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The documentaries of Berlin and Beyond
FILM It's January, and our premiere German language film festival, Berlin and Beyond, is back to its rightful place on the cinematic calendar after a year off for regrouping, kicking off the neues Jahr with films from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland — as well as Turkey and France.Read more »
New Last Gasp releases explore the unsettling art of Laurie Lipton and Elizabeth McGrath
firstname.lastname@example.com more »
Embracing the great unknown While it could be argued that every day represents a new year, with each date falling exactly one year after the last, like unconscious clockwork, there's something comforting in the ritual of observing the change in calendar year en masse. A time to take accounts, and make new goals. A time of psychic housekeeping: ridding oneself of the spiritual and mental detritus of the past, in order to make space for a future as yet undefined.
All of which is on my mind as I prepare to bang out my last Performant, at least for the time being. During the last three-and-a-half years I've witnessed hundreds of performances, featuring thousands of performers, in venues large and small, each one a brief, incandescent flame feeding into a bonfire of epic creativity. House concerts, punk shows, spoken word, street festivals, performance art meditations, live comedy, high drag camp, amateur wrestling competitions, robot soccer, battle rap, obscure cinema, alternative dance, home theater, and circus arts have all found a place in the Performant, proving, I hope, that just as borders geographical and psychological can be transcended, so too can artistic ones.
Read more »
Why it doesn't "get better" for Carrie White
YEAR IN FILM While teen bullying might be quite topical, it's far from being a new issue, as evidenced by Stephen King's first published novel, Carrie. Set in the hormone-jittery corridors of a suburban high school, the 1974 tome details an outsider's humiliating entrance into womanhood, as well as the ruthless revenge she enacts on her cruel classmates after she discovers she has the power to move objects with her mind.Read more »
Resurrecting the Exquisite Corpse Welcome to the Starship Dental Prize. A vessel so intrepid it dares to probe the darkest, dankest folds of outer space, not to mention the incandescent snarls of surrealistic whimsy. Fish. Squonk. Celine Dion. Her stalwart crew includes a sassy computer powered by illogic (Becky Hirschfeld), a vodka-swilling ensign Anton Anton (Bryce Byerley), psychic science officer Mentoo Fractosa (Chandler White), and a pelvic-thrust obsessed captain Oliver Clozoffe (Jody Frandle). Her mission, undetermined. Her story, as yet unwritten.
THE YEAR IN THEATER: Highlights from 2013, on and off the boards
YEAR IN THEATER Before the holiday season crushes us in its tinsel-glinted maw and poops us out into 2014, it's time to cast a backward glance and ponder 2013's best moments in theater and performance.
Most satisfyingly enigmatic flights Getting lost can be a good thing. It can concentrate the attention, heighten the senses, activate the imagination, leave room for reflection — and leave something to talk about afterward. This is as true for a visit to the theater as it is for a walk around town.Read more »
Upon reaching the fifth floor of the California Institute of Integral Studies, a wall of makeshift web diagrams asks arriving oddience members to detail what the longest amount of time they went without sleep was, and what do they tell themselves to get through stress. The average appears to be around 36 hours — which is about as long as I can boast — but no responders quite match the Guinness Book record of 449 hours held by Maureen Weston, nor even to the 60 hours that Mugwumpin, creators of performative "occurrences," intend to stay awake in this, its last presentation of the year, Asomnia.
Valencia Street art space struggles to retain its physical and spiritual existence Sometimes you stumble across places that just feel like home the instant you step across the threshold. Maybe not the kind of home where you lounge around in sweatpants binging on Dynamo Donuts and Netflix, but a home that offers comfort for the spirit, where creativity and intention reign. Curiosity shop, design showcase, and artist enclave, Viracocha at 998 Valencia Street has been one such home for many, from the poets who helped build its pallet-wood walls, to the neighborhood literati who donated to and borrowed from Ourshelves, the private lending library that until very recently occupied the back of the building, to the acoustic musicians and spoken-word artists who gathered in the basement to perform and to connect, to the visual artists whose work was treated as décor first and merchandise almost as an afterthought.
Despite the supposed onset of winter, it's another sunny day as I pedal up to the San Francisco Columbarium, a stately domed edifice perched at the end of a discreet cul de sac off Geary and Arguello. Currently operated by the secular Neptune Society, the Columbarium is one of the last remaining repositories for the dead within San Francisco city limits, the majority of San Francisco's deceased having been relocated to Colma from the turn of the 20th century on. A group of about 30 curiosity seekers have gathered at the gates. We've all come for an Obscura Society "field trip," in this instance a tour of the iconic structure, led by the man who has been credited with almost single-handedly presiding over the Columbarium's resurrection from decades of neglect, Emmitt Watson.
The Obscura Society is an offshoot of four year-old online encyclopedia of wonder, Atlas Obscura, and other local excursions have included ones to Suisun Bay, the Albany Bulb, the San Francisco Motorcycle Club clubhouse, an abandoned train station in Oakland, the Zymoglyphic Museum of San Mateo, and an after-dark tour of the Woodlawn cemetery in Colma. Like a darker, more relentless version of Nerd Nite with stronger drinks and more historians, its Tuesday night salons at the DNA Lounge are equally expansive, covering a whole gamut of hidden histories on topics such as vigilantes, rum-runners, the Donner Party, rail transportation, and absinthe.
When a friend of a friend held his 33 1/3rd birthday party, he filled the rooms of his apartment with turntables and stacks of LPs for his guests to play themselves. It was basically the best party ever, and a good argument for propagating the tradition of celebrating that particular milestone. And of course what better milestone to celebrate if you're in the music business, like long-time independent label Alternative Tentacles? Particularly in a business climate unkind to independent anything, to be able to celebrate three-plus decades of sticking it to the establishment at all is some cause for jubilee.


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We had a relatively quiet one for Elsie's 7th. A friend Lucy and one of Lily's friends came over and we went to the Jump Nation trampoline place in Manchester. An hour was easily enough. Red-faced, whacked out and happy, the … Continue reading
Category Archives: Blog
Blue Monday – coming back down from the Three Peaks Cyclocross
No matter how I try, I can't just let the 3 Peaks Cyclocross happen around me. It's not something I finish, hose the bike off, and put away on a Sunday evening. In the same way as the build-up swallows … Continue reading
2014 Peaks Prepped.
A gap year I'm coming back. The race that first sucked me in in 1995 has provided every emotion to me in the intervening years. It has brought me relief, happiness, satisfaction and fulfillment. In 2009, it brought me unadulterated … Continue reading
Summer Holidays 2014 in Scotland
After a few years of overseas holidays in summer and winter, we spent our first summer at home for 5 years. We headed up to Scotland – lured in part by the Commonwealth Games, and part by the year's big purchase of a … Continue reading
Lily's final day at Primary School
A family milestone reached in seemingly no time. In September 2007 the little girl (pictured right) started at Broadway Primary School. Just about to turn five, Lily was definitely ready to start school, but it still seemed soon, and she … Continue reading
Was it a dream? Did the Tour de France come to Yorkshire?
I'm writing this very early on a Monday morning after what I have to assume was just a fantasy – a dream lived out in immense detail. I woke up ealy feeling still adreniline-pumped from a dream so intense that it … Continue reading
A Midsummer Bike's Dream
I rode my bike a long way. And with a lot of climbing. That's all.
Joined the Caravan of Love
We chatted about it for three years, then eventually it happened. It was bound to – I nagged. We got ourselves a caravan in the early part of the year with the aim of getting away a bit more often … Continue reading
Elsie's 6th
We took the opportunity to have what may be the last chance for a big round-a-table tea party for Elsie's 6th Birthday. They grow up quickly and the pass-the-parcel stuff doesn't go on indefinitely. Elsie had a lovely time – … Continue reading
Ten Years a Blogger > Happy Birthday, Minnellium
28th April 2004, and Dave, perhaps a little distracted at work, decides to start a blog. "Minnellium" is a word I'd started to use for a music project back in 1999, as I'd worked on a Millennium Commission-funded project and numerous … Continue reading
Family Fun meets Setback Saturday
We'd been planning a lovely family get together for a few months now – taking advantage of a trip north by my southerly-settled cousin Adrian and wife Dee, coinciding with both their 50th birthdays. Heading up there today to catch … Continue reading
Introducing Frank
After a few months of waiting, searching, and deliberation, we picked up our puppy, Frank, last Saturday. With the girls the ages they are (5 and 11) it's such a precious moment and one perfectly timed with the Easter Holidays. … Continue reading

