brainteaser puzzles will be the best challenge for all puzzlers.
Nutcracker jewelry - We have the most unique collection of gifts. Ballet and Nutcracker jewelry, accessories, bags, mugs, ornaments and much more! Family owned and run business.
Body jewelry los angeles - We carry a large variety of items and over 11,000 items in stock and on hand at our warehouse. Our prices are very low and competitive and probably cannot be find anywhere else on the web.
Americas Beauty Show
Bronner Brothers Show
IBS New York Show
International Hair and Nail Show
ISSE Show
Premiere Show


text:
- Product Details
- Click Here To View The Betina Collection
Betina XL Twin Size Comforter - Dorm Bedding by California Kids - Great for College Dorm Rooms, Bright colors and a fun patchwork design make this a great pattern for your college girl. Block Print design reverses to coordinating 200 thread count fabric.
Hugger style comforters are specially made for Extra Long Twin Size Dorm Beds, they have 2 fitted corners at the foot of the bed for a finished look,
100% cotton
Machine Washable
Made in the USA
Additional Information
|This Item Usually Leaves The Warehouse In
|7 to 10 Business Days
|Estimated Delivery Time Map - Based on Your Shipping Zones
|Click to View Map of Estimated Delivery Times to Your Location
|California Kids
The Betina Collection
Betina 4 Piece Crib Bedding Set by California Kids
Betina Crib Pillow
Betina Diaper Stacker
Betina Fitted Sheet
Betina Hamper
Betina Musical Mobile
Betina Top Sheet
Betina Wall Hanging
Betina Bunkbed Hugger Comforter by California Kids
Betina Duvet Cover by California Kids
Betina Bolster Pillow
Betina Decorative Pillows
Betina Rod Pocket Drapes
Betina Sheet Set (Flower Print)
Betina Sheet Set (Solid)
Betina Window Valance
Betina XL Twin Size Comforter - Dorm Bedding by California Kids
Betina Duvet Cover by California Kids - Clearance
Betina Twin Size Bunkbed Comforter - Clearance
Betina Full Size Bunkbed Comforter - Clearance


text:
CONCORD, N.C. – Next up for the WKA VEGA / TS Racing Road Racing Series driven by Mazda is the 2013 WKA Road Race Grand Nationals, July 26-28 at the pristine VIRginia International Raceway.
The VIR Grand Nationals entry form has been posted.
Click here to view and print the entry blank.
The Road Race Grand Nationals, hosted by the Woodbridge Kart Club, will run on the 17-plus-turn high-speed 3.27-mile VIR Full Course and includes the famous Oak Tree corner and the long downhill back straightaway that leads back to turns 14 through 17 and onto the front stretch and past pit lane.
Pre-registration for the VIR Road Race Grand Nationals opens this Monday, June 17. Pre-registration will remain open until the Friday before the event, July 19.
Competitors have two options to pre-enter for VIR.
Using the traditional WKA entry blank, send completed pre-entry forms with a check made out to WKC and mail to Woodbridge Kart Club at 3383 Hickory Hills Drive; Oakton, VA 22124.
Or competitors can pre-enter online with a credit card by visiting WKC official website, http://woodbridgekartclub.com. The online pre-entry for VIR will be set up before this Monday.
Direct questions to WKA's Keith Shampine at 704-455-1606 or WKC's Rodney Smith at 304-261-7765.