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Ex-Asleep at the Wheel Singer Elizabeth McQueen Mixes It Up With Brothers Lazaroff
Was it their idea to do a remix CD?
I had heard the Verve Remix series in my early twenties when I was an intern at our local radio station, KUT in Austin, and I had an idea that I wanted to do something similar. So when I did Laziest Girl in Town I thought about doing a remix. And I talked to Brothers Lazaroff, but then I got pregnant, and that fell to the wayside. But we came back to it and were in the right mindset together. We decided to do a Kickstarter for it, and then we did the rest of the remix record, and it's been awesome to collaborate. David and I were really tight when he lived here, but when he moved back to St. Louis, our friendship, as friendships do when people live thousands of miles a part, we only saw each other occasionally. But working on this project I was able to connect with them again in a really deep way.
Did you work on the remix EP together in the same place at the same time?
We did not. I sent David the stems for the album, and they would go into the studio with the guys. David and Jeff did most of the producing. There was a back and forth, and we were rarely in the same place at the same time. I did come to St. Louis to record the song "Dreamin'" [a bonus track on the EP], but that was the only time we were in the studio together for the EP.
Does this feel like a true remix or does it feel more like a re-recording?
We call them remixes. They are literally remix versions. Brothers Lazaroff would take a piano track and run it backwards, or a saxophone track and run it through all kinds of effects. They used a lot of the rhythm tracks as a basis to start the remixes. But they are really re-imaginings, re-thinkings of the songs, which is cool.
One of the things that stands out is how rhythmically rich the remix is, even polyrhythmic on some tracks. But the way you sing, your voice can move around those denser rhythms.
A lot of that was Jeff and David taking the original vocal track and stretching and warping it. But having to sing these songs live, I actually like the remix versions more than the original versions. In general they have more of a vibe. I hate to use such a generic term, but I have a much clearer picture of some of the tracks. The original album was kind of a genre study. I wanted to do something in the style of 20th-century vocal jazz records that were recorded at the same time, like Ella Fitzgerald or Nina Simone. But the remixes are more their own unique pieces as opposed to a genre study of another era.
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Route Grade Votings
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30m. Easy rock leads to the first bolt at 10m. Pass a hole then on up smooth powder-grey streak, and bulging wall to a hole and on through more bulges above; a majestic pitch. Not in current guidebook.
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It's only the third game of the season, but there's no denying it - this one's big.
Hinds Community College (2-0), No. 6 in the latest NJCAA poll, travels to Perkinston today (7 p.m.) to take on fourth-ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast CC (2-0).
It's the South Division opener for both teams. ...


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Pretty Little Liars
Pretty Little Liars Spoilers: Why Is Mona Hugging [SPOILER]?! (PHOTO)
The the first sneak peek photos of the Pretty Little Liars Season 3 winter season (Season 3, Episode 14: "She's Better Now") are out, and while there are a bunch of intriguing images, one picture especially caught our attention.
Read spoilers at your own risk! For more on Wetpaint Entertainment's philosophy on spoilers, click here.
Why in the world is Mona (Janel Parrish) hugging Jason (Drew Van Acker), of all people, in the picture to the right?
We know Mona is released from Radley and returns to Rosewood High this episode, so that explains why she's out and about, and back to wearing prissy sweaters. But since when do she and Jason even known each other, yet alone get along well enough for a full-on embrace?
As we can see in the photo below, this isn't just a case of Mona running up out of nowhere and hugging Jason as part of a crazy plan — they appear to be talking very intensely, too.
What do you think these pictures mean? Do they somehow connect to Jason's mysterious meeting with Lucas (Brendan Robinson) in the Halloween episode (Season 3, Episode 13: "This Is a Dark Ride")? Share your theories in the comments below.
Find more Pretty Little Liars spoilers here.
Catch the return of PLL Season 3 on Tuesday, January 8, 2013 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC Family.
Source: ABC Family
Rebecca Martin is an editor at Wetpaint Entertainment. Follow her on Twitter @BeccaDMartin.
Want more Pretty Little Liars? Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter and Tumblr.


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What is a Facebook Page?
Creating a Facebook Page for a small business is an essential part of web marketing today. There are more than 750 million users worldwide and a Facebook Page increases the chances that you can interact with more of them on a business level. When you create a Facebook Page it give customers a sense that they really know you or your business and is a great tool that can help build a rapport with customers. Customers who trust you and know your business are much more likely to be loyal and to recommend your services to others. A Facebook page allows some features that can be more difficult to implement on a website. It is easier to run a contest or promotion and it's an easy way to advertise without it costing enormous amounts of money.
Some studies indicate that customers are more likely to interact with favorite brands on Facebook more than they might on any other social network and they are more likely to recommend a brand and purchase it after they have become a Facebook fan. And since search engines index Facebook pages anyone outside Facebook can find your Facebook page.
Purpose of a Facebook Page
Facebook pages are for organizations, brands and businesses to be able to share their information and connect with people using this social media platform. Pages are similar to timelines in that they can be customized by adding apps, hosting events, and posting stories for starters. By posting regularly you can grow your audience by engaging with them. Users who "like" the page will get any updates in their facebook news feeds. The Facebook Page can be created and managed from your personal Facebook account; which you must have to create a Page.
How is a Facebook Page different from a Group Page?
Groups are set up to allow a closed space for small groups to communicate with each other. A group page can be created by anyone who has an interest in creating it. A Facebook Page must be created by an official representative of the company. They are set up to allow businesses, celebrities, brands, and organizations to directly communicate on a large level with those who like them. These two options are different in other ways as well. A group page is closed and only members of the group can see posts; but a Facebook page is open and the Facebook public can see any posts or information.
Each has an entirely different audience too. Members on group pages must be added or approved. Once a group reaches a certain size, some of the features are limited. The audience on a Page is virtually unlimited as anyone can like the Page. And communication is different in that on groups members automatically receive notifications when a member makes a post; Admins on Pages can share posts and they will appear in news feeds of those who like the Page. They can also develop customized apps for Pages and they can track the growth and activity of the page.
Benefits of a Facebook Page
When you make the Facebook Page you will enter keywords in the Business Page Title and these can be indexed by search engines. This means that anyone can find your business on Facebook by entering a search; and with millions of Facebook users, your Page can help drive traffic to your business site. These pages can be used to share information about special offers, discounts, or events with fans/customers. Creating a Facebook Page can provide relevant backlinks to your web site which makes it an essential part of a social media campaign.
This entry was posted by Eugene Aronsky & Moshe Zchut on November 2, 2012 at 3:29 am, and is filed under Brand development, Branding, Facebook, Facebook marketing, Facebook SEO. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0.You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.


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I'm having twins -- when should I stop working?
I'm only nine weeks pregnant with twins, but I need to start planning for my maternity leave. With my first child, I was able to work until my delivery with no problems. I read that when expecting twins, working becomes almost impossible after 26 or 28 weeks. Does anyone have any experience with this?