subset: commoncrawl


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Noted S.A. piano on the auction block
By Richard A. Marini : March 16, 2013 : Updated: March 16, 2013 11:40pm
Photo By Courtesy of BonhamsA very fine and historical Louis XV style gilt bronze mounted kingwood and marquetry Steinway art case piano Model L, Serial No. 23914; Case No. C3264 1924-1925 A notable example of exquisite partnering of the finest marquetry inlay and boldly conceived gilt bronze mounts. The harp form top inlaid a quatre faces with a foliate vine sinuously entwining the cross banding and encircling a ribbon tied lute and trumpet trophy, the keyboard flanked by substantial acanthus and rocaille mounts, the case sides with foliate reeded mounts centering ribbon tied musical trophies above a circlet of laurel, and gilt putto musicians strumming lyres perched on billowing clouds, the cabriole legs adorned with acanthus scrolled mounts headed by a floral garland ending in foliate sabots. height 40in (102cm); width 82in (208cm); depth 60in (152cm) Est. $60,000-80,000
Photo By Courtesy St. Anthony Hotel
This unidentified quartet used the piano during a performance in the 1940s in the St. Anthony Hotel's Peacock Alley.
Photo By Courtesy of Bonhams
This piano once was the centerpiece of the St. Anthony Hotel's Peacock Alley.
Photo By Courtesy of Bonhams
This piano once was the centerpiece of the St. Anthony Hotel's Peacock Alley.
Photo By Courtesy Photo / Herrera familyFernando Herrera and nephew(standing), Mike Lerma pose for a publicty at the St. Anthony Hotel in San Antonio in early 1980's. Herrera is playing a piano worth $150,000. Courtesy photo of the Herrera family.
More Information
Auction details
What: Auction of fine European furniture, decorative arts and garden ornaments
Where: Bonhams, 220 San Bruno Ave., San Francisco
When: Monday, noon
How to buy: Bids will be accepted online. For information and to register, visit bonhams.com and click on the "how to" tab. Then click on "buy."
The wildly ornate piano that for decades was the centerpiece of the St. Anthony Hotel's famed Peacock Alley will be seen in public Monday for the first time in the 20 years since it was spirited away in the dead of night.
Unfortunately, the instrument will make its reappearance in a San Francisco auction house, not the St. Anthony's sun-lit loggia.
The Steinway art case piano is the highlight of an auction of fine European furniture, decorative arts and garden ornaments scheduled for noon Monday at the San Francisco auction house Bonhams.
Indeed, the rococo piano, looking like something out of a Liberace fever dream, is pictured on the cover of the glossy 168-page auction catalog.
It isn't likely the St. Anthony's new owners may be among the bidders.
The catalog describes the piano as a "notable example of exquisite partnering of the finest marquetry inlay and boldly conceived gilt-bronze mounts."
It pegs its value at $60,000 to $80,000.
First brought to San Antonio by railroad tycoon and St. Anthony owner Ralph W. Morrison in 1938, the piano is in excellent shape, according to Jeffrey Smith, vice president and director of Bonhams' Furniture and Decorative Arts Department in the United States. He said there should be plenty of interest in it.
"A piano of this quality comes on the world market only once every few years," he said.
For decades, the piano held a special place in San Antonio's collective heart. And then that heart was broken when, in 1993, the instrument was unceremoniously packed up and shipped out of town.
"One day it was there and the next, it was gone," recalled Debbie Gonzalez, who worked in the St. Anthony's hotel sales department at the time and is, today, director of sales. "It was horrible. There was such an uproar."
"One of this city's most-treasured and legendary keepsakes no longer is San Antonio's," the late San Antonio Express-News columnist David Anthony Richelieu mourned at the time.
For all the fond memories surrounding the piano, a good portion of the instrument's history is shrouded in mystery. Steinway & Co. records say construction of the Model L Player Piano was completed Aug. 19, 1924, after which it was shipped to Paris where the firm of L. Alavoine et Compagnie decorated the plain mahogany case with mounts of exotic woods and bronze gilded with gold in the shape of vines, flowers and other flourishes.
"It took a year to complete, but when it was done, the piano was truly one of a kind," Smith said.
From Paris, the piano was shipped to the Aeolian Co. in New York for one of its clients.
Here, things get a little murky. In the 1989 book "Steinway," author Ronald Ratcliffe writes that the piano was designed for the Russian Embassy in Paris.
In his column, Richelieu repeated the popular notion that it was later placed in the Soviet Embassy in Washington, D.C.
And according to legend, the piano had an even more impressive provenance.
The auction catalog notes that a newsletter published for the 1983 National Preservation Conference held at the St. Anthony claimed Morrison purchased the piano that had once belonged to "a czar."
However, the catalog also states categorically that "there is no known documentation to substantiate the piano being made for or placed in the Russian Embassy either in Paris or Washington." Smith said he didn't attempt to contact the embassy directly and a recent phone call and email to the embassy seeking information about the piano both went unanswered.
For die-hard believers, Smith offers this tantalizing tidbit: Morrison purchased the piano shortly after the Soviet Embassy in Washington was renovated and expanded. Surely an ornate, Louis XV-style piano would have clashed with the Stalinist architecture the Soviets favored at the time.
As for it once belonging to Russian Czar Nicolas II? "It didn't," Richelieu snipped.
What is known is that Morrison purchased the piano in 1938 for $27,000 (about $441,000 in today's money). He's also believed to have had the player piano mechanism removed and had the piano restrung as a manual instrument.
During the next five-and-a-half decades, the piano became a permanent fixture in the hotel.
"Every bride who ever got married here had her photo taken in front of that piano," Gonzalez recalled.
It was also the centerpiece of elegant weekday afternoon quartet recitals.
"People who lived in the apartments upstairs would come down and have tea," said Clyde J.B. Johnson IV, chief investment officer of San Antonio-based BC Lynd Hospitality, which purchased the hotel out of receivership last spring. "And the old ladies there had their specific spot that they always sat at."
Then in 1993, wrote Richelieu, without notice, the piano disappeared, "rolled out, packed up and shipped off to San Francisco" by Larry Chan, owner and chairman of Park Lane Hotels, the St. Anthony's parent company at the time.
The piano isn't the only object of value that has gone missing from the hotel.
"When we acquired the hotel, there were a lot of artifacts that we have historical write-ups on or appraisals for," according to Lynd CEO Brandon S. Raney. "But when we started doing an accounting, it's like, 'Where are these things?'"
The hotel recently launched a website — stanthonyhistory.com — through which guests and visitors can share their stories and photos of the hotel.
"We're interested in rebuilding a history of the hotel," Raney said. "Rarely do we run into someone who doesn't have some kind of memory or experience at this hotel."
And one part of that history is the missing piano.
Raney and Johnson said they just recently became aware that the piano was to be offered at auction and, while they would love to have it, "We've got lots and lots of things pulling on our budget," Raney said.
Still, he continues, "This is an important artifact that had significant meaning to people who worked in and visited the hotel. It's a piece of artwork."
Twitter: @RichardMarini


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The Chinese garden stool has become a decorating essential, thanks to its versatility: It can serve as an occasional table as well as provide extra seating. This rendition was hand-carved of mahogany and given a sleek gray finish. Made in Indonesia.


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By Jim GaramoneAmerican Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 11, 2003 Do not even think about bringing back to the United States war trophies from your service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
With about 140,000 American service members due to rotate out of Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. Central Command officials are very clear that service members cannot bring home weapons, ammunition and other prohibited items.
A few soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division understand how serious the command is. Some soldiers tried to smuggle weapons back from Baghdad, and they have gone through courts martial. Others received Article 15 administrative punishments. "There is a whole spectrum of punishments, depending on the severity of the offense," said Maj. Robert Resnick, an Army lawyer at Fort Stewart, Ga.
Army Gen. John Abizaid, the commander of U.S. Central Command, has put out the policy. Basically, under no circumstances can individuals take as a souvenir an object that was formerly in the possession of the enemy. The taking of war trophies goes against the coalition mission in Iraq and Afghanistan, officials said.
"We didn't go into Iraq or Afghanistan to conquer them, but to liberate them," said Marine Capt. Bruce Frame, a Central Command spokesman. "Taking articles from those countries sends the wrong message."
Service members with questions should work through the chain of command, CENTCOM officials said, adding that service members will be given ample briefings on what is allowed and what is not. In the case of Iraq, unit commanders will brief service members on the policy before leaving for Kuwait.
In Kuwait, military police will explain the policy and will permit an amnesty period before searching gear and vehicles. In the United States, U.S. Customs Service officials will examine individual gear.
In Afghanistan, unit commanders will explain the policy, and MPs there also will explain it and offer an amnesty period before the service members board the planes. Again, Customs will examine gear and baggage upon return to the United States.
The same prohibitions pertain to American civilians serving in the Central Command area of operations.
Other federal laws pertain to other items. For example, service members cannot bring back plants, animals or other organic materials. Some Marines returning from Afghanistan in April 2002, for example, tried to bring back the skulls of sheep attached to their guidons. The Customs agents met the Marines as they landed on the beach at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and confiscated the items.
No one can bring back antiquities into the United States, and of course, no one can bring drugs or drug paraphernalia into the United States.
The overall prohibition does not pertain to souvenirs that can be legally imported into the United States, officials said.


