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TypeAttraction - Sightseeing
Contact Details
- Telephone 1: +44 (0)1903 737844
- Email: email@example.com
This 324-metre long structure twists and winds its way along Littlehampton seafront between two striking metal shelters.
Located on Littlehampton promenade, home to a Quality Coast Award winning beach, it's officially the longest bench in Britain. The 9,000 multicoloured, reclaimed hardwood slats, which meander around lampposts and dip in and out of the ground, are engraved with hundreds of personal messages from the public. There's even a marriage proposal in amongst them!
The Long Bench was inspired by a number of ideas, including one from children at Connaught Junior School, who wanted somewhere on the seafront where they could all sit together. When Arun District Council asked the public what they wanted to see in Littlehampton, one of the top requests was also more seating along the seafront. So, award-winning architects Studio Weave got designing!
The UK's longest bench was built by Brighton-based construction company Millimetre Ltd between Harbour Park and East Beach café. It opened in July 2010 and can seat more than 300 people.
In March 2012, Littlehampton Long bench became the proud owner of two prestigious architecture awards from the Civic Trust. At a ceremony held in Edinburgh, it won the Special Award for Community Impact and Engagement and was also recognised for Outstanding Contribution to the Quality and Appearance of the Environment.
While Sussex by the Sea make every effort to ensure all information on this site is correct at the time of publishing we encourage all visitors to check the attraction's website or contact them direct before travelling, especially for information relating to prices / tickets, specialist information and opening times.
AddressEastern Promenade , Littlehampton, West Sussex, BN17 5LL
Road Directions
Littlehampton is on the West Sussex coast just off the A27 on the A259. Follow signs to the seafront and / or brown and white signs to South Terrace and the Seafront Green.
Public Transport Directions
Regular trains run to / from London Victoria and local coastal towns to Littlehampton and the beach is a ten minute walk from the rail station, along the riverbank.
Stagecoach Buses operate regular bus services which link Littlehampton to the coastal towns of Bognor Regis, Worthing, Brighton and Portsmouth, plus Arundel and Chichester.
National Express operate a daily service to/from London Victoria to Littlehampton.
- Autumn
- Spring
- Summer
- Winter


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Pip Torrens
|This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (March 2013)
|Pip Torrens
2 June 1960
Bromley, Kent, England, UK
|Alma mater
|Trinity College, Cambridge
|Years active
Pip Torrens (born 2 June 1960) is an English actor.
Life and career[edit]
He was born in Bromley, Kent and educated at Bloxham School in Oxfordshire. He studied English Literature at Trinity College, Cambridge. His television appearances include Consenting Adults, two episodes of Doctor Who ("Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood"), The Brittas Empire, Green Wing, Silk, The Government Inspector (as John Scarlett), The Last Detective and DI Torrens for a few episodes in The Bill in 2001. He has also appeared in a 2008 series of British television advertisements for First Direct, with Matthew King.
In 2011, he appeared in both episodes of an Outnumbered two-part special.
In 2012 he appeared in the first episode of series 8 of Hustle as Heinz Zimmermann and also presented new gameshow The Devil's Dinner Party.
Torrens briefly appeared in an episode of Death in Paradise in 2013, as a museum guide.
His film appearances include Tomorrow Never Dies as the captain of HMS Bedford, the 2001 film To End All Wars and voicework for Valiant.
He also does work as a simulated patient in medical schools in the UK.
Notable appearances[edit]
He appeared as Bingo Little in Jeeves and Wooster, has appeared in Heartbeat and Agatha Christie's Marple, and portrayed Colonel J. S. Wilson in The Heavy Water War.
Selected filmography[edit]
- Gemma Bovery (2014) - Rankin
- Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond (2014) - Esmond Rothermere
- Henry IV, Part 2 - (2012) - Mowbray
- Gambit (2012) - Savoy Desk Clerk
- No Ordinary Trifle (2011) - Health and Safety Official
- Dorian Gray (2009) - Victor
- Pride & Prejudice (2005) - Netherfield Butler
- A Handful of Dust (1988) - Jock
External links[edit]
|This article about an English actor or actress is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

subset: commoncrawl


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Puppets for adults
Puppeteer Steven Widerman talks about the upcoming, Puppet Slam Cafe at the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington. Videojournalist: Jim Staubitser (March 19, 2013)
Newsday.com now uses Facebook for our comment boards. Please read our guidelines and connect your Facebook account to comment.
Splish Splash thrills visitors on Long Island Turtles released back into the wild in Hampton Bays Osprey untangled from fishing line Lemurs can paint! Car lurches into service garage, knocks another car off lift Famous Montauk eatery sold Tour of Stew Leonard's Shooting in Bay Shore leaves man critical "Respect Montauk or leave!" Mourners gather at vigil for 4 killed in limo crash Westbury animal hospital evacuated after chemical reaction Church to be dark only temporarily


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By: Jardine Libaire
- Overview
- Polite, But Not Really
- What's Good, Anyway?
- Skillz
- Silence
- The Naughty Story
- Debacles and Damage Control
- The Oprah Factor
- Morality
- Storytelling 101
- Speechless
More Sex Lists
What's Good, Anyway?
Good question. In fourth grade, a bunch of us thought we were little Kierkegaards, arguing on the bus what we believed was the most existential question ever asked: How do I know that what I call blue is the same color as what you call blue?
If whether a guy is "good" is the hinge to every conversation about sex, it's a crooked, fallible one. I might tell my friend I had good sex, and she'll be glad for me, but we'll unknowingly be picturing two completely different scenarios.
A missionary episode that I might consider boring, preppy, vanilla sex, my friend might think is brutally sincere, slow and hard, elegantly simple lovemaking. What this proves is that the best sex is sex tailored to the person in bed with you. Love the one you're with, not the idea of someone or some act, not according to a generic prescription for sex, not in pursuit of some abstract goal, and then any sex can become good.
Put confidence in your ability to learn about each other; enjoy the process of slowing down, even backing up, turning around, and trying again.


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The ASL Club seeks to educate the hearing community of HCC about the Deaf and Deaf Culture, provide greater awareness about Deaf issues on campus, promote American Sign Language as the language of the Deaf, and provide a place for the two communities to interact and socialize.
We host a number of events during the academic year such as Silent Pizza gatherings and the ASL Spring Festival. Check out the facebook page of the club here: www.facebook.com/hccaslclub
Co-Advisor: Nicholas Lalanne
Location: DON 366
Phone: (413) 315 - 4573
Email: email@example.com
Co-Advisor: Debbie Geoffroy
Location: DON 147B
Phone: (413)-552 - 2317
Email: email@example.com
Meeting time: Undetermined for Fall 2014. Check back soon or contact our advisors!