Posted: 09/27/2004 by a BabyCenter Member
Mom Answers
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I am 21 years old and am 21 weeks pregnant with a boy and a girl. I didn't find out until about three weeks ago that I was having twins (at my ultrasound). My husband and I were completely blown away since we got pregnant accidentally anyways! (I was on the pill for over a year when I realized I was pregnant!) We were so scared at first, but our families are so supportive and loving and have now grown to be very excited about our two little miracles. I am a preschool teacher for eighteen 3-year-olds and it is VERY demanding! I just went through a huge growth spurt and already feel uncomfortably pregnant. I wondered if your doctors take into consideration what you do at your work when he decides when you should stop. I know for a fact that I could NOT work up until 35 weeks doing what I do! Sitting at a desk would be much different though. Hopefully I can work as long as possible to earn money for these little ones, but we know their health is more important than anything. Good luck to everyone!!!posted 06/17/2005 by JandEsmommy
Is there a website devoted to the in-utero development of twins? I just found out I am having fraternal twins and cannot find any good source for multiples like this site for singleton births. Any suggestions?posted 06/01/2005 by ch3rie
I am 23 weeks pregnant with twins. The pregnancy has been ok so far as. I have already gained 20lbs and have grown to look like a 8 month pregnant woman. I had a lot of nausea to deal with in the first trimester and in the second I have to deal with edema (swelling). My advise will be to go with what your doctor says. They will be the best judge of your case. Usually bed rest is recommend to those women who show some kind of effacement or dialation in the cervix. Although bed rest won't prevent delivery but getting you off your feet will help keep the weight off the cervix and reduce further effacement or dialation. Like others have said ,getting enough rest before the darling ones make an appearance can also be considered a boon before the sleepless nights vigil starts :-)posted 05/31/2005 by a BabyCenter Member
Though I was hoping to work all the way through my pregnancy, things don't always go as planned. I'm 26 weeks pregnant with twin boys and will only be working for another two weeks. Then it's bedrest until they're born!posted 05/16/2005 by a BabyCenter Member
I'm currently 24 weeks with identical girls. The doc said mandatory bedrest is standard (at my practice) at 28 weeks, so i would have had to quit by then anyway. instead, i'm turning in my 2-week notice tomorrow -- so i will have worked until i'm 26 weeks. i've already had one scary hospital trip for contractions, and the 2 extra weeks of pay isn't worth the stress to me that i might jeopardize the health of my babies! i'm looking forward to devoting my days to resting, eating, and "gestating"!posted 04/28/2005 by KarynSedai
I am currently 24 weeks pregnant, and found out I was having twins at week 21. My dr has not said anything about a scheduled date for bedrest, but did warn me it is a possibility. While I want to work as long as possbile - I will not fight any recommendation. I know there is nothing more important than the health of my little peanuts!posted 04/22/2005 by aqua2575
I AM CURRENTLY 18 WEEKS PREGGERS WITH TWINS. I KNEW FROM MY FIRST SCAN AT 6.5 WEEKS AND MY DR ADVISED ME TO GO ON THE SICK AT 11 WEEKS. IT WAS AFTER I TOLD HER MY HISTORY. I HAVE A FOUR YEAR OLD DAUGHTER WHO WAS BORN AT 30 WEEKS DUE TO SEVERE PRE ECLAMPSIA AND HAVE SINCE HAD TWO MISCARRIAGES. NOW I AM MORE AT RISK OF GETTING PRE ECLAMPSIA AS ITS A MULTIPLE PREGNANCY. I AM JUST TAKING IT EASY AND GLAD TO GIVE UP WORK AS ITS NOT WORTH RISKING THE HEALTH OF MY BABIES. I THINK YOU SHOULD GIVE UP WORK WHEN YOU FEEL ITS RIGHT FOR YOU.posted 04/21/2005 by emmajones1978
My doctor advised me to quit working when I was about 6 months pregnant. I had a desk job and I didn't see why that would make a difference. He insisted that it was vital I put effort into resting and staying off of my feet; every moment longer I could allow the babies to remain in the uterus is that much longer they continue to grow in a natural environment. I gave my notice at work (and didn't get maternity leave) and went into labor about 3 weeks later. I then discovered I was actually 7 1/2 months pregnant. My babies were in the hospital until their 'due date', so almost 2 months. Premature births have complications anyway. I wished I had just quit work sooner. They are healthy now but back then, even after I brought them home; they had so many problems due to prematurity. Just a couple of weeks, a couple of months earlier, may be awful on you but it is worth it to keep your babies healthy. I think if your doctor advises you to stop working you should. Forget about 'oh, so and so worked to the end and went back to work the next day'. That's ridiculous. Every person is different but the odds are the same. My babies are 14 months old now! :)posted 04/21/2005 by a BabyCenter Member
Hi Blessed mothers! I wish you the best of luck and blessings for those souls who are coming with a purpose in life. Teena: Not to get you worry, but when I was 15 weeks I lost one of my twins and I knew something was wrong beacuse I was having a 2 day cramping and it wouldn't stop. So, I went for a check out to the emergency room, and found out that I lost one. Hopefully the are both still in separate sags. That's why I was feeling unconfortable at work. Once you feel crambs, YOU NEED TO RUN TO THE HOSPITAL!!! At least you are 28 weeks and the babies can be saved. But I was only 15 and there was nothing I could do. It only has been a month and a half and I still do not get over it. It's my first pregnancy and it will be last beacuse the traumma that this has created in my life. I still have my two babies inside and the baby that is ok is a boy. they wouldn't proceed with an abortion beacuse it would hurt me and my baby. But, I'm very happy that you and all of you mothers expecting twins are doing great. I still have faith that when my due date comes the other baby has a heart beat and I do not have to cremate him, while I hold the other one in my hands. Miracles can happen if you hae faith in God!posted 04/13/2005 by ramiroIII
I am 29 weeks pregnant w/ twin boys and today is my last day at work! It is just getting to difficult to get around. I have a 3 year old daughter and I am just going to relax a couple of weeks before the chaos really begins!!!posted 04/01/2005 by 071601
Answer this question


text: Hi everyone. I was wondering if anyone knew of any restaurants around the Disneyland area. I am graduating at the Anaheim Convention Center on November 9, and my family is planning on taking me out to dinner after. I'm looking for something like a seafood buffet. Any help would be appreciated. I'll be back on the 11th to visit the park in celebration of my graduation from college!!!


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Wekfest Hawaii 2013
For its third year, Weksos Industries escapes the mainland to see what Hawaii has to offer. This year Weksos raised the bar by inviting judges who specialized in each award categories; in proper fashion, the Aloha State upped the ante and came out hard with the best imports, domestics, and classics.
For those that missed out, make sure to register early for Slammed Society on May 19th held at Keehi Lagoon. Only a certain number of cars will be allowed to show so register and we'll let you know if you've been selected. Click here for more details.
4 Comments
nicely done!
just wondering what camera/lenses were used for these photos?! i want a new camera of this quality but cant choose! HELP 😉 thanks!! + these are so sick! <3HellaFlush<3


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WFUV radio interviews relating to art, 1969-1973
Fordham University,
est. 1846
Wechter, Vivienne Thaul
Collection size:
15 sound tapes ; 7 in.
2 sound tapes ; 5 in.
Collection Summary: Interviews conducted by Vivienne Thaul Wechter, for WFUV's "Today's World" program featuring artists, museum directors, and art historians. Interviewees are: Richard Brown, Henry Tyler Hopkins, Chapman Kelley, Alvin Loving, Brenda Miller, Brian Nissen, Arlene Slavin, Stella Snead, John Watson and Harriet Zinnes, and Henry Botkin, Barbara Krashes, and Joe Solomon of the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors. Also found are programs from the 1969-70 season of University Roundtable include interviews of Will Barnet, Gregory Battock, Ilya Bolotowsky, Donald Halley, Jr. and Paul Piazza of the Hudson River Museum, Lyman Kipp, Michael Kirby, Roy Moyer, and participants in the Riverside Museum "Quinquevalence" exhibition.
Donated 1970-1973 by Fordham University.
How to Use this Collection
- Untranscribed; use requires an appointment.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset today that recent missile attacks on southern Israel from Gaza ought not to be regarded as a separate struggle from the international focus on halting Iran's drive for nuclear weapons. He laid the primary responsibility for the violence squarely on Tehran, saying, "Gaza is Iran." The allusion was to the fact that the groups that launched the barrage, including Islamic Jihad, are directly linked to the Iranian regime. While some of Netanyahu's Palestinian critics understand he is right about Iran being behind the terrorist groups who are most interested in heating up the conflict, they still reflexively blame Israel for the incidents. They claim there was something wrong about efforts to interdict terror squads as they are launching missiles or other attacks. This is not only morally obtuse in that it treats Israeli self-defense as inherently illegitimate but also helps to obscure both the immediate and underlying responsibility for the flare up.
As Jonathan Schanzer writes in Foreign Policy, the latest terror offensive that led to more than 200 missiles being fired at Israel was the brainchild of the Iranians. By starting the fight that the Israelis finished, Iran's terrorist proxies were not just seeking to burnish their image by seeking to kill Jews; they were also punishing Hamas for walking away from its long alliance with Tehran:
As the Iranians see it, Hamas has outlived its usefulness.… The Iranian leadership also has its own reasons for wreaking havoc in Gaza now. For starters, it deflects international attention from Tehran's nuclear activities. With Israel on the brink of war with the Palestinians, the international community's Pavlovian response is to rein Israel in and call for calm on both sides. The United Nations is now rushing to avert a war in Gaza instead of looking at new ways to halt Iran's nuclear drive.
Moreover, any unrest in the region reverberates in the oil markets. Traders don't like to see violence near their energy sources — just look at the 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon, which drove oil prices up almost 15 percent, despite the fact that Lebanon is not an oil exporter. Causing spikes in oil prices is the easiest way for Iran to circumvent sanctions: The more oil costs, the more cash Tehran can raise as it takes those last fateful steps toward the nuclear threshold.
Schanzer is spot on in his diagnosis of the way the Iranians have been able to manipulate their terrorist proxies. In doing so, not only has Hamas been embarrassed, but the violence also helps exacerbate the split between its various factions, thereby making the Gaza region it rules unstable.
But the problem goes deeper than that. As Schanzer notes, though Hamas may be trying to wean itself from its Iranian sponsor, the "martyrdom" culture it helped cultivate, weapons tunnels it helped build and maintain, and small but lethal terrorist groups it continues to finance," roils the region.
However, Iran doesn't deserve all the blame for the "culture" of violence it helped finance for years. The process by which any group, no matter how bloodthirsty, can be outflanked in the way that Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian Resistance Committee are doing to Hamas, is the fault of a Palestinian political culture that always rewards those who commit violence against Jews.