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The PHS Gold Medal Plant Award program honors little-known and underused woody plants of exceptional merit. Awards have been given to 130 plants since 1988. Click for descriptions for the Award winners; this year's winners are highlighted. We hope you'll find an opportunity to use them in your garden or business.Download File
Bartlett Tree Experts and PHS are co-sponsoring the Tree Care Update, an annual seminar for tree professionals and all those committed to planting and preserving trees.Download File
Add a little color to your home or office by printing out the official poster for the 2014 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show "ARTiculture"!Download File
Natural settings, floral arrangements, and gardens have served as subject matter of some of the world's greatest paintings, prints and sculpture. At "ARTiculture," floral and garden designers will take their inspiration from art found in the nation's leading museums.Download File
Art and horticulture have been closely aligned on canvas and in sculpture from the Old Masters to the Modernists to the contemporary generation of artists. That relationship will find new expression in "ARTiculture," an extraordinary presentation of the PHS Philadelphia Flower Show on March 1 to 9, 2014.Download File
At the 2014 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show, there will be more than 1,000 beautiful, fluttering butterflies in attendance.Download File
The 2014 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show, "ARTiculture," invites visitors to let themselves bloom through a variety of interactive exhibits and experiences.Download File
When the sun starts to set, the Flower Show really begins to bloom. The 2014 show, "ARTiculture," will present themed experiences after dark, including the LGBT Party, Wedding Wednesday, and Girls Night Out.Download File
Amid gorgeous gardens and inspired displays, the 2014 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show, "ARTiculture," will showcase an array of great shopping opportunities.Download File
If you know of a garden you'd like incorporated into the Neighborhood Gardens Trust, please print out and mail in this form.Download File
If you attended PHeaSt and can't stop dreaming about the amazing dishes, now you can try your hand at recreating the farm-to-table sensations at home. Click the link for a dozen recipes from the region's best chefs.Download File
See the faces of PHS and discover our recent accomplishments in the 2013 PHS Annual Report.Download File
Educators interested in hosting the Junior Flower Show should consult this information packet.Download File
Great museums collaborate with floral and landscape designers for "ARTiculture."Download File
Hotels interested in selling tickets to the 2014 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show should complete and submit this form.Download File
Retail outlets interested in selling tickets to the 2014 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show should complete and submit this form.Download File
Discover the ways your business can become involved with the world-famous Flower Show!Download File
A special offer to PHS members from Bartlett Tree ExpertsDownload File
Browse the list of Community Greening Award winners for 2013.Download File
Take a look inside a recent issue of Green Scene with this article about the PHeaSt event.Download File
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society today unveiled the newest member of the city's network of community gardens. The Mantua Urban Peace Garden, 37th and Brown Streets in West Philadelphia, is one of the five PHS Green Resource Centers that support neighbors and other urban farmers in growing fresh, healthy food and creating a more beautiful city landscape.Download File
Learn about PHS's project sites that rely on volunteers. Join our ranks!Download File
The PHS Philadelphia Flower Show received 11 international awards for excellence for the 2013 presentation, "Brilliant!", at ceremonies held Sept. 16 in Pittsburgh, Pa. The honors included seven Gold Awards, the highest form of recognition by the International Festival & Events Association. This was greatest number of overall prizes and Gold Awards ever received by the Flower Show in the competition.Download File
See who came out on top in the complete list of winners for the 2013 PHS City Gardens Contest.Download File
Tree plantings, training and open house planned in September.Download File
Host your next event at the world-famous PHS Philadelphia Flower Show!Download File
PHL17 came to the Pop Up Garden and got great video footage of everyone's new favorite summer destination.Read more
Interested growers are invited to complete an application to becoming involved with PHS City Harvest.Download File
Find out what's growing in the 2013 PHS Pop Up Garden by consulting the plant list.Download File
Over the next 15 years, PHS will collaborate with partners across the city to transform the landscape in these seven areas. Working together, we will create imaginative, sustainable and memorable public spaces that place Philadelphia at the forefront of great civic landscape design.Download File
The PHS Green Machine program will travel throughout Philadelphia this summer to deliver hands-on training, materials and assistance to neighborhood parks and other open spaces.Download File
Click to learn about making a gift of stock to PHS. Gifts of securities are simple to donate and may provide favorable tax benefits.Download File
Philadelphia residents and visitors are invited to consult the PHS Guide to Center City Gardens. Make a plan to visit as many of these special places as you can!Download File
See the list of what's growing atop the PECO Green Roof in Center City Philadelphia.Download File
The region is getting a little greener every day, but there are still many neighborhoods, streets and backyards in need of trees and all the benefits they bring. The second season of "Home Runs for Trees" seeks fan support.Download File
Join PHS on a trip to South Africa!Download File
Want to get involved with a garden or request a garden plot? Use the interactive map to find a location near you. Contact the designated garden representative for inquires, or visit the garden in person.Read more
PHS Members, download the Members' Guide to learn how to make the most of your Flower Show experience.Download File
Consult this list of horticultural speakers based on common subject matters. Contact information is provided. If you are a horticultural expert who wishes to be added to this list, please click here to apply.Download File
Use this guide to learn where to purchase plants, what to grow, and how to connect with other regional gardeners.Read more
Community gardening is fun, rewarding, and reaps endless benefits. If you've considered it before but didn't know where to start, consult this PHS Subject Guide for books, websites, and FAQs pertaining to community gardening.Read more
Orchids have a reputation for being difficult houseplants, but it's simply not true. Consult this PHS Subject Guide for books, websites, and FAQs pertaining to orchid care.Read more
Attention property owners: PHS would like your participation through decorating your building lobby to coincide with this year's theme. Lobby displays can feature any format appropriate for your lobby environment.Download File
If you'd like to become a volunteer, please fill out the online volunteer information form. Once we receive the completed form, we will be in touch regarding volunteer opportunities that match your interests.Read more
If you would like to support the work and mission of PHS by sending a donation through the mail, please click the link below for the corresponding donation form.Download File
Your PHS membership card is your passport to savings throughout the year at the following retail stores and nurseries.Download File
Bring home the fun of PHeaSt by downloading the recipes devised by culinary superstars and community gardening champions.Download File
The Community Greening Award acknowledges the efforts of those who improve their main streets, parks, train stations, churches, and other public spaces.Download File
The PHS City Gardens Contest gives Philadelphians recognition for their dedicated and imaginative gardening skills and offers them the opportunity to compete for top honors in several gardening categories. Congratulations to the 2012 winners.Download File
Look back at PHS's 2012 accomplishments in the new annual report, highlighting the Pop Up Garden, Flower Show, and more.Download File
Green Scene is a great way to get your company or product in front of 25,000 of the Delaware Valley's most avid gardeners. If a discerning, sophisticated audience is your target demographic, consider placing an ad within its pages. E-news and online ads are also available.Download File