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Mike Johnson Park named best facility in state
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
By Chris Sokoloski
Mike Johnson Park in Georgetown has been named the No. 1 high school baseball facility in South Carolina by www.thediamondprospects.com.
"We are honored that the people they polled said that about the old park," said Georgetown High baseball coach Mike Johnson. "Those old oak trees all the way around it just capture everybody's eyes and hearts."
Diamond Prospects tracks and scouts every high school baseball player in the state and hosts showcases for players.
The website surveyed scouts, coaches, players and fans to come up with a top 10 and some honorable mentions. Ballparks were judged on overall quality - batting cages, locker rooms and practice areas - history and atmosphere.
Johnson said he was told the park won "hands down."
The judgment on Mike Johnson Park was: "this landmark has been the anchor for teams and coaches over many years. Many prominent people have eaten a hot dog while watching baseball above the 1B dugout."
Johnson called the park "an old soldier," and said coaches, scouts and players all love it. He recalled one player from a visiting team asking if it was a minor league stadium.
Waccamaw High's baseball coach Jeff Gregory used to be one of Johnson's assistants and also coaches American Legion Post 114 games at the park.
"It's a good place to attend a ballgame and to play. A good atmosphere all around," Gregory said. "Over the years that park has had a lot of baseball games and a lot of championships."
Originally called Georgetown County Stadium, the facility was built in the late 1800s for baseball and football. Johnson said the earliest games on record were in 1896.
The stadium hosted a semi-pro team in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1962, it was converted to football use only and years went by before it welcomed baseball back.
Winyah and Howard high schools both used the stadium for football and baseball until the schools were combined in 1982. Georgetown High School's Bulldogs played football and baseball at the stadium until a football stadium was built behind the high school in 1988.
The City of Georgetown renamed the stadium Mike Johnson Park after the Bulldogs' legendary coach, who had overseen upgrades the stadium.
Mike Johnson Park is home to Georgetown High School's baseball teams and hosts American Legion Post 114 games every summer and the annual IP Baseball Classic every spring.
"I've been blessed to have the opportunity to take care of it," said Johnson, who after 42 years of coaching has no plans to retire. "I've just always loved the old place."
Waccamaw High School's Warrior Field got an honorable mention in the Diamond Prospects survey.
"If you were just grading on playing surfaces ours is one of the best around," Gregory said.
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- Iris Murdoch
Life is an illusion and there are times we create that illusion ourselves. And how much is it worth? We cover up the flaws with a well-chosen outfit, a dash of makeup, draw attention away from this and that with a color and a new haircut. We plump up our resumé just a teeny tiny bit or stretch a truth just enough to impress. Or maybe we wash away the crazy episodes of yelling and stomping of feet, fold up and put away the dirty laundry and present a kind, gentle, almost perfect persona to the outside world.
Sounds boring, doesn't it? Now why would anyone want to do this? And why would I be discussing illusion anyway?
I spend my time telling stories, weaving romantic tales or heartrending anecdotes. I paint sentimental pictures and offer up pretty memories tied up in ribbon, yet I create no illusions. I have never been a believer in deception, I am totally incapable of lying, I have little power to bewitch and understand that all of those illusions, no matter how simple, are as transparent as glass. And anyone who has met me in "real life" after knowing me through my blog understands that I am pretty much what I appear to be in glorious black and white. Yet….yet, when I mentioned in my last post that I was a pathetic hostess, that organizing even a casual lunch for friends has me frazzled and panicking, that I tend to select dishes I have never made before and several foods that all have to be prepared at the last minute so I end up absolutely freaking out, cursing for all the world to hear, throwing things at the walls in the kitchen and, in the end, serve mostly overcooked and badly managed food, well no one seemed to believe me. Dear readers, I kid you not.
- Richard Lingenfelter
Have I given anyone the idea that I am the hostess with the mostess? That all runs smoothly chez nous, that I am an always-fabulous cook, that I have, as someone suggested, nerves of steel? I create no illusions, I beg for no compliments. I am not the kind of girl who sweetly bats her eyelashes in the hopes of being called out on her humble avowal, her modesty painting a pretty picture to attract hugs and warm fuzzy outpourings. Nah! My words may be poetic but the truth, my truths, are as bare as my soul. I am a lousy hostess. At any outside event, whether public or private, I am as cool and collected as the most cosmopolitan Holly Golightly while my husband, strong, smart, talented businessman crumples up into an embarrassed, bumbling, sidekick. At home, the roles are reversed. My meals are a disaster, I spill the wine and trip over the edge of the carpet, I always think I am misunderstanding the French rattling on around me and my mind goes utterly blank as I scramble for clever things to say, interesting topics to dazzle my guests. And husband's smooth, suave man-about-town kicks in… he takes over the dinner table conversation, discusses and pours the wine like the best sommelier, expertly slides trays of nibblies and aperitifs onto the coffee table and then ties on an apron and takes over the kitchen. Opposites not only attract but they make for the perfect social couple.
Our two recent dinner parties went down like the best whiskey, warm and toasty, earthy and smooth. Days before the first lunch, JP took me aside, sat me down and planned the entire menu from aperatif through coffee and dessert. His brilliant plan of creating a dessert that could be made a day or even two ahead, pre-marinating chicken so it would only need to be slid into the hot oven just as the guests knocked on the front door and purchasing everything else ready-made at the market that morning was a plan made in heaven. Like clockwork…. So as the second lunch, this one with two couples rather than just one, approached, I waited patiently; Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday strolled by and I said not one word. My heartbeat stayed normal and I went about my daily business with no worries standing in my way trying to trip me up. I had already decided that my Decadent Chocolate Spice Cake would be the spectacular finish to our meal, but the rest, well, I was waiting for Da Man!
And Saturday morning rolled around and as we snuggled up in bed with the covers pulled up tightly around us, we started thinking. I suggested his amazing Beef and Carrot Daube. No. My Goulash with Biscuits? Nope. Hmmmm. A one-pot meal is always so easy. I hopped out of bed and ran to the bookshelves and grabbed an armful of cookbooks and about twenty cooking magazines. And then he had it! We would start with grilled Boudin Blanc, white sausage, served on a bed of sautéed apples and pears and simply glide into a Choucroute de la Mer, Alsatian Choucroute topped with monkfish and smoked haddock, plump mussels and crayfish with a rich, tangy Beurre Blanc sauce. Perfect. And so was the dinner party. He cooked, he organized, he entertained and it was fabulous.
So, the moral of the story? Trust your better half. Stay calm, cool and collected. Let someone else do the cooking. And never lie about your faults, weaknesses or foibles for it will surely, one day, catch up with you.
- Cyril Connolly
And I made macarons. On my recent trip to London, I bought a small container of powdered beetroot, a deep luxurious pink-red color, a natural sweetener, and just knew it was destined for macarons. This month's Mac Attack challenge was Savory-Sweet Macs, creating the perfect macaron blending the sweet and the savory, something to be served with a glass of Champagne. So Mathilde and I, yes, Mathilde is back! made beautiful pink macs and filled half with a simple cream cheese whipped creamy and smooth with a dash of dill layered with a slice of smoked salmon, and half with chocolate-orange ganache. Sweet or savory, the beetroot macs are delicately flavored, seeming almost to temper the normal sweetness and nuttiness of the shells, which made for the perfect backdrop to both fillings. Serve them to expectant guests both before and at the end of the meal and no matter how the rest of the day went, they will surely go home smiling.
From Plate to Page is highlighting Food Photographer William Brinson this week. William has very kindly shared with us some of his stunning photography as well as a few words about himself, his photography and his profession. Don't miss this, our first in a series of Star Food Stylists, Food Photographers and Food Writers, each one tempting us with their images and words, giving us a taste of their talent and a hint of the wonderful things behind From Plate to Page.
Either savory or sweet
7.2 oz (200 g) confectioner's or powdered sugar
4 oz (110 g) finely ground almonds
2 Tbs (1 oz/30 g) granulated sugar
3 large egg whites (about 4 oz/112 g)
1 tsp beetroot powder
dot red or pink gel, paste or powdered food coloring or a bit of each
Prepare 2 large baking sheets. On 2 large pieces of white paper the size of your baking sheets, trace 1 ½ inch-diameter circles (I used the wide end of my pastry tip) evenly spaced, leaving about ¾ - 1 inch between each circle. This will be your template to help you pipe even circles of batter onto the parchment paper. You will be able to reuse these endlessly. Place one paper on each baking sheet then cover with parchment paper. Set aside. Prepare a pastry bag with a plain tip (Ateco #807 or #809).
Sift the powdered sugar, the ground almonds and the beetroot powder together into a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
In a standing mixer or with a hand mixer, whip the egg whites for 30 seconds on low speed then increase speed to high and whip until the whites are foamy. Gradually add the granulated sugar as you are whipping the whites until you obtain a glossy, stiff meringue.
Gently but firmly fold about 1/3 of the whipped whites into the powdered sugar/ground almonds. Add the rest of the whipped whites/meringue with the food coloring and fold, using a silicon spatula or the equivalent, turning the bowl as you lift and fold, making sure you fold in all the dry ingredients completely. When the batter is ready to pipe, it should flow from the spatula like lava or a thick ribbon. To test to see if you have folded it enough, drop a small amount onto a clean plate and jiggle it slightly. The top should flatten, not remain in a point. If it doesn't flatten, give the batter a few more folds and test again.
You can also fold the powdered mixture into the meringue if it is easier for you.
Fill your pastry bag with the batter. Pipe circles onto the parchment paper, using the traced circles on the template sheets to guide you, holding your pastry bag above each circle and piping into the center. When you have piped all of your batter out into even rounds, you can sprinkle half of the shells with decorative sugar sprinkle or dried crushed herbs. These will be the top half of each "sandwich". DO NOT FORGET TO CAREFULLY REMOVE THE WHITE PAPER TEMPLATE FROM UNDERNEATH THE PARCHMENT PAPER. YOU DO NOT WANT THIS TEMPLATE TO GO IN THE OVEN!
Preheat your oven to 280°F (140°C).
Allow the macarons to sit out for 30 minutes to an hour. The top of each shell should form a "skin" (it will feel like it hardened a bit when gently touched and shouldn't stick to your finger). Bake the shells for 15 – 20 minutes, depending on their size (when I touched macs that were not quite done, the top jiggled a bit as if there was still a bit of liquid batter between the top and the "feet" so I let it continue to bake another minute.) I turn the trays back to front halfway through the baking.
Remove the tray from the oven and immediately slide the parchment paper with the shells off of the hot baking sheet and onto a surface, table or countertop. Allow to cool before sliding the shells very gently off of the parchment by slipping a cake spatula under the shell as you lift it up. Be careful or the center of the shell risks sticking to the parchment.
Dark Chocolate Ganache Filling for the sweet
½ cup (125 ml) heavy cream
¾ cup (about 100 g) chopped dark chocolate (I used Lindt Excellence 70% and sometimes one with flavor such as mint or orange)
Place the chopped chocolate into a medium-sized mixing or other heatproof bowl. Pour the cream into a small saucepan. Slowly heat the cream until it comes just to the boiling point. Pour the cream immediately over the chopped chocolate and stir until it is smooth and creamy.
Allow the ganache filling to cool, stirring every so often. If need be (I do this) place the bowl in the refrigerator, pulling it out every 5 or 10 minutes and giving a good, hearty stir. When the ganache is ready to use to fill the macarons, it should be thick and creamy, not runny. You want to be able to pipe the filling onto the shells and have it stay there not run all over the place.
Prepare your pastry bag with a plain tip that will pipe teaspoon-sized dots of filling onto the macaron shells. Pair up the shells so you have sets that match (same size and shape). Pipe the ganache filling onto one shell of each pair. Sandwich with the second shell. Allow the filling to set.


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Jakarta Globe
West Nusa Tenggara fisherman caught a whale shark in their nets on Sunday as they were fishing off the coast of Sape, Bima district.
The locals killed the shark, which is considered to be a delicacy, SCTV reported.
The fishermen said the 8 meter shark, which weighed 1 ton, was the biggest fish they had caught in the last few years. They said that four sharks had approached their boat, but the other three escaped.
It is not the first time for a whale shark to become trapped in fishermen's net in Indonesia.
In January, a 15 meter whale shark weighing two tons was stranded on the beach of Pangandaran, West Java. Local fishermen dragged the shark from the water to the shore and killed it for its meat.
In March 2009, a 6 meter whale shark was caught in Palu, Central Sulawesi.
The whale shark is the largest living fish species and is found in tropical and warm oceans. It lives in the open sea and has a lifespan of about 70 years.
Whale sharks feed mainly on plankton, microscopic plants and small animals.