Apologists for the Palestinians will continue to try to blame all this on Israel alone or on the Jewish state and Iran. But the reason why Tehran is able to exploit this situation is that Palestinians are always ready to start killing at the drop of a hat. As much as Netanyahu is right to assert Iran's responsibility in this episode, were the Palestinians not as besotted with bloodletting, such efforts would never succeed.


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This post was found on adventuresinridining.com. Posted by Stacey Place
It's not often that I find myself being the youngest person in a restaurant anymore. Getting a little closer to 40 than I'd like to admit, it's rare that I look around and can't find anyone younger than me. Last Saturday night, I was out in Providence at a fairly new restaurant and was stunned to find myself being the youngest diner in the room. I'd found the place where Baby Boomers hang out on Saturday nights.
I chose the ROI based on the fact that their Chef is Paul Shire. Chef Shire was part owner and the original chef of Downcity, but I knew his work more from when he owned and cooked at Oak on the East Side of Providence. I lived on the East Side in those years and spent many nights and Sunday brunches enjoying this neighborhood gem. Hearing the news that Chef Shire was back, I knew I wanted to check out his new place.
The ROI is located on Chestnut Street in what I still call the Jewelry District, but the city now refers to this area as the Knowledge District. I was kind of surprised the Baby Boomers all found their way to this spot because to me it seemed off-the-beaten path. The restaurant was empty when we arrived (yes, it was before 6:00, but I was really hungry), but the hostess told us most tables were already reserved, so we took a seat at the sleek bar. The restaurant is dark because it's located in a basement, but the darkness matches its cool interior. We were surprised to find both tv sets in the bar tuned into TBS reruns of The Family Guy. Nobody was watching tv, but why would they want to watch that? The music didn't befit its atmosphere either. The soundtrack was depressing to me – James Taylor, Air Supply and Elton John, but it did fit the age of the crowd.
The bartender was really good and especially patient with one patron who kept insisting on inventing her own drink and explaining how the last drink she invented was later put on the menu. She was getting on our nerves but didn't rattle him in the slightest. The cocktail list seemed overpriced at $12.95, but my French 75 Part Deux (Plymouth gin, lemon juice and Champagne with a hint of thyme) was large and flavorful. At $12.95, I didn't order a second, however. The wine list, in contrast, was reasonable but not extensive.
The menu at the ROI includes a little bit of everything and something for everyone. It varied from sandwiches to salads, pizzas to pasta, and salmon to filet. We started out with an appetizer of Polenta Fries. The thickly cut sticks of creamy polenta were fried to a golden crisp and then dabbed with marinara sauce and gorgonzola cheese. As was the case with much of what we ate at the ROI, we wished there was just a tad bit more sauce and cheese to complement the fries. We managed to eat every bite and sop up every last bit of sauce.
For dinner, I ordered the Herb de Provence Salmon. The salmon was cooked crispy on the outside, and it was moist and flaky on the inside. The salmon was topped with a citrus butter which was tasty but so tasty I longed for more. On the side, there was a generous portion of creamy mushroom risotto and a helping of garlic green beans with roasted red peppers. The serving was more than generous for $18.95 – I even had some to bring home for lunch the next day.
One of my favorite meals at Oak was the crab cakes with sweet potato fries, and Chef Shire brought this dish along with him to the ROI. Bridget ordered this for her dinner and was glad she did. The crab cakes were as good as she remembered, and the sweet potato fries were even better than she remembered. The red pepper aioli on the crab cakes was super tasty but again it left her longing for more.
We were too full for dessert, but at $5.95, the desserts are some of the biggest bargains in Providence. In hindsight, I should have ordered a piece of Turtle Cheesecake to go . . .
We had a nice night out at The ROI, mostly because we enjoyed the attentive, friendly service from the bartender and the excellent food. The food, the music and the service were comfortable and safe, and I can see why this would be a place to eat before taking in a show at PPAC. In a world filled will 12 course tasting menus, molecular gastronomy and communal dining tables, sometimes we all long for the taste of comfort, and the ROI is comfort all around.


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August 5, 2015
UPDATE 11:00am Sept 17th:
Coufal Prater Equipment in Bryan (John Deere Dealership on Hwy 21) has received a shipment of 100 new generators. They are rated to run 800 to 1000 hours.
They're heavy and they're a hot commodity.
Despite their high cost, generators are a popular item anywhere you can find them. At Botco in Bryan, Paula Williams of Madisonville bought one. She says she's tired of living in the dark.
"I'd like to be hooked up to the light and so we could keep things cold. Then maybe a fan." said Williams.
It's being able to help out folks, like Paula, that matters most to Botco.
"We didn't raise our prices, we lowered our prices on generators because no one here in the valley has power. So we're trying to be the team player here. We want to supply power to people that need it." said Joe Byrd with Botco.
Tuesday morning Gander Mountain received over three hundred Honda two thousand watt generators and they too are going fast.
"We've sold around 100-150 of them in the last day or so, they're going as quick as we can get them on the shelves." said Daniel Lefner with Gander Mountain.
And folks are coming as far as the Woodlands for the power providers. Simply put, it's well worth the time and effort.
But if things continue, B/CS , might get a little bigger.
"We're still holding out hope that maybe, just maybe, they'll get the power on sooner than later. But if it goes much longer than we might come here." said Doug Steck of the Woodlands.
Here's an idea of how quickly these things sale. BOTCO has 20 generators Monday night. By Tuesday at noon they were down to 1 or 2.
Here's another dealer who has generators
Redtail rental has some 5600 watt generators for sale. $1900.00 each They are commercial grade. 696-5696.
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Monthly Archives: June 2007
Rose Moon Rising
Full summer moons toward the end of June are sometimes called "rose moons," and this one lives up to the name.
Last night, Phyllis and I parked the kids at a pizza and movie party given at Nicky and Mathew's pre-school. Then we picked up sandwiches and headed for the Marin Headlands side of the Golden Gate.
The fog coming and going was beautiful, and the rose moon rising was icing on the cake (to badly mix my metaphors). For me, this was a bus person's holiday, to throw more metaphors into the stew. But it was great having Phyllis along, and she enjoyed the show of light and air in the Golden Gate. And, as Phyllis said, she enjoyed the fog horns tuned to a fifth interval apart on a diatonic scale, pleasing to Western ears.
Hidden Beach
Mark and I hiked out to Arch Rock. It was a crap shoot whether we'd be fogged out, but emerging from the four-mile tunnel of forest the sunset was clear.
Last time I'd hiked out to Arch Rock, by the time I got out to the ocean it was too dark to see more than the general contours of the landscape. This time we were earlier and the sky was bright with moon. By the light of the setting sun and almost-full moon I was able to make my way down a little path towards a hidden beach.
The path switch-backed down a small slot canyon to the banks of a creek. Making my way across a couple of fairly easy rock faces I made my way down beside the creek to where the splash of water met the ocean.
On this small, sandy spot I set up my tripod. In one direction, the high tide created a whirlpool beneath the arch in Arch Rock (photo below, captured at 2.5 seconds exposure, see my O'Reilly blog post for some technical discussion of the exposure and post-processing technique).
In the other direction (photo above, captured at 1/50 of a second), the moon shown through the end of the canyon and on the small hidden beach, also lit by the setting sun.
View this image larger.
Moon Shadow of Half Dome
I took this photograph during my vigil on the top of Half Dome at about 11:20PM. It's a 569 second exposure at f/4 and ISO 100. The view is facing pretty much due east. You can see the recognizable profile of Half Dome in the moon shadow in the foreground of the photo.
For more of the story behind this image, see Snakes and Ladders, Half Dome by Starlight, and Midnight Rambles.
Exposing the Night Landscape
Photographers often ask me how to get the right exposure with night landscapes. It's a tricky topic. My experience is that the light meter in my dSLR is pretty much worthless for anything that is dark enough to need an exposure of longer than about 15 seconds at ISO 100. This can be OK for night cityscapes, which typically come in at between 15-30 seconds at ISO 100. But it does mean that the internal light meter is useless in darker landscape situations.
Once exposure times get beyond this city night range, I switch to manual exposure mode, and use the feedback from the camera's LCD to see how I am doing. The problem with this is that you can't always tell with night exposures from the LCD whether you've exposed properly, or whether you got anything at all. Also, it can be very hard to switch between a bright LCD panel and the almost total darkness of the true night landscape. You want to get your eyes accustomed to the darkness, and checking out the LCD breaks this concentration.
View this image larger. Read the back story featuring this image.
So if the camera's metering is no help, and the LCD review only partially useful, what gives? The answers tend to be trial and error and experience, but there are some tricks that help.
First, you want to start exposing before it gets completely dark. This gives you a feeling for where the light is trending as the night deepens.