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The Canucks were bad Tuesday night, and not the Michael Jackson kind of Bad, which is good. Rather, they were the Colour Me Badd kind of bad, which is so bad it transcends regular badness and bleeds over into "baddness." (My wife: do they really spell it with two Ds? Oh, that's bad. No, honey. It's badd.)
Versus the Stars, the Canucks were badd. They flubbed passes, left massive defensive gaps, squandered powerplays, and generated next to nothing at even-strength. To make matters worse, they were rewarded zero points for their efforts, which, while an appropriate reward for zero effort, marks the second consecutive game they've walked away with nothing. It was the first time they've suffered back-to-back regulation losses since November 4th. I remember that game. I watched it. Also, I watched this game.
flockouplets (and a triplet too)
about our team in green and blue:
"to get back to their winning ways"
depends in part how lui plays
the twins no goals game after game
they simply do not look the same
the canucks with the stars war
two points is what they're fighting for
a penalty shot was flubbed by zach
there still are those want cody back
eight of the clock 'twas after one
the score remained no goals to none
and now the game was into two
r. bachman versus bobby lu
i want someone to fight with ott
so i can write with whom he fought
hug higgins with a wrist shot scored
l. erickson the tie restored
i love the line kessler and booth
now playing with the missing tooth
the puck was passed with edler caught
their second goal was all his fault
"period three with john and john"
ncis was also on
stars scored again and we were gone
of course we all returned to see
if we would tie the game at three
and 'twas edler who got one back
"he's even now," said whisky jack
and once again a two goal lead
sedins' return is what we need
at which juncture we do confess
we chose to watch ncis
the nucks are in a mini slump
so lui failed "to dump the gump"
the olde coote
whisky jack
jenny wren
chicken chick and chicken hawk
and other members of the flock
That was a brutal game to watch. Higgins was the best forward, and he only was noticeable for the goal. If Kassian had scored on the penalty shot, it probably would have been a completely different game, but alas, here we are. I don't think I've ever seen the Canucks give up that many 2 on 1s, and how many wide open nets did Dallas miss?
The good news is, Vancouver hasn't lost 3 in a row all year, so we're due for a win. The bad news is, Henrik Sedin though he and Daniel played well.
Excuse the italics. Those were unintentional. Just wanted to add, if there are any other Tanner Glass fans out there, might want to try and find the most recent Rick Mercer Report. Rick was in Winnipeg, hanging out with the Jets, specifically Glass's line. They have their own nickname, so that's really cute.
Not sure why MGGM did not trade Raymond at the deadline, but the writing is starting to show up on the wall for the former 25-goal scorer.
This is the second time the Canucks have coughed up the lead to the Stars. It's like they forget how to play defence after scoring. I really hope we don't face the Stars in the 1st round. I thought that the extra day off would have energized the team and the Sedins into putting on a better performance.
Paper tigers are not good enough. They've got 15 games to figure it out. Time is ticking.
The game had its moments, but became more frustrating and disappointing as it wound down.
• you don't often see the puck get stuck in the net skirting
• the stuck puck will most likely be the only thing that I remember about this game if I inexplicably ever try to recall it
• I'd rather do my taxes than think about this game ever again.
The guys who posted that Kesler crashing videos must have huge troll faces… The videos entitled "Ryan Kessel". And the narration in the video is "this is why Phil Kessel blows". A single tear rolled down my cheek.
I listened to the first on the radio at work, but, unlike Daniel, did not watch this game. Mass Effect 3 is sweet though!
Harrison, you are right on re: Kesler's f-bomb. As an openly gay hockey fan, I don't think that I should have to put blinders on to be able to enjoy the game. What players need to realize is that when they are saying these things to opponents or in the dressing room, they are also hurting and marginalizing LGBTQ fans. Not a smart business move for a pro sports league, which relies on TV viewership and ticket sales.
Kesler strikes me as someone who could stand to grow up a bit more. Everyone knows that he was told by management to stop chirping between whistles, and yet here he is doing it again.
You know, it's funny because it seems Kesler has taken a step backwards from last year in multiple ways (don't get my wrong, I'm still a big fan of his). My completely uninformed guess is that post summer surgery, he has been unable to get back to his physical play and point production that got him recognised league wide last year. Kesler seems like the kind of person who is their toughest critic, leading to built up frustrations over his play this season. His frustration is manifesting itself in his regression to chirping between whistles and getting back into the shananigans that it seemed he had moved away from. But by no means is there any excuse for that language. Here's hoping Kesler can get back to himself for the playoffs!!
Remember when he took a silly penalty in R4G7 late in the game, costing Van a power play, and then went around hollering at random Bruins? What might have happened if he'd been able to keep his frustration at bay and carry on working?
I STILL believe that Game 7 could have ended with a 5-4 canucks win.
Two thumbs up to the new anti-gay "you can play" movement. It's great that players are starting to root out calling each other "f*g(got)" as an insult & I hope that catches on quickly.
Kes and the players who are still saying it all came up in the league exposed to that lingo and I think many use it as generic insults rather than homophobic, much like calling someone a bastard doesn't actually mean you question their paternity. Apparently they also cast horrible aspersions on each other's wives' conduct hoping to rattle each other rather than as an actual indication of the wives' true character.
Saying "f*g(got)" as an insult can only deepen any existing stigma among some young players and worsen closeting of gay athletes, and so I hope they are able to get each other to stop saying it.
But with reference to some of the comments on this article, to label all the guys who are saying it as *being* anti-gay bigots is inaccurate,and may cause some people who are on the fence on the issue to roll their eyes, say that using the language doesn't make you a homophobe, and side with the "free speech" side.
And it'll take a little time, too. Anyone who has ever tried to break the habit of swearing, esp. while driving, knows it can take years & burst out again even after years, even though you never especially intended to start swearing but it just sort of came about because all your peers were doing it in high school & it's what you heard all the time.
If folks don't want to be known as homophobes, they shouldn't use the language. People who truly believe in equality and respect do not use slurs. And that is why I'm very pleased about the You Can Play project – http://www.youcanplayproject.org
I understand that a lot of people don't consider how hard it is to break the language habit and that it wasn't the choice of the players to be exposed to that kind of language. You want to play, you're around people saying that all the time. There was no anti-profanity league for them to play in. These guys have been hearing it for ten years to mean "jerk". It's great that some of them are engaging in a project to help all players remember that "f*g(got)" doesn't mean jerk but is a demeaning word for gay person.
It won't happen overnight.
Or if it does, I hope they publish their secret, because it's years since I started trying to not say the other "F" word around the kids, and occasionally in traffic it just pops out. I don't mean it in reference to the sexual act, but that's the actual meaning. It's offensive and insulting, and it's super hard to get it down to zero.
I wonder how much weight the Canucks are putting on getting Gragnani 11 more games to retain his status as an RFA this summer?
Gragnani is a very un-Vigneault-like defenseman.
AV cringes at Ballard's occasional offensive zone rushes and untimely decisions to abandon his defensive position but Gragnani, in comparison, makes Keith look like a stay-at-home D.
Agree 100%. I don't see the point of having a d-man who can't hit the net in close, while Daniel Sedin covers for him on the point. If this is all part of an experiment for the playoffs, fine, but meanwhile we're losing games. As PITB said last recap, Ballard is watching at home and wondering WTF?
Well Zack "Mama Kass" Kassian looked like he was California Dreamin instead of playing hockey, but he certainly had company in that regard, and as much as I haven't much love for him, he was far from the worst Canuck out there today. That being said, his traveling partner from western New York is driving me crazy. Our 1st unit PP has scored nothing since Gragnani was put on it, and yet he hasn't missed a minute of it. Slick passing to befuddle the opponents has been replaced with a defenceman standing in front of the net, meaning no D to D passes to shift the defence around, and a lot of good trapping opportunities to generate offence the other way. He either doesn't know where he's supposed to be or doesn't care. I would say where he should be is in the press box. One of the keys to getting the Sedins going would be to kickstart the power play, and the way to do that might just be to return it to the setup that pushed it to first in the league. I can't say I'm really loving Pahlsson either: as far as I can tell, he's Manny Malhotra but not as good at faceoffs. And he certainly can't push the offence like CoHo did.
But you're all wrong about Shorty and John. Their best line of this game was:
Garrett: Hey, did I ever tell you that all of my career shutouts came against Winnipeg?
Shorty: You're kidding, really, every single ONE of them?
What is worrisome about this current Canuck slump is that is entirely reminiscent of what went wrong in last year's SCF losses: Canucks giving up too many quality scoring chances, Luongo not being able to make a big stop, Sedins only showing up on stat sheet as negatives in the +/- column, opposition able to score in bunches (4 goals in a 12 minute span last night) and the PP going cold. It all sounds too familiar…
Watching the live practice on Canuckstv right now (first time). They seem to be practicing 2 on 1 and 3 on 2′s quite a bit. Guess they have decided if they are going to give up so many odd man rushes, they might as well work on defending it!
Also looks like Dale Weise is back up.
Yikes! Which Canuck does the nickname Salmon belong to? I don't want to see any of them chopped to bits, even if it will help Edler find his game.
On second thought, I might be confused. Perhaps there never was a Salmon and I was thinking of Coho. But I don't want to see former Canucks chopped up for bait either.
My apologies for dwelling on the irreverent. Thinking about this game makes my heart hurt.
Speaking of, it saddens me that Kes said such a hateful thing. You'd think living in a city as progressive as Vancouver is would have knocked the bigotry out of him.
yup, it was a stinker. there have been a few really good games by the canucks in 2012…but not many. goaltending has bailed them out time and again or they might have found themselves in a similar spot as the sharks.
it seems that with every single forward besides hansen having a sub-par year offensively and with the big boys (kesler, sedins) way down that the timing was a bit strange to trade away the one guy who was on the upswing offensively.
i think that most teams that makes substantial moves at the deadline suffer some chemistry woes for awhile and i'm pretty sure these canucks will be playing much better eventually. but i still wonder where the goals are going to come from.
I, for one, would like to see the Canucks bring Kassian along a bit more slowly.
It's plain to see that he's got offensive potential, but he's still a minnow and not yet ready for prime time in the top 6.
Let Manny and Max teach him how it's done, and maybe give Zack the occasional "reward" shift with the big boys after PKs.


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I have two stories to share with you today.
Here is the first story:
Here is the second story:
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Study the diagrams above and see if you can pick up some of the distinctions between the two stories. If you're financially intelligent, you can see important distinctions in the diagrams above.
The Power of Cash Flow
The first diagram depicts the actions of those who pay themselves first. Each month they allocate money to their asset column before they pay their monthly expenses.
The second diagram depicts the actions of those who pay everyone else before they pay themselves. Each month they allocate money to their expenses column and then invest with whatever is left over—which is usually nothing.
If you understand the power of cash flow, you will understand what is wrong with the second diagram. It's the reason why 90 percent of people work hard all their lives and need government support like Social Security when they are no longer able to work. The reason is they pay themselves last.
The self-discipline of the rich
Paying yourself first is not easy. In fact, it can be scary, especially when the bills are piling up. But you must develop the self-discipline to do it.
Simply put, those who have low self-esteem and low tolerance for financial pressure can never be rich. The world will push you around, not because people are bullies (though some of them are) but because it's natural for those with no or low internal control and discipline to be pushed around. People who lack self-discipline are often the victims of those who do have self-discipline.
The three most important self-discipline skills
In the entrepreneur classes I teach, I constantly remind people not to focus on a product, service, or widget. Rather, I tell them to focus on developing management skills, and the three most important skills I tell them to focus on are:
Whether you own a business or not, these are the three most important self-discipline skills you can master in life. It takes self-discipline to increase your cash flow by paying yourself first, to deal with people who want to take your money before you pay yourself and to negotiate deals, and to spend your personal time wisely by increasing your financial education and finding great deals and opportunities.
If you can master these three self-discipline skills, you can be rich.
Use pressure to grow your self-discipline
Now, I can hear some of you objecting because you believe in paying your bills first. I am not saying don't pay your bills. All I'm saying is pay yourself first. Kim and I have been doing this for years and reaping the benefits. Were there times when we came up short and didn't have the money we needed to pay our bills? Yes.
When we occasionally came up short, we still paid ourselves first, however. The government and creditors would call and howl. I let them. I like it when they get rough. Why? Because they do me a favor. They inspire me to go out and create more money. They grow my self-discipline through pressure.
So, I pay myself first, invest the money, and let the creditors yell. I generally pay them right away and have excellent credit. We just don't cave into the pressure of liquidating or spending our savings to pay consumer debt. That isn't the financially intelligent thing to do. Instead, we grow our cash flow.
To successfully pay yourself first, keep the following in mind:
How are you going to increase your cash flow today? For help, check out our free, financial education community here.