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Library - Image and Sound Files
General Image Collections:
- ARTstor Digital Library - contains approximately 550,000 images in the fields of art, architecture, the humanitites, and social sciences. Searchable by categories or keywords. For advanced features, complete the user registration. Images can be saved and organized for presentations, group work, etc. For system requirements, go to "Using ARTstor" before entering the digital library. If you are using IE7, you may be asked if you "want to close this window?" Answer yes. To access this database from off campus, a 7 digit College ID number is required.
- New York Public Library Digital Gallery - easily searchable collection of over 200,000 images (mainly in the public domain) from the library's research collection. Emphasis on the fine and decorative arts, photography, history, maps, graphic and performing arts, the applied sciences, book and manuscript illustrations, and the social sciences. Collection is international in scope with New York, the U.S., Europe, and the Far East "strongly represented". Personal and research use of the good quality low-resolution images is free. For high-resolution images or publication or commercial use, the library may be contacted for the fee.
- Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Divsion Online Catalog - provides about 750,000 images available in various resolutions. Not all images are in the public domain and user must research permissions. Photographs may also be purchased. Attractive site is easy to use.
- Smithsonian Images - provides access to images from the Office of Imaging and Photographic Services. Includes images from current Smithsonian exhibits, events, and historic collections. High quality prints and digital images may be purchased. A free download option is available for screen resolution images for personal and educational use.
- American Memory - a multimedia site from the Library of Congress consisting of more than 9 million digitized historical documents, photographs, sound recordings, moving pictures, books, pamphlets, and maps. Many American Memory collections contain items that require special viewers, most of which can be downloaded for free from vendor sites.
- WorldImages - a collection of 80,000 images from the California State University IMAGE Project.
Subject Catalogs & Search Engines that Retrieve Images:
- Ixquick - click on Pictures to search the image gallery.
- AltaVista Image Search - allows limiting by image size, source, color, and type.
- Google Image Search - includes more than one billion images. Advanced image search allows limiting by image size, file type, and color.
Specialized Image Collections:
- See also Art research guide.
- Virginia Tech Imagebase - this site represents part of the image collection housed in the University's Digital Library & Archives. Emphasis is on local/regional history & interests, fine & performing arts, and Civil War history. Copyright is largely held by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; however, the images may be reproduced for research and teaching purposes provided that the user credits the source.
- Ad*Access - this site indexes and displays over 7,000 digitized print advertisements from U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines originally published between 1911 and 1955. Images on this site advertise products from five main subject areas: radio, television, transportation, beauty & hygiene, and World War II. Information provided on the advertisements include: date, company, product, name of periodical in which the ad appeared, and target audience. Under the browse option you can also see a brief history of each of the five subject areas. Images can be enlarged to 72 dpi. Advertisements are from the J. Walter Thompson Company's Competitive Advertisements Collection which is housed at Duke University.
- syruss.com - commercial site with free animations by subject and tools (arrows, buttons, etc.) Links to other sites. No information regarding copyright.
Sound Files / Mixed Media:
- See also Music and Speech research guides.
- Internet Archive - includes text, audio, and moving images.
- Royalty Free Music - award winning library of stock music. For CCC students. Please contact your instructor or the library for required password
- American Memory - a multimedia site from the Library of Congress consisting of more than 9 million digitized historical documents, photographs, sound recordings, moving pictures, books, pamphlets, and maps. Many American Memory collections contain items that require special viewers, most of which can be downloaded for free from vendor sites.


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925-933-3334 | 120 Jackson Way, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
As the sun beats down on your home year after year, the shingles on your roof bear the brunt of its effects. Likewise, rain and temperature change also impact the integrity of your roof and shingles. Over time, shingles degrade and the only solution is re-roofing.
That is where Sun Valley Roofing comes in. Sun Valley Roofing specializes in re-roofing. We tear off the old and bring in the new, using high-quality materials and professional techniques to ensure you won't need another roof for a long time.
Browse the rest of our site to learn more about our services. Give us a call when you're ready to protect your home with quality roofing.
State Contractor's License No. 445901
Better Business Bureau Accredited Business


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|Sleep Inns Monmouth Junction properties are provided below. Search for cheap and discount Sleep Inns hotel rooms in Monmouth Junction, NJ for your upcoming meeting or individual travels. We list the best Sleep Inns Monmouth Junction venues so you can review the Monmouth Junction Sleep Inns hotel list below to find the perfect place.
Our page will list Monmouth Junction, NJ lodging that have similar star rating to Sleep Inns.
Need 5+ Rooms? Get group bids from hotels in Monmouth Junction NJ
All Sleep Inns in or near Monmouth Junction
Comparable hotels to Sleep Inns
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Gear Question
Anton Kudris
These looks like a rip of La Sportiva...
These looks like a rip of La Sportiva Solution shoes. I wonder if they actually similar in quality and grip to La Sportiva
James Jenden
because they're a lot cheaper, I'd doubt it, although Mad Rock is pretty well known for their value. They're also a bit less agressive in the forefoot, which would make a world of difference on the comfort side of things.
Ben l
they are not like solutions. the fore foot like the toe is completely stiff where as the solution has a down cambered flexible toe. It doesn't feel right.
Solutions are a much stiffer shoe. I think these ones are more sensitive and more comfortable.
View More Details on Mad Rock Con-Tact Climbing Shoe - Men's


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Raclette_CP(c) VERBIER PROMOTION
17.07.2015 - 02.08.2015
For its new edition, the Verbier Festival has assembled a roster of artists which will be the envy of other festivals worldwide. Six of the greatest conductors of our time will be in Verbier.
01.08.2015 - 02.08.2015
Pedestrian race between Fionnay and Pannosières, musical animation and restoration in Fionnay
12.07.2015 - 09.08.2015
Every Sundays, Market dedicated to local and organic products!
14.08.2015 - 23.08.2015
Specialists and novices will be conquered by this event which gathers together the best Swiss and European riders.
22.08.2015 - 23.08.2015
Famous mountain bike race between Verbier and Grimentz. This competition gathers about a hundred athletes and numerous spectators.
Discover our various activities which will delight the whole family !


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Dancing With The Stars
DWTS Pro Tristan MacManus Suffers Injury, Forced to Stop Dancing
Even Lucky Charms have unlucky days.
Dancing With the Stars pro Tristan MacManus recently suffered a knee injury and it's keeping him off the stage at DWTS: Live in Las Vegas. According to the Tropicana box office (via MacManiacs.org), Tristan will not be part of the show's extended run from July 9 to August 5.
Tristan reached out to his fans on Saturday, via the Tristan MacManus Fan Page:
"I'd like to thank everybody for their messages of support and well wishes. I had to wait to be sure before making any announcements but after talking to the doctors I was told that dancing is not an option for me for the next couple of weeks, I regret any disappointment, cause or inconvenience but unfortunately it's the only option for me to recover. The great news is I don't need surgery and I look forward to intense therapy and treatments to get me back as soon as possible. Slainte"
Well, it's not what we'd want for Tristan, but hopefully he can get back to 100 percent in time for DWTS All-Stars this fall. Get well soon!
Sources: Tristan MacManus Fan Page (via @DWTSGossip), MacManiacs.org
Gina Carbone is a contributing writer at Wetpaint Entertainment. Follow her on Twitter @ginacarbone.
For more news about Dancing With the Stars, Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter.


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Plymouth Herald list all of the hotels and travel in Plymouth. If you are looking for hotels or travel agents in the local area then you can find a good business and deal with Plymouth Herald!
Why not list your Plymouth business on Plymouth Herald?
Plymouth Citybus offers weekends away and relaxing short breaks in the UK.
On all of our trips you'll travel in...
Milehouse Road,
Phone: 01752421786
Address: South Quay, , PADSTOW, PL28 8BL
Address: Moorshop, Tavistock, , Tavistock, PL19 9JT
Address: 82 North Road, , SALTASH, PL12 6BE
Address: Ottery, , TAVISTOCK, PL19 8NS
Address: 27 Tavistock Road, , PLYMOUTH, PL6 7BD
Address: Millbay Road, , PLYMOUTH, PL1 3LD
Address: 1 Plymouth Road, , TAVISTOCK, PL19 8BB
Address: , , PAR, PL24 2TS
Address: The Plains, , TOTNES, TQ9 5DD
Address: 1 Market Street, , TAVISTOCK, PL19 0DA
Address: Millbay Road, , PLYMOUTH, PL1 3LG
Address: , , YELVERTON, PL20 6TJ
Address: St Merryn Holiday Village, , PADSTOW, PL28 8QA
Address: Boringdon Hill, , PLYMOUTH, PL7 4DP
Address: Leigham Manor Drive, , PLYMOUTH, PL6 8LL
Address: Notterbridge, , SALTASH, PL12 4RW
Address: 4 Garden Crescent, West Hoe, PLYMOUTH, PL1 3DA
Address: 104 Yealm Road, , PLYMOUTH, PL8 1BL
Address: , , IVYBRIDGE, PL21 0SB


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The Matchup
The University of New Hampshire women's ice hockey team has a 5-2-0 overall record and plays host to Niagara University (1-4-1) at the Whittemore Center on Oct. 29 (7 p.m.) and Oct. 30 (2 p.m.).
Saturday's game will be broadcast live on the Wildcat Sports Radio Network. Visit www.unhwildcats.com for links to live video and stats.
UNH has a 21-3-1 lifetime record, including last year's 3-3 tie and 6-1 victory (both at the Whittemore Center), against Niagara. The Wildcats have a 16-game unbeaten streak vs. the Purple Eagles; prior to last year's tie, the 'Cats had won 14 consecutive meetings.
New Hampshire has an 11-1-1 home record vs. Niagara.
All three of NU's wins in this series came in the '02 season.
In last year's 3-3 tie (Oct. 17), UNH skated to a 3-0 lead in the first period with a 12-3 shot advantage. The visitors closed within 3-1 at the end of two periods, then rallied to tie the score with third-period goals at 11:40 and 15:51 on the strength of an 11-4 shot advantage. Niagara went 2-for-4 on the power play; UNH was 1-for-4.
The following day, the Wildcats erased a 1-0 deficit with power-play goals 34 seconds apart in the last minute of the first period. The 'Cats also struck quickly – 1:59 apart – in the second stanza and again in the final frame (2:10 apart) to record a 6-1 victory. UNH recorded a 31-18 shot advantage that included a 16-7 margin in the second period. the Wildcats were 4 of 5 on the power play and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.
The State of New Hampshire
New Hampshire enters the series against Niagara University on a four-game winning streak following last weekend's wins at the Whittemore Center against Clarkson University (2-1) and St. Lawrence University (5-3).
UNH's penalty kill started the season 31-for-31 before the Golden Knights of Clarkson scored a first-period power-play goal in the Wildcats' sixth game of the season.
Four of UNH's seven games have been decided by one goal, and the Wildcats won three of those four.
New Hampshire improved to 27-5-2 in home openers with last Friday's 2-1 victory vs. Clarkson.
Twelve of UNH's 18 skaters recorded a point in last Saturday's 5-3 victory against St. Lawrence.
There's No Place Like Home
Since the Whittemore Center opened in the 1995-96 season, the UNH women's ice hockey team has a 195-37-24 home record, which calculates to an .809 winning percentage. (includes last weekend)
Last year, the Wildcats had a 10-4-3 record at home that included 5-0-1 vs. non-conference opponents.
Countdown to the 700 Club
UNH, now in its 34th year at the varsity level, is the winningest women's college hockey program in the United States with an overall record of 692-178-64 for a .775 winning percentage. In 33 years, the Wildcats have won one national championship (1998; AWCHA), four Hockey East tournament championships, six Hockey East regular-season titles, five ECAC tournament championships and four EAIAW championships. UNH has made five consecutive NCAA tourney appearances (2006-10) with two trips to the Frozen Four in that span.
'Cat Nips
Senior forward Julie Allen factored in both of UNH's goals Oct. 15 vs. Clarkson. She set up the game-tying goal in the second period and scored the game-winner later in that stanza.
Senior defenseman Courtney Birchard recorded a season-high three points with a goal and two assists in UNH's 5-3 win against St. Lawrence on Oct. 23. She factored in three consecutive goals by setting up the goal that the 'Cats would not relinquish (2-1), scoring a goal to give UNH a 3-1 lead and assisting on the game-winning goal.
Junior goaltender Lindsey Minton surrendered just one goal each of her first three starts of the season (at Colgate; at Union; vs. Clarkson).
UNH's defensive corps combined to produce a goal and five assists in the 5-3 victory vs. St. Lawrence (Oct. 23). The blue liners also tallied two of the team's three assists in the 2-1 win vs. Clarkson (Oct. 22).
On the Airwaves
A total of nine UNH women's ice hockey games will be broadcast live on The Wildcat Sports Radio Network, which consists of WGIR-AM 610 (Manchester), WQSO-FM 96.7 (Portsmouth), WGIN-AM 930 (Rochester), WCNL-AM 1010 (Newport), WUVR-AM 1490 (Lebanon), WNTK-FM 99.7 (New London) and WASR-AM 1420 (Wolfeboro).
Here is the schedule of games (listed broadcast time begins 30 minutes prior to the start of the game):
Oct. 30 vs. Niagara, 1:30 pm
Nov. 28 vs. Boston College, 1:30 pm
Dec. 1 vs. Northeastern, 6:30 pm
Dec. 11 vs. Dartmouth, 1:30 pm
Jan. 9 vs. Northeastern, 1:30 pm
Jan. 14 vs. Providence, 6:30 pm
Jan. 30 vs. Maine, 1:30 pm
Feb. 5 vs. Boston University, 1:30 pm
Feb. 20 vs. Boston College, 1:30 pm