Next, consider how long an exposure you want to make. The difference between longer and shorter exposures at night tends to be the impact on lights in motion (think of stars). For example, an exposure in the 15-30 minute range will render attractive curved star trails, while an exposure of under 3 minutes duration will mostly render stars as pinpoint light sources. (This story has an example of more or less the same scene rendered each way.)
You don't get many cracks at 15-30 minute exposures, at least not without direct current access. My experience is that a 25 minute exposure, processed for noise reduction, will drain a fully charged battery to nothing (besides taking about 40 minutes in toto).
So the best tactic is to get the exposure right at a high ISO. I find that 3.5 minutes at ISO 640 and f/4 is about right for a night lightscape lit only by starlight. (You might want to do seat-of-the-pants adjustments for light sources other than stars such as the moon, residual sunset, or ambient people light.) If you fire off a shot at ISO 640 and 3.5 minutes and find it is roughly right, you can then calculate the equivalent at ISO 100 by mutliplying the exposure time by 6.4. This gives an exposure time of 22.5 minutes. Plop in a fresh battery, and expose away, with some confidence that your one shot will be close enough (as in the 22.5 minute exposure of Half Dome and Tenaya Canyon with star trails that illustrates this story).
Scanning the Iris
My Dad says he told a group of his friends that he just bought a $25,000 computer. Understand that these friends were a bunch of computer scientists. Everyone thought my father had bought some really macho heavy digital iron. Completing the punch line, my dear father said, describing his Toyota Prius, "and it even came with a steering wheel and four tires."
Similarly, a digital camera like a dSLR is a special-purpose computer. It happens to come with a lens (most of time) and a scanner (the sensor).
If digital photography is to live up to its full potential as a brave new medium, and not remain stuck as the bastard child of silver-halide photography, then we need to look at capturing differently. Why not start with a scan using a flatbed rather than a scan from a camera?
I created these Iris images (above and below) using an inexpensive desktop scanner.
Related story: Myths, Metaphors, and Digital Photography.
Snakes and Ladders
Back down from Glacier Point in the early predawn hours, I caught a few hours sleep and then started up the trail for Half Dome. I knew I wanted to photograph the night view from the top of Half Dome. But my plans were not quite clear. I thought I might come down after photographing and catch Nevada and Vernal Falls by star light.
On the other hand, once darkness fell I might be stuck on Half Dome for the night. So I brought some warm clothes, some power bars, and my head lamp in my camera backpack.
A funny feeling: all the abstract, advance planning for this moment of starting out. The hordes of tourists diminish as I head upstream, up the Merced River. They're thick to the Vernal Falls bridge, and pretty thick up the Mist Trail. Muggles with cell phones and iPods in the wilderness. What's the point of being in the wilderness if you can't break the electronic umbilicus?
There are fewer people above Vernal Falls and on up to Nevada Falls. Above Nevada Falls the human flood dimishes to a trickle along the Merced in Little Yosemite. This is a tough trail, tough enough to discourage anyone out of shape or not really motivated.
By the banks of the Merced, I strip off my hiking boots and shirt, and cool off in the river. I drain my water bottle, and pump a new bottle for the treck up to Half Dome, and maybe so I can have water overnight.
I just finish pumping when I look around and see a few feet from me, slithering over my hat, and between me and my camera bag, a rattlesnake. The snake is about three feet long, handsome, with viper head, beady eye, and rattles. We look at each other. Then he waves his tail and slowly coils into the underbrush.
Partially fueled with adrenaline from my snake encounter, I head up the dusty switchbacks. This is a long, steady climb. At last I reach the top of the ridge. Turning back east on the ridge, a combination of stone staircase and glaciated granite shelves head up the dome that leads along to Half Dome. At last I reach the bottom of the notorious cable ladder up Half Dome.
This ladder goes up roughly five hundred feet. It's constructed using metal poles stuck into the rock every twenty feet or so apart. A wood cross piece goes at the bottom at each set of poles, and metal cables go through holes in the top of each pole, roughly at armpit height if one were perpendicular to the rock face of Half Dome. The trick to climbing the thing is to use your upper body strength to wedge yourself as far out from the cliff as possible, so that you can more or less walk up if you've balanced it right. Worth noting: the climb isn't made any easier if you are carrying twenty-odd pounds of camera and tripod gear.
The sun is setting. Looking up the cable ladder, it's darn clear to me that once on top, and after the sun had gone down, I'll be on top as long as night lasts. No way am I coming down that thing in the dark. Taking a deep breath, I head up (stay tuned for my adventures on the top).
The photo that illustrates this story shows the east face of Half Dome and the ladder lit by the rising sun. I had just safely come down the ladder. Standing looking back, I met the first hikers of the day coming up from the valley (you can make it up shortly after sunrise if you leave the valley about midnight).
They told me about Hirofumi Nohara, who had slipped off the Half Dome ladder a few days before, and bounced down about 300 feet and over the side towards Yosemite Valley. Nohara is one of three people who died on the Half Dome ladder in the last year.
I feel really bad about Nohara's accident, although I'm glad I didn't learn about it until I was off Half Dome.
It's easy to see how the accident could have happened. Although I had Half Dome to myself, on summer weekends the cable ladders are solid lines of people. It's an easy guess that many people going up Half Dome don't have proper gear, particularly good boots.
You also have to figure that part of the point of wilderness travel is that it is inherently somewhat dangerous. For example, see this story about hiker Hyundo Ahn, missing in the Sierras a few years back. No one knows what happened to him.
At its best, a good hike is part exercise and part mystical experience. And the mystical experience cannot be, as C.S. Lewis put it, a "tame lion" or it becomes inauthentic.
I really don't know how the Park Service is going to resolve this one, although I'd imagine they aren't going to allow such a dangerous situation to persist indefinitely. Still, if we lose the ability to climb Half Dome on our own terms, we've lost something important. Hazards such as the Half Dome cable ladder, and even venomous snakes, are part of the reason we visit the wilderness.
Related stories: Half Dome by Starlight; Midnight Rambles.
Half Dome by Starlight
Last week I went to Yosemite. As my kids might say, this was an "opposites day" venture: my plan was to photograph at night and sleep during the day.
More or less, my plan worked out with an unexpected fringe benefit: even at the height of the summer season I didn't see too many people.
My most important goal: to photograph the night time vista from the top of Half Dome.
My trip was carefully planned to coincide with the summer solstice to give me the most daylight possible to get into position. Of course, the downside to the long days was that I needed to stay up late to make it into true night.
A typical wilderness hike for me involves a trail and a route, but no set-in-stone destination at any particular time. This trip was different, more like a targeted insertion. I had to plan very carefully to be a certain places (some harder to get to than others) at specific times.
On Monday afternoon I got to Yosemite Valley. I picked up a pizza to go and headed up the Glacier Point road. Sunset saw me at the fissures hard by Taft Point. These fissues are narrow cracks that fall straight down into the valley.
In the gathering dark I hiked back to my car and headed for Glacier Point. Down below, the lights from Curry Village, the Ahwanee, and campgrounds looked like either a shanty town, or a not-so-small civilization. Camera on tripod I pointed at Half Dome, lit by stars and ambient light. I exposed the image above at about 10:30PM at 2.5 minutes, ISO 640, and f/4. An hour later I exposed the image below for 15.5 minutes at ISO 100 and f/7.1.
You can see the impact of the differing shutter speeds in the rendition of the stars. At 2.5 minutes, they still seem to be points of light. At 15 minutes, the stars are curved paths of light in the sky.
From my dark perch on Glacier Point I looked across at Half Dome, knowing that if all went according to plan the next night would find me photographing from the top.
View this image larger.
Related story: Midnight Rambles.
Midnight Rambles
I took this photo of the view down Tenaya Canyon towards Half Dome shortly before midnight on June 21. I was standing on a granite rock "platform" about 1/2 a mile from the parking lot at Olmsted Point along the Tioga Pass road. I exposed the image for 1348 seconds, or 22.5 minutes. You can see the Tenaya watershed, Mt Sunrise, and Half Dome (towards the right of the photo) lit by ambient starlight and the setting crescent moon. In the background of the photo, you can see the pale remains of sunset and also light from the California valley cities like Merced and Fresno (some of this light is also on Half Dome).
Two nights before I spent a lonely and awesome night time vigil on Half Dome itself photographing the stars and the landscape. As I waited during my midnight rambles while this exposure was being captured, and then being processed, I could hear the occassional call of an owl and a coyote. I could also look out to Half Dome and see my platform in the sky.
Related stories: Creature of the Night; Digital Darkness; On Night Photography.
Visit Digital Night by Harold Davis. Check out the view of Half Dome from Olmsted Point in daylight (scroll to the bottom of the linked story).
Myths, Metaphors, and Digital Photography
If you grant my premise that digital photography is an entirely new medium of expression, then you have to wonder about the prevalence of metaphors that use the techniques of analog photography. In Photoshop, we use the Dodge and Burn tools. We "cross process" using Nik's excellent library of Photoshop filters (among other digital "cross processing" techniques). We produce versions of our images from our RAW captures that are "like the prints made from film negatives." The myths and metaphors imported from film are useful shared vocabulary, but none of these analog-to-digital metaphors are really quite right.