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NetLog API
Netlog is a Belgian social networking website where users can create their own web page, extend their social network, publish their music playlists, share videos, post blogs and join groups. The OpenSocial API lets users retrieve pieces of Netlog's social data, like fetching the user's friends or photos, posting activities and more. The API uses RESTful protocol and responses are formatted in XML, JSON or ATOM.
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text:
Irvine, Calif. – Stephan Hicks' sizzling performance last week in helping Cal State Northridge win five games will certainly be remembered as perhaps one of the finest weeks of basketball in the recent history of Cal State Northridge.
In leading the Matadors to the tournament championship at the NUCDF Challenge in San Diego, and a home victory against Eastern Washington (11/12/12), Hicks has been named Big West Conference Player of the Week.
During CSUN's five wins last week, Hicks averaged 18.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Hicks, a redshirt sophomore (6-6, 200, Forward/Guard, Thousand Oaks, Ca), hit .542 (32-for-59) from the floor and .844 (27-for-32) from the free throw line. Hicks also collected nine steals, seven assists, hit .500 (3-for-6 from behind the arc), and averaged nearly 31 minutes per game.
*** Stephan Hicks was named the NUCDF Challenge Tournament Most Outstanding Player in helping Cal State Northridge to the team championship with a 4-0 record over the four-day tournament. The four victories included wins over Tulsa (92-76, 11/17/12), the University of San Diego (74-71, 11/15/12), Siena (68-64, 11/16/12) and Northern Kentucky (69-58, 11/18/12).
*** Stephan Hicks led the NUCDF Challenge in scoring in four games (75 points), scoring average (18.8 ppg), field goals made (25), free throws made (24), was second in free throw attempts (28), and third in field goal attempts (43).
*** Stephan Hicks produced two double-double games in the NUCDF Challenge with 20 points and ten rebounds against Siena (68-64, 11/16/12), and 14 points and ten rebounds against Northern Kentucky (69-58, 11/18/12).
*** Against San Diego (74-71, 11/15/18) at the NUCDF Challenge, Stephan Hicks shot 9-for-10 from the floor, the third-best shooting effort for a game in Matador history.
*** Stephan Hicks scored 25 points against San Diego (74-71, 11/15/12), one point short of his career-high set last year against Cal State Bakersfield (1/28/12).
*** The seven steals against San Diego (74-71, 11/15/12) were a career-best, and fifth-best for a single game in school history.
Matador Memo …
For the season (6-0), Stephan Hicks leads Cal State Northridge in scoring (17.3 ppg, #5 in the Big West Conference) and rebounds (8.5 rpg, #6 in the BWC) … Hicks is shooting .556 (35-for-63, #12 in the BWC) from the floor, .861 (31-for-36, #8 in the BWC) from the free throw line, and has collected ten steals (1.67 spg, #8 in the BWC) … Cal State Northridge is now 6-0, its best start since the 1981-82 team began 9-0 and is the program's best start ever since moving to NCAA Division I in 1990-91.


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Spencer Pratti Skater Profile
Sponsors: Roots Skateboards, eS (flow), Subsect Skateshop
Hometown: Urbandale IA, Stance: Regular, Age: 27, Status: Am
Last Update: Friday, June 02, 2006 Submit an Update
Spencer Pratti Contest Results History
Phoenix Am 2013 Qualifiers, Saturday, April 06, 2013, placed 129 out of 201 skaters.
Damn Am Costa Mesa 2006 Saturday Qualifiers, Saturday, October 28, 2006, placed 76 out of 103 skaters.
Damn Am Minneapolis 2006 Street Qualifiers, Saturday, June 03, 2006, placed 87 out of 114 skaters.
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text:
Eurosport Turkey reports that Chelsea plan to offer striker Demba Ba in part exchange.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is reportedly a long-term admirer of the 28-year-old striker who is valued at around Ł20million by Galatasaray.
Yilmaz almost joined Lazio during the last transfer window and has also been strongly linked with the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool.
Demba Ba has fallen down the pecking order at Chelsea and has been linked with the likes of Arsenal, West Ham, Newcastle and Roma in recent months.