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Peppers Clearwater Resort is where the wide-open spaces are home to golf, fly fishing, rugby, tennis, boating, hiking and wineries; while conference facilities are state-of-the-art and the gardens are Botanic.
With a superb backdrop of shimmering lake and mountain views, overlooking the Championship fairways, it's hard to believe Christchurch Airport is minutes away.
A picturesque setting and the ideal contemporary conference venue for corporate retreats, meetings, team building events, seminars, special interest groups and product launches. Each of the four unique and flexible room options comes with spectacular views, catering for up to 240 delegates, theatre style.
View the image gallery to see why Peppers Clearwater Resort is the perfect destination for your next function.
Peppers Clearwater Resort can cater for up to 240 delegates theatre style within our Christchurch conference venues. All of our four unique conference and event rooms offer flexible seating options and state-of-the-art conference facilities sure to meet your venue requirements. MORE >
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Four everyday suburban guys come together to form a neighborhood watch group, but only as an excuse to escape their humdrum lives one night a week. But when they accidentally discover that their town has become overrun with aliens posing as ordinary suburbanites, they have no choice but to save their neighborhood–and the world–from total extermination.
OK. I liked this one (lol)…even though it has a 17% on Rotten Tomatoes I didn't think it was THAT bad. (lol) I thought it was a fun movie…a little predictable…but fun. Ben Stiller…I liked him. Vince Vaughn as a dad with an angry daughter…HILARIOUS. Jonah Hill as this wanna be Rambo cop…HILARIOUS. Richard Ayoade…not sure what else he's been in…but…he fits right along side the crew. I think THE WATCH is worth a watch…ha. Get it?! Ok – never mind. (lol)
I give THE WATCH… 3 out of 4 popcorns!
Quentin Tarantino presents The Man With the Iron Fists, an action-adventure inspired by kung-fu classics as interpreted by his longtime collaborators RZA and Eli Roth. Making his debut as a big-screen director, co-writer and leading man, RZA–alongside an exciting international cast led by Russell Crowe and Lucy Liu–tells the epic story of warriors, assassins and a lone outsider hero who all descend on one fabled village in China for a winner-takes-all battle for a fortune in gold. Blending astonishing martial-arts sequences from some of the masters of this world with the signature vision he brings as the leader of the Wu-Tang Clan and as one of hip-hop's most dominant figures of the past two decades, RZA embarks upon his most ambitious, stylized and thrilling project to date.
So I watched THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS the other night and I was little disappointed with this one. It just fell flat for me…and I soooooo wanted to REALLY like this one. It did have some high points though – some of the fight scenes were cool. Russell Crowe was cool to watch. Lucy Liu was killer…literally and Jamie Chung…sexy and deadly. I think if they wouldn't have been in it…I wouldn't have watched at all.
Some of the 'blahhhhsss' of the movie – – the fight scenes weren't long enough for me. Couldn't have used more blood. I remember watching Saturday morning Kung Fu movies and there was always a lot of blood…Blood's cool. (lol) Another thing for me – RZA. I'm sorry RZA fans…he just didn't do it for me. Just couldn't see him in this movie. I couldn't feel him in G.I. JOE: RETALIATION either. The Wu-Tang Clan is great…just keep RZA out of movies. (lol)
Anyone else see it? Let me know what YOU thought.
I give THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS… 2 out of 5 popcorns!
I checked out THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE last night on Netflix. Check out my review below.
Did you see it?
What did you think?
Every week, Jennyfly of JennyflyBlog.com and I watch a Netflix movie. WE DO IT FOR YA'LL!! We hope it comes in handy
@Jennyfly of Jennyflyblog.com and I watched another Netflix movie today…John Cusack's THE RAVEN. We hope you enjoy our review…if we sound a little confused…we were. (lol)
I checked out another movie – – but this one was a little different. I let @Jennyfly of Jennyflyblog.com pick this one…see, we have a podcast show called, Pierce's Playground on BlogTalkRadio.com…and…here's our review.
I had a Netflix double feature the other day. I watched WWE's THE DAY and TEXAS KILLING FIELDS. The first was a post-apocalyptic survival movie and the second – a serial killer running around Texas City killing girls! ENJOY the reviews.


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A Capitol Heights consignment shop will celebrate two years of finding new homes for designer clothes this Friday.
Twice as Nice Consignment, located at 7943 Central Ave., sells Calvin Klein, Talbots, Nine West, Michael Kors and more at deep discounts, said Terry Gilliam, 51, District Heights. Gilliam said her passion for timeless fashion inspired her to open the boutique.
"My personal style would be classic," Gilliam said. "I love those designers who reinvent the wheel and yet they stick with what they've always done."
Consigners split the earnings from their clothes with the shop, Gilliam said. If an item does not sell, consigners can take the clothes back or donate them to a nonprofit.
Donated clothes go to the Training Source in Seat Pleasant, which prepares job seekers to enter the workforce, or Mission of Love in Capitol Heights. Close to 900 articles of clothing have been donated since the store opened.
"I decided to not only try to open a store here but donate here because there are just so many people in this general vicinity who are helping people get on their feet," Gilliam said.
When choosing nonprofits, Gilliam said it was imperative that the recipients would not resell the garments, but rather give them to people who needed them in the community.
"The feeling of helping other people is enriching for my spirit," Gilliam said. "I just have to give back."
There will be complimentary food and wine at the anniversary reception, which will take place at the shop from 6 to 9 p.m. Aug. 15. To RSVP, email email@example.com or call 301-350-2500.


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Take Heart Articles
Football fever has once again hit the Midlands. And with football comes the annual tradition of tailgating. This year, consider making your tailgate party fun and healthy by eating heart-healthy snacks while you cheer your favorite team to victory.
"Tailgating often is associated with barbecued wings, fried chicken, potato chips, hamburgers, beer, soft drinks, and other non-healthy foods," says registered dietitian Colleen Wracker. "But, there are many healthy choices that are good for you, and just as delicious. There's no reason why we all can't eat more healthy during football season."
Wracker suggests making substitutions to foods you traditionally take to a tailgate party. Instead of potato chips, consider the newer baked chips. Replace hamburgers with grilled turkey or veggie burgers. Substitute fast-food fried chicken with baked chicken you cooked in advance.
"Have lots of healthy finger food available such as raw vegetables, sliced fruit, pretzels and low-fat cheese," Wracker says. "This helps fill that urge to snack while enjoying your time with friends before the game."
Wracker suggests experimenting with new tailgating menu items, too. "Consider grilling portabella mushrooms and serving on whole-wheat buns. Grilled fresh vegetables also are a tasty treat," she says.
When preparing food the night before, consider a seven-layer salad instead of potato or macaroni salad. A hero sandwich is another healthy alternative to an all-beef hamburger that can be prepared the night before.
Also watch your intake of calories from beverages. Regular soft drinks, sweet tea, juices, and alcohol-based beverages can add several hundred calories to your intake. Consider unsweetened drinks or water with lemon.
Whether you're a fan who tailgates weekly or watches your favorite team from the comfort of your own den, consider taking these steps toward healthier eating. This way, you not only reduce your risk of heart disease, you're also ahead of the game in the fight against high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity—all risk factors for heart disease.


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About this event
- Web site
- peter14.iopconfs.o…
- When
- 7–9 Apr 2014
- Where
- Grand Connaught Rooms, 61-65 Great Queen Street, London, WC2B 5DA, United Kingdom
- Registration deadline
- Mar 31, 2014
- Organiser
- IOP Shock Wave and Extreme Conditions
- Contact address
IOP Conferences Institute of Physics
76 Portland Place
United Kingdom
- Tel
- +44 (0) 20 7470 4800
- firstname.lastname@example.com…
PETER Conference
PETER Conference - Pressure, Energy, Temperature and Extreme Rates
Inert, Reactive and Biological Materials behave very differently at different rates of loading, pressure, energy densities and temperature. In many cases the simple linear relations found in many introductory texts and academic courses are no longer obeyed. Commonly understood properties, such as strength, vary dramatically with these parameters. The function of this 3-day conference is to bring together interested scientists, researchers, and students to present their research interests, and discuss with colleagues in the same or adjoining research areas.