View this image larger. Read the back story featuring this image.
A metaphor is an implicit comparison of one thing to something else: "my love is a red, red rose". A simile, of course, is a kind of metaphor that makes the comparison explicit using "like" or "as": "my love is as beautiful as a red, red rose."
Confusion occurs when metaphors (or similes) are confused with facts. In no way are the metaphors of analog photography exactly analagous to the digital concepts and techniques described.
The Photoshop Dodge and Burn tools operate on pixels, not on emulsion-coated paper, and are not even the best way to achieve the results of lightening or darkening areas of an image. (You are much better off using selective layer masking, the Paintbrush tool, and blending modes to achieve this result.)
In analog terms, "cross processing" meant dunking film or paper in chemistry that was not intended. Nik carries this metaphor quite a distance. Its cross-process filters let you choose either C41 to E6, or E6 to C41 (using the names for Kodacolor and Ektachrome processing). You can also fine tune these filters in a variety of ways. But obviously you are not cross processing. At best, you have simulated cross processing with these Photoshop filters.
It's true that I create many versions of my photos starting with a single RAW capture. For example, I might produce an RGB version for screen display, a CMYK version for publication, a sized CMYK version for running through my RIP software and making a physical print, a JPEG version for web display, and a light JPEG version that looks good on Flickr (Flickr runs a filter that makes some images look artificially darker), and so on. But these pixel-to-pixel conversions don't really compare to the process of analog print making except in the sense that you are changing one thing (the negative or RAW capture) into another (the print or the converted file). Print making still requires output on paper.
So what's to make of all this? Metaphors are good because they help communicate tough concepts. But they can also shackle us to think in a manner that doesn't apply to new technologies and situations. Is there a good reason that new-fangled digital SLRs look pretty much like old-fashioned analog SLRs, or is this form-factor just what we are used to, and an example of metaphor gone awry? What will the digital generation that comes of age without understanding the analog terminology do with these dubious metaphors, and where will they go?
View this image larger. Read the back story featuring this image.
Myths can be something that is widely believed, but false. A myth can also be an important legend about how something was created. When myth is used in the second sense, the myth can even be true (at least in part). Myths are stories, and they are also metaphors.
The myths of analog photography include the patience required to coat fragile glass plates with emulsion, and to make exposures of long duration under field conditions. Ansel Adams is said to have carted his view camera up and down the Sierras on the back of a mule. These are stories of a forgotten world, and it's hard to even remember the endurance it required to be a serious photographer.
When the last master silver halide print has been made, what myths will digital photographers have to compare with the heroic traditions of analog photography? Will the new mythology be about photography, or about processing pixels?
By learning to see the world digitally, by making long night exposures from a cliff high above the ocean, by experimenting with different ways to achieve digital capture and to process the captures, I like to think I am contributing to the new mythology of digital.
Golden Gate in Summer
A great bank of fog has covered the Bay area, so it's a little hard to remember that this past week was summer. It was hot for around here, at least 85 degrees in Berkeley.
On Wednesday, Julian (shown below) had no school, and I took him out to Point Reyes where it was much cooler. We hiked down to Marshall Beach, built a sand castle, hiked back up, then drove over to Drakes Beach and climbed up the bluffs.
Julian was really respectful of the drop to the beach below. He said, "Dad, if someone fell off, they would die, right?"
Right. Good to hear caution from the boy who lived.
We drove back to Berkeley and took a swim at Julian's grandparents.
By now it was late and Julian was very ready for dinner and bed. But the sun had set and turned the world pink with the haze of summer. I drove up to the parking lot beside the Lawrence Hall of Science, pulled out my tripod, and snapped this twenty-five second time exposure of the Golden Gate in summer.
Dear reader: I'm off this week to Yosemite to photograph digital night in the mountains, so most likely no blog stories until I get back.
Beauty in the Belly of the Beast
This is a thirty second time exposure from the top of Mission Peak. It is looking down the slopes of Mission Peak across Fremont and the San Francisco Bay straight at Palo Alto and Mountain View. You can see the same clouds in an earlier exposure from the same series, focused to the south on San Jose.
If Silicon Valley is the beast, then this is an image of the belly of the beast. (Mission Peak has also been described as a beast, meaning that it is a tough hike.)
I'm ambivalent about Silicon Valley. On the one hand, I have to admire the gusto and inventivity that has sprung from the Silicon Valleys of the world. On the other hand I've spent a bit too much of my life working on pointless projects with bloated code and following irrational change control procedures.
You also have to admit there is something ugly about a culture that turns ranch land to a car culture wasteland of high-tech industrial parks and McMansions.
But I rant. I rave! The beast is indeed ugly, but it has beauty too. There's beauty in the belly of the beast. And that's what this photo means to me.
Related stories: Improv on Mission Peak; Above the Urban Sprawl; Mount Tamalpais from Mission Peak; Do You Know the Way?.
Digital Night Website
It all started when I pointed my digital camera into the void of night and was surprised by the results. In apparent darkness, there's plenty of "light" we cannot see that is picked up by digital sensors. The digital night landscape is very colorful indeed. Since this discovery, I have haunted dark and wild landscapes at night…[Read more].
My new website, Digital Night by Harold Davis, www.digitalnight.us, features photographs taken in the night. I also write about the techniques and human aspects of digital night photography.
Read the back story featuring this image.
Bokeh and the Zen of Blur
The term bokeh is used to refer to blurring in a photograph. Good bokeh is smooth and pleasing, whereas bad bokeh produces a jagged and discordant effect. This may sound subjective, but pretty quickly you can get to recognize excellent bokeh when you see it in a photo. And the effort of doing so will help you improve your photography.
Bokeh generally refers to background blur rather than foreground blur, because background blur tends to be far more important than foreground blur in most compositions. The photo of the California poppy in the wind (below) is an exception to this rule.
Almost everyone can recognize sharpness of an entire composition as effective. Realistically, this can only happen in limited situations. For example, all elements of a photograph must be in focus (this happens in landscape photos at infinity) and everything must be still enough so there is no motion blur.
The way of bokeh is to recognize that almost all photographs have some blurring and out-of-focus elements. Rather than deprecating, the zen of blur is to embrace. If you must have blur, why not make your bokeh the best it can be?
Taking the zen of bokeh one step further, can you conceive of photos that are about blurring rather than sharpness?
View this photograph larger. Read the back story featuring this image.
Bokeh comes from the Japanese word boke (ぼけ), meaning blur. The terminology may also be derived in part from bokashi, a blurring ink wash technique used by great Japanese artists like Hokusai. (Bokashi also seems to be a Japanese composting method.)
In photograph terms, bokeh is caused by a great number of factors, including:
- the lens and its optical design
- the way a scene is lit
- the motion inherent to a subject
- the aperture (f-stop) used
- the quantity of out-of-focus elements in a scene
- the way a scene is lit
Lens designers know that depth-of-field gets shallower for close-up subjects. The converse is also true: Going outwards from infinity there is infinite depth-of-field.
Since macro photography therefore implies shallow depth-of-field, there will be focus blurring even at f/64. Taking this in mind, some speciality macro lenses are made so that they tend to produce good bokeh. As the manual for my Nikon PC Micro-Nikkor 85mm f/2.8D puts this, "Rounded diaphragm opening makes out-of-focus elements appear more natural." [sic]
View this photograph larger. Read the back story featuring this image.
More important than the technical considerations of what creates good bokeh is the ability of a photographer to recognize pleasing bokeh and to work to enhance it.
You should look closely at the bokeh characteristics of your photos, particularly close-ups and portraits. Experiment. Try to understand what happens to your bokeh when you change your f/stop (use the depth-of-field preview to get a sense of this while taking the photo). Work with your photographic compositions to see if you can enhance the bokeh by slightly changing your position, the lighting, or your precise point of focus.
Realize that the bokeh in a photo is as important, or even more important, than any other element. For example, in the photo I took of a white California poppy below, the flower bud and waterdrops are nice, but the purple bokeh is what makes the photo.
View this image larger. Read the back story featuring this image.
Do You Know the Way?
Jack was kind enough to come with me for another night hike up the beast, Mission Peak. This time, I didn't forget my tripod. Looking up from near the trailhead, where cows grazed along side the Silicon Valley McMansions, the summit looked shrouded in clouds.
When we got to the summit ridge, we were encased in white fog. We pressed on for the workout, if not for the photos. Then the fog started to breakup.
From the top, the lights of San Jose looked startling below the roiling hills. Remaining clouds, one of them pointing right at San Jose, appeared black where the thickness of the fog layer preserved them from ambient light. I fired off this thirty second capture, and within a minute or two the clouds were gone.