text:
Playing dirty
Coming clean on climate-change spin—how the PR industry sold the "made in Canada" solution to global warming
BY Zoe Cormier
"The federal government is rushing to ratify the Kyoto protocol," intoned a velvety female voice from our television sets, in November of 2002. "They want to sign it now and work out the details later. Who signs a contract without knowing the cost? We deserve a Canadian approach that produces immediate results and invests in our environmental future. A Canadian plan that reduces emissions without costing jobs, damaging our economy or our standard of living. Ask your MP to stop the rush to ratify."
The ad campaign, which ran for several weeks at an estimated cost of $225,000 a week, was part of a last-ditch effort by a coalition of Canadian industry organizations to pressure the Chrétien government into scuttling the international agreement on climate change. They had spent months campaigning against Kyoto, which would require signatories to lower greenhouse-gas emissions by a set target or face penalties. Fearing a bottom-line impact from Kyoto's ratification, industry leaders did what any smart business would do: They turned to public relations professionals to swing public opinion against the deal.
Enter National Public Relations (NPR), Canada's largest PR company, which has represented such clients as McDonald's, Imperial Oil and Wal-Mart. NPR manufactured a coalition of those that stood to lose the most from Kyoto—automakers, mining companies, and, of course, oil companies—gave them a progressive-sounding name—the Canadian Coalition for Responsible Environmental Solutions—and lobbied provincial leaders, the media and the public.
Unlike many other anti-Kyoto groups of the time, the CCRES didn't refute the existence of global warming itself, but argued instead that Kyoto was simply the wrong solution to the problem. Appealing to Canadians' common sense and nationalism, NPR's fly-by-night coalition asked them to reject a one-size-fits-all solution in favour of one "made in Canada." But its proposed solution was not much of a solution at all: "made in Canada" was a PR euphemism for voluntary emissions targets, which are essentially meaningless.
But the phrase "made in Canada" caught on, and it is now experiencing a renaissance. Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Environment Minister Rona Ambrose, (with the co-operation of major news organizations) have resurrected the phrase to describe new plans to deal with climate change, which involve cutting 80 percent of the budget for Kyoto, axing almost all of the Liberals' global-warming programs, and shutting down the federal climate change site.
That the climate is changing is a fact. Yet for 20 years public relations campaigns for the oil industry have managed to create doubt—even today 39 percent of Canadians say they don't support the science behind global warming, according to a recent Ipsos Reid poll. PR campaigns—including NPR's, are influential—they have paved the way for public acceptance of regressive government policies and made us dangerously slow to deal with the greatest environmental catastrophe we face today.
The public relations industry is huge in both size and influence, but largely hidden from public view. As PR pros well know, the most effective public relations is the least visible. Invisible doesn't mean unprofitable, though. "There really is no good estimate on the size of the PR industry," says John Stauber, executive director of the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), a spin watchdog group in the United States. "The amount spent on PR worldwide would be many, many billions, but unfortunately there are no good numbers. That's just the nature of the business—it's very secret."
Revenues aren't the only thing about PR that's secret. "When you hear the term 'public relations,' you think of press releases and other things that are upfront," says Stauber, "but the term PR was invented as a euphemism for propaganda by the father of PR, Eddie Bernays, way back in the 1920s; he was very clear that this was all about propaganda."
And just like propaganda, good public relations has been a key influence on our attitudes and our history. PR has been instrumental in the success (or failure) of politicians, parties, entire countries, international trade agreements, research and policies on pesticides, new drugs and biotechnology—and probably every other major issue of the past half century.
Stauber has co-authored six books on PR, including 1995's Toxic Sludge is Good for You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry. "When I go to conferences and run into senior PR people, they don't disagree with my analysis—in fact, they always say, 'It's way worse than you think.' "
James Hoggan, owner of one of the largest PR firms in Vancouver, James Hoggan and Associates, is particularly put off by tactics his colleagues use to discredit environmental movements. "PR companies have been out there defending corporations, and now they are doing it with climate change—and it's a far worse problem than all the other ones."
That's why he created desmogblog.com, a website debunking PR spin on climate change, with accessible updates on the scientific evidence concerning global warming.
"To create understanding with [public relations], there's nothing wrong with that," he says. "But when the goal of your communications is actually to confuse people, to create doubt about existing science—that says you are up to something unethical right from the start.... An ethical approach to PR involves creating a dialogue with the public that is transparent and open—relationship building—rather than advertising or manipulating your way out of problems."
The Canadian Coalition for Responsible Environmental Solutions was a classic example of an "Astroturf" organization—a fake green group—set up by a PR firm to make it appear that an industry's agenda has grassroots support. And while the coalition was short-lived, it did leave behind at least one thing besides its old and obviously expensive website: the super-sticky, media-friendly catch phrase "made in Canada," a gift to Kyoto opponents who use it to frame their opposition in reasonable terms.
The term seems to have debuted in March 2002, when just-retired Imperial Oil CEO Robert Peterson was quoted in the Financial Post as saying of Kyoto: "I am of the view they are going to rethink this and come to a conclusion that there's got to be a made in Canada solution."
In September of that year, 25 Canadian business and industry associations—including the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce—came together to form the Astroturf group CCRES. "It was designed to be a single-purpose organization which was to present an alternative view during the debate about whether the Kyoto Protocol should be ratified or not," says Pierre Alvarez, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and one of the founders of the CCRES. "It was a group of like-minded industries who felt there was a better way to address the problem."
The group called for a plan that "will allow Canada to stand proud among nations as a leader on the environment while ensuring our future prosperity," according to the press release announcing CCRES's formation. The document included 11 "guiding principles" for such a plan, such as more investment in technology and more consultation with industry.
Soon afterward, Ontario premier Ernie Eves and BC Premier Gordon Campbell joined the most vocal Kyoto opponent, Alberta premier Ralph Klein, in denouncing the treaty and calling for a "made in Canada" solution. Klein was quoted in the National Post on October 24 as saying that Kyoto was "not a Canadian plan" and was dreamed up by "international theorists."
When it became obvious that Chrétien was determined to sign on, CCRES stepped up the pace, running television ads encouraging Canadians to write their MPs. Reporters received a letter, addressed to the Prime Minister from the Investment Dealers Association of Canada, warning that signing Kyoto would dry up American investment in a smothered Canadian economy. It's interesting to speculate about where CCRES's high-paid PR firm was when this idea came up. "We didn't write any such letter. We didn't even see it," IDA spokesperson Connie Craddock was quoted as saying in the Toronto Star on December 3, 2002.
"We thought the IDA would be a more credible source for it to come from," CCRES spokesperson Doug Black explained to the Star.
Even National Post columnist Don Martin—who had previously given the CCRES favourable write-ups—was offended by the tactic, describing the CCRES as the "Coalition for Irresponsible Environmental Spin Solutions" in his December 3 column.
Canada ratified Kyoto later that month, following which the CCRES put out a final press release in February 2003 ("Budget Shows Need for Consultation on Kyoto Implementation"), then faded from sight. "The government had made its decision and there was no reason to carry on—the organization had completed its work," says Alvarez.
National Public Relations represents giants such as mining company Inco Ltd, Allergan (makers of Botox), China Minmetals (a state-owned Chinese company that has been linked to the use of forced labour in gulag-style prisons), Pfizer, Toyota Canada, and—oddly enough—Environment Canada and Natural Resources Canada.
NPR isn't just the largest PR company in Canada. It is also the Canadian affiliate of one of the world's biggest—and most notorious—PR firms, Burson-Marsteller.
Burson-Marsteller does not publish a list of its clients, but it has purportedly worked for some of the most infamous governments of the twentieth century, including the military junta in Argentina in the 1970s, Nicolae Ceausescu's dictatorship in Romania, the government of Indonesia (following the massacre in East Timor) and the Nigerian government (to discredit reports of genocide). It has also reportedly worked for many years with Monsanto (in particular to push for approval of synthetic hormones to force cows to produce more milk, and to lobby against mandatory labeling of milk from treated cows in the US) and for Dow Corning to fight legislation to limit the use of silicon implants.
But whether they're representing a dictatorship or a drug company, public relations professionals employ a variety of techniques to try to put a happy face on facts that, left alone, might be construed as damning. One of the most effective PR tools is the "third party" technique, where a firm will hire an "expert" to speak on behalf of a company. People don't generally trust corporate executives who say a product is harmless (say cigarettes, Teflon cookware or household insecticides), but are more likely to believe the same words from a scientist. And sometimes even more effective than hiring experts is getting average citizens to do the same. PR firms have time and again managed to create the illusion of public support for corporate causes through front groups, such as the CCRES.
The CCRES was more upfront than most industry groups—its site does list coalition members. But most people who saw the group's name in a news article or on television would not have bothered to look it up; all many people would have taken away from a 30-second news spot is that a Canadian "environmental" group did not consider the Kyoto Protocol to be a "responsible solution."
In other ways, though, the CCRES was a typical example of Astroturf: it was created by a PR firm and lasted for only a short time (from September 2002 to February 2003). Astroturf groups tend to last just long enough to address the one particular issue they are concerned with, because they are not inherently interested in the broader issue they claim to care about.
The classic example of this is the National Smokers Alliance. In response to the tide of smoking bans that swept America in the 1980s and 1990s, Philip Morris and other tobacco giants turned to the big PR firms in the US. "Burson-Marsteller created the NSA, and tried to make it look like a populist uprising," says Stauber. "This was an effort by the tobacco industry to frame the issue of exposure to second-hand smoke as a smokers' rights issue, rather than an issue of any individual's right to avoid exposure to carcinogens." With full-page newspaper ads, telemarketing, canvassers and toll-free 1-800 numbers, the NSA reached out to the 50 million American smokers to get them to join the organization, sign petitions, write letters and lobby local politicians arguing for their "right to smoke." In 1997 leaked documents revealed that the organization was funded by Philip Morris, but by that time jurisdictions across America had already delayed implementing no-smoking bans in bars and restaurants, long after science had shown the harmful effects of second-hand smoke.
According to the Center for Media and Democracy, Burson-Marsteller has created public support (or at least the illusion of it) with many Astroturf groups, including the Healthy Weight Task Force (an Australian front group promoting Xenical diet pills) and Citizens Against Unfair Health Care Taxes—created for Allergan in response to the California government contemplating taxing Botox as a beauty aid rather than a pharmaceutical product. According to the CMD, leaked documents from Burson-Marsteller reveal it planned to "get women angry about having the right to make their own decision about [silicone breast] implants taken away from them."
Astroturf groups are also a popular way to try to sabotage environmental movements. Take, for example, the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition, funded by the Nuclear Energy Institute in the US; the Save Our Species Alliance (which lobbied for softening the US's Endangered Species Act); and the Evergreen Foundation, a forestry industry group.
In "green PR," NPR's American parent is the green giant. According to the CMD, it was behind Californians for Realistic Vehicle Standards (funded by the auto industry to protest restrictions on vehicle emissions and SUVs); the Foundation for Clean Air Progress (which lobbies the US Environmental Protection Agency to not implement stricter controls on air quality); and the American Energy Alliance, founded by American oil interests in 1993 to defeat President Bill Clinton's proposed 25-cent-a-gallon tax on gasoline, which would have been one of the cornerstones of a US plan on global warming.
Canada has found itself playing host to Burson-Marsteller green groups too, including the Coalition for Clean and Renewable Energy (to promote the James Bay 2 hydroelectric dam project in Quebec) and the British Columbia Forest Alliance in the early 1990s.
"The forest industry in British Columbia, which had been facing increasing pressure from conservationists, essentially hired Burson-Marsteller to develop a vehicle to sell the forest industry message," says journalist Ben Parfitt, who covered the forestry beat for The Vancouver Sun from 1986 to 1993. "The vehicle they came up with was a 'grassroots' organization called the Forest Alliance of British Columbia."