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September 11th. Terror Attacks
Articles on the subject of:
The September 11th. Terror Attacks
[ Kiss the Son, Lest He be Angry ] - Linked Article - (Added 15/01/02) Biblical reflections on September 11th by Richard Bennett and Robert Nicholson. "As believers, it is wise to try to make sense of the events of September 11th, 2001, according to biblical faith", write Richard and Robert. Read this excellent article, which in my opinion, is the first that I have read that truly makes sense of these tragic events, according to Scripture.
Click here to Email Hughie Seaborn - In Cairns, Qld., Australia
The "Lamp" Ministry Web Site Designed and Maintained by Hughie Seaborn - No copyright unless indicated.


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School board divided over next super's salary
When the school board adopted an aggressive timeline for selecting a superintendent last week, the vote was a unanimous one.
But public records from that April 9 meeting show a wide divide over the $225,000 advertised salary the board eventually approved.
The board voted 4-3 to approve the salary after a robust debate that highlighted sharp disagreement over whether the salary should be higher or lower.
School board Chairwoman Heidi Carter and school board members Leigh Bordley, Natalie Beyer and Omega Curtis Parker voted in favor of the $225,000 salary.
School board Vice Chairwoman Minnie Forte-Brown and board members Fredrick Davis and Nancy Cox voted against the $225,000 with Cox favoring a lower amount and Forte-Brown and Davis wanting a higher salary on the table.
The $225,000 approved was considerably less than the $267,000 recommended by Iowa-based Ray & Associates, the consultant hired to conduct the search.
The search firm's president, Gary Ray, said during the April 9 meeting that a higher advertised amount would help the district attract better candidates.
Ray said that whatever the board did with regards to salary, it would receive criticism from those who either think it's too high or too low.
"I always tell boards you are better off taking the bullet up front," Ray said. "Give yourself a chance to get some good candidates before you, then you can decide it they're worth the money."
But the $267,000 proved to be a bit too much for most school board members.
"I feel that we are in terribly tight financial times in North Carolina," Carter said. "Teachers haven't had a raise. I just don't think it's going to look good if we offer $267,000 as our salary."
Cox shared similar sentiments, passionately arguing that teachers often accept low wages because they have passion for what they do.
"So it's OK to ask teachers to do this for the love of the children and to be like missionaries and have their heart in it and only get paid $30,000 as starting teachers, but it's not OK to ask the guy at the top who is going to be making over $200,000 to also care deeply about the children and make some kind of financial sacrifice as a statement for what he's doing," Cox said.
She said she would be willing to go as high as $215,000, which would give the board room to negotiate up to $225,000 or down to $195,000 depending on the experience level of the person offered the job.
But Davis and Forte-Brown were adamant that the school district needed to advertise a higher salary if it hopes to attract top-tier candidates.
Davis reminded his colleagues that the board agreed to conduct a national search and that the salary recommendation brought forward by Ray & Associates reflected that.
"These are national figures and if you want national interest, that's what you got to put up," Davis said. "You've got to put up or shut up."
Beyer said that Durham doesn't have as many students as either Charlotte-Mecklenburg or Wake County and therefore cannot justify paying a superintendent the same as the heads of those school districts.
A salary of $267,000 would have placed the next Durham superintendent among the state's heavyweights.
The superintendent in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district earns $288,000 and the one in Wake County makes $275,000 annually.
"We can't justify that to this community," Beyer said. "And when we talk about a trust issue that we are rebuilding, we've got administrators paid too high down here and we got to own that and keep it where it should be."
Beyer added: "If somebody is coming here for the cha-ching, then they're the wrong person to begin with."
Forte-Brown reminded the board that when it started its search for a superintendent in 2009, research showed that it would take $250,000 to bring a top-tier superintendent to Durham.
The board eventually settled on Eric Becoats at a base salary of $190,000 after they negotiated down the advertised salary because he lacked experienced as a superintendent.
Forte-Brown said it will likely take more than $225,000 the board approved to attract candidates who have experience working in an urban school district such as Durham.
She said the district has many social and economic challenges, and needs someone with a demonstrated record of success making improvements in such a district.
"What I asked for in my interview [with the search firm] is for someone to come in here and move the bottom up, and that means I'm looking for someone who can move those students at the bottom up and have demonstrated that," Forte-Brown said.
Even at $225,000, the next superintendent would earn more than Durham's city and county managers.
City Manager Tom Bonfield makes $200,193 and new County Manager Wendell Davis will make $198,000 this year.


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Citizen of the Year: Jim Lane
Enthusiasm is contagious.
For Jim Lane, the News-Bulletin's 2012 Citizen of the Year, that enthusiasm was channeled into a project meant to revitalize the past and rebuild the future.
Lane is a Meadow Lake resident who had a vision of transforming a 35-acre area into a park, complete with four ponds where residents would have access to horseback riding and hiking trails that could go deep in the Manzano Mountains.
Thirty-some years ago, trees crowded around the man-made lake and residents could be found feeding the ducks or simply taking in the gorgeous views of the mountains.
The land, located at the end of Meadow Lake Road, looked to be more abundant than any dead-end street.
The water was used to irrigate crops of nearby residents in the 1960s and later became a place where families and children could come and spend quality time with one another.
But at some time, those breathtaking views were lost in the heaps of trash thrown, which collected over decades of neglect and misuse of land that was once pristine.
"It was a beautiful, little man-made lake," Lane said. "But at some point, they drained it."
Lane, 55, helped organize a mighty effort to recondition the area and eventually formed a 501(c)3, a non-profit organization, after he managed to secure the land from Los Lunas developer and realtor Max Kienhe.
Lane's vision was to create four small ponds separated by land and picnic tables and benches for folks to socialize and relax as the Meadow Lake Parks Area Association was formed.
But Lane knew the clean-up wouldn't be easy. So, he gathered a board of directors and set out to clear a huge area filled with trash, old sofas and even a dead horse.
Lane estimates hundreds of man hours were spent clearing nearly 60 tons of debris.
An open house took place that essentially dedicated the land to the community in August 2010.
Now, a couple of trees sit in what was once Meadow Lake, along with a few sitting areas where people can go and relax.
The association charges a $35 annual membership for people who want to use the area, and so far, a little more than 50 people have joined.
Members get a key to the locked gate and many use the dirt walking track that is close to a mile in length.
Bonfires are also popular for get-togethers at a fire pit situated near the middle of the walking track.
Lane said the recent appearance of the land is a stark contrast from an area littered with trash.
"It was a dumping ground," Lane said. "This community was going downhill."
But, the Meadow Lake man knows the project is still far from done. There are still obstacles that need to be overcome.
But the obstacles seem to be his specialty.
Lane doesn't let those obstacles get him down, and he has been the individual who has been the primary motivator inspiring others to get involved.
Nothing has seemed to deter Lane.
He uses two words that embody his group's progress — "baby steps."
Lane says the small strides that the Meadow Lake Area Parks Association has made count toward the end result of bringing a "positive experience" to young people in the area who maybe wouldn't otherwise have it.
The group has persevered from the get-go.
On one occasion, he and fellow Meadow Lake resident Jerry Cline were using a bulldozer to grade the land, and at some point, it took off without the men in it. Cline managed to jump in the seat of the dozer before it landed in a nearby arroyo.
The dozer wound up with a broken track and turbo charger — a rare, 1966 model that no longer worked.
Cline found the exact charger in a scrap pile of old mechanical parts.
"Now, if that isn't a sign that this project is going to succeed, I don't know what is," Lane said.
The group is determined to make sure that more than 5,000 Meadow Lake residents have a place of their own to bring their families one day. Board members have worked together to help piecemeal needed parts of what will be the finished product.
Little items, such as a small pond and a group of purple and white flowers next to a chain-link fence east of the roadway, are all part of the plan.
Next, the group needs the use of a backhoe that they hope will be donated by a business or community member.
The association also hopes to garner a $150,000 legislative appropriation that would help complete the first phase of the project. The phase would "get (the group) going" and include picnic tables and working rest rooms.
But a lack of funding hasn't stopped the group or Lane from holding events for the public. On a recent Saturday, Lane helped host a "Treasure Map Reading Workshop," an event geared for children and parents to spend quality time together.
Twelve to 14 groups turned out for the event that had families trekking across an area that spans 1.1 to 1.4 miles depending on the map the group happened to choose. Each map included seven stops where individuals needed to pick up certain items to be able to earn their prize at the end of the trip.
Lane took time to explain the rules to each group and took a picture of the families as they exited the scavenger hunt. Lane explained to one young girl that there would be candy at one of the stops and reminded her to not litter on the grounds.
On one of the maps, group members were required to find a camp fire and take an item from a man who had a container covered with animal fur and then go on to a stop where people were given a drink of water and apples on their way to a horse trail.
At the wood pile stop, participants were required to take a roll of the dice to determine which animal they had to draw to receive a lanyard. They received their choice of petrified wood or a peacock feather along with a snack and drink.
Lane said the group tried to make the scavenger hunt unique so children would be excited about the experience.
"There's a bunch of happy kids here," Lane said.
Meadow Lake resident Sonia Estrada took her two children to the event. She said the event was perfect for the weekend since there isn't many activities going on in her neighborhood.
"I though it would be fun to take them," Estrada said.
The next weekend, another family activity was scheduled to take place that involved making paper rockets.
Tom Mraz, a board member of the non-profit, said he got involved with the effort after he moved to the area almost seven years ago. He said the association is committed to seeing the project through to its completion.
Mraz said the project is a way to "save kids" so they don't develop bad habits, such as committing crimes. He said the park is a way for children to participate in positive learning activities.
He said Lane has been the driving force to help continue with the project, and that Lane has been a positive influence on the other members.
"Without Jim here, it wouldn't happen," Mraz said. "It would still be a landfill."
MLPAA Board Member Bob Gosticha said if the group has its way, the park will be the pride of the area. He said "no way" the group will stop until the project is complete, and members of the association can find the funding it needs.
Funding would go toward filling the four ponds and creating a few grassy areas suitable for children.
"It's not going to be nickels and dimes," Gosticha said. "It's going to take some funding."
Gosticha said obstacles the group has faced are no match for Lane. He said Lane has found resources one way or another.
"If it didn't come from some place, he found it somewhere else," he said.
Cline said Lane's efforts have made others in the group work harder.
The board member, in his third year with the project, said members who want the park to get completed are motivated by the proximity of the area to their own homes.
"This is where we live," Cline said.
Lane knows there is still a lot to do.
He said a clay bed liner would hold the water 100 percent better than the black plastic liner was able to support the water in the past. He's experimenting with different mixtures of dirt and clay to help figure which will best suit the ponding areas.
But Lane said the work by others has been instrumental to the group's success.
Alan Billau, Cline, Gosticha, Joe Griffenberg, Mraz and previous members have greatly contributed to the effort, Lane said.
"There's no way I could have done it without other people," Lane said. "They want to see the community grow."
The leader of the group said members of the association are stewards of the land and gates to the property are locked for non-members to preserve the condition of the land.
The association has received donations from individuals and area businesses, and Lane said he expects more in the future. His positive attitude will no doubt help the group get where they want to go.
"We have done so much with so little," Lane said.
-- Email the author at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Statewide Fisheries Research
Cooper River Tidal Wetlands
Conducted by James M. Long, Ph.D.
This multi-disciplinary work examines the role of vegetation as fish habitat on the structure and function of fish communities. We are quantifying how fish communities relate to vegetation at the wetland scale and at the vegetation patch scale by comparing wetlands that differ in vegetation composition and comparing among different vegetation types within wetlands. Furthermore, we are quantifying the energy dynamics in these wetlands by examining secondary production of fish and the food habits of the top predator, largemouth bass.