Creature of the Night
(or, the Were-Photographer)
With all the night photography I've been doing lately, I've begun to feel a bit like a night owl. To put this in another context, sometimes I think I am a mole blinking at the sunlight. Weird for a photographer. In fact, maybe I am becoming a were-Photographer.
My friend Mark reminded me recently that there is more to photography than darkness. I don't have to be a mole, or a creature of the night.
Although I do tend to focus on my current photographic obsession, whatever that is. So I guess I'll be photographing the night for a while more. Until I go on to the next photographic obsession.
In the spirit of recognizing that there is more to photography than digital darkness, here's one of my first captures from Arch Rock while it was still somewhat light. The photo shows the remote side of Point Reyes stretching down to the great cape culminating in the Point Reyes lighthouse. I exposed for six seconds at ISO 100 and f/4, and it was still light enough for plenty of detail to be rendered quite realistically.
The rest of the story, as light faded and the captures became more expressionistic: Night Shore; Renegade Remaining Photons; Twilight Turns to Night.
Photographers of the night unite! A-bleh (in Transylvanian accent with incisors getting longer)!


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The thing is the Kbb Value of the car right now is about 12k I have 10k left on the payments. I just recently figured out that i dont want this car long term( not that its a bad car but for my reason for asking this question) so i was weighing my options. Would any of you sell the car without being able to make a nice down payment for the new car and generally having less money then what the car cost, technically being in the whole for a few years? Thats what i see selling the car right now would land me.110g All Male Peacock/Hap Tank
04-30-2013, 06:16 PM #14Senior Member Red tailed catfish
- Join Date
- Dec 2010
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- Israel
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So heres the thing... I do this for a living as an Underwriter... I am not going to list my company because that would just be a little to much linkage...
First the dealer will 90% of the time no do right by you. You will not be able to private sell the car for what you are paying off, second you will not recieve what its worth via trade in and most cars you are looking for will be in a loan to value possition WAY over what THAT newer car is worth. Plus whatever interest and all that that goes with it. KBB public is not the same as NADA private for valuation, as well as not all lenders use NADA.
Now on the car its self, unless there is something that you just wont live with in the car, thats up to you. I cant make you keep the car but think its what is your best intrest. What I can tell you is that a camry (as stated) is a poor mans lexus. The lexus will last and you treat it gingerly compared to most. The average miles on a unit per year is 15k.
You obviously have a great head on your shoulders on saving, having 10k in the bank to pay off the vehicle. I would pay it off, live with the car for another 3-5 years and then go with cash money and finance a car at 50% or less of the value. Buy new and go when the dealer is giving away a warranty with the new car. You will then have the dealers warranty + the factory warranty with no cost to you. Feel free to PM me if you want to talk in depth.FW: 1 45gal, 1 40gal, 3 10gal, 3 30gal all community tanks of different species
Sw: 1 55gal, 1 30gal show, 1 29gal show, 1 20gal and 2 10's
Sounds like Sandz knows what he's talking about.My 33 gallon/125 liter tank. My photography on flickr.
04-30-2013, 08:46 PM #17Member Swordtails
- Join Date
- Mar 2012
- Location
- Kemah TX
- Posts
- 58
04-30-2013, 08:58 PM #18Member Swordtails
- Join Date
- Mar 2012
- Location
- Kemah TX
- Posts
- 58
[QUOTE=Sandz;First the dealer will 90% of the time no do right by you. You will not be able to private sell the car for what you are paying
I would have to disagree with the above statement.
In the Houston area a 2004 LS 430 would run between 13,000 to nearly 20,000 used.
If the OP ows 10K he should be able to sell it for more than he ows and depending on the car and milage he should be able to make 5K or more off the sale. If he used that cash and the 10K in savings he could put a nice downpayment on the Camery.
Now weather he is better off with the 2004 or a newer car, that only he can answer......
I personally dont keep cars after a certain age because I dont want the hasle when they start to fail, an honestly I also like having newer cars.Just a personal choice.
0110g All Male Peacock/Hap Tank
It honestly sounds as though you are more attached to the idea of keeping up the value which doesnt diminish by the mile as much as by the months rolling by. I would not rely on a dealer to give me X price for the car. It doesnt hurt however to become or seek out a credit union. If you have established credit with them you will see much more favorable APR%. The dealer marks up deals to make reserve off of the contract you finance as well as they generally pass along bank fees and other $ that you do not need to be paying. If you have a way to consult with a private bank or credit union that you are established with it would turn around my decision to keep the Lexus.
I understand a V8 is a beast to deal with on gas. I drive a 2012 Camry. I get two weeks worth of gas driving 5miles from the house to work on the V-6 engine. Its not near as much savings as avoiding the idea of the new finance charge, that you will be buying a vehicle that will be declining in value at a faster price (think of the down side of a bell curve), with more financed. You need to consider that the price of the new vehicle will be a good chunk of interest.
.FW: 1 45gal, 1 40gal, 3 10gal, 3 30gal all community tanks of different species
Sw: 1 55gal, 1 30gal show, 1 29gal show, 1 20gal and 2 10's


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/NET folder Aggravation
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Member Since: Sep 23, 2008
Posts: 2
Hello all, this is my first post, and especially with regards to MAC OS X, please try to be just a little patient with me. Thank you and thank you for your help.
Here is my situation. I have a Linux network with many mount points in both Samba and NFS. The entry point for these shares on the Linux servers is "/NET". This has been functionning this way for a very long time and included in here are mount points for MAC and Windows.
We have many scripts where "/NET" as the entry point is hard-coded. Changing all of them is an almost unsurmountable task.
Now with the latest updates to MAC OS X.5, the devs decided to go ahead and create their own "/net" folder and incorporate it as a "necessary hard-coded folder" in the OS itself.
I have tried to rename/remove, move, delete... said folder on the OS X.5 machine, but to no avail. If I mount it as "/NET" via Samba/NFS the OS recognizes 2 different folders... I.E. 1 in capitals and 1 in "non-capitals". This is outside of the Regular Unix/Linux behaviour and is IMO changing the OS base of MAC OS.
Does anyone know of a way- tweak, workaround, or anything else I can do, to "correct" this situation? I'll go as far as I need to (or just about) to resolve this. I am thinking maybe in Single User mode, mod the OS to no longer look for this folder and "hard-code" a different folder to the search path if required...
Thank you in advance and sorry about the Long post.
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text: Next Purchase this photo Bishop Nash/The Herald-Dispatch People enjoy harmonica music under the gazebo during the 23rd annual Old Central City Days on Sunday, June 22, 2014, in Huntington. Gallery: Old Central City Days, Sunday Jun. 22, 2014 @ 03:47 PM Bishop Nash Shoppers got to browse for antiques with the added flair of a street fair during Old Central City Days on Sunday in Huntington. ()


text:
Universal News
New York, NY 10019
(the Italian men's fashion rag), I combed the East Village trying to locate a copy. Ink on Avenue A had only last month's issue. Barnes & Noble? As if. In the end, I overcame my lazy ways and schlepped to Soho, where Universal News takes its stand. (There is another location on the Upper West Side.) Overwhelmed by the floor-to-ceiling magazine racks lining its vast interior, I sought help from an employee, then settled down with a cappuccino to peruse my find (the shop doubles as a cafA(c)). With the city's widest range of international periodicals, Universal News is the first place I'll look next time.


text:
(1) Introduction
These terms and conditions govern your use of our website; by using our website, you accept these terms and conditions in full. If you disagree with any part of these terms and conditions, do not use our website.
(2) Console Doctor repair agreement
(a) The price stated on the Console Doctor website is Inc VAT.
From 01/12/2011 - if your console is beyond economical repair, we will charge £15.00 to cover postage costs or offer a trade in deal for a Brand New console. Please see (m)
(b) The amount of time taken to repair specified faults is only an estimate. This time is not guaranteed, and is dependant on the availability of parts, and/or current workload.
(c) Consoles booked as trade ins for new consoles are recycled as soon as they arrive at our premises, once we have assessed they are in acceptable condition. By confirming the order, you are giving permission for us to use your console in this way.
(d) All of our repair work is guaranteed for 90 days, starting upon receipt of the console after payment, providing the Console Doctor warranty seal is not tampered with or removed (also see f). This warranty is not transferable or extendable.
(e) Console Doctor reserves the right to withhold your console until payment is received. If we have not received payment 6 weeks from the date of repair/inspection, we are authorised to dispose of your console or use it as we see fit. This includes consoles which have been deemed beyond repair by our engineers.
(f) Warranty repairs only cover parts that have been replaced or repaired. This means we will not repair faults under warranty that have been caused by physical damage or negligence on the part of the user. Console Doctor reserves the right to determine the cause of the fault.
(g) Console Doctor will place a warranty sticker and a unique barcode on every console for warranty and internal tracking procedures.