"Burson-Marsteller was very clear that the forest industry couldn't sell that message themselves—it had to come from others. So the Forest Alliance was a vehicle through which Burson-Marsteller, funded by industry money, could create an organization that would be a counter to the environmental organizations. The whole idea was to present people with the idea that taking forests away from the forest industry hurt working families."
Parfitt published a piece in the Georgia Straight on the BCFA, its ties to Burson-Marsteller and Burson-Marsteller's international record, including its campaign for Argentina's junta. He then found himself attacked by the BCFA and confronted by the Sun. "I was not fired, but there was definitely a linkage between the work that I did and my being removed from the forestry beat. In my experience, there was at the time, and there remains, not enough light being shone on public relations and on the influence it has on how stories and campaigns are shaped," he says.
So when it comes to the CCRES legacy, Parfitt is, of course, highly skeptical. "The language is wonderful—I mean, 'made in Canada,' who can argue with that?" he asks. "But what exactly does that mean?"
Parfitt's skepticism is well-founded—the coal and oil industries have spent tens of millions of dollars funding front groups that have denied the science of global warming and lobbied against caps on greenhouse-gas emissions—and they have been successful in preventing the public from understanding the gravity of the problem, and ultimately from dealing with it.
"Just as the PR industry rallied to protect big tobacco and guarantee that millions of people would die because of their work, they have rallied to obfuscate the debate around global climate change," says the CMD's Stauber. "They push forward people with scientific credentials to say that global climate change isn't occurring, just like tobacco-funded scientists and doctors who came forward and pooh-poohed the risks of tobacco."
In fact, one of the most well-known climate change deniers, Steven Milloy, is a lawyer who got his start as a scientific spokesperson for the tobacco industry. Milloy then served as the executive director of the Advancement of Sound Science Coalition (TASSC), which disbanded in 1998 after its origins as a front for polluting companies was exposed. He is now a columnist for Fox News. He also runs the website junkscience.com, which debunks science that runs counter to the interests of business.
Thanks to Milloy, the phrase "junk science" has become common parlance among both right-wing pundits and everyday journalists. After looking at more than 250 newspaper articles published between 1996 and 1998, a University of Pennsylvania professor found that 62 percent used the term "junk science" to refer to scientific arguments furthered by environmentalists and corporate critics, while only eight percent of the news articles used the term to describe corporate-funded studies.
Milloy continues to deny the ecological damage caused by DDT, any health risks from second-hand smoke and the link between fossil-fuel use and global warming, among others. His site does not, of course, mention how many hundreds of thousands of dollars Milloy has received from Philip Morris, Exxon Mobil and other corporate giants.
Throughout the 1990s, TASSC and other US oil-funded groups such as the Global Climate Coalition, the Global Climate Information Project and the Information Council for the Environment (ICE) spent tens of millions of dollars on advertising and lobbying campaigns to "reposition global warming as theory," in ICE's words.
These groups ran full-page ads in the largest newspapers in the US ridiculing the science of global warming and perpetuating the idea that it is a myth spread by hysterical tree-huggers. ICE had some of the most memorable. One featured an image of a ship, about to sail over the edge of the world into the mouth of a lurking dragon, underneath the headline, "Some say the earth is warming. Some also said the earth was flat." Another featured a terrified, cowering chicken. "Who told you the earth was warming … Chicken Little?" One that ran in Minneapolis in the winter asked, "If the earth is getting warmer, why is Minneapolis getting colder?"
The scientific consensus on global warming is rock solid—and has been for at least 10 years. In 1995 more than 2,500 of the world's leading climate scientists from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change declared that global warming was already occurring. All of the world's leading scientific journals, including Nature, Science and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, are in agreement that global climate change is real.
But the public has been slow to realize the validity of the science, mainly because of PR-fueled climate-change denying campaigns.
"When you talk to scientists, they are very circumspect in the language they use; they talk in terms of trends, estimates, probabilities—they sound very wishy-washy," says Ross Gelbspan, author of one of the first books on the oil and coal industry's efforts to bury the debate on climate change, The Heat is On, published in 1997. "To an untrained ear, one of the skeptics sounds much more convincing because they talk in terms of absolutes—either that it's not happening or it's no big deal."
Until a couple of years ago, virtually every major story you saw in the news (particularly in the US) would present both sides of the debate—several thousand scientists with peer-reviewed research on one hand, and a few dozen industry-funded climate change-deniers on the other—as though both sides had equally valid proof.
"The industry invoked this false ethic of journalistic balance—and a lot of journalists fell for it," says Gelbspan. "From my 30 years of experience as a journalist, the issue of balance really only comes in when it's a matter of opinion—not fact. I find the media more reprehensible than the oil industry. Journalists are more responsible because they have allowed themselves to be conned; they published a lot of questionable material without really looking at it."
Whether you want to blame the oil industry or the media who failed to see through their spin, it has taken much of the public a long time to become aware of the reality of global warming. Even now a sizable chunk of Canadians remain skeptical.
But with the reality of climate change becoming harder to deny every year as the polar ice sheets shrink and temperatures rise into the 20s in January, the Global Climate Coalition, TASSC and ICE, along with many other climate-change denying organizations, have disappeared, and many of their former bankrollers (such as Shell, British Petroleum and General Motors) have admitted that climate change is real. But new groups have sprung up to take their place, often admitting that global carbon dioxide levels are rising—but arguing that that is in fact a good thing (the ultimate in spin).
The Greening Earth Society, for example, predicts that higher carbon dioxide levels will lead to more plant growth (which is partially true, but only in some regions) and hence higher biodiversity (for which there is no scientific basis—research published in the world's top journals in fact states the opposite). And there are still soothing ads—The Competitive Enterprise Institute has been running ones on television featuring a little girl blowing dandelion fluff into the breeze as an announcer says, "Carbon dioxide. They call it pollution—we call it life."
"I think that there are differing views on what's affecting climate change," says Jayson Myers of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (another founding group of the Canadian Coalition for Responsible Environmental Solutions). He doesn't deny that the climate is changing, but adds: "I don't see a problem with industry funding a different point of view and the environmental community funding their point of view. I don't see anything wrong with bringing other views to the table, and frankly I don't think it's had any impact on the policy process in Canada."
However, the impact of climate-change denial on policy will likely become stronger with the shift in federal power to Stephen Harper's Conservatives and the West. The Tories are hardly known for their environmentalism, and Fleishman-Hillard's Morten Paulsen, listed as the PR contact for Alberta-based climate-change denying group Friends of Science is a Conservative insider, having held a number of positions in the Reform Party, the Canadian Alliance and the Conservative Party.
We all suspected Harper's Conservatives were more concerned about tar sands revenue than the environment, and they proved it once elected. One of their first acts was to eliminate the vast majority of Liberal initiatives to fight global warming, cutting funding for climate-change programs from $10 billion to $2 billion. Now, Rick Mercer is no longer imploring us to reduce our household greenhouse-gas emissions by a tonne, and we hear more about the Asia-Pacific Partnership than Kyoto.
The federal government made no mention of Kyoto in its 2006 budget. Instead, politicians spent the spring hinting that they would sign onto the Partnership known as AP6, a new international agreement on "climate change, energy security and air pollution" involving China, the US, Australia, South Korea, India and Japan.
The AP6 emphasizes energy efficiency, and does not limit greenhouse gas emissions; targets, are—you guessed it—voluntary. It's telling that the AP6 meeting in Sydney, Australia, this spring was organized by heads of state, industry and energy, and green groups were specifically prohibited from attending the conference.
Environment Minister Rona Ambrose, who has announced that Canada will not meet its Kyoto targets, said in April that "the key principles around the Asia-Pacific Partnership are very much in line with where our government wants to go. I think they're doing things that we're very interested in participating in further down the road."
The Tories say their plan is superior to Kyoto, since it is "made in Canada"—as though the phrase described a genuine plan on global warming. And Canada's three largest newspapers show the degree to which a made-by-PR-experts phrase has been a gift to the Conservatives. So far this year, the term has appeared 90 times in climate-change-related articles in The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and National Post. By contrast, it showed up just four times in all of 2004.
To date, the Tories have announced just two policies to deal with global warming: a tax rebate for people who buy monthly transit passes, and a requirement for five percent ethanol in diesel fuel and gasoline by 2010. In order to meet the Kyoto target, we need to cut our annual releases of greenhouse gases by 195 million tonnes. At the very best, the ethanol requirement should shave off 5.6 million tonnes (according to the government's own figures), and the transit measure promises to be even more pathetic, cutting off just 20,000 to 33,000 tonnes a year—assuming it gets people out of their cars and onto busses and trains.
The Conservatives' quiet shutdown of climatechange.gc.ca, the official federal website for information on climate change will cut zero tonnes of emissions.
University of Toronto history professor Paul Rutherford, who has written several books on the use of marketing, doesn't expect the Conservatives to do a lot on climate change, but he does expect them to employ good PR tactics. "When you're putting forward a policy, you frame it in language that makes it appealing to people—know the buttons that push people."
It's useful to think of politics as a marketplace, says Rutherford, with public goods on sale like any other form of merchandise. "You have a policy—Kyoto or not Kyoto. How are you going to sell it? You don't really want to be against environmental policy," he says. "You might challenge it on the grounds that it means economic disaster—but going head to head is not a good tactic."
"So what you want to do is find something else that says we will do something better than Kyoto, but it will be suited to our purposes. So you plug it in to a different set of values—not just environmentalism but patriotism."
A made in Canada solution.
Republicans in the United States have been particularly astute in their use of public relations and their finesse with the language of politics—thanks in large part to the work of party pollster and consultant Frank Luntz in the 1980s and 1990s. Luntz is considered to have been instrumental in the crafting of Ronald Reagan's policies, in sensationalizing "Monicagate" and in taking global warming off the presidential election agenda in 2000 and 2004.
Canadians familiar with his work were quick to raise an eyebrow when he visited Ottawa this May. He had a private meeting with Harper, and gave a talk to the party, offering advice on how to win a majority government (his topic was "Massaging the Conservative Message for Voters").
This certainly wasn't his first visit to Canada—he worked with Preston Manning's Reform party in the early 1990s. Given his prevalence and success in right-wing politics, it has been suggested that he has been involved in current Canadian PR tactics as well. "I would be really surprised if this 'made in Canada' thing didn't have Luntz's fingerprints on it," Gelbspan suggests.
In 2003, a leaked memo offered a glimpse into spin, Republican-style. The 16-page memo, prepared by Luntz Research Companies, advised politicians on how to speak convincingly about their environmental commitments (without having to be committed to the environment), and included some gems:
"Assure your audience that you are committed to 'preserving and protecting' the environment, but that 'it can be done more wisely and effectively'.... If you must use the economic argument, stress that you are seeking 'a fair balance' between the environment and the economy. Be prepared to specify and quantify the jobs lost because of needless, excessive or redundant regulations. Emphasize common sense."
"Voters believe that there is no consensus about global warming in the scientific community. Should the public come to believe that the scientific issues are settled, their views about global warming will change accordingly. Therefore you need to continue to make the lack of scientific certainty a primary issue in the debate, and defer to scientists and other experts in the field.... The scientific debate is closing [against us] but is not yet closed. There is still a window of opportunity to challenge the science."
More than half a century since scientists first realized that fossil-fuel use might affect the planet's climate, television and radio ads that dismiss the issue are still on the air, many Canadians still question the science behind global warming, and our new Conservative government has shown beyond a doubt that climate change is not a real concern to them.
James Hoggan, and many others, think that in this case the PR machine and its clients are spinning in the wrong direction. "I find it amazing—you see all this overwhelming evidence, and yet there's still this ability to manipulate," Hoggan says.
"Being against climate change is pretty stupid from a PR point of view. If you don't want to end up looking like those cigarette executives standing in front of Congress a few years ago, telling us that there is no evidence that cigarettes cause cancer, don't fight something that you are inevitably going to lose."