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Four arrested for drugs in raid of Wabasso home
WABASSO - Four men were charged with possession of cocaine after Indian River County sheriff's deputies and Sebastian police served a search warrant late Thursday night on a home in the 8400 block of 63rd Avenue, Wabasso.
The home's resident, Anthony Norris Wheeler, 40, and Deon L. Collins, 38, of the 4200 block of 36th Court, also were charged with tampering or destroying evidence. Deputies reported the two men were coming out of the bathroom, where they found a clear plastic bag containing cocaine inside the toilet.
Wheeler also had four active misdemeanor warrants for failing to pay child support, according to arrest reports.
Also charged with possession of cocaine after being arrested at the home were Theophilus Strapp III, 40, of the 8500 block of 64th Court, and Norie Lavinca Davis, 46, of the 8400 block 63rd Avenue.
Deputies reported finding Strapp in a backyard trailer with cocaine in his pants pocket.
Davis was hiding in the home's garage within arms reach of a spoon containing cocaine, deputies reported. He was also charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest without violence. Deputies reported Davis also had two outstanding warrants charging resisting arrest without violence and battery.
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Hull City: Steve Bruce hopes 'terrific lad' Joe Dudgeon can return after horror injury
Posted: December 08, 2013|
HULL City defender Joe Dudgeon has set his sights on a return to full fitness in 2014 after being cleared to resume light training in the last week.
Dudgeon has endured a miserable spell since undergoing knee surgery in October 2012. Although a painstaking rehabilitation saw the left-back feature in the Hull City pre-season campaign and the opening two rounds of the Capital One Cup against Leyton Orient and Huddersfield, the road to recovery has been potholed by frustration over recent months.
Complications felt inside the right knee scuppered the prospect of moving to a Championship club on loan and even raised fears of further surgery.
That grim prospect has thankfully been averted following a six-week period of rest and Dudgeon is being tipped to do everything in his powers to bounce back in the New Year.
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"He's been given the go-ahead to go back out on the grass so we're all hoping he can make a recovery," said manager Steve Bruce.
"It's been a horrible injury he's had but we hope now that, after a period of rest, his knee can stand up to the rigours of what's ahead of him.
"If anyone can do it, then Joe's got to be the man. If every footballer was like Joe Dudgeon, I wouldn't have a problem in the world.
"He's a terrific lad and very tough mentally. Since he first had the operation and into this season, it's never got him down.
"He comes in every morning and just sticks with it. I just hope he gets the break he needs now."
Dudgeon, who was signed from Manchester United in May 2011, is certainly due a turnaround in fortunes. After playing the first 11 league and cup games of Bruce's reign, he was told his season was over last October due to an osteochondral defect, a relatively rare injury twice suffered by former captain Ian Ashbee.
It was hoped surgery would bring a full recovery in time for the start of the 2013-14 campaign but discomfort has continued for Dudgeon following his return to action.
Last October's operation, which involved holes being drilled into the affected bone, can take up to two years to fully heal and further rehabilitation has been required before Dudgeon is allowed to resume full training.
A long-term question mark remains over the 23-year-old's fitness, but Bruce is optimistic.
"There's been a bit of a set-back in the last couple of months, but with all these things we just need to wait for nature and the healing process," he added.
"You have to take time and we hope he's had enough. All the doctors, physios and specialists are all trying to get him back as soon as we can but we know with Joe that we've got to give it time, as long as it needs, because it's such a serious one."


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Video:16th-20th Wedding Anniversary Gift Suggestionswith Jonathon Stewart
Reaching nearly the second decade of marriage definitely calls for a celebration, as well as gifts. Here are gift suggestions for your 16th-20th wedding anniversaries.See Transcript
Transcript:16th-20th Wedding Anniversary Gift Suggestions
Reaching what will be two decades of marriage is no small feat. For anniversaries 16-20, there is a lot to celebrate and some great gifts to remember each special year together. Here are some great ideas to celebrate that the spark is still there between you.
16th Wedding Anniversary Gift Suggestions
For the 16th anniversary, there are surprisingly no traditional gifts or types of flowers associated with this year. However, there are modern gifts of silver holloware and gemstone gifts of aquamarine and peridot. Holloware includes silver tea sets, serving dishes, and cutlery.
The gemstones can be included in a gift of jewelry like a ring while a man's gift might be a dazzling pair of cufflinks. Since there are few gifts associated with this anniversary, it's a perfect excuse to make another memory through a trip that's 16 days long or a party with the 16 as a fun theme in all decorations, games, and food.
17th Wedding Anniversary Gift Suggestions
Anniversary 17 again offers no official traditional gifts or flower types. However, the modern gift is furniture, while the gemstones are citrine and amethyst. Furniture is often a delicate subject, especially if spouses do not always share tastes. It also can be a big ticket item, which requires some agreement before purchased.
Consider a special antique piece that adds interest to a room or invest in a new set of patio furniture to enjoy summer evenings and weekends outside. Other great furniture ideas might be a hammock, or an ergonomic desk chair for the spouse that works from home in front of a computer all day. And, by 17, you might start thinking about a pair of matching rockers. Or just rock out.
18th and 19th Wedding Anniversary Gift Suggestions
Both anniversaries 18 and 19 also skip out on the traditional gifts. Instead, the modern gift for the 18th anniversary is porcelain and an opal gemstone while 19 is bronze. Collectible porcelain figurines or a great antique vase are some beautiful gifts.
For number 19, a few gifts ideas might be bronze sculptures for the art aficionado or bronze book ends for the literary spouse. There are also many types of bronze jewelry, which are unique and provide a wonderful addition to any collection.
Modern and Traditional 20th Wedding Anniversary Gift Suggestions
And, now, if you are looking for gifts for your twentieth wedding anniversary, I first must congratulate you for reaching two decades together as husband and wife. Your kids very likely have left you with an empty nest, so it's time to think of some special gifts to commemorate such a lasting relationship.
The traditional gift is china, which symbolizes the beauty of your long life together. Platinum is the modern gift and represents something that is strong and enduring. Gemstones for this very important anniversary include the emerald or a yellow diamond.
Other Great 20th Wedding Anniversary Gift Suggestions
The 20th anniversary flower is the day lily, which symbolizes playful behavior. Perhaps that playful behavior is what has kept those embers of love burning away for so long. There is a wide range of china to gift, including vases, place settings, and figurines. Platinum jewelry, incorporating an emerald or yellow diamond, is also a treasured gift.
As you embark on the next twenty years of your life together, start it off with a special trip that takes you on an adventure to places far away or sights unseen. That will be a sure-fire way to keep things exciting and fresh. It's also a great way to rediscover being alone together after the kids are gone.
I'm Jonathon Stewart, with About.com.


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|Photo by nehasingh7 on Flickr.com
But in November 2011, I had the privilege of visiting India with a nonprofit group. I had chai twice a day—more if someone in one of the villages made us some! And let me tell you, it puts the bagged stuff to shame; even my homemade masala chai was kind of sad by comparison!
I spent my first two days home trying to return to Eastern Daylight Time, but after that I began a quest. I was going to make masala chai that wouldn't put me to shame if served to my Indian friends! I read recipe after recipe, watched a few videos, and finally concluded that I was doing it all wrong.
See, in India, they don't brew tea with spices and then add some milk at the end. No, Indian masala chai should be made with a mixture of milk and water, with the tea added for the last few minutes. Traditionally, the ground spice blend and sweetener are added to the liquid and heated until the milk begins to steam. THEN you add the tea, turn the heat to low, and allow it to steep.
In the end, I'm quite happy with my recipe. It's not perfect, and I certainly can't call it "authentic," but the taste really says "India." Plus, it sure makes my husband happy!
Tea Masala Spice Blend
All measurements by volume
- 3 parts ground cinnamon
- 2 parts ground cardamom
- 2 parts ground ginger
- 1 part grated nutmeg
- 1 part ground allspice
- 1 part ground cloves
Light and heat cause spices to degrade in flavor and quality! Store tightly sealed in a dark, cool place.
Masala Chai
Serves 2
- 1.5 cups milk*
- 1.5 cups water
- .75 tsp tea masala blend
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 2 Tbsp loose black tea*
Combine milk, water, and spices in a saucepan.
Heat on medium high until small bubbles form around the edges.
Turn the heat to low.
Add sugar and tea; stir well.
Cover and allow to steep for six minutes.
Strain and serve.
*A few notes on ingredients . . .
I use whole milk. Until my husband tried non-homogenized whole milk, he never liked milk. Now he does! Plus, I think the chai tastes much closer to what I had in India—creamier and richer.
As for the tea, masala chai needs something flavorful. My favorite is Taj Mahal from Brooke Bond, which was recommended to me by my interpreter and the grocery store owner in Kakinada, India. My Indian friends from church prefer Lipton Yellow Label. I have some at home right now (the international supermarket and both Indian grocery stores near me were out!), and it's good, too. But even grocery store loose black tea (or a good bagged tea) is better than pre-bagged chai, or (heaven forbid!) chai from packaged concentrate.