(h) If Console Doctor determines a console does not fall under a warranty repair we reserve the right to charge the customer for labour and return postage.
(i) Consoles lost in post during delivery - Console Doctor use two companies for collection and return delivery depending on the console type. (Please see q)
(j) Although unlikely data loss may occur during the repair process, it is therfore advisable that you back-up any files before sending the console.Console Doctor is not held responsible for data loss that may occur.
(k) Please remove any memory cards and games if possible before sending the console, unless you feel that they contribute to the fault, or have been requested to include them. Cables such as power and audio visual leads should not be included, unless you feel they contribute to the fault, as we cannot guarantee that they will be returned.
(l) Changes of address for postage must be submitted at the time of payment.
(m) This £15.00 charge also applies if a console is sent into us as a free estimate, and the customer wants to have the console returned without a repair being completed.
(n) Console Doctor is not responsible for accessories/peripherals sent to us, we ask that you do not send anything but the console to us.
Royal Mail Freepost [The customer must keep proof of posting to make a claim]
Console Doctor will replace any lost consoles with either a brand new or 2nd hand console of the same type & condition lost. For any lost consoles the customer must make Console Doctor aware within 10 days of dispatch or we cannot make a claim to the courier on your behalf, therefore any offer of replacement would be refused.
Console Doctor informs every customer via text and email of dispatch of their console, a typical delivery time is within 48hrs from dispatch. The customer has 8 days from expected delivery date to inform Console Doctor to make a successful claim.
(o) For purposes of delivering the console to you, we are required to pass on your email address and telephone number to the courier company.
(p) If Console Doctor determines a console does not fall under a warranty repair we reserve the right to charge the customer for labour and return postage.
(q) You must retain your collect+ receipt (which is provided from the Collect+ store). This is proof of postage and is needed to place a claim. Without the receipt we will not be able to supply a replacment.
(p) If you have not received your console, or your console was damaged during transit, you will need to inform us within 10 days from the date of postage so that we can make a claim on your behalf. Failing to do so may result in us being unable to supply a replacement.
(3) Intellectual property rights
Unless otherwise stated, we or our licensors own the intellectual property rights in the website and material on the website. Subject to the licence below, all these intellectual property rights are reserved.
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You may view, download for caching purposes only, and print pages from the website for your own personal use, subject to the restrictions below.
You must not:
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The information on this website is provided free-of-charge, and you acknowledge that it would be unreasonable to hold us liable in respect of this website and the information on this website.
Whilst we endeavour to ensure that the information on this website is correct, we do not warrant its completeness or accuracy; nor do we commit to ensuring that the website remains available or that the material on the website is kept up-to-date.
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Console Doctor
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text:
- 2016
2012 Honda Pilot
- For SaleHonda Pilot
- RepairsHonda Pilot
in 2012 Affordable Midsize SUVs
2012 Honda Pilot Performance
This performance review was created when the car was new. Some links may no longer point to an active page.
The 2012 Honda Pilot will get you around, but you won't get much enjoyment out of driving it. The Pilot receives praise for its smooth ride, easy maneuvering and adequate power. However, test drivers complain about abnormally long braking distances and excessive body roll. Thanks to this year's improvements, the Pilot's fuel economy is at the top of its class.
- "Despite its size, the 2012 Honda Pilot SUV rides and drives very much like a large car." -- Kelley Blue Book
- "On the road, the Pilot does a fine job, and there is no noticeable lack of power." -- Motor Trend
- "But if you enjoy driving, the Pilot is probably the wrong vehicle for you -- it just has no soul." -- MSN
- "When it comes to performance, 2012 Honda Pilot is hindered by a lack of power and a hefty curb weight." -- Edmunds
Acceleration and Power
The 2012 Honda Pilot comes with a 250-horsepower V6 engine that's paired with a five-speed automatic transmission. The Pilot can tow up to 4,500 pounds in four-wheel drive models, which is less than many other crossovers in its class. The engine includes Variable Cylinder Management, enabling it to run on three, four or six cylinders based on the amount of power needed, which reduces fuel consumption. For 2012, the Pilot receives aerodynamic and powertrain improvements that net even better fuel economy. According to the EPA, front-wheel drive Pilot models get 18/25 mpg city/highway, while four-wheel drive models get 17/24 mpg city/highway. Honda claims that these numbers make the Pilot one of the most fuel-efficient V6 crossovers with three rows on the market. Still, its gas mileage isn't significantly better than competitors; it beats out the eight-seat Chevrolet Traverse by only 1 mpg in each category when comparing two-wheel drive models.
Most test drivers note that while the Honda Pilot isn't particularly sluggish, it's certainly slower than most of its competition. One reviewer says that the automatic transmission sometimes has trouble finding the right gear.
- "We love the 3.5-liter V6 for its gutsy response when we demand to go fast, and for its smooth, silent operation. We also like the fuel economy, which is near the best in this class." -- Kelley Blue Book
- "The Pilot's powertrain lags some of the competition, since the V-6 produces only 250 hp and is mated to a five-speed automatic; newer competitors have six-speeds and more power. That said, I didn't find engine power to be an issue, even when I loaded 600 lb of water-softener salt into the cargo hold." -- Automobile Magazine
- "At the track, the Pilot motored to 60 mph in 8.5 seconds and ran through the quarter mile in 16.6 seconds at 83.6 mph. Braking from 60 mph took a longish 142 feet. Those aren't bad numbers, but they certainly aren't class-leading." -- Motor Trend
- "In Edmunds performance testing, we clocked a Pilot Touring from a standstill to 60 mph in a pokey 9.7 seconds, a full second or two behind many rivals." -- Edmunds
- "Low towing capacity reminds of its minivan-based underpinnings." -- Car and Driver
Handling and Braking
Most test drivers are pleased with the 2012 Pilot's comfortable handling, though a few note significant body lean while cornering or during hard braking. One reviewer takes issue with the Pilot's unusually bad braking performance, which puts it on par with heavy-duty trucks rather than rival crossover SUVs.
- "We can carp about option packages and pricing all we want, but it's hard to deny that the Pilot is one of the best-driving crossovers in its segment. The steering is very nicely weighted, and engineers have dialed in the suspension perfectly -- there's little body roll, and the ride quality is neither too soft nor too stiff." -- Automobile Magazine
- "We found the Pilot's steering a bit heavily weighted, but it is very precise and offers good feedback in the turns. On the highway the Pilot SUV tracks straight, and even strong wind gusts can't deter it from its intended course." -- Kelley Blue Book
- "Crisp steering, but soft springs make for lots of lean in turns, squat under acceleration, and dive when braking." -- Car and Driver
- "Generally car-like driving feel, with fine low-speed maneuverability and city-friendly turning radius. The tires' tall sidewalls contribute to slightly lazy steering response in quick changes of direction. Pilot's high center of gravity means fair body lean in sharp turns, but no undue noseplow." -- Consumer Guide
- "Antilock disc brakes are also standard, but they don't do a very good job in panic stops, requiring a very long 149 feet to halt the Pilot from 60 mph. Only vehicles without ABS or heavy-duty trucks tend to match that distance, which is at least 20 feet longer than most competitors." -- Edmunds
Four-Wheel Drive
The Pilot's optional Variable Torque Management four-wheel drive system (VTM-4) isn't meant for true off-roading, but it works in mud, snow or loose gravel. It has a feature that lets you manually lock the rear differential at low speeds. Test drivers say it works well, though for true off-road brawn, shoppers will be better off with alternatives like the Toyota FJ Cruiser.
- "Decent off-road capability for a mainstream crossover." -- Car and Driver
- "Although we didn't have a chance to test the Pilot's AWD system in the snow, we did venture up some dirt fire roads and found the VTM-4 AWD setup to be fairly capable of keeping the Pilot SUV moving forward through dirt, loose gravel and mud." -- Kelley Blue Book


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The San Diego Chargers snatch up to two superior veterans, offensive tackle Max Starks and defensive end Dwight Freeney both bring experience and will make an impact with the team come fall.
After giving up 49 sacks in 2012, the Bolts upgraded the right side picking right tackle DJ Fluker in the first round of the 2013 NFL draft this past month. His addition only solves half the team's offensive line woes, so it was critical general manager Tom Telesco find a veteran lineman to help protect quarterback Phillip Rivers blindside in 2013.
This past week the Bolts did exactly that by signing veteran left tackle Starks to a one year deal. He spent his entire nine-year career with the Pittsburgh Steelers and played in all 16 regular season games last season.
Obviously, Starks is a temporary solution to help rebuild the offensive line in 2014, but he does add strength and veteran experience to an inexperienced offensive line for the 2013 season.
How effective will Starks be on the left side of the offensive line for the Bolts?
Well, If he can give Rivers any time to throw and add somewhat of a running attack for running back Ryan Mathews, it will be a successful offseason for Telesco and new head coach Mike McCoy. However, if Starks resembles anything like Jared Gaither, it will be another long season for Rivers whose patience with fans is on ice with this mediocrity the last two years.