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The process was originally carried out in simple open-air pits. Subsequently these pits were replaced by more efficient Heaps. These primitive methods enabled wood to be distilled purely for the production of charcoal. Subsequently wood was distilled in metal kilns and retorts. In the modern day, the more highly volatile condensable and non condensable distillation products are more easily produced from coal distillation processes; wood is therefore almost exclusively carbonised for the production of charcoal.
In a simple kiln, a portion of the timber charge is used to create the heat which gives rise to the carbonisation process.
The distillation of wood in such apparatus basically resolves itself into 4 different stages:
After weathering, the charcoal is then removed to a Screening & Packing Plant where
the dust and small particles are removed together with any uncarbonized pieces of wood
or foreign particles. The screened product is then prepared
for distribution to AFCHAR's customers.
This page maintained by Niels Dahnke. Last updated on 17 September 1997.
Copyright © 1997 by Niels Dahnke.


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Thursday, May 29, 2003
© Copyright 2015 Clayton News Daily
By Bob PaslayThe Georgia Department of Agriculture has stopped the sale and movement of 95 bags of oysters at a M orrow seafood dealer because of violations of state food laws, Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin said. Department of Agriculture inspectors visited Royal Hunan Seafood of Georgia at 1091 Fred Drive in Morrow. The inspectors found the company selling oysters labeled only for shucking by a certified dealer, Irvin said. In addition, they found some of the harvest date information on intermediate dealer tags did not match harvest date information on original tags. The oysters were also muddy and had not been cleaned, Irvin said. "Shellfish have very specific requirements as to how they are sold and handled," said Irvin. "Improper handling can lead to life-threatening situations," Irvin said. "it is imperative that health officials be able to accurately trace where oysters originate in case there is a problem in one of the harvest areas. Having an accurate chain of custody is a requirement." The 95 bags were part of a 150-bag shipment the company received from Florida. "We will be checking records to determine where the other 55 bags were distributed We have notified the Georgia Department of Public Health in case some were sent to restaurants," Irvin said. Several calls to the business by the News Daily did not elicit a response.
More like this story
- State halts sale of oysters ( May 28, 2003 )
- Camellia quarantine impacts local nurseries ( April 24, 2004 )
- Local pickle company initiates recall ( August 19, 2009 )
- Market tries to bring agri-tourism to Clayton ( October 2, 2004 )
- Birds put up for bids at state auction ( November 11, 2008 )


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STARmeterSEE RANK
Down 35,475 this week
Reed Smoot
Reed Smoot was born in 1947 in the USA. He is known for his work on Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993), Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (2011) and Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience (2009). See full bio »
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Written by Dr. Tim Loving for Science of Relationships (scienceofrelationships.com)
Several years ago, I read a journal article in which the researchers reported that individuals who had recently fallen in love (i.e., they were 'madly, deeply in love', or experiencing what researchers refer to as passionate love) had higher levels of cortisol than did individuals in long-term relationships or those in no relationship at all.1 If you're unfamiliar with cortisol, it is one of the human body's primary stress hormones and affects a host of bodily processes (e.g., metabolism and immune function). Importantly, high levels of cortisol can eventually weaken the immune system and undermine physical health. Admittedly, this finding baffled me. If chronically high levels of cortisol can be bad for health, then how does that explain the overwhelmingly positive impression people have of being passionately in love? I've yet to find a Valentine's Day card that reads, "I love you so much that you make me susceptible to pneumonia."
Importantly, researchers in the original study collected a blood sample (to measure cortisol) from study participants after an intensive interview that was designed to confirm participants were indeed 'madly, deeply in love' (and not just crazy). This intrigued me. Falling in love with another person is a major life transition – it may be positive, but it's a transition nonetheless, and transitions necessitate change. Think about it. When you fall for another person, your self-concept changes, your daily routines change, your relationships with friends change, and so on. All change requires adaptation, and adapting to any new environment is stressful to some degree. Perhaps just reminding people of falling in love, and the associated changes, was enough to temporarily raise their cortisol levels.
My lab subsequently set out to further investigate this effect.2 We reasoned that falling in love would affect relationship-focused people (i.e., they think a lot about relationships) more than less relationship focused individuals — because all the transitions that come with falling in love should be more salient, or obvious, to more relationship-focused people. To test this, we asked 29 women, all of whom reported experiencing high levels of passion, to come into our lab and engage in one of two 'guided imagery' tasks. Specifically, half of the women relived the moment they realized they were in love with their current partners. They closed their eyes and recreated that moment as vividly as possible, and then talked and wrote about the experience in as much detail as possible. The other half of the women in the control group relived the moment they realized they wanted to be friends with someone who was of the same age and sex as their dating partners. We collected saliva samples before and after the guided imagery tasks so that we could determine whether the mental reflection changed cortisol levels. We also asked all of the women to indicate how much they tended to think about their relationships in general.
Cortisol levels increased when women thought about falling in love, but how much they increased depended on how relationship-focused they were: Cortisol levels dropped shortly after the guided imagery if they were 'low' relationship thinkers, but cortisol levels continued to rise for up to 30 minutes if they were 'high' relationship thinkers. Women in the 'friendship' guided imagery session showed no increases in cortisol. In other words, just asking a woman to think about falling in love is enough to cause an increase in cortisol, especially if she is more apt to think about relationships already.
Does this mean falling in love is stressful? It would appear so, especially for some more than others. But it doesn't necessarily mean falling in love is 'bad stress'. Not all stress undermines health, and there are also other possible reasons for increases in cortisol. For example, increases in cortisol may simply reflect arousal more generally. There's a reason we say somebody 'turns us on', and arousal, attraction, and passion tend to go hand in hand. My students and I, and others, are working to figure all this out. In the meantime, it's probably safe to assume the passion in your relationship (whether it's there today or tomorrow) won't make you sick.
1Marazziti, D., & Canale, D. (2004). Hormonal changes when falling in love. Psychoneuroendocrinology 29, 931—936.
2Loving, T. J., Crockett, E. E., & Paxson, A. A. (2009). Passionate love and relationship thinkers: Experimental evidence for acute cortisol elevations in women. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 34, 939-946.
Tim Loving, faculty member in Human Development and Family Sciences, is a founding member of Science of Relationships (scienceofrelationships.com). Science of Relationships is, really just that—active and productive researchers in the field of interpersonal relationships writing and discussing their field of expertise.


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Advice From Current Students
Top 11 Things We Wish We Had Known in High School:
11. Visit campuses before making a decision on where to go to school. Look at student work, talk to people and explore the city.
10. If you really love art, make it your lifestyle.
9. Draw every day and keep a sketchbook.
8. Be prepared for culture shock – diverse, urban, real world environment.
7. If you are trying something new and taking chances, you will learn more here in 3 months than you've learned in a lifetime of exploration.
6. Don't be afraid to make mistakes in your work. You will learn from them.
5. Forget what you think you know about art, and really listen and explore.
4. Never throw anything away (work or supplies).
3. Be prepared to work hard when you come here, but be able to have fun at the same time.
2. Apply to the honors program, and all scholarships applicable. Consider housing, area, and what kind of student life/campus you are looking for.
1. Don't panic. Relax. Everything will go fine.


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Leeds High School
Auburn University
University of South Alabama
I have been teaching since 1992 so that is over 22 years. My undergraduate is from Auburn University main campus in Public Relations Speech/Journalism. I worked for five years in retail sales before I quit to go back to school. I went back to AUM for my Master's degree in 1990 then I began teaching in Elementary Education.
I have been married for 30 years to Steve Cobb and we have two children: Laura, who now has a JOB working with Jones New York clothing in New York City and Matthew - a junior at Auburn University studying Communications.
I had the dream of a lifetime to go to a Steve Spangler Science workshop in Denver, Colorado, last summer. During this time I was able to visit many areas of the state especially the Air Force Academy and Pike's Peak. It was a wonderful week and what a magnifient place to visit. In addition, I spent time in other workshops learning lots of cool things. This summer I went to Tuscaloosa, the CCRS Academy, Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Lanark, and Memphis. I kept busy and made many new friends and did some learning along the way too.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE going to Dauphin Island Sea Lab, the Space Center in Huntsville, and Lanark (which is right next door in Millbrook). Also, I love arts and crafts and walking.
Copyright © 2015 Prattville Jr. High School


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