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So La Fin Du Monde is the much anticipated release from house Etat Libre D'Orange. I was super excited about this release, until I read the notes list, describing LFdM as "a popcorn opening softening down to pale woods". It sounded dull as shit, but the popcorn opening did intrigue me. I was hoping for a new Jeux De Peau gourmand deliciousness, whether it fitted "The End Of The World" name or not.
SO. I was lucky enough to win a full bottle of this fragrance and it couldn't have come at a better time. How does it smell…
La Fin Du Monde starts with a semi sweet, translucent note of caramel, undercut with a subtle, sweet vegetal accord (that all together reminds me of the pumpkin/immortelle of Etat Libre D'Orange's Like This). I get a hint of immortelle in fact, that quickly gives in to a rooty iris. The opening to me, is absolutely nothing like popcorn. There's no sickly sweet caramel, no wheat, corn, or cereal smells whatsoever… nothing buttery or edible, just a slight sweetness.
The iris reminds me a little of that used in Honore Des Pres Love Les Carottes… paired here with "carrot seed" – it definitely gives off that slightly carroty smell, with a hint of metallics, just a touch of powder… not full on rooty, not full on floral… a soft iris that's ridiculously easy to wear.
The overall feel at this point is a slightly golden hue of translucent and sweet iris. I can't say I get any cumin, or pepper for that matter… the listed "gunpowder"? A non existent novelty note. Is it nice? It is nice, but nothing more. I got others to try this today, and everyone said "yeh it's nice"… it's totally harmless. This kind of minimalistic, translucent fragrance worked a little better in Tilda's Like This (which I found pretty boring too), because of the slightly more interesting texture and that sweet/spiciness of the immortelle… although the overall effect is near identical… which is bizarre considering they are from different perfumers. It feels very "ELdO", if you know what I mean? And it fits into the line nicely, although unnecessary IMO. I totally think they should have gone all out with this one and released a massive powerhouse like Rien. They needed it. What they didn't need was another excuse for people to say "A nice fragrance that doesn't fit the name" but that's unfortunately what they've done.
Ok so it sounds like I hate this. I don't, I'm sure I'll wear it a lot because it is so easy to. Whilst it's super soft, translucent and almost "not there", it has a half decent throw for a fair few hours, radiating in a soft, synthetic caramel sweetness atop iris and pale woods. But it is definitely not an earth shattering release, and not a standout, instead it is "nice"…
This video was posted on CaFleureBon recently. I have to admit, despite the ridiculous attempt to push a narrative behind the fragrance and talk about how "popcorn is the olfactory note of escapism, the cumin and pepper is the ignition…" etc… it got me SLIGHTLY more excited to try it. However watching it back it just makes me laugh… La Fin Du Monde is a sweetened iris and little else. Still, I'll wear it regularly and I DO appreciate my bottle, having dealt with a big family loss recently the generosity couldn't have come at a better time… but hey, you guys read this because I'm honest right?! I recommend it, if you're not on the hunt for something revolutionary… it could quite easily become a comfort scent, I'm just not sure whether that was the aim or not.


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"Awesome!" As a parent, you may try to avoid the word. But in this case, as you gaze out over the Grand Canyon, marveling at the play of light and shadow across the endless expanse, it's perfect. And the words keep coming. Whether you're exploring a wonderland of hoodoos and pinnacles in Bryce Canyon ("sweet!"). Traipsing amid the soaring walls and hanging gardens of a slot canyon in Zion ("epic!"). Or laughing at fireside stories under a star-speckled sky ("those leaders are so fly!"). You'll try to contain yourself. But you can't. Because the whole experience is truly…awesome.
Bryce, Zion & Grand Canyon Family Trip Video
By Kimberly Defanti Hoernig in Go There., United States
Glacier & Waterton Lakes Trip Video
By Kimberly Defanti Hoernig in Canada, Go There., United States
Carved by glaciers over millennia, Montana's Glacier National Park and Alberta's Waterton Lakes National Park are nothing short of spectacular. And all of those glacier-carved valleys and dazzling glacial lakes make for some of the most incredible biking routes in North America. Check it out in this short Glacier & Waterton Lakes trip video by Backroads leader and videographer Eric Malkowski.
Oregon by Bike
By Hunter Ellis in Activities, Go There., See It. Do It., United States
Oregon is beautiful. From its forests to its deserts, dunes to mountains, vineyards to rivers, it rarely ceases to amaze. But it's best experienced from the saddle—a bike saddle, that is. I've been lucky enough to ride, camp and explore 750 miles of the state I once called home.
Oh Hi, Ojai
By Hannah Teitelbaum in Activities, Go There., See It. Do It., United States
Famous for its natural health and healing culture, Spanish architecture and spectacular surroundings, Ojai offers a unique blend of modern spirituality and rustic authenticity in Southern California.
The Northern California Coast
By Jayne McDonagh in Go There., Hear it. Our Experts., Our Leaders, United States
I grew up in San Francisco and moved to Marin County (a stone's throw over the Golden Gate Bridge) decades ago when I got married. Surrounded by so much natural beauty for so long, I've come to take the trees, the coast and the open spaces for granted. It wasn't until I started traveling more that I realized how special this place is and how blessed I am to call it home.
24 Hours in Austin
By Heather Hendrie in 24 Hours In, Go There., See It. Do It., United States
Austin is a place you must see for yourself. Even if it's just for a mere 24 hours before or after your Texas Hill Country Biking trip, there's so much to experience… First there are the people. Texans are Friendly (with a capital F). Their Southern drawl and the way they say "Ma'am" had me eating out of their hands. Then the gentle evening breezes warmed my cold Canadian bones and the Southern breakfasts and bountiful Tex-Mex food filled my belly.
Eat Local: San Francisco
By Lauren Cook in Eat. Sleep. Drink., Go There., United States, Where to Eat
Welcome to one of the most fabulous cities on the planet and one with darn good food. San Francisco is a wonderland of exceptional restaurants and artisanal foodie delights. Good thing most of our California trips begin or end around this beloved city–a perfect excuse to stay a few days and explore!
Bike Against the Wind
By Lauren Cook in Go There., Hear it. Our Experts., Our Leaders, United States
Have you ever wondered who answers the phone when you call with questions about a trip? Mark Vashro is one of our newest members in the Guest Services department at Backroads. He's been a Trip Leader in New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, and Maine but has recently accepted this new position in our Berkeley office in order to have a more geographically stable life. Why? Mark's in the process of finishing and releasing his documentary, Bike Against the Wind.
24 Hrs in Moab, Utah
By Dirk Badenhorst in 24 Hours In, Go There., See It. Do It., United States
If you've ever imagined a small desert down, Moab might be the place that you've pictured. This tiny Utah town is nestled between glowing red rocks and natural wonders that draw visitors from all over the world. It's a mecca for outdoor activity, where adventurers come for world-class climbing, mountain biking, rafting and off-roading. Weeks of exploring could not even graze the surface of Moab's wonders. However, if you have just 24 hours in Moab, these activities will give you a good taste of what it has to offer, and will surely leave you thirsting for more!
The Katy Trail
By Lauren Cook in Activities, Go There., See It. Do It., United States
When people ask me about my cross-country biking adventure, they almost always ask, "Where was your favorite place to ride?" Perhaps it was because we were tired, sun-burnt cyclists, worn out by the consistent headwinds and 105-degree heat of Kansas, but my answer is almost always Missouri. Yes. I said, Missouri. Last summer,
St. George, Utah
By McKynlee Westman in Go There., United States
I woke up toward the end of the drive from Salt Lake City to Southern Utah and realized the world had completely changed. The land was brilliantly red, and I could see across the sloping rocks for miles. It was unlike any landscape I had ever seen. The rocks there twist themselves into pillars, arches, giant craters and vibrating hoodoos as they reflect the brilliance of the sun. This land can be brutally hot during the summer, but it also invites you to participate in the world in a unique way. Since my first trip to St. George, Utah, I've never lost the awe I felt for the area's interactive geography, myriad state parks, beautiful scenery and animal wildlife.
Cyclists Hosting Cyclists
By Lauren Cook in Eat. Sleep. Drink., Go There., United States, Where to Stay
After finishing a Backroads' trip, do you crave more hours in the saddle? More time on your bike? More adventures?! One of my favorite ways to spend time cycling in between leading Backroads' trips is on "bike tour." What is this? It's when you head out on your bike for overnight adventures.
Magic Dutchies
By Dirk Badenhorst in Behind the Scenes, Cuisine, Eat. Sleep. Drink., Hear it. Our Experts., Inside Backroads., Our Leaders, United States, Where to Eat
I could see the distant glimmer of the hot coals pulsing red under the Dutch oven, stained black from ash. Apple cobbler was bubbling through the seams of the cast iron pot and its sweet smell lingered in the air, taunting hungry bystanders. I admired the flavor of the familiar atmosphere…
The End of the World
By Lentine Zahler in Asia & the Pacific, Behind the Scenes, Inside Backroads., United States
Ukulele chords strummed, vibrant plumerias bloomed and hula skirts swished as soon as my feet hit the tarmac. I was back in Hawaii–one of my favorite places on the planet. But this time, instead of training for a grueling Ironman, or spending time with friends, I was in Hawaii as a first-year Backroads Trip Leader…


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High School: Member of the Dominican Republic Junior National Team from 2008-12 ... Member of the Dominican Republic Amateur National team in 2012-13 ... Ranked among Golfweek's Top 200 Juniors (2011-13).
Personal: Son of Alba Rodriguez ... Born Dec. 15, 1994, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Lamar Cardinal golf head north to start 2013-14 season