The other addition made this past week by the Chargers was the signing of defensive-end Dwight Freeney
The team certainly has had an interesting 2013 offseason that started off with the firing of their head coach Norv Turner and general manager AJ Smith. Including the selection of linebacker Manti Te'o in the second round of the draft raised eyebrows, but the roller coaster ride did not end there.
Last week, the Bolts lost their best pass rusher in second year linebacker Melvin Ingram to an ACL tear. His absence leaves an enormous hole on the defensive side of the football. Larry English is underachieving first round pick and Jarrett Johnson is a run stopper.
Did the desperate Chargers front office panic and choose the right free agent to fill Ingram's void? Is the former Colt Defensive Lineman Freeney really the answer to San Diego's pass rushing woes?
The fans hear the name Freeney, and the idea of the Pro Bowl pass rusher who has collected 378 tackles, 107.5 sacks, and one Super Bowl Ring over his 11 year career. But instead, the Chargers have signed a 33 year old player whose best days are behind him.
Since 2009, Freeney's been plagued with injuries and a drop in sacks each year. He collected only 12 tackles and five sacks while battling a high ankle sprain in 2012. He did have a sack in each of the final three games last year, the physicality of the NFL proved time and time again that age is a deterrent for many veterans.
There is no doubt Freeney has the skills and the experience to help the Chargers on the pass rush if he stays healthy and the team uses him effectively, but the Chargers should definitely prep for another option in case he finds himself sidelined again with leg problems.


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Information on Korea
(Time, Exchange rate, Transportation)
1. Republic of Korea
: Republic of Korea (South Korea)
: Seoul
National flag
: Taegeukgi
National flower
: Mugunghwa (Rose of Sharon)
: Won (₩)
: Korean (Written form: Hangeul)
: Strategically located at the crossroads of Northeast Asia. Korea lies between Japan, the Russian Far East and China.
: 223,170km2 (South Korea: 100,032km2)
: Standard Time is nine hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+9). Korea does not use daylight savings time.
: Temperate with four distinct seasons. Seoul belongs to the Temperate Zone featuring four distinctive seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter. The average temperature in the early November in 2010 was approximately 9.2°C.
Major cities
: Seoul (10.0 million), Busan (3.5 million), Incheon (2.7 million), Daegu (2.5 million), Daejeon (1.5 million), Gwangju (1.4 million), Ulsan (1.1 million)
: 48.50 million (2010)
Population increase rate
: 0.31% (2008)
: A 2005 census showed that half of the population actively practices a religion. Among this group, 10,726,463 Buddhists, 8,616,438 Protestants and 5,146,147
Catholics comprise the three dominant religions.
Political System
: Constitutional democracy with president elected to a single 5-year term by direct popular vote. Division of power among the executive, legislature (unicameral National Assembly) and judiciary
: Lee Myung-bak since 2008
: Universal at 19 years of age
: In 2008, Korea provided a total of 797 million USD (preliminary figure) of ODA and plans to expand the volume up to 0.15% of its Gross National Income (GNI) by 2012, and 0.25% by 2015.
: South Korea began participating in United Nations peacekeeping operations with the dispatch of a battalion of military engineers to Somalia in 1993. It has since joined peacekeeping efforts in India, Pakistan, Liberia, Burundi, Sudan, Georgia, East Timor, Lebanon and Afghanistan and sent the Zaytun forces to Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region.
: Education in South Korea is regarded as crucial to financial and social success, and competition is consequently fierce, with many participating in intense outside tutoring to supplement classes. In the 2006 results of the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment, South Korea came first in problem solving, third in mathematics and seventh in science.South Korea's education system is technologically advanced and it is the world's first country to bring high-speed fibre-optic broadband internet access to every primary and secondary school nation-wide.
Gross Domestic Product
: $986.2 billion (2009)
Per Capita GNI
: $19,231 (2008)
Major Industrial Products
: Semiconductors, automobiles, ships, consumer electronics, mobile telecommunication equipment, steel and chemicals
: Korea has actively engaged in FTA negotiations with over 50 countries. So far, FTAs with Chile, Singapore, EFTA, ASEAN, India and Peru have entered into force and the Korea-EU FTA has been provisionally applied since July 1, 2011. The Korea-U.S. FTA was signed in June 2007 followed by an agreement in December 2010, and currently it awaits approval for ratification in the Korean National Assembly. Korea is currently negotiating FTAs with GCC, Australia, New Zealand, Columbia, Canada, Turkey and Mexico.
Longest rivers
: Amnokgang 790km, Nakdonggang 521.5km, Dumangang 521km, Hangang 481.7km
Major cities
: Seoul (10.0 million), Busan (3.5 million), Incheon (2.6 million), Daegu (2.5 million), Daejeon (1.5 million), Gwangju (1.4 million), Ulsan (1.1 million)
World Heritage
Haeinsa Temple Janggyeongpanjeon, the Depositories for the Tripitaka Koreana Woodblocks (1995)
Jongmyo Shrine (1995)
Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple (1995)
Changdeokgung Palace Complex (1997)
Hwaseong Fortress (1997)
Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites (2000)
Gyeongju Historic Areas (2000)
Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes (2007)
Joseon Dynasty's royal tombs (2009)
II. Currency and Credit Card
The unit of Korean currency is the Korean Won (KRW) Coin denominations are 10Won, 50Won, 100Won, and 500Won. Bank notes are 1,000Won, 5,000Won, 10,000Won and 50,000Won. Foreign currency and traveler's checks can be exchanged into Korean Won at most banks in Korea as well as at the airport. The exchange rate is subject to market fluctuation. One U.S. dollar is equivalent to about 1,183 KRW as of October 7, 2011.
Major credit cards, including VISA, American Express, Diners Club and MasterCard are accepted at most hotels, department stores, and restaurants.
Ⅲ. Tipping and Taxes
No tipping is required at major tourist spots. Value Added Tax (VAT) is levied on most goods at a standard rate of 10%. In major tourist hotels, a 10% VAT plus a 10% service charge is added to the bills for rooms, meals, and other services.
Ⅳ. Business Hours
Weekends &
National Holidays
9 am - 4 pm
Government Offices & Organizations
9 am - 6 pm
Post Offices
9 am - 6 pm
(Central Post Office: 9 am-8 pm)
(Central Post Office:
9 am- 1 pm)
Foreign Diplomatic Missions
hours vary, please see the following link for more information:
Department Stores
10:30 am - 8 pm
*Typically one day a month (usually a Monday) department stores are closed to the public. However, closings will vary according to each store.
Ⅴ. Transportation
- Ticket Purchase
Please buy your ticket to use the train. Standard tickets can be purchased at ATVM (Automatic Ticket Vending Machine).
There are two kinds of tickets. One is prepaid transit card which is a rechargeable allowing passenger to use them until the balance on the card is exhausted and add value afterwards. It will give you a transfer discount as well. The other is a one-time use ticket which you can receive a 500 Won refund when you arrive at the destination. It requires an additional 100 Won to the prepaid transit and there will not be a transfer discount.
Regular Taxi
Deluxe Taxi (Mobeom Taxi)
2,400 won for the first 2km and 100 won for each additional 144m. Between midnight and 4:00 am, additional 20% is charged.
4,500 won for the first 3km and 200 won for each additional 164m. It offers a higher quality of service. Recognized by their black color.
Ⅵ. International and Domestic Call
Ⅶ. Electricity supply
The standard electricity supply is 220 volts AC/60 cycles.
However, outlets for 110 and 220 volts are available at the hotel.
Fun Fun Korea(Tourist Attractions, Shopping, Useful Korean language)
Seoul is a remarkably safe city. Violent crime rates are exceedingly low compared to other major cities around the world. Generally speaking, you can walk around just about any part of town at any part of the day and not feel threatened in any way. Seoul has tons of great walking courses that will put visitors in touch with the city's history, culture and vibrant lifestyle. This section introduces just a few recommended courses to get you started.
Seoul Walking Tour Guide
Seoul is a safe city. Generally speaking, you can walk around just about any part of town at any part of the day and not feel threatened in any way. Seoul has tons of great walking courses that will put visitors in touch with the city's history, culture and vibrant lifestyle. This section introduces just a few recommended courses to get you started.
1. Tourist Attractions
Operating hours and intervals
Every 5-8 minutes, from 8:00 a.m. to 12 a.m.
Bus Fare
800 KRW for cash and 700 KRW for transportation card.
Quintessential Korean Food
김치 Kimchi
비빔밥 Bibimbap (Rice Mixed with Vegetables and Beef)
불고기 Bulgogi (Beef in a Soy sauce Marinade)
삼계탕 Samgyetang (Ginseng Chicken soup)
막걸리(탁주) Makgeolli (Takju)
Useful Korean Language