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In Brief
The baby blues aren't just for women who give birth — they can affect parents who adopt, as well, concludes research in April's Western Journal of Nursing Research (Vol. 32, No. 3). Lead study author Karen J. Foli, PhD, RN, of Purdue University's School of Nursing, interviewed 21 parents of children who were adopted from infancy to age 12. She found that those parents' depression symptoms — such as deflated mood, extreme weight changes, and sleeping too much or too little — matched postpartum depression in parents who'd had children through birth. Foli says that adoptive parents' unrealistic expectations about support from family members or bonding with their children appears to contribute to postpartum depression.
Losing your ability to smell doesn't result in a related loss of taste, contrary to some previous research, say Richard L. Doty, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania, and his colleagues in April's Behavioral Neuroscience (Vol. 124, No. 2). The researchers recruited 581 students to take taste tests in which they sampled solutions that represented sweet, salty, sour and bitter. Then they were asked to identify those solutions blindly. Another 451 participants were hooked up to a machine that electrically excited their taste nerves to varying intensities. All of the participants took a test to measure their smelling abilities. The researchers found that people with impaired olfactory abilities did just as well on both tests as those whose smelling was intact, suggesting that the loss of smell had no adverse impact on taste, although the overall sensation of flavor could still be affected.
Self-esteem peaks in men and women at age 60 but drops off precipitously after that, finds Ulrich Orth, PhD, at the University of Basel in Switzerland. Orth and colleagues surveyed 3,617 adults at four times from 1986 to 2002 on self-esteem measures and life circumstances. The researchers, who published their findings in April's Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 98, No. 4), suggest that the relative stability of career and family life in middle age contributes to high self-esteem but that retirement, declining health and an "empty nest" can all detract from it.
Training with an aggressive team member ruins it for everybody, suggests an article in press in Personality and Individual Differences. Researchers, headed by East Carolina University's Mark Bowler, PhD, paired 142 undergraduates into teams that then played a flight-simulator video game that could be played either as a team or as individuals. Of the 142 students in the experiment, 18 were identified as aggressive by the Conditional Reasoning Test of Aggression. Students who were paired with the aggressive teammates performed more poorly, both as a team and as individuals, than teams made up of two nonaggressive students. Interestingly, nonaggressive teammates worked together better when they had similar ideas about teamwork. That didn't hold true for teams of aggressive and nonaggressive students.
Children of parents who commit suicide are three times more likely to commit suicide themselves than children whose parents are living, finds an article in May's Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (Vol. 49, No. 5). Lead author Holly Wilcox, PhD, of Johns Hopkins Children's Center, and colleagues looked at records of 500,000 young people in Sweden who lost their parents to suicide and compared those suicide rates against a population of 4 million young people with living parents. The study suggests that developmental, environmental and genetic factors all influence suicide risk, and that children whose parents do commit suicide need quick intervention.
People with Williams syndrome don't seem to form racial stereotypes, finds research in April's Current Biology (Vol. 20, No. 7). People with the disorder, which is characterized in part by mild to moderate mental retardation, difficulty understanding spatial relationships and extremely gregarious behavior, are socially fearless, say researchers from the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim, Germany, and the Mediterranean Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience in Marseille, France. The researchers suggest that the unusually enthusiastic friendliness of people with Williams syndrome, even toward strangers, prevents racial biases from forming in the first place. However, gender biases do appear, leading researchers to believe that social fear plays a part in racial but not gender stereotyping.
Impaired theory-of-mind processes might be behind the difficulty people have with social tasks when they have damage to their right brain hemispheres, finds Ethan Weed, PhD, of the University of Aarhus in Denmark. As reported in May's Brain and Language (Vol. 113, No. 2), Weed and colleagues showed a control group and 11 participants with right hemisphere damage two sets of videos: one that presented geometric shapes as characters that interact with other shapes and another in which shapes moved around but there was no guiding story. The people with damaged right hemispheres had more difficultly distinguishing between the two sets than the control group and were less likely to identify the shapes as intentional agents, indicating an impaired theory of mind. The researchers suggest that either temporal-parietal damage to the right hemisphere could impair their ability to process motion or damage to the frontal lobe could interfere with "task switching," which lets brains know when to switch from observing motion to considering intentions and emotional states.
Stress makes you forget names, birthdays and other socially relevant memories, says Christian Merz, PhD, at Ruhr University Bochum in Germany. In a study reported in April's Behavioral Neuroscience (Vol. 124, No. 2), Merz and his colleagues asked participants to recall biographical memories twice — once in a calm setting and once after giving a stressful impromptu public speech. The participants did far worse after giving a speech. Participants' saliva samples indicate that their cortisol levels spiked while giving the talk, which supports the idea that stress hormones interfere with the hippocampus's ability to recall memories.
Older adults make better health-care decisions when they are given information that recognizes their emotional states, rather than just straight information, according to an article in March's Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied (Vol. 16, No. 1). A research team led by Joseph Mikels, PhD, at Stanford University, asked 60 people ages 18 to 30 and 60 people ages 65 to 85 about their health-care preferences and needs, then had them read about hypothetical health-care options, such as whether they can obtain care outside their network and whether dental care is covered. These options were skewed to focus either on emotions or on blunt information. The participants then made choices based on this information. Young people made better choices (in line with their preferences) when they were given lots of facts, but the older adults did better when the language appealed to their emotions.
It's almost impossible to ignore an emotional face, conclude Elizabeth Blagrove, PhD, and Derrick Watson, PhD, at the University of Warwick in England. In their research, in April's Emotion (Vol. 10, No. 2), the two asked participants to hunt for the unique facial expression in a picture made up of many identical facial expressions. For example, participants would try to find the smiling face among a sea of frowning faces. Participants consistently took longer to find the happy face in the crowd of sad faces than the other way around. This suggests, say the researchers, that the brain spends more time processing negative facial expressions so as to accurately decide the best way to respond.
People with acute PTSD experience similar memory and executive system impairments as those with chronic PTSD, finds an article in press in Psychiatry Research. McGill University's Alain Brunet, PhD, and colleagues administered tests to examine memory and executive functioning skills, such as inhibition, attention and cognitive flexibility to three groups: 21 people with acute PTSD, 16 who were exposed to trauma but not diagnosed with PTSD, and a control group that had not been exposed to trauma. The acute PTSD group performed worse on the tests than both the undiagnosed group and the control group, both of which performed similarly. That similarity indicates that exposure to trauma alone isn't enough to trigger these deficits, the researchers say.
Your brain's mirror-neuron system activates when you see people similar to you but not when you're watching people in "out" groups, finds an article in press in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Researchers from the University of Toronto showed 30 participants videos of people from both their ethnic in-group and out-group performing a simple action. EEG recordings of the participants showed that their motor cortices — home of the mirror-neuron system, which is thought to help sync people's emotional and cognitive states — were highly active while watching in-group members but relatively dormant when watching the out-group. If the results extrapolate to the general population, the researchers say, it could mean we may unintentionally ignore or misinterpret out-group members' feelings and intentions.
—M. Price
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Third Party Litigation Funding (TPLF)
Third-party litigation financing (TPLF) is a rapidly growing practice that threatens to undermine the administration of justice – both here in the United States and abroad. In essence, TPLF is the practice of hedge funds and other investment firms providing funds to plaintiffs and their lawyers in order to conduct litigation. If the plaintiff wins a monetary award, the investor is repaid out of the proceeds of the lawsuit, usually with an extremely high rate of return. read more...
Since its beginnings in Australia more than a decade ago, TPLF has spread rapidly around the globe. The practice is particularly prevalent in Australia and the UK, and is now moving into the United States.
Unfortunately, as a recent Forbes article entitled, "Will Litigation Finance Hold Corporations Accountable Globally?" highlighted, TPLF creates numerous problems and conflicts of interest for litigants, their attorneys and the overall civil justice system.
For one thing, TPLF increases the volume of litigation. It is pretty simple: more litigation funding means more litigation. A study by NERA Economic Consulting found the rise of TPLF is responsible for much of the recent increase in class action litigation in Australia. In addition, TPLF firms' business model allows them to spread risk and take on cases that might be weak or dubious but still hold the possibility of a massive award. As a result, TPLF is likely to increase dubious litigation as well.
TPLF can also prolong litigation. A plaintiff may choose to reject an otherwise reasonable settlement offer because they need to give a large part of any award to their funder. So they hold out for a higher settlement or judgment in court – which is not guaranteed to happen. At the same time, prolonged litigation hurts defendants, who are forced to divert additional time and money from productive activity to litigation.
In addition, TPLF can undercut a plaintiff's control of litigation. Obviously, funders have a major interest in the outcome of cases they invest in. So it is not unexpected that some funders seek to control a case's legal strategy, both indirectly and directly. In one patent case, a funder sued the plaintiff for settling for an amount lower than demanded by the funder. In the infamous Chevron case in Ecuador, the funding contract with the plaintiffs stipulated that the funder would have veto power over the choice of attorneys and receive precedence in the disbursement of any monetary award. Arrangements such as these make a mockery of our system of justice by placing the interests of outside investors ahead of the interests of the parties in court.
Finally, TPLF creates numerous ethical conflicts for plaintiffs' lawyers. It is a fundamental rule of ethics that lawyers have a fiduciary duty to their clients. But when TPLF investors get involved in a case, they often front the plaintiffs' attorneys' fees. In that case, will the attorney act in the best interests of their client, as they are supposed to do, or in the interests of the third-party funder paying their salary?
U.S. Reforms
Stringent safeguards are needed to counter the many problems associated with third-party litigation funding in the United States. In October 2012, the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform released Stopping the Sale on Lawsuits: A Proposal to Regulate Third-Party Investments in Litigation, a white paper which outlines a possible U.S. federal regulatory regime for TPLF. The paper's recommendations include:
- Prohibiting investor control of cases;
- Forbidding direct contracts between investors and lawyers that do not also include the client;
- Banning law firm ownership of TPLF firms;
- Prohibiting the use of TPLF in class actions; and
- Requiring disclosure of funding contracts in litigation.
Global Reforms
As the birthplace of third party litigation funding, ILR has been pressing for regulatory oversight of TPLF in Australia for many years, in hopes of slowing the rapid growth of this practice globally. In September, 2013, ILR released Improving the Environment for Business in Australia: A Proposal for Reforming Oversight of Third Party Litigation Financing, which outlined an oversight regime of TPLF that would include:
- licensing requirements;
- ensuring that claimants, not funder, control the management of their cases;
- a requirement that the funder act in the best interest of claimants; and
- banning law firms from owning funders and vice versa.
In October 2013, ILR released a second paper entitled, TPLF in Australia: Class Actions, Conflicts and Controversy, building additional support for an oversight regime by illuminating the pitfalls of TPLF. Most recently, in March 2014, ILR released Ripe for Reform: Improving the Australian Class Action Regime, suggesting reforms to class action procedures and rules that would restrain the use of TPLF in class actions and reduce conflicts of interest and ethical concerns.
Throughout Europe, both at the EU institution level and in key member states like the UK and Netherlands, ILR is advocating for the introduction of meaningful legislative safeguards restricting the use of TPLF in class actions.